territories of the pale, and again to take possession of that land, which had been unjustly wrested from their fathers. The English colonists were now, for the most part, perfectly assimilated in customs, deportment, dress and superstitions, to that people whom they had originally despised.

During this period law could have little force. with men who scarcely acknowledged its autho rity, and who certainly had never been in circumstances where they could feel its advantage. Yet, it is probable, that assemblies similar to parliaments were appointed ever since the conquest of Ireland; and it is certain, that the first printed statutes of the Irish legislature, appeared in the third year of Edward the second.* The enactments of this supreme court were often made subservient to the private purposes of the governor the meeting itself was inconveniently frequent; and hence, to counteract these evils, the people unanimously agreed to the famous statute of Poyning. Though the English law had always been established in the pale, the manners of its inhabitants frequently made its observance impossible; many conformed to the Brehon institutions, assumed the name and appearance of the natives, since their robbe

*Leland's History of Ireland,

ries and crimes might be expiated by an inconsiderable fine. When every vassal felt that his safety entirely depended on the military prowess of the baron to whose interests he had attached himself; and the chieftain, that his security proceeded from the number and consequence of his followers; the ordinary course of justice must have been obstructed, and its execution rendered altogether impracticable. It was to furnish a remedy for these evils, and to prevent the total extinction of the English race, that the parliament of Kilkenny made several laws, certainly severe towards the Irish, but, perhaps, necessary to the very existence of the colony. "Still the power of the great lords "was superiour to the laws, who not only de

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spised, but openly resisted the authority of government; and when disobliged by the "least neglect, or tempted by any prospect of advantage, continued to assume the part of in"dependent chieftains."

دو

It was not till the reign of Henry the seventh that the vigorous administration of the governor enabled him to enforce the obedience of the subject, and not till that of his successor that the territories of the pale were extended. Under this latter reign, all the old English, and many of the Irish, were partly persuaded, and partly forced to submit to the laws of England. Ex

tensive districts both in Munster and in Connaught, were divided into counties, and to these sheriffs were apppointed for the regular administration of justice. Robberies and murders were now punished capitally; order and subordination consequently began to prevail. The effects of the severe and vindictive character of Henry were felt even in Ireland; the haughty barons began to be sensible that they had no longer to deal with the weak, corrupt, and contemptible administrations of former times, and that their safety depended on the observance of those statutes and laws, whose authority they could not but acknowledge. Elizabeth was still more successful in advancing this most ne-. cessary work of reformation. She was naturally vain, and she was flattered by the prospect of making a complete and useful conquest of Ireland. Though some atrocities were committed under her reign, and more lives lost than for centuries before, she doubtless had the merit of advancing civilization, of removing obstructions to the security and happiness of the subject, and of extending the English law to the whole body of the Irish people. It is to this period, then, that we are to refer the abolition of the Brehon, and the universal establishment of the English law.

II. The Brehon laws, or laws of the judges,

which were common to all the aborigines of Ireland, consist of a few rules, suited to an early and turbulent state of society. The first of them was that of Tanistry, by which, on the death of a prince or chieftain, the strongest in his family,or. the most accomplished according to the notions andrude manners of the times, was appointed to succeed him in his property and government. By this acknowledged maxim, it was intended that the clan should never want a powerful protector, who should avenge their injuries, and defend them from the hostile encroachment oftheir restless neighbours. The evils, however, which it might originally be designed to avert, it was of itself evidently calculated to perpetuate and increase it produced feuds and animosities without number, and the contest could scarcely ever be decided without having recourse to the sword. And, perhaps, it is to this custom chiefly that we ought to attribute that imbecillity of government, and that endless division of interest, which enabled a few adventurers to achieve the conquest of Ireland.

Gavelkind, refers to a custom, or law common only to the vassals.* On the death of any

member of a family, the whole stock was divided, whether it consisted of moveables or of

See note A.

land, among all the surviving branches. The design of this law evidently was, to make provision for every individual of the clan; and also to retain a multitude of people, who should be ready to attend the chief on any emergency. But it was fraught with evil: for it must have operated as a powerful impediment to industry, and as an incentive to an inconvenient multiplication of the species. And though war, and famine, and disease, the ordinary attendants of rude society, and of an overgrown population, must have greatly tended to obviate the last of these evils, yet, it would be felt when peace, and order, and subordination, and all the other fruits of civilized society, began to prevail.

Early marriage was the natural consequence of gavelkind; since every new family was to be provided out of the common stock; at least was to have a share of the land belonging to the clan. The ordinary checks to the early union of the sexes were withdrawn; for when the hut was built, provision was already made for the future progeny.

I have had already occasion to remark, that customs, especially such as nearly regard the habits of life, remain long after the particular circumstances, from which they had their origin, are forgotten. This is more especially the case in those countries where no sudden