Page:The ancient language, and the dialect of Cornwall.djvu/48

 28 Is not the ancient tongue worth preserving just as, but not perhaps to the same extent as Greek and Latin? We have only to consider the labours of those who have contributed to the accumulation of the remains, and we shall be led to answer this question in the affirmative. The language, as we have seen, was once spoken by a numerous people, over a large extent of land, and remained a vernacular speech for many centuries, indeed from a time lost in the obscurity of ancient history. The history of the Cornish branch of the Celtic tongue extends so far back into the dim past, that even on such grounds the Archaeologist and the Philologist may easily be induced to befriend its preservation. The language, which was spoken when the Phenicians voyaged to the coasts of Cornwall, must, from its anti- quity alone, demand affection and respect^ especially from Cornishmen.