ference which consists not in pronunciation 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 the reason why at first sight some have imagined, that there is a greater dissimilarity 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, as proved by the statements previously given. 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 circumstance, 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 materially 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 other, than an Irishman and a Highlander. That this should be the case is not at all surprising; for whatever may be affirmed of times more remote, the irruptions from Ireland to Scotland are matter of authentic history. The Native Irish. It has been the singular fortune of each of the Celtic dialects 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 improvement it will be found not the least important, though it has been by far the most unfortunate. Regarded with indifference 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 was 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 honourable exceptions. The laborious Edward Lhuyd, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, a Welshman, 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 utmost 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 Armorican, but still occur in the compounds of these languages; 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 eastern 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 manner as the Welsh does that of the cultivated or druidical 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 compared, 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 modern 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 premature 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 with 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 unrivalled and striking originality in its words,—a resemblance 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 inclined to assert, that without a knowledge of this language, no man can make much progress in studying the philological 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 appeared to have spoken from the first ages a dialect of the Celtic peculiar to * Davies' Celtic Researches, p. 233, 234. Although his researches are much injured by his imagination, he has contributed to gain for the Welsh remains more attention than they had been accustomed to receive. themselves," which is to be distinguished from the British or Cymraig of Wales and the continental varieties, “ by a smaller number of words coinciding with the Teutonic, and by an indolent and soft species of pronunciation, which has extended itself over the whole vocabulary."—" The allies of the German Cimbri and Teutones were," he says, 66 not Celts of the Irish division. That primitive race had been expelled from the continent, a few tribes only excepted, before the dawn of history." As one proof of this, their ancient written language indicates, by form and inflection, their "long and early separation from the parent, as well as from every other stock." Other authorities might be added, but the writer is by no means over solicitous on this point. But 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 investigations 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 pursued, will not lead to the same conclusion. In conclusion, whatever opinion may be formed by any man with regard to the substance or the particulars mentioned in this Appendix, it is cheering to think that for Ireland a better day is surely about to dawn. Her native language, long unjustly and foolishly reprobated, is gradually rising in importance 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 circumstances unite in saying, that our duty toward them is as imperious as it is manifest. A language in itself so expressive and copious, spoken at this hour by a population so large, in a country of such importance to the whole kingdom, must of necessity be cultivated and taught. Independently of its necessity as the only effectual instrument of immediate and permanent usefulness in so many parts of Ireland, it is an ancient record, which, when properly regarded, will lend its aid in unfolding antiquity, and in resolving at least some of the mysteries of general philology. Bacon's (Lord) advice respecting Ireland... Basque, a mixed language, but Celtic. Bedell's early Life Abroad and at Home......... Exertions in Trinity College.... in Kilmore and Cavan.... in translating the Scriptures. ................ at the Convocation of 1634........... Defence of the Irish Translation................................................. Page .168 .195 .70 ..7 ..6 .72 .63 .168 .89 .254 .252 .26, 27 .29.91 .30-34 Trials previously to his Death.... .35 Sickness, Death, and Funeral.. .35, 36 Irish Manuscripts preserved..... 43 Hebrew MSS. preserved by an Irishman-Note.. .....29 Bramhall's reverence for the character of Fitzralph-Note.........16, 17 |