Irish. Latin. English.
1B Beithe, Betulla, Birch.
2L Luis, Ornus, Wild ash.
3N Nion, Fraxinus, Ash.
4S Suil, Salix, Willow.
5F Fearn, Alnus, Alder.
6H Huath, Oxiacanthus, White thorn.
7D Duir, Ilex, Oak
8T Timne, Genist. Spin. Furze.
9C Coll, Corylus, Hazel.
10M Muin, Vitis, Vine.
11G Gort, Hedera, Ivy.
12P Peth-bhog Beite, or B mollified,
13R Ruis, Sambucus, Elder.
14A Ailm, Abies, Fir tree.
15O Onn, Genista, Broom.
16U Ur, Erix, or Erica, Heath.
17E Eghadh, Tremula, Aspen.
18I Iodha, Taxus, Yew.

This, you perceive, falls short, by eight letters, of the number of the Latin cyphers, which could not have occurred if borrowed from that people, and will therefore stand, independently and everlastingly, a self-evident proof of the reverse.

It is well known, that long prior to the arrival of Cadmus the Greeks were in possession of alphabetic writing.[474] Diodorus states so, but adds that a deluge had swept all away. One thousand five hundred and fifty before the era we count by, is agreed upon as the year in which Cadmus visited Greece; and you have the authority of Pausanias, that he himself had read an inscription upon a monument at Megara, the date of which was 1678 before our epoch, that is, one hundred and twenty-eight years before Cadmus’s time.

Besides those ordinary letters of the Beth-luis-nion, the Irish made use of various other occult and secret forms of writing, which they called ogham,[475] and of which I insert some specimens.

Among these you perceive the arrow-headed figures whereof I have already advertised you; and the mysterious import of which reminded the initiated of the solemn purchase of salvation by the cross.

These are all peculiar and totally separate from any Phœnician alliance. Instead, therefore, of my being adverse to the moderns as to the Phœnician bubble, I am their auxiliary. But, Mr. Montmorency, are there not other places in the East besides Phœnicia? And may not a people leave the “sunny plains that gave them birth,” from other motives than those of “choice”? And may not “Fidh Inis,” instead of being a name of reproach, such as you affected, by associating it with “wintry and uncultivated wilds,” be one of distinction and of renown? And though to you its authors, as well as the mystery of its import, were an impenetrable secret, may it not, notwithstanding what you see verified now, be made one of the engines exercised in the recovery of truth, to prove the splendour and the refinement of our venerable ancestors?

It is to be hoped, therefore, that after this explanation, we shall hear no more sarcasms upon this favoured spot. Nor would the anticipation be too great, that the whole infidel host, with the gallant colonel himself at their head, becoming alive to the injustice of their former disbelief, would now slacken their virulence, and if they will not join in the acclamations of regenerated history, at least decently withdraw, and let the lovers of truth, in security and happiness, celebrate its triumph.

“The appellation of Britain,” says another goodly (?) champion of this order, “has been tortured for ages by the antiquarians, in order to force a confession of origin and import for it. And erudition, running wild in the mazes of folly, has eagerly deduced it from every word of a similar sound, almost in every known language of the globe. But the Celtic is obviously the only one that can lay any competent claim to it—and the meaning of it may as easily be ascertained as its origin.”—And so, accordingly, he proceeds to show, that “Breatin, Brydain, or Britain,” is derived from a “Celtic word,” which signifies “separation or division!”[476]

It is more than probable that I should have left Mr. Whittaker to his vagaries, or rather his clerical recreations, if he had not been propelled by his all-illuminating reforms, to glance a ray upon us, here, across St. George’s Channel.—“This,” says he, “has equally given denomination to the tribes of Ireland, the nations of Caledonia, and two or three islands on our coasts!”