222 
is shewn, by quotations from those laws, that the murderer was not, 
as has been asserted, suffered to escape from further punishment by 
merely paying an Erie or fine as a compensation for his offence ; 
but that he was cut off from the society of his family ; that no sanc- 
tuary could protect him from justice ; and that, though he might in 
some cases escape with life, he was deprived of all the rights and 
privileges to which he would have been entitled, if he had not been 
guilty of bloodshed. It is shewn, that the custom of Tanistry or 
senior succession was a laudable one, observed by many other an- 
cient nations ; and that, in this country, it was not productive of those 
evils attributed to it by Davis and others. It is shewn, that agri- 
culture, so far from being neglected, was carried on to a great ex- 
tent; and that irrigation, which is considered a modern improve- 
ment, was provided for by law. It is shewn, that arts and sciences 
were encouraged in an extraordinary degree by the liberal rewards 
which the laws provided for their professors. And, it also shewn, 
that the law of Gavelkind was not productive of evil, or such as 
from its nature must produce barbarism, in those by whom it was 
observed. On the contrary, although the practice of it might be 
inconvenient in the present state of society, it is shewn, that, while 
practised in Ireland, it was a just and equitable law, by the opera- 
tions of which every man, who had not by crime forfeited his birth- 
right, was ensured a sufficient maintenance, and a supply of all 
things of which he might stand in need. By the law of Gavelkind, 
although there might be “ a poore gentility,” no person could be in 
absolute poverty, and the necessity of poor laws and Mendicity As- 
sociations was utterly precluded. 
In the course of this essay, it has also been shewn, that no pri- 
vilege, lay or ecclesiastical, could protect from justice the thief, who 
had not made restitution for the property he had purloined ; the 
