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DISSERTATIONOn the Antiquity of the Use of Letters among theCelts in general, and the Irish in particular; uithsome Remarks on the Number and Antiquity ofthe Irish Manuscripts.THAT the Celts were the Aborigines of Europe, is a point•unquestioned, and unquestionable, and it must hence also followthat their language was the Aboriginal one. To both thesepoints, Mr. Pinkarton, their grand antagonist, has fully acceded.At what period they passed from Asia to Europe, can admit ofno certain determination. The period when they became acquaintedwith letters is equally uncertain. But if we may layany stress on the affinity of their mythology, their deities, theirreligious rites, and peculiar customs, to those of Chaldea, Phteiiicia,and Egypt, we have reason toconclude, that they weresooner acquaiuted with the use of letters than is generally allowed.The history of Jbar is, the Hyperborean priest of the sun, is too"well established to admit of any doubt. About seven centuriesprior to our aera, h« wrote several treatises on different subjects.He spoke Greek as perfectly and as fluently as Pythagorashimself ; nor does he appear, from the testimony of theGreeks themselves, to have been in any respect inferior to thatgreat philosopher. Tacitus, (de Morib. Cerm. c. G.) informsus that the Germans, man and woman, were equally ignorantof the use of letters. Pinkarton himself, (vol. 2. p. 19) admitsthat the Germans, Scandinavians, Polanders, and Russians, werenot acquainted with letters till the 9th century. It is well knownthat tb« antient Grtcks gave th« name of Hi/perboreans to itll