UC-NRLF J. Sanderson, D.D., ILD. ROLAND: IHE Il\lSH ..„» J.B. JjmAxPH.D., ll.D., D. CL ' J -^r-^f • 1'' THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA -ii^^ THE STORY OF SAINT PATRICK WITH A SKETCH OF IRELAND'S CONDITION TER BY JOSEPH SANDERSON, D. D., LL. D. AUTHOE OF " JESCB ON THE HOLT MOnNT," "MANUAL FOR FCSERAL8" ETC., ETC., LATE EDITOR OF THE " XKBASOBY " MAGAZINE IRELAND AND THE IRISH THEIR CHRISTIANITY, INSTITUTIONS, MISSIONS MISSION FIELDS AND LEARNING FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES XKIlttb an Hppen5ii BY JOHN BORLAND FINLAY, Ph. d., LL. D., D. G. L. F. K. G. S., FELLOW OF THE IMPERIAL INSTITUTE IB BOSTON, MASS. W. L. RICHARDSON COMPANY, 73 Hanover Street NEW-YORK WILBUR B. KETCHAM, 2 Cooper Union 1895 CopjTight, 1894, By Joseph Sanderson. THE STORY OF SAINT PATRICK EMBRACING A SKETCH OF THE CONDITION OF IRELAND BEFORE THE TIME OP PATRICK, DURING HIS LIFE, AT HIS DEATH, AND IMMEDIATELY AFTER IT BY JOSEPH SANDERSON, D. D., LL. D. LATE EDITOR OF "THE TREASURY OP RELIGIOUS THOUGHT" AUTHOR OF "JESUS ON THE HOLY MOUNT," "FUNERAL SERVICES," ETC. ie BOSTON, MASS. W. L. RICHARDSON COMPANY, 73 Hanover Street NEW-YORK WILBUR B. KETCHAM, 2 Cooper Union 1895 GIFT DAgsz ,2 T3 5^5- DEDICATED TO MY BELOVED CHILDREN WHOSE rHJAIi AFFECTION IS AN UNCEASING JOT. 291 There is no heroic poem in the world but is at bottom a biography, the life of a man ; and there is no life of a man faithfully recorded but is a heroic poem of its sort, rhymed or unrhymed.— Cabltle. PEEFACE. When Erin first rose from tlie dark, swelling flood, God blessed the green island, and saw it was good ; The emerald of Europe, it sparkled and shone. In the ring of the world, the most precious stone. Drennan. The author of " The Story of St. Patrick" has aimed to produce a popular life of this notable missionary, based upon facts and upon his characteristics and teachings as revealed in his genuine wi-itings. The story is preceded by a brief sketch of Ireland in its early settlements, its social condition, its legal enactments, its religious behefs, and its ancient language ; and is followed by a careful description of the church-work Patrick performed in Ireland. The book closes with an account of a few of the mu-acles attributed to St. Patrick, a few of the legends with which some writers have associated his name, and with the " say- ings, proverbs, and visions," whose genuineness has not been admitted by the most judicious critics. The volume contains an account of every known and important trans- action of his life, as the latest research and best scholar- ship have brought to light the different phases of his 7 8 PREFACE. much discussed and disputed career. Facts are the same everywhere ; but for the settiug forth of the facts as they are presented in this " Story," and for many of the lessons deduced therefrom, the author claims that these " apples of gold " are in his own " pictures of silver." He will wel- come criticism, whether adverse or favorable, for he would greatly prefer to know wherein he may be in error ; and where the views presented are just they may become more useful in being ventilated by discussion. Dear Shamrock of Erin ! so sacred and green. Though ages of sorrow thy past years have seen ; From childhood's bright morning to manhood's decline Thy leaflets we wear o'er our hearts ever thine. In sadness we loved thee, and earnest our prayer. Long years of rich blessing may yet be thy share. When strife o'er thy verdant soil ever shall cease. Thy three leaves the symbol of Love — Union — Peace. T. E. E. The CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER I. Early Settlers of Ireland 13 CHAPTER II. The Primitive Soclal Condition of Ireland 29 CHAPTER III. The Ancient Laws of Ireland 36 CHAPTER IV. The Druidical Religion op Ireland 42 CHAPTER V. The Original Language op the Celtic Irish 52 CHAPTER VI. The Progress op Christianity before the time of Patrick 65 CHAPTER VII. Patrick's Birthplace and Birth 74 CHAPTER VIII. Patrick's Parentage 81 9 10 CONTEXTS. PAOE CHAPTER IX. Official Positions of Patrick's Grandfather and Father . . 85 CHAPTER X. Patrick's Baptism and Early Life 89 CHAPTER XI. The Captivity of St. Patrick 93 CHAPTER XII. Patrick's Conversion in Bondage 98 CHAPTER XIII. Patrick's Escape from Slavery 102 CHAPTER XIV. Patrick at Home Again 105 CHAPTER XV. Patrick's Call to Mission Work ; 112 CHAPTER XVI. An Estimate of Patrick before entering upon his Mission . 117 CHAPTER XVII. Patrick Starting on his Mission in Ireland ' 121 CHAPTER XVIII. Patrick's Visit to Tara 128 CONTENTS. 11 PAGE CHAPTER XIX. Description of Taea and Taka Hall 132 CHAPTER XX. Patrick's Mission "Work m the West and South 135 CHAPTER XXI. Patrick's Visit to Connaught, etc 139 CHAPTER XXII. Patrick's Visit to the Northwest 144 CHAPTER XXIII. Patrick's Closing Missionary Tours 148 CHAPTER XXIV. Patrick's Death and Burial 155 CHAPTER XXV. A Memorial Tribute to Patrick 159 CHAPTER XXVI. Patrick's Chief Characteristics 162 CHAPTER XXVII. Patrick's Scriptural Knowledge 181 CHAPTER XXVIII. Patrick's Doctrines 186 12 CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTEE XXIX. The Eise op Monasticism 196 CHAPTEE XXX. The Chitrch op St. Patrick 206 CHAPTEE XXXI. Conclusion op " The Story op St. Patrick " 228 CHAPTEE XXXII. The " Confession" of St. Patrick 239 CHAPTEE XXXIII, The Hymn of St. Patrick 262 CHAPTEE XXXIV. Patrick's Epistle to Coroticus 267 CHAPTEE XXXV. Index op Biblical Texts Quoted by St. Patrick 276 CHAPTEE XXXVI. The Doubtful Eemains of Patrick 278 CHAPTEE XXXVII. Miracles and Legends 284 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. CHAPTER I. THE EAKLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. Long, long ago, beyond the misty space Of twice a thousand years, In Erin old there dwelt a mighty race, Taller than Roman spears ; Like oaks and towers they had a giant gi*ace, Were fleet as deers. With wind and waves they made their 'biding-place, These western shepherd seers. T. D. McGee. There are few more important and interesting person- ages in aU history, and around whom so much mystery hangs, than that of Patrick, usually designated the Apostle of Ireland. Nor can the condition of the Irish country and people before Patrick landed upon its shores be seen in a more satisfactory historic light. Therefore, before we enter upon the story of Patrick, let us briefly scan the condi- tion of Ireland in those early days. There is a mistiness enwrapping the annals of that "Green Isle of the Ocean," which obscm-es in a great 13 14 TEE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. measure the facts botlj before and after the commence- ment of the Chvi,=>tia5i era. Th6 preliistorJc legends of Ireland are, however, of con- siderable importance in obtaining a pretty accurate view of its earliest settlements. The long continuance of tribal government, and the existence of a special class whose duty it was to preserve the genealogies of the ruling fami- lies, and to keep in memory the deeds of their ancestors, were favorable to the gi'owth and preservation of these legends. Long pedigrees and stories of forays and battles were preserved, but were altered more or less in being transmitted fi'om father to sou. But as there had been no great conquest for centuries by foreign races to destroy these traditions they were not eradicated by internal contests and displacements of tribes. When these Irish prehistoric legends are therefore di- vested of their extraneous additions, they express the broad facts of the peopling of Ireland, and are in a mea- sure in accordance with the results of archaeological inves- tigation. Keeping these things in view, these prehistoric legends inform us that several principal peoples were the earliest settlers of Ireland. We must, however, remember that no two histories of Ireland seem to agree as to the strifes, changes, and rules which characterized that unhappy country during its earliest centuries. It is simply impossible to recon- cile the historical accounts handed down by the sages or scribes of those primitive times, when Ireland was a battle- ground for fierce wars of petty kings and chieftains. THJi EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 15 There is an early tradition that Gomer, the eldest son of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, was the progenitor of the early branches of the Celtic family, and of the modern people who are known as Gaels, or Scotch Highlanders, of Celtic origin. A curious compilation called " The Book of Invasions " tells us that the first people who arrived in Ireland were under the leadership of Parthelan, and came from Scythia, or middle Greece, in the fifteenth centuiy before Christ, and settled at Kenmare, on the southwest coast of Ireland. Parthelan divided the coast into four parts, giving to each of his four sons a part, and having occupied Ireland for three hundred years, they all died of a plague. From the earliest period Ireland was well wooded and the interior full of marshes. It was occupied by a sparse population of forest tribes, who were doubtless of the ab- original race of western and southern Em-ope. There is no date given for the arrival of this race, and it is said that these people were in Ireland when Ireland itself was discovered, as people were in San Salvador when it was discovered by Columbus. The incoming of the first Celts with Parthelan, who were akin to the later people called Scots, who settled on the sea-coast and built fortresses on the principal high- lands, was a marked era in the earliest history of Ireland, for these people, with the " forest tribes," formed the ear- liest basis of the population. Different parts of Ireland seem to have been settled at different times by people varied in origin and traits of character. The north people were probably a branch of 16 THE STORT OF ST. PATRICE. the Celts ; the eastern and central people were an offshoot of the British and Belgic tribes ; and the people of Mun- ster were of a southern or Gallic type. The Britons came from that part of France which lies between the river Seine and the English Channel, and which includes Nor- mandy as weU as Brittany. Three other tribes, called the invading tribes, came from between the river Humber and the shore of the North Sea. While the people who in- habited the British Isles were of the same stock as those of Gaul, yet they flowed into these isles in two streams, one from the neighboring Gaul, and one from some coun- try east of Gaul, by way of the North Sea. Another instalment of Celts, consequent upon their displacement from other countries by conquests of the Romans, soon after arrived. These commenced a war upon the various tribes they found in Ireland, and having conquered many of them, reduced them to servitude. The foremost of the conquering tribes was called Scot- raige, and having acquired the leadership of the free clans, were then called Scoti. These Scots gave the name of Scotia to Ireland, a name which it retained till the eleventh century, when the old name Hibernia, given to it by the Latin writers, was revived — a name which, on the author- ity of a learned scholar, is the Latin form of the word Erin. As these Celts formed the basis of the population in Gaul, Thrace, Asia Minor, and Caledonia, as well as in Ireland, it will be interesting to look at their origin, trace them through the nations, and study their characteristics as given by credible historians. THE EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 17 The Ai-yans were a primitive people who lived in pre- historic times in Central Asia, east of the Caspian Sea and north of the Hindu Mountains ; and from them sprang the Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, and other races. It was a divi- sion of mankind otherwise called Indo-European or Indo- Germanic. These people, moved either by the pressure of their increasing numbers or by the restlessness of their disposition, migrated in great hordes eastward. A side wave of this great flood of people poured over the Apen- nines, submerged Rome, and spread out in weaker waves over southern Italy. Many years afterward they swarmed into Thrace, and a part of them pushed into Asia Minor. We have no credible account of the separation of the Celts from the other Aryans or Indo-Germans. Invading eastern Europe, they were di'iven westward and settled in France and Spain, spreading themselves into north Italy, Belgium, and the British Isles. This migi-ation was doubt- less made long before the dawn of British history. More than six hundred years before the Christian era the coun- try of the Gauls was visited by the Phenicians and the Greeks. They found the people a race of warlike savages, who dressed in the skins of beasts, dyed or tattooed their limbs and bodies, made drinkiug-cups of the skulls of their enemies killed in battles, and strangled the unfortunate strangers wrecked upon their coasts. Their only religion was the worship of trees, fountains, thunder, and aU things wild or strange in nature. The Phenicians and subsequently the Greeks ean-ied on some trade with this wild people with the result of intro- ducing a few civilized arts among them. 18 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. The present town of Marseilles was founded 600 b.c. by Grecian traders. Six years later these barbarians, under their general, Belmus, captured and plundered Rome, but were driven out by the Roman leader Cornilleus. During the two hundred years following there were frequent wars between the Gauls and Romans. Those who settled in northern Italy, the cisalpine Gauls, were submerged by Rome about 220 B.C. Caesar subdued Gaul proper in eight campaigns between the years of 58 and 50 B.C. The loss of the Gauls in the last struggle was probably nearly a million of men. At the time of this conquest the Gauls had a number of fortified towns, they had invented various implements for use in husbandry, and excelled in the arts of working in metals, in embroidery, and the manufacture of various kinds of cloth. But they were rude in manner and rough in speech. They practised polygamy and worshiped many gods, to whom they offered in sacrifice the captives taken in war. They are described by Roman writers as a large, fair-skinned, and yellow-haired race, social, turbulent, en- thusiastic, imaginative, and vain. Because of their noisy and fluent speech, Cicei'o compared them to town-criers, and Cato remarks admiringly of their tact in turning an argument against their opponents. They wore their hair long and flowing, and delighted in showy garments. Their chiefs wore much jewelry, large head-pieces of fur and feathers, with gold and silver waist- belts, from which hung enormous sabers. They went into battle with all this finery on, but threw it off in the heat of the conflict. They fought fiercely, armed with barbed, iron-headed spears, heavy broadswords, and lances. THE EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. jg After their subjugation by Caesar the Gauls remained entirely quiet for more than two centuries, and the civili- zation of the country proceeded rapidly under the influ- ence of Roman rule. Many towns were built, new arts introduced, and commerce was stimulated. The national habits and religion retired by degrees to the northwest, and at last found their only refuge in the islands beyond it. Christianity was first introduced into Gaul about 160 a.d., by teachers sent out by the Apostles and their succes- sors. During the fourth and fifth eentui-ies the country was taken from the Romans by the Franks, a German tribe which gave its name to the country. The French people to-day are of mixed ancestry, deriv- ing their characteristics from the Celts, Romans, and Franks. The Irish are the only people from Gallic or Celtic an- cestry who have been mixed so slightly with other nation- aUties as to show, even to the present time, the survival of the physical and mental traits of the Gallic Celts. Historians seem unanimous in tracing the inhabitants of Thrace, in the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, to the influx of the Celts from southern and eastern Europe. Of the inhabitants of Thrace in those days, we are informed by eminent histoi'ians of their habits and practices. Polygamy was general, and when the husband died his favorite wife was slain over his gi'ave. Before mamage the Thracian women enjoyed the utmost liberty, but after marriage they were guarded with Tui'kish rigor. Wars and robbery were the only honorable occupations of the men. They lived to steal either from one another 20 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. or from the neighboring people. When not fighting or plundering, they spent their • days in savage idleness, or quarreling over their cups. They were courageous, or rather ferocious, after the fashion of barbarous people, yet they lacked the steady valor and endurance of disciplined troops. At all times their warfare displayed more fiei'ce- ness and impetuosity than fortitude. Their treachery was probably no greater than that of other barbarians. "When the Romans under Caesar invaded Britain fifty years before Christ they found the islands occupied by a tribe of the Cymric Celts, a people descended from the Belgic Grauls, who had crossed over to the island from the mainland opposite. These people were called Britons. A tribe of similar origin, the Caledonians, inhabited the northern half of the island, and still another tribe occupied the adjoining island of Ireland, then called Scotia, whence its inhabitants were known by the name of Scots ; but they called their island Eri, whence it is supposed that they were originally de- scended from wanderers from the land of the Spanish or Iberian Gauls. The Eomaus governed Britain for three centuries in justice and tranquillity, but the Caledonians made them- selves very troublesome by plundering incursions, and the Romans made a stone wall across the narrowest part to keep the northern barbarians off. These Caledonians were called Picts by the Romans, because they painted their bodies. Early in the third centmy the Saxons from north Germany made incursions into Britain, and these, with the Picts on the north and THE EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 21 the Scots on the west, harassed the Britons, who were protected, as far as possible, by the Romans, until the faU of their empire in the fifth century. The Celts in their dispersions through different coun- tries made themselves a " terror" wherever they went, and were so troublesome to the Romans in Asia Minor, where they had been diiven because of their marauding and plundering, that they were hemmed in by the emperor to the province of Galatia, so called because these people were Gauls. Here the Apostle Paul visited them, preached to them the gospel, and founded several churches, the first Celtic chm-ches of which we read in history. In writing an "Epistle" to them afterward he deplores their " fickleness," in backsliding so quickly after conver- sion, and with such little persuasion from the tempter. Paul had reached Galatia a broken-down traveler. He had halted on his journey because his strength had given out, and he must stay until regained. This in his letter to them he freely confessed. " Because of the weakness of the flesh I preached to you at first," is his language. He was physicaUy unable to proceed, and, moreover, he was afflicted with some malady the nature of which tended to excite contempt and even repulsion in beholders. Yet in spite of all this the warm-hearted Galatians or Celts received him with enthusiasm. Paul testifies that had he been "an angel of God," or "Jesus Christ" himself, they could not have shown him greater hospitality. They thought themselves happy, indeed, that he had be- come their guest; there was nothing they would not have 22 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. done for him, even " to the digging out of their eyes to give him," as they said, with a toucli of genuine Celtic exaggeration, and yet with a true streak of kindness and hospitality, for which Celts are still distinguished. These Galatians, be it remembered, were of Celtic de- scent. Galatian is synonymous with Gallic. They were the relics, as we have seen, of a Gallish or Celtic invasion that swept over southern Europe in the early part of the third century before Christ and poured into Asia Minor. Here the Celtic tribes maintained themselves in indepen- dence, under their native princes, until, a hundred years later, they were subdued by the Romans, and their coun- try formed a province of the empire. While they had retained much of the ancient language and manners, they had also readily acquired Greek culture, and were superior to their neighbors in intelligence. None of the New Testament churches possessed a more strongly marked character than did those in Galatia. They exhibited the well-known traits of the Celtic natui'e. They were genei'ous, impulsive, vehement in feeling and lan- guage, but vain, fickle, and quarrelsome. Eight out of the fifteen works of the flesh enumerated in the twentieth and twenty-first verses of the fifth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, works in which the Gala- tians indulged, were sins of strife. They could hardly be resti'ained from biting and devouring one another (chapter V. 1-5). They were prone to " revelings and drunkenness." They had probably, too, a nature bent toward a scenic and ritualistic type of religion, which made the spirituality of the gospel pall upon their taste, and gave to the teach- THE EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 23 ing of tlie Judaizers who had come among them its fatal bewitchmeut. " The beggarly elements of the world " still bewitch. The Romans, dreading the influence of these Celts, pushed them westward, and the Teutons, following up this pressure upon the Celts, drove them into Gaul and also into what is now known as the Three Kingdoms — England, Scotland, and Ireland. In these kingdoms they found a refuge, especially in Devon, Cornwall, Wales, the country from Mersey to the Clyde, and in Irene, or Ire- land. It must be remembered that while the Roman Empire was almost coextensive with the entire world, its legions, for whatever cause, never set foot on Ireland, nor could they ever penetrate into the great natural fortresses of northern Caledonia. Other peoples struggled for the mastery of Ireland, as the Nemediaus, the Ferbolgs, the Danaans, and the Melis- ians, but the Celts, under a leader called Scotraige, finally gained the mastery and were afterward called, as we have already stated, Scots. The leader of these Scots was Tuathal, who founded a feudal system in Ireland, which existed when Patrick ap- peared upon the scene, and which ruled Ireland while the Scotia power endured. Hitherto the island had been divided into four prov- inces, each province ruled by its own king, but Tuathal took a portion from each of the other provinces and of these formed the province 'or kingdom of Meath, which by its rental supported the chief king, who had his capital at 24 TEE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. Tara. Tuathal made himself chief king, and to him all the other kings were subject. He built in Muuster the sacred place of the Druids, now called the Hill of Ward, near Athboy. He established also a similar religious center for each of the other prov- inces. The sacred place of Munster was then called Ti- achtga; that of Connaught was called Usnech; that of Ulster was Tailti, now Telltown ; and Temair, or Tara, was in Leinster. Each of these sacred places had its great religious di-uid- ical festival. The great festival at Tiachtga was called Samium, now AUhallow-tide. On this occasion all the hearths in Mun- ster must be rekindled from the sacred fire, for which a tax was due to the king. The great festival of Beltaine was celebrated at Usnech, now the hill of Usnagh, in Westmeath. This was observed in the month of May. The horse and garments of every chief who came to the festival formed a part of the toU of the king of Connaught. At Tailti (Telltown) a great fair was held at certain inter- vals on the 1st of August, at which were celebrated games supposed to have been established by Lugaid of the Long Arm, one of the gods of Dia and Ana, in honor of his foster-mother, Tailti. It was here that Tuathal erected a royal sacred fort, called a dun, in which was placed the shrine of the Ulaid, and to the kings of which the rents of the fair belonged. These rents consisted chiefly in a fine due for each mar- riage celebrated there. THE EARLY SETTLERS OF IRELAND. 25 At Tara, the principal royal residence, he established the feast of Tara, which was a general assembly of the provin- cial kings and other sub-governors of Ireland who came to do homage to the Ardri, or over-king. The feast continued to be held from Tuathal's time to 554 A.D., when the last was held by Dairmait, son of Cer- ball. The establishment of the feast is also attributed to the prehistoric king Eochaid 011am Fotla, which-iaiplies that Tuathal merely reestablished it. As a reparation for the loss of his two daughters at the hands of the treacherous and wanton king Boroimhi, Tua- thal imposed a heavy tribute upon the province of Lein- ster, which was to be paid every season forever after. This tribute, which afterward caused so many wars, consisted of 6000 cows, 6000 hogs, 6000 wethers, 6000 copper cal- drons, 6000 ounces of silver, and 6000 mantles. After introducing several social reforms, one of which was the choosing of supervisors of the most expert work- men in the kingdom, Tuathal met his death at the hands of Mai, 109 A.D., who seized the throne. In the year 125 a.d., Cond, the hero of the hundred bat- tles, became king, and entered upon a career of warfare which continued with varying fortune until he was slain Ijy Tiofraid Tirech, king of Ulster. About this time Mug Nuadat founded a dynasty that ruled Munster for many years. The career of Cormac the son of Art, who lived in the first half of the third century, was remarkable for its treacherous cruelty, and afterward for its justice and wis- dom. Having in his youth been banished from Ulster, he 26 THE STOBY OF ST. PATRICK. aroused the sympathy of Thedy, a noble of considerable influence, and of Lughaigh, an invincible hero, who es- poused his cause and marched against the king of Ulster. After a hard-fought battle and a great display of hero- ism on the part of Lughaigh, the king of Ulster was slain and his army overwhelmed. Thedy in the contest received three wounds, which the ungi'ateful Cormac caused to be filled — one with an ear of barley, another with a black worm, and the third with a point of a rusty spear, hoping in this way to torture him to death ; but the wounds healed after a year of great suffering. In the meantime Cormac became established on the throne of his father, and after- ward ruled Ireland with great wisdom. He was converted to Christianity, but died seven years afterward, being choked with a salmon bone. During the latter part of the same century, Niall, a pow- erful and ambitious monarch of Ireland, invaded France and plundered the country. In this discursive sketch of the first settlers of Ireland we have seen that the Celts, wherever they have been, have demonstrated that they are a very important branch of the Indo-German family. If we look at them in Gaul, we see there that their in- cessant warfares bespeak at least activity of mind and body. If we look at them in Ireland, we see that the Irish missions have done a great deal for European civilization. If we look at them in Britain, we see that their traditions have deeply influenced medieval literature, t One great defect of the Celts is incapacity for political THE EAKLY SETTLERS OF lUELAND. 27 organization. Their very enthusiasm, lively feeling, and vivid imagination have prevented them from taking coolly and deliberately those measures which lead to national unity ; hence it is that they have given way before the more practical Roman and Teuton. The Teuton has quiet resolution, sturdy common sense, a talent for public life, state organization, and political dominion. The Celt has genuine refinement of manner and feeling and high poetic susceptibilities. We have also seen what a mixed race the inhabitants of Great Britain and Ireland are. At the invasion of Britain by the Romans the inhabitants included Phenician, Ro- man, and German elements, which had become incorpo- rated with the native Britons, who were of Celtic descent, and to these have since been added the Anglo-Saxons. The inhabitants of Ireland are no less composite and complex, since they have sprung, as we have seen, from peoples in the northern parts of Europe, Asia Minor, and Central Asia, with a large infusion of immigrations from Gaul and from ancient Germany and Scandinavia. Though the inhabitants of Ireland may have retained some of the bad qualities of the peoples from whom they have sprung, they are nevertheless distinguished for many of their best traits, and in several of these are not a whit behind some of the best peoples on the earth. 28 THE STOUY OF ST. PATRICK Salutation to the Celts. Hail to our Celtic brethren, wherever they may be, lu the far woods of Oregon, or o'er the Atlantic sea — Whether they guard the banner of St. George in Indian vales, Or spread beneath the nightless North experimental sails — One in name and in fame Are the sea-divided Gaels. A greeting and a promise unto them all we send ; Their charter our charter is, their glory is our end ; Their friend shall be our friend, our foe whoe'er assails The past or future honors of the far-dispers6d Gaels. One in name and in fame Ai*e the sea-divided Gaels. T. D. McGee. CHAPTER II. THE PRIMITIVE SOCLAIi CONDITION OF IRELAND. Oh, to have lived Hke an Irish chief when hearts were fresh and true, And a manly thought, like a pealing bell, would quicken them through and through. And the seed of a gen'rous hope right soon to a fiery action grew. And men would have scorned to talk and talk, and never a deed would do. C. G. DUFPY. The constitution of the Irish social system was tribal. It divided the population into numerous tribes, which were again subdivided into smaller clans, composed of families and individuals descended from a common ancestor, from whom ti'ibes and clans took their name. This division of the people into tribes or clans was a fundamental feature of primitive Irish society, and must be always kept in view by any one who would understand the constitution of the church founded by Patrick and his successors. Each tribe had its chief, and the chiefs of the tribes were subject to the king of the province, and these pro- vincial kings were subject to the chief king. The chief- tainship and the kingship were all elective, although the choice was limited to the relatives of the ruling chief. The 29 . 30 THE STORT OF ST. PATRICE. successor of a chief was chosen in the lifetime of the latter. Though the choice was confined to relations, the eldest sou was not necessarily elected, but generally the ablest man in the chiefs connections, and the person on whom the choice fell was called the Tanish. There were five kings in Ireland in those early times, the realms of four of them nearly corresponding to the present four provinces, except that by taking a portion from each of the four, in the year 130 a.d., Meath was formed into a separate central kingdom, its ruler being recognized as over-king, and having his residence at Tara in Meath, till the middle of the sixth century. When a strong man held the place of supreme ruler his controlling power was everywhere felt. But it often hapj>ened that the provincial king or chief was abler and more powerful than the over-king, in which case the cen- tral control was little more than nominal. A true Irish king of those days is beautifully described by Thomas Davis in the following lines : The Cjesar of Rome has a wider domain. And the great king of France has more clans in his train ; The scepter of Spain is more heavy with gems, And ovn- crowns cannot vie with the Greeks' diadems ; But kiuglier far, before heaven and man. Are the Emerald fields and the fiery-eyed clan. The scepter, and state, and the poets who sing. And the swords that encircle a true Irish king. For he must have come from a conquering race — The heir of their valor, their glory, their grace ; His fame must be stately, his step must be fleet ; His hand must be trained to each warrior feat ; TBE PRIMITIVE SOCIAL CONDITION OF IRELAND. ^\ His face as the harvest moon, steadfast and clear, A head to enlighten, a spirit to cheer ; While the foremost to rush where the battlebrands ring, And the last to retreat is a true Irish king. But there were other grades in society than these. The people were not only divided into ranks and gi-ades, as we have described, but these gi-ades were also designated, by the number of colors they were permitted to wear. The lowest were only permitted to wear one color, and none but the royal family could wear seven. The rank next to royalty was composed of the learned order: these wore six colors. This is an indication of the high estimation in which learning was then held. This custom of wearing colors is the origin of the Scotch plaid, worn by the High- landers till this day. The dwellings of the primitive Irish deserve also a word. These houses were, in many places, such as might be expected of a race that feared attacks from neighbor- ing people. Many of them were circular inclosures called by various names, but were in reality forts, inside of which were the chief habitations of the people. They were erected for shelter and protection, and in the case of the better class of these forts, in which the chiefs resided, they were surrounded by two ramparts. The houses inside of these were usually constructed of wood and wattles. The early Christian churches were similarly constructed, and generally plastered over with clay. There were also numerous cireixlar stone forts. A large portion of the country was then covered with dense forests, in which the oak predominated. In these 32 THE STORY OF ST. PA THICK. forests, boars, wolves, and other wild beasts roamed. So extensive were these forests that Ireland was at one time called " Island of the Woods." Hunting was common, but agriculture was also prac- tised. The wealth of the people consisted chiefly of cattle, pigs, sheep, and horses. The members of one tribe formed a number of com- munities; each community had a head, who had under him kinsmen, slaves, and retainers. Each of these com- munities occupied a certain part of the tribe land. The arable part was cultivated under a system of tillage ; the pasture-land was grazed by all, according to certain cus- toms ; and the wood, bog, and mountain formed the unre- stricted common land of the community. And what this village community was to the tribe the homestead was to the community. In that homestead dwelt the representative freeman, capable of acting as a witness, or going bail for his neighbors. So long as there was abundance of land each family grazed its cattle iipon the tribe land without restriction. Unequal increase of wealth and growth of population naturally led to its limitation, each head of a household being entitled to gi*aze an amount of stock in proportion to his wealth, the size of his household, and his acquired position. The arable land was annually applotted, but generally some of the richer families succeeded in evading the ex- change of the allotments, and of converting part of the common land into an estate. This course of conduct soon created an aristocracy. THE PKIMiriVE SOCIAL CONDITION OF lEELAND. 33 The head of the homestead who had held the same land for three generatious was called a lord, of which rank there were several gi-ades, according to their wealth in land and chattels. Several grades in society were simi- larly formed, and gradually sprang into existence. It should also be remembered that the man selected to be the head of the tribe, or the chief of the clan, must have certain specified qualifications, viz., he must be the most experienced, the most noble, the most wealthy, the wisest, the most learned, the most popular, the most pow- erful to oppose, and the most steadfast to sue for profits and to be sued for losses. In addition to these qualities, he should be free from personal blemishes and deformities, and of fit age to lead his tribe or clan, as the case might be, to battle. In order to support the dignity of the chief or chieftain a certain portion of tribe or clan land was attached as a perquisite (an apanage) to the office. This land, with the fortified residence upon it, went to the successor of the chief, but a chiefs own property might be divided at his death, as an inheritance, among the members of his family. There was also another order, called entertainers. These were obliged by law to provide for strangers and travelers. They were dignitaries among their fellow-men, and were required to be the proprietors of seven town lands, to have seven herds of cows, each herd to contain one hundred and fifty. Their mansion was required to be accessible by four different avenues; and a hog, sheep, and beef were required to be in constant preparation, that whoever called should be fed without delay. 34 THE STOJir OF ST. PATRICK. All this was gi-atuitous. Probably it was this social custom and provision which gave the Irishman an idea of his elysium in the next world, where, according to the description of it in the olden times, the pig is as conspic- uous as he is to-day in the cabin of the Irish peasant. Here is the description of an Irishman's elysium in those days: "There are three trees always bearing fruit; there is one pig there, always alive, and another pig ready cooked ; and there is a vessel full of excellent ale." The laws by which the people were governed, as we shall see, were singularly just and sympathetic, protecting the weak against the strong and the rich, and opening a door to wealth and high rank for ability and industry. It is recorded in an old manuscript that speaks of the age of Cormac, one of Ireland's earliest, wisest, and strong- est rulers, who lived in the middle of the third century, " that the world was full of all goodness in his time ; there were fruit and fatness of the land, an abundant produce of the sea, with peace, ease, and happiness. There was no killing nor plundering in his time, but every one occupied bis land in happiness." This description of those times may be rather rosily drawn, but Cormac had doubtless come under the influ- ence of Christianity, and sought to follow the Golden Eule. Be that as it may, the social primitive condition of Ireland, we can well imagine, was somewhat similar to the condition portrayed by the poet in his beautiful words, on THE PRIMITIVE SOCIAL CONDITION OF IRELAND. 35 The Brave Old World. There was once a world, and a brave old world, Away in the ancient time, When the men were brave and the women fair, And the world was iu its prime ; And the priest he had his book. And the scholar had his gown, And the old knight stout, he walked about, With his broadsword hanging down. Ye may see this world was a brave old world, In the days long past and gone. And the sun he shone, and the rain it rained, And the world went merrily on ; The shepherd kept his sheep. And the milkmaid milked her kine. And the serving-man was a sturdy loon In a cap and doublet fine. CHAPTER III. THE ANCIENT LAWS OF IRELAND. When on Sinai's top I see God descend in majesty, To pi-oclaim his holy law, All my spirit sinks with awe. When on Calvary I rest, God, in flesh made manifest, Shines in my Redeemer's face. Full of beauty, truth, and grace. Montgomery. The inhabitants of Ireland were governed, from a very early period, and for many centuries, by what were called the Brehon Laws. These laws obtained this name because they were made by the judges. These judges were hereditary, and each administered justice to the members of his tribe, while seated in the open air, on a few sods, on a hill or rising ground. The language in which these laws were written is a convincing proof of their antiquity, and also the subject-matter of many of them indicates the primitive nature of the society which then prevailed. Their style of composition differs from that of the vernacular Irish language of the present day ; time has modified much of the spelling and many of the grammatical forms, also several of the legal terms. 36 THE AJfCIENT LAWS OF IRELAND. 37 Some phrases of constant occurrence in these Brehon Laws have become obsolete. Some of these statutory documents are ascribed to Cor- mac MacArt, a wise and celebrated monarch of Ireland, in the middle of the third century; and allusions are made in them to a general revision of them in the fifth century, at the suggestion of St. Patrick, who, in conjunc- tion with certain kings and learned men, expunged from them many enactments which savored of paganism ; yet many traces of heathenism were not removed, especially their provisions respecting marriage, and its relations and obligations — provisions that demonstrate that Christian- ity had not yet exercised its full influence upon those who were either the enactors or revisers of these laws. By these laws a community or village comprised sepa- rate famihes and individuals, numerous enough to occupy what might be called a barony, or enough land to supply all their necessities by pasture and cultivation ; and with- in this barony a court and a complete system of social organization were established. In each of these communities lands were set apart per- manently for the support of the chief ; and means were arranged by which portions of the common land could within certain limits be acquired by individual owners. The grades of life were numerous, and regulated by the amount of wealth possessed in cattle, and in a prescribed assortment of agricultural implements and household goods. The houses were constructed of timber and wattle- work, surrounded by open spaces, of prescribed extent for each 38 TSE STORY OF ST. I' A TRICK. class. The shortest limit for this space was the distance to which the owner, seated at his door, could throw a stone of a given weight. There were slaves and serfs and farmers and landlords, the relationship between which we need not specify in detail, except that they resembled very much the relation- ship between such classes in modern times. The use of coined money was pi'actically unknown, and the standard of value was the cow. The succession to the territorial headships was, as we have stated, elective within certain hereditary limits, and the succession to the tribal rights, and rights of ownership in land, was hereditary. The law of marriage, as we have already hinted, allowed many irregular relations, but protected the property both of the irregular and of the lawful wife. The lawful wife could only protect herself from an unlawful one by the withdrawal of her separate property, and by fines which must be paid to her on such an occasion. The looseness of the connubial tie, evidenced by these laws, was one of the evils calling for reform, alleged by the Irish prelates in their letter, praying Pope Alexan- der III. to ratify the grant of Ireland made by Hadrian IV. to King Henry II. of England in the twelfth century. The upper classes put out their children to be nursed and educated by the poorer members of the community, who received a fee for their fostering care, and had a claim in their old age upon the child fostered and educated. This fostering care commenced with infancy, and in the case of girls terminated at thirteen years of age, and of THE ANCIENT LAWS OF IRELAND. 39 boys at seveuteen years. Undei* this system of early training the Brehon Laws provided that girls of the less wealthy class must be taught to use the handmill and the sieve, to bake and to rear young cattle. Girls of the higher class must be taught to sew, cut out garments, and embi-oider. The poorer boys must be taught kiln-drying and wood- cutting. The boys of the upper class were taught chess- playing, the use of the missile, horsemanship, and swim- ming. The clothing, besides the nursing-cloths supplied by the parents, was to be regulated according to their sta- tion, from sober-colored stuffs for the children of the less wealthy to scarlet cloth and silks for the children of those of the rank of the king. Provision was made for the necessary correction of the pupil, and fines were to be imposed for the excess of cor- rection, with many other reasonable and necessary laws. Contributions were levied for the repair of the roads and bridges, etc., and each community had a public mill, a fishery, and a ferry-boat. Markets were held, and gi'eat fairs, at distant places and long intervals of time. Either party might rescind a con- tract within twenty-four hours. There was a law for " tramps " and " waifs " and " serfs," for caring for wrecks at sea, and for sustaining ship- wrecked sailors. All fines were graduated in the interest of the poorer classes, and crime and breach of contract reduced the guilty ones from a higher to a lower grade of society. Privileges were given to those attending the fairs, and a 40 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. violation of some of the necessary laws for securing peace and decorum at these fairs was in some instances punish- able with death, and in other cases was punished with a pecuniary fine. At these fairs new laws were proclaimed, and old laws were read over publicly to the people. Im- prisonment was unknown, but the culprit was fettered. There were laws for the regulation or settlement of cases out of court, and for bringing other cases to a higher juris- diction, for which professional advocates were appointed. These laws defined the respective rights both of the clergy and of the laity, and among the rights expressly guaranteed to the latter " was the recital of the Word of God to all who would listen to it and keep it." Thus this time-honored law, the right to God's most precious Word, was secured to the people of Ireland by this ancient Irish law. The boundaries of their laud were preserved by laying a quantity of burned ashes on the ground, and big stones on these, and to these places they carried boys, showed them the ashes and stones, and whipped them soundly, that they might remember the place, and tell it to their children. The main features of these laws were similar to those of the common law of England. Take them all in all, these were not hard laws by which Ireland was governed at the time when Patrick appeared upon the scene. God's law is perfect, and converts The soul in sin that lies ; God's testimony is most sure, And makes the simple wise ; THE ANCIENT LAWS OF IRELAND. ' 41 The statutes of the Lord are right, And do rejoice the heart ; The Lord's command is pure, and doth Light to the eyes impart ; Unspotted is the fear of God, And doth endure forever ; The judgments of the Lord are true, And righteous altogether ; They more tlian gold, yea, much fine gold. To be desired are ; Than honey from the honeycomb That di-oppeth, sweeter far. David, King of Iskael. CHAPTER IV. THE DEUIDICAL RELIGION OF IRELAND. Great were their deeds, their passions, and their sports ; With clay and stone They piled on strath and shore those mystic forts, Nor yet o'erthrown ; On cairn-crowned hills they held their council eoui'ts ; While youths alone. With giant dogs, explored the elk resorts. And brought them down. The Druids' altar and the Druids' creed We scarce can trace. There is not left an undisputed deed Of all that race. Save their majestic song, which hath their speed, And strength and grace ; In that sole song they live and love and bleed — It bears them on thi'o' space. T. D. McGee. There are no definite accounts of the religious rites practised by the pagan Ii-ish, but there are several allu- sions which, though vague, plainly show that such rites existed, and that it was one of the functions of the Druids to perform them. These Druids were a class of priests corresponding to the Magi, or wise men, of the ancient Persians, and druid- 42 THE DRVIDICAL RELIGION OF IRELAND. 43 sim was the name usually given to the religious system of the ancient Gauls and Britons. The word Druid is thought to be derived from the Greek woi'd drus, an oak. Groves of oak were their chosen retreat, and whatever grew on that tree was thought to be a gift from heaven, especially the mistletoe, under which fair ones still enjoy a kiss at Christmas. Wherever the mistletoe was found growing on an oak in those ancient times, it was cut with a golden knife by a priest clad in a white robe, and two white bulls were sacrificed upon the spot. The Druids called it " all heal," and its virtues were considered to be very gi'eat. The mistletoe was only regarded with reverence when found growing on the sacred oak, the tree of one of the gods of the ancient Britons. These druidic rites were main- tained under the Romans, Jutes, Saxons, and Angles. But how and when the mistletoe became ingrafted on the greatest festival of the Christian woiM is not yet apparent, and is evidently lost in the darkness of the dim and misty past. The mistletoe also appears in the Scan- dinavian mythology, in which an arrow formed from the mistletoe is represented as a sure weapon of success in a contest with an adversary. The custom of kissing under a suspended bough of the mistletoe has come down from the druidic days, and is likely to survive to the end of time, as it has survived the faith of the ancient Britons. Possibly the popularity of the rite has had much to do with its survival. In some parts of England, if a man 44 TBE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. neglects to provide the evergreens for the Christmas deco- ration he loses the privilege of kissing any maid or dame he catches under the mistletoe bough. This pleasant holiday custom has found expression in the following lively lines : On Christmas eve the bells were rung; On Christmas eve the mass was sung ; That only night in all the year Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear; The damsel donned her kirtle sheen, The hall was dressed with holly green; Forth to the wood the merrymen go, To gather in the mistletoe. The Druids made the cutting of the mistletoe an occa- sion of solemn religious ceremonies, terminating often in extreme barbarity. If the readers of these pages could have been in Ireland about the time of Patrick's arrival there, and could have stood upon a hill with a village in front of them, and a thick, wild forest near by, they might have seen, according to an ancient writer, strange-looking men creeping out of cabins, walking about solemnly, and whispering mysteri- ously. These men have long beards, and in their hands magi- cians' wands, their coats are of many colors, and they have a string of serpents' eggs about their necks. Others have a white scarf thrown over their shoulders, bracelets on their arms, and long white rods in their hands. The moon is just six days old. They gaze at the stai's and decide it is the proper time for their saci*ed rites. They gather in solemn conclave, and their chief leads them as they march TBE DRVIDICAL RELIGION OF IRELAND. 45 into the dark, gloomy woods. They halt under an ancient oak, and engage in solemn mummery. One of the priests climbs the oak, and with the golden knife cuts away the wondrous mistletoe. He throws it carefully down upon a white cloth, and all around adore it. Every leaf is a trea- sure. Those around think it has power to charm away evil spirits, and to preserve its worshipers in health. Two white bullocks are on hand for a sacrifice ; a wreath of oak leaves is placed upon their horns, and solemn rites are begun ; a golden knife is plunged into the necks of the victims, and they fall quivering in death ; fires are kin- dled, and skilful hands prepare a feast, around which all gather, and of which they partake in pagan joy. At other times these barbarous Druids enact a more horrid part still at the observance of these demoniac rites. A slave, or prisoner of war, or the child of some peasant, is led into the gloomy woods, and there offered as a sacri- fice upon the satanic altar, while the priests roar and howl and beat their drums, to drown the cries of the suffering martyr. The Druids of Gaul sometimes made huge baskets of osier in the shape of a man, and filled them with human beings, and set the vast living mass on fire. Probably the ancient Irish were not so barbarous. These horrid rites seem to have been derived by the Druids from the Phenicians, who worshiped Baal and Moloch, and often offered up their children to them in sacrifice. These Druids had their Baal, which means " sun," for they had their Beltine fires, or Baal-fire day, and in honor 46 THE STORY OF ST. I' A THICK of the sun the fire was made. They held that to face the sun was to be riglit iu the world ; to face the sun at noon is to face the south, and south means right, while the north means wrong. One must look toward the sun at the beginning of his work if he would prosper in it. A boat going to sea must turn sunwise; people must turn toward the sun as soon as they are married, and they must be borne to the grave in the same fashion. Some people still are influenced, unconsciously it may be, by these old Druid rites, and so front churches toward the sunrising, and turn toward sunrise when they say their prayers. God forbade his ancient people to be imitators of such people. These Druids adored the sun, but some deny that they made idols. They believed their God was omnipresent, and worshiped him in roofless temples, or within large circles of stone. In Latin the poet has described these Druids in the following lines : Through untold ages past there stood A deep, wild, sacred, awful wood ; Its interwoven boughs had made A cheerless, chilly, silent shade ; There, underneath the gloomy trees, Were oft performed the mysteries Of barbarous priests, who tliought that God Loved to look down upon the sod Where every leaf was deeply stained With blood from human victims drained. LuciEN. They believed that God's eye was always upon them, that the soul was immortal, and that there was a state of future rewards and punishments — another world, where THE DRUIDICAL RELIGION OF IKELAND. 47 good souls preserved their identity and their habits, while the souls of the bad passed into the lower animals to be chastised. Letters were burned at funerals, that the dead might carry them in smoke to those who had before them crossed the borders of the spirit-land. Money was loaned to the departed, on condition that it should be repaid in the world to come; but the priests always received this money, and never failed on such occasions to be the bank- ers, both of the dead and the living. The power of these Druid priests was very great. They directed in all sacred things, and offered all sacrifices. They were the teachers of the youth, and judges, both in public and private, of all disputes. Their chief priest was elected by the priests in conclave, and possessed power without check or control. They enforced their legal deci- sions by religious sanctions, and forbade the presence of any at the religious sacrifices who refused obedience to their decrees. The persons thus doomed were regarded as accursed, and shunned by all the people. These priests were exempt from war and from taxation, and were regarded with the deepest reverence. They did not commit their learning to writing, lest it should be read by the people; but committed it to memory, and trans- mitted it orally from one to another. If at any time any of the priests wrote anything, it was in the Greek lan- guage, which the priests only understood. These Druid priests had also their fairies and their bushes, and their hills and groves, and places sacred to them. The king and gi-eat aristocratic families among these Druids had their bards, who became in time a privileged 48 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. class, and exercised great influence. They were the chief historians, kept the family genealogies, cast into rude verse the deeds of their heroes, recited them on public occasions and at all gi'eat festivals, at which these bards were always present. On such times they excited the youth to the cultivation of oratory, swayed the multitudes by their fervid appeals, and filled aU with the greatest enthusiasm. They would seize their harps, and play and sing their own national songs, in which the people joined, until the family, provincial, or national spirit was intensely excited, and all were ready to go forth to deeds of heroism or rapine. The names of some of these bards are retained and honored among the people of Ireland to the present day. The Druids invoked their divinities in favor of their friends, and for this purpose made incantations upon a mound or elevated ground near the field of battle. They determined by auguries from the heavenly bodies, clouds, wind, and smoke, the flight of birds, and other phenomena, the propitious and the unpropitious times for fighting a battle, or for any other important action. They announced the things it would be unlucky for a chief or a tribe to do, pretended to foretell future events, practised incantations of various kinds, kept events in remembrance, and were, in a word, the depositaries of such knowledge as was possessed in Ireland at the time. These Druids beHeved also in the unity of God, and as already stated, in the immortality of the soul, and in a future state of rewards and punishments. They studied TEE DUVIDICAL HELWION OF IRELAND. 49 botany, astronomy, medicine, and attained to great skill in mechanics; but notwithstanding their boasted civilization, their rites were barbarous in the extreme, even to the offer- ing up, as we have seen, of human beings as sacrifices as an atonement to the Deity for the sins of men. They taught the people to worship supernatural beings, such as fairies, who were supposed to dweU in the earth, the sea, rivers, valleys, hills, fountains, wells, and trees. These supposed supernatural beings had to be conciliated by the incantations of the Druids, for which they received a fee. The superstition al)out the Banshee, a female fairy, so much talked about in Ireland, is a remnant of this druid- ism. The Banshee had a most mournful cry, almost like that of a baby in great distress, and when heard after dusk made many a young Irish heart tremlale. The cry of that which the Irish imagined was the Banshee is heard stiU in this land after nightfall, at some distance from dwell- ings in the country, and in the rear yards of houses in the city. A Druid was the most jealous of beings, and woe to the individual who excited his jealousy. A single word from the Druid, and the man was cut down Uke grass. A Druid had always the king's ear, and at his whisper the order went forth to slay the hated man. On his lip was war or peace. In his hand was the golden knife for the throat of the condemned. At the sound of his rude lyi-e the people rose to the work of vengeance. The religion of the land, as can be easily seen, was a religion of wonder and fear, and to dispute with a Druid was a crime against the state. Woe to any one who kept 50 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. back the tax claimed by a Dvuid. The chief Druid of every district required all families, rich and poor, to pay him certain annual dues. On an evening in autumn the people were required to extinguish every fire in their houses. Then every man must appear and pay his tax ; if he failed he was the ob- ject of terrible vengeance. To be at that time with a fire in the house or without money in the hand was a crime. The next morning the Druid priest allowed every man to take some of his sacred fire and rekindle the flame on the man's own hearth. No man must lend a living coal to his neighbor; if he did he was reduced to povertj^, and declared an outlaw. If he changed his religion it was at the peril of his life. If he saw the " fiery cross " borne on the hills he must rush to the rallying-place of the clans. The chieftain tested the loyalty of his people in this way : he would slay a goat, dip in its blood the end of a wooden cross, set it on fire, give it to the clansman, and tell him to run and wave it on the hilltops. When this first clans- man became breathless, another would take up the fiery cross, and repeat the signal from hilltop to hilltop. The man who did not obey the summons was doomed. The Druids were also a kind of sorcerers, said to be in league with the demons of paganism, and able, by this agency, to do good to their friends and mischief to their enemies. The followers of the first missionaries of Christianity in Ireland seem to have thought it necessary, to prove the .superiority of the new faith, to spread the belief that its apostles were gifted with supernatural powers, which they THE DRUIDICAL RELIGION OF IRELAND. 51 could use more especially for counteracting the malice of the Di'uids. This may have given rise to the superstitious belief that Patrick could, and did, work miracles. EUjaJi's Challenge and Victory. (1 Kings xviii. 21-40.) " Ye prophets of Baal ! let an offering be laid On the altar which you to your idol have made ; Let an offering be laid on the altar I rear To the Lord that I worship, the Lord that I fear. Pi'ay ye to your god, while to my God I pray For the fire of his power to consiime it away. And let him, the omnipotent, who hath bestowed The boon we request, be acknowledged as God. " Ye prophets of Baal, cry aloud, cry aloud ! Perhaps he is wrapjied in his thoughts like a cloud. Cry aloud, cry aloud, with your voices of woe ! Perhaps he is now in pursuit of his foe. Cry aloud, cry aloud, like a trumpet of war ! Perhaps he is gone on some journey afar. Cry aloud, cry aloud, in your agony deep ! Perhaps he is laid on his pillow asleep." When Elijah had spoken, an altar was reared To the Lord that he worshiped, the Lord that he feared ; And he bowed him in prayer, and the fire was bestowed, And the God of his sires was acknowledged as God. Wm. Knox. CHAPTER V. THE OKIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE INHABITANTS OF lEELAND, Sweet tongue of our Druids and bards of past ages, Sweet tongue of our mouarclis, our saints, and our sages, Sweet tongue of our heroes and free-born sires. When we cease to preserve thee, our glory expires. There cau be no doubt that the Celtic language, or what is now usually called the Irish language, was that spoken by the earlier settlers of Ireland. The name Keltai, or Celts, was given by themselves, and about the third century before the Christian era it was applied by the Greeks to a western people, who, when first known by the Romans, inhabited northern Italy, France, Belgium, part of Germany, western Switzerland, and subsequently the British Isles. Some of these Celts migrated by the valley of the Danube and northei-n Greece into Asia Minor, and from Asia Minor and northern Greece came to Ireland and also to Britain. These people spoke essen- tially one language, but phonetic changes occurred in the language of some of these people as they migivated and mixed with other people. Those of this race who migrated to Ireland and were among its earliest inhabitants, not mixing thereafter, as formerly, with other races, retained their ancient forms of speech with more tenacity and puri- 52 TEE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH CELTS. 53 ty than any portions of their kindred race that occupied other countries. Hence the original Celtic language as spoken by the Irish when they first set foot upon Irish soil, and which is spoken in some parts of Ireland still, with more or less purity, is the best specimen extant of the ancient Celtic lang-uage. It belongs to the gi-eat family of Indo-European languages. The Celtic group of languages seems to have diverged from the common stock much earlier than any of the other members of the same wide-spread family. This group consists of two great branches, the Gaelic and Kymric. There is no Celtic tongue or dialect known that does not belong to either the Gaelic or Kymric branch, although there may have been other branches of Celtic, which have been lost or have disappeared under Eoman rule and influence. The Celtic languages form two distinct classes, viz., Irish, Scotch, and Manx— belonging all three to the Gaelic— and "Welsh, Cornish, and Armoric— belong- ing to the Kymric branch. According to Dio Cassius, Celt is identical in meaning with Gallus, and there seems to be no doubt but originally the names of Gallia, Galli, Galatae, Celtse, were of one and the same root, and that Galli and Celtag denoted one and the same people; so also GalataB, which afterwai'd received the more restricted meaning of Celts, in Asia. The word itself means pri- marily mighty, great— mighty men; secondarily, those that violently immigi-ate and powerfully invade a country, who appear to the inhabitants as hostile people, enemies ; thus, it means an enemy, and subsequently, when hostili- ties have subsided, a stranger, foreigner. 54 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. The Irish language, more than any other, has preserved most of its primitive, genuine, original, and antique forms. More than any other it has transmitted to us the most grammatical and lexical condition of the Celtic languages. From its comprehensive extension, its literary treasures, and the antiquity of the written monuments in Irish, it is certainly by far the most important and interesting, not only of the Gaelic, but of all the Celtic languages. The Irish language is, moreover, decidedly superior to the other Gaelic dialects, in the extent, culture, and antiquity of its literature, but all belong to the same great parent- stock of Indo-European languages; and the affinity of Celtic with Sanskrit and the entire Aryan family has been established beyond any reasonable doubt. The Celtic tongues sustain to Sanskrit quite as close and consistent a relation as any other of the Indo-European languages ; and even where the Celtic seems most widely to diverge from Sanskrit and the Aryan languages, the philologist will discover that the most genuine and remarkable Indo- European family features still, and that, too, in a preemi- nent degree, exist under the surface, as is the case in the aspirated and unaspirated forms of nouns, etc. The Celts appear to have been the first Aryans to arrive in Europe, and their tongue forms the most western stem of the Indo-European languages. Indeed, the very name Ireland (which has been so often analyzed and explained) seems to mean simply the land of Ires or Eres — in other words, the country of the Aryes, that is, the "nobles," " warriors," " heroes." THE OltlGIXAL LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH CELTS. 55 A great many Celtic roots are identical with those of Sanskrit, and the Irish hiuguage possesses also very many words that are derived from or connected with such San- skrit roots as have been hitherto standing isolated, and could in no way be analyzed, classified, or accounted for in dictionaries. The Celtic roots are, moreover, for the greatest part, monosyllabic, like those of Sanskrit and the Indo-European languages. These roots are in the Irish, as well as in Sanskrit, always, at least in their original or primitive condition, of the nature of a verb. Also many substantives in Celtic (Gaelic and Kymric) are closely allied to Sanskrit roots. The system of derivation and composition of words is analogous, and often the same in Celtic and Sanskrit. A large number of Celtic compounds are sucli as can be explained only by Sanskrit, and must have existed already before the time when these languages branched from the common parent-stock. The whole system of grammatical forms in the Celtic is closely connected with Sanskrit, notwithstanding some changes which have occurred in the long process of time. The anomalies in Celtic can often find their full explanation only through Sanskrit, and also their elements can be derived in the last analysis only from Sanskrit. In the system of conjugation, the affinity between Irish and Sanskrit becomes particularly apparent. The power and facility of forming compounds is very great in Irish, and may fairly be compared with the Greek, German, and Sanskrit. These compounds display the richness, elegance, and flexibility of the Irish language; 56 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. and it is especially in poetical productions that we meet in Irish with combinations of nouns which come very near to the much admired Sanski'it compounds. It is also worthy of remark that the other Celtic lan- guages here and there, Welsh excepted, possess nothing of this compared with the Irish. As already stated, the whole phonetic system of the Celtic group is intimately related with that of Sanskrit. But it is not so much in the Irish of the present day that all the resemblance, analogy, and relationship with Sanskrit, Zend, and the classic languages are most clearly to be seen. We have often to resort to the old Irish to obtain a full view of these manifold connections. Thus, we find there a complete declension, in many respects more so than in the Latin ; with five cases in the singular, four in the plural, and two in the dual. The Irish language is, moreover, very regular in its gi'ammar. It has only such gi-ammatical forms as are indispensable for definiteness and perspicuity. It has no indefinite articles, neither has Sanskrit or Arabic, and some other languages. Irish has but one main past tense and one future. The same is the case with Hebrew and Arabic. The Irish is indeed the prominent and perfect language of the Celtic group. It surpasses in richness, beauty, and elegance many other languages, and among them even some of the most cultivated and best organized. In poet- ry and romance, in tales and songs, it displays its greatest charms and all its wonderful beauty. It has lost noth- ing of its excellence and perfection, notwithstanding the THE URWINAL LANGUAGE UF THE IRISH CELTS. 57 changes to which it has been subjected. Its intense en- ergy and power, its refined elegance, its exquisite beauty and marvelous flexibility, have made it possible to repre- sent by a most successful translation all the original per- fection of Homer's " Iliad," turned into Irish by the late Archbishop of Tuam. The Celtic is extremely rich in the words which have come down to us, with all their primi- tive freshness, in their unadulterated original form, and that from the remote ages of dim prehistoric times. The luxuriant lexical growth and richness of the Irish language are also apparent by the fact that, should all the existing glossaries, old and new, be added together, we should have at least thirty thousand words, besides those in printed dictionaries — a richness of vocabulary to which, perhaps, not a single living language can bear even a re- mote comparison, and for this reason it is the only Celtic tongue which has entirely escaped the subversive influence of the Roman rule and dominion. A comparison of Celtic and Sanskrit words would throw a clear light upon the relationship that exists between the . two languages, but we can specify only a few. There is no cognate word in any Indo-European language to the Sanskrit verb tag, to go, but in the Irish we find it in tag, to approach, and in tigh, to come. In Sanskrit we have ira, earth, and in Irish, ire, field, land; in Sanskrit we have vasra, shelter, and in Irish, fosra, bed ; in Sanskrit we have hig, to move, in Irish we have ing, movement ; in Sanskrit we have dak, to burn, in Irish we have dagli, to burn; and so on. Hundreds of words are so similar as to leave no doubt that the Sanskrit and Irish are closely 58 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. related in origin. And it should be remembered that al- though there are several dialects of the Irish, the written and especially the literary language has been compara- tively little affected by them, and has remained almost uniform and everywhere the same. The Irish language is therefore a venerable mother- tongi;e, superior to a great number of languages spoken on European soil — superior for its antiquity, its origi- nality, its purity, its remarkable pleasing euphony, and easy harmonious flow; its poetical adaptation, musical nature, and picturesque expressiveness ; its vigorous vital- ity, freshness, energy, and inherent power; its local, sys- tematic, regular, and methodically constituted grammar; its philosophic structure and wonderful literary suscepti- bility. Many works exist in the Irish language, but chiefly only in manuscript. The principal collections of Irish manu- scripts are to be found in the Royal Irish Academy and in Trinity College, Dublin. The British Museum, the Bodleian Library, and several of the continental libraries of Europe also, contain numerous old and very valuable Irish manuscripts. It has been ascertained that a greater number of valu- able ancient Irish documents are extant as manuscripts than either English or French or any European nation can boast of. A scholar in Germany has made an esti- mate, showing that it would take about one thousand volumes, in octavo form, to publish the Irish literature alone which is contained in the extant manuscripts from the sixth to the eleventh century. THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH CELTS. 59 It may also be of interest to record that the Celtic lan- guages constituted once a far-extending family of related tongues, which about two thousand years ago actually covered a larger ground than Latin, Greek, and German combined, and that many valuable works have been pub- lished to aid the learner in the study of these languages, but especially in acquiring a fair and thorough knowledge of Irish. But the literary productions in Irish ai"e not only very numerous, they extend also to a wonderful variety of sub- jects and departments of mental conception and activity, such as poetry, history, laws, grammar, etc., and it is a well-known fact that many legends of French and German poets in the middle ages derive their origin from Irish and other Celtic songs. The Irish epic literature is abundant, and of great inter- est. The Irish songs and poems of old were first preserved as oral traditions, and were at a much later period com- mitted to writing, afterward were variously combined, and appeared finally in a regular, well-connected form. In all the beautiful songs and Irish poems, stories, and romances there is a wonderful productiveness and origi- nality and a most surprising power of invention, such as we find in the oriental tales, which for so long a time were the delight of the whole western world. In lyric poetry the Irish literature has evinced, and always maintained, an astonishing superiority. Irish historians mention works written even in pagan times in Ireland ; and of these the most famous was the " Saltair of Tara," a work which has not come down to us, but is described as having been a 60 2'5£ STORY OF ST. PATRICE. complete collection of metrical essays and dissertations on the laws and usages of Ireland. Its author is said to have been Cormac MacArt, king of Ireland from 227 to 266 a.d. The "Book of Aichill" is one of the principal monu- ments of Irish jurisprudence. A part of the regulations and laws contained in this book are attributed to Cormac MacArt, The Brehon Code seems to be an embodiment and a collection of very ancient oral traditions and customs relating to law; and what increases its interest and im- portance is the fact that it is in no wise influenced by the Roman system. Its language is of a very archaic type, the oldest form of Irish. It has been said that " had there come nothing down to us but this collection of laws, it would have been amply sufficient to testify to the antiquity of the old Irish civil- ization and literary culture." The original text of the Brehon Laws is of high antiquity. They were elaborated and committed to writing in the time of King Laogaire II., son of Niall of the Nine Hostages. This was done mostly at Teamhair (Tara). These judgments of pagan "bre- hons " are said to have been subsequently revised, remod- eled, purified, and changed on the conversion of the Irish to Christianity. These modifications are attributed to the influence of St. Patrick, under the guidance of a chief Druid. The Brehon Code seems to have maintained its author- ity among the native Irish for a period of twelve hundred years. As to the authors who were directly concerned with the elaboration of these laws, they were nine in num- THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH CELTS. 61 ber (" knowledge of nine persons " is the name given to it on that account) ; they were the nine pillars of the Senchas Mor, as the text says. The Brehon Code must impress the reader favorably by the refinement of its morals, as well as by the skill and in- genuity which are evinced in the discussion of the cases, the nicety of the distinctions, and the accuracy of the defi- nitions and classifications. Its judgments and penalties are, to a gi-eat extent, mild and human ; and in regard to various points a somewhat considerable latitude seems to be allowed. Some laws relating to damages done to or by animals, etc., remind us of some more or less analogous regulations in the Jewish " Mishna." There exists, also, a remarkable analogy with the laws of Manu and the legal customs of the Hindus; not only in regard to flues, but particularly to the " Fasting," in certain cases, where the contending parties would go before the residence of the de- fendant and wait there without food for some time. This corresponds, in a measure, to the dherna, which was com- monly resorted to by the creditors in Hindustan, when they went to sit at the door of a debtor, rigorously abstain- ing from all food, and threatening to commit suicide by starvation ; intending thereby to compel the debtor to re- turn a loan, or fulfil his obligations toward the claimant. Since the first gi-ammar of Irish language was made in the seventh century many gi-ammars and dictionaries have been published, which we need not enumerate, and there have been many prominent and successful workers in the domain of Celtic erudition through many centuries till the present. It must suffice to state that a professorship of 62 TBE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. the Irish language exists in Trinity College, Dublin, in the Queen's College at Belfast, in that of Cork, of Galway, the college of Maynooth, and in the Catholic University. A' professorship of Celtic also exists in Paris, at the College de France, a chair which is very ably filled by Professor Jubainville. Also Professor Gaidoz lectures in Paris on the Celtic languages and literature. As a spoken language, the following statement in regard to Irish may be of interest. According to the census of 1851, Irish was spoken exclusively by 319,602 persons, especially in the provinces of Connaught and Munster; while EngUsh as well as Irish was spoken by 1,204,688 persons : thus, for nearly one fourth of the whole popula- tion of Ireland it was then still a living tongue. Twenty yeai-s later, according to the census of 1871, 103,562 per- sons could speak the Irish only; and 817,875 persons spoke Irish and English. Nowadays it is especially among the rural classes and native landowners in Connaught, Munster, the remote parts of Ulster, the south of Leinster, as well as in the islands off the western coast of Ireland, that Irish is still retained as the every-day language in the family circles and the entire social relations at home. It is stated that members of old Irish families who dis- tinguished themselves in the armies of the Continent felt proud of their Gaelic mother-tongue, and continually used it in their intercourse, while it was also commonly spoken by the Irish soldiers in France, and in the American army during the War of Independence. No Roman legions in- vaded Ireland, although for its commerce, resources, and advanced state of civilization it was the most important THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE OF THE IRISH CELTS. 63 of all the Celtic countries. Tacitus informs us that the Irish seaports were better known through commerce, and were more frequented by the merchants, than those of Britain. Historians also tell us that Ireland retained its Celtic institutions, laws, and literature for more than twelve hundred years, after all the other Celtic countries had been subjugated and transformed. Education, cul- tui-e, and learning gained more and more ground among the Irish ecclesiastics ; and a school founded at Armagh and another at Bangor became far-famed and renowned throughout all Europe. In the early part of the middle ages, Ireland, which was at that time spoken of as the Isle of Saints, was regarded as a center of light and intelligence, and was the focus of a remarkable literary and Christian activity. Ireland soon enjoyed the fame of being the most enlightened country of all western Europe. It then had the best scholars and the most advanced condition of learn- ing. More than any country of Europe, it was particularly among the Irish that men of acute minds and extensive knowledge, and real philosophers, were found. It was also in Ireland that literature and philosophy of the highest order were taught, and the 8axous from all places flocked to Ire- land as the great emporium of letters. The Irish monks, more than any others, were especially esteemed for their ex- traordinary artistic skill. There is preserved in the library of Trinity College, Dubhn, the " Book of Kells," which is written in Latin, and competent writers declare it is the most exquisite specimen in the world of that minute and intricate style of illuminating in which the Irish excelled and were the foremost among all others. 64 TBE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. But space will not permit us to extend these observa- tions on the language of the Celts. It must suffice for our object to record our opinion that had the Irish lan- guage been appreciated at the proper time, and gospel mis- sionaries having the spirit, tact, and courage of Ireland's patron saint been sent among the people, Ireland to-day might have been throughout its whole length and breadth a united, prosperous, happy, rejoicing people. But the error was made of not giving the gospel to the people in the language of Erin Mavourneen acushla Machree — the language, a century or two back, of several millions of the inhabitants of the island. The gospel has been given to other nations in their native tongue, why not to Ireland ! — given not partially and spasmodically, but generally and continuously wherever the Irish language was spoken. There is no language more expressive of the finer feelings of the soul than the Irish, and no people more susceptible to good impressions than they are when approached in the proper manner and their confidence gained. Every true lover of the gospel and of human souls must therefore wish that the truth as it is in Jesus may be proclaimed to every man in the language in which he was born. And oh ! be it heard in that language endearing. In which the fond mother her lullaby sung. Which spoke the first lispings of childhood, and bearing The father's last prayer from his own silent tongue ; That so as it breathes the pui'e sound of devotion. And speaks with the power that still'd the rough ocean. Each breast may be calmed into gentle emotion. And Erin's wild harp to hosannas be strung. CHAPTER VI. THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY BEFORE THE TIME OF PATRICK. 'Tis bnilt on a rock, and the tempest may rave ; Its solid foundation repels the proud wave. Though Satan himself should appear in the van Truth smiles at the rage of the infidel clan. ' "Like the sun going forth " in his mighty career, io gladden the earth, and to illumine each sphere, Ihe chariot of Truth shall in majesty roll O'er climate, isle, ocean, to each distant pole. A glorified course it shall nobly pursue, Eucn-cling with radiance both GentUe and Jew: And milhons of heathens, their idols despising, bhall bask m the light, and exult in its rising. The shadows that cover the regions of Ham Shall vanish, or flame with the light of the Lamb ; ^ach lovely green island that gems the salt wave His truth shall convert, his philanthropy save. Maesden. ^ Jesus Christ was the flower, the fulfilment, and perfec- tion of all that was in Judaism. His system of rehgion under this dispensation was founded upon himself, was inaugurated in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and was designed to gather into one the children of God that are scattered abroad in every nation under heaven. The 65 66 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. followers of Christ obtained their name " Christians " at Autioch in Syria ; and the first city in the world which openly professed Christianity and built the first church edifice was Edessa, or Osroboena, in the north of Mesopo- tamia, veiy near the river Euphrates. It was therefore in the East, and not in the West, that Christianity as a religion was founded, obtained its most venerable and abiding name, inaugurated its commence- ment, began to disseminate its principles, and to spread far and wide its blessings. The Apostles in person widely spread this Christianity. The last words uttered by Christ on earth seemed to en- join this course. His words were these: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." In accordance with this injunction of the Master the Apos- tles soon commenced their missionary tours as pioneers of a new faith, whose duty it was to carry it far and near, and whose geographical field of action was literally the world. Jerusalem was, however, their common and habit- ual headquarters. It was there Paul met Peter by appoint- ment. It was there, fourteen years afterward, that Paul and Barnabas went to communicate to the other pillars of the church their mode of addressing the gospel to the Gentiles. It was there that the Apostles, with the elders and brethren, met in solemn conclave and established the great canon which absolved the Gentiles from the practice of circumcision. It was Jerusalem that was probably a center for charitable contributions (Acts xi. 27-30 ; Rom. XV. 26 ; 1 Cor. xvi. 3). CHRISTIANITY BEFORE THE TIME OF PATRICE. gy It will be thus seen that Christianity had a local central position in and around the cradle of its birth. The Medi- terranean Sea afforded the silver border on one side the lands of its early life. Palestine, Asia Minor, southern Europe (including Greece, Italy, and southern Gaul), and northern Africa (including Egypt and Numidia) were the fii'st countries subdued by the power of the gospel. It was planted in the very heart of the world's greatest civil- ization as well as of its gi-eatest superstition and heathen- ism. In the soil where Greek and Latin culture attained its greatest glory and reached its highest victories there Christianity ascended the throne, showing it was the power of God and the wisdom of God. During these earliest years of its history it experienced opposition from Juda- ism on the one hand, and heathenism, backed by national pride and arrogance, on the other. For two hundred and forty-nine years, with short intervals of peace, it struggled with severe persecutions, and produced the grandest heroes the world has ever known. It went on extending its terri- tories and entering upon new fields and countries to sub- due the powers of sin. It moved west and north into the heart of Europe, to Italy, Spain, France, Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, and Russia, and wherever it went it conferred blessings and won victories. It is imjjossible to fix the exact date when the gospel was first introduced into Britain, nor can the channels through which it came be determined with certainty. There is reason to believe that the gospel came to Britain chiefly in the track of commerce. The Tyi'ians traded with Britain for ages before the Christian era. The Car- 68 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. thaginians, after the capture of Tyre by Alexander, inher- ited for a time the commerce of Britain. The Greeks, first as rivals and then as successors to the Carthaginians, took possession of the exports and imports of Britain. Marseilles, a Greek colony in France, said to have been founded five hundred years before Christ, was the gi-and depot to which the tin, lead, and skins of Britain were conveyed, and from which they were transported to all parts of the world with which the Greeks had commercial relations. The conversion of many Greeks in early Chris- tian times accomplished much for the spread of the gos- pel, and even through business relations that intelligent and resolute people sometimes rendered great service in extending Chi'ist's kingdom. We have reason to believe that Greek Christians, buying their tin and lead, compas- sionated the idolatrous Britons who exported these scarce metals, and preached Christ unto them. The first known church in France was founded by Greeks, and in 177 a.d. the Christians of Vienne and Lyons were sorely persecuted. After the persecutions ceased the surviving Christians wrote a long account of their suffer- ings to their Phrygian brethren ; this record of their suf- ferings was sent to their fellow-believers in Asia Minor. These Greek Christians, both in France and in the East, gave effective help to the evangelization of Britain. The peculiarity of the British churches is evidence that their origin was from the churches of Asia Minor and not from Rome. The commercial intercourse existing between Brit- ain and Asia Minor made it quite possible that this should have occurred, and it is well known that these churches CHBISTIANITT BEFORE THE TIME OF PATRICK. gg were ecclesiastically independent, and long withstood the authority of the Eomish papacy. It must be remembered, too, that every believer in early times proclaimed tlie gos- pel wherever men would listen, and that often then the Holy Spirit came in more than pentecostal power, turning pagans in teeming multitudes to Christ and his cross, and setting their weapons upon their idols. By these means the whole of south Britain was brought to the Savioui- without a historical trace of any great missionary leader. One historian in the early centuries tells us that about 63 A.D. the gospel sent its beams of light into the British Isles and produced fruit that lived in Christian hearts; another distinguished writer, of the second century, gives a list of countries into which the gospel had been carried, and uses these words, " parts of Britain not reached by the Eomans, but subjugated to Christ"; and still an- other writer, of the third century, says that believers in Christ crossed the ocean into those islands called British ; another historian, of the fourth century, writes that the fii-st heralds of the cross persuaded not only the Romans, etc., but Britons, etc., to embrace the religion of Him who had been crucified ; and Lucian, a British king, is declared to have been a Christian in 180 a.d. It is impossible, as we have said, to assert with any certainty by what means Christianity made its way into Britain. Eusebius, it is recorded, certainly beUeved the Britons were converted as early as the apostohc age, and uses these words : " The Apostles preached the gospel in all the world, and some of them passed beyond the ocean to the Britannic Isles." Another wi-iter asserts that " Aris- 70 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. tobulus, one of the seventy," brought Christianity into Britain ; and another maintains that Claudia, the wife of Pudens, mentioned in 2 Tim. iv. 21, was a British princess. Another eminent historian says that Joseph of Arimathea brought the gospel to Britain. Others assert that Chris- tianity was introduced there by the Apostle Peter ; others, by the Apostle Paul ; others, by James the son of Zebedee ; and others, by Simon Zelotes. A careful historian, who has examined each of these averments, concludes thus: "By all this, it doth not appear that the first preachers of the gospel in Britain did so much as touch at Rome, or received any command or commission from that quarter to convert Britain." It should be stated that the difficulty of ascertaining who did inaugui'ate Christianity in Britain arises from the fact which the earliest of all the English historians asserts, viz., that the early records of the countrj^ were all destroyed by wars, and everything had to be gleaned from foreign sources and from the narratives of exiles. There is, however, sufficient ground for concluding that Britain was the first of all islands that received the light of Christ's religion, even though it may not have been, as one learned professor of church history maintains, as early as five or six years after Christ's ascension. But whenever the gospel reached Britain, it may be confidently asserted that it came in a direct line from the Asiatic churches. Indeed, one of the most erudite and unwearied historians maintains that devout men from Asia established Chris- tian discipline among the ancient Britons. There must have been an organized Christian church in Britain in the CHlilSTIANITT BEFORE THE TIME OF PATRICK. 