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HISTORICAL SKETCHES
THE NATIVE IRISH
THEIR DESCENDANTS.
IF EVER ON THY EYELID STOOD THE TEAR THAT PITY HATH ENGENDER'D— DROP ONE HERE. COWPER.
YET THAT POPULATION IS ENDOWED BY NATURE WITH GREAT MENTAL VIVACITY,
THIERRY.
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
THE NATIVE IRISH
AND THEIR
DESCENDANTS;
ILLUSTRATIVE OF THEIR PAST AND PRESENT STATE
WITH REGARD TO
itterature, education, antt <©ral $n$truttfoit.
BY CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON.
SECOND EDITION, ENLARGED.
EDINBURGH :
PUBLISHED BT
OLIVER & BO YD, TWEEDDALE-COURT
AND
SIMPKIN & MARSHALL, LONDON. 1830.
Oliver A Boyd, Printers.
In adversis etiam ida.
" Learning, which dawned in the remotest east, has hitherto moved westward like the great luminary of day. It would he anticipating the ordinary course of human knowledge to suppose that Ireland has passed her zenith ; it should rather encourage her sons, that she has not yet come to her meridian." — Camden's Hibernia by Gough.
THE DESCENDANTS OF THE ANCIENT
NATIVE IRISH,
AND TO ALL WHO BEFRIEND THEM, THESE PAGES ARE INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.
2061254
PREFACE.
SOME time hence, it will certainly require a consider- able effort for any man to believe, that a people exist- ed, in the nineteenth century, within the limits of this kingdom, in the condition here explained. Literature, Education, and Oral Instruction, involve the very high- est interests of a community ; but, speaking general- ly, these advantages have been so long enjoyed by the people of this country, and so richly, that the positive present circumstances of the Native Irish, when viewed in connexion with all around them, will certainly appear, to such a man, difficult of belief. " It is not merely,1'1 he will say, " that Ireland should have been about the last of the countries in Europe, into which the in- vention of printing was introduced ; but that above three hundred and seventy years should have been permitted to pass away after that invention, before the natives were favoured with the Sacred Scriptures, in one volume, in their own language and character ! It is not that the progress of education should have been slow, when it might have been rapid, but so per- versely thwarted, that, after thirty years of the nine- teenth century had elapsed, such an aggregate of this interesting people should have been unable to read the alphabet ! It is not that oral instruction in the native tongue should have been neglected from one century to another, but that, in the year 1830, there should not
8 PREFACE.
have been a single edifice in all Ireland expressly devoted to the purpose of proclaiming the truth of God in the language of three millions, who speak it daily !"
" And for all this," he asks, " was there no reme- dy.— In the immediate neighbourhood of Britain, had any thing occurred like that in Egypt, when artificial light as well as natural was withdrawn, and the very power of combustion withheld ?" Although there were no analogy, it may be replied, for every day of the one, we have had more than a hundred years of the other ! But was there absolutely no remedy ? Yes, there was — and it was not only pointed out but en- forced, two hundred and thirty, if not two hundred and fifty years ago ; but, with two or three exceptions of small extent, during that whole period all such ad- vice was either despised or neglected, until at least three millions of people were found in the situation described.
But why need I refer to any man some time hence ? Accustomed as we have long been to the possession and enjoyment of these inestimable benefits, it is even now not easy for many to form a conception, of what is known, by a few, to be the undisguised condition of this people. It is true that, since the more frequent communication with the sister country, her real situa- tion has been more forcibly brought home ; and yet, frequently as the state of Ireland has engaged atten- tion, nay engrossed the public mind, such a view of the country as the facts about to be related must sug- gest, has never, I believe, been once mooted, or even glanced at, by a single member, within the walls of the Senate-house.
The mist, however, is rising, though it has not yet entirely dispersed ; and so, at the present stage of our
PREFACE. 9
acquaintance with the country, it is still almost daily inquired, — " What can be the real causes for Ireland being found, at this late day, in her present circum- stances ?" The writer, it will be seen, is very far from the too common error — that of ascribing the whole to any single cause ; but he will leave it to any inquirer, whether he is not here furnished with one palpable reason.
The objects in view are of a description with which the feelings of party ought never to be associated, and the writer greatly mistakes if, in any instance, he has betrayed them. His object has been to interest one part of the community on behalf of another, and, by correct information, to excite the sympathy of the ge- neral reader. At the same time, it is proper to state, without any disguise, that the present is simply another effort to clear away one of the most absurd and ungener- ous barriers to moral improvement, which ever existed hi a civilized country ; and to bring, if it be possible, the energies of British benevolence and Christian philan- thropy to bear upon those parts of our country which still stand out in such contrast to the rest, that they have often excited the astonishment of foreigners, and exposed this nation to their just though severe re- proach.
In the year 1815, a brief Memorial on behalf of this people, with a view to their moral improvement, through the medium of their own language, excited some attention : but the community at large, whether in Britain or even Ireland itself, was not then awake to the extent of illiteracy — the almost entire absence of means — or the real amount of the native popula- tion. Each of these, however, in turn became with some the subject of friendly discussion. Meanwhile
10 PREFACE.
the past history of the people as to literature, educa- tion, and oral instruction, that is, such as their lan- guage had all along positively demanded, was full of painful interest, and if brought down to our own times, promised to furnish one of the most extraordi- nary contrasts to every other class of their fellow- subjects — but there was no work in existence, em- bracing, with impartiality and distinctness, the entire history of their past and present situation. With a view to supply this deficiency, in the autumn of 1828, the first edition of these Sketches was publish- ed, but it has already for a considerable time been out of print. The Author has therefore done what he could to correct and improve this second impression through- out, giving additional force to former facts, and bringing up various statements to the present date. The pre- face of the last edition, being more properly an intro- duction, is now inserted as such, in this volume.
The actual condition of so large a proportion of British subjects certainly cannot much longer be treat- ed with cold indifference ; and it would be well for them, if these statements were at last regarded as an appeal, I will not say to the judgment only, but to the justice and the humanity of the kingdom at large.
EDINBURGH, April, 1830.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Page
PRIMITIVE TRIBES in the west of Europe; four within the United Kingdom ; the Public attention far from being suffi- ciently awakened to the present state of one of these; the import- ance of farther inquiry into their peculiarly neglected condition, 1 3
SECTION I.
LITERARY HISTORY — Or Gleanings from the Early Ages to the Present Day, including some notice of the most eminent Men ; references to Irish Typography, whether in Britain or on the Continent ; and an Account of the translation and print- ing of the Sacred Volume in the vernacular tongue, 23
SECTION II.
SCHOOLS OF LEARNING — Of early and modern date, including some account of the attempts to employ the Irish tongue as a branch of Education at home, and of the Schools either founded by the Native Irish, or at their instance, for their Education
abroad, 103
iris
SECTION III.
ORAL INSTRUCTION— Including Historical Notices of all that has yet been effected in preaching to the Natives in their verna- cular tongue, and the present condition of the Country with re- gard to a stated Ministry in the language of the Irish people,... 129
SECTION IV.
UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS — Against the employment of the Irish language answered, and shown to be of baneful tendency in every sense ; as it is not only essential to the effectual instruc- tion of the people, but its neglect is injurious, as well to the pro- gress of theEnglish language as to that of general information,. ..167
12 CONTENTS.
SECTION V.
Page
THE IRISH LANGUAGE — With proofs of the extent to which it is spoken at present, or used daily by the Natives as the natural vehicle of their thoughts ; and this extent accounted for or ex- plained, 206
SECTION VI.
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND — Viewed apart by themselves, as an object demanding special consideration and assistance, in- cluding the number of inhabitants in each Island, 232
SECTION VII.
DESIDERATA— BOOKS— Or brief Catalogue of Desirables for the Native Irish population, 250
SECTION VIII.
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION — Through the medium of the Irish language, whether by means of Stationary or of Circulating Schools, 270
SECTION IX.
DESIDERATA— ORAL INSTRUCTION— Or the necessity and importance of ministering the Divine Word in a language under- stood by the People, 291
SECTION X.
To THE NATIVE IRISH — More especially to such Individuals among them as are interested in the Progress of Literature, Education, and Oral Instruction, 319
APPENDIX. PRIMITIVE RACES— Continental and British Celtic Dialects,... 343
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
INTRODUCTION.
Primitive Tribes on the west of Europe; four within the United Kingdom ; the public attention far from being sufficiently awakened to the present state of one of these, the aborigines of Ireland; the importance of farther inquiry into their peculiarly neglected condition.
SCATTERED throughout several countries on the western shores of Europe, there are to be found various confess- edly ancient tribes of our fellow-men, between which there still exists a marked affinity in point of language. They are generally supposed to be the earliest waves of that tide of population which proceeded westward in Europe, till stopped in their progress by the sea, and most of them occupy at this moment nearly the same ground which they did in the days of Ceesar. If the sources of some of those rivers with which we have been long acquainted, have hitherto baffled all the enterprise of our travellers, so has the origin of -those primitive races, the research of the learned. Their dialects being the children of one common Parent, and this unques- tionably a very ancient tongue, these various tribes of course, belong to a people correspondently ancient ; but the neglect of their dialects has, in its measure, contri- buted to a discordance of sentiment with regard to the people. In the absence or deficiency of other data, lan- guages have not unfrequently served to fix the antiquity and lineage of a people, and hence they have even been styled the pedigree of nations.
But whatever may be the opinion formed as to their descent, the treatment of these distinct races is a question
14 INTRODUCTION,
of far greater importance than that of their origin or antiquity ; and it is certainly singular that every thing which has hitherto been done for them in the business of education or moral improvement, has been the result, not of any kind and considerate legislative interference or enactment, but of individual philanthropy and much entreaty. Prejudices of the narrowest order have been cherished for ages, particularly with regard to the lan- guage in which they have been born, and left far be- hind in the march of improvement, their present state has actually been ascribed, and even lately, to inaptitude for civilization, instead of its true and only cause, — the want of a vernacular literature, and of intelligent dis- course with them in their own tongue. The language spoken in the vicinity of each of these tribes is of course that of the reigning power, and for ages most of them have been told that their only chance for elevation lay through that medium, though they did not understand it, nor do they understand it now.
These remarks apply in all their force, not only to the Basque language spoken both in Spain and France, and of which there are at this moment several dialects, and the Bas Bretagne spoken by a large population in Brit- tany, Belle Isle, and on the banks of the Loire running in towards the centre of France, but they apply to four dialects of the same parent spoken within the United Kingdom, including at least four millions of British sub- jects, viz. the Welsh, the Manx, the Gaelic, and the Na- tive Irish. Individual benevolence and earnest pleading have at last achieved for Wales, and in part for the Highlands and the Isle of Wan, what ought to have been effected in ages long before the present generation. Indeed Wales, as it will afterwards be shown, now stands pre-eminent among these Celtic tribes for the advantages which she enjoys; but in Ireland, where at least three millions converse in Irish daily, to say nothing at pre- sent respecting oral instructipn, the business of educa-
INTRODUCTION. 15
tion in the vernacular tongue is only just begun ! It is not that there have been no resolutions passed by the legislature in former ages, after deliberate and frequent discussion, terminating uniformly in one opinion, — the necessity for employing the language spoken daily ; but in the following pages the reader will find that all these resolutions were as nothing, — that in no instance did they lead to any course of action, — that each of them was but the expression of an unpursued order — Fox et prae- terea nihil. He will find that so entirely has the subject been neglected or opposed, that it is now above one hundred and seventeen years since the last of these public expressions of a sense of duty was uttered ; and that, though Irish education and oral instruction were precisely what this people at that time required, and re- quire still, then it was that, in regard to these subjects, all parties at home drew the curtains and retired to rest. In the following pages, the reader will have frequent op- portunities of observing, what others were doing else- where, while they slept.
In becoming more intimately acquainted with the sister kingdom, it will become a received maxim, that whatever evils exist, they are not to be, as they have often been, all run into one, or ascribed to one source, and of course one remedy or one species of benevolence cannot meet her condition. Each of those evils requires to be indi- vidually and wisely met, with patience and kindness. Particular departments of her four provinces differ from each other as much as if they were a thousand miles apart, — the main land is surrounded, especially on the west and south, by thousands of Islanders, living de- tached in the adjoining seas, and the whole population of seven millions and a half is divided into two distinct classes, who daily speak two very different languages. It is to one of these languages, the Native Irish, and the people who use it constantly, that our attention must be confined in the subsequent pages.
16 INTRODUCTION.
If an accurate knowledge of the real state and condi- tion of many a neglected district in Ireland be desired, it is absolutely necessary that a vigilant eye be fixed on this language. For illustration, I may ask, what should we think of any man, when referring even to Scotland, who should affirm, that in reference to it, there can be no pressing occasion for carrying education much far- ther at present, as the average now able to read there is about the highest in the world. " If," he says, " you have one in nine, if not eight, able to read, what can you say to other countries ?" I reply, we have first to say, in reference to Scotland, there happens to be another lan- guage spoken there, and that the average in our High- lands and Islands is but as one to sixteen or seventeen. Now in the same manner, when any writer with regard to Ireland numbers up her 600,000 English scholars, then looks at the average as one to twelve or thirteen, and begins to speculate as to the state of education — we have to add — but there is another language spoken there ; and oh what a falling-off is here, whether we look at average or particulars ! Perhaps not one in sixty able to read, and that only within these very few years, or only one in one hundred andjifty under tuition, is an average sufficiently melancholy. But every average supposes certain particulars or exceptions, compared with which the average itself would be a paradise. Now for the ac- tual state of things, whether as to education or oral in- struction, in certain Irish mountains and plains and islands, we must refer the reader to what follows.
Did this people constitute only a small proportion of the population, our duty by them would be the same ; but when their number in comparison with the aggre- gate body has become so large, it is not saying too much when we affirm, that there is nothing which essentially regards their best interests, that can safely be viewed as inferior to a subject of national importance. It is not denied that in contemplating the important interests of
INTRODUCTION. 17
the United Kingdom,, generally, the effectual improve- ment of Ireland is now the question of by far the great- est national importance. It is no longer important to Ireland alone, but almost equally so both to England and Scotland, and that not since the Union only, but since the application of steam-navigation. For though always lying in the bosom of Great Britain, as if intend- ed by nature for the most intimate and cordial con- nexion, past ages have shown how possible it was for ' nations intersected by a narrow frith' to abhor each other. These days are now past, it is hoped, for ever ; at all events, the state is now one, and the moral condi- tion of any given spot in it must needs become the in- terest of all, otherwise it cannot now be long before the effects are felt in every corner of the empire. Let not then the present condition of the Native Irish popula- tion be disregarded. Setting political union altogether out of view, a bridge across St George's Channel could not more effectually have opened up Ireland to us, or this country to it, than the invention referred to has done. To check or obstruct intercourse between the people of these lands, if once practicable, is now impos- sible. The channel between them is now no obstruc- tion, and the people of both countries, to a great degree, like kindred waves, must affect each other, if not mingle into one. Already we have about ninety or one hun- dred thousand of the Irish in London, about or above thirty thousand in Glasgow and its neighbourhood, to .say nothing of other places.
Past neglect may be regretted ; so it ought to be, and so it will ; but the crisis to which we have come is not to be deplored. It had been far better for both coun- tries had it arrived long since. An interchange of kind offices is now no more a thing of choice, — a matter of option, if we have any regard for the prosperity and morals of Great Britain ; and it is a good thing, when circumstances conspire to render the duty we owe to
18 INTRODUCTION.
God and man imperative. If we are governed by sound Christian principle, the improvement of such Irish dis- tricts must follow as one effect of such frequent inter- course. This may, or, at least, certainly should rouse to the duties of brotherhood, and ultimately increase the sum of national happiness, and peace, and power.
'Tis thus reciprocating, each with each, Alternately the nations learn and teach ; While Providence enjoins to every soul A union with the vast terraqueous whole.
In such circumstances, the history of a people, with reference to their intellectual and moral condition, must prove interesting as well as profitable, and an acquaint- ance with it is an incumbent duty. But the history of the Native Irish, as such in any sense, has never been written. Noticed they have been, casually, in con- nexion with Danish and Norman invaders, — with Saxon, and English, and Scottish settlers ; but, viewed as an ancient and distinct race, with a language peculiar to themselves, to pursue the thread of their narrative is, at present, next to impossible. The following pages, there- fore, must be considered merely as an attempt, accurate, I believe, as far as it goes, but still only an essay, which may perhaps be of some utility to a future historian.
At the same time, the object in preparing these pages was neither the amusement of the writer, nor the mere entertainment of his reader. Interest him, he hopes, they will, but something beyond mere interest is intend- ed. As to their moral condition in past ages and the present hour, here are certain tracts of our own country or kingdom laid open for consideration, but with no other view than to suggest how it is possible to convey something more than fugitive good, or temporal happi- ness only, to a long-neglected though warm-hearted people. When we say long-neglected, the reader will find that this is spoken advisedly, not in ignorance of
INTRODUCTION. 19
all, or rather the little that has been done in past ages for the Native Irish, or of all that has been effected or proposed, within the last ten or fifteen years. Yet, with every disposition to rejoice in the recent exercise of more benevolent feeling, it may still be added, when looking at the great body of this people, — without a vernacular literature, without books, without schools, and without the ministration of the divine word in their native lan- guage, why marvel at the state of many parts of this fine country ? If Wales, unable or unwilling to help her- self, which she was not, had been so left, what had been the condition of England? — If the Highlands and Islands, what the condition of Scotland ? But the population of both these put together amounts not to above a third of the Native Irish in number. Beside, the inhabitants of Wales and the Highlands in general dwell apart and alone. It is not so with the Native Irish, as the follow- ing statements will prove : — In every province of Ire- land, and one might almost say in every county, there are to be found the Irish districts, properly so called. It is repeated, therefore, — without a vernacular literature, and solid Christian oral instruction, among an ancient, shrewd, and interesting people, swarming through every part of the island, are there no specific and appropriate remedies ? When speaking in good earnest of this coun- try, the writer has been too often there, and seen too much of every province, to think for one moment of as- cribing its present state to any one cause. He desires not to dwell so much on the presence of evil as the ab- sence of good ; but, until there be conveyed into the possession of this people, through the medium of their daily speech, some of the same blessings, which in ours have raised us to our present level, all other schemes and plans must prove in the infallible result just what they have ever done, — inefficacious and vain.
On both sides of the channel considerable curiosity has recently been excited as to this particular branch of
20 INTRODUCTION.
British subjects, but a distinct account of whatever has actually been done by them or for them does not exist- The first Section of this volume, therefore, refers more immediately to men and books ; the second to schools of learning ; the third includes the important subject of oral instruction. These, instead of having any such epithets as literature, learning, or instruction applied to them, some may denominate a history or sketch of illiteracy ; .and, in certain connexions, it will be found, so does the writer. Yet poor as the story is, although centuries are included, and poor as it ever must be, he has pre- ferred the titles given, that, in their extreme poverty, we might read with greater effect, as well our obliga- tions to bring up the arrear, as the extent of obligation manifestly imposed on all who become acquainted with the facts of the case.
The statements given thus far, if impartially consi- dered, involve, it is presumed, an answer to all the ob- jections which have ever been brought against the em- ployment of the Irish language; but as these give occa- sion to state various collateral proofs of the necessity and importance of the vulgar tongue being employed, as the only effectual agent in this instance, just as in every other, the objections themselves, such as they are, have been noticed in the fourth Section. As the extent of the case, — the extent to which the Irish language is in daily use, has been much misunderstood, and is still much disputed, thejifl/i Section will furnish the reader with some data, which may enable him to judge for himself. The sixth Section refers to regions in our native land of which most persons have never heard, and of which no distinct account is to be found in books; but, as the peculiar condition of the Islanders of Ireland was never before brought under the public eye, a hope is indulged that they will not, cannot, now be forgotten.
As for the desiderata mentioned in the subsequent Sections, the reader had best consult them for himself,
INTRODUCTION: 21
{hough, of course, it is presumed that he has read thus far. But it will there be observed, that the author pro- poses no additional application to government,* — no nen foundations, — the formation of no new Society, — no mere resolutions to be passed. The objects are va- rious, and of various character ; — some are moral, one is of a sacred nature. In such circumstances, he would rather appeal to the benevolent feeling of many intelli- gent minds, resident in various parts of Ireland — in va- rious parts of Britain. He has no mere party purpose whatever to serve, and he thinks the reader will watch in vain for any expression throughout these pages indi- cative of mere party feeling. Still, there is surely enough here, and more than enough to excite the inquiry from many individuals living upon Irish ground — "But is there any way, by which / could contribute some share towards a better day ?" Certainly there is ; and I trust there will be found at least a little group of hu- mane and intelligent men in the various cities and towns or counties of Ireland, who will be disposed to add, — " Laissez-nous faire," and we shall, should it be neces- sary, unostentatiously report progress, and tell, not only what is doing, but in what manner others could assist. But in other instances, and ultimately in many, if not in most, even this may not be necessary. It is quite pos- sible to do much good on a limited scale, if energy and perseverance are employed, where there is no incumbent necessity for either saying or writing one word respect- ing it. Time, which is invaluable, is thus redeemed, both to the doer and those who must have stopped to read his communications. In few words, should the writer succeed in promoting a sense of individual re-
* At the same time, although no part of the money already voted has ever been applied to the education of the Native Irish as such, he may surely be permitted to inquire, why, when the vote returns, they should again be forgotten ? The King himself annually devotes .£201)0 to the Highlands and Islands ; and his Ma- jesty is also the Patron of the Gaelic School*.
A2
22 INTRODUCTION.
sponsibility, in awakening a deeper and more enlarged sympathy for this long-neglected people in the hearts of those who ought to be interested, the various and need- ful remedies will be applied, and his end is gained. But either mode, or both, can by no means supersede the ne- cessity for the attention of others, and on this side of the channel, being drawn to the fulfilment of long-neglected duty towards such a numerous class of fellow- subjects. The Irish language itself the writer cannot as yet speak, and perhaps never will. As a medium of com- munication, therefore, he cannot feel the enthusiastic at- tachment of a native, and, it is presumed, may there- fore be admitted as a safer, if not an unprejudiced wit- ness. But, regarding it as a medium of thought and feeling between the people themselves, havhig witness- ed for himself the deep hold which it has of the heart, he hesitates not to add, that in all the measures here re- commended and enforced, the language itself alone will be found to operate like the insertion of leaven, and will lend to each of these measures a corresponding, — an ir- resistible energy. Meanwhile, if the reader desires to understand the actual condition of this people, the au- thor has only to request that he will suspend his judg- ment till he has got to the conclusion, and then, taking it all in all, let him say if there is to be found within the limits of this kingdom a case of such urgency, where we are called to an application of the remedy by recol- lections of past neglect and long delay, at once so nu- merous and so painful.
SECTION I.
LITERARY HISTORY
Or Gleanings from the Early Ages to the Present Day, including some notice of the most eminent Men ; references to Irish Typography, whether in Britain or on the Continent ; and an Account of the translation and printing of the Sacred Volume in the vernacular tongue.
IN this, as well as the following Section, the ultimate object of the writer is quite specific, though almost un- precedented. From whatever cause, there has long existed such a disposition to accumulate the mere asser- tions of successive authors, as so many independent proofs of the cultivated state of Ireland in past ages ; such an inclination to exaggerate, or embellish, or theorize, that there has unhappily grown up, in many very intelligent minds, a strong aversion from all candid inquiry into certain parts of Irish history, and more especially into the past circumstances of the aborigines. Even the inquisitive have felt no inclination to turn, their eye in this direction, and glancing on such a volume as this, make their escape immediately to those pages which describe the existing state of the country. In the present instance, however, should the reader have only perused the introduction, he is already aware that under this head there is no favourite theory to be intruded, no mere traditions about to be quoted, nor is he to find the slightest tendency to any reliance upon the vague assertions of fabulous narrative.
The object first in view is simply that of putting upon record, in brief and regular succession, what will ever prove, comparatively, a meagre statement of such parti- culars as cannot be controverted ; and although the au»
24 LITERARY HISTORY.
thor is perfectly aware that, to certain individuals, the title of this and the following Section must wear some- what of the air of burlesque, both have been preferred for several important reasons.
Were these scanty materials, here confirmed by dis- tinct reference to authorities, drawn out merely for the gratification of the curious in Irish antiquities, or to en- list the Irish reader through the medium of his preju- dices ; were no practical and even important conclusions to be ultimately founded upon them, the present writer had certainly never submitted a single page of such mat- ter to general readers. But if, on the other hand, there is here to be seen one class of our fellow-subjects, and now confessedly a very large one, among which there have been men, who, though labouring under peculiar disadvantages, were far from indifferent to the cultiva- tion of letters ; if in the very poverty of these two Sec- tions, certain classes in this kingdom, more highly fa- voured, are furnished with a demonstrative proof of the injurious and mistaken policy of past times, as well as the consequent obligations of the present age ; and if, at the same time, the account here given, presents in con- trast, at once striking and painful, the activity of certain Native Irishmen chiefly abroad, and the indolence, nay, heartless coldness of their British fellow-subjects at home, who, during this long period, were bound by hu- manity and sound patriotism, to have fostered their im- provement in useful knowledge, — then, surely, the writer may rely on the patience of even general readers, for at least one candid perusal.
. To the prejudiced, he is fully aware that all such de- tail must needs prove irksome, more especially when it becomes condemnatory of past neglect. Ages of long delay arid mistaken policy are never likely to be calmly reviewed by them ; but if any substantial benefit is thus likely to ensue to the present generation, the judicious and humane will not at once shut the book. They are
LITERARY HISTORY: 25
fully aware how much the history of the past may, in certain cases, give additional emphasis to the claims and duties of the present day. Let this simple idea beborne in recollection, and then, whether the succeeding state- ments do not, in the end, bring every candid mind with peculiar energy, to the far more important question of present obligation, let the reader judge.
. Whatever may be presumed as to the character and attainments of any race of men, it is only by the exami- nation of their own written compositions, if they have such in possession, that we can arrive at any precision respecting the extent of their attainments in literature. With regard to the native Irish, however, such has been the singular fate of their manuscripts, and even such is their present condition, that difficulties almost insuper- able present themselves at the threshold of inquiry. Many of these, unquestionably, perished in the Danish invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries, and that sin- gular species of policy which obtained for centuries after the Anglo-Norman invasion, must account for the loss of many others.* Collections of others are, it is true, happily still in existence ; but whether those of greatest value are to be found in this kingdom, or on the conti- nent, it is impossible for any one to affirm. The proba- bility is, that they are abroad.
I am aware of the valuable collection in Trinity Col- lege, Dublin, of that in the Bodleian Library, and the Cottonian manuscripts, as well as the treasure contained
* According to Ussher, in 8-18, the Bishop of Armagh and all the students were expelled by Turgesius. Armagh, however, was pillaged four times in succession from 890 to 913.— Tria Thaum. 296. In 101G the library again sustained material injury from the Normans and Ostmen.— Ann. Innisfal. and Tria Thaum. 298. Injured by fire in 1()"4, the city was rebuilt by the year 1091, but in the Anglo- Norman invasion of 117S various literary works, which had escaped the Danes, were destroyed in the libraries of the monks, so that the native Irish, in order to harass and disappoint the invaders, began to burn the religious edifices with their *wn hands. See Annal, quoted by Leland, i. 123.
26 LITERARY HISTORY.
in the Chandos collection at Stowe; part of which, in four volumes quarto, with a Latin translation, has been recently printed at the charge of the proprietor, his Grace the Duke of Buckingham. Besides these, there are various manuscripts in the possession of Irish gentlemen, members of the Iberno-Celtic Society, and others, some of which are of considerable antiquity. Of the more modern compositions of the two last centuries the titular Bishop of Cork has at least ten thousand quarto pages transcribed. Were, however, the more ancientlrish manuscripts, now in the King's Library at Copenhagen, or the still larger collection in the Royal Library at Paris, examined; were the Spanish manuscripts deciphered, or the stores which are believed to be deposited in the Vatican, it is almost certain that the claims of the Irish, to a very early cultivation of letters, would be admitted. Ancient records, the very deciphering of which was strangely regarded in former times, as tending to en- danger the tranquillity of the kingdom, were not likely to remain long in it, and hence we fully account for the foreign collections ; but that, under the influence of the same fear, the laudable and natural desire of translating any part of these by a foreign power, should not have been met and gratified, proves the extent to which the dread of Irish composition had gone.* At such a pe- riod, prejudice would consign to oblivion whatever came within its power. Indeed, until the reign of James I., if not later, it seems to have been an object to discover every literary remain of the Old Irish, with a view to its being either destroyed or concealed.t At the same time, no individual can, even at present, distinctly in-
* In the reign of Elizabeth, the King of Denmark applied to England for proper persons, who might translate the ancient Ir>sh book.- in his possession ; and an Irishman in London, then in prison, being applied to on the subject, was ready to engage in the work ; but upon a council being called, a certain member, it is said, who may be nameless, opposed the scheme, lest it should be prejudicial to the English interest. f Webb's Analysis, p. 121. Dub. 1791.
LITERARY HISTORY. 27
form us, whether what we have in our possession be of real value or not, or whether these manuscripts are not nearly the only remaining source from which light might be thrown on the ancient history of Ireland, and perhaps discover to us some of their ideas respecting other coun- tries as well as their own. The stores even in Dublin have never been impartially and thoroughly canvassed, nor does even a complete Catalogue Raisonne of the col- lection in Trinity College exist.
I may repeat it, therefore, that the actual state of Irish manuscript, for these last two hundred years, is one of the most striking illustrations of the power of prejudice, as to one branch of our national history, to which any historian can point. In the most ancient and curious, which, I presume, must be abroad, historical narration there must be, of whatever value ; assertions also, many, in which the author had no motive to falsify, though in various instances he might prove to be mistaken. That the Irish language is the repository of either much li- terary excellence, or valuable historic information, no one is less disposed to assert than the present writer. All that he means to affirm is, that the amount of in- formation in these numerous written compositions, no man can tell ; they have never been thoroughly examin- ed— weighed in the balance with contemporary manu- scripts, and found inferior. We have been printing, very properly, ancient and modern Greek in parallel columns, — Turkish for the Turk, and struggling hard to decipher the hieroglyphics of Egypt ; but the records of one branch of the British population are still to be explored. Of the manuscripts said to be in Spain, no one informs us whether they are in the Escurial, or at Salamanca, Alcala, or elsewhere. Of the King's Library at Copenhagen, as there has never yet been a printed ca- talogue, nor the written one completed, what those manu- scripts were, which a former monarch wished to have translated, we are yet to be told. In Paris, by a few
28 LITERARY HISTORY.
these manuscripts may be known to exist ;— in the Va- tican they have slumbered since, and from before, the days of Wadding. Fragments have been translated from a few at home, and if all the rest are of no higher value, we should have the less reason to regret their neglect ; but chance specimens from a body of written composi- tion are not like the specimens of most other things. In our present state, there is no judicious man who would hazard more than conjecture, and, perhaps, add, — before you decide, examine, at least, what seem to be the most valuable, and are most valued in different libraries ; and, before you return your verdict, forget not the relative character of other nations at the same period. At present we are prepossessed with unexamined opi- nions ; and the positive assertions of national prejudice, whether for or against the antiquity or value of Irish writing, have yet to be met by a positive and candid exa- mination of the writing itself. At all events, there is one evil which has hitherto pursued the antiquities of Ireland, " that the writers in general, who have known her language, have been deficient in critical knowledge ; .while those who have possessed the genuine spirit of criticism, have not only been ignorant of her ancient tongue, but despised it." The language, however, of a people, which is as copious as our own, if not more so, can never prove a proper object of contempt ;* and the spirit which has begun to show itself in the nineteenth century, if it only continue, will at last do justice to this long-neglected race.
That Irish literature, properly so called, should be in its present condition, is not owing to there having been no anxiety expressed by others respecting it. Nearly a hundred years ago, we. find even Dean Swift, who was •certainly no friend to the language itself, requesting the
* O'Reflly's Irish and English Dictionary (the last published) has upwards of £0,000 vocables.
LITERARY HISTORY. 29
Duke of Chandos to restore to Ireland, by presenting to the library of Trinity, then newly erected, a large quan- tity of her ancient records, on paper and parchment, then in his Grace's possession, which had been collected, chiefly by Sir James Ware, and brought to England by Lord Clarendon.* These, I believe, are still among the manuscripts at Stowe.
Edmund Burke also expressed much anxiety respect- ing the translation of these Irish records, and even pre- vailed on Sir John Seabright to send his manuscripts to Ireland for translation. The same feeling on this sub- ject has also prevailed on the Continent. To quote only one instance :— " C'est un principe incontestable, que, sur 1'histoire dechaque pays,les annales nationales, quand elles sont anciennes, authenliques, et reconnues pour telles par les etrangers, meritent plus de foi que les an- nales etrangeres." — " Plusieurs S9avans etrangers recon- noissent que les Irlandois ont des annales d'uneantiquite tres respectable, et d'une authenticite a toute epreuve."f
In the year 1 757, we find Dr Johnson writing to Dr O'Connor : — "I have long wished that the Irish literature were cultivated. Ireland is known by tradition to have been the seat of piety and learning ; and surely it would be very acceptable to those who are curious, either in the original of nations, or the affinity of languages, to be further informed of the revolutions of a people so ancient, and once so illustrious. — I hope you will continue to cul- tivate this kind of learning, which has lain so long ne- glected, and which, if it be suffered to remain in oblivion for another century, may, perhaps, never be retrieved."
Twenty years after this, Johnson is writing to the same individual, and on the same subject : — " If I have ever disappointed you, give me leave to tell you that you have likewise disappointed me. I expected great discoveries in Irish antiquity, and large publications in the Irish
* Letter, dated 51st August, 1734. f Journal des Ssavans, October, 17&i.
30 LITERARY HISTORY.
language ; but the world still remains as it was, doubt- ful and ignorant. What the Irish language is in itself, and to what languages it has affinity, are very interest- ing questions, which every man wishes to see resolved that has any philological or historical curiosity. Dr Le- land begins his history too late ; the ages which deserve an exact inquiry are those times, for such there were, when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet ha- bitation of sanctity and literature. If you could give a history, though imperfect, of the Irish nation from its conversion to Christianity to the invasion from England, you would amplify knowledge with new views and new objects. Set about it, therefore, if you can ; do what you can easily do without anxious exactness. Lay the foundation, and leave the superstructure to posterity."*
The native Irish, it is well known, lay claim to high antiquity with regard to literary pursuits, and the dis- position to grant this, to a certain extent, seems to be rather on the increase. That a prejudice should have existed was not wonderful. The colloquial dialect itself having been actually outlawed at an early age, and the policy which dictated this measure having been pur- sued for ages, it was to be expected, in the nature of things, that corresponding feelings would ensue as to all their written compositions. The reader, however, it is repeated, need not be alarmed at the idea of being about
* Boswell's Life, anno 1777. The words in Italics were misquoted by Dr Camp, bell in his Strictures, " if such times there were," although he was actually the bearer of the letter to O'Connor.
For a specimen of the Irish remains still left in our own country, see the Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society for 1820, vol. i. part 1. in which upwards of a thousand separate tracts are mentioned. Though many of these are of no im. portance but as curiosities, the second part promises the catalogue of others which bear on the history and antiquities of the country. It is also very desirable that Mr Groves should publish his " Irish Historical Library," for which he has issued proposals, — as a correction and enlargement of Bishop Nicolson is truly a desidera- tum.
LITERARY HISTORY. 31
to be involved in the labyrinth of Irish antiquities, or lost in the traditions of a fabulous age. At the same time, before coming to periods of indubitable certainty, it is but fair that he should be put in possession of a very few particulars, which may now be regarded as of equal credibility with those of Saxon or Norman history ; al- though, when speaking of literature or learned men, in relation to those remote ages, the existing state of every other nation in Europe is presumed to be kept in view. It was then but a portion of the population, and, com- paratively, a very small one, who possessed books or li- terature ; for it is only since the invention of printing, or rather in our own times, that these are becoming the property of nations at large.
Every reader of history is familiar with the difference between the seventh, eighth, and ninth, and the three following centuries. In Irish history there will be found a striking correspondence with the general idea entertain- ed as to these two periods. The early invasions of Ire- land by the Danes are coincident with the appearance of learned men from that country in Britain, and on the continent of Europe. This may enable us to form some idea of the land which gave them birth and education ; and serve to show, whether it can stand a comparison with the Saxon or Continental literature of these times, when pretensions to a certain extent of knowledge are not now treated with contempt.
With the existence of Patric, the mission of Palladius, or exertions of Columba, we do not interfere ; but, what- ever may be said of Ireland at that or an earlier period, by the seventh century there certainly must have been something inviting in the island, before it could become the place of resort. Bede states, that then many Anglo- Saxons, of the noble and middle classes, left their coun- try, and went there to study the Sacred Writings, — that the Irish received them hospitably, supplying them with
32 LITERARY HISTORY.
books and gratuitous instruction.* It was towards the close of the seventh century, that Alfred, the Northum- brian king, in his youth, voluntarily went into Ireland, that he might pursue his studies, and of whom it was said, that the books revered by the Christians so en» grossed his attention, as to procure for him the character of being most learned in the Scriptures, t This account is in some degree strengthened by a poetical manuscript jn Irish, of which he was the reputed author. The sub- ject of it is, " Ireland, and the things he found there."! . About the same period, Willebrod or Willibrord of Northumbria proceeded to Ireland, the man who went as a Christian missionary into Friesland, and ultimately settling at Wittenburg, now Utrecht, founded its school. Alcuine, the Anglo-Saxon, who afterwards wrote his life, affirms, that he " studied twelve years in Ireland, under masters of high reputation, being intended for a preacher to many people." Willibrord died in Eptenarch in 739.§
"The best writers among the Saxons," says Warton, •" flourished about the eighth century. These were Aid- helm, Ceolfride, Alcuine, and Bede, with whom I must also join King Alfred."
The Latin compositions of the first-mentioned are then
» Bede, b. III. c. 27 Sc 28. See also Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons, 3d edit. vol. I. 372. vol. III. 568. ' f Bede, Hist. p. 300. Turner, I. 377. This Alfred of Northumbria, who is sometimes confounded with Alfred the Great, ap- pears in Bede as the first literary king among the Anglo-Saxons.
$ A copy, preserved in an old and valuable vellum manuscript, is now in the li- brary of W . Monck Mason, Esq. See Iberno-Celt. Trans, p. 48. The name given by the Irish to Alfred was Flan-fionn.
' § Vit Willib. lib. i. et ii. The ideas of Alcuine may be inferred from his views of the Scriptures, as expressed by himself.—" Study Christ," he says, «« as foretold in the books of the prophets, and as exhibited in the Gospels ; and when you find him, do not lose him; but introduce him into the home of thy heart, and make him the ruler of thy life. Love him as thy Redeemer and1 thy Governor, and as the Dispenser of all thy comforts. Keep his commandments, because in them is eter- nal life." Alcuine, Op. p. 1637. And again, in writing to a scholar : — " I wish the four Gospels, instead of the twelve Eneids, filled your breast.— Read diligent- ly, I beseech you, the Gospel* of Christ"— Pages 1518 and 1561.
LITERARY HISTORY. 33
said to have been " deemed extraordinary," and to have " excited the admiration of other countries/'* — a com- mendation, however, which will disappoint any reader of the present day who looks into his writings, owing to his passion for alliteration, and his ungovernable fancy. But still, for whatever learning he possessed, he was materially indebted to Maildulf, an Irishman, who had taken up his abode at Malmesbury. Under this tutor, who supported himself by his school, Aldhelm became versed in both Latin and Greek, and, though he pursued other studies under Adrian of Naples, an Afri- can, then in Britain, his earnest desire was to have re- turned to Maildulf, for whom he seems to have cherish- ed the strongest regard. — " I confess," he says, <c my' dearest, whom I embrace with the tenderness of pure affection, that when, about three years ago, I left your social intercourse, and withdrew from Kent, my little- ness still was inflamed with an ardent desire for your' society. I should have thought of it again, as it is my wish to be with you, if the course of things and the change of time would have suffered me."t
Some of the most eminent among the Irish of those times were Albin and Clement, Claudius, Sedulius, Duncan, Erigena, Dungal, and others.
Now, in the age of Alcuine and Bede, no mean jea- lousy existed as to the attainments of these men, or the eminence of their country. The allusions which they make both to them and to it are frequent, and are be- ginning to be regarded with the same candour which is justly paid to their own acquirements. If Alcuine is admitted to have been the instructor of Charlemagne, why not admit his authority for Clement being one of his Irish assistants at Paris, and Albin at Ticinum or
* Warton's History of Poetry, 9vo, I. cxxvii. Cambden's Wiltshire, p. 242. t Alfred's Bede, v.c. 18. Malms, de Pont. 3. Gale, 398. Turner's History, iii. 375.
34 LITERARY HISTORY.
Pavia, the two earliest schools of learning in Europe ? Whatever truth there is in the statement of Notker Bal- balus, that, upon their arrival in France from Ireland, they proclaimed " that they had wisdom to sell, and de- manded only food and raiment for reward," — the tradi- tion, that they were engaged by Charles, stands on the same foundation with the best authenticated traditions of the times.*
As for Claudius and Sedulius, these are the two na- tives of Ireland on whom Ussher mainly depended in his " discourse on the religion anciently professed by the Irish and British." The commentary of Claudius on the Galatians is printed,t and his work on Matthew is in the British Museum.^ An ancient copy of Sedulius on the Epistles of Paul is now before me, which I have fre- quently consulted with pleasure.§
A work held in high estimation in the dark ages, and taught in their seminaries, was a disquisition of Marci- anus de Capella, who lived in the fifth century. It com- prised the subjects of grammar and rhetoric, logic and arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. " Among
• Ware's Writers of Ireland and others. John Mailros, a Scot, was also en- gaged at Ticinum.
f Biblioth. Magna Patr. p. 794.
}. Bib. Rag 2, c. 10 and 4, c. 8. Murat Antiq. Ital. I. p. 814.
$ " Sedulii Scoti Hyberniensis, in omnesd. Paul! Epistolas Annotationes, &c. Basilese, per Hen. Pttrum, 1538." In this volume, out of ten or more authors quoted, Marcion, Aquila, Jerome, Augustine, Eusebius, Ambrose, Gennadius, <S:c. none are later than the end of the fifth century. Trithemius speaks of him as having come into France, then searched into Italy, Asia, and Achaia ; but into the controversy respecting him, or the age in which he flourished, I do not enter. Sentiments in this volume, however, might enlighten the present age, and a brief selection In some of the periodical works might interest his countrymen even now. On 1. Cor. xiv. 19, 20, he says, " It is better to speak a few lucid words, rcrha Ivcida, in the right sense, than innumerable that arc obscure and unknown, which do not edify the hearers ; because, better are a few words which profit, than many which do not. Be not children in understanding,— as if he had said, the de- sire of various languages is childish, in which there is pleasure only, and not ad. vantage, unless an interpretation follow. Or, be not children in understanding, but ye ought to know wherefore languages were given." May not the English, and the Anglu-Hibcrnian of the present day, both listen to this voice from the tomb ?
5
LITERARY HISTORY. 35
the royal manuscripts in the British Museum," says Warton, "a manuscript occurs written about the eleventh century, which is a commentary on these nine books of Capella, compiled by Duncan, an Irish bishop, and given to his scholars in the monastery of St Rhemigius."* To this Warton might have added, that the monastery re- ferred to was in the county of Down.
Erigena, and Dungal, who was the correspondent of Alcuine, are mentioned by name as two, among other Irish scholars, who at that period took refuge in France,t and in an ancient catalogue in the monastery at Pavia written in the tenth century, is a book in Irish, under the head of " Books given by Dungalus praecipuus Scottorum."J John Erigena, or John the Irishman, is known for his eminence as a scholar, especially as a Grecian. About the year 860, he translated from the Greek four treatises of Dionysius, styled the Areop- agite,§ fa supposititious work written after the fourth century ;) and the Scholia of Maximus on Gregory the theologian, i. e. Gregory Nazianzen ; but his principal work was entitled " De Divisione Naturae," written at the request of Charles the Bald, of which some account may be found in Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons. ||
Such were a few of the Native Irish who assisted in the work of instruction, both in their own country and on the continent. It is true, we must not form too magnificent ideas of these men, who were then patro- nised by kings, or invited to promote their education, and lay the foundation of schools which afterwards rose
* Warton, 8vo. v. ii. 384. Leland, the antiquarian, says that he saw this work in the library of WorcesterJAbbey. Coll. iii. 268.
f Colgan, Act. Sanct, p. -236.
± Muratori, Antiq. Ital. I. p. 821. Most of these books were presented to the Ambrosial! library at Milan, by Cardinal Borromeo, where they are now said to remain.
t " So abounding, however, with Greek phraseology," says Warton, " as to be liardly intelligible to a mere Latin reader."
H Turner, 3d ed. III. 390."
36 LITERARY HISTORY.
to eminence, especially at the revival of letters ; but, amidst the scholars of his day, Erigena seems to have been considered conspicuous. Even Warton admits the probability of his having " taken a journey to Athens, and spent many years in studying not only the Greek, but the Arabic and Chaldee languages ;"* but this has been questioned by others ; and though better acquaint- ed with Aristotle than any man of his age, that he ever translated any part of his writings into Chaldaic and Arabic as well as Latin, seems to be also doubtful. Af- ter living in France for about thirty years, he probably died there, and before the year 875. t We forget not that his principal work contributed its share to a species of dialectic philosophy, or rather folly, which continued through the dark ages to hold many in perplexity, and drove others to infidelity : for of that great division of the schoolmen in which all this terminated, the Nominalists, Erigena has been considered the remote parent. It is chiefly as a scholar that he is here noticed. When re- ferring to him, Anastasius, the librarian of the Vatican, in a letter to Charles, expresses his astonishment " how that ' vir barbarus/ placed in the very ends of the world, so remote from conversation with mankind, was able to comprehend such deep things, and transfuse them into another language." This is equally creditable to his acuteness and scholarship ; but was every man, not a Greek or a Roman, still denominated " barbarous ?" or was this only one ancient specimen of that unfounded
« Warton, 8vo, vol. I. cxxxvii. Spelman, Vit ^Elfrid. Pits. p. 166.
t Thus he appears in France in connexion with Prudentius, bishop of Troies, MI early as the year 847, and the letter oT Anastasius, about to be quoted, speaks of him in the past tense. John Erigena, or Scotigena, which at this period was of similar import, is therefore not to be confounded with John of Aetheling, or he of Malmesbury, whether these be the same, or two different persons. The former, a presbyter and abbot, which Erigena never was, and who came over to our Alfred about 884, is styled by Asserius, " Ealdsaxonum genere.': If Erigena ever was in England, it could be merely on his way to the continent, and long before the reign of Alfred. At all events, Charles, to whom Anastasius wrote respecting Erigena, and in the past tense throughout, died in 877.
LITERARY HISTORY. 37
prejudice which yet exists in many against the fine na- tural capacity of this hitherto neglected people ?
In an early part of the ninth century died Angus or Mngus Ceile de, a Culdee, who, among other things, wrote the " Psalter na rann," an abridged history, in Irish, of the descendants of Abraham till after the death of Moses. And even in the tenth, we have a glossary, explaining the difficult words of his native language, by Cormac MacCuillionan, in which there are many refer- ences to the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues. But we have already past the brink of general barbarism. The darkness of the ninth and tenth centuries is prover- bial, as affecting every country in Europe, and Britain fully as much as Ireland. To her history, therefore, it is no disparagement that we can then find but little worth notice.
In the eleventh century, about the time of the Nor- man Conquest, one Irishman, by his talents, rendered his name conspicuous, — Marianus Scotus, who lived for ten years at Fulde in Germany, i. e. until 1069, when he removed to Mentz, and, dying there, was interred in the church of St Martin's, in the year 1086, aged 58.* His chronicle from the birth of Christ to the year 1083, which is esteemed, has been continued by the Abbe Do- bechin to 1200 ;t and an edition of it, with that of Mar- tin of Poland, was printed in the sixteenth century by John Herold of Basil, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. J. In the curious and learned catalogue of manuscripts in the library of the Emperor of Germany, 8 volumes folio, by Peter Lambeccius, composed in the seventeenth cen- tury, we are told that there is a copy of " all the Epis-
* " Anno 1028," says a chronicle in the Cottonian Library, " Marianus, chro- nographus, Hibernensis-Scotus, natus est, qui Chronicum Chronicorum composuit." See also Dobechin's ed. of his Chronicle, anno 1069. Mabilon Annal. anno 1083.
f L'Advocat's Hist. Diet., letter M.
t Warton, 8vo, I. cclxii. After Ussher's account of this chronicle, he inti- mates, that Gerard Vossius intended to publish a correct edition of it.
38 LITERARY HISTORY.
ties of Paul in the hand-writing of Marianus Scotus, done in the year 1079, illustrated with marginal andin- terlineary annotations."* Trithemius says, that " he was most learned in the Scriptures ;"t and Sigebert, " the most learned man of his age." %
In the journal of the learned and accurate Humphrey Wanley there is the following entry, dated 10th August, 1720 : — " Mr O'Sullivan likewise acquainted me, that the library of those learned men who went from Ireland with Marianus Scotus, A. D. 1058, is yet remaining in some church in Ratisbon, and has lately been seen there."§ But Marianus of Ratisbon, also from Ireland, who wrote some notes on the Psalms, and a harmony of the Evangelists, is affirmed to be a different man from the chronographer, who it is certain resided first at Fulde, or Fulda, and finally at Mentz.
Tighernach, the Irish annalist, was contemporary with Marianus, and died in 1088, two years after him. His Irish annals to his own day, partly in Latin and partly in Irish, were continued by one Magrath to the year 1405, — a copy of which is among the manuscripts in Trinity College. ||
The first tract in the Hibernica of Harris is a history of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland from 1 168 to
• Lamb. ii. cap. 8, p. 749. See also Ware's Antiq. p. 66. Vossius and Demp- ster have strangely mentioned Marianus as the author of the Notitia utriusquc Imperil. That he wrote commentaries on this work is true, and, in the preface to the Venice ed. of 1593, it appears that the work, after lying hid for ages, had come to light in consequence of the copy written by Marianus having been found in 1557.
f Catal. Vir. Jllust. J De Script. Eccles. p. 172. When Edward I. summon- ed the states of Scotland to appear at Norham to decide the claims of the different competitors for the crown, his first step was to put in his own claim to the sove- reignty of Scotland, and the chief authority to which he resorted was that of Ma- rianus, the Irish historian. When Henry IV. renewed the claims of Edward, he appealed to the same historian, adding, that his authority was irrefragable, because he was a Scotchman. To this the states of Scotland replied, that Marianus was not an Albanian Scot, but an Irish Scot, Ireland being the ancient Scotland.
•j Nichol's Lit. Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, I. p. 87.
II Iberno-Celtic Transac. p. 81.
LITERARY HISTORY. 39
1171- This is a translation by Sir George Carew, after- wards Earl of Totness, from the French. But the French itself, which is in verse, after the fashion of the time, is only a translation from the Native Irish manu- script, written by Maurice O'Regan, the individual who was employed by Dermod, King of Leinster, as ambas- sador to Strongbow. This tract, such as it is, was trans- lated into English, and published by Harris in Dublin in 1757, or above five hundred and sixty years after it had been written. Lord Ly ttelton, in his History of Henry the Second, quotes the French translation from a manuscript in the Lambeth Library.*
As " it cannot but seem strange," says Harris, " that in the thirteenth century an Irishman should be courted to undertake a version into French," Godfrey, or Goto- frid of Waterford, deserves to be noticed. He was the author of translations into that language from Latin, Greek, and Arabic, of Dares Phrygius, Eutropius, and the Secretum Secretorum ascribed (erroneously) to Aristotle. Harris here alludes to Godfrey's own ex- pressions in his preface to the latter, in which, address- ing himself to a French nobleman who encouraged him, he says, " To other books which you already have, you desire to add a book called Secretum Secretorum, or a, Treatise of the Government of Kings and Princes, and for this end you have requested me, that I would, for your sake, translate the said work from Latin into French, which I already translated from Greek into Arabic, and into Latin," &c.t In the library of M.
* Warton, 8vo, I. 89. Iberno-Celtic Trans, p. 87. Ware's Writers, p. 71.
t Ware's Writers, p. 76. The Secretum, erroneously ascribed to Aristotle, but so highly esteemed In the middle ages, has been traced to JEgidius Romanus, a pupil of Aquinas. " It was early translated," says Warton, " into French prose, and printed in English. « The Secret of Aristotyle, &c. with Rules for Helth of Body and Soul, very gode to teche Children to rede English, newly translated out of French, and emprented by Robert and William Copland, 1528.'" One trans-
40 LITERARY HISTORY.
Colbert, these three treatises, on vellum, were long pre- served in a folio volume, in which, besides an exposition of the articles of Faith and the Lord's Prayer in French, there is also included the Elucidarium. " Now," say Quetif and Eckard, quoted by Harris, " all these are written not only in the same hand-writing with the other works before-mentioned, which are certainly Go- tofrid's, but also the style and manner of orthography are the same."* " The Lucydayre, printed by Wynkyn de Worde," says Warton, " is translated from a favourite old French poem called Li Lusidaire, a work in dia- logue, containing the sum of Christian Theology attri- buted to Anselm,"t and by others to Honorius of Au- tun. J " Again," he says, " in the king's library at Paris, there is a translation of Dares Phrygius into French rhymes by Godfrey of Waterford, an Irish writer, not mentioned by Tanner, in the thirteenth century ;" and, referring again to this period, he adds, " Dares Phry- gius, Eutropius, early translated into Greek at Constan- tinople, and Aristotle's Secretum Secretorum, appeared about the same time in French ;"§ thus confirming the account already given of Godfrey, who seems to have died in France, and probably at Paris.
Thomas Hibernicus, or Thomas of Palmerstown, born in the county of Kildare, towards the close of the thir- teenth century, and well known at the beginning of the fourteenth, was an ecclesiastic who belonged to neither of the orders of the Friars. He became a fellow of the Sorbonne, and, from the Bibliotheque compiled by Quetif and Eckard, it appears that he bequeathed the books he had written, with other manuscripts, and a sum of
lation of the Secretum into French, Warton ascribes to Henry de Gande,i. e. Ghent, for Philip of France. The name to which Godfrey dedicates his translation does not appear.
* Ware's Writers, p. 76. f Warton, III. 364.
t The Elucidarium must not be confounded with the Elucidarium Bibliorum, or Prologue to the Bible. See Saber's Wickliffe, lii. $ Warton, I. xxii, ; II. 415.
LITERARY HISTORY. 41
money, to that college.* One of the tracts in the Sor- bonne is entitled " Liber de Tribus Punctis Christianas Religionis," or " three points of the Christian religion," which he explains as matters of faith, of command, or prohibition. His " Flores Biblicae," or " Tabula Origina- lium, sive Manipulus Florum," first published at Venice in 1492, has been often reprinted, as at Antwerp in 1568 and 1580; Geneva, 1614; and Paris, 1662.t
The fourteenth century, to which we have now come, is rendered interesting by the appearance of one man, who is well entitled to the grateful recollections of the Native Irish — Richard Fitzrauph or Fitzralph, Arch- bishop of Armagh, frequently denominated Richard Armachanus. The place of his birth is said to have been Dundalk ; the precise year I have not been able to ascertain ; but his various appointments being noted with such accuracy, prove in some degree the interest which his character had excited. According to Le Neve's Fasti, on the 10th July, 1334, he was collated Chancellor of Lincoln, and in 1336 became Archdeacon of Chester ; on the 20th April, 1337, he was personally installed Dean of Litchfield, by Edward III., and ad- vanced to the see of Armagh on the 8th July, 1347, by Clement VI.
This excellent man may not improperly be regarded as the Wickliffe of Ireland ; and he deserves the more attention, not only from his having lived in the age im- mediately preceding Wickliffe, but on account of the re- port respecting him, that he possessed, if not with his own hand translated, the Scriptures of the New Testa- tament into the Irish tongue. For the sake of Ireland, therefore, as well as his own, he is entitled to some special notice; more particularly as this tradition is
* Tom. I. p. 7*4. f Ware's Writers, p. 7*.
42 LITERARY HISTORY.
rendered much more probable by the consideration of his character and exertions.
From the year 1240, more than a hundred years be- fore Fitzralph, the operations of the Mendicant Friars had afforded matter of controversy and complaint ; but the immediate occasion of his engaging to arraign them cannot with certainty be traced. It has been affirmed by a celebrated Irish Franciscan, Luke Wadding, the historian of their order, that, obstructed in some attempt to remove the ornaments belonging to a convent of Friars, they were protected, and their ornaments preserved to them, when Fitzralph entered into the controversy of the day with great warmth and eagerness. Such an incident, indeed, might perhaps awaken Fitzralph to ex- ertion ; but it is of more importance to observe, that he had been educated at Oxford, the nucleus of the contro- versy, under Baconthorpe, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and determined opponent of the Friars, who possessed great influence over his pupils. Fitzralph also was one of a select number of learned men who had sat at the table of Richard de Bury, one of the most generous and ardent cultivators of learning in the fourteenth cen- tury.* But whatever was the exciting cause, in 1356, Fitzralph having occasion to be in London, in conse- quence of earnest solicitation, says Fox, he preached seven or eight sermons against the abuses of the Friars, which he afterwards repeated at Litchfield, and in Ire- land at Drogheda, Dundalk, and Trim. Offended with the positions contained in these discourses, the warden of the Franciscans or Minorites, then established at Ar- magh, and those of the order of the Predicants, cited the Primate to answer for himself before the Pope at Avig- non. To this bold measure on the part of the Friars
* Warton, 8vo, vol. I. cxlvii. Townley's Illust. of Biblical Literature, II. TO.
LITERARY HISTORY. 43
there was presented strong encouragement in the well- known character of Clement, who " defended the inte- rests of the church with a zeal carried to excess, reserv- ing to himself a multitude of benefices, which he pre- sented at his will in defiance of all former elections."* Fortunately, however, for Fitzralph, Clement died in 1352, and was succeeded by a man of different views, Innocent VI., whose policy it was to encourage men of literature, and oblige the possessors of benefices to re- sidence. Another circumstance, probably in favour of Fitzralph, occurred the following year. The controversy respecting the Irish primacy was then in dependence, and, in 1353, Innocent had decided that the Arch- bishop of Armagh " should entitle himself Primate of all Ireland, and the Archbishop of Dublin write him- self Primate of Ireland." At all events, Fitzralph, in 1357, appeared at Avignon, and pled his cause at length again and again. Innocent listened to him, and stayed all proceedings in England during the suit. The ex- amination being committed to four Cardinals, Fitzralph was long detained, and never returned to Ireland, but died at Avignon in November or December, 1360. The MS. annals in the Cotton Library hint that he was poisoned by the Friars : of this there is no certain proof ; but they allege that the controversy was terminated only by the absolute command of Innocent. One of the Cardinals, on hearing of his death, openly protested, says Fox, " that the same day a mighty pillar of Christ's church was fallen." Ten years afterwards, his body was removed to Dundalk, by Stephen de Valle, Bishop of Limerick,t and a monument raised over it, which still remained, says Sir Thomas Ry ves, so late as the year 1 624.
* L'Advocat, the librarian of the Sorbonne.
f De Valle or Wale, the Dean of Limerick, was made bishop in 1360, where he continued till 1369-70 ; and it was while here that he deposited the body of Fitz- ralph in the parish-church of St Nicholas, Dundalk. De Valle was afterwards Bishop of Meath. See Fitzgerald and M'Gregor's Hist, of Limerick, vol. II. p. 404.
44 LITERARY HISTORY.
The theme of Fitzralph at Avignon was founded on these words — " Judge not according to the outward appearance, but judge righteous judgment." His va- rious positions, committed to writing, he^tended to a volume, which was afterwards published. The Friars Mendicant were charged by him as in many things act- ing directly in violation of their own rales, as under- mining the stated duties of resident curates, but, above all, as violating the express precepts of Scripture, which he very frequently quotes, and to which he constantly appeals as paramount authority. He laments over the decay of learning, and informed Innocent not only of the great decrease in the number of the students at Ox- ford, but that " no book could stir, either divinity, law, or physic, but these Friars were able and ready to buy it up ;" nay, that " he himself had sent forth from Ar- magh to the university four of his own chaplains, who sent him word again that they could neither find the Bible, nor any other good profitable book in divinity, meet for their study, and therefore were minded to re- turn home to their country."*
The writings of Fitzralph were various, amounting to eighteen distinct tracts, on theological and other sub- jects. Bellarmine thought that his writings "ought to be read with caution." Prateolus and others allow him to have possessed great accomplishments, but rank him among the heretics ; though Wadding, already men- tioned, and of course not favourable to his cause, is of a different opinion. Trithemius, however, one of the most learned men in the fifteenth century, has given a
# Defensio Curatorum adversus Mendicantes, STO, Paris, 1496. This discourse has been printed repeatedly at Paris ; and a translation of it, by Trevisa, may be seen in the MSS. Harl. 1900 fol. Pergam. 2.— In the Public Library at Oxford is a volume, which contains, in addition, various sermons of Fitzralph, MSS. Bodl. A.
4. 8. Vide et ibid. B. 3. 12. MSS. and Nicolson's Irish Hist Lib. p. 74 At Ben-
net, in Cambridge, there is a curious manuscript of one of Fitzralph's sermons, which once belonged to Eston, a learned Benedictine of Norwich, and a witness against Wickliffe afterwards at Rome, in 1370. Warton, 8vo, vol. ii, 127.
LITERARY HISTORY. 45
character of Fitzralph ; and when it is remembered that he was an Abbot of the Benedictine Friars, he will not be suspected of partiality. This character he sums up in these words — " Vir in Divinis Scripturis eruditus, secularis philosophise jurisque canonici non ignarus, clarus ingenio, sermone scholasticus, in declamandis ser- monibus ad populum excellentis industriae."* Of the works of Fitzralph several are mentioned by L' Advocat, the librarian and Orleans Professor in the Sorbonne ; after which he adds, " These works prove their author to have thoroughly studied the Holy Scriptures, and his reasoning is very ingenious and forcible, but not entirely free from the errors which were afterwards revived by Wickliffe."t It is indeed not unworthy of notice, that, in the very same year in which Fitzralph expired at Avignon, Wickliffe, at the age of thirty-six, was allured from his hitherto retired and silent life ; and that when he came to write his Trialogus, he speaks of Fitzralph as having preceded him, in terms of high commenda- tion.
* " Since the canonization of saints," says Jeremy Taylor, " we find no Irish bishop canonized, except Laurence of Dublin and Malachias of Down. Richard of Armagh's canonization was, indeed, propounded, but not effected : but the cha- racter which was given of that learned primate by Trithemius (De Scriptor. Ec- cles.) does exactly fit this our late father :— " He was learned in the Scriptures, skilled in secular philosophy, and not unknowing in the civil and canon laws ; he was of an excellent spirit, a scholar in his discourses, an early and industrious preacher to the people." And, as if there were a more particular sympathy be- tween their souls, our Primate had so great veneration for his memory, that he purposed, if he had lived, to have restored his monument in Dundalk, which time or impiety, or unthankfulness, had either omitted or destroyed."— Fun. Sermon for Bramhall, by Jer. Taylor, vol. VI. p. 441. While, however, Bramhall could thus testify his veneration for the dead, it is to be regretted that he could not estimate the same qualities in the living; for he will be found afterwards standing up, as leader of the opposition against Bedell, when he was actually engaged in the trans- lation of the Scriptures for the Native Irish, and eager for reaching the heart and soul of the natives through the medium of their own language.
f L'Advocat's Hist, and Biog. Dictionary, under Richard of Armagh.
J " Ab Anglorum episcopis conductus Armachanus novem in Avinione conclu- siones coram Innocentio 6. et suorum cardinalium ccetu, contra fratrum mendici- tatem, audacter publicavit; verboque ac scriptis ad mortem usque defendit."— Wickliffe's Trialogus, 4to, 1525.
B2
46 LITERARY HISTORY.
Were this eminent man, however, allowed to speak for himself, the testimonies of others would not be re- quired. Towards the end of his days he had committed to writing the history of his own life, of which Fox himself possessed a copy, and intended to print it. In this he recounts at length the dangers and troubles through which he passed ; mentions an embargo laid on all the seaports by the King's letter, with a view to ap- prehend him, — a measure in perfect consonance with the course of Innocent's predecessor ; he notices appeals against him to the number of sixteen, and yet that it was given to him to triumph over them all ; he records also, in what way " the Lord taught him, and brought him out of the profound vanities of Aristotle's philosophy, to the study of the Scriptures of God." The sentiments at the commencement of this piece, in the form of address to the Saviour, are so descriptive of the man, that, as an appropriate conclusion to this imperfect sketch, I cannot refrain from quoting them : — " To thee be praise, to thee be glory, to thee be thanksgiving, O Jesus most holy, Jesus most powerful, Jesus most amiable, — who hast said, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life ;'— a way without deviation, truth without a cloud, and life without end. For thou the way hast shown me, thou the truth hast taught me, and thou the life hast promised me. A way thou wast to me in exile, the truth thou wast to me in counsel, and life thou wilt be to me in reward."*
Such was the individual, who, in the fourteenth cen- tury, is said to have possessed a translation of the New Testament in the Irish language, ascribed to himself.
* " Tibi laus, tibi gloria, tibi gratiarum actio, Jesu piissimc, Jesu potentissime, Jesu dulclwime ; qui dixisti — Ego sum via, veritas, et vita ; — via sine devio, veri- tas sine nubilo, et vita sine termino. Quod tute viam mihi ostendisti ; tute veri- tatem me docuisti ; et tute vitam mihi promisisti. Via eras mihi in exilio ; veri- tas eras in consilio ; et vita ens mihi in prsemio."
LITERARY HISTORY. 47
According to the information of Balseus, quoted also by Archbishop Ussher, this translation, or a copy of it, was concealed by him in a certain wall of his church, with the following note : — " When this book is found, truth will be revealed to the world, or Christ will shortly ap- pear." What precise idea Fitzralph attached to these words it is impossible to say ; but in the year 1530, one hundred and seventy years after his death, the church at Armagh being under repair, the book was found, though no vestige of this translation is supposed to be now in existence.* About the year 1573, however, Fox, in his Acts and Monuments, referring to Fitzralph, says, " I credibly hear of certain old Irish Bibles, translated long since into the Irish tongue, which, if it be true, it is not other like but to be the doing of this Armacha- nus ;" and as for the existence of such an Irish transla- tion in his day, he adds, that it was testified to him " by certain Englishmen who are yet alive and have seen it."t Harris says, vaguely, some " have thought that he trans- lated the Bible into Irish," but this is mere conjecture ; although Ussher speaks of certain fragments of such Irish translations being in existence even in his own time.lj:
The period immediately after the death of Fitzralph was, in many countries, one of great excitement and in- quiry. The schools of logic, falsely so called, which had so long enchained the human intellect, began to be de- serted, in order to cultivate a species of more satisfactory and beneficial knowledge ; and the opinions then preva-
« Balasus, Script. Brit Cent 14. p. 246. Ussher'g Historia Dogmata, p. 156.
+ Fox, vol. I. p. 473. Alex. Petrel, p. 496.
% " It is towards the middle of the fourteenth century," says the librarian of the British Museum, in reference to England, " that we must look for the first literal translation of even a portion of Sacred Writ. About this time, we have instances of those who were studious of the spiritual welfare of the flock over which they were appointed to watch for good, being engaged in translating, for the use of their respective congregations, more or less of such portions of Scripture as the church in its service brought more immediately into public notice."— Baber's Wiclif. pp.
48 LITERARY HISTORY.
lent led to the assembling of a Council at Constance/— an event which would not have been mentioned here, but for one occurrence in connexion with Ireland. In the third year of its sitting, 1417, some dissension arose between the French and the English, respecting their precedency as nations, which could only be settled by a reference to antiquity. The English canonists referred to Albert and Bartholomeus, and urged, amongst other arguments, " that, the world being divided into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Africa, Europe was distributed into four kingdoms ; namely, first, the Roman ; second, the Constantinopolitan ; third, the Irish, which is now transferred to the English ; and, fourth, the kingdom of Spain : from which it is manifest, that the King of Eng- land and his kingdom are among the most eminent and most ancient of the kings and kingdoms of all Europe ; which prerogative the kingdom of France is not said to hold."* A similar precedency had been observed, in 1255, at the Council of Lyons, when Albert Armacha- nus subscribed before all the bishops of France, Italy, and Spain,t — circumstances which are noticed here, however, merely as illustrative of the light in which Ire- land wa& regarded.
The middle of this century, it is well known, was marked by an art, which, as soon as the secret was dis- covered, spread with almost incredible rapidity over all Europe, producing everywhere, on the moral world, an effect as striking as that which takes place in the physi- cal, at the return of day after night, or spring after win- ter,— the art of printing, first practised atMentz, in 1457- The first native of Ireland who appears to have been connected with this memorable invention, should not be passed over, even though he was thus engaged far dis- tant from his native home, and more than half an age
• — '
.
* Concilium Constansiense, A. D. HIT, Sets. 31. f Ware's Bishops, 65.
Wadding's Aon. I. p. 605.
LITERARY HISTORY. 49
before a few types were permitted to be sent to his own country, or a solitary book printed there. Maurice O'Fihely, Maurice de Portu, as he is sometimes called, or Maurice Hibernicus, and Maurice of Ireland, was born in 1463-4, in the county of Cork, near Baltimore, a town celebrated for its fine harbour, from whence ori- ginated the addition of ' de portu,' occasionally employ- ed to distinguish him. Wood, in his Athenae Oxonien- sis, says, that he received instruction at Oxford, in " grammar and trivials," i. e. grammar, rhetoric, and logic, called the trivium, or threefold way to eloquence. At an early age, however, he proceeded to Padua, and was there engaged for several years in teaching the liberal arts. About twenty years after the invention of fusible metal types atMentz, Octavian Scott, a noble- man and native of Mons, went to Venice, where he set up several printing-presses at his own charge. Towards the close of the century, Maurice de Hibernia was his prin- cipal corrector of the press, — an office which at this pe- riod occupied the men of greatest learning.* Maurice was the author of several treatises, still extant : one of which, his Manual of Faith, was printed at Venice, with this title, " Enchiridion Fidei, &c. doctoris magistri Mauritii de Portu, Hibernici Ordinis Minorutn, Archie- piscopi Tuamensis dignissimi, — Venetiis 1 509," and dedi- cated to the Earl of Kildare, then Lord-deputy of Ire- land.t Another work of Maurice was a Dictionary to the Holy Scriptures, entitled "Dictionarium SacraeScrip- turae, universis concionatoribus apprime utile et necessa- rium." This is mentioned by Possevin, as printed, long after the author's death, at Venice, in 1603, " though,"
* Palmer's History of Printing, 4to, p. 149.
f This vol. is in 4to, having this colophon, — " Uenetijs per Bonetum locatcllum presbyterum. — Mandate et expensis heredum nobilis viri quondam domini Octaui- ani Scoti ciuis ac patricij Modeliesis, 1509." Wood's Athena; by Bliss, I. p. 17. Now, of the three printers under Maurice, mentioned by Palmer, this B. LocatelU was one, which is thus confirmed.
50 LITERARY HISTORY.
he adds, " it is not extant farther than the letter E in- clusive."* But among the manuscripts in the Bodleian library, there is a copy of it complete to letter Z, Zona ; at the end of which is " expliciunt distinctionis fr'is mauritij."t
By the printed title just quoted, it appears that Mau- rice had been nominated to the see of Tuam. This ap- pointment took place in 1506, and in 1512 he left Italy for Ireland, and landed at Gal way. Soon after, however, being taken unwell, he died there, on the 25th May 1513, scarcely fifty years of age, and was there buried. The spot in which he lies was long known, and pointed out till at least within these sixty years. The stone under which he was interred, says Harris, in 1764, " is yet shown."
