A DISCOURSE OF THE RELIGION Anciently professed by the IRISH and BRITISH.  
By JAMES USHER Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of IRELAND.  
LONDON, Printed by R. Y. for the Partners of the Irish Stock. 1631.   

❧ TO MY VERY MUCH HONOURED Friend, Sir Christopher Sibthorp, Knight, one of his Majesty's justices of his Court of chief place in IRELAND.  
WORTHY SIR:  
I Confess, I somewhat incline to be of your mind, that if unto the authorities drawn out of Scriptures and Fathers (which are common to us with others) a true discovery were added of that Religion which anciently was professed in this Kingdom; it might prove a special motive to induce my poor countrymen to consider a little better of the old and true way from whence they have hitherto been misledd. Yet on the one side, that saying in the Gospel runneth much in my mind; 
a Luke 16. 31.  If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead: and on the other, that heavy judgement mentioned by the Apostle; 
b 2 Thes. 2. 10, 11.  because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe lies. The woeful experience whereof, we may see daily before our eyes in this poor nation: where, such as are slow of heart to believe the saving truth of God delivered by the Prophets and Apostles, do with all greediness embrace, and with a most strange kind of credulity entertain those lying Legends, wherewith their Monks and Friars in these latter days have polluted the religion and lives of our ancient Saints.  
I do not deny but that in this Country, as well as in others, corruptions did creep in by little and little, before the Devil was let loose to procure that seduction which prevailed so generally in these last times: but as far as I can collect by such records of the former ages as have come unto my hands either manuscript or printed) the religion professed by the ancient Bishops, Priests, Monks, and other Christians in this land, was for substance the very same with that which now by public authority is maintained therein, against the foreign doctrine brought in thither in later times by the Bishop of Rome's followers. I speak of the more substantial points of doctrine, that are in controversy betwixt the Church of Rome and us at this day; by which only we must judge, whether of both sides hath departed from the religion of our Ancestors: not of matters of inferior note, much less of ceremonies and such other things as appertain to the discipline rather than to the doctrine of the Church.  
And whereas it is known unto the learned, that the name of Scoti in those elder times (whereof we treat) was common to the inhabitants of the greater and the lesser Scotland (for so heretofore they have been distinguished) that is to say, of Ireland, and the famous colony deduced from thence into Albania: I will not follow the example of those that have of late laboured to make dissension betwixt the daughter and the mother, but account of them both, as of the same people.  
Tros Rutulusve fuat, nullo discrimine habebo. The religion doubtless received by both, was the self same; and differed little or nothing from that which was maintained by their neighbours the Britons: as by comparing the evidences that remain, both of the one nation and of the other, in the ensuing discourse more fully shall appear.   

The chief Heads treated of in this discourse, are these:  

I. OF the holy Scriptures. pag. 1.  
II. Of Predestination, Grace, freewill, Works, justification and Sanctification. pag. 11.  
III. Of Purgatory, and Prayer for the dead. pag. 21.  
FOUR Of the Worship of God, the public form of Liturgy, the Sacrifice, and Sacrament of the Lords Supper. pag. 30.  
V. Of Chrism, Sacramental Confession, Penance, Absolution, Marriage, Divorces, and single life in the Clergy. pag. 45.  
VI Of the discipline of our ancient Monks; and abstinence from meats. pag. 54.  
VII. Of the Church and various state thereof, especially in the days of Antichrist: of Miracles also, and of the Head of the Church. pag. 66.  
VIII. Of the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction, and how little footing it had gotten at first within these parts. pag. 75.  
IX. Of the Controversy which the Britons, Picts, and Irish maintained against the Church of Rome, touching the celebration of Easter. pag. 92.  
X. Of the height that the opposition betwixt the Roman party, and that of the British and the Scottish grew unto; and the abatement thereof in time: and how the Doctors of the Scottish and Irish side have been ever accounted most eminent men in the Catholic Church, notwithstanding their dis-union from the Bishop of Rome. pag. 105.  
XI. Of the temporal power, which the Pope's followers would directly entitle him unto over the Kingdom of Ireland: together with the indirect power which he challengeth in absolving subjects from the obedience, which they owe to their temporal Governors. pag. 117.    
OF THE RELIGION PROFESSED BY THE ANCIENT IRISH.  

CHAP. I.  
Of the holy Scriptures.  
TWo excellent rules doth St. Paul prescribe unto Christians for their direction in the ways of God: the one, that they 
a Ephes. 5. 17.  be not unwise, but understanding what the will of God is; the other, that they 
b Rom. 12. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  be not more wise than behoveth to be wise, but be wise unto sobriety. and that we might know the limits, within which this wisdom and sobriety should be bounded; he elsewhere declareth, that not to be more wise than is fitting, is 
c 1 Cor. 4. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  not to be wise above that which is written. Hereupon Sedulius (one of the most ancient Writers that remaineth of this Country birth) delivereth this for the meaning of the former rule; 
d Scrutamini legem, in quâ voluntas ejus continetur. Sedul. in Ephes. 5.  Search the Law, in which the will of God is contained: and this for the later; 
e Plus vult sapere, qui illa scrutatur quae Lex non dicit. Id. in Rom. 12.  He would be more wise than is meet, who searcheth those things that the Law doth not speak of. Unto whom we will adjoin Claudius another famous Divine, (counted one of the founders of the University of Paris) who for the illustration of the former, affirmeth that men 
f Proptereà errant, quia Scripturas nesciunt: & quia Scripturas ignorant, consequenter nesciunt virtutem Dei, hoc est, Christum, qui est Dei virtus & Dei sapientia. Claud. in Matth. lib. 3. Habetur MS. Romae in Bibliothecâ Vallicellaná; & Cantabrigiae, in Bibliothce. Colleg. Benedict. & Aulae Pembrochianae.  therefore err, because they know not the Scriptures; and because they are ignorant of the Scriptures, they consequently know not Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God: and for the clearing of the latter, bringeth in that known Canon of Saint Hierome; 
g Hoc, quia de Scriptures non habet authoritatem, eâdem facilitate contemnitur quâ probatur. Id. ib.  This, because it hath not authority from the Scriptures, is with the same facility contemned, wherewith it is avowed.  
Neither was the practice of our Ancestors herein different from their judgement. For as Bede touching the latter, recordeth of the successors of Columkille the great Saint of our Country; that they 
h Tantùm ea quae in Propheticis, Evangelicis & Apostolicis literis discere poterant, pietatis & castitatis opera diligenter observantes. Bed. lib. 3. histor. Ecclesiast. cap. 4.  observed only those works of piety and chastity, which they could learn in the Prophetical, Evangelicall, and Apostolical writings: so for the former, he specially noteth of one of the principal of them, to wit, Bishop Aidan; that 
i In tantum autem vita illius à nostri temporis segniciâ distabat; ut omnes qui cum eo incedebant, sive adtonsi, sive laici, meditari deberent, id est, aut legendis Scriptures, aut Psalmis discendis operam dare. Id. ibid. cap. 5.  all such as went in his company, whether they were of the Clergy, or of the Laity, were tied to exercise themselves, either in the reading of Scriptures, or in the learning of Psalms. And long before their time, it was the observation which Saint Chrysostome made of both these Lands: that 
k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost. in serm. de utilitate lectionis Scripturae, tom. 8 edit. Savil. pag 111.  although thou didst go unto the Ocean, and those British Isles, although thou didst sail to the Euxine Sea, although thou didst go unto the Southern quarters; thou shouldst hear ALL men every where discoursing matters out of the SCRIPTURE, with another voice indeed, but not with another faith, and with a different tongue, but with an according judgement. Which is in effect the same with that which venerable Bede pronounceth of the Island of Britain in his own days, that 
l Quinque gentium linguis unam eandemque summae veritatis & verae sublimitatis scien●●a● scrutatur & confitetur; Angl●rum videlicet, B●itonum, Scotorum, Pictorum, & Latinorum, quae meditatione Scripturarum caeteris omnibus est facta communis. Bed. lib. 1. Histor. Ecclesiast. cap. 1.  in the language of five Nations it did search and confess one and the same knowledge of the highest truth, and of the true sublimity; to wit, of the English, the Britons, the Scots, the Picts, and the Latins. which last although he affirmeth by the meditation of the Scriptures to have become common to all the rest: yet the community of that one among the learned, did not take away the property of the other four among the vulgar, but that such as understood not the Latin, might yet in their own mother tongue have those Scriptures, wherein they might search the knowledge of the highest truth, and of the true sublimity. even as at this day in the reformed Churches, the same Latin tongue is common to all the learned in the meditation and exposition of the Scriptures; and yet the common people for all that, do in their own vulgar tongues 
* john 5. 39  search the Scriptures, because in them they think to have eternal life. For as by us now, so by our forefathers then, the 
m Bonis semper moribus delectatur & consentit; & assiduis Scripturarum meditationibus & eloquiis animam vegetar. Patric. de abuseonibus saeculi, cap. 5. de Pudicitia.  continual meditation of the Scriptures was held to give special vigour and vegetation to the soul (as we read in the book attributed unto St. Patrick, of the abuses of the world:) and the holy documents delivered therein, were esteemed by Christians as their chief riches; according to that of Columbanus, 
n Columban. in Monastichis, & in epistolâ ad Hunaldum.  Sint tibi divitiae, divinae dogmata legis. In which heavenly riches our ancient Scottish and Irish did thrive so well, that many worthy personages in foreign parts were content to undergo a voluntary exile from their own Country; that they might more freely traffic here for so excellent a commodity. And by this means Altfrid King of Northumberland, purchased the reputation of 
o Successit E●gfrido in regnum Altfrit, vir in Scriptures doctissimus. Bed. lib. 4. hist. ca 26.  a man most learned in the Scriptures. 
Scottorum qui tum versatus incola terris,  
Coelestem intento spirabat corde sophiam.  
Nam patriae fines & dulcia liquerat arva,  
Sedulus ut Domini mysteria disceret exul.  as Bede writeth of him, in his Poëme of the life of our Countryman St. Cuthbert.  
So when we read in the same Bede of 
p Ab ipso tempore pueritiae suae curam non modicam lectionibus saeris, simul & monasticis exhibebat disciplinis. Bed. lib. 3 hist. cap. 19 Ab infantiâ sacris literis & monasticis disciplinis eruditus. johannes de Tinmouth (& ex eo Io. Capgrar.) in vita Fursei.  Furseus, and in another ancient Author of 
q A puerili aetate magnum habet studium sacras discere literas. Tom. 4. Antiqu. lect. Heur. Canis. pag. 642.  Kilianus, that from the time of their very childhood, they had a care to learn the holy Scriptures: it may easily be collected, that in those days it was not thought a thing unfit, that even children should give themselves unto the study of the Bible. Wherein how greatly some of them did profit in those tender years, may appear by that which Boniface the first Archbishop of Mentz, relateth of Livinus (who was trained up in his youth by Benignus in 
r Davidic●● Psalmo●um melodiis, & sanctorum Evangeliorum mell. fluis lectionibus atque caeteris divitiis exercitationibus E●u fac. in vitâ Livini.  the singing of David's Psalms, and the reading of the holy Gospels, and other divine exercises) and jonas of Columbanus; in whose 
s Tantum i●●ejus pectore divinatum thesauri Scripturarum conditi tenebantur; ut intra adolescentiae aetatem detentus, Psalmorum librum elimato sermone exponeret. Ion●● in vitâ Columba ay, cap. 2.  breast the treasures of the holy Scriptures were so laid up, that within the compass of his youthful years he set forth an elegant exposition of the book of the Psalms, by whose industry likewise afterward, the study of God's Word was so propagated; that in the Monasteries which were founded 
t B. Burgundofora monasterium quod Euoriacas appellatur, etc. secundùm regulam S. Columbani instituit. Id. in vitâ Burgundos.  according to his rule beyond the Seas, not the men only, but the religious women also did carefully attend the same, that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures they might have hope. See for this, the practice of the Virgin 
u cum jam in extremis posita posceret per successiones noctium lumen coram se accendi, & sacrae lectionis praeconia ante se legi, etc. Id ibid.  Bitihildis lying upon her death bed; reported by the same jonas, or whosoever else was the Author of the life of Burgundofora.  
As for the edition of the Scriptures used in these parts at those times: the Latin translation was so received into common use among the learned, that the principal authority was still reserved to the original fountains. Therefore doth Sedulius in the Old Testament commend unto us 
x Hebraicam veritatem Sedul. in Galat. 3. & Hebr. 7.  the Hebrew verity (for so with S. Hierome doth he style it:) and in the New correct oftentimes the vulgar Latin according to the truth of the Greek copies. For example: in 1 Cor. 7 34. he readeth as we do, There is difference between a wife and a virgin; and not as the Rhemists have translated it out of the Latin. Rom. 12. 19 he readeth, Non vosmetipsos vindicantes, not avenging yourselves: where the vulgar Latin hath corruptly, Non vosmetipsos defendentes, not defending yourselves. Rom. 3. 4. where the Rhemists translate according to the Latin, God is true: he showeth that in the Greek copies it is found, Let God be true, or, let God be made true. Rom. 15. 17. he noteth that the Latin books have put glory for gloriation. Galat. 1. 16. where the Rhemists have according to the Latin, I condescended not to flesh & blood: he saith, that in Graeco meliùs habet (for so must his words be here corrected out of St. Hierome, whom he followeth) the Greek hath it better, I conferred not. Rom. 8. 3. where the Rhemists say of God, according to the Latin translation, that of sin he damned sin in the flesh: Sedulius affirmeth, that veriùs habetur apud Graecoes, it is more truly expressed in the Greek books; that for sin he damned sin in the flesh. Lastly, where the Rhemists translate after their Latin copy, Gal. 5. 9 A little leaven corrupteth the whole paste: he saith it should be, leaveneth, (as we have it) and 
y Non, ut malè in Latinis codicious, corrumpit. Sedul. in Gal. 5.  not corrupteth, as it is ill read in the Latin books. So where they translate by the same authority, Galat. 6. 1. Instruct such an one in the spirit of lenity: 
z Instruat; sive, ut melius habetur in Graeco, perficiat in spiritu lenitatis. Claud. in Gal. 6.  Claudius, following St. Hierome, affirmeth that it is better in the Greek, Restore or Perfect him. and where they make St. Peter say, Mat. 16. 22. Lord, be it far from thee: 
a Absit à te Domine: vel ut meliùs habetur in Graeco; Propitius esto tibi, Domine. Id. lib. 2. comment. in Matth.  he noteth, that it is better in the Greek, Lord, favour thyself.  
In the old Testament I observe that our Writers do more usually follow the translation taken out of the Septuagint, than the Vulgar Latin, which is now received in the Church of Rome. So, for example, where the Vulgar Latin hath Esay 32. 4. 
b Lingua balbo●um velociter loquetur & planè.  The tongue of the stammerers (or mafflers, as the Douai Translation would have it englished) shall speak readily and plainly: in the Confession of St. Patrick 
c Linguae balbutientes velociter discent loqui pacem.  we find it laid down more agreeably to the 
d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  Greek lection: The stammering tongues shall swiftly learn to speak peace. and in his Epistle to Coroticus or Cereticus; 
e Exultabitis sicut vituli ex vinculis resoluti. Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Malach. 4. 2. You shall dance as calves loosed out of bands: where our common Latin hath; 
f Salietis sicut vituli de armento.  You shall leap as calves of the heard. And job 20. 15, 16. 
g Divitiae quas congregabit injustè, evomentur de ventre ejus, trahit illum angelus mortis. Itá draconum mulctabi●ur: interficiet illum lingua colubri. Graec. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  The riches which he shall gather unjustly, shall be vomited out of his belly, the Angel of death draweth him. He shall be mulcted with the wrath of Dragons: the tongue of the Serpent shall kill him. where the Vulgar Latin readeth: 
h Divitias quas devoravit ●vomet, & de ventie illius extrah●t ●as Deus. Caput aspidum suget, & occidet cum lingua viperae.  The riches, which he hath devoured, he shall vomit out, and God shall draw them forth out of his belly. He shall suck the head of Asps, and the Viper's tongue shall kill him. The same course is likewise observed by Sedulius in his citations. But Gildas the Briton in some Books, (as Deuteronomy, Esay and jeremy, for example) useth to follow the Vulgar Latin translated out of the Hebrew; in others (as the books of Chronicles, job, Proverbs, Ezekiel, and the small Prophets) the elder Latin translated out of the Greek, as also long after him his country man 
* ●●nn. Hisior. Briton. cap. 1.  Nennius, in reckoning the years of the age of the world, followeth the LXX. and Asser allegeth the text, Genes. 4. 7. 
i Si rectè offeras, rectè autem non dividas, peccas. Asser Menervens. de gestis Alfreat R.  If thou offer aright, and dost not divide aright, thou sinnest; according to the 
k 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  Greek reading: whereas the Vulgar Latin hath it; 
l Nun si bene egeris, recipies? fin autem malè, statim in foribus peccatum ●derit?  If thou do well, shalt thou not receive again? but if thou dost ill, shall not thy sin forthwith be present at the door?  
Of the Psalter there are extant four Latin translations out of the Greek, (namely the old Italian, the Roman, the Gallican, and that of milan:) and one out of the Hebrew, composed by St. Hierome: which though it be now excluded out of the body of the Bible, and the Gallican admitted in the room thereof; yet in some Manuscript Copies, it still retaineth his ancient place. three whereof I have seen myself in Cambridge, the one in Trinity, the other in Benet, and the third in jesus College Library: where this translation out of the Hebrew, and not the Vulgar out of the Greek, is inserted into the context of the Bible. In the citations of Gildas, and the Confession of Saint Patrick, I observe that the Roman Psalter is followed, rather than the Gallican: in the quotations of Sedulius, on the other side, the Gallican rather than the Roman. Claudius' speaking of a text in the 118th. (or as he accounteth it, the 117 th'.) 
m In Psalmo 117. ubi LXX. interprete transtulerunt, O Domine salvun me fac; in Hebraeo scriptum est, Anna Adonai Osanna: quod interpres noster Hieronymus diligentiùs elucidans ita transtulit; Obsecro Domine, salva obsecro. Claud. Scot in Matth. lib. 3.  Psalm, saith, that where the LXX. Interpreters did translate it, O Lord save me, it was written in the Hebrew, Anna Adonai Osanna: which our Interpreter Hierom (saith he) more diligently explaining, translated thus; I beseech thee, O Lord, save I beseech thee. Before this translation of S. Hierome, 
n MS. in Bibliothec● eruditissi●i antistiatis D. Guilielmi Bedelli, Kilmorersis & Ardachadensis apud nos Episcopi.  I have seen an Epigram prefixed by Ricemarch the Briton; who by Caradoc of Lhancarpan 
o Caradoc. in Chronico Cambriae, circa annum 1099. ad quem in aliis etiam Annalibus Britannicis MSS. annotatum repperi. Sub hujus anni ambitum morti succumbit Richmarch cogno. mine Sapiens, filius Sulgeni Episcopi, cum jam annum XLIII. aetatis ageret.  is commended for the godliest, wisest, and greatest Clerk that had been in Wales many years before his time, his father Sulgen Bishop of S. David's only excepted, who had brought him up, and a great number of learned disciples. He having in this Epigram said of those who translated the Psalter out of Greek, that they did darken the Hebrew rays with their Latin cloud: addeth of S. Hierome, that being replenished with the Hebrew fountain, he did more clearly and briefly discover the truth; as drawing it out of the first vessel immediately, and not taking it at the second hand. To this purpose thus expresseth he himself; 
Ebraeis nablam custodit littera signis:  
Pro captu quam quisque suo sermone Latino  
Edidit, innumeros Linguâ variante libellos;  
Ebraeumque jubar suffuscat nube Latina.  
Nam tepefacta ferum dant tertia labrasaporem.  
Sed sacer Hieronymus, Ebraeo fonte repletus,  
Lucidiùs nudat verum, breviusque ministrat.  
Namque secunda create, nam tertia vascula vitat.   
Now for those books annexed to the Old Testament, which S. Hierom calleth Apocryphal, others Ecclesiastical; true it is that in our Irish and British writers some of them are alleged as parcels of Scripture, and prophetical writings; those especially that commonly bore the name of Solomon. But so also is the fourth book of Esdras cited by Gildas, in the name of 
p Quid praetereà beatus Esdras Propheta ille, Bibliotheca legis, minatus sit attendite. Gild. Epist.  blessed Esdras the Prophet; which yet our Romanists will not admit to be Canonical: neither do our writers mention any of the rest with more titles of respect than we find given unto them by others of the ancient Fathers, who yet in express terms do exclude them out of the number of those books which properly are to be esteemed Canonical. So that from hence no sufficient proof can be taken, that our ancestors did herein depart from the tradition of the Elder Church, 
* Vid. Richard. Armachanum, de questionib. Armeniorum, 〈◊〉 18. cap. 1.  delivered by S. Hierome in his Prologues, and explained by Brito (a Briton, it seemeth, by nation, as well as by appellation) in his commentaries upon the same; which being heretofore joined with the Ordinary Gloss upon the Bible, have of late proved so distasteful unto our Popish Divines, that in their new editions (printed at Lion's anno 1590. and at Venice afterward) they have quite crossed them out of their books.  
Yet Marianus Scotus (who was borne in Ireland in the MXXVIII. year of our Lord) was somewhat more careful to maintain the ancient bounds of the Canon set by his forefathers. For he in his Chronicle, following Eusebius and S. Hierom, at the reign of Artaxerxes Longimanus writeth thus: 
q Hucusque Hebraeorum divina Scriptura tempurum seriem continet. Quae verò post haec apud judaeos sunt gesta, de libro Maccabaeorum, & josephi atque Aphricani scriptis exhibentur. Marian. Chron. MS.  Hitherto the divine Scripture of the Hebrews containeth the order of Times. But those things that after this were done among the jews, are represented out of the book of the Maccabees, and the writings of josephus and Aphricanus. But before him, more plainly, the author of the book de mirabilibus Scripturae (who is accounted to have lived here, about the year DCLVII.) 
r In Maccabaeorum libris etsi aliquid mirabilium numero inserendum conveniens fuisse huic ordini inveniatur; de hoc tamen nullâ curâ satigabimur: quia tantum agere proposuimus, unde divini canonis mirabilibus exiguam (quamvis ingenioli nostri modulum excedentem) historicam expositionem ex parte aliquâ tangeremus. Lib. 2. de mirabilib. Script. cap. 34. (inter opera B. Augustini, tom. 3.)  In the books of the Maccabees, howsoever some wonderful things be found, which might conveniently be inserted into this rank; yet w●ll we not weary ourselves with any care thereof▪ because we only purposed to touch in some measure a short historical exposition of the wonderful things contained in the divine canon. as also in the apocryphal additions of Daniel, he telleth us, that what is reported 
s De ●acu vero iterùm & Abacuk translato in Belis & Draconis fabulà, idcirco in hoc ordine non ponitur; quòd in authoritate divinae Scripturae non habentur. ibid. cap. 32.  touching the lake (or den) and the carrying of Abackuk, in the fable of Bel and the Dragon, is not therefore placed in this rank, because these things have not the authority of divine Scripture.  
And so much concerning the holy Scriptures.   

CHAP. II.  
Of Predestination, Grace, freewill, Faith, Works, justification and Sanctification.  
THe Doctrine which our learned men observed out of the Scriptures & the writings of the most approved Fathers, was this▪ that God 
b Praescitam & praedestinatam immobili consilio creaturam, ad se laudandum, & ex se & in se & per se beatè vivendum. S. Gallus in serm. habit. Constant.  by his immovable counsel (as Gallus speaketh in his Sermon preached at Constance) ordained some of his creatures to praise h●m, and to live blessedly from him and in him, & by him: namely, 
c Praedestinatione scilicèt aeternâ, non creatione temporariâ, sed vocatione gratuitâ, vel ●ndebitâ, gratiâ. Id. ib.  by his eternal predestination, his free calling, and his grace which was due to none. that 
d Miseretur magná bonitate, ●obdurat nullà iniquita●●: ut neque libera●●s de luis meritis glorietur, neq damnatus nisi de suis meritis conquetatur Sola enim 〈◊〉 ●edemptos discernit à perditis, quos in unam perdi●●●● concreaucrat massam, ab ori●●ne ducta caussa communi. Sedul. in Rom. 9  he hath mercy with great goodness, and hardeneth without any iniquity: so as neither he that is delivered can glory of his own merits, nor he that is condemned complain but of his own merits. for as much as grace only maketh the distinction betwixt the redeemed and the lost; who by a cause drawn from their common original, were framed together into one mass of perdition. For 
e Videt universum genus humanum tam justo judicio divinoque in apostaticâ radice damnatum; ut etiamsi nullus inde liberatur, nemo rectè posset Dei vituperare justitiam: & qui liberantur, sic oportuisse liberari, ut ex pluribus non liberatis, atque damnatione justissimâ derelictis, ostenderetur quid meruisset universa conspersio, quòd etiam justos debitum judicium Dei damnaret, nisi in ejus debitum misericordia subveniret: ut volentium de suis meritis gloriari, omne os obstruatur; & qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur. Id ibid.  all mankind stood condemned in the apostatical root (of Adam) with so just and divine a judgement; that although none should be freed from thence, no man could rightly blame the justice of God: and such as were freed, must so have been freed, that by those many which were not freed, but left in their most just condemnation, it might be showed what the whole lump had deserved, that the due judgement of God should have condemned even those that are justified, unless mercy had relieved them from that which was due: that so all the mouths of them, which would glory of their merits, might be stopped; and he that glorieth, might glory in the Lord.  
They further taught (as Saint Augustine did) that 
f Libero arbitrio malè utens homo, & se perdidit, & ipsum. Sicut enim qui se occidit, utique vivendo se occidit, sed se occidendo non vivit, neque seipsum poterit refuscitare cum occiderit: ita cum libero arbitrio peccaretur, victore peccato amissum est & liberum arbitrium. à quo enim quis devictus est, huic & servus addictus est. sed ad benè faciendum ista libertas unde erit homini addicto & vendito, nisi redimat, cujus illa vox est; Si vos Filius liberaverit, verè liberi eritis? Id. ibid.  Man using ill his Free will, lost both himself and it. that, as one by living is able to kill himself, but by killing himself is not able to live, nor hath power to raise up himself when he hath killed himself so when sin had been committed by free will, sin being the conqueror, free will also was lost; for as much as of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought in bondage (2 Pet. 2. 19) that unto a man thus brought in bondage and sold, there is no liberty left to do well, unless he redeem him, whose saying is this; If the Son make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (john 8. 36.) that 
g Quòd ab adolescentia mens hominum apposita sit ad malitiam: non est enim homo qui non peccet. Id. in Ephes. 2.  the mind of men from their very youth is set upon evil: there being not a man which sinneth not. that a man 
h Quid habes ex teipso nisi peccatum? Id. in 1 Cor. 4.  hath nothing from himself, but sin. that 
i Deus author est omnium bonorum, hoc est, & naturae bonae, & voluntatis bonae; quam nisi Deus in illo operetur, non facit homo. quia praeparatur voluntas à Domino in homine bona; ut faciat Deo donante, quod à seipso facere non poterat per liberi arbitrii voluntatem. Claud. li. 1. in Matth.  God is the author of all good things, that is to say, both of good nature, and of good will; which unless God do work in him, man cannot do. because this good will is prepared by the Lord in man; that by the gift of God he may do that, which of himself he could not do by his own freewill. that 
k Praecedit bona voluntas hominis multa Dei dona, sed non omnia: quae autem non praecedit ipsa, in eyes est & ipsa. Nam utrumque legitur in sanctis eloquiis; & misericordia ejus praeveniet me, & misericordia ejus subsequetur me: nolentem praevenit ut velit, volentem subsequitur, ne frustrà velit. Cur enim admonemur petere ut accipiamus; nisi ut ab illo fiat quod volumus, à quo factum est ut velimus? Sedul. in Rom. 9  the good will of man goeth before many gifts of God, but not all: and of those which it doth not go before, itself is one. For both of these is read in the holy Scriptures; His mercy shall go before me, and, His mercy shall follow me: it preventeth him that is unwilling that he may will, and it followeth him that is willing, that he will not in vain. and that therefore we are admonished to ask that we may receive, to the end, that what we do will may be effected by him, by whom it was effected that we did so will.  
They taught also, that 
l Non ergo lex data est, ut peccatum auferret, sed ut sub peccato omnia concluderet. Lex enim oflendebat esse peccatum, quod illi per consuetudinem caecati possent putare iustitiam: ut hoc modo humiliati cognoscerent non in suâ manu esse salutem suam, sed in manu mediatoris. Id. in Gal. 3.  the Law was not given, that it might take away sin, but that it might shut up all under sin: to the end that men, being by this means humbled, might understand that their salvation was not in their own hand, but in the hand of a Mediator. that by the Law cometh, 
m Non remissio, nec ablatio peccatorum, sed cognitio. Id. in Rom. 3.  neither the remission nor the removal, but the knowledge of sins: that it 
n Lex, quae per Moysen data est, tantùm peccata ostendit, non abstulit. Claud. in Gal. 2. Perque illam legem morbos ostendentem non auferentem, etiam praevaricationis crimine contrita superbia est. Id. in Gal. 3.  taketh not away diseases, but discovereth them; 
o Lex non do●at peccata, sed damnat. Sedul. in Rom. 4.  forgiveth not sins, but condemneth them. that 
p Dominus Deus imposuerat non justitiae servientibus sed peccato: justam scilicèt legem injustis hominibus dando, ad demonstranda peccata eorum, non auferenda. Non enim aufert peccata nisi gratiâ fidei quae per dilectionem operatur. Claud. in argument. epist. ad Gal.  the Lord God did impose it, not upon those that served righteousness, but sin; namely, by giving a just law to unjust men, to manifest their sins, and not to take them away: forasmuch as nothing taketh away sins but the grace of faith which worketh by love. That our 
q Gratis nobis donantur peccata. Sedul. in Gal. 1. A morte redemptis gratis peccata dimittuntur. Id. in Ephes. 1.  sins are freely forgiven us; 
r Absque operum merito, & peccata nobis concessa sunt pristina, & p●x indulta post veniam. Claud. in Gal. 1.  without the merit of our works: that 
s Gratiâ estis salvati per fidem, id est, non per opera. Sedul. in Eph. 2.  through grace we are saved, by faith, and not by works; and that therefore we are to rejoice, 
t Non in propriâ justitiâ, vel doctrinâ, sed in fide crucis, per quam mihi omnia peccata dimissa sunt. Sedul & Claud. in Gal. 6.  not in our own righteousness, or learning, but in the faith of the Cross, by which all our sins are forgiven us. That 
u Abjecta & irrita gratia est, si ●●bi sola non sufficit. Sedul. in Gal. 2.  grace is abject and vain, if it alone do not suffice us: and that we 
x Christum vilem habetis, dum putatis eum vobis non sufficere ad salutem. Id. in Galat. 3.  esteem basely of Christ, when we think that he is not sufficient for us to salvation.  
That 
y Disposuit Deus propitium sefuturum esse humano generi, si credant in sanguine ejus se esse liberandos. Id. in Rom. 3.  God hath so ordered it, that he will be gracious to mankind, if they do believe that they shall be freed by the blood of Christ. that, as 
z Vita corporis amma, vi a animae fides est. Id. in Hebr. 10.  the soul is the life of the body, so faith is the life of the soul: and that we live 
a In fide vivo filii Dei, id est, in solâ fide, qui ni●●ld●b olegi. Id. in. Gal. 2.  by faith only, as owing nothing to the Law. that 
b Perfectionem legi habet, qui credit in Christo. cum enim nullus iustifica●●tui ex lege, quia nemo implebat legem, nisi qui sp●raret in promissionem Ch●●●●: fides posita est, quae cederet pro perfectione legi; ut in omnibus praetermissis fides satissaceret pro totâ lege. Id. in Rom. 10.  he who believeth in Christ, hath the perfection of the Law. For whereas none might be justified by the Law, because none did fulfil the Law, but only he which did trust in the promise of Christ: faith was appointed, which should be accepted for the perfection of the Law, that in all things which were omitted faith might satisfy for the whole Law. That this righteousness therefore is 
c Non nostra, non in nobis, sed in Christo, quasi membra in capite. Id. in 2 Cor. 5.  not ours, nor in us, but in Christ; in whom were are considered as members in the head. That 
d Fides, dimissis per gratiam peccatis, omnes credentes filios efficit Abrahae. Id. in Rom. 4.  faith, procuring the remission of sins by grace, maketh all believers the children of Abraham: and that 
e justum fuerat, ut quo modo Abraham credens ex gentibus per solam fidem iustificatus est; ita caeteri fidem eius imitantes salvarentur. Id. in Rom. 1.  it was just, that as Abraham was justified by faith only, so also the rest that followed his faith should be saved after the same manner. That 
f Per adoptionem efficimur filii Dei, credendo in Filium Dei. Claud. l●b. 1. in Mat.  through adoption we are made the sons of God, by believing in the Son of God: and that this is 
g Testimonium adoptionis, quòd habemus spiritum, per quem ita oramus: ● intam enim arrham non poterant, nisi filii accipere. Sed. in Rom. 8.  a testimony of our adoption, that we have the spirit; by which we pray, and cry Abba Father; forasmuch as none can receive so great a pledge as this, but such as be sons only. That 
h Ipse Moses distinxit inter utramque iustitiam, fidei scilicet atque factorum: quia altera operibus, altera solâ credulitate iustificet accedentem. Id. in Rom. 10.  Moses himself made a distinction betwixt both the justices, to wit of faith and of deeds: that the one did by works justify him that came, the other by believing only. that 
i Patriarchae & Prophetae non ex operibus legis, sed ex fide iustificati sunt. Id. in Gal. 2.  the patriarchs and the Prophets were not justified by the works of the Law, but by faith. that 
k Ita praevaluit consuetudo peccandi, ut nemo iam perficiat legem: sicut Petrus Apostolus ait; Quod neque nos neque patres nostri portare potuimus. Si qui verò iusti non erant maledicti; non ex operibus legis, sed fidei gratiâ salvati sunt. Id. in Gal. 3.  the custom of sin hath so prevailed, that none now can fulfil the Law: as the Apostle Peter saith, Acts 15. 10. Which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear. But if there were any righteous men which did escape the curse: it was not by the works of the Law, but for their faith's sake that they were saved.  
Thus did Sedulius and Claudius, two of our most famous Divines deliver the doctrine of free will and grace, faith and works, the Law and the Gospel, justification and Adoption; no less agreeably to the faith which is at this day professed in the reformed Churches, that to that which they themselves received from the more ancient Doctors, whom they did follow therein. Neither do we in our judgement one whit differ from them, when they teach that 
l Hoc contra illos agit, qui solam fidem posse sufficere dicunt. Sedul. in Ephes. 5. Non ergo sola ad vitam sufficit fides. Claud in Gal. 5. bis. Haec sententia illos revincit, qui solam fidem ad salutem animarum suarum sufficere arbitrantur. Id. ibid. in fine.  faith alone is not sufficient to life. For when it is said, that Faith alone justifieth: this word alone may be conceived to have relation either to the former part of the sentence, which in the Schools they term the Subject; or to the latter, which they call the Predicate. Being referred to the former, the meaning will be; that such a faith as is alone (that is to say, not accompanied with other virtues) doth justify: and in this sense we utterly disclaim the assertion. But being referred to the latter, it maketh this sense; that faith is it which alone or only justifieth: and in this meaning only do we defend that proposition; understanding still by faith, not a dead carcase thereof (for how should the just be able to live by a dead faith?) but a true and lively faith, 
m Gal. 5. 6.  which worketh by love. For as it is a certain truth, that among all the members of the body, the eye is the only instrument whereby we see; and yet it is as true also, that the eye being alone, and separated from the rest of the members, is dead, and for that cause doth neither see only, not see at all: so these two sayings likewise may stand well enough together, that among all the virtues in the foul, faith is the only instrument whereby we lay hold upon Christ for our justification; and yet, that faith being alone, and disjoined from the society of other graces, is dead in itself, (as St. 
n jam. 2. 17.  james speaketh) and in that respect can neither only justify, nor justify at all.  
So though Claudius do teach as we do, that 
o Si gentes fides sola non salvat, nec nos: quia ex operibus legis nemo iustificabitur. Claud. in Galat. 2.  faith alone saveth us; because by the works of the law no man shall be justified: yet he addeth withal this caution. 
p Non quò legis opera contemnenda sint, & absque eis simplex fides adpetenda; sed ipsa opera fide Christi adornentur. Sc●● est enim sapientis viri ●sla sententia; non fidelem v●v●●e ex iustitiâ, sed iustum ex fide. Id. in Galat. 3.  Not as if the works of the law should be contemned, and without them a simple faith (so he calleth that solitary faith whereof we spoke, which is a simple faith indeed) should be desired; but that the works themselves should be adorned with the faith of Christ. For that sentence of the wise man is excellent, that the faithful man doth not live by righteousness, but the righteous man by faith. In like manner Sedulius, acknowledgeth with us, that God 
q Gratis proposuit per solam fidem dimittere peccata. Sedul. in Rom. 4.  hath purposed by faith only to forgive our sins freely, and 
r Vt solâ fide salvatentur credentes. Idem. in Galat. 3.  by faith only to save the believers; and that, when men have fallen, they are to be renewed 
s Per solam fidem Christi, quae per dilectionem operatur, Id. in Hebr. 6.  only by the faith of Christ, which worketh by love. intimating by this last clause, that howsoever faith only be it which justifieth the man, yet the work of love is necessarily required (for all that) to justify the faith. And this faith (saith 
t Haee fides cum justificata fuerit, ●anquam radix imbre suse pro, haeret in animae solo; ut cum per legem Dei excoli ●aeperit, rurtùm in eam surgant rami, qui fructus operum ferant. Non ergo ex operibus radix justitiae, sed ex radice justitiae fructus operum crescit● illâ scilicet radice justitiae, cu● Deus accep●●in fert justitiam sine operibus. Id. in Rom. 4.  he) when it hath been justified, sticketh in the soil of the soul, like a root which hath received a shower: that when it hath begun to be manured by the law of God, it may rise up again into bows, which may bear the fruit of works. Therefore the root of righteousness doth not grow out of works, but the fruit of works out of the root of righteousness; namely out of that root of righteousness, which God doth accept for righteousness without works. The conclusion is: that saving faith is always a fruitful faith; and though it never go alone, yet may there be some gift of God, which it alone is able to reach unto. as 
u Columban. in 〈◊〉.  Columbanus also implieth in that verse: Sola fides fidei dono ditabitur almo.  
The greatest depressers of God's grace, and the advancers of man's abilities, were Pelagius and Celestius● the one borne in Britain (as appeareth by Prosper Aquitanus) the other in Scotland or Ireland; as 
x Pe●s●three Convers. part. 1. chap. 3. sect. 10.  Mr. Persons doth gather out of those words of S. Hierom in one of the Prefaces of his commentaries (not upon Ezechiel, as he quoteth it, but) upon jeremy. 
y Habet enim progeniem Seoticae gentis, de Britannorum viciniâ. Hieron. prooem. lib. 3. commentar. in jerem.  He hath his offspring from the Scottish nation, near to the Britan's. These heretics (as our Marianus noteth out of Prosper. in his Chronicle) preached, among other of their impieties, 
z Vnumquem jue adiustitiam voluntate propriâ regi; tantumque accipere gratiae, quantum meruerit. Morian, Scot Chron. ad an. Dom 413. vel 414. Whereof see more particularly, the Answer to the jesuit, in the question of freewill.  that for attaining of righteousness every one was governed by his own will, and received so much grace as he did merit. Whole venomous doctrine was in Britain repressed, first by Palladius, Lupus, Germanus and Severus from abroad; afterward, by David Menevensis, and his successors at home agreeably to whose institution, Asser. Men●vensis doth profess, that God is always to be esteemed both the mover of the will, and the bestower of the good that is willed for he is (saith he) 
a Omnium bonarum voluntatum inssigator; necnon etiam, ut habeantur bona desiderata, largissimus administrator. neque enim unquam aliquem bene velle insligaret, nisi & hoc, quod bene & iustò quisque habere desiderat, largiter administraret. Asser. d● rebus gestic Aelfredi. R.  the instigatour of all good wills, and withal the most bountiful provider that the good things desired may be had: forasmuch as he would never stir up any to will well, unless he did also liberally supply that which every one doth well and justly desire to obtain.  
Among our Irish, the grounds of sound doctrine in these points were at the beginning well settled by Palladius and Patricius, 
b Prosp. Aquitan. advers. Coelater. 〈…〉.  sent hither by Celestinus Bishop of Rome. And when the poison of the Pelagian heresy, about two hundred years after that, began to break out among them: the Clergy of Rome in the year of our Lord DCXXXIX. (during the vacancy of the See, upon the death of Severinus) directed their letters unto them, for the preventing of this growing mischief. Wherein among other things they put them in mind, that 
d Blasphemia & stultiloquium est dicere, esse hominem sine peccato quod omnino non potest, nisa unus mediater Dei & hominum 〈◊〉 Christus jesus, qui sine peccato est conceptus & partus. Epist. Cler. Roman. apud. ●●dam, lib. 2. hist. cap. 13.  it is both blasphemy and folly to say, that a man is without sin: which none at all can say, but that one mediator betwixt God and man, the man Christ jesus, who was conceived and borne without sin. Which is agreeable, partly to that of Claudius; that 
e Quia, (quod omnibus sapientibus patet, licèt haeretici contradicant) nemo est, qui sine adtactu alicuius peccati vivere possit super terram. Claud. lib. 2. in. Matth.  it is manifest unto all wise men, although it be contradicted by heretics, that there is none who can live upon earth without the touch of some sin: partly to that of Sedulius, that 
f Nullus electus & ita magnus, quem Diabolus non audeat accusare: nisi illum solum, qui peccatum non fecit, qui & dicebat; Nunc venit princeps huius mundi, & in me nihil. invenit. Sedul. in Rom. 8.  there is none of the elect so great, whom the Devil doth not dare to accuse, but him alone who did no sin, and who said; The Prince of this world cometh now, and in me be findeth nothing.  
For touching the imperfection of our sanctification in this life, these men held the same that we do: to wit, that the Law 
g Non potest impleri. Id. in Rom. 7.  cannot be fulfilled; that 
h Non est qui faciat bonum, hoc est, perfectum & integrum bonum Id. in Rom. 3.  there is none that doth good, that is to say, perfect and entire good. that 
i Ad hoc nos elegit, ut essemus sancti & immaculati, in futurâ vitâ; quoniam Ecclesia Christi non habebit maculam neque rugam. Licèt etiam in praesenti vitâ justi, & sancti, & immaculati, quamvis non ex toto, tamen ex parte, non inconuenienter dici possunt. Id. in Ephes. 1.  Gods elect shall be perfectly holy and immaculate in the life to come, where the Church of Christ shall have no spot nor wrinkle: whereas in this present life they are righteous, holy, and immaculate, not wholly, but in part only that 
k Tunc erit iustus fine ullo omninò peccato, quando nulla lex erit in memberis eius, repugnans legi mentis eius. Claud. in Gal. 5.  the righteous shall then be without all kind of sin, when there shall be no law in their members, that shall resist the law of their mind. that although 
l Non enim iam regnat peccatum in eorum mortali corpore ad obediendum desideriis eius: quamvis habitet in eodem mortali corpore peccatum, nondum extincto impetu consuetudinis naturalis, quâ mortaliter nati sumus, & ex proptlis vitae nostrae, cum & nos ipsi peccando auximus quod ab origine peccati humani damnationis trahebamus. Id ibid.  sin do not now reign in their mortal body to obey the desires thereof: yet sin dwelleth in that mortal body, the force of that natural custom being not yet extinguished, which we have gotten by our original, and increased by our actual transgressions. And as for the matter of merit: Sedulius doth resolve us out of S. Paul, that we are Saints 
m Vocatione Dei, non merito facti. Sedul. in. Ronvere. 1.  by the calling of God, not by the merit of our deed; that God is able to exceeding abundantly above that we ask or think, 
n Se●●nd●m virtutem quae operatur in nobis; non secundùm merita nostra. Id. in Ephes. 3.  according to the power that worketh in us, not according to our merits; that 
o Sciendum est, quin omne quod habent homines à Deo, gratia est: nihil enim ex ●ebito habent. Id. in Rom. 16.  whatsoever men have from God; is grace, because they have nothing of due; and that 
p Nihil dignum inveniri vel comparati ad futuram glori●m potest. Id. in Rom. 8.  nothing can be found worthy or to be compared with the glory to come.   