71 begiuning of the fourth century, for there were British Christian bishops at the Council of Aries in 314 a.d. One of these bishops was from Wales. At that time the Irish had possession of many places in west and south Britain, and must have come in contact with Christians. These Christians were more numerous and the church better organized in- south Wales and south- west Britain, where the Munster or southern Irish were, than in north Wales, held by the Scots proper. Christianity may therefore have found its way into Munster some time in the fourth century, and although no organized church may have existed in Ireland before the advent of St. Patrick, there may have been several Christian communities in the south of Ireland, and it is almost certain that the church founded by St. Patrick was identical in doctrine with the churches of Britain and Gaul, and others that had received the gospel through the same instrumentality. These may have resembled the primitive church, whose chief traits are set forth in these lines : Happy the souls that first believed, To Jesus and to each other cleaved ; Joined by the unction from above In mystic fellowship of love. Meek, simple followers of the Lamb, They lived and spake and thought the same, Brake the commemorative bread, And drank the spirit of their Head. To Jesus they performed their vows, A little church in every house ; 72 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. They joyfully conspired to raise Their ceaseless sacrifice of praise. With grace abundantly endued, A pure, believing multitude. They all were of one heart and soul, And only love inspired the whole. Historians did undoubtedly discover traces of Chris- tianity in Ireland before the coming of Patrick — as in the case of Cormac MacArt, the gi'eat reforming king of the third century, who certainly renounced druidism, and who gave, as his final testimony to his belief in Christian- ity, his dying orders not to bury his body in a cemetery of idolaters, but to lay it elsewhere, with his face toward the east ; and also, in the case of St. Kieran of Saigir, who was probably born in 352, and who was called the first-born of the saints of Ireland. His memory still survives on the island of Cape Clear, whose shore bears the name of St. Kieran's Strand, and his kinsmen, who owned the adjoin- ing land, are characterized as " the first who believed in the cross, and gi'anted a site for a church." The ruins of a small church, called Kilkieran, still exist in that locality. To Patrick, however, belongs the undoubted honor of having been " the Apostle of Ireland," and the true founder of the Christian church there. There may have been occa- sional and isolated efforts to evangelize some parts of Ire- land before his time; but Christianity was practically unknown there before the arrival of Patrick. By his efforts, and through his instrumentality, the gospel was preached, multitudes were converted, preachers commis- sioned, and churches built over a wide area. His story, CHlUSriANIIT BEFORE THE TIME OF PATRICK. 73 divested of fabulous accretions, is deeply interesting, and one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of Christ's kingdom upon the earth. There are probably a dozen lives of St. Patrick wi-itten in the early centuries, but none earher than the middle of the seventh century; and all these lives contain many incredible statements, while fable and legend abound in their pages. He, therefore, who would write a truthful statement concerning Patrick must depend chiefly on his own writings, described by Sir Samuel Ferguson as " the oldest documents in British history." Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God ; He whose word cannot be broken Formed thee for his own abode. On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake thy sui-e repose ? With salvation's walls surrounded, Thou mayst smile at all thy foes. CHAPTER VII. PATRICK'S BUaTHPLACE AND BIBTH. O Caledonia,, stern and wild, Meet nurse for a poetic child ; Land of brown heath and shaggy wood, Land of the mountain and the flood. Land of my sires ! what mortal hand Can e'er untie the filial band That knits me to thy rugged strand ! There is no historical data upon which to base a cor- rect conclusion regarding the year, the month, or the day of the month upon which Patrick was born. The year has varied from 373 to 396. The month— well, it may be said of it as was said of Moses's sepuleher, " no man kuow- eth of it until this day." The day of the month— there is no more certainty regarding this than there is regarding the year or the month. The nearest approach to fixing the day of his birth is contained in the following facetious lines, furnished the writer by a friend who has ransacked all history to find the day. The lines are from the pen of Samuel Lover. On the eighth day of March it was, some people say, That St. Patrick at midnight he first saw the day ; While others declare 'twas the ninth he was born, And 'twas all a mistake, between midnight and morn ; 74 PATRICK'S BIBTHPLACE AND BIRTH. 75 For mistakes will occur in a hurry and shock, And some blamed the baby and some blamed the clock ; Till, with all their cross-questions, sure, no one could know If the child was too fast or the clock was too slow. Now the first faction fight in ould Ireland, they say. Was all on account of St. Patrick's birthday ; Some fought for the eighth, for the ninth more would die. And who wouldn't see right, sure, they blackened his eye ! At last both the factious so positive grew. That each kept a birthday, so Pat then had two. Till Father Mulcahy, who showed them their sins. Said no one could have two birthdays but a pair of twins. Says he, " Boys, don't be fighting for eight or for nine, Don't be always dividing, but sometime combine, Combine eight with nine, and seventeen is the mark. So let that be his birthday." "Amen," says the clerk. If he wasn't a twin, sure, our history will show That at least he is worth two saints that we know. Then they all got blind drunk, which completed their bliss, And we kept up the practice from that day to this. Though it may be difiScult, if not impossible, to deter- mine the exact date of Patrick's birth and death, the place of his birth, or, to be more accurate, where his father lived, has been told by himself. However, here are the opening words of the " Confession " : " I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and the least of all the faithful, and most con- temptible to very many, had for my father Calporuius, a deacon, a son of Potitus, a presbj^ter, who dwelt in the village of Bannavem Tabernise, for he had a small farm hard by the place. I was taken captive. I was then nearly sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God, and I was taken to Ireland in captivity with so many thousand 76 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. men, in accordance with our deserts, because we departed from God." Scholars are now almost unanimous in placing Banna- vem Tabernise in the neighborhood of Dumbarton on the Clyde. In two distinct places in his " Confession " Patrick speaks of going to, and being with, his parents in the Britains. In the foui'th century, it must be remembered, Britain was divided into five provinces, called Britannia Prima, Britannia Seeunda, Maxima Caesarienses, Flavia Csesari- enses, and Valentia. Using the plural when referring to Britain was therefore strictly accurate during Patrick's life, for shortly after his death these divisions were oblit- erated and the country was unified. There is a lonely rugged rock on the river Clyde in Scotland which is crowned with a castle, and thus rises about three hundred feet above the water. It was once called Aleluyd, the Rock of the Clyde. The same name was given to a fort on its top and to a town at its foot. There the ancient Britons resisted the northern Scots and Plots. The river there was often reddened with the blood of the contending parties. The Romans had subdued the Britons, who looked afterward to their conquerors for defense. The Romans made a stronghold of this rock, and built a wall from it across the country to the Frith of Forth. A large British population from Cumberland, England, came in veiy early times into Dumbarton, Scotland. From these settlers the kingdom of Strathclyde was formed. This comprised the country between the Clyde and Solway governed by PATRICK'S BIRTHPLACE AND BIRTH. 77 pi-inces of its own, and having the fortress town of Alclyde or Dumbarton for its capital. Its people maintained their own sovereignty until 1124, when the country was united to the Scottish kingdom under David I. Dumbarton in Scottish Gaelic is Dun Boreatuin, the city of the Britons. It formed the western termination of the Roman wall, built by Agricola a.d. 80, which extended from the Frith to the Clyde. Patrick's birth therefore took place in or near Dumbar- ton, among the Strathclyde Britons, and though the place of his birth is now in Scotland, yet for centuries before Patrick was born and for centuries afterward the place be- longed to the Britons, from whom Patrick himself sprung. Dumbarton town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Leven, fourteen miles from Glasgow. The site was used as a naval station by the Romans, who called it Theodosia, and the arable lands around are com- posed of rich black loam, gravelly soil and clay, and the farmers thereon are thrifty and prosperous. The situa- tion of Dumbarton Castle is eminently pictm-esque. The buildings composing the fort ai-e perched on the summit of a rocky mount, shooting up to the height of two hundred and six feet sheer out of the alluvial plain on the east side of the river Leven. To the east of the castle thei-e are rocky eminences on the verge of the Clyde, of a similar form, though less isolated. The Rock of Dumbarton measures a mile in circumference at the base. It dimin- ishes in breadth near the top, which is cloven into two summits of different heights. The rock is basalt and has a tendency to columnar formation. Some parts of it have 78 TBE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. a magnetic quality. The fortress, naturally strong, pos- sesses several batteries, which command a very extensive range. The defenses are kept in constant repair, and a garrison is maintained in the castle. Four miles from this town toward Glasgow, on the line of the old Roman wall, is the modern town of Kilpatriek, which claims to be the birthplace of St. Patrick. In confirmation of the statement that Dumbarton was the birthplace of Patrick, it may also be adduced that in the old hymn of Fiacc it is said that Patrick was born in Nemthur, and in the margin the writer states that " that is a city which is in north Britain — viz., Ailcuide," — the ancient name of Dumbarton. Other writers in the early centuries designate the same village as the place of his birth. In giving an account of himself Patrick does not tell where he was born, but simply relates that his father dwelt at Bannavem Taberniae, where he also was living when he was taken captive. Bannavem means the river's mouth, and the sheds, shops, and houses of entertain- ment set up for the accommodation of the Roman armies, whether of the temporary or stationary kind, were called Tabernise. Here was his home, and of this place he was most probably a native. It may be that Patrick could .have pointed it out to some friend, as the poet did the home of his early youth, and could have expressed similar feel- ings and resolves regarding it : You see the slender spire that peers Above the trees that skirt the stream — 'Twas there I passed those early years Which now seem like some happy dream. PATRICK'S BIRTHPLACE AND BIRTH. 79 You see the vale which bounds the view — 'Twas there my father's mansion stood Before the gi'ove, whose varied hue Is mirrored in the tranquil flood. There's not a stone remaining there, A relic of that fine old hall ; For strangers came the spot to share, And bade the stately structure fall ! But now, if Fortune proves my friend. And gives me what may yet remain. In that dear spot my days to end I'll build a mansion there again. Douglas Thompson. Or it may be, that as he considered himself one of " the chief of sinners " when he wrote his " Confession," in which he gives an account of himself, he may have felt that he was unworthy of any birthplace, and did not clearly define it. In his old age he thought more of his home in the heavens ; and he may have entertained sentiments regard- ing his birthplace, as Severinus, a missionary on the banks of the Danube in the fifth century, did when he expressed himself in these words : " What pleasure can it be for a servant of God to specify his home or his descent, since by silence he can so much better avoid all boasting? I would that the left hand knew nothing of the good works which Christ grants the right hand to accomplish, in order that I may be a citizen of the heavenly country. What need you know, my earthly country, if you know that I am truly longing after the heavenly? But know this, that God has commissioned me to live among this heavUy op- pressed people." And as an Irish barrister, Charles Phillips, said of Wash- 80 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. iiigtou, so it may be said of Patrick : " It matters very little what immediate spot may be the birthplace of such a man. No people can claim, no country can appropriate, him — the boon of Providence to the human race. I almost bless the convulsion in which he had his origin. In the produc- tion of such a man it does really appear as if Nature wei'e endeavoring to improve upon herself, and that all the vir- tues of the ancient world were but so many studies pre- paratory to the patriot of the new." Such language applied to Patrick would almost appear to be an emanation from Blarney Castle, until you have thoroughly studied Patrick himself. Why should we count our life by years. Since years are short and pass away ? Or why by fortune's smiles or tears. Since tears are vain and smiles decay? Oh ! count by virtues — these shall last When earth's lame-footed race is o'er ; And these, when earthly joys are past. May cheer us on a brighter shore. S. J. Hall. CHAPTER VIII. PATRICK'S PARENTAGE. His hair was like silvery amber, Strangely floating and fine, And soft as the down of the thistle That rolls in the autumn shine ; His eyes were lucent, supernal. Of a mournful, angel blue, And his skin like a tender roseleaf, With pulsing and inner hue. How often by night, how often He knelt by the window-sill While the tears of his prayer and his longing Over his cheek fell claill. And the billows of forest and mountain Seemed murmuring with his breast, And the rush of the mountain river The ciy of his own unrest. In the wilderness' lonely border He roamed like a spirit-child, And kneeled under mossy ledges In his chosen chapels wild ; And the voice of his adoration Thrilled through the silence dim. Tin the hermit thrush from her cloister Poured a serene, sad hymn. We know nothing of Patrick's ancestry farther than two removes back. He himself tells us that he was the 81 g2 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. graudson of Potitus, the presbyter. These few words show that his blood was good. If Patrick had thought that his clerical ancestor had disgi-aced himself by marriage he would not probably have written that he was a minister of God's Word. But this he does in his " Confession," or creed, which was written when he was well advanced in years, so that even in his old age he did not believe in the celibacy of the clergy. Of Potitus we can learn nothing except that his office was held in high esteem in his times. He was most likely a presbyter of the early British church, for his name does not prove that he was a Roman, as native names were often Latinized by the historian, as Patrick's own native baptismal name, Succath, was changed to Patricius, or Patrick. It is more likely that Potitus, Patrick's grand- father, was a Briton by birth, and that he studied the Scriptures and prayed in the little British kil, or church, at Alcluyd, and at its door preached to the people. He doubtless answered the description of the good pastor that Goldsmith describes in the following hues : In his duty prompt, at eveiy call. He watch'd, and wept, and felt, and pray'd for all. At church, with meek and unaffected gi-ace. His looks adorn'd the venerable place ; Truth from his lips prevail'd with double sway, And fools, who came to scoff, remaiu'd to pray. At some period a kil, or church, was located near the spot where St. Patrick was born. It may have been close by the same cottage, for there it seems a kirk, or church, grew up, which the people of later days called Kilpatrick, PATRICK'S PARENTAGE. 83 in honor of the great missionary who was born at the place. Potitus seems to have lived to a good old age, and to have been worthy the respect of his grandson. It is some proof of his excellent family government that he reared a deacon. That deacon was Calpornius, the father of Pat- rick. If this deacon belonged to the Romish order of or- dained clergy, he did not entertain Roman notions of celi- bacy, for he also took a wife and reared a family, of which " our Patrick " was the most notable child. But Calpornius was most probably a deacon in the evangelical British church at Alcluyd, a church that was not regulated after the Roman model of the present day, but sought to follow the order of the primitive church, without, it may be, having any perfect system of church government. But Patrick's father was also a decurio, as he himself also tells us. The decurio was a magistrate and counselor in the Roman colonies in Britain, and the office conferred a high rank on those who held it : they were members of the court and counselors of the city, and must have a certain amount of property. Such was the law of Constantine for the wealthy decurios. Such a man, then, was Patrick's father, honored both in the church and state, and we may fairly conclude that Calpornius ruled in the state like a good deacon of the church. We know nothing of Patrick's mother, except that tradi- tion informs us that her name was Conchessa, and tradi- tion has it that she was a sister of Martin, Archbishop of Tours, and the founder of monasteries in western Europe. Dr. McGlinn says she was a Frenchwoman, that Patrick's 84 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. father was a German, that Patrick himself was a native Scotchman, and by adoption an Irishman. In a tract on " The Mothers of the Saints in Ireland," she is represented as a Briton. But whoever she was, we can readily believe she was " a woman superior to the majority of her sex," and that she endeavored to instill into the heart of her son the doctrines of Christianity. In her home, piety was doubtless displayed as described in the following Unes : Lo, where yon cottage whitens through the green, The loveliest feature of a matchless scene, Beneath its shading elm, with pious fear. An aged mother draws her children near, While from the Holy Word, with earnest air. She teaches them the privilege of prayer. Look, how their infant eyes with rapture speak ; Mark the flush lily on the dimpled cheek ; Their hearts are filled with gratitude and love, Their hopes are centered in a world above. Where, in a choir of angels, faith portrays The loved, departed father of their days. R. Dawes. Such was the ancestry of Patrick according to the most reliable authorities. CHAPTER IX. THE OFFICIAL POSITIONS OF PATRICK'S GRANDFATHER AND FATHER. Thou must be true thyself, If thou the truth wouldst teach ; Thy soul must overflow, if thou Another's soul wouldst reach ; It needs the overflow of heart To give the lips full speech. Think truly, and thy thoughts Shall the world's famine feed ; Speak truly, and each word of thine Shall be a fruitful seed ; Live truly, and thy life shall be A great and noble creed. It may be profitable to digress for a moment to consider more fully what is involved in this statement that Patrick himself makes in connection with his father and gi-and- father's name. The former, his father, Calpornius, was a deacon, and the latter, Potitus, his grandfather, was a presbyter. Both, therefore, if it is claimed to be so, were clergymen in the church of that time, and both were mar- ried, as the Apostle Peter was, for we are told in Matthew's Gospel, viii. 14, " When Jesus came into Peter's house he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever." The Brehon Laws, of which we have given some ac- 85 86 THE STOItr OF ST. PATRICE. count, and under which Ireland was governed at the period of which we wi'ite, constantly assume the marriage of the clergy. These laws state that if a clergyman fell into sin he could be restored to office in three days if he were penitent, and was the husband of one wife ; but if he were unmarried he could not recover his position. Married clergymen were therefore more favored by the law than if they were single. And as an additional evidence that clergymen married in those days, there are directions given in the canons of an Irish synod respecting the dress of a clergyman's wife. The old annals of the Irish church record that an eminent clergyman at Cloumacnois was married, and that his father, gi'andfather, and great-grand- father, who were clergymen, were all married men. In the primitive Christian church the state of celibacy began to be extolled as holier than matrimony as early as the sec- ond century. The early fathers especially commended it, and cited, though erroneously, the example of St. Paul, as showing that it was, for the clergy, the better condition. Still there was no law or uniformity of opinion on the subject, and it was not until the fourth century that even the higher clergy began generally to live in celibacy. Near the close of this century Pope Sirieius forbade all priests to marry, and all who had married previous to ordination were commanded to put away their wives. The Council of Tours in 566 ordered that all priests and deacons who pei'sisted in retaining their wives should be suspended from office for a year ; and the Emperor Justinian declared all children born to a clergyman after his ordination to be illegitimate and incapable of inheritance. PATRICK'S GRANDFATHER AND FATHER. g? The Eastern church, on the other hand, always opposed this doctrine, and the Council of Constantinople in 692 condemned it as heretical. The orthodox Greek Church has therefore always sanctioned the marriage of priests. The opposite doctrine, however, was only established in the Romish Church after many orders and interdictions, extending over several centuries. At last, in the eleventh century, it was ordered that any priest living with a wife should be excommunicated. Even this not being regarded as sufficient. Pope Gregory VII. finally carried the point by deposing all married priests and excommunicating all laymen who upheld them in the exercise of their spiritual functions. This decree met with violent opposition in all countries, but Gregory succeeded in carrying it out with the utmost rigor, and thus the celibacy of the Roman clergy was at last established and has since continued. We learn from St. Patrick's statement that it was not considered in those days inconsistent with the profession of a clergyman to hold a secular office. Patrick tells us in his "Epistle to Coroticus" that his father, though a deacon — a clergyman — held a secular office. Besides pos- sessing a farm, he informs us that he was a decurio, or member of a local town council, a Roman institution which at this time existed everywhere in the empire. This sim- ple statement is a strong proof of the authenticity of the epistle in which the term occurs, for soon after Patrick's death the institution to which he refers disappeared in Britain. The fact that Calpornius, a clergyman, held a farm, and was a local town councilor, conflicts in no way with the gg THE STORT OF ST. PATRICK. usages of the time. It is certain that in the early centu- ries clergymen, of whatever name, earned their bread by their own toil, as Paul did. The history of those days makes it plain that clergymen cultivated farms, kept shops and banks, acted as physicians, shepherds, smiths, and artificers of all kinds. Hatch, a celebrated historian and lecturer, tells of one clergyman who was a weaver, of an- other who was a shepherd on the mountains of Cyprus, of another who practised in the courts of law, of another who was a silversmith, and of another who was an innkeeper at Ancyra. Patrick's own nephew, though a clergyman, was a pilot, and of those clergymen who were Patrick's companions one was a smith, and another was a maker of satchels for books. Patrick himself was poor, and per- formed gratuitously the functions of his calling, as did the Apostle to the Gentiles. There is no evidence in early Christian literature that the pursuit of a secular calling was incompatible with the office of the Christian ministry. The proposal of the Montanists to pay a fixed salary to the clergy was condemned as an innovation alien to all prevailing usage. Salaries to clergy and their withdrawal from secular calling came into the church when it was los- ing its spirituality. Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime ; And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time — Footprints that perhaps another. Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother. Seeing, shall take heart again. H. W. Longfellow. CHAPTER X. PATRICK'S BAPTISM AND EAELY LIFE. " Come, dearest, come, the Sabbath bell Hath almost ning its closing knell; Give me our babe, and haste away, With gladness on its christening-day." Yet still the youthful mother prest Her first-born darling to her breast, And, careful o'er the grassy way That 'tween the church and cottage lay, The precious burden chose to take, Scarce breathing, lest its sleep should break. And now while holier thoughts prevail Her chasten'd beauty, lily-pale. The fervor of the prayer that stole In new devotion from her soul Gave brighter charms to brow and cheek, Such as an angel's love might speak. Close in her steps an aged pair, With furrow'd face and silver hair. Press toward the font, intent to see The honor done to infancy. The rite is o'er, the blessing said. The first-born finds its cradle-bed. Young mother ! prompt must be thy part To pour instruction o'er his heart ; For scarce upon our infant eyes The sprinkled dew of baptism dries Ere the thick frost of manhood's care And strong death's icy seal are there. Mrs. L. H. Sigournet. 89 90 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. Infant baptism was observed both by the British and Oriental Christian churches, and as there was not in those days the same stately and refined mode of observing this sacred ordinance as in the present age, in fonts and sil- ver bowls set for the purpose in the churches, the child was carried by the parents to a well or spring or running stream near the church, and there the ordinance was ad- ministered. Churches were usually located in those days near a river or spring, and if this could not be conve- niently done, a well was dug, so that the people assembled for worship might have the means ready for quenching their thirst and that of their cattle, as well as for other purposes. It was at such places, and by the outpouring of water from the baud or from a small vessel, that num- bex's were often baptized, while immersion of believers in other places was the usage. It is related in the life of Columba that a certain peasant, with his household, hav- ing heard the preaching of the word of life from the lips of this godly man, believed and was baptized, " the liusband with his wife and the children and the servants." This was strictly in accordance with apostolic usage and that of the early British churches. One can easily imagine Patrick's father and mother going side by side, he bearing their infant son in his arms, and coming to the door of the little church in which the aged Potitus the presbyter was praying and studying, or around which the neighbors were assembled for worship, and all going together to a well or running stream near by, where all listened to what was said of God's holy covenant with his people, and with their little ones, as explained by the presbyter Potitus; PATRICK'S BAPTISM AND EARLY LIFE. 91 and then Calpornius, the father, holding forth his child to receive the token of its surrender to the Father, the seal of its redemption by the Son, and the symbol of its renewal by the Holy Ghost. We can almost see the aged presbyter take his grandson in his arms, and with the words of Christ apply to him the waters of baptism, give him, according to an ancient British custom, the kiss of peace, place him in the arms of his tender, prayerful mother, and lift up his hands for prayer and the benediction. "We are told that this child was given the name of Succath in his baptism. At a later day he was called Patrick. Any one can readily see that all this, or something very similar, may have occurred ; but not so what the story- tellers of the middle ages inform us regarding Patrick's baptism, namely, this, " that Patrick was baptized by a blind priest who obtained water for the purpose by caus- ing the infant to make the sign of the cross over the earth, out of which issued at once a well of water which cured the priest of his blindness and enabled him to read in a book the order or ritual of baptism without knowing until then his letters." Let me here also say that there is not a word in Patrick's account of himself and family, or in contemporaneous history, to show that he had brothers and sisters. Yet monks several centui-ies afterward place on the family roll of Patrick's father a list of descendants long enough to supply two or three kingdoms with bishops, priests, monks, and nuns. One sister, they relate, was carried to Ireland and became the mother of seventeen bishops ! Another sister counted among her sons four bishops and three 92 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. priests. A tliii-d, Lemania by name, had two sons — the elder became a bishop and the younger a priest. But we must leave all these fables and devote our at- tention to Patrick. We know nothing of his infancy and boyhood up to fifteen years of age, except what we gather from the legends of the middle ages, and in these the facts are almost lost. But it is easy to believe that Patrick had all the human nature of a boy ; that he had all the frolic- some and mischievous spirit of the great majority of boys since ; that he often got tired of porridge for his breakfast, and ran away to fish for trout for dinner ; that when sent on an errand to town he would climb the rock and linger, throw snowballs at the Druids if it was winter, and talk with Eoman soldiers when he ought to have been herding his father's sheep. We know, for he tells us in his " Confession," that he was taught the holy commandments, but did not keep them ; that he was warned for his salvation, but did not heed the preachers ; that he did not know the trae God savingly, although he had been taught the way to be saved and to read the Bible, whose truths his grandfather preached. He loved pleasure, was the leader of his youth- fi;l companions, and committed, as he tells us, a grievous fault, the character of which we know not. He was then sixteen years of age, and the end of the time for sowing his wild oats had come. Speak of me as I am ; nothing extenuate. Nor set down aught in malice ; then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely but too well. Shakespeare. CHAPTER XL THE CAPTIVITY OF ST. PATKICK. Adieu, adieu ! My native shore Fades o'er the waters bhie ; The night-winds sigh, the breakers roar, And shrieks the wild sea-mew. You sun that sets upon the sea We follow in his flight ; Farewell, awhile, to him and thee. My native land, good-night ! Bykon. PiKATES in those days, Danish and Irish and Scots, plowed continually the channels and seas around the Brit- ish Isles, made inroads upon the land, plundering villages and towns, killing many, carrying off young and old to strange lands, and selling them into slavery. Irish ships in that period were chiefly " coracles," made of the skins of beasts and wicker or willow rods— a kind of boat, frail as it may seem, still used frequently in Arran, Achill, and the western coasts of Ireland. It is not probable that thousands of unwilling, vindictive captives could be con- veyed in these hide-covered basket-ships over the wide sea separating France from Ireland, if Patrick's parents had lived in France. From the coast of Antrim in Ireland to 94 tHE SrORY OF ST. PATRICK. Dumbarton on the Clyde the space is crossed by a steamer in a few hours, and from the cliffs of the Antrim coast the houses in the nearest parts of Scotland can be seen. In one of those piratical incursions Patrick and about two hundred others were seized, placed in boats, whose pi-ows were turned down the Clyde and headed toward Ireland. What sad thoughts Patrick must have had as he gazed back on the high rock so near his home. What indigna- tion must have burned within him toward these pirates. But afterward he saw a reason for it all. The hand of God was laid severely upon him to coiTect his evil ways, and his words written many years afterward clearly reveal that he understood the reason for the stroke of God's afflicting hand. The boats which carried young Patrick and his compan- ions with a load of spoils would be likely to land at some near point. Leaving the Firth of Clyde, a straight course west would bring them upon the Antrim coast of Ireland just where tradition fixes the landing. It is possible that in some little harbor between the Giant's Causeway and the mouth of the river Bann, Patrick's captors disem- barked, and thei-e touched the country which gave Patrick years of degradation and suffering and a long life after- ward of wide-spread gospel triumphs. It may be interesting to some readers to know that the Giant's Causeway, near which Patrick landed in Ireland, is situated on its north coast, and is a curiosity which probably has no parallel in the works of nature or art. Its form is nearly triangular, and extends from the foot of an THE CAPTIVITY OF ST. PATRICK. 95 adjacent mountain into the sea, having six hundred feet discernible at low water. It consists of innumerable five, six, and seven sided pillars, but irregular, as there are few of these pillars whose sides are of equal breadth. Nor are they more uniform in thickness, as they vary from twelve to twenty-six inches in diameter. They all touch by equal sides, and are so near to one another that it is sometimes difficult to see the joints. Neither are they uniform in height, some having a smooth and others an uneven ter- mination. Each pillar also consists of many unequal pieces, from twelve to twenty-four inches in length. These pieces are jointed into one another by concave and convex surfaces, highly polished, as are aU the sides of the pillars that come in contact. This colonnade is in some parts thirty-two and in others thirty-six feet above the level of the sea, but its foundation has never been ascertained. One of the pillars has been broken to the depth of eight feet in the earth, and its figure was found to be the same as above the surface. The learned have never agreed in opinion as to whether this wonderful "causeway" is a work of nature or of art. Patrick, in his missionary tours through Ulster, doubtless visited this scene, where Nature still retains one of her mysteries. In conformity with the statement made by Patrick in his "Confession," history records that freebooting raids of the north of Ireland Scots (as the Irish then were called) were often made upon north Britain in the fourth and fifth centuries. The evidence of these raids is still found. In 1854 two thousand Roman coins of these centuries were discovered at Coleraine, some of these bearing the name 96 THE STOJRT OF ST. PATRICK. of Patricius. In one of these raids Patrick, along witli many others, as we have stated, was carried away captive to Ireland. He was then nearly sixteen years of age. He was sold to Milchu, son of Hua Bain, king of north Dala- radia, whose residence was in the valley of the Braid near the hill of Slemish, and close to Broughshane, five miles from Ballymena. There is a town land in the valley still called Ballyligpatrick, or the town of Patrick's hollow. Milchu, his owner, employed Patrick to herd cattle, or, as some translators render the Irish words, " to feed swine ; " so, like another prodigal, he " was sent into the fields to feed swine." "When Patrick was caiTied into captivity in his sixteenth year, and during the six years of his captive state, his condition was most deplorable. He had gospel seed indeed in his memory, but this did not germinate for some years. He had no Christian principles to guide him, and no asso- ciates but slaves and the lowest class of Irish idolaters, who could only converse upon religious subjects about their own " Cenn-Cruaich," the chief idol of Ireland, which was covered with gold and silver, surrounded with twelve other idols plated with brass. He had not one Christian companion, nor one kind heathen friend, and the natural result would seem to be his conforming to heathenism and joining in the worst sins of the neighborhood. He was like "a stone," as he himseK says, "deep in the mud," but God lifted him up and placed him upon the wall of the spiritual temple. THE CAPTIVITY OF ST. PATRICK. 97 Oh for a faith that will not shrink, Though pressed by every foe ; That will not tremble on the brink Of any earthly woe ; That will not murmur nor complain Beneath the chastening rod, But, in the hour of grief and pain, Will lean upon its God. CHAPTER XII. PATRICK'S CONVERSION IN BONDAGE. Thus far did I come laden with my sin, Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in Till I came hither. What a place is this ! Must here be the beginning of my bliss ? Must here the burden fall from off my back? Must here the string that bound it to me crack ? Blest ci'oss ! blest sepulcher ! Blest, rather, be The Man that there was put to shame for me. John Bunyan. Patrick remained in this degraded condition for six years. During that time the grace of God visited him, and the Spirit of the Lord took possession of him, revived the teachings of his early boyhood, and brought the young disciple to a deep and sincere Christianity. Thus severe trials were to him a means of grace. He remembered happier days. He thought upon his sins. He felt that he was far from Christ, the true home of his soul. He recalled the teachings of God's servants, and the lessons learned in his father's house. It was at this time that he became a man of prayer. One extract from his " Confession," as it is called, will suffice to prove this. " While I was feeding cattle," he writes, " I prayed fre- quently every day, and my love and fear of God and faith 98 PATRICK'S CONVERSION IN BONDAGE. 99 in him continually increased. I dwelt in the woods and on the mountain, and woke up to pray before the dawn. I felt no pain, nor frost, nor snow, nor rain, nor any sense of indolence, for the Spirit was burning within me." His early religious education in these after years thus began to bear fruit, in meditation, prayer, and consecra- tion. Such words as those we read in the " Confession " of this swineherd, show what Bible truths were taught and what gospel faith existed in the homes of British Chris- tians in those early days, thus giving an encouragement to parents in aU ages to " train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." The good seed that Patrick's parents cast upon the waters began to bear fruit after many days. The gi'ound of Pat- rick's young heart may have appeared an unlikely soil, but the incorruptible seed of God's Word was sown there amid the shedding perhaps of many parental tears, and at length it began to take root, show signs of life, spring up, and bud. During his six years' bondage in the valley of the Braid and on the hill Slemish, Patrick had a good opportu- nity for observing the condition of the natives, must have learned necessarily to speak their language, and evidently conceived for them a deep and abiding sympathy. On that abrupt and picturesque elevation rising from the valley of the Braid, near Ballymena, County Antrim, called Mount Slemish, between fourteen and fifteen hun- dred years ago the heart of the captive boy from the banks of the Clyde, as he herded his cattle on its bleak sides, yielded to the all-conqueriug power of the love of 100 T^^ STORY OF ST. PATRICK. Christ. The fact is worthy of repetition. We often bow with wondering adoration before the sovereign grace of God, which laid a loving arrest on Saul of Tarsus as he drew near to the city of Damascus, and, in a double sense, made him a " vessel of mercy " — a vessel of mercy as re- garded his own personal salvation, " a chosen vessel," to bear the name of Christ before the Gentiles. Thousands, tens of thousands of conversions were, so to speak, folded up in the individual conversion of that intellectual and fanatical Jewish youth. So it was in the case of Patrick. He was " a chosen vessel" also. The spiritual change he experienced on the side of Slemish, interpreted in the Ught of subsequent events, may be said to have been one of the most remark- able and determining facts in the entire history of Ireland. It changed the national religion. It raised Ireland to a position of distinguished, and for a time unparalleled, honor among the nations ; and it helped to transform the face of Christendom itself. It seemed all unlikely that such results should follow the introduction of this un- known captive herd-boy into the kingdom of God, but then, as now, God's ways are not our ways, nor his plan of working ours. Hope on, hope ever ! Though to-day be dark. The sweet sunburst may smile on thee to-morrow ; Tho' thou art lonely, there's an Eye will mark Thy loneliness, and guerdon all thy sorrow ; Tho' thou must toil 'mong cold and sordid men. With none to echo back thy thought, or love thee, Cheer up, poor heart ! Thou dost not beat in vain, For God is over all and heaven above thee — Hope on, hope ever ! PATRICE'S CONVERSION IN BONDAGE. JQ^ Hope on, hope ever ! After darkest nigbt Comes, full of loving life, the laughing morning. Hope on, hope ever ! Spring-tide flusht with light, Age crowns old winter with her rich adorning. Hope on, hope ever ! Yet the time shall come When man to man shall be a friend and brother, And this old world shall be a happy home. And all earth's family love one another ! Hope on, hope ever ! CHAPTER XIII. PATRICK'S ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. !'«)■ going to my own hearthstone, Bosomed in yon green hills alone — A se-iret nook in a pleasant land, ■- • • • 'Vvliose 'groves the frolic fairies planned, Whose arches green, the livelong day, Echo the blackbird's roundelay, And vulgar feet have never trod — A spot that is sacred to thought and God. R. W. Emerson. In his "Confession" Patrick goes on to tell how he escaped from his place of slavery. " And there," he says (on the wild mountain-side), "one night in my sleep I heard a voice saying to me, 'Thou fastest well, [fasting so] thou shalt surely go to thy country.' And again, after a very short time I heard a response saying to me, ' Behold, thy ship is ready.' And it was not near, but perhaps two hundred miles away, and I never had been there, nor was I acquainted with any of the men there." These dreams came to him again and again, and Patrick felt as God's servants often did in Old Testament times when they had their dreams, that God by these di*eams was indicating his mind and will to him, and that a divine hand and voice were in them, and he acted accordingly. " After this," he writes, " I took flight, and left the man 102 PATRICK'S ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY. 103 with whom I had been six years, and I came in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good, and I feared nothing, till I arrived at that ship." So he goes on to relate that he found the ship ready to sail, but the captain refused to take him on board because he had no money to pay his passage. Upon this repulse he went to look for some cottage in the woods where he might securely wait for a better opportunity to make his escape. In the meantime he betook himself to his usual consolation, his prayers ; but the sailors sent after him to return, took him on shipboard, and hoisted sail. The place where he took ship has been much discussed ; the name has been translated Benum, near which was the wood Foclut, mentioned in his " Confession." This wood has been located in or near the parish of Killala, barony of Tirawley, county of Mayo. This place was about two hundred miles, as Patrick mentions in his " Confession," from the Slemish mountain where he fed the swine. Killala Bay is upon the northwestern coast of Ireland, as any one will see by looking at the map of that island. Killala town is situated at the extremity of the bay, on the west bank of the river Moy. It contains about two hundred houses, and has some trade in the export of grain, etc. The harbor affords good anchorage in about ten or twelve feet of water. There is good fishing, and about three hundi-ed persons are employed in the pursuit an- nually. Six miles higher up the river, delightfully situ- ated, stands the town of Ballina. From that bay he doubt- less sailed on his escape from slavery, and " after three days we reached land," are the words in his " Confession," 104 THE STOET OF ST. PATRICK. and in sixty days he was among his kindred, who received him as a son. The voices of my home — I hear them still ! They have been with me through the dreamy night, The blessed household voices, wont to fill My heart's clear depths with unalloyed delight ! I hear them still unchanged, though some from earth Are music parted ; and the tones of mirth — Wild, silvery tones, that rang through days more bright — Have died in others ; yet to me they come, Singing of boyhood back — the voices of my home ! They call me through this hush of woods reposing, In the gray stillness of the summer morn ; They wander by when heavy flowers are closing, And thoughts gi'ow deep and winds and stars are born ; Even as a fount's remember'd gushings burst On the parch'd traveler in his hour of thu'st, E'en thus they haunt me with sweet sounds, tiU, worn By quenchless longings, to my soul I say. Oh for the dove's swift wings, that I might flee away ! CHAPTER XIV. PATRICK AT HOME AGAIN. My whole though broken heart, O Lord, From henceforth shall be thine ; And here I do my vow record — This hand, these words, are mine ; All that I have, without reserve, I offer here to thee ; Thy will and honor all shall serve That thou bestow'dst on me. I know that thou wast willing first. And then drew my consent ; Having thus loved me at the worst, Thou wilt not now repent. Now I have quit all self-pretense. Take charge of what's thine own. My life, my health, and my defense Now lie on thee alone. Baxter. There is no reliable data upon which to form a conclu- sion where Patrick spent several years of his life after his return to his family in Scotland. The British churches doubtless often thought of the con- dition of pagan Ireland, and often prayed for its wretched inhabitants ; but they may have been deterred from seek- ing their conversion because Ireland was not under the protection of Roman rule. But there is evidence that 105 106 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. some of these British Christians made their way to some places in the south of Ireland and were instrumental in making converts to the Christian faith; but these con- verts were comparatively few, and the great bulk of its inhabitants remained pagan. Patrick, as we learn from his own " Confession," was brought up in a Christian family in Britain, where he was born, and where he was taught the truth which obtained a lodgment in his mind, and which was impressed savingly on his heart when a youthful slave in pagan Ireland. This truth he was taught in the godly home of Deacon Calpor- nius his father, and in the church of which his father was a member and officer. When Patrick escaped from slavery and returned to his home and once more enjoyed Christian society, his be- lieving experience was greatly enlarged, his reliance upon Christ strengthened, and, as he explains in his " Confes- sion," he decided to become a missionary to the Irish. It was but natural and proper, therefore, that he should de- vote his time and talents in order to prepare himself for the great work to which he had devoted himself. One of the powerful agencies for extending the gospel among the ancient Britons was the establishment of great monastic schools where the Bible was studied and literary instruc- tion imparted. Some of those who were at the head of these institu- tions were men of great piety and learning. Their know- ledge of the Old and New Testaments was so remarkable that their fame spread over the whole country, and schol- ars came from every part to them and spent several years PATRICK AT HOME AGAIN. 107 in the study of literatui-e and divinity. These students supported themselves by cultivating the land belonging to these institutions and by catching the fish in the rivers. Into some of these schools thousands of students were gathered, to whom instruction was imparted in every branch of knowledge and especially in the teachings of Scripture. Patrick most likely spent several years in these schools preparing for his entrance upon his Irish mission, in which the Saviour was about to give him the whole country as his reward. Patrick, as we have seen, having been carried away captive from home and school in his teens, his educational success was hindered, and he did not have, therefore, the great positive advantages of his school companions, who were permitted to pursue their studies, who were taught in the best way, and drank in the prescribed literature in a proper manner. His apologj' for his own educational defects implies a testimony to the superior instruction of the schools of Dumbarton. In those days there were ninety-two cities in Britain, thirty-three of which were conspicuous and celebrated, and which had these schools. Dumbarton was one of these, where St. Patrick's father was a decurio, or a member of the city council. At this time the people were dualized and sui-rounded in many cases with comforts and luxuries. Their gardens and villas were in some instances models of elegance. The students in these schools were called monks, a name which primarily only meant those who secluded themselves for purposes of study and devotion. These monks led stricter lives than others within their own houses. Having retired 108 THE STOET OF ST. PATRICK. from the common employments of the world for sacred studies and prayer, their chief occupation, next to their devotions, was the study of the Scriptures, while some learned godly person instructed the disciples in the Holy Word. It will tend to show the importance attached to educa- tion in those early times, and especially for the prepara- tion of ministers for their work, when it is stated that in Britain there was at this time a valuable system of public education. It was for the free and superior classes. Each city maintained a certain number of professors, according to its size and population, who taught gi-ammar, rhetoric, and philosophy. These professors were appointed by the magistrates and partly paid by municipal funds. In other words, the instructors received a salary from the city and a small fixed sum from each pupil. These instructors were exempt from taxation and military service. These public schools were manned in some places by Christians. It is a matter of great lamentation that all the early lit- erature of these schools and colleges was destroyed by the ravages of those who overran and plundered Britain when the Roman forces were withdrawn. It is a remarkable fact that the only wi-itings of any native British author of this period that survive are those of St. Patrick, all of which are published in this book. And in one of these writings, that of the " Confession," he makes this apology for the style of his composition: "For I have not read like others, who, being taught in the best way, therefore rightly, both drank in the customary learning in a proper manner and have never changed their language from child- PATRICK AT HOME AGAIN. 109 hood." And as the few authentic writings we possess, which evidently came from his hand, are saturated with the spirit of the gospel, are enriched with many quotations from both the Old and New Testaments, and are mani- festly the product of one who had read diligently his Bible and had imbibed its great fundamental truths under the guidance of the spirit of truth, we must conclude that whether he had any human teacher or whether he attended any institution of learning or not, he was taught of the Lord, and prepared by him for the great work God had designated him to accomplish. In Patrick's own account of his missionaiy work in Ireland he never alludes to hav- ing received a commission from the pope nor from any human being. If he did receive such a commission his silence upon the subject would seem to prove how little importance he attached to it. There is not, however, the shadow of a proof that he was ever at Rome, or that any pope commissioned him to proceed on a mission to Ireland ; nor is there any evidence whatever that he was Ucensed to preach by any human authority, or ordained by any man or body of men, or dele- gated by any creature. He seems to have been appointed to his work by God, without the official sanction of man, as were Charles H. Spurgeon, D wight L. Moody, and others. Prosper of Acquitaine, who was contemporary with Patrick, was familiar with the acts of the popes in his day and sustained friendly relations with them, and regis- tered the mission of those who were sent out by them, makes no mention of Patrick. The reason was doubtless IIQ THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. this, that Patrick was not commissioned by the pope, that Patrick's churches in Ireland, like their brethren in Brit- ain, repudiated the authority of the popes ; all knowledge of the conversion of Ireland through Patrick's ministiy was therefore for the time being suppressed as completely as the silence of the pope's registers could secure it. He certainly was not urged to undertake this mission at the instigation of his own relations or kindred, who, as he tells us, received him back from slavery as a son, but who besought him not to part from them again. His family, while probably greatly pleased with his Christian zeal, seems to have endeavored to dissuade him from go- ing- on this Irish mission. His pai-ents did not forget the privation and hardships which their son endured for six years, day and night, on the rugged sides and black summit of that Slemish mountain whei'e snow and rain di-enched his rags and pinching hunger beset him. They were alarmed for his safety amid the cruel pagans that swarmed everywhere in that land, and their hearts' yearn- ing over him led his parents to entreat him to stay with them. They offered him gifts and presented the most pressing appeals, but all proved unavailing, and Patrick may have said as Paul did, when his friends besought him on one occasion not to go up to Jerusalem, "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart 1 for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." Patrick himself confirms the doctrine that God, and no ecclesiastic of any name, called him to Ireland. Here are his own words in his " Confes- sion " : "I commend my soul to my most faithful God, for PATRICK AT HOME AGAIN. ■ \\\ whom I discharge an embassage [in Ireland] in my ignoble condition, because, indeed, he does not accept the person, and he chose me to this office that I might be one of the least of his ministers." "Wide is the gloi'ious field : Throughout the world go forth, The Spirit's sword to wield, To bear the Spirit's shield, Till every nation yield. And blessings crown the earth. Oh ! speed the rising rays Of the Sun of Righteousness ! So shall the glad earth raise A noble song of praise, Touched by the light which plays From a nobler world than this ! Early and late still sow The seed which God hath given. Seek not reward below ; The glorious flower shall blow Where cloudless summers glow, The harvest is in heaven. CHAPTER XV. pateick's call to mission work. Christ said to all liis church below, Thro' those who heard his wondrous claim, " Go ye to every nation, go And make disciples in my name ; " Baptizing all who come to me Into the name of Father, Son, And Holy Spirit, one in three, And three in name, but essence One ; " And teach them all that ye have heard And seen in me from day to day ; And as ye bear abroad my word, Lo, I am with my own alway. " Altho' I go to take my throne As Head o'er all to rule and reign, Yet I will leave you not alone. But will return to you again." His own account of his call to mission work in Ireland is natural and lifelike. His heart had been given to God and to his work, and his thoughts were full of it by day, and his dreams were burdened with it by night. "When he slept he saw Ireland in visions, and heard the voices of its youth calling upon him to hasten and help them. Here are his own words : " In the dead of night I saw a man 112 PATRICK'S CALL TO MISSION WORE. 113 coming to me as if from Ireland, whose name was Victori- ous, bearing innumerable epistles, and he gave me one of them, and I read the beginning of it, which contained the words, ' The voice of the Irish ; ' and while repeating them, I imagined that I heard in my mind the voice of those who were near the wood of Foclut, which is near the western sea. Thus they cried, ' We pray thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk among us.' I was pierced in heart and could read no more ; and so I awoke. Thanks be to God that after many years the Lord granted unto them the blessing for which they cried ! Again, on an- other night— I know not, God knoweth, whether it was in me or near me — I heard distinctly .words which I could not understand except these at the close : ' He who gave his life for thee is he who speaketh in thee.' And so I awoke rejoicing." In some of his dreams he was led to recall such texts of Scripture as these : " The Spirit helpeth our infirmities," "Christ, who maketh intercession for us." These were surely blessed effects of his dreams. All was quite in keeping with the feelings and resolutions of one who was enthusiastic and eager to tell the good news of salvation to a barbarous people. Neither did he relate his dreams for display, but to convince others that he did not assume the ministry of his own accord, that he was not sent to his work by man, but that he felt he was called of God, He understood that his call was supernatural, and that he interpreted his dreams as signs that he was commissioned by the Lord to preach the gospel in Ireland. The appeal in the vision, we must remember, came to him from those 114 T^^ STORY OF ST. PATRICK. who were in the wood Foclut, in the neighborhood of Killala Bay, on the borders of the county Mayo, where he remained probably concealed from enemies while waiting for the boat to make his escape from slavery. He had his heart full of his Master's spirit and his ear opened to his Master's call, and he listened to the appeal as Paul did to that man of Macedonia who stood and cried, " Come over and help us." And as Paul did on another occasion so did Patrick : " He was not disobedient to the heavenly vision," but returned to Ireland, as God's messenger to the pagan inhabitants of that land. A crisis had arrived in his his- tory when he heard the voice of duty irresistibly calling him away from home and friends ; and Patrick never for a moment hesitated to prefer what was dutiful to what was agi'eeable when the two were in conflict. He was a man of simple, childlike faith, full of the primitive Christian spirit. His writings show him to be in an exceptional degree familiar with the sacred writings and imbued with their teaching. And as the Scripture speaks much of visions and dreams and of holy men of Ood having been much influenced thereby, so one cannot iDut be struck with the large place they had in Patrick's life, and with the determining effect which they had upon him at critical moments in his career. One word more upon these visions that Patrick had, and which he obeyed. It may be remembered that imme- diately after giving an account of that vision to Paul, the historian adds : " Immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel unto them," We may not be PATRICK'S CALL TO MISSION WORK. \\^ warranted, and Patrick may not have been warranted, in placing quite on a level with that vision of Paul anything of a similar nature that may come to ourselves. But yet within certain limits we may speak of those beckouings toward future labors in life or achievements of character which may be given to us in God's ordinary providence, which become our ideals for the time, and after which we strive with all the earnestness and enthusiasm of our souls, as visions not unlike that which was given to Paul. In this lower sense many of us have had at some time or other our visions. Such may have been the dreams of our youth, which, like those of Joseph, may have exposed us at the time to the ridicule of those around us, but which, at a later date, kept us from despondency, nerved us for effort, and perhaps also prevented us from yielding to the lowest forms of temptations — which, at any rate, have allured us on until, in some degree at least, they have been fulfilled. Many illustrations might be given. One must suffice. Warren Hastings, at seven years of age, was lying, poor and orphaned, almost friendless, on the bank of a rivulet in England, looking wistfully on the lands of his ancestors, which had passed into the hands of strangers. On that sunny day there arose in his mind a scheme which through all the turns of his eventful career was never abandoned. It was, that he would recover the estate which belonged to his father. That was his vision. That purpose formed in infancy grew with his growth, strengthened with his strength, and matured with his maturity. When under a tropical sun he ruled, as governor-general of British India, 116 TRE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. fifty millions of Asiatics, his hopes, amid all the cares of war, finance, and legislation, still pointed to his ancestral hall. And when his long public life closed (nearly eighty years after he had his bojdsh vision), it was at that " home," pui-chased a few years before, that he retired to die. We might multiply such illustrations, and as we medi- tate upon them we should remember that these visions come in the line of a person's own aspirations, and whose training and qualifications prepare him to receive these visions. And when the vision is accepted it holds the in- dividual to itself. The fulfilment of it becomes henceforth the one great object of his life, concerning which he says, " This one thing I do." Church of the Crucified, earth needs thy passion. Love agonizing the wayward to win Pure self-oblation in Christliest fashion. Soul-sweat and travail to save men from sin. Church of the Eisen One, love that withholdeth Naught that it has God would give to thee now ; Rise in the might that thy weakness enfoldeth. Bid the whole earth to the Crucified bow. H. Wright Hay. CHAPTEE XVI. AN ESTIMATE OF PATRICK BEFOKE STARTING ON HIS MISSION. O Master, let me walk with thee In lowly paths of service free ; Tell me thy secret ; help me bear The strain of toil, the fret of care. Help me the slow of heart to move By some clear, winning word of love ; Teach me the wayward feet to stay, And guide them in the homeward way. Let us look for a moment at Patrick before he starts for the field of his labors in Ireland. We do not know his precise age, but he was doubtless in the fulness of his manhood, with a fine presence and good health, with a tongue that could gain the Irish ear and a soul that could win the Irish heart. He was not educated even up to the standard of that day, a fact which he more than once deplores, as he makes his defense for setting out as a missionary of the cross and a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His wi'itings attest the truthfulness of his apologetic confession, for they are often rude and broken utterances, ungrammatieal in construction and obscure in statement. Yet these same writings reveal a strong and rugged per- sonality, in presence of which even princes and kings were 117 Ilg THE STOBY OF ST. PATRICK. subdued and awed when he stood before them as God's ambassador, and proclaimed the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Moreover he had a decision of character, an intrepidity and magnanimity of spirit always distinctive of gi'eat men — traits that gave Patrick a place beside Elijah and Paul. These traits of character were, more- over, set on fire by an intense ardor that no difficulties or discouragements could cool, and were sustained by an indomitable courage, that, without flinching, could look danger and death in the face. Besides, his heart throbbed with a tremulous sympathy, and yearned with genuine compassion for the objects of his mission. Over and above aU, his whole nature was chastened by a deep humility in the presence of the thrice holy God, and his whole life was pervaded in a remark- able degree by an unquenchable spirit of prayer and by an unbounded trust in God. It is furthermore worthy of remark that during the six years of his captivity in Ire- land his soul seems to have greatly compassionated the people, whom he saw were wholly given up to heathenism, and this brought him to resolve to seek their conversion — a resolution that was vitalized and strengthened by the Holy Spirit working upon his heart through the visions and voices with which he was favored. For this work he was in various ways specially qualified ; and one of these qualifications was his perfect knowledge of the Irish lan- guage,, which he acquired through the wonderful provi- dence of God permitting him to be taken captive and to be held in captivity for six years during his maturing years — a period sufficiently long for him to become well ^JV ESTIMATE OF PATRICK. 119 acquainted with the language, manners, and dispositions of the people to whom he was intended as a future apostle. O Irishmen ! we call him saint, And name his name with pride, Then, let us follow in his steps. And walk where he would guide. Let us, too, rise with purpose high, In Christ's own strength, and flee To home and freedom from the curse Of sin's sad slavery ; And then, like him, return to bless The land we trod as slaves ; And lay our bones, at last, to rest In honored, well-loved graves. G. R. BuicK. But what Patrick values and emphasizes most is the fact which he asserts, and to which he refers again and again, that he received his call from a higher than any earthly source — that his mission was from God ; and he seems always to take pleasure in relating the circum- stances in which the divine voice spake to him, and in adding: "I testify in truth and in joy of heart, before God and his holy angels, that I never had any reason except the gospel and its promises for ever returning to that people from whom I had formerly escaped with diffi- culty." And when "the voice of the Irish" summoned him back, he obeyed what he believed to be a divine call ; and with an unreserved consecration he gave himseK to the land which, in the person of some of its sons, had so grievously wronged him. 120 THE STORT OF ST. PATRICK. In point of prayerfulness, self-denial, consecration, abun- dance of labors, love to Christ and to the souls of men, combined with marvelous success, Patrick has had but few equals in the entire annals of the Christian church. For the national conversion of Ireland to the Christian faith was wholly attributable, under God, to his indifatega- ble labors. He gave himself to her. Ireland became his adopted countiy. For her he lived, prayed, labored, died, and in her he found his gi'ave, and the soil of Ireland holds to-day the dust of no saintlier hero. I teach what Christ has taught me, The wisdom from above ; The news from heaven he brought me. That God himself is love ; And that in every nation He waits that soul to bless Who seeks from sin salvation, And worketh righteousness. How Jesus, God anointed, With his own mighty power. To meet the time appointed. And bring us mercy's hour ; Endowed with grace of healing, How fair earth's walks he trod ; At length, in death, revealing Himself the Son of God. And this is my commission : That all who trust his name. Of sin shall have remission — For this is why he came. Not for our condemnation — For that, alas ! we have — To bring, instead, salvation, And triumph o'er the grave. J. E. Eakkin. CHAPTEE XVII. PATRICK STAKTING ON HIS MISSION TO IKELAND. I travel'd once a rocky road, A weary road it was to go, With burdens, too, a heavy load, And where it led I did not know. A weary road, with rivers high. Wild beasts were standing on the rocks ; And clouds came drifting through the sky, Fill'd deep with fires and thunder-shocks. But through the floods and through the flame, And foaming floods, as on I went, A voice of hope and cheering came, " Fear not to go tvhere God hath sent."" That voice is ringing in my ears ; Let mountains rise and oceans flow. It matters not. Away with fears, If God hath sent me, let me go. J. C. Upham. We have seen the spirit with which Patrick appears to have set out on his gi'eat mission to Ireland, and now let us trace with as much detail as possible his missionary tours. It is generally conceded that he lauded first on the coast of Wieklow, in the southeast of Ireland, at the mouth of the river Vartry. Though his stay here was brief, it is 121 J22 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. recorded that the gospel he preached resulted in the con- version of Sinell, a great man of that place, and the eighth in lineal descent from Cormac, king of Leinster. He sailed northward around the coast, and touched at an island off the Skerries, now called, after him, Holmpatrick, which is about twelve miles from Dublin. Sailing still northward, he called for a short time at the mouth of the river Boyne near Drogheda ; pressing still northward, he made his way- past Carlingford Bay, and entering Strangford Lough, he landed in the barony of Lecale, at the mouth of a small river called Slany, which falls into the north end of the bay of Dundrum and about two miles from the place now known as Saul. ' The Lough of Strangford, formerly called Lough Coyne, is seventeen miles in length from Killard Point to New- town-Ardes, and in some places five miles in breadth. It contains four or five islands, some of them upward of one hundred acres in extent, and in general well cultivated. Some of the land in the county of the Ardes cannot be excelled in Ireland. Once entered, its harbor is deep and safe, but owing to the great rapidity of the tide and the rocks near its entrance it is not safe for vessels to attempt without a pilot. There are two passages to it, divided by a reef half a mile long, called Eock Angus, on the south side of which there are fifteen feet of water, and it is the only channel na\agable for merchant-vessels. Here Patrick and his companions were brought into the presence of a chief called Dicliu, a descendant of an an- cient Irish king, who, taking them for pirates, came out, armed against them. But Dichu soon discovered his mis- PATRICK STARTING ON HIS MISSION TO IRELAND. 123 take, listened while Patrick preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the old chief with his whole family became Christians and were baptized. Dichu gave Patrick a barn to be used as a temporary chui-ch, and gave him ground on which to build a church, which, at Dichu's request, was not to be located from west to east, but from north to south, and became known as Saul-Patrick, or Patrick's barn ; and the place is known as Saul to this day. It is the place where Patrick died, half a century or more afterward, and is about two miles from Downpatrick. Several readers of this story who are not familiar with the localities mentioned may be interested in a brief description of a few of them as we come to them in this narrative. Downpatrick is situated near the mouth of the river Quoyle, which flows into the southwest extremity of Strangford Lough about twenty miles southeast of Bel- fast. The town lies in a valley formed by hills of some elevation, and consists of four main streets meeting in the center. It has an Episcopal cathedral, a Roman Catholic church, two Methodist churches, and two Presbyterian churches. In the vicinity are the ruins of Saul Abbey, said to have been founded by St. Patrick, and also a number of monastic ruins. A legend has it that the cathedral contains the remains of St. Patrick, with those of St. Columba and St. Bridget. To the northwest of Down- patrick are the remains of a great earthwork, two thirds of a mile in circuit, inclosing a conical fort 60 feet high and 2100 feet in circumference. It is pretty certain that 124: ^^^ STOET OF Sr. PATRICK. at this place was founded the first church estabUshed by St. Patrick. From Lecale, which was an island or peninsula in that locality, Patrick soon passed northward by land to the scene of his early captivity near Broughshane ; but his old master, Milchu, having heard of the great success of Pat- rick's preaching, and fearing perhaps that he would be overcome by some magical influence emanating from his former herd-boy, set fire to his house, according to the story, and perished in the ruins. "We suppose many of the readers of this story have known persons who resolutely kept away from church and from all intercourse with the preachers of God's Word, lest they might in some way be brought under the influence of saving truth, and be led in penitence and faith to the feet of Jesus. Resolute perseverance in such a course always ends in ruin. But Patrick's visit to that neighborhood was far from fruitless. Milchu's son, Guasacht, was converted, became a preacher of the gospel and the pastor of a church at Granard. Two daughters of Milchu also became converts to the Christian faith, and devoted themselves to God's service. A gi-andson of Milchu, sou of a third daughter, a young man called Mohay or Mohee, embraced Christian- ity, became a preacher of the gospel, established a church and monastery on Mahee Island in Strangford Lough, where there are to be seen to this day the remains of a round tower and the foundations of an old church. Patrick did not remain long at this scene of his old PATRICK STARTING ON HIS MISSION TO IRELAND. 125 captivity, but returned to the district of Downpatrick and continued there for many days, preaching and spreading the faith. The king of Ulster at this time was Eochy, whose son, Domhanghert, or Donart, became a disciple of Patrick and a preacher of the Word, founded two churches, one at Maghera near Newcastle in County Down, not far from the mount called Slieve Donard, and another on the sum- mit of the mount. The conversion of these persons occu- pying prominent positions in society furnishes the key to the methods Patrick pursued in his work. "With the instinct of a statesman or gi-eat general, the policy of Patrick all through life was in the first instance to approach the kings and chiefs and endeavor to win them over, being confident that as a result of the tribal constitution, if they could be secured the gain of their followers would be easy ; but if they were hostile, an insu- perable barrier would be put in the way of his missionary operations. It is sometimes made a reproach against the early Irish church that it had no martyrs. The assimiption is not true. Patrick's own life was repeatedly threatened, and in one of these attacks the di'iver of his carriage was slain in mistake for himself. But Patrick was not deterred from pursuing his journey or his work by any dangers through which he was obliged to pass. He therefore continued his course southward by sea and came to a little port now called Colp, where he landed and left his vessel in charge of Lomman, one of his 12Q THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. companions, while he went away for a few days to travel inland and preach the gospel. During Patrick's absence it is reported that Lomman was reading the gospel aloud, when Fortchern, son of Fedilinid, admiring the gospel and its teaching, forthwith believed; and a well being open, he was baptized in that place by Lomman. Fort- chern remained with him until his mother came in search of him, and she was rejoiced to see him, for she was a Britoness. She also believed and returned again to her house and told her husband everything that had happened to her and to her son, and Fedilmid rejoiced in the coming of the clergyman because his mother was British, the daughter of Scotch Noe, the king of the Britons. Then Fedilmid greeted Lomman in the British tongue, asking about his faith, rank, and kindred. And he answered, " I am Lomman, a Briton, a Christian, a disciple of Bishop Patrick, who was sent by the Lord to baptize the people of Ireland, and turn them to the faith of Christ, who sent me here according to the will of God." And immediately Fedilmid believed with his whole family, and he made an offering to him and to St. Patrick, of his lands, his posses- sions, and his substance, with all his rights as a chieftain over his followers. On his journey inland Patrick lodged at a house in Meath, where he was kindly received and entertained ; and embracing every opportunity wherever he went to preach the gospel, he proclaimed Christ to this family, and the father believed and was baptized with his whole family. A little son, of a sweet and gentle disposition, became a great favorite with Patrick, who named him Benignus, PATRICK STARTING OX HIS MISSION TO IRELAND. \21 which in Irish means sweet, because of the quaUties he observed in this young Christian, who afterward became a famous poet and preacher. A traveler through a dusty road strewed acorns on the lea. And one took root and sprouted up and grew into a tree. Love sought its shade at evening time, to breathe its early vows; And age was pleased in heats of noon to bask beneath its boughs ; The dormouse loved its dangling twigs, the birds sweet music bore ; It stood a glory in its place, a blessing evermore. A nameless man, amid a crowd that thronged the daily mart, Let fall a word of hope and love, unstudied, from the heart ; A whisper on the tumult thrown — a transitory breath — It raised a brother from the dust, it saved a soul from death. germ ! O fount ! word of life ! O thought at random cast! Ye were but little at the first, but mighty at the last. Chaeles Mackay, LL.D. CHAPTER XVIIL pateick's \^SIT to tara. His was the seareliiug thought, the glowing mind ; The gentle will to others soon resigned ; But, more than all, the feeling just and kind. True to his kind, nor himself afraid. He deemed that love of God was best arrayed In love of all the things that God has made. His thoughts were as a pyi'amid up-piled, On whose far top an angel stood and smiled ; Yet in his heart he was a simple child. To whatever extent Christianity may have obtained a foothold in Ireland before this time, the best authorities concede that its condition was very unprosperous among the mass of the population, and that it had not secured either the acceptance or the patronage of the kings and pagan priests. The Christian men who endeavored to implant the Christian faith had spent their lives in an almost fruitless struggle against the ferocious hostility of the pagan priests, who encompassed the missionaries of the cross with obstacles and dangers, which rendered their best efforts almost unproductive of good results; besides, Palladius, the immediate predecessor of St. Pat- PATRICK'S VISIT TO TARA. 129 rick, was ignorant of the Irish language, was devoid of the requisite courage, and propagated a faith so tainted with error that it could not reasonably be expected that he should long continue to oppose the increasing enmity of a people naturally fierce in defense of their faith or superstition ; and so he retired in terror and despair- from the strife. The Druids, who had well-nigh monopolized before Pat- rick's time the religion of the country, were exasperated against Patrick. In consequence of their bitter opposition he was compelled to travel with an escort, to surround the churches and places of learning built by him with ramparts or forts for self-defense. If he had not as a rule secured the countenance and protection of the king or chief, his life would have been continually imperiled, and his success almost hopeless. Acting on this plan, this astute missionary now deter- mined to visit Tara, the seat of the chief king of Ireland, and try to effect the conversion of King Laoghaire and his court. He determined to make his journey from Down- patrick onward by water. Sailing to the mouth of the Boyne River, he left his boats thei-e and went with his little company a day's journey to the Hill of Slane, where by way of celebrating Easter — for it is said to have been Easter-eve— he kindled the Easter fire. King Laoghaire and his Druids were at this time celebrating a great heathen festival, part of the ceremonial of which was the lighting of a fire at Tara. There was a stringent Druid law, as we have seen, that while the sacred fire was burning no other should be 130 ^Uli STORY OF ST. PATlllCK. lighted by the people ou paiu of death. The kiug, there- fore, on seeing the fire ou the Hill of Slane, easily visible at Tara, though uiue miles distaut, was much incensed, and with horses and chariots he set out to punish the im- pious transgi'essor of the sacred law. Other writers assert that a pagan magician, when he looked on the fire, said to the kiug : " Unless yonder fire be this night extinguished, he who lighted it will, together with his followers, reign over the whole island." Whereupon the king, gathering together a multitude, hastened with them in his wrath to extinguish the fire. He pi'oeeeded to Slane with twenty- seven chariots, hoping with that number to obtain a com- plete triumph. Acting on the advice of his magicians, he turned the face of his men and horses toward the left hand of St. Patrick, trusting that by doing so his purpose could not be thwarted. But Patrick, on beholding the multitude of chariots, repeated the verse of King David's psalm: " Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will invoke the name of the Lord." On approaching the place whei'e St. Patrick was, his magicians advised the monarch not to go farther, lest by going in Patrick's presence the king should seem to honor him. The king therefore remained where he was, and forbade any one to stand up before Patrick when he arrived. On reaching Slane, Patrick was summoned to the king's presence and commanded to appear next day and give an account of his proceeding. It was on this occasion that Pati'ick is said to have composed his famous hymn, as an armor or breastplate to protect him from his foes. The hymn is written in a very ancient dialect of Irish, and PATRICK'S VISIT TO TARA. \^\ both internal and external evidence connects it with the age of Patrick. Its doctrine and spirit are in perfect har- mony with his acknowledged writings. It is printed in full toward the close of this story. There is doubtless much that is legendary in the details of the recital of this visit to Tara as they are set forth in many of the Lives of Patrick, but tliei'e is no reason to doubt the substance of the narrative. The next day after the demand was made by the king upon Patrick, he, with his companions, presented them- selves before the king and his assembled courtiers, priests, and bards. Dubbthack, or Duffa, the chief bard, rose and welcomed them. Patrick expounded and enforced at length the doctrines of Christianity. Dubbthack and many others were con- verted. The king professed to acquiesce, but his conver- sion was only nominal. He permitted Patrick, however, to preach the gospel everywhere throughout Ireland, and he was not slow to avail himself of the privilege. Christian courage, as described in the following lines, was well illustrated by Patrick at Tara : Stand but your ground, your ghostly foes will fly ; Hell trembles at a heaven-directed eye ; Choose rather to defend than to assail — Self-confidence will in the conflict fail. When you are challenged, you may dangers meet — True courage is a fixed not sudden heat, Is always humble, lives in self-distrust, And will itself into no danger thrust. Devote yourself to God, and you will find God fights the battles of a will I'esigued. Love Jesus ! love will no base fear endure ; Love Jesus ! and of conquest rest secure. Ken. CHAPTER XIX. DESCEEPTION OF TABA, There was a feast that night, And colored lamps sent forth their odorous light Over gold carving, and the purple fell Of tapestry ; and around each stately hall Were statues pale, and delicate and fair, As all of beauty, save her blush, were there. At first the pillared halls were still and lone, As if some fairy palace, all unknown To mortal eye or step. This was not long. Wakened the lutes, and rose the sound of song ; And the wide mirrors glittered with the crowd Of changing shapes — the young, the fair, the proud, Came thronging in. Landok. Before we accompany Patrick farther it may be inter- esting to pause for a few minutes and learn something about Tara and Tara's Hall. Tara is about twenty-five miles from Dublin, in County Meath, Ireland, and was the site of Tara's Hall, which was the residence of the chief king of Ireland from the third till the seventh century. The banqueting-hall of the palace is said to have been 759 feet in length and 90 feet in width and to have had fourteen entrances. With one 132 DESCRIPTION OF TARA. 133 exception the buildings were constructed of wood and clay — but were overlaid with earth so pure and splendid that it resembled painting. Two magnificent neck-chains of gold were found at Tara in 1810 and are now in the Museum of the Eoyal Irish Academy, Dublin. They are spiral in form ; one weighs twenty-eight ounces and is seven feet seven inches long ; the other is of equal length, is of more delicate construc- tion, and weighs twelve and a half ounces. Under the supremacy of Brian Born, one of his subor- dinate chiefs or provincial kings held the title of king of Tara. The Tara estate in the thirteenth century belonged to a family of Norman descent — the Eenpenthenyes. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the then Lord of Cabra and Tara, Richard Renpenthenye, was arraigned on the charge of uttering treasonable expressions against the queen, and though an old man of seventy, he was condemned and executed. However, about twenty years later, his de- scendant, Edward de Eepenthenye, was restored to the estates by James I. In the civil wars several members of the family were killed, and when Cromwell extended his rule over Ireland the estates of Francis de Pentheny were again alienated. The lands of Cabra and Tara were sur- veyed in 1657 with the rest of the forfeited possessions in Ireland, and after the restoration of Charles II. were, by letters patent, under the act of settlement, bearing date February 5, 1669, gi'anted to James, Duke of York, the king's brother, afterward James II. From him they passed to Lord Tyrconnell, who also forfeited them. In 1702 they were purchased by a company that had been J34 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. formed for making sword-blades in England, who soon after disposed of their interest to Thomas Meredith of Dublin, and thus disappeared the ancient estates of the Lord of Tara. But in the latter part of the century a por- tion of the estate was regained by the family of Pentheny O'Kelly, who were legitimate descendants of the ancient family. Near the ruins of Tara's Hall a battle was fought, May 26, 1798, in which the English forces worsted the Irish. On the same spot Daniel O'Connell held a mass meeting in favor of repeal of the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland, August 15, 1843, and it is said two hundred and fifty thousand people were present. The ancient character of this ruined hall and its connec- tion with the early glories of Ireland give it a romantic interest which is touchingly expressed in Moore's poem : The harp that once thi-ough Tara's halls The soul of music shed. Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled. So sleeps the pride of former days, So gloiy's thrill is o'er. And hearts that once beat high for praise Now feel that pulse no more. No more to chiefs and ladies bright The harp of Tara swells ; The chord alone that breaks at night, Its tale of ruin tells. Thus Freedom now so seldom wakes ; The only throb she gives Is when some heart, indignant, breaks, To show that still she lives. CHAPTER XX. PATRICK'S MISSION WORK IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. The proud he tam'd, the penitent he cheer'd, Nor to rebuke the rich offender fear'd. His preaching much, but more his practice wrought — A hving sermon of the truths he taught. For this, by rules severe his life he squar'd. That all might see the doctrine which they heard. Dryden. Patrick proceeded next to Tailltown or Telltown. Tell- town is a mountain in Meath where annual sports were celebrated fifteen days before and fifteen days after the 1st of August. Their institution is ascribed to Lugaidh- lam-fadah, the twelfth king of Ireland, in gratitude to the memory of Tailto, the daughter of a prince in Sj^ain, who married a king of Ireland and took Lugaidh under her protection during his minority and gave him an educa- tion. From this lady the sports themselves and the place where they were celebrated took their names. The 1st of August was called Lugnasa, formed from two words signi- fying in memory of Lugaidh. It is now called Lammas ; the ancient name, however, was Loafmas, or the feast of the loaf, from the custom of offering a loaf of new wheat on the 1st of August, as an oblation of the first-fruits. These sports observed at Telltown were a sort of warlike 135 X36 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. exercises, somewhat resembling the Olympic games, cou- sistiug of racing, tilts, tournaments, and similar exercises. At these annual games an immense number of people usually assembled, and the occasion, therefore, afforded Patrick a good opi^ortunity of preaching the gospel to the masses. Caibre and Cormall, two brothers of King Lao- ghaire, were present. The former obstinately refused to accept the gospel preached by Patrick and treated him with gi'eat incivility, but Cormall joyously believed, was baptized, and granted a site for a church. This new con- vert was the grandfather of the famous Columbille. Patrick spent several months in Meath and the counties around, preaching with gi'eat zeal, traveling almost dailj*, and great numbers of people were converted to the Chris- tian faith. It was on the occasion of his preaching at one of these places that the interesting incident respecting the sham- rock occurred, which shows the readiness with which Patrick could seize upon some simple object to illustrate his subject. It is well known that the shamrock is a variety of the white clover, the trifolimn replens of botan- ists, known also as the trefoil, or three-leaved clover. It is said that when Patrick was trying to explain the doctrine of the Trinity the audience was sorely puzzled at his state- ments. "How," said one of their chiefs, "can there be three in one 1 " Patrick in reply picked up a leaf of trefoil from the gi"ound and held it up before them. " Behold," he said, " three and yet one. Behold in this trefoliate leaf how the three persons in the Godhead can exist and yet be one." The illustration was so beautiful and so forcible PATRICK'S MISSION WORK IN THE WEST AND SOUTH. 