findeth no other excuse for Bishop Aidan herein but that eyther hee was ignorant of the canonicall time or if he knew it that he was so overcome with the authoritie of his owne nation that he did not follow it that he did it after the maner of his owne nation and that he could not keepe Easter contrary to the custome of them which had sent him His successor Finan contended more fiercely in the businesse with Ronan his countryman and declared himselfe an open adversary to the Romane rite Colman that succeeded him did tread just in his steppes so farre that being put downe in the Synod of Streanshal yet for feare of his countrey as before we have heard out of the ancient writer of the life of Wilfride hee refused to conforme himselfe and chose rather to forgoe his archbishoprick then to submit himselfe unto the Roman laws Colmanusque suas inglorius abjicit arces Malens Ausonias victui dissolvere leges saith Fridegodus Neither did hee goe away alone but took with him all his countrymen that he had gathered together in Lindisfarne or Holy Iland the Scottish monkes also that were at Rippon in Yorkeshire making choyse rather to quit their place then to admit the observation of Easter and the rest of the rites according to the custome of the Church of Rome And so did the matter rest among the Irish about forty yeares after that untill their own countreyman Adamnanus perswaded most of them to yeeld to the custome received herein by all the Churches abroad The Pictes did the like not long after under king Naitan who by his regall authoritie commanded Easter to be observed throughout all his provinces according to the cycle of XIX yeares abolishing the erroneous period of LXXXIIII yeares which before they used and caused all Priests and Monkes to be shorne croune-wise after the Romane maner The monkes also of the Iland of Hy or Y-Columkille by the perswasion of Ecgbert an English Priest that had beene bredd in Ireland in the yeare of our Lord DCCXVI forsooke the observation of Easter the tonsure which they had received from Columkille a hundred and fiftie yeares before and followed the Romane rite about LXXX yeares after the time of Pope Honorius and the sending of Bishop Aidan from thence into England The Brittons in the time of Bede retained still their old usage untill Elbodus who was the chiefe Bishop of Northwales and dyed in the yeare of our Lord DCCCIX brought in the Romane observation of Easter which is the cause why his disciple Nennius designeth the time wherein he wrote his historie by the character of the XIX yeares cycle and not of the other of LXXXIV But howsoever Northwales did it is verie probable that West-wales which of all the other parts was most eagerly bent against the traditiōs of the Roman Church stood out yet longer For we finde in the Greeke writers of the life of Chrysostome that certaine clergie men which dwelt in the Iles of the Ocean repayred from the utmost borders of the habitable world unto Constantinople in the dayes of Methodius who was Patriarch there from the yeare DCCCXLII to the yeare DCCCXLVII to enquire of certaine Ecclesiasticall traditions and the perfect and exact computation of Easter Whereby it appeareth that these questions were kept still a foot in these Ilands and that the resolution of the Bishop of Constantinople was sought for from hence as well as the determination of the Bishop of Rome who is now made the only Oracle of the world Neyther is it here to be omitted that whatsoever broyles did passe betwixt our Irish that were not subject to the See of Rome and those others that were of the Romane communion in the succeeding ages they of the one side were esteemed to be Saincts as well as they of the other Aidan for example and Finan who were counted ringleaders of the Quartadeciman party as well as Wilfride and Cuthbert who were so violent against it Yet now a dayes men are made to beleeve that out of the communion of the Church of Rome nothing but Hell can be looked for and that subjection to the Bishop of Rome as to the visible Head of the Universall Church is required as a matter necessarie to salvation Which if it may goe currant for good Divinitie the case is like to goe hard not only with the twelve hundred Brittish Monkes of Bangor who were martyred in one day by Edelfride king of Northumberland whom our Annales style by the name of the Saincts but also with S. Aidan and S. Finan who deserve to be honoured by the English nation with as venerable a remembrance as I doe not say Wilfride and Cuthbert but Austin the monke and his followers For by the ministery of Aidan was the kingdome of Northumberland recovered from paganisme whereunto belonged then beside the shire of Northumberland and the lands beyond it unto Edenborrow Frith Cumberland also and Westmoreland Lancashire Yorkeshire and the Bishopricke of Durham and by the meanes of Finan not only Essex and Middlesex regained but also the large kingdome of Mercia converted first unto Christianitie which comprehended under it Glocestershire Herefordshire Worcestershire Warwickshire Leicestershire Rutlandshire Northamptonshire Lincolneshire Huntingtonshire Bedfordshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Staffordshire Darbyshire Shropshire Nottinghamshire Chesshire and halfe Hertfordshire The Scottish that professed no subjection to the Church of Rome were they that sent preachers for the conversion of these countries and ordayned Bishops to governe them namely Aidan Finan and Colman successively for the kingdome of Northumberland for the East-Saxons Cedd brother to Ceadda the Bishop of Yorke before mentioned for the Middle-Angles and the Mercians Diuma for the paucitie of Priests saith Bede constrayned one Bishop to be appointed over two people and after him Cellach and Trumhere And these with their followers notwithstanding their division from the See of Rome were for their extraordinarie sanctitie of life and painfulnesse in preaching the Gospell wherein they went farre beyond those of the other side that afterward thrust them out and entred in upon their labours exceedingly reverenced by all that knew them Aidan especially who although he could not keep Easter saith Bede contrary to the maner of them which had sent him yet he was carefull diligently to performe the workes of faith and godlinesse and love according to the maner used by all holy men Whereupon hee was worthily beloved of all even of them also who thought otherwise of Easter then he did and was had in reverence not only by them that were of meaner ranke but also by the Bishops themselves Honorius of Canterbury and Felix of the East-Angles Neyther did Honorius and Felix anie other way carry themselves herein then their predecessors Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus had done before them who writing unto the Bishops of Ireland that
here useth is taken among authors oftentimes in contrarie senses eyther to signifie a great while since or else but lately or erewhile In the former sense it must be here taken if it have relation to the time wherein Bede did write his book and in the latter also it may be taken if it be referred to the time whereof he treateth which is the more likely opinion namely to the comming of Bishop Aidan into England which fell out within a yeare or little more after that Honorius had sent his admonitorie letters to the Irish. who as hee was the first Bishop of Rome we can reade of that admonished them to reforme their rite of keeping the time of Easter so that the Irish also much about the same time conformed themselves herein to the Romane usage may thus be manifested When Bishop Aidan came into England from the iland Hy now called Y-Columkille the colledge of monkes there was governed by Segenius who in the inscription of the epistle of the clergie of Rome sent unto the Irish is called Segianus Now there is yet extant in Sir Robert Cottons worthy librarie an epistle of Cummianus directed to this Segienus for so is his name there written abbot of Y-Columkille wherein he plainly declareth that the great cycle of DXXXII years and the Romane use of celebrating the time of Easter according to the same was then newly brought in into this countrey For the first yeare saith he wherein the cycle of DXXXII yeares began to be observed by our men I received it not but held my peace daring neyther to commend it nor to disprayse it That yeare being past he saith he consulted with his ancients who were the successors of Bishop Ailbeus Queranus Coloniensis Brendinus Nessanus and Lâ—â—gidus who being gathered together in Campo-lene concluded to celebrate Easter the yeare following together with the universall Church But not long after saith he there arose up a certaine whited wall pretending to keepe the tradition of the Elders which did not make both one but divided them and made voyde in part that which vvas promised whom the Lord as I hope will smite in whatsoever maner he pleaseth To this argument drawne from the tradition of the elders he maketh answer that they did simply and faithfully observe that which they knew to be best in their dayes without the fault of anie contradiction or animositie and did so recommend it to their posteritie and opposeth thereunto