A CELTIC CHAIR IN THE "EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4174, 5 July 1875, Page 6

A CELTIC CHAIR IN THE "EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY.

A meeting of gentlemen favourable to the starting of a subscription throughout Otago, in aid of "the funds for the establishment of a Celtic Chair in connection with the University of Edinburgh, was held at the Provincial Hotel on Saturday. 12th ul'.; Mr W. A. Tolinie in the chair. There were about 20 gentlemen

present. : The 'Chairman, in an eloquent speech, advocated the movement, said there were various thhi"s in the world to be attended to besides the pursuit of the " almighty dollar, and ui«ed on Highlanders'to aid in the steps taken for maintaining and comserviug their ancient

MMr'l. 6 L. Gillies read the following paper prepared by the Home Committee :—

The study of Celtic has now taken place, all over Europe, as a recognised department of i>hilolojrn:!il science. 'National Universities are the natural centres and patrons of all such liberal studies. And t.rout Britain is under special obligation to give faculties, .through her University system, for the study of Celtic, because no .ewer than four dialects of Celtic are at tins hour among the living tongum of the population of the

British Empire. . , . • In support of this opinion, the Committee request attention to some testimonies of scholars to whom eltic is not a mother tonguo. A teatimoßy with which they have ueeu favoured by i r AnioUit w unnecessary to quote, because his work on llic btuuy Of Celtic Literature "is before tho public; the following statements will suffice fur the purpose in view :— FrofesjOt Muller wiitesns follows:— .... " It seom.i certainly a great ilcfeut that no lciud of encouragement should be given to tho study of the Celtic language and literature in any of the Untvenutiea of England, Scotland, or Ireland. Tho study of Celtic nlvtolngy has of late assumed a new and truly scientific character. It is no longer a suhjcot merely ior amateurs and tnthuslasts, but for acholara. Ihe opportunities for Btudyiug Celtic are greater hero than anywhere else. There we still four living .lwlcctsIrish G e:ic, Wcls!f,and Jtmx; there we ancient moruinonts, au.l rich collections of ma ni^ri .ta; and there is a national interest in the poetical traditions «f the Celtic nee. It seems to mo also as a national duty, that there should he some recognized olneur to take cave of the vast materials, and to act as a kind of authorised guide in this importantdomain of antiquarian and philological research. I'iie best plan wuulu no doubt be to "found a I'rofosa lahip.in Edinburgh, or m some other Univeraity."

3hovalicr Pi Nigni says (translation) :— , "I highly approve the idea .f founding a Chair ofCeltic Uii''ua"ca and Literatare in the UmverMty of Edinburgh. W>e idea does honour to the General Council of that illustrious University. I presume tliat the intention of the Council is to institute, not a more technical instruction in the modern Celtic tongues niid their literature, hut an instruction truly scientific, founded ou tho principles of comparative grammar and thoroughly U|>to the mark of the latest results of Un..u: s tie l'hilol'.gy. In that case I believe tlmt' nolßiug better could be done, than to' Uko for the lasis of that instructio'.i the G'tvmmar of Zeuss, willi the improvements which h.rve been made ou it by Messrs Ehel and Stokos." , Theso communications show that forelafii scholars feel entitled to look to Sc .tlanJ, and Scottish Universities, for tho Unir now proposed. Ihe same view was influentially expressed at liome more tlian a generation -.UK. Sir Walter Sivtt is known to have, in his later years, taken much interest in the preservation and study of Celtic literature. And an arf.clo in the Ouirlerlv Review for July. ISil, at ono tune thought to have bejn Scott's, hut now ascertained to have been oy Lockhart, his s.n-inlaw, puts the case in alight which the la : se of forty yeara lias only rendered more ir »Wheny weri-ene'ctTvhat benefits have already heen derived from the iiu-tiiution of nn An;;l>Sa\-oii I rofe^orahip at Oxford, it is impossible not to regret that iwither in that nor the sifter University, has the foundation of a Welsh Chair been thought of. The want of a Professorship of the Irish language and antiquities in the only U-iveraity of Ireland i", no doubt, a circumstance still more discreditable ; but, considering the enthusiastic interest which tho Scotch have ever taken in the ol 1 n onuments of their national existence and tho abundance of their academical apparatus for almost all purposes, even that do.s not; surprise us si mv h as the absence of any Gaelic endowment among their four Universities. Surely the numerous Highland and Celtic clubs, of whose proceedings >or the improvement of black cattle, and tho encouragement of the phSlabes, the newspapers arc continually reminding us, in ght do well to set a t art a titho, at loist, of their annuiil funds for an object of sucli unqucittonablu importance."

