The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-10-15

II uoes not take one long to realize
the truth of this when one sees. as I
had the opportunity Of seeing few
days ago, an Irish stockyards laborer,
after ten hours Of hard work, porting
over textbook of Gaelic and after
ward stumbling in halting manner
over the hard sentences as he recited
to his little family verse in his na-
tive tongue. 1t is impossible to des-
crlbe the tenderness, passion and rev.
erence that this uncouth laborer put
into the words Of the poem.
lie is only one of thousands that
are beginning to find their mentality
coming to new birth with the in
| creasing knowledge of the beauties
or their own tongue and who find, too,
that their better knowledge Of Gaelic
is bringing to them broader and a
purcrer conception of their native
land, her history and the possibilities
that lie in the future through this un-
covering Of the past
And the Gaelic League, with it's
branches now in every city of any
size in the world, and it's lcaduuarters
in London, the metropolis of the Brit
lsh Empire, is satisfied that in ten
years its labors have done more to
revive the national spirit than any,
thing else ever before attcmpted for
the cause of Ircand-and this not
only without the active opposition Of
the English people but in many nota-
bic instances with their active SUM-
port and approval. Indeed, as may be
seen in all the movements of the
whole recent history of Ireland, the
most vigorous promoters of this new
step are Anglo Irishmen.
Among the most wcighty arguments
brought against the league when it
was formed were that it was futile to
think of rcviving language and liter
aturc "dcad' for over 200 years; that
1T would be cruel to deprive the Irish
at home and abroad of the advantage
which knowledge Of English gave:
that 1T would not "put a penny in any
lrishman's pocliet'; that the law Of
languages was the survival of the
fittcst, and that Irish, if useful, would
survive by itself, as Welsh did; that
1t would fsolate Ireland and that no
one would read the works of the
In reply to these arguments the
league started by pointing out that
neither the language nor the literature
Of Ireland had ever died, the language
being still spoken in pristine purity
by over half million people (this
number Is now increased to million).
and that the output of literature.
both by print and manuscript, had
never ceased. The league further.
more disclamcd any intention Of de-
priving the Irish people of the English
language, it's aim being to make them
bflingual, with Irish as the language
of the hearth and home, the field and
farm, the mind. spirit and intellect Of
the nation, and with English for all
other purposes. such rs commerce.
1t pointed to the industrial success
Of the Belgians, Welsh and other
bilingual nations as evidence of the
aclltcness of intellect which bilingual
knowledge gave. And it claimed, and
still keeps to the forefront of it's
claims, that the revival of the Ian.
g'lage will develop the self-respect
and sclf-reliancc Of the Irisllman and
so better him not only in character
but in the actual use of the English
tongue.
Furthermore, the league appeals to
history to prove that Ireland was
never better known or more highly
appreciated by European nations than
when she spoke in Irish, and quotes
the names of Ibsen, Hans Anderson,
Sienkiewicz and others as proof that
genius will attract n worldwide audi
ence. even if voiced in the most
sparsely spoken dialect. Its leaders
urge that it was no policy of laissez
faire that revived Welsh and will re-