In glancing at Ireland itself, we find another individual of the same surname, Donald O'Fihely, who wrote the Annals of Ireland in the language of the country, car- ried down to his own time. Sir James Ware says, that he saw them in manuscript in the possession of Florence Maccarty, at London, in 16264 Wood, who mentions him as an Oxford student, — that he was living in 1505, and that he was valued for his unwearied industry in matters relating to history and antiquity, then adds — ' ' In this man's time, I find many noted persons of Ire- land to have studied in this university, who, as it seems, have either been writers, bishops, or statesmen, in the kingdom ; but most of their Christian names being de- ficient, I cannot justly particularize them." Several of these men, as well as others who studied in their own country, might here be noticed, were it not from the fear of becoming tedious, or extending these pages too far.§
« Apparat. Sacr. f Wood's Athenas by Bliss, 1. 17. $ Ware's Writers, p. 90.
$ I may simply mention Charles Maguire, whose " Annalis Hiberniae usque ad sua tempora," continued by Cassidy to 1541, is now extant in the British Museum. —Thomas Fitch, who wrote •« De Rebus Ecclesiasuse," called the White Book of Christ's Church.— George Cogley, the author of a catalogue of the bishops of Meath,
LITERARY HISTORY. 51
During the latter part of the sixteenth century, how- ever, one group of names cannot be passed over : Kear- ney and Walsh, Donellan and Daniel, or O'Donell.
John Kearney, or Kearnagh, who had received his education at Cambridge, was afterwards treasurer of St Patrick's, Dublin. Nicholas Walsh had been a fellow- student with Kearney at Cambridge, and was still his beloved companion, having been appointed chancellor of St Patrick's. These two individuals ought to be ever remembered as the men who first began to pursue the only effectual method of enlightening their Irish bre- thren, so far as the art of printing in their own language and character is necessary. They were the men who first introduced Irish types into their country, and ob- tained an order that the prayers of the church should be printed in that character and language, and a church set apart in the chief town of every diocese, where they were to be read and a sermon preached to the common people.* Accordingly we are informed, that, in the year 1571j Queen Elizabeth provided, at her own expense, a printing-press and a fount of Irish types, " in hope that God in mercy would raise up some to translate the New Testament into their mother tongue."t
The first work in which Mr Kearney engaged was an Irish Catechism and Primer, — " Alphabetum et ratio
handed by Ussher to Sir James Ware as serviceable for his works. — Nicholas Ma- guire, Bishop of Leighlin, the writer of an esteemed Irish chronicle : these three last were Oxford students. — Richard Creagh of Limerick, who wrote " De Lingua Hibernica ; Chronicon Hibemiae," and an ecclesiastical history.— Thadeus Dow- ling, who wrote " Annalis brcvis Hibernias," an Irish grammar, and other tracts. —Patrick Cusack, a man of family, educated at Oxford, and able schoolmaster in Dublin, about 1566. He is said to have given great light to his country by his learning, though he employed his time rather in the instruction of his scholars than penning books. He wrote indeed one book, " Diversa Epigrammata," pro- bably for the use of his school. — Richard Stan yhurst , who was born in Dublin, 1646, maternal uncle to Archbishop Ussher, the author of several works, and who died in 1618, at Brussels.— William Bathe, born in Dublin, 1564, who was president of the Irish College at Salamanca. His " Janua Linguarum" became a standard work for the instruction of youth. He died in 1614, at Madrid. * Ware's Annals, 1571. f Dedication of the Irish New Testament.
52 LITERARY HISTORY.
legend! Hibernicum, et catechismus in eadem lingua. John a Kearnagh, 157V 8vo. In this, which was cer- tainly the first book printed with a view to the instruc- tion of the Native Irish, the types just mentioned are said to have been used, and this is probable ; but whether it were so or not, it is certain that more than thirty years passed away, before the next publication in which they were employed.*
The translation of the Scriptures of the New Testa- ment into Irish now engaged the attention of both these men, and, in the year 1573, Walsh began the work, as- sisted by Kearney. In 1577. Walsh was elected to the see of Ossory, but proceeded in his undertaking, till he was stabbed in his own house, on the 14th December, 1585, by a profligate whom he had cited before him for gross immorality. Providentially, some years before this, Nehemias Donellan, born in Galway, but also edu- cated at Cambridge, on returning to Ireland, had joined these men in their undertaking. Thus it appears by a privy seal, dated the 24th of May, 1595, when he was raised to the see of Tuam, that " he had taken great pains in translating and putting to the press the com-
* It has been strangely asserted by Lemoine, in his History of Printing, and others, that an Irish liturgy was undoubtedly printed in Dublin in 1566, for the use of the Highlanders of Scotland. The reference here is to the Book of Common Order, which, it is true, is sometimes called Knox's Liturgy. But the truth is, that this very rare Gaelic translation, entitled " Foirm na Nurrnuidheadh," i. e. Forms of Prayer, was printed at Edinburgh by Bobert Lekprevik, and is dated 24th of April, 1667. John Carswell, superintendent of the West, and bishop of the Isles, was the translator. He'here laments the misapplication of the gifts of writing and teaching, and says that much of the superstition that prevailed arose from the want of good books, understood by all who spoke the Gaelic tongue.—" But there is," fays he in his epistle dedicatory, " one great disadvantage which we the Gaeil of Scotland and Ireland labour under beyond the rest of the world, that our Gaelic language has never been printed, as the language of every race of men has been ; and we labour under a disadvantage which is still greater than every other, that we have not the Holy Bible printed in Gaelic, as it has been printed in Latin and in English, and in every other language." One copy of this book exists in the Argyle library, which is supposed to be unique. There is another, but imperfect, in the possession of a private gentleman in Scotland.
LITERARY HISTORY. 53
munion-book and New Testament in the Irish language, which Queen Elizabeth greatly approved of." This commendation is of course by no means to be considered as excluding Kearney, who not only laboured in union, first with Walsh, and then with Donellan, but seems to have proceeded to other parts of Scripture. Harris in- deed asserts, that Kearney " translated the Bible into Irish, which was extant in manuscript in Ware's time :" but this I have no doubt was a mistake of a part for the whole, as no trace of such a complete translation was ever heard of since. Part of the Bible, he probably ef- fected, particularly the Psalms ; but had there been a translation of the whole, we must have heard of it in the days of Bedell. These three men, however, laid the foundation, and effectually prepared the way for the fourth individual already named, William Daniel, or O'Donell. Being considered as well qualified for the undertaking, at the instance of the Lord-deputy and re- quest of the Privy Council he proceeded. Availing him- self of the labours of his predecessors, he went also into Connaught to procure such aid as he might think pro- per, and it seems that he derived some assistance from a native of that province, Mortogh O'Cionga, or King.* At all events, we know, from himself, that this transla- tion of the Irish New Testament was scrupulously made from the original Greek, " to which," says he, in his dedication to the king, " I tied myself, as of duty I ought." Shortly after the accession of James the First, which was in March, 1603, this New Testament was published, with a dedication to his Majesty, the expense
* See Ware's Writers and Bishops. Letter from the Privy Council of Ireland, 15th December, 1605, in the Clogher MS. No 4. p. 375. Beling in his Vindicise ascribes the translation itself to King ; but, with reference to the New Testament, this is saying too much. King certainly was an excellent Irish scholar, and as such was known afterwards to Primate Ussher, who recommended him to the no. tice of Bedell. The reader therefore will hear of him again.
54 LITERARY HISTORY.
being defrayed by the province of Connaught and Sir William Usher, clerk of the council.*
The Book of Common Prayer he also translated from English into Irish, with the exception of the Psalms. This was printed at Daniel's own expense, by J. Franc- ton, and published in quarto, 1608. In the following year, Dr Daniel was translated to the see of Tuam, where he died in 1628. He was one of the three first scholars of Trinity College, Dublin, who were nominated by the Charter; one of the earliest elected Fellows ; and, if not the first, he was the second who received the degree of D.D. from that University. Sir James Ware says, that he " was a proficient in Hebrew," and, " indeed, a man of distinguished learning."t
It is impossible to proceed through such ahistory as this, without coming frequently in contact with James Ussher^
* If this is the same individual elsewhere styled Sir William Usher the elder, he was the son of John Usher, the Mayor of Dublin in 1574, who wrote a treatise, De Reformatione Hiberniae,— once in the possession of Primate Ussher, and depo- sited by him in Trinity College.
t His attainments as a scholar may be presumed from the eminence of his asso- ciates. In the register of the College Library the series of Fellows stands thus :— Henry Ussher (the uncle of Archbishop Ussher), Lucas Challoner (Ussher's father- in-law), Launcellot Moine, James Fullerton, James Hamilton, Matthias Holme, William Daniel, Charles Dun, John Brereton, Abel Walshe, James Ussher, &c. The three first were the Fellows who had been named by the Crown, ' nomine plurium.' James Fullerton, a scholar of Andrew Melville's, afterwards knighted, and who resided at the court of James I., after the Accession, and James Hamilton, created Viscount Clandebois, and afterwards Earl of Clanbrissel, induced, it is sup- posed, to seek a foreign field for the exertion of their talents, had come from Scot- land in 1587, and established a grammar-school in Dublin. After teaching on their own account till 1592, they were admitted as Professors in Trinity College, which was opened in 1593. Henry Lee, William Daniel, and Stephen White, had been named by the Queen as the three first scholars «• nomine plurium." James Ussher, afterwards Primate, who was the second matriculated student, had, from 1588, at- tended the grammar-school of Fullerton and Hamilton. Daniel was buried at Tuam, under the same monument with his predecessor, N. Donellan. Ussher lies interred beside the grave of his preceptor, Fullerton, in St Erasmus's Chapel, West- minster. See Parr's Life of Ussher ; Smith's Vitae j M'Crie's Life of Melville, vol. II. 291-4; Stewart's Armagh, pp. 310-339.
$ Notwithstanding the almost universal practice of using a single letter, this teems to be the correct orthography of the Primate's name. Harris in his edition
LITERARY HISTORY. 55
unquestionably one of the most learned men of his day; but our notices of him must needs be casual and limited. In 1609—10, Dr Challoner, the Provost of Trinity, hav- ing died, Ussher was unanimously elected; but he de- clined, from the fear of interrupting his literary pursuits. By his importunate solicitations, however, William Tem- ple, who, after occupying various public situations, had retired into private life, was prevailed upon to accept of the office, which he continued to fill with ability till his death, in the year 1626.* The year before this, and but a few days before the death of James I., Ussher had been appointed Primate of all Ireland. He now looked round for a successor to Sir William Temple, and fixed his eye and his heart upon an individual, then living in comparative neglect and obscurity — William Bedell.
The New Testament in Irish was the only part of the Scriptures yet published, with the exception of those passages which were inserted in the Book of Common Prayer. For the translation of the Old Testament into Irish, we are indebted to the Christian zeal of this ever- memorable man ; for, if Fitzralph, or Daniel, is to be regarded as the Wickliffe, William Bedell may, with equal if not greater propriety, be denominated the Tyn- dal of Ireland.
This interesting man was born at Black Notley, in Essex, in 1570. Educated at Emmanuel College, Cam- bridge, he was chosen Fellow of his College at the age of twenty-three, and became B. D. in 1599. Removing to St Edmondsbury, in Suffolk, he preached there for a considerable time, and with great success. When Sir
of Ware uniformly observes it. The double * is found in the manuscripts of the day, and indeed it is printed in the title of his " Annals." — London, 1658. It is therefore adopted throughout this volume.
* This Provost of Trinity College, afterwards Sir William Temple, who was a Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and had been secretary to Sir Philip Sidney when he fell at the battle of Zutphen, was grandfather to the ambassador and statesman of that name.
56 LITERARY HISTORY.
Henry Wotton, at a very critical period, was appointed ambassador to Venice, Bedell was thought the fittest man to accompany him in the capacity of chaplain. Here he became most intimately acquainted with Paul Sarpi, the historian of the Council of Trent, from whom he acquired a perfect knowledge of the Italian : — Bedell, in return, instructed him in the English language. Hav- ing resided for eight years at Venice, Bedell returned to resume his labours, — first at St Edmondsbury, and then, in 1615, at Horingsheath, where he lived in great plain- ness and simplicity, preaching to the poor of his flock, for about eleven years.* In the year 1626, however, though personally unknown to Archbishop Ussher, or to any of the Fellows of Trinity College, t)ublin, he was unanimously elected Provost. On this occasion the hu- mility and modesty of Bedell were conspicuous. Al- though Sir Henry Wotton had told the King, " that hardly a fitter man could have been propounded in his whole kingdom for singular erudition and piety," Bedell replied to Ussher in the following terms : — " I am mar- ried, and have three children : therefore, if the place re- quires a single man, the business is at an end. I have no want, I thank my God, of any thing necessary for this life. I have a competent living of above L.100 a- year, in a good air and seat, with a very convenient house near to my friends, and a little parish, not exceed- ing the compass of my weak voice. I have often heard it, that changing seldom brings the better, especially to those that are well. And I see well that my wife, though resolving, as she ought, to be contented with whatever God shall appoint, had rather continue with her friends
* So retired indeed, and so little regarded, that when his friend Diodati came to England, to his amazement he could not hear of him, till one day they met, by mere accident, to their mutual joy, on the streets of London. It was while at Horingsheath that he translated the latter parts of the History of the Council of Trent, as well as that of the Interdict and the Inquisition, which he dedicated ta the King.
LITERARY HISTORY. 5J
in her native country, than put herself into the hazard of the seas and a foreign land, with many casualties of travel, which she, perhaps out of fear, apprehends more than there is cause. All these reasons I have, if I con- sult with flesh and blood, which move me rather to re- ject this offer. Yet, with all humble and dutiful thanks to my Lord Primate, for his kind and good opinion of me, on the other side I consider the end wherefore I came into the world, and the business of a subject of our Lord Jesus Christ, of a minister of the Gospel, of a good patriot, and of an honest man. If I may be of any better use to my country, or to God's church, or of any better service to our common Master, I must close mine eyes against all private respects ; and, if God call me, I must answer, here I am. For my part, therefore, I will not stir one foot, nor lift up my finger for or against this motion ; but if it proceed from the Lord, that is, if those whom it concerns there, do procure those who may command me here, to send me thither, I shall obey, if it were not only to go into Ireland but into Virginia; yea, though I were not only to meet with troubles, dangers, and difficulties, but with death itself, in the perform- ance."
After this, the Archbishop and Fellows not only united in urging his acceptance of the appointment, but peti- tioned the King ; and Bedell receiving his Majesty's command, cheerfully obeyed. During the two years in which he held this situation, having rendered essential service to the University, in rectifying disorder, resto- ring discipline, composing divisions, and promoting the interests of religion, he received the marked approbation of his Sovereign, and was appointed, in 1629, Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh. If the College had demanded all the energy and prudence of his character, his diocese exhibited a scene sufficient to dishearten any one, except such a man as Bedell. The cathedral of ^ffdagh and the Bishop's house were fallen to the ground, and that
58 LITERARY HISTORY.
of Kilraore had neither spire nor bell. The parish- churches were without roofs. The payment of double tithes, — the extortions of mendicant friars, — the exac- tions of the spiritual court, — the requisitions for the sup- port of the military, united to a scarcity of grain, and a mortality among the cattle, all conspired to render the prospect of his usefulness almost entirely hopeless. Added to all this, in each of his dioceses Bedell found no more than seven or eight ministers capable of assist- ing him. Each of these had many parishes to serve ; but, being Englishmen, and the people Irish, they could neither perform worship, nor converse with the people intelligibly, while pluralities and non-residence were quite prevalent. In such painful and desperate circum- stances, did this indefatigable man, in the fifty-ninth year of his age, commence his labours in the province of Ulster. To induce the clergy to abandon pluralities, he not only preached against the evil, but explained the subject particularly in private, and then, adding to his precept all the power of example, he actually gave up one of his own bishoprics. Ardagh lay contiguous to Kilmore, so that he could have discharged all its duties, and the revenues of both did not exceed a competency ; but residence was a duty of paramount importance in the eye of Bedell, and Ardagh he resigned, when Dr Richardson was appointed to occupy it as a separate living.* The clergy could not resist such a pattern as this. Impressed with the cogency of his arguments, and
* Dr Richardson, a native of Chester, and who, in 1601, when only twenty-one years of age, had been appointed Preacher to the State, was ordained by Ussher, in 1633, Bishop of Ardagh. In the Chronological Annals of Ussher will be found Richardson's Harmony of the Four Gospels, whom he styles, " that learned man much exercised in the studies of the Holy Scriptures." In 1641 he was obliged to leave Ireland, and died in London in his 74th year, on llth August, 1654. The remarks on Ezekiel, Daniel, and the minor Prophets, published in the second edi. tion of the Assembly's Annotations, were furnished by Richardson ; and, the year after his death, were published at London, in folio, his " Choice Observations and Explanations upon the Old Testament, with further Observations on Genesis," per- used aud attested both by Ussher and Gataker, author of the Opera Critica.
LITERARY HISTORY. 59
the louder voice of his example, the whole relinquished their pluralities, with only one exception. This was the Dean ; and so ashamed was he of his singularity that he exchanged his deanery for another.
With deep regret Bedell now observed the neglect and contempt with which the native Irish had been treated, as though they were incapable of culture, or only could be restrained by force, or ruled by harsh measures. Clearly perceiving the path of duty, and firmly resolved to pursue it, it was his determination that the Book of Life. should be given to his Irish fel- low-subjects, and that they should hear with their ears the glorious Gospel of the blessed God in their own an- cient and long-proscribed language. Above thirty years before, the New Testament had been published : Bedell resolved to give the whole Bible to the people in their native tongue.
See, then, this interesting man, now in his sixtieth year (1630), sitting down to acquire the language spoken around him, and succeeding so well as not only to com- pose a complete grammar, but to attain a critical know- ledge of it. After much inquiry, he found a Mr King, already mentioned, ten years older than himself, who was reputed the best Irish scholar of his day. Provid- ing for his support, and engaging also the Rev. Dennis O'Sheriden, the father of one of Bedell's successors, they commenced the translation of the Old Testament, The Bishop's favourite study, for many years, had been the Scriptures, so that the Hebrew and Septuagint were as familiar to him as the English. Every day, after dinner or supper, a chapter of the Bible was read at his table, whoever were present ; when Bibles being placed before each individual, the Hebrew or Greek was laid before himself; and, since he had succeeded so well with the native language, as he compared the Irish translation with the English, so he compared both with the Hebrew, the Septuagint, and with the Italian version of his friend
60 LITERARY HISTORY.
Diodati, which he highly valued. For these compari- sons of the text Bedell was peculiarly qualified. Latin and Italian he wrote with great elegance ; and his perfect acquaintance with the latter, acquired from Sarpi at Venice, he could now turn to some good account.* There, also, he had studied the Hebrew language under Rabbi Leo, the chief Chachan of the Jewish synagogue, t from whom he acquired the accurate pronunciation. J During his past life, also, he had collected a large mass of critical exposition ; and now, impressed with a con- viction of the supreme importance of the work he had undertaken, he pursued it with unwearied diligence. " He thought," says his biographer, " the use of the Scriptures was the only way to let the knowledge of re- ligion in among the Irish," and he used to repeat a pass- age of a sermon that he had heard at Venice by Fulgen- tio, with which he was much pleased. It was on these words of the Saviour, " Have ye not read in the Scrip- tures?" and so the preacher took occasion to tell the auditory, that if Christ himself were now to ask this question, " Have ye not read in the Scriptures?" all the answer which they could make to it was, — No ; for they were not suffered to do so.§
* Hence the superiority of his translation of the two last books of Paul Sarpi's History of the Council of Trent over the two first, by Sir Adam Newton.
t More properly C/iazan, or minister of the synagogue, who has the charge of the sacred books, the second in authority under the Ruler.
$ With this Rabbi and his brethren Bedell had frequently discussions respecting the Messiahship of Christ ; and the only escape they could find from his arguments used to be, that they expounded the Scriptures according to the tradition of their fathers. It was by means of this Rabbi, if not from him, that he procured that beautiful manuscript of the Old Testament, which he afterwards presented to Em- manuel College. It is said to have cost Bedell, or Sir Henry Wotton, its weight in silver ; and let it not be forgotten, that it is to a Native Irishman we owe its present existence. In the rebellion of 1641, Bedell's critical expositions, which filled a Urge trunk, had been forcibly carried away, when a Native Irishman, to whom he had been useful, went among his countrymen, and succeeded in bringing to him the Hebrew manuscript and several other volumes. This MS., which consists of three folio volumes, in pages of two columns, with an illumination round the first page of each volume, and some letters gilt, has the vowel-points and the Masora.— See Bedell's Life by Burnet, and Dyer's Univ. of Cambridge, pp. 375, 376.
$ This was a period of great discussion, and even liberty of action, at Venice.
LITERARY HISTORY. 61
Bedell, however, though so meritoriously employed, was now about to witness in Ireland the effects of a blind and misguided policy, which, indeed, has long survived him. In a convocation held at Dublin, in 1634, the fifth year of his incumbency, amongst other subjects the ver- sion of the Scriptures and Prayer-Book for the use of the Native Irish was introduced, when no small debate ensued. Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, stood forth in op- position, while Bedell appeared for the affirmative ; the former grounding his argument on politics and maxims of state, and especially on the act of King Henry VIII., and the latter founding his on the principles of theology and the good of souls.* Bedell, seconded by Ussher, pre- vailed, and the convocation passed the following canons : — " Where most of the people are Irish, the church- warden shall provide, at the charge of the parish, a Bible and two Common Prayer-Books in the Irish tongue." — — " Where the minister is an Englishman, such a clerk may be chosen as shall be able to read those parts of the service which shall be appointed to be read, in Irish."
In following up these canons, no one exerted himself with so much zeal as Bedell. Already he had composed a short catechism, which he had printed in one sheet, English and Irish, in parallel columns, containing the elements of Christianity, several forms of prayer, and some of the most instructive passages of Scripture. These he widely dispersed, for they were received with joy by the Irish, many of whom now seemed to be hun- gering for the bread of life. The Irish Bible required by the canon was not yet, of course, in existence ; but the Prayer-Book in Irish he ordered to be read in his
In another sermon, from Pilate's question, — " What is truth ?" Fulgentio told them, "At last, after many searches, I have found it out," and, holding out a New Testament, said, " There it is, in my hand;" then, putting it in his pocket, he added coldly,—" but the book is prohibited." The auditory, so far from being of- fended, is said to have been mightily taken with such boldness. * Letter from Bishop of Meath to Boyle.— See his Works, vol. V. p. 116.
C
62 LITERARY HISTORY.
cathedral every Sabbath, for the benefit of his Irish countrymen who now assembled there, while he himself never failed to attend. His clergy he engaged to insti- tute schools in every parish, and proceeding vigorously with his translation, he at last completed it, resolving to print it at his own expense.
At this advanced period of his life, however, pro- bably the most interesting to himself during his whole ex- istence, Bedell was called to the endurance of trials which demanded all the fortitude and piety of his character. It was about the very season in which he had been de- prived of his esteemed partner in life, when he was to find himself standing literally alone on behalf of the Na- tive Irish !» To the publication of his Irish translation, on which his very heart was set, an opposition began to discover itself, more formidable than that which he had so successfully overcome in the convocation four years before this. His opponents, too, on this occasion, let it be remembered, as well as on the former, were neither Irishmen nor Catholics of any description, native or foreign. The pretext which individuals employed at this juncture was, that this able man, Mr King, was in- competent for the undertaking, and that the knowledge of his having been engaged in the translation would ex- pose the work to general contempt. In 1633, Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, had been chosen Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, and now he, as well as the Earl of Strafford, were induced to join the opposing party. It was by the advice of Primate Ussher, and other emi- nent characters, that Bedell had first engaged Mr King, whom he had provided with a living, for which King was peculiarly fitted, by his perfect familiarity with the Irish tongue. Yet now, on the ground of some trivial
* Mrs Bedell died three years before the rebellion broke out, and the Bishop himself preached her funeral sermon from these words :— " A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one's birth." His whole discourse on this occasion was such as deeply affected all who were present.
LITERARY HISTORY. 63
ecclesiastical delinquency, was this aged and worthy man, without a hearing, deprived of his situation by the surro- gates of the Archbishop, and even imprisoned; while his place was bestowed on the informer, a man entirely igno- rant of the Irish language.* For the unjust sufferings of his aged friend, Bedell expressed great sympathy ; but die insinuations against the Irish translation he felt bound to expose ; yet, with Strafford and Laud in opposition, and even Ussher afraid to befriend him, what wonder if he had sunk? In these peculiar circumstances, he ad- dressed the following letter to the Lord Lieutenant, dated 1st December, 1638, at once illustrative of the nature of the opposition with which he had to contend, and of the noble Christian spirit which he maintained under it : —
" Right Hon., my good Lord, — That which I have sometimes done willingly, I do now necessarily, to make my address to your honour by writing. The occasion is not my love of contention, or any other matter of pro- fit, but God's honour and (as he is witness) yours. I have lately received letters from my Lord of Canterbury, whereby I perceive that his Grace is informed that Mr King, whom I employed to translate the Bible into Irish,
* What a pity that the conduct of Ussher on this occasion should have been so unworthy of his uniform principles and sagacity! For some time, however, he had suffered his mind to be alienated from Bedell, and for no other reason than that he now showed the unshaken courage and constancy of a primitive martyr, in the pursuit of his judicious plans for the benefit of the Native Irish, and because he had openly condemned the unjust and violent proceedings of the Archbishop's surrogates. Before this, indeed, Ussher had said, that the tide ran so high against him, in reference to pluralities and non-residence, that he could assist him no more ; but Bedell, not disheartened, thanked him for his assistance hitherto, and added, " that he was resolved, by the help of God, to try if he could stand by him- self." " Ussher was too gentle," says Bishop Burnett, " to manage the rough work of reforming abuses ;" but this apology will not suffice. There are spots in the sun ; and his conduct, in this instance, will not bear rigorous examination. Besides, few men could be more gentle than Bedell, when gentleness was incum- bent. Witness his patient continuance in well-doing amidst various provocations, and his fine remarks in a sermon from " Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly." " Finally," he says, " he that, in matters of controversy, shall bring meekness to his defence, undoubtedly he shall overcome in the manner of handling ; and, if he bring truth also, he shall prevail at last in the matter,"
64 LITERARY HISTORY.
is a man so ignorant, that the translation cannot be wor- thy of public use in the church, and besides obnoxious, so that the church can receive no credit from any thing that is his. And his Grace adds, ' that he is so well acquainted with your Lordship's disposition, that he as- sures himself you would not have g^ven away his living, had you not seen just cause for it.' I account myself bound to satisfy his Grace herein, and desire, if I may be so happy, to do it, by satisfying you. I do sub- scribe to his Grace's assured persuasion, that your Lord- ship, had you not conceived Mr King to be such as he writes, would not have given away his living. But, my Lord, the greatest, wisest, and justest men do, and must take many things upon the information of others, who themselves are men, and may sometimes, out of weak- ness or some other cause, be deceived. Touching Mr King's silliness, (which it concerns me the more to clear him of, that I be not accounted silly myself,) I beseech your Lordship to take information, not by them which never saw him till yesterday, but by the ancient church- men or statesmen of the kingdom, in whose eyes he hath lived these many years, — as the Lord Primate,* the Bishop of Meath, the Lord Dillon, Sir James Ware, and the like. I doubt not but your Lordship shall under- stand, that there is no such danger that the translation should be unworthy, because he did it ; being a man of that known sufficiency, for the Irish especially, either in prose or verse, as few are his matches in the kingdom. And shortly, not to argue by conjecture and divination, let the work itself speak, yea let it be examined rigoroso
» The Primate— alas ! it was by hU advice and that of several other eminent per- sons that Bedell first pitched on Mr King, and that too as one of the most elegant writers of the Irish tongue then in existence. This whole business is well styled by Bishop Burnet to have been " a deep fetch to possess reformed divines with jealousy and hard thoughts of the work;" — and, to crown the whole, it was the fetch of men belonging to the same community .' Need I add, see how Ireland has been treated.
LITERARY HISTORY. 65
examine ; if it be found approvable, let it not suffer dis- grace from the small boast of the workman, but let him rather (as old Sophocles accused of dotage) be absolved for the sufficiency of the work. Touching his being ob- noxious, it is true that there is a scandalous information put in against him in the High Commission Court by his despoiler, Mr Baily, (as my Lord of Derry told him, in my hearing, he was,) and by an excommunicate despoiler as myself, before the execution of any sentence, declared him in the Court to be. And Mr King being cited to an- swer, and not appearing, (as by law he was not bound) was taken pro confesso, deprived of his ministry and living, fined an hundred pounds, and decreed to be attached and imprisoned. His adversary, Mr Baily, before he was sentenced, purchased a new dispensation to hold his benefice, and was, the very next day after, as appears by the date of the institution, presented in the King's title, (although the benefice be of my collation,) and instituted by my Lord Primate's vicar, and shortly after inducted by an archdeacon of another diocese. A few days after, he brought down an attachment, and delivered Mr King to the pursuivant. He was trailed by the head and feet to horseback, and brought to Dublin, where he hath been kept, and continued under arrest these four or five months, and hath not been suffered to purge his supposed contempt by oath and witnesses ; that, by reason of his sickness, he was hindered, whereby he was brought to death's door, and could not appear and prosecute his de- fence ; and that, by the cunning of his adversary, he was circumvented, — entreating that he might be restored to liberty, and his cause to his former state. But this hath not availed him. My reverend colleagues of the High Commission do some of them pity his case. Others say the sentence passed cannot be reversed, lest the credit of the Court be attached. They bid him simply submit himself, and acknowledge his sentence just. Whereas the bishops of Rome themselves, after most formal pro-
66 LITERARY HISTORY.
ceedings, do grant restitution in inlegrum, and acknow- ledge that senlentia Romance sedis potest in melius com- mutari. My Lord, if I understand what is right, divine or human, these be wrongs upon wrongs, which, if they reached only to Mr King's person, were of less consi- deration. But when, through his side, that great work, the translation of God's book, so necessary for both his Majesty's kingdoms, is mortally wounded — pardon me, I beseech your Lordship, if I be sensible of it.* I omit to consider what feast our adversaries make of our rewarding him thus for that service, or what this example will avail to the alluring of others to conformity. What should your Lordship have gained if he had died, as it was almost a miracle he did not, under arrest, and had been at once deprived of living, liberty, and life? God hath re- prieved him, and given your Lordship means, on right information, to remedy, with one word, all inconveni- ences. For conclusion, good my Lord, give me leave a little to apply the parable of Nathan to David to this purpose. If the wayfaring man that is come to us, for such he is, having never yet been settled in one place, have so sharp a stomach that he must be provided for with pluralities, sith there are herds and flocks plenty, suffer him not, I beseech you, under the colour of the King's name, to take the coset ewe of a poor man to satisfy his ravenous appetite. So I beseech the heavenly Physician to give your Lordship health of soul and body. I rest, my Lord, your Lordship's most humble servant in Christ Jesus, WILLIAM KILMORE."
Such was the treatment experienced by a venerable old man ; for by this time Mr King was on the borders of eighty, and a man who had been so useful in the
* " Both his Majesty's kingdoms."— I imagine Bedell here may have had the Gael of Scotland in his eye. Let them think of this, and now do what they well might for their Irish brethren.
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translation of the Sacred Scriptures ! His parentage or birth-place we cannot trace : in the course of nature he must have died shortly after this period ; but where he lies interred no one informs us. His name, therefore, must of necessity be left among the number of those
Who lived unknown,
Till persecution dragg'd them into fame,
And cbae'd them up to Heaven. Their ashes flew,
No marble tells us whither. Withtheir names
No bard embalms and sanctifies his song :
And history, so warm on meaner themes,
Is cold on this.
The tide of opposition, so far as it concerned Mr King, even the unshaken energy of a Bedell could not turn ; but still nothing could possibly turn him from his pur- pose ! He now resolved to have the Bible printed, not only at his own charge, but in his own house ; and, with a view to prepare the Irish for the work itself, he trans- lated, both into Irish and English, some of the homilies of Chrysostom and Leo, containing eloquent recommen- dations of the Scriptures, and these he circulated with good effect, along with his catechism. At this moment a cloud was gathering over Ireland, — nothing but phy- sical inability could have retarded Bedell ; but, alas ! before he could accomplish his great design, the rebel- lion broke out, and, before tranquillity was restored, he himself had been taken away to a better world.
Before inquiring after the fate of his much-valued manuscript, it would be unpardonable thus to pass over the closing scene of such a life. Infinite wisdom hath inquired, " Who is he that will harm you if ye be fol- lowers of that which is good?" And the last days of this estimable man afford a singular commentary on this pas- sage. In the Autumn of 1641, when all around him there was nothing but fire, and blood, and desolation, a secret guard seemed to be set upon him, and upon all that he had. He suffered, unquestionably, much dis- tress, as no man could possibly be altogether exempted :
08 LITERARY HISTORY.
but, from the 23d of October, when the civil commotions began, to the 18th of December, Bedell and all within his walls remained unmolested : indeed he was the only Englishman in the county of Cavan who was suffered to continue, during this period, in his own house undis- turbed. Not only his house, but all the out-buildings, as well as the church and churchyard, were filled with people who had fled to him for shelter, many of whom had lived in affluent circumstances, but were now glad of a little straw to lie upon, and a little boiled wheat to eat. On the 18th of December, when the Bishop was removed from his house, he and his family were carried to the castle of Lochwater, where all, except himself, were at first put in irons. These, however, were after- wards taken off, and on the 7th of January the family was finally exchanged for other prisoners, and relieved. During the four following Sabbaths, Bedell preached re- gularly in his own church, and upon the last of these from Psalm cxliv., on the 7th and llth verses of which he dwelt with peculiar emphasis, repeating them again and again. Next day he was taken ill, and, two days afterwards, calling his children around him, he address- ed them all in the most tender and scriptural manner. " I am going," said he, " the way of all flesh, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Knowing, therefore, that shortly I must put off this tabernacle, I know also, that if the earthly house of this my tabernacle were dissolved, I have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, a fair mansion in the New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. Therefore to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain ; which in- creaseth my desire even now to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. Hearken therefore to the last words of your dying father ; I am no more in this world, but ye are in the world ; I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God, through
LITERARY HISTORY. 69
the all-sufficient merits of Jesus Christ my Redeemer ; \vho ever lives to make intercession for me ; who is the propitiation for all my sins, and hath washed me from them all in his own blood ; who is worthy to receive glory, and honour, and power ; who hath created all things, and for whose pleasure they are and were cre- ated." For some time he contiuued his address, — bless- ed his children and those that stood by him in an audi- ble voice, and, after a brief interval, he closed by say- ing, " I have kept the faith once delivered to the saints ; for the which cause I also suffer these things ; but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." After this, his speech failing, he uttered but few expressions, and at midnight, on the 7th of February, 1642, he entered the eternal world.
To his own wishes, with respect to his body, consent was obtained, and on the 9th he was interred close by the remains of his wife. It was the most remote and least frequented spot in the churchyard on which he had fixed, desiring that he should be laid next to her, with this modest inscription, — " Depositum Gulielmi quondam Episcopi Kilmorensis." ;.'<,
In his lifetime the natives used to call him " the best of English Bishops;" and "the singular marks of ho- nour and affection which they paid him at his funeral, even in the great heat and fury of the rebellion, do show, from experience, that the Irish may be drawn by the cords of a man, and that gentle usage and Christian treatment will prevail with them, when the contrary methods will not. For they suffered him, although a heretic in their opinion, to be interred in his own burial- place ; desiring, if his friends thought fit, that the office proper for that occasion might be used according to the liturgy. Nay, the chief of the rebels, gathering his forces together, accompanied his body to the church-
c2
70 LITERARY HISTORY.
yard with great solemnity, and discharging a volley at the interment, cried out in Latin, ' Requiescat in pace ultimus Anglorum !' " while one of the priests who were present exclaimed, " O sit anima mea cum Be- dello !"*
In past ages, there is certainly no man who ought to be held in higher veneration by the Native Irish, than William Bedell. At the commencement of his labours among them, the prospect was such as would have sick- ened most men, yet his subsequent residence of twelve years was one continued and energetic struggle for their salvation. To say nothing of his singular hu- mility or undaunted courage, his unexampled disin- terestedness in regard to his own income, or his ge- nerous hospitality to the poor and needy ; never let them forget that he felt bound to their best interests by an indissoluble tie, so that when even an English bishopric was offered to him, he refused it ! But, above all, let his pleadings in high places, in that early day, on their behalf, and his unwearied exertions, at an ad- vanced age, in procuring for them the book of God in their long-proscribed language, be cherished with grate- ful remembrance. These render him the brightest star which ever rose on the gloom of their sorrow.t
* Richardson's History, &c. pp. 23, 24.
f His immediate successors will here very naturally be inquired for. Of these, however, we can say but little, and literally nothing as it regards Bedell's favour- ite and truly Christian views with reference to the Native Irish. These successors were Maxwell and H. Marsh, Sheridan and Smith ; but until the time of Weten- hall, in 1710, the object was not regarded by any incumbent of Kilmore. Robert Maxwell, son of the Dean of Armagh, was appointed in 1643, and the see of Ar- dagh, which Bedel had renounced, having also become vacant by the death of Richardson, Maxwell accepted it. He is mentioned as having been a lineal de- scendant of one of the Magnates Scotite in 1258, Aymer de Macceswell, and this he might be ; but into the designs of Bedell respecting the Scoti of Ireland he certainly did not enter. Here he remained for twenty-nine years, when, in 1672, H. Marsh, Bishop of Limerick, succeeded. After Marsh's promotion, in 1681, William Sheri. den was appointed, whose father has been already noticed as aiding Bedell in the translation ; but the son does not appear to have sympathized with the views of either. The manuscript was probably for years in his possession, as some time be- fore hii promotion he had delivered it to Jones, Bishop of Meath. In 1693 Wil-
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Yes, the period after Bedell's death was indeed in every sense gloomy. He was taken away from the evil to come, and it is marvellous that his translation was preserved, as by far the largest proportion of his papers and books were lost or destroyed. Not one step, how- ever, was taken either in printing his manuscript of the Old Testament, or reprinting the New, for about forty years. Nay, the Irish types which had been sent over by Elizabeth, and used for printing the New Testament, after passing from the hands of one King's printer to another, owing to the cupidity of one party into whose possession they had come, were secured by the Jesuits, and by them carried over to Douay, for the express pur- pose of promoting their own views in Ireland through the medium of the Irish language. Not a type remain- ed in existence for printing any thing ; but thirty years afterwards foreign productions were visible in Ireland, executed, I have no doubt, by means of these very ma- terials. In this, however, the Jesuits are not so much to be censured as the party who sold them. Their con- duct was a proof of their sagacity, and affords not a hint only, but a lesson of instruction even to the present generation. Before these types were carried away, they were employed in one publication during the time of the Commonwealth. It is a Catechism of some size, with Scripture proofs, all in Irish, printed at Dublin in 1652 by Godfrey Daniel, with rules for reading the Irish tongue, which, though brief, were considered to be ex- cellent.
Ham Smith succeeded ; but still it was not till his successor, in 1699, had been bishop for eleven years, that we find the incumbent of Kilmore following up the views of Bedell. This was Wetenhall, nearly seventy years after the decease of his indefa- tigable predecessor — though he also failed in his attempt. See the third section, anno 1710.
But now, after such long and miserable delay as that which we shall have occa- sion to expose ; at Kilmore especially, one should think that, in the recollection of Bedell's character, principles, and exertions, any incumbent might imagine " the stone to cry out of the wail, and the beam out of the timber to answer it."
72 LITERARY HISTORY.
Thus, after types had been procured in 1571, the only purposes to which they had been applied, with the exception of Kearney's Catechism, were one edition of the New Testament in 1603, another of the Prayer-Book six years later, and this Catechism in 1652. In other words, though the materials for printing had been fur- nished, here is the amount of all that was done in Ire- land, (for in Britain there was nothing done,) towards furnishing the Native Irish with the knowledge of di- vine truth through means of the press, during a pe- riod of one hundred and ten years, from 1571 to 1681, when the attention of a few eminent men was drawn to the subject.
In tracing, however, the symptoms and progress of some reviving, though transient interest, on behalf of this much-neglected people, towards the close of the seven- teenth century, we are irresistibly drawn to the admira- tion of one distinguished character. Other individuals lent their needful aid and influence ; but, without him, it seems almost certain that there had been no edition of the Irish New Testament from 1603 to the year 1813 ! nor any edition whatever of the Old until the present day ! The reader therefore may well excuse some previ- ous notice of one, who, though not what is called a Na- tive Irishman, was born in Ireland, and continued through life to feel so deep an interest in the aborigines.
The Honourable Robert Boyle was the seventh son and fourteenth child of the first Earl of Cork. Born the same year in which Lord Bacon died, it was left for him to succeed to his genius and inquiries, so that the one has been styled the student, the other the interpreter of Nature. " Boyle's valuable experiments," it has been lately said, " in various branches of science, show that he had deeply imbibed the spirit of his great master's system ; and, independently of his discoveries and im- provements, they constitute a most important addition to what Bacon had so loudly called on philosophers to
LITERARY HISTORY. 73
labour at attaining, namely, a more extensive and accu- rate history of nature." But still, however much he was indebted to his predecessor, and no man could admire him more, — as to Mr Boyle's pursuits, it must be remem- bered, that even these delightful studies he by no means regarded as his chief felicity. When the poor Native Irish come to bless his memory, and that day will come, let them not forget that all his generous sympathy for them sprung from a fountain of tenderness, opened in his heart in consequence of his profound veneration for God himself. He was indeed a philosopher, — a lover of wisdom, and that chiefly because in him this love pro- ceeded from the love of God, and was nourished by his habitual esteem for his most holy word. This was the theme on which he delighted to expatiate, and which, notwithstanding the occasional peculiarities of his style, lent to his expressions true sublimity of thought. Per- haps more familiar with nature than any man of his time, he had a pleasure in it, as a field for enlightened induction, equal to any who have explored it since ; yet all this familiarity with physical science was rendered doubly sweet, in consequence of far higher satisfaction in the inspired explanation of the secrets of wisdom. Here it was that Mr Boyle occasionally felt at a loss for expression, descriptive of his interest and enjoyment. While his philosophical writings abundantly evidence his delight in studying the works of God ; when he turned to his mays, and especially to the Divine Being himself, it was then that he found solid satisfaction, or, to use his own expression, then that he cast anchor and ceased roving. ' ' Though the pleasure of making phy- sical discoveries," says he, " is in itself very great, yet this does a little impair it, that the same attempts which afford that delight, do so frequently beget both anxious doubt and a disquieting curiosity. So that if know- ledge be, as some philosophers have styled it, the aliment of the rational soul, I fear I may truly say, that the na-
74 LITERARY HISTORY.
turalist is usually fain to live upon salads and sauces, which, though they yield some nourishment, excite more appetite than they satisfy, and give us indeed the pleasure of eating with a good stomach, but then reduce us to an unwelcome necessity of always rising hungry from the table."
How widely different were his expressions when he turned to the Bible ! " It may be fitly compared," said he, " to that blessed Land of Promise, which is so often said in Scripture to be flowing with milk and honey ; if not to Paradise itself, of which it is said that there the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden." Or as at another time, " the Bible is indeed among books, what the diamond is among stones, the most precious and most sparkling, the most apt to scatter light, and yet the most solid and pro- per to make impressions." Not that such a man could be insensible to the obscurity which at first or second reading seems to rest on various passages of holy writ. But then this he had by experience found to be only as the mist in nature, " which seems thicker at a distance than when one enters it ;" so that the obscurity was in many instances " not intended to frustrate industry, but punish laziness." Still these obscurities might bafflle his research ; and did this illustrious native of Ireland, therefore, throw the book away? Far from it. The same modesty which he discovered as an inductive phi- losopher, he felt more profoundly when looking on his Bible. " I shall ingenuously confess to you, that there are some things in the economy of Scripture that do somewhat distress my reason to find a satisfactory ac- count of, and that there are very few things wherein my curiosity is more concerned, and would more welcome a solution. But when I remember how many things I once thought incoherent, in which I now think I discern a close connexion ; when I reflect on the Author and
LITERARY HISTORY. 75
ends of the Scripture ; and when I allow myself to ima- gine how exquisite a symmetry Omniscience doth, and after ages probably will discover in the Scripture's me- thod, in spite of those seeming discomposures that now puzzle me ; when I think upon all this, I think it just to check my forward thoughts, which would either pre- sume to know all the recluse ends of Omniscience, or peremptorily judge of the fitness of means to ends un- known ; and am reduced to think that economy the wisest, that is chosen by a Wisdom so boundless, that it can at once survey all expedients, — and so unbiassed, that it hath no interest to choose any, but for its being fittest." To his penetrating yet patient mind there seem- ed a divine propriety or beauty in such passages being found in the book of God ; nay, that " there may be parts of Scripture whose clear exposition shall ennoble and bless the remotest of succeeding ages ; and that per- haps some mysteries are so obscure, that they are re- served to the illumination and blazes of the last and universal fire." There are men, indeed, who talk of danger, in approaching such passages, and would there- fore propose to withhold the book itself. But Robert Boyle, certainly one of the most illustrious men that ever drew breath in Ireland, would have trembled at such a proposal. Hear again his own words : — " As the knowledge of those texts that are obscure is not neces- sary, so those others, whose sense is necessary to be un- derstood, are easy enough to be so ; and those are as much more numerous than the oth*ers, as more clear. Since God has been pleased to provide sufficiently for our instruction, what reason have we to repine, if, in a book not designed for us alone, we have provision also for those that are fitted for higher attainments,— espe- cially since, if we be not wanting to ourselves, those passages that are so obscure as to teach us nothing else, may at least teach us humility."
Mr Boyle is said to have scarcely ever pronounced the
'
76 LITERARY HISTORY.
name of God without a pause ; his character as a phi- losopher is admitted at home and abroad ; but in Ireland, though a layman, let him never be forgotten for his ad- miration of the Sacred Volume, and as a practical divine. " I use the Scriptures," said he, " not as an arsenal to be resorted to only for arms and weapons to defend this party or defeat its enemies, but as a matchless temple, where I delight to be, to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and the magnificence of the structure, and to increase my awe and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and adored."
Such was this amiable and eminent Irishman, who, though but of a delicate constitution, lived a studious, and busy, and useful life. Far from spending —
The little wick of life's poor shallow lamp In playing tricks with nature, giving laws To distant worlds, and trifling in his own —
He was indeed a child-like sage : a sagacious reader of the works of God, and in his word sagacious — what won- der then that he should discover such interest in the translation and circulation of the Sacred Volume ?
In the year 1678, we find that a copy of the Irish New Testament of 1603 was quite a rarity, and it was to be seen nowhere in actual or public use ! At this time a native of Ireland, born at Cashell, who, in 1639, had gone abroad to complete his studies, in 1673 had return- ed to his native city, " desiring to spend the remnant of his days unknown, to prepare for the long day of eter- nity." Here he became acquainted with the Archbishop, Thomas Price, who well remembered Bedell, having been ordained by him at Kilmore. The following year the attention of this man, Dr Andrew Sail, had been par- ticularly drawn to the Scriptures, and being not only a person of thorough education, but particularly skilled in his native tongue, every thing in the language could not fail to interest him. Yet in reference to the present pe- riod he tells us — " I do not remember to have seen more
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of the Scriptures printed in Irish but the Psalms, with our Common Prayer-Book, in handsome folio for choir, of which I discovered a set to the Archbishop of Cashell, and his Grace appointed a reading of them in his cathe- dral."* In 1675, Dr Sail visited Oxford, and continued to reside there till May, 1680. Here he received his degree, and engaged in delivering lectures, and here he became acquainted with the Honourable Robert Boyle. In December, 1678, Mr Boyle having consulted Dr S. as to reprinting the Irish New Testament, he acquaint- ed him in return with its scarcity, as already quoted, and gave his opinion in the following terms : — " I bless God for inspiring you to so holy a zeal, and those worthies that join with you therein. I doubt not but it may con- duce highly to the glory of God, good of those souls, and credit of our government, if the other prelates and pas- tors of Ireland did use such endeavours as the good Arch- bishop of Cashell does, by communing with the natives, and winning them to hear and read the word of God ; and specially if in the College there were a course taken for obliging or enticing such as expect to have Borders] to read and declare the Holy Scriptures in Irish : — for me, I am more apt to lament than remedy it."
Mr Boyle now ordered a fount of Irish types to be cast in London.f He first employed them in printing the Church Catechism in Irish, with the Elements of that Language, in 1680 ; J but the year before he had already
* This, however, is not, I think, an edition of the Prayer-Book and Psalms in folio, but of the Psalms alone. The Prayer-Book of 1608 was in quarto ; and as it had not the Psalms, they seem to have been printed separately afterwards. " I am surprised in missing in our Common Prayer-Book in Irish the vulgar translation of the Psalms, which until now I never observed, it having been a strange omission that the Psalms, of such daily use in reading, should have been neglected." Dr Jones to Mr Boyle, in Sept. 1681.
•f- This Hibernian fount was cut by Mr Moxon, who founded at London from 1659 to 1683 ; and after Mr Boyle's time, it was sold at the sale of Mr John James, the last of the Old English letter-founders. Mr Mores, the learned typographer, says, " This was cut in England for Bedell's translation," and a " the only type of that language we ever saw !" % Richardson's History, p. 26,
78 LITERARY HISTORY.
resolved on also reprinting the New Testament. Mr Reily, a native of Ireland, but educated in France, be- ing well qualified for the work, and interested in it, Mr Boyle engaged him to superintend and correct the press. About the same period, Dr Sail having communicated with Dr Price at Cash ell, and received from him all the information he possessed as to the Scriptures in Irish, whether printed or in manuscript, went over himself, in May, 1680, and conferred with the Duke of Ormond, then Lord Lieutenant, Dr Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath, and Dr Narcissus Marsh, then Provost of Trinity Col- lege. Finding " all three very willing to countenance and further" the design, he informed Mr Boyle, and, in 1681, this edition of the New Testament was finished. Mr Boyle had ordered for his own distribution 500; but allowed the printer or publisher to throw off an addition- al number. The whole impression, however, was only about 700 or 750. In September, this year, copies were forwarded, by Mr Boyle's order, to Drs Jones and Marsh — fifty bound, of which forty were left for the College, under Dr Marsh, then much interested in training up stu- dents to read and study the language; others were pre- sented to influential persons, and 350 in sheets were for general distribution. A large preface in English and Irish, composed by Dr Sail, and translated by Reily, was prefixed to these unbound copies.
The year before this, or 1680, the manuscript of the Old Testament, by the venerable Bedell, having been inquired for, was found in the possession of Dr Jones, to whom it had been committed by Mr Sheriden.* Dr Jones proposed its being examined by Dr Sail, and with this view committed it to his care in December, 1681. He found the sheets in confusion, and in some parts defaced. With Mr Higgins, the Irish lecturer in Trinity College, he got it arranged and bound, in order to a fair copy be-
* See Note, page 70.
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ing written out for the press. In February, 1682, Dr Sail had engaged a transcriber, intending to send sheet by sheet to Mr Reily, in London, for the press. " I agreed with the scribe," says he to Mr Boyle, " for one shilling for each sheet ; the Provost and Mr Higgins think that to be the least he can expect, considering the special difficulty of writing the language. I desire to know your own opinion, with Mr Reily's, upon that; as also, that the subscriptions may be immediately begun and sent over, to defray the charges of this writing. I wish my stock were as able as my heart would be will- ing to bear all myself. My labour and industry I will not spare, and will lay aside other studies I was engaged in, to attend to this work, being persuaded that none other can be of more importance for the glory of God, and the good of souls, in this poor country. I have been confirmed in this persuasion, by the great joy I see in the country, for the publishing of the £New] Testament, with many blessings on you, and prayers for you, whose bounty procured this happiness for them." Dr Jones, who was now deceased, having previously informed Dr Sail that he had gained his expected successor to join him in this design, Dr S. had also succeeded with Dr William Moreton, Bishop of Kildare ; and these two, with Dr Marsh, he expected would propose subscriptions in Ireland, and agree to receive or collect them. In less than two months after this, however, (5th April), Dr Sail having caught cold, died unexpectedly, which was considered as a great stroke, though not a fatal one, to the design. In 1681, Dr Marsh had begun for himself to correspond with Mr Boyle. It was not from mere politeness that he had first embarked in furthering this work; and now that Dr Sail was gone, he says, " I in- tend that the revising of the old translation of the Old Testament, and its transcription, shall nevertheless go on, with the help of Mr Higgins, and some other Irish- men, whom I will call in to assist, if I can but discern
80 LITERARY HISTORY.
that, by God's help, I may be able to guide and direct the management of the work, what pains soever it may cost me." By the month of June, that year, Dr M. had with great care got 140 sheets fitted for the press. In September, it appears that the Bishops of Meath and Kildare were both, as yet, cordially united with him ; and that Provost Marsh, in Avriting to Dr Sancroft, Arch- bishop of Canterbury, who was contemplating a life of Bedell, had informed him of Mr Boyle's design. In Fe- bruary, 1683, the correct transcription was advanced to Jeremiah, when Marsh, who was during this month ap- pointed Bishop of Fern and Leighlin, obtained the cor- dial aid of another man of genius and learning, Dr Wil- liam Huntington. He succeeded him in the College, and being well acquainted with Mr Boyle, had previ- ously begun to correspond with him on the subject.* Thus, by the year 1685, the whole work, composing 719? sheets of manuscript, had been sent to London; and, under the care of Mr Reily, it was published in quarto, during the spring of 1686. The edition consisted of 500 copies ; to the expenses of which, and that of the New Testament — punch-cutting, transcribing, and print- ing, Mr Boyle, with his characteristic munificence, con- tributed L.700 sterling. For the expenses of printing and binding the Old Testament there were besides some private subscriptions. In March 1 686, copies were sent over to Dr Huntington. " The first that was bound," says he to Mr Boyle, " I carried to the Lord Lieutenant,
* Before this period Dr Huntington had forwarded the benevolent designs of Mr Boyle. In 1670, having gone to the East as chaplain to the British merchants at Aleppo, be visited Smyrna, Ephesus, and Thyatira, on his way, and remained abroad eleven years. Ancient MSS. in Arabic, Syriac, Samaritan, Hebrew, and Coptic, amounting in number to above 400, he collected and brought home. After having visited Egypt and Jerusalem twice, and carried on an epistolary correspond- ence with all the learned men In these parts, he returned, by way of Rome and Paris, to Oxford, in 1682. When'Grotius, in Arabic, and the Catechism, in Turk- ish, came out, through Mr Boyle's generosity, Dr Huntington, then at Aleppo, had been active in their distribution throughout Turkey ; and now that he had re. turned home, he was prevailed upon to become Provost of Trinity, and united with Dr Marsh in furthering the views of Boyle as to his native country.
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and begged his encouragement of so good a work, which he readily promised, both for its own sake and for yours, that the nation may know at present, and the genera- tions to come, how much they stand indebted to such a benefactor."
Some interest on behalf of the poor Native Irish hav- ing thus been discovered at last, though by only a few eminent men, the reader may be curious to know in what light this was regarded by others. Why was there not, it may be asked, but one general approving voice ? This, however, was far from being the case. The truth is, that one individual already referred to, Dr Jones, the Bishop of Meath, who revered the memory of Bedell, and warmly approved of his exertions, before that Mr Boyle had actually moved in the business, had been ad- dressing the Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieutenant, but he was borne down by the force of prejudice against all such attempts. Thus in his first letter to Mr Boyle, of August, 1680, he says, " this completing of the Bible in Irish, added to \vhat is already printed, would be a work greatly to God's glory, in bringing, by his grace, many from darkness to light. I had once thoughts of repre- senting this to our next parliament here, hoping for public allowance and supplies thereby towards it. But in discourse with some concerning it, I found it al- most a principle in their politics, to suppress that lan- guage utterly, rather than in so public a way counte- nance it. This occasioned what I have some time writ- ten (viz. 1676) in an epistle to the Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, prefixed to a small tract, which is therefore herewithal for your perusal." Four years after this we hear Dr Huntington saying, " How far the public will interest themselves in the encourage- ment hereof by any solemn act, I cannot determine." And now that the work is finished without any public aid, what says Dr Marsh, in March, 1686 ? " Upon the hint in your letter of my Lord Lieutenant's favourable
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thought of this design of publishing the Bible in the Irish tongue, I made bold to address his Excellency about it, and that the rather because I have gotten a great deal of ill-will from some great men in this king- dom for what I have done in promoting this good and charitable work, which has been no small discourage- ment to me. His Excellency was pleased to promise his encouragement and assistance towards the carrying it on, both by his purse and otherwise ; but withal was surprised to hear what I related of the discouragements, and, indeed, threats that I have had on this account. The unwelcomeness of this undertaking to many in this country, I believe, was the reason why the Bishop of Meath (Dr Dopping) flew off from prosecuting what he designed and promised, and has ever since been wholly unconcerned and sat neuter. Notwithstanding all which, I hope to finish the designed (Irish) Grammar, where- in I find many unexpected difficulties, and nobody able to solve them. An account of the Irish language, as to the original and nature of it, long since promised to the Provost, (Huntington,) is now coming to me : if any thing in it be material, care shall be taken that it be fit- ted to be joined with the other. The great charges and care that you have been at in printing the Old Testa- ment, will, I hope, find that acknowledgment, and the pious work find that acceptance amongst the generality in this kingdom which they really do deserve ; and that a means will yet be found out to commit the book of Common Prayers in the Irish tongue to the press also ; that so the design of the canons of this church, which require every parish to have the Bible and book of Com- mon Prayers in Irish, may be answered."
Thus it seems Mr Boyle might contribute large sums to the propagation of divine knowledge abroad, in Ame- rica and India, or found lectures for the defence of na- tural and revealed religion in England — he might print " Grotius de Veritate" in Arabic, — the Gospels and Acts
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in the Malayan tongue, — assist in the Catechism or New Testament in Turkish, — or even contribute towards the printing of the Scriptures in Welsh for Wales, or Gaelic for the Highlands of Scotland — for all these things he did, and for all his foreign operations especially was ex- tolled. But it seems it was not thought politic in him to pity his own dear nati ve country ; and he should not, in the estimation of some men, have thus befriended the Native Irish ! It was then whispered, no doubt, that the boon to be bestowed could only be conveyed with safety through the medium of the language of the reigning power. This strange position we shall have abundant opportunity of meeting afterwards. All we need to say at present is, that before a people, and especially a people of such heart and genius, could be brought in this way to part with " the tongue which their mother gave them,"* they must be debased to a degree which would actually render them unfit for all the purposes of social and of civil life. No, the exertions of Mr Boyle and his few learned friends carried with them every attribute of ge- nuine charity ; and it was a proverb then, as it is now, that " charity begins at home," though it certainly should not end there. But by the policy referred to, the pro- verb was reversed, and his charity might begin any where, and travel to the Antipodes, provided it did not glance upon the land from which he had derived his birth and fortune !
We have now, however, come to the close of the seventeenth century, one hundred and fifty years after the invention of printing : and before proceeding to the eighteenth, it is necessary to lift up our eyes, and look abroad to see whether any thing was doing on the con- tinent of Europe. Into the distressing peculiarities of Irish history it would be unwise to enter, but happily it is here quite unnecessary : Though to understand the
# The phrase used by the Irish themselves.
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baneful nature of that policy which has been pursued for ages, in other words, opposing the education or men- tal improvement of this people through the medium of their vernacular tongue, it becomes our duty to fix the public eye on some of its inevitable results.* Already we have scrupulously stated all that had been already done in their own country, however tardily, though of- ten frowned upon, and never more so than in the cases of the illustrious Bedell and Boyle. Now, it may afford a lesson of instruction, even to the present generation, if we look abroad, and observe how the native Irish were employed there during the seventeenth century. Let us see whether the proscribed language was regarded by them as an instrument of no value or no power, and whether the men who left their native country either- abandoned the language, or, if they returned, were un- able to converse with their countrymen.
The first book printed on the continent in Irish, and of course in the Irish character, which I have been able to trace, is a catechism at Louvain in 1608, the same year in which Daniel printed the Irish Prayer-Book. It was composed by a native Irishman from Ulster, Bona- venture Hussey, (Hosceus'), who was afterwards lecturer of the Irish College of St Padua, in Louvain. This catechism, however, was reprinted at Antwerp in 1611, and again, I think, at the same place in 1618, under the title of Teagasg Criosdaidhe, or Christian Doctrine.
In 1618, Hugh MacCaghwell, Cavellus, a Franciscan Friar, and Divinity Lecturer of Padua College, just men- tioned, published, in the Irish language and character, his " Mirror of the Sacrament of Penance," which Har- ris, in his additions to Ware, erroneously places in ] 628 ; two years after his death, on the 22d of September, 1626. If there is an edition in 1628, it must be the second.
* It cannot for one moment be imagined, that these are here registered as proofs of any high attainments ; but, taken as results of past policy, they may well be pon- dered. Its folly and injurious consequences are thus most strikingly apparent.
2
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In 1626, Scathan an Chrabhuigh, i. e. the Mirror of Religion, a catechism in the Irish language and charac- ter, was printed at Louvain by Florence Conry, or O'Mul- conaire, a native of Connaught — distinguished for his acquaintance with the works of Augustine. He publish- ed several works — one of which, printed at Paris in 1641, is entitled " Peregrinus Jerichontinus, hoc est de natura humana feliciter instituta, infeliciter lapsa, miserabiliter vulnerata, misericorditer restaurata," and at the end, the propositions of the divines of Louvain and Douai against the Jesuits, on the subjects of grace and the Holy Scrip- tures.
About 1626 also Florence Gray, born in Thomond, and a lecturer in the same College, wrote an Irish gram- mar ; but I cannot ascertain whether it was printed. He returned to Dublin, where he was living in 1630.
In 1639, there was published in quarto, at Louvain, by Theobald Stapleton, a secular priest from Kilkenny, in parallel columns of Latin and Irish, a Catechism on Christian doctrine. It is entitled, " Catechismus, seu doctrina Latino-Hibernica per modum dialog! inter magistrum et discipulum," — a book which seems to have been composed for the Irish students resident at Louvain and the other Irish colleges then establishing, or to be established, on the continent. At the end there is sub- joined, in Latin and Irish — Modus perutilis legendi linguam Hibernicam. There is a copy of this book in Trinity College library.
For ten or fifteen years, from the year 1629-30, Michael Cleri, or O'Clery, a Franciscan, born in Ulster, who had gone to the continent for his education, (in- duced by Ferrall O'Gara, the representative of Sligo in the Irish parliament of 1634), returned to Ireland, with the design of collecting Irish manuscripts, and the re- mains of Irish history. Assisted by five other individu- als, he succeeded in transcribing as much as filled two folio volumes, which have been generally known since
86 LITERARY HISTORY.
as the Annals of Dunagall: the first of which is now in the Chanclos library at Stow ; the second is in Trinity College, Dublin, where the first volume, copied into two quartos, makes this copy complete. Besides this work, these men collected the " Book of Conquests" and the " Regal Catalogue," &c. Whatever may be thought of" these compositions, they afforded O'Clery the best op- portunities of comparing Irish manuscript ; and as one result, he published at Louvain, in 1643, his " Seanasan Nuadh," a dictionary or glossary of the most obsolete and difficult Irish words. These, which were explained by words still used in modern Irish, were afterwards re- printed by Edward Lhuid, in his specimen of an Irish dictionary. A copy of this work was bought at the sale of Vallancey's library, for six guineas : which I presume to be the same that is mentioned in Watts' Bibliotheca Biblica, under this title, " Lexicon Hibernicum pro vo- cabulis antiquioribus et obscuris, Luvanii, 1643, 8vo."
In 1645, Anthony Gearnon, a Franciscan in the Irish College at Louvain, afterwards resident in Dundalk and Dublin, published a Catechism in Irish, — Parrthas an anma, or Paradise of the Soul, — copies of which, though very scarce, are still in the possession of several Irish gentlemen. To glance for one moment on Irish ground, we may notice here one work composed by Richard Plunket, a poor brother of the Franciscans, at Trim, in the county of Meath, — a Foclair or Glossary of Irish, Latin, and Biscay an, which he finished in 1662. The original is in Marsh's library, and there is a copy in that of Trinity College. Lhuid, in his Archaeologia Britan- .nica, made great use of it, and commends the author for his judgment and laudable industry ; but it was never printed; so that we must still look abroad for any spe- cimens of Irish typography.
The first book which seems to have been printed in English and Irish was an Essay on Miracles, plainly in- tended for the natives. It was published in 8vo, at Lou-
LITERARY HISTORY. 87
vain, in 1667, entitled, " Of Miracles, and the new Mi- racles done by the Relics of St Francis Xavier, in the Jesuits' College at Mechlin." The author, Richard Mac- Giolla-Cuddy, or Archdekin, born in the county of Kil- kenny, in 1 619, was a lecturer at Louvain and Antwerp, where he died about 1690. This man published several other works in Latin ; one of which, in three volumes 8vo, went through a number of editions in different places. When the eighth was undertaken, sixteen thou- sand had been sold, and there was a great demand for more; the eleventh edition was printed at Venice, in 1700.* The attention of the reader has been hitherto directed only to the Netherlands ; but Antwerp and Louvain were not the only places where an Irish press was busy. Whether any thing had been printed at Rome in the Irish character before this, I am not certain; but, in 1676, we find Irish types there, and these employed by natives from Ireland. " Lucerna Fidelium," printed in 8vo, at Rome, in 1676, though a Latin title, is an Irish book, containing an explanation of the Christian doc- trine, according to the faith of the church of Rome. Its Irish title is, " Lochran an Chreidmheach/' or Lamp of the Faithful.
The following year, an Irish-Latin grammar was pub- lished, " (irammatica Latino- Hibernica Compendiata," Romae, 1677> 12mo, which Lhuid regarded as the most complete Irish grammar then extant. It is, however, imperfect, both in syntax and the variation of nouns and verbs ; but the printing of it abroad may be contrasted with the fate of such a work as that of Plunket in 1662, already mentioned. Though scarce, both these volumes are in Trinity College library. They were composed by
* Its title is " Theologia tripartite universa, sive resolutiones polemics, prac- tics, controversiarum et questionum etiam reccntissimarum quse in schola et in praxi per omnia usum principuum habent : Missionaries et aliis animarum cura toribus et theologiee studiosis solerter accommodate."
88 LITERARY HISTORY.
Francis O'Molloy, from King's County, who was after- wards a lecturer in the Irish College of St Isidore at Rome, and for a time general agent for the Irish in Italy. Ten years before this he had published, in 8vo, at Rome — " Sacra Theologia."
There must, I think, have been several other compo- sitions in Irish typography. Of these now mentioned, however, editions were printed, and dispersed, or sold, and in one instance there were two if not three distinct impressions, perhaps more.
In concluding these notices of the seventeenth cen- tury, in which Britain was tasting even the luxuries of literature, and blest with all the satisfaction and benefit which books afford, let us pause for a moment over the situation of our native Irish fellow-subjects. It was now a hundred and thirty years since Irish types had been sent into the country, and the reader has observed the three or four purposes to which they had, at distant in- tervals, during that long period, been applied, — that these very types were purchased for a foreign market, and mixed up with others, not there to remain without use, but to be employed, it is most probable, in some of the prints just specified. The reader has seen individual benevolence endeavouring to put the Book of Life into the hands of the fourth generation after types had been actually furnished for printing it, and he has seen this frowned upon, instead of being generously and fearless- ly encouraged. What had been doing abroad I shall at present leave to the reader's own reflections ; but should he feel disposed to inquire what Britain had done for herself all the while, the contrast is sufficiently striking. Take only the English Scriptures as a specimen. By this time there had been one hundred and thirteen edi- tions of the English New Testament, the number of co- pies being beyond the possibility of calculation. Oppo- site to these, we have to place two editions of the Irish New Testament, both distant from each other nearly
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eighty years, and together including only 1000, or at most 1200 copies ! Of the English Bible complete, there had been one hundred and twenty-six editions, and op- posite to these we have only one solitary Irish Bible in quarto of about 600 copies, and that at the close of the century! But, besides these, there had been also about one hundred and ninety-three editions of portions of English Scripture, or, in whole, four hundred and thirty- two distinct publications, of which more than one hun- dred and twenty had notes or parallel passages, explica- tions, expositions, annotations, or comments.
In entering upon the eighteenth century, a period in which the art of printing has been employed throughout Britain with such distinguished effect, and to an extent altogether incalculable, the contrast presented to us, in the case of the native Irish, would be curious, were it not so painful to follow the workings of unsound policy. About the beginning of this century, an expedient pre- sented itself, then no doubt deemed a happy one — which was, that, if this Irish language was to be tolerated at all in the British dominions through the medium of books, it must only be by using the English or Roman letter. The jealousy which had reigned for centuries over the language, now settled itself, as a last resort, upon the appropriate character which belonged to it. This, however, it will appear, was only preparatory to the subject being dropped altogether, by almost all par- ties, public or private, for a hundred years ! The Hon. Mr Bovle had been successful in placing a few copies of the Scriptures in the hands of the fourth generation from the time that types had been first cast ; but three generations more must pass away before the benevolent action can be repeated !
The history of the dismissal of the subject, from that day to our own, is not unworthy of attention, as it may
90 LITERARY HISTORY.
serve to confirm the opinions of those who have now come forward to befriend this people.
In the year 1709, communications having passed be- tween the Irish House of Lords and the lower House of Convocation, respecting the native Irish, and the former having intimated that they had more than ordinary oc- casion for the assistance of the latter, to prepare and di- gest what might seem best, various resolutions were agreed to and passed ; among which were the follow- ing : — Resolved, " That the Holy Bible and Liturgy be printed in the Irish language in the English character." Resolved, " That some person be appointed to prepare a short exposition of the Church Catechism, — and that the same be printed in Irish and English."
The next year, 1710, after several encouraging symp- toms of attention to the state of the natives, a memorial by Dr Edward Wettenhall, Bishop of Kilmore and Ar- dagh,* as well as several other gentlemen and clergy- men in Ireland, previously sanctioned by the Earl of Anglesey and others, was presented to the Duke of Or- mond ; in which, after stating that there were no print- ed books of religion then extant in Irish, except a very few Bibles and Common Prayer-Books, it was humbly proposed, " that some numbers of New Testaments and Common Prayer-Books, Catechisms, and expositions thereon, Whole Duty of Man, and Sermons upon the principal points of religion, be translated, and printed in the Irish character and tongue ; in order to which the only set of Irish characters now in Britain is bought al-
* Dr W., who had come to Dublin in 1672, and was an excellent scholar, had in that city conducted a large school with success. He was the author of the Greek and Latin grammar well known and often printed, besides seventeen other pieces, chiefly practical divinity. He was now in Bedell's see, and entertained such vene- ration for his character, as to direct, by his will, that, if he died at Kilmore, " his body should be interred near good Bishop Bedell's." He expired, however, in London, three years after presenting this memorial, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. See also the note in page 70, 71.
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ready." t At this moment there seemed to be a conjunc- tion of circumstances, which filled with hope the en- lightened friends of the native Irish. The Duke him- self and Mr, afterwards Sir Robert Southwell, the se- cretary, were both favourably disposed. The Rev. John Richardson, of whose zeal some account will be found in a subsequent page, was chaplain to the Duke, and during the absence of his excellency, Dr Marsh, now primate, was also senior Chief Justice of Ireland. The Duke of Ormond being then in England, this memorial was forwarded to him, — he received it very kindly, — returned it to Dublin with a letter in its favour, desiring the Lords Justices to lay it before the Primate and other Prelates, then in Dublin. They gave it a favourable re- ception, but replied, that the help and advice of parlia- ment and convocation were required. The Duke then obtaining license from Queen Anne to enjoin immediate attention to the subject, it was also deemed advisable that the whole affair relative to the natives should be laid before her Majesty. A petition was presented ac- cordingly, the subject-matter of which was recommend- ed by the Archbishop of York as well as the Duke. The Queen not only acceded, but was entirely disposed to countenance and encourage the design ; but here, in effect, the whole matter, so far as instruction through the medium of the vernacular tongue was concerned, came to an end. Objections were raised, both to the memorial and petition already mentioned, and the old policy prevailed ! The zeal of the petitioners, however wise and well-directed, had gone too far for the preju- dices then existing, and the insertion of but a single
f These were types from the fount cut at the expense of Mr Boyle, and they seem to have been purchased by the Rev. John Richardson, of whom the reader will find some notice in a following page. It is worthy of remark, that while this memorial petitioned for Irish books, it immediately implored that English schools thould be erected in every parish of Ireland. Not a word is said as to the neces- ttty of Irish schools, I quote the whole that refers to Irish book.