CHAP. III.  
Of Purgatory, and Prayer for the dead.  
THe next Point that offereth itself unto our consideration, is that of Purgatory. Whereof if any man do doubt; 
a Qui de Purgatorio dubitat, Scotiam pergat, Purgatorium sancti Patricii intret, & de Purgatorii poenis ampliùs non dubitabit. Caesar. Heisterbach. Dialog. lib. 12. cap. 38.  Caesarius (a German Monk of the Cistercian order) adviseth him for his resolution to make a journey into Scotland (the greater Scotland he meaneth) and there to enter into S. Patrick's Purgatory: and then he giveth him his word, that he shall no more doubt of the pains of Purgatory. If Doctor Terry (who commendeth this unto us as the testimony of 
b Cujus loci fama, ita sparsim per omnes Europae parts velare visa est; ut Caesarius celeberrimus auctor, de eo nihil dubitans sic scribat. Guil. Thyraeus, in Discurs Panegyrit. de S. Patric. pag. 151.  a most famous Author) should chance to have a doubtful thought hereafter of the pains of Purgatory; I would wish his ghostly Father to enjoin him no other penance, but the undertaking of a pilgrimage unto S. Patrick's purgatory; to see whether he would prove any wiser when he came from thence, than when he went thither. In the mean time, until he hath made some further experiment of the matter, he shall give me leave to believe him that hath been there, and hath cause to know the place as well as any (the Island wherein it is seated, being held by him as a part of the inheritance descended unto him from his ancestors) and yet professeth, that he found nothing therein, which might afford him any argument to think there was a Purgatory. I pass by, that Nennius, and Probus, and all the elder writers of the life of S. Patrick that I have met withal, speak not one word of any such place; and that 
c Henr. Saltereyens. in lib. de Visione Oeni mil 'tis MS. in publicâ Cantabrigiensis academiae Bibliothecâ; & privatâ viri doctiss. M. Tho●ae Alani Oxomensis; & in Nigro libro Ecclesiae S. Trinitat. Dublin.  Henry the monk of Saltrey, in the days of King Stephen, is the first in whom I could ever find any mention thereof. this only would I know of the Doctor, what the reason might be, that where he bringeth in the words of Giraldus Cambrensis touching this place, as 
d De posteriori non minùs authentica videtur auctoritas Giraldi Cambrensis, rerum lbernicarum diligentissimi investigatoris, qui taliter loquitur. Thyr, Discurs. Panegyric. pag. 153.  an authentical authority; he passeth over that part of his relation, wherein he affirmeth, that S. Patrick intended by this means to bring the rude people to a persuasion of the certainty 
e De infernalibus namque reproborum poenis, & de verâ post mortem perpetuâque electorum vitâ vir sanctus cum gente incredulâ dum disputâsset: ut tanta, tam inusitata, tam inopinabilis rerum novitas rudibus infidelium animis oculatâ fide certi●s imprimeretur: efficaciorationum instantiâ magnam & admirabilem utriusque rei notitiam, dutaeque cervicis populo perutilem, meruit in terris obtinere. Giral. Cambrens. Topograph. Hibern. distinct. 2. cap. 5.  of the infernal pains of the reprobate, and of the true and everlasting life of the elect after death.  
The Grecians allege this for one of their arguments against Purgatory: that whereas 
f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Marcus Ephesius, in Graecorum Apolog. de igne Purgatorio ad Concil. Basileens.  their Fathers had delivered unto them many visions and dreams and other wonders concerning the everlasting punishment, wherewith the wicked should be tormented in Hell; yet none of them had declared any thing concerning a purgatory temporary fire. Belike the Doctor was afraid, that we would conclude upon the same ground; that S. Patrick was careful to plant in men's minds the belief of Heaven and Hell, but of Purgatory taught them never a word. And sure I am, that in the book ascribed unto him, De tribus habitaculis, (which is to be seen in his Majesty's Library) there is no mention of any other place after this life, but of these two only. I will lay down here the beginning of that treatise; and leave it to the judgement of any indifferent man, whether it can well stand with that which the Romanists teach concerning Purgatory at this day. 
g Tria sunt sub omnipotentis Dei nutu habitacula: primum, mum, medium▪ Quorum sumimum, regnum Dei vel reg●um Coelorum di●itur, imum vocatur inferous, medium Mundu● praesens vel Orbis tertarum appellatur. Quo●um extrema omninô sibi invieem sunt contraria, & nullâ sibi societate conju●cta: (quae enim societas potest esse luci ad tenebras, & Christo ad Belial?) medium veò nonnullam habet similitudinem ad extrema, &c Commixio namque malorum simul & honorum in h●c mundo est. In regno autem Dei nulli mali sunt, sed omnes boni: at in Inferno nulli boni sunt, sed omnes mali. Et uterque locus ex medio suppietur. H●minum enim huius mundi ali● elevantur ad Coelum, ali● trahuntur ad Infernum. Similes quip similibus i●●gu 〈◊〉, id est, boni bonis, & mali malis; iusti homines iustis angelis, transg essores homine transgressoribus angelis; servidei Deo, servi diaboli Diabolo. Benedicti vocantur ad 〈…〉 paratum ab origine mundi: maledicti expelluntur in ignem aeternum, qui prae para●● 〈◊〉 Diabolo & angelis eius. Patric. de trib, babitac. MS. in Bibliothecâ Regid Iacobae●.  There be three habitations under the power of Almighty God: the first, the lowermost, and the middle. The highest whereof is called the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven, the lowermost is termed Hell, the middle is named the present World, or the circuit of the earth. The extremes whereof are altogether contrary one to another: (for what fellowship can there be betwixt light and darkness, betwixt Christ and Belial?) but the middle hath some similitude with the extremes. For in this world there is a mixture of the bad and of the good together. whereas in the Kingdom of God there are none bad, but all good: but in Hell there are none good, but all bad. And both those places are supplied out of the middle. For of the men of this world, some are lifted up to Heaven, others are drawn down to Hell▪ namely, like are joined unto like, that is to say, good to good, and bad to bad: just men to just Angels, wicked men to wicked Angels; the servants of God to God, the servants of the Devil to the Devil. The blessed are called to the Kingdom prepared for them from the beginning of the world: the cursed are driven into the everlasting fire that is prepared for the Devil and his angels, Thus far there.  
Hitherto also may be referred that ancient Canon of one of our Irish Synods, wherein it is affirmed, that the soul being separated from the body is 
h Custodita●imam usque dum steterit ante tribunal Christi; cui refert sua prout gesserit propria. Nec archangelus potest ducere ad vitam, usque dum indicaverit eam Dominus; nec Zabulus ad poenam traducere, nisi Dominus damnaverit came. Synod. Hibern. in vet. cod. Canonum, titulorum 66. MS. in Bibliothecá D. Roberti Cot●oni. Cuius initium: inter vetera Concilia, quatuor esse venerabiles Synodos, etc.  presented before the judgement seat of Christ, who rendereth it own unto it, according as it hath done: and that neither the Archangel can lead it unto life, until the Lord hath judged it; nor the Devil transport it unto pain, unless the Lord do damn it. as the sayings of Sedulius likewise; that after the end of this life, 
i Finem dixit exitum vitae & actuum; cui aut mors, aut vita succedit. Sedul. in Rom. 7.  either death or life succeedeth, and that 
k Mors po●ta est, per quam itur ad regnum Id. in. 1. Cor. 3.  death is the gate by which we enter into our kingdom: together with that of Claudius; that 
l Suscepit Christus sine reatu supplicium nostrum; ut inde solreret reatum vostrum, & finiret etiam supplicium nostrum. Claud. in Galat. 3.  Christ did take upon him our punishment without the guilt, that thereby he might lose our guilt, and finish also our punishment. Cardinal Bellarmine indeed allegeth here against us the vision of Furseus: who 
m Beda lib. 3. hist. Anglor. cap. 19 scribit, B. Furseum à mortuis resurgentem narrâsse multa, quae vidit de purgatoriis poenis. Bellarm. de Purgator. lib. 1. cap. 11.  rising from the dead, told many things, which he saw concerning the pains of purgatory; as Bede, he saith, doth write. But, by his good leave, we will be better advised, before we build articles of faith upon such visions and dreams as these: many whereof deserve to have a place among 
n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Phot. Bibliothec. num. ●30.  the strange narrations of souls appearing after death, collected by Damascius the heathen Idolater; rather than among the histories and discourses of sober Christians.  
As for this vision of Furscus': all that Bede relateth of it to this purpose, is concerning certain great fires above the air, appointed to 
o Etsi terribilis iste & grandis rogus videtur, tamen iuxta merita operum singulos examina●: quia uniuscuiusque cupiditas in hoc igne ardebit. Bede lib. 3. cap. 19  examine every one according to the merits of his works. which peradventure may make something for Damascius his Purgatory in Circulo lacteo (for in that circle made he 
p 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Damasc.. apud ●o. Philoponum 〈◊〉 1. Meteor. fol. 104. b.  away for the souls that went to the Hades in Heaven; and 
q 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Id. ibid.  would not have us wonder, that there they should be purged by the way:) but nothing for the Papists Purgatory, which Bellarmine by the common consent of the Schoolmen determineth to be within the bowels of the earth. Neither is there any thing else in the whole book of the life of Furseus (whence Bede borrowed these things) that looketh toward Purgatory: unless peradventure that speech of the Devil may be thought to give some advantage unto it. 
r Hic homo non purgavit delicta sua in terrâ, 〈◊〉 vindictam hic recipit. Vbi ●st ergo iusticia Dei? ab. v●ae Furse●.  This man hath not purged his sins upon earth; neither doth he receive punishment for them here. Where is therefore the justice of God? as if God's justice were not sufficiently satisfied by the sufferings of Christ; but man also must needs give further satisfaction thereunto by penal works of sufferings, either here, or in the other world. which is the ground, upon which our Romanists do lay the rotten frame of their devised Purgatory.  
The later visions of Malachias, Tundal, Owen, and others that lived within these last five hundred years; come not within the compass of our present inquiry: nor yet the fables that have been framed in those times, touching the lives and actions of elder Saints; whereof no wise man will make any reckoning. Such (for example) is that which we read in the life of St. Brendan: that the question being moved in his hearing, 
s Si peccata mortuorum redimi possunt ab amicis suis remanentibus in hâc vitâ; orando, vel eleemosynas faciendo. Vit. Brendani, in Legendâ. Io. Cap. gravii.  Whether the sins of the dead could be redeemed by the prayers or almsdeeds of their friends remaining in this life (for that was still a question in the Church:) he is said to have told them, that on a certain night, as he sailed in the great Ocean, the soul of one Colman 
t Colmannus, inquit, vocor: qui sui Monachus iracundus, discordiaeque seminator inter fratres. Ibid.  (who had been an angry Monk, and a sour of discord betwixt brethren) appeared unto him; who complaining of his grievous torments, entreated that prayers might be made to God for him, and after six days thankfully acknowledged that by means thereof he had gotten into heaven. Whereupon it is concluded, 
u In hoc ergo, dilectissimi, apparet: quòd oratio vivorum multùm mortuis prodest. 〈◊〉.  that the prayer of the living doth profit much the dead. But of S. Brendans sea-pilgrimage, we have the censure of Molanus a learned Romanist; that there be 
x Multa apocrypha deliramenta. Molan. in Vsuard. martyolog. Mai. 26.  many apocryhall fooleries in it: and whosoever readeth the same with any judgement, cannot choose but pronounce of it, as Photius doth of the strange narrations of Damascius, formerly mentioned; that it containeth not only apocryphal, but also 
y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Phof. Bibliothec. num. 130.  impossible, incredible, ill-composed, and monstruous fooleries. Whereof though the old Legend itself were not free (as by the heads thereof, touched by Glaber Rodulphus and Giraldus Cambrensis, may appear) yet for the tale that I recited out of the 
z Nova Legenda Angliae. impress. Londin. an. 1516.  New Legend of England, I can say, that in the manuscript books which I have met withal here, in St. Brendans own country, (one whereof was transcribed for the use of the Friars minors of Kilkenny, about the year of our Lord 1350.) there is not the least footstep thereof to be seen.  
And this is a thing very observable in the ancienter lives of our Saints (such I mean, as have been written before the time of Satan's losing; beyond which we do not now look:) that the prayers and oblations for the dead mentioned therein, are expressly noted to have been made for them, whose souls were supposed at the same instant to have rested in bliss. So Adamnanus reporteth, that Saint Colme (called by the Irish, both in 
a Qui videlicèt Columba nunc à nonnullis, composito à cella & Columba nomine, Colum-celli vocatur. Bed. lib. 5. hist. ca 10.  Bedes and our days, Columkille) 
b Adaman. Vit. Columb. lib. 3. cap. 15.  caused all things to be prepared, for the sacred ministry of the Eucharist; when he had seen the soul of St. Brendan received by the holy Angels: and that he did the like, when Columbanus Bishop of Leinster departed this life. for I must to day (saith St. Colme 
c Meque (ait) hodiè, quamlibèt indignus sim, ob venerationem illius animae, quae hâc in nocte inter sanctos Angelorum choros vecta ultra siderea coelorum spatia ad Paradisum ascendit, sacra oportet Eucharistiae celebrare mysteria. Ib. cap. 16.  there) although I be unworthy, celebrate the holy mysteries of the Eucharist, for the reverence of that soul which this night, carried beyond the starry firmament betwixt the holy Quires of Angels, ascended into Paradise. Whereby it appeareth, that an honourable commemoration of the dead was herein intended, and a sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation rather than of propitiation for their sins. In Bede also we find mention of the like obsequies celebrated by St. Cuthbert for one Hadwaldus; after 
d Vidi, inquit, animam cujusdam sancti manibus Angelicis ad gaudia regni coelestis ferri. Bed. in vit. Cuthbert. cap. 34.  he had seen his soul carried by the hands of Angels unto the joys of the kingdom of heaven. So Gallus and Magnus (as Walafridus Strabus relateth in the life of the one, and Theodorus Campidonensis, or whosoever else was author of the life of the other) 
e Coeperunt missas agere, & precibus insistere pro commemoratione B. Columbani. Walafrid. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 26. Theodor. vit. Magni, li. 1. cap. ult. edit. Goldasti, c. 12. Canissi.  said Mass (which what it was in those days we shall afterward hear) and were instant in prayers for the commemoration of Abbot Columbanus their countryman; 
f Deinde tanti patris memoriam precibus sacris & sacrificiis salutaribus frequentaverunt. Ibid.  frequenting the memory of that great Father, with holy prayers, and healthful sacrifices. Where that speech of Gallus unto his Deacon Magnus or Magnoaldus, is worthy of special consideration: 
g Post hujus vigilias noctis, cognovi per visionem, Dominum & patrem meum Colum. banum de hujus vitae angustiis hodie ad Paradisi gaudia commigrásse. Pro ejus itaque requie sacrificium salutis debeo immolare. Ibid.  After this night's watch, I understood by a vision, that my master and father Columbanus is to day departed out of the miseries of this life unto the joys of Paradise. For his rest therefore I ought to offer the sacrifice of salvation. In like manner also, when Gallus himself died; 
h Presbytez eum ut surgeret monuit, & pro requie defuncti ambitiosiùs Dominum precaretur. Intraverunt itaque Ecclesias, & ●piscopus pro ●●a●ssimo salutares hostias immolavit amico. Finito autem fraternae commemorationis obsequio, etc. Walafrid. Strab. vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 30. qui etiam addit postea, Discipulos ejus, pariter cum Episcopo orationem pro illo fecisse. cap. 33.  john Bishop of Constance prayed to the Lord for his rest, and offered healthful sacrifices for him: although he were certainly persuaded that he had attained the blessing of everlasting life; as may be seen in Walafridus. And when Magnus afterwards was in his death bed, he is said to have used these words unto Tozzo Bishop of Ausborough, that came to visit him. 
i Noli flere, venerabilis P●aesul, quia me in tot mundialium perturbationum procellis laborantem conspicis: quoniam credo in misericordiâ Dei, quòd anima mea in immortalitatis libertate fit gavisura. tamen deprecor, ut orationibus tuis sanctis me peccatorem & animam meam non desinas adjuvare. Theodor, Campiden. vel quicunque author fuit vitae Magni, lib. 2. cap. 13. edit. Goldasti, cap. 28. Canissi.  Do not weep, reverend Prelate, because thou beholdest me labouring in so many storms of worldly troubles: because I believe in the mercy of God, that my soul shall rejoice in the freedom of immortality. yet I beseech thee, that thou wilt not cease to help me a sinner and my soul with thy holy prayers. Then followeth: that at the time of his departure, this voice was heard; 
k Veni, Magne, veni; accipe cotonam quam tibi Dominus praeparatam habet. Ibid.  Come, Magnus, come, receive the crown which the Lord hath prepared for thee. and that thereupon Tozzo said unto Theodorus (the supposed writer of this history) 
l Cessen●●● flere, frater; quia potius nos oportet gaudere de animae ejus in immortalitate sumprae hoc signo audito, quam luctum facere: sed eamus ad Ecclesiam, & pro tam charissimo amico salutares hostias Domino immolare studeamus. Finito itaque fraternae commemorationis obsequio, etc. Ibid.  Let us cease weeping, brother; because we ought rather to rejoice, having heard this sign of the receiving of his soul unto immortality, than to make lamentation. but let us go to the Church, and be careful to offer healthful sacrifices to the Lord for so dear a friend.  
I dispute not of the credit of these particular passages: it is sufficient, that the authors from whom we have received them, lived within the compass of those times, whereof we now do treat. For thereby it is plain enough (and if it be not, it shall elsewhere be made yet more plain) that in those elder days it was an usual thing, to make prayers and oblations for the rest of those souls, which were not doubted to have been in glory: and consequently, that neither the Commemoration nor the Praying for the dead, nor the Requiem Masses of that age, have any necessary relation to the belief of Purgatory. The lesson therefore which Claudius teacheth us here out of Saint Hierome, is very good: that 
m Dum in praesenti seculo sumus, sive orationibus, sive consiliis invicem posse nos adjuvari: cum autem ante tribunal Christi venerimus, nec job, nec Daniel, nec No, rogare posse pro quoquam; sed unumquemque portare onus suum. Claud. in Gal. 6.  while we are in this present world, we may be able to help one another, either by our prayers or● by our counsels, but when we shall come before the judgement seat of Christ, neither job, nor Daniel, nor Noah can entreat for any one, but every one must bear his own burden. and the advice which the no less learned than godly Abbot Columbanus giveth us, is very safe: not to pitch upon uncertainties hereafter, but now to trust in God, and follow the precepts of Christ; while our life doth yet remain, and while the times, wherein we may obtain salvation, are certain. 
Vive Deo fidens (saith 
n Columban. in epist. ad Hunaldum.  he) Christi praecepta sequendo;  
Dum modò vita manet, dum tempora certa salutis.   
Whereunto john the Briton (another son of Sulgen Bishop of St. David's) seemeth also to have had an eye, when (at the end of the Poëme which he wrote of his own and his father's life) he prayeth for himself in the same manner: 
Vt genitor clemens solitâ pietate remittat  
Factis aut dictis quae gessi corde nefando;  
Dum mihi vita manet, dum flendi flumina possunt.  
Nam cum tartareis nullius cura subintrat.    

