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of the Irish laws widely different from what he has done. He would 
have discovered and acknowledged, that, by the Brehon laws, the 
crime of murder was not punished by an Eric, or fine only. He 
would have found that there were cases, in which the punishment 
of homicide, rape, and other offences of great magnitude, was death ; 
and that in all cases the person convicted of murder, beside paying, 
either by himself or tribe, the prescribed Eric, was also deprived of 
his inheritance, and of all the rights, privileges, and immunities, to 
which he would be otherwise entitled amongst his tribe, or through 
the nation in general. He would also have found, that no place of 
sanctuary could afford protection to a murderer who had fled from 
punishment; but that every noble or privileged person, whether lay 
or ecclesiastical, with whom he might seek refuge, was obliged by 
the laws to surrender him to justice. Davis could have no excuse 
for not making the enquiry ; the way to information was open be- 
fore him ; in his time the Brehon law was in full force, all through 
the nation, except within the English pale; and the Brehons or 
Judges were well known, and might be consulted. Even to the 
end of the reign of Charles the First, there existed schools, in which 
the Brehon laws were taught. Why did not he apply to some of 
these for information ? The probability is, that he did apply, that he 
was well acquainted with the Irish law respecting Eric; but, as it 
was the fashion of the day, for political purposes, to vilify and 
debase the Irish character, he concealed his knowledge, knowing 
that a publication of the truth would tend to injure his own in- 
terests, and disoblige his patrons. 
If none of the Brehon laws were now in existence, there are 
sufficient proofs, in the ancient manuscript annals of Ireland, to 
show, that the crime of murder was not punished merely by a fine ; 
for numerous instances occur, in which it appears that the pain of 
VOL. XIV. DD 
