language, the literature would remain valuable
from the pure literature point of view, and still
mere valuable from the Catholic standpoint. And
now we come to the question: Is the national lan¬
guage really fated to perish? According to the last
census, eight hundred thousand people in Ireland
can speak Irish; sixty thousand can speak no oth¬
er language. More than two millions in America
can speak Irish. And yet, if things do not change
it is certain that in another century the spoken lan¬
guage will have disappeared for ever. Things are
changing. For the last five centuries the history,
first of active repression by penal laws, then of
more fatal and more shameful neglect, and until
very recently, ill-conceived adversity to the lang¬
uage, on the part of influential Irishmen. Not one
Irishman having control or influence in the educa¬
tion of the country has ever spoken or done any
thing worth mentioning for the language. And
when the Irish as lived through all this, when
better days are dawning, public opinion becoming
more and more national, and prominent Irishmen
beginning to take an active interest in the old ton¬
gue, have we not every reason to hope and to look
forward to its revival, to some extent at least?
Already it is creeping into the schools, if not into
the colleges. No one is found to disparage it, as it
used to be disparaged a few yars ago; and even
that is something. A century since, the Welsh was
in as bad a state as our language is at present, un¬
til by the exertions of a few patriotic clergymen,
public opinion was aroused in its favor. The result
is, that Welsh is now a popular, nay, fashionable
language, as is evidenced from the fact that at the
last Eisteddfod the Bishop of Bangor opened the
proceeding by reciting a Welsh ode composed by
himself for the occasion, and that other eminent
Welshmen, lay and clerical, recited various compo¬
sitions in prose and poetry. I wonder shall we ever
see the like in Ireland. Another result is that the
children are taught the two languages concurrent¬
ly; the school-books have Welsh and English on
opposite pages, and the children know English bet¬
ter than those in the neighboring English schools
They have twenty-four newspapers — daily, weekly
and monthly, and a vigorous, living and racy liter¬
ature.
This, too, is what those interested in Irish aim at.
It is not to banish English — that would be, first of
all, impossible, and also absurd. Listen again to the
words of Canon Farrar, — "Neither I, nor any man
in his senses, dream for a moment of doing anything
to hinder the universal prevalence of the English.
But the prevalence of English is something very diff¬
erent from the exclusive dominance of it. We wish
that every child should speak English perfectly, and
should also speak ... its native language perfectly."
That this state of education is a possible one is pro¬
ved by its success in Wales and in other countries.
That it is desirable is evident, if the only aim of ed¬
ucation be not to make us more English than the
English themselves. It is clear, too, that if the lan¬
guage is to be saved, immediate steps must be reso¬
lutely taken by those who have control of educaton¬
al establishments of all kinds,
— TUAM NEWS
Gaels, read the foregoing article carefully, talk it
over with your friends and get them to support their
literature. Tell them to deny themseles of their ac¬
customed luxuries to the amount of a dollar a year
and to apply that dollar to the preservation of their
language, the only inheritance which has survived
the ravages of the Gotho-Saxon barbarians — an in¬
tance of which the power of man cannot deprive
them, if they do not will it by their own indifference
In last issue, we advised Gaels to place their feet
firmly on all matters extraneous to the Gaelic
movement, adding that the discussion of the old
writing had nothing to do with it. This we re¬
peat. Ninetenths of the Gaelic students had no
previous knowledge of the language, and it would
be as judicious to introduce geometry to a "Read¬
ing Made Easy" class as to discuss the old Irish
writings before them. But nothing can be more
interesting to the advanced student than extracts
from these old books, with necessary glossaries
and presented in an unpresuming, scholarly, and
gentlemanly manner, as has been done in the Gael
for some time past, and will continue to be done.
Some nine years ago THE GAEL "blowed" a lit¬
tle, as all journals generally do. Thinking that we
were making money by it some N Y "friends"
were continually suggesting that we ought to take
in some help lest it should be thought that we ran
THE GAEL for personal gain (it did not pay for pa¬
per and presswork at the time). We saw through
the thing at once and said to the "friends," "Gen¬
tlemen, my name has been before the public as E¬
ditor and founder of THE GAEL, I think a good
deal of that connection, but to prevent jealousy,
and to show you that personal gains is not my ob¬
ject in running the paper, I shall hand it over to
you with this proviso, — that you give me a guar¬
antee that it shall not collapse."
They seemed delighted. But when we produced
the books and they saw the income, those who ap¬
peared the most anxious to have a finger in the
pie were the first to slink to the rear, while those
who remained in front suggested, "It is better
leave it as it is."
The collapse of the Boston Irish Echo has re¬
called this incident to our mind. And though we
offered to place THE GAEL under similar control,
it was with the proviso that it should revert to us
in case of failure. But we were pretty sure that
it would not be taken off our hands when the mal¬
contents would see that there was not water en¬
ough in its reservoir to wet their axes. It was
the want of personal responsibility that killed the
poor Echo. Like the poor Man, it took every one's
advice and, got Lost.
MORAL — Patriotic movements must be run by
patriotic men, who will look neither to the right
nor to the left but pursue a straight course right
ahead. This course may irritate those whose corn
may be trampled on, but the success of THE GAEL
is a living evidence of its soundness.
The one-hundredth anniversary of Archbishop Mc¬
Hale, which was postponed from its regular time,
will be celebrated by the Phila. Philo-Celtic Soc¬
iety, at Philopatrian Hall, on Easter Tuesday, Mar.
31st, The Rev. P H O'Donnell, O S A, of Villano¬
va, will preside and deliver the opening address in
Irish; and the Rev. Daniel J Murphy, St. Francis
parish, will deliver an address also, and will speak
exclusively in the Irish language. Members of the
Society and others will speak pieces and recte poems
and songs in Irish and in English.
Owing to presure on our space Capt. Norris' Notes,
a poem from Rev. Father Keegan, St Louis, Tobar
Deire an Domhain, O'Curry, Owen Ruadh, and a
long Gaelic piece from Mr. Meehan, Dublin, have
been deferred.
New York and Brooklyn celebrated the McHale
Centenary in a becoming manner.
