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of　society　must；　as　it　seems　to　me；　be　carefully　borne　in　mind　if






we　are　to　understand　one　of　the　most　remarkable　parts　of　the






ancient　Irish　law　which　relates　to　the　practice　of　'giving






stock。'　I　stated　before　that；　though　I　did　not　draw　the　same






inferences　from　the　fact；　I　agreed　with　the　writers　who　think






that　the　land…system　of　ancient　Ireland　was　theoretically　based






on　the　division　of　the　tribe…lands　among　the　free　tribesmen。　But






I　also　said　that　in　my　opinion　the　true　difficulty　of　those　days






was　not　to　obtain　land　but　to　obtain　the　means　of　cultivating　it。






The　want　of　capital；　taken　in　its　original　sense；　was　the






necessity　which　pressed　on　the　small　holder　of　land　and　reduced






him　occasionally　to　the　sorest　straits。　On　the　other　hand；　the






great　owners　of　cattle　were　the　various　Chiefs；　whose　primitive






superiority　to　the　other　tribesmen　in　this　respect　was　probably






owing　to　their　natural　functions　as　military　leaders　of　the






tribe。　The　Brehon　law　suggests　to　me　that　the　Chiefs　too　were






pressed　by　a　difficulty　of　their　own；　that　of　finding　sufficient






pasturage　for　their　herds。　Doubtless　their　power　over　the






waste…lands　of　the　particular　group　over　which　they　happened　to






preside　was　always　growing；　but　the　most　fruitful　portions　of　the






tribal　territory　would　probably　be　those　which　the　free　tribesmen






occupied。　The　fact　that　the　wealth　of　the　Chiefs　in　cattle　was






out　of　proportion　to　their　power　of　dealing　with　the　tribal






lands；　and　the　fact　that　the　tribesmen　were　every　now　and　then






severely　pressed　by　the　necessity　of　procuring　the　means　of






tillage；　appear　to　me　to　supply　the　best　explanation　of　the






system　of　giving　and　receiving　stock；　to　which　two　sub…tracts　of






the　Senchus　Mor　are　devoted；　the　Cain…Saerrath　and　the






Cain…Aigillne；　the　Law　of　Saer…stock　tenure　and　the　Law　of






Daer…stock　tenure。






　　　　The　interest　of　these　two　compendia　is　very　great。　In　the






first　place；　they　go　far　to　show　us　how　it　was　that　the　power　of






the　tribal　Chief　increased；　not　merely　over　his　servile






dependants；　but　over　the　free　tribesmen　among　whom　he　had　been　at






first　only　primus　inter　pares。　In　the　next；　they　give　us；　from






the　authentic　records　of　the　ancient　usages　of　one　particular






society；　a　perfectly　novel　example　of　a　proceeding　by　which






feudal　vassalage　was　created。　I　need　scarcely　dwell　on　the






historical　importance　of　the　various　agencies　by　which　the






relation　of　Lord　and　Vassal　was　first　established。　It　was　by　them






that　the　Western　europe　of　the　Roman　despotism　was　changed　into






the　Western　Europe　of　the　feudal　sovereignties。　Nothing　can　be






more　strikingly　unlike　in　external　aspect　than　the　states　of






society　which　are　discerned　on　either　side　of　the　stormy　interval






filled　with　the　movement　and　subsidence　of　the　barbarian






invasions。　Just　before　it　is　reached；　we　see　a　large　part　of






mankind　arranged；　so　to　speak；　on　one　vast　level　surface






dominated　in　every　part　by　the　overshadowing　authority　of　the






Roman　Emperor。　On　this　they　lie　as　so　many　equal　units；　connected






together　by　no　institutions　which　are　not　assumed　to　be　the






creation　of　positive　Roman　law；　and　between　them　and　their






sovereign　there　is　nothing　but　a　host　of　functionaries　who　are






his　servants。　When　feudal　Europe　has　been　constituted；　all　this






is　changed。　Everybody　has　become　the　subordinate　of　somebody　else






higher　than　himself　and　yet　exalted　above　him　by　no　great






distance。　If　I　may　again　employ　an　image　used　by　me　before；






society　has　taken　the　form　of　a　pyramid　or　cone。　The　great






multitude　of　cultivators　is　at　its　base；　and　then　it　mounts　up






through　ever…narrowing　sections　till　it　approaches　an　apex；　not






always　visible；　but　always　supposed　to　be　discoverable；　in　the






Emperor；　or　the　Pope；　or　God　Almighty。　There　is　strong　reason　to






believe　that　neither　picture　contains　all　the　actual　detail；　and






that　neither　the　theory　of　the　Roman　lawyers　on　one　side　nor　the






theory　of　the　feudal　lawyers　on　the　other　accounts　for　or　takes






notice　of　a　number　of　customs　and　institutions　which　had　a






practical　existence　in　their　day。　Either　theory　was；　however；






founded　upon　the　most　striking　facts　of　the　epoch　at　which　it　was






framed。






　　　　We　know　something；　though　not　very　much；　of　the　formal






instrumentalities　by　which　the　later　set　of　facts　became　so






extremely　dissimilar　to　the　earlier。　Mr　Stubbs　（'Constitutional






History；'　i。　252）　has　thus　summarised　the　most　modern　views　on






the　subject。　Feudalism　'had　grown　up　from　two　great　sources；　the






Benefice　and　the　practice　of　Commendation。　The　beneficiary　system






originated　partly　in　gifts　of　land　made　by　the　kings　out　of　their






own　estates　to　their　kinsmen　and　servants；　with　a　special






undertaking　to　be　faithful；　partly　in　the　surrender　by　landowners






of　their　estates　to　churches　or　powerful　men；　to　be　received　back






again　and　held　by　them　as　tenants　for　rent　or　service。　By　the






latter　arrangement　the　weaker　man　obtained　the　protection　of　the






stronger；　and　he　who　felt　himself　insecure　placed　his　title　under






the　defence　of　the　Church。　By　the　practice　of　Commendation；　on






the　other　hand；　the　inferior　put　himself　under　the　personal　care






of　a　lord；　but　without　altering　his　title　or　divesting　himself　of






his　right　to　his　estate；　he　became　a　vassal　and　did　homage。'






Commendation；　in　particular；　went　on　all　over　Western　Europe　with






singular　universality　of　operation　and　singular　uniformity　of






result；　and　it　helped　to　transform　the　ancient　structure　of






Teutonic　society　no　less　than　the　institutions　of　the　Roman






Provincials。　Yet　there　is　considerable　mystery　about　men's






motives　for　reporting　to　so　onerous　a　proceeding；　and　the






statements　of　nearly　all　writers　on　the　subject　are　general　and






chiefly　conjectural。　Perhaps　the　most　precise　assertion　which　we






have　been　hitherto　able　to　hazard　as　to　the　reasons　of　so　large　a






part　of　the　world　for　voluntarily　placing　themselves　in　a






conditIon　of　personal　subordination　is；　that　they　must　have　been






connected　with　the　system　of　civil　and　criminal　responsibility






which　prevailed　in　those　times。　Families　　rea