CHAP. IU.  
Of the Worship of God, the public form of Liturgy, the Sacrifice and Sacrament of the Lords Supper.  
TOuching the worship of God, Sedulius delivereth this general rule: that 
a Adorare alium praeter Patrem & Filium, & Spiritum sanctum, impietatis crimen est. Sedul. in Rom. 1.  to adore any other beside the Father, and the Son, and the holy Ghost, is the crime of impiety; and that 
b Totum quod debet Deo anima, si alicui praeter Deum reddiderit, moechatur. Id. in Rom. 2.  all that the soul oweth unto God, if it bestow it upon any beside God, it committeth adultery. More particularly, in the matter of Images, 
c Recedentes à lumine veritatis sapientes; quasi qui invenissent, quo modo invisibilis Deus per simulacrum visibile coleretur. Id. in. Rom. 1.  he reproveth the wise men of the heathen, for thinking that they had found out a way, how the invisible God might be worshipped by a visible image: with whom also acordeth Claudius; that 
d Deus non in manufactis habitat, nec in metallo aut saxo cognoscitur. Claud. lib. 2. in Matth.  God is to be known, neither in mettle nor in stone. and for Oaths, there is a Canon ascribed to Saint Patrick; wherein it is determined, that 
e Non adjurandam esse crea●uram aliam, nisi creatorem. yaod. Patricij. can. 23. MS.  no creature is to be sworn by, but only the Creator. As for the form of the Litugrie or public service of God, which the same St. Patrick brought into this country: it is said, that he received it from Germanus and Lupus; and that it originally descended from S. Mark the Evangelist. for so have I seen it set down in an ancient fragment, written wellnigh 900. years since: remaining now in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton, my worthy friend; who can never sufficiently be commended, for his extraordinary care, in preserving all rare monuments of this kind. Yea St. Hieromes authority is there vouched for proof hereof. Beatus Hieronymus adfirmat, quòd ipsum cursum, qui dicitur praesente tempore Scottorum, beatus Marcus decanta●it. which being not now to be found in any of Saint Hieroms' works, the truth thereof I leave unto the credit of the reporter.  
But whatsoever Liturgy was used here at first: this is sure, that in the succeeding ages no one general form of divine service was retained, but divers rites and manners of celebrations were observed in divers parts of this Kingdom; until the Roman use was brought in at last by Gillebertus, and Malachias, and Christianus, who were the Pope's Legates here about 500 years ago. This Gillebertus (an old acquaintance of 
f Auselm. lib. 3. epist. 143.  Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury) in the Prologue of his book De usu Ecclesiastico, directed to the whole Clergy of Ireland, writeth in this manner. 
g Episcopis, presbyteris totius Hiberniae, infimus praesulum Gille Lunicensis in Christo salutem. Roga●●, nec non & praecepto multorum ex vobis (Charissimi) canonicalem consuetudinem in dicencis Horis, & peragendo totius Ecclesiastici ordinis officio, scribere conatus sum; non praesumptivo, sed vestrae cupiens piissimae servire jusstoni● ut diversi & schismatici illi Ordines, quibus Hibernia penè tota delusa est, uni Catholico & Roma●o ced●nt officio. Quid enim magis indecens aut schismaticum dici poterit; quam doctiss●mum unius ordinis in alterius Ecclesiâ idiotam & laicum fieri? etc. Prologue Gille five Gilleberti Lummicensis epise. De usu Ecclesiastic. MS. in Colleg. S. Benedict. & public● academiae Cantabrigiensis Bibliothecâ.  At the request, yea and at the command of many of you (dear beloved) I endeavoured to set down in writing the Canonical custom in saying of Hours, and performing the Office of the whole Ecclesiastical Order; not presumptuously, but in desire to serve your most godly command: to the end that those divers and schismatical Orders, wherewith in a manner all Ireland is deluded, may give place to one Catholic and Roman Office. For what may be said to be more undecent or schismatical; than that the most learned in one order, should be made as a private and lay man in another man's Church?  
These beginnings were presently seconded by Malachias: in whose life, written by Bernard, we read as followeth. 
h Apostolicas sanctiones as decreta sanctorum patrum, praecipueque consuetudines sanctae Romanae ecclesiae in cunctis eccle●iis statuebat. Hinc est quòd hodieque in illis ad horas canonicas cantatur & psallitur juxta motem universae terrae: nam minimè id antè f●●bat, ne in civitate quidem. Ipse verò in adolescentiâ cantum didicerat, & in suo coenobio mox cantati fecit; cum necdum in civitate seu in episcopatu universo cantare scirent, vel vellent, Bernard. in vitâ Mal●thia.  The Apostolical constitutions, and the decrees of the holy Fathers, but especially the customs of the holy Church of Rome, did he establish in all Churches. And hence it is, that at this day the Canonical Hours are chanted and sung therein, according to the manner of the whole earth: whereas before that, this was not done, no not in the City itself. (the poor city of Ardmagh he meaneth.) But Malachias had learned song in his youth, and shortly after caused singing to be used in his own Monastery; when as yet, aswell in the city as in the whole Bishopric, they either knew not, or would not sing. Lastly, the work was brought to perfection, when Christianus Bishop of Lismore, as Legate to the Pope, was Precedent in the Council of Casshell: wherein a special order was taken for 
i Officium etiam Ecclesiasticum ritè modulandum statuerunt. johan. Brampto●, in joralanensi historiâ. MS.  the right singing of the Ecclesiastical Office; and a general act established, that 
k Omnia divina ad instar sa ●osanctae Ecclesiae, iuxta quod Anglicana observat Ecclesia, in om●ibus pa●tibus Hiberniae amodo tractentur. Girald. Cambr. Hibern. exp●gnat. lib. 1. cap. 34.  all divine offices of holy Church should from thenceforth be handled in all parts of Ireland, according as the Church of England d●d observe them. The statutes of which Council were 
l Conci●● statuta sub●cripta sunt, & Regiae sublimitatis authoritate firmata Id. ibid.  confirmed by the Regal authority of King Henry the second; 
m Ex ipsius triumphatoris mandato, in civitate Cassiliensi convenerunt. Id. ibid.  by whose mandate, the Bishops that met therein were assembled, in the year of our Lord 1171. as Giraldus Cambrensis▪ witnesseth, in his history of the Conquest of Ireland. And thus late was it, before the Roman use was fully settled in this Kingdom.  
That the Britons used another manner in the administration of the Sacrament of Baptism than the Romans did: appeareth by the proposition made unto them by Austin the Monk; 
n Vt ministerium baptizandi, quo Deo renascimur, iuxta morem Sanctae Romanae & Apostolicae Ecclesiae compleatis, Bed. lib. 2. Histor cap. 2.  that they should perform the ministry of baptism, according to the custom of the Church of Rome. That their form of Liturgy was the same with that which was received by their neighbours the Galls, is intimated by the Author of that ancient fragment before alleged: who also addeth, that the 
o Per universum orbè terra●um, in Ecclesiâ ordo cursus Gallorum diffusus est. Fragment. de Ecclesiasticorum officiorum origine. MS. Bibliothecâ C●ttonianâ.  Gallican Order was received in the Church throughout the whole world. Yet elsewhere do I meet with a sentence alleged out of Gildas; that 
p Gildas ait. Britoneses toti mundo contrarii, moribus Romanis inimici non solùm in Missâ, sed etiam in tonsurâ. Cod. Ca●●●● titulorum 66. MS. in eâdem Bibliothecâ.  the Britons were contrary to the whole world, and enemies to the Roman customs, aswell in their Mass, as in their Tonsure.  
Where to let pass what I have collected touching the difference of these tonsures (as a matter of very small moment either way) and to speak somewhat of the Mass (for which so great ado is now adays made by our Romanists) we may observe in the first place, that the public Liturgy or service of the Church, was of old named the Mass: even than also, when prayers only were said, without the celebration of the holy Communion. So the last Mass that S. Colme was ever present at, is noted by 
q Adamnan. Vit. columb. lib. 3. cap. 31.  Adamnanus to have been vespertinalis Dominica noctis Missa. He died the midnight following; whence the Lords day took his beginning (9● viz. junii, Anno Dom. 597.) according to the account of the Romans: which the Scottish and Irish seem to have begun from the evening going before. and then was that evening-Masse said: which in all likelihood, differed not from those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by 
r 〈◊〉 Tactic. cap. 11. sect. 18.  Leo the Emperor in his Tactics, that is to say, from that which we call Evensong, or Evening prayer. But the name of the Mass was in those days more specially applied to the administration foe the Lord's Supper: & therefore in the same 
s Adamnan. Vit. Columb. lib. 〈…〉. 15.  Adamnanus we see that Sacra Eucharistiae ministeria and Missarum solemnia, the sacred ministry of the Eucharist and the solemnities of the Mass, are taken for the same thing. So likewise in the 
t Walafrid. Strab. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 26. Theodor. Campidonens. vel quicunque author. fuit Vit. Magni, lib. 1. cap. 9 edit. Goldast. cap. 12. Conis●i.  relation of the passages that concern the obsequies of Columbanus, performed by Gallus and Magnoaldus; we find that Missam celebrare and Missas agere, is made to be the same with Divina celebrare mysteria and Salutis hostiam (or salutare sacrificium) immolare: the saying of Mass, the same with the celebration of the divine mysteries and the oblation of the healthful sacrifice. for by that term was the administration of the sacrament of the Lords Supper at that time usually designed.  
For as in our 
u Heb. 13. 16.  beneficence, and communicating unto the necessities of the poor (which are sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased) we are taught to 
x 2 Cor. ●5.  give both ourselves and our alms, first unto the Lord, and after unto our brethren by the will of God: so is it in this ministry of the blessed Sacrament. the service is first presented unto God, (from which, as from a most principal part of the duty, the sacrament itself is called the Eucharist; because therein we 
y Heb. 13. 15.  offer a special sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving always unto God) and then communicated unto the use of God's people. in the performance of which part of the service, both the minister was said to give, and the communicant to receive the sacrifice: as well as in respect of the former part, they were said to offer the same unto the Lord. For they did not distinguish the Sacrifice from the Sacrament, as the Romanists do now adays: but used the name of Sacrifice indifferently, both of that which was offered unto God, and of that which was given to and received by the communicant. Therefore we read of offering the sacrifice to God: as in that speech of Gallus to his scholar Magnoaldus; 
z Praeceptor mens B. Columbanus in vasis aeneis Domino solet sacrificium offerre salutis. walafrid. Strab. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 19  My master Columbanus is accustomed to offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brazen vessels. Of giving the sacrifice to man: as when it is said in one of the ancient Synods of Ireland, that 
a Testamentum Episcopi sive principis est; 10. scripuli Sacerdoti danti sibi sacrificium. Synod. Hibern. in vet. lib. Can●num Cotte●●nious, titulorum 66.  a Bishop by his Testament may bequeath a certain proportion of his goods for a legacy to the Priest that giveth him the sacrifice. and of receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister: as in that sentence of the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick; 
b Qui in vitâ suâ non merebi●● sacrificum accipere: quomodo post mortem illi potest adjuvare? Synod Patric. cap. 12. MS.  He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life, how can it help him after his death? and in that gloss of Sedulius upon 1. Cor. 11. 33. 
c Invicem expectate, id est, usque quo sacrificium accipiatis. Sedul. in 1 Cor. 11.  Tarry one for another, that is, (saith he) until you do receive the sacrifice. and in the British antiquities: where we read of Amon a noble man in Wales (father to Samson the Saint of Dole in little Britain) that 
d Gravi infirmitate depressus, à suis commonitus est vicinis, ut iuxta morem susciperet sacrificium communienis. Ex vitâ S. Samsonis MS. in libro 〈◊〉 Eccles●● 〈◊〉 Tilo.  being taken with a grievous sickness, he was admonished by his neighbours, that according to the usual manner he should receive the sacrifice of the communion. Whereby it doth appear, that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like unto the new Mass of the Romanists, wherein the Priest alone doth all; but unto our Communion, where others also have free liberty given unto them to 
e Hebr. 13. 10.  eat of the Altar, as well as they that serve that Altar.  
Again, they that are communicants in the Romish sacrament, receive the Eucharist in one kind only: the Priest in offering of the sacrifice receiveth the same distinctly, both by way of meat and by way of drink; which they tell us 
f Id fit potissimùm ob●●acrificii, non ob Sacramenti integtitatem. Bellarmin. de sacrament. Eucharist. lib. 4. cap. 22. in fine.  is chiefly done, for the integrity of the Sacrifice and not of the Sacrament. For in the Sacrifice, they say, 
g Rhem. annotat. in Matth. 26. 26.  the several elements be consecrated, not into Christ's whole person as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven: but the bread into his body apart, as betrayed, broken, and given for us; the wine into his blood apart, as shed out of his body for remission of sins and dedication foe the new Testament, which be conditions of his person as he was in sacrifice and oblation. But our ancestors, in the use of their Sacrament, received the Eucharist in both kinds: not being so acute as to discern betwixt the things that belonged unto the integrity of the sacrifice and of the sacrament, because in very truth, they took the one to be the other.  
Thus Bede relateth, that one Hildmer, an officer of Egfrid King of Northumberland, entreated our Cuthbert 
h Mittas presbyterum qui illam, priusquam moriatur, visitet; eique Dominici corporis & sanguinis sacramenta ministret Bed. de Vit. Cuthbert. pros. cap. 15.  to send a Priest that might minister the sacraments of the Lords body and blood unto his wife that then lay a dying: and Cuthbert himself, immediately before his own departure out of this life, received the communion of the Lords body and blood; as 
i Acceptis è me sacramentis salutaribus exin●● suum, quem iam venisse cognovit, Dominici corporis & sanguinis com●un●●●● munivit. Ibid. cap. 39  Herefride Abbot of the monsterie of Lindisfarne (who was the man that at that time ministered the sacrament unto him) made report unto the same Bede. who elsewhere also particularly noteth, that he then tasted of the cup. 
k Bed. de Vit. Cuthbert. corm. cap. 36.  Pocula degustat vitae, Christique supinum Sanguine munit iter. lest any man should think, that under the forms of bread alone he might be said to have been partaker of the body and blood of the Lord, by way of Concomitance: which is a toy, that was not once dreamt of in those days. So that we need not to doubt, what is meant by that which we read in the book of the life of Furseus (which was written before the time of Bede) that 
l Petivitque & accepit sacri corporis & sanguinis communionem. Author antiqu. Vitae Fursaei.  he received the communion of the holy body and blood; and that he was wished to admonish 
m Principes & doctores Ecclesiae Christi, animas fidelium ad poenitentiae lamentum post culpas pro●ocent; & eas spirituall pastis doctrinae, ac sacri corporis & sanguinis participatione solidis reddant. Ibid.  the Pastors of the Church, that they should strengthen the souls of the faithful with the spiritual food of doctrine, and the participation of the holy body and blood, or of that which Cogitosus writeth in the life of Saint Brigid, touching the place in the Church of Kildare; 
n Pe● alterum ●stium Abbati●● cu●suis puellis & vid●is fidelibus 〈…〉 convivio corporis & sanguinis fruantur jesu Christi. Cogitos. vit. Brigid.  whereunto the Abbatesse with her maidens and widows used to resort, that they might enjoy the banquet of the body and blood of jesus Christ. which was agreeable to the practice, not only of the Nunneries founded beyond the seas according to the rule of Columbanus; where the Virgins 
o Quadam ex his nomine Domna, cum jam corpus Domini accepisset, ac sanguinem libâffet. I●n. Vit. Burgundofor.  received the body of the Lord, and sipped his blood (as appeareth by that which jonas relateth of Domnae, in the life of Burgundofora:) but also of S. Brigid herself, who was the foundress of the monastery of Kildare; one of whose miracles is reported, even in the later Legends, to have happened when she was about to drink out of the Chalice, at the time of her receiving of the Eucharist. which they that list to look after, may find in the collections of Capgrave, Surius, and such like.  
But, you will say; these testimonies that have been alleged, make not so much for us, in proving the use of the communion under both kinds, as they make against us, in confirming the opinion of Transubstantiation: seeing they all specify the receiving, not of bread and wine, but of the body and blood of Christ. I answer, that forasmuch as Christ himself at the first institution of his holy Supper did say expressly; This is my body, and, This is my blood: he deserveth not the name of a Christian, that will question the truth of that saying, or refuse to speak in that language, which he hath heard his Lord and Master use before him. The question only is, in what sense, and after what manner, these things must be conceived to be his body and blood. Of which there needed to be little question: if men would be pleased to take into their consideration these two things; which were never doubted of by the ancient, and have most evident ground in the context of the Gospel. First, that the subject of those sacramental propositions delivered by our Saviour (that is to say, the demonstrative particle THIS) can have reference to no other substance, but that which he then held in his sacred hands, namely, bread & wines which are of so different a nature from the body and blood of Christ, that the one cannot possibly in proper sense be said to be the other; as the light of common reason doth force the Romanists themselves to confess. Secondly, that in the Predicate, or latter part of the same propositions, there is not mention made only of Christ's body and blood; but of his body broken, and his blood shed: to show, that his body is to be considered here apart, not as it was borne of the Virgin, or now is in heaven, but as it was broken and crucified for us; and his blood likewise apart, not as running in his veins, but as shed out of his body; which the Rhemists have told us to be conditions of his person, as he was in sacrifice and oblation.  
And lest we should imagine, that his body were otherwise to be considered in the sacrament than in the sacrifice; in the one alive, as it is now in heaven, in the other dead, as it was offered upon the Cross: the Apostle putteth the matter out of doubt, that not only the minister in offering, but also the people in receiving, even 
p 1 Cor. 11. 26.  as often as they eat this bread, and drink this cup, do show the Lords death until he come. Our elders surely, that held the sacrifice to be given and received (for so we have heard themselves speak) as well as offered; did not consider otherwise of Christ in the sacrament, than as he was in sacrifice and oblation. If here therefore, Christ's body be presented as broken and liveless, and his blood as shed forth and severed from his body; and it be most certain, that there are no such things now really existent any where (as is confessed on all hands:) then must it follow necessarily, that the bread and wine are not converted into these things really. The 
q Rhem. in Mat. 26. 26.  Rhemists indeed tell us, that when the Church doth offer and sacrifice Christ daily; he in mystery and sacrament dyeth. Further than this they durst not go: for if they had said, he died really; they should thereby not only make themselves daily killers of Christ, but also directly cross that principle of the Apostle, Rom. 6. 9 Christ being raised from the dead dyeth no more. If then the body of Christ in the administration of the Eucharist be propounded as dead (as hath been showed) and die it cannot really, but only in mystery and sacrament: how can it be thought to be contained under the outward elements, otherwise than in sacrament and mystery? and such as in times past were said to have received the sacrifice from the hand of the Priest; what other body and blood could they expect to receive therein, but such as was suitable to the nature of that sacrifice, to wit, mystical and sacramental?  
Coelius Sedulius (to whom Gelasius Bishop of Rome, with his Synod of LXX. Bishops, giveth the title of 
r Venerabilis viri Sedulii Paschale opus, quod heroicis descripsit versibus, insigni laude praeferimus. Synod. Roman. sub Gelasi●.  venerable Sedulius; as Venantius Fortunatus of 
s Hinc quoque conspicui radiavit lingua Seduli. Venant. Fortunat. de vitâ S. Martini, lib. 1.  conspicuous Sedulius; and Hildephonsus Toletanus of the 
t Bonus Sedulius, poëta Evangelicus, Orator facundus, scriptor catholicus. Hildephons. Toletan. serm. 5. de assumpt. Maria.  good Sedulius, the Evangelicall Poet, the eloquent Orator, and the Catholic Writer) is by Trithemius and others supposed to be the same with our 
u Sedulii Scoti Hiberniensis, in omnes epistolas Pauli Collectan: excus. Basil. an. 1528.  Sedulius of Scotland (or Ireland) whose Collections are extant upon St. Paul's Epistles: although I have forborn hitherto to use any of his testimonies, because I have some reason to doubt, whether he were the same with our Sedulius or no. But Coelius Sedulius (whatsoever countryman he was) intimateth plainly, that the things offered in the Christian sacrifice, are the fruit of the corn and of the vine: 
(
x Sedul. Carm. Paschal. lib. 4.  Denique Pontificum princeps summusque Sacerdos  
Quis nisi Christus adest? geminy libaminis author,  
Ordine Melchisedech, cui dantur munera semper  
Quae sua sunt, segetis fructus, & gaudia vitis.  or, as he expresseth it in his prose; 
y Triticeae sementis cibus suavis, & amoenae vitis potus amabilis. Id. pros. lib. 4. ca 14.  the sweet meat of the seed of wheat, and the lovely drink of the pleasant vine. Of Melch●sedek (according to whose order Christ, and he only, was Priest) our own Sedulius writeth thus: 
z Melchisedech vinum & panem obtulit Abraham, in figuram Christi, corpus & sanguinem suum Deo patri in cruse offerentis. Secul●n Heb. 5.  Melchisedek offered wine & bread to Abraham for a figure of Christ, offering his body and blood unto God his Father upon the Crosse. Where note, that first he saith, Melch sedek offered bread and wine to Abraham, not to God: and secondly, that he was a figure of Christ offering his body and blood upon the cross, not in the Eucharist. But we (saith 
a Nos verò in commemorationem Dominicae semel passionis quotidie nostraeque salutis offerimus. Id●● Heb. 10.  he) do offer daily, for a commemoration of the Lords passion (once performed) and our own salvation. and elsewhere, expounding those words of our Saviour, Do this in remembrance of me; he bringeth in this similitude, used before and after him by others. 
b Suam memoriam nobis reliquit: quemadmodum si quis peregrè proficiscens aliquod pignus ei quem diligit derelinquat; ut quotiescunque illud viderit, possit ejus beneficia & amicitias recordari. Id. in 1 Cor. 11.  He left a memory of himself unto us: even as if one that were going a far journey, should leave some token with him whom he loved; that as oft as he beheld it, he might call to remembrance his benefits and friendship.  
Claudius noteth, that our Saviour's 
c Voluit antè discipulis suis tradere sacramentum corporis & sanguinis sui, quod significavit in fractione corporis & effusione calicis, & posteà ipsum corpus immolari in ara Crucis. Claud. lib. 3. in Matth.  pleasure was, first to deliver unto his Disciples the sacrament of his body and blood; and afterwards to offer up the body itself upon the altar of the cross. Where at the first sight I did verily think, that in the words fractione corporis an error had been committed in my transcript (corporis being miswritten for panis) but afterwards comparing it with the original, whence I took my copy, I found that the author retained the manner of speaking used both 
d See Chrysostom, Theodoret, and Ephraemius Antiochenus, in the Answer to the jesuit, pag. 66, 67. of the last edition.  before and 
e Apud Rathrannum (sive Bertramum) & Aelfricum, passim.  after his time; in giving the name of the thing signified unto the sign, even there where the direct intention of the speech was to distinguish the one from the other. For he doth expressly here distinguish the sacrament of the body, which was delivered unto the Disciples, from the body itself, which was afterwards offered upon the Cross: and for the sacramental relation betwixt them both, he rendereth this reason. 
f Quia panis corpus confirmat, vinum verò sanguinem operatur in carne: hic ad corpus Christi mysticè, illud refertur ad sanguinem. Id. ibid.  Because bread doth confirm the body, and wine doth work blood in the flesh: therefore the one is mystically referred to the body of Christ, the other to his blood. Which doctrine of his (that the sacrament is in it own nature bread and wine, but the body and blood of Christ by mystical relation) was in effect the same with that which long afterwards was here in Ireland delivered by Henry Crumpe the Monk of Baltinglas, 
g Quòd corpus Christi in altaris sacramento est solum speculum ad corpus Christi in coelo. Ex acts ● illelmi Andreae Midensis episcopi contra Henr. Crumpe, anno 1384. que MS a. hab●o.  that the body of Christ in the sacrament of the altar was only a looking glass to the body of Christ in heaven: yea and within fifty or threescore years of the time of Claudius Scotus himself, was so fully maintained by johannes Scotus in a book that he purposely wrote of that argument; that when it was alleged and extolled by Berengarius, Pope Leo (the ninth) with his Bishops assembled in Synodo Vercellensi, an●. Domini, 1050 (which was 235. years after the time that Claudius wrote his commentaries upon St. Matthew) had no other means to avoid it, but by flat 
h johannis Scoti liber de Eucharistiâ lectus est, ac damnatus. Lanfranc. de Eucharist. contr. Berengar.  condemning of it. Of what great esteem this john was with king Alfred, may be seen in William of Malmesbury, Roger Hoveden, Matthew of Westminster, and other writers of the English history. The king himself, in the Preface before his Saxon translation of St. Gregory's Pastoral, professeth that he was holpen in that work by 
i johanne mjnun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Alfred. praefat. in Gregor. Pastoral. Saxonic.  john his Mass-priest. By whom if he did mean this john of ours: you may see, how in those days a man might be held a Mass-priest, who was far enough from thinking that he offered up the very body and blood of Christ really present under the forms of bread and wine; which is the only Mass that our Romanists take knowledge of.  
Of which wonderful point how ignorant our elders were, even this also may be one argument: that the author of the book of the wonderful things of the holy Scripture (before alleged) passeth this quite over, which is now esteemed to be the wonder of all wonders. And yet doth he profess, that he 
k Praefertim cum ex mirabilibus Scripturae Dominicae nil praeterire disposui, in quibus à ministerio quotidian● excellere in aliis videntur. Lib. 2. de mirabilib. Scripture. cap. 21.  purposed to pass over nothing of the wonders of the Scripture, wherein they might seem notably to swerve from the ordinary administration in other things.   

CHAP. V.  
Of Chrism, Sacramental Confession, Penance, Absolution, Marriage, Divorces, and single life in the Clergy.  
THat the Irish 
a Quod infantes baptismo sine Chrismate consecrato baptizantur. Lanfranc. epist. MS. in Bibliothecâ Cottonian●: & apud Baron. an. 1089. num. 16. ubi tamen sive malè habetur prosine.  did baptise their infants without any consecrated Chrism, Lanfranc maketh complaint in his letters to Terdeluacus (or Tirlagh) the chief King of that country. And Bernard reporteth, that Malachias in his time (which was after the days of Lanfranc and Pope Hildebrand) did 
b Vsum saluberrimum Confessionis, sacramentum Confirmationis, contractum conjugiorum (quae omnia aut ignorabant aut negligebant) Malachias de novo instituit. Bernard. in vitâ Malachiae.  of the new institute the most wholesome use of Confession, the sacrament of Confirmation, and the contract of marriages: all which he saith the Irish before were either ignorant of, or did neglect. Which, for the matter of Confession, may receive some further confirmation from the testimony of Alcuinus: who writing unto the Scottish (or, as other copies read, the Gothish) and commending the religious conversation of their laity, who 
c Inter mundanas occupationes castissimam vitam rationabili consideratione degere dicuntur. Alcuin. epist. 26. edit. H. Canisti, 71. Andreae Quercetan●.  in the midst of their worldly employments were said to lead a most chaste life; condemneth notwithstanding another custom, which was said to have continued in that country. For 
d Dicitur verò neminem ex Laicis suam velle Confessionem sacerdotibus dare: quos à Deo Christo cum sanctis Apostolis ligandi solvendique potestatem accepisse credimus, Ibid.  it is said (quot he) that no man of the laity will make his confession to the Priests; whom we believe to have received from the Lord Christ, the power of binding and losing, together with the holy Apostles.  
They had no reason indeed to hold (as Alcuinus did) that they ought to confess unto a Priest all the sins they could remember: but upon special occasions, they did (no doubt) both publicly and privately make confession of their faults, aswell that they might receive counsel and direction for their recovery, as that they might be made partakers of the benefit of the keys, for the quieting of their troubled consciences. Whatsoever the Gothish did herein (by whom we are to understand the inhabitants of Languedok in France, where Alcuinus lived) sure we are, that this was the practice of the ancient Scottish and Irish. So we read of one Fiachna or Fechnaus, that being touched with remorse for some offence committed by him, he fell at St. Colmes feet, lamented bitterly, and 
e Coram omnibus qui ibidem erant peccata sua confessus est. Adamnan. vit. Columb. lib. 1. cap. 16. (vel 20. in MS.)  confessed his sins before all that were there present. Whereupon the holy man, weeping together with him, is said to have returned this answer: 
f Surge fili, & consolare: dimi●●a sunt tua, quae commi●isti, peccamina. quia sicut scriptum est; Cor contritum & humiliatum Deus non spernit. Ibid.  Rise up, Son, and be comforted, thy sins which thou hast committed are forgiven; because (as it is written) a contrite and an humbled heart God doth not despise. We read also of Adamanus, that being very much terrified with the remembrance of a grievous sin committed by him in his youth; he 
g Accedens ad sacerdotem, à quo sibi spera●at iter salutis posse demonstrari; confessus est reatum suum, petiique 〈◊〉 consilium sibi daret, quo posset fugere à venturâ Dei irâ. Bed. lib. 4. histor. cap. 25.  resorted unto a Priest, by whom he hoped the way of salvation might be showed unto him, he confessed his guilt, and entreated that he would give him counsel, whereby he might flee from the wrath of God that was to come.  
Now the counsel commonly given unto the Penitent after Confession, was; that he should 
h Confessa dignis (ut imperabat) poenitentiae fructibus abstergerent. Id. ibid. cap. 27.  wipe away his sins by meet fruits of repentance: which course Bede observeth to have been usually prescribed by our Cuthbert. For penances were then exacted, as testimonies of the sincerity of that inward repentance which was necessarily required for obtaining remission of the sin: and so had reference to the taking away of the guilt, and not of the temporal punishment remaining after the forgiveness of the guilt; which is the new found use of penances, invented by our later Romanists. One old Penitential Canon we find laid down in a Synod held in this country about the year our Lord CCCCL. by S. Patrick, Auxilius, and Isserninus: which is as followeth. 
i Christianu● qui occiderit, aut fornicationem fecerit, aut more Gentilium ad aruspicem meaverit; per singula crimina annum poenitentiae agar, impleto cum testibus veniat anno Poenitentiae, & posteà resolvetur à sacerdote. Synod. Patricij, Auxilij & Issernini MS. in Bibliothecâ Collegii Benedict. Cantabrig.  A Christian who hath killed a man, or committed fornication, or gone unto a Soothsayer after the manner of the Gentiles, for every of those crimes shall do a year of Penance: when his year of penance is accomplished, he shall come with witnesses, and afterward he shall be absolved by the Priest. These Bishops did take order (we see) according to the discipline generally used in those times, that the penance should first be performed; and when long & good proof had been given by that means of the truth of the party's repentance, they wished the Priest to impart unto him the benefit of Absolution. whereas by the new device of sacramental penance the matter is now far more easily transacted: by virtue of the keys the sinner is instantly of attrite made contrite, and thereupon as soon as he hath made his Confession he presently receiveth his Absolution: after this, some sorry penance is imposed, which upon better consideration may be converted into pence; and so a quick end is made of many a foul business.  
But for the right use of the keys, we fully accord with Claudius: that 
k Necnon etiam nunc in Episcopis ac Presbyteris omni Ecclesiae officium idem committitur: Ut videlicèt agnitis peccantium caussis, quoscunq, humiles ac verè poe●●●entes aspexerint, hos iam à timore perpetuae mortis miserantes absolvant, quos ver in peccatis quae egerint persistere cognove●int illos perennibus suppliciis obli gandos ●●●sinuent. Claud in Matth. lib. 2.  the office of remitting and retaining sins which was given unto the Apostles, is now in the Bishops and Priests committed unto every Church. namely, that having taken knowledge of the causes of such as have sinned, as many as they shall behold humble and truly penitent, those they may now with compassion absolve from the fear of everlasting death; but such as they shall discern to persist in the sins which they have committed, those they may declare to be bound over unto never ending punishments. And in thus absolving such as be truly penitent, we willingly yield, that the Pastors of God's Church do remit sins after their manner, that is to say, ministerially and improperly: so that the privilege of forgiving sins properly and absolutely, be still reserved unto God alone. Which is at large set out by the same Claudius; where he expoundeth the history of the man sick of the palsy, that was cured by our Saviour in the ninth of S. Matthew. For, following Bede upon that place, he writeth thus. 
l Verum dicunt Scribae, quia nemo dim●●tere peccata nisi sulus Deus potest; qui per eos quoque dimi● ut, quibus dimitiendi tribuit p●testatem. Et ideò Christus verè Deus esse probatur; quia dimittere peccata quasi Deus potest. Verum Deo testimonium reddunt; sed personam Christi negando falluntur. Id. in Matth. lib. 1.  The Scribes say true, that none can forgive sins but God alone; also forgiveth by them, to whom he hath given the power of forgiving. And therefore is Christ proved to be truly God because he forgiveth sins as God. They render a true testimony unto God: but in denying the person of Christ, they are deceived. and again: 
m Si & Deus est, iuxta Psalmistam, qui quantum distat Oriens ab occasu clongavit à nobis iniquitates nostras; & filius hominis potestatem habet in terrâ dimittendi peccata: ergò idem ipse & Deus & filius hominis est. ut & homo Christus per divinitatis suae potentiam peccata dimittere possit; & idem Deus Christus per humanitatis suae fragilitatem pro peccatoribus mori. Ibid.  If it be God that, according to the Psalmist, removeth our sins as far from us, as the East is distant from the West; and the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sinnès: therefore he himself is both God and the Son of man. that both the man Christ might by the power of his divinity forgive sins; and the same Christ being God, might by the frailty of his humanity dye for sinners. and out of S. Hierome: 
n Ostendit se Deum, qui potest cordis occulta cognoscere; & quodam modo tacens loquitur. Eâdem maiestate & potentiâ quà cogitationes vestras intueor, possum & hominibus delicta dimittere. Ibid.  Christ showeth himself to be God, who can know the hidden things of the heart; and after a sort holding his peace he speaketh. By the same majesty and power, whereby I behold your thoughts, I can also forgive sins unto men. In like manner doth the author of the book of the wonderful things of the Scripture observe these 
o In paralytico à quatuor viris portato, quatuor divina opera cernuntur. Dum dimittuntur ei peccata, & praesentis aegritudinis plaga verbo tunc solvitur, & cogitationibus in ore Dei omnia scrutantis respondetur. Auth. lib. de Mirabilib. S. Scripture. lib. 3. cap. 7.  divine works in the same history: the forgiving of sins, the present cure of the disease, & the answering of the thoughts by the mouth of God who searcheth all things. With whom, for the property of beholding the secret thoughts, Sedulius also doth concur, in those sentences. 
p Deus solus potest occulta hominum scire, Sedul. in Rom. 2.  God alone can know the hidden things of men. 
q Corda hominum nôffe solius Dei est, & mentis secreta agnoscere. Id. ibid.  To know the hearts of men, and to discern the secrets of their mind, is the privilege of God alone.  
That the contract of Marriages, was either unknown or neglected by the Irish, before Malachias did institute the same anew among them (as Bernard doth seem to intimate) is a thing almost incredible. although 
r Nondum deeimas vel primitias solvunt: nondum matri●●nia contrahunt; non incestus vitant. Girald. Cambr. Topograph. Hibera. distinct. 3. cap. 19 Vide etiam Lanfranci epist. ad Gothricum & Terdeluacum reges Hibern. apud Baronium, an. 1089. num. 13. & 16.  Giraldus Cambrensis doth complain, that the case was little better with them after the time of Malachias also. The licentiousness of those ruder times, I know, was such, as may easily induce us to believe, that a great both neglect and abuse of God's ordinance did get footing among this people. Which enormities Malachias, no doubt, did labour to reform: and withal peradventure brought in some new matters, not known here before; as he was very desirous his country men should generally conform themselves unto the traditions and customs of the Church of Rome. But our purpose is here only to deal with the doctrine and practice of the elder times: in which, first, that Marriage was not held to be a sacrament, may be collected from 
s Videtur indicare, esse aliquid quod donum quidem fit, non tamen spirituale: ut Nuptiae. Sedul. in Rom. 1.  Sedulius, who reckoneth it among those things, which are gifts indeed, but not spiritual.  
Secondly, for the degrees of Consanguinity hindering marriage, the Synod attributed unto St. Patrick seemeth to refer us wholly unto the Levitical law; prescribing therein 
t De consanguinitate in conjugio. Intelligite quid Lex loquitur, non minùs nec plus. Quod autem observatur apud nos, ut quatuor genera dividantur; nec vidisse di●unt nec legisse. Synod. Patric. cap. 19 MS.  neither less nor more than the Law speaketh: and particularly, against matching with the wife of the deceased brother (which was the point so much questioned in the case of King Henry the eighth) this 
u Audi decreta Synodi super istis. Frater thorum defuncti fratris non ascandat: Domino dicente, Erunt duo in carne unâ. Ergo uxor fratris tui soror tua est, Ibid. cap. 25. & in Excerptis è Inre Sacerdota●i Egborti archiepisc. per Hucarium Levitam. MS.  Synodical decree is there urged. The brother may not ascend into the bed of his deceased brother: the Lord having said, They two shall be one flesh. Therefore the wife of thy brother, is thy sister. Whereupon we find also, that our Kilianus did suffer martyrdom for 
x Vit ●ilia●●, tom. 4. antiqu. lect. Henr. Ca●●sti, pag. 633. & 644.  dissolving such an incestuous marriage in Gozbertus Duke of Franconia: and that Clemens Scotus for maintaining the contrary was both by 
y judaismum inducens, judicat justum esse Christiano, ut si voluerit, viduam fratris defuncti accipiat uxorem. Bonifac. epist. ad Zachar. tomo 3. Concil. part. 1. pag. 382. edit. Colon. An. 1618.  Boniface Archbishop of Mentz, and the 
z Inferens Christianis judaismum, dum praedicat fratris defuncti accipere uxorem. Concil. Roman. II. sub. Zachar. ibid. pag. 383. e.  Council held at Rome by Pope Zacharie in the year DCCXLV. condemned as a bringer in of judaism amongst Christians. Yet how far this condemned opinion of his prevailed afterward in this country, and how foul a crime it was esteemed to be by others abroad (notwithstanding the Pope doth now by his Bulls of dispensation take upon him to make a fair matter of it) may easily be perceived by this censure of Giraldus: 
a Quinimo (quod valde detestabile est, & non tantùm fidei, sed & cuilibet honestati valde contrarium) fratres pluribus per Hiberniam locis fratrum defunctorum uxores, non dico ducunt, sed traducunt, imo verius seducunt; dum trupiter eas, & tam incestuosè cognoscunt: veteris in hoc testamenti non medullae sed cortici adhaerentes, veteresque libentiùs in vitiis quam virtutibus imitari volentes. Girald. Cambr. Topograph. Hibern. distinct. 3. cap. 19  Moreover, saith he, which is very detestable, and most contrary not only to the faith, but also unto common honesty; brethren in many places throughout Ireland do, I say not marry, but mar rather and seduce the wives of their deceased brothers, while in this sort they filthily and incestuously have knowledge of them: cleaving herein not to the marrow but to the bark of the Old Testament, and desiring to imitate the ancient in vices more willingly than in virtues.  
Thirdly, touching divorces, we read in Sedulius; that 
b Non licet secundùm praeceptum Domini ut dimittatur conjunx, nisi caussâ fornicationis. Sedul. in 1 Cor. 7.  it is not lawful, according to the precept of our Lord, that the wife should be put away, but for the cause of fornication, and in the Synod ascribed to St. Patrick. 
c Non licet viro dimittere uxorem nisi ob caussam fornicationis. ac fi dicat, ob hanc caussam. Vnde si ducat alterum, velut post mortem prioris, non ve●ant. Synod. Patrie. cap. 36 MS.  It is not lawful for a man to put away his wife, but for the cause of fornication. as if he should say; for this cause, he may. Whence if he marry another, as it were after the death of the former, they forbid it not. Who they were, that did not forbid this second marriage, is not there expressed: that Saint Patrick himself was of another mind, would appear by this constitution following; which in another ancient Canon-booke I found cited under his name. 
d Si alicujus uxor fornicata fuerit cum alio viro: non adducet aliam uxorem, quandiù viva fuerit uxor prima. Si fortè conversa fuerit, & agate poenitentiam, suscipiet eam; & serviet ei in vicem ancillae: & anuum integrum in pan● & aquâ per mensuram poeniteat; nec in uno lecto permaneant. Ex libro 〈◊〉 Cott●●an●, titul●●m 66.  If any man's wife have committed adultery with another man: he shall not marry another wife, as long as the first wife shall be alive. If per adventure she be converted, and do penance: he shall receive her; and she shall serve him in the place of a maid-servant. Let her for a whole year do penance in bread and water, and that by measure: neither let them remain in the same bed together. Fourthly, concerning single life, I do not find in any of our records, that it was generally imposed upon the Clergy; but the contrary rather. For in the Synod held by St. Patrick, Auxilius, and Isserninus; there is a special order taken, 
e Quicunque Clericis, ab Ostiario usque ad Sacerdotem, fine 〈◊〉 visus fuerit, etc. & uxor ejus si non velato capite ambulaverit: pariter à laicis contemnenurtur, & ab Ecclesiâ separentur. Synod. Patric. Auxil Issernin.  that their wives shall not walk abroad, with their heads uncovered. And St. Patrick himself confesseth (at leastwise the Confession which goeth under his name saith so; and Probus, jocelinus, and others that write his life, agree therewith) that he 
f Patrem habui Calporn●●●● Diaconum, filium quondam Potiti presbyteri. S. Patricii Confessio. MS.  had to his father Calphurnius a Deacon, and to his grandfather Potitus a Priest. For that was no new thing then among the Britons: whose Bishops therefore Gildas doth reprehend (as for the same cause he did the chief of the Laity) that they were not content to be the husbands of one, but of many wives, and that they corrupted their children by their evil example: whereas 
g Imperfecta est patrum castitas, si eidem non & 〈◊〉 accumulate. Sed quid crir, ubi nec pater, nec filius mali genitoris exemplo pravatus, conspicitu● castus? Gildas.  the chastity of the fathers was to be esteemed imperfect, if the chastity of their sons were not added thereunto.  
Nennius, the eldest Historiographer of the Britons which we have after him (who in many copies also beareth his own name) wrote that book which we have extant of his, to 
h Sic inveni, ut tibi Samuel (infans magistri mei Benlani presbyteri) in istâ pagina scripsi. Nennius in MS o. Dunelmensi.  Samuel the child of Benlanus the Priest, his master: counting it a grace, rather than any kind of disparagement unto him, to be esteemed the son of a learned Priest. Which maketh him in the 
i Versus Nennii ad Samuelem filium magistri sui Benlani, viri religiosi, ad quem historiam istam scripserat. Nenn. MS. in publicâ Cantaebrigiensis academiae Bibliothecâ  verses prefixed before the work to say: Christ, tribuisti patri Samuelem, 
* Hinc apud Balaeum, Centur. 1 cap. 77. Benlani presbyteri 〈◊〉 Laeta est nominata.   
But about 60. or 70. years after, I find some partial eclipse here (and the first, I think, of this kind, that can be showed among the Britons) in the laws of Howel Dha: where it is ordered, that 
k Si clericus haberet foeminam datam à suo genere, & sic habee filium ex eâ; & posteà ille cleritus presbyteratus ordinem accipiens, si post votum consecrationis filium haberet de eâdem foeminâ; prior filius non debet partiri cum filio post nato. Ex legib. Howel Dha, MS. in 〈◊〉 Cottonia●â.  if a Clerk of a lower degree should match with a woman, and have a son by her, and that Clerk afterward having received the order of Priesthood, should have another son by the same woman; the former son should enjoy his father's whole estate, without being bound to divide the same with his other brother. Yet these marriages for all that were so held out, that the fathers not content their sons should succeed them in their temporal estate alone, prevailed so far that they continued them in the succession of their spiritual promotions also. Which abuse Giraldus Cambrensis 
l Successiuè & post patres filii ecclesias obtinent, non electiuè sed haereditate possidentes & polluentes Sanctuarium Dei. quia si praelatus alium eligere & instituere fortè praesumpserit; in instituentem procùl dubiò, vel institutum, genus injuriam vindicabit. Girald, Cambrensis Descript. Cambri●, libro 2 ●. MS. Successio●is quip vitium non solùm in sedibus cathedralibus, verùm etiam adeò per totam in clero sicut & in populo Walliam per●inaciter inyaivit; quòd & post patres filii passim ecclesias & consequenter obtineant, tanquam haereditate possidentes & polluentes Sanctuarium Dei, etc. Id. in Dialogo de Ecclesiâ Menevensi, distinct. 1. MS.  complaineth to have been continuedin Wales unto his time; & out of 
m Hildebert. epist. 65. ad Honorium II. (tomo 12. Bibloth. Patr. part. 1. pag. 338. 339. edit. Colon.)  Hil●ebertus Cenomanensis showeth to have prevailed in little Britain also: whence he inferreth, 
n Ex quibus constare potest, utrumque vitium toti huic genti Britanniae tam cismarinae quam transmarinae ab antiquo commune fuisse. Girald. Cambr. in utroque.  that this vice was of old common to the whole British nation aswell on this side as on the other side of the sea. Whereunto for Ireland also we may add the letters written by Pope Innocent the third unto johannes Salernitanus the Cardinal, his legate, 
o Alphons. Ciacon. in Vitis Pontificum & Cardinalium, pag. 515.  for abolishing the custom there, whereby sons and grandchildren did use to succeed their fathers and grandfathers in their Ecclesiastical benefices.   

