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LIBRARY

ilF -I II K

I Theological Seminary

I PRINCETON, N. J.

I BX 5037 .U8 1864 v.l

! tUssher, James, 1581-1656.

j The whole works of the most

I ' Rev. James Ussher, D.D,...

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2014

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THE

WHOLE WORKS

OF THE

MOST REV. JAMES USSHER, D.D.,

LOUD ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH, AND PRIMATE OF ALL IRELAND.

NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME COLLECTED,

WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR,

AND

AN ACCOUNT OF HIS WRITINGS,

CHARLES RICHARD ELRINGTON, D. D.,

l.ATE REOIUS PROVKSSOR OF DIVINITY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF Dl'ULIN,
AND RECTOR OF ARMAGH.

IX SEVENTEEN VOLUMF.S.

VOL. I.

DUBLIN:
HODGES, SMITH, AND CO.

ri'IlLlSlIEIlS TO THE I'NIVEKSITY.

18(U.

DUBLIN :

^tintetJ at tl)c Santbasitp ^Brcsa,

BY M. n. GILL.

THE PROVOST AND SENIOR FELLOWS
OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN,
THIS EDITION

OF THE M'ORKS OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK,
UNDERTAKEN AT THEIR REQUEST,
AND PUBLISHED AT THEIR EXPENSE,
IS INSCRIBED,
BY THEIR FAITHFUL, HUMBLE SERVANT,

THE EDITOR.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The Editok deeply regrets that he has been com-
pelled to delay for so long a period the publication
of the Works of Archbishop Ussher. When he un-
dertook the task at the request of the Provost and
Senior Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin, he was
not aware of the difficulties which he had to en-
counter, and he entertained hopes of some leisure
being afforded to him, which have not been realized.
A combination of imexpected circumstances threw
upon him a quantity of public business, Avhicli was
sufficient to occupy the time of the most diligent,
while the duties of his Professorship alone were
pressing upon him with increased severity from the
interruptions of long-continued and repeated illness,
which obliged him at dilFerent periods to seek relief
in another country. The Editor is very unwilling
to speak so much of himself, but he feels great
anxiety to make a sufficient apology for the delay to
those, who must be unacquainted with the difficulties
which impeded the progress of the work.

111 editing the works of Archbishop Ussher the
great difFiciilty arose from the unusual number of
quotations to be found in them. The Editor has
endeavoured to verify all these quotations, and he
has changed the references to the more modern and
more generally used editions. The numerous quo-
tations from the Fathers he has referred to the Be-
nedictine editions, whenever they existed, unless, as
it sometimes happened, the Ai'chbishop quoted a
passage from spurious writings, which tliey rejected
altogether. In other cases he has named the edition
in the place where the quotation from an author first
occurred. The labor and time necessary for such
a work can be estimated only by those who have
been engaged in similar undertakings. There are,
no doubt, many omissions, and for these the Editor
can only plead the excuse of the Roman poet:

Verum opere in longo fas est obrepere somnum.

He fears, too, that in some places errors of the Press
have occurred. For this his apology must be, that
he was at a considerable distance from the printing
office when most of the work was printed, and that
the printers had to struggle against the difficvilties of
very bad ^vriting, more particularly in the Eastern
languages.

A more agreeable duty now remains for him to
discharge, to return his grateful thanks for assistance
afforded him during the work. The first place must
be appropriated to his valued friend, the Rev. James
H. Todd,D.D., Avho, amidst numerous avocations, has

assisted him with his advice and varied information
through every part of tlie work. He must next ex-
press his gratitude to the Rev. Henry Cotton, D. C. L.,
Archdeacon of Cashel, whose knowledge of books,
and kindness in communicating it, are too well
known to need his panegyric.

To the Rev. Dr. Bandinel, the learned Librarian
of the Bodleian Library at Oxford, he is deeply in-
debted for indefatigable exertions in examining the
various MSS. of the magnificent collection intrusted
to his care, and communicating numerous letters, and
other documents, which have been published in dif-
ferent parts of the work.

To the Rev. William Jacobson, Vice-Principal of
Magdalen Hall, Oxford, he gladly acknowledges his
obligation for assistance in procuring copies of many
MSS. preserved at Oxford, more particularly of the
Sermons, which were obtained from the Library of
Balliol College, through the kindness of the Master,
the Rev. Dr. Jenkyns.

Trinity College, Dublin,
Nov. 1, 1847.

THE LIFE

JAMES US S HER, D. D.,

ARCHBISHOP OF ARMAGH.

James Ussher was born in the parish of St. Nicholas,
in the city of Dublin, on the 4th day of January, 1580-1.
His father, Arnold Ussher, was one of the Six Clerks in
the Court of Chancery, and was descended from an English
family of the name of Neville. The first of this family who
settled in Ireland was usher to King John, and, coming
over with that prince, changed the name of his family for
that of his office'', a practice not unusual at that period.
His mother was Margaret, daughter of James Stanihurst,
one of the Masters in Chancery, Recorder of Dublin, and
Speaker of the Irish House of Commons in three succes-
sive Parliaments.

Of the early life of James Ussher only a few anecdotes
have been transmitted. It is not a little remarkable that
he was taught to read by two aunts who had been blind
from their infancy. Of these relatives he always spoke
with the greatest affection and respect, and from them he
appears to have imbibed his first religious impressions.

' From this circumstance most writers spell the name of the Archbishop,
Usher ; but he appears himself alvvays to have written it Ussher. In the
Appendix will be found a genealogy written by the Archbishop himself;
and another more detailed one, for whieii I am indebted to the kinduess
of Sir William Betham, Ulster King of Arms.

VOL. I. B

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

His aunts had most tenacious memories; they remembered
whatever was road to tliem, and could repeat by heart a
hirge portion of the Bible. To this book of books, as he
always called it, the young student devoted his earliest
attention ; and he was able to say of himself, " that from a
child he had known the Holy Scriptures, which are able
to make a man wise unto salvation." Some of his biogra-
phers are anxious to point out the precise moment of time
when his conversion took place, and have fixed upon his
tenth year, when he heard a sermon preached on the pas-
sage in the Epistle to the Romans, "I beseech you, there-
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service." This is a mere attempt to
support the doctrines of Calvin by a remarkable example.
From all that has been handed down it may safely be con-
cluded, that James Ussher was one of those happy indivi-
duals, who, educated in a deep sense of religion, and brought
up in the fear of the Lord, had duly cherished the grace
vouchsafed to him in baptism, and had been, day by day,
assisted from on high to imitate, in all humility, his divine
Master, and "grow in wisdom and stature, and favour with
God and man."