137 that the chief immediately accepted the Christian faith and was baptized, and his clan followed his example, as was the fashion of those days. From this legend it is thought came the adoption of the shamrock leaf in later years as the national emblem. It may also be remarked that among the uneducated classes in Ireland any strange or unusual formation in plant or flower is regarded with more or less superstition. A double nut, an unusually large or oddly shaped fruit of any kind, a leaf of peculiar formation— these things are always plucked when found and kept for " luck." But the superstitious reverence with which the four-leaved clover has been regarded for so long a time, that " the memory of man runneth not back to the contrary," has a veiy simple explanation. Its resemblance to the form of a cross is unquestionably the cause of its endowment in the estima- tion of the people with magic virtues, and especially with the virtue of detecting the presence of evil spirits, and nul- lifying their power to inflict injury. The legend respecting the influence of the four-leaved shamrock which is prevalent in Ireland is also beautifully told by Samuel Lover in the following verses, that deserve a place in the story of Ireland's patron saint : I'll seek a four-leaved shami'ock In all the fairy dells ; And if I find the charmed leaf. Oh, how I'll weave my spells ! I would not waste my magic might On diamond, pearl, or gold. For treasure tires the weary sense- Such triumph is but cold ; 138 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICE. But I will play the enchanter's part In casting bliss around ; Oh, not a tear or aching heart Should in the world be found ! To worth I would give honor ; I'd dry the mourner's tears ; And to the pallid lip recall The smile of happier years ; And hearts that had been long estranged, And friends that had grown cold Should meet again like parted streams, And mingle as of old. Oh, then I'd play the enchanter's part In casting bliss around ! Oh, not a tear or aching heart Should in the world be found ! The heart that had been mourning O'er banished dreams of love, Should see them all returning, Like Noah's faithful dove. And Hope should launch her blessed bark On Sorrow's darkening sea. And Misery's children have an ark, And saved from sinking be. Oh, thus I'd play the euehanter's part In casting bliss around ! Oh, not a tear or aching heart Should in the world be found ! Samuel Lovee. CHAPTER XXI. PATRICK'S VISIT TO CONNAUGHT, ETC. His path lie strewed "With gentle kindnesses and words of grace. With all degrees of men his open face Won high regard or earnest gratitude. With sturdy honesty and truth endued, His soul was written on his countenance, And all might read him at a casual glance, As on a world-wide pedestal he stood. By unclean pelf his hand and heart unstained, Strong for the right, and turning not aside Whene'er the public weal was in debate. He justified the honor he had gained. If specks in mai'ble envious eyes espied. His faith in God was his sure armor-plate. OuE missionary next repaired to Connaught, where he spent seven years preaching, founding churches and schools of learning, and sending forth preachers. It was there, in the vicinity of the royal palace of Cro- ghan, that he had the famous reputed interview with the two daughters of King Laoghaire, Ethna the Fair and Fedekna the Ruddy. They had been sent there, it is said, to be educated by two Druids named Mael and Caplait. The account given in some of the Lives of Patrick of the interview between Patrick and these pagan princesses is generally accepted as substantially true ; and the incident 139 ]^40 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. is one of the most picturesque and striking in the history of Patrick. The simple questions put by them, and Pat- rick's answers touching the leading truths of the Christian faith, are natural and lifelike, but evidently tinged with the superstitions and errors that crept into the church at a later date. The conference ended in the conversion and baptism of the princesses and also of their tutors, and on the part of the princesses the dedication of themselves to a religious life, although the account closes with a descrip- tion of a death scene. The whole account is given in the doubtful writings of Patrick near the close of this book. The gi-eat truth doubtless to which Patrick directed the attention of these young pagan princesses was the atoning death of God's own Son, which is sj-mbolized by bread and wine in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, of which elements it is the duty and privilege of all believers in Jesus to partake while they thankfully remember Jesus as their Prophet, Priest, and King, feast their souls upon the precious truths embodied in Jesus and his saving work, thus gaining the nourishment which their souls need. Each believer in him can adopt the truth conveyed in the words of this hymn : When time seems short, and death is near, And I am pressed by doubt and fear. And sins, an overflowing tide. Assail my peace on every side, This thought my refuge still shall be — I know my Saviour died for me. His name is Jesus, and he died. For guilty sinners crucified ; Content to die that he might win PATRICK'S VISIT TO COXNAUGBT, ETC. 141 Their ransom from the death of sin ; No sinner worse than I can be ; Therefore I know he died for me. If grace were bought, I coukl not buy ; If grace were coined, no wealth have I ; By grace alone I draw my breath. Held up from everlasting death ; Yet since I know his gi-ace is free, I know the Saviour died for me. I read God's Holy Word, and find Great truths which far transcend my mind ; And little do I know or see ; Than this, that Jesus died for me. This is my best theology — I know the Saviour died for me. My faith is weak, but 'tis thy gift ; Thou canst my helpless soul uplift. And say, " Thy bonds of death are riven, Thy sins by me are all forgiven, And thou shalt live, from guilt set free, For I, thy Saviour, died for thee." Dk. Geokge W. Bethune. After this interview Patrick went to a mountain now called Croagh-Patrick, on the western coast of Connaught, and is said to have gathered there the several tribes of serpents and venomous creatures, and to have di-iven them headlong, by the beating of a drum, into the western ocean, and no poisonous reptile has been seen in Ireland since. This is the legend that is so intimately connected with St. Patrick's name. There is quite an uncertainty as to the cause of the absence of any snakes, etc., in Ireland. Some think that the prevalent growth of the shamrock in 142 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. Ireland is the cause there of the absence of snakes. PUny, in his "Natural History," says that serpents are never seen on trefoil, and that the leaves of the plant will cure the stings of common reptiles. Other naturalists have asserted that serpents aud trefoil are never found together. We are not aware that the matter has ever been scientifi- cally tested. Scientists affirm that there is no evidence showing that snakes have at any time existed upon the Irish Isle. There are very few snakes of any species in Great Britain. The character of the countiy may have something to do with it ; but it is probably largely due to the fact that being islands, but few of the species reached them. It should be known in order to counteract the foolish legend about St. Patrick's banishing all poisonous reptiles from Ireland, that Solinus, who wrote several hundred years before the arrival of St. Patrick in Ireland, notices Ireland's exemption from reptiles. Our readers must not forget that St. Patrick's fame has come down to us through the medium of vast exagger- ations, aud that he was not quite so remarkable a person as legends have described aud fond nationality believed. Instead of the wonder-worker crowned with shamrock and marching to the national air to subdue legions of vipers, the earliest documents extant concerning him de- scribe a missionary teacher, simple, faithful, and zealous, exhibiting the clearest evidence of one thoroughly in- structed in Grod's Word, and supported by the grace of his Master. As the purest stream always flows nearest the fountain, so, of the many wi'iters of the life of Patrick, those who lived nearest to his time have had the gi'eat- I'ATIilCK'S VISIT TO CONNAUGHT, ETC. I43 est regard for truth, aud have been the most spariug in recounting miracles, while in Patrick's own writings there is not the remotest hint that he ever wrought a miracle, or ever claimed that he possessed the power to work one. The most material events of his life were first written by Fiecc, who is said to have been a contemporary of Patrick ; and these were comprehended in a hymn in the Irish lan- guage, of thirty-four stanzas, in which there is no allusion whatever to miracles: but as the writers of his life in- creased, so his miracles were multiplied, especially in the dark ages, until they at last exceeded all bounds of credulity. An ancient winter near Florence, Italy, long before Pat- rick's day, in describing Ireland has these.lines : Far westward lies an isle of ancient fame, By nature bless'd, and Scotia • is her name. Enrolled in books, exhaustless in her store Of veiny silver and of golden ore. Her fruitful soil forever teems with wealth ; With gems her waters, and her air with health ; Her verdant fields with milk and honey flow, Her woolly fleeces vie with virgin snow ; Her waving fuiTOws float with bearded corn And arms and arts her envy'd sons adorn. No savage bear with lawless fury roves, No rav'nous lion through the peaceful groves ; No poison there infests ; no scaly snake Creeps through the grass, nor frog annoys the lake. An island worthy of her pious race. In war triumphant and unmatched in peace. But after this short digression, which, may be regarded in the nature of a diversion, we must return to Patrick's main work. * Ireland was called Scotia when these lines were written, and for many centuries afterward. CHAPTER XXII. Patrick's visit to the northwest. And such a voice, and such a theme ; He lay enchanted till the light Dispelled the vision of the night, And he awoke with awe supreme ; So near the gate of heaven, thought he, With floods of glory like a sea — » Majestic in his dream. Having moved northward, Patrick came, after much preaching by the way, into the region wherein was the wood Foclut, from which he heard voices in the vision that determined him to come as a missionary to Ireland. This was to Patiick a most interesting place — the j)lace at which he took ship escaping from slavery — the place of his holy vision afterward. In this place, when he arrived, he found all the nobles and people of that province assem- bled in council, disputing about a successor to the throne made vacant by the death of the king, Amalgaid. His seven sous were present, and great excitement prevailed. Patrick, like another Paul, preached the Word of God with great boldness to all; the Spirit of God accompanied his words, multitudes believed and turned unto the Lord, among whom were the seven sons of Amalgaid, and twelve thousand others, all of whom Patrick baptized in one day. 144 PATRICK'S VISIT TO THE NORTHWEST. ^45 Here also a church was planted, and Mancenns, a devout man skilled in the Scriptures, was placed in charge. These brief records indicate the vast numbers of converts there must have been from paganism to Christianity when so many thousands of men, women, and children followed the example of their chiefs and were baptized. Patrick is reported to have remained seven years in the province of Connaught preaching, baptizing, planting churches, and placing them in charge of men who could speak to them the word of life and train them in the ways of the Lord. It is reckoned that forty-seven churches were during these years planted in this province and were committed to the oversight and pastoral care of as many primitive bishops. After preaching in Cashel and establishing a church there and giving it a pastor, Patrick still pursued a north- ward coui-se, visiting principally the towns upon and near the sea-coast. Among these were Sligo, Drumcliffe, Eoss Clogher, Droos Ashrol, etc., tarrying for some days or weeks at each of these places and founding a church wher- ever the circumstances seemed to warrant it. Thus he pursued his way through the counties of Donegal and Tyrone until he reached the palace of the kings of Ulster, about three miles north of Derry. This palace was at the time of Patrick's visit the seat and residence of Prince Owen, one of the sons of King Neil, to whom he proclaimed the doctrines of Christ with the result of the king's conver- sion and that of his whole family. In this instance also Patrick displayed his usual knowledge of human nature, and of the tendency there is in the lower gi-ades of society 146 3'^^' STORY OF ST. PATRICK. to follow the example of those who occupy a more exalted position. The populace are easily prevailed upou to follow their leaders. He crossed the river Foyle and continued his missionary operations in that neighborhood, crossing and recrossing the smaller rivers in the vicinity, as necessity required, all the time vigorously prosecuting his work of preaching the gospel, baptizing his converts, planting churches, and sup- plying them with teachers and preachers. For several weeks, if not months, he persisted with gi-eat assiduity in his work and with marvelous success, until all those north- ern Ulster people were brought over to the Christian faith. He proceeded through Coleraine, along the banks of the river Bann, preaching ; and wherever he went many were converted, churches were established, and wondrous refor- mations were effected. It is calculated that he spent two years in this tour through Donegal, Tyi'one, Derry, An- trim, Armagh, and Louth. Soon after Patrick proceeded to Moy Slecht, in County Cavan, then the seat of the gi'eat national idol, Crom Cru- ach, which Patrick demolished, having won over the peo- ple, and thus put an end to pagan worship at its center. In this way this great missionary, in his gospel tours, dealt many death-blows to the cruel paganism that held the inhabitants of Ireland in its merciless grasp, striking the fetters of error and superstition from their minds and hearts by the use of the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. His weapons were not, except in such a case as this Art Moy Slecht, carnal but spiritual, but they were nevertheless mighty through God to the pulling PATRICK'S VISIT TO THE NORTHWEST. X47 down of Strongholds. The incident connected with the destruction of this idol is graphically told in the following lines : And there wanted not who counsel'd that he should his hand withhold, Should that noblest image spare and accept their offered gold. But he rather — " God raised me not to make a shameful gain, Trafficking in hideous idols with a service false and vain ; But to count my work unfinished, till I sweep them from the world ; Stand and see the thing ye sued for by this hand to ruin hurled." High he reared his battle-ax, and heavily came down the blow ; Reeled the abominable image, broken, bursten, to and fro. From its shattered side, revealing pearls and diamonds, showers of gold. More than all that proffered ransom, more than all a hun- dredfold. CHAPTER XXIII. PATRICK'S CLOSING MISSIONAEY TOUES, At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place ; Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff remained to pray. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread. Eternal sunshine settles on its head. After spending some time at Ard-Patrick and Clogher and continuing with great successthis work in these places, he moved southward in the neighboring counties and came to the place afterward called Armagh, meaning the high field, from its situation on an eminence. It is said that the chief man of the place, named Daire, made Patrick a present of the site, where a city was laid out, large in compass and beautiful for situation, where a cathedral was afterward established, also seminaries and schools. Everywhere his labors seemed to be crowned with suc- cess ; assistants gathered around him from various quar- ters, and hundreds of persons trained in his schools and seminaries went forth to take charge of churches in all parts of the land. 148 PATlilCK'S CLOSING MISSIONARY TOURS. ^49 He was himself the moving and governing spirit every- where — stimulating- both by precept and example thou- sands of others to come to his help and to work assid- uously for God. From Armagh he proceeded to Dundalk and Dublin. At Dublin the people, hearing of his fame, came out in multitudes to welcome him. Alphin, the king of the place, listened to his words with unwonted interest, was aston- ished at the fervor of Patrick's zeal in preaching, and the king with all his people believed. A cathedral was after- ward built near a well where it is said Patrick baptized many people. His labors changed this place, that hitherto had been a stronghold of druidism and of many vices, into a fruitful and delicious garden of the Lord, where many churches were built on the ruins of the temples of idolatry and were furnished with godly and indefatigable pastors. This great work could only be accomplished by constant application, patience, humility, and invincible courage. God had endowed Patrick with all the natural quaUties which were requisite for such an apostohc work. He had the genius of a worker, was a tactician of the first order, had a fearless heart and an unbounded charity, and with these qualities in the fullest exercise he carried the glad news of the gospel to all. Leaving Dublin, he bent his course once more south- ward, through Leinster and Munster. He preached through several parts of Leinster and settled many pas- tors over churches, and, going onward to Munster, the king, hearing of his coming, went out with joy to meet him, conducted him, it is said, with all honor and respect X50 ^^^ STORY OF ST. PATRICE. to his royal city of Cashel, where he and all his family listened to the words of Patrick, wfere convinced, and baptized. Leaving Cashel he traveled to Kerry, in the most re- mote parts of Munster, in which are located the beautiful Lakes of Killarney, which he doubtless visited, and estab- lished a church, and here on an island are the ruins of Innisfallen Abbey, founded in the seventh century. The celebrated "Annals of Innisfallen," consisting of scraps from the Old Testament and a compendious universal- history reaching down to the time of St. Patrick, were written here. Sweet Innisfallen, long shall dwell In memory's di'eam that sunny smile Which o'er thee on that evening fell When first I saw thy fairy isle. Moore. In this neighborhood and through this province he con- tinued preaching, visiting, baptizing, founding churches, and otherwise executing the functions of his ministry for about seven years. He probably often visited and en- joyed the beauty and scenery of the Lakes of Killarney during these seven years. The following line comprehen- sively portrays their beauty and their social environments : Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile. Lough Lene, the name in the Irish language for the Lake of Leaiiiing, but now better known as the Lakes of Killarney, are distinguished by the upper, the middle, or Tore Lake, and the lower, which is the most extensive — PATRICK'S CLOSING MISSIONARY TOURS. 151 the three being connected by a narrow channel. They are situated in the County Kerry, and are commanded on the east and south by the mountains of Mangerton and Tore, and on the west by that of Glena, beautiful Glena; on the north the country is level, stretching toward the town of Killarney, which lies northeast. It is beyond the power of the artist's pencil or the poet's imagination to give even an idea of these charming lakes; they were celebrated ages ago for their romantic beauty and soft, bewitching scenery, and were styled the tenth wonder of Ireland. The surrounding mountains are covered from their apex to their base with oaks, yew-trees, evergreens, and the arbutus, which, although only a shrub in other countries, becomes here a tree, and grows to a height of twenty feet. It bears leaves ever green, like those of the laurel, but to- ward the extremity they are purple ; its flowers hang in clusters like grapes, are white, and of an agreeable flavor. These present in their different stages of vegetation a dehghtful variety of colors, and form an amphitheater which revives all the charms of the spring in the depth of winter. The report of cascades falling from these moun- tains to mingle with the waters of the lake below are re- peated by a thousand echoes, and contribute considerably to the charms of this delightful retreat. On the summit of Mangerton Mountain is a lake, the depth of which is unfathomable. It is called in Irish, Poulle Iferon— the hole or opening to hell ; but it is more generally known as the Devil's Punch-bowl. Its water appears nearly as black as ink, caused no doubt -by the peat soil and the shade of the perpendicular rocks that 152 ^BE STORY OF ST. PATRICK, surround it. The water, even in summer, is intensely cold, and still it has never been known to freeze in winter. Having founded a church at Ardagh, in County Long- ford, he returned through Leinster to the northern parts of Ulster again, where he made frequent rounds of visits during the following six years, preaching still and making converts, comforting and fortifying those who had already believed, and setting all things in order as far as possible for the success and continuance of the churches. Ulster, Leinster, and Munster were visited again and again by Patrick in turn. The same policy of endeavoring first to reach the kings and chiefs was pursued, and with the same result, that everywhere he went multitudes were converted to the faith of the Christian religion and were baptized, churches were established, and clergy in great numbers were sent forth. We must not imagine that the baptisms by Patrick were ostentatious ceremonies. The world has never wit- nessed religious rites less fitted to attract the eye than the first baptisms of Christianity, which were effected with few conveniences, and little or no ostensible preparation. The practice was not new. The Jews were familiar with it. They had practised family baptisms in admitting prose- lytes for many years, including children of all ages, so that to them the general statement that a household had been baptized would convey the idea that children were included. Patrick's progress through Ireland was an almost unbroken series of triumphs — consisting of the natives' conversion to Christianity and of their consequent baptism by Patrick. PATRICK'S CLOSING MISSIONARY TOURS. I53 We must not forget that Patrick possessed a great ad- vantage in prosecuting his work from his knowledge of the customs and language of the Irish people. He often assembled around him in the open fields, at the beat of a drum, a concourse of people, where he related to them the story of Christ, which relation manifested its divine power upon their rude minds, and their desire for the Christian rite of baptism for whole households. Hence we read throughout his whole life a record of baptisms wherever he went. Senell is supposed to have been Patrick's first convert, then Dechu at Saul. It is recorded that " Dicliu repented and believed in one God, and Patrick baptized him and a great host along with him"; that "Ere the son of Deg believed in God, confessed the faith, and was bap- tized by Patrick." Once in journeying "Pati'ick saw a tender youth herding swine, Mochal by name; Patrick preached to him and baptized him"; "that the men of North Munster, to the north of Limerick, went in sea-fleets to meet Patrick, and he baptized them in Tirglass " ; " that Patrick went into the province of Mugdovin to Donnach Maigen, and he baptized the men of Mugdovin " ; " at Te- mair Singite Patrick baptized the men of Assail " ; " that Patrick founded a church at Domuach Maige Slecht, and baptized many " ; that " Patrick went to Naas, where he baptized Dunling's two sons, Ailill and Illann " ; that " Pat- rick came into the regions of Corcutemne and baptized many thousand men, and he founded three churches"; that Patrick baptized missionaries to the heathen Picts of Scotland, the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and the idolaters of almost every section of the continent of Europe. 154 I'BE STOIiY OF ST. FATEICE. He comes, O soul ! His is the voice Proclaims redemption nigh; His is the message bids rejoice, And pleads, " Why will ye die ? " His watchmen cry aloud, and far, The heathen cease their strife, To see the hand of Love unbar The door that leads to life. Oh, beautiful the feet that toil In desert wastes of sin. To pluck from Satan's hand the spoil, The Master fain would win ! All hail the Messenger divine ! Hosanna to his name ! Unending may his glory shine, His foes be put to shame ! M. C. M. CHAPTEE XXIV. PATRICK'S DEATH AND BURIAL. They cannot die — " whose spirits here Were one with Christ, their Uving Head ;" They cannot die : Though the time-wasted sepulcher In which their vestiges are laid Crumbled in dust may lie. They are not dead — whose ashes fiU That melancholy house of clay ; They are not dead : They live in brighter glory still, Than ever cheer'd their earthly way, Full beaming round their head. BO^VTIING. Patrick was now an old man— how old there are no means of exactly determining. It is reported that he passed several of his latest years in Ai-magh and Saul, always, however, bearing on his heart the concerns of the church at large in Ireland, for whose establishment and pi-ogi-ess he had so long and faithfully labored. During these closing years it may well be imagined that he held many conferences with those who had charge of the churches ; that he set in order, so far as his counsel could go, many things for their furtherance in knowledge and 155 156 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. numbers and for their purity of life. During these years also he wrote the sketch of his life, which is an autobiog- raphy under the title of the " Confession." Feeling his end appi-oaehing, he retired to Dowupatrick, the scene of his earliest success, and there terminated his gi'eat career. There has been a keen debate over the place where Patrick's remains were buried, about which there is still some uncertainty. This, however, does not correspond with the words some imprudent, gushing admirer has written at the close of Patrick's " Confession," viz. : " On the 17th of March Patrick was translated to heaven." We do not know when, if ever, Patrick was accorded the honor of saintship by Rome, for his name is not on the list of the canonized as kept by Prosper of Acquitaine, whose duty it was, as secretary of the pope, to make the requisite record ; but this we know, that the first recorded example of a solemn and public decree in making a saint by that authority on the seven hills was in the case of Udulric or Ulric, Bishop of Augsburg, to whom the honors of canonical sanctity were adjudged by Pope John XYI., in the end of the tenth centuiy, or, to be more exact, in the year 993 a.d. We claim the title "saint" for every true Christian, however humble or unknown. It is a good gospel word, always abused when conferred only upon some eminent Christian. And in speaking of this Patrick of famous memory we have given him the title of " saint," not as a concession to superstition, but to identify him in the midst of so many other Patricks, and to cause him to stand forth in his distinctive character, as the man whom God appar- FATKICK'S DEATH AND BURIAL. I57 ently endowed with eminent gifts, and called bim to do a wonderfully gracious work as an apostle in Ireland. The most careful scholars concede that Patrick's re- mains were interred near Downpatrick. The Dean of Down, the Eev. Edward Maguire, D.D., has charge of the place, and is treasurer of a fund now being raised to erect a suitable monument to mark, if not with absolute cer- tainty the exact spot, at all events the certain locality in which the remains of Ireland's first and gi-eat apostle repose. The following recent letter from Dr. Magiaire, Dean of Down in Ireland, is sufficiently explicit on this point : The Grave of St. Patrick. " Sm : At the recent visit to Downpatrick by the mem- bers of the R.S.A. the reputed gi-ave of St. Patrick was pointed out, and observations not over-complimentary were indulged in respecting its unmarked and sadly neg- lected condition. A lady (Miss Rose Cleland, of Bedford House, Moy, niece of the late Mr. R. Steele Nicholson, author of ' St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland, in the Third Century') has just handed me for safe keeping £7, col- lected by her, mostly in penny contributions, in the hope that this sum may form the nucleus of a much larger and more general collection, and that the authorities of Down Cathedral may see their way to sanction a gi-eat national effort for the erection of a suitable monument to mark, if not with absolute certainty the exact spot, at aU events the certain locality in which the remains of Ireland's first and great apostle repose. 158 ^-ff^ STORY OF ST. PA THICK. " Personally, I would gladly encourage such an effort, but the Cathedral Board and Chapter and public opinion must be brought into line before any proposal of the kind can have any reasonable prospect of success. Perhaps the fact of the 17th of this present month being the fourteen hundredth anniversary of the death of our saint (he died March 17, 493) may prove suggestive of some effort in the direction aimed at by Miss Rose Cleland. " Faithfully yours, " Ed, Maguibe, D.D., Dean of Down. " March 4th." The place of his sepulcher is not a vital question, but wherever it is, it contains the ashes of a saintly hero. Thus ended the earthly life of one who, once a slave on the Ulster hillsides, overthrew Irish idolatry by the preach- ing of the cross, by the simplicity of his life, the fervor of his love, and the steadfastness of his faith, and founded a church which evangelized half of Europe, and which ex- hibited zeal, character, education, and progress from the days of St. Patrick till the time of the Norse invasions. How sleep the brave who sink to rest With all their country's wishes blessed ; When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, Returns to deck their hallo w'd mold, She there shall dress a sweeter sod Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. By Fairy fingers their knell is rung. By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray. To bless the turf that wraps their clay ; And Freedom shall awhile repair To dwell a weeping hermit there. Collins. CHAPTER XXV. A MEMOBIAL TRIBUTE. There is no death ! The stars go down To rise upon some fairer shore ; And bright in heaven's jeweled crown They shine forevermore. There is no death ! The dust we tread Shall change beneath the summer shower To golden grain of mellow fruit, Of rainbow-tinted flowers. There is no death ! The leaves may fall, The flowers may fade and pass away ; They only wait, through wintry hours, The coming of the May. There is no death ! An angel form "Walks o'er the earth with silent tread ; He bears our best-loved things away. And then we call them " dead." Lord Lytton. Though we shall consider more fully Patrick's work in succeeding pages, we must record here over his gi-ave that no country ever experienced a greater change in its eccle- siastical history than did Ireland, through the labors of Patrick. And among missionary heroes the career of St. Patrick stands preeminent. As a slave, as a prince of preachers, as a missionary, who by divine help overcame the fierce idolatry of a whole nation, and by his unselfish 150 160 I'UE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. love captured their hearts, and has held the hearts of their descendants for fourteen hundred years, he occupies a place in the front rank of the heroes of the cross. No Christian life excels that of Patrick in fascination. He was a simple, mighty, evangelical preacher, and one of the greatest trophies ever won by the Saviour. Since the days of Paul no greater missionary has ever lived. The grand motive power of his hfe was love of souls, and like another Paul or Peter he preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. The prodigious effects produced on the minds and hearts of men was a clear indication that God was with him. Kings' daughters were among the honorable women who yielded to the truth as spoken by his lips. Leaders of hostile elans, whose trade was war, beat their swords into plow- shares and their spears into pruning-hooks, and onward Patrick went in his good work, from county to county and from province to province, till in a few years he had carried the tidings of salvation from Howth Head to the borders of Clew Bay, and from the glens of Antrim to the dreary wilds of Kerry. From that time forward, dui*ing several centuries, there was no country more distinguished than Ireland by the possession of Scripture truth. She had a pure gospel, a free Bible, an unclouded day of gi-ace, a rent veil unto the holiest of all, a religion that will run on parallel, in all eternity, with the benign results of the redemption of Christ. Colleges were founded, congi'egations were organ- ized, a bishop, as he was then called, had charge of each congregation, and, according to Archbishop Usher, Pat- A MEMORIAL TRIBUTE. 261 rick organized during his life 365 churches and placed over them 365 bishops who were simply pastors. Ireland was in those years at the head of the nations of Europe in respect of godliness. Her civilization was the most advanced, her learning the most extended and refined, her Christianity was of the least corrupted type that then prevailed in the world, and the Irish divines were the only ones, so far as known to history, who refused to dishonor their reason by refusing to lay it prostrate at the feet of any human authority. Ireland became also the resort of students, and welcomed to her hospitable shores scholars from every country in Europe. She was then the nursery of patriots — true pa- triots — not men of the selfish, greedy, grasping, gory type, but men who sought her good, and besought Grod to bless her, whether amid sunshine or in the stormiest days. And we should like to see once more the true Irish harp strung again, and to hear hymns of redemption bursting from the joyous lips of a ransomed people. " Go preach my gospel," saith the Lord ; " Bid the whole earth my grace receive ; He shall be saved that trusts my Word ; He shaU be damned that won't believe. " I'll make your great commission known, And ye shall prove my gospel true. By all the works that I have done. By all the wonders ye shall do. " Teach all the nations my commands, I'm with you till the world shall end ; All power is trusted in my hands : I can destroy and I defend." I. "Watts. CHAPTER XXVI. PATRICK'S PHYSICAL, INTELLECTUAL, AND EELIGIOUS CHAEAC- TEKISTICS. His words seemed oracles That pierced their bosoms ; and each man would turn And gaze in wonder on his neighbor's face, That with the like dumb wonder answered him ; Then some would weep, some shout, some, deeper touched, Keep down the ery with motion of their hands, In fear but to have lost a syllable. The evening came, yet there the people stood. As if 'twere noon, and they, the marble sea, Sleeping without a wave. You could have heard The beating of your pulses while he spake. Ceoly. Having given a brief and truthful sketch of the condi- tion of Ireland when Patrick landed, a captive upon its shores, probably about the year 427 a.d., and having given a rapid view of his life afterward with an account of his missionary tours in Ireland, we shall now sketch, as briefly as we can, his chief characteristics, then his doctrines, and afterward the nature and extent of the work he performed. Everything that is related of Patrick would lead us to conclude that he had a fine personal presence. A person of a noble and commanding appearance, whose sanctified 162 PATRICK'S CHIEF CHARACTEBISTICS. 163 and loving spirit manifests itself in every feature of his face, in every word of his lips, and in every gesture of his hand, has a passport to the good-will and favor of others. Patrick had most likely such a combination of physical gi-aces, and this would greatly aid him in his intercourse with others. He is portrayed in traditionary lore as a person of attractive, venerable, dignified appearance. The majesty of love and truth pervaded his looks. His portly frame, his open, manly, and pleasant countenance, with an imposing manner, gave him special elements of usefulness. And his ardent piety shining through his comely features would be to many a means of gi-ace, while his noble pres- ence would tend to awe and subdue the ignorant and superstitious with whom he came in contact. His very appearance, therefore, was in his favor, lending a charm to his words and gaining an entrance to the heart. Patrick had a powerful intellect and a high order of eloquence. The account of God given by Patrick in the story of his interview with King Laoghaire's daughters is profound, exact, and astonishing, and was well fitted to interest listening thousands and to move a whole nation. So also is his definition of the Three-One God contained in his " Confession." The man who could so comprehend these gi-eat verities of the Christian faith and clothe them in such lucid, beautiful words, deserves to be placed in the front rank of intellectual and eloquent men. Patrick's wisdom and prudence were conspicuous in his work. Irish society, as we have seen, consisted of tribes and clans, with a chief or a petty king at the head of each. A number of these tribes composed a province, with a king 164 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. governing this larger community. Of these provinces there were five, with a king exercising sovereign domin- ion over all. These kings were almost autocratic in their influence and power within the domain of each, and Pat- rick, knowing their influence, took advantage of it and planned his missionary campaigns accordingly. Patrick sought an opportunity to preach the gospel first to the king of a province, and even to the supreme king of Ire- land. He knew that when a leading chief received the gospel, his subjects would become interested in its exam- ination, and many would accept the Saviour. It accord- ingly occui'red that when Dubthach Maccu-Lugair, " king- poet of Ireland and of the supreme king," received the Saviour by faith, the gospel obtained a victory over the culture and intelligence of Ireland, and tidings of this convert to the Christian faith reached and influenced in some measure the most ignorant swineherd in the land. While Patrick knew that the soul of a swineherd was as precious as that of a king, he also knew that the conver- sion of the king's soul might influence thousands toward Jesus, while that of the swineherd would make little im- pression on the community. The conversion of nobles often tends to turn the thoughts of the lower grades of society to Him who is the Maker of all and the only Saviour. To faeihtate his missionary labors Patrick therefore wisely embraced the earliest opportunity to present the claims of Jesus to the civil, literary, and legal chiefs of Ireland. Patrick was a lover of learning, and established educa- tional and theological schools. "We have seen how he PATIIICK'S CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS. 165 lamented and apologized for his own defective education ; and while he availed himself of whatever assistance he could obtain from any quarter to help him in his work, he early felt the necessity of training a native ministry. He therefore constituted a "household" on a large scale, into which were gathered all his assistants, to whom were aUotted certain work in teaching and preaching according to their ability, qualifications, and tact. Some of these, while engaged in this household in instructing others at certain hours, at other times followed various occupations —domestic, mechanical, agricultural, ecclesiastical, literary, legal, and nautical. These were all Patrick's agents who conducted an educational, theological, and missionary in- stitution, which aimed to supply the country with minis- ters and teachers. Secundinus, the most scholarly man among Patrick's foUowers, was, we are told, at the head of this school, and Brogan was the name of its scribe, who lectured on theology, made addresses that were wi-itten and circulated, and made copies of the works of others. Patrick in his "Letter to Coroticus" speaks of a "holy presbyter whom he had taught from his infancy" in this seminary, whose chief object was the instruction of minis- ters for the Irish church, and where Patrick himself lived when at home. This household coUege of Patrick was continually bless- ing the churches which he founded with able and con- secrated ministers. In visiting these churches, he took graduates of his coUege with him, and left one here and two there, and seven at another place, as the necessities of the field required, and he would send pastors and preach- 1(56 ^■^■^' srour of st. Patrick. ers wherever there were openings. In this way Patrick's college did an immense good as well as in the general in- struction of young converts. His perseverance was veiy remarkable. He naturally partook of the characteristics of an ancient Briton. He was mercurial in temperament and was impulsive, ready- witted, easily moved to grief or joy, but he held these traits in proper control, and was also cool, deliberate, cling- ing to the work, though for the time unsuccessful, un- promising, and confronted with many difficulties. These difficulties often weighed upon his spirits, bowed his soul in tearful, supplicating grief befoi'e God, but the Holy Spirit wiped away his tears and cheered him by impress- ing upon his heart such a text as this, " Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season you shall reap, if you faint not." This cheering, upholding support of God's Spirit caused Patrick to continue his seemingly useless assaults upon the defiant front that Irish heathenism often pre- sented. Having this continuous support of the Divine Spirit, Patrick persevered until at last the ranks of pa- ganism were broken, and its army routed, leaving God's chosen champion to unfurl the flag of Calvary over all Ireland. Patrick was a man of great courage. To prove this, we might cite several instances in which he displayed daring as conspicuous as that of David, Luther, or Paul. Soon after his arrival in Ireland as a missionary, he determined to visit his old master Milchu, at Slen:isli Mountain in County Antrim. This Milchu was a desperate man, at the head of a numerous tribe of warriors, whose fathers, PATRICK'S CHIEF CHARACTEBISTICS. Ig-^ as well as themselves, were constantly engaged in daring exploits, and who had never permitted even the soldiers of Imperial Rome to land on the coast of Ireland. To him, to his subjects, and to all his neighbors, Patrick was but a fugitive slave, prompted by insolence in attempt- ing to visit his former master. Patrick, it is said, carried with him money to pay his late master for the loss of his servitude, as well as to proclaim to Milehu his own re- deniption by the blood of Christ; but, though from his former knowledge of Milehu Patrick had reason to fear the loss of all the earthly valuables he carried, and also immediate enslavement or cruel death, yet as he was going to preach Christ to him and to secure the salvation of his old master's family, which he accomplished, our missionary feared nothing. And how sad his heart must have felt, when, coming in sight of Milchu's house, he saw the con- flagration that destroyed its owner and his home, into which he had gathered aU his treasures, and which he had set on fire to escape the visit of his fugitive swine- herd. Another instance of Patrick's daring courage was given in his acceptance of an invitation to visit a desperate rep- robate named MacCuil, an Ulsterman, who is described as an impious, cruel tyrant, depraved in thought, outrageous in words, malicious in deeds, bitter in spirit, cross in soul, wicked in body, fierce in mind, a heathen in life, savage in conscience, killing passing strangers with execrable wickedness. It was the plan of this desperado to murder Patrick when he came within his reach; but Patrick's words were accompanied with the convincing, converting 168 I'BE STOIiY OF ST. PATRICK. power of God's Spirit, and MacCuil was smitten with deep repentance, believed, and was baptized. But the most heroic effort of Patrick's life was j^robably his visit to King Laoghaire at Tara, which is briefly described else- where, but is worthy of a more extended notice. Patrick in his journey to Tara had fixed his temporary resting-place on the hill of Slaue, near Drogheda, where he "was surrounded by the cemetery containing the remains of many royal pagans, and with the symbols of their liv- ing and powerful idolatry. Tara was in full view of Pat- rick's camping-place, and about nine miles distant. As we have stated elsewhere, a great convention of the chief nobles of Ireland met at stated intervals at Tara, to attend to the public business of the whole island, and to enjoy a series of feasts. The night after Patrick's arrival at Slane was one of the dates of a great festival at Tara. Kings, governors, generals, princes, and nobles of the people, ma- gicians, soothsayers, enchanters, and the inventors and teachers of all art and science, were called together at this time by King Laoghaire. These latter came to practise their enchantments, magical devices, and idolatrous super- stitions. The congregated followers of these were ex- ceedingly numerous. The feast of Easter had arrived, and was regarded in that day as the greatest festival that ever existed. On the eve of its celebration, lamps were lighted or fires kindled. Patrick resolved to celebrate Easter, and he kindled the fire. It was seen at Tara, and created there gi-eat indignation; for, as we have seen, there was a custom proclaimed by edict of the king, that the soul should perish from the people who lighted a fire PATRICK'S CHIEF CHAHACTERISTICS. 169 anywhere in any of those regions on that night, before it was kindled in the palace of Tara. Laoghaire, the king, was greatly disturbed by Patrick's violation of the legal custom of Tara, and the lawless act must be punished. Nine carriages were prepared for the king's party ; the two magicians, Lueatemail and Lochru, were added, for the attack on Patrick in the presence of all the nobles. When Laoghaire came to the place where Patrick was, he was called out from the position of his Easter fire to the king. When he appeared before the king, he was enraged, his nobles were indignant, the magicians were full of malice, and all seemed ready to destroy the apparently helpless preacher of the gospel. But the brave missionaiy looked at the carriages and their horses, and felt more powerful than the king of Tara with all Ireland to help him, and with heart and lips sang the appropriate words of the psalm, " Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of our God." Only one of the king's retinue, Ere, rose at Patrick's approach, who, as the servant of Christ, blessed him, and Ere believed in Christ as the Saviour, and in the everlasting God. It is said that the magicians spoke abusively of Patrick's faith, and all seemed ready to rush upon him ; but Patrick arose, and in a loud voice said : " Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, and let them that hate him fly from his face." His powerful and desperate enemies seemed awed in the presence of such a bold and courageous man, and all fled, leaving Patrick, the king, queen, and two attendants. The queen pleaded for her husband, who pretended conver- sion, but who tried to kill the missionary. He, however, on 170 ^^^ STOEY OF ST. rATJlICK. the following day (Easter) — when the kings, princes, and magicians were sitting at the national feast in the im- mense assembly hall of Tara with the chief king — ap- proached the scene of revelry with the boldness of a lion, singing with his brethren the words of his famous hymn, which we give elsewhere. As he entered the banquet- ing-hall to make an address before all the tribes of Hi- bernia upon the holy faith, he seemed like inviting death from thousands of blood-stained reprobates. Laoghaire the king, and many others, it is reported, believed — some through fear, others with saving faith. Thus Patrick secured a great victory at Tara, which in a large measure opened Ireland to the gospel, and he often spoke of his un- bounded gi'atitude for the gi'aee that enabled him to lead such numbers to Jesus. Patrick possessed a gi-eat advantage from his acquain- tance with the Irish language. It is sometimes assumed that as a Briton his language was identical with that of Hibernia. The Britons, being under the Romans for so many years, spoke the Latin tongue, while the inhabi- tants of Ireland retained the old original Celtic language. Time and separation made great changes in the language of the nationalities. Our apostle, by such a providential occurrence as sent Joseph into Egypt to provide for his kindred and the subjects of King Pharaoh in the coming famine, was carried into Ireland in his youth, and detained there six years, that he might learn its language thor- oughly, and that he might be able to preach Christ with irresistible eloquence in the Celtic language to the Celtic people. PATBICK'S CHIEF LHAUACIEUISTICS. YJ\ He also had a remarkable influence over those whom he met ; a magnetic power to draw their affections to him- self and their hearts to his Master. His followers held him in the highest reverence while he lived, and loved him after his death next to the gracious Redeemer. There were no divisions among his followers, however numerous they became. He was the recognized superintendent of his many churches, whose members bestowed his name upon their children ; and though he has been dead more than fourteen centuries, he still lives in millions of Celtic hearts in Ireland and in other lands, and many of their children, schools, and churches still bear his honored name. Patrick was distinguished for the very low estimate he placed upon his own literary quahfications. "Hence I blush to-day," he writes in his " Confession," " and greatly fear to expose my unskilfulness, because not being elo- quent, I cannot express myself with clearness and brev- ity, not even as the Spirit and the mind and the endowed understanding can point out. . . . But I would not, however, be silent, because of the recompense. And if, perhaps, it appears to some that I put myself forward in this matter with my ignorance and slower tongue, it is, however, written: 'Stammering tongues shaU learn quickly to speak peace.' How much more ought we to aim at this — we who are ' the epistle of Christ,' for ' salva- tion unto the ends of the earth.' And if not eloquent, yet powerful and very strong 'written in your hearts,' 'not with ink,' it is testified, but 'by the Spirit of the living God.' And I hope, likewise, that it will be thus in the days of my oppression, as the Lord says in the gospel: ]^72 ^^^ STORY OF ST. PATRICK. 'It is not you tliat speak, but the Spirit of yom- Fa- ther that speaketh in you ; ' wherefore I give unwearied thanks to my God, who has kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that I may to-day confidently offer myself to Christ, my Lord, as a sacrifice, a living vic- tim, who saved me from all my difiiculties, so that I may say : Who am I, Lord ? and what is my vocation, that to me thou hast cooperated by such divine grace with me. . . . Behold we are witnesses that the gospel has been preached everywhere, in places where there is no man beyond." Patrick was distinguished for the modesty with which he gave an account of the marvelous success of his mis- sion. This is the way in which he speaks of it : " It be- hooves me to distingiiish without shrinking from danger, to make known the gift of God, and his everlasting con- solation, and, without fear, to spread everywhere the name of God, in order that even after my death I may leave it as a bequest to my brethren and to my sons, whom I have baptized in the Lord — so many thousand men. And I was not worthy or deserving that the Loi'd shoiild grant this to his servant, that after going through afiiictions, and so many difiiculties after captivity, after many years, he should grant me so great favor among that nation which, when I was yet in youth, I never hoped for nor thought of. . . . " Whence then has it come to pass that in Ireland, they who never had any knowledge, and until now have only worshiped idols and unclean things, have lately become a people of the Lord and are called the sons of God ? Sons I'A THICK'S CHIEF CHARACTEIilSTWS. I73 of the Scots and daughters of chieftains are seen to be sous aud daughters of Cluist. . . . Not my grace, but God indeed hath put this desire into my heart, that I should be one of the hunters or fishers whom of old God prom- ised before, in the last days. ... I am envied. What shall I do ! Behold ! ravening wolves have swallowed up the flock of the Lord, which everywhere in Ireland was increasing with the greatest diligence, and the sons of the Scots, and the daughters of the princes are monks, sous and virgins of Christ, in numbers I cannot enumerate." We almost hear Patrick in these words repeat the words of Holy Writ : " Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be the glory." Patrick was distinguished for his detestation of dishon- esty. In his epistle to Coroticus there is this paragraph : " The Most High reprobates the gifts of the wicked. He that offereth sacrifices of the gifts of the poor is as one that sacrifices the son in the presence of the father. ' The riches,' God says, ' which he will collect unjustly, shall be vomited from his belly ; the Angel of Death shall di-ag him off ; the fury of dragons shall assail him ; the tongue of the adder shall slay him ; the inextinguishable fire shall devour him.' Therefore, woe unto those who fill themselves with things that are not their own ; or, what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul ? " Patrick was distinguished for his simple honesty and unworldly spirit. " I have endeavored," he writes in his " Confession," " in some respects to serve even my Chris- tian brethren ; and the \drgins of Christ and religious 174 THE aroET of st. Patrick. women, who have given me small voluntary gifts, and have east off some of their ornaments upon the altar, and I used to return these to them, although they were of- fended with me because I did so. But I did it for the hope of eternal life, in order to keep myself prudently in everything, so that the unbelieving may not catch me in any pretext, or the ministry of my service, and that even in the smallest points I might not give the unbelievers an occasion to defame or to depreciate me. But perhaps because I have baptized so many thousand men, I might have expected a scrapall [a coin equal to about five cents] from some of them. Tell it to me, and I will restore it to you ; or, when the Lord appointed clergy everywhere through my humble ministry, I dispensed the rite gi'atui- tously. If I asked of any of them even the price of my shoe, tell it against me, and I will restore it you more. I spent for you, that they might receive me ; and among you and everywhere I traveled for your sake, amid many perils, even to remote places, where there was no one be- yond, and where no one else ever penetrated, to baptize, to appoint preachers, or to confirm the people. The Lord granting it, I diligently and most cheerfully defrayed all things." Who, in reading these words of Patrick, is not reminded both of the prophet Samuel and of the Apostle Paul ! The former of whom made this appeal to the people of Israel : " Behold, here I am : witness against me before the Lord, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken! or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I re- PATRICK'S CHIEF CHABACTERDiTlCH. I75 ceived any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith! and I will restore it you." (1 Sam. xii. 3.) And Paul said (Acts XX. 33, 34) : " I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel; yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministei'ed unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." Patrick was distinguished for a genuine missionary spirit. When he sailed for Ireland to preach the gospel, that country had many British slaves engaged in the lowest occupation, and suffering the greatest hardships. His old master wanted to seize him and to enslave him again. Petty wars, piracy, tyranny, and idolatry were rampant all over the island, but the intrepid Patrick, in the name of Jesus, fearlessly entered upon his work, and pursued it for half a century or more, until all Ireland was nominally Christian, though its entire people were not converted. He presents his missionary plan in his " Confession " when he writes : " Therefore it is necessary to spread our nets, so that a large multitude and throng may be taken for God." There never was a foreign mis- sionary whose heart embraced a wider field, and whose labors among pagan barbarians were more successful in the conversion of souls, among whom also he planted such a missionary spirit as led them to complete his unfinished work in Ireland, and to send missionaries to Caledonia, to the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and in imparalleled numbers to many other European countries. Of his call to the ministry and of the spirit in which he prosecuted his work, he thus wi'ites : " The divine re- sponse very frequently admonished me. His jioor pupil. 170 THE STOET OF ST. PAriilCK. Whence came this wisdom to me, which was not in me — T who neither knew the number of my days nor was ac- quainted with God? Whence came to me afterward the gift so great, so beneficial, to know God and to love him; that I should leave country, and parents, and many gifts which were offered to me with weeping and tears. More- over, I offended, against my wish, many of my seniors; but God overruling, I by no means consented or complied with them. It was not my grace, but God who conquered me, and resisted them all, so that I came to the Irish peo- ple to preach the gospel, and to suffer insults from unbe- lievers, that I should listen to reproach about my wander- ings, and endui'e many persecutions, even to chains, and that I should give up my noble birth for the benefit of others." Writing to Coroticus, Patrick says: "I was a freeman according to the flesh, having a decurion for my father ; but I sold my nobility for the advantage of others [Irish converts] and I am not ashamed nor grieved for the act." Patrick's father, as we have seen, was a mem- ber of the Town Council of Dumbarton, one of the ten Romano-British cities under the " Latian law," which in- vested him with this privilege. Patrick, as a native of Dumbarton, was a Eoman citizen of patrician rank. This he sacrificed to preach to the Hibernians. " I pray God that he may give me perseverance, and count me worthy to render myself a faithful witness to him, even till my departure, on account of my God whom I love. I pray him to grant me, that with those prose- lytes and captives I may pour out my blood for his name's sake, even although I myseK may even be deprived of PATRICK'S CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS. I77 burial, and my corpse most miserably be torn limb from limb by dogs, or by wild beasts, or that the fowls of heaven should devour it. I believe most certainly, if this should happen to me, I shall have gained both soul and body. Because, without any doubt, we shall rise in that day in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, as sons of the living God and joint heirs with Christ, and to be confoi-med to his image ; for of him, and through him, and in him, we shall reign." Patrick was distinguished for his love of souls. " I am ready," he wi-ites, "to lay down my life unhesitatingly and most gladly for his name, and there, in Ireland, I wish to spend it even till death, if the Lord permit. I distributed among them not less than the hire of fifteen men, so that you might enjoy me, and that I might always enjoy you in the Lord. I do not regret it, nor is it enough for me. I still spend and will spend for your souls. God is mighty, and may he grant me that in future I may spend myself for your souls. Behold, I call God to wit- ness upon my soul that I lie not! Wherefore may it never happen to me, from my Lord, to lose his people whom he has gained in the utmost parts of the earth." His kindred loved him, and by " tears and gifts " tried to prevent his entrance upon the duties and dangers of the Irish mission ; but he had intense compassion for unsaved souls. Urged forward by this compassion, he journeyed through many dangers, and to the most remote places. He was not satisfied until the last man in the most remote part of the island had heard the gospel. To accomplish this, he had to visit every bog shelter, mountain hut, and -j^yg THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. fisherman's cabin in the land. Incessant prayer for the conversion of souls was his daily exercise. Like the well- known prayer of John Knox, "Give me Scotland or I die," so Patrick's heart was continually crying out to God, " Give me Ireland or I die." And as a result God opened the windows of heaven and poured out floods of convert- ing gi-ace, so that Ireland in his day, while not entirely without unbelievers, became a Christian island, and soon after a school for the training of missionaries for many lands. Patrick was distinguished for a tender and sympathetic faith in the Irish people. He seems to have loved the Irish as Paul loved the Galatians. His letter to Coroticus might almost be placed beside a Pauline epistle. The Irish are his dear children. He yearns over them, prays over them, trains them, fosters them, educates them, and believes in their wondrous capabilities under the action of divine grace. In this respect he was an example for every preacher and every Christian worker. He was a stranger in Ireland, and was surrounded with influences which at times might seem to demouize him. He worked amid clans torn by intestine wars, and burning with mu- tual hatred. It might appear to be in vain for him to preach the doctrines of free gi-ace to such a population ; but though he may have preached long with only partial success, he was patient, and tender, and persevering in his work, and at length that work told, and at the close of his patriarchal life, the country whose people he loved, and for whom he was willing to lay down his life, was studded with Christian churches. PATRICE'S CHIEF CHARACTERISTICS. . I79 Patrick was distinguished for his intense realization of a future state of rewards and punishments. " Although I am in many respects imperfect," are his words, " I wish my brethren and acquaintances to know my disposition, that they may be able to comprehend the wish of my soul. I am not ignorant of the testimony of the Lord, who witnesses in the psalm, 'Thou shalt destroy those that speak a lie.' And again, 'The mouth that belieth killeth the soul." And the same Lord says in the gospel : ' The idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment.' Therefore I ought earnestly, with fear and ti'embling, to dread this sentence in that day, when no one shall be able to withdraw him- self or to hide, but when we all together shall render ac- count of even the smallest of our sins before the tribunal of Jesus Christ. And he has given to him all power, above every name of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, that every tongue should confess to him, that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we be- lieve, and expect his coming to be ere long the Judge of the living and of the dead, who will render to every one according to his deeds. Because, without doubt, we shall rise in that day in the brightness of the sun — that is, in the glory of Jesus Christ our Eedeemer — as ' sous of the living God' and 'joint heirs with Christ'; for that sun which we behold at God's command rises daily for us ; but it shall never reign, nor shall its splendor continue ; but all that even worship it — miserable beings — shall wi-etchedly come to punishment. But we who beheve and adore the true Sun, Jesus Christ, will never perish, neither shall they 180 ^^^ STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. who do his will, but shall continue forever, as Christ con- tinues forever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty, and with the Holy Spirit, before the ages, and now, and through all the ages of ages. Amen, " Ye therefore shall reign with the apostles and prophets and martyrs, and obtain the eternal kingdom, as He him- self witnesses, saying: 'They shall come from the east and from the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. "Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and murderers, and liars, and perju- rers ; their part is in the lake of eternal fire.' " He only in a general honest thought, And common good to all, made one of them. His life was gentle ; and the elements So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up. And say to all the world, " This was a man ! " Shakespeahe. CHAPTER XXVII. pateick's scripttjkal knowledge. Most wondrous Book ! bright candle of the Lord ! Star of Eternity ! The only star By which the bark of man could navigate The sea of life and gain the coast of bUss securely. Pollock. Pateick's writings give unmistakable evidence that he was trained to read the Bible in his childhood, and to store his memory with its language. It would have been well- nigh impossible for him to so familiarize himself with its language in after years if he had not packed his memory with it in his youth. The Word of God must have dwelt richly within him in the springtime of his life ; and hence there was such fruitage of it in his writings in his older days. John Ruskin, that master-writer of Enghsh prose, says that when he was a boy, his mother compelled him to memorize chapter after chapter of the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms, and chapter after chapter of the New Testament; and whatever he wrote after was filled with quotations from the Bible. As you can taste the June clover in the sweet country butter, so you can taste the Bible in the writings of John Ruskin. And as Irish butter partakes of the scent of the daisy-field in 181 IgO THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. which the cows pastured, so Patrick's language, every- where, is perfumed with the green pastures of God's Word, in which he fed, lay, and rose, and which he afterward esteemed more than his necessary food. Patrick was not a wi'iter of books, much less of syste- matic theological treatises. The writings, genuine and au- thentic, that have come down to us, are comprised in less than ten thousand words. The most important is a short apology for one so insignificant as he was presuming to come to Ireland as a missionary. Another is a spirited and at times scathing letter of remonstrance to a petty Welsh prince, who, while professing to be a Christian, inflicted massacre, rapine, and robbery on some Irish Christians, and carried many away captive. And the third is a hymn, which is called his breastplate or armor, and full of earnest gospel truth. We cannot expect to find much theology in such brief documents. Yet as Patrick was an earnest Christian man whose heart was in every word he wrote, it is wonderful what insight even these fragments afford us of the innermost thought of the Irish apostle on the great Christian verities. We come, in this fact, ujion one secret of the extraor- dinary power and influence of his teaching. It had its root in, and drew its inspiration and vitalizing force from, his personal experience of the saving power of Grod's Word. What he had seen and touched and handled and experienced of the Word of Life, that declared he to men. And, as it was this that gave life and power to his doctrine when he preached it, it is not less from this that it derives its interest for us to-day. PATRICE'S SCEIPTVRAL KNOWLEDGE. 183 lu reading these writings of Patrick, we have been so much impressed by his famiUarity with God's Word, that we have gone carefully over them, and find that he has quoted 61 times from 18 books of the Old Testament, and 131 times from 22 books of the New Testament, and has used 5 quotations from 3 books of the Apocrypha. Indeed, whole pages of his writings consist of quotations from the Bible. Even when there is no quotation, he speaks in the language of Scripture. God's Word seems to have been his chief study ; for in his genuine works there is no reference whatever to any human authority, except the few verses that are quoted from the Apocrypha. It is worthy of note here that the old Brehon Laws, some of which we have elsewhere quoted, define the respective rights both of the clergy and of the laity ; and among the rights expressly guaranteed to the latter was " the re- cital of the Word of God to all who hsten to it and keep it." Thus was this time-honored right— the right to God's most precious Word— secured to the people of Ireland in ancient Irish law. Patrick was, undoubtedly, a giant in the Scriptures, and he taught his followers to search the Scriptures. His own wi-itings are thoroughly imbued with the phraseology of God's Word, and an early Eoman Catholic writer tells us that Patrick used to read the Bible to the people and ex- plain it to them for days and nights together. Patrick's quotations accord, in a great measure, with a version of the Bible called the Itala, in use before the Vulgate version was made by Jerome. It is likely he often quoted Scripture from memory, and not always with verbal ac- 184 ^^^ STORY OF ST. PATRICK. curacy. It may be interesting, as a jiroof of Patrick's love for the Scriptures, to state that there is a remarkable antiquarian " silver shrine," inclosing a copy of the Four Gospels in Latin, which for many, many years belonged to the monastery of Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland, and now among the most prized treasures of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, which, it is highly probable, was the veritable copy of the Gospels used by Patrick himself dur- ing his devotions. The manuscript is, unfortunately, for the most part, a solid opaque mass, with only portions of it legible. Facsimiles of some of its leaves have been printed and published. We cannot read a page of Patrick's writings without pei'ceiving that we are in the presence of another Apol- los, one mighty in the Scriptures, a genuine teacher and preacher of Jesus Chi-ist. He held to the Bible and to the Bible alone, knowing that its truths are sanctifying and saving, and that to attempt to lead a holy life without the Bible is like attempting to build a castle out of clouds, or to weave canvas oi;t of threads of gossamer. Oh, that we had some one with the fervid, heaven-taught spirit of Patrick, who, with Bible in hand, would go through these United States as Patrick paced the provinces of that "green isle of the ocean," to evangelize his own warm, fond admirers here, to teach them biblical truth, and drive out everything that loveth and maketh a lie. It is said that in the neighborhood of Clonmel there is a beautiful well in a secluded valley, called St. Patrick's well. Clear, sparkling water, cool and pure, bubbles up all the year round from the hidden depths of the earth, PATRICK'S SCniPTUKAL EXOWLEDGE. 185 and flows away from the lip of the well, down to the valley into a large stagnant pool which it feeds. The water in the well is ever fresh and beautiful ; but when it flows into the sedge and slime and weeds of the pond, it loses its limpidity and becomes muddy and dark. On St. Patrick's day, every year, crowds of pilgrims, whom superstition attracts to the well, go there to drink, in hopes that they will be healed of disease or protected from dan- ger. A correct instinct keeps them away from the murky, malerial pond down in the valley. That well in its spark- ling purity is, in parable, the faith which Patrick preached and practised. The stagnant pool is that faith corrupted and darkened in the course of the centuries. That well is the pure gospel of Jesus Christ, the gi'and doctrine of grace, and faith, and holiness, and eternal life, through God's love in Christ, and the operations of the Holy Spir- it. Would that all people, of whatever name or nation, had the spiritual instinct to pass up from the pond and repair to the Fountainhead. Here are the healing waters, and here is the fountain, over which the invitation of the prophet is written, " Ho ! Eveiy one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." Blessed Bible ! How I love it ! How it doth my bosom cheer ! What hath earth like this to covet? Oh what stores of wealth are here I Man was lost and doomed to sorrow, Not one ray of light or bliss Could he from earth's treasure borrow, 'Till his way was cheered by this ! Palmer. CHAPTER XXVIII. patkick's doctrines. Jesus, Saviour, pilot me. Over life's tempestuous sea ; Unknown waves before me roll, Hiding roek and treacherous shoal ; Chart and compass come from thee : Jesus, Saviour, pilot me. What Patrick's authoritative standard of doctrine and life was is clear and certain, as revealed in his wi-itings. He knew no standard of appeal but Scripture. For him the supreme source of authority was no human person, no tradition, and no church council, but Holy Writ alone. The only rule to which he refers for direction, whether in doctrine or duty, was the Word of God. He perpetually appeals to it, his familiarity with it is remarkable, he interweaves it skilfully with his exhortations and remarks. He was, on this account, characterized as the man of " the Holy Book." When he founded a church, one present he was accustomed to make to it was the Books of the Law and the Books of the Gospel. The expression of his faith in the sacred Trinity, given in his " Confession," takes very much the form of a creed. It immediately follows a reference to his conversion, and is, in fact, a warm outpouring of his faith in God. Here 186 PATRICE'S DOCTRINES. \%1 are Ms words : " Because there is no other God, neither ever was, neither before, nor shall be hereafter, except God the Father, imbegotten, without beginning, from whom is all beginning, upholding all things, as we have said, and his Son, Jesus Christ, whom, indeed, with the Father, yre testify to have always been, before the origin of the world, spiritually with the Father, in an inexplicable manner begotten before all beginning, and by himself were made the things visible and invisible, and was made man; and death ha^^ug been vanquished, was received into the heavens to the Father. And he has given to him all power, above every name, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, that every tongue should confess to him that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe, and expect his coming to be ere long the ' Judge of the living and the dead,' ' who shall render to every man according to his deeds.' And he hath poured upon us abundantly the Holy Spii'it, a gift and pledge of immor- tality; who makes the faithful and obedient to become sons of God and joint heirs with Christ, whom we con- fess and adore, one God in the Holy Trinity of the sacred name." His creed stands out before us in his writings both clear and terse. The doctrine of the Trinity, as we have seen, is in the forefront of his faith. The opening pages of his " Confession " are illumined with its statement, and it is woven into the texture of his Hymn as its very su1)stance and life. He taught the unity in Trinity, and won the Irish pepple from polytheism, idolatry, and druidical su- perstition. He taught the Trinity in unity, and unfolded 188 TB^ STOUT OF ST. PATRICE. the gi'eat cardinal doctrines of grace — the Father's love, the Son's sacrifice, and the Spirit's regenerating work. This rich cluster of scriptural truths formed the ground- work of his creed. And whatever errors may have crept into the creed of many inhabitants of the Emerald Isle since, the simple faith which the shamrock illustrated iu Patrick's hand is still the faith of the Irish people. They still believe in the Trinity. Patrick's teaching of the way of salvation was strictly evangelical. This he illustrates by his own case. Here are his words : " I was, as it were, a stone lying in the deep mire, and He that is mighty came, and in his mercy raised me up, and placed me on top of the wall. ... He took me from the midst of those who seemed wise and learned and mighty in speech, and inspired me, fool that I am, and despised by the world, that I should, with fear and rever- ence and without a murmur, be useful to the nation to which I was dedicated by the loving will of Christ." He laments his want of education ; he had had good teachers, but he had neglected them. He deplores his want of suit- able language to express what he has in his heart; but the Lord had pity on his ignorance and low estate. " He guarded me before I knew him, or could distinguish be- tween good and evil. He admonished me and comforted me, as a father does a son." In another place he alludes to sore trials and unworthy accusations which he had endured, and breaks forth in a strain of heartfelt gi-ati- tude : " Unwearied thanks I render to my God, .who has kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that now PJTIilCE'S DOCTHINES. Jgg I offer my soul a living sacrifice to my Lord, who pre- served me in all my distresses. Who am I, Lord, that thou shouldst reveal to me so much of thy divine power ? So that to this day I have exalted and magnified thy Name in every place where I have been, in prosperity and ad- versity, in every event, good or bad. Thanks be to God, who heard my prayer and gave me courage to attempt a work so jiious and so wonderful." Patrick believed in conversion by the sovereign grace and Spirit of God. In the first chapter of his " Confession " he gives an account of the commencement of the divine life in his soul. These are his words : " The Lord opened to me the knowledge of my unbelief, that even late I might remem- ber my sins, and turn to my Lord with my whole heart." This statement reminds a Bible-reader at once of the account given by Luke in Acts xvi. 14 of the conversion of Lydia, " whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paid." Farther on in his " Confession " Patrick also writes, " He hath poured out upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, the gift and assurance of immortality, which causes men to believe and to become obedient, that they might be sons of God and joint heirs with Christ." Surely here is as clear a statement as any one can require that Patrick believed that faith, obedience, sonship with God, and the assurance of immortality, all come exclusively from the outpouring of the Spirit upon the unsaved. One striking illustration that Irish divines of that day believed that men were naturally under the control of sin and needed God's grace and truth, is the following : " As a IQQ THE STOBY OF ST. PATRICK. man in the dark, though he possesses the abiUty to see with his eyes, yet sees nothing till light comes from with- out, so it is with the corrupt will till the light of divine mercy shines upon it." Patrick believed in the atoning character of Christ's death. In the vision of which he tells us, that he had relating to his mission to the pagan Hibernians, he heard these words, which he records in his " Confession " : " He who gave himself for thee is he who speaks to thee." This earnest man undoubtedly thought that Chi-ist uttered these words when he appeared to him in that vision. The Saviour's gift of his life, as it is expressed, shows that, in Patrick's opinion, Christ died as his substitute on the cross; and in Place's hymn, which was wi-itten in the eighth century, in which the leading incidents of Patrick's life are related, the author writes of our missionary thus : "He preached for threescore years Christ's cross to the tribes of the Hibernians. The blood of Calvaiy was the theme of Patrick's preaching, and of his followers for some ages after him." Patrick taught that the Lord's Supper was emblematical of Christ's body and blood, and that both bread and wine were to be partaken by communicants. This was the doctrine of John Scotus even in the ninth century, viz., that the Eucharist was a remembrancer of the Saviour's body and blood — the symbols of the absent body and blood of Christ. This was entirely agreeable to the belief of the church in primitive times and the doc- trine of the fathers. This was the belief of the ancient British and Irish Christians, as it was at first of all be- PATRICE'S DOCTRINES. 191 lievers. Cominuiiion in both kinds was the i)ractice of the early Irish church and of the church universal for centuries after Patrick's time. This is the true interpre- tation of the statement made by Patrick to the daughters of King Laoghaire who were converted through his in- structions. " Ye cannot see Christ unless ye first taste of death, or unless ye receive Christ's body and his blood." This statement unquestionably represents the practice of St. Patrick and of the Irish church for ages. The body and blood are the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, which are spoken of by the Saviour as his body and blood, because they are figures of them, and in the inci- dent referred to both were given to the daughters of an Irish king. Patrick taught the way of salvation by faith in Christ alone. In the earliest Christian writers of Ireland there is no hint given of any intercessor but Christ. They rejoiced in justification by faith alone, and continually insisted upon holy hearts and hves. In a brief reference to Pat- rick's sermon before Laoghaire the king and nobles of Tara, in Muirchus's " Life of Patrick," wi-itteu in the sev- enth century, it is stated that when Patrick appeared be- fore this distinguished assembly, Dubbthac, the chief poet, alone among the Grentiles arose to his honor ; and he first on that day believed in God, and it was "imputed unto him for righteousness," or justification. Justification by faith was held with the strictest pui-ity by Patrick and by many Celtic believers in Britain and Ireland at this period. These doctrines, and others revealed in God's Word, were all held and taught by Patrick and his successors for 192 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. mauy years in Ireland. He recognized that God was the source of all grace through Jesus Christ alone. He felt that God had come to him at Slemisli as he did to Jacob at Bethel, where he had a vision of angels and heard en- couraging words, and which he ever afterward knew as Bethel, the house of God ; and Patrick, after his vision and encouraging call to mission work, looked on the Slemish mountain side as the scene of God's grace, where, like the prodigal, he came to himself and said, " I will arise and go to my Father." This led him to a constant reliance upon the gi-ace and Spirit of God. He wrote in his "Confes- sion," " I can accomplish nothing unless my Lord himself should give it to me. It was not my grace, but God, who overcame me, that I should come to the Hibernian nations to preach the gospel." " Therefore I am much indebted to God who gave me such great grace that many were born again of God." These doctrines held and preached led him to a life of personal humility before God. The scriptural doctrine of sin and of expiation by Christ, which Patrick held, pro- duced this fi-uit in his soul. He was humble and meek as a little child before God. A sweet spirit of self-abasement breathes everywhere through his writings. " I am noth- ing," he seems every whei'e to say — " Christ is everything." This is what he felt, and this is what he wrote. He was therefore distinguished for his simple and unaffected piety. His language everywhere betokens this spirit — such language as this : " I believe I was aided by Christ my Lord, and his Spirit was then crying out for me." He was PATRICE'S DOCTRINES. 193 consequently one of the humblest men that ever lived. After he had wielded an influence in Ireland greater than any man who preceded him, and at his death looking back on the wonderful missionary work he had accomplished, he uses expressions indicating the greatest lowliness of mind. It was the belief in these doctrines also that caused his unselfishness to shine conspicuously throughout his genu- ine wi'itings. He certainly owed nothing to the people in Ireland to whom he came to preach Chi-ist, and for at least fifty years he labored night and day among them without pecuniary reward. Patrick never speaks of any mediator but Christ, who is all-sufficient. He speaks of him in his " Confession " as our " Redeemer, who gave his life for us," and in his Epis- tle to Coroticus as " He who was crucified and put to death for his people." And in his Hymn he speaks of the " virtue of his intercession and of the ineffable glory of that peren- nial life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Patrick declares in the same Hymn what he needs to protect him in every peril is " Christ within him, Christ before him," etc., and closes that Hymn with the words. Salvation is the Lord's ; Salvation is the Lord's ; Salvation is Christ's. Let thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us ! In teaching salvation by faith in Christ and in him alone, he was particularly fond of quoting the Scripture, " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned." He urgently in- sisted also upon the necessity of regeneration and sanetifi- 194 ^^^ STOBT OF ST. PATEICK. cation by the Holy Spirit. He refers to tlie new birth again and again, and speaks of "many people through him having been born to God"; while he represents the Christian life as a " living sacrifice," a complete consecra- tion of ourselves to (rod which, however, divine grace can alone enable us to offer. Nor was his teaching about the observance of the Sabbath and the worship of God less strict. In the early Irish church this day was devoted to the divine service, and its sanctity most strictly guarded. By the ancient Brehon Law the people were required to give " every seventh day of the year to the service of God." This is really the requirement of the fourth com- mandment of the Decalogue, and it is stated in an early life of St. Patrick that from vespers on Saturday night until the third hour on Monday, Patrick did not travel from place to place on the seventh day, but stayed where he was, and Saturday night was observed as a part of Sun- day. The early Irish Christians would not work on Sun- day, and Patrick insisted on a total cessation of all labor. Wherever his followers and disciples were when they heard ■the sound of the vesper-bell on Saturday, they instantly ceased working, and remained wherever they were till Monday morning, spending the whole of the Lord's Day in religious services. Image worship, as well as the worship of saints or angels, was peremptorily forbidden, and those were con- demned who thought they had found out a way " whereby the invisible God might be worshiped by a visible image," and it was expressly taught that " to adore any other besides the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is the crime of PATRICK'S DOCTRISES. I95 impiety." There is no mention in Patrick's teaching of auricular confession, invocation of saints, purgatory, or any of the distinctive dogmas of the Romish church. None of these had a place in the creed of St. Patrick or in the teaching of the early Irish church. Meek, simple followers of the Lamb, They lived and spake and thought the same ! Brake the commemorative bread. And drank the Spirit of their Head. On God they cast their every care ; Wrestling with God in mighty prayer, They claimed the grace through Jesus given ; By prayer they shut and opened heaven. To Jesus they performed their vows, A little church in every house ; They joyfully conspired to raise Their ceaseless sacrifice of praise. CHAPTER XXIX. THE RISE OF MONASTICISM. A little holy hermitage it was, Down iu a dale, hard by a forest side, Far from resort of peoijle that did pass In travel to aud fro ; a little wide There was an holy chaj^el edifyde, Wherein the hermit duly wont to say His holy things each morn and eventide ; There, by a crystal stream, did gently play. Which from a sacred fountain welled forth alway. Spenser. Before we attempt to delineate the church founded by Patrick in Ireland, it will aid in the understanding of some of its peculiarities if we briefly sketch the origin and progress of monasticism, that characterized many of the early churches of Christianity. Paul, a native of the Lower Thebais, in Egj'pt, is gen- erally regarded as the first Christian hermit ; and it is cer- tain that he was, at least, the most distinguished of the age in which he lived. Mild, modest, learned, and emi- nently pious, he fled into the desert, a.d. 251, to escape the bloody persecution of the Emi^eror Decius. Finding there, in a rock, some spacious caverns, which were said to have been the retreat of money-coiners in former days, he chose one of them for his dwelling. A bright spring supi^lied 196 • THE RISE OF MONASTICISM. I97 him with water, while the fruit of a neighboring pahn- tree furnished his food, and its leaves his raiment. When he entered upon this mode of life he was only in his twenty-second year ; yet, after the persecution had ceased, the attractions of the world did not wean him from soli- tary contemplation ; for we are told that he thus contin- ued during ninety years, praying, fasting, and meditating on the sublimest themes that can occupy the mind. This brief sketch of the life of Paul may give a general idea of the habits of the whole class to which he belonged. There are, altogether, twenty-four "fathers and saints of the desert" enumerated by the Roman church, as distin- guished for their holy living, in the fourth century. How erroneous their conception of the spirit of the gospel! Man was made for society, not for solitude. God has en- joined upon us the performance of duties that never can be discharged by a hermit in his cave. Abandoning all idea of being iiseful in his generation, he resembles the servant in the parable who hid his talent in the earth. A hermit is the very personification of selfishness; and selfishness is utterly at variance with the open-hearted generosity and disinterested benevolence inculcated in the Bible. So complex is the spiritual structure of the heart, it is often difficult to discover in what part of the machinery the moving power lies. A man may deceive, not only his neighbors, but himself, by plausible phrase- ology. Paul and his brother eremites supposed that, by retiring from society and emplojnng themselves con- stantly in a routine of strict observances, they in the highest sense devoted themselves to God and sustained jgg THE STORT OF ST. PATRICK. the character of saiuts. They appear to have forgotten that it was a part of true religion " to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction," as well as " to keep them- selves unspotted from the world." St. Antony, the contemporary of Paul, was born a.d. 251, at Coma, a village in Upper Egypt. His parents, who were wealthy Christians, brought him up " in the nurture and admonition of the Lord"; and he was remarkable, from childhood, for filial obedience and strict observance of the duties required by the church. Before he had com- pleted his twentieth year he found himself an orphan, possessed of a considerable estate, and intrusted with the care of an only sister. Having resolved that they both should devote their lives exclusively to religion, he made over a part of his property to the state, and sold what remained for the benefit of the poor. He then placed his sister in " a house of virgins," and Athanasius tells us that St. Antony visited her long afterward, in her old age, when she had become superior, or "mistress of many virgins." From this it is inferred that the most ancient religious house was a nunnery, as history records that the first organization of male devotees was subsequently established by St. Antony himself. After having passed about thirteen years in the neigh- borhood of his native village, he crossed the eastern branch of the Nile and took up his abode in the ruins of an old castle among the mountains. Excepting the person who carried bread to him once in every six months, he very rarely saw a human being in this remote solitude for the space of twenty years, at the close of which period he THE RISE OF ilONASTICISil. 