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Lecture　2






The　Ancient　Irish　Law













　　　　The　great　peculiarity　of　the　ancient　laws　of　Ireland；　so　far






as　they　are　accessible　to　us；　is　discussed；　with　much　instructive






illustration；　in　the　General　Preface　to　the　Third　Volume　of　the






official　translations。　They　are　not　a　legislative　structure；　but






the　creation　of　a　class　of　professional　lawyers；　the　Brehons；






whose　occupation　became　hereditary；　and　who　on　that　ground　have






been　designated；　though　not　with　strict　accuracy；　a　caste。　This






view；　which　is　consistent　with　all　that　early　English　authorities






on　Ireland　have　told　us　of　the　system　they　call　the　Brehon　law；






is　certainly　that　which　would　be　suggested　by　simple　inspection






of　the　law　tracts　at　present　translated　and　published。　The　Book






of　Aicill　is　probably　the　oldest；　and　its　text　is　avowedly






composed　of　the　dicta　of　two　famous　lawyers；　Cormac　and






Cennfeladh。　The　Senchus　Mor　does；　indeed；　profess　to　have　been






produced　by　a　process　resembling　legislation；　but　the　pretension






cannot　be　supported；　and；　even　if　it　could；　the　Senchus　Mor　would






not　less　consist　of　the　opinions　of　famous　Brehons。　It　describes






the　legal　rules　embodied　in　its　text　as　formed　of　the　'law　of






nature'；　and　of　the　'law　of　the　letter'。　The　'law　of　the　letter'






is　the　Scriptural　law；　extended　by　so　much　of　Canon　law　as　the






primitive　monastic　Church　of　Ireland　can　be　supposed　to　have






created　or　adopted。　The　reference　in　the　misleading　phrase　'law






of　nature'；　is　not　to　be　the　memorable　combination　of　words






familiar　to　the　Roman　lawyers；　but　to　the　text　of　St　Paul　in　the






Epistle　to　the　Romans：　'For　when　the　Gentiles；　which　have　not　the






law；　do　by　nature　the　things　contained　in　the　law；　these；　having






not　the　law；　are　the　law　unto　themselves。'　（Rom。　ii。　14）　The　'law






of　nature'　is；　therefore；　the　ancient　pre…Christian　ingredient　in






the　system；　and　the　'Senchus　Mor'　says　of　it：　'The　judgments　of






true　nature　while　the　Holy　Ghost　had　spoken　through　the　mouths　of






the　Brehons　and　just　poets　of　the　men　of　Erin；　from　the　first






occupation　of　Ireland　down　to　the　reception　of　the　faith；　were






all　exhibited　by　Dubhthach　to　Patrick。　What　did　not　clash　with






the　Word　of　God　in　the　written　law　and　the　New　Testament　and　the






consciences　of　believers；　was　confirmed　in　the　laws　of　the






Brehons　by　Patrick　and　by　the　ecclesiastics　and　chieftains　of






Ireland；　for　the　law　of　nature　had　been　quite　right　except　the






faith；　and　its　obligations；　and　the　harmony　of　the　Church　and






people。　And　this　is　the　〃Senchus　Mor〃。'