CHAP. VI  
Of the discipline of our ancient Monks; and abstinence from meats.  
WHat hath been said of the married Clergy, concerneth the Seculars, and not the Regulars, whereof there was a very great number in Ireland; because here 
a 〈…〉 in clerum electi 〈…〉 distinct 3. cap. 29.  almost all the Prelates were wont to be chosen into the Clergy out of monasteries. For our monasteries in ancient time were the seminaries of the ministry: being as it were so many Colleges of learned divines, whereunto the people did usually resort for instruction, and from whence the Church was wont continually to be supplied with able ministers. The benefit whereof was not only contained within the limits of this Island, but did extend itself to foreign countries likewise. For this was it that drew 
b Ecgbenu● cum C●adda adolescente & ipse adolescens in Hiberniâ monasticam in orationibus & continentiâ & meditatione divinarum scriptura●um vitam sedulus agebat. Bed. lib. 4. hist. cap. 3.  Egbert and Ceaddae (for example) into Ireland; that they might there lead a monastical life in prayers and continency and meditation of the holy Scriptures: and hence were those famous monasteries planted in England by Aidan, Finan, Colman, and others; unto which 
c Sed & diebus Dominicis ad ecclesiam sive ad monasteria certatim, non reficiendi eorp●ris, sed erudiendi sermonis Dei gratiâ confluebant Id. lib. 3. cap. 26.  the people flocked apace on the Lord's day, not for the feeding of their body, but for the learning of the word of God, as Beda witnesseth. Yea this was the principal means, whereby the knowledge both of the Scriptures and of all other good learning was preserved in that inundation of barbarism, wherewith the whole West was in a manner overwhelmed. Hitherto (saith 
d Hactenus videri poterat actum esse cum sapientiae studiis; nisi semen Deus seruâsset in aliquo mundi angulo. In Scotis & Hibernis haeserat aliquid adhuc de doctrinâ cognitionis Dei & honestatis civilis; quòd nullus fuerit in ultimis illis mundi finibus armorum terror, etc. Et summam possumus ibi conspicere & adorare Dei bonitatem; quòd in Scotis, & locis, ubi nemo putâsset, tam numerosi coaluerint sub strictissimâ disciplinâ coetus. Jacob. Curi●, lib. ● rerum Chronologie.  Curio) it might seem that the studies of wisdom should quite have perished; unless God had reserved a seed in some corner of the world. Among the Scottish and the Irish something as yet remained of the doctrine of the knowledge of God and of civil honesty; because there was no terror of arms in those utmost ends of the world. And we may there behold and adore the great goodness of God; that among the Scots, and in those places where no man would have thought it, so many great companies should be gathered together under a most strict discipline.  
How strict their discipline was, may appear partly by the Rule, and partly by the Daily penances of Monks; which are yet extant of Columbanus his writing. In the later of these, for the disobedience of Monks these penances are prescribed. 
e Si quis frater inobediens fuerit; duos dies uno paxmate & aquâ. Si quis dicit, Non faci●m; tres dies uno paxmatio & aquâ. Si quis ●●murat; duos dies uno paxmatio & aquâ. Si quis veniam non petit, aut dicit excu●●tionem; 〈◊〉 dies uno paxmatio & aquâ. Col●● lib. de quatidi●●us P●●itentus 〈◊〉 ca 10. MS. in ●●asteris S. Galli.  If any brother be disobedient; he shall fast two days, with one biscuit and water. If any say, I will not do it; three days, with one biscuit and water. If any murmur; two days, with one biscuit and water. If any do not ask leave, or tell an excuse; two days, with one biscuit and water▪ and so in other particulars. In his Rule, these good lessons doth he give unto his Monks, among many others. That 
f Quid prodest, si virgo corpore sit, & non sit virgo ●ente? Id. in Regulâ 〈◊〉. cap. 8.  it profited them little, if they were virgins in body, and were not virgins in mind. that they 
g Quotidie proficiendum est: sicut quotidie orandum, quotidicque est legendum. Ibid. cap. 5.  should daily profit, as they did daily pray, and daily read. that 
h Bona vanè laudat● Pharis●i perierunt: & peccata Publicani accusata evanuerunt. Non exeat igitur verbum grande de ore Monachi: ne suus grandis pereat labour. Ibid. cap. 7.  the good things of the Pharisee being vainly praised were lost, and the sins of the Publican being accused vanished away: and therefore that a great word should not come out of the mouth of a Monk, lest his great labour should perish. They were not taught to vaunt of their state of perfection, and works of supererogation: or to argue from thence (as Celestius the Pelagian Monk sometime did) that 
i Tantam nos habere per natura● liberi arbitrii non peccandi possibilitatem: ut plus etiam quam praeceptum est, faciamus: quoniam perpe●a servatur à plerisque virginitas, quae praecepta non est; cum ad 〈◊〉 peccandum praecepta impl●re sufficiat. Aug. de gestic Synod. Palestin. contra Pelag. cap. 13.  by the nature of their free will they had such a possibility of not sinning, that they were able also to do more than was commanded; because they did observe perpetual virginity which is not commanded, whereas for not sinning it is sufficient to fulfil the precepts. It was one of the points which Gallus (the scholar of Columbanus) delivered in his sermon preached at Constance; that our Saviour 
k Ipsis Apostolis & eorum sequacibus ita bonum virginitatis arripiendum persuasit: ut hoc scirent non humanae industriae, sed muneris esse divini. S. Gallus, in serm. ●abit. Constant.  did so persuade the Apostles & their followers to lay hold upon the good of virginity; that yet they should know, it was not of humane industry, but of divine gift. and it is a good observation which we read in Claudius: that 
l Non in solo rerum corporearum nitore, sed etiam in ipsis sordibus luctuosis esse posse jactantiam: & eo periculosiorem, quo sub nomine servitutis Dei decipit. Claud. lib. 1. in Matth.  not only in the splendour of bodily things, but also in mournful abasing of one's self, there may be boasting; and that so much the more dangerous, as it deceiveth under the name of the service of God.  
Our Monks were religious in deed, and not in name only; far from the hypocrisy, pride, idleness and uncleanness of those evil beasts and slothful bellies that afterward succeeded in their room. Under colour of forsaking all, they did not hook all unto themselves; nor under semblance of devotion did they devour widow's houses: they held begging to be no point of perfection; but 
m Act. 20. 35.  remembered the words of our Lord jesus, how he said, It is a more blessed thing to give rather than to take. When king Sigebert made large offers unto Columbanus and his companions, to keep them within his dominions in France: he received such another answer from them, as 
n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Euseb. lib. 1. hist. cap. ult.  Thaddaeus in the Ecclesiastical history is said to have given unto Abgarus the governor of Edessa: 
o Qui nostra reliquimus, ut secundùm Evangelicam jussionem Dominum sequeremur, non debemus alienas amplecti divitias; ne fortè praevagicatores simus divini mandati. Walafrid. Strab. vit. Galli, lib. 1. cap. 2.  We who have forsaken our own, that according to the commandment of the Gospel we might follow the Lord, ought not to embrace other men's riches; lest peradventure we should prove transgressors of the divine commandment. How then did these men live, will you say? Walafridus Strabus telleth us, that 
p Alii hortum labor averunt, alii arbores pomiferas excoluerunt. B. verò Gallus texebat retia, etc. & de modem labour afliduas populo benedictiones exhibuit. Ibid. cap. 6.  some of them wrought in the garden, others dressed the orchard; Gallus made nets and took fish, wherewith he not only relieved his own company, but was helpful also unto strangers. So Bede reporteth of Cuthbert, that when he retired himself unto an anchoreticall life, he 
q Et primùm quidem permodicum ab eis panem, quo vesceretur accipi●hat, ac suo bibebat è fonte: postmodùm verò proprio mantum labore juxta exempla patrum vivere magis aptum ducebat. Rogavit ergo afferri sibi instrumenta quibus terram exerceret, & triticum quod fereret. Bed. vit. Cuthbert. pros. cap. 19 Vid. li. 4. hist, eccles. cap. 28.  first indeed received a little bread from his brethren to feed upon, and drank out of his own well; but afterwards he thought it more fit to live by the work of his own hands, after the example of the Fathers: and therefore entreated, that instruments might be brought him wherewith he might till the earth, and corn that he might sow. 

r Id. in Carm. de vit. Cuthbert. cap. 17.  Quique suis cupiens victum conquirere palmis;  
Incultam pertentat humum proscindere ferro,  
Et sator edomitis anni spem credere glebis.  The like doth he relate of 
s Id. lib. 3. hist. eccles. cap. 19  Furseus; and Bonifacius of 
t Bonifac. in vitâ Livini, pag. 240.  Livinus; and Theodorus Campidonensis (or whosoever else wrote that book) of 
u Theod. Candid. vit. Magni, lib. 1. cap. 5. edit. Goldasti, 6. Ca●issi.  Gallus, Magnoaldus, and the rest of the followers of Columbanus; that they got their living by the labour of their own hands. And the 
x 2 Thes. 3. 12.  Apostles rule is generally laid down for all Monks, in the life of Furseus: 
y Qui in monasteriis degun●, cum silentio operante●, suum panem manducent. Vit. Fursei.  They which live in Monasteries should work with silence, and eat their own bread.  
But now there is start up a new generation of men, that refuse to eat their own bread, and count it a high point of sanctity to live by begging of other men's bread; if yet the course they take may rightly be termed begging. For as Richard Fitz-Ralphe, that famous Archbishop of Armagh, objected to their faces, before the Pope himself and his Cardinals in 
z ●am enim istis in temporibus non poterit magnus aut mediocris in clero & populo aut vix cibum sumere, ubi tales non affuerint mendicantes: non more pauperum petentes ad portas vel ostia humiliter eleemosynam (ut Franciscus in Testamento praecepit & docuit) mendicando; sed curias, sive domos, sine verecundiâ penetrantes, & inibi hospitantes, nullatenùs invitati, edunt & bibunt quae apud eos reperiunt. secum nihilominùs aut grana, aut similam, aut panes, aut carnes, seu caseos (et●amsi in domo non fuerint nisiduo) secum extorquendo reportant: nec eis quisquam poterit denegare, nisi verecundiam naturalem abjiciat. Rich. Armachanus, in Defensorio Curaterum, pag. 56. 57 edit. Paris. an. 1625. (collat. cum vetere editione Ascensianâ.)  his time (and the matter is little amended, I wiss, in ours) scarce could any great or mean man of the Clergy or the Laity eat his meat, but such kind of beggars would be at his elbow: not like other poor folks humbly craving alms at the gate or the door (as Francis did cammand and teach them in his Testament) by begging; but without shame intruding themselves into courts or houses, and lodging there. where, without any inviting at all, they eat and drink what they do find among them: and not with that content, carry away with them either wheat, or meal, or bread, or flesh, or cheeses (although there were but two in an house) in a kind of an extorting manner; there being none that can deny them, unless he would cast away natural shame.  
This did that renowned Primate (whose anniversary memory is still celebrated in Dundalke, where he was borne and buried, by the name of Saint Richard) publicly deliver in the year 1357. at the Consistory of Avinion: where he stoutly maintained against the whole rabble of the Friars, what he had preached the year before at Paul's Cross unto the people. namely, 
a Prima conclusio erat, quòd Dominus Iesus Christus in conversatione suâ humanâ semper pauper erat, non quia propter se paupertatem dilexit aut voluit. Ibid. pag. 104, 105.  that our Lord jesus Christ, although in his humane conversation he was always poor, 
b Secunda conclusio erat, quòd Dominus noster Iesus Christus nunquam spontaneè mendicavit. Ib. pag. 107.  yet did he never voluntarily beg himself, 
c Tertia conclusio fuit; quòd Christus nunquam docuit spontaneè mendicare. Ib. pag. 121.  nor taught others so to do, 
d Quarta conclusio fuit; quòd Dominus noster Iesus Christus docuit non debere homines spontaneè mendicare. Ibid. pag. 123.  but taught the plain contrary: and 
e Quinta conclusio erat; quod nullis potest prudenter & sanctè spontaneam mendicitatem super se assumere perpetuò asservandam. quoniam ex quo talis mendicitas vel mendicatio est dissuasa à Christo, à suis Ap●sto●● & Discipulis, & ab Ecclesiâ ac sacris Scriptures, ac etiam reprobata: consequitur quòd non potest prudenter & sanctè assumi hoc modo. Ibid. pag. 131. Vid. ejusd. Richardi sermonem 3 apud Crucem Londi●. edit. Paris an. 1512.  that no man could prudently & holily take upon himself the perpetual observation of voluntary beggary; forasmuch as such kind of begging, as well by Christ, as by his Apostles and Disciples, by the Church and by the holy Scriptures, was both dissuaded and also reproved.  
His Countryman Henry Crumpe (a Monk of the Cistercian order in Baltinglas) not long after, treading in his steps, was accused for delivering in his Determinations at Oxford: that 
f Quòd fratres de quatuor ordinibus Mendican●●● non sunt nec fuer●at Domino inspirante instituti; sed contra Concilium generale 〈◊〉 sub Innocentio tertio celebratum, ac per ficta & falsa & falsa somnia, Papa Honorius suasus à fratr●●bus eos confirmavit. Act. contra Henr. Crumpe, in Thomae Waldensis Fasciculo 〈◊〉, quem MS um ●abeo.  the Friars of the four Mendicant orders are not, nor ever were instituted by God's inspiration, but that contrary to the general Council of Lateran, held under Innocent the third (which prohibited the bringing in of any more new religious orders into the Church) and by feigned and false dreams, Pope Honorius being persuaded by the Friars, did confirm them. and 
g Quòd omnes Doctores determinantes pro parte fratrum 〈…〉 Dudum, vel timuerunt veritatem dicere, ne eorum libri per fratres Inquisitores haer●●● pravitatis damnarentur; vel dixerunt, ut videtur, vel solùm disputative & non deter●●tivè processerunt: quia si planè veritatem pro Ecclesiâ dixissent, persecuti eos fuisse●● Fratres, sicut persequebantur sanctum Doctorem Armachanum. Ibid.  that all the Doctors which did determine for the Friar's side, were either afraid to speak the truth, lest their books should be condemned by the Friars that had gotten to be Inquisitors; or said, As it seemeth, or proceeded only by way of disputation's and not of determination: because if they had spoken the truth plainly in the behalf of the Church, the Friars would have persecuted them, as they d●d persecute the holy Doctor Armachanus. Which Crumpe himself found afterwards to be too true by his own experience. for he was forced to deny and abjure these assertions in the house of the Carmelite Friars at Stanford, before William Courtney Archbishop of Canterbury: and then silenced, that he should not exercise publicly any act in the Schools, either by reading, preaching, disputing, or determining; until he should have a special licence from the said Archbishop so to do.  
But to leave the begging Friars (being a kind of creatures unknown to the Church for twelve hundred years after Christ) and to return to the labouring Monks: we find it related of our Brendan: that he 
h Tribus monachorum (qui suis, sibi ipsi laboribus victum, manibus operando suppeditabant) millibus praefuisse creditur. Nicol. Horpsfield. hist. Eccles. Angl. lib. 1. cap. 25.  governed three thousand such Monks, who by their own labours and handiwork did earn their living. which agreeth well with that saying ascribed to him by the writer of his life: 
i Monachum oportet labore manuum suarum vesci & vestiri. Vit. S. Brendani.  A Monk ought to be fed and clothed by the labour of his own hands. Neither was there any other order observed in that famous Monastery of Bangor among the Britons, 
k In quo tantus fertur fuisse numerus monachorum; ut cum in septem portiones esset cum praepositis sibi rectoribus monasterium divisum, nulla harum portio minus quam trecentos homines haberet: qui omnes de labour manuum suarum vivere solebant. Bed. lib. 2. histor. Ecclesiast. cap. 2.  wherein there is said to have been so great a number of Monks, that the Monastery being divided into seven portions (together with the Rectors appointed over them) none of all those portions had less than three hundred persons in them: all which (saith Bede) were w●nt to live by the labour of their own hands. From the destruction of which Monastery, unto the erection of Tuy Gwyn, or White-house (which is said to have been about the year 1146.) the setter forth of the 
* Chronicle of Wales, pag. 253, 254.  Welsh Chronicle observeth, that there were no Abbeys among the Britons.  
Here in Ireland Bishop Colman founded the Monastery of Magio (in the 
† Vid. Arnal. Hibern. a Camdeno edit. ad an. 1370.  county of Limrick) for the entertainment of the English: where they 
l Ad exemplum venerabilium patrum, sub regulá & Abbate canonico, in magnâ continentiâ & finceritate proprio labore manuum vivunt. Bed. lib. 4. bist. eccles. cap. 4.  did live according to the example of the reverend Fathers (as Bede writeth) under a rule and a canonical Abbot, in great continency and sincerity, with the labour of their own hands. Like whereunto was the monastery of Mailros also, planted by Bishop Aidan and his followers in Northumberland; where St. Cuthbert had his education: who affirmed, that 
m jure, inquit, est coenobitarum vita miranda, qui Abbatis per emnia subjiciuntur imperiis; ad ejus arbitrium cuncta vigilandi, orandi, jejunandi, atque operandi tempora moderantur. Bed. vit. Cuthbert. pros. cap. 22.  the life of such Monks was justly to be admired, which were in all things subject to the commands of their Abbot; and ordered all the times of their watching, praying, fasting, and working, according to his direction. 

n id. Carm. cap. 20.  Excubiasque, famemque, preces, manuumque laborem  
Ad votum gaudent proni fraenare regentis.   
As for their fasting (for of their watching and praying there is no question made; and of their working we have already spoken sufficiently) by the rule of Columbanus, they were 
o Quotidie jejunandum est, sicut quotidie reficiendum est. Columb. Regul. c. 5.  every day to fast, and every day to eat: that by this means, 
p Quia haec est vera discretio, ut possibilitas spiritalis profectus cum abstinentiâ carnem macetante retentetur. Ibid.  the enabling of them for their spiritual proficiency might be retained, together with the abstinence that did macerate the flesh. He would therefore have them 
q Ideò quotidie edendum est, quia quotidie proficiendum est. Ibid.  every day to eat, because they were every day to profit; and because 
r Si enim modum abstinentia excesserit, vitium non virtus erit. Ibid.  abstinence, if it did exceed measure, would prove a vice and not a virtue. and he would have them to fast every day too, that is, not to eat any meat at all (for other fasts were not known in those days) until evening. 
s Cibus sit vilis & vespertinus Monachorum, satietatem fugiens & potus ebrietatem; ut & sustineat, & non noccat. Ibid.  Let the food of Monks (saith he) be mean, and taken at evening; flying satiety and excess of drink: that it may both sustain them and not hurt them. This was the daily fasting and feeding of them that lived according to Columbanus his rule. although the strictness of the fast seemeth to have been kept on Wednesdays and Fridays only: which were the days of the week, wherein the ancient Irish (agreeable to the custom of the Grecian rather than the Roman Church) were wont to observe abstinence both from meat and from the 
* Synodus Hiberniensium dicit. In tribus quadragesimis anni, in die Dominico & in quartâ feriâ & sextâ, conjugays continere se debent. Canonum Collectio, cujus initium; Sancta Synodus bis in anno decrevit habere Concilia. MS. in Bibliothecâ Cotton.  marriage bed. Whence in the book before alleged, of the Daily Penances of Monks, we find this order set down by the same Columbanus: that 
t Si quis ante horam nonam quartâ sextaque feriâ manducat, nisi infirmus; duos dies in pane & aquâ. Columban. lib. de quotidianis Poenitent. monachor. cap. 13.  if any one, unless he were weak, did upon the Wednesday or Friday eat before the ninth hour (that is to say, before three of the clock in the afternoon, according unto our account) he should be punished with fasting two days in bread and water▪ and in Bedes Ecclesiastical History; that 
u Cujus exemplis informati, tempore illo, religiosi quique viri ac foeminae, consuetudinem fecerunt per totum annum, (exceptâ remissione quinquagesimae Paschalis) quartâ & sextâ sabbati ieiunium ad nonam usque horam protelare. Bed. lib. 3. hist. eccles. cap. 5.  such as followed the information of Aidan, did upon the same days observe their fast, until the same hour. in which history we also read of Bishop Cedd (who was brought up at Lindisfarne with our Aidan and Finan) that keeping a strict fast, upon a special occasion, in the time of Lent, he did 
x Quibus diebus cunctis, exceptâ Dominicâ, iciunium ad vesperam iuxta morem protelans; nec tunc nisi panis permodicum, & unum ovum gallinaceum, cum parvo lacte aquâ mixto percipiebat. Ibid. cap. 23.  every day, except the Lord's day, continue his fast, (as the manner was) until the evening; and then also did eat nothing but a small pittance of bread, and one egg, with a little milk mingled with water. Where by the way you may note, that in those day's eggs were eaten in Lent, and the Sundays excepted from fasting, even then when the abstinence was precisely and in more than an ordinary manner observed.  
But generally for this point of the difference of meats, it is well noted by Claudius out of S. Augustin, that 
y Ostendens evidenter, filios sapientiae intelligere, nec in abstinendo nec in manducando esse iustitiam; sed in aequanimitate tolerandi inopiam, & temperanti● per abundantiam non se co●rumpendi, atque opportunè sumendi vel non sumendi ea, quorum non usus sed concupiscentia reprehendenda est. Claud. lib. 2. in Matth.  the children of wisdom do understand, that neither in abstaining nor in eating is there any virtue; but in contentedness of bearing the want, and temperance of not corrupting a man's self by abundance, and of opportunely taking or not taking those things, of which not the use but the concupiscence is to be blamed. and in the life of Furseus, the hypocrisy of them is justly taxed, that being 
z Sunt nonnulli, qui spiritualibus vitiis impugnantur; sed his omissis, corpus in abstinentiâ affigunt. Vit. S. Fursei.  assaulted with spiritual vices, do yet omit the care of them, and afflict their body with abstinence: who 
a Multi enim cibis, quos Deus ad percipiendum cum gratiarum actione creavit, abstinentes, haec nefanda quasi licita sumunt; hoc est, superbiam, avaritiam, invidiam, falsum testimonium, blasphemiam. Ibid.  abstaining from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving, fall to wicked things, as if they were lawful; namely to pride, covetousness, envy, false witnessing, backbiting. Of whom Gildas giveth this good censure, in one of his Epistles which now are lost. 
b Gildas in epistolis su●●. High dum pane ad mensuram vescuntur, pro hoc ipso fine mensurâ gloriantur, dum aquâ utuntur, simul odii poculo potantur; dum siccis ferculis vescuntur, detractionibus utuutur; dum vigiliis expendunt, alios somno pressos vituperant: ieiunium caritati, vigilias iustitiae, propriam adinventionem concordiae, clausulam Ecclesiae (al. Cellae,) severitatem humilitati, postremò hominem Deo anteponunt. Horum ieiunium, nisi per aliquas virtutes adfectatur, nihil prodest. qui verò caritatem perficiunt, cum citharâ Spiritus sancti dicunt: Quasi pannus menstruatae, omnes iustitiae nostrae sunt. Ex libro Canonum Cottoniano, titulorum 66.  These men, while they do feed on bread by measure, for this same very thing do glory without measure; while they use water, they are withal drenched with the cup of hatred; while they feed on dry meats, they use detractions; while they spend themselves in watchings, they dispraise others that are oppressed with sleep; preferring fasting before charity, watching before justice, their own invention before concord, severity before humility, and lastly, man before God. Such men's fasting, unless it be proceeded unto by some virtues, profiteth nothing at all: but such as accomplish charity, do say with the harp of the holy Ghost; All our righteousnesses are as the cloth of a menstruous woman. Thus Gildas: who upon this ground layeth down this sound conclusion; wherewith we will shut up this whole matter. 
c Abstinentia corporalium ciborum sine charitate inutilis est. Meliores ergo sunt, qui non magnoperè ieiunant, nec supra modum à creaturâ Dei abstinent, cor intrinsccùs nitidum coram Domino sollicitè servantes, à quo sciunt exitum vitae: quam illi qui carnem non edunt, nec prandiis secularibus delectantur, neque vehiculis & equis vehuntur, pro his quasi superiores caeteris se putantes; quibus mors intravit per fenestras clationis. Gildas, ibid.  Abstinence from corporal meats is unprofitable without charity. They are therefore the better men, who do not fast much, nor abstain from the creature of God beyond measure, but carefully keep their heart within pure before God, from whence they know cometh the issue of life: than they who eat no flesh, nor take delight in secular dinners, nor ride with coaches or horses, thinking themselves hereby to be as it were superior to others▪ upon whom death hath entered through the windows of haughtiness.   