the unanimous rule of the Vniversall Catholick Church deeming this to be a very harsh conclusion Rome erreth Ierusalem erreth Alexandria erreth Antioch erreth the whole world erreth the Scottish only and the Britons doe alone hold the right but especially he urgeth the authoritie of the first of these Patriarchicall Sees which now since the advancement therof by the Emperour Phocas began to be admired by the inhabitants of the earth as the place which God had chosen whereunto if greater causes did arise recourse was to be had according to the Synodicall decree as unto the head of cities and therefore he saith that they sent some unto Rome who returning backe in the third yeare informed them that they met there with a Grecian and an Hebrew and a Scythian and an AEgyptian in one lodging and that they all and the whole world too did keepe their Easter at the same time when the Irish were disjoyned from them by the space of a whole moneth And vve have proved saith Cummianus that the vertue of God was in the relicks of the holy martyrs and the scriptures which they brought with them For we saw with our eyes a mayde altogether blinde opening her eyes at these relickes and a man sicke of the palsie walking and manie divells cast out Thus farre hee The Northren Irish and Albanian Scottish on the other side made little reckoning of the authoritie either of the Bishop or of the Church of Rome And therefore Bede speaking of Oswy king of Northumberland saith that notwithstanding hee was brought up by the Scottish yet hee understood that the Romane was the Catholick and Apostolick Church or that the Romane Church was Catholick and Apostolick intimating thereby that the Scottish among whom he received his education were of another minde And long before that Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus who were sent into England by Pope Gregory to assist Augustin in a letter which they sent unto the Scotts that did inhabite Ireland so Bede writeth complayned of the distaste given unto them by their countreymen in this maner When vve knew the Britons vve thought that the Scotts were better then they But we learned by Bishop Daganus comming into this Iland and abbot Columbanus comming into France that the Scotts did differ nothing from the Britons in their conversation For Daganus the Bishop comming unto us would not take meate with us no not so much as in the same lodging wherein we did eate And as for miracles wee finde them as rife among them that were opposite to the Romane tradition as upon the other side If you doubt it reade what Bede hath written of Bishop Aidan who of what merit hee was the inward Iudge hath taught even by the tokens of miracles saith he and Adamnanus of the life of S. Colme or Columkille Whereupon Bishop Colman in the Synod at Strenshalch frameth this conclusion Is it to be beleeved that Colme our most reverend father and his successors men beloved of God which observed Easter in the same maner that we do did hold or doe that which was contrary to the holy Scriptures seeing there were very many among them to whose heavenly holinesse the signes and miracles vvhich they did bare testimony whom nothing doubting to be Saints I desist not to follow evermore their life maners and discipline What Wilfride replyed to this may be seene in Bede that which I much wonder at among the many wonderfull things related of S. Colme by Adamnanus is this that where he saith that this Sainct during the time of his abode in the abbay of Clone now called Clonmacnosh did by the revelation of the holy Ghost prophecie of that discord which after many dayes arose among the Churches of Scotland or Ireland for the diversity of the feast of Easter yet he telleth us not that the holy Ghost revealed unto him that he himselfe whose example animated his followers to stand more stiffely herein against the Romane rite was in the wrong and ought to conforme his judgement to the tradition of the Churches abroad as if the holy Ghost did not much care whether of both sides should carrie the matter away in this controversie for which if you please you shall heare a verie prettie tale out of an old Legend concerning this same discord whereof S. Colme is said to have prophecyed Vpon a certaine time saith my Author there was a great Councell of the people of Ireland in the
letters doe testifie unto this day For all Ilands of ancient right are said to belong to the Church of Româ— by the donation of Constantine who founded and endowed the same But will you see what a goodly title here is in the meane time First the Donation of Constantine hath beene long since discovered to be a notorious forgerie and is rejected by all men of judgement as a senselesse fiction Secondly in the whole context of this forged Donation I finde mention made of Ilands in one place onely where no more power is given to the Church of Rome over them then in generall over the whole Continent by East and by West by North and by South and in particular over Iudaea Graecia Asia Thracia and Aphrica which use not to passe in the account of S. Peters temporall patrimonie Thirdly it doth not appeare that Constantine himselfe had anie interest in the kingdome of Ireland how then could he conferre it upon another Some words there be in an oration of Eumenius the Rhetorician by which peradventure it may be collected that his father Constantius bare some stroke here but that the Iland was ever possessed by the Romanes or accounted a parcell of the Empire cannot be proved by any sufficient testimonie of antiquitie Fourthly the late writers that are of another minde as Pomponius Laetus Cuspinian others do yet affirme withall that in the division of the Empire after Constantines death Ireland was assigned unto Constantinus the eldest sonne which will hardly stand with this donation of the Ilands supposed to be formerly made unto the Bishop of Rome and his successors Pope Adrian therefore and Iohn of Salisbury his soâ—licitor had need seeke some better warrant for the title of Ireland then the Donation of Constantine Iohn Harding in his Chronicle saith that the Kings of England have right To Ireland also by king Henry le fitz Of Maude doughter of first King Henry That conquered it for their great heresie which in another place he expresseth more at large in this maner The King Henry then conquered all Ireland By Papall dome there of his royaltee The profytes and revenues of the land The domination and the soverayntee For errour which agayn the spiritualtee They held full long and would not been correct Of heresyes with which they were infect Philip Osullevan on the other side doth not only denie that Ireland was infected with any heresie but would also have us beleeve that the Pope never intended to conferre the Lordship of Ireland upon the Kings of England For where it is said in Pope Adrians Bull Let the people of that land receive thee and reverence thee as a Lord the meaning therof is saith this Glozer Let them reverence thee as a Prince worthy of great honour not as Lord of Ireland but as a Deputie appointed for the collecting of the Ecclesiasticall tribute It is true indeed that King Henry the second to the end hee might the more easily obtaine the Popes good will for his entring upon Ireland did voluntarily offer unto him the payment of a yearely pension of one penny out of every house in the countrey which for ought that I can learne was the first Ecclesiasticall tribute that ever came unto the Popes coffers out of Ireland But that King Henry got nothing else by the bargaine but the bare office of collecting the Popes Smoke-silver for so wee called it here when wee payed it is so dull a conceit that I do somewhat wonder how Osullevan himselfe could be such a blockhead as not to discerne the senselesnesse of it What the King sought for and obtained is sufficiently declared by them that writt the historie of his raigne In the yeare of our Lord MCLV. the first Bull was sent unto him by Pope Adrian the summe wherof is thus laid downe in a second Bull directed unto him by Alexander the third the immediat successor of the other Following the stepps of reverend Pope Adrian and attending the fruite of your desire we ratifie and confirme his grant concerning the dominion of the KINGDOME of Ireland conferred upon you reserving unto S. Peter and the holy Church of Rome as in England so in Ireland the yearly pension of one penny out of every house In this sort did Pope Adrian as much as lay in him give Ireland unto King Henry haereditario jure possidendam to be possessed by right of inheritance and withall sent unto him a ring of gold set with a faire Emerauld for his investiture in the right thereof as Iohannes Sarisburiensis who was the principall agent betwixt them both in this businesse doth expressely testifie After this in the yeare MCLXXI the King himselfe came hither in person where the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland received him for their KING and Lord. The King saith Iohn Brampton received letters from every Archbishop and Bishop with their seales hanging upon them in the maner of an Indenture confirming the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres and bearing witnesse that they