Thus it will be seen that the nineteenth century was really the golden age of Gaelic printing, for, with the exception of the straggling volumes indicated above, the literature we now have passed into printed book form within the last hundred years. From the beginning of the century there was a marked increase in the rate of publication—an activity which has been growing in volume and momentum to the present day. And now it will be found highly informing and even entertaining to review the printed literature of the Gael, to consider its character, its general features, and specially to note what the Highlander deemed worthy of putting into type—his favourite books. Such a survey, in fact, amounts to a revelation of character, and throws a wonderful light on his recent past, his outlook on life, and peculiar habits of thought. Indeed, the glimpse we get here of the mental composition and literary limitations of the purely Gaelic-speaking or Gaelic-reading section of our countrymen is really amazing, and if we did not know that they now rely so much for their knowledge and information on the English language, would simply be incredible. It surprised Reid beyond measure that there were so many Gaelic printed books to catalogue seventy years ago, and probably he thought the work was well-nigh complete for all time, but had he lived to-day to scan the amended and supplemented list, it would almost take his breath away, for he expected the Gaelic long before now to be as extinct as the Waldensian or the Cornish. He just gave it fifty years in which to “die down and drone and cease.” People in general, even Highlanders, are scarcely aware of the very considerable number of printed books that exist in the native tongue. But a cursory glance at the catalogue shows the derived nature of the material. A large proportion of the volumes consists of translations, and these translations, if we except the Scriptures, are almost, if not entirely from the English. And here we are face to face with a most striking fact. The literature represented, both in the original and in translations, is mainly religious. You will search in vain for the masterpieces of other languages and other nations. The Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament, _The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments_, parts of Homer’s _Iliad_, and Thomas à Kempis’ _Imitatio Christi_, are perhaps the solitary exceptions. All the best literature of the world has been given a silent go-by.