Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 13, 1902.djvu/114

100 being made upon rules which reckon within the kinship all who are of the tribe. The latter case is an unspeakable crime. There is no kin to compensate and so no compensation is possible. The criminal goes forth from his tribe a tribeless man, and henceforth neither the property of the tribe nor its pains and penalties have anything to do with him. Another phase of the subject which is most ably dealt with is the aspect which tribal law assumes when it is in direct contact with the Roman state. Tribal law does not succumb, but it applies only to peoples who are living in tribal society. Roman law does not succumb, but it applies only to its own people; and thus both systems are seen to flourish side by side. Of course they begin to react on each other, and equally of course the tribal laws have many Roman conceptions worked into them. In the hands of so acute an observer as Mr. Seebohm this is a fruitful source of information, and he strips the tribal laws of their Roman accretions only to show the places whereon was formerly written the original tribal law and the words, or at least the principles, of the original.

There are a few graphic instances of tribal customs to which Mr. Seebohm alludes, which will be particularly interesting to folklorists. The extra penalty if the blood reaches the ground is most striking, as although the condition may be a means of determining the extent of the injury, in terms it is that of primitive thought, and doubtless illustrative of one of the oldest parts of tribal law. All the rules for getting rid of tribal duties are particularly interesting. They are all primitive and not Roman in character; they are therefore a concession of the tribe to a tribesman and not a pressure of Roman law upon tribal law. House-rites, the influence of sonship, the sanctity of the hearth, the wife's knowledge of pagan rites, and many such incidental lights upon tribal life are mentioned here and there, and perhaps deserve more investigation.

This is Mr. Seebohm's third study of early English and Celtic life. We hope he will proceed with the work. It is so thorough, that even if some of us are inclined to think it is limited none would willingly do without it. It is not often that a scholar so well equipped will devote himself to thorough investigation of a small section of a great subject. When he does so our homage should go out to him whole-heartedly, for his work not only paves the way to such larger fields of study as others may indulge in, but it sets up many of the warning signals which are