32 



the Highland Societies of London and E qV>? burgh. The Introduc- 

 tion is a learned dissertation on the language which the work ana- 

 lyzes. — He adduces the testimonies of the most eminent men in the 

 walks of Literature respecting the originality, antiquity and utility 

 of our language, and refutes the charges which ignorance, prejudice 

 and misrepresentation have made against it. He exults in the 

 prospect, which presented itself before him, of seeing his native 

 language and literature restored to their former celebrity. He ear- 

 nestly entreats the Irish and Scotch, as descended from the same 

 stock, to unite their endeavours in reviving the Gaelic as their com- 

 mon language. He concludes by an address, in the words of Hugh 

 Mac Curtin, to the generous natives of England, to give us their 

 confidence and affection. This short introduction does equal ho- 

 nour to the head and heart of the writer. 



The Grammar is divided into five parts. The first part treats of 

 Pronunciation and Orthography, and very ably, if we except the 

 rejection of <to), e-<t, and p, and for them substituting <t^, ^ and ) j 

 as tf^btief for iXO)bm<i{, joy ; '^'f^ for '^eccfi, a man ; ^e-fi for fedti, 

 old ; «i)T) for mjoi), small, &c.— c)t)C<i for c)Oi)C<t, guilt or crime. 

 These words, it is true, sometimes occur so written in very ancient 

 manuscripts, but that mode is so antiquated, that it would now be 

 as unintelligible to the generality of Irish readers, as the orthography 

 of Chaucer would be to the modern English. 



Part II. — ^Treats of the Parts of speech, which are enumerated 

 nine, viz. Article, Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Verb, Adverb, Pre- 

 position, Conjunction, Interjection. Here he varies from the printed 

 grammars, except Vallancey's, that have preceded him, which limit 

 them to seven, as they have differed from the more ancient Gram- 

 marians, who admitted but three. He treats of Aspiration and 

 Eclipsis under the head of Etymology, though, in my opinion, they 



