The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1895-03-02
THE NATIONAL THOUGHT.
tons Strengthened by
Perusal of
LAWRENCE GINNELL'S WORK
On the Brshon Laws, Lately Published,
Which Irish Men and Women
Should Read.

On the Brahon Laws, Lately Published,
Which irish Men and Women
Should Read.
The ordinary reader, who has a, not
unnatural repugnance to legal litera-
ture, need not be frightened away by
the subtitle of Mr.. Laurence Gin
In the strict sense of the word, this
essentially popular exposition Of the
clear, distinct style, emitting nothing
that is relevant to the subject as a
whole, while singu1arly free from those
technical expressions which are COM
monty found in legal handbooks prop
er. The author makes it plain from
the outset that the work is written by
an Irishman, who Isl q Nationalist in
the truest sense of the word, and who
takes a pride in his country and it's
traditionsassAt the same time he never
departs from that judicial impartial
ity which the reader has a right to ex-
pect from a legal gentleman who es-
says to instruct the ordinary mortal
in laws, either ancient or modern.
A glance at the contents table Of
this neatsYolume Of 25Q. pages shows. at
once that~the laws made and enforced
by our ancestors must have been of g.
very minute character, as they dealt
not only with all the relations OF
social life, but even with the family
circle itself. The text bears out this
conclusion in the amplest manner. It
is not their comprehensive character,
however, which is the most striking
feature Of these ancient laws III the
estimation Of the modern student. Il
is. rather, their great antiQuity-an
antiquity which goes farther back, as
Mr.. Ginnell shows, than the laws and
jurisprudence Of any country in West
ern Europe. If their antiquity sug-
gests Of itself that our ancestors in
the prehistoric times were more civil
lized than the neighboring nations
who had no laws worthy of the name
until centuries after the Irish system
had been brought to considerable per-
fection-the nature and the principles
of the Brehon Laws leave no doubt
whatsoever that these laws were only
possible among people who had
raised themselves, without external
aid or suggestion, to a high state of
civilization. It. is perfectly safe to
come to the conclusion that with the
evolution of the Brehon Laws from a
simple to very complex system, civil
lization also advanced in correspond
ing degree. From the modern stand
point the ancient Irish civilization
may seem crude and imperfect. But,
as Mr. Ginnell points out, that civil
lization cannot be judged by modern
standards. 1t was the growth of the
times, and was suitable to the circum
stances of the people. For the age
in which it was developed it was dis
tinctly advanced. The Brehon Laws
existed for thousand years before
the Christian era, and existed for at
least 1900 years after. Where is the
nation Of antiquity that can show a
better record than that?
The reader will not have dipped very
deeply into Mr.. Ginnell's intensely in
teresting work before he will ask him.
self how it is that so much attention
has been paid to the semi-chaotic Ire
land of the past 600 years Or SO, while
so little has been devoted to the Ire
land of the 1000 years that preceded?
The popular impression that all that
can be known of Pagan Ireland is en-
shrouded in the mystic legends, which
are regarded somewhat i'll the light Of
fairy tales, is altog ether unjustifable.
How erroneous this impression is can
be quickly gathered from Mr.. Gin
nell's "Brehoh Laws" There laws
are no legends. They speak eloquently
of living civilization, of high order
of intellectual culture, and of pro-
longed period Of national progress,
which cannot be contemplated without
pride by the true Irishman Of today.
AS Mr.. Ginnell says: 1.-THE charge of
having been produced or tinged by
cannot be made against
the laws, rules and customs which
controlled the daily lives, con-
duct and destinies of our ancestors,
and under which they labored, fought,
played and prayed, as occasion de-
manded. These remains at least repre-
sent what were once the realities of
life; and the knowledge and the study
of them must with absolute certainty
help, so far as they go, to dispel the
mist OF years. And while one reads,
if, perchance, his, taste should be of
wider scope, he is enabled to gather
incidentally much archaeological ill.,
formation not strictly legal, but Of q
kind difficult, if at all possible, to CLEAN
from other sources, all stamped here
with the authenticity Of the law, and
not less valuable for being thus given
design
Speaking. of the manuscripts from
which our knowledge of the Brehcn
Laws are derived, Mr.. Ginuell says:
Although we still possess a. great
deal of written matter as compared
with other countries, far more than
we possess has been lost. Still compe-
tent Judges say that our extant manu-
script materials are both for antiquity
and intrinsic worth, treasures such as
no nation north Of the Alps can boast
Of. Anyone who suspects this for a.
Gaelic eyaggeration had better visit
the Royal Irish Academy and have
his incredulity speedily and agreeably
cured by the evidence of his own eyes.
else may be said of those
remote ancestors of Ours, it must be
admitted that they we're singularly de-
voted to literature. and if the remains
,f their work have high value and
interest for strangers and Teutons, to
us. Whose heritage they are, and whose
privilege and pride it is to call ireland
o,r native land, they should be not
alone valuable and interesting. but
sacred. IA people possessing such pre-
kfotis n1onImeIfts and Indifferent to-
DlIld cert be unworthy Of
lliiS krS e 81 anSf Il 3Dalt psauecd