Notwithstanding this great similarity of language, the Welsh and Irish cannot understand each other; and for this various reasons may be assigned. 1st, They have been for so many centuries separate and distinct people, and have had but little communication or dealings together. Intercourse gives a new feature to every thing, especially to languages; and, not to mention distant nations, the Welsh who emigrated to Brittany, with CONAN, lord of Meiriadoe, A.D. 383, although they speak the Welsh language to this day, cannot be understood without difficulty by the natives of this country, until they have spent a considerable time amongst them. 2d, The Irish retain many original words which we have lost; and we, again, have many which with them are obsolete. We daily see the great difference between the words used in the North, and those used in the South, of Wales; and yet no one will presume to say it is not the Welsh language which is spoken in both sections of the country. In South Wales, there are but few parishes which have not some variations peculiar to themselves, not only in the pronunciation of certain words, but also in their signification. Another cause (and a great one too) is the following: Some hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, in the time of GWRGANT FARFDRWCH, king of Britain, an immense multitude of Spaniards, being driven by famine from their homes, put out to sea, in search of a residence and subsistence.

After suffering many hardships and privations on their dan gerous voyage, they landed on this island, where they made known their distressed condition to the king, in terms of sorrow and obedience, imploring him to allow them a small portion of country to settle upon; assuring him that they were a peaceable people-that they had been driven from Spain by famine, and that, if he would take them under his protection, although they had nothing to offer in return but their prayers, the blessing of God would rest upon him and those whom he governed; and promising, in addition, to be faithful subjects to the crown of Britain. Upon hearing this narration, the king compassionated them, and gave them permission to settle in Ireland, that country being sufficiently extensive, and but thinly populated at that time.*

Mr. Edward Lloyd says this account is strictly true. Vide Galf. lib. 3, c. 12.

For a length of time, the Irish and the new settlers continued separate, each nation using its own language, and following its own customs; but, in the course of years, they intermarried, and became one people. From this period, the languages were gradually amalgamated, and formed together that which is still spoken in Ireland. This is the reason why so many foreign words, introduced by the Skuits, (for so the emigrants from Spain were called,) are intermixed with the Irish. Where their language agrees with our's, it is certainly genuine Welsh; but the words which differ from our's have either become obsolete amongst us, or are words which the Irish derived from the Skuits.

Here, then, is one foreign nation which mixed with a tribe of the ancient Britons; and it was not long before a similar occurrence took place with our ancestors, as I am about to shew.

It is not known at what time, after this island was in the sole possession of the Welsh, BRUTUS, from Troy, landed here. Be that as it may, it is certain that, being able to read and write, and being well versed in many of the sciences, he was, shortly after his arrival, unanimously appointed Chief of the old inhabitants. He gave them instructions (for at that period they were ignorant and illiterate) on many subjects, moral and political: he taught them to plant, to build, and to till the ground, and, especially, to read and write-arts with which but few nations in the world were then acquainted, and which the Welsh have never since entirely lost. It is said that Brutus and his followers landed in Britain about a thousand years before Christ.

The language of these men was Greek, and doubtless it was from them that we received many of the Greek words which are still intermixed with our language; because Brutus and his companions associated with the Welsh, in the same manner as MADOG AP OWEN GWYNEDD did with the American Indians. Madog, in the year of our Lord 1170, (when his countrymen were contending amongst themselves, on account of their inheritances in Wales,) took ship, and sailed towards the West, passing Ireland, until he came to

*

* Powell's Chronicle, p. 227, anyl Herb. Travels, p 218.

that extensive continent now called America. Here he left some of his men to keep possession of the country, and returned home to Wales. On his arrival, he made known to his countrymen what a fruitful and excellent land he had discovered, and how strongly it contrasted with the barren, mountainous country for which they were contending and murdering each other. By way of inducing them, to emigrate, he promised that, if they would accompany him, they should have a rich, fertile country for their inheritance, where there would be no scarcity of bread, and where they should lack nothing that would conduce to their happiness and prosperity.

This recital had so great an effect upon his auditors, that a great multitude of men and women immediately declared their willingness to accompany him-particularly of those who were weary of contention, and desirous of leading a quiet and peaceful life. After a voyage of eight months and ten days, they disembarked at the same place where Madog first landed. While that age lasted, they remained together, having but one language, one religion, and one law; but, in process of time, (after the lapse of a few generations.) they. began to intermarry with the native tribes, and became assimilated with them in their customs, manners, and religion.

Now, there is the greatest ccrtainty that the Welsh were the first of all the Earopeans who discovered a passage to America; for, not only do the chronicles of former ages bear witness to the fact, but (what I consider much stronger evidence) there are many Welsh words still used in that section of country where Madog and his companions origi nally settled: n. c., Pingwyn is the name of a bird with a white head, as the word signifies; Coch-y-dwr is a word applied to a water-fowl of a red color; Corroeso is the name of the shore where Madog first landed; and one of their rivers is called Gwenddur, which means white water. And, in addition to this, the grave of Madog ap Owen has been found there, with a stone bearing an epitaph to this effect:

MADOC lies here, descended from the blood
Of Owen Gwynedd. Long upon the sea,
I rather chose to brave the ocean's flood,
Than to own lands in their immensity.