618
AN GAODHAL.
seventeen days.
In the list of Hon Ms. of the troop found in pp.
28-30 of their by-laws, etc., thirty members of the
Sons of St. Patrick are found. The close connect¬
ion, or rather identity, of so many members of the
society and the troop, will be a sufficient apology
for noticing so fully the records of this distinguish¬
ed body of patiots in an account of "The Friend¬
ly Sons of St. Patrick." We would not however,
be justified in following them farther. Enough
has been said to lay a fair claim for the members
of the society to have had a large share in the
honor of originating and long sustaining the troop.
It may be added that the members of the troop
fully equipped themselves with horses, etc., at the
expense of the individual members.
After the Revolution the famous society of the
"Cincinnati" was instituted. In this, too, we en¬
counter the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick figuring
among the most active and prominent members.
Brigadiers General Hand, Irvine and Wayne, of
the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, were original
members of the Cincinnati So were the follow¬
ing; Stephen Moylan, Thomas Robinson and Wal¬
ter Stewart, each of whom rose to the rank of
brigadier-general: Richard Butler afterwards ma¬
jor-general; Colonels Johnston and Thomas L.
Moore, Major James Moore, Capt. John Patterson,
Capt. John Barclay, Capt. John Barry, of the navy
(the commodore) — all of the Friendly Sons of St.
Patrick. In like manner many other members of
the society became honorary members of the Cin¬
cinati: for instance, William Bingham, Sharp De¬
laney, John Dickinson, Blair M'Clenagan, Robert
Morris, Colonel John Patton, Richard Peters, etc.
(To be continued)
PROF. ROEHRIG on the IRISH
LANGUAGE.
(Continued from page 608.)
As a spoken language, the following statement
in regard to Irish may be of interest. According
to the cencus of 1851, it was spoken exclusively by
319,602 persons, especially in the provinces of Con¬
naught and Munster: while English as well as I¬
rish was spoken by 1,204,688; thus, for nearly
onefourth of the whole population of Ireland it was
then still a living tongue. Twenty years later,
according to the cencus of 1871, no less than 103,¬
562 persons could speak Irish only, and 813,875
persons spoke Irish and English. Nowadays, it
is especially among the rural classes and native
land owners in Connaught, Munster, the remote
parts of Ulster, the south of Leinster as well as
in the islands of the western coast of Ireland that
Irish is still retained as the everyday language in
their families circles and their entire social relat¬
ions at home. We have also seen it stated that
"members of old Irish families, who distinguished
themselves in the armies of the Continent, felt
proud of their Celtic mother-tongue, they contin¬
ually used it in their intercourse, while it was also
commonly spoken by Irish soldiers in France, and
in the American army during the War of Inpeden¬
dence. No Roman legions invaded Ireland, al¬
though for its commerce, resources, and advanced
state of civilization, it was the most important of
all the Celtic countries," as Tacitus informs us in
his "Life of Agricola," saying "Melius Hiberniӕ
quam Britaniae aditus portusque per commercia et
negatores cognita," "The Irish seaports are better
known," he says "through commerce, and are
more frequented, by merchants, than those of
Britain." Historians also tell us that Ireland re¬
tained its Celtic institutions, laws and literature
for more than 1,200 years, after all the other Cel¬
tic countries had been subjucated and transformed.
Education, culture and learning gained more and
more ground among the Irish ecclesiastics, and a
school founded at Armagh became far famed and
renowned throughout all Europe. In the earlier
part of the Middle Ages, Ireland which was at that
time spoken of as the "insula sanctorum" (Isle of
Saints), became regarded as the center of light and
intelligence, and there was a time when Ireland was
the focus of a remarkable literary and Christian
activity. Ireland soon enjoyed the fame of being
the most enlightened country of Western Europe;
it then had the best scholars and the most advanc¬
ed condition of learning. More than in any coun¬
try of Europe, it was particularly among the Irish
that men of acute minds and extensive knowledge,
real philosophers, were found, Scotus Erigena the
author of that wonderful and comprehensive work
"De divisione naturӕ," in five books, is claimed as
a native of Ireland, in spite of his being likewise
claimed by Scotland, and even — as to nationality
at least, — by England. It was also in Ireland that
literature and philosophy of the highest order were
taught; and then we see that the Saxons from all
places flocked to Ireland as the great emporium of
letters. I will also mention, on this occasion, that
the Irish monks, more than any others, were es¬
pecially esteemed for their extraordinary artistic
skill. There is preserved, in the Library of Trin¬
ity College, Dublin, the Book of Kells, which is
written in Latin, and as some competent writers
observe, is "the most exquisite example in the world
of that minute and intricate style of illuminating"
in which the Irish excelled and, foremost among all
others. It is a well established fact that the Irish
whenever favored by circumstances and opportuni¬
ties, have also shown themselves to be a highly
intellectual, industrious, steady, virtuous, upright
and faithful people that ought to command univer¬
sal respect. Indeed, the brillant qualities of mind
and heart of many of the cultivated class compel
our esteem and admiration. Ireland has produced,
it is well known, "some of the most successful
statesmen, orators, poets and warriors of the Unit¬