in Ireland had ordayned him and his heyres to be their KINGS and Lords for ever At Waterford saith Roger Hoveden all the Archbishops Bishops Abbots of Ireland came unto the King of England and received him for KING and Lord of Ireland swearing fealtie to him and to his heyres and power to raigne over them for ever and hereof they gave him their Instruments The Kings also and Princes of Ireland by the example of the clergie did in like maner receive Henry King of England for Lord and KING of Ireland and became his men or did him homage and swore fealtie to him and his heyres against all men These things were presently after confirmed in the Nationall Synod held at Casshell the Actes whereof in Giraldus Cambrensis are thus concluded For it is fit and most meet that as Ireland by Gods appointment hath gotten a Lord and a KING from England so also they should from thence receive a better forme of living King Henry also at the same time sent a transcript of the Instruments of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland unto Pope Alexander who by his Apostolicall authoritie for so was it in those dayes of darkenesse esteemed to be did confirme the KINGDOME of Ireland unto him and his heyres according to the forme of the Instruments of the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland and made them KINGS thereof for ever The King also obtained further from Pope Alexander that it might be lawfull for him to make which of his sonnes he pleased KING of Ireland and to crowne him accordingly and to subdue the Kings and great ones of that land vvhich would not subject themselves unto him Whereupon in a graund Councell held at Oxford in the yeare of our Lord MCLXXVII before the Bishops and Peeres of the kingdome he constituted his sonne Iohn KING of Ireland according to
and to declare the Supremacie of the Emperor then this that the Emperor in ancient time exiled banished imprisoned and otherwise also by his Authoritie punished even some of the Bishops of Rome themselves as well as other Bishops and when the Emperor said moreover thus that If anie did grow tumultuous or unruly Illius statim audacia Ministri Dei hoc est mea executione coercebitur his boldnesse shall forthwith be repressed by the sword or execution of Gods Minister that is of my selfe For as S. Paul saith the Emperor King or Prince or anie of those higher powers that beare the civill sword is Gods Minister and a revenger unto VVrath to him that doth evill whosoever he be Yea such was the demeanour and loyaltie which even Gregory the Great Bishop of Rome performed to the Emperor that when the Emperor had commanded a law to be published which Gregory himselfe misliked yet neverthelesse he obeyed the Emperors commandement as a good subiect unto him Ego quidem iussioni tuae subiectus eandem legem per diversas Terrarum partes transmitti feci I being subiect to your command saith hee have caused the same law to bee transmitted through diverse parts of the earth By which one example of Gregory if there were no more spoken you may perceive that for the space of manie hundred yeares after Christ even unto his time and in his time the Bishops of Rome themselves were subiect to the Emperors and at their commands Which doth yet further appeare by this thaâ— even Kings of Rome did also sometimes send the Bishops of Rome as their Embassadors as for example King Theodorick sent Iohn Bishop of Rome Embassador to the Emperor Iustinian And King Theodatus about the yeare 537 sent Pope Agapetus as his Embassador likewise to the Emperor about a Treatie of peace But yet together with the Supremacie of Emperors let me shew unto you more fully their Authoritie in Ecclesiasticall things or causes for of their Authoritie in civill or temporall causes there is no question made 8 When the Donatists therefore alledged that Emperors were to meddle onely with civill causes and not with Ecclesiasticall or concerning Gods Religion Optatus held this to be a point of madnesse in Donatus and those his followers Ille solito furore accensus in haec verba prorupit Quid Imperatori cum Ecclesia Donatus inflamed with his accustomed furie or Madnesse saith he brake forth into these words What hath the Emperor to doe with the Church Where you see he calleth it expressely a Madnesse to hold that opinion And this S. Augustine likewise censureth and condemneth accounting it an absurd thing for anie to say thus unto kings Take yee no care in your kingdomes vvho oppugneth the Church and vvho defendeth it vvho is religious and vvho sacrilegious c. For if the King be to regard and punish by civill punishment the offences done against the second Table as disobedience to parents murder theft trespasses wrongs and iniuries done by one man against another is hee not much more to regard and punish by civill punishment the greater offences namely those that be done immediately against God being breaches of the first Table as Atheisme Idolatry false vvorship vvrong relâ—gion heresie schisme blasphemy breach of the Sabbath and such like For is there anie comparison or proportion betweene Man and God But to declare this matter yet further by some particulars The Christian Emperors in ancient time made lawes for God and his Religion and caused them to be executed and so dealt in matters Ecclesiasticall as well as civill as beside that which is before spoken is further evident even by the Titles of the Civil law it selfe viz. De summa Trinitate fide Catholica De sacrosanctis Ecclesijs De Episcopis Clericis De Haereticis c. They likewise made Commissioners in Ecclesiasticall causes For when Caecilianus Bishop of Carthage was accused by Donatus and some other of that faction Constantine the Emperor commanded Caecilianus to come to Rome with a certaine number of Bishops that accused him And by his Commission extant in Eusebius authorised and appointed Miltiades the then Bishop of Rome and some others with him for the hearing and ending of that matter These Commissioners condemned Donatus who appealed from their sentence to the Emperor himselfe which Appeale also the Emperor at last received Where beside that you see that this Christian Emperor made Commissioners in this Episcopall and Ecclesiasticall cause observe withall that Miltiades the then Bishop of Rome was one of those Commissioners and therewithall you may note that the Bishops of Rome were then verie cleerely subiect and not superior to the Emperor So that a Christian King or Prince not only may make Commissioners in Ecclesiasticall causes but may also have Appeales made unto him as is here apparant Yea even S. Paul himselfe Appealed not unto Peter which no doubt hee would have done if Peter had then had the Supremacie but unto Caesar. The Councell also of Affrick would allow of no Appeales to the Pope of Rome or beyond the Sea but made a Decree directly against it appointing Presbyters Deacons or other inferior Clerkes if they were grieved with the sentence of their owne Bishop to resort to the next Bishops Quod si abâ—ijs provocandum putaverint non provocent nisi ad Affricana Concilia vel ad Primates Provinciarum suarum Ad Transmarina autem qui putaverit appellandum à nullo intra Affricam in Communionem suscipiatur And if they shall think fit to Appeale from them let them not appeale but to Councels within Affrick or to the Primates of their owne Provinces But he that shall thinke it fit to appeale beyond the Sea let him be admitted to the Communion by none within Affrick This Canon which was thus established in the Affrican Councell purposely for the defeating and disanulling of the ambitious courses and claimes of the Bishops of Rome is againe repeated and confirmed in the Milevitane Councell In the time likewise of King VVilliam Rufus Anselmus the Archbishop of Canterbury would have appealed to Rome But not onely the King but the Bishops of England also were therein against him And afterwards in the dayes of Henry the second King of England this Law was made Si quis inventus fuerit c. If anie shall be found bringing letters or a mandate from the Pope c. Let him be apprehended and let Iustice be done upon him vvithout delay as upon a Traytor to the Law and kingdome Againe it is there said Generaliter interdictum est ne quis appellet ad Dominum Papam That it was generally given in charge that none should Appeale to the Pope Moreover the Christian Emperors in ancient time had the authoritie of summoning and calling Councels as for example the first generall Councel of Nice was assembled by Constantine
