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exception of two, were Irishmen. If he had confessed this truth, the 

 existence of that monastery might be taken as a proof that Gaelic 

 was written among the Irish, but it would be no proof that it had 

 been a written language in the Highlands of Scotland. 



As a further proof that " the Gaelic has been a written language 

 in the Highlands," the Doctor lays great stress on the " fragment of 

 a work entitled Emanuel * * * * in the possession of the High- 

 land Society." He says, it " throws much light on the state of clas- 

 sical learning in Scotland in ancient times, and proves the care with 

 which the Gaelic language was then cultivated ; and further proves 

 that the language has been transmitted in purity from one genera- 

 tion to another, down to the present day." To show the folly of 

 referring to that manuscript to illustrate the " the state of classical 

 learning in Scotland in ancient times ;" or that the "Gaelic language 

 has been transmitted in purity from one generation to another, down 

 to the present day " in Scotland, it is only necessary to refer the 

 Gaelic reader to the extract from that fragment, given in the Appen- 

 dix to the Report of the Highland Society, p. 305. Let this extract 

 be compared with any of the modern Scotch Gaelic compositions, or 

 with the Gaelic "originals" of Ossian, published by the Society, 

 and it will prove beyond dispute, that the modern Gaelic of Scotland 

 bears but a very faint resemblance to the ancient Gaelic, and that it 

 is a base, corrupt, and vulgar dialect of that ancient language. 



With respect to the word Emanuel, which the Report of the 

 Highland Society, and Doctor Mc Arthur, say is the title of a work 

 in possession of the Highland Society, we consider it as only a 

 strong proof of the very limited knowledge which, not only the 

 Doctor, but the writers of that Report, had of ancient Gaelic manu- 

 scripts. There are hundreds of ancient Irish manuscripts, and amongst 

 the rest several in the possession of the writer of these sheets, on the 



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