lect06-第5章

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the　King　of　the　Romans'　（S。　M。；　ii。　225）。　The　commentary　goes　on






to　say　that　sometimes'　it　is　by　the　successor　of　Patrick　that　the






stock　is　given　to　the　King　of　Erin；　'and　this　remarkable　passage






seems　to　show　that　an　Irish　writer　spoke　of　the　successor　of　St






Patrick；　where　a　writer　of　the　same　approximate　period　in　England






or　on　the　European　Continent　would　assuredly　have　spoken　of　the






Pope。






　　　　I　hope　it　is　unnecessary　for　me　to　insist　on　the　interest






which　attaches　to　this　part　of　the　Brehon　law；　it　has　been　not






uncommon；　upon　the　evidence　furnished　by　the　usages　of　the






Scottish　Highlanders；　sharply　to　contrast　Celtic　tribal　customs






with　feudal　rules；　and　doubtless　between　these　customs　and






feudalism　in　its　perfected　state　there　are　differences　of　the






greatest　importance。　Yet；　if　the　testimony　of　the　Brehon　tracts






may　be　trusted；　such　differences　arose；　not　from　essential






distinctions；　but；　in　some　measure　at　all　events；　from






distinctions　of　degree　in　comparative　social　development。　The






germs　of　feudalism　lay　deep　in　the　more　ancient　social　forms；　and






were　ready　to　assert　their　vitality　even　in　a　country　like






Ireland；　which；　after　it　was　once　Christianised；　can　have






borrowed　next　to　no　institutions　from　its　neighbours；　cut　off　as






it　was　from　the　Continent　by　distance；　and　from　England　by






stubborn　national　repulsion。　It　is　also　worthy　of　observation






that　this　natural　growth　of　feudalism　was　not；　as　some　eminent






recent　writers　have　supposed；　entirely　distinct　from　the　process






by　which　the　authority　of　the　Chief　or　Lord　over　the　Tribe　or






Village　was　extended；　but　rather　formed　part　of　it。　While　the






unappropriated　waste…lands　were　falling　into　his　domain；　the






villagers　or　tribesmen　were　coming　through　natural　agencies　under






his　personal　power。






　　　　The　Irish　practice　of　'giving　stock'　seems　to　me　also　to






connect　itself　with　another　set　of　phenomena　which　have　generally






been　thought　to　belong　to　a　very　different　stage　of　history。　We






obtain　from　the　law…tracts　a　picture　of　an　aristocracy　of　wealth






in　its　most　primitive　form；　and　we　see　that　the　possession　of






this　wealth　gave　the　nobles　an　immense　power　over　the　non…noble






freemen　who　had　nothing　but　their　land。　Caesar　seems　to　me　to　be






clearly　referring　to　the　same　state　of　relations　in　the　Celtic






sister　society；　when　he　speaks　of　the　Gaulish　chiefs；　the






Equites；　having　one　principal　source　of　their　influence　in　the






number　of　their　debtors。　（B。　G。；　i。　4；　B。　G。；　vi。　13。）　Now；　you






will　remember　how　uniformly；　when　our　knowledge　of　the　ancient






world　commences；　we　find　plebeian　classes　deeply　indebted　to






aristocratic　orders。　At　the　beginning　of　Athenian　history　we　find






the　Athenian　commonalty　the　bondslaves　through　debt　of　the






Eupatrids；　at　the　beginning　of　Roman　history　we　find　the　Roman






Commons　in　money　bondage　to　the　Patricians。　The　fact　has　been






accounted　for　in　many　ways；　and　it　has　been　plausibly　suggested






that　it　was　the　occurrence　of　repeated　bad　seasons　which　placed






the　small　farmers　of　the　Attic　and　Roman　territory　at　the　mercy






of　wealthy　nobles。　But　the　explanation　is　imperfect　unless　we






keep　in　mind　the　chief　lesson　of　these　Brehon　tracts；　and






recollect　that　the　relative　importance　of　Land　and　Capital　has






been　altering　throughout　history。　The　general　proposition　that






Land　is　limited　in　quantity　and　is　distinguished　by　this






limitation　from　all　other　commodities　which　are　practically






