The farmer and mechanic., 1913-03-04


the only language spoken in three
Iour'ns OF the island. and even in the
,eHaihing fourth was generally un-
oerstood. Though in the eighteenth
century the language began from
various causes to decay, the returns
OF 1901 showed 1900, ,000 Irish speak
ers out OF total population of s.
zVo,V0o. Owing. however, to the
renal Laws, which forbade any Catho-
lie to open or teach a school. Irish
speakers. except where thev received
ciandestine instruction from hedge
ScnooimaSterS, were unable to read
or write their native tongue In 1881,
the English system of National
schools was introduced, and children
generally throughout the island were
forced to learn the language of the
hated Sasanach (Saxon). These and
other causes. combined with the in
creasing number OF Englisbmen in
the country and the necessary use
/ OF their tongue in larger commercial
| transactions, rendered the speedy dis
! appearance of spoken Irish seeming
~ inevitable. BY 1851 the number
OF native speakers had been reduced
to 100000 and according to the
census Of 1901, Gaelic was used by
| only 641,142 persons
Such results could not but fill all
with CONSERVATION. "Sh,ul we" said
| a distinguished Irishman, "a nation
so ancient, nation with such lu-
minouS intellectual past, be content
with Il mushroom history? Shall we
be content TO stand forth, before the
worlds gaze, as Il people of yester-
day? Shall we cut ourselves adrift
from our Gaelic past, with its wealth
OF tradition, of proud memories, OF
| DtOrlOIiG tIlrp---hInt inS
OF our history, and appear before the
world as a people whose history haC
It's beginnings a century or two ago
Shall the men, the happenings, the
movements, the tendencies, the
!. thoughts. the dcvelopments--liter
: social. political. and otherwise-of the
recent past, be everything for us
, the be all and the end all Of tn.
; nations care, Solicitude and interest
and the men. the doings. the thought
the tendencies. the developments O
our Nenera bic Gaelic past count 70
: nothing? The summing Ill
, is-shall we continue. shall We perpet
uate the national life Of the past? o
; shall we begin our existence as a peO
pie over again, setting before US ideal
I different from those that inspired ou
: ancestors, and following lines othe
than those of the vanished centuries
Such, iii my judgment, is the issue in
e. Nolved in the fate of our anceStra
speech" However passionate thi
T. language may seem, it voices the feel
: ingS of many who believe that Iris
4 national identity is dependent upo
O the perpetuation OF the Irish Ian
: guagc-
In 1877 was founded THE Societ
s for the Preservation Of the Irish Ian
n guage." an organization whose nan,
Il explains its purpose Not hoWpSa
! till sixteen years later did the GaeIi
4 Revival produce any very tangible rs
n ! suits. In July, 1898, a number {
IS Gaelic scholars met in Dublin, an
l. under the leadership OF Dr. Dougla
/ Hyde. organized ''Jhe Gaelic League
e This society is of an entirely nol
IS sectarian character, and has for il
IS objects:
II ID The preservation of Irish
a he national language of ireland, an
% the extension of its use as a spoke
= tongue.
le t2) ''The study and publica ton .
$. existing Irish literature, and the GU
If tivation Of mOdeTn literature
Irish.
st (3) "'The support of Irish il
r dustries."
ct The newly organized Gaelic L.eagu
s. undismayed by the seemingly impo
s. sible task of restoring Irish to
e. place as a national language, begs
Id its work in Dublin the chief cent
o. of British influence in the island ar
"a to all intents an English city. He
II, | the first meetings were held and ii
C. first classes taught, but soon the wol
mt was carried into the districts Whe
ne Irish was still spoken, and it has be-
ne vigorously prosecuted until the pre-
,, ent time. In 1902 there were 22I 4
he Iiliated branches Of the Gaelic Lea g,
d. in 1909 there We're 671 branches
rn Ireland. and more than SO in 9th
tn countries. The affairs of the leag
he are now administered from a lar
nd central Office in Dublin, and each ye
nd there is held an -Arti-F'eis, or congre
ed to review the progress of the Wo
I'll and form plans for the future.
by Through the efforts Of The Socie
lr- for the Preservation of the Irish La
tie Suage the English Board of Nation
| ha6 honn fnHnroi a nS