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undoubtedly　to　be　explained　in　the　same　way。　The　Brehon　could






not；　like　the　Brahmin；　make　any　such　portentous　assertion　as　that






his　order　sprang　from　the　head　of　Brahma；　that　it　was　an






embodiment　of　perfect　purity；　and　that　the　first　teacher　of　its






lore　was　a　direct　emanation　from　God。　But　the　Brehon　did　claim






that　St。　Patrick　and　other　great　Irish　saints　had　sanctioned　the






law　which　he　declared；　and　that　some　of　them　had　even　revised　it。






Like　the　Brahmin；　too；　he　never　threw　away　an　opportunity　of






affirming　the　dignity　of　his　profession。　In　these　law…tracts　the






heads　of　this　profession　are　uniformly　placed；　where　Caesar






placed　the　Druids；　on　the　same　level　with　the　highest　classes　of






Celtic　society。　The　fines　payable　for　injury　to　them；　and　their






rights　of　feasting　at　the　expense　of　other　classes　（a　form　of






right　which　will　demand　much　attention　from　us　hereafter）；　are






adjusted　to　those　of　Bishops　and　Sings。　It　is　more　than　likely






that　the　believing　multitude　ended　by　accepting　these






pretensions。　From　what　we　know　of　that　stage　of　thought　we　can






hardly　set　limits　to　the　amount　of　authority　spontaneously






conceded　to　the　utterances　of　a　sole　literary　class。　It　must　have






struck　many　that　the　influence　of　the　corresponding　class　in　our






own　modern　society　far　exceeds　anything　which　could　have　been






asserted　of　it　from　the　mere　consideration　of　our　social






mechanism。　There　is；　perhaps；　an　impression　abroad　that　the






influence　it　exerts　increases　as　history　goes　on；　an　impression






possibly　produced　and　certainly　strengthened　by　the　brilliant






passages　in　which　Lord　Macaulay　contrasted　the　well…paid　literary






labour　of　his　own　day　with　the　miseries　of　the　literary　hack　of






Grub　Street　a　century　before。　I　think　that　this　opinion；　if






broadly　stated；　is　at　the　very　least　doubtful。　The　class　which；






to　use　a　modern　neologism；　'formulates'　the　ideas　dimly　conceived






by　the　multitude　　which　saves　it　mental　trouble　by　collecting






through　generalisation；　which　is　an　essentially　labour…saving






process；　the　scattered　fragments　of　its　knowledge　and　experience






　has　not　always　consisted　of　philosophers；　historians；　and






novelists；　but　had　earlier　representatives　in　poets；　priests；　and






lawyers。　It　is　not　at　all　a　paradoxical　opinion　that　these　last






were　its　most　powerful　members。　For；　nowadays；　it　has　to　cope






with　the　critical　faculty；　more　or　less　found　everywhere；　and






enormously　strengthened　by　observation　of　the　methods　of　physical






discovery。　No　authority　of　our　day　is　possibly　comparable　with






that　of　the　men　who；　in　an　utterly　uncritical　age；　simply　said　of






a　legal　rule；　'So　it　has　been　laid　down　by　the　learned；'　or　used






the　still　more　impressive　formula；　'It　is　thus　written。'






