The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-02-23
LITERARY AND HISTORIC.

When. .Patricius CPatrick) and the Roman
missionary made their pious invasion of Ire
land (the only invaders the Irish ever received
witt smiling WELCOMED in tire beginning of the
fifth century, they INTRODUCED, the Roman al
phabet, which, being the simplest in formation
then known in Enrops, was readily accepted by
the native literati. This alphabet was after
ward transported by the Irish missionaries to
England; and the old English or Amglo-Saxon
ana the Irish letters are only different motlitica-
lions of the original Roman type.
But Il question arises here which has never
been satisfactorily s"lvcd-had the pre-C hris-
tian Irish an original alphabet of their own /
we think the question must be answered in
the affirmative.
Scientific philologsts, we apprehend. will
agree with lis that it is extremely difficult to
believe that whenLthe great Arian family from
which the Celtic, Greek. Roman Teuton and
Sclavonic races have branched off, became
divided and emigrated west and east, they were
without an alphabet. A language and iitera-
,are must have been theirs fhe,eXstenc of
celve without the power of noting and develop
ing IL ny some process of inscription. If the
original Arians had an alphabet, it stands to
reason that their eldest children, the Celts.
must have inherited some modification of it.
The inscriptions the Irish pillar-stones
which are called ogham pronounced ou-am)
lndlcate the knowledge of mode of recording
words and thoughts one stone and what conIS
be carved on SO hard a substance could surely
nave been put ON less durable material by
is no root found in Irish for this archaic word
but there is historic tradition of the existence
IN the island of a celebrated sage of the Tuatha-
de-Danaans (Celts who preceded the Milesians)
~%ho was evidently tirc-worshiper; for he r.
nientloned by the name of Oghma, Grian-
alSeas, or Oghma, "the sun-saye" Has this
glyPtic> manuscript on stone derived it's name
from hilifs ", 10 'i@A1i'o
There is one curious fact which seems TO us
almost absolute proof that the ancient Celts of
Ireland had an alphabet. Their Language as
handed down to nsin the Roman type is spelled
according to its roots. Now there is no Known
language which devia:es so utterly from the
cohSonantai sfHafeness of its roots into mu-
sical Nowelltic softncSs as the Irish 1t is i'm
possible to guess the roots and spelling of
almost any Irish word from its sound
In those scraps of pre-Christian Irish poesv
TO which we refer, there are pictures of wo
mans rank in Irish social life which must make
every freshman think proudly of his race. We
md that in Ireland, two thousand years ago.
woman was mans equal, not his slave. Sbe
was not subject TO either of the absurd fDrnsaf
domestic privacy which so differently characA
terlzed Greece and Rome, and which school.
boys Will find SO graphically described in the
pages OF Cornelius Nepos In Ireland woman
was mans equal, friend, adviser She was
something more-or less for the Irish ideal.
lzed woman, and so lifted her above the ordi
nary human level that she became a divinity.
ana Perhape 1T is better that woman should
not moi :, be SO idealized; Inequalities of life are
" noiesoihc &0f uer. .N51-srAs