THE 
 
 NATIVE IRISH, 
 
 AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. 
 
 BY 
 
 CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON. 
 
 THE THIRD EDITION", IMPROVED. 
 
 It is very much to be remarked, that neglects from inconsiderateness, want of attention, 
 not looking about us to see what we have to do, are often attended with consequences 
 altogether as dreadful, as any active misbehaviour from the most extravagant passion. 
 
 BUTLER. 
 
 He that voluntarily continues ignorance, is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance 
 produces ; as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a light-house might justly be 
 imputed the calamities of shipwreck.— But to obscure, upon motives merely political, the 
 light of Revelation, is a practice reserved for the reformed. JOHNSON. 
 
 Yet that population is endowed by nature with great mental vivacity, and a remarkable 
 aptitude for every species of intellectual labour. THIERRY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 WILLIAM PICKERING; HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. 
 DUBLIN: Wm. CURRY & CO. 
 EDINBURGH : W. P. KENNEDY. 
 
 1846. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TO THE PRESENT EDITION. 
 
 Above thirty years ago the Author, as Secretary to the 
 Society for the support of Gaelic Schools in the Highlands 
 and Islands of Scotland, was induced to take a special in- 
 terest in the native population beyond the Grampians. 
 Shortly after this, a Guide or Manual for the Teachers was 
 composed by him, and then, though not speaking their 
 language, a first elementary book for the Scholars. Both 
 were the effect of sympathy for their condition. The latter, 
 or " the Guide to the reading of the Gaelic language," having 
 been submitted to the best Gaelic authority of the day, was 
 approved, and then employed for instructing, both old and 
 young, in the art of reading their mother tongue. This 
 course, however, had already led to a rooted and a keener 
 sympathy for another people, speaking, as he suspected, 
 nearly the same language, but living on the other side of 
 the Irish Channel. Through one half of Ireland he had 
 travelled in the year 1809, but, like too many travellers, 
 the condition of the aborigines scarcely if ever crossed his 
 mind. To them in particular, a first visit was paid in 1814. 
 He found a numerous population, possessed of genius and 
 sensibility, constitutionally of great mental vivacity and 
 warm affections, who, ever since the invention of printing 
 itself, had been neglected as to all education in their native 
 tongue. In 1815, a Memorial on their behalf was first 
 issued, and not without effect. The history or historical 
 sketches of this people, with regard to Literature, Education, 
 and Oral Instruction, was printed in 1828, and soon sold off. 
 A second and enlarged edition followed in 1830, whieh has 
 
iv 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 been out of print for years. In answer, therefore, to nu- 
 merous enquiries on both sides of the Irish Channel, the 
 following pages are now published, at a very reduced price, 
 for more general circulation. They contain a reprint of the 
 second edition, under an improved arrangement. The sta- 
 tistical statements throughout might have been brought 
 down to the present moment, but this was deemed unneces- 
 sary, as the tables of 1830 still answer their purpose per- 
 fectly well, so far as the object in view is concerned. It 
 will therefore be borne in mind that other more minute 
 calculations are dated from that year; most of which are 
 much stronger now than they were even then. The author is, 
 of course, intimately acquainted with all that has been since 
 accomplished, and that by every benevolent party ; but, at 
 the same time, he is firmly persuaded that the desultory, 
 though praise-worthy exertions made, have not yet over- 
 taken the natural increase of the Irish speaking people, so 
 as to reduce, on the whole, the number who remain to 
 receive instruction. Nay, the presumption is, that the 
 aggregate is now larger than ever before. Let it only be 
 observed, that when these benevolent efforts commenced, 
 thirty years ago, the gross population of Ireland was only 
 five millions and a half. It is now verging towards nine 
 millions ! Even in 1841, the census was 8,179,339. Year 
 by year, it must be remembered, that the Native Irish have 
 increased proportionally ; and it is painful to reflect, that in 
 a century so distinguished for benevolent exertion as the 
 present, another entire generation has expired, and the great 
 majority without even the knowledge of their alphabet ! 
 
 Keeping our eye on this interesting race, their past treat- 
 ment, as a people, has no parallel in Europe ; and we have 
 sat still, though foreigners have come and beheld, nay, and 
 published this, to other nations. Since the origin of the 
 English dominion in Ireland, at least twenty generations 
 have lived and died. It is true, that throughout the first 
 half of this long period, the mental bondage and moral 
 darkness of Britain and Ireland were very much alike. 
 But three hundred years ago that change commenced, which 
 
 t 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 T 
 
 has made England and Scotland what they now are. The 
 use of letters and the art of reading operated powerfully, 
 but, above all, the introduction of the Sacred Volume in our 
 mother tongue. The Native Irish were to be differently 
 treated even by those who, at that period, were so merci- 
 fully visited ; and yet, up to this day, there has been no 
 appropriate repentance, no just reprobation of the blind and 
 cruel policy of our ancestors. Since the sun of Divine 
 Revelation rose upon Britain, the tenth generation of the 
 Irish people is now in the act of growing up and passing 
 away, yet, on the whole, they still remain destitute of all 
 that we have so richly and so long enjoyed — a vernacular 
 literature — the word of God in our mother tongue, and the 
 ministry of the word in our native language. 
 
 It is not that this is true of Ireland generally speaking. 
 Far from it. It is known to all, that myriads, more than a 
 million, of the Scriptures in the English tongue, have been 
 circulated there during the last thirty years ; many labori- 
 ous and useful Ministers of the truth, in that tongue, are 
 there to be found ; and as for the art of reading in English, 
 Ireland now ranks, unquestionably, above England itself. 
 But we now speak of the Irish proper, or aborigines, and 
 all these facts only render their present state the more ex- 
 traordinary and deplorable. 
 
 Now and then these people have excited sympathy in the 
 bosom of individuals ; but it is only thirty years since, in 
 reference to them, the public mind became at all alive to 
 " the golden rule/' and some progress has happily been made. 
 In this preface, it may help its application, if we briefly trace 
 the origin of our sad neglect. This is full of warning to any 
 government, but especially to that of Britain, and at the 
 present crisis. Indeed it cannot be too distinctly marked, 
 or too loudly repeated, as it still remains to be far better 
 understood than ever before. 
 
 It was in the month of August 1537, that Henry VIII. 
 was, in a most notable manner, overruled to grant the use 
 of the Sacred Scriptures to his English subjects ; yet was it 
 only immediately before, and immediately after, this me- 
 
vi 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 morable event, that he presumed to inflict the most vital 
 injury which the Irish people have ever sustained ! A few 
 particulars from authentic manuscripts, or recently pub- 
 lished State papers, will serve to explain the entire state of 
 Ireland at that moment, as well as the barbarous injury 
 then perpetrated, under the effects of which this people 
 suffer to the present hour. 
 
 Although for 36*5 years Ireland had been virtually con- 
 nected with England ; when Henry VIII. ascended the 
 throne, no more than thirteen counties were nominally 
 under English dominion; and of these there were only four 
 where the English laws were executed imperfectly, and as 
 imperfectly obeyed. At that time, the common saying was 
 — " they dwelt by-west of the law, who dwelt beyond the 
 river Barrow," or about 30 miles from Dublin. When the 
 existing state of the Island came to be laid before Wolsey 
 and his Master, then styled only " Lord of Ireland," out of 
 13 counties specified, eight did not recognise his authority ; 
 and in five others, viz. Louth, Meath, Dublin, Kildare, and 
 Wexford, one half of the people disclaimed that authority. 
 As for the rest of Ireland, 60 districts, then styled regions, 
 were entirely under the dominion of Irish chiefs, and 
 30 others were under the rule of chieftains of pure English 
 blood. Of these ninety great captains, Irish and English, 
 every one of them made " war or peace for himself," 
 without any license from the King of England asked or 
 granted. 
 
 In these circumstances one is prepared for the curious 
 information, but recently divulged, through the government 
 of the present day. Thus, in the official report made to 
 Henry VIII. in 1534, his Grace is informed that " he has 
 " no revenue within Ireland, except within the counties of 
 " Meath, Dublin, and Louth" — that in the greater part of 
 even these counties, " the English tongue is turned into the 
 Irish tongue — that it is expedient that every Lord and 
 Gentleman within these counties be constrained to put their 
 children to cities and towns, where they may learn English 
 speech." In the " Memorial for winning (even) Lcitister" in 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vii 
 
 1537, the English government is informed, that " Because 
 this country, called Leinster, and the situation thereof, is 
 unknown to the King and his Council, it is to be under- 
 stood that Leinster is the fifth part of Ireland, containing 
 from Dublin to Waterford, by the sea coast, directly against 
 North Wales and South Wales. In this portion is there 
 five English shires, Dublin, Kildare, Wexford, Kilkenny, 
 and Carlow — but between that part of these which is obe- 
 dient to the King and the sea side, more than thirty miles 
 are uiider the government and defence of Irishmen of Irish 
 language." — " These men have the best and most entire 
 part of Leinster, as it is situate, by reason of the fertility of 
 the ground and the adjoining of the sea coasts to the same. 
 They make as many horsemen as be within the King's five 
 shires," so that, " When the King's men resort to the defence 
 of their border on the west, they be many times in more 
 danger behind them." 
 
 Whatever purpose therefore was now fermenting in the 
 Royal mind, such was the existing state even of Leinster, to 
 say nothing of Ulster, Meath, Munster, or Connaught — a fine 
 country, placed geographically in the very bosom of Bri- 
 tain. It is granted that throughout the year 1536, Henry 
 had been receiving most cruel advice from his officials in 
 Ireland. The English there, it was confessed, required to 
 be reformed, but the Irish were to be first enfeebled, then 
 exiled ! Andliow enfeebled ? u The very living of the Na- 
 tive Irish," it was coolly reported, " doth clearly consist in 
 two things" — corn and cattle. " Take these away, and 
 they are past for ever to recover, or yet annoy any subject in 
 Ireland J Take first from them their corns, and as much as 
 cannot be husbanded — burn and destroy the same, so as the 
 Irishry shall not live thereupon !"* " Then, to have their 
 
 * CORN and cattle, observe ; not potatoes, as at present, nor for many a day. The 
 Quarterly Review, in an article full of sound advice, adverting to an Irishman's fond- 
 ness for potatoes, has said — M it is the lowest possible food, and a nation driven to rest 
 satisfied with the minimum of subsistence has nothing else to fall back on when this 
 fails." True ; but the important, though stinging, question returns— who drove them 
 to rest thus satisfied } They did not run into this state. The fearful forray was about 
 
viii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 cattle and beasts; which will be most hardiest to come by, 
 for they shall be in woods, and yet by reason that the 
 several armies, as I devised, should proceed at once — in 
 continuance of one year, the same cattle shall be dead, de- 
 stroyed, stolen, strayed, and eaten !" Such was the diaboli- 
 cal counsel presented to Cromwell, Henry's Vicegerent and 
 Vicar General of England, by Robert Cowley, afterwards 
 Master of the Rolls in Dublin. Allen, the present Master, 
 had also advised, " it is expedient that the people be com- 
 pelled to teach their children, or cause them to be taught 
 the English language !" 
 
 Before this, however, Henry VIII. had made up his own 
 mind as to the course he would pursue. A great change 
 had taken place in England. The Monarch was exulting in 
 the exercise of a power he had never grasped till lately, and 
 one unknown to any Sovereign in Europe at the moment. 
 Having already pronounced that there was to be no tan- 
 tum or quantum , as to his Supremacy, he now presumed to 
 suppose that he " ought of duty" to reign over the minds as 
 well as the bodies of his subjects ; and for this end, that he 
 had only to dictate what they were to do, and what believe. 
 Their duty to him, was to be summed up in one word- 
 
 to commence, but it cannot be too generally known to the present generation, that 
 the potato first introduced by Sir Walter Raleigh at Youghal, and afterwards cul- 
 tivated, was long viewed with dislike by the Native Irish ; and the use of it, all that 
 time, was characteristic of the English Settlers. They were the original planters of 
 what has been styled by the Royal Agricultural Society of Ireland, the upas tree of 
 Irish agriculture. The aborigines, in truth, finding out, at last, that the potato 
 crop could not be so easily burnt or destroyed, must be allowed to bear its ample 
 share in accounting for the spread of a root, now grown where corn once grew, or 
 cattle roamed ; and the hideous result is at this moment in the act of being read, with 
 perplexity, by the advisers of the Crown, or Cabinet Council of England, in the failure 
 of the crop of 1845. 
 
 It will indeed be a memorable occurrence, even in British history, if the failure, or 
 rather the disease, in a crop of the lowest vegetable used for human food, should prove 
 the oecasion not merely of more attention being directed to IRELAND, but the 
 abandonment of a policy as to Commerce in general which has kept us separate from 
 the rest of the World. Should such be the event, let it never be forgotten that this is 
 the third time in which the state of Ireland has proved the point of such perplexity 
 to our Statesmen as to occasion their resignation of office. While, therefore, the ali- 
 ment of the Aborigines must very soon force this people upon our sympathy, is the 
 deplorable existing condition of their minds to be passed over still, as a matter of no 
 account ? 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 ix 
 
 obey. In Ireland, however, he had now to deal with a very 
 different race, and a people who did not understand one 
 word of his preposterous language. The entire population 
 of the Island, which at present is approaching to nine mil- 
 lions, did not then amount to one! Indeed, the aggregate 
 supposed to have then existed has been frequently rated at 
 only eight hundred thousands. But whatever was the 
 number, the great majority evidently consisted of people to 
 whom the Irish language was vernacular, " the English 
 tongue not being in use above twenty miles in compass/' 
 
 To such a tyrannical Monarch, however, now in the 
 height of his delirium, nothing seemed to be impossible. 
 He blindly imagined that he could make the people in 
 Ireland not only dress as he desired them, but think as he 
 dictated, and actually speak what language he pleased, at 
 least " in all places, and by all men that professed their due 
 obedience/' Such were his own terms on record. 
 
 The tortuous movements of our despotic Monarch have 
 not even yet been exhausted by the historian. One at least 
 has never been even pointed out. In the first week of 
 August 1537, Henry had given his sanction to the Bible 
 translated into English by Tyndale. It was but a few days 
 before this, or upon Thursday the 31st of July, at Sunning- 
 hill, in Windsor Forest, bordering on Ascot Heath, that he 
 had affixed his royal signature to a measure which has 
 proved the bane of Ireland from that day to this. This 
 was contained in his instructions to four men, Sentleger, 
 Powlet, Moyle, and Berners. They were sent over as 
 " Commissioners of the Court of Augmentation" a title deeply 
 ominous of consequences. They were to take " the perfect 
 extent of all the King's revenues in Leinster, and examine 
 what lands lay waste but they were also to carry certain 
 Acts, delivered to them under the great seal of England, 
 to be passed in the Irish Parliament, warning sharply the 
 Deputy Governor and his Council against the slightest 
 resistance. Here there was an Act for the utter extinction 
 of all Pontifical authority — another, for obtaining the First 
 fruits of all the Clergy from the Archbishops and Bishops 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 downward— but above all, an Act, affecting not only the 
 garb, but the very tongue of every man, woman, and child, 
 who could not speak English. It was entitled an " Act for 
 wearing the English habit, and the usage of the English 
 tongue, in all places, and by all men that profess their due 
 obedience." His despotic Majesty concluded by an Act in- 
 hibiting all alliances with the wild Irish, as they were de- 
 signated. On which side the wildness lay, three centuries 
 have now explained. 
 
 After this, one might have expected to find some notice 
 respecting education in English, and, considering what had 
 happened in England, some intimation of the Sacred Vo- 
 lume having been sent over. But so far from this, not a 
 single school was opened by authority, not a single copy of 
 the Scriptures sent, till long after Henry was in his grave ; 
 nay, as far as we know, not one copy even in the reign of Ed- 
 ward, and, of course, no attention was paid to any thing of 
 the kind under his sister Mary. Twenty-two years after 
 Henry's death, in the year 1559 we shall find that an 
 English Bible had been set up in two churches at Dublin ; 
 but this only proved that nothing had been done for the 
 people, for, not understanding it, many were disgusted. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Native Irish went on increasing, as they 
 have increased. If the entire population in Henry's days 
 was eight hundred thousands, then, within the last forty 
 years, more people have come out of Ireland, than the whole 
 that were then in it. Even in ten years, or from 1831 to 
 1841, more than 400,000 went to the colonies ; the num- 
 ber in Britain, Guernsey, and Jersey, is at present above 
 half a million, and in both divisions a large proportion are 
 Irish speaking people. Nor will these facts surprise any 
 who have attended to the population of Ireland on the 
 whole. To go back no farther than a century and a half 
 ago, let the following aggregates be observed. In the year 
 1695 the entire population was rated at 1,034,102 ; in 1735 
 at 2,010,221 ; in 1788 at 3,900,000 ; in 1801 the census 
 was 5,395,450; in 1821 6,801,827; in 1831 7,767,401; 
 and in 1841—8,179,339. The emigration since 1831 must 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 be added to the last census ; but by the next, Ireland will 
 contain more than nine millions, or as many inhabitants 
 as were in all England and Wales in 1801. 
 
 For the proportion of this people whose minds can be 
 reached, and effectually informed as to their best interests, 
 only through the medium of their own Irish, or daily ver- 
 nacular tongue, we refer to page 132 ; and now only quote 
 the opinion of a candid Reviewer in the Quarterly for Sep- 
 tember 1841 : — " The calculation of one-half of the popula- 
 tion as speaking Irish may seem to be exaggerated ; but 
 considering that, to come under this class, it is not neces- 
 sary to be ignorant of English, and that, as a means of 
 secret (social and heartfelt) communication, the Irish is em- 
 ployed generally by the lower orders, we think it not unfair." 
 As for those who, for fifty years, have been always talking 
 of the Irish tongue dying away, we regard this as the effect 
 of indifference, or want of sympathy for the people, of 
 which the eastern parts of Ireland itself still furnish far too 
 many proofs. It is more imperative to notice the language 
 but recently held on this side of the channel. 
 
 An able Digest of the evidence before committees of the 
 Houses of Lords and Commons, in the year 1837, thus be- 
 gins — " The education of the Irish peasantry has more or less 
 engaged the attention of the British Government since the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth, and various plans have been de- 
 vised for effecting so important an object." Yet among all 
 these various plans, throughout three hundred years, is it 
 not passing strange, that the attention has never once been 
 seriously directed to the very simple expedient of the Irish 
 alphabet 1 Nor has a single Irish School, properly so called, 
 ever been opened or even encouraged by authority ! Of the 
 Gaelic Schools, already referred to, on this side of the water, 
 Queen Victoria is the Patroness, and to them her Majesty 
 has subscribed, but nothing analogous to this exists in Ire- 
 land. 
 
 At a still later period, or 1841, we have the last census, 
 in a folio volume, containing 900 pages of letter-press ; a 
 production so beautifully got up that there is nothing equal 
 
xii 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 to it on the continent of Europe. Besides many laboriously 
 framed tables, it even includes maps, — a map of population 
 — a map of house accommodation — a map of property in 
 live stock, and above all, a map of education, pointing out, 
 by lighter and darker shades, its prevalence or destitution. 
 Yet throughout the entire document, no more notice is 
 taken of the Irish vernacular tongue than if it had no ex- 
 istence, or were as extinct as the Cornish is in Cornwall; in- 
 stead of being spoken as duly as the sun rises and sets. Day 
 after day, the first words of myriads in the morning, and 
 the last at night, are in their own ancient mother tongue ; 
 a language in which the aged have learned to read with more 
 patience than children, and in a country where an old man 
 has been known to travel for miles, merely to buy a pair of 
 spectacles, that he might commence his Alphabet ! No, the 
 map referred to only prolongs a delusion. It is a map of 
 the extent to which English education alone lias been forced 
 in Ireland, similar to the exploded experiment that was 
 tried in the Scots Highlands and Islands. There they be- 
 gan, and at the end of a hundred years, the Gaelic speaking 
 population had doubled. There was no remedy but to be- 
 gin as already detailed, and now the fixed law is, with all 
 parties, that wherever the parents speak Gaelic, there, in 
 that tongue, education must commence. See page 215. No 
 human power can rob a people of their mother tongue. 
 Besides, an Irish speaking family is only to be gained 
 through the heart. Why then talk of various plans having 
 been devised, from the ancient days of Elizabeth, and pass 
 over or despise the key, the only key to the heart 1 
 
 Yet still we certainly are approaching, however slowly, 
 to better days, and the soid-less project of Henry the Eighth, 
 so doggedly pursued, will be consigned first to merited dis- 
 grace, and then to oblivion. Meanwhile, in the worthy 
 Irish Professor, or Teacher, whether at Dublin or Belfast, 
 both of whom should be more generously supported, in the 
 Irish Ministers of truth, however few and far-between, who 
 should be more warmly encouraged, and in the Irish cabin, 
 at night-fall, where Irish reading is listened to for hours, or 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xiii 
 
 the art of reading it is being acquired by old and young, 
 many besides the writer now rejoice. This is a flame that 
 will no more be quenched than it was in Britain three 
 centuries ago. 
 
 The Author is perfectly aware that by some individuals 
 in Ireland he has been thought to lay too much stress upon 
 reading the Sacred Scriptures in the language spoken by 
 this people, and on their being addressed in this tongue. 
 To such he might say — consider what these have done for 
 Britain, and the same instrumentality will insure a similar 
 effect in any country ; but leaving others to decide for 
 themselves, he must act on his own convictions, and for 
 these he has no apology to offer. For thirty years, con- 
 fessedly, he has been eager that to his fellow subjects, the 
 Native Irish, the path to the fountain for both sin and sor- 
 row should be laid open, and made as plain and patent as 
 was the ancient road to the city of Refuge. But for the 
 present, one reason only may be expressed in the language 
 of an Author, well known in Ireland as well as Britain, 
 and better still in the capital of Italy ; in words, first spoken 
 within the English college at Rome, and re- delivered in 
 London, at the apartments of Cardinal Weld. 
 
 " The study of God's word, and the meditation upon its 
 truths, surely forms our noblest occupation. But when 
 that study is conducted upon severe principles, and with the 
 aid of deep research, it will be found to combine the intellec- 
 tual enjoyment of the mathematician, with the rapture of the 
 poet, and ever to open new sources of edification and delight." 
 
 Thus recently warned, both from Italy and England, 
 from Rome as well as London, and by such a writer as 
 Nicholas Wiseman, we are reminded of a mystery, fraught 
 with many painful historical reflections. Upon no other 
 two adjacent spots on the face of this earth, has the pleasure 
 arising from this " our noblest occupation," been more en- 
 joyed and less enjoyed, than in the two contiguous islands 
 of Britain and Ireland ! 
 
 This notorious disparity, however, must no longer con- 
 tinue to disgrace us. This shameful blot in the escutcheon 
 
xiv 
 
 PREFACE . 
 
 of Britain must be effaced. Whether any distinct repeal of 
 Henry's barbarous Act in 1537 be necessary, we do not 
 decide ; perhaps this is of inferior moment, except as a dis- 
 claimer of his tyrannical policy. But this we know, that 
 there are those in Ireland who have often said — " Let them 
 make what Acts of Parliament they please ; so long as they 
 do not touch the language, we shall keep the people." Yet 
 though the power of the legislature, through Acts of Par- 
 liament, may have sunk to the lowest ebb, there is not a 
 people in the world so open as the Native Irish to Acts of 
 Kindness. Their present condition, in every respect, is but 
 the effect of their unnatural treatment for ages. That not 
 only to touch, but teach, their language, has all along been 
 a plain and imperative duty, had this been no more than 
 the only effectual mode of promoting the use of English, is 
 left to the judgment of the reader of the following pages. 
 But let the no less imperative duty of giving them the 
 Sacred Volume, without note or comment of ours, be felt 
 as it ought ; as well as the obligation to address them in 
 their mother tongue, by language clothed with the meek- 
 ness of wisdom, and the tenderness of compassionate love. 
 
 Edinburgh, December 1845. 
 
 The profits of the first edition of this work, published at 
 five shillings and sixpence, and of the second at seven 
 shillings, have been devoted towards the education of the 
 Native Irish in their own language. Whatever profit 
 may arise from the present larger impression at half a 
 crown only, will be applied to the same object. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Primitive Tribes in the west of Europe ; four within the 
 United Kingdom ; in point of number, the Native Irish 
 the most important, though most neglected, .... 1 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 Section I. Literary History — or Gleanings from the 
 Early Ages to the Present Day, including some notice 
 of the most eminent Natives of Ireland ; references to 
 Irish Typography ; and an Account of the translation 
 and printing of the Sacred Volume in the vernacular 
 tongue, 9 
 
 Section II. Schools of Learning — Of early and mo- 
 dern date — some attempts to employ the Native tongue 
 as a branch of Education at home — Schools founded by 
 the Native Irish, or at their instance, for their Educa- 
 tion abroad, 72 
 
 Section III. Oral Instruction — or Historical Notices 
 of the past meagre attempts in preaching through the 
 medium of the Irish language, and the present deplo- 
 rable condition of the Country with regard to a stated 
 Ministry in the language of the people, 93 
 
 The Irish Language. 
 Section IV. Proofs of the extent to which Irish is 
 spoken, or used daily by the Natives as the natural and 
 heartfelt vehicle of their thoughts ; this extent ac- 
 counted for or explained, .• 119 
 
xvi 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 The Islands of Ireland. 
 Section V. These Islands viewed apart by themselves, 
 as an assemblage demanding special notice, 140 
 
 Section VI. Unfounded objections against the employ- 
 ment of the Irish language fully answered. Its neglect 
 has been alike injurious to the progress of English, 
 and that of general knowledge, 155 
 
 THE PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 Section VII. Native Irish Books, or Catalogue of De- 
 sirables for the Native Irish people, 184 
 
 Section VIII. Native Irish Education, through the 
 medium of their own vernacular tongue, either by 
 means of Circulating, Cottage, or Stationary Schools, . 200 
 
 Section IX. Native Irish Ministry — Oral Instruc- 
 tion, or the imperative importance of ministering the 
 Divine Word in a language understood by the People, 218 
 
 Section X. The Author to the Native Irish, espe- 
 cially to such Men among them as are interested in 
 the genuine progress of Education, and Oral Instruc- 
 
 tion throughout their native Island, 239 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Primitive Races — Continental and British Celtic Dia- 
 lects, 253 
 
 Index of Subjects, 271 
 
 Index of Names, . . 275 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Primitive Tribes on the west of Europe; four within the United Kingdom; the 
 public attention far from being sufficiently awakened to the present state of one 
 of these, the aborigines of Ireland ; the importance of farther inquiry into their 
 peculiarly neglected condition. 
 
 Scattered throughout several countries on the western 
 shores of Europe, there are to be found various confessedly 
 ancient tribes of our fellow-men, between which there still 
 exists a marked affinity in point of language. They are 
 generally supposed to be the earliest waves of that tide of 
 population which proceeded westward in Europe, till stop- 
 ped in their progress by the sea, and most of them occupy 
 at this moment nearly the same ground which they did in 
 the days of Caesar. If the sources of some of those rivers 
 with which we have been long acquainted, have hitherto 
 baffled all the enterprise of our travellers, so has the origin 
 of those primitive races, the research of the learned. Their 
 dialects being the children of one common Parent, and this 
 unquestionably a very ancient tongue, these various tribes 
 of course, belong to a people correspondent^ ancient ; but 
 the neglect of their dialects has, in its measure, contributed 
 to a discordance of sentiment with regard to the people. In 
 the absence or deficiency of other data, languages have not 
 unfrequently served to fix the antiquity and lineage of a 
 people, and hence they have even been styled the pedigree 
 of nations. 
 
 But whatever may be the opinion formed as to their 
 descent, the treatment of these distinct races is a question of 
 far greater importance than that of their origin or anti- 
 quity ; and it is certainly singular that every thing which 
 has hitherto been done for them in the business of educa- 
 tion or moral improvement, has been the result, not of any 
 kind and considerate legislative interference or enactment, 
 but of individual philanthropy and much entreaty. Pre- 
 judices of the narrowest order have been cherished for ages, 
 articularly with regard to the language in which they 
 ave been born, and left far behind in the march of im- 
 
 A 
 
2 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 provement, their present state has actually been ascribed, 
 and even lately, to inaptitude for civilization, instead of its 
 true and only cause, — the want of a vernacular literature, 
 and of intelligent discourse with them in their own tongue. 
 The language spoken in the vicinity of each of these tribes 
 is of course that of the reigning power, and for ages most 
 of them have been told that their only chance for elevation 
 lay through that medium, though they did not understand 
 it, nor do they understand it now. 
 
 These remarks apply in all their force, not only to the 
 Basque language spoken both in Spain and France, and of 
 which there are at this moment several dialects, and the 
 Bas Bretagne spoken by a large population in Brittany, 
 Belle Isle, and on the banks of the Loire running in to- 
 wards the centre of France, but they apply to four dialects 
 of the same parent spoken within the United Kingdom, in- 
 cluding at least four millions of British subjects, viz. the 
 Welsh, the Manx, the Gaelic, and the Native Irish. In- 
 dividual benevolence and earnest pleading have at last 
 achieved for Wales, and in part for the Highlands and the 
 Isle of Man, what ought to have been effected in ages long 
 before the present generation. Indeed Wales, as it will 
 afterwards be shown, now stands pre-eminent among these 
 Celtic tribes for the advantages which she enjoys ; but in 
 Ireland, where at least three millions converse in Irish daily, 
 to say nothing at present respecting oral instruction, the 
 business of education in the vernacular tongue is only just 
 begun ! It is not that there have been no resolutions passed 
 by the legislature in former ages, after deliberate and fre- 
 quent discussion, terminating uniformly in one opinion, — 
 the necessity for employing the language spoken daily ; 
 but in the following pages the reader will find that all these 
 resolutions were as nothing, — that in no instance did they 
 lead to any course of action, — that each of them was but 
 the expression of an unpursued order — Vox et prceterea 
 nihil. He will find that so entirely has the subject been 
 neglected or opposed, that it is now above one hundred and 
 seventeen years since the last of these public expressions of 
 a sense of duty was uttered ; and that, though Irish educa- 
 tion and oral instruction were precisely what this people at 
 that time required, and require still, then it was that, in 
 regard to these subjects, all parties at home drew the cur- 
 tains and retired to rest. In the following pages, the reader 
 will have frequent opportunities of observing, what others 
 were doing elsewhere, while they slept. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 3 
 
 In becoming more intimately acquainted with the sister 
 kingdom, it will become a received maxim, that whatever 
 evils exist, they are not to be, as they have often been, all 
 run into one, or ascribed to one source, and of course one 
 remedy or one species of benevolence cannot meet her con- 
 dition. Each of those evils requires to be individually and 
 wisely met, with patience and kindness. Particular depart- 
 ments of her four provinces differ from each other as much, 
 as if they were a thousand miles apart, — the main land is 
 surrounded, especially on the west and south, by thousands 
 of Islanders, living detached in the adjoining seas, and the 
 whole population of seven millions and a half is divided 
 into two distinct classes, who daily speak two very different 
 languages. It is to one of these languages, the Native Irish, 
 and the people who use it constantly, that our attention 
 must be confined in the subsequent pages. 
 
 If an accurate knowledge of the real state and condition 
 of many a neglected district in Ireland be desired, it is ab- 
 solutely necessary that a vigilant eye be fixed on this lan- 
 guage. For illustration, I may ask, what should we think 
 of any man, when referring even to Scotland, who should 
 affirm, that in reference to it, there can be no pressing oc- 
 casion for carrying education much farther at present, as 
 the average now able to read there is about the highest in 
 the world. " If," he says, " you have one in nine, if not 
 eight, able to read, what can you say to other countries ?" 
 I reply, we have first to say, in reference to Scotland, there 
 happens to be another language spoken there, and that the 
 average in our Highlands and Islands is but as one to six- 
 teen or seventeen. Now in the same manner, when any 
 writer with regard to Ireland numbers up her 600,000 Eng- 
 lish scholars, then looks at the average as one to twelve or 
 thirteen, and begins to speculate as to the state of education — 
 we have to add — but there is another language spoken there ; 
 and oh what a falling-ofF is here, whether we look at average 
 or particulars! Perhaps not one in sixty able to read, and that 
 only within these very few years, or only one in one hun- 
 dred and fifty under tuition, is an average sufficiently me- 
 lancholy. But every average supposes certain particulars 
 or exceptions, compared with which the average itself would 
 be a paradise. Now for the actual state of things, whether 
 as to education or oral instruction, in certain Irish moun- 
 tains and plains and islands, we must refer the reader to 
 what follows. 
 
 Did this people constitute only a small proportion of the 
 a 2 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 population, our duty by them would be the same ; but 
 when their number in comparison with the aggregate body 
 has become so large, it is not saying too much when we 
 affirm, that there is nothing which essentially regards their 
 best interests, that can safely be viewed as inferior to a sub- 
 ject of national importance. It is not denied that in con- 
 templating the important interests of the United Kingdom, 
 generally, the effectual improvement of Ireland is now the 
 question of by far the greatest national importance. It is 
 no longer important to Ireland alone, but almost equally so 
 both to England and Scotland, and that not since the Union 
 only, but since the application of ste#w-navigation. For 
 though always lying in the bosom of Great Britain, as if 
 intended by nature for the most intimate and cordial con- 
 nexion, past ages have shown how possible it was for ' na- 
 tions intersected by a narrow frith' to abhor each other. 
 These days are now past, it is hoped, for ever ; at all events, 
 the state is now o?ie, and the moral condition of any given 
 spot in it must needs become the interest of all, otherwise 
 it cannot now be long before the effects are felt in every 
 corner of the empire. Let not then the present condition 
 of the Native Irish population be disregarded. Setting po- 
 litical union altogether out of view, a bridge across St. 
 George's Channel could not more effectually have opened 
 up Ireland to us, or this country to it, than the invention 
 referred to has done. To check or obstruct intercourse be- 
 tween the people of these lands, if once practicable, is now 
 impossible. The channel between them is now no obstruc- 
 tion, and the people of both countries, to a great degree, 
 like kindred waves, must affect each other, if not mingle 
 into one. Already we have about ninety or one hundred 
 thousand of the Irish in London, about or above thirty 
 thousand in Glasgow and its neighbourhood, to say nothing 
 of other places. 
 
 Past neglect may be regretted ; so it ought to be, and so 
 it will ; but the crisis to which we have come is not to be 
 deplored. It had been far better for both countries had it 
 arrived long since. An interchange of kind offices is now 
 no more a thing of choice, — a matter of option, if we have 
 any regard for the prosperity and morals of Great Britain ; 
 and it is a good thing, when circumstances conspire to ren- 
 der the duty we owe to God and man imperative. If we 
 are governed by sound Christian principle, the improve- 
 ment of such Irish districts must follow as one effect of 
 such frequent intercourse. This may, or, at least, certainly 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 5 
 
 should rouse to the duties of brotherhood, and ultimately 
 increase the sum of national happiness, and peace, and 
 power. 
 
 'Tis thus reciprocating, each with each, 
 Alternately the nations learn and teach ; 
 While Providence enjoins to every soul 
 A union with the vast terraqueous whole. 
 
 In such circumstances, the history of a people, with 
 reference to their intellectual and moral condition, must 
 prove interesting as well as profitable, and an acquaintance 
 with it is an incumbent duty. But the history of the Na- 
 tive Irish, as such in any sense, has never been written. 
 Noticed they have been, casually, in connexion with Dan- 
 ish and Norman invaders, — with Saxon, and English, and 
 Scottish settlers ; but, viewed as an ancient and distinct 
 race, with a language peculiar to themselves, to pursue the 
 thread of their narrative is, at present, next to impossible. 
 The following pages, therefore, must be considered merely 
 as an attempt, accurate, I believe, as far as it goes, but still 
 only an essay, which may perhaps be of some utility to a 
 future historian. 
 
 At the same time, the object in preparing these pages 
 was neither the amusement of the writer, nor the mere en- 
 tertainment of his reader. Interest him, he hopes, they 
 will, but something beyond mere interest is intended. As 
 to their moral condition in past ages and the present hour, 
 here are certain tracts of our own country or kingdom laid 
 open for consideration, but with no other view than to sug- 
 gest how it is possible to convey something more than 
 fugitive good, or temporal happiness only, to a long-ne- 
 glected though warm-hearted people. When we say long- 
 neglected, the reader will find that this is spoken advisedly, 
 not in ignorance of all, or rather the little that has been 
 done in past ages for the Native Irish, or of all that has 
 been effected or proposed, within the last ten or fifteen years. 
 Yet, with every disposition to rejoice in the recent exercise 
 of more benevolent feeling, it may still be added, when look- 
 ing at the great body of this people, — without a vernacular 
 literature, without books, without schools, and without the 
 ministration of the divine word in their native language, 
 why marvel at the state of many parts of this fine country i 
 If Wales, unable or unwilling to help herself, which she 
 was not, had been so left, what had been the condition of 
 England ? — If the Highlands and Islands, what the condi- 
 tion of Scotland ? But the population of both these put to- 
 
6 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 gether amounts not to above a third of the Native Irish in 
 number. Beside, the inhabitants of Wales and the High- 
 lands in general dwell apart and alone. It is not so with 
 the Native Irish, as the following statements will prove : — 
 In every province of Ireland, and one might almost say 
 in every county, there are to be found the Irish districts, 
 properly so called. It is repeated, therefore, — without a 
 vernacular literature, and solid Christian oral instruction, 
 among an ancient, shrewd, and interesting people, swarm- 
 ing through every part of the island, are there no specific 
 and appropriate remedies ? When speaking in good earnest 
 of this country, the writer has been too often there, and 
 seen too much of every province, to think for one moment 
 of ascribing its present state to any one cause. He desires 
 not to dwell so much on the presence of evil as the absence 
 of good ; but, until there be conveyed into the possession of 
 this people, through the medium of their daily speech, some 
 of the same blessings, which in ours have raised us to our 
 present level, all other schemes and plans must prove in the 
 infallible result just what they have ever done, — ineffica- 
 cious and vain. 
 
 On both sides of the channel considerable curiosity has 
 recently been excited as to this particular branch of British 
 subjects, but a distinct account of whatever has actually 
 been done by them or for them does not exist. The first 
 Section of this volume, therefore, refers more immediately 
 to men and books ; the second to schools of learning ; the 
 third includes the important subject of oral instruction. 
 These, instead of having any such epithets as literature, 
 learning, or instruction applied to them, some may deno- 
 minate a histoiy or sketch of illiteracy; and, in certain 
 connexions, it will be found, so does the writer. Yet poor 
 as the story is, although centuries are included, and poor as 
 it ever must be, he has preferred the titles given, that, in 
 their extreme poverty, we might read with greater effect, as 
 well our obligations to bring up the arrear, as the extent 
 of obligation manifestly imposed on all who become ac- 
 quainted with the facts of the case. 
 
 The statements given thus far, if impartially considered, 
 involve, it is presumed, an answer to all the objections 
 which have ever been brought against the employment of 
 the Irish language ; but as these give occasion to state vari- 
 ous collateral proofs of the necessity and importance of the 
 vulgar tongue being employed, as the only effectual agent 
 in this instance, just as in every other, the objections them- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 7 
 
 selves, such as they are, have been noticed in the fourth 
 Section. As the extent of the case, — the extent to which 
 the Irish language is in daily use, has been much misun- 
 derstood, and is still much disputed, the fifth Section will 
 furnish the reader with some data, which may enable him 
 to judge for himself. The sixth Section refers to regions 
 in our native land of which most persons have never heard, 
 and of which no distinct account is to be found in books ; 
 but, as the peculiar condition of the Islanders of Ireland 
 was never before brought under the public eye, a hope is 
 indulged that they will not, cannot, now be forgotten. 
 
 As for the desiderata mentioned in the subsequent Sec- 
 tions, the reader had best consult them for himself, though, 
 of course, it is presumed that he has read thus far. But it 
 will there be observed, that the author proposes no additional 
 application to government,* — no new foundations, — the for- 
 mation of no new Society, — no mere resolutions to be passed. 
 The objects are various, and of various character; — some 
 are moral, one is of a sacred nature. In such circumstances, 
 he would rather appeal to the benevolent feeling of many 
 intelligent minds, resident in various parts of Ireland — in 
 various parts of Britain. He has no mere party purpose 
 whatever to serve, and he thinks the reader will watch in 
 vain for any expression throughout these pages indicative 
 of mere party feeling. Still, there is surely enough here, 
 and more than enough to excite the inquiry from many 
 individuals living upon Irish ground — " But is there any 
 way, by which / could contribute some share towards a 
 better day?" Certainly there is; and I trust there will be 
 found at least a little group of humane and intelligent men 
 in the various cities and towns or counties of Ireland, who 
 will be disposed to add, — " Laissez-nous faire" and we 
 shall, should it be necessary, unostentatiously report pro- 
 gress, and tell, not only what is doing, but in what manner 
 others could assist. But in other instances, and ultimately 
 in many, if not in most, even this may not be necessary. 
 It is quite possible to do much good on a limited scale, if 
 energy and perseverance are employed, where there is no 
 incumbent necessity for either saying or writing one word 
 
 * At the same time, although no part of the money already voted has ever been 
 applied to the education of the Native Irish as such, he may surely be permitted to 
 inquire, why, when the vote returns, they should again be forgotten? The King 
 himself annually devotes L.2000 to the Highlands and Islands; and his Majesty is 
 also the Patron of the Gaelic Schools. 
 
 N. B. This is still the case under Her present Majesty. 
 
8 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 respecting it. Time, which is invaluable, is thus redeemed, 
 both to the doer and those who must have stopped to read 
 his communications. In few words, should the writer suc- 
 ceed in promoting a sense of individual responsibility, in 
 awakening a deeper and more enlarged sympathy for this 
 long-neglected people in the hearts of those who ought to 
 be interested, the various and needful remedies will be ap- 
 plied, and his end is gained. But either mode, or both, can 
 by no means supersede the necessity for the attention of 
 others, and on this side of the channel, being drawn to the 
 fulfilment of long-neglected duty towards such a numerous 
 class of fellow-subjects. 
 
 The Irish language itself the writer cannot as yet speak, 
 and perhaps never will. As a medium of communication, 
 therefore, he cannot feel the enthusiastic attachment of a 
 native, and, it is presumed, may therefore be admitted as a 
 safer, if not an unprejudiced witness. But, regarding it as 
 a medium of thought and feeling between the people them- 
 selves, having witnessed for himself the deep hold w 7 hich it 
 has of the heart, he hesitates not to add, that in all the mea- 
 sures here recommended and enforced, the language itself 
 alone will be found to operate like the insertion of leaven, 
 and will lend to each of these measures a corresponding, — 
 an irresistible energy. Meanwhile, if the reader desires to 
 understand the actual condition of this people, the author 
 has only to request that he will suspend his judgment till 
 he has got to the conclusion, and then, taking it all in all, 
 let him say if there is to be found within the limits of this 
 kingdom a case of such urgency, where we are called to an 
 application of the remedy by recollections of past neglect 
 and long delay, at once so numerous and so painful. 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 LITERARY HISTORY; 
 
 Or Gleanings from the Early Ages to the Present Day, including some notice of the 
 most eminent Men ; references to Irish Typography, whether in Britain or on the 
 Continent ; and an Account of the translation and printing of the Sacred Volume 
 In the vernacular tongue. 
 
 In this, as well as the following Section, the ultimate object 
 of the writer is quite specific, though almost unprecedented. 
 From whatever cause, there has long existed such a disposi- 
 tion to accumulate the mere assertions of successive authors, 
 as so many independent proofs of the cultivated state of 
 Ireland in past ages ; such an inclination to exaggerate, or 
 embellish, or theorize, that there has unhappily grown up, 
 in many very intelligent minds, a strong aversion from all 
 candid inquiry into certain parts of Irish history, and more 
 especially into the past circumstances of the aborigines. 
 Even the inquisitive have felt no inclination to turn their 
 eye in this direction, and glancing on such a volume as this, 
 make their escape immediately to those pages which describe 
 the existing state of the country. In the present instance, 
 however, should the reader have only perused the introduc- 
 tion, he is already aware that under this head there is no 
 favourite theory to be intruded, no mere traditions about to 
 be quoted, nor is he to find the slightest tendency to any 
 reliance upon the vague assertions of fabulous narrative. 
 
 The object first in view is simply that of putting upon 
 record, in brief and regular succession, what will ever prove, 
 comparatively, a meagre statement of such particulars as 
 cannot be controverted; and although the author is per- 
 fectly aware that, to certain individuals, the title of this 
 and the following Section must wear somewhat of the air 
 of burlesque, both have been preferred for several important 
 reasons. 
 
 Were these scanty materials, here confirmed by distinct 
 reference to authorities, drawn out merely for the gratifica- 
 tion of the curious in Irish antiquities, or to enlist the Irish 
 reader through the medium of his prejudices ; were no 
 
10 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 practical and even important conclusions to be ultimately 
 founded upon them, the present writer had certainly never 
 submitted a single page of such matter to general readers. 
 But if, on the other hand, there is here to be seen one class 
 of our fellow-subjects, and now confessedly a very large one, 
 among which there have been men, who, though labouring 
 under peculiar disadvantages, were far from indifferent to 
 the cultivation of letters ; if in the very poverty of these two 
 Sections, certain classes in this kingdom, more highly fa- 
 voured, are furnished with a demonstrative proof of the 
 injurious and mistaken policy of past times, as well as the 
 consequent obligations of the present age; and if, at the 
 same time, the account here given, presents in contrast, at 
 once striking and painful, the activity of certain Native 
 Irishmen chiefly abroad, and the indolence, nay, heartless 
 coldness of their British fellow-subjects at home, who, during 
 this long period, were bound by humanity and sound pa- 
 triotism, to have fostered their improvement in useful know- 
 ledge, — then, surely, the writer may rely on the patience of 
 even general readers, for at least one candid perusal. 
 
 To the prejudiced, he is fully aware that all such detail 
 must needs prove irksome, more especially when it becomes 
 condemnatory of past neglect. Ages of long delay and 
 mistaken policy are never likely to be calmly reviewed by 
 them ; but if any substantial benefit is thus likely to ensue 
 to the present generation, the judicious and humane will 
 not at once shut the book. They are fully aware how much 
 the history of the past may, in certain cases, give additional 
 emphasis to the claims and duties of the present day. Let 
 this simple idea be borne in recollection, and then, whether 
 the succeeding statements do not, in the end, bring every 
 candid mind, with peculiar energy, to the far more impor- 
 tant question oi present obligation, let the reader judge. 
 
 Whatever may be presumed as to the character and at- 
 tainments of any race of men, it is only by the examination 
 of their own written compositions, if they have such in pos- 
 session, that we can arrive at any precision respecting the 
 extent of their attainments in literature. With regard to 
 the native Irish, however, such has been the singular fate 
 of their manuscripts, and even such is their present condi- 
 tion, that difficulties almost insuperable present themselves 
 at the threshold of inquiry. Many of these, unquestionably, 
 perished in the Danish invasions of the ninth and tenth 
 centuries, and that singular species of policy which obtained 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 II 
 
 for centuries after the Anglo-Norman invasion, must account 
 for the loss of many others.* Collections of others are, it 
 is true, happily still in existence ; hut whether those of 
 greatest value are to he found in this kingdom, or on the 
 continent, it is impossible for any one to affirm. The pro- 
 bability is, that they are abroad. 
 
 I am aware of the valuable collection in Trinity College, 
 Dublin, of that in the Bodleian Library, and the Cottonian 
 manuscripts, as well as the treasure contained in the 
 Chandos collection at Stowe ; part of which, in four volumes 
 quarto, with a Latin translation, has been recently printed 
 at the charge of the proprietor, his Grace the Duke of 
 Buckingham. Besides these, there are various manuscripts 
 in the possession of Irish gentlemen, members of the Iberno- 
 Celtic Society, and others, some of which are of considerable 
 antiquity. Of the more modern compositions of the two 
 last centuries the titular Bishop of Cork has at least ten 
 thousand quarto pages transcribed. Were, however, the 
 more ancient Irish manuscripts, now in the King's Library 
 at Copenhagen, or the still larger collection in the Royal 
 Library at Paris, examined ; were the Spanish manuscripts 
 deciphered, or the stores which are believed to be deposited 
 in the Vatican, it is almost certain that the claims of the 
 Irish, to a very early cultivation of letters, would be ad- 
 mitted. 
 
 Ancient records, the very deciphering of which was 
 strangely regarded in former times, as tending to endanger 
 the tranquillity of the kingdom, were not likely to remain 
 long in it, and hence we fully account for the foreign col- 
 lections ; but that, under the influence of the same fear, the 
 laudable and natural desire of translating any part of these 
 by a foreign power, should not have been met and gratified, 
 proves the extent to which the dread of Irish composition 
 had gone.t At such a period, prejudice would consign to 
 
 * According to Ussher, in 848, the Bishop of Armagh and all the students were ex- 
 pelled bv Tur<<esius. Armagh, however, was pillaged four times in succession from 
 890 to 913. — Tria Thaum. 296. In 1016 the library again sustained material injury 
 from the Normans and Ostmen. — Ann. Innisfal. and Tria Thaum. 298. Injured by 
 fire in 1074, the city was rebuilt by the year 1091, but in the Anglo-Norman invasion, 
 of 1178 various literary works, which had escaped the Danes, were destroyed in the 
 libraries of the monks," so that the native Irish, in order to harass and disappoint the 
 invaders, began to burn the religious edifices with their own hands. See Annal, 
 quoted by Leland, i. 123. 
 
 t In the reign of Elizabeth, the King of Denmark applied to England for proper per- 
 sons, who might translate the ancient Irish books in his possession ; and an Irishman 
 in London, then in prison, being applied to on the subject, was ready to engage in the 
 work ; but upon a council being called, a certain member, it is said, who may be 
 nameless, opposed the scheme, lest it should be prejudicial to the English interest. 
 
12 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 oblivion whatever came within its power. Indeed, until 
 the reign of James L, if not later, it seems to have been 
 an object to discover every literary remain of the Old Irish, 
 with a view to its being either destroyed or concealed.* At 
 the same time, no individual can, even at present, distinctly 
 inform us, whether what we have in our possession be of 
 real value or not, or whether these manuscripts are not 
 nearly the only remaining source from which light might 
 be thrown on the ancient history of Ireland, and perhaps 
 discover to us some of their ideas respecting other countries 
 as well as their own. The stores even in Dublin have never 
 been impartially and thoroughly canvassed, nor does even 
 a complete Catalogue Raisonm of the collection in Trinity 
 College exist. 
 
 1 may repeat it, therefore, that the actual state of Irish 
 manuscript, for these last two hundred years, is one of the 
 most striking illustrations of the power of prejudice, as to 
 one branch of our national history, to which any historian 
 can point. In the most ancient and curious, which, I pre- 
 sume, must be abroad, historical narration there must be, 
 of whatever value ; assertions also, many, in which the 
 author had no motive to falsify, though in various instances 
 he might prove to be mistaken. That the Irish language 
 is the repository of either much literary excellence, or valu- 
 able historic information, no one is less disposed to assert 
 than the present writer. All that he means to affirm is, 
 that the amount of information in these numerous written 
 compositions, no man can tell; they have never been 
 thoroughly examined — weighed in the balance with con- 
 temporary manuscripts, and found inferior. We have been 
 printing, very properly, ancient and modern Greek in 
 parallel columns, — Turkish for the Turk, and struggling 
 hard to decipher the hieroglyphics of Egypt ; but the re- 
 cords of one branch of the British population are still to be 
 explored. Of the manuscripts said to be in Spain, no one 
 informs us whether they are in the Escurial, or at Sala- 
 manca, Alcala, or elsewhere. Of the King's Library at 
 Copenhagen, as there has never yet been a printed catalogue, 
 nor the written one completed, what those manuscripts 
 were, which a former monarch wished to have translated, 
 we are yet to be told. In Paris, by a few these manuscripts 
 may be known to exist ; — in the Vatican they have slum- 
 
 * Webb's Analysis, p. 121. Dub. 1791. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 13 
 
 bered since, and from before, the days of Wadding. Frag- 
 ments have been translated from a few at home, and if all 
 the rest are of no higher value, we should have the less 
 reason to regret their neglect ; but chance specimens from 
 a body of written composition are not like the specimens of 
 most other things. In our present state, there is no judici- 
 ous man who would hazard more than conjecture, and, per- 
 haps, add, — before you decide, examine, at least, what seem 
 to be the most valuable, and are most valued in different 
 libraries ; and, before you return your verdict, forget not the 
 relative character of other nations at the same period. At 
 present we are prepossessed with unexamined opinions ; and 
 the positive assertions of national prejudice, whether for or 
 against the antiquity or value of Irish writing, have yet to 
 be met by a positive and candid examination of the writing 
 itself. At all events, there is one evil which has hitherto 
 pursued the antiquities of Ireland, " that the writers in 
 general, who have known her language, have been deficient 
 in critical knowledge ; while those who have possessed the 
 genuine spirit of criticism, have not only been ignorant of 
 her ancient tongue, but despised it." The language, how- 
 ever, of a people, which is as copious as our own, if not 
 more so, can never prove a proper object of contempt ;* 
 and the spirit which has begun to shew itself in the nine- 
 teenth century, if it only continue, will at last do justice to 
 this long-neglected race. 
 
 That Irish literature, properly so called, should be in its 
 present condition, is not owing to there having been no 
 anxiety expressed by others respecting it. Nearly a hundred 
 years ago, we find even Dean Swift, who was certainly no 
 friend to the language itself, requesting the Duke of Chandos 
 to restore to Ireland, by presenting to the library of Trinity, 
 then newly erected, a large quantity of her ancient records, 
 on paper and parchment, then in his Grace's possession, 
 which had been collected, chiefly by Sir James Ware, and 
 brought to England by Lord Clarendon.f These, I believe, 
 are still among the manuscripts at Stowe. 
 
 Edmund Burke also expressed much anxiety respecting 
 the translation of these Irish records, and even prevailed on 
 Sir John Seabright to send his manuscripts to Ireland for 
 translation. The same feeling on this subject has also pre- 
 . vailed on the Continent. To quote only one instance : — 
 
 * O'Reilly's Irish and English Dictionary (the last published) has upwards of 
 50,000 vocables. t Letter, dated 31st August 1734. 
 
 B 
 
14 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 " C'est un principe incontestable, que, sur l'histoire de 
 chaque pays, les annales nationales, quand elles sont an- 
 ciennes, authentiques, et reconnues pour telles par les 
 etrangers, meritent plus de foi que les annales etrangeres." 
 — " Plusieurs sgavans etrangers reconnoissent que les Irian- 
 dois ont des annales d'une antiquite tres respectable, et 
 d'une authenticite a toute epreuve."* 
 
 In the year 1757, we find Dr Johnson writing to Dr 
 O'Connor : — " I have long wished that the Irish literature 
 were cultivated. Ireland is known by tradition to have been 
 the seat of piety and learning ; and surely it would be very 
 acceptable to those who are curious, either in the original 
 of nations, or the affinity of languages, to be further in- 
 formed of the revolutions of a people so ancient, and once 
 so illustrious. — I hope you will continue to cultivate this 
 kind of learning, which has lain so long neglected, and 
 which, if it be suffered to remain in oblivion for another 
 century, may, perhaps, never be retrieved." 
 
 Twenty years after this, Johnson is writing to the same 
 individual, and on the same subject : — " If I have ever dis- 
 appointed you, give me leave to tell you that you have like- 
 wise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irish 
 antiquity, and large publications in the Irish language : but 
 the world still remains as it was, doubtful and ignorant. 
 What the Irish language is in itself, and to what languages 
 it has affinity, are very interesting questions, which every 
 man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or his- 
 torical curiosity. Dr Leland begins his history too late ; 
 the ages which deserve an exact inquiry are those times, 
 for such there tvere, when Ireland was the school of the west, 
 the quiet habitation of sanctity and literature. If you could 
 give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation from 
 its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, 
 you would amplify knowledge with new views and new ob- 
 jects. Set about it, therefore, if you can ; do what you can 
 easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, 
 and leave the superstructure to posterity. "t 
 
 * Journal des Sgavans, October, 1764. 
 
 t Boswell's Life, anno 1777. The words in Italics were misquoted by Dr Campbell 
 in his Strictures, " if such times there were" although he was actually the bearer 
 of the letter to O'Connor. 
 
 For a specimen of the Irish remains still left in our own country, see the Transac- 
 tions of the Iberno-Celtic Society for 1820, vol. i. part 1. in which upwards of a thou- 
 sand separate tracts are mentioned. Though many of these are of no importance but 
 as curiosities, the second part promises the cataiogue of others which bear on the 
 history and antiquities of the country. It is also very desirable that Mr Groves should 
 publish his " Irish Historical Library," for which he has issued proposals,— as a cor- 
 rection and enlargement of Bishop Nicolson is truly a desideratum. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 15 
 
 The native Irish, it is well known, lay claim to high an- 
 tiquity with regard to literary pursuits, and the disposition 
 to grant this, to a certain extent, seems to be rather on the 
 increase. That a prejudice should have existed was not 
 wonderful. The colloquial dialect itself having been actually 
 outlawed at an early age, and the policy which dictated this 
 measure having been pursued for ages, it was to be expected, 
 in the nature of things, that corresponding feelings would 
 ensue as to all their written compositions. The reader, 
 however, it is repeated, need not be alarmed at the idea of 
 being about to be involved in the labyrinth of Irish anti- 
 quities, or lost in the traditions of a fabulous age. At the 
 same time, before coming to periods of indubitable certainty, 
 it is but fair that he should be put in possession of a very 
 few particulars, which may now be regarded as of equal 
 credibility with those of Saxon or Norman history ; although, 
 when speaking of literature or learned men, in relation to 
 those remote ages, the existing state of every other nation 
 in Europe is presumed to be kept in view. It was then but 
 a portion of the population, and, comparatively, a very 
 small one, who possessed books or literature ; for it is only 
 since the invention of printing, or rather in our own 
 times, that these are becoming the property of nations at 
 large. 
 
 Every reader of history is familiar with the difference be- 
 tween the seventh, eighth, and ninth, and the three follow- 
 ing centuries. In Irish history there will be found a striking 
 correspondence with the general idea entertained as to these 
 two periods. The early invasions of Ireland by the Danes 
 are coincident with the appearance of learned men from that 
 country in Britain, and on the continent of Europe. This 
 may enable us to form some idea of the land which gave 
 them birth and education ; and serve to show, whether it 
 can stand a comparison with the Saxon or Continental 
 literature of these times, when pretensions to a certain ex- 
 tent of knowledge are not now treated with contempt. 
 
 With the existence of Patric, the mission of Palladius, or 
 exertions of Columba, we do not interfere; but, whatever 
 may be said of Ireland at that or an earlier period, by the 
 seventh century there certainly must have been something 
 inviting in the island, before it could become the place of 
 resort. Bede states, that then many Anglo-Saxons, of the 
 noble and middle classes, left their country, and went there 
 to study the Sacred Writings, — that the Irish received them 
 hospitably, supplying them with books and gratuitous in- 
 B2 
 
16 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 struction * It was towards the close of the seventh century, 
 that Alfred, the Northumbrian king, in his youth, volun- 
 tarily went into Ireland, that he might pursue his studies, 
 and of whom it was said, that the books revered by the 
 Christians so engrossed his attention, as to procure for him 
 the character of being most learned in the Scriptures.t 
 This account is in some degree strengthened by a poetical 
 manuscript in Irish, of which he w T as the reputed author. 
 The subject of it is "Ireland, and the things to be found 
 there, "j 
 
 About the same period, Willebrod or Willibrord of North- 
 umbria proceeded to Ireland, the man who went as a Chris- 
 tian missionary into Friesland, and ultimately settling at 
 Wittenburg, now Utrecht, founded its school. Alcuine, the 
 Anglo-Saxon, who afterwards wrote his life, affirms, that he 
 " studied twelve years in Ireland, under masters of high re- 
 putation, being intended for a preacher to many people." 
 Willibrord died in Eptenarch in 739. § 
 
 " The best writers among the Saxons," says Warton, 
 " flourished about the eighth century. These were Aid- 
 helm, Ceolfride, Alcuine, and Bede, with whom I must also 
 join King Alfred." 
 
 The Latin compositions of the first-mentioned are then 
 said to have been " deemed extraordinary," and to have 
 " excited the admiration of other countries," || — a commen- 
 dation, however, which will disappoint any reader of the 
 present day who looks into his writings, owing to his passion 
 for alliteration, and his ungovernable fancy. But still, for 
 whatever learning he possessed, he was materially indebted 
 to Maildulf, an Irishman, who had taken up his abode at 
 Malmesbury. Under this tutor, who supported himself by 
 his school, Aldhelm became versed in both Latin and Greek, 
 
 * Bede, b. III. c. 27 & 28. See also Turner's History of the Angrlo-Saxons, 3d edit, 
 vol. I. 372. vol. III. 368- t Bede, Hist. p. 300. Turner, I. 377. This Alfred of 
 
 Northumbria, who is sometimes confounded with Alfred the Great, appears in Bede 
 as the first literary king among the Anglo-Saxons. 
 
 ± A copy, preserved in an old and valuable vellum manuscript, is now in the library 
 of W. Monck Mason, Esq. See Iberno-Celt. Trans, p. 48. The name given by the 
 Irish to Alfred was Flan-fionn. 
 
 § Vit. VVillib. lib. i. et ii. The ideas of Alcuine may be inferred from his views of 
 the Scriptures, as expressed by himself. — " Study Christ," he says, " as foretold in the 
 books of the prophets, and as'exhibited in the Gospels ; and when you find him, do 
 not lose him ; but introduce him into the home of thy heart, and make him the ruler 
 of thy life. Love him as thy Redeemer and thy Governor, and as the Dispenser of 
 all thy comforts. Keep his commandments, because in them is eternal life." Alcuine 
 Op. p. 1637. And again, in writing to a scholar: — "I wish the four Gospels, instead of 
 the twelve Eneids, filled vour breast. — Read diligently, I beseech you, the Gospels of 
 Christ."— Pages 1548 and 1561. 
 
 II Warton's History of Poetry, 8vo, I. cxxvii. Cambden's Wiltshire, p. 242. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 17 
 
 &nd, though he pursued other studies under Adrian of 
 Naples, an African, then in Britain, his earnest desire was 
 to have returned to Maildulf, for whom he seems to have 
 cherished the strongest regard. — " I confess," he says, "my 
 dearest, whom I embrace with the tenderness of pure affec- 
 tion, that when, about three years ago, I left your social in- 
 tercourse, and withdrew from Kent, my littleness still was 
 inflamed with an ardent desire for your society. I should 
 have thought of it again, as it is my wish to be with you, 
 if the course of things and the change of time would have 
 suffered me."* 
 
 Some of the most eminent among the Irish of those times 
 were Albin and Clement, Claudius, Sedulius, Duncan, 
 Erigena, Dungal, and others. 
 
 Now, in the age of Alcuine and Bede, no mean jealousy 
 existed as to the attainments of these men, or the eminence 
 of their country. The allusions which they make both to 
 them and to it are frequent, and are beginning to be re- 
 garded with the same candour which is justly paid to their 
 own acquirements. If Alcuine is admitted to have been the 
 instructor of Charlemagne, why not admit his authority for 
 Clement being one of his Irish assistants at Paris, and 
 Albin at Ticinum or Pavia, the two earliest schools of 
 learning in Europe? Whatever truth there is in the state- 
 ment of Notker Balbalus, that, upon their arrival in France 
 from Ireland, they proclaimed " that they had wisdom to 
 sell, and demanded only food and raiment for reward/' — tho 
 tradition, that they were engaged by Charles, stands on the 
 same foundation with the best authenticated traditions of 
 the times.f 
 
 As for Claudius and Sedulius, these are the two natives of 
 Ireland on whom Ussher mainly depended in his "discourse 
 on the religion anciently professed by the Irish and British." 
 The commentary of Claudius on the Galatians is printed, J 
 and his work on Matthew is in the British Museum. § An 
 ancient copy of Sedulius on the Epistles of Paul is now be- 
 fore me, which I have frequently consulted with pleasure. || 
 
 * Alfred's Bede, v. c. 18. Malms, de Pont. 3. Gale, 398. Turner's History, iii. 375. 
 t Ware's Writers of Ireland and others. John Mailros, a Scot, was also engaged at 
 Ticinum. 
 ± Biblioth. Magna Patr. p. 794. 
 
 § Bib. Rag. 2, c. 10 and 4, c. 8. Murat. Antiq. Ital. I. p. 814. 
 
 II " Sedulii Scoti Hyberniensis, in omnesd. Pauli Epistolas Annotationes, <£rc. 
 Basileae, per Hen. Petrum, 1538." In this volume, out of ten or more authors quoted, 
 Marcion, Aquila, Jerome, Augustine, Euscbius, Ambrose, Gennadius, &c. none are 
 later than the end of the fifth century. Trithemius speaks of him as having come 
 into France, then searched into Italy, Asia, and Achaia but into the controversy rc- 
 
18 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 A work held in high estimation in the dark ages, and 
 taught in their seminaries, was a disquisition of Marcianus 
 de Capella, who lived in the fifth century. It comprised 
 the subjects of grammar and rhetoric, logic and arithmetic, 
 music, geometry, and astronomy. " Among the royal manu- 
 scripts in the British Museum," says Warton, " a manu- 
 script occurs written about the eleventh century, which is a 
 commentary on these nine books of Capella, compiled by 
 Duncan, an Irish bishop, and given to his scholars in the 
 monastery of St Rhemigius."* To this Warton might 
 have added, that the monastery referred to was in the 
 county of Down. 
 
 Erigena, and Dungal, who was the correspondent of 
 Alcuine, are mentioned by name as two, among other Irish 
 scholars, who at that period took refuge in Erance,t and 
 in an ancient catalogue in the monastery at Pavia written 
 in the tenth century, is a book in Irish, under the head of 
 *' Books given by Dungalus praecipuus Scottorum."J John 
 Erigena, or John the Irishman, is known for his eminence 
 as a scholar, especially as a Grecian. About the year 860, 
 he translated from the Greek four treatises of Dionysius, 
 styled the Areopagite,§ (a supposititious work written after 
 the fourth century ;) and the Scholia of Maximus on Gre- 
 gory the theologian, i. e* Gregory Nazianzen ; but his 
 principal work was entitled " De Divisione Naturae," writ- 
 ten at the request of Charles the Bald, of which some 
 account may be found in Turner's History of the Anglo- 
 Saxons. || 
 
 Such were a few of the Native Irish who assisted in the 
 work of instruction, both in their own country, and on the 
 continent. It is true, we must not form too magnificent 
 
 specting him, or the age in which he flourished, I do not enter. Sentiments in this 
 volume, however, might enlighten the present age, and a brief selection in some of 
 the periodical works might interest his countrymen even now. On 1. Cor. xiv. 19, 20, 
 he says, 1 4 It is better to speak a few lucid words, verba lucida, in the right sense, 
 than innumerable that are obscure and unknown, which do not edify the hearers ; 
 because, better are a few words which profit, than many which do not. Be not chil- 
 dren in understanding, — as if he had said, the desire of various languages is childish, 
 in which there is pleasure only, and not advantage, unless an interpretation follow. 
 Or, be not children in understanding, but ye ought to know wherefore languages were 
 given." May not the English, and the Anglo-Hibernian of the present day, both listen 
 to this voice from the tomb ? 
 
 * Warton, 8vo. v. ii. 384. Leland, the antiquarian, says that he saw this work in 
 the library of Worcester Abbey. Col. iii. 268. 
 
 t Colgan, Act Sanct, p. 256. 
 
 % Muratori, Antiq. Ital. p. 821. Most of these books were presented to the Ambro- 
 sian library at Milan, by Cardinal Borromeo, where they are now said to remain. 
 
 § " So abounding, however, with Greek phraseology," says Warton, "as to be 
 ha'rdlv intelligible to a mere Latin reader." 
 
 II Turner, 3d cd. III. 390. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 19 
 
 ideas of these men, who were then patronised by kings, or 
 invited to promote their education, and lay the foundation 
 of schools which afterwards rose to eminence, especially at 
 the revival of letters ; but, amidst the scholars of his day, 
 Erigena seems to have been considered conspicuous. Even 
 Warton admits the probability of his having " taken a 
 journey to Athens, and spent many years in studying not 
 only the Greek, but the Arabic and Chaldee languages;"* 
 but this has been questioned by others ; and though better 
 acquainted with Aristotle than any man of his age, that he 
 ever translated any part of his writings into Chaldaic and 
 Arabic as well as Latin, seems to be also doubtful. After 
 living in France for about thirty years, he probably died 
 there, and before the year 875. t We forget not that his 
 principal work contributed its share to a species of dialectic 
 philosophy, or rather folly, which continued through the 
 dark ages to hold many in perplexity, and drove others to 
 infidelity: for of that great division of the schoolmen in 
 which all this terminated, the Nominalists, Erigena has 
 been considered the remote parent. It is chiefly as a scholar 
 that he is here noticed. When referring to him, Anasta- 
 sius, the librarian of the Vatican, in a letter to Charles, 
 expresses his astonishment " how that 4 vir barbarus,' 
 placed in the very ends of the world, so remote from con- 
 versation with mankind, was able to comprehend such deep 
 things, and transfuse them into another language." This 
 is equally creditable to his acuteness and scholarship ; but 
 was every man, not a Greek or a Roman, still denominated 
 "barbarous?" or was this only one ancient specimen of 
 that unfounded prejudice which yet exists in many against 
 the fine natural capacity of this hitherto neglected people % 
 
 In an early part of the ninth century died Angus or 
 iEngus Ceile de, a Culdee, who, among other things, wrote 
 the u Psalter na rann," an abridged history, in Irish, of the 
 descendants of Abraham till after the death of Moses. And 
 even in the tenth, we have a glossary, explaining the diffi- 
 
 * Warton, 8vo, vol. I. cxxxvii. Spelman, Vit. yElfrid. Pits. p. 168. 
 
 f Thus he appears in France in connexion with Prudentius, bishop of Troies, so 
 early as the year 847, and the letter of Anastasius, about to be quoted, speaks of him 
 in the past tense. John Erigena, or Scotigena, which at this period was of similar 
 import, is therefore not to be confounded with John of Aetheling, or he of Malmes- 
 bury, whether these be the same, or two different persons. The former, a presbyter 
 and abbot, which Erigena never was, and who came over to our Alfred about 884, is 
 styled by Asserius, 44 Eaidsaxonum genere." If Erigena ever was in England, it 
 could be merely on his way to the continent, and long before the reign of Alfred. At 
 all events, Charles, to whom Anastasius wrote respecting Erigena, and in the past 
 tense throughout, died in 877. 
 
80 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 cult words of his native language, by Cormac MacCullionan, 
 in which there are many references to the Latin, Greek, and 
 Hebrew tongues. But we have already past the brink of 
 general barbarism. The darkness of the ninth and tenth 
 centuries is proverbial, as affecting every country in Europe, 
 and Britain fully as much as Ireland. To her history, 
 therefore, it is no disparagement that we can then find but 
 little worth notice. 
 
 In the eleventh century, about the time of the Norman 
 Conquest, one Irishman, by his talents, rendered his name 
 conspicuous, — Marian us Scotus, who lived for ten years at 
 Fulde in Germany, i. e. until 1069, when he removed to 
 Mentz, and, dying there, was interred in the church of 
 St Martin's, in the year 1086, aged 58.* His chronicle from 
 the birth of Christ to the year 1083, which is esteemed, has 
 been continued by the Abbe Dobechin to 1200 ;t and an 
 edition of it, with that of Martin of Poland, was printed in 
 the sixteenth century by John Herold of Basil, dedicated to 
 Queen Elizabeth.^ In the curious and learned catalogue of 
 manuscripts in the library of the Emperor of Germany, 
 8 volumes folio, by Peter Lambeccius, composed in the 
 seventeenth century, we are told that there is a copy of " all 
 the Epistles of Paul in the hand- writing of Marianus Scotus, 
 done in the year 1079, illustrated with marginal and inter- 
 lineary annotations. "§ Trithemius says, that " he was 
 most learned in the Scriptures ;'*|| and Sigebert, " the most 
 learned man of his age."^I 
 
 In the journal of the learned and accurate Humphrey 
 Wanley there is the following entry, dated 10th August, 
 1720 : — " Mr O'Sullivan likewise acquainted me, that the 
 library of those learned men who went from Ireland with 
 
 * " Anno 1028," says a chronicle in the Cottonian Library, " Marianus, chrono- 
 graphus, Hibernensis-Scotus, natus est, qui Chronicum Chronicorum coniposuit." 
 ■See also Dobechin's ed. of his Chronicle, anno 1069. Mabilon Annal. anno 1083. 
 
 t L'Advocat's Hist. Diet., letter M. 
 
 % Warton, Svo, I. eclxii. After Ussher's account of this chronicle, he intimates, 
 that Gerard Vossius intended to publish a correct edition of it. 
 
 § Lamb. ii. cap. 8, p. 749. See also Ware's Antiq. p. b'6*. Vossius and Dempster 
 have strangely mentioned Marianus as the author of the Notitia utriusque Imperii. 
 That he wrote commentaries on this work is true, and, in the preface to the Venice 
 ed. of 1593, it appears that the work, after lying hid for ages, had come to light in 
 consequence of the copy written by Marianus having been found in 1557. 
 
 II Catal. Vir. lllust. ^| De Script. Eccles. p. 172, When Edward I. summoned 
 the states of Scotland to appear at Norham to decide the claims of the different com- 
 petitors for the crown, his rirst step was to put in his own claim to the sovereignty of 
 Scotland, and the chief authority to which he resorted was that of Marianus, "the 
 Irish historian. When Henry IV. renewed the claims of Edward, he appealed to the 
 same historian, adding, that his authority was irrefragable, because he was a Scotch- 
 man. To this the states of Scotland replied, that Marianus was not an Albanian 
 Scot, but an Irish Scot, Ireland being the ancient Scotland. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 21 
 
 Marianus Scotus, A.D. 1058, is yet remaining in some 
 church in Ratisbon, and has lately been seen there."* But 
 Marianus of Ratisbon, also from Ireland, who wrote some 
 notes on the Psalms, and a harmony of the Evangelists, is 
 affirmed to be a different man from the chronographer, who 
 it is certain resided first at Fulde, or Fulda, and finally at 
 Mentz. 
 
 Tighernach, the Irish annalist, was contemporary with 
 Marianus, and died in 1088, two years after him. His Irish 
 annals to his own day, partly in Latin and partly in Irish, 
 were continued by one Magrath to the year 1405, — a copy 
 of which is among the manuscripts in Trinity College.t 
 
 The first tract in the Hibernica of Harris is a history of 
 the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland from 1168 to 1171. 
 This is a translation by Sir George Carew, afterwards Earl 
 of Totness, from the French. But the French itself, which 
 is in verse, after the fashion of the time, is only a transla- 
 tion from the Native Irish manuscript, written by Maurice 
 O'Regan, the individual who was employed by Dermod, 
 King of Leinster, as ambassador to Strongbow. This tract, 
 such as it is, was translated into English, and published by 
 Harris in Dublin in 1757, or above five hundred and sixty 
 years after it had been written. Lord Lyttleton, in his His- 
 tory of Henry the Second, quotes the French translation 
 from a manuscript in the Lambeth Library. J 
 
 As " it cannot but seem strange," says Harris, " that in 
 the thirteenth century an Irishman should be courted to 
 undertake a version into French," Godfrey, or Gotofrid of 
 Waterford, deserves to be noticed. He was the author of 
 translations into that language from Latin, Greek, and Ara- 
 bic, of Dares Phrygius, Eutropius, and the Secretum Secre- 
 torum ascribed (erroneously) to Aristotle. Harris here 
 alludes to Godfrey's own expressions in his preface to the 
 latter, in which, addressing himself to a French nobleman 
 who encouraged him, he says, " To other books which you 
 already have, you desire to add a book called Secretum Se- 
 cretorum, or a Treatise of the Government of Kings and 
 Princes, and for this end you have requested me, that I 
 would, for your sake, translate the said work from Latin 
 into French, which I already translated from Greek into 
 
 * Nichol's Lit. Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, I. p. 87. 
 j lberno-Celtic Transac. p. 81. 
 
 $ Warton, 8vo, 1. b9. Iberno-Celtic Trans, p. 87. Ware's Writers, p. 71. 
 
22 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 Arabic, and into Latin," &c * In the library of M. Colbert, 
 these three treatises, on vellum, were long preserved in a 
 folio volume, in which, besides an exposition of the articles 
 of Faith and the Lord's Prayer in French, there is also in- 
 cluded the Elucidarium. " Now," say Quetif and Eckard, 
 quoted by Harris, " all these are written not only in the 
 same hand-writing with the other works before-mentioned, 
 which are certainly Gotofrid's, but also the style and man- 
 ner of orthography are the same."f " The Lucydayre, 
 printed by Wynkyn de Worde," says Warton, " is trans- 
 lated from a favourite old French poem called Li Lusidaire, 
 a work in dialogue, containing the sum of Christian Theo- 
 logy attributed to Anselm, ,: J and by others to Honorius of 
 Autun.§ " Again," he says, " in the king's library at Paris, 
 there is a translation of Dares Phrygius into French rhymes 
 by Godfrey of Waterford, an Irish writer, not mentioned 
 by Tanner, in the thirteenth century ;" and, referring again 
 to this period, he adds, " Dares Phrygius, Eutropius, early 
 translated into Greek at Constantinople, and Aristotle's 
 Secretum Secretorum, appeared about the same time in 
 French;" 1 1 thus confirming the account already given of 
 Godfrey, who seems to have died in France, and probably 
 at Paris. 
 
 Thomas Hibernicus, or Thomas of Palmerstown, born in 
 the county of Kildare, towards the close of the thirteenth 
 century, and well known at the beginning of the fourteenth, 
 was an ecclesiastic who belonged to neither of the orders of 
 the Friars. He became a fellow of the Sorbonne, and, from 
 the Bibliotheque compiled by Quetif and Eckard, it appears 
 that he bequeathed the books he had written, with other 
 manuscripts, and a sum of money, to that college.1T One 
 of the tracts in the Sorbonne is entitled " Liber de Tribus 
 Punctis Christianae Religionis," or " three points of the 
 Christian religion," which he explains as matters of faith, 
 of command, or prohibition. His " Flores Biblicae," or 
 
 * Ware's Writers, p. 76. The Secretum, erroneously ascribed to Aristotle, but so 
 highly esteemed in the middle ages, has been traced to iEgidius Romanus, a pupil of 
 Aquinas. «' It was early translated," says Warton, " into French prose, and printed 
 in English. « The Secret of Aristotyle, &c. with Rules for Helth of Body and Soul, 
 very gcde to teche Children to rede English, newly translated out of French, and em- 
 prented by Robert and William Copland, 1»28.' " One translation of the Secretum 
 into French, Warton ascribes to Henry de Gande, i. e. Ghent, for Philip of France. 
 The name to which Godfrey dedicates his translation does not appear. 
 
 t W'are's Writers, p. 76. % Warton, III. 364. 
 
 § The Elucidarium must not be confounded with the Elucidarium Bibliorum, or 
 Prologue to the Bible. See Babels Wickliffe, lii. 
 
 R Warton, I. xxii.; II. 415. ^ Tom. I. p. 744. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 23 
 
 " Tabula Originalium, sive Manipulus Florum," first pub- 
 lished at Venice in 1492, has been often reprinted, as at 
 Antwerp in 1568 and 1580 ; Geneva, 1614 ; and Paris, 
 1662* 
 
 The fourteenth century, to which we have now come, is 
 rendered interesting by the appearance of one man, who is 
 well entitled to the grateful recollections of the Native Irish 
 — Richard Fitzrauph or Fitzralph, Archbishop of Ar- 
 magh, frequently denominated Richard Armachanus. The 
 place of his birth is said to have been Dundalk ; the precise 
 year I have not been able to ascertain ; but his various ap- 
 pointments being noted with such accuracy, prove in some 
 degree the interest which his character had excited. Accord- 
 ing to Le Neve's Fasti, on the 10th July, 1334, he was collated 
 Chancellor of Lincoln, and in 1336 became Archdeacon of 
 Chester ; on the 20th April, 1337, he was personally instal- 
 led Dean of Litchfield, by Edward III., and advanced to the 
 see of Armagh on the 8th July, 1347, by Clement VI. 
 
 This excellent man may not improperly be regarded as 
 the Wickliffe of Ireland ; and he deserves the more attention, 
 not only from his having lived in the age immediately pre- 
 ceding Wickliffe, but on account of the report respecting 
 him, that he possessed, if not with his own hand translated, 
 the Scriptures of the New Testament into the Irish tongue. 
 For the sake of Ireland, therefore, as well as his own, he is 
 entitled to some special notice ; more particularly as this 
 tradition is rendered much more probable by the considera- 
 tion of his character and exertions. 
 
 From the year 1240, more than a hundred years before 
 Fitzralph, the operations of the Mendicant Friars had afford- 
 ed matter of controversy and complaint ; but the immediate 
 occasion of his engaging to arraign them cannot with cer- 
 tainty be traced. It has been affirmed by a celebrated Irish 
 Franciscan, Luke Wadding, the historian of their order, 
 that, obstructed in some attempt to remove the ornaments 
 belonging to a convent of Friars, they were protected, and 
 their ornaments preserved to them, when Fitzralph entered 
 into the controversy of the day with great warmth and 
 eagerness. Such an incident, indeed, miglit perhaps awaken 
 Fitzralph to exertion ; but it is of more importance to ob- 
 serve, that he had been educated at Oxford, the nucleus of 
 the controversy, under Baconthorpe, a doctor of the Sor- 
 
 * Ware's Writers, p. 74. 
 
24 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 bonne, and determined opponent of the Friars, who possessed 
 great influence over his pupils. Fitzralph also was one of 
 a select number of learned men who had sat at the table of 
 Richard de Bury, one of the most generous and ardent cul- 
 tivators of learning in the fourteenth century.* But what- 
 ever was the exciting cause, in 1356, Fitzralph having 
 occasion to be in London, in consequence of earnest solicita- 
 tion, says Fox, he preached seven or eight sermons against 
 the abuses of the Friars, which he afterwards repeated at 
 Litchfield, and in Ireland at Drogheda, Dundalk, and Trim. 
 Offended with the positions contained in these discourses, 
 the warden of the Franciscans or Minorites, then established 
 at Armagh, and those of the order of the Predicants, cited 
 the Primate to answer for himself before the Pope at Avig- 
 non. To this bold measure on the part of the Friars there 
 was presented strong encouragement in the well-known 
 character of Clement, who " defended the interests of the 
 church with a zeal carried to excess, reserving to himself a 
 multitude of benefices, which he presented at his will in 
 defiance of all former elections. "f Fortunately, however, 
 for Fitzralph, Clement died in 1352, and was succeeded bv 
 a man of different views, Innocent VI., whose policy it was 
 to encourage men of literature, and oblige the possessors of 
 benefices to residence. Another circumstance, probably in 
 favour of Fitzralph, occurred the following year. The con- 
 troversy respecting the Irish primacy was then in depen- 
 dence, and, in 1353, Innocent had decided that the Arch- 
 bishop of Armagh " should entitle himself Primate of all 
 Ireland, and the Archbishop of Dublin write himself Primate 
 of Ireland." At all events, Fitzralph, in 1357, appeared at 
 Avignon, and pled his cause at length again and again. 
 Innocent listened to him, and stayed all proceedings in 
 England during the suit. The examination being commit- 
 ted to four Cardinals, Fitzralph was long detained, and 
 never returned to Ireland, but died at Avignon in November 
 or December, 1360. The MS. annals in the Cotton Library 
 hint that he was poisoned by the Friars : of this there is no 
 certain proof ; but they allege that the controversy was 
 terminated only by the absolute command of Innocent. One 
 of the Cardinals, on hearing of his death, openly protested 
 says Fox, " that the same day a mighty pillar of Christ's 
 
 * Warton, 8vo, vol. I. cxlvii. Townley's Illust. of Biblical Literature, II. 70. 
 t L'Advocat, the librarian of the Sorbonne. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 25 
 
 church was fallen." Ten years afterwards, his body was 
 removed to Dundalk, by Stephen de Valle, Bishop of Lime- 
 rick,* and a monument raised over it, which still remained, 
 says Sir Thomas Ryves, so late as the year 1624. 
 
