borders of the church, instructing the rude and ignorant in the truth of the Christian faith, exterminating vice from the vineyard of the Lord; and, for the more convenient execution of this purpose, requiring the counsel and favour of the apostolic see. In which, the more mature your deliberation, and more discreet your conduct, so much the happier, with the assistance of the Lord, will be your progress; as all things which take their beginning from the ardour of faith and love of religion, are wont to come to a prosperous issue.

There is, indeed, no doubt, as your highness also doth acknowledge, that Ireland, and all the islands upon which Christ the sun of righteousness hath shone, do belong to the patrimony of St. Peter, and the holy Roman church. Therefore, are we the more solicitous to propagate, in that land, the godly scion of faith, as we have the secret monition of conscience, that such is more especially our bounden duty.

You then, most dear son in Christ, have signified unto us your desire, to enter into that land of Ireland, in order to reduce the people to obedience unto laws, and extirpate the seeds of vice: you have also declared, that you are willing to pay from each house, a yearly pension of one penny to St. Peter, and that you will preserve the rights of the churches of said land, whole and inviolate. We, therefore, with that grace and acceptance suited to your pious and praiseworthy design, and favourably assenting to your petition, do hold it

right and good, that, for the extension of the borders of the church, the restraining of vice, the correction of manners, the planting of virtue, and increase of religion, you enter the said island, and execute therein whatever shall pertain to the honour of God, and the welfare of the land: and that the people of said land receive you honourably, and reverence you as their lord; saving always the rights of the churches, and reserving to St. Peter the annual pension of one penny upon every house.

If, then, you be resolved to carry this design into effectual execution, study to form the nation to virtuous manners; and labour, by yourself, and by others whom you may judge meet for the work, in faith, word, and action, that the church may be there exalted, the Christian faith planted, and all things so ordered for the honour of God and the salvation of souls, that you may be entitled to a fulness of reward in heaven, and on earth, to a glorious renown throughout all ages.'

This conveyance was made to Henry in 1155, and by him communicated to the Irish hierarchy. The negotiation between them was conducted secretly for some years, until circumstances had effected a lodgement for the English arms in Ireland; the brief was then [1171] publicly read at the synod of Cashel, with this confirmatory letter from pope Alexander the Third:

Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his dearly beloved son the noble king of England, health, grace, and apostolical bene

diction. - Forasmuch as things given and granted upon good reason by our predecessors are to be well allowed of, ratified, and confirmed, we, well pondering and considering the grant and privilege for and concerning the dominion of the land of Ireland, to us appertaining, and lately given by our predecessor Adrian, do in like manner confirm, ratify, and allow the same; provided that there be reserved and paid to St. Peter, and to the church of Rome, the yearly pension of one penny out of every house, both in England and in Ireland: provided also that the barbarous people of Ireland be by your means reformed, and recovered from their filthy life and abominable manners, that, as in name, so in conduct and conversation, they may become Christians; provided, further, that that rude and disordered church being by you reformed, the whole nation may, together with the profession of the faith, be in act and deed followers of the same.'

Four years after, [1175] these two edicts were again solemnly promulged by a synod held at Waterford; Henry was formally proclaimed lord of Ireland, and the severest censures of the church were denounced against all, who should impeach the donation of the holy sec, or oppose the ment of its illustrious representative. * - From

govern

* O'Connor's Historical Address, i. 65. 86. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, iv. 222. The Irish annalists of those days, are fond of styling Henry the son of the empress, as if the grandeur of the name consoled them for the loss of in

that period to the Reformation, the English monarchs, and the little parliament of the pale, unable to maintain their pretensions by the sword, appealed to the sacredness of these papal grants; and thus gave the weight of four centuries to an authority, which was ultimately to be turned. against themselves. *

The conduct of Henry, on this occasion, is a memorable instance of the meanness and inconsistency of ambition. Cordially returning the hatred of the Vatican, and resolved to disencumber his crown of its patronage, he yet sought to entangle himself in new engagements to that artful court: he declared himself the vassal of the holy see, applied for permission to enter Ireland, and gave a faithless assent to those humiliating terms, upon which the pontiffs condescended to his desire. When he discovered that St. Peter had as yet but little influence in the internal affairs of Ireland,

dependence. A French writer accounts for the coalition between Adrian, Henry, and the Irish prelates, in a manner not generally known: his solution partakes somewhat of the levity of his country, yet, at least in the present day, is not altogether unworthy of grave consideration. Les Irlandois, ne voulant endurer leurs prestres sans avoir leurs femmes avec eux, furent cette année, declarés rebelles et héretiques par le pape Adrian; qui aussi donnoit charge au Roi d'Angleterre de les guerrouer à toute outrance; en vertu de quoy, il mena uné armée contre eux, qui les subjuga, et contraignit de se sousmettre à sa volonté.' Vignier, quoted by Campbell; Strictures on the History of Ireland, 231.

* Leland, 2. Appendix, note c.

ind a aur Tier 1 numerose a me power f me acces meter I Norra ir a Insh race. The lumen puteang ui me powers of sovereignty win mer resteemme Esmers had not paid to Der more nomiris, and did not intend to pay mmose faire rs. 17 other mark of Speciell fad i sime me premees bute: and Shu k of me nous permes which are Serat by me tume of same necessity, dictate the removal of these mindent kris, the adventurers by whom that service might be effected, would expect to snogger for memselves, and not for their master. These were pomlang ministers for the settlement of his new province: but it was reasonable to suppose, that a spintual aristocracy, of which he hoped to have the exclusive appointment, would furnish some less unmanageable auxiliaries. Accordingly, Henry made it his first care to provide a liberal establishment for the church.†

* The saint, however, or his successor, contrived to obtain ample compensation from the clergy, who, in their turn, drew largely on the people: the popes had a regular treasury chamber (Camera Apostolica) in Ireland, into which contributions, nder one name or another, were daily flowing.

See The Case of the Church of Ireland, Letter I.