preserved until our age, as they had ceased to be the laws of the nation? To this we may answer that they still retained the original outline, which was necessary to be kept always in view-contained the fundamental principles of even the new laws, and afforded lights that were very useful, and often indispensable, towards the clear understanding of the new code. To instance a few passages. I have often asked the ablest critics in the language what the terms penbaladr, teisbantyle, pedwargwr, gorescynnydd, and others, meant, and I never could obtain an answer that was in any degree plausible. The ablest philologists have never been able to explain to me some of the most important passages in the Eighteenth Chapter of the Second Book of Howel's Laws. But I will venture to say that whoever reads Triads 69, 89, 93, 94, also 65, 80, 214, and some others, will clearly understand this chapter, as clearly as they see the sun of a bright summer noon.

To know what teisbantyle means, he must absolutely consult Triads 88, 166, 167, 170, &c.

To understand penbaladr, let him read 63, 64, 151, 167, 169, &c. Many other passages afford very clear explanations of Howel's Laws in important instances, and where no other explanations can on any rational idea be admitted. It is sufficiently obvious that, for this very reason, leaving aside all antiquarian reasons, it was found necessary to preserve the Triads of Dyfnwal Moelmud with their interwoven commentaries and explanations. For such obvious reasons were these triads retained; and, with the Laws of Howel, through long ages of darkness and turmoil, making their way, they arrived at our own period.

By the Moelmutian Laws, every aboriginal native was entitled to a specified portion of the national territory. To this franchise aliens could not be admitted, for the most obvious reasons; it would have introduced a deluge of foreigners amongst them. To obviate this, it was found necessary to enact that no alien could be admitted to the territorial franchise till his posterity had attained

to the ninth descent, or to the privileges of it by a stated successive number of regular intermarriages with free-born women, and that with the consent of their tribes. To this degree they might by such intermarriages attain in the fourth descent, or in the great-grandson (gorescynnydd or pedwarygwr; in English, the possessor, or fourth man); an irregular marriage kept an alien family a degree back in the legal number of descent.

Our remote ancestors appear to have liberally patronized such arts and sciences as were known to them, and the genuine principles of civilization. To effect this, every native that was a master of any of their sciences, was endowed with the allotted portion of land, exclusive of what, as an aboriginal native, he was entitled to. An alien, learned in such branches of knowledge, was entitled to this portion, and to all its inseparably attendant rights and privileges. But it was experienced that this also introduced an oppressive inundation of foreigners, and, to check this evil, a law was made that no alien could be admitted to this franchise; but his son, by a constitutional marriage, might, with consent of the sovereign, or of a national convention, but not otherwise.

The noble or privileged sciences were the bardic sciences, literary arts, the principal or fundamental mechanic arts of smiths and builders in wood and stone; and to secure a sufficiency of instructors, the territorial franchise was extended to learned and skilful foreigners; but inconveniences thence arising, it was found necessary, though not to forbid aliens the exercise of such branches of knowledge, yet greatly to restrict them, for the reasons already given.

The CORANIAID (Coritani) are said to have been Asiatics-a very learned and skilful people-were at first beneficial instructors, but afterwards became very tyrannical oppressors, so that the Cymry were provoked to rise up against them, and cut off the greatest number of them. May we not fairly conjecture that this was the real cause of the restrictive laws respecting learned and skilful aliens? This, indeed, is not historically mentioned,

but it is said that, owing to the great inconveniences experienced from the admission of too many aliens-no particular nation named-the restrictive laws were made, that require the express permission of the sovereignty of either the prince or the convened nation before the son of an alien, by a legal native mother, could be admitted in right of his learned or mechanic profession to the territorial franchise. Consult Triads, 29, 39, 40, 41, 47, 53, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 84, &c., also Trioedd Bonedd.