199 left his vetirement and founded the first monastery. This he did at Phaium, near Aphroditopolis, in Heptauomis, or Middle Egypt. This institution, during its earlier prog- ress, comprehended only a few anchorets, living in sepa- rate cells within a short distance of one another, and thus constituting, collectively, what was called a Laura. They probably met together, at intervals, for mutual counsel and edification ; but their general habits were those of solitaires. This appears to have been the first step toward association. To live in perpetual solitude was a self- inflicted punishment of such intolerable severity that few could endure it; and the devotees accordingly began to inquire whether they could not attain the same ends with some relaxation of the rules by which they had at first thought it expedient to bind themselves. The result of this inquiry was the Laura. The next step was to leave the caves of the rocks and inhabit separate cells in one edifice, or monastery. The third and last step was to abandon entirely the idea of living in solitude, and form a religious society, or Ca'Hohimn, which was governed by an Ahhot, according to particular rules. In this way, it is believed, the monastic system was gradually developed. It originated in rigid adlierence to a manner of life which, being contrary to nature, could not permanently be maintained. Modifications were there- fore introduced ; and, as men love extremes, the monk in after-ages, instead of dwelling in a lonely rock and living on herbs, degenerated, in some parts of the world at least, into the most boisterous of boon companions — became, in fact, a scientific epicure and a jolly bacchanalian. 200 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICE. St. Antony, however, exhorted his monks rigorously to perform the duty of self-examination before retiring to rest ; to despise the vanities of the world and reflect con- stantly upon heaven ; to spend every day of their life as if they knew it to be the last ; to cultivate assiduously a holy fervor ; and to be at all times prepared to repel the assaults of the devil. The principal founders of monastic orders, in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries, after St. Antony, were St. Pacho- mius, St. Basil, St. Augustine, St. Benedict, and St. Maur. One cause for the rise of monasticism in the days of primitive Christianity was undoubtedly the persecutions to which the followers of Jesus were subjected. These persecutions were so severe and relentless that they were compelled to abandon their worldly pursuits, to deny themselves the comforts of society, and to flee for their lives into secluded places where they might be safe from the violence of the oppressor. These pious people some- times became so much attached to the mode of life which tyranny had compelled them to adopt that when persecu- tion ceased they still remained in retirement, and became enamoured with the advantages of solitude, and regarded it as so conducive to the development of religious char- acter that they separated from the little bands with which they were associated as companions in tribulation, and thenceforth led the lives of hermits. Those who enter- tained more moderate views concerning the necessity of lonely meditation formed themselves into societies under the government of a superior, erected monasteries in pic- turesque localities, observed certain rules laid down by the THE BI/fE OF ilONASTICISM. 201 founder, and wore a uniform dress to distinguish tlieui as members of that particular brotherhood. The luxury and profligacy of the Eoman empire also alienated the most earnest disciples of the cross from taking their part in things around them, and drove them far from the haunts of men. But the causes that led to monasticism were many and complex. The monastery to the timid and in- dolent was a refuge from the storms of life, to the weak and wavering it was a prop and defense against them- selves, to the fanatic it was a short and speedy way to heaven, to the ambitious it was a pedestal from which to look down on the rest of mankind, and to persons of noble temperament it was, as it seemed to them, the way to attain to counsels of jjerfection. Such, it is believed, was the origin of monasticism, that gigantic system of hypocrisy and delusion which ultimately spread over Europe and wields in many countries such an influence still. It cannot, however, be denied that, among the earlier ascetics especially, there was much cordial sym- pathy and genuine piety, and many whose views did honor to their intellect and whose unfeigned devotion proved the honesty of their hearts. This life of seclusion, it should be remembered, was not the product of Christianity, but its adopted child. It came in from without. It was in keeping with Eastern tastes, had its ancestry in the Essenes and other similar Oriental mystics, and found its exemplars in Elijah and John the Baptist. A monastery was at first the cave of a solitary hermit ; then in Lower Egj'pt two were together in one cell ; and then in Thebald each cell con- tained three monks. They soon, began to arrogate to 202 ^'^^' STOUT OF sr. pa thick. themselves the term "rehgious," aud admission to the monastery was termed "conversion." Pride very soon became the besetting sin of the cloister. Amljition and covetousness crept in among those who had renounced the world, its pomps aud vanities; sensuality assailed those who had retired, as they had hoped, to a safe distance from the temptations of the flesh ; and sometimes religious melancholy and even downright insanity were induced by the loneliness and silence of the cell. Monks, as a rule, were fanatics either for orthodoxy or for heresy. They often became frenzied theologues, and listened eagerly for the rumors of polemical controversy, and rushed out into the fray not as peacemakers but as combatants. They claimed for themselves an authority above that of bishops, emperors, councils. The growing reverence for celibacy in the fourth cen- tury aided mouasticism to make its way into almost every province of the Eoman empire, and enormous commu- nities of monks were founded in rude organizations. Not- withstanding the rapid growth of monasticism in some places, it had many and grave difficulties to contend with in others. The very enthusiasm in its favor by some intensified bitterness and antagonism in others. The aus- terities practised in the cells, sometimes causing death, provoked poj^ular protests, and jibes and jeers wei-e ex- cited by the pale faces aud somber dress of the monks in the streets, while the civil power regarded with jealousy the absorption of so many of its citizens from the duties of life and from all participation of a social and political nature. Fi'om the first there was a marked contrast between THE JUSE OF MOXASriClSM. 203 Eastern and Western mouasticism. The dreamy quietism of the East preferred silent contemplation of the unseen world to labor and toil. Its self-mortification was passive rather than active. So far as it prescribed work at all, it was more as a safeguard of the soul against the snares which Satan spreads for the unoccupied than with a view to benefiting others. Weaving mats and baskets of osiers was aU that was required as a harmless way of passing the time, or of busying the fingers while the thoughts were fixed on vacancy. The soft and genial climate, too, spared the Asiatic the trouble of providing for his own daily wants and those of his brethren with the sweat of his brow. The same habit of indolent abstraction held him back from those Uterary pursuits which were in many instances the redeeming characteristic of the gi-eat mon- asteries of the West, even when they gave the rein to an abstruse and bewildering disputativeness which contin- ually evolved materials for more disputing. In Europe it was quite otherwise. There, even within the walls of the monastery, was the ever-present sense of the necessity and blessedness of exertion. There the monk was not merely a worker among other workers, but by his vocation led the way to enterprises of danger and difficulty. Whatever time remained over and above the stated hours of prayer and study was for manual labors of a useful kind, as farming, gardening, building, out of doors; and within the house, for calligraphy, painting, etc. The monks in Europe were the pioneers of culture and civilization as well as of religion; usually they were the advance guard of the hosts of art, science, and literature. 204 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. From this radical divergence of thought and feeling two main consequences naturally followed : a less sparing and more generous diet was a necessity for those who were bearing the fatigue of the day in a way of which their Eastern brethren could form no idea ; a more exact and more minute arrangement of the hours of the day was a necessity for those who, instead of wanting to kill time, had to economize it to the best of their ability. — In the islands of the West, by their position and by other eircuna stances removed from immediate contact with Central Europe, the coiu'se of events was somewhat different. In the monasteries there, discipline was lax. The fervent temperament of the Celts was in itself less patient of control, less amenable to discipline. Monks living in cells apart from the monasteries were not dis- countenanced nor supervised in Ireland as on the Conti- nent. The chai'acter of the monasteries there, and of their ecclesiastical organization, tended to make the monastery less dependent on its bishop. Originally the chieftains of the clan or tribe, even after its conversion to Christianity, exercised a patriarchal authority in spiritual as well as in temporal matters ; and as the convent establishments grew in number and importance, the headshii:) of them was still retained generally in the family of the chieftain, the office of the abbot, like the office of the bard, who was usually found in every Celtic monastery, being, as a rule, heredi- tary. This provision for the continuance of the supremacy we have explained elsewhere. The Bible in this matter does not appear to have been consulted, or if consulted, its counsels were disregarded. K' THE RISE OF MONASTICISM. 205 The Bible. Happiest they of human race To whom God has gi-anted gi'ace To read, to fear, to hope, to pray, To lift the latch and find the way ; Better had they ne'er been born Who read to doubt, or read to scorn. CHAPTER XXX. THE CHUECH OF ST. PATRICK. The Bible. Study it carefully, Think of it prayerfully, Deep iu our hearts let its pure precepts dwell ; Slight not its history, Ponder its mystery — None can e'er prize it too fondly or well. Accept the glad tidings. The warnings and chidings, Found in this volume of heavenly lore ; With faith that's unfailing, And love all-prevailing. Trust in its promise of life evermore ! The church of St. Patrick was from its beginning monas- tic, as we learn from a passage in his " Confession." But the early Irish monasticism was, as we shall see, unlike that known at a later pei'iod. It is not possible to fix the date of the first monastery in Ireland deserving of the name. A monastery was founded by Comghall at Bangor, County Down, about 540 a.d., which is the second oldest in Ire- laud. The name Bangor is derived from Banchor or Bane Choraidh, " The White Choir," and was oi'iginally called " The Vale of Angels," as well as " The City of the Saints." 206 THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICE. 207 This monastery was an abbey of regular canons, whose fame for learning spread throughout Europe, and its school, over which Carthagus presided, became so cele- brated that students from all parts of the world resorted to it. When Alfred, the most renowned of all Anglo- Saxon kings, founded the University of Oxford, he pro- cured the principal professors from this great seminary. [_The special occupation of the inmates in these early schools was the study of the Scriptures. Many of these did not dwell in the monastery, but lived in then- own houses with their wives or families, like other men. Many of them, at least, were men who, retiring from the common employments of the world, dedicated themselves to reli- gious studies and devotion, and who within their own houses led stricter lives than others. In those days many went by the name of monks who were married men, had children, and possessed property. The rules of monastic life in that early day did not oblige a man to renounce either his possessions or his married state. He might possess and use both, if he pleased, without any ecclesias- tical censure. These were the kind of " monks and virgins of Christ " of whom Patrick makes mention in his " Con- fession " — those who lived in their own houses, and only differing from other Christians by special consecration to God. Such persons had a cottage or neighborhood meeting for prayer and Bible reading and study. These devoted disciples, " living sacrifices to Christ," rendered noble ser- vice in the evangelization of Ireland and in building up Patrick's converts in scriptui'al knowledge. 208 THE STORY OF ST. VATRICK. Patrick's "mouks and vii-gius of Christ," married or unmarried, were of those of whom the beloved disciple writes in the Book of Eevelation as constituting "the Bride, the Lamb's wife," to whom her heavenly Hus- band was " the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely." These schools were not only theological seminaries, but were also home-missionary societies. Bangor sent forth its students to all the surrounding country, where in many places there was much destitution from the poverty of the mountain soil along the Antrim coast. To the in- habitants of these parts the ministers of Bangor preached, and with them they prayed and read the Scriptures, in mountain huts, in fishermen's cottages, and often in the presence of large congregations. These Bangor ministers supported themselves by the labor of their hands, and frequently gave assistance to the poor. This Bangor home-missionary school also founded large numbers of other institutions of its own order, preaching the gospel over extensive regions of the north of Ireland, literally without cost, and among a people who had scanty if any means of paying for it. This was one of the noble fruits of Patrick's earliest mission work. But these schools fostered also a foreign-missionary spirit. It may have been at such a school in Britain that Patrick became first imbued with a missionary spirit which led him to respond so heartily to God's call to preach to the foreign Irish pagans ; and when Patrick was blessed with such success in his work, many hundreds of pious Irish- men were led both in that age and afterward to ask. Could THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 209 not we with God's blessing accomplish as much among some of the idolatrous peoples of the continent of Europe I Though monasticism flourished in the British Isles be- fore the mission of Augustine to England in 596, yet the Roman missionaries on their arrival received anything but a cordial welcome from their British brethren. There was a feeling of mutual distrust and hostility, because of the differences which existed in ritual, costume, etc. There was i^robably, as we have seen, an organized church in Britain in the fourth century. There were then many populous towns and some of the culture of a rich Ro- man province. The intercourse, partly commercial and partly hostile, which took place between Britain and Ire- land in the thii'd and fom-th centuries could scarcely have failed to introduce Christianity into Ireland, and medieval Avriters state that Christianity existed in Ireland before St. Patrick. But the church which grew out of these earlier Christian efforts appears to have been principally, if not altogether, confined to the south of Ireland; the province of Munster forming an independent kingdom at this period, or at least having but little political connection with the other provinces. This church which gi-ew up in the south of Ireland, though the offspring of the British church, must necessarily have adapted itself to the politi- cal and social organization of the country, which was altogether tribal, and, there being no walled towns, had none of the elements of municipal government which had molded the church organization elsewhere. By the sub- sequent conversion of the rest of Ireland by St. Patrick this organization was merely extended, not changed. The 210 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. spirit and laws of clauship, therefore, gave shape and form to the external framework of the church founded by St. Patrick. The salient characteristics of that framework are instructive and interesting. The church established by Patrick was not suhject to y the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome. The independence of the Irish church in relation to Rome continued for cen- turies after Patrick's time. It was not until near the end of the seventh century that any in Ireland conformed even to the Romish usages at Easter, and it was not until the end of the eleventh century that Roman rule made its way through the instrumentality of Danish invaders. Another feature that distinguished the early Irish church was its freedom from metropolitan jurisdiction. Though the Abbot of Armagh was regarded as Patrick's successor, and as such was held in honor, he had no jurisdiction as a primate of the church. He may have been eminent in his sphere, but that sphere was limited, and not coextensive with the church. In those days there was no archbishop in Ireland, nor was there any diocesan bishop there. Each bishop, as the pastor of every church was called, acted in- dependently of any outside episcopal jurisdiction, and was only subject in a measure to the abbot of his monastery, or in the spirit of clanship to his chieftain. There were no dioceses in the modern meaning of the word, and there were not even parishes. There was, however, as can be easily seen from this condition of things, a great multi- plicity of bishops. In a famous document believed to have been written in the eighth century it is recorded that in the time of Patrick the clergy were " all bishops, THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICE. 211 famous and holy and full of the Holy Ghost, 350 in number, and founders of churches," and "they re- jected not the service and society of women." In an- other ancient document the number of bishops mentioned as in Ireland at this time is "seven times fifty holy bishops." Another ancient author states that "Patrick erected 365 churches and ordained 365 bishops," while another makes the number 370; but another eminent document asserts that Patrick built 700 churches and or- dained 700 bishops. If Ireland had at our present writing as many bishops in proportion to its population as it had in those days, it would now have from 5000 to 10,000 bishops, according as we fix the number of its early bish- ops at 350 or 700. Well may an eminent historian call the episcopacy of that early period " a eongi-egational and tribal episcopacy." Another author affirms that in towns and cities many bishops were ordained who had charge of what would now be considered contiguous parishes. Moreover, there were associations of bishops who lived together in gi'oups of seven. One authority mentions six such groups with seven bishops in each, and in three of these groups the seven bishops were brothers, sons of one father. Another authority gives 138 such gi-oups of seven bishops each, and in many instances the seven were sons of one father ; and the same authority mentions two sets, each of 150 bishops; and two sets more of 350 bishops each, and also that Mochta, the abbot of Louth, a disciple of St. Patrick, had in his monastery and as part of his "family" there 100 bishops and 300 presbyters. It is estimated that the population of Ireland then numbered 212 THE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. about 200,000, and the inquiry naturally arises, Why, in this sparse population and in the rude, primitive condition of society that then existed, should the Irish church pro- vide such an immense supply of clergy for home service, and also send them, as a " flood," over other countries ? The answer is probably this, that there was an earnest religious spirit prevalent among the people, and also a high regard for the clerical ofl&ce, and there was, as a result of this, a remarkable law in the Senchus Mor, or / Brehon code, which, as we have seen, St. Patrick assisted in revising — a law probably unparalleled in any other church in Christendom — a law which declared " that every_ first birth of every human couple, the mother Ijeing a law;=— ful wife, belonged to the church " ; and that if there were eleven or more children of whom fewer than ten were sons, the church was entitled to a second sou. This was evi- dently a partial Christianizing of the Mosaic law, which declared that the first-born of every creature, including the first-born of man, was to be pi'esented to the Lord and given to Aaron and his successors, as recorded in Exodus xiii. 2 and in Numbers xviii. 15. This law was no dead letter in the early Irish church, and there were no excep- tions allowed in its operation. It applied to the sons of kings and chiefs as well as to the humblest in the laud. In pursuance of this law, the young persons dedicated to God were put under training in the great monastic schools, which were the colleges of that time. No other Christian church in Europe claimed such rights as these as against the whole body of the laity. It is interesting to contemplate so many persons called THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 213 bishops devoted to the services of religion, biit it may be in- quired, How, in the midst of so sparse a population, were they employed? Many of them were doubtless pastors of congi-egations, but they had comparatively no jurisdiction, as the government of the chiu'ch was principally in the hands of the abbots. The Apostle Paul requires that a bishop should be " apt to teach," that he may " feed the flock" and by "sound doctrine both exhort and convince the gainsayers." It is unquestionably certain that the proper functions of a bishop in the ancient church of Ire- land were regarded as those of teaching and preaching, and of giving spiritual instruction and comfort in their visits from house to house ; but doubtless very many of these bishops were also engaged professionally in the communi- cation of sacred learning in the monasteries and in the schools and colleges that sprang up around them. Some of these Irish bishops attained to such high distinction as instructors in both theology and science that great num- bers of students flocked to them from all parts of Europe. Others of them were employed as scribes. The art of printing had not been invented, and it was necessary to copy the Scriptures, that copies of God's Word might be accessible to those who had become converts to the new faith ; and this copying process was carried to gi-eat per- fection as regards both the style of the text and its illumi- nation. This was a work of the greatest importance and one of the most honorable in which any one could engage ; and all this work, with all that pertained to the ornamen- tation, preservation, and protection of the sacred manu- scripts, was almost exclusively in the hands of the clergy. 214 ^^^ STOUT OF sr. Patrick. It must be borne in mind that the early monasteries, num- bering hundreds in all in the British Islands, were Bible schools where thousands of students were under instruc- tion. Other branches of study were pursued, but Bible knowledge especially was sought. Nearly a thousand New Testaments were required for even one of these schools, allowing one Testament to three or four students. The Scriptures also were supplied to the many churches de- pendent upon the monasteries; and the scribes in these monasteries supplied them all. The copying of the Scrip- tures reached in the Irish monasteries its greatest perfec- tion in the beauty of the writing and in the splendor of the ornamentation. The work looked more like the work of an angel than of a man. Almost innumerable copies of the Word of God, in Gos- pels, New Testaments, and in entire Bibles, were made in these monasteries, where there was a room called the scrip- torium, or copying-room, which varied in size and in its activities as the work was more or less pressing, but in all there was a warm love for the Bible, and this prayer was often offered in these transcribing-rooms : "Vouchsafe, O Lord, to bless this scriptorium, of thy servants, and all that dwell therein, that whatsoever sacred writing shall be here read or written by them they may receive with understanding and bring the same to good effect, through our Lord." Nor was the work in these monasteries confined to copy- ing the Scriptiu'es — the earnest examination of the Scrip- tures by these students often resulted in expositions of them. These expositions became numerous and were THE CHL'IICH OF ST. I'ATIUCK. 215 freely used. One of these learned students is said to have written short notes on thirteen of Paul's ei^istles, another wrote a commentary on the Psalms, and a third was the author of a solution of the difficulties of the Bible, which he called " The Wonders of the Scriptures." Columbanus wrote an elegant exposition of the Book of Psalms; Sedu- lius, a commentary on the Epistles of Paul, which was Pauline in its doctrine and excellent in its practical sug- gestions. Many other excellent commentaries were written in these monasteries, but only fragments of this ancient literature escaped the destructive fury of the Danes, who commenced their ravages in 795 a.d. and continued them to the end of their sway in Ireland. It is sad to think these places, and many others of greater renown, were all destroyed, many of the professors and students slain, and their books and documents burned, by pagans who lived in the surrounding districts of Britain, by Anglo-Saxon heathen, and others. The godly men who conducted these schools lived near to God, led their suffering brethren to the only Saviour for refuge and consolation, built churches and colleges, sent out ministers everywhere to preach Christ among the pagans, made and circulated thousands of copies of the Scriptures-, cheered the peoj^le as they went forth to battle for their altars and their homes, prayed for their success, ministered to the wounded, di- rected the dying to the Lord of life, and invoked his pro- tection upon the dear ones at home. The bishop had in the early Irish church many other duties of a much less dignified character to discharge than in copying the Scriptures. In rank and dignity he held in 216. THE STOKY OF ST. PATRICK. those days a position subordinate not only to the abbot of the monastery but also to its reader ; and he had also to be the companion and defender of some one who was going forth on a missionary tour. St. Patrick, we are informed, Avas accompanied in his missionary journeys by a strong man or "champion," who had to defend him from his enemies and at times to carry him. The name of the bishop who discharged this duty for Patrick is a matter of record, and also that he got tired of his work and settled at Clogher. Life was exposed to such risks in those times, and fighting was so common, that even the clergy found it expedient to learn the art of self-defense. Monasteries, too, were obliged to have their champions and armed retainers. A bishop of our day would not likely feel at home filling such a position, and would consider it not consistent with his episcopal functions and dignity. But we must remember that the ordination in this early church in Ireland was neither rigorous nor stringent. It was not necessary that the candidate for bishop should have been previously, as required now, a deacon or a pres- byter, and one bishop was thought sufiicient to confer it ; nor were women excluded from the episcopate. It is stated on the most reliable authority that the form of ordaining a bishop was read over Brigit by Bishop Mel, and that she was actually ordained a bishop — a statement confirmed by her biographer, who speaks of her " episcopal and virginal chair." History makes it very evident that Irish eccle- siastics did not confine themselves to what was elsewhere regarded as regular and canonical. The English church of that day considered the Irish clergy so lax in their ordi- THE CHURCH OF ST. PATIIICK. 217 nation usages that it refused to recognize them as hav- ing true orders. So persistent were they in this refusal that the synod of Cealcythe, presided over by Wilfred, Archbishop of York, passed a special canon enacting that no person of Scotic — that is, of Irish — race should be permitted to exercise his ministry in any of their dioceses, and the first reason given is, " because it was uncertain whether, or by whom, they had been ordained." It was even doubtful whether they had been ordained at aU. Another feature of the early church in Ireland was that its chief functionaries succeeded one another, not by elec- tion, but by a hereditary law. It should be remembered that the real rulers were the abbots or " coarbs " as they were called, the principals of the monasteries. These abbots were sometimes presbyters and sometimes only laymen. These exercised almost absolute jurisdiction, and the bishops were in complete subordination to them. Even when the head of a monastery was a woman the bishops and other clergy were subject to her. The heads of the principal monasteries formed a council who debated questions and spoke the voice of the church ; so it is evi- dent, from all points from which this question is consid- ered, that the coarbs were the true heads of the church. We have seen that the succession of these coarbs was determined by a hereditary principle. This becomes evi- dent when we refer again to the way in which a monastery was founded. On that occasion a portion of land, or in some cases a royal fort, was made over by the head of the tribe to which it belonged to the founder, who was usually connected 218 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. with the same tribe. The abbacy or headship of that monastery was retained in the family of the founder, and the abbot was provided from among its members. When a vacancy occurred it was filled either from the direct Une of the founder's kiu, or, when that failed, a successor was taken from a collateral branch. For many generations the coarbs were the lineal descendants of the family that had given the original endowment. Free election of the abbot by the community was thus quite unknown, and the abbot was often not a bishop but a presbyter or a layman. In the case of Kildare the coarbs were always females, and in one instance the coarb ot Armagh was a female. It was the abbot that inherited the rights of chieftainship and property, and who was therefore the im- portant personage in the ecclesiastical community. Hence it were easier to get a correct list of the abbots than of the bishops. The bishop or bishops, for there was often more than one bishop connected with a monastery, were in subjection to the abbot and did not necessarily succeed each other according to our modern notions of episcopal succession. There were frequent breaks in the chain. In the attempt to trace St. Patrick's successors, many of the persons mentioned are called abbots, some are called bishops, some are called coarbs, but there is nothing in the abbot or coarb to indicate whether the personage so designated was a bishop, a presbyter, or a layman. Hence there can be no continuous catalogue of successive bish- ops of Irish sees from Patrick to the present time. The synod of Cealcythe, in England, so regarded the succes- sion of Irish bishops, and thei-efore excluded them from THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 219 their dioceses ; and St. Bernard, in his Life of Malachi, tells us how the Irish bishops were regarded on the Continent. " There had been introduced," he says, " by the diabolical ambition of certain people of rank, a scandalous usage whereby the Holy See (Armagh) came to be obtained by hei-editary succession. For they would allow no persons to be promoted to the bishopric except such as were of their own tribe and family. Nor was it for any short period that this succession had continued, nearly fifteen generations having been already exhausted in this course of iniquity." The same authority mentions that before the time of Celsus eight of these coarbs or successors of St. Patrick in Armagh were married and not in orders — only laymen. The law of succession throughout Ireland was the same everywhere as at Armagh. The predominant feature of the early Irish church was its monasticism in its primitive type. This was its most essen- tial and fundamental quality, which dominated and colored everything. It was the keystone in the arch of its ecclesias- tical order, the most distinctive note of its life. The whole clergy was embraced within the fold of the monastic rule. Through the abbots, who were the real heads and rulers of the Irish church, the whole church was brought under the control of monasticism, molded to its forms, and leavened by its spirit. But the primitive church of Ireland was as unique and peculiar in its monastic system as we have found that it was in other things. It is evident from Patrick's own writings that monasti- cism existed in the Irish church in his day. Patrick prob- ably acquired his idea of this peculiar polity of the church 220 TB^ ST0B9 OF ST. PATRICK. from his brethren in Britain, and made it tributary to his work and also conformable with the social condition of the country. The primitive Irish monastery seems to have been in some respects unique. As a building it was rude and simple. Some chief gave the site, which was often on the edge of a forest and had to be cleared of the trees. This clearing process was done by monks who learned to be expert with the ax, and who often went round with one slung over the shoulder. The church, or study, or house of prayer, or by whatever name it was called, was rarely built of stone, and generally of wood or wattles. Stakes were driven into the ground a foot or two apart ; rods or wattles were woven between the stakes after the manner of basket-makers ; moss was stuffed between the wattles, and the whole was i^lastered with clay. Stone belfries in the shape of round towers, as a protection for monks and their valuables, were erected when the Danes began to ravage the country and to burn the wattled or wooden houses. In this rude monastery there was a common room in which they took their meals, and oif this was a kitchen. The monastery was generally built near a stream of water, beside which the monks built their mill and a kiln for drying corn. Grouped around the central building were the huts, each by itself, in which each monk lived apart. These huts were usually constructed as the main building. A rampart or circular inclosure made of earth or stone was erected for shelter and protection around the whole group of huts. The huts varied in number, as accommodations were needed for monks and pupils, but few gi-oups num- THE CHURCH OF ST. PA TRICK. 221 bered less than one hundred and fifty. But the number often rose to several hundred, and sometimes would rise to thousands. There was no limit to the accommodations, for whenever a new pupil arrived he would go to the neighboring wood, cut down some wattles, and construct his hut in a few hours. The students' rooms of those days were very different from those in which many of the stu- dents of the present day luxuriate. Yet it was in such huts, scarcely high enough for a man to stand erect, with no light but what entered by the door, and with no table but the knee, on which a book could rest, that the beautiful Irish manuscripts which are prized so highly in Trinity College, Dubhn, and in the British Museum, Lon- don, were written and illuminated. It may be asked. How were these monks sustained, where did they find support in a country so poor as Ireland must then have been ! Their mode of life was simple and abstemious. A sim- ple rough garment, a little coarse bread made from the corn grown on the patch of ground which their own hands cultivated, an egg from the fowl they kept, a few water- cresses, and some water satisfied the demands of nature and solved the problem of living. We are told that Ere, one of Patrick's disciples, lived beside the river Boyne, kept a flock of geese, and that half of one of their eggs sus- tained him for twenty-four hours. When anything more was required than was supplied by their own resources, it was obtained gi-atuitously from the neighborhood. The wants of several students were often thus supplied. These primitive Irish monasteries were, however, largely 222 T^E STORY OF ST. PATRICK. self-sustaining. Persons of almost every trade and pro- fession were found within them. In the " household " of St. Patrick we read not only of the judge and the scribe, the reader and the singer and the bell-ringer, but of monks who devoted themselves to labor with their hands, follow- ing husbandry in the fields or mechanical employment within doors. We read also of the poet and the brewer and the woodsman and the helmsman, of the cook and the chamberlain and the shepherd and the miller and the charioteer and the smith, and many other artificers, all of whom were monks. The society and service of women also were utilized in the early period of the Irish monas- tery. The monks were not bound to shun intercourse with them, but profited by their society and ministrations. There were many women there, like Patrick's own sister Lupait, who employed their skill in embroidery and in the general service of the brotherhood. These facts put a very modifying phase on the monastic institutions of the early Irish church. They demonstrate that the social, industrial, and educational spirit dominated them more fully than the monastic. Indeed they should be described more as industrial colonies devoted to the cultivation of learning and the useful arts and also to re- ligion. They somewhat resembled the Shaker communi- ties in the United States. One of these schools had seven streets of huts occupied by foreigners in the first half of the eighth century. The course of instruction included twelve years, eight of which were devoted to reading and writing the grammar of the Irish language, the laws of the privileged classes, be- TBE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 223 sides vaticination, etc., the phenomena of nature, the ele- ments of philosophy, historical topogi'aphy, and learning by heart about two hundi-ed and seventy tales and a num- ber of poems and the secret language of the poets. The ninth and tenth years were devoted to composition of various kinds of poetry. The eleventh year was employed in composing fifty major and fifty minor specimens of verse requiring the use of four kinds of meter. The stu- dies of the twelfth year consisted in the composition of six orations and the study of the art of poetry according to the precepts of four different authors. Whatever may have been the character of the teaching or the value of the outcome, it is the earliest example of the cultivation of any vulgar language in Europe. The head-master of a school was obliged to go through the course just indicated, as well as to know Latin and " from the Ten Commandments to the whole of the Scriptures." Such a school was connected with a ccenohium — monas- tery — and had usually six teachers. The lowest of these taught the students to recite the Psalms. The second taught the course of native literature just described up to the end of the tenth year. The third taught the art of poetry and whatever pertains to the expression of the emo- tions and the finer feelings. The fourth master taught Latin, arithmetic, and the elements of astronomy and geography. The fifth master was professor of divinity, and the sixth was the head-master, who was supposed to know the whole course, both profane and sacred. Patrick probably founded several schools of the class we have described. The students were called monks be- 224 TBE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. cause they led a secluded life. But a young mouk in the fifth century was a very different man from an old mouk in the twelfth century. He was in the years of which we write a young man preparing to become a missionary. His head was shorn over the forehead, and he wore a dress peculiar to his class. Patrick did not allow such men to take their rest. They must prepare for work in the world, and, when prepared, go fortli into the great field to sow and reap for the Master. Patrick often visited these schools, which ought not to be called monasteries. Their regulations were very different from those of the institutions that are desig- nated monasteries in succeeding ages. They were little else than would now be prescribed in a college where the inmates are required to support themselves. The great design of these monastic schools was by com- municating instruction to train up men for the work of the ministry. They were, in fact, the seminaries of the church both in North Britain and in Ireland, and when Patrick found men in these schools qualified to preach — in other words, to tell the simple story of the cross to poor ignorant pagans — he ordained them as a matter of neces- sity. He was a bishop in this sense, that he was the church's superintendent — he had on him " the care of all the churches " as they were organized ; but there is no evidence to show that he ever was the pastor of more than one church, or that he had a diocese and an array of clergy under him. The condition of things was peculiar. The success of Patrick as a missionary was something wonderful, and THE CHVRCH OF ST. PATRICK. 225 he did in these extraordinary circumstances what no man would be justified in doing in an ordinary settled condition of things. The church that grew up under his labors was monastic in its character, and yet its monastery was not the abode of the " monk," as that word is under- stood by us now. It was the resort of the missionary — his study, where he prepared for preaching the gospel. It may have been at first a refuge from enemies, or a resort for prayer. This monastery developed, as converts increased, into a school, college, or church. It became the fixed abode for studious men — a religious center where the people flocked for worship, teaching, and consolation. And in course of time a town grew up, along whose streets houses were built for schools and seminaries for preparing yoimg men to preach the gospel. One other peculiarity of this early church must be noted. The whole church was under the rule of the monks, and the monks in turn, and the whole monastic system, were dominated and modified by the spirit of clanship which then reigned supreme over Irish society. The monasteries were indeed only clans, reorganized under a religious form ; and from this resulted the extraordinary number of their inhabitants, which were counted by hundreds and thou- sands, and their influence and productiveness, which were still more wonderful. These Irish monasteries were famous for the service rendered by them to the cause of education, and for their service as centers and sources of missionary enterprise. The youth of the tribe were sent to these monasteries, as 226 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. educational establisliments where they received a secular education and were trained to monastic life. Besides the monks, each institution had a body of young people who became inmates for the purposes mentioned, and the num- ber of these, even in the smaller institutions, was usually fifty, and in the larger a much gi'eater number. To these institutions not only the better classes in Ireland resorted, but even the middle classes and nobility of England sent their sons to be educated. They resorted thither to study the Word of God, to practise the duties of monastic life, and to devote themselves to the study of general literature, going for this purpose from one master's cell to another. Not only from Britain did students flock to these Irish schools, but from all parts of Europe, so great was the repute for learning which Ireland obtained, and so great her fame for ardent, independent thought. Nor were these Irish monasteries more renowned for their seminaries of learning than for the missionary enter- prise which they inspired — for the bands of great mission- aries whom they sent forth, who carried their peculiar type of Christianity to Scotland, England, and over the broad continent of Europe. This showed the vitality and vigor of the religion possessed by this primitive Irish church. It was her own kindred, too, aci'oss the channel on the opposite coasts and islands of North Britain that first awoke her sympathy and to whom she first sent her sons with the tidings of salvation. It is said that her first mis- sionary was Brendan, who at his ordination was greatly impressed with the words of our Lord in Luke xviii. 29, and that he resolved to live in the spirit of them. The THE CHURCH OF ST. PATRICK. 227 words are these: "Verily I say imto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not re- ceive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." He accordingly went to the Western Islands, and planted these primitive monasteries there and through Scotland and the surrounding isles, as Columba did afterward ; others following them and doing a similar work— evangelizing Cantyre and settling in lona, and from that as a basis of operation evangelizing the Northern Picts and establishing a thousand institutions like that of Tona, so that it has been said that, were bon- fires kindled on a winter night on the hills adjacent to the institutions which these missionaries founded, there would be a complete chain of lights visible one to another from the Humber to the Orkneys, and from Aberdeenshire to the remotest of the Hebrides. But these missionaries car- ried the gospel to the Continent— to Switzerland and Italy ; some of them labored among the East Angles, and after- ward in France ; others in Bavaria, Friesland, and West- phalia. But the story of these missions is too long, and is not included in the purpose for which this book is wi-itten ; enough, however, has been unfolded to show what vast re- sults may follow the sowing of the seed of God's Word in one mind, even though that mind may appear very unpropi- tious soil, and though that seed may lie dormant for many years. " There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shaU shake like Lebanon." CHAPTEE XXXI. CONCLUSION. The Bible . . . Stands like the cerulean arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity ; Inscribed above the portals from afar, Conspicuous as the brightness of a star, Legible only by the light they give. Shine the soul-quickening words — " Believe and live." In concluding this sketch of the church founded by St. Patrick we must not omit to state that while monasticism as then practised was very different from what it after- ward claimed as its peculiarities, so also was it in the case of the bishops. Bishop and presbyter were undoubtedly originally but different names for one office, and the distinction between them was a matter of human arrangement ; the superiority of the former over the latter was developed after the days of the apostles " little by little," and in some countries more slowly than in others. The primitive relation of presbyter and bishojj was interchangeable. As the former was of Jewish origin and presided over Jewish communities, so the latter was of Gentile origin and presided over Gentile 228 CONCLUSION. 229 communities; and when the distinction between Jewish and Gentile communities began to fade away, the two sets of offices, fulfilling as they did analogous functions, were regarded as having equivalent rank. This point has been conceded by almost all important writers upon the subject in both ancient and modern times. According to the eminent Dr. Lightfoot, that great his- torian of the Church of England, in the beginnings of Christianity the Episcopalian bishop and the Presbyte- rian elder not only walked under the same umbrella, but walked under the same hat — they were the same indi- vidual. In no other way is the constitution of the old Irish church as founded by St. Patrick capable of expla- nation. It is asserted by two recent writers that Patrick was constituted a bishop in Ireland ; but by whom he was ordained, or in what circumstances, is not explained ; and who his ordainers were, or what was their canonical right to officiate, nobody can now say. And although we have it from himself that Patrick was a bishop, there is no his- torical evidence whatever as to the time, place, persons, or circumstances under which he was ordained. Who, there- fore, can prove that his ordination was canonical, or that he was ordained at all ? The diocesan bishop was a growth from a primacy of influence based upon merit and local advantages into a primacy based upon a theory founded on a series of historical assumptions. This gi'owth is the sole basis of the historic episcopate, and to claim that diocesan episcopacy originated in the apostolate of the Saviour is one of the sublime religious farces that some- times take hold upon men, and which a portion of credu- 230 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. lous humanity accepts as a fact. This would constitute a religious wonder, were it not remembered that there was a dispute among the immediate disciples of Jesus who should be the greatest. The historic episcopate is a per- sonal pious opinion which has no historic value. The local church up to nearly the close of the second century preserved much of its primitive usages ; traces of a written liturgy then are scanty and vague. The Lord's Supper and the " love-feast " were observed in close aflSnity. In- fant baptism had not wholly displaced immersion. The bishop was not yet sharply distinguished from the pres- byter, nor the presbyter and deacon from the lay brother. But the lowering of the average tone of piety among the laity threw into stronger relief the virtues of the clergy, and enabled them with a good show of justice and neces- sity to claim exclusive possession of powers which had originally been shared by all male members of the church. The early Irish church undoubtedly had peculiarities without parallel in other churches. In various important particulars no modern chm-ch can claim to resemble it or reproduce it. As Patrick stands out by himself in history, as a personality distinct and peculiar in some respects from all other persons, so was the church which through his agency was organized and established in Ireland one that differed in some of its aspects from all other churches. It was not Eomish either in its teaching or in its govern- ment. It is most likely that Patrick did not trouble him- self much about the framewoi;k of the church, or what the church might be denominated. ^Vliat were his views on church polity is very uncertain. He probably esteemed it CONCLUSION. 231 his gi'eat work to preach the gospel and to make converts to the Christian faith. Ireland, we read, was in Patrick's day full of " village bishops." In one county, that of Meath, there were nearly thirty bishops ; at one period there were three hundred bishops in the kingdom: so we may reasonably conclude that parochial bishops were the only ones known to the primitive Christianity of Ireland. Every parish was a diocese, and the pastor of every church was a bishop. Patrick, as we have seen, had many young men as stu- dents and helpers. They were in this way trained for missionary work. It was not necessary to send them far away to be educated. Ireland itself was then the gi'eat seat of learning. Anglo-Saxons flocked to Ireland as to the gi-eat mart of learning, and this is the reason why we find this saying so often in English wi'iters, " Such an one was sent over into Ireland to be educated." It had in this excited the envy of England, and gave rise to the sarcas- tic question of an English abbot, "Why should Ireland, whither students are transplanted in troops by fleets, be exalted with such unspeakable advantages ? " The rapid extension and singular prosperity of the early Irish church are to be attributed in no small degree to its freedom from foreign control and to the simplicity of its system of church government. Bishops, as all preachers and pastors were then usually called, were appointed \vith- out consulting any one outside of Ireland. In things spiritual and ecclesiastical its church refused obedience to any civil or spiritual power, holding that the Lord Jesus is the sole King and Head of his church. 232 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. The principal features of the church organized by Patrick were therefore in many respects quite unique. The men whom he ordained and sent forth were more like our evangelists, going everywhere preaching, organ- izing churches, administering the sacraments, and doing from necessity whatever was necessary to be done. It was necessary to have a strong force of evangelists, mission- aries, traveling preachers, and superintendents of schools in the field, and Patrick thought it important that they all should be on an equal footing with himseK. He called him- self, as we have said, bishop, and these all were bishops. His rule was to place over every church a pastor who was in office equal to himself. Hence a reliable historian says that Patrick founded three hundi-ed and sixty-five churches and placed over them three hundi-ed and sixty- five bishops. These bishops, however, were evangelists as well as pastors, going round preaching, gaining con- verts, and gathering these converts into churches. Patrick must have exercised a very great influence over the Irish church. He had a splendid gift of management. He was able to keep all the forces at work, and the church grew, extended, and became a vast power not only in Ireland, but in the world. Thus the work of church extension, commenced on a large scale by Patrick, was carried on by faithful followers until, before the beginning of the ninth century, the whole land had been studded with churches, colleges, and scrip- tural schools, and Irish Christians were famous over Eu- rope for learning, piety, and missionary zeal. Ireland was regarded at this period throughout Europe as the great CONCLUSION. 233 school of the West aud au isle of saints. There is no indication in Patrick's writings that he recognized any authority in creeds, however venerable, nor in councils, though composed of many hundreds of the most godly men. He does not call any special attention to that part of his " Confession " which evidently contains his creed. It stands with the same claims to respect as the account of his conversion, of his missionary call to Ireland, of his strong desu'e to save men, or of God's frequent answers to his prayers. His great appeal was to Scripture. Prom- ises, commands, prohibitions, heart exercises, prayers, the condition of men ai-ound — aU these things and many others stirred up Patrick not to refer to councils or ancient creeds but to Scripture. His own views and sentiments regarding the Bible are evidently expressed in the follow- ing paragraph, of a very ancient date ; whether it emanated from the pen of Patrick or not is uncertain : " One of the noble gifts of the Holy Spu-it is the divine Scripture, whereby every ignorance is enlightened, every earthly distress is comforted, every spiritual light is kindled, and every weakness is strengthened. For it is through the Holy Scripture that heresies and schisms are cast forth from the church. In it is found perfect counsel and fitting instruction by each and every grade in the church. For the divine Scripture is a mother and gentle nurse to aU the faithful ones who meditate upon it, and consider it, and are nurtured until they are chosen sons of God through its counsel." It is undoubtedly true that several old pagan customs and superstitions were allowed, and only modified to Christian 234 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. uses, and that the monastic s^sirit which from the first seemed to be a prominent element in the Irish church was a leaven essentially at variance with New Testament Chris- tianity ; and these defects worked toward the deterioration of the Irish church soon after the death of Patrick, causing her to become less evangelical and more superstitious, and to relapse into many of her old pagan ways, and this in pro- portion as she came under Roman domination ; and among the native Irish to this day many of the old pagan obser- vances continue. From the very start, Christianity was in many cases only paganism baptized ; the very fact that whole clans and even tribes followed the lead of their chiefs and were baptized as persons who renounced paganism and accepted Christianity demonstrates that mere formalism prevailed among vast numbers of these converts — in name Christian, but in knowledge and often in practice only pagan. The tendency, also, to a belief in miracles per- formed by the monks and some of the " saints " shows how the leaven of paganism still continued to work among the people. Patrick, in his genuine writings, never hints at possessing miraculous powers, but the monks who cen- turies after his death wrote biographies of him repre- sented him as an adept in the i^erformance of all kinds of miracles and wonders. Many of these monks also retained much of the passionate, revengeful, implacable sj)irit that has always characterized the Celtic race, and which some- times so dominated their lives that pitched battles were fought between monasteries, in which ma^ny were slain; and synods were held in which the members appeared as armed men, and often severe deadly struggles occurred before controversies were settled. In the carrying out of CONCLUSION. 235 the erroneous adage that we may do evil that good may come, the monks did not hesitate to equivocate, deceive, and lie, if by such conduct they could gain their end. They did not seem to think that Christianity required them to live truthful, honest, upright lives, and to pursue "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, and whatso- ever things are lovely." Into this low condition did Irish Christianity gradually lapse as the years passed after Pat- rick's death, and as paganism regained its foothold and Eomanism increased in its domination. The heads of the monasteries in time came to wield an immense influence, and that influence, it could easily be shown, was so used as to inflict an irreparable injury on the best civil inter- ests of Ireland. Princes and kings were compelled to cul- tivate their good-will, and dared not thwart the wishes of the heads of the monasteries, who controlled the people east and west, north and south. These monks in time wrought desolation in the land and prepared it for the crushing heel of Rome. It seemed for a time, during Patrick's day and for some time afterward, as if the course of the world's history was to be changed, and as if Celtic and not Latin Christianity was to mold the destiny of the churches of the West. This was one of the greatest changes this world has ever seen. And be it remembered that all these magnificent results were brought about by the labors of missionaries who could trace historically their Christian faith to the conversion of that herdboy Patrick on the side of that Slemish mount. Beautiful Ireland, gem of the sea! once the resort of students, the home of scholars, the abode of poetry, the 236 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. nursery of orators, tbe light of Europe, the isle of saints — and that, thou wouldst have continued to be, had the church of St. Patrick never been overthrown. Such is a brief story of St. Patrick, whose name, after the lapse of fourteen hundred years, is as fresh as the shamrock and as gi'een as the emerald. Erin's Old Song of Peace. O'er the gi*een hills of Erin The old winds wander on. In calm or storm still singing The song of ages gone ; Sweetly that song is swelling. In strains all soft and low, The hymn of holier ages. The psalm of long ago — Peace, peace, from God to men, Good-will, good-wiU. Amen ! Through the gi*een vales of Erin Pours the glad lay of love — The love that passeth knowledge, Descending from above ; The love of Him who bought us, And sought us in our sin ; The long-shut gate who opens. And bids us enter in. Peace, peace, from God to men, Good- will, good- win. Amen! Through the blue skies of Erin The mighty melody Steals, with its glorious tidings Of all things true and free ; Of chains forever broken, Of life and freedom won ; CONCLUSION. 237 The sighs of exile ended, Captivity undone. Peace, peace, from God to men. Good-will, good-will. Amen ! Bright hills of ancient Erin, Grow brighter, balmier still ; And with your mellow music The listening valleys fill — The heaven-begotten music, Whose cadences are peace. Whose chimes of soothing sweetness Shall never, never cease. Peace, peace, from God to men, Good- will, good- will. Amen ! Fair peaks of emerald Erin, See Scotland's glens afar. Gleaming across the ocean. Beneath th6 same dear star ! One star o'er both is gleaming. One hope to both is given, One love o'er both is bending — The pardoning love of Heaven ! Peace, peace, from God to men, Good-wUl, good- will. Amen ! They gi-eet each other gladly, These island sisters fair ; And with each other freely The heavenly tidings share. True daughters of the ocean. Each clasps the other's hand. To give and take the welcome Of the one Fatherland. Peace, peace, from God to men. Good-will, good-will. Amen ! Though Tara's harp lies broken, And Tara's halls are dumb. 238 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. Though Tara's miustrel voices Are silent as tlie tomb, A sweeter harp is swelHug Through Eriu's pensive skies, And truer bards are chanting The song that never dies — Peace, peace, from God to men, Good- will, good- will. Amen ! Round the old manger-cradle We gather hand in hand ; Beneath one Cross we shelter; Upon one Rock we stand ; One holy faith is knitting The kindred West and East ; One Christ the blessed center ; One table for our feast. Peace, peace, from God to men, Good-will, good-will. Amen ! One Pilot through the breakers. One port to all is given ; One love our hope and refuge — The boundless love of Heaven ! 'Tis love to man the sinner. Free love to earth undone ; The love that knows no quenching — The love of God's dear Son. Peace, peace, from God to men. Good-will, good- will. Amen ! One everlasting gospel Shines out before our eyes, One temple and one altar. One perfect Sacrifice ! O sons of men sore-burdened With sin's oppressive load. Of Erin and of Scotland, " Behold the Laml) of God ! " Peace, peace, from God to men. Good-will, good-will. Amen ! HORATIUS BONAE. CHAPTER XXXII. THE " CONFESSION " OF ST. PATKICK. Memorials of the Dead. We gather up with pious care What happy saints have left behind, Their writings in our memory beai-, Their sayings on om- faithful mind. Their works which traced them to the skies For patterns to ourselves we take, And dearly love and highly prize The mantle for the wearer's sake. C. Wesley. The avowed object of the "Confession" was to show why Patrick felt called to preach the gospel to the Irish people ; to declare that he was not sent by man, but by the Lord ; to furaish evidence that God had approved of his mission and labors ; to record some of his experiences ; to "make known God's gi-ace and everlasting consolation, and to spread the knowledge of God's name in the earth. He wished in his old age to leave it on record after his death for his sons whom he had baptized in the Lord." The "Confession "has an honest face and good credentials. Neither it nor either of his other writings is entirely free from errors, but all are scriptural in their general character. 239 240 ^^J^ STORT OF ST. PATRICK. There are no quotations from the "fathers," but many from the inspired writings. They all abound in simple statements of gospel truth. The Scriptures are treated with deep reverence as infallible and sufficient, and no authority is appealed to but that of the written Word. The true coin is distinguished from the cheap counterfeit, and by these ancient documents we are guided to some knowledge of the life, the labors, and doctrines of Patrick. Whoever adopts the religion of Patrick will go to the Word of God as the only authority in matters of faith, and the only source of light to guide him in the way of life. It was the principles of the Bible alone that con- trolled him in the labors that made his name renowned, and that made him one of the noblest Christian mission- aries our world has ever seen. THE "confession" OF PATKICK. " Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and least of all the faithful, and most contemptible to very many, had for my father Calpornius, a deacon, a son of Potitus, a presbyter, who dwelt in the village of Bannavem Tabernite, for he had a small farm hard by the place where I was taken captive. I was then nearly sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God ; and I was taken to Ireland in captivity with so many thousand men, in accordance with our deserts, because we kept not his precepts, and were not obedient to our priests who admonished us for our salvation. "And the Lord brought down upon us the wrath of his TBE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 241 indignation, and dispersed us among many nations, even to the end of the earth, where now my littleness is seen among foreigners. And there the Lord opened (to me) the sense of my unbelief, that, though late, I might re- member my sins, and that I might return with my whole heart to the Lord my God, who had respect to my humilia- tion, and pitied my youth and ignorance, and took care of me before I knew him and before I had wisdom or could discern between good and evil, and protected me, and com- forted me as a father does a son. "2. Wherefore I cannot keep silent — nor is it indeed expedient (to do so)— concerning such gi-eat behests and such great favor as the Lord has vouchsafed to me in the land of my captivity ; because this is our recompense (to him), that after our chastening or knowledge of God we should exalt and confess his wonderful works before every nation that is under the whole heaven. " Because there is no other God, neither ever was, neither before, nor shall be hereafter, except God the Father, un- begotten, without beginning; from whom is all begin- ning ; upholding all things, as we have said ; and his Son Jesus Christ, whom indeed, with the Father, we testify to have always been, before the origin of the world, spiri- tually with the Father ; in an inexplicable manner begotten before all beginning ; and by himself were made the things visible and invisible; and was made man; (and) death having been vanquished, was received into the heavens to the Father. "And he has given to him all power above every name of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, 242 TEE STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. that every tongue should confess to him, that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we beheve, and expect (his) coming, to be ere long the Judge of the hving and of the dead, who will render to every one according to his deeds. And he hath poured upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, a gift and pledge of immortality, who makes the faithful and obedient to become sons of God and joint heirs with Christ ; whom we confess and adore — one God in the Holy Trinity of the sacred name. " For he himself has said by the prophet, ' Call upon me in the day of thy tribulation, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt magnify me.' And again he saith, ' It is hon- orable to reveal and confess the works of God.' " 3. Although I am in many respects imjierfect, I wish my brethren and acquaintances to know my disposition, that they may be able to comprehend the wish of my soul. I am not ignorant of the testimony of my Lord, who wit- nesses in the psalm, ' Thou shalt destroy those that speak a lie.' And again, ' The mouth that belieth killeth the soul.' And the same Lord says in the gospel, 'The idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account lor it in the day of judgment.' Therefore I ought ear- nestly, with fear and trembling, to dread this sentence in that day, when no one shall be alile to withdraw himself or to hide, but we all together shall render an account of even the smallest of our sins before the tribunal of the Lord Jesus. " Wherefore I thought of writing long ago, but hesitated even till now ; because I feared falling into the tongue of men ; because I have not learned like others who have TE£ "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 243 drunk in, in the best manner, both law and sacred litera- ture in both ways equally, and have never changed their language from infancy, but have always added more to its perfection. For our language and speech is translated into a foreign tongue. " 4. As can be easily proved from the drivel of my writ- ing, how I have been instructed and learned in diction ; because the wise man says, 'For by the tongue is dis- cerned understanding and knowledge and the teaching of truth.' But what avails an excuse, (although) according to truth, especially when accompanied with presumption? Since, indeed, I myself now, in niy old age, strive after what I did not learn in my youth, because they prevented me from learning thoroughly that which I had read through before. But who believes me although I should say as I have already said? When a youth, nay ahnost a boy in words, I was taken captive, before I knew what I ought to seek, or what I ought to aim at, or what I ought to avoid. Hence I blush to-day, and gi-eatly fear to expose my unsknfulness, because, not being eloquent, I cannot express myself with clearness and brevity, nor even as the spirit moves, and the mind and endowed understanding point out. " But if it had been gi-anted to me even as to others, I would not, however, be silent, because of the recompense. And if, perhaps, it appears to some that I put myseK for- ward in this matter with my ignorance and slower tongue, it is, however, wi'itten, ' Stammering tongues shall learn quickly to speak peace.' How much more ought we to aim at this— we who are the 'epistle of Christ' for salva- 244 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. tion even to the end of the earth — and if not eloquent, yet powerful and very strong — written in your hearts, 'not with ink,' it is testified, ' but by the Spirit of the living God'! " 5. And again the Spirit testifies, * and husbandry was ordained by the Most High.' Therefore I, first a rustic, a fugitive, unlearned, indeed not knowing how to provide for the future— but I know this most certainly, that before I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mud ; and He who is mighty came, and in his own mercy raised me and placed me on the top of the wall. " And hence I ought loudly to cry out, and return also something to the Lord for his so great mercies, here and in eternity, which benefits the minds of men cannot esti- mate. But, therefore, be ye astonished, both great and small, who fear God. And ye rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and examine: who aroused me, a fool, from the midst of those who appear to be wise, and skilled in laws, and powerful in speech and in every mat- ter? And me — who am detested by this world — he has inspired me beyond others (if indeed I be such), but on condition that with fear and reverence and without com- plaining I should faithfully serve the nation to which the love of Christ has transferred me, and given me for my life, if I should be worthy ; that, in fine, I should serve them with humility and in truth, n. " In the measure, therefore, of the faith of the Trinity, it behooves me to distinguish, without shrinking from dan- THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 245 ger, to make kuown the gift of God and his everlasting consolation, and without fear to spread faithfully every- where the name of God, in order that after my death I may leave it as a bequest to my brethren and to my sons, whom I have baptized in the Lord — so many thousand men. And I was not worthy that the Lord should grant this to his servant; that after going through afflictions and so many difficulties, after captivity, after many years, he should gi'ant me so great favor among that nation, which when I was yet in my youth I never hoped for nor thought of. " But after I had come to Ireland I daily used to feed cattle, and I prayed frequently during the day; the love of God and the fear of him increased more and more, and faith became stronger, and the spirit was stirred ; so that in one day I said about a hundred prayers, and in the night the same ; so that I used even to remaiu in the woods and in the mountain ; before daylight I used to rise to prayer, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm ; nor was there any slothfulness in me, as I now perceive, because the spirit was then fervent within me. " And there indeed, one night in my sleep, I heard a voice saying to me, 'Thou fastest well; fasting so, thou shalt soon go to thy country.' And again, after a v^-y short time, I heard a response saying to me, ' Behold, thy ship is ready.' And it was not near, but perhaps two hundred miles away, and I never had been there, nor was I ac- quainted with any of the men there. " 7. After this I took flight, and left the man with whom 246 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. I had been six years ; and I came in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good ; and I feared noth- ing till I arrived at that ship. And on that same day on which I arrived the ship moved out of its place, and I asked them, the sailors, that I might go away and sail with them. And it displeased the captain, and he answered sharply, with indignation, ' Do not by any means seek to go with us.' And when I heard this I separated myseK from them in order to go to the hut where I lodged. "And on the way I began to pray, and before I had ended my prayer I heard one of them, and he was calling loudly after me, ' Come quickly, for these men are calling you.' And immediately I returned to them, and they began to say to me, ' Come, for we receive you in good faith ; make friendship with us in whatever way you wish.' And in that day I accordingly disdained to make friendship with them, on account of the fear of God. But in very deed I hoped of them that they would come into the faith of Jesus Christ, because they were heathen. And on account of this I clave to them. And we sailed immediately. " 8. After three days we reached land, and for twenty- 'eight days we made our journey through a desert. And food failed them, and hunger prevailed over them. And one day the captain began to say to me, ' What is it, Christijfti? You say that God is gi-eat and almighty; why, therefore, canst thou not pray for us, for we are per- ishing with hunger ? For it will be a difficult matter for us ever again to see any human being.' But I said to them plainly, ' Turn with faith to the Lord my God, to THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICE. 247 whom nothing is impossible, that he may send food this day for us in your path, even till you are satisfied, for it abounds everywhere with him.' And God assisting, it so came to pass. Behold, a herd of swine appeared in the path before our eyes, and my companions killed many of them, and remained there two nights, much refreshed. And their dogs were filled, for many of them had fainted and were left half dead along the way. And after that they gave the greatest thanks to God ; and I was honored in their eyes. " 9. From that day forth they had food in abundance. They also found wild honey, and offered me a part of it. And one of them said, ' It has been offered in sacrifice.' Thanks to God, I consequently tasted none of it. But the same night while I was sleeping and Satan gi-eatly tempted me, in a way in which I shall remember as long as I am in this body. And he fell upon me like a huge rock, and I had no power in my limbs save that it came to me into my mind that I should call out ' Helias.' And in that moment I saw the sun rise in the heaven ; and while I was crying out ' Helias ' with all my might, behold, the splendor of that sun fell upon me and at once removed the weight from me. And I beheve I was aided by Christ my Lord, and his Spirit was then crying out for me ; and I hope likewise that it will be thus in the days of my op- pression, as the Lord says in the gospel, 'It is not you that speak, but the Spii'it of your Father which speaketh in you.' 248 2'i/£ STOBT OF ST. PATRICK. m. " 10. And again after many years I was taken captive once more. On that first niglit, therefore, I remained with them. But I heard a divine response saying to me, ' But for two months thou shalt be with them,' which accord- ingly came to pass. On that sixtieth night the Lord de- hvered me out of their hands. " Even on our journey he provided for us food and fire and diy weather every day, till on the fourteenth day we all arrived. As I stated before, we pursued our journey for twenty-eight days thi'ough the desert, and the very night on which we arrived we had no food left. "And again, after a few years, I was in the Britains with my parents, who received me as a son, and earnestly be- sought me that now, at least, after the many hardships I had endured, I would never leave them again. And then I saw indeed, in the bosom of the night, a man coming as it were from Ireland, Victorious by name, with innume- rable letters, and he gave one of them to me. And I read the beginning of the letter containing * The Voice of the Irish.' And while I was reading aloud the beginning of the letter, I myself thought indeed in my mind that I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Foc- lut, which is close by the western sea. And they cried out thus as if with one voice : * We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come and henceforth walk among us.' And I was deeply moved in my heart and could read no farther, and so I awoke. Thanks be to God that after very many years the Lord granted to them according to their cry ! TEE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 249 " 11. And on another night, I know not — God knows — whether in me or near me, with most eloquent words, which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech, one spoke as follows : ' He who gave his life for thee is he who speaks in thee,' and so I awoke full of joy. And again I saw him praying in me, and I was as it were within my body, and I heard above me, that is, above the inner man, and there he was praying mightily with groanings. And meanwhile I was stupefied and aston- ished, and pondered who it could be that was praying in me. But at the end of the prayer he so spoke as if he were the Spirit. And so I awoke and remembered that the Apostle says, * The Spirit helps the infirmities of our prayers. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself asketh for us with un- speakable groanings which cannot be expressed in words.' And again he says, ' The Lord is our Advocate and prays for us.' "And when I was attacked by some of my seniors, who came and urged my sins against my laborious episcopate, so that on that day I was strongly driven to fall away, here and forever. But the Lord spared a proselyte and stranger for his name's sake. He kindly and mightily aided me in this treading-under, because in the stain and disgrace I did not come out badly. I pray God that it be not reck- oned to them as an occasion of sin. For after thirty years they found me, and brought against me a word which I had confessed before I was deacon. " 12. Under anxiety, and with a troubled mind, I told my most intimate friend what I had one day done in my boy- 250 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. hood, in one hour, because I was not then used to over- come. I know not — God knows — whether I was then fifteen years of age, and I did not believe in the living God from my infancy ; but I remained in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised ; and in truth I have been humbled by hunger and nakedness, and that daily. On the other hand, I did not of my own accord go to Ireland until I was almost worn out. But that was rather good for me, that I should be filled with care and be concerned for the salvation of others ; since at that time I did not think even about myself. " Then on that day on which I was reproached for the things above mentioned, on that night I saw in a vision of the night a writing against me, without honor. And at the same time I heard a response saying to me, ' We have seen with displeasure the face of the designate with his name stripped.' He did not say, 'You have seen with displeasure,' but ' "We have seen with displeasure,' as if he had joined himself to me, as he has said, ' He that toucheth you is he that toucheth the apple of mine eye.' Therefore I will give thanks to him that comforted me in all things, that he did not hinder me from the journey on which I had resolved, and also from my work which I had of Christ my Lord. But the more from that time I felt in myself no little power, and my faith was approved before God and men. " 13. But on this account I boldly assert that my con- science does not reprove me now or for the futui-e. ' God is my witness ' that I have not lied in the statements I have made to you. But I am the more sorry for my very THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 251 dear friend, to whom I trusted even my life, that we should have deserved to hear such a response. And I as- certained from several brethren before the defense that I was not present, nor in Britain, nor did it originate with me. Even he in my absence made a fight for me. Even lie had said to me with his own mouth, ' Behold, thou art to be promoted to the rank of bishop ' — of which I was not worthy. But whence, then, did it occur to him that before all, good and bad, he should publicly put discredit upon me, although he had before of his own accord gladly conceded that honor to me ? It is the Lord who is greater than all. " I have said enough. But, however, I ought not to hide the gift of God which he bestowed upon us in the land of my captivity, for then I earnestly sought him and there I found him, and he preserved me from all iniquities, so I believe, because of his Spirit that dwelleth in me, which has wrought in me boldly even to this day. But Grod knows, if a man had spoken this to me I might have been silent for the love of Christ. " 14. Wherefore I give unwearied thanks to my God, who has kept me faithful in the day of my temptation; so that I may to-day confidently offer my soul to Christ my Lord, as a sacrifice, ' a li^dng victim ; ' who saved me from all my difficulties, so that I may say, Who am I, Lord, and what is my vocation, that to me thou hast cooperated by such divine grace with me 1 So that to-day I can constantly rejoice among the Gentiles and magnify thy name wherever I may be, not only in prosperity but also in distresses; that whatever may happen to me, 252 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. whether good or evil, I ought to receive it equally, and always to give thanks to God, who has shown me that I should believe in him, the indubitable One, without ceas- ing, and that he will hear me ; and that I, though ignorant, may in these last days approach this work, so pious and so wonderful ; that I may imitate some of those of whom the Lord before, long ago, predicted that they should preach his gospel, for a testimony to all nations, before the end of the world. Which, therefore, has been so ful- filled as we have seen. Behold, we are witnesses that the gospel has been preached everywhere, in places where there is no man beyond. IV. " 15. But it would be long to relate all my labor in details, or even in part. Briefly, I may tell how the most holy God often delivered me from slavery, and from twelve dangers by which my life was imperiled, besides many snares and things which I cannot express in words, neither would I give trouble to my readers. But there is God the Author of all, who knew all things before they came to pass. " So, however, the divine response very frequently ad- monished me, this poor pupil. Whence came this wisdom to me, which was not in me, I who neither knew the num- ber of my days, nor was acquainted with God ? Whence came to me afterward the gift so gi'eat, so beneficial, to know God, or to love him, that I should love country and parents, and many gifts which were offered to me with weeping and tears? And, moreover, I offended against my wish certain of my seniors. But God overruling, I by THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 253 no means consented oi- complied with them. It was not my grace, but God who conquered in me and resisted them all ; so I came to the Irish peoples, to preach the gospel and to suffer insults from unbelievers ; that I should hsteu to reproach about my wandering, and endure many perse- cutions, even to chains, and that I should give up my noble birth for the benefit of others. " 16. And if I be worthy, I am willing to lay down my life unhesitatingly and most gladly for his name ; and there I wish to spend it even till death, if the Lord permit. For I am gi-eatly a debtor to the God who has bestowed on me such grace that many people through me should be born again to God, and that everywhere clergy should be ordained for a people newly coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the ends of the earth, as he had prom- ised of old by his prophets: 'To thee the Gentiles will come and say, As our fathers made false idols, and there is no profit in them.' And again : ' I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the utmost parts of the earth.' And there I am willing to wait the promise of him who never fails, as he promises in the gospel : ' They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,' as we believe that believers shaU come from all the world. " 17. Therefore it becomes us to fish well and diligently, as the Lord premonishes and teaches, saying : ' Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And again he says by the prophets : ' Behold, I send my fishers and hunters, saith the Lord.' Therefore it is very necessary 254 ^^-^ STOBY OF S2'. PATS ICE. to spread our nets, so that a copious multitude aud crowd may be taken for God, and that everywhere there may be clergy who shall baptize and exhort a people needy and anxious, as the Lord admonishes and teaches in the gos- pel, saying : ' Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost — even to the end of the age.' And again : ' Going, therefore, into the whole world, preach the gospel to eveiy creature. He that believeth and is bap- tized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be confounded.' Aud again : ' This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world, for a testimony to all nations, and then shall the consummation come.' And also the Lord, foretelling by the prophet, says : ' And it shall be in the last days, saith the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall i^rophesy, and your sons shall see visions, and your old men shall dream di'eams. And uiiou my servants aud i;pon my handmaids I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.' And in Osee he says : ' I will call that which was not my people my people, and her who had not obtained mercy; and it shall be in the place where it was said, You are not my people, there they shall be called the sons of the living God.' " 18. Whence, then, has it come to pass that in Ireland they who never had any knowledge, and until now have only worshiped idols and unclean things, have lately be- come a people of the Lord, and are called the sons of God I Sons of the Scots and daughters of chieftains are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ. And there was even one THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 255 blessed Scottic lady, nobly boru, very beautiful, of adult age, whom I baptized. And after a few days she came to us for a season, and intimated to us that she had secured a response from a messenger of God, and he advised her that she should be a virgin of Christ, and that she should always draw near to God. Thanks be to God, on the sixth day after that she most excellently and eagerly seized on that which also all the virgins of Christ do ; not with the will of their fathers — but they suffer persecution and false reproaches from their parents ; and notwithstanding the numl)er increases the more ; and of our own race, who were born there, there are those, we know not the number, besides widows and those who are continent. But those women who are detained in slavery especially suffer ; in spite of terrors and threats, they have assiduously per- severed. But the Lord gave grace to many of my hand- maids, for, although they are forbidden, they zealously imitate him. " 19. Wherefore, though I could wish to leave them, and had been most wiUingly prepared to proceed to the Bri- tains as to my country and parents ; and not that only, but even to go as far as to the Gauls, to visit the brethren and to see the face of the saints of the Lord — God knows that I greatly desired it: but I am bound in the Spii'it, who witnesseth to me that if I should do this he would hold me guilty ; and I fear to lose the labor I have commenced ; and not I, but Christ the Lord, who commanded me to come and be with them for the rest of my life. If the Lord will, and if he will keep me from every evil way, that I may not sin before him. But I hope to do that 256 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. which I ought ; but I trust not myself, as long as I am in this body, for strong is he who daily tries to subvert me from the faith, and from the chastity of religion proposed to myself, not feignedly, which I will observe to the end of my life, to Christ my Lord. But the flesh, which is in enmity, always leads to death, that is, to unlawful desires to be unlawfully gratified. And I know in part that I have not led a perfect life, as other believers. But I con- fess to my Lord, and I do not blush before him, for I lie not : from the time I knew him in my youth the love of God and his fear have increased in me, and until now, by the favor of the Lord, ' I have kept the faith.' " 20. Let him who will, laugh and insult ; I will not be silent, nor will I hide the signs and wonders which were min- istered to me by the Lord many years before they came to pass, as he who knew all things before the world began. " But hence I ought to give thanks without ceasing to God, who often pardoned my ignorance and my negligence, even out of place — ^not in one instance only — so that he was not fiercely angry with me, as being one who was per- mitted to be his helper. And yet I did not immediately yield to what was pointed out to me, and to what the Spirit suggested. And the Lord had pity on me among the thousands of thousands, because he saw in me that I was ready, but that in my case, for these reasons, I knew not what to do about my position ; because many were hindering this mission, and already were talking among THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 257 themselves and saying behind my back, ' Why does that fellow put himself in danger among enemies who know not God?' Not as though they spoke for the sake of malice, but because it was not a wise thing in their opin- ion, as I myself also testify, on account of my defect in learning. And I did not readily recognize the gi-ace that was then in me ; but now I know that I ought before to have been obedient to God calling me. " 21. Now, therefore, I have related simply to my breth- ren and fellow-servants who have believed me the reason I have preached, and do preach, in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that you might aim at gi-eater and perform mightier things ! This will be my glory, be- cause ' a wise son is the gloiy of his father.' " You know, and God also, how I have conducted myself among you from my youth, both in the faith of the truth and in sincerity of heart. Even in the case of those nations among whom I dwell, I have always kept faith with them, and I wiU keep it. God knows I have never overreached none of them ; neither do I think of it, that is, of acting thus, on accoimt of God and his church, lest I should excite persecution against them and us all, and lest through me the name of God should be blasphemed, because it is written, ' Woe to the man through whom the name of God is blasphemed.' Though I am unskilful in names, yet I have endeavored in some respects to serve even my Christian brethren, and the virgins of Christ, and religious women who have given to me small voluntary gifts and who have cast off some of their ornaments upon the altar, and I used to return these to them, although they 258 ^^^ STOBT OF ST. PATRICK. were oifended with me because I did so. But I did it for the hope of eternal Ufe, in order to keep myself prudently in eveiything, so that the unbelieving may not catch me on any pretext, or the ministry of my service; and that even in the smallest point I might not give the unbeliev- ers an occasion to defame or depreciate me. " 22. But pei-haps, since I have baptized so many thou- sand men, I might have expected half a screpall from some of them ? Tell it to me and I will restore it to you. Or when the Lord ordained everywhere clergy through my humble ministry, I dispensed the rite gratuitously. If I asked of any of them even the price of my shoe, tell it against me and I will restore you more. I spent for you that they might receive me; and among you and everywhere I traveled for your sake amid many perils — even to remote places, where there was no one beyond, and where no one else had ever penetrated — to baptize or ordain clergy or confirm the people. The Lord granting it, I diligently and most cheerfully for your salvation defrayed all things. During this time I gave presents to the kings, besides which I gave pay to their sons who escorted me; and nevertheless they seized me, together with my companions. And on that day they eagerly desired to kill me ; but the time had not yet come. And they seized- all things that they found with us, and they also bound me with iron. And on the f oiu'teenth day the Lord set me free from their power; and whatever was ours was restored to us for God's sake, and the attached friends whom we had be- fore provided. " 23. But you know how much I paid to those who acted THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICE. 259 as judges throughout all the regions which I more fre- quently visited. For I think that I distributed among them not less than the hire of fifteen men. So that you might enjoy me, and I may always enjoy you, in the Lord, I do not regret it, nor is it enough for me — I still ' spend and will spend for your souls.' God is mighty, and may he grant to me that in future I may spend myself for your souls ! Behold, ' I call God to witness upon my soul ' * that I lie not ' ; neither that you may have occasion, nor because I hope for honor from any man. Sufficient to me is honor which is not belied. But I see that now ' I am exalted by the Lord above measure ' in the present age ; and I was not worthy nor deserving that he should aid me in this, since I know that poverty and calamity suit me better than riches and luxuries. But Christ the Lord was poor for us. " But I, poor and miserable, even if I wished for riches, yet have them not, ' neither do I judge my own self,' be- cause I daily expect either murder, or to be circumvented, or to be reduced to slavery, or mishap of some kind. But I ' fear none of these things ' on account of the promises of the heavens ; but I have cast myseK into the hands of the omnipotent God, who rules everywhere ; as saith the prophet, ' Cast thy thought on the Lord, and he will sus- tain thee.' " 24. Behold now, I commend my soul to my most faith- ful God, for whom I discharge an embassage in my ignoble condition, because indeed he does not accept the person, and he chose me to this office that I might be one of the least of his ministers. But ' what shall I render him for 260 T^E STOKT OF ST. PATRICK. all the things he hath rendered to me f But what shall I say, or what shall I promise to my Lord ? Because I had no power unless he had given it to me, but he searches the heart and reins ; because I desire enough and too much, and am prepared that he should give me " to drink of his cup," as he has granted to others that love him. Where- fore may it never happen to me of my Lord, to lose his people whom he has gained in the utmost parts of the earth.' I pray God that he may give me perseverance, and count me worthy to render myself a faithful witness to him- even till my departure, on account of my God. And if I have ever imitated anything good, on account of my God whom I love, I pray him to grant me that with proselytes and captives I may pour out my blood for his name's sake, even though I myself may even be deprived of burial, and my corpse most miserably be torn limb from limb by dogs or by wild beasts, or that the fowls of heaven should devour it; I believe most certainly that if this should happen to me I shall have gained both body and soul. Because, without any doubt, we shall rise in that day in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Jesus Christ our Redeemer ; as ' sons of the living God ' and ' joint heirs with Christ,' and ' to be conformable to his image,' 'for of him and through him and in him we shall reign.' " 25. For that sun which we behold, at God's command rises daily for us — but it shall never reign, nor shall its splendor continue ; but all even that worship it, miserable beings, shall wretchedly come to punishment. But we who beUeve in and worship the true Sun, Jesus Christ, THE "CONFESSION" OF ST. PATRICK. 