CHAP. VII.  
Of the Church, and various state thereof, especially in the days of Antichrist: of Miracles also, and of the Head of the Church.  
COncerning the Catholic Church, our Doctors taught with S. Gregory; that God 
a Haber vineam, universam scilicèt Eccl●siam; quae ab Abel iusto usque adul●mum e●ectum qui in ●●ne mundi na●●riturus est, quot sanctos provilit, quasi tot palmites missed. Claud. lib. ● in Matth.  hath a vineyard, to wit, the universal Church, which from just Abel until the last of the elect that shall be borne in the end of the world, as many Saints as it hath brought forth, so many branches (as it were) hath it budded. that 
b Congregatio quippe iustorum, regum ●●lorum dicitur; quod est Ecclesia in●●●rum Id. lib. 3. in Matth.  the congregation of the just is called the kingdom of heaven; which is the Church of the just. that 
c Ecclesiae filii sunt omnes ab institutione generis humani usque nu●c, quotquet iusti & sancti esse pomerunt. Id. lib. 2. in Matth.  the sons of the Church be all such as from the beginning of mankind until now, have attained to be just and holy. that 
d His & caeteris instruimur, tam Apostol●s omnesque credentes, quam ipsam quoque Ecclesiam, coluamnam in Scriptures appellari; & nihil interesse de corpore quid dicatur in membris, cum & corpu● dividatur in membra, & membra fint corpori●. Id. in Gal. 2. ●● Hitro●ymo.  what is said of the body, may be said also of the members; and that in this respect, as well the Apostles and all believers, as the Church itself, have the title of a pillar given them in the Scriptures. that 
e Ecclesias vocat, quas post●à errore arguit depravatas. Ex quo noscendum, dupliciter Ecclesiam posse dici: & came, quae non habeat maculam aut rugam, & verè corpus Christi sit; & eam quae in Christi nomine absque plenis perfectisque virtutibus congregetur. Id. in Galat. 1. ex eodem.  the Church may be considered two manner of ways: both that which neither hath spot nor wrinkle and is truly the body of Christ, and that which is gathered in the name of Christ without full and perfect virtues; which notwithstanding by the warrant of the Apostle, may have the name of the Church given unto it, although it be depraved with error. that 
f Ecclesiam non habituram maculam neque rugam dicitur, respectu futurae vitae. Sc●ul in Ephes. 1.  the Church is said not to have spot or wrinkle, in respect of the life to come. that when the Apostle saith; In a great house there are not only vessels of gold, etc. but some to honour and some to dishonour: (2 Tim. 2. 20.) by this 
g Magnam domum non Ecclesiam dicit (ut quidam putant) quae non habet maculam neque rugam: sed mundum, in quo z●zauia sunt mixta tritico. Id. in. 2. Tim. 2.  great house he doth not understand the Church (as some have thought) which hath not spot nor wrinkle: but the world, in which the tares are mingled with the wheat. that yet in 
h Sancta Ecclesia decem Virginibus similis denuntiatur: in quâ quia mali cum bonis & reprobi cum electis admixtisunt, rectè similis virginibus prudentibus & fatuis esse perhibetur. Claud. lib. 3▪ in Matth.  the holy Church also, the evil are mingled with the good, and the reprobate with the elect: and that in this respect it is resembled unto the wise and foolish virgins; as also to 
i Perhas' regis nuptias praesens Ecclesia designatur; in quâ cum bonis & mali conveniunt. Id. lib. eod.  the King's marriage, by which this present Church is designed, wherein the good and the bad do meet together. So that 
k In h●c ergo Ecclesiâ, nec mali esse sine bo●is, nec boni esse sine malis possunt: quos tamen sancta Ecclesia & nunc indiscretè suscipit, & postmodum in egressione discernit. Id. ibid.  in this Church, neither the bad can be without the good, nor the good without the bad: whom the holy Church notwithstanding doth both now receive indifferently, and separate afterwards at their going from hence.  
The number of the good, Gildas complaineth to have been 
l Exceptis paucia, & valdè, paucis, qui (ob amissioné. tan●ae multitudinis, quae quotidiè p●ona ruit ad tartara) tam brevis numeri habentur; ut ●os quodammodò venerabilis matter Ecclesia in suo sinu recumber●es non videat, quos solos veros filios habet. Gild. epist.  so exceeding short in his time among the Britons, in comparison of the other; that their mother the Church in a manner did not see them lying in her own lap, albeit they were the only true sons which she had. And for external pressures, our Doctors have delivered, that 
m Nonnunquam Ecclesia ●ntis gentilium pressuris, non solùm aftlicta, sed & faedata est; ut, si fieri possit, redemptor ipsius came prorsus de●eruisse ad tempus videretur. Claud. lib. 2. in Matth.  the Church sometimes is not only afflicted, but also defiled with such oppressions of the Gentiles; that if it were possible, her redeemer might seem for a time utterly to have forsaken her: and that, in the raging times of Antichrist, 
n Ecclesia non apparebit, impiis tunc persecutoribus ultra modum saevientibus. Id. lib. 3. in Matth.  the Church shall not appear; by reason that the wicked persecutors shall then exercise their cruelty beyond all measure. that in those 
o Temporibus Antichristi non solum tormenta crebtiora & acerbiora, quam prius consueverant, ingerenda sunt fidelibus; sed (quod gravius est) signorum quoque operatio eos qui tormenta ingerunt, comitabitur: tests Apostolo, qui ait; Cujus est adventus secundùm operationem Satanae, in omni seductiorie, signis, & prodiglis mendacii. Id. lib. c●d.  times of Antichrist, not only more often and more bitter torments shall be put upon the faithful, than before were wont to be; but (which is more grievous) the working of miracles also shall accompany those that inflict the torments: as the Apostle witnesseth, saying; Whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all seduction, signs, and lying wonders. namely, 
p Praestiglosis: sicut antè praedictum est; Dabunt signa, ita ut seducantur, si fieri potest, etiam electi. per phantasticam virtutem: ficut jamnes & Mambres coram Pharaone ●ecerunt. Sedul. in ● Thes. 2.  juggling ones: as it was foretold before; They shall show such signs that, if it were possible, the very elect should be deceived, by such a fantastical power, as jamnes and Mambres wrought withal before Pharaoh. 
q Quis ergo ad fidem convertitur incredulus? cujus jam credentis non pavet & concutitur fides? quando persecut●r pietatis fit etiam operator virtutis: idemque ipse qui tormentis 〈◊〉 ut Christus negetur, provocat miraculis ut Antichristo 〈◊〉. Claud. lib. 3. in Matth.  What unbeliever therefore (say they) will then be converted unto the faith? and who is he that already believeth, whose faith trembleth not and is not shaken? when the persecuter of piety is the worker of wonders: and the same man that exerciseth cruelty with torments, that Christ may be denied; provoketh by miracles, that Antichrist may be believed? And 
r quam ergo mundo & simplici oculo opus est, ut inveniatur via sapientiae, cui tantae malorum & perversorum hominum deceptiones erroresque obstrepunt? quas omnes necesse est evadere, hoc est, venire ad certissimam pacem, & immobilem stabilitatem sapientiae. Id. lib. 1. in Matth.  what a pure and a single eye is there need of, that the way of wisdom may be found; against which so great deceive and errors of evil and perverse men, do make such a noise? all which notwithstanding men must pass through; and so come to most certain peace, and the unmoveable stability of wisdom.  
Hence concerning Miracles, they give us these instructions. First, that 
s Nec si se Angelus nobis ostendat, ad seducendos nos subornatus fallaciis patris sui Diaboli, praevalere debebit adversum nos: neque si virtus ab aliquo facta siet, sicut dicitur à Simone Mago in aäre volâsse. Sedul. in Rom. 8.  neither if an Angel should show himself unto us to seduce us, being suborned with the deceits of his father the devil, ought he to prevail against us; neither if a miracle should be done by any one, as it is said of Simon Magus that he did fly in the air: 
t Neque signa vos terreant, tanquam per Spiritum facta: quia hoc & Salvator praemonuit. Id. in 2 Thess. 2.  neither that signs should terrify us, as done by the Spirit; because that our Saviour also hath given us warning of this beforehand. (Matth. 24. 24, 25.) Secondly, that 
u Hic ostenditur, crescente fide signa cessare: quando fidelium causâ danda esse praedicantur. Id. in 1 Corinth. 14.  the faith having increased, miracles were to cease; forasmuch as they are declared to have been given for their sakes that believe not. and therefore that 
x Vnde nunc cum fidelium numerositas excrevit, intra sanctam Ecclesiam multi sunt qui vitam virtutum tenent, & signa virtutum non habent: quia frustrà miraculum foris ostenditur, si deest quod intùs operetur. Nam iuxta Magistri Gentium vocem: Linguae in signum sunt, non fidelibus sed in fidelibus. Claud. lib. 1 in Matth.  now when the number of the faithful is grown, there be many within the holy Church that retain the life of virtues, and yet have not those signs of virtues: because a miracle is to no purpose showed outwardly, if that be wanting which it should work inwardly. For according to the saying of the Master of the Gentiles; Languages are for a sign, not to the faithful but to infidels. (1 Cor. 14. 22.) Thirdly, that the working of miracles is no good argument to prove the holiness of them that be the instruments thereof: and therefore 
y Qualia propter infideles cum fecerit Dominus, monuit tamen ne talibus decipiamur, arbitran●es ibi esse invisibilem sapientiam, ubi miraculum visibile viderimus. Adiungit ergo & dicit, Multi dicent mihi in illâ die, Domine, Domine: 〈◊〉 in nomine tuo prophetavimus, & in tuo nomine daemonia eiecimus, & in tuo nomine virtutes multas fecimus? Id. lib. eod.  when the Lord doth such things for the convincing of infidels, he yet giveth us warning that we should not be deceived thereby, supposing invisible wisdom to be there, where we shall behold a visible miracle. For he saith: Many shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord; have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out Devils, and in thy name done many miracles? (Matth. 7. 22) Fourthly, that 
z Ille Deum tentat, qui iactantiae suae vitio, superfluam & inutilem vult ostentare virtutem. Quid e●im utilitatis habet, quid commodi confert, si praeceps hin● in plana descendero? etc. Id. lib. eod.  he tempteth God, who for his own vain glory will make show of a superfluous and unprofitable miracle. such as that (for example) was, whereunto the Devil tempted our Saviour, Matth. 4. 6. to come down headlong from the pinnacle of the Temple unto the plain, 
a Inane est enim omne miraculum, quod utilitatem saluti non operatur humanae. Ibid.  every miracle being vain, which worketh not some profit unto man's salvation. Whereby we may easily discern, what to judge of that infinite number of idle miracles, wherewith the lives of our Saints are every where stuffed: many whereof we may justly censure (as 
b Amphiloch▪ in l ● ambis ad Sel●●●●um.  Amphilochius doth the tales that the Poets tell of their Gods) for 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉,  
Fables, of laughter worthy, and of tears;  Yea some of them also we may rightly brand, as 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
Unseemly fables, and Devil's documents.  For what (for example) can be more unseemly, and tend further to the advancement of the doctrine of devils, than that which Cogitosus relateth in the life of S. Brigid? that she, for saving the credit of a Nun that had been gotten with child, 
c Cogitos. Vit. Brigid. in exemplaribus MS o. antiquiss. Bibliothec Cottonianae, & Ecclesiae Sarisburiensis.  blessed her faithfully forsooth (for so the author speaketh) and so caused her conception to vanish away, without any delivery and without any pain. which for the saving of St. Brigids own credit, either 
d Tom. 5. Antiqu. lection. in lacunâ, sub ●●nem, pag. 629.  Hen. Canisius or the friars of Aichstad (from whom he had his copy of Cogitosus) thought fit to scrape out, and rather to leave a blank in the book, than to suffer so lewd a tale to stand in it. But I will not stir this puddle any further: but proceed on, unto some better matter.  
And now are we come at last to the great Point, that toucheth the Head and the foundation of the Church. Concerning which Sedulius observeth, that the title of 
e Fundamenta.] Christum, & Apostolos, & Prophetas. Sedul. in Hebr. 11.  foundation is attributed both to Christ, and to the Apostles and Prophets. that where it is said, Esay 28. 16. Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, etc. 
f Compertum est in petrâ vel lapide Christum esse significatum. Id. in Rom. 9  it is certain, that by the rock or stone Christ is signified. that, in Ephes. 2. 20. 
g Apostoli fundamentum sunt, vel Christus fundamentum est Apostolorum. Christus est fundamentum, qui etiam lapis dicitur angularis, duos conjungens & continens parietes. Ideò hic fundamentum & summus est lapis; quia in ipso & fundatur, & consummatur Ecclesia. Id. in Ephes. 2.  the Apostles are the foundation, or Christ rather the foundation of the Apostles. For Christ (saith he) is the foundation, who is also called the corner stone, joining and holding together the two walls. Therefore is he the foundation and chief stone; because in him the Church is both founded and finished. and we are to account the Apostles 
h Vt ministros Christi: non ut fundamentum. Id. in 1 Cor. 4.  as Ministers of Christ, and not as the foundation. The famous place, Matthew 16. 18. (whereupon our Romanists lay the main foundation of the Papacy) Claudius expoundeth in this sort. 
i Super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam, id est, super Dominum salvatorem, qui fideli suo cognitori, amatori, confessori, participium sui nominis donavit, ut scilicet à petrâ Petrus vocaretur. Aedificatur Ecclesia: quia non nisi per fidem & dilectionem Christi, per susceptionem sacramentorum Christi, per observantiam mandatorum Christi, ad sortem. electorum & aeternam pertingitur vitam, Apostolo attestante qui ai●; Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere praeter id quod positum est, qui est Christus jesus. Claud. lib. 2. in Matth.  Upon this rock will I build my Church, that is to say, upon the Lord and Saviour, who granted unto his faithful knower, lover, and confessor the participation of his own name; that from petra (the rock) he should be called Peter. The Church is builded upon him: because only by the faith and love of Christ, by the receiving of the Sacraments of Christ, by the observation of the commandments of Christ, we come to the inheritance of the elect and eternal life, as witnesseth the Apostle, who saith, Other foundation can no man lay beside that which is laid, which is Christ jesus.  
Yet doth the same Claudius acknowledge, that 
k Pettum solum nominat, & sibi comparat: quia primatum ipse accepit ad fundandam Ecclesiam: se quoque pari modo electum, ut primatum habeat in fundandis Gentium Ecclesiis. Id. in Galat. 2.  St. Peter received a kind of primacy for the founding of the Church (in respect whereof he termeth him 
l Id. in Galat. 5.  Ecclesiae principem, and 
m Id. in Galat. 2.  Apostolorum principem, the prince of the Church, and the prince or chief of the Apostles) but he addeth with all, that Saint Paul also was chosen in the same manner, to have the primacy in founding the Churches of the Gentiles. and that he 
n Ab his itaque probatum dicit donum quod accepit à Deo, ut dignus essect habere primatum in praedicatione Gentium, sicut & habebat Petrus in praedicatione Circumcisionis. Id. in Gal. 2.  received this gift from God, that he should be worthy to have the primacy in preaching to the Gentiles, as Peter had it in the preaching of the Circumcision. and therefore that 
o Gratiam sibi soli primus vendicat concessam à Deo, sicut & soli Petro concessa est inter Apostolos. Id. ibid.  St. Paul challengeth this grace as granted by God to him alone, as it was granted to Peter alone among the Apostles. and that he esteemed himself 
p Non illi sum inferior; quia ab uno sumus ambo in unum ministerium ordinati. Id. ibid.  not to be inferior unto St. Peter, because both of them were by one ordained unto one and the same ministry. and that writing to the Galatians, 
q Apostolum se Christi titulo praenotavit, ut ex ipsâ lecturos nominis auctoritate terreret; judicans omnes, qui in Christo crederent, debere sibi esse subjectos. Id. in Gal. 1.  he did in the title name himself an Apostle of Christ, to the end that by the very authority of that name he might terrify his readers; judging, that all such as did believe in Christ, aught to be subject unto him.  
It is furthermore also observed by Claudius, that 
r Nam sicut interrogatis generaliter omnibus, Petrus respondit unus pro omnibus: ita quod Petro Dominus respondit, in Petro omnibus respondit. Id. lib. 2. in Matth.  as when our Saviour propounded the question generally unto all the Apostles, Peter did answer as one for all; so what our Lord answered unto Peter, in Peter he did answer unto all. and therefore 
s Quae solvendi ac ligandi potestas, quamvis soli Petro data videatur à Domino; absque ullâ tamen dubietate noscendum est, quia & caeteris Apostolis datur: ipso teste, qui post passionis resurrectionisque suae triumphum apparens eis insufflavit, & dixit omnibus: Accipite Spiritum sanctum, quorum remiscritis peccata, remittuntur eyes, & quorum retinueritis, rerenta sunt. Id. lib. eod.  howsoever the power of losing and binding might seem to be given by the Lord unto Peter alone, yet without all manner of doubt it is to be known, that it was given unto the rest of the Apostles also: as himself doth witness, who appearing unto them after the triumph of his passion and resurrection, breathed on them, and said unto them all; Receive the holy Ghost, whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whose sins ye retain they are retained. Gildas the Briton goeth further, affirming that 
t Vero sacerdoti dicitur: Tu es Petrus, & super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam. Gild. epist.  to the true Priest it is said; Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. that 
u Petro ejusque successoribus dicit Dominus: Et tibi dabo claves regni coelorum. Ibid.  to Peter and his successors our Lord saith; And unto thee will I give the Keys of the Kingdom of heaven. and consequently, that 
x Itemque omni sancto sacerdoti promittitur: Et quaecunque solveris super terram, erunt soluta & in coelo; & quaecunque ligaveris super terram, erunt ligata & in coelo. Ibid.  unto every holy Priest it is promised: Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shallbe bound likewise in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt lose on earth, shallbe loosed likewise in heaven. Whereupon he pronounceth of the good Priests of Britain; that they 
y Apostolicam sedem legitimè obtinent. Ibid.  do lawfully obtain the Apostolical state, and 
z Si hunc vos Apostoli retinetis in omnibus affectum; ejus quoque cathedrae legitimè insidere noscatis. Ibid.  lawfully sit in the chair of St. Paul: and on the other side of the bad, that 
a Sedem Petri Apostoli immundis pedibus usurpantes; sed merito cupiditatis in judae traditoris pestilentem cathedram decidentes. Ibid.  with unclean feet they usurp the seat of the Apostle Peter, but by the demerit of their covetousness fall into the pestilent chair of the traitor judas; and so the ordainers of such, place 
b judam quedam modo in Petri cathedrâ Domini traditorem statuunt. Ibid.  after a sort judas the betrayer of our Lord, in the seat of Peter.  
Lastly, as Claudius noteth, that 
c Super ipsos Ecclesiae fit positum fundamentum. Claud. in Gal. 2.  the foundation of the Church was laid not only upon St. Peter, but also upon St. john: so in a certain Hymn supposed to be written by Secundinus (known in this country commonly by the name of St. Scachlin) in the year of our Lord CCCCXLVIII. St Patrick also is thus commended. 
d Constans in Dei timore, & fide immobilis, super quem aedificatur ut Petrum Ecclesia: cujusque Apostolatum à Deo sortitus est, & inferni porta adversus eum non praevalebunt. Hymn in laud. S. Patricij.  He is constant in the fear of God, and unmovable in the faith, upon whom the Church is builded as upon Peter; whose Apostleship also he hath obtained from God, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against him. yea 
e Christus illum sibi elegit in terris Vicarium. Ibid.  Christ is there said to have chosen him for his Vicar upon earth. His See likewise of Armagh, is by one Calvus Perennis in the days of Brian king of Ireland (who was slain, as appeareth by 
f Brianus rex Hiberniae, Parasceve Paschae, sextâ feriâ, IX. Calend. Maii, manibus & ment ad Deum intentus necatur. Marian. Scot See Caradoc of Lhancarran, in the Chronicle of Wales, pag. 80.  Marianus in the year 1014.) termed 
g Sanctus Patricius iens ad coelum, mandavit totum fructum laboris sui (tam baptismi, tam causarum quam eleemosynarum) deserendum esse Apostolicae Vrbi, quae Scoticè nominatur Arddmacha. Sic repperi in Bibliothecis Scotorum. Ego scripsi, id est, Calvus Perennis, in conspectu Briani Imperatoris Scotorum. Ex. Vet. Cod. Ecclesiae Armachanae.  the City Apostolic. So Desiderius Bishop of Cahors in France, is by our countryman Gaellus saluted both 
h Domino semper suo, & Apostolico Patri, Desiderio Papae, Gallus peccator.  Papa and Apostolicus: and the Bishop of Kildare in Ireland, honoured by Cogitosus, with the style of 
i Cogitos. in vit. Brigid. tom. 5. antiqu. lect. Henr. Canisii, pag. 625. lin ult.  Summus Sacerdos, and 
k Ibid. pag. 640. lin. 2.  Summus Pontifex, the highest Priest and the highest Bishop. those titles and prerogatives, which the Pope now peculiarly challengeth unto himself, as ensigns of his Monarchy, being heretofore usually communicated unto other Bishops, when the universal Church was governed by way of aristocraty.   

CHAP. VIII.  
Of the Pope's spiritual jurisdiction; and how little footing it had gotten at first within these parts.  
MAster Campion telleth us; that 
a Edm. Camp. History of Ireland. lib. 2. ca 2.  when Ireland first received Christendom, they gave themselves into the jurisdiction both spiritual and temporal of the See of Rome. But herein he speaketh without book; of the spiritual jurisdiction untruly, of the temporal absurdly. For from the first legation of Palladius and Patricius, who were sent to plant the faith in this country, it cannot be showed out of any monument of antiquity, that the Bishop of Rome did ever send any of his Legates to exercise spiritual jurisdiction here (much less any of his Deputies to exercise jurisdiction temporal) before Gillebertus, quem aiunt primâ functum legatione Apostolicae sedis per universam Hiberniam; saith one that lived in his own time, even Bernard himself in the life of Malachias. One or two instances peradventure may be alleged out of some obscure authors, whose names, and times, and authority no man can tell us news of: but unless that which is delivered by Bernard, as the tradition that was current in his time, can be controlled by some record that may appear to have been written before his days; we have small reason to detract any thing from the credit of so clear a testimony.  
This country was heretofore, for the number of holy men that lived in it, termed the Island of Saints: of that innumerable company of Saints, whose memory was reverenced here; what one received any solemn canonisation from the Pope, before Malachias Archbishop of Armagh, & Laurence of Dublin? who lived, as it were, but the other day. We read of sundry Archbishops that have been in this land: betwixt the days of Saint Patrick and of Malachias, what one of them can be named, that ever sought for a Pall from Rome? joceline indeed a late Monk of the Abbey of furnace, writeth of St. Patrick; that the Bishop of Rome 
b Pallio decoravit, illique vices suas committens atque legatum suum constituens, quaecunque in Hiberniâ gesserat, constituerat, disposuerat, auctoritatis suae munimine confirmavit. jocelin. vit. Patric. cap. 166.  conferred the Pall upon him, together with the execution of legatine power in his room. But he is well known to be a most fabulous author: and for this particular, Bernard (who was his ancient) informeth us far otherwise; that 
c Metropoliticae sedi deerat adhuc, & defuerat ab initio pallii usus. Bernard. vit. Malach.  from the very beginning until his time, the metropolitical See of Armagh wanted the use of the Pall. with whom the author of the Annals of Mailros doth fully accord; noting that 
d Anno 1151. Papa Eugenius quatuor pallia per legatum suum johannem Papirum transmisit in Hiberniam, quò nunquam anteà pallium delatum fuerat. Annal. Coenobij Melros. MS. in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ.  in the year 1151. Pope Eugenius (the same to whom Bernard did write his books the Consideratione) did by his Legate john Papiron transmit four Pals into Ireland; whither a Pall before had never been brought. And therefore Giraldus Cambrensis, howsoever he acknowledgeth that Saint Patrick did 
e Apud Ardmacham sibi sedem elegit; quam etiam quasi metropolim constituit & proprium totius Hiberniae primatiae locum. Girald. Cambr. Topograph. Hibern. distinct. 3. cap. 16.  choose Armagh for his seat, and did appoint it to be as it were a metropolitical See, and the proper place of the primacy of all Ireland; yet doth he affirm withal, that in very deed 
f Archiepiscopi verò in Hiberniâ nulli fuerant; sed tantùm se Episcopi invicem consecrabant: donec johannes Papyrio Romanae sedis legatus, non multis retrò annis advenit. Hic quatuor pallia in Hiberniam portavit, etc. Ibid. cap. 17.  there were no Archbishops in Ireland, but that Bishops only did consecrate one another, until johannes Papirio (or Paparo) the Pope's Legate brought four Pals thither. whereupon some of our Chroniclers after him, give this note concerning Gelasius, who was at that time Archbishop of Armagh; that 
g Hic primus Archiepiscopus dicitur, quia primo pallio usus est. Alii verò ante ipsum solo nomine Archiepiscopi & Primates vocabantur; ob reverentiam & honorem Sancti Patricii, tanquam Apostoli illius gentis. Pembrigius, author. Annal. Hibern. à Guil. Camden● edit. Thomas Casaeus in Chronic. Hi●ern. MS. ad ann. 1174.  he is said to have been the first Archbishop, because he used the first Pall: and that others before him were called Archbishops and Primates in name only; for the reverence of Saint Patrick, as the Apostle of that Nation.  
And indeed it might seem, that the complaint made by Anselm in his letters to Muriar dach King of Ireland, that 
h Episcopi quoque (qui debent esse forma & exemplum aliis Canonicae religionis) inordinatè, sicut audivimus, aut à solis Episcopis, aut in locis ubi ordinari non debent, consecrantur. Anselm. lib. 3. epist. 142.  Bishops here were consecrated by Bishops alone, might somewhat justify the truth of Giraldus his relation; if we did not find a further complaint there also, that they were often 
i Dicitur, ab uno Episcopo Episcopum, sicut quemlibet presbyterum, ordinari. Id. ibid. epist. 147.  ordained by one Bishop only. But as this latter argueth, not the want of a competent number of Bishops in the land (for, as we shall hear presently, they had more than a sufficient number of such) but a neglect of the observance of the Canon provided by the Nicence Fathers in that behalf: so can it not rightly be inferred out of the former, that we had no Archbishops here at that time, but that the Bishops rather did fail much in the Canonical respect which they ought to show unto their Metropolitan. For that the Irish had their Archbishops (beside many other pregnant testimonies that might be produced) Pope Hildebrands' own Brief doth sufficiently manifest; which is directed 
k Terdeluacho inelyto Regi Hiberniae, Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Abbatibus, Proceribus, omnibusque Christianis Hiberniam inhabitantibus. Gregor. VII. epist. ad Hibern. MS. in Bibitothecâ Cotton.  to Terdeluachus (or Tirlagh) the illustrious King of Ireland, the ARCHBISHOPS, Bishops, Abbots, Nobles, and all Christians inhabiting Ireland. And for the Archbishops of Armagh in particular; it appeareth most evidently by Bernard in the life of Malachias, that they were so far from being Metropolitans and Primates in name only; that they exercised much greater authority before they were put to the charges of fetching Pals from Rome, then ever they did afterward: and that they did not only consecrate Bishops, but erected also new Bishoprics, and Archbishoprics too sometimes, according as they thought fitting.  
We read in Nennius, that at the beginning St. Patrick 
l Ecclesias sundavit CCCLXV. Ordinavit Episcopos eodem numero CCCLXV. Presbyteros autem usque ad tria millia ordinavit. Nenn. histor. Brit. MS.  founded here 365. Churches, and ordained 365. Bishops, beside 3000. Presbyters. In process of time the number of Bishops was daily 
m Mutabantur & multiplicabantur Episcopi pro libitu metropolitanis; ita ut unus Episcopatus uno non esset contentus, sed singulae penè Ecclesiae singulos haberent Episcopos. Bernard. vit. Malach.  multiplied according to the pleasure of the Metropolitan, (whereof Bernard doth much complain) and that, not only so far, that every Church almost had a several Bishop: but also that in some 
n Quòd in villis, vel civitatibus plures ordinantur. Lanfranc. epist. ad Terdeluachum regem Hibern. apud Baron. ann. 1089. num. 16.  Towns or Cities there were ordained more than one; yea and oftentimes 
o Dicitur, Episcopos in terrâ vestrâ passim eligi, & sine certo Episcopatus loco constitui. Anselm. lib. 3. epist. 147. ad Muriardachum regem Hibern.  Bishops were made without any certain place at all assigned unto them. And as for the erecting of new Archbishoprickes: if we believe our Legends, 
p Rex Engus & S. Patricius, cum omni populo, ordinaverunt Archiepiscopassm Mumeniae in civitare & in sede sancti Albei, qui tunc ab eisdem Archiepiscopus ordinatus est, per seculum. Ex vitâ S. Declani. Rex Engus & Patricius ordinaverunt; ut in civitate & cathedrâ sancti Albei e●●et Archiepiscopatus omnium Memonensium semper, Ex vitâ S. Albei.  King Engus and S. Patrick, with all the people, did ordain, that in the City and See of Albeus (which is Emelye, now annexed to Cashell) should be the Archbishopric of the whole Province of Monster. in like manner also, 
q Factâ Synodo magnâ in terrâ Laginensium, decrevit rex Brandubh, & tam laici quam clerici, ut Archiepiscopatus omnium Laginensium semper esset in sede & cathedrâ sancti Moedog. Et tunc sanctus Moedog à multis catholicis consecratus est Archiepiscopus. Ex vit. S. Edani. A rege jam Laginensium Brandubh filio Eathach constitutum est, ut Archiepiscopatus Laginensium in civitate sancti Moedog esset. Ipsa civitas vocatur Ferna, quae est in terrâ gentis Kenselach. Ex vit. S. Moling.  Brandubh King of the Lagenians, with the consent as well of the Laity as of the Clergy, did appoint that in the City of Fernes (which was the See of Moedog, otherwise called Edanus) should be the archbishopric of all the Province of Leinster. But Bernard's testimony, we have no reason not to believe, relating what was known to be done in his own very time: that 
r Erat & altera Metropolitica sedes, quem de novo constituerat Celsus, primae tamen sedi & illius Archiepiscopo subdita tanquam primati. Bernard. in vitâ Malachiae.  Celsus the Archbishop of Armagh, had of the new constituted another Metropolitical See, but subject to the first See, and to the Archbishop thereof. By which we may see that in the erection of new Archbishoprics and Bishoprics, all things were here done at home, without consulting with the See of Rome for the matter.  
As for the nomination and confirmation of the Archbishops and Bishops themselves: we find the manner of advancing Saint Livinus to his Archbishopric thus laid down by Boniface in the description of his life. 
s Illo defuncto, Rex Calomagnus, & eius Palatinorum chorus cum suis subaulicis, totiusque regionis illius confluentiâ, pari cordis affectu conclamaverunt, sanctum Sacerdotem Livinum in honorem huius ordinis dignissimè sublimandum fore. His Rex omnibus devotior consentiens, ter quaterque bearum virum in cathedrâ Archiepiscopatus debito honore, Domino jubente, collocavit. Bonifat. Vit. Livin.  When Menalchus the Archbishop was dead, Calomagnus the King of Scots, and the troop of his Officers with the under-courtiers, and the concourse of all that country, with the same affection of heart cried out, that the holy Priest Livinus was most worthily to be advanced unto the honour of this order. The King (more devout than all of them) consenting thereunto, three or four times placed the blessed man in the chair of the Archbishopric with due honour, according to the will of the Lord. In like manner also did 
t Rex Ecgfridus Episcopum fecit ordinari Lindisfarnensium ecclesiae virum sanctum & venerabilem Cudbertum. Bed. lib. 4. hist. cap. 27. & Vit. Cuthbert. cap. 24.  King Ecgfrid cause our Cuthbert to be ordained Bishop of the Church of Landisfarne; and King Pipin 
u Episcopatum Salzburgensem, pro debito regiae magnificentiae, sancto concessit Virgilio. Vit. Episc. Saluburgensaom. 2. Antiqu. lect. Henr. Canis. pag. 259. & tom. 6. pag. 1174.  granted the Bishopric of Salzburg to our Virgilius: and Duke Gunzo would have 
x Walafrid. Strab. Vit. Gall. lib. 1. cap. 16, 17, 19, 20.  conferred the Bishopric of Constance upon our Gallus; but that he refused it, and 
y Theodor. Compidonens. v●lquicunque author fuit vitae Magni. lib. 1. cap. 8. edit. Goldesti, 10. Canisii.  caused another upon his recommendation to be preferred thereunto.  
In the book of Landaffe, which is called Tilo (either from Teliau the second Bishop of that place, whose life is largely there described; or rather from the place itself, which of old was called 
* In the Laws of Howel Dhae it is named Ecclesia Teilau: and so in Caradot of Lhancarvans' Chronicle of Wales, pag. 94. joseph is called Bishop of Teilo, or Landaff.  Telio) we read that Germanus and Lupus 
z Super omnes Britannos dextralis partis Britanniae B. Dubticium summum Doctorem, à Rege & ab omni parochiâ electum Archiepiscopum, consecraverunt. Hâc dignitate ei à Germano & Lupo datâ; constituerunt ei Episcopalem sedem concessu Mourici Regis, Principum, Cleri & populi, apud Podium Lantavi. Lib. Ecclesiae Landavensis, MS.  did consecrate chief Doctor over all the Britons inhabiting the right side of Brittany, S. Dubricius, being chosen Archbishop by the King and all the Diocese: and that by the grant of Mouric the King, the Nobility, Clergy, and people, they appointed his Episcopal See to be at Landaff. that 
a Electione Cleri & populi succedit in episcopatu Landavensis Ecclesiae. electione cleri Mercguini & Elgoreti & Gunnuini magistri; & trium Abbatum, Catgen abbatis ●●duti, Concenn abbatis Catmaili, Cetnig abbatis Docguinni; laicorum, Regis Mourici, & filiorum Athruis & Idnerth, Guidgen & Cetiau, Brogmail, Gendoc, Louhonerd, Catgualatyr, & omnium principum totius parochiae. Missus est S. Oudoceus cum clericis suis praedictis (Merchui & Elguoret & Gunubui) cum legatis trium Abbatum & Regis & Principum, ad Dorobornensem civitatem ad beatum Archiepiscopum; ubi sacratus est ecclesiae Landaviae in honore S. Petri fundatae. Ibid.  Oudoceus, the third Bishop after him, being elected by King Mouric, and the chief of the Clergy and Laity of the whole Diocese, was by them sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury for his consecration. that 
b DCCCCLXXXII. (vel DCCCLXXII. potius) lucarnationis Domini anno, Gucaunus episcopus Landaviae confecratus à metropolitano Du●stano Dorobornensis ecclesiae archiepiscopo, datâ sibi virgâ pastorali in regali curià à summo Rege Anglorum AE●garo. Ibid.  Gucaunus (the 26th. Bishop of that Church) was consecrated by Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury; the pastoral staff being given him in the Court by Edgar chief King of the English. that next after him, 
c DCCCCLXXXIII. anno, electione factà regum Morcannuc, Ouein videlicèt & Idguallaun, Cattles & Cinuin filiorum Morcantheu, Rotri & Crifud filiorum Elired, & totius Cleri & populi Morcannuc infra hortum Taratir in Gui & hortum Tivi positi: & dato sibi baculo in regali curiâ à summo Rege Anglorum Adelredo, & à metropolitano Dorobornensis Ecclesiae Albrico archiepiscopo, Bledri episcopus Landaviae consecratus est; & 1022. o●. anno Incarnationis Domini, ordinationis suae autem 39 o. anno, migravit ad Dominum. Ibid.  in the year. 983. election being made by the Kings and the whole Clergy and people of Glamorgan, and the pastoral staff given in the Court by Ethelred chief King of the English; Bledri was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is there named Albricus. (though in truth, at the year here assigned, Dunstan did still hold the place.) and that after his decease in the year 1022. 
d MXXII. anno Incarnationis Domini, consecratus est Ioseph episcopus Landaviae, Cantuariae à metropolitano Dorobornensis ecclesiae Aelnod archiepiscopo, in Kalendis Ostobris, & in primo (vel XVI●. potius) anno Cycli decennovennalis, verbo Regis Anglorum Cout, & dato sibi baculo in Curiâ illius: electione populi & cleri Landaviae, & Regum Britanniae, regis videlicèt Riderch regnantis per totam Gualiam tune tempore, & Hivel subreguli regis Moreannuc infra hortum Taratir in Gui & hortum Tivi regnantis. Ibid.  by the election of the people and Clergy of Landaff and the Kings of the Britons (namely King Riderch that reigned at that time through all Wales, and Hivel the substitute of the King of Glamorgan) joseph was consecrated Bishop by Aelnod Archbishop of Canterbury, at the word of Cnut King of England, in whose Court the Pastoral staff was given unto him.  
Here in Ireland much after the same manner, Mr. Campion himself setteth down, that 
f Edm. Campion. Histor. Hibern. lib. 1. cap. ult● ad annum 948.  to the Monarch was granted a negative in the nomination of Bishops at every vocation: the Clergy and Laity of the Diocese recommending him to their King, the King to the Monarch, the Monarch to the Archbishop of Canterbury. although this last clause be wrongly extended by him to the Bishops of the whole land, which properly belonged to the Ostmann strangers, that possessed the 
g Girald. Cambrens. Topograph. Hiber●. distinct. 3. cap. 43.  three cities of Dublin, Waterford, and Limrick. For these being a Colony of the Norwegians and Livonians, and so countrymen to the Normans, when they had seen England subdued by the Conqueror, and Normans advanced to the chief archbishopric there; would needs now assume to themselves the name of 
h Eodem tempore Norwagenses sive Ostmanni, qui civitates Hiberniae & maritima occupaverunt, Normanni vocati sunt. Annal. Dublin. ad ann. 1095.  Normans also, and cause their Bishops to receive their consecration from no other metropolitan but the Archbishop of Canterbury. And forasmuch as they were confined within the walls of their own cities: the Bishops which they made had no other diocese to exercise their jurisdiction in, but only the bare circuit of those cities. Whereupon we find a Certificate made unto Pope Innocent the third in the year 1216. by the Archbishop of Tuam and his suffragans; that 
i Dominus johannes Papiron legatus Romanae Ecclesiae veniens in Hiberniam, invenit Dublin Episcopum habentem, qui tantum intra muros Episcoplae officium exercebat. Testimon. Tuamen. archiepisc. in Registro Dublin. archiepisc. & nigro libro Ecclesia S. Trinitatis.  john Papiron the Legate of the Church of Rome coming into Ireland, found that Dublin indeed had a Bishop, but such a one as did exercise his Episcopal office within the walls only.  
The first Bishop which they had in Dublin (as it appeareth by the Records of that Church) was one Donatus, or Dunanus, as others call him: upon whose death, in the year 1074. 
k Ad regimen Dublinensis Ecclesiae Lanfrancus archiepiscopus Cantuariae, petente Goderico rege, Dubliniensis Ecclesiae populo & clero consentientibus & eligentibus, in Ecclesiâ sancti Pauli Londin. Patricium sacravit Antistitem. Annul. Dublin. ad annum 1074.  Gothric their King, with the consent of the Clergy and people of Dublin, chose one Patrick for their Bishop, and directed him into England to be consecrated by Lanfranc Archbishop of Canterbury: who sent him back with commendatory 
l Habentur apud Baron. ann. 1089. num. 12. & 15.  letters aswell to the said Gothric King of the Ostmen, as to Terdeluacus the chief King or Monarch of the Irish. Hereupon, after the decease of this Patrick, 
m Anno Dom. 1085. Laufrancus Archiepiscopus Cantuar. ad regimen Dublinensis Ecclesiae sacravit Donatum monasterii sui monachum in sede metropoli Cantuar. petentibus atque eligentibus eum Terdeluaco Hiberniae rege, & episcopis Hiberniae regionis, atque clero & populo praefarae civitatis. Annal. Dublin.  in the year 1085. the same Terdeluacus and the Bishops of Ireland joined with the Clergy and people of Dublin, in the election of Donatus, one of Lanfrancs own Monks in Canterbury: who was by him there also consecrated. Then when he died, in the year 1095. his nephew Samuel, a monk of St. Alban but borne in Ireland, was 
n A Rege Hiberniae, Murierdach nomine, ●ecnon à clero & populo in Episcopatum psius civitatis electus est; atque ad Anselmum, iuxta morem antiquum, sacrandus cum communi decreto directus. Fadmer. Histor. Nevor. lib. 2. pag. 34.  chosen Bishop in his place by Murierdach King of Ireland, and the Clergy and people of the City: by whose common decree he was also sent unto Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury for his consecration. Not long after, the Waterfordians, following the example of the Dublinians, erected a Bishopric among themselves; 
o Ibid. pag. 36.  and sent their new Bishop to Canterbury for his consecration. the manner of whose election the Clergy and people of Waterford in the letters which they wrote at that time unto Anselm, do thus intimate. 
p Nos & Rex noster Murcherta●bus, & Episcopus Dofnaldus, & Dermeth Dux noster frater Regi●, elegimus hunc Presbyterum Malchum, Walkelini Wintoniensis Episcopi monachum, nobis sufficientissimè cognitum, etc.  We and our King Murchertach, and Dofnald the Bishop, and Dermeth our Captain the King's brother, have made choice of this Priest Malchus, a monk of Walkeline Bishop of Winchester, the same man, without doubt, who was afterward promoted to the Bishopric of Lismore; so much commended by Bernard in the life of Malachias.  
The last Bishop of Dublin in the year 1122. was sent unto Anselmes' next successor for his consecration: touching which I have seen this writ of King Henry the first, directed unto him: 
Henricus Rex Anglia, Radulpho Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, salutem. 
* Vt apud Graecoes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, non est semper 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, qu●madmodum ad Iliad. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. notatum est ab Eustathi● (pag. 884 & 831. edit. Roman.) sed aliquando respondet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ita & vox Mando, apud Latinos mediae aetatis scriptores. ut apud Vincentium, verbi gratiâ, lib. 30. Specul. Historical. cap. 130 (humiliter ei mandaverunt.) & hoc in loco.  Mandavit mihi Rex Hiberniae per Breve suum, & Burgenses Dublinae, quòd elegerunt hunc Gregorium in Episcopum, & eum tibi mittunt consecrandum. Vndè tibi mando, ut petitioni eorum satisfaciens, ejus consecrationem sine dilatione expleas. Teste Ranulpho Cancellario apud Windelsor.  
Henry King of England, to Ralphe Archbishop of Canterbury, greeting. The King of Ireland hath intimated unto me by his writ, and the Burgesses of Dublin, that they have chosen this Gregory for their Bishop, and send him unto you to be consecrated. Wherefore I wish you, that satisfying their request, you perform his consecration without delay. Witness Ranuph our Chancellor at Windsor.  All the Burgesses of Dublin likewise, and the whole assembly of the Clergy, directed their joint letters to the Archbishop of Canterbury the same time: where in among other things they write thus. 
q Sciatls vos reverâ, quòd Episcopi Hiberniae maximum zelum erga nos habent, & maximè ille Episcopus qui habitat Ardimachae: quia nos nolumus obedire eorum ordinationi, sed semper sub vestro dominio esse volumus. MS. ad calcem collectionis Is●dori Mercatoris, in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ.  Know you for verity, that the Bishops of Ireland have great indignation toward us, and that Bishop most of all that dwelleth at Armagh: because we will not obey their ordination, but will always be under your government. Whereby we may see, that as the Ostmen were desirous to sever themselves from the Irish, and to be esteemed Normans rather: so the Irish Bishops on the other side, howsoever they digested in some sort the recourse which they had to Lanfranc and Anselm (who were two of the most famous men in their times, and with whom they themselves were desirous to hold all good correspondence) yet could they not well brook this continuation of their dependence upon a Metropolitan of another kingdom; which they conceived to be somewhat derogatory to the dignity of their own Primate. But this jealousy continued not long. for this same Gregory being afterwards made Archbishop of Dublin, and the Bishoprics here settled by johannes Paparo: aswell they of Dublin, as the others of Waterford and Limrick (for they also had one Patrick consecrated Bishop unto them by Theobald Archbishop of Canterbury) did ever after that time cease to have any relation unto the See of Canterbury.  
And now to go forward: as the Kings and people of this land in those elder times kept the nomination of their Archbishops and Bishops in their own hands, and depended not upon the Pope's provisions that way: so do we not find by any approved record of antiquity, that any Visitations of the clergy were held here in the Pope's name; much less that any Indulgences were sought for by our people at his hands. For, as for the 
r Charta S. Patricii, in Gulielmi Mal●esburiensis libello, de Antiquitate Glastoniensis Ecclesiae. MS.  Charter of S. Patrick, (by some entitled, De antiquitate Avalonicâ) wherein 
s In scriptis recentioribus inveni, quòd sancti Phaganus & Deruvianus perquifierant ab Eleutherio Papâ, qui eos miserat, X. (al. XXX.) annos indulgentiae. Et ego frater Patricius à piae memoriae Celestino Papâ XII. annos tempore meo acquisivi. Ibid.  Phaganus and Deruvianus are said to have purchased ten or thirty years of Indulgences from Pope Eleutherius; and St. Patrick himself to have procured twelve years in his time from Pope Celestinus: it might easily be demonstrated (if this were a place for it) that it is a mere figment, devised by the Monks of Glastenbury. Neither do I well know, what credit is to be given unto that straggling sentence, which I find ascribed unto the same author. 
t Patricius ai● Siquae quest●ones in h●c insulâ oriantur, ad sedem Apostolicam referantur. Vet. Collect. Canonum, Bibliothecae Cottoniane. cujus initium: Synodicorum exemplariorum innumerositatem conspiciens.  If any questions do arise in this Island, let them be referred to the See Apostolic. or that other decree, attributed to Auxilius, Patricius, Secundinus and Benignus. 
u Quaecunque causa valdè difficilis exorta suerit, atque ignota cunctis Scotorum gentium judiciis; ad Cathedram Archiepiscopi Hibernensium (id est, Patricii) atque huius antistitis examinationem rectè referenda. Si verò in illâ, cum suis sapientibus, facile sana●i non poterit tali. causa 〈◊〉 negotiationis: ad se●●m Apostolicam decrevimus esse mittendam; id est, ad petri Apostoli Cathedram, auctoritatem Romae Vrbis habentem. High sunt qui de hoc decreverunt: id est, Auxilius, Patricius, Secundinus, Benignus, Vet. Codex Ecclesiae Armacha●e.  Whensoever any cause that is very difficult, and unknown unto all the judges of the Scottish nations, shall arise; it is rightly to be referred to the See of the Archbishop of the Irish (to wit, Patrick) and to the examination of the Prelate thereof. But if there, by him and his wisemen, a cause of this nature cannot easily be made up: we have decreed, it shall be sent to the See Apostolic; that is to say, to the chair of the Apostle Peter, which hath the authority of the City of Rome. Only this I will say, that as it is most likely, that St. Patrick had a special regard unto the Church of Rome, from whence he was sent for the conversion of this Island: so if I myself had lived in his days, for the resolution of a doubtful question I should as willingly have listened to the judgement of the Church of Rome, as to the determination of any Church in the whole world; so reverend an estimation have I of the integrity of that Church, as it stood in those good days. But that St. Patrick was of opinion, that the Church of Rome was sure ever afterward to continue in that good estate, and that there was a perpetual privilege annexed unto that See, that it should never err in judgement, or that the Pope's sentences were always to be held as infallible Oracles; that will I never believe: sure I am, that my countrymen after him were of a far other belief; who were so far from submitting themselves in this sort to whatsoever should proceed from the See of Rome, that they oftentimes stood out against it, when they had little cause so to do. For proof whereof I need to seek no further, than to those very allegations which have been lately urged for maintenance of the supremacy of the Pope and Church of Rome in this Country.  
First, Mr. Coppinger cometh upon us, with this wise question. 
x Copping. 〈◊〉 to the Catholics of Ireland, lib. 2. cap. 3.  Was not Ireland among other Countries absolved from the Pelagian heresy by the Church of Rome, as Cesar Baronius writeth? then he setteth down the copy of S. Gregory's 
y Gregor. lib. 2. epist. 36. Indict. 30.  epistle, in answer unto the Irish Bishops that submitted themselves unto him. and concludeth in the end, that the Bishops of Ireland being infected with the Pelagian error, sought absolution first of Pelagius the Pope: but the same was not effectually done, until S. Gregory did it. But in all this, he doth nothing else but bewray his own ignorance. For neither can he show it in Cesar Baronius or in any other author whatsoever, that the Irish Bishops did ever seek absolution from Pope Pelagius; or that the one had to deal in any business at all with the other. Neither yet can he show that ever they had to do with Saint Gregory in any matter that did concern the Pelagian heresy. for these be dreams of Coppingers own idle head. The epistle of S. Gregory dealeth only with the controversy of the three chapters, which were condemned by the fifth general Council; whereof Baronius writeth thus. 
z Ardentissimo studio protrium capi ulorum defension, junctis animis omnes qui in Hiberniâ erant Episcopi, insurrexere. Addiderunt & illud nefas, ut cum percepissent Romanam Ecclesiam aequè suscepisse Trium damnationum capitulorum, atque suo consensu Quintam Synodum roborâsse: ab eâdem pariter resilierint, atque reliquis qui vel in Italiâ, vel in Africâ, aliisve regionibus erant schismaticis inhaeserint; fiduciâ illâ vanâ erecti, quòd pro fide Catholicâ starent, cum quae essent in Concilio Chalcedonensi statuta defenderent. Baron. Annal. tom. 7. an. 566. num. 21.  All the Bishops that were in Ireland, with most earnest study, rose up jointly for the defence of the Three Chapters. And when they perceived that the Church of Rome did both receive the condemnation of the Three Chapters, and strengthen the fifth Synod with her consent: they departed from her, and clavae to the rest of the schismatics, that were either in Italy, or in Africa, or in other countries, animated with that vain confidence, that they did stand for the Catholic faith, while they defended those things that were concluded in the Council of Chalcedon. 
a Sed eo fixiùs inhaerent errori, cum quaecunque Italia passa sit bellorum motibus, fame, vel pestilentiâ, eâ ex caussâ illi cuncta infausta accidisse putarent, quòd pro Quintâ Synodo adversus Chalcedonense Concilium praelium suscepisset. Ibid.  And so much the more fixedly (saith he) did they cleave to their error, because whatsoever Italy did suffer by commotions of war, by famine or pestilence, all these unhappy things they thought did therefore befall unto it, because it had undertaken to fight for the fifth Synod against the Council of Chalcedon.  
Thus far Baronius: out of whose narration this may be collected, that the Bishops of Ireland did not take all the resolutions of the Church of Rome for undoubted oracles; but when they thought that they had better reason on their sides, they preferred the judgement of other Churches before it. Wherein how peremptory they were, when they wrote unto St. Gregory of the matter; may easily be perceived by these parcels of the answer, which he returned unto their letters. 
b Prima itaque epistolae vestrae frons, gravem vos pati persecutionem innotuit. Quae quidem persecutio dum non rationabiliter sustinetur, nequaquam proficit ad salutem. Gregor. Regest. lib. 2. epist. 36.  The first entry of your epistle hath notified, that you suffer a grievous perfecution● which persecution indeed, when it is not sustained for a reasonable cause, doth profit nothing unto salvation. and 
c Dum igit●● ita sit, incongruum nimis est de eâ vos, quam dicitis, persecutione gloriari, per quam vos constat ad aeterna praemia minimè provehi. Ibid.  therefore it is very unfit, that you should glory of that persecution, as you call it, by which it is certain you cannot be promoted to everlasting rewards. 
d Quod autem scribitis, quia ex illo tempore inter alias provincias maximè flagelletur Italia; non hoc ad ejus debetis intorquere opprobrium: quoniam scriptum est; Quem diligit Dominus, castigat, flagellat autem omnem filium quem recipit. Ibid.  And whereas you write, that since that time among other provinces Italy hath been most afflicted; you ought not to object that unto it as a reproach: because it is written: Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son that he receiveth. Then having spoken of the book that Pope Pelagius did write of this controversy (which indeed was penned by Gregory himself) he addeth. 
e Porrò autem si post hujus libri lectionem in eâ, quâ estis, volueritis deliberatione persistere; sine dubio non rationi operam, sed obstinationi vos dare monstratis. Ibid.  If after the reading of this book, you will persist in that deliberation, wherein now you are; without doubt you show, that you give yourselves to be ruled not by reason, but by obstinacy. By all which you may see, what credit is to be given unto the man, who would bear us in hand, that this epistle of St. Gregory was sent as an answer unto the Bishops of Ireland, that did submit themselves unto him: whereas (to say nothing of the 
f Vid. Roman Correct. in Gratian. De comsecrat. distinct. 4. cap. 144. Ab antiqua.  copies, wherein this epistle is noted to have been written to the Bishops of Iberiâ, and not, in Hiberniâ) the least argument of any submission doth not appear in any part of that epistle; but the whole course of it doth clearly manifest the flat contrary.  
In the next place steppeth forth Osullevan Bear; who in his Catholic history of Ireland, would have us take knowledge of this, that 
g Quando verò Doctores Ibernici de gravibus fidei quaestionibus minimè consentiebant, vel aliquid novi dogmatis peregrè allati audiebant; soliti erant Romanum Pontificem veritatis Oraculum consulere. Philip Osullevan. Bearr. hist. Catholic. Ibern. tom. 1. lib. 4. cap. 6.  when the Irish Doctors did not agree together upon great questions of Faith, or did hear of any new doctrine brought from abroad, they were wont to consult with the Bishop of Rome the Oracle of truth. That they consulted with the Bishop of Rome, when difficult questions did arise, we easily grant: but that they thought they were bound in conscience to stand to his judgement, whatsoever it should be, and to entertain all his resolutions as certain Oracles of truth; is the point that we would fain see proved. For this he telleth us, that 
h Namque de tempore agendi Paschatis solennia (de que aliae queque Catholicae gentes saepè ambegerunt) & de Pelagianâ haeresi ubi fuit in quaestionem disputationemque deducta; Doctores Iberni ad Sedem Apostolicam retulerunt. Ac ita miseri Pelagli error nullum in Iberniâ patronum vel assertorem invenisse fertur; vel insulae aditu interclusus, vel ab eâ protinùs explosus, ubi contagiosam faciem aperuit, seseque cognoscendum praebuit: & ratio communis & ab Ecclesiâ usitata celebrandi redivivi Domini festum ab Australibus Ibernis fuit semper observata; & à Septentrionalibus quoque & Pictis & Britonibus, qui Doctoribus Ibernis fidem acceperunt, amplexa, ubi Ecclesiae Romanae ritum cognoverunt. Quod ex Apostolicarum literarum duplici capite à Bedâ relato non obscurè constat. Ibid.  when questions and disputations did arise here concerning the time of Easter and the Pelagian heresy; the Doctors of Ireland referred the matter unto the See Apostolic. Whereupon, the error of Pelagius is reported to have found no patron or maintainer in Ireland: and the common course of celebrating Easter was embraced both by the Northern Irish, and by the Picts and Britons, as soon as they understood the rite of the Roman Church. Which (saith he) doth not obscurely appear by the two heads of the Apostolic letters, related by Bede, lib. 2. cap. 19  
But that those Apostolic letters (as he calleth them) had that success which he talketh of, appeareth neither plainly nor obscurely by Bede, or any other authority whatsoever. The error of Pelagius, saith he, is reported to have found no patron or maintainer in Ireland. But who is he that reporteth so, beside Philip Osullevan? a worthy author to ground a report of antiquity upon: who in relating the matters that fell out in his own time, discovereth himself to be as egregious a liar, as any (I verily think) that this day breatheth in Christendom. The Apostolic letters he speaketh of, were written (as before hath been touched) in the year of our Lord DCXXXIX. during the vacancy of the Roman See, upon the death of Severinus. Our Countryman Kilianus repaired to Rome 47. years after that, and was ordained Bishop there by Pope Conon in the year DCLXXXVI. The reason of his coming thither, is thus laid down by Egilwardus or who ever else was the author of his life. 
i Hibernia siquidem olim Pelagianâ foedata fuerat haeresi, Apostolicaque censurâ damnata, quae nisi Romano judicio solvi non poterat. Author antiqu. Vit. Kilian.  For Ireland had been of old defiled with the Pelagian heresy, and condemned by the Apostolical censure, which could not be loosed but by the Roman judgement. If this be true: then that is false which Osullevan reporteth of the effect of his Apostolical Epistle, that it did so presently quash the Pelagian heresy, as it durst not once peep up within this Island.   