chiefly in respect of the world to come For it hath as you see Gods owne expresse commandement bidding all his people to depart from that mysticall Babylon Popish Rome When therefore God himselfe thus speaketh and would have none that bee his people to adhere to such a Mother as the Whore of Babylon is but cleane contrariwise would have them to depart from her and utterly to renounce abhorre and detest her as being indeed the Mother of VVhoredomes and abhominations of the Earth as she is intitled is it not good reason and your bounden dutie to give eare unto him and to obey his voyce herein as you tender your owne salvations and desire to be His People It appeareth that ye have been of a long time mistaken as touching the right Mother-Church For not Popish Rome but Hierusalem which is from above is the Mother of us all as S. Paul expressely witnesseth Yea what maner of Mother Popish Rome is I trust yee now sufficiently perceive Bee no longer therefore so much abused or so extreamely deluded as to take the wrong Mother for the right and him that is the grand Antichrist to bee Christs Vicar the head of his Church S. Peters successor and the Bishop that cannot erre in matter of Faith For what christian charitable and good minde doth not grieve to see so manie honourable and honest-hearted men to bee so farre carried away and misled to their owne perdition Howbeit if anie amongst you rest not satisfied herewith but thinketh that hee can answer this Booke and will take upon him so to doe I desire him first that hee will doe it not by parts or peece-meales but wholly and entirely from the beginning of it to the end Secondly I desire him to doe it not superficially or sophistically but substantially soundly and satisfactorilie if hee can Thirdly as I would haue him to doe it in love and charity and with an affection onely to follow Gods truth so doe I also desire him to set his name unto it as I have done here to this But if none amongst you can make anie solid sound sufficient and satisfactorie Answere unto it as I rest assured before hand none can or will bee able For who was or ever will be able to Answer or confute that Word of God whereupon the Protestants Doctrine Religion is apparantly grounded then is there so much the more reason for you all to yeeld to that which you see to bee evident unanswerable and irrefutable God Almightie if it bee his will open all your eies to see his splendent and invincible truth in his sacred Canonical Scriptures conteined and grant both to you and to us that wee may all acknowledge professe and observe it to his glorie the discharge of our duties and our owne everlasting comforts and salvation through Iesus Christ. Amen VVisdome is iustified of all her Children Luk. 7.35 Vnto the King everlasting Immortal Invisible unto GOD onely wise be honor and glorie for ever and ever AMEN 1. Tim. 1.17 FINIS AN EPISTLE VVRITTEN BY THE REVEREND FAther in God James Vssher Bishop of Meath concerning the religion anciently professed by the IRISH and SCOTTISH Shewing it to be for substance the same with that which at this day is by publick authoritie established in the Church of ENGLAND WORTHY SIR I Confesse I somewhat incline to be of your minde that if unto the authorities drawen out of Scriptures and Fathers which are common to us with others a true discoverie were added of that religion which anciently was professed in this kingdome it might prove a speciall motive to induce my poore countrey-men to consider a little better of the old and true way from whence they have hitherto beene misledd Yet on the one side that saying in the Gospell runneth much in my minde If they heare not Moses and the Prophets neyther will they be perswaded though one rose from the dead and on the other that heavie judgement mentioned by the Apostle because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved God shall send them strong delusion that they should beleeve lyes The wofull experience whereof wee may see daily before our eyes in this poore nation where such as are slow of heart to beleeve the saving truth of God delivered by the Prophets and Apostles doe with all greedinesse imbrace with a most strange kinde of credulitie intertaine those lying Legends wherwith their Monks Friars in these latter dayes have polluted the religion and lives of our ancient Saints I doe not denie but that in this countrey as well as in others corruptions did creepe in by little and little before the Divell was let loose to procure that seduction which prevayled so generally in these last times but as farre as I can collect by such records of the former ages as have come unto my hands eyther manuscript or printed the religion professed by the ancient Bishops Priests Monkes and other Christians in this land was for substance the verie same with that which now by publick authoritie is maintayned therein against the forraine doctrine brought in thither in later times by the Bishop of Romes followers I speake of the more substantiall points of doctrine that are in controversie betwixt the Church of Rome and us at this day by which only wee must judge whether of both sides hath departed from the religion of our ancestours not of matters of inferior note much lesse of ceremonies and such other things as appertaine to the discipline rather than to the doctrine of the Church And whereas it is knowne unto the learned that the name of Scoti in those elder times whereof we treate was common to the inhabitants of the greater and the lesser Scotland for so heretofore they have beene distinguished that is to say of Ireland and the famous colonie deduced from thence into Albania I will not follow the evill example of those that have of late laboured to make dissension betwixt the daughter and the mother but accompt of them both as of the same people Tros Rutulúsve fuat nullo discrimine habebo That wee may therefore fall upon the matter in hand without further preambles two excellent rules doth S. Paul prescribe unto Christians for their direction in the wayes of God the one that they be not unwise but understanding what the will of God is the other that they be not more wise then behoveth to be wise but be wise unto sobriety and that wee might know the limits within which this wisedome and sobrietie should be bounded hee elsewhere declareth that not to be more wise then is fitting is not to bee wise above that which is written Hereupon Sedulius one of the most ancient writers that remaineth of this countrey birth delivereth this for the meaning of the former rule Search the Law in which the will of God is contayned and this for the later He would be more wise then
Gillebertus and Malachias and Christianus who were the Popes Legates here about 500. yeares agoe This Gillebertus an old acquaintance of Anselme Archbishop of Canterbury in the Prologue of his booke De usu ecclesiastico directed to the whole Clergie of Ireland writeth in this maner At the request yea and at the command of manie of you dearely beloved I indevoured to set downe in writing the canonical custome in saying of Houres and performing the Office of the whole Ecclesiasticall Order not presumptuously but in desire to serve your most godly command to the end that those diverse and schismaticall Orders wherewith in a maner all Ireland is deluded may give place to one Catholick and Romane Office For vvhat may bee said to be more undecent or schismaticall then that the most learned in one order should be made as a private and lay man in another mans Church These beginnings were presently seconded by Malachias in whose life written by Bernard wee reade as followeth The Apostolicall constitutions and the decrees of the holy Fathers but especially the customes of the holy Church of Rome did he establish in all Churches And hence it is that at this day the canonicall Houres are chanted and song therein according to the maner of the whole earth whereas before that this was not done no not in the citie it selfe the poore citie of Ardmagh he meaneth But Malachias had learned song in his youth and shortly after caused singing to be used in his owne Monasterie when as yet aswell in the citie as in the whole Bishoprick they eyther knew not or would not sing Lastly the work was brought to perfection when Christianus Bishop of Lismore as Legate to the Pope was President in the Councell of Casshell wherein a speciall order was taken for the right singing of the Ecclesiasticall Office and a generall act established that all divine offices of holy Church should from thenceforth be handled in all parts of Ireland according as the Church of England did observe them The statutes of which Councell were confirmed by the Regall authority of King Henry the second by whose mandate the Bishops that met therein were assembled in the yeare of our Lord 1172. as Giraldus Cambrensis witnesseth in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland And thus late was it before the Romane use was fully settled in this kingdome The publick Liturgie or service of the Church was of old named the Masse even then also when prayers only were said without the celebration of the holy Communion So the last Masse that S. Colme was ever present at is noted by Adamnanus to have beene vespertinalis Dominicae noctis Missa He dyed the midnight following whence the Lords day tooke his beginning 9º viz. Iunij anno Dom. 597. according to the account of the Romanes which the Scottish and Irish seeme to have begunne from the evening going before and then was that evening Masse said which in all likelyhood differed not from those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mentioned by Leo the Emperour in his Tacticks that is to say from that which wee call Even-song or Evening prayer But the name of the Masse was in those dayes more specially applied to the administration of the Lords Supper and therefore in the same Adamnanus we see that Sacra Eucharistiae