Page 53 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

52 THIRD BOOK O ,
belief is, that Ireland was peopled by a colony of Phamicians, a branch of the great nation ofthe Scy­ thians. Ireland was anci ntly divided into ve king­ doms :-Ulster, Leinster, Oonnaught, Iunster, and Meath, each of which was governed py its own prince; but the king of Ieath was also paramount sovereign of all Ireland, and held his court at the palace of Tara. These kingdoms descended not om ther to son by hereditary right; the succes­ sion was regulated by the law of T istry;--a law which restricted the right ofsuccession to the mily of the prince or chief; but any member of the mily might be elected successor as well as the eldest son. Tanist was the title borne by the elected successor, during the life of the reigning prince or chief. The Tanist should be a knight, ll twenty- ve years old; his gure should be tall, noble, and ee from blem­ ish; he should, moreover, prove his pedigree om the Iilesiaus, so called om lesius, a celebrated
hero of the Scythic race, who, with his sons, and a large colony, coming directly om Spain, settled in Ireland several centuries be re our era.
2. The ancient law of Ireland was called the Brehon Law, the most singular feature of which was, the almost total absence of capital punishment. iurder was punished by a money ne, called an erio. The o ce of Brehon was hereditary,-being, like all other great o ces in those days, restricted to certain milies. A custom prevailed in those times which still exists in some degree·; namely, the cus­ tom offostering. The children of the chiefs and nobles were always suckled by the wives of the ten­ ants. The link thus rmed was considered as strong as the tie of actual relationship: nay, ster-brothers and ster-sisters o en loved each other better than