92 UTERARY HISTORY.
sentence relative to Irish books or Irish ministers proved fatal to their wishes. By several individuals from Ire- land, it was suggested that such proposals were " de- structive of the English interest, contrary to law, and inconsistent with the authority of synods and convoca- tions ;" and although all such objections not only had no foundation in Scripture, law, or reason, but were ground- ed on a mistaken view of the memorial, to say nothing of the positive step taken so long before by Elizabeth, and the canons of the Irish church,* — still, that tide of mistaken and injurious prejudice against the language began to set in, which was not to ebb for a hundred years, and it was therefore deemed prudent to remain stationary till the convocation should be again consult- ed, and another application should be made to parlia- ment. As soon, however, as it assembled, the Lower House took up the subject, — the end was approved, — the opinions respecting the means were various and con- tradictory,— the time for application to parliament for necessary funds was passing away, when the Right Hon. Charles O'Neil, at the request of a well-wisher, moved that the matter should be resumed. A commit- tee was immediately appointed, — a report was made, and resolutions passed, — but any allusion to Irish books, or the Irish language, would now, it seems, have proved impolitic ! The House of Commons, however, unwill- ing to drop the subject altogether as to the Native Irish, still resolved, " That it will be requisite that a compe- tent number of ministers, duly qualified to instruct them, and perform the offices of religion to them in their own language, be provided and encouraged by a suitable maintenance." On the question being put, the House
» " And where all, or the most part of the people are Irish, they (the church- wardens) shall provide also the said books, viz. two books of Common Prayer and the Bible, in the Irish tongue, so soon as they may be had. The charge of these Irish books to be borne also wholly by the parish." — Canon 94 of the Church of Ireland. See also eighth line from the bottom, page 82. J j.-^i
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agreed, that such among their number as were members of her Majesty's Privy-Council should attend the Lord Lieutenant, desiring that he would lay the whole before the Queen, as the resolution of that House. Pursuant to this order, a bill was prepared and sent to the Lords ; but just as it was brought to the door of the House, par- liament had adjourned, — the other bills were soon trans- mitted to England. No more could be done in the af- fair during that session, — nor was the subject ever se- riously resumed from that time (1710) to the present hour, whether relating to Irish education or any other means whatever, through the medium of their own tongue ! It is true the House of Commons published their sentiments, dedicated to both houses of convoca- tion, and in 1711 they again talked of " a sufficient number of Bibles and Prayer-Books being provided at the public charge, in the Irish language," as being ne- cessary ; but it was all in vain. The entire abolition of the language was about to become the prevalent and fa- vourite idea, as it continued to be during the whole of the eighteenth century, — so that to this hour the real merits of the case have never been brought before any .sitting of parliament, whether in Ireland or Britain.
The benevolent wishes of these excellent men being thus disappointed, one individual, who had been deeply interested in the memorial, could not remain inactive — the Rev. John Richardson, Rector of Annah or Beltur- bit, in the diocese of Kilmore. Though living at the distance of half a century from Bedell, he seemed as if he had caught his mantle. Like him, he had acquired the language, and, indeed, while the discussions were going on in public, he was printing a volume of ser- mons in the Irish language; in which he was assisted by another minister in the same county, the Rev. Philip Brady, a man of genius and learning, and particularly versed in the language of his country. This was a se- lection on the principal points of religion, from Bishop
94 LITERARY HISTORY.
Beveridge and others. It was published in 1711. Even before this time he had been engaged in a translation of the liturgy, which Bishop Nicholson, in the preface to his Irish historical library, reports to have been con- sidered " correct." This was in the press to the extent of 6000 in 1712, and was printed in the Irish character ; for which Richardson, in common with every enlight- ened Irish scholar, was a warm advocate : there was also a parallel column in English. An edition of the Church Catechism in Irish, with Lewis's Scripture Proofs, he also published. In the preface, he states that his design had been not only encouraged by the Duke of Ormond and others in Ireland, but that the generali- ty of the English prelates agreed with his own senti- ments,— that the likeliest method of enlightening the natives was " by proposing to them the saving truths of religion in their own language, that being the only tongue understood by some, and most acceptable to all" At the same time he was aware that " the work would meet with discouragement and opposition," yet he was resolved to proceed, t( hoping that God would raise up friends to his undertaking." " For whatever," says he, " may be the causes of that great aversion which some have entertained against the language, an open and avowed attempt to abolish it is not the way to unite the two nations in their hearts and affections." Mr Richardson being a member of the Society for promot- ing Christian Knowledge, applied there, and with suc- cess. The result was 6000 copies of both publications, part of which was distributed in the Highlands of Scot- land, as well as in Ireland.
These benevolent and enlightened friends of the Na- tive Irish were now hastening to the grave, and, during this century, they had no successors ! I know not in what year Richardson died, but this is the last recorded instance of his benevolence. His printed proposals em- braced an edition of the Irish Scriptures, in which he
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was encouraged by the learned George Hickes and Ed- mund Gibson, John Chamberlayne, Henry Hoare, Sir George Wheeler, and above forty other respectable in- dividuals in Ireland and England ; but no such edition followed. The year after this, 1713, both Marsh and Wettenhall died ; so that again we are under the painful necessity of looking abroad.
Whatever might be resolved upon at home, the presses on the Continent were not unemployed. In 1728 the Elements of the Irish Language were published in 8vo, by Hugh MacCurtin; but this was only preparatory to a much larger work which he printed in quarto at Paris in 1732, — " An English-Irish Dictionary and Gram- mar." This dictionary was, at least, completed by the Rev. Connor O'Begley, — the grammar was MacCurtin's ; so the title-page bears, that the volume was the joint production of both. This volume he proposed to follow up by another, or Irish-English Dictionary. In the preface to the present work, referring to his country- men, he says, — " To give them all the helps I can, I propose to print several books in Irish on different sub- jects, in which I have the good fortune to meet with some learned public-spirited countrymen here, (Paris), who have promised me their assistance, and are gene- rously resolved to join their labours to mine in carrying on so useful a work." MacCurtin, who was born about 1663, in the parish of Kilmanaheen, county of Clare, was, at the time of publishing this dictionary, Irish pro- fessor in Paris. He returned, however, to his native place, carrying with him a valuable collection of Irish books. After his death, all these, as well as others be- longing to a brother, Andrew MacCurtin, and not a few besides, collected throughout Clare, Kerry, and Lime- rick, were conveyed over to France by Chevalier O'Gor- man about the year 1770. In 1739 there was compiled for publication a large Irish dictionary, containing many
96 LITERARY HISTORY.
thousand Irish words more than in any previous lexicon, by Teig O'Nachten ; but, like similar attempts on Irish ground, it failed to meet with encouragement, and was never printed. It is now in Trinity College library.
In 1742 another Catechism, entitled " Christian Doc- trine, by way of question and answer," &c. in the Irish language and character, with corresponding pages in English, was published at Paris, with the approbation of Louis XV., by the Rev. Andrew Donlevy, prefect of the Irish community in that city. The author, who compiled this work " for the education of the youth of his country," had now been absent from it about thirty years. In the preface it is stated, that P. J. Perrot, Lord of the Manor of Barmon, had, of a long time, been well-affected to the Irish nation, — had often given proofs of his affection for several of them, and that, without his concurrence, the work would never have seen the light. As this Catechism, which is in fact an octavo volume of 574 pages, with a clear type and ex- cellent paper, is more complete than any that had pre- ceded it, some further notice of it may not be uninterest- ing. " It is," says the author, " the great scarcity of those large Irish Catechisms, published upwards of a hundred years ago by the laborious and learned Fran- ciscans of Louvain, and the consideration of those great evils which arise from ignorance, partly from want of instructive books, together with a great desire of contri- buting to the instruction of the poor Irish youth, that gave birth to the following Irish Catechism :" — " The plainest and most obvious Irish is used therein, prefer- ring, after the example of St Augustine, ' rather to be censured by grammarians, than misunderstood by the people' Care also was taken to explain certain words which are not used in some cantons of the kingdom, and the words that explain them are set down at the bottom of the page. As to the English part thereof, it was translated, upon a second thought, perhaps too literally,
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from the Irish, in favour of those who speak only Eng- lish."* In his preface or advertisement, the author, without a single reference to politics, laments over the state of his countrymen, the Native Irish, as to their ig- norance and want of books. He refers to " the negli- gence, or ignorance, and impiety of parents, who com- monly bestow all their care in educating their children in vanity, and in the love of earthly goods j partly for want of virtuous and well-instructed schoolmasters or catechists, who would zealously employ their time and labour in making youth understand the science of salva- tion ; partly through the fault of children themselves, who little care for instruction, and often shun it, to their eternal ruin ; and partly, also, for want of little pious books, whereby they may be instructed and formed to devotion as soon as they are teachable and capable of re- ceiving pious impressions ; for, as the Holy Ghost saith, ' A child trained up in the way he should go, will not, even when he is old, depart from it.' " The volume concludes with the Elements of Irish Grammar, " in fa- vour of such as wouldjain learn to read it, and thereby be useful to their neighbour." With many of the senti- ments contained in this book, the present writer will not be supposed to agree, — yet such are some of the expres- sions contained in a volume published at this period in France, for the use of Ireland ; and they serve to prove what were the views and feelings of a Native Irishman, when permitted to speak out, after an absence of above thirty years from his native land.
In 1735, indeed, there was one effort upon Irish ground. Seventeen sermons in Irish were published by the titu- lar Bishop of Raphoe, James Gallagher, who had been educated abroad. In conformity with the prejudice of
* Alas : is it not high time that such compliments were returned, and with com- pound interest for past neglect, " in favour of those who speak only Irith t"
98 LITERARY HISTORY.
the clay, these were printed in the English character, and have gone through eighteen editions.
About the year 1750 also, two catechisms, one in Eng- lish, the other in Irish, were published by O'Reilly, ti- tular Archbishop of Armagh ; " and though there have been many others written and printed since that period, his work, particularly in Ulster, has the ascendant." So says the titular Bishop of Dromore in 1819. This cate- chism I have not examined, and into the matter of this or any other preceding it, need not enter here. In 1750 also, proposals were issued in Dublin for publishing an English, Irish, and Latin dictionary, by a Mr Crab of Ringsend, near that city ; but the book was never print- ed. Finding its way into the library of the late General Vallancey, it was purchased, when his books were sold, at the price of forty guineas, for a gentleman of Irish birth, the Rev. Dr Adam Clarke.
These things were still better managed abroad. The reader has observed, that an English-Irish dictionary had been printed there in 1732 ; and in 1768 an Irish-Eng- lish dictionary, in quarto, issued from the press at Paris. It was published by Dr John O'Bryan, the titular Bishop of Cloyne, and in the Roman character, most probably in furtherance of his design. For, in a long English preface respecting the Irish tongue, he says, " that the work has been published with a view not only to pre- serve for the natives of Ireland, but also to recommend to the notice of those in other countries, a language which is asserted by very learned foreigners to be the most ancient and best-preserved dialect of the old Celtic tongue of the Gauls and Celtiberians ; and, at the same time, the most useful for investigating and clearing up the antiquities of the Celtic nations in general." I shall only add, that the present very low state of this depart- ment of Irish literature may be conjectured from the prices now affixed to this work, and that of MacCurtin's, already mentioned. In a recent London catalogue, I
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observe the two works together, advertised for sale at the enormous price of eight guineas and a half !
In but few words, the retrospect of this century is much more painful than even that of the preceding. By the year 1799 or 1800, it is difficult to say how many editions of the Scriptures there had been in English. Independently of portions and editions with exposition, I have numbered 290 ; but, as if the Native Irish were reserved to stand out in contrast to even every Celtic tribe in the kingdom, by this time there had been print- ed and circulated in Welsh not fewer than twelve editions of the Bible, and as many of the New Testament, sepa- rately, amounting to at least 120,000, of which 75,000 Bibles and 14,000 Testaments had been printed during this very century, — 3000 Bibles and 32,500 Testaments, in Gaelic had been printed during the same period. Even in Manx there had been thousands, and all this before the Bible Society had been thought of: while, for the Native Irish, there had not been printed one single copy during the whole century !
At length, in the very close of the eighteenth, or ra- ther the opening of the nineteenth century, benevolent feeling having come into more lively exercise, a better day seems to have begun to dawn on this long, long ne- glected people. The time in which their best interest will be pursued, as it relates to the improvement of their mind, is surely now at hand. The time in which their vernacular tongue was thus treated has passed away ; and, assuredly, if " the English interest," in every sense of the term, is ever to be promoted, such policy and such neglect have passed away for ever.
To this better day for the aborigines of Ireland, va- rious circumstances have contributed their share of in- fluence, and no candid writer would willingly pass over any one of them. Whatever may be the thought of some of his positions, — the earlier writings of General Vallan-
100 LITERARY HISTORY.
cey, — the intended legacy of the late Henry Flood, Esq., which will be again noticed in the next section, — the formation of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, now merged in the Iberno- Celtic, — one or two papers in the Trans- actions of the Royal Irish Academy, — each of these has had, at least, some influence in awakening attention to the language itself. In the opening of this century, also, one is cheered by observing several publications in Irish upon Irish ground, such as the Irish Grammars of Dr William Neilson of Dundalk, of Dr Paul O'Bryan, Irish Professor of Maynooth, of William Haliday, Esq. of Dublin, the Synoptic Tables of Mr Patrick Lynch, and, finally, the Irish-English Dictionary by Mr Edward O'Reilly.*
The deceased Dr Whitley Stokes of Trinity College, Dublin, began by exciting attention to the necessity for printing the Scriptures in Irish; and DrDewar of Glasgow also lent his influence in favour of the language. In 1814 the present writer visited Ireland, and, in " a Memorial on behalf of the Native Irish, with a view to their moral and religious improvement, through the medium of their own language," endeavoured to plead their cause, with what success it is not for him to say ; but the same feel- ings led him to an argument which was printed after- wards in England and Ireland in favour of the Irish character being used, not the Roman ; and to a brief memorial respecting the diffusion of the Scriptures, par- ticularly in the Celtic or Iberian dialects, in 1819. This lastwas intended as illustrative of the prodigious z'we^wa/z'ty of supply already printed for these tribes. It proved, that
* There was one native of Ireland, Philip Fitzgibbon, who died at Kilkenny in April, 1792, who is said to have been esteemed as a mathematician and an Irish scholar. His Irish manuscripts he left to the Rev. Mr O'Donnell, among which there was an English and Irish Dictionary, contained in about 400 quarto pages. With his pen the author had, in imitation of printing, executed every word either in roman or italic characters ; but there is a singular omission, the letter S, and that he appeared to have entirely forgotten .'—Ryan's Worthies, II. 131.
3
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while one party, the Welsh, were attended to, and fur- nished with every variety, both as to the type and size of volume, the Irish were not impartially considered. It certainly was not without its effect, though it only showed that nothing was to be done, without exhibiting our long and strange neglect in the most glaring points of view.
In 1794, Dr Stokes had published Luke and the Acts in Irish, with parallel columns in English, and in 1806 the four Gospels and the Acts. In 1811, the New Tes- tament, and in 1817, the Bible, in Irish, were printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society ; but all these were in the Roman letter, and in the two first even the orthography of the language was interfered with. The question as to the expediency, nay the necessity and importance of using the character in which the language had always been printed of old, began to be understood by all who had paid proper attention to the subject : several small tracts and portions of the Scriptures have been printed in it, — and now at last, in 1828, one edi- tion of the Bible complete, in its appropriate character, has left the press.
Such then, and in such an important department, is nearly all that can be said with regard to the Native Irish ever since the revival of letters and the invention of printing ! The benevolence of a few intelligent pri- vate individuals, assisted by natives at home, working against both wind and tide, — the struggles of some of the Native Irish themselves abroad, fill up the wide space of more than three hundred and fifty years since the art of printing, or of more than two hundred and fifty years since Irish types and a printing-press were sent across St George's Channel !
After so long a night, — in coming, as we hope, to the morning of a better day, amidst a few primary exer- tions in their favour for the last ten or fifteen years, — the propensity to self-complacency in the present age must indeed be very strong, if there is any hazard of it here.
102 LITERARY HISTORY.
Yet I have heard it already said, that much is now do- ing for this people, and in their own language, and I am mistaken if something like this has not, more than once, got into print; but let all such expressions be now brought into comparison with what ought to be done for a population so extensive, and they will certainly not be repeated for some time to come.
In this department of Books alone, to which the pre- ceding pages have been chiefly devoted, very much in- deed remains to be accomplished, and certain desiderata will be pointed out afterwards in conclusion. Mean- while the previous section, and, above all, the existing state of this people, as still farther to be laid open, will, it is hoped, set all such measures as may be necessary in alight sufficiently strong ; though even here there are certainly few men in the present day possessed of common humanity who will not be disposed to exclaim — " What a history of the past is this, compared with what it ought to have been !"
The best interests of the kingdom are interwoven with the moral condition of any substantial quota of its popu- lation ; and it is only a strong conviction that the pre- sent state of the Native Irish embraces an object of far greater magnitude and importance than has ever yet been admitted, which has led to the publication of this volume.
" Every man is more speedily instructed by his own language, than by any other." " He that voluntarily continues in ignorance, is guilty of all the crimes which igno- rance produces ; as to him that should extinguish the tapers of a light-house might justly be imputed the «-aiamit:i>« of shipwreck."
" To obscure, upon motives merely political, the light of revelation, is a practice reserved for the reformed." JOHNSON.
SECTION II.
SCHOOLS OF LEARNING
Of early and modern date, including some account of the attempts to employ the Irish tongue as a branch of Education at home, and of the Schools either founded by the Native Irish, or at their instance, for their Education abroad.
" THE ages," said Dr Johnson, " which deserve an exact inquiry are those times, for such there were, when Ireland was the school of the west, the quiet habitation of sanctity and learning." By learning, of course, such a man intend- ed the learning of the day as far as it had gone, although how much he involved in the term he has not informed us. I am perfectly aware that this department of our national history is regarded by some only with a smile, as one would some puzzled skein of silk, which it requires great patience and fine fingers to rectify. It may be so ; but from the length which even the writer has gone, at intervals snatched from other avocations, he cannot but believe, that so far as any man, possessed of learning and patient research, shall proceed in a candid examination of the Irish remains abroad and at home, if the times are considered, at least the ancient school of Armagh, if not one or two others, will rise in point of character. At present the generality say, and with some truth, " we have only heard the fame thereof with our ears." Pre- cision, accuracy, and confirmation are required, and es- pecially for those who seem disposed to question every affirmation ; while certain Irishmen more deeply read, and naturally interested in their past history, cling with
104 SCHOOLS OF LEARNING.
fondness to these recollections of ancient times, — by some they are cherished, as one remembers the singing birds in spring, which now sing no more.
The foundation of the school of Armagh is to be traced to a very remote period, in the judgment of those who are partial to Irish antiquity, while this seems to be little more than conjecture in the estimation of others ; but of its early existence there can be no question. In- significant in its commencement, like every similar school of learning in Europe, even of more modern date, still such men as have been already glanced at, who came out of Ireland in those early ages, there can be little doubt, owed whatever learning they possessed mainly to this seminary. Referring, therefore, to what has been already said of them, I might add here, that, even so late as the end of the twelfth century, though many changes had taken place, and a long night of dark- ness had intervened, we know, as matter of history, that the last of the Irish kings, an encourager of learning, augmented the income of the superior of Armagh Col- lege; stipulating that this studium generate should be con- tinued and kept open for all students, as well from any part of Ireland as from Albanian Scotia.* If the reader is curious on this subject, among others I might refer him, for one account of the ancient School or College of Armagh, to Stuart's Historical Memoirs of the City, Appendix, No V., — an interesting volume in many re- spects.
In looking over Ireland after this period, we find no seminary of learning worth notice, until the close of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Passing over the abortive attempts of the fourteenth century, — for in the fifteenth there were none, — it was in the end of the sixteenth that the present University of Trinity College, Dublin, was
* Ware's Antiquities by Harris, p. 241. Tria Tbaum. p. 510.
SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. ]Q5
founded by the Queen's warrant, dated 29th December, 1591. During the following reign, the Native Irish are specially noticed, and in connexion with the College, in a letter from King James I., addressed to the Lord-de- puty, and all others whom it shall concern, dated 26th February, 1620. — " Because," says his Majesty, " our Colledge of Dublin was first founded by our late sister of happie memorie, Queen Elizabeth, and hath beene since plentifully endowed by us, principallie for breeding upp the natives of that kingdom in civility, learning, and religion ; we have reason to expect that in all this long tyme of our peaceable government, some good numbers of the natives should have been trained upp in College, and might have been employed in teach- ing and reducing those which are ignorant among that people, and to think that the governors of that house have not performed that trust reposed in them, if the revenewes thereof have bene otherwise employed ; and therefore wee doe require, — that henceforth special care be had, and that the visitors of that Universitie be re- quired particulerlie to looke unto and take care of this point, and the supplying of the present want ; that choise be made of some competent number of towardlie young men, alredie fitted with the knowledge of the Irishe tongue, and be placed in the Universitie, and maintain- ed there for two or three years, till they have learned the ground of religion, and be able to catechise the simple natives, and deliver unto them so much as themselves have learned ; and when any livings that are not of any very great value fall void among the meer Irish, these men to be thought upon before others, or to be placed with other able ministers that possess livings among the meere Irish, (where, for defect of the language, they are able to do little good,; to be interpreters to them, and to be maintained by them, after they are made fit for that employment," &c.
I am not aware of any approach to a conformity with
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these instructions till the days of Bedell. While he was Provost (two hundred years ago, viz. in 1627 and 1628,) he had done what he could, in promoting an Irish lec- ture in Trinity College, — a measure of which Charles I. expressed his decided approbation, through the Chan- cellor to Archbishop Ussher. All this, however, died away, and it was not till about thirty years afterwards, under Dr Winter, the Provost of Trinity College, in the time of the Protectorate, that we find anything akin to it ; but this attempt also, which was about the year 1656, and of which some account is given, under the head of Oral Instruction, in the next section, also failed, and the subject was dismissed again for more than twenty years. Jeremy Taylor indeed, who had been Vice-Pro- vost of Trinity, addressing the Secretary of State in 1667, says, " It is fit that it should be remembered, that near this city of Dublin there is an University founded by Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the natives of this kingdom." He saw them to be " populus unius labii, and unmingled with others," — yet though he un- dertook the task of collecting and completing the body of statutes, &c. which Bedell had left unfinished, he does not appear to have seen the importance of meeting the partiality of the people for their native tongue.
In 1680, however, the Bishop of Meath, Dr Jones, advised with Dr Narcissus Marsh, and during his pro- vostship we find not fewer than eighty students attend- ing on Mr Higgiris, the Irish lecturer, besides some of the Fellows and chief members attending him more private- ly ; we see the Provost Marsh himself, not only super- intending the transcription of the Irish Scriptures for the press, but composing an Irish grammar. We find also, in the College chapel, an Irish sermon delivered monthly, which was crowded ; the Duke of Ormond himself attending, and promising his presence to coun- tenance it. c< That which gives me the greatest hopes of success," said Dr Jones, writing to Mr Boyle this
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vear, " is our good Provost's care and zeal in training up the present youth in the College in reading the Irish, which, by the books from you now in their hands, is greatly forwarded. This may be a seed-plot for the church. The harvest is great, and the labourers few, therefore is the Lord of the harvest to be earnestly de- sired to prepare and send forth more labourers." But all this did not proceed without opposition or discour- agement. It is even melancholy to contemplate the withering of such a " seed-plot" as this before the breath of blind political expediency ; but the truth is, that with the removal of Dr Marsh to another sphere, the decease of Dr Jones, and other circumstances, the whole course was finally relinquished.
About thirty years afterwards, it is evident that the subject had again been taken up in the University. " We must not omit those means which have been lately used in the College of Dublin," says Mr Richardson in 171 1. " The Rev. Dr Hall, present Vice-Provost, sup- ported for some time, at his own charge,* one Denny, to teach Irish privately to such of the scholars as had a de- sire to learn that language ; and the present Archbishop of Dublin (King) did and doth still encourage Mr Ly- niger to teach it publicly. There is also a small allow- ance settled in that house for natives, to which, if more were added by the pious charity of persons disposed to encourage this work, and a constant salary settled for an Irish lecturer, there might be a sufficient number of scholars trained up within a few years."t Mr Lyniger had been three years thus employed ; but there is no proof of his continuance after that period ; nay, rather the reverse, as in three years after, viz. 1714, we meet with a pamphlet published in Dublin, recommending the language to the notice of the University. " The
* Why not by the College ? was it not founded principallie for the natives ?, t Richardson's History, p. 43.
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present clergy," says the author, " are generally ignorant of the Irish language, and therefore incapable of dis- coursing with the mere natives" — " but if exhibitions were paid annually to such a number of students in the College of Dublin as shall be thought convenient, who shall qualify themselves to speak the Irish tongue, and a new Fellow of the College was appointed to be pro- fessor thereof, and allowed a stipend for examining such exhibitioners, this would in a few years enable many to converse familiarly with the natives," &c. All such suggestions, however, were in vain ; and from that time to the present day, if the Irish language has been cultivated in schools of learning — for these, as we have already done for Irish books, we shall again be under the necessity of looking to foreign countries, far from the native soil and seat of the language.*
Before, however, dismissing this subject, it is of im- poi'tance to record one most noble intention. It is worthy of special notice, as a substantial and standing proof of what one eminent man conceived to be a desideratum in Ireland. The late Henry Flood, Esq. of Farmly, in the county of Kilkenny, by his will, dated 27th May, 1790, had constituted Trinity College residuary legatee to a considerable part of his property, valued, in 1795, by Sir Laurence Parsons, afterwards Earl of Ross, at L.5000 per annum, but since that period at about L 7000 annually. " I will," said Mr Flood, " that on their coming into possession of this my bequest, on the death of my said wife, they do institute and maintain, as a perpetual establishment, a professorship of and for the Native Irish or Erse language, — with a salary of not less than three hundred pounds sterling a-year." " And I do will and
* Within these few years there is indeed one Professor of the Irish language, where the language is at least professedly taught on Irish ground, which will be afterwards noticed in its proper place ;— this is at Maynooth. But in Trinity Col- lege, to the present hour, nothing of the kind exists !
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appoint, that they do grant one annual and liberal pre- mium for the best and another for the next best compo- sition in prose and verse, in the said Native Irish lan- guage, upon some point of ancient history, government, religion, literature, or situation of Ireland; and also one other annual premium for the best and another for the next best composition in Greek or Latin, prose or verse, on any general subject by them assigned," — " and I will, that the rents and profits, &c. shall be further applied by the said University to the purchase of all printed books and manuscripts in the said Native Irish or Erse language, wheresoever to be obtained ; and next, to the purchase of all printed books and manuscripts of the dialects and languages that are akin to the said Native Irish language ; and then to the purchase of all valuable books and editions of books, in the learned and in the modern polished languages."
" This," says Lord Ross, " was the extensive range of Mr Flood's bequest to the public. Having first mani- fested in his will all the wise and tender anxieties and cares for those around him, for whom duty and affection taught him to provide ; having for these, when he was about to retire from the world, provided every means of competency, and spread every shade of protection which a prudent and liberal mind could suggest ; he then turned his eyes upon Ireland — Ireland, for whose pros- perity he had so many years illustriously toiled. His great spirit, while it was just hovering over the tomb, was still busied about the future fame of his country : it dictated those expiring accents, which direct that the materials of learning, from all parts of the earth, should be from time to time collected and deposited in the bo- som of our University." Before this passage, his Lord- ship had said, " often did Mr Flood remark to me, that while in the East ingenious men were collecting and trans- lating, with such laudable industry, the ancient writings of the inhabitants of that region between Indus and the
E
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Ganges, the valuable memorials of our own island were neglected and perishing. He thought that many of the truths of ancient history were to be found at these two extremities of the lettered world ; that they would reflect light and knowledge upon each other, and lead to a more certain acquaintance with the early history of man." Yet, notwithstanding the distinctness of this last will and testament, there seems to have been some defect or informality ; — the validity of the bequest was questioned,, — the College instituted a suit for the purpose of esta- blishing their claim ; but in the end that body has failed of success, the will has been broken after a trial at bar, if not an appeal to the House of Lords, and at the pre- sent moment nothing approaching to any one of its pro- visions exists in Ireland.*
* Had this bequest weathered the glorious uncertainty of the law, the library of Trinity might have become the most valuable in the kingdom. Its previous history, as it now stands, is rather singular. After the defeat of the Spaniards at Tyrone and Kinsale, in the year 1603, the officers in the army having genercus- ly subscribed L.1800 from their arrears of pay, devoted the whole to the purchase of books, for a public library in Trinity College, then recently founded. Thu * encouraged, Ussher immediately proceeded to London, and, while engaged in pur. chasing books, first became acquainted with Sir Thomas Bodley, then in town, for a similar object as to Oxford. The first donation of value to Trinity was that of Ussher's own library ; the history of which is also worthy of remark. In 1640, Ussher left Ireland, Intending or wishing to return ; but, the following year, his personal property being destroyed or seized, with the exception of his furniture and library, he secured the conveyance of the latter to Chelsea College. In 1645, Ussher not only declining to attend the Westminster Assembly, but controverting their authority, bis library was confiscated by order of the House of Commons as the property of a delinquent. John Selden, his particular friend, employed T)r Fealty, then, I believe, Provost of Chelsea College, to purchase the whole as if for Selden's own use. It was in reality to preserve the entire library for its owner. On Ussher's death, in 1655, although he had destined his books for Trinity Col. lege, his misfortunes compelled him to leave them to his only daughter, Lady Tyrrel, then the mother of a numerous family. Both Cardinal Mazarine and the King of Denmark wished to purchase it entire, but the officers of Cromwell's army could not bear the idea of its leaving the kingdom. Whether they had the soldiers of Elizabeth, already mentioned, in their eye or not,— actuated by a noble and enlightened spirit they purchased the library for L.2200 sterling, in order to present it to the University of Dublin. These men indeed were bent upon the erection of a second college in that city, and this occasioned Ussher's library to be deposited meanwhile in the castle— an unfortunate step, as it occasioned the loss of many volumes. In 1661, by the authority of Charles II., the whole were con- veyed to the spot which Ussher himself intended. At the head of the benefactors, therefore, we find the following entry :— " Carolus II. qui anno 1661 dedit Biblio-
SCHOOLS OF LEARNING. HI
It is now nearly two hundred and forty years since Trinity College was founded. The reader has before him all that has ever been done for the natives in their native language; and on whomsoever the blame has rested, or at present rests, taking it all in all, to this sin- gular and injurious course of procedure there is not a parallel in Europe ; but there is a contrast which must not — need not — now be concealed. In a previous sec- tion, the reader has already observed, that while we were idle, or opposed to the employment of a single Irish type, elementary books in that tongue were printing on the Continent: he may now see where these things were employed, whether in Spain or Italy, in France or Bo- hemia and the Netherlands. In not encouraging, by every means within our power, the enlightening of this people through the only medium, naturally and there- fore necessarily dear to their hearts, just as much so as our mother-tongue is to us, one cannot help inquiring whether a more effectual method could have been devised for withering one of the arms of the nation, or rather infusing into it a power of rebounding against ourselves ? All those who have cultivated the language have ever ingratiated themselves into the affections of the people ; and whatever mystery there may have been in the state of Ireland, still there was all along as direct a road to
thec. Usseriana." He had, however, no share in the donation, except that of complying with the original intention of the purchasers. At a more recent pe- riod, in the reign of James II., the whole library was exposed to the most immi- nent hazard, and, but for the vigilance of Dr Michael Moore, an Irishman, after- wards mentioned as educated in France, but then the Provost of Trinity, it had probably fallen into the hands of the Jesuits. (See page 122.)
The library is now valuable, including above a hundred thousand volumes, among which are to be found the Fagel collection of 20,000 volumes, mostly bound in vellum, purchased in Holland for L.8COO, and presented by the trustees of Eras- mus Smith ; besides about 1200 manuscripts, once the property of Usaher— Stearne, Bishop of Clogher— Provost Huntingdon, chiefly Oriental— Carew, president of Munster, Irish MSS. of Elizabeth's time, &c. This library, included in the book- sellers' act, receives a copy of every new publication, — a privilege, however, which, for Ireland's sake, should have been extended to Marsh's library, so useful, be- cause so open to every respectable stranger or resident, at all seasonable hours. See Parr's Life of Ussher. Stuart's Armagh. Hist, of Dublin, -Ho.
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the heart of a native Irishman as to that of any man un- der heaven. As the reader proceeds he will excuse this digression. I need scarcely add, that the following cases are brought forward, not as proofs of eminent learning ; but as we have already done with books, so we now proceed with schools, and they are to be viewed as re- sults,— conveying information at once curious, interest- ing, and admonitory.
On looking abroad, we find that, before the founda- tion of Trinity College was laid, there existed at least two colleges for the direct use of the Native Irish ; and others followed in succession, established in different coun- tries. The following account, placed in chronological or- der, contains a few notices in reference to each. These are taken principally from Ware's Irish Antiquities by Har- ris ; but his statements have been compared with other authorities, and other particulars of a more recent date, have been added, so as to bring up the account to the present period.
1. Salamanca, 1582. — The first country on the Euro- pean continent to which the Native Irish were accus- tomed to resort for education, was Spain, the land in which, according to one impression among themselves, their ancestors once lived ; and the earliest foundation of which any authentic account can be given was at Sa- lamanca, in Leon, once so famous for its university. At the instance and solicitation of an Irishman, Thomas White, from Clonmell, Tipperary, a college was insti- tuted in 1582, of which White was the first rector. Small at first and poor in its origin, it was, however, maintained for many years, till, in the years 1610 and 1614, buildings were erected and a spacious library was formed. It was in this college, about fifty years after this, that Dr Andrew Sail, already mentioned, was a professor, and here that different individuals, named in
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these pages, in whole or in part received their educa- tion. The number of students, however, has never been great. Thus, at the period of the French revolution, there were 32, and up to the invasion of Spain by France, in 1807, the number was never above 30. At present there are supposed to be only about 12. Count Beerhaven, of an Irish family, was a benefactor to this seminary.*
2. Alcala, 1590. — About the year 1590, Baron George Sylveria, born in Portugal, but of Irish extraction, his mother being a Macdonell from the north of Ireland, founded a college at Alcala de Henares, for 30 Irish students, four chaplains or professors, and eight ser- vants ; for whose maintenance he allotted the sum of L.2000 sterling annually, and one thousand pounds for the erection of the chapel.
3,4. Lisbon and Evora, 1595. — In this year there were two colleges founded in Portugal for Irish stu- dents ; one at Lisbon by one Ximenes, (not the cardinal of course, — -he died in 151 7, but not improbably the Spa- nish lawyer,) to which Mr Leigh, an Irishman, was a benefactor. It seems to have been but a poor founda- tion ; yet, from its funds, after receiving his education, any student returning to Ireland received five pounds to pay his passage home, besides provisions for his voy- age. From 1792 to 1807 there were from 20 to 30 stu- dents; but since then and at present only about 12. The College at Evora, founded the same year, was soon alienated from its original design.
5. Douai, 1596. — Before the close of the sixteenth
* Peter French, from Galway, educated here, went as a missionary to the Mex- ican Indians. There he remained for thirty years. He composed a catechism in f&e Mexican language, and finally returned to Ireland, where he died in 1693.
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century, the Native Irish had begun to resort to French Flanders and the Netherlands, induced, it is not improb- able, by the influence which Spain then enjoyed in these parts. To Douai, in particular, they had repaired ; but in 1596 the foundation was laid of a seminary for their exclusive instruction, by one of their own countrymen, Christopher Cusack, an Irishman from Meath, probably the son of Christopher Cusack of Gerrardstown, near Rateeth.* This man spent his own patrimony in the cause ; and, procuring the assistance of other friends, was instrumental in first founding the Douai College. From hence, too, by his exertions, also sprang the semi- naries or colleges at Lille, Antwerp, and Tournay. Cu- sack was the first President of Douai, styled the Mother College, and he acted as the superior of the Irish youth throughout Flanders, until his death, in 1619. Mr Lau- rence Sedgrave, a cousin, succeeded him, and continued till 1633, when a Mr James Talbot succeeded as his uni- versal heir. In 1706, Edmund Bourke, and in 1713, Christopher French, both from Galway, were Regents of Douai College, and both of them authors. Bourke returned to Dublin, where he is said to have written his essay in opposition to the Jesuits, and died at Rome about 1738. In the year 1740, the President of Douai was Mr Patrick M'Naghten from Ireland, who furnish- ed Mr Harris with an account of these Netherland semi- naries ; and it was here also that Patrick alias Christo- pher Fleming, related to the Lords of Slane, received his education. He was successively a lecturer at the Irish Colleges of St Isidore at Rome, at Louvain, and Prague, leaving his Life of Columbanus, which was published at Louvain in 1667. Before the French revolution there
# Ch. Cusack, whom I presume to be the Father, "made a book of collections," says Harris, " relating to Irish affairs, in 1511, which is extant in manuscript in Trinity College library," and which Primate Ussher so valued as to prefix to it several genealogical tables.
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were 40 students here, under two superiors. At present I do not know of any.
6. Antwerp, 1600. — About the commencement of the seventeenth century the College at Antwerp was found- ed, of which Sedgrave, already mentioned, was the first President. In 1629, however, he paid 13,320 florins for a house and garden, which, with the consent of the Bishop of Antwerp, he erected into a college for 12 or 16 stu- dents from any of the four Irish provinces ; but the esta- blishment would afterwards admit of double this num- ber. Archdekin from Kilkenny, already mentioned as an Irish author, was Rector in 1676. About the year 1792 there were two superiors here, and under them 30 students.
7- Tour nay, 1607- — This year a seminary for young Irish students was opened at Tournay. Villani, the Bishop, left 9000 florins for the support of the President. This, however, was but a poor foundation, and, having to look to Antwerp for aid, was ultimately given up.
8. Lille, 1610. — The seminary at Lille, which was founded at this time, was also of small extent, and after- wards confined to students from the province of Leinster. It continued open, however, for many years, and before the Revolution there were eight students under one master.
9 & 10. Louvain, 1616. — At Louvain, this year, the first stone of a college for the Native Irish was laid by the Princes Albert and Isabella of Spain, which is ge- nerally styled the College of St Anthony of Padua. Flo- rence Conry from Connaught, the author of an Irish catechism already noticed, used his influence with Philip III. to found this seminary; but in 1624 another college was opened here, of which Roch MacGeoghan was the
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first provincial. It was afterwards enlarged by two Irishmen, named Joyce, about 1656. Ferral, " no bad poet," (says Ware,) and Archdekin both taught in one of these colleges. About the time of the French revolution there were 40 students in attendance under two masters.
11. Rome, 1625. — The number of Irish students in this city has never been great; but there are various particulars in relation to the colleges there which are in- teresting, and deserve notice.
In the year 1625, several buildings at Rome, with ground attached, which had been employed by Spain for despatching the business of that kingdom and the Indies, having fallen under debt, which they could not defray, the parties concerned advised with Luke Wadding, an Irishman, as to the best mode of redeeming the concern from its encumbrances. Wadding, the eighth son of his father, a respectable citizen of Waterford, had left Ire- land in the fifteenth year of his age for Lisbon, and com- menced his studies there in 1603. Having, in addition to Greek and Hebrew, acquired a correct knowledge of the Portuguese and Castilian languages, he removed to Salamanca about the year 1616. Here he continued to preside over the Irish College for two years, when he was sent, as chaplain of the Spanish embassy, to Rome ; and there he remained, labouring with an assiduity which is scarcely credible, did not his voluminous writings alone sufficiently prove it.
To say nothing of smaller works, and unpublished manuscripts left at his death, — although his other occu- pations were so numerous, says Harris, " that it is diffi- cult to conceive how he could find time either to write or read," — we may form some idea of the prodigious ac- tivity of this man when it is stated, that during his life- time he wrote and published ten volumes in folio, two in quarto, and four in octavo; besides preparing, with great labour, sixteen volumes in folio for the press, and
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superintending four others of the same size. Of these, fourteen he got printed at Rome, twenty-one at Lyons, and one at Antwerp, or thirty-six in all ! Twelve of these folios form the best edition of the works of Duns Scotus, with critical notes by Wadding. Another work, his Annals or Lives of the Franciscan Friars, in eight, was extended and republished at Rome, in 1731, in six- teen volumes folio ; a copy of which is in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, with his life prefixed, written by Francis Harold, his nephew. From this life it appears, that a splendid Concordance to the Hebrew Scriptures, in four volumes folio, was the first work which this Irish- man superintended and published, in 1621, — the " Con- cordantiae Sacrorum Bibliorum Hebraicorum et Latino- rum," of Marius de Collasio. The author having died in 1620, Wadding could not bear the idea of such a work being either lost or concealed ; but unable himself, of course, to bear the expense, he applied for assistance and succeeded. This Concordance of Collasio, on which that of Buxtorf is grounded, was republished in London, 1747-1749, to which every king in Europe was a sub- scriber. The treatise prefixed, — " De Hebraicae linguae origine, praestantia, et utilitate," was written by Wad- ding.
Having been applied to with reference to the build- ings already noticed, Wadding, after consulting with several men of authority and influence, offered to pur- chase the whole concern, and thus secured a college, with an especial view to the education of his countrymen from Ireland. Barbarini, who had founded the College de Propaganda Fide, befriended the undertaking. On the 24th of June, 1625, Wadding entered on possession, and having appointed Anthony Hickey, a learned Grecian and divine, born in Clare, to be principal lecturer in di- vinity, and Martin Walsh, from Donegal, the second lecturer ; Patrick Fleming, son of Captain Garret Flem- ing, of the county of Louth, to be lecturer on philosophy ;
£2
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and John Ponce, from Cork, the second lecturer, — he in- vited any of the natives of Ireland, then on the Conti- nent, to avail themselves of the education here presented to them. The students in a short time amounted to thirty. After enlarging and improving all the buildings, Wadding added a noble and well-selected library of books, rather for use than ostentation, consisting of five thousand volumes, mostly folio, and about eight hun- dred manuscripts. The founder being elective every five years, Wadding was chosen five times in succession be- fore his death, in 1657. Though but a poor friar from Ireland, yet from the time of his arrival at Rome, in the thirtieth year of his age, he had so risen in the estima- tion of the inhabitants, that, from their voluntary bounty rather than his importunity, in the first five years, viz. from 1625 to 1630, he had expended 22,000 crowns. This, however, was only an inferior proportion of the expense connected with an undertaking, for the whole of which Wadding provided, and which has been very well known since his day as " the College of St Isidore at Rome."
12. Rome, 1628. — Opposite to these buildings stood a house, afterwards named the Ludovisian College. In 1628, three years after Wadding had entered St Isidore, at his instance the Cardinal Ludovisius paid 150 crowns for furniture, and assigned 600 Roman crowns annually for the use of this building and the education of six natives from Ireland. But as Ludovisius at his death bequeath- ed a vineyard or farm and 1000 crowns annually to the institution, the house was purchased, named after him, and became a permanent institution for twelve Irish stu- dents, who also attended all the lectures at St Isidore.
13. Rome, 1656*.— The year before his death, 1656, Wadding founded another seminary for twelve Irish students, preparatory to St Isidore, at Campranica, about
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twenty-eight miles from Rome. Francis O'Molloy from King's County, the author of two pieces printed at Rome in 1666 and 1667, already noticed, succeeded Luke Wad- ding. At some one of these seminaries there were about sixteen students in 1792 or 3; but, even before the French invaded Italy, the Irish College had no existence, and whatever Irish students have been there since, sometimes twenty or twenty-five, but of late only eight or ten, have been accommodated in different ways, and they attend with the other students.
14. Prague, 1631. — The Irish College at Prague in , Bohemia was founded in 1 631 at the solicitation of Ma- lachy Fallon, and being afterwards enriched by the le- gacy of an Irishman in the Imperial army, General Wal- ter Butler, a chapel was built, and the college so enlarged as to admit of seventy inmates. This legacy of 25,000 florins was in 1652. In 1700, Count Sternberg built for them a spacious library, and furnished it with a library of many thousand volumes, which had been collected and left to him by his brother. Another legacy of 9000 florins from a native of Ireland, Count Hamilton, in 1738, was employed in perfecting and enlarging the buildings. The first superior was Patrick Fleming, already men- tioned under Louvain ; but, in the same year in which the college was begun, Prague being about to be besieg- ed by the Elector of Saxony, Fleming, having left the city, was murdered by the country boors, then up in arms. Francis Magenis, who was with him, escaped, and afterwards became superior. Harold, the nephew and biographer of Wadding, was a professor here, and, at a later period, Francis Walsh, the author of an Irish dictionary, which he either took with him to Dublin, or composed there, where he died. The manuscript never was printed, but it is now in Marsh's library.
15. Toulouse, 1660. — After the marriage of Louis XIV.
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to the Infanta of Spain, the French court having come to visit Toulouse, the Irish, who for many years had kept a seminary there depending on casual bounty, petitioned the queen-mother, Ann of Austria, for support. They succeeded. She declared herself foundress of the Irish College in 1660, and Louis ratified the patent of founda- tion. The number of students about the year 1792 was ten, under one master.
1 6. Bordeaux, 1669. — This year the seminary at Bor- deaux also became a college, through the same means. This seminary, however, had been in operation from 1603, in consequence of Cardinal de Sourdis, the Arch- bishop of Bordeaux, having cherished and supported it. A number of Irish, during the last century, seem to have been educated here, and at the Lisbon college. Before the Revolution there were forty students, under three masters. There may be a few at present.
17- Poitiers, 1676. — An Irish seminary was founded at Poitiers this year, of which Ignatius Brown, from Waterford, who had been educated in Spain, was ap- pointed rector ; but he died, while on a journey to Ma- drid, in 1679, and it does not appear who succeeded. If this institution existed so late as the end of the last cen- tury, it shared the fate of various other seminaries.
18. Rome, 1677- — At the instance and solicitation of John O'Connor, two convents at Rome were this year appropriated to serve as a place of education for the youth of Ireland, of which a Dr James Fitzgerald was elected the superior three times in succession. Besides casual bounty, one Nicholas Antonio consigned 4000, and the Dutchess of Cajetan, whom O'Connor had ac- companied from Spain, gave 6000 Roman crowns. This institution however is now, I believe, extinct.
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19. Nantz, 1680.— About the year 1680, by the en- treaty of Dr Ambrose Madden from Clonfert, and Dr Edward Tonery from Waterford, a seminary for the Irish was established at Nantz, into which, during the last century, thirty-five pupils were received from any of the four Irish provinces. There were not fewer than eighty students here, under three masters, just before the Revolution.
20. Bouley, 1688. — In the year 1688, an Irish college was founded at Bouley, by Leopold, the Duke of Lor- raine, and father of Francis I., Emperor of Austria, a man who used frequently to say, — " I would resign my sovereignty to-morrow, if I could do good no longer." This foundation was begun at the earnest solicitation of Bernard Plunket, and the Earl of Carlingford was a considerable contributor ; but I believe it does not now exist.
21. Paris, 1677-81. — Among the most important of any that have been mentioned is the Irish College at Paris. The erection, denominated the College for the Lombards, subsequently the College de Tournay, and after that the College d'ltalie, having been nearly abah- doned, and falling into a ruinous state, two Irishmen, Patrick Magenis and Malachy Kelly, in 1677 and 1681, obtained letters-patent to rebuild it for the reception of Irish students, and Magenis endowed it with 2500 livres annually. About thirty or forty years after this, several old houses contiguous having been purchased by an Irishman from Dublin, Michael Moore, the whole were pulled down, and elegantly rebuilt in the form of a col- lege, with a chapel and commodious library. These buildings are still in existence ; the writer having had an opportunity of seeing them about three years ago, ap- parently in good repair. Of this college the Archbishop of Paris was superior, with four Irish provisors under
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him, one for each province in Ireland. The first of these was Principal, who, with the fourth, took charge of the school of learning. A separate department was called " the Irish Community," under the direction of a Pre- fect and Sub-prefect, the students of which were ad- mitted to all the degrees of the Sorbonne. Moore and Skelton, Donlevy and Nary, not to mention others, be- longed to this college.
Dr Michael Moore, born in Dublin in 1640, a man, it has been said, of taste, integrity, and learning, educated at Nantz and Paris, who, besides taking charge of this Irish college, was twice chosen Rector of the University of Pa- ris, was also Principal of the College of Navarre, and had been also nominated Royal Professor of Philosophy, Greek, and Hebrew. Having returned to Ireland, he was for a short period Provost of Trinity College, and to his special care has been ascribed the preservation of the books and manuscripts then in the library, James II. having intended to convey that college to the Jesuits. Dr Moore not only prevailed with him to alter his de- sign, but, when the buildings were used as a garrison, the chapel as a magazine, and many of the chambers as prisons, with most vigilant attention he preserved all the literary stores then intrusted to him as Provost. From Ireland he went to Paris, taught a college for some years in Italy, and then returning to France, died at the Col- lege of Navarre, Paris, in August 1725', aged eighty- six. For some years, however, before his death, he was blind, and obliged to keep a man to read to him. This man embezzled and sold many hundred volumes of his choice collection ; " thus, he who had saved the noble library of Trinity from alienation or destruction, was ungenerously pillaged of his own books."*
Dr Walter Skelton, from Queen's County, distinguish-
* Ware's Writers, and Stuart's Armagh, p. 402.
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ed for his knowledge in mathematics, was educated here about the beginning of last century. Returning to Ire- land, he died titular Dean of Leighlin, in October, 1737-
Dr Andrew Donlevy, who was Prefect of this college in 1761, was the author of the Catechism in Irish and English already noticed. " I take occasion to mention him/' says Harris, " out of gratitude for many favours I received from him ; particularly by his transmitting me, from time to time, several useful collections, out of the King's and other libraries in Paris."
Cornelius Nary, from Kildare, born in 1660, received his first education at Naas. At the age of twenty-four he proceeded to Paris, where he completed his studies, and continued to act as Provisor in the Irish College. In 1694 he took the degree of doctor of laws in the col- leges of Cambray and Paris, and, about 1697, returned to Dublin, where he continued till his death, in 1738. He translated the Vulgate New Testament into English, with notes, which was published in London about 1705, and again in 1718. On the title-page of this octavo vo- lume, which is now very scarce, it is said to be the work of C. N. C. F. P. D. i. e. Cornelius Nary, Consultissime Facultatis Parisiensis Doctor. In the year 1720, he pub- lished in folio, a History of the World, grounding his chronology on the computations of the Septuagint, which he undertakes to prove to be that of the ancient Hebrew Scriptures ; and, some time after this, he also printed a short History of Ireland, the copies of which are now very scarce.*
The Revolution in France, which affected the Irish colleges in so many other places, was, of course, fatal to that in Paris. At that eventful period there were not less than 180 Irish students, viz. 100 in the College des
* ReiUy's History of Ireland, with the articles of Limerick, &c. by Dr Nary, is but a thin ISmo in small type,— it may be got for 12s., but has been sold for a guinea.
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Lombards, under four masters, and in the Irish Com- munity, Rue de Cheval Vert, there were 80 more, under three masters. This seminary, however, has been so far restored by the late King, Louis XVIII., and is now called College Britannique, as it unites the three ancient colleges, denominated English, Irish, and Scotch. In the Irish department, the professors, sometimes exclu- sively Irish, at others, French and Irish, are selected by the President, who receives his ultimate appointment from the King of France.
In conclusion, of these foreign seminaries it may be stated that there are at the present moment about one hundred and forty students at different colleges on the Continent. Seventy of these are at Paris, about twelve at Rome, and the remainder at Salamanca, Lisbon, and various private French seminaries. A good many who go abroad do so without any certain destination, but the great body intend returning to their native land. The funds still remaining in existence, consisting principally of foundations made by Irishmen, as already stated, who either funded sums of money abroad, or sent them from Ireland, are calculated to be sufficient for the support of about sixty students, at 800 francs annually for each, if the entire income be so applied.
The great change produced by the French war and Revolution suggested the necessity of Maynooth College. It was resolved upon in 1795. The statutes, however, were not printed till 1800, and in the list of Professors there will be found one for the Irish Language : but the fact is, that though there was a Professor of Modern Languages in the original draft, the vernacular tongue Itself was entirely overlooked ; at least it is certain that there was originally no provision made for an Irish Professor. But the set time for treating this long-pro-
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scribed language with common candour and more en- lightened policy, it is to be hoped, had nearly arrived. The tongue itself, however, as if in conformity with ancient usage, must not, it seems, even yet receive, in every respect, any formal and legal acknowledgment ; yet indebted, as it had often been, to individual bene- volence and an attachment most natural, it was at' last fa- voured with a Professor's chair, upon its own native soil, and the appointment has been printed among the others since the period referred to. It was a single individual, and he an Irishman, who enjoyed the gratification of thus far befriending his country. Mr Keenan, a scriv- ener in Dublin, " sunk one thousand pounds of his hard- earned property, the produce of a long, laborious, and economical life, for L.60 per annum, to support an Irish Professor for teaching and instructing the students the Irish language in the Irish character."* Accordingly, in July 1802, the Rev. Paul O'Brien, author of the Irish Grammar, in the Irish character, already mentioned, was appointed to the chair. In June 1820, he was suc- ceeded by the Rev. Martin Loftus : but even this chair, the only one in Ireland, was vacant recently, and I am not aware of any successor being yet appointed, other- wise I should have mentioned the name. The books used, besides the Irish Grammar and MacCurtin's Dic- tionary, are the Irish New Testament and Donlevy's Catechism.
In the effectual education of any tribe, there is a course to which nature not only points, but constrains. In every instance it is demonstrable, that the benevolent visitor or resident must sit down and begin with the people where God and nature begin with them. If we
* History of Dublin, vol. II., p. 929.
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descend not to their level, we shall never raise up any save a mere fraction of the community, nor will that fraction raise the remaining body. As to the vernacular tongue, whatever that be, if we will not go back and start here, the people, as such, stand still, and are left behind. But truly, on such a subject as that of a libe- ral education, naturally and necessarily taking its rise from the first tongue in which a people have spoken, and been accustomed to think, embracing too such an aggregate of human beings under the British crown, and after such a detail as the present, one is greatly at a loss what to say. It has been drawn out, and facts placed in this new light before the intelligent reader, in the hope that they will instantly suggest to many the imperative but pleasing duty of pursuing a course, more congenial with the love of country and the good of Ireland. If these poor dear people wish to have education, — and let the reader point, if he can, to that class in this kingdom who desire it more, — and if the language is dear to them, as dear it is, let them have it to their hearts' content, and as the only basis, too, of all effectual information and happiness to the Irish mind in its present condition.
Within these few years, it is true, Irish education, properly so called, has been making progress in various districts, which will be afterwards noticed ; but still, if a population so large is waiting without doors for in- struction by the only medium through which they can at present comprehend and estimate any moral or reli- gious subject, how can it consist with our highest obli- gations for matters to remain in their present state with regard to schools of a higher description ? The bequest of Mr Flood has failed ; but, oh ! surely, without wait- ing for any eleemosynary windfall, were the enlighten- ed members of Trinity College to take the subject into impartial consideration, something might and ought to be done, whether within or without the walls. To say nothing of the kind spirit which is now abroad as to this
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language, they have not to proceed against a wind and tide so strong as that which once unhappily prevailed. In some of the Provosts of other days, there is this one object which they prosecuted con amore ; and if busts or pictures are desirable, assuredly Bedell and Boyle, Marsh, and even Hall, deserve them in Trinity College for this alone. When, however, the visitor of any school of learning begins to commend it, for the past pre-emi- nence or zeal of any of its members in any one depart- ment of useful knowledge, there is an awkwardness felt in receiving the compliment. A living representative within the same enclosure, with all the improvements which time has given, is wanted. And, oh ! had but a few able men with undaunted constancy only walked in the first foot-prints of Bedell, in what a different state had Ireland been at the present hour ! Ere this time we must have had authors upon Irish ground, and in other tongues beside their own, who would unquestionably have contributed to raise the character of this kingdom.
Were I, even here, in conclusion, to beg the intelli- gent reader to fix his eye on the opinions, so decidedly expressed, by successive monarchs of this country, cer- tainly he would reply, — " But horv is all this ? Has there been all along, somewhere, behind the throne, a power greater than the throne itself? As for the eighteenth century, then, it should seem, all slept ; but have you not already referred to Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and Queen Anne?" True, I reply, and they must be referred to once more — Meanwhile it only remains for the King again to lift his voice, and see whether no change for the better can be effected in a University of royal foundation, — founded, too, and plentifully endowed, " principallie" with a view to the natives.
But, independently altogether of a Professorship in Trinity College, or in the City, or both, (for rivalship here would do great good,) there certainly ought, at all
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events, to be at least one fine school in Dublin, where Irish should be taught thoroughly, grammatically, and with taste, as a normal or model school for the country ; and not only so, but in Cork, Limerick, and Galway, for the benefit of surrounding districts, there ought to be one of a similar description. This, however, will be glanced at again, after we have noticed a subject of still greater importance, — one which, had it been regarded, would have produced, as only one effect, all that for which we now plead ; and the English language also, very naturally a favourite theme with many in Ireland, must have acquired an ascendency very different from what it has done to this hour. However strange it may seem to some ears, I refer to Irish oral instruction, or Irish preaching, — a subject which, in the present state of the country, deserves the most deliberate and serious consideration.
" It U fit that it should be'remembered, that near this city of Dublin there is an Univer- sity, founded by Queen Elizabeth, principally intended for the Natires of this Kingdom." ;
JEREMY TAYLOR.
" We have reason to expect that in all this long tyme of our peaceable government, some good numbers of the Natives should have been trained upp in that College."
JAMES I.
" Prudence and skill for the management of ourselves in reference to others, in civil at'- fain, for public good, U much the fairest flower within the border of Nature's garden."
JOHN OWEN.
SECTION III.
ORAL INSTRUCTION;
Including Historical notices of all that has yet been effected in Preaching to the Natives in their vernacular tongue, and the present deplorable condition of the Country with regard to a stated Ministry in the language of the Irish people.
READING one day an account of Ireland, of compara- tively recent date, and considerable value, when refer- ring to some of the Irish gentlemen resident in certain parts, who are able to speak in Irish and converse with the people, I found the writer add, in passing, that they are thus able not only to ' ' ascertain their wants, but to assist with their advice, and restrain by admonition."
Any man, therefore, who, in these parts, cannot thus talk, let his profession be what it may, it seems cannot well do any thing of this sort — cannot ascertain these wants — assist with this advice — or restrain by this warning. I not only understand, but, in some degree, can confirm this remark, having, when in the country, tried the effect of only two or three words in Irish, and the response was immediate — they had reached the heart.
But then there is such a thing as the care of the soul, — there are wants of greater moment than any which relate to this transitory state of being, — there is advice, which may prepare for a dying hour, — admonition, which may avert dangers beyond it : and if Irish is ne- cessary for the good and the comfort of these our coun- trymen, as peasantry, I presume it will not be denied
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that it must be much more so, when they are regarded not only as rational and intelligent, but accountable be- ings. But if so, to every minister of Christ, standing upon Irish ground, this is an important and serious con- sideration. " Not having been able to speak Irish," must another day be regarded as a poor apology ; and if there is to be such a thing hereafter as the confronting of parties, for the establishment of criminal neglect and greater condemnation,* the ability of Irishmen in higher walks to converse with their dependants on the affairs of this life may well be pondered by those whose duty it is, through the same medium, to " rest and expatiate on a life to come." Besides, not only by men of his own particular communion, but by all those who upon Irish ground have so long neglected a duty at once so manifest and incumbent, it should never be forgotten that a witness of no common character has gone before them —
— — Bedell's grave Is in thy keeping — and with thee Deposited, doth this man's holy dust
Await the archangel's call. —
But for the present, sat verbum sapienti ; here at least I forbear to add more, and proceed to facts.
It is rather a singular circumstance, that at such a remote period in the history of Ireland as the fifteenth century, in the year 1483-4, we find an archbishop of Dublin petitioning parliament to relieve him from the inconvenience which its outlawry of the Irish tongue had occasioned ; nay, he succeeded in obtaining a statute to be passed, which explains the inconvenience. It shows, that because the English clergy were ignorant of the Irish tongue, the cure of souls in some parts of his diocese, in the very neighbourhood of Dublin, was " piteously neglected ;" and it enacted, that he should
* Matt xii. 41, 42.; Ezek. xxxiii. 8. ; Prov. xxiv. 11, 12.
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have liberty to present natives to certain of his livings, — a thing which, at that time, under Richard the Third, and long before, was contrary to the statute law.* The liberty here granted, however, was to last only for two years, which turned out to be the close of Richard's usurpation. It is true that, in this early age, so far as the performances of public worship were concerned, an ability to hold conversation with the inhabitants was not requisite, as the service was conducted in Latin ; and yet it appears, from this application, that ignorance of the vernacular tongue was even then regarded as in- jurious to the interests of the natives ; so that the first testimony thus given, let it be observed, comes to us at a period previous to that which has been styled the Re- formation.
I have spoken of this period as early, since it is nearly three hundred and fifty years from the present day ; and it will remain for the reader to notice, whether the grievance referred to has ever been redressed. But there is another point of view in which such an incident should be observed, and that is with reference to the ages which had preceded it. It was now more than three hundred years since Henry II. had invaded Ire- land, yet it should seem as if the Irish language were still almost universally prevalent. Whatever scepticism may still exist as to earlier ages, therefore, if the precise extent to which the Irish tongue was then spoken can be ascertained, it seems proper that the reader should here be apprised of it before proceeding farther. The Irish septs or clans, it is admitted, " were still uncon- nected, and their attention confined to their local inte- rests. Several lived peaceably in the English counties, but others maintained an independent state even in the very neighbourhood of Dublin."t Now, with respect
* Stat. 2 Rich. III. c. 10, and 5 Ed. IV. anno 1465. t Leland II. p. G8.
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to the language, there is a treatise or discourse in manu- script, extant in the library of Trinity College, in which the affairs of Ireland are copiously examined, the date of which cannot be later than the year 1494, and the re- searches of the author have been subsequently pro- nounced to be accurate. He recounts no less than sixty regions or districts, of different dimensions, still govern- ed by Irish chieftains, according to their ancient laws and manners, together with a long catalogue of English, who had degenerated and renounced obedience to the English law and customs in several provinces. The Pale, as it has been called, he confines within the narrow bounds of half the counties of Uriel or Orgiel, Meath, Kildare, Dublin, and Wexford, — that is, in fact, only a narrow stripe of territory along the east coast, from about New- ry to Wexford, — and yet the common people of even these districts he represents as conforming to the Irish habit and language." The truth is, that the intercourse with the Native Irish, by fostering, marriage, and al- liance, was general, the Lord Deputy himself having set the example. The remedies proposed by this author I need not specify, my only object being to glance at the extent of the Irish language more than three hun- dred years after Henry the Second. Many of these re-- medics, however, were afterwards tried, as the discourse itself is said to have been presented to the King (Henry VII.) and his council.
Forty years later, the wide extent, if not universal prevalence, of the Irish tongue is manifest from the terms of a parliamentary statute. It was passed in 1537, the 28th year of Henry VIII., in which, bent only upon extending the English order, habit, and language, not the direct and real progress of knowledge, it was enacted, that f' if any spiritual promotion within this land at any i
* Pandarus, sive Salus Populi. MS. Trin. Coll. Dublin.
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time become void, such as have title to nominate shall nominate to the same such a person as can speak Eng- lish, and none o£/ter,1("unless there can be no person as can speak English will accept it ; and if the patron can- not, within three months, get any such person that can speak English, then he shall cause jour proclamations to be openly made, at four several market-days, in the next market-town adjoining to the said spiritual promotion, that if any fit person that can speak English will come and take the same, he shall have it; and if none come within five weeks after the first proclamation, then the patron may present any honest, able man, albeit he cannot speak English.'^This, however, was not all. By the next clause of the same act, should the patron have no- minated a native who could not speak English, contrary to the form here prescribed, the nomination was void, when the king presented ; and should " the king be interrupted, he shall have a quare impedit against the disturber." Nay, should the king present a man who could not speak English, contrary to the form, the pre- sentation was void, and reverted to the patron. After all this, in the event of a native being the only person to be found and appointed, it was under an oath that he " endeavour himself to learn the English tongue and language, if he may learn and attain the same by possi- bility ;" and another oath, " that he shall, to his wit and cunning, endeavour himself to learn and teach the English tongue to all under his governance, and shall preach the word of God in English, if he can preach." The ecclesiastic appointing any one, contrary to this form, to forfeit, for every time, L.3 : 6 : 8, one moiety to the king, the other to the pursuer ; and every incum- bent, for the first offence, six shillings and eightpence ; for the second, twenty shillings ; and for the third, his promotion itself!
Such was the act passed at this period in reference to all those natural signs which this ancient people had
• „ ^
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been accustomed to employ for ages, when communi- cating to each other their thoughts and intentions, their purposes and desires. So strange does the instrument of speech appear, when in the hands of a human legis- lator ! The act itself might have been passed over, had it not been so frequently referred to, in subsequent ge- nerations, to enforce the purposes of a baneful expedi- ency, and because it may serve as a contrast to the noble exertions of Bedell in the preceding and following pages.
What steps were actually taken to enforce this act, it is unnecessary to inquire, — (the parliamentary commis- sioners of our day have said, it is impossible to ascer- tain,)— but as to the state of the country, when the best of evidence was produced, only fifteen years after this, in 1552, no wonder that it was deplorable. " Hard it is," said Sir Thomas Cusack, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, under Edward VI., " that men should know their duties to God and the King, when they shall not hear teaching or preaching throughout the year." At a period when England had so far burst the shackles of ignorance, and when the common people were begin- ning to hear gladly, then it was that this Chancellor complained of Ireland — " Preaching we have none, which is our lack, without which the ignorant can have no knowledge."* Meanwhile, says an authority which, on this department of Irish history, will not be ques- tioned, " Even within the English pale the Irish lan- guage was become predominant •" and " in those tracts of Irish territory which intersected the English settle- ments, no other language was at all known ; so that here the wretched flock was totally inaccessible to those strangers who had become their nominal pastors ;" while, at the same moment, such men as " spoke to their coun- trymen in their own language were heard with atten-
* See Cusack 's Letter to the Duke of Northumberland, dated 1552. MSS. Trin. Col. Dublin.
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tion, favour, and affection."* It is true, that the year before this, 1551, the 5th of Edward VI., the English Common Prayer-Book had been ordered to be read in the Irish churches ; but what could this avail in a coun- try where the people, whether high or low, knew neither the meaning nor pronunciation of the language.t
In the following reign, however, even these measures were abandoned, till the accession of Elizabeth, when they were again resumed. Two large English Bibles were then sent over, in 15o9, at her expense, for public per- usal, and an opportunity was offered to the people for hearing them read in the cathedrals of Christ Church and St Patrick in Dublin : but this alteration had no other effect than that which might have been anticipat- ed. It " disgusted the natives especially, who were not at all regarded in it," the public worship being to them as unintelligible as ever. And what continued to be the condition of the country at large, or even as far as the English authority had extended, the language of the Irish parliament will best explain. The reader will ob- serve it marks its preference for the Irish tongue ; but then this act of Henry VIII. Elizabeth's father, stood in the way, while now it seems that ministers speaking English were nowhere to be found ! Thus situated, what was to be done ? Hear the preamble to the Act of Uniformity : — " And forasmuch as in most places of this realm there cannot be found English ministers to serve in the churches or places appointed for common prayer, — and that if some good meane were provided^ that they might use the prayers, &c. in such language as they might best understand, the due honour of God should be thereby much advanced; and for that also,
* Leland, II. p. 94.
t At the same time I am aware that King Edward, in his instructions to Sir James Croft, wished the service to be translated into Irish, but this was only the first of a class, which may be entitled, " royal orders unfulfilled."
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that the same may not be in their native language, as well for difficultie to get it printed, as that few in the whole realm can read the Irishe letters : — We do there- fore most humbly beseech your Majesty, that it may be enacted by the authority of this present parliament, that in every such church, where the common minister hathe not the use of the English tongue, it shall be lawful to say or use all their common and open prayer in the Latin tongue." Enacted accordingly, so it was, by the statute 2d of Elizabeth, sect. xiii. anno 1559, 60. If any thing can be more lamentable than the policy thus adopted towards our Native Irish countrymen, it is the coolness with which it has been referred to by historians since. More than two hundred years after this, so late as 1783, says Leland, " if this did not effectually pro- vide for the edification of the people, it, at least, served to sheathe the acrimony of their prejudices against the reformed worship !"
Eleven years after this act, in ] 571 , it may be remem- bered that the Queen herself provided a printing-press and Irish types ; but no one had as yet urged the impe- rious necessity of proclaiming the word of life in the vernacular tongue. The first individual who advised this did so with great earnestness, in consequence of his visiting the country itself, having " passed thorough eche province, and bene almost in eche county thereof." This was Sir Henry Sidney, the affectionate playfellow and companion of Edward the Sixth, and in whose arms he expired, now appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland. " His disposition," says Dr Powell, " was rather to seek after the antiquities and the weal-public of these coun- tries which he governed, than to obtain lands and reve- nues within the same ; for I know not one foot of land that he had either in Wales or Ireland."* On returning
1 Powel's History of Wales.
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from his tour, which lasted six months, having resolved to lay before Queen Elizabeth the state of the country, and the absolute necessity for ministers of the word; in his letter, dated 28th April, 1576, he says, " in choyce of which ministers for the " remote places where the Englishe tongue is not understood, it is most necessarie that soche be chosen as can speake Irishe, for which searche would be made first and spedylie in your own universities ; and any found there well affected in reli- gion, and well conditioned beside, they would be ani- mated by your Majestie ; yea, though it were somewhat at your Highness' chardge ; and on peril of my liffe you shall fynde it retorned with fayme before three yeares be expired. If there be no soche there, or not inough, for I wish tene or twelve at the least to be sent, then I do wish that you would write to the Regent of Scot- lande, where, as I learne, there are many — that are of this language, that he would prefer to your Highness so many as shall seem good to you to demande of honest, zealous, and learned men, and that could speak this lan- guage ; and though for a while your Majestie were at some chardge, it were well bestowed, for in short time their own preferments would be able to suffice them, and in the meane time thousands would be gayned to Christ, that now are lost, or left at the woorst."*
Twenty-five years after this letter, in 1601, Lord Ba- con, then in retirement, and reflecting on the state of this country, wrote a, letter to Secretary Cecil, enclosing certain " considerations touching the Queen's service," in which he embraces " the causes of Ireland, if they be taken by the right handle ;" " to which purpose," says he, " I send you mine opinion, without labour of words,
* In this long letter, written with his own hand to the Queen, one name is men- tioned with special commendation, Mr Hugh Brady. This was a progenitor of Nicholas, the versifier of the English Psalms. Both Tate and Brady were Irish, men.
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in the enclosed ; and sure I am, that if you shall enter into the matter, according to the vivacity of your own spirit, nothing can make you a more gainful return." The second division of this paper is entitled " The Re- covery of the Hearts of the People." Towards this he says, " there be three things in natura rerum. 1. Reli- gion. 2. Justice and protection. 3. Obligation and re- ward." " For religion, to speak first of society and then of policy, all divines do agree, that if consciences be to be enforced (invigorated) at all, two things must pre- cede ; the one, means of instruction ; the other, time of operation ; neither of which they have yet had." Ac- cordingly, when Bacon comes to specify his " course of advancing religion indeed," he proposes sending " some good preachers, especially of that sort which are zealous persuaders and not scholastical, to be resident in the principal towns ; replenishing the college begun at Dub- lin, placing good men to be bishops, and taking care of the versions of bibles and catechisms, and other books of instruction, into the Irish language."
