44
AN GAODHAL
gains, or a desire to be free from moral
restraint ]. The answer is, the supp¬
osed lowliness of the Irish through the
neglect to cultivate the language. The
Irishman came here; he never saw the
Irish alphabet, nor believed there was
such, and therefore could not instruct
his children. Self interest and anti-
Catholic surroundings whispered into
the ear of the Irish-American youngs¬
ter that his fathers were utterly ignor¬
ant and no better than the Indian, and
the youngster, seeing the apparent
proof in his own parent, swallowed the
bait, and hence the large number of
the Mac's and O's in this country who
are the inveterate enemies of Irishism
and Catholicism, there being in this
city alone over thirty Anglican min¬
isters bearing purely Celtic names.
Had Gaelic literature been pub¬
lished and circulated, the youngster
could see for himself and his parent's
ignorance would not affect him.
Have we analyzed this question a¬
right? Do the Irish element amount
to fifteen millions? Some say that
the Irish-American element is more
than that; but, leaving it at the lesser
figure, see the loss which Irishism has
sustained? Who is accountable for
it? First, the educators and leaders
of the Irish people; and, secondly
the rank and file who would spend a
dollar in the liquor saloon before they
would contribute a red penny towards
the preservation of their Nationality
and that which pertains to it!
The New York Philo-Celtic Society
had an excellent entertainment on
Thanksgiving eve. The principal Gae¬
lic features of it were recitatons in Ir¬
ish, Andromache and Hector, by Miss
Katie M. Hanbury; Cara Fíor, by
Denis Burns; Óglaoch na Rann, by
Mr. O'Leary, and Guagán Barra, by
Capt. T. D. Norris — all members of
the Society. The chairman, Dr Cou¬
ghlan delivered a very interesting and
instructive address on the race and its
language.
GAELS — The preservation of Irish Nationali¬
ty devolves on you. The Home Rule programme
which has come to light is no home rule. There
can be no Nationality without the language. We
sketched in last month's Gael how to preserve the
language through the committees. Also, solicit
support for your Gaelic journals. Remember that
no Gaelic journal can be run as a business enter¬
prise in the present state of Irish society, and that
if a few patriotic men strive to keep them afloat for
the love of the cause it is by doing injustice to
themselves. Every Irishman should be taxed 50
cents a year to preserve the language, and he who
would not contribute it be held up to execration.
Instead of this being a loss it would be a gain, for
the tone which the general distribution of Gealic
literature would give the race would repay them
a hundred fold. Even as it is, compare the stand¬
ing of the Irish today with that of sixteen years'
ago. The language movement infused new life
into them. You will not now hear the most igno¬
rant Irishman or Irish woman exclaim — "An sure
the Irish had no language,"
Man is always inclined to sympathize with and
assist oppressed respectability. Had the Irish
kept their language and literature before the na¬
tions, they would have been assisted long ago, but
when the Irish were represented as half savage
those kindly nations looked upon them as fit for no
other state than that in which England kept them.
Prof. Jackson of Columbia College, delivered a
course of lectures during last month on the Orig¬
in and Developments of the English Language,
before the Y. M. C. A., a tony society of this city.
The immediate subject of one of the Lectures was,
"The Celtic, First Latin and Scandinavian Elem¬
ents of the English Language."
Here, we have this English philologist obliged
to go back to the Celtic (Where is the Latin and
the Roman "letter" now?) to get the material for
his lecture. Yet our Irish goms, learned and un¬
learned, permit themselves to be called "Ignorant
Irish," whereas by the disemination of this same
Celtic through the people, the Gotho-Saxon would
shut up, and the Celtic element would be respect¬
ed
An Allagheny, Pa. friend has sent us several
copies of the Pittsburg Dispatch containing pen-
pictures of the sufferings of the people of Scotland
under English rule, by EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
Talk of the sufferings of the Irish people under
British rule ! It does not hold a candle to that of
our Scotch brethren. And why our "Scotch-Irish"
friends should organize to support a government
which has used their kith and kin a hundred fold
worse than the Southern Planter ever used his
niggers, is a matter beyond our limited compre¬
hension. Is it Religion? Such men have no re¬
ligion
Lest it should be thought that we exaggerate the
above, we would recommend the reader to send
for the copies of the Pittsburg, Pa. Dispatch of
Oct. 11. and 18. and of Nov. 1. 9. and 16. Each
article fills two columns, nearly. We have not
sufficient space to give extracts from the articles,
but merely remark that we are surprised that any
intelligent human beings would bear such persecu¬
tion, and that any man or woman claiming rela¬
tionship to that unfortunate nationality could be
found, at home or abroad, in any attitude towards
that monstrous government but that of hate and
an opportunity to avenge.