A strange combination of circumstances supplied Dublin
at this time with two schoolmasters of very superior attain-
ments. James VI. of Scotland, doubtful of succeeding
quietly to the throne of England on the death of Elizabeth,
sent over^ to Dublin in the year 1587 two clever emissa-

^ Dr. M'Crie, in his Life of Knox, seems to doubt that they were sent
over by James ; but such a proceeding was perfectly consonant with the
crooked policy of that extraordinary individual. Dr. Parr states it as an
undoubted fact, and he surely must have heard from Archbishop Ussher
the history of his tutor. And if any thing be wanted to confirm the evi-
dence of Dr. Parr, it may be found in the honours conferred upon the
two individuals, and the large grants of land made to them in Ireland
by J amps. Birch, in his Life of Prince Henry, states, that they were
first brought into notice by conveying the letters of some of the Eng-
lish lords "who worshipped the rising sun," to King James, in Scot-
land, and bringing back his answers, "that way being chosen as
more safe than the direct northern road," in order to escape the vigi-
lance of Elizabeth.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

lies, James Fullerton'" and James Hamilton'', to keep up a
correspondence with the Protestant nobility and gentry
in tiie neighbourhood of Dublin : and they, to conceal more
effectually the object of their mission, opened a school^ in
which Fullerton acted as the master, and Hamilton as the
usher. Although the office of a schoolmaster was assumed
merely for the purpose of concealment, yet both these in-
dividuals seem to have been eminently qualified to discharge
its duties. It is most probable that Fullerton was an early
pupiK of the learned Andrew Melville, who had brought
from the Continent to the University of Glasgow a know-
ledge of the learned languages rarely possessed at that
period, and who devoted himself to the instruction of those
committed to his care. Dr. M'Crie has suggested the
possibility that both Hamilton and Fullerton were class-fel-
lows of Melville at St. Andrew's, because there appear in the
list of admissions for his year, 1558, the names of James
Fullerton and James Hamilton : but this seems absolutely
impossible, for, as none of his class-fellows could be younger
than Melville, w ho was admitted at twelve years of age,
Hamilton must have been ninety-seven years of age at the
time of his death in 1643 ; and yet only two years before he
received a commission from the Lords Justices and Council,

Afterwards ono of th" first Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. He
was knighted by King James, soon after his accession, and appointed one
of the gentlemen of the bed-chamher.

Afterwards one of the first Fellows of Trinity College, Dublin. In
1622 he was created, by James, Viscount of Claneboye.

^ The school was opened in 1587, and it is remarkable that, in that,
same year it was ordered by the State, that no grammar but Lilly's should
be taught in Ireland. The reason assigned for this extraordinary legis-
lative enactment w as, that the variety of grammars previously used in
schools impeded the progress of the youth moving from one school to
another. See Ware's Annals, ad. ann. 1587.

' That he was one of his most intimate friends is certain. Melville, in a
letter to Sir James Serapill, of Beltrees, callshimhis " intire and speciall
friend;" and Fullerton was the person who communicated to Melville,
when in banishment, the afflicting intelligence of his nephew's death.
I'^uUerton died in 16-30, and appears to have kept up his literary pursuits,
after he had exchanged the life of a scholar for that of a courtier. Hume,
in his Grammatica Nova, calls him, " virum doctum ot in omni disciplina
satis pxercitatum," and speaks of discussing with him grammatii-.il difii-
culties.

B 2

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSIIER.

to raise the Seots in the north of Ireland and put them under
arms, in order to resist the violent proirress of the rebellion.
It seems, then, nearly certain that the James Fullevton who
came to Ireland was not the class-fellow, but the pupil" of
Andrew Melville, laureated at Glasgow in 1581. Hamilton
may also have been under the same tutor at St. Andrew's,
for in 1585 James Hamilton was made Master of Arts, and
at that time Melville had been for some years Principal
of New College.

To the school opened under such extraordinary circum-
stances James Ussher was sent when eight years of age,
and he continued there for five years, exciting the admira-
tion of his instructors by his diligence and quickness. The
pupil was not insensible to the value of the instruction he
received from his masters, for Dr. Parr states, that " when-
ever he recounted the providences of God towards himself,
he would usually say, that he took this for one remarkable
instance of it, that he had the opportunity and advantage of
his education from those men, who came thither by chance,
and yet proved so happily useful to himself and others."

^ Dr. M'Crie, in his Life of Melville, gives the following account of the
course which Melville taught at Glasgow, coniplcting it in six years.
The class were well grounded in Latin before he commenced. " He be-
gan by initiating them into the principles of the Greek grammar. He
th. n introduced them to the study of Logic and Rhetoric, using as his
text-books the Dialectics of his Parisian master, Ramus, and the Rhetoric
of Tala,'us. While they were engaged in these studies, he read with them
llie best classical authors, as Virgil and Horace among the Latins — and
Homer, Ilesiod, Theocritus, Pindar, and Isocrates among the Greeks ;
pomting out, as he went along, their beauties, and illustrating by them the
principles of Logic and Rhetoric. Proceeding to Mathematics and Geo-
gr.aphy he taught the elements of Euclid with the arithmetic and geome-
try of Ramus, and the geography of Dionysius. And agreeably to this
plan of uniting elegant literature with philosophy, he made the students
use the Phenomena of Aratus, and the Cosmographia of Honter. Moral
philosophy formed the next branch of study, and on this he read Cicero's
Offices, Paradoxes, and Tusculan Questions, the Ethics and Politics of
Aristotle, and certain dialogues oi' Plato. In Natural Philosophy he made
use of Fernelius, and commented on parts of the w ritings of Aristotle and
Plato. To these he added a view of Universal History, with Chronology,
and the progress of the art of Writing. Entering upon the duties of his
own immediate profession, he taught the Hebrew language, first, more
cursorily, by going over the elementary work of Martinius, and after-
wards by a more accurate examination of its principles, accompanied

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP UsSHlill.

Yet the coiiise of instruction was not extensive, as it did
not comprehend either Greeli or Hebrew, tor Ussher ap-
pears to have commenced learning both those Umguages
after his admission into the University of Dublin.