261 •who will never perish : neither shall he ' who does his will,' but shall continue forever, as Christ continues forever, who reigns -with God the Father Almighty and with the Holy Spirit, before the ages, and now, and through all the ages of ages. Amen. " Behold, I will again and again declare briefly the words of my Confession ; I testify in truth and in joy of heart, before God and his holy angels, that I never had any reason except the gospel and its promises for ever re- turning to that people from whom I had formerly escaped with difficulty. " But I beg of those who believe and fear God, who ever shall deign or look into or receive this writing which Pat- rick, the sinner, unlearned indeed, has wi-itten in Ireland, that no one may ever say, if I have done or demonstrated anything according to the will of God, however little, that it was my ignorance which did it. But judge ye, and let it be most truly believed that it has been the gift of God. And this is my Confession before I die." CHAPTER XXXIII. THE SECOND OF PATRICK'S WHITINGS, CALLED THE HYMN OR , » This Hymn is a composition of considerable force and beauty, written in a time when paganism was almost su- preme in Ireland. It was the general belief of that day that heathen sorcerers had mysterious powers by which they could harm their opponents ; and these reputed sor- cerers were gathered at Tara, a noted hill in County Meath, not many miles from Dublin. This Tara was the seat of the chief king of Ireland; there with the subkings was held the annual assembly ; and thither Patrick was moved to go and preach the gospel even at the risk of deadly peril. The expressions used in the Hymn correspond with the circumstances under which Patrick set out on his mis- sionary journey to Tara, to confront in its own stronghold the idolatry which was then rampant in the land. But while (many) writers attribute to Patrick the power of working greater miracles than were performed by any of the apostles of Christ, Patrick himself, according to the language of the Hymn, in anticipating the dangers that were before him, relied on no such powers, but only on the protecting hand of the God who has ever been a refuge and strength to his people. This Hymn partakes very 262 THE HYMN OR "BREASTPLATE." 263 much of the spirit of the Forty-sixth Psalm, of which Lu- ther was accustomed to say to those around him in times of trouble and danger, " Come, let us sing the Forty-sixth Psalm." This Hymn of Patrick was originally written in a very ancient dialect of the Irish language, and is known by the name of "Lorica" or "Breastplate," because its recital was supposed by the superstitious to guard a traveler, like a breastplate, from spiritual foes. It has been set to music as a sacred cantata, and was performed for the first time in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, March 17, 1888. It consists of eleven stanzas of varying length. Tlie Hymn or " Breastplate." 1. " I bind myself to-day To a strong power, an invocation of the Trinity. I believe in a Threeuess, with confession of a Oneness, in the Creator of Judgment. 2. " I bind myself to-day To the power of the birth of Christ, with his baptism, To the power of the crucifixion, with his burial, To the power of his resurrection, with his ascension. To the power of his coming to the judgment of doom. 3. " I bind myself to-day To the power of the ranks of cherubim, In the obedience of angels. In the service of the archangels. In the hope of resurrection unto reward, In the prayers of pati*iarchs, In the predictions of prophets. 264 THE STOST OF ST. PATRICK. In the preachings of apostles, In the faiths of confessors, In the purity of holy virgins, In the acts of righteous men. 4. " I bind myself to-day To the power of Heaven, The light of sun, The brightness of moon, The splendor of fire, The speed of lightning. The swiftness of wind, The depths of the sea, The stability of the earth, The firmness of rocks. 5. " I bind myself to-day To the power of God to guide me. The might of God to uphold me. The wisdom of God to teach me, The eye of God to watch over me, The ear of God to hear me. The word of God to speak for me, The hand of God to protect me. The way of God to he before me, The shield of God to shelter me. The host of God to defend me, Against the snares of demons, Against the temptations of vices. Against the lusts of nature, Against every man who meditates injury to me. Whether far or near. Alone and in a multitude. " I summon to-day around me all these powers Against every hostile merciless power directed against my body and my soul ; THE HYMX OR "BREASTPLATE." 265 Against the incantations of false prophets, Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false laws of heretics, Against the deceit of idolatry. Against the spells of women and smiths and Druids, Against all knowledge which hath defiled man's body and soul. 7. " Christ protect me to-day Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wound. That I may receive a multitude of rewards. 8. " Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right, Christ at my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in height. 9. " Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in the eye of every man that sees me, Christ in the ear of every man that hears me. 10. " I bind myseE to-day To a strong power, an invocation of the Trinity. I believe in a Threeness, with confession of a Oneness, in the Creator of Judgment. 11. " Salvation is the Lord's, Salvation is the Lord's, Salvation is Christ's. Let thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us." 266 TB^ STORY OF ST. PATRICK. The last stanza is an antipliony — a response divided into two parts, sung alternately by the choir and congi-e- gation — the most ancient form of church music. All the preceding stanzas of the Hymn are in Irish ; the last is in Latin and reads thus : Domini est salus, Domini est salus, Christi est salus. Salus tua, Domine, sit semper nobiscum. CHAPTER XXXIV. THE THIRD GENUINE WRITING OF ST. PATRICK, HIS EPISTLE TO COROTICUS. This letter was written in Latin to Coroticus, a barba- rous chieftain and pirate in Wales, who had made a descent on the shores of Ireland, slaying some of Patrick's con- verts and carrying others into captivity. It was prob- ably wi-itten about 475, when Patrick was an old man and had labored many years as a missionary. About twenty years ago a piUar was discovered in "Wales with the name Coroticus inscribed upon it, the same Coroti- cus who was Patrick's con-espondent. There is a rugged eloquence in his letter to this Welsh Nero, which comes home to the hearts of all who read the stirring and manly rebuke administered by the Irish apostle. The Epistle is a plain, frank arraignment of the gi-eat sin and crime of which Coroticus had been guilty in slay- ing the children of God and in perpetrating such enormi- ties upon those who had devoted themselves to Christ. Patrick contrasts the conduct of Coroticus with the con- duct of many of Patrick's converts who had sent money and gifts to purchase back those who had been taken cap- tive by barbarians in the northern and eastern part of 267 268 TSE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. Gaul. Here is a paragraph from Patrick's Epistle on this point : " It is the custom to send holy and suitable men to the Franks and to the other nations, with so many thousands of solidi, to redeem baptized captives — you, Corotieus, so often slay them, and sell them to a foreign nation that knows not God ! You surrender members of Christ as into a den of lions ! What hope have you in God ! or he who either agi-ees with you or who uses to you words of flattery ? God will judge." The Epistle to Corotieus, " 1. I, Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, declare indeed that I have been appointed a bishop in Ireland ; I most certainly believe that from God I have received what I am. I dwell thus among barbarians, a proselyte and an exile, on ac- count of the love of God. He is witness that it is so. Not that I desired to pour out anything from my mouth so harsh and severe, but I am compelled, stin-ed up by zeal for God and for the truth of Christ, for the love of my neighbors and sons, for whom I have abandoned country and parents, and my soul, even unto death, if I be worthy of such honor. I have vowed to my God to teach the peoples, although I be despised by some. " With my own hand I have written and composed these words, to be given and handed to the soldiers, to be sent to Corotieus — I do not say, to my fellow-citizens, and to the citizens of the Roman saints, but to the citizens of demons, on account of their own evil deeds, who by hostile PATBICK'S EPISTLE TO COROTICUS. 269 practice of barbarians live in death— companions of the Scots and apostate Picts, who stain themselves bloody with the blood of innocent Christians whom I have be- gotten without number to God, and have confirmed in Christ. " 2. On the day after that in which these Christians were anointed neophytes in white robes, while it, the anointing, was yet glistening on their foreheads, they were cruelly massacred and slaughtered with the sword by those above mentioned. And I sent a letter with a holy presbyter, whom I taught from his infancy, with other clergy, beg- ging them that they would restore to us some of the plun- der, or of the baptized captives whom they took ; but they laughed at them. Therefore I do not know what I should lament for the more, whether those who were slain, or those whom they captured, or those whom the devil has grievously ensnared with the everlasting pain of Gehenna, hell-fire, for they will be chained together with him ; for, indeed, ' he who commits sin is a slave,' and is termed ' a son of the devil." "3. Wherefore let every man fearing God know that they, the soldiers, are aliens from me, and from Christ my God, for whom I discharge an embassage — patricides, fra- tricides, 'ravening wolves' devouring the people of the Lord as the food of bread. As he says, the ungodly ' have dissipated thy law, Lord.' Since in these last times Ire- land has been most excellently and auspiciously planted and instructed by the favor of God. I do not usurp other men's labors, but I have part with those whom he hath called and predestined to preach the gospel amid no small 270 TEE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. persecutions, even to the end of the earth; although the euemj^ envies us, by the tyranny of Coroticus, who fears not God nor his priests whom he hath chosen, and committed to them that greatest, divine, subUme power, 'Whom they bind upon earth, they are bound also in heaven.' " 4. I therefore earnestly beseech you who are holy and humble in heart not to flatter such persons, nor to take food or drink with them, nor to deem it right to take their alms, until they rigorously do penance with tears poured forth, and do make satisfaction to God, and liberate the servants of God, and the baptized handmaidens of Christ, for whom he was put to death and crucified. " ' The Most High reprobates the gifts of the wicked. . . . He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrificeth the sou in the presence of his father.' ' The riches,' he says, ' that he will collect unjustly shall be vomited from his beUy ; the angel of death shall drag him off, the fury of dragons shall assail him, the tongue of the adder shall slay him, the inextinguishable fire shall devour him. And therefore, woe unto those that fill them- selves with things which are not their own ; ' or ' what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul ? ' "It were long to discuss texts one by one, or to run through the whole law to select testimonies concerning such cupidity. Avarice is a deadly sin : ' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.' A murderer cannot be with Christ. ' Whosoever hateth his brother is termed a mur- derer,' or, 'He who loveth not his brother abideth in PATRICK'S EVISTLE TO COEOTICUS. 271 death.' How much more guilty is he who has stained his hands with the blood of the sons of God — whom he lately acquired in the ends of the earth, by the exhortation of our littleness ! " 5. Was it indeed without God, or according to the flesh, that I came to Ireland? Who compelled me? I was bound by the Spirit not to see again any of my kindred. Do I not love pious compassion, because I act thus toward that nation which once took me captive and laid waste the servants and handmaidens of my father's house? I was a free man, according to the flesh ; I was born of a father who was a decurio. For I bartered my noble birth — I do not blush nor regret it — for the benefit of others. In fine, I am a servant in Christ, given over to a foreign nation, on account of that ineffable glory of that perennial life which is in Christ Jesus oui" Lord. And if my own friends do not acknowledge me — *A prophet hath no honor in his own country.' " Perhaps they think we are not of the one sheepfold nor have the one God as Father. As he says, ' He that is not with me is against me ; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.' It is not fitting that 'one destroys, another builds.' ' I do not seek those things which are my own.' " 6. Not my grace, but God, indeed, hath put this desire into my heart, that I should be one of the hunters or fish- ers whom of old God promised before in the last days. I am envied. What shall I do. Lord ? I am greatly despised. Behold, thy sheep are torn around me, and are plun- dered even by the above-mentioned robbers, by the order of Corotieus, with hostile mind. Far from the love of 272 ^^E STORY OF ST. PATRICK. God is the betrayer of the Christians into the hands of the Scots and Picts. Ravening wolves have swallowed up the flock of the Lord, which everywhere in Ireland was increasing with the greatest diligence, and the sons of the Scots and the daughters of princes are monks and virgins of Christ in numbers I cannot enumerate. Wherefore the injury done to the righteous wiU not give thee pleasure here, nor will it ever give pleasure in the regions below. " 7. Which of the saints would not dread to be sportive or to enjoy a feast with such persons ? They have fiUed their houses with the spoil of the Christian dead. They live by rapine, they know not how to pity. Poison they drink, deadly food they hand to their friends and sons. As Eve did understand that she offered death to her hus- band, so are all those who do evil — they work out ever- lasting death and perpetual punishment. " It is the custom of the Roman and Gallic Christians to send holy and suitable men to the Franks and to the other nations, with so many thousands of solidi, to redeem bap- tized captives — you, Coroticus, so often slay them, and sell them to a foreign nation that knows not God ! You surrender members of Christ as into a den of wolves ! What hope have you in God ? or he who either agrees with you or who uses to you words of flattery ? " 8. God will judge. For it is wi-itten, ' Not only they who do evil, but also they who consent thereto, are to be condemned.' So I know not what I can say, or what I can speak further, concerning the departed sons of God, whom the sword has touched beyond measure severely. For it is written, 'Weep with them that weep,' and again, 'If PATRICK'S EPISTLE TO COROTICUS. 273 one member suffers, all the members suffer along with it.' Wherefore the church laments and bewails her sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who have been carried to distant parts, and exported into far- off lands, where sin manifestly is shamelessly stronger — there it impudently dwells and abounds. There free-born Christian men having been sold are reduced to bondage — bondage, too, of the most worthless, the vilest and apostate Picts ! " 9. Therefore with sadness and sorrow I will cry out, O my most beautiful and beloved brethren and sons whom I begot in Christ — I cannot count you — what shall I do for you ? I am not worthy before God or men to help ! The wickedness of the wicked has prevailed against us ! We ai'e become as strangers. Perhaps they do not believe that we have partaken of one baptism, or that we have one God as Father. To them it is a disgrace that we have been born in Ireland, as he says, ' Have ye not one God — why have ye forsaken each his neighbor ? ' " Therefore I grieve for you, I do gi-ieve, my most beloved ones. But again, I rejoice within myself, I have not la- bored in vain, and my pilgi-image has not been in vain, although a crime so horrid and unspeakable has happened. Thanks be to God, baptized believers, ye have passed from this world to paradise ! I see you have begun to migrate where there shall be no night, nor gi'ief, nor death any more, but 'ye shall exult as calves let loose from their bonds, and ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under your feet.' " 10. Ye, therefore, shall reign with the apostles and pro- 274 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICK. phets and martyi-s, and obtain the eternal kingdom, as He himself testifies, saying: 'They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.' ' Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and murderers, and Hars, and per- jurers.' 'Their part is in the lake of eternal fire.' Not without reason does the Apostle say : ' Where the just will scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner, and the impious, and the transgressor of the law find himself 1 ' But where will Corotieus, with his most wicked rebels against Chi-ist — where shall they see themselves ? When baptized women are distributed as rewards on account of a wretched tem- poral kingdom, which indeed in a moment shall pass away like clouds or smoke which is dispersed everywhere by the wind! So sinners and the fraudulent shall perish from the face of the Lord, but the just shall feast with great confidence with Christ ; they shall judge the nations, and shall rule over wicked kings forever and ever. Amen. " 11. I testify before God and his angels that it shall be so, as he has intimated to my ignorance. They are not my words, but those of God and of the apostles and pro- phets, which I have set forth in Latin— for they have never lied. 'He that beheveth shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned.' 'God hath spoken.' I entreat earnestly whosoever is a servant of God, that he may be prompt to be the bearer of this letter ; that it be in no way abstracted by any one, but far rather that it be read before all the people, and in the presence of Corotieus himself: to the end that, if God should inspire them, that they may at some time return to God, or even PATRICK'S EPISTLE TO COROTICUS. 275 though late may repent of what they have done so impi- ously — murderers of brethi-en in the Lord — and may libe- rate the baptized captives whom they have taken before, so that they may deserve to live unto God, and may be made whole here and in eternity. Peace be to the Father, and the Sou, and the Holy Ghost. Amen." CHAPTER XXXV. INDEX OF BIBLICAL TEXTS QUOTED BY ST. PATRICK OR RE- FERRED TO m HIS WRITINGS. Genesis xxviii. 20. Exodus XX. 13, 17. Leviticus xxiv. 16. Deut. xxxiii. 27. 1 Samuel xii. 13. 2 Samuel vii. 18. 2 Samuel vii. 28. 2 Samuel xii. 3. 2 Kiugs vi. 17. 2 Kiugs vii. 8. 2 Chrou. xxix. 10. Job XX. 15, 16. Psalms iii. 8. Psalms V. 6. Psalms vii. 9. Psalms xiv. 14. Psalms xviii. 12. Psalms xxxiv. 7. Psalms xxxix. 4. Psalms 1. 15. Psalms Iv. 22. Psalms lix. 8. Psalms Ix. 6. Psalms Ixv. 3. Psalms Ixix. 8. Psalms civ. 4. Psalms civ. 5. Psalms cvii. 25. Psalms cxvi. 12. Psalms cxix. 26. Psalms cxlviii. 1. Psalms cxlviii. 3. Psalms cxlviii. 7, 8. Proverbs x. 1. Proverbs xv. 20. Proverbs xvii. 17. Proverbs xviii. 5. Isaiah xxv. 9. Isaiah xxx. 18. Isaiah xxxii. 4. Isaiah xlv. 7. Isaiah xlix. 6. Isaiah xlix. 6. Isaiah Ixi. 2. Jeremiah xi. 20. Jeremiah xvi. 16. Jeremiah xvi. 19. Hosea i. 9, 10. Joel ii. 28, 29. Amos iii. 6. Habakkuk ii. 6. Malachi ii. 7. Malachi ii. 10. Malachi iv. 6. Tobit xii. 7. Wisdom i. 11. Ecclus. iv. 29. Ecclus. vii. 15, Eccl. xxxiv. 23, 24. Ecclus. xxxiv. 28. Matt. iii. 12. Matt. iv. 19. Matt. V. 26. Matt. viii. 11. Matt. X. 20. Matt. xii. 36. Matt. xiii. 30. Matt. xvi. 26. Matt, xviii. 18. Matt. XX. 22, 23. Matt. xxiv. 14. Matt, xxvii. 45. Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. Mark xv. 34. Mark xvi. 15, 16. Mark xvi. 28. John V. 21. John V. 44. John viii. 14. John viii. 20. John viii. 34. John viii. 44. John XX. 15, 16. John XX. 23. Acts ii. 17, 18. Acts vii. 53, 60. Acts X. 42. INDEX OF BIBLICAL TEXTS. 277 Acts xiii. 8. Acts xiii. 47. Acts XV. 28. Acts xviii. 6. Acts XX. 22. Acts XX. 23. Acts XX. 29. Acts xxviii. 22,23. Romans i. 9. Romans i. 32. Romans ii. 16. Romans ii. 24. Romans v. 21. Romans vii. 24. Romans viii. 7. Romans viii. 11. Romans viii. 17. Romans viii. 26. Romans viii. 29. Romans viii. 34. Romans ix. 25, 26. Romans xi. 36. Romans xii. 1. Romans xii. 3. Romans xii. 25. Romans xiii. 9. Romans xv. 19. 1 Cor. i. 26. 1 Cor. iv. 3. 1 Cor. xii. 26. 1 Cor. XV. 10. 2 Cor. i. 15-17. 2 Cor. i. 23. 2 Cor. iii. 3. 2 Cor. viii. 9. 2 Cor. X. 15. 2 Cor. xii. 7. 2 Cor. xii. 9. 2 Cor. xii. 14. 2 Cor. xii. 20. Galatians i. 20. Galatians ii. 2. Galatians ii. 6. Galatians iv. 11. Eph. ii. 21, 22. Eph. iii. 18, 19. Eph. iv. 5, 6. Eph. V. 10-17. Phil. ii. 9, 11. Colossians i. 16. Colossians iii. 16. 1 Thess. ii. 10. 1 Thess. V. 17, 18. 2 Thess. ii. 16. 1 Timothy v. 21. 2 Timothy iv. 8. 2 Timothy iv. 18. Titus iii. 6. Hebrews i. 14. Hebrews x. 23. James iv. 15. 1 Peter i. 12. 1 Peter ii. 5. 1 Peter ii. 25. 1 Peter iv. 11. 1 Peter iv. 18. 1 Peter iv. 19. 1 Peter viii. 18, 1 John ii. 1. 1 John ii. 17. 1 John iii. 14. 1 John iii. 15. 1 John iii. 16. Jude 10. Jude 20. Rev. ii. 10. Rev. iv. 25. Rev. vii. 10. Rev. xiv. 4. Rev. xxi. 4. Rev. xxi. 8. Rev. xxii. 9. Rev. xxii. 15. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE DOUBTFUL REMAINS OF PATKICK. I. Sayings of Patrick. "I had the fear of God as the guide of my journey through the Gauls and Italy, even in the islands which are in the Tyrrhenian Sea." " From the world ye have passed on to paradise." " Thanks be to God ! " "The church of the Scots, nay, even of the Romans, (chant) as Christians ; so, that ye may be Romans, (chant) as it ought to be chanted with you, at every hour of prayer, that praiseworthy sentence, ' Lord have mercy upon us ! ' ' Christ have mercy upon us ! ' " " Let every church that follows me chant, ' Lord have mercy upon us ! ' ' Christ have mercy upon us ! ' ' Thanks be to God!'" //. Proverbs of Patrick. 1. " Patrick says : ' It is better for us to admonish the negligent, that crimes may not abound, than to blame the things that have been done.' Solomon says : ' It is better to reprove than to be angry.' " 2. " Pati-ick says : ' Judges of the church ought not to have the fear of man, but the fear of God, because the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.'" (Prov. i. 7.) 278 THE DOUBTFUL REMAINS OF PATRICK. 279 3. " Judges of the church ought not to have the wisdom of this world, for ' the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,' but to have * the wisdom of God.' " (1 Cor. i. 21 ; iii. 19.) 4. " Judges of the church ought not to take gifts, be- cause 'gifts blind the eyes of the wise and change the words of the just.' " 5. " Judges of the church ought not to respect a person in judgment, ' for there is no respect of persons with God.' " (Rom. ii. 11.) 6. "Judges of the church ought not to have worldly wisdom, but divine examples (before them), for it does not become the servant of God to be crafty or cunning." 7. " Judges of the chui-ch ought not to be so swift in judgment until they know how too true it may be which is written, ' Do not desire quickly to be a judge.' " 8. " Judges of the church ought not to be voluble." 9. " Judges of the church ought not to tell a lie, for a lie is a great crime." 10. " Judges of the church ought ' to judge just judg- ment,' ' for with whatever judgment they shall judge, it shall be judged to them.' " 11. " Patrick says : 'Look into the examples of the elders, where you will find no guile.' " 12. " Patrick says : ' Judges who do not judge rightly the judgments of the church are not judges, but falsifiers.'" III. The Story of Patrick and the Royal Daughters. But thence went the holy Patrick to the spring which is caUed Clebach, on the sides of Crochan, toward the ris- 280 '^^^ STOBT OF ST. PATKICK. ing of the sun, before the rising of the sun, and they sat beside the spring. And behold, two daughters of Loe- gaire, Ethne the fair and Fedelni the ruddy, came to the spring in the morning, after the custom of women, to wash, and they found a holy synod of bishops with Patrick by the spring. And they did not know from whence they were, or of what shape, or of what people, or of what region. But they thought that they were men of the side, or of the terrestrial gods, or an apparition. And the daughters said to them : " Whence are ye, and whence have ye come ? " And Patrick said to them: "It were better that you would confess our true God than to inquu-e about our race." The fii-st daughter said : " "Who is God f And where is God ? And of what is God ? And where is his dweUing- place ? Has your God sons and daughters, gold and silver ? Is he ever-living ! Is he beautiful ? Have many fostered his Son ? Are his daughters dear and beautiful to the men of the world ? Is he in heaven or on eai-th ? In the sea ? In the rivers ? In the mountains ? In the valleys I Tell us, how is he seen ? How is he loved I How is he found ? Is he in youth, or in age f " But holy Patrick, full of the Holy Spirit, answering, said: " Our God is the God of all men, the God of heaven and earth, of the sea and of the rivers ; the God of the sun and of the moon, of all the stars ; the God of the lofty moun- tains and of the lowly valleys ; the God over heaven, and in heaven, and under heaven. He has his dwelling toward rUE DOUBTFUL REMAINS OF PATRICK. 281 heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them. He inspires all things. He gives life to all things. He sui'passes aU things. He supports all things. He kin- dles the light of the sun ; he strengthens the light of the moon at night for watches ; and he made springs in the arid laud, and chy islands in the sea; and the stars he placed to minister to the greater Ughts. He has a Son coeterual with himself and like unto himself. The Son is not younger than the Father, nor is the Father older than the Son. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit are not separated. I truly desire to unite you to the Heavenly King since ye are daughters of an earthly king. Believe (on him)." And the daughters said, as if with one mouth and heart : " How can we believe on the Heavenly King ! Teach us most diligently, so that we may see him face to face. Point out to us, and we will do whatsoever thou shalt say to us." And Patrick said : " Do you believe that the sin of your father and mother is taken away by baptism ! " They replied : " We do believe it." Patrick. " Do you believe there is repentance after sin ? " Daughters. " We do believe it." Patrick. " Do you believe there is a life after death I Do you believe in the resurrection on the day of judgment ? " Daughters. " We do beUeve it." Patrick. " Do you believe in the imity of the chm'ch ? " Daughters. "We do believe it." And they were baptized, and (Patrick placed) a white garment on their heads. 282 THE STORY OF ST. PATRICE. And they begged to see the face of Christ. And the saint said to them: "Unless you shall have tasted death, you cannot see the face of Christ, and unless you shall receive the sacrifice." And they replied : " Give to us the sacrifice, that we may see the Son our Spouse." And they received the Eucharist of God, and they slept in death. And they placed them in a bed covered with one mantle, and their friends made a wailing and a gi'eat lamentation. . . . And the days of the wailing for the daughters of the king were ended, and they buried them by the spring Clebach ; and they made a round ditch in the likeness of a grave, because so the Scottic men and Gen- tiles used to do ; but with us it is called relic, that is, the remains and feurt. IV. Patrick's Vision of the Future of Ireland. And the man of God was anxiously desiring and ear- nestly praying that he might be certified of the present and future state of Hibernia, to the end that he might know with what devotion of faith he was burning, and also the value of his labor in the sight of God. Then the Lord heard the desire of his heart and manifested that which he sought for unto him by an evident revelation. For while he was engaged in prayer and the heart of his mind was opened, he beheld the whole island as it were a flaming fire ascending unto heaven, and he heard the angel of God saying unto him : " Such at this time is Hibernia in the sight of the Lord." THE DOUBTFUL REMAINS OF PATRICK. 283 And after a little space he beheld in all parts of the island conelike mountains of fire stretching unto the skies. And again, after a little space, he beheld as it were candlesticks burning, and after a while darkness intervened, and then he beheld scanty lights, and at length he beheld coals lying hidden here and there, as reduced unto ashes, yet appear- ing still burning. And the angel added : " What thou seest here shown in different states are the Irish nations." Then the saint, weeping exceedingly, repeated often the words of the Psalmist, saying: "Will God cast off forever, and will he be no more entreated! Shall this mercy come to an end from generation to generation ? Shall God forget to be merciful, and shut up his mercy in his displeasure?" And the angel said: "Look toward the northern side, and on the right hand of an height shalt thou behold the darkness dispersed from the face of the hght which thence- forth will arise." Then the saint raised his eyes, and behold, he at first saw a small light arising in Ulidia, the which struggled a long time with the darkness, and at length dispersed it and illumined with its rays the whole island. Nor ceased the light to increase and to prevail even until it had restored to its former fiery state all Hibernia. Then was the heart of St. Patrick filled with joy and his tongue with exultation, giving thanks for all these things which had been shown unto him by grace. And he under- stood, in the greatness of this fieiy ardor of the Christian faith, the devotion and the zeal for religion wherewith those islanders burned. CHAPTER XXXVn. « MIRACLES AND LEGENDS. The following are some of the miracles attributed to St. Patrick, as having been wrought by him, and some of the legends that several writers have recorded concern- ing him. These are in addition to the few we have given in " The Story of St. Patrick." Lives of Patrick written in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries after Patrick's death abound in the recital of miracles wrought by Patrick, but there is not the slight- est reference in his own writings to any miracles wrought by him. For example, it is recorded, in notes on Patrick's life written about three hundred years after his death, when Patrick was contending with the magicians of King Loe- gaire (or Leary) at Tara, that he raised Daire's horse to life, after dying because of his trespass on the ground given by Daire to Patrick at Armagh for religious pur- poses; that a dead man in his gi'ave spoke to Patrick; that an angel appeared to Patrick as to Moses in the burning bush ; that when water flooded his mother's floor, fire dropped from his fingers and every drop of water was dried up ; that when his mother wanted some firewood the boy Patrick brought ice in his arms and kindled a rous- ing fire with it ; that his sister Lupita fell and bruised her forehead, and Patrick healed the wound in an instant; that when Patrick was herding his father's sheep a wolf came and stole one of the finest lambs : his father reproved Patrick, who prayed all night, and lo ! in the morning the roguish wolf brings back the lamb, lays it unhurt at Pat- 284 MIRACLES AND LEGEXDS. 285 rick's feet, and then flees to the wood ; that Patrick changed butter into honey and passed through shut doors; that when the cruel lord of Dunbriton ordered Patrick's aunt to do the slavish job of cleaning out his fortress and sta- bles, Patrick, though only a lad, came forwai-d like a man, and by miracle made such a riddance of all trash that none was ever found afterward in the whole establishment ; that when he had his head shorn, and the tonsure marked him as one of the lower clergy, he grew wise in church disci- pline and learned to convert flesh into fish. When he asked to dwell in a solitary cave with three other Patricks, they told him that he could not unless he would cbaw water from a certain fountain that was guarded by a veiy savage wild beast. He agi-ees to draw the water, goes to the fountain, the ravenous beast sees him, gives signs of great joy, and becomes quite tame and gentle. Patrick draws the water and returns with a blessing. That he was offered a staff as a precious relic, which had the power of preserving in all the freshness of youth those who sacredly kept it ; he re- fused taking it unless he should receive it from the Lord himself, and three days afterward the Lord gave it to him to qualify for the conversion of Ireland. He then visited Rome, was ordained a bishop by the pope, given the name of Patrick, and sent on his great mission, on which he soon started with a fair supply of relics, which, some of his biographers will have it, Patrick filched from the pope. Three choirs then sang praises — one in heaven, another in Rome, and a third in the wood of Erin, where the children were stiU calling for the saint to come and bless them. 286 T^E STOUT OF ST. PATRICK. That on one occasion when his horses were lost, St. Patrick raised up his hand, his five fingers illumined the whole plain as if they were five lamps, and the horses were found at once ; that a goat bleated out of the stomachs of men who had eaten it up, and, according to a later embel- lishment, came alive out of their mouths; that when a tooth fell out of St. Patrick's head the tooth shone in the ford like the sun ; while, on another occasion, Coroticus, the king of the Britons, was changed into a fox. The "Holy Stone" of Ireland is the name given to a famous stone possessed at Ardmore in County Waterford, Ireland. The legend asserts that this stone floated over the ocean from Rome to St. Patrick, bringing to him his sacred vestments, a bell for his church, and a lighted can- dle for the Mass. It is now held sacred to the memory of the saint. It is upon the sea-shore, is a large stone weigh- ing perhaps some four or five tons, and is much visited by pilgi-ims. At low tide, when, only, the lower part of the stone can be seen, these visitors go round it several times on their knees, and finally, lying flat, creep through a hol- low of sand that has been made under it. IRELAND s THE IRISH THEIR CHRISTIANITY, INSTITUTIONS, MISSIONS MISSION FIELDS AND LEARNING FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES Mitb an HppenMj: BY JOHN BORLAND FINLAY, Ph. d., ll. d., d. c. l. F. R. O. S., FELLOW OF THE IJIPERLAL INSTITUTE, ETC., ETC. m BOSTON, MASS. W. L. RICHARDSON COMPANY, 73 Hanover Street NEW-YORK WILBUR B. KETCHAM, 2 Cooper Union 1895 DEDICATED TO HIS BELOVED DAUGHTER, MRS. p. R. E. E. LINTON, WITH THE MOST AFFECTIONATE REGARDS OF HER FATHER, THE AUTHOR. New York, January, 1895. PEEFACE. Few read, it is commonly reported, a preface to a book. Acting on this report, we shall not add unnecessarily to our pages, nor waste our vitality on what might only be another specimen of " love's labor lost." But it may be useful to those who are likely to bestow a passing glance on this preface to intimate that the author has given in- disputable proof in the following pages of the iusidious- ness of error at every stage of the church's history, of the cunning with which errorists push their unholy schemes, of the brazenness by which their proceedings are often characterized, and of the cruelty they perpetrate on their fellow-men under the garb of religion and with the pre- tense that they are doing God service. It has been shown beyond all successful contradiction that the plausibleness, subtlety, and effrontery of the "old serpent" when seek- ing to tempt Eve from the path of rectitude in Paradise have been called to the aid of those who, under the cloak of friendship and religion, have throughout the church's history sought to lead men astray from the " old paths " yj PREFACE. and from " the simplicity that is in Christ." The author has therefore sought, by setting in array the facts of his- tory, to demonstrate that light and truth can only be found in " the oracles of God," and that " man's inhuman- ity to man has made countless ages mourn." This word to the wise reader may be sufficient. COI^TENTS. I.— FIRST PERIOD. PAGE The Introduction, including: A historical sketch from the earliest known times untU the advent of Christ 1-6 The calling and commission of the apostles 7 The first Clu-istian church at Jerusalem 12 Apostolical succession 13 Paul, Barnabas, and others as missionaries 13 Persecution of the church abolished by Constantine and Licinius 14 Sunday made a day of rest throughout the Roman empire 15 The church modeled after the Roman empire by Constantine 15 Constantine assumes to be head of the Church 16 Christianity in Britain 1^ Education in Britain 20 The authority of the sacred Scriptures according to the Fathers : 1. Ii-eneeus of Lyons a.d. 170 22 22 22 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 25 2. Clement of Alexandria " 200. 3. TertuUian " 200. 4. Hippolytus " 220. 5. Origan " 230 6. Cyprian of Carthage " 248. 7. Cyril of Jerusalem " 325 8. Athanasius " 326 9. Basil of Csesarea " 370 10. Jerome " 375 11. Theophilus " 390 Viii COXTENTS. PAGE 12. Augustine of Hippo a.d. 400 25 13. Chrysostom " 400 25 14. Cyril of Alexandria " 412 26 The Canons of the following Councils as to Ordination, Posture in Worship, Order, Marriage, etc. 1. The first General Council at Nice in a.d. 325 27 2. The second " " Constantinople " 381 28 3. The third " " Ephesus " 431 29 4. The fourth " " Chalcedon " 451 31 5. The fifth " " Constantinople " 553 32 6. The sixth " " " "681 32 7. The Quinni Sextunj General Council at Constantinople in a.d. 692 33 8. The fourth Council of Toledo in a.d. 663 33 9. The Council at Rome iu a.d. 721 33 II. — SECOND PERIOD: from the earliest times to a.d. 543. Ireland's Ancient Inhabitants 34 The kings of Ireland 36 Description by Strabo, Julius Cffisar, and Tacitus 39 The Irish called Scots and their raids on Britain 43 Their capture and enslavement of Sueeathus Magouius 43 Patrick's birth, bondage, escape, and studies 46 Patrick in Ireland 47 Patrick's biblical teachings 48 Patrick's conversion and creed 4!) Patrick's commission 51 Patrick's writings 52 Patrick's Hymn at Tara 53 Patrick's Confession 56 Patrick's Epistle to Coroticus 68 Hymn of Patrick No. 2, in praise of St. Patrick, composed in a.d. 448. 74 Genuine documents of the times of Patrick 77 The " Senchus Mor," or code of Irisli Ian- 78 The "Nofis," "Cain Patrick," or new Brehon Law 80 CONTENTS. ix PAGE The genuine observances of the ancient Irish church 81 Marriage of the Irish clergy, monks, and nuns 82 The sacraments and public worship 85 The hymn sung at the partaking of the Lord's Supper 87 Observance of the Lord's Day 8^ Government of the Irish church 88 Patrick's death and burial 90 Contemporary Missions to the Picts anri Inhabitants of Strathchjde. Ninnian ■'■' Palladius 94 Servanus, Tieman, and Kentigem, or St. Mungo 95 Brigid, the alleged Irish bishop 96 m.— THIRD PERIOD: from a.d. 543 to a.d. 599. Monastic Institutions 98 Education pursued in the monasteries 100 IV.— FOURTH PERIOD : from a.d. 599 TO a.d. G85. Missions and Mission Fields. — Columbcille, Columbanus, St. Gall, ^den, Colman, and others to the Picts, Anglo-Saxons, Germans, Gauls, Stviss, Lombards, and Italians. Most of the Picts and of the peoples of Northumbria, Mercia, and other Saxon kingdoms were con- verted by the monks of lona, Melrose, Lindisfarne, and Whitby, which were Scottish monasteries 109 v.— FIFTH PERIOD: from a.d. 597 to a.d. 795. 1. Arrival of the Roman missionaries, Augustine and his forty monks, among the Anglo-Saxons of Kent 118 2. Introduction of a different mode of observing Easter and the tonsure 118 3. Controversies with the Britons, Scots, and Irish about Easter and the tonsure l^-^ 4. Slaughter of 1200 British monks at Bangor in Wales 122 X CONTENTS. PAGE 5. Efforts of the Romanists to convert the Britons, Scots, and Irish to their views about Easter and the tonsure 125 6. lona, Lindisfarne, Melrose, and Whitby threatened 126 7. Colman's famous defense of the faith of lona 129 8. The property of Whitby, Lindisfarne, Melrose, and lona forcibly taken from the Scots by the kings of Northumbria and the Picts, and given to the Komanists 129 9. Poems denouncing the Romanist priests, written about a.d. 733 131 10. Prince Aldfrid's itinerary throughout Ireland 132 11. King Egfrid's invasion of Ireland and his massacres and captures of the people 135 12. Ireland : the cradle of European learning 136 13. Eminent and distinguished Irishmen at home and abroad between the tifth and twelfth centuries 142 14. Ancient commentaries on the sacred Scriptures by eminent Irishmen . 146 Testimony in behalf of Ireland's ancient learning by 15. Edmund Spenser 148 16. Cambden 148 17. Dr. Samuel Johnson 148 18. Lord Lyttleton 148 19. The Venerable Bede 148 20. Sir James Ware 149 21. Mor^ri 149 22. Sir James Mackintosh 149 23. Thierry 149 24. Cardinal Newman 150 25. " Celtic Records " 150 VI.— SIXTH PERIOD: prom a.d. 795 to a.d. 1014. 1. Causes which led to the decline and surrender of Ireland's ancient church and kingdom to foreigners 151 2. Invasion of the Danes and their destruction of the Irish schools, libra- ries, and churches 152 3. Dispersion, as a consequence, of Irish scholars abroad 152 4. Battle of Clontarf and murder of the Irish king 154 CONTENTS. XI VII.— SEVENTH PERIOD : from a.d. 1014 to a.d. 1152. PAGE 1. Conspiracies and combinations to introduce Eomanism into Ireland. . 157 2. The first Roman Catholic bishop, called Patrick, was consecrated for Dublin ^'^^ 3. The second, named Malchus, was consecrated for Waterford 157 4. The third was consecrated for Dublin, the fourth was consecrated for Limerick ; by them the Roman Catholic liturgy was first introduced into Ireland .• ^^^ 5. King Murtongh O'Brien, at the solicitation of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, convened a Council at Rathbresniek, in a.d. 1110, for reforming the Irish church ^^' 6. There were then 700 bishops and 3000 presbyters in the Irish church, but only 58 bishops and 317 presbyters attended that council 158 7. There were none in attendance from the northern half of Ireland 158 8. By that council the whole of the 700 bishops were reduced to 2 arch- bishops and 23 bishops, who were bitterly denounced by the others as well as the people 9. In A.D. 1152 Cardinal Paparo brought the first four palls from Rome to the Council of Kells, and created 4 archbishops and 22 bishops. None from the north attended that council 159 10. Great opposition was made to that council's acts for centuries after- ward in Ireland 11. That council marked the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland ^^^ Vm.— EIGHTH PERIOD: prom a.d. 1152 to a.d. 1175. 1. Pope Adrian's bull granting Ireland to Henry II., king of England. . . . 161 2. Confirmed by Pope Alexander III ^^^ , i6'> 3. The pope s canon law 4. Bishop Doyle's estimate of those Irish prelates who thus sold their country 5. Proofs of the authenticity and genuineness of the pope's bulls 164 6. In A.D. 1171 the Council of Cashel swore allegiance to Henry II., king of England ^^^ xii coyT£XTS. PAOK 7. Ireland's submission to England was through the popes of Rome and the Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland 166 8. Henry 11. visits Ireland and receives the submission of its clergy and people 164 9. Formation of the kingdom of Scotland 166 IX.— NINTH PERIOD: from a.d. 1175 to a.d. 1564. 1. Ireland under Rome and England 171 2. Six Irish bishops attended the Third Laterau Council 171 3. Petty jealousies and strifes 171 4. Supposed finding of the bodies of St. Patrick, Columbeille, and Brigid at Downpatrick 171 5. Festival appointed in honor of St. Patrick 172 6. Three Irish bishops attended the Fourth Lateran Coimcil 172 7. Archbishop of Armagh has a vision that Patrick's body is at Saal and not at Downpatrick 172 8. The regulations made at the Coiineil of Kells in a.d. 1152 were still dead letters in Meath and other parts of the north in a.d. 1335 172 9. Irish bishops were in attendance at the Councils of Constance and Trent, and took distinguished positions thereat for their superior learning and ability 173 X.— TENTH PERIOD: from a.d. 1564 to a.d. 1894. 1. The Reformation and Henry VIII 174 2. Edward VI. and the two prayer-books 174 3. Mary and the burning of the martyrs 175 4. Elizabeth and her bishops 175 5. Elizabeth excommunicated by the pope 176 6. Pope Gregory's son made king of Ireland by the pope 176 7. Stukely and O'Neill of Tyrone and the Spanish Armada 176 8. The defeat of O'Neill and the Plantations of Ulster 177 9. The massacre of the Protestants 178 10. Cromwell in Ireland 181 11. Battles of the Boyne and Aughrim 182 CONTEXTS. xiii PAGE 12. Emigration 183 13. American Independence at Mecklenburg and Philadelphia 183 14. Irish Protestants — how they acted in that emergency 184 15. Union of the three kingdoms 185 16. Disestablishment of the National Church 186 17. Present religious and educational condition of Ireland 186 18. Present condition of England 187-191 19. Present condition of Wales 192 20. Present condition of Scotland 193 THE APPENDIX. Containing : 1. The orthodox Greek Church and creed 197 2. The Armenian, SjTiac, Coptic, and Abyssinian churches 200 3. The Roman Catholic Church and creed 201 4. The obligations of all priests, bishops, and Jesuits to the pope of Rome 204 5. Was Peter ever in Rome ? 211 6. Was the cross a Christian or a Pagan invention? 218 7. Wherein do Buddhism and Romanism agree! 225 8. Innovations : when and by whom introduced into the Roman Catholic Church? 229 9. Was the ancient Irish Church in the time of St. Patrick in any man- ner, way, or form under the jurisdiction of the pope of Rome, or connected with the Roman CathoUo Church ? 233 10. Statistics of the religious beliefs of the world 235 11. Statistics of the Sabbath-schools throughout the world 236 12. Statistics of Presbyterianism throughout the world 237 13. Statistics of the religious denominations in the United States 238 14. Chi'onological events 240 15. The Shamrock 263 IRELAND : THE IRISH, THEIR CHRISTIANITY, INSTITUTIONS, AND LEARNING. I,— THE FIRST PERIOD. THE INTEODUCTION. At the dawn of Christianity the inhabitants of the world were divided into two classes, called Jews and Gentiles. The religion of the first was monotheism ; that of the sec- ond was polytheism. The Jews had a divine revelation to guide them ; the others were left to the freedom of their own wills. About 1921 years previously Abraham had been called to separate from his father's household, on the banks of the Euphrates, and to remove to a land which was to be the future possession of his descendants. Obeying the divine call, he removed to Palestine. His faith descended to his son Isaac, and in like manner to the twelve patri- archs through their father, whose name was changed from Jacob to Israel — from whom their descendants were named Israelites. They were a shepherd race. Jacob's youngest son, through the jealousy of his brothers, was sold into slavery. Slavemongers carried him into Egypt. At that time the shepherd kings occupied the Egyptian thi'one. 2 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Unexpected circumstances raised Joseph to the highest position in the kingdom, next to the monarch. His power, means, and advantages were entliusiastically utilized. His father and brothers finally visited him. He showed them unwonted kindness. As they were a race of cattle-herds he placed them in Goshen, on the borders of Arabia, where abundance of provender was easily pro- cured. At length Joseph is no more. A revolution ensued. A new dynasty arose. The success of Joseph over the fam- ine from which he saved the people was forgotten. The race of shepherds was now as much despised as it was formerly esteemed. Like the dynasty which had been overthrown, foreigners were held in contempt. The new king ordered all of alien descent to be enslaved. The Israelites were cruelly treated, and subjected to the direst privations for many years. At length Moses was divinely commissioned to emanci- pate them from bondage. On a certain night they were to escape. They marched to the Red Sea, and passed through a branch of it to Arabia, and thence to Mount Sinai, where laws were miraculously delivered to Moses for them. They were detained in the wilderness on ac- count of disobedince for forty years, during which Moses wrote the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, for their edification. The two most prominent political powers at that time were the Egyptians and the Hittites. The latter extended from the Upper Euphrates to the ^gean Sea, and embraced the whole territory of modern Asia Minor. Between them inthodcctwx. and the Egyptians long-contested feuds and battles were perpetuated. Palestine was their campaign-ground. Be- tween the years b.c. 1490 and 1450 a continuous warfare was waged between them, during which, had the Israel- ites entered the Holy Land, humanly speaking, they might have been crushed out of existence by either of the bellige- rents. Destiny was on the side of the followers of Moses. They were detained in the wilderness until those armies had exhausted their strength and mutually withdraAvn from the field of conflict. The Canaanites, so long confined to their towns for fear of the enemy, were become unaccustomed to the use of arms. On the other hand, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb and the infants who had left Egypt, all the rest of the Israelites had died in the wilderness. Their sur- vivors had been inured to privations, fatigue, and self- defense. They had become hardy and well skilled in the use of mihtary weapons. They soon showed their superi- ority by their conquest of the kings on the east side of the Jordan, whose lands were divided among two and a half of their tribes. Moses disappeared at the age of 120 years. The command devolved upon Joshua, who was by no means young; under him they crossed the Jordan, entered the Land of Promise, and soon conquered the inhabitants, whose lands were divided among the other nine and a half of their tribes. Their form of government at first was tribal. Each tribe was independent of its neighbor. Owing to the fre- quent invasions after the death of Joshua, they were often- times, from want of union and cooperation, overpowered ^ IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. and enslaved by their invaders. At last they woke to see their weakness, and determined to remove it. A more sys- tematic organization was required. A monarchy was in- stituted. Saul and David and Solomon reigned success- ively over the united tribes. They then became a nation, and, as such, grew in wealth, power, and distinction. A reformation of religion ensued. A gorgeous temple was reared, which was dedicated with pomp and splendor. It became the center of worship, where three times a year all were required to assemble at Jerusalem, for the celebration of their festivals. Solomon's son, Rehoboam, succeeded him to the throne. Then, as now, taxation was a vexed question. Jealousy caused the leaders of the other tribes to thwart him. Jero- boam was prominent in his opposition. Ten of the tribes -withdrew and chose Jeroboam for their king. Politics was then, as at present, an uncertain movement. In order to supersede Jerusalem and prevent his people being influ- enced to attend the festive meetings of that city, he set up two golden calves, one at Bethel and another at Dan, and proclaimed them to be gods of Israel. That led to a civil and religious separation, which widened annually until the extinction of the kingdom of Israel. The remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin blended together as the king- dom of Judah, and continued to be worshipers of the God of their forefathers, who appeared in the burning bush to Moses. It is somewhat difficult to determine when the oldest city of the world was founded. The records of time are silent as to its chronology. Long before the days of IHTRODCCTIOy. Abraham, however, Babylon seems to have attained emi- nence. It was the cradle of letters and science, manufac- tures and commerce. Its people were educated. Most of them were acquainted with the use of letters, and could wi-ite their names, as well as read the documents or con- tracts required for commercial purposes. They practised liberality toward each other. They had laws and govern- ment and courts of justice. No distinction was made be- tween the rich and the poor in their legislation. All were equally treated without distinction by their judicial author- ities. Women and men could enter into business relations separately or in partnerships. The finest silks were manu- factured. The most stylish garments were made. These and other commodities were exchanged for the products of other places; and hence "a goodly Babylonian garment" was one of the spoils acquired by Joshua, in one of the cities of Palestine, at the time of its conquest. Before the time last mentioned a colony had gone forth from Babylon and founded the city of Nineveh, which subsequently became the capital of the Assyrian empire. A retrospective glance at the controlhng powers which directed the world's progress before the advent of Chris- tianity may not be out of place. There is little doubt that China and the adjoinmg coun- tries, by land and sea, were inhabited at an early period. Important political powers in all parts of the ancient world soon arose. Among the earliest of these was the AssjTian empire, which commenced before the days of Moses and terminated about the year b.c. 606. Military power, rather than a fixed constitutional government, was 6. IBELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. its controlling feature. It was the propagator of idolatry and absolute monarchy. Conquest and taxation marked its paths. The ancient Hittites and the kingdoms of Syria and Israel were among its conquests, and their peoples were carried to other provinces, whose inhabitants were removed to occupy the places of the vanquished. Hence foreigners were transferred to the land of Israel, to occupy the places of those who had been removed to the lands of Assyria and Media. By the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, in B.C. 606, Assyria ceased and its empire perished, while its conquests passed to the monarch of Babylon, who in- creased them by subduing Tyre and Sidon, Egypt and Jerusalem. By him Jerusalem was captured and its gor- geous temple destroyed; while the inhabitants were en- slaved along the banks of the Euphrates and Tigi-is, and in the cities of Babylonia. Seventy years passed, and in b.c. 538 the united armies of the Medes and Persians overcame the Babylonians. A new era came forth from the conquest. While the Baby- lonians were the promoters of literature, science, industry, arts, and manufactures, they were also promoters of idol- atry, and were compelled to submit to the same arbitrary ab- solute monarchy by which the Assyrians had been hereto- fore governed ; but a more systematic government was now introduced, and a monotheism in religion was professed. Idolatry was everywhere discountenanced by the imperial authorities, and the Jews were liberated and permitted to return to the land of their forefathers. Many of them accepted the situation. A large number of them, how- INTRODVCTION. j ever, remained at Babylon and other parts of the Persian empire. About 321, Alexander of Macedon conquered the Per- sian empire and India. Wherever his triumphant army marched his native language had a similar extension. It prevailed for a time in India and in Persia ; it was spoken in Babylon and along the Euphrates and the Tigi-is ; it be- came prominent at Alexandria and in Asia Minor. Dying in Babylon, his empire was divided among his four gen- erals ; who being Greeks, with their followers, their lan- guage became prominent wherever their courts were estab- lished. From a small hamlet on the banks of the Tiber, about B.C. 753, the city of Eome gradually arose to become con- queror of the entire Grecian world. The policy of the Eoman empire was that of law and order. By it improvements were made; laws were en- forced; roads and bridges were built; the people were protected ; rights were maintained ; and justice and equity were propagated. Thus absolute monarchy marked the Assyi-ians ; learning, industry, trade, and commerce, the Babylonians ; monothe- ism, the Persians ; philosophy and literature, the follow- ers of Alexander ; while law and order distinguished the Romans. Babylon and Nineveh made polytheism prominent ; Per- sia removed the shackles of slavery from the Jews and sympathized with their religious monotheism; Greece spread her language and philosophy among the nations ; 8 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. while Rome enforced law, order, system, aud .government over them without distinction of race or genealogy. Thus, when Jesus of Nazareth began his ministry, the Greek, Aramaic, and Syrophenician were spoken in Pal- estine. The Hebrew was comparatively dead, and confined to the service of the temple and the synagogue. The wor- ship of the people had now become formal. Their tradi- tions had prevented its true spirit from being practised. Having continued for the space of more than three years to teach the spirituality of the law and the prophets ; and having selected twelve disciples, whom he set apart as his assistants, besides seventy other persons who became attached to his doctrines ; and knowing that his mission was nearly accomplished, he sat down with the twelve disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem to commemorate the feast of the Passover ; and while they were eating he took bread and blessed it, and gave it to his disciples, and said unto them, "Eat ye all of it, for this is my body, broken for you : this do in remembrance of me." After this he took the cup, and said unto them, " Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood, in the new testament, shed for many; for as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come." That night he was betrayed by one who thus had eaten and di'unk at the paschal supper. His enemies had him aiTcsted, falsely accused, condemned, and crucified. On the morning of the first day of the week he arose from the dead. During forty days he remained on earth, and appeared to his disciples on several occasions ; and finally to five hundred brethren at one time. At last he gave his INTRODUCTION. commission to the eleven disciples, who henceforth were known as his apostles: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: aud, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." After charging them to re- main at Jerusalem until they should be endowed with the Spirit from on high, he breathed upon them and said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." After which, in their pres- ence, he arose from their midst and ascended beyond their vision into the presence of the Father of lights, where, clothed with the majesty of heaven, he became enthroned as the ever-living King of kings and Lord of lords, and will continue the King and Head of his church and people forever. No wonder that the eleven apostles gazed after him. And no wonder that this message from his attendant angels was sounded iu their ears: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus, whom ye saw taken up into heaven, will in like manner come again." As requested, the eleven returned to Jeru- salem and entered the place appointed for their meetings. Instead, however, of waiting until they were supernaturally endowed with the Holy Spirit, as Christ had requested, they immediately selected one of the disciples to fill the vacancy created by the fall of Judas from the apostolate. Matthias was the chosen one whom they set apart to the apostolic oface ; but as his name does not afterward occur in the sacred Scriptures, nor in any true and genuine con- IQ lEELAND: ITS CHBISTIANITY AND LEARNING. temporary record known or extant in any part of the Chris- tian world, the probability is strengthened that his selection was not recognized by the great Head of the church for that position, inasmuch as after that event Saul of Tarsus was divinely called and commissioned as one of the twelve apostles. As the eleven apostles were chosen, educated, commis- sioned, and set apart by Christ, so Paul was selected, com- missioned, and set apart in like manner. An apostle must have seen, been chosen, instructed, and finally commis- sioned by Christ, and all were. The apostles could miracu- lously raise the dead, cure the deaf and blind, and forgive the sins of believers. The apostles were extraordinary oifieers. As such they could have no successors. They were succeeded by only ordinary officers without such gifts or powers. As none now are possessed of the apostolic ability, gifts, and powers, it is e%'ident that there are now no apostolic successors ; and therefoi'e " apostolical succes- sion" is an amusing, worthless figment of weak and shallow brains. At length, ten days after the ascension, the day of Pen- tecost drew nigh. The apostles and others were gathered together. People from other countries, both Jews and pros- elytes, were present. On account of the feast Jews from all parts of the Orient, west and south, were at Jerusalem. They numbered among them persons from Persia, Meso- potamia, Parthia, Media, Assyria, Armenia, Arabia, Anti- och, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Cyi'ene, Cyprus, Crete, Rome, and other parts. Suddenly, while they were pray- ing, the house was shaken ; a rushing, mighty wind lyntoDUCTioN. \\ -was felt; a flashing sound was heard; a marvelous, lu- minous appearance followed; strange languages were spoken ; the multitude thought the disciples were intox- icated; Peter arose and preached a memorable sermon. It made a wonderful impression. The people awoke from their astonishment. Conviction ensued. Faith was cher- ished. Thousands became believers. The church in- creased. New ideas were taught. A new system of thought was proclaimed. Old opinions were laid aside. Freedom and equality were presented to the ears of the astonished multitudes. This new philosophy was the opposite of all other sys- tems. Tradition had no place in it. Mere words had no place in it. Ritualism had no place in it. Slavery had no place in it. The rich, the monarch, the owner of slaves had no place in it. It taught a spiritual life ; freedom of mind and action ; perfect equality of the rich and the poor, the master and the slave, before the throne on high. Its voice was the voice of love, of charity, of good-will to all, of meekness, humbleness, and holiness of life. Its spirit was the leaven for elevating fallen humanity and purifying human life and action. Its gi-and doctrine was " the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world for the redemption of mankind." And the unquestioned proof of its divine mission was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in fulfil- ment of the promise of Christ : " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Now all present were of the Jewish race and faith. These believers formed the first church, and the first chiu'ch was therefore composed of converts from those 12 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTJANITT ASD LEAItXIXG. assembled on that memorable occasion at Jerusalem. Doubtless both the believers and the doubters who were present from different countries on their return to their homes related to their friends and neighbors the strange scenes they witnessed on that occasion, which created in- quiry about the same. Those from Alexandria would carry with them the doctrines they had heard thus pro- claimed. Those from Mesopotamia, Persia, and other Oriental parts, as well as from Rome and other Western parts, would be enabled to rehearse the wonderful teach- ings they heard on that solemn occasion. Peace was not long to pervade this young commu- nity. Persecution was soon aroused against the church. Its members were scattered abroad from Jerusalem. Whether male or female, wherever they went, they preached Jesus and the resurrection, faith and the remis- sion of sins. They did not stop to inquire whether they were ordained or not. They went on directly, positively, and truly, the gi-eat workers, under Christ, for the conver- sion of their brethren according to the flesh. The first prominent Gentile convert was Cornelius, a Roman centurion. It required a miracle to convince Peter, on that occasion, that in the mind of God thei'e was no difference between Jews and Gentiles. The gospel spread over Palestine like a whirlwind. It reached Antioch. Both Jews and Gentiles were gathered into the church in such numbers as to attract the atten- tion of the outsiders, who called them Christians; and hence we are informed that " the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch." This was the first church to send INTRODUCTION. I3 forth missionaries to the Gentile world. Paul and Bar- nabas were selected as the first foreign missionaries. In connection with Mark they sailed to Cyprus, where the chief man of the island, Sergius Paulus, became a convert to the faith. They next crossed to the mainland of Asia Minor, where they visited a number of cities, made nu- merous converts, founded several infant churches, and re- turned to Antioch. By a decision of the Council of Jerusalem, converts from the Gentiles were not to be subjected to either circumci- sion or the ceremonial law of Moses. By this decision inducements were offered to GentUes to become Chris- tians. Afterward Paul and Barnabas took different directions in their missionary career: while the latter took as his companion Mark, and went to Cyprus, the former revis- ited the infant churches in Asia Minor and was ultimately du-ected to Europe, where he planted churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, and Crete. To many of these churches he subsequently wrote epistles, which form a part of the inspired volume. Amidst nu- merous persecutions the church during the first centuries was kept comparatively pure. The more she was perse- cuted the more she increased in numbers. She passed through ten ruthless persecutions. The last, under Dio- cletian, was the severest, during which her church edifices were destroyed and her sacred books burned, together with multitudes of her people. In A.D. 282 Diocletian divided the Roman empire into four parts and associated three others with himself, one 14 lUlCLASD: ITS CHRISTIAXITT AND LEARNING. with the title of Augustus and two with that of Caesar. The CaBsar of the West was Constantius, who had married Helena, a British princess, whose son, named Constantine, was born at York, where his father subsequently died and was buried. In A.D. 313 Constantine, as the Caesar of the West, together with Licinius, the Caesar of Italy, issued their joint proclamation against the further persecution of the Christians. In A.D. 321, having become sole emperor, Constantine issued his proclamation that "the day called Sunday should be kept as a day of rest by all except by farmers." Cotistantine^s Division of the Roman Empire. Upon assuming the imperial control of the whole Eoman empire, Constantine divided it into four prefec- tures, called The East, Illyricum, Italy, and Gaul. The Eastern Prefecture was subdivided into five dio- ceses : 1. The East, into ten ; 2. Egypt, into six ; 3. Pon- tus, into eleven ; 4. Asia, into ten ; and 5. Thrace, into two provinces. Illyricum contained two dioceses : 1. Macedon, divided into eight ; and 2. Dacia, into two provinces. Italy was divided into two vicarages, called the vicarage of Rome and the vicarage of Italy. The vicarage of Rome contained eleven provinces, to wit : Campania, Apulia, Lucauia, Hetruria, Umbria, Picemun, Suburbicarmum, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and Valeria. The vicarage of Italy contained ten provinces, whose chief city was Milan. INTRODUCTION. 15 Gaul contained three dioceses, called Spain, subdivided into seven; Gaul into seventeen; and Britain into five provinces. The Church Modeled after the Empire. The chm-ch had now become prominent throughout the empire. More than one half of the people had become professing Christians. Constantine determined to model the chui'ch after the state, and upon his imperial polity. The chief cities of the Oriental five dioceses were, An- tioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, Csesarea, and Heraclea, the bishops of which were exalted to the rank of exarchs, while the bishop of the metropolis of a province was styled a metropohtan ; that of a smaller division, an arch- bishop ; and that of a parish, a bishop. The prefecture of lUyricum had only one exarch, who was the Bishop of Thessalonica. The prefecture of Gaul had no exarch, but had a metro- politan for each of its provinces. The Bishop of Rome was not created an exarch, but was placed over all the bishops of the eleven provinces of tlie vicarage of Rome ; and in hke manner the Bishop of Milan was elevated above all the bishops of the ten provinces of Italy. The Bishop of Carthage was made an exarch of all Northern and Northwestern Africa. Thus, according to Constantine's ecclesiastical polity, the chief bishop of a diocese was styled exarch ; the chief \Q IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIAXITT AND LEARNING. bishop of a province, metropolitan ; the chief bishop of a smaller division, archbishop; and the chief pastor of a parish, bishop. The Emperor Assumes the Headship of the Imperial Catholic Church. In A.D. 325 Constantine convened the first General Council at Nice, in Bithynia, to settle the doctrine of the Trinity and the ecclesiastical government and discipline of the Catholic Church of the empire which he had es- tablished. Three hundred and eighteen bishops attended, while the emperor, who was neither baptized nor even a professor of Christianity, presided over their deliberations. The Bishop of Eome was not present. In A.D. 330 the imperial capital was removed to Con- stantinople, and its bishop created a patriarch by the emperor. In A.D. 350 Christianity was extensively propagated throughout India, Persia, Media, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, Cyrene, Car- thage, Northern Africa, Asia Minor, Macedon, Thrace, Dacia, Illyricum, Italy, Helvetia, Spain, Gaul, and Britain. In A.D. 390 paganism and idolatry were suppressed by law throughout the Roman empire. Thus Christianity triumphed. As long as it kept its original faith pure, energetic, active, and operative, it overcame every obstacle. Its faith was planted on the Word of God. INTRODCCTION. IJ During those times the church was distinguished for the defenders of her faith. These were called the patristic wi-iters. They were divided into two classes, called the ante-Nicene and post-Nicene fathers. Some of them wrote in Greek and others in Latin. All of them were zealous in their advocacy of what they believed to be true, and based their belief on the sacred Scriptures. Christianity in Britain. Tradition seems to be more acceptable to human nature than facts, however well supported by the most plausible grounds. There is a weirdlike, pleasant, magnetic feeling in whatever a warm, enthusiastic imagination conjures up which frequently passes for truth and is so satisfactorily accepted by not a few in oui- world. Hence the first her- alds of the gospel message to Britain are claimed to have been numerous. Among their illustrious names were Jo- seph of Arimathea, Philip, Paul, Peter, Simon Zelotes, James the son of Zebedee, and Aristobulus, of whom Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans ; but whatever may be conjectured about such a distinguished array of gospel lights in the years following a.d. 63, there was more cer- tainty of the introduction of the gospel plan of salvation into Britain by Greek Christians from the cities of Lyons and Vienne, in ancient Gaul, about a.d. 177, one hundred and fourteen years subsequently. TertuUian, a distinguished writer .of the beginning of the third century, speaking in an article against the Jews, thus wrote that the gospel had reached Britain in his day : \g IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. " In whom other than the Christ, who has already come, do all the nations believe ? For in him have believed the most diverse peoples: Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who inhabit Mesopotamia, Armenia, Phrygia, Cappadocia; the dwellers in Pontus, Asia, and Pamphylia; those oc- cupying Egypt and inhabiting the region of Africa beyond Cyrene ; Eomans and natives, even Jews dwelling in Jeru- salem, and other nations ; nay, the different tribes of the Getulians and many territories of "the Moors, all parts of Spain, the different peoples of Gaul, and parts of Britain not reached by the Eomans, but subjugated to Christ. In all these the name of Christ, who has already come, reigns." Again, Origen, one of the most distinguished scholars of his age, who died at Tyre in a.d. 254, wrote : " When did Britain previous to the coming of Christ agi-ee to worship the one God ? The influence of the gospel and the power of the Saviour's kingdom have reached as far as Britain, which seemed to be in another division of the world." Eusebius, in his "Evangelical Demonstrations," says, about A.D. 326 : " If they, the apostles, were seducers and deceivers, they were at the same time men of no education ; belonging to the people, nay, one might almost say barba- rians, and knowing no language but that of the Syrians, how then did they come to advance through the whole world ? That some should take possession of Rome itself, and others should have crossed the ocean to the islands called Britain — such things I will not believe to be accord- ing to man, through man only." The persecution of Diocletian, in a.d. 303, is thus de- scribed by Gildas, a British historian : " The chui'ches INTRODUCTION. I9 throughout the whole world were overthrown, all the copies of the Holy Scriptures which could be found were burned in the street, and the chosen pastors of God's flocks were butchered, together with the innocent sheep. God magnified his mercy toward us, as we know, during the above-named persecution, that Britain might not be totally enveloped in the dark shades of night : he of his own free gift kindled among us bright luminaries of holy martyrs, whose places of burial and martyrdom, had they not been for our manifold crimes interfered with and destroyed by the barbarians, would have still kindled in the minds of the beholders no small fire of divine charity. Such were St. Alban of Verulam, Aaron and Julia, citizens of Cearleon, and the rest, of both seas, who in different places stood their gi-ound in the Christian contest." At that time Constantius Chlorus was Csesar of the West ; but in a.d. 305 he became an Augustus and imme- diately caused persecution to cease thi-oughout Spain, Gaul, and Bi-itain. He was the husband of Helena, a British Christian, and the father of Constantine the Great. At the Council of Ai'les, in a.d. 314, three British bish- ops, Ebonus of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelfies of Cearleon, were present. In A.D. 325 British bishops attended the Council of Nice, and in a.d. 347 British bishops were at the Council of Sardica, in Bulgaria, and also at the Council of Arminium in A.D. 350. At the end of the fourth century the Christian popula- tion of Britain was in the majority ; and numerous wealthy Christians traveled abroad as far as Palestine, whom Je- 20 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. rome at that time described as " The Briton, though sepa- rated from the rest of our world, where religion has the ascendancy, leaves his Western sun in search of a land known to him only by report and by Scripture history." Education in Britain under the Roman Empire, In Britain under the Romans there was, as in all of the other provinces, a valuable system of education established and supported for the free and upper classes. Each city in proportion to its population sustained a number of teachers, who instructed in grammar, rhetoric, and phi- losophy, and who were appointed by the magistrates and partly paid out of municipal funds. The same system was subsequently extended to the other cities of the em- pire, where the teachers received a salary from the city and a small sum from each pupil, and were exempt from taxation and military service. By a decree of the Western emperor Gratian, who reigned from A.D. 375 to A.D. 383, all the chief cities of Spain, Gaul, and Britain were to select and support teachers of the Latin and Greek languages and learning. Under the Romans there were ninety-two cities in Bri- tain, thirty-three of which wei-e conspicuous and celebrated ; two of these were municipal, nine colonial, ten under the "Latin law," and twelve "stipendiary." Each of these classes had special privileges and Roman schools. Dun- barton was under the Latin law, and Patrick's father was one of its decurios or counciloi-s. Hence Patrick had every opportunity of receiving, when a boy, a liberal edu- INTROD UCTION. 2 1 cation at Dunbarton, and, after his return from slavery, of studying there for his own mission-field. A writer of distinction, named Pelagius, a native of Wales, attracted considerable attention on account of his peculiar doctrinal views, which spread throughout Britain, requiring two eminent theologians, named Germauus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes, in Gaul, to come to Britain to refute the heresy; after which Pelagius returned to Italy, where he had previously for a time resided, and in A.D. 410 wrote to Lady Demetrias the following eloquent description of the attack and havoc of Alaric and his Goths on Rome, whose grandeur and greatness were so fiercely overthrown and demolished, from which that city never recovered : " The dismal calamity is just over, and you yourself are a witness how Rome, that commanded the world, was as- tonished at the alarm of the Gothic trumpet, when the bar- barous and victorious nation stormed her walls and made their way through the breach. Where were then the priv- ileges of birth and distinctions of quality ? Were not all ranks and degi'ees leveled at that time and promiscuously huddled together ? Every house was then a scene of mis- ery and equally filled with grief and confusion. The slave and the man of condition were in the same circumstances, and everywhere the terror of death and slaughter was the same, unless we may say that the fright made the greater impression upon those who obtained most by living. Now if flesh and blood have such power over fears, and mortal men can frighten us to this degree, what will become of us when the trumpet sounds from the sky, and the archangel 22 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. summons us to judgment ; when we are not attacked by sword or lance, or by anything so feeble as human enemy, but when the artillery of heaven, all the terrors of nature, the militia, as I may so speak, of God Almighty, are let loose upon us ? " The Authority of the Sacred Scriptures as Taught by the Ancient Christian Fathers. The Christian faith was based on the sacred Scriptures, to which the fathers bore testimony in no unmistakable language, as the following extracts from their wi-itings will exemplify : TESTIMONY OF THE " FATHEKS " FEOM A.D. 170 TO A.D. 412 TO THE ABSOLUTE SUPREMACY OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURES. I. Irenseus of Lyons, a.d. 170. — "We know that the Scriptures are perfect, as being spoken by the Word of God. We have received the rule of our salvation by no others but except those by whom the gospel came to us, which they then preached and afterward by God's will de- livered to us in the Scriptures to be the pillar and gi'ound of our faith." {Contra Hceres.) II. Clement of Alexandria, a.d. 200. — " Let us not sim- ply attend to the words of men, which is lawful for las to gainsay ; ... let us not look to the testimony of men ; but let us confirm what is questioned by the Word of God, which is most certain of all demonstrations, nay, which is the only demonstration." {Strom. 1-7, p. 891.) III. TertuUian, a.d. 200. — " But whether all things were INTRODUCTION. 23 made of any subject-matter I have never hitherto read. Let the worship of Hermogenes show us that it is found in the Scriptures. If it be not written, let him di-ead that woe which is appointed to those who add to or subtract from the Word of God." {Contra Hermogenes, vol. ii., cap. 22.) IV. Hippolytus, Martyr, a.d. 220. — " There is one God, whom we do not otherwise acknowledge than out of the Holy Scriptures ; whoever of us would exercise piety to- ward God we cannot otherwise learn it than out of the Holy Scriptures." {Booh of the Fathers, vol. iii., p. 263.) V. Origen, a.d. 230. — "If there should be any matter which the divine Scriptures doth not determine, there must be no third scripture (other, that is, than the Old and New Testaments) received as an authority for under- standing it." {Horn, in Lev. 5.) VI. Cyprian of Carthage, a.d. 248. — " For religious and simple minds there is a short way to put off error and to find out and to extract truth ; if we return to the Fountain-head and Origin of divine tradition, human error ceases. If a conduit conveying water which before flowed copiously should suddenly fail, do we not go to the fountain, that there the reasons for the failure may be ascertained? — whether, the spring having failed, the water has dried up at the source, or whether, flowing thence in undiminished fullness, it is stopped somewhere in the middle of its course ; that so, if the water had been prevented flowing in one continuous and unbroken stream in consequence of leaks or stoppages in the conduit, it may be repaired and made strong, and the water thus retained may be supphed 24 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. for the use of the city in the same quantity and copious- ness with which it issued from the fountain. This, then, is how it becomes God's presbyters to do, who guard the divine commandment : that if the truth have in any way wavered and fallen off, we should go back to the divine tradition, so that the ground of our action might spring from the same source from which our order and origin took their rise." {Letters, 74, pp. 317, 318.) VII. Cyril of Jerusalem, a.d. 325. — " For there ought to be nothing at all to be delivered concerning the divine and holy mysteries of our faith without the Holy Scriptures ; neither do thou believe me who say these things unless thou find from the divine wi-itings the proof of the things which are said." {Catech. 4, 12, p. 56.) VIII. Athanasius of Alexandria, a.d. 326. — "The holy and divinely inspired Scriptures are in their own nature sufficient for the discovery of truth." {Oratio Contra Gentes, vol. i.) IX. Basil of CsBsarea, a.d. 370. — " Every word and deed should be confirmed by the testimony of the God-inspired Scriptures." {Moral Reg., vol. ii., p. 26.) Further : " Hearers who are being taught in the Scrip- tures should examine the things that are said by their teach- ers, and receive such things as are in harmony with the Scriptures and cast away whatever is alien to them, and should have nothing to do with those who persist in such doctrine." {Moral Reg., vol. ii., p. 292.) X. Jerome, a.d. 375. — " As we do not deny those things that are written, so we refuse those that are not written. That God was born of a virgin we believe, because it is INTRODUCTION. 95 written ; but that Mary was married after she was deliv- ered we do not believe, because it is not written." (Contra Helvkl, 19, vol. ii.) XI. Theopliilus of Alexandria, a.d. 390.—" It is the in- stinct of a devil-possessed spirit to accept the sophistries of human minds, and to think anything divine without the authority of the Scriptures." {Pasch. 2, Bib. Max. Vet. Pa., vol. v., p. 850.) XII. Augustine of Hippo, a.d. 400.