Physical  Phenomena.— There  are  many  tests  of
the  accuracy  of  our  records,  of  which  I  will  here
notice  three  classes  :  physical  phenomena,  such  as
eclipses  and  comets  :  the  testimony  of  foreign  writers :
and  the  consistency  of  the  records  among  themselves.
Whenever  it  happens  that  we  are  enabled  to  apply
tests  belonging  to  any  one  of  these  three  classes —
and  it  happens  very  frequently — the  result  is  almost
invariably  a  vindication  of  the  accuracy  of  the  records.
*  Of  course  it  is  not  claimed  for  the  Irish  Annals  that  they  are
ahsolutely  free  from  error.     In  the   early  parts  there  is  much
legendary  matter;    and   some  errors  have  crept  in  among  the
records  belonging  to  the  historical  period.
Q


226  RELIGION,  LEARNING,  AND  ART.  [PART  II.
The  Irish  Annals  record  about  twenty-five  eclipses
and  comets  at  the  several  years  from  a.d.  496  to  1066.
The  dates  of  all  these  are  found,  according  to
modern  scientific  calculation  and  the  records  of  other
countries,  to  be  correct.  This  shows  conclusively
that  the  original  records  were  made  by  eye-witnesses,
and  not  by  calculation  in  subsequent  times  :  for  any
such  calculation  would  be  sure — on  account  of  errors
in  the  methods  then  used  —  to  give  an  incorrect
result.
