The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1899-03-04
Through Their Bravery They
Saved Their Neighbors,
The INHABITANTS OF OLD BRITAIN.
The High State of Civilization
in the Emerald Isle.

In recent lecture in Dublin, DR.. Sig
erson. of Trinity College, spoke of lie
ancient Celts and said in part:
Chivalry was unqucstionably dist;a-
gushing characteristic of the ancieat
race. The description was fair, though
imperfect, and applied sufficiently to the
ancestors of those gallant Irish soldiers
OF whom Sir Walter Scott sang, They
moved to death with military glec" Ger
tainly as a race they delighted in chiv-
alrous warfare, disdaining whatever they
deemed unfair or mean. In our old
heroic romanccs nnumcrablc examples
may be found. the pcrusal OF which
should tend to cxalt the ideals of genera
tions. The record OF ,ncr prowess does
not depend only on native writers, for
they knew from foreign sources that the
Irish armies invaded GauI, that they
brought over thousands OF captives, that
they wagcd valorous war against the Ro-
man Lcgions in Caledonia, that Britain
MIA wcpt when the sea foamed beneath
the Irish oars. They might put aside Ag-
ricols boast OF what he could do, siace
he did not even attempt to invade Ire
land At that time. indeed. the Irish
Gael were more than willing to meet hin
half way, as he discovered in Scotland.
whittier their armies had gone to the sue
cor OF their colonies and the assistance
OF their allies. The most renowned Of the
Calcdonan chiefs was one called in Latin
GaIgacus. name confcsscdly Celtic and
very Irish. seeing that Doirc Calgach
was OF old the name OF that Ulster city
which changed it for that Of Doire Col
unlcilc The Grafton which the Latin au-
thor ascribes to Calgash expressed, no
doubt. the very sentiments Of the Gaels
in their strife against Roman domination,
aid the fact that such speech should be
composed for him indicated that the Ro-
mans found the Cclts OF these islands as
expert i'll cloqucncc as those of the Gaul
II also showed that the Roman could do
Justice to the motives of an enemy. The
address, indeed. rcscmblcd that OF Bruce
to his army. and Burns probably found
the idea Of this poem in the speech of
Calgach. when consider the motives
which have reused us to this war;" ex-
claimed Calgach, when ! reflect on the
need that calls for our staunchcst vigor,
expect all that is great and noble from
that union OF feelings which pcrvades us.
From this day | date the freedom OF
Britain. We are the men who never
crouchcd i'll bondage. Beyond this there
is no land where liberty can find refuge.
Even the sea is shut against us, while
the Roman feet is lowering on the coast.
10 draw the sword in the cause of free
dom is the true glory OF the brave, and
i'll our condition cowardcc itself would
throw away the scabbard. Are the ma
tions rich. Roman avaricc is their enemy.
Are they poor, Roman ambition lords i
over them. To rob. to ravagc and to mur-
der, in their imposing language. are the
arts OF civilization. When they have
made desert they call it peace This
speech, composed by a generous foe, was
designed to show the motives which
moved the Celtic races against the Ro-
mans, and demonstrates their unconqucr-
able spirit, their vric courage and their
union of sentiment Strange as it might
now seem, paradoxical even, it is yet true
that, in those early ages, the Irish nation
was looked to by frccborn Brtons as
their protector, and proved itself the saw
ior OF the freedom OF Britain by assisting
to cxpcl the Romans Had that martial
and chivalric spirit which animated our
nation i'll former times disappeared with
the generations who exemplifed it then?
Ii there could be such an assertion-but
there was none--how convincing would
be the contradiction given by the great
nations Of Russia. Austria. Spain and
France, where the cxilcd Irish and their
noble descendants upheld the honor
OF their adopted lands and the memory
of their forcfathers with heroic fidelity.
In no place, at no period, was there
shown such intense zeal for the cultiva-
| ton of letters, nor had the world ever
witnessed such magnificent hospitality as
that lavishcd on foreign students by the
Irish nation. On the evidence OF the
great Saxon, the Venerable Bede,, they
learned that Ireland received all comers
with liberal welcome and Hospitality en-
tcrtaincd them, giving them books to
| rcad--wllen books were rare and precious
instruction in every art and science then
known, and all gratutously (applause).
1t was great claim. but it was admitted.
In that glorious period Irish authors
helped to save classic letters from degra-
dation, and did morc-they laid the deep
and strong foundations OF modern litera-
ture. They gave Of their higher culture
and elaborated methods to the Morse, to
the Anglo Saxon, to the Germans, to the
French, and to the Spanards, directly or,
indirectly. 5S;sS