ministeria and Missarum solemnia the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist and the solemnities of the Masse are taken for the same thing So likewise in the relation of the passages that concerne the obsequies of Columbanus performed by Gallus and Magnoaldus we finde that Missam celebrare and Missas agere is made to be the same with Divina celebrare mysteria and Salutis hostiam or salutare sacrificium immolare the saying of Masse the same with the celebration of the divine mysteries and the oblation of the healthfull sacrifice for by that terme was the administration of the sacrament of the Lords Supper at that time usually designed For as in our beneficence and communicating unto the necessities of the poore which are sacrifices wherewith God is well pleased we are taught to give both our selves and our almes first unto the Lord and after unto our brethren by the will of God so is it in this ministerie of the blessed Sacrament the service is first presented unto God from which as from a most principall part of the dutie the sacrament it selfe is called the Eucharist because therein we offer a speciall sacrifice of praise thankesgiving alwayes unto God and then communicated unto the use of Gods people in the performance of which part of the service both the minister was said to give and the communicant to receive the sacrifice as well as in respect of the former part they were said to offer the same unto the Lord. For they did not distinguish the Sacrifice from the Sacrament as the Romanists doe now adayes but used the name of Sacrifice indifferently both of that which was offered unto God and of that which was given to and received by the communicant Therefore we read of offering the sacrifice to God as in that speech of Gallus to his scholler Magnoaldus My master Columbanus is accustomed to offer unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brasen vessels Of giving the sacrifice to man as when it is said in one of the ancient Synods of Ireland that a Bishop by his Testament may bequeath a certain proportiō of his goods for a legacie to the Priest that giveth him the sacrifice and of receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister as in that sentence of the Synod attributed unto S. Patrick He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life how can it helpe him after his death and in that glosse of Sedulius upon 1 Cor. 11.33 Tarry one for another that is saith he untill you doe receive the sacrifice Whereby it doth appeare that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like unto the new Masse of the Romanists wherein the Priest doth eate and drinke alone the people being only lookers on but unto our Communion where all that are present at the holy action do eate of the Altar as well as they that serve the Altar Againe they that are communicants in the Romish sacrament receive the Eucharist in one kinde onely the Priest in offering of the sacrifice receiveth the same distinctly both by way of meate and by way of drinke which they tell us is chiefely done for the integritie of the Sacrifice and not of the Sacrament For in the Sacrifice they say the severall elements be consecrated not into Christs whole person as it was borne of the Virgin or now is in heaven but the bread into his body apart as betrayed broken and given for us the wine into his blood apart as shed out of his body for remission of sinnes and dedication of the new Testament which
for the feare of his country as the ancient author of the life of Wilfride writeth contemned the tonsure and the observation of Easter used by the Romanes and taking with him such as would follow him that is to say such as would not receive the catholick Easter and the tonsure of the crowne for of that also there was then no small question returned backe againe into Scotland In his roome was Wilfride chosen archbishop of Yorke who had learned at Rome from archdeacon Boniface the course of Easter vvhich the schismaticks of Brittaine and Ireland did not know so goe the words of the ancient writer of his life and afterward did brag that he was the first which did teach the true Easter in Northumberland having cast out the Scotts which did ordayne the Ecclesiasticall songs to be parted on sides and vvhich did command S. Benetts rule to be observed by Monkes But when he was named to the Archbishoprick he refused it at the first as William of Malmesbury relateth least he should receive his consecration from the Scottish Bishops or from such as the Scotts had ordayned vvhose communion the Apostolicke See had rejected The speech which hee used to this purpose unto the Kings that had chosen him is thus laid downe by the writer of his life O my honourable Lords the Kings it is necessary for us by all meanes providently to consider how with your election I may by the helpe of God come to the degree of a Bishop without the accusation of catholick men For there be many Bishops here in Brittayne none of whom it is my part to accuse ordayned within these foureteene yeares by the Brittons and Scotts whom neyther the See Apostolick hath received into her communion nor yet such as consent with the schismaticks And therefore in my humility I request of you that you would send me with your warrant beyond the Sea into the countrey of France where many Catholick Bishops are to be had that without any controversie of the Apostolick See I may be counted meet though unworthy to receive the degree of a Bishop While Wilfride protracted time beyond the Seas King Oswy ledde by the advise of the Quartadecimans so they injuriously nicknamed the Brittish and Irish that did celebrate Easter from the fourteenth to the twentieth day of the moone appointed a most religious servant of God and an admirable Doctor that came from Ireland named Ceadda to be ordayned Bishop of Yorke in his roome Constituunt etenim perverso canone Coeddam Moribus acclinem doctrinae robore fortem Praesulis eximij servare cubilia sicque Audacter vivo sponsam rapuere marito saith Fridegodus This Ceadda being the scholler of Bishop Aidan was farre otherwise affected to the Brittis◠and Irish then Wilfride was and therefore was content to receive his ordination from Wini Bishop of the West-Saxons and two other Brittish Bishops that were of the Quartadeciman partie For at that time as Bede noteth there was not in all Brittaine any Bishop canonically ordayned that is to say by such as were of the communion of the Church of Rome except that Wini onely But shortly after the opposition betwixt these two sides grew to be so great that our Cuthbert Bishop of Lindisfarne upon his death bedd required his followers that they should hold no communion with them which did swerve from the unitie of the catholick peace eyther by not celebrating Easte◠in his due time or by living perversely and that they should rather take up his bones and remove their place of habitation then anie way condescend to submit their neckes unto the yoake of schismatickes And among the decrees made by some of the Saxon Bishops which were to be seene in the librarie of Sir Thomas Knevet in Northfolke and are still I suppose preserved there by his heyre this is laid downe for one Such as have received ordination from the Bishops of the Scotts or Brittaynes who in the matter of Easter and Tonsure are not united unto the Catholick Church let them be againe by imposition of hands confirmed by a Catholicke Bishop In like maner also let the Churches that have bin ordered by those Bishops be sprinkled with exorcized water confirmed with some service We have no licence also to give unto them Chrisme or the Eucharist when they require it unlesse they doe first professe that they will remaine with us in the unitie of the Church And such likewise as either of their nation or of any other shall doubt of their baptisme let them be baptized Thus did they On the other side how averse the Brittish and the Irish were from having anie communion with those of the Romane partie the complaint of Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus before specified doth sufficiently manifest But above all others the Brittish Priests that dwelt in West-wales abhorred their communion beyond all measure as Aldhelme abbot of Malmesbury declareth at large in his Epistle sent to Geruntius king of Cornewall where among manie other particulars he sheweth that if anie of the Catholicks for so he calleth those of his own side did go to dwell among them they would not vouchsafe to admit them unto their companie and societie before they first put them to fortie dayes penance Yea even to this day saith Bede who wrote his historie in the yeare DCCXXXI it is the maner of the Brittons to hold the faith and the religion of the English in no account at all nor to communicate with them in any thing more then with Pagans Whereunto those verses of Taliessyn honoured by the Brittains with the title of Ben Beirdh that is the chiefe of the Bardes or wisemen may be added which evidently shew that he wrote after the comming of Austin the monke into England and not 50. or 60. yeares before as others have imagined Gwae'r offeiriad byd Nys angreifftia gwyd Ac ny phregetha Gwaeny chèidw ey gail Ac ef yn vigail Ac nys areilia Gwae ny cheidw ey dheuaid Rhac bleidhie Rhufeniaid A'i ffon gnwppa which Humfrey Lhoyd doth thus English VVo be to that priest yborne That will not cleanly weed his corne And preach his charge among VVo be to that shepheard I say That will not watch his fold alway As to his office doth belong VVo be to him that doth not keepe From Romish wolves his sheepe VVith staffe and weapon strong By all that hath beene said the vanitie of Osullevan may be seene who fayneth the Northren Irish together with the Pictes and the Britons to have beene so obsequious unto the Bishop of Rome that they reformed the celebration of Easter by them formerly used as soone as they understood what the rite of the Romane Church was Whereas it is knowne that after the declaration thereof made by Pope Honorius and the clergie of Rome the Northren Irish were nothing moved therewith but continued still their owne tradition And therfore Bede
