prepared for that purpose; an hereditary officer, appointed
to that duty, presented him with a white wand perfectly
straight, as an emblem of the purity and uprightness
which should guide all his decisions, and, clothed with
his royal robes, the new ruler descended among his people,
and solemnly swore to protect their rights and to administer
equal justice to all. This was the civil ceremony; the
solemn blessing took place in a church, and is supposed
to be the oldest form of coronation service observed
anywhere in Christendom.

A ceremonial, not without dignity, regulated the gradations
of honour, in the General Assemblies of Erin. The time
of meeting was the great Pagan Feast of Samhain, the 1st
of November. A feast of three days opened and closed the
Assembly, and during its sittings, crimes of violence
committed on those in attendance were punished with
instant death. The monarch himself had no power to pardon
any violator of this established law. The _Chiefs_ of
territories sat, each in an appointed seat, under his
own shield; the seats being arranged by order of the
Ollamh, or Recorder, whose duty it was to preserve the
muster-roll, containing the names of all the living
nobles. The _Champions_, or leaders of military bands,
occupied a secondary position, each sitting' under his
own shield. Females and spectators of an inferior rank
were excluded; the Christian clergy naturally stepped
into the empty places of the Druids, and were placed
immediately next the monarch.