CHAP. IX.  
Of the controversy which the Britons, Picts, and Irish maintained against the Church of Rome, touching the celebration of Easter.  
THe difference betwixt the Romans and the Irish in the celebration of Easter, consisted in this. The Romans kept the memorial of our Lord's resurrection upon that Sunday, which fell betwixt the XV. and the XXI. day of the Moon (both terms included) next after the XXI. day of March; which they accounted to be the seat of the Vernal aequinoctium, that is to say, that time of the Spring wherein the day and the night were of equal length. and in reckoning the age of the Moon they followed the Alexandrian cycle of XIX. years (whence our golden number had his original) as it was explained unto them by Dionysius Exiguus: which is the account that is still observed, not only in the Church of England, but also among all the Christians of Greece, Russia, Asia, Egypt, and Aethiopia; and was (since the time that I myself was borne) generally received in all Christendom, until the late change of the Calendar was made by Pope Gregory the XIII th'. The Northern Irish and Scottish, together with the Picts, observed the custom of the Britons: 
a Non enim Paschae diem Dominicum suo tempore, sed à decimaquartâ usque ad vicesimam Lunam observabant. Quae computatio 84▪ annorum circulo continetur. Bede lib. 2. hist. cap. 2.  keeping their Easter upon the Sunday that fell betwixt the XIIII. and the XX. day of the Moon; and following in their account thereof, not the XIX. years' computation of Anatolius, 
b Porrò isti secundùm decennem novemque Anatolii computatum, aut potius juxta Sulpicii Severini regulam, qui LXXXIV. annorum cursum descripsit, XIV. Lunâ cum judaeis Paschale sacramentum celebrant: cum neutrum Ecclesiae Romanae Pontifices ad perfectam calculi rationem sequantur. Aldelm. epist ad Geruntium regem & Domnonios': inter epistolas Bonifacij, num. 44.  but Sulpicius Severus his circle of LXXXIIII. years. for howsoever they extolled Anatolius 
c Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 3. & 25. Vid. Dionysii Petavii notas in Epiphan. pag. 194. 195.  for appointing (as they supposed) the bounds of Easter betwixt the XIIII. and the XX. day of the Moon, yet Wilfride in the Synod of Strenshal chargeth them utterly to have rejected his cycle of XIX. years: from which therefore Cummianus draweth an argument against them; that 
d Ad veram Paschae rationem nunquam pervenire eos, qui cycium LXXXIIII. annorum observant. Cumm●an. epist. ad Seg●enum abbot. de Disputatione Lunae. MS. in Bibli●thec. Cottonian.  they can never come to the true account of Easter, who observe the cycle of LXXXIIII. years.  
To reduce the Irish unto conformity with the Church of Rome in this point, Pope Honorius (the first of that name) directed his letters unto them: 
e Exhortans, ne paucitatem suam in extremis terrae finibus constitutan, sapientiorem antiquis sive modernis, quae per Orbem terrae erant, Christi Ecclesiis aestimarent: neve contra Paschales computos, & decreta synodalium totius Orbis Pontificum aliud Pascha celebrarent. Bed. lib. 2. hist. cap. 19  Exhortintg them, that they would not esteem their own paucity, seated in the utmost borders of the earth, more wise than the ancient or modern Churches of Christ through the whole world; and that they would not celebrate another Easter contrary to the Paschall computations, and the Synodall decrees of the Bishops of the whole world. and shortly after, the Clergy of Rome (as we have said) upon the death of Severinus, wrote other letters unto them to the same effect. Now where Osullevan avoucheth, that the common custom used by the Church in celebrating the feast of the Lords resurrection was always observed by the Southern Irish; and now embraced also by the Northern, together with the Picts and Britons (who received the faith from Irish Doctors) when they had knowledge given them of the rite of the Church of Rome: in all this (according to his common wont) he speaketh never a true word. For neither did the Southern Irish always observe the celebration of Easter commonly received abroad: neither did the Northern Irish, nor the Picts, nor the Britons, many years after this admonition given by the Church of Rome, admit that observation among them. to speak nothing of his folly in saying, that the Britons received the faith from the Irish: when the contrary is so well known, that the Irish rather received the same from the 
* S. Patrick, & his followers.  Britons.  
That the common custom of celebrating the time of Easter was not always observed by the Southern Irish, may appear by those words of Bede, in the third book of his history and the third chapter. Porrò gentes Scottorum, quae in australibus Hiberniae insulae partibus morabantur, jamdudum ad admonitionem Apostolicae sedis antistitis Paschacanonico ritu observare didicerunt. For if (as this place clearly proveth) the nations of the Scots, that dwelled in the Southern parts of Ireland, did learn to observe Easter after the canonical manner, upon the admonition of the Bishop of Rome: it is evident, that before that admonition they did observe it after another manner. The word jamdudum, which Bede here useth, is taken among authors oftentimes in contrary senses: either to signify a great while since, or else, but lately, or erewhile, In the former sense it must be here taken, if it have relation to the time wherein Bede did write his book: and in the latter also it may be taken, if it be referred to the time whereof he treateth, (which is the more likely opinion) namely to the coming of Bishop Aidan into England; which fell out about half a year, after that Honorius had sent his admonitory letters to the Irish. who, as he was the first Bishop of Rome we can read of, that admonished them to reform their rite of keeping the time of Easter: so that the Irish also much about the same time conformed themselves herein to the Roman usage, may thus be manifested.  
When Bishop Aidan came into England from the Island Hylas, now called Y-Columkille; 
f Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 5.  the College of Monks there was governed by Segenius, who in the 
g Id. lib. 2. cap. 19  inscription of the epistle of the clergy of Rome sent unto the Irish, is called Segianus. Now there is yet extant in Sir Robert Cottons worthy Library, an epistle of Cummianus directed to this Segienus (for so is his name there written) Abbot of Y-Columkille▪ wherein he plainly declareth, that the great cycle of DXXXII. years, and the Roman use of celebrating the time of Easter according to the same, was then newly brought in into this country. 
h Ego enim primo anno quo cyclus DXXXII. annorum à nostris celebrari ors●s est; non suscepi, sed silui, nec laudare nec vituperare ausus. Cummian. epist. ad Segienum.  For the first year (saith he) wherein the cycle of DXXXII. years began to be observed by our men; I received it not, but held my peace, daring neither to commend it nor to dispraise it. That year being past, he saith he consulted with his ancients; who were the successors of Bishop Ailbeus, Queranus Coloniensis, Brendinus, Nessanus and Lugidus. who being gathered together in Campo-lene, concluded to celebrate Easter the year following together with the universal Church. 
i Sed non post multum surrexit quidam paries dealbatus, traditionem seniorem serva●e se simulans; qui utraque non fecit unum sed divisit, & irritum ex parte fecit quod promissum est: quem Dominus ut spero, percutiet quoquo modo veluerit. Ibid.  But not long after (saith he) there arose up a certain whited wall, pretending to keep the tradition of the Elders; which did not make both one, but divided them, and made void in part that which was promised: whom the Lord (as I hope) will smite, in whatsoever manner he pleaseth.  
To this argument drawn from the tradition of the elders, he maketh answer: that 
k Seniores verò, quos in velamine repulsionis habetis, quod optimum in diebus suis esse noverunt ●impliciter & fideliter sine culpa contradictionis ullius & animositatis observaverunt, & suis posteris sic mandaverunt. Ibid.  they did simply and faithfully observe that which they knew to be best in their days, without the fault of any contradiction or animosity, and did so recommend it to their posterity. and opposeth thereunto 
n Vniversalia Ecclesiae Catholicae unanimem regulam. Ibid.  the unanimous rule of the Universal Catholic Church: deeming this to be a very harsh conclusion. 
o Roma errat, Hierosolyma errat, Alexandria errat, Antiochia errat, totus mundus errat: soli tantùm Scoti & Britoneses rectum sapiunt▪ Ibid.  Rome erreth, jerusalem erreth, Alexandria erreth, Antioch erreth, the whole world erreth: the Scottish only and the Britons do alone hold the right. but especially he urgeth the authority of the first of these patriarchical Sees, which now (since the advancement thereof by the Emperor Phocas) began to be admired by the inhabitants of the earth, as the place which God had chosen; whereunto, if greater causes did arise, recourse was to be had, according to the Synodical decree, as unto the head of cities. and therefore he saith, that they sent some unto Rome: who returning back in the third year, informed them, that they met there with a Grecian, and an Hebrew, and a Scythian, and an Egyptian in one lodging; and that they all, and the whole world too, did keep their Easter at the same time, when the Irish were disjoined from them by the space of a whole 
* This seemeth to have fallen out, eith r●i● the year 634. or 645. wherein Easter was solemnised at Rome the 24. day of April. and it appeareth by ou● Annals, that Segenius was abbot of Y●Columkille from the year 624. until 652.  month. 
p Vidimus oculis nostris puellam coecam omnine ad has reliqulas oculos aperientem, & paralyticum ambulantem, & multa daemonia ejecta. Cummian.  And we have proved (saith Cummianus) that the virtue of God was in the relics of the holy Martyrs, and the Scriptures which they brought with them. For we saw with our eyes, a maid altogether blind opening her eyes at these relics, and a man sick of the palsy walking, and many devils cast out. Thus far he.  
The Northern Irish and Albanian Scottish on the other side, made little reckoning of the authority, either of the Bishop or of the Church of Rome. And therefore Bede, speaking of Oswy king of Northumberland, saith that 
q Intellex●rat enim veraciter Oswi, quamvis educatus à Scotis, quia Romana esset Catholica & Apostolica Ecclesia. Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 29.  notwithstanding he was brought up by the Scottish, yet he understood that the Roman was the Catholic and Apostolic Church (or, that the Roman Church was Catholic and Apostolic) intimating thereby, that the Scottish, among whom he received his education, were of another mind. And long before that, Laurentius, Mellitus and justus (who were sent into England by Pope Gregory to assist Austin) in a letter which they sent unto the Scots that did inhabit Ireland (so Bede writeth) complained of the distaste given unto them by their countrymen, in this manner. 
r Sed cognoscentes Britoneses, Sc●ttos meliores putavimus. Scottos verò per Daganum Episcopum in hanc insulam, & Columbanum Abbatem in Galliis venientem, nihil discrepare 〈◊〉 Britonibus in eorum conversatione didici●●m. Nam Daganus episcopus ad nos veniens, non solùm cibum nobiscum, sed nec in eodem hospitio quo vescebamur, sumere voluit, Laurent. epist. apud Bed. lib. 2. cap. 4.  We knew the Britons, we thought that the Scots were better than they. But we learned by Bishop Daganus coming into this Island, and Abbot Columbanus coming into France; that the Scots did differ nothing from the Britons in their conversation. For Daganus the Bishop coming unto us, would not take meat with us, no not so much as in the same lodging wherein we did eat.  
And as for miracles, we find them as rife among them that were opposite to the Roman tradition, as upon the other side. If you doubt it, read what Bede hath written of Bishop Aidan (
s Qui cuius meriti fuerit, etiam miraculorm signis internus arbiter edocuit. ●ed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 15. item. 16▪ & 17.  who of what merit he was, the inward judge hath taught, even by the tokens of miracles; saith he) and Adamnanus of the life of S. Colme or Columkille. Whereupon Bishop Colman in the Synod at Strenshal frameth this conclusion. 
t Nunquid reverendissimum patrem nostrum Columbam, & successores ejus, viros Deo dilectos, qui eodem modo Pascha fecerunt, divinis paginis contraria sapuisse vel egisse credendum est? cum plurimi fuerint in eyes, quorum sanctitati coelesti signa & virtutem quae fecerunt miracula, testimonium praebuerunt: quos ut ipse sanctos esse non dubitans semper eorum vitam, mores & disciplinam sequi non desisto Colman. apud. Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 29.  Is it to be believed, that Colme our most reverend father, and his successors, men beloved of God, which observed Easter in the same manner that we do, did hold or do that which was contrary to the holy Scriptures? seeing there were very many among them, to whose heavenly holiness the signs and miracles which they did, bare testimony: whom nothing doubting to be Saints, I desist not to follow evermore their life, manners, and discipline. What Wilfride replied to this, may be seen in Bede: that which I much wonder at, among the many wonderful things related of St. Colme by Adamnanus, is this▪ that where he saith, that this Saint, during the time of his abode in the abbey of Clone (now called Clonmacnosh) did 
u Revelante Spiritu Sanct● prophetavit de illâ quae post dies mult●s ob●diversitatem Paschalis● festi ona est inter Sco●iae Ecclesias discordiâ. Adam●nan. Vit. Columb. lib. 1. cap. 3.  by the revelation of the holy Ghost prophesy of that discord, which after many days arose among the Churches of Scotland (or Ireland) for the diversity of the feast of Easter: yet he telleth us not, that the holy Ghost revealed unto him, that he himself (whose example animated his followers to stand more stiffly herein against the Roman rite) was in the wrong, and aught to conform his judgement to the tradition of the Churches abroad. as if the holy Ghost did not much care, whether of both sides should carry the matter away in this controversy: for which (if you please) you shall hear a very pretty tale out of an old Legend, concerning this same discord whereof S. Colme is said to have prophesied.  

x Quodam tempore erat magnum Concilium populorum Hiberniae in Campo albo: inter quos erat contentio circa ordinem Paschae. Lasre●nus enim abbas monasterii Leighlinne, cui suberant mille quingenti monachi, no●um ordinem defend ●●at qui nuper de Româ venit: alii verò veterem defendebant. Vit. S. Munna abbatit MS.  Upon a certain time (saith my Author) there was a great Council of the people of Ireland in the white field: among whom there was contention about the order of Easter. For Lasreanus, the abbot of the monastery of Leighlin, unto whom there were subject a thousand & five hundred monks, defended the new order that lately came from Rome: but others defended the old. This Lasreanus or Lazerianus is the man, who in other Legends (of no other credit than this we now have in hand) is reported to have been the Bishop of Rome's Legate in Ireland; and is commonly accounted to have been the first Bishop of the Church of Leighlin. His principal antagonist at this meeting was one Munna, founder of the monastery which from his was called Teach-munna, that is, the house of Munna (in the Bishopric of Meath:) who would needs bring this question to the same kind of trial here, that Austin the monk is said to have done in England. In defence of the Roman order, Bede telleth us that Austin made this motion to the British Bishops, for a final conclusion of the business. 
y Obsecremus Deum, qui habi●ate fecit unanimes in do●o patris sui, ●t ipse nobis in●●●●●re coelestib●s signis dignetur, quae sequenda traditio, quibus sit vi●● ad ingressum regni illius properandum. Adducatur aliquis aeger; & per cujus preces fuerit curatus, hujus fides & operatio Deo devota atque omnibus sequenda ●redatur. 〈◊〉 ● lib. 2. hist. cap. 2.  Let us beseech God, which maketh men to dwell of one mind together in their father's house; that he will vouchsafe by some heavenly signs to make known unto us, what tradition is to be followed, and by what way we may hasten to the entry of his kingdom. Let some sick man be brought hither; and by whose prayers he shall be cured, let his faith and working be believed to be acceptable unto God, and to be followed by all men.  
Now Munna, who stood in defence of the order formerly used by the British and Irish, maketh a more liberal proffer in this kind, and leaveth Lasreanus to his choice. 
z Breviter disputemus: sed in nomine Domini agamus judicium. Tres optiones dantur tibi, Lasreane. Duo libri in ignem mittentur, liber veteris ordinis & novi; ut videamus, quis eorum de igne liberabitur. Vel duo monachi, unus meus alter tuus, in unam domum recludantur, & domus comburatur: & videbimus, quis ex eis evadat intactus igne. Aut eamus ad sepulchrum mortui iusti monachi, & resuscitemus eum; & indicet nobis, quo ordine debemus hoc anno Pascha celebrare. Vit. S. Munn●.  Let us dispute briefly (saith he) but in the name of God let us give judgement. Three things are given to thy choice, Lasreanus. Two books shall be cast into the fire, a book of the old order and of the new; that we may see whether of them both shall be freed from the fire. Or let two Monks, one of mine and another of thine, be shut up into one house: and let the house be burnt, and we shall see which of them will escape untouched of the fire. Or let us go unto the grave of a just Monk that is dead, and raise him up again: and let him tell us, after what order we ought to celebrate Easter this year. But Lasreanus being wiser than so, refused to put so great a matter to that hazard: and therefore returned this grave answer unto Munna; if all be true that is in the Legend. 
a Non ibimus ad iudicium tuum, quoniam scimus quòd, pro magnitudine laboris tui & sanctitatis, si diceres ut mons Marge commutaretur in locum Campi albi & Campus albus in locum montis Marge; hoc propter te Deu. statim faceret. Ibid.  We will not go unto thy judgement: because we know that, for the greatness of thy labour and holiness, if thou shouldest bid that mount Marge should be changed into the place of the White field, and the White field into the place of mount Marge; God would presently do this for thy sake. So prodigal do some make God to be of miracles, and in a manner careless how they should fall; as if in the dispensing of them, he did respect the gracing of persons rather than of causes.  
In what year this Council of the White field was held, is not certainly known: nor yet whether S. Munna be that whited wall, of whom we heard Cummianus complain. The Synod of Strenshal (before mentioned) was assembled long after, at Whitby (called by the Saxons Streanesheale) in Yorkshire, the 
b Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 26.  year of our Lord DCLXIIII. for the decision of the same question. Concerning which, in the life of Wilfrid (written by one Aeddi an acquaintance of his, surnamed Stephen; at the commandment of Acca, who in the time of Bede was Bishop of Hangustald or Hexham, in Northumberland) we read thus. 
c Quodam tempore in diebus Colmanni Eboracae civitatis episcopi metropolitanis, regantibus Oswi & Alhfrido filio eius, Abbates & Presbyteri omnesque Ecclesiasticae disciplinae gradus simul in unum convenientes, in coenobio quae Streaneshel dicitur; praesente sanctimoniale matre piissimâ Hilde, praesentibus quoque Regibus & duobus Colmanno & Aegilberhto Episcopis, de Paschali ratione conquirebant, quid esset rectissimum. utrum more Brittonum & Scottorum omnisque Aquilonalis partis à XIIII. Lunâ Dominicâ die veniente usque ad XXII. (leg XX.) Pascha agendum; an melius sit ratione Sedis Apostolicae, à XV. Lunâ usque XXI. Paschalem Dominicam celebrandam. Tempus datum est Colman●o episcopo primum, ut dignum erat, audientibus cunctis reddere rationem. Ille autem intrepidâ ment responden●, dixit. Patres nostri & antecessores eorum manifestè Spiritu sancto inspirati, ut erat Columcille, XIIII. Lunâ die Dominicâ Pascha celebrandum sanxerunt: exemplum tenentes Iohannis Apostoli & Evangelistae, qui supra pectus Domini in Coenâ recubuit, & amator Domini dicebatur. Ille XIIII. Lunâ Pascha celebravit; & nos, sicut discipuli eius Polycarpus & alii, celebramus: nec hoc audemus pro patribus (●ort. partibus) nostris, nec volumus mutare. Stephanus presbyter (qui & Ae●di, apud B●dam, lib. 4. hist. cap. 2.) in Vitâ wilfrid. cap. 10. MS. in Bibliothecâ Sarisburiensis Ecclesiae, & D. Roberti Cottoni.  Upon a certain time in the days of Colman metropolitan Bishop of the city of York, Oswi and Alhfrid his son being Kings; the Abbots and Priests and all the degrees of Ecclesiastical orders meeting together at the monastery which is called Streaneshel, in the presence of Hilde the most godly mother of that abbey, in presence also of the Kings and the two Bishops Colman and Aegelberht, inquiry was made touching the observation of Easter, what was most right to be held: whether Easter should be kept according to the custom of the Brittous and the Scots and all the Northern part, upon the Lord's day that came from the XIIII. day of the Moon until the XX. or whether it were better, that Easter Sunday should be celebrated from the XV. day of the Moon until the XXI. after the manner of the See Apostolic. Time was given unto Bishop Colman in the first place, as it was fit, to deliver his reason in the audience of all. Who with an undaunted mind made his answer, and said. Our fathers and their predecessors, who were manifestly inspired by the holy Ghost, as Columkille was, did ordain that Easter should be celebrated upon the Lord's day that fell upon the XIIII. Moon; following the example of john the Apostle and Evangelist, who leaned upon the breast of our Lord at his last Supper, and was called the lover of the Lord. He celebrated Easter upon the XIIII. day of the Moon: and we with the same confidence celebrate the same, as his Disciples Polycarpus and others did; neither dare we for our parts, neither will we change this.  
Bede relateth his speech thus. 
d Pascha hoc quod agere soleo, à maioribus meis accepi, qui me huc Episcopum miserunt: quod omnes patres nostri viri Deo dilecti eodem modo celebrâsse noscuntur. Quod ne cui contemnendum & reprobandum esse videatur: ipsum est quod beatus johannes Evangelista, discipulus specialiter Domino dilectus, cum omnibus quibus prae erat Ecclesiis, celebrâsse legitur. Colman. apud Bedam, lib. 3. hist. cap. 23.  This Easter which I use to observe, I received from my elders, who did send me Bishop hither: which all our fathers, men beloved of God, are known to have celebrated after the same manner. Which that it may not seem unto any to be contemned and rejected: it is the same which the blessed Evangelist john, the disciple specially beloved by our Lord, with all the Churches whech he did oversee, is read to have celebrated. Fridegodus a who wrote the life of Wilfrid at the command of Odo Archbishop of Canterbury) expresseth the same Verse, after this manner. 

e F●idegod. Vit. Wilfrid. MS in Bibliothec. Cottonian.  Nos seriem patriam, non frivola scripta tenemus,  
Discipulo 
* i. Sancti vel Beati.  eusebit Polycarpo dante johannis.  
Ille etenim bis septenae sub tempore Phoebae  
Sanctum praefixit nobis fore Pascha colendum,  
Atque nefas dixit, si quis contraria sentit.   
On the contrary side Wilfrid objected unto Colman and his Clerks of Ireland; that they with their complices, the picts and the Britons, 
f Cum quibus de duabus ultimi● Oceani insulis, his non totis, contra totum Orbem stulto labore pugnant. Wilfrid. apud Bed. lib. 3. cap. 25.  out of the two utmost Isles, and those not whole neither, did with a foolish labour fight against the whole world. 
g Et si sanctus erat aut potens virtutibus ●lle Columba vester, imo & noster si Christi erat: num praeferri potuit beatissimo Apostolorum principi? cui Dominus ●it: Tu es Petrus, & super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, & portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam; Et tibi dabo claves ●egni coelorum. Ibid.  And if that Columb of yours (saith he) yea and ours also if he were Christ's, was holy and powerful in virtues: could he be preferred before the most blessed Prince of the Apostles? unto whom the Lord said: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Which last words wrought much upon the simplicity of King Oswy; who feared, that 
h Nefortè me adveni●nte ad fores regni coelorum, non sit qui reseret, averso illo qui claves tenere probatur. Ibid.  when he should come to the doors of the kingdom of heaven, there would be none to open, if he were displeased who was proved to keep the keys: but prevailed nothing with Bishop Colman; who 
i Tonsuram & Paschae rationem propter timorem patriae suae contempsit. Steph. presbyter, in Vit. Wilfrid. cap. 10.  for the fear of his country (as Stephen in the life of Wilfrid writeth) contemned the tonsure and the observation of Easter used by the Romans; and 
k Colman videns spretam suam doctrinam, sectamque esse despectam; assumptis his qui se sequi voluerunt, id est, qui Pascha catholicum & tonsuram coronae (nam & de hoc quaestio non minima erat) recipere nolebant, in Scotiam regressus est. Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 26. Vide etiam lib. 4. cap. 4.  taking with him such as would follow him, that is to say, such as would not receive the Catholic Easter and the tonsure of the crown (for of that also there was then no small question) returned back again into Scotland.   

