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defects　of　language　and　form。　On　the　other　hand；　these　habits　of






the　English　Courts　seem　to　be　closely　connected　with　one　of　the






most　honourable　characteristics　of　the　English　system；　its






extreme　carefulness　about　facts。　Nowhere　else　in　the　world　is






there　the　same　respect　for　a　fact；　unless　the　respect　be　of






English　origin。　The　feeling　is　not　shared　by　our　European






contemporaries；　and　was　not　shared　by　our　remote　ancestors。　It






has　been　said　　and　the　remark　seems　to　me　a　very　just　one　






that　in　early　times　questions　of　fact　are　regarded　as　the






simplest　of　all　questions。　Such　tests　of　truth　as　Ordeal　and






Compurgation　satisfy　men's　minds　completely　and　easily；　and　the






only　difficulty　recognised　is　the　discovery　of　the　legal






tradition　and　its　application　to　the　results　of　the　test。　Up　to　a






certain　point　no　doubt　our　own　mechanism　for　the　determination　of






a　fact　is　also　a　mere　artifice。　We　take　as　our　criterion　of　truth






the　unanimous　opinion　of　twelve　men　on　statements　made　before






them。　But　then　the　mode　of　convincing；　or　attempting　to　convince；






them　is　exactly　that　which　would　have　to　be　followed　if　it　were






sought　to　obtain　a　decision　upon　evidence　from　the　very　highest






human　intelligence。　The　old　procedure　was　sometimes　wholly






senseless；　sometimes　only　distantly　rational；　the　modern　English






procedure　is　at　most　imperfect；　and　some　of　its　imperfection






arises　from　the　very　constitution　of　human　nature　and　human






society。　I　quite　concur；　therefore；　in　the　ordinary　professional






opinion　that　its　view　of　facts　and　its　modes　of　ascertaining　them






are　the　great　glory　of　English　law。　I　am　afraid；　however；　that






facts　must　always　be　the　despair　of　the　law　reformer。　Bentham






seems　to　me　from　several　expressions　to　have　supposed　that　if　the






English　Law　of　Evidence　were　re…constructed　on　his　principles






questions　of　fact　would　cease　to　present　any　serious　difficulty。






Almost　every　one　of　his　suggestions　has　been　adopted　by　the






Legislature；　and　yet　enquiries　into　facts　become　more　protracted






and　complex　than　ever。　The　truth　is　that　the　facts　of　human






nature；　with　which　Courts　of　Justice　have　chiefly　to　deal；　are






far　obscurer　and　more　intricately　involved　than　the　facts　of






physical　nature；　and　the　difficulty　of　ascertaining　them　with






precision　constantly　increases　in　our　age；　through　the　progress






of　invention　and　enterprise；　through　the　ever…growing






miscellaneousness　of　all　modern　communities；　and　through　the　ever






quickening　play　of　modern　social　movements。　Possibly　we　may　see






English　law　take　the　form　which　Bentham　hoped　for　and　laboured






for；　every　successive　year　brings　us　in　some　slight　degree　nearer






to　this　achievement；　and　consequently；　little　as　we　may　agree　in






his　opinion　that　all　questions　of　law　are　the　effect　of　some






judicial　delusion　or　legal　abuse；　we　may　reasonably　expect　them






to　become　less　frequent　and　easier　of　solution。　But　neither　facts






nor　the　modes　of　ascertaining　them　tend　in　the　least　to　simplify






themselves；　and　in　no　conceivable　state　of　society　will　Courts　of






Justice　enjoy　perpetual　vacation。






　　　　I　have　been　at　some　pains　to　explain　what　sort　of　authority






the　Irish　Brehon　law　did　not；　in　my　opinion；　possess。　The　'law　of






nature'　had　lost　all　supernatural　sanction；　except　so　far　as　it






coincided　with　the　'law　of　the　letter。'　It　had　not　yet　acquired；






or　had　very　imperfectly　acquired；　that　binding　power　which　law






obtains　when　the　State　exerts　the　public　force　through　Courts　of






Justice　to　compel　obedience　to　it。　Had　it；　then；　any　authority　at






all；　and　if　so；　what　sort　of　authority？　Part　of　the　answer　to






this　question　I　endeavoured　to　give　three　years　ago　（'Village






Communities；　in　the　East　and　West；'　pp。　56；　57）；　and　though　much






more　might　be　said　on　the　subject；　I　defer　it　till　another






opportunity。　So　far　as　the　Brehon　law　declared　actual　ancient　and






indigenous　practices；　it　shared　in　the　obstinate　vitality　of　all






customs　when　observed　by　a　society　distributed　into　corporate






natural　groups。　But；　besides　this；　it　had　another　source　of






influence　over　men's　minds；　in　the　bold　and　never　flagging






self…assertion　of　the　class　which　expounded　it。　A　portion　of　the






authority　enjoyed　by　the　Indian　Brahminical　jurisprudence　is






undoubtedly　to　be　explained　in　the　same　way。　The　Brehon　could






