oppression: these latter are the ones mentioned by Caesar.

The number of the first class must always have been very small,
at least in Ireland and Britain, since the piratical excursions
of the Celtic tribes inhabiting those countries were almost
invariably undertaken in curraghs, which could only bring a
few of these unfortunate individuals from a foreign country.

As to the other class, whatever Caesar may say of their number
in Gaul, making it composed of the greatest part of the plebeians
or common clansmen, we have no doubt but that he was mistaken,
and that the number of real slaves reduced to that state by
their own act must have always been remarkably small.

How could we otherwise account for the numerous armies levied by
the Gaulish chieftains against the power of Rome, or by the British
and Irish lords in their continual internecine wars? The clansmen
engaged in both cases were certainly freemen, fighting with the
determination which freedom alone can give, and this consideration
of itself suffices to show that the great mass of the Celtic tribes
was never reduced to slavery or even to serfdom.

Moreover, the whole drift of the Irish annals goes to prove that
slavery never included any perceptible class of the Celtic population;
it always remained individual and domestic, never endangering the
safety of the state, never tending to insurrection and civil disorder,
never requiring the vigilance nor even the care of the masters
and lords.

The story of Libran, recorded in the life of St. Columbkill, is