500 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



and the Cornish have spread into 

 every land, and influenced the people 

 of every country among whom they 

 have settled. In America, and 

 especially in the United States, they 

 run rivalry with the Teutons from Ger- 

 many and Scandinavia in supplying 

 the greatest number of immigrants. As 

 yet they have not ceased to be a separate 

 body in the nation, but in time they 

 will amalgamate with the rest of the 

 population, and thus form a superior 

 race. To the sturdy good-sense, manly 

 self-reliance, quiet resolution, natural 

 aptitude for self-government and 

 organisation, which characterise the 

 one, are added the quick intellect, the 

 vivid imagination, the warm feelings, 

 the poetical susceptibilities, and -the 

 genuine refinement of manner which 

 are rarely acquired by the Teuton, 

 but come as a gift of Xature to 

 the Celt. 



In our leading colonies, Canada 

 and Australia especially, the Irishman 

 has taken his place side by side with 

 other representatives of the United 

 Kingdom, and is often found in the 

 legislature and cabinet. Colonial 

 premiers have sprung as frequently 

 from the Celtic as from the Teutonic 

 stock. That the Irish should do so 

 much better out of their country than 

 at home is a fact which goes .far to 

 show that the admirable qualities of the race only need favourable conditions in which to 

 assert themselves. 



The Irish peasant is for the most part unenterprising, improvident, and desirous of taking 

 life easily. These traits are partly inherent in his temperament. Yet it must be remembered 

 in his defence that until recent years very little has been done to encourage him to cultivate 

 the soil in a more productive manner. His temperament is serene and cheerful under all 

 difficulties. Throughout Ireland a high standard prevails with regard to the treatment of 

 women, and chastity is a feature of social life of which the Irish may be justly proud. 



The Erse tongue, which we have seen to have much in common with the Gaelic of 

 Scotland, is still spoken by a considerable number of the people. In parts of Connaught, 

 Munster, and Donegal in the extreme north-west, as many as 38,000 of the people were unable 

 to speak English in 1891. 



Little is known of the history of Ireland before the fifth century, when it was converted 

 to Christianity. Irish missionaries founded monasteries in the western islands of Scotland. 

 lona is a monument of their religious activity during the four succeeding centuries after the 

 conversion of Ireland. Politically the Irish Celts of this period seem to have been split up 

 into tribes, headed by various petty princes, without any common leader. Their want of union 

 made them an easy prey to the Scandinavian pirates who descended on their shores, and 



Photo by G. W. Wilson] 



[Aberdeen. 



AN OLD SCOff SALT. 