In the year 1620, a letter was addressed to the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Lord Chichester, by King James I., to which reference has been already made.* " Because we understand," said his Majesty before the passage formerly quoted, " that the simple natives of that our kingdom are still kept in darkness, &c., which proceed- eth through want of Ministers who could speak their own language, whom they may understand," — and because the College was founded " principallie" with this in view; — therefore he added, " when any livings that are not of any very great value fall void among the meere Irishe, these men (towardlie young men, alreadie fitted with the knowledge of the Irish tongue) to be thought upon before others, or to be placed with other able mi-
* Page 105.
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nisters that possess livings among the meere Irishe, (where, for the defect of the language, they are able to do but little good,) to be interpreters to them, and to be maintained by them after they are made fit for that im- ployment."
Thus we have Sidney and Lord Bacon urging the necessity of an Irish ministry, and the King himself still more urgent; — and what was the result? There was one, and, as far as it can be ascertained, but one so- litary instance of compliance. This was a Scotch High- land minister, Mr Donald M'Feig, who was incumbent of Cahercorney, in the -county of Limerick : at least so it should seem by the records of the Board of First Fruits.
In the second year of the following reign, 1626, Charles I. wrote to Archbishop Ussher much in the same strain, not only ratifying the instructions of his father to the Lord Deputy, but desiring to " make some necessarie addition to the same." He therefore requires of Ussher to " take especial care, that the people there may be instructed in the principles of religion by those to whom it appertayneth ; and that the New Testament and Book of Common Prayer, translated into Irish, be frequently used in the parishes of the Irishrie; and that every non-resident there do constantly keepe and con- tinue one to read service in the Irish tongue, as is ex- pressly commanded by the said orders," issued by King James. The fact is, the propositions in this letter were suggested to the King by Archbishop Ussher.* By this time nearly fifty years had passed away since Sir Henry Sidney had strongly urged the absolute necessity of mi- nisters in the native language being employed — Lord
* Lay hands suddenly on no man, was a maxim of the Primate's ; yet in the course of his life he ordained one man, who, though not versed in the learned lan- guages, was well acquainted with the Scriptures and books of practical divinity. When this person first applied to Ussher, he remarked that his preaching would be of little use, unless it was understood by the people. The man promised to ac- quire the language of the natives ; and effecting this in one year, he was then or- dained, when his ministry is said to have been very useful
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Bacon, James, Charles, and Ussher, having followed him, and each of them alike in earnest in recommending the same measure, but literally nothing had as yet been done.
At this juncture Bedell arrived in Dublin, and no sooner had he set his foot upon Irish ground, than he almost immediately turned his attention to the prepara- tion of young Irishmen for public usefulness. Where he had found a suitable person does not appear; but although he was only two years Provost of Trinity College, even during that short period he had instituted an " Irish lecture." So in the year 1629, only the third of his re- sidence in Ireland, Laud, the Chancellor, having occa- sion to write to Primate Ussher, says — " the King likes wondrous well of the Irish lecture begun by Mr Bedell, and the course of sending such young men as your Grace mentions." Bedell himself, also, in a letter to Ussher, the 18th September, 1630, mentions one of these young men as having translated his catechism into Irish, who had been instructed at the Irish lecture in Dublin, in- stituted in the time of his provostship.
Four years after this, at the convocation of 1634, we find the subject referred to, at least with reference to the Scriptures being read, and service performed in the Irish tongue, as already noticed." To the instructions then given, however, alas ! no person paid any attention ex- cept Bedell, notwithstanding the success which had at- tended his exertions under circumstances so unpropi- tious. The melancholy state of his diocese has been al- ready described ; but nothing could discourage him from following out his principles. The propositions of statesmen, the official recommendations of royalty, the deliberations and resolutions of a convocation were not necessary to kindle his zeal in the cause. The senti- ments contained in them all, when urging a ministry in
* Page 61.
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the language of this or of any other country, were in- deed his own, and it is known also that they were his before arriving in Ireland ; but, in his mind, these sentiments were also living principles of action, such as no power upon earth could have generated, and from which no consideration under heaven could turn him aside. It is indeed refreshing to meet with such a man at such a time, devoted to the best in- terests of a people who had been so long neglected^ more especially when it is observed that they have been neglected since, nay are neglected still. In all stages of society those unquestionably deserve grateful and ever- lasting remembrance, who, outstripping the rest of their contemporaries, rise up in solitary majesty amidst a host of prejudices, combating intrepidly on one side, however assailed on the other. And though it is humi- liating to reflect, that the perplexities which Bedell was called to suffer arose simply from his upright zeal, in fulfilling the recommendations and recorded sentiments of many preceding years — to him belongs the credit of having first trodden a path in which other men of our own day must yet follow.
The existing state of things in Cavan being once as- certained and surveyed by Bedell, not a day was lost in applying to his work. His setting himself in good ear- nest to acquire the vernacular tongue, was soon observed to be regarded by the natives in the light of a great compliment, while it lent grace and consistency to his fixed purpose with regard to others who were called to engage in the ministry around him. Both his dioceses being inhabited almost wholly by Native Irish, an abi- lity to preach in their language " he looked upon as an absolutely necessary qualification in every minister to be employed under him ; and therefore he rejected several simply for want of this." Assured that the natives could not understand the way of salvation, except through the medium of the language which they had
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used from infancy, — in all his collations he kept this in view, and, on such occasions, was in the habit of address- ing the individual in the following terms : — " Obtesting you in the name of the Lord, and enjoining you, by vir- tue of that obedience which you owe to the Chief Shep- herd, that you will diligently feed his flock committed to your care, which he purchased with his own blood ; that you instruct them in the Catholic faith, and perform divine offices in a tongue understood by the people." In his own church, while the Scriptures in Irish were read, he was always present, till at last he was well able to engage in the service himself. The efforts of this en- lightened man were not in vain. Not only were he and others made useful to the people, but some men of ta- lent were converted to God, and several of these after- wards employed by him in preaching to their country- men. Bedell, however, did nothing superficially. He had no idea of spending time in winning over any man to a mere creed or solitary scriptural opinion. Into such, therefore, as now came willingly for instruction, " he took great pains" to convey " a true sense of reli- gion," that so they might prove Christians indeed. The trumpet gave a certain sound, but the object of his de- sire was to be found not only warning every man, but " teaching every man in all wisdom, that he might pre- sent every man perfect in Christ Jesus." Such exer- tions will ever be found the best preparation for seasons of agitation, turbulence, or distress. Thus, in the year 1641, of those well-informed persons under Bedell's mi- nistry only one solitary individual relapsed.*
With the death of this excellent man almost all ac-
* Thus also, in a district of our Highlands, I may add, that, amidst the public commotions of 1688, scarcely any of those Highlanders who had received even Irish Bibles through the bounty of Mr Boyle, or had been instructed, through Gaelic, in the knowledge of the truth, were at all implicated, nor did they join the adversaries of the settlement at that period. 7
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tual exertion died likewise. His Irish manuscript was allowed to remain for above forty years without being printed, as already noticed ; and as for any man preach- ing to the people in their own language during that pe- riod, frequent attempts have ended in discovering not more than two or three instances. These, however, certainly deserve to be recorded, were it only for the purpose of preserving the chain of attestation to the ne- cessity of measures which have not been pursued even to the present hour !
The first of these instances was in the time of the Protectorate. Amidst the perplexities of that period, various individuals, equally eminent for learning and piety, visited Ireland, and the condition of the Native Irish could not escape their notice. In the year 1649, Dr Owen having one day called on General Fairfax, just before leaving London for Coggeshall, Cromwell came in, and this being the first time he had met with Owen in private, he walked up to him, and laying his hand on his shoulder, said, — " Sir, you are the man with whom I must be acquainted." Taking him aside into the garden, he mentioned his intended expedition to Ireland, and requested his company with a view to the affairs of Trinity College. After using entreaty, Cromwell had to employ his authority, and Owen returned, not to regret his compliance, but to urge it upon others to cross the Channel too. Arriving in July, 1649, he took up his residence in Trinity College, and afterwards in Dublin Castle. Here, though not in his usual health, and bur- dened with manifold employments, he was, at the same time, engaged, he says, in " constant preaching to a nu- merous multitude of as thirsting a people after the Gos- pel as he had ever conversed with."* Owen remained only about six months in Ireland, but he saw enough to
* Owen's Works, 8vo, vol. v. p. 649.
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affect his mind deeply, and on his return had resolved that others should, if possible, feel with him. Accord- ingly, on the 28th of February, 1650, a day of humilia- tion throughout the kingdom, having returned to Lon- don, and being called to preach in public before the par- liament, his heart was full of anxiety respecting Ireland. In the course of his sermon, therefore, he addressed par- liament in the following terms : — " God hath been faith- ful in doing great things for you, be faithful in this one, — do your utmost for the preaching of the Gospel in Ireland. Give me leave to add a few motives to this duty. 1. They want it. No want like theirs who want the Gospel. I would there were for the present one Gospel preacher for every walled town in the English possessions in Ireland. The land mourneth, and the people perish for want of knowledge : many run to and fro, but it is upon other designs — knowledge is not in- creased. 2. They are sensible of their wants, and cry out for supply. The tears and cries of the inhabitants of Dublin after the manifestations of Christ are ever in my view. If they were in the dark, and loved to have it so, it might somewhat close a door on the bowels of our compassion ; but they cry out of their darkness, and are ready to follow every one, to have a candle. If their being without the Gospel move not our hearts, it is hoped their importunate cries will disquiet our rest, and wrest help as a beggar doth an alms." Again he says, " What then shall we do ? This thing is often spoken of, seldom driven to a close ! First, Pray the Lord of the harvest, that He would send out, that he would thrust forth labourers into his harvest. The labourers are ready to say, ' there is a lion in the way, and diffi- culties to be contended withal.' And to some men it is hard seeing a call of God through difficulties ; when, if it would but clothe itself with a few carnal advantages, how apparent is it to them ! Be earnest then with the Master of these labourers, in whose hand is their life
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and breath, and all their ways, that he would powerful- ly constrain them to be willing to enter into the fields that are white for the harvest. Secondly, Make such provision, that those who will go may be fenced from outward straits and fears, so far as the uncertainty of human affairs in general, and the present tumultuating perturbations will admit. And let not this, I beseech you, be the business of an unpursued order ; but, third- ly, Let some be appointed (generals die and sink by themselves,) to consider this thing, and to hear what sober proposals may be made by any whose hearts God shall stir up to so good a work. This, I say, is a work wherein God expecteth faithfulness from you : stagger not at his promises nor your own duty. However, by all means possible in this business I have strived to de- liver my own soul !"
This powerful appeal was not in vain ; and the effects which followed it well deserve to be recorded, more es- pecially as, before the first edition of this volume, a dis- tinct account of them had never been published, and here it is considerably enlarged.
It was in July, 1649, that Owen went to Ireland, where he remained till January following, On the 28th February he preached the sermon just quoted, and one week after this, that is, on the 8th of March, 1650, parliament passed an ordinance for the encourage- ment of religion and learning in Ireland. By this act, certain lands were devoted to the support of Trinity Col- lege and the endowment of its professors ; for erecting another College in Dublin, and maintaining its teach- ers ; and for the erection of a free school, as well as the support of the master and scholars. Nor was this " the business of an unpursued order," as Owen had depre- cated. Parliament immediately appointed four commis- sioners to proceed to Ireland ; and also requested Dr Samuel Winter of Queen's College, Cambridge, then at Cottingham, near Hull, to accompany them. Renoun-
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cing a living of L.400 per annum, and without stipulating what support he should receive for himself and his fa- mily, he consented and went. His appointment was first fixed at only L.100 a-year ; but, being possessed of some property, he resolved to lay himself out for the benefit of Ireland. Being appointed Provost of Trinity College, under his care it revived and flourished ; for so zealous was he in promoting its interests, that, upon his leaving it before the Restoration, it was indebted to him a considerable sum, which he had disbursed for the pub- lic good out of his own property.
Owen, however, in his discourse before Parliament, had also said, " How is it that Jesus Christ is in Ireland only as a lion staining all his garments with the blood of his enemies, and none to hold him up as a lamb sprinkled with his own blood to his friends ? Is it the sovereignty and interest of England that is alone to be there trans- acted ? For my part, I see no farther into the mystery of these things, but that I could heartily rejoice that, in- nocent blood being expiated, the Irish might enjoy Ire- land so long as the moon endureth, so that Jesus Christ might possess the Irish." Accordingly, four days more had only elapsed, when the Parliament also resolved to send over six of the most eminent preachers to Dublin ; but the number who went to Ireland ultimately was far from being confined to six. Besides Dr Winter, the city enjoyed the labours of Mr Thomas Patient, Mr John Murcot, Mr Christopher Blackwood, Dr Thomas Harri- son, Mr Charnock, Mr Samuel Mather, Mr Edward Veal, Dr Daniel Williams, Mr Nathaniel Mather, and others ; not to mention those ministers who either went at their own charge, or were sent and settled for a sea- son in Waterford and Clonmell, Cork and Kilkenny, Limerick and Galway, Lurgan and Carrickfergus.*
* These excellent men I have mentioned in the order in which they went across the Channel, where, for several years, we find them preaching with consi-
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The condition of the Native Irish, for whose sake, "chiefly, these names are mentioned, was not overlooked.
derable effect. Da WINTER, who accompanied the first commissioners, in 1650, went with them into the four provinces, was their domestic chaplain, and preach, ed in public every Sabbath, wherever he came. Settling down in Dublin, he used to officiate regularly in the Cathedral ; but as soon as other ministers came over, who took their turn, not willing to be idle, he set up a lecture in St Nicholas, every Sabbatli morning at seven o'clock, and even this early service was frequent- ed by the Commissioners, the city Magistrates, and many others. While Provost of Trinity, Dr W. had occasion to preach one day at Maynooth, and the people be- ing so very attentive, he rode over every three weeks, and preached there for some years, where God was pleased to bless his efforts by the conversion of many Eng- lish and Irish, who flocked to hear him. He returned to England in 1662, and died In Rutlandshire, 24th Dec. 1666. See his Life; London, 1671, ISmo.— MR PATIENT, from New England, if he did not accompany the first Commissioners, was in Ireland as soon, since a letter from him is to be found in Milton's State Papers, dated from Kilkenny, 15th April, 1650. After travelling into various parts, he re- mained for several years in Dublin ; preaching at the Cathedral, with Dr W., and at Christ Church before the Council. He was then appointed an evangelist to preach up and down through the country — returned to London about 1660 — was co-pastor with Mr William Kiffen, and died there six years afterwards. — In 1651, MR JOHN MURCOT, invited by the Commissioners, and also from Belfast, went by sea, and was exposed to great danger from pirates, then infesting the coast. He officiated both in Dublin and Cork with great acceptance ; but died 3d December, 1654, at the early age of 30. — In the year 1652-3, MR BLACK WOOD went with Fleet- wood and Ludlow, to whom he dedicates his treatises on Repentance, Excellency of Christ, &c. in 1655. He preached at Kilkenny, Wexford, and ultimately in Dublin for years. In 1655-6, Dr Harrison, Mr Charnock, and Mr S. Mather, came to Ireland. DR HARRISON, trained up for the ministry in New England, preached with acceptance at Christ Church, and though affected by the Restoration, as all these men were, he continued to preach in Dublin till his death a few years after. Much grief was expressed at his decease, when his funeral sermon was preached by Dr Williams. — CHARNOCK used to have many of the higher ranks for his hear- ers ; but he did not remain above four or five years. — Ma S. MATHER, the author of the treatise on the Figures and Types of the Old Testament, who had gone with his parents to New England in 1635, was educated at Harvard College, and was its first Fellow. On his return to Britain, having been chosen one of the chaplains in Magdalen College, Oxford, he was sent with the Commissioners into Scotland, and preached for two years at Leith. On coming to Dublin, he officiated at St Nicho- las— became Senior Fellow of Trinity, and though also affected by the act of 1662, he continued his ministry over a Christian church in this city till his death, 29th October, 1671, in the 16th year of his age, where he was succeeded by his brother after mentioned. Mr M. was the eldest son of one eminent minister, the brother of three others, and uncle of the well-known Dr Cotton Mather. When a com- mission was drawn out by the Lord-deputy, for removing the episcopal ministers of Munster, it was Mather who declined, saying, that " he was called into the country to preach the gospel — not to hinder others from doing so." — MR VEAL, who went to Dublin about 1657, during his abode in Trinity College was eminently useful in the instruction of the students. He returned to London in 1662, was chaplain to Sir W. Waller, and died in June, 1708, aged 76. He was one of the publishers of Charnock's Works.— DR DANIEL WILLIAMS, the founder of the li- brary in Red Cross Street, London, went to Ireland in 1667, as chaplain to the
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These commissioners and Dr Winter having landed in Ireland, within two years we find the valuable Irish catechism, with rules for reading the language, already referred to (page 71) had been printed; for it seems to have been in the reign of Charles II. that the types were carried away by the Jesuits. And with regard to an Irish ministry, in the books of the Privy Council of- fice we find the following extract, dated from Dublin Castle, and subscribed by the four parliamentary com- missioners : — " Upon reading the report of Doctor Win- ter, Doctor Harrison, Mr Wooten, and Mr Chambers, touching Mr James Carey, and of his fitness and abili- tyes to preach the word, both in English and Irish, and upon consideration had thereof, and of the useful- ness of gifts in order to the conversion of the poore ig- norant native, it is thought fitt and ordered, that the said Mr Carey doe preach to the Irish at Bride's parish, once every Lord's day, and that he doe occasionally re- pair to Trim and Athye, to preach as aforesaid, and that for his care and paines therein he be allowed the sallary of sixty pounds p. annum, to be paid quarterly," &c. " Dated at Dublin Castle the 3d of March, 1656.
R. P , M. C , R. G , M. T ."*
Countess of Meath, and was pastor of a church in Wood Street, Dublin, for twenty years. In 1687 he returned to London, where he officiated till his death in Janu- ary, 1716, aged 72. Dr Edward Calamy was his assistant for seven years. — MR N. MATHER, educated partly at Harvard College, and partly in England, who was first at Harberton and Barnstaple, and afterwards at Rotterdam, came to succeed his brother in Dublin, in 1671, where he continued to preach for seventeen years. In 1688 he removed to London, where he died in July 1697, aged 67. A Latin epi- taph to his memory may be seen among the lyric poems of Dr Isaac Watts.
• These initials may be considered as standing for Richard Pepys, Miles Corbet, Robert Goodwin, rnd Matthew Thomlinson : the first being Chief Justice, and the three following the Commissioners or Government under the Parliament for the years 1653 and 6, or Councillors, as they were now styled in the commission sent to General Fleetwood. In three different publications I have observed this extract dated " the 3d of March, 1665 ;" but this is a misprint for 1656, when these men were in office. Upon the representations of Fleetwood, that Ireland was begin, ning again to be neglected, a new council was appointed in August, 1654, with new instructions, and they arrived in September. These were Robert Goodwin, Colonel Hammond, (son-in-law of John Hampden,) Colonel Thomlinson, and Miles Corbet,
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This attestation in favour of preaching to the natives in Irish is the more to be regarded, as being an inde- pendent testimony borne by men who were called to visit the country for a season, and impartially to observe and record its necessities ; and there can be no doubt that, had they been permitted to remain in Ireland, the ob- ject would not only have been kept in view, but pursu- ed. Before, however, even another testimony can be found in favour of such a course, most of the existing generation must pass away, just as others had done be- fore it.
Bedell had now been dead many years, — but the seed sown, though long buried, it appears, could not die. Or, to change the figure, " the words of the wise are as goads," and it seemed scarcely probable that in- structions, so pointed and solemn as those which this wise and conscientious man emploj^ed at ordination, could either be forgotten or disdained. The usefulness of such a man seldom if ever ends with his life. It is, however, rather remarkable, that we find such evidence of his personal influence at the distance of more than thirty-five years after his death ; and though the effect of that influence on the attempts in preaching to the Native Irish, about to be mentioned, was not what it ought to have been, still it is distinct, and it seems due to his memory to trace it.
Dr Thomas Price, a native of Wales, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and subsequently a senior fel- low, had been ordained by Bedell, and afterwards be- came Archdeacon of Kilmore. Whether when Bishop of Kildare, from 1G60 to 1667, he had it in his power to follow out his principles, does not appear ; but having
continued. But Hammond died in November, and Pepys was next year chosen in his room. The most important article in the new instructions to this council was one which authorised them to dispense with the transportation of the Native Irish to Connau^ht
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been appointed Archbishop of Cashel, and though, at the period to which I allude, in the seventy-ninth year of his age, we find that he had not even then forgotten the solemn " obtestation" delivered to him in Kilmore so many years before. Price was born in 1599 : it was now 1678, when a copy of the Irish Testament was not to be seen ! but an Irish Prayer-Bcok, and Psalms, in handsome folio, having been discovered by Dr Andrew Sail, and presented to Dr Price, he appointed them to be read in his cathedral. Before this period, however, having been for ten years resident at Cashel, he had paid special attention to the Native Irish, and is said to have " maintained many Irish clergymen to preach to them in their country language."* Whether these Irish minis- ters were numerous, as here stated, is I think doubtful ; but there can be no question as to Dr Price's zeal on this subject. In the year 1676, in addressing the Earl of Essex, then Lord Lieutenant, Dr Jones, Bishop of Meath, urging the necessity of attention to the Irish language, then adds, " I cannot but mention and re- commend as a precedent to others, the zeal of the pre- sent Archbishop of Cashel, who has set himself on that work industriously, by instructing the Irish in their own language, and hath already gathered the comfortable fruits of his labour, — the number also of such increas- ing." Thus also, in 1678, Dr Sail refers to him when writing to Mr Boyle, — " I doubt not but it may con- duce highly to the glory of God, the good of these souls, and credit of our government, if the other prelates and pastors of Ireland did use such endeavours as the good Archbishop of Cashel does, by communing with the na- tives and winning them to hear and read the word of God." These measures, it is true, met with no small opposition, while the Archbishop is represented as main-
* Ware's Bishops, Dublin, 1761, p. 487,
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taining an uninterrupted struggle with every one on this subject, and continued a decided advocate for preaching in Irish, to the day of his death, in August, 1684, at the advanced age of eighty-five.*
In the year 1680, Dr Sail, then living at Oxford, was hesitating between an English and an Irish residence. Mr Boyle seems to have urged the latter, and in setting off for Cashel in May that year, Dr S. replied, — " Whi- ther I do intend to set forth from thence in three days, God willing ; there and elsewhere preaching in Irish, I will endeavour to prepare the way for the reading of your Irish Testament ;" and in five months after this he writes, — " Since my last to you, I have spent my time preaching and catechising in English and Irish, every Sunday, in this city and in the country near it."
It has been already stated, that Dr Sail was the author of the preface prefixed to the Irish New Testament; but so impressed was he, at the same time, with the neces- sity for an Irish ministry, that he concluded that pre- face in the following terms : — " Finally, students in schools and universities, who design to live by the cure of souls in Ireland, shall, upon a serious consideration, find it their precise duty to procure such knowledge in the language of the natives as may enable them to help and instruct the souls committed to their charge, and of which they are to give account to God ; for, notwith- standing all the statutes and endeavours used to bring this whole nation to a knowledge of the English tongue, experience shows it could not be effected ; and it is apparent, that in Ireland there are many parishes, baro- nies, and whole counties, in which the far greater num- ber of the common people do understand no other lan- guage but the Irish. This being so, how can it be pre- sumed of«my godly pastor of souls in such places, that
* Boyle's Works, folio, vol. I. 603—605.
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he will not procure the spiritual welfare of those men by the sweat of whose brows he hath his bread, enabling himself to preach, read to, or converse with them in the language they can understand ? — that being the way to gain their good-will and thereby to win their souls to God : For very true and experienced is that which Aristotle said, plurimas amicitias laciiurnitns sola dissol- vit, — (silence alone dissolves many friendships), — want of communication breeds want of love and union."
Dr Jones, Bishop of Meath, was another character who, at this time, was, of course, deeply concerned on the subject of Irish preaching, and it required but little to kindle his zeal. In early life he had been Dean of Kilmore and Ardagh, and affords another proof of the power of Bedell's example. No sooner was Dr Sail in- troduced to him, when inquiring after Bedell's manu- script of the Old Testament, than the recollections of former days returned upon him. Immediately he open- ed a correspondence with JMr Boyle, and in his very first letter, dated 4th August, 1680, he wrote as follows : — " I have dealt with our present Provost of this College of Dublin (Dr Marsh), that he, according to what was some time practised by Dr Bedell, his predecessor, would encourage the reading of Irish, — and that Irish prayers, &c., as others, might be publicly used in the College, for thereby fitting our labourers for the harvest of souls, which may, by God's blessing such endeavours, be hopefully expected." Nine months after this, on the 3d of May, 1681, he writes from Dublin to Mr Boyle, " I shall shut this up with what I have in my last given you joyfully, and with what is since then, of the pro- gress of Irish preaching in this College chapel. The first Sunday in each month is designed for that. The first, as you heard, was on Easter-day ; the next, which was that day month, was so enlarged that the whole area of the chapel, with rooms adjoining, above and be- low, was unusually thronged. Among these were Lord
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Dillon, and other eminent persons. The Lord Lieu- tenant intends to afford his presence for farther coun- tenance and encouragement." This warm friend, Dr Jones, died on the 5th of January, 1682 : in three months afterwards, Dr Sail also followed him to the grave ; and the above, like every other similar attempt, withered and died away under another blight of mistaken politi- cal expediency.*
In point of time, the next feeble effort in the way of addressing the natives of Ireland is rendered interesting, from its affording the earliest modern proof with which we are acquainted of the identity of the Gaelic and Irish languages. After the siege of Londonderry, 1688, 9, many of the Native Irish having left their habitations in the barony of Innishowen, Donegal, and gone to the south with the army, several families from the High- lands of Scotland came and settled there. Not under- standing English, they petitioned Dr King, Bishop of Derry, for a minister who should be able to preach in their own language. Two ministers were readily grant- ed, one of whom held an Irish living, and the other re- ceived a competent allowance from the Bishop. The consequence of which was, that not only the Highland- ers but the Irish attended, to the number of four and sometimes five hundred, none of whom could understand an English sermon.
About the same period, or within a year after this, many families from the Western Isles landed near Car- rickfergus, and settled in the northern parts of the county of Antrim. At first they went to church, but not understanding what was said, they gave it up, and, had nothing been done, the consequences must have
* Dr Jones was the third son of Lewis Jones, from Wales, sometimes called, on account of his age, the "vivacious" Bishop of Killaloc ; who died at Dublin in 1646, in his one hundred and fourth year, and lies interred in Werburg'* Church.
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been melancholy : but the effects produced in Donegal were so manifest, that certain individuals petitioning the Bishop of Down, a Mr Duncan M' Arthur was sent to them, on whose ministry they attended with great sa- tisfaction. At his death, a Mr Archibald M'Callum succeeded, on whose ministry the Irish as well as the Highlanders attended. He was rendered useful to both parties ; and, for ten or fifteen years, there were, be- sides Mr M'Callum, three, if not four, preachers of a si- milar description, each of them having considerable con- gregations. All such efforts, however, were soon dis- couraged ! How many Highlanders emigrated I have not been able to ascertain, but their descendants going on to increase, are now mingled with the Native Irish population ; yet is there, at the present moment, no such person as a Gaelic minister in the north of Ireland, although, in a very short period, if not at first, he would be equally intelligible even to the Irish as if he had been born in the country. Surely every Scots High- lander will not read this in vain.
In the year 1702, one interesting case occurred of an Irish clergyman being impressed with his obligations to attend to the natives, and communicate with them through the medium of their vernacular tongue, — Mr Nicholas Brown, Rector of the parishes of Donagh- cavey, Dromore, and Rosorry, in the counties of Fer- managh and Omagh. Applying himself with industri- ous zeal to the interests of the natives around him, he became a perfect master of the language. In the first instance, he made it his business to gain the affections of the people by kind and humane treatment, and, ob- serving that they were wonderfully pleased with hear- ing divine worship in their own tongue, he took every opportunity of thus instructing them, — holding public meetings, and visiting them in their cottages. Mr Brown, it will be observed, had three livings, but his preaching in Irish was not confined to one. From 1702
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to the end of 1705 he laboured in the parish of Rosorry, in which part of the town of Enniskillen is situated. Then, removing to Dromore and Donaghcavey, conti- guous livings, in the county of Omagh, he continued the same course with more success, and it was while here employed that a Mr William Grattan, of Ennis- killen, visited him on his death-bed. During this his last illness he discovered a most tender concern for the Native Irish, and told Mr G. that, if the Convocation would agree to prevail on Parliament to encourage Irish preachers and schoolmasters throughout the kingdom, he had no doubt that within a few years the success would be great. The translation of some choice books into Irish he also conceived to be of vital importance, and, in order at once to convey useful instruction and meet the feelings of the natives, he had already trans- lated the first part of Thomas a Kempis. This transla- tion is pronounced to have been a good one, and it was fairly written out for the press, but never printed ; indeed it seems uncertain whether it is now in existence. After his decease, an attestation to the value and importance of his exertions was subscribed by the Provost of the town, Mr William Ball, and fifteen burgesses or inhabi- tants, in which they say, " To this day (28th January, 1712), the memory of Mr Brown is, upon that account, valuable among the natives of these parts, as in their common discourse we have often heard them declare." To this useful course of exertion, in which Mr Brown persevered till his death, in the spring of 1708, he was not only encouraged but advised by Dr St George Ash.* Mr Brown's allusion to the Convocation had probably some reference to a resolution which was sent from the
# The Bishop of Clogher, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and once Provost of Trinity College. He was afterwards Bishop of Deny, published several sermons and mathematical tracts, and bequeathed his mathematical books to the College Library.
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Lower to the Upper House on the 3d of March, 1703> in which, referring to the Native Irish, it was declared to be the opinion of that House, " that preachers, in all the dioceses of this Kingdom, preaching in the Irish tongue, would be a great means of their conversion." To this resolution the Upper House replied, — " As to preaching in the Irish tongue, we think it useful where it is practicable ;" but there the matter had rested at the period of Mr Brown's decease.
About the time of his death, but in a part of the country far distant from Mr Brown, another solitary in- stance occurred of an Irish clergyman, who engaged strenuously on behalf of the best interests of the natives. The Rev. Walter Atkins, treasurer of the cathedral church of Cloyne, being appointed Vicar of Middleton, half-way between Cork and Youghal, resolved to acquire a competent knowledge of the Irish language. The Earl of Inchiquin having furnished him with an Irish Prayer-Book, which for a number of years he continued to use, the voices of the natives were heard in the Lord's Prayer, and the responses before it ; the attendance was good, and his labours most acceptable. His Bishop, Dr Charles Crow, had come over to Ireland in 1680, in the humble capacity of amanuensis to Dr Sail, already mentioned, and, as might be expected, Mr Atkins re- ceived his sanction and cordial encouragement. Now here is a parish, in which, at the distance of one hun- dred and twenty years, " the lower classes commonly speak Irish." This is stated in a statistical account of the parish published in 1819 ; and yet under the head entitled " Suggestions for Improvement and Means for meliorating the Condition of the People," all that is printed is the single monosyllable — None.
Besides Mr Brown and Mr Atkins, there were several other ministers who followed their example, and with corresponding success. Some of their hearers were not merely pleased but much affected when hearing the
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word of God ; and two men of thirty years of age bought primers, and learned to read, that they might be able for themselves to search the Scriptures.
In the month of June, 1709, we find the Lower House of Convocation resolving, " that some fit persons be pro- vided and encouraged to preach, catechise, and perform divine service in the Irish tongue, at such times and places as the ordinary of each diocese, with the consent of the incumbent of the parish where such offices shall be performed, shall direct : That such clergymen of each diocese as are qualified by their skill in the Irish language for this work, and are willing to undertake it, may have the preference not only in their own parishes, but in any other part of the diocese." Again, in 1710, as soon as the Convocation had assembled, the Lower House again took up the subject, and resolved — " It will be requisite that a competent number of ministers duly qualified to instruct the natives of this kingdom, and perform the offices of religion to them in their own language, be provided, and encouraged by a suitable maintenance."
Surely, after so many resolutions, the reader, had he not read the previous pages, would now exclaim, " At least some steps are about to be taken !" But, no ; each of them, and in succession, he is to regard as merely, in Owen's language, " the business of an unpiirsued or- der." The last of them was engrossed in the bill before referred to, with the fate of which the reader is already acquainted.* Too late to be passed into a law that ses- sion, the subject was never again revived from that day to this. This said resolution was passed in 1710, one hundred and twenty years ago, — three generations have since that time passed away, and the fourth, al- ready far on its way, must soon follow to the grave !
* In the note page 71, there is a reference made to this place,— it should have been to page 90.
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While such resolutions were discussing, and passing, and repassing, Primate Marsh, long satisfied as to the necessity for such efforts, united with some of his clergy in a subscription for maintaining two ministers or mis- sionaries to preach in Irish to the natives of Armagh ; and Dr Hickman, Bishop of Derry, with his clergy, did the same for that district of country ; but they both died in the same month of the same year, November, 1713 — the latter in London, the former, aged 76, in Dublin ; and with them, and one or two of their con- temporaries, seems to have expired all disposition or desire to obey the Saviour's commission in the Irish tongue.
I do not forget George Berkley, the Bishop of Cloyne, who, in 1735, put many important questions to his countrymen on both sides of the Channel, in his tract entitled " The Querist." He asks (No 260) " Whether there be any instance of a people's being converted, in a Christian sense, otherwise than by preaching to them and instructing them in their own language ?" But to this, as well as many other queries, no proper, no prac- tical answer has been given to the present hour. On the contrary, one of his successors, who, fifty years later, wrote a tract on the state of the Irish church, which reached to the seventh edition, talks in it, wildly, of the Irish language, where it obtains, being an insurmountable obstacle to any intercourse with the people !
Here, then, let the reader pause for a few moments, and look back, or look forward — for here, alas ! the mea- gre history of preaching the everlasting Gospel to the Native Irish in their vernacular tongue comes to an end, and that throughout the whole course of the eighteenth century ! To thousands in Britain this must appear al- together incredible ; but of the last century as well as others the retrospect is a peculiarly painful one as it regards the immortal interests of this ancient people.
I have before me a small tract by the deceased Dr
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Coke, published in 1801 ; but mine is actually a reprint at Philadelphia, in America, dated in July of that year, which contains the first intimation of any reviving' in- terest on this subject.* By this it appears that two or three individuals, for two years, had been engaged in preaching to the people in their own language. And now, at the distance of so many years, after nearly a century of silence, what were the effects ? Just such as might have been expected, and such as had been fully realized in past generations. The old men and women drew near and heard with deep concern, " and when they heard them speak in the (Irish) tongue, they kept the more silence." The Irish language seemed to possess a charm in their ears, which even amazed the speaker, and old critics in it, who came to judge, went away, not unfrequently, with the tear in their eye. In 1805, there is said to have been eight individuals so qualified for addressing their countrymen ; but at pre- sent I am not aware that there are more than a few, and comparatively very few who are thus engaged, — and their efforts all along, though of an essentially important cha- racter, have not been stationary or permanent in any one place.
Such, then, is the whole of the poor account of what has been already done, and of the manner in which, for ages, the paramount duty of preaching the word of life to the Native Irish has been treated by the nation at large. Sir Henry Sidney, whom this people used to style " the good Lord Deputie," was the first to recom-
* As if to provoke the people of this country to jealousy, this reprint was ac- tually with the view of recommending the subject to the Americans, and securing from them some pecuniary aid. In conclusion, the writer, speaking of an Irish ministry, says, " It is my humble judgment, that the whole empire is, in a politi- cal view, concerned in it* success ; but that which, above all things, should influ- ence us, is the salvation of souls. The Native Irish have passions the most sus- ceptible of impression of any people I believe in Europe : if, therefore, their warm affections can be engaged on the side of truth, they will probably become one of the most religious nations on the globe."
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mend this, after perambulating the whole country, and the reader has seen how warmly he did so. But it is now more then two hundred and fifty years since he wrote that letter.*
Without any regard to party, or party names, I have gleaned every particle of information which I could find, and I believe there never has been any account so full and circumstantial laid before the public eye before ; and yet, alas ! this is all that can be collected or said on the subject. When one turns round and looks over it, he may feel astonished and inquire, But is it possible ? is any like this the actual condition of Ireland ? It can- not be. — On this side of the British Channel the light of that Sabbath never returns, in which the glad news of salvation, through a Saviour's blood, are not pro- claimed, regularly, in four distinct languages. It is not that there are two or three individuals, wandering up and down through Wales, the Highlands, and the Isle of Man, preaching to any casual number who may choose to stop and hear. No, there is the Gaelic and the Welsh minister, properly so called. Many imperfec- tions may exist in each of these districts in Britain ; but, on the other hand, in how many pleasing instances there is the minister well qualified, and fixed to his post : He appears at the appointed hour, — the voice of praise and prayer is heard ; and whether it be in English or Gaelic, in Welsh or Manx, the people hear, in their own tongue, the wonderful works and ways of God. On the morning of the returning Sabbath, many a Welshman, with the book of God in his possession, finds his way to the well-known spot, where he has long re- gularly listened to the man, who, " commanding away the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in crafti- ness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully," has re-
* See pages 136, 137-
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gularly, as the day returned, " by manifestation of the truth, commended himself to every one's conscience in the sight of God — warning every man, and teaching every man, in all wisdom, that he might present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
And surely, replies, it may be even my reader, you do not mean to insinuate that such things are not to be found among a similar population in Ireland, and a po- pulation three times the number of all the Highlanders, and Welsh, and Manx-men in Britain ? No, my reader, I do not mean to insinuate, but to assert it. Instances there may be, in certain quarters, in which, through the medium of their native language, the poor people are occasionally dissuaded or warned against the practice of vice ; but with regard to the standing ordinance of preaching, the scriptural exposition of God's most holy word, or obsequious conformity to the high commission of our Redeemer, now hanging over us in all its origi- nal force and obligation, all this has yet to be known and felt among the Native Irish !
In reference to the country at large, I know of three or four ministers, stationary, who are able to preach in Irish, and who, especially of late, have felt the vast im- portance of the subject.* Recently there may be, and I hope there are others who are acquiring, if they have not yet acquired the language ; but what are these to the field before us ? Yet, with these exceptions, did I know of any other instances in which the minister comes forward with regularity as the day returns, having for his grand object, in his own pulpit, to preach to his own stated congregation, the everlasting Gospel in the Irish language, I should delight to mention them ; but if such exist, I know it not. And as for even the large Cities
* " I wish," says one of them, " there was a professor of Irish appointed in Trinity College — all the ministers of the Gospel should know the Irish language upon Irish ground."
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and Towns in that fine country — what would be thought if I could say we have no such thing as a Gaelic chapel, where the Gospel is proclaimed, in Glasgow, Inverness, or Edinburgh — no such thing as a Welsh chapel, for a similar purpose, in Liverpool, Bristol, or London, and in some of which it may soon become, if it is not already, an imperative duty to have an Irish one ? Yet nothing of a similar kind yet exists either in Dublin or Cork, in Limerick or Galway, and many other parts, where the call for it is far louder than that which led to the exist- ence of a Welsh or Gaelic ministry in the cities or towns of Britain !
In few words, there is at the present moment, not one single building in all Ireland, dedicated to the injinitely important purpose of proclaiming the word of God in the Irish tongue. Here is the fact on which the public eye should rest. More than three millions of intelligent and accountable beings, and these our own countrymen, dwell- ing in a land which for a period extending over twenty ge- nerations has been nominally united to our own, have not one single building dedicated to the purpose now mentioned. Since we have enjoyed, so richly, the invaluable benefit in our own tongue, and all the while have been enjoying it, more than seven generations of this interesting people have al- ready passed away ! And should we reckon from that ab- surd and most injurious act of Henry VIII., in ] 537, the tenth generation is now daily passing away before our eye !
Surely, should a third edition of this volume be call- ed for, it would be strange indeed if such a fact could be repeated.
I very well know it will be said here, — ' But the Scriptures have been printed in Irish.' Yes, in confor- mity with the manner in which the language has always been read, it is at last restored to its just claims upon us, and one edition, in octavo, of the Irish Bible com- plete, in its own character, has at last left the press ! ' And then there are Irish schools.' Yes, for about one
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soul in one hundred and fifty or twenty thousand out of a population of more than three millions ; or say there were only two millions, then apply this average to Scot- land, and observe how the number would sound, or ra- ther resound throughout the country.* ' But there are men who read the Scriptures.' Yes, comparatively a few men are thus employed ; but what is all this to the sub- ject before us ? Are all these, united, and though carried to the utmost extent, considered to be a substitute ? Do these relieve us from the obligation to obey the express authority of Immanuel? Has He vacated his own com- mission with reference to this people, or have we found out a way, through books, and education, and reading, though it be his own word, which supersedes the neces- sity for doing, simply what must be done, in every other nation, if his kingdom is to prosper there ?
Much have we heard, indeed, in modern times of the noble invention of printing, and much respecting the power of education ; and I do not imagine that any can- did reader who has proceeded thus far can suppose that the writer is indisposed to give to each its own appro- priate place. At the same time, he conceives that they may not only be perverted, but prevented from doing that good which they otherwise might accomplish. Fot example, if they be permitted to occupy that place in our esteem and expectation, which belongs to a divine and sovereign appointment, then may they not only be- come as chaff when compared to the wheat ; but, awak- ening the jealousy of Him, who will not give his glory to another, our employment of education only, and with all the energy which the art of printing has given to it, may turn out to be nothing more than giving activity
» As for English, the proportion of those now learning to read is most cheering. Many on this side of the water are not aware that, upon an average, the number of such readers in Ireland is now above England ! When the education of the whole kingdom therefore is referred to, this fact should be observed, and the blank as to reading Irish will then appear in its true character.
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to the powers of the mind, without directing and con- trolling their movements. Education will humanize and improve, inmost instances; but to save from ultimate destruction, properly speaking, never was within its province, and never will be. Yet since the time in which many have been roused to see its necessity, there has been a phraseology often used respecting it by no means warrantable. Education, but above all, Scrip- tural education, will do much. There will always be an indescribable distance between a people so favoured and any other left without such means. But if we expect more from it than it has ever produced, and, above all, if we apply to it the language furnished to us in the Scripture, and which is there exclusively employed with reference to an institution of God's own sovereign ap- pointment, we may be left to witness the impotence of education instead of its power. Hence we have read of the system of some one of these educational societies be- ing so adapted for the regeneration of Ireland ; and the terms employed in Scripture to the labourers in the vine- yard of God, have been unsparingly employed by reli- gious people to the exertions of Schoolmasters, or those who superintend them. This is not merely incorrect, but it is unwise and unwarrantable. Every one knows, that, in all such cases of agency, every thing depends upon the expectations and intentions of the agent ; but the language referred to is teaching us to expect from him, what in a thousand instances the agent neither in- tends nor expects himself. The Schoolmaster may have gone abroad, and, if a man of principle, will do great good ; but to apply to him or his efforts the language of Sacred Writ, which regards another order of men and another exercise, is calculated to injure the work of his hands, as well as blind our own minds with respect to another duty, — a duty which, so far as the Native Irish are concerned, is at once not only incumbent, but as yet unfulfilled.
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Unquestionably the privileges of reading the Scrip- tures, and being taught to read them in our native lan- guage, are of inestimable value ; but were they even universally enjoyed, in no single instance could they supersede the necessity of hearing the word ; of hearing it explained and applied by a Man who is apt to teach, — by one who himself believes, and therefore speaks. How frequently did the great Founder of our faith him- self exclaim, — <e He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," that is, let him listen ; and now certainly, if the atten- tion is to be awakened and fixed, if the general truths of revelation are to be applied to the consciences of men, or afterwards to the varied experience of the Christian life, the human voice can neither be dispensed with nor superseded. " When an important subject is presented to an audience," says a living writer, " with an ample illustration of its several parts, its practical improvement enforced, and its relation to the conscience and the heart insisted upon with seriousness, copiousness, and fervour, it is adapted in the nature of things to produce a more deep and lasting impression than can usually be expect- ed from reading. He who knows how forcible are right words, and how apt man is to be moved by man, has consulted the constitution of our frame, by appointing an order of men, whose office it is to address their fel- low-creatures on their eternal concerns. Strong feeling is naturally contagious ; and if, as the wise man observes, ' as iron sharpeneth iron, so doth the countenance of a man his friend,' the combined effects of countenance, gesture, and voice, accompanying a powerful appeal to the understanding and the heart, on subjects of ever- lasting moment, can scarcely fail of being great. But, independently of the natural tendency of the Christian ministry to convert the soul and promote spiritual im- provement, it derives its peculiar efficacy from its being a Divine appointment. It is not merely a natural, it is also an instituted means of good ; and whatever God
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appoints by special authority, he graciously engages to bless, provided it be attended to with right dispositions, and proceed from right motives."
Is it possible then, in the nature of things, that Ire- land is doomed to remain longer in this condition ? That the Native Irish in particular are to continue from Sabbath to Sabbath to spend that day as they have done for ages? It cannot be. Shall men continue to leave their native shores, and go far hence to the heathen only ? Will the inhabitants of Ireland itself, and those of Britain, continue to encourage and call forth such men for their work, and shall our countrymen and fel- low-subjects be forgotten ? Shall we enforce the neces- sity and importance of acquiring the languages of In- dia, of China, and Japan, in order to reach the heart through the ear ; and shall it seem a hard task to acquire the use of a tongue spoken by such a multitude in the immediate vicinity of our own, nay, spoken by our fel- low-subjects, intersecting a sister country in almost every direction, and now dwelling to such extent in every city of the empire ?
" I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all : yet, in the Church, I hail rather speak five words, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." PAUL.
" Obtestantes in Domino, et pro obeilientia qua Summo Pastori teneris injungentes : ut ejus gregem quern suo sanguine acquisivit, tibi commissum, diligenter pascas, et in fide C'atholica instituas, qfficia divina Lingua a populo intellects, peragas ; exemplar ante umiiia tcipsum prabeas fidelibus in bonis operibus, ut erubescant adversarii, nihil haben- tes quod in te reprehendant," BEDCU,.
SECTION IV.
UNFOUNDED OBJECTIONS
Against the employment of the Irish language answered, and shown to be of bane- ful tendency in every sense; as it is not only essential to the effectual instruc- tion of the people, but its neglect is injurious, as well to the progress of the English language as to that of general information.
THE preceding pages may be said to involve an answer to every objection against the employment of the Irish language in the business of education or instruction, Avherever it happens to be daily spoken ; but as the ob- jections themselves furnish occasion for adducing a cu- rious, if not instructive variety of collateral proof, they are here noticed. The same objections were indeed an- swered in a memorial on behalf of the Native Irish in 1815 ; but that has been for some time out of print. Of course I often employ the same language, but with many additional facts.
I. Such measures mould give too much encouragement to the language itself, for the sooner it is destroyed or abolished) so much the better.
This is an ancient objection, and it is still heard on both sides of the Channel, though within these fifteen years a great change has taken place, and all who have paid attention to the subject see through its fallacy. To expect that any language will decline by denouncing it, is vain. Nay, only neglecting to teach the people to read it, though at the same time enforcing the reading
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of another as the only channel of instruction to the poor, and as the only road to preferment or indulgence, is an attempt, the merits of which can very easily be put to the proof and examined by the result. The following cases not only include a reply to the objection, but fur- nish so many powerful arguments for immediate, and cordial, and general attention, as well to the language as to the circumstances of the Native Irish people.
ENGLISH. — The argtimenlum ad hominem is not with- out its value, and may be employed here with some force. It is but fair, and may not be unseasonable, to remind the Englishman of this day, as well as the Anglo-Hiber- nian, that when Ireland was invaded in the twelfth cen- tury, English was not the language of authority and command, but French. When Henry II. himself was retuming from Ireland, in the spring of 1173, and pass- ing through Pembroke, a Welshman accosted him. The Cambrian, supposing that a King of England must un- derstand English, addressed Henry in that language, calling him ' gode olde Kynge.' Understanding nothing of this salutation, his Majesty said to his esquire, in French, ' What does this man mean ?' and the esquire, who had been so situated as to converse with the Native English, had to act as interpreter. Thus the fifth King of England after the Conquest did not seem to know the signification of the word King in the English tongue. His son and successor, Richard, probably knew as little, at least it is certain that he could not hold a conversation in English • though, sitting upon the throne of England, he is said to have made amends for this deficiency, by speaking and writing well the two languages of Gaul, both north and south, the language of out and the lan- guage of oc !* The English tongue, therefore, such as it
* Brompton, p. 1079- Thierry's Norman Conquest, vol. iii. p. 180.
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was in these days, was indeed spoken by men in that army ; but all the chiefs were Norman-French. English was spoken by soldiers in the streets and markets within the pale; but French was the language in the castles and houses of the Barons. Thus the men of English race, upon Irish ground, occupied only a middle state between the Normans and the Irish. Their language, indeed, at that period was, in fact, proscribed, and in their own country despised, while in Ireland it held but an intermediate rank between that of the new govern- ment and the ancient dialect of the aborigines. Taught as the English or Anglo-Saxons had been, by this time, for a century, and were to be for two hundred years longer, that the edicts or dicta of the reigning power cannot wrest from a people the use of their mother- tongue ; was it not strange that they could not perceive that the Native Irish were certain to act by their verna- cular tongue, just as they themselves had done by theirs ? Yet is it not a little remarkable, that the evil under which the Native Irish have laboured for so many ages, and up to the present hour, is the precise evil under which England groaned for three hundred years, from the time of the Norman invasion ? This last territorial conquest in the west of Europe is never to be forgotten, as having introduced a species of policy into this coun- try which has checked the diffusion of knowledge per- haps more than any one circumstance which can be mentioned. It was a sort of crusade on the colloquial dialect of the subdued party, and it certainly had its effects. It checked the diffusion of knowledge among the Native English, it sank the lower orders into dark- ness, and restricted all useful and scientific information to a privileged class. But did this experiment of three hundred years' duration root out, diminish, or abolish the English tongue ? No such thing. Long after the Conquest the preaching of the Normans was not at all
170 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
understood by the audience ;* and though the court, the law, and the nobility used French, the Native English never, as Robert of Gloucester informs us, abandoned their vernacular tongue. In the first part of the reign of Edward III. Norman-French had reached its highest ascendency in England. Boys in the schools were in- structed in the French idiom ; after this, in some in- stances, came Latin, and there was no regular instruc- tion of youth in English. The children of the nobles were even sent abroad to secure correctness of pronun- ciation. Yet what signified all this unnatural proce- dure ? Rolle, or, as he is sometimes named, Richard of Hampole, who died in 1348-9, intimates, that the ge- nerality of the laity understood no language except the English ; and the English versifier of the romance of Arthur and Merlin asserts, that he knew even many nobles who were ignorant of French. A change of fa- shion was now at hand. In 1362 the act passed which recited that the French language was so unknown in England, that the parties to law-suits had no knowledge or understanding of what was said for or against them, because the counsel spoke French. It therefore ordered that all causes should in future be pleaded, discussed, and adjudged in English.t After this, English immedi- ately so superseded its competitor, that by the year 1385 the teaching of French in all the schools had been dis- continued, and English substituted. J te How hard a matter it is," says old Brerewood, " utterly to abolish a vulgar language in a populous country, may well appear by the vain attempt of our Norman Conqueror, who, although he compelled the English to teach their young children in the schools nothing but French, and set
* Hist. Ingulf, p. 115. f 36 Edward 3, c. 15.
$ Turner's Hist, of England, 4to, tol. ii. p. 574. Three years after this, in 1388, the English was introduced into Parliament, though the absurd custom of recording the statutes in Norman, continued for ninety-five years longer. It was abolished by Richard III. in 1483.
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down all the laws of the land in French, (which custom continued till Edward the Third, his days, who disannul- led it,) purposing thereby to have conquered the lan- guage together with the land, and to have made all French ; yet all was labour lost, and obtained no other effect than the mingling of a few French words with the English. And even such also was the success of the Franks among the Gauls, and of the Goths among the Italians and Spaniards."* Brerewood here may be said to underrate the influence of the Norman-French; but still it is certain that it can by no means be charged with the greater part of that difference, which exists between the Anglo-Saxon and the modern tongue.
After passing through such an ordeal as this, it might have been supposed, that of all the nations on the face of the earth, the English would have been the last to have pursued measures which they themselves had shown to be abortive, and which had been also followed by such injurious and barbarizing consequences to their own ancestors.
Independently, however, of this instance, the follow- ing cases will fully settle this objection, and they are the more worthy of notice when the coincidence of dates is observed. Abroad and at home, in Germany, in Wales, in the Highlands of Scotland, and the Isle of Man, as well as in Ireland, there seems to have been (uncon- sciously) a unity of design which, in all the attempts, proved abortive, and evinced, at the same time, what to some may appear strange, that if any colloquial dialect is to decline, and the language spoken in its vicinity is to gain the ascendency, the most direct and effectual process is that of teaching to read the colloquial dialect itself.
* Brerewood's Inquiries touching the Diversity of Languages, dec. London, 1674, p. 27.
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WENDEN. — For about thirty years, viz. from 1678 to 1708, an attempt was made to destroy the Wenden lan- guage, which is a dialect of the Slavonian, spoken by a tribe of people called Die Wendens, living in the circles of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Silesia, &c. In a Latin letter to J. Chamberlayne, Esq. from the Rev. Dr Jab- lonski, first chaplain to the King of Prussia, dated Ber- lin, 5th May, 1714, there is the following distinct ac- count of this business: — " Worthy Sir, — I thought it would not be unacceptable to you, or the Rev. Mr Richardson, if I should write you a short account of some things here, which seem to be parallel to your Irish affairs. There are to this very day some consider- able remains of the ancient Venedi (called by us the Die Wendens), who formerly inhabited the banks of the Vistula, but now live along the Oder and the Sprea; their country runs through both the Lusatias, into Mis- nia on the one hand, and Silesia on the other. Part of them are subject to the Emperor and the Elector of Saxony, and part to the Elector of Brandenburgh." — " This people being originally Sarmatians, speak the Slavonian tongue, and most tenaciously keep up the use of it to this day, notwithstanding that they have so many ages lived in the midst of Germans. Some of them hav- ing passed the Elbe in the days of Charles the Great, settled in the country of Lunenburg; but their lan- guage, by reason of the small numbers of those that spoke it, as we may imagine, having lost ground by little and little, was at last quite disused within the me- mory of our fathers, nay of some now alive. Some while since several attempts were made to bring our Wendens likewise into a disuse of it ; and to that end there was a German school set up at every church ; to most of their congregations were sent German pastors ignorant of the Slavonian tongue ; and no books were printed in that language, that so this illiterate people might be under a necessity of learning the German tongue.
9
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" But none of these methods had the desired success ; for the schools, which seemed most likely to effect it were found to be insufficient, because the Wendens, be- ing husbandmen, do not inhabit cities or towns, but vil- lages only, which, being often far asunder, their children could not, without difficulty, go to school, especially in winter, which was the only time they could be spared, as their parents could not dispense with their assistance in summer at their country labours ; thus they wilfully forgot that in summer which they had unwil lingly learned in winter ; which their parents, who were not willing to change their own language for the German, secretly re- joiced at. The German pastors of these churches had very bad success in their employment ; for, being ' bar- barians' to their hearers, the greatest part of them, and especially the women, were not at all edified ; and it was found by experience, that, after the space of thirty years and upwards, neither the pastor nor the flock understood each other. Finally, the want of books of piety in their own language tended naturally to foment their igno- rance, but not to kindle in them any desire to those in the German tongue ; for they, not knowing the good of such books, perfectly despised them.
" And now you may easily judge what a miserable condition these unhappy people were in, who were alto- gether unacquainted with letters, had not one book, no spiritual food, nor any other helps for devotion, but a few prayers, and some hymns to be got by heart. Neither was any part of the Sacred Scriptures printed for the use of so many numerous congregations ; but every minister, instead of a sermon, read to them some portion of the Word of God, translating it himself as well as he could from the German into the Wenden lan- guage, too often with little accuracy or judgment.
" At last the king (Frederic) applied a remedy to these great evils ; the Rev. Gottlieb Fabricius; a godly and very zealous minister of the Gospel among the Wen-
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dens, having by his great piety contributed much there- to. After he had with no small labour learned the Wenden language, and translated a catechism into it, he soon betook himself to a greater work, and, in the year 1709, published the whole New Testament in that language. He is now employed in publishing an ela- borate version of the book of Psalms and several Hymns. This man, being called to the parish of Peitzens, which consists of six villages, whereof he hath now the charge, and finding no Wenden school there, though he met with some difficulty at first, from the opposition even of his own parishioners, yet he so managed the matter, that a schoolmaster was immediately placed for the benefit of two of these villages. This man so faithfully discharg- ed the trust committed to him, that, in a short time, not only these two villages were much pleased with reading their own language, but the inhabitants of the rest desired that schoolmasters might be placed among them too. These they soon obtained ; three were sent to them, Fabricius himself having, with a great deal of pains, first taught them to read, and then how to instruct the children committed to their care. He soon saw the happy effect of his pious labours. Not only some hun- dreds of children were now taught to read by the indus- try of these masters, but the parents themselves, (who formerly thought their children might live as happily without letters as they had done, and out of a kind of secret envy would not have their children more know- ing than themselves) learned to read from their own chil- dren, and practised it in their daily devotion at home. Nay, in some places, which could not be supplied with masters, while the servants were taking care of the horses, some one of them, who had happily learned to read, would often take that opportunity to instruct the rest in reading."
The sentiments of Frederic in relation to this affair are excellently expressed in a rescript of his to the go-
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vernment of Newmark, dated 22d September, 1708, which is inserted at length in the above Letter, when the Doctor concludes as follows : — " This, however, is certain, that the small progress some of the Venedi have made in reading, hath so much raised their appetite, that they do now of their own accord apply themselves to learn the German language, that so they may enjoy the bene- fit of books written in it ; whereby it is come to pass, that what was believed would be a hindrance to the German tongue, doth on the contrary evidently tend to its increase."*
BOHEMIAN. — The above is not the only instance within the German empire. At so recent a period as the year 1765, the idea of destroying the vernacular tongue of Bohemia was entertained. The Bohemian, or Tschech- nish dialect of the Slavonian language, is spoken gene- rally by the peasantry, and by many of superior rank ; yet " in the year alluded to, an attempt was made, but without success, to introduce German teachers into all the schools, so that the Bohemian language might be entirely abolished."t The wakeful and judicious bene- volence of the present day has operated, in this instance also, in a more excellent way. Editions of the Bohe- mian Bible, amounting to thousands of copies, have been printed within the last twenty years ; and these appear to be insufficient to gratify the desire which prevails among the people to read the Scriptures in their own tongue. This desire to read will spread the German language.
To come nearer home ; the scheme of abolishing a language, by either neglecting it or teaching another, has been a favourite one within the limits of the United
* Published at the end of Richardson on Pilgrimages. Dublin, 1727. This letter might have been glanced at in page 94, as the final effort of Richardson, f Historical and Political Descriptions of Germany, 4to, London, 1800, p. S3.
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Kingdom, and that for ages; but with what success let the following accounts testify : —
WELSH. — So early as the year 1567, the Welsh had been favoured, by the zeal of a private gentleman, Wil- liam Salesbury, with a translation of the New Testa- ment in the vernacular tongue ; and I cannot, by the way, but notice here, that neither Queen Elizabeth nor her advisers required any reply to the objection we are now answering. On the contrary, it has been already seen, that, in 1571j she had sent Irish types and a printing-press to Ireland, and it appears that eight years before this, that is, in 1563, when ordering, by bill, the translation of the Welsh Scriptures, " for the souls' health of the flocks," in the principality, it was also in order that such as did not understand the English lan- guage might, " by conferring both tongues together, the sooner attain to the knowledge of the English tongue." These are, in fact, the express terms of the statute ; and had such a self-evident course of policy been also pur- sued from that time in Ireland, the country would cer- tainly not have been in its present condition. The com- paratively ample provision made for the Welsh, in re- gard to the Scriptures and other books, will appear af- terwards. Yet it is strange, that, during the last cen- tury, the short-sighted policy which we now reprobate was attempting to exert itself even in Wales.
In allusion to the endeavours of some to banish their language by teaching English, we find the Rev. Griffith Jones of Llandowrer, the original promoter of the Welsh Circulating Schools, pleading as follows : — " In the or- dinary way, it is as unlikely to bring the whole body of the Welsh people to learn the English tongue, as it would be to prevail with all the common people of England to learn French. I am much at a loss to know what me- thod should be tried. Should all our Welsh books, and our excellent version of the Holy Bible, Welsh preach-
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ing, and the stated worship of God in our language, be taken away, to bring us to a disuse of our tongue ? So they are in a manner in some places ; the more our misery ; and yet the people are no more better scholars than they are better Christians for it. Welsh is still the vulgar tongue, and not English. The English Charity Schools, which have been tried, produced no better effect in country places. All that the children could do in three, four, or five years,* amounted commonly to no more than to learn very imperfectly to read some easy parts of the Bible, without knowing the Welsh of it : nor should this be thought strange, considering that they were learning to read an unknown language, and had none to speak it but the master, and he too obliged to talk to them often in Welsh; insomuch that they, who have been so long in English schools, could not edify themselves by reading, till many of them lately learned to read their own language in the Welsh Charity Schools." " Sure I am, the Welsh Charity Schools do no way hinder to learn English, but do very much con- tribute towards it ; and perhaps you will allow, Sir, that learning our own language first is the most expeditious way to come at the knowledge of another, else why are not your youths in England, designed for scholars, set to Latin and Greek before they are taught English?
" But I am next," says Mr Jones, " to consider an- other part of the objection, viz. c Why should the king's subjects in Wales only\ not be brought to understand English ?' We are to acknowledge ourselves greatly in- debted for being admitted to enjoy the same English liberties in common with you, which we have been blessed with for many successions of reigns, and con-
* Five winters, for they could attend only at that period of the year, though but few of the poor could stay so long.
t There is an allusion here to the contemporary but vain attempts in Ireland, in the Highlands of Scotland, and in the Isle of Man, thus to destroy the Irish, the Gaelic, and the Manx !
178 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
tinue to enjoy under his present Majesty ; but for our being of a different language, it is hoped the reasons al- ready given will so fully account for it, that where- insoever this may be a misfortune or disadvantage to us, you will condole instead of being offended with us. Was our language understood, we could express our loy- alty in the strongest terms, and its not being so shall in no wise make us worse subjects. Although we have not the happiness of being able to express our allegiance in the words of your language, yet we hope that in deed we shall not be found defective in it." Again, says this ex- cellent man, " Experience now proves beyond dispute, that if ever it be attempted to bring all the Welsh people to understand English, we cannot better pave the way for it, than by teaching them to read their own language first. This method will conduce, more than any other I can think of, to assist whatever attempts may be made to spread the general knowledge of the English tongue in this country."*
As an appropriate continuation of the account of the Welsh Schools, I must not omit to notice the laborious exertions of the late Rev. Thomas Charles of Bala, a man whose memory will be cherished with fervent gra- titude in the principality for a long period to come. Not being acquainted with any account of his efforts so minute and satisfactory as that which is contained in a letter of his, addressed to the present writer, dated 4th January, 1811, I shall take the liberty of inserting the greater part of it here, after respectfully requesting the candid attention of gentlemen in Ireland to the argu- ment throughout, as it affects our sister country.
" The important intelligence which your letter brought me of the benevolent intention of charitable persons in the north, of forming a society in Edinburgh,
* Welsh Piety, or a Collection of the several Accounts of the Circulating Welsh Charity Schools, from their rise in 1737 to Michaelmas 1753, in three vols 8vo.
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lor the design of encouraging schools in the Highlands and the Islands of Scotland, to teach the poor inhabit- ants to read their native Gaelic tongue, appears to me highly laudable, and gives me very great gratification. In compliance with your request, I shall here attempt to give you a comprehensive and succinct account of si- milar institutions with us in this principality, their na- ture, and the success of them.
" The Rev. Griffith Jones, about A. D. 1730, made the first attempt of any importance, on an extensive scale, to erect schools for the instruction of our poor people to read their native language. Before that time, the whole country was in a most deplorable state with regard to the acquisition of religious knowledge. After the de- cease of this very pious and laborious minister, A. D. 1761, the schools were continued on the same plan by a pious lady of fortune, an intimate friend of Mr Jones, and a constant attendant on his ministry — her name was Mrs Bevan. In her will, that lady, who lived several years after Mr Jones, left ten thousand pounds, the in- terest of which was to be applied, for ever, towards per- petuating those schools. Her executrix, a niece of hers, disputed the validity of the will, so far as it applied to this money. It was thrown into Chancery, where it continued for thirty years before a decree was obtained. About two years past, a decree was granted in favour of this charity ; and the interest of the ten thousand pounds, with the accumulation of it by interest all the years it was in Chancery, is to be applied, under certain specific regulations and restrictions, to the support of circulating charity schools throughout the whole principality ! This was a consummation to be devoutly wished indeed ! And the more so, as we had all despaired of ever seeing the money applied to the proper object. There are now forty schools erected in different parts of the country, and the number is continually increasing. In the course of a few years after the cessation of these, on the demise
180 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
of Mrs Bevan, the country gradually reverted into the same state of stupor and ignorance in which Mr Jones found it when he first thought of those institutions. Be- sides, though Mr Jones' schools increased to the amazing number of two hundred and twenty before he died, yet there were many districts in this mountainous country never visited by his schdols, or but once, and that for a very short time. In one of these districts it pleased the will of Providence to place me. Soon after I assumed the care of the parish, I attempted to instruct the rising generation, by catechising them every Sunday after- noon ; but their not being able to read I found to be a great obstacle to the progress of my work. This in- duced me to inquire into the state of the country in this point of view. I soon found the poor people to be in general in the same state of ignorance. Two or three of the children of the wealthiest were sent to the next town to learn English, and this was all ; the generality were left totally destitute of any instruction. As Mr Jones' schools had ceased to circulate, no relief could be obtain- ed from that quarter. A thought occurred to my anxi- ous mind, for so it really was, that, by the charitable as- sistance of some friends, I might be able to obtain means of employing a teacher, and to remove him from one place to another, to instruct the poor ignorant people. When I had succeeded in obtaining pecuniary aid, the great difficulty of obtaining a proper person to teach occurred. This difficulty was removed by instructing a poor man myself, and employing him at first near me, that this school might be, in a manner, under my con- stant inspection. The next difficulty was, to obtain pro- per elementary books. In this point Mr Jones' schools were very deficient, as the books used in his schools were little better than the English battledoors, and very ill calculated to forward the children in their learning. This obstruction also was gradually surmounted. I com- posed three elementary books, besides two catechisms,
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which are now used in all our schools, and very essen- tially assist the progress of the children. My teachers, as my funds increased, multiplied gradually from one to twenty ; but of late the number is decreased, as the ne- cessity of the week-day schools, is superseded by the in- crease of Sunday schools, and my attention is drawn to the extension of them as wide as possible. The circu- lating day schools have been the principal means of erect- ing Sunday schools ; for, without the former, the state of the country was such, that we could not obtain teach- ers to carry on the latter ; besides, Sunday schools were set up in every place where the day schools had been. My mode of conducting the schools has been as follows : — My first greatest care has been in the appointment of proper teachers. They are all poor persons, as my wages are but small ; besides, a poor person can assimilate himself to the habits and mode of living among the poor, as it is his own way of living. It is requisite that he should be a person of moderate abilities, but, above all, that he be truly pious, moral, decent, humble, and en- gaging in his whole deportment ; not captious, not dis- putatious, not conceited, no idle saunterer, no tattler, nor given to the indulgence of any idle habits. My care here has been abundantly repaid ; for my teachers in general are as anxious as myself in the success of the work, and the eternal welfare of those they are employ- ed to instruct in their most important concerns. In in- troducing the school into a place, I pay a previous visit there, after conversing a little with some of the princi- pal inhabitants on the subject ; I convene the inhabit- ants together, after having sent a previous message to them, intimating my intention of visiting them, and spe- cifying the time of my coming. — When convened toge- ther, I publicly address them on the vast importance of having their children taught to read the word of God, and afterwards I inform them of my intention of send- ing a teacher to assist in instructing their children, and
H
J82 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
also grown-up people who cannot read, who will attend him on Sundays, and as many nights in the week as they please. I conclude by exhorting the parents to send their children to the school. I converse familiarly after- wards with the parents, §nd promise to assist them with books, if they should be -too poor to buy any. I take kind notices of the children also ; and thus, in general, we are kind friends ever after the first interview. The teacher is to take no entrance-money — is charged not to encroach upon them, and intrude himself upon them, unless particularly invited into their houses ; and then he is charged to have family-prayers night and morning, wherever he goes to reside for a night ; to introduce conversations respecting his own work, and not indulge himself with them in vain idle talk ; that in him they may see how a Christian lives, and how they ought to live. His time is entirely at my command, and to be devoted wholly to the work ; he is engaged in the even- ing as well as through the day, and that every day. Be- fore the school is removed, I go there twice, if possible, and examine the children publicly; these public exami- nations and catechisings I have found most profitable to the parents and grown-up people : I have often seen them exceedingly affected by the intelligent and proper responses of the children. "Before I leave them, I ex- hort them earnestly to support the Sunday school that had been begun among them, to prevent the children from forgetting what they have learned, to further their progress in learning, now they have happily begun ; and this they generally comply with.
" At first, the strong prejudice which universally pre- vailed against teaching them to read Welsh first, and the idea assumed, that they could not learn English so well, if previously instructed in the Welsh language ; this, I say, proved a great stumbling-block in the way of pa- rents to send children to the Welsh schools, together with another conceit they had, that if they could read
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English, they would soon learn of themselves to read Welsh; but now these idle and groundless conceits are universally scouted. This change has been produced, not so much by disputing, as by the evident salutary effects of the schools, the great delight with which the children attended them, and the great progress they made in the acquisition of knowledge. The school con- tinues usually at one time in the same place six or nine months, which depends on local circumstances, the num- ber of children, and the progress which the children make. In some districts they learn with much greater rapidity than in others ; the causes of this are various, which I cannot enumerate here. This has been my mode of proceeding, subject to some local variations, for above twenty-three years ; and I have had the only satisfaction I could wish — that of seeing the work, by the Lord's blessing, prospering far beyond my most sanguine ex- pectations. The beginning was small, but the little brook became an overflowing river, which has spread widely over the whole country in Sunday schools, the wholesome effects of these previous institutions, fertiliz- ing the barren soil wherever it flows.
" As to the expediency of teaching young people, in ihejirst place, to read the language they generally speak and best understand, if imparting religious knowledge is our primary object, as it most certainly ought to be, in instructing immortal beings, it needs no proof, for it is self-evident. However, I beg your attention for a moment to the following particulars, making no apology for the great length of this letter, as you desired me to be particular. — 1. The time necessary to teach them to read the Bible in their vernacular language is so short, not exceeding six months in general, that it is a great pity not to give them the key immediately which un- locks all the doors, and lays open all the divine treasures before them. Teaching them English requires two or three years' time, during which long period they are
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concerned only about dry terms, without receiving one idea for their improvement. — 2. Welsh words convey ideas to their infant minds as soon as they can read them, which is not the case when they are taught to read a language they do not understand. — 3. When they can read Welsh, scriptural terms become intelligible and familiar to them, so as to enable them to understand the discourse delivered in that language (the language in ge- neral preached through the Principality ,•*) which, of course, must prove more profitable than if they could not read at all, or read only the English language. — 4. Previous instruction in their native tongue helps them to learn English much sooner, instead of proving in any degree an inconveniency. This I have had repeated proofs of, and can confidently vouch for the truth of it. I took this method of instructing my own children, with the view of convincing the country of the fallacy of the general notion which prevailed to the contrary ; and I have persuaded others to follow my plan, which, with- out one exception, has proved the truth of what I con. ceived to be really the case. — 5. Having acquired new ideas by reading a language they understand, excite- ment is naturally produced to seek for knowledge ; and as our ancient language is very deficient in the means of instruction, there being few useful books printed in it, a desire to learn English, yea, and other languages also, is excited, for the sake of increasing their stock of of ideas, and adding to their fund of knowledge. I can vouch for the truth of it, that there are twenty to one who can now read English to what could when the Welsh was entirely neglected. The knowledge of the English is become necessary, from the treasures con- tained in it. English books are now generally called for ; there are now a hundred books, I am sure, for every one
* What a contrast, I may add, to the present state of Ireland !
