lect03-第5节

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observe　that；　when　completed；　its　effect　was　to　make　the　Land　the






exclusive　bond　of　union　between　men。　The　Manor　or　Fief　was　a






social　group　wholly　based　upon　the　possession　of　land；　and　the






vast　body　of　feudal　rules　which　clustered　round　this　central　fact






are　coloured　by　it　throughout。　That　the　Land　is　the　foundation　of






the　feudal　system　has；　of　course；　been　long　and　fully　recognised；






but　I　doubt　whether　the　place　of　the　fact　in　history　has　been






sufficiently　understood。　It　marks　a　phase　in　a　course　of　change






continued　through　long　ages　and　in　spheres　much　larger　than　that






of　landed　property。　At　this　point　the　notion　of　common　kinship






has　been　entirely　lost。　The　link　between　Lord　and　Vassal　produced






by　Commendation　is　of　quite　a　different　kind　from　that　produced






by　Consanguinity。　When　the　relation　which　it　created　had　lasted






some　time；　there　would　have　been　no　deadlier　insult　to　the　lord






than　to　attribute　to　him　a　common　origin　with　the　great　bulk　of






his　tenants。　Language　still　retains　a　tinge　of　the　hatred　and






contempt　with　which　the　higher　members　of　the　feudal　groups






regarded　the　lower；　and　the　words　of　abuse　traceable　to　this






aversion　are　almost　as　strong　as　those　traceable　to　differences






of　religious　belief。　There　is；　in　fact；　little　to　choose　between






villain；　churl；　miscreant；　and　boor。






　　　　The　break…up　of　the　feudal　group；　far　advanced　in　most






European　countries；　and　complete　in　France　and　England；　has






brought　us　to　the　state　of　society　in　which　we　live。　To　write　its






course　and　causes　would　be　to　re…write　most　of　modern　history；






economical　as　well　as　political。　It　is　not；　however；　difficult　to






see　that　without　the　ruin　of　the　smaller　social　groups；　and　the






decay　of　the　authority　which；　whether　popularly　or　autocratically






governed；　they　possessed　over　the　men　composing　them；　we　should






never　have　had　several　great　conceptions　which　lie　at　the　base　of






our　stock　of　thought。　Without　this　collapse；　we　should　never　have






had　the　conception　of　land　as　an　exchangeable　commodity；






differing　only　from　others　in　the　limitation　of　the　supply；　and






hence；　without　it；　some　famous　chapters　of　the　science　of






Political　economy　would　not　have　been　written。　Without　it；　we






should　not　have　had　the　great　increase　in　modern　times　of　the






authority　of　the　State…one　of　many　names　for　the　more　extensive






community　held　together　by　common　country。　Consequently；　we






should　not　have　had　those　theories　which　are　the　foundation　of






the　most　recent　systems　of　jurisprudence　　the　theory　of






Sovereignty；　or　（in　other　words）　of　a　portion　in　each　community






possessing　unlimited　coercive　force　over　the　rest　　and　the






theory　of　Law　as　exclusively　the　command　of　a　sovereign　One　or






Number。　We　should；　again；　not　have　had　the　fact　which　answers　to






these　theories　　the　ever…increasing　activity　of　Legislatures；






and；　in　all　probability；　that　famous　test　of　the　value　of






legislation；　which　its　author　turned　into　a　test　of　the　soundness






of　morals；　would　never　have　been　devised　　the　greatest






happiness　of　the　greatest　number。






　　　　In　saying　that　the　now　abundant　phenomena　of　primitive






ownership　open　to　our　observation　strongly　suggest　that　the






earliest　cultivating　groups　were　formed　of　kinsmen；　that　these






gradually　became　bodies　of　men　held　together　by　the　land　which






they　cultivated；　and　that　Property　in　Land　（as　we　now　understand






it）　grew　out　of　the　dissolution　of　these　latter　assemblages；　I






would　not　for　a　moment　be　understood　to　assert　that　this　series






of　changes　can　be　divided　into　stages　abruptly　separated　from　one






another。　The　utmost　that　can　be　affirmed　is　that　certain　periods






in　this　history　are　distinguished　by　the　predominance；　though　not






the　exclusive　existence；　of　ideas　proper　to　them。　Here；　as






elsewhere；　the　world　is　full　of　'survivals；'　and　the　view　of






society　as　held　together　by　kinship　still　survives　when　it　is