 The theme of Fitzralph at Avignon was founded on these 
 words — " Judge not according to the outward appearance, 
 but judge righteous judgment." His various positions, 
 committed to writing, he extended to a volume, which was 
 afterwards published. The Friars Mendicant were charged 
 by him as in many things acting directly in violation of 
 their own rules, as undermining the stated duties of resi- 
 dent curates, but, above all, as violating the express pre- 
 cepts of Scripture, which he very frequently quotes, and to 
 which he constantly appeals as paramount authority. He 
 laments over the decay of learning, and informed Innocent 
 not only of the great decrease in the number of the students 
 at Oxford, but that "no book could stir, either divinity, law, 
 or physic, but these Friars were able and ready to buy it 
 up ;" nay, that " he himself had sent forth from Armagh 
 to the university four of his own chaplains, who sent him 
 word again that they could neither find the Bible, nor any 
 other good profitable book in divinity, meet for their 
 study, and therefore were minded to return home to their 
 country, "f 
 
 The writings of Fitzralph were various, amounting to 
 eighteen distinct tracts, on theological and other subjects. 
 Bellarmine thought that his writings " ought to be read 
 with caution." Prateolus and others allow him to have 
 possessed great accomplishments, but rank him among the 
 heretics ; though Wadding, already mentioned, and of course 
 not favourable to his cause, is of a different opinion. Tri- 
 themius, however, one of the most learned men in the 
 fifteenth century, has given a character of Fitzralph ; and 
 when it is remembered that he was an Abbot of the Bene- 
 dictine Friars, he will not be suspected of partiality. This 
 
 * De Valle or Wale, the Dean of Limerick, was made bishop in 1360, where lie con- 
 tinued till 1369-70; and it was while here that he deposited the body of Fitzralph in 
 the parish-church of St. Nicholas, Dundalk. De Valle was afterwards Bishop of 
 Meath. See Fitzgerald and M'Gregor's Hist, of Limerick, vol. II. p. 404. 
 
 f Defensio Curatorum adversus Mendicantes, 8vo, Paris, 1496. This discourse has 
 been printed repeatedly at Paris ; and a translation of it, by Trevisa, mav be seen in 
 the MSS. Havl. 1900 fol. Pergam. 2.— In the Public Library at Oxford is a volume, 
 which contains, in addition, various sermons of Fitzralph, MSS. Eodl. A. 4. 8. Vide 
 et ibid. B. 3. 12. MSS. and Nicolson's Irish Hist. Lib. p. 74. — At Bennet, in Cam- 
 bridge, there is a curious manuscript of one of Fitzralph's sermons, which once be- 
 longed to Eston, a learned Benedictine of Norwich, and a witness against Wickliffe 
 afterwards at Rome, in 1370. Warton, 8vo, vol. ii. 127. 
 
 C 
 
20 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 character he sums up in these words — " Vir in Divini? 
 Scripturis eruditus, secularis philosophise jurisque canonici 
 non ignarus, clarus ingenio, sermone scholasticus, in de- 
 clamandis sermonibus ad populum excellentis industrial"* 
 Of the works of Fitzralph several are mentioned by 
 L'Advocat, the librarian and Orleans Professor in the Sor- 
 bonne ; after which he adds, " These works prove their 
 author to have thoroughly studied the Holy Scriptures, and 
 his reasoning is very ingenious and forcible, but not entirely 
 free from the errors which were afterwards revived by 
 Wickliffe."t It is indeed not unworthy of notice, that, in 
 the very same year in which Fitzralph expired at Avignon, 
 Wickliffe, at the age of thirty-six, was allured from his 
 hitherto retired and silent life ; and that when he came to 
 write his Trialogus, he speaks of Fitzralph as having pre- 
 ceded him, in terms of high commendation. J 
 
 Were this eminent man, however, allowed tn speak for 
 himself, the testimonies of others would not be required. 
 Towards the end of his days ho had committed to writing 
 the history of his own life, of which Fox himself possessed 
 a copy, and intended to print it. In this he recounts at 
 length the dangers and troubles through which he passed ; 
 mentions an embargo laid on all the seaports by the King's 
 letter, with a view to apprehend him, — a measure in perfect 
 consonance with the course of Innocent's predecessor; he 
 notices appeals against him to the number of sixteen, and 
 yet that it was given to him to triumph over them all ; he 
 records also, in what way "the Lord taught him, and 
 brought him out of the profound vanities of Aristotle's 
 
 * " Since the canonization of saints," says Jeremy Taylor, " we find no Irish 
 bishop canonized, except Laurence of Dublin and Malachias of Down. Richard of 
 Armagh's canonization was, indeed, propounded, but not effected: but the charac- 
 ter which was given of that learned primate by Trithemius (De Scriptor. Eccles.) 
 does exactly fit this our late father-. — ' He was learned in the Scriptures, skilled in 
 secular philosophy, and not unknowing in the civil and canon laws ; he was of an ex- 
 cellent spirit, a scholar in his discourses, an early and industrious preacher to the 
 people.' And, as if there were a more particular sympathy between their souls, our 
 Primate had so great veneration for his memory, that he purposed, if he had lived, 
 to have restored his monument in Dundalk, which time or impiety, or unthankful- 
 ne«s, had either omitted or destroyed." — Fun. Sermon for Bramhall, by Jer. Taylor, 
 vol. VI. p. 441. While, however," Bramhall could thus testify his veneration for" the 
 dead, it is to be regretted that he could not estimate the same qualities in the living ; 
 for he will be found afterwards standing up, as leader of the opposition against 
 Bedell, when he was actually engaged in the translation of the Scriptures for the 
 Native Irish, and eager for reaching the heart and soul of the natives through the 
 medium of their own language. 
 
 t L'Advocat's Hist, and Biog. Dictionary, under Richard of Armagh. 
 
 £ " Ab Anglorum episcopis conductus Armachanus novem in Avinione conclu- 
 sions coram Innocentio 6. et suorum cardinalium ccetu, contra fratrum mendicita- 
 tem, audacter publicavit; verboque ac scriptis ad mortem usque defendit." — Wick- 
 litre's Trialogus, 4to, 1525. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 2? 
 
 philosophy, to the study of the Scriptures of God." The 
 sentiments at the commencement of this piece, in the form 
 of address to the Saviour, are so descriptive of the man, 
 that, as an appropriate conclusion to this imperfect sketch, 
 I cannot refrain from quoting them :- — "To thee be praise, 
 to thee be glory, to thee be thanksgiving, Jesus most 
 holy, Jesus most powerful, Jesus most amiable, — who hast 
 said, ' 1 am the way, the truth, and the life ;'— a way with- 
 out deviation, truth without a cloud, and life without end. 
 For thou the way hast shown me, thou the truth hast taught 
 me, and thou the life hast promised me. A way thou wast 
 to me in exile, the truth thou wast to me in counsel, and 
 life thou wilt be to me in reward."* 
 
 Such was the individual, who, in the fourteenth century, 
 is said to have possessed a translation of the New Testament 
 in the Irish language, ascribed to himself. According to the 
 information of Baiaeus, quoted also by Archbishop Ussher, 
 his translation, or a copy of it, was concealed by him 
 n a certain wall of his church, with the following note: — 
 ' When this book is found, truth will be revealed to the 
 >vorld, or Christ will shortly appear." What precise idea 
 Fitzralph attached to these words it is impossible to say ; 
 Dut in the year 1530, one hundred and seventy years after 
 lis death, the church at Armagh being under repair, the 
 x>ok was found, though no vestige of this translation is 
 supposed to be now in existence.f About the year 1573, 
 lowever, Fox, in his Acts and Monuments, referring to 
 Fitzralph, says, " I credibly hear of certain old Irish Bibles, 
 ;ranslated long since into the Irish tongue, which, if it be 
 ;rue, it is not other like but to be the doing of this Arma- 
 manus;" and as for the existence of such an Irish trans- 
 ition in his day, he adds, that it was testified to him " by 
 jertain Englishmen who are yet alive and have seen it. "J 
 Harris says, vaguely, some " have thought that he trans- 
 ated the Bible into Irish," but this is mere conjecture ; 
 ilthough Ussher speaks of certain fragments of such Irish 
 translations being in existence even in his own time.§ 
 
 * M Tibi laus, tibi gloria, tibi gratiarum actio, Jesu piissime, Jesu potentissime, 
 fesu dulcissime ; qui dixisti — Ego sum via, Veritas, et vita; — via sine devio, Veritas 
 ine rmbilo, et vita sine termino. Quod tute viain mihi ostendisti; tute veritatem 
 ne docuisti ; et tute vitarn mihi promisisti. Via eras mihi in exilio ; Veritas eras in 
 :onsilio ; et vita eris mihi in praemio." 
 
 t Balams, Script. Brit. Cent. 14. p. 24(5. Ussher's llistoria Dogmata, p. 15o\ 
 
 ± Fox, vol. I. p. 473. Alex. Petrci, p. 496. 
 
 § " It is towards the middle of rhe fourteenth century," savs the librarian of the 
 intish Museum, in reference to England, " that we must look for the first literaA 
 
 c 2 
 
28 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 The period immediately after the death of Fitzralph was, 
 in many countries, one of great excitement and inquiry. 
 The schools of logic, falsely so called, which had so long 
 enchained the human intellect, began to be deserted, in 
 order to cultivate a species of more satisfactory and benefi- 
 cial knowledge ; and the opinions then prevalent led to the 
 assembling of a Council at Constance, — an event which would 
 not have been mentioned here, but for one occurrence in 
 connexion with Ireland. In the third year of its sitting, 
 1417, some dissension arose between the French and the 
 English, respecting their precedency as nations, which could 
 only be settled by a reference to antiquity. The English 
 canonists referred to Albert and Bartholomews, and urged, 
 amongst other arguments, " that, the world being divided 
 into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Africa, Europe was dis- 
 tributed into four kingdoms ; namely, first, the Roman ; 
 second, the Constantinopolitan ; third, the Irish, which is 
 now transferred to the English ; and, fourth, the kingdom 
 of Spain : from which it is manifest, that the King of Eng- 
 land and his kingdom are among the most eminent and 
 most ancient of the kings and kingdoms of all Europe ; 
 which prerogative the kingdom of France is not said to 
 hold."* A similar precedency had been observed, in 1255, 
 at the Council of Lyons, when Albert Armachanus sub- 
 scribed before all the bishops of France, Italy, and Spain,f 
 — circumstances which are noticed here, however, merely as 
 illustrative of the light in which Ireland was regarded. 
 
 The middle of this century, it is well known, was marked 
 by an art, which, as soon as the secret was discovered, 
 spread with almost incredible rapidity over all Europe, pro- 
 ducing everywhere, on the moral world, an effect as striking 
 as that which takes place in the physical, at the return of 
 day after night, or spring after winter, — the art of printing, 
 first practised at Mentz, in 1457. The first native of Ireland 
 who appears to have been connected with this memorable 
 invention, should not be passed over, even though he was 
 thus engaged far distant from his native home, and more 
 than half an age before a few types were permitted to be 
 
 translation of even a portion of Sacred Writ. About this time, we have instances of 
 those who were studious of the spiritual welfare of the flock over which they were 
 appointed to watch for good, being engaged in translating, for the use of their respec- 
 tive congregations, more or less of such portions of Scripture as the church in its ser- 
 vice brought more immediately into public notice."— -Baber's Wiclif. pp. 66, 67. 
 
 * Concilium Constansiense, A. D. 1417, Sess. 31. t Ware's Bishops, 65. 
 
 Wadding's Ann. I. p. 605. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 22 
 
 eent to his own country, or a solitary book jorinted there . 
 Maurice 'Finely, Maurice de Portu, as he is sometimes 
 called, or Maurice Hibernicus, and Maurice of Ireland, was 
 born in 1463-4, in the county of Cork, near Baltimore, a 
 town celebrated for its fine harbour, from whence originated 
 the addition of 6 de portu,' occasionally employed to distin- 
 guish him. Wood, in his Athenae Oxonienses, says, that he 
 received instruction at Oxford, in " grammar and trivials," 
 i. e. grammar, rhetoric, and logic, called the trivium, or 
 threefold way to eloquence. At an early age, however, he 
 proceeded to Padua, and was there engaged for several years 
 in teaching the liberal arts. About twenty years after the 
 invention of fusible metal types at Mentz, Octavian Scott, a 
 nobleman and native of Mons, went to Venice, where he set 
 up several printing-presses at his own charge. Towards the 
 close of the century, Maurice de Hibernia was his principal 
 corrector of the press, — an office which at this period occu- 
 pied the men of greatest learning * Maurice was the author 
 of several treatises, still extant : one of which, his Manual 
 of Faith, was printed at Venice, with this title, " Enchiri- 
 dion Fidei, &c. doctoris magistri Mauritii de Portu, Hiber- 
 nici Ordinis Minorum, Archiepiscopi Tuamensis dignissimi, 
 — Venetiis 1509," and dedicated to the Earl of Kildare, then 
 Lord-deputy of Ireland. t Another work of Maurice was a 
 Dictionary to the Holy Scriptures, entitled " Dictionarium 
 Sacrae Scripture, universis concionatoribus apprime utile et 
 necessarium." This is mentioned by Possevin, as printed, 
 long after the author's death, at Venice, in 1603, " though," 
 he adds, " it is not extant farther than the letter E inclu- 
 sive." J But among the manuscripts in the Bodleian library, 
 there is a copy of it complete to letter Z, Zona ; at the end 
 of which is " expliciunt distinctionis fr'is mauritij/'§ 
 
 By the printed title just quoted, it appears that Maurice 
 had been nominated to the see of Tuam. This appointment 
 took place in 1506, and in 1512 he left Italy for Ireland, 
 and landed at Galway. Soon after, however, being taken 
 unwell, he died there, on the 25th May 1513, scarcely fifty 
 years of age, and was there buried. The spot in which he 
 
 * Palmer's History of Printing, 4to, p. 149. 
 
 . t This vol. is in 4to, having this colophon, — M Uenetijs per Bonetum locatellurn 
 resbyterum. — Mandato et expensis heredum nobilis viri quondam domini Octauiam 
 _coti ciuis ac patricij Modelicsis, 1509." Wood's Athenae by Bliss, I. p. 17. Now, of 
 the three printers under Maurice, mentioned by Palmer, this B. Locatelli was one, 
 which is thus confirmed. 
 % Apparat. Sacr. § Wood's Athena by Bliss, 1. 17. 
 
30 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 lies was long known, and pointed out till at least within 
 these sixty years. The stone under which he was interred, 
 says Harris, in 1764, " is yet shown." 
 
 In glancing at Ireland itself, Ave find another individual of 
 the same surname, Donald OTihely, who wrote the Annals 
 of Ireland in the language of the country, carried down to 
 his own time. Sir James Ware says, that he saw them in 
 manuscript in the possession of Florence Maccarty, at Lon- 
 don, in 1626.* Wood, who mentions him as an Oxford 
 student, — that he was living in 1505, and that he was valued 
 for his unwearied industry in matters relating to history and 
 antiquity, then adds — " In this man's time, I find many 
 noted persons of Ireland to have studied in this university, 
 who, as it seems, have either been writers, bishops, or states- 
 men, in the kingdom ; but most of their Christian names 
 being deficient, I cannot justly particularize them." Several 
 of these men, as well as others who studied in their own 
 country, might here be noticed, were it not from the fear of 
 becoming tedious, or extending these pages too far.f 
 
 During the latter part of the sixteenth century, however, 
 one group of names cannot be passed over : Kearney and 
 Walsh, Donellan and Daniel, or O'Donell. 
 
 John Kearney, or Kearnagh, who had received his educa- 
 tion at Cambridge, was afterwards treasurer of St Patrick's, 
 Dublin. Nicholas Walsh had been a fellow- student with 
 Kearney at Cambridge, and was still his beloved companion, 
 having been appointed chancellor of St Patrick's. These 
 two individuals ought to be ever remembered as the men 
 who first began to pursue the only effectual method of en- 
 lightening their Irish brethren, so far as the art of printing 
 
 * Ware's Writers, p. 90. 
 
 1 1 may simply mention Charles Maguire, whose "Annalis Hiberniae usque ad sua 
 tempora," continued by Cassidy to 1541, is now extant in the British Musuem. — 
 Thomas Fitch, who wrote " De Rebus Ecclesiae suae," called the White Book of 
 Christ's Church.— George Cogley, the author of a catalogue of the bishops of Meath, 
 handed by Ussher to Sir James Ware as serviceable for his works. — Nicholas Ma- 
 guire, Bishop of Leighlin, the writer of an esteemed Irish chronicle: these three last 
 were Oxford students. — Richard Creagh of Limerick, who wrote " De Lingua Hiber- 
 nica; Chronicon Hiberniae," and an ecclesiastical history. — Thadeus Dowling, who 
 wrote " Annalis brevis Hiberniae," an Irish grammar, and other tracts. — Patrick 
 Cusack, a man of family, educated at Oxford, and able schoolmaster in Dublin, about 
 15b'6. He is said to have given great light to his country by his learning, though he 
 employed Ins time rather in the instruction of his scholars than penning books. He 
 wrote indeed one book, " Diversa Epigrammata," probably for the use of his school. — 
 Richard Stanyhurst, who was born in Dublin, 154f>, maternal uncle to Archbishop 
 Ussher, the author of several works, and who died in 16"18, at Brussels. — William 
 Bathe, born in Dublin, 1564, who was president of the Irish College at Salamanca. 
 His (i Janua Linguarum" became a standard work for the instruction of youth. He 
 died in 10"H, at Madrid. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 31 
 
 in their own language and character is necessary. They 
 were the men who first introduced Irish types into their 
 country, and obtained an order that the prayers of the 
 church should be printed in that character and language, 
 and a church set apart in the chief town of every diocese, 
 where they were to be read and a sermon preached to the 
 common people.* Accordingly we are informed, that, in 
 the year 1571, Queen Elizabeth provided, at her own ex- 
 pense, a printing-press and a fount of Irish types, "in hope 
 that God in mercy would raise up some to translate the New 
 Testament into their mother tongue."t 
 
 The first work in which Mr Kearney engaged was an 
 Irish Catechism and Primer, — "Alphabetum et ratio legendi 
 Hibernicum, et catechismus in eadem lingua. John a 
 Kearnagh, 1571," 8vo. In this, which was certainly the 
 first book printed with a view to the instruction of the 
 Native Irish, the types just mentioned are said to have 
 been used, and this is probable ; but whether it were so or 
 not, it is certain that more than thirty years passed away, 
 before the next publication in which they were employed. % 
 
 The translation of the Scriptures of the New Testament 
 into Irish now engaged the attention of both these men, 
 and, in the year 1573, Walsh began the work, assisted by 
 Kearney. In 1577, Walsh was elected to the see of Ossory, 
 but proceeded in his undertaking, till he was stabbed in his 
 own house, on the 14th December, 1585, by a profligate 
 whom he had cited before him for gross immorality. Pro- 
 videntially, some years before this, Nehemias Donellan, 
 born in Galway, but also educated at Cambridge, on re- 
 turning to Ireland, had joined these men in their under- 
 taking. Thus it appears by a privy seal, dated the 24th of 
 
 * Ware's Annals, 1571. -f Dedication of the Irish New Testament. 
 
 % It has been strangely asserted by Lemoine, in his History of Printing, and others, 
 that an Irish liturgy was undoubtedly printed in Dublin in 1";66, for the use of the 
 Highlanders of Scotland. The reference here is to the Book of Common Order, which, 
 it is true, is sometimes called Knox's Liturgy. But the truth is, that this very rare 
 Gaelic translation, entitled "Foirm na Nurrnuidheadh," i. e. Forms of Prayer, was 
 printed at Edinburgh by Robert Lekprevik, and is dated '24th of April, 1567. John 
 Carswell, superintendent of the West, and bishop of the Isles, was the translator. He 
 here laments the misapplication of the gifts of writing and teaching, and says that 
 much of the superstition that prevailed arose from the want of good books, under- 
 stood by all who spoke the Gaelic tongue. — " But there is," says he in his epistle dedi- 
 catory, " one great disadvantage which we the Gaeil of Scotland and Ireland labour 
 under beyond the rest of the world, that our Gaelic language has never been printed, 
 as the language of every race of men has been ; and we labour under a disadvantage 
 which is still greater than every other, that we have not the Holy Bible printed in 
 Gaelic, as it has been printed in Latin and in English, and in every other language." 
 One copy of this book exists in the Argyle library, which is supposed to be unique. 
 There is another, but imperfect, in the possession of a private gentleman in Scotland. 
 
32 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 May, 1595, when he was raised to the see of Tuam, that 
 " he had taken great pains in translating and putting to the 
 press the communion-book and New Testament in the 
 Irish language, which Queen Elizabeth greatly approved 
 of." This commendation is of course by no means to be 
 considered as excluding Kearney, who not only laboured in 
 union, first with Walsh, and then with Donellan, but seems 
 to have proceeded to other parts of Scripture. Harris in- 
 deed asserts, that Kearney u translated the Bible into Irish, 
 which was extant in manuscript in Ware's time:" but this 
 I have no doubt was a mistake of a part for the whole, as 
 no trace of such a complete translation was ever heard of 
 since. Part of the Bible, he probably effected, particularly 
 the Psalms ; but had there been a translation of the whole, 
 we must have heard of it in the days of Bedell. These three 
 men, however, laid the foundation, and effectually pre- 
 pared the way for the fourth individual already named, 
 William Daniel, or O'Donell. Being considered as well 
 qualified for the undertaking, at the instance of the Lord- 
 deputy and request of the Privy Council he proceeded. 
 Availing himself of the labours of his predecessors, he went 
 also into Connaught to procure such aid as he might think 
 proper, and it seems that he derived some assistance from 
 a native of that province, Mortogh O'Cionga, or King.* 
 At all events, we know, from himself, that this translation 
 of the Irish New Testament was scrupulously made from 
 the original Greek, "to which," says he, in his dedication 
 to the King, " I tied myself, as of duty I ought." Shortly 
 after the accession of James the First, which was in March, 
 1603, this New Testament was published, w r ith a dedication 
 to his Majesty, the expense being defrayed by the province 
 of Connaught and Sir William Usher, clerk of the 
 council.t 
 
 The Book of Common Prayer he also translated from 
 English into Irish, with the exception of the Psalms. This 
 was printed at Daniel's own expense, by J. Francton, and 
 
 * See Ware's Writers and Bishops. Letter from the Privy Council of Ireland, 15th 
 December, 1(505, in the Clogher MS. No. 4. p. 375. Beling in his Vindicice ascribes the 
 translation itself to King ; but, with reference to the New Testament, this is saying 
 too much. King certainly was an excellent Irish scholar, and as such was known 
 afterwards to Primate Ussher, who recommended him to the notice of Bedell. The 
 reader therefore will hear of him again. 
 
 t If this is the same individual elsewhere styled Sir William Usher the elder, he 
 was the son of John Usher, the Mayor of Dublin in 1574, who wrote a treatise, De 
 Reformatione Hibernia?,— once in the possession of Primate Ussher, and deposited by 
 him in Trinity College. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 33 
 
 published in quarto, 1608. In the following year, Dr Daniel 
 was translated to the see of Tuam, where he died in 1628. 
 He was one of the three first scholars of Trinity College, 
 Dublin, who were nominated by the Charter ; one of the 
 earliest elected Fellows; and, if not the first, he was the 
 second who received the degree of D.D. from that Uni- 
 versity. Sir James Ware says, that he " was a proficient 
 in Hebrew," and, " indeed, a man of distinguished learn- 
 ing."* 
 
 It is impossible to proceed through such a history as this, 
 without coming frequently in contact with James Ussher,t 
 unquestionably one of the most learned men of his day ; 
 but our notices of him must needs be casual and limited. 
 In 1609-10, Dr Challoner, the Provost of Trinity, having 
 died, Ussher was unanimously elected; but he declined, 
 from the fear of interrupting his literary pursuits. By his 
 importunate solicitations, however, William Temple, who, 
 after occupying various public situations, had retired into 
 private life, was prevailed upon to accept of the office, 
 which he continued to fill with ability till his death, in the 
 3^ear 1626 4 The year before this, and but a few days be- 
 fore the death of James I., Ussher had been appointed 
 Primate of all Ireland. He now looked round for a suc- 
 cessor to Sir William Temple, and fixed his eye and his 
 
 ' * His attainments as a scholar may be presumed from the eminence of his associ- 
 ates. In the register of the College Library the series of Fellows stands thus : — Henry 
 Ussher (the uncle of Archbishop Ussher), Lucas Challoner (Ussher's father-in-law), 
 Launcellot Moine, James Fullerton, James Hamilton, Matthias Holme, William 
 Daniel, Charles Dun, John Brereton, Abel Walshe, James Ussher, &c. The three 
 first were the Fellows who had been named by the Crown, ' nomine plurium.' 
 James Fullerton, a scholar of Andrew Melville's, afterwards knighted, and who re- 
 sided at the court of James L, after the Accession, and James Hamilton, created 
 Viscount Clandebois, and afterwards Earl of Clanbrissel, induced, it is supposed, to 
 seek a foreign field for the exertion of their talents, had come from Scotland in 1587, 
 and established a grammar-school in Dublin. After teaching on their own account 
 till 1592, they were admitted as Professors in Trinity College, which was opened in 
 1593. Henry Lee, William Daniel, and Stephen White, had been named by the 
 Queen as the three first scholars " nomine plurium." James Ussher, afterwards 
 Primate, who was the second matriculated student, had, from 1588, attended the 
 grammar-school of Fullerton and Hamilton. Daniel was buried at Tuam, under 
 the same monument with his predecessor, N. Donellan. Ussher lies interred beside 
 the grave of his preceptor, Fullerton, in St Erasmus's Chapel, Westminster. See 
 Parr's Life of Ussher; Smith's Vitse ; M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. II. 291-4 ; Stew- 
 art's Armagh, pp. 310-339. 
 
 t Notwithstanding the almost universal practice of using a single letter, this seems 
 to be the correct orthography of the Primate's name. Harris in his edition of Ware 
 uniformly observes it. The double s is found in the manuscripts of the day, and in- 
 deed it is printed in the title of his "Annals." — London, 1658. It is therefore 
 adopted throughout this volume. 
 
 % This Provost of Trinity College, afterwards Sir William Temple, who was a 
 Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and had been secretary to Sir Philip Sidney 
 when he fell at the battle of Zutphen, was grandfather to the ambassador and states- 
 man of that name. 
 
34 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 heart upon an individual, then living in comparative ne- 
 glect and obscurity — William Bedell. 
 
 The New Testament in Irish was the only part of the 
 Scriptures yet published, with the exception of those pas- 
 sages which were inserted in the Book of Common Prayer. 
 For the translation of the Old Testament into Irish, we 
 are indebted to the Christian zeal of this ever-memorable 
 man ; for, if Fitzralph, or Daniel, is to be regarded as the 
 Wickliffe, William Bedell may, with equal if not greater 
 propriety, be denominated the Tyndal of Ireland. 
 
 This interesting man was born at Black Notley, in 
 Essex, in 1570. Educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, 
 he was chosen Fellow of his College at the age of twenty- 
 three, and became B. D. in 1599. Removing to St Edmonds- 
 bury, in Suffolk, he preached there for a considerable time, 
 and with great success. When Sir Henry Wotton, at a 
 very critical period, was appointed ambassador to Venice, 
 Bedell was thought the fittest man to accompany him in 
 the capacity of chaplain. Here he became most intimately 
 acquainted with Paul Sarpi, the historian of the Council of 
 Trent, from whom he acquired a perfect knowledge of the 
 Italian: — Bedell, in return, instructed him in the English 
 language. Having resided for eight years at Venice, Bedell 
 returned to resume his labours, — first at St Edmondsbury, 
 and then, in 1615, at Horingsheath, where he lived in great 
 plainness and simplicity, preaching to the poor of his flock, 
 for about eleven years.* In the year 1626, however, though 
 personally unknown to Archbishop Ussher, or to any of the 
 Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, he was unanimously 
 elected Provost. On this occasion the humility and modesty 
 of Bedell were conspicuous. Although Sir Henry Wotton 
 had told the King, " that hardly a fitter man could have 
 been propounded in his whole kingdom for singular erudi- 
 tion and. piety," Bedell replied to Ussher in the following 
 terms : — " I am married, and have three children : therefore, 
 if the place requires a single man, the business is at an end. 
 I have no want, I thank my God, of any thing necessary 
 for this life. I have a competent living of above L.100 
 a-year, in a good air and seat, with a very convenient 
 house near to my friends, and a little parish, not exceeding 
 
 * So retired indeed, and so little regarded, that when his friend Diodati came to 
 England, to his amazement he could not hear of him, till one day they met, by mere 
 accident, to their mutual joy, on the streets of London. It was while at Horings- 
 heath that he translated the latter parts of the History of the Council of Trent, as 
 well as that of the Interdict and the Inquisition, which he dedicated to the King. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 35 
 
 the compass of my weak voice. I have often heard it, that 
 changing seldom brings the better, especially to those that 
 are well. And I see well that my wife, though resolving, 
 as she ought, to be contented with whatever God shall ap- 
 point, had rather continue with her friends in her native 
 country, than put herself into the hazard of the seas and a 
 foreign land, with many casualties of travel, which she, per- 
 haps out of fear, apprehends more than there is cause. All 
 these reasons I have, if I consult with flesh and blood, which 
 move me rather to reject this offer. Yet, with all humble 
 and dutiful thanks to my Lord Primate, for his kind and 
 good opinion of me, on the other side I consider the end 
 wherefore I came into the world, and the business of a sub- 
 ject of our Lord Jesus Christ, of a minister of the Gospel, 
 of a good patriot, and of an honest man. If I may be of 
 any better use to my country, or to God's church, or of any 
 better service to our common Master, I must close mine 
 eyes against all private respects; and, if God call me, I 
 must answer, here I am. For my part, therefore, I will 
 not stir one foot, nor lift up my finger for or against this 
 motion ; but if it proceed from the Lord, that is, if those 
 whom it concerns there, do procure those who may com- 
 mand me here, to send me thither, I shall obey, if it were 
 not only to go into Ireland but into Virginia ; yea, though 
 I were not only to meet with troubles, dangers, and diffi- 
 culties, but with death itself, in the performance." 
 
 After this, the Archbishop and Fellows not only united 
 in urging his acceptance of the appointment, but petition- 
 ed the King ; and Bedell receiving his Majesty's command, 
 cheerfully obeyed. During the two years in which he held 
 this situation, having rendered essential service to the Uni- 
 versity, in rectifying disorder, restoring discipline, com- 
 posing divisions, and promoting the interests of religion, he 
 received the marked approbation of his Sovereign, and was 
 appointed, in 1629, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. If the 
 College had demanded all the energy and prudence of his 
 character, his dioCese exhibited a scene sufficient to dis- 
 hearten any one, except such a man as Bedell. The 
 cathedral of Ardagh and the Bishop's house were fallen to 
 the ground, and that of Kilmore had neither spire nor bell. 
 The parish-churches were without roofs. The payment of 
 double tithes, — the extortions of mendicant friars, — the 
 exactions of the spiritual court, — the requisitions for the 
 support of the military, united to a scarcity of grain, and 
 a mortality among the cattle, all conspired to render the 
 
36 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 prospect of his usefulness almost entirely hopeless. Added 
 to all this, in each of his dioceses Bedell found no more 
 than seven or eight ministers capable of assisting him. 
 Each of these had many parishes to serve; but, being 
 Englishmen, and the people Irish, they could neither per- 
 form worship, nor converse with the people intelligibly, 
 while pluralities and non-residence were quite prevalent. 
 In such painful and desperate circumstances, did this inde- 
 fatigable man, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, commence 
 his labours in the province of Ulster. To induce the clergy 
 to abandon pluralities, he not only preached against the 
 evil, but explained the subject particularly in private, and 
 then, adding to his precept all the power of example, he ac- 
 tually gave up one of his own bishoprics. Ardagh lay con- 
 tiguous to Kilmore, so that he could have discharged all its 
 duties, and the revenues of both did not exceed a compe- 
 tency ; but residence was a duty of paramount importance 
 in the eye of Bedell, and Ardagh he resigned, when Dr 
 Richardson was appointed to occupy it as a separate living.* 
 The clergy could not resist such a pattern as this. Im- 
 pressed with the cogency of his arguments, and the louder 
 voice of his example, the whole relinquished their plurali- 
 ties, with only one exception. This was the Dean ; and so 
 ashamed was he of his singularity that he exchanged his 
 deanery for another. 
 
 With deep regret Bedell now observed the neglect and 
 contempt with which the native Irish had been treated, as 
 though they were incapable of culture, or only could be re- 
 strained by force, or ruled by harsh measures. Clearly per- 
 ceiving the path of duty, and firmly resolved to pursue it, 
 it was his determination that the Book of Life should be 
 given to his Irish fellow-subjects, and that they should 
 hear with their ears the glorious Gospel of the blessed God 
 in their own ancient and long-proscribed language. Above 
 thirty years before, the New Testament had been published : 
 Bedell resolved to give the whole Bible to the people in their 
 native tongue. 
 
 * Dr Richardson, a native of Chester, and who, in 1601, when only twenty-one 
 years of age, had been appointed Preacher to the State, was ordained by Ussher, in 
 1633, Bishop of Ardagh. In the Chronological Annals of Ussber will be found 
 Richardson's Harmony of the Four Gospels, whom he styles, "that learned man 
 much exercised in the studies of the Holy Scriptures." In 1641 he was obliged to 
 leave Ireland, and died in London in his 74th year, on 11th August, 16.14. The re- 
 marks on Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor Prophets, published in the second edition 
 of the Assembly's Annotations, were furnished by Richardson ; and, the year after 
 his death, were published at London, in folio, his " Choice Observations and Expla- 
 nations upon the Old Testament, with further Observations on Genesis," perused and 
 attested both by Ussher and Gataker, author of the Opera Critica. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 37 
 
 See, then, this interesting man, now in his sixtieth year 
 (1630), sitting down to acquire the language spoken around 
 him, and succeeding so well as not only to compose a com- 
 plete grammar, but to attain a critical knowledge of it. 
 After much inquiry, he found a Mr King, already mentioned, 
 ten years older than himself, who was reputed the best Irish 
 scholar of his day. Providing for his support, and engaging 
 also the Rev. Dennis O'Sheriden, the father of one of Bedell s 
 successors, they commenced the translation of the Old Tes- 
 tament. The Bishop's favourite study, for many years, had 
 been the Scriptures, so that the Hebrew and Septuagint were 
 as familiar to him as the English. Every day, after dinner 
 or supper, a chapter of the Bible was read at his table, who- 
 ever were present ; when Bibles being placed before each 
 individual, the Hebrew or Greek was laid before himself ; 
 and, since he had succeeded so well with the native language, 
 as he compared the Irish translation with the English, so he 
 compared both with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and with 
 the Italian version of his friend Diodati, which he highly 
 valued. For these comparisons of the text Bedell was pecu- 
 liarly qualified. Latin and Italian he wrote with great 
 elegance ; and his perfect acquaintance with the latter, ac- 
 quired from Sarpi at Venice, he could now turn to some good 
 account.* There, also, he had studied the Hebrew language 
 under Rabbi Leo, the chief Chachan of the Jewish syna- 
 gogue,t from whom he acquired the accurate pronunciation. J 
 During his past life, also, he had collected a large mass of 
 critical exposition ; and now, impressed with a conviction 
 of the supreme importance of the work he had undertaken, 
 he pursued it with unwearied diligence. " He thought," 
 says his biographer, " the use of the Scriptures was the only 
 
 * Hence the superiority of his translation of the two last books of Paul Sarpi's His- 
 tory of the Council of Trent over the two first, by Sir Adam Newton. 
 
 t More properly Chazan, or minister of the synagogue, who has the charge of the 
 sacred books, the second in authority under the Ruler. 
 
 % With this Habbi and his brethren Bedell had frequently discussions respecting 
 the Messiahship of Christ; and the only escape they could find from his arguments 
 used to be, that they expounded the Scriptures according to the tradition of their 
 fathers. It was by means of this Rabbi, if not from him, that he procured that beau- 
 tiful manuscript of the Old Testament, which he afterwards presented to Emmanuel 
 College. It is said to have cost Bedell, or Sir Henry Wotton, its weight in silver ; and 
 let it not be forgotten, that it is to a Native Irishman we owe its present existence. In 
 the rebellion of 1641, Bedell's critical expositions, which filled a large trunk, had been 
 forcibly carried away, when a Native Irishman, to whom he had been useful, went 
 among his countrymen, and succeeded in bringing, to him the Hebrew manuscript 
 and several other volumes. This MS., which consists of three folio volumes, in pages 
 of two columns, with an illumination round the first page of each volume, and some 
 letters gilt, has the vowel-points and the Masora.— See Bedell's Life by Burnet, and. 
 Dyer's Univ. of Cambridge, pp. 375, 376. 
 
 P 
 
38 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 way to let the knowledge of religion in among the Irish/' 
 
 and he used to repeat a passage of a sermon that he had 
 heard at Venice by Fulgentio, with which he was much 
 pleased. It was on these words of the Saviour, " Have ye 
 not read in the Scriptures V and so the preacher took occa- 
 sion to tell the auditory, that if Christ himself were now to 
 ask this question, " Have ye not read in the Scriptures V 
 all the answer which they could make to it was, — No; for 
 they were not suffered to do so* 
 
 Bedell, however, though so meritoriously employed, was 
 now about to witness in Ireland the effects of a blind and 
 misguided policy, which, indeed, has long survived him. 
 In a convocation held at Dublin, in 1634, the fifth year of 
 his incumbency, amongst other subjects the version of the 
 Scriptures and Prayer-Book for the use of the Native Irish 
 was introduced, when no small debate ensued. Bramhall, 
 Bishop of Deny, stood forth in opposition, while Bedell 
 appeared for the affirmative ; the former grounding his ar- 
 gument on politics and maxims of state, and especially on 
 the act of King Henry VIII., and the latter founding his 
 on the principles of theology and the good of souls. t Bedell, 
 seconded by Ussher, prevailed, and the convocation passed 
 the following canons : — " Where most of the people are 
 Irish, the churchwarden shall provide, at the charge of the 
 parish, a Bible and two Common Prayer-Books in the Irish 
 tongue" — " Where the minister is an Englishman, such a 
 clerk may be chosen as shall be able to read those parts of 
 the service which shall be appointed to be read, in Irish" 
 
 In following up these canons, no one exerted himself with 
 so much zeal as Bedell. Already he had composed a short 
 catechism, which he had printed in one sheet, English and 
 Irish, in parallel columns, containing the elements of Chris- 
 tianity, several forms of prayer, and some of the most in- 
 structive passages of Scripture. These he widely dispersed, 
 for they were received with joy by the Irish, many of whom 
 now seemed to be hungering for the bread of life. The Irish 
 Bible required by the canon was not yet, of course, in exis- 
 tence ; but the Prayer-Book in Irish he ordered to be read 
 
 * This was a period of great discussion, and even liberty of action, at Venice. In 
 another sermon, from Pilate's question, — " AVhat is truth?" Fulgentio told them, 
 «* At last, after many searches, I have found it out," and, holding out a New Testa- 
 ment, said, " There it is, in my hand " then, putting it in his pocket, he added 
 coldly, — " but the book is prohibited." The auditory, so far from being offended, is 
 said to have been mightily taken with such boldness. 
 
 t Letter from Bishop of Meath to Boyle.— See his Works, vol. V. p. 116. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 3!) 
 
 in his cathedral every Sabbath, for the benefit of his Irish 
 countrymen who now assembled there, while he himself 
 never failed to attend. His clergy he engaged to institute 
 schools in every parish, and proceeding vigorously with his 
 translation, he at last completed it, resolving to print it at 
 his own expense. 
 
 At this advanced period of his life, however, probably the 
 most interesting to himself during his whole existence, 
 Bedell was called to the endurance of trials which demanded 
 all the fortitude and piety of his character. It was about 
 the very season in which he had been deprived of his esteem- 
 ed partner in life, when he was to find himself standing 
 literally alone on behalf of the Native Irish !* To the pub- 
 lication of his Irish translation, on which his very heart 
 was set, an opposition began to discover itself, more formi- 
 dable than that which he had so successfully overcome in 
 the convocation four years before this. His opponents, too, 
 on this occasion, let it be remembered, as well as on the 
 former, were neither Irishmen nor Catholics of any descrip- 
 tion, native or foreign. The pretext which individuals 
 employed at this juncture was, that this able man, Mr 
 King, was incompetent for the undertaking, and that the 
 knowledge of his having been engaged in the translation 
 would expose the work to general contempt. In 1633, 
 Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been chosen Chancellor 
 of Trinity College, Dublin, and now he, as well as the Earl 
 of Strafford, were induced to join the opposing party. It 
 was by the advice of Primate Ussher, and other eminent 
 characters, that Bedell had first engaged Mr King, whom 
 he had provided with a living, for which King was pecu- 
 liarly fitted, by his perfect familiarity with the Irish tongue. 
 Yet now, on the ground of some trivial ecclesiastical delin- 
 quency, was this aged and worthy man, without a hearing, 
 deprived of his situation by the surrogates of the Arch- 
 bishop, and even imprisoned; while his place was bestowed 
 on the informer, a man entirely ignorant of the Irish lan- 
 guage.f For the unjust sufferings of his aged friend, Bedell 
 
 * Mrs Bedell died three years before the rebellion broke out, and the Bishop him- 
 self preached her funeral sermon from these words : — " A good name is better than 
 precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth." His whole dis- 
 course on this occasion was such as deeply affected ail who were present. 
 ' f What a pity that the conduct of Ussher on this occasion should have been so un- 
 worthy of his uniform principles and sagacity ! For seme time, however, he had suf- 
 fered his mind to be alienated from Bedell, and for no other reason than that he now 
 showed the unshaken courage and constancy of a primitive martyr, in the pursuit of 
 his judicious plans for the benefit of the Native Irish, and because he had openly 
 
 n 2 
 
40 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 expressed great sympathy ; but the insinuations against tin* 
 Irish translation he felt bound to expose ; yet, with Strafford 
 and Laud in opposition, and even Ussher afraid to befriend 
 him, what wonder if he had sunk ? In these peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, he addressed the following letter to the Lord 
 Lieutenant, dated 1st December, 1638, at once illustrative 
 of the nature of the opposition with which he had to con- 
 tend, and of the noble Christian spirit which he maintained 
 under it : — 
 
 " Right Hon., my good Lord, — That which I have some- 
 times done willingly, I do now necessarily, to make my 
 address to your honour by writing. The occasion is not my 
 love of contention, or any other matter of profit, but God's 
 honour and (as he is witness) yours. I have lately received 
 letters from my Lord of Canterbury, whereby I perceive that 
 his Grace is informed that Mr King, whom I employed to 
 translate the Bible into Irish, is a man so ignorant, that the 
 translation cannot be worthy of public use in the church, 
 and besides obnoxious, so that the church can receive no 
 credit from any thing that is his. And his Grace adds, 
 * that he is so well acquainted with your Lordship's disposi- 
 tion, that he assures himself you would not have given away 
 his living, had you not seen just cause for it.' I account 
 myself bound to satisfy his Grace herein, and desire, if I 
 may be so happy, to do it, by satisfying you. I do sub- 
 scribe to his Grace's assured persuasion, that your Lordship, 
 had you not conceived Mr King to be such as he writes, 
 would not have given away his living. But, my Lord, the 
 greatest, wisest, and justest men do, and must take many 
 things upon the information of others, who themselves are 
 men, and may sometimes, out of weakness or some other 
 cause, be deceived. Touching Mr King's silliness, (which 
 it concerns me the more to clear him of, that I be not ac- 
 counted silly myself,) I beseech your Lordship to take in- 
 
 condemned the unjust and violent proceedings of the Archbishop's surrogates. Before 
 this, indeed, Ussher had said, that the tide ran so high against him, in reference to 
 pluralities and non-residence, that he could assist him no more ; but Bedell, not dis- 
 heartened, thanked him for his assistance hitherto, and added, " that he was resolved, 
 by the help of God, to try if he could stand by himself." " Ussher was too gentle," 
 says Bishop Burnet, " to manage the rough "work of reforming abuses ;" but this 
 apology will not suffice. There are spots in the sun ; and his conduct, in this instance, 
 will not bear rigorous examination. Besides, few men could be more gentle than 
 Bedell, when gentleness was incumbent. Witness his patient continuance in well- 
 doing amidst various provocations, and his fine remarks in a sermon from " Learn of 
 me, for 1 am meek and lowly." " Finally," he says, " he that, in matters of contro- 
 versy, shall bring meekness to his defence, undoubtedly he shall overcome in the man- 
 ner of handling ; and, if he bring truth also, he shall prevail at last in the matter."' 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 41 
 
 formation, not by them which never saw him till yesterday, 
 but by the ancient churchmen or statesmen of the kingdom, 
 in whose eyes he hath lived these many years. — as the Lord 
 Primate,* the Bishop of Meath, the Lord Dillon, Sir James 
 Ware, and the like. I doubt not but your Lordship shall 
 understand, that there is no such danger that the translation 
 should be unworthy, because he did it ; being a man of that 
 known sufficiency, for the Irish especially, either in prose or 
 verse, as few are his matches in the kingdom. And shortly, 
 not to argue by conjecture and divination, let the work itself 
 speak, yea let it be examined Hgoroso examine; if it be found 
 approvable, let it not suffer disgrace from the small boast of 
 the workman, but let him rather (as old Sophocles accused 
 of dotage) be absolved for the sufficiency of the work. 
 Touching his being obnoxious, it is true that there is a 
 scandalous information put in against him in the High 
 Commission Court by his despoiler, Mr Baily, (as my Lord 
 of Deny told him, in my hearing, he was.) and by an ex- 
 communicate despoiler as myself, before the execution of 
 any sentence, declared him in the Court to be. And Mr 
 King being cited to answer, and not appearing, (as by law 
 he was not bound) was taken pro confesso, deprived of his 
 ministry and living, fined an hundred pounds, and decreed 
 to be attached and imprisoned. His adversary, Mr Baily, 
 before he was sentenced, purchased a new dispensation to 
 hold his benefice, and was, the veiy next day after, as ap- 
 pears by the date of the institution, presented in the King's 
 title, (although the benefice be of my collation,) and insti- 
 tuted by my Lord Primate's vicar, and shortly after inducted 
 by an archdeacon of another diocese. A few days after, he 
 brought down an attachment, and delivered Mr King to the 
 pursuivant. He was trailed by the head and feet to horse- 
 back, and brought to Dublin, where he hath been kept, and 
 continued under arrest these four or five months, and hath 
 not been suffered to purge his supposed contempt by oath 
 and witnesses ; that, by reason of his sickness, he was hin- 
 dered, whereby he was brought to death's door, and could 
 not appear and prosecute his defence ; and that, by the cun- 
 ning of his adversary, he was circumvented, — entreating 
 
 . * The Primate — aias ! it was by his advice and that of several other eminent persons 
 that Bedell first pitched on Mr King, and that too as one of the most elegant writer.? 
 of the Irish tongue then in existence. This whole business is well styled by Bishop 
 Burnet to have been " a deep fetch to possess reformed divines with jealousy and hard 
 thoughts of the work — and, to crown the whole, it was the fetch of men" belonging 
 to the same community ! Need 1 add, see how Ireland has been treated. 
 
 D 3 
 
42 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 that he might be restored to liberty, and his cause to his 
 former state. But this hath not availed him. My reverend 
 colleagues of the High Commission do some of them pity 
 his case. Others say the sentence passed cannot be revers- 
 ed, lest the credit of the Court be attached. They bid him 
 simply submit himself, and acknowledge his sentence just. 
 Whereas the bishops of Rome themselves, after most formal 
 proceedings, do grant restitution in integrum, and acknow- 
 ledge that sententia Romance sedis potest in melius commutari. 
 My Lord, if I understand what is right, divine or human, 
 these be wrongs upon wrongs, which, if they reached only 
 to Mr King's person, were of less consideration. But, when, 
 through his side, that great work, the translation of God's 
 book, so necessary for both his Majesty's kingdoms, is mor- 
 tally wounded — pardon me, I beseech your Lordship, if I be 
 sensible of it.* J omit to consider what feast our adversa- 
 ries make of our rewarding him thus for that service, or 
 what this example will avail to the alluring of others to 
 conformity. What should your Lordship have gained if he 
 had died, as it was almost a miracle he did not, under arrest, 
 and had been at once deprived of living, liberty, and life ] 
 God hath reprieved him, and given your Lordship means, 
 on right information, to remedy, with one word, all incon- 
 veniences. For conclusion, good my Lord, give me leave a 
 little to apply the parable of Nathan to David to this pur- 
 pose. If the wayfaring man that is come to us, for such he 
 is, having never yet been settled in one place, have so sharp 
 a stomach that he must be provided for with pluralities, sith 
 there are herds and flocks plenty, suffer him not, I beseech 
 you, under the colour of the King's name, to take the coset 
 ewe of a poor man to satisfy his ravenous appetite. So I 
 beseech the heavenly Physician to give your Lordship health 
 of soul and body. I rest, my Lord, your Lordship's most 
 humble servant in Christ Jesus, William Kilmore." 
 
 Such was the treatment experienced by a venerable old 
 man ; for by this time Mr King was on the borders of eighty, 
 and a man who had been so useful in the translation of the 
 Sacred Scriptures ! His parentage or birth-place we cannot 
 trace : in the course of nature he must have died shortly 
 after this period ; but where he lies interred no one informs 
 
 * " Both his Majesty's kingdoms." — I imagine Bedell here may have had the Gael 
 of Scotland in his eye. Let them think of this, and now do what they well might 
 for their Irish brethren. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 43 
 
 us. His name, therefore, must of necessity be left among 
 the number of those 
 
 Who lived unknown, 
 
 Till persecution dragg'd them into fame, 
 
 And chas'd them up to Heaven. Their ashes flew, 
 
 No marble tells us whither. With their names 
 
 No bard embalms and sanctifies his song: 
 
 And history, so warm on meaner themes, 
 
 Is cold on this. 
 
 The tide of opposition, so far as it concerned Mr King, 
 even the unshaken energy of a Bedell could not turn ; but 
 still nothing could possibly turn him from his purpose ! He 
 now resolved to have the Bible printed, not only at his own 
 charge, but in his own house; and, with a view to prepare 
 the Irish for the work itself, he translated, both into Irish 
 and English, some of the homilies of Chrysostom and Leo, 
 containing eloquent recommendations of the Scriptures, and 
 these he circulated with good effect, along with his cate- 
 chism. At this moment a cloud was gathering over Ire- 
 land, — nothing but physical inability could have retarded 
 Bedell ; but, alas ! before he could accomplish his great de- 
 sign, the rebellion broke out, and, before tranquillity was re- 
 stored, he himself had been taken away to a better world. 
 
 Before inquiring after the fate of his much- valued manu- 
 script, it would be unpardonable thus to pass over the clos- 
 ing scene of such a life. Infinite wisdom hath inquired, 
 " Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that 
 which is good V And the last days of this estimable man 
 afford a singular commentary on this passage. In the 
 Autumn of 1641, when all around him there was nothing 
 but fire, and blood, and desolation, a secret guard seemed to 
 be set upon him, and upon all that he had. He suffered, 
 unquestionably, much distress, as no man could possibly be 
 altogether exempted : but, from the 23d of October, when 
 the civil commotions began, to the 18th of December, Bedell 
 and all within his walls remained unmolested: indeed he 
 was the only Englishman in the county of Cavan who was 
 suffered to continue, during this period, in his own house 
 undisturbed. Not only his house, but all the out-buildings, 
 as well as the church and churchyard, were filled with 
 People who had fled to him for shelter, many of whom had 
 lived in affluent circumstances, but were now glad of a little 
 straw to lie upon, and a little boiled wheat to eat. On the 
 18th of December, when the Bishop was removed from his 
 house, he and his family were carried to the castle of Loch- 
 water, where all, except himself, were at first put in irons. 
 
44 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 These, however, were afterwards taken off, and on the 7th 
 of January the family was finally exchanged for other 
 prisoners, and relieved. During the four following Sab- 
 baths, Bedell preached regularly in his own church, and 
 upon the last of these from Psalm cxliv., on the 7th and 
 11th verses of which he dwelt with peculiar emphasis, re- 
 peating them again and again. Next day he was taken ill, 
 and, two days afterwards, calling his children around him, 
 he addressed them all in the most tender and scriptural 
 manner. " I am going," said he, " the way of all flesh, I 
 am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure 
 is at hand. Knowing, therefore, that shortly I must put 
 off this tabernacle, I know also, that if the earthly house of 
 this my tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, 
 an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, a fair 
 mansion in the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of 
 heaven from my God. Therefore to me to live is Christ, and 
 to die is gain; which increaseth my desire even now to 
 depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. Hearken 
 therefore to the last words of your dying father ; I am no 
 more in this w r orld, but ye are in the world ; I ascend to my 
 Father and your Father, to my God and your God, through 
 the all-sufficient merits of Jesus Christ my Redeemer ; who 
 ever lives to make intercession for me ; who is the propitia- 
 tion for all my sins, and hath washed me from them all in his 
 own blood ; who is worthy to receive glory, and honour, 
 and power; who hath created all things, and for whose 
 pleasure they are and were created." For some time he 
 continued his address, — blessed his children and those that 
 stood by him in an audible voice, and, after a brief interval, 
 he closed by saying, " I have kept the faith once delivered 
 to the saints ; for the which cause I also suffer these things ; 
 but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, 
 and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
 have committed to him against that day." After this, his 
 speech failing, he uttered but few expressions, and at mid- 
 night, on the 7th of February, 1642, he entered the eternal 
 world. 
 
 To his own wishes, with respect to his body, consent was 
 obtained, and on the 9th he was interred close by the re- 
 mains of his wife. It was the most remote and ieast fre- 
 quented spot in the churchyard on which he had fixed, de- 
 siring that he should be laid next to her, with this modest 
 inscription, — " Depositum Gulielmi quondam Episcopi Kil- 
 mor crisis." 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 45 
 
 in his lifetime the natives used to call him " the best of 
 English Bishops ;" and u the singular marks of honour and 
 affection which they paid him at his funeral, even in the 
 great heat and fury of the rebellion, do show, from experi- 
 ence, that the Irish may be drawn by the cords of a man, 
 and that gentle usage and Christian treatment will prevail 
 with them, when the contrary methods will not. For they 
 suffered him, although a heretic in their opinion, to be in- 
 terred in his own burial-place; desiring, if his friends 
 thought fit, that the office proper for that occasion might 
 be used according to the liturgy. Nay, the chief of the 
 rebels, gathering his forces together, accompanied his body 
 to the churchyard with great solemnity, and discharging a 
 volley at the interment, cried out in Latin, ' Requiescat in 
 pace ultimus Anglorum!'" while one of the priests who 
 were present exclaimed, "0 sit anima mea cum Bedello !'** 
 
 In past ages, there is certainly no man who ought to be 
 held in higher veneration by the Native Irish, than William 
 Bedell. At the commencement of his labours among them, 
 the prospect was such as would have sickened most men, 
 yet his subsequent residence of twelve years was one con- 
 tinued and energetic struggle for their salvation. To say 
 nothing of his singular humility or undaunted courage, his 
 unexampled disinterestedness in regard to his own income, 
 or his generous hospitality to the poor and needy ; never 
 let them forget that he felt bound to their best interests by 
 an indissoluble tie, so that when even an English bishopric 
 was offered to him, he refused it ! But, above all, let his 
 pleadings in high places, in that early day, on their be- 
 half, and his unwearied exertions, at an advanced age, in 
 procuring for them the book of God in their long-proscrib- 
 ed language, be cherished with grateful remembrance. 
 These render him the brightest star which ever rose on the 
 gloom of their sorrow.f 
 
 * Richardson's History, &c pp. 23, 24. 
 
 f His immediate successors will here very naturally be inquired for. Of these, how- 
 ever, we can say but little, and literally nothing as it regards Bedell's favourite and 
 truly Christian views with reference to the Native Irish. These successors were 
 Maxwell and H. Marsh, Sheriden and Smith; but until the time of Wetenhall, in 
 1710, the object was not regarded by any incumbent of Kilmore. Robert Maxwell, 
 son of the Dean of Armagh, was appointed in 1643, and the see of Ardagh, which 
 Bedel had renounced, having also become vacant by the death of Richardson, Max- 
 well accepted it. He is mentioned as having been a lineal descendant of one of the 
 Magnates Scotia in 1258, Aymer de Macceswell, and this he might be ; but into the 
 designs of Bedell respecting the Scoti of Ireland he certainly did not enter. Here he 
 remained for twenty-nine years, when, in 1672, H. Marsh, Bishop of Limerick, suc- 
 ceeded. After Marsh's promotion, in 1681, William Sheriden was appointed, whose 
 father has been already noticed as aiding Bedell in the translation : but the son doe* 
 
46 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 Yes, the period after Bedell's death was indeed in every 
 sense gloomy. He was taken away from the evil to come, 
 and it is marvellous that his translation was preserved, as 
 by far the largest proportion of his papers and books were 
 lost or destroyed. Not one step, however, was taken either 
 in printing his manuscript of the Old Testament, or re- 
 printing the New, for about forty years. Nay, the Irish 
 types which had been sent over by Elizabeth, and used for 
 printing the New Testament, after passing from the hands 
 of one King's printer to another, owing to the cupidity of 
 one party into whose possession they had come, were se- 
 cured by the Jesuits, and by them carried over to Douay, 
 for the express purpose of promoting their own views in 
 Ireland through the medium of the Irish language. Not a 
 type remained in existence for printing any thing ; but 
 thirty years afterwards foreign productions were visible in 
 Ireland, executed, I have no doubt, by means of these very 
 materials. In this, however, the Jesuits are not so much 
 to be censured as the party who sold them. Their conduct 
 was a proof of their sagacity, and affords not a hint only, 
 but a lesson of instruction even to the present generation. 
 Before these types were carried away, they were employed 
 in one publication during the time of the Commonwealth. 
 It is a Catechism of some size, with Scripture proofs, all in 
 Irish, printed at Dublin in 1652 by Godfrey Daniel, with 
 rules for reading the Irish tongue, which, though brief, 
 w T ere considered to be excellent. 
 
 Thus, after types had been procured in 1571, the only 
 purposes to which they had been applied, with the excep- 
 tion of Kearney's Catechism, were one edition of the New 
 Testament in 1603, another of the Prayer-Book six years 
 later, and this Catechism in 1652. In other words, though 
 the materials for printing had been furnished, here is the 
 amount of all that was done in Ireland, (for in Britain 
 there was nothing done,) towards furnishing the Native 
 Irish with the knowledge of divine truth through means of 
 
 not appear to have sympathized with the views of either. The manuscript was 
 probably for years in his possession, as some time before his promotion he had de- 
 livered it to Jones, Bishop of Meath. In l(i93 William Smith succeeded; but still it 
 was not till his successor, in lt ; 99, had been bishop for eleven years, that we find the 
 incumbent of Kilmore following up the views of Bedell. This was Wetenhall, 
 nearly seventy years after the decease of his indefatigable predecessor — though he also 
 failed in his attempt. Seethe third section, anno 1710. 
 
 But now, after such long and miserable delay as that which we shall have occa- 
 sion to expose ; at Kilmore especially, one should think that, in the recollection 
 cf Bedell's character, principles, and exertions, any incumbent might imagin# 
 " the stone to cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber to answer it." 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 47 
 
 the press, during a period of one hundred and ten years, 
 from 1571 to 1681, when the attention of a few eminent 
 men was drawn to the subject. 
 
 In tracing, however, the symptoms and progress of some 
 reviving, though transient interest, on behalf of this much- 
 neglected people, towards the close of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, we are irresistibly drawn to the admiration of one dis- 
 tinguished character. Other individuals lent their needful 
 aid and influence ; but, without him, it seems almost cer- 
 tain that there had been no edition of the Irish New Testa- 
 ment from 1603 to the year 1813! nor any edition what- 
 ever of the Old until the present day ! The reader therefore 
 may well excuse some previous notice of one, who, though 
 not what is called a Native Irishman, was born in Ire- 
 land, and continued through life to feel so deep an interest 
 in the aborigines. 
 
 The Honourable Robert Boyle was the seventh son and 
 fourteenth child of the first Earl of Cork. Born the same 
 year in which Lord Bacon died, it was left for him to 
 succeed to his genius and inquiries, so that the one has 
 been styled the student, the other the interpreter of Nature. 
 " Boyle's valuable experiments," it has been lately said, 
 " in various branches of science, show that he had deeply 
 imbibed the spirit of his great master's system ; and, in- 
 dependently of his discoveries and improvements, they 
 constitute a most important addition to what Bacon had 
 so loudly called on philosophers to labour at attaining, 
 namely, a more extensive and accurate history of nature." 
 But still, however much he was indebted to his prede- 
 cessor, and no man could admire him more, — as to Mr 
 Boyle's pursuits, it must be remembered, that even these 
 delightful studies he by no means regarded as his chief 
 felicity. When the poor Native Irish come to bless his 
 memory, and that day will come, let them not forget that 
 all his generous sympathy for them sprung from a foun- 
 tain of tenderness, opened in his heart in consequence of 
 his profound veneration for God himself. He was indeed a 
 philosopher, — a lover of wisdom, and that chiefly because 
 in him this love proceeded from the love of God, and was 
 nourished by his habitual esteem for his most holy word. 
 This was the theme on which he delighted to expatiate, and 
 which, notwithstanding the occasional peculiarities of his 
 style, lent to his expressions true sublimity of thought. 
 Perhaps more familiar with nature than any man of his 
 time, he had a pleasure in it, as a field for enlightened 
 
48 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 induction, equal to any who have explored it since : yet all 
 this familiarity with physical science was rendered doubly 
 sweet, in consequence of far higher satisfaction in the in- 
 spired explanation of the secrets of wisdom. Here it was 
 that Mr Boyle occasionally felt at a loss for expression, de- 
 scriptive of his interest and enjoyment. While his philo- 
 sophical writings abundantly evidence his delight in study- 
 ing the works of God ; when he turned to his ways, and es- 
 pecially to the Divine Being himself, it was then that he 
 found solid satisfaction, or, to use his own expression, then 
 that he cast anchor and ceased roving. " Though the 
 pleasure of making physical discoveries/' says he, " is in 
 itself very great, yet this does a little impair it, that the 
 same attempts which afford that delight, do so frequently 
 beget both anxious doubt and a disquieting curiosity. So 
 that if knowledge be, as some philosophers have styled it, 
 the aliment of the rational soul, I fear I may truly say, 
 that the naturalist is usually fain to live upon salads and 
 sauces, which, though they yield some nourishment, excite 
 more appetite than they satisfy, and give us indeed the 
 pleasure of eating with a good stomach, but then reduce us 
 to an unwelcome necessity of always rising hungry from 
 the table." 
 
 How widely different w r ere his expressions when he 
 turned to the Bible! " It may be fitly compared," said he, 
 " to that blessed Land of Promise, which is so often said 
 in Scripture to be flowing with milk and honey ; if not to 
 Paradise itself, of which it is said that there the Lord God 
 made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and 
 good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the gar- 
 den." Or as at another time, " the Bible is indeed among 
 books, what the diamond is among stones, the most pre- 
 cious and most sparkling, the most apt to scatter light, 
 and yet the most solid and proper to make impressions/'' 
 Not that such a man could be insensible to the obscurity 
 which at first or second reading seems to rest on various 
 passages of holy writ. But then this he had by experience 
 found to be only as the mist in nature, " which seems 
 thicker at a distance than when one enters it ;" so that the 
 obscurity -was in many instances " not intended to frus- 
 trate industry, but punish laziness." Still these obscurities 
 might baffle his research ; and did this illustrious native of 
 Ireland, therefore, throw the book away ? Far from it. 
 The same modesty w T hich he discovered as an inductive 
 philosopher, he felt more profoundly when looking on his 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 49 
 
 Bible. " I shall ingenuously confess to you, that there are 
 some things in the economy of Scripture that do somewhat 
 distress my reason to find a satisfactory account of, and 
 that there are very few things wherein my curiosity is more 
 concerned, and would more welcome a solution. But when 
 I remember how many things I once thought incoherent, 
 in which I now think I discern a close connexion ; when I 
 reflect on the Author and ends of the Scripture ; and when 
 I allow myself to imagine how exquisite a symmetry 
 Omniscience doth, and after ages probably will discover in 
 the Scripture's method, in spite of those seeming discom- 
 posures that now puzzle me ; when I think upon all this, 
 I think it just to check my forward thoughts, which would 
 either presume to know all the recluse ends of Omni- 
 science, or peremptorily judge of the fitness of means to 
 ends unknown ; and am reduced to think that economy the 
 wisest, that is chosen by a Wisdom so boundless, that it 
 can at once survey all expedients, — and so unbiassed, that 
 it hath no interest to choose any, but for its being fittest." 
 To his penetrating yet patient mind there seemed a divine 
 propriety or beauty in such passages being found in the 
 book of God ; nay, that " there may be parts of Scripture 
 whose clear exposition shall ennoble and bless the remotest 
 of succeeding ages ; and that perhaps some mysteries are 
 so obscure, that they are reserved to the illumination and 
 blazes of the last and universal fire." There are men, in- 
 deed, who talk of danger, in approaching such passages, 
 and would therefore propose to withhold the book itself. 
 But Robert Boyle, certainly one of the most illustrious men 
 that ever drew breath in Ireland, would have trembled at 
 such a proposal. Hear again his own words : — " As the 
 knowledge of those texts that are obscure is not necessary, 
 so those others, whose sense is necessary to be understood, 
 are easy enough to be so ; and those are as much more nu- 
 merous than the others, as more clear. Since God has 
 been pleased to provide sufficiently for our instruction, what 
 reason have we to repine, if, in a book not designed for us 
 alone, we have provision also for those that are fitted for 
 higher attainments, — especially since, if we be not wanting 
 to ourselves, those passages that are so obscure as to teach 
 us nothing else, may at least teach us humility." 
 
 Mr Boyle is said to have scarcely ever pronounced the 
 name of God without a pause ; his character as a philoso- 
 pher is admitted at home and abroad ; but in Ireland, 
 though a layman, let him never be forgotten for his admi- 
 
 E I 
 
50 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 ration of the Sacred Volume, and as a practical divine. 
 " I use the Scriptures," said he, M not as an arsenal to be 
 resorted to only for arms and weapons to defend this party 
 or defeat its enemies, but as a matchless temple, where I 
 delight to be, to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and 
 the magnificence of the structure, and to increase my awe 
 and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and 
 adored." 
 
 Such was this amiable and eminent Irishman, who, 
 though but of a delicate constitution, lived a studious, 
 and busy, and useful life. Far from spending — 
 
 The little wick of life's poor shallow lamp 
 In playing tricks with nature, giving laws 
 To distant worlds, and trifling in his own — 
 
 He was indeed a child-like sage : a sagacious reader of the 
 works of God, and in his word sagacious — what wonder 
 then that he should discover such interest in the translation 
 and circulation of the Sacred Volume ? 
 
 In the year 1678, we find that a copy of the Irish New 
 Testament of 1603 was quite a rarity, and it was to be 
 seen nowhere in actual or public use ! At this time a native 
 of Ireland, born at Cashell, who, in 1639, had gone abroad 
 to complete his studies, in 1673 had returned to his native 
 city, u desiring to spend the remnant of his days unknown, 
 to prepare for the long day of eternity." Here he became 
 acquainted with the Archbishop, Thomas Price, who well 
 remembered Bedell, having been ordained by him at Kil- 
 more. The following year the attention of this man, Dr 
 Andrew Sail, had been particularly drawn to the Scriptures, 
 and being not only a person of thorough education, but par- 
 ticularly skilled in his native tongue, every thing in the 
 language could not fail to interest him. Yet in reference 
 to the present period he tells us — " I do not remember to 
 have seen more of the Scriptures printed in Irish but the 
 Psalms, with our Common Prayer-Book, in handsome folio 
 for choir, of which I discovered a set to the Archbishop of 
 Cashell, and his Grace appointed a reading of them in his 
 cathedral."* In 1675, Dr Sail visited Oxford, and con- 
 
 * This, however, is not, I think, an edition of the Prayer-Book and Psalms in 
 folio, but of the Psalms alone. The Prayer-Book of 1608 was in quarto; and as it 
 had not the Psalms, they seem to have been printed separately afterwards. " I am 
 surprised in missing in our Common Prayer-Book in Irish the vulgar translation of 
 the Psalms, which until now I never observed, it having been a strange omission 
 that the Psalms, of such dailv use in reading, should have been neglected." Dr 
 Jones to Mr Boyle, in Sept. 1C81. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 51 
 
 tinued to reside there till May, 1680. Here he received his 
 degree, and engaged in delivering lectures, and here he be- 
 came acquainted with the Honourable Robert Boyle. In 
 December, 1678, Mr Boyle having consulted Dr S. as to re- 
 printing the Irish New Testament, he acquainted him in 
 return with its scarcity, as already quoted, and gave his 
 opinion in the following terms : — " I bless God for inspiring 
 you to so holy a zeal, and those worthies that join with you 
 therein. I doubt not but it may conduce highly to the glory 
 of God, good of those souls, and credit of our government, 
 if the other prelates and pastors of Ireland did use such en- 
 deavours as the good Archbishop of Cashell does, by com- 
 muning with the natives, and winning them to hear and 
 read the word of God ; and specially if in the College there 
 were a course taken for obliging or enticing such as expect 
 to have [orders] to read and declare the Holy Scriptures 
 in Irish : — for me, I am more apt to lament than re- 
 medy it." 
 
 Mr Boyle now ordered a fount of Irish types to be cast 
 in London.* He first employed them in printing the 
 Church Catechism in Irish, with the Elements of that 
 Language, in 1680 ;t but the year before he had already 
 resolved on also reprinting the New Testament. Mr 
 Reily, a native of Ireland, but educated in France, being 
 well qualified for the work, and interested in it, Mr Boyle 
 engaged him to superintend and correct the press. About 
 the same period, Dr Sail having communicated with Dr 
 Price at Cashell, and received from him all the information 
 he possessed as to the Scriptures in Irish, whether printed 
 or in manuscript, went over himself, in May, 1680, and con- 
 ferred with the Duke of Ormond, then Lord Lieutenant, Dr 
 Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, and Dr Narcissus Marsh, 
 then Provost of Trinity College. Finding " all three very 
 willing to countenance and further" the design, he inform- 
 ed Mr Boyle, and, in 1681, this edition of the New Testa- 
 ment was finished. Mr Boyle had ordered for his own dis- 
 tribution 500 ; but allowed the printer or publisher to 
 throw off an additional number. The whole impression, 
 however, was only about 700 or 750. In September, this 
 year, copies were forwarded, by Mr Boyle's order, to Drs 
 
 This Hibernian fount was cut by Mr Moxon, who founded at London from 
 1659 to 1683; and after Mr Boyle's time, it was sold at the sale of Mr John James, 
 the last of the Old English letter-founders. Mr Mores, the learned typographer, 
 says, *' This was cut in England for Bedell's translation," and is "the only type of 
 sfcat Language we ever saw V t Richardson's History, p. 26. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 Jones and Marsh — fifty bound, of which forty were left for 
 the College, under Dr Marsh, then much interested in train- 
 ing up students to read and study the language ; others 
 were presented to influential persons, and 350 in sheets 
 were for general distribution. A large preface in English 
 and Irish, composed by Dr Sail, and translated by Reily, 
 was prefixed to these unbound copies. 
 
 The year before this, or 1680, the manuscript of the Old 
 Testament, by the venerable Bedell, having been inquired 
 for, was found in the possession of Dr Jones, to whom it 
 had been committed by Mr Sheriden* Dr Jones proposed 
 its being examined by Dr Sail, and with this view com- 
 mitted it to his care in December, 1681. He found the 
 sheets in confusion, and in some parts defaced. With Mr 
 Higgins, the Irish lecturer in Trinity College, he got it 
 arranged and bound, in order to a fair copy being written 
 out for the press. In February, 1682, Dr Sail had engaged 
 a transcriber, intending to send sheet by sheet to Mr Reily, 
 in London, for the press. " I agreed with the scribe," says 
 he to Mr Boyle, " for one shilling for each sheet ; the Pro- 
 vost and Mr Higgins think that to be the least he 
 can expect, considering the special difficulty of writing 
 the language. I desire to know your own opinion, 
 with Mr Reily 's, upon that ; as also, that the subscrip- 
 tions may be immediately begun and sent over, to de- 
 fray the charges of this writing. I wish my stock were as 
 able as my heart would be willing to bear all myself. 
 My labour and industry I will not spare, and will lay aside 
 other studies I was engaged in, to attend to this work, being 
 persuaded that none other can be of more importance for 
 the glory of God, and the good of souls, in this poor country. 
 I have been confirmed in this persuasion, by the great joy 
 I see in the country, for the publishing of the [[New] Tes- 
 tament, with many blessings on you, and prayers for you, 
 whose bounty procured this happiness for them/' Dr Jones, 
 who was now deceased, having previously informed Dr Sail 
 that he had gained his expected successor to join him in 
 this design, Dr S. had also succeeded with Dr William 
 Moreton, Bishop of Kildare ; and these two, with Dr Marsh, 
 he expected would propose subscriptions in Ireland, and 
 agree to receive or collect them. In less than two months 
 after this, however, (5th April,) Dr Sail having caught cold, 
 
 * See Note, page 45, 46. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 53 
 
 died unexpectedly, which was considered as a great stroke, 
 though not a fatal one, to the design. In 1681, Dr Marsh 
 had begun for himself to correspond with Mr Boyle. It 
 was not from mere politeness that he had first embarked in 
 furthering this work ; and now that Dr Sail was gone, he 
 says, " I intend that the revising of the old translation of 
 the Old Testament, and its transcription, shall nevertheless 
 go on, with the help of Mr Higgins, and some other Irish- 
 men, whom I will call in to assist, if I can but discern that, 
 by God's help, I may be able to guide and direct the ma- 
 nagement of the work, what pains soever it may cost me/' 
 By the month of June, that year, Dr M. had with great care 
 got 140 sheets fitted for the press. In September, it appears 
 that the Bishops of Meath and Kildare were both, as yet, 
 cordially united with him ; and that Provost Marsh, in 
 writing to Dr Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was 
 contemplating a life of Bedell, had informed him of Mr 
 Boyle's design. In February, 1683, the correct transcrip- 
 tion was advanced to Jeremiah, when Marsh, who was 
 during this month appointed Bishop of Fern and Leighlin, 
 obtained the cordial aid of another man of genius and learn- 
 ing, Dr William Huntington.] He succeeded him in the 
 College, and being well acquainted with Mr Boyle, had pre- 
 viously begun to correspond with him on the subject.* 
 Thus, by the year 1685, the whole work, composing 719-§ 
 sheets of manuscript, had been sent to London ; and, under 
 the care of Mr Reily, it was published in quarto, during the 
 spring of 1686. The edition consisted of 500 copies; to the 
 expenses of which, and that of the New Testament — punch- 
 cutting, transcribing, and printing, Mr Boyle, with his 
 characteristic munificence, contributed L.700 sterling. For 
 the expenses of printing and binding the Old Testament 
 there w T ere besides some private subscriptions. In March, 
 1686, copies were sent over to Dr Huntington. " The first 
 that was bound," says he to Mr Boyle, " I carried to the 
 
 * Before this period Dr Huntington had forwarded the benevolent designs of Mr 
 Boyle. In 1670, having gone to the East as chaplain to the British merchants at 
 Aleppo, he visited Smyrna, Ephesus, and Thyatira, on his way, and remained abroad 
 eleven years. Ancient MSS. in Arabic, Syriac, Samaritan, Hebrew, and Coptic, 
 amounting in number to above 400, he collected and brought home. After having 
 visited Egypt and Jerusalem twice, and carried on an epistolary correspondence with 
 all the learned men in these parts, he returned, by way of Rome and Paris, to Ox- 
 ford, in 1682. When Grotius, in Arabic, and the Catechism, in Turkish, came out, 
 through Mr Boyle's generosity, Dr Huntington, then at Aleppo, had been active in 
 their distribution throughout Turkey ; and now that he had returned home, he wa* 
 prevailed upon to become Provost of Trinity, and united with Dr Marsh in further- 
 ing the views of Bovle as to his native country. 
 
 L 3 
 
54 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 Lord Lieutenant, and begged his encouragement of so good 
 a work, which he readily promised, both for its own sake 
 and for yours, that the nation may know at present, and 
 the generations to come, how much they stand indebted to 
 such a benefactor." 
 
 Some interest on behalf of the poor Native Irish having 
 thus been discovered at last, though by only a few eminent 
 men, the reader may be curious to know in what light this 
 was regarded by others. Why was there not, it may be 
 asked, but one general approving voice ? This, however, 
 was far from being the case. The truth is, that one indivi- 
 dual already referred to, Dr Jones, the Bishop of Meath, 
 who revered the memory of Bedell, and warmly approved 
 of his exertions, before that Mr Boyle had actually moved 
 in the business, had been addressing the Earl of Essex, then 
 Lord Lieutenant, but he was borne down by the force of 
 prejudice against all such attempts. Thus in his first letter 
 to Mr Boyle, of August, 1680, he says, " this completing of 
 the Bible in Irish, added to what is already printed, would 
 be a work greatly to God's glory, in bringing, by his grace, 
 many from darkness to light. I had once thoughts of re- 
 presenting this to our next parliament here, hoping for 
 public allowance and supplies thereby towards it. But in 
 discourse with some concerning it, I found it almost a 
 principle in their politics, to suppress that language utterly, 
 rather than in so public a way countenance it. This occa- 
 sioned what I have some time written (viz. 1676) in an 
 epistle to the Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieutenant of Ire- 
 land, prefixed to a small tract, which is therefore herewithal 
 for your perusal." Four years after this we hear Dr Hunt- 
 ington saying, " How far the public will interest themselves 
 in the encouragement hereof by any solemn act, I cannot 
 determine." And now that the work is finished without 
 any public aid, what says Dr Marsh, in March, 1686 ? 
 M Upon the hint in your letter of my Lord Lieutenant's fa- 
 vourable thought of this design of publishing the Bible in 
 the Irish tongue, 1 made bold to address his Excellency 
 about it, and that the rather because I have gotten a great 
 deal of ill-will from some great men in this kingdom for 
 what I have done in promoting this good and charitable 
 work, which has been no small discouragement to me. His 
 Excellency was pleased to promise his encouragement and 
 assistance towards the carrying it on, both by his purse and 
 otherwise ; but withal was surprised to hear what I related 
 of the discouragements, and, indeed, threats that I have had 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 55 
 
 on this account. The unwelcomeness of this undertaking 
 to many in this country, I believe, was the reason why the 
 Bishop of Meath (Dr Dopping) flew off from prosecuting 
 what he designed and promised, and has ever since been 
 wholly unconcerned and sat neuter. Notwithstanding all 
 which, I hope to finish the designed (Irish) Grammar, 
 wherein I find many unexpected difficulties, and nobody 
 able to solve them. An account of the Irish language, as 
 to the original and nature of it, long since promised to the 
 Provost, (Huntington,) is now coming to me: if any thing 
 in it be material, care shall be taken that it be fitted to be 
 joined with the other. The great charges and care that you 
 have been at in printing the Old Testament, will, I hope, 
 find that acknowledgment, and the pious work find that 
 acceptance amongst the generality in this kingdom which 
 they really do deserve ; and that a means will yet be found 
 out to commit the book of Common Prayers in the Irish 
 tongue to the press also ; that so the design of the canons of 
 this church, which require every parish to have the Bible 
 and book of Common Prayers in Irish, may be answered." 
 
 Thus it seems Mr Boyle might contribute large sums to 
 the propagation of divine knowledge abroad, in America 
 and India, or found lectures for the defence of natural and 
 revealed religion in England— he might print " Grotius de 
 Veritate" in Arabic, — the Gospels and Acts in the Malayan 
 tongue, — assist in the Catechism or New Testament in 
 Turkish, — or even contribute towards the printing of the 
 Scriptures in Welsh for Wales, or Gaelic for the Highlands 
 of Scotland — for all these things he did, and for all his 
 foreign operations especially was extolled. But it seems it 
 was not thought politic in him to pity his own dear native 
 country ; and he should not, in the estimation of some men, 
 have thus befriended the Native Irish ! It was then whis- 
 pered, no doubt, that the boon to be bestowed could only be 
 conveyed with safety through the medium of the language 
 of the reigning power. This strange position we shall have 
 abundant opportunity of meeting afterwards. All we need 
 to say at present is, that before a people, and especially a 
 people of such heart and genius, could be brought in this 
 way to part with " the tongue which their mother gave 
 them,"* they must be debased to a degree which would 
 actually render them unfit for all the purposes of social and 
 
 * The phrase used by the Irish themselves. 
 
66 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 of civil life. No, the exertions of Mr Boyle and t his few 
 learned friends carried with them every attribute of genuine 
 charity; and it was a proverb then, as it is now, that 
 " charity begins at home," though it certainly should not 
 end there. But by the policy referred to, the proverb was 
 reversed, and his charity might begin any where, and travel 
 to the Antipodes, provided it did not glance upon the land 
 from which he had derived his birth and fortune ! 
 
 We have now, however, come to the close of the" seven- 
 teenth century, one hundred and fifty years after the inven- 
 tion of printing: and before proceeding to the eighteenth, it 
 is necessary to lift up our eyes, and look abroad to see 
 whether any thing was doing on the continent of Europe. 
 Into the distressing peculiarities of Irish history it would be 
 unwise to enter, but happily it is here quite unnecessary : 
 Though to understand the baneful nature of that policy 
 which has been pursued for ages, in other words, opposing 
 the education or mental improvement of this people through 
 the medium of their vernacular tongue, it becomes our duty 
 to fix the public eye on some of its inevitable results.* Al- 
 ready we have scrupulously stated all that had been already 
 done in their own country, however tardily, though often 
 frowned upon, and never more so than in the cases of the 
 illustrious Bedell and Boyle. Now, it may afford a lesson 
 of instruction, even to the present generation, if we look 
 abroad, and observe how the native Irish were employed 
 there during the seventeenth century. Let us see whether 
 the proscribed language was regarded by them as an in- 
 strument of no value or no power, and whether the men 
 who left their native country either abandoned the language, 
 or, if they returned, were unable to converse with their 
 countrymen. 
 
 The first book printed on the continent in Irish, and of 
 course in the Irish character, which I have been able to 
 trace, is a catechism at Lou vain in 1608, the same year in 
 which Daniel printed the Irish Prayer Book. It was com- 
 posed by a native Irishman from Ulster, Bonaventure Hus- 
 sey, {Hosceus), who was afterwards lecturer of the Irish 
 College of St Padua, in Louvain. This catechism, however, 
 was reprinted at Antwerp in 1611, and again, I think, at the 
 
 * It cannot for one moment be imagined, that these are here registered as proofs of 
 any high attainments; but, taken as results of past policy, they may well be ponder- 
 ed. Jts folly and injurious consequences are thus most strikingly apparent. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 57 
 
 same place in 1618, under the title of Teagasg Criosdaidhe, 
 or Christian Doctrine. 
 
 In 1618, Hugh MacCaghwell, Cavellus, a Franciscan 
 Friar, and Divinity Lecturer of Padua College, just men- 
 tioned, published, in the Irish language and character, his 
 " Mirror of the Sacrament of Penance/' which Harris, in 
 his additions to Ware, erroneously places in 1628 ; two years 
 after his death, on the 22d of September, 1626. If there is 
 an edition in 1628, it must be the second. 
 
 In 1626, Scathan an Chrabhuigh, i. e. the Mirror of Reli- 
 gion, a catechism in the Irish language and character, was 
 printed at Louvain by Florence Conry, or O'Mulconaire, a 
 native of Connaught — distinguished for his acquaintance 
 with the works of Augustine. He published several works 
 — one of which, printed at Paris in 1641, is entitled " Pere- 
 grinus Jerichontinus, hoc est de natura humana feliciter 
 instituta, infeliciter lapsa, miserabiliter vulnerata, miseri- 
 corditer restaurata," and at the end, the propositions of the 
 divines of Louvain and Douay against the Jesuits, on the 
 subjects of grace and the Holy Scriptures. 
 
 About 1626 also Florence Gray, born in Thomond, and a 
 lecturer in the same College, wrote an Irish grammar; but 
 I cannot ascertain whether it was printed. He returned to 
 Dublin, where he was living in 1620. 
 