It may be pretty clearly inferred from the Moelmutian Triads that letters were hardly, if at all known, or their use but very little understood; for the only methods adopted for the preservation of laws, the memorials of events, of religion, of ethics, &c., were bardic, patriarchal, and jurisprudential tradition, with some other things, as the erection of large stones on various occasions, the removal or destruction of which was punished with death, unless the consent of prince and a national legislative convention authorized such a proceeding. The bardic traditions were retained in song, and prescribed forms of aphorisms, chiefly triads. Patriarchal tradition was retained by the patriarch of the tribe (pencenedl), and his co-assisting seven elders, who transmitted their tradition from one to another. The eldership never died, for when one dropped, his place was supplied by another, and these elders transmitted their knowledge to the new pencenedl, if he had not been already one of their number, as well as to the new elder or seventh man (seithwr),—a simple but very effectual institution. Jurisprudential tradition was retained by the judges, and other officers of the law courts, -an institution that never died. Laws were their peculiar object. See Triads 71, 74, 97, 225, 226, &c., where these tradition-preserving institutions are mentioned, without any reference to letters, and as the only authentic and admissive memorials.

Letters, and books, and also literary men are, however, mentioned in several of these triads. See Nos. 54, 72, 103, 129, 192, 195, 204, 231, 235, &c.

But it must be

allowed that these legislative and jurisprudential triads must have received successive improvements, and we know not how many additions, from the progressive accessions of knowledge during the Roman periods, and owing to the introduction of Christianity, and for that reason we must admit the fairness of the conjecture, that the appearance of a knowledge of letters in these triads might be, amongst such additions, adapted to the several periods through which they passed. Indeed this may be plausibly enough inferred from the tenor of many of these triads. One circumstance, however, fairly enough admits of an inference that letters were known previous to the Roman invasion. The 103rd Triad forbids the sending out of the kingdom a book, gold and wheat, without the consent of the sovereign and his country. This is hardly applicable to any period subsequent to our acquisition of Roman literature, of the improvement of Roman agriculture, or of the opulence of the Roman period; when it is highly probable that gold and wheat were, or might be, freely sent into foreign countries, without being under any restriction. We find from the 54th Triad that a book, a sword, and a harp, were so sacredly the property of a whole tribe,-or its jewels, as it is expressed, -that no sentence or decree of any law court could deprive them of any one of them, to satisfy debts, penalties, &c. This does not easily apply to the Roman, or any subsequent period.

Similar inferences may be also drawn from another triad or two.

The memory of events, and particularly of claims to lands, were preserved by huge stones bearing the mark or symbol of the tribe, erected on various occasions. Such stones were considered as a species of title deeds, and to remove or destroy them without the public consent of the sovereign and the country was punishable with death. See Triads 94, 99, 100, &c.

It appears from Nos. 93, 94, &c., that the original heirat-law to an estate possessed a singular privilege. If his father, grandfather, or great-grandfather, had sold the

estate, this heir-at-law, son, grandson, or great-grandson, on repaying what was originally given for it by the purchaser, might reclaim his patrimony, which could not be withheld from him. A custom of the same nature, I understand, prevails to this very day in Norway; we find it also mentioned in the Laws of Howel.

It was usual amongst the ancient Cymry, as amongst the Romans, and other ancient nations, to adopt a son, when, having no other son, an heir was wished for. This appears from Triads 123, 247.

Agriculture was highly respected and patronized. A criminal flying to a plough at work was entitled there to sanctuary, and to the same at a place of worship. This appears from Triad 173. We find this custom alluded to by Taliesin, in the following passage:-

"Ni nawdd arad heb heyon heb hâd.”

The 64th Triad is highly interesting, and gives a clear idea of the ancient principles of government and legislation amongst the Cymry. These principles appear also in several others.

Bygant, in Triad 135, seems to be a coin, or something used for a similar purpose. It is derived from the prepositive by, and cant, a ring, in composition gant. Iron rings, we are told by ancient writers, were used as coins by the ancient Britons-were their medium of commerce; ceiniog, a penny, seems also to be derived from cant, plur. caint, adjective, ceiniog, and nothing has been, or still is, more common in the Welsh language than to use an adjective substantively; mawnog, a turbary, rhedynog, a place overrun with fern, brwynog, a rushy place, eneiniog, the anointed, llwynog, a fox, ysgyfarnog, a hare, are all adjectives, of precisely the same kind of derivation, used substantively.

By the 102nd Triad it should seem that it was at one time found necessary to secure to the inhabitants of a town, or district, the right of taking water from a spring, brook, or river. This may be well enough accounted for thus. When lands were first inclosed, and became private