— "We must not agree even with the Catholic bishops, if by chance they be deceived and hold opinions contrary to the canonical Scriptures." (De Unitate Ecclesice, cap. 10.) " Neither should I allege the Council of Nice, nor you that of Rimini ; you are not bound by the authority of the one, nor I by that of the other. With authorities from Scripture, evidence not peculiar to either but common to both, let us compare matter with matter, cause with cause, reason with reason." {Contra Max., lib. iii., cap. 14, torn. 6, p. 151.) " The church we must know in the holy canonical Scrip- 'tures, and not seek it in the various rumors and opinions and facts and deeds of men, let all the rabble of them be chaff. Let them show the church none otherwise than by the canonical books of the Holy Scriptures." [De Unitate Eccles., cap. 16, tom. 7.) XIII. Chrysostom of Constantinople, a.d. 400. — "But if we say we ought to believe the Scriptures, and they are simple and true, it is easy for thee to judge thyself. If any man is in harmony with them, that man is a Christian. If any man opposes them, he is far removed 26 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. from that category. Even from the true church deceivers sometimes go forth ; we must not, therefore, place impUcit confidence in them unless they both speak and act agi-ee- ably to the Scriptures." {In Act. Horn. 33, vol. iv., p. 799.) And again he says: "There can be no proof of true Christianity, nor can any other refuge for Christians wish- ing to know the true faith, but the divine Scriptures. Christians should betake themselves to nothing else but the Scriptui-es." {In Mat. Horn. 49.) XIV. Cyril of Alesandi-ia, a.d. 412.—" That which the Holy Scripture has not said, how can we receive it and put it into the catalogue of those things that be true ? All things that are delivered to us by the law, prophets, and apostles, we receive and acknowledge, looking for nothing more than these. For it is impossible we should speak or so much as think anything of God besides those things which are divinely told us by divine oracles both of the Old and New Testaments." {In Gen., vol. i., p. 29.) General Councils of the Church. The first General Council of the church in the Roman empire assembled by order of the Emperor Constantine the Great in the year 325, in the city of Nice, Bithynia, in what is now known as Asia Minor, for the purpose of set- tling the controversies about the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the confirmation of the polity of the church ; and its deliberations resulted in the production of the Nicene Creed and a number of canons. The emperor presided and materially aided in harmonizing the body, INTRODUCTION. 27 many of whom were bitterly opposed to each other. The Bishop of Rome was not present. The next General Council was convened by Theodosius the Great at Constantinople in 381, which settled the divinity and procession of the Holy Spirit. The next General Council was held at Ephesus in 431, and the next at Chalcedon, opposite Constantinople, in 451, both of which settled the doctrines of the " natui-es " and "persons" of Christ; and both were convened and presided over by the emperors. The next was held at Constantinople in 553, which settled the wills of Christ ; while the next was also held, in 681, at Constantinople, which declared Honorius, Pope of Rome, a heretic, and excommunicated him from the church. The next was held in 692, whose decrees had reference to the marriage of the clergy, and it was known as the Quinni Sextum Council. At none of these councils did any Roman pontiff in person attend. The following canons in regard to Ordination, Jurisdic- tion, Posture of Public Worship, Matrimony of the Clergy, and other matters, will give the laws of the church on those topics : General Council of Nice, a.d. 325. Canon IV. " A bishop ought indeed chiefly to be con- stituted by aU the bishops in the province. But if this be difficult, either by reason of urgent necessity or the length of the way, where three by all means have met together, the absent also giving their suffrages and testifying their 28 IRELAND: ITS CHKISTIANITY AND LEARNING. assent by letter, then let them perform the ordination ; but the ratification of the proceedings must be allowed to the metropolitan in each province." Canon VI. " Let ancient customs prevail : that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction over all those in Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis, since the Bishop of Rome has a similar custom. Likewise in Antioch and in other provinces let their privileges, dignities, and authorities be similarly secured to their churches. But this is clearly manifest, that if any be made a bishop without the con- sent of the metropolitan, the great synod has determined such an one ought not to be bishop. If, therefore, two or three through a spirit of contention do contradict the com- mon vote of all, being reasonable in itself and in accor- dance with the ecclesiastical canon, then let the vote of the majority prevail." Posture of Worship. Canon XX. " Because there are some who kneel on the Lord's Day, and even on the days of Pentecost, that aU things may be uniformly performed in every parish, it seems good to the holy sjiiod that prayers be offered to God standing." General Council of Constantinople, a.d. 381. Canon II. " Let not the bishops go out of their dioceses to churches beyond their bounds, nor disturb the churches ; but, according to the canons, let the Bishop of Alexandria administer the affairs of Egypt alone, and the bishops of INTRODUCTION. 29 the East govern the East alone ; the rights and privileges in the Nicene canons being preserved inviolate to the chui'ch of Antioch. Let the bishops of the Asian diocese administer the Asian affairs only ; and the bishops of the Pontic diocese, the affairs of the Pontus only ; and they of Thrace, the affairs of the Thi'acian diocese only ; but let not bishops go out of their dioceses to ordination or any other ecclesiastical administrations uninvited. " The aforesaid canon concerning the dioceses being ob- served, it is evident that the provincial synod shall arrange the affairs of each diocese according to the decrees made at Nicaea ; but the churches of God among the barbarous nations ought to be governed according to the established custom of the fathers." Canon III. "That the Bishop of Constantinople have the prerogative of honor next after the Bishop of Rome, because it is New Rome." General Council of Ephesus, a.d. 431. In A.D. 411 the Bishop of Rome declared that Alexander, Bishop of Antioch, was empowered to ordain the bishojDS of Cyprus ; to which they demurred, and appealed to the Council of Ephesus, which reversed the decision of the Roman bishop, and adopted Canon VIII. as a guide for aU the chui'ches and dioceses throughout the empire — to wit : " Our fellow-bishop Reginus, most beloved of God, and Leno and Evagrius, most religious bishops of the Cypriotes, who are with him, have publicly declared an innovation contrary to ecclesiastical laws and the canons of the holy 30 IRELAND: ITS CBRISIIASITY AND LEARNING. fathers, and which touches the safety of all. Since their common diseases require the stronger remedy as bringing also greater damage — more especially if it is in accordance with an ancient custom that the bishop of the city of An- tioch should perform ordinations in Cyprus, as the most religious men who have made their entry into the holy synod have informed us both by writing and by word of mouth (and by their voices) — therefore the rulers of the holy churches in Cyprus shall retain their inviolable and unimpeachable right, according to the canons of the holy fathers and ancient custom, of performing by themselves the ordinations of the most religious bishops. And the very same shall be observed also in other dioceses and provinces everywhere, so that none of the bishops, most beloved of God, do assume any other province that was not formerly, and from the beginning, subject to him or to his predecessors. But if any one have even assumed and by force have reduced it under him, he must give it up, lest the canons of the fathers be transgressed, or the pi'ide of secular authority be surreptitiously introduced under the mask of the sacred function, or we unknowingly by degrees lose the liberty which our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eedeemer of all men, hath given to us by his own blood. It has seemed good, therefore, to the holy and general synod that to each province be preserved clear and inviolable the rights formerly and from the beginning belonging to it, according to the old-prevailing custom; each metropolitan having authority to take copies of the things now transacted, for his own security. But if any one introduce a regulation contrary to the things now de- INTRODUCTION. 31 creed, it has seemed good to all this holy and general synod that it be of no force." Genebal Council of Chalcedon, a.d. 451. Canon I. "We pronounce it just that the canons made by the holy fathers in every synod to the present time be in force." Canon XVII. " We decree that remote country or vil- lage parishes in each church (or province) remain undis- turbed with those bishops who possess them, and especially if, continuin_g to hold them without violence, they have governed them for the space of thirty years. But if within the thirty years there has been, or is, any dispute concern- ing them, they who say they have been injured may raise a question concerning them in the synod of the province. But if any one be injured by his own bishop or metropoli- tan, let the cause be examined before the exarch of the diocese, on the throne of Constantinople, as aforesaid. If any city be founded by the authority of the emperor, let the order of the ecclesiastical parishes (or divisions) follow the civil and public arrangements." Canon XXVIII. " Following in all respects the decrees of the holy fathers, and recognizing the canon which has just been read, of the one hundred and fifty bishops, most beloved of God (who assembled in the regal city of Con- stantinople, the New Rome, in the time of Theodosius the emperor, of pious memory), we too decree and vote the same things concerning the privileges of the most holy chui'ch of the same Constantinople, which is New Rome : 32 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. for to the throne of Old Rome, because that was the im- perial city, the fathers rightly granted privileges; and moved by the same consideration, the one hundred and fifty bishops, most beloved of God, have given the like privileges to the most holy throne of New Eome, rightly judging that the city which was honored with the seat of empire and the senate, enjoying, too, the same civil priv- ileges with the old imperial Rome, should be honored as she is in ecclesiastical matters also, being second and nest after her ; and that the metropolitan alone of the Pontic, Asian, and Thracian dioceses, also the bishops of the said dioceses which are among the barbarians, be ordained by the said throne of the most holy church of Constantinople ; while each metropolitan of the said diocese, together with the bishops of the province, ordains the other bishops sub- ject to him, as is enjoined in the divine canons ; but, as aforesaid, the metropolitan of the said diocese, must be ordained by the Archbishop of Constantinople, after the elections have taken place according to the customs and have been reported to him." The Second Genekal, Council of Constantinople, a.d. 553. Canon I. declares that " the synod gives the like honors (of Constantinople) to the bishops of Rome and Alexan- dria " ; which plainly shows that the primacy of Rome was not recognized. In A.D. 681 the sixth General Council, held at Constan- tinople, decreed and denounced Pope Honorius of Rome a heretic, among other Monothelites. {Duphi, vol. ii., p. 14.) INTRODUCTION. 33 111 A.D. 692 the Quinui Sextum General Council decreed " that married bishops should separate from their wives, but that the presbyters, deacons, and all other clergy should be allowed to marry as heretofore." In A.D. 663 Canon XIX. of the fourth Council of Toledo decreed " that persons having each many wives be forbid- den to enter the priesthood." This only prohibited polyg- amists from entering the clerical ranks. In A.D. 721 the pope and a council at Rome decreed "that all clergymen should abstain from marriage and separate from their wives." The old British clergy continued to marry wives for themselves until long after the tenth century. II.— SECOND PERIOD: to a.d. 543. lreland's ancient inhabitants. 1. According to the annals and traditions of the bards, Druids, and others, the early colonists arrived from the following countries, as hereafter stated : a. The Parthiliaus, under the leadership of a gi-and- daughter of Noah, about B.C. 2048. h. The Neimhidians, from Egypt, about B.C. 1718. c. The Formosians, " Africa, " 1604. d. The Firlbolgs, " Belgium, " 1501. e. The Tutha de Danaans, " Greece, " 1463. / The Milesians, " Spain, " 1268. 2. Authentic history described the country under the names respectively of Scotiana, Britannia Minor, Hibernia, and lerne, and denominated the people Scots, during at least the first eleven centuries of the Christian era. 3. The island was divided into five kingdoms, known as Meath, Leinster, Munster, Counaught, and Ulster. A chief king, called the Ardigh, reigned over Meath and the other four kings, who were his subordinates. 4. The succession to the thrones was regulated by tan- istry, which restricted it to one family in each kingdom ; but any member of the family was eligible to be elected. 34 IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 35 5. Prior to the arrival of Patrick, 118 ardigbs, or chief kings, had reigned over Ireland. 6. A new code of revised laws, prepared through the as- sistance of Patrick and others, was issued by the Ardigh Laoghaire, under the title of Senchus Mor or Brehon Laws, which meant the laws of the judges, whose offices were hereditary and whose decisions were binding and indisputable. 7. There was no death penalty for murder, but fines im- posed, called erics. 8. Property was regulated by gavelkind, i.e., divided equally among the sons of each family ; but women were not allowed to inherit, unless where there were no sons. Tradition is more expressive than history as to the first inhabitants of Ireland. As heretofore stated, a grand- daughter of Noah is claimed to have had the honor of leading the first colony into that island, though whether her father was Japheth or Shem or Ham does not appear. Time passes on until Moses was receiving the law for the Israelites on Mount Sinai, about b.c. 1492, when a col- ony of Milesians entered the island. These were the de- scendants of one of the kings of Spain, who had married Scotta, a daughter of the king of Egypt. In process of time other invaders from other countries followed, all of whom laid the foundations of the ancient Irish. KINGS OF IRELAND. The line (or rather hues) of native sovereigns is a veiy long one ; some Irish historians have traced the succession 3(5 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. to about the period of the flood, " before which time there were many princes," but, unfortunately, the records have not been preserved. According to Keating, the first sov- ereigns after the Milesian Conquest of whom there is any " absolute certainty " were Heber and Heremon, Milesian princes from Gralicia in Spain, who conquered Ireland and gave to its throne a race of 171 kings. These two princes reigned jointly from the year 1300 B.C. till 1291, when Heremon alone ruled. Of their successors, who reigned from the year 1285 B.C. to the Christian era, about 169 in number, only fifteen died comfortably in their beds ; four died of the plague or some malignant distemper, the rest being assassinated, killed in battle, or dying other violent deaths. Home Rule was in existence from the earliest times till after the conquest of Ireland by Henry II. in 1172 ; the rulers, however, appear to have had anything but a peaceable, quiet time. The following is an " authentic list " of Irish Sovereigns after the Birth of Christ. A.D. Pearaidhach-Fionfachtna—" a most just and good prince" ; slain by his successor 4 Piachadli-Fion — slain by his successor 34 Fiachadh-Fionohudh — the Prince with the White Cows ; " murdered by the Irish plebeians of Connaught " 27 Cairbre-Ciucait— murdered in a conspiracy 54 Elim — slain in battle 59 Tuathal-Teachtmar— slain by his successor 79 Mai, or Mail — slain by his successor 109 Feidhlimhidh— " an excellent justiciar " ; died a natural death 113 Cathoire Mor, or the Great — had thirty sons 122 Conn Ceadehadhach, called the Hero of the Hundred Battles— slain 125 IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 37 A.S. Conaire — killed 1^ Ai-t- Aonfhir, the Melancholy— slain in battle 152 Lughaidh, surnamed MacCoun— thrust through the eye with a spear in a conspiracy 182 Feargus, surnamed Black-teeth— murdered at the instigation of his successor ■^l^ Cormac-Ulfhada— " a prince of most excellent wisdom, and kept the most splendid court that ever was in Ireland " ; choked by the bone of a fish at supper 213 Eochaidh-Gunait— killed 253 Cairbre-Liffeachair— slain in battle 254 Fiachadh— succeeded his father; slain in battle by his three nephews 282 Caii-ioll, or Colla-Uais— dethroned 315 Muirreadhach-Tireach— slain by his successor 319 Caolbhach— slain by his successor 352 Eochaidh-Moidhmeodhain- natural death 353 Criomthan— poisoned by his sister to obtain the crown for her son 360 Niall, surnamed of the nine hostages— killed in France, on the banks of the Loire 375 Dathy— killed by a thunderbolt at the foot of the Alps 398 Laoghaire — killed by a thunderbolt 421 OUioll-Molt— slain in battle 453 Lughaidh— killed by a thunderbolt 473 Murtough— died naturally 493 Tuathal-Maolgarbh— assassinated • 515 Diarmuid— fell by the sword of Hugh Dubh 528 Feargus, in conjunction with his brother Daniel — manner of their deaths unknown 550 Eochaidh, with his uncle Baodan— both slain 551 Ainmereach — deprived of his crown and life 554 Baodan— slain by the two Cuimins 557 Aodh, or Hugh— killed in battle 558 Hugh Slaine — assassinated 587 Aodh-Uaireodhnach— killed in battle 591 38 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. A.n. Maolcobha — defeated in a dreadfvd battle, in which he was slain . . . 618 Suibhne-Meain— killed .• 622 Daniel — died a natural death 635 ConaU Claon, jointly with his brother CeaUach — the first was mur- dered, the other drowned in a bog 648 Diarmuid and Blathmac — both died of the plague 661 Seachnasach — assassinated 668 Cionfaola — succeeded his brother ; murdered 674 Fionaehta-Fleadha — murdered 678 Loingseach — killed in battle 685 Congal Cionmaghair — "a cruel persecutor of the Irish church, without mercy or distinction " ; sudden death 693 Feargal — routed and slain in battle 702 Fogartach — slain in battle 719 Cionaoth — defeated and found dead on the battle-field 720 Flaithbheartagh — Taecame a monk 724 Aodli, or Hugh Alain — killed in battle 731 Daniel — died on a pilgrimage at Joppa 740 Niall-Freasach — became a monk 782 Donagh, or Donchad — " died in his bed " 786 Aodh, or Hugh — slain in battle ' 815 Connor, or Conchabhar — " died of grief, being unable to redress the misfortunes of his country " 837 NiaU-CaiUie — drowned in the river Caillie 851 Turgesius, the Norwegian chief — possessed himself of the sovereign power ; " expelled the Irish historians, and burned their books " ; made prisoner, thrown into a lough, and drowned 866 Maol Ceachlin, or Malachy 1 879 Hugh FionnUath 897 Flann Sionna 913 Niall-Glundubh— " died on the field of honor " 951 Donnagh, or Donough 954 Congall — slain by the Danes at Armagh 974 Daniel — became a monk 984 IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 39 A.D. Maol Ceachlin II.— resigned on the election of Brian Boroimhe as king of Ireland 1002 Brian Boroimhe — a valiant and renovmed prince; defeated the Danes in the memorable battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday, 1014 ; assassinated in his tent the same night, whUe in the atti- tude of prayer. He was thirty years king of Munster, and twelve years king of Ireland 1014 Maol Ceachhn II. restored 1039 Donough, or Denis O'Brian, third son of the preceding 1048 Tirloch, or Turlough, nephew of Donough 1098 Muriertagh, or Mui-rtough — resigned and became a monk 1110 Turlough (O'Connor) II., the Great 1130 Murtough MacNeil MacLachlin — slain in battle 1150 Roderic, or Roger, O'Connor 1168 Henry II. , king of England — conquered the country, and became Lord of Ireland 1172 (The EngUsh monarchs were styled " Lords of Ireland " un- til the reign of Henry VIII., who styled himself King ; this title continued tUl the Union, January 1, 1801. ) About B.C. 50 Strab'o, the geographer, described Ireland as a cold land inhabited by cannibals. Compared with Italy it must have appeared cold; but so far as canni- balism was concerned he must have been imposed upon by a pretended aspirant, or have drawn largely upon his imagination, as there is not a vestige of truth in the assertion. By Julius Caesar it was called Hibernia ; and in a.d. 82 Tacitus writes : " In the fifth campaign, Agricola, crossing over in the fifth ship, subdued, by frequent and success- ful engagements, several nations till then unknown, and stationed troops in that part of Britain which is opposite 40 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Ireland, rather with a view to future advantages than f rona any apprehension of danger from that quarter ; for the possession of Ireland, situated between Britain and Spain, and lying commodiously to the Gallic Sea, would have formed a very beneficial connection between the most powerful parts of the empire. This island is less than Britain, but larger than those of our sea. Its soil, climate, and the manners and dispositions of its inhabitants are little different from those in Britain. Its ports and har- bors are better known from the concom'se of merchants for the purpose of commerce. Agricola had received into his protection one of its petty kings, who had been ex- pelled by a domestic sedition ; and detained him under the semblance, till an occasion should offer of making use of him. I have heard him frequently assert that a single legion and a few auxiliaries would be suflScient to conquer Ireland and keep it in subjection, and that such an event would also have contributed to restrain the Britons by awing them with the prospect of the Roman arms all around them, and, as it were, banishing liberty from their sight." Thus man proposed, but a higher Power otherwise dis- posed of the succeeding events. No Roman soldier en- tered Ireland. That Roman empire whose legions held the fairest parts of the ancient world, from the western coasts of Britain to the Himalaya Mountains; that had trampled under its feet the rights of mankind; that had sacrificed human liberty on the altars of abject slavery ; that had masterdom over both the bodies, minds, and spirits of the vanquished ; that had dictated laws without IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 4I representation to the conquered ; that was a vast combina- tion of incongruities of military despotism, legal enact- ments, and governmental absolutism ; the center of com- merce, the founder of cities, the builder of bridges, the constructor of roads, the promoter of learning, the patron of art, the encourager of science, and the propagator of ■whatever was beautiful in conception or fascinating in the pi'oduction of painting, sculpture, and statuary; and un- consciously by its grinding process preparing the way for its own dissolution — finally passed out of existence ; while Britain, notwithstanding various warlike tempests, hostile invasions, and civil contests, which, humanly speaking, were sufficient to have wiped her off the earth, arose grad- ually to be a seat of learning, a great military and naval power, the mistress of the sea in commerce, the home of manufactures, the promoter of civil and religious freedom, and the head of an empire whose domain is far more ex- tensive and its inhabitants more numerous than the old Eoman empire in its palmiest days could have conjured up in imagination. The northern parts of Britain were never conquered by the Romans. In every attempt at their conquest the na- tives of what is now known as " the Highlands " gallantly repulsed the assailants. Galgacus and other chiefs were distinguished for their heroic defense of their ancient glens and mountain homes. Anciently three great races dwelt in North Britain. They included the kingdom of Strathclyde, which embraced all the territory of Lancashire and that south of the Firth of Forth ; the kingdom of the Scots, who inhabited Argyleshire, Perthshire, and the Western 42 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIAmTY AND LEARNING. Islands ; and also the kingdom of the Picts, who inhabited the moi-e northei-n parts. The Scots had originally emigrated from the north of Ireland under Fergus some centuries before. Their Irish kingdom was called Dah'iadia, which included the present counties of Antrim, Down, and Londonderry, whose capi- tal was Carrickfergus. Under a leader named Lome an- other Scottish colony left Dalriadia and joined the original emigrants in Argyleshire. In early ecclesiastical history, after the conversion of the Scots to Christianity, the people and territory of Dalriadia, in Ireland, were called Scotia ]\lajor, while the colonists and territory of Argyleshire and Perthshire and the Western Islands were styled Scotia Minor. In process of time the people of Scotia Minor conquered and annexed those of Strathclyde, and subsequently those of the Picts, thus uniting the whole in the twelfth century into one kingdom, known as Scotland; after which the name Scotia Major began gradually to be dropped from Ireland, and the present name of Ireland and the Irish to be used instead. While the southern Britons were conquered by the Eo- mans between the years 42 and 449, and their territory was known as Roman Britain, which was divided into five provinces, Ireland never belonged to that empire, although many a skirmish had taken place between the Scots and the Roman legions, which produced in the minds of the former an uncompromising enmity against the latter, and led to many an incursion of the Scots into Britain for the sake of retaliation, plunder, and the capture of slaves. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 43 About 389 an invasion of barbarians entered Dacia and attempted to cross the Danube iuto the provinces south of that river. To aid in theu* repulsion some of the legions were transferred from Britain to the scenes of warfare. This left the defenses of North Britain weakened ; perceiv- ing which, the Scots took advantage, entered Britain, and captured much booty and many persons, whom they car- ried to Ireland and sold into bondage. SUCCATHUS MAGONIUS. Succathus Magonius seems to have been one of these cap- tives. He was then about sixteen years of age, and seems to have been descended from an ancient, honorable, noble Eoman family. His grandfather was a presbyter of one of the churches of Britain, and his father was a deacon of the same religious denomination, and a deciu'io of the city of Bennavem, a Eoman civil headquarters, on the banks of the Clyde, near Dunbarton. Dunbarton arose to eminence and subsequently became the capital of the kingdom of Strathclyde, afterward memorable for its surroundings, beleaguerments, and destruction by its Anglo-Saxon and Danish intruders, as well as for the part that the people basking along the banks of the Clyde, the Forth, and throughout the adjoining territories, contributed toward the organization of the kingdom of Scotland. A Eoman provincial decurio was similar to a councilor of a modern city. He was clothed with magisterial au- thority, and could act on many occasions in a judicial as- pect. It was a position of profit and honor, and reflected 44 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. a corresponding distinction on the holder thereof and his family. There was no reason for its being incompatible with that of a deacon of the Christian church. Originally dea- cons were appointed from the circumstances of the occa- sion, not to be clergymen, but to serve tables for the poor at Jerusalem. It was a temporal and not a spiritual office during the days of the Apostles. Gradually it grew to be a spiritual calling ; just as the cardinals were first appointed at Rome, dui'ing a plague, to bury the dead, and subsequent- ly increased to such importance as to become princes of the church, by whom the popes were to be chosen. All clergy- men in primitive times, like Paul, supported themselves with the labors of their own hands. They could be lawyers or judges, mechanics or laborers, and still be clergymen. The mother of this youth was also a remarkable, strong- minded woman. She was Conehessa, a sister of the cele- brated Martin of Tours, who died in a.d. 397 and whose fame has outlived his detractors and persecutors. One brother, named Sananas, also a deacon, and five sisters, known as Lupita, Tigris, Liemania, Dararca, and Sanena, composed with his father and mother the house- hold family of this youth. In those days raids on Britain and other countries for capturing booty, plunder, and robbery were a part of the business of savage tribes. To oppress the weak and en- slave the innocent were not uncommon transactions. Noble and ignoble shared the same common catastrophe. Neither age nor sex nor beauty formed a barricade against IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 45 such results. Might ever and anon overruled right in such forays ; and the ruder, the more ferocious and savage the assailants, the more victorious they became over their more refined and vanquished opponents. On returning to Ireland, the Scots sold their captives respectively to several masters. Succathus Magonius was sold among others to a royal chief named Milcho who re- sided at Sliemish, near Ballymena, in the county of Antrim, where is a townland stiU known as BaUyligpatrick ; and during six years he served his master in a menial capac- ity faithfully and conscientiously. While from his earliest recollection he had spoken the Latinized British language, he now became acquainted ■with a different tongue which was spoken in Ireland. It was called the Celtic. It was the language of music, poetry, and eloquence. It was the embodiment of the sublime and the beautiful. For six years he heard this language spoken. It became a part of his nature and the expression of his thoughts. It captivated his mind. He loved its sweet accents. He be- came a master of its utterance and an eloquent delineator of its verbiage ; which in subsequent years rendered his mission to the Scottish people successful. His Birth. Several dates are assigned to the birthday of our captive. By William of Malmesbury, Adam Dormerheim, John of Glastonbury, Alfred Creasey, Stoneyhm-st, and Probas, he was born in a.d. 361 ; while by Henry Marleburgh it oc- 46 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. curved in a.d. 376; by Joceliu, in 370; by Florence, Usher, Rev. John Lynch, and the Book of Sligo, in 372 or 373. His Escape from Bondage. During the time spent in servitude two leading thoughts arose before his mind uninterruptedly — that of father, mother, brothers and sisters, home and friends ; and that of the Supreme Being and his relations to the Triune Maj- esty in the heavens. At last he escaped and was enabled to return to the home of his youth, where he was received with the fondest enthusiasm by his family and friends. His Ministerial Studies. These were doubtless conducted at his home. In a former part it has been stated that the condition of educa- tion in Britain under the Romans was of a superior order. An institution wherein Latin, Greek, the British language, arts, and sciences were taught, was at the home of Patrick's youth. He had thus ample opportunity for preparing himself for professional life. It was customary in those times among those of Oriental and Latin origin on adopting a new profession to assume a corresponding name. So this young student, in select- ing the profession of the ministerial calling, had a similar privilege allowed him ; and being descended from the pa- trician order of ancient Rome, he chose a name derived from it to designate his calling, and hence he was styled Patricius, which in English means Patrick. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 47 Like the Apostle of the Geutiles, who heard a man from Macedonia calling him to come over and help them, so Patrick seemed to think that he heard the voice of the Irish calling on him for similar aid. There is a wonderful mental and spiritual likeness between Paul and Patrick. Both were men of independent thought, purpose, and ac- tion. Both were profoundly acquainted with the sacred Scriptures. Both were unmarried and yet advocated the right of the ministry to marry. Both believed in the efficacy of free sovereign grace, the atonement made by Christ, justification by faith, the adoption of the children of God, salvation through the shed blood and living intercession of Christ, and the absolute sovereignty of the supreme Head, the great High Priest, and the su- preme mover of human forces in favor of whatever tends to noble thoughts, correct principles, true conditions, and unconditional salvation. Thus prepared for his future career, there was no un- certain statement made by him about his intended home. He left his family, wealth, ease, pleasure, friends, and country for Ireland, where death, privations, poverty, and hunger were no uncommon surroundings. Patrick in Ireland. After completing his work of preparation for the sacred ministry and his mission, he passed over to Ireland about the year 432 ; and as he was by his previous stay in that country rendered able to address the people in their own language, his success as a missionary surpassed his expec- 48 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AXD LEARNING. tation. Wherever he went a new and undefined interest was created by his sermons. His words seemed clothed with an indescribable magnetic eloquence which not only attracted his audience but enforced the truth of his teach- ings upon their hearts and affections. The sacred Scrip- tures were his study by day and his meditation by night. His sympathetic style of address attracted the attention of all who heard him. Patrick^s Biblical Teachings. The life and labors of such a man cannot be easily ap- preciated by those of the present age. We are to remem- ber that when he commenced his missionary labors Ireland was a land foreign to the Roman empire, and was withal not only pagan in religion, but barbarous and uncivilized. The chief thought in the minds of the Irish was plunder, murder, revenge, and cruelties. For centuries they had been accustomed to make predatory invasions of Britain, Gaul, and other countries. Their enmity against the Ro- mans in Britain was indomitable. For a time they seized the country, which required the utmost effort of Theo- dosius the Great to repel them. The success of Patrick arose partly from his ability to address his hearers in their own vernacular, which he ac- quired during his former servitude, and also from his fervency, devotion, and piety, which gave him command- ing influence with all with whom he came in contact. His acquaintance with the sacred Scriptures was marvelous in an age when printing was unknown. In his Confession, IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 49 and letter to Coroticus, his biblical quotations are quite numerous. They include sixty-one from the Old Testa- ment and one hundred and thirty from the New Testa- ment, ranging over the one from Genesis to Malachi and over the other from the Gospel of Matthew to the Book of Eevelation, as follows: there are two from Genesis, two from Exodus, one from Leviticus, one from Deuteronomy, one from 1 Samuel, three from 2 Samuel, two from 2 Kings, one from 2 Chronicles, one from Job, twenty-three from the Psalms, four from Proverbs, eight from Isaiah, four from Jeremiah, two from Hosea, one from Joel, one from Amos, one from Habakkuk, and three from Malachi ; while there are seventeen fi'om the Gospel of Matthew, fourteen from Mark, eight from John, thirteen from the Acts of the Apostles, twenty-two from Eomans, four from 1 Corinthians, nine from 2 Corinthians, five from Gala- tians, four from Ephesians, one from Philippians, two from Colossians, two from 1 Thessaloniaus, four from 2 Thessalonians, one from 1 Timothy, two from 2 Timothy, one from Titus, two from Hebrews, one from James, seven from 1 Peter, five from 1 John, two from Jude, and seven from Revelation. "With such an array of armor of his divine Master he could not have been otherwise than successful. Patrick's Conversion and Creed. His visit to Tara and the other parts of Ireland showed a confidence in a higher Power than himself. His Hymn, composed before his meeting with King Laoghaire, ex- hibits an unflinching faith in the Supreme Being, the 50 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. divine Master, and the Holy Spirit. There is no doubt- ful tone in his invocation, there is no uncertain statement about his belief. The sacred Thi-ee in One are presented in sublime terms. His life was spent in the service of his divine Master without earthly reward, from the pure love of the souls of the people. Eight years before his death, he is said to have founded a monastery and church at Armagh which subsequently became distinguished in history. By some his education has been depreciated. If, how- ever, the times and circumstances in which he lived, and during which he was preparing for his missionary coui'se, be duly considei-ed, his attainments will not fail in com- parison with those of his critics ; for it is doubtful, if they were required to express their thoughts in Latin, that their grammatical structui'e would surpass his composi- tion as set forth in his writings. His success in the con- version of so many of the Irish, in founding so many churches, and in ordaining so many bishops as their pastors, discloses a will, an energy, a labor, a persever- ance, an intelligence, and a mental and intellectual power which surpass the utmost bounds of human imagination. The conversion of the Irish people was by no means an easy undertaking. They were not under a civilized gov- ernment. While there was one chief king and four other provincial kings, there were upward of three hundred chiefs who exercised an important influence and had to be approached in terms becoming their respective positions. Each chief held the mastery over his clan. The people of one elan oftentimes made war upon those of another. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 51 Even should the people of one clan be brought under the influence of the gospel, Patrick had to conciliate the chief of the next before being permitted to missionate among his people. Thus king after king and chief after chief had to be reconciled to the teachings of the gospel before their people could be approached ; but when a king or a chief once became a believer and was baptized, all his people were ordered to be baptized likewise. The king or chief was the important character to convert, for when that was done the people were compelled to follow. Such a coui-se accounts for the large numbers of people said to have been baptized in the course of a day in ancient times among the barbarians of France, after their king was converted to the Christian faith. A question arises : By whom was Patrick commissioned to convert the Scots of Ireland ? There is no mention of his name or country or mission in the annals of the Ro- man church of that time. The Bishop of Rome was not acquainted with him. In 432 Prosper Aquitanus was no- tary of the Roman see and author of the Annals of the Roman church, but no mention is made therein of Patrick or his mission. The Venerable Bede, in his chronicle of history, in 672, is silent about him. Baronius is also ret- icent. As his name is not mentioned by either Aqui- tanus, or Bede, or Baronius, or by any other contemporary Roman Catholic historian, it follows that he was unknown to them and had no connection with their church. The creed of Patrick forms an orthodox faith, whose purity is beyond the shadow of doubt. It is simply ex- pressed, but magnificent in thought, and is as follows : 52 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. " There is no other God besides God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, whom we confess to have been from everlasting with the Father, and who was begotten before all things, and by whom aU things were made, visible and invisible, and who was made man, and overcame death, and ascended into heaven to the Father. And God gave unto him aU power over eveiy name in heaven and on earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God. We believe in him, and expect that he will come again to judge the quick and the dead, and will render to every man according to his works ; and he has poured out abundantly the gift of the Holy Ghost, the judge of immortality, who maketh us believe and obey, and to be sons of God the Father, and to be fellow-heirs of Christ, whom we confess ; and we adore one God in Trinity of the sacred name." Patrich^s Writings. The first is his Hymn, said to have been composed when he and his followers were intending to visit the king at Tara. The second is his Confession, wi-itten at the close of his life. The third is an epistle addressed to Coroticus, a Welsh chief. In aU these compositions the sacred Scriptures are his guide. He relies upon no human authority. He proclaims himself, like another Paul, influenced only by divine im- pulse to return as a missionary to Ireland. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 53 He gives no human or ecclesiastical authority for his commission to preach the gospel in Ireland. The pope is not mentioned. The Virgin Mary is not referred to. The Mass is not presented. Purgatory, transubstantiation, kneeling before the host, bowing at the name of Jesus, prayers for the dead, are not men- tioned. Saints, angels, images, and pictures are not re- ferred to. His chief theme is Christ's blood shed for sinners, God's love, the Spii'it's influence, all set forth without resei've, and based upon statements and proofs from the sacred Scriptures. The following are the only genuine writings of this dis- tinguished missionaiy, which are submitted for a careful, candid examination of their nature, character, doctrine, and thought ; they unconditionally set forth fully his the- ological sentiments, which are in entire harmony with the orthodox views of the Oriental churches of that age, and with the sentiments of the Christian fathers heretofore presented as to the value, importance, and immediate worth of the sacred Scriptures as the basis and gi'ound of faith, as well as with the sentiments of evangelical Chris- tendom : Patrick's Hymn. {Patricii Canticum Scotticum, a.d. 440.) 1. " I bind myself to-day. The strong power of an invocation of the Trinity, The faith of the Trinity in Unity, The Creator of the elements. 5^ IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. " I bind myself to-day. The power of the incarnation of Christ, with that of his baptism, The power of the crucifixion, with that of his burial. The power of the resurrection, with the ascension, The power of the coming to the sentence of judgment. 3. " I bind myself to-day. The power of the love of the seraphim, In obedience to angels (in the service of archangels), In the hope of resurrection unto reward, In the prayers of the noble fathers, In the predictions of the prophets. In the preaching of the apostles. In the faith of confessors, In the purity of holy virgins. 4. " I bind toy self to-day. The power of Heaven, The light of the sun, the whiteness of the snow, The force of the fire, the flashing of lightning, The velocity of wind, the depth of the sea, The stability of the earth, the hardness of rocks. 5. " I bind myself to-day. The power of God to guide me, * The might of God to uphold me, the wisdom of God to teach me. The eye of God to watch over me, the ear of God to hear me, The word of God to give me speech, the hand of God to protect me, The way of God to prevent me, the shield of God to shelter me, IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 55 The love of God to defend me, against the snares of the demons, Against the temptations of vice, agamst the lusts ot nature. Against every man who meditates injury to me, Whether far or near, with few or many. 6. " I have set around me all these powers Against every hostile savage power Directed against my body and soul ; Against the incantations of false prophets. Against the black laws of heathenism, Against the false heresy. Against the deceits of idolatry, Against the spells of women, smiths, and Druids, Against all knowledge which bhnds the soul of man. 7. " Christ protect me to-day Against poison, against burning, ^ Against drowning, against wound. That I may receive abundant reward. 8. " Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left, Christ in the fort, Christ in the chariot-seat, Christ in the poop. " Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Chi-ist in every ear that hears me. gg IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. 10. " I bind myself to-day. The strong power of an invocation of tlie Trinity, The faith of the Trinity in Unity, The Creator of (the elements). 11. " Salvation is of the Lord, Salvation is of the Lord, Salvation is of Christ. May thy salvation, O Lord, be ever with us." Confession of Patrick ; from Book of Armagh. I. " 1. I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and least of all the faithful, and most contemptible to very many, had for my father Calpurnius, a deacon, a son of Potitus, a presbyter, •who dwelt in village of Bennavem Tabernise, for he had a small farm hard by the place where I was taken captive. I was then nearly sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God ; and I was taken to Ireland in captivity with so many thousand men, in accordance with our deserts, be- cause we departed from God, and we kept not his precepts, and were not obedient to our presbyter who admonished us for our salvation. " 2. And the Lord brought down upon us the wrath of his kingdom, and dispersed us among many nations, even to the end of the earth, where now my littleness is so seen among foreigners. And there the Lord opened (to me) the sense of my unbelief, that, though late, I might re- IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 57 member my sins, and that I might return with my whole heart to the Lord my God, who had respect to my humiUa- tion, and pitied my youth and ignorance, and took cai-e of me before I knew him and before I had wisdom or could discern between good and evil, and protected me, and com- forted me as a father does a son. " 3. Wherefore I cannot keep silent — nor is it indeed ex- pedient (to do so) — concerning such great benefits and such great favor as the Lord has vouchsafed to me in the land of my captivity ; because this is oui* recompense (to him), that after our chastening or knowledge of God we should exalt and confess his wonderful works before every nation which is under heaven. "4. Because there is no other God, neither ever was, neither before, nor shall be hereafter, except God the Father, unbegotten, without beginning ; from whom is all beginning ; upholding all things, as we have said ; and his Son Jesus Christ, whom indeed, with the Father, we tes- tify to have always been, before the origin of the world, spiritually with the Father; and an inexplicable manner begotten before all beginning ; and by himseK were made the things visible and invisible ; and was made man ; (and) death having been vanquished, was received into the hea- vens to the Father. And he has given to him all power in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, that every tongue should confess to him that Jesus Christ is Lord and God, in whom we believe, and expect (his) coming, to be ere long to judge of the living and of the dead, who will render to every one according to his deeds. And he has poured upon us abundantly the Holy Spirit, a gift and pledge of 58 IRELANT): ITS CBSISTIANITY AND LEARNING. immortality, who makes the faithful and obedient to be- come sons of God and joint heirs with Christ ; whom we confess and adore — one God in the Holy Trinity of the sacred name. " 5. For he himself has said by the prophet, ' Call npon me in the day of thy tribulation, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt magnify me.' And again he said, ' It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God.' " 6. Although I am in many respects imperfect, I wish my brethren and acquaintances to know my disposition, and that they may be able to comprehend the wish of my soul. I am not ignorant of the testimony of my Lord, who witnesses in the psalm, 'Thou shalt destroy those that speak a lie.' Again, * The mouth that belieth killeth the soul.' And the same Lord saith in the gospel, ' The idle word that men shall speak they shall render an ac- count for in the day of judgment.' Therefore I ought earnestly, with fear and trembling, to dread this sentence in that day, when no one shall be able to withdraw himself or to hide, but when we all together shall render an ac- count of even the smallest of our sins before the tribunal of the Lord Jesus Christ. " 7. Wherefore I thought of writing long ago, but hesi- tated even till now ; because I feared falling into the tongue of men ; because I had not learned like others who have drunk in, in the best manner, both law and sacred litera- ture, in lioth ways equally, and have never changed their language from infancy, but have always added more to its perfection. For our language and speech is translated into a foreign tongue. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 59 " 8. As can easily be proved from the developments of my writings, how I have been instructed and learned in diction ; because the wise man says, ' For by the tongue is discerned understanding and knowledge and the teach- ings of truth.' But what avaUs an excuse, (although) ac- cording to truth, especially when accompanied with pre- sumption ? Since, indeed, I myself now, in my old age, strive after what I did not learn in my youth, because they prevented me from learning thoroughly that which I had read through before. But who believes me although I should say as I have ah-eady said ? When a youth, nay almost a boy in words, I was taken captive, before I knew what I ought to seek, or what I ought to aim at, or what I ought to avoid. Hence I blush to-day, and greatly fear to expose my unskilfulness, because, not being eloquent, I cannot express myself with clearness and brevity, nor even as the spirit moves, and the mind and endowed un- derstanding point out. " 9. But if it had been granted to me, even as to others, I would not, however, be silent, because of the recompense. And if, perhaps, it appears to some that I put myself for- ward in this matter with my ignorance and slower tongue, it is, however, written, * Stammering tongues shall learn quickly to speak peace.' How much more ought we to aim at this — we who are the epistle of Christ for salvation even to the end of the earth — and if not eloquent, yet powerful and very strong— written in your hearts, not with ink, it is testified, ' but by the Spirit of the living God'! " 10. And again the Spirit testifies : 'And husbandry was 60 IRELAND: ITS CBIilSTIANITF AND LEARNING. ordained by the Most High.' Therefore I, first a rustic, a fugitive, unlearned, indeed not knowing how to pi'ovide for the future — but I know this most certainly, that be- fore I was humbled I was like a stone lying in deep mud ; and he who is mighty came, and in his own mercy raised me and lifted me up, and placed me on the top of the wall. And hence I ought loudly to cry out, to return also some- thing to the Lord for his so great benefits, here and in eternity, which benefits the minds of men cannot esti- mate. But, therefore, be ye astonished, both great and small, who fear God. And ye rhetoricians who do not know the Lord, hear and examine: who aroused me, a fool, from the midst of those who apj^ear to be wise, and skilled in the laws, and powerful in speech and in every matter? And me — who am detested by this world — he has inspired me beyond others (if indeed I be such), but on condition that with fear and reverence and without complaining I should faithfully serve the nation to which the love of Christ has transferred me, and given me for my life, if I should be worthy ; and, in fine, I should serve them with humility and truth. n, " 1. In the measure, therefore, of the faith of the Trin- ity, it behooves me to distinguish, without shrinking from danger, to make known the gift of God and his evei'lasting consolation, and without fear to spread faithfully every- where the name of God, in order that even after my death I may leave it as a bequest to my brethren and to my IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. gl sons, whom I have baptized in the Lord— so many thou- sand men. And I was not worthy nor deserving that the Lord should grant this to his servant; that after going through afflictions in so many difficulties, after captivity, after many years, he should grant me so great favor among the nation, which when I was yet in my youth I never hoped for nor thought of. " 2. But after I had come to Ireland I daily used to feed cattle, and I prayed frequently during the day ; the love of God and the fear of him increased more and more, and faith became stronger, and the spirit was stirred ; so that I used in one day I said about a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same; so. that I used even to remain in the woods and in the mountains ; before daylight I used to rise to prayer, through snow, through frost, through rain, and felt no harm ; nor was there any slothfulness in me, as I now perceive, because the spirit was then fervent within me. " 3. And there indeed, one night in my sleep, I heard a voice saying unto me, ' Thou fastest well ; thou shalt soon go to thy country.' Again, after a very short time, I heard a response saying to me, 'Behold, thy ship is ready.' And it was not near, but perhaps two hundred miles away, and I never had been there, nor was I ac- quainted with any of the men there. " 4. After this I took flight, and left the man with whom I had been six years ; and I calne in the strength of the Lord, who directed my way for good ; and I feared nothing till I arrived at that ship. And on that same day on which I arrived the ship moved out of its place, and I asked 52 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. them that I might go away and sail with them. And it displeased the captain, and he answered sharply, with indignation, ' Do not by any means seek to go with us.' And when I heard this I separated myself from them; and they began to say to me, ' Come, for we receive you in good faith; make friendship with us in whatever 'way you wish.' And in that day I accordingly disdained to make friendship with them, on account of the fear of God. But in very deed I hoped that they would come into the faith of Jesus Christ, because they were heathen ; and on account of this I clave to them. And we sailed imme- diately. " 5. After three days we reached laud, and for twenty- eight days we made our journey through a desert. And food failed them. And one day the captain began to say to me, ' Wliat, Christian, you say thy God is great and almighty ; why, therefore, canst thou not pray for us, for we are perishing with hunger ? For it will be a difficult matter for us ever again to see any human being.' But I said to them plainly, 'Turn with faith to the Lord my God, to whom nothing is impossible, that he may send food for us this day in your path, even till you are satis- fied, for it abounds everywhere with him.' And God as- sisting, it so came to pass. Behold, a herd of swine ap- peared in the path before our eyes, and (my companions) killed many of them, and remained there two nights, much refreshed. And their do^ were filled, for many of them had fainted and were left half dead along the way. And after that they gave the greatest thanks to God ; and I was honored in their eyes. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 63 " 6. From that day forth they had food in abundance. They also found wild honey, and offered me a part of it. And one of them said, ' It has been offered" in sacrifice.' Thanks to God, I consequently tasted none of it. But the same night while I was sleeping and Satan greatly tempted me, in a way which I shall long remember as long as I am in this body. And he fell upon me like a huge rock, and I had no power in my limbs save that it came to me into my mind that I should call out ' Helias ' with all my might, and in that moment I saw the sun rise in the heaven ; and while I was crying out ' Helias ' with all my might, behold, the splendor of that sun fell upon me and at once removed the weight from me. And I be- lieve I was aided by Christ my Lord, and his Spirit was there crying for me ; and I hope likewise that it will be thus in the days of my oppression, as the Lord says in the gospel, ' It is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.' in. "1. And again after many years I was taken captive once more. On that fii'st night, therefore, I remained with them, but I heard a divine response saying to me, 'But for two months thou shalt be with them,' which ac- cordingly came to pass. On the sixtieth night the Lord delivered me out of their hands. " 2. Even on our journey he provided for food and fire and dry weather every day, till on the fourteenth day we all arrived. As I stated before, we pursued our journey 64 IRELAND. ■ ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING for twenty-eight days through the desert, and the very night on which we all arrived we had no food left. " 3. And again, after a few years, I was in the Britains with my parents, who received me as a son, and earnestly besought me that now, at least, after the many hardships I had endured, I would never leave them again. And then I saw indeed, in the bosom of the night, a man com- ing as it were from Ireland, Victorius by name, with in- numerable letters, and he gave one of them to me. And I read the beginning of the letter containing ' The Voice of the Irish.' And while I was reading aloud the begin- ning of the letter, I myself thought in my mind that I heard the voice of those who were near the wood of Foclut, which is close to the western sea. And they cried out thus as if with one voice : ' We entreat thee, holy youth, that thou come and henceforth walk among us.' And I was deeply moved in heart and could read no farther, and so I awoke. Thanks be to God that after very many years the Lord granted them according to their cry ! "And on another night, I know not — God knows — whether in me or near me, with almost eloquent words, which I heard and could not understand, except at the end of the speech, one spoke as follows: 'He who gave his life for thee is he who speaks in thee,' and so I awoke full of joy. And again I saw him praying in me, and he was as it were within my body, and I heard above me, that is, above the inner man, and there he was praying mightily with gi-oanings. And meanwhile I was stupefied and astonished, and pondered who it could be that was praying in me. But at the end of the prayer he so spokfe as IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 65 if he were the Spirit. And I awoke and remembered that the Apostle said, ' The Spirit helps the infirmities of our prayers. For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself asketh for us with un- speakable groanings which cannot be expressed in words.' And again, ' The Loi-d is our Advocate and prays for us.' " 4, I saw in a vision of the night a writing against me, without honor. And at the same time I heard a response saying to me, ' We have seen with displeasure the face of the designate with his name stripped.' He did not say, ' You have seen with displeasure,' but ' We have seen with displeasure,' as if he had joined himseK to me, as he had said, 'He that toucheth you is as he that toucheth the apple of mine eye.' Therefore I give thanks to him who comforted me-in all things, that he did not hinder me from the journey which I had resolved, and also from the word which I had learned from Christ my Lord. But the more from that time I felt in myself no Uttle power, and my faith was approved before God and men. " 5. But on this account I boldly assert that my con- science does not reprove now or for the future. ' Grod is my witness ' that I have not lied in the statements that I have made to you. IV. " 1. But it would be long to relate all my labor in details, or even in part. Briefly, I may tell how the most holy God often delivered me from slavery, and from twelve dangers by which my life was imperiled, besides many snares and things I cannot express in words, neither (56 IRELAND: ITS CHUISTIANITY AND LEAUNING. would I give trouble to my readers. But there is God the Author, who knew all things before they came to pass. " 2. For I am greatly debtor to God, who has bestowed on me such grace that many people through me should be born again to God, and that everywhere clergy should be set apart for a people newly coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the ends of the earth, as he had promised of old by his prophets: 'To thee the Gentiles will come and say, As our fathers made false idols, and there is no profit in them.' Again: 'I have set thee to be a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be for salva- tion unto the uttermost parts of the earth.' And there I am willing to wait the promise of him who never fails, as he promises in the gospel: 'They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,' as we believe that believers shall come from all the world. " 3. Therefore it becomes us to fish well and diligently, as the Lord premonishes and teaches, saying: 'Come ye after me, and I will make you fishers of men.' And again he says by the prophets : ' Behold, I send my fishers and hunters, saith the Lord.' Therefore it is very necessary to spread our nets, so that a copious multitude and crowd may be taken for God, and that everywhere there may be clergy who shall baptize and exhort a people needy and anxious, as the Lord admonishes and teaches in the gos- pel, saying: 'Going, therefore, teach ye all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit — even to the end of the age.' Again : * Going into the whole world, preach the gospel to IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 67 eveiy creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be condemned.' " 4. Whence, then, has it come to pass that in Ireland they who never had any knowledge, and until now have only worshiped idols and unclean things, have lately Ije- come a people of the Lord, and are called the sons of God? Sons of the Scots and daughters of chieftains are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ. God is mighty, and may he grant to me that in the future I may spend myself for your souls ! Behold, I call God to witness upon my soul that I lie not ; neither that you may have occasion, nor because I hope for honor from any man. Sufficient to me is honor which is not belied. But I see that now I am exalted by the Lord above measure in the present age ; and I was not worthy nor deserving that he should aid me in this, since I know that poverty and calamity suit me better than riches and luxuries. But Christ the Lord was poor for us. " 5. But I, poor and miserable, even if I wished for riches, yet have them not, neither do I judge my own self, be- cause I daily expect either murder, or to be circumvented, or to be reduced to slavery, or mishap of some kind. " 6. But I beg of those who believe and fear God, who ever shall deign to look or receive this wi-iting, which Pat- rick, the sinner, unlearned indeed, has written in Ireland, that no one may ever say, if I have done or demonstrated anything according to the will of God, however little, that it was my ignorance (which did it). But judge ye, and let it be most truly believed that it has been the gift of God, And this is my Confession before I die." 68 IRELAJfD: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Patrich^s Epistle to Coroticus. " 1. I, Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, declare indeed that I have been appointed a bishop in Ireland ; I most certainly believe that from God I have received what I am. I dwell thus among barbarians, a proselyte and an exile, on ac- count of the love of God. He is witness that it is so. Not because I desired to pour out anything from my mouth so harsh and severe, but I am compelled, stirred up by zeal for God and for the truth of Christ, for the love of my neighbors and sons, for whom I have abandoned countiy and parents, and my soul, even unto death, if I be worthy (of such honor). I have vowed to my God to teach the peoples, although I be despised by some. " 2. With my own hand I have written and composed these words, to be given and handed to the soldiers, to be sent to Coroticus — I do not say, to my fellow-citizens, and to the citizens of the Eoman saints, but to the citizens of demons, on account of their own evil deeds, companions of the Scots and apostate Picts, who stain themselves bloody with the blood of innocent Christians whom I have begotten without number and have confirmed in Christ. "3. On the day after that on which (these Christians) ■were anointed neophytes in white robes, while it was yet glistening on their foreheads, they were cruelly massacred and slaughtered with the sword by those above mentioned. And I sent a letter with a holy presbyter, whom I taught from his infancy, with other clergy, begging them that they would restore to us some of the plunder, or of the baptized captives whom they took ; but they laughed at IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHA'BITANTS. 69 them. Therefore I do not know what I should lament for the more, whether those who were slain, or those whom they captured, or those whom the devil has gi'ie- vously ensnared with the everlasting pain of Gehenna, for they will be chained together with him ; for, indeed, he who commits sin is a slave, and is termed a son of the devil. " 4. "Wherefore let every man fearing God know that they (soldiers) are aliens from me, and from Christ my God, for whom I discharge an embassage — patricides, fratricides, ravening* wolves devouring the people of the Lord as the food of bread. As he says, 'The ungodly have dissipated thy law, Lord.' Since in these last times Ireland has been most excellently and auspiciously planted and instructed by the favor of God, I do not use up (other men's labors, but) I have a part with those whom he hath called and predestined to preach the gospel amid no small persecutions, even to the end of the earth ; although the enemy envies us, by the tyranny of Coroticus, who fears not God nor his presbyters whom he hath chosen, and committeth to them the greatest, divine, sublime power, ' Whom they bind upon the earth, they are Iwund also in heaven.' " 5. I therefore earnestly beseech (you) who are holy and humble in heart not to flatter such persons, nor to take food and drink with them, nor to deem it right to take their alms, until they rigorously do penance with tears poured forth, and make satisfaction to God, and liberate the servants of God, and the baptized handmaidens of Christ, for whom he was put to death and crucified. 70 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. "6. The Most High reprobates the gifts of the wicked. He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrifieeth the son in the presence of his fatlier. 'The riches,' he says, 'which he will collect unjustly shall be vomited from his belly ; the angel of death shall drag him off, the fury of the dragons shall assail him, the inextinguishable fire shall devour him. And therefore, woe unto those who fill themselves with things which are not their own ; ' or ' what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul.' " 7. It were long to discuss (texts) one by one, or to run through the whole law to select testimonies concerning such cupidity. Avarice is a deadly sin : ' Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.' 'Thou shalt not kill' A murderer cannot be with Christ. ' Whosoever hateth his brother is termed a murderer,' or, ' He who loveth not his brother abideth in death.' How much more guilty is he who hath stained his hands with the blood of the sons of God — whom he lately acquired in the ends of the earth, by the exhortation of our littleness ! " 8. Was it indeed without God, or according to the flesh, that I came to Ireland? Who compelled me? I was bound by the Spirit not to see again any of my kindred. Do not I love pious compassion, because I act (thus) to- ward that nation which once took me captive and laid waste the servants and handmaidens of my father's house ? I was a free man, according to the flesh ; I was born of a father who was a decurio. For I bartered my noble birth — I do not blush to regi-et it — for the benefit of others. In fine, I am a servant of Christ, (given over) to a foreign IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 71 nation, on account of the ineffable gloiy of that perennial life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And if my own friends do not acknowledge me — 'A prophet hath not honor in his own country.' " 9. Perhaps (they think) we are not of the one sheep- fold nor have the one God as Father. As he says, ' He that not with me is against me ; and what gathereth not with me seattereth.' It is not fitting that one destroys, an- other builds. I do not seek those things which are my own. " 10. Not my grace, but God, indeed, hath put this de- sire into my heart, that I should be one of the hunters and fishers whom of old God promised before the last day. I am envied. What shall I do. Lord 1 I am greatly despised. Behold, thy sheep are torn around me, and are plundered even by the above-mentioned robbers, by the order of Coroticus, with hostile mind. Far from the love of God is the betrayal of the Christians into the hands of the Scots and Picts. Ravening wolves have swallowed up the flock of the Lord, which eveiywhere in Ireland was increasing with the greatest diligence, and the sons of the Scots and the daughters of princes are monks and virgins (in numbers) I cannot enumerate. Wherefore the injury done to the righteous will not give thee pleasure here, nor will it ever give thee pleasure in the regions below. " 11. Which of the saints would not dread to be sportive or to enjoy a feast with such persons ? They have filled their houses with the spoil of the Christian dead. They live by rapine, they know not (how) to pity. Poison, deadly food they hand to their friends and sons. As Eve 72 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIAXITY AND LEAEXIXG. did not understand that she offered death to her husband, so are all those that do evil — they work out evil-acting death and perpetual punishment. " 12. It is the custom of the Eoman and Gallic Christians to send holy and suitable men to the Franks and to the other nations, with so many thousands of solidi, to redeem baptized captives — you (Coroticus) so often slay them, and seU them to a foreign nation that knows not God! You surrender members of Christ as into a den of wolves ! What hope have you in God ? or he who either agrees with you or who uses to you words of flattery ? " 13. God will judge. For is it not written, ' Not only they who do evil, but also they who consent unto, are to be condemned ' ? I know not what I can say, or what I can speak further, concerning the departed sons of God, whom the sword has touched beyond measure severely. For it is written, 'Weep with them that weep,' and again, ' If one member suffers, all members suffer along with it.' Wherefore the church laments and bewails her sons and daughters whom the sword has not yet slain, but who have been carried to distant parts, and exported into far-off lands, where sin manifestly is shamelessly stronger, and abounds. There free-born Christian men having been sold are reduced to bondage, too, of the most worthless, the vilest and apostate Picts ! " 14. Therefore with sadness and sorrow I will cry out, my most beautiful and most beloved brethren and sons whom I begot in Christ — I cannot count you — what shall 1 do for you! I am not worthy before God or men to help! The wickedness of the wicked has prevailed IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 73 against xis ! Perhaps they do not believe that we have partaken of one baptism, or that we have one God as Father. To them it is a disgrace that we have been born in Ireland, as he says, 'Have you not one God— why have ye forsaken each his neighbor?' Therefore I grieve for you, I do grieve, my most beloved ones. But again, I rejoice within myseK, I have not labored in vain, and my pilgrimage has not been in vain, although a crime so horrid and unspeakable has happened. Thanks be to God, baptized believers, ye have passed from this world to paradise ! I see you have begun to migrate where shall be no night, nor gi'ief, nor death any more, but 'ye shall exult as calves let loose from their bonds, and ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shaU be ashes under your feet.' " Ye, therefore, shall reign with the apostles and prophets and martyi-s, and obtain the eternal kingdom, as he Him- self testifies, ' They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.' ' Without are dogs, and sor- cerers, and murderers, and liars, and perjurers.' 'Their part is in the lake of eternal fire.' Not without reason does the Apostle say: 'When the just will scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner, and the impious, and the transgi-essor of the law find himself?' For where will Coroticus, with his most wicked rebels against Christ— where shall they see themselves? When baptized women are distributed as rewards on account of a wi-etched tem- poral kingdom, which indeed in a moment shall pass away like clouds of smoke which is dispersed everywhere by the 74 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. wind ! So sinners and the fraudulent shall perish from the face of the Lord, but the just shall feast with gi*eat confi- dence with Christ ; they shall judge the nations, and shall rule over the wicked kings forever and ever. Amen. " 15. I testify before God and his angels that it shall be so, as he has intimated to my ignorance. They are not my words, but those of God and of the apostles and pro- phets, which I have set forth in Latin — for they have never lied. 'He that beUeveth shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned.' God hath spoken. " 16. I entreat earnestly whosoever is a servant of God, that he may be pi'ompt to be the bearer of this letter ; that it in no way may be abstracted by any one, but far rather that it be read before all the people, and in the presence of Coroticus himself: to the end that, if God would in- spire them, that they may at some time return to God, or even though late may repent of what they have done so impiously — murderers of brethren in the Lord — and may liberate the baptized captives whom they have taken be- fore, so that they may deserve to live unto God, and may be made whole here and in eternity. Peace be to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen." LATIN HYMN OF PATRICK NO. 2 OR SECDNDINI. (Written about a.d. 448, in praise of the labors, faith, and gospel triumphs of Patrick.) Incipit Ymnus Sancti Fatricii Episcopi Scotorum, a.d. 448. Audite, omnes amantes Deum, sancta merita Vii'i in beati Patricii Episcopi : Quomo do bonum ob actum, simulatur angelis, Perfectamque propter vitam aequatur Apostolis. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 75 Beati Christi custodit mandata in omnibus ; Cujus opera refulgent clara inter homines, Sanctumque cujus sequuntur exemplum mirificum; Unde et celio Patrem maguificant Domiuum. Constans in Dei timore et fide immobilis, Super quem aedificatur ut Petrus Ecclesia ; Cujusque Apostolatum a Deo sortitus est; In cujus portae ad versus inferui non prevalent. Dominus ilium elegit, ut doceret barbaras Nationes ; ut piscaret per doctrinae retia ; Ut de seculo credentes traheret ad gi'atiam, Dominumque sequerentur sedem ad aetheriam. Electa Christi talenta vendit evangelica. Quae Hibernas inter gentes cum usuris exigit ; Navigii hujus laboi'is, turn operae, pretium, Cum Christo regni eelestis possessurus gaudium. Fidelis Dei minister, insignisque nuntius, Aposticum exemplum formamque praebet bonis ; Qui tam verbis quam et factis plebi praedicat Dei, Ut quem dictis non convertit actu provocet bono. Gloriam habet cum Christo honorem in seculo ; Qui ab omnibus ut Dei veneratur angelus ; Quem Deus miset ut Paulum ad gentes Apostolum, Ut hominibus ducatum praeberet regno Dei. Humilis Dei ob metum spiritu et corpore. Super quem bouum ob actum requiescit Dominus; Cujusque justa in carne Christi porta stigmata; In cujus sola sustenans gloriatur in cruce. Impiger credentes pascit dapibus celestibus, Ne qui videntur cum Christo in via deficiant ; Quibus erogat, ut panes, verba evangelica ; In cujus multiplicantvTr, ut manna, in manibus : 76 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Kastam qui eustodit caruum ob amorem Domini, Quam earuem templum paruit Sanctoque Spiritui ; A quo constanter cum mundis possiditui- actibus, Quam ut hostiam placeutem vivam offert Domino : Lumenque mundi aeeensum ingens evangelicum, In eandelabro levatum, toti fulgens seculo, Civitas regis muuita supra moutem posita, Copia in qua est multa quam Dominus possidet. Maximus nanque in regno celorum vocabitur, Qui quod verbis docet sacris, factis adimplet bonis ; Bono preeedit exemplo formamque fidelium, Muudoque in corde habet ad Deum fidueiam. Nomen domini audenter anuuneiat gentibus, Quibus laucri salutis aeternam ad gratiam; Pro quorum orat delictis ad Deum quotidie ; Pro quibus ut Deo dignas immolatque bostias. Omnem pro Divina lege mundi spernit gloriam, Quae cuneta ad cujus mensam estimat Ciseilia; Nee ingruenti movetur mundi hujus fubnine, Sed in adversis lactatur, cum pro Christo patitur. Pastor bonus ac fidelis gregis evangelici ; Quern Deus Dei elegit custodire populum, Suamque pascere plebem Divinis dogmatibus ; Pro qua ad Cbristi exemplum suam tradidit animam. Quern pro meritis Salvator provexit pontificem, Ut in celesti moneret clerieos militia ; Celestem quibus annonam erogat cum vestibus, Quod in Divinis impletur sacrisque affatibus. Eegis nuntius in vi tans credentes ad nuptias ; Qui ornatur vestimento nuptiale indutus ; Qui celeste aurit vinum in vasis celestibus, Propinansque Dei plebem Spirituali poculo. IRELAND'S AXCIEXT INHABITANTS. 77 Sacrum invenit tesaunim sacro in volumine, Salvatoresque in carne Dietatem previdit ; Qiiem tesaunim emit Sanctis perfectisque meritis ; Israel vocatur hujus anima videns Deum. Testis Domini fidilis in lege Catholica, Cujus verba sunt Divinis condita oi'aculis : Ne humane putrent carnes essaeque a Vermibus, Sed celeste Salliuntui* Sapore ad Victimam. Verus cultor et insignis agi'i evangelici, Cujus semina videntur Christi evangelia ; Quae Divino serit ore in aures precedentium Quorumque corda ac mentes Sancto aut Spiritu. Xpc: ilium sibi legit in terns vicarium Qui de gemino captivos liberat servitio ; Penosque de servitute quos redemit hominum, Innumeros de Zabuli obsolvet domino. Ymnos cum Apocalypsi palmosque cantat Dei, Quosque ad edificandum Dei tractat populum ; Quam legem in Trinitate sacri credit Nominis, Tribusque Personis Unam docetque Substantiam. Zona Domini precinctus diebus et noctibus, Sine intermissione Deum orat Dominum Cujus ingentis laboris percepturus premium, Cum Apostolis i-egnabit Sanctus Super Israel. Audite Omnes. THE GENUINE DOCUMENTS OF THE TIMES OF PATKICK. Dr. Stubbs, regius professor of modern history in the University of Oxford, England, and also editor of the " Councils " of the Church of Ireland, in his " Memorials 78 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. of St. Patrick " states, inter al. : " The four documents above printed, viz., St. Patrick's two tracts and Hymn and St. Sechnall's Hymn (St. Secundini), appear to be the only authentic and contemporary documents of this pe- riod. The tract ' De Duodecim Abusionibus SaecuH ' (in Ware's ' Opusa Patric' and in Villanueva's, attributed also to St. Cyprian and to St. Augustine) was current among the Irish as St. Patrick's as early as the beginning of the eighth century (Cod. Can. Hil., Kb. xxiv., e. 3) ; and that * De Tribus Habitaculis ' (likewise in "Ware and Villanueva, and the App. St. Augustine, vol. vi.) was also assigned to St. Patrick, but not by Irish authorities. Internal evi- dence is conclusive in referring both to a later writer. ( Vide Todd's ' St. Patrick,' p. 484.) " Thus it appears that the Confession of St. Patrick, his letter to Coroticus, and his Hymn, were the only genuine pieces of his own composition extant ; and that the Hj^mn of St. Secundini is in like manner the only one of the age that is also genuine. The Senchus Mor was the code of the old Irish law. After the religious changes introduced by Patrick, the Senchus Mor was revised; nine persons were appointed at Tara to make the new code. Those were Laoghaire, Core, Dairi the hardy, Patrick, Benen, Cairnech the just, Eosa, Dubthach, Fergus, with science, who were called the nine pillars of the Senchus Mor, whose laws bound the civil, criminal, and ecclesiastical matters. A poet of that age, named Dubthach Mac ua Lugair, royal poet of the men of Erin, in admiration of Patrick, euphoniously sang the missionary's praise : IHELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 79 Patvick baptized with glory lu the time of Theodosius ; He preached the gospel without failure To the glorious people of Milidh's sons. The cause of the Senchus having been composed was this: "Patrick came to Erin to baptize and disseminate religion among the Galidhl, in the ninth year of the reign of Theodosius, and in the fourth year of Laoghaire, son of NiaU, king of Erin. " After this Patrick requested the men of Erin to come to one place to hold a conference with him. When they came to the conference the gospel of Christ was preached to them all ; and when the men of Erin heai'd of the kill- ing of the living and the resuscitation of the dead, and all the power of Patrick since he arrived in Erin, and when they saw Laoghaire with his Druids overcome by the gi'eat signs and miracles wrought in the presence of the men of Erin, they bowed down in obedience to the will of God and Patrick. " Then Laoghaire said : ' It is necessary for you, men of Erin, that every other law should be settled and ar- ranged by us as well as this.' ' It is better to do so,' said Patrick. It was then that all the professors of the science in Erin were assembled, and each of them exhibited his art before Patrick, in the presence of every chief of Erin. " It was then Dubthach was ordered to exhibit the judg- ments and all the poetry of Erin, and every law which prevailed among the men of Erin, through the law of na- ture and the law of the seers, and in the judgments of the island of Erin, and in the Picts. 80 IRELAND: ITS CHBISTIANITT AND LEARNING. " They had foretold that the bright word of blessing would come, i.e., the law of the letter ; for it was the Holy Spirit that spoke and prophesied through the mouths of just men who were formei'ly in the island of Erin, as he had prophesied through the mouths of the chief prophets and noble fathers in the patriarchal law ; for the law of nature had prevailed where the written law did not reach. "Now the judgments of true nature which the Holy Ghost had spoken through the mouths of the Brehons and just poets of the men of Erin, from the first occupation of this island down to the reception of the faith, were all ex- hibited by Dubthach to Patrick. What did not clash with the Word of God in the written law and in the New Testament and with the consciences of the believers was confirmed with the laws of the Brehons by Patrick and by the ecclesiastics and the chieftains of Erin ; for the law of nature had been quite right except the faith and its ob- ligations and the harmony of the church and people. And this is the Senchus Mor. " Nine persons were appointed to arrange this book, viz., Patrick and Benen and Cairnech, three bishops ; Laoghaire and Core and Dairi, three kings ; Eosa, i.e., MacTrihine, and Dubthach, i.e., a doctor of the Berla Feini, and Fer- gus, i.e., a poet. " Nofis, therefore, is the name of this book which they arranged, i.e., the knowledge of nine persons, and we have the proof of this above. " This is the Cain Patric, and no human Brehon of the Gaedhil is able to abrogate anything that is found in the Senchus Mor." IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 81 THE OBSERVANCES OF THE ANCIENT HUSH CHURCH DURING THE TIMES OF PATRICK AND SUBSEQUENTLY. 1. The ancient Irish churches deferred baptism until the eighth day, which was a Greek and Oriental custom. 2. They administered baptism on Easter, Pentecost, and the Epiphany, as was done in the Eastern and African churches. 3. They observed infant communion, as is stiU observed in the East. 4. They fasted on Wednesday, as the Greek Church still does. 5. They abstained from blood, as is stiU done in the Eastern churches. 6. They conducted their public church services in the Irish language. 7. They stood at prayer in the church services. 8. Their Easter observance was the same as was an- ciently practised in the Eastern churches. 9. Their administration of the Lord's Supper was in both kinds, as is still practised in all the Greek chui-ches. 10. Their clergy were free to marry or not as they deemed proper. The Greek clergy still continue to be- come married and to raise legitimate families, just as Peter the Apostle, and as Patrick's father and grandfather. 11. Their bishops were not diocesans, but pastors of churches. 12. Their presbyters were not priests, but elders, assis- tants of their bishops. 13. The sacred Scriptui-es were studied and taught de- g2 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. votedly in all the churches, mouastic institutious, and given to the people. 14. Their monasteries "were schools and colleges wherein Latin, Greek, Hebrew, science, philosophy, the sacred Scriptures, and theology were taught. 15. They recognized only two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. 16. They neither worshiped the Virgin Mary, saints, angels, nor images ; for Sedulius taught : " To worship any one besides the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is impious." 17. They differed about clerical tonsure from the Eo- man church. They shaved their foreheads in a semilunar shape from ear to ear, while the Roman clergy shaved the top of their heads. In all the foregoing points the ancient British clergy agreed with the Irish Scots in their obser- vances, which entirely differed from the present obser- vances of the Roman Catholic Church. Marriage of the Ancient Irish Clergy, Monks, and Nuns. In a synod of Irish bishops, of which Patrick, Auxilius, Secundinus, and Isserninus were members, the following canon (VI.) was adopted : " Quicunque clericus ab hosti- ario usque ad sacerdotera sine tunica visus fuerit, atque turpitudinem ventris et nuditatem non togat, et uxorejus si non velato capite ambulaverit, pariter a laicis contemp- nentur, et ab ecclesia separentur." In the Senchus Mor, i., pp. 57, 59, it is stated : " The bishop of one wife returns to his dignity when he per- forms penances within three days." IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 83 The Book of Armagli states that " St. Patrick ordained Fiach Finnier, a man with but one wife, as bishop." (Betham, ii., p. 400.) In A.D. 731, Cruemhail, son of Colgan, Abbot of Lnsk, died. In A.D. 779, Connell, son of Cniemhail, Abbot of Lusk, died. In A.D. 782, Colgan, son of Cruemhail, Abbot of Lusk, died. In A.D. 753, Gorman, Coarb of Mochta, Louth, died at Clonmacnois. He was father of Forbaeh, Coarb of Pat- rick, Abbot of Armagh. Nennius is said to have dedicated his history to Samuel, son of Benlanus the presbyter, his preceptor, a British clergyman, counting it a grace rather than any kind of disparagement to be the son of a learned priest. Neander infoi-ms us that the opponents of Boniface, in Grermany, in the eighth century, who called in question his Eomanistic authority, teachings, and celibacy, " were free-minded British and Irish clergymen, particularly such as would not submit to the Roman laws touching the celibacy of the priests, whose married life appeared to Boniface, looking at the matter from his point of view, an unlawful connection." And speaking of Boniface further, Michelet says : " His chief hatred is to the Scots, the name given to the Scots and Irish, and he specially allows their priests to marry." Cormac of Cashel was a warrior, a bishop, and a king. He became king of Munster in a.d. 896, and was killed in the battle of Ballymoon, near Carlow, in a.d. 903. He g4 IRELAND: ITS CHEISTIANITT AND LEARNING. was a married bishop for years before he became a king. His widow married his conqueror, and the following year, in consequence of his death, she became the queen of Niall, king of Ireland. Among the bishops of Armagh, St. Bernard, in his Life of Malaclii, says : " A very wicked custom gi-ew through the diabolical ambition of some powerful persons to ob- tain the holy see (Armagh) by hereditary succession. Nei- ther would they suffer any persons to perform episcopal duties unless they were of their own tribe and family. Finally eight married men held the office before Celsus." In the days of King Brian Boru, who was killed at the battle of Clontarf, in a.d. 1014, Malmesbury was Bishop of Armagh. He was a married man and belonged to the family who held that bishopric by hereditary right for at least two hundred years; and he was succeeded iu the same office as Bishop of Armagh by two sons. Yet at his death he was revered by the whole of Ireland, and is de- scribed by the " Annals of the Four Masters " as the head of the clergy of the west of Europe, the principal of the holy order of the west, and a most wise and learned doc- tor. His son Amalgaid, who presided over the see from A.D. 1021 to A.D. 1050, acted as real primate over all Ireland, and was the first Bishop of Armagh who exercised such power in making the first primatial visitation of all Mun- ster. His great-grandson, Maurica, successfully held the see for five years in opposition to Malachi, whose tastes were directed toward Eome. ( Vide " Celtic Ireland," pp. 335, 337, 357.) Even monks and nuns in the earlier centiuies, after IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 85 their introduction into the Christian church, married and were given in marriage, as were other Christian people, lay and clerical. {Vide ColUer's "Ecclesiastical History," vol. i., p. 95, and Bingham's " Antiquities of the Christian Church," book vii., sec. 6.) The Sacraments and Public Worship— How Conducted. The two sacraments instituted by Christ were baptism and the Lord's Supper. His last command and commis- sion to his disciples was: "Go ye therefore, and teach aU nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." At the celebration of the Passover, according to Mat- thew : "As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said. Take, eat ; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying. Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Chap- ter xxvi., vs. 26, 27, 28.) According to Mark: "As they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave it to them, and said. Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them : and they all drank of it. And he said unto them. This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many." (Chapter xiv., vs. 22, 23, 24.) 