capable　of　indefinite　multiplication；　has　always　of　course　been






abstractedly　true；　but；　like　many　other　principles　of　Political






Economy；　its　value　depends　on　the　circumstances　to　which　it　is






applied。　In　very　ancient　times　land　was　a　drug；　while　capital　was






extremely　perishable；　added　to　with　the　greatest　difficulty；　and






lodged　in　very　few　hands。　The　proportionate　importance　of　the　two






requisites　of　cultivation　changed　very　slowly；　and　it　is　only






quite　recently　that　in　some　countries　it　has　been　well…nigh






reversed。　The　ownership　of　the　instruments　of　tillage　other　than






the　land　itself　was　thus；　in　early　agricultural　communities；　a






power　of　the　first　order；　and；　as　it　may　be　believed　that　a　stock






of　the　primitive　capital　larger　than　usual　was　very　generally






obtained　by　plunder；　we　can　understand　that　these　stocks　were






mostly　in　the　hands　of　noble　classes　whose　occupation　was　war；






and　who　at　all　events　had　a　monopoly　of　the　profits　of　office。






The　advance　of　capital　at　usurious　interest；　and　the　helpless






degradation　of　the　borrowers；　were　the　natural　results　of　such






economical　conditions。　For　the　honour　of　the　obscure　and






forgotten　Brehon　writers　of　the　Cain…Saerrath　and　the






Cain…Aigillne；　let　it　not　be　forgotten　that　their　undertaking　was






essentially　the　same　as　that　which　went　far　to　immortalise　one






great　Athenian　legislator。　By　their　precise　and　detailed






statements　of　the　proportion　which　is　to　be　preserved　between　the






stock　which　the　Chief　supplies　and　the　returns　which　the　tenant






pays；　they　plainly　intend　to　introduce　certainty　and　equity　into






a　naturally　oppressive　system。　Solon；　dealing　with　a　state　of






society　in　which　coined　money　had　probably　not　long　taken　the






place　of　something　like　the　'seds'　of　the　Brehon　law；　had　no






expedient　open　to　him　but　the　debasement　of　the　currency　and　the






cancellation　of　debts；　but　he　was　attacking　the　same　evil　as　the






Brehon　lawyers；　and　equally　interfering　with　that　freedom　of






contract　which　wears　a　very　different　aspect　according　to　the






condition　of　the　society　in　which　it　prevails。






　　　　The　great　part　played　in　the　Brehon　law　by　Cattle　as　the






oldest　form　of　Capital　ought　further　to　leave　no　doubt　of　the






original　objects　of　the　system　of　'eric'…fines；　or　pecuniary






composition　for　violent　crime。　As　I　said　before；　no　Irish






institution　was　so　strongly　denounced　by　Englishmen　as　this；　or






with　so　great　a　show　of　righteous　indignation。　As　members　of　a






wealthy　community；　long　accustomed　to　a　strong　government；　they






were　revolted　partly　by　its　apparent　inadequacy　and　partly　the






unjust　impunity　which　it　seemed　to　give　to　the　rich　man　and　to






deny　to　the　poor。　Although　the　English　system　of　criminal






penalties　which　they　sought　to　substitute　for　the　Irish　system　of






compositions　would　nowadays　be　described　by　an　ordinary　writer　in






pretty　much　as　dark　colours　as　those　used　by　Spenser　and　Davis






for　the　Irish　institution；　it　is　very　possible　that　in　the






sixteenth　century　it　would　have　been　an　advantage　to　Ireland　to






have　the　English　procedure　and　the　English　punishments。　There　is






much　evidence　that　the　usefulness　of　'eric'…fines　had　died　out；






and　that　they　unjustly　profited　the　rich　and　powerful。　But　that






only　shows　that　the　confusions　of　Ireland　had　kept　alive　beyond






its　time　an　institution　which　in　the　beginning　had　been　a　great






step　forwards　from　barbarism。　If　the　modern　writers　who　have






spoken　harshly　of　these　pecuniary　compositions　had　come　upon　a






set