INTRODUCTION. TH HE Irish Manufcripts contain a more perfe& account of the emigrations of the Armenian-Scythians, or Perfians, &c. from the banks of the Cafpian and Euxine Seas to Perfia; to the lflands of the Mediterranean, to Africa, to Spain, and to the Britannic Ifles, than any hiftory hitherto known. The detail of these emigrations perfeâly correfpond with the Punic Annals, tranflated out of the books of King Hiemfal's library for Salluft; they agree with the traditions of the Breberi, alias Showah, alias Amazing's, (a) of the Mountains of Barbary, even in the name of their leader; they agree with the most ancient Armenian Hiftory, written by Mofes Choronenfis (b), in names and facts, and with the ancient hiftory of the Perfians; and, laftly, they correfpond with the most authentick Spanish Hiftorians. Confequently, thefe Mff. cannot be the forgeries of Irish Monks of the 9th and 1 th centuries, as has been afferted by fome modern writers too hastily. Many of thefe Mff. were collected into one volume, written in the Irish language, by Father Jeoff Keating. A translation of this work into English appeared many years ago, under the title of Keating's Hiftory of Ireland. The Tranflator, entirely ignorant of ancient Geography, has given this history annglish dress, so ridicu lous, as to become the laughing-stock of every reader. (a) See fome curious accounts of this people at the end of chap. 4th. (b) An author of the fifth century. The Euxine Sea, of the original, becomes the Baltic in the tranflation; the Island of Sicily, Gothland; Gadiz is France; and Frange, or Farangah, (as the Arabs write it) that is, Turqueftan, alias Touran, is tranflated into Gaul. These blunders gave room to a modern author (c) to observe, that the Irish historians jumped from the Baltic to the Nile, and from the Nile to the Baltic, as easy as a man steps over a gutter. He fhould have learned the language of the original before he had ventured to criticife. Thus has the Irish hiftory been looked upon as the most fabulous of all hiftories, and on that account unworthy of attention. If fable in ancient history is made the criterion of its validity, we must explode that of all other nations, except the Jews. The Arab writers have met with a good reception in the learned world, yet their works are full of fabulous narrations, wonders and incredibilities: they not only deal in fictions, but difcover a moft remarkable ignorance in Chronology. Yet thefe faults have not fo far prejudiced the learned against them, as to think them in no particular deferving of credit. The Authors of the English Univerfal History declare the ignorance of the Arabian writers, in chronology, even when they treat of Events that happened not many centuries before the Hejra! And Niebuhr who lately travelled in Arabia, with advantages that fall to the fhare of few of our modern travellers (being both a scholar and a philosopher) informs us, that the Arabs were utterly ignorant of the ancient hiftory of their own country. The Greeks, to whom we are much indebted, are still more fabulous they knew little of the Geography of the Globe; and the Romans lefs. To ufe the expreffion of a learned Orientalift (d), they were like a fine luftre in a large hall they might diffuse their rays a great way (c) The writer of the Southern Tour in Ireland, around: around: but they could not illuminate all the extremities: they could not throw light into every dark recefs. "Herodotus, the oldest Greek historian, knew nothing of Britain; and the Phenicians, who traded hither for tin in the earliest times, always concealed the name of the place, in order the better to secure so gainful a trade to themselves, calling it the Caffiterides, or Tin Islands, without any other defignation. "The Britons themselves, from their first plantation here under the Tyrian Hercules, by Phenicians from the Red Sea and Arabia, had been fecluded many ages from the rest of the world; and as this plantation took place before Gaul was peopled, there was therefore the lefs chance of their learning from the rest of the world, any thing more than what they happened to have brought over with them." (e) - We cannot agree with the Doctor, that our Scythian Pheni were in poffeffion of the Britan. nic Ifles before Gaul was peopled. The Irish history declares these islands were inhabited when they arrived here, and confequently Gaul was alfo, from whence the firft inhabitants' paffed over to Britain. The judicious Quintilian thought he paffed not too fevere a cenfure when he wrote, Græcis hiftoricis plerumque poetica fimilem effe licentiam. And Strabo is yet more fevere. "Though the Greek hiftorians have pretended "to give a hiftory of Cyrus, and his particular wars with those who were called Meffaget: yet nothing precife. "and fatisfactory could ever be obtained: not even in "refpect to the war. There is the fame uncertainty "with regard to the ancient hiftory of the Perfians, as "well as that of the Medes and Syrians we can meet "with little that can be deemed authentic, on account "of the weakness of those who wrote, and their uniform "love of fable. For finding that writers, who profef fedly deal in fiction without any pretenfions to truth, "were regarded: they thought that they should make "their writings equally acceptable, if in the fyftem of "their history they were to introduce circumstances (e) Dr. Stukely's Memoir to Soc. Antiq. Dec, 3d, 1761. |