The Irish standard., 1893-11-25
GAELIC TABOOED.

line COrK Herald OF recent daLo re-
ports the prosecution, in petty sessions
court at Castlemartyr, of Mr.. Timothy
Gleason, the editor Of the Cork Historical
and Archaeological Journal, for printing
his name in the Irish language on his
cart For this grave offense he was fined
sixpence and compelled to pay the costs
Of the suit. He did not care about pay
ing the fine and costs, but there was q
principle at stake, sad that was that he
had right to use the language Of his
own country on his own property. The
magistrates On the bench Green and
Carberry) at first decided that the case
would be met by putting the English
name and address on the opposite side Of
the cart, thus tacitly admitting that the
law was complied with, but they changed
their minds when Mr.. Ewart, d. L.,
maintained that the word "legible" meant
that the inscription should be in Eng
lish. The two "Dogberries' paid heed to
this high functionary and reversed their
decision On the ground that "English"
was the language OF the country, and not
Gaelic.
The case of Mr.. Gleason has attracted
wide attention throughout the dis
United Kingdom, and he has been the re-
cipient of several letters from distin-
guished Irishmen who take pride in
their native language and desire its per-
petuation. In former days the language
WIS prescribed by the British govern
ment, and when the public school system
was established in 1882 the chief object
of it's promoters was to Anglicsze the
youth of the country by giving them
English ideas in the language of their
British taskmasters. "When the Ian
guage of the conqueror IS in the mouth
of the conquered exclaims an old writer,
lit is always the language Of the slave"
Ii was thea that Father Mullen wrote his
noble poem on the decadence of the
Celtic tongue and plaintively sang:
IT'S fading, oh! tits fading like the leaves upon
the trees
III murmuring tone tbs dying like the wall
upon the breeze!
> lis swiftly disappearing. as footprints on the
shore
Where the Barrow and the Erne and Loeb swil-
ly's waters roar
Where the parting sunbeam kisses Loeb Corrib
in the West.
And ocean, like mother, clasps the Shannon
to her breast!
The language of old Erin, of her history and
OF her monarchs and her heroes, her glory and
her fame Z
The sacred shrines where rested, thro' sun
shine and thro' gloom,
The spirit of her martyrs, as their bodies in the
tomb,
The time. wrought shell, where murmur'd mid
centuries OF wrong,
The secret voice of Freedom in ANIMAL and in
song,
Is slowly surely sinking into silent death at
last
To live but in the memories of those who love
the past.
In recent years the British govern
ment has changed its policy OF proscrlp
ton, and now ranks Irish with Latin,
German and French in the intermediate
government examinations. The teach
ers OF the national" or public common
schools in the West and South Of Ire
land teach English to their pupils
through the medium Of the Iriah Ian
yuage and impart to them at the same
time . grammatical knowledge Of their
native tongue, and in this way tho chill
1ren become better acquainted with
Goth lang uages and make more rapid pro-
yress II their studies. The teachers]
rho can give bilingual instruction are
paid an extra compensation.
3 OF late years the tpirit Of Irish nation
.ity has been strengthened BY political
lRitation and 90 the hoelmaster 81