On theyth of January, 1593-4, Trinity College, Dub-
lin, was first opened for the admission of students. The
foundation of this College was closely connected with the
family of James Ussher. His grandfather, Stanihurst'', had
made the first motion in Parliament for the establishment
of an University in Dublin, and his uncle, Henry Ussher,
Archdeacon of Dublin, and subsequently Archbishop of
Armagh, had been sent' over twice to London, to nego-
ciate the matter, and had at length, in 1591, brought back
with him the Queen's letter for its erection. At the time

with a praxis upon the Psalter and books of Solomon. He then initiated
the students into Chaldee and Sjriae, reading those parts of the boolts of
Daniel and Ezra that are written in Chaldee, and the Epistle to the Gala-
tians in the Syriae version. He also went through all the common heads
of Divinity, according to the order of Calvin's Institutions, and gave lec-
tures on the different books of Scripture." — M'Crie's Life of Melcille,
vol. i. pp. 67-9.

Stanihurst appears to have been one of those persons who accom-
modated their religion to the times. He had been Speaker of the House
of Commons under Mary, and he felt no scruples at continuing so under
Elizabeth. From the letters of Campian, the Jesuit, to him, it seems evi-
dent tiiat, as far as he had any religion, he continued a Roman Catholic to
his death. The mother of Ussher, who professed to be a Protestant dur-
ing the lifetime of her husband and for some years after his death, open-
ly avowed herself a Roman Catholic when her son was absent in England,
and resisted all his efforts to convert her from her errors. Her brotiier
Richard was well known as a zealous controversialist in favour of Popery,
and, after the death of his wife, took orders in the Roman Catiiolic
Church.

'Dr. Hernard, and he is followed by Dr. Smith, in his Life of Ussher,
states that tiie Archdeacon of Dublin was sent over to defeat the jilan
wiiich Sir John Perrot had formed, of converting to his own use the re-
venues of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Tliis is a most unfouuJed calumny
against tliat unfortunate Deputy. The fact is, Sir John Perrot, like liis
successor in after times. Lord Strafford, fell a victim to his efforts for tiie
recovery ol' the property of the Church : he was not able to struggle suc-
cessfully with those who had scand;ilously seized her revenues. The
plan of appropriating the revenues of St. Patrick's Catiiedral to an Uni-
versity had been proposed in the government of Sir Henry Sydney, and
Sir John Perrot received instructions on coming to Ireland to inquire,
"how St. Patrick's in Dublin, and the revenue belonging to the same.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOI" USSHEK.

ot the College being opened, Fullerton and Hamilton were
appointed Fellows"', in addition to the three persons named
in the eharter, and James Ussher was admitted a student
under the tuition of his former master, James Hamilton,
being then thirteen years of age'.

Dr. Bernard states that Ussher was the first scholar
entered into Dublin College, and that he had heard "it

may be made to serve for the purpose of an University, as hath been
heretofore intended." — See Desider. Cur. Hiber. vol. i. p. 28. Perrot, in
fulfilment of these instructions, proposed that the revenues of St. Patrick's
Cathedral, then worth 4000 marks, should serve to begin the foundation
of two Universities, and endow a couple of colleges in them with £1000
per annum a-piece. In each of these colleges six masters, with one hun-
dred scholars, were to be settled. The six masters to be chosen out of the
most learned residentaries of the Cathedral, who in their turns, three and
three of each college, were to reside and keep hospitality in the several
prebends whereunto the cure of souls was annexed. This plan would
have removed many of the difficulties which impeded the progress of
Trinity College, in consequence of want of funds, and does not aiford
the slightest appearance of an attempt, on the part of the Lord Deputy,
to secure any property for himself. On the other hand, Archbishop Lof-
tus had notoriously alienated to his family the revenues of two prebends,
and had got a valuable lease from his brother-in-law, the Dean of St.
Patrick's. These spoils would certainly have been wrested from him,
had an inquiry been made into the revenues of the Cathedral, before they
were transferred to the new colleges. The fear of being compelled to
make this restitution can alone account for the rancorous hostility with
which the Archbishop pursued his victim. The biographer of Sir John
Perrot says : " The Archbishop stuck to him to the last, and was a main
instrument in bringing hira to his condemnation ; and Perrot, in his last
will, solemnly testified, that the Archbishop falsely belied him in his de-
claration against him." The biographer of Archbishop Loftus truly says :
" The great qualities of this prelate were something tarnished by his ex-
cessive ambition and avarice. For, besides his promotions in the Chui'ch
and his public employments in the State, he grasped at every thing that
became void, either for himself or family." There was indeed one part
of Sir John Perrot's plan which was most objectionable, his proposal to
desecrate the cathedral and make it the courts of law, but this did not
draw forth any animadversion from the Archbishop.

' Parr, in his Life of the Archbishop (and he has been followed by
others), says that Hamilton was appointed a senior Fellow; but this is a
mistake, for the distinction of senior and junior Fellows appears to have
been first made in the year 1614.

' Dr. Parr states that Ussher was admitted into the College in the
thirteenth year ot his age : but this must be a mistake. He was in the
tourteenth year of his age, for he was born on the 4th of January.
Ij80-1, and the College was opened on the 9th of January, 1593-4.

LIFE Oh' ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

was so ordered upon design by the governors of it, observing
the pregnancy and forwardness of him ; that it might be a
future iioiiour to it to have it upon record, in the frontis-
piece of their admission-book, and so accordingly the first
graduate, fellow, proctor, and all other degrees originally
from thence." And Dr. Parr says, " that his name as the
first Scholar there stands to this day on the first line of
their roll'"." He may have been the first student, but he
certainly was not the first Scholar; for the list of them, in
the handwriting of Provost Alvey, is still extant, and after
the three named in the Charter stand Abel Walsh, Jacobus
Ussher, Jacobus Lee. Ussher says of himself that he was
"inter primos in illam admissos"."

The system of instruction adopted in the new College is
thus described by Dr. Bernard: " The education which that
College then gave was very eminent. At the first founda-
tion there were but four° Fellows, and yet the tongues and
arts were very exactly taught to all the students, being
divided into several classes. Aristotle's text was read in
Greek by each tutor to his pupils. Three lectures a day
every Fellow read, at each of which there was a disputa-
tion upon what had been then read, or the lecture before,
and, among other ways, they were ordered to dispute more
Socratico. On Saturday, in the afternoon, each tutor read,
ill Latin, a lecture on divinity to his pupils, and dictated it
so deliberately that they easily took it in writing ; and so
were their other lectures also,"

The religious education of young Ussher appears to
have been watched with unceasing vigilance, and at four-
teen years of age he was called upon to receive the holy
communion. This sacred rite produced a great effect upon
his religiously disposed mind ; and his biographer informs
us that, in advanced life, he was accustomed to look back
with complacency upon the strict retirement and rigorous

"' The oldest admission-book now extant commences in the year 1637,
and the first name is William, tddest son of Lord Strafford, aged eleven
years and a half.

