The Sun.
London, England, 1821-01-10 00:00:00

FO I THE SUN.

ON THE IRISH LANGUAGE.

Mr. Enrrott—Like almost every new theory,
the existence of which can rest only upon con-
jecture, the opinion of Colonel VALLANer.v,rela-
tive to the punk of igin of the Irish Language,
has been warmly supported by some Authors,
and no less strongly combated by others. -
indeed, by making only isome very slight
changes in the disposition of, the celebrated pas-
sige iii FLAuTUS, he has been enabled to make it
good Irish—if Was no less satisfactorily proved to
j-''bvlong oto .a very ail Brent language by the ern.
; believe, that the. most
ae-
•x:-erall at any rate, opposed to the :in-
, -2pniorts. conclusions of the Colonel. In this state
-4Veie'qtrestion, and wholly Undecided v sen-
,tirn.ent should_s'afely be adopted, I was surprised,
row days since, to heat the following fact, which,
if. ape.; must throw. do inconSider. able light upon
—this interesting subject:: A gentleman, whose
knOWledgeiand judgment I" respect, and' Upon
whose. veracity I can fully, rely, informed me,
• that having met %lith one of the natives of Mu-
TC.O, who haVe visited this country for. the laud-
"able purposes of instruction, lie was told by this

. .
person, 'that in his journey through sorne parts of
li..eland, he was
.surprh•ed to discover
.that the
-...lanErna,e or .the natives bore a very strong y'e
,

.blanCe to one of the three d alerts spoken in -the.
.
-.-.eimpire of Morocco ! If this statement be really
-'•Correct, and if this African had no previon,
knowledge of Colonel V allancoy's opinion, this
sir gular fact is .strongly in its_ favour, and,,as
h. merits the attention of every inquisitive
If the Sentiment of the Colonel, can be
atcested with success, upon the ground.of impro-
bability, it, may still make a successful stand,
upon that of po4ihility. Such must have *been
•the connection between Carthage and the inter-
parts of Africa, not only through the medium
of commerce, but also through that of the merce-
naries which she hired from those regions to light
her battles in the field,, that it i's not impossible
some traces of her language should there be
- found. If we add to this, the-still greater pro-
bability, that sonic of .her citizens. sought, amidst
the mountainous regions of Atlas, a safe asylum
• from the destructive sword of the Romans,
~,our opinion will acquire additional' streng'h.,
On the other hand, along with the language of
their mother country, the Carthagenians carried
with. them into Africa the commercial genius, and
that adventurous. spirit u hich had laid the foun-
• dation of the greatness of Tyre, and which ren-
. aered Carthage the formidable rival of Rome.
. Sicily, Sardinia, &c., were subjected by these
powerful traders, who likeuise colonized the ,
:shores of Spain. In this latter respect, indeed,
• they seem to have differed from the Phenicians
and Tyrians; who do not appear to be the foun-
ders of many Colonies. That both these people
carried on a trade with the Cassiteridw Islands,
. and that those Islands were-England and Ire-
land, can no more be 'doubted than that these
places were visited for the same purpose by
their, stl4.l,Stoi 75, the Cdt that.,rAitano.; -beet
this difference, that the latter pursued here their
usbal practice of colonization, and consequently
introduced their language into those 'parts. The-
political convulsions which agitated- England at.
each of its. successive conquests, and the conse-
quent introduction of new races and of new lan-
guages, may account for the total extirpation of the
Panic, which, though greatly disfigured, may have
retained some of its leading features in the sister
1(4%41-T4 :where it may have been more gene-
rally dissrmina.ted, and in which the original po-
-7
: Pulation has been much less affected by any fo
ifeigri admixture. Considered under this poiut of
--view, the opinion of Colonel VALLANCEY loses
uanch of its supposed improbability ; and could
. the truth of the singular circumstance I have
.•taken the liberty of sending you be fully ascer-
-I,tained, it would amount to a confirmation of
. what he has so ingeniously advanced.
I am, Sir, your's, &c.
Paddington Hottse. A. P.