not；　like　the　Brahmin；　make　any　such　portentous　assertion　as　that






his　order　sprang　from　the　head　of　Brahma；　that　it　was　an






embodiment　of　perfect　purity；　and　that　the　first　teacher　of　its






lore　was　a　direct　emanation　from　God。　But　the　Brehon　did　claim






that　St。　Patrick　and　other　great　Irish　saints　had　sanctioned　the






law　which　he　declared；　and　that　some　of　them　had　even　revised　it。






Like　the　Brahmin；　too；　he　never　threw　away　an　opportunity　of






affirming　the　dignity　of　his　profession。　In　these　law…tracts　the






heads　of　this　profession　are　uniformly　placed；　where　Caesar






placed　the　Druids；　on　the　same　level　with　the　highest　classes　of






Celtic　society。　The　fines　payable　for　injury　to　them；　and　their






rights　of　feasting　at　the　expense　of　other　classes　（a　form　of






right　which　will　demand　much　attention　from　us　hereafter）；　are






adjusted　to　those　of　Bishops　and　Sings。　It　is　more　than　likely






that　the　believing　multitude　ended　by　accepting　these






pretensions。　From　what　we　know　of　that　stage　of　thought　we　can






hardly　set　limits　to　the　amount　of　authority　spontaneously






conceded　to　the　utterances　of　a　sole　literary　class。　It　must　have






struck　many　that　the　influence　of　the　corresponding　class　in　our






own　modern　society　far　exceeds　anything　which　could　have　been






asserted　of　it　from　the　mere　consideration　of　our　social






mechanism。　There　is；　perhaps；　an　impression　abroad　that　the






influence　it　exerts　increases　as　history　goes　on；　an　impression






possibly　produced　and　certainly　strengthened　by　the　brilliant






passages　in　which　Lord　Macaulay　contrasted　the　well…paid　literary






labour　of　his　own　day　with　the　miseries　of　the　literary　hack　of






Grub　Street　a　century　before。　I　think　that　this　opinion；　if






broadly　stated；　is　at　the　very　least　doubtful。　The　class　which；






to　use　a　modern　neologism；　'formulates'　the　ideas　dimly　conceived






by　the　multitude　　which　saves　it　mental　trouble　by　collecting






through　generalisation；　which　is　an　essentially　labour…saving






process；　the　scattered　fragments　of　its　knowledge　and　experience






　has　not　always　consisted　of　philosophers；　historians；　and






novelists；　but　had　earlier　representatives　in　poets；　priests；　and






lawyers。　It　is　not　at　all　a　paradoxical　opinion　that　these　last






were　its　most　powerful　members。　For；　nowadays；　it　has　to　cope






with　the　critical　faculty；　more　or　less　found　everywhere；　and






enormously　strengthened　by　observation　of　the　methods　of　physical






discovery。　No　authority　of　our　day　is　possibly　comparable　with






that　of　the　men　who；　in　an　utterly　uncritical　age；　simply　said　of






a　legal　rule；　'So　it　has　been　laid　down　by　the　learned；'　or　used






the　still　more　impressive　formula；　'It　is　thus　written。'






　　　　While；　however；　I　fully　believe　that　the　Brehon　law　possessed






great　authority；　I　think　also　that　it　was　in　all　probability






irregularly　and　intermittently　enforced；　and　that　partial　and






local　departures　from　it　were　common　all　over　ancient　Ireland。






Anybody　who　interested　himself　in　the　question　of　its　practical






application　would　have　to　encounter　the　very　problems　which　are






suggested　by　the　Brahminical　Hindoo　law。　The　student　of　this　last






system；　especially　if　he　compares　it　with　the　infinity　of　local






usage　practised　in　India；　is　constantly　asking　himself　how　far






was　the　law　of　the　Brahmin　jurists　observed　before　the　English






undertook　to　enforce　it　through　their　tribunals？　The　Editor　of






the　Third　Volume　of　the　Ancient　Laws　of　Ireland　has　given　a　very






apposite　example　of　a　problem　of　the　same　kind　（iii。　146）；　by






extracting　from　the　Carew　Papers　the　story　of　a　famous　dispute　as






to　the　headship　of　the　great　irish　house　of　O'Neill。　Con　O'Neill；






its　chief；　had　two　sons；　Matthew　and　Shane。　Matthew　O'Neill　was






heir　to　Con　O'Neill's　earldom　of　Tyrone；　according　to　the






limitations　of　the　patent。　Shane　O'Neill　urged　on　the　English






Government　that　these　limitations　were　void；　because　the　King；　in






granting　the　earldom；　could　not　have　been　aware　that　Matthew






O'Neill　was　an　adulterine　bastard；　having　been　in　truth　born　of






the　wife　of　a　smith　in　Dundalk。　Shane　O'Neill　has　been　regarded






as　the　champion　of　purely　Irish　ideas　（see　Froude；　'English　in






Ireland；'　I。　43）；　but　though　the　rule　of　legitimacy　upon　which　he






insisted　conforms　to　our　notions；　it　is　directly　contrary　to　the






legal　doctrine　of　the　Book　of　Aicill；　which　in　one　of　its　most






surprising　passages　lay