CHAP. X.  
Of the height that the opposition betwixt the Roman party and that of the British and Scottish grew unto; and the abatement thereof in time: and how the Doctors of the Scottish and Irish side have been ever accounted most eminent men in the Catholic Church, notwithstanding their dis-union from the Bishop of Rome.  
IN Colmans' room Wilfrid was chosen Archbishop of York: who had learned at Rome from Archdeacon Boniface, 
a Paschalem rationem, quam schismatici Britanniae & Hiberniae non●cognoverunt; & alias multas Ecclesiasticae disciplinae regulas Bonifacius archidiaconus quasi proprio filio suo diligenter dictavit. Step▪ Presb. vit. Wilfrid. cap. 5. See also Bede, lib. 5. cap. 20.  the course of Easter, which the schismatics of Britain and Ireland did not know (so go the words of Stephen, the ancient writer of his life:) and afterward did brag, 
b Se primum fuisse, qui verum Pascha in Northanimbriâ Scotis eiectis docuerit, qui cantus Ecclesiasticos antiphonatim instituerit, qui sanctissimi Bendicti regulam à monachis observari jusserit. Gulielm. Malmesbur. lib. 3. de gest. Pontific. Angl.  that he was the first which did teach the true Easter in Northumberland (having cast out the Scots) which did ordain the Ecclesiastical songs to be parted on sides, and which did command S. Benet's rule to be observed by Monks. But when he was named to the archbishopric, 
c Sed perstitit ille negare; ne ab Episcopis Scotts, vel ab iis quos Scotti ordinaverant, consecrationem susciperet, quorum communionem sedes aspernaretur Apostolica. Id. ibid.  he refused it at the first (as William of Malmesbury relateth) lest he should receive his consecration from the Scottish Bishops, or from such as the Scots had ordained, whose communion the Apostolic See had rejected. The speech which he used to this purpose, unto the Kings that had chosen him, is thus laid down by Stephen the writer of his life. 
d O Domini venerabiles Reges; omnibus modis nobis necessarium est providè considerare, quomodo cum electione vestrâ, sine accusatione catholicorum vitorum, ad granum Episcopalem cum Dei adiutorio venire valeam. Sunt enim hîc in Brytannia multi episcopi, quorum nullum meum est accusare, quamvis veraciter sciam, quòd aut quatuordecim anni sunt, ut Brytones & Scotti ab illis sunt ordinati, quos nec Apostolica sedes in communionem recepit, neque eos qui schismaticis consentiunt, Et ideò in meâ humilitate à vobis posco, ut me mittatis cum vestro praefidio trans mare ad Galliarum regionem, ubi catholici episcopi multi habentur: ut sine controversiâ Apostolicae sedis, licèt indignus, gradum Episcopalem merear accipere. Steph. Presb. Vit. Wilfrid. cap. 12.  O my honourable Lords the Kings; it is necessary for us by all means providently to consider, how with your election I may (by the help of God) come to the degree of a Bishop, without the accusation of catholic men. For there be many Bishops here in Britain, none of whom it is my part to accuse, ordained within these fourteen years by the Britons and Scots, whom neither the See Apostolic hath received into her communion, nor yet such as consent with the schismatics. And therefore in my humility I request of you, that you would send me with your warrant beyond the Sea, into the country of France, where many Catholic Bishops are to be had; that without any controversy of the Apostolic See I may be counted meet, though unworthy, to receive the degree of a Bishop.  
While 
e Quo ultra mare moras nectente, Oswius Rex, praeventus consiliis Quartadecimanorum (qui vocabantur ita, quia Pascha in quartadecima Lunâ cum Iudaeis celebrabant) Ceddam virum sanctissimum, tamen contra regulas, intrusit tribunali Eborac●nsi. Gulielm. Malmesb. lib. 3. de gest. Pontif. Angl.  Wilfrid protracted time beyond the Seas, King Oswy led by the advice of the Quartadecimans (so they injuriously nicknamed the British and Irish, that did celebrate Easter from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the moon) appointed 
f Ordinantes servum Dei religiosissimum & admirabilem Doctorem, de Hiberniâ insulâ venientem nomine Coeodda, adhuc eo ignorant, in sedem Episcopalem Euroicae civitatis indoctè contra canones constituerunt. Steph. presb. Vit. Wilfrid▪ cap. 14.  a most religious servant of God and an admirable Doctor that came from Ireland, named Ceadda, to be ordained Bishop of York in his room. 
Constituunt etenim perverso canon Coeddam,  
Moribus acclinem, doctrinae robore fortem,  
Praesulis eximij servare cubilia: sicque  
Audacter vivo sponsam rapuere marito,  saith Fridegodus. This Ceadda, being the scholar of Bishop Aidan, was far otherwise affected to the British and Irish than Wilfrid was: and therefore was content to receive his ordination from 
g Ab illo est consecratus antistes, assumptis in societatem ordinationis duobus de Britonum gente Episcopis, qui Dominicum Paschae diem secus morem canonicum à XIIII. usque ad XXI. Lunam celebrant. Non enim erat tunc ullus, excepto illo Wini, in totâ Brittanniâ canonicè ordinatus episcopus. Bed. lib. 3. hist. ca 28.  Wini Bishop of the Westsaxons, and tow other British Bishops that were of the Quartadeciman party. For at that time (as Bede noteth) there was not in all Britain any Bishop canonically ordained (that is to say, by such as were of the communion of the Church of Rome) except that Wini only.  
But shortly after, the opposition betwixt these two sides grew to be so great, that our Cuthbert (Bishop of Lindisfarne) upon his deathbed required his followers; that they should 
h Cum illis autem qui ab unitate catholicae pacis, vel Pascha non suo tempore celebrando, vel perversè vivendo aberrant, vobis sit nulla communio, etc. Id. in Vit. Cuthbert. cap. 39  hold no communion with them which did swerve from the unity of the Catholic peace, either by not celebrating Easter in his due time, or by living perversely: and that they should rather take up his bones and remove their place of habitation, than any way condescend to submit their necks unto the yoke of schismatics. For the further maintaining of which breach also, there were certain decrees made both by the Romans, and by the Saxons that were guided by their institution. One of the instructions that the Romans gave them, was this: 
i J●stitutio dicit Rom. Cavendum est ne ad alias provincias aut ecclesias referantur causae, quae alio more & aliâ religione utantur: sive ad judaeos, qui umbrae legis magis quam veritati deserviunt; aut Britoneses, qui omnibus contratii sunt, & à Romano more & ab unitate Ecclesiae se absciderunt; aut Haereticos, quamvis sint in Ecclesiasticis causis docti, & studiosi fuerint, Ex Codice Canonum Cottoniano, titulorum 66.  You must beware, that causes be not referred to other Provinces or Churches, which use another manner and another religion: whether to the jews, which do serve the shadow of the Law rather than the truth▪ or to the Britons, who are contrary unto all men, and have cut themselves off from the Roman manner, and the unity of the Church; or to Heretics, although they should be learned in Ecclesiastical causes, and well studied. And among the decrees made by some of the Saxon Bishops (which were to be seen in the Library of Sir Thomas Knevet in Norfolk, and are still, I suppose, preserved there by his heir) this is laid down for one. 
k Qui ordinati sunt à Scottorum vel Brittannorum Episcopis, qui in Paschâ vel Tonsurâ Catholicae non sunt adunati Ecclesiae; iterùm à Catholico Episcopo manus impositione confirmentur Similiter & Ecclesiae quae ab illis Episcopis ordinantur, aquâ exorcizatâ aspergantur, & aliquâ collectione confirmentur. Licentiam quoque non habemus eis poscentibus Chrismam vel Eucharistiam dare, ni antè confessi fuerint velle se nobiscum esse in unitate Ecclesiae. Et qui ex horum similiter gente, vel quacunque, de baptismo suo dubitaverint, baptizentur. Decret Pontific. MS. cap. 9 De communicatione Scottorum & Brittonum, qui in Paschâ & Tonsurâ catholici non sunt.  Such as have received ordination from the Bishops of the Scots or Britons, who in the matter of Easter and Tonsure are not united unto the Catholic Church, let them be again by imposition of hands confirmed by a Catholic Bishop. In like manner also let the Churches that have been ordered by those Bishops, be sprinkled with exorcized water, and confirmed with some service. We have no licence also to give unto them Chrism or the Eucharist, when they require it; unless they do first profess, that they will remain with us in the unity of the Church. And such likewise as either of their nation, or of any other, shall doubt of their baptism, let them be baptised. Thus did they.  
On the other side, how averse the British and the Irish were from having any communion with those of the Roman party; the 
l Bed. lib. 2. hist. cap. 4.  complaint of Laurentius, Mellitus, and justus before specified, doth sufficiently manifest. And the answer is well known, which 
* Septem Britonum Episcopi, & plures viri doctissimi, maximè de nobilissimo eorum monasterio, quod vocatur linguâ Anglorum Bancornaburg, cui Dinoot abbess praefuisse narratur. Bed. lib. 2. hist. cap. 2.  the seven British Bishops, and many other most learned men of the same nation, did return unto the propositions made unto them by Austin the Monk (who was sent unto their parts with authority from Rome:) that 
m Illi nihil horum se facturos, neque illum pro Archiepiscopo habituros e●se respondebant. Id abide. Tam ipsum quam ejus statuta, statim reversi spreverunt: nec ipsum pro Archiepiscopo se habituros publicè proclamabant. Girald. Cambrens. ●tinerar. Cambriae, lib. 2. cap. 1.  they would perform none of them, nor at all adneit him for their Archbishop. The Welsh Chroniclers do further relate, that Dinot the Abbot of Bangor produced divers arguments at that time, to show that they did owe him no subjection: and this among others. 
n In a Welsh Manuscript, sometime belonging unto P. Mostein Gentleman.  We are under the government of the Bishop of Kaer-leon upon uske, who under God is to oversee us, and cause us to keep the way spiritual. and Gotcelinus Bertinianus in the life of Austin: 
o A●ctorizabant suas ceremonias non solùm à sancto Eleutherio Papâ primo institutore suo ab ipsâ penè infantiâ Ecclesiae dicatas, ve●ùm à sanctis patribus suis Dei amicis & Apostolorum sequacibus hactenùs observatas; quas non deberent mutare propter novos dogmatistas. Gotcel●. monachus, in vitâ Augustini, cap. 32. MS. in Bibliothecâ Cottonianâ.  that for the authority of their ceremonies they did allege, that they were not only delivered unto them by Saint Eleutherius the Pope their first instructor at the first infancy almost of the Church, but also hitherto observed by their holy fathers who were the friends of God and followers of the Apostles: and therefore they ought not to change them for any new dogmatists. But above all others, the British Priests that dwelled in West-wales abhorred the communion of these new dogmatists above all measure: as Aldhelme Abbot of Malmesbury declareth at large in his Epistle sent to Geruntius King of Cornwall. where among many other particulars he showeth, that 
p Si quilibet de nostris, id est, Catholicis ad eos habi●andi gratiâ perrexerint; non prius ad consortium sodalitatis suae adsciscere dignantur, quam quadraginta dierum spatia in poenitendo peragere compellantur. Aldhelm. epist. add Domnonios'.  if any of the Catholics (for so he calleth those of his own side) did go to dwell among them; they would not vouchsafe to admit them unto their company and society, before they first put them to forty days penance. Yea, 
q Quip cum usque hodie moris sit Britonum, fidem religionemque Anglorum pro nihilo habere, neque in aliquo eis magis communicare quam paganis. Bed. lib. 2. hist. cap. 20.  even to this day (saith Bede, who wrote his history in the year DCCXXXI.) it is the manner of the Britons, to hold the faith and the religion of the English in no account at all, nor to communicate with them in any thing more than with Pagans.  
Whereunto those Verses of Taliessyn (honoured by the Britons with the title of Ben Beirdh, that is, the chief of the Bards or Wisemen) may be added: (which show, that he wrote after the coming of Austin into England, and not 50. or 60. years before, as others have imagined.) 


* Chronicle of Wales, pag. 254.  Gwae'r offeiriad bid  
Nys engreifftia gwyd  
Ac ny phregetha:  
Gwae ny cheidw ey gail  
Ac ef yn vigail,  
Ac nys areilia:  
Gwae ny cheidw ey dhevaid  
Rhac bleidhie, Rhufeniaid  
A'iffon gnwppa.   

Woe be to that Priest yborn,  
That will not cleanly weed his corn  
And preach his charge among:  
Woe be to that shepherd (I say)  
That will not watch his fold always,  
As to his office doth belong:  
Woe be to him that doth not keep  
From Romish wolves his sheep  
With staff and weapon strong.    
As also those others of Mantuan; which show that some took the boldness to tax the Romans of folly, impudency, and stolidity, for standing so much upon matters of humane institution, that for the not admitting of them they would break peace there, where the Law of God and the Doctrine first delivered by Christ and his Apostles was safely kept and maintained. 

r Baptist. Mantuan. Faster. lib. 1.  Add quod & patres ausi taxare Latino's;  
Causabantur eos stultè, imprudenter, & aequo  
Duriùs, ad ritum Romae voluisse Britannos  
Cogere, & antiquum tam praecipitanter amorem  
Tamburlaine stolido temerâsse ausu. Concedere Roma  
Debuit, aiebant, potius quam rumpere pacem  
Humani quae juris erant; modò salva maneret  
Lex divina, fides, Christi doctrina, Senatus  
Quam primus tulit ore suo; quia tradita ab ipso  
Christo erat, humanae doctore & lumine vitae.   
By all that hath been said, the vanity of Osullevan may be seen, who feigneth the Northern Irish, together with the Picts and the Britons, to have been so obsequious unto the Bishop of Rome; that they reform the celebration of Easter by them formerly used, as soon as they understood what the rite of the Roman Church was. Whereas it is known, that after the declaration thereof made by Pope Honorius and the Clergy of Rome; the Northern Irish were nothing moved therewith, but continued still their own tradition. And therefore Bede findeth no other excuse for Bishop Aidan herein; but that 
s Quòd autem Pascha non suo tempore observabat, vel canonicum ejus tempus ignorans, vel suae gentis auctoritate, ne agnitum sequeretur, devictus; non approbo nec laudo. Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 17.  either he was ignorant of the canonical time, or if he knew it, that he was so overcome with the authority of his own nation, that he did not follow it: that he did it, 
t More suae gentis. Ibid. cap. 3.  after the manner of his own nation; and that 
u Pascha contra morem eorum qui ipsum miserant, facere non potuit. Ibid. cap. 25.  he could not keep Easter contrary to the custom of them which had sent him. His successor Finan 
x Id. ibid.  contended more fiercely in the business with Ronan his countryman; and declared himself an open adversary to the Roman rite. Colman that succeeded him, did tread just in his steps: so far, that being put down in the Synod of Streanshal, yet for fear of his country (as before we have heard out of Stephen, the writer of the life of Wilfrid) he refused to conform himself; and chose rather to forgo his Bishopric, than to submit himself unto the Roman laws, 
Colmanusque suas inglorius abjicit arces,  
Malens Ausonias victus dissolvere leges:  saith Fridegodus. Neither did he go away alone: but 
y Colmanus qui de Scotiâ erat Episcopus, relinquens Britanniam, tulit secum omnes quos in Lindisfarorum insulâ congregaverat Scotos. Bede lib. 4. cap. 4.  took with him all his countrymen that he had gathered together in Lindisfarne or Holy Island: the Scottish monks also that were at Rippon (in Yorkshire) 
z Optione datâ, maluerunt loco cedere, quam Pascha catholicum, caeterosque ritus canonicos juxta Romanae & Apostolicae Ecclesiae consuetudinem recipere. Id. lib. 5. cap. 20. See also lib. 3. cap. 25. where Humpum is ●●sprinted for Hripum.  making choice rather to quit their place, than to admit the observation of Easter and the rest of the rites according to the custom of the Church of Rome. And so did the matter rest among the Irish about forty years after that: until their own countryman 
a Ibid cap. 16. & 22.  Adamnanus persuaded most of them to yield to the custom received herein by all the Churches abroad.  
The Picts did the like not long after, under King Naitan: who 
b Nec mora, quae dixerat, regiâ autoritate perfecit. Statim namque jussu publico mittebantur ad transcribendum, discendum, observandum per universus Pictorum provincias circuli Paschae decennovennales; obliteratis per omnia erroneis octoginta & quatuor annorum circulis. Attondehantur omnes in coronam ministri altaris ac monachi. etc. Ibid. ca 22.  by his regal authority commanded Easter to be observed throughout all his provinces according to the cycle of XIX. years (abolishing the erroneous period of LXXXIIII. years which before they used) and caused all Priests and Monks to be shorn croune-wise, after the Roman manner. The monks also of the Island of Hylas or Y-Columkille, 
c Id. lib. 3. ca 4. & lib. 5. cap. 23.  by the persuasion of Ecgbert (an English Priest, that had been bred in Ireland) in the year of our Lord DCCXVI. forsook the observation of Easter and the Tonsure which they had received from Columkille a hundred and fifty years before, and followed the Roman rite; about LXXX. years after the time of Pope Honorius, and the sending of Bishop Aidan from thence into England. The Britons in the time of 
d Id. lib. 5. cap. 23. & 24.  Bede retained still their old usage: until 
e See the Chronicle of Wales, pag. 17. 18. and Humfr. I. buyd. fragment. Britan. Descript. fol. 55. b.  Elbodus (who was the chief Bishop of North-wales, and died in the year of our Lord DCCCIX. as Caradoc of Lhancarvan recordeth) brought in the Roman observation of Easter. which is the cause, why 
f Ego Nennius sancti Elbodi discipulus, aliqua excerpta scribere curavi. Nem. MS. in publicá Cantabrig. academ. Bibliothecá, ubi alia exemplaria habent: Ego Nennius (vel Ninnius) Elvodugi discipulus.  his disciple Nennius, designeth the time wherein he wrote his history, by the character of the 
g Ab adventu Patricii in jam dictam insulam (Hiberniam sc.) usque ad cyclum decennovennalem in quo sumu●, 22. sunt cycli, id est, 421. & sunt duo anni in Ogdoade usque in hunc annum. Id.  XIX. years' cycle, and not of the other of LXXXIV. But howsoever North-wales did; it is very probable that West-wales (which of all other parts was most eagerly bend against the traditions of the Roman Church) stood out yet longer. For we find in the Greek writers of the life of Chrysostome, that certain Clergy men which dwelled in the Isles of the Ocean, repaired from the utmost borders of the habitable world unto Constantinople, in the days of Methodius (who was Patriarch there, from the year DCCCXLII. to the year DCCCXLVII.) to inquire of 
h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tom. 8. Chrysost. edit. Henr. Savil. pag. 321. 60 & in Noels'. col. ●66. 5.  certain Ecclesiastical traditions, and the perfect and exact computation of Easter. Whereby it appeareth, that these questions were kept still a foot in these Lands; and that the resolution of the Bishop of Constantinople was sought for from hence, as well as the determination of the Bishop of Rome, who is now made the only Oracle of the world.  
Neither is it here to be omitted, that whatsoever broils did pass betwixt our Irish that were not subject to the See of Rome, and those others that were of the Roman communion: in the succeeding ages, they of the one side were esteemed to be Saints, as well as they of the other; Aidan for example and Finan, who were counted ringleaders of the Quartadeeiman party, as well as Wilfrid and Cuthbert, who were so violent against it. Yet now adays men are made to believe, that out of the communion of the Church of Rome nothing but Hell can be looked for; and that subjection to the Bishop of Rome, as to the visible Head of the Universal Church, is required as a matter necessary to salvation. Which if it may go currant for good Divinity: the case is like to go hard, not only, with the 
i 〈◊〉 lib. 2. hist. cap. ●.  twelve hundred British Monks of Bangor, who were martyred in one day by Edelfride king of Northumberland (whom our Annals style by the name of 
k Ann. Dom. 612. (vel 613.) Bellum Cairelegion, ubi Sancti occisi sunt. Amlt. Vlton. MS.  the Saints;) but also with St. Aidan and St. Finan, who deserve to be honoured by the English nation with as venerable a remembrance, as (I do not say, Wilfrid and Cuthbert; but) Austin the Monk and his followers. For by the ministry of 
l Bed. lib. 3. hist. cap. 3. & 6.  Aidan was the kingdom of Northumberland recovered from paganism: (whereunto belonged then, beside the shire of Northumberland and the lands beyond it unto Edenborrow, Frith, Cumberland also and Westmoreland, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Bishopric of Durham:) and by the means of 
m Ibid. cap. 21. 22. 24.  Finan, not only the Kingdom of the Eastsaxons (which contained Essex, Middlesex, and half of Hertfordshire) regained, but also the large Kingdom of Mercia converted first unto Christianity; which comprehended underit, Glocestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Huntingtonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Darbyshire, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, Chesshire, and the other half of Hertfordshire.  
The Scottish that professed no subjection to the Church of Rome, were they, that sent preachers for the conversion of these countries; and ordained Bishops to govern them: namely, 
n Ibid. cap. 3. 5. 17. 25. 26.  Aidan, Finan and Colman successively for the kingdom of Northumberland; 
o Ibid. cap. 22. 25.  for the Eastsaxons, Cedd brother to Ceadda the Bishop of York before mentioned, 
p Ibid cap. 21. 24.  for the Middle-Angles (which inhabited Leicestershire) and the Mercians, Diuma (for 
q Paucitas enim Sacerdotum cogebat unum antistitem duobus populis praefici. Ibid. cap. 21.  the paucity of Priests, saith Bede, constrained one Bishop to be appointed over two people) and after him Cellach and Trumhere. And these with their followers, notwithstanding their division from the See of Rome, were for 
r Ibid. cap. 3. 4. 5. 17. 26.  their extraordinary sanctity of life and painfulness in preaching the Gospel (wherein they went far beyond those of the other side, that afterward thrust them out and entered in upon their labours) exceedingly reverenced by all that knew them: Aidan especially, who 
s Etsi Pascha contra morem eorum qui ipsum miserant, facere non potuit; opera tamen fidei, pietatis & dilectionis, juxta morem omnibus sanctis consuetum diligenter exequi curavit. Vnde ab omnibus etiam his qui de Pascha aliter sentiebant, meritò diligebatur: nec solùm à mediocribus, verùm, ab ipsis quoque episcopis, Honorio Cantua●●orum & Felice Orientalium Anglorum, venerationi habitus est. Ibid. cap. 25.  although he could not keep Easter (saith Bede) contrary to the manner of them which had sent him; yet he was careful diligently to perform the works of faith and godliness, and love, according to the manner used by all holy men. Whereupon he was worthily beloved of all, even of them also who thought otherwise of Easter than he did: and was had in reverence not only by them that were of meaner rank, but also by the Bishops themselves, Honorius of Canterbury, and Felix of the East-Angles. Neither did Honorius and Felix any other way carry themselves herein, than their predecessors Laurentius, Mellitus & justus had done before them: who writing unto the Bishops of Ireland, that dissented from the Church of Rome in the celebration of Easter and many other things; made no scruple to prefix this loving and respectful superscription to their letters. 
t Dominis charissimis fratribus, Episcopis vel Abbatious per universam Scotiam; Laurentius, Mellitus, & justus Episcopi, servi servorum Dei Id lib. 2 cap. 4.  To our Lords and most dear brethren, the Bishops or Abbots throughout all Scotland; Laurentius, Mellitus and justus Bishops, the servants of the servants of God. For howsoever Ireland at that time 
u Gens quanquam absque reliquatum gentium legibus; tamen in Christiani vigoris dogmate florins, omnium vicinarum gentium fidem praepollet. jon. Vit. Columban. cap. 1.  received not the same laws wherewith other nations were governed: yet it so flourished in the vigour of Christian doctrine, (as Abbot jonas testifieth) that it exceeded the faith of all the neighbour nations; and in that respect was generally had in honour by them.   

CHAP. XI  
Of the temporal power, which the Pope's followers would directly entitle him unto over the Kingdom of Ireland: together with the indirect power which he challengeth in absolving subjects from the obedience which they owe to their temporal Governors.  
IT now remaineth that in the last place we should consider the Pope's power in disposing the temporal state of this Kingdom: which either directly or indirectly, by hook or by crook, this grand Usurper would draw unto himself. First therefore Cardinal Allen would have us to know, that 
c Allen. Answer to the Execution of justice in England. pag. 140.  the Sea Apostolic hath an old claim unto the sovereignty of the country of Ireland; and that before the Covenants passed between King john and the same Sea. Which challenges (saith he) Princess commonly yield not up, by what ground soever they come. What Princes use to yield or not yield, I leave to the scanning of those, unto whom Princes matters do belong: for the Cardinal's Prince I dare be bold to say, that if it be not his use to play fast and loose with other Princes, the matter is not now to do; whatsoever right he could pretend to the temporal state of Ireland, he hath transferred it (more than once) unto the Kings of England. and when the ground of his claim shall be looked into; it will be found so frivolous and so ridiculous, that we need not care three chips, whether he yield it up or keep it to himself. For whatsoever become of his idle challenges: the Crown of England hath otherwise obtained an undoubted right unto the sovereignty of this country; partly by Conquest, prosecuted at first upon occasion of a Sociall war, partly by the several submissions of the chieftains of the land made afterwards. For 
d Cum juri suo renuntiare liberum fit cuilibet (quanquam subjectionis cujuslibet hactenus immunes) his tamen hodiè nostris diebus, Anglorum Regi Henrico secundo omnes Hiberniae principes firmis fidei sacramentique vinculis se sponte submiserunt. Girald. Cambrens. Hibern expugnat. lib. 3. cap. 7.  whereas it is it free for all men, although they have been formerly quit from all subjection, to renounce their own right: yet now in these our days (saith Giraldus Cambrensis, in his history of the Conquest of Ireland) all the Princes of Ireland did voluntarily submit, and bind themselves with firm bonds of faith and oath, unto Henry the second King of England. The like might be said of the general submissions made in the days of King Richard the second and King Henry the eighth: to speak nothing of the prescription of diverse hundreds of years possession; which was the plea that 
e judg. 11. 26.  jephte used to the Ammonites, and is indeed the best evidence that the Bishop of Rome's own 
f Genebrard. Chr●●graph. lib. 3. in Sylvest. 1. Bellarmin. de Roman. Pontif. lib. 5. cap. 9 in fine.  Proctors do produce for their Master's right to Rome itself.  
For the Pope's direct dominion over Ireland, two titles are brought forth; beside those covenants of King john (mentioned by Allen) which he that hath any understanding in our state, knoweth to be clearly void and worth nothing. The one is taken from a special grant supposed to be made by the inhabitants of the country, at the time of their first conversion unto Christianity: the other from a right which 
g Insulas omnes sibi speciall quodam iure vendicat. Girald. Cambr. Hibern. expugnat. lib. ●. cap. 3.  the Pope challengeth unto himself over all Lands in general. The former of these was devised of late by an Italian, in the reign of King Henry the eighth; the later was found out in the days of King Henry the second: before whose time not one footestep doth appear in all antiquity of any claim that the Bishop of Rome should make to the dominion of Ireland; no not in the Pope's own records, which have been curiously searched by Nicolaus Arragonius, and other ministers of his, who have purposely written of the particulars of his temporal estate. The Italian of whom I spoke, is Polydore Vergil; he that composed the book De inventoribus rerum, of the first Inventors of things: among whom he himself may challenge a place for this invention; if the Inventors of lies be admitted to have any room in that company. This man being sent over by the Pope into England 
h Nos hanc alim quaesturam aliquot per a●not gessimus; eiusque muneris obeundi caussâ, primùm in Angliam venitnus. Poly 〈◊〉 Vergil. Anglic. bis●●. lib. 4.  for the collecting of his Peter-pences, undertook the writing of the history of that nation, wherein he forgot not by the way to do the best service he could to his Lord that had employed him thither. There he telleth an idle tale; how the Irish being moved to accept Henry the second for their King, 
i Id Hiberni posse fieri, nisi autoritate Romani Pontificis negabant; quòd iam indè ab initio, post Christianam religionem acceptam, sese ac omnia sua in eius ditionem dedidissent: atque constanter affirmabant, non alium habere se Dominum, praeter ipsum Pontificem: id quod etiam nunc iactitant, Id. lib. 13. eiusa. histor.  did deny that this could be done otherwise than by the Bishop of Rome's authority: because (forsooth) that from the very beginning, after they had accepted Christian Religion, they had yielded themselves and all that they had into his power. and they did constantly affirm (saith this fabler) that they had no other Lord, beside the Pope: of which also they yet do brag.  
The Italian is followed herein by two Englishmen, that wished the Pope's advancement as much as he; Edmund Campian and Nicholas Sanders. the one whereof writeth, that 
k Camp. History of Ireland. lib. 2. cap. 1.  immediately after Christianity planted here, the whole Island with one consent gave themselves not only into the spiritual, but also into the temporal jurisdiction of the See of Rome. the other in Polydores own words (though he name him not) that 
l Hiberni initio statim post Christianam religionem acceptam, sesuaque omni● in Pontificis Romani ditionem dederant; nec quenquam alium supremum Hiberniae Principem ad illud usque tempus praeter unum Romanum pontificem agnoverunt, Saunder de schism. Anglican. lib. 1. ad ann. 1542.  the Irish from the beginning, presently after they had received Christian Religion, gave up themselves and all that they had into the power of the Bishop of Rome; and that until the time of King Henry the second, they did acknowledge no other supreme Prince of Ireland, beside of the Bishop of Rome alone. For confutation of which dream, we need not have recourse to our own Chronicles: the Bull of Adrian the fourth, wherein he giveth liberty of King Henry the second to enter upon Ireland, sufficiently discovereth the vanity thereof. For, he there showing what right the Church of Rome pretended unto Ireland, maketh no mention at all of this (which had been the fairest and clearest title that could be alleged, if any such had been then existent in rerum naturâ) but is fain to fly unto a far-fetched interest which he saith the Church of Rome hath unto all Christian Lands. 
m Sanè omnes Insulas, quibus Sol iustitiae Christus illuxit, & quae documenta fidei Christianae susceperunt, ad ius S. Petri & sacrosanctae Romanae Ecclesiae (quod tua etiam Nobilitas recognoscit) non est dubium pertinete. Bull-Adrian. IV. ad Henr. II. Angl. reg.  Truly (saith he to the King) there is no doubt, but that all Lands unto which Christ the Sun of Righteousness hath shined, and which have received the instructions of the Christian faith, do pertain to the right of Saint Peter and the holy Church of Rome: which your Nobleness also doth acknowledge.  
If you would further understand the ground of this strange claim, whereby all Christian Lands at a clap are challenged to be parcel of St. Peter's patrimony: you shall have it from johannes Sarisburiensis, who was most inward with Pope Adrian, and obtained from him this very grant whereof now we are speaking. 
n Ad preces meas illustri Regi Anglorum Henrico secundo concessit & dedit Hiberniam iure haereditario possidendam: sicut literae ipsius testantur in hodiernum diem. Nam omnes insulae, de iure antiquo, ex donatione Constantini, qui eam fundavit & dotavit, dicuntur ad Romanam Ecclesiam pertinere. johan. Sarisburiens. Metalogie. lib. 4. cap. 42.  At my request (saith he) he granted Ireland to the illustrious King of England Henry the second, and gave it to be possessed by right of inheritance: as his own letters do testify unto this day. For all Lands, of ancient right, are said to belong to the Church of Rome, by the donation of Constantine, who founded & endowed the same. But will you see, what a goodly title here is, in the mean time? First, the Donation of Constantine hath been long since discovered to be a notorious forgery, and is rejected by all men of judgement as a senseless fiction. Secondly, in the whole context of this forged Donation I find mention made of Lands in one place only: 
o Per nostram Imperialem iussionem sacram, tam in Oriente quam in Occidente, vel etiam septentrionali & meridianâ plagâ, videlicèt in judaeâ, Graeciâ, Asiâ, Thraciâ, Aphricâ & Italiâ, vel diversis Insulis nostrâ largitate eis libertatem concessimus: eâ prorsus ratione, ut per manus beatissimi patris nostri Sylvestri Pontificis successorumque eius omnia disponantur. Edict. Constantin.  where no more power is given to the Church of Rome over them, than in general over the whole Continent (by East and by West, by North and by South) and in particular over judaea, Graecia, Asia, Thracia, and Aphrica; which use not to pass in the account of St. Peter's temporal patrimony. Thirdly, it doth not appear, that Constantine himself had any interest in the Kingdom of Ireland: how then could he confer it upon another? Some words there be in an oration of 
p Vltra Occanum verò quid erat praeter Britanniam? Quae à vobis ita recuperata est; ut illae quoque nationes terminis eiusdem insulae cohaerentes vestris nutibus obsequantur. Eumen. Panegyric. ad Constant.  Eumenius the Rhetorician, by which peradventure it may be collected, that his father Constantius bore some stroke here: but that the Island was ever possessed by the Romans, or accounted a parcel of the Empire, cannot be proved by any sufficient testimony of antiquity. Fourthly, the late writers that are of another mind, as Pomponius Laetus, Cuspinian, and others, do yet affirm withal, 
q Pomp. Laet. in Roman. histor. Compend. Io. Cuspian. in Caesarib. Seb. Mu●ster. in lib. 2. Cosmograph.  that in the division of the Empire after Constantine's death, Ireland was assigned unto Constantinus the eldest son: which will hardly stand with this donation of the Lands supposed to be formerly made unto the Bishop of Rome and his successors. Pope Adrian therefore, and john of Salisbury his solicitor, had need seek some better warrant for the title of Ireland, than the Donation of Constantine.  
john Harding in his Chronicle saith, that the Kings of England have right 