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that was in the country when I removed from England, and first became a resident in these parts. English schools are everywhere called for, and I have been obliged to send young men to English schools, to be trained up for English teachers, that I might be able, in some degree, to answer the general demand for them. In short, the whole country is in a manner emerging from a state of great ignorance and ferocious barbarity to civilization and piety, and that principally by means of the Welsh schools. Bibles without end are called for, and read di- ligently, learned out by heart, and searched into with unwearied assiduity and care. Instead of vain amuse- ments, dancing, card-playing, interludes, quarrelling, and barbarous and most cruel fightings, we have now prayer-meetings, our congregations are crowded, and public catechising is become pleasant, familiar, and pro- fitable. One great means of this blessed change has been the Welsh schools, — 6. By teaching the Welsh Jirst, we prove to them that we are principally concerned about their souls, and thereby naturally impress their minds with the vast importance of acquiring the know- ledge of divine truths, in which the way of salvation, our duty to God and man, is revealed ; whereas that most important point is totally out of sight by teaching them English ; for the acquisition of the English is con- nected only with their temporal concerns, and which they may never want, for they may, as the majority do, die in infancy. In my opinion, in the education of chil- dren, it is of the utmost importance, in the first place, to impress their minds with a sense that they are candi- dates for another world, and that the things pertaining to their eternal felicity there are of infinitely greater importance to them, than the little concerns which belong to our short existence. The neglect of this is, I apprehend, a very great defect in the education of children.
c( What I have put down here is, I apprehend, equally
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applicable to the Irish and the Highlanders as to the Welsh. Praying for your success, I am, yours respect- fully/' &c.
In the course of the same year in which the above letter was written, Mr Charles turned his attention to the importance of establishing adult schools, of which I had the pleasure to receive the following notice, dated the 18th of December, 1811 :—
" I am much obliged to you for your kind favour re- ceived by this day's post, and I rejoice at the persever- ing efforts made to teach the poor Highlanders. The schools go on here with increasing success, and the ef- fects of them in many parts of the country are visible, in the increase of the knowledge of the sacred Scrip- tures, and melioration of the morals of the plebeians in general.
" I have of late turned my attention more than ever to the aged illiterate people in our country. On minute inquiries I find there are very many who cannot read, and of course are very ignorant, though I had before given general exhortations on that head, and invited them to attend the schools, but with very little success. At last I determined to try what effect a school exclu- sively Jbr themselves would have. I fixed upon a district, where I had been informed that most of the inhabitants above Jlfly years of age could not read, and I prevailed on a friend to promise to attend to teach them. I went there after a previous publication being given of my coming ; published the school, and exhorted them all to attend. My friend went there, and eighteen attended the first Sunday. He found them in a state of most de- plorable ignorance. By condescension, patience, and kindness, he soon engaged them to learn, and their de- sire for learning soon became as great as any rve have seen among the young people. They had their little ele- mentary books with them whilst at work, and met in the evenings of their own accord to teach one another-
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Their school is now increased to eighty persons, and some of them read their Testaments, though it is not three months since the school commenced. Children are excluded from this school ; but we have another school for them. The rumour of the success of this school has spread abroad, and has greatly removed the discouragement which old people felt from attempting to learn, from the general persuasion that they could not learn at their age. This has been practically proved to be false; for old persons of seventy-jive years of age have learnt to read in this school, to their great joy. Several other similar institutions have been set up since, and promise similar success." — *
MANKS. — If it had in any instance been practicable directly to abolish a colloquial dialect in Britain, one might have expected to have witnessed success within the very narrow limits of the Isle of Mann ; and, indeed, about the year 1740, it was confidently affirmed that the " ancient Bishop of Sodor and Mann (Wilson) had found means to bring the Manks into disuse." How this assertion came to be made, what it could possibly mean, or with whom it originated, I cannot ascertain, but it was certainly far from the truth. On the con> trary, the Manks is such an interesting case, and one so much in point, that I make no apology for inserting some account of it here in reply.
* In the last letter with which I was favoured from this indefatigable man, lie says, " The tidings respecting the charity schools are favourable, and our schools are more crowded than ever with adults as well as children." " I have to lament much that I have in a degree spent half my time, though very busy, yet not in that line in which I see now most good might have been done. Now my strength begins to fail me for great exertion. Last summer (1813) I was laid aside for two months by great debility of body, owing, my doctors say, to over-exertion. Through mercy I am considerably recovered, but still incapable of pursuing my usual la- bours with that assiduity and exertion I used to do." During the following spring, Mr Charles often said, while superintending an edition of the Welsh Scriptures, " As soon as I have finished this, I shall be content to lay my head on my pillow and die." This work was finished on the 19th of August, and Mr Charles died on Wednesday morning, the 5th of October, 1814,
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Even so early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, J. Philips, a Welshman, and Bishop of Mann, is said to have translated the Scriptures into Manks ; but if he did, no remnant of his translation was known in the last century. It certainly was never printed, though the book of Common-Prayer, by him, in manu- script, was then extant. But, notwithstanding the con- fident assertion already quoted, so far was Bishop Wil- son from being accessary to such an idea, that the first book ever printed in Manks was by him, and of his composition — his " Principles and Duties of Christi- anity," in Manks and English, published so early as 1699. Indeed the two individuals who are now quoted by way of eminence, as the Bishops of Sodor and Mann, are Bishops Wilson and Hildesley ; and it is certain that, with the former, the Manks translation of the Scriptures originated, and under the latter it was com- pleted.
The translation of the New Testament, in particular, into Manks, was first concerted in 1722, between Bi- shop Wilson and Dr William Walker, one of his vicars, while they were wrongously imprisoned in the gaol of Castle Rushen by the governor of the island ; and under their direction the Gospel of Matthew was completed and printed. The other Evangelists, with the Acts, were left prepared for the press by this venerable man, who was fifty-eight years Bishop of the Island, and died, in 1755, at the very advanced age of ninty-three. Of the parts now mentioned, Dr Walker was the trans- lator.
The principal place, however, is due to Dr Mark Hildesley, Bishop of Mann, who succeeded him. Im- mediately upon entering on his charge, the translation of the whole Scriptures was taken up by Dr H. with the deepest solicitude and ardour. The number of translators employed may serve of itself as one evidence of his zeal in his cause. The Old Testament remaining
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untranslated, he divided it into 24 parts, which were first given to 24 different persons, viz. his vicar-general, archdeacon, rector, a chaplain,* fourteen vicars, four curates, and one gentleman, who seems to have had no clerical appointment. These were all resident in the island : the twenty-fourth individual, to whom the minor prophets were committed, was one of the episco- pal ministers in Edinburgh at that time, the Rev. Wil- liam Fitzsimmons. The work, thus far completed, was then committed to the care of Dr Moore and Dr Kelly, after-mentioned.
Dr Hildesley himself applied with great assiduity to the Manks, and succeeded so far as to conduct the pub- lic service in what the islanders called " very pretty Manks." " I would give five hundred pounds," said he, " were I enough master of it to be able to trans- late, and I believe I shall give half as much to promote the improvement of it in those who can." Having ap- plied with success to the Society for promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, and secured, through his own zealous exertions, the liberal aid of various other persons, — for which he was good-naturedly called the mendicant Bi- shop,— it was not long before the Gospels and the Acts were ready and circulated. Upon which the Bishop writes to Mr Moore, after-mentioned, " the vast eager- ness and joy with which the first specimen has been re- ceived and sought for have amply convinced me of the utility of the undertaking, had I had no previous per- suasion in my own mind of the real benefit it must needs be to the souls of the far greater part of the peo- ple of my charge." As this good man proceeded, his ardour continued to increase ; and no wonder, for it met with many things which were well calculated to pro- mote it. " My whole heart," said he to a correspond-
* Not the Bishop's chaplain, for he is recorded never to have kept one, but offi- ciated himself, every Sabbath, in his own chapel.
B2
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ent, " is set on Manks translations." Hie labor, hoc opus est. A poor woman in this parish, upon her son's reading a chapter to her, cried out with great exulta- tion, " We have sat in darkness (dorraghys) till now."
In this design, however, Dr H. had to encounter both ridicule and indifference, if not opposition ; as in- deed all have had to do, in a greater or less degree, who have endeavoured to promote the translation and circu- lation of the Scriptures in any of the Celtic or Iberian dialects. None of these things moved him, however, as appears in his letter of the 21st Dec. 1763, to Mr frfoore. " Now, Sir, in answer to your letter of the 17th, I have to observe, that I know of no Manksman who has shown any dislike, as you seem to suppose, to the Society's proposal ; but to the scheme of the poor wrong-headed Bishop for introducing Manks printed Gospels and Li- turgy several are disapprovers, both north and south, in this Ellan-shaint ; as if he were intending to ruin the country, by extending the light of our holy religion to them who sit in darkness, for want of a Manks book, whereby to see, with their own eyes, the wonderful dis- pensation of God's revealing goodness to the sons of men. But that the printed proposals were also received coldly is also too sure; and that by those who, I would have thought, would have lifted up their hands and voices to Heaven in thankfulness for such providential assistance. Discouraged, my friend : No ! Those, or a .hundred pails of water poured on my design, will never quench the living fire of my zeal to pursue it, so long as I have breath to spe"ak with, or a pen to write." — From the Manksmen, indeed, Dr H. met with warm returns of gratitude and praise ; but, on the one hand, . as he could not be moved from his zealous constancy, . so, on the other, he never lost his characteristic lowli- ness of mind. " Your compliment," said he one day to Mr Moore, " your compliment about my importance to this diocese, especially with regard to the design I have
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in hand, I note that it comes from a friend too partial in my favour. What my enemies say, if I have any, perhaps may be more serviceable to me, by letting me see my real self, and thereby helping to humble me."
In reference to this translation of the Sacred Vo- lume, the Bishop had frequently been in the habit of saying, " I wish but to live to see it finished, and should then be happy, die when I would :" and these words gave a peculiar emphasis to the closing scene of his life. " On Saturday, the 28th of November, 1772, he was crowned with the inexpressible happiness of receiving the last part of the Bible translation : upon which occasion, according to his own repeated promise, he very emphatically sang, nunc, Domine, dimiltis ! in the presence of his congratulating family." The next day, in his own chapel, he preached on " the uncertainty of human life;" urging, with much energy, the duty of providing for our summons hence, and standing before the great tribunal. In the evening he again called his family together, and resumed the subject, and this with such convincing force, and so friendly a feeling for his domestic audience, as drew tears from every eye. Thus, " in something like prophetic strain," did the good man seem to have anticipated and prepared others for his decease ; for on the Monday following, the 30th of No- vember, 1772, after dining and conversing cheerfully, he was seized with apoplexy, which in a moment de- prived him of his intellectual powers. In this situation he remained a week, and then calmly resigned his spirit in the 74th year of his age. His zeal for the completion and publication of the Manks Scriptures had continued unwearied through life, and he is said to have " carried it with him to the grave, and even into his grave : as he had by his will directed that the funeral office and sermon should be in the Manks language, and left three hundred pounds to the Society for promoting Christian Know- ledge towards a future edition of the Manks Bible, &c."
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The Rev. Philip Moore, a native of the Isle of Mann, has been repeatedly referred to. He had been educated under old Bishop Wilson, and was rector of Kirkbride, in Mann. At the request of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and under Bishop Hildesley, he undertook the revision of the whole translation, in con- nexion with Dr Kelly, and he was favoured with the advice of Bishop Lowth and Dr Kennicot, both of whom took an interest in this work. One capital article in the bond of union between Bishop Hildesley and Mr Moore was certainly his deep interest in the Manks translation, which the latter even left on record, in rather remark- able terms, in his will, dated 14th December, 1778, as follows : — " Auspicante Deo, et per totam vitam favente Christo, I, Philip Moore, rector of Kirk-Bride, and chaplain in Douglas, now in the 49th year of my minis- tration, and the 74th of my age ; yet of sound mind, good memory, and health uncommon at this time of life ; for which, and all the blessings and comforts of existence, I cannot too much magnify, bless, and adore the Almighty Lord and Author of our happiness ; but, above all, that I had a capital hand and concern in the Manks Scriptures," &c. After a few hours illness, Mr Moore died in the year 1783, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. At the time of his decease, all the clergy of the island, ex- cept four, had been educated under his care.
The Rev. Dr John Kelly, already mentioned, was born at Douglas, in 1750, and at an early age discovered such proficiency in the language as marked him out for es- sential service in furthering the Manks translation. At the age of eighteen he entered on the work, and for the space of four years and a half was incessantly engaged in it. . He transcribed, fair, the whole version, from Genesis to Revelation, for the press. In connexion with Mr Moore, he revised the proof-sheets, corrected the press, and superintended the whole impression as far as the Epistles, besides the subsequent editions of the New
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Testament. During the progress of this work, one cir- cumstance occurred of considerable interest, which is mentioned by Dr Kelly. " I began," says he, " to re- vise, correct, and transcribe the Gaelic (Manks) transla- tion of the Bible on the 1st June, 1768. The Penta- teuch was soon also ready for the press, and we arrived at Whitehaven, where the work was printed in April, 1770. On our next return from the island to White- haven, the 19th of March, 1TJ1, with another portion, from Deuteronomy to Job inclusive, we were shipwreck- ed in a storm. With no small difficulty and danger the manuscript was preserved, by holding it above the water for the space of Jive hours, and this was almost the only article saved !" This work was completed, as already stated, in November, 1772. In 1776 Dr Kelly became Episcopal minister at Ayr, — in 1779 he engaged as tu- tor to the present Duke of Gordon, then Marquis of Huntly, — in 1791 he was Vicar of Ardleigh, near Col- chester— proceeded LL.D. at Cambridge in 1799; and on being appointed Rector of Copford, not far from Ard- leigh, he resigned the latter. In the year 1803 he pub- lished his " Practical Grammar" of the Manks, and in 1805 issued proposals for a " Triglot Dictionary of the Celtic, as spoken in the Highlands, Ireland, and the Isle of Mann;" but, in 1808, the sixty-three sheets printed off were consumed by a fire in the office, and the work has not since appeared. Dr Kelly died next year. In the course of about 36 years, viz. from 1762 to 1798, there was raised above L.4000 in aid of the Manks Scriptures, and other publications in that tongue. Among the benefactions there appears one, in 1770, of L.500, from the Right Hon. Mary Countess Dowager Gower, part of the charities of her deceased father, Thomas Earl of Thanet. There was also a Lincoln- shire Baronet, Sir John Thorold, a most benevolent cha- racter, who entered into the design with great ardour, and gave at different periods to the amount of L.500
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sterling. Both the Bishop and his translators were ani- mated in their progress by the letters of this truly-ex- cellent man. As for our own day, the following para- graph from the Eleventh Report of the Bible Society may suffice : — " The Right Rev. the Bishop of Sodor and Mann, having recommended to his clergy to ascer- tain the want of the Scriptures in their respective pa- rishes, and returns having been made in compliance with that recommendation, thirteen hundred and twenty-six copies of the Monks New Testament, together with some English Bibles and Testaments, charged at reduced prices, have been sent to the Bishop for the accommoda- tion of the inhabitants of that island." Future demands are also anticipated; for the New Testament in the Manks language, which has been provided for the sole use of the inhabitants of that island, is a stereotype edition. In 1821 a society was formed for teaching the people to read their own language, pleading the Gaelic and Irish precedents as examples which they had found mtist be followed. The number of inhabitants is at present above forty thousand, of whom twenty-five or thirty thousand are Manksmen.
GAELIC. — About the beginning of last century, the opposition to the cultivation of the Gaelic language was so strong, that several true friends to their country found it absolutely necessarjr to draw up and circulate a paper on the subject, entitled, " An Answer to the Objections against Printing the Bible in Irish."* From this docu- ment the few following sentences are extracted : — " It is not to be doubted, that a great many who make this
* The Irish and the Gaelic language are tiie same, and at this period it was ge- nerally said to be the Irish which was spoken in the High lands of Scotland. Those who have attended to this subject must have observed, that the word Irish was gradually changed into Erse, which denotes the same language that is now gene- rally called Gaelic. In 1814, the writer of this, when in Galway, found a vessel lying there from Lewis, one of the Western Isles, the master of which remarked to him, " the people here speak curious Gaelic ;" but he understood them easily ;
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objection do it without any bad design, but only through their not considering the matter sufficiently." The im- possibility of exterminating the language in that age, by the various methods proposed, is then shown, and the improbability of its being effected in succeeding ages, or for a great while to come. " Where," it is ask- ed, " is there an instance of any such thing that has been done anywhere in the world, except in such places where the conquerors have been more numerous than the conquered? It is known to all who are acquainted with the state of Europe, that in most kingdoms there are some provinces which speak a different language from what is spoken in the rest of the provinces of the same kingdom." It has not been known or heard of in this age, nor, for any thing we can learn, in some past ages, that any one parish where they have been wont to preach in Irish, has learned so much English as not still to need a preacher in the Irish language.* " It is very considerable, [[worthy of consideration^] that in Kintyre, whence the Highlanders were expelled, and where others who spoke English were planted in their stead, in process of time, by frequent conversation with the neighbouring Highlanders, many of them, instead of
and commerce is actually carried on between the Highlanders and the Irish through the medium of their common language. There is now before me a " grammar of the Gaelic language in what is called the Irish character," published in Dublin in the year 1808. This is just an Irish elementary work.
* The pertinacious adherence of mankind to their " mother tongue" might be verified by a number of remarkable proofs : " It is a curious fact," says a writer in the Statistical Account of Scotland, vol. xx. p. 490, " that the hills of King's Seat and Craigy Bams, which form the lower boundary of Dowally, (parish in Perth- shire), have been,/or centuries, the separating barrier of the English and Gaelic. In the first house below them, the English is and has been spoken ; and the Gaelic in the first house, not above a mile distant, above them." In different parts of Ireland something similar to this will be found. It is said, that, on crossing the •river Barrow, a very striking difference is observable : on the eastern bank English is spoken, and Irish scarcely known; a little way interior it is quite the reverse. There is also a very curious case in the barony of Forth, Tacumshane, near Wex- ford, opposite to Pembrokeshire, into which the Welsh might inquire, as it is said to be the British of the twelfth century. Ledwich says much older. The present incumbent, on the other hand, speaks of it as allied to the language of Chaucer in his Canterbury Tales.
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propagating the English language, have learned Irish ; so that now they preach once a day in Irish in the chief churches in the country."
Notwithstanding the powerful arguments then addu- ced, the Gaelic language stood in need of a subsequent advocate ; for it was on behalf of this people that, above sixty years afterwards, Dr Samuel Johnson addressed the following admirable letter to Mr William Drum- mond of Edinburgh : —
" Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, 13th August, 1766. " SIR, — I did not expect to hear that it could be, in an assembly convened for the propagation of Christian knowledge, a question whether any nation uninstructed in religion should receive instruction ; or whether that instruction should be imparted to them by a translation of the holy books into their own language. If obedience to the will of God be necessary to happiness, and know- ledge of his will be necessary to obedience, I know not how he that withholds this knowledge, or delays it, can be said to love his neighbour as himself. He that vo- luntarily continues in ignorance is guilty of all the crimes which ignorance produces ; as to him that should extin- guish the tapers of a light-house might justly be imput- ed the calamities of shipwreck. Christianity is the high- est perfection of humanity ; and as no man is good but as he wishes the good of others, no man can be good in the highest degree who wishes not to others the largest measures of the greatest good. To omit for a year, or for a day, the most efficacious method of advancing Christianity, in compliance with any purposes that ter- minate on this side of the grave, is a crime of which I know not that the world has yet had an example, except in the practice of the planters in America, a race of mor- tals whom, I suppose, no other man wishes to re- semble.
" I am not very willing that any language should be totally extinguished. The similitude and derivation of
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languages afford the most indubitable proof of the tra- duction of nations, and the genealogy of mankind. They add often physical certainty to historical evidence ; and often supply the only evidence of ancient migrations, and of the revolution of ages, which left no written monuments behind them.
" Every man's opinions, at least his desires, are a little influenced by his favourite studies. My zeal for lan- guages may seem, perhaps, rather over-heated, even to those by whom I desire to be well-esteemed. To those who have nothing in their thoughts but trade or policy, present power, or present money, I should not think it necessary to defend my opinions ; but with men of let- ters I would not unwillingly compound, by wishing the continuance of every language, however narrow in its extent, or however incommodious for common purposes, till it is reposited in some version of a known book, that it may be always hereafter examined and compared with other languages, and then permitting its disuse. For this purpose, the translation of the Bible is most to be desired. It is not certain that the same method will not preserve the Highland language, for the purposes of learning, and abolish it from daily use. When the High- landers read the Bible, they will naturally wish to have its obscurities cleared, and to know the history, colla- teral or dependent. Knowledge always desires increase*; it is like fire, which must be kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself. When they once desire to learn, they will naturally have re- course to the nearest language by which that desire can be gratified ; and one will tell another, that if he would attain knowledge he must learn English.
" This speculation may, perhaps, be thought more subtle than the grossness of real life will easily admit. Let it, however, be remembered, that the efficacy of ig- norance has long been tried, and has not produced the consequence expected. Let knowledge, therefore, take
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its turn ; and let the patrons of privation stand a \vhile aside, and admit the operation of positive principles.
" You will be pleased, Sir, to assure the worthy man who is employed in the new translation, that he has my wishes for his success ; and if here, or at Oxford, I can be of any use, that I shall think it more than honour to promote his undertaking.* I am sorry that I delayed so long to write. — I am," &c.
After such a letter as this, it may seem strange that schools for the education of our Highlanders, directly and in the first instance, to read their own language, were not established until 1811, more than fifty years afterwards. Such, however, is the fact. After an ac- quaintance with the state of the Highlands, all along the western coast of Scotland, in 1810, the writer could find nothing of the sort. The practice universally was, that of teaching English first ; and no small prejudice was then discovered at the idea of teaching at once the vernacular tongue. There was then even no elementary book, save Dr A. Stewart's large 8vo grammar. The letter procured from Mr Charles of Wales, already quoted, was among the steps preparatory. Now the prejudice is gone. His Majesty, on visiting Scotland, through Mr Peel, with great cordiality became Patron of the Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools, and since that period the Society for propagating Christian knowledge and the General Assembly have cordially taken up the same idea.
In regard to the exertions which are now making to instruct the Highlanders in reading their vernacular tongue, as the particulars are in the possession of the public,it is deemed quite superfluous to insert a single ex-
* Dr Johnson here alludes to the translation of the New Testament into the Gaelic language, by the Rev. James Stewart of Kiilin, which was printed in 1767, at the expense of the Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge.
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tract. Suffice it to say, that there are scholars at this moment learning the Gaelic, with remarkable avidity and profit to themselves, and that from the ages of five and six to eighty and even ninety years. There would seem to be a fascination in these Celtic dialects peculiar to themselves ; for whatever may be said in reply, we have never evinced such intense delight in our native lan- guage. To these Gaelic schools have resorted not only the child of tender years, but the old man and old woman stooping for age. Never, since education was promoted by any body of men, was it found necessary to supply assistance to the eyes themselves : yet such has been the eagerness of certain aged scholars in the Highlands, that within these two years, in order to meet it, the Gaelic School Society have had placed at their disposal not fewer than one hundred and twenty pairs of spectacles ! But I must not enlarge, and shall simply advert to one school in the Hebrides, where 237 scholars were present at the examination, of all ages, from literally a great-great-grandmother down to the child of five years. And, oh ! why should not such a heart-stirring sight soon be seen among the long, long- neglected islanders of Ireland?*
After this ample detail, which, but for the views which have been entertained by many, would have been quite unnecessary, the reader, it is hoped, will now be prepared for this certain, and, with respect to our sister country, most important conclusion, that, if it is desir- able to enlighten the minds of this class of British sub- jects, and at the same time extend the limits of the Eng- lish language in the Irish districts, the only effectual and the most expeditious way of doing so is by teaching them to read their own tongue, the Native Irish. Thus you implant a thirst for knowledge ; and eventually
* These exertions will be glanced at again, when we come to contrast them with the truly deplorable condition of the islands round the coast of Ireland.
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make the learning to read English a matter of choice and desire, an important object indeed, but one which can never be effected either by violence or neglect.
II. But though the Irish is spoken to great extent, still many, of the people understand the English language, and the English is daily spreading among them.
Certainly the reader is now competent to answer this objection. He will 'naturally advert to several parts of the preceding pages. Hence it will appear, that the cultivation of the Irish has been proved to be the most efficient means of accelerating the progress of the Eng- lish language ; and as to these people at present under- standing it, the assertion must be received with very considerable limitations. The truth is, that the great majority do not, and even with regard to those who do, to what extent are they acquainted with the English language ? Every language, let it be remembered, has, what may be styled, its different departments — commer- cial, political, and religious. Does it therefore follow, that because a Native Irishman can buy and sell, or be- cause an Irish waiter, at a country inn, can reply to a traveller, in English, that either of them can reason in this language, or follow the argument and address of moral and religious discourse ? By no means. The Irish is still the language of his heart, and even of the best part of his understanding. In it, he still continues to express his joy or sorrow ; for this is the language which is associated with his earliest recollections. In it, his mother hushed him to rest in the days of his infancy ; and in youth, if he had an ear for music, it was charmed with the numbers of " Culan," or of " Erin gu brath." The very language of the Irish gentleman, therefore, in- terests his feelings, while, as long as things remain in their present state, that of the mere Englishman never can. There can therefore be no doubt, that the degree
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to which the great body of Native Irish peasantry un- derstand the English language, is quite compatible with absolute ignorance of Divine revelation, and indeed, as far as English is concerned, of abstract reasoning on any subject whatever.
III. But the Irish language, which is spoken by the po- pulation, is not the same which is to be found in books.
In reply to this objection, I have to assure the reader, that it has now been fully ascertained to be founded wholly in mistake. It is probable that the idea origi- nated in the circumstance of some Irish gentlemen, who had not studied the language, having said, upon first looking at an Irish book, that they could make nothing of it. " But no person," said Dr Stokes, " would ex- pect that one who could speak and read English, and could also speak French, having never read it, should be able to read French at first trial. If, indeed, the let- ters had the same sounds in different languages, and that all letters were sounded, men might read a new language at sight, as they do music; but this is far from being the case."
Let us proceed, however, to matter of fact. " I have read," says Mr Richardson, " the Bible in Irish to the common people both publicly and privately, and they declared that they understood very well ; and that I might be satisfied they did so, I caused some of them to translate several sentences, which they did exactly; be- sides, if the case were not so, care might be taken for the future to print the Irish as it is spoken." Thus it was above a hundred years ago, and so it is now. The Rev. Mr Graham, curate of Kilrush, county of Clare, in a letter dated the 3d of February, 1806, when speak- ing of certain young people, who understand and had learned to read Irish, says, " they are in the habit of reading in the intervals of labour, and particularly dur-
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ing the long winter nights, to circles of their friends and neighbours, who are illiterate, and understand the Irish only. By this means the knowledge of the divine truths of Scripture are propounded to the hearts and under- standings of multitudes, who would otherwise have gone to the grave as ignorant as myriads of their ancestors." Whenever Dr Dewar announced that the Scriptures would be read in the Irish language, crowds not only came to hear, but they listened with manifest pleasure and eager intelligence. " I was astonished," says this gentleman, " to find, in the wildest parts of Donegal, a man with neither shoes nor stockings, who gave me a clear and correct account of the peculiarities of Irish grammar." In 1814, the writer, in passing through Connaught, found a schoolmaster teaching a school on his own account, who, for several months, had been in the habit of reading the Irish New Testament to his neighbours ; and as a proof that his labour was not lost to those poor people, one of them brought a candle al- ternately, or at least they furnished light, while he read to them the Irish Scriptures. On reading the affecting parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he said, they called out to him, " Read it again — read it again ;" and they also had their favourite passages in consequence of this exercise.
But it is in vain to multiply proofs, and happily now unnecessary. Any individual who chooses to acquaint himself with what has been going on for the last few years, in the business of teaching the Native Irish to read their own language, will find many practical an- swers to every theoretical objection. Might I not ra- ther ask now — What would the heathen abroad say, if they heard the pitiful objections that have been, and are still occasionally brought forward, to the enlightening of this particular branch of the empire ? How would
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 203
they feel amazement at our listening for one moment to such objections as these ? " The Irish is a barbarous language ; many indeed speak, but few can read it ; there are few or no books in it j and, therefore, teaching to read it is of little consequence ; indeed the sooner the Irish is extinct the better." What ! might they not say, does all this mean ? Why are not any, or all of these pre- judices in operation as to us? How is it, that the same nation who have translated for us the Bible into our own tongue, have multiplied copies, supported schools for our instruction, and whose missionaries have actually acquired our own language so as to address us in it ? — how is it that they should have vowed such vengeance against one class of their own fellow-subjects, in doing so against the medium by which, from their infancy, they have held intercourse with each other as rational and intelligent beings ?
In conclusion, let every objector well consider the in- vincible attachment of the Native Irish to their mother tongue. It is of ancient standing, and it still remains. So early as the beginning of the fifteenth century, 1417, when the Irish septs were at deadly variance with each other, from whatever cause, there was even then one consideration, which could awaken and charm them into common sympathy. Sometimes, when a particular sept was in danger of total ruin, from the victory of some English force, their neighbours were persuaded to come to their rescue, and for what? " for the sake of the Irish language," for so the manuscript annals express it, as quoted by Leland. As septs they might be distinct as the billows, — as to the language, they are one as the sea ; and whatever may be said to the contrary, this at- tachment does remain, and in all its power, nay it is common to all the Celtic tribes. There is a fascination in the language itself ; and though there were not, the treatment it has received is sufficient to account for the present feeling ; but this very attachment may be turn-
204 OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.
ed to the best account, and there is no occasion for fight- ing with it. Indeed it has lately been remarked by a French author, that " there seems to be in the language of the Celtic populations a principle of duration which sets time and the efforts of man at defiance."* I am in- clined to go much farther than this, and apply the re- mark to any colloquial dialect whatever, when suffering under violent or abusive treatment. So it was with our own English or Anglo-Saxon ; and the other in- stances adduced prove the fact. If we are to believe the Scriptures, the mysterious power which put an end to the erection of Babel was, no doubt, in the first instance meant as the punishment of a presumptuous design : viewed in another light, and in its effects, it was as evi- dently an interposition, and in favour of man, though in what way I need not at present specify ; but from the moment of that confusion, and often since, language, an instrument in the hands /of Omnipotence, has been invincible ; and though monarchs have repeatedly em- ployed all their power to abolish one, it has been in vain. In no other country in the world has the expe- riment been so often attempted and so pertinaciously pursued as in our own, and the consequence is, that our history holds out to other nations a demonstrative proof, (whatever may be our philosophical theory respecting the origin, the formation and progress of language), that once spoken, once it is in use, language is an instrument which it is above the power of man as a conqueror to subdue. To one remark, therefore, already made, we are constrained to return and adhere ; — that if any col- loquial dialect is to decline, and the language spoken in its vicinity is to gain the ascendency, the most direct and effectual process is that of teaching to read the col- loquial dialect itself, leaving the rest to God and nature.
* Thierry's Norman Conquest, vo). II. p. 273.
OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. 205
To an Irishman in particular, or an Irish boy, you can then say — " Now you stand on the first spoke of the ladder of knowledge, — but one effort more, — only one spoke higher, and you are equal to the English around you."
In conclusion, let the Native Irish in general have only one fair and unfettered opportunity of starting from this point, and it will soon be seen whether many among them will not proceed far beyond the narrow li- mits of their native tongue.
" There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them without signification. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me."
PAUL.
" All external actions depend upon the tongue : ne man can know another's mind i* this be not the interpreter ; hence as there were many tongues given to stay the building of Babel, so there were many given to build the Evangelical Church. Difference of tongues caused their Babel to cease, but it builds our Zion."
HALL of NORWICH.
SECTION V.
THE IRISH LANGUAGE,
With proofs of the extent to which it is spoken at present, or used daily by the Natives as the natural vehicle of their thoughts ; and this extent accounted for or explained. . .
IN Britain it has for ages been a favourite idea with some, that the perfection of territorial unity can only be at- tained by uniformity of language; but it is still true, that there is not a kingdom in Europe where only one language is spoken. Even within the narrow limits of Denmark there is German as well as Danish, and in Sweden we find Norse and Finnish as well as Swedish, while the monarch of the day, like our Norman Con- queror of ancient time, speaks French. In France there are three if not four languages, independently of French proper. In Spain and Prussia there are at least three, perhaps four in each. In Austria five or six, — and the Czar of Russia, whether his kingdom in any sense re- sembles Nebuchadnezzar's image or not, like him, in ad- dressing his subjects, may truly say, " The King, unto all people, nations, and languages." As for the united kingdom of Britain and Ireland, within its own compa- ratively little boundary, from before the days of Caesar until now, there has always existed diversity of language. At present there are five colloquial dialects, and in some of the early ages such diversity has existed, owing to the entrance or invasion of other tribes, that the tongue once spoken by different tribes, in different parts of Britain
THE IRISH LANGUAGE, &c. 207
and Ireland, even still engages the research and the dis- cussion of the antiquarian.*
Meanwhile, if the subjects of the British crown at home are ever destined to be in fact * populus unius labii,' it seems strange that so many political advisers have been so long in perceiving, that the end, if attainable, is cer- tainly never to be reached by a direct attack, but by fetching a compass, not by legislative enactment, but the exercise of humanity. For certainly it is not under the influence of a disposition which led to our denominating the dialects spoken by the subdued tribes, barbarous, and in France to that of patois, and then coldly dismiss- ing the subject, that these parts can ever contribute their share to the strength and unity of the empire. Such feelings, it is to be hoped, are now rapidly declining in our own country : many, indeed, as if conscious of past harshness and injustice, begin to feel a peculiar interest in the actual condition of these neglected populations ; and abroad, the same wise and considerate humanity is now discoverable. " In place of what we call patois, we find complete and regular languages ; and that which appears to us now but as want of civilization, and a re- sistance io the progress of improvement, assumes, in past ages, the aspect of original manners, and a patriotic at- tachment to ancient institutions. It were falsifying his-
« " The cause of the obscurity into which these populations have sunk," says Monsieur Thierry, " is not that they have been less worthy to find historians than the rest : indeed most of them are remarkable for an origiuality of character which powerfully distinguishes them from the great nations with which they have been incorporated. >? But, to use in part the language of the same author, the dis- position of historians to go at once from the conquered to the conquerors,— being more willing to enter the camp of the triumphant than that of the fallen, — or to represent the conquest as completed as soon as the conqueror had proclaimed him- self master. — Each of these tendencies has contributed to the mystery and confu- sion in which the antiquities of Britain have been involved. Hence, to notice only modern times, in scarcely one of the authors who have treated of the history of England, do we find any mention of Saxons after the battle of Hastings, and the coronation of William : and, I may add, hence the terms ' English and Irish,' in the Irish history of the twelfth century, (if not the thirteenth), although Ireland, correctly speaking, was then invaded by the Norman-French, and the Anglo. Saxons in their train.
208 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
tory, to introduce into it a philosophical contempt for every departure from the uniformity of existing civili- zation, and to consider those nations as alone worthy of honourable mention, to whose names the chance of events has attached, for the present and for the future, the idea of that civilization."*
As to the Irish tongue, one of those which, under the influence of something like this ' philosophical con- tempt,' has been often denominated ' barbarous,' — seve- ral remarks with regard to the language itself will be found in the Appendix ; a question, however, which, whatever happen to be the opinion of the reader, has no connexion with the point now before us, or at least no practical bearing upon it. Wishing, therefore, to avoid here every thing of a disputable or theoretical nature, we proceed to notice the extent of the Irish language as now spoken.
When contemplating the present condition of Ireland, this is a subject of vital importance, and it is one which should certainly no longer be treated in the manner in which it has been for the last two hundred years, but especially during the eighteenth century. It was du- ring that century that all reasoning upon the subject was condemned, and that every statement of facts was either hushed into silence, or treated with the most perfect in- difference. If at any moment the subject chanced to cross the path of any writer, the blindest policy passed for sound wisdom, and the wildest theories as to abolish- ing the language were vented with perfect confidence of success.
" I am deceived," said Dean Swift, " if any thing hath more contributed to prevent the Irish from being tamed than this encouragement of their language, which might easily be abolished, and become a dead one in half an
# Thierry's Norman Conquest, Introduction, p. ii.
AND ITS EXTENT. 209
age, with little expense and less trouble."* Again he says — " It would be a noble achievement to abolish the Irish language in the kingdom, so far, at least, as to oblige all the natives to speak only English on every oc- casion of business, in shops, markets, fairs, and other places of dealing : yet I am wholly deceived if this might not be effectually done in less than half an age, and at a very trifling expense ; for such I look upon a tax to be, of only six thousand pounds a-year, to accomplish so great a work."t
Dr Woodward, the Bishop of Cloyne, after having stated that " the difference of language is a very general (and where it obtains an insurmountable) obstacle to any intercourse with the people," adds, very coolly, in a note, — " If it be asked, why the Clergy do not learn the Irish language, I answer, that it should be the object of government rather to take measures to bring it into en- tire disuse."| Nay, though it is quite practicable to speak both English and Irish with the utmost propriety, the childish bugbear of an Irish accent was held over the head of any gentleman who should think of acquir- ing the use of the Irish language. Even in Hardy's Life of Lord Charlemont we find the following passage : — " I have heard many gentlemen among us talk much of the great convenience to those who live in the coun- try that they should speak Irish. It may possibly be so ; but I think they should be such as never intend to visit England, upon pain of being ridiculous ; for I do not remember to have heard of any one man that spoke Irish who had not the accent upon his tongue easily dis- cernible to any English ear !"
To refute such opinions as these is now quite unneces- sary. But the Bishop of Cloyne's method of quieting the consciences of the clergy was certainly very simple.
* Swiff s Works, 4to, vol. viii. p. 263. + Swift's Works, 18mo, vol. xiii. p. 66.
± Present State of the Irish Church, seventh edition, London, 1787, p. 43.
210 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
Unhappily it exposed him to the irony of the echo in Erasmus, — " Quid est sacerdotium? — otium !" — and he was asked in return, whether it would not be easier for one man to learn Irish than for a whole parish to learn the English language. As for the scheme of Dean Swift, which was to have finished its course in about fifty years, and banished every Irish word from the land, at the small cost of three hundred thousand pounds, per- haps the secret died with him, for he gives us no parti- culars : but it is certain, that since his time upwards of two millions sterling have been professedly spent upon gratuitous English education in Ireland, while the num- ber who speak Irish has been going on to increase since the day on which he wrote these sentences.
Very different indeed have been the sentiments of some other men. Having noticed the exertions of Bedell and Boyle, — " But government," says Reginald Heber, the late Bishop of Calcutta, " which ought to have given the first impulse, was bent on a narrow and illiberal po- licy of supplanting the Irish by the English language, to which the present moral and religious instruction of millions was to give way, and which, though it has in part, succeeded, (through circumstances of which the march was altogether independent of the measures taken to forward it), has left a division of the national heart far worse than that of the tongue, and perpetuated pre- judices which might, at first, have been easily removed or softened."*
The loose and erroneous estimates which were formed for many years respecting the prevalence and extent of the Irish tongue, and which long passed current, must
» Life of Jeremy Taylor, p. cxix. — The "moral and religious instruction of mil- lions" haying been thus neglected is unquestionably by far the most painful retro- spection. At the same time it may,be observed, that unwise policy, to say the least, is always very expensive. Hence it is, to mention but one proof, that only " seven thousand nine hundred and five children (educated and) apprenticed, have cost just one million sterling." See First Report of Parliamentary Commissioners, p. 30.
AND ITS EXTENT. 211
have led many to overlook the subject, or disregard it as of no moment. During a second visit to Ireland, in 1814, I remember it was admitted, that the Irish lan- guage Avas indeed spoken in many parts, but then, it was added, that these were to be found almost exclusive- ly in Connaught and Munster, not in the other two pro- vinces. It was publicly asserted, in 1815-16, that the number of persons in Ireland who absolutely required the employment of this tongue, in order to their moral and religious improvement, was not above half a mil- lion ; a number, by the way, larger than the population of our Highlands and Islands ; and that all the rest of Ireland might be considered as capable of receiving solid and useful instruction through the medium of English. It is not two years since a gentleman from the county of Tyrone affirmed to myself in conversation, that there was little or no Irish in that county. Nay, even as to the whole of these Celtic dialects, it has been recently asserted and published, that they " are falling away into oblivion, being superseded by the English."*
Such vague and erroneous assertions as these, however, can no longer be received as evidence, and it is time, whatever be the remedy, that the eye be opened to the facts of the case as it respects Ireland. In a former pub- lication, the writer had occasion to notice this subject ; but it may be useful to refer to it again in a manner somewhat more distinct, and with more decisive proof, especially because this volume might otherwise be deem- ed deficient.
In the year 1806, some pertinent observations were printed and circulated in Dublin by the late Dr Whitley Stokes, of Trinity College, on the necessity of publish- ing the Scriptures in the Irish language. In this small tract we find the following passage : — " In order to show
* Foreign Quarterly Review, No. ii. p. 395.
212
THE IRISH LANGUAGE
the importance of the subject, I shall state such infor- mation as I have received of the prevailing language in most counties of Ireland. I acknowledge my informa- tion has not been precise, or methodically obtained, but I suppose it was fairly given, and is sufficiently accurate for my present purpose." That the reader may be the better able to compare the opinions here given with the following pages, I shall throw the whole into a tabular form, and insert also the population of each county, ac- cording to the last parliamentary census.
LEINSTER.
County. |
Population. |
Irish Language. |
Louth, |
....141,011 |
mostly spoken. |
Meath, |
....159,183 |
mostly spoken. |
Dublin, |
150,011 |
scarcely any. |
Wicklow, |
110,767 |
scarcely any. |
Wexford, |
170,806 |
N.W. pretty general. |
Kilkenny, |
168,716 |
prevails greatly. |
Carlow, |
78,952 |
S.W. considerable. |
KiHare, |
99,065 |
scarcely any. |
Queen's, |
134,275 |
spoken by very few. |
King's, |
131,088 |
spoken by rery few. |
Westmeath, |
128,819 |
mostly spoken. |
Longford, |
107,570 |
no return. |
% -wroiift * nj
Antrim,
Down,
Armagh,
Tyrone,
•Deny,
Donegal,
Fermanagh,
Cavan,
Alonaghan,
ULSTER.
....262,860
....325,410
..,.197,427
....261,865
....193,869 ,
....248,270
....130,997
195,07«
174,697
..spoken by a few.
ditto.
ditto.
..half and half. ..no return. . .more than half. ..scarce any. ..spoken by many. ..spoken by many.
Such were the opinions received by Dr Stokes, and it should be observed, that the population of these two provinces amounted by the last census to 3,755,986 ; by the official corrected return since to 3,787*663 ; or, at the present moment, to above four millions. As for the
AND ITS EXTENT. 213
affirmations respecting the Irish tongue, the reader may observe them, and then suspend his judgment till he has finished this statement. With regard to the province of Munster, containing 1,935,612 in the year 1821, and by the corrected return 2,005,363, in the tract referred to it is said, that " Irish prevails in all the counties ;" and of Connaught, containing at that period 1,110,229, or by the corrected return 1,053,918, that " Irish is more pre- valent than in the rest of Ireland." To say nothing more therefore at present of Leinster or Ulster, — with regard to the two last provinces, the Doctor adds, " In all the counties of the province of MUNSTER the Irish language prevails beyond comparison, if we except the large towns, their immediate neighbourhood, and some of the country along the coast. The native language is more prevalent in CONNAUGHT than in the rest of Ireland. In this province the gentlemen often find it convenient to acquire the language, in order to deal with the peasantry without an interpreter." Now these two provinces alone, where Irish is so remarkably prevalent, include, at the present moment, a population of about three millions three hundred thousand souls, or one million more than the whole of Scotland !
In a statistical account of Ireland, published in 1812, the author of which had travelled for two years through by far the greater part of Ireland, the subject of the Irish language frequently occurs. It may be previously re- marked, that this gentleman evidently appears to have had no predilection for the Irish tongue, nor any idea of the necessity for its being employed as a medium for education. On this account some may be more disposed to listen to his testimony.
LEINSTER. — In Louth and Meath, " the language uni- versally spoken is Irish." In Queen's county " the Irish language is very common."
ULSTER. — " The people who reside in the mountain-
i2
214 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
ous districts" of Antrim, Down, Armagh, and London- derry, " retain the ancient Irish language, and to them it is chiefly confined." • " Those who wish to become acquainted with the real state of the country must ex- tend their journey to the mountains, where they will meet with a language intelligible only to those by whom it is spoken." " The mountaineers in Donegal speak the Irish language," and, in general, " never emigrate from the country." " On the coast of Donegal I met with a peasantry who appeared to be Native Irish, and who were very different from the people in the inland parts of Ireland." " Most of them speak the original language ; many do not know a word of English, which they called Scotch."
CONNAUGHT. — " On the Leitrim mountains, which I crossed in the month of August, 1809, the Irish is the common language." Again, " the mountainous districts of Leitrim, stretching across Sligo into Mayo, are fully peopled, — the poor all speak Irish." " In the province of Connaught, the gentry understand Irish, which faci- litates their intercourse with the peasantry ; they are consequently enabled to become acquainted with their wants, to assist them with advice, and restrain them by admonition."
MUNSTER. — " In the southern part of Ireland, the (Irish) language is everywhere nearly the same ; even in the city of Cork, and in Youghall, the common peo- ple speak Irish."*
Having quoted the testimony of an Irish and an English gentleman, it may be proper to adduce one from Scotland. The Rev. Dr Dewar, who, from his know- ledge of Gaelic, was able to converse familiarly with the Native Irish, published the result of his observations
* Wakefield's Statistical Account of Ireland, passim.
AND ITS EXTENT. 215
in 1812. " The number of people/' says he, " who speak this language is much greater than is generally supposed. It is spoken throughout the province of Connaught by all the lower orders, a great part of whom scarcely understand any English ; and some of those who do, understand it only so as to conduct business ; they are incapable of receiving moral or religious in- struction through its medium. The Irish is spoken very generally throughout the other three provinces, except among the descendants of the Scotch in the north. It cannot be supposed that calculations on this subject should be perfectly accurate, but it has been calculated on good grounds, that there are about two millions of people in Ireland who are incapable of un- derstanding a continued discourse in English." " But, supposing this calculation to be overrated by half a mil- lion, there remain a million and a half, a number that is five times greater than all the inhabitants of the High- lands." Dr Dewar then enforces the absolute necessity of educating the Native Irish through the medium of their own tongue, and quotes, for illustration, part of a letter from the late Mr Charles of Bala to the present writer, fn consequence of his having addressed him on the subject. The fact is, that during the winter of
1810, in the prospect of the formation of " The Society for the Support of Gaelic Schools/' which took place in
1811, his attention was directed to the consideration of all these Celtic dialects, simply with the view of ascer- taining what was the proper course to pursue ; and the Highlands and Islands having been taken up by the public, it was impossible to overlook the still more claimant condition of the sister kingdom.
In the summer of 1814, the writer visited Ireland, having for his object the extent to which the Irish lan- guage was in use, and the condition of the people with regard to education through that medium ; his previous
216 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
connexion with the Highlands having created in his mind a strong desire to befriend, if it were possible, this interesting but long-neglected race. For to whatever extent the language was daily spoken, from his previous intercourse with Highlanders, and acquaintance with the state of Wales, he felt assured that to that extent it must be employed for the moral and religious improve- ment of the Native Irish. About five years before, he had travelled through Meath, Monaghan, Tyrone, Derry, Armagh, Antrim, and Down, and yet during that journey, paying no attention to the subject, the ne- cessity for education, through the medium of Irish, had not once occurred to him ; and so it had happened in a previous journey through the Highlands of Scot- land, when the real state of things was not made an ob- ject of investigation and inquiry. He mentions this merely to account for the vague and contradictory re- ports of travellers, unless they have taken up the sub- ject with candour, and then pursued the inquiry. In 1814, however, he laid aside every other consideration except this one point. Leaving Dublin, he went into each of the four provinces, and the result at that time was an assurance that there could not be less than two millions to whom the Irish was vernacular, and in con- stant use. The amount of his inquiries was then pub- lished in a " Memorial on Behalf of the Native Irish, with a View to their Moral and Religious Improvement through the Medium of their own Language." The ob- jects there recommended are now no theory. They have been reduced to practice, and are heartily ap- proved by many individuals, though to the present hour the magnitude and urgency of the case are by no means understood.
More recently this important subject has attracted the attention of the Commissioners on Education in Ireland ; and in their first report laid before Parliament, dated the 30th of May, 1825, there is the following passage : —
AND ITS EXTENT. 217
" It has been estimated that the number of Irish who employ the ancient language of the country exclusively is not less than 500,000 ; and that at least a million more, although they have some understanding of Eng- lish, and can employ it for the ordinary purposes of traffic, make use of their tongue on all other occasions, as the natural vehicle of their thoughts. This estimate agrees with the opinions of Dr Stokes, who published the results of his inquiry in 1806, of Dr D. Dewar in his observations on Ireland in 1812, and of Mr C. An- derson in 1814 ; it has been adopted also on the more recent investigations made by committees of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Hibernian Bible Society, previous to the resolution which they succes- sively took of reprinting the Scriptures in the Irish lan- guage, according to the translation of Archbishop Daniel and Bishop Bedell. A similar inquiry was made, and the same conclusion drawn from it, by a sub-committee of the Society for promoting the Educa- tion of the Poor of Ireland, in the year 1819 or there- abouts."*
When the Memorial referred to in this extract was published in 1815, my impression was, that there could not be less than two millions who were incapable of fol- lowing an English conversation or continued discourse upon any one moral or religious subject whatever, and with whom therefore we were under the absolute ne- cessity of employing their own language as the natural and only effectual means of education. I added indeed, " say one million and a half" — chiefly with the view of abridging discussion on a point comparatively unimpor- tant, and in order to secure an active and immediate co-operation in educating the long-neglected aborigines, whatever their number should prove to be eventually. From that time to the present, however, this subject
* First report of the Parliamentary Commissioners, p. 82.
218 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
among others has not failed to engage attention and in- quiry, and, but for many hinderances, had been publicly noticed long since. It will be obvious that the number just specified was fixed upon at the commencement of such investigations, but I feel no hesitation in now af- firming that it has been greatly underrated. The esti- mate then made was such as it was felt could not be controverted; but the proportion of two millions was much below what had been asserted even then. " We have descriptions," said one author, " and histories of the most distant parts of the globe ; our travellers favour us with the account of the habits, manners, and politi- cal institutions of nearly all the nations that have been called into being ; but of Ireland, a country under our own government, we have little that is authentic. We know that it is now a part of the British empire,— we are ignorant, however, that only a minority of the people speak our language, although the country is almost within the range of our own vision. Of the reasons for this we are unacquainted, and seem careless of being informed on the subject." Such was the language used in 1812, when the whole population was estimated at five millions and a quarter, by one who was in no de- gree an enthusiast in regard to the Irish tongue, to whom the necessity for its being employed in the busi- ness of education had not occurred, and who therefore did not suggest the necessity for the people being taught to read it. Again, in 1818, when the aggregate was known and admitted to be six millions, it was as- serted, by a resident in the country itself, that the Irish language, " after an active proscription of many centu- ries, is still the vernacular language of three millions of people in Ireland."* Similar opinions from other quar- ters might be adduced, but I forbear.
Now although, in the present case, the truth may be painful as well as perplexing to some most benevolent
* History of Dublin, ito, Loud. 1818, vol. ii. p. 926.
AND ITS EXTENT.
219
minds, and the reluctance to admit farther investiga- tion may be strong ; still, could these general assertions be substantiated, the fact is most important, more espe- cially since the eye can no longer, with safety, remain shut as to any fact affecting the great question, not of nominal and unproductive, but of the effectual instruction of such a large proportion of British subjects. Let us therefore be willing to descend to particulars, and mark the result. We shall first notice a number of indivi- dual parishes, and then each of the counties in regular succession.
With regard to Connaught, I may previously remark, it is not disputed that Irish is prevalent throughout the whole province. Take the following as a specimen of the state of some of the Munster parishes, to which we shall affix the population of each, according to the last parliamentary returns.
MUNSTER.
Parish. |
Inbaba, |
English Language. |
Irish Language. |
AlUMGII |
2344 |
Tolerable English, but |
Irish generally used. |
BALLYVOORNEY |
3354 |
Spoken generally |
Very few speak. |
CARRIGALINE |
5267 |
English spoken, but |
Irish' most frequently. |
KlLCORNEY KlLGERRIF |
.5002 Understood, but 10,954 Spoken and taught |
Speak Irish invariably. \ General, and daily used. |
|
MACROMP |
5390 Spoken generally |
But Irish also. |
|
MARMULLAXE |
1169. Better sort speak |
Irish universal. |
|
MIDDLE-TON |
8140 Spoken and taught |
Lower class all speak. |
|
ST MARY'S SHANDON |
12,522 1 English general, but |
To each other generally. |
|
TIIACTON ABBEY |
7955jSpoken and taught |
Irish generally. |
|
STRADBALLY |
6646; Many speak it |
Irish mostly. |
|
DRUMCANNON LISMORB |
6572 Partly understood 739H Many speak, but |
Constantly and generally. General and daily. |
|
NOUGHAVEL |
1119 English spoken, but |
Irish universally. |
|
K.ILMANAHEEN |
10,122 Spoken and taught |
In general use. |
|
KlLRUSH |
22,209 [Gaining ground, but |
General, and daily used. |
|
CAHIRCORNEY |
1490 |
Some English |
Lower class speak Irish. |
KlLFERGUS |
4103 |
General |
A few speak Irish. |
CARRICK |
10,724 |
Understood, Lowlands |
Universal, and daily used. |
While the Irish tongue reigns to such an extent in these two provinces, many have imagined, if not assert- ed, that most of Ulster and Leinster were almost to be exempted from its prevalence. Let the condition of the following parishes, therefore, be observed : —
220
THE IRISH LANGUAGE
ULSTER.
Pariah. Iihabs. '• '• |
English Language. |
Irish Language. |
|
DUNAGHY BALLINTOY |
2969 3951 |
English general, but Universally used |
Irish in the upper parti. |
FINVOT AGHALEB _ . . |
509d 5815 |
English spoken, but Usually spoken |
Irish by the natives. |
GLENAVY |
6491 |
Exclusively |
|
RAMOAN |
3l>76i English common, but |
Irish very much used. |
|
\KI)CM\!S AND LAID |
5014 |
Many English, but |
General, and to each other. |
TEUPLECABNE |
3250 English general, but |
Many Irish speaker t. |
|
CLONMANY |
55?9 Tolerable knowledge of |
Generally used. |
|
KILBARRO.V Cl'LDAFP |
9.nr> Generally 5530' Spoken and taught, but |
Irish frequent. Irish general. |
|
CLONCHA |
61 10 Spoken and taugln, but |
Irish general. |
|
INTER |
10,235 English common, but |
Irish as much to. |
|
DUNOIVEN |
5184 Spoken and taught, but |
Much pure Irish. |
|
MAGHF.KA |
11,590 Spoken and taught |
Many Irish. |
|
KlLLELAGH |
239s! English general, but |
Irish also general. |
|
BALLVMOYEK w ' |
11 65 General |
A few Irish. |
|
SEAGOE - [ 8592 Universally used |
|||
TAMLACHT - 2743' English generally spoken |
Irish by the lower class. |
||
ARDSTRAW - 16,558! Exclusively |
|||
ERIGAL-KEROGB 7923 English spoken, but |
Much Irish. |
||
A NX MIII, r . 35i'6 Exclusively |
|||
HOLYWOOD DEVNISH |
4035 English general A few trim. 6890 General, but \lrish in the hills. |
||
BAILLIEBOROUGH 7087 General 1 |
LEINSTER.
Pariah. |
Inhabt. |
English Language, |
Irijh Language. |
ADAMSTOWN CARNE ' - ' ' |
2000 Generallyunderstood 'out 665 Generally understood. |
Irish spoken by many. |
|
ENNISCORTIIY |
10,268 General. |
||
KILLEGNY |
1531 .Spoken bv minority |
Generally converse in. |
|
KlLLESK |
5315 English general, but |
Irish spoken by sotne. |
|
TACUHSHANE |
3844 General.» |
||
TlNTERN |
5575 Universally spoken. |
||
WHITECHURCH |
1596 English general, but |
Converse in Irish. |
|
AHKLOW |
9163 Exchuively spoken |
||
BALLYMASCANLON |
6235 Gaining ground |
Irish generally spoken. |
|
CLONMORE |
740|English spoken, but |
Prefer among themselves. |
|
CRBGGAN |
12,l!!i English gaining, but |
All speak Irish. |
|
FA UGH ART |
1694 |
Most speak tolerable |
The common language. |
li \-IIIDItl MMIN - FlDDOWN |
17DO 5000 |
English understood, but English spoken |
Irish generally used. Gen. in the Mountains. |
GRANGE SILV* |
2093 |
Can speak it, but |
Most converse in |
KII.MACAIIILL |
1328 |
Spoken, but |
Understood generally. |
LlSTERLING |
676 |
Spoken, but |
if any only understand. |
TULLAROAN |
3894 |
Spoken |
Spoken. |
AGHABOB |
5253 |
English universal, but |
A few use Irish. |
LEA or LEACH |
7580J Universal. |
||
ROSBNALIS |
14,520jEnglish used, but <Notso much as Irish. |
||
ARDBRACA.V SYDDAN |
3043|Spoken and taught, but Generally speak Irish. 4636iEnRlish siwken, but Irish to each other. |
||
RATUCLINE |
3050 |
Spoken by minority. \Spohen generally. |
|
SHRUEL |
4846 |
English spoken, but Au "^"^' and "W"*; |
|
RATHCONRATH |
3012 Spoken generally, but Irish to each other. |
||
KILBERRY CLONMACNOIS |
1511 .General 3759lGeneral, but |
A few speak It ish. Irish to each other. |
* See note as to this parish, p. 195.
AND ITS EXTENT. 221
These nineteen parishes in Munster include above 130,000 souls, and the fifty-four in Leinster and Ulster not far from 280,000, or above 400,000 in all. In these instances we see to what extent the language at present prevails. But of these notices respecting the Irish tongue, carefully gleaned from the pages of the Statisti- cal Account of Ireland now publishing by Mr Shaw Mason, it requires also to be observed, that the writers, in almost every instance, delivered their opinions under impressions by no means in favour of a large Irish ag- gregate. I can only here assure the reader, that there are hundreds of parishes in Ireland which afford still more striking proof of the prevalence and uninterrupted use of this language, as the natural vehicle of their thoughts, sentiments, and feelings.
Suppose that we should now proceed to a different, and more enlarged view of the subject ; and, taking a survey of the whole population of the country, let us observe what has been more recently said as to the rela- tive proportion of those who daily speak Irish. Every such statement remains open for correction of course, and invites inquiry ; but a return having been made to the late Rev. Dr Graves, (Professor of Oratory in Trinity College, and Dean of Kilmore and Ardagh,) as secretary of one of the Dublin institutions, I shall here insert it.
LEINSTER. Irish. Eng. ULSTER. Irish. Eng.
South Meath and Westmeath,...5 to 2 Tyrone 5£ to 3
Dublin, Kiluare, \Vieklo\v, 1 to 6 Donegal 4 to S
King's and Queen's Counties, ....2 to 5 Armagh and Down, 2 to 5
Carlow, south-west 4 to 3 Antrim, east coast, 3 to 4
Kilkenny, 5 to 2 Derry Mountains, 9 to 5
Wexford, south-east, 2 to 5 Fermanagh, 1 to 6
Ditto, north-we^t 5 to 2 Caran and Monaghan 4 to 3
MONSTER Province, 5£ to }£ CONNAUGHT Province, *...££ to £
The prevalence of Irish in several counties is local ; but the proportion stated has been restricted to these parts. Louth and Longford, the only counties not men-
222
THE IRISH LANGUAGE
tioned, we shall consider as about equally divided, and, in the calculation about to be made, all the cities are left untouched, and considered as wholly English." Yet, excepting them entirely, if we apply the proportions here stated to the several counties, taking the popula- tion at only 6,801,827 — the last census laid before Par- liament, the following will be the result : —
County. |
English Language. |
Irish Language. |
Total. |
Louth, |
50,500 |
50,505 |
101,011 |
Meath, |
45,481 |
113,702 |
159,183 |
Dublin, |
314,462 |
21,430 |
335,892 |
Wicklow, |
94,944.... |
15,823 |
110,767 |
Wexford, |
i 128,104 |
42,702 |
170,800 |
Kilkenny, |
iuj»*f- 68*576 |
113,3/0 |
181,946 |
Carlow, |
- 74,511 |
22,559 |
97,070 |
Kildare, |
84.913 |
14,152 |
99,065 |
Queen's, |
. 95.911 |
38,364 |
134,275 |
King's, |
93,536 |
37,552 |
131,088 |
Westmeath, |
36,805 |
92,014 |
128,819 |
Longford, |
- 0 53,785 |
53,785 |
107,570 |
Antrim, |
206,533 |
56,327 |
262,860 |
Down, - |
232,436 |
92,974 |
325,410 |
Armagh, |
rj *'r> 149,044 |
56,406 |
205,450 |
Tyrone, |
120,861 |
141,004 |
261,865 |
Derry, |
, 166,173 |
27,696 |
193,869 |
Donegal, |
106,401 |
141,869 |
248.270 |
n 7 Fermanagh, |
112,283 |
18,714 |
130,997 |
Cavan, |
4-<f 83,604 |
111,472 |
195,076 |
Monaghan, |
74,870 |
99,827 |
1/4,697 |
Leitriin, - |
3,913 |
.115,872 |
.124,785 |
Sligo, |
10,444 |
135,785 |
146,229 |
Roscornmon , |
14,909 |
. 193 820 |
. .208,729 |
Mayo, |
20,936 |
272,176 |
293,112 |
Galway, |
"v" 49,889 |
287,405 |
337,374 |
Clare, '* . |
44,589 |
163,500 |
208,089 |
Limerick, |
105,851 |
171,626 |
277,477 |
Kerry, |
46,323 |
169,862 |
216,185 |
Cork, |
235,610 |
494,834 |
730,444 |
Waterford, |
56,072 |
100,449 |
156,521 |
Tipperary, |
74,334 |
272 572 |
346,896 |
* At the same time this is not to be considered as abating, in any degree, from the language already employed as to any one of them, Dublin included. See, for example, pages 120 and 162.
AND ITS EXTENT. 223
Such were said to be the proportions of those who daily spoke Irish ten years ago ; and if even tolerably correct, they certainly, in their result, verify what has been already quoted as the language of one author in 1812, — " But we are ignorant that only a minority of the people speak our language/'*
I am perfectly aware, that, immediately on running down this Irish column, it will be said, — Yes, but how many in this column can also speak English ? — nay, how many are under the necessity now of even speaking it daily? True; but as for the English which they do speak, look again at this, — hear it. What is it in thou- sands of instances ? — Such as an Englishman himself can scarcely understand. And then as to its extent,-— here is the question. At best the language of barter, or mere business, it may refer to the trifles of the mo- ment, or of a day, — yes, literally a day ; for let it refer to the prospective arrangements of only a month or a year, and the parties are again in perplexity. But, granting they were not, when conversing on some af- fairs merely secular — is this English expressive of the thoughts, the opinions, the feelings of the man ? Not at all ; he has another medium, to which he instantly flies, and when his sentiments and feelings are to be heard, they may sound like a jargon in the ear of an Englishman, precisely as English sounds in his ear when so employed. These two men may plough the same field, or drive the same machine; they are brought into contact ; but as for interchange of sentiment and feeling, it is denied them. Here, then, is the point where com-
* The English column amounts to 3,061,610,— the Irish to 3,740,217/— or to- gether, 6,801,817 ; but by an official corrected return, of a later date, the total is seated to be 6,846,949, and at the end arc the following words :— " When the de- ficiencies in this table shall have been supplied by the final returns of the enumera- tors, as certified by the magistrates, the total number of the inhabitants (in Ire- land) will, it is thought, amount to upwards of seven millions;"— that is, in 1821. The population at the present moment is known and understood to be seven mil- lions and a half in round numbers.
224 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
pulsion ends. Independently of all benevolent feeling, common sense, and even one's own interest, now enforce accommodation. I wish to get at the mind ; — I desire to enlighten, to animate, instruct, and raise up the moral being. Then, on my part, there must be an accommoda- tion, and it is acceded with cordiality and with kindness. To the Irishman, as it regards his language, for a season at least, I become as one of themselves, and I gain the Irishman.*
Many, I am also aware, may startle at the proportions above-mentioned, when they see them once applied to the population of each county ; but let them not, there- fore, be despised. Others may question the proportion in certain instances, and if in any it can fairly be re- duced, so much the better ; but the English insisted on must be something more than the language of mere se- cular business. Did the whole population speak one tongue, it would be much in its favour, as it regards the purpose and desire of an Englishman ; but, since it is not so, there is no occasion for the subject being treated with warmth or temper ; it certainly can no longer be safely treated with indifference. The aggregate popu- lation of Ireland is now ascertained to be seven millions and a half, and an impartial survey of its several coun- ties would soon prove that, in regard to this subject, many have been greatly mistaken, — others entirely mis- led. But is it strange that in Ireland much misappre- hension should have existed ? The language itself was proscribed, while assertions regarding it came from many who were not then aware of its necessity as an engine of improvement, and from others, who, it may be, were somehow interested in saying that it was fast passing into oblivion, or many wished this, and there- fore believed it. Indeed, after the language of Dean
* See also the answer to the second objection in the preceding section, page 200.
AND ITS EXTENT. 225
Swift, and many others, one need not wonder at any assertion, however erroneous, or far below the truth.
That something approaching to the above may be the result as to the Irish language is not unaccountable. Du- ring the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, or rather, I may say, from the thirteenth to the middle of the seventeenth century, there can be no question that this language increased with every accession to the in- habitants from without. It is a well-known fact, that the children of those English who went into Ireland in the early ages, and settled there, not only abandoned the English tongue, but forgot it, and hence those " dege- nerate men of English name," as they were styled even in acts of Parliament ; nay, even in the middle of the seventeenth century, in the year 1641, '' the old English, for the most part, spake the Irish language ; they had all, in some degree, adopted Irish manners, and both races were intermixed by marriage."* In our own day, I have myself seen and heard the parties, whose imme- diate parents, if not themselves, had removed from the east to the west coast, conversing together in the Irish tongue.
In attempting to arrive at some conclusion on this subject, it seems to have been forgotten, or not known, that, in 1672, thirty years later than the period just re- ferred to by Leland, the number of inhabitants in Ire- land was estimated by Sir William Petty to be only 1,320,000 ; or that, in the year 1712, the aggregate was considered to be just 2,099,094. t Now, had the Irish people then been taught to read their vernacular tongue, and the practice continued, since there were so few Irish books in existence, it is possible, that, in many instances, the language might have flitted away, like the mist from the mountains, before the light of a tongue in its imme-
* Leland's History, vol. ii. p. S~.
t Last Parliamentary Census, preliminary observations, p. vii.
226 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
diate neighbourhood, so rich in literature and books. But as education, even in English, was neglected, and in Irish entirely denied, what has been the consequence ? — Why, that the colloquial dialect, of course, has main- tained its ascendency.
When the moral or religious necessities of some par- ticular districts in this kingdom become the subject of consideration, — if the inquirer forgets, or has not ob- served, the rapid increase of the population, he must feel as if just awaked from a dream. In our Highlands and Hebrides, there are double the number of High- landers now speaking Gaelic, to what there were when English schools were first instituted, with the vain hope of thus diminishing the speakers of that language ; and this independently of those who are now mingled with the Native Irish, and the numbers who have gone to America. Many persons are not aware that, only sixty years ago, there were not so many inhabitants in the whole of England and Wales as there are at this moment in Ireland.* Or, to notice Ireland more directly, and with reference to the aborigines, the reader may per- haps recollect of a bill for their express benefit having passed the Irish House of Commons, and being sent to the door of the Upper House, — that the subject there rested, — and that after the exertions of Mr Richardson, and the last efforts of Marsh, Wettenhall, and others, all parties chose to dismiss the subject for a hundred years, t Farther back than this we have no occasion to go. In the year 1712, just two years after the period when the subject of Irish instruction, or at least the printing of the Irish Scriptures, was discussed in Parliament for the last time, and the subject was engrossing the anxiety
* See the Estimate of England and Wales for the year 1770, — it was 7,428,000, a proof, by the way, that the rapid growth of population has not been peculiar to Ireland.
f See pages 90—93, and 157, 158.
AND ITS EXTENT. 227
of a few benevolent minds, there were somewhat more than two millions of souls in Ireland, as already stated, — but now, after more than a whole century of sad neglect, there are seven millions and a half ] It is therefore to the natural increase of the people themselves that we must look for the great cause of the present number who speak, and who will speak Irish. This is their mother-tongue. Much has been said, if not written, on the influence of the female character ; and here it must be owned, the influ- ence is somewhat like, or rather somewhat more than, imperial authority. I need not here ask if any effort has ever been made, commensurate with the necessities and number of the people, to instruct them in the art of reading through this medium ; which, however strange it may still sound, is the only measure which could have effectually reduced the proportion of Irish speakers. The language, therefore, of course has gone on to in- crease with the natural increase of the population.
I am quite aware of its being almost everywhere re- plied in answer to all this, — " But the English language is increasing, and in many districts." I know it is so, and that it cannot be otherwise, — but this is no criterion by which to judge of the broad surface of Ireland. The question is not whether the English language is increas- ing, or has been, in certain given places, for of this there is no doubt, — but whether the Irish language on the whole has all this time been declining, that is, declining everywhere, so as to come down from its high propor- tion in the mountains and hills as well as the plains; or rather in the country at large, as well and as generally, as in the immediate vicinity of cities and great towns. There is no competent individual who will say that it has ; but if not, then look at the natural increase of the whole island, and then say, is it unaccountable that, in- stead of one million, as in the days of old, we should now find more than three millions who daily use this tongue ?
The fact is, that the true cause which has kept up the
228 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
proportion of those who speak Irish, and must do so, ' if they speak at all, has been in general overlooked. Those who use this language have from time immemo- rial inhabited at least all the remote, all the mountain- ous and less fertile regions of every county, and almost, if not all, the islands. Meanwhile those of them, a mere tithing, who came into towns or their neighbourhood, were laying aside their native language, and their chil- dren also of course spoke English, while no instance could be found, in such parts, of persons \aying aside that tongue ; hence it was concluded by some, that the Irish language was upon the decline, — the great natural in- crease of those who used it elsewhere, and on a far larger scale, being altogether excluded from the gene- ral estimate.
