THE IRISH LANGUAGE. (From the Motional Press. )

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XX, Issue 27, 22 April 1892, Page 31

THE IRISH LANGUAGE. (From the Motional Press. )

" I LOOK forward to a land both old and young ; old in its Christianity, yooag in iv» promise of the future. A nation which received grace before the Saxon came to Britain, and which has never questioned it ; a Church which comprehends in its history the rise and fall of Canterbury and York, which Augustus and Panlinus found, and which Pole aod Fisher left behind them. I contemplate a people which has bad a long night and will have an inevitable day. ... I dimly see the Ireland I am gazing on become the road of passage and union between the two hemispheres and the centre of the world. I see its inhabitants rival Belgium in populousuess, France in vigour, and Spain in enthusiasm."

Thus wrote John Henry Cardinal Newman, the first rector of the Catholic Univenity of Ireland. And what, we may ask, did this illustrious oratorian and spiritual child of St Philip Nerido towards rebuilding that Ireland which he siw "amid the encircling gloom," within which shone his own " kindly light ? " Let Bugene O'Ourry's lectures answer. They tell us stories of our land which were centuries old before the days of Panlinus or of Patrick. They tell us of a race that had its own peculiar language, manners, customs, and laws in a state of appropriate perfection, surpassing that of any people west of Palestine. And they tell us too of a people so civilised and spiritualised that with one voice and witb one cry they accepted from Patrick the most august mystery of the Trinity. The language which was the instrument of thought of so noble a race is still within the reach of the Irish people. That language is not yet corrupted or cleaved into widely sundered dialects, as is too often impudently asserted. And not only is our beloved home-tongue the same in the four provinces of Ireland— slight difference of " accent and propriety " excepted— but an intelligent Irishman can transact business with an intelligent Scotchman, the former speaking ever} day Irish Gaelic and the latter speaking the Gaelic of the Highlands of Scotland. Furthermore our spoken language is the same as our written language ; and our alphabet, about which so many stupid things have been said and written, oould be mastered in less than ten minutes by any peison who can read English. And lastly, the Irish language of our homes and of our elementary books, conveys infinitely more meaning to the people, both old and young, in the maritime counties skirting our melancholy ocean from Derry to Waterford, that does the simplest and the most expressive language of the stranger, be it couched ever so sweetly.

A very considerable section of the teachers of the National schools has always been thoroughly National. Large numbers of them, especially when their lot il cast in Irish-speaking districts, cherish the old tongue with the most parental care, aod therein give regular and systematic instruction in their schools. The First, Second, and Third Irish Books are supplied at a nominal price by the Commissioners of National Education, and are consequently within the reach of the poorest classes. The present system of primary education is, however, very sadly inapplicable to children whose parents and companions mainly think and speak in Irish. While giving due place on the programme to the English tongue, on account of its commercial advan« tages, instruction in Irish should be compulsory in all Irish-speaking districts, and teachers, both male and female, seeking appointments in such districts should bs duly qualified to give instructions in the vernacular. Nearly all the concessions of legislatures and executives to popular sentiment and common sense have been yielded to agitation. Further agitation in the public Press and in the British Parliament will secure the boon indicated in the preceding sentence. The Christian Brothers, notwithstanding the tendencies of town education, are nobly battling on bahalf of the national tongne with a patriotism and a public spirit which is beyond all praise. Toe same may be said of the nuns of many places, especially those of the Loretto communities. The Catholic University and 8t Patrick's College, Maynootb, have made ample provision for the teaching of Irish. But the Training College.' for teicheis ani the Queen's Colleges are still lamentably deficient in this respect. The pressure of public opinion, judiciously applied from time to time, might soon lead to the rectification of this condition of things.

We sometimes hear of the scarcity of suitable text books for students of Irish who are advancing beyond the elementary stage. Here are the titles of s)B>e Irish Jbooks published or sold at very I moderate* prices by Gill and Son, Upper O'Connell street, Dublin :- Vrhe Fate of the Children of Tuireann, The Fate of the Children of Lir, The Youthful Exploits of Fionn, The Lay of Oiiin on the Land of Toutb, The Pursuit of Diarmid and Grainne, The Tribes of Ireland, Beliques of Irish Jacobite Poetry, Joyce's Irish Grammar, Father M'Swiney's translation of Professor Windisch's Irish Grammar, etc, etc. The same publishers have some excellently well-preserved copies of the "Bardic Bemains of Ireland," by James HaNiman, with a portrait of Carolan. These books have translations, notes, and vocabularies, so that an intelligent student who speaks Irish could easily, with some application and sustained energy, in a compara-

tively short time, become fairly proficient in the language at oar aaoestors. Nor hai the religion! aapect of the movement lor the preservation ot the Irish language been overlooked. The Maynooth Oateohism has been translated into Irish by a Galway priest, and carefully revised by Mr John Fleming, editor of the Gaelio Journal, and pnblishel with the imprimatur of eoolesiastical authority; The Imitation of Christ has been repnblished in Iriih by Father Walsh, a Vincentian prieit, assisted by Mr Fleming, and two prayer books in Irish hare been produced by Father Nolan, aided by the accomplished lay gentleman already mentioned.