 In 1639, there was published in quarto, at Louvain, by 
 Theobald Stapleton, a secular priest from Kilkenny, in pa- 
 rallel columns of Latin and Irish, a Catechism on Christian 
 doctrine. It is entitled, " Catechismus, seu doctrina Latino- 
 Hibernica per modum dialogi inter magistrum et discipu- 
 lum," — a book which seems to have been composed for the 
 Irish students resident at Louvain and the other Irish colleges 
 then establishing, or to be established, on the continent. At 
 the end there is subjoined, in Latin and Irish — Modus peru- 
 tilis legendi linguam Hibernicam. There is a copy of this 
 book in Trinity College library. 
 
 For ten or fifteen years, from the year 1629-30, Michael 
 Cleri, or O'Clery, a Franciscan, born in Ulster, who had 
 gone to the continent for his education, (induced by Ferrall 
 O'Gara, the representative of Sligo in the Irish parliament 
 of 1634), returned to Ireland, with the design of collecting 
 Irish manuscripts, and the remains of Irish history. Assist- 
 ed by five other individuals, he succeeded in transcribing as 
 much as filled two folio volumes, which have been generally 
 known since as the Annals of Dunagall : the first of which 
 
58 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 is now in the Chandos library at Stow; the second is in 
 Trinity College, Dublin, where the first volume, copied into 
 two quartos, makes this copy complete. Besides this work, 
 these men collected the " Book of Conquests" and the " Re- 
 gal Catalogue," &c. Whatever may be thought of these 
 compositions, they afforded O'Clery the best opportunities 
 of comparing Irish manuscript ; and as one result, he pub- 
 lished at Louvain, in 1643, his " Seanasan Nuadh," a dic- 
 tionary or glossary of the most obsolete and difficult Irish 
 words. These, which were explained by words still used in 
 modern Irish, were afterwards reprinted by Edward Lhuid, 
 in his specimen of an Irish dictionary. A copy of this 
 work was bought at the sale of Yallancey's library, for six 
 guineas : which I presume to be the same that is mentioned 
 in Watts' Bibliotheca Biblica, under this title, " Lexicon 
 Hibernicum pro vocabulis antiquioribus et obscuris, Luva- 
 nii, 1643, 8vo." 
 
 In 1645, Anthony Gearnon, a Franciscan in the Irish 
 College at Louvain, afterwards resident in Dundalk and 
 Dublin, published a Catechism in Irish, — Parrthas an anma, 
 or Paradise of the Soul — copies of which, though very scarce, 
 are still in the possession of several Irish gentlemen. To 
 glance for one moment on Irish ground, we may notice 
 here one work composed by Richard Plunket, a poor brother 
 of the Franciscans, at Trim, in the county of Meath, — a 
 Foclair or Glossary of Irish, Latin, and Biscayan, which he 
 finished in 1662. The original is in Marsh's library, and 
 there is a copy in that of Trinity College. Lhuid, in his 
 Archaeologia Britannica, made great use of it, and commends 
 the author for Ins judgment and laudable industry; but it 
 was never printed; so that we must still look abroad for 
 any specimens of Irish typography. 
 
 The first book winch seems to have been printed in Eng- 
 lish and Irish was an Essay on Miracles, plainly intended 
 for the natives. It was published in 8vo, at Louvain, in 
 1667, entitled, " Of Miracles, and the new Miracles done by 
 the Relics of St Francis Xavier, in the Jesuits' College at 
 Mechlin/' The author, Richard MacGiolla-Cuddy, or Arch- 
 dekin, born in the county of Kilkenny, in 1619, was a 
 lecturer at Louvain and Antwerp, where he died about 1690. 
 This man published several other works in Latin ; one of 
 which, in three volumes Svo. went through a number of 
 editions in different places. When the eighth was under- 
 taken, sixteen thousand had been sold, and there was a great 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 59 
 
 demand for more ; the eleventh edition was printed at Ve- 
 nice, in 1700 * 
 
 The attention of the reader has been hitherto directed 
 only to the Netherlands ; but Antwerp and Louvain were 
 not the only places where an Irish press was busy. Whether 
 any thing had been printed at Rome in the Irish character 
 before this, I am not certain ; but, in 1676, we find Irish 
 types there, and these employed by natives from Ireland. 
 " Lucerna Fidelium," printed in 8vo, at Rome, in 1676, 
 though a Latin title, is an Irish book, containing an expla- 
 nation of the Christian doctrine, according to the faith of 
 the church of Rome. Its Irish title is, " Lochran an 
 Chreidmheach/' or Lamp of the Faithful. 
 
 The following year, an Irish-Latin grammar was pub- 
 lished, " Grammatica Latino-Hibernica Compendiata," 
 Romae, 1677, 12mo, which Lhuid regarded as the most com- 
 plete Irish grammar then extant. It is, however, imperfect, 
 both in syntax and the variation of nouns and verbs ; but 
 the printing of it abroad may be contrasted with the fate of 
 such a work as that of Plunket in 1662, already mentioned. 
 Though scarce, both these volumes are in Trinity College 
 library. They were composed by Francis O'Molloy, from 
 King's County, who was afterwards a lecturer in the Irish 
 College of St Isidore at Rome, and for a time general agent 
 for the Irish in Italy. Ten years before this he had pub- 
 lished, in 8vo, at Rome — " Sacra Theologia." 
 
 There must, I think, have been several other compositions 
 in Irish typography. Of these now mentioned, however, 
 editions were printed, and dispersed, or sold, and in one 
 instance there were two if not three distinct impressions, 
 perhaps more. 
 
 In concluding these notices of the seventeenth century, 
 in which Britain was tasting even the luxuries of literature, 
 and blest with all the satisfaction and benefit which books 
 afford, let us pause for a moment over the situation of our 
 native Irish fellow- subjects. It was now a hundred and 
 thirty years since Irish types had been sent into the country, 
 and the reader has observed the three or four purposes to 
 which they had, at distant intervals, during that long pe- 
 riod, been applied, — that these very types were purchased 
 
 • Its title is " Theologia tripartita universa, sive resolutiones polemicae, practicae, 
 controversiarum et questionum etiam recentissimarum quae in schola et in praxi per 
 omnia usum principuum habent : Missionaries et aliis animarum curatoribus et theo- 
 logiae studiosis solerter accommodatse." 
 
60 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 for a foreign market, and mixed up with others, not there 
 to remain without use, but to be employed, it is most pro- 
 bable, in some of the prints just specified. The reader has 
 seen individual benevolence endeavouring to put the Book 
 of Life into the hands of the fourth generation, after types 
 had been actually furnished for printing it, and he has 
 seen this frowned upon, instead of being generously and 
 fearlessly encouraged. What had been doing abroad I shall 
 at present leave to the reader's own reflections ; but should 
 he feel disposed to inquire what Britain had done for herself 
 all the w T hile, the contrast is sufficiently striking. Take 
 only the English Scriptures as a specimen. By this time 
 there had been one hundred and thirteen editions of the 
 English New Testament, the number of copies being be- 
 yond the possibility of calculation. Opposite to these, we 
 have to place two editions of the Irish New Testament, both 
 distant from each other nearly eighty years, and together 
 including only 1000, or at most 1200 copies ! Of the Eng- 
 lish Bible complete, there had been one hundred and twenty- 
 six editions, and opposite to these we have only one solitary 
 Irish Bible in quarto of about 600 copies, and that at the 
 close of the century ! But, besides these, there had been 
 also about one hundred and ninety-three editions of por- 
 tions of English Scripture, or, in whole, four hundred and 
 thirty-two distinct publications, of which more than one 
 hundred and twenty had notes or parallel passages, expli- 
 cations, expositions, annotations, or comments. 
 
 In entering upon the eighteenth century, a period in 
 which the art of printing has been employed throughout 
 Britain with such distinguished effect, and to an extent 
 altogether incalculable, the contrast presented to us, in the 
 case of the native Irish, would be curious, were it not so 
 painful to follow the workings of unsound policy. About 
 the beginning of this century, an expedient presented itself, 
 then no doubt deemed a happy one — which was, that, if 
 this Irish language was to be tolerated at all in the British 
 dominions through the medium of books, it must only be 
 by using the English or Roman letter. The jealousy which 
 had reigned for centuries over the language, now settled 
 itself, as a last resort, upon the appropriate character which 
 belonged to it. This, however, it will appear, was only pre- 
 paratory to the subject being dropped altogether, by almost 
 all parties, public or private, for a hundred years ! The 
 Hon. Mr. Boyle had been successful in placing a few copies 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 61 
 
 of the Scriptures in the hands of the fourth generation 
 from the time that types had been first cast ; but three 
 generations more must pass away before the benevolent 
 action can be repeated ! 
 
 The history of the dismissal of the subject, from that day 
 to our own, is not unworthy of attention, as it may serve 
 to confirm the opinions of those who have now come for- 
 ward to befriend this people. 
 
 In the year 1709, communications having passed between 
 the Irish House of Lords and the lower House of Convoca- 
 tion, respecting the native Irish, and the former having 
 intimated that they had more than ordinary occasion for 
 the assistance of the latter, to prepare and digest what might, 
 seem best, various resolutions were agreed to and passed ; 
 among which were the following : — Resolved, " That the 
 Holy Bible and Liturgy be printed in the Irish language in 
 the English character." Resolved, " That some person be 
 appointed to prepare a short exposition of the Church 
 Catechism, — and that the same be printed in Irish and 
 English." 
 
 The next year, 1710, after several encouraging symptoms 
 of attention to the state of the natives, a memorial by Dr 
 Edward Wettenhall, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh,* as 
 well as several other gentlemen and clergymen in Ireland, 
 previously sanctioned by the Earl of Anglesey and others, 
 was presented to the Duke of Ormond ; in which, after 
 stating that there were no printed books of religion then 
 extant in Irish, except a very few Bibles and Common 
 Prayer-Books, it was humbly proposed, " that some num- 
 bers of New Testaments and Common Prayer-Books, Cate- 
 chisms, and expositions thereon, Whole Duty of Man, and 
 Sermons upon the principal points of religion, be translated, 
 and printed in the Irish character and tongue ; in order to 
 which the only set of Irish characters now in Britain is 
 bought already ."t At this moment there seemed to be a 
 
 * Dr. W., who had come to Dublin in 1672, and was an excellent scholar, had in 
 that city conducted a large school with success. He was the author of the Greek 
 and Latin grammar well known and often printed, besides seventeen other pieces, 
 chiefly practical divinity. He was now in Bedell's see, and entertained such vene- 
 ration for his character, as to direct, by his will, that, if he died at Kilmore, '« his 
 body should be interred near good Bishop Bedell's." He expired, however, in Lon- 
 don, three years after presenting this memorial, and was buried in Westminster 
 Abbey. See also the note in page 45, 46. 
 
 t These were types from the fount cut at the expense of Mr. Boyle, and they seem 
 to have been purchased by the Rev. John Richardson, of whom the reader will find 
 some notice in a following page. It is worthy of remark, that while this memorial 
 petitioned for Irish books, it immediately implored that English schools should be 
 erected in every parish of Ireland. Not a word is said as to the necessity of Irish 
 schools. I quote the whole that refers to Irish books. 
 
 F 
 
G2 
 
 JRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 conjunction of circumstances, which filled with hope tho 
 enlightened friends of the native Irish. The Duke himself 
 and Mr, afterwards Sir Robert Southwell, the secretary, 
 were both favourably disposed. The Rev. John Richard- 
 son, of whose zeal some account will be found in a subse- 
 quent page, was chaplain to the Duke, and during the 
 absence of his excellency, Dr Marsh, now primate, was 
 also senior Chief Justice of Ireland. The Duke of Ormond 
 being then in England, this memorial was forwarded to him, 
 — he received it very kindly, — returned it to Dublin with a 
 letter in its favour, desiring the Lords Justices to lay it be- 
 fore the Primate and other Prelates, then in Dublin. They 
 gave it a favourable reception, but replied, that the help 
 and advice of parliament and convocation were required. 
 The Duke then obtaining license from Queen Anne to en- 
 join immediate attention to the subject, it was also deemed 
 advisable that the whole affair relative to the natives should 
 be laid before her Majesty. A petition was presented ac- 
 cordingly, the subject-matter of which was recommended 
 by the Archbishop of York as well as the Duke. The 
 Queen not only acceded, but was entirely disposed to coun- 
 tenance and encourage the design ; but here, in effect, the 
 whole matter, so far as instruction through the medium of 
 the vernacular tongue was concerned, came to an end. Ob- 
 jections were raised, both to the memorial and petition 
 already mentioned, and the old policy prevailed ! The zeal 
 of the petitioners, however wise and well-directed, had gone 
 too far for the prejudices then existing, and the insertion of 
 but a single sentence relative to Irish books or Irish mini- 
 sters proved fatal to their wishes. By several individuals 
 from Ireland, it was suggested that such proposals were 
 " destructive of the English interest, contrary to law, and 
 inconsistent with the authority of synods and convoca- 
 tions ;" and although ail such objections not only had no 
 foundation in Scripture, law, or reason, but were grounded 
 on a mistaken view of the memorial, to say nothing of the 
 positive step taken so long before by Elizabeth, and the 
 canons of the Irish church,* — still, that tide of mistaken 
 and injurious prejudice against the language began to set 
 in, which was not to ebb for a hundred years, and it was 
 
 • " And where all, or the most part of the people are Irish, they (the church- 
 wardens) shall provide also the said books, viz. two books of Common Prayer and 
 the Bible, in the Irish tongue, so soon as they may be had. The charge of these 
 Irish books to be borne also wholly by the parish."— Canon 94 of the Church of Ire- 
 land. See also eighteenth line from the top, page 55. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 63 
 
 therefore deemed prudent to remain stationary till the con- 
 vocation should be again consulted, and another application 
 should be made to parliament. As soon, however, as it as- 
 sembled, the Lower House took up the subject, — the end 
 was approved, — the opinions respecting the means were 
 various and contradictory, — the time for application to par- 
 liament for necessary funds was passing away, when the 
 Right Hon. Charles O'Neil, at the request of a well-wisher, 
 moved that the matter should be resumed. A committee 
 was immediately appointed, — a report was made, and reso- 
 lutions passed, — but any allusion to Irish books, or the 
 Irish language, would now, it seems, have proved impo- 
 litic ! The House of Commons, however, unwilling to drop 
 the subject altogether as to the Native Irish, still resolved, 
 " That it will be requisite that a competent number of 
 ministers, duly qualified to instruct them, and perform the 
 offices of religion to them in their own language, be pro- 
 vided and encouraged by a suitable maintenance/' On the 
 question being put, the House agreed, that such among 
 their number as were members of her Majesty's Privy- 
 Council should attend the Lord Lieutenant, desiring that 
 he would lay the whole before the Queen, as the resolu- 
 tion of that House. Pursuant to this order, a bill was 
 prepared and sent to the Lords ; but just as it was brought 
 to the door of the House, parliament had adjourned, — the 
 other bills were soon transmitted to England. No more 
 could be done in the affair during that session, — nor was 
 the subject ever seriously resumed from that time (1710) 
 to the present hour, whether relating to Irish education or 
 any other means whatever, through the medium of their 
 own tongue ! It is true the House of Commons published 
 their sentiments, dedicated to both houses of convocation, 
 and in 1711 they again talked of " a sufficient number of 
 Bibles and Prayer-Books being provided at the public 
 charge, in the Irish language," as being necessary ; but it 
 was all in vain. The entire abolition of the language 
 was about to become the prevalent and favourite idea, as it 
 continued to be during the whole of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, — so that to this hour the real merits of the case 
 have never been brought before any sitting of parliament, 
 whether in Ireland or Britain. 
 
 The benevolent wishes of these excellent men being thus 
 disappointed, one individual, who had been deeply inter- 
 ested in the memorial, could not remain inactive — the 
 Rey. John Richardson, Rector of Annah or Belturbit, in 
 f 2 
 
64 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 the diocese of Kilmore. Though living at the distance of 
 half a century from Bedell, he seemed as if he had caught 
 his mantle. Like him, he had acquired the language, and, 
 indeed, while the discussions were going on in public, he 
 was printing a volume of sermons in the Irish language ; 
 in which he was assisted by another minister in the same 
 county, the Rev. Philip Brady, a man of genius and learn- 
 ing, and particularly versed in the language of his country. 
 This was a selection on the principal points of religion, 
 from Bishop Beveridge and others. It was published in 
 1711. Even before this time he had been engaged in a 
 translation of the liturgy, which Bishop Nicholson, in the 
 preface to his Irish historical library, reports to have been 
 considered " correct." This was in the press to the extent 
 of 6000 in 1712, and was printed in the Irish character ; 
 for which Richardson, in common with every enlightened 
 Irish scholar, was a warm advocate : there was also a 
 parallel column in English. An edition of the Church 
 Catechism in Irish, with Lewis's Scripture Proofs, he also 
 published. In the preface, he states that his design had 
 been not only encouraged by the Duke of Ormond and 
 others in Ireland, but that the generality of the English 
 prelates agreed with his own sentiments, — that the like- 
 liest method of enlightening the natives was "by proposing 
 to them the saving truths of religion in their own lan- 
 guage, that being the only tongue understood by some, 
 and most acceptable to all' 9 At the same time he was 
 aware that " the work would meet with discouragement 
 and opposition/ 1 yet he was resolved to proceed, " hoping 
 that God would raise up friends to his undertaking." "For 
 whatever," says he, " may be the causes of that great 
 aversion which some have entertained against the language, 
 an open and avowed attempt to abolish it is not the way to 
 unite the two nations in their hearts and affections." Mr 
 Richardson being a member of the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, applied there, and with success. The 
 result w r as 6000 copies of both publications, part of which 
 was distributed in the Highlands of Scotland, as well as in 
 Ireland. 
 
 These benevolent and enlightened friends of the Native 
 Irish were now hastening to the grave, and, during this 
 century, they had no successors ! I know 7 not in what 
 year Richardson died, but this is the last recorded instance 
 of his benevolence. His printed proposals embraced an 
 edition of the Irish Scriptures, in which he was en- 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 t ; 5 
 
 couraged by the learned George Hickes and Edmund 
 Gibson, John Chamberlayne, Henry Hoare, Sir George 
 Wheeler, and above forty other respectable individuals in 
 Ireland and England; but no such edition followed. The 
 year after this, 1713, both Marsh and Wettenhall died ; so 
 that again we are under the painful necessity of looking 
 abroad. 
 
 Whatever might be resolved upon at home, the presses 
 on the Continent were not unemployed. In 1728 the 
 Elements of the Irish Language were published in 8vo, by 
 Hugh MacCurtin ; but this was only preparatory to a 
 much larger work which he printed in quarto at Paris in 
 1732, — " An English-Irish Dictionary and Grammar. 
 This dictionary was, at least, completed by the Rev. Con- 
 nor O'Begley, — the grammar was MacCurtin's ; so the title - 
 page bears, that the volume was the joint production of 
 both. This volume he proposed to follow up by another, 
 or Irish- English Dictionary. In the preface to the present 
 work, referring to his countrymen, he says, — " To give 
 them all the helps I can, I propose to print several books 
 in Irish on different subjects, in which I have the good 
 fortune to meet with some learned public-spirited country- 
 men here, (Paris), who have promised me their assistance, 
 and are generously resolved to join their labours to mine 
 in carrying on so useful a work." MacCurtin, who was 
 born about 1663, in the parish of Kilmanaheen, county of 
 Clare, was, at the time of publishing this dictionary, Irish 
 professor in Paris. He returned, however, to his native 
 place, carrying w T ith him a valuable collection of Irish 
 books. After his death, all these, as well as others be- 
 longing to a brother, Andrew MacCurtin, and not a few 
 besides, collected throughout Clare, Kerry, and Limerick, 
 were conveyed over to France by Chevalier 0' Gorman 
 about the year 1770. In 1739 there was compiled for pub- 
 lication a large Irish dictionary, containing many thou- 
 sand Irish words more than in any previous lexicon, by 
 Teig O'Nachten ; but, like similar attempts on Irish 
 ground, it failed to meet with encouragement, and was 
 never printed. It is now in Trinity College library. 
 
 In 1742 another Catechism, entitled " Christian Doctrine, 
 by way of question and answer," &c, in the Irish language 
 and character, with corresponding pages in English, was 
 published at Paris, with the approbation of Louis XV., 
 by the Rev. Andrew Donlevv, prefect of the Irish commu- 
 r 3 
 
66 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 nity in that city. The author, who compiled this work 
 " for the education of the youth of his country," had now 
 been absent from it about thirty years. In the preface it is 
 stated, that P. J. Perrot, Lord of the Manor of Barmon, 
 had, of a long time, been well-affected to the Irish nation, 
 — had often given proofs of his affection for several of 
 them, and that, without his concurrence, the work would 
 never have seen the light. As this Catechism, which is in 
 fact an octavo volume of 574 pages, with a clear type and 
 excellent paper, is more complete than any that had pre- 
 ceded it, some further notice of it may not be uninterest- 
 ing. " It is," says the author, " the great scarcity of those 
 large Irish Catechisms, published upwards of a hundred 
 years ago by the laborious and learned Franciscans of 
 Louvain, and the consideration of those great evils which 
 arise from ignorance, partly from want of instructive 
 books, together with a great desire of contributing to the 
 instruction of the poor Irish youth, that gave birth to the 
 following Irish Catechism:" — " The plainest and most ob- 
 vious Irish is used therein, preferring, after the example of 
 St Augustine, ' rather to be censured by grammarians, 
 than misunderstood by the people? Care also was taken to 
 explain certain words which are not used in some cantons 
 of the kingdom, and the words that explain them are set 
 down at the bottom of the page. As to the English part 
 thereof, it was translated, upon a second thought, perhaps 
 too literally, from the Irish, in favour of those who speak 
 only English."* In his preface or advertisement, the author, 
 without a single reference to politics, laments over the state 
 of his countrymen, the Native Irish, as to their ignorance 
 and want of books. He refers to " the negligence, or ig- 
 norance, and impiety of parents, who commonly bestow all 
 their care in educating their children in vanity, and in the 
 love of earthly goods ; partly for want of virtuous and well- 
 instructed schoolmasters or catechists, who would zealously 
 employ their time and labour in making youth understand 
 the science of salvation ; partly through the fault of chil- 
 dren themselves, who little care for instruction, and often 
 shun it, to their eternal ruin ; and partly, also, for want of 
 little pious books, whereby they may be instructed and 
 formed to devotion as soon as they are teachable and cap- 
 
 * Alas ! is it not high time that snch compliments were returned, and with com- 
 pound interest for past neglect, " in favour of those who speak only Irish 7" 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 67 
 
 able of receiving pious impressions ; for, as the Holy Ghost 
 saith, ' A child trained up in the way he should go, will 
 not, even when he is old, depart from it/ " The volume 
 concludes with the Elements of Irish Grammar, " in favour 
 of such as would fain learn to read it, and thereby be 
 useful to their neighbour." With many of the sentiments 
 contained in this book, the present writer will not be sup- 
 posed to agree, — yet such are some of the expressions con- 
 tained in a volume published at this period in France, for 
 the use of Ireland ; and they serve to prove what were the 
 views and feelings of a Native Irishman, when permitted 
 to speak out, after an absence of above thirty years from his 
 native land. 
 
 In 1735, indeed, there was one effort upon Irish ground. 
 Seventeen sermons in Irish were published by the titular 
 Bishop of Raphoe, James Gallagher, who had been edu- 
 cated abroad. In conformity with the prejudice of the day, 
 these were printed in the English character, and have gone 
 through eighteen editions. 
 
 About the year 1750 also, two catechisms, one in English, 
 the other in Irish, were published by O'Reilly, titular Arch- 
 bishop of Armagh ; " and though there have been many 
 others written and printed since that period, his work, par- 
 ticularly in Ulster, has the ascendant." So says the titu- 
 lar Bishop of Dromore in 1819. This catechism I have 
 not examined, and into the matter of this or any other 
 preceding it, need not enter here. In 1750 also, proposals 
 were issued in Dublin for publishing an English, Irish, and 
 Latin dictionary, by a Mr Crab of Ringsend, near that 
 city ; but the book was never printed. Finding its way 
 into the library of the late General Vallancey, it was pur- 
 chased, when his books were sold, at the price of forty 
 guineas, for a gentleman of Irish birth, the Rev. Dr Adam 
 Clarke. 
 
 These things were still better managed abroad. The 
 reader has observed, that an English-Irish dictionary had 
 been printed there in 1732 ; and in 1768 an Irish- English 
 dictionary, in quarto, issued from the press at Paris. It 
 was published by Dr John 'Bryan, the titular Bishop of 
 Cloyne, and in the Roman character, most probably in 
 furtherance of his design. For, in a long English preface 
 respecting the Irish tongue, he says, " that the work has 
 been published with a view not only to preserve for the 
 natives of Ireland, but also to recommend to the notice of 
 those in other countries, a language which is asserted by 
 
63 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 very learned foreigners to be the most ancient and best 
 preserved dialect of the old Celtic tongue of the Gauls and 
 Celtiberians ; and, at the same time, the most useful for in- 
 vestigating and clearing up the antiquities of the Celtic na- 
 tions in general." I shall only add, that the present very 
 low state of this department of Irish literature may be 
 conjectured from the prices now affixed to this work, and 
 that of MacCurtin's, already mentioned. In a recent 
 London catalogue, I observe the two works together, ad- 
 vertised for sale at the enormous price of eight guineas and 
 a half ! 
 
 In but few words, the retrospect of this century is much 
 more painful than even that of the preceding. By the year 
 1799 or 1800, it is difficult to say how many editions of the 
 Scriptures there had been in English. Independently of 
 portions and editions with exposition, I have numbered 
 290 ; but, as if the Native Irish were reserved to stand out 
 in contrast to even every Celtic tribe in the kingdom, by 
 this time there had been printed and circulated in Welsh 
 not fewer than twelve editions of the Bible, and as many of 
 the New Testament, separately, amounting to at least 
 120,000, of which 75,000 Bibles and 14,000 Testaments 
 had been printed during this very century, — 3000 Bibles 
 and 32,500 Testaments, in Gaelic, had been printed during 
 the same period. Even in Manx there had been thousands, 
 and all this before the Bible Society had been thought of : 
 while, for the Native Irish, there had not been printed one 
 single copy during the whole century ! 
 
 At length, in the very close of the eighteenth, or rather 
 the opening of the nineteenth century, benevolent feeling 
 having come into more lively exercise, a better day seems 
 to have begun to dawn on this long, long neglected people. 
 The time in which their best interest will be pursued, as it 
 relates to the improvement of their mind, is surely now at 
 hand. The time in which their vernacular tongue was 
 thus treated has passed away; and, assuredly, if " the 
 English interest," in every sense of the term, is ever to be 
 promoted, such policy and such neglect have passed away 
 for ever. 
 
 To this better day for the aborigines of Ireland, various 
 circumstances have contributed their share of influence, 
 and no candid writer would willingly pass over any one of 
 them. Whatever may be the thought of some of his 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 69 
 
 positions, — the earlier writings of General Vallancey, — the 
 intended legacy of the late Henry Flood, Esq., which will 
 be again noticed in the next section, — the formation of the 
 Gaelic Society of Dublin, now merged in the Iberno-Celtic, 
 — one or two papers in the Transactions of the Royal Irish. 
 Academy, — each of these has had, at least, some influence 
 in awakening attention to the language itself. In the 
 opening of this century, also, one is cheered by observing 
 several publications in Irish upon Irish ground, such as the 
 Irish Grammars of Dr William Neilson of Dundalk, of 
 Dr Paul O'Bryan, Irish Professor of Maynooth, of William 
 Haliday, Esq. of Dublin, the Synoptic Tables of Mr 
 Patrick Lynch, and, finally, the Irish-English Dictionary 
 by Mr Edward O'Reilly * 
 
 Dr Whitley Stokes of Trinity College, Dublin, began 
 by exciting attention to the necessity for printing the 
 Scriptures in Irish ; and Dr Daniel Dewar also lent 
 his influence in favour of the language. In 1814 the 
 present writer visited Ireland, and, in " a Memorial on 
 behalf of the Native Irish, with a view to their moral 
 and religious improvement, through the medium of their 
 own language," endeavoured to plead their cause, with 
 what success it is not for him to say ; but the same feelings 
 led him to an argument which was printed afterwards in 
 England and Ireland in favour of the Irish character being 
 used, not the Roman ; and to a brief memorial respecting 
 the diffusion of the Scriptures, particularly in the Celtic or 
 Iberian dialects, in 1819. This last was intended as illus- 
 trative of the prodigious inequality of supply already printed 
 for these tribes. It proved, that while one party, the Welsh, 
 were attended to, and furnished with every variety, both as 
 to the type and size of volume, the Irish were not impar- 
 tially considered. It certainly was not without its effect, 
 though it only showed that nothing was to be done, with- 
 out exhibiting our long and strange neglect in the most 
 glaring points of view. 
 
 In 1794, Dr Stokes had published Luke and the Acts in 
 Irish, with parallel columns in English, and in 1806 the 
 
 * There was one native of Ireland, Philip Fitzgibbon, who died at Kilkenny in 
 April, 1792, who is said to have been esteemed as a mathematician and an Irish, 
 scholar. His Irish manuscripts he left to the Rev. Mr O'Donnell, among which 
 there was an English and Irish Dictionary, contained in about 400 quarto pages. 
 With his pen the author had, in imitation of printing, executed every word either 
 in roman or italic characters; but there is a singular omission, the letter S, and that 
 he appeared to have entirely forgotten ! — Ryan's Worthies, II. 131. 
 
70 
 
 IRISH LITERATURE. 
 
 four Gospels and the Acts. In 1811, the New Testament, 
 and in 1817, the Bible, in Irish, were printed by the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society ; but all these were in the Roman 
 letter, and in the two first even the orthography of the lan- 
 guage was interfered with. The question as to the expe- 
 diency, nay the necessity and importance of using the cha- 
 racter in which the language had always been printed of 
 old, began to be understood by all who had paid proper 
 attention to the subject : several small tracts and portions 
 of the Scriptures have been printed in it, — and now at last, 
 in 1828, one edition of the Bible complete, in its appropriate 
 character, has left the press. 
 
 Such then, and in such an important department, is 
 nearly all that can be said with regard to the Native Irish 
 ever since the revival of letters and the invention of print- 
 ing ! The benevolence of a few intelligent private indivi- 
 duals, assisted by natives at home, working against both 
 wind and tide, — the struggles of some of the Native Irish 
 themselves abroad, fill up the wide space of more than three 
 hundred and fifty years since the art of printing, or of more 
 than two hundred and fifty years since Irish types and a 
 printing-press were sent across St George's Channel ! 
 
 After so long a night, — in coming, as we hope, to the 
 morning of a better day, amidst a few primary exertions in 
 their favour for the last ten or fifteen years, — the propensity 
 to self-complacency in the present age must indeed be very 
 strong, if there is any hazard of it here. Yet I have heard 
 it already said, that much is now doing for this people, and 
 in their own language, and I am mistaken if something 
 like this has not, more than once, got into print ; but let all 
 such expressions be now brought into comparison with 
 what ought to be done for a population so extensive, 
 and they will certainly not be repeated for some time to 
 come. 
 
 In this department of Books alone, to which the preced- 
 ing pages have been chiefly devoted, very much indeed 
 remains to be accomplished, and certain desiderata will be 
 pointed out afterwards in conclusion. Meanwhile the pre- 
 vious section, and, above all, the existing state of this people, 
 as still farther to be laid open, will, it is hoped, set all such 
 measures as may be necessary in a light sufficiently strong ; 
 though even here there are certainly few men in the present 
 day possessed of common humanity who will not be dis- 
 posed to exclaim — " What a history of the past is this, 
 compared with what it ought to have been !" 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 71 
 
 The best interests of the kingdom are interwoven with 
 the moral condition of any substantial quota of its popula- 
 tion ; and it is only a strong conviction that the present 
 state of the Native Irish embraces an object of far greater 
 magnitude and importance than has ever yet been admitted, 
 which has led to the publication of this volume. 
 
 " Every man is more speedily instructed by his own language, than by any other." 
 
 *' He that voluntarily continues ignorance, is guilty of all the crimes which ig- 
 norance produces; as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a light-house might 
 justly be imputed the calamities of shipwreck." 
 
 " To obscure, upon motives merely political, the light of revelation, is a practice 
 reserved for the reformed." JOHNSON. 
 
SECTION II. 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING 
 
 Of early and modern date, including some account of the attempts to employ the 
 Irish tongue as a branch of Education at home, and of the Schools either founded 
 by the Native Irish, or at their instance, for their Education abroad. 
 
 " The ages," said Dr Johnson, " which deserve an exact 
 inquiry are those times, for such there were, when Ireland 
 was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity 
 and learning." By learning, of course, such a man intend- 
 ed the learning of the day as far as it had gone, although 
 how much he involved in the term he has not informed us. 
 I am perfectly aware that this department of our national 
 history is regarded by some only with a smile, as one would 
 some puzzled skein of silk, which it requires great patience 
 and fine fingers to rectify. It may be so ; but from the 
 length which even the writer has gone, at intervals snatched 
 from other avocations, he cannot but believe, that so far as 
 any man, possessed of learning and patient research, shall 
 proceed in a candid examination of the Irish remains abroad 
 and at home, if the times are considered, at least the ancient 
 school of Armagh, if not one or two others, will rise in point 
 of character. At present the generality say, and with some 
 truth, " we have only heard the fame thereof with our ears." 
 Precision, accuracy, and confirmation are required, and 
 especially for those who seem disposed to question every 
 affirmation ; while certain Irishmen more deeply read, and 
 naturally interested in their past history, cling with fond- 
 ness to these recollections of ancient times, — by some they 
 are cherished, as one remembers the singing birds in spring, 
 which now sing no more. 
 
 The foundation of the school of Armagh is to be traced 
 to a very remote period, in the judgment of those who are 
 partial to Irish antiquity, while this seems to be little more 
 than conjecture in the estimation of others ; but of its early 
 existence there can be no question. Insignificant in its 
 commencement, like every similar school of learning in 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 73 
 
 Europe, even of more modern date, still such men as have 
 been already glanced at, who came out of Ireland in those 
 early ages, there can he little doubt, owed whatever learning 
 they possessed mainly to this seminary. Referring, there- 
 fore, to what has been already said of them, I might add 
 here, that, even so late as the end of the twelfth century, 
 though many changes had taken place and a long night of 
 (darkness had intervened, we know, as matter of history, 
 that the last of the Irish kings, an encourager of learning, 
 I augmented the income of the superior of Armagh College ; 
 stipulating that this studium generate should be continued 
 and kept open for all students, as well from any part of 
 Ireland as from Albanian Scotia.* If the reader is curious 
 on this subject, among several I might refer him, for one 
 account of the ancient School or College of Armagh, to 
 Stuart's Historical Memoirs of the City, Appendix, No. V., 
 — an interesting volume in many respects. 
 
 In looking over Ireland after this period, we find no 
 seminary of learning worth notice, until the close of the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth. Passing over the abortive at- 
 tempts of the fourteenth century, — in the fifteenth there 
 were none, — it was in the end of the sixteenth that the pre- 
 sent University of Trinity College, Dublin, was founded by 
 the Queen's warrant, dated 29th December, 1591. During 
 the following reign, the Native Irish are specially noticed, 
 and in connexion with the College, in a letter from King 
 James I., addressed to the Lord Deputy, and all others 
 ! whom it shall concern, dated 26th February, 1620. — " Be- 
 ! cause," says his Majesty, " our Colledge of Dublin was first 
 ; founded by our late sister of happie memorie, Queen Eliza- 
 beth, and hath beene since plentifully endowed by us, prin- 
 cipallie for breeding upp the natives of that kingdom in 
 civility, learning, and religion ; we have reason to expect 
 j that in all this long tyme of our peaceable government, 
 some good numbers of the natives should have been trained 
 upp in College, and might have been employed in teaching 
 and reducing those which are ignorant among that people, 
 and to think that the governors of that house have not per- 
 formed that trust reposed in them, if the revenewes thereof 
 have bene otherwise employed ; and therefore wee doe re- 
 quire, — that henceforth special care be had, and that the 
 visitors of that Universitie be required particulerlie to looke 
 
 * Ware's Antiquities by Harris, p. 241. Tria Thaum. p. 310. 
 G 
 
74 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 unto and take care of this point, and the supplying of the 
 present want ; that choise be made of some competent num- 
 ber of towardlie young men, alredie fitted with the know- 
 ledge of the Irishe tongue, and be placed in the Universitie, 
 and maintained there for two or three years, till they have 
 learned the ground of religion, and be able to catechise the 
 simple natives, and deliver unto them so much as them- 
 selves have learned ; and when any livings that are not of 
 any very great value fall void among the meer Irish, these 
 men to be thought upon before others, or to be placed with 
 other able ministers that possess livings among the meere 
 Irish, (where, for defect of the language, they are able to do 
 little good,) to be interpreters to them, and to be maintain- 
 ed by them, after they are made fit for that employment," 
 &c. 
 
 I am not aware of any approach to a conformity with 
 these instructions till the days of Bedell. While he was 
 Provost (two hundred years ago, viz. in 1627 and 1628,) he 
 had done what he could, in promoting an Irish lecture in 
 Trinity College, — a measure of which Charles I. expressed 
 his decided approbation through the Chancellor to Arch- 
 bishop Ussher. All this, however, died away, and it was 
 not till about thirty years afterwards, under Dr Winter, the 
 Provost of Trinity College, in the time of the Protectorate, 
 that we find anything akin to it ; but this attempt also, 
 which was about the year 1656, and of which some account 
 is given, under the head of Oral Instruction, in the next 
 section, also failed, and the subject was dismissed again for 
 more than twenty years. Jeremy Taylor indeed, who had 
 been Vice-Provost of Trinity, addressing the Secretary of 
 State in 1667, says, " It is fit that it should be remembered, 
 that near this city of Dublin there is an University founded 
 by Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the natives of 
 this kingdom." He saw them to be " populus unius labii, 
 and unmingled with others," — yet though he undertook the 
 task of collecting and completing the body of statutes, &c. 
 which Bedell had left unfinished, he does not appear to have 
 seen the importance of meeting the partiality of the people 
 for their native tongue. 
 
 In 1680, however, the Bishop of Meath, Dr Jones, advised 
 with Dr Narcissus Marsh, and during his provostship we 
 find not fewer than eighty students attending on Mr Higgins, 
 the Irish lecturer, besides some of the Fellows and chief 
 members attending him more privately ; we see the Provost 
 Marsh himself, not only superintending the transcription of 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 75 
 
 the Irish Scriptures for the press, but composing an Irish 
 grammar. We find also, in the College chapel, an Irish 
 sermon delivered monthly, which was crowded ; the Duke 
 of Ormond himself attending, and promising his presence 
 to countenance it. " That which gives me the greatest 
 hopes of success," said Dr Jones, writing to Mr Boyle this 
 year, " is our good Provost's care and zeal in training 
 up the present youth in the College in reading the Irish, 
 which, by the books from you now in their hands, is 
 greatly forwarded. This may be a seed-plot for the church. 
 The harvest is great, and the labourers few, therefore is the 
 Lord of the harvest to be earnestly desired to prepare and 
 send forth more labourers." But all this did not proceed 
 without opposition or discouragement. It is even melan- 
 choly to contemplate the withering of such a " seed-plot" 
 as this before the breath of blind political expediency ; but 
 the truth is, that with the removal of Dr Marsh to another 
 sphere, the decease of Dr Jones, and other circumstances, 
 the whole course was finally relinquished. 
 
 About thirty years afterwards, it is evident that the sub- 
 ject had again been taken up in the University. "We must 
 not omit those means which have been lately used in the 
 College of Dublin," says Mr Richardson in' 1711. " The 
 Rev. Dr Hall, present Vice-Provost, supported for some 
 time, at his own charge,* one Denny, to teach Irish 
 privately to such of the scholars as had a desire to learn 
 that language ; and the present Archbishop of Dublin 
 (King) did and doth still encourage Mr Lyniger to teach it 
 publicly. There is also a small allowance settled in that 
 house for natives, to which, if more were added by the 
 pious charity of persons disposed to encourage this work, 
 and a constant salary settled for an Irish lecturer, there 
 might be a sufficient number of scholars trained up within 
 a few years, "f Mr Lyniger had been three years thus em- 
 ployed ; but there is no proof of his continuance after that 
 period ; nay, rather the reverse, as in three years after, viz. 
 1714, we meet with a pamphlet published in Dublin, re- 
 commending the language to the notice of the University. 
 " The present clergy," says the author, " are generally ig- 
 norant of the Irish language, and therefore incapable of 
 discoursing with the mere natives" — " but if exhibitions 
 were paid annually to such a number of students in the 
 
 * Why not by the College ? was it not founded principallie for the natives ? 
 f Richardson's History, p. 43. 
 
 G 2 
 
76 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 College of Dublin as shall be thought convenient, who shall 
 qualify themselves to speak the Irish tongue, and a new 
 Fellow of the College was appointed to be professor thereof, 
 and allowed a stipend for examining such exhibitioners, 
 this would in a few years enable many to converse fami- 
 liarly with the natives," &c. All such suggestions, how- 
 ever, were in vain ; and from that time to the present day, 
 if the Irish language has been cultivated in schools of 
 learning — for these, as we have already done for Irish books, 
 we shall again be under the necessity of looking to foreign 
 countries, far from the native soil and seat of the lan- 
 guage.* 
 
 Before, however, dismissing this subject, it is of impor- 
 tance to record one most noble intention. It is worthy of 
 special notice, as a substantial and standing proof of what 
 one eminent man conceived to be a desideratum in Ireland. 
 The late Henry Flood, Esq. of Family, in the county of 
 Kilkenny, by his will, dated 27th May, 1790, had consti- 
 tuted Trinity College residuary legatee to a considerable 
 part of his property, valued, in 1795, by Sir Laurence Par- 
 sons, afterwards Earl of Ross, at L.5000 per annum, but 
 since that period at about L.7000 annually. " I will," said 
 Mr Flood, " that on their coming into possession of this 
 my bequest, on the death of my said wife, they do insti- 
 tute and maintain, as a perpetual establishment, a pro- 
 fessorship of and for the Native Irish or Erse language, — 
 with a salary of not less than three hundred pounds ster- 
 ling a-year." " And I do will and appoint, that they do 
 grant one annual and liberal premium for the best and 
 another for the next best composition in prose and verse, in 
 the said Native Irish language, upon some point of ancient 
 history, government, religion, literature, or situation of Ire- 
 land ; and also one other annual premium for the best and 
 another for the next best composition in Greek or Latin, 
 prose or verse, on any general subject by them assigned," — 
 " and I will, that the rents and profits, &c shall be further 
 applied by the said University to the purchase of all printed 
 books and manuscripts in the said Native Irish or Erse 
 language, wheresoever to be obtained ; and next, to the 
 purchase of all printed books and manuscripts of the 
 
 * Within these few years there is indeed one Professor of the Irish language, 
 where the language is "at least professedly taught on Irish ground, which will be 
 afterwards noticed^in its proper place; — this is at Maynooth. But in Trinity College, 
 to the present hour, nothing of the kind exists! 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 77 
 
 dialects and languages that are akin to the said Native 
 Irish language ; and then to the purchase of all valuable 
 books and editions of books, in the learned and in the 
 modern polished languages." 
 
 " This," says Lord Ross, "was the extensive range of 
 Mr Flood's bequest to the public. Having first manifested 
 in his will all the wise and tender anxieties and cares for 
 those around him, for whom duty and affection taught him 
 to provide ; having for these, when he was about to retire 
 from the world, provided every means of competency, and 
 spread every shade of protection which a prudent and 
 liberal mind could suggest ; he then turned his eyes upon 
 Ireland — Ireland, for whose prosperity he had so many 
 years illustriously toiled. His great spirit, while it was 
 just hovering over the tomb, was still busied about the 
 future fame of his country : it dictated those expiring ac- 
 cents, which direct that the materials of learning, from all 
 parts of the earth, should be from time to time collected 
 and deposited in the bosom of our University Before 
 this passage, his Lordship had said, " often did Mr Flood 
 remark to me, that while in the East ingenious men were 
 collecting and translating, with such laudable industry, the 
 ancient writings of the inhabitants of that region between 
 Indus and the Ganges, the valuable memorials of our own 
 island were neglected and perishing. He thought that 
 many of the truths of ancient history were to be found at 
 these two extremities of the lettered world ; that they would 
 reflect light and knowledge upon each other, and lead to a 
 more certain acquaintance with the early history of man." 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the distinctness of this last will and 
 testament, there seems to have been some defect or infor- 
 mality ; — the validity of the bequest was questioned, — the 
 College instituted a suit for the purpose of establishing 
 their claim ; but in the end that body has failed of success, 
 the will has been broken after a trial at bar, if not an 
 appeal to the House of Lords, and at the present moment 
 nothing approaching to any one of its provisions exists 
 in Ireland.* 
 
 * Had this bequest weathered the glorious uncertainty of the law, the library of 
 Trinity might have become the most valuable in the kingdom. Its previous history, 
 as it now stands, is rather singular. After the defeat of the Spaniards at Tyrone 
 and Kinsale, in the year 1R03, the officers in the army having generously subscribed 
 L.1800 from their arrears of pay, devoted the whole to the purchase of books, for a 
 public library in Trinity College, then recently founded. Thus encouraged, Ussher 
 immediately proceeded to London, and, while engaged in purchasing books, first be- 
 came acquainted with Sir Thomas Bodley, then in town, for a similar object as to 
 
 o 3 
 
78 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 It is now nearly two hundred and forty years since Tri- 
 nity College was founded. The reader has before him all 
 that has ever been done for the natives in their native lan- 
 guage ; and on whomsoever the blame has rested, or at 
 present rests, taking it all in all, to this singular and inju- 
 rious course of procedure there is not a parallel in Europe ; 
 but there is a contrast which must not — need not — now be 
 concealed. In a previous section, the reader has already 
 observed, that while we were idle, or opposed to the employ- 
 ment of a single Irish type, elementary books in that tongue 
 were printing on the Continent : he may now see where 
 these tilings were employed, whether in Spain or Italy, in 
 France or Bohemia and the Netherlands. In not encou- 
 raging, by every means within our power, the enlightening 
 of this people through the only medium, naturally and 
 therefore necessarily dear to their hearts, just as much so as 
 our mother-tongue is to us, one cannot help inquiring whe- 
 ther a more effectual method could have been devised for 
 
 Oxford. The first donation of value to Trinity was that of Ussher's own library j 
 the history of which is also worthy of remark. In 1640, Ussher left Ireland, in- 
 tending or wishing to return; but, the following year, his personal property being 
 destroyed or seized, with the exception of his furniture and library, he secured the 
 conveyance of the latter to Chelsea College. In 1642, Ussher not only declining to 
 attend the Westminster Assembly, but controverting their authority, his library was 
 confiscated by order of the House of Commons as the property of a delinquent. John 
 Selden, his particular friend, employed Dr Featly, then, I believe, Provost of 
 Chelsea College, to purchase the whole as if for Selden's own use. It was in reality 
 to preserve the entire library for its owner. On Ussher's death, in 1655, although he 
 had destined his books for Trinity College, his misfortunes compelled him to leave 
 them to his only daughter, Lady Tyrrel, then the mother of a numerous family. 
 Both Cardinal Mazarine and the King of Denmark wished to purchase it entire, 
 but the officers of Cromwell's army could not bear the idea of its leaving the king- 
 dom. Whether they had the soldiers of Elizabeth, already mentioned, in their eye 
 or not, — actuated by a noble and enlightened spirit they purchased the library for 
 L.2200 sterling, in order to present it to the University of Dublin. These men in- 
 deed were bent upon the erection of a second college in that city, and this occasioned 
 Ussher's library to be deposited meanwhile in the castle — an unfortunate step, as it 
 occasioned the loss of many volumes. In 1661, by the authority of Charles II., the 
 whole were conveyed to the spot which Ussher himself intended. At the head of the 
 benefactors, therefore, we find the following entry: — "Carolus II. qui anno 1661 
 dedit Bibliothec Usseriana." He had, however, no "share in the donation, except that 
 of complying with the original intention of the purchasers. At a more recent period, 
 in the reign of James II., the whole library was exposed to the most imminent 
 hazard, and, but for the vigilance of Dr Michael Moore, an Irishman, afterwards 
 Tnentioned as educated in France, but then the Provost of Trinity, it had probably 
 fallen into the hands of the Jesuits. (See page 87.) 
 
 The library is now valuable, including above a hundred thousand volumes, among 
 which are to be found the Fagel collection of 20,060 volumes, mostly bound in 
 vellum, purchased in Holland for L.8000, and presented by the trustees of Erasmus 
 Smith; besides about 1200 manuscripts, once the property of Ussher — Stearne, 
 Bishop of Cloghcr— Provost Huntingdon, chiefly Oriental — Carew, president of 
 Munster, Irish MSS. of Elizabeth's time, &c. This library, included in the book- 
 sellers' act, receives a copy of every new publication, — a privilege, however, which, 
 for Ireland's sake, should have been extended to Marsh's librarv, so useful, because 
 so open to every respectable stranger or resident, at all seasonable hours. Sec Parr's 
 1/ife of Ussher. Stuart's Armagh. Hist, of Dublin, 4to. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 70 
 
 withering one of the arms of the nation, or rather infusing 
 into it a power of rebounding against ourselves 1 All those 
 who have cultivated the language have ever ingratiated 
 themselves into the affections of the people ; and whatever 
 mystery there may have been in the state of Ireland, still 
 there was all along as direct a road to the heart of a native 
 Irishman as to that of any man under heaven. As the 
 reader proceeds he will excuse this digression. I need 
 scarcely add, that the following cases are brought forward, 
 not as proofs of eminent learning ; but as we have already 
 done with books, so we now proceed with schools, and they 
 are to be viewed as results, — conveying information at once 
 curious, interesting, and admonitory. 
 
 On looking abroad, we find that, before the foundation of 
 Trinity College was laid, there existed at least two colleges 
 for the direct use of the Native Irish ; and others followed 
 in succession, established in different countries. The fol- 
 lowing account, placed in chronological order, contains a 
 few notices in reference to each. These are taken princi- 
 pally from Ware's Irish Antiquities by Harris ; but his 
 statements have been compared with other authorities, and 
 other particulars of a more recent date, have been added, so 
 as to bring up the account to the present period. 
 
 1. Salamanca, 1582. — The first country on the European 
 continent to which the Native Irish were accustomed to 
 resort for education, was Spain, the land in which, accord- 
 ing to one impression among themselves, their ancestors 
 once lived ; and the earliest foundation of which any au- 
 thentic aecount can be given was at Salamanca, in Leon, 
 once so famous for its university. At the instance and soli- 
 citation of an Irishman, Thomas White, from Clonmell, 
 Tipperary, a college was instituted in 1582, of which White 
 was the first rector. Small at first and poor in its origin, it 
 was, however, maintained for many years, till, in the years 
 1610 and 1614, buildings were erected and a spacious library 
 was formed. It was in this college, about fifty years after 
 this, that Dr Andrew Sail, already mentioned, was a pro- 
 fessor, and here that different individuals, named in these 
 pages, in whole or in part received their education. The 
 number of students, however, has never been great. Thus, 
 at the period of the French revolution, there were 32, and 
 
SO 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 up to the invasion of Spain by France, in 1807, the number 
 was never above 30. At present there are supposed to be 
 only about 12. Count Beerhaven, of an Irish family, was 
 a benefactor to this seminary.* 
 
 2. Alcala, 1590. — About the year 1590, Baron George 
 Sylveria, born in Portugal, but of Irish extraction, his 
 mother being a Macdonell from the north of Ireland, found- 
 ed a college at Alcala de Henares, for 30 Irish students, 
 four chaplains or professors, and eight servants ; for whose 
 maintenance he allotted the sum of two thousand pounds 
 sterling annually, and one thousand pounds for the erec- 
 tion of the chapel. 
 
 3, 4. Lisbon and Evora, 1595. — In this year there were 
 two colleges founded in Portugal for Irish students ; one at 
 Lisbon by one Ximenes, (not the cardinal of course. — he 
 died in 1517, but not improbably the Spanish lawyer,) 
 to which Mr Leigh, an Irishman, was a benefactor. It 
 seems to have been but a poor foundation ; yet, from its 
 funds, after receiving his education, any student returning 
 to Ireland received five pounds to pay his passage home, 
 besides provisions for his voyage. From 1792 to 1807 there 
 were from 20 to 30 students ; but since then and at present 
 only about 12. The College at P>ora, founded the same 
 year, was soon alienated from its original design. 
 
 5. Douai, 1596. — Before the close of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, the Native Irish had begun to resort to French Flan- 
 ders and the Netherlands, induced, it is not improbable, by 
 the influence which Spain then enjoyed in these parts. To 
 Douai, in particular, they had repaired ; but in 1596 the 
 foundation was laid of a seminary for their exclusive instruc- 
 tion, by one of their own countrymen, Christopher Cusack, 
 an Irishman from Meath, probably the son of Christopher 
 Cusack of Gerrardstown, near Rateeth.f This man spent 
 his own patrimony in the cause ; and, procuring the assist- 
 ance of other friends, was instrumental in first founding the 
 Douai College. From hence, too, by his exertions, also 
 
 * Peter French, from Galway, educated here, went as a missionary to the Mexican 
 Indians. There he remained for thirty years. He composed a catechism in the Mexi- 
 can language, and finally returned to Ireland, where he died in 1693. 
 
 t Ch. Cusack, whom 1 presume to be the Father, " made a book of collections" 
 says Harris. " relating to Irish affairs, in 1511, which is extant in manuscript in 
 Trinity College library," and which {Primate Usshcr so valued as to prefix to it 
 severaFgenealogical cables. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 81 
 
 sprang the seminaries or colleges at Lille, Antwerp, and 
 Tournay. Cusack was the first President of Douai, styled 
 the Mother College, and he acted as the superior of the Irish 
 youth throughout Flanders, until his death, in 1619. Mr 
 Laurence Sedgrave, a cousin, succeeded him, and continued 
 till 1633, when a Mr James Talbot succeeded as his univer- 
 sal heir. In 1706, Edmund Bourke, and in 1713, Christo- 
 pher French, both from Galway, were Regents of Douai 
 College, and both of them authors. Bourke returned to 
 Dublin, where he is said to have written his essay in oppo- 
 sition to the Jesuits, and died at Rome about 1738. In the 
 year 1740, the President of Douai was Mr Patrick M'Naugh- 
 ten from Ireland, who furnished Mr Harris with an account 
 of these Netherland seminaries ; and it was here also that 
 Patrick alias Christopher Fleming, related to the Lords of 
 Slane, received his education. He was successively a lec- 
 turer at the Irish Colleges of St Isidore at Rome, at Lou- 
 vain, and Prague, leaving his Life of Columbanus, which 
 was published at Louvain in 1667. Before the French re- 
 volution there were 40 students here, under two superiors. 
 At present I do not know of any. 
 
 6. Antwerp, 1600.— About the commencement of the 
 seventeenth century the College at Antwerp was founded, 
 of which Sedgrave, already mentioned, was the first Presi- 
 dent. In 1629, however, he paid 13,320 florins for a house 
 and garden, which, with the consent of the Bishop of Ant- 
 werp, he erected into a college for 12 or 16 students from 
 any of the four Irish provinces ; but the establishment 
 would afterwards admit of double this number. Archdekin 
 from Kilkenny, already mentioned as an Irish author, was 
 rector in 1676. About the year 1792 there w r ere two supe- 
 riors here, and under them 30 students. 
 
 7. Tournay, 1607. — This year a seminary for young 
 Irish students was opened at Tournay. Villani, the Bishop, 
 left 9000 florins for the support of the President. This, 
 however, was but a poor foundation, and, having to look to 
 Antwerp for aid, was ultimately given up. 
 
 8. Lille, 1610. — The seminary at Lille, w T hich was found- 
 ed at this time, was also of small extent, and afterwards 
 confined to students from the province of Leinster. It con- 
 tinued open, however, for many years, and before the Re- 
 volution there were eight students under one master. 
 
82 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 9 & 10. Lou vain. 1616. — At Louvain, this year, the first 
 stone of a college for the Native Irish was laid by the 
 Princes Albert and Isabella of Spain, which is generally 
 styled the College of St Anthony of Padua. Florence 
 Conry from Connaught, the author of an Irish catechism 
 already noticed, used his influence with Philip III. to found 
 this seminary ; but in 1624 another college was opened 
 here, of which Roch MacGeoghan was the first provincial. 
 It was afterwards enlarged by two Irishmen, named Joyce, 
 about 1656. Ferial, '* no bad poet, 5 ' (says Ware,) and 
 Archdekin both taught in one of these colleges. About the 
 time of the French revolution there were 40 students in at- 
 tendance under two masters. 
 
 11. Rome, 1625. — The number of Irish students in this 
 city has never been great ; but there are various particulars 
 in relation to the colleges there which are interesting, and 
 deserve notice. 
 
 In the year 1625, several buildings at Rome, with ground 
 attached, which had been employed by Spain for despatch- 
 ing the business of that kingdom and the Indies, having 
 fallen under debt, which they could not defray, the parties 
 concerned advised with Luke Wadding, an Irishman, as to 
 the best mode of redeeming the concern from its encum- 
 brances. Wadding, the eighth son of his father, a respec- 
 table citizen of Waterford, had left Ireland in the fifteenth 
 year of his age for Lisbon, and commenced his studies there 
 in 1603. Having, in addition to Greek and Hebrew, ac- 
 quired a correct knowledge of the Portuguese and Castilian 
 languages, he removed to Salamanca about the year 1616. 
 Here he continued to preside over the Irish College for two 
 years, when he was sent, as chaplain of the Spanish em- 
 bassy, to Rome ; and there he remained, labouring with an 
 assiduity which is scarcely credible, did not his voluminous 
 writings alone sufficiently prove it. 
 
 To say nothing of smaller works, and unpublished manu- 
 scripts left at his death. — although his other occupations 
 were so numerous, says Harris, w that it is difficult to con- 
 ceive how he could find time either to write or read," — we 
 may form some idea of the prodigious activity of this man 
 when it is stated, that during his lifetime he wrote and pub- 
 lished ten volumes in folio, two in quarto, and four in oc- 
 tavo ; besides preparing, with great labour, sixteen volumes 
 in folio for the press, and superintending four others of the 
 same size. Of these, fourteen he got printed at Rome, 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 83 
 
 twenty-one at Lyons, and one at Antwerp, or thirty-six in 
 all! Twelve of these folios form the best edition of the 
 works of Duns Scotus, with critical notes by Wadding. 
 Another work, his Annals or Lives of the Franciscan Friars, 
 in eight, was extended and republished at Rome, in 1731, in 
 sixteen volumes folio ; a copy of which is in the Advocates' 
 Library, Edinburgh, with his life prefixed, written by Fran- 
 cis Harold, his nephew. From this life it appears, that a 
 splendid Concordance to the Hebrew Scriptures, in four 
 volumes folio, was the first work which this Irishman su- 
 perintended and published, in 1621, — the " Concordantise 
 Sacrorum Bibliorum Hebraicorum et Latinorum," of Marius 
 de Collasio. The author having died in 1620, Wadding 
 could not bear the idea of such a work being either lost or 
 concealed ; but unable himself, of course, to bear the ex- 
 pense, he applied for assistance and succeeded. This Con- 
 cordance of Collasio, on which that of Buxtorf is grounded, 
 was republished in London, 1747-1749, to w T hich every king 
 in Europe was a subscriber. The treatise prefixed. — " De 
 Hebraicae linguae origine, prsestantia, et utilitate," was writ- 
 ten by Wadding. 
 
 Having been applied to with reference to the buildings 
 already noticed, Wadding, after consulting with several 
 men of authority and influence, offered to purchase the 
 whole concern, and thus secured a college, with an especial 
 view to the education of his countrymen from Ireland. 
 Barbarini, who had founded the College de Propaganda 
 Fide, befriended the undertaking. On the 24th of June, 
 1625, Wadding entered on possession, and having appoint- 
 ed Anthony Hickey, a learned Grecian and divine, born in 
 Clare, to be principal lecturer in divinity, and Martin 
 Walsh, from Donegal, the second lecturer ; Patrick Flem- 
 ing, son of Captain Garret Fleming, of the county of Louth, 
 to be lecturer on philosophy ; and John Ponce, from Cork, 
 the second lecturer, — he invited any of the natives of Ire- 
 land, then on the Continent, to avail themselves of the edu- 
 cation here presented to them. The students in a short 
 time amounted to thirty. After enlarging and improving 
 all the buildings, Wadding added a noble and well-selected 
 library of books, rather for use than ostentation, consisting 
 of five thousand volumes, mostly folio, and about eight 
 hundred manuscripts. The founder being elective every 
 five years, Wadding was chosen five times in succession be- 
 fore his death, in 1657. Though but a poor friar from Ire- 
 land, yet from the time of his arrival at Rome, in the thir- 
 
84 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 tieth year of his age, he had so risen in the estimation of 
 the inhabitants, that, from their voluntary bounty rather 
 than his importunity, in the first five years, viz. from 1 625 
 to 1630, he had expended 22,000 crowns. This, however, 
 was only an inferior proportion of the expense connected 
 with an undertaking-, for the whole of which Wadding pro- 
 vided, and which has been very well known since his day 
 as " the College of St Isidore at Rome." 
 
 12. Rome, 1628. — Opposite to these buildings stood a 
 house, afterwards named the Ludovisian College. In 1628, 
 three years after Wadding had entered St Isidore, at his 
 instance the Cardinal Ludovisius paid 150 crowns for fur- 
 niture, and assigned 600 Roman crowns annually for the 
 use of this building and the education of six natives from 
 Ireland. But as Ludovisius at his death bequeathed a vine- 
 yard or farm and 1000 crowns annually to the institu- 
 tion, the house was purchased, named after him, and became 
 a permanent institution for twelve Irish students, who also 
 attended all the lectures at St Isidore. 
 
 13. Rome, 1656.— -The year before his death, 1656, Wad- 
 ding founded another seminary for twelve Irish students, 
 preparatory to St Isidore, at Campranica, about twenty- 
 eight miles from Rome. Francis O'Molloy from King's 
 County, the author of two pieces printed at Rome in 1666 
 and 1667, already noticed, succeeded Luke Wadding. At 
 some one of these seminaries there were about sixteen stu- 
 dents in 1792 or 3 ; but, even before the French invaded 
 Italy, the Irish College had no existence, and whatever 
 Irish students have been there since, sometimes twenty or 
 twenty-five, but of late only eight or ten, have been accom- 
 modated in different ways, and they attend with the other 
 students. 
 
 14. Prague, 1631. — The Irish College at Prague in Bo- 
 hemia was founded in 1631 at the solicitation of Malachy 
 Fallon, and being afterwards enriched by the legacy of an 
 Irishman in the Imperial army, General Walter Butler, a 
 chapel was built, and the college so enlarged as to admit of 
 seventy inmates. This legacy of 25,000 florins was in 1652. 
 In 1700, Count Sternberg built for them a spacious library, 
 and furnished it with a library of many thousand volumes, 
 which had been collected and left to him by his brother. 
 Another legacy of 9000 florins from a native of Ireland, 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 85 
 
 i Count Hamilton, in 1738, was employed in perfecting and 
 enlarging the buildings. The first superior was Patrick 
 | Fleming, already mentioned under Louvain : but, in the 
 I same year in which the college was begun, Prague being 
 !! about to be besieged by the Elector of Saxony, Fleming, 
 | having left the city, was murdered by the country boors, 
 ! then up in arms. Francis Magenis, who was with him, 
 : escaped, and afterwards became superior. Harold, the ne- 
 phew and biographer of Wadding, was a professor here, 
 and, at a later period, Francis Walsh, the author of an Irish 
 dictionary, which he either took with him to Dublin, or 
 composed there, where he died. The manuscript never was 
 printed, but it is now in Marsh's library. 
 
 15. Toulouse, 1660. — After the marriage of Louis XIV. 
 to the Infanta of Spain, the French court having come to 
 visit Toulouse, the Irish, who for many years had kept a 
 seminary there depending on casual bounty, petitioned the 
 queen-mother, Ann of Austria, for support. They succeed- 
 ed. She declared herself foundress of the Irish College in 
 1660, and Louis ratified the patent of foundation. The 
 number of students about the year 1792 was ten, under one 
 master. 
 
 16. Bordeaux, 1669. — This year the seminary at Bor- 
 deaux also became a college, through the same means. This 
 seminary, however, had been in operation from 1603, in 
 consequence of Cardinal de Sourdis, the Archbishop of Bor- 
 deaux, having cherished and supported it. A number of 
 Irish, during the last century, seem to have been educated 
 here, and at the Lisbon college. Before the Revolution there 
 were forty students, under three masters. There may be a 
 few at present. 
 
 17. Poitiers, 1676. — An Irish seminary was founded at 
 Poitiers this year, of which Ignatius Brown, from Water- 
 ford, who had been educated in Spain, was appointed rector ; 
 but he died, while on a journey to Madrid, in 1679, and it 
 does not appear who succeeded. If this institution existed 
 sojlate as the end of the last century, it shared the fate of 
 various other seminaries. 
 
 18. Home, 1677. — At the instance and solicitation of John 
 O'Connor, two convents at Rome were this year appropriat- 
 ed to serve as a place of education for the youth of Ireland, 
 
 H 
 
86 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 of which a Dr James Fitzgerald was elected the superior 
 three times in succession. Besides casual bounty, one 
 Nicholas Antonio consigned 4000, and the Duchess of Caje- 
 tan, whom O'Connor had accompanied from Spain, gave 
 6000 Roman crowns. Tins institution however is now, I 
 believe, extinct. 
 
 19. Nantz, 1680.— About the year 1680, by the entreaty 
 of Dr Ambrose Madden from Clonfert, and Dr Edward 
 Tonery from Waterford, a seminary for the Irish was esta- 
 blished at Nantz, into which, during the last century, thirty- 
 five pupils were received from any of the four Irish pro- 
 vinces. There were not fewer than eighty students here, 
 under three masters, just before the Revolution. 
 
 29. Boidey, 1688. — In the year 1688, an Irish college was 
 founded at Bouley, by Leopold, the Duke of .Lorraine, and 
 father of Francis I., Emperor of Austria, a man who used 
 frequently to say, — " 1 would resign my sovereignty to- 
 morrow, if I could do good no longer."" This foundation 
 was begun at the earnest solicitation of Bernard Plunket, 
 and the Earl of Carlingford was a considerable contributor ; 
 but I believe it does not now exist. 
 
 21. Paris, 1677-81. — Among the most important of any 
 that have been mentioned is the Irish College at Paris. The 
 erection, denominated the College for the Lombards, subse- 
 quently the College de Tournay, and after that the College 
 dltalie, having been nearly abandoned, and falling into a 
 ruinous state, two Irishmen, Patrick Magenis and Malachy 
 Kelly, in 1677 and 1681, obtained letters-patent to rebuild 
 it for the reception of Irish students, and Magenis endowed 
 it with 2500 livres annually. About thirty or forty years 
 after this, several old houses contiguous having been pur- 
 chased by an Irishman from Dublin, Michael Moore, the 
 whole were pulled down, and elegantly rebuilt in the form 
 of a college, with a chapel and commodious library. These 
 buildings are still in existence ; the writer having had an 
 opportunity of seeing them about three years ago, appa- 
 rently in good repair. Of tins college the Archbishop of 
 Paris was superior, with four Irish provisors under him, 
 one for each province in Ireland. The first of these was Prin- 
 cipal, who, with the fourth, took charge of the school of 
 learning. A separate department was called " the Irish 
 Community, w under the direction of a Prefect and Sub-pre- 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 87 
 
 feet, the students of which were admitted to all the degrees 
 of the Sorbonne. Moore and Skelton, Donlevy and Nary, 
 not to mention others, belonged to this college. 
 
 Dr Michael Moore, born in Dublin in 1640, a man, it has 
 been said, of taste, integrity, and learning, educated at 
 Nantz and Paris, who, besides taking charge of this Irish 
 college, was twice chosen Rector of the University of Paris, 
 was also Principal of the College of Navarre, and had been 
 also nominated Royal Professor of Philosophy, Greek, and 
 Hebrew. Having returned to Ireland, he was for a short 
 
 Eeriod Provost of Trinity College, and to his special care 
 as been ascribed the preservation of the books and manu- 
 scripts then in the library, James II. having intended to 
 convey that college to the Jesuits. Dr Moore not only pre- 
 vailed with him to alter his design, but, when the buildings 
 were used as a garrison, the chapel as a magazine, and 
 many of the chambers as prisons, with most vigilant atten- 
 tion he preserved all the literary stores then intrusted to 
 him as Provost. From Ireland he went to Paris, taught a 
 college for some years in Italy, and then returning to 
 France, died at the College of Navarre, Paris, in August 
 1726, aged eighty-six. For some years, however, before his 
 death, he was blind, and obliged to keep a man to read to 
 him. This man embezzled and sold many hundred volumes 
 of his choice collection ; " thus, he who had saved the noble 
 library of Trinity from alienation or destruction, was un- 
 generously pillaged of his own books. "* 
 
 Dr Walter Skelton, from Queen's County, distinguish- 
 ed for his knowledge in mathematics, w T as educated here 
 about the beginning of last century. Returning to Ireland, 
 he died titular Dean of Leighlin, in October, 1737. 
 
 Dr Andrew Donlevy, who was Prefect of this college in 
 1761, was the author of the Catechism in Irish and English 
 already noticed. " I take occasion to mention him," says 
 Harris, " out of gratitude for many favours I received from 
 him ; particularly by his transmitting me, from time to 
 time, several useful collections, out of the King's and other 
 libraries in Paris." 
 
 Cornelius Nary, from Kildare, born in 1660, received his 
 first education at Naas. At the age of twenty-four he pro- 
 ceeded to Paris, where he completed his studies, and con- 
 
 * Ware's Writers, and Stuart's Armagh, p. 40?. 
 
 u 2 
 
88 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 tinued to act as Provisor in the Irish College. In 1694 he 
 took the degree of doctor of laws in the colleges of Cambray 
 and Paris, and, about 1697, returned to Dublin, where he 
 continued till his death, in 1738. He translated the Vul- 
 gate New Testament into English, with notes, which was 
 published in London about 1705, and again in 1718. On 
 the title-page of this octavo volume, which is now very 
 scarce, it is said to be the work of C. N. C. F. P. D. i. e. 
 Cornelius Nary, Consultissimae Facultatis Parisiensis Doc- 
 tor. In the year 1720, he published in folio, a History* of 
 the World, grounding his chronology on the computations 
 of the Septuagint, which he undertakes to prove to be that 
 of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures ; and, some time after 
 this, he also printed a short History of Ireland, the copies 
 of which are now very scarce* 
 
 The Revolution in France, which affected the Irish col- 
 leges in so many other places, >vas, of course, fatal to that 
 in Paris. At that eventful period there were not less than 
 180 Irish students, viz. 100 in the College des Lombards, 
 under four masters, and in the Irish Community, Rue de 
 Cheval Vert, there were 80 more, under three masters. 
 This seminary, however, has been so far restored by the 
 late King, Louis XVIII., and is now called College Bri- 
 tannique, as it unites the three ancient colleges, denomi- 
 nated English, Irish, and Scotch. In the Irish department, 
 the professors, sometimes exclusively Irish, at others, French 
 and Irish, are selected by the President, w'ho receives his 
 ultimate appointment from the King of France. 
 
 In conclusion, of these foreign seminaries it may be stated 
 that there are at the present moment about one hundred 
 and forty students at different colleges on the Continent. 
 Seventy of these are at Paris, about twelve at Rome, and 
 the remainder at Salamanca, Lisbon, and various private 
 French seminaries. A good many who go abroad do so 
 without any certain destination, but the great body intend 
 returning to their native land. The funds still remaining 
 in existence, consisting principally of foundations made by 
 Irishmen, as already stated, who either funded sums of 
 money abroad, or sent them from Ireland, are calculated to 
 be sufficient for the support of about sixty students, at 
 
 * Reilly's History of Ireland, with the articles of Limerick, ccc. by Dr Nary, is 
 but a thin 18mo in small type, — it may be got for 12s., but has been sold for a 
 guinea. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 89 
 
 800 francs annually for each, if the entire income be so 
 applied. 
 
 The great change produced by the French war and Revo- 
 lution suggested the necessity of Maynooth College. It was 
 resolved upon in 1795. The statutes, however, were not 
 printed till 1800, and in the list of Professors there will be 
 found one for the Irish Language : but the fact is, that 
 though there was a Professor of Modern Languages in the 
 original draft, the vernacular tongue itself was entirely 
 overlooked ; at least it is certain that there was originally 
 no provision made for an Irish Professor. But the set time 
 for treating this long-proscribed language with common 
 candour and more enlightened policy, it is to be hoped, had 
 nearly arrived. The tongue itself, however, as if in con- 
 formity with ancient usage, must not, it seems, even yet 
 receive, in every respect, any formal and legal acknowledg- 
 ment ; yet indebted, as it had often been, to individual 
 benevolence and an attachment most natural, it was at last 
 favoured with a Professor's chair, upon its own native soil, 
 and the appointment has been printed among the others 
 since the period referred to. It was a single individual, and 
 he an Irishman, who enjoyed the gratification of thus far 
 befriending his country. Mr Keenan, a scrivener in Dub- 
 lin, " sunk one thousand pounds of his hard-earned property, 
 the produce of a long, laborious, and economical life, for 
 L.60 per annum, to support an Irish Professor for teaching 
 and instructing the students the Irish language in the Irish 
 character."* Accordingly, in July 1802, the Rev. Paul 
 O'Brien, author of the Irish Grammar, in the Irish charac- 
 ter, already mentioned, was appointed to the chair. In 
 June 1820, he was succeeded by the Rev. Martin Loftus : 
 but even this chair, the only one in Ireland, was vacant 
 recently, and I am not aware of any successor being yet 
 appointed, otherwise I should have mentioned the name. 
 The books used, besides the Irish Grammar and MacCur- 
 tin's Dictionary, are the Irish New Testament and Donlevy's 
 Catechism. 
 
 * History of Dublin, vol. II., p. 
 H 3 
 
90 
 
 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. 
 
 In the effectual education of any tribe, there is a course 
 to which nature not only points, but constrains. In every 
 instance it is demonstrable, that the benevolent visitor or 
 resident must sit down and begin with the people where 
 God and nature begin with them. If we descend not to 
 their level, we shall never raise up any save a mere fraction 
 of the community, nor will that fraction raise the remain- 
 ing body. As to the vernacular tongue, whatever that be, 
 if we will not go back and start here, the people, as such, 
 stand still, and are left behind. But truly, on such a sub- 
 ject as that of a liberal education, naturally and necessarily 
 taking its rise from the first tongue in which a people have 
 spoken, and been accustomed to think, embracing too such 
 an aggregate of human beings under the British crown, and 
 after such a detail as the present, one is greatly at a loss 
 what to say. It has been drawn out, and facts placed in 
 this new light before the intelligent reader, in the hope that 
 they will instantly suggest to many the imperative but 
 pleasing duty of pursuing a course, more congenial with 
 the love of country and the good of Ireland. If these poor 
 dear people wish to have education, — and let the reader 
 point, if he can, to that class in this kingdom who desire it 
 more, — and if the language is dear to them, as dear it is, 
 let them have it to their hearts' content, and as the only 
 basis, too, of all effectual information and happiness to the 
 Irish mind in its present condition. 
 
 Within these few years, it is true, Irish education, pro- 
 perly so called, has been making progress in various dis- 
 tricts, which will be afterwards noticed ; but still, if a 
 population so large is waiting without doors for instruction 
 by the only medium through which they can at present 
 comprehend and estimate any moral or religious subject, 
 how can it consist with our highest obligations for matters 
 to remain in their present state with regard to schools of a 
 higher description ] The bequest of Mr Flood has failed ; 
 but, oh ! surely, without waiting for any eleemosynary 
 windfall, were the enlightened members of Trinity College 
 to take the subject into impartial consideration, something 
 might and ought to be done, whether within or without the 
 walls. To say nothing of the kind spirit which is now 
 abroad as to this language, they have not to proceed against 
 a wind and tide so strong as that which once unhappily 
 prevailed. In some of the Provosts of other days, there is 
 this one object which they prosecuted con amove ; and if 
 busts or pictures are desirable, assuredly Bedell and Boyle, 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 91 
 
 Marsh, and even Hall, deserve them in Trinity College for 
 this alone. When, however, the visitor of any school of 
 learning begins to commend it, for the past pre-eminence 
 or zeal of any of its members in any one department of 
 useful knowledge, there is an awkwardness felt in receiving 
 the compliment. A living representative within the same 
 enclosure, with all the improvements which time has given, 
 is wanted. And, oh ! had but a few able men with un- 
 daunted constancy only walked in the first foot-prints of 
 Bedell, in what a different state had Ireland been at the 
 present hour ! Ere this time w r e must have had authors 
 upon Irish ground, and in other tongues beside their own, 
 who w r ould unquestionably have contributed to raise the 
 character of this kingdom. 
 
 Were I, even here, in conclusion, to beg the intelligent 
 reader to fix his eye on the opinions, so decidedly expressed, 
 by successive monarchs of this country, certainly he would 
 reply, — " But how is all this ? Has there been all along, 
 somewhere, behind the throne, a power greater than the 
 throne itself® As for the eighteenth centun^, then, it 
 should seem, all slept ; but have you not already referred 
 to Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and 
 Queen Anne ?" True, I reply, and they must be referred to 
 once more — Meanwhile it only remains for the King again 
 to lift his voice, and see whether no change for the better 
 can be effected in a University of royal foundation, — found- 
 ed, too, and plentifully endowed, " principallie'' with a view 
 to the natives. 
 
 But, independently altogether of a Professorship in Tri- 
 nity College, or in the city, or both, (for rivalship here 
 would do great good.) there certainly ought, at all events, 
 to be at least one fine school in Dublin, where Irish should 
 be taught thoroughly, grammatically, and with taste, as a 
 normal or model school for the country; and not only so, 
 but in Cork, Limerick, and Galway, for the benefit of sur- 
 rounding districts, there ought to be one of a similar de- 
 scription. This, however, will be glanced at again, after we 
 have noticed a subject of still greater importance, — one 
 which, had it been regarded, would have produced, as only 
 one effect, all that for which we now plead ; and the Eng- 
 lish language also, very naturally a favourite theme with 
 many in Ireland, must have acquired an ascendency very 
 different from what it has done to this hour. However 
 strange it may seem to some ears, I refer to Irish oral in- 
 struction, or Irish preaching;. — a subject which, in the pre- 
 
92 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING, &c. 
 
 sent state of the country, deserves the most deliberate and 
 serious consideration. 
 
 " It is fit that it should be remembered, that near this city of Dublin there is an 
 University, founded by Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the Natives of this 
 Kingdom." JEREMY TAYLOR. 
 
 u We have reason to expect that in all this long tyme of our peaceable government, 
 some good numbers of the Natives should have been trained upp in that College." 
 
 JAMES I. 
 
 ** Prudence and skill for the management of ourselves in reference to others, in 
 civil affairs, for public good, is much the fairest flower within the border of Nature's 
 garden." JOHN OWEN. 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION, 
 
 Including Historical Notices of all that has yet been effected in preaching to the 
 Natives in their vernacular tongue, and the present condition of the Country with 
 regard to a stated Ministry in the language of the Irish people. 
 
 Reading one day an account of Ireland, of comparatively 
 recent date and considerable value, when referring to some 
 of the Irish gentlemen resident in certain parts, who are 
 able to speak in Irish and converse with the people, I found 
 the writer add, in passing, that they are thus able not only 
 to " ascertain their wants, but to assist with their advice, 
 and restrain by admonition." 
 
 Any man, therefore, who, in these parts, cannot thus 
 talk, let his profession be what it may, it seems cannot well 
 do any thing of this sort — cannot ascertain these wants — 
 assist with this advice — or restrain by this warning. I not 
 only understand, but, in some degree, can confirm this re- 
 mark, having, when in the country, tried the effect of only 
 two or three words in Irish, and the response was imme- 
 diate — they had reached the heart. 
 
 But then there is such a thing as the care of the soul, — 
 there are wants of greater moment than any which relate 
 to this transitory state of being, — there is advice, which 
 may prepare for a dying hour, — admonition, which may 
 avert dangers beyond it : and if Irish is necessary for the 
 good and the comfort of these our countrymen, as pea- 
 santry, I presume it will not be denied that it must be 
 much more so, when they are regarded not only as rational 
 and intelligent, but accountable beings. But if so, to every 
 minister of Christ, standing upon Irish ground, this is an 
 important and serious consideration. " Not having been 
 able to speak Irish," must another day be regarded as a 
 poor apology ; and if there is to be such a thing hereafter 
 as the confronting of parties, for the establishment of cri- 
 minal neglect and greater condemnation,* the ability of 
 
 • Matt. xii. 41, 4'2; Ezek. xxxiii. 8.; Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. 
 
94 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 Irishmen in higher walks to converse with their dependents 
 on the affairs of this life may well be pondered by those 
 whose duty it is, through the same medium, to " rest and 
 expatiate on a life to come." Besides, not only by men of 
 his own particular communion, but by all those who upon 
 Irish ground have so long neglected a duty at once so mani- 
 fest and incumbent, it should never be forgotten that a wit- 
 ness of no common character has gone before them — 
 
 Bedell's grave 
 
 Is in thy keeping— and with thee ' 
 Deposited, doth this man's holy dust 
 
 Await the archangel's call. — 
 
 But for the present, sat verbum sapienti ; here at least I for- 
 bear to add more, and proceed to facts. 
 
 It is rather a singular circumstance, that at such a re- 
 mote period in the history of Ireland as the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, in the year 1483-4, we find an archbishop of Dublin 
 petitioning parliament, and in Norman-French of course, 
 to relieve him from the inconvenience which its outlawry 
 of the Irish tongue had occasioned ; nay, he succeeded in 
 obtaining a statute to be passed, which explains the incon- 
 venience. It shows, that because the English clergy were 
 ignorant of the Irish tongue, the cure of souls in some parts 
 of his diocese, in the very neighbourhood of Dublin, was 
 "piteously neglected — piteuxment neclecte it enacted, 
 that he should have liberty to present natives to certain of 
 his livings, — a thing which, at that time, under Richard 
 the Third, and long before, was contrary to the statute-law* 
 The liberty here granted, however, was to last only for two 
 years, which turned out to be the close of Richard's usur- 
 pation. It is true that, so far as the performances of public 
 worship were concerned, an ability to hold conversation 
 with the inhabitants was not requisite, as the service was 
 conducted in Latin ; and yet it appears, from this applica- 
 tion, that ignorance of the vernacular tongue was even then 
 regarded as injurious to the interests of the natives ; so that 
 the first testimony thus given, let it be observed, comes to 
 us at a period previous to that which has been styled the 
 Reformation. 
 
 I have spoken of this period as early, since it is three 
 hundred and fifty years from the present day ; and it will 
 remain for the reader to notice, whether the grievance re- 
 
 • Stat. 2 Rich. III. c. 10, and 5 Ed. IV. anno H65. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 95 
 
 ferred to has ever been redressed. But there is another point 
 of view in which such an incident should be observed, and 
 that is with reference to the ages which had preceded it. 
 It was now more than three hundred years since Henry II. 
 had invaded Ireland, yet it should seem as if the Irish lan- 
 guage were still almost universally prevalent. Whatever 
 scepticism may exist as to earlier ages, therefore, if the pre- 
 cise extent to which the Irish tongue was then spoken can 
 be ascertained, the reader should here be apprized of it be- 
 fore proceeding farther. The Irish septs or clans, it is ad- 
 mitted, " were still unconnected, and their attention con- 
 fined to their local interests. Several lived peaceably in the 
 English counties, but others maintained an independent 
 state even in the very neighbourhood of Dublin."* Now, 
 with respect to the language, there is a treatise or discourse 
 in manuscript, extant in the library of Trinity College, in 
 which the affairs of Ireland are copiously examined, the 
 date of which cannot be later than the year 1494, and the 
 researches of the author have been subsequently pronounced 
 to be accurate. He recounts no less than sixty regions or 
 districts, of different dimensions, still governed by Irish 
 chieftains, according to their ancient laws and manners, 
 together with a long catalogue of English, who had degene- 
 rated and renounced obedience to the English law and cus- 
 toms in several provinces. The Pale, as it has been called, 
 he confines within the narrow bounds of half the counties 
 of Uriel or Orgiel, Meath, Kildare, Dublin, and Wexford, — 
 that is, in fact, only a narrow stripe of territory along the 
 east coast, from about Newry to Wexford, — and yet the 
 common people of even these districts he represents as con- 
 forming to the Irish habit and language :f The truth is, 
 that the intercourse with the Native Irish, by fostering, 
 marriage, and alliance, was general, the Lord Deputy him- 
 self having set the example. The remedies proposed by 
 this author I need not specify, my only object being to 
 glance at the extent of the Irish language more than three 
 hundred years after Henry the Second. Many of these 
 remedies, however, were afterwards tried, as the discourse 
 itself is said to have been presented to the King (Henry 
 VII.) and his council. 
 Forty years later, the wide extent, if not universal preva- 
 
 * Leland, ii. p. 6*8. 
 
 t Pandarus, sive Salus Populi. MS. Trin. Coll. Dublin. 
 