　　　　While；　however；　I　fully　believe　that　the　Brehon　law　possessed






great　authority；　I　think　also　that　it　was　in　all　probability






irregularly　and　intermittently　enforced；　and　that　partial　and






local　departures　from　it　were　common　all　over　ancient　Ireland。






Anybody　who　interested　himself　in　the　question　of　its　practical






application　would　have　to　encounter　the　very　problems　which　are






suggested　by　the　Brahminical　Hindoo　law。　The　student　of　this　last






system；　especially　if　he　compares　it　with　the　infinity　of　local






usage　practised　in　India；　is　constantly　asking　himself　how　far






was　the　law　of　the　Brahmin　jurists　observed　before　the　English






undertook　to　enforce　it　through　their　tribunals？　The　Editor　of






the　Third　Volume　of　the　Ancient　Laws　of　Ireland　has　given　a　very






apposite　example　of　a　problem　of　the　same　kind　（iii。　146）；　by






extracting　from　the　Carew　Papers　the　story　of　a　famous　dispute　as






to　the　headship　of　the　great　irish　house　of　O'Neill。　Con　O'Neill；






its　chief；　had　two　sons；　Matthew　and　Shane。　Matthew　O'Neill　was






heir　to　Con　O'Neill's　earldom　of　Tyrone；　according　to　the






limitations　of　the　patent。　Shane　O'Neill　urged　on　the　English






Government　that　these　limitations　were　void；　because　the　King；　in






granting　the　earldom；　could　not　have　been　aware　that　Matthew






O'Neill　was　an　adulterine　bastard；　having　been　in　truth　born　of






the　wife　of　a　smith　in　Dundalk。　Shane　O'Neill　has　been　regarded






as　the　champion　of　purely　Irish　ideas　（see　Froude；　'English　in






Ireland；'　I。　43）；　but　though　the　rule　of　legitimacy　upon　which　he






insisted　conforms　to　our　notions；　it　is　directly　contrary　to　the






legal　doctrine　of　the　Book　of　Aicill；　which　in　one　of　its　most






surprising　passages　lays　down　formally　the　procedure　by　which　the






natural　father　could　bring　into　his　family　a　son　born　under　the






alleged　circumstances　of　Matthew　O'Neill；　on　paying　compensation






to　the　putative　parent。　Unless　Shane　O'Neill's　apparent　ignorance






of　this　method　of　legitimation　was　merely　affected　for　the






purpose　of　blinding　the　English　Government；　it　would　seem　to






follow　that　the　Book　of　Aicill；　though　its　authorship　was






attributed　to　King　Cormac；　had　not　an　universally　recognised






authority。






　　　　I　do　not　know　that　the　omission　of　the　English；　when　they　had






once　thoroughly　conquered　the　country；　to　enforce　the　Brehon　law






through　the　Courts　which　they　established；　has　ever　been　reckoned






among　the　wrongs　of　Ireland。　But　if　they　had　done　this。　they






would　have　effected　the　very　change　which　at　a　much　later　period






they　brought　about　in　India；　ignorantly；　but　with　the　very　best






intentions。　They　would　have　given　immensely　greater　force　and　a






much　larger　sphere　to　a　system　of　rules　loosely　and　occasionally






administered　before　they　armed　them　with　a　new　authority。　Even　as






it　was；　I　cannot　doubt　that　the　English　did　much　to　perpetuate






the　Brehon　law　in　the　shape　in　which　we　find　it。　The　Anglo…Norman






settlement　on　the　east　coast　of　Ireland　acted　like　a　running






sore；　constantly　Stating　the　Celtic　regions　beyond　the　Pale；　and






deepening　the　confusion　which　prevailed　there。　If　the　country　had






been　left　to　itself；　one　of　the　great　Irish　tribes　would　almost






certainly　have　conquered　the　rest。　All　the　legal　ideas　which；






little　conscious　as　we　are　of　their　source；　come　to　us　from　the






existence　of　a　strong　central　government　lending　its　vigour　to






the　arm　of　justice　would　have　made　their　way　into　the　Brehon　law；






and　the　gap　between　the　alleged　civilisation　of　England　and　the






alleged　barbarism　of　Ireland　during　much　of　their　history；　which






was　in　reality　narrower　than　is　commonly　supposed；　would　have






almost　wholly　disappeared。






　　　　Before　I　close　this　chapter　it　is　necessary　to　state　that　the






Brehon　law　has　not　been　unaffected　by　the　two　main　influences






which　have　made　the　modern　law　of　Western　Europe　different　from






the　ancient；　Christian　morality　and　Roman　jurisprudence。　It　has






been　modified　by　Roman　juridical　ideas　in　some　degree；　though　it






would　be　hazardous　to　lay　down　with　any　attempt　at　precision　in






what　degree。　I　have　trustworthy　information　that；　in　the　tracts






translated　but　not　yet　published；　a　certain　number　of　Roman　legal






maxims　are　cited；　and　one　Rowan　jurisconsult　is　mentioned　by






name。　So　far　as　the　published　tracts　afford　materials　for　an






opinion；　I　am　inclined　to　think　that　the　influence　of　the　Roman






law　has　been　very　slight；　and　to　attribute　it　not　to　study　of　the






writings　of　the　Roman　lawyers；　but　to　contact　with　Churchmen






imbued　more　Or　less　with　Roman　legal　notions。　We　may　be　quite






sure　that　the　Brehons　were　indebted　to　them　for　one　conception






which　is　present　in　the　tracts　　the　conception　of　a　Will；　and






we　may　probably　credit　the　Church　with　the　comparatively　advanced






development　of　another　conception　which　we　find　here　　the






conception　of　a　Contract。　The　origin　of　the　rules　concerning






testamentary　bequest　which　are　sometimes　found　in　Western　bodies






of　law　otherwise　archaic　has　been　much　considered　of　late　years；






and　the　weight　of　learned　opinion　inclines　strongly　to　the　view






that　these　rules　had