lect04-第3章

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iii。　5。）　It　will　be　seen　from　the　instances　which　I　have　given






that　the　rules　of　the　Irish　Brehon　law　regulating　the　power　of






individual　tribesmen　to　alienate　their　separate　property　answer






to　the　rules　of　Indian　Brahminical　law　which　regulate　the　power






of　individual　members　of　a　joint　family　to　enjoy　separate






property。　The　difference　is　material。　The　Hindoo　law　assumes　that






collective　enjoyment　by　the　whole　brotherhood　is　the　rule；　and　it






treats　the　enjoyment　of　separate　property　by　individual　brethren






as　an　exception　　an　exception；　I　may　add；　round　which　an






enormous　mass　of　law　has　now　clustered。　On　the　other　hand；　the






Brehon　law；　so　far　as　it　can　be　understood；　seems　to　me






reconcileable　with　no　other　assumption　than　that　individual






proprietary　rights　have　grown　up　and　attained　some　stability






within　the　circle　of　the　tribe。　The　exercise　of　these　rights　is






at　the　same　time　limited　by　the　controlling　powers　of　the






collective　brotherhood　of　tribesmen；　and　to　these　last；　as　to　the






Agnatic　Kindred　at　Rome；　some　ultimate　right　of　succession






appears　to　be　reserved。　Hence　the　Irish　legal　unit　is　not






precisely　a　Joint　Family；　if　the　Brehon　law　is　to　be　trusted；　it






has　considerably　less　of　the　'natural　communism'　which






characterises　the　Indian　institution。　The　'Fine'　of　the　tracts　is






constantly　spoken　of　in　connection　with　landed　property；　and；






whenever　it　is　so　connected；　I　imagine　it　to　have　undergone　some






of　the　changes　which　are　constantly　brought　about　by　contact　with






the　land；　and　I　figure　it　to　myself　in　that　case　as　a　Mark　or






Village…Community；　in　which　the　ideas　proper　to　the　older　group






out　of　which　it　grew；　the　Joint　Family；　have　survived　in






exceptional　strength　It　in　this　respect　approaches　the　Russian






rather　than　the　Indian　type　of　village…community。






　　　　The　'Judgments　of　Co…Tenancy'　is　a　Brehon　law…tract；　still






unpublished　at　the　time　at　which　I　write；　and　presenting；　in　its






present　state；　considerable　difficulties　of　interpretation。　It






puts；　at　the　outset；　the　question；　　'Whence　does　Co…Tenancy






arise？'　The　answer　given　is；　'From　several　heirs　and　from　their






increasing　on　the　land。'　The　tract　then　goes　on　to　explain　that






the　land　is；　in　the　first　year；　to　be　tilled　by　the　kinsmen　just






as　each　pleases；　that　in　the　second　year　they　are　to　exchange






lots；　that　in　the　third　year　the　boundaries　are　to　be　fixed；　and






that　the　whole　process　of　severance　is　to　be　consummated　in　the






tenth　year。　I　trust　it　is　not　a　presumptuous　conjecture　that　the






order　of　change　here　indicated　is　more　trustworthy　than　the　time






fixed　for　each　of　its　stages。　The　period　of　ten　years　for　the






entire　transition　from　collective　to　separate　property　seems　to






me　greatly　too　short；　and　hard　to　reconcile　with　other　Irish






evidence；　and　I　suggest　that　the　Brehon　lawyer；　attached　to　the






institution　of　separate　property；　like　the　rest　of　his　class；　is






depicting　rather　an　ideal　than　an　actual　set　of　arrangements。　The






process；　however；　which　is　here　described；　if　it　be　spread　over　a






much　longer　space　of　time；　is　really　in　harmony　with　all　our






knowledge　of　the　rise　and　progress　of　cultivating　communities。






First　a　Joint　Family；　composed　of　'several　heirs　increasing　on






the　land；'　is　found　to　have　made　a　settlement。　In　the　earliest






stage　the　various　households　reclaim　the　land　without　set　rule。






Next　comes　the　system　of　exchanging　lots。　Finally；　the　portions






of　land　are　enjoyed　in　severalty。






　　　　The　references　to　the　ancient　collective　ownership　and






ancient　collective　enjoyment　in　the　non…legal　Irish　literature






appear　to　be　very　rare。　But　my　friend　Mr　Whitley　Stokes　has






supplied　me　with　two　passages　in　point。　The　'Liber　Hymnorum；'