" Ussher's Letter to Hevelius. — Works, vol. xvi., p. 107-
" Henry Ussher, the Archdeacon of nublin, n.imed in tlic CharU'r as
the lirst Fellow, does not ai)pear e\er lo iiave acted.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

self-examination which always preceded his approach to
the Lord's table, and to lament the little improvement
which increasing years had produced. He observed with
peculiar strictness the Lord's day ; and his early piety led
him to deplore as a sin his too great attachment to literary
pursuits, that he could not welcome with more joy the
approach of the day devoted to the service of his God than
of that which restored him to his studies.

At this early period of his life he appears to have devoted
himself to study with an ardour and perseverance extraor-
dinary for his years. Admitted into the University, unac-
quainted with either the Greek or Hebrew languages, he
must have used no common diligence to acquire the know-
ledge which he soon displayed in them. He was not inat-
tentive to the study of logic and the Aristotelic philosophy
then so much in fashion. But the decided leaning of his
mind was to historical and chronological inquiries. It is
said that he was first struck with the passage in Cicero,
" Nescire quid antea quam natus sis acciderit, id est sem-
per esse puerum." And, indeed, he alludes to the circum-
stance in the dedication of the Antiquities of the British
Churches to King Charles, using the strong expressions,
" Indeque mihi insitum fuisse diffiteri non possum rerum
gestarum et memoriae veteris ordinem cognoscendi singu-
lare quoddam et prope incredibile desiderium." The first
work which confirmed this inclination was, " Sleidan de
quatuor monarchiis ;" and so rapid was the progress made
by the youthful student^, that, ere he reached his nineteenth
year, he had drawn up, in Latin, a chronicle of the Bible,
as far as the Book of Kings, differing not much from the
Annals which were published at the close of his long and
laborious life.

The circumstances of the times and the peculiar situation
of his own family, divided as it was between theRoman Catho-
lic and Protestant Churches, exercised an irresistible force
upon the mind of Ussher, to devote a considerable portion of
his time to the study of polemical divinity. With that can-

Some biograpliers have stated, that in his early liie he manifested a
strong inclination for poetry, and was much devoted to card-playing.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHor USSHER.

flour which distinguished him through the whole period of
his life, he appears to have studied the works of the princi-
pal writers on hoth sides of the question, and the work which
exercised a considerable influence upon the course of his sub-
sequent studies was Stapleton's "Fortress of the Faith."
The chief strength of Stapleton's argument lay in the attempt
to establish the antiquity of the Romish faith and the novelty
of the reformed Church, which he professed to maintain by
the whole current of tradition transmitted through the works
of the Fathers. Ussher, even at that early period, was im-
pressed with the truth of Tertullian's maxim, " Verum
quodcunque primum, adulterum quodcunque posterius,"
and he determined to read through the works of the Fathers,
and ascertain whether the appeal of Stapleton was founded
in fact. This prodigious task he executed in eighteen years,
commencing in the twentieth and terminating in the thirty-
eighth year of his age. The fruit of his labours he intended
to have communicated to the world in the Bibliotheca
Theologica, but he never completed the work, never in-
deed finished any part of it. It has been stated by some
writers, that Stapleton's work had been put into his hands
by his uncle, Richard Stanihurst, in order to win him over to
the Roman Catholic faith ; but this is not very probable, as
Stanihurst had been long resident at Louvain, and not
much intercourse appears to have been kept up between
them'', asUssher, in the only letter to his uncle which has
been preserved, tells him he had never been able to procure
his work, " Margarita Maria," and other writings, if there
be any.

There is no record extant of the time when Ussher took

They seem to forget the age of the individual about whom they are
speaking ; and the stories may well be doubted when wc have such proofs
of his literary progress before he attained the age of fourteen.

Wood, in his Life of Stanihurst, says, that " he, being a zealous Ro-
manist, and Ussher (afterwards Primate of Ireland) a zealous Protes-
tant, passed several letters between them concerning religion, Stanihurst
endeavouring, to his utmost, to gain him to his opinion ; but it is thought,
and verily believed by some, tiiat I'ssher was too liard for his uncle in
controversial points relating to divinity." Wood gives no authority for
this story, and it no where appears among the other biographers of the
Archbishop.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

his degree of Bachelor of Arts. Dr. Smith states, that he
obtained it when in his sev'enteenth year: it is probable,
therefore, that he commenced A.B. in July, 1597. An in-
terruption to all his favourite pursuits was now threatened ;
his father urged him strongly to the study of law as a pro-
fessional pursuit, and wished to send him over to the Inns
of Court in London. Ussher felt the greatest repugnance
to commence this course of study, but such was his reve-
rence for parental authority, that he was preparing to com-
ply, when his father's death, on the 12th of August, 1598,
left him at liberty to choose his profession. Dr. Parr states
that a considerable estate devolved to the eldest son on the
death of his father, but burdened with law-suits and portions
for his seven sisters; that the young student, fearful of being
taken away from the pursuits to which he was now permitted
to devote himself, made over this property to his brother
and sisters, reserving to himself only a small sum, suflScient
for the purchase of some books and for his maintenance in the
College ; and that, as a proof how well he understood what
he was doing, he drew out an exact account of the estate
and leases left to him, and also of the suits and incum-
brances which lay upon it, with directions what to do in
them, and committed the whole to his uncle% as guardian to
his brother and sisters, to be managed for their use. It is
to be supposed that the biographers anticipate events, for
James Ussher was not eighteen when his father died, and,
therefore, could not have made over the property. He
most probably did so when he came of age.

In August, 1598, died also Lord Burleigh, Chancellor
of the University of Dublin ; and to him succeeded Robert
Earl of Essex, who was soon after appointed Lord Deputy
of Ireland, and arrived in Dublin in April, 1599^ The

' Dr. Parr does not mention the name of the uncle ; but it is most pro-
bable it was George Ussher. Arnold was the youngest of three brothers,
Henry, Archbishop of Armagh, being the eldest, and George, a mer-
chant, the second, who died in 1(509.