96 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 lence, of the Irish tongue, is manifest from the terms of a 
 parliamentary statute. It was passed in 1537, the 28th 
 year of Henry VIII., in which, bent only upon extending 
 the English order, habit, and language, not the direct and 
 real progress of knowledge, it was enacted, that " if any 
 spiritual promotion within this land at any time become 
 void, such as have title to nominate shall nominate to the 
 same such a person as can speak English, and none other, 
 unless there can be no person as can speak English will 
 accept it ; and if the patron cannot, within three months, 
 get any such person that can speak English, then he shall 
 cause four proclamations to be openly made, at four several 
 market-days, in the next market -town adjoining to the 
 said spiritual promotion, that if any fit person that can 
 speak English will come and take the same, he shall have 
 it ; and if none come within five weeks after the first pro- 
 clamation, then the patron may present any honest, able 
 man, albeit he cannot speak English." This, however, 
 was not all. By the next clause of the same act, should 
 the patron have nominated a native who could not speak 
 English, contrary to the form here prescribed, the nomina- 
 tion was void, when the king presented ; and should M the 
 king be interrupted, he shall have a quare impedit against 
 the disturber/' Nay, should the king present a man who 
 could not speak English, contrary to the form, the presen- 
 tation was void, and reverted to the patron. After all this, 
 in the event of a native being the only person to be found 
 and appointed, it was under an oath that he u endeavour 
 himself to learn the English tongue and language, if he 
 may learn and attain the same by possibility ;" ? and another 
 oath, " that he shall, to his wit and cunning, endeavour 
 himself to learn and teach the English tongue to all under 
 his governance, and shall preach the word of God in Eng- 
 lish, if he can preach." The ecclesiastic, appointing any 
 one, contrary to this form, to forfeit, for every time, L.3 : 6 : 8, 
 one moiety to the king, the other to the pursuer ; and 
 every incumbent, for the first oftence, six shillings and 
 eightpence ; for the second, twenty shillings ; and for the 
 third, his promotion itself ! 
 
 Such was the act passed at this period in reference to all 
 those natural signs which this ancient people had been ac- 
 customed to employ for ages, when communicating to each 
 other their thoughts and intentions, their purposes and de- 
 sires. So strange does the instrument of speech appear, 
 when in the hands of a human legislator ! The act itself 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 97 
 
 might have been passed over, had it not been so frequently 
 referred to, in subsequent generations, to enforce the pur- 
 poses of a blind and baneful expediency, and because it 
 may serve as a contrast to the noble exertions of Bedell in 
 the following pages. 
 
 What steps were actually taken to enforce this act, it is 
 unnecessary to inquire, — (the parliamentary commissioners 
 of our day have said, it is impossible to ascertain,) — but as 
 to the state of the country, when the best of evidence was 
 produced, only fifteen years after this, in 1552, no wonder 
 that it was deplorable. " Hard it is," said Sir Thomas 
 Cusack, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland under Edward 
 VI., " that men should know their duties to God and the 
 King, when they shall not hear teaching or preaching 
 throughout the year." At a period when England had so 
 far burst the shackles of ignorance, and when the common 
 people were beginning to hear gladly, then it was that this 
 Chancellor complained of Ireland, — " Preaching we have 
 none, which is our lack, without which the ignorant can 
 have no knowledge."* Meanwhile, says an authority 
 which, on this department of Irish history, will not be 
 questioned, " Even within the English pale the Irish lan- 
 guage was become predominant ;" and " in those tracts of 
 Irish territory which intersected the English settlements, no 
 other language was at all known ; so that here the wretch- 
 ed flock was totally inaccessible to those strangers who had 
 become their nominal pastors ;" while, at the same mo- 
 ment, such men as " spoke to their countrymen in their 
 own language were heard with attention, favour, and affec- 
 tion, "f It is true, that the year before this, 1551, the 5th 
 of Edward VI., the English Common Prayer-Book had 
 been ordered to be read in the Irish churches ; but what 
 could this avail in a country where the people, whether high 
 or low, knew neither the meaning nor pronunciation of the 
 language.;}; 
 
 In the following reign, however, even these measures 
 were abandoned, till the accession of Elizabeth, when they 
 were again resumed. Two large English Bibles were then 
 sent over in 1559, at her expense, for public perusal, and 
 
 * See Cusack's Letter to the Duke of Northumberland, dated 1552. MSS. Trin. 
 Coll. Dublin. 
 
 t Leland, ii. p. 94. 
 
 X At the same time T am aware that Kinsr Edward, in his instructions to Sir James 
 Croft, wished the service to be translated into Irish ,• but this was onlv the first of a 
 class, which may be entitled, ,; royal orders unfulfilled" 
 I 
 
93 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 an opportunity was offered to the people for hearing them 
 read in the cathedrals of Christ Church and St Patrick in 
 Dublin : but this alteration had no other effect than that 
 which might have been anticipated. It " disgusted the 
 natives especially, who were not at all regarded in it," the 
 public worship being to them as unintelligible as ever. And 
 what continued to be the condition of the country at 
 large, or even as far as the English authority had extended, 
 the language of the Irish parliament will best explain. The 
 reader will observe it marks its jjreference for the Irish 
 tongue; but then this act of Henry VIII., Elizabeth's 
 father, stood in the way, while now it seems that ministers 
 speaking English were nowhere to be found ! Thus 
 situated, what was to be done ? Hear the preamble to the 
 Act of Uniformity : — " And forasmuch as in most places of 
 this realm, there cannot be found English ministers U> 
 serve in the churches or places appointed for common 
 prayer, — and that if some good meane were provided, that 
 they might use the prayers, &c. in such language as they 
 might best understand, the due honour of God should be 
 thereby much advanced ; and for that, also, that the same 
 may not be in their native language, as well for difficultie 
 to get it printed, as that few in the whole realm can read 
 the Irishe letters : — We do therefore most humbly beseech 
 your Majesty, that it may be enacted by the authority of 
 this present parliament, that in every such church, where 
 the common minister bathe not the use of the English 
 tongue, it shall be lawful to say or use all their common 
 and open prayer in the Latin tongue." Enacted accord- 
 ingly, so it was, by the statute 2d of Elizabeth, sect. xiii. 
 anno 1559-60. If any thing can be more lamentable than 
 the policy thus adopted towards our Native Irish country- 
 men, it is the coolness with which it has been referred to 
 by historians since. More than 200 years after this, so late 
 as 1783, says Leland, " if this did not effectually provide 
 for the edification of the people, it, at least, served to 
 sheathe the acrimony of their prejudices against the re- 
 formed worship !" 
 
 Eleven years after this act, however, in 1571, the Queen 
 herself provided a printing-press and Irish types ; but no 
 one had as yet urged the imperative necessity of proclaim- 
 ing the Word of Life in the vernacular tongue. The first 
 individual who advised this did so with great earnestness, 
 in consequence of his visiting the country itself, having 
 " passed thorough eche province, and bene almost in eche 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 99 
 
 county thereof." This was Sir Henry Sidney, the affec- 
 tionate play-fellow and companion of Edward the Sixth, 
 and in whose arms he expired, now appointed Lord Deputy 
 of Ireland. " His disposition," says Dr Powell, " was 
 rather to seek after the antiquities and the weal-public of 
 these countries which he governed, than to obtain lands 
 and revenues within the same ; for I know not one foot of 
 land that he had either in Wales or Ireland."* On re- 
 turning from his tour, which lasted six months, having re- 
 solved to lay before Queen Elizabeth the state of the 
 country, and the absolute necessity for ministers of the 
 word ; in his letter, dated 28th April 1576, he says, " In 
 choyce of which ministers for the remote places where the 
 Englishe tongue is not understood, it is most necessarie 
 that soche be chosen as can speake Irishe, for which 
 searche would be made first and spedylie in your own uni- 
 versities ; and any found there well affected in religion, and 
 well conditioned beside, they would be animated by your 
 Majestie ; yea, though it were somewhat at your Highness' 
 chardge ; and on peril of my liffe you shall fynde it re- 
 torned with fay me before three yeares be expired. If there 
 be no soche there, or not inough, for I wish tene or twelve 
 at the least to be sent, then I do wish that you would write 
 to the Regent of Scotlande, where, as I learne, there are 
 many that are of this language, that he would prefer to 
 your Highness so many as shall seem good to you to de- 
 mande of honest, zealous, and learned men, and that could 
 speak this language ; and though for a while your Majestie 
 were at some chardge, it were well bestowed, for in short 
 time their own preferments would be able to suffice them, 
 and in the meane time thousands would be gayned to Christ, 
 that now are lost, or left at the woorst." 
 
 Twenty-five years after this letter, in 1601, Lord Bacon, 
 then in retirement, and reflecting on the state of this coun- 
 try, wrote a letter to Secretary Cecil, enclosing certain "con- 
 siderations touching the Queen's service," in which he em- 
 braces " the causes of Ireland, if they be taken by the right 
 handle ;" u to which purpose," says he, " I send you mine 
 opinion, without labour of words, in the enclosed ; and sure 
 I am, that if you shall enter into the matter according to 
 the vivacity of your own spirit, nothing can make you a 
 more gainful return." The second division of this paper is 
 
 * Powell's Historv of Wales. 
 
 i 2 ' 
 
100 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 entitled " The Recovery of the Hearts of the People." To- 
 wards this he says, " There be three things in natura rerum. 
 1. Religion. 2. Justice and protection. 3. Obligation and 
 reward." — " For religion, to speak first of society and then 
 of policy, all divines do agree, that if consciences be to be 
 enforced (invigorated) at all, two things must precede ; the 
 one, means of instruction ; the other, time of operation ; 
 neither of which they have yet had." Accordingly, when 
 Bacon comes to specify his " course of advancing religion 
 indeed," he proposes sending " some good preachers, espe- 
 cially of that sort which are zealous persuaders and not 
 scholastical, to be resident in the principal towns ; re- 
 plenishing the college begun at Dublin, placing good men 
 to be bishops, and taking care of the versions of bibles and 
 catechisms, and other books of instruction, into the Irish 
 language." 
 
 In the year 1620, a letter was addressed to the Lord De- 
 puty of Ireland, Lord Chichester, by King James I. " Be- 
 cause we understand," said his Majesty, " that the simple 
 natives of that our kingdom are still kept in darkness, &c, 
 which proceedeth through want of Ministers who could speak 
 their own language, whom they may understand," — and 
 because the College was founded " principallie" with this 
 in view ; — therefore he added, " when any livings that are 
 not of any very great value fall void among the meere Irish, 
 these men (towardlie young men, alreadie fitted with the 
 knowledge of the Irish tongue) to be thought upon before 
 others, or to be placed with other able ministers that possess 
 livings among the meere Irishe (where, for the defect of the 
 language, they are able to do but little good,) to be inter- 
 preters to them, and to be maintained by them after they 
 are made fit for that implo} r ment." 
 
 Thus we have Sidney and Lord Bacon urging the neces- 
 sity of an Irish ministry, and the King himself still more 
 urgent ; — and what was the result I One solitary instance 
 of compliance ! This was a Scotch Highland minister, Mr 
 Donald M'Feig, who was incumbent of Cahercorney, in 
 the county of Limerick : at least so it should seem by the 
 records of the Board of First Fruits. 
 
 In the second year of the folio wing reign, 1626, Charles I. 
 wrote to Archbishop Ussher much in the same strain, not 
 only ratifying the instructions of his father to the Lord De- 
 puty, but desiring to " make some necessarie addition to 
 the same." He therefore requires of Ussher to " take espe- 
 cial care, that the people there may be instructed in the 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 101 
 
 principles of religion by those to whom it appertayneth ; 
 and that the New Testament and Book of Common-Prayer, 
 translated into Irish, be frequently used in the parishes of the 
 Irishrie ; and that every non-resident there do constantly 
 keepe and continue one to read service in the Irish tongue, 
 as is expressly commanded by the said orders" issued by King 
 James. The fact is, the propositions in this letter were sug- 
 gested to the King by Archbishop Ussher."* By this time 
 nearly fifty years had passed away since Sir Henry Sidney 
 had strongly urged the absolute necessity of ministers in 
 the native language being employed — Lord Bacon, James, 
 Charles, and Ussher, having followed him, and each of them 
 alike in earnest in recommending the same measure, but 
 literally nothing had as yet been done. 
 
 At this juncture the immortal William Bedell arrived in 
 Dublin, and no sooner had he set his foot upon Irish ground, 
 than he saw the path of duty, and almost immediately turned 
 his attention to the preparation of young Irishmen for public 
 usefulness. Where he had found a suitable person does 
 not appear ; but although he was only two years Provost of 
 Trinity College, even during that short period he had insti- 
 tuted an " Irish lecture." So in the year 1629, only the 
 third of his residence in Ireland, the Lord Chancellor, hav- 
 ing occasion to write to Primate Ussher, says — " The King 
 likes wondrous well of the Irish lecture begun by Mr 
 Bedell, and the course of sending such young men as your 
 Grace mentions." Bedell himself, also, in a letter to Ussher, 
 the 18th September, 1630, mentions one of these young 
 men as having translated his catechism into Irish, who had 
 been instructed at the Irish lecture in Dublin, instituted in 
 the time of his provostship. 
 
 Four years after this, at the convocation of 1634, we find 
 the subject referred to, at least with reference to the Scrip- 
 tures being read, and service performed in the Irish tongue. 
 To the instructions then given, however, no person, alas ! 
 except Bedell, paid any attention, notwithstanding the suc- 
 cess which had attended his exertions under circumstances 
 so unpropitious. The melancholy state of his diocese need 
 
 * Lay hands suddenly on no man, was a maxim of the Primate's ; yet in the course 
 of his life he ordained one man, who, though not versed in the learned languages, 
 was well acquainted with the Scriptures and books of practical divinity. When this 
 person first applied to Ussher, he remarked that his preaching would be of little use, 
 unless it was understood by the people. The man promised to acquire the language 
 of the natives ; and effecting this in one year, he was then ordained, when his 
 ministry is said to have been verv useful. 
 
 i 3 
 
102 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 not here be described, as this and many other in- 
 teresting particulars respecting him, are given elsewhere ; 
 but nothing could discourage him from following out 
 his principles. The propositions of statesmen, the official 
 recommendations of royalty, the deliberations and resolu- 
 tions of a convocation, were not necessary to kindle his 
 zeal in the cause. The sentiments contained in them all, 
 when urging a ministry in the language of this or of 
 any other country, were indeed his own, and it is known 
 also that they were his before arriving in Ireland ; but, 
 in his mind, these sentiments were also living principles 
 of action, such as no power upon earth could have generated, 
 and from which no consideration under heaven could turn 
 him aside. It is indeed refreshing to meet with such a man 
 at such a time, devoted to the best interests of a people who 
 had been so long neglected, more especially when it is ob- 
 served that they have been neglected since, nay are nef/lected 
 still. In all stages of society those unquestionably deserve 
 grateful and everlasting remembrance, who, outstripping the 
 rest of their contemporaries, rise up in solitary majesty 
 amidst a host of prejudices, combating intrepidly on one 
 side, however assailed on the other. And though it is hu- 
 miliating to reflect, that the perplexities which Bedell was 
 called to suffer arose simply from his upright zeal, in fulfill- 
 ing the recommendations and recorded sentiments of many 
 preceding years — to him belongs the credit of having first 
 trodden a path in which other men (of our own day) must yet 
 follow. 
 
 The existing state of things in the county of Cavan being 
 once ascertained and surveyed by Bedell, not a day was lost 
 in applying to his work. His setting himself in good ear- 
 nest to acquire the vernacular tongue, was soon observed to 
 be regarded by the natives in the light of a great compli- 
 ment, while it lent grace and consistency to his fixed pur- 
 pose with regard to others who were called to engage in the 
 ministry around him. Both his dioceses being inhabited 
 almost wholly by Native Irish, an ability to preach in their 
 language " he looked upon as an absolutely necessary qua- 
 lification in every minister to be employed under him ; and 
 therefore he rejected several simply for want of this." As- 
 sured that the natives could not understand the way of sal- 
 vation, except through the medium of the language which 
 they had used from infancy, — in all his collations he kept 
 this in view, and, on such occasions, was in the habit of ad- 
 dressing the individual in the following terms : — " Obtest- 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 103 
 
 ing you in the name of the Lord, and enjoining you, by 
 virtue of that obedience which you owe to the Chief Shep- 
 herd, that you will diligently feed his flock committed to 
 your care, which he purchased with his own blood, that you 
 instruct them in the Catholic faith, and perform divine of- 
 fices in a tongue understood by the people"'' In his own 
 church, while the Scriptures in Irish were read, he was al- 
 ways present, till at last hs was well able to engage in the 
 service himself. The efforts of this enlightened man were 
 not in vain. Not only were he and others made useful to 
 the people, but some men of talent were converted to God, 
 and several of these afterwards employed by him in preach- 
 ing to their countrymen. Bedell, however, did nothing 
 superficially. He had no idea of spending time in winning 
 over any man to a mere creed or solitary scriptural opinion. 
 Into such, therefore, as now came willingly for instruction, 
 " he took great pains" to convey " a true sense of religion," 
 that so they might prove Christians indeed. The trumpet 
 gave a certain sound, but the object of his desire was to be 
 found not only warning every man, but " teaching every 
 man in all wisdom, that he might present every man perfect 
 in Christ Jesus." Such exertions will ever be found the 
 best preparation for seasons of agitation, turbulence, or dis- 
 tress. 
 
 With the death of this excellent man, however, all actual 
 exertion died likewise. His Irish manuscript was allowed to 
 remain for above forty years without being printed : and as 
 for any man preaching to the people in their own language 
 during that period, frequent attempts have ended in dis- 
 covering not more than two or three instances. These, 
 however, certainly deserve to be recorded, were it only for 
 the purpose of preserving the chain of attestation to the 
 necessity of measures which have not been pursued even to 
 the present hour ! 
 
 The first of these instances was in the time of the Pro- 
 tectorate. Amidst the perplexities of that period, various 
 individuals, equally eminent for learning and piety, visited 
 Ireland, and the condition of the Native Irish could not 
 escape their notice. In the year 1649, Dr Owen having 
 one day called on General Fairfax, just before leaving Lon- 
 don for Coggeshall, Cromwell came in ; and this being the 
 first time he had met with Owen in private, he walked up 
 to him, and laying his hand on his shoulder, said, — " Sir, 
 you are the man with whom I must be acquainted." Tak- 
 ing him aside into the garden, he mentioned his intended 
 
104 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 expedition to Ireland, and requested his company with a 
 view to the affairs of Trinity College. After using entreaty, 
 Cromwell had to employ his authority ; and Owen returned, 
 not to regret his compliance, hut to urge it upon others to 
 cross the Channel too. Arriving in July 1649, he took up 
 his residence in Trinity College, and afterwards in Dublin 
 Castle. Here, though not in his usual health, and bur- 
 dened with manifold employments, he was at the same time 
 engaged, he says, in u constant preaching to a numerous 
 multitude of as thirsting a people after the Gospel as he 
 had ever conversed with."* Owen remained only about 
 six months in Ireland, but he saw enough to affect his 
 mind deeply, and on his return had resolved that others 
 should, if possible, feel with him. Accordingly, on the 
 28th of February 1650, a day of humiliation throughout the 
 kingdom, having returned to London, and being called to 
 preach in public before the Parliament, his heart was full of 
 anxiety respecting Ireland. In the course of his sermon, 
 therefore, he addressed Parliament in the following terms : — 
 " God hath been faithful in doing great things for you, be 
 faithful in this one, — do your utmost for the preaching of 
 the Gospel in Ireland. Give me leave to add a few motives 
 to this duty. 1. They want it. No want like theirs who 
 want the Gospel. I would there were for the present one 
 Gospel preacher for every walled town in the English pos- 
 sessions in Ireland. The land mourneth, and the people 
 perish for want of knowledge ; many run to and fro, but it is 
 upon other designs — knowledge is not increased. 2. They 
 are sensible of their wants, and cry out for supply. The 
 tears and cries of the inhabitants of Dublin after the mani- 
 festations of Christ are ever in my view. If they were in 
 the dark, and loved to have it so, it might somewhat close a 
 door on the bowels of our compassion ; but they cry out of 
 their darkness, and are ready to follow every one, to have a 
 candle. If their being without the Gospel move not our 
 hearts, it is hoped their importunate cries will disquiet our 
 rest, and wrest help as a beggar doth an alms." Again he 
 says, " What then shall we do ? This thing is often spoken 
 of, seldom driven to a close ! First, Pray the Lord of the 
 harvest, that he would send out, that he would thrust forth 
 labourers into his harvest. The labourers are ready to say, 
 * There is a lion in the way, and difficulties to be contended 
 
 * Owen's Works, Svo, vol. v. p. 649. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 105 
 
 withal.' And to some men it is hard seeing a call of God 
 through difficulties ; when, if it Avould but clothe itself with 
 a few carnal advantages, how apparent is it to them ! Be 
 earnest then with the Master of these labourers, in whose 
 hand is their life and breath, and all their ways, that he 
 would powerfully constrain them to be willing to enter into 
 the fields that arc white for the harvest. Secondly, Make 
 such provision, that those who will go may be fenced from 
 outward straits and fears, so far as the uncertainty of human 
 affairs in general, and the present tumultuating perturba- 
 tions will admit. And let not this, I beseech you, be the 
 business of an unpursued order ; but, thirdly, Let some be 
 appointed (generals die and sink by themselves) to consider 
 this thing, and to hear what sober proposals may be made 
 by any whose hearts God shall stir up to so good a work. 
 This, I say, is a work wherein God expecteth faithfulness 
 from you : stagger not at his promises nor your own duty. 
 However, by all means possible in this business, I have 
 strived to deliver my own soul !" 
 
 This powerful appeal was not in vain ; and the effects 
 which followed it well deserve to be recorded, more espe- 
 cially as, before the first edition of this volume, a distinct 
 account of them had never been published, and in this it is 
 considerably enlarged. 
 
 It was in July 1649 that Owen went to Ireland, where 
 he remained till January following. On the 28th Febru- 
 ary he preached the sermon just quoted ; and one week after 
 this, that is, on the 8th of March 1650, Parliament passed 
 an ordinance for the encouragement of religion and learning 
 in Ireland. By this act, certain lands were devoted to the 
 support of Trinity College and the endowment of its pro- 
 fessors ; for erecting another college in Dublin, and main- 
 taining its teachers ; and for the erection of a free school, as 
 well as the support of the master and scholars. Nor w r as 
 this " the business of an unpursued order," as Owen had 
 deprecated. Parliament immediately appointed four com- 
 missioners to proceed to Ireland ; and also requested Dr 
 Samuel Winter of Queen's College, Cambridge, then at 
 Cottingham, near Hull, to accompany them. Renouncing a 
 living of L.400 per annum, and without stipulating what 
 support he should receive for himself and his family, he 
 consented and went. His appointment was first fixed at 
 only L.100 a-year ; but, being possessed of some property, 
 he resolved to lay himself out for the benefit of Ireland. 
 Being appointed Provost of Trinity College, under his care 
 
106 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 it revived and flourished ; for so zealous was he in pro- 
 moting its interests, that, upon his leaving it before the 
 Restoration, it was indebted to him a considerable sum, 
 which he had disbursed for the public good out of his own 
 property. 
 
 Owen, however, in his discourse before Parliament, had 
 also said, " How is it that Jesus Christ is in Ireland only 
 as a lion staining all his garments with the blood of his 
 enemies, and none to hold him up as a lamb sprinkled with 
 his own blood to his friends ? Is it the sovereignty and in- 
 terest of England that is alone to be there transacted ? For 
 my part, I see no farther into the mystery of these things, 
 but that I could heartily rejoice that, innocent blood being 
 expiated, the Irish might enjoy Ireland so long as the moon 
 endureth, so that Jesus Christ might possess the Irish." 
 Accordingly, four days more had only elapsed, when the 
 Parliament also resolved to send over six of the most emi- 
 nent preachers to Dublin ; but the number who went to 
 Ireland ultimately was far from being confined to six. Be- 
 sides Dr Winter, the city enjoyed the labours of Mr Thomas 
 Patient, Mr John Murcot, Mr Christopher Blackwood, Dr 
 Thomas Harrison, Mr Charnock, Mr Samuel Mather, Mr 
 Edward Veal, Dr Daniel Williams, Mr Nathaniel Mather, 
 and others ; not to mention those ministers who either went 
 at their own charge, or were sent and settled for a season in 
 Waterford and Clonmel, Cork and Kilkenny, Limerick and 
 Galway, Lurgan and Carrickfergus. 
 
 The condition of the Native Irish, for whose sake, chiefly, 
 these names are mentioned, was not overlooked. The com- 
 missioners and Dr Winter having landed in Ireland, within 
 two years we find a valuable Irish catechism, with rules for 
 reading the language, had been printed ; and with regard 
 to an Irish ministry, in the books of the Privy Council Office 
 we find the following extract, dated from Dublin Castle, 
 and subscribed by the four parliamentary commissioners: — 
 " Upon reading the report of Dr Winter, Dr Harrison, Mr 
 Wooten, and Mr Chambers, touching Mr James Carey, 
 and of his fitness and ability es to preach the word, both in 
 English and Irish, and upon consideration had thereof, and 
 of the usefulness of gifts in order to the conversion of the 
 poore ignorant native, it is thought fitt and ordered, that 
 the said Mr Carey doe preach to the Irish at Bride's parish 
 once every Lord's day, and that he doe occasionally repair 
 to Trim and Athye, to preach as aforesaid, and that for his 
 care and paines therein he be allowed the sallary of sixty 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 107 
 
 pounds p. annum, to be paid quarterly, &c. Dated at 
 Dublin Castle the 3d of March 1656. 
 
 " R. P , M. C , R. G , M. T 
 
 This attestation in favour of preaching to the natives in 
 Irish is the more to be regarded, as being an independent 
 testimony, borne by men who were called to visit the coun- 
 try for a season, and impartially to observe and record its 
 necessities ; and there can be no doubt that, had they been 
 permitted to remain in Ireland, the object would not only 
 nave been kept in view, but pursued. Before, however, even 
 another testimony can be found in favour of such a course, 
 most of the existing generation must pass away, just as 
 others had done before it. 
 
 Bedell had now been dead many years, — but the seed 
 sown, though long buried, it appears, could not die. Dr 
 Thomas Price, a native of Wales, educated at Trinity Col- 
 lege, Dublin, and subsequently a senior fellow, had been 
 ordained by Bedell, and afterwards became Archdeacon of 
 Kilmore. Whether, when Bishop of Kildare, from 1660 to 
 1667, he had it in his power to follow out his principles, 
 does not appear ; but having been appointed Archbishop of 
 Cashel, and though, at the period to which I allude, in the 
 seventy-ninth year of his age, we find that he had not even 
 then forgotten the solemn " obtestation" delivered to him in 
 Kilmore so many years before. Price was born in 1599 : 
 it was now 1678, when a copy of the Irish Testament was 
 not to be seen ! but an Irish Prayer-Book and Psalms, in 
 handsome folio, having been discovered by Dr Andrew Sail, 
 and presented to Dr Price, he appointed them to be read in 
 his cathedral. Before this period, however, having been for 
 ten years resident at Cashel, he had paid special attention 
 to the Native Irish, and is said to have " maintained many 
 Irish clergymen to preach to them in their country lan- 
 guage."* Whether these Irish ministers were numerous, 
 as here stated, is, I think, doubtful ; but there can be no 
 question as to Dr Price's zeal on this subject. In the year 
 1676, in addressing the Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieuten- 
 ant, Dr Jones, Bishop of Meath, urging the necessity of 
 attention to the Irish language, then adds, " I cannot but 
 mention and recommend as a precedent to others, the zeal of 
 the present Archbishop of Cashel, who has set himself on 
 
 * Ware's Bishops, Dublin, 1764, p. 487. 
 
108 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 that work industriously, by instructing the Irish in their own 
 language, and hath already gathered the comfortable fruks of 
 his labour, — the number also of such increasing." These 
 measures, it is true, met with no small opposition, while the 
 Archbishop is represented as maintaining an uninterrupted 
 struggle with every one on this subject, and continued a 
 decided advocate for preaching in Irish to the day of his 
 death, in August 1664. at the advanced age of eighty-fire * 
 Dr Sail, just noticed, was the author of the preface pre- 
 fixed to the Irish New Testament ; and so impressed was 
 he, at the same time, with the necessity for an Irish minis- 
 try, that he concluded that preface in the following terms : — 
 " Finally, students in schools and universities, who design 
 to live by the cure of souls in Ireland, shall, upon a serious 
 consideration, find it their precise duty to procure such 
 knowledge in the language of the natives as may enable 
 them to help and instruct the souls committed to their 
 charge, and of which they are to give account to God ; for, 
 notwithstanding all the statutes and endeavours used to 
 bring this whole nation to a knowledge of the English 
 tongue, experience shows it could not be effected ; and it is 
 apparent, that in Ireland there are many parishes, baronies, 
 and whole counties, in which the far greater number of the 
 common people do understand no other language but the 
 Irish ! This being so. how can it l>e presumed of any godly 
 pastor of souls in such places, that he mB not procure the 
 spiritual welfare of those men by the sweat of whose brows 
 he hath his bread, enabling himself to preach, read to, or 
 converse with them in the language they can understand I — 
 that being the way to gain their good -will and thereby to 
 win their souls to God : For very true and experienced is 
 that which Aristotle said. Plurimas amicitias tacitumitas 
 sola dissolrit. — (silence alone dissolves many friendships,) 
 — want of communication breeds want of love and 
 union." 
 
 Dr Jones. Bishop of Meatb, already mentioned, was deeply 
 concerned on the subject of Irish preaching, and it required 
 but little to kindle his zeal. In early life he had been Dean 
 of Kilmore and Ardagh, and affords another proof of the 
 power of Bedell's example. No sooner were inquiries made 
 after Bedell's manuscript of the Old Testament, than the 
 recollections of former days returned upon him. Imme- 
 
 » Boyle's Wcrks, folio, vol. L BMVfc 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 109 
 
 diately he opened a correspondence with the Hon. Robert 
 Boyle, and in his very first letter, dated 4th August 1680, 
 he wrote as follows : — " I have dealt with our present Pro- 
 vost of this College of Dublin (Dr Marsh), that he, accord- 
 ing to what was some time practised by Dr Bedell, his 
 predecessor, would encourage the reading of Irish, — and 
 that Irish prayers, &c, as others, might be publicly used 
 in the College, for thereby fitting our labourers for the har- 
 vest of souls, which may, by God's blessing such endea- 
 vours, be hopefully expected." Nine months after this, on 
 the 3d of May 1681, he writes from Dublin to Mr Boyle, 
 — " I shall shut this up with what I have in my last given 
 you joyfully, and with what is since then, of the progress of 
 Irish preaching in this College-chapel. The first Sunday 
 in each month is designed for that. The first, as you heard, 
 was on Easter-day ; the next, which was that day month, 
 was so enlarged that the whole area of the chapel, with 
 rooms adjoining, above and below, was unusually thronged. 
 Among these were Lord Dillon, and other eminent persons. 
 The Lord Lieutenant intends to afford his presence for far- 
 ther countenance and encouragement." This warm friend, 
 Dr Jones, died on the 5th of January 1682 : but the above, 
 like every other similar attempt, withered and died away 
 under another blight of mistaken political expediency. 
 
 In point of time, the next feeble effort in the way of ad- 
 dressing the natives of Ireland is rendered interesting, from 
 its affording the earliest modern proof with which we are 
 acquainted of the identity of the Gaelic and Irish languages. 
 After the siege of Londonderry, 1688-9, many of the Na- 
 tive Irish having left their habitations in the barony of In- 
 nishowen, Donegal, and gone to the south with the army, 
 several families from the Highlands of Scotland came and 
 settled there. Not understanding English, they petitioned Dr 
 King, Bishop of Deny, for a minister who should be able to 
 preach in their own language. Two ministers were readily 
 granted, one of whom held an Irish living, and the other 
 received a competent allowance from the Bishop. The conse- 
 quence of which was, that not only the Highlanders but the 
 Irish attended, to the number of four and sometimes five 
 hundred, none of whom could understand an English sermon. 
 
 About the same period, many families from the Western 
 Isles landed near Carrickfergus, and settled in the northern 
 parts of the county of Antrim. At first they went to church ; 
 but not understanding what was said, they gave it up, and, 
 had nothing been done, the consequences must have been 
 
 K 
 
110 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 melancholy : but the effects produced in Donegal were so 
 manifest, that certain individuals petitioning the Bishop of 
 Down, a Mr Duncan M'Arthur was sent to them, on whose 
 ministry they attended with great satisfaction. At his 
 death, a Mr Archibald M'Callum succeeded, on whose 
 ministry the Irish as well as the Highlanders attended. 
 He was rendered useful to both parties ; and, for ten or 
 fifteen years, there were, besides Mr M'Callum, three, if not 
 four, preachers of a similar description, each of them having 
 considerable congregations. All such efforts, however, were 
 soon discouraged ! How many Highlanders emigrated I 
 have not been able to ascertain, but their descendants going 
 on to increase, are now mingled with the Native Irish po- 
 pulation ; yet is there, at the present moment, no such per- 
 son as a Gaelic minister in the north of Ireland, although, in 
 a very short period, if not at first, he would be equally intelli- 
 gible even to the Irish as if he had been born in the countiy. 
 Surely every Scots Highlander will not read this in vain. 
 
 In the year 1702, one interesting case occurred of an Irish 
 clergyman being impressed with his obligations to attend to 
 the natives, and communicate with them through the me- 
 dium of their vernacular tongue, — Mr Nicholas Brown, 
 rector of the parishes of Donaghcavey, Dromore, and Ro- 
 sorry, in the counties of Fermanagh and Omagh. Applying 
 himself with industrious zeal to the interests of the natives 
 around him, he became a perfect master of the langtiage. 
 In the first instance, he made it his business to gain the 
 affections of the people by kind and humane treatment, 
 and, observing that they were wonderfully pleased with 
 hearing divine worship in their own tongue, he took every 
 opportunity of thus instructing them, — holding public meet- 
 ings, and visiting them in their cottages. Mr Brown, it 
 will be observed, had three livings, but his preaching in 
 Irish was not confined to one. From 1702 to the end of 
 1705 he laboured in the parish of Rosorry, in which part 
 of the town of Enniskillen is situated. Then, removing to 
 Dromore and Donaghcavey, contiguous livings, in the county 
 of Omagh, he continued the same course with more success, 
 and it was while here employed that a Mr William Grattan, 
 of Enniskillen, visited him on his deathbed. After his 
 decease, an attestation to the value and importance of his 
 exertions was subscribed by the Provost of the town. Mr 
 William Ball, and fifteen burgesses or inhabitants, in which 
 they say, " To tins day (28th January 1712). the memory 
 of Mr Brown is, upon that account, valuable among the na- 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 Ill 
 
 tives of these parts, as in their common discourse we have 
 often heard them declare." 
 
 About the time of his death, but in a part of the country 
 far distant from Mr Brown, another solitary instance occur- 
 red of an Irish clergyman, who engaged strenuously on be- 
 half of the best interests of the natives. The Rev. Walter 
 Atkins, treasurer of the cathedral church of Cloyne, being 
 appointed Vicar of Middleton, half-way between Cork and 
 Youghal, resolved to acquire a competent knowledge of the 
 Irish language. The Earl of Inchiquin having furnished 
 him with an Irish Prayer-Book, which for a number of 
 years he continued to use, the voices of the natives were 
 heard in the Lord's Prayer, and the responses before it ; the 
 attendance was good, and his labours most acceptable. Now 
 here is a parish, in which, at the distance of one hundred 
 and twenty years, "the lower classes commonly speak Irish." 
 This is stated in a statistical account of the parish published 
 in 1819 ; and yet under the head entitled " Suggestions for Im- 
 provement and Means for meliorating the Condition of the 
 People," all that is printed is the single monosyllable — None, 
 
 Besides Mr Brown and Mr Atkins, there were several 
 other ministers who followed their example, and with cor- 
 responding success. Some of their hearers were not merely 
 pleased but much affected when hearing the word of God ; 
 and two men of thirty years of age bought primers, and 
 learned to read, that they might be able for themselves to 
 search the Scriptures. 
 
 In the month of June 1709, we find the Lower House 
 of Convocation resolving, " that some fit persons be pro- 
 vided and encouraged to preach, catechize, and perform di- 
 vine service in the Irish tongue, at such times and pla*ces 
 as the ordinary of each diocese, with the consent of the in- 
 cumbent of the parish where such offices shall be performed, 
 shall direct : That such clergymen of each diocese as are 
 qualified by their skill in the Irish language for this work, and 
 are willing to undertake it, may have the preference, not only 
 in their own parishes, but in any other part of the diocese/' 
 Again, in 1710, as soon as the convocation had assembled, 
 the Lower House again took up the subject, and resolved — 
 " It will be requisite that a competent number of ministers 
 duly qualified to instruct the natives of this kingdom, and 
 perform the offices of religion to them in their own language^ 
 be provided, and encouraged by a suitable maintenance." 
 
 Surely, after so many resolutions, the reader, had he not 
 read the previous pages, would now exclaim, " At last 
 K 2 
 
112 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 some steps are about to be taken ! " But, no ; each of them, 
 and in succession, he is to regard as merely, in Owen's lan- 
 guage, B the business of an unpursued order." The last of 
 them was engrossed in the bill just mentioned ; and the bill 
 being prepared and passed, was sent up to the Lords, but 
 just as it was brought to the door of the House, Parliament 
 had adjourned ! Too late to be passed into a law that ses- 
 sion, the subject was never again retired from that day to 
 this. This said resolution was passed in 1710, one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five years ago.* — three generations have 
 since that time passed away, and the fourth, already far on 
 its way. must soon follow to the grave ! 
 
 While such resolutions were discussing, and passing, and 
 repassing, Primate Marsh, long satisfied as to the necessity 
 for such efforts, united with some of his clergy in a sub- 
 scription for maintaining two ministers or missionaries to 
 preach in Iiish to the natives of Armagh ; and Dr Hickman, 
 Bishop of Derry, with his deny, did the same for that dis- 
 trict of country ; but they both died in the same month of 
 the same year, November 1713 — the latter in London, the 
 former, aged 76. in Dublin ; and with them, and one or two 
 of their contemporaries, seems to have expired all disposition 
 or desire to obey the Saviour's commission in the Irish tongue. 
 
 I do not forget George Berkeley, the Bishop of Cloyne, 
 who, in 173-5. put many important questions to his country- 
 men on both sides of the Channel, in his tract entitled 
 M The Querist." He asks (No. 260) " Whether there be 
 any instance of a people's being converted, in a Christian 
 sense, otherwise than by preaclung to them and instructing 
 them in their own language?" But to this, as well as 
 many other queries, no proper, no practical answer has been 
 given to the present hour. On the contrary, one of his suc- 
 cessors, who. fifty years later, wrote a tract on the state of 
 the Irish church, which reached to the seventh edition, talks 
 in it. wildly, of the Irish language, where it obtains, being an 
 insurmountable obstacle to any intercourse with the people ! 
 
 Here. then, let the reader pause for a few moments, and 
 look back, or Lx>k forward — for here, alas ! the meagre his- 
 tory of preaching the everlasting Gospel to the Native Irish 
 in their vernacular tongue comes to an end, and that through- 
 out the whole course of the eighteenth century ! To thou- 
 sands in Britain this must appear altogether incredible; 
 but of the last century as well as others the retrospect is a 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 113 
 
 peculiarly painful one as it regards the immortal interests of 
 this ancient people. 
 
 I have before me a small tract by the deceased Dr Coke, 
 published in 1801 ; but mine is actually a reprint at Phila- 
 delphia, in America, dated in July of that year, which con- 
 tains the first intimation of any reviving interest on this 
 subject * By this it appears that two or three individuals, 
 for two years, had been engaged in preaching to the people 
 in their own language. And now, at the distance of so 
 many years, after nearly a century of silence, what were the 
 effects ? Just such as might have been expected, and such 
 as had been always fully realized in past generations. The 
 old men and women drew near and heard with deep con- 
 cern, " and when tbey heard them speak in the (Irish) 
 tongue, they kept the more silence." The Irish language 
 seemed to possess a charm in their ears, which even amazed 
 the speaker, and old critics in it, who came to judge, went 
 away, not unfrequently, with the tear in their eye. In 1805, 
 there is said to have been eight individuals so qualified for 
 addressing their countrymen : but at present I am not aware 
 that there are more than a few, and comparatively very few 
 who are thus engaged, — and their efforts all along, though 
 of an essentially important character, have not been station- 
 ary or permanent in any one place. 
 
 Such, then, is the whole of the poor account of what has 
 been already done, and of the manner in which, for ages, the 
 paramount duty of preaching the word of life to the Native 
 Irish has been treated by the nation at large* Sir Henry 
 Sidney, whom this people used to style " the good Lord 
 Deputie," was the first to recommend this, after perambu- 
 lating the whole country, and the reader has seen how 
 warmly he did so. Nearly two hundred and sixty years 
 have passed away, and see how we have trifled with the au- 
 thority of Him who is higher than the kings of the earth ! 
 
 Without any regard to party, or party-names, or a party- 
 purpose, I have gleaned every particle of information which 
 I could find, and I believe there never has been any account 
 so full and circumstantial laid before the public eye before ; 
 
 • As if to provoke the people of this country to jealousy, this reprint was made ac- 
 tually with the view of recommending the subject to the Americans, and securing from 
 them some pecuniary aid. In conclusion, the writer, speaking of an Irish ministry, 
 say*, «« It is my humble judgment, that the whole empire is, in a political view, 
 concerned in its* success; but that which, above all things, should influence us, is 
 the salvation of souls. The Native Irish have passions the most susceptible of im- 
 pression of any people I believe in Europe : if, therefore, their warm affections can be 
 engaged on the side of truth, thev will probably become one of the most religious 
 nations on the globe." 
 
 K 3 
 
114 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 and yet, alas ! this is all that can be collected or said on the 
 subject. When one looks over it, well may he feel astonished 
 and inquire, But is it possible ? is any thing like this the 
 actual condition of Ireland ? It cannot be. — On this side 
 of the British Channel the light of that Sabbath never re- 
 turns, in which the glad news of salvation through a Sa- 
 viour's blood, are not proclaimed, regularly, in four distinct 
 languages. It is not that there are two or three individuals 
 wandering up and down through Wales, the Highlands, 
 and the Isle of Man, preaching to any casual number who 
 may choose to stop and hear. No, there is the Gaelic and 
 the Welsh minister, properly so called. Many imperfections 
 may exist in each of these districts in Britain ; but, on the 
 other hand, in how many pleasing instances there is the mi- 
 nister well qualified, and fixed to his post : He appears at 
 the appointed hour, — the voice of praise and prayer is heard ; 
 and whether it be in English or Gaelic, in Welsh or Manx, 
 the people hear, in their own tongue, the wonderful works 
 and ways of God. On the morning of the returning Sab- 
 bath, many a Welshman, with the book of God in his pos- 
 session, finds his way to the well-known spot, where he 
 has long regularly listened to the man, who, " command- 
 ing away the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in 
 craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully," has re- 
 gularly, as the day returned, " by manifestation of the truth, 
 commended himself to every one's conscience in the sight of 
 God — warning every man, and teaching every man, in all 
 wisdom, that he might present every man perfect in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 And surely, replies, it may be, even my reader, you do 
 not mean to insinuate that such things are not to be found 
 among a similar population in Ireland, and that a popula- 
 tion three times the number of all the Highlanders, and 
 Welsh, and Manxmen in Britain ? No, my reader, I do 
 not mean to insinuate, but to assert it. Instances there are, 
 in various quarters, in which, through the medium of their 
 native language, the poor people are occasionally dissuaded 
 or warned against the practice of vice ; but with regard to 
 the standing ordinance of preaching, the scriptural exposi- 
 tion of God's most holy word, or obsequious conformity to 
 the high commission of our Redeemer, now hanging over us 
 in all its original force and obligation, all this has yet to be 
 k n own and felt among the Native Irish ! 
 
 In reference to the country at large, I know of three or 
 four ministers, stationary, who are able to preach in Irish, 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 
 
 115 
 
 and who, especially of late, have felt the vast importance of 
 the subject.* Recently there may be others, and I hope there 
 are, who are acquiring, if they have not already acquired, the 
 language ; but what are these to the field before us ? Yet, 
 with these exceptions, did I know of any other instances in 
 which the minister comes forward with regularity as the day 
 returns, having for his grand object, in his own pulpit, to 
 preach to his own stated congregation, the everlasting Gos- 
 pel in the Irish language, I should delight to mention 
 them ; but if such exist, I know it not. And as for even 
 the large cities and towns in that fine country — what would 
 be thought if I could say we have no such thing as a Gaelic 
 chapel, where the Gospel is proclaimed, in Glasgow, Inver- 
 ness, or Edinburgh — no such thing as a Welsh chapel, for 
 a similar purpose, in Liverpool, Bristol, or London, and in 
 some of which it may soon become, if it is not already, an 
 imperative duty, to have an Irish one ? But nothing of a 
 similar kind yet exists either in Dublin or Cork, in Lime- 
 rick or Galway, and many other parts, where the call for it is 
 far louder than that which led to the existence of a Welsh 
 or Gaelic ministry in the cities or towns of Britain ! 
 
 In few words, there is at the present moment, not one single 
 building in all Ireland, expressly dedicated to the infinitely - 
 important purpose of proclaiming the message of salvation in 
 the Irish tongue. Here is the fact on which the public eye 
 should rest. More than three millions of intelligent and ac- 
 countable beings, and these our own countrymen, dwelling in 
 a land which for a period extending over twenty generations 
 has been nominally united to our own, have not one single 
 building dedicated to the purpose now mentioned.^ Since we 
 have enjoyed, so richly, the invaluable benefit in our own 
 tongue, and all the while have been enjoying it, more than 
 seven generations of this interesting people have already pass- 
 ed away! And shoidd we reckon from that absurd and most 
 injurious act of Henry VIII. in 1537, the tenth generation 
 is now daily passing away before our eye! 
 
 I very well know it will be said here,—" But the Scrip- 
 tures have been printed in Irish." Yes, in conformity with 
 the manner in which the language has always been read, it 
 is at last restored to its just claims upon us, and the Irish 
 Bible complete, in its own character, has at last left the 
 press ! " And then there are Irish schools/' Yes, by the 
 
 • <« i wish," says one of them, ** there was a professor of Irish appointed in 
 Trinity College—all the ministers of the Gospel should know the Irish language 
 upon Irish ground." 
 
116 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION. 
 
 voluntary bounty and exertions of benevolent individuals, 
 yet far too scantily and too coldly supported, a certain pro- 
 portion of the people have gladly, and with great rapidity, 
 acquired the art of reading their native tongue. But then, 
 above all, says another, there are the Scripture readers ?* 
 Yes, comparatively a few men are thus employed ; but what 
 is all this to the subject before us ! Are all these, united, 
 and though earned to the utmost extent, considered to be a 
 substitute I Do these relieve us from the obligation to obey 
 the express authority of Immanuel ? The simple, or rather 
 the grand question is this, Has He repealed his own com- 
 mission with reference to this people ; or have we found out 
 a way, through books, and education, and reading, though 
 it be His own word, which supersedes the necessity for do- 
 ing simply what has long been done in every other part of 
 our country ; yes, and what must be done in every other 
 nation, if His kingdom is to prosper there ? 
 
 Much have we heard, indeed, in modern times, of the 
 noble invention of printing, and much respecting the power 
 of education ; and I do not imagine that any candid reader 
 who has proceeded thus far, can suppose that the writer 
 is indisposed to give to each its appropriate place. At 
 the same time, he conceives that they may not only be per- 
 verted, but prevented from doing that good which they 
 otherwise might accomplish. For example, if they be per- 
 mitted to occupy that place in our esteem and expectation, 
 which belongs to a divine and sovereign appointment, then 
 may they not only become as chaff when compared to the 
 wheat ; but, awakening the jealousy of Him, who will not 
 give his glory to another, our employment of education 
 only, and with all the energy which the art of printing has 
 given to it, may turn out to be nothing more than giving 
 activity to the powers of the mind, without directing and 
 controlling their movements. Education will humanize and 
 improve, in most instances ; but to save from ultimate de- 
 struction, properly speaking, never was within its province, 
 and never will be. Yet since the time in which many 
 have been roused to see its necessity, there has been a 
 phraseology often used respecting it by no means warrant- 
 able. Education, but above all, Scriptural education, will 
 do much. There will always be an indescribable distance 
 
 * As for Engilih, the proportion of those now learning to read is most cheering. 
 Many- on this side of the water are not aware that, upon an average, the number of 
 such* readers in Ireland is now above England ! When the education of the whole 
 kingdom, therefore, is referred to, this fact should be observed, and the blank as to 
 reading /rwft will then appear in its true character. 
 
HISTORY OF THE PAST. 117 
 
 between a people so favoured and any other left without 
 such means. But if we expect more from it than it has ever 
 produced, and, ahove all, if we apply to it the language fur- 
 nished to us in the Scripture, and which is there exclusively 
 employed with reference to an institution of God's own sove- 
 reign appointment, we may he left to witness the impotence 
 of education instead of its power. Hence we have read of 
 the system of some one of these educational societies being so 
 adapted for the regeneration of Ireland ; and the terms em- 
 ployed in Scripture to the labourers in the vineyard of God, 
 have been unsparingly employed by religious people to the 
 exertions of Schoolmasters, or those who superintend them. 
 This is not merely incorrect, but it is unwise and unwar- 
 rantable. Every one knows, that, in all such cases of 
 agency, every thing depends upon the expectations and in- 
 tentions of the agent ; but the language referred to is teaching 
 us to expect from him, what in a thousand instances the 
 agent neither intends nor expects himself. The School- 
 master may have gone abroad, and, if a man of principle, will 
 do great good ; but to apply to him or his efforts the lan- 
 guage of Sacred Writ, which regards another order of men 
 and another exercise, is calculated to injure the work of his 
 hands, as well as blind our own minds with respect to an- 
 other duty, — a duty which, so far as the Native Irish are con- 
 cerned, is at once not only incumbent, but as yet unfulfilled. 
 
 Unquestionably the privileges of reading the Scriptures, 
 and being taught to read them in our native language, are 
 of inestimable value ; but were they even universally en- 
 joyed, in no single instance could they supersede the neces- 
 sity of hearing the word ; of hearing it explained and ap- 
 plied by a Man who is apt to teach, — by one who himself 
 believes, and therefore speaks. How frequently did the 
 great Founder of our faith himself exclaim — " He that hath 
 ears to hear, let him hear," that is, let him listen ; and now, 
 certainly, if the attention is to be awakened and fixed, if the 
 general truths of revelation are to be applied to the con- 
 sciences of men, or afterwards to the varied experience of the 
 Christian life, the human voice can neither be dispensed 
 with nor superseded. " When any important subject is 
 presented to an audience," says a living writer, " with an 
 ample illustration of its several parts, its practical improve- 
 ment enforced, and its relation to the conscience and the 
 heart insisted upon with seriousness, copiousness, and fer- 
 vour, it is adapted in the nature of things to produce a more 
 deep and lasting impression than can usually be expected 
 
118 
 
 ORAL INSTRUCTION, &c. 
 
 from reading. He who knows how forcible are right words, 
 and how apt man is to be moved by man, has consulted the 
 constitution of our frame, by appointing an order of men, 
 whose office it is to address their fellow-creatures on their 
 eternal concerns. Strong feeling is naturally contagious ; 
 and if, as the wise man observes, ' as iron sharpeneth iron, 
 so doth the countenance of a man his friend,' the combined 
 effects of countenance, gesture, and voice, accompanying a 
 powerful appeal to the understanding and the heart, on sub- 
 jects of everlasting moment, can scarcely fail of being great. 
 But, independently of the natural tendency of the Christian 
 ministry to convert the soul and promote spiritual improve- 
 ment, it derives its peculiar efficacy from its being a Divine 
 appointment. It is not merely a natural, it is also an insti- 
 tuted means of good ; and whatever God appoints by special 
 authority, he graciously engages to bless, provided it be at- 
 tended to with right dispositions, and proceed from right 
 motives." 
 
 Is it possible, then, in the nature of things, that Ireland is 
 doomed to remain longer in this condition \ That the Na- 
 tive Irish in particular are to continue from Sabbath to Sab- 
 bath to spend that day as they have done for ages ? It 
 cannot be. Shall men continue to leave their native shores, 
 and go far hence to the heathen only ? Will the inhabit- 
 ants of Ireland itself, and those of Britain, continue to en- 
 courage and call forth such men for their work, and shall 
 our countrymen and fellow- subjects be forgotten ? Shall we 
 enforce the necessity and importance of acquiring the lan- 
 guages of India, of China, and Japan, in order to reach the 
 heart through the ear ; and shall it seem a hard task to ac- 
 quire the use of a tongue spoken by such a multitude in the 
 immediate vicinity of our own, nay, spoken by our fellow- 
 subjects, intersecting a sister country in almost every direc- 
 tion, and now dwelling to such extent in eveiy city of the 
 empire ? 
 
 " I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all : yet, In the Church, 1 
 had rather speak five words, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten 
 thousand works in an unknown tongue." PAUL. 
 
 " Obtestantes in Domino, et pro obedientia qua Summo Pastori teneris injungentes : 
 ut ejus gregem quem suo sanguine acquisivit, tibi commissum, diligenter pascas, et 
 in fide Catholica instituas, officia divina Lingua a populo intellecta, peragas ; 
 exemplar ante omnia teipsum praebeas fidelibus in bonis operibus, ut erubescant ad- 
 versarii, nihil habentes quod in te reprehendant." BEDELL. 
 
SECTION n 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE, 
 
 With proofs of the extent to which it is at present spoken, or used daily by the Na- 
 tives as the natural vehicle of their thoughts ; and this extent accounted for or 
 explained. 
 
 In Britain it has for ages been a favourite idea with some, 
 that the perfection of territorial unity can only be attained 
 by uniformity of language ; but it is still true, that there is 
 not a kingdom in Europe where only one language is 
 spoken. Even within the narrow limits of Denmark there 
 is German as well as Danish, and in Sweden we find Xorse 
 and Finnish as well as Swedish, while the monarch of the 
 day, like our Norman Conqueror of ancient time, speaks 
 French. In France there are three if not four languages, 
 independently of French proper. In Spain and Prussia 
 there are at least three, perhaps four in each. In Austria 
 five or six, — and the Czar of Russia, whether his kingdom 
 in any sense resembles Nebuchadnezzar's image or not, like 
 him, in addressing his subjects, may truly say, " The King, 
 unto all people, nations and languages" As for the united 
 kingdom of Britain and Ireland, within its own comparative- 
 ly little boundary, from before the days of Caesar until now 
 there has always existed diversity of language. At present 
 there are five colloquial dialects, and in some of the early 
 ages such diversity has existed, owing to the entrance or 
 invasion of other tribes, that the tongue once spoken by 
 different tribes, in different parts of Britain and Ireland, 
 even still engages the research and the discussion of the 
 antiquarian* 
 
 * " The cause of the obscurity into which these populations have sunk," says 
 Monsieur Thierry, " is not that they have been less worthy to find historians than 
 the rest : indeed most of them are remarkable for an originality of character which 
 powerfully distinguishes them from the great nations with which they have been 
 incorporated." But, to use in part the language of the same author, the disposition 
 of historians to go at once from the conquered to the conquerors, — being more willing 
 
120 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 Meanwhile, if the subjects of the British crown at home 
 are ever destined to be in fact ' populns unius labii/ it seems 
 strange that so many political advisers have been so long in 
 perceiving, that the end, if attainable, is certainly never to 
 be reached by a direct attack, but by fetching a compass; 
 not by legislative enactment, but the exercise of humanity. 
 For certainly it is not under the influence of a disposition 
 winch led to our denominating the dialects spoken by 
 the subdued tribes, barbarous, and in France, patois, and 
 then coldly dismissing the subject, that these parts can 
 ever contribute their share to the strength and unity of the 
 empire. Such feelings, it is to be hoped, are now rapidly 
 declining in our own country : many, indeed, as if con- 
 scious of past harshness and injustice, begin to feel a pecu- 
 liar interest in the actual condition of these neglected popu- 
 lations ; and abroad, the same wise and considerate huma- 
 nity is now discoverable. " In place of what we call patois, 
 we find complete and regular languages ; and that which 
 appears to us now but as want of civilization, and a resist- 
 ance to the progress of improvement, assumes, in past ages, 
 the aspect of original manners, and a patriotic attachment 
 to ancient institutions. It were falsifying history, to in- 
 troduce into it a philosophical contempt for every departure 
 from the uniformity of existing civilization, and to consider 
 those nations as alone worthy of honourable mention, to 
 whose names the chance of events has attached, for the pre- 
 sent and for the future, the idea of that civilization/** 
 
 As to the Irish tongue, one of those which, under the in- 
 fluence of something like this ' philosophical contempt,' has 
 been often denominated ' barbarous,' — several remarks with 
 regard to the language itself will be found in the Appendix ; 
 a question which, whatever happen to be the opinion of 
 the reader, has, however, no connexion with the point now 
 before us, or at least no practical bearing upon it. Wish- 
 ing, therefore, to avoid here every thing of a disputable or 
 theoretical nature, we proceed to notice the extent of the 
 Irish language as now spoken. 
 
 to enter the camp of the triumphant than that of the fallen, — or to represent the 
 conquest as completed as soon as the conqueror had proclaimed himself master. — 
 Each of these tendencies has contributed to the mystery and confusion in which the 
 antiquities of Britain have been involved. Hence, to notice only modem times, in 
 scarcely one of the authors who have treated of the history of England, do we find 
 any mention of Saxons after the battle of Hastings, and the coronation of William : 
 and, I may add, hence the terms * English and Irish,' in the Irish history of the 
 twelfth century, (if not the thirteenth), although Ireland, correctly speaking, was 
 then invaded by the Norman-French, and the Anglo-Saxons in their train. 
 
 • Thierry's Norman Conquest, Introduction, p. ii. 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 121 
 
 When contemplating the present condition of Ireland, 
 this is a subject of vital importance, and it is one which 
 should certainly no longer be treated in the manner in 
 which it has been for the last two hundred years, but espe- 
 cially during the eighteenth century. It was during that 
 century that all reasoning upon the subject was condemn- 
 ed, and that every statement of facts was either hushed 
 into silence, or treated with the most perfect indifference. 
 If at any moment the subject chanced to cross the path of 
 any writer, the blindest policy passed for sound wisdom, 
 and the wildest theories as to abolishing the language were 
 vented with perfect confidence of success. 
 
 " I am deceived," said Dean Swift, " if any thing hath 
 more contributed to prevent the Irish from being tamed 
 than this encouragement of their language, which might 
 easily be abolished, and become a dead one in half an age, 
 with little expense and less trouble."* Again he says — 
 " It would be a noble achievement to abolish the Irish lan- 
 guage in the kingdom, so far, at least, as to oblige all the 
 natives to speak only English on every occasion of business, 
 in shops, markets, fairs, and other places of dealing : yet 
 I am wholly deceived if this might not be effectually done 
 in less than half an age, and at a very trifling expense ; for 
 such I look upon a tax to be, of only six thousand pounds 
 a-year, to accomplish so great a work/'t 
 
 Dr Woodward, the Bishop of Cloyne, after having stated 
 that " the difference of language is a very general (and 
 where it obtains an insurmountable) obstacle to any inter- 
 course with the people," adds, very coolly, in a note, — *' £ If 
 it be asked, why the Clergy do not learn the Irish language, 
 I answer, that it should be the object of government rather 
 to take measures to bring it into entire disuse. "J Nay, 
 though it is quite practicable to speak both English and 
 Irish with the utmost propriety, the childish bugbear of an 
 Irish accent was held over the head of any gentleman who 
 should think of acquiring the use of the Irish language. 
 Even in Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont we find the fol- 
 lowing passage : — " I have heard many gentlemen among 
 us talk much of the great convenience to those who live in 
 the country that they should speak Irish. It may possibly 
 be so ; but I think they should be such as never intend to 
 visit England, upon pain of being ridiculous ; for I do not 
 
 * Swift's Works, 4to, vol. viii. p. '263. t Swift's Works, 18mo. vol. xiii. p. 66. 
 
 ± Present State of the Irish Church, seventh edition, London, 1787, p. 43. 
 L 
 
122 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 remember to have heard of any one man that spoke Irish 
 who had not the accent upon his tongue easily discernible 
 to any English ear \* 
 
 To refute such opinions as these is now quite unneces- 
 sary. But the Bishop of Cloyne's method of quieting the 
 consciences of the clergy was certainly very simple. Un- 
 happily it exposed him to the irony of the echo in Erasmus, 
 — Quid est sacerdotium ? — otium !" — and he was asked in 
 return, whether it would not be easier for one man to learn 
 Irish than for a whole parish to learn the English language. 
 As for the scheme of Dean Swift, which was to have finish- 
 ed its course in about fifty years, and banished every Irish 
 word from the land, at the small cost of three hundred 
 thousand pounds, perhaps the secret died with him, for he 
 gives us no particulars : but it is certain, that since his 
 time upwards of two millions sterling have been professedly 
 spent upon gratuitous English education in Ireland, while 
 the number who speak Irish has been going on to increase 
 since the day on which he wrote these sentences. 
 
 Very different indeed have been the sentiments of some 
 other men. We have noticed the exertions of Bedell and 
 Boyle : — " But government," says Reginald Heber, the late 
 Bishop of Calcutta, " which ought to have given the first 
 impulse, was bent on a narrow and illiberal policy of sup- 
 planting the Irish by the English language, to which the 
 present moral and religious instruction of millions was to 
 give way, and which, though it has in part, succeeded, 
 (through circumstances of which the march was altogether 
 independent of the measures taken to forward it), has left a 
 division of the national heart far worse than that of the 
 tongue, and perpetuated prejudices which might, at first, 
 have been easily removed or softened.' 5 * 
 
 The loose and erroneous estimates which were formed for 
 many years respecting the prevalence and extent of the Irish 
 tongue, and which long passed current, must have led many 
 to overlook the subject, or disregard it as of no moment. 
 During a second visit to Ireland, in 1814, I remember it 
 was admitted, that the Irish language was indeed spoken 
 in many parts, but then, it was added, that these were to 
 
 * Life of Jeremy Taylor, p. cxix. — The " moral and religious instruction of mil- 
 lions" having been thus neglected, is unquestionably by far the most painful retro- 
 spection. At the same time it may be observed, that unwise policy, to say the least, 
 is always very expensive. Hence it is, to mention but one proof, that only " seven 
 thousand nine hundred and five children (educated and) apprenticed, have cost just 
 •ne million sterling." See First Report of Parliamentary Commissioners, p. 30. 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 123 
 
 be found almost exclusively in Connaught and Munster, 
 not in the other two provinces. It was publicly asserted, 
 in 1815-16, that the number of persons in Ireland who ab- 
 solutely required the employment of this tongue, in order 
 to their moral and religious improvement, was not above 
 half a million ; a number, by the way, larger than the po- 
 pulation of our Highlands and Islands ; and that all the 
 rest of Ireland might be considered as capable of receiving 
 solid and useful instruction through the medium of Eng- 
 lish. It is not two years since a gentleman from the county 
 of Tyrone affirmed to myself in conversation, that there was 
 little or no Irish in that county. Nay, even as to the whole 
 of these Celtic dialects, it lias been recently asserted and 
 published, that they " are falling away into oblivion, being 
 superseded by the English."* 
 
 Such vague and erroneous assertions as these, however, 
 can no longer be received as evidence, and it is time, what- 
 ever be the remedy, that the eye be opened to the facts of 
 the case as it respects Ireland. In a former publication, the 
 writer had occasion to notice this subject ; but it may be 
 useful to refer to it again in a manner somewhat more dis- 
 tinct, and with more decisive proof, especially because this 
 volume might otherwise be deemed deficient. 
 
 In the year 1806, some pertinent observations were print- 
 ed and circulated in Dublin by the late Dr Whitley Stokes, 
 of Trinity College, on the necessity of publishing the Scrip- 
 tures in the Irish language. In this small tract we find the 
 following passage : — " In order to show the importance of 
 the subject, I shall state such information as I have received 
 of the prevailing language in most counties of Ireland. I 
 acknowledge my information has not been precise, or me- 
 thodically obtained, but I suppose it was fairly given, and 
 is sufficiently accurate for my present purpose." That the 
 reader may be the better able to compare the opinions here 
 given with the following pages, I shall throw the whole into 
 a tabular form, and insert also the population of each county, 
 according to the last parliamentary census. 
 
 * Foreign Quarterly Review, No. ii. p. 395. 
 
124 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 LEINSTER. 
 
 County. Population. Irish Language. 
 
 Louth, 141,011 .... mostly spoken. 
 
 Meath, 159,183 .... mostly spoken. 
 
 Dublin, 150,011 .... scarcely any. 
 
 Wicklow, .... 110,767 .... scarcely any. 
 
 Wexford, .... 170,806 .... N.W. pretty general. 
 
 Kilkenny, .... 158,716 .... prevails greatly. 
 
 Carlow, 78,952 .... S.W. considerable. 
 
 Kildare, .... 99,065 .... scarcely any. 
 
 Queen's, .... 134,275 .... spoken by very few. 
 
 King's, 131,088 .... spoken by very few. 
 
 Westmeath, . . . 128,819 . . . . mostly spoken. 
 
 Longford, .... 107,570 .... no return. 
 
 ULSTER. 
 
 Antrim, .... 262,860 .... spoken by a few. 
 
 Down, 325,410 .... ditto. 
 
 Armagh, .... 197,427 .... ditto. 
 
 Tyrone, . . . .261,865 . . . . half and half. 
 
 Derry, 193,869 .... no return. 
 
 Donegal, .... 248,270 .... more than half. 
 
 Fermanagh, ... 1 30,997 .... scarce any. 
 
 Cavan, 195,076 .... spoken by many. 
 
 Monaghan, . . . 174,697 .... spoken by many. 
 
 Such were the opinions received by Dr Stokes, and it 
 should be observed, that the population of these two pro- 
 vinces amounted by the last census to 3,755,986 ; by the 
 official corrected return since to 3,787,668 ; or, at the pre- 
 sent moment, to above four millions. As for the affirma- 
 tions respecting the Irish tongue, the reader may observe 
 them, and then suspend his judgment till he has finished 
 this statement. With regard to the province of Munster, 
 containing 1,935,612 in the year 1821, and by the corrected 
 return 2,005,363, in the tract referred to, it is said, that 
 " Irish prevails in all the counties ;" and of Connaught, 
 containing at that period 1,110,229, or by the corrected re- 
 turn 1,053,918, that " Irish is more prevalent than in the 
 rest of Ireland." To say nothing more therefore at present 
 of Leinster or Ulster, — with regard to the two last provinces, 
 the Doctor adds, " In all the counties of the province of 
 Munster the Irish language prevails beyond comparison, 
 if we except the large towns, their immediate neighbour- 
 hood, and some of the country along the coast. The native 
 language is more prevalent in Connaught than in the rest 
 of Ireland. In this province the gentlemen often find it 
 convenient to acquire the language, in order to deal with the 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 125 
 
 peasantry without an interpreter. ? Now these two pro- 
 vinces alone, where Irish is so remarkably prevalent, in- 
 clude, at the present moment, a population of about three 
 millions three hundred thousand souls, or one million more 
 than the whole of Scotland ! 
 
 In a statistical account of Ireland, published in 1812, the 
 author of which had travelled for two years through by far 
 the greater part of Ireland, the subject of the Irish language 
 frequently occurs. It may be previously remarked, that 
 this gentleman evidently appears to have had no predilec- 
 tion for the Irish tongue, nor any idea of the necessity for 
 its being employed as a medium for education. On this 
 account some may be more disposed to listen to his testi- 
 mony. 
 
 Leinster. — In Louth and Meath, " the language univer- 
 sally spoken is Irish/' In Queen's county " the Irish lan- 
 guage is very common." 
 
 Ulster. — " The people who reside in the mountainous 
 districts" of Antrim, Down, Armagh, and Londonderry, 
 " retain the ancient Irish language, and to them it is chiefly 
 confined." " Those who wish to become acquainted with 
 the real state of the country must extend their journey to 
 the mountains, where they will meet with a language intel- 
 ligible only to those by whom it is spoken." " The moun- 
 taineers in Donegal speak the Irish language," and, in 
 general, " never emigrate from the country." " On the 
 coast of Donegal I met with a peasantry who appeared to 
 be Native Irish, and who were very different from the people 
 in the inland parts of Ireland." " Most of them speak the 
 original language ; many do not know a word of English, 
 which they called Scotch." 
 
 Connaught. — " On the Leitrim mountains, which I 
 crossed in the month of August, 1809, the Irish is the com- 
 mon language." Again, " the mountainous districts of 
 Leitrim, stretching across Sligo into Mayo, are fully peopled, 
 — the poor all speak Irish." " In the province of Con- 
 naught, the gentry understand Irish, which facilitates their 
 intercourse with the peasantry ; they are consequently 
 enabled to become acquainted with their wants, to assist 
 them with advice, and restrain them by admonition." 
 
 Mumster. — " In the southern part of Ireland, the (Irish) 
 language is everywhere nearly the same ; even in the city 
 of Cork, and in Youghall, the common people speak Irish.*'* 
 
 * Wakefield's Statistical Account of Ireland, passim. 
 L 3 
 
12G 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 Having quoted the testimony of an Irish and an English 
 gentleman, it may be proper to adduce one from Scotland. 
 The Rev. Dr Dewar, who, from his knowledge of Gaelic, 
 was able to converse familiarly with the Native Irish, pub- 
 lished the result of his observations in 1812. " The number 
 of people/' says he, " who speak this language, is much 
 greater than is generally supposed. It is spoken through- 
 out the province of Connaught by all the lower orders, a 
 great part of whom scarcely understand any English ; and 
 some of those who do, understand it only so as to conduct 
 business ; they are incapable of receiving moral or reli- 
 gious instruction through its medium. The Irish is spoken 
 very generally throughout the other three provinces, except 
 among the descendants of the Scotch in the north. It can- 
 not be supposed that calculations on this subject should be 
 perfectly accurate, but it has been calculated on good 
 grounds, that there are about two millions of people in Ire- 
 land who are incapable of understanding a continued dis- 
 course in English." " But, supposing this calculation to 
 be overrated by half a million, there remain a million and 
 a half, a number that is live times greater than all the in- 
 habitants of the Highlands." Dr Dewar then enforces the 
 absolute necessity of educating the Native Irish through the 
 medium of their own tongue, and quotes, for illustration, 
 part of a letter from the late Mr Charles of Bala to the pre- 
 sent writer, in consequence of his having addressed him on 
 the subject. The fact is, that during the winter of 1810, in 
 the prospect of the formation of " The Society for the Sup- 
 port of Gaelic Schools," which took place in 1811, his at- 
 tention was directed to the consideration of all these Celtic 
 dialects, simply with the view of ascertaining what was the 
 proper course to pursue ; and the Highlands and Islands 
 having been taken up by the public, it was impossible to 
 overlook the still more claimant condition of the sister 
 kingdom. 
 
 In the summer of 1814, the writer visited Ireland, with a 
 view to ascertain the extent to which the Irish language was 
 in use, and the condition of the people with regard to edu- 
 cation through that medium ; his previous connexion with 
 the Highlands having created in his mind a strong desire 
 to befriend, if it were possible, this interesting but long- 
 neglected race. For to whatever extent the language was 
 daily spoken, from his previous intercourse with High- 
 landersj and acquaintance with the state of Wales, he felt 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 127 
 
 assured that to that extent it must be employed for the 
 moral and religious improvement of the Native Irish. 
 About five years before, he had travelled through Meath, 
 Monaghan, Tyrone, Derry, Armagh, Antrim, and Down, 
 and yet during that journey, paying no attention to the 
 subject, the necessity for education, through the medium of 
 Irish, had not once occurred to him ; and so it had hap- 
 pened in a previous journey through the Highlands of Scot- 
 land, when the real state of things was not made an object 
 of investigation and inquiry. He mentions this merely to 
 account for the vague and contradictory reports of travellers, 
 unless they have taken up the subject with candour, and 
 then pursued the inquiry. In 1814, however, he laid aside 
 every other consideration except this one point. Leaving 
 Dublin, he went into each of the four provinces, and the 
 result at that time was an assurance that there could not 
 be less than two millions to whom the Irish was vernacular, 
 and in constant use. The amount of his inquiries was then 
 published in a u Memorial on Behalf of the Native Irish, 
 with a View to their Moral and Religious Improvement 
 through the Medium of their own Language" The objects 
 there recommended are now nc theory. They have been 
 reduced to practice, and are heartily approved by many 
 individuals, though to the present hour the magnitude and 
 urgency of the case are by no means understood. 
 
 More recently this important subject has attracted the 
 attention of the Commissioners of Education in Ireland ; 
 and in their first report laid before Parliament, dated the 
 30th of May, 1825, there is the following passage : — " It 
 has been estimated that the number of Irish who employ 
 the ancient language of the country exclusively is not less 
 than 500,000 ; and that at least a million more, although 
 they have some understanding of English, and can employ 
 it for the ordinary purposes of traffic, make use of their 
 tongue on all other occasions, as the natural vehicle of their 
 thoughts. This estimate agrees with the opinions of Dr 
 Stokes, who published the results of his inquiry in 1806, of 
 Dr D. Devvar in his observations on Ireland in 1812, and of 
 Mr C. Anderson in 1814 ; it has been adopted also on the 
 more recent investigations made by committees of the British 
 and Foreign Bible Society and the Hibernian Bible Society, 
 previous to the resolution which they successively took of 
 reprinting the Scriptures in the Irish language, according 
 to the translation of Archbishop Daniel and Bishop Bedell. 
 A similar inquiry was made, and the same conclusion drawn 
 
128 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 from it, by a sub-committee of the Society for promoting 
 the Education of the Poor of Ireland, in the year 1810 or 
 thereabouts."* 
 
 When the Memorial referred to in this extract was pub- 
 lished in 1815, my impression was, that there could not be 
 less than two millions who were incapable of following an 
 English conversation or continued discourse upon any one 
 moral or religious subject whatever, and with whom there- 
 fore we were under the absolute necessity of employing 
 their own language as the natural and only effectual means 
 of education. I added indeed, " say one million and a half" 
 — chiefly with the view of abridging discussion on a point 
 comparatively unimportant, and in order to secure an active 
 and immediate co-operation in educating the long-neglected 
 aborigines, whatever their number should prove to be even- 
 tually. From that time to the present, however, this subject 
 among others has not failed to engage attention and inquiry, 
 and, but for many hinderances, had been publicly noticed 
 long since. It will be obvious that the number just speci- 
 fied was fixed upon at the commencement of such investi- 
 gations, but I feel no hesitation in now affirming that it has 
 been greatly underrated. The estimate then made was such 
 as it was felt could not be controverted ; but the proportion 
 of two millions was much below what had been asserted 
 even then. " We have descriptions,'* said one author, " and 
 histories of the most distant parts of the globe ; our travel- 
 lers favour us with the account of the habits, manners, and 
 political institutions of nearly all the nations that have been 
 called into being ; but of Ireland, a count ry under our own 
 government, we have little that is authentic. We know 
 that it is now a part of the British empire, — we are igno- 
 rant, however, that only a minority of the people speak our 
 language, although the country is almost within the range 
 of our own vision. Of the reasons for this Ave are unac- 
 quainted, and seem careless of being informed on the sub- 
 ject." Such was the language used in 1812, when the whole 
 population was estimated at five millions and a quarter, by 
 one who was in no degree an enthusiast in regard to the 
 Irish tongue, to whom the necessity for its being employed 
 in the business of education had not occurred, and who 
 therefore did not suggest the necessity for the people being 
 taught to read it. Again, in 1818, when the aggregate was 
 known and admitted to be six millions, it was asserted, by 
 
 * First report of the Parliamentary Commissioners, p. 82. 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 129 
 
 a resident in the country itself, that the Irish language, 
 " after an active proscription of many centuries, is still the 
 vernacular language of three millions of people in Ireland/'* 
 Similar opinions from other quarters might be adduced, but 
 I forbear. 
 
 Now although, in the present case, the truth may be 
 painful as well as perplexing to some most benevolent 
 minds, and the reluctance to admit farther investigation 
 may be strong ; still, could these general assertions be sub- 
 stantiated, the fact is most important, more especially since 
 the eye can no longer, with safety, remain shut as to any 
 fact affecting the great question, not of nominal and unpro- 
 ductive, but of the effectual instruction of such a large pro- 
 portion of British subjects. Let us therefore be willing to 
 descend to particulars, and mark the result. We shall first 
 notice a number of individual parishes, and then each of the 
 counties in regular succession. 
 
 With regard to Connaught, I may previously remark, it 
 is not disputed that Irish is prevalent throughout the whole 
 province. Take the following as a specimen of the state of 
 some of the Munster parishes, to which we shall affix the po- 
 pulation of each, according to the last parliamentary returns. 
 
 MUNSTER. 
 
 Inhabs. 
 
 English Language. 
 
 Irish Language. 
 
 Ardagh 
 
 Ballyvoorney 
 
 Carrigaline 
 
 Kilcorney 
 
 Kilgerrif 
 
 Macromp 
 
 Marmullane 
 
 Middleton 
 
 St Mary's Shandon 
 
 Tracton Abbey - 
 
 Strad bally 
 
 Drumcannon 
 
 Lismore 
 
 Noughavel 
 
 Kilmanaheen 
 
 Kilrush 
 
 Cahircorney 
 
 Kilfergus 
 
 Carrick 
 
 2344 
 33H 
 5267 
 5002 
 
 10,954 
 539 
 1169 
 8140 
 
 12.322 
 7955 
 6646 
 6572 
 7398 
 1119 
 
 10,122 
 
 22,209 
 1490 
 4103 
 
 10.724 
 
 Tolerable English, but 
 Spoken generally 
 English spoken, but 
 Understood, but 
 Spoken and taught 
 Spoken generally 
 Better sort speak 
 Spoken and taught 
 English general, but 
 Spoken and taught 
 Many speak it 
 Partly understood 
 Many speak, but 
 English spoken, but 
 Spoken and taught 
 Gaining ground, but 
 Some English 
 General 
 
 Understood, Lowlands 
 
 Irish generally used. 
 Very few speak. 
 Irish most frequently. 
 Speak Irish invariably. 
 General, and daily used. 
 But Irish also. 
 Irish universal. 
 Lower class all speak. 
 To each other generally. 
 Irish generally. 
 Irish mostly. 
 
 Constantly and generally. 
 General and daily. 
 Irish universally. 
 In general use. 
 General, and daily used. 
 Lower class speak Irish. 
 A few speak Irish. 
 Universal, and daily used. 
 
 While the Irish tongue reigns to such an extent in these 
 two provinces, many have imagined, if not asserted, that 
 most of Ulster and Leinster were almost to be exempted 
 from its prevalence. Let the condition of the following 
 parishes, therefore, be observed : — 
 
 1 History of Dublin, 4to, Lond. 1818, vol. ii. p. 920. 
 
130 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 ULSTER. 
 
 English Language. 
 
 Irinh Language. 
 
 Dunaghy 
 
 Ballintoy 
 
 Finvoy 
 
 Aghalee 
 
 Glenavy 
 
 Ramoan 
 
 Ardclinis and Laid 
 
 Templecarne 
 
 Clonmany 
 
 Kilbarron 
 
 Culdaff 
 
 Cloncha 
 
 Inver 
 
 Dungiven 
 
 Maghera 
 
 Killelagh 
 
 Ballymoyer 
 
 Seagoe 
 
 Tamlacht 
 
 A rd straw 
 
 Erigal-Keroge 
 
 Annahilt 
 
 Holywood 
 
 Devnish 
 
 Baillieborough 
 
 2969 
 3954 
 009!) I 
 5815! 
 6491 
 3976 
 5014 
 8880 : 
 55-29 
 9073 
 5530 
 6110 
 
 10,235 
 5184 1 
 
 11,890 
 
 mt 
 
 1165 
 
 8502 
 2743 
 16.55S 
 7923 
 3596 
 4035 
 6890 
 7087 
 
 English general, but 
 Universally used. 
 English spoken, but 
 Usually spoken. 
 Exclusively. 
 English common, but 
 Many English, but 
 English general, but 
 Tolerable knowledge of 
 Generally 
 
 Spoken and taught, but 
 Spoken and taught, but 
 English common, but 
 Spoken and taught, but 
 Spoken and taught 
 English general, but 
 General 
 
 Universally used. 
 English generally spoken 
 Exclusively. 
 English spoken, but 
 Exclusively. 
 English general 
 General, but 
 General. 
 
 Irish in the upper parts. 
 Irish by the natives. 
 
 Irish very much used. 
 General, and to each other. 
 Many Irish speakers. 
 Generally used. 
 Irish frequent. 
 Irish general. 
 Irish general. 
 Irish as much so. 
 Much pure Irish. 
 Many Irish. 
 Irish also general. 
 A few Irish, 
 
 Irish by the lower class. 
 
 .Much Irish. 
 
 A few Irish. 
 Irish in the hills. 
 
 LEINSTER. 
 
 Engluh Language. 
 
 Irish Language. 
 
 Adamstown 
 
 2000 
 
 Carne 
 
 665 
 
 Enniscorthy 
 
 10,268 
 
 Killegny 
 
 1531 
 
 Killesk 
 
 5315 
 
 Tacumshane 
 
 3844 
 
 Tin tern 
 
 5575 
 
 Whitechurch 
 
 I59f> 
 
 Ark low 
 
 9163 
 
 Ballymascanlon - 
 
 6235 
 
 C Ion more 
 
 740 
 
 Creggan 
 
 12,192 
 
 Faugh art 
 
 1694 
 
 Rathdrummin - 
 
 1700 
 
 Fiddown 
 
 5000 
 
 Grange Silvae 
 
 2093 
 
 Kilmacahill 
 
 1328 
 
 Listerling 
 
 676 
 
 Tullaroan 
 
 3894 
 
 Aghaboe 
 
 5253 
 
 Lea or Leach 
 
 7580 
 
 Rosenalis 
 
 U,520 
 
 Ardbracan 
 
 3043 
 
 Syddan 
 
 4636 
 
 Rathcline 
 
 3050 
 
 Shruel 
 
 4846 
 
 Rathconrath 
 
 3012 
 
 Kil berry 
 
 1511 
 
 Clonmacnois 
 
 3579 
 
 Generally understood, but 
 Generally understood. 
 General. 
 
 Spoken by minority 
 English general, but 
 General. 
 
 Universally spoken. 
 English general, but 
 Exclusively spoken. 
 Gaining ground 
 English spoken, but 
 English gaining, but 
 Most speak tolerable 
 English understood, but 
 English spoken 
 Can speak it, but 
 Spoken, but 
 Spoken, but 
 Spoken 
 
 English universal, but 
 Universal. 
 English used, but 
 Spoken and taught, but 
 English spoken, but 
 Spoken by minority 
 English spoken, but 
 
 Spoken generally, but 
 General 
 
 General , but 
 
 Irish spoken by many. 
 
 Generally converse in, 
 Irish spoken by some. 
 
 Converse in Irish, 
 
 Irish generally spoken. 
 Prefer among themselves. 
 All speak Irish. 
 The common language. 
 Irish generally used. 
 Gen. in the mountains. 
 Most converse in. 
 Understood generally. 
 Many only understand. 
 Spoken. 
 
