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AN GAOḊAL.
it was gotten up regardless of lingual correctness
and for the most ignoble ends which the depravity
of human nature could devise or its ingenuity sug¬
gest, namely, to corrupt the morals of a starving,
oppressed, plundered, and religious peasantry, and
to destroy their language. Reader, this is strong
language, but picture to yourself a starving family,
without a bit or sup for days, nor the prospect of
getting either in the near future, accosted by the
ghoul of superism, with Bedel’s Bible in one hand
and the can of soup in the other ; and the option be-
ing to sacrifice the most sacred sentiments of man on
the one hand or a death from starvation on the
other. Picture this to yourself, reader, and you
will not blame us, who was raised in a locality
where these diabolical tactics had been resorted to
to corrupt a starving peasantry, and you will not
blame us for our aversion to Bedel’s Bible.
Why, dear reader, notwithstanding that the late
Archbishop McHale established Irish schools so
as to counteract this scheme of the enemy to cor-
rupt the people and to destroy the language by
applying the dog's hair to the wound as an antidote,
people looked with suspicion on the Irish schools
when first organized lest they should have any con-
nection with that odious system.
That Bible was gotten up for the purposes above
stated. Its projectors knew perfectly well that it
would turn the people against the language, and
so it would were it not for the fore-sight of Arch-
bishop McHale who, to use a vulgar but applicable
expression, took the bull by the horns and upset
him by enforcing and encouraging Irish literature :
for no child would be confirmed unless he or she
knew the Irish Catechism, so that the first lesson
recited in school every morning was the Irish Cat-
echism.
Some may put us down as a bigot for the expres-
sion of the foregoing sentiments — we are not such,
we never interfere with a man's religious belief nor
permit others to interfere with ours.
Let our protestant readers, and we have some,
picture to themselves a starving protestant family
accosted by a catholic who promises immediate
relief with an assurance of full and plenty after-
wards if they only renounce their religious belief
and conform to his and unless they do so are left to
die of starvation, and we are assured that they
will coincide with us in characterizing such action
as cruel, inhuman and deserving the reprobation
of all honorable men.
ANCIENT IRISH LITERATURE,
CORMAC'S INSTRUCTIONS,
(By John O'Donovan, L. L. D.)
(Continued.)
"I send you the enclosed abstract of the Tea-
gasg Flacha of Cormac O'Cuin, king of Ireland at
the close of the third century. That monarch was
a Filea, (philosopher,) and professed himself a
pious theist, in opposition to the pantheism of the
Druids, whose, order he attempted to reform, not
to abolish,
“The copy you gave me I have compared with
the one now before me, transcribed in the year
1396. In both I find some variations and trans-
positions, all owing to ignorant transcribers : and
the difficulties thrown in our way by bad copies
are not greater than those occasioned by the com-
plex terms and the mixed modes used in the third
century. We want a Glossary for explaining those
obsolete terms : and yet as I proceeded, I believe
that my translation will be found just.
“This piece should not be considered as the com-
position of king Cormac, but as the epitome of some
writer of an ulterior age. The cast of the phraseo-
logy shows that the work is very ancient." — Stowe
Catalogue, p. 97.
We shall give a few specimens of a composition
ascribed to Ossian's maternal grandfather, for the
consideration of the literati of Caledonia : and we
hope that they will take the trouble of comparing
them with the effusions of their immortal Ossian,
and draw a logical conclusion as to the blundering
forgeries of MacPherson. The original is in the
Book of Lecain.
"A ua Ċuinn a Ċormaic, ol Cairḃre
cid is deċ do ríġ? Ní innsaṁ, ol Cor-
mac. As deċ dó, eṁ, ainmne cin deḃ-
aiḋ, fosdad cin ferg; so-agallma cin
móraċt; deṫiḋe senċusa, friṫfola fi-
ra, fir confuilleḋ ; trócairi condluṫu-
ġaḋ recta; sit do tuataiḃ; raṫa éc-
samla breṫa fira ; geill inglasaiḋ; sloi-
ġeḋ fri deberc ; troscaḋ for coicríċ-
aiḃ; móraḋ ceċ neṁeḋ, airmide File;
adraḋ Dé Ṁair."
“O grandson of Con! O Cormac. said Cairbre,
what is good for a king:
“That is plain, said Cormac. It is good for him to
have patience without debate ; self-government
without anger ; affability without haughtiness,
diligent attention to history ; strict observance of
covenants and agreements, strictness mitigated by
mercy in the execution of the laws ; peace with his
districts ; lawful wages of vassalage, justice in de-
cisions : performance of promises ; hosting with
justice, protection of his frontiers ; honoring the
nemeds, (nobles) : respect to the fileas adoration
of the great GOD.
"Almsana ile; mes for crannaiḃ;
iasg i n-inḃera; talaṁ torṫaċ; barc do
ṫoċur; allmuire sed; edaċ sireċda;
drong-cloiḋeṁ bemneċ fri coiméd ceċ
tuaiṫe; forran tar ċriċa; torraṁa
luḃra; lesuġaḋ triúna; teacta fir:
oirgeaḋ goi: biaṫaḋ ceċ naé; caraḋ fir-
inne ; dingneḋ oṁan; uaiḋeḋ siṫ; imad
meḋa sceó fina; aḋraḋ a ṁair Ḋé; ais-
nedaḋ reiḃreṫa; canaḋ ceċ fir; ár is
tre fir flaṫa do ḃer Dia in sin uili."