' The biographers of Ussher make strange confusion as to dates. They
make the performance of the Act before the Earl of Esse.x to precede the
death of Arnold Ussher ; but this is impossible, for he died before Essex
was appointed Chancellor of the University. The records of the Univer-

LIFE OF AUCHI31SHOI' USSllEU.

University, to welcome their new Chancellor, had a so-
lemn Act performed for his entertainment, and Ussher was
selected as the respondent in the philosophical disputation,
a task which he performed with great applause. But he
soon undertook a more serious disputation, encountering
the learned Jesuit, Henry Fitz-Symonds', on the questions

sity do uot fix the date of the entertainment given to the Chancellor ;
but it is well known that the Earl of Essex landed in Dublin on the 15th
of April, 1509, and left it in the September following. It is not impro-
bable that the visit of the Chancellor was soon after his arrival in Dub-
lin, for on the 3rd of May, 1599, he continued, during pleasure, a concor-
tlatum of £40 per annum before granted by the Lords Justices.

' Henry Fitz-Symonds was the son of a merchant in Dublin, and ma-
triculated as a member of Hart's Hall, Oxford, April 16, 1583, being
then fourteen years of age. It seems probable that he was elected a
student of Christ's Church in the following December. It does not ap-
pear how long he remained at the University, or whether he took a
degree there. But sure it is, says Wood, "that being in his mind then,
if not before, a Roman Catholic, he went beyond the seas, entered him-
self into the Society of Jesus, and made so great a proficiency under the
instruction of Leonard Lessius that in a short time he became so eminent
that he taught publicly among them philosophy for several years." After
some time he returned to Ireland, where he was more than ordinarily ac-
tive in making proselytes to the Roman Catholic faith, either by private
conference or public disputations with the Protestant clergy. In this work
he continued unmolested for two years, and gained the character of such
an able and subtle disputant that few or none would contend with him.
At length he attracted the notice of the Government, and was confined
in Dublin Castle. At the end of five years he obtained his liberty on the
promise of behaving quietly, and giving no further disturbance to the
King or realm. He retired into voluntary exile in the Low Countries ;
but, in 1608, being summoned to Rome, he was appointed for the mission
to Ireland ; and, forgetful of his promise, returned to that country, and
employed many years in the same course which he had pursued before
his imprisonment. He was an active promoter of the rebellion in 1641,
and after the overthrow of the rebels suffered severely in his attempts to
escape the English army. He was obliged to shelter in the woods and
mountains, and at length, in the year 1643, he took refuge in a bog,
where the miserable hovel in which he slept neither afforded him shelter
from the inclemency of the weather, nor from the water which rose
from below. This wretched situation could uot subdue his habitual
cheerfulness, or prevent him from instructing and comforting those who
flocked to him for advice. However the weight of years sunk under
these accumulated sufferings, and he died on the 1st of February,
1643-44, being then seventy-five years of age. By his death, concludes
Anthony Wood, the Roman Catholics lost a pillar of their Church, being
esteemed, in the better part of his life, a great ornament among them,

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

controverted between the Roman Catholics and Protes-
tants. Fitz-Symonds was confined in the Castle of Dub-
lin, and declared that, " as he was a prisoner, he was like
a bear tied to a stake, and wanted some to bait him."
This was considered as a challenge. Dr. Smith says, that
two or three theologians, venerable for their age and eccle-
siastical station, had entered the lists; but finding it of no
use to answer his calumnies, or chastise his madness, relin-
quished the task. But from the other biographers it would
appear that Ussher was the only person who encountered
him in a public disputation ; but how he came to be se-
lected is not mentioned. Saldenus^ asserts, that he was
chosen by the unanimous consent of the University ; but
he does not give his authority, and we search for it in vain.
Fitz-Symonds boldly offered to maintain those points in the
Roman Catholic religion which were considered by Pro-
testants as the weakest, and to oppose those in their
doctrine which they thought the strongest. Dr. Bernard
states, that the subject of disputation was the controversies
of Bellarmine ; that a meeting once a week was agreed
upon ; and that the first topic proposed was concerning
Antichrist ; that twice or thrice they had solemn dispu-
tations, though the Jesuit acknowledges but one ; that
Ussher was ready to go on, but the Jesuit was weary of it.
FardiflFerent is the account which Fitz-Symonds published
of the transaction, many years afterwards, in the dedication
of his work called Britannomachia Ministrorum. He says:
" Prodiit quidem semel in summa vocis vultusque trepida-
tione, octodenarius praecocis sapientiie (non tamen malse, ut
videtur, indolis) juvenis, nescio an aurge popularis cupi-
dior, saltern de abstrusissirais rebus theologicis, cum adhuc
pliilosophica studia non esset emensus, nec ephebis egres-
sus, disputandi avidus. Hunc autem jussi suorum calculos
adferre, quibus pugil seu agonista idoneus renunciaretur,
et vel cum ipso disputationera me initurum. Sed sieiit ipsi
cum minime tanto honore dignati sunt, ita me vicissim sua

and the greatest tlefcniler of their religion in his time.— Wood, Athin.
Oxon., vol. iii. \i. 97-

» Said, de lib., p. 3G8. Aft, Erud. Lips. lGt<7, i>, 115.

hirv. or Aucmnsiioi' ussher.

(U'incops prpcsontia dignatus i])se iioii fuit." In quoting
this passage tlio hiograpliers of Usshor liave stopped at
the word "avidns," and put an et cetera after it. This
ullorded to liayle grounds for a sneer at them, as if they
suppressed whatever was inconsistent with their own story;
and he adds, that some untruths must necessarily be tohl,
cither in the Jesuit's narrative, or in that of the authors of
ITssher's life. On the alternative it is not difficult to de-
cide. A letter from Ussher to Fitz-Symonds is still pre-
served, which demonstrates that the statement made by the
Jesuit is false. The letter is as follows :

"I was not prepared, Mr. Fitz-Symonds, to write unto you
before you had first written unto me concerning some chief
jioints of your religion, as at our last meeting you promised.
But, seeing that you have deferred the same (for reasons
best known to yourself), I thought it not amiss to inquire
further of your mind concerning the continuance of the
conference begun between us; and to this I am rather
moved because I am credibly informed of certain reports,
which I would hardly be persuaded should proceed from
him who, in my presence, pretended so great love and
affection to me. If I am a boy (as it hath pleased you
very contemptuously to name me), I give thanks to the
Lord that my carriage towards you hath been such as
could minister no just occasion to despise my youth.
Your spear, belike, is, in your own conceit, a weaver's
beam ; and your abilities such that you desire to encounter
with the stoutest champion in the host of Israel, and,
therefore, like the Philistine, you contemn me as being a
boy. Yet this I would fain have you to know, that I
neither came then, nor do come now, unto you in any con-
fidence of any learning that is in me (in which respect,
notwithstanding, I thank God I am what I am), but I
come in the name of the Lord of Hosts, whose companies
you have reproached, being certainly persuaded that even
out of the mouths of babes and sucklings he was able to
shew forth his own praises; for the further manifestation
whenof, I do again earnestly request you that, setting

