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Lecture　VI













The　Chief　and　the　Land













　　　　The　Brehon　law…tracts　strongly　suggest　that；　among　the　things






which　we　in　modern　times　have　most　forgotten；　is　the　importance






of　horned　cattle；　not　merely　in　the　infancy　of　society；　but　at　a






period　when　it　had　made　some　considerable　advance　towards






maturity　It　is　scarcely　possible　to　turn　over　a　page　without






finding　some　allusion　to　beeves；　to　bulls；　cows；　heifers；　and






calves。　Horses　appear；　sheep；　swine；　and　dogs；　and　bees；　the






producers　of　the　greatest　of　primitive　luxuries；　have　a　place






assigned　to　them　as　an　article　of　property　which　has　something






corresponding　to　it　in　old　Roman　law。　But　the　animals　much　the






most　frequently　mentioned　are　kine。　There　are　some　few　facts　both






of　etymology　and　of　legal　classification　which　point　to　the






former　importance　of　oxen。　Capitale　　kine　reckoned　by　the






head…cattle　　has　given　birth　to　one　of　the　most　famous　terms　of






law　and　to　one　of　the　most　famous　terms　of　political　economy；






Chattels　and　Capital。　Pecunia　was　probably　the　word　for　money






which　was　employed　by　the　largest　part　of　mankind　for　the　longest






time　together。　But　oxen；　though　they　have　furnished　a　modern






synonym　for　personal　property；　were　not；　I　need　scarcely　say；






classed　in　the　lower　order　of　commodities　in　all　ancient　systems






of　law。　The　primitive　Roman　law　placed　them　in　the　highest　class；






and　joined　them　with　land　and　slaves　as　items　of　the　Res　Mancipi。






As　in　several　other　instances；　the　legal　dignity　of　this






description　of　property　among　the　Romans　appears　to　answer　to　its






religious　dignity　among　the　Hindoos。　Kine；　which　the　most　ancient






Sanscrit　literature　shows　to　have　been　eaten　as　food；　became　at






some　unknown　period　sacred；　and　their　flesh　forbidden；






and。ultimately　two　of　the　chief　'Things　which　required　a






Mancipation'　at　Rome；　oxen　and　landed　property；　had　their






counterpart　in　the　sacred　bull　of　Siva　and　the　sacred　land　of






India。






　　　　The　subject　has　possibly　been　obscured　by　an　impression　that






horned　cattle　were　only　of　preeminent　importance　to　mankind　in






that　pastoral　stage　of　society　which　has　been　the　theme　of　so






much　not　altogether　profitable　speculation。　The　actual　evidence






seems　to　show　that　their　greatest　value　was　obtained　when　groups






of　men　settled　on　spaces　of　land　and　betook　themselves　to　the






cultivation　of　food…grains。　It　is　very　possible　that　kine　were　at






first　exclusively　valued　for　their　flesh　and　milk；　but　it　is






clear　that　in　very　early　times　a　distinct　special　importance






belonged　to　them　as　the　instrument　or　medium　of　exchange。　In　the






Homeric　literature；　they　are　certainly　a　measure　of　value；　there






seems　no　reason　to　doubt　the　traditional　story　that　the　earliest






coined　money　known　at　Rome　was　stamped　with　the　figure　of　an　ox；






and　at　all　events　the　connection　between　'pecus'　and　'pecunia'　is






unmistakeable。　Part；　but　by　no　means　all；　the　prominence　given　by






the　Brehon　lawyers　to　horned　cattle　wises　certainly　from　their






usefulness　in　exchange。　Throughout　the　Brehon　tracts　fines；　dues；






rents；　and　returns　are　calculated　in　live…stock；　not　exclusively






in　kine；　but　nearly　so。　Two　standards　of　value　are　constantly






referred　to；　'sed'　and　'cumhal。'　'Cumhal'　is　said　to　have






originally　meant　a　female　slave；　just　as　'ancilla'　in　medieval






Latinity　sometimes　means　the　price　of　a　slave…girl；　but　'sed'　is






plainly　used　for　an　amount　or　quantity　of　live　stock；　probably　to






some　small　extent　variable。　The　next　stage；　however；　in　the






history　of　cattle　is　that　at　which　their　service　to　mankind　is






greatest。　They　are　now　valued　chiefly；　in　some　communities






exclusively；　for　their　use　in　tillage；　for　their　labour　and　their






manure。　Their　place　has　been　taken　very　generally　in　Western






Europe　by　horses　as　beasts　of　plough；　but　the　change　was　even






there　both　gradual　and　comparatively　modern；　and　there　are　still






