The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-12-10


language, the religion, aud the national
ity of Ireland. But John O'Donovon, DIR.
Petrie and w. f. Wakeman were unveil-
ing many of our unseen glories and lay
ing the foundations OF that higher ma
t,onalism which, In the near future, is dos
tined to work its way downwards from
our cultured classes to really eman-
cipated and disenthralled peasantry-
TO 8 people freed from the distractions OF
political strife and left at liberty to cult
yate their minds aud to develop their in
tellect. d.
In the Irish national literary society
many see the promise and potency of
this new form OF national life. More
than one member of the governing body
has been continuously working in this
direction during their leisure hours ever
since( before the famine) John Mitchell
heard ''the tramp of clans, the wise
Judgment Ct Brehons. and the songs of
the bards" in our blessed Gaelic tongue.
If brilliant talents, burning enthusiasm,
ardent patriotism can restore to as the
Ireland of our fathers. surely this gifted
band of men and women will restore it.
In times OF our deepest gloom we have
had strenuous workers laboring for the
preservation of the foundation Of our ma
tionality. When Gavan Duffy saw Ire
land in as hopeless a condition as the
corpse on the dissecting table, the Ossi-
anic Society was actively engaged in the
publication of such works as it may be
safely hoped the new Literary Society
will soon republish.
DR.. Douglas Hyde, the president, has
been for several years devotlng his al
most undivided attention to the study of
the Irish language, to the collection and
publication of stories in prose and verse,
which he has been collecting among the
people of Connaught. One of his first
efforts as poet was made while divin-
ity student in Trinity College when he
translated Migrants immortal song
''The Memory of the Dead"-into Irish.
He adhered to the metre OF the original.
He was member of the Gaelic Union
for the Preservation and Cultivation of
the Irish language, and this circum-
stance alone ought to be guarantee
that the new society over which he pre-
sides will not readily forget the language
of Old Erin. He has worthy colleague
in Mr.. r. j. O'Mulrenip, for several years
hon sec. to the Gaelic Union, for some
time editor of the Gaelic Journal" Irish
Sizar, T. @. D. and member Of the coun-
Gil of the Ossianic Society towards the
close of the fifties. Mr.. O'Mulrenin has
been for years teaching struggling Irish
students once week gratis. This is an
other earnest of the success which We
hope to see rewarded by the efforts of
the society in the direction OF giving a
fresh impetus to the movements for the
preservation Of the Irish language.
'The Celtic tongue is dying, and we
stand coldly by" Thus wrote May
nooth student from near Loughrea, about
81 years ago. He died in Chicago in 1869.
1t was dying, faster even than the people
at home. But it was making gallant
show for all that, especially south of the
SUR and west Of the Shannon and Foyle.
In 1871 the population of ireland was
five million four hundred thousand. Of
these eight hundred and thirty-seven
thousand spoke Irish, that is exactly if
teen and a-half per cent. In 1876 Wig
orous movement was set on foot for the
preservation of the ancient language;
and after five years of unremitting in
dustry the census returns OF 1881 showed
an increase of one hundred and thirty
two thousand in the number of Irish
speakers. When we consider that the
Irish speakers must have gone on dimin-
ishing unchecked from 1871 to 1876, the
incr ease consequent on the labors Of So
cieties was considerably in excess of what
the above figures show. In 1881 close on
nineteen per cent Of the whole population
of Ireland spoke Irish. The good work
was kept up with unhagging energy until
about the year 1885, when the Gaelic
Union made it's last effort to force special
legislation on the subject OF education in
congested Irish-speaking districts. The
decade ending last year cost us four hum
dred and fifty thousand people, and SINCE
q. very large proportion OF these left the
South and West, and the Ere and energy
had long burned out in Dublin, it is
scarcely subject Of wonder that we are
down to fifteen per cent OF the popula-
ttiion in the number Of Irish speakers. IL
is to be observed, however, that this is
only one hall per cent below the level Of
1871. We have still seven hundred
thousand Irish speakers at home and
this q glorious percentage Of the peo.I