To magnify the number of the Irish population, pro- perly so called, the present writer can have no tempta- tion, nor any interest whatever to serve, were he to at- tempt it. He has, however, been too long acquainted with this interesting part of the kingdom, to rest satis- fied with the vague assertions of individuals on this subject ; and as he feels assured that this is a question of essential importance to the effectual illumination of the Native Irish people, all that he desires is to arrive at the knowledge of the facts of the case. It is happily now too late to bring forward general assertions, — the advocates for a trifling Irish population must come to particulars. It is very possible, that, in some instances, the number in certain counties may have been mistaken and overstated, — in others, I have little doubt, it has been the reverse. But there is one most important rea- son for the truth as to every single county being no longer concealed. English education is making de- lightful progress in Ireland ; now, if there is any desire for the effectual and permanent advance of that educa- tion, then should the proportion of those who daily speak Irish be calmly and impartially ascertained and 9
AND ITS EXTENT. 229
observed. In the north or north-west of Ireland, the writer himself has seen scholars reading English who did not understand the language ; and as for the south, when referring to scholars in its largest county, it has been said, " Of these the greater part derive no eventual ad- vantage from their schooling, being recalled at an early age ; mixing then with a family who speak only Irish, the little smattering of English they had acquired is soon lost." Again, speaking of this immense county, embracing a population at this moment approaching to 800,000 souls, Mr Townsend has said, " Except in the towns they seldom use any language but Irish, and, even in some of the best-cultivated districts, most of the people speak no other ; they are, however, willing enough to send their children to school when the op- portunity offers, though the little (English) they learn there is often forgotten soon after they return to their parents."
The truth is, that large sums of money have been spent in vain, both in Wales and our Highlands, in former years, simply in consequence of reversing the order of nature, by teaching English first, and before the reader could comprehend a word.* There is no
* " I could find thousands in the Highlands of Scotland who will read the Eng. lish Bible tolerably well, but cannot understand more than yes or no,- and being thus obliged to continue reading a language completely unintelligible to them, it gives them no pleasure, but rather disgust ; and the moment they leave school, if they remain at home in those districts where nothing but their mother-tongue is spoken, they lay their books aside, and never look at them more. I know some men who were at Inverness at their education sixty years ago; they could read and write (English) when they left school, and to-day cannot read any." After mention- ing that the pastors of this people preach to them in their own language, the writer adds — " The clergy read no more than the text, whereas if they would read, every Lord's day, a chapter or two out of the Holy Scriptures, the people in that case would be inclined to bring their Bibles and follow the minister. Even in the present day, I venture to say, that there are a few of the clergy in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland that cannot read a chapter out of the Gaelic Bible."— Letter from a Highland Clergyman, in a " Prize Essay on the State of Knowledge in the Highlands of Scotland, by John Anderson, W.S. 1827," p. 109.— It would be easy to corroborate the first statement by letters addressed to the present writer from the Highlands fifteen and sixteen years ago. I quote this simply as a recent
K
230 THE IRISH LANGUAGE
occasion for doing the same thing over again in Ire- land ; but if it should be persisted in, the result will be the same. Sooner or later education must begin, wher- ever Irish is daily used, as it now does both in Wales and the Highlands — that is, if we are in earnest as to two objects — the moral benefit of education, and even the extension of the English tongue. I suspect, how- ever, that at present money is thus spending in vain, in many instances, where it would go five times farther if the mother-tongue were employed as the medium. At all events, of the large sums voted by Parliament from this country for Irish education, none of it has ever been applied towards the native Irish language !
If Irish, therefore, requires to be used at all in the business of education and oral instruction, and of this, I am sure, there need be no question now, — for what- ever may be said, there is certainly no help, no substi- tute for it, — but this being granted, my deliberate im- pression for some time has been, that there are certainly not fewer than three millions who require it. Two mil- lions, the number specified in the memorial of 1814, will be found in Connaught and Munster alone, — a number equal to the whole population of Scotland !
At the same time, I cannot conclude without observ- ing, that until Irish oral instruction make some advance, no wonder that there should be perplexity or contra- diction with regard to the precise number of those who require to be taught to read the Irish language in the first instance. Let enactments be multiplied to any extent, what do they signify ? Language still remains a thing of choice, or a matter of taste. ' ' Doth not the ear try words as the mouth tasteth meat?" is one of the
and independent testimony. But what will the writer of this letter or the author who prints it say to the present condition of Ireland, as already described in the preceding pages ? But while the Gaelic population is somewhat more taan 400,000, —the Native Irish is about eight times the number 1
AND ITS EXTENT. 231
oldest proverbs in existence, — twice recorded in perhaps the most ancient written composition in the world. But in any country, every such instance of oral instruction is not only music to the ear, it is like a torch illuminat- ing the path of incumbent duty. Following in this path, education must of necessity come with a relish to the mind ; and the extent to which it ought to be carried is then no longer a subject of calculation or vague con- jecture. But, independently altogether of this, and every other consideration, a case has been already proved, sufficient to excite the sympathy of the nation at large.
" And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give * distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped ? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken ? for ye shall speak unto the air." PAUL.
" But ye ought to know wherefure languages were given. Better to speak a few lucid \vords in the right sense, than innumerable that are obscure and unknown.
SEDULIUS.
" The ground of mor&i behaviour> and all moral government and regulation, is society, or mutual intercourse and social regards. The special medium of union and communica- tion bttween the members of society, and the being of society as such, is conversation : and the well-being and happiness of society is friendship. It is the highest happiness of all moral agents ; but friendship, above all other things that belong to society, requires con- versation. By this not only is it maintained and nourished) but the felicity of friendship is tasted and enjoyed." — " Moral agents are social agents ; affairs of morality are affairs of society. It is concerning moral agents as united in society, in a Commonwealth or King- dom, that we have been speaking. Particular meral agents so united need conversation : the affairs of their social union cannot well be maintained without it." — " The happine.-s of God's moral government consists in an inferior degree in the members' enjoyment of each other's friendship; but infinitely more in the enjoyment of their head. Therefore, hire especially, and above all, is conversation necessary."
EDWARDS,
Viewed apart by themselves, as an object demanding special consideration and assistance, including the number of inhabitants in each Island.
ONE important feature of Ireland, hitherto passed over in a vague and general style by all writers, consists in the great number of islands scattered round her shores, in most of which the Irish language is generally, in many almost exclusively, spoken. The extreme length of Ire- land is 306 miles, its extreme breadth 207, and, speaking loosely, the circumference is about 880 miles. " The sinu- Q'US line of its seacoast, however, exclusive of such parts as lie within estuaries, or above the first good anchorage in every harbour, but inclusive of the river Shannon, as far as the tide reaches, and the shores of Bantry Bay, Dunmanus Bay, and Kenmare river, will, u accurately followed through all its windings, be found to measure 1737 miles. In this line there are not fewer than one hundred and thirty harbours, and places where ships may anchor for a -tide, or find shelter."* Round the coast of this fine country, and including her inland lakes, the number of islands and islets cannot be calculated at less than six hundred. In Clew Bay alone, on the west coast, the islands, islets, holms, and rocks above the sur-
* Newenham'» View of Ireland, 4to, Londcn, 1809, p. 6.
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 233
face of the water, have been rated, I think, as high as three hundred — which, if they were planted, would cause this inlet of the sea to exceed in picturesque beau- ty any thing of the kind in Europe. In Strangford Lough, on the east coast, there are fifty-four islands, small and great, known by particular names, besides many other nameless. As to inland lakes, to say no- thing of Loch Coirrib, Loch Ree, or Loch Deirgeart, from the centre of an island in Loch Erne, called Ennis- macsaint, may be seen twenty-seven islands in view at once.
To the admirer of nature, all over these coasts, here is many a magnificent though neglected field for admi- ration and ecstasy, were it not so sadly shaded by the con- dition of thousands for whose use or gratification all this was made. The curious ruins too to be found here and there, where the arch or the rampart and the wall seem to lament and languish together, will lend to the scene a sombre character, and frequently excite the association of opposites, the suggestion of contrast — how different is this place or spot from what it once was ! But better days are coming for Ireland than she ever saw in ancient times, whether mainland or coastways. Meanwhile, to continue this digression but a little longer, before no- ticing the people themselves, the reader, I think, will not object to a fffw slight notices respecting some of these islands. .
RAGHLIN, Rathlin, or Rath-erin, the Ricnea of Pliny, the Ricinia of Ptolemy, about 6 miles distant from the north coast of Antrim, which is nearly 5 miles long, and 3^ in extreme breadth, abounds with some curious ar- rangements of basaltic pillars, similar to those of the Giant's Causeway. It affords a considerable quantity of sea- weed for kelp, and, where cultivated, produces ex- cellent barley. A religious establishment was founded here in the sixth century by Columba, but in 790 it was
234 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
ravaged by the Danes. The attachment of the natives to their little island is extreme, and one of their worst wishes to any neighbour who has injured them is, that he may end his days in Ireland. Raghlin is memorable as the retreat of Robert Bruce of Scotland in 1306 : it was here that he planted his standard, and obtained some aid from the inhabitants, before he proceeded to the Hebrides. Dr Francis Hutchinson, Bishop of Down and Connor, who published an Irish Almanack, and a Defence of the ancient Historians, with application to the history of Ire- land and Great Britain, in the year 1712, procured for the inhabitants of this island a translation of the Church Catechism into Irish, with the English annexed. It was printed at Belfast, but in the Roman letter, and the or- thography of both languages was interfered with, other- wise this publication might have been noticed under the first section, in its proper place. I know not whether a single copy of the Raghlin Catechism remains in Ire- land ; but the attempt was not a judicious one, though perfectly characteristic, as the feeble and expiring effort of a narrow and illiberal policy.
TORY, about ten miles or more off the north coast of Donegal, but united to the parish of Tullaghabigly, is about three miles long and one broad. The name of this island is thought to be of Runic etymology, and Thor- eye, now corrupted into Tory, denotes that it was con- secrated to Thor, the Scandinavian deity, who presided over stormy and desolate places. The inhabitants are unacquainted with any other law than that of their old Brehon code. They choose their own chief judge, and to his mandate, issuing from his throne of turf, the peo- ple yield a ready obedience. Round a tower and church built by Columkill, there is a grave-yard to which pe- culiar sanctity is ascribed, and where no one now is per- mitted to be interred. The people but very seldom come to the mainland. About two years ago, a fishing-boat,
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 235
containing seven or eight men, being driven by stress of weather into Ards Bay, on the coast adjoining, it turned out that not one of these men had ever been in Ire- land before ! The trees belonging to Mr Stewart of Ards (the uncle of Lord Londonderry) actually astonished them, and they were seen putting leaves and small branches in their pockets, to show on their return. In August, 1826, the poor people in this island, amounting to nearly 500, were visited by a great calamity. A strange and unforeseen storm set in from the north-west, which drove the sea in immense waves over the whole flat part of the island ; the waves beat even over the highest cliffs — all their corn was destroyed, their pota- toes washed out of the ground, and all their springs of fresh water filled with that of the sea !* Their deplor- able situation constrained them to several communica- tions with the mainland — their condition, in other re- spects, then excited pity — an Irish teacher is about to be sent them ; and so this frowning providence may prove to have been only the precursor of better days than they have ever seen.
INNISMURRV, about six miles distant from the coast of Sligo, is but small, containing about 130 acres of shal- low soil. In this isle there is a large image rudely carved in wood, and painted red, which the people call Father Molash, to which it is affirmed they pay devotion ; and they have an altar built of loose round stones, called ' the Cursing Altar/ to which they are said to apply if any one has injured them.
ACHILL, or Eagle island, so named from the great re- sort of eagles thither, is the largest of the Irish isles, be-
* See an interesting and characteristic volume — " Sketches in Ireland, descrip- tive of hitherto unnoticed Districts in the North and South." By the Rev. C. Otway— Published by W. Curry & Co. Dublin, 1827.
236 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
ing thirteen English miles long, by nine or ten broad, but no minute description of it has ever appeared. Al- though this island contains about 4000 souls, it and three others are united with Burrishool on the mainland !
SOUTH ABRAN ISLES, the Canganij of Ptolemy, which once gave a title to the Butler family, and now to that of Saunders Gore, are very fruitful in oats and herbage for cattle. The abbey erected here was destroyed in the year 1020,, and sixty years later the island was pillaged by the Danes.
I might refer to various other islands which would furnish matter of curious remark — to Inisboffin, with the ruins of her old monastery, in which Colman, the Bishop of Landisferne, dwelt — to Iniscathy, or Innis- cattery, with her cathedral and her eleven churches in ruins, and her round tower of 120 feet high — to Cape Clear, and the ardent attachment which the poor Capers cherish for their apparently desolate island, where even temporary banishment to the mainland has been found so severe a punishment as effectually to prevent crime- but I forbear.
Now it is simply in some such manner as this that the islands of Ireland have too long been introduced to the notice of the reader, and then dismissed. To many the subject as a whole has appeared too intricate, and to others of no consequence ; but it is with the inhabitants that we have to do, and it is surely more than time that the eye of pity should linger for a season among this long-neglected class of fellow-subjects.
I well remember the surprise and regret which were felt and expressed, both in England and Scotland, when, in 1811, we had to announce that there were sixty-eight inhabited islands on the west coast of Scotland in a state of great destitution, as to both education and books. We shall now, however, have occasion to enumerate more than double this number round the shores of Ireland and
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 237
in a state far more destitute ! Here and there a few of these Islands have been noticed incidentally, but the reader will search in vain for any distinct account or even list of them as a whole. It is in this light, how- ever, they ought to be viewed. Hitherto left out of all calculations, especially of a moral or religious character, let them now be observed distinct from the mainland. As an important object of separate consideration to the benevolent and humane, let such only conceive in what a lonely and neglected state thousands of these islanders have lived and died, from generation to generation. Close upon our own native shore, yet as devoid of all the calm and profitable satisfaction which books afford, as if they had lain in the bosom of the Pacific, here it is that, as far as Christianity is concerned, our countrymen have seen Sabbath after Sabbath pass silently away, from one year's end to the other, — no church -going bell, — no gatherings of the people to hear the sweet sounds of divine mercy, or, as the Native Irish say, " the story of peace," — they have for ages lived and died amidst one unbroken fa- mine, not indeed of bread and water, but of hearing the word of the Lord.
These are not the parties who have figured in the pages of authentic Irish history at any period, and, though round the whole mainland, within sight of shore, they come before us as a people almost entirely overlooked and forgotten. The writer had, in repeated visits to Ireland, made inquiry respecting them, and for years searched after a distinct enumeration of all these islands in books, but could find none ; and as for any account of their respective populations, it could not have been given till within a very short period. As soon as the last parliamentary census was examined, however, in its minuter and scattered details, with the assistance of some other means, it then appeared possi- ble to come near the truth. By making the islands an object of consideration, distinct from the mainland, or
K2
238 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
the parishes to which they have been nominally attach- ed, it is hoped that the wants of this people, with regard to Irish education and an intelligible ministry, may now be met. At all events they are now in view, in a man- ner and to a degree in which they have never been be- fore : and who would not be instrumental of introdu- cing to benevolent consideration a portion of his native country, of which almost every man has been as igno- rant as of Borneo or Sumatra, and of which, conse- quently, many among us have cared as little !
We shall commence with Innismurry, a small island on the west coast, already noticed, simply because it is the first towards the north belonging to the province of Connaught ; and, if the reader chooses to take up the large map of Beaufort, and proceed southward round the whole coast, till he arrive at the point from whence he set out, he will find the following islands in regular succession. Even in this large map, however, there is not room sufficient for some of the names ; but the islands are all laid down, and the reader can be at no loss by follow- ing the order now mentioned. I have corrected the ortho- graphy of a very few of the names given by Beaufort, and have numbered the islands for the sake of calcula- tions in a subsequent page. The next column of figures contains the number of inhabited houses, and the third the population in each island, by the latest returns. The present aggregate will be glanced at afterwards.
No. |
Islands. Houses. Inhab. |
No. Islands. Houses. Inhab. |
|||||
1. |
Innismurry, |
17 |
61 |
12. |
Derlane, |
3 |
19 |
a. |
Demish or Derig, |
5 |
32 |
13. |
Innisbigle, r *•• |
10 |
54 |
3. |
Coney, |
24 |
176 |
14. |
Anagh, |
— |
— |
4. |
Oyster, |
1 |
9 |
15. |
A chill, |
710 |
3880 |
5. |
Bartrach, |
3 |
23 |
16. |
Achillbeg, |
21 |
113 |
«. |
Kid I., |
— |
— |
17. |
Roe, |
8 |
43 |
7. |
Eagle I., |
— |
— |
18. |
Innishurkin, |
7 |
40 |
g. |
Innisgloria, |
1 |
7 |
19. |
Inniskellive, |
22 |
9 |
9. |
Inniskerach, |
— |
— |
20. |
llanmore, _ • |
11 |
52 |
10. |
Enniskea North ) |
21. |
Derrenish, |
11 |
56 |
||
11. |
Enniskea South J |
27 |
157 |
22. |
Knockylanc, |
8 |
45 |
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
239
No. |
Islands. Houses. Inhab. |
No. |
Islands. Houses. Inhab. |
||||
23. |
Inishturk, |
8 |
55 |
69. |
Dynish, |
12 |
|
24. |
Inishcuttle, |
6 |
33 |
70. |
Furnish, |
19 |
112 |
25. |
Inishgowley, |
6 |
•»2 |
71. |
Inisherk, |
6 |
32 |
26. |
Inishlyer, |
7 |
44 |
72. |
Nappagh, |
6 |
31 |
27- |
Tagart, |
4 |
32 |
73. |
Littermullin, |
78 |
438 |
28. |
Clynish, |
15 |
96 |
74. |
Mutton, |
2 |
16 |
29. |
Cullen, |
32 |
184 |
75. |
Hare I., |
— |
-*. |
30. |
Inishraher, |
3 |
20 |
76. |
Eddy, |
10 |
72 |
31. |
Inishgurt, |
3 |
26 |
77. |
Deer I., |
— |
— |
32. |
Inishdaff, |
4 |
23 |
78. |
Aranmore, South |
387 |
2276 |
33. |
Inishleaguc, |
1 |
13 |
79. |
Innismain, |
63 |
386 |
34. |
Murrisk, |
9 |
43 |
80. |
Innishere, |
65 |
417 |
35. |
Clare or Clara |
257 |
1395 |
81. |
Inniskerry, |
2 |
17 |
36. |
Cahir, |
— |
— |
82. |
Inniscattery, |
11 |
85 |
37. |
Inishturk, |
78 |
456 |
83. |
Hog or Inisbeg, |
1 |
7 |
38. |
Innisdegal, |
1 |
8 |
84. |
Innismore, |
23 |
157 |
39. |
Hanachreen, |
— |
— |
85. |
Fergus, |
— |
— |
40. |
Ilanaminc, |
— |
— |
86. |
Low I., |
10 |
105 |
41. |
Darilan, |
— |
— |
87- |
Horse, + |
13 |
86 |
42. |
Lion, |
— |
— |
88. |
Cannon, |
6 |
49 |
43. |
Inisboffin, |
193 |
1053 |
89. |
Innisherk, \V |
3 |
20 |
44. |
Inishark, |
28 |
180 |
90. |
Ennistubret, |
3 |
20 |
45. |
Friars I., |
— |
— |
91. |
Coscory, ^i j |
2 |
14 |
46. |
High I., |
— |
— |
92. |
Aghenish, |
33 |
20« |
47- |
Crua I., |
— |
— |
93. |
Foynes 1., |
19 |
109 |
48. |
Omay, |
41 |
224 |
94. |
Carrigue, ^ - ^ |
21 |
136 |
49. |
Ennisturk, |
12 |
66 |
95. |
Fenit, |
35 |
205 |
50. |
Tarbert, |
15 |
90 |
96. |
Magharee, |
— |
..— |
51. |
Dunloghan, |
— |
— |
97. |
Inistuiskar, |
— |
j — |
52. |
Ballylany, |
— |
— |
98. |
Innisbeg, |
— |
_ |
53. |
Innisdanrow, |
1 |
6 |
99. |
Great Blasket, •» |
||
54. |
Crump, Si&n |
2 |
4 |
100. |
Inisnebroe, >• |
18 |
128 |
55. |
Innisnee, |
48 |
319 |
101. |
Inismakelan, J |
||
56. |
Croaglin, |
3 |
15 |
102. |
Valentia, |
377 |
2128 |
57- |
Cruanakily, |
— |
— |
103. |
Inchbeg, |
— |
— |
58. |
Cruanakarra, |
— |
— |
104. |
Benners, |
11 |
<;4 |
59. |
Mason, »r. |
14 |
71 |
105. |
Puffins I., |
— |
|
GO. |
Moynish, |
87 |
499 |
106. |
Scrieff, .-'•« |
— |
— |
61. |
Feenish, |
18 |
131 |
107- |
JVlelan, |
— |
|
62. |
Inishtrava, |
13 |
38 |
108. |
Dinish, |
— |
— |
63. |
Inislacken, |
18 |
122 |
109. |
Twohead 1., |
— |
— |
64. |
Macdara, |
5 |
28 |
110. |
Rossdughan, |
— |
— |
65. |
Freigh, |
1 |
8 |
111. |
Ruffmore, |
— |
— |
66. |
Spit, |
2 |
12 |
112. |
Dunkerron, |
1 |
10 |
67. |
Littermore, |
48 |
263 |
113. |
Grenane, |
1 |
14 |
68. |
Garomna, |
210 |
1281 |
114. |
Cappanacoss, |
1 |
12 |
240
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
No. |
Islands. Houses. Inbab. |
No. |
Islands, Houses. Inbab. |
||||
115. |
Dursey, |
45 |
276 |
156. |
St Patrick's I., |
_ |
— |
116. |
Bere or Bear I., |
399 |
2115 |
157. |
G minis I., |
__ |
__ |
117- |
Whiddy, |
86 |
591 |
158. |
Donen, |
_ |
_ |
118. |
Small Isle, |
1 |
7 |
159. |
Taggart, |
3 |
23 |
119. |
Carbery, |
__ |
__ |
160. |
More I., |
— |
— |
120. |
Bird I., |
__ |
— |
161. |
Bawn 1., |
3 |
12 |
121. |
Innisfad or Long I |
.,42 |
230 |
162. |
Castle I., |
17 |
102 |
122. |
Castle I., |
14 |
97 |
163. |
Maghea, |
2 |
17 |
123. |
West Calf, |
1 |
7 |
164. |
Reagh, |
1 |
9 |
124. |
Middle Calf, |
5 |
30 |
165. |
Wood I., |
1 |
6 |
125. |
Illane Hummisk, |
11 |
74 |
166. |
Rough, . • ' . |
— |
— |
126. |
Goat I., |
2 |
8 |
167. |
Bird, |
— |
— |
127. |
East calf, |
5 |
25 |
168. |
Copeland, |
15 |
67 |
128. |
East Inisbeg, |
25 |
102 |
169. |
Cross I., |
4 |
23 |
129. |
West Inisbeg, |
20 |
99 |
170. |
Meu I., |
— |
— |
130. |
Scheams, |
7 |
42 |
171. |
Muck, |
— |
— |
131. |
Hare I., |
46 |
250 |
172. |
Rathlin, |
199 |
1104 |
132. |
Ringaroga, |
_ |
— |
173. |
Inch I., |
185 |
1094 |
133. |
Innisherkin, ^ |
193 |
1053 |
174. |
Aughnish, |
2 |
18 |
134. |
Cunny, |
13 |
48 |
175. |
Raigh or Roy, |
7 |
54 |
135. |
Clare Island, |
190 |
886 |
1J6. |
Tory, |
59 |
296 |
136. |
Horse 1., |
1 |
9 |
177. |
Innisbeg, |
— |
— |
137. |
Rabbit I., |
2 |
13 |
178. |
Inis-duh, Dowey, |
3 |
22 |
138. |
Quince I., |
— |
— |
179. |
Inisbofh'n, |
43 |
252 |
139. |
Inchidoney, |
380 |
2091 |
180. |
Inis Irhir, |
— |
_ |
140. |
Butman, |
_ |
— |
181. |
Gola, |
— |
— |
141. |
Spike, |
— |
— |
182. |
Owey, |
12 |
76 |
142. |
Hawlbowline, \ |
50 |
349 |
183. |
Cruit, |
— |
— |
143. |
Rocky, > |
184. |
Aranmore, |
132 |
78» |
||
144. |
Great Island, 2223 |
9405 |
185. |
Rutland, |
29 |
173 |
|
145. |
Foly or Foaty, |
26 |
200 |
186. |
Innisfree, |
25 |
171 |
146. |
Little 1., |
138 |
979 |
187. |
Innisceragh, |
8 |
47 |
147- |
Bally Cotton, |
— |
— |
188. |
Inniscoo, |
8 |
53 |
148. |
Gible, |
— |
— |
189. |
Eighter, |
7 |
42 |
149. |
Ikean, East, \ |
190. |
Innisal, |
5 |
32 |
||
150. |
Ikean, West, J |
40 |
267 |
191. |
Edderuish, |
1 |
11 |
151. |
Saltees, |
— |
— |
192. |
Duck, |
1 |
5 |
152. |
Tuskar, |
— |
— |
193. |
Tully, |
8 |
44 |
53. |
Dalkey, |
— |
. — |
194. |
Roanuish, - rj |
— |
— |
154. |
Ireland's Eye, |
— |
— |
195. |
Inniskeel, |
1 |
5 |
155. |
Lambay, |
6 |
34 |
196. |
Rackibirn I., |
— |
— |
Here then are to be found one hundred and ninety- six Islands, of which at least one hundred and forty were 3
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 241
inhabited, seven years ago, by an aggregate of not less than forty-three thousand souls. Arranged according to their respective provinces, the following will be the result : —
Nos in the List. |
Province. |
Number of Islands. |
Number Inhabited. |
Population. |
1— 80 81 — 150 151—156 157—196 |
CONNAUGHT, AIUtfSTEB, LEINSTER, ULSTER, |
80 70 6 40 |
62 50 1 27 |
15,592 22,827 34 4,546 |
196 |
140 |
42,999 |
Before making any farther observation, there is yet another point of view in which almost all those Islands should be considered, that is, in connexion with immense parishes on the adjoining coast, — an arrangement, one effect of which has been that of sinking them in oblivion, just as it was with our Hebrides, till they were, but a few years ago, made an object of distinct consideration. If no provision has been made for the islander, dwell- ing in an island distant from the parish to which it is attached, perhaps ten, fifteen, or twenty miles, and if the parish itself contain from three to ten thousand souls, and there be no Irish school even on the mainland,— I leave the reader to imagine what has been and what must be the condition of the people.
We shall take twenty parishes for illustration, and see what will be the effect. I only remark, that the first column of figures refers to the numbers in the first list, by which the reader will be able at once to ascertain the names of the Islands.
242
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
Parish. |
Vus by the former List. |
No of Islands |
Populat. of the |
Entire Parish Po- |
attached. |
Islands. |
pulation. |
||
TEMPLECROAN |
184—193 |
11 |
1442 |
6,472 |
TULLAGHABIGLY |
176—179 |
3 |
570 |
5,757 |
MOYBUS |
55, 56, 59—66 |
10 |
1243 |
6,449 |
OMAY |
48, 49, 50 |
3 |
380 |
4,454 |
KlLCUMMIN |
69—73 |
5 |
679 |
8,099 |
KlLLANIN |
67, 68 |
2 |
1544 |
7,098 |
BURRISHOOLE |
15—18 |
4 |
4076 |
13,252 |
Kir.MivA |
19—33 |
15 |
820 |
7,284 |
KlLMORE |
8—12 |
4 |
183 |
7,559 |
K.ILGEVER* |
35—38, 43, 44 |
5 |
3090 |
10,253 |
AHAMLISH |
1,2 |
2 |
93 |
6,405 |
KlLCHRIST |
84 |
1 |
157 |
2,344 |
KlLDYSART |
86—91 |
6 |
294 |
3,784 |
KlLRUSH |
82, 83 |
2 |
92 |
8,256 |
K.ILLAGHANENAGH |
116 |
1 |
2115 |
6,159 |
KlLMACOMOGUE |
117—118 |
2 |
598 |
12,145 |
KlLMAXAGH |
115 |
1 |
276 |
4,337 |
TULLAGH |
133, 134 |
2 |
1101 |
3,583 |
AGHDOWN |
127—131 |
5 |
581 |
5,461 |
WEST SKULL |
121—126 |
6 |
446 |
6,739 |
90 |
19,780 |
135,890 |
Now, in Scotland at least, we know well what has been the result of such arrangements in our Hebrides. As to the consequences round the coast of Ireland, I shall not at present enlarge. But here we see only twenty parishes embracing a population of not less than one hundred and thirty-five thousand eight hundred and ninety souls, and of this number we see nineteen thousand seven hundred and eighty living detached, in the adjoining seas, in not less than ninety islands ; nay, in three parishes, embracing nearly thirty thousand souls, it will be observed that above nine thousand are
* As a specimen of euch an arrangement I might notice this instance. The Rev. Mr S. can preach in Irish, and, I believe, does so. But No 37 is distant from him at least fifteen, and Nos 43 and 44 from twenty to thirty miles! Besides, if I do not mistake, Mr S. has removed to another part of the country.
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 243
so situated. At the present moment we shall find, I believe, one hundred and forty thousand souls, at least, in these twenty parishes, or an average of not less than seven thousand to each parish ; while of this number, above twenty-one thousand reside in these ninety islands ! But the inhabited islands which we have already enu- merated amount to not fewer than one hundred and forty !
On referring to these islands in general, it may be said, many of them are small. They are so ; seventeen of them contain only one family, and ten not more than three in each ! The feeling of solitude here occasion- ally must be extreme ;* but they live in the vicinity of other islands, and a plan may be suggested by which the art and delight of reading may be introduced to every one of them, provided they are instructed in their own vernacular tongue. In the preceding list, perhaps, some would except Great Island near Cork, as not being like others. It is reported, indeed, to have above 900 scholars in attendance, but then above 800 of these are in the town of Cove. Among a country population of at least 3000, I suspect not one in thirty is learning to read, and of these I believe not one in Irish. But still, independently of Great Island, here are only eleven islands, containing in all above 20,000 souls. Here are sixteen islands, each of which contains from one to two hundred inhabitants. But why may not every island containing fifty immortal beings have a circulating Irish teacher ? Even his temporary residence would kindle a
* Not so much so, however, as in one of our Hebrides, the island of Rona, about 30 miles north from Lewis. During seven years, excepting one visit from the boat of the Fortunee, then cruising after the President in 1802, the occupant of this farm, tending 50 sheep, had seen no face but that of his employer and his own family, consisting of six individuals ! Such is the violence and height of the mountain-billows which break on this island, that the dykes of the sheepfold are often thrown down, and large stones removed from their places, at elevations reaching to 200 feet above high- water mark ! The highest point of land in this island is about 600 feet.
244 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
flame, which, far from expiring when he left, would in many an instance maintain and even propagate itself. Now of these we have not less than thirty, which, at fifty each, would be 1500, while these contain at present more than two thousand souls.
It must now, however, also be observed, that at least several of the islands, respecting which I could come to no conclusion, and have left blank, have inhabitants ; therefore I have included them, to elicit information ; and the population in others, I have good reason to be- lieve, has been underrated, perhaps in many. For ex- ample, in the island of Tory, ten miles from land, there were returned, in 1821, only 297 souls, but there were said to be 59 houses. Now the average family in most of these islands, the reader must have noted, is very large — generally 6 and 7 ! This would give more than 350 souls ; but the aggregate of Tory has been recently stated as high as five hundred — every one of them speak- ing Irish. Taking these circumstances into account, and the natural increase within the last seven years, Jifty thousand souls may certainly be regarded as a moderate calculation ; but the total is probably even more than this.
With regard to the dialect of these long-neglected islanders, while I am perfectly aware that an English- man will hear his own language spoken by individuals, and from them he will obtain replies to such questions as a traveller may put, just as it happens in the Western Isles of Scotland — still the Irish is as prevalent as Gaelic in the Hebrides. An Anglo-Hibernian may wander among these hundred islands, visiting ruins and tombs, admiring, as he must, the scenery, and picking up ame- thysts— some of the islanders may kindly accommodate him with English, while fishermen and kelp-makers may seem to go on full smoothly with the English terms needful in their calling; — but all this amounts to no- thing when we are looking into their moral condition
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 245
and the medium for its improvement. Even in secular affairs they much prefer Irish ; and so, though there is some difference, the Hebridean and Irishman carry on barter in their common language. (See the note, page 194.) In Irish they feel more at ease, and need not to cast about for a word. In such a case as that just sup- posed, the writer, at least, has only to recollect how it was in the Western Isles of Scotland, when Gaelic schools were introduced there, and though when visiting them he was accommodated with English, not only by the boatmen, but other individuals ; yet being under no bias, and desirous only of fixing on what seemed essential to moral improvement, he drew a very different conclusion from what some Anglo-Hibernians would do, in refer- ence to their seacoast and islands ; but the truth is, that Irish is the rule — English the exception ; and not only so, but much of that English is certainly to be classed with that which has been already characterized as spoken on the high road of the mainland, with that of an Irish servant at an inn, or even that of the Irishman living within the precincts of many a gentleman's or noble- man's domain.*
* One illustration will do just as well as another ; take only one from a respect- ed friend. The scene is Lord Bantry's domain.—" A shower of rain drove us to seek shelter in the hut of the man who looks after the pheasants. He was alone ; and with all the civility that never deserts an Irishman, he welcomed us in God's name, and produced stools, which he took care to wipe with his great-coat before he permitted us to sit on them. On inquiring from him why he was alone and where were his family ; he said they were all gone to Watch-Mass, (it was the Saturday before Easter-day.) « And what is the Watch-Mass ?' He could not tell. • And what day was yesterday ?' He could not tell. « And what day will to-morrow be ?' He could not tell. « What ! cannot you tell me why yesterday has been called Good Friday, and to-morrow Easter-Sunday ?' « No !' Turning to my companion, I was moved to observe with great emphasis, how deplorable it was to see men, otherwise so intelligent, so awfully ignorant concerning matters connected with religion. « Not so fast with your judgment, my good sir,' said my friend ; « what if you prove very much mistaken in this instance concerning the knowledge of this man : recollect you are now speaking to him in a foreign tongue. Come now, I understand enough of Irish to try his mind in his native dialect.' Accordingly he did so ; and it was quite surprising to see how the man, as soon as the Irish was spoken, brightened up in countenance ; and I could perceive from the smile that played on the face of my friend, how he rejoiced in the realization
246 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
After thus roaming over these Irish islands, when the eye is cast but a little farther to the north-east, although even there much remains to be done, what a singular contrast do some of the Hebrides present ! They also were long and sadly neglected, but within these seven- teen years we began to teach their vernacular tongue ; and now in only one Gaelic school we see 368 scholars, of whom 224 are above twenty years of age : in another, 287, of whom 143 are also above twenty ; but both these are in one island, — nay there are ten schools besides, or in the whole about 1500 pupils : all this is in Lewis. In Skye we see 330 ; in Islay above 530. To these west- ern isles also, independently of the Gaelic schools and .the books for their express use, only since 1824, there have been voted above 1100 Bibles, 1650 New Testa- ments, and 1100 Scripture extracts, or in all above 3850 distinct volumes. But the Glasgow Society have been in the habit of following up these Gaelic schools with English. There is beside, the useful schools of the Society for Propagating Christian knowledge ; and to close the account, the schools more recently established in the islands alone, under the sanction of the General Assem- bly, now amount to seventeen, in which not only Gaelic is taught, but English, writing, arithmetic, and geogra- phy,— three of these are in Islay, three in Skye, and one in Lewis. And from whence has all this more recent ac- tivity in conveying instruction sprung ? I have no he-
of his prognostic ; and he began to translate for me as follows : I asked him what was Good Friday ? ' It was on that day that the Lord of Mercy gave his life for sinners ; a hundred thousand blessings to him for that.' ' What is Watch-Satur- day ?' ' It was the day when watch was kept over the holy tomb that held the in- corruptible body of my Saviour.' Thus the man gave, in Irish, clear and feeling answers to questions, concerning which, when addressed in English, he appeared quite ignorant ; and yet of common English words and phrases he had the use ; but like most of hit countrymen in the south, his mind was groping in foreign parts when converging in English, and he only seemed to think in Irish ; the one was the language of his commerce, the other of his heart."— SAr/cAfs in Ireland, by the Rev. Ccesar Otway.
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 247
sitation in adding, from the simple operation of having begun to teach the people their native language.
Now at the present moment, a man may wander over all these Irish islands, which, though smaller in size, are more than double the number of the Hebrides — but he will meet with nothing but one unbroken contrast to such proceedings as these now mentioned — a contrast for which not a single reason can be adduced to those who know the country, which is worthy of one mo- ment's reflection. Yet the writer well remembers the time when there was nothing of this kind known, even in the Hebrides — and then it was, that the idea of teach- ing the vernacular tongue was scouted, and then too, op- posed by those who now see its absolute necessity and importance. In Ireland, therefore, let the patrons of privation but stand a while aside, and admit the opera- tion of positive principles — they will soon behold the same results, and, like former opponents of similar mea- sures in Britain, they also will rejoice to assist.
it: ..,,'•• . ;' .v :.;-)Y,; ,i,-;«ii '• V- -
It may now, however, very naturally be inquired,— But are there no schools in any of these islands? I re- ply, there are schools in the islands of Raghlin, Inch, and Aranmore, in Clare and Inisherkin, such as they are, and, of course, in Cove, situated in Great Island, and perhaps one or two more. But none of these are Irish schools, though Irish is spoken. One Irish school has bee pro- posed for the island of Tory, where, out of five hundred, about half a dozen can also speak English ; but as for all the rest, the eye will search in vain for schools or scholars, or places of worship. When the peculiarity of their situation is observed, and the number of genera- tions is remembered, which, alas ! in this state must have passed away, surely there is no man of common sympathy who would not instantly inquire, " What can be, what shall be done for them ?" During the long and dreary past many a bark has foundered upon their
248 THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND.
shores, but they, themselves, in a sadder sense, have been wrecked by one common storm, and, though ac- tually within sight of our shore, have scarcely ever heard of our common and glorious Deliverer !
I am perfectly aware of their natural shrewdness, and how much they can entertain a traveller by their occa- sional replies ; but still " one thing is needful," and while that is wanting, perhaps some readers may not be able to refrain from accommodating the lines of the poet : —
Metbinks I see them straying on the beach, And asking of the surge that bathes their feet, How often it has wash'd our shore — In sight ! You see one weep, and his are honest tears, Like patriot's for his country — they are sad At thought of her forlorn, neglected state, From which no pow'r of theirs can raise her up. Thus Fancy paints them, and, though apt to err, Perhaps errs little, when she paints them thus. These, therefore, I must pity— placed so near To all that science traces, art invents, Or inspiration teaches.
In but a few short years circulating Irish teachers, if they were men who fear God, might work wonders here ; and what a field is this for the powers of oral in- struction ! There was once ONE who not only taught in the temple and the synagogue, but preached on mountains, and in barges and ships — his immediate followers imitated his example — convenience for the time was consecration of the place ; and the voice of that authority under which they acted, reaches to the end of time. Were this voice but once heard and obeyed, one can scarcely conceive of a more delightful change on a Sabbath morning, than that of the voice of praise ascending from these numerous islets of the sea. By the blessing of Heaven they would thus form, as it were, a wall of fire round this long-neglected country, not forgetting what, by similar means and an Irish ministry, might also, before long, be styled the glory in the midst. For why should not this praise be heard in the language natural to this people ? And what perverse policy is that which would
THE ISLANDS OF IRELAND. 249
forbid it ! I know not why I may not add, what heart must he have, who would stand proof against their own simple and plaintive petition, uttered lately by one of their best friends ? It at least shows what an anxiety is felt on the subject of vernacular instruction :—
And oh ! be it heard in that language endearing,
In which the fond mother her lullaby sung, Which spoke the first lispings of childhood, and bearing
The father's last prayer from his now silent tongue : That so, as it breathes the pure sound of devotion, And speaks with the power that still'd the rough ocean, Each breast may be cahn'd into gentler emotion,
And Erin's wild harp to Hosannas be strung.
— — And soon from the cliffs, by the ocean surrounded, To that milder shore, by the shallow sea bounded, May the call of the Shepherd be faithfully sounded, O'er marshes and mountain, through isle and through grove!
At all events, their situation being now brought more fully before the public eye, I cannot believe, that, in such a day as this, these islanders will be suffered to remain longer, much less die in their present condition, without any regarding it. It may indeed seem to the reader as if a mist had risen and dispersed, exhibiting to his view an assemblage of his countrymen hitherto unknown ; but no man can innocently desire that this misty obscurity should descend again, to conceal them from the eye of the intelligent and humane.
In the inhabited Western Isles of Scotland, amounting to sixty-eight in number, there are at present above seventy schools, where the vernacular language is taught, and in many of these, other branches of education :— In the inhabited islands round the coast of Ireland, amounting to one hundred and forty, we know that there has been appointed — one Irish school ! but know not whether it is yet in active operation.
" If obedience to the will of God be necessary to happiness, and knowledge of his will be necessary to obedience, I know not how he that withholds this knowledge, or delays it, can be said to love his neighbour as himself." JOHNSON.
SECTION VII.
DESIDERATA — BOOKS,
Or brief Catalogue of Desirables for the Native Irish Population.
HAVING endeavoured to collect every particular which might serve to be of use in forming some fixed opinion as to what is so much wanted for this long-neglected people, I may be permitted to say — How meagre is the history of the past compared with what it ought to have been in such a country as this ! In a country so near, and which ought to have been so much more dear to every British subject, how melancholy the re- flection that centuries are embraced, and that, after so long a period, such upon the whole is the present con- dition of above three millions of our fellow-subjects ! Is it possible, it may be asked, — is it true, that these people, in their successive generations, have thus breath- ed away their existence and died, in a country which, as to its natural position, has been reposing in the very lap of Great Britain, and nominally united to it for more than six hundred and fifty years ? So it should seem ; and would that, with the sombre review of the past, here also terminated the prevalence of those things which make the aspect sombre !
Meanwhile let it not be imagined by any one, that a retrospect such as this, however painful, is impolitic, unprofitable, or vain. Nothing as to Ireland, and par-
DESIDERATA — BOOKS. 251
ticularly her aborigines, can be more incumbent. Let us the more value the example left us by the discerning few, in whose hearts it was to have enlightened and elevated a people so often and so long left out of all cal- culations meet and necessary for their present comfort and their future good. Let there be no false delicacy now to whisper that we should be tender of prejudices which were grounded upon political expediency — an expediency which has proved so hollow and foolish in itself; weak as to its professed end, nay, so injurious withal every hour of its continuance to the immortal interests of so many generations.
It is indeed a very easy thing for us now to dwell upon what has been called the back-ground, or dark side, of the picture with regard to Ireland, though I envy not the man who is capable of doing so without feelings either of sympathy or self-reproach.
But no— let us no more contend, nor blame Each other, blamed enough elsewhere;—
For what can this avail, or does it befit the lips of their countrymen, to whom we can say as to all things else, and at any period — " And what hast thou which thou hast not received ? and why glory as if thou hadst not received it?" What would the rest of this kingdom have been if left without books — without learning — without an intelligible ministry ? So far from being surprised at any thing said of this people, — and there have been many things said which are not correct, — my astonishment is, that they are to be found in their pre- sent condition, destitute and deplorable as it confessedly is. Naturally shrewd, and, as far as natural education goes, superior in quickness of perception to any pea- santry of the empire — often cheerful, under circumstan- ces which in others would have induced habitual me- lancholy— retaining a buoyancy of mind under frequent extremity, and so susceptible of gratitude for disin- terested kindness — there are none who know them
252 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
thoroughly who would not say — " And I have loved them better still, even in extremity of ill."
It would be easy too to repeat the fine things which have been said about the circulation of bank-notes, which being in English, have proved an incentive to those who see them and ever possess any, to acquire our language ! — to talk of the people being said to be ashamed of their native tongue, and desirous of acquir- ing ours — a shame which, if it ever existed in some of the baser sort, like a Sunday's coat is laid aside as soon as you turn your back, or they return home, where Irish holds on to sustain the tear and wear of their thoughts. No, let us hear no more of the glory of ex- tending the English tongue in these districts in the man- ner hitherto proposed or pursued. Man, it is true, is a creature impatient of his end ; but in a course which it is above the power of kings as conquerors to pursue ; where we are called to contend with sympathies of our nature so strong, and in which there is no crime; to contend with an invincible attachment to the first sounds the tongue was taught by a mother to express, let us see and understand that no feeble enactment of ours can ever reach the case. The path marked out for us is straight forward and easy ; it has the sanction of Heaven, and any other devised with reference to an inferior, not to say purblind policy, will prove just as inefficient as it has done hitherto : —
In human works, though labour'd on with pain, A thousand movements scarce one purpose gain j In God's, one single doth its end produce, And server to second to some other use.
That " other use" in the present instance will certainly prove to be the extension of the English language, as far and as fast as it can be extended.
Let us proceed then no longer with faltering steps or slow — nor with a scanty or meagre policy, whether it regards the proclamation of the divine word in the lan- guage spoken by the people — the circulation of the
DESIDERATA BOOKS. 253
Scriptures in Irish and some other useful books, or the very best and most expeditious mode of teaching the people to read.
At the same time I ought to remark, that when a case like the present is made out and reviewed, there is such a thing as hastening after a cure. One or two plans, as they are called, are hastily devised by an indi- vidual more ardent than wise, and the idea prevails, that by some one grand wholesale remedy, which be- gins to be much talked of, the evils, all the evils are to be redressed — all the wants supplied in almost a given time ; though, in designs such as these, few things are so fatal as precipitancy or blind zeal.
In looking over the present state of the Native Irish, as it refers to the design of these pages, there is happily at present but little call for much ingenuity of con- trivance. The means which have been successful in other cases, only require to be applied ; but calm intre- pidity, constancy, and patience, with the exercise of kindness and love to the people, are indispensable. If these are possessed, the means at the same time involve very different qualifications, in different individuals, and it is not by amalgamating all these that most benefit is to be expected. If independent of each other in them- selves, let them so remain ; and so independent are they, that three men may here be pressing towards the accomplishment of one end, and yet scarcely, perhaps, ever exchange words. One man at his desk is pa- tiently balancing the precise difference between two Irish synonymes, arid is daily tasking himself to give no- thing save an accurate and luminous translation of his author. The second is a schoolmaster, whose heart is in his employment, and is mainly charmed by the progress of his pupils. While the third, if qualified for address- ing his fellow-men on the things of God from his own book, has been fitted from on high, by Him who alone can qualify, and who alone doth give such gifts unto
L,
254 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
men. But a very few individuals, therefore, of requisite wisdom, in any one of these departments (though in a variety of independent spots), proceeding with ardour and patient perseverance, without printing or sitting down to report every thing that they do, might accom- plish much. Nor should a solitary individual feel dis- •couraged : for what is the history which has just been read, if it is not that of a very few solitary individuals, ending occasionally in a heartfelt union which never rose above three or four ? This has been styled the age of mechanism and management ; but, after all, amidst the various schemes of the day, " in all probability, the improvement of mankind is destined, under Divine Providence, to advance just in proportion as good men feel the responsibility for it resting on themselves, as individuals, and are actuated by a bold sentiment of in- dependence, (humble at the same time, in reference to the necessity of a celestial agency,) in the prosecution of it."*
In farther specifying what is now so much wanted and so desirable for the Native Irish, we shall follow the order of the three first sections, and therefore advert first to the subject of Irish printed books.
BOOKS.
It was the opinion of Dr Johnson, that if a man wish- ed to be counted amyong the benefactors of posterity, he must add by his own toil to the acquisitions of his an- cestors, and secure his memory from neglect by some valuable improvement. " This," he adds, " can only be effected by looking out upon the wastes of the intel- lectual world, and extending the power of learning over
* Foster's Essay on the Evil* of Popular Ignorance, p. 259.
DESIDERATA BOOKS. 255
regions yet undisciplined ; or by surveying more exactly our ancient dominions, and driving ignorance from the retreats where she skulks undetected and undisturbed. Every science has its difficulties, which yet call for so- lution before we attempt new systems of knowledge ; as every country has its forests or marshes, which it would be wise to cultivate and drain, before distant colonies are projected as a necessary discharge of the exuberance of inhabitants."
In the preceding pages the reader has had an oppor- tunity of observing how little can be said on the subject of Irish printing, and it is hoped that a perusal of the narrative itself may suggest to many the appropriate re- medies for such a state of things. At the same time, it- may still be of service now to consider briefly the ac- tual condition of this people so far as the art of printing is concerned. In doing this I have thought that it is nothing more than common justice to bring forward another Celtic population in contrast or comparison with the Native Irish, viz. the inhabitants of Wales. Here, in that part of England which lies nearest to Ire- land, looking across St George's Channel, out of a po- pulation of about 720,000 are 600,000 to whom the Welsh is vernacular, or about a fifth part of the Native Irish. Let us see then how it has fared with these two classes in comparison.
To begin with the Scriptures. It is now two hundred and sixty-three years since the Welsh New Testament was first printed, and about two hundred and twenty-seven years since the same volume was first printed in Irish. Again, the Bible complete in Welsh was printed in 1588 — in the Irish not till about a century afterwards, viz. in 1686. Now, let the reader observe, up to the year 1811, when the Irish Testament, though in the Roman character, was published, there had been a few hundred copies of the Irish New Testament circulated about the beginning of the seventeenth century, and
256 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
about as many towards the close of it, with perhaps three hundred of the Old Testament ; while for Wales by the year 1811 there been such a variety of editions of the Welsh Bible complete, and of the New Testament separately, as amounted to above one hundred and seventy thousand copies, of which more than one hund- red and forty thousand were entire Bibles ! An equal proportion for the Native Irish would have been seven or eight hundred thousand — perhaps there had not been above eight hundred, and certainly not a single copy printed for one hundred and thirty years previously to 1811!
Or cast an eye over the last century, during which the Native Irish population has so increased, and you will find that in Wales there had been about eighty- nine thousand Bibles and New Testaments put into cir- culation, at about twelve or fourteen different periods of time. In Wales too, out of the edition of the Bible in 1718, a thousand were given to the poor. The editions of 1746 and 1752, both in octavo, and consisting to- gether of thirty thousand copies, were sold at four shil- lings and sixpence each : yet by the year 1768 they had been all bought, and the edition of the next year con- sisted of twenty thousand more. While these things were going on for Wales, and that before a Bible Society was thought of, in Ireland, or for the Native Irish any- where, there was during the whole of the eighteenth century literally not a single copy printed !
But, in addition to such bare though painful chrono- logical comparisons, we must not forget the mighty dif- ference between the book of life and salvation having been used in a country, and read from generation to ge- neration, for above two hundred years, almost within sight of Ireland, and its scarcely being so read in Irish at all. Since the Scriptures in Welsh have been from time to time coming into the hands of the people, seven generations have been passing away, with all the bene-
DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
257
fits thus conveyed, — but of course the same number of generations in Ireland have also gone the way of all the earth. Though therefore it be but a painful memo- rial, urging to present duty, — a kind of sepulchral in- scription over our fellow-countrymen, or certain de- parted subjects of the British crown, it may be of use to the surviving generation of the Native Irish, if we place the editions of the Scriptures in these two languages in contrast with each other, from 1567 up to the year 1800 — a period of two hundred and thirty-three years.
Welsh Scriptures.
1 j 67— New Testament,... 4to 500
1588— Bible, folio 5;0
1620— Bible, folio, 500
1630— Bible, 8vo 1000
1647— New Testament,... 12rao 1000
1 1651— Bible, 9vo, 6000
1654— New Testament,. ..8vo, 1000
1672— New Testament,. ..8yo, 2000
f!678— Bible, 8vo 8000
Irish Scriptures.
1603— New Testament,...folio,* 500
1690— Bible -folio, 1000
11690— Bible, 8vo, 10,000
1718— Bible Svo...... 10,000
1727— Bible 8vo, 5000
fl746— Bible 8vo, 15,000
+1752— Bible, 8 vo,'.... 15,000
1752— Test, and Psalms, 2000
fl769— Bible, 8vo, 20,000
fl198— Bible, 8vo 10,000
f!798— New Testament,..8vo 2000
1800— Testament, SaIop..Var......lO,000
1681— New Testament,...4to,... 1G86— Old Testament, ...4to,....
* Small folio, scarcely above quarto size.
f The number of copies thus marked have been accurately ascertained, and the others are founded on the " Historical Account of the British or Welsh versions and editions of the Bible, by Thomas Llewelyn, LL.D." Of tlie last article the Doctor says, under date 1752,—" The New Testament, with Psalms, has been fre. quently printed at Salop (Shrewsbury), from this date and forward." The edition of 1718 was the first printed by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, and, with the exception of the Shrewsbury New Testament, that institution was concerned in all that followed. But all that had preceded was the result of indi- vidual benevolence. The edition of 1620 was promoted by Dr Parry, Bishop of St Asaph— of 1630 by Rowland Heylin, Esq., Sir Thomas Middleton, and other citizens of London. The editions of 1651, of 1672, and 1678, were promoted by the Rev. Thomas Gouge— that of 1690 by Mr Pierce Lewis, and the 8vo edition of that same year by the Marquis Wharton and others.
258 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
So it has fared with these two classes for seven gene- rations back. Above one hundred and twenty thousand, of which one hundred and two thousand were entire copies of the Scriptures, had been at different intervals dispersed or sold at a cheap price to the one ; and about eight hundred or a thousand copies of the New Testa- ment and about three hundred of the Old had been cir- culated among the other ! For the rest of the Irish im- pressions of 1681-6 were sent by Mr Boyle to the High- lands of Scotland.
But since the commencement of the nineteenth cen- tury it will be instantly replied, a very great change has taken place, and there have been copies of the Scriptures printed for the Irish as well as for the Welsh. There have ; but let not this prevent our observing the singular inequality or contrast with which we are fur- nished by a review of the last twenty-one years.
Welsh Scriptures. Irish Scriptures.
1808— Bible, 12mo,..20,000
Testament, 12mo,... 10,000
1811— Bible and Psaluns, .8vo 20,000 1811— Test., RoOT<znletter,..12mo,..20CO
1813— Bible Var 10,191
Testament, Var 50,948 1813— Test., 7Jo»!a»letter,..12mo,...3000
1811— Bible, _ 8vo, 2500
1817— Bible, Roman letter,.8vo, 5000
1826— Bible Var...«.60,351 1826— Bible, Roman letter, 8vo 5000
Testament, Var 85,684 Testament Var.. 29,018
1828— Bible, Var 10,096 1828— Bible,* Irish letter !...8vo,...5000
Testament Var 12,638 Testament, Var...20,170
1829— Bible, Jr. let. at press, 24mo,..5000
1829— Bible 12mo, 5000 Bible, 3 vols, do. do....l2mo, 2000
Testament, 12mo,...10,000 Test do. do... sMmo, 4000
Could these numerous Welsh editions, as contrasted •with the Irish, have been inserted, year by year, pre- cisely as they issued from the press, the contrast would have been still more glaring ; but it is abundantly so, when viewed at successive dates as above. The result of this comparison is as follows : —
* The editor was Mr M'Quige, but the whole was read also by Dr Moock Mason or another individual. Dr Mason, Mr O'Reilly, &e. superintend the i'imo, and also collate the sheets of the 12juo editions, DOW in the press.
DESIDERATA — BOOKS. 259
Welsh. Irish.
B. *nd F. Bible Society 274,958 B. and F. Bible Society, 69,188
Christian Knowledge Society.......22,500 Hibernian Bible Society ,900fr
Christian Knowledge Society 2000
That is, 297,458 for the inferior population, or about a Jlfih part of the Native Irish, and for them 80,188 ; but even in regard to these we have^several important observations to make presently.
Having, however, said thus much respecting the Welsh, I cannot but advert at this point to another Celtic tribe on this side of the Irish Channel — the Scots Highlanders. The statement as to Wales, and especi- ally after it is finished, (for we must return to it once more,) may be considered as a loud call to the inhabit- ants of England. Let us see whether there is any voice addressed more especially to those in Scotland. The following statement, besides, will serve to show how we at present stand, as to the supply of
Gaelic Scriptures.
1687— Bible, in Irish, by Mr Boyle, t. e. of 1681-6 4to, 200
1690— Bible, under Mr Kirk, Roman letter, 8vo, 1000
Testament, ditto, 8vo, 3000
1754 — Test. Irish, O'Domhnuil, Glasgow, by Orr, say only 500
1767 — Testament, Gaelic, by the Society in Scotland for
propagating Christian Knowledge 12mo,... 10,000
1796— Ditto, ditto 12mo....21,500
1802— Old Testament, 3 vols. by ditto, 8vo, 5000
1807— Bible, 2 vols or one, by ditto, 12mo,... 20,000
Bible, by British and Foreign Bible Society, 18mo,... 20,000
Testament by ditto, ..18mo,... 10,000
1810— Testament by ditto, 12mo,... 10,000
Testament by Christian Knowledge Society, 10,000
1821— Bible by B. and F. Bible Society, brevier,12rao and 8vo,... 17,577
Testament by ditto, 12mo and 8vo,... 19,739
Testament by Christian Knowledge Society, 12mo,... 10,000
1825— Bible B. and F. Bible Society, brevier, 12mo,... 10,000
1826— Testament, ditto, stereotype, 12mo,... 10,000
1827— Bible, Christian Knowledge Society, 4to, WQ
260 DESIDERATA BOOKS.
1827— Testament by ditto, pica, 8vo, 2000
Testament by Edinburgh Bible Society, 12mo, .5000
1828 — Bible, small pocket-size, by ditto, 24mo, 7508
Testament, ditto, 24mo, 5000
1829— Bible by B. and F. Bible Society 12mo, 5000
Testament by ditto, 12mo, 5000
Testament by ditto, pocket-size, 5000
Bible by Edinburgh Bible Society, I2mo,... 10.000
Bible by ditto— at press, 8vo, 5000
Bible by ditto, gocket-size, 2d edit., , 10,000
Thus, including the two last at press, it appears that there have been printed for the Gaelic population, or less than a seventh of the Irish, not fewer than 239,016, — nay, only since the year 1807 above 197/'00! And should we draw a comparison here, as we have just done with the Welsh Scriptures, the following will be
the result : —
TMii-irJw -<•: *<« 3<;J Jbiuiay'H *« **"•
Gaelic Scriptures. Irish Scriptures*
XVII. centuiy, ......4200 XVII. century, w...1750
XVIII 32,000 XVIII none!
XIX 202,816 XIX 78,438
But the reader may now be disposed to look back and take in the whole supply at one view, — Welsh, Gaelic, and Irish, — from the day on which the translation of the Scriptures into Welsh was enjoined, "for the soul's health of the flocks," to use the words of the bill itself, fcin order that such as do not understand English may, by confer- ring both tongues together, the sooner attain to the knowledge of the English tongue ;" or, in other words, from the year 1563, a space of two hundred and sixty- seven years, and touching upon four centuries. Then, if under the term Scriptures, we include copies of the New Testament along with the entire Bible, in each of the cases, the account will stand as follows :r—
DESIDERATA — BOOKS. 261
Welsh. Gaelic- Irish.
XVI. century 1000 none none.
XVII 30,500 4200 1750
XVIII 89,000 32,000 none.
XIX 297,458 '202,816 80,188
In every point of view the retrospect is painful. Let the relative disproportion between these three classes of British subjects be observed, — then the result will stand thus : —
Language. Population. Scriptures.
WELSH 600,000 417,958
GAELIC 400,000 239,016
IRISH 3,000,000 81,938
That is, for Wales more than two copies for every three, and for the Highlands more than one for every two individuals, — for Ireland one copy to thirty-seven. After comparisons, painful and extraordinary as these must be to every reflecting mind, many affecting facts present themselves to our consideration. Thus, out of the trifling number of copies above mentioned, for an Irish population so far superior to the other two, it may be observed, that 11,000 have not yet left the press, and more especially that out of the remaining 69,188 there are no more than 5000 Bibles in the Irish character ; so that if every copy were in use, this would be no more than one Bible to six hundred of the population ! Here also, let it be observed, is the Jlrst edition of the Irish Scriptures, in their proper type, for 142 years; (for so long have we delayed in returning to the good common sense of 1686, and the noble example left to us by Mi- Boy le ;) and here also is the first edition of the Scrip, tures, in one volume, Irish letter, which has ever been published for the Native Irish people ! Why, a hundred and thirty years ago, when the Welsh population must
L2
262 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
have been small to what it is now, they had more than six times this number in circulation. Even if the beau- tiful pocket Bible were out, (as it is nearly ready,) and all in use, still this would be but as one to three hundred. I select the Scriptures in the Irish type, because it is this which the people want, and it is this to which they are enthusiastically attached. But it is in vain to dwell upon a case which certainly never had a parallel, and which certainly never will. Our business now is to roll away the reproach which belongs to such an inequality of provision.
" When manna fell in the wilderness," said Dr Owen after visiting Ireland in 1649, " when manna fell in the wilderness, from the hand of the Lord, every one had an equal share ; I would there were not now too great an inequality in the scattering of manna, when secondarily in the hand of men ; whereby some have all and others none ; some sheep daily picking the choice flowers of every pasture, others wandering upon the barren moun- tains, without guide or food. Ah ! little do the inhabit- ants of Goshen know, whilst they are contending about the bounds of their pasture, what darkness there is in other places of the land ; how these poor souls would be glad of the crumbs that fall from our tables." Were we to include the English Scriptures, so far as the mere distribution of the Sacred Volume is concerned, might not this language be repeated now — and with ten-fold emphasis ?
As for any remarks which can ever be adduced, coolly accounting for all this, or referring to some peculiari- ties in the Irish population, I have only to ask, — Does the party know what was the state of the Welsh popu- lation when this distribution of Scripture began among them? I suppose not.* No, the fault as to Ireland most
* Let him only read the dedication to Salesbury's Welsh Testament of 1567, reprinted in Llewelyn's History of the Welsh Versions.
DESIDERATA — BOOKS.. 263
decidedly lies upon the more highly-favoured classes in. this country. The ' golden rule' has been for ages thrown aside : We have not done to others as tve should wish them to have done to us ; and this is the more to be lamented, inasmuch as, since a trial has been made, there is, in fact, no part of the United Kingdom where there has been such heart-stirring encouragement to disperse the Word of Life, provided that it be given in the native language and its appropriate
It may be remarked, that we have as yet adverted only to the Scriptures, and it would certainly not be do- ing justice to stop here ; though had Wales enjoyed no other advantage, this would have been more than suf- ficient to have created a difference between the two countries, such as no man can estimate. But the print- ing of the Sacred Writings in any language (generally among the earliest books ever since the invention of printing) has always brought along with it a train of other blessings. At the same time, the ignorance which seems to prevail even among intelligent men, as to the prodigious superiority of Wales over every other Celtic tribe in this kingdom or the continent, suggests the ne- cessity of concentrating in one view a very brief account of Welsh literature. The chief inducement, however, to do so in this place, is the hope that, by the force of con- trast, it may, if not must, excite a deeper sympathy for that other Celtic tribe just across the Channel. In the following catalogue we also insert the Scriptures for the sake of some farther particulars : —
1547' Dictionary in Welsh and English by William Salesbury, 4to.
1550. Introduction teaching how to pronounce the letters, by do. two eds.
1551. Dictionary of Salesbury, reprinted by Robert Crowley.
A Welsh Rhetoric by Salesbury — enlarged afterwards, and again
published by Henry Perry, B.D. 1567. New Testament by Salesbury, printed by Henry Denman.
Welsh Grammar by Gruffwydd Roberts. This, which is the first
grammar properly so called, was printed abroad, at Milan, by the author, who belonged to the University of Sienna in Tus- cany.
264 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
1588. Welsh Bible in folio, translated by Dre Richard Davies— Wil- liam Morgan— Wm. Hughes— Hugh Bellot— David Powell,
author of the History of Wales Edmund Prys or Price,
the author of the Welsh Metrical Psalms — Richard Vaughan — and John Salisbury, Bishop of Mann.
1592. Welsh Grammar — Cambro-Britannicae, Oymeraecaeve, linguae In- stitutiones et Rudimenta, &c. by John David Rhese. After studying at Oxford he went abroad, took the degree of M.D. in the University of Sienna, and having a perfect knowledge of the Italian, he was elected Moderator of the School of Pis- toia, and wrote several woiks in Italian, which were esteemed. The first Hebrew in any quantity printed in England was in Dr Rhcse's Welsh ' Institutiones.'
1(503. Welsh Grammar by William Middleton.
Welsh Metrical Psalms by Middleton, printed in London.
1620. Welsh Bible in folio, by Dr Richard Parry and Dr John Davies
af'.er-mentioned. The copy presented to James I. is now in the British Museum.
1621. Rudiments — Antique Lingua? Britannicae, by Dr Davies, 8vo. 1630. Welsh Bible at the charge of Rowland Heylyn, Esq. and others. 1632. Dictior.arium Latino- Britannkum by Davies in folio. Editions
in 8vo and 12mo of the Rudiments, and the Dictionary by Davies, were printed in 1630, at the charge of Sir T. Middle- ton and Mr Heylyn.
1638. The Rudiments and Dictionary again in octavo.
1647' Welsh New Testament in 12mo, without marginal references.
1648. Welsh Metrical Psalms, 12mo, by Dr Edmund Price.
1654. Bible, superintended by the Rev. Stephen Hughes — This edition of 6000 was offered for sale at low price by the generous exer- tions of the memorable Thomas Gouge. Mr Hughes pub- lished besides about twenty religious books in Welsh, and some of them at his own expense.
1654. Welsh New Testament, 8vo, large type, through Mr Gouge.
1672. Welsh New Testament with Psalms in prose and verse, through Mr Gouge.
1678. Welsh Bible and Liturgy, 8vo. Out of 8000 printed, one thou- sand were given to the poor — bound and clasped, it sold a* low as 4s. 6d. through the exertions of Mr Gouge.
1690. Welsh Bible, folio, printed at Oxford under Dr William Lloyd.
-i — Welsh Bible, 8vo, of ten thousand copies at least — corrected by Rev. David Jones at the charge of Marquis Wbarton and private individuals.
1718. Welsh Bible, 8vo, under the eye of Rev. Moses Williams, who aided Di> Wotton in publishing the Leges Wallicas. This edition was chiefly at the expense of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.
1/27. Welsh Bible, 8vo, but without contents and references, by the same Society.
DESIDERATA BOOKS. 265
1/27- Welsh Grammar, by John Gambold. The Moravian Bishop, author of ' Ignatius,' a learned man, was a Welshman, born near Haverfordwest, where also he retired and died. I ima- gine this to have been one of his early productions.
1728. Welsh Grammar by John Rhydderch.
1746. Welsh Bible, 8vo, by the Society for promoting Christian Know- ledge.
1752. Welsh Bible, 8vo, by the same Society. These two editions, amounting to thirty thousand, cost £'6000 sterling, and were all disposed of by 1768. They sold at 4s. 6d. per copy.
1752. New Testament, the same as 1672, by the same Society.
The New Testament with Psalms frequently printed at Shrews-
bury from this date and so forward.
1753. Welsh Grammar by Rev. Thomas Richards.
1769. Bible, 8vo, by the Society, consisting of about twenty thousand,
and probably an additional number of New Testaments. 1798. Bible, 8vo, by the Society. Ten thousand were printed.
New Testament, 8vo — of two thousand copies.
Such were the editions of the Welsh Scriptures and principal elementary books up to 1800; but the cata- logue of books in Welsh, by Moses Williams, in 1710, included above seventy different articles. For a century past, an almanack in Welsh has been regularly publish- ed, and, for the last fifty years, various periodical works. At present there are seven magazines published month- ly, and one quarterly. On Arithmetic and Mathema- tics there are two or three treatises in Welsh; one on Agriculture ; two on Farriery, a Gazetteer and Geogra- phy of 550 pages with maps. They have Calmet's Dic- tionary of the Bible in Welsh, 3 vols 8vo. A transla- tion of the History of the Jews by Josephus, and the Bible, with Matthew Henry's commentary, is now pub- lishing in numbers. They have also a Concordance in quarto ; the first edition of which was printed at Phila- delphia, for the use of the Welsh tract in Pennsylvania, a community since scattered. In short, there are about twelve printing offices in the principality to supply the demand for Welsh books, besides what are printed in this language at Liverpool, Chester, and Shrewsbury.
266 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
Were a catalogue printed now, it is supposed the nutn* ber of volumes or different articles could not be less than eight thousand.*
What a contrast is now presented in the condition of two Celtic tribes, within the precincts of the same king- dom,— the enlightened or favoured party consisting of about 600,000, the other of 3,000,000 ! But if the state is now more emphatically one, and the British heart be in a healthy condition, to what quarter of the empire should the tide of philanthropy and benevolence flow if not to the long-neglected ?
Many are the voices which speak, even from the tomb, enforcing this upon us. With regard to the Irish Scriptures in particular, there is a voice even from the grave of Erasmus with all his faults, sufficient to awaken them that are asleep. More than three hundred years ago, when publishing his Greek New Testament, he could not forbear casting his eye over to Ireland and upon the Native Irish. " The mysteries of kings," said he in his preface, " the mysteries of kings ought, per- haps, to be concealed, but the mystery of Christ strenu- ously virges publication. I would have even the mean- est of women to read the Gospels and the Epistles of Paul ; and I wish that the Scriptures might be translat- ed into all languages, that they might be known and read not only by the Irish and the Scots, but also by Saracens and Turks. Assuredly the first step is to make them known. For this purpose, though many might ridicule, and others might frown, I wish the husband- man might repeat them at his plough — the weaver sing them at his loom — the traveller beguile the tediousness of the way by the entertainment of their stories, and the general discourse of all Christians be concerning them ;
» For these last paragraphs I am indebted to a correspondent of the Scotsman, resident in Wales, dated the 13th of February, 1828.
DESIDERATA BOOKS. 267
since what we are in ourselves, such we almost constant- ly are in our common conversation."*
In supplying copies of the Scriptures generally, how- ever, there is one consideration which may not be un- seasonable. Although the Saviour, when here below, could multiply loaves and fishes at his will to an inde- finite extent, yet even He, and at such a time, demanded of his disciples, that they should gather up the frag- ments that nothing might be lost. " The food divine for pious souls," as I remember a Native Irishman once phrasing it, demands much more regard. It has, how- ever, frequently seemed to the writer that in presenting children or adults when at school, with complete copies of the Bible, in many instances there was much of need- less waste. That the Scriptures should be read at school is an infinitely important measure ; but instead of one hundred Bibles, in most instances ten or twenty would answer the purpose much better, by simply di- viding each of these copies into ten or five parts. Bind these separately, and then the book will not be soon injured, — the back of it will not then be broken, nor the boards worn away from it, as is too frequently the case when entire copies are given to each scholar. In short, the books would not only preserve their first appearance much longer, but the interest of the scholar would be excited and kept up by the circumstance of receiving a different book so frequently.
Independently of this expedient, I would venture to suggest the extension of an excellent old custom to the Native Irish which their fellow-subjects have frequently and long enjoyed, — that of printing, separately, certain distinct books of Scripture. The proverbs of Solomon
• See the preface to the Greek Testament of Erasmus ; which was indeed the first published edition of the Greek Testament after the invention of printing ; for al- though the Complutensian edition was first printed, it was not published till 1522, but that of Erasmus came out six years before, in 1516, or three hundred and fourteen years ago.
268 DESIDERATA — BOOKS.
were at one period generally so used, in most of the pa- rochial schools of Scotland. For example, the Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, in one neat 18mo ; Luke, the Acts, and the Epistle to the Romans, in another ; Mark and John, with the Epistles of Peter and John, in a third ; might be of great use not merely as school-books, but for general and extensive circulation, at small expense.
As for other books, it is difficult to know where to begin — but it is strange that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Pro- gress has never been translated into Irish. The man who shall accomplish this may be assured that the Pil- grim never met with a warmer welcome than he would do in an Irish cabin of a winter evening. Only it should be done with great care, by an individual who understands the original. There is a translation in Gaelic, but I am not sufficiently aware of its character, though it might be of considerable service for an Irish version.* There is also a translation of Newton's Life and Burder's Village Sermons. Scott's Essays and some of Beddome's Village Discourses would have good effect in Ireland. For single tracts, M'Laurin's Sermon on the Cross ; the Excellency of Christ, by President Edwards ; Extracts from Archbishop Leighton ; from Bishop Hall's Contemplations on the Old Testament ; the Sermon of Dr Grosvenor on Luke xxiv. 47; Ex- tracts from Owen, Howe, Richard Baxter, and some from the Honourable Robert Boyle, — would be of great use.
