AN GAODHAL.
785
drove out the native chiefs and gentry, or gradual¬
ly changed their minds and feelings — the class
which had ever before supplied liberal patrons of
the national literature.
Not only were the old Irish nobility, gentry and
people in general lovers of their native language
and literature, and patrons of literary men, but even
the great Anglo-Norman nobles themselves, who
effected a permanent settlement among us,
appear from the first to have adopted what
doubtless must have seemed to them the better
manners, customs, language and literature of the
natives; and not only did they munificently pat¬
ronize their professors, but became themselves pro¬
ficients in these studies; so that the Geraldines, the
Butlers, the Burkes, the Keatings, and the others,
thought, spoke, and wrote in the Gaedhlic, and
stored their libraries with choice and expensive
volumes in that language, and they are reproached
by their own compatriots with having become
"Ipis Hibernis Hiberniores," — "more Irish than
the Irish themselves." As great indeed was the
value in those days set on literary and historical
documents by chiefs and princes, that it has more
than once happened that a much-prized MS. was
the stipulated ransom of a captive noble, and be¬
came the object of a tedious warfare, and this state
of things continued to exist for several centuries,
even after the whole framework of Irish society
was shaken to pieces by the successive invasions
of the Danes, the Normen and the Anglo-Normans
followed by the Elizabethan, Cromwellian and Wil¬
liamite wars and confiscations, and accompanied
by the ever increasing dissentions of our native
princes among themselves, disunited as they were
ever after the fall of the supreme monarchy at the
close of the twelfth century. With the dispersion
of the native chiefs, not a few of the great books
that had escaped the wreck of time were altogether
lost to us; many followed the exiled fortunes of
their owners, and not a few were placed in acces¬
ible security at home. Indeed it may be said that
after the termination of the great wars of the sev¬
enteenth century, so few and inaccessible were the
examples of old Gaedhlic literature, that it was
almost impossible to acquire a perfect knowledge
of the language in its purity.
With such various causes, active and long-con¬
tinued, in operation to effect its destruction, there
is no reason for wonder that we should be still in
possession of any fragments of the ancient litera¬
ture of our country, however extensive it may once
have been. And that it was extensive, and com¬
prehended a wide range of subjects — justifying the
expressions of the old writers who spoke of "the
hosts of the books of Erinne" — may be judged from
those which have survived the destructive ravages
of invasion, the accidents of time, and the other
causes just enumerated. When we come to inquire
concerning the fragments which exist in England
and elsewhere, they will be found to be still of a
very large extent; and if we judge the value and
proportions of the original literature of our Gaedh¬
lic ancestors, as we may fairly do, by what remains
of it, we may be justly excused the indulgence of
no small feeling of national pride.
Among the collections of Irish MSS. now access¬
ible, many of the most remarkable can be shown
to possess a high degree of antiquity; and not only
do they in many instances exhibit internal evidence
of having been compiled from still more ancient
documents, but it is distinctly so stated in reference
to several of the most valuable tracts contained in
them. We also find numerous references to books,
of which we now unfortunately possess no copies;
and these invaluable records, it is to be feared, are
now irrecoverably lost. Of the works the origin¬
als of which have not come down to us, but with
whose contents we are made more or less familiar
by references, citations, or transcripts in still ex¬
isting MSS., I shall now proceed to give you a
brief general outline, reserving for another lecture
the more detailed discussion of the subjects which
the treat of, their historic value, and the place
which they are entitled to occupy in the recon¬
struction of our ancient literature.
(To be continued.)
LANGUAGE IS LIFE.
That is, a Nation that Allows Its Language to
Perish will also Die the Death
An Able Review of the Existing Situation by
the Rev. Father Keegan,
Is the heading of the following letter on the Irish
Language in the Chicago Citizen by the Rev.
Father Keegan of St. Louis, Mo,
SHALL THE IRISH NATION PERISH?
St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 27. — Editor of the Citizen,
Dear Sir; I am glad to observe that even in Ire¬
land a few men of light and leading are waking
up to the imminent danger of the complete efface¬
ment of the Irish as a distinct nation. While so
much is said and done and suffered for “Home
Rule," and so much money is contributed here and
elsewhere for the cause of Ireland's nationality, it
is beginning to dawn on some minds that when
home rule is gained, there may be no Irish Nation
— only a British province — English in speech,
ideas, ideals, morals, manners, and in everything
except religion and race — if indeed the people do
not also become English in religion. At present In¬
differentism is the religion of England. I have been
long looking for the Irish at home to make some
sign — but until very lately all the signs were in
the wrong direction. The Dublin papers disdain
to aid in preserving the ancient and present nat¬
ional language and literature of the country. May¬
nooth and the rest of the Catholic colleges, eccles¬
iastic and lay, did all in their power to kill the
Celtic language and literature, and to discredit the
idea of a distinct IRish nation, while the "National
Schools," so called, were to be machines for An¬
glicising and perverting the people, and they have
very fully succeeded in the former part of the task.
I must also admit, and it is a sad admission for an
Irish Catholic priest to make that the Catholic
bishops and clergy generally have done more to
destroy the distinctive nationality of Ireland dur¬
ing the last century, than has been effected by the
other influences combined, since the process of
destruction commenced. The present Nationalist
party seems utterly indifferent to the Irish national
ideas. Indeeed the very apostle of their political cult
is the materialist John Stuart Mill. They are very
practical and have attained many small and some
large immediate advantages, but there is not much
distinctively Irish about them or their policy.
The only man of old Celtic genius among them
is William O'Brien, who has delivered some im¬
mortal speeches on old Irish ideals, but William