dissented from the Church of Rome in the celebration of Easter and manie other things made no scruple to prefixe this loving respectfull superscription to their letters To our Lords and most deare brethren the Bishops or Abbots throughout all Scotland Laurentius Mellitus and Iustus Bishops the servants of the servants of God For howsoever Ireland at that time received not the same lawes wherewith other nations were governed yet it so flourished in the vigour of Christian doctrine as Abbot Ionas testifieth that it exceeded the faith of all the neighbour nations in that respect was generally had in honour by them It now remaineth that in the last place we should consider the Popes power in disposing the temporall state of this kingdome which either directly or indirectly by hook or by crook this graund Usurper would draw unto himselfe First therefore Cardinall Allen would have us to know that the Sea Apostolick hath an old claime unto the soverainty of the countrey of Ireland and that before the covenants passed betweene king Iohn and the same Sea Which challenges saith hee Princes commonly yeeld not up by what ground so ever they come What Princes use to yeeld or not yeeld I leave to the skanning of those unto whom Princes matters doe belong for the Cardinalls Prince I dare be bold to say that if it be not his use to play fast and loose with other Princes the matter is not now to do whatsoever right he could pretend to the temporall state of Ireland he hath transferred it more then once unto the Kings of England and when the ground of his clayme shall be looked into it will be found so frivolous and so ridiculous that wee need not care three chippes whether he yeeld it up or keep it to himselfe For whatsoever become of his idle challenges the Crowne of England hath otherwise obtained an undoubted right unto the soveraintie of this countrey partly by Conquest prosecuted at first upon occasion of a Sociall warre parâ—ly by the severall submissions of the chieftaines of the land made afterwards For whereas it is free for all men although they have beene formerly quitt from all subjection to renounce their owne right yet now in these our dayes saith Giraldus Cambrensis in his historie of the Conquest of Ireland all the Princes of Ireland did voluntarily submitt and binde themselves with firme bonds of faith and oath unto Henry the second King of England The like might be said of the generall submissions made in the dayes of King Richard the second and King Henry the eighth to speake nothing of the prescription of diverse hundreds of yeares possession which was the plea that Iephte used to the Ammonites and is indeed the best evidence that the Bishop of Romes owne proctors doe produce for their Masters right to Rome it selfe For the Popes direct dominion over Ireland two titles are brought forth beside those covenants of King Iohn mentioned by Allen which hee that hath anie understanding in our state knoweth to be clearly void and worth nothing The one is taken from a speciall grant supposed to be made by the inhabitants of the countrey at the time of their first conversion unto Christianity the other from a right which the Pope challengeth unto himselfe over all Ilands in generall The former of these was devised of late by an Italian in the raigne of King Henry the eighth the later was found out in the dayes of King Henry the second before whose time not one footsteppe doth appeare in all antiquitie of anie clayme that the Bishop of Rome should make to the dominion of Ireland no not in the Popes owne records which have beene curiously searched by Nicolaus Arragonius and other ministers of his who have purposely written of the particulars of his temporall estate The Italian of whom I spake is Polydore Vergil he that composed the booke De inventoribus rerum of the first Inventers of things among whom he himselfe may challenge a place for this invention if the Inventers of lyes be admitted to have anie roome in that companie This man being sent over by the Pope into England for the collecting of his Peter-pence undertook the writing of the Historie of that nation wherein he forgatt not by the way to doe the best service hee could to his Lord that had imployed him thither There he telleth an idle tale how the Irish being moved to accept Henry the second for their King did deny that this could be done otherwise then by the Bishop of Romes authority because forsooth that from the very beginning after they had accepted Christian religion they had yeelded themselves and all that they had into his power and they did constantly affirme saith this fabler that they had no other Lord beside the Pope of which also they yet do bragge The Italian is followed herein by two Englishmen that wished the Popes advancement as much as he Edmund Campian and Nicholas Sanders the one whereof writeth that immediatly after Christianitie planted here the whole Iland with one consent gave themselves noâ— only into the spirituall but also into the temporall Iurisdiction of the See of Rome the other in Polydores own words though he name him not that the Irish from the beginning presently after they had received Christian religion gave up themselves and all that they had into the power of the Bishop of Rome and that untill the time of King Henry the second they did acknowledge no other supreme Prince of Ireland beside the Bishop of Rome alone For confutation of which dreame we need not have recourse to our owne Chronicles the Bull of Adrian the fourth wherein he giveth libertie to King Henry the second to enter upon Ireland sufficiently discovereth the vanitie thereof For hee there shewing what right the Church of Rome pretended unto Ireland maketh no mention at all of this which had beene the fairest and clearest title that could be alledged if anie such had beene then existent in rerum natura but is faine to flie unto a farre fetcht interest which he saith the Church of Rome hath unto all Christian Ilands Truly saith he to the King there is no doubt but that all Ilands unto which Christ the Sunne of righteousnesse hath shined and which have received the instructions of the Christian faith doe pertaine to the right of Sainct Peter and the holy Church of Rome which your Noblenesse also doth acknowledge If you would further understand the ground of this strange clayme whereby all Christian Ilands at a clap are challenged to be parcell of S. Peters patrimonie you shall have it from Iohannes Sarisburiensis who was most inward with Pope Adrian and obtayned from him this verie grant whereof now wee are speaking At my request saith he he granted Ireland to the illustrious King of England Henry the second and gave it to be possessed by right of inheritance as his owne
that grant and confirmation of Pope Alexander And to make the matter yet more sure in the year MCLXXXVI he obtained a new licence from Pope Vrban the third that one of his sonnes whom he himselfe would should be crowned for the KINGDOME of Ireland And this the Pope did not only confirme by his Bull but also the yeare following purposely sent over Cardinall Octavian and Hugo de Nunant or Novant his legates into Ireland to crowne Iohn the Kings sonne there By all this we may see how farre King Henry the second proceeded in this businesse which I doe not so much note to convince the stoliditie of Osullevan who would faine perswade fooles that he was preferred only to be collector of the Popes Peter-pâ—nce as to shew that Ireland at that time was esteemed a Kingdome and the Kings of England accounted no lesse then Kings thereof And therefore Paul the fourth needed not make all that noyse and trouble the vvhole Court of heaven with the matter when in the yeare MDLV hee took upon him by his Apostolicall authoritie such I am sure as none of the Apostles of Christ did ever assume unto themselves to erect Ireland unto the title and dignity of a Kingdome Whereas he might have found even in his own Romane Provinciall that Ireland was reckoned among the Kingdomes of Christendome before hee was borne Insomuch that in the yeare MCCCCXVII when the legates of the King of England and the French Kings ambassadours fell at variance in the Councell of Constance for precedencie the English Orators among other arguments alledged this also for