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

aside all vain comparison of persons, we may go plainly
forward in examining the matters that rest in controversy
between us. Otherwise I hope you will not be displeased
if, as for your part you have begun, so I also, for my own
part, may be bold, for the clearing of myself, and the
trutlis which I profess, freely to make known what hath
already passed concerning this matter. Thus entreating
you, in a few lines, to make known unto me your purpose
in this behalf, 1 end. Praying the Lord that both this
and all other enterprises that we take in hand may be so
ordered as may most make for the advancement of his own
glory, and the kingdom of his Son, Jesus Christ,

" Tuas ad aras usque,
"James Ussher."

This letter, written at the time, and addressed to Filz-
Symonds himself, must give a more correct account of the
transaction than the preface to the Britannomachia, pub-
lished in a foreign country, and twenty years afterwards.
Tlie letter, indeed, is quite decisive. Ussher could not
address a letter to Fitz-Symonds, alluding directly to more
than one disputation which had been carried on between
them, if Fitz-Symonds had refused to dispute at all with
him, unless accredited by some competent authority. He
could not refer to the terms of love and affection which
I'itz-Symonds had professed towards him, if he had been
treated in the manner which the Jesuit describes".

In the year 1600 Ussher took the degree of Master of
Arts. It does not appear from the College records at what
time he was appointed a Fellow of Trinity College. At
that period it appears to have been the practice to appoint
Masters of Arts lecturers, who assumed by degrees the
name and privileges of Fellows ; and in the first College

" Were it necessary to confirm the evidence of Ussher's letter, tlie
Jesuit himself aclinowledged that he was silenced. Saldenus says: "Fas-
tidiosam viri prfefidentiara ita perdomuit ut ad novum provoeatus con-
flictum declinarit eum non tantuni, sed et ad Ixt^ivBiav redactum se
esse ipse confessus sit." — De libr., p. 3fi8. Fitz-Symonds called Ussher,
" Acatholiconmi doctissimum."

MFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

account-book there is an entry, in December-quarter, IGOO,
of £10 wages for four Masters, viz., Mr. Walsh, Mr.
Ussher, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Richardson. Ussher was im-
mediately after appointed Catechist to the College, and
the first Proctor, as he himself mentions in a letter to
Archbishop Laud'^. The first public commencement in
the College was held on Shrove Tuesday, 1600-1. In
October, 1601, we first find the name of Ussher sub-
scribed to a College document, a consent on the part
of the Fellows to the appointment of John Alvey to
the Provostship. Travers, who had been the first Pro-
vost (for the appointment of Archbishop Loftus was
merely nominal), left the College in 1598, frightened, as
it is said, by the disturbances in Ireland, or more probably
feeling that his great support was lost by the death of
Lord Burleigh. The Fellows did not proceed to an elec-
tion, and the College was without a Provost till 1601,
when the Queen named Henry Alvey^.

The extraordinary selections made by the English go-
vernment for the management of the infant Irish College
must have materially contributed to influence the early
theological opinions of Ussher. The newly-founded so-
ciety must have been considered by Lord Burleigh, and
others of his party, as a proper refuge for Puritans, who
would not have been tolerated in any similar position in
England. No other reason can be assigned for the selec-
tion of Travers, perhaps the most improper man in England

" See Works, vol. xv., p. 551.
The form was as follows :

"Actum est 8vo die Oct., 1601., Regni Reginae Eliz. 43.

"Noverint universi per praesentes, quod cum magister Gualterus Tra-
vers nuper Collegii Sanctae et Individua; Trinitatis Reginse Eliz., ju.vta
Dublin dignissiraus Prsepositus esset, eodcmque munere per quinquen-
num fidelissime fungeretur, quod nunc in ejus locum magister Henricus
Alvey, qui binis Sociorum Collegii publicisque regni senatorum Uteris
vocatus et invitatus fuit, nobis ejusdera Collegii Sociis et prselectoribus
consentientibus, suffectus sit. In cujus rei testimonium nomina infra sub-
scripsimus anno et die supra memoratis.

"Lucas Chai.oner. Carolus Dunn. Johannes Brf.reton.
Abell Walshe. James I'ssker. Gkorgius IjEE. James
IJoYD. Johannes Richardson."

MFli OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

for the place. When the Mastership of the Temple was
vacant, Lord Burleigh wished to appoint Travers ; but
Archbishop Whitgift opposed the nomination, and told the
Queen "that Mr. Travers^ had been one of the chief and
principal authors of dissensions in the Church, a contemner
of the Book of Prayers, and other orders by authority
established ; an earnest seeker of innovation, and either in
no degree of the ministry at all, or else ordered beyond the
seas% not according to the form in this Church of England
used." When Lord Burleigh wrote to the Archbishop
strongly recommending Travers, and stating that he would
be conformable to the orders of the Church, the Archbishop,
replied, " that Travers was better known, he thought, to no
man than himself ; that when he (the Archbishop) was
Master of Trinity College he had elected him Fellow of
that house ; that he had been before rejected by Dr. Beau-
mont, the former Master, for his intolerable stomach.
Whereof he (the Archbishop) had afterwards such expe-
rience that he was forced, by due punishment, so to weary
him that he was fain to travel, departing from the College
to Geneva, otherwise he should have been expelled for his
want of conformity towards the orders of the house, and
for his pertinacity ; and that there never was any under his
government in whom he found less submission and humility
than in him ; that his book, De Disciplina Ecclesiastica,
was wholly against the State and Government." Such
vi'as the man selected to be the first Provost of the
College founded for the education of the Irish clergy.
Nor were the Government more successful in their choice
of a successor. Henry Alvey'' was a Fellow of St. John's
College, Cambridge, and appears in his religious opinions
not to have differed much from Travers. He was certainly
connected with Cartwright and the other Puritans of that
day. His puritanical principles did not, however, teach

Strype's Life of Whitgift, vol. i., p. 173.