attributed　to　the　eleventh　century；　contains　（folio　5A）　the






following　statement：　'Numerous　were　the　human　beings　in　Ireland






at　that　time　（i。e。　the　time　of　the　sons　of　Aed　Slane；　A。D。






658…694）；　and　such　was　their　number　that　they　used　to　get　only






thrice　nine　ridges　for　each　man　in　Ireland；　to　wit；　nine　of　bog；






and　nine　of　smooth　（arable）；　and　nine　of　wood。'　Another　Irish






manuscript；　believed　to　date　from　the　twelfth　century；　the　'Lebor






na　Huidre；'　Says　that　'there　was　not　ditch；　nor　fence；　nor






stone…wall　round　land；　till　came　the　period　of　the　sons　of　Aed






Slane；　but　（only）　smooth　fields。　Because　of　the　abundance　of　the






households　in　their　period；　therefore　it　is　that　they　introduced






boundaries　in　Ireland。　These　curious　statements　can；　of　course；






only　be　regarded　as　authority　for　the　existence；　at　the　time　when






they　were　penned；　of　a　belief　that　a　change　from　a　system　of






collective　to　a　system　of　restricted　enjoyment　had　occurred　at






some　period　or　other　in　Ireland；　and　of　a　tradition　respecting






the　date　of　the　change。　But　it　is　instructive　to　find　both　of






them　attributing　it　to　the　growth　of　population；　and　an　especial






interest　attaches　to　the　account　given　in　the　'Liber　Hymnorum'　of






the　newer　distribution　of　land　which　was　thought　to　have　taken






the　place　of　something　older。　The　periodical　allotment　to　each






household　of　a　definite　portion　of　bog　land；　wood　land；　and






arable　land　wears　a　strong　resemblance　to　the　apportionment　of






pasture　and　wood　and　arable　land　which　still　goes　on　in　our　day






under　the　communal　rules　of　the　Swiss　Allmenden　（see　Laveleye；






'P。　et　s。　F。　P。；'　pp。　268　et　seq。）；　and　which　is　an　undoubted






legacy　from　the　ancient　constitution　of　certain　Swiss　Cantons　as






Teutonic　Hundreds。






　　　　Property　in　Land；　wherever　it　has　grown　out　of　the　gradual






dissolution　of　the　ancient　cultivating　communities；　has　many






characteristics　which　distinguish　it　from　the　form　of　landed






property　with　which　Englishmen　and　men　of　English　race　are　best






acquainted。　The　area　within　which　this　last　form　of　property　is






the　sole　or　dominant　kind　of　ownership　is　now　much　larger　than　it






was；　through　its　diffusion　over　all　North　America；　except　Mexico；






and　over　all　colonies　settled　for　the　first　time　by　Englishmen；






but　our　nearly　exclusive　familiarity　with　it　has　led；　I　think；　to






our　very　commonly　over…estimating　the　extent　to　which　it　prevails






over　the　world；　and　even　over　Western　Europe。　Its　parentage　may






be　traced；　not　to　the　decaying　authority　of　the　Tribe　over　the






severalties　of　the　tribesmen；　but　to　the　ever…increasing






authority　of　the　Chief；　first　over　his　own　domain　and　'booked'






land；　and　secondarily　over　the　tribe…lands。　The　early　growth　of






the　power　of　the　Chief　is　thus　of　the　utmost　interest　in　the






history　of　landed　property；　and　I　propose　to　discuss　it　at　some






length　in　the　sUCceeding　Lectures。　Meantime；　let　me　say　something






on　the　transmutations　which　Patriarchal　Power　is　observed；　as　a






fact；　to　undergo　in　the　assemblies　of　men　held　together　by






kinship　which　are　still　found　making　a　part　of　Aryan　communities。






　　　　The　Joint　Undivided　Family；　wherever　its　beginning　is　seen　in






such　communities；　springs　universally　out　of　the　Patriarchal






Family；　a　group　of　natural　or　adoptive　descendants　held　together






by　subjection　to　the　eldest　living　ascendant；　father；






grandfather；　or　great…grandfather。　Whatever　be　the　formal






prescriptions　of　the　law；　the　head　of　such　a　group　is　always　in






practice　despotic；　and　he　is　the　object　of　a　respect；　if　not






always　of　an　affection；　which　is　probably　seated　deeper　than　any






positive　institution。　But　in　the　more　extensive　assemblages　of






kinsmen　which　constitute　the　Joint　Family　the　eldest　male　of　the






eldest　line　is　never　the　parent　of　all　the　members；　and　not






necessarily　the　first　in　age　among　them。　To　many　of　them　he　is






merely　a　distant　relative；　and　he　may　possibly　be　an　infant。　The






sense　of　patriarchal　right　does　not　die　out　in　such　groups。　Each






father　or　grandfather　has　more　power　than　anybody　else　over　his






wife；　children；　and　descendants；　and　there　is　always　what　may　be






called　a　belief　that　the　blood　of　the　collective　brotherhood　runs






more　truly　and　purely　in　some　one　line　than　in　any　other。　Among






the　Hindoos；　the　eldest　male　of　this　line；　if　of　full　mental






capacity；　is　gene　rally　placed　at　the　head　of　the　concerns　of　the






joint　family；　but　where　the　institution　survives　in　any






completeness；　he　is　not　a　Paterfamilias；　nor　is　he　owner　of　the






family　property；　but　merely　manager　of　its　affairs　and






administrator　of　its　possessions。　If　he　is　not　deemed　fit　for　his






duties；　a　'worthier'　kinsman　is　substituted　for　him　by　election；






and；　in　fact；　the　longer　the　joint　family　holds　together；　the






more　election　gains　ground　at　the　expense　of　birth。　The　head　or






manager　of　the　Sclavonic　House…Communities　（which；　however；　are






much　more　artificial　than　the　Hindoo　Joint　Families）　is






undisguisedly　an　elective　representative；　and　in　some　of　our






examples　a　council　of　kinsmen　belonging　to　the　eldest　line　of






descent　takes　the　place　of　an　individual　administrator。　The　whole






process　I　will　describe　as　the　gradual　transmutation　of　the






Patriarch　into　the　Chief。　The　general　rule　is　that　the　Chief　is






elected；　with　a　strong　preference　for　the　eldest　line。　Sometimes






he　is　assisted　by　a　definite　council　of　near　kinsmen；　and






sometimes　this　council　takes　his　place。　On　the　whole；　where　the






body　of　kinsmen　formed　on　the　type　of　the　Joint　Family　is　a






purely　civil　institution；　the　tendency　is　towards　greater






disregard　of　the　claims　of　blood。　But　in　those　states　of　society






in　which　the　brotherhood　is　not　merely　a　civil　confraternity；　but






a　political；　militant；　self…sustaining　group；　we　can　perceive






from　actually　extant　examples　that　a　separate　set　of　causes　come