40 



Quintilian and Festus ; and the change wrought in 150 )'ear5 

 preceding the time of Cicero appears from an inscription on the 

 pillar erected in commemoration of a naval victory obtained over 

 the Carthaginians, of which I shall quote the first line : 



Exeniit leciones macistratos castreis exfociont ; 



which in classical Latin is rendered thus : 



Exemit legiones mag'istratus, castris effagiunt. 



And, as to the English language, an author of the 1 7th century 

 affirms, that he could understand but a few words of that, which 

 had been written in the reign of Henry the First.^^- 



The manners and customs of the Irish, as well as their arms, 

 declare the lineage whence they sprung to be partly of the 

 Gauls (see p. 38.) and partly of the Goths.^' But, although the 

 resemblance on a general view was strong and convincing, yet 

 some deviation might naturally be expected from the hand of 

 time; for a narrative of which I refer the reader to Sir James 

 Ware, Spenser, Ledwich, &c. A history of Erin is therefore 

 nothing less than a history of the Gauls preceding the Incarna- 

 tion, and of the Germans subsequent to that sera. 



Having spoken of the Gaoill and Belgas collectively, we shall 

 next endeavour, with as much precision as may be defaisible 

 from history, to ascertain the time, when those tribes had separately 

 arrived in Ireland. 



97. Enquiries touching the diversity of languages by Professor Brerewood, p. 44. 



98. See Spenser, p. 95. O'Flaherty, p. 296, Ma Geoghegan, p. 113. v. I. Sir Jas. Were, 

 c. 12. 



