the subject is one which is now engaging a good deal of public
consideration, I have thought it desirable to place it within the
reach of those who may not have access to the larger and more
expensive work.

I am aware that much might be added to the information it contains,
and I possess materials which would have more than doubled its
size, but I have endeavored to seize upon the salient points, and
to express my views as concisely as possible.

I have also preferred giving the exact words of important Acts of
Parliament to any description of their objects.

If this little essay adds any information upon a subject of much
public interest, and contributes to the just settlement of a very
important question, I shall consider my labor has not been in vain.

JOSEPH FISHER.

WATERFORD, November 3, 1875.

I do not propose to enter upon the system of landholding in
Scotland or Ireland, which appears to me to bear the stamp of the
Celtic origin of the people, and which was preserved in Ireland
long after it had disappeared in other European countries formerly
inhabited by the Celts. That ancient race may be regarded as the
original settlers of a large portion of the European continent, and
its land system possesses a remarkable affinity to that of the
Slavonic, the Hindoo, and even the New Zealand races. It was
originally Patriarchal, and then Tribal, and was communistic in its