beginning　to　be　held　together　by　land。　Similarly；　the　feudal






conception　of　social　relations　still　exercises。　powerful






influence　when　land　has　become　a　merchantable　commodity。　There　is






no　country　in　which　the　theory　of　land　as　a　form　of　property　like






any　other　has　been　more　unreservedly　accepted　than　our　own。　Yet






English　lawyers　live　in　faece　feodorum。　Our　law　is　saturated　with






feudal　principles；　and　our　customs　and　opinions　are　largely






shaped　by　them。　Indeed；　within　the　last　few　years　we　have　even






discovered　that　vestiges　of　the　village…community　have　not　been






wholly　effaced　from　our　law；　our　usages；　and　our　methods　of






tillage。






　　　　The　caution　that　the　sequence　of　these　stages　does　not　imply






abrupt　transition　from　any　one　to　the　next　seems　to　me　especially






needed　by　the　student　of　the　Ancient　Laws　of　Ireland。　Dr






Sullivan；　of　whose　Introduction　to　the　lately　published　lectures






of　O'Curry　I　have　already　spoken；　dwells　with　great　emphasis　on






the　existence　of　private　property　among　the　ancient　Irish；　and　on






the　jealousy　with　which　it　was　guarded。　But　though　it　is　very






natural　that　a　learned　Irishman；　stung　by　the　levity　which　has






denied　to　his　ancestors　all　civilised　institutions；　should　attach






great　importance　to　the　indications　of　private　ownership　in　the






Brehon　law；　I　must　say　that　they　do　not；　in　my　judgment；






constitute　its　real　interest。　The　instructiveness　of　the　Brehon






tracts；　at　least　to　the　student　of　legal　history；　seems　to　me　to






arise　from　their　showing　that　institutions　of　modern　stamp　may　be






in　existence　with　a　number　of　rules　by　their　side　which　savour　of






another　and　a　greatly　older　order　of　ideas。　It　cannot　be　doubted；






I　think；　that　the　primitive　notion　of　kinship；　as　the　cement






binding　communities　together；　survived　longer　among　the　Celts　of






Ireland　and　the　Scottish　Highlands　than　in　any　Western　society；






and　that　it　is　stamped　on　the　Brehon　law　even　more　clearly　than






it　is　upon　the　actual　land…law　of　India。　It　is　perfectly　true






that　the　form　of　private　ownership　in　land　which　grew　out　of　the






appropriation　of　portions　of　the　tribal　domain　to　individual






households　of　tribesmen　is　plainly　recognised　by　the　Brehon






lawyers；　yet　the　rights　of　private　owners　are　limited　by　the






controlling　rights　of　a　brotherhood　of　kinsmen；　and　the　control






is　in　some　respects　even　more　stringent　than　that　exercised　over






separate　property　by　an　indian　village…community。　It　is　also　true






that　another　form　of　ownership　in　land；　that　which　had　its　origin






in　the　manorial　authority　of　the　lord　over　the　cultivating　group；






has　also　begun　to　show　itself；　yet；　though　the　Chief　of　the　Clan






is　rapidly　climbing　to　a　position　answering　to　the　Lordship　of　a






Manor；　he　has　not　fully　ascended　to　it；　and　the　most　novel






information　contained　in　the　tracts　is　that　which　they　supply






concerning　the　process　of　ascent。






　　　　The　first　instructive　fact　which　strikes　us　on　the　threshold






of　the　Brehon　law　is；　that　the　same　word；　'Fine；'　or　Family；　is






applied　to　all　the　subdivisions　of　Irish　society。　It　is　used　for






the　Tribe　in　its　largest　extension　as　pretending　to　some　degree






of　political　independence；　and　for　all　intermediate　bodies　down






to　the　Family　as　we　understand　it；　and　even　for　portions　of　the






Family　（Sullivan；　'Introduction；　clxii）。　It　seems　certain　that






each　of　the　various　groups　into　which　ancient　Celtic　society　was






divided　conceived　itself　as　descended　from　some　one　common






ancestor；　from　whom　the　name；　or　one　of　the　names；　of　the　entire






body　of　kinsmen　was　derived。　Although　this　assumption　was　never






in　ancient　Ireland　so　palpable　a　fiction　as　the　affiliation　of






Greek　races　or　communities　on　an　heroic　eponymous　progenitor；　it






was　probably　at　most　true　of　the　Chief　and　his　house　so　far　as






regarded　the　Irish　Tribe　taken　as　a　political　unit。　But　it　is






probable　that　it　was　occasionally；　and　even　often　true　of　the






s