when he found her like a corpse on the dissecting table. This and
some system of giving medals or badges of honour to every family who will
guarantee that they have always spoken Irish amongst themselves during
the year. But, unfortunately, distracted as we are and torn by contending
factions, it is impossible to find either men or money to carry out this
simple remedy, although to a dispassionate foreigner--to a Zeuss,
Jubainville, Zimmer, Kuno Meyer, Windisch, or Ascoli, and the rest--this
is of greater importance than whether Mr. Redmond or Mr. MacCarthy lead
the largest wing of the Irish party for the moment, or Mr. So-and-So
succeed with his election petition. To a person taking a bird's-eye view
of the situation a hundred or five hundred years hence, believe me, it
will also appear of greater importance than any mere temporary wrangle,
but, unhappily, our countrymen cannot be brought to see this.

We can, however, insist, and we _shall_ insist if Home Rule be carried,
that the Irish language, which so many foreign scholars of the first
calibre find so worthy of study, shall be placed on a par with--or even
above--Greek, Latin, and modern languages, in all examinations held under
the Irish Government. We can also insist, and we _shall_ insist, that in
those baronies where the children speak Irish, Irish shall be taught, and
that Irish-speaking schoolmasters, petty sessions clerks, and even
magistrates be appointed in Irish-speaking districts. If all this were
done, it should not be very difficult, with the aid of the foremost
foreign scholars, to bring about a tone of thought which would make it
disgraceful for an educated Irishman--especially of the old Celtic race,
MacDermotts, O'Conors, O'Sullivans, MacCarthys, O'Neills--to be ignorant
of his own language--would make it at least as disgraceful as for an
educated Jew to be quite ignorant of Hebrew.

* * * * *

We find the decay of our language faithfully reflected in the decay of our
surnames. In Celtic times a great proof of the powers of assimilation
which the Irish nation possessed, was the fact that so many of the great
Norman and English nobles lived like the native chiefs and took Irish
names. In this way the De Bourgos of Connacht became MacWilliams, of which
clan again some minor branches became MacPhilpins, MacGibbons, and
MacRaymonds. The Birminghams of Connacht took the name of MacFeoiris, the
Stauntons became MacAveely