r Harding. Clhronic. cap. 241.  To Ireland also, by King Henry (le fitz  
Of Maude, daughter of first King Henry)  
That conquered it, for their great heresy.  which in another place he expresseth more at large, in this manner: 

s Ibid. cap. 132▪  The King Henry then, conquered all Ireland  
By Papal doom, there of his royalty  
The profits and revenues of the land  
The domination, and the soveraigntee  
For error which again the spiritualtee  
They held full long, and would not been correct  
Of heresies, with which they were infect.  Philip Osullevan on the other side, doth not only deny 
t Osullevan. Histor. Catholic. Iberniae, tom. 2. lib. 1. cap. 7.  that Ireland was infected with any heresy: but would also have us believe, 
u Ibid. cap. 4. 5. 9 & lib. 2. cap. 3.  that the Pope never intended to confer the Lordship of Ireland upon the Kings of England. For where it is said in Pope Adrians' Bull; 
x Illius terrae populus te recipiat, & sicut Dominum veneretur. Bull. Adrian. IV.  Let the people of that land receive thee, and reverence thee as a Lord: the meaning thereof is, saith this Glozer, 
y Sicut Dominum veneretur, id est, ut Principem dignum magno honore; non Dominum Iberniae, sed praefectum caussâ colligendi tributi Ecclesiastici. Osullevan. Hist. Ibern. fol. 59 b. in margin.  Let them reverence thee, as a Prince worthy of great honour; not as Lord of Ireland, but as a Deputy appointed for the collecting of the Ecclesiastical tribute. It is true indeed that King Henry the second, to the end he might the more easily obtain the Pope's good will for his entering upon Ireland, did voluntarily offer unto him the payment of a yearly pension of one penny out of every house in the country: which (for aught that I can learn) was the first Ecclesiastical tribute that ever came unto the Pope's coffers out of Ireland. But that King Henry got nothing else by the bargain but the bare office of collecting the Pope's Smoke-silver (for so we called it here, when we paid it) is so dull a conceit; that I do somewhat wonder how Osullevan himself could be such a blockhead, as not to discern the senselessness of it.  
What the King sought for and obtained, is sufficiently declared by them that writ the history of his reign. 
z Robert. de Monte. Roger. de Wendover. Matth. Paris. & Nicol. Trivett in Chronic. an. 1155.  In the year of our Lord MCLU. the first Bull was sent unto him by Pope Adrian: the sum whereof is thus laid down in a second Bull, directed unto him by Alexander the third, the immediate successor of the other. 
a Venerabilis Adriani Papae vestigiis inhaerentes, vestrique desiderii fructum attendentes; concessionem eiusdem super Hibernici regni dominio vobis indulto (saluâ Beato Petro & sacrosanctae Ecclesiae Romanae, sicut in Angliâ Sic in Hiberniâ de singulis domibus annuâ unius denarii pensione) ratam habemus & confirmamus. Bul. Alexandri III. apud Grialdum Cambrens. lib. 2. Histor. Hibern. expugnat. cap. 6. in codicibus MS. (in edito enim caput hoc mancum est) & Io. Rossum Warvicensem, in tract. De terris Coronae Angliae annexis.  Following the steps of reverend Pope Adrian, and attending the fruit of your desire; we ratify and confirm his grant concerning the dominion of the KINGDOM of Ireland conferred upon you: reserving unto St. Peter and the holy Church of Rome, as in England so in Ireland, the yearly pension of one penny out of every house. In this sort did Pope Adrian, as much as lay in him, give Ireland unto King Henry, haereditario jure possidendam, to be possessed by right of inheritance; & withal 
b Annulum quoque per me transmisit aureum, smaragdo optimo decoratum, quo fieret investitura iuris in gerenda Hibernia: idemque adhuc annulus in curiali archîo publico custodiri jussus est. Io. Sarisbur. Metalogic. lib. 4. cap. 42. de quo consulendus etiam est Giraldus Cambrens. lib. 2. Hibern. expugnat. cap. 6.  sent unto him a ring of gold, set with a fair Emerald, for his investiture in the right thereof: as johannes Sarisburiensis, who was the principal agent betwixt them both in this business, doth expressly testify. After this, in the year MCLXXI. the King himself came hither in person: where the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland 
c In Regem & Dominum receperunt. Roger. Wendover, & Matth. Paris. in Historiâ maiori, an. 1171. Roger. Hoveden, in posteriore parte Annalium. johan. Brampton in Historiâ joralanensi, & Bartholomaeus de Cotton, in Histor. Anglor. MS.  received him for their KING and lord The King (saith john Brampton) 
d Recepit ab unoquoque Archiepiscopo & Episcopo literas, cum sigillis suis in modum Char●ae pendentibus; regnum Hiberniae sibi & haeredibus suis confirmantes, & testimonium perhibentes ipsos in Hiberniâ cum & haeredes suos sibi in Reges & Dominos in perpetuum constituisse. Io. Brampton. ibid.  received letters from every Archbishop and Bishop, with their seals hanging upon them in the manner of an Indenture; confirming the KINGDOM of Ireland unto him and his heirs, and bearing witness that they in Ireland had ordained him and his heirs to be their KINGS and Lords for ever. At Waterford (saith Roger Hoveden) 
e Venerunt ibidem ad regem Angliae omnes Archiepiscopi, Episcopi, Abbates totius Hiberniae, & receperunt cum in Regem & Dominum Hiberniae; jurantes ei & haeredibus suis fidelitatem, & regnandi super ●os potestatem in perpetuum: & inde dederunt ei chartas suas. Exemplo autem clericorum, praedicti Reges & Principes Hiberniae, receperunt simili modo Henricum regem Angliae in Dominum & Regem Hiberniae; & homines sui devenerunt, & ei & haeredibus suis fidelitatem juraverunt contra omnes homines. Rog. Hoveden. ad ann. 1171.  all the Archbishops, Bishops, and Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England, and received him for KING and Lord of Ireland; swearing fealty to him and to his heirs, and power to reign over them for ever: and hereof they gave him their Instruments. The Kings also and Princes of Ireland, by the example of the Clergy, did in like manner receive Henry King of England for Lord and KING of Ireland; and became his men (or, did him homage) and swore fealty to him and his heirs against all men.  
These things were presently after confirmed in the national Synod held at Casshell: the Acts whereof in Giraldus Cambrensis are thus concluded. 
f Dignum etenim & justissimum est, ut sicut Dominum & Regem ex Angliâ sortita est divinitùs Hibernia; sic etiam exinde vivendi formam accipiant meliorem. Girald. Cambrens. Hibern. Expugnat. lib. 1. cap. 34.  For it is fit and most meet, that as Ireland by God's appointment hath gotten a Lord and a KING from England; so also they should from thence receive a better form of living. King Henry also at the same time 
g Rex Angliae misst transcriptum Chartarum universorum Archiepiscoporum & Episcoporum Hiberniae, ad Alexandrum Papam: & ipse authoritate Apostolicâ confirmavit illi & haeredibus suis regnum Hiberniae, secundùm formam Chartarum Archiepiscoporum & Episcoporum Hiberniae. Rog. Hoveden.  sent a transcript of the Instruments of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland, unto Pope Alexander: who by his Apostolical authority (for so was it in those days of darkness esteemed to be) did confirm the KINGDOM of Ireland unto him and his heirs, (according to the form of the Instruments of the Archbishops & Bishops of Ireland) 
h Nam summus Pontifex regnum illud sibi & haeredibus suis auctoritate Apostolicâ confirmavit; & in perpetuum eos constituit inde Reges. Io. Brampton.  and made them KINGS thereof for ever. The King also 
i Perquisierat ab Alexandro summo Pontifice, quòd liceret ei filium suum quem vellet Regem Hiberniae facere, & fimiliter coronare; ac Reges & potentes ejusdem terrae, qui subjectionem ei facere ●ollent, debellare. Id. ad. 〈◊〉. 1177.  obtained further from Pope Alexander, that it might be lawful for him to make which of his sons he pleased, KING of Ireland, and to crown him accordingly; and to subdue the Kings and great ones of that land, which would not subject themselves unto him. Whereupon, in a grand Council held at Oxford in the year of our Lord MCLXXVII. 
k johannem filium suum coram Episcopis & regni sui principibus Regem Hiberniae constituit. Id. ibid. & Gualterus Coventrensis, inejusdem anni historiâ.  before the Bishops and Peers of the Kingdom he constituted his son john KING of Ireland; 
l Constituit johannem filium suum Regem in Hiberniâ, concessione & confirmatione Alexandri summ● Pontificis. Rog. Hoveden. Annal. part. 2. ad an. 1177.  according to that grant and confirmation of Pope Alexander. And to make the matter yet more sure, in the year MCLXXXVI. he obtained a new licence from Pope Vrban the third; 
m Ab eo impetravit; quòd unus quem vellet de filiis suis coronaretur de regne Hiberniae. & hoc confirmavit ei Dominus Papa Bullâ suâ: & in argumentum voluntatis & confirmationis suae, misit ei coronam de pennâ pavonis auro contextam. Id. add an. 1185.  that one of his sons, whom he himself would, should be crowned for the KINGDOM of Ireland. And this the Pope did not only confirm by his Bull: but also the year following purposely sent over Cardinal Octavian and Hugo de Nunant (or Novant) 
n Quibus ipse commisit legatiam in Hiberniam, ad ceronandum ibi johannem filium Regis. Sed Dominus Rex coronationem illam distulit. Jd. ad an. 1187.  his Legates into Ireland, to crown john the King's son there.  
By all this we may see, how far King Henry the second proceeded in this business: which I do not so much note, to convince the stolidity of Osullevan, who would fain persuade fools, that he was preferred only to be collector of the Pope's Peter-pences: as to show, that Ireland at that time was esteemed a Kingdom, and the Kings of England accounted no less than Kings thereof. And therefore 
* Paulus IIII nostris temporibus Hiberniam insulam in regni titulum ac dignitatem erexit. Gabutius in vitam PijV.  Paul the fourth needed not make all that noise, and trouble 
o Ad omnipotentis Dei laudem & gloriam, ac gloriosissimae ejus genitricis Virginis Mariae, totiusque Curiae coelestis honorem, & fidei Catholicae exaltationem, Philippo Rege & Mariâ Reginâ nobis super hoc humiliter supplicantibus, de fratrum nostrorum consilio & Apostolicae potestatis plenitudine, Apostolicâ authoritate Insulam Hiberniae in Regnum perpetuò erigimus; ac titulo, dignitate, honore, facultatibus, juribus, insigniis, praerogativis, antelationibus, praeeminentiis regiis, ac quibus alia Christi fidelium Regna utuntur, potiuntur, & gaudent, ac uti, potiri, & gaudere poterunt quomodo libet, in futurum insignimus & decoramus. Bulla Pauli IV. in Rotulo Patentium, ann. 2. & 3. Philippi & Mariae, in Cancellariâ Hiberniae.  the whole Court of heaven with the matter: when in the year MDLV. he took upon him by his Apostolical authority (such I am sure, as none of the Apostles of Christ did ever assume unto themselves) to erect Ireland unto the title and dignity of a Kingdom. Whereas he might have found, even in his own 
* Provinciale ex archivis Cancellariae Apostolicae. edit. tomo 2. Tractat. Doctor. fol. 344. (impres. Venet. an. 1548.)  Roman Provincial, that Ireland was reckoned among the Kingdoms of Christendom, before he was borne. Insomuch, that in the year MCCCCXVII. when the Legates of the King of England and the French Kings Ambassadors fell at variance in the Council of Constance for precedency; the English Orators, among other arguments, alleged this also for themselves. 
p Satis constat, secundum Albertum Magnum & Bartholomaeum de proprietatibus rerum, quòd toto Mundo in tres partes diviso (videlicèt Asiam, Africam, & Europam) Europa in quatuor dividitur regna: primum videlicèt Romanum, secundum Constantinopolitanum, tertium regnum Hiberniae quod jam translatum est in Anglicos, & quartum regnum Hispaniae. Ex quo patet, quòd rex Angliae & regnum suum sunt de eminentioribus antiquioribus Regibus & Regnis totius Europae: quam praerogativam regnum Franciae non fertur obtinere. Act. Concil. Constant. Sess. 28. MS. in Bibliothecâ Regiâ.  It is well known, that according to Albertus Magnus and Bartholomaeus in his book De proprietatibus rerum, the whole world being divided into three parts (to wit, Asia, afric and Europe) Europe is divided into four Kingdoms: namely, the Roman for the first, the Constantinopolitan for the second, the third the Kingdom of Ireland which is now translated unto the English, and the fourth the Kingdom of Spain. Whereby it appeareth, that the King of England and his Kingdom are of the more eminent ancient Kings and Kingdoms of all Europe: which prerogative the Kingdom of France is not said to obtain. And this have I here inserted the more willingly, because it maketh something for the honour of my Country (to which, I confess, I am very much devoted) and in the printed Acts of the Council it is not commonly to be had.  
But now cometh forth Osullevan again, and like a little fury flieth upon 
q Cujus mali maxima culpa in aliquot Angloibernos Sacerdotes jure transferenda est; qui tartareum dogma ab Orco in Catholicorum perniciem emissum non negabant, licere Catholicis contra Catholicos & suam patriam pro Haereticis getere arma & dimicare. Philip. Osullevan. Hist. Cathosic. Iberniae, tous. 4. lib. 3. cap. 5. fol. 263. edit. Vlissipon. an. 1621.  the English-Irish Priests of his own religion, which in the late rebellion of the Earl of Tirone did not deny that Hellish doctrine, fetched out of Hell for the destruction of Catholics, that it is lawful for Catholics to bear arms and fight for Heretics against Catholics and their country. or rather (if you will have it in plainer terms) that it is lawful for them of the Romish Religion, to bear arms and fight for their Sovereign and fellow-subjects that are of another profession, against those of their own religion that traitorously rebel against their Prince and Country. and to show, 
r Haec est Academiarum censura; quâ liquidò constat, quantâ ignoratione & caligine erraverint illi Iberni, qui in hoc bello Protestantibus opem tulerunt, & Catholicos oppugnârunt: quamque insanam & venenosam doctrinam attulerint nonnulli doctiores vulgò habiti, qui saeculares homines ad Reginae partes sequendas exhortati, à fide tuendâ averterunt. Id. tom. 3. lib. 8. cap. 7. fol. 204.  how mad and how venomous a doctrine they did bring (these be the caitiffs own terms) that exhorted the laity to follow the Queen's side: he setteth down the censure of the Doctors of the University of Salamanca and Vallodilid, published in the year MDCIII. for the justification of that Rebellion, and the declaration of Pope Clement the eights letters touching the same; wherein he signifieth that 
s cum enim Pontifex dica● Anglos adversus Catholicam Religionem pugnare, eosque non minut ac Turcas oppugnari debere; eisdemque gratiis eos oppugnantes prosequatur, quibus contra Turcas pugnantes prosequitur: quis dubitet, bellum ab Anglis adversus exercitum Catholicum omninò iniquum geri? Censur. Doct. Salmanti●. & Vallisolet. de Hibermiae bello.  the English ought to be set upon no less than the Turks, and imparteth the same favours unto such as set upon them, that he doth unto such as fight against the Turks. Such wholesome directions doth the Bishop of Rome give unto those that will be ruled by him: far different (I wiss) from that holy doctrine, wherewith the Church of Rome was at first seasoned by the Apostles. 
t Rom. 13. 1.  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: was the lesson that S. Paul taught to the ancient Romans. Where if it be demanded; 
u Quid, & illa potesta●, quae servos Dei persequitur, fidem impugnat, religionem subvertit, à Deo est? Ad quod respondendum, quòd etiam talis potestas à Deo data est, ad vindictam quidem malorum, laudem verò bonorum. Sedul in Rom. 13.  whether that power also, which persecuteth the servants of God, impugneth the faith, and subverteth religion, be of God? our countryman Sedulius will teach us to answer with Origen; that even such a power as that, is given of God, for the revenge of the evil, and the praise of the good. although he were as wicked, as either Nero among the Romans, or Herod among the jews: the one whereof most cruelly persecuted the Christians, the other Christ himself.  
And yet when the one of them swayed the sceptre, Saint Paul told the Christian Romans; that they 
x Rom. 13. 5.  must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake: and of the causeless fear of the other, these Verses of Sedulius are solemnly sung in the Church of Rome, even unto this day. 


y Sedul. in Hymno acrostich. de Vit● Christi.  Herodes hostis impie,  
Christum venire quid times?  
Non eripit mortalia,  
Qui regna dat coelestia.   

Why, wicked Herod, dost thou fear  
And at Christ's coming frown?  
The mortal he takes not away,  
That gives the heavenly crown.   a better paraphrase whereof you cannot have, than this which Claudius hath inserted into his Collections upon St. Matthew. 
z Rex iste qui natus est, non venit Reges pugnando superare, sed moriendo mirabiliter subjugare: neque ideò natus est ut tibi succedat, sed ut in eum mundus fideliter credat. Venit enim, non ut regnet vivu●, sed ut triumphet occisus: nec sibi de aliis gentibus auro exercitum quaerat; sed ut pro salvandis gentibus pretiosum sanguinem fundat. Inaniter invidendo timuisti successorem, quem credendo debuisti quaerere salvatorem; quia si in eum crederes, cum eo regnares; & sicut ab illo accepisti teraporale regnum, accipe●es etiam sempiternum. Hujus enim pueri regnum non est de hoc mundo; sed per ipsum regnatur in hoc mundo. Ipse est etiam Sapientia Dei, quae dicit in Proverbiis: Per me Reges regnant. Puer iste Verbum Dei est, Puer iste Virtus & Sapientia Dei est. Si potes, contra Dei sapientiam cogita: in tuam perniciem versaris, & nescia. Tu enim regnum nullatenus habuisses, nisi ab isto Puero qui nunc natus est accepisses. Claud. lib. I. in Matth.  That King which is borne, doth not come to overcome Kings by fight, but to subdue them after a wonderful manner by dying: neither is he borne to the end that he may succeed thee, but that the world may faithfully believe in him. For he is come, not that he may fight being alive, but that he may triumph being slain: nor that he may with gold get an army unto himself out of other nations, but that he may shed his precious blood for the saving of the nations. Vainly didst thou by envying fear him to be● thy successor, whom by believing thou oughtest to seek as thy Saviour: because if thou didst believe in him, thou shouldest reign with him; and as thou hast received a temporal kingdom from him, thou shouldest also receive from him an everlasting. For the kingdom of this Child is not of this world; but by him it is that men do reign in this world. He is the Wisdom of God, which saith in the Proverbs: By me Kings reign. This Child is the Word of God: this Child is the Power and Wisdom of God: If thou canst, think against the Wisdom of God: thou workest thine own destruction, and dost not know it. For thou by no means shouldest have had thy kingdom, unless thou hadst received it from that Child which now is borne.  
As for the Censure of the Doctors of Salamanca and Vallodilid: our Nobility and Gentry, by the faithful service which at that time they performed unto the Crown of England, did make a real confutation of it. Of whose fidelity in this kind I am so well persuaded, that I do assure myself, that neither the names of Franciscus Zumel and Alphonsus Curiel (how great Schoolmen soever they were) nor of the Fathers of the Society (johannes de Ziguenza, Emanuel de Roias', and Gaspar de Mena) nor of the Pope himself, upon whose sentence they wholly ground their Resolution; either than was or hereafter will be of any force, to remove them one whit from the allegiance and duty which they do owe unto their King and Country. Nay I am in good hope, that their loyal minds will so far distaste that evil lesson, which those great Rabbis of theirs would have them learn; that it will teach them to unlearne another bad lesson, wherewith they have been most miserably deluded. For whereas heretofore 
a Veritas sapienti nitet, cujuscunque ore prolata fuerit. Gildas, in Codice Ca●num Cottoniano tit. De veritate credendâ, quocunque ore prolata fuerit. Similiter Nennius, praefat. in in Historiam Brittonum (Ms. in publicâ Cantabrigiensis academiae Bibliothecâ:) Non quis dicat, aut qualiter dicatur, sed quid dictum sit, veritatis testimonio magis attendendum esse probanae.  wise men did learn to give credence to the truth, by whosoevers mouth it should be delivered: now men are made such fools, that they are taught 
b In doctrinâ religionis non quid dicatur, sed quis loquatur attendendum esse. Thom. Stapleton. Defence. Ecclesiastic. authoritat. lib. 3. cap. 57 & Demonstrat. Principior. Doctrinal. lib. 10. cap. 5.  to attend in the doctrine of Religion, not what the thing is that is said, but what the person is that speaketh it.  
But how dangerous a thing it is, to have the faith of our Lord jesus Christ in respect of persons; and to give entertainment to the truth, not so much for itself as for the regard that is had to the deliverer of it: I wish men would learn otherwise, than by woeful experience in themselves. 
c Veritas propter seipsam diligenda est, non propter Hominem, aut propter Angelum, per quem adnunciatur. Qui enim propter adnunciatores eam diligit, potest & mandacia diligere, siqua fortè ipsi sus protulerint. Claud. in Galat. 1.  The truth (saith Claudius) is to be loved for itself, not for the Man, or for the Angel, by whom it is preached. For he that doth love it in respect of the preachers of it, may love lies also, if they peradventure shall deliver any. as here without all peradventure, the Pope and his Doctors have done: unless the teaching of flat Rebellion and high Treason may pass in the account of Catholic verities. The Lord of his mercy open their eyes, that they may see the light; and give them grace to receive the love of the truth, that they may be saved. The Lord likewise grant (if it be his blessed will) that Truth and Peace may meet together in our days, that we may be all gathered into 
d john 10. 16.  one fold under one shepherd, and that 
e Psal. 72. 19  the whole earth may be filled with his glory. Amen, Amen.  
FINIS.   

Faults in some Copies.  
IN the Jesuits Challenge, pag. 3. lin. 2. read, contrary. pag. 4. lin. 9 for should, read shall.  
In the Answer, pag. 4. l. 26. likewise. p. 5. l. 21. satisfy. p. 12. l. 7. continued. p. 16. l. 22. Penitential. p. 26. l. 6. knew. p. 27. l. 26. Augustin. p. 50. l. 23. (saith ⁿ Fulgentius) p. 51. l. 6. when he ●s found to be that. p. 62. l. 3. Antoninus. p. 64. l. 12. after Christ. p. 72. l. 4. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 75. l. 6. cress out, of Mets first and afterwards. p. 76. l. 3. Carisiacum or Cressy. p. 96. l. 9 secretly. p. 123. l. 26. commanded. p. 124. l. 5. sins. p. 126. l. 17. intercession. ibid. l. 19 for the comma put a full point; and in the next line for the full po●nt put a comma. p. 136. l. 1. Anastasius. p. 139. l. 4. Scriptures. ibid. l. 7. Levite. 146. l. 31. instrumentally. p. 147. l. 22. death. pag. 154. l. 25. Augustine. p. 156. l. 2. and p. 162. l. 19 medicine. p. 171. l. 16. the p. 172. l. 14. for these, read their. p. 285. l. 2. Clympiodorus. p. 188. l. 10. (about 243. p. 190. l. 4. who very. p. 194 l. 16. (with. ibid. l. 18. for bid read paid. p. 195. l. 6. intended. p. 205. l. 15. Halleluia. p. 206. l. 8. for drive, read not drive. p. 221. l. 1. write, p. 226. l. 19 in the Roman Pontifical. p. 228. l. 17. apocryphal. p. 234. l. 7. entering again into. p. 253. l. 8. form. p. 264. l. 5. kinds. p. 270. l. 18. for ceasing, read casing. p. 277. l. 26. ascension. p. 281. l. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 284 l. 5. expounding that place in. p. 291. l. 1. entering again into. p. 307. l. 14. apocryphal; p. 310 l. 1. cross out, Vs. p. 323. l. 17. Steuchus. p. 328. l. 20, 21. with that which Olympiodorus writeth upon the same chapt oer. p. 330. l. 3. divisiun. p. 343. l. 5. cross out the last comma. l. 22. palace. p. 359. l. 28. of it. p. 361. l.. 27. judgement. p. 368. l. 6. for giveth, read goeth. p. 376. l. 25. sister. p. 379. l. 12. coming. p. 391. l. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 395. l. 26. for depravation, r. deprivation. p. 398. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 427. l. 9 for excepting r. accepting. l. 15. invocation. l. 16. salvation. l. 18. noted. l. 20. call. p. 428. l. 19 in stead of for, r. of. p. 437. l. 6. Anastasius. p. 439. l. 6. were in. p. 441. l. 16. lliads. p. 443. l. 4. tried. p. 449. l. 11. congruity. p. 453. l. 14. here a. p. 454. l. 25. there of. p. 461. l. 26. descend. p. 469. l. 17. of Ang. p. 471. l. 30. Collections. p. 472. l. 5. Colossians. l. 22. Phrygia. p. 473. l. 6. for mad, r. made. l. 18. the word. p. 476. l. 17. (saith. l. 28. speak.) p. 491. l. 4. m Blessed. p. 492. l. 10. despise. p. 497, 500, 501. and 504. in the title, r. Of Images. p. 497 l. 21. for confirm, rs. conform. p. 503. l. 12. Origen. p. 505. l. 8. deaes and diverse. p. 506 l. 13. prevail. p. 508. l. 9 a whoring. p. 516. l. 15. destitute. p. 518. l. 3. pu●e. pag. 521. l. 19 to bew, p. 525. l. 15. observeth. p. 535. l. 12. pray. p. 538. l. 6. iuvet. p. 539. l. 30. hortatuque p. 540. l. 2. ex fracto. p. 541. l. 17. inspiration. p. 547. l. 27. hereby. p. 548. l. 10. therefore. p. 556. l. 7. in the. p. 557. l. 6. freely. p. 561. l. 10. receiving. p. 569. l. 24. substantial.  
In the Margin. Pag. 17. after the letter i, lin. 3. read Monasterii. p. 29. g. l. 10. praescientiam. p. 31. n. l. 1. in 2. 2. p. 42. k. l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. lin. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 43. 0. l. 8. presbyter. p. 45. b. l. 2. videtis. l. 8. apud Fulgentium in fine libelli de Baptismo AEthiopis; Bedam, etc. p. 46. l. ult. Psalmum. p. 49. l. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 50. n. l. 6. invenitur. Fulgentius (in fine libelli de Baptismo AEthiopis) Augustini nomine citatus apud Bed. etc. p. 54. a. l. 1●. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 66. r. l. 5. divinâ autem illum. p. 72. p. l. 1. Removeantur. p. 73. t. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 74. c. l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 76. i. l. 2. effieitur. ibid. k. Suprà. p. 77. r. l. 1. mysterium. p. 82. h. l. 8. Colleg. p. 87. l. lin. 16 for 162. read 262. p. 88 o. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. q. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 94. l. l. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ibid. l. 30 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 104. l. lin. ult. inter. p. 111. o. l. 10. quod. p. 116. g. l. 3 non p. 119 s. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 121. g. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 123 a l. 3. Sacerdotio. p. 124. g. l. 6. Theophyl act in joh. 8. p. 126. u. l. 11. Vossio. p. 128. f. l. 14. inedit. ibid. k. l. 3. misericordiam. p. 129. * l. 1. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 143. i. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 152. t. l. 2. ignoret. p. 156. l. lin. ult. Aquisgran. sub Ludovico Pio, cap. 37. p. 157. m. l. 1. illum. ibid. l. 27. jidem. p. 167. c. l. 13 quaest. p. 171. o. l. 33. ostendendi. p. 177. x. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. y. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 180. h. l. 18. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 182. s. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 187. m. l. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 188. o. l. 27. corripimur. p. 189. p. l. 23. after conversat. insert this parenthesis (cuius author Eligius Noviomensis) p. 192. d. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 196. d. l. 4. offerimus. ibid. l. 13. cross out, & 178. ibid. g. l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 197. i. l. 15. blot out the point after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. k. l. 2. Apostolis. p. 198. n. l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 199. s. l. 3; fruntur. ibid. l. 5. contextione. p. 202. h. l. 25. refern. p. 205. o. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 206. u. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 208. c. l. 6. quos. p. 209. g. l. 4. Gra. câ. p. 210. n. l. 4. Beneventani) p. 211. r. l. 10. for in r. ex. p. 213. y. l. 6. Menesi●. p. 214. § l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 215. * l. 19 pareret. p. 218. i. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 222. l. 6. consequuntur. ibid. y. l. ult. col. 228. e. p. 228. q. l. 2. Apocrypha. p. 231. a. l. 14. invenire. p. 232. c. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 235. q. l. 10. praecesserunt videantur usque ad iudiciidiem, per plurimum scilicet temporis, debitâ sibi remuneratione, etc. p. 236. x. l. 29. for 206. r. 220. p. 237. a. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. c. l. 22. Ephesius. p. 238. * l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. ●. l. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. & l. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 241. k. l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 245. a. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 246. f. l. 6. Euchologio, p. 247. m. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 248. n. l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 253. h. l. 1. Volaterran. ibid. l. 6. Rupe. p. 254. o. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 255. r. l. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 260. e. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 262. d. l. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 263. el. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 264. h. l. 3, 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 265. l. lin 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. ult 138. p. 269. l. 3, 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 272. s. l. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. 37. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 273. t. l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 275. h. l. 6. for aufe●e, r. offer. p. 278. m. l. 2. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 282. g. l. 24. donec. p. 284. p. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 286. al. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 287. h. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. 11. Asterius. p. 290. s. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 291. z, l. 11. cross out in. ibid. l. 14. Lugd. p. 292. l. lin. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 293. n. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. r. l. ult. intravit. p. 294. u. l. 6. cross out, in fine. p. 295. z. l. 6. paupertatis. p. 297. h. l. 10. infernum. p. 299. q. l. 3. infernum ibid. s. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. u. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 300. x. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Ira. ibid. z. l. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 301. g. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. m. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. n. l. 4. laudantes. p. 303. z. l. 1. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 308. y. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 313. y. l. 1. for mortuorum, r. mortuum. p. 318. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. *. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. m. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 319. p. l. 12. uruntur. ibid. l. 14. m. Annaeus Seneca, lib. 8. ibid. r. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 323. o. l. 19 falso. p. 325. c. l. 1. Ibidem in. p. 327. s. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 328. u. l. 8. recidant. ibid. x. l. 4, 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. z. in stead of the Latin, put the Greek. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; Olympiod. Caten. Graec. in job 17. p. 333. h. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 342. * l. 13, 14. phasada for corruption. p. 343. s. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 346. u. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. v. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 347. b. l. 2, 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 348. d. s. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 349. h. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 350. m. l. 10. cr●sse out the comma. p. 351. s. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 352. a. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 353. b. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibls. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 357. n. l. 25. Num. 16. 30, 33. ib. o. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 361. dil. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 18, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 362. h. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 363. s. l. ult. for 238. put 237. p. 364. t. l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. x. l. i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 366. l. 1. c. Autholog. ib. e. l. 8, 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 367. a. apud. p. 3●9. r. put the comma before, not after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 370. b. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 371. k. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. lin. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. o. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 376. k. l. 4. positam p. 377. l. lin. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibm. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. n. l. ult. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; p. 378. o. l. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 379. u. l. 31. Numer. p. 383. k. l. 2. cress out, 294. &. p. 384. r. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 386. * l. 16. for 349. r. 939. ibid. l. 13. Ad. p. 387. a. l. 17 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 391. a. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 394. c. l. 10. Spoletinus. p. 401. z. l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 401. l. lin. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 404. r. l. 18. for 308. put 309. p. 407. i. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. k. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 422. 0. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 19 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. l. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 423. r. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. s. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 425, x. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 428. b. l. 11, 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 43. n. l. ult. for 142. put 241. p. 432. o. for contr. put conc. p. 436. ●. l. 9, supplicia. ib. g. l. 5. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, put 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 4. ●7. h. l. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 43. 8. l. 1. k. Sic, p. 440. q. l. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 29 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 44. u. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. z. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 44, 2. a. l. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 444. d. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 446. l. lin. 4, 5. for initio pag. 392. put pag. 435. ad. y. literam. p. 452. * l. 16. quaestiones, ib. l. 18. for, auctorum, r. sanctorum. p. 453. m. l. 16. Vi, p. 457. u. l. 6. for, audience, r. audens, p. 458. g. l. ult. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 60. k. l. 44. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 16. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 27. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. l. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 12. in. Matth. and, in Eclogis. ib. l. lin. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 461. m. l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. n. l. 2, ●. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. o. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 462. q. l. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. r. l. ult. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 463. l. 5, 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. 26. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 46●. y. l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 46. *. l. 2. Feirand, p. 469. t. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. u. l. 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l. ●0. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 473. 1. l. 4. Origin ib. l. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 474. o. l. 5. quirogae. ib. p. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 475. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 476. u. l. 8. honorari, p. 477. a. l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. d. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, lin. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. e. l. ult. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 485. h. l. 18. AEneid, p. 490. d. l. 2. tribulationis ●p. 491. q. l. 1. Miserere, p. 502. x. l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. z. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 506. u. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 507. z. l. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 508. b. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 509. l. 17. for, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 514. l. 1. a. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. ●16. l. 1. f. Quis. à nostrūm p. 518. x. l. 3. istis, r. estis, p. 519. v. l. 5. ut sit. p. 523. l. in. 22. aliqua, l. 27. aequitatem, inesse, p. 526. a. appetere, p. 537. i. Prosper, p. 538. k. l. 11. cum, p. 540. * l. 25. Baron, p. 542. x. l. 2. viribus, p. 543. a. l. ult. Augustini, p. 548. c. l. 2. quam, p. 553. *. l. 5. merue. p. 554. * l. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 555. g. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l, 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. l, 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 556. m. lin. 5. Proaemium. ib. n. l. 4, 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. p. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p 557. q. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. s. l. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. t. l. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ib. u. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 5●8. x. l. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ib. a. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 18. after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. put a full point; and after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, in lin 9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. l. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. p. 562. k. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p. 563. n. l. 18. resecat, ib. p. 3. comparari, p. 564. q. l. 6. blot out. the point. after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ibid. r. l. 4, 5. read the place thus; quippiam iustum, non respondebo, sed meum iudicem deprecabor. Veiut si apertiùs fa●catur, dicens: Etsi ad opus virtutis excrevero, etc. p. 565. t. l 2. Beda, p. 573. a. l. 3. bona, p. 576. q. Enchirid, p. 580. p. 1. 10. condignae, p. 58. 1. q. l. 8. quidam, p. 582. v. l. 4. Origin, ib. z. l. 15. Ca●sidor, ib. a. l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
In the Catalogue of the Authors at the end; refer Tatianus to they year 170. at the year 290. put Pamphilus, for Pamphylus. at the year 475. Faustus Regensis, for Repensis. refer Concilium Aquisg●anense sub Pipino, to the year 836. at the year ●●3. 〈◊〉 Asser Menevensis be placed.