86 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. According to Luke : " He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you : this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying. This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." (Chapter xxii., vs. 19, 20.) Paul says (1 Cor. xi., vs. 23, 24, 25, 26): "For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was be- trayed, took bread: and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat ; this is my body which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying. This cup is the new testament in my blood : this do ye, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as oft as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come." The posture in which the Lord's Supper was instituted was while they were sitting, according to Matthew : " Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve." (xxvi. 20.) According to Luke they sat (xxii. 14) : " When the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve Apostles with him." According to Mark they sat (xiv. 18): "As they sat and did eat," Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. Christ and his Apostles did not kneel, but sat, while eat- ing the Passover feast. In like manner the Christians sat while partaking of the elements of the communion of the Lord's Supper. IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. gj They stood at prayer in public worship. The Scriptures were read and expounded by the clergy. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs were devoutly sung by the congregation. Every devotional exercise was conducted in strict accord with the direction of Christ. All mere human ordinances were entirely discounte- nanced by the early Christians. Public worship was always conducted in the vernacular language of the people. Intelligence required that such should never be omitted ; for any one to address an as- sembly in an unknown language would have been deemed an offense against reason, common sense, and good judg- ment, as it would be misunderstood and would be un- able to impart such information as would be requisite for sacred instruction and gi'owth in grace. The following is one of the hymns suDg on the occasion of the administration of the Lord's Supper in the ancient Irish church : Approach, ye saints, Take the body of Christ, Driuking the sacred blood By which ye have been redeemed. Saved by the body And the blood of Christ, By which nourished. Let us sing praise to Grod. By this sacrament Of the body and blood, All are rescued From the jaws of hell. 88 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. The giver of salvation, Christ the Son of God, Saved the world By his own cross and blood. For the whole world The Lord was crucified ; He is at once The priest and victim. In the law it is commanded To immolate victims ; By it are fresh adored divine mysteries. How the LorcVs Bay teas Observed by the Irish Church. " Not out or in door labor, not even sweeping or clean- ing ; no clipping of the hair or baking of bread ; no washing the face or hands ; no cutting or sewing ; no journeying of travelers ; no churning, nor riding on horseback ; no fish- ing ; no sailing or rowing ; but wherever a man happened to be on Saturday night, there was he to remain." ( Vide Sullivan's " O'Curry's Manners and Customs," vol. ii., p. 33.) GOVERNMENT OF PATRICK'S CHURCH. 1. Nennius says Patrick founded three hundred and sixty-five churches and consecrated the same number of bishops. The Book of Armagh says he ordained four hundred and fifty bishops in Ireland. 2. An earlier writer states : " The first order of Catholic saints was in the time of Patrick, and then they were all bishops, famous, and full of the Holy Ghost, three hundred and fifty in number, founders of churches." IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 89 3. By him, says the "Annals of the Four Masters," many churches were erected throughout Ireland— seven hundred churches was the number. By him bishops, presbyters, and persons of every dignity were ordained— seven hundred bishops and three thousand presbyters were the number. 4. Each bishop was pastor of a church, who was assisted by a number of presbyters. (Reeve's " Adamnan," p. 104.) 5. Oftentimes seven churches were erected in the same locality, having as many bishops. 6. Aengus the Culdee states that " there were one hun- di-ed and forty-one churches in Ireland, each of which had seven bishops." 7. In a part of the County Antrim there was a Bishop of Rathliu, a small island north of Bally Castle ; a Bishop of Rashee, about a mile from Ballyeastou ; a Bishop of Connor ; a Bishop of Kilroot, about two miles from Car- rick-fei-gus ; in the County Down, a Bishop of Downpat- rick ; a Bishop of Bright, about three miles southeast of Downpatrick ; a Bishop of Nendrum, now Mahn Island, in Strangford Lough; a Bishop of Raholf, three miles north- east of Downpatrick ; and a Bishop of Magh Bile, about one mile northeast of Newtonards. 8. There were twenty-one bishops within the present bounds of the diocese of Meath. (Reeve's " Antiquities," pp. 128, 154.) 9. Mochta, a disciple of St. Patrick, had at one time in his monastery in Louth one hundred bishops and three hundred presbyters. (Todd's " Patrick," pp. 29, 30.) 10. There were about seven hundred septs in Ireland, 90 IRELAND: ITS CHIUSTIANITT AND LEARNING. "which were practically independent of one another. In Tyrone were thirty-four clans, Tyrconnell twenty, Cavan and Leitram twenty-seven each, Fermanagh twelve. North Connaught fifty, South Connaught fifty- four, Dublin and Kildare twenty-two, King's and Queen's counties thirty-three, Cork and Kerry thu*ty-four, "Water- ford and Tipperary forty-four; which do not include all the clans in Ireland. ( Vide " Annals of Ireland," pp. 50, note, 52, 79, 100, 126, 132, 314, 316.) Each clan had one or more churches and bishops, or altogether between seven hundred and eight hundred bishops for all Ireland. 11. There was no Archbishop of Armagh for over six hundred years after the death of Patrick. During that time there were abbots of Armagh, but no archbishops. {Vide Robert King's "History of Armagh.") pateick's death and bukial. About the 17th of March, a.d. 465, according to some authorities, while in a.d. 493 according to others, Patrick died, and is said to have been interred at Downpatrick, in the county of Down ; while others affirm that he was buried at Saal, some three miles distant therefrom. It is alleged that his first convert was Dichu, a chief, who lived at Saal, who gave the missionary a barn for a place of public worship, which subsequently grew into a gorgeous cathedral bearing the name of Saal. Between the Bishop of Downpatrick in a.d. 1179 and the Arch- bishop of Armagh in a.d. 1293 there were amusing con- troversies about the respective revelations each received IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. QJ about the burial-places of Patrick, Columbcille, and Brigid, to which reference is respectively referred at the respective dates hereafter. According to Prosper Aquitanus, whose " Annals of the See of St. Peter " included a period of years prior as well as subsequent to the year 431, one Palladius was conse- crated by the Eoman pontiff a bishop to the Scots believ- ing in Chi'ist ; and it is said that Palladius actually arrived in Ireland, erected thi*ee churches, but found none willing to attach themselves to either his faith or his authority, and that in disgust he withdrew to a certain part of what is now known as Scotland, where he spent the remainder of his life in preaching the gospel, without a note or com- ment in favor of Rome or its theological instructions, as will hereafter more evidently appear. No mention of Patrick's mission appears in the "Annals of Rome " of that period by either Aquitanus or any other contemporary writer. Bede, the famous Anglo-Saxon his- torian, does not mention him, although he wi'ote only about two hundred years after his death. Baronius does not mention him. As neither Aquitanus, nor Baronius, nor Bede, nor any other Romanist contemporary writer mentions Patrick or his Irish mission, it is clear that they knew nothing about him, and that neither he nor his Irish chiu'ch had any connection with the Roman pontiff. Besides, the Roman bishop had no jurisdiction over either Spain, Gaul, Britain, or Ireland. This is fully proved by the sixth and seventh canons of the Council of Nice, which was held in a.d. 325; the second and third canons of the Council of Constantinople, in a.d. 381 ; the 92 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. eighth canon of the Council held at Ephesus in a.d. 431 ; and also by the twenty-eighth canon of the Council of Chalcedon, in a.d, 451 — to which reference is made in the Introduction. Neither holy water, nor incense, nor Christmas, nor Easter, nor saints' days, nor pui-gatory, nor transubstan- tiation, nor the Mass, nor auricular confession, nor the elevation of the host, nor the seven sacraments, nor the Virgin Mary, nor extreme unction, nor papal infallibility, nor any of the modern theological doctrines of the Roman church, appears to be found in any of Patrick's genuine writings. He loved his Bible ; he read it carefully ; he preached it faithfully. CONTEMPOBAKY MISSIONS IN THE KINGDOMS OF THE SCOTS, PICTS, AND STKATHCLYDE. 1. Ninnian Was born in North Wales in a.d. 360, of Christian parents. From his earliest years he was taught the principles of his parental religious views. These were set forth in the sacred Scriptures, which he was influenced to investigate and make the basis of his belief. Among the chief places devoted to study, he visited Rome, the capital of the em- pire. On returning to Britain he selected as his field of labor the land of the Picts. His church was called Can- dida Casa, or Wliite House, built of stone — the first of the kind erected in his new settlement. He enjoyed while in Rome the favor of all the dignitaries of the Christian faith, which was extended to him ; but on his return to his IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 93 native land, and especially on his locating among the Picts, his devotion to the great Head of the church, and his love of the people among whom he settled, were such that the purest evangelist could find nothing to criticize in his deportment, faith, teachings, or practice. His views accorded with the most orthodox in every particular. His chief literary works were a Commentary on the Book of Psalms, and a book of selections of the most remarkable sentences of holy men. He had no ecclesiastical connec- tion with the church of Eome while in his mission-field. He died in a.d. 432, and his tomb was subsequently largely visited by his followers and devotees. " His name," writes Dr. Alexander, a Scottish writer, "survives in popular legends which have been handed down from sire to son for many generations, and which ascribe to him deeds in number and marvelousness sufficient to have made the reputation of a dozen saints. It is computed that at least twenty-four churches and chapels bear his name in Scot- land." He could not have been associated with the Roman bishop and kept the faith with the Picts ; for in his day deep, implacable hatred pervaded the hearts of the Picts against the Romans. There never was a people who hated and opposed the Romans more than the Picts and the Scots. It would have been utterly impossible for any Roman to have made a favorable impression lapon their minds, or even to have lived within their borders, such was the implacable enmity which existed between those nationalities or races. In the works of St. Ninnian there is not an idea or sentiment unfolded different from those of his own native British church. 94 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. 2. Palladius. According to Prosper of Aquitanus, Palladius was sent by Pope Celestine, in a.d. 431, to the Scots believing in Christ. His mission, however, was a failure, because he was a Roman and could not speak the language of the Scots. The enmity existing against the Romans was inex- pressibly bitter. For years the Scots of Ireland had been harassing the coasts of Britain and Gaul. Retalia- tion had been turned upon them in methods exceedingly extreme. Their memories were saddened and embittered by their treatment during the years gone by. It did not curb their spirit or subdue their violence. Alert, active, vigorous, unforgiving, merciless — they held themselves at all times ready for retaliation. On the arrival of Palla- dius, his Roman dress and Latin speech created no friendly feelings for him. Long enough to have erected three wooden shanties for chapels he remained on Ireland's hos- tile soil. A few hints from his opponents caused him to make a somewhat hasty retreat. He returned to Four- doun, in the Mearns, and there remained for twenty-four years, teaching the natives. His views were by no means different from theirs in devotional patriotism, and his Romanism was no longer presented during his life of labor and devotion to his Redeemer. Even to this day his church is known as "Paddie's Church," and a fair held there a "Paddie's Fair," in commemoration of his work and residence among the Picts of the Highlands. His re- pulse from Ireland put him on his guard, and, as Dr. McLaughlin says, " It is clear that, so far as the mission IRELAND'S ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 95 of Ninnian and Palladius being successful in introducing the Roman system into Scotland was concerned, they had no successors, and it was seven himdred years ere Scotland submitted to the jurisdiction of the Roman see." 3. Servanus, Tiernan, and Kentigern. Two names, those of Servanus and Tiernan, in due time arose above their predecessors to distinction. A famous seminary for the education of clergymen was established ou the Forth by Servanus ; by which a student named Kentigern was educated, who became distinguished for his learning, position, and ability. He was born in a.d. 514, "and being talented," says Usher, "the boy advanced successfully in the acquisition of knowledge." He was subsequently known as St. Mungo, and founder of the Cathedral of Glasgow. At that time the counties of Cum- berland and Westmoreland in England, and what are now known as the Lowlands of Scotland, formed the kingdom of Strathclyde, of which Dunbarton was the capital. It was the British parts of the northwest of ancient Britain which together with Cornwall and Wales wei'e not con- quered by the Saxons. There were therefore five king- doms at that time independent of the Saxons on the island of Britain, to wit : the Welsh and Cornish ; the Isle of Man ; the people of Strathclyde ; the people of Argyleshire ; and the Picts. Archbishop Usher says : " The king, the clergy of Strathclyde, the Britons, with other Christians, although few, elected him [Mungo] to be their pastor and bishop, while he opposed it very much. Moreover they 96 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEAHNING. had him consecrated for their bishop, according to the usage of the Britons and Scots, by a single Irish bishop, whom they sent for." The apostasy of the Picts and Britons of Strathclyde caused him to withdraw from them to Wales, where suc- cess attended his ministry everywhere. By the ardent request of his former parishioners he returned to Glasgow and was highly encouraged by a visit from the great and renowned Columba. Dying in a.d. 601, he was buried where the cathedi-al stands. His name and fame were highly cherished by the people of Glasgow and the king- dom of Strathclyde. 4. Brigid. Born A.D. 455 ; died a.d. 525. She was only ten years old when Patrick died. Be- tween the years a.d. 480 and 490 she founded the famous nunnery of Kildare, in her thirtieth year; and subse- quently several other similar institutions in different parts of Ireland subject to her jurisdiction. Her name in Celtic is sounded as if it were written " Breedh," answering to " Brida," the Scandinavian name for Venus. In the west of Scotland and certain parts of England, as well as among the islands, her name was held in honor. Churches, towns, and islands still bear her name through- out the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. At Kildare her nuns and people kept a sacred fire con- tinually burning, which was retained until the thirteenth century, when, by order of Henri, Archbishop of Dublin, IRELAND'S ANCIEXT INHABITANTS. 97 it was extinguished. Subsequently it was again lighted, and kept burning until the Reformation. The ancient Druids observed a similar custom and kept up a similar fire. (O'Mahony's "Keating," pp. 425, 426, and notes; Davies's " Mythology," pp. 154, 295, 533 ; Gilbert's " Vice- roys," p. 87; Archdall's "Monasticon," p. 329.) Cogitosius, who lived in the seventh, though some al- lege in the ninth, century, says : " Brigid could not be without a high priest to consecrate churches ; and to settle the ecclesiastical degrees in them, she engaged a holy man named Couledh to govern the church with her in episco- pal dignity. Her chair, both episcopal and virginal, like a fruitful vine spreading all around with growing branches, established itself in the whole Hibernian island, in which he as archbishop of the Irish bishops, and she as abbess, whom all abbesses of the Irish venerate, are pre- eminent in happy succession and in pei-petual order." (Todd's " St. Patrick," pp. 12, 13.) According to another account, Brigid was consecrated a bishop by Mel, Bishop of Armagh. In Betham's " Book of Armagh," vol. ii., pp. 4, 6, it is related that " between St. Patrick and Brigid and Columba a friendship of love took place." Now Patrick died in A.D. 465 ; Columbcille was born in 521 and died in 597 ; while Brigid was born in 455 and died in 525. Thus Brigid was only ten years old when Patrick died; and Patrick was fifty-six years dead when Columbcille was born; and Columbcille was only four years old when Brigid died: how did that friendship of love exist! It is a heavy draft on the brain of a medieval mythological writer. III.— THIRD PERIOD, from a.d. 543 to a.d. 599. 1. MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. These had their origin in Egypt. About the year 305 an eccentric individual named Anthony betook himself to a quiet life. To secure such he took up his abode in the wilderness. His course of life caught the spirit of the age. Within the following century monasteries became the rage of the day and extended into all countries where Christianity prevailed. They had a most wonderful suc- cess everywhere throughout Chi-istendom. Like a whirl- wind they swept over states whether civilized or barba- rous. They reached Ireland, and formed an important element in the civilization and enlightenment of that island. The Irish monasteries were not abodes of idleness: they were the schools and colleges and universities of the laud, wherein the Latin, Greek, and Irish languages, poetry, music, eloquence, arts, and science were taught. In all of them the sacred Scriptures were carefully studied. The course of studies was taught in a critical and pro- found manner. A few of their names will draw forth traditional remembrances of no ordinary character : There was one at Armagh, said to have been founded by Patrick in a.d. 457 ; another at Bangor, in the County Down, founded by Comghal in 546 ; another at Clonmac- 98 MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 99 nois, founded by Ciarnan iu 548; another at Clonard, founded by King Diarmuid in 549; anotlier at Deny, founded by Columbcille in 546 ; anotlier at Durrow, founded by Columbcille in 553; another at lona, the Druids' isle, founded by Columbcille in 561; another at Lindisfarne, on the northeast of England, founded by Aidan in 581 ; and another at Lismore, founded by Car- thagh iu 603. The head abbot of a monastery was required to pass a critical examination in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Celtic lit- erature, both prose and verse, the sacred Scriptui-es, phi- losophy, and science. Thii'teen years were required for the full curriculum. The heads or abbots were in nume- rous instances the representatives of the founders, and were as such called coarbs, or heirs, or successors. The monastery of Bangor was one of the most distin- guished of Ireland. Over three thousand students from foreign lands are said to have been in attendance at one time thereat. Lismore was the seat of another famous seat of educa- tion, of which the following poetic description is given by one Moronus, a Tarrentine : Undique conveniunt proceres quos dulce trahebat Discendi studium. Cleres vastissima Rheni lam vada Teutonic!, jam desuere Sicambi ; Mittit ad extremo' gelidos aquilone Boiemus Albi et Averni coiunt Batavique frequentes Et quicunque coiunt alta sub super Gabenos Non omnes prospectat Arar Rhodanique fluentur Helvetios : multos desiderat ultima Thule Certatim hi properant diverso tramite ad urbem, Lismoriam, juvenes primos ubi transigit annos. ]^Q0 lUELAXD: ITS CUIUSTIAXITY AND LEAliXlNG. 2. EDUCATION IN THE MONASTERIES OF THE SCOTS. In the eai'ly monasteries of the ancient Scots or Irish the Bible was the chief source of study, while other de- partments of knowledge were by no means omitted. In Ireland the copying of the Scriptures was the principal work done within the walls of its monasteries, and reached no ordinary degree of beauty and ornamentation. Giraldus Cambreusis, in his " Topography of Ireland," thus describes a copy of the Gospels which he saw in the twelfth century in Kildare : " Every page is illusti'ated by drawings illuminated with a variety of brilliant colors. In one page you will see the countenance of the Divine Majesty supernaturally pictured ; in another, the majestic forms of the Evangelists, with either six, four, or two wings : here is depicted the eagle, there the calf ; here the face of a man, there of a lion ; with other figures, also, in endless variety. If you apply yourself to a more close examination, and are able to penetrate the secret of arts displayed in these pictures, you will find them so delicate and exquisite, so finely drawn, and the work of interlac- ing so elaborate, while the colors with which they are illuminated are so blended, and still so fresh, that you will be ready to assert that all this is the work of angelic and not of human skill." In the "Book of Kells" and the "Book of Durrow," as well as in numerous other writings in the library of Trin- ity College, Dublin, are illustrations and illuminations most exquisitely executed. During the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries the MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 101 Irish, British, and Culdee monks, as well as their Anglo- Saxon pupils at home and on the Continent, especially in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, were highly distinguished for their art of copying and illuminating the sacred Scriptures. They were the Bible publishers of those days, before the art of printing was invented. In every monastery there was a room called "the scripto- rium," wherein their manuscripts were prepared. These monasteries were also the theological seminaries of those days, wherein the clergy were educated for their sacred work. They were also the home and foreign missionary so- cieties of their times. Thus Britain sent Patrick to Ire- land ; Ireland sent Columba to Scotland, Columbanus and St. Gall to France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, Fiacre, Fursey, and Foillan to France, Colmau to Aus- tria, Thrudpurt to Brisgan, Fridolin to Glarus, Frigil to Metz, Cataldo to lower Italy, numerous monks to Wiu'tz- burg, Aidan and numerous others to the Anglo-Saxons ; while the Culdees established fifty-eight seminaries in France, and stamped their literary and theological teach- ings on Germany and Austria, to the great dread, fear, and disgust of their Eoman compeers. Various testi- monies are in existence in behalf of those institutions, missions, and missionaries. Michelet, a distinguished French author, says : " All the sciences were at this period cultivated with much renown in the Scotch and Irish monasteries. Ireland was always the school of the West, the mother of monks, and the isle of saints, as it was termed." 102 ISELAND: ITS CHIilSTIANITY AND LEARNING. Again, in the Rev. Thomas Oiden's Preface to the " Wurtzburg Glosses " is the following part of a transla- tion of a Latin poem heretofore given : Now haste Sicambri from the marshy Rhine ; Bohemians now desert their cold northland ; Avergne and Holland, too, add to the tide ; Forth from Geneva's frowning cliffs they throng ; Helvetia's youth by Rhone and by Saone Are few : the Western Isle is now theii" home. All these from many lands and many diverse paths, Rivals in pious zeal, seek Lismore's famous seat. At the school of Slane, Dagobert II., king of France, was educated. Dr. Maclaine says : " That the Irish distinguished them- selves in those times of ignorance (in the eighth century) by the culture of the sciences beyond all other European nations, travehng through the most distant lands with a view to improve and to communicate their knowledge, is a fact with which I have long been acquainted." And Neander states : " As in the Irish monasteries not only Latin but also most free-spirited Greek church fathers, the writings of an Origen, were studied, so it naturally came about that from that school issued a more original and free development of theology than was else- where to be found, and was thence propagated to other lands." In every part of Europe Irishmen were found proclaim- ing the gospel of Christ, transcribing the sacred Scrip- tures, teaching the doctrines of the Bible, and drilling young men in the principles of science and theology MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. 103 for the great work of educating the masses and prepar- ing them for a state of rewards in the kingdom of the redeemed. 3. COLUMBCrLLE. Born A.D. 521 ; died a.d. 597. Ireland had her Patrick from Scotland, and so Scotland is repaid by ColumbciUe from Ireland. Columba, one of the greatest names in the early eccle- siastical history of the British Isles, was born at Gartan, in the county of Donegal, in the north of Ireland, on the 7th of December, 521. His father, Fedhlimidh, of the powerful tribe of the Cinell Conaill, was the kinsman of more than one chief or prince then reigning in Ireland and in the west of Scotland ; and his mother, Eithue, was also of royal descent. He studied first at Moville, at the head of Straugford Lough, under St. Finnian, by whom he was ordained a presbyter. Among his fellow-students were Comgall, Ciarnan, and Cainnech ; and so conspicuous was his youthful devotion that he received the name of " ColumbciUe," or " Columba of the church." In 546, when about twenty-five, he founded Derry, and about seven years afterward Durrow, the gi-eatest of all his Irish monasteries. A diflBculty arose between him and some of the other clergy in 561, in consequence of some civil commotion wherein he was blamed for instigat- ing a blood-stained battle at Coodrevney, on account of which an ecclesiastical synod excommunicated him ; but, in justice to his memory, the sentence of synod was seri- 104 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. ously questioned, if not generally condemned, by the more intelligent of the clergy. In 563, with twelve companions, he left his native soil, in the forty-second year of his age, after having founded there three hundred churches and numerous monasteries, and set sail for Hy, or lona, the Druids' isle, where he founded his famous monastery, for which he obtained a grant from the king of the Scots in Argylesliire and the king of the Picts of Caledonia. Like all similar establish- ments of those days, his monastery was roofed with wattles. At once the Picts north of the Grampian range attracted his attention and were soon converted. He and his com- panions were indefatigable in their labors throughout the northern Highlands, the Orkneys, and Western Islands. His institution at lona soon attracted illustrious fame. It held supreme influence over all the monastic establish- ments founded by him in Ireland, as well as over those in the Highlands and islands of his adopted country. He was a person of unwearied industry and of great austerity. Like a genuine Celt, anger and passion were occasionally not unknown, and sweet revenge held no very distant dalliance from his embrace. " Whatever sort of person he was himself," the Venerable Bede writes, " this we know him for certain, that he left after him suc- cessors eminent for their strict continence, divine love, and exact discipline." His ecclesiastical system was different from the Roman system, for, Bede again says, lona "had always for its ruler a presbyter abbot, to whose jurisdiction both the MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. JQS entire province and the bishops themselves, also, contrary to the usual order of things, must own subjection, after the example of the first teacher of theirs, who was no bishop, but a presbyter and a monk." The industrious habits of Columbcille were proverbial. The Four Masters say : " Columbcille went to Alba (the land of the Picts), where he afterward founded a chm-eh. He wrote three hundred New Testaments with his own hand, and portions of the Old Testament." His biog- rapher Adamnus says that on the day of his death " he sat in his hut transcribing the Psalter, and coming to the sentence in the Thirty-fourth Psalm where it is written, ' They that seek the Lord shall not want any good,' he said, ' Here I must stop at the end of the page ; what fol- lows let Baithen transcribe.' The last verse he wi-ote was appropriate for the saint about to depart, for everlasting mercies should never fail him. For his successor, the father and teacher of his spiritual sons, the following is proper: 'Come, children, hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' " His doctrines were truly scriptural, devotional, and evangehcal. Mental and moral attainments were pos- sessed largely by those whom he selected as his compan- ions: in lona such men as Baithen, Finan, Aidan, Col- man, and Duimu would have been leaders in any nation. They were all men of eminence. Aidan and Colman were specially distinguished for their paramount attainments and abilities. Rev. Dr. Smith says : " Columba planted churches in all our Western Isles and in all the territory of ancient Scots 106 lEELAXV: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. and northern Picts, and some even beyond them. Most of our parishes still bear the names of his disciples, and the number of places whose names begin with 'Kil' (church) show how thickly our churches were anciently planted, so that there is much reason to believe that the largest number ascribed to Columba is not above the mark. Providence smiled in a remarkable manner upon his labors, and his success was astonishing. It is no won- der that such an extraordinary man should have been revered greatly while alive, and that his memory should have been profoundly venerated after his death." (" Life of Columba," pp. 180, 181.) The celebrated historian Neander says : " In lona he founded a monastery which under his management dur- ing thirty years attained the highest reputation — a distant and secluded seat for the pursuit of biblical studies and other sciences. The memory of Columba made his mon- astery so venerated that its abbots had the control of the bordering tribes and churches, and even l)ishops acknow- ledged them, though they were but simple presbyters." There is no evidence that any written form of prayers or liturgy was used at lona, or in the churches connected with, or under the care of, its abbots or other clergy. The sacred Scriptures were their studies and the basis of their preaching. The Lord's Supper was remembered statedly, as taught in the Scriptures. They stood at prayer in public worship. The prayer was spoken, not read from a book or manuscript. They observed the same tonsure and mode of keeping Easter as the an- MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS. IQ7 eient British and Scotcli did, and they recognized only two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. Columba was a profound Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholai', a distinguished writer of prose and verse, a the- ologian of superior ability, a biblical student of unsur- passed industry, with a mind of vast resources and ability, and an influence which held control of the government of aU the monastic institutions and ecclesiastical establish- ments which were founded by himself or associates among the Scots and Picts and Anglo-Saxons. The following is from one of his poetical compositions : Thy glory shines above the skies. Where thou art God and King ; And to the New Jerusalem Thy people thou wilt bring. As thou didst suffer on the cross To save a guilty race. Show me thy power, with thy love, And glory grant, with grace. Protect us, O thou God most high. Until we reach the place Where endless anthems we shall sing Around thy throne of grace. Columba died on the 9th of June, a.d. 597. " He was angelic in aspect, brilliant in speech, holy in deed, lofty in genius, and great in counsel. No part of an hour could pass in which he was not earnestly engaged in prayer, reading, writing, or in some other work." "His extraordinary piety, talents, and usefulness, ac- 108 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. eompanied with a perpetual serenity of mind, cheerfulness of countenance, simplicity of manners, and benevolence of heart, have deservedly raised him to the first rank of saints." (Smith's " Life," p. 165.) Such was the great presbyter abbot of Zona : Mungo was his contemporary at Glasgow and Strathclyde; and Aidan was one of his students, companions, and admirers, who founded Melrose Abbey and that of Lindisfarne. The latter was a small island on the northeast coast of England, on which a famous monastery arose through Aidan's efforts. Young men from lona, Melrose, and Lindisfarne carried the gospel into the northern and central parts of England, and, through their ministrations, for over a quarter of a century before the arrival of the Eoman missionaries on the island of Thanet the gospel was proclaimed and nu- merous conversions made among the Anglo-Saxons. Up to the year 597 the gospel was preached among the ancient Britons, the Scots, the people of Strathclyde, the Picts, and the Anglo-Saxons of the north and middle parts of England. During that period the same mode of ad- ministering the sacraments, of public worship, ecclesiasti- cal government and discipline, was observed among them. There was not a discordant sound of difference heard in any of their communities until it was proclaimed by those Roman intruders, Austin and his monks. IV.— FOURTH PERIOD : from a.d. 599 to a.d. 685. MISSIONS OF THE ANCIENT lEISH CHURCH TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 1. Columbanus. Born iu Leinster in 545 ; died in 615. One of the most learned and eloquent of the numerous missionaries sent forth from Ireland. He was educated under St. Comghal in the famous monastery of Bangor, in the County Down. He was a distinguished Latin, Greek, and Hebrew scholar. He passed over to France with twelve companions iu his forty-fifth year and founded the monasteries of Annegray, Luxeil, and Fontaine. His devotion to his own Irish rule and customs brought him in conflict with the French clergy. His strict ideas of morality were ahead of that age and country. On account of rebuking immorality in high places he was expelled from France. He and his companions passed into Switzerland. One of them was attacked by a fever and left at Bregentz. Columbanus and the others pursued their joui-ney into Lombardy, in northern Italy, where at Bobbio he founded a monastery. The Lombards were Arians, but their king received and treated him kindly. His eloquence was admired, and he was held in the highest estimation. Of his sermons Gui- 109 110 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. zot remarks that " the flights of iniagiuatiou, the pious transports, the vigorous appUcation of principles, the war- fare declared agaiust all vain or hypocritical compromise, give to the words of the preacher that passionate author- ity which may not always surely reform the souls of his hearers, but which dominates over them, and for some time at least exercises paramount sway over their conduct and their life." The town of San Colombo, in Lombardy, was named for him, while his companion, St, Gall, gave his name to a canton of Switzerland, as well as to the monastery therein which he founded. "While at Bobbio, Columbanus, about a.d. 607, addressed an arousing letter to Pope Boniface IV., whose pre- decessor, Boniface III., in the preceding year had been created "Universal Bishop and Head of all Christian Churches" by the Emperor Phocas, who had murdered his predecessor at Constantinople and usurped his throne. As a consequence the Patriarch of Constantinojjle refused to recognize and sanction his action. Phocas, thus re- jected by the Greek Patriarch, apphed to the Roman Pa- triarch, proposing that if he recognized himself as emperor in consideration thereof he would create the Eoman Pa- triarch and his successors respectively "Universal Bishop and Head of all Christian Churches." This arrangement was accordingly made, and a monument erected on the Campus Martins in Rome, in a.d. 607, bears testimony to the creation of the pope's new title. In the foregoing letter Columbanus says to the Roman prelate: "All we Irish are disciples of St. Peter and St. Paul, and of all the disciples who wrote the divine canon under the guidance ANCIENT IRISH FOREIGN MISSIONS. \ H of the Holy Spirit ; we dwell at the ends of the earth ; we receive nothing beyond the evangeUcal and apostolical doctrine ; not one of us has been a heretic, or a Jew, or a schismatic, but the Catholic faith is preserved among us intact as it was originally handed down by you, the suc- cessors of the holy Apostles." 2. But the conversion of the Irish people to Christianity was only a part of the labors of those early missionaries. Education was not neglected. In every important town they organized a seminaiy. Thus at KeUs, Bangoi", Derry, Armagh, Ross-Carbery, Cashel, Clonmacnois, and in numerous other parts, important schools for the educa- tion of the young were established, which flourished in an astonishing manner, and were numerously attended by young men from England and Western Europe. It was a common saying in England that such and such "were sent away to Ireland to be educated." The peculiar, dis- turbed character of Europe favored the growth of Ire- land's schools. After the dissolution of the Western Ro- man Empire in a.d. 476 an upheaval of all social relations took place in Western Europe. The favored children of birth and education, while under Roman imperial sway, became slaves to their invaders, who were generally un- lettered men of sinews more than of culture, before whom Roman learning, Roman culture, Roman tastes, and Ro- man manners melted into the depth of ignorance. In Britain the Angles and Saxons spared nothing worthy of refinement. The cities and walls and houses left by the Romans were demolished, and the people massacred or re- duced to slavery. The same conditions were forced upon 112 IRELAND: ITS CHEISTIANITT AND LEARNING. the Gauls, the dwellers along the Rhine, and the Italians, by their conquerors, and hence learning ceased wherever the rude sons of the forest became victorious. 3. For over a century the Saxons in England kept up an uninterruiited war of extermination of the native Britons, and for a couple of centuries turned their weapons against themselves, until they were united un- der Egbert into one kingdom. Amid those commotions there was little use for education among the Saxons. During those upheavals Ireland was tranquil. No in- vader had dared to pollute her soil. Her schools were open without restriction to all who resorted to them; young men flocked to Ireland for protection, as an asylum of rest, and for the acquirement of an education. Imbued with the idea that the intellect and the feelings require to be equally cultivated in order to receive and retain those sacred impressions derived from religious in- struction and render them abiding, the learning of those schools included a classical, scientific, and biblical course, and so accurately were the instructions given, that, it is said, copies of a perfect Livy were in their libraries, although many parts of that author's works are now lost. One of their distinguished men, as we have seen, said to have been of royal descent, named subsequently Co- lumba, with twelve companions, went to lona, an island on the west of Scotland, and founded a celebrated seminary thereon, whose students converted the Scots and Picts to the Christian faith, A pupil of lona went to Lindisfarne, an island on the eastern coast, below the mouth of the river Humber, and ANCIENT lEISH FOREIGN MISSIONS. II3 established a seminary whose young men carried the gos- pel throughout the Lowlands of Scotland and the northern and central parts of England. Another founded the far-famed seminary of Bobbio in Italy, and stiU another founded St. Gall in Switzerland ; while others awoke the people along the Rhine to a know- ledge of the Christian faith. After the heptarchy was consolidated into one king- dom, the king called to his aid Johannes Scotus Eri- gena, an Irishman, to found the University of Oxford; while nearly contemporaneously Charlemagne appointed two other Irishmen to found the new universities of Paris and Pavia. At the latter Columbus, the discoverer of America, was educated. Thus throughout Scotland, Eng- land, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, Irishmen laid the foundations of learning, which have continued to flourish there ever since. Thus England owes to Ireland a debt of gi-atitude for the education of her sons during those troublous times, and for the acquisition of an Irish- man to found her earliest university who was the acknow- ledged first master of Christian learning of his times, the results of whose instructions have become world-wide ; for Oxford's educated sons have made history read in new lines, filled thrones, conquered nations, created statesmen, orators, scholars, professional leaders of thought, and girdled the world with industry, colonial settlements, and general intelligence. 4. Scotland never lost the vim and force it received from the teachings of lona. Irrespective of the means subsequently employed to attach the people to a different 114 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. faith, nevertheless there lingered in their hearts and mem- ories the gi-audeur of thought which emanated from Co- lumba, and whicli culminated in the exercise of conscien- tious convictions which made martyrs to truth, reformers like John Knox, Andrew Melville, and Simon Cameron, theologians like Chalmers and McCosh, and missionaries like Alexander Duff and David Livingstone. 5. German schools and universities need no pen nor tongue to portray their greatness. Their fame is em- blazoned on the intellects of their scholars, and, like their first Irish teachers, the eloquence of their Luther and the learning of their Melanchthon are the watchwords for the onward progress of their illustrious successors. 6. France never lost the literary taste cultivated by the founder of its illustrious university, whose sons have added fresh laurels to the chaplets of their alma mater : of whom none holds a more prominent rank than the re- former Calvin, whose memory is surrounded with the most durable of friendships and the most inveterate of hatreds, whose writings are bulwarks of truth, and engines of destruction of all that is heterodox, and whose image of the beautiful and the true and the good will ever be cherished by all the right-minded and pure-hearted of his admirers. Even in sunny Italy, however downtrodden for a time, truth, though crushed to earth, arose. In her free republics, thought never perished. Commerce divested religion of much of its narrow views. The free inter- course between Genoa, Pisa, Florence, Bologna, Venice, and the Levant kept alive the flame of learning. At Bologna the university made transcendent strides in an ANCIENT IRISH FOREIGN MISSIONS. ^^JS upward course of human development. Philosophy was hailed with a new delight even beyond the aspirations of Plato. The ancient languages of Greece and Eome were studied and revived and spoken with a zest and a taste and an accomplishment recalling the times of Demos- thenes and Cicero. Inducements to restore the acquisitions of the past to actual pleasurable enjoyments were offered. Honors and rewards for the best examinations were founded. The degrees of BacheUor and Master of Arts were created as certificates of the universities to such as had passed their final examinations on the full course of studies prescribed by the faculty. Such degi-ees entitled their possessors to become teachers, lecturers, and professors. The Benais- sance bloomed forth. Darkness began to disappear. New ideas, a new faith, came forth. 7. The Anglo-Saxons in Britain : from A.B. 449 to A.D. 597. Reference has been heretofore made to the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. It has been stated that after the de- parture of the Romans from Britain the people were raided by the Scots and the Picts, and that calamity after calamity had fallen upon the Britons. Having had for over four hundred years the Roman legions to defend and protect them, the inhabitants of Britain were thereby unaccustomed to self-defense and the use of military weapons, which they were neither allowed to practise nor to possess. When left to them- selves they were therefore unable to withstand the onsets of their invaders. 11(3 IRELAND: ITS CBRISTIAXITT AND LEARNING. Their appeals to Rome for a return of the legions were made in vain. The Western Roman Empire had more to attend to than it had then ability to maintain. Fierce tribes from a distance had entered the imperial lines, and all its military forces were required for their continental provincial protection. In this dilemma the Britons applied to the Angles and Saxons on the German coasts for aid against their foes, who in response arrived, drove out the enemy, and, being pleased with the country, determined to own it for them- selves. Their weapons, reeking with their recent victory, were turned against the people whom they came to pro- tect. Men, women, and children were hewn down with their swords. Neither age, nor sex, nor family, nor con- dition was spared. Churches were burned. Bridges were torn down. Roads were disrupted. Houses were dis- mantled. Cities and towns were destroyed. The whole improvements left by the Romans were obliterated. In their places wooden shanties and heathen temples were •erected. Heathenism was established. Schools were dis- continued. The few Britons not murdered within their "bounds were enslaved. Those escaping from the slaugh- ter fled, some to their former enemies, the Scots and Picts, others to Wales and Cornwall ; while large numbers crossed the Channel to Armorica, in France, and subse- quently gave to it the name of Brittany, or Bretagne. The country thus devastated was divided among the con- querors. A number of kingdoms soon appeared on the conquered territory, such as Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, East Angles, Mercia, and Northumberland. The western ANCIENT IRISH FOREIGN MISSIONS. \\-j coast aud islands were inhabited by the ancient settlers, and retained their British autonomical names and religion, between whom and the Saxons a non-intermittent warfare continued for centuries. About the year 596 the Bishop of Rome seems to have heard that the Anglo-Saxons were pagans, and for the purpose of their conversion sent one Augustine and forty monks to labor among them; while long before their arrival Christianity had taken root and borne fruit in Northumberland and Mercia, as well as among the ancient Britons, Picts, Scots, and in the kingdom of Strathclyde. v.— THE FIFTH PERIOD: between a.d. 597 and A.D. 795. ARRIVAL OF THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES, AND DISPUTES BE- TWEEN THEM AND THE BRITISH AND SCOTTISH CHURCHES ABOUT THE TONSURE AND THE OBSERVANCE OF EASTER. Christ arose from the dead on the first day of the week. That day was called by the Romans soils dies, which has since been by the modern English called Smidau, and has been observed by all the followers of Immanuel as a day for his public worship. By all evangelical Christians it has been known as the Lord's Day, in commemoration of his RESURRECTION. There is no day holy but the Lord's Day. All other so-called holy days are of mere human in- vention, without the slightest authority from the sacred Scriptures. Hence Christmas day, Easter, and other days set apart by some professing Christians are mere human appointments, without the slightest divine authority from Holy Scripture or any genuine divine revelation. As the earliest church was organized at Jerusalem, its members, being converts from the Jews, observed the fes- tivals of the Jewish religion while in that city, before its destruction ; but it was not incumbent upon the converts from the Gentiles to observe any Jewish festival. It was during the festival of the Passover week that the 118 DISPUTES WITH TEE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. \\Q Jews had Christ crucified ; and consequently the first day of the week after the kiUiug of the Passover lamb was observed by the Jewish Christians in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ. The churches in Asia Minor were organized by Paul. No mention in any of his epistles to them is made about the observance of such a commemoration connected with the Passover. The Passover lamb was a type of the com- ing Sacrifice. That Sacrifice had been offered on Mount Calvary. The type was fulfilled. It did not require after- ward to be repeated; for by one offering all his people were perfectly sanctified. After the martyrdom of Paul and the environment and capture of Jerusalem, John the divine arrived at Ephesus and is said to have instituted the festival of the resurrection, which was transmitted to his successors, as tradition informs us. There is no posi- tive proof for the statement. In the year 142, Telephorus, a Roman clergyman, intro- duced the observance of Lent. A few years afterward the observance of Easter followed in that city. In 158, Polycarp, a former disciple of John, visited Rome. Auicetus was Bishop of Rome at that time. An animated discussion took place between them about the time and manner of celebrating Easter. Polycarp was an Asiatic, who celebrated the Passover on the night of the 14th of the month Nisan, and commemorated the cruci- fixion on the next day, and on the third day the resur- rection, which was the practice of the Jewish Christians ; while the new Roman invention did not allow of the celebration of the Passover by name, but on the next 120 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Lord's Day after the full moon in Nisan celebrated the resurrection, and on the previous Friday the crucifixion. In 197, Victor, Bishop of Rome, anathematized all the Eastern churches because they would not observe Easter on the same day and in the same manner in which it was observed by the Roman church; to which Firmilian, Bishop of Cappadocia, replied by alleging that "Victor had by his excommunication of the Eastern churches only made himself a schismatic and cut himself off from the rest of Christendom ; and that many things were done at Rome contrary to apostolic authority." Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, was willing to admit that the Bishop of Rome was the successor of St. Peter, and because of the importance of the city that the church of Rome was entitled to precedence ; but refused to acknow- ledge the superiority of the Bishop of Rome over other bishops in point of jurisdiction or authoi'ity, such as Stephen claimed; and furthermore claimed the right of every bishop to make laws for his own church. Prior to this, in 169, the heathen priests formed a spe- cial source of consideration for the Roman religious for- malists. Their flowing robes and tonsure created wonderful admiration. There was an inexpressible mystery and an indescribable magnetic attraction which unconsciously in- fluenced the Roman bishop and clergy to adopt their use ; which from their antiquity conferred a corresponding priestly feeling and appearance on their new adopters, and which must in their estimation create a similar weird- like, attractive, devotional impression on the minds of their fellow- worshipers. DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. \'l\ The tonsure was contrary to Ezekiel xliv. 20, upon which Jerome remarks: "This evidently demonstrates that we ought neither to have our heads shaved, as the priests and votaries of Isis and Sirapis, nor yet suffer our hair to grow long, after the luxurious manner of barba- rians and soldiers ; but priests should appear with a ven- erable and gi'ave countenance ; neither are they to make themselves bald with a razor, nor clip their heads so close that they may look as if they were shaven ; but they are to let their hair grow so long that it may cover their skin." Upon which Bingham remarks : " It is impossible for any rational man to suppose that Christian priests had shaven crowns in the days of St. Jerome." About A.D. 170, Irenseus and several other Christian teachers were at Lyons and other parts of Gfaul. Their doctrines on the leading views of faith and practice soon spread to Britain, and were widely circulated over that territory which was conquered and governed by the Romans. Hence, when Augustine and his monks arrived in 596 to convert the pagan Saxons, they were surprised to find a Christian church which differed from, and was indepen- dent of, the Bishop of Rome in British territory ; for the learned Bingham observes : " The Britannic churches for six hundred years never acknowledged any dependence upon Rome. And in the matter of the paschal contro- versy, they were so far from paying any deference to the Roman custom that they continued then* ancient practice of observing Easter on a different Sunday from Rome for some ages after, notwithstanding all the arguments that ]^22 UlELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. the pope ov his party could urge against them. For which reason they were treated as schismatics by the agents and emissaries of Eome." A conference was planned between the British bishops and Augustine. On their arrival the British bishops ob- served a want of recognition on the part of the Romans. Augustine addressed them thus, according to Bede : " You act in many particulars according to our custom, or rather to the custom of the universal church ; and yet if you will comply with me in these three points — keep Easter at the due time ; administer baptism, by which we are again born to God, according to the custom of the Holy Roman Apos- tolic Church ; and jointly with us preach the Word of God to the English nation — we will readily tolerate all other things you do, though contrary to our customs." They answered that they would do none of these things, nor receive him as their archbishop. To which Augustine breathed out threatenings about the vengeance of death they would suffer. (Bede, " Ecclesiastical History," lib. ii., cap. 2.) After this the pagan king of Northumbria was influ- enced to attack the monastery of Bangor, on the river Dee, where twelve hundred of its inmates were most inhumanly slaughtered ; in which the hand of the Roman missionary was too apparent. In 605 his successor, Laurentius, Archbishop of Canter- bury, and Bishops Mellitus and Justus, addressed a letter to the bishops and abbots throughout Scotia, meaning the Irish and the Picts, wherein they said: "Becoming ac- quainted with the errors of the Britons, we thought the Scots had been better; but we have been informed by DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSOINARIES. 123 Bishop Dagau, coming into this aforesaid island, and the Abbot Columbanus in France, that the Scots in no way differ from the Britons in their behavior (toward the Romans)." Hence Soames, in his " Latin Church," p. 51, writes : " It is quite certain that, in Augustine's time, from a.d. 596 to 604, Britain and Ireland were agi*eed upon religious questions." Furthermore Soames, in his " Anglo-Saxon Church," writes : " The kingdom of the East Saxons had sunk in unheeded heathenism since the failure of Mellitus, the Eoman missionary. One of its princes, however, Sigebert, had become a frequent guest at the Northum- brian court, and he was there converted. At his desire Chad (Cedd), of the Scottish communion, repaired to the East Saxons. He received eventually episcopal consecra- tion from Finan the Scot, prelate of Northumbria; and it was chiefly by his exertions that the diocese of London, the kingdom of the East Saxons, as it remained until re- cently, was reclaimed from Gentile superstition." The kingdoms of Northumbria, Mercia, and the East Saxons were converted to Christ by Scottish missionaries in thirty-five years. In A.D. 665, Chad had to be ordained by Wine, Bishop of the West Saxons, with the aid of two British bishops who did not belong to the Roman communion and by its adherents were not regarded as canonically consecrated. On which account Bede states : " For at that time there was no other bishop in all Britain canonically ordained, besides Wine." As to the allegation that Augustine converted the 224 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Anglo-Saxons, Eapin (" History of England," vol. i., pp. 72, 80) says : " Augustine has run away with the honor of converting the English, when in the main the progress he made was not very considerable. It is true that he preached to the Saxons of Kent, as Melhtus did to those of Essex, and that with good success. " In the height of his success, for which he is so greatly honored, Augustine only established two bishops, Justus at Rochester, and Mellitus in London, over the East Saxons. This is clear evidence that the progi'ess with which he was credited was not so considerable as Gregory imagined. Surprisingly strange is it that the conversion of the English should be ascribed to Augustine, rather than to Aidan, to Finan, to Colman, to Cedd, to Diumu, and the other Scottish monks, who undoubtedly labored much more abundantly than he. But here lies the case : these last had not their orders from Rome, and therefore must not be allowed any share of the glory of this work." "Only two counties north of the river Thames were under Roman Catholic superintendence during their tran- sition from paganism to Christianity, and these two were largely indebted to domestic zeal for their conversion. Every other county from London to Edinburgh, a dis- tance of about four hundi-ed miles, has the full gratifica- tion of pointing to a native (Scottish or British) church of unknown antiquity, but seemingly of Asiatic origin, as its nursing-mother in Christ's holy faith." (Soames's " Anglo- Saxon Church," p. 67.) Thus the East Angles, the West Saxons, and the South Saxons were Roman Catholics whom the Scottish mis- DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 125 sionaries helped most efficiently to discai-d heathenism and embrace the Redeemer and Saviour. However great was the want of success of the Roman mission, as facts prove it to have been, important works demand that all things be presented without fear or opposition whose tendency develops truth, love, and justice to and for all concerned, wherever situated or located. No sooner had the year 621 commenced than Pope Honorius, who was excommunicated by the sixth General Council, addressed a letter to the Irish clergy about their non-observance of the Roman Easter. Certain monks from England arrived to persuade the Irish to observe the Easter as appointed by Rome. Without consulting the northern clergy, the southern Irish clergy adopted the Roman Easter ; and Thomian of Armagh, Colman of Clonard, Dimon of Connor, entered into a correspondence on the svibject. Cummian, who was born in 589 and died in 661, was a great admirer of Pope Gregory the Great, and is said to have had a desire to be the pontiff's successor, whose as- pirations were ridiculed by his opponents thus, to his gi-ief and mortification : If any one went across the sea To sit on the chair of Gregory, If from Ireland it was meet for him, Except he was Cummian Fota. In A.D. 675, Fenachta Fledagh became monarch of Ire- land ; and during the next year he destroyed the palace of 126 IRELAND: ITS CHBISTIAXITY AXD LEARNING. the northern kings at Eunishowen, in the county of Donegal. Having previously adopted the Roman Easter, he determined that the northern Scots should adopt it also. That they would not do. Consequently he issued a proclamation that the lands of Columbcille should not enjoy the same privileges as those of Patrick, Finnian, and Ciarnan. At the expense of the downfall of loua, Armagh now arose to prominence. But while the Roman Easter and the Roman tonsure were adopted in the south of Ireland they were both de- rided in the north and among the Scots of Argyleshire, as well as among the Britons; and furthermore neither the southern nor northern Irish, the Argyleshire Scots, nor the Britons yielded the slightest submission or obedience to the see of Rome. lona, Lindisfarne, and Whitby. It has been previously related that there was no mon- astery in any part of Britain or Ireland like the present Roman Catholic institutions bearing that name; and while some of the people in both Britain and Ireland at the period under consideration had favorably consid- ered the Roman Easter and a few had even adopted it, yet, notwithstanding, there were few who had transferred their allegiance from the church of their forefathers to that of Rome in any manner or form thus far known to exist either among the ancient Britons, the Scots, the Irish, or the Picts. The monks of lona, as well as of all other similar insti- DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 127 tutions in Britain and Ireland, were individuals of indus- trious habits : while they were close students, they were successful farmers. They cultivated the soil as they de- veloped their own minds. They extracted the fruits of the earth through the labors of their own hands. They were no idlers or triflers in thought or action. Tlaey had orchards and fields and barns, bountiful, fruitful, and overflowing. They were neither stingy nor illiberal with their gifts from nature, labor, and Providence. Students from all climes were welcome to share with them supplies thus furnished. At Bangor in Wales, as well as Bangor in Ireland, Durrow, Deny, and lona, and in all other similar institutions, a kind invitation with a Cuiel Mielle faulthee for every stranger was a standing motto of their wonderful liberality. And hence we read of three thou- sand foreign students being at Bangor, as well as large numbers at other institutions, whose wants were bounti- fully supplied free of all expenses. Some of these students were princes and sons of the nobility. The times were revolutionary. On the continent of Europe turmoil and civil commotions were prevailing. It took ages to calm the excitements consequent on the dismem- berment of the western Roman Empire. The arrival of the Saxons and their ruthless massacres of the British Christians added to the unparalleled commotions. Dur- ing those times Ireland was comparatively serene, quiet, and secure, and became a refuge for the oppressed, to which the sons of the old nobility were sent to enable them to escape from the pending sufferings and thraldom to which their parents and relatives were subjected at 128 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. their homes at the hands of their invaders; and hence from the sixth to the close of the ninth centuiy Ireland was Great, glorious, and free — First flower of the earth and first gem of the sea — as a refuge and a home and a haven of rest for the op- pressed from every clime. At Whitby in Northumbria, in a.d. 664, a Eomanist named Wilfrid became tutor to the king's son. The son was gradually enthralled into the net of his new instruc- tions. The queen had previously been of the tutor's faith, while Osway, the king, had been loyal to the faith of lona. When the season for observing Easter came around the queen observed Roman time, while the king celebrated ac- cording to the mode at lona. Finally the tutor, the queen, and the son succeeded by a stratagem in gaining over to their side the king. WiKrid the tutor had taken the ut- most pains of quoting " Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church " ; and also that Peter carried the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and applied the texts to mean that Peter was the foundation of the Eoman church, and that none could enter heaven without him. Cohnan was the representative of lona, Melrose, and Lindisfarne, and the great friend of the king; to whom the king one day said, " Is it true, Colman, that these words were spoken to Peter by our Lord?" He an- swered, " It is true, king." Then said the king, " Can you show any such power given to your Columba ? " Col- man answered, "No." Then the king answered that, as Colman and Wilfrid both agreed that the keys of heaven DISPUTES niTH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 129 were given to Peter, he would obey in all things the de- crees of Peter, the doorkeeper of heaven, lest he might re- fuse to admit him by his keys when he sought an entrance into paradise. Then Colman said : " We abide by the customs of our fathers, which were given us by Polycarp, the disciple of St. John. This Easter which I used to observe I received from my elders, who sent me bishop hither ; which all our fathers, men beloved of God, are known to have cele- brated, after the manner which, that it may not seem unto any to be constrained and rejected, is the same which the blessed Evangelist St. John, the disciple especially beloved of the Lord, with all the churches which he did oversee, is read and celebrated. I marvel how men can call that ab- surd in which we foUow so gi-eat an apostle, one who was thought worthy of reposing upon the bosom of the Lord ; and can it be believed that such men as our venerable father CohimbaciUe and his successors would have thought or acted the things contrary to precepts of the sacred Scrip- tures?" The king, however, avowed himself a Romanist and condemned the entire Scots community in Northumbria. Conformity to the Roman Easter and tonsure was at once demanded under severe penalties. The whole property of the churches and monasteries at Whitby, Lindisfarue, and other parts of Northumbria, was forfeited to the Ro- manists without fee or reward or compensation. Num- bers conformed. Larger numbers kept quiet and aloof. Churches were dissolved in many places, and religious meetings were paralyzed throughout the kingdom. 130 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Colman and his faithful Scots, and large numbers of the genuine Christian Anglo-Saxons, withdrew to the Soots of Argyle, and then passed over to Ireland, where, at Mageo (Mayo), Colman founded for them a famous abbey on the island of Innis-bo-Finne, off the coast of the county of Mayo, where he died in a.d. 675. Hostility to the principles of lona extended to the king of the Picts, who, in a.d. 716, ordered the Roman Easter and tonsure to be adopted at lona, and on its refusal ex- pelled all the monks therefrom who declined to comply with his arbitrary orders. The expelled monks after visiting several retreats found homes among the Scots of Ireland. Romanists were now in the ascendancy among the Anglo-Saxons and the Picts, but made little headway among the Britons, the Scots, and the Irish. Bitter animosities were aroused among the opi^ressed — as the following poetical effusions will attest — which took many generations to calm, subdue, and obliterate, while their spirit still lives among the successors of the victors. Wilfrid was subsequently made Archbishop of York, and his life and times were written by the late Cardinal Newman. The expulsion of the Scots from Northuml^ria created among the people hostile feelings to the Romanist clergy, whose sentiments are delineated by the following poetical effusion, written in Latin in a.d. 733. It shows the feelings of the age against the new reUgious intrusion of the Roman propagandists. DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 131 I. TEANSLATED FEOM A LATIN POEM OF ABOUT THE TEAR A.D. 733. I boldly dar'd the Latin priests accuse Of folly, impudence, erroneous views. Because our site they forcibly would change, And their observance in its stead arrange ; Our love of ancient rule, they fondly dream. We rashly should renounce for their esteem : But ought not Rome those minor points forego, A moderate and more liberal spirit show. No more disturb the commonweal's repose. No more their fallible decrees impose ? Let Holy Writ ijs pui'er light display, And o'er our minds exert its mighty sway : Let faith in Christ surmount the thorny road. And Christ's own precepts mark the way to God ; But let not human dogmas these deny. Or with the wishes of base man comply ; For Chi-ist's commands by Christ himself were given, Man's surest guide, because the light of heaven. His bishopric defeated Colman leaves, And seeks again his native Scotia's shores ; To see Ansonian's laws destroyed he grieves, The sight his spirit loathes, his soul abhors. On Osway Colman's friends prevail, and he, Inconstant, gives the holy Wilfrid's see To one of Aidan's school, in whom appear Faith uncorrupt, pure morals, holy fear ; His name Ceadda ; thus the prelate's throne A stranger fills, its old possessor gone : As were a bride if led to Hymen's fane While her first spouse delays beyond the main. " Ireland was thus glorious and useful when she had no communion with Rome. Under Romish subjection she has become morally and ecclesiastically like one of her 132 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. own bogs. And when she has sometimes proved a troublesome pupil, even for Rome, then Rome has been as ready to curse her as any one else. Who can forget the Spaniard's bitter taunt, ' Chi'ist did not die for the Irish ' ? " (Phelan's " Church of Rome in Ireland," p. 249.) Taliessyn, who wrote about a.d. 664-685, thus describes his feelings toward the Roman clergy : Woe be to that priest y-born That will not cleanly weed his corn And preach his charge among ; Woe be to that shepherd, I say. That will not watch his flock alway, As to his office doth belong; Woe be to him that doth not keep From Romish wolves his sheep With staff and weapon strong. n. PEINCE AliDFRID'S ITINEKARY, A.D. 682. By a confusion of names and chronology this prince has sometimes been taken for King Alfred. They lived at different periods. The former became king of North- umbria about a.d. 684, while the latter became king of Wessex in a.d. 871. There were consequently one hun- dred and eighty-seven years of an intervention between their respective reigns. Prince Aldfrid thus describes Ireland : I found in Innisfail the fair, In Ireland, while in exile there. Women of worth, both grave and gay men. Many clerics and many laymen. DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 133 I traveled in fruitful provinces round, And in every one of the five I found Alike in church and in palace hall Abundant apparel and food for aU. Gold and silver I found, and money, Plenty of wheat and plenty of honey ; I found God's people rich in pity, Found many a feast and many a city. I also found, in Armagh the splendid, Meekness, wisdom, and prudence blended ; Fasting as Christ hath recommended. And noble councilors untranscended. I found in each great church, moreo'er. Whether on island or on shore, Piety, learning, fond affection, Holy welcome and kind protection. I found the good lay monks and brothers Ever beseeching help for others, And in their keeping the Holy Word, Pure as it came from Jesus the Lord. I found in Munster, unfettered of any, Kings and queens and poets full many ; Poets well skilled in music and measure, Prosperous doings, mirth, and pleasure. I found in Connaught the just redundance Of riches, milk in lavish abundance, Hospitality, vigor, fame, In Cruachan's land of heroic fame. I found in the country of Connaill the glorious Bravest heroes, ever victorious ; 134 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Fair-eomplexioned men, and warlike ; Ireland's lights, the high, the starlight ! I found in Ulster from hill to glen Hardy warriors and resolute men ; Beauty that bloomed when youth was gone. And strength transmitted from sire to son. I found in Leinster the smooth and sleek, From Dublin to Slewmargy's jieak ; Flourishing pastures, valor, health, Long-living worthies, commerce, wealth. I found, besides, from Ara to Glee, In the broad, rich country of Ossorie, Sweet fruits, good laws, from all and each ; Great chess-players, men of truthful speech. I found in Meath's fair principality Virtue, vigor, and hospitality ; Candor, joyfulness, bravery, pririty — Ireland's bulwark and security. I found strict morals in age and youth, I found historians recording truth ; The things I sing of in verse unsmooth I found them all — I have written sooth. The Venerable Bede " assures us that the Irish were a harmless and friendly people. To them many of the Angles had been accustomed to resort in search of know- ledge, and on all occasions had been received kindly and supported gratuitously. Aldfrid lived in spontaneous exile among the Scots (Irish) through his desire of knowledge, and was called to the throne of Northumbria after the decease of his brother Egfrid in 685." (Lingard's " Eng- land," vol. i., ch. 3.) DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. ^35 King Egfnd?s Invasion. Egfrid, king of Northumbria, invaded Ireland in 684, on account of his brother Aldfrid having taken refuge there. Between the two brothers there was a deadly feud. Ald- frid had escaped from his brother's f uiy and fled to Ireland. Egfrid with his army followed him, and failing to find him turned his weapons against the natives, whom he massacred in large numbers; and on his return to his kingdom carried with him many whom he reduced to bondage. In a feud with the Picts shortly afterward he was killed, and his courtiers recalled Aldfrid to the vacant thi'one. Favorite among the Scots while in Ireland was Adam- nus, Abbot of lona, who visited Aldfrid after his corona- tion in behalf of the Irish captives, whom Aldfrid at once liberated ; and sixty persons were thus enabled to return to Ireland free and independent, through the good offices of the abbot. Meanwhile a new regulation was revealed to the abbot. The Eoman Easter was observed at the coui't of Northum- bria. Adamnus witnessed its observance, and through the young king became a convert to the ceremony. On return- ing to lona he tried to persuade the monks to accept its observance. They refused, and he returned to Ireland and became the biogi'apher of the distinguished founder of lona, and to him posterity owes its knowledge, in a great de- gree, of that famous Irishman who was the apostle of the Picts, the educator of the Scots, and the greatest ecclesiastic of that age. X36 IRELAND: ITS CHIIISTIAXITY AND LEARNING. m.. — IRELAND: THE CRADLE OF EUROPEAN LEARNING. For centuries Ireland was the cradle of European liter- ature. When burning Sappho had ceased to sing and Thucydides to praise " the isles of Greece " ; when Virgil's muse had withdrawn from fame, and Livy's pen ceased to describe Rome's greatness ; when classic literature became obliterated by the barbarous Groth and the relentless Alan ; when Frank and Saxon, Hun and Moslem, rendered the Continent a literary waste — far away from the tread of the Goth and the simitar of the Moslem, in the distant Erin, a pure literature was cultivated which has been handed down from sire to son for hundreds of years. What subject deserves more praise than the immortal trophies of fame which a country wears ? Ireland's claim to such renown bears no uncertain sound. Let her an- cient seats of literature set forth her glory. Who has not heard of Armagh and Lismore, Clonard and Ross-Carbery, Connor and Bangor, Clonmacnois and Connaught, Deny and Mayo, in whose halls and classes thousands of foreign students were enrolled? The Psalters of Tara and Cashel can furnish specimens of poetic effusions not surpassed by those of either the Hebrew, Greek, or Roman muses. By common consent philosophy, letters, science, and bibliology were cultivated in those ancient seats of learning. From such circum- stances, and from the upright character of the people, their strict observance of sacred rest on the first day of the week, their devout study of sacred literature, and their DISPUTES WITH THE ROHAN MISSIONARIES. 137 missiouaiy labors at home and in foreign parts— their land was called " The Island of Saints." The biographer of Patrick says : " That eminent Chris- tian was accustomed to expound the Bible for days and nights together." The chief attraction of those ancient schools was their strict discipline and thorough knowledge of the Bible. In St. Senan's time a vessel arrived at Cork " bringing fifty religious persons, passengers from the Continent, who came to Ireland either for the purpose of leading a life of stricter discipline or of improving themselves in the study of the Scriptures." The Venerable Bede having mentioned a plague that raged throughout Northumbria in the year 664 says that it also "visited Ireland likewise with signal violence. There were in that country at the time we speak of many of the English nobility and middle classes, who at the time of Bishops Finan and Colman had left their native island and retired thither to Ireland either for the purpose of studying the Word of God or else to observe a stricter life. And some, indeed, presently devoted themselves to the monastic profession, while others chose rather to pay visits to the chambers of the different masters ; all of whom the Irish received most cordially and provided with daily food free of charge, as likewise with books to- read and gratuitous instruction. Among those students were two of the English nobility, named Edilhun and Egbert, youths of excellent parts, the first of whom was the brother of Edilwin, a man equally beloved of God, who himself also went to Ireland in the following age for the pur- 238 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. pose of studying there, and returned to liis country well educated, after which, having been apjjointed bishop of the province of Lindis, he ruled that church most nobly for many years." Bede furthermore informs us that "Agilbert, Bishop of Paris, was in 650 educated in Ireland." About the year 685, Aldfrid, son of Osway, succeeded his brother Egfrid as king of Northumbria and accord- ing to Bede " he was a man most learned in the Scrip- tures, who when the throne became vacant was a sojourner in the land of the Scots, in Ireland." Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, in a letter to Eahfrid, who had spent six years of student life in Ireland, asks : "Why should Ireland, whither students are transported in troops by fleets, be exalted with such unspeakable ad- vantages, as if here in the rich soil of England there could not be found any Grecian or Eoman teachers to expound by their interpretations the dark problems of the celestial libraries to inquiring youths 1 " At that time Europe was shrouded in pagan darkness. From the sea-girt coasts of Erin light flashed forth to re- move the spiritual gloom from the minds of the people. We have seen how Columbcille lighted the lamp of learn- ing on Ion a which enlightened the Picts of Caledonia, and how Aidan struck another fire on the island of Lindisfarne which blazed forth throughout the northern and middle counties of England. We have followed Columbanus and St. Gall to Luxeuil, Fontaine, Switzerland, and Italy, where the former became distinguished at Bobbio and the latter at St. Gall. We have likewise followed Kilian to the East- DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 3^39 ern Franks, and Willibrord among the Batavians, the Fries- landers, and the Westphalians, while Cedd and Diumur and Frumshere won trophies among the Anglo-Saxons, and aU have gathered innumerable hosts into the fold of Christ. We have seen how Clement graced the University of Pavia, while Albinus presided over the destinies of the new Uni- versity of Paris. Among religious commentators of the year 815 the most distinguished were Sedulius and Claudius Scotus, who were highly patronized by Charles the Great. When the doctrine of transubstantiation was first broached in 831 by Paschasius Radbert its most uncom- promising opijonent was Joannes Scotus Erigena, a man whom every scholar delights to honor. Such was the celeb- rity of the Irish schools in 1070 that their praise was thus set forth in verse by John, son of Sulgen, Bishop of St. Davids : With ardent love of learning, Sulgen sought The school in which his fathers had been taught ; To Ireland's sacred isle he bent his way, Where science beamed with bright and glorious ray. But lo ! an unfoi-eseen impediment His journey interrupted as he went ; For sailing toward the country where abode The people famous in the Word of Grod, His bark by adverse winds and tempests tost Was forced to anchor on another coast ; And thus the Albanian shore the traveler gained. And there for five successive years remained. At length arriving on the Irish soil, He soon applies himself with studious toil ; The Holy Scriptures now his thoughts engage, And much he ponders o'er tlie oft-read page. 140 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Exploring carefully the sacred mine Of precious treasures in the law divine, Till thirteen years of diligence and pains Had made him affluent in heavenly gains, And stored his ample mind with rich supplies Of costly goods and sacred merchandise. Then, having gained a literary name In high repute for learning, home he came, His gathered store and golden gains to share Among admiring friends and followers there. About 1083 flourished Marianus Scotus, another of Ire- land's celebrated divines, who was distinguished as an author, a biblical scholar, a controversialist, a historian, and a teacher. Among his charity pupils was an English boy named Nicholas Breakspeare, the son of a peasant. He was a genius in his way, and afterwai'd became pope of Eome under the name of Adrian IV., by whose bull, in 1155, Ireland was granted and sold to the king of England for a penny a hearth, to be paid into the coffers of St. Peter. About the close of the eleventh century the cele- brated Tighernach, the most distinguished Latin and Greek scholar of that age, adorned the walks of classical litera- tui-e from the Irish coast. Among the writings of Camben in the following age is a statement that the " Anglo-Sax- ons used to flock together into Ireland, as a market of learning ; whence it is that we continually find it is said in our writers concerning holy men of old, ' He was sent aivay to he educated in Ireland.^ " Thus it appears that the renowned seats of learning at lona in Scotland, Lindisfarne and Oxford in England, Paris in France, St. GaU in Switzerland, Pavia in Italy, as weU as the ancient churches of the Picts of Nortliumbria, the DISPUTES WITH TEE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 1^1 Auglo-Saxons, the French, the Dutch, the Germans, the ItaUans, and the Icelanders, received their impetus for learning and literature, philosophy and science, religion and theology, from the educated sons of Erin. Of poets and orators, soldiers and sailors, politicians and musicians, Ireland may be justly proud. Clontarf, the Boyne, Aughrim, and Limerick have drawn from Irish hearts floods of blood, over which their fiery red flag floated from shore to shore. The tramp of Irish bravery has kept time to war's death-march on the burning sands of India. The clang of Irishmen's armor and the shout of their vic- tories have multiplied themselves in the echoes of the Alps. Beneath their own loved flag they fought at Clon- tarf ; beneath the tricolor at Cremona and Fontenoy ; be- neath the union jack from Seringapatam to Waterloo ; and beneath that brighter flag, deepening its red stripes with their blood, and brightening its glorious stars with their valor, they fought for its triumph from Quebec to York- town, from Niagara to New Orleans, from Palp Alto to Cburubusco and Chapultepec, from Richmond to the Wil- derness, and from the Heights of Lookout mountain along Sherman's triumphant march to the ocean. A man prejudiced against everything Irish may stand by the tombs of Boyle, Berkeley, Swift, and Sheridan, and deny to Ireland all claims to genius ; he may have listened to the songs of the bards and deny to Ireland all claims to poetry; he may have Ustened to Curran's, Grattan's, Cooke's, and Macneile's voices, and deny to Ireland all claims to eloquence; he may stand by the unepitaphed tombs of Emmet, Tone, or Fitzgerald, and deny to Ireland 142 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. all claims to patriotism: but no man can stand by the aged Brian at Clontarf, by Sarsfield at Limerick, by Wel- lington at Waterloo, by Grough and Napier in India, by Montgomery at Quebec, by Stark at Bennington, by Jack- son at New Orleans, by Shields at Cerro Gordo, by Grant in tlie Wilderness ; no man can foUow Con and Nial and Dathy over Britain, Gaul, and Helvetia, read through the wars of Cromwell and William, through those for Ameri- can independence and more lately for the Union — and say that the Irish lacked courage, showed want of mili- tary genius, or failed in heroism, whether the green flag, the tricolor, the fiery cross of St. George, or the radi- ant stars and stripes floated over them, or became their shrouds, on fields where they bravely conquered or, un- daunted, fell. For divines, scholars, authors, inventors, and pi'omoters of the world's progress, the claims of Ireland are not less distinguished. As in ancient so in modern times, classical literature is stiU preeminent. In philosophy, science, and theology the fullest developments have kept pace with the thought of the age. In history and the arts their authors have been multiplied in almost every chme from the Emerald Island. Eminent and Distinguished Irish Ecclesiastical and Literary Authors^ at Home and Abroad, from the Days of St. Patrick until the Ttvelfth Century. Secundinus, - who died about a.d. 448 Patrick, - - " " 465 Benignus, - - " " 468 DISPUTES WITH TEE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 143 larlath, who died about a.d . 482 Faidolinus, (( u 495 Cormae, (( u 497 Ibar, u u 500 Aengus, 11 u 507 Dublach, u u 513 Conlarth, li u 519 Ailid I., (1 u 526 Ailbe, (( u 527 Ailid II., a it 536 Dublach II., u it 548 Kiarnan, 11 it 549 David, u it 551 Fiunian, 11 it 552 Brendou of Birr, it it 571 Brendon of Clonfert, 11 li 577 Columbcille, « il 577 Faiedlinid, « li 578 Euadan, « tl 584 Caulan, « 11 588 Frigidian, - a it 595 Eochaid, 11 li 598 Evin, it it 600 CanuiU, 11 ii 600 Comgall of Bangor, u li 601 Molua, - ii It 609 Senach, 11 ii 610 Libba, - li il 612 Columbanus, a ii 615 Kevin, - u il 618 144 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. MacLaisir, - who died about a.d. 623 Finbar, 11 it 630 Edan," it it 632 Munnu, a it 635 Laserian, 11 ii 638 Dagan, - - . Cl li 640 Gallus, li it 645 Fursey, It It 650 Aidan, li it 651 Camin, - - . u it 653 Three O'Bureckans bros., It ii 653 Wiro, - ti li 653 Diman, it ii 656 Cumin of Connor, ii li 656 Thoman, - - " it It 661 Finan, - - _ 11 (I 661 Cumin Fada, li « 662 Aileran, (( (( 665 Cummian, - it u 669 Disibod, (( 11 675 Maildulph, - « u 675 Colman, (( 11 676 Arbogast, - u it 679 Fiacre, - - . St it 679 Cuthbert, - ii li 687 Segene, it 11 688 Moling, ti It 692 Flan Fibla, it it 715 Sedulius, It it 721 Suebney, it it 730 Congusa, ti u 750 DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. 145 Cele Peter, who died about a. D. 758 Ferdachy, - (( 11 768 Rumbold, (( ii 775 Virsilius, u ct 785 Albinus, u « 792 Dubalithy, - u « 793 Fiendilach, 11 (( 794 Affiat, « <( 794 Cudeniscus, 11 (( 798 Fothadius, - u « 799 Aengus II., « (( 800 " Book of Armagh," written ti 804 Conmach, ii u 807 Torbach, u (( 808 Patrick, Abbot, IC u 850 DungaU, K it 899 Joannes Scotus Erigena and Macarius, H 11 899 Colman, martyred in Rhaetia, - u u 899 Mac Liag, physician, poet, etc.. a u 1014 Patrick, Danish R. C. Bishop of Dublin, 11 (( 1074 The Annalists of Innis- fallen, The writers of the " Four Masters," The authors of the de- scriptions ■ of Mutte- frenan. 146 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. John A; Saero-Bosco of Holywood, Peter Hibernus of Na- ples, Thomas Aquiuas, Goldfried of Waterford, Thomas Palmer of the Sorbonne, And hosts of others, whose names are too numerous for mention, have contributed to the fame, the glory, and the renown of their native land. ANCIENT COMMENTARIES ON THE SACKED SCEIPTUEES. Among the earliest extant is that of the far-famed Jerome on the Latin revised copy of the Scriptures com- monly called the Vulgate. He was a profound scholar for his day, and has left an example of his learning and ability in his " Hexapla," which for centuries has been a monument of literary and intellectual thought. About the beginning of the fifth century Pelagius, a "Welshman, wrote notes on thirteen epistles of Paul, which were distinguished for their popularity. Another Briton, named Ninnian, wi-ote a commentary on the Psalms of David. In the seventh century another, named Augustine, wrote a work on the difficulties of the Bible, entitled the " Won- ders of Scripture," which was greatly admired and popular. All the apocryphal wi'itings were omitted in his notations. In all his writings the sacred Scriptures were presented DISPUTES WITH THE EOMAX MISSIONARIES. 147 in their purity, free from the doubtful interpretations of the scholastic theology of subsequent years. It has been said of him that "in his 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 Psalms." " By whose study afterward the study of God's Word was so propagated that in the mon- asteries which were founded 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 Scripture they might have hope." Sedulius, a Scot, in a.d. 818 wrote a commentary on the Epistles of Paul, which was distinguished for its sound Calvinistic thought, long before John Calvin was born. Colcu, who died in a.d. 790, was called the chief scribe and master of the Scots in Ireland. He made Paul's Epistles a special study, and was regarded as the gi-eatest teacher and most successful controversialist of his times Both Sedulius and Colcu rejected the idea of justification by works. Both set forth that justification proceeded from faith and not from works. Another Scot, or Irishman, named Claudius, about A.D. 815 wrote a commentary on the Gospel of Matthew which commanded the attention of the thoughtful and won their highest regard. A number of Irish monks founded a monastery at Wurtz- burg in Germany, and about the ninth century they wi-ote "Glosses" or comments on Paul's Epistles, which are now - m the University Library of Wurtzburg. They are brief orthodox, and evangelical. ' 148 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. TESTIMONY IN BEHAI^F OF THE LEARNING OF THE ANCIENT IRISH CHURCH. Antiquity of Letters. 1. Edmund Spenser, in his " View of the State of Ire- land," pp. 26-29 says : " It is certain that Ireland hath had the use of letters very anciently and long before Eng- land." 2. Cambden says: "From thence (Ireland) our Saxon ancestors seemed to have had the form of their letters, as they plainly used the same characters which are in use among the Irish." 3. Dr. Samuel Johnson, the lexicographer, observes: *' What was the ancient form of the Saxon language when, about the year 450, they just entered Britain cannot now be well known. They seem to have been a people without learning and very probably without an alphabet." 