" Travers was ordained by tlie Presbytery at Antwerp. The testimo-
nial of his ordination is given by Fuller, Ch. Hist. b. 9, p. 214.

^ His only literary publication was a treatise in defence of usury, for
which, says Ware, "he was severely handled in an answer which I
have never seen."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

liim to perform his duty ; and when the plague broke out
in Dublin, with shameful cowardice he deserted his place,
and fled to England, leaving the College to the care of
James Ussher. While such were the men selected for the
Provostship, we find the notorious Humfrey Fenn, after
having escaped from the punishment inflicted upon him
along with Cartvvright, coming over to Dublin and assist-
ing Dr. Chaloner in his parish, while an allowance was
given to him from the College. These examples must
have exercised a most pernicious influence upon the minds
of the young students in divinity, and it is only sur-
prising that any germ of affection for the doctrine and
discipline of the Church of England could have survived in
so corrupted an atmosphere. In Ussher we shall see that,
however apparent were the traces of early associations, yet,
in later years, the effects of this prava disciplina were almost
obliterated. The pernicious practice which marred the early
progress of the Irish University extended over the whole
Irish Church. Whenever a man became so troublesome
that it was necessary to get rid of him, whenever powerful
interest claimed promotion for an individual whom the
Government were ashamed to promote in England, he was
sent over to Ireland, and obtained a high station in its
Church. This state of things continued after the Restora-
tion ; the abuse was strongly and frequently complained
of by Primate Boulter, and traces of it have existed even
in the memory of the present generation.

As Catechist Ussher distinguished himself in a very re-
markable manner. Every week he explained the pure princi-
ples of the Christian religion, as professed and maintained by
the reformed Churches, in opposition to the errors which had
mixed themselves with primitive Christianity in the creed of
the Roman CathoUc Church ; and this task he performed
with such a display of accurate knowledge on the most con-
troverted subjects, and such a readiness and fluency of ex-
pression, that his friends anxiously pressed him to appear in
the pulpit. This he steadily refused, pleading his youth as
a sufficient excuse, until he was called forward by an ap-
pointment which compelled him to appear in public. Such

VOL. I. c

LIFK OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

was tlie scarcity of qualified preachers, that w hen it be-
came necessary to appoint persons to preach at Christ's
Cliurch, before the members of the Irish government,
a selection was made of three lay Masters of Arts in
Trinity College. The persons selected were James Ussher,
Abel Walsh, and John Richardson''. The duty imposed
upon Richardson was to preach every Wednesday, and ex-
plain the prophecies of Isaiah. Walsh was to preach on
Sundays, in the forenoon, and establish the principal points
of theology from the sacred Scriptures. Ussher preached
in the afternoon of Sunday, on the principal points of con-
troversy with the Roman Catholic Church. " His part,"
says Dr. Bernard, " was to handle the controversies for the
satisfaction of the Papists, which he did so perspicuously,
ever concluding with matter of exhortation, that it was much
for the confirmation and edification of the Protestants,
which the elder sort of persons living in my time I have
heard often acknowledging."

Ussher did not continue long in this strange situation*^ :
he felt strong scruples at discharging the oflfice of a preacher
without being admitted into holy orders, and procured the
removal of the only impediment, want of canonical age,
by a special dispensation. He was ordained deacon and

John Richardson was born in England, but educated in Trinity Col-
lege, Dublin, of which he was first a Scholar and afterwards a Follow.
When Bishop Bedell resigned the bishopric of Ardagh, in order to dis-
courage pluralities, Dr. Richardson was appointed Bishop of Ardagh in
1633; but he certainly did not follow the example of his predecessor, for
he held in commendam the archdeaconry of Derry, the rectory of Ardstraw,
and the vicarage of Granard. He was distinguished for his acquaintance
with the sacred Scriptures; and his Commentaries on the Book of Ge-
nesis were published after his death, at the special request of Archbishop
Ussher, who bore this strong testimony to his acquirements: " Publici
Christi ministerii actus per quatuor Paschata distincta ex quatuor Evan-
geliorum harmonia hie exhibemus, a viro eruditissimo et in sacrarum
literarum studiis longe exercitatissimi, Joanne Richardson, S. TheologijB
Doctors et Ardachadensis in provincia nostra Armachana Ecclesia;
episcopo dignissimo concinnata." — Works, vol. x. p. 532.

Dr. Parr, in his Life of Ussher, makes the appointment to preach at
Christ's Church subsequent to his ordination, and in this he has been fol-
lowed by others; but it is undoubtedly a mistake. The order of events
was as here given.

LIFE OF ARCHIUSHOI' USSHEH.

priest oil t!ie fourth Sunday in Adveiit, lOOl, l)y his
uncle, Henry Archbishop of Armagh. The first sermon
lie preached before the State after his ordination was on the
24th of December, which was set apart by special command
to pray for the success of the army against the Spaniards,
and happened to be the very day of the victory at Kin-
sale. His text was, " Thou hast a name that thou livest
and art dead."

The enforcement of the Act of Uniformity in Ireland
had been dormant for many years. The policy of Eliza-
beth's reign is clearly expressed in the instructions which
were sent to Lord Mountjoy, with respect to the demand
made for a free toleration of religion by the northern
rebels: "For'' Sir Arthur O'Neal's demands," say the
Lords of the EngHsh Council to the Lord Deputy, " in
the first point concerning religion, her Majesty bore with
it, because she took it to proceed of his ignorance, not of
presumption, only wishing the Lord Deputy to let him see
that her Majesty pursued none in those parts for religion,
and so to satisfy him, but in no wise by any contract or
condition." The attempt to enforce rigidly attendance upon
the reformed worship would have been as useless as impo-
litic. The counsellors of Elizabeth had induced her to
sacrifice the very principles of the English Reformation
to the scheme of extirpating the Irish language, by enacting
that, where a sufficient number did not understand English,
Divine service should be performed in Latin, but by no
means in Irish. Even in those days of spiritual severity it
would have appeared absurdly arbitrary to insist upon attend-
ance where the people could not understand, where there
were few teachers to instruct, and where, even of those few,
the greater part were scandalously unfit for their sacred
office. It appears, then, that the High Commission Court
in Ireland did not, as it professed, inspect and reform all
offences committed against the Acts of the 2nd of Eliz. It
was content with the ordinary instructions to the provincial
governors of Ireland : " In all times and in all places where

Moryson, B. i., chap, ii., p. 67, Ed. 1017-

c 2

MFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEH.