Mr Giluks also read the following appeal from tfce Home Committee to Highlanders in the 'Colonies : — ■

It lm long been a matter of rojjret with the fnei.ds of the Highlanders and all lovers of native: history sind literature" that tho -language of-the Gael, iis now spoken in tho Highlands .if Scotland and in the Colonies, has been treated with such undeserved neglect, not only by the inhabitants of the low countries, but in not a few e-iscs oven by tho ilwlilandots ttiom.eive-. . The consequence ol this has bee.., not onlvthlt the excellent poems of Ala»talr -M'Do mid, Duncan Ban M'lntyre, Kugald Buchanan, and m.ny others (not to mention the sublime strains of Ossiaii), are pracieally unknown to the sro^t mass ot lie Gioiic-spe-ikinL'-vouthof Scotl..iid,hiit th.t oven the 3 ,cred Scriptures i.i the Gac;ic version who* ejtce - Knee is sjen ; r»liy confesscd-aro left unread by hundred3<fpersor.s who e.n ho edified only t.y religious addresses in the familiar mother tomruo. Into the c-iiisesof this neglect -various avid sad as they have beeu-it is not no essary to enter hero; u*}\l*> sullicbut to allude to one-that, when young, Highlande s of any intellectual ambition betake them elves to the Universities of their native country in pursuit of the hi-hest afjiinablo culture, they find the Unjjuigo and literature of the Celtic races either not -named at all, lr named o.fy to be ridiculed, while all their energies are directed into tho channel .of Greek and Koman learnii." In these cireutustancs, it uj natural {or then, to look upon the lansriwgo of their great forefathers rather as a necessary evil than as an clement of so..(l: and if the teaching of the parish- schools has in most oases done li t!o to make tho young Gael familiar with the printed tradition* of Ins native toii"uo the fTutversitie.l generally succeed. m era.u-cafui-'nlt->!{otlicr front tho youth-any verm of enthusiasm for Celtic literature that .might have been srowimjintlwboaomolthcboy... ... r As the natural remedy t>. tliii evil,, a Jew friends of the Gael in the Council of the University of Edinburgh l>ethou"ht thomsolves of the very, obvious expedient of founding ti Chair of Celtic Laiiffingos and Literature in one of the Scottish Universities; Mid as the seat of such a Chair, Edinburgh at ...ice presented iteeif. not -only in respect <>{ its historical traditions and metropolitan position, but as bolntf the great centre of ecclesiastical mid intclle tual action in ScotWild Tlic erection of nuch a chair would at once hit up the aivuage of tho (Jaer from the contempt mto which it has fallen, und present-to aspiring young Highlanders an object of scholarly ambition in the field of their own roost eh <rished ti ad-tiona which has lon- been denied them. It w-uld mini <Xt,ly act, also as a "rand ti-.ituin(,'-schoot for those who are to be cmulovod as iircachers in the High'aiwl -pu pits, .tui-1 teachers in Guelic-spcakins <lis. ricts of ScotU d ; «nd in connexion with the Greek and Latin Olassw. »na Hie rcc-ntlv erfctwl Chair of Sanscrit, tend to create a school of" well-disc plincd scliolaw, who >nii{W. tli»r pute with the Germans, on Celtic (jreimd, the most Interctins and difficult problems of Conuuratne P'to°OTuer to realise this idea, as various circumstances rendered it li..pelcss to Jook to Government.,, at lea.it in the first place, for aid, a Committee was appointed, to collect eoMributioiw. of which Principal Sir Alexander Grant, the Honourab c I^nij.vmves Cluny MacPheraon I'nrfessoj Maason, Sheriff Nicolson, oi Kuk-nidbri-ht l'mfessor Biauklo.amt ProfessorMaeGrcJor, ,'.f tho Pro'e Church Cnlleg.", were prominent mew_bers. Of this Committee, Professor MacUregor was appomte,! Co-ivuner: but tins Pro-wwor. flndmtj his han.is suifieientlv oo»-iei ..tl.cvise, re'ired froiH the wort anil the duties h .lon !=.« ■> the Convcnership dcyolVMl oa Prrtfos* r ISUckio. At -'im. the encoun«geineiit ..ffe.v.l yrxs so »ll?ht t'«»t tins -nvr n >V>n -f the schenw almost dwinirodot siarjcsa: Imt U.. m..re the in.tter «:» looked into, and ll.c move ii :mly the. pulsp of tho true Hi'hlaudcrs w.is felt in the m.tter, tho moredid:ihe projMcti brighten, iui.l the result has b -en tint now, 'liter little mow than four months1 activity, » sum .-> more than £4009 has been mised, Bulwerilwd by the le'uling Highland aristiwmcy. the h nils of the Claw, iheiuer huiit princes of L->niloiri«id the West of Hml cittz.-i.i of various HixWaud towiw, ;md ihe Gaelic Societies tndCelliu C'lulm hi ■ iho vari-nia put, of Scf.tlaud where Highlanders, eongreaatu Her Majesty tlie Queen also,! a the Convener on the best anth irliy believeSj is in favour of tho scheme, and will stamp it with her approval an -oon as she seus it plactd mi a firm foundation of popular support. The Mini roiiuired as a capital to proviile an income of £400 * }W f..r the professor will be .£IO,OOO ; but. in order to'sceure the services of n Hmt-rat,; man, and eotiaidcriiu the increaseil i-xpons s of living m the lits-nt a«S, it is very desirable that .a sum of £12.000 or £14.000 shoul.i 1* sulwer.bcd. us it eaimnl. be expected that the youn,' nirtii who attend n-Celtic clans will cither be <• cry • umerous or ablo to p.iy a very nrnmnerotiva fee. The <:oinmittoe, h we-.x-r hivt- not tbe sli-hte^t reason to doubt tlmt there nr..- tunnJr. d» of intehl«*n' an 1 puriotic Highhmdors, both ;>r home "litl ab-oad who will not only bu roilly t > furnish the means for founding such a d air. but who might also bewilin" to increase in eHiciency by cn>atms along with it a Jew fellowship* which would »c: as a s n.iimry ot accomplish d Celtic scholars for future "cnc-ations. The intellectual misfortune of Scot-'and has idways been that University study liiw been confiuod too much to stricty profes.iion-.it eluuineis, ati.l that all learning which .locs, not produce a direct practical result has been allowed to ■starve. The,.""; tbis only it is that in so many uranohes (4 mtere-iinij rtse*ruh omses our acknowledged i.cidcm:cil in.-, teriorirv to the Germans mid the English; and from this specially arises the lamentable fact that Hie mo-t learne-1 work* on Celtic philology.have been composed by urofoi-soi-s in Gennun Untvcraities-ZeiHanil Ebci— not as would naturally have been expected, in the ITj-iversitics of the country where tbe fcuijrnayi' still flourishes in 'v green old njje. Corapamtivo i»liilolo.'.v nml ethti'ilo"y, with their iniwrtoit b-arings on ear-y histnry both" profane and biblical. suffer, as a iniUrr of course from the nc'leefcDf the malcreiT which lies :vt o»r .l.iors This iv r..ae!i tlnw v-M on our nati.ni.il iwriiiil- n.'tliin- will to"v .-. ,-tfe tivlly n. ivm-.vij >-s the scie-.itiii,; treatment, nt tho Oueik, ami oHierC«.Uic languages, on tbe elevated plattonu of University For these reasons, ana others which will rcidily o'-cur to you, we sincerely trust that you may teel moved to sivo the friends of the Celt m the mother eountrv th.t substantial aid which thqf require,

