The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-03-29

~ |
"a Is g. a. the MaseHefhiepoints give 6
the Recommendations f the letters G.. NJ. r., :
d pronunciation that just as well may
have been Guanr or Gynf lcffr. Cymry),
there can be no doubt that the old eth
nographrepresents the Kettle race. That
this race belongs to the Indo-European
or Aryan stock is undoubted and still
the Kettle languages show, besides a
very remarkable similarity with Latin
and Greek, q considerable intermixture
Of words that are not foundin any other
branch Of the great Aryan inguistical
family. The Kelts must; by their first
arrival to the European countries, where
the dawning history Of the West finds
them, have intermingled with q people
of foreign race, possibly, as the old Irish
annals seem to imply, with the Phoeni-
clans; but We are not able to. say any
thing certain about that, as we are I'M
acquainted with the old Phenician, a
branch of the Kushite languages.
The a~nalogies of the Kettle languages
with Latin and Greek are striking and
obvious. A couple of examples might
be Of some interest.
Arna virumque Tor &C viPrml Cano TroiR III
primus alb oris. Virgil. Eneid L. /, viz
Gaelic: Arm agg fer can Trole CT prim fra OF.
WEIGH: Arvau &C gWr eanwyv TrOiie CIV priv
0 or.
GenGthGto faos kai egeneto faos. Genesis
/ Cap. /, g., Greek translat.l ,.
Gael: G'ennet pheor agg genneth pheor.
Vel: Gained fawdd acy genid fawdd
Fiat lux ct Tor ac) lux facta fuit. Genesis
Cap. I, s., Latin %translat1
Gael: Feet lur agg lur feet fet.
We'll; Fydded lluch &C Iluch a fefthied.
As in the antiquity, so in our days, the
Kettle race falls into two great divisions,
/. the Gaels and the Cymry. Two more
!, different, shoots from the same root it
will be difficult to find. -. 1855.
The, Gaels (Gauls) of antiquity, the in
| fants Of the nascent world, as Michelet
| calls them, were a remarkably elastic
L and impulsive race, butneither enduring
nor pe~rsevering, Wild in their joys, ex-
| travagant in their hopes, and vain as no
other people. They were insatiably Gu
L rious and pressed strangers, Selling them
: on the markets and highways, and COM
T pelling them to tell what news they
r knew. They themselves were formida-
BILE and interchangeable takers, andhighly
O fgurative i'll their speech. They either
arrayed themselves in SNOWY stufffs, fond
as they were of bright and varied ~colors,
q such as compose the plaid of the modern
Scottish Gael, or else they went almost
naked; but with their breasts and limbs
v laden with massive gold chains. jolly,
n hilarious companions they were, but not
p to. be. too implicitly confided in. They
were early addicted to bantering and
l. passed their word without a thought OF
+ it's beingob1igatory they promised, then
# laughed, and that was the last Of it
" RideMd0 .ftdene ~frdBgere,n they broke
faith with q joke; says Livius. They
% hated all restraint, religious as well al
/ political. The Gallo Kelts can, in fact
hardly be said tohaVe had any religion
ar or any political system when Caesar sub
re- jected them; their eternal desire 70,
change prevented all stability in thei
10 institutions. The ann must be said O
nj the old Irish and Scottish Gaels; thei
whole political system never was mucl
he more than (sit Ven5a gerb0l an organize,
state OF confusion, kept mp by the insti
sc tuition of clanship, peculiar to the insula
40 Gaels. -@
II. The other branch'of the Kettle stocl
n that probably was more or less mike
del with Gothic Germanic blood, the CynlfS
al are q singularly silent and melancholy
Of but, at the same time, exceedingly stuE
M born and obstinate race, which has re
hej manned unchanged down to to our tim
ne while all was changing around it. "
ed have to describe them, as we find thel
to-day, in Wales and Bretagne, the oil
M authors not giving any particular de'
al. eruption Of them. The CymTy, less il
disposed to restraint than the Gaels, ha
on a powerful saeerlotal corporation-tI
Druids. The religion of the Cynir
cal Druids, as far as is dfseernihle throue
I'D the barren notices of the ancients, seen
an not to have been without lofty tender
eies, it taught, for instance, the inlmo
X tally of the soul. Druidism had bee
W introduced in ireland by the Cymr
Belge Cir Balgs of the Irish ANIMAL
and was adopted by the Gaelic Iris
after they had sHbdned those. Amor
ant the Cymry elansllip did not exist al
their political system worked a gre
oase deal steadier under their kings al
pc princes, whose power was heredita,
from father to son, than the Gaelic sy
ed, tenn IN Ireland and the Scottish Hig
lands, where there was no fxedrule
succession
In some traits Of character, howey1
it the Ke1ts were, and still are, alil
tlle 'sThey we're universally madly fond
war, hotin temper, and quick to fgl
but in all other respects simpleandgo
emit natured,' 7 says strabon. Their gent
ge!- seems at first to be restless actiVii
prompting them to attack andconque
in Az d warning race they oFerran the a
Gent world, sword In hand, led on,
would seem, less y greed, than by
uneasy desire to see, knew and bn
lose themselves with every thing. The i
Gus tire OF all Kelts was, Furthermore, po
sAa erfully urged toward sensnaity, Z
classical authors are full of refereni
re- TO the loose morals of the Gauls and |
veil 4s aYp4n nYaYanNarSs4ie 0f fhn hid Trfsh