large　portions　of　the　world　where　the　horse　is　exclusively






employed；　as　it　seems　everywhere　to　have　been　at　one　time；　for






war；　for　pleasure；　or　the　chase。　Oxen　were　thus　almost　the　sole






representatives　of　what　a　Political　Economist　would　now　call






Capital　applied　to　land。　I　think　it　probable　that　the　economical






causes　which　led　to　the　disuse　of　oxen　as　a　medium　of　exchange






led　also　to　the　change　in　their　legal　position　which　we　find　to






have　taken　place　at　Rome　and　in　India。　The　sanctification　of　the






ox　among　the　Hindoos；　rendering　his　flesh　unlawful　as　food；　must






certainly　have　been　connected　with　the　desire　to　preserve　him　for






tillage；　and　his　elevation　to　a　place　among　the　Res　Mancipi　may






well　have　been　supposed　to　have　the　same　tendency；　since　it　made






his　alienation　extremely　difficult；　and　must　have　greatly






embarrassed　his　employment　in　exchange。　At　this　point　the　history






of　horned　cattle　becomes　unhappily　mixed　up　with　that　of　large






portions　of　mankind。　The　same　causes　which　we　perceive　altering






the　position　of　the　ox　and　turning　him　into　an　animal　partially






adscriptus　glebaei　undoubtedly　produced　also　a　great　extension　of






slavery。　The　plentifulness　of　land；　even　in　what　are　considered






old　countries；　down　to　comparatively　recent　times；　and　the






scarcity　of　capital　even　in　its　rudest　forms；　seem　to　me　to　be






placed　in　the　clearest　light　by　Mr　Thorold　Rogers's　deeply






instructive　volumes　on　Agriculture　and　Prices　during　the　Middle






Ages；　and　much　in　history　which　has　been　only　partially






intelligible　is　explained　by　them。　The　enormous　importation　of






slaves　into　the　central　territories　of　the　Roman　Commonwealth；






and　the　wholesale　degradation　of　the　free　cultivating　communities






of　Western　Europe　into　assemblages　of　villeins；　seem　to　be






expedients　of　the　same　nature　as　restrictions　on　the　alienation






of　the　ox　and　on　its　consumption　for　food；　and　to　have　been　alike






suggested　by　the　same　imperious　necessity　of　procuring　and






preserving　instruments　for　the　cultivation　of　land。






　　　　The　importance　of　horned　cattle　to　men　in　a　particular　state






of　society　must；　as　it　seems　to　me；　be　carefully　borne　in　mind　if






we　are　to　understand　one　of　the　most　remarkable　parts　of　the






ancient　Irish　law　which　relates　to　the　practice　of　'giving






stock。'　I　stated　before　that；　though　I　did　not　draw　the　same






inferences　from　the　fact；　I　agreed　with　the　writers　who　think






that　the　land…system　of　ancient　Ireland　was　theoretically　based






on　the　division　of　the　tribe…lands　among　the　free　tribesmen。　But






I　also　said　that　in　my　opinion　the　true　difficulty　of　those　days






was　not　to　obtain　land　but　to　obtain　the　means　of　cultivating　it。






The　want　of　capital；　taken　in　its　original　sense；　was　the






necessity　which　pressed　on　the　small　holder　of　land　and　reduced






him　occasionally　to　the　sorest　straits。　On　the　other　hand；　the






great　owners　of　cattle　were　the　various　Chiefs；　whose　primitive






superiority　to　the　other　tribesmen　in　this　respect　was　probably






owing　to　their　natural　functions　as　military　leaders　of　the






tribe。　The　Brehon　law　suggests　to　me　that　the　Chiefs　too　were






pressed　by　a　difficulty　of　their　own；　that　of　finding　sufficient






pasturage　for　their　herds。　Doubtless　their　power　over　the






waste…lands　of　the　particular　group　over　which　they　happened　to






preside　was　always　growing；　but　the　most　fruitful　portions　of　the






tribal　territory　would　probably　be　those　which　the　free　tribesmen






occupied。　The　fact　that　the　wealth　of　the　Chiefs　in　cattle　was






out　of　proportion　to　their　power　of　dealing　with　the　tribal






lands；　and　the　fact　that　the　tribesmen　were　every　now　and　then






severely　pressed　by　the　necessity　of　procuring　the　means　of






tillage；　appear　to　me　to　supply　the　best　explanation　of　the






system　of　giving　and　receiving　stock；　to　which　two　sub…tracts　of






the　Senchus　Mor　are　devoted；　the　Cain…Saerrath　and　the






Cain…Aigillne；　the　Law　of　Saer…stock