LAWS AND INSTITUTES OF IRELAND.

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 721, 12 March 1853, Page 3

LAWS AND INSTITUTES OF IRELAND.

The following is the report of the commissioners appointed to inquire and report concerning the ancient laws and institutes of Ireland :

“May it please your Excel’ency,—-The principal materials necessary for the preparation of a report on the ancient liisb laws being now collected and arranged, we have thought it our duty to lay before your Excellency a brief statement of the results at which we have already arrived , and to solicit some instructions resnectino- the time and manner of completing the task which your Excellency has been pleased to commit to US* « Ti je first object to which our attention was directed was the formation of a catalogue of all the manuscripts of the Brehon laws which are known to exist in the United Kingdom. A numerous and valuable collection of these documents, originally made in Ireland by the eminent Welch antiquary and philologist, Edward Lhwyd, is now preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, to which it was presented about 60 years D ago, by Sir John Sebright. In thus disposing of it he appears to have been influenced by the advice of the celebrated Edmund Burke, who manifested on that occasion a lively anxiety to have the maerials of Irish history placed within the reach of scholars by the translation and publication of alt the ancient records of the country. Besides the Trinity College MSS., and a few belonging to the Royal Irish Academy, we have ascertained 0 that transcripts of various portions of the Brehon Laws are to be found in the Bodlean library at Oxford, in the library of the British Museum, and in tbe Stowe Collection, now the property of Lord Ashburnham. All these MSS., except the last mentioned, to which we have not as yet been so fonunate as to obtain access, have been described at gr.at length in, an analytical catalogue, made according to our directions by Dr. O’Donovan and Mr. Eugene Curry, and containing notices of their respective duties, and of the general nature of the subjects they treat of. “ The dates of the existing MSS. of the Brehon Laws vary from the early part of the 14th to the close of the 16th century ; but the authority of some is enhanced by the fact that they wore transcribed by persons in whose families tbe office of brehon. or judge, had been hereditary for several generations. _ . “ For the laws themselves a much higher antiquity may he safely asserted. So far as we have external evidence to guide us, there is no reason to suspect that they have undergone any material change since tbe time of Comae Mac Cuilleuain, King and Bishop of Cashel, who died A.D, 908. He was a man of great learning and energy, who certainly promoted the execution of considerable literary works, and under whose influence it is not improbable that a systematic compilation of the laws may have been effected. Of this, however, we have no distinct record. On the other hand, we find scattered through all parts of tbe laws allusions to a general revision of them in the fifth century, at the instance of St. Patrick, who, in conjunction with certain kitfgs and learned men, is said to have expunged from them all those institutions which savoured of paganism, and to have framed the code Called the Seanchus Mor. These same documents assert the existence of still more ancient written Lws the greater part which are ascribed to Cormac Mac Art, monarch of Ireland'in the middle of the third century. However slow we may be to acquiesce in statements of the kind, which contradict what we have learned concerning the progress of legislation in the remaining parts of Western Europe, we may readily admit that the subject matter of many of the laws demonstrates their great antiquity, as it indicates the primitive nature of the society in which they prevailed. 1° spite of the attempts to efface it, traces of are still discernible in many parts of them. They enumerate various ordeals of a pagan character, which are expressly termed raii o'cal, and specify the occasions on which a resort to them ns prescribed. There are also provisions in the laws of marriage, which that Christianity could have exercised but a feeble influence at the time when they were enacted.

The language in which the Brehon Laws are written is a convincing proof of their antiquity. They are composed in a peculiar dialect, as many writers have maintained ; hut, if their style differs from that of the vernacular Irish of the present day, as Anglo-Soxon does from modern English, this dissimilarity is to be ascribed mainly to the effects of time, by which the orihograph y and grammatical forms of the language have been modified, and legal terms and phrases of constant recurrence have become obsolete. The antiquity of the language of the Brehon Laws bfiing once established, it must beappaient that the publication of them would promote the study of philosophy in no ordinary way. From no other source could such abundant and precious materials be obtained by the scholar engaged in analyzing the Celtic languages, and determining their relation to other branches of the indo-European language.

“ Apart from their mere antiquity, these lawg are possessed of considerable interest to the historian and jurist. They lay down the privileges and duties of persons of all classes; they define the tenure of land and the rights of property of all kinds. In a word, they furnish a perfect picture of the society which they were designed to regulate, from the constitution of the kingdom, and the relation subsisting between the sovereign and the provincial kings, down to the minutest details of domestic life among the serfs. “ Such being tho estimate which an examination of these documents has led us f o form of their age and contents, we feel that we are fullv warranted in recommending to your Excellency that tho publication of them should be undertaken at the expense of the State, and under the superintendence of competent persons. AH the arguments which induced the Government to order the publication of the Anglo-Saxon and Welch laws might be used in favour of this measure. In fact, the publication of the Brehon Laws appears to us to be essential to the completion of the works already put forth by the Commissioners of Public Records. *• About 70 years ago Vallancey, in his Collectanea tie Reims llibernicis , published a few extracts from them accompanied by translations. But both text and version w'ere so full of inaccuracies arising from the incapacity of the editor, that the value of the documents was not fully exiiibited in these specimens. In truth, the work Was too difficult and expensive to be undertaken b\ any individual. It requires a long time, a considerable outlay, and much co-operation for its proper execution. Persons possessing a vernacular knowledge of the Irish language and accustomed to transcribe Irish M?S.