in order to realise the proposed scheme in manlier worthy of tho known patriotism of Highlanders. (Signed)

Cluny Macphersox. . . Amm Gkant, Hart., Principal of the University. Alkx. Dvn-, D.U., LL.O , Edinburgh. John Kknnkdy, D.D., Dlnu'wall.

Hey Dr. John Maolkob, Glasgow. The Rev Aiicmibald Clkrk, D.D., lA.D lulnm lie Joii.N Stuart Blaokib, Professor of Greek, Kdmburgh. Jami-s Bboo, D.D., Edinburgh: Thomas MACtAuciiiiAS.LLD., Edinburgh.

Mr Gillies moved—"That this meeting heartily sympathises with the movement that has been initiated in Scotland to raise an endowment for the establishment of a Celtic Chair in connection with the Edinburgh U Diversity, and resolves to give a hearty response to the appeal made by the Home Committee to the Highlanders in tho Colony to aid >" rawing the sum required-viz., £12,000 or £14,000."

Agreed to. ... The ltev. Dr Stuaut moved— lnat with the view to giving practical effect to. the resolution adopted, a Committee be appointed to ■organise a thorough canvass of Otago, so that a. sum may be raised creditable to_ the ■ Highlanders and the home of their adoption."

Agreed to. , „■ MrG. Matheson moved—" That the Committee consist, of a Convener, who shall be Chairman, a Treasurer, and —members, to whom it will be an instruction to avail themselves of the services of any association or associations who may be willing to co-operate m furthering the object in view."

Agreed to. , ~ MVH. J.Maclkan moved— 1 hat the tollowing gentlemen be appointed as the Committee:—Mr W. A. Tolinie, Convener; Mr H. J. Maclean, Treasurer; Dr Stuart, Mr J. M Lean (Itedcaatle,- Oamaru), Hon. Dr Menzies (Southland), Mi-J. L.-Gillies (Tokomairiro), Professor M'Gregor, Mr J. T. Mackerras, Mr M Arthur (Invercavgill); Hey. Mr Watt (Green ■Island) Eev. Mr D. Boss (Queenstown), George M'Kay (Teviol), Mr M'Kenzie (\Vaihemo), Mr D. Eeid (Taieii), Mi- W J. M. LainachVMr Gilbert Matheson, Eev. Mr Clnsholm (Tokomairiro), Mr Elder (Port Chalmers), and .MrM'Nab of Knapdale, with power to add to their number." . • .

Agreed to. . . , . Mr Jamiesox moved—"That' as it is desirable that all the money raised in Otago should be remitted in one sum, all parties collecting for this object now under consideration be requested to transmit their collections to the Treasurer now appointed."

Agreed to. . . In the proposing and seconding oi motions many enthusiastic speeches were made, and the meeting showed great unanimity. The motions having been agreed to, the meeting went into Committee iv order to have immediate practicalsteps taken. ■