lect02-第2章

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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　are　now






able　to　compare　Caesar's　account　of　the　Gauls　with　the　evidence






concerning　a　Celtic　community　which　the　Brehon　tracts　supply；　and






if　we　use　this　evidence　as　a　test；　we　shall　soon　make　up　our






minds　that；　though　his　representation　is　accurate　as　far　as　it






goes；　it　errs　in　omission　of　detail。　The　Equites；　or　Chiefs；






though　to　some　extent　they　were　a　class　apart；　did　not　stand　in






such　close　relation　to　one　another　as　they　stood　to　the　various






septs　or　groups　over　which　they　presided。　'Every　chief；'　says　the






Brehon　law；　'rules　over　his　land；　whether　it　be　small　or　whether






it　be　large。'　The　Plebeians；　again；　so　far　from　constituting　a






great　miscellaneous　multitude；　were　distributed　into　every　sort






of　natural　group；　based　ultimately　upon　the　Family。　The　mistake；






so　far　as　there　was　error；　I　conceive　to　have　been　an　effect　of






mental　distance。　It　had　the　imperfections　of　the　view　obtained　by






looking　on　the　Gangetic　plains　from　the　slopes　of　the　Himalayas。






The　impression　made　is　not　incorrect；　but　an　immensity　of　detail






is　lost　to　the　observer；　and　a　surface　varied　by　countless　small






elevations　looks　perfectly　flat。　Caesar's　failure　to　note　the






natural　divisions　of　the　Celtic　tribesmen；　the　families　and　septs






or　sub…tribes；　is　to　me　particularly　instructive。　The　theory　of






human　equality　is　of　Roman　origin；　the　comminution　of　human






society；　and　the　unchecked　competition　among　its　members；　which






have　gone　so　far　in　the　Western　Europe　of　our　days；　had　the　most






efficient　causes　in　the　mechanism　of　the　Roman　State。　Hence






Caesar's　omissions　seem　to　be　those　most　natural　in　a　Roman






general　who　was　also　a　great　administrator　and　trained　lawyer；






and　they　are　undoubtedly　those　to　which　an　English　ruler　of　India






is　most　liable　at　this　moment。　It　is　often　said　that　it　takes　two






or　three　years　before　a　Governor…General　learns　that　the　vast






Indian　population　is　an　aggregate　of　natural　groups；　and　not　the






mixed　multitude　he　left　at　home；　and　some　rulers　of　India　have






been　accused　of　never　having　mastered　the　lesson　at　all。






　　　　There　are　a　few　very　important　points　of　detail　to　be　noticed






in　Caesar's　description　of　what　may　be　called　the　lay　portion　of






Celtic　society。　I　shall　afterwards　call　your　attention　to　the






significance　of　what　he　states　concerning　the　classes　whom　he






calls　the　clients　and　debtors　of　the　Equites；　and　respecting　the






increased　power　which　they　give　to　the　Chief　on　whom　they　are






dependent。　It　is；　however；　remarkable　that；　when　he　speaks　of　the






Druids；　his　statements　are　greatly　more　detailed。　Here　there　were






no　home　associations　to　mislead　him；　but；　beyond　that；　it　is






plain　that　his　interest　was　strongly　roused　by　the　novel






constitution　of　this　privileged　order　whom　he　places　by　the　side






of　the　Chiefs。　Let　me　recall；　then；　to　you　the　principal　points






of　his　description；　from　which　I　designedly　omit　all　statements






concerning　the　priestly　office　of　the　class　described。　He　tells






us　that　the　Druids　were　supreme　judges　in　all　public　and　private






disputes；　and　that；　for　instance；　all　questions　of　homicide；　of






inheritance；　and　of　boundary　were　referred　to　them　for　decision。






He　says　that　the　Druids　presided　over　schools　of　learning；　to






which　the　Celtic　youth　flocked　eagerly　for　instruction；　remaining






in　them　sometimes　（so　he　was　informed）　for　twenty　years　at　a






time。　He　states　that　the　pupils　in　these　schools　learned　an






enormous　quantity　of　verses；　which　were　never　committed　to






writing；　and　he　gives　his　opinion　that　the　object　was　not　merely






to　prevent　sacred　knowledge　from　being　popularised；　but　to






strengthen　the　memory。　Besides　describing　to　us　the　religious






doctrine　of　the　Druids；　he　informs　us　that　they　were　extremely






fond　of　disputing　about　the　nature　of　the　material　world；　the






movements　of　the　stars；　and　the　dimensions　of　the　earth　and　of






the　universe。　At　their　head　there　was　by　his　account　a　chief






Druid；　whose　place　at　his　death　was　filled　by　election；　and　the






succession　occasionally　gave　rise　to　violent　contests　of　arms






（B。G。　vi；　13；　14）。






　　　　There　are　some　strong　and　even　startling　points　of






correspondence　between　the　functions　of　the　Druids；　as　described






by　Caesar；　and　the　office　of　the　Brehon；　as　suggested　by　the






law…tracts。　The　extensive　literature　of　law　just　disinterred






testifies　to　the　authority　of　the　Brehons　in　all　legal　matters；






and　raises　a　strong　presumption　that　they　were　universal　referees






in　disputes。　Among　their　writings　are　separate　treatises　on






inheritance　and　boundary；　and　almost　every　page　of　the






translations　contains　a　reference　to　the　'eric'…fine　for






homicide。　The　schools　of　literature　and　law　appear　to　have　been






numerous　in　ancient　Ireland；　and　O'Curry　is　able　to　give　the






course　of　instruction　in　one　of　them　extending　over　twelve　years。






All　literature；　including　even　law；　seems　to　have　been　identified






with　poetry。　the　chief　Druid　of　Caesar　meets　us　on　the　very






threshold　of　the　Senchus　Mor；　in　the　person　of　Dubhthach　Mac　ua






Lugair；　the　royal　poet　of　Erin；　the　Brehon　who　was　chosen　by　St






Patrick　to　arbitrate　in　a　question　of　homicide；　and　whose　'mouth'






the　saint　'blessed'。　The　mode　of　choosing　the　chief　Druid；　by






election；　has　its　counterpart　in　the　institution　of　Tanistry；






which　within　historical　times　determined　the　succession　to　all






high　office　in　Ireland；　and　which　was　hateful　to　the　English；　as






affording　smaller　security　for　order　than　their　own　less　archaic






form　of　primogeniture。　Nor　is　that　all。　The　Prefaces　in　Irish　to






the　tracts　contain　a　number　of　discussions　on　subjects　which　are






in　no　way　legal；　or　which　are　forced　into　some　connection　with






law　by　the　most　violent　expedients。　They　leave　on　the　mind　the






impression　of　being　a　patchwork　of　materials；　probably　of　very






various　antiquity；　which　happen　to　have　been　fond　in　the　archives






of　particular　law…schools。　Now；　the　Preface　to　the　Senchus　Mor






actually　contains　disquisitions　on　all　the　matters　about　which






Caesar　declares　the　Druids　to　have　been　specially　fond　of