Blair Collection > Celtic gleanings, or, Notices of the history and literature of the Scottish Gael

2 LECTURE I.
speaking generally, occupied by the two races
we have specified — races between w^hich for
ages there would appear to have existed a
powerful rivalry, and between which that ri-
valry has hardly yet ceased ; at least there
would appear to lurk still in the breast of
both the Celt and the Saxon somewhat of
the ancient antagonism — as much as is suf-
ficient to remind us that it existed once in
greater force.
And yet we would be doing injustice to the
spirit of the age, did we deny that there never
was a time when the discussion of such ques-
tions — with respect to their history and litera-
ture — as may arise between the Celt and the
Saxon, was more likely to receive a candid and
impartial hearing than the present. There
may still be minds sufficiently sectional and
narrow to be biassed in all such questions
by petty national predile'ctions — predilections
which stand out widely apart from real patriot-,
ism ; but a great change has unquestionably
passed over the mind of the literary public
since the beginning of the present century.
Then, it was vain to bring any statement bear-
ing upon the claims of the Celtic races before
that public at all. The party doing so w^as
treated as unworthy of the common courtesies