It would be somewhat curious to establish the certainty of the South Americans having discovered and colonized Europe many centuries before they were re-discovered by Europeans!--this, once determined, the Druid stones and the round towers of Ireland might all, by degrees, be explained: the obstinate resolve of all learned persons to derive everything in Europe from the Greeks and Romans, or to go to the far East, when fairly driven there, to find out origins, is very hard upon the enormous double continent of the New World, whose wondrous ruined palaces prove the original inhabitants to have been highly civilized and of immense power: and which, by its extent and variety, might cast into insignificance those proud specks which imagine themselves suns, when they are, perhaps, only motes in the sun's beams.
It scarcely appears that the learned and impartial Du Mege has settled the question by his arguments; indeed he seems himself aware that it is yet open, for he rather confutes others than assumes an opinion himself.
He concludes, that the ancient Vascons who overran Aquitaine, in 600, are certainly not the same people as those who now speak the Escuara language, and that these _may have been_ "one of those people who invaded the Roman empire in the reign of Probus, or the remains of those tribes to whom, in the time of Honorius, was confided the guardianship of the entrance of the Pyrenees.

Thus placed in the defiles of the mountains, _it was easy_ for them to extend themselves successively into Aquitaine, Navarre, Guipuscoa, &c., to impose their _language_ and their laws on the terrified people, and thus _mix themselves with_ the Vascons and Cantabrians of Spain, and the Tarbelli and Sibyllates of Gaul." Whatever may be their origin, the Basques, as they exist at this moment, are a very singular people, both as to their customs and language: there is not the slightest resemblance between them and their neighbours; they are perfectly foreigners in the next village to that which they inhabit.
Some _profane_ persons (M.Pierquin, for instance, who goes near to do so, in an article on _la France litteraire_,) have dared to insinuate, that the language of the Basques is nothing more than a mere jargon, _both modern and vulgar_; but this is so cruel an assertion, and one which destroys so many theories, reducing learning to a jest, that no wonder M.Mazure and others are indignant at such boldness.
It must be confessed that, since extremes meet, the same arguments used to prove the classical antiquity of the language would serve to convince that it was merely modern, and made use of, by uneducated persons, to express their wants as readily as possible.

There are, in the Basque, terms which represent ideas by sounds, explaining, by a sort of musical imitation, many usual acts, and the appearance of objects; but this is frequently brought forward by its defenders in its favour, and as establishing its antiquity.
M.Mazure, who appears an enthusiast for the Basque language, produces several words to show the sublimity contained in their signification: for instance, he says, "the radical name of _the Moon_, combined with other terms, gives occasion for superb expressions, full of thought, and of a character which no modern language could furnish: thus--_ilarquia_, the moon, signifies _its light_, or its _funereal_ light; and _illarguia, ilkulcha, ilobia, ilerria, ileguna_, signify the _coffin_, the _grave_, the _churchyard_, the _day of death_.
"The days of the week are also extremely expressive--as Friday, Saturday, Sunday, which convey the idea of the _remembrance of the death of the Saviour--the last day of work--the great day_.

A strictly Christian nation has left, in these words, their stamp." This being the case, how does it agree with the extraordinarily antique origin of the Basques?
However, it appears that these are exceptions; other words being sufficiently unintelligible, that is to say, difficult to explain.
M.Mazure considers that the Basque language is, in some respects, the _most perfect_ that exists, from the _unity of the verb_ which it preserves: its system of conjugation alone were enough, in his opinion, to make it an object worthy of study and admiration to all grammarians.
To the uninitiated, the very opposite opinions of M.Mazure and M.
Pierquin are somewhat amusing: the former insists that the Basque has nothing to do with Hebrew or Phoenician, but inclines to think it a lost _African_ dialect, such as, _perhaps_, might have been spoken by the Moors of Massinissa, who peopled Spain, and probably Aquitaine, at some period unknown.
One singular fact with respect to this mysterious dialect is, that it possesses no written nor printed books older than two centuries since; and no alphabet has been discovered belonging to it; consequently it has no literature; but it has preserved many songs and ballads, some of great delicacy and beauty; and its _improvvisatore_, by profession, are as fruitful as the Italians.

One popular song, in the dialect of Labourd, may give an idea of the strange language which occupies so much attention.
BASQUE SONG.
"Tchorittoua, nourat houa Bi hegaliz, airian?
Espagnalat jouaiteko, Elhurra duk bortian: Algarreki jouanen gutuk Elhurra hourtzen denian.
"San Josefen ermitha, Desertian gorada Espagnalat jouaiteko Handa goure palissada.
Guibelerat so-guin eta, Hasperenak ardura.
Hasperena, babilona, Maitiaren borthala Bihotzian sarakio Houra eni bezala; Eta guero eran izok Nik igorten haidala.
TRANSLATION.
Borne on thy wings amidst the air, Sweet bird, where wilt thou go?
For if thou wouldst to Spain repair, The ports are filled with snow.
Wait, and we will fly together, When the Spring brings sunny weather.
St.Joseph's hermitage is lone, Amidst the desert bare, And when we on our way are gone, Awhile we'll rest us there; As we pursue our mountain-track, Shall we not sigh as we look back?
Go to my love, oh! gentle sigh, And near her chamber hover nigh; Glide to her heart, make that thy shrine, As she is fondly kept in mine.
Then thou may'st tell her it is I Who sent thee to her, gentle sigh! It appears to me, that there is a very remarkable similarity between the habits of the people of the Basque country and those of Brittany; although they of the South are not rich in beautiful legends, such as M.
de Villemarque has preserved to the world: they have dramas and mysteries just in the same manner: some of which last for days, and are played in the open air by the people.