4. Lord Lyttleton, in his " Life of Henry II.," says : " A school was founded at Armagh which soon became very famous. Many Irish went from thence to convert and teach other nations. Many Saxons out of England re~ sorted thither for instruction, and brought from thence the use of letters to their ignorant countrymen." 5. The Venerable Bede says that " in the seventh cen- tury great numbers, both of the noble and second rank of English, left their country and retired into Ireland for the sake of studying theology and leading a stricter life. All these the Irish, whom he calls Scots, most willingly re- ceived and maintained at their own charge, supplying DISPUTES WITH THE ROMAN MISSIONARIES. I49 them with books and being their teachers without fee or reward." 6. Sir James Ware says: "Ireland for ages after the coming of St. Patrick abounded with most learned per- sons, and was justly called the Island of Saints," 7. Moreri, in his " Historical Dictionary," says : " Ireland has given the most distinguished professors to the most famous universities in Europe, as Claudius Clemens to Paris, Albinus to Pavia in Italy, Joannes Scotus Erigena to Oxford in England. The English Saxons received from the Irish their characters or letters, and with them the arts and sciences that have flourished since among these people — as says Sir James Ware in his ' Treatise on the Irish Writers,' book i., ch. 13, where may be seen an ac- count of the celebrated academies and public schools which were maintained in Ireland in the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth ages, which were resorted to particularly by Anglo-Saxons, the French, and ancient Britons, who were all received with greater hospitality than in any other country of the Christian world." 8. Sir James Mackintosh says : " The Irish nation pos- sesses genuine history several centui'ies more ancient than any other European nation possesses in its present spoken language." 9. Thierry, in his " Norman Conquest," book x., p. 193, states : " The major part of the Irish were men with dark hair, with strong passions, loving and hating with vehe- mence, irascible, yet of a sociable temper. In many things, especially in religion, they were enthusiasts, and willingly intermingled its Christian worship with their poetry and 150 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. literature, which was perhaps the most cultivated in aU Western Europe. Their island possessed a multitude of saints and learned men, venerated aUke in England and Gfaul ; for no country had furnished a gi'eater number of Christian missionaries, animated by no other motive than pure zeal and an ardent desire of communicating to foreign nations the opinions and faith of their native country. The Irish were great travelers, and always gained the hearts of those whom they visited by the extreme ease with which they conformed to their customs and ways of life." 10. Cardinal J. H. Newman, in his " Life of Wilfrid," Archbishop of York, a.d. 709, says : " In fact Ireland was a great center of civilization, and its temper was vehe- mently opposed to that of Rome. In many little ways we trace the Celtic spirit growing and pushing forward, dis- closing itself more and more, getting consistency through an increasing consciousness of its own strength, until a schism seemed actually threatening. It pleased God to interpose. The Roman mission of St. Gregory to the Sax- ons appears, in this point of view, like an inspiration." And again : " It is not too much to say that through the influence of the Scottish church, and of the Celtic civiliza- tion, of which Ireland was the center, Christendom reached the very verge of a tremendous schism, almost reaching, in extent, to the unhappy sacrilege of the sixteenth cen- tury." 11. " From the fifth to the eleventh century Ireland be- came the teacher of Europe, and sent forth those illustrious sages whose names illuminate the dark night of ignorance and barbarism." (" Celtic Records of Ireland," p. 19.) VI.— SIXTH PERIOD : from a.d. 795 to a.d. 1014. THE DANISH INVASIONS: DECLINE OF THE ANCIENT IRISH CHUECH. Many causes had been coutributiBg toward a new ex- perience for the people of Ireland, resulting in an unlooked- for decline at a time when they seemed to have enjoyed external prosperity and literary glory. When their edu- cated sons had attained a distinguished fame at home and abroad for their devotion, piety, religious sentiments, and upright characters ; when their schools had attracted stu- dents from every class of the European noljility ; and when the numerous institutions abroad were indebted for all the learning that passed current among them chiefly to grad- uates from Ireland's chief seats of education — then a fear- ful and calamitous visitation occurred, which surpassed in virulence that of the Goths, the Vandals, the Franks, and the Anglo-Saxons of notorious and detestable memory. About A.D. 795 the Northmen, commonly known as the Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes, became visitors of the coasts for plunder, robbery, bloodshed, and destruction. They were pagans in religion, and inhuman, brutal, and regardless of feeling or of human sympathy. They grid- ironed the coasts, took possession of the principal cities, 151 ]^52 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. burned the churches, schools, books, manuscripts, and mon- asteries, massacred the natives, and spread ruin and disas- ter and death wherever they went. They captured Water- ford, Dublin, Limerick, Armagh, and the entire seaboard towns and villages. The torch lighted the path of the in- vaders. Neither age, nor sex, nor institution was spared. Pillage, robbery, murder, bloodshed, and other indescrib- able crimes marked a red path in the rear of their con- quests. Taken so suddenly by surprise, the remaining natives retired as rapidly as possible into the interior. After the first shock of consternation had passed they bravely rallied in their own defense. The leading cities were retaken, re- captured, and recovered, to be again and again attacked and recaptured by the invaders. As a consequence the foreigners finally held Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick, in which they largely settled. In like manner they visited lona, and environed the whole of the Island of Man, the Scots of Argyleshire, the Western Islands, and the laud of the Picts, as well as the kingdom of Northumbria and other parts of England, and for a time gave kings to England. At last in the eleventh century these northmen became converted to the English church. Their compeers in Du1)lin, Waterford, and Limerick in like manner pro- fessed the same faith. The bitterness existing between them and the native Irish was such as extended to their ecclesiastical relations. Like what occiu'red between the Britons and the Saxons, the Irish and the Danes would have nothing in common, even in religion. The Danes THE DANISH INVASIONS. j^^g would not recognize the Irish church, Lut sent their first bishop, in a.d. 107-i, after their conversion, to be conse- crated at Canterbury ; which helped to increase the divi- sion between the people of Ireland and their invaders, as the following wiU more fully unfold. The Banish Invasions. A.D. 795, Rathliu, a small island on the north of Ireland, was devastated. A.D. 802, lona was ravaged. A.D. 806, the monastery of lona was pillaged, and sixty- eight of its inmates massacred. A.D. 807, Innishmurray, an island off Sligo, was desolated. A.D. 823, Bangor was raided, and its clergy and students murdered. A.D. 833, Armagh was captured, and its clergy murdered. A.D. 845, Malachy, king of Meath, captured the Danish king and drowned him in Lough Owel, near Mulliugar. A.D. 845, the monasteries of Clonmacnois, Clonfert, and others were pillaged, and the churches burned. A.D. 852, the Danes were victorious in a sea-fight at Car- lingford, and Olave, their chief, was made king of Dublin. A.D. 878, the relics of Columbaeille were removed from lona to Downpatrick. A.D. 888, the abbot and monks of Cloyne were massacred. A.D. 890, Kildare and Clonard were plundered. A.D. 893, Armagh was again pillaged. A.D. 916-918, fleets arrived at Waterford. The invaders divided into three companies, one of which garrisoned Cork, another Inny, in Kerry, and the other Glas3 Linn, 154 IRELAND: ITS CHBISTIANITT AND LEARNING. ou the Sliannoii. By these the whole of Munster was plundered, aud the churches and monasteries destroyed. A.D. 948, the belfry of Slane, full of the relics of distin- guished men, together with Casenach, the lector or reader, and the crozier of Ere, patron saint, and a bell, were burned. A.D. 980, Malachy, king of Ireland, was deposed by Brian Boru, who reigned as chief king. A.D. 1004, Brian Boru visited Armagh. His secretary wrote in the " Book of Armagh " that " St. Patrick, when ascending to heaven, commanded all the fruits of his labor, arising both from baptisms and alms, to be brought to the apostolic city, which in the Irish language is caUed Ard- macha. I found it thus stated in the books of the Irish. I, that is to say Calvus Perenius, wi-ote this in the sight of Brian, emperor of the Irish ; and what I wrote, he con- firmed for all kings with his seal of wax." ( " H. M. Com- missioners' Eeports," p. 102.) A.D. 1014, battle of Clontarf, where the Danes were van- quished, and Brian murdered by a Dane, at his tent, while in acts of devotion. The havoc, destruction, and confusion resulting from the Danish invasions paralyzed the ancient church and schools of Ireland. All her educated sons who could escape from the ruthless persecutions of the invaders betook themselves to foreign shores. France, Germany, and Italy were the favored resorts of the refugees, whose labors in those lands were successful in reviving science and literature wherever they went throughout the Contineoit ; which aroused the ire and jealousy of the clergy of those countries. THE DANISH INVASIONS. I55 In A.D. 754 Fierghill, who was celebrated as a scientist, went to Metz, and taught that this world was a globe ; which startled the archbishop, who wrote to Pope Zachaiy about the new heresy, to which the pontiff replied : " If it shall appear that he so confesses that there may be another world and other men under the earth, summon a council, deprive him of the honor of the priesthood, expel him from the church." He subsequently had an interview with the pope and convinced him that his doctrine was harmless, and was in a.d. 756 appointed Bishop of Salzburg, where he died in a.d. 784. In A.D. 813 the Council of Chalons-sur-Saone pronounced the ordination of the Irish clergymen null and void. ( Vide Canon XLIIL, Labbe. Counc, tom. vii., cols. 1281, 1282.) In A.D. 816 the Council of Calcythe, England, decreed " that none should receive baptism or the eucharist from Irish clergymen, because we cannot tell by whom they have been ordained, or whether they have been ordained at all. We know it is enjoined in the canons that no bishop or presbyter should attempt to enter another's parish without the consent of its bishop. So much the worse is it to be condemned to accept the ministrations of religion from those of other nations who have no man of metropolitan rauk, and who have no regard for such functionaries." (Wilkin's " Concil.," vol. i., p: 170.) In A.D. 860, Patrick, an Irishman, became Abbot of Glas- tonbury. After the battle of Clontarf the power of the Danes de- clined throughout Ireland and the adjoining isles, but their former conquests left behind a train of ruin and deso- 256 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. latiou. Intelligence seemed to have been almost quenched, and the people and their spiritual instructors to have lost their influence and independence, and for the next two cen- turies to have waned into comparative ignorance through- out the once highly favored " Island of Saints." New combinations were formed. Selfish ideas seemed to ocupy the minds of those whose fathers exhibited a pa- triotism, a love of country and of home that were now rather indifferently esteemed. VII.— SEVENTH PEEIOD : fkom a.d. 1014 to a.d. 1152. CANTEEBUKY AND KOMAN CLAIMS AND SCHEMES. Preparations for Introducing Roman Catholicism. About the year a.d. 1074 the Danish king of Dublin, Gothric, selected one named Patrick to be the bishop of that city, and sent him to Canterbiiry to be consecrated ; who became the first Roman Catholic bishop in Ireland, and the only St. Patrick known to the Church of Rome who was connected therewith. After consecrating Patrick the Archbishop of Canter- bury, Lanfranc, wrote a letter to King Turlough O'Brien, the Irish king, who could neither read nor write, wherein complaints were set forth against the marriages of the Irish clergy and the mode of ordination of the Irish bishops. After the death of Archbishop Lanfranc, Anselm suc- ceeded to the see of Canterbury; who addressed another letter to Mui-tough O'Brien, son of King Turlough, also an illiterate, on the same subject. In A.D. 1096 Archbishop Anselm ordained one Malchus to be Bishop of Waterford, and Samuel O'Haingley, Bishop of Dublin, both being Danish towns; who with Gillebert, Bishop of Limerick, in a.d. 1105 were active in introducing 157 258 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITT AND LEARNING. the Roman liturgy into Ireland, especially into their own churches. In A.D. 1122 the Eoman Catholic Bishoj) of Dublin wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury as follows : " Know you verily that the bishops of Ireland have gi-eat 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." In A.D. 1110 King Murtough O'Brien, captivated by the encomiums passed upon him by Archbishop Anselm, con- vened a synod at Rathbresnick. Only 58 bishops, 317 presbyters, and a number of monks, out of 700 bishops and 3000 presbyters said to be in Ireland, attended, from the southern part of the kingdom ; none from the northern half appeared. Dean Milman, a distinguished English Episcopalian his- torian, says : " The earliest Christian communities appear to have been ruled and represented, in the absence of the apostle who was their founder, by their elders, who are like- wise called bishops or overseers of the churches. These presbyter bishops and the deacons are the only two orders which we discover at first in the church of Ephesus, at Philippi, and perhaps in Crete." Professor Stokes says that before the meeting of the Synod of Rathliresnick, in a.d. 1110, " episcopacy had been the rule of the Irish church, but diocese and diocesan epis- copacy had no existence at all." By that synod the ecclesiastical government of the whole country south and north was changed. Two archbishops •were selected to govern the clergy, one to be at Armagh, CANTERBURT AND ROMAN CLAIMS AND SCHEMES. 159 tlie other at Casliel. The number of bishops was to be re- duced from seven hundred to twenty-three. The northern half of Ireland was to have twelve bishops and dioceses, under the primate of Armagh— to wit, Clogher, Ardstraw, Down, Duluk, Clonard, Tuam, Clonfert, Cong, Killala, and Aidcaem, and two others ; while the southern half, under the Archbishop of Cashel, included Lismore, Waterford, Killaloe, Emly, Kilkenny, Leighlin, Kildare, Cork, Eath- margher, Glendalough, Ferns or Wicklow. By a synod held at Usneagh, Clonmacnois was created a diocese instead of Duluk; but very few of the original bishops indorsed the synod's transactions or decrees. The Irish people and clergy heretofore knew nothing practically of either ordinaries or chorepiscopi. In A.D. 1152 a synod was held at Kells, at which twenty- two bishops, three hundred ecclesiastics, and Cardinal Pa- paro from Rome attended. Christian of Lismore was said to be the papal delegate. Cardinal Paparo presided ; and, for the first time in the history of the country and of the Irish church, four palls were presented from Eome : one for Armagh, another for Tuam, another for Dublin, and another for Cashel, whose bishops were created archbish- ops in conformity to, and in connection with, the Church of Rome. From past experience, this synod decreed that as village bishops died their places should be fiUed by parish pres- byters, archdeacons, and deans. {Vide "Four Masters," vol. ii., p. 1001.) VIII.— EIGHTH PERIOD : fkom a.d. 1152 to a.d. 1175. 1. SUBJECTION OF IRELAND AND HEE CHURCH TO ENGLAND AND EOME. It has been shown that prior to the year a.d. 1110, the year that the Synod of Rathbresnick assembled, there were upward of seven hundred bishops in Ireland, and that each church or congregation had one or more bishops for its pastor or pastors, just as the church of Ephesus in Paul's day was favored {vide Acts xx. 17-28) ; that the same kind of bishops had existed in the pastorates of the Irish churches from the time of Patrick until the meeting of said synod, during a space of about six hundred and seventy years ; that, for the first time since the days of Ireland's patron saint, a change was attempted to be made in the mode of the government of Ireland's church — that the number of bishops was to be reduced to only twenty-five, of whom two were to be archbishops, and the rest of the seven hundred to be reduced to the ranks of simple pastors, or deans, archdeacons, rural deans, or other inferior dig- nitaries ; that in a.d. 1152 another synod met at Kells, of which Cardinal Paparo was one, and over which he pre- sided, and introduced four palls — four new archbishops of his creation : one for Armagh, another for Cashel, another 160 SUBJECTION OF IRELAND TO ENGLAND AND ROME. \Q\ for Tuam, and another for Dublin ; and yet that in a.d. 1155, only three years afterward, Pope Adrian IV. of Eome pro- nounced Ireland an uncouth and illiterate nation in his buU to Henry II. of England, and granted it to the English king on condition that he bring it within the bounds of the church and pay one penny a hearth therefor to St. Peter;, and that in a.d. 1172 Pope Alexander III. confirmed Pope Adrian's bull to the English monarch — all of which prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that prior to the aforesaid synods of Rathbusail and Kells, and the issuing of the bull of Pope Adrian IV., and its confirmation by Pope Alexander III., the church in Ireland had no connection with the Church of Rome in any sense whatever. In A.D. 1155 Pope Adrian IV., an Englishman, issued the following bull to Henry II. of England : "Your Majesty has conceived an excellent mode of spreading abroad the glory of your name in the world and of accumulating the reward of eternal happiness in hea- ven ; while you exert yourself as a Christian prince to ex- tend the boundaries of the church, to declare to the un- couth and illiterate nation the verity of the Christian faith, and to extirpate the saplings of vice from the field of the Lord, requesting for the accomplishment of your object the advice and favor of the apostolic see. Truly there is no manner of doubt that Ireland, as well as all other islands upon which the Sun of Righteousness hath dawned, be- longs to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and the Holy Roman Church, which your Majesty also acknowledges. You, our beloved son in Christ, have signified to us your desire of invading Ireland, and that you are also willing to pay to 1G2 IRELAND : ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. St. Peter the annual sum of one penny for every house. "We therefore grant you a wilHng assent to your petition, and that the boundaries of the church may be extended and the Christian religion increased, permit you to enter the isl- and. Be it your study, then, that the church there may be adorned, and the Christian faith established and increased." Now nothing can be more clear than the inference that at the date of Pope Adrian's bull Ireland was not considered within " the boundaries " of the Eoman CathoKc Church. 2. THE pope's canon-law CLAIMS. The claims of the Roman pontiffs to grant and give away islands and kingdoms, and exercise other arbitrary or sim- ilar modes of jurisdiction, are incontrovertible, however much those of their faith may desire to have the statements regarded differently, for there is no doubt about the claims of the popes of Rome to give away kingdoms. The Canon Law provides for such. The following are some of its provisions as to the "power of the Roman popes over princes, countries, nations, and individuals " : I. All human power is from evil, and must therefore be standing under the pope. II. The temporal powers must be unconditionally in ac- cordance with the orders of the spiritual. III. The church is empowered to grant or to take away any tempoi-al possession. IV. The pope has the right to give countries and nations which are non-Catholic to Catholic regents, who can reduce them to slavery. SUBJECTION OF IRELAND TO ENGLAND AND ROME. IQ^ V. The pope can make slaves of those Christian subjects whose prince or ruling power is interdicted by the pope. VI. The laws of the church concerning the liberty of the church and the papal power are based upon divine inspi- ration. VII. The church has the right to practise the uncondi- tional censure of books. VIII. The pope has the right to annul state laws, treaties, constitutions, etc. ; to absolve from obedience thereto, as soon as they seem detrimental to the rights of the church, or to those of the clergy. IX. The pope has the right of admonishing, and, if needs be, of punishing the temporal rulers, emperors, and kings, as well as of di-awing before the spiritual forum any case in which a mortal sin exists. X. Without the consent of the pope no tax or rate of any kind can be levied upon a clergjmaan, or upon any church whatsoever. XI. The pope has the right to absolve from oaths and obedience to the persons and the laws of the princes whom he excommunicates XII. The pope can annul all legal relations of those in ban, especially their marriages. XIII. The pope can release from every obligation, oath, vow, either before or after being made. XIV. The execution of papal commands for the perse- cution of heretics causes remission of sins. XV. He who kills one that is excommunicated is no murderer in a legal sense. 1Q^ lEELASD: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. 3. CONTKOVEBSY ABOUT ADKUN'S BULi,. The bull of Adrian IV. has been declared by some a for- gery ; but before the seventeenth century it was never de- nied. It was always admitted to be genuine prior to that time, both in Ireland and elsewhere. There was a copy of it in the Vatican Library ; Pope John XXIII., in his brief to King Edward II. in a.d. 1.319, refei's to it, which is in the Bullarium. Baronius published it in his "Annals " in 1159. It is confirmed by Pope Alexander III. in 1172. Giraldus Cambrensis, "De Rebus a Se Gest.," part ii., c. ii., and " Hib. Ex.," lib. ii., c. vi. and Matthew Paris, " Hist. Maj.," a.d. 1155, both give the bull in full. It also appears in " Cam- brensis Eversus," by Kelly, vol. ii., pp. 410-414 ; in Ph. O'Sul- livan's " History of Catholic Ibernia," torn, ii., lib. i., c. iv. ; and Malone, " Church History, Ireland," p. 100, says the pope who authorized the invasion of Ireland was choked. Henry II. landed at Carok, seven miles from Waterford, in A.D. 1171. The same year saw slavery abolished. Hove- den says that " all the archbishops, bishops, and abbots of the whole of Ireland came and received him as king of Ire- land, swearing fealty to him, his heirs and successors, with power of reigning over them." {Vide Stubbs's " Chronica," vol. ii., p. 30.) After the manner of the clergy, the kings and princes of Ireland received Henry, king of England, as lord and king of Ireland. (Ibid.) In A.D. 1172 the Council of Cashel sent its canons to Pope Alexander III. for his approval ; and in September of the SUBJECTION OF IRELAND TO ENGLAND AND BOME. \Q^ same year the same pope sent three letters to Ireland : one to King Henry, another to the kings and princes of Ireland, and the third to the prelates of Ireland. In his letter to Henry the pope says : " Your Excellency is aware that the Roman church has by right an authority over islands dif- ferent from what she possesses over the mainland and con- tinent. Having, therefore, such a confident hope in the fervor of your devotion as to believe it would be your desire not only to conserve, but also to extend, the privileges of said church, and to establish her jurisdiction, as you are in duty bound, where she has none, we ask and earnestly urge your Highness to study diligently to preserve to us in tlie aforesaid land the rights of St. Peter, and if the said church have no jurisdiction there, that your Highness should assign and appoint it to her." ( Vide Reymiu's " Foedera," vol. i., p. 45.) In A.D. 1175 the same pope issued a brief confirmatory of the bull of Pope Adrian IV., wherein he says he hoped that Ireland, which he called "the barbarous nation," would attain under Henry's government "to some decency of manners," and when its church, " hitherto in a disordered state," was better regulated the people would enjoy and " possess the reality as well as the name of the Christian profession." The brief, with a copy of the bull of Adrian IV. annexed, was published in a.d. 1175, with the highest solemnities, in a synod held at Waterford. ( Vide Ware's " Annals," a.d. 1175.) In the "Book of Howth" it is recorded that the clergy as- sembled at Cashel and " plainly determined the conquest [of Ireland] to be lawful, and threatened all people under pain IQQ IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. of holy church's displeasure to accept the English kings for their lords from time to time." ( Vide " Calendar of Carew," MSS., p. 224.) Benedict of Peterborough says : " Ex inde recepit ab uno- quoque arehiepiscopo et episcopo Litteras suas in modum Cartae extra sigillium pendentes, et confirmantes ei et haere- dibus suum regnum Hiberniae, et testimonium prohibentes ipsos eum et haeredes suos sibi in regno et dominos con- stituesse in perpetuum." (" Gesta Regis Hen. Sec," p. 26.) Bishop Doyle, an eminent and distinguished Irish Roman Catholic, asserted that the Irish prelates sold their country to Henry II. ; that " tithes were the price paid by Henry II. and the legate Paparo to the Irish prelates, who sold for them the independence of their native land and the birth- right of their people." {Vide "Vindication of the Irish Catholics," by J. K. L., p. 33.) Let Erin remember the days of old. Ere her faithless sons betrayed her ; When Malachy wore the collar of gold Which he won from the proud invader. 4. FORMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. Composed of the Scots of Argyleshire and the Western Isl- ands; the people and territory of Strathclyde; the lands of the Picts ; and the territory of Saxony lying between the Firths of Forth and of the Clyde. At the opening of the fourteenth century the kingdom of Scotland and the Scotch people became favorably known. That kingdom was composed of four districts, each of which SUBJECTION OF IRELAND TO ENGLAND AND SOME, ^gy had originally its different people, its different speech or dialect, and its different history. The first of these was the Lowland Distbict, at one time called Saxony, and which now bears the names of Lothian and the Mearns{oY "border- land "), the space, roughly speaking, between the Forth and the Tweed. We have seen that at the close of the English conquest of Britain the kingdom of Northumbria stretched from the Humber to the Firth of Forth, and of this kingdom the Lowlands formed simply the northern portion. The English conquest and the English colonization were as complete here as over the rest of Britain. Rivers and hills indeed retained their Celtic names, but the "tons" and " hams " scattered over the country told the story of its Teutonic settlement. Livings and Dodings left their names to Livingstone and Duddingstone ; Elphinstone, Dolphinstone, and Edmundstone preserved the memory of English Elphins, Dolphins, and Edmunds, who had raised their homesteads beyond the Teviot and the Tweed. To the northward and westward of the Northumbrian land lay the kingdoms of the conquered. Over the " Waste " or " Desert," the range of barren moors which stretches from Derbyshke to the Cheviots, the Briton had sought a shelter in the long strip of coast between the Clyde and the Dee, which formed the earlier Cumbria. Against this kingdom the efforts of the Northumbrian rulers had been incessantly directed ; the victory of Chester had severed it from the Welsh kingdoms to the south; Lancashire, Westmoreland, and Cumberland were already subdued by the time of Ecgfrith ; while the fragment which was suffered to remain unconquei-ed between the Firths of Jgg IRELAND: ITS CSBISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Solway and Clyde, and to which the name of Cumbria is in its later use confined, owned the English supremacy. At the close of the seventh century it seemed likely that the same supremacy would extend over the Celtic tribes of the north. The district north of the Clyde and Forth was originally inhabited chiefly by the Picts, a Latin name for the people who originally called themselves Creuthne. To these Highlanders the country south of the Forth was a foreign land. Significant entries in their rude chronicles tell us how in their forays " the Picts made a raid upon Saxony." But during the period of Northumbrian great- ness they had begun to yield, at least on their borders, some kind of submission to its kings. Eadwin had built a fort at Dunedin, which became Ed- inburgh, and looked menacingly across the Forth ; and at Abercorn, beside it, was established an English prelate with the title of " Bishop of the Picts." Ecgfrith, in whose hands the power of Northumbria reached its highest point, marched across the Forth to change this overlordship into a direct dominion, and to bring the series of English victories to a close. His host poured burning and ravaging beyond the Tay, and skirted the base of the Grampians as far as the field of Necstaw Mere, where King Bruide awaited them at the head of the Picts. The great battle which followed proved a turning-point in the history of the north : the invaders were cut to pieces, Ecg- frith himself being among the slain; and the power of Northumbria was broken forever. On the other hand, the kingdom of the Picts started into SUBJECTION OF IRELAND TO ENGLAND AND ROME. 169 new life with its gi-eat victory, and pushed its way, in the hundred years which followed, westward, eastward, and southward, till the whole country north of the Forth and the Clyde acknowledged its supremacy. But the hour of Pictish gi-eatness was marked by the sudden extinction of the Pictish name. Centuries before, when the English invaders were begin- ning to harry the south coast of Britain, a fleet of Corachs had borne a tribe of the Scots, as the inhabitants of Ireland were then caUed, from the black cliffs of Antrim to the rocky and indented coast of South Argj-le. The little king- dom of Scotland which these Irishmen founded slumbered in obscurity among the lakes and mountains to the south of Loch Linnhe, now submitting to the overlordship of North- umbria, now to that of the Picts, till the extinction of the direct Pictish line of sovereigns raised the Scot king, Ken- neth MacAlpine, who chanced to be their nearest kinsman, to the vacant throne. For fifty years these rulers of Scot- tish blood still called themselves " kings of the Picts " ; but with the opening of the tenth century the very name passes away, the tribe which had given its chief to the common throne gives its designation to the common realm, and " Pict-land " vanishes from the page of the chronicler or annalist to make way for " the land of the Scots." It was even longer before the change made a way among the people themselves, and the real union of the nation with its kings was only effected by the common suffering of the Danish wars. In the north as in the south of Britain, the invasion of the Danes brought about pohtical unity. Not only were 170 IRELAND: ITS CHKISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Picts and Scots blended into a single people, but by the annexation of Cumbria and the Lowlands their monarch became rulers of the territory we now call Scotland, which was accomplished about the year 1305. Thus arose the kingdom of Scotland, whose people rank now among the most enlightened, educated, and intellectual of the world's inhabitants. According to Dr. Collier's History, " Scotland in the ninth century was not divided into dioceses, but all the Scottish bishops had their jm-isdiction as it were at large, and ex- ercised their function wherever they came; and this con- tinued to the reign of Malcolm III., who was crowned in A.D. 1057." It is admitted by the highest authorities that no bishop had any jurisdiction in Scotland under the Roman pontiff for sixty-nine years after the above date ; for in A.D. 1126 John Crema, a cardinal priest, held a council of Scottish bishops at Roxburgh, which was the first exercise of Roman Catholic pajjal power in Scotland. During the interval between the years 1126 and 1560 the ancient faith taught by Columbcille survived all efforts made for its extinction. The Lollards of Kyle belonged to the ancient faith. In numerous other parts of the king- dom societies kept the same principles alive. The Reformation saw Patrick Hamilton, Paul Craw, George Wishart, and numerous others contending and dying for the faith that was early delivered to the saints, and which was never quenched in Scotland until John Knox gave it freedom to blaze brightly and illuminate the entire realm. IX.— NINTH PERIOD : from a.d. 1175 to a.d. 1564. IKELAND AND HEK CHURCH UNDER ENGLAND AND ROME: ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN FULL SWAY. In A.d. 1179 six Irish bishops atteuded the Thii-d Lateran Council at Rome — to wit, Archbishop O'Toole of DubUn, Archbishop O'Duffy of Tuam; and Bishops O'Brien of Killaloe, Felix of Lismore, Augustine of Waterford, and Brictus of Limerick. In A.D. 1195 Malaehy III., Bishop of Down, anxious to know where St. Patrick was buried, alleged that one evening a sunbeam pointed out the place. Three bodies were discovered. They were alleged to be those of St. Patrick, Brigid, and Columbcille. Messengers were sent to the pope with the news of the mii-aculous discovery. Cardinal Vivicum was despatched by the pontiff to Down- patrick, who, with the primate of Armagh, fifteen bishops, and a large number of abbots, deans, archdeacons, and other clergy and people, made a grand demonstration at the translating of the supposed bodies of three saints. Poetry was called into the pompous celebration. Latin verse was more dignified than common Irish, hence was written for the occasion : Hi tres in Duno tumulo Tumulantur in uno, Brigida, Patricius, atque Columba plus. 171 172 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. In Down three saints one tomb do fill : Patrick, Brigid, and Columbcille. It was resolved by this illustrious assembly that the anniversary of this memorable day should henceforth be celebrated as a festival over all Ireland. ( Vide Connellan's " Four Masters," p. 96, note.) After all this gorgeous solemnity there existed gi-eat doubt whether or not the bones dug up and so celebrated did not belong to three pagans. In A.D. 1215 three Irish bishops attended the fourth Latei-an Council at Rome — to wit, the Archbishops of Dub- lin and Tuam, and the Bishop of Killaloe. By that council heretics were decreed to be burned, and transubstautiation and auricular confession instituted. In A.n. 1216 the regulations of the Synod of Kells for the suppression of parochial bishops were still a dead letter in the diocese of Meath and other parts of the north and south of Ireland. In A.D. 1293, independent of the celebration at Down- Patrick, it was revealed to Nicholas MacMaelisa, Arch- bishop of Armagh, that the relies of Patrick, Brigid, ^nd Columbcille were not at Downpatrick, but at Saal^ two miles therefrom. Doubtless both were pious frauds and myths of the imaginations of the respective parties. In A.D. 1335 Pope Boniface XII., in a letter from Avig- non to King Edward III., shows that in the diocese of Ossory many persons opposed both the bishop and doc- trines of the Roman Catholic Church therein. These dis- senters were the descendants of people who cherished the faith of their forefathers. ROMAN CATHOLICISM IN FULL SWAY. ^73 In A.D. 1414 a number of Irish bishops attended the Council of Constance, and were highly honored on account of the ancient learning of their church and countrymen. In A.D. 1562 numerous Irishmen were in attendance at the Council of Trent, and were highly distinguished for their learning and ability. X.— TENTH PERIOD : feom a.d. 1564 to a.d. 1894. THE EEFOKMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. In 1535 Heniy VIII. was declared by Parliament head on earth of the Church of England. The pope of Rome was thus deposed and the king placed in his stead. Be- fore this time the king of England was lord of Ireland, but now by the Parliament of Ireland he was created not only king, but head of the church of Ireland. Little was done during the reigns of Henry and his son Edward for the welfare of Ireland. The language of most of the Irish was Celtic. Few Englishmen understood it. While the Scriptures were translated into English, there was no copy of them in Irish. This retarded the Reformation in Ireland. During the reign of Edward VI. two prayer-books were adopted for the Church of England. The first was issued in 1549, and was simply an abbreviation of the two Latin service-books previously used in the public ceremonies of the English Romish church. The second was issued in 1552, and was more in accord with the spirit of continental evangelism. It was a model of its kind, in which the superstitions of the former were removed. On the death of Edward, his oldest sister, Mary, ascended 174 TEE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. ^75 the throne as his successor. She was a devout Roman Cathohc. By her orders the worship of the Reformed was discontinued. Roman Catholicism was reinstated. Prot- estantism was declared to be a crime. Two hundred and eighty-two Protestants were burned at Oxford, Smithfield, and other parts of England. Among them were men of distinguished ability, who had spent their lives in pro- moting the best interests of their country : Like to Cranmer, good and true, And Latimer and Ridley too, Did light a torch which, all must see, ShaU nevermore extinguished be. While Protestants were suffering in England, and while the people of the east and south of Ireland were Roman Catholics, yet from a portion of their lands the occupants were removed, and Englishmen transferred to the vacated holdings. The territory whose inhabitants were thus treated was divided into two parts, and respectively named King's and Queen's counties — the one named in honor of her husband, Philip of Spain, and the other for herself— which led to a distm-bed condition of the whole island. Accustomed to rebellion, the people were not easily molli- fied for such an infringement of their rights. They flew to arms, and the tocsin of war was sounded from shore to shore. At last Mary died, and her sister Elizabeth as- cended the throne. The new queen quenched the fires of Smithfield and Oxford. The Parliament assembled ; new arrangements were made. The queen was declared " Su- preme Governor " of the church. All the bishops holding 176 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. sees refused, with one exception, to recognize the new ecclesiastical order, which caused their removal. Their places were tilled by new appointments. As there was only one diocesan left, the consecration of the new Epis- copal nominees devolved upon him. This was alleged to be contrary to the canon of the first General Council made for the ordination of bishops, which required at least three bishops to legally constitute another : but who aided St. Austin, the first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, to ordain the other prelates of his times ? It is an old adage that " a man who lives in a glass house should not be first to throw stones." The Prayer-book and the Articles of Religion were revised and adopted by the Parliament of England, and were also subsequently adopted by the Parliament of Ireland. In 1569 Pope Pius IV, excommunicated Elizabeth. This awoke the queen to a sense of her situation. Rebellions in England and also in Ireland were plotted against her. The Catholic noblemen commenced an insurrection which involved Mary Queen of Scots, then a prisoner at Fotheringay Cas- tle, and led to her execution. About 1580, one Stukely, an English adventurer, went from Ireland to Rome at the instance of Pope Gregory XIII., to have a son of the pope, Giacomo Buoncompaguo, made king of Ireland. The pope created Stukely Marquis of Leinster, Earl of Wexford and Carlow, and Baron of Ross. One thousand Italian robbers were pardoned on consideration of their aiding Stukely's design. Philip of Spain agreed to pay the banditti, not being then aware that the pope's son was his rival for the sovereignty TRE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. yj'J of Ireland. Stukely was subseqixently killed in Africa, along with Don Sebastian, whom he had accompanied on an expedition on the promise of subsequent aid from Portugal for Ireland. Fitzmaurice, Saunders, and Allen subsequently induced the pope to organize another expedition against Ireland. A bull was issued, addressed to all the prelates and princes, to aid Fitzmaurice. Saunders was created a legate, and those engaged in the conspiracy were declared to be the "champions of the faith in defense of the holy church.'" Philip was to furnish the funds for the invasion. After landing in Kerry with eighty Spaniards, together with some Eng- lish and Irish malcontents, they were joined by the Earl of Desmond. Two hundred Protestant soldiers were de- stroyed. The papal banner was unfurled and hoisted; 700 Spaniards and Italians ai-rived, with arms and ammu- nition for 5000 men. At first Desmond was successful, but soon afterward he was defeated and beheaded. His lands, numbering about 574,528 acres, were confiscated to the crown. The Spanish Armada for the conquest of England in 1588 was aimed at the extirpation of Protestantism. Its failure was a humiliating blow to its plotters. It aroused England, but crippled Spain, from which that country has never recovered. In 1594 O'Neill of Tyrone created an insurrection against the sovereignty of Elizabeth in Ulster, which sub- sequently terminated by his submission. The death of the queen occurred in 1603. She was succeeded by James VI. of Scotland, who ascended the thrones of England and 178 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Ireland as James I., whose policy was averse to war, but whose uu wonted desire was to become supreme in church and state without interference. Tyrone engaged in another rebellion. His proclama- tion was issued broadcast in behalf of the " Supremacy of the Prince Bishop of Rome, in Ireland, and the Dominance of the Romish ReligionP In one of his manifestos he urged: " Let us all join together to deliver the countrie from the infection of heresy, and for the planting of the Roman Catholic religion : if I had gotten to be king of Ireland I should not accept the same without the extension of the Catholic religion." His defeat caused the forfeiture of his lands, which were opened up in 1611 for agricultural i:)urposes, and were settled with Scotch and English Protestants as planters. The Scotch were Presbyterians, while the English were partly Puritans and partly Episcopalians. To these were added colonists from the Huguenots of France and the Dutch of the Nethei-lands. For over thirty years the Ulster men had been developing the country, increasing its population, and creating abundance by their energies, industries, and peaceful habits. In consequence of the violation of promises and faith on the part of the government of Charles I. with the people of Connaught, about the titles of their lands, a reawakened determination was put into execution for ex- terminating the Protestants from the lands of the O'Neills of Ulster. The leaders of the infamous plots were not unsupported by the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. THE REFOEMATIOX, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. yjQ Between 1641 and 1643 a massacre occun-ed which for brutality was only equaled by those of the Waldenses, Albigenses, and St. Bartholomew. The victims were men, women, and children. Some of them were advanced in years. Women pregnant were treated in a manner be- yond the force of language. Ministers of religion were butchered. Even some were buried alive. The official reports of the Irish massacres, entitled " Liber Munerum Publicorum Hibernian," give among other statements the following hideous disclosures : " Upon the repulse of Sir Phelim O'Neill from the Castle of Augher, he ordered aU the British Protestants in three adjacent parishes to be put to the sword. Upon his defeat at Lisburn, Lord Caulfleld, O'Neill's former host, and fifty other prisoners were murdered. Others of the prisoners, on pretense of being forwarded to the nearest British set- tlement, were goaded forward hke beasts of burden by their guards ; some were inclosed in a house or castle to which fire was set, with a savage indifference to their cries and a fiendish-like triumph over their expiring agonies, the priests everywhere enco^ir aging these deeds by their presence.^ " Five hundred Protestants were murdered at Armagh, besides forty-eight families in the parish of. Killimau." (Perkins's " Exam.," p. 6, and A. Strafford's " Exam.," p. 2, Armagh.) "Three hundred were stripped of their clothing, put into a church at Loughgall," and most brutally treated. (Borlase, " App.," p. 111.) " Fifteen hundred Protestants were murdered in three parishes in the County Ai*magh." (Shaw's " Exam." p. 1.) 180 IRELAND : ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. " Two and twenty Protestants were put into a thatched house in the parish of Kilmon and then burned ahve." (" Exam." of Smith, Clark, Fillis, Stanhaw, Tullerton.) Rev. Mr. Robinson, his wife, and three childi'en, were drowned ; and a William Blundell was drawn up and down the Black water with a rope around his neck. Forty-four other persons were murdered at several times in the same vicinity, and a woman was compelled to hang her own husband. ("Exam." of Salstental, Littlefield, and Borlase's " Appendix," p. 110.) " One hundred and eighty Protestants were di'owned at the bridge of Gallon, and one hundred more in a lough near Ballymaulmorough." (" Exam.," A. Strafford, p. 2.) " Fifty Protestants were murdered at Blackwater church. The wife of Arnold Taylor, great with child, was inhu- manly butchered ; Thomas Mason was burned alive, eight women drowned, and two more women and six children murdered." (" Exam." of Fillis, Stanhaw, Frankland, Smith, Clark, Price, Tullerton, Harcourt, of County Armagh.) "Rev. John Mather and Rev. Mr. Blythe, with sixty Protestant families of Dungannon, County Tyrone, were murdered." (" Exam." of John Perkins.) " Between Charlemont and Dungannon, four hundred were murdered. In this dreadful persecution those who, tlu'ough fear, though few in number, had conformed to pojiery did not escape the fury of the rebels, but they were the last that were cut off. The rebels, about this time, lest they should be charged with more murders than they committed, commanded their priests to bring in a true ac- count of them, from which it appeared that from the 23d THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. \%\ of October, 1641, to March, 1643, one huudred and fifty- four thousand Protestants were murdered." (Dr. Maxwell's " Exam.," p. 7.) At Portadown Bridge one thousand Protestants were hurled into the Bann. Whole families were buried alive. The cry of a boy, " Mama, mama," from his living grave, was greeted with a yell of laughter, till the heaped-up earth stifled his voice. For a time the assassins held supreme sway. The puny authorities of Charles I. seemed to sympathize, if not to cooperate, with the insurgents. At length Cromwell ar- rived, and soon squelched all opposition by a ruthless re- taliation on the Royalists. On the restoration of Charles II. to the thrones of Eng- land, Scotland, and Ireland new arrangements were made about the forfeited lands in Leinster and Muuster, which Cromwell had divided among his soldiers. They had been occupying them for twelve years, and had introduced agi'i- culture and made them productive ; but regardless of their improvements, it was now determined that they must sur- render one third of the fruits of their husbandry ; and in addition thereto they must attend the established church, or in default thereof be subjected to pecuniary fines and physical penalties. As these men were Independents, they preferred to emigrate ; and the colony of Connecticut was subsequently enriched by their industries. In Scotland, England, and Ireland the penal laws were unmercifully enforced against the Covenanters and other Protestant dissenters. During that reign upward of sixty thousand families in England, eighteen thousand in Scot- 182 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. land, and a large number in Ireland, were reduced to pau- perism, starvation, and death. At last Charles died, and was succeeded by bis brother James, who was more open in his determination to anni- hilate Protestantism than his deceased brother manifested. Both were devoted Romanists. Charles was politic, while James was imprudent. His imprisonment of the bishops and forcing certain appointees on the church and univer- sities aroused the nation. A revolution ensued, and he fled to France. With a French army he arrived in Ireland. A Parliament was convened, whose members were of his own faith. The lands of the Protestants were confiscated. The siege of Londonderry ensued. William of Orange and Mary, his wife, ascended the throne as king and queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland. William soon followed James with an army composed of Dutch Huguenots, a few English and Scotch, and Ii'ish Protestants. The battle of the Boyne was fought. That of Aughrim followed. Limerick was besieged, and capitulated. An Act of Set- tlement was passed. The Church of England was reestab- lished in England, Wales, and Ireland, and the Presby- terian Church in Scotland as the Church of Scotland. After William's decease Anne ascended the throne. Her policy was conservative. Laws were passed by the Parlia- ment of England discriminating against Irish industries. The Parliament of Ireland, too, servilely reenacted what the English had legalized. Irish industries suffered, influ- encing numerous persons to emigrate to the colonies of North America. The most enticing reports from those who ventured thus abroad were circulated at home. The THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. 183 charms of the New World were set forth in verse, and sung in public, at market and fair, by the traveling ballad min- strelsy, which created an enthusiasm in the breasts of many to follow their friends and provide for their future comforts. Emigration received an impetus that can be more easily imagined than forcibly and truly described. Ship after ship left the coasts of Ireland for Boston, Philadelphia, Bal- timore, and Charlestown, loaded with passengers. From Maine to Georgia the Irish immigrant was in a few years found cultivating the soil or promoting the industries, trade, manufactures, and commerce of the New World. At length the coffers of the British treasury became ex- hausted from the drain upon them for carrying on the contmental wars, and in order to replenish them the home government undertook to compel the colonists in the New World to bear a part of the burden, by imposing a tax upon their industries. Taxation without representation was usual in absolute monarchies. It had been tried in Ireland, and had driven the woolen and linen manufac- turers into a lifeless condition. To attempt the same in America could not be endured. It recalled the unjust treatment, the whole system of fines and penalties, the systematic persecutions, the paralyzing effects on the trade, commerce, and manufactures, forced by British intrigue on their native homes ; and hence the Irish protested against such procedures in America. They assembled at Mecklenburg, in North Carolina, and resolved that the colonies should become free and independent of Great Britain ; and drew up a declaration of independence 184 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. to that effect, dated April 14, 1775, which they forwarded to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. It was there- fore referred to a committee of which Jefferson was chair- man and Charles Thompson was secretary. The result was the Declaration of Independence of the United States, of July 4, 1776. During the stirring times which followed Irishmen were not inactive. While eight of them signed the Declaration, the first fort captured from the British was at New Castle, by Major Sullivan and his Irish brigade. The battle of Bunker HiU followed. The names of Stark, Moore, Reed, and Patton, of Clinton, McCleary, Montgomery, "Wayne, Irving, Thompson, Moylan, Butler, Barry, Blakely, McGee, O'Brien, McDonough, Meade, Murray, Dale, Decatur, and Stewart, live in history and represent what Irishmen achieved for American independence. At home penal laws were enforced against Roman Catho- lics and Presbyterians in a most unreasonable manner, while the British Parliament was continuing to make laws for Ireland, and the Irish Parliament was as a matter of course a mere figiire-head for carrying them into exe- cution. Meanwhile what occurred in America influenced the Irish to demand a free, untrammeled Parliament for Ireland. Various modes of procedure were adopted for securing the desired object. Mobs threatened the mem- bers of both houses of Parliament. The leaders became impetuous and aroused their followers to combine against the government. A rebellion followed in 1798. In sev- eral parts, such as Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy, and Fox's Mill, unspeakable depredations were committed. Neither THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. 185 age nor sex nor property was respected. The Roman Cath- olic clergy were even said to be the instigators of the mobs. In the north, at the same time, both Presbyterians and Roman Catholics, and a few Episcopalians, were engaged in an attempt to overthrow the government. At Antrim a skirmish between the British troops and the Protestant malcontents took place. The latter were defeated, which caused many of their most talented young men to escape to the New World. In 1800 the Irish Parliament was merged into the Brit- ish. Ireland was annexed to Great Britain, under the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with one Parliament and one united established church. The bane of the controversy still continued. The disa- bilities of the Presbyterians and of the Roman Catholics still remained. Neither party could be a member of either house of Parliament, and still they continued, thus unrep- resented, to be compelled to pay their pro rata of taxation, and to be deprived of fiUing any office of honor, profit, or trust under the government on account of then- respective religious views. In 1828 the disabilities of the Protestant dissenters were removed, and in 1829 the Roman Catholics were emanci- pated. The church establishment, however, continued to be a bone of contention. It was a small body. The Roman Catholics outnumbered it six times, while the Presbyte- rians were not far behind it numerically; and yet both Roman Catholics and Presbyterians were compelled to pay tithes on their holdings for its support— which was a 186 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. glaring injustice. Commutations, under various forms, were introduced to modify or partially relieve, but were in every instance insuflScient to remove the real issue. In 1869 the church was disestablished by an act of Parlia- ment. Tithes were remitted. All were equally enabled to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience. The former establishment in the act was styled the " Church of Ireland," as a compliment to its former status, and its adherents, Protestant Episcopalians. Since its disestab- lishment its clerical and lay forces have shown increased energy and devotion to its interests and condition. The Presbyterians have in like manner displayed a simi- lar activity. The Wesleyans are developing their denomi- nation successfully, while the Eomau Catholics still form the great majoi'ity of the population, under an active, learned, and zealous priesthood. The educational condition of Ireland is of paramount importance. As during the middle ages it was the chief cause of the revival of learning in Europe, so at the pres- ent its reputation for profound thought and accurate learn- ing continues to be unsullied by time, influence, or circum- stances. The following will show the present condition of the religious denominations and educational institutions of Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland : I. — ITS RELIGIOUS CONDITION. 1. The Roman Catholics number 4 archbishops, 28 bish- ops, 3414 priests, and 3,545,856 people. THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. 187 2. The Protestant Episcopalians, 2 archbishops, 11 bish- ops, 1015 clergymen, and 600,230 people. 3. The Presbyterians, 633 clergymen and 446,687 people. 4. The Methodists, 55,235 people and a traveling minis- try, regular and local. 5. Since 1881 the Eoman Catholics have had a decrease of 411,035, or 10.4 percent.; the Protestant Episcopalians of 39,344, or 6.2 percent. ; and Presbyterians of 24,047, or 5.1 percent. ; while the Methodists have had an increase of 6396, or 13.1 percent. II. — ITS DECLINING POPULATION. In 1841 the population was 8,175,124. In 1851 it decreased to 6,552,385. In 1861 it further decreased to 5,798,564. In 1871 it was further decreased to 5,412,377. In 1881 it stiU further declined to 5,174,836. In 1891, it only showed 4,706,162. While in 1841 it had 1,472,739 families and 1,328,839 inhabited bouses, in 1891 it had only 940,092 families and 872,669 inhabited houses, a decline of 532,647 families and 456,170 inhabited houses. m. — ITS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS Are of a high order. 1. In addition to a weU-conducted system of common schools it has a large number of a higher intermediate order; two non-sectarian national universities of distin- guished reputation, the well-known Trinity College of Dub- 188 IRELAND: ITS CHIilSTIANITF AND LEARNING. lin and the Royal University, together with three Queen's Colleges, one at Cork, another at Galway, and the other at Belfast, all richly endowed by the government. 2. The Roman Catholics have a Catholic university at Dublin, a college at Maynooth, and a number of other institutions in different parts of the island. 3. The Protestant Episcopalians control the Dublin Uni- versity and several other endowed schools and colleges. 4. The Presbyterians have the Assembly's College at Belfast, Magee College at Londonderry, and St. Andi-ew's College, Dublin. 5. The Methodists have also a college in Belfast and another in Dublin. 6. Besides there are several distinguished seminai'ies for the education of ladies in different parts of the country. 7. All persons, regardless of sex or where or by whom educated, are free to compete, at the regular examinations of the Royal University, for all the honors and degrees emjaowered to be granted and conferred by that insti- tution. IV. — IN THE PROVINCE OF ULSTER There are 744,464 Romanists, 427,810 Presbyterians, 361,- 297 Protestant Episcopalians, 40,525 Methodists, 276 Jews, and 42,374 other denominations. Then- Sabbath-schools number 1095, Sunday-school teachers, 9219, Sunday-school scholars, 103,301, Bible-class members, 11,401. The Sabbath-schools are conducted by the Presbyterians and other Protestants. THE REFORMATION, PROTESTANTISM, ETC. 189 Presbyterians. Romanists. Episcopalians. Methodists. Antrim 181,011 100,464 106,110 11,719 Armagh 30,042 65,906 46,133 5,29o ^:i:::. 3,836 90,329 16,331 1,041 Donegal 18,157 142,639 21,^61 2,012 Dow 106,484 73,460 65,305 /,751 Fermanagh 1,209 11,149 26,759 4,731 Londonderry 49,367 67,749 29,362 9^eiv World tries to prove that St. Peter was in Rome, which shows the view of the Church of Rome on the subject ; but there are much stronger arguments than those adduced, which are mostly taken from Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, who died in 338, and who wrote 270 years after the death of St. Peter. Unfortunately Euse- bius, like many present-day priests, romances a good deal, and a good many of his statements require confirmation. The first quotation made by the New World is taken from Eusebius's story of Simon Magus, which is fiction, not history. The statue which he says was on the Island of the Tiber to Simon Magus was not to him, but to Semoni Sanco Deo, the Sabine Hercules. (See base in the Hall of Inscriptions, Vatican Museum, and the statue and pedestal 134 in the Galleria della Candelabra.) Eusebius dates his story in the days of Claudius, but the Roman ehui'ch says it was in the time of Nero. (See picture in St. Peter's.) In the next quotation Eusebius is citing TertuUian, a reli- able author who lived in Rome ; but TertuUian qualifies his statement : " Paul is therefore said to have been beheaded at Rome, and Peter to have been crucified under him [Nero]." Mark, he does not say Peter was crucified at Rome, but under Nero. Quoting Diouysius, Bishop of Corinth, Eusebius does not make Dionysius say the Apos- tles were in Rome together. He says, "The seed was planted by Peter and Paul at Rome and Corinth, and hav- ing in like manner taught in Italy they suffered martyr- dom alout the same time:'' But he does not say where. 216 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Eusebius nest quotes Irenseus, Bishop of Lyons, who makes the direct statement, " Peter and Paul proclaimed the gospel, and founded the church at Rome." This is true. Peter proclaimed the gospel to the Eastern Jews, while Paul founded the church of the Gentiles in Rome. Nothing can be plainer. Eusebius (iii. 36) says, " Peter was Bishop of Antioch," but the rest of the quotation refers to Ignatius being sent to Rome, not Peter. Eusebius (ii. 15) tells the story that "Mark was Peter's companion in Rome, and he [Mark] was persuaded to write his gospel at Rome from Peter's teaching " (but in v. 8, though he says Mark wrote his gos- pel after Peter's death, he does not say it was at Rome) ; and he continues, " This account is given by Clement in the sixth book of his " Institutions," (pp. 192-287), whose testimony is corroborated also by that of Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis." The last quotation is from the Acts. Peter says dis- tinctly that he is wi'iting from Babylon. Eusebius says Peter calls Rome Babylon : this we cannot accept. Peter had had an awful experience by not speaking the truth in his earlier history, and can we believe that on the brink of eternity he would have wi-itten a lie to the churches of Asia? No, he writes the truth and names the city from which he writes. The quotation made by the New World from St. Clement of Rome is false. Clement does not say, " Peter and Paul in Rome." He says (1 Cor. v.), " Peter, through unright- eous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous laboi's ; and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed APPENDIX. 217 to the place of glory due to him." There is not a woi'd here that implies that Peter suffered in Rome. But, to con- tinue our quotation : " Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned; after preaching both in the east and west, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the pre- fects." No names are given as in the New World article. The two prefects of the pretorians in 62-64 were Fennius Eufns and Sophonius Tigellinus. Rufus was murdered by Nero in 65. Nero did not go to Grreeee till the summer of 66. Paul suffered in 64. [Some have alleged that there was no such city in Peter's time as Babylon, but that there was one in Egypt, which must have been the one visited by Peter ; or else Rome — mystically so named — was the real place. Regardless of such speculations and allegations, there was a city in Meso- potamia at that time called Babylon. Contemporaneously with Herod the Great at Jerusalem, Hyrcanus was carried in bonds into Parthia. Josephus ("Antiq.," ii., 2) says the " King Phraates treated him after a very gentle manner, after having learned of what an illustrious family he was; on which account he set him free from his bonds and gave him a habitation at Babylon, where there were Jews in gi-eat numbers. These Jews hon- ored Hyrcanus as their high priest and king, as did all the Jewish nation that dwelt as far as the Euphrates." These Jews were the descendants of the captives of the Assyrian 218 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. and Babylonian monarclis who did not return to Palestine with the others. They formed a large community on both sides of the Tigris and the Euphrates and in the inter- mediate space. As Peter was the Apostle of the circumcision, or of the Jews, it was in keeping with his apostolic appointment to visit his race in Mesopotamia, where a city called Babylon was in the zenith of its glory at that time, and which for generations afterward adorned the banks of one of the leading rivers of the district where the Jews resided. Had Peter gone to Rome, the chief city of the uncircum- cision, or of the Gentiles, he would have been like another Jonah fleeing from the presence of his Lord, of which he was not then guilty. Paul was in his proper place at Rome. Peter was in his appointed place at Babylon. Both discharged their duties well.] VI. — ^WAS THE CEOSS A CHEISTIAN OR A PAGAN IN'\^NTION ? By Rev. E. Edwin Hall. Was the Cross a Pagan Invention? No intelligent person can doubt that the cross is of pagan origin. It was an emblem religiously connected with pagan worship in Babylon and Egj'pt, and found in the various forms of paganism centuries before the Chris- tian era. An attempt has sometimes been made to repre- sent the cross as a symbol of Christianity ; but it is vir- tually an attempt to degrade the religion of Christ to the level of the vilest forms of paganism. It has been sup- APPENDIX. 219 posed that Jesus was put to death on what is called a Roman cross ; but there does not appear to be a word of contemporaneous history to confirm such a supposition. He suffered death on a staiiros, which prior to his cruci- fixion never had any other meaning than a stake, and can mean nothing else. The word crux also primarily means a stake, not a cross, and " cross " means suffering, which sig- nification of the word has unwittingly passed to the visible object or means of suffering. The eminent German critic, E. Triedrich, maintains that stauros in earlier Greek had only the signification of stake. And as the assertion that Jesus was put to death on a Roman or four-armed cross rests altogether on tradition, so what is affirmed in sup- port of this tradition cannot render it demonstratively cer- tain and removed beyond the possibility of doubt. The affirmation of eye-witnesses is nowhere recorded. (Otto Zoeckler, " Cross of Christ," Ajipendix, sec. 5.) It is also a matter of history that semi-converted pagans or nominal Christians brought the cross from pagan tem- ples into Christian churches in the fourth century. " To enter a pagan temple, by the emperor's order just handed over to the bishop for Christian use, with the pagan cross and other emblems unchanged, would render the change from the worship of the gods to the worship of the em- peror's God very easy to the formal convert." The old temples, the lustral or holy water, the incense, the long train of vested priests, all and much more would make the transition from the old to the new faith externally a matter of little difficulty. Thousands of pagans became Christians in a day. As to the cross, there it was a pagan 220 IRELAND: ITS CERISTIAXITT AND LEARNING. emblem, and there it would continue, and has continued. All these pagan elements have appeared since the fourth century in the Roman Catholic Church, and later in the Romanized portions of the Church of England. And some Christians of all names and denominations in our day, through dense ignorance, are introducing this pagan sym- bol into their churches and houses. The architect, not knowing the origin or the meaning of the cross, gives it a conspicuous place on the church, and the less intelligent building committee, and perhaps the minister, are pleased with the pagan symbol, under the delusion that it is a Christian emblem. While the cross is the central sign of paganism, one of the most significant ceremonies of that religion in which the cross was conspicuous was the "initiation into the greater mysteries." The person to be initiated was taught to recognize a Supreme Being and also polytheism, the doctrine of Providence, the immortality of the soul, future rewards and punishments, the invention of arts, among which agriculture held the first rank; at the same time the person to be initiated was inspired with the love of justice, humanity, and all patriotic virtues. The final ex- hortation given by the goddess Nature to one to be initi- ated was : " Be just and thou shalt be happy ; thou shalt live in splendor under my protection ; and coming to the end of thy course thou shalt descend into the realms of the dead, only to inhabit 'les Champs Elysees.'" Then to the initiated was exhibited the representative sign of the fecundity of nature. This sign, which expressed the means employed to renew itself in the class of organized beings. APPENDIX. 221 and which was at first chosen by a simple and agricultural people, was still used after they were civilized and corrupted because it had been originally consecrated by religion. In the history of Christianity in India the learned La- croze (torn. 2, p. 228) says: "The pagans of Egypt say that this sign is the symbol of life to come. It is well to observe that the same figure is now found on the images of St. Anthony the Egyptian, and on the garments of the monks of his order. This figure is to-day honored with the beautiful name of 'the cross of St. Anthony.'" There were many forms of the cross in different parts of the pagan world, but all appear to have had their origin in the phaUic sign, conspicuous originally in the obscenities of bacchanalian and sun worship. This obscene worship is still observed in some parts of the pagan world. Dr. George F. Pentecost said in reference to the Hindu reli- gion : " One needs only to look at the abominable carvings upon the temples both of the Hindus and Buddhists, the hideous symbols of the ancient phallic systems, which are the most popular objects worshiped in India, to be im- pressed with the corruption of the religion. Bear in mind these are not only tolerated, but instituted, directed, and controlled by the priests of religion." {Our Day, Novem- ber, 1893, p. 438.) The fact does not appear to be generally known that the most spiritual portions of the church opposed the use of the cross from the fourth centuiy. Claude, Bishop of Turin in the ninth century, ordered crosses to be removed from all the churches in his diocese. The Catharists of all names from the early centuries unsparingly denounced its 222 IRELAND: ITS CHIUSTIANITT AND LEABNINa. use. " No symbol appeared to them more shocking than the cross. They could not understand that one could be a Christian who would expose to the regard of the faithful in places of worship the supposed instrument of the ignominy and death of Christ. Instead of venerating the cross it should be regarded with horror as recalling a triumph of the devil in the dark hour of crucifixion." (" Histoire des Cathares," par Professor Schmidt, Strasbourg, tom. 2, p. 112, Paris, 1849.) It apjiears to have been forgotten that at the period of the Reformation the cross had come to be regarded as an idol and the object of idolatrous worship, so that it was indignantly cast out of all cathedi-als and chui'ches. This was ordered and approved by repeated acts of Parliament. Eoadside crosses were also taken down and destroyed. The appearance of crosses in Protestant churches is of comparatively recent date. The " Tracts for the Times," written by Oxford clergymen (apostates in heart, and soon after openly so), extolled the value of ritualism, the efficacy of symbols and ceremonies, transformed the communion- table into an altar with lighted candles, and recommended ci-osses as " holy and efficacious emblems," adding, " There is no saying how many sins its awful form might scare, how many evils avert." In accordance with these senti- ments the apostate Newman set up a cross on the " altar " in the church at Littlemore, which was undoubtedly the first cross so used in a Protestant church in England after the Restoration. In the year 1834 Bishop Doaue, accept- ing the teaching of " Tracts for the Times," in repairing the Church of St. Mary in Burlington, N. J., put a cross on APPENDIX. 223 the apex of the pediment, which was the first probably so used on a Protestant ehureli in the United States. This called forth earnest opposition in the vestry and the eom- mnnity, so that it was deemed prudent to remove the cross, which was done in the night. Four years after this event a new church in the diocese of Bishop Doane was surmounted with a cross. Eight years after the cross was removed from the Church of St. Mary in Burlington, the same cross was replaced under cover of darkness as secretly as it had been taken down. About the same time a cross terminated the spire of Trinity Church, New York, causing much discussion and opposition. Now in many Episcopal churches the communion-table is transformed into an altar surmounted with a cross — a long stride into the domain of pagandom. The Sunday-school Quarterly has long had an object-lesson on the cover which can have only an evil influence. The author (Dr. Peloubet) there presents the pagan " serpent- crusher," one hand holding the cross of the Sidonian Venus {" Monumental Christianity," p. 307), the other extended with three open fingers, the form by which the pagan priest blessed the people. The " King's Daughters " wear a cross resembling that found on the breast of Tiglath-Pileser, in the colossal tab- let from Nimrod now in the British Museum — an Assyrian king whose pagan reign was eight hundred years before Christ. So they attempt some semi-Christian work under the ensigns of paganism. The prophetic reference in the Apoealj'pse to the " mark of the beast " signalizes the practice of the Roman church 224 IRELAND: ITS CHMISTIANITY AND LEARXIXO for centuries iu tracing the pagan cross on the fvjreheads and hands of its priests. (" Horae Apoc," Elliott, vol. iii., pp. 218-220.) There appears to he a natural tendency in mankind to idolatry — hence di\"ine threatenings addressed to the He- brews to guard them from the worshii) of idols and the use of pagan signs. Mr. Spurgeon said : " I feel my soul horrified and my blood boiling with indignation when I see in what are called Protestant churches, not only a material altar, but upon it a cross, to which idolatrous reverence is evidently paid. We are not only going back to popery, we are reverting to paganism." Bishop Mcll- vaine (" Memorials," p. 259) refused to consecrate or enter a church in his diocese iu which was a cross. Ignorant of the facts of history, some Congi-egational ministers have introduced the cross into their churches, thereby giving gi'eat offense to spiritual and well-informed mem- bers. The simplicity of Congregational worship, as de- scribed by Justin Martyi", has been the glory of our churches. Pagan symbols and human inventions have been generally excluded. It is quite important to notice that there is no word in Hebrew which means cross, so that the Jews in their sacred literature knew no such form. The Greek word stairros or sJcolops invariably means a stake, as also does the Latin word cn4 4- China ^^^ 33^ 7,019 5. Japan. ^..- 2,450 258,3»4 6. Central Turkey ^^^ 4 246 8,455 162,394 In Africa ^'^° ™ KOETH AMEBICA : ^ ^^^ 1. United states 128,173 l,30o 9. , 2. Canada 8'386 o»,o. ^^,^^^ 3. Newfoundland and Labrador 359 -,J ^^^' 4. West Indies • ■ .^. • -.• • 2,185 «,0^ ^^^^^ 5. Central America and Mexico 550 -L,^"" qf;n 3 000 150,000 In SotJTH Ameeica 350 -i,""" K OCEANICA: ropAQO . , ,. 4 766 54,211 586,089 1. Australia^ ' ^^ i2,900 2. Fiji Islands ^,^' ^UlS 15,frt0 3. Hawaiian Islands -•^" ' ^q^^q 4. Other islands • f^ '. THE WORLD 224,562 2,239,728 20,368,933 Xn.— THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES OF THE WORLD. 5 II I I ^ ^^ 11 t 1 I II 4 ^ =5 ^= 01 991 63 5 602 5,289 24,458 Continent of Europe.. . 31 221 63 o,b ^, ^^^^^^ United Kingdom 1^ ^J^ i>i ,^^^ ,^^^ ^^,^ tS 10 18 6 174 228 957 ^^''"' •. {7 658 103 12,782 11,921 60,898 North America 17 608 103 i , _^^ ,^^ ^ South America 9 fi 1 41 39 312 Westlndies ^ ° ^ ^p, 4g3 1,305 Austraha..^ 9 14 2 166 194 679 New Zealand -^ ^^ ;;; . Total 91 1>255 236 23,951 23,495 121,042 238 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES OP THE WORLD— CONTINUED. Continent of Europe . . . 8,146 United Kingdom 21,595 Asia 8 Africa 1,453 North America 33,810 South America 7 West Indies .... Austraha 3,155 New Zealand 1,608 1 1 II J 1 ^1 1^ 752,901 3,236 11,503 353,676 1,436,152 7,994 92,308 995,754 20,344 90 216 5,115 134,931 206 680 18,600 1,708,543 12,966 151,729 1,556,985 3,425 10,869 62 829 5,210 39,590 773 6,135 55,685 19,149 361 2,585 29,750 Total 69,782 4,125,904 25,688 265,985 3,020,775 Xm. — RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Bodies. Chwrches. Adventists 1,757 Armenians 6 Baptists 42,909 Brethren (River) Ill Brethren (Plymouth) 314 Cathohc Apostolic 10 Chinese temples 47 Christadelphians 63 Christians 1,424 Christian Mission Association.. 13 Christian Scientists 921 Christian Union 294 Church of God (Winebrenne- rian) 479 22,511 643,185 Church Triumphant (Schwein- f urth) 12 Church of New Jerusalem 154 Commuuionisties 32 Congregationalists 4,868 Church Prop- erty. 60,491 $ 1,236,345 335 3,712,468 82,398,123 3,427 81,350 6,661 1,485 1,394 66,050 62,000 1,277 2,700 103,722 1,775,202 754 3,000 8,724 40.686 18,214 934,450 384 15,000 7,095 1,386,455 4,049 106,800 512,771 43,335,437 APPENDIX. 239 Bodks. ■ ChurcUs. Mevibers. Church Prop- erty. Disciples of Christ 7,246 641,081 $12,206,038 Dunkards 989 73,795 1,362,631 Evangelical Association 2,310 133,312 4,785,680 Friends 1,056 107,208 4,541,334 Friends of the Temple 4 345 15,300 German Evangelical Protes- tants 52 36,050 1,187,450 German Evangelical Synod.... 870 187,439 4,614,400 Jewish sj-nagogues 533 130,490 9,754,275 Latter-Day Saints 856 166,125 1,051,791 Lutherans 8,595 1,231,072 35,060,354 Mennonites 550 41,541 643,800 Methodists (all bodies) 51,489 4,589,284 132,140,179 Moravians 94 11,781 681,250 Old CathoUcs 4 665 13,320 Old Greek Catholics 14 10,850 63,300 Orthodox Greek Catholics 1 100 5,000 Presbyterians (all bodies, in- cluding the Reformed) 15,657 1,587,790 113,613,339 Protestant Episcopalians 5,019 532,054 81,220,217 Reformed Episcopalians 83 8,455 1,615,101 Reformed Catholics 8 1,000 Roman Catholics 10,231 6,231,417 118,069,746 Russian Greek Catholics 12 13,504 220,000 United Brethren 4,526 225,281 4,937,583 Universalists, Unitarians, etc. . 1,533 131,069 19,875,433 Total 165,146 20,567,085 $679,765,989 Note: TIMES change. " The world does move ! " exclaimed Galileo. He was right. Progress is the order of our day and generation. Times change. Circumstances are different. A sugges- tive fact which illustrates this is mentioned in the monthly report of the American Bible Society. It states that, a quarter of a century ago, if a traveler entered Rome he was subjected to a thorough search to see if he had a 240 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. Bible or New Testament in his possession : if so it was taken from him. On the other hand, the Methodist Mis- sion Society announces that it has purchased a lot in the heart of Rome, 95x155 feet, and proposes to erect a $100,000 structure to be the headquarters for the Metho- dist missions in Italy. Three hundred and fifty islands of the sea have been converted to Christianity by Protestant missionaries. XIV. — CHRONOLOGY. B.C. 4004, The Creation. " 2348, The Deluge. " 2234, Alleged Chaldean astronomical observations. " 2200, Dynasty of China, of Egypt, and of the Hittites. " 2080, Cuneiform writing. " 1921, Call of Abraham. " 1500, Oldest papyri extant. " 1492, The Israelites pass over the Eed Sea. " 1491, Law delivered at Moimt Sinai. " 1490-1451, Battles of the Egyptians and Hittites. " 1451, Death of Moses. " 1451, Joshua leads the Israelites across Jordan. " 1273, Rise of the Assyrian empire. " 1055, David king of Israel. " 1012, Temple at Jerusalem .being erected. " 989, Capture of Jerusalem by Shishak of Egypt. " 770, Pul of Assyria invades Palestine. " 753, Rome founded. " 747, Babylon under Nabonassai". APPENDIX. 241 B.C. 721, 711, 659, 632, 625, 606, 598, 538, 536, 529, 520, 506, 500, 492, 490, 485, 484, 480, 479, 470, 401, Sargon captui'es Samaria; captivity of the Israelites. Sennacherib invades Judah. Byzantium founded. Scythians invade Assyi'ia. Nineveh caj^tured. Nebuchadnezzar overthrew the Assyrian em- pire, captured Tp-e, Egypt, Arabia, and Jerusalem, and carried Daniel and others to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar besieged, captured, and de- stroyed Jerusalem and the temple, and car- ried the Jews to Babylon as slaves. Babylon captured by Cyi'us. The Jews liberated and allowed to return under Zerubbabel. Death of Cyrus. Decree of Darius for rebuilding the temple. Darius conquered Thrace, Paconia, and Mace- donia. Sardis burned by the lonians and Athenians. First Persian expedition against Greece under Mardonius. Second Persian, under Dates and Artaphei'nes. Xerxes becomes king of Persia. Persians reconquer Egypt. Battles of Thermopylae and Salamis. Battles of Platsea and Mycale. Persians defeated at Eurymedon. Exiiedition of Cyriis the Younger; battle of B.C. 387, « 356, u 336, 242 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIAIfITT AND LEARNING. Cunaxa; death of Cyrus; retreat of the 10,000 Greeks. Persians capture the Greek cities in Asia. Birth of Alexander the Great. Accession of Alexander to be king of Mace- don. 334, Alexander crosses the Hellespont and wins the battle of Granicus against the Persians. 333, Alexander wins the battle Issus. 332, Alexander captures Tyi'e, conquers Egypt, and founds Alexandria. 331, Alexander wins at Arbela, and all Persia sub- mits to him. 327-325, Alexander's campaigns in India. 323, Alexander dies at Babylon. 321, Alexander's successors fight among themselves. 301, Alexander's dominions divided. The Romans conquer and annex the same subsequently to their empire. John the Baptist's ministry. Jesus Christ baptized by John. Calling of the disciples. The teachings and miracles of Christ. The Lord's Supper instituted. The crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Apostles commissioned, and the ascension of Christ to glory. By divine agency the Apostles become the propagators of the gospel and the founders of churches. ..D. 29, (1 30, u 30, li 30, 11 33, u 33, (( 33, « 33, APPENDIX. 243 A.D. 33, Baptism and the Lord's Supper according to Clirist's appointment observed. " 33 Divine worship was accordingly conducted by- prayers, psalmody, preaching, and breaking of bread. " 33 The first church was organized at Jerusalem, and during the year increased to 5000 mem- bers of Jewish converts. Peter's sermon; Jews from all parts of the then known world present. " 34, Seven deacons chosen and ordained. " 34, Stephen martyi-ed. " 35 The disciples persecuted and scattered abroad. " 35, Peter's journeys through Judsea, Samaria, and Galilee. " 37, Cornelius, the Roman centurion, converted. " 37, Saul's conversion at Damascus. " 37, The Gospel according to Matthew in Aramaic. " 40, Jewish Christians startled about Gentile con- verts. « 41, Barnabas sent to Antioch to investigate and report the questions and conditions there. " 42, Saul at Antioch. " 42, Disciples first called Christians at Antioch. " 43, James the Elder martyi-ed ; Peter imprisoned and miraculously released. " 43, Saul and Barnabas visit Jerusalem. " 45, The church at Antioch the first to send mis- sionaries to the Gentiles. Saul and Barna- bas the first missionaries sent out by that 244 IBELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. church. They visit Cyprus ; Sergius Pauhis the first convert, and Saul afterward as- sumes the name of his convert and is known as Paul. A.D. 46, Paul and Barnabas visit several cities of Asia Minor and return to Antioch. " 46, Jewish converts from Jerusalem come to Anti- och and urge the GentUe converts to become circumcised and keep the law of Moses ; to which they objected. Paul opposes their ideas. " 51, The apostles, elders, and brethren at Jerusalem decide in favor of Paul. " 53, Barnabas and Mark go to Cyprus. " 53, Paul" and Silas revisit the churches in Asia. " 53, Timothy and Titus convei'ted. " 53, Luke Joins Paiil at Troas. " 53, Paul and companions pass over to Macedonia and visit Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth. " 56, Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians. " 58, Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians. " 58, Paul's Epistle to the Romans. " 58, Paul arrested in the temple; imprisoned at Cjesarea. " 60, Paul appeals to Caesar and is sent to Rome. " 61, Matthew's Gospel translated into Greek. '' 61, Mark founds a church in Alexandria. " 62, James the Just martyred at Jerusalem. " 63, Paul's epistles to the Colossians, Philippians, Philemon, and Hebrews. A.D. 64, u 64, li 64, 11 64, u 64, APPENDIX. 245 Paul released and left Rome. Luke's Gospel and Acts of the Apostles is- sued. Peter's First Epistle, from Babylon. Rome burned ; the Christians accused. The frst persecution, said to have lasted for the ensuing four years. 64, Paul's First Epistle to Timothy ; also his Epis- tle to Titus. 65, Paul's Epistle to Jude. 65, Peter's Second Epistle. 65, Paul said to have, in addition to other parts, visited Spain and Britain after his first re- lease and before his second imprisonment and death — doubtful. 66, Paul again imprisoned at Rome. 66, Paul's Second Epistle to Timothy. 66, Jews throughout the East create, especially in Palestine, a rebellion against the Roman authorities. 67, Christians retire from Jerusalem to Pella. 67, Paul beheaded. 68, John comes from Jerusalem to Ephesus. 69, Jerusalem environed by the Roman army. 70, Five hundred Jews crucified before its walls. 72, Jerusalem captured, destroyed, its temple de- stroyed, and its people carried into slavery. 94, Second persecution. 97, Death of Timothy. 97, John banished to Patmos. 246 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. A.D. 98, John returns to Epbesus and writes his Reve- lation, Gospel, and Epistles. " 100, John dies at Ephesus. (He is said to have intro- duced the observance of the Paschal Easter.) " 107, Third persecution. " 107, Simeon martyred at Jerusalem. " 107, Ignatius martyred at Rome. " 111, Pliny's letter to Trajan, " 118, Fourth persecution. " 119, Jerusalem rebuilt and called Aelia Capitolina, and peopled with Gentiles, Jews not being admitted within the walls, while Christians were privileged, and a church was soon es- tablished there. " 120, Holy water introduced and used. " 123, Alexander mixed water in wine at the com- mianion. " 132, Jews again revolt, under Barchobas, and are dispersed. " 135, Sixtus of Rome called the Lord's table an altar, " 136, Jews' last dispersion, while on the other hand the Christians increased daily. " 1-42, The festival of Lent appointed by Telesiphorus, Bishop of Rome. " 158, Polycarp visits Rome; difference between Polycarp and Anicetus respecting the time of celebrating Easter, the one advocating the practice of Jewish and Asiatic Christians, the other that of Roman Christians. (The Asiatics celebrated the Passover on the APPENDIX. 247 night of the 14th of Nisan, and commemo- rated the crucifixion the next day, and on the third day the resurrection, while the Romans did not celebrate the Passover, but on the next Lord's Day after the full moon in Nisan they celebrated the resurrection, and the pre- vious Friday the crucifixion.) A.D. 169, The tonsure adopted. About this time Christians from Asia Minor emigrated to Gaul, and thence proceeded the Asiatic customs in Gaul and Britain as to Easter and the tonsure. " 190, Pentecost and Christmas appointed as festivals. " 197, Victor, Bishop of Rome, anathematized the Eastern churches because they would not observe the festival of Easter on the day that the Church of Rome had appointed for it ; such was the Quartodeciman controversy. " 254, Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, martyred. (The churches in Rome were served by 46 presby- ters, 7 deacons, 7 subdeacons, 42 assistants, 52 exorcists, also readers and porters.) " 254, Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, says that the Bishop of Rome is the successor of St. Peter, and that the Church of Rome is entitled to precedence from the importance of the city ; but he refuses to acknowledge the superior- ity of the Bishop of Rome over other bishops in point of jurisdiction or authority, such as Stephen (Bishop of Rome) claims. 248 IRELAND: ITS CHRISTIANITY AND LEARNING. A.D. 255, Firmilian, Bishop of Cappadocia, speaks of Stephen as a schismatic, and asserts that many things are done at Rome contrary to apostoHcal authority. " 256, Cyprian asserts the right of every bishop to make laws for his own church. " 256, The Council of Carthage enjoins infant bap- tism. " 256, The Lord's Supper administered to infants. " 260, St. Peter and St. Paul martyred at Rome. " 284, Caius invented eight orders of clergy : 1. Osti- arius; 2. Lector; 3. Exorcist; 4. Acoluthus; 5. Subdiaconus; 6. Diaeonus; 7. Presbyter; 8. Episcopus. " 286, The so-called " Apostolical Constitutions and Canons " forged at Rome. " 297, Marcellinus, Bishop of Rome, sacrifices to idols. " 298, Diocletian, emperor, commands all in his army < and at his court to sacrifice to idols, and began his persecution of the Christians throughout the Roman empire. " 308, Marcellus, Bishop of Rome, during a severe plague, appointed fifteen persons to bury the dead; they were subsequently called cardinals — hence the origin of the College of Cai'dinals. " 313, Constautine, Csesar of Spain, Gaul, and Britain, and Licinius, Ctesar of Italy, conjointly is- sued an edict, at Milan, of toleration of the Christians. APPENDIX. 249 A.D. 316, Coustantine, as the Pontifex Maximus, by vir- tue of his imperial authority, assumes also to be Head of the Christian Chui'ch. " 321, Coustantine ordered that Sunday should be kept as a day of rest by all except farmers. " 324, Coustantine having divided the Roman empire into four prefectures, remodeled the church accordingly, and thus the imperial church was established, under the name of the Catho- lic Church, by the emperor. " 325, Council of Nice convened by Coustantine, whereby the creed, new ceremonies of wor- ship, and other ordinances were appointed. 326, Coustantine put his wife and son to death. 330, Constantinople becomes the capital of the em- pire. 331, Eusebius completed his "Ecclesiastical His- tory." 337, Coustantine baptized and dies. (Was he not a bright head of the Catholic Church !) 347, Council of Sardica, at which three British bishops attended. 358, Liberius, Bishop of Rome, an Ariau. 361,, The Emperor Julian abjured Christianity. 362, The Virgin Mary first worshiped by the Colly- ridian heretics. 363, Athanasius praises the orthodoxy of the Brit- ish churches. 364, The Roman empire divided into two parts, called the East and the West; Valens was A.D. 368, li 374, 2->:r4^^* ^ ■-' J* % .^V^.^V^V^ S^^^^-:^-^^ .%^>^r ,.,,^p^S^:-^ ?^^^^*:^- ^m^ .;^-- ^-^^■^v *?■ ;?:!'^^