The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-09-27


Ito them was their temple and their
God. The progress upward from ma
ture to natures god then was not dim
/: cAlt when = n u saiIss5 off, tidinss OF
sreats 10Y wasyuesivsred tt them by
5 he vanity Patrick. 4
.'whethers me paSan Irish were &C.
Quainted with the art Of writing is a
question that is now difficult or i'm.
possible to determine says DR.. Joyce,
speaking of the manners, customs and
ancient institutions of the Irish. The
coming Of st. Patrick found many cir
cumstances that indicated literary &C.
tivity. All authorities concur that
there we're in the country literary and
professional men, Druids. poets and
antiquarians. 1t Is certain that imme-
diately after the establishment Of
Christianity. in the fifth century the
Irish committed to writing in their
native language, not only the laws.
bardic or historical, and poems, ETC.,
OF, their own times, but those which
had been preserved from times pre-.
ceding, whether additionally or other
wise, says Petrie. This general wide
spread use Of writing would be hard
TO account for were there not a pre-
,5tous knowledge of letters.
"DAlton indeed, says without re-
striction that beside the Ogham writ
ings there was had a knowledge Of
letters. But the better opinion seems
tn. be that prescribing from the Og-
: liam script the pagan Irish did not
have writing. The Ogham writing
was invented by the Irish themselves
and founded with considerable skill
upon the Latin and antedated any Of
the vellums or manuscripts. 1t was
used particularly for inscriptions on
monuments and grave stones. 1t an
swered well for lapidary inscriptions,
:btt was too cumbersome for the ia
cile creation of q literature, though
Tie professional poets may have car
'rfed with them on the tablet-staves,
% the manuscripts call them, the
3catch words Of many poems. sagas
and genealogies. More than 200 o.
ham inscriptions exist today. Ogham
was CRYPTIC also: intended only for
the initiated and to make it more
unintelligible to the outsiders inver-
sion Of syllables, introduction of ex-
ira letters, etc.. were practiced. How
ever, with the introduction OF Chris
tianity Roman letters were introduced
and with the whole power and au-
thority of the church behind 1t soon
became universal in its use.
~ 1.-THE law system OF the Irish was
complete and detailed at very early
age. Committed to writing as 1t was
in. the time of Patrick, it was revised
under his auspices and purged Of the
pagan features and Christianized.
This work was done by three kings,
three bishops, of whom Patrick was
one, and three poets and antiQuarians.
The original brehon law was the law
of nature and was set forth probably
hi verse. The brehon or expounder of
the law was obliged to give long years
OF preparation for his task and the
pleading of a. case was an intricate
and difficult matter; moreover the
sbrehon was liable for damages for any
unjust decision he might make. At
frst the legal profession was open
to all who would give the required
time to its study and requirement;
but In later times the profession be-
came hereditary, but never ceased to
demand long and careful preparation
on the part Of the aspirants to judi
.cial hopors., The brehons were very
influential class Of men attached to
the chiefs retinue and receiving from
him land which remained in their
family for generations. Some were
not attached to any house and lived
from their fees, and 1t is related that
!, many brehons waxed rich from their
tees alone.
], Many quaint and interesting sto-
zlss are told on the old brehon law
yers who administered the law not
according to Justice. One was said
to show mottled spots on his cheeks
and another of the flrst century used
TO wear a metal ring about his neck
and when he delivered an unjust de-
cision the ring frightened until it all
but ohoked him, while when he dealt
Justly with the case it relaxed and
Allowed him fnll freedom to breathe
md tank.
ss''sThs brehon law was crude, of
course. but was far above the law of
retaliation which prevailed elsewhere
snd whose dictum was an eye for an
eye.' Az there was no central govern
ment strong enough to enforce the law