With regard to useful and safe but entertaining smaller works, thirty or forty of a most valuable de- scription have been published in Dublin, by the Society for promoting the Education of the Poor, and the Cheap Book Society, from which at first two or three of the fittest might be selected for translation.
* Since the first edition of this volume in 1828, a translation, I believe, has been at least commenced, with a view to publication.
DESIDERATA — BOOKS. 269
A very cheap periodical work, if well-conducted, by a man of principle, who, upon certain subjects, well un- derstood the doctrine of non-interference, but was tho- roughly imbued with the desire of benefiting his coun- trymen in every way, cautious of admitting speculative opinions, and determined to insert no mere idle reports, on whatever authority, but resolved to put the Native Irish reader of the day in possession of what is indubita- ble as to Nature, Science, and Art, would be of essential service. There is not a people upon earth who would read such a thing with as much avidity, nor would any reader have a greater number of such eager hearers.
Since the first edition of this volume was published, eighteen months ago, even the Highlanders have got their Gaelic Magazine — but I forbear — as certain very de- sirable elementary things for the Irish will occur more naturally under the next section.
" Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica,' who received the word with all eagerness, daily searching the Scripturss whether these things were so. And many in- deed of them believed, and of honourable women that were Gentiles, and of men not a. few." VULGATE.
" And I wish that they might be known and read, not only by the Irish and the Scots, but also by the Saracens and Turks. Assuredly the first step is to make them known. Kor this very purpose, though many might ridicule, and others might frown, I wish the husbandman might repeat them at his plough — the traveller- beguile the tcdiousness of hit way by the entertainment of their stories, and the general discourse of all Christians be con- cerning them ; since what we are in ourselves, such we almost constantly are in our com- mon conversation." — Anno 1516, ERASMUS-
" I use the Scriptures, not as an arsenal to be resorted to only for arms and weapons to defend this party or defeat its enemies — but as a matchless temple, where I delight to be, to contemplate the beauty, the symmetry, and the magnificence of the structure, and to increase my awe, and excite my devotion to the Deity there preached and adored.*
Hon. ROBERT BOYLE*
.
SECTION VIII.
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION
Through the medium ef the Irish language, whether by means of Stationary or of Circulating Schools.
" It certainly were ridiculous enough," says Mr Foster, " to fix on a labouring man and his family, and affect to deplore that he is doomed not to behold the depths and heights of science, not to expatiate over the wide field of history, not to luxuriate among the delights, refinements, and infinite diversities of literature; and that his family are not growing up in a training to every high accom- plishment, after the pattern of some neighbouring fami- ly, favoured by wealth, and perhaps unusual ability, com- bined with the highest cultivation in those at their head. But it is a quite different thing to take this man and his family, unable perhaps, both himself and they, even to read, and therefore sunk in all the debasement of igno- rance,— and compare them with another man and family in the same sphere of life, but who have received the utmost improvement within the reach of that situation, and learnt to set the proper value on the advantage ; who often employ the leisure hour in reading, (sometimes so- cially and with intermingled converse,) such instructive and innocently entertaining things as they can procure ; are detached from constant and chosen society with the absolute vulgar, have acquired much of the decorums of life, can take some intelligent interest in the great events of the world, and are prevented, by what they read and hear, from forgetting that there is another world. It is,
DESIDERATA EDUCATION. 271
we repeat, after thus seeing what may, and in particular instances does exist, in a humble condition, that we are compelled to regard as an absolutely horrible spectacle the still prevailing state of our national population."
Again he says — " One of the most melancholy views in which a human being can be presented to us, is when we behold a man of perhaps seventy years sunk in the gross stupidity of an almost total ignorance of all the most momentous subjects, and reflect that more than three thousand Sundays have passed over him, of which every hour successively has been Ids time, since he came to an age of some natural capacity for mental exercise. Perhaps some compassionate friend may have been pleading in his behalf. Alas ! what opportunity, what time, has the poor mortal ever had ? His lot has been to labour hard through the week, throughout his whole life. Yes, we answer, but he has had three thousand Sundays ; what would not even the most moderate im- provement of so immense a quantity of time have done for him ? But the ill-fated man (perhaps rejoins the com- miserating pleader) had no advantages of education, had nothing in any sense deserving that name. There, we reply, you strike the mark. Sundays are of no practical value, nor Bibles, nor the enlarged knowledge of the age, nor heaven nor earth, to beings brought up in es- trangement from all right discipline of their minds. And therefore we are pleading for the schemes and institu- tions which will not let human beings be thus brought up."
All this language, and much more to the point in which we heartily concur, the esteemed author, about ten years ago, expressed with reference to England* — though at the same time a place is reserved throughout these pages, of which of course he would approve, for
» Essay on the EviL of Popular Ignorance, pp. 93. 143.
272 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
the appropriate, and, blessed be God, the ordained power of oral instruction on the character of sinful men, though sunk and hardened by long-practised habits. But, oh ! how affecting does this subject of longevity become, when carried across the Channel and applied to Ireland ! Here we can point, as it were with the finger, to about three hundred and fifty individuals who have spent their four thousand Jive hundred Sabbaths — to nearly two thousand who have measured their four thousand, and to more than eighty thousand who have spent the number dwelt upon in the preceding passage ! But let the reader re- flect, as he now can, on the comparative difference be- tween these four provinces, and then observe, that of the three hundred and fifty alluded to, here are not far from two hundred who had lived in Connaught and Munster since or before the year 1721 — nearly two thousand, of whom seven hundred and sixty had there resided since or before 1731, and more than twenty-nine thousand since or before the year 1751 !
It would certainly be wrong to leave this subject here, though it should detain us for a little while before we get down to the interesting youth and children ; but this it need not do. The better way will be, to bring the infants of five years old and under, into view, along with the old man of silver grey, who stoopeth for age, even although the picture should prove the most affect- ing which can be held up before the British eye, in re- ference to the United Kingdom. When poring Over the minuter details of the last parliamentary census, again and again we had been interrupted and struck by this subject, and intended to enter into it most fully. Happily, however, it has been taken up in an interest- ing volume by two Irish authors, and I prefer their state- ment at present to one of my own, because it is drawn out upon the ground, and because it is indicative of that precise kind of interest in Irish gentlemen, which might ultimately contribute to raise up their native country.
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
273
SUMMARY OF COMPARATIVE LONGEVITY.
Provinces. |
Gross popula- tion. |
From 70 to 100 and up- wards. |
Proportion to popula- tion. |
From 90 to 100 years. |
100 years and up- wards. |
ULSTER, |
1,998,494 |
31,155 |
I— 64 |
669 |
94 |
LEINSTEH, |
1,757,492 |
20,821 |
1— 84 |
534 |
62 |
MUNSTER, |
1,935,612 |
18,598 |
1—104 |
452 |
89 |
CONXAUGHT, |
1,110,229 |
10,617 |
1 — 104 |
308 |
104 |
6,801,827 |
81,191 |
1— 83" |
1963 |
349 |
* Or nearly 1 — 84, the average of Ireland.
It is worthy of observation, that in each province in- stances of longevity are most numerous in those counties bordering on the sea. That they should prevail in those districts where employment, and consequently superior nourishment, and other comforts abound, is not a matter of wonder. Hence the longevity of Ulster exceeds that of Leinster by a ratio of one-fifth, and that of Minister and Connaught by two-fifths per cent. This may also be in part attributable to its northern situation.
Dividing the population of Ireland into four grand classes with respect to age, the census of 1821 presents to our view the following lamentable picture of the state of a country abounding with every means of industry, and with able and willing hands to cultivate it, in the most civilized period of the world : —
Infants of 5 years and under,. ..1,040,666.. .one-half at least badly clothed and fed.
Children from 5 to 15 1,748,663...!, 500,000 destitute of education.*
Operatives from 13 to 70, •3)931,6G0...1,094,84o destitute of employment.
Aged 70 to 100.......... il, 191. ..a great proportion of whom are paupers.
These particulars are taken from a valuable piece of
f But in addition to these, who are at present out-growing the very season of education, how many more of the oiher four millions, from 15 to 100, have out- grown it ! And yet of these we see that there must be many thousands who are at once unable to read a book and out of employment!— the mind quite unfurnish- ed— the hands unemployed !
7
274 DESIDERATA EDUCATION.
local history, Fitzgerald and M'Gregor's History of Li- merick, published in Dublin about four years ago. At the same time it is to be remembered that the population now is seven millions and a half. — That education in English has been making rapid progress during the last nine years — so much so, that at this moment the average in that language is above that of England. Very much indeed remains to be done in Ireland, though this fact gives point and meaning to the language quoted from Mr Foster, as well as to many other passages in his essay. But as for the Irish tongue I may here now leave it to the reader's own judgment, whether the subject has been even estimated; and what encouragement is due to those classes who have already made a beginning, or to such judicious and humane individuals as may hence- forth determine to employ it in the business of education. At the same time it must be remarked with regard to Irish education in the native language, that some con- sideration is due, even at this moment, to the peculiar and most interesting complexion of the pupils ; many of them, and in two or three counties by far the largest majority, consisting of persons in mature age. Some provision as to a safe and useful variety of reading is therefore naturally suggested. I only plead for three millions to enjoy, what the Welsh have long enjoyed, and the Highlanders are now daily receiving. Would some of the gentlemen connected with " The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" but turn their at- tention to this field, and get up for the Native Irish neat and cheap elementary books, accurately printed in Fry's beautiful Irish type, or in one cast on purpose, it is im- possible to say, not only how much knowledge, but ra- tional enjoyment they would diffuse throughout Ireland. Or some of those intelligent and benevolent individu- als in Dublin might gratify themselves by so doing. Were such cheap elementary things accurately rendered into Irish and well got up, on Arithmetic, Geography,
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION. 275
Natural History, Agriculture, Cottage-economy, &c. any one who has heard a class of Irish youth examined can tell with what avidity they would be received and read. But indeed this quickness of theirs requires to be wit- nessed in order to its being duly appreciated ; though it is remarkable that even the descriptions of the thirst after knowledge have not excited more attention, and drawn the heart more powerfully to Ireland. I may as- sure the reader that such has been the eagerness to ob- tain education, that children have been known to acquire the first elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic without a book — without a pen — without a slate ! And indeed the place of meeting was no other than a grave- yard ! The long flat stones with their inscriptions were used instead of books, while a bit of chalk and the grave- stones together, served for all the rest! But then this eagerness for knowledge, though more generally felt, is not novel. Let any one inquire minutely into local cir- cumstances during the last fifty or sixty years, and he will find it here and there as a strong feature of the Irish character. Or take the following as a specimen of what has been acquired, without the intervention of the Eng- lish language, and when it could not be attained. Mr Patrick Lynch, with whom the writer once had an op- portunity of conversing on these subjects, was, it ap- pears, " born near Quin, in the county of Clare, in the year 1757- He was educated near Ennis by Donough an Charrain, i. e. Dennis of the Heap. His master knew no English, and young Lynch learned the classics through the medium of the Irish language. After ac- quiring in this way an excellent knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew, he was compelled by family mis- fortunes to turn farmer, and for five years held a plough. From this employment he was happily relieved, and was subsequently able to better his condition. Six years he passed as tutor in a gentleman's family, and after sundry experiments of the same kind he settled at Carrick on
276 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
Suir. Here he commenced author. He had written a Chronoscope, but had no means of publishing it. In con- cert with a barber of the town, he procured some types, and by means of a bellows-press, he actually set and printed his first work with his own hands, and establish- ed the first printing-press ever seen in that place. He next wrote and printed at the same press, a Pentaglot Grammar, in which he instituted a comparison between English, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Irish : correcting several errors in the Saxon etymologies of Johnson. From Carrick he removed to Dublin, where his abilities were soon recognised. He was one of the first persons employed under the record commission, and was after- wards engaged in investigating the records of Ireland. He was secretary to the Gaelic Society of Dublin, and, among various publications, before his death was em- ployed in a geographical and statistical history of Ire- land."*
Yes, when we advert to the Native Irish, and educa- tion in their native tongue, we see what avidity can sug- gest. Then we can mention evening scholars, who have been endeavouring literally to go on by the help of moon- light for want of a candle, and even men and women, particularly within these few years, acquiring an ability to read in so short a period, that, until the facts of the case are examined or witnessed, the statement might seem incredible. With us it is generally regarded as a
* History of Dublin, 4to, vol. II. p. 956. " In passing through Mitre Alley," says the author in another place, " the eye is attracted by an angular sign-board projecting from the wall, on which is the following inscription : — ' Domestic Me- dicine prescribed from Irish manuscripts,* and a couplet of Irish poetry follows. Attracted by this notice we visited the Doctor, in the hope of meeting with those Irish manuscripts from which he derived his prescriptions. Nor were we disap- pointed. We found an old man of a genuine Milesian aspect, possessed of seventy- three very old volumes of vellum, bound in modern covers. They contained se- veral thousand receipts in Latin and Irish, written in a beautiful but very old Irish character. From this ancient repertory the Doctor collected all his know- ledge of the healing art, and practised with some success among the poor of hi* vicinity."
BESIDERATA EDUCATION. 277
s'low process, if not almost a hopeless task, when men and women think of learning to read; but in the case of the Native Irish at this moment, by far the largest pro- portion of the present pupils consist of men and women, many of whom have arrived at mature age. This is one consideration which suggested the importance of trans- lating most of the articles already specified.
In the present state of the Irish country districts, there is scarcely any measure of greater value than a good model-school for the training of schoolmasters. What immense benefit has already resulted from the English model-school in Dublin ! Now, were that city to take the lead in an Irish one, other places would follow. But Cork, Limerick, and Galway should by no means wait for this. If the first of these looks across Munster, the second does the same in return, or down towards Kerry and over to Clare; and Galway over to Connamara or up to Mayo. It is not enough that a mere school-house be opened or books printed. Every thing still so de- pends upon the moral character and disposition of the man, and on his understanding his business, that one such well-conducted seminary, however humble in all its appurtenances, is worth a score of others. Nothing can be more injurious to any country, and particularly to the Native Irish, than the appointment of schoolmas- ters incompetent in any sense, or not in love with the occupation. Apply the idea to a gardener or a plough*, man, and see what work would follow ; but indeed the multiplication of trifling or inefficient teachers will never raise such a peasantry as the Native Irish. They have too much mind to be raised up by weak or heartless men.
If, however, we leave cities and towns, — leave the east and go to the west or north-west and south-west, — we find distant and destitute and mountainous or hilly
M
278 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
tricts, and we see the numerous islands along all this coast. Now it is fortunate that we here require to do nothing more than examine and study the precedents furnished by the Welsh and Gaelic circulating schools. In consequence of attention to both of these, and some concern once in the management of the latter, as well as an interest in the scheme, now confirmed by the expe- rience of seventeen years, the following hints are sub- mitted. For years indeed they have been acted upon in Ireland by two different classes, but the magnitude of the case, and the way in which some persons speak of much being now done in our day for the Native Irish, warrant their insertion here.
IIRSH CIRCULATING SCHOOLS. ?
I. The schools to be opened should be for the sole and express purpose of teaching the inhabitants of those districts where Irish is spoken to read their native lan- guage.
II. Alphabet-boards, containing the letters of the Irish alphabet, in the Roman and Irish character, in parallel columns, to be used in teaching the alphabet ; and syl- lable-boards of two and three letters to succeed these.
III. The elementary books to proceed gradually with " spelling and reading lessons ;" each short set o"f les- sons advancing only by one letter, up to the longer and more difficult words. The Irish New Testament might succeed, and after this the Old, without note or comment, beginning with the easiest parts.
IV. As to the school-house, no costly preparations are necessary, especially as the teacher sent is not to be a permanent resident; and the Native Irish, who are so remarkable for hospitality and kindness, will not cer- tainly fall behind the Highlanders, who, in a very suc- cessful attempt to teach them their own language, have,
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION. 279
in general, most cheerfully provided the necessary ac- commodations.
V. When a school is to be begun, all other things being ready, intimation should be given that it will be continued only for a limited period, not less than six nor more than eighteen months, during which time the young and old who attend should be instructed gratis.
VI. The moral character and competence of the school- master in such a plan as this is manifestly all in all. Without some competent share of wisdom and human- ity, and delight in his work, he may fail, but the scheme is still finely adapted to its end. There is a Teacher's Guide, printed, for conducting the Gaelic circulating schools, including every particular, which might be of service if adopted and further improved for Ireland.
OBSERVATIONS.
1. The adaptation of the circulating plan to the country itself should recommend it. As many, if not most of the inhabitants, live, not collected in villages, but in abodes dispersed through the range of many thousand acres, and as " children of tender years, though of sufficient age to be capable of learning, cannot go very far from home for education,"* how can their instruction be so generally promoted as by this method ?
2. The economy of this scheme is a strong recommen- dation. It comes in an humble outward appearance, and is the better suited to the condition of the people. In Wales, they found that about twelve children could be instructed in reading their mother tongue, for the same expense which was incurred in teaching one to read English. To learn to read Welsh required three or font
* Parliamentary Reports of the Board of Education fur Ireland.
280 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
months ; to learn English, four or five successive win- ters. What a saving was this both of time and money ! The case is precisely similar in teaching the Native Irish.
3. Nor should the effects of this system on the spirit of the people be overlooked. In Wales, and in the Highlands of Scotland, the circulating schools have not only shown the inhabitants at what a cheap rate they may educate themselves and their children, but the re- moval of the schoolmaster has induced them to attempt doing so. This is an important advantage ; it is, in fact, making them take the first step of that road, which will bring them, in the end, to the independent spirit of a people, who will pay with gladness for their own in- struction, and to all the inestimable comforts belonging to a self-educated community. In every system adopted for the relief or moral improvement of a country, the prudent benefactor should have it in view to render the people, at a certain period, independent of such assist- ance ; otherwise, however laudable the attempt, his in- terference will cherish a spirit of mean and listless de- pendence. Some people talk as if education were not like any thing else, and that you cannot be too lavish in the pecuniary means afforded. No mistake may do more harm than this. There is such a thing as beggaring a district or degrading the spirit of a people by the very mode in which you apply the means of education. About eighteen years ago, I remember of a district in our High- lands, in which the people were so destitute of all sense of their own obligation to give their children education, that the principal or at least the first reason for its not being accomplished was, not their inability from their poverty, but simply that the proprietors, or some bene- volent persons, had not established a school on their farm or near their own door. Being in company with two or three of the inhabitants here, the following con- versation ensued between an intimate friend of the
DESIDERATA— EDUCATION". 281
writer and them. Addressing one of them, — " Well, my good friend, I am astonished that you do not in this country attend to the education of your children." One of the others, not the one addressed, replied, it was sup- posed with a view to set their neglect in a glaring light to themselves, — " We don't send our youths to school, since we have not the school in our own farm." " Surely," it was said, " you do not contend so, to the injury of your offspring ?" The person first addressed, as if touch- ed in a tender part, fretfully replied, " Neither do we, nor should we, when we have as much right to have the school in our farm as any others have to have it on theirs." It was then supposed to him, that a ship laden with meal had anchored off the second farm next to his, and that the load was designed for the use of the whole country, " Would you let your children starve for want because the ship did not anchor off your farm ? Sup- pose the proprietors did not feed or clothe your children, should you allow them to starve ? Besides, think of your accountability to your Maker. By this your criminal conduct you shut them out from one means of coming at the knowledge and enjoyment of God and happiness." With considerable gravity he replied, " We are more concerned for Martinmas rents than for these things." In justice to the Highlander, however, it must be men- tioned, that the school referred to was an English one, in the year 1810. And therefore the same individual added, with a view to Gaelic circulating schools, (which began to be established the following year,) " This in- difference to education is never likely to be removed, un- less by means of diffusing the knowledge of letters among them — and if they were taught in their mother tongue, they would soon find the pleasure of reading. I have heard of individuals there, and do personally know indi- viduals in other places, who learned to read fluently the Gaelic in a few months, though they knew not a letter of the alphabet till they had passed their fiftieth year."
282 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION".
The perfection of any eleemosynary plan of education consists in its working towards a conclusion or end — having its own dissolution or cessation in prospect ulti- mately— and its keeping this in view at every step, in its whole frame of procedure. And the day on which it dissolves is a day of gladness and mutual congratula- tion, not of mourning or regret in any sense. But in or- der to this it must be a kind effort put forth and adapted to help the people to independence. Its operations should somehow be ever and anon reminding them of the supe- riority of their own resources, and that it is far more blessed to give their children education, than for them to receive it. Now it so happens, that in various parts of Ireland there is a feeling we are told for one by Miss Edgeworth, in the notes appended to Leadbeater's Cot- tage Dialogues, that " the very poorest of the Irish shrink from the terror of their children being reproach- ed, in after life, with having gone to a charity-school. This prejudice," she adds, " if it cannot be removed, may at least be obviated, by annexing a stipend, how- ever small, to the privilege of attending the school ; a penny would take off the stigma, as it is, perhaps, falsely considered." This feeling, on the part of the Irish pea- sant will, on the plan recommended, be turned to good account. If the people are not able, or are not called upon to show their good- will to the cause, in the provi- sion of a school-house or its accommodations, as will be the case in some districts, still a small trifle is exacted for the elementary books ; and though the teacher should instruct gratis, he removes > which removal is also calcu- lated, not only to awaken the sluggard to regret, but to excite both hope and desire in the people of the sur- rounding districts, who are now waiting for the cup to come round for the first time to them.
4. The bearing of this plan upon the English lan- guage will be to many gentlemen an important recom- mendation. The teaching of Irish and English cannot indeed be combined in the person of the same man
DESIDERATA — EDUCATION. 283
without abandoning one of the greatest excellencies of the scheme, viz. the locomotion of the teacher, or cir- culation of the school ; but what then ? As soon as an Irish circulating schoolmaster has fully and successfully performed his duty, and is about to remove from any district, intimation should be given to some one of the other benevolent institutions for instruction in the Eng- lish language, with the managers of which a good un- derstanding can be established. In such a district will be found a thirst for knowledge, and there also a desire for acquiring the English tongue. The instances which have been recorded under a preceding section abun- dantly warrant this conclusion, so that it may seem unnecessary to adduce an additional testimony, though it be one of the highest authority. I allude to the remarks of an esteemed Christian friend and correspondent, the deceased Rev. Dr Alexander Stewart, when speaking of the remote Highlander — remarks which apply with equal force to the many thousands of Native Irishmen. " By learning to read," says he, " and to understand what he reads, in his native tongue, an appetite is generated for those stores of science which are accessible to him only through the medium of the English language. Hence an acquaintance with the English is found to be neces- sary, for enabling him to gratify his desire after further attainments. The study of it becomes of course an ob- ject of importance; it is commenced and prosecuted with increasing diligence. These premises seem to war- rant a conclusion, which might at first appear paradoxi- cal, that, by cultivating the Gaelic," (and I may add the Irish,) " you effectually, though indirectly, promote the study, and diffuse the knowledge of the English."* 5. The plan recommended is no theory. In a country deplorably destitute, poor, and ignorant, the schools of
Introduction to the Gaelic Grammar.
284 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
the Rev. Griffith Jones did wonders, although they -were far from being so complete or so well-appointed as the circulating schools of modern times in Wales and tho Highlands of Scotland. The following abstract truly deserves to be put on record. It is taken from the close of the third volume of the printed reports, entitled " Welsh Piety," &c. which are long since out of print ; and it will serve to show, that extensive attempts in the way of education have not been confined to the presents day: —
WELSH CIRCULATING SCHOOLS;
Year. |
No. of Schools. |
No. of Scholars. |
Year. |
No. of Schools. |
No. o. Scholars. |
Brought up, |
64,721 |
||||
1737 |
37... |
2400 |
1749 |
142 |
6543 |
1738 |
71... |
3981 |
1750 |
130 |
6244 |
1739 |
71- |
3989 |
1751..... |
K9 |
5669 |
1740 |
150... |
8705 |
1752 |
130 |
5724 |
1741 |
128... |
7995 |
1753 |
134 |
5118 |
1742 |
89... |
5123 |
1754 |
149 |
6018 |
1743 |
75... |
4881 |
1755 |
163 |
7015 |
1744 |
74... |
4253 |
1756 |
172 |
7063 |
1745 |
120... |
5843 |
1757 |
220 |
9037 |
1746 |
116... |
5635 |
1758 |
218 |
9834 |
1747 |
...110... |
5633 |
1759 |
206 |
8539 |
*748. |
130... |
6223 |
1760 |
215. |
8*587 |
Carry up, 64,721 Total number, 150,212
So that one hundred and fifty thousand two hundred and twelve persons were taught to read the Welsh Scrip- tures during the above twenty-four years ; and that through the superintendence and influence of this single clergyman, who was but of a weak constitution, and in a poor state of health for several years before his death. Nor was this all ; for Mr Jones informs us, at the close of one of his reports, that " most of the masters instruct- ed for three or four hours in the evening, after school-
DESIDERATA EDUCATION. 285
time, of those who could not attend at other times, and who are not included in the above number, about twice or thrice as many as they had in their schools by day :" and, further, he says, that " in many of the schools the adult people made two-thirds of the scholars ;" thus rais- ing the total number benefited to above 400,000 souls ! Persons above sixty attended every day, and often la- mented, nay, even wept, that they had not learnt forty or fifty years sooner. Not unfrequently the children actually taught their parents, and sometimes the parents and children of one family resorted to the same circu- lating school, during its short continuance in a district ; while various individuals, who, from great age, were ob- liged to wear spectacles, seized the opportunity, and learned to read the Welsh at that advanced period of life.*
6. In conclusion, I repeat, one prime excellency of the circulating system consists in its tendency to generate the idea that it is not only possible for persons, though in limited or indigent circumstances, to retain and even promote tire art of reading among themselves, but that it becomes the incumbent duty of parents to aim at this, and especially after such temporary residence of a regu- lar schoolmaster. The knowledge that he has come for a given period is calculated to excite all along both atten- tion and diligence : but the anticipation of his- day of removal powerfully suggests what a pity it would be that the little fire he had kindled should die out. The teacher, of course, has no interest but to promote this feeling. Two or three, if not morej have been distin- guished for their proficiency and delight in reading. — " Can one of these," says the teacher, for a month or
* This excellent man, (Mr Jones,) who died on the 8th April, 1762, in the 78th y«ar of hU age, was generally styled "the Welsh Apostle;" and if there was any propriety in this appellation, the present generation will testify how richly the late Mr Charles of Bala deserves to be-stjled his successor.
M 2
286 DESIDEKATA EDUCATION.
two before leaving, — " can one of these not keep an evening school when I am gone ?" — " Why not ?'' say the people, and here begin the first workings of a spirit, which, in various instances, will not rest till they are independent of all necessity for commiseration from any transient visitor. Such a feeling would prevail with peculiar force in those numerous Islands round the coast. I think I see the morning of the day on which the boat must leave for the neighbouring isle, which now for some time had anticipated his arrival, some of whose inhabitants by this time had witnessed the effects of his residence at his present station. If there should be regret in one spot this morning, and gladness in another, all this, I am sure, would not, could not die away in a relapse. But the same feeling would also prevail in the mountains and hills, as well as many other districts on the mainland, which have mourned so long because no such man as this had gone forth and walked over them. Our blessings brighten as they take their flight, and the very movements of a judicious cir- culating teacher operate as a call that is felt by the people at such a moment to retain the blessing by their own efforts.
There is one individual in Ireland, who has been in the habit of teaching his countrymen to read Irish on one condition, — that the individual so instructed should in return, as payment, engage to teach twelve others, — an instance of philanthropy which, I suspect, cannot be matched, in reference to the English language : and I have known a circulating Gaelic school terminate not only in a permanent and independent one, in which Gaelic was taught, but English also, with writing and arithmetic.
In some districts of the Highlands, it is true, certain parents, who had little or no regard for the souls of their offspring, were at first indifferent to education, except in English, with a very mistaken view, as it re-
DESIDERATA EDUCATION. 287
gards only the present life. And the same policy which we pursued once, has, it seems, begun in some parts to produce the same effects in Ireland. This request, on the part of illiterate parents, has been lately spoken of as a discovery. To us it is by no means new ; but it is of importance that the fact, which has been pub- licly affirmed, should be just glanced at, or it may be observed, as a proof of the necessity of what has been advanced elsewhere. Grant these parents their request, and in hundreds, if not thousands of instances, both money and time are wasted. Nay, they themselves will be unconsciously the occasion of this waste, while they go on perpetually talking Irish, which they must do, if they speak at all. There is, of course, no reason for a word of censure as to their request, but they know not what they ask. The reader will recollect what has been already asserted as to the very transient effect of English education in Irish districts (p. 228-9) : but if any one party who had begun with Irish, listen to an argument so weak as this, let them be assured that they have been misled. No; let all such keep steadily to their object. When a Gaelic circulating school was first proposed, it might be slighted by some, as not convey- ing what they call lernin in the Highlands, and laming in Ireland ; but no sooner was a commencement made than the parents were delighted. The promoters of the Gaelic circulating schools may be suspected of par- tiality by those who have never witnessed their admi- rable effects, not only in planting knowledge (for what signifies the mechanical art of reading, if it does not implant knowledge ?) but in advancing English per- manently : but, independently of their testimony, one of many years and long experience deserves to be quot- ed. The Society in Scotland for propagating Christian Knowledge, now venerable for its age, having promoted English schools in the Highlands for more than a cen- tury, with a candour which did them credit, delivered
288 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION.
their sentiments on this subject more than twelve years ago. The following extract from their minutes is dated " Society Hall, Edinburgh, 1st May, ]817:— "
" The Directors having taken into consideration, that, some time ago, copies of the Gaelic Spelling-book, drawn up at the request of the Society, by the Rev. Mr Stewart of Dingwall, for the purpose of being introduced into those Society schools, which are situate in dis- tricts where the Gaelic is spoken, had been printed at the expense of the Society, — Resolved to order, and they hereby do order accordingly, that copies thereof be sent without delay to all such schools; that in teaching the children of Parents whose ordinary language is the Gaelic, the teachers of. these schools be instructed to begin with the Gaelic Spelling-book, and that presbyteries which have Society Schools esta- blished within their bounds, be respectfully requested to instruct their visiting commitees to attend particularly to the effect, which com- mencing with the Gaelic is found to produce on the successful prosecution of, the education of children, and to make this a part of the Reports of the visiting of the Schools annually transmitted to the Society."
The course here referred to, indeed, stands to reason, — it is only a falling-in with the order of nature, — it is simply doing to others what we should wish to be done to ourselves, — while, at the same time, however indivi- duals may advise to the contrary, endeavouring to damp the ardour of pursuit, or sway the mind from the straight- forward path, it is scarcely to be supposed, that bodies of men, — that institutions of only ten or twenty years standing will disregard the voice of one more than a hundred years old, uttered as to another Celtic district^ after the experience of a century. The printed instruc- tions which have been sent out, confirmatory of this resolution, should be perused by every one who wishes to be more fully informed on the subject.
Here also it may not be improper to notice one resolu- tion of the Gaelic Society School, which in its oper- ation has been found to be most salutary, — " That the teachers to be employed -by this Society shall neither be preachers nor public exhorters, stated or occasional, of any denomination whatever." This was not only of
7
DESIDERATA EDUCATION. 289
value to the heathful play of the circulating scheme; but the slightest invasion of a sacred institution, to be conducted on other principles, and demanding gifts of another order, in the exercise of which the gifted party should be absorbed, was deprecated. The schoolmaster was presumed to be a man of conscience, and, having his seasons of teaching to read laid down to him, so as to occupy his whole time, could not be supposed con- scientiously to vary from his instructions; but still it was deemed prudent, nay incumbent, to express their sentiments distinctly on the subject. The province of education and that of the ministry of the word are quite distinct. Never let us expect from the one what it is iij the Divine Mind and intention to produce by the other.
To. conclude. When adverting under a previous section (p. 162-3) to the total number of Irish readers under instruction, I have stated them at about twenty thousand. I had then in view the returns of both the voluntary societies now in operation, which depend from year to year on the bounty of individuals, and but for whom, there had been but very few Irish scholars in existence. The number may be somewhat more, for happily it is increasing. But what is this to the aggre- gate so repeatedly mentioned as requiring education ? And yet, compared with illiteracy, in the whole range of causes, what is there which renders the stability of a country so insecure ? Men have not only understood but felt this, in times of public calamity or commotion ; but, (and more especially when the population lias reached the " maximum" which ours has done,) what an insecurity must that be, which, whether prosperity or adversity be our lot, remains still the same ? " If," says Mr Foster, " if through a miracle there were to come down on this country, with a sudden delightful affluence of temporal amelioration, resembling the ver- nal transformation from the dreariness of winter, an
290 DESIDERATA — EDUCATION".
universal prosperity, so that all should be placed in ease and plenty, it would require another miracle to prevent this benignity of Heaven from turning to a dreadful mis- chief. What would the great tribe of the uneducated people do with the half of their time, which we may suppose that such a state would give to their voluntary disposal ? Every one can answer infallibly, that the far greater number of them would consume it in idleness, vanity, or abomination. Educate them, then, educate them ; or, in all circumstances and events, calamitous or prosperous, they are still a race made (as it were) in vain !"
" Education and instruction are the means, the one by use, the other by precept, to make our natural faculty of reason both the better and the sooner to judge rightly between truth and error, good and eril." HOOKER.
" In our recovery from a lapsed state, which the religion professed among us aims at, there are two things to be effected ; the restoring reason to its empire over the sensitive na- ture, that it may govern that, and the restoring religion and love to God to their place and power, that He may govern us. While the former is not done, we remain sunk into the low level with the inferior creatures ; and till the latter be effected, we are ranked with the apostate creatures that first fell from God." HOWE.
" Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and mo- rality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriot- ism, who should labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, the firmest props of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and public- felicity. — And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintain- ed without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that na- tional morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. — Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opi- nion should be enlightened." From his farewell address before retiring into private life.
WASHINGTON.
SECTION IX.
DESIDERATA — ORAL INSTRUCTION,
Or the necessity and importance of ministering the Divine Word in a language understood by the People.
WE have placed this subject last, not because it is con- ceived to be either last in the order of time, or inferior in point of importance to the preceding subjects of Education or Books ; but precisely the reverse. It is first in the order of nature and time, and continues to be invariably first in point of importance. Besides, in conclusion, I am desirous of addressing myself, not so much to measures as to men, — to such as are living with the Native Irish all around them, — to such, especially, as are already engaged in preaching the Divine Word ; and that, not with reference to what they can give or bestow in such a cause, but what they might them- selves do with heart and tongue.
A number of individuals there are, with whom the writer has repeatedly much enjoyed the opportunity of conversing, and there must be many more, who, with a heartfelt interest in the truths contained in the Sacred Volume, are already furnished with all the advantages of a liberal education. Oh ! would they but add yet this above all, an ability to converse in the Irish language, it is impossible to say what might be the extent of their usefulness, — not in changing some isolated opinions, for this is worth no man's pains, and far below the
292 DESIDERATA — ORAL INSTRUCTION.
ground on which the " legate of the skies" should stand, — but in spreading around them the savour of life unto life, and advancing the kingdom of Him who died for us, and rose again.
Besides, I have occasionally thought that it was pos- sible that some might censure, and say it did not become me to close such a detail as this without imploring the men, who, from their professed engagements and their dwelling-place, are so immediately concerned ; already on the field of labour, and already preaching in one form of speech.
At the same time I am perfectly aware, that others may say, all this comes with no good grace from one who remains in Britain, and who, if sincere, might have tried first to set the example. I frankly own, that I am far from being insensible to this remark, though all I can add at present be, that if ever Providence should cast my lot in Ireland, with these views, certainly one of my first objects would be, not only to procure the grammar and dictionary, but sit down and converse daily with an intelligent Irishman, of correct and dis- tinct enunciation, till I should be able to do so with the Native Irish on the things which belong to our com- mon and everlasting peace. In the meanwhile, at in- tervals snatched from other incumbent avocations, I have thus endeavoured to collect together what perhaps may be of some little service in resolving the present question.
For still, this ministry of the Divine Word, in a lan- guage understood by the people, as Bedell used to say, returns upon us as the last and most important of all objects, because it is a sovereign, it is a divine appoint- ment, under a commission which none can revoke. If men below occasionally press the other measures, on this subject, the Christian, and especially those who have taken it in charge to minister the Divine Word, will hear the voice that cometh out from the throne.
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The terms of that commission we need not repeat, every word of which is so pregnant with meaning and duty to us, so full of pity from above for man below. But every age presents some peculiar seduction from the plainest path of duty, whether to God or man ; and at a season when no day is allowed to pass without some eulogy on the power of the press, the noble invention of printing, or the sovereign efficacy of education, it is well to remember, that, however powerless may be the preaching of the present day, it wa& not so once, and ere long it will not be so again.
Men, indeed, have in all ages, perhaps very natu- rally, panted after the abridgment of labour. This is the age of discovery and invention. New and easy methods have been discovered, and applied with great effect in agriculture, mechanics, and education, yet cer- tainly we need not expect that any human ingenuity shall ever invade this province of labour, or in any de- gree supersede its necessity. But, besides, there is such a thing as a country having sunk into such a state as in certain points shall set at defiance all the wisdom of man, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Whether such be the present condition of this most interesting part of the empire, I leave to the reader's own reflection ; but though it were, to the eye of an enlightened Christian there is nothing in all this which seems appalling. When the harvest stands ready for the sickle of Divine truth, and is just about to be gathered by the arm of the labourer, it is happily not supposed to have passed under some preparatory pro- cess of human device. A figure should never be pushed to an extreme, and here it is the Christian minister's privilege that the figure does not harmonize with the natural world. " Say not ye there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest ? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest." At whatever time, therefore, we
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see a country sunk in darkness and destitution, should there only spring up in it a spirit of inquiry, then may we say, that the fields are ready indeed for the moral husbandman. Now, whether other parts of the British dominions are as destitute as many districts in Ireland or not, yet where is there to be found such a spirit of inquiry as exists in these at present ? What then re- mains for us, but to fall in with the simple device of Infinite Wisdom, and remember that the brighter days for this fine interesting country are to be ushered in, " not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith Jehovah."
To the ministers of Christ already stationed in Ire- land, one cannot help saying, that, however the eye of sense and human reason may turn towards Britain, the eye of faith looks over to you, and the very places where you dwell. Your every abode appears to be a station marked out for proclaiming the truth. With fields of usefulness all around you, however unpromising to the eye of sense, yet to the eye of faith already white, what though you hear a language daily that you understand not ? Methinks every word of it sounds like a cry for the one thing needful.* Nor is there any thing at all formi- dable in acquiring this language : quite the reverse. Men of weakand feeble patriotism have magnified this separat- ing wall, as the children of Israel did the walled towns of the sons of Anak ; but all such fancies might be answer-
* When placed in circumstances analogous to yours, even as to the affairs of this present life, the necessity of such an acquirement as that which we now press, has been deeply felt. One of your own countrymen, and once Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the late Marquis of Hastings, addressing one day the students in the Col- lege of Fort-William, with reference to India, in an admirable speech, used these words :— " If indeed we wish to know a nation, it is peculiarly desirable to possess an independent and extensive familiarity with its language ; and this must be an object more than desirable, it must be indispensable, when in the bosom of that nation we are charged with the execution of the most serious and solemn offices of human life." India is regarded here as a part of the British empire : but shall such sentiments be held as sterling at the distance of half the globe, and be de- spised within the bosom of the mother country ?
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ed by an English monosyllable of only three letters— TRY. Believe not that the barrier is so very formidable ; even by a little assiduity you may leap over it, and then a welcome indeed awaits you at every step, not only from this ancient people, but in the language itself, — a parent language, which, on this account, it should be re- membered, enjoys certain advantages, calculated at once to interest the mind, and urge the student forward. I might refer for illustration to that delightful feature in many of the words, which may be styled, self-interpreta- tion,— a feature which has already been beautifully il- lustrated in several of the replies given by Irish youths, when reading the Scriptures in their native tongue. A language containing all its roots in itself, receiving its modifications from within, and conveying ideas therefore with point and precision, must needs be interesting and valuable as a vehicle for intelligent and serious discourse ,' and thus it certainly presents one peculiar advantage for proclaiming the truth, which may encourage you to commence learning to-morrow, if not to-day. I remem- ber well receiving a letter from a Highland minister some years ago which will explain this advantage. " While the Gaelic," said he, " continues to be generally spoken in the Highlands, it must always be the language best adapted for conveying religious instruction to the people. In Lowland parishes, where English alone is spoken and preached, it may be fairly presumed, that some of the auditors, though they speak no other tongue, do not understand the whole of the language they hear delivered from the pulpit : but it is one of the peculiari- ties of the Gaelic, that the illiterate speak it with as much propriety as those mho have received the advantage of edu- cation j and that, as far as regards language merely, the common herd mill understand the best orator."
Thus it is precisely among the Native Irish ; so that you may rest assured, in the language itself once begun there must be some of its features which will interest your own mind. Much of needless ridicule has been
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cast upon Irish antiquities, although the tongue being- confessedly ancient, the people must be so too ; but still there can be nothing of imposture in the language itself. De Rentsi or Vallancey from abroad, OP Halliday and O'Reilly at home, but all grown up to manhood before they knew a word of it, could not become so enthusias- tically fond of the language for nothing, or by mistake.* There must therefore be in it that which, independent- ly of the duty imposed, is interesting to the student.
* What should we have thought if our language had possessed sue!) enticing allurements, as that several of our earlier and later elementary books, our gram- mars or dictionaries, should have been composed by foreigners who had come into the country, or by persons living in it, who had grown up before they could read or speak a word of it. Such is the fact with regard to the Irish language. Sir MATTHEW DE RENTSI, above mentioned, a descendant of George Scanderbeg, was born in the year 1577, at Cullen, in Germany. He had been a great traveller, and coming into Ireland, he spent there the latter part of his life : he was, it is true, a general linguist, but felt particularly interested in the Irish tongue : he died in the fifty-seventh year of his age, at Athlone, on the 29th August, 1654 ; and upon his tomb-stone, which was visible when Harris published bis edition of Ware, and may be so still, these words were engraved — " He gave great perfection to this nation by composing a grammar, a dictionary, and chronicle in the Irish tongue." The Irish language seems to have engrossed his study for about three years. This monument, which is on the Weastmeath side, was erected by bis son of the same name. General VALLANCEY, who was born in Flanders in 1730, and died at Dub- lin, in 1812, at the advanced age of eighty-two, first resolved on learning Irish when engaged in a military survey of the country. He published his grammar in 1773. WILLIAM HALLIDAY, the son of a respectable apothecary in Dublin, though be had a critical knowledge of the classics and some modern languages', was not at all acquainted with Irish till the later years of his short life ; yet he not only ac- quired such a facility in understanding the most ancient Irish manuscripts as sur- prised those whose native tongue it was frem infancy, but published his grammar, containing some curious observations on the declensions and prosody of the Irish tongue, though he died at the early age of twenty-four, in August, 1812. Mr E. O'REILLY, the author of the latest Irish dictionary, was also arrived at manhood before he knew the language, though born at Harold's Cross, and educated in Dublin. Indeed his application to the study of it was occasioned by what some would call a mere accident. In the year 1794, a young man of the name of Wright, who was about to emigrate from his native country, had a number ot books to dis- pose of, which consisted chiefly of Irish manuscripts. They had been collected by Morris O'Gorman, who had taught Vallancey and Dr Young, Bishop of Clonfert. This man's library, which filled five large sacks, O'Reilly purchased, and on exa- mination found himself possessed of some of the rarest Irish manuscripts ; for one of which he has since refused fifty guineas. Master of this repository, he com- menced the study of the language ; so that, to say nothing of any other pieces, the last Irish Dictionary, containing about or above 50,000 words, was composed and published by an individual who, at the period referred to, could not speak a word of the language. After instances such as these, one cannot wonder at the attach- ment of the natives to their ancient tongue. See Hist, of Dublin, voL II.
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But although there were not, you have read the account of Brainerd preaching to his Indians ; or if not, you have seen an Englishman, in the sixtieth year of his age, sit down, two hundred years ago, and acquire the Irish language : and you have read that this " was soon ob- served to be regarded by the natives in the light of a great compliment." No, a kind compliment was not thrown away upon the Irish then; and though you live among the seventh generation since he set this example, the Native Irish, especially as it regards the language, you will soon find to be of the same blood with the con- temporaries of Bedell. For whether it be that kind compliments to them have been, like angel visits, few and far between, it is but seldom that one is thrown away on most of them.*
Waiving, however, all minor considerations, if you are ever to be the blessed instrument of saving many around you, it is certain that, as to acquiring this lan- guage, " necessity is laid upon you." To reach the heart through the ear by any other medium, is out of the question. Man, it is true, has been described as
* In a previous page, (147,) I have noticed a circle of eminent men as preachers, who visited Ireland in the middle of the seventeenth century. One of these al- ready noticed, as dying at an early age, Mr Murcot, seems to have made a deep im- pression on the minds of his hearers. At the foot of an exquisitely engraved por- trait of him, prefixed to his works, (1657,) in the writer's possession, there are these lines : —
Here stand, and live in thy immortal page — Thou golden preacher in an iron age. Ireland laments thy toss : whose powerfull word Wrought on her greater conquests than the sword. Tfieir bodies were subdu'd by arraes and arts, But thou (blest conqueror) didst win their hearts.
From his works, like some other eminent individuals, it should seem that much of the usefulness of this young man must have been owing to his talents as a preacher, to his manner as well as the matter of his sermons ; but if such power, at such a time, attended English preaching, what might not be expected from an Apollog in the Irish tongue ? The author rejoices that, since the first edition of this volume was printed, there have been some proofs afforded, by one or two indi- v iduals, of the power which accompanies the word of life when delivered in the Native tongue.
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' a divider of the voice,' or, in other words, an utterer of articulate sounds ; but in order to clear his way he must accommodate himself to the articulate sounds which have preceded his approach to any given spot. Let these sounds have been what they may, his own form of com- munication will not suffice. In every instance, spoken language takes precedence of all other means, and hence, in improving the condition of any class of men, we pro- pose Jirst to talk with them, then teach them. So it ought to have been all along, and certainly at least two hundred and fifty or three hundred years ago with the Native Irish ; and whatever any may say to the contrary, so it must be now in the nineteenth century.
But there is here another consideration of no inferior kind. If spoken language is first in the order of time, it continues to be first in point of importance. The noble invention of printing is powerless here, to move it from its ancient and unchanging pre-eminence. The power of the press, great as it is, is here at least far below the power of the tongue ; for, independently of the natural power of the living voice, he who made ' man's mouth' hath so ordained it. The volume of revelation itself in- deed has been printed, but what then ? After all, in every instance, he who regards it not as vocal, can never know its meaning — never feel its power. It began in audible sounds by the Creator himself to the parents of mankind — the rest he inspired, and holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The volume hath closed, and the original mode of communi- cation hath ceased, all truth having been uttered which was needful for any age or people. But the communica- tion itself remains, and revelation still is literally and truly a voice — clear and expressive — it is the voice of God—
And Scripture, unsopbisticate by man, Starts not aside from the Creator's plan ; The melody, that was of old design 'd To cheer the first forefathers of mankind,
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Is note for note delivered in our ears,
In the last scene of these &ix thousand years.
But still, even while revelation was in the course of de- livery, intelligible speech respecting it was not dispensed with. Inspired men were but occasional teachers, and there were long spaces wherein no prophet appeared. Nay, even in the time when prophecy flourished, the standing ministry were not prophets, and we may see the very prophets send the people for instruction to the " Levite and the teaching priest," or reprove both for neglect.*
So also, while Revelation was in the course of delivery, there might be, and there were decays. " For a long season Israel had been without the true God, and with- out a teaching priest, and without the law," and thirty years more passed away before it was otherwise. But in the third year of Jehoshaphat " he sent to his princes to teach in the cities of Judah," and with them he sent Levites and teaching priests, " and they had the book of the law of the Lord with them, and they went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the peo- ple." The consequence immediately recorded is strik- ing : " And the fear of the Lord was upon all the king- doms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat." Nay then the Philistines brought him presents of silver, and even Arabia brought of her flocks to the amount of thou- sands.t Such a course for a king may now seem to be
* Haggai ii. 11. Malachi ii. 6,7. Jeremiah viii. 22. All the cities of refuge were full of Levites or teaching priests, and in them were to be found no weapons of war. Indeed the forty-eight cities of the Levites were just so many points or centres of instruction. Gilead, for example, was a city of teaching priests, and it happened also to be celebrated for its balm. But it was the living voice it seems, it was vocal instruction which was to convey balm to the heart. Hence the point of Jeremiah's inquiry—" Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no Physician there f Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered ?"
f See Chron. xv. 3. xvii. 1—11.
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of small account ; yet such was Jehoshaphat's way of securing both the peace and the prosperity of his sub- jects.
And if it were so in these early days, under the new covenant there was no change, even although the oppo- sition to Christianity as spoken has always been by far the greatest — a valuable testimony, by the way, to the power of language as an instrument of usefulness.
The Founder of our faith suffered in consequence of his words, and his good confession before Pontius Pilate, yet did he not change his determination as to this pre- cise mode of advancing his cause. The confusion of tongues had dispersed mankind — the gift of tongues was intended to gather into his sheepfold ; and his followers replied — " We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." " Woe is unto me," said ano- ther, " if I preach not the Gospel J"
Yet gifted as these men confessedly were, what was their very highest aim upon earth ? Intelligible dis- course. No men were ever so impressed with the im- portance of intelligible preaching. Understanding well the true ground of action in religion — that the connected sense of Scripture is the only true sense, correct testi- mony the only ground of faith, and fair argument the only ground of upright action, preaching from their mouths became ( serious discourse' indeed. Sound, mere sound, in their estimation, was nothing : intelligi- bility, wherever they went, was their aim. Debtors to the Greek and to the barbarian, to the wise and the un- wise, no sooner did they step across the boundary of any one tongue, than they took up the vernacular idiom of the spot on which they stood. They might indeed have to preach in one language to-day, and in another to-morrow, and this miracle from on high remains upon record, like a pointing finger to the path which Heaven would approve, when man was to be left to pursue his
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course with the graces that remain — Faith, and Hope, and Charity.
Nor was this all — even on the spot where these men stood, intelligibility in that language was still their aim. Language, let it be which it might, pleased them not, if k affected only the ear. If a man " uttered by the tongue words easy to be understood," he met their ap- probation ; if he did not, they called it " speaking to the air." But old Sedulius, the Irishman, they would have esteemed, when he said, perhaps above a thousand years ago — " Be not children in understanding, but ye ought to know wherefore languages were given. Better to speak a few lucid words in the right sense, than in- numerable that are obscure and unknown."
After all this, it was at once an amiable and important as well as an exemplary feature in these, the original preachers of Christianity, that they had frequently as much anxiety respecting the frame of their own spirits in preaching, as they had respecting the hearts of their auditors in hearing. Their own temper of mind they certainly ranked among the subordinate and ordained requisites of success. In the most painful and perilous circumstances, " approving themselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness and love unfeigned." — " We also believe," said they, " and therefore speak." Eloquence, or even being ' mighty in the Scriptures/ without love, was in their ear but a tinkling sound. Such was at least their regard both to matter and man- ner— to the letter of their discourse and their disposi- tions in delivery. To some, their example may seem too high for imitation, but it has been drawn out and left on record assuredly with this intent ; for while these are to be our patterns and guides, they are the only human guides whom it is safe in such a course to follow.
Is it at all unwarrantable to regard the first propaga-
N
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tors of Christianity ? Are their principles and procedure not to be followed ? or is it forbidden to apply such ex- amples to the present state of Ireland ? How then would these men have acted there ? Would they have waited and seen the people die around them, without at- tempting to acquire their vernacular tongue? Would they have waited till it should be the unwise and vain policy of some human power to attempt bringing it into disuse ? Would they not rather have styled every other language ' barbarous/ except the one uttered on the spot?* Would they not have seized upon this as the only adequate and speedy medium of reaching the mind ? Certainly they would ; and any minister of the truth now in Ireland, who shall sit down in good earnest to acquire this lively and expressive medium of com- munication, with a view to his proclaiming in it the message of salvation, the unsearchable riches of Christ, is following the example of those who, of all other men, most closely followed their Lord, and best understood the terms of his commission.
Independently, however, of the force and peculiar attraction of such examples, which we have no doubt were intended, not only to be admired but followed, the very frame and structure, the forms of expression and ike disposition of the parts of Divine Revelation, prove that oral instruction was intended to accompany it.
The Sacred Volume complete, in the Irish language and character, has left the press. It is an aera which may well be accompanied with thanksgiving to God, and I rejoice the more in that it has been printed on Irish ground: but then this is at the same time an event
» 1 Cor. xiv. 10, 11. There are, it maybe, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them without signification ; therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, f shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh a barbarian unto me.
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which involves other obligations, and seems to call for reflection upon them.*
When the Mahometan imposture arose, there was no success for the Koran till its author laid his sword across it, and proclaimed the prospect of sensual blessedness. He told his followers, that the system he came to settle must be propagated by the sword, and not by the word, and that all who would not receive it must be extermi- nated. The hope of plunder in this world, and a vo- luptuous paradise in the next, account for his success. What a contrast to all this do the Sacred Writings, when considered simply as a volume, present ! — in which large portions stand out before us as among the effects of faith, not the original cause of belief, either in the writer or in those to whom he addressed himself.t
And now that all truth is spoken, and the volume finished, let us observe its contents. The doctrines to be believed, and the supernatural truths to be received, are unfolded to the mind, not in regular series, not in what men call systematic order, not in any way analo- gous to arithmetical progression. They are not dis- posed into common-place, nor arranged at all in the manner which we usually style methodical. And yet taking the volume as a whole, on searching it, there is no disposition of language to be found, making the most distant approach to method so exquisite, in which there
* " It is worthy of notice/' said Mr Fuller, in reference to India, " that the time in which the Lord began to bless his servants, was that in which his holy word began to be published in (he language of tlie natives. The heavens had long de- clared to those people the glory of God ; but it was reserved for the law of the Lord to convert their souls. God by this no doubt intended to put an honour upon his own word, and upon those who made it the foundation of their labours. Great ac- count was made of « the foundation of the Lord's temple being laid' among the Jews after their captivity. That was the honoured period from whence their pros- perity was dated. ' Consider now," saith the Lord, ' from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it— from this day will I blest you.' " — Periodical Accounts, vol. Hi. preface. t e.g. Luke i. 1—4; 2 Peter i. 1.
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is such constant mutual respect of one part to another, and such vital dependence of one truth upon all the rest. Prophecies and historical writing, prayers, and songs, and epistolary correspondence are intermingled : yet in all this, and precisely as it stands, there is a designed and harmonious connexion, and that so perfect, that much of the obscurity of which some complain must arise either from ignorance of the truths referred to, or from hostility to them. So very important is this pequ- liarity of the Scriptures, that the best criterion of a good system is simply its agreement with them. " That view of things, whether we have any of us fully attained it or not, which admits the most natural meaning to be put upon every part of God's word, is the right system of religious truth. After this, to be without system is nearly the same thing as to be without principle. What- ever principles we may have, while they continue in this disorganized state, they will answer but little pur- pose in the religious life. Like a tumultuous assembly in the day of battle, they may exist, but it will be with- out order, energy, or end."*
Thus it appears that the disposition of the several parts, with the whole form of expression in Sacred Writ, is calculated, and therefore was intended, not to make men expert in notions, or subtile in dispute, but wise un- to salvation : and it is also a fine testimony to this form of Divine Revelation, coming to the church as its occa- sions required, and now as a whole laid before us, that no part of this book was ever wrested, save by the un- teachable and the unstable ; and that its doctrines and precepts have never been rejected, except by those who walked, and were determined to walk, after their own lusts. Even Lord Rochester, after a life thus spent, roust leave this testimony behind him. Laying his hand
* Fuller.
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on the Bible, he would say, " There is true philosophy. This is the wisdom that speaks to the heart A bad life is the only grand objection to this book."
Such being the methods of Him who is infinite in wisdom — such the very structure of the volume wherein his voice is heard, the business of a public expositor is of course not to disturb, but to point out this harmony. One great use of such an expositor is, that the people may hear a man who is himself a believer, not only com- paring spiritual things with spiritual, and rightly divid- ing the word of truth, but at other times expressing his profound reverence for truths which are too mighty for his grasp — or see him fixed in admiration over the depths of sacred discoveries. Hence it is, that more positive good has accrued to men from pausing over the expres- sions of such a man as Paul, even when lost in wonder at the riches of Infinite Wisdom, than from all the dog- matism in the world.*
Yes, among all the other ends of Infinite Wisdom, to which this disposition of the various parts of divine re- velation is subservient, one of the most important is that of rendering useful and necessary the great ordinance of the ministry. " God hath not designed to instruct and save his church by any one outward ordinance only. The ways and means of doing good unto us, so as that all may issue in his own eternal glory, are known only unto Infinite Wisdom. The institution of the whole series and complex of divine ordinances is no otherwise to be accounted for but by a regard and submission thereto. WTho can deny that God might both have in- structed, sanctified, and saved us, without the use of some or all of those institutions to which he hath obliged us ? His infinitely-wise will is the only reason of these things ; and he will have every one of his appointments
* Romans xi. 33 ; Ephes. iii. 8—19, 20, 21.
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on which he hath put his name to be honoured — such is the ministry. A mftns this, which is not co-ordinate with the Scripture, but subservient to it ; and the great end of it is, that those who are called thereto, and are furnished with gifts for the discharge of it, might dili- gently search the Scriptures, and teach others the mind of God therein revealed. It was, I say> the will of God that the church should ordinarily be always under the conduct of such a ministry ; and his will it is, that those who are called thereto should be furnished with peculiar spiritual gifts, for the finding-out and declaration of the truths that are treasured up in the Scripture, unto all the ends of divine revelation.* The Scripture, therefore, is such a revelation as doth suppose and make necessary this ordinance of the ministry, wherein and whereby God will be glorified; and it were well if the nature and duties of this office were better understood than they seem to be. God hath accommodated the revelation of himself in the Scripture with respect unto them ; and those by whom the due discharge of this office is de- spised or neglected do sin greatly against the authority, and wisdom, and love of God ; and those do no less by whom it is assumed, but not rightly understood, or not duly improved."t
Stationary instruction, generally delivered in a well- known, and on this account an endeared spot, is not the only mode held out to us in Scripture. Granting to it all the power of which it is susceptible, still there are certain districts in Ireland to which this can never reach. Look at these distant hills — these Irish mountains — these numerous islands — mourning in moral destitution, I need not say from Sabbath to Sabbath, but from age to age — from father to son. If every one of them might
* See Ephes. iv. 11—16. 2 Tim. iii. 14—17. f Owen's Work*, vol. III. p. 459.
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adopt the words of the man of Macedonia, will no ear vibrate to the first monosyllable of the commission of Jesus ?
But is there no precedent to encourage hope in such a case as this ? In the eye of primitive Christianity the unlettered population, however distant or difficult of ac- cess, seemed even as a part of the land of promise. The mere professor may sit still and talk only like the ten spies —the Christian will resemble Caleb and Joshua, and also ponder over the original triumph of Christianity. ' This,' he will say, ' has been recorded for our learning.' It formed indeed a striking contrast, in various respects, to the genius of the former dispensation. The Jewish economy was mercifully intended, it should seem, for the preservation of light, or to prevent its entire extinction in our world — the Messiah has it in view to banish dark- ness from the earth by the brightness of his coming. Many a man might indeed knock at the door of Judaism —be admitted, and, standing within the walls of Jeru- salem, take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of Jehovah ; under the present dispensation this cup is to be ' handed round' among all nations. " Thou hast scattered us among the heathen," was the complaint of old, and for the time being it was the death-blow to the administration of Judaism ; but that which was the death of the former will prove the life of the present dis- pensation ; so much so, that even the present scattering of this ancient people shall turn to Christianity for a testimony. " And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, which tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men."
It is, however, not a little extraordinary, that an idea should have prevailed, and have even been acted on in this country, that men of very inferior qualifications are good enough for employment in such unlettered dis- tricts. The ancient method and order have been, re-
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versed, which supposed that the commencement, in such cases, demanded some one or two of strongest faith and largest grace. Were Israel to be led into Canaan ? Ca- leb and Joshua shall do this. Was the temple to be re- stored? Were the walls to be rebuilt? an eye is fixed on Ezra, and Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah. When the land of Judea was visited by the Sun of righteousness, while it was traversed in every direction, Galilee was the chosen spot : and the people who sat in darkness saw that great light — upon the men sitting in the region of the shadow of death that light arose. The word which we preach, ' Jirst began to be spoken by the Lord.' When even the twelve were addressed by their Lord, he said, " Other men have laboured, and ye are entered into their labours." The twelve preceded the seventy, and both these the evangelists, and so all this ended in sta- tionary and stated instruction.
Besides, when contemplating districts like these in Ireland, wherever they are to be found, it should seem but the dictate of wisdom, that the people lowest sunk or longest neglected, imperatively demand the men of largest grace and richest talent, the men of greatest zeal and wisest address. To minister to such, I am aware, has seemed, in the eye of the world, to be a mean em- ployment—but mean is the man who thinks it mean. So thought not that " Minister for the truth of God," who from his throne in the skies descended " to- confirm the promises made unto the fathers, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." No cl'ass indeed did he overlook or disdain ; to every one there was service rendered in due season : yet did it appear to him one of the peculiar glories of his rising kingdom, that to the poor the Gospel was preached. Constituting, as they ever have done, the great mass, among them he spent his strength — among them he found out his twelve apostles, and richer fakh on the seacoast and borders than ever he met with in the capital of the country. So then, He
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went about doing good, nor could any consideration turn him from his course. It is true, that " the people sought him — and came to him — and stayed him, that he should not depart from them, — but he said to them, ' I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also, for there- fore am I sent.' And he went about all Galilee, and his fame went throughout all Syria."
One peculiar feature of this ambulatory mode of in- struction seems to have been in a great degree over- looked in our day. The fishermen of Galilee were not sent out in twelve different directions, nor the seventy in seventy others ; they went in pairs, two and two, and the deeds of the disciples afterwards prove that they did not regard this as a mere circumstance. Hence Peter and John act jointly together among the Jews, and when going to the Samaritans they do the same.* And as for the Gentiles — " Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them/' said the Holy Spirit So also we read, not only of Paul and Barnabas, but Paul and Silas — Barnabas and Mark — Paul and Timothy — Paul and Titus. " Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you; or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ."
Engaging though they did in this cause with their whole soul, even an apostle, when left alone, could not bear up occasionally in the absence of his companion. " When I came to Troas to preach Christ's Gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother : but, taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Ma- cedonia." I am aware that the distress of Paul at this time arose from peculiar circumstances ; but the moral effect of two such men, so attached to each other, travel -
* Acts viii. 14.
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ling together, could not but be great, while it furnished themselves with some peculiar occasions for celebrating the condescension and the love of God. " I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribula- tion ; for when we were come into Macedonia (still) our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side ;, without were fightings, within were fears. Neverthe- less God, that comforteth those that are cast down, com- forted us — by the coming of Titus."
The mutual support and encouragement thus merci- fully secured by such an arrangement, was not its only advantage or end. It is not difficult here to perceive the wisdom of the Divine eye fixed on the advancement and triumph of his cause among men. A solitary Chris- tian minister going out, however eminent, can but exemplify one view of Christianity, while its social cha- racter is not within the compass of his power. But the kingdom of the Messiah among men is a system of social love, and peace, and joy ; and two men, whose souls are knit together like David and Jonathan, or Peter and John, or Paul and Titus, afford everywhere a perpetual commentary on this kingdom. Their very behaviour to each other is remarked and remembered. Their mutual love, grounded on mutual esteem, — their Christian cour- tesy,— their mutual hope, and their happiness in one common object, are sure to win regard,— their unity in doctrine, like chain-shot, is sure to have greater effect ; and, before biding adieu to any spot, — " As God is true," may they say, " our preaching toward you was not yea and nay." — " For the Son of God," said Paul, " Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea."
In this cause especially, it should seem that " two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour." Who can take it upon him to say how much of success may be suspended upon attention to
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this simple circumstance in the mode of procedure? God our Saviour is the blessed and the only Potentate over his own kingdom ; and in his way and manner of promoting his own glory upon earth, He must be per- mitted to reign, unquestioned and alone. But never is he more condescendingly gracious than when we meet him in his own ways. I leave the reader to judge, whether, when he rode forth triumphantly, conquering and to conquer, he did not sanction this mode. Whe- ther he did not begin it himself in the days of his flesh, and pursue it, by his Spirit, after that he ceased to be visible.
Indeed, I am not aware of any important objection that has ever been started to such a course. True, we have heard something to this effect : — " Be assured, that only one we should be happy to find, and endowed with the qualifications which seem to be essentially requisite, even this is difficult ; but where are such numbers to be found as sending two at once implies?" To this I answer, — Numbers are not essential, — numbers may spoil all : two at any time will suffice. " But then it is suck two." Ah ! now you have struck the mark. Yes, and among ten that might offer, it is very possible that a pair is not to be found. It is not two individuals who are able to talk, or even to teach only : it is love and Christian friendship which are wanted. He, with whom remains all hope of ultimate success, is not seeking for numbers only. It is two brethren, whose voices shall symphonize, because their hearts are one. Two, to whom he has said, — " If two of you shall agree* upon earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father which is in heaven." Two, to whom he may say, on going out, — " The har-
• 'SvftQuwnHrn. Of different voices to form one symphony, — to agree by consent.
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vest is great, but the labourers are few ; pray YE the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest."
To the taste of some this mode of procedure may seem discouraging, and the whole manner of the thing may not please. It is now six-and-thirty years since Melvill Home put the following words into the mouth of an objector, in the shape of an apostrophe to the Lord of the harvest himself: — " If thou wilt force us to cultivate this unpromising field, do not think of sending out immediately, but let lay schoolmasters go to receive the first fire, and teach the little children reading and writing ; and then will we go and enter into their la- bours : for the experience of ages, has taught us, that where preaching of the Gospel makes one Christian, education makes ten. Hence, instead of preaching first to the parents, and then establishing schools for the education, of the children, as the apostles did (who knew that the sword of the Spirit was of heavenly temper,— an instrument into which the God of glory had wrought all his attributes, we, having lost the art of using it, and that arm which gives it the deinonstra~ tion of the spirit and of power,) we go to work another way, by educating children first ; and many are of opi- nion, that the best way of enlightening is by putting the moon in the sun's sphere, and having children to instruct their parents, rather than parents to teach their children."
Others there may be who seem most warmly to ap- prove for a season, and yet fail of success. They are to go to work in good earnest, but the number referred to, even to begin with, is as nothing to them. They in truth look to quantity in most things, not quality — to numbers more than qualifications. At all events, every thing must be undertaken upon what they are pleased to call a great scale, or no good, say they, can come out of it ; and it is not worthy of their pains even to com-
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mence in any other manner. But still " God's ways are not our ways, neither are his thoughts our thoughts/' — though never is there such a contrast to both, as when some men set about what they conceive must be done before success can follow, or be even expected. Noise, bustle, publicity, as it were the blowing of a trumpet, must be heard, and all before any thing be done, or perhaps be attempted ; but the kingdom of God never did, and will not now, so come. Thoughtfulness and retirement, — a heart deeply impressed, and secret sup- plication to Him who is even now crowned with glory and honour, although we see not yet all things put under him, are suitable preparations. Consciousness of unworthiness to be employed, and consciousness of weakness when once engaged, — these, these are dispo- sitions which were never felt in vain — and never yet ended in nothing being accomplished.
Surely no considerate reader will ever suppose that there is one word said here which should for a moment discourage any one servant of God, much less prevent him from going out by himself; nor can there be in an idea, which seems, without violence, to be deducible from many parts of the divine word, a single considera- tion which should depress him, when going out alone. In an age wherein the secret of primitive success seems to be lost, is it strange that we should search about in all directions till we find it ? And could we find it, we should then perhaps see that both methods being employ- ed, the other, of course, never followed, save when this fine harmony of spirit, — this sweet interweaving of in- terests,— this abnegation of self, was both felt and seen. Among a set of men, who, as individuals, had so devoted themselves, — so yielded themselves unto God, and their members as instruments of righteousness unto him, no- thing was more natural than that peculiar friendships should be formed, and that a number of individuals should as it were pair off. At the same time, the unin-
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tentional — the almost imperceptible occasion which gave rise to it would often afterwards excite both wonder and gratitude in their own minds.
Mysterious are His ways, whose power Brings on that unexpected hour, When minds that never met before Shall meet — unite — and part no more. A transient visit intervening, And made almost without a meaning ; Hardly the effect of inclination, Much less of pleasing expectation, Produced a friendship, then begun, That had cemented them in one.
But in the meanwhile the idea thus thrown out does in no respect whatever militate against many another divine assurance. " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." A venerable servant of God, who, on the high places of the field, has laboured in India for the usual period of a generation, said, at an early stage of his exertions, " It has been a great consolation to me, that Abraham was alone when God called him." I called Abraham alone, and blessed him, said Jehovah ; nor was this all — " I will bless thee, and thou shalt be a blessing:" and surely, if we know Him that redeemed us from the curse of the law, we cannot overlook his intention in so doing, " that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Nothing more is wanted for accom- plishing whatever Ireland may still require : more espe- cially since He hath said, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
In addition to those ministers of Christ resident in Ireland, and daily surrounded by the Irish tongue, there is another class of our countrymen on this side of the Channel, if not more than one ; and to certain gifted in- dividuals of this class, one should suppose that the ex-
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i sting state of the Native Irish must become a subject of thoughtful consideration. I refer to those who speak Gaelic or Manks — but especially Gaelic. The reader has seen that at one period there were several Gaelic con- gregations in Ireland, and that, summoned as by the sound of an Irish harp, the Irish attended. The busi- ness between the Hebrides and the Galway coast has been transacted for years through this medium, common to both parties. The experiment of a Highland minister being intelligible has been tried again and again with success. One of these, when on a visit in 1827, had, I believe, as many as two thousand hearers at one time.
These descendants of the Native Irish are, in a pecu- liar sense, your brethren ; and if the soul is to be con- sidered as the standard of the man, you may well be pleased with this alliance. You will suppose that I am in some degree aware of the connexion existing between Ireland and the Gael of Scotland, — that it was once ra- ther a delicate subject of reference with some, and the matter of needless controversy with others. But the days of petty jealousy may well pass away, for there is nothing left now which need create dissension. Already the writer has had some opportunities of evincing his interest in our Highlands and Islands, and in all such cases as the present, when the Gael of Ireland and Scot- land are brought into contact, it has seemed to him to be time, and more than time, for us to remember the words of good Archbishop Ussher, — " It is known to the learn- ed, that the name of Scoli in those elder times was com- mon to the inhabitants of the greater and the lesser Scot- land ; I will not follow the example of those that have laboured to make dissension between the mother and daughter, but account them both as of the same people."
Individuals, therefore, to whom the Gaelic language is familiar, wha are qualified in other respects, and in whose hearts it is to do somewhat for the advancement of the divine glory upon earth, would seem to be here
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specially addressed. After all that you have read, surely, you require no Native Irishman to appear in vision, and cry, " Thig thairis gu Erinn, agus cuidich leinne." May you not assuredly gather that there is a call here to go and preach the Gospel ? Were he to say — " Tarr go Erinn, agus tabhuir cabhuir dhuinne," — could you not under- stand him ? Yes, in one short month, or perhaps less, you would be sufficiently intelligible in many districts. Your brethren too, the descendants of the Albanian Gaels, are there. You may have observed the period when a number of your countrymen left the Hebrides and Highlands for Ireland. How many I cannot ascertain, but they must be their grandchildren and great grandchildren who now live in Ireland. Is there to be no such thing then as kindly going to see how they do — on the mountains of Donegal or the seacoast of Antrim ? As an encourage- ment to proceed farther, if you will, one of your own ministers was intelligible even far down in the south. You are aware who it is that hath said, " As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." How wor- thy of the best and most powerful talents, and the warm- est heart, would be such an employment ! His special presence and aid would not be denied, who hath said so much, in such tender terms, about searching for souls when they are scattered abroad ; and who, in his word, laments so deeply when no shepherd can be found, con- scientiously and carefully and wisely to do so.
