The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-05-10

tlOH lTbIl III tIOSt curly CtH-
turtles to Scotland. Wales and the Isle
of Man. which would indicate that the
difficulties of getting a living from the
soil, on account of the congestion Of
the Inhabitants was greater in the
country from which the emigrants went
than in that to which they betook them
selves. 1t is rendered probable that
1860. after the century Of desolating
war which had preceded 1t. was the low
water mark of Irish population and that
that population had been greater even a
millennium before.
At any rate some OF the systems and
institutions which imply that the people
which maintain or submit to them have
emerged from barbarism undoubtedly
prevailed in Ireland even before its
Christia nization
From some points of view the most
important of these was n system Of law.
to which the people submitted and Of
which the professors were honored and
esteemed That was undoubtedly the
case with the Brehon law. Of which the
origin Is lost in the twilight OF fable"
Luckily the law was codified at so early
IA date that the documents relating to
II are at once the earliest and the most
SptNliic NIllCH Ttiate 10 the Ir1Sn MS
tory OF the pre- Anglo Norman times
Modern scholarship has found more
material for its researches in these than
in any other documents of Irish his
tory. and the field has been inteligently
worked. Many Of the Irish customs.
which have the force and sometimes the
forms Of law. have been shown to be
derived from the peculiarities OF gov
eminent and society. one of these is
the prevalence of the sept or gems"
over both the smaller social unit of the
family and the larger. or what we call
the State. but which had no analogy in
early Irish [listory. 1t Is this prev
alence, for example. which seems to
have dictated what is known as the law
OF tanistry, according to which the Of
flee and the property of the chief de-
scended not necessarily to his offspring
but to the most eligible of the saple
blood. 1t is this custom which HIS
moved the grave Hallam to the express
sion of an opinion that mo better mode.
it is evident. of providing for a perpet-
nal supply of those civil Quarrels in
which the Irish are supposed to place
so much Of their enjoyment could have
been devised" But, IN fact. the sue
cession to the chief was az Mr.. Joyce
shows. often established and rec ognized
during his lifetime. and the institution
If tanistry seems a fairly sensible de-
vice for securing succession Of mill
tary ability in n tribe which owed its
separate existence TO its power OF de-
tending itself in war,
The ancient kings Of ireland" is
commonly used or accepted as a jocose
designation. But this IL mainly be-
cause the word or words which we
translate by king" really covered such
| a range of authority and dignity from
that. say. OF a lowland Scottish laird"
| 10 that OF the chief Of highland
Scottish clan. IT hardly went higher
| han that. 1t is doubtful whether there
| yer was an undisputed King of Ire
| and" Even the over kings" Of
| Tara. who enjoyed a sort of primacy,
never aspred to that designation, or
| at least never deserved It, In many
| if not in most cases. Edmund Sponsors
term OF captain would be more ac-
curately descriptive. The name OF Tara
calls up that vague image of Tara y
| halls" to which the Irish poets Of later
| generations have reverted as the capital
Of the Ireland of the Golden Age, and
| which uniformed and sceptical readers
| have been accustomed to consider as
| mythical. In fact, however. the Irish
| archHu.ogists have succeeded from eX-
| lsting remains. which consist chiefly Of
| mere excavation and from documentary
| evidence. in making a ccnjectural res
| toration Of the palace. which il perhaps
| as well entitled to respect as most con
| jectural rostorations. What most I'M
presses the reader. however, in this ac-
| count If ancient Ireland IL the advance
in or toward civilization, which Is I'M
! piled in the acceptance Of government
| of law The more because the modern
, Irish have not. among the virtues com
| monty conceded To them, that Of being
a law abiding" people. Yet James the
Firsts attorney general said of the Irish
| Of his time: There is no nation oi
| people under the sun that doth low.
equal and Indifferent Justice better than
the Irish, or will rest better satisfied
with the execution thereof. although II
| be against themselves, 80 rs they may
have the protection and benefit Of the
law when upon Just cause they d'
desire it," Mr.. .Ioyces CONNER. Seems
warranted: "Rut later ON the Pena
laws changed all that, and changed the
Irish natural love of justice into hatre,
and distrIst ~ law.
Upon the whole, the reader Of thl'
book who comes To II in candid TX
norance OF it's subject matter will he np
to own that he had moderated the de
gree of civilization to which lreian'
could fairly lay claim before the Anglo
Norman invasion arrested its develop
ment He may not he struck with in
digenous Irish achievement In the iln'
arts. As TO music he has no means o
Judging. In decoration there is nothing
hardly even the familiar opus hlher
/ nicum" or Celtic interlaced ornament
4 which has not been cuualled by peopl'
. AT "A lower stage of general culture thai
il is otherwise shown that the ancien
Irish had attained, Ii may very well III
doubted whether the Irish, except in di
rect imitation of other peoples, eve
succeeded in rearing what could fairl!
, be called "A work of monumental archi
+ lecture. The round towers which are TIT
, ! chief cuntribut ions of Irish builders q
. their art show no more power of design
than "A modern chimney shaft. The lrisi
. / churches seem to ice pretty unlforml.
autrdaLed. Al Of them which posses
. any architectural interest are evidentl,
|, insured by the works of the Norman
, phase of Romanesque and must har
, been constructed after the Norman in