 A few use Irish, 
 
 Not so much as Irish. 
 Generally speak Irish, 
 Irish to each other. 
 Spoken generally. 
 All understand, and many 
 
 prefer L'ish. 
 Irish to each other. 
 A few speak Irish, 
 Irish to each other. 
 
 * See note as to this parish, p. 17 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 131 
 
 These nineteen parishes in Munster include above 130,000 
 souls, and the fifty-four in Leinster and Ulster not far from 
 280,000, or above 400,000 in all. In these instances we see 
 to what extent the language at present prevails. But of 
 these notices respecting the Irish tongue, carefully gleaned 
 from the pages of the Statistical Account of Ireland now 
 publishing by Mr Shaw Mason, it requires also to be observ- 
 ed, that the writers, in almost every instance, delivered their 
 opinions under impressions by no means in favour of a large 
 Irish aggregate. I can only here assure the reader, that 
 there are hundreds of parishes in Ireland which afford still 
 more striking proof of the prevalence and uninterrupted use 
 of this language, as the natural vehicle of their thoughts, 
 sentiments, and feelings. 
 
 Suppose that we should now proceed to a different, and 
 more enlarged view of the subject ; and, taking a survey of 
 the whole population of the country, let us observe what 
 has been more recently said as to the relative proportion of 
 those who daily speak Irish. Every such statement re- 
 mains open for correction of course, and invites inquiry ; 
 but a return having been made to the late Rev. Dr Graves, 
 (Professor of Oratory in Trinity College, and Dean of Kil- 
 more and Ardagh,) as secretary of one of the Dublin insti- 
 tutions, I shall here insert it. 
 
 LEINSTER. Irish. Eng. ULSTER. Irish. Eng. 
 
 South Meath and Westmeath, 5 to 2 Tyrone, 3| to 3 
 
 Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow, . 1 to 6 Donegal, 4 to 3 
 
 King's and Queen's Counties, 2 to 5 Armagh and Down, .... 2 to 5 
 
 Carlo w, south-west, .... 4 to 3 Antrim, east coast, .... 3 to 4 
 
 Kilkenny, 5 to 2 Derry Mountains, .... 2 to 5 
 
 Wexford, south-east, ... 2 to 5 Fermanagh, 1 to 6 
 
 Ditto, north-west, .... 5 to 2 Cavan and Monaghan, ... 4 to 3 
 
 MUNSTER Province, . . 51 to 1$ CONNAUGHT Province, . 6h to h 
 
 The prevalence of Irish in several counties is local ; but 
 the proportion stated has been restricted to these parts. 
 Louth and Longford, the only counties not mentioned, we 
 shall consider as about equally divided, and, in the calcula- 
 tion about to be made, all the cities are left untouched, and 
 considered as wholly English.* Yet, excepting them en- 
 tirely, if we apply the proportions here stated to the several 
 counties, taking the population at only 6,801,827 — the last 
 
 * At the same time this is not to be considered as abating, in any degree, from 
 the language already employed as to any one of them, Dublin included. See, for 
 example, pages 91 and 115. 
 
132 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 census laid before Parliament, the following will be the 
 result : — 
 
 County. English Language. Irish Language. Total. 
 
 Louth, - - 50,506 .... 50,505 101,011 
 
 Meath, - - 45,481 .... 113,702 159,183 
 
 Dublin, - - 314,462 .... 21,430 335,892 
 
 Wicklovv, - 94,944 .... 15,823 110,767 
 
 Wexford, - 128,104 ... 42,702 170,806 
 
 Kilkenny, - 68,576. . . .113,370 181,946 
 
 Carlow, - - 74,511 .... 22,559 97,070 
 
 Kildare, - 84,913 .... 14,152 99 9 065 
 
 Queen's, - 95,911 .... 38,364 134,275 
 
 King's, - - 93,536 .... 37,552 131,088 
 
 Westmeath, - 36,805 .... 92,014 128,819 
 
 Longford, - 53,785 .... 53,785 107,570 
 
 Antrim, - 206,533 .... 56,327 262,860 
 
 Down, - - 232,436 .... 92,974 325,410 
 
 Armagh, - 149,044 .... 56,406 205,450 
 
 Tyrone, - 120,861. . . .141,004 261,865 
 
 Derry, - - 166,173 .... 27,696 193,869 
 
 Donegal, - 106,401 .... 141,869 248,270 
 
 Fermanagh, - 112,283 .... 18,714 130,997 
 
 Cavan, - - 83,604 . . . .111,472 195,076 
 
 Monaghan, - 74,870 .... 99,827 174,697 
 
 Leitrim, - 8,9J3 . . . . 115,872 124,785 
 
 Sligo, - - 10,444 .... 135,785 146,229 
 
 Roscommon,- 14,909. . . .193,820 208,729 
 
 Mayo, - - 20,936. . . .272,176 293,112 
 
 Gal way, - 49,889 . . . .287,485 337,374 
 
 Clare, - - 44,589 .... 163,500 208,089 
 
 Limerick, - 105,851 . . . . 171,626 277.477 
 
 Kerry, - - 46,323 .... 169,862 216,185 
 
 Cork, - - 235,610 .... 494,834 730,444 
 
 Waterford, - 56,072 .... 100,449 156,521 
 
 Tipperary, - 74,334 .... 272,572 346,896 
 
 Such were said to be the proportions of those who daily 
 spoke Irish ten years ago ; and if even tolerably correct, 
 they certainly, in their result, verify what has been already 
 quoted as the language of one author in 1812, — " But we 
 are ignorant that only a minority of the people speak our 
 language."* 
 
 * The English column amounts to 3,061,610,— the Irish to 3,740,217,— or together, 
 6,801,827 ; but by an official corrected return, of a later date, the total is stated to be 
 6,846,919, and at the end are the following words: — " When the deficiencies in this 
 table shall have been supplied by the final returns of the enumerators, as certified by 
 the magistrates, the total number of the inhabitants (in Ireland) will, it is thought, 
 amount to upwards of seven millions ;" — that is, in 1821. The population at the 
 present moment is known and understood to be seven millions and a half in round 
 numbers. 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 133 
 
 *l T jp erfe , ctl y aware that, immediately on running down 
 this Irish column it will be said,- Yes? but how many in 
 this column can also speak English ?-nay, hoi Z^fe re 
 under the necessity now of even speaking i da ly™ True 
 but as for the English which they do speak look asain at' 
 this -hear it What is it in thousanS^ fi^- 
 Such as an Englishman himself can scarce y unSnl 
 And then as to its e^nt,-here is the question At best 
 Sfl S ge ° f baVt f r ' ° r ? ere business > may refer to the 
 le ifrelr to?r ent ' °7 f & ^--yes/literally a day; for 
 or a vtr »nH t r'° Spe ? 1Ve arran gements of only a month 
 01 a year and the parties are again in perplexity Rut 
 
 SyleS Tflft * — ~ afK 
 merely seculai— is th s English expressive of the thoughts 
 the opinions, the feelings of the man ? Not at all h! C 
 another medium to which he instantly flies and when his 
 sentiments and feelings are to be heard, they may sound 
 like a jargon in the ear of an Englishman, 7 p Sv as 
 English sounds in his ear when so employed These two 
 men may plough the same field, or drive PEtme SiS 
 they are brought into contact ; but as for interchange of 
 sentiment and feeling, it is denied them. Here then Tthe 
 
 EftT COm P ulsion ends - Independently of all bene! 
 volent feeling, common sense, and even one's own interest 
 now enforce accommodation. I wish to get at the inind - 
 
 moTbeVnr th!n' t0 animate ' and the 
 
 modation f nd i I t' ?S pa I ' the ?' e must be an accom- 
 
 CS££S 1 b6COme aS ° Qe0f themsel^I'/gain 
 Many, l am also aware, may startle at the proportions 
 nr ent T ed ', when see them once apphed to X 
 Sked ol eaCh C ° Unty; *°* kt them not, therefore, be 
 despised. Others may question the proportion in certain 
 
 he bS "butfbeV^ ^ C -™ Ml P reduced ^mS 
 tne oettei but the English insisted on must be something 
 more than the language of mere secular business Di 1 thf 
 
 S ?favo P u°r PU as a h ITt^ '* would be much in 
 
 'i, ♦ it regards the purpose and desire of an Eng- 
 lishman ; but, since it is not so, there is no occasion for tb P 
 subject being treated with war'mth or temper? it certainty 
 
 * Sec aho the »„ Ber „ liK . secmd ohjectjQ „ .„ ^ ^ ^ 
 
134 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 can no longer be safely treated with indifference. The 
 aggregate population of Ireland is now ascertained to be 
 seven millions and a half, and an impartial survey of its 
 several counties would soon prove that, in regard to this 
 subject, many have been greatly mistaken, — others entirely 
 misled. But is it strange that in Ireland much misappre- 
 hension should have existed ? The language itself was 
 proscribed, while assertions regarding it came from many 
 who were not then aware of its necessity as an engine of 
 improvement, and from others, who, it may be, were some- 
 how interested in saying that it was fast passing into ob- 
 livion, or many wished this, and therefore believed it. 
 Indeed, after the language of Dean Swift, and many others, 
 one need not wonder at any assertion, however erroneous, 
 or far below the truth. 
 
 That something approaching to the above may be the 
 result as to the Irish language is not unaccountable. During 
 the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, or rather, 
 I may say, from the thirteenth to the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, there can be no question that this language 
 increased with every accession to the inhabitants from with- 
 out. It is a well-known fact, that the children of those 
 English who went into Ireland in the early ages, and settled 
 there, not only abandoned the English tongue, but forgot 
 it, and hence those " degenerate men of English name/' as 
 they were styled even in acts of Parliament ; nay, even in 
 the middle of the seventeenth century, in the year 1641, 
 " the old English, for the most part, spake the Irish lan- 
 guage ; they had all, in some degree, adopted Irish manners, 
 and both races were intermixed by marriage/'* In our own 
 day, I have myself seen and heard the parties, whose imme- 
 diate parents, if not themselves, had removed from the east 
 to the west coast, conversing together in the Irish tongue. 
 
 In attempting to arrive at some conclusion on this sub- 
 ject, it seems to have been forgotten, or not known, that, 
 in 1672, thirty years later than the period just referred to 
 by Leland, the number of inhabitants in Ireland was esti- 
 mated by Sir William Petty to be only 1,320,000 ; or that, 
 in the year 1712, the aggregate was considered to be just 
 2,099,0*94. t Now, had the Irish people then been taught to 
 read their vernacular tongue, and the practice continued, 
 since there were so few Irish books in existence, it is pos- 
 
 * Leland's History, vol. ii. p. 87. 
 
 f Last Parliamentary Census, preliminary observations, p. vii. 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 135 
 
 sible, that, in many instances, the language might have 
 flitted away, like the mist from the mountains, before the 
 light of a tongue in its immediate neighbourhood, so rich 
 in literature and books. But, as education, even in English, 
 was neglected, and in Irish entirely denied, what has been 
 the consequence ? — Why, that the colloquial dialect, of 
 course, has maintained its ascendency. 
 
 When the moral or religious necessities of some particular 
 districts in this kingdom become the subject of considera- 
 tion, — if the inquirer forgets, or has not observed, the rapid 
 increase of the population, he must feel as if just awaked 
 from a dream. In our Highlands and Hebrides, there are 
 double the number of Highlanders now speaking Gaelic, to 
 what there were when English schools were first instituted, 
 with the vain hope of thus diminishing the speakers of that 
 language ; and this independently of those who are now 
 mingled with the Native Irish, and the numbers who have 
 gone to America. Many persons are not aware that, only 
 sixty years ago, there were not so many inhabitants in the 
 whole of England and Wales as there are at this moment 
 in Ireland.* Or, to notice Ireland more directly, and with 
 reference to the aborigines, the reader may perhaps recollect 
 of a bill for their express benefit having passed the Irish 
 House of Commons, and being sent to the door of the Upper 
 House, — that the subject there rested, — and that after the 
 exertions of Mr Richardson, and the last efforts of Marsh, 
 Wettenhall, and others, all parties chose to dismiss the sub- 
 ject for a hundred years .f Farther back than this we have 
 no occasion to go. In the year 1712, just two years after 
 the period when the subject of Irish instruction, or at least 
 the printing of the Irish Scriptures, was discussed in Par- 
 liament for the last time, and the subject was engrossing 
 the anxiety of a few benevolent minds, there were some- 
 what more than two millions of souls in Ireland, as already 
 stated, — but now, after more than a whole century of sad 
 neglect, there are seven millions and a half ! It is therefore 
 to the natural increase of the people themselves that we 
 must look for the great cause of the present number who 
 speak, and who will speak Irish. This is their mother- 
 tongue. Much has been said, if not written, on the in- 
 fluence of the female character ; and here it must be owned, 
 
 t See the Estimate of England and Wales for the year 1770,— it was 7,428,000, a 
 iroof, by the way, that the rapid growth of population has not been peculiar to 
 Ireland. 
 
 t See pages 61—63, and 112. 
 
 M 2 
 
136 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE 
 
 the influence is somewhat like, or rather somewhat more 
 than, imperial authority. I need not here ask if any effort 
 has ever been made, commensurate with the necessities and 
 number of the people, to instruct them in the art of reading 
 through this medium ; which, however strange it may still 
 sound, is the only measure which could have effectually 
 reduced the proportion of Irish speakers. The language, 
 therefore, of course has gone on to increase with the natural 
 increase of the population. 
 
 I am quite aware of its being almost everywhere replied 
 in answer to all this, — " But the English language is in- 
 creasing, and in many districts." I know it is so, and that 
 it cannot be otherwise, — but this is no criterion by which 
 to judge of the broad surface of Ireland. The question is 
 not whether the English language is increasing, or has been, 
 in certain given places, for of this there is no doubt, — but 
 whether the Irish language on the whole has all this time 
 been declining, that is, declining everywhere, so as to come 
 down from its high proportion in the mountains and hills 
 as well as the plains ; or rather in the country at large, as 
 well and as generally, as in the immediate vicinity of cities 
 and great towns. There is no competent individual who 
 will say that it has ; but if not, then look at the natural in- 
 crease of the whole island, and consider whether it be unac- 
 countable that, instead of one million, as in the days of old, 
 we should now find more than three millions who daily 
 use this tongue ? 
 
 The fact is, that the true cause which has kept up the 
 proportion of those who speak Irish, and must do so, if they 
 speak at all, has been in general overlooked. Those who 
 use this language have from time immemorial inhabited at 
 least all the remote, all the mountainous and less fertile 
 regions of every county, and almost, if not all, the islands. 
 Meanwhile those of them, a mere tithing, who came into 
 towns or their neighbourhood, were laying aside their na- 
 tive language, and their children also of course spoke 
 English, while no instance could be found, in such parts, 
 of persons laying aside that tongue ; hence it was conclud- 
 ed by some, that the Irish language was upon the decline, 
 — the great natural increase of those who used it elsewhere, 
 and on a far larger scale, being altogether excluded from 
 the general estimate. 
 
 To magnify the number of the Irish population, properly 
 so called, the present writer can have no temptation, nor 
 any interest whatever to serve, were he to attempt it. He 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 137 
 
 has, however, been too long acquainted with this interesting 
 part of the kingdom, to rest satisfied with the vague asser- 
 tions of individuals on this subject ; and as he feels assured 
 that this is a question of essential importance to the effec- 
 tual illumination of the Native Irish people, all that he de- 
 sires is to arrive at the knowledge of the facts of the case. 
 It is happily now too late to bring forward general asser- 
 tions, — the advocates for a trifling Irish population must 
 come to particulars. It is very possible, that, in some in- 
 stances, the number in certain counties may have been 
 mistaken and overstated, — in others, I have little doubt, it 
 has been the reverse. But there is one most important 
 reason for the truth as to every single county being no 
 longer concealed. English education is making delightful 
 progress in Ireland ; now, if there is any desire for the 
 effectual and permanent advance of that education, then 
 should the proportion of those who daily speak Irish be 
 calmly and impartially ascertained and observed. In the 
 north or north-west of Ireland, the writer himself has seen 
 scholars reading English who did not understand the lan- 
 guage ; and as for the south, when referring to scholars in 
 its largest county, it has been said, " Of these the greater 
 part derive no eventual advantage from their schooling, 
 being recalled at an early age ; then mixing with a family 
 who speak only Irish, the little smattering of English they 
 had acquired is soon lost." Again, speaking of this im- 
 mense county, embracing a population at this moment 
 approaching to 800,000 souls, Mr Townsend has said, 
 " Except in the towns they seldom use any language but 
 Irish, and, even in some of the best-cultivated districts, most 
 of the people speak no other ; they are, however, willing 
 enough to send their children to school when the oppor- 
 tunity offers, though the little (English) they learn there is 
 often forgotten soon after they return to their parents." 
 
 The truth is, that large sums of money have been spent 
 in vain, both in Wales and our Highlands, in former years, 
 simply in consequence of reversing the order of nature, by 
 teaching English first, and before the reader could compre- 
 hend a word.* There is no occasion for doing the same 
 
 * " I could find thousands in the Highlands of Scotland who will read the Eng- 
 lish Bible tolerably well, but cannot understand more than yes or no ; and being 
 thus obliged to continue reading a language completely unintelligible to them, it 
 gives them no pleasure, but rather disgust ; and the moment they leave school, if 
 they remain at home in those districts where nothing but their mother-tongue is 
 spoken, they lay their books aside, and never look at them more. I know some men 
 who were at Inverness at their education sixty vears ago ; thev could read and write 
 M 3 
 
138 
 
 THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 thing over again in Ireland ; but if it should be persisted 
 in, the result will be the same. Sooner or later education 
 must begin, wherever Irish is daily used, as it now does both 
 in Wales and the Highlands — that is, if we are in earnest 
 as to two objects — the moral benefit of education, and even 
 the extension of the English tongue. I suspect, however, 
 that at present money is thus being spent in vain, in many 
 instances, where it would go five times farther if the mother- 
 tongue were employed as the medium. At all events, of 
 the large sums voted by Parliament from this country for 
 Irish education, none of it has ever been applied towards 
 the native Irish language ! 
 
 If Irish, therefore, requires to be used at all in the busi- 
 ness of education and oral instruction, and of this, I am 
 sure, there need be no question now, — for whatever may be 
 said, there is certainly no help, no substitute for it, — but 
 this being granted, my deliberate impression for some time 
 has been, that there are certainly not fewer than three mil- 
 lions who require it. Two millions, the number specified 
 in the memorial of 1814, will be found in Connaught and 
 Munster alone,— a number nearly equal to the whole popu- 
 lation of Scotland ! 
 
 At the same time, I cannot conclude without observing, 
 that until Irish oral instruction make some advance, no 
 wonder that there should be perplexity or contradiction 
 with regard to the precise number of those who require to 
 be tauglit to read the Irish language in the first instance. 
 Let enactments be multiplied to any extent, what do they 
 signify ? Language still remains a thing of choice, or a 
 matter of taste. " Doth not the ear try words as the mouth 
 tasteth meat V is one of the oldest proverbs in existence, — 
 twice recorded in perhaps the most ancient written compo- 
 sition in the world. But in any country, every such in- 
 
 ( English) when they left school, and to-day cannot read any." After mentioning 
 that the pastors of this people 1 preach to them m their own language, the writer 
 adds — " The clergy read no more than the text, whereas if they would read, every 
 Lord's day, a chapter or two out of the Holy Scriptures, the people in that case 
 would be inclined to bring their Bibles and follow the minister. Even in the present 
 day, I venture to say, that there are a few of the clergy in the Highlands and Islands 
 of Scotland that cannot read a chapter out of the Gaelic Bible." — Letter from a 
 Highland Clergyman, in a '* Prize Essay on the State of Knowledge in the High- 
 lands of Scotland, by John Anderson, W.S., 1827," p. 109. — It would be easy to cor- 
 roborate the first statement by letters addressed to the present writer from the High- 
 lands fifteen and sixteen years ago. I quote this simply as a recent and independent 
 testimony. But what will the writer of this letter or the author who prints it say 
 to the present condition of Ireland, as already described in the preceding pages? For 
 while the Gaelic population is somewhat more than 100,000— the Native Irish is about 
 eight times the number ! 
 
AS STILL SPOKEN. 
 
 139 
 
 stance of oral instruction is not only music to the ear, it is 
 like a torch illuminating the path of incumbent duty. 
 Following in this path, education must of necessity come 
 with a relish to the mind ; and the extent to which it ought 
 to be carried is then no longer a subject of calculation or 
 vague conjecture. But, independently altogether of this, 
 and every similar consideration, a case has been already 
 proved, sufficient to excite the sympathy of the nation at 
 large. 
 
 " And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they 
 give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped ? So 
 likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it 
 be known what is spoken ? for ye shall speak unto the air." PAUL. 
 
 " But ye ought to know wherefore languages were given. Better to speak a few 
 lucid words in the right sense, than innumerable that are obscure and unknown." 
 
 SEDULIUS. 
 
 ** The ground of moral behaviour, and all moral government and regulation, is 
 society, or mutual intercourse and social regards. The special medium of union and 
 communication between the members of society, and the being of society as such, is 
 conversation: and the well-being and happiness of society is friendship. It is the 
 highest happiness of all moral agents ; but friendship, above all other things that 
 belong to society, requires conversation. By this not only is it maintained and nou- 
 rished, but the felicity of friendship is tasted and enjoyed." — " Moral agents are social 
 agents ; affairs of morality are affairs of society. It is concerning moral agents as 
 united in society, in a Commonwealth or Kingdom, that we have been speaking. 
 Particular moral agents so united need conversation : the affairs of their social union 
 cannot well be maintained without it." — " The happiness of God's moral govern- 
 ment consists in an inferior degree in the members' enjoyment of each other's friend- 
 ship ; but infinitely more in the enjoyment of their head. Therefore, here especially, 
 and above all, is conversation necessary." 
 
 EDWARDS. 
 
SECTION V. 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 Viewed apart by themselves, as an object demanding special consideration and 
 assistance, including the number of inhabitants in each Island. 
 
 One important feature of Ireland, hitherto passed over in a 
 vague and general style by all writers, consists in the great 
 number of islands scattered round her shores, in most of 
 which the Irish language is generally, in many almost ex- 
 clusively, spoken. The extreme length of Ireland is 306 
 miles, its extreme breadth 207, and, speaking loosely, the 
 circumference is about 880 miles. " The sinuous line of its 
 seacoast, however, exclusive of such parts as lie within 
 estuaries, or above the first good anchorage in every har- 
 bour, but inclusive of the river Shannon, as far as the tide 
 reaches, and the shores of Bantry Bay, Dunmanus Bay, and 
 Kenmare river, will, if accurately followed through all its 
 windings, be found to measure 1737 miles. In this line 
 there are not fewer than one hundred and thirty harbours, 
 and places where ships may anchor for a tide, or find 
 shelter/'* Round the coast of this fine country, and in- 
 cluding her inland lakes, the number of islands and islets 
 cannot be calculated at less than six hundred. In Clew 
 Bay alone, on the west coast, the islands, islets, holms, and 
 rocks above the surface of the water, have been rated, I 
 think, as high as three hundred — which, if they were plant- 
 ed, would cause this inlet of the sea to exceed in picturesque 
 beauty any thing of the kind in Europe. In Strangford 
 Lough, on the east coast, there are fifty-four islands, small 
 and great, known by particular names, besides many other 
 nameless. As to inland lakes, to say nothing of Loch 
 Coirrib, Loch Ree, or Loch Deirgeart, from the centre of an 
 island in Loch Erne, called Ennismacsaint, may be seen 
 twenty-seven islands in view at once. 
 
 * Newenham's View of Ireland, 4to, London, 1809, p. fi. 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 
 
 141 
 
 To the admirer of nature, all over these coasts, here is 
 many a magnificent though neglected field for admira- 
 tion and ecstasy, were it not so sadly shaded by the con- 
 dition of the thousands for whose use or gratification all this 
 was made. The curious ruins too to be found here and 
 there, where the arch or the rampart and the wall seem to 
 lament and languish together, will lend to the scene a 
 sombre character, and frequently excite the association of 
 opposites, the suggestion of contrast — how different is this 
 place or spot from what it once was ! But better days are 
 coming for Ireland than she ever saw in ancient times, 
 whether mainland or coastways. Meanwhile, to continue 
 this digression but a little longer, before noticing the people 
 themselves, the reader, I think, will not object to a few 
 slight notices respecting some of these islands. 
 
 Raghlin, Rathlin, or Rath-erin, the Ricnea of Pliny, the 
 Ricinia of Ptolemy, about 6 miles distant from the north 
 coast of Antrim, which is nearly 5 miles long, and Z\ in 
 extreme breadth, abounds with some curious arrangements 
 of basaltic pillars, similar to those of the Giant's Causeway. 
 It affords a considerable quantity of sea- weed for kelp, and, 
 where cultivated, produces excellent barley. A religious 
 establishment was founded here in the sixth century by 
 Columba, but in 790 it was ravaged by the Danes. The 
 attachment of the natives to their little island is extreme, 
 and one of their worst wishes to any neighbour who has 
 injured them is, that he may end his days in Ireland. 
 Raghlin is memorable as the retreat of Robert Bruce of 
 Scotland in 1308 : it was here that he planted his standard, 
 and obtained some aid from the inhabitants, before he pro- 
 ceeded to the Hebrides. Dr Francis Hutchinsofe, Bishop of 
 Down and Connor, who published an Irish Almanack, and 
 a Defence of the ancient Historians, with application to the 
 history of Ireland and Great Britain, in the year 1712, 
 procured for the inhabitants of this island a translation of 
 the Church Catechism into Irish, with the English annexed. 
 It was printed at Belfast, but in the Roman letter, and the 
 orthography of both languages was interfered with, other- 
 wise this publication might have been noticed under the 
 first section, in its proper place. I know not whether a 
 single copy of the Raghlin Catechism remains in Ireland ; 
 but the attempt was not a judicious one, though perfectly 
 characteristic, as the feeble and expiring effort of a narrow 
 and illiberal policy. 
 
142 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 Tory, about ten miles or more off the north coast of 
 Donegal, but united to the parish of Tullaghabigly, is about 
 three miles long and one broad. The name of this island 
 is thought to be of Runic etymology, and Thoreye, now 
 corrupted into Tory, denotes that it was consecrated to 
 Thor, the Scandinavian deity, who presided over stormy 
 and desolate places. The inhabitants are unacquainted with 
 any other law than that of their old Brehon code. They 
 choose their own chief judge, and to his mandate, issuing 
 from his throne of turf, the people yield a ready obedience. 
 Round a tower and church built by Columkill, there is a 
 grave-yard to which peculiar sanctity is ascribed, and where 
 no one now is permitted to be interred. The people but 
 very seldom come to the mainland. About two years ago, 
 a fishing -boat, containing seven or eight men, being driven 
 by stress of weather into Ards Bay, on the coast adjoining, 
 it turned out that not one of these men had ever been in 
 Ireland before ! The trees belonging to Mr Stewart of Ards 
 (the uncle of Lord Londondenw) actually astonished them, 
 and they were seen putting leaves and small branches in 
 their pockets, to show on their return. In August, 1826, 
 the poor people in this island, amounting to nearly 500, 
 were visited by a great calamity. A strange and unforeseen 
 storm set in from the north-west, which drove the sea in 
 immense waves over the whole flat part of the island ; the 
 waves beat even over the highest cliffs — all their corn was 
 destroyed, their potatoes washed out of the ground, and all 
 their springs of fresh water filled with that of the sea !* 
 Their deplorable situation constrained them to several com- 
 munications with the mainland — their condition, in other 
 respects, then excited pity — an Irish teacher is about to be 
 sent them ; and so this frowning providence may prove to 
 have been only the precursor of better days than they have 
 ever seen. 
 
 Innismurry, about six miles distant from the coast of 
 Sligo, is but small, containing about 130 acres of shallow 
 soil. In this isle there is a large image rudely carved in 
 wood, and painted red, which the people call Father Mo- 
 lash, to which it is affirmed they pay devotion ; and they 
 have an altar built of loose round stones, called ' the Curs- 
 
 * See an interesting and characteristic volume—" Sketches in Ireland, descriptive 
 of hitherto unnoticed Districts, in the North and South." By the Rev. C. Otway— 
 Published by W. Curry & Co. Dublin, 18*?7.j 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 
 
 143 
 
 ing Altar,' to which they are said to apply if any one has 
 injured them. 
 
 Achill, or Eagle island, so named from the great resort 
 of eagles thither, is the largest of the Irish isles, being thir- 
 teen English miles long, by nine or ten broad, but no 
 minute description of it has ever appeared. Although this 
 island contains about 4000 souls, it and three others are 
 united with Burrishool on the mainland ! 
 
 South Arran Isles, the Canganij of Ptolemy, which 
 once gave a title to the Butler family, and now to that of 
 Saunders Gore, are very fruitful in oats and herbage for 
 cattle. The abbey erected here was destroyed in the year 
 1020, and sixty years later the island was pillaged by the 
 Danes. 
 
 I might refer to various other islands which would fur- 
 nish matter of curious remark — to Inisboffin, with the ruins 
 of her old monastery, in which Colman, the Bishop of Lan- 
 disferne, dwelt — to Iniscathy, or Inniscattery, with her 
 cathedral and her eleven churches in ruins, and her round 
 tower of 120 feet high — to Cape Clear, and the ardent at- 
 tachment which the poor Capers cherish for their apparently 
 desolate island, where even temporary banishment to the 
 mainland has been found so severe a punishment as effec- 
 tually to prevent crime — but I forbear. 
 
 Now it is simply in some such manner as this that the 
 islands of Ireland have too long been introduced to the 
 notice of the reader, and then dismissed. To many the 
 subject as a whole has appeared too intricate, and to others 
 of no consequence ; but it is with the inhabitants that we 
 have to do, and it is surely more than time that the eye of 
 pity should linger for a season among this long-neglected 
 class of fellow-subjects. 
 
 I well remember the surprise and regret which were felt 
 and expressed, both in England and Scotland, when, in 
 1811, we had to announce that there were sixty-eight inha- 
 bited islands on the west coast of Scotland in a state of 
 great destitution, as to both education and books. We 
 shall now, however, have occasion to enumerate more than 
 double this number round the shores of Ireland and in a 
 state far more destitute ! Here and there a few of these 
 Islands have been noticed incidentally, but the reader will 
 search in vain for any distinct account or even list of them 
 as a whole. It is in this light, however, they ought to be 
 
144 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 viewed. Hitherto left out of all calculations, especially of 
 a moral or religious character, let them now he observed 
 distinct from the mainland. As an important object of 
 separate consideration to the benevolent and humane, let 
 such only conceive in what a lonely and neglected state 
 thousands of these islanders have lived and died, from gene- 
 ration to generation. Close upon our own native shore, yet 
 as devoid of all the calm and profitable satisfaction which 
 books afford, as if they had lain in the bosom of the Pacific, 
 here it is that, as far as Christianity is concerned/ our 
 countrymen have seen Sabbath after Sabbath pass silently 
 away, from one year's end to the other, — no church-going 
 bell, — no gatherings of the people to hear the sweet sounds 
 of divine mercy, or, as the Native Irish say, " the story of 
 peace," — they have for ages lived and died amidst one un- 
 broken famine, not indeed of bread and water, but of hear- 
 ing the word of the Lord. 
 
 These are not the parties who have figured in the pages 
 of authentic Irish history at any period, and, though placed 
 round the whole mainland, within sight of shore, they come 
 before us as a people almost entirely overlooked and forgotten. 
 The writer had, in repeated visits to Ireland, made inquiry 
 respecting them, and for years searched after a distinct 
 enumeration of all these islands in books, but could find 
 none ; and as for any account of their respective popula- 
 tions, it could not have been given till within a very short 
 period. As soon as the last parliamentary census was ex- 
 amined, however, in its minuter and scattered details, with 
 the assistance of some other means, it then appeared pos- 
 sible to come near the truth. By making the islands an 
 object of consideration, distinct from the mainland, or the 
 parishes to which they have been nominally attached, it is 
 hoped that the wants of this people, with regard to Irish 
 education and an intelligible ministry, may now be met. 
 At all events they are now in view, in a manner and to a 
 degree in which they have never been before : and who 
 would not be instrumental of introducing to benevolent 
 consideration a portion of his native country, of which 
 almost every man has been as ignorant as of Borneo or 
 Sumatra, and for which, consequently, many among us have 
 cared as little ! 
 
 We shall commence with Innismurry, a small island on 
 the west coast, already noticed, simply because it is the first 
 towards the north belonging to the province of Connaught ; 
 and, if the reader chooses to take up the large map of Beau- 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 
 
 145 
 
 fort, and proceed southward round the whole coast, till he 
 arrive at the point from whence he set out, he will find the 
 following islands in regular succession. Even in this large 
 map, however, there is not room sufficient for some of the 
 names ; hut the islands are all laid down, and the reader 
 can he at no loss hy following the order now mentioned. I 
 have corrected the orthography of a very few of the names 
 given by Beaufort, and have numbered the islands for the 
 sake of calculations in a subsequent page. The next column 
 of figures contains the number of inhabited houses, and the 
 third the population in each island, by the latest returns. 
 The present aggregate will be glanced at afterwards. 
 
 No. Islands. ] 
 
 1. Innismurry, - 
 
 2. Dernish or Deri 
 
 3. Coney, 
 
 4. Oyster, 
 
 5. Bartrach, 
 
 6. Kid. L, 
 
 7. Eagle I., 
 
 8. Innisgloria, - 
 
 9. Inniskerach, - 
 
 10. Enniskea Nortl 
 
 11. Enniskea Sou tl 
 
 12. Derlane, 
 
 13. Innisbigle, 
 
 14. Anagh, 
 
 15. Achill, 
 
 16. Achillbeg, 
 
 17. Roe, 
 
 18. Innishurkin, - 
 
 19. Inniskellive, - 
 
 20. Ilanmore, 
 
 21. Derrenish, 
 
 22. Knockylane, - 
 
 23. Inishturk, 
 
 24. Inishcuttle, - 
 
 25. Inishgowley, - 
 
 26. Inishlyer, 
 
 27. Tagart, 
 
 28. Clynish, 
 
 29. Cullen, 
 
 30. Inishraher, - 
 
 31. Inishgurt, 
 
 32. Inishdaff, 
 
 33. lnishleague, - 
 
 34. Murrisk, 
 
 35. Clare or Clara 
 
 36. Cahir, 
 
 louses. Inhab. 
 
 No. Islands. 
 
 Houses. Inhab. 
 
 17 
 
 61 
 
 37. Inishturk, 
 
 - 78 
 
 456 
 
 5 
 
 32 
 
 38. Innisdegal, 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 24 
 
 176 
 
 39. Hanachreen, 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 40. Hanamine, 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 41. Darilan, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 42. Lion, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 43. Inisboffin, 
 
 - 193 
 
 1053 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 44. Inishark, 
 
 - 28 
 
 180 
 
 
 
 45. Friars I., 
 
 
 
 
 157 
 
 46. High I., 
 
 
 
 
 }27 
 
 47. Crua I., 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 48. Omay, 
 
 - 41 
 
 224 
 
 10 
 
 54 
 
 49. Ennisturk, 
 
 - 12 
 
 66 
 
 
 
 50. Tarbert, 
 
 51. Dunloghan, 
 
 - 15 
 
 90 
 
 710 
 
 3880 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 113 
 
 52. Bally lany, 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 43 
 
 53. Innisdanrow, 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 54. Crump, 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 22 
 
 9 
 
 55, Innisnee, 
 
 - 48 
 
 319 
 
 11 
 
 52 
 
 56. Croaglin, 
 
 57. Cruanakily, 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 11 
 
 56 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 45 
 
 58. Cruanakarra, 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 55 
 
 59. Mason, 
 
 60. Moynish, 
 
 - 14 
 
 71 
 
 6 
 
 33 
 
 - 87 
 
 499 
 
 6 
 
 42 
 
 61. Feenish, 
 
 - 18 
 
 131 
 
 7 
 
 44 
 
 62. Inishtrava, 
 
 - 13 
 
 38 
 
 4 
 
 32 
 
 63. Inislacken, 
 
 " 
 
 122 
 
 15 
 
 96 
 
 64. Macdara, 
 
 5 
 
 28 
 
 32 
 
 184 
 
 65. Freigh, 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 66. Spit, 
 
 - 2 
 
 12 
 
 3 
 
 26 
 
 67. Littermore, 
 
 - 48 
 
 263 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 68. Garomna, 
 
 - 210 
 
 1281 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 69. Dynish, 
 
 - 12 
 
 
 9 
 
 43 
 
 70. Furnish, 
 
 - 19 
 
 112 
 
 257 
 
 1395 
 
 71. Inisherk, 
 
 72. Nappagh, 
 
 6 
 
 32 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 31 
 
146 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 No. Islands. 
 
 Houses. Inhab. No. Islands. Houses. Inhab. 
 
 73. Littermullin, 
 
 78 
 
 438 
 
 123. West Calf, - 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 74. Mutton, 
 
 o 
 
 16 
 
 124. Middle Calf, 
 
 5 
 
 30 
 
 75. Hare I., 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 125. IllaneHummiskJl 
 
 74 
 
 76. Eddy, 
 
 10 
 
 72 
 
 126. Goat I., 
 
 127. East Calf, - 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 77. Deer I., 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 5 
 
 25 
 
 78. Aranmore, S. 
 
 387 
 
 2276 
 
 128. East Inisbeg, 
 
 25 
 
 102 
 
 79. Innismain, - 
 
 63 
 
 386 
 
 129. West Inisbeg, 
 
 20 
 
 99 
 
 80. Innishere, - 
 
 65 
 
 417 
 
 130. Scheams, 
 
 7 
 
 42 
 
 81. Inniskerry, - 
 
 82. Inniscattery, 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 131. Hare I., 
 
 46 
 
 250 
 
 11 
 
 85 
 
 132. Ringaroga, - 
 
 133. Innisherkin, 
 
 
 
 — 
 
 83. Hog or Inisbeg, 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 193 
 
 1053 
 
 84. Innismore, - 
 
 23 
 
 157 
 
 134. Cunny, 
 
 135. Clare Island, 
 
 13 
 
 48 
 
 85. Fergus, 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 190 
 
 886 
 
 86. Low I., 
 
 10 
 
 105 
 
 136. Horse I., - 
 
 1 
 
 
 87. Horse, 
 
 13 
 
 86 
 
 137. Rabbit I., - 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 88. Cannon, 
 
 6 
 
 49 
 
 138. Quince I., - 
 
 
 — 
 
 89. Innisherk, - 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 139. Inchidoney, 
 
 380 
 
 2091 
 
 90. Ennistubret, 
 
 3 
 
 20 
 
 140. Butman, 
 
 
 — 
 
 91. Coscory, 
 
 2 
 
 14 
 
 141. Spike, 
 
 142. Hawlbowline, 1 
 
 
 — 
 
 92. Aghenish, - 
 
 33 
 
 208 
 
 50 
 
 349 
 
 93. Foynes I., - 
 
 19 
 
 109 
 
 143. Rocky, J 
 
 94. Carrigue, 
 
 21 
 
 136 
 
 144. Great Island, 2223 
 
 9405 
 
 95. Fenit, 
 
 96. Magharee, - 
 
 35 
 
 205 
 
 145. Foly or Foaty, 
 
 26 
 
 200 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 146. Little I., 
 
 138 
 
 979 
 
 97. Inistuiskar, - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 147. Bally Cotton, 
 
 
 — 
 
 98. Innisbeg, 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 148. Gible, 
 
 
 — 
 
 99. Great Blasket, ' 
 
 
 
 149. Ikean, East, 1 
 
 40 
 
 
 100. Inisnebroe, 
 
 !-18 
 
 128 
 
 150. Ikean, West, J 
 
 101. Inismakelan, J 
 
 
 
 151. Saltees, 
 
 
 — 
 
 102. Valentia, 
 
 377 
 
 2128 
 
 152. Tuskar, 
 
 153. Dalkey, 
 
 154. Ireland's Eye, 
 
 
 — 
 
 103. Inchbeg, 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 — 
 
 104. Benners, 
 
 11 
 
 64 
 
 
 — 
 
 105. Puffins I., - 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 155. Lambay, 
 
 6 
 
 34 
 
 106. Scrieff, 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 156. St. Patrick's I. 
 
 
 — 
 
 107. Melan, 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 157. Gunnis I., 
 
 
 — 
 
 108. Dinish, 
 
 109. Twohead I., 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 158. Donen, 
 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 159. Taggart, 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 110. Rossdughan, 
 
 
 — 
 
 160. More I., 
 
 
 — 
 
 111. Ruffmore, - 
 
 
 — 
 
 161. Bawn L, 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 112. Dunkerron, - 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 162. Castle I., 
 
 17 
 
 102 
 
 113. Grenane, 
 
 114. Cappanacoss, 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 163. Maghea, 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 164. Reagh, 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 115. Dursey, 
 
 45 
 
 276 
 
 165. Wood I., 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 116. BereorBearI.,399 
 
 2115 
 
 166. Rough, 
 
 
 — 
 
 117. Whiddy, 
 
 86 
 
 591 
 
 167. Bird, 
 
 
 
 118. Small Isle, - 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 168. Copeland, - 
 
 15 
 
 67 
 
 119. Carberry, 
 
 
 
 169. Cross I., 
 
 4 
 
 23 
 
 120. Bird I., 
 
 
 
 170. Meu I., 
 
 
 
 121. InnisfadorL.I.,42 
 
 230 
 
 171. Muck, 
 
 
 
 122. Castle I., - 
 
 14 
 
 97 
 
 172. Rathlin, 
 
 199 
 
 1104 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 
 
 147 
 
 No. Islands. 
 
 173. Inch I., 
 
 174. Aughnish, - 2 
 
 175. Raigh or Roy, 7 
 
 176. Tory, - 59 
 
 177. Innisbeg, - — 
 
 178. Inis-duh,Dowey, 3 
 
 179. Inisboffin, - 43 
 
 180. Inis Irhir, - — 
 
 181. Gola, - — 
 
 182. Owey, 
 
 183. Cruit, 
 
 184. Aranmore, 
 
 Houses. Inhab. 
 
 185 1094 
 18 
 
 54 
 296 
 
 12 
 
 22 
 252 
 
 76 
 
 132 788 
 
 No. Islands. 
 
 185. Rutland, 
 
 186. Innisfree, 
 
 187. Innisceragh, 
 
 188. Inniscoo, 
 
 189. Eighter, 
 
 190. Innisal, 
 
 191. Edderuish, - 
 
 192. Duck, 
 
 193. Tully, 
 
 194. Roanuish, 
 
 195. Inniskeel, 
 
 196. Rackibirn I., 
 
 Houses. Inhab. 
 
 29 173 
 
 25 
 
 171 
 
 47 
 53 
 42 
 32 
 11 
 5 
 44 
 
 Here then are to be found one hundred and ninety-six 
 Islands, of which at least one hundred and forty were inha- 
 bited, seven years ago, by an aggregate of not less than 
 forty-three thousand souls. Arranged according to their 
 respective provinces, the following will be the result : — 
 
 Nos. in the 
 List. 
 
 Province. 
 
 Number of 
 Islands. 
 
 Number 
 Inhabited. 
 
 Population. 
 
 1— 80 
 
 Connaught, 
 
 80 
 
 62 
 
 15,592 
 
 81—150 
 
 Munster, 
 
 70 
 
 50 
 
 22,827 
 
 151—156 
 
 Leinster, 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 34 
 
 157—196 
 
 Ulster, 
 
 40 
 
 27 
 
 4,546 
 
 
 
 196 
 
 140 
 
 42,999 
 
 Before making any farther observation, there is yet ano- 
 ther point of view in which almost all those Islands should 
 be considered, that is, in connexion with immense parishes 
 on the adjoining coast, — an arrangement, one effect of which 
 has been that of sinking them in oblivion, just as it was 
 with our Hebrides, till they were, but a few years ago, made 
 an object of distinct consideration. If no provision has 
 been made for the islander, dwelling in an island distant 
 from the parish to which it is attached, perhaps ten, fifteen, 
 or twenty miles, and if the parish itself contain from three 
 to ten thousand souls, and there be no Irish school even on 
 the mainland, — I leave the reader to imagine what has been, 
 and what must be, the condition of the people. 
 
 We shall take twenty parishes for illustration, and see 
 what will be the effect. I only remark, that the first 
 n 2 
 
148 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 column of figures refers to the numbers in the first list, 
 by which the reader will be able at once to ascertain the 
 names of the Islands. 
 
 Parish. 
 
 Nos. by the former 
 List. 
 
 No. of 
 Islands 
 attached. 
 
 Populat. 
 of the 
 Islands. 
 
 Entire 
 Parish Po- ' 
 pulation. | 
 
 Templecroan 
 
 184— 
 
 193 
 
 11 
 
 1442 
 
 6,472 
 
 Tullaghabigly 
 
 176- 
 
 179 
 
 3 
 
 570 
 
 5,757 
 
 Moyrus 
 
 55, 56, 59- 
 
 -66 
 
 10 
 
 1243 
 
 6,449 
 
 Omay 
 
 48, 49 
 
 ,50 
 
 3 
 
 380 
 
 4,454 
 
 Kilcummin 
 
 69- 
 
 -73 
 
 5 
 
 679 
 
 8,099 
 
 Killanin 
 
 67 
 
 ,68 
 
 
 1544 
 
 7,098 
 
 Burrishoole 
 
 15—18 
 
 4 
 
 4076 
 
 13,252 
 
 Kilmina 
 
 19- 
 
 -33 
 
 15 
 
 820 
 
 7,284 
 
 Kilmore 
 
 8- 
 
 -12 
 
 4 
 
 183 
 
 7,559 
 
 Kilgever* 
 
 35—38, 43 
 
 ,44 
 
 5 
 
 3090 
 
 10,253 
 
 Ahamlish 
 
 
 1,2 
 
 2 
 
 93 
 
 6,405 
 
 Kilchrist 
 
 
 84 
 
 1 
 
 157 
 
 2,344 
 
 Kildysart 
 
 86- 
 
 -91 
 
 6 
 
 294 
 
 3,784 
 
 Kilrush 
 
 82, 83 
 
 2 
 
 92 
 
 8,256 
 
 Killaghanenagh - 
 
 
 116 
 
 1 
 
 2115 
 
 6,159 
 
 Kilmacomogue - 
 
 117, 
 
 118 
 
 2 
 
 598 
 
 12,145 
 
 Kilmanagh 
 
 
 115 
 
 1 
 
 276 
 
 4,337 
 
 Tullagh 
 
 133, 
 
 134 
 
 2 
 
 1101 
 
 3,583 
 
 Aghdown 
 
 127- 
 
 •131 
 
 5 
 
 581 
 
 5,461 
 
 West Skull 
 
 121— 
 
 -126 
 
 6 
 
 446 
 
 6,739 
 
 
 
 90 
 
 19,780 
 
 135,890 
 
 Now, in Scotland at least, we know well what has been 
 the result of such arrangements in our Hebrides. As to the 
 consequences round the coast of Ireland, I shall not at pre- 
 sent enlarge. But here we see only twenty parishes em- 
 bracing a population of not less than one hundred and 
 thirty-live thousand eight hundred and ninety souls, and 
 of this number we see nineteen thousand seven hundred and 
 eighty living detached, in the adjoining seas, in not less 
 than ninety islands; nay, in three parishes, embracing 
 nearly thirty thousand souls, it will be observed that above 
 nine thousand are so situated. At the present moment we 
 shall find, I believe, one hundred and forty thousand souls, 
 
 • As a specimen of such an arrangement I might notice this instance. The 
 Rev. Mr S. can preach in Irish, and, I believe, does so. But No. 37 is distant'from 
 him at least fifteen, and Nos. 43 and 44 from twenty to thirty milei ! Besides, If I 
 do not mistake, Mr S. has removed to another part of the country. 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 149 
 
 at least, in these twenty parishes, — an average of not less 
 than seven thousand to each parish ; while of this number, 
 above twenty-one thousand reside in these ninety islands! 
 But the inhabited islands which we have already enumer- 
 ated amount to not fewer than one hundred and forty ! 
 
 On referring to these islands in general, it may be said, 
 many of them are small. They are so ; seventeen of them 
 contain only one family, and ten not more than three in 
 each ! The feeling of solitude here occasionally must be 
 extreme ;* but they live in the vicinity of other islands, and 
 a plan may be suggested by which the art and delight of 
 reading may be introduced to every one of them, provided 
 they are instructed in their vernacular tongue. In the 
 preceding list, perhaps, some would except Great Island 
 near Cork, as not being like others. It is reported, indeed, 
 to have above 900 scholars in attendance, but then above 
 800 of these are in the town of Cove. Among a country 
 population of at least 3000, I suspect not one in thirty is 
 learning to read, and of these I believe not one in Irish. 
 But still, independently of Great Island, here are only eleven 
 islands, containing in all above 20,000 souls. Here are 
 sixteen islands, each of which contains from one to two 
 hundred inhabitants. But why may not every island con- 
 taining fifty immortal beings have a circulating Irish teacher? 
 Even his temporary residence would kindle a flame, which, 
 far from expiring when he left, would in many an instance 
 maintain and even propagate itself. Now of these we have 
 not less than thirty, which, at fifty each, would be 1500, 
 but these contain at present more than two thousand souls. 
 
 It must now, however, also be observed, that at least 
 several of the islands, respecting which I could come to no 
 conclusion, and have left blank, have inhabitants ; therefore 
 I have included them, to elicit information ; and the popu- 
 lation in others, I have good reason to believe, has been 
 underrated, perhaps in many. For example, in the island 
 of Tory, ten miles from land, there were returned, in 1821, 
 only 297 souls, but there were said to be 59 houses. Now 
 the average family in most of these islands, the reader must 
 
 * Not so much so, however, as in one of our Hebrides, the island of Rona, about 
 30 miles north from Lewis. During seven years, excepting one visit from the boat 
 of the Fortunee, then cruising after the President in 1802, the occupant of this farm, 
 tending 50 sheep, had seen no face but that of his employer and his own family, 
 consisting of six individuals ! Such is the violence and height of the mountain-bil- 
 lows which break on this island, that the dykes of the sheepfold are often thrown 
 down, and large stones removed from their places, at elevations reaching to 200 feet 
 above high-water mark ! The highest point of land in this island is about 000 feet. 
 
 n3 
 
150 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 have noted, is very large — generally 6 and 7 ! This would 
 give more than 350 souls ; but the aggregate of Tory has 
 been recently stated as high as five hundred— every one of 
 them speaking Irish. Taking these circumstances into 
 account, and the natural increase within the last seven years, 
 Jifty thousand souls may certainly be regarded as a moderate 
 calculation ; but the total is probably even more than this. 
 
 With regard to the dialect of these long-neglected island- 
 ers, while I am perfectly aware that an Englishman will 
 hear his own language spoken by individuals, and from 
 them he will obtain replies to such questions as a traveller 
 may put, just as it happens in the Western Isles of Scotland 
 — still the Irish is as prevalent as Gaelic in the Hebrides. 
 An Anglo -Hibernian may wander among these hundred 
 islands, visiting ruins and tombs, admiring, as he must, the 
 scenery, and picking up amethysts — some of the islanders 
 may kindly accommodate him with English, while fisher- 
 men and kelp-makers may seem to go on full smoothly with 
 the English terms needful in their calling ; — but all this 
 amounts to nothing when we are looking into their moral 
 condition and the medium for its improvement. Even in 
 secular affairs they much prefer Irish ; and so, though there 
 is some difference, the Hebridean and Irishman carry on 
 barter in their common language. (See the note, page 176.) 
 In Irish they feel more at ease, and need not to cast about 
 for a word. In such a case as that just supposed, the 
 writer, at least, has only to recollect how it was in the 
 Western Isles of Scotland, when Gaelic schools were intro- 
 duced there, and though when visiting them he was accom- 
 modated with English, not only by the boatmen, but other 
 individuals ; yet being under no bias, and desirous only of 
 fixing on what seemed essential to moral improvement, he 
 drew a very different conclusion from what some Anglo- 
 Hibernians would do, in reference to their seacoast and 
 islands ; but the truth is, that Irish is the rule — English the 
 exception ; and not only so, but much of that English is 
 certainly to be classed with that which has been already 
 characterized as spoken on the high road of the mainland, 
 with that of an Irish servant at an inn, or even that of the 
 Irishman living within the precincts of many a gentle- 
 man's or nobleman's domain.* 
 
 • One illustration will do just as well as another ; take only one from a respected 
 friend. The scene is Lord Bantry's domain. — " A shower of rain drove us to seek 
 shelter in the hut of the man who looks after the pheasant*. He was alone; and 
 with all the civility that never deserts an Irishman, he welcomed us in God's name, 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 151 
 
 After thus roaming over these Irish islands, when the 
 eye is cast but a little farther to the north-east, although 
 even there much remains to be done, what a singular con- 
 trast do some of the Hebrides present ! They also were long 
 and sadly neglected, but within these seventeen years we 
 began to teach their vernacular tongue ; and now in only 
 one Gaelic school we see 368 scholars, of whom 224 are 
 above twenty years of age : in another, 287, of whom 143 
 are also above twenty ; but both these are in one island, — 
 nay there are ten schools besides, or in the whole about 
 1500 pupils : all this is in Lewis. In Skye we see 330 ; in 
 Islay above 530. To these western isles also, independently 
 of the Gaelic schools and the books for their express use, 
 only since 1824, there have been voted above 1100 Bibles, 
 1650 New Testaments, and 1100 Scripture extracts, or in 
 all above 3850 distinct volumes. But the Glasgow Society 
 have been in the habit of following up these Gaelic schools 
 with English. There is beside, the useful schools of the 
 Society for propagating Christian Knowledge ; and to close 
 the account, the schools more recently established in the 
 islands alone, under the sanction of the General Assembly, 
 now amount to seventeen, in which not only Gaelic is 
 taught, but English, writing, arithmetic, and geography, — 
 three of these are in Islay, three in Skye, and one in Lewis. 
 And from whence has all this more recent activity in con- 
 veying instruction sprung 1 I have no hesitation in adding, 
 
 and produced stools, which he took care to wipe with his great-coat before he per- 
 mitted us to sit on them. On inquiring from him why he was alone and where were 
 his family ; he said they were all gone to Watch-Mass, (it was the Saturday before 
 Easter-day.) • And what is the Watch-Mass?' He could not tell. * And what day 
 was yesterday ?' He could not tell. ' And what day will to-morrow be ?' He could 
 not tell. * What ! cannot you tell me why yesterday has been called 1 Good Friday, 
 and to-morrow Easter-Sunday?' 'No!' Turning to my companion, I was moved 
 to observe with great emphasis, how deplorable it was to see men, otherwise so intel- 
 ligent, so awfully ignorant concerning matters connected with religion. 1 Not so 
 fast with your judgment, my good sir,' said my friend; ( what if you prove very 
 much mistaken in this instance concerning the knowledge of this man: recollect 
 you are now speaking to him in a foreign tongue. Come now, I understand enough 
 of Irish to try his mind in his native dialect.' Accordingly he did so ; and it was 
 quite surprising to see how the man, as soon as the Irish was spoken, brightened 
 up in countenance ; and I could perceive from the smile that played on the face of 
 my friend, how he rejoiced in the realization of his prognostic ; and he began to 
 translate for me as follows : I asked him what was Good Friday ? ' It was on that 
 day that the Lord of Mercy gave his life for sinners ; a hundred thousand blessings 
 to him for that.' * What is Watch-Saturday ?' 4 It was the day when watch was 
 kept over the holy tomb that held the incorruptible body of my Saviour.' Thus the 
 man gave, in Irish, clear and feeling answers to questions, concerning which, when 
 addressed in English, he appeared quite ignorant; and yet of common English 
 words and phrases he had the use ; but like most of his countrymen in the south, 
 his mind was groping in foreign parts when conversing in English, and he only 
 seemed to think in Irish ; the one wa3 the language of his commerce, the other of 
 his heart."— Sketches in Ireland, by the Reverend Caesar Otwriy, 
 
152 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND 
 
 from the simple operation of having begun to teach the 
 people their native language. 
 
 Now at the present moment, a man may wander over 
 all those Irish islands, which, though smaller in size, are 
 more than double the number of the Hebrides — but he will 
 meet with nothing but one unbroken contrast to such pro- 
 ceedings as these now mentioned — a contrast for which 
 not a single reason can be adduced to those who know 
 the country, which is worthy of one moment's reflection. 
 Yet the writer well remembers the time when there was no- 
 thing of this kind known, even in the Hebrides — and then 
 it was, that the idea of teaching the vernacular tongue was 
 scouted, and then tuo, opposed by those who now see its 
 absolute necessity and importance. In Ireland, therefore, 
 " let the patrons of privation but stand a while aside, and 
 admit the operation of positive principles" — they will soon 
 behold the same results, and, like former opponents of simi- 
 lar measures in Britain, they also will rejoice to assist. 
 
 It ma}' now, however, very naturally be inquired, — But 
 are there no schools in any of these islands I I reply, there 
 are schools in the islands of Raghlin, Inch, and Araninore, 
 in Clare and Inisherkin, such as they are, and, of course, in 
 Cove, situated in Great Island, and perhaps one or two 
 more. But none of these are Irish schools, though Irish is 
 spoken. One Irish school has been proposed for the island 
 of Tory, where, out of five hundred, about half a dozen can 
 also speak English ; but as for all the rest, the eye will 
 search in vain For schools or scholars, or places of worship. 
 When the peculiarity of their situation is observed, and the 
 number of generations is remembered, which, alas ! in this 
 state must have passed away, surely there is no man of 
 common sympathy who would not instantly inquire, 
 M What can be, what shall be, done for them V 1 During the 
 long ami dreary past many a bark has foundered upon their 
 shores, but they, themselves, in a sadder sense, have been 
 wrecked by one common storm, and, though actually within 
 sight of our shore, have scarcely ever heard of our common 
 and glorious Deliverer ! 
 
 I am perfectly aware of their natural shrewdness, and 
 how much they can entertain a traveller by their occasional 
 replies ; but still '* one thing is needful," and while that is 
 wanting, perhaps some readers may not be able to refrain 
 from accommodating the lines of the poet : — 
 
GRIEVOUSLY NEGLECTED. 
 
 153 
 
 Methinks I see them straying on the beach, 
 And asking of the surge that bathes their feet, 
 How often it has wash'd our shore — in sight ! 
 You see one weep, and his are honest tears, 
 Like patriot's for his country — they are sad 
 At thought of her forlorn, neglected state, 
 From which no pow'r of theirs can raise her up. 
 Thus Fancy paints them, and, though apt to err, 
 Perhaps errs little, when she paints them thus. 
 These, therefore, I must pity — placed so near 
 To all that science traces, art invents, 
 Or inspiration teaches. 
 
 In but a few short years circulating Irish teachers, if they 
 were men who fear God, might work wonders here ; and what 
 a field is this for the powers of oral instruction ! There was 
 once One who not only taught in the temple and the syna- 
 gogue, but preached on mountains, and in barges and ships 
 — his immediate followers imitated his example — conve- 
 nience for the time was consecration of the place ; and the 
 voice of that authority under which they acted, reaches to 
 the end of time. Were this voice but once heard and obey- 
 ed, one can scarcely conceive of a more delightful change 
 on a Sabbath morning, than that of the voice of praise 
 ascending from these numerous islets of the sea. By the 
 blessing of Heaven they would thus form, as it were, a wall 
 of fire round this long-neglected country, not forgetting 
 what, by similar means and an Irish ministry, might also, 
 before long, be styled the glory in the midst. For why 
 should not this praise be heard in the language natural to 
 this people ? And what perverse policy is that which would 
 forbid it ! I know not why I may not add, what heart must 
 he have, who would stand proof against their own simple 
 and plaintive petition, uttered lately by one of their best 
 friends \ It at least shows what an anxiety is felt on the 
 subject of vernacular instruction : — 
 
 And oh ! be it heard in that language endearing, 
 
 In which the fond mother her lullaby sung, 
 Which spoke the first lispings of childhood, and bearing 
 
 The father's last prayer from his now silent tongue : 
 That so, as it breathes the pure sound of devotion, 
 And speaks with the power that still'd the rough ocean, 
 Each breast may be calm'd into gentler emotion, 
 
 And Erin's wild harp to Hosannas be strung. 
 
 And soon from the cliffs, by the ocean surrounded, 
 
 To that milder shore, by the shallow sea bounded, 
 May the call of the Shepherd be faithfully sounded, 
 O'er marshes and mountain, through isle and through grore ! 
 
154 
 
 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND, &c. 
 
 At all events, their situation being now brought more 
 fully before the public eye, 1 cannot believe, that, in such a 
 day as tins, these islanders will be suffered to remain longer, 
 much less to die, in their present condition, without any re- 
 garding it. It may indeed seem to the reader as if a mist 
 had risen and dispersed, exhibiting to his view an assem- 
 blage of his countrymen hitherto unknown ; but no man 
 can innocently desire that tins misty obscurity should des- 
 cend again, to conceal them from the eye of the intelligent 
 and humane. 
 
 In the inhabited Western Isles of Scotland, amounting to sixty -eight in number, 
 there are at present above seventy schools, where the vernacular language is taught, 
 and in many of these, o'her branches of education :— In the inhabited islands round 
 the coast of Ireland, amounting to one hundred and forty, we know that there has 
 been appointed— one Irish school ! but know not whether it is yet in active ope rat io n . 
 
 " If obedience to the will of God be necessary to happiness, and knowledge of his 
 will be necessary to obedience, I know not how he that withholds this knowledge, or 
 delays it, can be said to love his neighbour as himself." JOHNSON. 
 
SECTION VI. 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 Against the employment of the Irish language answered, and shown to be of baneful 
 tendency in every sense ; as it is not only essential to the effectual instruction of the 
 people, but its neglect is injurious, as well to the progress of the English language 
 as to that of general information. 
 
 The preceding pages may be said to involve an answer to 
 every objection against the employment of the Irish lan- 
 guage in the business of education or instruction, wherever 
 it happens to be daily spoken ; but as the objections them- 
 selves furnish occasion for adducing a curious, if not in- 
 structive variety of collateral proof, they are here noticed. 
 The same objections were indeed answered in a memorial 
 on behalf of the Native Irish in 1815 ; but that has been 
 long out of print. Of course I often employ the same lan- 
 guage, but with many additional facts. 
 
 I. Such measures would give too much encouragement to 
 the language itself, for the sooner it is destroyed or abolished \ 
 so much the better. 
 
 This is an ancient objection, and it is still heard on both 
 sides of the Channel, though within these fifteen years a 
 great change has taken place, and all who have paid atten- 
 tion to the subject see through its fallacy. To expect that 
 any language will decline by denouncing it, is vain. Nay, 
 only neglecting to teach the people to read it, though at the 
 same time enforcing the reading of another as the only 
 channel of instruction to the poor, and as the only road to 
 preferment or indulgence, is an attempt, the merits of which 
 can very easily be put to the proof and examined by the 
 result. The following cases not only include a reply to the 
 objection, but furnish so many powerful arguments for im- 
 mediate, and cordial, and general attention, as well to the 
 language as to the circumstances of the Native Irish 
 people. 
 
156 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 English. — The argumentum ad hominem is not without 
 its value, and may be employed here with some force. It 
 is but fair, and may not be unseasonable, to remind the 
 Englishman of this day, as well as the Anglo- Hibernian, 
 that when Ireland was invaded in the twelfth century, 
 English was not the language of authority and command, 
 but French. When Henry II. himself was returning from 
 Ireland, in the spring of 1173, and passing through Pem- 
 broke, a Welshman accosted him. The Cambrian, suppos- 
 ing that a King of England must understand English, 
 addressed Henry in that language, calling him 6 gode olde 
 Kynge.' Understanding nothing of this salutation, his 
 Majesty said to his esquire, in French, ' What does this 
 man mean V and the esquire, who had been so situated as 
 to converse with the Native English, had to act as inter- 
 preter. Thus the fifth King of England after the Conquest 
 did not seem to know the signification of the word King in 
 the English tongue. His son and successor, Richard, pro- 
 bably knew as little, at least it is certain that he could not 
 hold a conversation in English ; though, sitting upon the 
 throne of England, he is said to have made amends for tins 
 deficiency, by speaking and writing well the two languages 
 of Gaul, both north and south, the language of oui and the 
 language of oc /* The English tongue, therefore, such as it 
 was in these days, was indeed spoken by men in that army ; 
 but all the chiefs were Norman-French. English was 
 spoken by soldiers in the streets and markets within the 
 pale ; but French was the language in the castles and houses 
 of the Barons. Thus the men of English race, upon Irish 
 ground, occupied only a middle state between the Nor- 
 mans and the Irish. Their language, at that period was, 
 in fact, proscribed, and in their own country despised, while 
 in Ireland it held but an intermediate rank between that of 
 the new government and the ancient dialect of the abori- 
 gines. Taught as the English or Anglo-Saxons had been, 
 by this time, for a century, and were to be for two hundred 
 years longer, that the edicts or dicta of the reigning power 
 cannot wrest from a people the use of their mother-tongue ; 
 was it not strange that they could not perceive that the 
 Native Irish were certain to act by their vernacular tongue, 
 lust as they themselves had done by theirs ? Yet is it not a 
 little remarkable, that the evil under which the Native Irish 
 
 * Brompton, p. 1079. Thierry's Norman Conquest, vol. iii. p. 180. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE, 
 
 157 
 
 have laboured for so many ages, and up to the present hour, 
 is the precise evil under which England groaned for three 
 hundred years, from the time of the Norman invasion ? 
 This last territorial conquest in the west of Europe is never 
 to be forgotten, as having introduced a species of policy 
 into this country which has checked the diffusion of know- 
 ledge perhaps more than any one circumstance which can 
 be mentioned. It was a sort of crusade on the colloquial 
 dialect of the subdued party, and it certainly had its effects. 
 It checked the diffusion of knowledge among the Native 
 English, it sank the lower orders into darkness, and re- 
 stricted all useful and scientific information to a privileged 
 class. But did this experiment of three hundred years' 
 duration root out, diminish, or abolish the English tongue % 
 No such thing. Long after the Conquest the preaching of 
 the Normans was not at all understood by the audience ;* 
 and though the court, the law, and the nobility used French, 
 the Native English never, as Robert of Gloucester informs 
 us, abandoned their vernacular tongue. In the first part of 
 the reign of Edward III., Norman-French had reached its 
 highest ascendency in England. Boys in the schools were 
 instructed in the French idiom ; after this, in some in- 
 stances, came Latin, and there was no regular instruction 
 of youth in English. The children of the nobles were even 
 sent abroad to secure correctness of pronunciation. Yet 
 what signified all this unnatural procedure 1 Rolle, or, as 
 he is sometimes named, Richard of Ham pole, who died in 
 1348-9, intimates, that the generality of the laity under- 
 stood no language except the English ; and the English 
 versifier of the romance of Arthur and Merlin asserts, that 
 he knew even many nobles who were ignorant of French. 
 A change of fashion was now at hand. In 1362 the act 
 passed which recited that the French language was so un- 
 known in England, that the parties to law-suits had no 
 knowledge or understanding of what was said for or against 
 them, because the counsel spoke French. It therefore or- 
 dered that all causes should in future be pleaded, discussed, 
 and adjudged in English .f After this, English immediately 
 so superseded its competitor, that by the year 1385 the 
 teaching of French in all the schools had been discontinued, 
 and English substituted. J " How hard a matter it is," 
 
 * Hist. Ingulf, p. 115. t 36 Edward 3, c. 15. 
 
 X Turner's Hist, of England, 4to, vol. ii. p. 574. Three years after this, in 1388, 
 the English was introduced into Parliament, though the absurd custom of record- 
 ing the statutes in Norman, continued for ninety-five years longer. It was abo- 
 lished by Kichard III. in 1483. 
 
 O 
 
158 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 says old Brerewood, " utterly to abolish a vulgar language 
 in a populous country, may well appear by the vain attempt 
 of our Norman Conqueror, who, although he compelled the 
 English to teach their young children. in the schools nothing 
 but French, and set down all the laws of the land in French, 
 (which custom continued till Edward the Third, his days, 
 who disannulled it,) purposing thereby to have conquered 
 the language together with the land, and to have made all 
 French ; yet all was labour lost, and obtained no other 
 effect than the mingling of a few French words with the 
 English. And even such also was the success of the Franks 
 among the Gauls, and of the Gotjis among the Italians and 
 Spaniards."* Brerewood here may be said to underrate the 
 influence of the Norman-French ; but still it is certain that 
 it can by no means be charged with the greater part of that 
 difference which exists between the Anglo-Saxon and the 
 modern tongue. 
 
 After passing through such an ordeal as this, it might 
 have been supposed, that of all the nations on the face of 
 the earth, the English would have been the last to have 
 pursued measures which they themselves had shown to be 
 abortive, and which had been also followed by such injuri- 
 ous and barbarizing consequences to their own ancestors. 
 
 Independently, however, of this instance, the following 
 cases will fully settle this objection, and they are the more 
 worthy of notice when the coincidence of dates is observed. 
 Abroad and at home, in Germany, in Wales, in the High- 
 lands of Scotland, and the Isle of Mann, as well as in Ireland, 
 there seems to have been (unconsciously) a unity of design 
 which, in all the attempts, proved abortive, and evinced, at 
 the same time, what to some may appear strange, that if 
 any colloquial dialect is to decline, and the language spoken 
 in its vicinity is to gain the ascendency, the most direct and 
 effectual process is that of teaching to read the colloquial 
 dialect itself. 
 
 Wen den. — For about thirty years, viz. from 1678 to 
 1708, an attempt was made to destroy the Wenden language, 
 which is a dialect of the Slavonian, spoken by a tribe of 
 people called Die Wendens, living in the circles of Upper 
 and Lower Lusatia, Silesia, &c. In a Latin letter to J. Cham- 
 berlayne, Esq. from the Rev. Dr Jablonski, first chaplain 
 
 * Brerewood's Inquiries touching the Diversity of Languages, &c. London, 1674, 
 p. 27. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 159 
 
 to the King of Prussia, dated Berlin, 5th May, 1714, there 
 is the following distinct account of this business : — " Worthy- 
 Sir, — I thought it would not be unacceptable to you, or the 
 Rev. Mr Richardson, if I should write you a short account 
 of some things here, which seem to be parallel to your Irish 
 affairs. There are to this very day some considerable re- 
 mains of the ancient Venedi (called by us the Die Wendens), 
 who formerly inhabited the banks of the Vistula, but now 
 live along the Oder and the Sprea ; their country runs 
 through both the Lusatias, into Misnia on the one hand, 
 and Silesia on the other. Part of them are subject to the 
 Emperor and the Elector of Saxony, and part to the Elector 
 of Brandenburgh." — " This people being originally Sarma- 
 tians, speak the Slavonian tongue, and most tenaciously 
 keep up the use of it to this day, notwithstanding that they 
 have so many ages lived in the midst of Germans. Some 
 of them having passed the Elbe in the days of Charles the 
 Great, settled in the country of Lunenburg ; but their lan- 
 guage, by reason of the small numbers of those that spoke 
 it, as we may imagine, having lost ground by little and 
 little, was at last quite disused within the memory of our 
 fathers, nay of some now alive. Some while since several 
 attempts were made to bring our Wendens likewise into a 
 disuse of it ; and to that end there was a German school set 
 up at every church; to most of their congregations were 
 sent German pastors ignorant of the Slavonian tongue ; and 
 no books were printed in that language, that so this illiterate 
 people might be under a necessity of learning the German 
 tongue. 
 
 "But none of these methods had the desired success ; for 
 the schools, which seemed most likely to effect it, were 
 found to be insufficient, because the Wendens, being hus- 
 bandmen, do not inhabit cities or towns, but villages only, 
 which, being often far asunder, their children could not, 
 without difficulty, go to school, especially in winter, which 
 was the only time they could be spared, as their parents 
 could not dispense with their assistance in summer at their 
 country labours ; thus they wilfully forgot that in summer 
 which they had unwillingly learned in winter ; which their 
 parents, who were not willing to change their own language 
 for the German, secretly rejoiced at. The German pastors 
 of these churches had very bad success in their employ- 
 ment ; for, being ' barbarians' to their hearers, the greatest 
 part of them, and especially the women, were not at all 
 edified ; and it was found by experience, that, after the 
 o2 
 
160 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 space of thirty years and upwards, neither the pastor nor 
 the flock understood each other. Finally, the want of 
 books of piety in their own language tended naturally to 
 foment their ignorance, but not to kindle in them any de- 
 sire to those in the German tongue ; for they, not knowing 
 the good of such books, perfectly despised them. 
 
 " And now you may easily judge what a miserable con- 
 dition these unhappy people were in, who were altogether 
 unacquainted with letters, had not one book, no spiritual 
 food, nor any other helps for devotion, but a few prayers, 
 and some hymns to be got by heart. Neither was any part 
 of the Sacred Scriptures printed for the use of so many 
 numerous congregations ; but every minister, instead of a 
 sermon, read to them some portion of the Word of God, 
 translating it himself as well as he could from the German 
 into the Wenden language, too often with little accuracy or 
 judgment. 
 
 u At last the king (Frederic) applied a remedy to these 
 great evils ; the Rev. Gottlieb Fabricius, a godly and very 
 zealous minister of the Gospel among the W endens, hav- 
 ing by his great piety contributed much thereto. After he 
 had with no small labour learned the Wenden language, 
 and translated a catechism into it, he soon betook himself 
 to a greater work, and, in the year 1709, published the 
 whole New Testament in that language. He is now 
 employed in publishing an elaborate version of the book of 
 Psalms and several Hymns. This man, being called to the 
 parish of Peitzens, which consists of six villages, whereof 
 he hath now the charge, and finding no Wenden school 
 there, though he met with some difficulty at first, from the 
 opposition even of his own parishioners, yet he so managed 
 the matter, that a schoolmaster was immediately placed for 
 the benefit of two of these villages. This man so faithfully 
 discharged the trust committed to him, that, in a short 
 time, not only these two villages were much pleased with 
 reading their own language , but the inhabitants of the rest 
 desired that schoolmasters might be placed among them 
 too. These they soon obtained ; three were sent to them, 
 Fabricius himself having, with a great deal of pains, first 
 taught them to read, and then how to instruct the children 
 committed to their care. He soon saw the happy effect of 
 his pious labours. Not only some hundreds of children 
 were now taught to read by the industry of these masters, 
 but the parents themselves, (who formerly thought their 
 children might live as happily without letters as they had 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 161 
 
 done, and out of a kind of secret envy would not have 
 their children more knowing than themselves) learned to 
 read from their own children, and practised it in their 
 daily devotion at home. Nay, in some places, which could 
 not be supplied with masters, while the servants were 
 taking care of the horses, some one of them, who had 
 happily learned to read, would often take that opportunity 
 to instruct the rest in reading" 
 
 The sentiments of Frederic in relation to this affair are 
 excellently expressed in a rescript of his to the government 
 of Xewmark, dated 22d September, 1708, which is inserted 
 at length in the above Letter, when the Doctor concludes as 
 follows : — " This, however, is certain, that the small pro- 
 gress some of the Venedi have made in reading, hath so 
 much raised their appetite, that they do now of their own 
 accord apply themselves to learn the German language, 
 that so they may enjoy the benefit of books written in it ; 
 whereby it is come to pass, that what was believed would 
 be a hindrance to the German tongue, doth on the contrary 
 evidently tend to its increase"* 
 
 Bohemian. — The above is not the only instance within 
 the German empire. At so recent a period as the year 
 1765, the idea of destroying the vernacular tongue of 
 Bohemia was entertained. The Bohemian, or Tschechnish 
 dialect of the Slavonian language, is spoken generally by 
 the peasantry, and by many of superior rank ; yet " in the 
 year alluded to, an attempt was made, but without success, 
 to introduce German teachers into all the schools, so that 
 the Bohemian language might be entirely abolished." t 
 The wakeful and judicious benevolence of the present day 
 has operated, in this instance also, in a more excellent 
 way. Editions of the Bohemian Bible, amounting to 
 thousands of copies, have been printed within the last 
 twenty years ; and these appear to be insufficient to gratify 
 the desire which prevails among the people to read the 
 Scriptures in their own tongue. This desire to read will 
 spread the German language. 
 
 To come nearer home ; the scheme of abolishing a 
 language, by either neglecting it or teaching another, has 
 been, a favourite one within the limits of the United King- 
 dom, and that for ages ; but with what success let the fol- 
 lowing accounts testify : — 
 
 * Published at the end of Richardson on Pilgrimages. Dublin, 1727. This letter 
 might have been glanced at in page 61, a? the final effort of Richardson, 
 t Historical and Political ^Descriptions of Germany, 4to, London, 1800, p. 83. 
 3 
 
162 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 Welsh. — So early as the year 1567, the Welsh had 
 been favoured, by the zeal of a private gentleman, William 
 Salesbury, with a translation of the New Testament in the 
 vernacular tongue ; and I cannot, by the way, but notice 
 here, that neither Queen Elizabeth nor her advisers re- 
 quired any reply to the objection we are now answering. 
 On the contrary, it has been already seen, that, in 1571 , 
 she had sent Irish types and a printing-press to Ireland, 
 and it appears that eight years before this, that is, in 
 1563, when ordering, by bill, the translation of the Welsh 
 Scriptures, " for the souls' health of the flocks," in the 
 principality, it was also in order that such as did not un- - 
 derstand the English language might, " by conferring both 
 tongues together, the sooner attain to the knowledge of the 
 English tongue." These are, in fact, the express terms of 
 the statute ; and had such a self-evident course of policy 
 been also pursued from that time in Ireland, the country 
 would certainly not have been in its present condition. 
 The comparatively ample provision made for the Welsh, in 
 regard to the Scriptures and other books, will appear after - 
 wards. Yet it is strange, that, during the last century, the 
 short-sighted policy which we now reprobate was attempt- 
 ing to exert itself even in Wales. 
 
 In allusion to ihe endeavours of some to banish their 
 language by teaching English, we find the Rev. Griffith 
 Jones of Llandowrer, the original promoter of the Welsh 
 Circulating Schools, pleading as follows: — "In the ordinary 
 way, it is as unlikely to bring the whole body of the Welsh 
 people to learn the English tongue, as it would be to pre- 
 vail with all the common people of England to learn 
 French. I am much at a loss to know what method 
 should be tried. Should all our Welsh books, and our ex- 
 cellent version of the Holy Bible, Welsh preaching, and 
 the stated worship of God in our language, be taken away, 
 to bring us to a disuse of our tongue ? So they are in a 
 manner in some places ; the more our misery ; and yet the 
 people are no more better scholars than they are better 
 Christians for it. Welsh is still the vulgar tongue, and 
 not English. The English Charity Schools, which have 
 been tried, produced no better effect in country places. All 
 that the children could do in three, four, or five years,* 
 amounted commonly to no more than to learn very im- 
 
 * Five winters, for they could attend only at that period of the year, though bv 
 few of the poor could stay so long. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 163 
 
 perfectly to read some easy parts of the Bible, without 
 knowing the Welsh of it : nor should this be thought 
 strange, considering that they were learning to read an un- 
 known language, and had none to speak it but the master, 
 and he too obliged to talk to them often in Welsh ; inso- 
 much that they, who have been so long in English schools, 
 could not edify themselves by reading, till many of them 
 lately learned to read their own language in the Welsh 
 Charity Schools." (C Sure I am, the Welsh Charity Schools 
 do no way hinder to learn English, but do very much con- 
 tribute towards it ; and perhaps you will allow, Sir, that 
 learning our own language first is the most expeditious 
 way to come at the knowledge of another, else why are not 
 your youths in England, designed for scholars, set to Latin 
 and Greek before they are taught English ? 
 
 " But I am next," says Mr Jones, " to consider another 
 part of the objection, viz. c Why should the king's sub- 
 jects in Wales only* not be brought to understand English % 
 We are to acknowledge ourselves greatly indebted for 
 being admitted to enjoy the same English liberties in 
 common with you, which we have been blessed with for 
 many successions of reigns, and continue to enjoy under 
 his present Majesty; but for our being of a different lan- 
 guage, it is hoped the reasons already given will so fully 
 account for it, that whereinsoever this may be a misfortune 
 or disadvantage to us, you will condole instead of being of- 
 fended with us. Was our language understood, we could 
 express our loyalty in the strongest terms, and its not be- 
 ing so shall in no wise make us worse subjects. Although 
 we have not the happiness of being able to express our 
 allegiance in the words of your language, yet we hope that 
 in deed we shall not be found defective in it." Again, says 
 this excellent man, " Experience now proves beyond dis- 
 pute, that if ever it be attempted to bring all the Welsh 
 people to understand English, we cannot better pave the 
 way for it, than by teaching them to read their own 
 language first. This method will conduce, more than any 
 other I can think of, to assist whatever attempts may be 
 made to spread the general knowledge of the English tongue 
 in this country, "f 
 
 * There is an allusion here to the contemporary but vain attempts in Ireland, in 
 the Highlands of Scotland, and in the Isle of Mann, thus to destroy the Irish, the 
 Gaelic, and the Manx ! 
 
 i» t Welsh Piety, or a Collection of the several Accounts of the Circulating Welsh 
 Charity Schools, from their rise in 1737 to Michaelmas 1753, in three vols 8vo. 
 
164 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 As an appropriate continuation of the account of tho 
 Welsh Schools, I must not omit to notice the laborious 
 exertions of the late Rev. Thomas Charles of Bala, a man 
 whose memory will be cherished with fervent gratitude in 
 the principality for a long period to come. Not being 
 acquainted with any account of his efforts so minute and 
 satisfactory as that which is contained in a letter of his, 
 addressed to the present writer, dated 4th January, 1811, I 
 shall take the liberty of inserting the greater part of it 
 here, after respectfully requesting the candid attention of 
 gentlemen in Ireland to the argument throughout, as it 
 affects our sister country. 
 
 " The important intelligence which your letter brought 
 me of the benevolent intention of charitable persons in the 
 north, of forming a society in Edinburgh, for the design of 
 encouraging schools in the Highlands and the Islands of 
 Scotland, to teach the poor inhabitants to read their native 
 Gaelic tongue, appears to me highly laudable, and gives me 
 very great gratification. In compliance with your request, 
 I shall here attempt to give you a comprehensive and 
 succinct account of similar institutions with us in this prin- 
 cipality, their nature, and the success of them. 
 