In taking leave of this important subject, and looking over Ireland as now described, it is unquestionably a most momentous consideration that the commission of God our Saviour has been so awfully disregarded, and, to speak calmly, this ought to become the subject of na-
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tional feeling on the part of Christians throughout the kingdom.
That there should not be a single building in all Ire- land, expressly and exclusively devoted to the procla- mation of the truth of God and the unsearchable riches of Christ, in the native tongue, is a reproach which ought immediately to be wiped away. There is largeness of heart in Ireland, I well know> and know the men who possess it. I mean not that other men should be eased, and they burdened ; but I know the " forwardness of their mind," and that to their power, yea beyond their power they are willing of themselves ; — but surely two or three of these might at least light the first torch, and soon have a suitable place of divine worship in Dublin and Cork. One should rather think that they would feel emulous as to who should be the first to afford one fair opportunity for the Redeemer's last ascending request being complied with in the Irish tongue. Let the mis- sionary depart, by all means, " far over sea and land," but let not Ireland be forgotten. Amidst all his other cares, a King upon the throne once gave himself no rest, until he had found out a place for the Lord, and though not allowed to build, this anxiety of his was richly re- paid. Under the Christian dispensation, however, I speak of a house simply as a fixed point of instruction ; but though only viewed as a matter of convenience, a meet and necessary measure, it would prove before long a place of mercy indeed ; or, like a well in the desert, round which, instead of the thorn* would come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier would come up the myr- tle-tree— or, as the Chaldee has it — " instead of the wicked would arise the just, and instead of sinners, such as fear to sin."
Yet, in regard to what is most evidently demanded, why need I specify such a trifle in the path of incumbent duty as this ? Other towns, the country at large, must be regarded, where perhaps no such erections are at least
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generally called for. Many, many are the buildings there, which long ago ought to have echoed to the language un- derstood by the people ; and, at least in certain parts, one might point with the finger, and say, — " comparatively speaking, to what more important or more needful use could this be applied?" But the needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever ; still, in such a case as this, the commission of Christ should, like Joseph's sheaf, be that to which all other things should bow.
" Agus dealraidh iadsan a ta glic mar shoilleireachd nan speur ; agus iadsan a thionndaidheas moran gu fiieantachd mar na reultau fad saoghail nan saoghal."
Gaelic Sa-iptures.
" And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever." DANIEL.
" The eternal High Priest, the Pastor and Bishop of our souls, employed much time and labour to instruct his apostles ; and afterwards commanded them, in giving them their mis- sion, to instruct all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; and to teach them to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. People then, come to theiise of reason, ought necessarily to be instructed ; they must hear the word of God, am! learn what they are to believe and observe, and even learn how to observe it — It is true, that this is no easy task ; and that it requires much labour and pa- tience ; but that is necessary j a soul is worth more than all that.— This great ransom, the death and passion of Jesus Christ, will 1)6 of no use to such as know not their religion, and remain hi ignorance." DONLEVY.
" An order, be it remembered, not appointed like the priests of pagan antiquity, for the performance of ceremonies, but for the inculcation of truth ; not to conduct the pomp ot lustrations and sacrifices, but to ' watch for souls as those that must give an account.' Nothing similar to this was known in the heathen religions ; it is peculiar to Christianity, and evincing the simple wisdom of its Author, is as original in its conception as it is ad- mirable in its effects. Its simplicity, its distance from whatever is dazzling in the eyes of mankind is one of its highest recommendations ; for the Christian minister is beautifully compared to a fisherman, who would only be embarrassed by those instruments and append- ages which belong to more splendid, but less useful occupations." HALL.
SECTION X.
TO THE NATIVE IRISH,
More especially to such Individuals among them as are interested in the Progress of Literature, Education, and Oral Instruction.
WHILE it is desirable that your fellow-subjects should befriend you, and certainly incumbent on them so to do, the writer cannot conclude without returning to you yourselves, with a view to whose benefit every line has been written. He has not disguised, or rather he has been incapable of disguising, that he feels a peculiar in- terest in every thing relating to your present circum- stances, and has only to lament its not having been in his power to discover it in some more substantial form ; while at the same time he can never forget the warm and grateful language which has been so repeatedly conveyed to him, in reference to a slight Memorial on your behalf, published about fourteen years ago.
On reading the preceding pages, he trusts that you have not found any one passage inconsistent with fair- ness or candour, or respect for j'our feelings as neigh- bours and fellow-countrymen ; and should there seem to be anything bordering upon this, of which, however, he is unconscious, he has no doubt that you will give him credit on the whole for the kindness of his inten- tions. It is very possible that individuals among you may possess some things valuable in Irish type, and that
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you may be acquainted with facts of which he is igno- rant. Should it be so, and you communicate the infor- mation, in a third edition of this volume it would cer- tainly not be neglected. On the other hand, it is as probable that many among you may here find a variety of particulars, in regard to both your ancestors and your present state, of which you had but imperfect informa- tion. These are not only interesting in themselves, but they seem, as with one voice, to assert, that the improve- ment of the mind and the progress of knowledge are among the great ends of our existence.
You have read also how the Welsh have been acting for generations back by their language, and may inquire of them whether they have not gained by the attention which they have paid to it. I know it has been said, that " crowded numbers and great wealth together give prodigious advantages for educating, civilizing, and en- lightening a people ;" and you may be ready to add — the first we have, but not the second. But Wales in past ages was actually in as destitute a state as almost any part of Ireland is at this moment. It would be easy to describe this, and even substantiate the account, so as to leave no doubt of the fact here stated. Various causes, it is granted, have contributed to a better day ; so that Wales, though about five times as populous as our Highlands, is supposed to be four times as rich. But among these causes, I again refer you to the way in which they have been proceeding with their own vernacular tongue, and see whether this will not account for many of the advantages which they now enjoy.
Lay hold then of the medium of the Irish tongue in the same spirit — act by it in the same manner, and be not discouraged. The noblest use certainly, though not the only one, to which your Irish types can ever be ap- plied, is that of conveying to your countrymen the vo- lume of Revelation entire ; and the noblest use to which your ancient and expressive language can ever be ap-
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plied as spoken, is when it is employed in uttering the words of Him who gave us this soul. As men of other tongues and former days have proved, your countrymen will then find, that " all the words of His mouth are in righteousness — that there is nothing froward or perverse in them — that they are all plain to him that understand- eth, and right to them that find knowledge ;" and that, let the pressure or peculiarity of a man's earthly state be what it may, there is nothing which can prevent him from borrowing comfort from this fountain of life and wisdom.
Besides, the days are at last come, we trust, when you will find many a kind and intelligent friend cordi- ally willing to help you on your way, whether it re- gards the printing or possession of books, or the bene- fits of education. But whether this be the case or not, after all that such can do, these are but subsidiary things — these are but means to an end ; and to yourselves as men I now rather turn, — and to yourselves, ultimately at least, I look for a better day.
In most parts of Scotland we have, and have long enjoyed, benefits such as these. Books and schools we have in abundance ; but it by no means follows as a ne- cessary consequence in these parts, though Christianity be professed, that the people are in possession of her purifying faith, her animating prospects, or that love which is the balm of the soul, and the last end of God in all that he bestows. No; come over to Scotland, where in most parts, on an average, you may find one in eight who can read, which is about the highest in the world ; yet in many a district you will see, that, with- out .the living voice — without the language of the heart addressed to the conscience — all around is cold, and withering into the grave. No ; there is One above who hath not revoked his own commission — " Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." — " Go, teach all nations ;" and, without obedience to these
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words, no country can enjoy substantial gladness, nor any land yield that return of gratitude and praise for which he created it ; and so it must be with the coun- try in which you dwell : but this commission once obeyed, the solitary place itself will be glad, the moral desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose.
With most of the discouragements which you might immediately bring forward the writer is not unacquaint- ed ; but then it is not wise to look upon a country, and think only of what it ought to be, or might have been, by this time. No; it is the part of wisdom to take it up just as it is ; and, upon calm reflection, discouraging in many respects though the prospect be, there is no si- tuation into which a people can be plunged, in which there may not be descried some circumstances favour- able to the design of enlightening the mind and saving it from ultimate ruin ; and who can tell but that in your present situation there may be found some things favour- able, and which almost seem to say, that the Messiah himself is on his way to bless you ? At all events, let us rather search for encouragements, however small, or of whatever kind.
After all that can be said of the worst parts of Ireland, we cannot say ihat they are over-run with pernicious and debasing publications in the Irish language, as some other parts of the kingdom have been with such things in English. Now, this is a circumstance favourable to every measure here recommended.
Even with regard to poverty, let us look into this, since it cannot be removed but by degrees. Nay, let us look into it before it be removed, and see whether in the meanwhile any good can be done to the people. In .his own estimation, the rich man's wealth is his strong city, and in many instances the destruction of the poor is their poverty. Thus, many who are poor seem to ima- gine that their mere poverty excuses them from almost all obligation. But if riches profit not in the day of
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wrath, neither will poverty; yet even in the state of poverty, as such, there may be some encouragements for us to hope for a better day. From the rest of the community, it is true, the people seem almost as if they had been cut off; and so the state has been described by the French word — degage, disengaged. But though poverty in many respects may detach that part of a community from the rest, still when religious truth is considered, thus disengaged they are often nearest of all others to free inquiry. The senses of seeing and hearing are the same with those of their superiors, and their faculties of observing and reflecting often less sophisticated.
Some men, and benevolent men too, talk as if all the evils that afflict a community were summed up in one word — ignorance, and they see no ground on which to fix the anchor of their hope, save an increase of know- ledge; but this is, at the best, but a very superficial view of human nature at large, or of any one commu- nity upon earth. The cause of confusion or discord, misery and distress, has its root in the dispositions of the heart; and although knowledge unquestionably pro- duces both peace and power, no radical cure can be effected till the dispositions are changed. For example, " What is the source of contentions in common life ? Observe the discords in neighbourhoods and families, which, notwithstanding all the restaints of relationship, interest, honour, law, and reason, are a fire that never ceases to burn, and which, were they no more control- led by the laws than independent nations are by each other, would, in thousands of instances, break forth into assassinations and murders. From whence spring these wars ? Are they the result of ignorance ? If so, they would chiefly be confined to the rude or uninformed part of the community. But is it so ? There may, it is true, be more pretences to peace and good-will and fewer bursts of open resentment in the higher than the
324 TO THE NATIVE IRISH.
lower orders of people, but their dispositions are much the same. The laws of politeness can only polish the surface, and there are some parts of the human charac- ter which still appear very rough. Even politeness has its regulations for strife and murder, and establishes iniquity by a law. The evil disposition is a kind of subterraneous fire, and in some form it will have vent." But make the case, if you will, more deplorable, and even to poverty add affliction, in any or in all of its forms, is there not a remedy which may be conveyed and applied as effectually to the poor as to the rich, — to those who have been long neglected as to those who have been long supplied ? " Whether Christianity," says the author just quoted, " whether Christianity or the want of it be best adapted to relieve the heart under its various pressures, let those testify who have been in the habit of visiting the afflicted poor. In this situation, characters of very opposite descriptions are found. Some are serious and sincere Christians ; others, even among those who have attended the preaching of the Gospel, appear neither to understand nor feel it. The tale of wo is told, perhaps, by both ; but the one is un- accompanied with that discontent, that wretchedness of mind, and that inclination to despair, which is manifest in the other. Often have I seen the cheerful smile of contentment under circumstances the most abject and afflictive. Amidst tears of sorrow, which a full heart has rendered it impossible to suppress, a mixture of hope and joy has glistened. ' The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?' Such have been their feelings, and such their expressions ; and where this has been the case, death has generally been embraced as the messenger of peace. ' Here/ I have said, parti- cipating in their sensations, ' is the patience and the faith of the saints. Here are they that keep the com- mandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
TO THE NATIVE IRISH. 325
Who is he that overcoraeth the world, but he that be- lieveth that Jesus is the Son of God ?' "*
Not altogether satisfied, perhaps you still reply, — " But our people, in many districts, are sunk and desti- tute to a degree of which thousands in Britain can form scarcely any conception." All this the writer knows. He has seen this again and again, and in places more numerous than even thousands who live in Ireland itself have ever seen ; and often since has the heart bled over it ; — nay, he may truly add, it does so now. But still, to his mind, all this would rather incite to such exertions. Kindness and liberality, attention to the poor, and employment of those who are able to work, are moral and Christian duties, incumbent on every one to the extent of his means ; yet, after all this is done, nay, before it be, there are blessings which the heart and tongue of man are able to convey to the heart and home of others, which money is too poor to purchase, and which its most ample supply cannot procure. Yes, there is ONE who knows more of the state of any land, and sees far more deeply into its miseries, than any who reside in it and look upon it daily ; the stability and glory of whose government consists in attention to the poor and destitute. When he was upon earth it seemed to Him a feature of his own life and times worthy of special notice, that to the poor the Gospel was preached, and He is still the same. " He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy." And more than this, they are not the last in any nation upon whom he casts the eye of his benignity, — far from it. At what time "all kings shall fall down before him, all nations shall serve him," one moving cause is immediately assigned, which applies to the point in hand ; — "for he shall deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall
* Fuller's Works, vol. III. 138.-
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spare the poor and needy, and save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight." Just as if to Him alone were left those parts of an empire which had gone far beyond the feeble humanity of man, or had long baffled all the expedients of the political economist. Now, these are the assertions of Infinite Wisdom ; and all this is said without one word about silver or gold. As the effect of such a glorious change, indeed, whether on a great scale or a small, whatever money is needed will not be withheld. " And he shall live," it is imme- diately added, " and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba : prayer, also, shall be made for him continu- ally, and daily shall he be praised."
Thus it is that you have laid before you what he can do with only a handful of corn, though sown on the top of the mountains ! But all such figurative expressions borrowed from nature, yet outstripping the course of na- ture, are plainly intended as powerful encouragement in cases which appear discouraging, or even hopeless to the human eye. In many instances were those truths, which are first in the order of expression in the Divine Word, onlyjirst in our minds as to weight and import- ance, it is impossible to say what success might follow. Thus, — f< I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come ; and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of Hosts."
No : you may have heard much said in Ireland about collecting money for various purposes, an d^ you might hear far more in Britain, and much said about it when collected ; but all this need not lead you to imagine for one moment, that pecuniary means can ever hold any place in promoting this cause, except it be the last and the lowest. Never forget to think of Him, who, while he provided even a nest for the bird, " had not where to lay his head ;" nor of the men he trained, who could say
TO THE NATIVE IRISH. 327
individually, " Silver and gold have I none," — yet who ever did so much lasting good in the world as these men ?
Now, there are those among you who fear God,— - who love the Redeemer, — who enjoy the hope of life everlasting through hjs vicarious sufferings, — his ato- ning death and glorious resurrection. But does not the possession and enjoyment of these infinite blessings mark you out as debtors to your countrymen ? " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." And ask not, " who is my neighbour ?" Ask not, " Am I my bro- ther's keeper ?" Rather go read the parable of the good Samaritan, and on this subject observe the great sorrow and continual heaviness of Paul, respecting his country- men, or kinsmen, as he calls them, according to the flesh.
Let me then entreat, that you sit down and study the Sacred Record for yourself. Read, mark, and inwardly digest it. The advantages of deep reflection here are incalculable. Compare spiritual things with spiritual. Penetrate into the grand scheme of redemption through the unutterable sorrows of a Redeemer, who, though enthroned in glory, looks down upon you, observing how his commission is regarded by all who have re- ceived Him as their Lord and Master.
Every Christian man is certainly bound to communi- cate what he knows of divine things, and he is expected to contribute in his measure to the light of the world ; but think not that I imagine that every such man is called to become a preacher, — far from it. This you cannot suppose, after what you have read. If all were teachers, where were the taught ? Even in the days of our Saviour there were professed teachers many, and this there will always be, wherever emolument or honour from men is affixed to the mere title ; but the labourers vr ere few. Numbers he asks not, and especially at first ; this never has been his manner; but qualifications are indispensable, and they are literally ALL in ALL. From above these qualifications must descend, since the Mes- 6
328 TO THE NATIVE IRISH.
siah was exalted on high to bestow them. The founda- tion of the ministry is in the gift of Christ, the ground of all qualifications, that he hath bestowed them ; and the employment of every talent absolutely hinges upon the fact, that it has been received.*
This is a subject which it braces and encourages the mind to study, and which it is most animating so far to comprehend. The man himself, however richly endow- ed, or rather, I would say, the more he is so, dwells upon his own insignificance and his own insufficiency as positive truths ; and, discharged from the weariness and vanity of going forth in his own strength, he the better understands that the sword of the Spirit, when wielded by the arm of conscious weakness, is irresistible.
When such a man turns aside to contemplate any of those great recorded changes which have been or are to be effected only by Almighty Power, he discovers, about the period of their commencement especially, something which is at the utmost distance from exten- sive arrangements or formidable preparation, — some- thing which to the eye of sense has often seemed inade-
* Read Ephesians iv. 7 — 16, and then return to these words, — " Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ?" Descended, not only to assume humanity and a state of humiliation, but into the grave, as the end of it. Why does the sacred writer introduce this paren- thesis ? Pause over it. Why thus mention here Christ's descending.' Was it to take advantage of a word ? Because, having mentioned his ascension, that he must notice also his descension ? No : this is not the way of the Spirit. There must be reason for mentioning it absolutely in this place and in this connexion ; and what could that be, if not with reference to the end in view ? In Christ's descending into the lower parts of the earth, as though he had said, there is that to be found which will at once account for this great gift of the Ministry, and contribute to- wards it in all succeeding generations.
The burial of Christ was the evident testimony of his actual death, and the Mi- nistry grew out of this great event. Nothing has been more trifled with, it is true, nothing more abused, than the Ministry, nor any employment more lightly esteemed ; but there is, as it is now revealed, no question, that had the Saviour not died for it, there had been no such thing in existence, nor any such order of men ever known. In the Mediatorial Kingdom, die he did, and so thus and then, blessed be his name ! received gifts for men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might thus dwell among them. " Thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to tise from the dead the third day— that repentance and remission of sins should be proclaimed, among all nations, in his name."
TO THE NATIVE IRISH. 329
quate if not weak, or vain if not foolish; but this to him is no ground either of surprise or despair. " The excellency of the power/' he says, " will thus appear to be of God." Nor is it merely to the rise and pro- gress of any little corner, to which he applies this " ex- cellence in working" on the part of God, but to the whole field of operation, and to changes of the greatest magnitude. Such passages as the following are at once encouraging and familiar to his thoughts. " I will take you one of a city and two of a tribe, and I will bring you to Zion ;" — after doing this, it follows, " And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding ;"— • and so " at that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah ; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." Again, " ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel;" then after this it follows, " And it shall come to pass in that day that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship Jehovah in the holy mount at Jerusalem." " For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom : but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness ; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God, — For ye see your calling, bre- thren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble call you, — but God hath chosen — the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, — that no flesh should glory in his presence."
Prophets and Apostles and Evangelists are gone to their reward, it is true, and have left the earth, — but Christianity as left by them, in its faithful yet tender
330 TO THE NATIVE IRISH.
announcements to the children of men, in its calls and invitations, is more than a match for sin, though it should have even gathered strength and endurance by long- practised habits. This is an encouraging view of divine truth, as spoken in faith by a man who loves God, and therefore the souls of men. There is a blessing promised, there is a power which will accompany such a voice, the effects of which it is not possible to calculate ; falling as it will do, at times, like the small rain upon the tender grass, and in other cases, ploughing up the ground of that heart which has lain long fallow. Or, in other words, finding its way into the mind of the unbeliever, and showing the man to himself, it is only with the view of introducing to Him who hath said, " I am the light of the world : he that followeth me, shall not walk in dark- ness, but have the light of life."
At all events, whoever shall engage in such employ- ment as this, whether they be men to whom the Irish language is vernacular, or those who shall acquire it, both, we presume, will agree in saying, " the harvest is great, but the labourers are few ;" and if so, perhaps we should do wrong to conclude, without expressing our admiration of the spirit which breathes through the words that immediately follow : — " Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth la- bourers into his harvest."
Before thus going out, the Saviour would not only enlarge their mind with respect to the greatness of the work before them, but guard them against the mean and selfish disposition of monopolizing the employment to themselves. Pray ye, that he would send forth more. Among different bodies of men, it has been observed, that there is a sad propensity to an ungenerous, if not a suspicious estimate of each other's exertions, while some will insidiously endeavour to divide those who are al- ready united in a common cause. Joshua of old, gener- ous and open as his natural disposition seems to have
TO THE NATIVE IRISH. 331
been, said to Moses, when referring to Eldad and Me- dad, " My Lord, Moses, forbid them." But Moses in- stantly replied, " Enviest thou for my sake ? Would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that he would put his spirit upon them." Some of the fol- lowers of the harbinger of Christ would seem to have indulged the same spirit, and thought to sow jealousy in his mind. " Rabbi," said they, " he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, be- hold the same baptizeth, and all men come to him." But did John encourage them in this insinuation ? Far from it. " If it be so," as though he had said, " this is perfect joy to me." " He that hath the bride is the bride- groom : but the friend of the bridegroom which stand- eth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I decrease." Nay, even among the Apostles themselves a spirit was displayed too much akin to that which the Saviour would banish for ever from our minds. " Master," said John, the mild and beloved John, " we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us." But Jesus answer- ed, " Forbid him not : for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us, is on our part. And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that be- lieve on me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
The Redeemer, therefore, in thus addressing his ser- vants before going out to labour for him, would prevent the indulgence of this unlovely and injurious disposition of mind. " Go," as though he had said, " the time of ingathering has come : property of all others the most valuable is about to be recovered to its lawful owner ; but the harvest is great, and you have not the exclusive privilege of preaching my Gospel. Nay, to you your-
332 TO THE NATIVE IRISH.
selves I look for increase, both as it regards the harvest itself and hands to reap it. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth la- bourers into his harvest. To see the general produce of a country run to waste would be affecting, and the more so from the labour previously bestowed. Let not souls be thus lost, and more especially since I send you forth to all the joys of ingathering, and upon my ac- count. But the harvest is great, and my purpose is to employ others, who, with you, will enter into the joy of labour ; others, to whom the employment of body as well as mind will be a delight ; — but these are not to be ob- tained on my part, without prayer on yours." What a responsibility ! The Saviour once suspended the saving of a child from disease, on the faith of his parent, which made the man to cry out with tears of entreaty ; but here the harvest itself — the salvation of the multitude is in view, yet the labourers are not to be sent forth on his part, without prayer on theirs."
* But was this to be the concern, was this the duty of these men alone ? Never will there be more of success in the cause of God, until there is more of the " Spi- rit of supplication." Prayer must, in fact, be regarded as an essential part of the labourer's, nay of every Christian's employ. Epaphrasof Colosse well understood this.— Coloss. iv. 12. Here too the mind has ground to rest upon of a peculiar na- ture : for if the counsels of God are his highest affairs, and his own purposes are precious in his sight, these are expressed in promises, as so many grounds on which the suppliant is to rest, and as so many excitements to draw forth his desires. Be- sides, let it be remembered, that not one sincere desire has been, is now, or ever will be, in vain ! No, so far as the spirit of supplication in the heart, has met with the spirit of promise and prophecy in the Sacred Record, not an aspiration has been, or will be, in vain ! The prophets of old, far from indifferent to the sig- nification of what they spake before hand, inquired and searched diligently ;— and it would be well if Christians would now begin to study and observe the analogy between the ' Spirit of Prophecy' under the former economy, and the ' Spirit of Supplication' under the present ; for He, and He alone, is distinctly the moving cause of the last, as much as he was of the first. Before the ' coming of the Lord' there was a long and connected series of prophecies remained to be fulfilled ; and before the ' knowledge of the Lord' shall cover the earth as the waters do the sea, there must, it now seems, be as rich a body of supplications to be answered. There has been, unquestionably, much of active exertion in our day ; but let all who talk of ' public usefulness' pause and consider, for upon this principle some of our forefathers may still be far ahead of us, and we in the end may find that we have held but a very inferior place in the series of the divine procedure. There is such a thing as presumption in the ways of men— perhaps the highest is exertion with.
TO THE NATIVE. IRISH. 333
In such a case as this of the Native Irish, some men would talk only of ( looking about' for suitable instru- ments ; but the province of oral instruction is a sacred enclosure, where every movement essentially depends upon God, and this will not do. Look upwards we must, and if we do, it would be impious to imagine that we shall look in vain. Men of his sending are essential, and, in such circumstances, we have no reason to pre- sume upon them but in the way prescribed. Many who may never be able to acquire the Irish language could assist here. This harvest is not past — it is not over and gone. In Ireland some may say it is yet to be gathered ; there too the harvest is great, and there, as it regards the Irish tongue, the labourers are emphatically few.
The path, however, is plain. To be admitted, or ra- ther to be invited into the presence of the Lord, is at all seasons an honour — to be permitted to address him con- cerning his own cause is greater still. Oh ! were the faithful in this kingdom but alive to the importance, and the necessity, and the glorious consequences of earnest supplication here, what seasons of prosperity might we not witness ? Such intercessors may have been laughed to scorn, and may be now ; yet -amidst ail those happy days which have passed over other parts of this favoured Britain, who can say how much may have been owing to individual, genuine, unostentatious Christians improv- ing their own personal interest, at the foot of the throne, on behalf of the general good ?
If then, in conclusion, all that has been proposed
out earnest prayer. If then the spirit of supplication in us, comes instead of the spirit of prophecy in former ages, — for Christians pray acceptably only through the indwelling power and guidance of the Spirit,— let us implore this Spirit. We need not indulge in dreams about miraculous agency — but fervent prayer has not been shifted from the precise place which it occupied in the divine economy in ancient times — that is, it must still precede the season of God's gracious interference, James v. 16 — 18. It must still precede the fulfilment of the richest promises made and confirmed to the Redeemer himself, on the ground of his own dignity and worth, his death and merits.
o2
334 TO THE NATIVE IRISH.
throughout these pages might be effected through the medium of the colloquial dialect, the Irish language, \vhy should it not be employed for such invaluable purposes ? But I add nothing more : perhaps the set time is already come when this long-neglected tongue will be employed, not merely as a medium of intercourse between man and man respecting the trifles of a day, but for all those in- valuable ends to which, in common with every other form of human speech, it has been all along destined by the great Author of Nature, — and the time also when these ends will be gained, not only in a distant or ob- scure corner, here and there, but in some degree com- mensurate with the necessities of the country.
" We even doubt whether it be possible to possess one genuine virtue without the love of country. But it is the Christian religion which has imparted to this love its proper measure and its real beauty. Christianity has made it a principal and not an exclusive love. That is a charity which begins at home, but never ends there."
" Ar son tig'e an Tig'earna ar n D6; iarrsa m6 mait' d'uitsi."
Irish Scriptures.
. ... .
Yet the day-star shall rise on the gloom of our sorrow, Woe reigns to night here, but joy comes to-morrow ; From the fountain of life we may comfort still borrow, Which earth and her princes can never bestow." —
Native Irishman ofMagfiera.
- 1..'
APPENDIX.
Primitive Races and their respective Dialects.
THE various points of inquiry, which are merely glanced at in this Appendix, the writer has not yet enjoyed the opportunity of investigating to the extent he could have wished. He at- taches, therefore, nothing of that importance to them which is generally felt when any favourite theory is to be defended ; and if, by those who are more conversant with these subjects, he should be found incorrect in any particular, this will neither affect the argument of the preceding pages, nor weaken our ob- ligations with regard to the present race of the Native Irish.
Among the learned men who have studied the subject of European antiquities, there seems to be but one opinion with regard to the quarter from whence the great body of her popu- lation came. They all profess to discover a rolling tide pro- ceeding from the east, — wave following after wave, — the weaker giving way to, or pushed forward before, the more powerful ; and though to point out the abode of all the Nornade tribes in given periods may be beyond the power of human research, yet writers of the most opposite opinions agree in regarding the most westerly as the most primitive or ancient nations. First in the possession of the soil, at the very dawn of history we see them first disturbed, and never having been entirely destroyed, remnants of them still remain. Without any discordance of sentiment, we may advance at least one step farther. The in- dications of three distinct and successive populations are gener-
336 APPENDIX.
ally recognised by all the best authorities — two pervading the western and northern regions of Europe, and the third its east- ern frontiers. These three, according to various authors, are the Celtse, the Goths or Scythians, and the Slavonians ; or the Celtse, the Teutones, and the Sauromatae of Dr Murray. With- out multiplying authorities, or proceeding farther back, it may be remarked, that Dr Percy, the bishop of Dromore, in the year 1770, distinctly marked two of these — the Celtic and the Gothic, — a distinction recognised by Mr Pinkerton, notwith- standing his opinions respecting the former. To these the third is now generally added, the Sarmatian. Other nations more recently entered, but these are the main sources of the ancient European population. It is to the first of these three, confess- edly the most western division of this great European family, that our attention is here directed.
Upon opening the map of Herodotus by Major Rennel, we find the Cynetse and Iberi on the'western shores of Europe, and immediately behind the former at least, the Celtse. The re- peated assurances of Herodotus, that, although in his time the Celts had spread from the Danube to the Pillars of Hercules, there was another nation still farther west, called the Cynetae or Cynesii, accounts for this distribution on the map. " These Celtse are found beyond the Columns of Hercules ; they border on the Cynesians, the most remote of all the nations who inha- bit the western parts of Europe ;" and, referring again to the Celtse, he adds, — " who, except the Cynetse, are the most re- mote inhabitants in the west of Europe."* Strabo, when re- ferring to the Cantabrians, mentions the ' Cantrabi Conisci.'t Festus Avienus, in the beginning of the fifth century, or about 870 years later than Herodotus, notices the Cynestes, as a peo- ple inhabiting the border of Spain and Portugal.^ In many later writers we read of those who are called the Cunei, and in the Welsh triads we meet with a people denominated the Cynet. Modern authors have not entirely overlooked this ancient and primitive race. " Beyond the Celtic hordes," says Townsend, " in the utmost extremities of Europe, towards the setting sun, the Cynetse (KB»»T«I) either fed their flocks, or more probably
* Herod. Etoterpe, 33. Melpom. 49. f Strabo, lib. III. p. 162. ed. Pari«, 1620. $ Ora Maritima, £00.
APPENDIX. 337
were to be numbered among the hunting tribes.* " Herodo- tus," says Mr Sharon Turner, " places a people, whom he calls Cunesioi, beyond the Celts." t In the history of European lan- guages by Dr Murray, while he ranks the Native Irish under the general term of Celtse, he uniformly speaks of them as the most primitive division — the original stem which had penetrat- ed in the earliest ages into the west of Europe.
But the Iberi as well as the Cynetae are placed by Herodotus on the western shores of Europe. Now Dionysius Periegetes (verse 281), about the commencement of the Christian era, mentions them in the same position : —
On Europe's farthest western border dwell Tlr Iberians, who in warlike might excel.
And Strabo, in his description of Gaul, confirms the statement of Herodotus, that the Iberians were a separate nation from the Celts. Speaking of the inhabitants of Gaul, seemingly with reference to the account which Julius Caesar had given of them half a century before, he says, " Some have divided them into three portions, denominated Aquitani, Belgae, and Celtse ; but the Aquitani differ from the rest entirely, not only in language but in person, and resemble the Iberi more than the Celtse. As for the others, their appearance is Celtic ; their language is not wholly the same, but in some respects varies a little ; in government and manners they are nearly alike." £ The other inhabitants of Gaul, here contrasted with the Aquitani, seems to evince that Gaul as well as Spain was anciently occupied by people of two distinct nations, of which the more eastern were the Celtae, the more western the Iberi and Cynet*.
With regard to Britain, Caesar affirms, that " its interior part was inhabited by those who were immemorially natives of the island, but the maritime part by those who had passed thither from the Belgse, intent on predatory hostilities."§ Taci- tus, a century later, says, that those who dwelt " nearest to the Gauls resembled them," but that " the brown complexions
* Townsend's Character of Moses, &c. vol. II. p. 62. f Hist, of Anglo-
Saxons, 3d ed., vol. I. p. 40. t Strabo, lib. IV. p. 319. See Greatheed's In-
quiries respecting the Origin of the Inhabitants of the British Isles. Archa-ologia, vol. XVI. part 1. p. 98. $ De Bello Gallico, lib. V. cap. 12.
338 APPENDIX.
and curling hair of the Silures intimated that the ancient Iberians had passed over from Spain, and had occupied that part of Britain."* The Iberians, however, had certainly stretched into Aquitain (according to Pliny formerly called Armor ica), and it is possible that the migration now referred to, might be from Gaul rather than Spain.
The connexion between the early inhabitants of Ireland and those of Britain will be again adverted to ; though here we may observe, that, notwithstanding the fables with which it has been intermingled, the Irish tradition, which states their an- cestors to have come from Spain, appears worthy of credit. Even the sceptical may admit this as likely to account for part of its inhabitants, as it is not inconsistent with the certainty that there were other immigrations.
In giving these brief and imperfect notices of the primitive populations, it seemed expedient not to overlook the denomina- tions given to the most western, although they are by most wri- ters only glanced at and then dismissed, or lost in the general term of Celtic. Though in the present stage of inquiry into the original populations of Britain, and the western shores of the European continent, some will hesitate to admit the entire theory of Mr Greatheed in the Archaeologia, it is at least pos- sible that the scattered rays of evidence may even yet lead to the conclusion, not only that the people now denominated Na- tive Irish, being the farthest west now, were the farthest west then, but that, sprung from the most primitive division of the Celtae, they may be traced as descendants of the ancient Iberi or Cynetffi, if these were not in fact one people, speaking, it is probable, kindred dialects. Granting, however, that these terms were dropped, and that the Irish are to be considered as a branch of the great Celtic family, we now briefly notice the light in which they have been thus regarded.
In taking a view of the original, or at least the ancient po- pulation of Europe, Dr Murray gives a place to the Native Irish, which he carefully preserves throughout both of his vo- lumes. " The primary tribes of Europe are," he says, " as is generally known, 1st, The Celtse, ancestors of the Irish; 2d,
» Vita Agricolae.
APPENDIX.
The Cymri, progenitors of the Welsh, Cornish, and Armori- cans." — " In the west of Gaul, and in Britain, there is evi- dence to presume that the greater part of the population con- sisted of that division of the Celtic race whose posterity now possesses the name of Cymri ;* but in Ireland the population was wholly Celtic, of that original stem which had penetrated in the earliest ages into Gaul, Spain, and the British isles."— " The ancestors of the Cymri were of Celtic origin, but they had remained nearer to the east, in the heart of Europe, while their kindred reached the Atlantic ocean. Savage war and emigration at length drove the Cymri before the Teutones into the west, whence they expelled the Celtse, and took possession of Gaul and Britain." — Again he says, — " The allies of the German Cimbri and Teutones were not Celts of the Irish divi- sion. That primitive race had been expelled from the conti- nent, a few tribes only excepted, before the dawn of history."
The primitive populations of Europe have, for several gene- rations, formed a standing subject of controversy, to which, unquestionably, the confounding of generic with confederative terms, and the want of accurate acquaintance with the lan- guages spoken, have contributed. At least it is surprising to see the confidence which has been maintained by some who had not thought it to be essential that they should first thoroughly investigate the colloquial dialects. If languages are admitted to a certain extent to be the pedigree of nations, the forlorn hope of greater unanimity seems to rest on such in- vestigations, provided they are conducted with due patience and candour. Some languages, it is true, have undergone great changes, and words remaining have entirely changed their meaning; though, after all, language is one of the most en- during and unchangeable things with which we are acquainted, both with regard to its terms and even its very tones or accent. The productions of the soil may, in many instances, be torn up and exported, or the manners and customs of a people may so change, that the relics which remain shall baffle the se- verest scrutiny ; but not so their language : this remains and
* This title, borne by the present Welsh, is not very ancient ; nor was it given to their ancestors in Gaul or Britain in the time of Casar.— Murray, voL H. p. 315.
340 APPENDIX.
descends like their family-features, and whether neglected or proscribed, long survives all such treatment. If, in addition to this quality of endurance, the changes to which any lan- guage has been exposed, should be found in general to have in fact only obeyed a law, then the investigation becomes, not only more interesting and precise, but the access to the anti- quity of nations by this line is less affected by the lapse of time than that of any other with which we are acquainted. A different opinion indeed has been entertained by some, and we do not forget the idea of Horace :
As when the forest with the bending year First sheds the leaves which earliest appear, So an o!d race of words maturely dies, And some, new born, in youth and vigour rise ; Many shall rise that now forgotten lie, Others in present credit soon shall die, If custom will, whose arbitrary sway, Words, and the forms of language, must obey.
But a simile, however beautiful, is no argument, and better philologists have entertained a very different opinion from the poet in this instance. " I am now convinced," said the late Dr Murray, " that the wildest and most irregular operations of change in every language obey an analogy which, when it is discovered, explains the anomaly ; and that, as is common in the study of all progressive knowledge, a view of the gradual (and progressive) history of human speech, in any consider- able portion of the world, leads directly to a scientific acquaint- ance with its principles, which may be of the highest use in illustrating obsolete dialects, in preserving the purity of our own, in facilitating the intercourse of any one nation with all others, and in completing the moral topography of the globe."*
# As an illustration of the necessity of attention to the languages spoken, as far as this is practicable, I may notice a degree of discordance between the assertions of two authors, which this attention alone is likely to remove. In referring to the progress of emigration westward, — " There can be little doubt," observes Dr Mur- ray, " that it proceeded in this order ; first, the Celtae, by the way of the Euxine, and along the Danube into Gaul; next, the Cymri in the rear of them, and originally part of them, though changed in point of language by long separa- tion. At length the Cymri occupied Gaul and the adjoining countries ; but they were soon followed by the Teutonic nations, whom they for a time resisted ably, and even invaded in their territories beyond the Danube, The Cymraig Gauls
APPENDIX. 341
But whatever may be the opinions formed of these ancient tribes, — whether the Irish and the Scots Highlanders are to be denominated Cyuesian, Iberian, or ancient Celtic ; and the Welsh, Cornish, and Armorican are to be distinguished as Cymri or Cymraic Gauls; and the inhabitants of Beam and the lower Pyrenees, who speak the Basque, are to be associated with either, or, more anciently, with both, — or whether the whole continue to fall under the general denomination of Cel- tic, describing the difference between them by a more accurate analysis of their several dialects ; still there is so much of affi- nity, that the whole must be regarded as the children of one common parent stock. .-^*-
A few remarks with regard to the languages spoken by each will conclude this Appendix. Two of these are generally said to be extinct,— the Cornish, and a dialect sometimes styled the Waldensian. The living languages are the Basque the Bas Bretagne, the Welsh, the Manks, the Gaelic, and the Irish, which we shall place last, as desirous of leaving it to the read- er's consideration, in connexion with the general subject and design of these pages.
Cornish.
This language, which has sometimes been denominated the Lloegrian, is supposed to have been spoken by a people who once dwelt on the banks of the Loire, but who fled to Britain before some of the Teutonic tribes. It had at one period been much more extensively spoken, the people having occupied not only the south-western but the interior parts of England. This dialect is now extinct in this country, having died away in a great degree by emigration to the Continent, after having been driven into the narrow compass of Cornwall. In this
carried their arms along the Danube into Illyricum and Dalmatia ; they took pos- session of the Alps, and colonized the whole north of Italy." — VoL II. pp. 40, 41. Dr Pritchard, on the other hand, says, — " It is remarkable that it is with the Irish dialect of the Celtic that the barbarous portion of the Latin coincides. The Cel- tic people, therefore, who inhabited Italy in early times, were akin to the Irish Celts, and not to the Britons or Celtic Gauls." — VoL II. p. 150. At thesametime, it may be observed, that when Dr Murray speaks- of the Irish having left the con. tinent, he, as already quoted, says, " a few tribes only cxcepted.'"
342 APPENDIX.
county, during the reign of Henry VIII., Cornish was the uni- versal language. In 1602, Carew, in his survey, speaks of it as declining. In 1610, Norden, in his History -of Cornwall, says it was chiefly used in the western hundreds. About the middle of that century, however, several parishes discovered strong attachment to their native tongue, and in 1640 Mr Wil- liam Jackson, Vicar of Pheoke, found himself under the neces- sity of administering divine ordinances in this dialect, as his parishioners understood no other. About the beginning of the eighteenth century, 1701, Cornish is said to have been confined to five or six villages. But, even so late as 1746, Captain Bar- rington, sailing on a cruise to the French coast, took with him from Mount's Bay a seaman who spoke Cornish, and he was understood on the coast of Bretagne. The last individual who continued to speak no other language than Cornish was a fe- male, who lived till she was about if not above one hundred years old.
Emigration must in a great degree account for the extinction of this language in England, as it still greatly survives in the colloquial dialect of some parts of Brittany ; but, at the same time, it was, of all the other Celtic dialects, the most exposed to inroad. A singular confirmation of its extensive use at one period may be mentioned. " Let any one," says Mr Greatheed, " consult the Archseologia Britannica of Dr Lhuyd, and he will find the differences of its sounds from the Welsh minutely described. Now, in all these, the Cornish so remark- ably agrees with the English pronunciation, that there is scarcely a sound in our language in which we vary from other European nations that may not be traced to the Cornish or an- cient Lloegrian."*
The Waldensian.
In the time of the Protectorate, Sir Samuel Morland was . sent by Cromwell to intercede with the Duke of Savoy, at Tu- rin, on behalf of the Waldenses ; and to relieve their distress, as far as money could do so. Above L.38,000 sterling was raised (a large sum indeed at that period,) and he resided for some
* Archseologia, voL XVI. p. 113. afa
APPENDIX, 343
time, chiefly in Geneva, dispensing this bounty. Secretary Thurlow and Archbishop Ussher had suggested to Sir Samuel, that he might employ his leisure time to good purpose, in col- lecting documents respecting the history and religious princi- ples of this ancient people. Sir S. succeeded in procuring a number of manuscripts and other pieces, the greatest propor- tion of which were written by the inhabitants of the Valleys, and many of them in their own language. These papers, con- sisting altogether of twenty-one volumes, numbered A, B, C, &c., were presented by this gentleman to the public library of the University of Cambridge, and lodged there in the month of August, 1658. " In the volume F are collected and written on parchment, in that which is called the Waldensian language, of a very ancient, but fair and distinct character, the gospel of Matthew ; the first chapter of Luke ; the gospel of John, the Acts, 1st Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1st Thessalonians, 2d Timothy, Titus, the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews, with 1st and 2d Peter, the two last imperfect."* Whether this manuscript be written in the ancient and genuine Waldensian, I cannot at present affirm with certainty, espe- cially as one or two of those which are said to be in the lan- guage of the inhabitants of the Valleys, are written, in fact, in the colloquial dialect of the age, which, of course, underwent considerable changes, according as the French or Italian influ- ence prevailed. Parts of the manuscripts which are quoted by Morland have been considered to be specimens of the Catalo- nian, or a language nearly allied to it.
The distance of the Waldensian from the other dialects men- tioned, in point of local situation, would render the most dis- tant resemblance between it and them a matter of considerable curiosity ; but the resemblance between the Waldensian and the Irish or Gaelic seems to be by no means distant. " The Irish," says Davis, " appears to be, on the whole, better pre- served than either the Erse or the Waldensic : it contains abundantly more of written document ; but as the difference between them all is trifling, I shall speak of them in general as Irish." Chamberlayn, in his Oratio Dominica, has not inform- ed us from whence he procured his specimen of the Walden-
* Holland's History of the Churches of Piedmont, p. 99.
344 APPENDIX.
sian ; but that the Irish and Gaelic reader may see how nearly that specimen resembles their respective dialects, it is subjoin- ed from this author, who is generally considered not an inferior authority.
The superior figure (8) used below, answers the same purpose with the superior (•) or point used by the Irish when printing in their own character, and it corresponds to the h of the Gaelic orthography.
THE LORD'S PRAYER IN WALDENSIAN.
Our Narme ata air neamb3. Beanich atanim. Gu diga do riogda. Gu denta du hoill, air tain? in mar ta ar neambs. Tab- har d* im an miigh ar naran limb2 ail. Agus mat (Puine ar fiach ambail near marhmhid arjiacha. IVa leig s?n amb* aribh ach soarsa shin on olc. Or slttsa rioghta combta agus gloir gu sibhiri. Amen.
I have had no means of ascertaining the correctness or au- thenticity of this specimen, but the reader will recollect the as- sertion of Dr Pritchard already given, — that the Celtic people who inhabited the north of Italy in early times were akin to the Irish Celts, and not to the Britons or Celtic Gauls.
The Basque.
Of this dialect, sometimes called Vase, Gascon, Biscayan, or Cantabrian, the most opposite opinions have been expressed, probably owing to its peculiar and complicated formation, it being a mixed language, having received large accessions from the Latin. Adelung, indeed, thought that it could not be re- garded as a branch of the great Celtic family ; but Lhuyd has given a list of derivatives from it, which are still extant in the Irish tongue. One reason why some may have hesitated to as- sociate it with Celtic is perhaps to be ascribed to its having lost one peculiarity common to these dialects, — that of chan- ging the initial consonants of words according to the connexion or relation in which they stand ; somewhat in the manner of
APPENDIX. 345
the Masoretic Hebrew. Its radical terms, however, are usually to be found in one or another of the Celtic or Iberian dia- lects, and some of them in all of these : and it retains one cha- racteristic feature in the most striking manner, that of conju- gating and declining the present and imperfect tenses of verbs active, not by inflections, but by the use of auxiliary verbs. It is, however, only from the radical parts of its words that a judgment of its real origin can be formed; but this criterion, when ascertained, is decisive. At least so says Mr Greatheed, from whom this account is taken ; but other authorities are not wanting. " The Vase," says Dr Murray, " the Irish and Welsh, are radically the same." And it is worthy of observa- tion, says Townsend, that " Bowles, an Irishman of strong un- derstanding and extensive information, who for many years re- sided in Spain, was struck with the marks of resemblance be- tween the customs of the Biscayans and those of his country- men, and delivered it as his opinion, that they were one people." Within these few years, a history of ancient and modern Spain has been published by Chevalier Bossi at Milan, in which he professedly treats of the early Celtic and Phoenician influence exercised over Spain, confirmed by the traces which it has left in the manners, ceremonies, and language of the country. Perhaps this work throws additional light on the subject.
Of this language there are several dialects, the principal of which are said to be the Biscayan and the Guipuscoan. The natives call the former simply Escuara, i. e. vernacular.
There is a grammar in the Basque and Spanish tongues by Larramendi, adapted to the Guipuscoan, — a Latin and Can- tabrian Dictionary in manuscript, which seems to have belong- ed to the late Bishop of Durham, or was under his care, as well as a version of Genesis and Exodus in Cautabrian. An edition of the New Testament in Basque was printed at Rochelle so early as the year 1571. It was published by JUAN LIZZER- AGO, a native of the province of Beam, at the expense and with the authority of Joan d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, to whom it is dedicated in French.* The Gospel of Matthew was lately published at Bayonne, in Basque, entitled — " Jesus Christoren Evangelic Suindua, S. Mathiuren Arabera. Itculia
» Le Long, I. p. 446.
346 APPENDIX.
escuarara Lapurdico Lenguayaz, 1826." Within these five years a copy of this ancient version of the Gospel in Basque was found in the University library at Cambridge.
The extent of this language demands the attention of those who desire the improvement of this ancient people, the de- scendants of the Cantabri and Vascones, whose language once not only extended along the banks of the Ebro (Iberus), but more anciently throughout Spain itself. At present it is spoken chiefly by a people who live on the western side of the Pyrenees, and inhabit Navarre, Alcava, Biscaya, and Guipuscoa ; but it is spoken also by a considerable portion of the population in the south-west of France, inhabiting Basse Navarre, Soul and Labour, who understand no other language, and to whom there- fore the Scriptures in French are altogether unintelligible.
Armorican or Bas Bretagne.
The average of education in France is extremely low. Du- pin has lately affirmed, that it is only as one to thirty ! and at all events it is far below many other countries, or rather every other country in Europe, except Spain, Russia, and Turkey. At the same time, it is chiefly owing to the south of France being in such a neglected state that the average is so low. The southern half of this kingdom is a kind of contrast to the northern, cor- responding to that which exists between the Lowlands and Highlands of Scotland, and arising from precisely the same cause, the neglect of the vernacular dialects. We have noticed one class of French subjects to whom the Scriptures in that language are a sealed book ; but the truth is, that there are as many as nine or ten millions, to whom a book in French, though read to them, is almost if not altogether unintelligirjle. In short, every such book in these districts is of no value what- ever. The vision of all is to them, " as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed : and the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he saitb, I am not learned."
Now it is a curious fact, that the whole of this southern ground is strongly impregnated with Celtic. The dialects called Patois are, in fact, regular languages ; and if the reader wishes to know the present state of these districts, he may ob-
APPENDIX. 347
serve what has been recently said. " The departments in the centre of France, where ignorance and rudeness are most pre- valent, are exactly the ancient seat of the Celts. In the western part of this tract the Celtic race preserves its original language^ and throughout the whole of its extent we have reason to be- lieve that the basis of the population is Celtic still. The inha- bitants of these districts, in short, are at the bottom of the same family with the Welsh, the Irish, and the Scots Highlanders."*
Lagonidec, in his Breton Grammar and Dictionary, talks of there being above four millions of inhabitants who speak this language, — an assertion which should be verified, and if true, made generally known. The number may be overrated ; but there are unquestionably above 900,000 souls in the two depart- ments of Finisterre and Morbihan, in Lower Brittany, where the language is universal, yet it must extend farther than these, and the probability is, that all these tribes having been treated much in the same way as our own ; they require some decided friend to examine their actual state and publish the result.
The language is, we know, closely allied to the Welsh, and history seems to account for this ; for the Armor ican Celtae, about the beginning of the sixth century, received a new colony of British Celts.t These colonists, who landed on the shores of Brittany, afterwards stretched into the interior of the country to Rennes, and southward as far as Nantz, and these again were followed by others to such extent, that the names of De- von and Cornwall (near Brest) were imposed on the districts occupied or seized.
There are above thirty different volumes printed in this lan-
* To this passage it is then strangely added, that these are " tribes which, even at this day, are much inferior to the Gothic race in aptitude for civilization!" but that " education, a free press, and continued peace, will do much to improve the people of the south." — Foreign Quarterly Review, No II. p. 496-7. To this I only add, that, except the education is through the medium of the colloquial dialect, the press will be powerless, and whether there be peace or war, French schools will be of as little value as English have been in our Celtic districts. Try the native lan- guage, and if there is any " inaptitude for civilization" then, so far as education can civilize, it will be the first instance on record in any Celtic tribe. Had the " Gothic race" pursued a different policy, there had been no lack of civilization in these districts. All the Celtic tribes are distinguished for mental vigour.
t After the capture of Belle-isle by the British, in 1761, such of the soldiers as belonged to Wales were easily understood by the country people, and by means of their Welsh language served as interpreters to their English comrades.
348 APPENDIX,
guage, — a proof that the art of reading is not entirely neglected. Their condition as it regards the Scriptures has excited some notice, but at present the country must be in a state of almost entire destitution !
The Welsh.
Next in point of antiquity to the Irish, and as far as books and the art of reading have influence, more cultivated, the Welsh has been placed. In the rear of the Celts of Ireland not removing so soon, because perhaps more powerful, but ori- ginally part of the same people, though changed in respect of language by long separation, came the progenitors of the pre- sent inhabitants of Wales. The languages are radically, but only radically, the same ; and a variety of causes have contribut- ed to the difference which now exists between them.
" The Irish and the Welsh, when they were separated from the dialects of eastern Europe, are said by Dr Murray to have had ' inflections of nouns, consignifications of gender, and va- rieties in verbs, — but in the woods of Gaul, Britain, and Erin, they lost those complicated improvements.' And although this may be questioned by some who have not paid the same atten- tion to the subject, it will be allowed that the circumstances in which the two dialects were placed, after their importation to Ireland and Britain, were extremely different. Separated from each other by the sea though narrow, the lapse of time alone would certainly influence ; but the British or Cymraig of Wales were exposed for centuries to the influence of the Teutonic dialects and the Latin, as well as to the Saxon and Norman English, which the Irish were not. The power of corrupt pro- nunciation too has been felt by the Welsh as well as by the Irish ; but the former have withstood many encroachments on the form of the words, which the latter have admitted."*
There is some difference between the dialects of North and South Wales. The Bry thon or Strathclyde is supposed to have contributed its share of influence on the north, and the Cor- nish, or, as it has been sometimes called, the Lloegrian, on the
* Murray, II. 318.
APPENDIX.
south. This may account for the difference of speech in Gwy- nedh or North Wales,, and Deheubarth or South Wales, — a dif- ference which consists not in pronunciation only, hut in the use of various terras peculiar to each district.
The orthography of the Welsh having been changed with e. view to adapt the written to the spoken knguage, which the Irish has escaped, this may be the reason why at first sight some have imagined, that there is a greater dissimilarity between them than that which actually exists.
The object which the writer has in view with regard to Ire- land has been abundantly answered in Wales, as proved by the statements previously given. Sound policy now urges the ex- tension of the same incalculable benefits to the sister island.
The Monies.
This has been regarded as the connecting link between the Irish and the Welsh ; and it has been said to be not more dis- tantly related to the former and to the Gaelic of Scotland than Portuguese is to Spanish. It is a curious circumstance, that the incorporation of Icelandic terms is said to constitute the existing difference between the Manks and Irish or Gaelic. In the Manks, however, they also write and print as they pro- nounce,— a measure which tends materially to obscure the affinity existing between children of the same parent.
The Gaelic of Scotland.
This dialect is much more closely allied to the Irish than either of the two preceding. The words are almost the same, the structure every way similar, and the inhabitants, in many instances, conduct their little shipping connexions through the medium of the language common to both parties. There is, in short, much greater difference between the vernacular dialects of two counties in England, and they have greater difficulty in understanding each other, than an Irishman and a Highlander.
That this should be the case is not at all surprising ; for .whatever may be affirmed of times more remote, the irrup- tions from Ireland to Scotland are matter of authentic history.
350 APPENDIX.
The Native Irish.
It has been the singular fortune of each of the Celtic dialects to be treated contemptuously in succession ; and the Irish, whether ancient or modern, is the last of the series in the United Kingdom, which has begun to be regarded with en- lightened candour. If the extent to which it is still spoken is observed, as an instrument of moral improvement it will be found not the least important, though it has been by far the most unfortunate. Regarded with indifference by all classical scholars, and men well acquainted with the other living lan- guages of Europe, it has been also viewed with some jealousy even by Celtic scholars to whom one or other of its kindred dialects was vernacular ; while the vain attempts to extermi- nate the Welsh, the Gaelic, and the Manks, have been as no- thing when compared with those which poor Erin has had for ages to sustain. To these dispositions, however, there have long been honourable exceptions. The laborious Edward Lhuyd, keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, a Welsh- man, who, in the close of the seventeenth century, travelled through the Highlands of Scotland, through Ireland and Brit- tany, at his own expense, collecting and comparing these lan- guages, gives the highest rank in point of antiquity to the Irish ; and there have been other instances in succession from that period. One of these, alluding to the ancient written Irish, has said, — " To the antiquary this language is of the ut- most importance ; it is rich in pure and simple primitives, and which are proved such by the sense and structure of the long- est written compounds; by the supply of many roots which have been long obsolete in the Welsh and Armorican, but still occur in the compounds of these languages ; and by their use in connecting the Celtic dialects with Latin, Greek, and Gothic, and perhaps with some of the Asiatic languages." Alluding again to this language, he elsewhere affirms, that, after we have discarded its eastern terms, and others which cannot be derived from the native roots, it " presents the most accurate copy of the Celtic, in its original and primitive state, in the same man- ner as the Welsh does that of the cultivated or druidical Cel- tic. But in order to obtain a sound and deep knowledge of the
APPENDIX.- 351
general and discriminative character in the Celtic, we should compare all the dialects together."*
Fortunately all these dialects have at last been once compared, and that by Dr Murray, who, not being himself a Celt, will not be suspected of undue partiality to any one of them. This comparison, it is true, must have been pursued under some dis- advantages from the paucity of manuscripts and comparatively modern character of the Irish writing yet brought into view. But still the testimony of a scholar so eminent, will probably secure, for the long-neglected Native Irish, a portion of that respect and veneration with which every thing at once ancient and useful ought to be regarded. The length to which Dr Murray had gone in such investigations, must increase the re- gret for his premature decease ; but the progress he had al- ready made, although remaining open to future corrections, will probably be found of the highest value. After carefully examining the whole vocabularies and grammatical structure of the Teutonic dialects, after comparing these with the corre- sponding parts in the Greek and Latin, he also compared the Celtic dialects with one another, and with all those languages already mentioned. Although he found the Teutonic to be the least corrupted and most original of all, he says, that the Celtic and Finnish " display the most ancient signification of words," and that the Celtic in particular " possesses an un- rivalled and striking originality in its words, — a resemblance to the oldest varieties of language, and internal evidence that it is derived from the earliest speech of Europe." So great indeed was the assistance thus afforded to him in his researches, that he elsewhere says, — " I am almost inclined to assert, that with- out a knowledge of this language, no man can make much pro- gress in studying the philological history of Europe."
It was not likely that the comparative antiquity of the Irish should escape the notice of such a man, after such an investi- gation. This he carefully studied, and has repeatedly noticed. To him, at least, the inhabitants of Ireland appeared to have " spoken from the first ages a dialect of the Celtic peculiar to
* Davies' Celtic Researches, p. 233, 234. Although his researches are much in. jured by his imagination, he has contributed to gain for the Welsh remains more attention than they had been accustomed to receive.
352" APPENDIX,
themselves," which is to be distinguished from the British or Cymraig of Wales and the continental varieties, " by a smaller number of words coinciding with the Teutonic, and by an in- dolent and soft species of pronunciation, which has extended itself over the whole vocabulary." — " The allies of the German Cimbri and Teutones were," he says, " not Celts of the Irish division. That primitive race had been expelled from the con- tinent, a few tribes only excepted, before the dawn of history. As one proof of this, their ancient written language indicates, by form and inflection, their long and early separation from the parent, as well as from every other stock." Other authorities, to the same effect, might be added, were the writer at all solicitous on this point : though it is not many years since it would have been hazardous to the reputation of any author to have assert- ed, that, in point of antiquity, the Irish tongue would ulti- mately be placed at the head of all the dialects in the western world. The more recent investigations of the most learned and impartial philologists seem to be verging to this opinion ; and it only remains to be seen whether historical research, patiently and impartially pursued, will not lead to the same conclusion.
Whatever opinion may be formed by any man with re- gard to the substance or the particulars mentioned in this Appendix, it is cheering to think that for Ireland a better day is surely about to dawn. Her native language, long un- justly and foolishly reprobated, is gradually rising in import- ance even in a literary point of view. After a long and dreary night, a numerous body of our fellow-subjects come before us, — in want of the very means of improvement which have given to Britain whatever superiority she now enjoys above the na- tions around her, and many circumstances unite in saying, that our duty toward them is as imperative as it is manifest. A lan- guage in ilself so expressive and copious, spoken at this hour by a population so large, in a country of such importance to the whole kingdom, must of necessity be cultivated aad taught. Independently of its necessity as the only effectual instrument of immediate and permanent moral improvement in so many parts of Ireland, it is an ancient record, which, when properly regard- ed, will lend its aid in unfolding antiquity, and in resolving at least some of the mysteries of general philology.
INDEX.
Page
ACHIL, or Eagle, Island of, ~ 235
Aged Irish from 70 to 100 Tears, 273
Alcala de Henares, the Irish College of, 113
Aldhelrn, taught by an Irishman ...32, 33
Alfred, the Northumbrian King, in Ireland 32
Antwerp, the Irish College of, 115
Armagh, ancient College of, ....103
. burnt and repeatedly pillaged 25
Arran, South, Islands of, 236
Bacon's (Lord) advice respecting Ireland 137
Bas Bretagne, a Celtic dialect ...346
Basque, a mixed language, but Celtic 344
Bedell's early Life Abroad and at Home 55, 56
noble disinterestedness 56 — 58.62.70
- Exertions in Trinity College 57. 106. 140
in Kilmore and Cavan... 58. 141
. in translating the Scriptures 59
at the Convocation of 1634 61. 140
Defence of the Irish Translation 62 — 68
Trials previous to his Death 67
Sickness, Death, and Funeral 68, 6SI
Irish Manuscripts preserved 78
Hebrew AISS. preserved by an Irishman — Note 60
Posthumous influence 149
Irish Old Testament printed 78—80
Books suggested for translation 268. 274
Bordeaux, the Irish College of, 120
Bouley, the Irish Seminary of, 121
Boyle's (Hon. Robert) Life and Character 72—76
Exertions in publishing the Irish Scriptures 76—83
Bramhall's reverence for the character of Fitzralph — Note -..45
opposition to Bedell 45. 61
Burke's (Edmund) interest in Irish MSS 29
Building, not one in all Ireland dedicated to the ministry of the word in the Irish tongue, 8. 162. 317
Charlemagne employed Irish Teachers 33
Children, Irish, from 5 to 15 Years of Age 273
Classics taught by an Irish Schoolmaster .275
Connaught, Irish districts of, 213, 214. 221
Constance, Irish Nation recognised at, 48
Cornish Dialect, or Lloegrian 341
Culdee, Angus the, 87
354 INDEX.
Page
Desire for Education in Ireland 275, 276
Douai, the Irish College of, 113
Dublin, Trinity College 104. 54. 111. 126
Education through the medium of Irish 270 — 290
, power of, limited, in every Language 163
, vanity of expecting too much from, 163. 323
Elizabeth (Queen) sends over Irish types 51
sends English Bibles to the Irish people 135
Preamble to her Act of Uniformity 135
English spoken, but very partially understood 200. 223
Schools in Wales abortive 176 — 18(5
Schools in the Highlands ditto 229. 287
Schools in Ireland ditto 229. 287
Erasmus, the wish of, for the Irish 266
Extent of the Irish language 206—231
Fitzralph's Life and Exertions 41 — 47
French Schools in England abortive 170, 171
Celtic Districts 346, 347
Gaelic Language 315,316.349
Scriptures, list of editions 259
Circulating Schools 198. 246. 278
Scholars of mature Age 199. 246
Prayer-Book of 1567— Note 52
Ministers once in Ireland , 153, 154
German Schools in Bohemia abortive 175
Schools in Lusatia ditto 172
Guipuscoan, a Dialect of the Basque .....345
Henry VIII., absurd act of, 153? ;>....132. 162
Highlanders, Scots, in Ireland ....154
, peculiar obligations of, towards Ireland 314—316
Hildesley, Dr Mark, his character and exertions 188 — 191
Ignorance in a Family, evils of, 270, 271
not the only evil to be removed 323
Infants in Ireland of 5 Years and under ....273
Innismurry, the Island of, 235
Johnson's (Dr Sam.) interest in Ireland 29
Letter as to the Gaelic Scriptures 196
Ireland and Wales contrasted 255 — 266
Irish Language and its Extent 206 — 231
_— _ Infants of 5 Years and under 273
Children from 5 to 15 Years ib.
Operatives from 15 to 70 ib.
Aged above 70 to 100 Years ib.
Aged above 100 Years 272,2/3
Literary History or Gleanings 13 — 102
Septs in the Fifteenth Century 131. 203
Act of Henry VIII 132. 162
Act of Uniformity, preamble to 135
Manuscripts 25 — 29
New Testament, first, by Fitzralph 46
— New Testament, translation of, 52 — 54
Prayer-Book printed 54
— Book first printed in Ireland 52
INDEX. 355
Irish book first printed on the Continent* 84
types procured by Mr Boyle 77
Circulating Schools 278
Model Schools proposed 128. 277
Schools, proportion to population 163. 281
Scriptures, list of, 257—261
• Testament, preface to Boyle's, 151
Books suggested for translation 268. 274
— — Eagerness for education 275, 276
Professorship 125—127. 161
Oral Instruction 129—166. 209—229
Tongue finely adapted for oral instruction 295
Ministers entreated to acquire it 294 — 314
Islands of Ireland 232—249
One hundred and forty inhabited 240. 244—249
Knowledge, the impotence of mere, 323
Language, no European Kingdom of one, 206
determined adherence to vernacular, 195
• Irish, and its present extent 206 — 231
Learning, share of the Irish in the earliest of Europe 33—36
, Schools of, abroad and at home 103 — 128
Leinster Irish districts 212, 213. 220, 221
Lille, The Irish College of, 115
Lisbon, The Irish College of, 113
Literary History or Gleanings 13 — 102
Longevity, comparative, in Ireland 273
Louvain, The Irish College of, 115
Lyons, Irish Nation recognised at, in 1255 48
Manks language 349
Scriptures and Schools 187 — 194
Manuscripts, Irish, 25 — 29
Marsh's interest in the Irish Scriptures 78— -80
interest in an Irish Ministry 158
library — Note Ill
Maynooth, Irish Professor 108. 125
Monster Irish districts 213, 214. 219. 221
Nantz, The Irish College at, 121
Native Irish, to the, 319—334
New Testament, the first Irish, 46
Objections answered 167—205
Obscurity of British Antiquities partly accounted for 207
Operatives, Irish, from 15 to 70 Years of Age 273
Oral Instruction by the Irish language 129—166. 291—318
, Want of, in the sixteenth Century :...134
, Want of, in the present day 159—162,317
, Instituted power of, 163—166.292
, Necessity for, 291—318
» On the author's copy of this very rare book, by B. Obhadhasa, Hosseus or Hussey, is written ' Dermitius Cartseus et Hibcrnis Commorantibus, 1619 :' but this seems to be the first edition, though it has no date. It is beautifully executed in square 24mo— the leaves only are numbered.
356 INDEX.
Page Oxford, early Irish Students— Note 51
Parents' wish for English noticed 228, 229. 286, 287
Paris, The Irish College in, 121—124
Poitiers, The Irish College of, 120
Poor to be regarded 322—326
Poverty, the state of considered 322
Prague, the Irish College of. 119
Printing, the Irish, early employed in, 48 — 50
Raghlin, The Island of, 233
Rome, The Irish Colleges at, 116—118. 120
Salamanca, The Irish Colleges of, 112
Schools of Learning 103—128
, French, in England abortive 170, 171
, . -, German, in Bohemia ditto 175
, German, in Lusatia ditto 172
, English, in Wales ditto 176—186
, English, in the Highlands... ditto 229. 287. 288
, English, in Ireland. ditto 229. 287
_— —. , English, in the Isle of Mann ditto 194
Sidney's (Sir H.) advice respecting Ireland 13?. 159
Spanish Celtic Districts 344
Stationary oral instruction, not the only mode 306
Tory, The Island of, 234. 244
Toulouse, The Irish College of, 119
Tournay, The Irish College of. 115
Trinity College, Dublin, founded 104
, , Instructions of James 1 105
, no Professor of Irish hi it, 108. 111. 126. 161
, early Scholars at — Note 54
, Library— .Wbte 110
Types, Irish, carried abroad 71- 148
Ulster Irish districts 212, 213. 220, 221
Unlettered, Christianity regards the, 302. 307
Unfounded Objections answered 167 — 205
Venice, Irish corrector of the press at 49
Waldensian, ancient Dialect 342
Wales and Ireland contrasted 255—266
Welsh Language 348
Scriptures 255— 266
Literature 263—265
Preaching 160. 184
Circulating Schools 178—187.284
Wenden, vain attempt to abolish by teaching German 172
Wilson — of Sodorand Mann 187
Page 49. Oxoniensis, r. Oxonienses. — Page 158. Berkley, r. Berkeley,
PRINCIPAL NAMES MENTIONED.
Page Page Page
Albin 33;Edgeworth 282 Lynch, P 275
Alcuine 32, 33 J Erasmus 266
Aldhelm 32lErigena 33. 35 Macarthur 154
Alfred 32 Macallum 154
Angus 3? Fitch SOMacaghwell 84
Archdekin 87. 115| Fitzgerald 120 Maccurtin 95
Atkins 156IFitzralph 41. 47jMacguire 50
Flood, H 108. 126:Magenis 121
Bacon, Lord 137 Fulgentio 60 Maildulf. 33
.54
Marianus, Scotus....37
Marsh 78.106.158
Maurice, 49
Bathe 51 Fullerton.
Bede 31,32
Bedell 55—70. 106 Gallagher 97
140. 149. 166 Gambold 265 M'Naghten 114
Beling 23 Geamon 86 Middleton 264
Berkeley 158 Gotofrid 39 Moore 111.122
Bramhall 45. 61 Gouge 264 Moore, P 192
Brown, N IMJGower 193 Murray.. ..327. 348. 351
Boyle 72—83.150.
...152. 269
Gray, Fl 84
Nary 123
Burke 29Halliday 296 Nicholson 80.94
Butler 119 Hamilton 54
Harris 112O'Brian 12£
Carswell 52jHerodotus 336 O'Bryan 98
Ceolfnde 32|Heber, 210O'Cionga. 53
Charles 178;Heylyn, 264 O'Clery 85
Claudius 33,Higgins. 78.79 O'Donell 51.53
Clement. SS^ildesley 188O'Fihely 49,50
Cogley 50 Huntington 80'O'Molloy 88
Corny 85. HSJHussey 84.355 O'Mulconaire 85
Creagh 51 Hutchinson 234 O' Regan 39
Cusack, P 51 O'Reflly 98
Cusack,C 114 James 1 138 O'Reilly, E. 28.100.296
Cusack, Sir T 134 Jablonski 172 O'Sheridan 59
Johnson. Dr 29. 196Ormond. 91
Daniel, W 51. 53 Jones, Dr 78. 152 Owen 128. 143. 262
Davies,Dr 264 Jones, G. 176. 179. 2841
Davies 351 jPrice 76. 149
De Rentsi 296 Kearney 51 j
Dewar 100. 202. 214 Keenan 125'Reily 78— 80
Diodati 56 Kelly 192 Richardson 58
Donellan 51. 53 King 53.59.62 Richardson, J...91. 94.
175 265
Donlevy....96. 123. 318
Dowling 51 Laud 62. 63 Richards,
Duncan 33. 35 Lloyd 264!Rhese, 264
Dungal 33. 35 Lhuid 86.350 Rhydderch, 265
358 PRINCIPAL NAMES M Page Roberts 263 Svlvma |
ENT Page 113 .106 .207 193 40 |
|
Salesbury 263 |
Taylor, Jer Thierry Thorold |
|
Sail 76. 150 |
||
Sedulius 33 34 |
||
Sidney, Sir H. 136. 159 Skelton 122 |
Thomas 11 ib . |
|
Tighemach |
38 |
|
Usher, Sir W Ussher 54. 63. Ussher, H |
..54 315 ..54 |
|
.Stany hurst . . . . ; 51 |
||
Stewart 203.288 |
||
Stokes 100. 211 Strabo 244, 245 |
296 116 |
|
Strafford 62—66 |
Wadding |
|
Swift 28. 208.210 |
||
Page
Wakefield 213
Walsh 51
Walsh, F 119
Ware, Sir J 112
WetenhaU 90
White 112
WicklifTe 45
Williams 264
Wilhbrord 32
Wilson 187
Winter..l06. 145—148
Woodward 209
Wotton, SirH 56
Ximenes 113
717
LANGUAGES NOTICED.
Page Anglo-Saxon, .169. 207
Armorican 346
Bas Bretagne 346
Basque 344
Biscayan 344
Bohemian 175
( antabrian 344
Cornish 341
Cynesian.
.341
Page English 168
Erse 194
Escuara 345
Gaelic 194.349
Gascon 344
German; 172. 175
Guipuscoan 345
Iberian 337.341
Icelandic 349
Page
Irish 350
Lloegrian 341
Manks 349
Norman 169.207
Slavonian 172.175
Vase 344
Waldensian 342
Welsh 348
Wenden 172
THE END.
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