THE CELT IN CONNAUGHT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 211, 20 April 1877, Page 13

THE CELT IN CONN AUGHT.

A writer in the London Telegraph, who confesses to a bitter animosity against the Celt, as he knew the raoe in. the extTe ne west of Ireland, is compelled to give the following 1 testimony to his char icter : — He is staunch to his kinsmen, and his people, but he hates the " stranger " ; he is unclean in his habits, and degraded in his superstitions ; he can remember injuries, but he is without gratitude ; he is passionate, without courage ; and he is exciteable, without stability. His spirit is tender, but his heart is hard ; and, to crown all, he is utterly at the mercy of the priest. There is nothing, in short to distinguish him from his Celtic brother in the Western Hebrides of Scotland, except that ha is habitually untruthful, and that he still clings to a faith which the other deems morally extinct. This is the dark side of the picture; there is a light side, too. The Irish Celt loves the scenes where he was born, and the roof which shelters him from birth. He is a dutiful son, a faithful husband, a kind father : though his person is unclean, his affections are pure, and he is without bestial vices ; he is patieut in suffering, unwearying in trust, where his trust is given ; he tills a few sad acres for bare life, and wears a few poor rags for bare warmth ; but, so long as he is undisturbed, he is uncomplaining ; and, above all, he softens the hard leaven of his lot with the dews of a simple faith in Heaven. Sfo greeting, however casual, is complete without its thanks and benediction. " A fine day, thank God," is the simple formula, spoken as a matter of course ; and even in a drenching shower, we nave heard the words, " A fine, fresh day, thank God," come from the lips of a passing peasaiit-wonian soaked to the skin !