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Show THE LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH PEOPLE. . . i We note with pleasure the efforts in j certain parts of the country to revive an interest in Irish literature. Although Al-though the Gaelic tongue is, in fact, a lansruaere of the past, and our fond desires will not alter the nature of things, yet we cherish the thought that the sweet, rich, copious, powerful old language, as it ceases to be a language of the people, should grow to be a .language .lan-guage of the scholar. : " Theinames of the. rocks, rivers and mountains may lose their articulate voice and become mere sound to the many, but their interpretation should not be lost. . . Irish scholars should be familiar with the language in which, the legends and traditions and histories of their land are enshrined. If Ireland ever becomes be-comes the Ireland of her children's aspirations, as-pirations, Great, nlorious and free. First flower of the earth and' first gem of the sea, We shall come to have more exact knowledge and less idle declamation about her glories in the past. But the Irish people today are in possession of one of the world's great living languagesthe lan-guagesthe language of this conti-' nent. of a portion of Europe, of the south of Africa, and of a great stretch of the coast and islands of Asia. The Irish people helped to give form and polish to this great language. Perhaps nowhere sooner than in the Irish pale were Norman, Saxon and Celt compressed com-pressed into the peculiar relations whence springs the conglomerate speech we call English, and none certainly cer-tainly infused it with greater force and beauty than Swift, Burke. Goldsmith, Sheridan and Moore. As Spencer sings of "Mulla. mine, whose wave I Whilom taught to weep." It is evident the inspiration was mutual mu-tual between the singer of "The Saerie Queen" and the hills and streams of Desmond that he made classic. Ireland owns a great share in the future fu-ture of the English language and should profit by it. She has made great sacrifices to principle, but she has made very costly ones to sentiment also, and uncalculating indulgence to sentiment is ruinous weakness. We say to the Irish, master the Eng- lish language and make it serve; you. It is heard, in tones of command throughout the world, often from the mouths of Irishmen. Jt is the language of achievement and success. If it has cursed and scorned you in the past, it has pleaded for you and soothed you in more undying tones. The facilities for universal intercourse and all tlie tendencies of the time forbid our recurrence re-currence toward a babel of tongues. |