must be employed in the work of copying and translating. These again would require the superintendence of accomplished scholais. versed in history, jurisprudence, archaeology, and philosophy. Moreover it would be necessary to procure copies or collations of MSS., in remote places. The work, when completed, would be an extensive one, occupying a large folio volume, which would possess but little popular interest and would be consulted only by a limited class of historical readers. Taking all there circumstances into account, we are convinced that, notwithstanding its intrinsic importance, the publication of the ancient Irish laws could not be effected in the ordinary manner, and mu«t be undertaken by the Government, if it is ever to be accomplished at all. “ The present time affords facilities for the execution of tho design now proposed. During the prigress of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, several persons acquainted with the Irish language were employed to collect information on matters of topography and ancient history. Under the direction of the officers conducting the survey those persons became well instructed and disciplined scholars. In a few years more this advantage will be irretrievably lost. The taste for ,antiquarian scholarship among the lower classes in Ireland is nearly extinct, while death and emigration are fast removing the few indiwdmls who possessed the qualifications just mentioned. Without the aid of such labourers the task of transcribing and translating the Brehon Laws would become one of extreme, if not hopeless, difficulty. “ There ai-e some circumstances which would render the publication of these ancient laws peculiarly interesting in the eyes of the politician. It is not improbable that the habits of thought and action prevailing among the native Irish are reflected in .the laws which they framed for themselves before they were affected by foreign influences, and to which they continued lo cling yrith obstinate tenacity, even for centuries after they bad been compelled to submit to British rule. The Brehon Laws wefe actually appealed to so late as the reign of Charles J. We ipusi pot, therefore, be surprised to find some traces yet remaining of their effect upon society. 41 We would also suggest d )at 6°°d reßu hs would be .obtained by exhibiting the real State of this country at a remote period of its history. It wo'vld then be found that false or exaggerated notions have beerl entertained of the well-being of society and the advancement <)f civilization in early tipjes. Ireland never enjoyed a golden age. it would be more easy to say, that she, suffered for many ages under an iron feudalism, which admiiiistt,rel essentially different laws to the rich and to ■the poor., Ignorance on this bead has certainly created in soma minds an unreasonable dissatisfaction with tho

present order of things, and a perverse disposition to thwart the efforts of those who are doing their utmost to ameliorate it. Nothing could be more efficacious in dispelling such morbid national prejudices than a complete publication of the ancient Irish laws. “ Lest it should be supposed that any national partiality has affected the opinion which we have ourselves formed we beg to direct your Excellency’s attention to the accompanying copies of letters on this subject from Mr. llallam, M. Guizot, Professor Ranke, and Professor Grimm. (Appendix A.) Other English and foreign scholars of the highest eminance have in similar terms expressed the deep interest with which they regard it. “ We also annex a statement (Appendix B.) of the expenditure of the sum of £2OO placed at onr disposal by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s 1 reasury for the purpose of enabling us to defray the chai ges necessarily incurred in the preparation of our report. It will be observed that the greater part of the money has been spent in making the analytical catalogue, the manuscript of which extends to 538 folio pages. “ Respecting the several matters briefly touched upon in the present communication, we propose to lay before your Excellency more ample details in a report founded on the mass of information which we have gathered. It is our desire to confirm the general statements here made by extracts from the Irish laws and records of all kinds. But the preparation of such a report must be attended with considerable labour, and could not be accomplished very rapidly by persons having other official duties to discharge. We, therefore, pray your Excellency to inform us whether it is your pleasure that we should draw up such a full report, and to signify the latest time at which you could permit us to present it. We entertain a hope that your Excellency, having the case fully set before you, will see sufficient grounds to warrant you lo recommending tbe application of public funds for the purposes here contemplated. At the same time we apprehend that the materials for the decision of the Government must be furnished by us at an early period, if any grant for the publication of the Brehon Laws is to be included in the estimates for the present year.—We have, &c., “ James H. Todd, D.D. “ Charles Graves, D.D. “ Feb. 19, 1852. “ Note. —The Earl of Clarendon having resigned the office of Lo d Lieutenant of Ireland a few days after the preceding report had been presented, a copy of it was laid before Lis successor, the Earl of Eglintoun, to. gether with a letter requesting bis Excellency’s instruction. To this the commissioners received the following reply:— “ • Dublin Castle, April 27, 1852. ,c 1 Sir, —With reference to your letter of the 22nd instant, enclosing a copy of a report on the pulication of the Brehon Laws, I am diiected by the Lord-Lieu-tenant to inform you that his Excellency, having before him the information therein contained, does not think it necessary that you should at present draw up such a full report as the commissioners propose. In the papers already submitted to him he sees sufficient grounds to warrant him in recommending 'be publication of those laws ; and his Excellency has accordingly forwarded the report, with the accompanying papers, for the favourable consideration of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury. —1 am, &c., “‘John Wynne. “ *To the Rev. Charles Graves, D.D.’”