　　　　Dr　Sullivan；　on　the　other　hand；　whose　learned　and　exhaustive






Introduction　to　O'Curry's　Lectures　forms　the　first　volume　of　the






'Manners　and　Customs　of　the　Ancient　Irish'；　affirms；　on　the






evidence　of　ancient　records；　that　the　institutions　which　in　some






communities　undoubtedly　developed　into　true　legislatures　had






their　counterparts　in　the　Ireland　to　which　the　laws　belonged；　and






he　does　not　hesitate　to　designate　certain　portions　of　the　Irish






legal　system　'statute…law'。　In　the　present　sate　of　criticism　on






Irish　documents　it　is　not　possible　to　hold　the　balance　exactly






between　the　writers　of　the　Introduction　and　of　the　General






Preface；　but　there　is　not　the　inconsistency　between　their






opinions　which　there　might　appear　to　be　at　first　sight。　In　the






infancy　of　society　many　conceptions　are　found　blended　together






which　are　now　distinct；　and　many　associations　which　are　now






inseparable　from　particular　processes　or　institutions　are　not






found　coupled　with　them。　There　is　abundant　proof　that　legislative






and　judicial　power　are　not　distinguished　in　primitive　thought；






nor；　again；　is　legislation　associated　with　innovation。　In　our　day






the　legislator　is　always　supposed　to　innovate；　the　judge　never。






But　of　old　the　legislator　no　more　necessarily　innovated　than　the






judge；　he　only；　for　the　most　part；　declared　pre…exiting　law　or






custom。　It　is　impossible　to　determine　how　much　new　law　there　was






in　the　Laws　of　Solon；　or　in　the　Twelve　Tables　of　Rome；　or　in　the






Laws　of　Alfred　and　Canute；　or　in　the　Salic　Law　which　is　the






oldest　of　the　so…called　Leges　Barbarorum；　but　in　all　probability






the　quantity　was　extremely　small。　Thus；　when　a　body　of　Brehon






judgments　was　promulgated　by　an　Irish　Chief　to　a　tribal　assembly；






it　is　probable　than　convenience　was　the　object　sought　rather　than






a　new　sanction。　A　remarkable　poem；　appended　to　O'Curry's






Lectures；　tells　us　how　certain　Chiefs　proceeded　every　third　year






to　the　'Fair　of　Carman'　and　there　proclaimed　'the　rights　of　every






law　and　the　restraints'；　but　it　does　not　at　all　follow　that　this






promulgation　had　any　affinity　for　legislation　in　the　modern






sense。　The　innovating　legislatures　of　the　modern　world　appear　to






have　grown　up　where　certain　conditions　were　present　which　were






viturally　unknown　to　ancient　Ireland　　where　the　primitive






groups　of　which　society　was　formed　were　broken　up　with　some






completeness；　and　where　a　central　government　was　constituted






acting　on　individuals　from　a　distance　coercively　and






irresistibly。






　　　　There　are；　moreover；　some　independent　reasons　for　thinking






that；　among　the　Celtic　races；　the　half…judicial；






half…legislative；　power　originally　possessed　by　the　tribal　Chief；






or　by　the　tribal　Assembly；　or　by　both　in　combination；　passed　very






early　to　a　special　class　of　learned　persons。　The　Prefaces　in






Irish　found　at　the　commencement　of　some　of　the　law…tracts；　which






are　of　much　interest；　but　of　uncertain　origin　and　date；　contain






several　reference　to　the　order　in　Celtic　society　which　has






hitherto　occupied　men's　thoughts　more　than　any　other；　the　Druids。






The　word　occurs　in　the　Irish　text。　The　writers　of　the　prefaces






seem　to　have　conceived　the　Druids　as　a　class　of　heathen　priests






who　had　once　practised　magical　arts。　The　enchanters　of　Pharaoh






are；　for　instance；　called　the　Egyptian　Druids；　in　the　Preface　to






the　Senchus　Mor。　The　point　of　view　seems　to　be　the　one　familiar






enough　to　us　in　modern　literature；　where　an　exclusive　prominence






is　given　to　the　priestly　character　of　the　Druids；　nor　do　the






Brehon　lawyers　appear　to　connect　themselves　with　a　class　of　men






whom　they　regard　as　having　belonged　altogether　to　the　old　order






of　the　world。　I　am　quite　aware　that；　in　asking　whether　the






historical　disconnection　of　the　Brehons　and　the　Druids　can　be






accepted　as　a　fact；　I　suggest　an　enquiry　about　which　there　hangs






a　certain　air　of　absurdity。　There　has　been　so　much　wild






speculation　and　assertion　about　Druids　and　Druidical　antiquities






that　the　whole　subject　seems　to　be　considered　as　almost　beyond






the　pale　of　serious　discussion。　Yet　we　are　not　at　liberty　to






forget　that　the　first　great　observer　of　Celtic　manners　describes






the　Celts　of　the　Continent　as　before　all　things　remarkable　for






the　literary　class　which　their　society　included。　Let　me　add　that






in　Caesar's　account　of　the　Druids　there　is　not　a　word　which　does






not　appear　to　me　perfectly　credible。　The　same　remark　may　be　made






of　Strabo。　But　the　source　of　at　all　events　a　part　of　the






absurdities　which　have　clustered　round　the　subject　I　take　to　be






the　Natural　History　of　Pliny；　and　they　seem　to　belong　to　those






stories　about　plants　and　animals　to　which　may　be　traced　a　great






deal　of　the　nonsense　written　in　the　world。






　　　　You　may　remember　the　picture　given　by　Caesar　of　the






Continental　Celts；　as　they　appear　to　him　when　he　first　used　his






unrivalled　opportunities　of　examining　them。　He　tells　us　that






their　tribal　societies　consisted　substantially　of　three　orders　he






calls　the　Equites；　the　Druids；　and　the　Plebeians。　Somebody　has






said　that　this　would　be　a　not　very　inaccurate　description　of






French　society　just　before　the　first　Revolution；　with　its　three






orders　of　Nobles；　Clergy；　and　unprivileged　Tiers…蓆at；　but　the






observation　is　a　good　deal　more　ingenious　than　true。　We　ar