388
AN GAOḊAL.
the entire vote. Is it not a palpable fact that a
union has been formed by the supporters of Cleve¬
land, both Republican and Democratic, to subvert
the natural influence of that vote ? When the
wolves enter the fold it is time for the sheep to look
out. What has brought the Joneses, the Bennetts
the Beechers, &c. to nominate Cleveland? He is
their candidate. The plain Democracy has no
candidate. Therefore, Mr. Blaine, receiving the
unanimous nomination of the wage workers of the
Republican party against the combined exertion of
the kid-gloved kickers and the Federal office-hold¬
ers, we look upon him as the real Democratic nom¬
inee. All who vote for Cleveland will vote for the
worst element in our political system. Is it not
a condition of his nomination by the Republicans,
that in case of election none of the Federal office-
holders shall be disturbed. Where, then, will the
change be? Since his advent to office he has con¬
sulted the Republicans on every bill be signed and
vetoed and ignored the Democratic party altogeth¬
er. In fact, Cleveland is the Republican candidate
pure and simple, and that of the most intollerant
type of Republicanism.
Something more than a sentiment or the person¬
alities of candidates is at stake in this election.
The issue is clear: Free-Trade versus Protection.
Those against Free Trade will vote for Mr. Blaine
if they do not stultify their convictions, and those
in favor of it will vote for Cleveland regardless of
past party affiliations. Personalities should be
left aside, for Cleveland is as much open to unfav¬
orable criticism on this head as any candidate that
could be named. His action on the Five Cent Bill,
where hundreds of thousands of dollars were at
stake, could be construed in various ways.
It has been designedly sought to hide the real
issue of the coming election under the veil of per¬
sonalities. The real issue to the working man in
the coming struggle is his bread and butter. Let
him join the Free Trade party to pauperize him¬
self, if he will, or the Protectionist and secure to
himself fair wages. Then the issue clearly is,
Cleveland and Free Trade and the pauper wages of
Europe against Blaine and Protection and fair A¬
merican wages. Mr. Cleveland has vetoed every
measure tending to benefit labor during his short
term of office. Are the working men going to put
him in a more important position ?
In publishing Mr. Norris' communication we
have discharged what we consider our duty to the
readers of the Gael who differ from us in political
opinions. He having so fully and ably covered
the points which others might reproduce, we shall
close the columns of the Gael to their further dis¬
cussion.
Send the Gael to your friends in the Old Coun¬
try, two copies for year for One Dollar. Your
friends will be glad to hear from you in that way.
DR. MACNISH'S ADDRESS
Continued
Were a comparison instituted between the con¬
dition of Celtic learning in Great Britain and Ire¬
land when Prichard's well-known work was pub¬
lished, or even when Zeuss gave to the world his
admirable "Grammatica Celtica," and the manner
in which Celtic literature is now cultivated by those
whose venerable inheritance it is, it would be found
that a vast improvement has taken place in a com¬
mendable direction, and that, mutatis mutandis,
to Celtic scholars in the study of their own litera¬
ture, the description which Virgil gives of a sight
that Æneas witnessed as, himself unseen, he looked
upon those who were rearing the walls of Carthage
— the city of Dido, is to a large extent applicable.
"Instant ardentes Tyrii, pars ducere muros, Mo¬
lirique arcem, et manibus subvolvere saxa.
O fortunati ! quorum jam moenia surgunt."
The fondness for claiming a very remote antiqui¬
ty which pervades the members of the Celtic fam¬
ily, is exemplified in the well-known story of a
MacLean, who, when the conversation turned on
the deluge and the manner in which its ravages
were avoided, maintained that the MacLeans dis¬
dained to take shelter in the Ark, for the very
good and independent reason that they had a boat
of their own.
In the preface to his "Grammatica Celtica," p.
11, Zeuss states, "that the Irish language claims
for itself the first place and the largest diligence
in the cultivation and study of it, not only in con¬
sequence of the larger fertility of the forms of the
language, but also in consequence of the more a¬
bundant monuments that have been preserved in
old Irish MSS., by which the British MSS. of the
same age, or rather the Welsh (which doubtless
are the only MSS. that reach the age of the Irish
MSS.), are far excelled as well in number as in the
fulness of their contents." To the explicit author¬
ity of Zeuss every deference must be paid. There
is thus a compliance with the Irish proverb, dean
gach an duine buidheach m a fheudair : "make
every person grateful if it be possible." Irish le¬
gends assign a very early date to the peopling of
Ireland by Partholan, Nemedh, Firbolgs, Tuatha
de Dananus, Gaels, Milesians, or Scots : here are
the names of the leaders of immigrants that found
their way, at different times, into Ireland, or of
the tribes themselves which, according to the le¬
gends of Ireland, arrived at different periods in
that country.
There is an Irish saying, Inmāin tainig o thir
tenn — "Beloved is he who came from a brave land,"
which applies to the far-off ancestors of the Irish
people. The ancient literature of Ireland is vast
and varied. Irish writers were wont to speak of
the hosts of the books of Erinn. Though many
of those old books have been irreparably lost, there
still exists an immense quantity of Irish literature.