 " The Rev. Griffith Jones, about A. D. 1730, made the 
 first attempt of any importance, on an extensive scale, to 
 erect schools for the instruction of our poor people to read 
 their native language. Before that time, the whole country 
 was in a most deplorable state with regard to the acquisi- 
 tion of religious knowledge. After the decease of this very 
 pious and laborious minister, A. D. 1761, the schools were 
 continued on the same plan by a pious lady of fortune, an 
 intimate friend of Mr Jones, and a constant attendant on 
 his ministry — her name was Mrs Bevan. In her will, that 
 lady, who lived several years after Mr Jones, left ten thou- 
 sand pounds, the interest of which was to be applied, for 
 ever, towards perpetuating those schools. Her executrix, a 
 niece of hers, disputed the validity of the will, so far as it 
 applied to this money. It was thrown into Chancery, where 
 it continued for thirty years before a decree was obtained. 
 About two years past, a decree was granted in favour of 
 this charity ; and the interest of the ten thousand pounds, 
 with the accumulation of it by interest all the years it was 
 in Chancery, is to be applied, under certain specific regula- 
 tions and restrictions, to the support of emulating charity 
 schools throughout the whole principality ! This was a 
 consummation to be devoutly wished indeed ! And the more 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 165 
 
 so, as we had all despaired of ever seeing the money applied 
 to the proper object. There are now forty schools erected 
 in different parts of the country, and the number is con- 
 tinually increasing. In the course of a few years after the 
 cessation of these, on the demise of Mrs Bevan, the country 
 gradually reverted into the same state of stupor and igno- 
 rance in which Mr Jones found it when he first thought of 
 those institutions. Besides, though Mr Jones' schools in- 
 creased to the amazing number of two hundred and twenty 
 before he died, yet there were many districts in this moun- 
 tainous country never visited by his schools, or but once, 
 and that for a very short time. In one of these districts it 
 pleased the will of Providence to place me. Soon after I 
 assumed the care of the parish, I attempted to instruct the 
 rising generation, by catechising them every Sunday after- 
 noon ; but their not being able to read I found to be a great 
 obstacle to the progress of my work. This induced me to 
 inquire into the state of the country in this point of view. 
 I soon found the poor people to be in general in the same 
 state of ignorance. Two or three of the children of the 
 wealthiest were sent to the next town to learn English, and 
 tins was all ; the generality were left totally destitute of 
 any instruction. As Mr Jones' schools had ceased to circu- 
 late, no relief could be obtained from that quarter. A 
 thought occurred to my anxious mind, for so it really was, 
 that, by the charitable assistance of some friends, I might 
 be able to obtain means of employing a teacher, and to re- 
 move him from one place to another, to instruct the poor 
 ignorant people. When I had succeeded in obtaining pecu- 
 niary aid, the great difficulty of obtaining a proper person 
 to teach occurred. This difficulty was removed by instruct- 
 ing a poor man myself, and employing him at first near me, 
 that this school might be, in a manner, under my constant 
 inspection. The next difficulty was, to obtain proper ele- 
 mentary books. In this point Mr Jones' schools were very 
 deficient, as the books used in his schools were little better 
 than the English battledoors, and very ill calculated to for- 
 ward the children in their learning. This obstruction also 
 was gradually surmounted. I composed three elementary 
 books, besides two catechisms, which are now used in all 
 our schools, and very essentially assist the progress of the 
 children. My teachers, as my funds increased, multiplied 
 gradually from one to twenty ; but of late the number is 
 decreased, as the necessity of the week-day schools is super- 
 seded by the increase of Sunday schools, and my attention 
 
166 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 4s drawn to the extension of them as wide as possible. The 
 circulating day schools have been the principal means of 
 erecting Sunday schools ; for, without the former, the 
 state of the country was such, that we could not obtain 
 teachers to carry on the latter ; besides, Sunday schools 
 were set up in every place where the day schools had been. 
 My mode of conducting the schools has been as follows : — 
 My first greatest care has been in the appointment of pro- 
 per teachers. They are all poor persons, as my wages are 
 but small ; besides, a poor person can assimilate himself to 
 the habits and mode of living among the poor, as it is his 
 own way of living. It is requisite that he should be a per- 
 son of moderate abilities, but, above all, that he be truly 
 pious, moral, decent, humble, and engaging in his whole 
 deportment ; not captious, not disputatious, not conceited, 
 no idle saunterer, no tattler, nor given to the indulgence 
 of any idle habits. My care here has been abundantly 
 repaid ; for my teachers in general are as anxious as myself 
 in the success of the work, and the eternal welfare of those 
 they are employed to instruct in their most important con- 
 cerns. In introducing the school into a place, I pay a 
 previous visit there, after conversing a little with some of 
 the principal inhabitants on the subject ; I convene the in- 
 habitants together, after having sent a previous message to 
 them, intimating my intention of visiting them, and speci- 
 fying the time of my coming.— When convened together, I 
 publicly address them on the vast importance of having 
 their children taught to read the word of God, and after- 
 wards I inform them of my intention of sending a teacher 
 to assist in instructing their children, and also grown-up 
 people who cannot read, who will attend him on Sundays, 
 and as many nights in the week as they please. I conclude 
 by exhorting the parents to send their children to the 
 school. I converse familiarly afterwards with the parents, 
 and promise to assist them with books, if they should be 
 too poor to buy any. I take kind notices of the children 
 also ; and thus, in general, we are kind friends ever after 
 the first interview. The teacher is to take no entrance- 
 money — is charged not to encroach upon them, and intrude 
 himself upon them, unless particularly invited into their 
 houses ; and then he is charged to have family-prayers 
 night and morning, wherever he goes to reside for a night ; 
 to introduce conversations respecting his own work, and 
 not indulge himself with them in vain idle talk ; that in 
 him they may see how a Christian lives, and how they 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 167 
 
 ought to live. His time is entirely at my command, and to 
 be devoted wholly to the work ; he is engaged in the even- 
 ing as well as through the day, and that every day. Before 
 the school is removed, I go there twice, if possible, and ex- 
 amine the children publicly ; these public examinations 
 and catechisings I have found most profitable to the parents 
 and grown-up people : I have often seen them exceedingly 
 affected by the intelligent and proper responses of the 
 children. Before I leave them, I exhort them earnestly to 
 support the Sunday school that had been begun among 
 them, to prevent the children from forgetting what they 
 have learned, to further their progress in learning, now 
 they have happily begun ; and this they generally comply 
 with. 
 
 " At first, the strong prejudice which universally prevail- 
 ed against teaching them to read Welsh first, and the idea 
 assumed, that they could not learn English so well, if pre- 
 viously instructed in the Welsh language ; this, I say, 
 proved a great stumbling-block in the way of parents to 
 send children to the Welsh schools, together with another 
 conceit they had, that if they could read English, they 
 would soon learn of themselves to read Welsh ; but now 
 these idle and groundless conceits are universally scouted. 
 This change has been produced, not so much by disputing, 
 as by the evident salutary effects of the schools, the great 
 delight with which the children attended them, and the 
 great progress they made in the acquisition of knowledge. 
 The school continues usually at one time in the same place 
 six or nine months, which depends on local circumstances, 
 the number of children, and the progress which the children 
 make. In some districts they learn with much greater 
 rapidity than in others ; the causes of this are various, 
 which I cannot enumerate here. This has been my mode 
 of proceeding, subject to some local variations, for above 
 twenty-three years ; and I have had the only satisfaction I 
 could wish — that of seeing the work, by the Lord's blessing, 
 prospering far beyond my most sanguine expectations. The 
 beginning was small, but the little brook became an over- 
 flowing river, which has spread widely over the whole 
 country in Sunday schools, the wholesome effects of these 
 previous institutions fertilizing the barren soil wherever it 
 flows. 
 
 " As to the expediency of teaching young people, in the 
 first place, to read the language they generally speak and 
 best understand, if imparting religious knowledge is our 
 
168 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 primary object, as it most certainly ought to be in instruct- 
 ing immortal beings, it needs no proof, for it is self-evident. 
 However, I beg your attention for a moment to the follow- 
 ing particulars, making no apology for the great length of 
 this letter, as you desired me to be particular. — 1. The time 
 necessary to teach them to read the Bible in their vernacu- 
 lar language is so short, not exceeding six months in gene- 
 ral, that it is a great pity not to give them the key imme- 
 diately which unlocks all the doors, and lays open all the 
 divine treasures before them. Teaching them English re- 
 quires two or three years' time, during which long period 
 they are concerned only about dry terms, without receiving 
 one idea for their improvement. — 2. Welsh words convey 
 ideas to their infant minds as soon as they can read them, 
 which is not the case when they are taught to read a lan- 
 guage they do not understand. — 3. When they can read 
 Welsh, scriptural terms become intelligible and familiar to 
 them, so as to enable them to understand the discourse de- 
 livered in that language (the language in general preached 
 through the Principality /*) which, of course, must prove 
 more profitable than if they could not read at all, or read 
 only the English language. — 4. Previous instruction in their 
 native tongue helps them to learn English much sooner, 
 instead of proving in any degree an inconveniency. This 
 I have had repeated proofs of, and can confidently vouch 
 for the truth of it. I took this method of instructing my 
 own children, with the view of convincing the country of 
 the fallacy of the general notion which prevailed to the con- 
 trary ; and I have persuaded others to follow my plan, 
 which, without one exception, has proved the truth of what 
 I conceived to be really the case. — 5. Having acquired new 
 ideas by reading a language they understand, excitement is 
 naturally produced to seek for knowledge ; and as our an- 
 cient language is very deficient in the means of instruction, 
 there being few useful books printed in it, a desire to learn 
 English, yea, and other languages also, is excited, for the 
 sake of increasing their stock of ideas, and adding to their 
 fund of knowledge. I can vouch for the truth of it, that 
 there are twenty to one who can now read English to what 
 could when the Welsh was entirely neglected. The know- 
 ledge of the English is become necessary, from the treasures 
 contained in it. English books are now generally called for ; 
 
 * What a contract, I may add, to the present state of Ireland ! 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 169 
 
 there are now a hundred books, I am sure, for every one 
 that was in the country when I removed from England, and 
 first became a resident in these parts. English schools are 
 everywhere called for, and I have been obliged to send young 
 men to English schools, to be trained up for English teach- 
 ers, that I might be able, in some degree, to answer the 
 general demand for them. In short, the whole country is 
 in a manner emerging from a state of great ignorance and 
 ferocious barbarity to civilization and piety, and that prin- 
 cipally by means of the Welsh schools. Bibles without end 
 are called for, and read diligently, learned out by heart, and 
 searched into with unwearied assiduity and care. Instead 
 of vain amusements, dancing, card-playing, interludes, 
 quarrelling, and barbarous and most cruel fightings, we 
 have now prayer-meetings, our congregations are crowded, 
 and public catechising is become pleasant, familiar, and 
 profitable. One great means of this blessed change has 
 been the Welsh schools. — 6. By teaching the Welsh first, 
 we prove to them that we are principally concerned about 
 their souls, and thereby naturally impress their minds with 
 the vast importance of acquiring the knowledge of divine 
 truths, in which the way of salvation, our duty to God and 
 man, is revealed ; whereas that most important point is 
 totally out of sight by teaching them English ; for the ac- 
 quisition of the English is connected only with their tem- 
 poral concerns, and which they may never want, for they 
 may, as the majority do, die in infancy. In my opinion, 
 in the education of children, it is of the utmost importance, 
 in the first place, to impress their minds with a sense that 
 they are candidates for another world, and that the things 
 pertaining to their eternal felicity there are of infinitely 
 greater importance to them, than the little concerns which 
 belong to our short existence. The neglect of this is, I ap- 
 prehend, a very great defect in the education of children. 
 
 " What I have put down here is, I apprehend, equally 
 applicable to the Irish and the Highlanders as to the Welsh. 
 Praying for your success, I am, yours respectfully," &c. 
 
 In the course of the same year in which the above letter 
 was written, Mr Charles turned his attention to the import- 
 ance of establishing adult schools, of which I had the plea- 
 sure to receive the following notice, dated the 18th of De- 
 cember, 1811 : — 
 
 " I am much obliged to you for your kind favour received 
 by this day's post, and I rejoice at the persevering efforts 
 made to teach the poor Highlanders. The schools go on 
 
 F 
 
170 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 here with increasing success, and the effects of them in 
 many parts of the country are visible, in the increase of the 
 knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, and melioration of the 
 morals of the plebeians in general. 
 
 (i I have of late turned my attention more than ever to 
 the aged illiterate people in our country. On minute in- 
 quiries I find there are very many who cannot read, and of 
 course are very ignorant, though I had before given general 
 exhortations on that head, and invited them to attend the 
 schools, but with very little success. At last I determined 
 to try what effect a school exclusively for themselves would 
 have. I fixed upon a district, where I had been informed 
 that most of the inhabitants above fifty years of age could 
 not read, and I prevailed on a friend to promise to attend 
 to teach them. I went there after a previous publication 
 being given of my coming ; published the school, and ex- 
 horted them all to attend. My friend went there, and eigh- 
 teen attended the first Sunday. He found them in a state 
 of most deplorable ignorance. By condescension, patience, 
 and kindness, he soon engaged them to learn, and their de- 
 sire for learning soon became as great as any we have seen 
 among the young people. They had their little elementary 
 books with them whilst at work, and met in the evenings 
 of their own accord to teach one another. Their school is 
 now increased to eighty persons, and some of them read 
 their Testaments, though it is not three months since the 
 school commenced. Children are excluded from this school ; 
 but we have another school for them. The rumour of the 
 success of this school has spread abroad, and has greatly 
 removed the discouragement which old people felt from at- 
 tempting to learn, from the general persuasion that they 
 could not learn at their age. This nas been practically 
 proved to be false ; for old persons of seventy-five years of 
 age have learnt to read in this school, to their great joy. 
 Several other similar institutions have been set up since, 
 and promise similar success."' — * 
 
 *In the last letter with which I was favoured from this indefatigable man, he 
 says, " The tidings respecting the charity schools are favourable, and our schools are 
 more crowded than ever with adults as well as children." " I have to lament much 
 that I have in a degree spent half my time, though very busy, yet not in that line in 
 which I see now most good might have been done. Now my strength begins to fail 
 me for great exertion. Last summer (1813) I was laid aside for two months by great 
 debility of body, owing, my doctors say, to over-exertion. Through mercy I am con- 
 siderably recovered, but still incapable of pursuing my usual labours with that assi- 
 duity and exertion I used to do." During the following spring, Mr Charles often 
 said, while superintending an edition of the Welsh Scriptures, " As soon as I have 
 finished this, I shall be content to lay my head on my pillow and die." This work 
 was finished on the 19th of August, and Mr Charles died on Wednesday morning, 
 the 5th of October, 1814. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 171 
 
 Manks. — If it had in any instance been practicable 
 directly to abolish a colloquial dialect in Britain, one might 
 have expected to have witnessed success within the very 
 narrow limits of the Isle of Mann ; and, indeed, about the 
 year 1740, it was confidently affirmed that the " ancient 
 Bishop of Sodor and Mann (Wilson) had found means to 
 bring the Manks into disuse." How this assertion came to 
 be made, what it could possibly mean, or with whom it 
 originated, I cannot ascertain, but it was certainly far from 
 the truth. On the contrary, the Manks is such an interest- 
 ing case, and one so much in point, that I make no apology 
 for inserting some account of it here in reply. 
 
 Even so early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
 J. Philips, a Welshman, and Bishop of Mann, is said to 
 have translated the Scriptures into Manks ; but if he did, 
 no remnant of his translation was known in the last century. 
 It certainly was never printed, though the book of Common- 
 Prayer, by him, in manuscript, was then extant. But, 
 notwithstanding the confident assertion already quoted, so 
 far was Bishop Wilson from being accessary to such an 
 idea, that the first book ever printed in Manks was by him, 
 and of his composition — his " Principles and Duties of 
 Christianity," in Manks and English, published so early 
 as 1699. Indeed the two individuals who are now quoted 
 by way of eminence, as the Bishops of Sodor and Mann, are 
 Bishops Wilson and Hildesley ; and it is certain that, with 
 the former, the Manks translation of the Scriptures origi- 
 nated, and under the latter it was completed. 
 
 The translation of the New Testament, in particular, into 
 Manks, was first concerted in 1722, between Bishop Wilson 
 and Dr William Walker, one of his vicars, while they were 
 wrongously imprisoned in the gaol of Castle Rushen by the 
 governor of the island ; and under their direction the Gospel 
 of Matthew was completed and printed. The other Evan- 
 gelists, with the Acts, were left prepared for the press by 
 this venerable man, who was fifty-eight years Bishop of the 
 Island, and died, in 1755, at the very advanced age of ninety- 
 i three. Of the parts now mentioned, Dr Walker was the 
 ! translator. 
 
 The principal place, however, is due to Dr Mark Hildes- 
 ley, Bishop of Mann, who succeeded him. Immediately 
 upon entering on his charge, the translation of the whole 
 Scriptures was taken up by Dr H. with the deepest solici- 
 | tude and ardour. The number of translators employed may 
 serve of itself as one evidence of his zeal in his cause. The 
 r 2 
 
172 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 Old Testament remaining untranslated, he divided it into 
 24 parts, which were first given to 24 different persons, viz. 
 his vicar-general, archdeacon, rector, a chaplain * fourteen 
 vicars, four curates, and one gentleman, who seems to have 
 had no clerical appointment. These were all resident in the 
 island : the twenty-fourth individual, to whom the minor 
 prophets were committed, was one of the episcopal ministers 
 in Edinburgh at that time, the Rev. William Fitzsimmons. 
 The work, thus far completed, was then committed to the 
 care of Dr Moore and Dr Kelly, after-mentioned. 
 
 Dr Hildesley himself applied with great assiduity to the 
 Manks, and succeeded so far as to conduct the public service 
 in what the islanders called " very pretty Manks." " I 
 would give five hundred pounds," said he, " were I enough 
 master of it to be able to translate, and I believe I shall give 
 half as much to promote the improvement of it in those who 
 can." Having applied with success to the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, and secured, through his own 
 zealous exertions, the liberal aid of various other persons, — 
 for which he was good-naturedly called the mendicant 
 Bishop, — it was not long before the Gospels and the Acts 
 were ready and circulated. Upon which the Bishop writes 
 to Mr Moore, after-mentioned, " the vast eagerness and joy 
 with which the first specimen has been received and sought 
 for, have amply convinced me of the utility of the under- 
 taking, had I had no previous persuasion in my own mind 
 of the real benefit it must needs be to the souls of the far 
 greater part of the people of my charge/' As this good 
 man proceeded, his ardour continued to increase ; and no 
 wonder, for it met with many things which Avere well cal- 
 culated to promote it. " My whole heart," said he to a 
 correspondent, " is set on Manks translations." Hie labor, 
 hoc opus est. A poor woman in this parish, upon her son's 
 reading a chapter to her, cried out with great exultation, 
 " We have sat in darkness (dorraghys) till now." 
 
 In this design, however, Dr H. had to encounter both 
 ridicule and indifference, if not opposition ; as indeed all 
 have had to do, in a greater or less degree, who have en- 
 deavoured to promote the translation and circulation of the 
 Scriptures in any of the Celtic or Iberian dialects. None of 
 these things moved him, however, as appears in his letter 
 of the 21st Dec. 1763, to Mr Moore. " Now, Sir, in answer 
 
 * Not the Bishop's chaplain, for he is recorded never to have kept one, but officiat- 
 ed himself, every Sabbath, in his own chapel. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 173 
 
 to your letter of the 17th, I have to observe, that I know of 
 no Manksman who has shown any dislike, as you seem to 
 suppose, to the Society's proposal ; but to the scheme of the 
 poor wrong-headed Bishop for introducing Manks printed 
 Gospels and Liturgy several are disapproves, both north 
 and south, in this Ellan-shaint ; as if he were intending to 
 ruin the country, by extending the light of our holy religion 
 to them who sit in darkness, for want of a Manks book, 
 whereby to see, with their own eyes, the wonderful dispen- 
 sation of God's revealing goodness to the sons of men. But 
 that the printed proposals were also received coldly is also 
 too sure ; and that by those who, I would have thought, 
 would have lifted up their hands and voices to Heaven in 
 thankfulness for such providential assistance. Discouraged, 
 my friend : No ! Those, or a hundred pails of water poured 
 on my design, will never quench the living fire of my zeal 
 to pursue it, so long as I have breath to speak with, or a pen 
 to write." — From the Manksmen, indeed, Dr H. met with 
 warm returns of gratitude and praise ; but, on the one hand, 
 as he could not be moved from his zealous constancy, so, 
 on the other, he never lost his characteristic lowliness of 
 mind. " Your compliment," said he one day to Mr Moore, 
 " your compliment about my importance to this diocese, 
 especially with regard to the design I have in hand, I note 
 that it comes from a friend too partial in my favour. What 
 my enemies say, if I have any, perhaps may be more ser- 
 viceable to me, by letting me see my real self, and thereby 
 helping to humble me." 
 
 In reference to this translation of the Sacred Volume, the 
 Bishop had frequently been in the habit of saying, " I wish 
 but to live to see it finished, and should then be happy, die 
 when I would :" and these words gave a peculiar emphasis 
 to the closing scene of his life. " On Saturday, the 28th of 
 November, 1772, he was crowned with the inexpressible 
 happiness of receiving the last part of the Bible translation : 
 upon which occasion, according to his own repeated pro- 
 mise, he very emphatically sang, nunc, Domine, dimittis ! 
 in the presence of his congratulating family." The next 
 day, in his own chapel, he preached on " the uncertainty 
 of human life;" urging, with much energy, the duty of 
 providing for our summons hence, and standing before the 
 great tribunal. In the evening he again called his family 
 together, and resumed the subject, and this with such con- 
 vincing force, and so friendly a feeling for his domestic 
 audience, as drew tears from everv eye. Thus, " in some- 
 r 3 
 
174 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 thing like prophetic strain," did the good man seem to have 
 anticipated and prepared others for his decease ; for on the 
 Monday following, the 30th of November, 1772, after dining 
 and conversing cheerfully, he was seized with apoplexy, 
 which in a moment deprived him of his intellectual powers. 
 In this situation he remained a week, and then calmly re- 
 signed his spirit in the 74th year of his age. His zeal for 
 the completion and publication of the Manks Scriptures had 
 continued unwearied through life, and he is said to have 
 " carried it with him to the grave, and even into his grave : 
 as he had by his will directed that the funeral office and 
 sermon should be in the Manks language, and left three 
 hundred pounds to the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge towards a future edition of the Manks Bible," 
 &c. 
 
 The Rev. Philip Moore, a native of the Isle of Mann, has 
 been repeatedly referred to. He had been educated under 
 old Bishop Wilson, and was rector of Kirkbride, in Mann. 
 At the request of the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, and under Bishop Hildesley, he undertook the revision 
 of the whole translation, in connexion with Dr Kelly, and 
 he was favoured with the advice of Bishop Lowth and Dr 
 Kennicot, both of whom took an interest in this work. One 
 capital article in the bond of union between Bishop Hildes- 
 ley and Mr Moore was certainly his deep interest in the 
 Manks translation, which the latter even left on record, in- 
 rather remarkable terms, in his will, dated 14th December, 
 1778, as follows : — " Auspicante Deo, et per totam vitam 
 favente Christo, I, Philip Moore, rector of Kirkbride, and 
 chaplain in Douglas, now in the 49th year of my ministra- 
 tion, and the 74th of my age ; yet of sound mind, good me- 
 mory, and health uncommon at this time of life ; for which, 
 and all the blessings and comforts of existence, I cannot too 
 much magnify, bless, and adore the Almighty Lord and 
 Author of our happiness ; but, above all, that I had a capi- 
 tal hand and concern in the Manks Scriptures" &c. After 
 a few hours illness, Mr Moore died in the year 1783, in the 
 seventy-eighth year of his age. At the time of his decease, 
 all the clergy of the island, except four, had been educated 
 under his care. 
 
 The Rev. Dr John Kelly, already mentioned, was born j 
 at Douglas, in 1750, and at an early age discovered such 
 proficiency in the language as marked him out for essen- 1 
 tial service in furthering the Manks translation. At the 
 age of eighteen he entered on the work, and for the space j 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 175 
 
 of four years and a half was incessantly engaged in it. He 
 transcribed, fair, the whole version, from Genesis to Reve- 
 lation, for the press. In connexion with Mr Moore, he 
 revised the proof-sheets, corrected the press, and superin- 
 tended the whole impression as far as the Epistles, besides 
 the subsequent editions of the New Testament. During 
 the progress of this work, one circumstance occurred of con- 
 siderable interest, which is mentioned by Dr Kelly. " I 
 began," says he, " to revise, correct, and transcribe the 
 Gaelic (Manks) translation of the Bible on the 1st June, 
 1768. The Pentateuch was soon also ready for the press, 
 and we arrived at Whitehaven, where the work was print- 
 ed in April, 1770. On our next return from the island to 
 Whitehaven, the 19th of March, 1771, with another por- 
 tion, from Deuteronomy to Job inclusive, we were ship- 
 wrecked in a storm. With no small difficulty and danger 
 the manuscript was preserved, by holding it above the toater 
 for the space of five hoars, and this was almost the only 
 article saved !" This work was completed, as already stated, 
 in November, 1772. In 1776 Dr Kelly became Episcopal 
 minister at Ayr, — in 1779 he engaged as tutor to the pre- 
 sent Duke of Gordon, then Marquis of Huntly,— in 1791 
 he was Vicar of Ardleigh, near Colchester — proceeded LL.D. 
 at Cambridge in 1799 ; and on being appointed Rector of 
 Copford, not far from Ardleigh, he resigned the latter. In 
 the year 1803 he published his " Practical Grammar" of 
 the Manks, and in 1805 issued proposals for a " Triglot 
 Dictionary of the Celtic, as spoken in the Highlands, Ire- 
 land, and the Isle of Mann ;" but, in 1808, the sixty-three 
 sheets printed off were consumed by a fire in the office, and 
 the work has not since appeared. Dr Kelly died next year. 
 
 In the course of about 36 years, viz. from 1762 to 1798, 
 there was raised above L.4000 in aid of the Manks Scrip- 
 tures, and other publications in that tongue. Among the 
 benefactions there appears one, in 1770, of L.500, from the 
 Right Hon. Mary Countess Dowager Gower, part of the 
 charities of her deceased father, Thomas Earl of Thanet. 
 There was also a Lincolnshire Baronet, Sir John Thorold, a 
 most benevolent character, who entered into the design with 
 great ardour, and gave at different periods to the amount 
 of L.500 sterling. Both the Bishop and his translators 
 were animated in their progress by the letters of this truly 
 excellent man. As for our own day, the following para- 
 graph from the Eleventh Report of the Bible Society may 
 suffice : — " The Right Rev. the Bishop of Sodor and Mann, 
 
176 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 having recommended to his clergy to ascertain the want of 
 the Scriptures in their respective parishes, and returns hav- 
 ing been made in compliance with that recommendation, 
 thirteen hundred and twenty- six copies of the ManJhs New 
 Testament, together with some English Bibles and Testa- 
 ments, charged at reduced prices, have been sent to the 
 Bishop for the accommodation of the inhabitants of that 
 island." Future demands are also anticipated ; for the New 
 Testament in the Manks language, which has been pro- 
 vided for the sole use of the inhabitants of that island, is a 
 stereotype edition. In 1>21 a society was formed for teach- 
 ing the people to read their own language, pleading the 
 Gaelic and Irish precedents as examples which they had 
 found must be followed. The number of inhabitants" is at 
 present above forty thousand, of whom twenty- five or 
 thirty thousand are Manksnien. 
 
 Gaelic. — About the beginning of last century, the opposi- 
 tion to the cultivation of the Gaelic language was so strong, 
 that several true friends to their count ry found it absolutely 
 necessary to draw up and circulate a paper on the subject, 
 entitled, ** An A usurer to the Objections against Printing the 
 Bible in Irish. '* From this document the few following 
 sentences are extracted : — ** It is not to be doubted, that a 
 great many who make this objection do it without any 
 bad design, but only through their not considering the 
 matter sufficiently." The impossibility of exterminating 
 the language in that age, by the various methods proposed, 
 is then shown, and the improbability of its being effected in 
 succeeding ages, or for a great while to come. " Where," 
 it is asked, " is there an instance of any such thing that 
 has been done anywhere in the world, except in such places 
 where the conquerors have been more numerous than the 
 conquered .* It is known to all who are acquainted with the 
 state of Europe, that in most kingdoms there are some pro- 
 vinces which speak a different language from what is spoken 
 
 • The Irish and the Gaelic language are the same, and at this period it was ge- 
 nerally said to be the IrUh which was spoken in the Highlands of Scotland. Those 
 who have attended to this subject mast have observed, that the word Irish wmjm 
 duallv changed into Erst, which denotes the same language that is now eeneraOy 
 called Gaelic In 1SH, the writer of this, when in Gal war, found a vessel Iving there 
 from Lewis, one of the Western Isles, the master of which remarked to him, - the 
 people here speak curious Gaelic but he understood them easily : and commerce m 
 actually carried on between the Highlanders and the Irish through the mi ft— of 
 their common language. There is now before me a " grammar of the Cm tit lan- 
 cuage in what is called the IrLtA character," published in Durun in the vear laCS. 
 This is just an Irish •letnentarr work. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 177 
 
 in the rest of the provinces of the same kingdom." It has 
 not been known or heard of in this age, nor, for any thing 
 we can learn, in some past ages, that any one parish where 
 they have heen wont to preach in Irish, has learned so much 
 English as not still to need a preacher in the Irish lan- 
 guage.* " It is very considerable, [worthy of considera- 
 tion] that in Kintyre, whence the Highlanders were expell- 
 ed, and where others who spoke English were planted in 
 their stead, in process of time, by frequent conversation 
 with the neighbouring Highlanders, many of them, instead 
 of propagating the English language, have learned Irish ; 
 so that now they preach once a day in Irish in the chief 
 churches in the country." 
 
 Notwithstanding the powerful arguments then adduced, 
 the Gaelic language stood in need of a subsequent advocate ; 
 for it was on behalf of this people that, above sixty years 
 afterwards, Dr Samuel Johnson addressed the following 
 admirable letter to Mr William Drummond of Edin- 
 burgh : — 
 
 " Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, IZth August, 1766. 
 
 " Sir, — I did not expect to hear that it could be, in an 
 assembly convened for the propagation of Christian know- 
 ledge, a question whether any nation uninstructed in reli- 
 gion should receive instruction ; or whether that instruc- 
 tion should be imparted to them by a translation of the 
 holy books into their own language. If obedience to the 
 will of God be necessary to happiness, and knowledge of 
 his will be necessary to obedience, I know not how he that 
 withholds this knowledge, or delays it, can be said to love 
 his neighbour as himself. He that voluntarily continues in 
 ignorance is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance pro- 
 duces ; as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a 
 light-house might justly be imputed the calamities of ship- 
 
 * The pertinacious adherence of mankind to their " mother tongue" might be veri- 
 fied by a number of remarkable proofs : *« It is a curious fact," says a writer in the 
 Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xx. p. 490, " that the hills of King's Seat and 
 Craigy Bams, which form the lower boundary of Dowally, (parish in Perthshire), 
 have been, for centuries, the separating barrier of the English and Gaelic. In the 
 first house below them, the English is and has been spoken ; and the Gaelic in the 
 first house, not above a mile distant, above them." In different parts of Ireland 
 something similar to this will be found. It is said, that, on crossing the river Bar- 
 row, a very striking difference is observable : on the eastern bank English is spoken, 
 and Irish scarcely known : a little way interior it is quite the reverse. There is also 
 a very curious case in the barony of Forth, Tacumshane, near Wexford, opposite to 
 Pembrokeshire, into which the Welsh might inquire, as it is said to be the British 
 of the twelfth century. Ledwich says much older. The present incumbent, on the 
 other hand, speaks of it as allied to the language of Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales. 
 
178 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 wreck. Christianity is the highest perfection of humanity ; 
 and as no man is good but as he wishes the good of others, 
 no man can be good in the highest degree who wishes not 
 to others the largest measures of the greatest good. To 
 omit for a year, or for a day, the most efficacious method 
 of advancing Christianity, in compliance with any purposes 
 that terminate on this side of the grave, is a crime of which 
 I know not that the world has yet had an example, except 
 in the practice of the planters in America, a race of mortals 
 
 whom, I suppose, no other man wishes to resemble. 
 
 " 1 am not very willing that any language should be 
 totally extinguished. The similitude and derivation of 
 languages afford the most indubitable proof of the traduc- 
 tion of nations, and the genealogy of mankind. They add 
 often physical certainty to historical evidence ; and often 
 supply the only evidence of ancient migrations, and of the 
 revolution of ages, which left no written monuments be- 
 hind them. 
 
 " Every man's opinions, at least his desires, are a little 
 influenced by his favourite studies. My zeal for languages 
 may seem, perhaps, rather over- heated, even to those by 
 whom I desire to be well-esteemed. To those who have 
 nothing in their thoughts but trade or policy, present power, 
 or present money, I should not think it necessary to defend 
 my opinions ; but with men of letters I would not unwilling- 
 ly compound, by wishing the continuance of every language, 
 however narrow in its extent, or however incommodious 
 for common purposes, till it is reposited in some version of a 
 known book, that it may be always hereafter examined and 
 compared with other languages, and then permitting its 
 disuse. For this purpose, the translation of the Bible is 
 most to be desired. It is not certain that the same method 
 will not preserve the Highland language, for the purposes 
 of learning, and abolish it from daily use. When the High- 
 landers read the Bible, they will naturally wish to have its 
 obscurities cleared, and to know the history, collateral or 
 dependent. Knowledge always desires increase ; it is like 
 fire, which must be kindled by some external agent, but 
 which will afterwards propagate itself. When they once 
 desire to learn, they will naturally have recourse to the 
 nearest language by which that desire can be gratified ; and 
 one will tell another, that if he would attain knowledge he 
 must learn English. 
 
 " This speculation may, perhaps, be thought more subtle 
 than the grossness of real life will easily admit. Let it. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 179 
 
 however, be remembered, that the efficacy of ignorance has 
 long- been tried, and has not produced the consequence ex- 
 pected. Let knowledge, therefore, take its turn ; and let 
 the patrons of privation stand a while aside, and admit the 
 operation of positive principles. 
 
 " You will be pleased, Sir, to assure the worthy man who 
 is employed in the new translation, that he has my wishes 
 for his success ; and if here, or at Oxford, I can be of any 
 use, that I shall think it more than honour to promote his 
 undertaking.* I am sorry that I delayed so long to write. — 
 I am," &c. 
 
 After such a letter as this, it may seem strange that 
 schools for the education of our Highlanders, directly and 
 in the first instance, to read their own language, were not 
 established until 1811, more than fifty years afterwards. 
 Such, however, is the fact. After an acquaintance with 
 the state of the Highlands, all along the western coast of 
 Scotland, in 1810, the writer could find nothing of the sort. 
 The practice universally was, that of teaching English first ; 
 and no small prejudice was then discovered at the idea of 
 teaching at once the vernacular tongue. There was then 
 even no elementary book, save Dr A. Stewart's large 8vo 
 grammar. The letter procured from Mr Charles of Wales, 
 already quoted, was among the steps preparatory. Xow 
 the prejudice is gone. His Majesty, on visiting Scotland, 
 through Mr Peel, with great cordiality became Patron of 
 the Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools, and since 
 that period the Society for propagating Christian Know- 
 ledge and the General Assembly have cordially taken up 
 the same idea. 
 
 In regard to the exertions which are now making to in- 
 struct the Highlanders in reading their vernacular tongue, 
 as the particulars are in the possession of the public, it is 
 deemed quite superfluous to insert a single extract. Suffice 
 it to say, that there are scholars at this moment learning 
 the Gaelic, with remarkable avidity and profit to them- 
 selves, and that from the ages of five and six to eighty and 
 even ninety years. There would seem to be a fascination 
 in these Celtic dialects peculiar to themselves ; for whatever 
 may be said in reply, we have never evinced such intense 
 
 * Dr Johnson here alludes to the translation of the Xew Testament into the 
 Gaelic language, by the Rev. James Stewart of Kiilin, which was printed in 1767, at 
 the expense of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge, 
 
180 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 delight in our native language. To these Gaelic school* 
 have resorted not only the child of tender years, but the old 
 man and old woman stooping for age. Never, since edu- 
 cation was promoted by any body of men, was it found ne- 
 cessary to supply assistance to the eyes themselves : yet 
 such has been the eagerness of certain aged scholars in the 
 Highlands, that within these two years, in order to meet it, 
 the Gaelic School Society have had placed at their disposal 
 not fewer than one hundred and twenty pairs of spectacles ! 
 But I must not enlarge, awl shall simply advert to one 
 school in the Hebrides, where 237 scholars were present at 
 the examination, of all ages, from literally a great-great- 
 grandmother down to the child of five years. And, oh I 
 why should not such a heart-stirring sight soon be seen 
 among the long, long-neglected islanders of Ireland I* 
 
 After this ample detail, which, but for the views which 
 have been entertained by many, would have been quite un- 
 necessary, the reader, it is hoped, will now be prepared for 
 this certain, and, with respect to our sister country, most 
 important conclusion, that, if it is desirable to enlighten the 
 minds of this class of British subjects, and at the same time 
 extend the limits of the English language in the Irish dis- 
 tricts, the only effectual and the most expeditious way of 
 doing so is by teaching them to read their own tongue, the 
 Native Irish. Thus you implant a thirst for knowledge ; 
 and eventually make the learning to read English a matter 
 of choice and desire, an important object indeed, but one 
 which can never be effected either by violence or neglect. 
 
 II. But though the Irish is spoken to great extent, still 
 many of the people understand the English language, and 
 the English is daily spreading among them. 
 
 Certainly the reader is now competent to answer this 
 objection. He will naturally advert to several parts of the 
 preceding pages. Hence it will appear, that the cultivation 
 of the Irish has been proved to be the most efficient means 
 of accelerating the progress of the English language ; and 
 as to these people at present understanding it. the assertion 
 must be received with very considerable limitations. The 
 truth is, that the great majority do not, and even with 
 regard to those who do, to what extent are they acquainted 
 
 • These exertions will be glanced at again, when we come to contrast them with 
 the truly deplorable condition of the islands round the eoas of Ireland. 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 181 
 with the English language? Every language, let it be 
 remembered, has, what may be styled, its different depart! 
 ments— commercial, political, and religious. Does it there- 
 tore follow, that because a Native Irishman can buy and 
 sell, or oecause an Irish waiter, at a country inn, can reply 
 to a traveller, m English, that either of them can reason in 
 this language, or follow the argument and address of moral 
 and religious discourse? By no means. The Irish is still 
 the language of his heart, and even of the best part of his 
 understanding. In it, he still continues to express his iov 
 or sorrow ; for this is the language which is associated with 
 his earliest recollections In it, his mother hushed him to 
 lest m the days of his infancy ; and in youth, if he had an 
 ear for music, it was charmed with the numbers of « Culm, " 
 or of Enn gu brath." The very language of the Irish 
 gentleman, therefore, interests his feelings, while, as long as 
 things remain in their present state, that of the mere E™ 
 hshman never can. There can therefore be no doubt that 
 the degree to which the great body of Native Irish pea- 
 santry understand the English language, is quite com 
 patible with absolute ignorance of divine revelation and" 
 indeed, as far as English is concerned, of abstract reasoning 
 on any subject whatever. oouimig 
 
 III. But the Irish language, which is spoken by the vovu- 
 lation, is not the same which is to be found in books. 
 
 In reply to this objection, I have to assure the reader 
 that it has now been fully ascertained to be founded whollv 
 m mistake. It is probable that the idea originated in the 
 circumstance of some Irish gentlemen, who hid not studied 
 the language, having said, upon first looking at an Irish 
 book that they could make nothing of it. " But no person" 
 said Dr Stokes "would expect that one who could speak 
 and read English, and could also speak French having 
 never read it, should be able to read French at first tr al 
 If, indeed, the letters had the same sounds in different an 
 guages and that all letters were sounded, men might read 
 
 LTbSnTthl 6 cat -i ght ' as they d0 music ; but this is f - 
 
 Let ™ s P r .°? eed > however, to matter of fact. " I have read " 
 
 ^l^^T' " the Bible in Irish *° theTommo'n 
 people both publicly and privately, and they declared Tat 
 hey understood very well ; and that I might be satisfied 
 they did so, I caused some of them to translate several sen- 
 
182 
 
 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS 
 
 tences, which they did exactly ; besides, if the case were 
 not so, care might be taken for the future to print the Irishi 
 as it is spoken." Thus it was above a hundred years ago,, 
 and so it is now. The Rev. Mr Graham, curate of Kilrush,. 
 county of Clare, in a letter dated the 3d of February, 1806,, 
 when speaking of certain young people, who understand* 
 and had learned to read Irish, says, " they are in the habit 
 of reading in the intervals of labour, and particularly dur- 
 ing the long winter nights, to circles of their friends and! 
 neighbours, who are illiterate, and understand the Irish only.. 
 By this means the knowledge of the divine truths of Scrip- 
 ture are propounded to the hearts~and understandings of 
 multitudes, who w T ould otherwise have gone to the grave as 
 ignorant as myriads of their ancestors." Whenever Dr 
 Dewar announced that the Scriptures would be read in the 
 Irish language, crowds not only came to hear, but they 
 listened with manifest pleasure and eager intelligence. " I' 
 was astonished," says this gentleman, " to find, in the wild- 
 est parts of Donegal, a man with neither shoes nor stock- 
 ings, who gave me a clear and correct account of the pecu- 
 liarities of Irish grammar." In 1814, the writer, in passing 
 through Connaught, found a schoolmaster teaching a school 
 on his own account, who, for several months, had been in 
 the habit of reading the Irish New Testament to his neigh- 
 bours ; and as a proof that his labour was not lost to those 
 poor people, one of them brought a candle alternately, or at 
 least they furnished light, while he read to them the Irish 
 Scriptures. On reading the affecting parable of the rich 
 man and Lazarus, he said, they called out to him, " Read 
 it again— read it again ;" and they also had their favourite 
 passages in consequence of this exercise. 
 
 But it is in vain to multiply proofs, and happily now 
 unnecessary. Any individual who chooses to acquaint him- 
 self with what has been going on for the last few years, in 
 the business of teaching the Native Irish to read their owni 
 language, will find many practical answers to every theo- 
 retical objection. Might I not rather ask now — What 
 would the heathen abroad say, if they heard the pitiful \ 
 objections that have been, and are still occasionally brought 
 forward, to the enlightening of this particular branch of the 
 empire ? How would they feel amazement at our listening 
 for one moment to such objections as these 1 " The Irish 
 is a barbarous language ; many indeed speak, but few can 
 
TO THE IRISH LANGUAGE. 183 
 
 read it ; there are few or no books in it ; and, therefore, 
 teaching to read it is of little consequence ; indeed the sooner 
 the Irish is extinct the better." What ! might they not 
 say, does all this mean ? Why are not any, or all of these 
 prejudices in operation as to us ? How is it, that the same 
 nation who have translated for us the Bible into our own 
 tongue, have multiplied copies, supported schools for our 
 instruction, and whose missionaries have actually acquired 
 our own language so as to address us in it ? — how is it that 
 they should have vowed such vengeance against one class 
 of their own fellow-subjects, in doing so against the medium 
 by which, from their infancy, they have held intercourse 
 with each other as rational and intelligent beings 1 
 
 In conclusion, let every objector well consider the invin- 
 cible attachment of the Native Irish to their mother tongue. 
 It is of ancient standing, and it still remains. So early as 
 the beginning of the fifteenth century, 1417, when the Irish 
 septs were at deadly variance with each other, from what- 
 ever cause, there was even then one consideration, which 
 could awaken and charm them into common sympathy. 
 Sometimes, when a particular sept was in danger of total 
 ruin, from the victory of some English force, their neigh- 
 bours were persuaded to come to their rescue, and for what ? 
 " for the sake of the Irish language," for so the manuscript 
 annals express it, as quoted by Leland. As septs they might 
 be distinct as the billows, — as to the language, they are 
 one as the sea ; and whatever may be said to the contrary, 
 this attachment does remain, and in all its power, nay it is 
 common to all the Celtic tribes. There is a fascination in 
 the language itself ; and though there were not, the treat- 
 ment it has received is sufficient to account for the present 
 feeling ; but this very attachment may be turned to the best 
 account, and there is no occasion for fighting with it. In- 
 deed it has lately been remarked by a French author, that 
 " there seems to be in the language of the Celtic populations 
 a principle of duration which sets time and the efforts of 
 man at defiance."* I am inclined to go much farther than 
 this, and apply the remark to any colloquial dialect what- 
 ever, when suffering under violent or abusive treatment. 
 So it was with our own English or Anglo-Saxon ; and the 
 other instances adduced prove the fact. If we are to be- 
 lieve the Scriptures, the mysterious power which put an 
 
 * Thierry's Norman Conquest, vol. II. p. 273. 
 
 Q2 
 
184 UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS, &c. 
 
 end to the erection of Babel was, no doubt, in the first in- 
 stance meant as the punishment of a presumptuous design : 
 viewed in another light, and in its effects, it was as evidently 
 an interposition, and in favour of man, though in what way 
 I need not at present specify ; but from the moment of thati 
 confusion, and often since, language, an instrument in the 
 hands of Omnipotence, has been invincible ; and though 
 monarchs have repeatedly employed all their power to 
 abolish one, it has been in vain. In no other country in 
 the world has the experiment been so often attempted and 
 so pertinaciously pursued as in our own, and the conse- 
 quence is, that our history holds out to other nations a 
 demonstrative proof, (whatever may be our philosophical 
 theory respecting the origin, the formation and progress of 
 language,) that, once spoken, once it is in use, language is 
 an instrument which it is above the power of man as a con- 
 queror to subdue. To one remark, therefore, already made, 
 we are constrained to return and adhere ; — that if any collo- 
 quial dialect is to decline, and the language spoken in its 
 vicinity is to gain the ascendency, the most direct and effec- 
 tual process is that of teaching to read the colloquial dialect 
 itself, leaving the rest to God and nature. To an Irishman 
 in particular, or an Irish boy, you can then say — " Now 
 you stand on the first spoke of the ladder of knowledge, — 
 but one effort more, — only one spoke higher, and you are 
 equal to the English around you." 
 
 In conclusion, let the Native Irish in general have only 
 one fair and unfettered opportunity of starting from this 
 point, and it will soon be seen whether many among them 
 will not proceed far beyond the narrow limits of their native 
 tongue. 
 
 " There are, it may lie, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them 
 without signification. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be 
 unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto 
 me." PAUL. 
 
 " All external actions depend upon the tongue : no man can know another's mind 
 if this be not the interpreter ; hence as there were many tongues given to stay the 
 building of Babel, so there were many given to build the Evangelical Church. Dif- 
 ference of tongues caused their Babel to cease, but it builds our Zion." 
 
 HALL of NORWICH. 
 
SECTION VII. 
 
 NATIVE IRISH BOOKS, 
 
 Or brief Catalogue of Desirables for the Native Irish Population. 
 
 Having endeavoured to collect every particular which 
 might serve to be of use in forming some fixed opinion as 
 to what is so much wanted for this long-neglected people, 
 I may be permitted to say — How meagre is the history of 
 the past compared with what it ought to have been in such 
 a country as this ! In a country so near, and which ought 
 to have been so much more dear to every British subject, 
 how melancholy the reflection that centuries are embraced, 
 and that, after so long a period, such upon the w T hole is the 
 present condition of above three millions of our fellow-sub- 
 jects ! Is it possible, it may be asked, — is it true, that these 
 people, in their successive generations, have thus breathed 
 away their existence and died, in a country w T hich, as to its 
 natural position, has been reposing in the very lap of Great 
 Britain, and nominally united to it for more than six hun- 
 dred and fifty years 1 So it should seem ; and would that, 
 with the sombre review of the past, here also terminated 
 the prevalence of those things which make the aspect 
 sombre ! 
 
 Meanwhile let it not be imagined by any one, that a 
 retrospect such as this, however painful, is impolitic, un- 
 profitable, or vain. Nothing as to Ireland, and particularly 
 her aborigines, can be more incumbent. Let us the more 
 value the example left us by the discerning few, in whose 
 hearts it was to have enlightened and elevated a people so 
 often and so long left out of all calculations meet and ne- 
 cessary for their present comfort and their future good. 
 Let there be no false delicacy now to whisper that we should 
 be tender of prejudices which were grounded upon political 
 expediency — an expediency which has proved so hollow 
 and foolish in itself ; weak as to its professed end, nay, so 
 injurious withal every hour of its continuance to the im- 
 mortal interests of so many generations. 
 
 It is indeed a very easv thing for us now to dwell upon 
 Q3 
 
186 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 what has been called the back-ground, or dark side, of the 
 picture with regard to Ireland, though I envy not the man 
 who is capable of doing so without feelings either of sym- 
 pathy or self-reproach. 
 
 But no — let us no more contend, nor blame 
 Each other, blamed enough elsewhere ; — 
 
 For what can this avail, or does it befit the lips of their 
 countrymen, to whom we can say as to all things else, and 
 at any period — " And what hast thou which thou hast not 
 received f and why glory as if thou hadst not received it 1" 
 What would the rest of this kingdom have been if left 
 without books — without learning — without an intelligible 
 ministry ? So far from being surprised at any thing said of 
 this people, — and there have been many things said which 
 are not correct, — my astonishment is, that they are to be 
 found in their present condition, destitute and deplorable 
 as it confessedly is. Naturally shrewd, and, as far as na- 
 tural education goes, superior in quickness of perception to 
 any peasantry of the empire — often cheerful, under circum- 
 stances which in others would have induced habitual me- 
 lancholy — retaining a buoyancy of mind under frequent 
 extremity, and so susceptible of gratitude for disinterested 
 kindness — there are none who know them thoroughly who 
 would not say — " And I have loved them better still, even 
 in extremity of ill." 
 
 It would be easy too to repeat the fine things which have 
 been said about the circulation of bank-notes, which being 
 in English, have proved an incentive to those who see them 
 and ever possess any, to acquire our language ! — to talk of 
 the people being said to be ashamed of their native tongue, 
 and desirous of acquiring ours — a shame which, if it ever 
 existed in some of the baser sort, like a Sunday's coat is 
 laid aside as soon as you turn your back or they return 
 home, where Irish holds on to sustain the tear and wear 
 of their thoughts. No, let us hear no more of the glory of 
 extending the English tongue in these districts in the man- 
 ner hitherto proposed or pursued. Man, it is true, is a 
 creature impatient of Ins end ; but in a course which it is 
 above the power of kings as conquerors to pursue ; where 
 we are called to contend with sympathies of our nature so 
 strong, and in which there is no crime ; to contend with an 
 invincible attachment to the first sounds the tongue was 
 taught by a mother to express, let us see and understand 
 that no feeble enactment of ours can ever reach the case. 
 The path marked out for us is straight forward and easy ; 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 187 
 
 it has the sanction of Heaven, and any other devised with 
 reference to an inferior, not to say purblind, policy, will 
 prove just as inefficient as it has done hitherto : — 
 
 In human works, though labour'd on with pain, 
 A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain ; 
 In God's, one single doth its end produce, 
 And serves to second too some other use. 
 
 That " other use" in the present instance will certainly 
 prove to be the extension of the English language, as far 
 and as fast as it can be extended. 
 
 Let us proceed then no longer with faltering steps or 
 slow — nor with a scanty or meagre policy, whether it re- 
 gards the proclamation of the divine word in the language 
 spoken by the people — the circulation of the Scriptures in 
 Irish and some other useful books, or the very best and 
 most expeditious mode of teaching the people to read. 
 
 At the same time I ought to remark, that when a case 
 like the present is made out and reviewed, there is such a 
 thing as hastening after a cure. One or two plans, as they 
 are called, are hastily devised by an individual more ardent 
 than wise, and the idea prevails, that by some one grand 
 wholesale remedy, which begins to be much talked of, the 
 evils, all the evils are to be redressed — all the wants sup- 
 plied in almost a given time ; though, in designs such as 
 these, few things are so fatal as precipitancy or blind zeal. 
 
 In looking over the present state of the Native Irish, as 
 it refers to the design of these pages, there is happily at 
 present but little call for much ingenuity of contrivance. 
 The means which have been successful in other cases, only 
 require to be applied ; but calm intrepidity, constancy, and 
 patience, with the exercise of kindness and love to the 
 people, are indispensable. If these are possessed, the means 
 at the same time involve very different qualifications, in 
 different individuals, and it is not by amalgamating all 
 these that most benefit is to be expected. If independent 
 of each other in themselves, let them so remain ; and so 
 independent are they, that three men may here be pressing 
 towards the accomplishment of one end, and yet scarcely, 
 perhaps, ever exchange words. One man at his desk is 
 patiently balancing the precise difference between two Irish 
 synonymes, and is daily tasking himself to give nothing- 
 save an accurate and luminous translation of his author. 
 The second is a schoolmaster, whose heart is in his employ- 
 ment, and is mainly charmed by the progress of his pupils. 
 
188 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 While the third, if qualified for addressing his fellow-men 
 on the things of God from his own book, has been fitted 
 from on high, by Him who alone can qualify, and who 
 alone doth give such gifts unto men. But a very few indi- 
 viduals, therefore, of requisite wisdom, in any one of these 
 departments (though in a variety of independent spots), 
 proceeding with ardour and patient perseverance, without 
 printing or sitting down to report every thing that they do, 
 might accomplish much. Nor should a solitary individual 
 feel discouraged : for what is the history which has just 
 been read, if it is not that of a very few solitary individuals, 
 ending occasionally in a heartfelt union which never rose 
 above three or four ? This has been styled the age of me- 
 chanism and management ; but, after all, amidst the various 
 schemes of the day, " in all probability, the improvement 
 of mankind is destined, under Divine Providence, to advance 
 just in proportion as good men feel the responsibilty for it 
 resting on themselves, as individuals, and are actuated by a 
 bold sentiment of independence, (humble at the same time, 
 in reference to the necessity of a celestial agency,) in the 
 prosecution of it."* 
 
 In farther specifying what is now so much wanted and 
 so desirable for the Native Irish, we shall follow the order 
 of the three first sections, and therefore advert first to the 
 subject of Irish printed books. 
 
 BOOKS. 
 
 It was the opinion of Dr Johnson, that if a man wished 
 to be counted among the benefactors of posterity, he must 
 add by his own toil to the acquisitions of his ancestors, and 
 secure his memory from neglect by some valuable improve- 
 ment. " This," he adds, " can only be effected by looking 
 out upon the wastes of the intellectual world, and extend- 
 ing the power of learning over regions yet undisciplined ; 
 or by surveying more exactly our ancient dominions, and 
 driving ignorance from the retreats where she skulks unde- 
 tected and undisturbed. Every science has its difficulties, 
 which yet call for solution before we attempt new systems 
 of knowledge ; as every country has its forests or marshes, 
 which it would be wise to cultivate and drain, before dis- 
 
 * Foster's Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance, p. 209. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 189 
 
 tant colonies are projected as a necessary discharge of the 
 exuberance of inhabitants." 
 
 In the preceding pages the reader has had an opportu- 
 nity of observing how little can be said on the subject of 
 Irish printing, and it is hoped that a perusal of the narra- 
 tive itself may suggest to many the appropriate remedies 
 for such a state of things. At the same time, it may still 
 be of service now to consider briefly the actual condition of 
 this people so far as the art of printing is concerned. In 
 doing this I have thought that it is nothing more than 
 common justice to bring forward another Celtic population 
 in contrast or comparison with the Native Irish, viz. the 
 inhabitants of Wales. Here, in that part of England which 
 lies nearest to Ireland, looking across St George's Channel, 
 out of a population of about 720,000 are 600,000 to whom 
 the Welsh is vernacular, or about a fifth part of the Native 
 Irish. Let us see then how it has fared with these two 
 classes in comparison. 
 
 To begin with the Scriptures. It is now two hundred 
 and sixty- three years since the Welsh New Testament was 
 first printed, and about two hundred and twenty-seven 
 years since the same volume was first printed in Irish. 
 Again, the Bible complete in Welsh was printed in 1588 — 
 in the Irish not till about a century afterwards, viz. in 1686. 
 Now, let the reader observe, up to the year 1811, when the 
 Irish Testament, though in the Roman character, was pub- 
 lished, there had been a few hundred copies of the Irish 
 New Testament circulated about the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century, and about as many towards the close 
 of it, with perhaps three hundred of the Old Testament ; 
 while for Wales by the year 1811 there had been such a 
 variety of editions of the "Welsh Bible complete, and of the 
 New Testament separately, as amounted to above one 
 hundred and seventy thousand copies, of which more than 
 one hundred and forty thousand were entire Bibles ! An 
 equal proportion for the Native Irish would have been seven 
 or eight hundred thousand — perhaps there had not been 
 in all above eight hundred, and certainly not a single copy 
 printed for one hundred and thirty years previously to 1811 ! 
 
 Or, cast an eye over the last century, during which the 
 Native Irish population has so increased, and you will find 
 that in Wales there had been about eighty-nine thousand 
 Bibles and New Testaments put into circulation, at about 
 twelve or fourteen different periods of time. In Wales too, 
 out of the edition of the Bible in 1718, a thousand were 
 
190 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 given to the poor. The editions of 1746 and 1752, both in 
 octavo, and consisting together of thirty thousand copies, 
 were sold at four shillings and sixpence each : yet by the 
 year 1768 they had been all bought, and the edition of the 
 next year consisted of twenty thousand more. While these 
 things were going on for Wales, and that before a Bible 
 Society was thought of ; in Ireland, or for the Native Irish 
 anywhere, there was, during the whole of the eighteenth 
 century, literally not a single copy printed ! 
 
 But, in addition to such bare though painful chrono- 
 logical comparisons, we must not forget the mighty dif- 
 ference between the book of life and salvation having been 
 used in a country, and read from generation to generation, 
 for above two hundred years, almost within sight of Ire- 
 land, and its scarcely being so read in Irish at all. Since 
 the Scriptures in Welsh have been from time to time com- 
 ing into the hands of the people, seven generations have 
 been passing away, with all the benefits thus conveyed, — 
 but of course the same number of generations in Ireland 
 have also gone the way of all the earth. Though therefore 
 it be but a painful memorial, urging to present duty, — a 
 kind of sepulchral inscription over our fellow-countrymen, 
 or certain departed subjects of the British crown, it may be 
 of use to the surviving generation of the Native Irish, if we 
 place the editions of the Scriptures in these two languages 
 in contrast with each other, from 1567 up to the year 1800 
 — a period of two hundred and thirty- three years. 
 
 Welsh Scriptures. Irish Scriptures, 
 
 1567— New Testament, . 4to, ... 500 
 1588— Bible, folio, . . 500 
 
 1727— Bible 8vo, . . 5000 
 
 +1746— Bible, 8vo, . .15,000 
 
 fI752— Bible, 8vo, . .15,000 
 
 1752— Test, and Psalms, .... 2000 
 
 U769— Bible, 8vo, . .20,000 
 
 +1798— Bible, 8vo, . .10,000 
 
 +.1798— New Testament, 8vo, . . 2000 
 
 1800— Testament, Salop . Var. . . 10,000 
 
 1603— New Testament, . folio,* . . 500 
 
 1620— Bible, folio, . . 500 
 
 1630— Bible, 8vo, . . 1000 
 
 1647— New Testament, . 12mo, . . 1000 
 
 +1654— Bible, 8vo, . . 6000 
 
 1654— New Testament, . 8vo, . . 1000 
 
 1672— New Testament, . 8vo, . . 2000 
 
 tl678— Bible, 8vo, . . 8000 
 
 1690— Bible, 
 +1(590— Bible, 
 1718— Bible, 
 
 folio, . 1000 
 8vo, . .10,000 
 8vo, . .10,000 
 
 1681— New Testament, . 4to, ... 750 
 1636— Old Testament, . 4to, . . .500 
 
 * Small folio, scarcely above quarto size. 
 
 + The number of copies thus marked have been accurately ascertained, and tht 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 191 
 
 So it has fared with these two classes for seven genera- 
 tions back. Above one hundred and twenty thousand, of 
 which one hundred and two thousand were entire copies of 
 the Scriptures, had been at different intervals dispersed or 
 sold at a cheap price to the one ; and about eight hundred 
 or a thousand copies of the New Testament and about three 
 hundred of the Old had been circulated among the other ! 
 for the rest of the Irish impressions of 1681-6 were sent by 
 Mr Boyle to the Highlands of Scotland. 
 
 But since the commencement of the nineteenth century, 
 it will be instantly replied, a very great change has taken 
 place, and there have been copies of the Scriptures printed 
 for the Irish as well as for the Welsh. There have ; but let 
 not this prevent our observing the singular inequality or 
 contrast with which we are furnished by a review of the 
 last twenty-one years. 
 
 Welsh Scriptures. Irish Scriptures, 
 
 1808— Bible, 12mo, .20,000 
 
 Testament, . . . 12 mo, . 10,000 
 
 1811— Bible and Psalms, . 8vo, . 20,000 1811— Test., Roman letter, . 12mo, . 2000 
 
 1813— Bible, Var. . 10,191 
 
 Testament, . . . Var. . 50,948 1813— Test., Roman letter, . 12mo, . 3000 
 
 1814— Bible, 8vo, . 2500 
 
 1817— Bible, Roman letter, . 8vo., . 5000 
 
 1826— Bible, Var. . 60,351 1826— Bible, Roman letter, . 8vo., . 5000 
 
 Testament, . . . Var. . 85,684 Testament, . . . Var. . 29,018 
 
 1828— Bible, Var. . 10,096 1828— Bible* Irish letter ! . 8vo., . 5000 
 
 Testament, . . . Var. . 12,688 Testament, . . . Var. . 20,170 
 
 1829— Bible, Jr. let., at press, 24mo, . 5000 
 
 1829— Bible, 12mo, . 5000 Bible, 3 vols, do. do. . 12mo, . 2000 
 
 Testament, . . . 12mo, . 10,000 Test. . . .do. do. . 24mo, , 4000 
 
 Could these numerous W elsh editions, as contrasted with 
 the Irish, have been inserted, year by year, precisely as they 
 issued from the press, the contrast would have been still 
 more glaring ; but it is abundantly so, when viewed at suc- 
 
 others ai'e founded on the " Historical Account of the British or Welsh versions and 
 editions of the Bible, by Thomas Llewelyn, LL.D." Of the last article the Doctor 
 says, under date 1752, — " The New Testament, with Psalms, has been frequently 
 printed at Salop (Shrewsbury), from this date and forward." The edition of 1718 
 was the first printed by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and, with 
 the exception of the Shrewsbury New Testament, that institution was concerned in 
 all that followed. But all that had preceded was the result of individual benevolence. 
 The edition of 1620 was promoted by Dr Parry, Bishop of St Asaph— of 1630 by Row- 
 land Heylin, Esq., Sir Thomas Middleton, and other citizens of London. The edi- 
 tions of 1654, of 1672, and 1678, were promoted by the Rev. Thomas Gouge — that of 
 1690 by Mr Pierce Lewis, and the 8vo edition of that same year by the Marquis 
 Wharton and others. 
 
 * The editor was Mr M'Quige, but the whole was read also by Dr Monck Mason 
 or another individual. Dr Mason, Mr O'Reilly, &c, superintend the 24mo, and also 
 collate the sheets of the 12mo editions, now in the press. 
 
192 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 cessive dates as above. The result of this comparison is as 
 follows : — 
 
 Welsh. Irish. 
 
 B. and F. Bible Society, . . . 274,958 B. arid F. Bible Society 69.188 
 
 Christian Knowledge Society, . 22,590 Hibernian Bible Society, .... 9000 
 Christian Knowledge Society, . . 2000 
 
 That is, 297,458 for the inferior population, or about a 
 fifth part of the Native Irish, and for them 80,188 ; but 
 even in regard to these we have several important observa- 
 tions to make presently. 
 
 Having, however, said thus much respecting the Welsh, 
 I cannot but advert at this point to another Celtic tribe on 
 this side of the Irish Channel — the Scots Highlanders. The 
 statement as to Wales, and especially after it is finished, 
 (for we must return to it once more,) may be considered as 
 a loud call to the inhabitants of England. Let us see whe- 
 ther there is any voice addressed more especially to those in 
 Scotland. The following statement, besides, will serve to 
 show how we at present stand, as to the supply of 
 
 Gaelic Scriptures. 
 
 1687— Bible, in Irish, by Mr Boyle, i. e. of 1681-6, . 4to, . 20O 
 16.00— Bible, under Mr Kirk, Roman letter, . . 8vo, 1000 
 
 Testament, ditto, 8vo, 3000 
 
 1754 — Test. Irish, O'Domhnuil, Glasgow, by Orr, . say only 500 
 1767 — Testament, Gaelic, by the Society in Scotland for 
 
 propagating Christian Knowledge, . . 12mo, 10,000 
 
 1796— Ditto ditto 12mo,21,500 
 
 1802— Old Testament, 3 vols, bv ditto, .... 8vo. . 5000 
 1807— Bible, 2 vols, or one, by ditto, .... 12mo, 20,000 
 
 Bible, by British and Foreign Bible Society, 18mo, 20,000 
 
 Testament by ditto, 18mo, 10,000 
 
 1810— Testament by ditto, 12mo, 10,000 
 
 Testament by Christian Knowledge Society, . . 10,000 
 
 1821— Bible by B. and F. Bible S., brevier, 12mo and 8vo. 17,577 
 
 Testament by ditto, 12mo and 8vo. 19,739 
 
 Testament bv Christian Knowledge Society, 12mo, 10,000 
 
 1825 — Bible, B. and F. Bible Society, brevier, . 12mo, 10,000 
 
 1826— Testament, ditto, stereotype, 12mo, 10,000 
 
 1827— Bible, Christian Knowledge Society, . . 4to, . 1000 
 
 Testament by ditto, pica, 8vo, . 2000 
 
 Testament by Edinburgh Bible Society, . 12mo, 5000 
 
 1828— Bible, small pocket-size, by ditto, . . . 24mo, 7500 
 Testament, ditto 24mo, 5000 
 
 1829— Bible by B. and F. Bible Society, . . . 12mo, 5000 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 193 
 
 1829— Testament by B. and F. Bible Society, . 12mo, 5000 
 
 Testament by ditto, pocket-size, 5000 
 
 Bible by Edinburgh Bible Society, . . . 12mo, 10,000 
 
 Bible by ditto— at press, 8vo, . 5000 
 
 Bible by ditto, pocket-size, 2d edit., 10,000 
 
 Thus, including the two last at press, it appears that there 
 have been printed for the Gaelic population, or less than a 
 seventh of the Irish, not fewer than 239.016,— nav, only 
 since the year 1807, above 197,500 ! And should wedraw a 
 comparison here, as we have just done with the Welsh 
 Scriptures, the following will be the result :— 
 
 Gaelic Scriptures. 
 
 XVII. century, . . . 4200 
 
 XVIII. 32.000 
 
 XIX 202^,816 
 
 Irish Scriptures. 
 
 XVII. centurv, . . . 1750 
 
 XVIII. none! 
 
 XIX 78,438 
 
 But the reader may now be disposed to look back and 
 take in the whole supply at one view. — Welsh, Gaelic, and 
 Irish,— from the day on which the translation of the Scrip- 
 tures into Welsh was enjoined, " for the soul's health of 
 the flocks/' to use the words of the bill itself, " in order 
 that such as do not understand English may, by conferring 
 both tongues together, the sooner attain to" the knowledge 
 of the English tongue or, in other words, from the year 
 1563, a space of two hundred and sixty-seven years/and 
 touching upon four centuries. Then, 'if under the term 
 Scriptures, we include copies of the Xew Testament along 
 with the entire Bible, in each of the cases, the account will 
 stand as follows : — 
 
 Welsh. 
 
 XVI. century . . 1000 . 
 
 XVII 30,500 . 
 
 XVIII 89,000 . 
 
 XIX 297,458 . 
 
 Gaelic. Irish. 
 
 . . none .... none 
 
 . . 4200 .... 1750 
 
 . • 32,000 .... none 
 
 . . 202,816 .... 80,188 
 
 In every point of view the retrospect is painful. Let the 
 relative disproportion between these three classes of British 
 Subjects be observed,— then the result will stand thus :— 
 
 Language. Population. Scriptures. 
 
 Welsh, 600,000 417,958 
 
 ' Gaelic, 400,000 239,016 
 
 Irish, 3,000,000 81,938 
 
194 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 That is, for Wales more than two copies for every 
 three, and for the Highlands more than one for every two 
 individuals, — for Ireland one copy to thirty-seven. After 
 comparisons, painful and extraordinary as these must be to 
 every reflecting mind, many affecting facts present them- 
 selves to our consideration. Thus, out of the trifling num- 
 ber of copies above mentioned, for an Irish population so 
 far superior to the other two, it may be observed, that 
 11,000 have not yet left the press, and more especially that 
 out of the remaining 69,188 there are no more than 5000 
 Bibles in the Irish character ; so that if every copy were in 
 use, this would be no more than one Bible to six hundred of 
 the population ! Here also, let it be observed, is the first 
 edition of the Irish Scriptures, in their proper type, for 
 142 years ; (for so long have we delayed in returning to the 
 good common sense of 1686, and the noble example left to 
 us by Mr Boyle ;) and here also is the first edition of the 
 Scriptures, in one volume, Irish letter, which has ever been 
 published for the Native Irish people ! Why, a hundred 
 and thirty years ago, when the Welsh population must 
 have been small to what it is now, they had more than 
 six times this number in circulation. Even if the beautiful 
 pocket Bible were out, (as it is nearly ready,) and all in 
 use, still this would be but as one to three hundred. I 
 select the Scriptures in the Irish type, because it is this 
 which the people want, and it is this to which they are en- 
 thusiastically attached. But it is in vain to dwell upon a 
 case which certainly never had a parallel, and which 
 certainly never will. Our business now is to roll away 
 the reproach which belongs to such an inequality of pro- 
 vision. 
 
 " When manna fell in the wilderness," said Dr Owen 
 after visiting Ireland in 1649, "when manna fell in the wil- 
 derness from the hand of the Lord, every one had an equal 
 share ; I would there were not now too great an inequality 
 in the scattering of manna, when secondarily in the hand of 
 men ; whereby some have all and others none ; some sheep 
 daily picking the choice flowers of every pasture, others 
 wandering upon the barren mountains, without guide or 
 food. Ah ! little do the inhabitants of Goshen know, whilst 
 they are contending about the bounds of their pasture, what 
 darkness there is in other places of the land ; how these 
 poor souls would be glad of the crumbs that fall from our 
 tables." Were we to include the English Scriptures, so far 
 as the mere distribution of the Sacred Volume is concern- 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 195 
 
 ed, might not this language be repeated now — and with ten- 
 fold emphasis ? 
 
 As for any remarks which can ever be adduced, coolly 
 accounting for all this, or referring to some peculiarities in 
 the Irish population, I have only to ask, — Does the party 
 know what was the state of the Welsh population when 
 this distribution of Scripture began among them ? I sup- 
 pose not.* No ; the fault as to Ireland most decidedly lies 
 upon the more highly-favoured classes in this country. 
 The ' golden rule' has been for ages thrown aside : We 
 have not done to others as we should wish them to have 
 done to us ; and this is the more to be lamented, inasmuch 
 as, since a trial has been made, there is, in fact, no part 
 of the United Kingdom where there has been such heart- 
 stirring encouragement to disperse the Word of Life, pro- 
 vided that it be given in the native language and its appro- 
 priate type. 
 
 It may be remarked, that we have as yet adverted only 
 to the Scriptures, and it would certainly not be doing jus- 
 tice to stop here ; though had Wales enjoyed no other ad- 
 vantage, this would have been more than sufficient to have 
 created a difference between the two countries, such as no 
 man can estimate. But the printing of the Sacred Writings 
 in any language (generally among the earliest books, ever 
 since the invention of printing) has always brought along 
 with it a train of other blessings. At the same time, the 
 ignorance which seems to prevail even among intelligent 
 men, as to the prodigious superiority of Wales over every 
 other Celtic tribe in this kingdom or the continent, suggests 
 the necessity of concentrating in one view a very brief ac- 
 count of Welsh literature. The chief inducement, how- 
 ever, to do so in this place, is the hope that, by the 
 force of contrast, it may excite a deeper sympathy for 
 that other Celtic tribe just across the Channel. In the fol- 
 lowing catalogue we also insert the Scriptures for the sake 
 . of some farther particulars : — 
 
 1547. Dictionary in Welsh and English by William Sales- 
 bury, 4to. 
 
 1550. Introduction teaching how to pronounce the letters, by 
 
 do., two editions. 
 
 1551. Dictionary of Salesbury, reprinted by Robert Crowley. 
 
 * Let him only read the dedication to Salesbury's Welsh Testament of 1567, re- 
 printed in Llewelyn's History of the Welsh Versions. 
 
 r2 
 
196 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 1551. A Welsh Rhetoric by Salesbury— enlarged afterwards, 
 and again published by Henry Perry, B.D. 
 
 1567. New Testament by Salesbury, printed by Henry Denman. 
 
 Welsh Grammar by Gruffwydd Roberts. This, which 
 
 is the first grammar properly so called, was printed 
 abroad, at Milan, by the author, who belonged to the 
 University of Sienna in Tuscany. 
 
 1588. Welsh Bible in folio, translated by Drs Richard Davies 
 —William Morgan— Wm. Hughes— Hugh Bellot— 
 David Powell, author of the History of Wales— Ed- 
 mund Prys or Price, the author of the Welsh Metrical 
 Psalms — Richard Vaughan — and John Salisbury, 
 Bishop of Mann. 
 
 1592. Welsh Grammar — Cambro-Britannicae, Cymeraecaeve, 
 linguae Institutiones et Rudimenta, &c. by John 
 David Rhese. After studying at Oxford he went 
 abroad, took the degree of M.D. in the University of 
 Sienna, and having a perfect knowledge of the Italian, 
 he was elected Moderator of the School of Pistoia, 
 and wrote several works in Italian, which were 
 esteemed. The first Hebrew in any quantity printed 
 in England was in Dr Rhese's Welsh 4 Institutiones.' 
 
 1603. Welsh Grammar by William Middleton, 
 
 Welsh Metrical Psalms by Middleton, printed in London. 
 
 1620. Welsh Bible in folio, by Dr Richard Parry and Dr John 
 
 Davies after-mentioned. The copy presented to 
 James I. is now in the British Museum. 
 
 1621. Rudiments— Antiquae Linguae Britannicae, by Dr Da- 
 
 vies, 8vo. 
 
 1630. Welsh Bible at the charge of Rowland Heylyn, Esq., 
 and others. 
 
 1632. Dictionarium Latino-Britannicum, by Davies, in folio. 
 Editions in 8vo and 12mo of the Rudiments, and the 
 Dictionary by Davies, were printed in 1630, at the 
 charge of Sir T. Middleton and Mr Heylyn. 
 
 1638. The Rudiments and Dictionary again in octavo. 
 
 1647. Welsh New Testament in 12mo, without marginal re- 
 
 ferences. 
 
 1648. Welsh Metrical Psalms, 12mo, by Dr Edmund Price. 
 1654. Bible, superintended by the Rev. Stephen Hughes— This 
 
 edition of 6000 was offered for sale at low price by the 
 generous exertions of the memorable Thomas Gouge. 
 Mr Hughes published besides about tweniy religious 
 books in Welsh, and some of them at his own ex- 
 pense. 
 
 Welsh New Testament, 8vo, large type, through 
 
 Mr Gouge. 
 
 1 672. Welsh New Testament with Psalms in prose and verse, 
 
 through Mr Gouge. 
 1678. Welsh Bible and Liturgy, 8vo. Out of 8000 printed, one 
 
 thousand were given to the poor — bound and clasped ; 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 197 
 
 it sold as low as 4s. 6d. through the exertions of 
 Mr. Gouge. 
 
 1690. Welsh Bible, folio, printed at Oxford under Dr William 
 Lloyd. 
 
 Welsh Bible, 8vo. of ten thousand copies at least, cor- 
 rected by Rev. David Jones at the charge of Marquis 
 Wharton and private individuals. 
 
 1718. Welsh Bible, 8vo, under the eye of Rev. Moses Williams, 
 who aided Dr Wotton in publishing the Leges WaU 
 licce. This edition was chiefly at the expense of the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 1727. Welsh Bible, 8vo, but without contents and references, 
 
 by the same Society. 
 — Welsh Grammar, by John Gambold. The Moravian 
 Bishop, author of 6 Ignatius,' a learned man, was a 
 Welshman, born near Haverfordwest, where also he 
 retired and died. I imagine this to have been one 
 of his early productions. 
 
 1728. Welsh Grammar by John Rhydderch. 
 
 1746. Welsh Bible, 8vo, by the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge. 
 
 1752. Welsh Bible, 8vo, by the same Society. These two 
 
 editions, amounting to thirty thousand, cost £6000 
 
 sterling, and were all disposed of by 1768. They sold 
 
 at 4s. 6d. per copy. 
 
 New Testament, the same as 1 672, by the same Society. 
 
 . The New Testament with Psalms frequently printed at 
 
 Shrewsbury from this date and so forward. 
 
 1753. Welsh Grammar by Rev. Thomas Richards. 
 
 1769. Bible, 8vo, by the Society, consisting of about twenty 
 thousand, and probably an additional number of New 
 Testaments. 
 
 1798. Bible, 8vo, by the Society. Ten thousand were printed. 
 New Testament, 8vo, — of two thousand copies. 
 
 Such were the editions of the Welsh Scriptures and 
 principal elementary books up to 1800 ; but the catalogue 
 of books in Welsh, by Moses Williams, in 1710, included 
 above seventy different articles. For a century past, an 
 almanack in Welsh has been regularly published, and, for 
 the last fifty years, various periodical works. At present 
 there are seven magazines published monthly, and one 
 quarterly. On Arithmetic and Mathematics there are two 
 or three treatises in Welsh ; one on Agriculture ; two on 
 Farriery, a Gazetteer and Geography of 550 pages with 
 maps. They have Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible in 
 Welsh, 3 vols 8vo. A translation of the History of the 
 Jews by Josephus, and the Bible, with Matthew Henry's 
 commentary, is now publishing in numbers. They have 
 r3 
 
198 
 
 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH. 
 
 also a Concordance in quarto ; the first edition of which 
 was printed at Philadelphia, for the use of the Welsh tract 
 in Pennsylvania, a community since scattered. In short, 
 there are about twelve printing offices in the principality to 
 supply the demand for Welsh books, besides what are 
 printed in this language at Liverpool, Chester, and Shrews- 
 bury. Were a catalogue printed now, it is supposed the 
 number of volumes or different articles could not be less 
 than eight thousand* 
 
 What a contrast is now presented in the condition of 
 two Celtic tribes, within the precincts of the same king- 
 dom, — the enlightened or favoured party consisting of about 
 600,000, the other of 3,000,000 ! But if the state is now more 
 emphatically one, and the British heart be in a healthy con- 
 dition, to what quarter of the empire should the tide of philan- 
 thropy and benevolence How if not to the long-neglected ? 
 
 Many are the voices which speak, even from the tomb, 
 enforcing this upon us. With regard to the Irish Scriptures 
 in particular, there is a voice even from the grave of Eras- 
 mus, with all his faults, sufficient to awaken them that are 
 asleep. More than three hundred years ago, when publish- 
 ing his Greek New Testament, he could not forbear casting 
 his eye over to Ireland and upon the Native Irish. " The 
 mysteries of kings," said he in his preface, " the mysteries 
 of kings ought, perhaps, to be concealed, but the mystery 
 of Christ strenuously urges publication. I would have 
 even the meanest of women to read the Gospels and the 
 Epistles of Paul ; and I wish that the Scriptures might be 
 translated into all languages, that they might be known 
 and read not only by the Irish and the Scots, but also by 
 Saracens and Turks. Assuredly the first step is to make 
 them known. For this purpose, though many might 
 ridicule, and others might frown, I wish the husbandman 
 might repeat them at his plough — the weaver sing them at 
 his loom — the traveller beguile the tediousness of the way by 
 the entertainment of their stories, and the general discourse 
 of all Christians be concerning them ; since what we are in 
 ourselves, such we almost constantly are in our common 
 conversation, "f 
 
 * For these last paragraphs I am indebted to a correspondent of the Scotsman, resi- 
 dent in Wales, dated the 13th of February, 1828. 
 
 t See the preface to the Greek Testament of Erasmus j which was indeed the first 
 published edition of the Greek Testament after the invention of printing ; for al- 
 though the Complutcnsian edition was first printed, it was not published dll 1522, 
 but that of Erasmus came out six years before, in 1516, or three hundred and four- 
 teen years ago. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 199 
 
 In supplying copies of the Scriptures generally, however, 
 there is one consideration which may not be unseasonable. 
 Although the Saviour, when here below, could multiply 
 loaves and fishes at his will to an indefinite extent, yet 
 even He, and at such a time, demanded of his disciples, 
 that they should gather up the fragments that nothing 
 might be lost. " The food divine for pious souls," as 1 
 remember a Native Irishman once phrasing it, demands 
 much more regard. It has, however, frequently seemed to 
 the writer, that in presenting children or adults when at 
 school with complete copies of the Bible, in many instances 
 there was much of needless waste. That the Scriptures 
 should be read at school is an infinitely important measure ; 
 but instead of one hundred Bibles, in most instances ten or 
 twenty would answer the purpose much better, by simply 
 dividing each of these copies into ten or five parts. Bind 
 these separately, and then the book will not be soon in- 
 jured, — the back of it will not then be broken, nor the 
 boards worn away from it, as is too frequently the case 
 when entire copies are given to each scholar. In short, the 
 books would not only preserve their first appearance much 
 longer, but the interest of the scholar would be excited and 
 kept up by the circumstance of receiving a different book so 
 frequently. 
 
 Independently of this expedient, I would venture to sug- 
 gest the extension to the Native Irish of an excellent old cus- 
 tom which their fellow-subjects have frequently and long- 
 enjoyed, — that of printing, separately, certain distinct books 
 of Scripture. The proverbs of Solomon were at one period 
 generally so used, in most of the parochial schools of Scot- 
 land. For example, the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, in 
 one neat 18mo ; Luke, the Acts, and the Epistle to the Ro- 
 mans, in another ; Mark and John, with the Epistles of 
 Peter and John, in a third ; might be of great use not 
 merely as school-books, but for general and extensive cir- 
 culation, at small expense. 
 
 As for other books, it is difficult to know where to begin 
 — but it is strange that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress has 
 never been translated into Irish. The man who shall ac- 
 complish this may be assured that the Pilgrim never met 
 with a warmer welcome than he would do in an Irish cabin 
 of a winter evening : only it should be done with great 
 care, by an individual who understands the original. There is 
 a translation in Gaelic, but I am not sufficiently aware of its 
 
200 BOOKS FOR THE IRISH, &c. 
 
 character, though it might possibly be of considerable service 
 for an Irish version. There is also a translation of Newton's 
 and Burder's Village Sermons. Scott's Essays and some of 
 Beddome's Village Discourses would have good effect in 
 Ireland. For single tracts, M'Laurin's Sermon on the 
 Cross ; the Excellency of Christ, by President Edwards ; 
 Extracts from Archbishop Leighton; from Bishop Hall's 
 Contemplations on the Old Testament ; the Sermon of Dr 
 Grosvenor on Luke xxiv. 47 ; Extracts from Owen, Howe, 
 Richard Baxter, and some from the Honourable Robert 
 Boyle, — would be of great use. 
 
 With regard to useful and safe but entertaining smaller 
 works, thirty or forty of a most valuable description liave 
 been published in Dublin, by the Society for promoting the 
 Education of the Poor, and the Cheap Book Society, from 
 which at first two or three of the fittest might be selected 
 for translation. 
 
 A very cheap periodical work, if well-conducted by a 
 man of principle, who, upon certain subjects, well under- 
 standing the doctrine of non-interference, but was thoroughly 
 imbued with the desire of benefiting his countrymen in 
 every way, cautious of admitting speculative opinions, and 
 determined to insert no mere idle reports, on whatever au- 
 thority, but resolved to put the Native Irish reader of the 
 day in possession of what is indubitable as to Nature, 
 Science, and Art, would be of essential service. There is 
 not a people upon earth who would read such a thing with 
 as much avidity, nor would any reader have a greater num- 
 ber of such eager hearers. 
 
 Since the first edition of this volume was published, 
 eighteen months ago, even the Highlanders have got their 
 Gaelic Magazine — but I forbear — as certain very desirable 
 elementary things for the Irish will occur more naturally 
 under the next section. 
 
 n Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, who received the word 
 with all eagerness, daily searching the Scriptures, whether these things were so. And 
 many indeed of them believed, and of honourable women that were Gentiles, and of 
 men not a few." VULGATE. 
 
 '* I use the Scriptures, not as an arsenal to be resorted to only for arms and weapons 
 to defend this party or defeat its enemies — but as a matchless temple, where I delight 
 to be, to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and the magnificence of the struc- 
 ture, and to increase my awe, and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and 
 adored." Hon. ROBERT BOYLE 
 
SECTION VIII. 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION, 
 
 Through the medium of the Irish language, either by means of Stationary or of 
 Circulating Schools. 
 
 " It certainly were ridiculous enough," says Mr Foster, 
 " to fix on a labouring man and his family, and affect to 
 deplore that he is doomed not to behold the depths and 
 heights of science, not to expatiate over the wide field of 
 history, not to luxuriate among the delights, refinements, 
 and infinite diversities of literature ; and that his family are 
 not growing up in a training to every high accomplish- 
 ment, after the pattern of some neighbouring family, 
 favoured by wealth, and perhaps unusual ability, combined 
 with the highest cultivation in those at their head. But it 
 is a quite different thing to take this man and his family, 
 unable perhaps, both himself and they, even to read, and 
 therefore sunk in all the debasement of ignorance, — and 
 compare them with another man and family in the same 
 sphere of life, but who have received the utmost improve- 
 ment within the reach of that situation, and learnt to set 
 the proper value on the advantage ; who often employ the 
 leisure hour in reading, (sometimes socially and with inter- 
 mingled converse,) such instructive and innocently enter- 
 taining things as they can procure ; are detached from con- 
 stant and chosen society with the absolute vulgar, have ac- 
 quired much of the decorums of life, can take some intelli- 
 gent interest in the great events of the world, and are pre- 
 vented, by what they read and hear, from forgetting that 
 there is another world. It is, we repeat, after thus seeing 
 what may, and in particular instances does, exist, in a 
 humble condition, that we are compelled to regard as an 
 absolutely horrible spectacle the still prevailing state of our 
 national population." 
 
