5

NOTES. 889
tiidt they, (the Irish) had 300 volumes flf redords before his
arrival.
The Irish have always held St. Patrick in the highest veneration.
Their gratitude has been unbounded. They have even
superloaded him with honours. Had he really been the father
of Irish letters, what possible biotive could they have had, to
pluck this individual and solitary laurel from his brow. But
they, on the contrary, (see Toland, p. 85.) ascribe their letters to
Femus Farsaidh, i. e. " Phaenix the antient, ot the antient
Phcenician. Whether by Fenius Farsaidh, they meant the
Taaut of SanchoniathoH, or Cadmus who first introduced letters
into Greece, it is impossible to determine. All that we can
infer from it is, that the Irish derived their letters from the Phoe.
nicianSi The polite Greeks and Romans ascribe theirs to the
same source. Herodotus, (lib. 5.) owns that the Greeks received
their letters fr