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Canons of
Keils, A.D.

1152, on

&c.

tion, that men might be altogether independent of Roman supremacy, without incurring censure, either as being heretical or schismatical, from those writers with whom such eulogium originated.]

Of the business transacted in the Synod of Kells, A.D. 1152, Mr. Moore speaks thus, (vol. ii. p. 191.)

"Besides the distribution of the palliums, the chief affairs that appear to have occupied the attention of the elerical celi- Synod of Kells were some enactments against simony bacy, tithes, and usury, as well as against the prevalence of marriage and concubinage among the clergy. There was also promulgated among the acts at this council, an order from the Cardinal, in virtue of his apostolic authority, for the payment of tithes -the first introduction as it appears of that perennial source of discord into this country."

Dr. Lani

gan censured for

want of candour in his account of this Synod.

To this paragraph is appended a note of the following purport:

"It was surely unworthy of Dr. Lanigan, besides being short-sighted as a matter of policy, to suppress all mention, as he has done in his account of this council, of the above enactment against the marriage and concubinage of the clergy. He has himself, in another part of his work, (ch. 32, 38,) referred to some canons of the Irish Church, relating to the marriage of monks and clerks, which, combined with other proofs, leaves not a doubt that on this point of discipline some of the Irish clergy followed the example set them at that time by their reverend brethren on the continent."

Concerning J. Scotus Erigena, and his views of the holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, Mr.

M. says:

"The treatise written by him upon the subject no of the longer exists; but the general opinion is that he denied views conthe Real Presence, and the natural bent of his mind to Lord's Supcerning the run counter to prevailing and sanctioned opinions, ren- per held by ders it most probable that such was his view of this now J. S. Erifor the first time controverted mystery. In stating, gena, &c.

however, as he is said to have done, that the sacrament of the Eucharist is not the true body and true blood,' he might have had reference solely to the doctrine put forth then recently by Paschasius Radbert, who maintained that the body present in the Eucharist was the same carnal and palpable body which was born of the Virgin, which suffered on the cross, and rose from the dead; whereas the belief of the Catholic Church on this point of doctrine, has always been, that the body of Christ is under the symbols not corporeally, or carnally, but in a spiritual manner."—(vol. i. p. 305.)

In connection with the rebellion of E. Bruce occurs what next follows :—

schismati

cally divid

(Vol III. p. 67.) “Through all the calamities and re- The Church verses that now befel the national cause, the spirit of the in Ireland people was chiefly sustained by the exhortations of their clergy; for it is a fact worthy of notice, that the Church ed in the of the Irish, and the Church of the English, in that fourteenth country, were at this time, as widely divided by their century. difference in language and race, as they have been at any period since by their difference in creed. A strong proof of the sort of feeling with which the native ecclesiastics

Mr. Moore's

Querimonia

Magnatum

regarded all who belonged to the race of their English rulers is to be found in a regulation of the abbey of Mellifont, dated A.D. 1322, determining that no person whatsoever should be admitted into that abbey, until he had taken an oath that he was not of English descent. [See Cox.] They but followed too in this exclusive spirit the example set them by their rulers, who strictly forbade under severe penalties, the admission of natives into any of the religious communities established within the English bounds."

Some of the Anglo-Irish clergy, Moore then adds, were view of the sympathisers with Bruce, after which he proceeds thus :— "Complaints had been made by the English monarch to Hibernia. pope Innocent [sic.] XXII., with whom he stood high in favour, of the disloyal conduct of the Irish clergy; and a letter was addressed accordingly by his holiness to the archbishops of Dublin and Cashel, empowering them to admonish, and if necessary excommunicate, all such rebels to the English crown. This interposition in aid of the views of their haughty oppressors, was felt the more keenly by the great body of the Irish chieftains, as coming from a quarter to which the ancient fame of their country for sanctity and learning might well have encouraged them to look for sympathy and support. In the warmth of this feeling a memorable remonstrance was addressed to the pope by O'Neill, &c." The object of which was, according to Mr. M. "to denounce and indignantly protest against that ultramontane party, in the Irish Church, which was now leagued with the Roman Court in abetting the English kings projects for the subjugation of Ireland." (pp. 72, 77.)

The notion of the two Churches in Ireland before the Reformation above thrown out, is somewhat further developed in the following pas

sage:

Church of the govern

ple.

"Much of the opposition thus shewn to the government Opposition by the Irish clergy, proceeded doubtless from political between the divisions within the church itself:-as even at that period, when all were of one faith, the Church of the ment and government and the Church of the people, in Ireland, the Church were almost as much separated from each other by dif- of the peo. ference in race, language, political feeling, and even ecclesiastical discipline, as they have been at any period since, by difference in creeds. The attempt made by the Synod of Cashel, in that year, to assimilate the Irish Church in its rites and discipline, to that of England, entirely failed of its object; and the native clergy and people continued to follow their own ecclesiastical rules, as if the decrees of that memorable synod had never been issued. Disheartening as may be some of the conclusions too plainly deducible from this fact, it clearly shews at least, that the establishment of the Reformed Church in that kingdom was not the first or sole cause of the bitter hostility between its two races." (Vol. iii. p. 114.)

At p. 259 of the same vol. we read thus:

excommunication of Ld, Thos. Fitzgerald.

"It was about this time that the sentence of excom- Notice of munication, in its most vengeful and tremendous form, the form of was issued against Lord Thomas [Fitzgerald] and his uncles John and Oliver, for the cruel murder of Allen, Archbishop of Dublin." (Note ib.) "*State Papers, lxxxi. The following extract will give some notion of the awful violence of this curse:

• One very obvious conclusion of the kind, which may well seem disheartening enough to a certain class of political speculators, is, that the complete overthrow and ruin of the present "Established Church" in Ireland would not effect one particle towards the improved pacification of the country, so long as any of the English race, English political feeling, &c., have power in it or over it.

Protestants

and main

tainers of

macy alike

by Henry VIII.

'We invocate and call in vengeance against the said Thomas, and every of the persons aforesaid, the celestial place of heaven, with all the multitude of the angels, that they be accursed before them, and in their sight as spirits condemned; and the devil to stand and be, in all their doings, on their right hand; and all their acts to be sinful, and not acceptable before God. . . . that God Almighty may rain upon them the flames of fire and sulphur to their eternal vengeance; and that they may clothe themselves with the malediction and high curse, as they daily clothe themselves with their garments.""

For those who would suppose Henry VIII. to have been of the Reformed or Protestant faith, it may be well to quote a passage or two bearing on this point, (from pp. 293, 294, ib.)

"The penal power was indeed in his hands a double edged sword, for whose frightful sweep his complaisant legislators had provided victims from both religions. papal supre- For as all who denied the king's supremacy were declared persecuted traitors, and all who rejected the papal creed were pronounced heretics, the freest scope was afforded to cruelty, for the alternate indulgence of its tastes, whether in hanging conscientious [R.] Catholics for treason, or sending protestants to perish in the flames for heresy. On one occasion singled out of many, the horrible fruits of this policy were strikingly exhibited. In the same cart were conveyed to execution three [R.] Catholics and three protestants; the former for denying the kings supremacy, the latter for denying the doctrine of transubstantiation. The [R.] Catholics were hanged, drawn and quartered, the protestants burned.

"In the year 1539 the last of those spiritual ordinances by which Henry sought to coerce the very con

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