themselves It is well knowne that according to Albertus Magnus and Bartholomaeus in his booke de proprietatibus rerum the whole world being divided into three parts to witt Asia Africk and Europe Europe is divided into foure Kingdomes namely the Romane for the first the Constantinopolitane for the second the third the kingdome of Ireland which is now translated unto the English and the fourth the kingdome of Spaine Whereby it appeareth that the king of England and his kingdome are of the more eminent ancient Kings and Kingdomes of all Europe which prerogative the kingdome of France is not said to obtaine And this have I here inserted the more willingly because it maketh something for the honour of my country to which I confesse I am verie much devoted and in the printed Actes of the Councell it is not commonly to be had But now commeth forth Osullevan againe and like a little furie flyeth upon the English-Irish Priests of his owne religion which in the late rebellion of the Earle of Tirone did not deny that Hellish doctrine fetcht out of Hell for the destruction of Catholicks that it is lawfull for Catholicks to beare armes and fight for Heretickes against Catholickes and their country or rather if you will have it in plainer termes that it is lawfull for them of the Romish religion to beare armes and fight for their Soveraigne and fellow subjects that are of another profession against those of their owne religion that trayterously rebell against their Prince and countrey and to shew how madde and how venemous a doctrine they did bring these be the caitiffes own termes that exhorted the laity to follow the Queens side he setteth down the Censure of the Doctors of the Universitie of Salamanca and Vallodilid published in the yeare MDCIII for the justification of that Rebellion and the declaration of Pope Clement the eights letters touching the same wherin he signifieth that the English ought to be set upon no lesse then the Turkes and imparteth the same favours unto such as set upon them that he doth unto such as fight against the Turks Such wholsome directions doth the Bishop of Rome give unto those that wil be ruled by him farre different I wisse from that holy doctrine wherewith the Church of Rome was at first seasoned by the Apostles Let every soule be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of God was the lesson that S. Paul taught to the ancient Romanes Where if it be demanded whether that power also vvhich persecuteth the servants of God impugneth the faith and subverteth religion be of God our countreyman Sedulius will teach us to answer with Origen that even such a power as that is given of God for the revenge of the evill and the prayse of the good although he were as wicked as eyther Nero among the Romanes or Herod among the Iewes the one whereof most cruelly persecuted the Christians the other Christ himselfe And yet when the one of them swayed the scepter S. Paul told the Christian Romanes that they must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake and of the causelesse feare of the other these verses of Sedulius are solemnely song in the Church of Rome even unto this day Herodes hostis impie Christum venire quid times Non abripit mortalia Qui regna dat coelestia Why wicked Herod dost thou feare And at Christs comming frowne The mortall he takes not away That gives the heavenly crowne a better paraphrase whereof you caâ—not have then this which Claudius hath inserted into his Collections upon S. Matthew That King which is borne doth not come to overcome Kings by fighting but to subdue them after a wonderfull maner by dying neyther is he borne to the end that he may succeed thee but that the world may faithfully beleeve in him For he is come not that he may fight being alive but that he may triumph being slayne nor that he may with gold get an army unto himselfe out of other nations but that he may shed his precious blood for the saving of the nations Vainly didst thou by envying feare him to be thy successor whom by beleeving thou oughtest to seeke as thy Saviour because if thou diddest beleeve in him thou shouldest raigne with him and as thou hast received a temporall kingdome from him thou shouldest also receive from him an everlasting For the kingdome of this Childe is not of this world but by him it is that men doe raigne in this world He is the Wisedome of God which saith in the Proverbes By me Kings raigne This Childe is the Word of God this Childe is the Power and Wisedome of God If thou canst thinke against the Wisedome of God thou workest thine owne destruction and dost not know it For thou by no meanes shouldest have had thy kingdome unlesse thou hadst received it from that Childe which now is borne As for the Censure of the Doctors of Salamanca and Vallodilid our Nobility and Gentry by the faithfull service which at that time they performed unto the Crowne of England did make a reall confutation of it Of whose fidelitie in this kinde I am so well perswaded that I doe assure my selfe that neyther the names of Franciscus Zumel and Alphonsus Curiel how great Schoole-men soever
of the Doctor what the reason might be that where he bringeth in the words of Giraldus Cambrensis touching this place as an authenticall authoritie hee passeth over that part of his relation wherein hee affirmeth that S. Patrick intended by this meanes to bring the rude people to a perswasion of the certaintie of the infernall paines of the reprobate and of the true and everlasting life of the elect after death The Grecians alledge this for one of their arguments against Purgatorie that whereas their Fathers had delivered unto them manie visions and dreames and other vvonders concerning the everlasting punishment wherewith the wicked should be tormented in Hell yet none of them had declared any thing concerning a purgatorie temporarie fire Belike the Doctor was afraid that wee would conclude upon the same ground that S. Patrick was carefull to plant in mens mindes the beleefe of Heaven and Hell but of Purgatory taught them never a word And sure I am that in the book ascribed unto him De tribus habitaculis which is to be seene in his Majesties Librarie there is no mention of anie other place after this life but of these two only I will lay down here the beginning of that treatise and leave it to the iudgement of anie indifferent man whether it can well stand with that which the Romanistes teach concerning Purgatorie at this day There be three habitations under the power of almightie God the first the lowermost and the middle The highest whereof is called the kingdome of God or the kingdome of Heaven the lowermost is termed Hell the middle is named the present World or the circuit of the Earth The extremes whereof are altogether contrary one to another for what fellowship can there be betwixt light and darkenesse betwixt Christ Belial but the middle hath some similitude with the extremes For in this world there is a mixture of the bad and of the good together whereas in the kingdome of God there are none bad but all good but in Hell there are none good but all bad And both those places are supplied out of the middle For of the men of this world some are lifted up to Heaven others are drawne downe to Hell namely like are joyned unto like that is to say good to good and bad to bad just men to just Angells wicked men to wicked Angels the servants of god to God the servants of the divell to the Divell The blessed are called to the kingdome prepared for them from the beginning of the world the cursed are driven into the everlasting fire that is prepared for the Divell and his angels Thus farre there Hitherto also may be referred that ancient Canon of one of our Irish Synods wherein it is affirmed that the soule being separated from the bodie is presented before the judgement seat of Christ who rendreth it owne unto it according as it hath done and that neyther the Archangel can leade it unto life untill the Lord hath judged it nor the Divell transport it unto paine unlesse the Lord doe damne it as the sayings of Sedulius likewise that after the end of this life eyther death or life succeedeth and that death is the gate by which wee enter into our kingdome together with that of Claudius that Christ did take upon him our punishment vvithout the guilt that thereby he might loose our guilt and finish also our punishment Cardinall Bellarmine indeed alledgeth here against us the vision of Furseus who rising from the dead told many things which hee saw concerning the paines of purgatory as Bede he saith doth write But by his good leave we will be better advised before we build articles of faith upon such visions and dreames as these manie wherof deserve to have a place among the strange narrations of soules appearing after death collected by Damascius the heathen Idolater rather than among the histories discourses of sober Christians As for this vision of Furseus all that Bede relateth of it to this purpose is concerning certaine great fires above the ayre appointed to examine every one according to the merits of his workes which peradventure may make something for Damascius his Purgatorie in Circulo lacteo for in that circle made he a way for the soules that