 Again he says — " One of the most melancholy views in 
 which a human being can be presented to us, is when we 
 behold a man of perhaps seventy years sunk in the gross 
 
202 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 stupidity of an almost total ignorance of all the most mo- 
 mentous subjects, and reflect that more than three thou- 
 sand Sundays have passed over him, of which every hour 
 successively has been his time, since he came to an age of 
 some natural capacity for mental exercise. Perhaps some 
 compassionate friend may have been pleading in Ins behalf. 
 Alas ! what opportunity, what time, has the poor mortal 
 ever had 1 His lot has been to labour hard through the 
 week, throughout his whole life. Yes, we answer, but he 
 has had three thousand Sundays ; what would not even the 
 most moderate improvement of so immense a quantity of 
 time have done for him ? But the ill-fated man (perhaps 
 rejoins the commiserating pleader) had no advantages of 
 education, had nothing in any sense deserving that name. 
 There, we reply, you strike the mark. Sundays are of no 
 practical value, nor Bibles, nor the enlarged knowledge of 
 the age, nor heaven nor earth, to beings brought up in es- 
 trangement from all right discipline of their minds. And 
 therefore we are pleading for the schemes and institutions 
 which will not let human beings be thus brought up." 
 
 All this language, and much more to the same point, in 
 which we heartily concur, the esteemed author, about ten 
 years ago, expressed with reference to England * — though 
 at the same time in these pages a place is reserved, of 
 which of course he would approve, for the appropriate, 
 and, blessed be God, the ordained power of oral instruction 
 on the character of sinful men, though sunk and hardened 
 by long-practised habits. But oh ! how affecting does this 
 subject of longevity become, when carried across the 
 Channel and applied to Ireland ! Here we can point, as it 
 were with the finger, to about three hundred and fifty in- 
 dividuals who have spent their four thousand five hundred 
 Sabbaths — to nearly two thousand who have measured their 
 four thousand, and to more than eighty thousand who have 
 spent the number dwelt upon in the preceding passage ! But 
 let the reader reflect, as he now can, on the comparative 
 difference between these four provinces, and then observe, 
 that of the three hundred and fifty alluded to, here are not 
 far from two hundred who had lived in Connaught and 
 Munster from the year 1721 or before it — nearly two thou- 
 sand, of whom seven hundred and sixty had there resided 
 since or before 1731, and more than twenty-nine thousand 
 since or before the year 1751 ! 
 
 * Essay on the Evils of Popular Ignorance, pp. 98, 118. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 203 
 
 It would certainly be wrong to leave this subject here, 
 though it should detain us for a little while before we get 
 down to the interesting youth and children ; but this it 
 need not do. The better way will be, to bring the infants 
 of five years old and under, into view, along with the old 
 man of silver grey, who stoopeth for age, even although 
 the picture should prove the most affecting which can be 
 held up before the British eye, in reference to the United 
 Kingdom. When poring over the minuter details of the 
 last parliamentary census, again and again we had been in- 
 terrupted and struck by this subject, and intended to enter 
 into it most fully. Happily, however, it has been taken 
 up in an interesting volume by two Irish authors, and I 
 prefer their statement at present to one of my own, because 
 it is drawn out upon the spot, and because it is indica- 
 tive of that precise kind of interest in Irish gentlemen, 
 which might ultimately contribute to raise up their native 
 country. 
 
 SUMMARY OF COMPARATIVE LONGEVITY. 
 
 Provinces. 
 
 Gross popula- 
 tion. 
 
 From 70 to 
 100 and up- 
 wards. 
 
 Proportion 
 to popula- 
 tion. 
 
 From 90 to 
 100 years. 
 
 100 years 
 and up- 
 wards. 
 
 Ulster, 
 
 1,998,494 
 
 31,155 
 
 1— 64 
 
 669 
 
 94 
 
 Leinster, 
 
 3,757,492 
 
 20,821 
 
 1— 84 
 
 534 
 
 62 
 
 Minister, 
 
 1,935,612 
 
 18,598 
 
 1—104 
 
 452 
 
 89 
 
 Connaught, 
 
 1,110,229 
 
 10,617 
 
 1—104 
 
 308 
 
 104 
 
 
 6,801,827 
 
 81,191 
 
 1— 83* 
 
 1963 
 
 349 
 
 * Or nearly 1 — 84, the average of Ireland. 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that in each province in- 
 stances of longevity are most numerous in those counties 
 bordering on the sea. That they should prevail in those 
 districts where employment, and consequently superior 
 nourishment, and other comforts abound, is not a matter 
 of wonder. Hence the longevity of Ulster exceeds that of 
 Leinster by a ratio of one-fifth, and that of Munster and 
 Connaught by two-fifths per cent. This may also be in 
 part attributable to its northern situation. 
 
 Dividing the population of Ireland into four grand 
 classes with respect to age, the census of 1821 presents to 
 
204 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 our view the following lamentable picture of the state of a 
 country abounding with every means of industry, and with 
 able and willing hands to cultivate it, in the most civilized 
 period of the world :— 
 
 Infants of 5 vears and under, . 1,040,666 . 
 Children from 5 to 15, . . . 1,748,663 . 
 Operatives from 15 to 70, . . 3,931,660 . 
 Aged 70 to 100, 81,191 . 
 
 one-half at least badly clothed and fed. 
 1,300,000 destitute of education.* 
 1,094,845 destitute of employment, 
 a great proportion of whom are paupers. 
 
 These particulars are taken from a valuable piece of 
 local history. Fitzgerald and M'Gregor's History of Li- 
 merick, published in Dublin about four years ago. At the 
 same time it is to be remembered that the population now 
 is seven millions and a half ; and that education in English 
 has been making rapid progress during the last nine years, 
 so much so, that at this moment the average in that 
 language is above that of England. Very much indeed re- 
 mains to be done in Ireland, though this fact gives point 
 and meaning to the language of Mr Foster, as well as to 
 many other passages in his remarkable essay. But as for 
 the Irish tongue I may now leave it to the reader's own 
 judgment, whether the subject has been even estimated ; and 
 what encouragement is due to those classes who have al- 
 ready made a beginning, or to such judicious and humane 
 individuals as may henceforth determine to employ it in 
 the business of education. At the same time it must be 
 remarked, with regard to Irish education in the native 
 language, that some consideration is due, even at this mo- 
 ment, to the peculiar and most interesting complexion of 
 the pupils; many of them, — in two or three counties by 
 far the largest majority — consisting of persons in mature 
 age. Some provision as to a safe and useful variety of 
 reading is therefore naturally suggested. I only plead for 
 three millions to enjoy, what the Welsh have long enjoyed, 
 and the Highlanders are now daily receiving. Would some 
 of the gentlemen connected with " The Society for the Dif- 
 fusion of Useful Knowledge" but turn their attention to 
 this field, and get up for the Native Irish neat and cheap 
 elementary books, accurately printed in Fry's beautiful 
 Irish type, or in one cast on purpose, it is impossible to say, 
 not only how much knowledge, but rational enjoyment 
 
 * But in addition to these, who are at present out-growing the very season of edu- 
 cation, how many more of the other four millions, from 15 to 100, have outgrown 
 it ! And yet of these we see that there must be many thousands who are at once un- 
 able to read a book and out of employment !— the mind quite unfurnished— the hands 
 unemployed ! 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 205 
 
 they would diffuse throughout Ireland. Or some of those 
 intelligent and benevolent individuals in Dublin might 
 gratify themselves by so doing. Were such cheap elemen- 
 tary things accurately rendered into Irish and well got up, 
 on Arithmetic, Geography, Natural History, Agriculture, 
 Cottage-economy, &c, any one who has heard a class of 
 Irish youth examined can tell with what avidity they 
 would be received and read. 
 
 But indeed this quickness of theirs requires to be wit- 
 nessed in order to its being duly appreciated ; though it is 
 remarkable that even the descriptions of the thirst after 
 knowledge have not excited more attention, and drawn the 
 heart more powerfully to Ireland. I may assure the reader, 
 that such has been the eagerness to obtain education, that 
 children have been known to acquire the first elements of 
 reading, writing, and arithmetic without a book — without 
 a pen — without a slate ! And indeed the place of meeting 
 was no other than a grave-yard ! The long flat stones with 
 their inscriptions were used instead of books, while a bit of 
 chalk and the grave-stones together, served for all the rest ! 
 But then this eagerness for knowledge, though more gene- 
 rally felt, is not novel. Let any one inquire minutely into 
 local circumstances during the last fifty or sixty years, and 
 he will find it here and there as a strong feature of the Irish 
 character. Or take the following as a specimen of what 
 has been acquired, without the intervention of the English 
 language, and when it could not be attained. Mr Patrick 
 Lynch, with whom the writer once had an opportunity of 
 conversing on these subjects, was, it appears, " born near 
 Quin, in the county of Clare, in the year 1757. He was 
 educated near Ennis by Donough an Charrain, i. e. Dennis 
 of the Heap. His master knew no English, and young 
 Lynch learned the classics through the medium of the Irish 
 language. After acquiring in this way an excellent know- 
 ledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, he was compelled by 
 family misfortunes to turn farmer, and for five years held a 
 plough. From this employment he was happily relieved, 
 and was subsequently able to better his condition. Six years 
 he passed as tutor in a gentleman's family, arid after sundry 
 experiments of the same kind he settled at Carrick on Suir. 
 Here he commenced author. He had written a Chronoscope, 
 but had no means of publishing it. In concert with a bar- 
 ber of the town, he procured some types, and by means of 
 a bellows-press, he actually set and printed his first work 
 with his own hands, and established the first printing-press 
 s 
 
206 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 ever seen in that place. He next wrote and printed at the 
 same press, a Pentaglot Grammar, in which he instituted a 
 comparison between English, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and 
 Irish : correcting several errors in the Saxon etymologies 
 of Johnson. From Carrick he removed to Dublin, where 
 his abilities were soon recognised. He was one of the first 
 persons employed under the record commission, and was- 
 afterwards engaged in investigating the records of Ireland. 
 He was secretary to the Gaelic Society of Dublin, and, 
 among various publications, before his death was employed 
 in a geographical and statistical history of Ireland."* 
 
 Yes, when we advert to the Native Irish, and education 
 in their Native tongue, we see what avidity can suggest. 
 Then we can mention evening scholars, who have been en- 
 deavouring literally to go on by the help of moonlight for 
 want of a candle, and even men and women, particularly 
 within these few years, acquiring an ability to read in so 
 short a period, that, until the facts of the case are examined 
 or witnessed, the statement might seem incredible. With 
 us it is generally regarded as a slow process, if not almost a 
 hopeless task, when men and women think of learning to 
 read ; but in the case of the Native Irish at this moment, 
 by far the largest proportion of the present pupils consist 
 of men and women, many of whom have arrived at mature 
 age. This is one consideration which suggested the im- j 
 portance of translating most of the articles already speci- 
 fied. 
 
 In the present state of the Irish country districts, there 
 is scarcely any measure of greater value than a good model- 
 school for the training of schoolmasters. What immense 1 
 benefit has already resulted from the English model-school | 
 in Dublin ! Now, were that city to take the lead in an Irish 
 one, other places would follow. But Cork, Limerick, and 
 Galway should by no means wait for this. If the first of 
 these looks across Munster, the second does the same in 
 
 * History of Dublin, 4to, vol. IL p. 956. " In passing through Mitre Alley," says I 
 the author in another place, " the eye is attracted by an angular sign- board projecting 9 
 from the wall, on which is the following inscription : — ' Domestic Medicine pre- I 
 scribed from Irish manuscripts,' and a couplet of Irish poetry follows. Attracted by I 
 this notice we visited the Doctor, in the hope of meeting with those Irish manu-j 
 scripts from which he derived his prescriptions. Nor were we disappointed. We 
 found an old man of a genuine Milesian aspect, possessed of seventy-three very okM I 
 volumes of vellum, bound in modern covers. They contained several thousand re«J I 
 cipes in Latin and Irish, written in a beautiful but "very old Irish character. Fronxl I 
 this ancient repertory the Doctor collected all his knowledge of the healing art, j | 
 and practised with some success among the poor of his vicinity." 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 207 
 
 return, or down towards Kerry and over to Clare ; and Gal- 
 way over to Connamara or up to Mayo. It is not enough 
 that a mere school-house be opened or books printed. Every 
 thing still so depends upon the moral character and dispo- 
 sition of the man, and on his understanding his business, 
 that one such well-conducted seminary, however humble in 
 all its appurtenances, is worth a score of others. Nothing 
 can be more injurious to any country, and particularly to 
 the Native Irish, than the appointment of schoolmasters 
 incompetent in any sense, or not in love with the occupa- 
 tion. Apply the idea to a gardener or a ploughman, and 
 see what work would follow ; but indeed the multiplication 
 of trifling or inefficient teachers will never raise such a pea- 
 santry as the Native Irish. They have too much mind to 
 be raised up by weak or heartless men. 
 
 If, however, we leave cities and towns, — leave the east 
 and go to the west or north-west and south-west, — we find 
 distant and destitute and mountainous or hilly districts, 
 and we see the numerous islands along all this coast. Now 
 it is fortunate that we here require to do nothing more than 
 examine and study the precedents furnished by the Welsh 
 and Gaelic circulating schools. In consequence of attention 
 to both of these, and some concern once in the management 
 of the latter, as well as an interest in the scheme, now con- 
 firmed by the experience of seventeen years, the following 
 hints are submitted. For years indeed they have been act- 
 ed upon in Ireland by two different classes, but the magni- 
 tude of the case, and the way in which some persons speak 
 of much being now done in our day for the Native Irish, 
 warrant their insertion here. 
 
 IRISH CIRCULATING SCHOOLS. 
 
 I. The schools to be opened should be for the sole and 
 express purpose of teaching the inhabitants of those dis- 
 tricts where Irish is spoken to read their native language. 
 
 II. Alphabet-boards, containing the letters of the Irish 
 alphabet, in the Roman and Irish character, in parallel 
 columns, to be used in teaching the alphabet ; and syllable- 
 boards of two and three letters to succeed these. 
 
 III. The elementary books to proceed gradually with 
 " spelling and reading lessons each short set of lessons 
 advancing only by one letter, up to the longer and more 
 
 s 2 
 
208 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 difficult words. The Irish New Testament might succeed, 
 and after this the Old, without note or comment, beginning 
 with the easiest parts. 
 
 IV. As to the school-house, no costly preparations are 
 
 necessary, especially as the teacher sent is not to be a per- 
 manent resident ; and the Native Irish, who are so remark- 
 able for hospitality and kindness, will not certainly fall be- 
 hind the Highlanders, who, in a very successful attempt to 
 teach them their own language, have, in general, most 
 cheerfully provided the necessary accommodations. 
 
 V. When a school is to be begun, all other things being 
 ready, intimation should be given that it will be continued 
 only for a limited period, not less than six nor more than 
 eighteen months, during which time the young and old 
 who attend should be instructed gratis. 
 
 VI. The moral character and competence of the school- 
 master in such a plan as this is manifestly all in all. With- 
 out some competent share of wisdom and humanity, and 
 delight in his work, he may fail, but the scheme is still 
 finely adapted to its end. There is a Teacher's Guide, 
 printed, for conducting the Gaelic circulating schools, in- 
 cluding every particular, which might be of service if 
 adopted and further improved for Ireland. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 1. The adaptation of the circulating plan to the country 
 itself should recommend it. As many if not most of the 
 inhabitants live, not collected in villages, but in abodes dis- 
 persed through the range of many thousand acres, and as 
 " children of tender years, though of sufficient age to be 
 capable of learning, cannot go very far from home for edu- 
 cation,"* how can their instruction be so generally pro- 
 moted as by this method ? 
 
 2. The economy of this scheme is a strong recommenda- 
 tion. It comes in an humble outward appearance, and is 
 the better suited to the condition of the people. In Wales, 
 they found that about twelve children could be instructed in 
 reading their mother tongue, for the same expense which 
 was incurred in teaching one to read English. To learn to 
 read Welsh required three or four months ; to learn Eng- 
 
 * Parliamentary Reports of the Board of Education for Ireland. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 209 
 
 lish, four or five successive winters. What a saving was 
 this both of time and money ! The case is precisely similar 
 in teaching the Native Irish. 
 
 3. Nor should the effects of this system on the spirit of 
 the people be overlooked. In Wales, and in the Highlands 
 of Scotland, the circulating schools have not only shown 
 the inhabitants at what a cheap rate they may educate 
 themselves and their children, but the removal of the school- 
 master has induced them to attempt doing so. This is an 
 important advantage ; it is, in fact, making them take the 
 first step of that road, which will bring them, in the end, to 
 the independent spirit of a people, who will pay with glad- 
 ness for their own instruction, and to all the inestimable 
 comforts belonging to a self-educated community. In every 
 system adopted for the relief or moral improvement of a 
 country, the prudent benefactor should have it in view to 
 render the people, at a certain period, independent of such 
 assistance ; otherwise, however laudable the attempt, his 
 interference will cherish a spirit of mean and listless de- 
 pendence. Some people talk as if education were not like 
 any thing else, and that you cannot be too lavish in the 
 pecuniary means afforded. No mistake may do more harm 
 than this. There is such a thing as beggaring a district or 
 degrading the spirit of a people by the very mode in which 
 you apply the means of education. About eighteen years 
 ago, I remember of a district in our Highlands, in which 
 the people were so destitute of all sense of their own obliga- 
 tion to give their children education, that the principal or 
 at least the first reason for its not being accomplished was, 
 not their inability from their poverty, but simply that the 
 proprietors, or some benevolent persons, had not established 
 a school on their farm or near their own door. Being in 
 company with two or three of the inhabitants there, the fol- 
 lowing conversation ensued between an intimate friend of 
 the writer and them. Addressing one of them, — " Well, 
 my good friend, I am astonished that you do not in this 
 country attend to the education of your children." One of 
 the others, not the one addressed, replied, with a view, it was 
 supposed, to set their neglect in a glaring light to them- 
 selves, — " We don't send our youths to school, since we 
 have not the school in our own farm." " Surely," it was 
 said, " you do not contend so, to the injury of your off- 
 spring ?" The person first addressed, as if touched in a 
 tender part, fretfully replied, " Neither do we, nor should 
 we, when we have as much right to have the school in our 
 s 3 
 
210 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 farm as any others have to have it on theirs." It was then 
 supposed to him, that a ship laden with meal had anchored 
 off the second farm next to his, and that the load was de- 
 signed for the use of the whole country, " Would you let 
 your children starve for want because the ship did not 
 anchor off your farm ? Suppose the proprietors did not feed 
 or clothe your children, should you allow them to starve ? 
 Besides, think of your accountability to your Maker. By 
 this your criminal conduct you shut them out from one 
 means of coming at the knowledge and enjoyment of God 
 and happiness." With considerable gravity he replied, 
 " We are more concerned for Martinmas rents than for 
 these things." In justice to the Highlander, however, it 
 must be mentioned, that the school referred to was an Eng- 
 lish one, in the year 1810. And therefore the same indi- 
 vidual added, with a view to Gaelic circulating schools, 
 (which began to be established the following year,) " This 
 indifference to education is never likely to be removed, un- 
 less by means of diffusing the knowledge of letters among 
 them — and if they were taught in their mother tongue, they 
 would soon find the pleasure of reading. I have heard of 
 individuals there, and do personally know individuals in 
 other places, who learned to read fluently the Gaelic in a 
 few months, though they knew not a letter of the alphabet 
 till they had passed their fiftieth year/' 
 
 The perfection of any eleemosynary plan of education 
 consists in its working towards a conclusion or end — hav- 
 ing its own dissolution or cessation in prospect ultimately 
 — and its keeping this in view at every step, in its whole 
 frame of procedure. And the day on which it dissolves is a 
 day of gladness and mutual congratulation, not of mourn- 
 ing or regret in any sense. But in order to this it must be 
 a kind effort put forth and adapted to help the people to 
 independence. Its operations should somehow be ever and 
 anon reminding them of the superiority of their own re- 
 sources, and that it is far more blessed to give their children 
 education, than for them to receive it. Now it so happens, 
 that in various parts of Ireland there is a feeling — we are 
 told for one by Miss Edge worth in the notes appended to 
 Leadbeater's Cottage Dialogues — that " the very poorest of 
 the Irish shrink from the terror of their children being re- 
 proached, in after life, with having gone to a chafity-m&aok 
 This prejudice," she adds, " if it cannot be removed, may 
 at least be obviated, by annexing a stipend, however small, 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 211 
 
 to the privilege of attending the school; a penny would 
 take off the stigma, as it is, perhaps, falsely considered." 
 This feeling, on the part of the Irish peasant will, on the 
 plan recommended, be turned to good account. If the 
 people are not able, or are not called upon to show their 
 good- will to the cause, in the provision of a school-house or 
 its accommodations, as will be the case in some districts, 
 still a small trifle is exacted for the elementary books ; and 
 though the teacher should instruct gratis, he removes; 
 which removal is also calculated, not only to awaken the 
 sluggard to regret, but to excite both hope and desire in the 
 people of the surrounding districts, who are now waiting 
 for the cup to come round for the first time to them. 
 
 4. The bearing of this plan upon the English language 
 will be to many gentlemen an important recommendation. 
 The teaching of Irish and English cannot indeed be combined 
 in the person of the same man without abandoning one of the 
 greatest excellencies of the scheme, viz. the locomotion of 
 the teacher, or circulation of the school ; but what then \ 
 As soon as an Irish circulating schoolmaster has fully and 
 successfully performed his duty, and is about to remove 
 from any district, intimation should be given to some one 
 of the other benevolent institutions for instruction in the 
 English language, with the managers of which a good un- 
 derstanding can be established. In such a district will be 
 found a thirst for knowledge, and there also a desire for 
 acquiring the English tongue. The instances which have 
 been recorded under a preceding section abundantly war- 
 rant this conclusion, so that it may seem unnecessary to 
 adduce an additional testimony, though it be one of the 
 highest authority. I allude to the remarks of an esteemed 
 Christian friend and correspondent, the deceased Rev. Dr 
 Alexander Stewart, when speaking of the remote High- 
 lander — remarks which apply with equal force to the many 
 thousands of Native Irishmen. " By learning to read," 
 says he, " and to understand what he reads, in his native 
 tongue, an appetite is generated for those stores of science 
 which are accessible to him only through the medium of 
 the English language. Hence an acquaintance with the 
 English is found to be necessary, for enabling him to gratify 
 his desire after further attainments. The study of it be- 
 comes of course an object of importance; it is commenced 
 and prosecuted with increasing diligence. These premises 
 seem to warrant a conclusion, which might at first appear 
 paradoxical, that, by cultivating the Gaelic," (and I may 
 
212 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 add the Irish,) " you effectually, though indirectly, promote 
 the study, and diffuse the knowledge of the English."* 
 
 5. The plan recommended is no theory. In a country 
 deplorably destitute, poor, and ignorant, the schools of the 
 Rev. Griffith Jones did wonders, although they were far 
 from being so complete or so well-appointed as the circulat- 
 ing schools of modem times in Wales and the Highlands of 
 Scotland. The following abstract truly deserves to be put 
 on record. It is taken from the close of the third volume 
 of the printed reports, entitled " Welsh Piety," &c, which 
 are long since out of print ; and it will serve to show, that 
 extensive attempts in the way of education have not been 
 confined to the present day : — 
 
 WELSH CIRCULATING SCHOOLS. 
 
 Year. 
 
 No. of 
 
 No. of 
 
 Year. 
 
 No. of 
 
 No. of 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Scholars. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Brought up, 
 
 Scholars. 
 
 64,721 
 
 1787 . 
 
 . . 37 . . 
 
 . 2400 
 
 1749 
 
 . . . 142 . . 
 
 . 6543 
 
 1738 . 
 
 . . 71 . . 
 
 . 3981 
 
 1750 
 
 
 
 L739 . 
 
 . . 71 . . 
 
 . 3989 
 
 1751 
 
 . . . 129 . . 
 
 . 5669 
 
 1740 . 
 
 . . 150 . . 
 
 . 8765 
 
 1752 
 
 . . . 130 . . 
 
 . 5724 
 
 1741 . 
 
 . . 128 . . 
 
 . 7995 
 
 1753 
 
 . . . 134 . . 
 
 . 5118 
 
 1742 . 
 
 . . 89 . . 
 
 . 5123 
 
 1754 
 
 . . . 149 . . 
 
 . 6018 
 
 1743 . 
 
 . . 75 . . 
 
 . 4881 
 
 1755 
 
 
 
 1744 . 
 
 . . 74 . . 
 
 . 4253 
 
 1756 
 
 . . . 172 . . 
 
 . 7063 
 
 1745 . 
 
 . . 120 . . 
 
 . 5843 
 
 1757 
 
 . . . 220 . . 
 
 . 9037 
 
 1746 . 
 
 . . 116 . . 
 
 . 5635 
 
 1758 
 
 . . . 218 . . 
 
 . 9834 
 
 1747 . 
 
 • . 110 . . 
 
 . 5633 
 
 1759 
 
 ... 206 . . 
 
 . 8539 
 
 1748 . 
 
 . . 136 . . 
 
 . 6223 
 
 1760 
 
 ... 215 . . 
 
 . 8687 
 
 
 C arry up, 
 
 64,721 
 
 
 Total Number, 
 
 150,212 
 
 So that one hundred and fifty thousand two hundred 
 and twelve persons were taught to read the Welsh Scrip- 
 tures during the above twenty-four years ; and that through 
 the superintendence and influence of this single clergyman, 
 who was but of a weak constitution, and in a poor state of 
 health for several years before his death. Nor was this all ; 
 for Mr Jones informs us, at the close of one of his reports, 
 that "most of the masters instructed for three or four hours 
 in the evening, after school-time, of those who could not at- 
 tend at other times, and who are not included in the above 
 number, about twice or thrice as many as they had in their 
 
 * Introduction to the Gaelic Grammar. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 213 
 
 schools by day :" and, further, he says, that " in many 
 of the schools the adult people made two-thirds of the 
 scholars ;" thus raising the total number benefited to above 
 400,000 souls ! Persons above sixty attended every day, and 
 often lamented, nay, even wept, that they had not learnt 
 forty or fifty years sooner. Not unfrequently the children 
 actually taught their parents, and sometimes the parents 
 and children of one family resorted to the same circulating 
 school, during its short continuance in a district ; while 
 various individuals, who, from great age, were obliged to 
 wear spectacles, seized the opportunity, and learned to read 
 the Welsh at that advanced period of life* 
 
 6. In conclusion, I repeat, one prime excellency of the 
 circulating system consists in its tendency to generate the 
 idea that it is not only possible for persons, though in 
 limited or indigent circumstances, to retain and even pro- 
 mote the art of reading among themselves, but that it be- 
 comes the incumbent duty of parents to aim at this, and 
 especially after such temporary residence of a regular 
 schoolmaster. The knowledge that he has come for a given 
 period is calculated to excite all along both attention and 
 diligence ; but the anticipation of his day of removal power- 
 fully suggests what a pity it would be that the little fire he 
 had kindled should die out. The teacher, of course, has no 
 interest but to promote this feeling. Two or three, if not 
 more, have been distinguished for their proficiency and de- 
 light in reading. — " Can one of these," says the teacher, for 
 a month or two before leaving, — "can one of these not 
 keep an evening school when I am gone ?" — " Why not V 
 say the people, and here begin the first workings of a spirit, 
 which, in various instances, will not rest till they are in- 
 dependent of all necessity for commiseration from any 
 transient visitor. Such a feeling would prevail with pecu- 
 liar force in those numerous Islands round the coast. I 
 think I see the morning of the day on which the boat must 
 leave for the neighbouring isle, which now for some time 
 had anticipated his arrival, some of whose inhabitants by 
 this time had witnessed the effects of his residence at his 
 present station. If there should be regret in one spot this 
 morning, and gladness in another, all this, I am sure, 
 
 * This excellent man, (Mr Jones,) who died on the 8th April, 1762, in the 78th 
 year of his age, was generally styled " the Welsh Apostle;" and if there was any 
 propriety in this appellation, the present generation will testify how richly the late 
 Mr Charles of Bala deserves to be styled his successor. 
 
214 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 would not, could not die away in a relapse. But the same 
 feeling would also prevail in the mountains and hills, as 
 well as many other districts on the mainland, which liave 
 mourned so long because no such man as this had gone 
 forth and walked over them. Our blessings brighten as 
 they take their flight, and the very movements of a judici- 
 ous circulating teacher operate as a call that is felt by the 
 people at such a moment to retain the blessing by their 
 own efforts. 
 
 There is one individual in Ireland, who has been in the 
 habit of teaching his countrymen to read Irish on one con- 
 dition, — that the individual so instructed should in return, 
 as payment, engage to teach twelve others,— an instance of 
 philanthropy which, I suspect, cannot be matched, in re- 
 ference to the English language : and I have known a cir- 
 culating Gaelic school terminate not only in a permanent 
 and independent one, in which Gaelic was taught, but 
 English also, with writing and arithmetic. 
 
 In some districts of the Highlands, it is true, certain 
 parents, who had little or no regard for the souls of their 
 offspring, were at first indifferent to education, except in 
 English, with a very mistaken view, as it regards only 
 the present life. And the same policy which we pursued 
 once, has, it seems, begun in some parts to produce the same 
 effects in Ireland. This request, on the part of illiterate 
 parents, has been lately spoken of as a discovery. To us 
 it is by no means new ; but it is of importance that the 
 fact, which has been publicly affirmed, should be just 
 glanced at, or it may be observed, as a proof of the neces- 
 sity of what has been advanced elsewhere. Grant these 
 parents their request, and in hundreds, if not thousands of 
 instances, both money and time are wasted. Nay, they 
 themselves will be unconsciously the occasion of tins waste, 
 while they go on perpetually talking Irish, winch they 
 must do, if they speak at all. There is, of course, no rea- 
 son for a word of censure as to their request, but they 
 know not what they ask. The reader will recollect what 
 has been already asserted as to the very transient effect of 
 English education in Irish districts (p. 137) : but if any 
 one party who had begun with Irish, listen to an argument 
 so weak as this, let them be assured that they have been 
 misled. No ; let all such keep steadily to their object. 
 When a Gaelic circulating school was first proposed, it 
 might be slighted by some, as not conveying what they 
 call lcrni?i in the Highlands, and laming in Ireland; but 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 215 
 
 no sooner was a commencement made than the parents 
 were delighted. The promoters of the Gaelic circulating 
 schools may be suspected of partiality by those who have 
 never witnessed their admirable effects, not only in plant- 
 ing knoioledge (for what signifies the mechanical art of 
 reading, if it does not implant knowledge ?) but in ad- 
 vancing English permanently : but, independently of their 
 testimony, one of many years and long experience deserves 
 to be quoted. The Society in Scotland for propagating 
 Christian Knowledge, now venerable for its age, having 
 promoted English schools in the Highlands for more than 
 a century, with a candour which did them credit, delivered 
 their sentiments on this subject more than twelve years ago. 
 The following extract from their minutes is dated " Society 
 Hall, Edinburgh, 1st May, 1817 :— " 
 
 " The Directors having taken into consideration, that, some 
 time ago, copies of the Gaelic Spelling-book, drawn up at the 
 request of the Society, by the Rev. Mr Stewart of Dingwall, 
 for the purpose of being introduced into those Society schools, 
 which are situate in districts where the Gaelic is spoken, had 
 been printed at the expense of the Society, — Resolved to 
 order, and they hereby do order accordingly, that copies 
 thereof be sent without delay to all such schools; that in 
 teaching the children of Parents whose ordinary language is the 
 Gaelic, the teachers of these schools be instructed to begin 
 with the Gaelic Spelling-book, and that presbyteries which 
 have Society Schools established within their bounds, be re- 
 spectfully requested to instruct their visiting committees to 
 attend particularly to the effect, which commencing with the 
 Gaelic is found to produce on the successful prosecution of the 
 education of children, and to make this a part of the Reports 
 of the visiting of the Schools annually transmitted to the 
 Society." 
 
 The course here referred to, indeed, stands to reason, — 
 it is only a falling-in with the order of nature, — it is simply 
 doing to others what we should wish to be done to our- 
 selves, — while, at the same time, however individuals may 
 advise to the contrary, endeavouring to damp the ardour of 
 pursuit, or sway the mind from the straight-forward path, 
 it is scarcely to be supposed, that bodies of men, — that in- 
 stitutions of only ten or twenty years standing will disre- 
 gard the voice of one more than a hundred years old, ut- 
 tered as to another Celtic district, after the experience of a 
 century. The printed instructions which have been sent 
 out, confirmatory of this resolution, should be perused by 
 
216 
 
 NATIVE IRISH EDUCATION. 
 
 every one who wishes to be more fully informed on the 
 subject. 
 
 Here also it may not be improper to notice one resolution 
 of the Gaelic Society School, which in its operation has 
 been found to be most salutary,—' 4 That the teachers to be 
 employed by this Society shall neither be preachers nor 
 public exhorters, stated or occasional, of any denomination 
 whatever." This was not only of value to the heathful 
 play of the circulating scheme ; but the slightest invasion 
 of a sacred institution, to be conducted on other principles, 
 and demanding gifts of another order, in the exercise of 
 which the gifted party should be absorbed, was deprecated. 
 The schoolmaster was presumed to be a man of conscience, 
 and, having his seasons of teaching to read laid down to 
 him, so as to occupy his ichole time, could not be supposed 
 conscientiously to vary from his instructions ; but still it 
 was deemed prudent, nay incumbent, to express their senti- 
 ments distinctly on the subject. The province of education 
 and that of the ministry of the word are quite distinct. 
 Never let us expect from the one what it is in the Divine 
 Mind and intention to produce by the other. 
 
 To conclude. Under a previous section I have adverted 
 to the number of persons under instruction in Irish reading. 
 I had then in view the returns of both the voluntary societies 
 now in operation, which depend from year to year on the 
 bounty of individuals, and but for whom there had been 
 but very few Irish scholars in existence. The number may 
 now be somewhat more, for happily it is increasing. But what 
 is this to the aggregate so repeatedly mentioned as requir- 
 ing education ? And yet, compared witli illiteracy, in the 
 whole range of causes, what is there which renders the sta- 
 bility of a country so insecure ? Men have not only under- 
 stood but felt this, in times of public calamity or commo- 
 tion ; but, (and more especially when the population has 
 reached the " maximum" which ours has done,) what an 
 insecurity must that be, which, whether prosperity or ad- 
 versity be our lot, remains still the same ? " If," says Mr 
 Foster, " if through a miracle there were to come down on 
 this country, with a sudden delightful affluence of temporal 
 amelioration, resembling the vernal transformation from the 
 dreariness of winter, an universal prosperity, so that all 
 should be placed in ease and plenty, it would require 
 another miracle to prevent this benignity of Heaven from 
 turning to a dreadful mischief. What would the great 
 tribe of the uneducated people do with the half of their 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 217 
 
 time, which we may suppose that such a state would give 
 to their voluntary disposal ? Every one can answer in- 
 fallibly, that the far greater number of them would con- 
 sume it in idleness, vanity, or abomination. Educate them, 
 then, educate them ; or, in all circumstances and events, 
 calamitous or prosperous, they are still a race made (as it 
 were) in vain !" 
 
 " Education and instruction are the means, the one by use, the other by precept, 
 to make our natural faculty of reason both the better and the sooner to judge rightly 
 between truth and error, good and evil." HOOKER. 
 
 " In our recovery from a lapsed state, which the religion professed among us aims 
 at, there are two things to be effected ; the restoring reason to its empire over the sen- 
 sitive nature, that it may govern that, and the restoring religion and love to God to 
 their place and power, that He may govern us. While the former is not done, we 
 remain sunk into the low level with the inferior creatures; and till the latter be 
 effected, we are ranked with the apostate creatures that first fell from God.". 
 
 HOWE. 
 
 " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and 
 morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of 
 patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, the 
 firmest props of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, 
 ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions 
 with private and public felicity. — And let us with caution indulge the supposition, 
 that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the 
 influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and excellence 
 both forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious 
 principle. — Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the 
 general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of government gives 
 force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened." 
 From hisfareivell address before retiring into private life. WASHINGTON* 
 
 T 
 
SECTION IX. 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY— ORAL INSTRUCTION, 
 
 Or the necessity and importance of ministering the Divine Word in a language 
 understood by the People. 
 
 In all that I have ventured to publish respecting this 
 most interesting country, it may have been observed that I 
 appeal from no party as such, to no other ; from no party 
 on this side of the Channel, to no party on that. No, I 
 have felt mainly for the authority of Him who is higher 
 than the highest ; before whom " the nations are as the 
 drop of a bucket, and who taketh up the isles as a very 
 little thing," — an authority too much, and in the present 
 instance too long neglected by us all. I am desirous of ad- 
 dressing myself, not so much to measures as to men, — to 
 such as are living with the Native Irish all around them, — 
 to such, especially, as are already engaged in preaching 
 the Divine Word ; and that, not with reference to what they 
 can give or bestow in such a cause, but what they might 
 themselves do with heart and tongue. 
 
 A number of individuals there are, upon Irish ground, 
 with whom the writer has repeatedly much enjoyed the 
 opportunity of conversing, and there must be many more, 
 who, with a heartfelt interest in the truths contained in 
 the Sacred Volume, are already furnished with all the ad- 
 vantages of a liberal education. Oh ! would they but add 
 yet this above all, an ability to converse in the Irish lan- 
 guage, it is impossible to say what might be the extent of 
 their usefulness, — not in changing some isolated opinions, 
 for this is worth no man's pains, and far below the ground 
 on which the " legate of the skies" should stand,— but in 
 spreading around them the savour of life unto life, and; 
 advancing the kingdom of Him who died for us, and rose 
 again. 
 
 For still, this ministry of the Divine Word, in a language 
 understood by the people, returns upon us as the first and 
 most important of all objects ; because it is a sovereign, it 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 219 
 
 is a Divine appointment, under a commission which none 
 can revoke. If men below occasionally press the other 
 measures; on tins subject, the Christian, and especially 
 those who have taken it in charge to minister the Divine 
 Word will hear the voice that cometh out from the throne 
 ifie terms ot that commission we need not repeat, every 
 word of which is so pregnant with meaning and duty to us 
 so full of pity from above for man below. But every a°-e 
 presents some peculiar seduction from the plainest path of 
 duty, whether to God or man ; and at a season when no 
 day is allowed to pass without some eulogy on the power 
 of the press, the noble invention of printing, or the sove- 
 reign efficacy of education, it is well to remember, that 
 however powerless may be the preaching of the present 
 (lay, it was not so once, and ere long it will not be so 
 
 3.111. 
 
 «2SE? ft de ?i!' ^ m aU a & S ' P erha P s ver y naturally, 
 panted after the abridgment of labour. This is the a ff e of 
 discovery and invention. New and easy methods have been 
 discovered, and applied with great effect in agriculture, me- 
 chanics, and education, yet certainly we need not expect 
 that any human ingenuity shall ever invade this province 
 ot labour, or m any degree supersede its necessity. But be- 
 sides, there is such a thing as a country having sunk into 
 such a state as m certain points shall set at defiance all the 
 wisdom of man and bring to nothing the understanding of 
 the prudent W hether such be the present condition of this 
 most interesting part of the empire, I leave to the reader's 
 own reflection ; but though it were, to the eye of an enlight- 
 en^ Chns AT ^'T nothm S in all this which seems ap- 
 palling When the harvest stands ready for the sickle of 
 Divine truth, and is just about to be gathered by the arm of 
 the labourer, it is happily not supposed to have passed un- 
 der some preparatory process of human device A fio-ure 
 should never be pushed to an extreme, and here it istte 
 Christian minister's privilege that the figure does not har- 
 monize with the natural world. « Say Sot ye there are yet 
 four months, and then cometh harvest ? Behold, I say unto 
 you Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are 
 white already to harvest." At whatever time, tS 
 
 t Tp,fn«l C ° Un - rySUn ^ 1 ? darkness and destitution, should 
 there only spring up m it a spirit of inquiry, then may we 
 say, that the fields are ready indeed for the moral h sblnd- 
 man. Now whether other parts of the British do minfons 
 are as destitute as many districts in Ireland or not vet 
 
220 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 where is there to be found such a spirit of inquiry as exists 
 in these at present ? What then remains for us, but to fall 
 in with the simple device of Infinite Wisdom, and remem- 
 ber that the brighter days for this fine interesting country 
 are to be ushered in, u not by might, nor by power, but by 
 my Spirit, saith Jehovah." 
 
 To the ministers of Christ already stationed in Ireland, 
 one cannot help saying, that, however the eye of sense and 
 human reason may turn towards Britain, the eye of faith 
 looks over to you, and the very places where you dwell. 
 Your every abode appears to be a station marked out for 
 proclaiming the truth. With fields of usefulness all around 
 you, however unpromising to the eye of sense, yet to the eye 
 of faith already white, what though you hear a language 
 daily that you understand not ? Methinks every word of it 
 sounds like a cry for the one thing needful* Nor is there 
 any thing at all formidable in acquiring this language : quite 
 the reverse. Men of weak and feeble patriotism have mag- 
 nified this separating wall, as the children of Israel did the 
 w T alled towns of the sons of Anak ; but all such fancies 
 might be answered by an English monosyllable of only 
 three letters — Try. Believe not that the barrier is so very 
 formidable ; even by a little assiduity you may leap over 
 it, and then a welcome indeed awaits you at every step, not 
 only from this ancient people, but in the language itself, — 
 a parent language, which, on this account, it should be re- 
 membered, enjoys certain advantages, calculated at once to 
 interest the mind, and urge the student forward. I might 
 refer for illustration to that delightful feature in many of 
 the words, which may be styled, self -interpretation, — a fea- 
 ture which has already been beautifully illustrated in several 
 of the replies given by Irish youths, when reading the Scrip- 
 tures in their native tongue. A language containing all its 
 roots in itself, receiving its modifications from within, and 
 conveying ideas therefore with point and precision, must 
 
 * When placed in circumstances analogous to yours, even as to the affairs of this j 
 present life, the necessity of such an acquirement as that which we now press, has 
 been deeply felt. One of your own countrymen, and once Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 
 the late Marquis of Hastings, addressing one day the students in the College of Fort- 1 
 William, with reference to India, in an admirable speech, used these words:—" If 
 indeed we wish to know a nation, it is peculiarly desirable to possess an independent 
 and extensive familiarity with its language; and this must bean object more than 
 desirable, it must be indispensable, when in the bosom of that nation we are charged 
 with the execution of the most serious and solemn offices of human life." Indja J« 
 regarded here as a part of the British empire : but shall such sentiments be held i 
 sterling at the distance of half the globe, and be despised within the bosom of th< 
 •mother country ? 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 221 
 
 needs be interesting and valuable as a vehicle for intelligent 
 and serious discourse ; and thus it certainly presents one 
 peculiar advantage for proclaiming the truth, which may 
 encourage you to commence learning to-morrow, if not to- 
 day. I remember well receiving a letter from a Highland 
 minister some years ago which will explain this advantage. 
 " While the Gaelic," said he, " continues to be generally 
 spoken in the Highlands, it must always be the language 
 best adapted for conveying religious instruction to the 
 people. In Lowland parishes, where English alone is spoken 
 and preached, it may be fairly presumed, that some of the 
 auditors, though they speak no other tongue, do not under- 
 stand the whole of the language they hear delivered from 
 the pulpit : but it is one of the peculiarities of the Gaelic, 
 that the illiterate speak it with as much propriety as those 
 who have received the advantage of education ; and that, as 
 far as regards language merely, the common herd will under- 
 stand the best orator." 
 
 Thus it is precisely among the Native Irish ; so that you 
 may rest assured, in the language itself once begun there 
 must be some of its features which will interest your own 
 mind. Much of needless ridicule has been cast upon Irish 
 antiquities, although the tongue being confessedly ancient, 
 the people must be so too ; but still there can bs nothing 
 of imposture in the language itself. De Rentsi or Vallancey 
 from abroad, or Halliday and O'Reilly at home, but all 
 grown up to manhood before they knew a word of it, could 
 not become so enthusiastically fond of the language for no- 
 thing, or by mistake* There must therefore be in it that 
 
 * What should we have thought if our language had possessed such enticing al- 
 lurements, as that several of our earlier and later elementary books, our grammars or 
 dictionaries, should have been composed by foreigners who had come into the country, 
 or by persons living in it, who had grown up before they cculd read or speak a word 
 of it. Such is the fact with regard to the Irish language. Sir Matthew De 
 Rentsi, above mentioned, a descendant of George Scanderbeg, was born in the 
 year 1577, at Cullen, in Germany. He had been a great traveller, and coming into 
 Ireland, he spent there the latter part of his life : he was, it is true, a general linguist, 
 but felt particularly interested in the Irish tongue: he died in the fifty-seventh year 
 of his age, at Athlone, on the '29th August, 1634; and upon his tomb-stone, which 
 was visible when Harris published his edition of Ware, and may be so still, these 
 words were engraved — " He gave great perfection to this nation by composing a 
 grammar, a dictionary, and chronicle in the Irish tongue." The Irish language 
 seems to have engrossed his study for about three years. This monument, which is 
 on the Westmeath side, was erected by his son of the same name. General Val- 
 lancey, who was born in Flanders in 1730, and died at Dublin, in 1812, at the 
 advanced age of eighty-two, first resolved on learning Irish when engaged in a mili- 
 tary survey of the country. He published his grammar in 1773. William Ha"- 
 liday, the son of a respectable apothecary in Dublin, though he had a critical 
 knowledge of the classics and some modern languages, was not at all acquainted 
 with Irish till the later years of his short life; yet he not onlv acquired such a facility 
 
 t3 
 
222 
 
 NATIVE IRrSH MINISTRY. 
 
 which, independently of the duty imposed, is interesting to 
 the student. But although there were not, you have read 
 the account of Brainerd preaching to his Indians ; or if not, 
 you have seen Bedell, in the sixtieth year of his age, sit 
 down, two hundred years ago, and acquire the Irish lan- 
 guage, and you have read that this " was soon observed to 
 be regarded by the natives in the light of a great compli- 
 ment." No, a kind compliment was not thrown away upon 
 the Irish then ; and though you live among the seventh gene- 
 ration since he set this example, the Native Irish, especially 
 as it regards the language, you will soon find to be of the 
 same blood with the contemporaries of Bedell. For whether 
 it be that kind compliments to them have been, like angel 
 visits, few and far between, it is but seldom that one is 
 thrown away on most of them.* 
 
 Waving, however, all minor considerations, if you are 
 
 in understanding the most ancient Irish manuscripts as surprised those whose native 
 tongue it was trom infancy, but published his grammar, containing some curious 
 observations on the declensions and prosody of the Irish tongue, though he died at 
 the early age of twenty-four, in August, "1812. MrE. O'Keilly, the author of the 
 latest Irish dictionary, was also arrived at manhood before he knew the language, 
 though born at Harold's Cross, and educated in Dublin. Indeed his application to 
 the study of it was occasioned by what some would call a mere accident. In the 
 year 1791, a young man of the name of Wright, who was about to emigrate from his 
 native country, had a number of books to dispose of, which consisted chiefly of Irish 
 manuscripts. They had been collected by Morris O'Gorman, who had taught Val- 
 lancey and Dr Young, Bishop of Clonfert. This man's library, which filled five large 
 sacks, O'Reilly purchased, and on examination found himself possessed of some of 
 the rarest Irish manuscripts; for one of which he has since refused fifty guineas. 
 Master of this repository, he commenced the study of the language; so that, to say 
 nothing of any other pieces, the last Irish Dictionary, containing about or above 
 50,000 words, was composed and published by an individual who, at the period re- 
 ferred to, could not speak a word of the language. After instances such as these, 
 one cannot wonder at the attachment of the natives to their ancient tongue. See 
 Hist, of Dublin, vol. II. 
 
 * In a previous page, (107,) I have noticed a circle of eminent men as preachers, 
 who visited Ireland in the middle of the seventeenth century. One of these already 
 noticed, as dying at an early age, Mr Murcot, seems to have made a deep impression 
 on the minds of his hearers. At the foot of an exquisitely engraved portrait of him, 
 prefixed to his works, (1657,) in the writer's possession, there are these lines : — 
 
 Here stand, and live in thy immortal page — 
 Thou golden preacher in an iron age. 
 Ireland laments thy loss: whose powerfull word 
 Wrought on her greater conquests than the sword. 
 Their bodies were subdu'd by armes and arts, 
 But thou (blest conqueror) didst win their hearts. 
 
 From his works, like some other eminent individuals, it should seem that much of 
 the usefulness of this young man must have been owing to his talents as a preacher, 
 to his manner as well as the matter of his sermons ; but if such power, at such a 
 time, attended English preaching, what might not be expected from an A polios in 
 the Irish tongue? The author rejoices that, since the first edition of this volume was 
 printed, there have been some proofs afforded, by one or two individuals, of the power 
 which accompanies the word of life when delivered in the Native tongue. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 223 
 
 ever to be the blessed instrument of saving many around 
 you, it is certain that, as to acquiring this language, " ne- 
 cessity is laid upon you." To reach the heart through the 
 ear by any other medium, is out of the question. ]Vian, it 
 is true, has been desciibed as " a divider of the voice," or, 
 in other words, an utterer of articulate sounds ; but in order 
 to clear his way he must accommodate himself to the arti- 
 culate sounds which have preceded his approach to any given 
 spot. Let these sounds have been what they may, his own 
 form of communication will not suffice. In every instance, 
 spoken language takes precedence of all other means, and 
 hence, in improving the condition of any class of men, we 
 propose first to talk with them, then teach them. So it 
 ought to have been all along, and certainly at least two 
 hundred and fifty or three hundred years ago with the Na- 
 tive Irish ; and whatever any may say to the contrary, so 
 it must be now in the nineteenth century. 
 
 But there is here another consideration of no inferior kind. 
 If spoken language is first in the order of time, it continues 
 to be first in point of importance. The noble invention of 
 printing is powerless here, to move it from its ancient and 
 unchanging pre-eminence. The power of the press, great 
 as it is, is here at least far below the power of the tongue : 
 for, independently of the natural power of the living voice, 
 he who made " man's mouth" hath so ordained it. The 
 volume of revelation itself indeed has been printed, but what 
 then ? After all, in every instance, he who regards it not as 
 vocal, can never know its meaning — never feel its power. 
 It began in audible sounds by the Creator himself to the 
 parents of mankind — the rest he inspired, and holy men of 
 God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The 
 volume hath closed, and the original mode of communication 
 hath ceased, all truth having been uttered which was need- 
 ful for any age or people. But the communication itself 
 remains, and revelation still is literally and truly a voice — 
 clear and expressive — it is the voice of God — 
 
 Thus Scripture, unsophisticate by man, 
 Starts not aside from the Creator's plan ; 
 The melody, that was of old design 'd 
 To cheer the first forefathers of mankind, 
 Is note for note deliver' d in our ears, 
 In the last scene of these six thousand years. 
 
 But still, even while revelation was in the course of delivery, 
 intelligible speech respecting it was not dispensed with. 
 
224 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 Inspired men were but occasional teachers, and there were 
 long spaces wherein no prophet appeared. Nay, even in 
 the time when prophecy flourished, the standing ministry 
 were not prophets, and we may see the very prophets senci 
 the people for instruction to the " Levite and the teaching 
 priest," or reprove both for neglect * 
 
 So also, while Revelation was in the course of delivery, 
 there might be, and there were decays. " For a long season 
 Israel had been without the true God, and without a teach- 
 ing priest, and without the law," and thirty years more 
 passed away before it was otherwise. But in the third year 
 of Jehoshaphat "he sent to his princes to teach in the cities 
 of Judah/ and with them he sent Levites and teaching 
 priests, " and they had the book of the law of the Lord 
 with them, and they went about throughout all the cities 
 of Judah and taught the people." The consequence imme- 
 diately recorded is striking : " And the fear of the Lord was 
 upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about 
 Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat" Nay 
 then the Philistines brought him presents of silver, and 
 even Arabia brought of her flocks to the amount of thou- 
 sands.f Such a course for a king may now seem to be of 
 small account ; yet such was Jehoshaphat's way of securing 
 both the peace and the prosperity of his subjects. 
 
 And if it were so in these early days, under the new cove- 
 nant there was no change, even although the opposition to 
 Christianity as spoken has always been by far the greatest — 
 a valuable testimony, by the way, to the power of language 
 as an instrument of usefulness. 
 
 The Founder of our faith suffered in consequence of his 
 words, and his good confession before Pontius Pilate, yet 
 did he not change his determination as to this precise mode 
 of advancing his cause. The confusion of tongues had dis- 
 persed mankind — the gift of tongues was intended to gather 
 into his sheepfold ; and his followers replied — " We cannot 
 but speak the things which we have seen and heard." — 
 
 * Haggai ii. II. Malachi ii. 6, 7. Jeremiah viii. 22. All the cities of refuge were 
 full of Levites or teaching priests, and in them were to be found no weapons of xr>ar. 
 Indeed the forty-eight cities of the Levites were just so many points or centres of in- 
 struction. Gilead, for example, was a city of teaching priests, and it happened also 
 to be celebrated for its balm. But it was the living voice it seems, it was vocal in- 
 struction which was to convey balm to the heart. Hence the point of Jeremiah's 
 inquiry—" Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no Physician there? Why then is 
 not the health of the daughter of my people recovered V 
 
 t See Chron. xv. 3. xvii. 7—11. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 225 
 
 " AVoe is unto me," said another, " if I preach not the 
 Gospel !" 
 
 Yet, gifted as these men confessedly were, what was their 
 very highest aim upon earth ) Intelligible discourse. Xo 
 men were ever so impressed with the importance of intelli- 
 gible preaching. Understanding well the true ground of 
 action in religion — that the connected sense of Scripture is 
 the only true sense, correct testimony the only ground of 
 faith, and fair argument the only ground of upright action, 
 preaching from their mouths became <; serious discourse 
 indeed." Sound, mere sound, in their estimation, was 
 nothing : intelligibility, wherever they went, was their aim. 
 Debtors to the Greek and to the barbarian, to the wise and 
 the unwise, no sooner did they step across the boundary of 
 any one tongue, than they took up the vernacular idiom of 
 the spot on which they stood. They might indeed have to 
 preach in one language to-day, and in another to-morrow, 
 and this miracle from on high remains upon record, like a 
 pointing finger to the path which Heaven would approve, 
 when man was to be left to pursue his course with the 
 graces that remain — Faith, and Hope, and Charity. 
 
 Nor was this all — even on the spot where these men 
 stood, intelligibility in that language was still their aim. 
 Language, let it be which it might, pleased them not, if it 
 affected only the ear. If a man " uttered by the tongue 
 words easy to be understood," he met their approbation ; if 
 he did not. they called it " speaking to the air." But old 
 Sedulius, the Irishman, they would have esteemed, when 
 he said, perhaps above a thousand years ago — " Be not 
 children in understanding, but ye ought to know %oherefore 
 languages were given. Better to speak a few lucid words 
 in the right sense, than innumerable that are obscure and 
 unknown." 
 
 After all this, it was at once an amiable and important as 
 well as an exemplary feature in these, the original preachers 
 of Christianity, that they had frequently as much anxiety 
 respecting the frame of their own spirits in preaching, as 
 they had respecting the hearts of their auditors in hearing. 
 Their own temper of mind they certainly ranked among the 
 subordinate and ordained requisites of success. In the 
 most painful and perilous circumstances, " approving them- 
 selves as the ministers of God, in much patience, by pure- 
 ness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness and 
 loye unfeigned." — " We also believe," said they. " and 
 therefore speak." Eloquence, or even being " mighty in 
 
226 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 the Scriptures," without love, was in their ear but a tink- 
 ling sound. Such was at least their regard both to matter 
 and manner — to the letter of their discourse and their dis- 
 positions in delivery. To some, their example may seem 
 too high for imitation, but it has been drawn out and left 
 on record assuredly with this intent ; for while these are to 
 be our patterns and guides, they are the only human guides 
 whom it is safe in such a course to follow. 
 
 Is it at all unwarrantable to regard the first propagators 
 of Christianity 1 Are their principles and procedure not to 
 be followed 1 or is it forbidden to apply such examples to 
 the present state of Ireland ? How then would these men 
 have acted there ? Would they have waited and seen the 
 people die around them, without attempting to acquire tbeir 
 vernacular tongue ? Would they have waited till it should 
 be the unwise and vain policy of some human power to at- 
 tempt bringing it into disuse ? Would they not rather 
 have styled every other language " barbarous," except the 
 one spoken on the spot ?* Would they not have seized 
 upon this as the only adequate and speedy medium of 
 reaching the mind ? as the only way of reaching the heart 
 through the ear ? Certainly they would ; and any minister 
 of the truth now in Ireland, who shall sit down in good 
 earnest to acquire this lively and expressive medium of 
 communication, with a view to his proclaiming in it the 
 message of salvation, the unsearchable riches of Christ, is 
 following the example of those who, of all other men, most 
 closely followed their Lord, and best understood the terms 
 of his commission. 
 
 Independently, however, of the force and peculiar attrac- 
 tion of such examples, which we have no doubt were in- 
 tended, not only to be admired but followed, the very frame 
 and structure, the forms of expression and the disposition 
 of the parts of Divine Revelation, prove that oral instruc- 
 tion was intended to accompany it. 
 
 The Sacred Volume complete, in the Irish language and 
 character, has left the press. It is an era which may well 
 be accompanied with thanksgiving to God, and I rejoice 
 the more in that it has been printed on Irish ground : 
 but then this is at the same time an event winch involves 
 
 * 1 Cor. xiv. 10, 11. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, 
 and none of them without signification ; therefore, if I know not the meaning of 
 the voice, / shall be unto him that speaketh a barbaiian, and he that speaketh a 
 barbarian unto me. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 227 
 
 other obligations, and seems to call for reflection upon 
 them.* 
 
 When the Mohammedan imposture arose, there was no 
 success for the Koran till its author laid his sword across it, 
 and proclaimed the prospect of sensual blessedness. He 
 told his followers, that the system he came to settle must 
 be propagated by the sword, and not by the word, and that 
 all who would not receive it must be exterminated. The 
 hope of plunder in this world, and a voluptuous paradise in 
 the next, account for his success. What a contrast to all 
 this do the Sacred Writings, when considered simply as a 
 volume, present ! — in which large portions stand out before 
 us as among the effects of faith, not the original cause of 
 belief, either in the writer or in those to whom he addressed 
 himself.t 
 
 And now that all truth is spoken, and the volume finished, 
 let us observe its contents. The doctrines to be believed, 
 and the supernatural truths to be received, are unfolded to 
 the mind, not in regular series, not in what men call syste- 
 matic order, not in any way analogous to arithmetical pro- 
 gression. They are not disposed into common-place, nor 
 arranged at all in the manner which we usually style me- 
 thodical. And yet, taking the volume as a whole, on 
 searching it, there is no disposition of language to be found, 
 making the most distant approach to method so exquisite, 
 in which there is such constant mutual respect of one part 
 to another, and such vital dependence of one truth upon 
 all the rest. Prophecies and historical writing, prayers 
 and songs, and epistolary correspondence are intermingled : 
 yet in all this, and precisely as it stands, there is a designed 
 and harmonious connexion, and that so perfect, that much 
 of the obscurity, of which some complain, must arise either 
 from ignorance of the truths referred to, or from hostility 
 to them. So very important is this peculiarity of the Scrip- 
 
 * " It is worthy of notice," said Mr Fuller, in reference to India, " that the time 
 in which the Lord began to bless his servants, was that in which his holy word began 
 to be published in the language of the natives. The heavens had long declared to 
 those people the glory of God; but it was reserved for the law of the Lord to convert 
 their souls. God by this no doubt intended to put an honour upon his own word, and 
 upon those who made it the foundation of their labours. Great account was made of 
 « the foundation of the Lord's temple being laid' among the Jews after their capti- 
 vity. That was the honoured period from whence their prosperity was dated. * Con- 
 sider now,' saith the Lord, ' from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth 
 day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple 
 was laid, consider it— from this day will I bless you.' "—Periodical Accounts, vol. Hi. 
 preface. 
 
 t e. g. Luke i. 1—4 ; 2 Peter i. 1. 
 
228 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 tures, that the best criterion of a good system is simply it? 
 agreement with them. " That view of things, whether we 
 have any of us fully attained it or not, which admits the 
 most natural meaning to he put upon every part of GodV 
 word, is the right system of religious truth. After this, to 
 be without system is nearly the same thing as to be without 
 principle. Whatever principles we may have, while they 
 continue in this disorganized state, they will answer but 
 little purpose in the religious life. Like a tumultuous 
 assembly in the day of battle, they may exist, but it will 
 be without order, energy, or end."* 
 
 Thus it appears that the disposition of the several parts, 
 with the whole form of expression in Sacred Writ, is calcu- 
 lated, and therefore was intended, not to make men expert 
 in notions, or subtile in dispute, but wise unto salvation : 
 and it is also a fine testimony to this form of Divine Reve- 
 lation, coming to the church as its occasions required, and 
 now as a whole laid before us, that no part of this book was 
 ever wrested, save by the unteachable and the unstable ; 
 and that its doctrines and precepts have never been rejected, 
 except by those who walked, and were determined to walk, 
 after their own lusts. Even Lord Rochester, after a life 
 thus spent, must leave this testimony behind him. Laying 
 his hand on the Bible, he would say, " There is true phi- 
 losophy. This is the wisdom that speaks to the heart. A 
 bad life is the onlji grand objection to this book." 
 
 Such being the methods of Him who is infinite in wis- 
 dom — such the very structure of the volume wherein his 
 voice is heard, the business of a public expositor is of course 
 not to disturb, but to point out this harmony. One great 
 use of such an expositor is, that the people may hear a man 
 who is himself a believer, not only comparing spiritual 
 things with spiritual and rightly dividing the word of truth, 
 but at other times expressing his profound reverence for 
 truths which are too mighty for his grasp — or see him fixed 
 in admiration over the depths of sacred discoveries. Hence 
 it is, that more positive good has accrued to men from 
 pausing over the expressions of such a man as Paul, even 
 when lost in wonder at the riches of Infinite Wisdom, than 
 from all the dogmatism in the world.t 
 
 Yes, among the several ends of Infinite Wisdom, to 
 which this disposition of the various parts of Divine revela- 
 tion is subservient, one of the most important is that of 
 
 * Fuller. 
 
 t Romans xi. 33 ; Ephcs. in, 8—21. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 229 
 
 rendering useful and necessary the great ordinance of the 
 ministry. " God hath not designed to instruct and save 
 his church by any one outward ordinance only. The ways 
 and means of doing good unto us, so as that all may issue 
 in his own eternal glory, are known only unto Infinite Wis- 
 dom. The institution of the whole series and complex of 
 divine ordinances is no otherwise to be accounted for but by 
 a regard and submission thereto. Who can deny that God 
 might both have instructed, sanctified, and saved us, with- 
 out the use of some or all of those institutions to which he 
 hath obliged us % His infinitely- wise will is the only rea- 
 son of these things ; and he will have every one of his ap- 
 pointments on which he hath put his name to be honoured 
 — such is the ministry. A means this, which is not co- 
 ordinate with the Scripture, but subservient to it ; and the 
 great end of it is, that those who are called thereto, and are 
 furnished with gifts for the discharge of it, might diligently 
 search the Scriptures, and teach others the mind of God 
 therein revealed. It was, I say, the will of God that the 
 church should ordinarily be always under the conduct of 
 such a ministry ; and his will it is, that those who are 
 called thereto should be furnished with peculiar spiritual 
 gifts, for the finding out and declaration of the truths that 
 ' are treasured up in the Scripture, unto all the ends of Divine 
 revelation .* The Scripture, therefore, is such a revelation 
 as doth suppose and make necessary this ordinance of the 
 ministry, wherein and whereby God will be glorified ; and 
 it were well if the nature and duties of this office were better 
 understood than they seem to be. God hath accommodated 
 the revelation of himself in the Scripture with respect unto 
 them ; and those by whom the due discharge of this office 
 is despised or neglected do sin greatly against the authority, 
 and wisdom, and love of God ; and those do no less by 
 whom it is assumed, but not rightly understood, or not 
 duly improved. "t 
 
 Stationary instruction, generally delivered in a well- 
 known and on this account an endeared spot, is not the 
 only mode held out to us in Scripture. Granting to it all 
 the power of which it is susceptible, still there are certain 
 districts in Ireland to which this can never reach. Look 
 at these distant hills — these Irish mountains — these nume- 
 
 * See Ephes. iv. 11—16. 2 Tim. iii. 14—17. 
 -f Owen's Works, vol. III. p. 459. 
 
 U 
 
230 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 rous islands — mourning in moral destitution, I need not 
 say from Sabbath to Sabbath, but from age to age — from 
 father to son. If every one of them might adopt the-words 
 of the man of Macedonia, Come over and help us, will no 
 ear vibrate to the first monosyllable of the commission of 
 Jesus 1 — Go. 
 
 And is there no precedent to encourage hope in such a 
 case as this 1 In the eye of primitive Christianity the un- 
 lettered population, however distant or difficult of access, 
 seemed even as a part of the land of promise. The mere 
 professor may sit still and talk only like the ten spies — the 
 Christian will resemble Caleb and Joshua, and also ponder 
 over the original triumph of Christianity. " This/' he will 
 say, " has been recorded for our learning." It formed in- 
 deed a striking contrast, in various respects, to the genius of 
 the former dispensation. The Jewish economy was merci- 
 fully intended, it should seem, for the preservation of light, 
 or to prevent its entire extinction in our world — the Mes- 
 siah has it in view to banish darkness from the earth by the 
 brightness of his coming. Many a man might indeed knock 
 at the door of Judaism— be admitted, and, standing within 
 the walls of Jerusalem, take the cup of salvation, and call 
 upon the name of Jehovah ; under the present dispensation 
 this cup is to be " handed round" among all nations. " Thou 
 hast scattered us among the heathen," was the complaint of | 
 old, and for the time being it was the death-blow to the ad- 
 ministration of Judaism ; but that which was the death of 
 the former will prove the life of the present dispensation ; so 
 much so, that even the present scattering of this ancient 
 people shall turn to Christianity for a testimony. " And 
 the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, 
 as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, 
 which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of 
 men." 
 
 It is, however, not a little extraordinary, that an idea should 
 have prevailed, and have even been acted on in this coun- 
 try, that men of very inferior qualifications are good enough 
 for employment in such unlettered districts. The ancient 
 method and order have been reversed, which supposed that 
 the commencement, in such cases, demanded some one or 
 two of strongest faith and largest grace. Were Israel to be 
 led into Canaan ? Caleb and Joshua shall do this. Was 
 the temple to be restored ? Were the walls to be rebuilt ? 
 an eye is fixed on Ezra, and Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah. 
 When the land of Judea was visited by the Sun of Right- 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 231 
 
 cousness, while it was traversed in every direction, Galilee 
 was the chosen spot : and the people who sat in darkness saw 
 that great light — upon the men sitting in the region of the 
 shadow of death that light arose. The word which we 
 preach, " first began to he spoken by the Lord." When 
 even the twelve were addressed by their Lord, he said, 
 " Other men have laboured, and ye are entered into their la- 
 bours." The twelve preceded the seventy, and both these 
 the evangelists, and so all this ended in stationary and 
 stated instruction. 
 
 Besides, when contemplating districts like these in Ire- 
 land, wherever they are to be found, it should seem but the 
 dictate of wisdom, that the people lowest sunk or longest 
 neglected, imperatively demand the men of largest grace and 
 richest talent, the men of greatest zeal and wisest address. 
 To minister to such, I am aware, has seemed, in the eye of 
 the world, to be a mean employment — but mean is the man 
 who thinks it mean. So thought not that " Minister for 
 the truth of God," who from his throne in the skies de- 
 scended " to confirm the promises made unto the fathers, 
 and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy/' No 
 class indeed did he overlook or disdain ; to every one there 
 was service rendered in due season: yet did it appear to 
 him one of the peculiar glories of his rising kingdom, that 
 to the poor the Gospel was preached. Constituting, as they 
 ever have done, the great mass, among them he spent his 
 strength — among them he found out his twelve apostles, and 
 richer faith on the seacoast and borders than ever he met 
 with in the capital of the country. So then, He weivb about 
 doing good, nor could any consideration turn him from his 
 course. It is true, that " the people sought him — and came 
 to him — and stayed him, that he should not depart from 
 them, — but he said to them, 1 I must preach the kingdom 
 of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent.' And 
 he went about all Galilee, and his fame went throughout all 
 Syria." 
 
 One peculiar feature of this ambulatory mode of instruc- 
 tion seems to have been in a great degree overlooked in our 
 day. The fishermen of Galilee were not sent out in twelve 
 different directions, nor the seventy in seventy others ; they 
 went in pairs, two and two, and the deeds of the disciples 
 afterwards prove that they did not regard this as a mere cir- 
 cumstance. Hence Peter and John act jointly together 
 among the Jews, and when going to the Samaritans thev do 
 D 2 
 
232 NATIVE IRISH .MINISTRY. 
 
 the same.* And as for the Gentiles — " Separate me Barna- 
 bas and Saul for the work to which I have called them," 
 said the Holy Spirit. So also we read, not only of Paul 
 and Barnabas, but Paul and Silas — Barnabas and Mark — 
 Paul and Timothy — Paul and Titus. " Whether any do 
 inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper con- 
 cerning you ; or our brethren be inquired of, they are the 
 messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ." 
 
 Engaging though they did in this cause with their whole 
 soul, even an apostle when left alone could not bear up 
 occasionally in the absence of his companion. " When I 
 came to Troas to preach Christ's Gospel, and a door was 
 opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, be- 
 cause I found not Titus my brother : but, taking my leave 
 of them, I went from thence into Macedonia." I am aware 
 that the distress of Paul at this time arose from peculiar cir- 
 cumstances ; but the moral effect of two such men, so at- 
 tached to each other, travelling together, could not but be 
 great, while it furnished themselves with some peculiar occa- 
 sions for celebrating the condescension and the love of God. 
 " I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our ; 
 tribulation; for when we were come into Macedonia (still) 
 our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side ; 
 without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless 
 God, that comforteth those that are cast done, comforted 
 us — by the coining of Titus." 
 
 The mutual support and encouragement thus mercifully 
 secured by such an arrangement, was not its only advantage 
 or end. It is not difficult here to perceive the wisdom of | 
 the Divine eye fixed on the advancement and triumph of his 
 cause among men. A solitary Christian minister going out, 
 however eminent, can but exemplify one view of Christi- 
 anity, while its social character is not within the compass of | 
 his power. But the kingdom of the Messiah among men is 
 a system of social love, and peace, and joy ; and two men, 
 whose souls are knit together like David and Jonathan, or 
 Peter and John, or Paul and Titus, afford every where a 
 perpetual commentary on this kingdom. Their very beha- 
 viour to each other is remarked and remembered. Their 1 
 mutual love, grounded on mutual esteem, — their Christian J 
 courtesy, — their mutual hope, and their happiness in one \ 
 common object, are sure to win regard, — their unity in doc- 
 trine, like chain-shot, is sure to have greater effect ; and, J 
 
 * Acts viiL 14. 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 233 
 
 before bidding adieu to any spot, — " As God is true," may 
 they say, " our preaching toward you was not yea and nay." 
 — " For the Son of God," said Paul, " Jesus Christ, who 
 was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus 
 and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea." 
 
 In this cause especially, it should seem that " two are 
 better than one, because they have a good reward for their 
 labour." Who can take it upon him to say how much of 
 success may be suspended upon attention to this simple cir- 
 cumstance in the mode of procedure ] God our Saviour is 
 the blessed and the only Potentate over his own kingdom ; 
 and in his w T ay and manner of promoting his own glory 
 upon earth, He must be permitted to reign, unquestioned 
 and alone. But never is he more condescendingly gracious 
 than when we meet him in his own ways. I leave the rea- 
 der to judge, whether, when he rode forth triumphantly, 
 conquering and to conquer, he did not sanction this mode. 
 Whether he did not begin it himself in the days of his flesh, 
 and pursue it, by his Spirit, after that he ceased to be visible. 
 
 I am not aware of any important objection that has ever 
 been started to such a course. We have heard indeed, some- 
 thing to this effect: — " Be assured, that only one we should 
 be happy to find, and endowed with the qualifications which 
 seem to be essentially requisite : even this is difficult ; but 
 where are such numbers to be found as sending two at once 
 implies?" To this I answer, — Numbers are not essential, — 
 numbers may spoil all : two at any time will suffice. " But 
 then it is'lsuch two." Ah ! now you have struck the mark. 
 Yes, and among ten that might offer, it is very possible 
 that a pair is not to be found. It is not tw T o individuals 
 who are able to talk, or even to teach only : it is love and 
 Christian friendship which are wanted. He, with whom 
 remains all hope of ultimate success, is not seeking for 
 numbers only. It is two brethren, whose voices shall 
 symphonize, because their hearts are one. Two, to whom 
 he has said, — " If two of you shall agree* upon earth as 
 touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for 
 them by my Father, which is in heaven." Two, to whom 
 he may say, on going out, — " The harvest is great, but the 
 labourers are few ; pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send 
 forth labourers into his harvest." 
 
 Surely no considerate reader will ever suppose that there 
 
 * "ZvjxQwvtrovnv. Of different voices to form one symphony ,-— to agree by 
 consent. Matt, xviii. 19. 
 
 u 3 
 
234 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 is one word said here which should for a moment discourage 
 any one servant of God, much less prevent him from going 
 out hy himself ; nor can there be in an idea, which seems, 
 without violence, to be deducible from many parts of the 
 Divine word, a single consideration which should depress 
 him, when going out alone. In an age wherein the secret of 
 primitive success seems to be lost, it is strange that we 
 should search about in all directions till we find it ? And 
 could we find it, we should then perhaps see both methods 
 being employed, the other, of course, never followed, save 
 when this fine harmony of spirit, — this sweet interweaving 
 of interests, — this abnegation of self, was both felt and seen. 
 Among a set of men, who, as individuals, had so devoted 
 themselves, — so yielded themselves unto God, and their 
 members as instruments of righteousness unto him, nothing 
 was more natural than that peculiar friendships should be 
 formed, and that a number of individuals should, as it were, 
 pair off. At the same time, the unintentional, the almost 
 imperceptible, occasion which gave rise to it would often 
 afterwards excite both wonder and gratitude in their own 
 minds. 
 
 Mysterious are His ways, whose power 
 Brings on that unexpected hour, 
 When minds that never met before 
 Shall meet — unite — and part no more. 
 A transient visit intervening, 
 And made almost without a meaning ; 
 Hardly the effect of inclination, 
 Much less of pleasing expectation, 
 Produced a friendship, then begun, 
 That had cemented them in one. 
 
 But in the mean while the idea thus thrown out does in 
 no respect whatever militate against many another Divine 
 assurance. "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing pre- 
 cious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring- 
 ing his sheaves with him." The history of the first Church 
 that was gathered after the Saviour's ascension, may at once 
 instruct and encourage us here. Why should a Church so 
 harmonious and so distinguished as an exhibition of the 
 Saviours design, be at all disturbed ] Why \ Had He 
 qualified men for the ministry merely to congregate in one 
 place ? Certainly not. And yet were they going to sit 
 down, though in perfect harmony, and forget his last com- 
 mand ? So it should seem. Hitherto, as the mountains are 
 round about Jerusalem, so the Lord hath been round about 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 
 
 235 
 
 them ; but providence and grace must now unite to teach 
 them the meaning of his high commission. With the ex- 
 ception of the apostles, therefore, for a season, all the preach- 
 ers were then literally scattered abroad. Here was provi- 
 dence. But the hand of the Lord was with them, and as 
 they every where preached the word, " a great number be- 
 lieved and turned unto the Lord." So here w&s grace ; and 
 never let it be forgotten that it was this very scattering, 
 which gave rise to that " worthy name" by which millions 
 have since been called. For the disciples were called Chris- 
 tians first at Antioch. In short, the promise of the Saviour 
 is to his servants individually, " Lo, I am with you al- 
 way, even unto the end of the world/' And surely this is 
 all-sufficient encouragement. The Head of the Church goes 
 with the humblest messenger ! 
 
 In addition to those ministers of Christ resident in Ire- 
 land, and daily surrounded by the Irish tongue, there is an- 
 other class of our countrymen on this side of the Channel, 
 and to certain gifted individuals of this class, one should 
 suppose that the existing state of the Native Irish must be- 
 come a subject of thoughtful consideration. I refer to those 
 who speak Gaelic. The reader has seen that at one period 
 there were several Gaelic congregations in Ireland, and that, 
 summoned as by the sound of an Irish harp, the Irish at- 
 tended. The business between the Hebrides and the Gal- 
 way coast has been transacted for years through this me- 
 dium, common to both parties. The experiment of a High- 
 land minister being intelligible has been tried again and 
 again with success. One of these, when on a visit in 1827, 
 had, I believe, as many as two thousand hearers at one 
 time. 
 
 These descendants of the Native Irish are, in a peculiar 
 sense, your brethren ; and if the soul is to be considered as 
 the standard of the man, you may well be pleased with this 
 alliance. You will suppose that I am in some degree aware 
 of the connexion existing between Ireland and the Gael of 
 Scotland, — that it was once rather a delicate subject of refer- 
 ence with some, and the matter of needless controversy with 
 others. But the days of petty jealousy may well pass away, 
 for there is nothing left now which need create dissension. 
 Already the writer has had some opportunities of evincing 
 his interest in our Highlands and Islands, and in all such 
 cases as the present, when the Gael of Ireland and Scot- 
 land are brought into contact, it has seemed to him to be 
 time, and more than time, for us to remember the words of 
 
236 
 
 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY. 
 
 good Archbishop Ussher, — " It is known to the learned that 
 the name of Scoti in those elder times was common to the 
 inhabitants of the greater and the lesser Scotland ; I- will 
 not follow the example of those that have laboured to make 
 dissension between the mother and daughter, but account 
 them both as of the same people*" 
 
 Individuals, therefore, to whom the Gaelic language is 
 familiar, who are qualified in other respects, and in whose 
 hearts it is to do somewhat for the advancement of the Di- 
 vine glory upon earth, would seem to be here specially ad- 
 dressed. After all that you have read, surely, you require 
 no Native Irishman to appear in vision, and cry, " Thig 
 thairis gu Erinn, agus cuidich leinne" May you not as- 
 suredly gather that there is a call here to go and preach the 
 Gospel ? Were he to say — " Tarr go Erinn, agus tabhuir 
 cabhuir dhuinne" — could you not understand him ? Yes, 
 in one short month, or perhaps less, you would be sufficiently 
 intelligible in many districts. Your brethren, too, the de- 
 scendants of the Albanian Gaels, are there. You may have 
 observed the period when a number of your countrymen left 
 the Hebrides and Highlands for Ireland. How many I 
 cannot ascertain, but they must be their grandchildren and 
 great grandchildren who now live in Ireland. Is there to 
 be no such thing then as kindly going to see how they do- 
 on the mountains of Donegal or the seacoast of Antrim ? 
 As an encouragement to proceed farther, if you will, one of 
 your own ministers was intelligible even far down in the 
 south. You are aware who it is that hath said, " As a shep- 
 herd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his 
 sheep that are scattered ; so will I seek out my sheep, and 
 will deliver them out of all places where they have been 
 scattered in the cloudy and dark day." How worthy of the 
 best and most powerful talents, and the warmest heart, would 
 be such an employment ! His special presence and aid would 
 not be denied, who hath said so much, in such tender terms, 
 about searching for souls when they are scattered abroad ; 
 and who, in his word, laments so deeply when no shepherd 
 can be found, conscientiously, and carefully, and wisely to 
 do so. 
 
 To the taste of some this mode of procedure may seem 
 discouraging, and the whole manner of the thing may not 
 please. It is now forty years since Melvill Home put the 
 following words into the mouth of an objector, in the shape 
 of an apostrophe to the Lord of the harvest himself : — " If 
 thou wilt force us to cultivate this unpromising field, do not 
 
PATH FOR THE FUTURE. 237 
 
 think of sending out immediately, but let lay schoolmasters 
 go to receive the first fire, and teach the little children read- 
 ing and writing ; and then will we go and enter into their 
 labours : for the experience of ages has taught us, that where 
 preaching of the Gospel makes one Christian, education 
 makes ten. Hence, instead of preaching first to the parents, 
 and then establishing schools for the education of the chil- 
 dren, as the apostles did (who knew that the sword of the 
 Spirit was of heavenly temper, — an instrument into which 
 the God of glory had wrought all his attributes, we, having 
 lost the art of using it, and that arm which gives it the de- 
 monstration of the spirit and of power), we go to work an- 
 other way, by educating children first ; and many are of opi- 
 nion, that the best way of enlightening is by putting the 
 moon in the sun's sphere, and having children to instruct 
 their parents, rather than parents to teach their children!" 
 
 Others there may be who seem most warmly to approve 
 for a season, and yet fail of success. They are to go to 
 work in good earnest, but the number referred to, even to 
 begin with, is as nothing to them. They in truth look to 
 quantity in most things, not quality — to numbers more than 
 qualifications. At all events, every thing must be under- 
 taken upon what they are pleased to call a grand scale, or no 
 good, say they, can come out of it ; and it is not worthy of 
 their pains even to commence in any other manner. But still 
 " God's ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts our 
 thoughts," — though never is there such a contrast to both, 
 as when some men set about what they conceive must be 
 done before success can follow, or be even expected. Noise, 
 bustle, publicity, as it were the blowing of a trumpet, must 
 be heard, and all before an}' thing be done, or perhaps be 
 attempted ; but the kingdom of God never did, and will not 
 now, so come. Thoughtfulness and retirement, — a heart 
 deeply impressed, and secret supplication to Him who is even 
 now crowned with glory and honour, although we see not 
 yet all things put under him, are suitable preparations. Con- 
 sciousness of un worthiness to be employed, and conscious- 
 ness of weakness when once engaged, — these, these are dis- 
 positions which were never felt in vain — and never yet 
 ended in nothing being accomplished. 
 
 In taking leave of this important subject, and looking over 
 Ireland as now described, it is unquestionably a most mo- 
 
238 NATIVE IRISH MINISTRY, &c. 
 
 mentous consideration that the commission of God our Sa- 
 viour has been so long and awfully disregarded ; and, to 
 speak calmly, this certainly ought to become the subject of 
 national feeling on the part of Christians throughout the 
 kingdom. 
 
 " Agus dealraidh iadsan a ta glic mar shoilleireachd nan speur; agus iadsan a 
 thionndaidhcas moran gu fireantachd mar na reultan fad saoghail nan saoghal." 
 
 Gaelic Scriptures. 
 
 " And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they 
 that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." DANIEL. 
 
 " The eternal High Priest, the Pastor and Bishop of our souls, employed much 
 time and labour to instruct his apostles ; and afterwards commanded them, in giving 
 them their mission, to instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and to teach them to observe all things what- 
 soever he had commanded them. People then, come to the use of reason, ought 
 necessarily to be instructed ; they must hear the word of God, and learn what they 
 are to believe and observe, and even learn how to observe it. — It is true, that this is 
 no easy task ; and that it requires much labour and patience; but that is necessary; 
 a soul is worth more than all that. — This great ransom, the death and passion of 
 Jesus Christ, will be of no use to such as know not their religion, and remain in 
 ignorance." DONLEVY. 
 
 " An order, be it remembered, not appointed like the priests of pagan antiquity, 
 for the performance of ceremonies, but for the inculcation of truth ; not to conduct 
 the pomp of lustrations and sacrifices, but to ' watch for souls as those that must 
 give an account.' Nothing similar to this was known in the heathen religions ; it is 
 peculiar to Christianity, and evincing the simple wisdom of its Author, is as original 
 in its conception as it is admirable in its effects. Its simplicity, its distance from 
 whatever is dazzling in the eyes of mankind is one of its highest recommendations ; 
 for the Christian minister is beautifully compared to a fisherman, who would only be 
 embarrased by those instruments and appendages which belong to more splendid, but 
 less useful occupations." HALL. 
 
