what this ancient Irish Constitution was like, and how
the Kings received it, at first.

There were, as we saw in the first chapter, beside the
existing four Provinces, whose names are familiar to
every one, a fifth principality of Meath. Each of the
Provinces was subdivided into chieftainries, of which
there were at least double or treble as many as there
are now counties. The connection between the chief and
his Prince, or the Prince and his monarch, was not of
the nature of feudal obedience; for the fee-simple of
the soil was never supposed to be vested in the sovereign,
nor was the King considered to be the fountain of all
honour. The Irish system blended the aristocratic and
democratic elements more largely than the monarchical.
Everything proceeded by election, but all the candidates
should be of noble blood. The Chiefs, Princes, and
Monarchs, so selected, were bound together by certain
customs and tributes, originally invented by the genius
of the Druids, and afterwards adopted and enforced by
the authority of the Bishops. The tributes were paid in
kind, and consisted of cattle, horses, foreign-born
slaves, hounds, oxen, scarlet mantles, coats of mail,
chess-boards and chess-men, drinking cups, and other
portable articles of value. The quantity in every case
due from a King to his subordinate, or from a subordinate
to his King--for the gifts and grants were often
reciprocal--is precisely stated in every instance. Besides
these rights, this constitution defines the "prerogatives"
of the five Kings on their journeys through each other's