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and     Lrnesl     I 


ace 


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. 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  67 

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- 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  71 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  77 

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. 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  79 

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. 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  81 

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 


82  LITERACY  HISTORY. 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  83 

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. 


84  LITERARY  HISTORY. 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  85 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  89 

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. 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  91 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  93 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  95 

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, 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  97 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  99 

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 


LITERARY  HISTORY.  101 

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 


106  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  107 

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. 


108  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 ! 


SCHOOLS   OF    LEARNING.  109 

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 


110  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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. 


]12  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  113 

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. 


114  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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. 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  115 

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 


116  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  117 

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 


118  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING,  119 

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. 


120  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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. 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  121 

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 


122  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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. 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  123 

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. 


124  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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- 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  125 

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. 


]26  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING.  127 

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 


128  SCHOOLS  OF  LEARNING. 

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 


130  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  131 

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. 


132  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  133 

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 


•  „  ^ 


134  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  135 

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." 


136  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  137 

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. 


138  ORAL  INSTRUCT  ION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  139 

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 


140  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL  INSTRCCTIOtf.  141 

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 


142  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  143 

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. 


144  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


OKAL  INSTRUCTION.  145 

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- 


146  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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- 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  147" 

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 


148  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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, 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  ]49 

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 


150  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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, 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  151 

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. 


152  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  153 

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. 


154  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  155 

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. 


156  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  157 

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. 


158  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  159 

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." 


160  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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- 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  161 

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." 


J62  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


ORAL  INSTRUCTION.  163 

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. 


164  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


ORAL   INSTRUCTION.  165 

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 


166  ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


168  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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. 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  169 

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. 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  1J1 

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. 


172  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  173 

"  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- 


174  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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- 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  175 

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. 


176  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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- 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  177 

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. 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  179 

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, 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED,  181 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  183 

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 


184  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 ! 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  185 

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 


186  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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- 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  187 

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, 


188  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  189 

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 


190  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  191 

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." 


192  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  193 

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 


]94  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 ; 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  195 

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. 


196  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  197 

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 


198  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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. 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  199 

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. 


200  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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 


OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED.  201 

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- 


202  OBJECTIONS  ANSWERED. 

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. 


DESIDERATA^ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     293 

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 


294     DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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  ? 


DESIDERATA ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     295 

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 


296     DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


DESIDERATA ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     297 

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. 


298     DESIDERATA— ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

'  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, 


DESIDERATA— ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     299 

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. 


300    DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


DESIDERATA ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     301 

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 


302     DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


DESIDERATA ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     303 

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. 


304    DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.    305 

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. 


306      DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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. 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     307 

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- 


308      DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     309 

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. 

N2 


310     DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.    311 

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. 


312      DESrDERATA ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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- 

7 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     313 

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- 


314      DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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- 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.    315 

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 


318    DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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- 


DESIDERATA — ORAL  INSTRUCTION.     317 

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 


318     DESIDERATA— ORAL  INSTRUCTION. 

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 


320  TO  THE  NATIVE  IRISH. 

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- 


TO  THE  NATIVE  IRISH.  321 

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 


322  TO  THE  NATIVE  IRISH. 

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 


TO  THE  NATIVE  IRISH.  323 

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.- 


326  TO  THE  NATIVE  IRISH. 

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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