SECTION X. 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO THE NATIVE IRISH, 
 
 More especially to such Individuals among them as are interested in the Progress of 
 Literature, Education, and Oral Instruction, 
 
 While it is desirable that your fellow-subjects should 
 befriend you, and certainly incumbent on them so to do, 
 the writer cannot conclude without returning to you your- 
 selves, with a view to whose benefit every line has been 
 written. He has not disguised, or rather he has been in- 
 capable of disguising, that he feels a peculiar interest in 
 every thing relating to your present circumstances, and 
 has only to lament its not having been in his power to dis- 
 cover it in some more substantial form ; while at the same 
 time he can never forget the warm and grateful language 
 which has been so repeatedly conveyed to him, in reference 
 to a slight Memorial on your behalf, published many years 
 ago. 
 
 On reading the preceding pages, he trusts that you have 
 not found any one passage inconsistent with fairness or 
 candour, or respect for your feelings as neighbours and 
 fellow-countrymen ; and should there seem to be anything 
 bordering upon this, of which, however, he is unconscious, 
 he has no doubt that you will give him credit on the whole 
 for the kindness of his intentions. It is very possible that 
 individuals among you may possess some things valuable 
 in Irish type, and that you may be acquainted with facts 
 of which he is ignorant. Should it be so, and you com- 
 municate the information, it would certainly not be ne- 
 glected in any future edition of this volume. On the other 
 hand, it is as probable that many among you may here 
 find a variety of particulars, in regard to both your ances- 
 tors and your present state, of which you had but imperfect 
 information. These are not only interesting in themselves, 
 but they seem, as with one voice, to assert, that the im- 
 provement of the mind and the progress of knowledge are 
 among the great ends of our existence. 
 
240 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 You have read also how the Welsh have been acting for 
 generations back by their language, and may inquire of 
 them whether they have not gained by the attention which 
 they have paid to it. I know it has been said, that u crowd- 
 ed numbers and great wealth together give prodigious ad- 
 vantages for educating, civilizing, and enlightening a people;" 
 and you may be ready to add — the first we have, but not 
 the second. But Wales in past ages was actually in as des- 
 titute a state as almost any part of Ireland is at this mo- 
 ment. It would be easy to describe this, and even substan- 
 tiate the account, so as to leave no doubt of the fact here 
 stated. Various causes, it is granted, have contributed to a 
 better day ; so that Wales, though about five times as po- 
 pulous as our Highlands, is supposed to be four times as 
 rich. But among these causes, I again refer you to the way 
 in which they have been proceeding with their own ver- 
 nacular tongue, and see whether this will not account for 
 many of the advantages which they now enjoy. 
 
 Lay hold then of the medium of the Irish tongue in the 
 same spirit — act by it in the same manner, and be not dis- 
 couraged. The noblest use certainly, though not the only 
 one, to which your Irish types can ever be applied, is that 
 of conveying to your countrymen the volume of Revelation 
 entire ; and the noblest use to which your ancient and ex- 
 pressive language can ever be applied as spoken, is when it 
 is employed in uttering the words of Him who gave us this 
 soul. As men of other tongues and former days have prov- 
 ed, your countrymen will then find, that u all the words of 
 His mouth are in righteousness — that there is nothing fro- 
 ward or perverse in them — that they are all plain to him 
 that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge;" 
 and that, let the pressure or peculiarity of a man's earthly 
 state be what it may, there is nothing which can prevent 
 him from borrowing comfort from this fountain of life and 
 wisdom. 
 
 Besides, the days are at last come, we trust, when you 
 will find many a kind and intelligent friend cordially will- 
 ing to help you on your way, whether it regards the pos 
 session of books, or the benefits of education. But whether 
 this be the case or not, after all that such can do, these are 
 but subsidiary things — these are but means to an end ; and 
 to yourselves as men I now rather turn, — and to yourselves, 
 ultimately at least, I look for a better day. 
 
 In most parts of this kingdom we have, and have long 
 enjoyed, benefits such as these. Books and schools we have 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 241 
 
 in abundance ; but it by no means follows as a necessary 
 consequence in these parts, though Christianity be profess- 
 ed, that the people are in possession of her purifying faith, 
 her animating prospects, or that love which is the balm of 
 the soul, and the last end of God in all that he bestows. 
 No ; in many a district you might see, that, without the 
 living voice — without the language of the heart addressed 
 to the conscience — all around is cold, and withering into the 
 grave. And why is this? Simply because there is One 
 above who hath not revoked his own commission — " Go 
 into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature" 
 — " Go, teach all nations." Without obedience to these 
 words, no country can enjoy substantial gladness, nor any 
 land yield that return of gratitude and praise for which he 
 created it ; and so it must be with the country in which you 
 dwell : but this commission once obeyed, the solitary piace 
 itself will be glad, the moral desert will rejoice and blossom 
 as the rose. 
 
 With most of the discouragements which you might im- 
 mediately bring forward the writer is not unacquainted ; 
 but then it is not wise to look upon a country, and think 
 onty of what it ought to be, or might have been, by this 
 time. No ; it is the part of wisdom to take it up just as it 
 is; and, upon calm reflection, discouraging in many re- 
 spects though the prospect be, there is no condition* into 
 which a people can be plunged, in which there may not be 
 descried some circumstances favourable to the design of en- 
 lightening the mind and saving it from ultimate ruin ; and 
 who can tell but that in your present situation there may 
 be found some things favourable, and which almost seem to 
 say, that the Messiah himself is on his way to bless you ? 
 At all events, let us rather search for encouragements, how- 
 ever small, or of whatever kind. 
 
 After all that can be said of the worst parts of Ireland, 
 we cannot say that they are overrun with pernicious and 
 debasing publications in the Irish language, as some other 
 parts of the kingdom have been with such things in Eng- 
 lish. Now, this is a circumstance favourable to every mea- 
 sure here recommended. 
 
 Even with regard to poverty, let us look into this, since 
 it cannot be removed but by degrees. Nay, let us look 
 into it before it be removed, and see whether in the mean 
 w T hile any good can be done to the people. In his own 
 estimation, the rich man's wealth is his strong city, and in 
 many instances the destruction of the poor is their poverty, 
 x 
 
242 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 Thus, many who are poor seem to imagine that their mere* 
 poverty excuses them from almost all obligation. But if 
 riches profit not in the day of wrath, neither will povert}' ; 
 yet even in the state of poverty, as such, there may be some 
 encouragements for us to hope for a better day. From the 
 rest of the community, it is true, the people seem almost as 
 if they had been cut off; and so the state has been describ- 
 ed by the French word — degagt, disengaged. But though 
 poverty in many respects may detach that part of a commu- 
 nity from the rest, still when religious truth is considered) 
 thus disengaged they are often nearest of all others to free 
 inquiry. The senses of seeing and hearing are the same 
 with those of their superiors, and their faculties of observing 
 and reflecting often less sophisticated. 
 
 Some men, and benevolent men too, talk as if all the 
 evils that afflict a community were summed up in one word— 
 ignorance, and they see no ground on which to fix the 
 anchor of their hope, save an increase of knowledge; but 
 this is, at the best, but a very superficial view of human 
 nature at large, or of any one community upon earth. The 
 cause of confusion or discord, misery and distress, has its 
 root in the dispositions of the heart ; and although know- 
 ledge unquestionably produces both peace and power, no 
 radical cure can be effected till the dispositions are changed. 
 For example, " What is the source of contentions in com- 
 mon life ? Observe the discords in neighbourhoods and 
 families, which, notwithstanding all the restraints of rela- 
 tionship, interest, honour, law, and reason, are a fire that 
 never ceases to burn, and which, were they no more control- 
 led by the laws than independent nations are by each other, 
 would, in thousands of instances, break forth into assassina- 
 tions and murders. From whence spring these wars ? Are 
 they the result of ignorance? If so, they would chiefly be 
 confined to the rude or uninformed part of the community. 
 But is it so ? There may, it is true, be more pretences to 
 peace and good-will, and fewer bursts of open resentment 
 in the higher than the lower orders of people, but their dis • 
 positions are much the same. The laws of politeness can 
 only polish the surface, and there are some parts of the 
 human character which still appear very rough. Even po- 
 liteness has its regulations for strife and murder, and esta- 
 blishes iniquity by a law. The evil disposition is a kind of 
 subterraneous fire, and in some form it will have vent." 
 
 But make the case, if you will, more deplorable, and even 
 to poverty add affliction, in any or in all of its forms, is 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 243 
 
 there not a remedy which may be conveyed and applied as 
 effectually to the poor as to the rich, — to those who have 
 been long neglected as to those who have been long sup- 
 plied ? " Whether Christianity," says the author just 
 quoted, se whether Christianity or the want of it be best 
 adapted to relieve the heart under its various pressures, let 
 those testify who have been in the habit of visiting the 
 afflicted poor. In this situation, characters of very oppo- 
 site descriptions are found. Some are serious and sincere 
 Christians ; others, even among those who have attended 
 the preaching of the Gospel, appear neither to understand 
 nor feel it. The tale of wo is told, perhaps, by both ; but 
 the one is unaccompanied with that discontent, that wretch- 
 edness of mind, and that inclination to despair, which is 
 manifest in the other. Often have I seen the cheerful smile 
 of contentment under circumstances the most abject and 
 afflictive. Amidst tears of sorrow, which a full heart has 
 rendered it impossible to suppress, a mixture of hope and 
 joy has glistened. ' The cup that my Father hath given 
 me, shall I not drink it V Such have been their feelings, 
 and such their expressions ; and where this has been the 
 case, death has generally been embraced as the messenger 
 of peace. 1 Here,' I have said, participating in their sen- 
 sations, c is the patience and the faith of the saints. Here 
 are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith 
 of Jesus. This is the victory that overcometh the world, 
 even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but 
 he that belie veth that Jesus is the Son of God ?' "* 
 
 Not altogether satisfied, perhaps you still reply, — " But 
 our people, in many districts, are sunk and destitute to a 
 degree of which thousands in Britain can form scarcely any 
 conception." All this the writer knows. He has seen this 
 again and again, and in places more numerous than even 
 thousands who live in Ireland itself have ever seen ; and 
 often since has the heart bled over it ; — nay, he may truly 
 add, it does so now. But still, to his mind, all this would 
 rather incite to such exertions. Kindness and liberality, 
 attention to the poor, and employment of those who are able 
 to work, are moral and Christian duties, incumbent on every 
 one to the extent of his means ; yet, after all this is done, 
 nay, before it be, there are blessings which the heart and 
 tongue of man are able to convey to the heart and home of 
 others however sunk, which money is too poor to purchase, 
 
 * Fuller's Works, vol. III. p. 133. 
 X2 
 
244 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 and which its most ample supply cannot procure. Hearing" 
 the glad tidings of salvation from his lips, and receiving 
 the Book of Life from his hands, the poorest of the poor 
 have felt that they were exalted, and even in the depth of 
 affliction have been heard to say — " I will sing of judgment 
 and of mercy, unto thee Lord will I sing." Do you 
 know that one of your own countrymen, himself, I believe, 
 in humble circumstances, has taken up this theme? and for 
 these twenty years often have I admired his lines. Take 
 them, and sing them if you will, to the ancient Irish music 
 of " Savourneen Dhelish." 
 
 Tho' the morning of life should he gloomy and clouded, 
 The noon-tide in storms and tempests should rave, 
 
 The ev'ning in darkness, thick darkness, be shrouded, 
 And close, late and low'ring, in the night of the grave: 
 
 Yet the faithful undaunted, with hope strong and cheering, 
 
 Proceeds through the dark vale, nor doubting nor fearing, 
 
 With transport he looks to the joyful appearing 
 Of Him, who came lowly, to seek and to save. 
 
 Tho' the world in the depth of affliction should leave us, 
 
 And those we relied on, stand aloof in our wo ; 
 Tho' foes should combine, whilst false friends deceive us, 
 
 And darken the cloud that surrounds us below ; 
 Yet the day-star shall rise on the gloom of our sorrow, 
 Wo reigns to-night here, but joy comes to-morrow, 
 From the Fountain of Life we may comfort still borrow, 
 
 Which earth and her princes could never bestow. 
 
 Yes, there is One who knows more of the state of any 
 land, and sees far more deeply into its miseries, than any who 
 reside in it and look upon it daily ; the stability and glory 
 of whose government consists in the tenderest regard to the 
 poor and destitute. When He was upon earth, it seemed 
 to Himself a feature of his own life and times worthy of 
 special notice, that to the poor the Gospel was preached, 
 and He is still the same. " He shall judge the poor of the 
 people, he shall save the children of the needy." And 
 more than this, they are not the last in any nation upon 
 whom he casts the eye of his benignity, — far from it. At 
 what time " all kings shall fall down before him, all nations 
 shall serve him," one moving cause is immediately assign- 
 ed, which applies to the point in hand ; — " for he shall 
 deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him 
 that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, 
 and save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their 
 soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood 
 be in his sight." Just as if to Him alone were left those 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 245 
 
 arts of an empire which had gone far beyond the feeble 
 umanity of man, or had long baffled all the expedients of 
 the political economist. Now, these are the assertions of 
 Infinite Wisdom ; and all this is said without one word 
 about silver or gold. As the effect of such a glorious 
 change, indeed, whether on a great scale or a small, what- 
 ever money is needed will not be withheld. 16 And he shall 
 live," it is immediately added, " and to him shall be given 
 of the gold of Sheba : prayer, also, shall be made for him 
 continually, and daily shall he be praised." 
 
 No : you may have heard much said in Ireland about 
 -collecting money for various purposes, and you might hear 
 far more in Britain, and much said about it when collected ; 
 but all this need not lead you to imagine for one moment 
 that pecuniary means can ever hold any place in promoting 
 this cause, except it be the last and the lowest. Never 
 forget to think of Him, who, while he provided even a nest 
 for the bird, " had not where to lay his head ;" nor of the 
 men he trained, who could say individually, " Silver and 
 gold have I none," — yet who ever did so much lasting good 
 in the world as these men ? 
 
 Now, there are those among you who fear God, — who 
 love the Redeemer, — who enjoy the hope of life everlasting- 
 through his vicarious sufferings, — his atoning death and 
 glorious resurrection. But does not the possession and en- 
 joyment of these infinite blessings mark you out as debtors 
 to your countrymen ? " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself." And ask not, " Who is my neighbour V Ask 
 not, "Am I my brother's keeper ?" Rather go read the 
 parable of the good Samaritan, and on this subject observe 
 the great sorrow and continual heaviness of Paul, respect- 
 ing his countrymen, or kinsmen, as he calls them, accord- 
 ing to the flesh. 
 
 Let me then entreat, that you sit down and study the 
 Sacred Record for yourself. Read, mark, and inwardly 
 digest it. The advantages of deep reflection here are incal- 
 culable. Compare spiritual things with spiritual. Pene- 
 trate into the grand scheme of redemption through the un- 
 utterable sorrows of a Redeemer, who, though enthroned in 
 glory, looks down upon you, observing how his commission 
 is regarded by all who have received Him as their Lord 
 and Master. 
 
 Every Christian man is certainly bound to communicate 
 what he knows of Divine things, and he is expected to con- 
 tribute in his measure to the light of the world ; but think 
 x3 
 
246 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 not that I imagine that every such man is called to become 
 a preacher, — far from it. This you cannot suppose, after 
 what you have read. If all were teachers where were the 
 taught? Even in the days of our Saviour there were 
 professed teachers many, and this there will always be, 
 wherever emolument or honour from men is affixed to the 
 mere title ; but the labourers were few. Numbers he asks 
 not, and especially at first ; this never has been his manner ; 
 but qualifications are indispensable, and they are literally 
 all in all. From above these qualifications must descend, 
 since the Messiah was exalted on high to bestow them. The 
 foundation of the ministry is in the gift of Christ, the ground 
 of all qualifications, that he hath bestowed them, and the 
 employment of every talent absolutely hinges upon the fact 
 that it has been received * 
 
 This is a subject which it braces and encourages the 
 mind to study, and which it is most animating so far to 
 comprehend. The man himself, however richly endowed, 
 or rather, I would say, the more he is so, dwells upon his 
 own insignificance and his own insufficiency as positive 
 truths ; and, discharged from the weariness and vanity of 
 going forth in his own strength, he the better understands 
 that the sword of the Spirit, when wielded by the arm of 
 conscious weakness, is irresistible. 
 
 When such a man turns aside to contemplate any of those 
 great recorded changes which have been, or are to be, effect- 
 ed only by Almighty Pow T er, he discovers, about the period 
 of their commencement especially, something which is at 
 the utmost distance from extensive arrangements or for- 
 
 * Read Ephesians iv. 7 — 16, and then return to these words, — " Now that he 
 ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ?" 
 Descended, not only to assume humanity and a state of humiliation, but into the 
 grave, as the end of it. Why does the sacred writer introduce this parenthesis ? Pause 
 over it. Why thus mention here Christ's descending? Was it to take advantage of 
 a word? Because, having mentioned his ascension, that he must notice also his 
 descension? No: this is not the way of the Spirit. There must be reason for men- 
 tioning it absolutely in this place and in this connexion ; and what could that be, if 
 not with reference to the end in view ? In Christ's descending into the lower parts of 
 the earth, as though he had said, there is that to be found which will at once account 
 for this great gift of the Ministry, and contribute towards it in all succeeding 
 generations. 
 
 The burial of Christ was the evident testimony of his actual death, and the Mi- 
 nistry grew out of this great event. Nothing has been more trifled with, it is true, 
 nothing more abused, than the Ministry, nor any employment more lightly esteem- 
 ed; but there is, as it is now revealed, no question, that had the Saviour not died 
 for it, there had been no such thing in existence, nor any such order of men ever 
 known. In the Mediatorial Kingdom, die he did, and so rVawsand then, blessed be 
 his name ! received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might 
 thus dwell among them. " Thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the 
 dead the third day — that repentance and remission of sins should be proclaimed, 
 among all nations," in his name." 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 247 
 
 midable preparation, — something which to the eye of sense 
 has often seemed inadequate if not weak, or vain if not 
 foolish ; but this to him is no ground either of surprise or 
 despair. " The excellency of the power," he says, " will 
 thus appear to be of God/' Nor is it merely to the rise and 
 progress of any little corner, to which he applies this " ex- 
 cellence in working" on the part of God, but to the whole 
 field of operation, and to changes of the greatest magnitude. 
 Such passages as the following are at once encouraging and 
 familiar to his thoughts : " I will take you one of a city and 
 two of a tribe, and I will bring you to Zion," — after doing 
 this, it follows, " And I will give you pastors according to 
 mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and un- 
 derstanding," — and so " At that time they shall call Jeru- 
 salem the throne of Jehovah ; and all the nations shall be 
 gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : 
 neither shall they w T alk any more after the imagination of 
 their evil heart." Again, " Ye shall be gathered one by one, 
 ye children of Israel ;" then after this it follows, " And it 
 shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall 
 be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish 
 in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, 
 and shall worship Jehovah in the holy mount at Jerusalem." 
 — " For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after 
 wisdom : but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jew T s a 
 stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto 
 them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the 
 power of God, and the wisdom of God, — for ye see your call- 
 ing, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, 
 not many mighty, not many noble call you, — but God hath 
 chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things 
 which are mighty, that no flesh should glory in his pre- 
 sence." 
 
 Prophets, and Apostles, and Evangelists, are gone to their 
 reward, it is true, and have left the earth, — but Christianity, 
 as left by them, in its faithful yet tender announcements to 
 the children of men, in its calls and invitations, is more than 
 a match for sin, though it should have even gathered strength 
 and endurance by long-practised habits. This is an en- 
 couraging view of Divine truth, as spoken in faith by a man 
 who loves God, and therefore the souls of men. There is a 
 blessing promised, — there is a power which will accompany 
 such a voice, the effects of which it is not possible to cal- 
 culate ; falling as it will do, at times, like the small rain 
 upon the tender grass, and in other cases ploughing up the 
 
24$ 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 ground of that heart which has lain long fallow. Or, in 
 other words, finding its way into the mind of the unbeliever, 
 and showing the man to himself, it is only with the view of 
 introducing to Him who hath said, " I am the light of the 
 world : he that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness, 
 but have the light of life." 
 
 fcs. At all events, whoever shall engage in such employment 
 as this, whether they be men to whom the Irish language is 
 vernacular, or those who shall acquire it, both, we presume, 
 will agree in saying, " The harvest is great, but the la- 
 bourers are few ; and if so, perhaps we should do wrong to 
 conclude, without expressing our admiration of the spirit 
 which breathes through the words that immediately follow : 
 — " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would 
 send forth labourers into his harvest." 
 
 Before thus going out, the Saviour would not only enlarge 
 their mind with respect to the greatness of the work before 
 them, but guard them against the mean and selfish disposi- 
 tion of monopolizing the employment to themselves. Pray 
 ye, that he would send forth more. Among different bodies 
 of men, it has been observed, that there is a sad propensity 
 to an ungenerous, if not a suspicious estimate of each other's 
 exertions, while some will insidiously endeavour to divide 
 those who are already united in a common cause. Joshua 
 of old, generous and open as his natural disposition seems 
 to have been, said to Moses, when referring to Eldad and 
 Medad, M My lord, Moses, forbid them." But Moses in- 
 stantly replied, " Enviest thou for my sake ? Would God 
 that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that he would 
 put his spirit upon them." Some of the folio were of the 
 harbinger of Christ would seem to have indulged the same 
 spirit, and thought to sow jealousy in his mind. " Rabbi," 
 said they, " he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom 
 thou barest witness, behold the same baptizeth, and all 
 men come to him." But did John encourage them in this 
 insinuation ? Far from it. " If it be so, : as though he 
 had said, " this is perfect joy to me." — " He that hath the 
 bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom 
 which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because 
 of the bridegroom's voice : this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 
 He must increase, but I decrease." Nay, even among the 
 Apostles themselves, a spirit was displayed too much akin 
 to that which the Saviour would banish for ever from our 
 minds. " Master/' said John, the mild and beloved John, 
 " we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he fol- 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 249 
 
 loweth not us : and we forbade him, because he folio weth 
 not with us." But Jesus answered, " Forbid him not: for 
 there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that 
 can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us, 
 is on our part. And whosoever shall offend one of these 
 little ones that believe on me, it is better for him that a mill- 
 stone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the 
 sea." 
 
 The Redeemer, therefore, in thus addressing his servants 
 before going out to labour for him, would prevent the indul- 
 gence of this unlovely and injurious disposition of mind. 
 " Go," as though he had said, " the time of ingathering 
 has come : property of all others the most valuable is about 
 to be recovered to its lawful owner ; but the harvest is 
 great, and you have not the exclusive privilege of preaching 
 my Gospel. Nay, to you yourselves I look for increase, 
 both as it regards the harvest itself and hands to reap it. 
 Prayj/0, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would 
 send forth labourers into his harvest. To see the general 
 produce of a country run to waste would be affecting, and 
 the more so from the labour previously bestowed. Let 
 not souls be thus lost, and more especially since I send you 
 forth to all the joys of ingathering, and upon my account. 
 But the harvest is great, and my purpose is to employ 
 others, who with you will enter into the joy of labour; 
 others to whom the employment of body as well as mind will 
 be a delight ; — but these are not to be obtained on my part, 
 without prayer on yours!' What a responsibility ! The 
 Saviour once suspended the saving of a child from disease, 
 on the faith of his parent, which made the man to cry out 
 with tears of entreaty; but here the harvest itself — the sal- 
 vation of the multitude — is in view, yet the labourers are not 
 to be sent forth on his part without prayer on theirs* 
 
 * But was this to be the concern, was this the duty of these men alone ? Never will 
 there be more of success in the cause of God, until there is more of the " Spirit of 
 supplication." Prayer must, in fact, be regarded as an essential part of the labourer's, 
 nay of every Christian's employ. Epaphras of Colosse well understood this. — Coloss. 
 iv. 12. Here too the mind has ground to rest upon of a peculiar nature: for if the 
 counsels of God are his highest affairs, and his own purposes are precious in his sight, 
 these are expressed in promises, as so many grounds on which the suppliant is to rest, 
 and as so many excitements to draw forth his desires. Besides, let it be remembered, 
 that not one sincere desire has been, is now, or ever will be, in vain ! No, so far as 
 the spirit of supplication in the heart has met with the spirit of promise and pro- 
 phecy in the Sacred Record, not an aspiration has been, or will be, in vain! The 
 prophets of old, far from indifferent to the signification of what they spake before 
 hand, inquired and searched diligently; — and it would be well if Christians would 
 now begin to study and observe the analogy between the * Spirit of Prophecy* under 
 the former economy, and the * Spirit of Supplication' under the present ; for He, and 
 
250 
 
 THE AUTHOR TO 
 
 In such a case as this of the Native Irish, some men 
 would talk only of " looking about" for suitable instru- 
 ments ; but the province of oral instruction is a sacred enclo- 
 sure, where every movement essentially depends upon God, 
 and this will not do. Look upwards we must, and if we 
 do, it would be impious to imagine that we shall look in 
 vain. Men of Ms sending are essential, and in such circum- 
 stances, we have no reason to presume upon them, but in the 
 way prescribed. Many who may never be able to acquire 
 the Irish language could, by their supplications, assist here. 
 This harvest is not past — it is not over and gone. In Ire- 
 land some may say it is yet to be gathered ; there, too, the 
 harvest is great, and there, as it regards the Irish tongue, 
 the labourers are emphatically few. 
 
 The path, however, is plain. To be admitted, or rather 
 to be invited into the presence of the Lord, is at all seasons 
 an honour — to be permitted to address him concerning his 
 own cause is greater still. Oh! were the faithful in this 
 kingdom but alive to the importance, and the necessity, and 
 the glorious consequences of earnest supplication here, what 
 seasons of prosperity might we not witness? Such inter- 
 cessors, indeed, have been laughed to scorn, and may be 
 now ; yet amidst all those happy days which have passed 
 over other parts of this favoured country, who can tell how 
 much may have been owing to individual, genuine, unos- 
 tentatious Christians improving their personal interest at the 
 foot of the throne, on behalf of the general good ? — Psalm 
 xliv. 4. 
 
 If, then, in conclusion, all that has been proposed through- 
 out these pages might be effected through the medium of 
 the colloquial dialect, the Irish language, why should it not 
 
 He alone, is distinctly the moving cause of the last, as much as he was of the first. 
 Before the 1 coming of the Lord* there was a long and connected series of prophecies 
 remained to be fulfilled ; and before the * knowledge of the Lord' shall cover the earth 
 as the waters do the sea, there must, it now seems, be as rich a body of supplications 
 to be answered. There has been, unquestionably, much of active exertion in our 
 day ; but let all who talk of 1 public usefulness' pause and consider, for upon this 
 principle some of our forefathers may still be far ahead of us, and we in the end may 
 find that we have held but a very inferior place in the series of the divine procedure. 
 There is such a thing as presumption in the ways of men — perhaps the highest is 
 exertion without earnest prayer. If then the spirit of supplication in us, comes in- 
 stead of the spirit of prophecy in former ages, — for Christians pray acceptably only 
 through the indwelling power and guidance of the Spirit, — let us implore this Spirit. 
 We need not indulge in dreams about miraculous agency — but fervent prayer has not 
 been shifted from the precise place which it occupied in the divine economy in ancient 
 times — that is, it must still precede the season of God's gracious interference ; James 
 v. 16 — 18. It must still precede the fulfilment of the richest promises made and con- 
 firmed to the Redeemer himself, on the ground of his own dignity and worth, his 
 death and merits. 
 
THE NATIVE IRISH. 
 
 251 
 
 be employed for such invaluable purposes, and employed 
 without any delay ? The commission of the Mediator, 
 which has been sounding in our ear so long in vain, may 
 now well be heard ; for neglect of duty must be attended 
 with consequences altogether as dreadful as any which can 
 result from active misbehaviour. 
 
 But I add nothing more : perhaps the set time is already 
 come when this long-neglected tongue will be employed, not 
 merely as a medium of intercourse between man and man 
 respecting the trifles of a day, but for all those invaluable 
 ends to which, in common with every other form of human 
 speech, it has been all along destined by the great Author of 
 Nature, — and the time also when these ends will be gained, 
 not merely in a distant or obscure corner, here and there, 
 but in some degree commensurate with the necessities of the 
 country. 
 
 " We even doubt whether it be possible to possess one genuine virtue without the 
 love of country. But it is the Christian religion which has imparted to this love its 
 proper measure and its real beauty. Christianity has made it a principal and not an 
 exclusive love. That is a charity which begins at home, but never ends there." 
 
 " Ar son tig'e an Tig'earna ar n De ; iarrsa mi mait' d'uitsi." 
 
 Irish Scriptures. 
 
 " Learning, which dawned in the remotest east, has hitherto moved westward, 
 like the great luminary of day. It would be anticipating the ordinary course of 
 human knowledge to suppose that Ireland has passed her zenith ; it should rather 
 encourage her sons, that she has not yet come to her meridian." 
 
 Camden's Hibernia, by Gough. 
 
 Y 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Primitive Races and their respective Dialects. 
 
 The various points of inquiry, which are merely glanced 
 at in this Appendix, the writer has not yet enjoyed the op- 
 portunity of investigating to the extent he could have 
 wished. He attaches, therefore, nothing of that importance 
 to them which is generally felt when any favourite theory 
 is to be defended ; and if, by those who are more conversant 
 with these subjects, he should be found incorrect in any 
 particular, this will neither affect the argument of the pre- 
 ceding pages, nor weaken our obligations with regard to the 
 present race of the Native Irish. 
 
 Among the learned men who have studied the subject of 
 European antiquities, there seems to be but one opinion 
 with regard to the quarter from whence the great body of 
 her population came. They all profess to discover a rolling 
 tide proceeding from the east, — wave following after wave, 
 — the weaker giving way to, or pushed forward before, the 
 more powerful ; and though to point out the abode of all 
 the Nomade tribes in given periods may be beyond the 
 power of human research, yet writers of the most opposite 
 opinions agree in regarding the most westerly as the most 
 primitive or ancient nations. First in the possession of the 
 soil, at the very dawn of history we see them first disturb- 
 ed, and never having been entirely destroyed, remnants of 
 them still remain. Without any discordance of sentiment, 
 we may advance at least one step farther. The indications 
 of three distinct and successive populations are generally 
 recognised by all the best authorities — two pervading the 
 western and northern regions of Europe, and the third its 
 ,y2 
 
254 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 eastern frontiers. These three, according to various authors, 
 are the Celtae, the Goths or Scythians, and the Slavonians ; 
 or the Celtae, the Teutones, and the Sauromatae of Dr Mur- 
 ray. Without multiplying authorities, or proceeding far- 
 ther back, it may he remarked, that Dr Percy, the bishop 
 of Dromore, in the year 1770, distinctly marked two of 
 these — the Celtic and the Gothic, — a distinction recognised 
 by Mr Pinkerton, notwithstanding his opinions respecting 
 the former. To these the third is now generally added, the 
 Sarmatian. Other nations more recently entered, but these 
 are the main sources of the ancient European population. 
 It is to the first of these three, confessedly the most western 
 division of this great European family, that our attention 
 is here directed. 
 
 Upon opening the map of Herodotus by Major Rennel, 
 we find the Cynetae and Iberi on the western shores of Eu- 
 rope, and immediately behind the former at least, the Celtae. 
 The repeated assurances of Herodotus, that, although in his 
 time the Celts had spread from the Danube to the Pillars of 
 Hercules, there was another nation still farther west, called 
 the Cynetae or Cynesii, accounts for this distribution on the 
 map. " These Celtae are found beyond the Columns of 
 Herculus ; they border on the Cynesians, the most remote 
 of all the nations who inhabit the western parts of Europe " 
 and, referring again to the Celtae, he adds, — " who, except 
 the Cynetae, are the most remote inhabitants in the west of 
 Europe."* Strabo, when referring to the Cantabrians, men- 
 tions the ' Cantabri Conisci'i > estus Avienus, in the be- 
 ginning of the fifth century, or about 870 years later than 
 Herodotus, notices the Cyuestes, as a people inhabiting the 
 border of Spain and Portugal. J In many later writers we 
 read of those who are called the Canei, and in the Welsh 
 triads we meet with a people denominated the Cynet. Mo- 
 dern authors have not entirely overlooked this ancient and 
 primitive race. " Beyond the Celtic hordes," says Towns- 
 end, " in the utmost extremities of Europe, towards the 
 setting sun, the Cynetae (Kt/»«r«<) either fed their flocks, or 
 more probably were to be numbered among the hunting 
 tribes.§ " Herodotus," says Mr Sharon Turner, " places 
 a people, whom he calls Cunesioi, beyond the Celts." || In 
 the history of European languages by Dr Murray, while he 
 
 * Herod. Euterpe, 33. Melpom. 49. t Strabo, lib. III. p. 162. ed. Paris, 1620. 
 % Ora Maritima, 200. § Townsend's Character of Moses, &c. vol. II. p. 62. 
 || Hist, of Anglo-Saxons, 3d ed., vol. I. p, 40. 
 
APPENDIX. 255 
 
 ranks the Native Irish under the general term of Celtae, he 
 uniformly speaks of them as the most primitive division — 
 the original stem which had penetrated in the earliest ages 
 into the west of Europe. 
 
 But the Iberi as well as the Cynetae are placed by Hero- 
 dotus on the western shores of Europe. Now Dionysius 
 Perieges (verse 281), about the commencement of the Chris- 
 tian era, mentions them in the same position : — 
 
 On Europe's farthest western border dwell 
 Th' Iberians, who in warlike might excel. 
 
 And Strabo, in his description of Gaul, confirms the state- 
 ment of Herodotus, that the Iberians were a separate nation 
 from the Celts. Speaking of the inhabitants of Gaul, seem- 
 ingly with reference to the account which Julius Caesar had 
 given of them half a century before, he says, " Some have 
 divided them into three portions, denominated Aquitani, 
 Belgae, and Celtae ; but the Aquitani differ from the rest en- 
 tirely, not only in language but in person, and resemble the 
 Iberi more than the Celtae. As for the others, their appear- 
 ance is Celtic; their language is not wholly the same, but 
 in some respects varies a little ; in government and man- 
 ners they are nearly alike."* The other inhabitants of Gaul, 
 here contrasted with the Aquitani, seems to evince that 
 Gaul as well as Spain was anciently occupied by people of 
 two distinct nations, of which the more eastern were the 
 Celtae, the more western the Iberi and Cynetae. 
 
 With regard to Britain, Caesar affirms, that " its interior 
 part was inhabited by those who were immemorially natives 
 of the island, but the maritime part by those who had pass- 
 ed thither from the Belgae, intent on predatory hostilities?^ 
 Tacitus, a century later, says, that those who dwelt " near- 
 est to the Gauls resembled them" but that " the brown 
 complexions and curling hair of the Silures intimated that 
 the ancient Iberians had passed over from Spain, and had 
 occupied that part of Britain. "J The Iberians, however, 
 had certainly stretched into Aquitain (according to Pliny 
 formerly called Armorica), and it is possible that the migra- 
 tion now referred to, might be from Gaul rather than Spain. 
 
 The connexion between the early inhabitants of Ireland 
 and those of Britain will be again adverted to ; though here 
 
 * Strabo, lib. IV. p. 319. See Orcatheed's Jnnniries respecting the Origin of the 
 British Isles. Arclvjeolo^ia, vol. XVI. part 1. p. 98. t Be Bcllo Gallico, lib. V. cap. Yi. 
 % Vita Agrieolic. 
 Y 3 
 
256 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 we may observe, that, notwithstanding the fables with which 
 it has been intermingled, the Irish tradition, which states 
 their ancestors to have come from Spain, appears worthy 
 of credit. Even the sceptical may admit this as likely to 
 account for part of its inhabitants, as it is not inconsistent 
 with the certainty that there were other immigrations. 
 
 In giving these brief and imperfect notices of the primi- 
 tive populations, it seemed expedient not to overlook the 
 denominations given to the most western, although they are 
 by most writers only glanced at and then dismissed, or lost 
 in the general term of Celtic. Though in the present stage 
 of inquiry into the original populations of Britain, and the 
 western shores of the European continent, some will hesi- 
 tate to admit the entire theory of Mr Greatheed in the Ar- 
 chaeologia, it is at Jeast possible that the scattered rays of 
 evidence may even yet lead to the conclusion, not only that 
 the people now denominated Native Irish, being the farthest 
 west now, were the farthest west then ; but that, sprung 
 from the most primitive division of the Celtic, they may be 
 traced as descendants of the ancient Iberi or Cynetae, if 
 these were not in fact one people, speaking, it is probable, 
 kindred dialects. Granting, however, that these terms were 
 dropped, and that the Irish are to be considered as a branch 
 of the great Celtic family, we now briefly notice the light 
 in which they have been thus regarded. 
 
 In taking a view of the original, or at least the ancient 
 population of Europe, Dr Murray gives a place to the Native 
 Irish, which he carefully preserves throughout both of his 
 volumes. " The primary tribes of Europe are," he says, 
 " as is generally known, 1st, The Celtic, ancestors of the 
 Irish ; 2d, The Cymri, progenitors of the Welsh, Cornish, 
 and Arm oilcans.' ' — " In the west of Gaul, and in Britain, 
 there is evidence to presume that the greater part of the 
 population consisted of that division of the Celtic race whose 
 posterity now possesses the name of Cymri ;* but in Ireland 
 the population was wholly Celtic, of that original stem 
 which had penetrated in the earliest ages into Gaul, Spain, 
 and the British Isles." — The ancestors of the Cymri were of 
 Celtic origin, but they had remained nearer to the east, in 
 the heart of Europe, while their kindred reached the At- 
 lantic ocean. Savage war and emigration at length drove 
 the Cymri before the Teutones into the west, whence they 
 
 * This title, borne by the present Welsh, is not very ancient; nor was it (riven to 
 their ancestors in Gaul or Britain in the time of Caesar. — Murray, vol. II. p. 315. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 257 
 
 expelled the Celtse, and took possession of Gaul and Britain." 
 —Again he says, — " The allies of the German Cimbri and 
 Teutones were not Celts of the Irish division. That primi- 
 tive race had been expelled from the continent, a few tribes 
 only excepted, before the dawn of history." 
 
 The primitive populations of Europe have, for several 
 generations, formed a standing subject of controversy, to 
 which, unquestionably, the confounding of generic with 
 confederative terms, and the want of accurate acquaintance 
 with the languages spoken, have contributed. At least it 
 is surprising to see the confidence which has been maintain- 
 ed by some who had not thought it to be essential that they 
 should first thoroughly investigate the colloquial dialects. 
 If languages are admitted to a certain extent to be the pe- 
 digree of nations, the forlorn hope of greater unanimity 
 seems to rest on such investigations, provided they are con- 
 ducted with due patience and candour. Some languages, 
 it is true, have undergone great changes, and words remain- 
 ing have entirely changed their meaning ; though, after all, 
 language is one of the most enduring and unchangeable 
 things with which we are acquainted, both with regard to 
 its terms and even its very tones or accent. The produc- 
 tions of the soil may, in many instances, be torn up and 
 exported, or the manners and customs of a people may so 
 change, that the relics which remain shall baffle the severest 
 scrutiny ; but not so their language : this remains and de- 
 scends like their family-features, and whether neglected or 
 proscribed, long survives all such treatment. If, in addition 
 to this quality of endurance, the changes to which any lan- 
 guage has been exposed, should be found in general to have 
 in fact only obeyed a law, then the investigation becomes, 
 not only more interesting and precise, but the access to the 
 antiquity of nations by this line is less affected by the lapse 
 of time than that of any other with which we are acquaint- 
 ed. A different opinion indeed has been entertained by 
 some, and we do not forget the idea of Horace : 
 
 As when the forest with the bending year 
 First sheds the leaves which earliest appear, 
 So an old race of words maturely dies, 
 And some, new born, in youth and vigour rise ; 
 Many shall rise that now forgotten lie, 
 Others in present credit soon shall die, 
 If custom will, whose arbitrary sway, 
 Words, and the forms of language, must obey. 
 
 But a simile, however beautiful, is no argument, and better 
 y4 
 
258 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 philologists have entertained a very different opinion from 
 the poet in this instance. " I am now convinced," said the 
 late Dr Murray, " that the wildest and most irregular ope- 
 rations of change in every language obey an analogy which, 
 when it is discovered, explains the anomaly ; and that, as 
 is common in the study of all progressive knowledge, a view 
 of the gradual (and progressive) history of human speech, 
 in any considerable portion of the world, leads directly to a 
 scientific acquaintance with its principles, which may be of 
 the highest use in illustrating obsolete dialects, in preserving 
 the purity of our own, in facilitating the intercourse of any 
 one nation with all others, and in completing the moral to- 
 pography of the globe .''* 
 
 But wnatever may be the opinions formed of these an- 
 cient tribes, — whether the Irish and the Scots Highlanders 
 are to be denominated Cynesian, Iberian, or ancient Celtic ; 
 and the Welsh, Cornish, and Armorican are to be distin- 
 guished as Cymri or Cymraic Gauls; and the inhabitants 
 of Beam and tlie lower Pyrenees-, who speak the Basque, 
 are to be associated with either, or, more anciently, with 
 both, — or whether the whole continue to fall under the 
 general denomination of Celtic, describing the difference 
 between them by a more accurate analysis of their several 
 dialects ; still there is so much of affinity, that the whole 
 must be regarded as the children of one common parent 
 stock. 
 
 A few remarks with regard to the languages spoken by 
 each will conclude this Appendix. Two of these are gene- 
 rally said to be extinct, — the Cornish, and a dialect some- 
 times styled the Waldensian. The living languages are the 
 Basque, the Bas Bretagne, the Welsh, the Manks, the Gaelic, 
 
 * As an illustration of the necessity of attention to the languages spoken, as far as> 
 this is practicable, I may notice a degree of discordance between the assertions of two 
 authors, which this attention alone is likely to remove- In referring to the progress 
 of emigration westward, — " There can be little doubt," observes Dr Murray, *• thar 
 it proceeded in this order; first, the Celtse, by the way of the Euxine, and along the 
 Danube into Gaul ; next, the Cymri in the rear of them, and originally part of them, 
 though changed in point of language by long separation. At length the Cymri 
 occupied Gaul and the adjoining countries; but they were soon followed by the 
 Teutonic nations, whom they for a time resisted ably, and even invaded in their 
 territories bevond the Danube. The Cymraig Gauls carried their arms along the 
 Danube into Illyricum and Dalmatia ; they took possession of the Alps, and •olonized 
 the whole north of Italy." — Vol. II. pp. 40, 41. Dr Pritchard, on the other hand, 
 says, — " It is remarkable that it is with the Irish dialect of the Celtic that the bar- 
 barous portion of the Latin coincides. The Celtic people, therefore, who inhabited 
 Italy in early times, were akin to the Irish Celts, and not to the Britons or Celtic 
 Gauls." — Vol. II. p. 130". At the same time, it may be observed, that when Dr Murray 
 speaks of the Irish having left the continent, lie, as already quoted, savs, " a fe\V 
 tribes only excepted." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 259 
 
 and the Irish, which we shall place last, as desirous of leav- 
 ing it to the reader's consideration, in connexion with the 
 general subject and design of these pages. 
 
 Cornish. 
 
 This language, which has sometimes been denominated 
 the Lloegrian, is supposed to have been spoken by a people 
 who once dwelt on the banks of the Loire, but who fled to 
 Britain before some of the Teutonic tribes. It had at one 
 period been much more extensively spoken, the people hav- 
 ing occupied not only the south-western but the interior 
 parts of England. This dialect is now extinct in this 
 country, having died away in a great degree by emigration 
 to the Continent, after having been driven into the narrow 
 compass of Cornwall. In this county, during the reign of 
 Henry VIII., Cornish was the universal language. In 
 1602, Carew, in his survey, speaks of it as declining. In 
 1610, Norden, in his History of Cornwall, says it was chiefly 
 used in the western hundreds. About the middle of that 
 century, however, several parishes discovered strong attach- 
 ment to their native tongue, and in 1640 Mr William Jack- 
 son, Vicar of Pheoke, found himself under the necessity of 
 administering divine ordinances in this dialect, as his parish- 
 ioners understood no other. About the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century, 1701, Cornish is said to have been con- 
 fined to five or six villages. But, even so late as 1746, Cap- 
 tain Barrington, sailing on a cruise to the French coast, 
 took with him from Mount's Bay a seaman who spoke 
 Cornish, and he was understood on the coast of Bretagne. 
 The last individual who continued to speak no other lan- 
 guage than Cornish was a female, who lived till she was 
 about if not above one hundred years old. 
 
 Emigration must in a great degree account for the ex- 
 tinction of this language in England, as it still greatly sur- 
 vives in the colloquial dialect of some parts of Brittany ; 
 but, at the same time, it was, of all the other Celtic dialects, 
 the most exposed to inroad. A singular confirmation of its 
 extensive use at one period may be mentioned. " Let any 
 one," says Mr Greatheed, " consult the Archseologia Bri- 
 tannica of Dr Lhuyd, and he will find the differences of its 
 sounds from the Welsh minutely described. Now, in all 
 these, the Cornish so remarkably agrees with the English 
 pronunciation, that there is scarcely a sound in our lan- 
 v 5 
 
260 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 guage in which we vary from other European nations that 
 may not be traced to the Cornish or ancient Lloegrian."* 
 
 The Waldensian. 
 
 In the time of the Protectorate, Sir Samuel Morland was 
 sent by Cromwell to intercede with the Duke of Savoy, at 
 Turin, on behalf of the Waldenses ; and to relieve their dis- 
 tress, as far as money could do so. Above L.38,000 sterling 
 was raised (a large sum indeed at that period,) and he re- 
 sided for some time, chiefly in Geneva, dispensing this 
 bounty. Secretary Thurlow and Archbishop Ussher had 
 suggested to Sir Samuel, that he might employ his leisure 
 time to good purpose, in collecting documents respecting 
 the history and religious principles of this ancient people. 
 Sir S. succeeded in procuring a number of manuscripts and 
 other pieces, the greatest proportion of which were written 
 by the inhabitants of the Valleys, and many of them in 
 their own language. These papers, consisting altogether of 
 twenty-one volumes, numbered A, B, C, &c, were present- 
 ed by this gentleman to the public library of the University 
 of Cambridge, and lodged there in the month of August, 
 1658. "In the volume F are collected and written on parch- 
 ment, in that which is called the Waldensian language, of 
 a very ancient, but fair and distinct character, the gospel of 
 Matthew ; the first chapter of Luke ; the gospel of John, 
 the Acts, 1st Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 
 1st Thessalonians, 2d Timothy, Titus, the eleventh chapter 
 of the Hebrews, with 1st and 2d Peter, the two last imper- 
 fect." t Whether this manuscript be written in the ancient 
 and genuine Waldensian, I cannot at present affirm with 
 certainty, especially as one or two of those which are said 
 to be in the language of the inhabitants of the Valleys, are 
 written, in fact, in the colloquial dialect of the age, which, 
 of course, underwent considerable changes, according as the 
 French or Italian influence prevailed. Parts of the manu- 
 scripts which are quoted by Morland have been considered 
 to be specimens of the Catalonian, or a language nearly al- 
 lied to it. 
 
 The distance of the Waldensian from the other dialects 
 
 * Archaologia, vol. XVI. p. 113. 
 t Morland's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 98. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 261 
 
 mentioned, in point of local situation, would render the most 
 distant resemblance between it and them a matter of con- 
 siderable curiosity ; but the resemblance between the Wal - 
 densian and the Irish or Gaelic seems to be by no means 
 distant. " The Irish," says Davis, " appears to be, on the 
 whole, better preserved than either the Erse or the Walden- 
 sic : it contains abundantly more of written document ; but 
 as the difference between them all is trifling, I shall speak 
 of them in general as Irish." Chamberlayn, in his Oratio 
 Dominica, has not informed us from whence he procured 
 his specimen of the Wal densian ; but that the Irish and 
 Gaelic reader may see how nearly that specimen resembles 
 their respective dialects, it is subjoined from this author, 
 who is generally considered not an inferior authority. 
 
 The superior figure ( 2 ) used below, answers the same pur- 
 pose with the superior (•) or point used by the Irish when 
 printing in their own character, and it corresponds to the h 
 of the Gaelic orthography. 
 
 THE LORD'S PRAYER IN WALDENSIAN. 
 
 Our Narme ata air neamb 2 . Beanich atanim. Gu diga 
 do riogda. Gu denta du hoill, air talm 2 in mar ta ar neamb 2 . 
 Tabhar d 2 im an mdgh ar naran limb 2 ail. Agus mai d 2 uine 
 ar fiach ambail near marhmhid ar fiacha. Na leig si 2 n amb 2 
 aribh ach soarsa shin on olc. Or sletsa rioghta combta agus 
 gloir gu sibhiri. Amen. 
 
 I have had no means of ascertaining the correctness or 
 authenticity of this specimen, but the reader will recollect 
 the assertion of Dr Pritchard already given, — that the Cel- 
 tic people who inhabited the north of Italy in early times 
 were akin to the Irish Celts, and not to the Britons or Cel- 
 tic Gauls, 
 
 The Basque. 
 
 Of this dialect, sometimes called Vase, Gascon, Biscay an, 
 or Cantabrian, the most opposite opinions have been ex- 
 pressed, probably owing to its peculiar and complicated for- 
 mation, it being a mixed language, having received large 
 accessions from the Latin. Adelung, indeed, thought that 
 it could not be regarded as a branch of the great Celtic 
 
262 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 family ; but Lhuyd has given a list of derivatives from it, 
 which are still extant in the Irish tongue. One reason why 
 some may have hesitated to associate it with Celtic is pet- 
 haps to be ascribed to its having lost one peculiarity com- 
 mon to these dialects, — that of changing the initial conso- 
 nants of words according to the connexion or relation in 
 which they stand ; somewhat in the manner of the Masoretic 
 Hebrew. Its radical terms, however, are usually to be found 
 in one or another of the Celtic or Iberian dialects, and some 
 of them in all of these : and it retains one characteristic 
 feature in the most striking manner, that of conjugating 
 and declining the present and imperfect tenses of verbs ac- 
 tive, not by inflections, but by the use of auxiliary verbs. 
 It is, however, only from the radical parts of its words that 
 a judgment of its real origin can be formed ; but this crite- 
 rion, when ascertained, is decisive. At least so says Mr 
 Greatheed, from whom this account is taken ; but other 
 authorities are not wanting. " The Vase," says Dr Murray, 
 " the Irish and Welsh, are radically the same." And it is 
 worthy of observation, says Townsend, that " Bowles, an 
 Irishman of strong understanding and extensive informa- 
 tion, who for many years resided in Spain, was struck with 
 the marks of resemblance between the customs of the Bis- 
 cayans and those of his countrymen, and delivered it as his 
 opinion, that they were one people." Within these few 
 years, a history of ancient and modern Spain has been 
 published by Chevalier Bossi at Milan, in which he pro- 
 fessedly treats of the early Celtic and Phoenician influence 
 exercised over Spain, confirmed by the traces which it 
 has left in the manners, ceremonies, and language of the 
 country. Perhaps this work throws additional light on the 
 subject. 
 
 Of this language there are several dialects, the principal 
 of which are said to be the Biscayan and the Guipuscoan. 
 The natives call the former simply Escuara, u e. verna- 
 cular. 
 
 There is a grammar in the Basque and Spanish tongues 
 by Larramendi, adapted to the Guipuscoan, — a Latin and 
 Cantabrian Dictionary in manuscript, which seems to have 
 belonged to the late Bishop of Durham, or was under his 
 care, as well as a version of Genesis and Exodus in Can- 
 tabrian. An edition of the New Testament in Basque was 
 printed at Rochelle so early as the year 1571. It was pub- 
 lished by Juan Lizzerago, a native of the province of Beam, 
 at the expense and with the authority of Joan d'Albret, 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 263 
 
 Queen of Navarre, to whom it is dedicated in French* 
 The Gospel of Matthew has been published at Bayonne, 
 in Basque, entitled — " Jesus Christoren Evangelio Suindua, 
 S. Mathiueren Arabera. Itculia escuarara Lapurdico Len- 
 guayaz, 1826." Some time ago a copy of this ancient ver- 
 sion of the Gospel in Basque was found in the University 
 library at Cambridge. 
 
 The extent of this language demands the attention of 
 those who desire the improvement of this ancient people, 
 the descendants of the Cantabri and Vascones, whose lan- 
 guage once not only extended along the banks of the Ebro 
 (Iberus), but more anciently throughout Spain itself. At 
 present it is spoken chiefly by a people on the western side 
 of the Pyrenees, who inhabit Navarre, Alcava, Biscaya, and 
 Guipnscoa ; but it is spoken also by a considerable portion 
 of the population in the south-west of France, inhabiting 
 Basse Navarre, Soul and Labour, who understand no other 
 language, and to whom therefore the Scriptures in French 
 are altogether unintelligible. 
 
 Armorican or Bas Bretagne. 
 
 The average of education in France is extremely low. 
 Dupin has affirmed, that it is only as one to thirty ! and 
 at all events it is far below many other countries, or ra- 
 ther every other country in Europe, except Spain, Russia, 
 and Turkey. At the same time, it is chiefly owing to the 
 south of France being in such a neglected state that the 
 average is so low. The southern half of this kingdom is a 
 kind of contrast to the northern, corresponding to that 
 which exists between the Lowlands and Highlands of Scot- 
 land, and arising from precisely the same cause, the neglect 
 of the vernacular dialects. We have noticed one class of 
 French subjects to whom the Scriptures in that language 
 are a sealed book : but the truth is, that there are as many 
 as nine or ten millions, to whom a book in French, though 
 read to them, is almost, if not altogether, unintelligible. In 
 short, every such book in these districts is of no value what- 
 ever. The vision of all is to them, " as the words of a book 
 that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, say- 
 ing, Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I cannot, for it is 
 
 * Le long, I. p. 44G. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 sealed : and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, 
 saying, Read this, 1 pray thee : and he saith, I am not 
 learned." 
 
 Now it is a curious fact, that the whole of this southern 
 ground is strongly impregnated with Celtic. The dialects 
 called Patois are, in fact, regular languages ; and if the 
 reader wishes to know the present state of these districts, 
 he may observe what has been recently said. " The depart- 
 ments in the centre of France, where ignorance and rude- 
 ness are most prevalent, are exactly the ancient seat of the 
 Celts. In the western part of this tract the Celtic race pre- 
 serves its original language, and throughout the whole of 
 its extent we have reason to believe that the basis of the 
 population is Celtic still. The inhabitants of these districts, 
 in short, are at the bottom of the same family with the 
 Welsh, the Irish, and the Scots Highlanders."* 
 
 Lagonidec, in his Breton Grammar and Dictionary, talks 
 of there being above four millions of inhabitants who speak 
 this language, — an assertion which should be verified, and 
 if true, made generally known. The number may be over- 
 rated ; but there are unquestionably above 900,000 souls in 
 the two departments of Finisterre and Morbihan, in Lower 
 Brittany, where the language is universal, yet it must ex- 
 tend farther than these, and the probability is, that all these 
 tribes having been treated much in the same way as our 
 own ; they require some decided friend to examine their ac- 
 tual state and publish the result. 
 
 The language is, we know, closely allied to the Welsh, 
 and history seems to account for this ; for the Armorican 
 Celtse, about the beginning of the sixth century, received a 
 new colony of British Celts.t The colonists, who landed 
 on the shores of Brittany, afterwards stretched into the in- 
 terior of the country to Rennes, and southward as far as 
 Nantz, and these again were followed by others to such ex- 
 
 * To this passage it is then strangely added, that these are u tribes which, even 
 at this day, are much inferior to the Gothic race in aptitude for civilization !" but 
 that" education, a free press, and continued peace, will do much to improve the 
 people of the south." — Foreign Quarterly Review, No. II. p. 496-7. To this I only 
 add, that, except the education is through the medium of the colloquial dialect, the 
 press will be puwerless, and whether there be peace or war, French schools will be 
 of as little value as English have been in our Celtic districts. Try the native lan- 
 guage, and if there is any " inaptitude for civilization" then, so far as education 
 can civilize, it will be the first instance on record in any Celtic tribe. Had the 
 «' Gothic race" pursued a different policy, there had been no lack of civilization in 
 these districts. All the Celtic tribes are distinguished for mental vigour. 
 
 t After the capture of Belle-isle by the British, in 1761, such of the soldiers as be- 
 longed to Wales were easily understood by the country people, and by means of their 
 Welsh language served as interpreters to their English comrades. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 265 
 
 tent, that the names of Devon and Cornwall (near Brest) 
 were imposed on the districts occupied or seized. 
 
 There are above thirty different volumes printed in this 
 language—a proof that the art of reading is not entirely 
 neglected. Their condition as it regards the Scriptures has 
 begun to excite some notice, but at present the country 
 must still be in a state of almost entire destitution ! 
 
 The Welsh. 
 
 Next in point of antiquity to the Irish, and as far as 
 books and the art of reading have influence, more cultivat- 
 ed, the Welsh has been placed. In the rear of the Celts of 
 Ireland not removing so soon, because perhaps more power- 
 ful, but originally part of the same people, though changed 
 in respect of language by long separation, came the pro- 
 genitors of the present inhabitants of Wales. The languages 
 are radically, but only radically, the same ; and a variety 
 of causes have contributed to the difference which now ex- 
 ists between them. 
 
 " The Irish and the Welsh, when they were separated 
 from the dialects of eastern Europe," are said by Dr Murray 
 to have had " inflections of nouns, consignincations of gen- 
 der, and varieties in verbs, — but in the woods of Gaul, 
 Britain, and Erin, they lost those complicated improve- 
 ments/' And although this may be questioned by some 
 who have not paid the same attention to the subject, it will 
 be allowed that the circumstances in which the two dia- 
 lects were placed, after their importation to Ireland and 
 Britain, were extremely different. Separated from each 
 other by the sea though narrow, the lapse of time alone 
 would certainly influence ; but the British or Cymraig of 
 Wales were exposed for centuries to the influence of the 
 Teutonic dialects and the Latin, as well as to the Saxon and 
 Norman English, Avhich the Irish were not. The power of 
 corrupt pronunciation too has been felt by the Welsh as 
 well as by the Irish ; but the former have withstood many 
 encroachments on the form of the words, which the latter 
 have admitted."* 
 
 There is some difference between the dialects of North 
 and Sonth Wales. The Brython or Strathclyde is supposed 
 
 * Murray, II. 318. 
 
266 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 to have contributed its share of influence on the north, and 
 
 the Cornish, or, as it has been sometimes called, the Lloe- 
 grian, on the south. This may account for the difference 
 of speech in Gwynedh or North Wales, and Deheubarth or 
 South Wales, — a difference which consists not in pronun- 
 ciation only, but in the use of various terms peculiar to each 
 district. 
 
 The orthography of the Welsh having been changed with 
 a view to adapt the written to the spoken language, which 
 the Irish has escaped, this may be tlie reason why at first 
 sight some have imagined, that there is a greater dissimi- 
 larity between them than that which actually exists. 
 
 The object which the writer has in view with regard to 
 Ireland has been abundantly answered in Wales, a.s proved 
 by the statements previously jjiven. Sound policy now 
 urges the extension of the same incalculable benefits to the 
 sister island. 
 
 The Manks. 
 
 This has been regarded as the connecting link between 
 the Irish and the Welsh ; and it has been said to be not 
 more distantly related to the former and to the Gaelic of 
 Scotland than Portuguese is to Spanish. It is a curious cir- 
 cumstance, that the incorporation of Icelandic terms is said 
 to constitute the existing difference between the Manks and 
 Irish or Gaelic. In the Manks, however, they also write 
 and print as they pronounce, — a measure which tends ma- 
 terially to obscure the affinity existing between children of 
 the same parent. 
 
 The Gaelic of Scotland. 
 
 This dialect is much more closely allied to the Irish than 
 either of the two preceding. The words are almost the 
 same, the structure every way similar, and the inhabitants, 
 in many instances, conduct their little shipping connexions 
 through the medium of the language common to both 
 parties. There is, in short, much greater difference between 
 the vernacular dialects of two counties in England, and they 
 have greater difficulty in understanding each ether, than 
 an Irishman and a Highlander. 
 
 That this should be the case is not at all surprising ; for 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 267 
 
 whatever may be affirmed of times more remote, the irrup- 
 tions from Ireland to Scotland are matter of authentic his- 
 tory. 
 
 The Native Irish. 
 
 It has been the singular fortune of each of the Celtic dia- 
 lects to be treated contemptuously in succession ; and the 
 Irish, whether ancient or modern, is the last of the series in 
 the United Kingdom, which has begun to be regarded with 
 enlightened candour. If the extent to which it is still 
 spoken is observed, as an instrument of moral improve- 
 ment it will be found not the least important, though it has 
 been by far the most unfortunate. Regarded with indif- 
 ference by all classical scholars, and men well acquainted 
 with the other living languages of Europe, it has been also 
 viewed with some jealousy even by Celtic scholars to whom 
 one or other of its kindred dialects were vernacular ; while 
 the vain attempts to exterminate the Welsh, the Gaelic, 
 and the Manks, have been as nothing when compared with 
 those which poor Erin has had for ages to sustain. To 
 these dispositions, however, there have long been honour- 
 able exceptions. The laborious Edward Lhuyd, keeper of 
 the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, a W elshman, who, in 
 the close of the seventeenth century, travelled through the 
 Highlands of Scotland, through Ireland and Brittany, at 
 his own expense, collecting and comparing these languages, 
 gives the highest rank in point of antiquity to the Irish ; 
 and there have been other instances in succession from that 
 period. One of these, alluding to the ancient written Irish, 
 has said, — " To the antiquary this language is of the ut- 
 most importance ; it is rich in pure and simple primitives, 
 and which are proved such by the sense and structure of 
 the longest written compounds ; by the supply of many 
 roots which have been long obsolete in the Welsh and Ar- 
 morican, but still occur in the compounds of these lan- 
 guages ; and by their use in connecting the Celtic dialects 
 with Latin, Greek, and Gothic, and perhaps with some of 
 the Asiatic languages." Alluding again to this language, 
 he elsewhere affirms, that, after we have discarded its east- 
 ern terms, and others which cannot be derived from the 
 native roots, it " presents the most accurate copy of the 
 Celtic, in its original and primitive state, in the same man- 
 ner as the Welsh does that of the cultivated or druidical 
 
268 
 
 APPENDIX* 
 
 Celtic. But in order to obtain a sound and deep knowledge 
 of the general and discriminative character in the Celtic, we 
 should compare all the dialects together."* 
 
 Fortunately all these dialects have at last been once com- 
 pared, and that by Dr Murray, who, not being himself a 
 Celt, will not be suspected of undue partiality to any one of 
 them. This comparison, it is true, must have been pursued 
 under some disadvantages from the paucity of manuscripts 
 and comparatively modem character of the Irish writing 
 yet brought into view. But still the testimony of a scholar 
 so eminent, will probably secure, for the long -neglected 
 Native Irish, a portion of that respect and veneration with 
 which every thing at once ancient and useful ought to be 
 regarded. The length to which Dr Murray had gone in 
 such investigations, must increase the regret for his prema- 
 ture decease ; but the progress he had already made, although 
 remaining open to future corrections, will probably be found 
 of the highest value. After carefully examining the whole 
 vocabularies and grammatical structure of the Teutonic 
 dialects, after comparing these with the corresponding parts 
 in the Greek and Latin, he also compared the Celtic dialects 
 w r ith one another, and with all those languages already 
 mentioned. Although he found the Teutonic to be the least 
 corrupted and most original of all, he says, that the Celtic 
 and Finnish " display the most ancient signification of 
 words," and that the Celtic in particular " possesses an un- 
 rivalled and striking originality in its words, — a resem- 
 blance to the oldest varieties of language, and internal 
 evidence that it is derived from the earliest speech of Europe." 
 So great indeed was the assistance thus afforded to him in 
 his researches, that he elsewhere says, — " I am almost in- 
 clined to assert, that without a knowledge of this language, 
 no man can make much progress in studying the philolo- 
 gical history of Europe." 
 
 It was not likely that the comparative antiquity of the 
 Irish should escape the notice of such a man, after such an 
 investigation. This he carefully studied, and has repeatedly 
 noticed. To him, at least, the inhabitants of Ireland ap- 
 peared to have " spoken from the first ages a dialect of the 
 Celtic peculiar to themselves," which is to be distinguished 
 from the British or Cymraig of ^Wales and the continental 
 
 * Davies' Celtic Researches, p. 233, 23i. Although his researches are much in- 
 jured by his imagination, he has contributed to gain for the Welsh remains more 
 attention than they had been accustomed to receive. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 269 
 
 varieties, " by a smaller number of words coinciding with 
 the Teutonic, and by an indolent and soft species of pro- 
 nunciation, which has extended itself over the whole voca- 
 bulary." — " The allies of the German Cimbri and Teutones 
 were," he says, " not Celts of the Irish division. That 
 primitive race had been expelled from the continent, a few 
 tribes only excepted, before the clawn of history. As one 
 proof of this, their ancient written language indicates, by 
 form and inflection, their long and early separation from 
 t>he parent, as well as from every other stock." Other au- 
 thorities, to the same effect, might be added, were the writer 
 at all solicitous on this point : though it is not many years 
 since it would have been hazardous to the reputation of any 
 author to have asserted, that, in point of antiquity, the Irish 
 tongue would ultimately be placed at the head of all the 
 dialects in the western world. The more recent investiga- 
 tions of the most learned and impartial philologists seem to 
 be verging to this opinion : and it only remains to be seen 
 whether historical research, patiently and impartially pur- 
 sued, will not lead to the same conclusion. 
 
 Whatever opinion may be formed by any man with re- 
 gard to the substance or the particulars mentioned in this 
 Appendix, it is cheering to think that for Ireland a better 
 day has begun to dawn. Her native language, long un- 
 justly and foolishly reprobated, is gradually rising in im- 
 portance even in a literary point of view. After a long and 
 dreary night, a numerous body of our fellow-subjects come 
 before us, — in want of the very means of improvement 
 which have given to Britain whatever superiority she now 
 enjoys above the nations around her, and many circum- 
 stances unite in saying, that our duty toward them is as 
 imperative as it is manifest. A language in itself so ex- 
 pressive and copious, spoken at this hour by a population 
 so large, in a country of such importance to the whole king- 
 dom, must of necessity be cultivated and taught. Indepen- 
 dently of its necessity as the only effectual instrument of 
 immediate and permament moral improvement in so many 
 parts of Ireland, it is an ancient record, which, when pro- 
 perly regarded, will lend its aid in unfolding antiquity, and 
 in resolving at least some of the mysteries of general phi- 
 lology. 
 
270 
 
 LINES 
 
 Written by a Friend, after perusing the Second Edition of 
 
 THE PHKCKDISU HISTORY. 
 
 Erin mavournein ! oh, when wilt thou rise 
 
 From the slumber of death which has hound thee ? 
 Is the mist of delusion cast o'er thine eyes ? 
 
 Are thy children weeping around thee ? 
 Harp of sweet Innisfail ! mute are thy chords, 
 
 Silent thy deep-flowing numbers, 
 And strangers, too listless, have long been thy lords, 
 
 And weeds have crept over thy slumbers. 
 
 Erin mavournein ! the day-star shall shine, 
 
 To soften thy night into morning ; 
 Again shalt thou sparkle in radiance divine, 
 
 The land with thy beauty adorning: 
 Harp of sweet Innistail ! thou shalt awake 
 
 Uy the side of a life-giving fountain : 
 Again shall thy rich peal of melody break 
 
 To gladden each valley and mountain. 
 
 Erin mavournein ! the bosoms that mourn 
 
 At last shall with rapture behold thee: 
 The Lord who averted his face shall return, 
 
 And the blaze of his presence enfold thee. 
 Glory of Innisfail ! Spirit of Song ! 
 
 To thee shall the triumph be given, 
 To roll the full tones of thy harpings along.. 
 
 And swell the devotions of Heaven ! 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Aged Irish from 70 to 100 Years, .... 204 
 Alcala de Henares, the Irish College of, 80 
 Aldhelm, taught by an Irishman . . . .16,17 
 Alfred, the Northumbrian King, in Ireland . . . 16 
 
 Antwerp, the Irish College of, 81 
 
 Armagh, ancient College of, 72 
 
 burnt and repeatedly pillaged . . . 11 
 
 Bacon's (Lord) advice respecting Ireland ... 99 
 Bas Bretagne, a Celtic dialect ..... 263 
 Basque, a mixed language, but Celtic . . . . 261 
 Bedell's early Life Abroad and at Home ... 34 
 
 — noble disinterestedness 34. 36 
 
 Exertions in Trinity College . . . 35. 101 
 
 in Kilmore and Cavan . . 37. 102 
 
 • in translating the Scriptures . . 37 
 
 at the Convocation of 1634 . 38. 101 
 
 • — Defence of the Irish Translation . . 39—42 
 
 Trials previous to his Death . . . . * 43 
 
 Sickness, Death, and Funeral . . . . 44, 45 
 
 * his Irish Manuscript preserved ... 52 
 
 Hebrew MSS. preserved by an Irishman — Note 37 
 
 — Posthumous influence 107 
 
 Irish Old Testament printed .... 53 
 
 Books suggested for translation . . . . 199, 200 
 
 Bordeaux, the Irish College of, 85 
 
 Bouley, the Irish Seminary of, .... 86 
 Boyle's (Hon. Robert) Life and Character . . 47 — 56 
 
 Exertions in publishing the Irish Scriptures 51 — 54 
 
 BramhalPs reverence for the character of Fitzralph — Note 26 
 
 • ■ opposition to Bedell . . . . .26. 38 
 
 Burke's (Edmund) interest in Irish MSS. ... 13 
 Building, not one in all Ireland dedicated to the ministry 
 
 of the word in the Irish tongue, . . . . 115 
 
 Charlemagne employed Irish Teachers . . . 17 
 
 Children, Irish, from 5 to 15 Years of Age . . . 204 
 
 Classics taught by an Irish Schoolmaster . . . 205 
 Connaught, Irish districts of, . . , . . 125. 131 
 
 Connellan, Mr. Thaddeus, the individual referred to . 214 
 
 Constance, Irish Nation recognised at ... • 26 
 
 Cornish Dialect, or Lloegrian 259 
 
 Culdee, Angus the, 19 
 
272 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Desire for Education in Ireland .... 
 
 Douai, the Irish College of 
 
 Dublin, Trinity College 
 
 Education through the medium of Irish 
 
 , power of, limited, in every Language* 
 
 — , vanity of expecting too much from, 
 
 Elizabeth, Q- sends over Irish types, nothing more 
 
 — sends English Bibles to the Irish people 
 
 ■ ' Preamble to her Act of Uniformity 
 
 English spoken, but very partially understood 
 
 Schools in Wales abortive 
 
 — Schools in the Highlands ditto 
 
 — Schools in Ireland ditto 
 
 Erasmus, the wish of, for the Irish 
 Extent of the Irish Language 
 
 Fitznilph, the predecessor of Wiekliffe 
 French Schools in England abortive 
 
 Gaelic Language 
 
 Scriptures, list of editions 
 
 P*gt 
 205, 206 
 80 
 
 73. 7a. 61 
 
 201—217 
 116 
 
 116. 242 
 . 21.98 
 97 
 98 
 
 150. 180 
 162 
 137.215 
 137. 214 
 198 
 119—139 
 
 — Circulating Schools 
 
 — Scholars Of mature Age 
 Prayer- Book of 1567 — Note. 
 
 Ministers once in Ireland 
 
 German Schools in Bohemia abortive 
 
 • — Schools in Lusatia ditto . 
 
 Guipuscoan. a Dialect of the Basque 
 
 Henry VIII., absurd act of, 1537 . 
 Highlanders, Scots, in Ireland .... 
 
 — , peculiar obligations of, towards Ireland 
 
 Hildesley, Dr Mark, his character and exertions 
 
 Ignorance in a Family , evils of, 
 
 not the only evil to be removed . 
 
 Infants in Ireland of 5 Years and under 
 Johnson's (Dr Sam.) interest in Ireland 
 
 Letter as to the Gaelic Scriptures 
 
 Ireland and Wales contrasted 
 Irish Language and its Extent 
 
 Infants of 5 Years and under 
 
 Children from 5 to 15 Years . 
 
 Operatives from 15 to 70 
 
 Aged above 70 to 1 00 
 
 Aged above 1 00 Years . 
 
 Literary History or Gleanings 
 
 Septs in the Fifteenth Century 
 
 Act of Henry VIII. 
 
 Act of Uniformity, preamble to 
 
 Manuscripts .... 
 
 i New Testament, first, by Fitzralph 
 
 157 
 
 236 
 192, 193 
 151. 179.207 
 179, 180 
 31 
 
 110,111 
 161 
 159 
 
 262 
 
 96. 115 
 110 
 233 
 (1—174 
 
 101,202 
 242 
 '204 
 14 
 177 
 89—192 
 19—139 
 204 
 ib. 
 ib. 
 ib. 
 203 
 9—71 
 95. 183 
 96.115 
 98 
 10—14 
 
INDEX. 273 
 
 Page 
 
 Irish New Testament, translation of, . . . 31 — 33 
 
 i Pi ayer-Book printed 32 
 
 — -- Book first printed in Ireland .... 31 
 
 book first printed on the Continent* ... 5§ 
 
 ty pes procured by Mr Boyle 51 
 
 Circulating Schools, proposed .... 207 
 
 i Model Schools proposed 91 
 
 Scriptures, list of, 190—193 
 
 — — • Testament, preface to Boyle's, . . . . 108 
 
 jj Books suggested for translation . , . 199 — 200 
 
 Eagerness for education 205 
 
 Oral Instruction .... 93--118. 218—238 
 
 — — Tongue finely adapted for oral instruction . 220. 221 
 
 Ministers entreated to acquire it . . 221 — 234 
 
 Islands of Ireland . 140—154 
 
 i One hundred and forty inhabited . . . 147 
 
 King, Mr. ungrateful treatment of the aged . . . 37 — 42 
 Knowledge, the impotence of mere, .... 242 
 
 Language, no European Kingdom of one, . . . 119 
 
 * : — determined adherence to vernacular — Note 177 
 
 Irish, and its present extent . . 119 — 139 
 
 Learning, share of the Irish in the earliest of Europe 16 — 23 
 
 , Schools of, abroad and at home . . 72 — 92 
 
 Leinster Irish districts 124. 130. 131 
 
 Lille, the Irish College of, ..... 81 
 Lisbon, the Irish College of, ..... 80 
 
 Literary History or Gleanings 9 — 71 
 
 Longevity, comparative, in Ireland .... 203 
 Louvain, the Irish College of, ..... 82 
 
 Lynch, his history and exertions 205 
 
 Lyon, Irish Nation recognised at, in 1255 ... 28 
 
 Manks language 171 
 
 — Scriptures and Schools .... 171 — 176 
 
 Manuscripts, Irish, 10 — 14 
 
 Marsh's interest in the Irish Scriptures . . 51 — 55 
 
 - interest in an Irish Ministry . . . . 112 
 
 library — Note 78 
 
 Munster Irish districts 129 
 
 Nantz, the Irish College at, 86 
 
 Native Irish, Author's address to the .... 239 
 
 New Testament, the first Irish, 27 
 
 Objections answered 155 — 184 
 
 Obscurity of British and Irish Antiquities partly ac- 
 counted for — Note . . . . . . . 118 
 
 Operatives, Irish, from 15 to 70 Years of Age . 204 — 251 
 
 Oral Instruction by the Irish language . 9^—118. 218—238 
 
 * On the author's copy of this very rare book, by B. Obhadhasa, Hosaeus or Hussey, 
 is written 4 Dermitius Cartseus et Hibernis Commorantibus, 1619 :' but this seems to 
 be the first edition, though it has no date. It is beautifully executed in square 24rmo 
 — the leaves only are numbered. 
 
274 INDEX. 
 
 Pajre 
 
 Oral Instruction, Want of, in the sixteenth Century . 97 
 
 , Want of, in the present day 114. 115. 238 
 
 , Instituted power of, . . 116—118.218 
 
 — , Necessity for, .... 218—228 
 
 Oxford and Cambridge, early Irish Students— Note . 30 
 
 Parents' wish for English noticed . . . 214. 215 
 
 Paris, the Irish College in, 8G — 89 
 
 Poitiers, the Irish College of, 85 
 
 Poor to be regarded ...... 241. 242 
 
 Poverty, the state of, considered 241 
 
 Prague, the Irish College of 84 
 
 Printing, the Irish, early employed in, . . 29—31 
 
 Rome, the Irish Colleges at, 82—84. 85 
 
 Salamanca, The Irish Colleges of, .... 79 
 
 Schools of Learning 72— 92 
 
 French, in England, abortive . . 157. 158 
 
 German, in Bohemia, . ditto ■ . . . 161 
 
 German, in Lusatia, . ditto . . . 159 
 
 English, in Wales, . ditto . . . 162 
 
 English, in the Highlands, ditto . . 137. 215 
 
 English, in Ireland, . ditto . . 137. 214 
 
 English, in the Isle of Mann, ditto . . 171 — 176 
 
 Sedulius of Ireland — Note 17 
 
 Sidney's (Sir H.) advice respecting Ireland . 99. 113 
 
 Spanish Celtic Districts fcl 
 
 Stationary oral instruction, not the only mode . . 229 
 
 Toulouse, the Irish College of, 85 
 
 Tournay, the Irish College of, 81 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin, founded 73 
 
 , Instructions of James I. ' . 73 
 
 , the Professor of Irish should be more 
 
 encouraged —Preface 
 
 , early Scholars at — Note ... 33 
 
 , Library — Note .... 77. 78 
 
 Types, Irish, carried abroad 46 
 
 Ulster Irish districts 124—130. 131 
 
 Unfounded Objections answered .... 155 — 184 
 
 Venice, Irish corrector of the press at . . . . 29 
 
 Waldensian, ancient Dialect 260 
 
 Wales and Ireland contrasted .... 189 — 19*2 
 
 Welsh Language 162 
 
 Scriptures 190—195 
 
 Literature 195—198 
 
 Preaching ....... 114. 168 
 
 Circulating Schools 212 
 
 Wenden, vain attempt to abolish by teaching German 159 
 Wilson— of Sodor and Mann * 171 
 
PRINCIPAL NAMES MENTIONED. 
 
 Albin . 
 Alcuine 
 A Id helm 
 Alfred . 
 Angus . 
 Archdekin 
 Atkins . 
 
 Bacon, Lord 
 Bathe 
 Bede . 
 Bedell 34—45 
 Berkeley 
 Bramhall 
 Brown, N. 
 Boyle 
 Burke . 
 Butler . 
 
 Carswell 
 Ceolfride 
 Charles, T. 
 Claudius 
 Clement 
 Cogley . 
 Connellan 
 Conry . 
 Creagh . 
 Cusack, P. 
 Cusack, C. 
 Cusack, Sir T. 
 
 Daniel, W. 
 Davies, Dr 
 Davies . 
 De Rentsi 
 Dewar . 
 Diodati . 
 Donellan 
 Donlevy 
 
 Page 
 
 17 
 16, 17 
 16 
 16 
 19 
 58. 81 
 111 
 
 Dowling 
 Duncan 
 Dungal . 
 
 Edgeworth 
 
 Erasmus 
 
 Erigena 
 
 Page 
 30 
 17 
 
 . 17, 18 
 
 . 210 
 . 198 
 17, 18, 19 
 
 99 Fitch 
 30 Fitzgerald 
 
 16, 17 
 74.101 
 112 
 38 
 110 
 47—56 
 13 
 84 
 
 31 
 16 
 
 164 
 17 
 17 
 30 
 
 214 
 57 
 30 
 30 
 80 
 97 
 
 30. 32 
 196 
 268 
 221 
 126 
 34. 37 
 30, 31 
 65. 87. 238 
 
 Fitzralph 
 Flood, H. 
 Fulgentio 
 Fullerton 
 
 Gallagher 
 Gambold 
 Gearnon 
 Gotofrid 
 Gouge . 
 Gray, Fl. 
 
 Hall, Dr. 
 Halliday 
 Hamilton 
 Herodotus 
 Heber . 
 Heylyn . 
 Higgins . 
 Hildesley 
 Hughes . 
 Huntington 
 Hussey . 
 Hutchinson 
 
 James I. 
 Jablonski 
 Johnson, Dr 
 Jones, Dr. 
 Jones, G. 
 
 30 
 86 
 23. 37 
 69. 76 
 38 
 33 
 
 67 
 19 
 58 
 21 
 196 
 57 
 
 75 
 69 
 33 
 254 
 122 
 196 
 52 
 171 
 196 
 53 
 
 56. 273 
 141 
 
 100 
 158 
 . 14. 177 
 74. 108 
 162. 212 
 
 Page 
 
 Kearney . 30, 31 
 Keenan . 89 
 Kelly . .174 
 King . 37. 39. 42 
 
 Laud . . 39 
 
 Lloyd , .197 
 
 Lhuid . 59. 267 
 
 Lynch, P. 69. 205 
 
 Lyniger . 75 
 
 Macarthur . 110 
 Macalhnn . 110 
 Macaghwell . 57 
 Maccurtin . 65 
 Macguire . 30 
 Magenis . 86 
 Maildulf . 16, 17 
 Marianus, Scotus 20 
 Marsh 51.74.109 
 29 
 81 
 196 
 78. 87 
 174 
 
 Maurice 
 M'Naughten 
 Middleton 
 Moore . 
 Moore, P. 
 Murray 256. 258 268 
 
 Nary 
 Neilson 
 Nicholson 
 
 O'Brian 
 O'Bryan 
 O'Cionga 
 O'Clery 
 O'Donell 
 O'Fihely 
 O'Molloy 
 O'Mulconaire 
 O 'Regan 
 O'Reilly 
 
 87 
 
 69 
 64 
 
 89 
 67. 69 
 62 
 57 
 30. 32 
 29. 30 
 59 
 57 
 21 
 67 
 
276 
 
 PRINCIPAL NAMES MENTIONED. 
 
 O'Reilly, E. 
 O'Sheridan 
 Ormond 
 Owen 
 
 Page 
 13. 69 
 37 
 61 
 
 103—106 
 
 Perry 
 Price 
 
 50. 107. 
 
 196 
 196 
 
 Reily . 
 
 Richardson 
 
 Richardson, . 
 
 Richards 
 
 Rhese . 
 
 Rhydderch 
 
 Roberts 
 
 51—53 
 36 
 
 . 62,63 
 . 197 
 . 196 
 197 
 . 196 
 
 Sidney ,SirH. 
 Skelton . 
 Stapleton 
 Stanyhurst 
 Stewart 
 Stokes . 
 Strafford 
 Swift . 
 Sylveria 
 
 Taylor, Jer. 
 Thierry 1 
 Thorold 
 Thomas, Hib. 
 Tighernach . 
 
 Salesbury 195, 196 Usher, Sir W. 
 Sail . 50. 79. 108 Ussher 
 Sedulius . 17| Ussher, H. 
 
 Pagel 
 
 99. H3jVallancey 
 . 87 
 
 57 'Wadding" 
 30 Wakefield 
 . 215Walsh . 
 69. 1231 Walsh, F. 
 39— 42'Ware, Sir J, 
 13. 12ljWettenhall 
 80jWhite . 
 _ jWickliffe 
 74 .Williams 
 19, 120 Willibrord 
 175Wilson . 
 22|Winter 
 21 | Wood ward 
 Wotton, Sir 
 
 32 
 33 
 32 
 
 Ximenes 
 
 Page 
 
 69 
 
 J32 — 84 
 
 125 
 30, 31 
 85 
 79 
 61 
 79 
 23 
 197 
 16 
 171 
 74. 105 
 . 121 
 H. 34 
 
 00 
 
 LANGUAGES NOTICED. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon 
 Armorican . 
 Bas Bretagne 
 Basque . 
 Biscayan 
 Bohemian 
 Cantabrian 
 Cornish 
 Cynesian 
 
 Pa?e 
 
 156 _ 
 263 E 
 
 263 
 261 
 261 
 161 
 261 
 259 
 258 
 
 English 
 
 scnara 
 Gaelic . 
 Gascon . 
 German . 
 Gnipnscoan 
 Iberian, . 
 Icelandic 
 
 Pagej 
 
 156j Irish 
 176 Llocgrian 
 262'Manks . 
 176! Norman 
 261 'Slavonian 
 160 Vase. 
 262 ; Waldensian 
 255. 259 Welsh . 
 . 266 Wenden 
 
 159. 
 
 Page 133, Note, for preceding, read succeeding. Page 177, line 30, dele m. 
 Page 180, Note, say — Sec the state of these Islands in the preceding Section. 
 
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