The question is, could they read _at all_, and if the epistle were read for them by a more learned neighbour, would not French be as easy as Basque?
for the friend must have been at school to be of use.
Be this as it may, the "coil" made for the beloved tongue shows the feeling which still exists in Navarre for the "_beau dialecte Euskarien_." "Do you know what you would destroy ?" exclaims M.de Belsunce, in somewhat wild enthusiasm; "the sacred relic of ages--the aboriginal idiom, as ancient as the mountains which shelter and serve for its asylum! "The Basque language is our glory, our pride, the theme of all our memories, the golden book of our traditions.

Proud and free in its accent, noble and learned in its picturesque and sonorous expressions, its formation and grammatical form are both simple and sublime; add to which, the people preserve it with a religious devotion.
"It is the language spoken by our illustrious ancestors--those who carried the terror of their arms from the heights of the Pyrenees to Bordeaux and Toulouse.

It is the language of the conquerors of Theodobert, Dagobert, and Carebert; and of the fair and ill-fated wife of the latter--the unfortunate Giselle.

Were not the sacred cries of liberty and independence uttered amongst our mountains in that tongue, and the songs of triumph which were sent to heaven after the victory of the Gorges of the Soule?
It is the dialect named by Tacitus, as that of those who were never conquered--_Cantaber invictus_: immortalized as that of the _Lions of War_: spoken by the most _ancient people in the world_--a race of shepherds with patriarchal manners, proverbial hospitality, and right-mindedness; light-hearted, friendly and true, though implacable in vengeance and terrible in anger as undaunted in courage.
"Our chronicles live in our national songs, and our language proves an ancient civilization.

To the philosopher and the learned who study it, it presents, from its grandeur, its nobility, and the rich harmony of its expressions, a subject of grave meditation; it may serve as the key of the history of nations, and solve many doubts on the origin of lost or faded languages." Perhaps M.de Belsunce takes a rather pompous view of the subject; but he has, nevertheless, much reason in his appeal.
As specimens of this extraordinary language, some of the names of the Basque towns may amuse and surprise the reader; perhaps, in the Marquesas islands, lately taken possession of by the French, they may find some sounds which to Basque sailors, of which a ship's crew is almost certain to have many, may be familiar.
Places in the district of Forest of Saint Eugrace.
Iratsodoqui.Urruxordoqui.Mentchola.