went to the Hades in heaven and would not have us wonder that there they should be purged by the way but nothing for the Papists Purgatorie which Bellarmine by the common consent of the Schoolemen determineth to be within the bowels of the earth Neyther is there anie thing else in the whole book of the life of Furseus whence Bede borrowed these things that looketh toward Purgatorie unlesse peradventure that speech of the Divell may be thought to give some advantage unto it This man hath not purged his sinnes upon earth neyther doth he receive punishment for them here Where is therefore the justice of God as if Gods justice were not sufficiently satisfied by the sufferings of Christ but man also must needes give futther satisfaction thereunto by penall workes or sufferings either here or in the other world which is the ground upon which our Romanists doe lay the rotten frame of their devised Purgatorie The latter visions of Malachias Tundal Owen and others that lived within these last five hundred yeares come not within the compasse of our present inquirie nor yet the fables that have bene framed in those times touching the lives and actions of elder Saints whereof no wise man will make anie reckoning Such for example is that which we reade in the life of S. Brendan that the question being moved in his hearing Whether the sinnes of the dead could be redeemed by the prayers or almes-deeds of their friends remayning in this life for that was still a question in the Church he is said to have told them that on a certaine night as he sayled in the great Ocean the soule of one Colman who had beene an angry Monke and a sower of discord betwixt brethren appeared unto him who complained of his grievous torments intreated that prayers might be made to God for him and after sixe dayes thankefully acknowledged that by meanes thereof he had gotten into heaven Whereupon it is concluded that the prayer of the living doth profit much the dead But of S. Brendans sea-pilgrimage we have the censure of Molanus a learned Romanist that there be many apocryphall fooleries in it whosoever readeth the same with anie judgement cannot choose but pronounce of it as Photius doth of the strange narrations of Damascius formerly mentioned that it containeth not onely apocryphall but also impossible incredible ill-composed and monstrous fooleries Whereof though the old Legend it selfe were not free as by the heads thereof touched by Glaber Rodulphus and Giraldus Cambrensis may appeare yet for the tale that I recited out of the New Legend of England I can
say that in the manuscript books which I have met withall here in S. Brendans own countrey one whereof was transcribed for the use of the Friars minors of Kilkenny about the yeare of our Lord 1350. there is not the least footstep thereof to be seene And this is a thing verie observable in the ancienter lives of our Saints such I meane as have beene written before the time of Satans loosing beyond which we doe not now looke that the prayers and oblations for the dead mentioned therein are expressely noted to have been made for them whose soules were supposed at the same instant to have rested in blisse So Adamnanus reporteth that S. Colme called by the Irish both in Bedes and our dayes Colum-kille caused all things to be prepared for the sacred ministerie of the Eucharist when he had seene the soule of S. Brendan received by the holy Angells and that hee did the like when Columbanus Bishop of Leinster departed this life for I must to day saith S. Colme there although I be unworthy celebrate the holy mysteries of the Eucharist for the reverence of that soule which this night carried beyond the starry firmament betwixt the holy quires of Angells ascended into Paradise Whereby it appeareth that an honourable commemoration of the dead was herein intended and a sacrifice of thanksgiving for their salvation rather then of propitiation for their sinnes In Bede also wee finde mention of the like obsequies celebrated by S. Cuthbert for one Hadwaldus after he had seene his soule carried by the hands of Angells unto the joyes of the kingdome of heaven So Gallus and Magnus as Walafridus Strabus relateth in the life of the one and Theodorus Campidonensis or whosoever else was author of the life of the other said Masse which what it was in those dayes wee shall afterward heare and were instant in prayers for the commemoration of abbat Columbanus their countreyman frequenting the memory of that great Father with holy prayers and healthfull sacrifices Where that speech of Gallus unto his deacon Magnus or Magnoaldus is worthie of speciall consideration After this nights watch I understood by a vision that my master and father Columbanus is to day departed out of the miseries of this life unto the joyes of Paradise For his rest therefore I ought to offer the sacrifice of salvation In like maner also when Gallus himselfe died Iohn Bishop of Constance prayed to the Lord for his rest and offered healthfull sacrifices for him although he were certainly perswaded that hee had attained the blessing of everlasting life as may be seene in Walafridus And when Magnus afterwards was in his death-bed he is said to have used these words unto Tozzo Bishop of Ausborough that came to visite him Doe not weepe reverend Prelate because thou beholdest me labouring in so manie stormes of worldly troubles because I beleeve in the mercie of God that my soule shall rejoyce in the freedome of immortalitie yet I beseech thee that thou wilt not cease to helpe me a sinner and my soule with thy holy prayers Then followeth that at the time of his departure this voice was heard Come Magnus come receive the crowne vvhich the Lord hath prepared for thee and that thereupon Tozzo said unto Theodorus the supposed writer of this historie Let us cease weeping brother because wee ought rather to rejoyce having heard this signe of the receiving of his soule unto immortalitie than to make lamentation but let us goe to the Church and be carefull to offer healthfull sacrifices to the Lord for so deare a friend I dispute not of the credite of these particular passages it is sufficient that the authors from whom wee have received them lived within the compasse of those times whereof we now doe treate For thereby it is plaine enough and if it be not it shall elsewhere be made yet more plaine that in those elder dayes it was an usuall thing to make prayers and oblations for the rest of those soules which were not doubted to have beene in glorie and consequently that neyther the Commemoration nor the Praying for the dead nor the Requiem Masses of that age have anie necessarie relation to the beleefe of Purgatory The lesson therefore which Claudius teacheth us here out of S. Hierome is verie good that while wee are in this present world we may be able to helpe one another eyther by our prayers or by our counsailes but when vvee shall come before the judgement seat of Christ neyther Iob nor Daniel nor Noah can intreate for any one but every one must beare his owne burden and the advise which the no lesse learned then godly abbat Columbanus giveth us is verie safe not to pitch upon uncertainties hereafter but now to trust in God and follow the precepts of Christ while our life doth yet remaine and while the times wherin we may obtayne salvation are certaine Vive Deo fidens saith he Christi praecepta sequeÌ„do Dum modò vita manet dum tempora certa salutis Touching the worship of God that I may now come to that point Sedulius delivereth this generall rule that to adore any other beside the Father and the Sonne and the holy Ghost is the crime of impietie and that all that the soule oweth unto God if it bestow it upon any beside God it committeth adultery More particularly in the matter of Images he reproveth the wise men of the heathen for thinking that they had found out a way how the invisible God might be worshipped by a visible image with whom also accordeth Claudius that God is to be knowen neyther in mettle nor in stone and for Oathes there is a Canon ascribed to S. Patrick wherein it is determined that no creature is to be sworâ—e by but onely the Creator As for the forme of the Liturgie or publick service of God which the same S. Patrick brought into this countrey it is said that he received it from Germanus and Lupus and that it originally descended from S. Marke the Evangelist for so have I seene it set down in an ancient fragment written wellnigh 900. yeares since remayning now in the Library of Sir Robert Cotton my worthy friend who can never sufficiently be commended for his extraordinarie care in preserving all rare monuments of this kinde Yea S. Hieroms authoritie is there vouched for proofe hereof Beatus Hieronymus adfirmat quòd ipsum cursum qui dicitur praesente tempore Scottorum beatus Marcus decantavit which being not now to be found in anie of S. Hieroms workes the truth thereof I leave unto the credite of the reporter But whatsoever Liturgie was used here at first this is sure that in the succeeding ages no one generall forme of divine service was retayned but diverse rites and maners of celebrations were observed in diverse parts of this kingdome untill the Romane use was brought in at last by