any great assembly should be made before them, to per-
suade the people, by all good means and ways, to their
seeming good, and especially by their own examples, to
observe all orders for Divine Service; and to embrace, and
devoutly to observe, the order and services of the Church
Established in the realm by Parliament or otherwise,"
However, after the battle of Kinsale, the hopes of the Ro-
man Catholics were destroyed, and they appear to have
submitted themselves to the laws by attending, in great
numbers, the different churches. To provide instruction
for these numerous congregations, the Lord Deputy and
Council directed the different clergymen to distribute them-
selves among the churches of Dublin, and preach a sermon
in the afternoon of every Lord's day. For this purpose
James Ussher was appointed to preach in the Church of
St. Catherine, where he arranged the heads of each dis-
course into questions and aiiswers for the following Sun-
day, on which day many persons of mature age voluntarily
presented themselves to repeat the answers before the whole
congregation, and thus raised the attention, and contributed
to the instruction, of the Roman Catholics present. It is said
that the effect of these regulations was such, that not only
in Dublin, but in different parts of the kingdom, the Ro-
man Catholics were so diligent in attending divine service,
that if on any day they were prevented from being present,
they made an apology to the churchwardens. This state
of affairs did not continue long. The English government
were anxious to prove that they did not persecute for re-
ligion, and sent to put a stop to what they deemed an un-
warrantable exercise of authority. Lord Mountjoy, the
Lord Deputy, in a letter, dated February 26th, 1602-3,
thus expresses his satisfaction at the instructions: "And^
whereas it pleased your Lordships in your last letters to
command us to deal moderately in the great matter of re-
ligion, I had, before the receipt of your Lordships letters,
presumed to advise such as dealt in it, for a time to hold a
more restrained hand therein, and we were both thinking

']Moryson, B. iii., chap, i., p. 267.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

ourselves, what course to take in the revocation of what was
already done, with least encouragement to them and others,
since the fear that this course begun in Dublin would fall
upon the rest, was apprehended over all the kingdom, so
that I think your Lordships direction was to great pur-
pose, and the other course might have overthrown the
means to our own end of reformation of religion. Not that
I think too great preciseness can be used in the reform-
ing of ourselves, the abuses of our own clergy, Church
livings, or discipline, nor that the truth of the Gospel
can with too great vehemence or industry be set forward
in all places, and by all ordinary means most proper unto
itself, that was set forth and spread in meekness, nor that
I think any corporal prosecution or punishment can be
too severe for such as shall be found seditious instruments
of foreign or inward practices, nor that I think it fit, that
any principal magistrates should be chosen without taking
the oath of obedience, nor tolerated in absenting them-
selves from publick divine service, but that we may be ad-
vised how we do punish in their bodies or goods any such
only for religion, as do profess to be faithful subjects to
her Majesty, and against whom the contrary cannot be
proved^"

' It appears however, that this pecuniary mulct was not entirely given up,
for, in a petition presented to the King, in the year 1613, against the Lord
Deputy, it is stated, among other grievances, "that the Statute made
the 2nd of Elizabeth, laying a penalty of I2d. every Sunday and holiday
for not going to church, is put strictly in execution in many places ; but
the said money, being a matter of great value over the whole kingdom,
is not employed upon the poor, according to the Statute, but brought
into the hands of the clerks of those courts, but how they dispose it the
parishioners or churchwardens know not." And the Lord Deputy, an-
swering this charge, states, "that the Statute of Recusants hath of late
been put in execution in the county of Dublin more strictly than in any
other county, in regard the eyes of all the kingdom are upon it, and at-
tend what course the inhabitants of this county will take, to the end they
may follow the same. Howbeit, there hath not been levied upon the re-
cusants of this county within these twelve months last past above £!4 or
X15, or thereabouts ; by reason that most of them that were prosecuted
did choose rather to come to church than to pay the penalty of 12(/. a.
Sunday ; upon which conformity all arrears were remitted unto them ;
which course, if it be continued in the county as it is begun, and be

LIFE OF AUCHUISHOI' USSHEU.

The sanction thus given to the violation of the Act of
Uniformity excited considerable alarm in many, and in none
more than in Ussher. He feared that the permission given
by the Governmojit for the free exercise of the Roman
Catholic religion would tend to the disturbance of the
Government, both in Church and State, and still further
would be offensive in the sight of God, as sanctioning
idolatrous practices. Not deterred from his sense of duty
by any fear of man, he determined to take the opportunity
of a sermon which he was called upon to preach in Christ
Church before the State, for declaring his opinion of the
sinfulness of the measures recently adopted. He chose
for his text the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of Ezekiel,
"And thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah
forty days ; I have appointed thee each day for a year."
This prophecy had been interpreted as specifying the time
of forty years to the destruction of Jerusalem for their
idolatry, and the youthful preacher made a direct applica-
tion of them to his c.vn country, in these remarkable words,
*' From this year will I reckon the sin of Ireland, that
those whom you now embrace shall be your ruin, and you
shall bear their iniquity."

It is stated in all the Lives of Ussher that he made this pro-
phetical denunciation in 1601, and that its fulfilment, in the
rebellion and massacre of 1(341, excited in the minds of many
a conviction that the preacher was inspired. Dr. Bernard
says that Ussher himself was strongly impressed with a con-
viction of its fulfilment : " What a continued expectation,"
says he, " he had of a judgment upon that his native coun-
try, 1 can witness from the year 1624, when I had the
happiness first to be known to him, and the nearer the time

prosecuted in like manner in other counties, will bring the most part of the
khigclomto church, except some few of great estate of living, who are more
obstinate than the rest. And touching the monies levied in the county of
Dublin, it is, indeed, left in the hands of the Clerk of the Crown, by a spe-
cial order from the Lord Deputy and Council, to be employed in repair-
ing of churches and bridges, and like charitable uses, because the poor of
the parishes, who are not yet indicted, are not fit to receive the same,
being recusants, and ought to pay the like penalty." — Desiderata Cur.
Hihern. vol. i.. pp. "249, 274.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

every year the more confident, to iny after wonder and ad-
miration, there being nothing visibly tending to the fear
of it." But from the events just related, it is evident that
the sermon could not have been preached in IGOl, that it
must have been preached in the end of 1G02, or in the
course of 1603. Ussher was not ordained till December,
1601, at which time the battle of Kinsale took place. Sub-
sequent to this was the influx of Roman Catholics into the
churches, and the appointment of the preachers to the diffe-
rent parishes, so that even if the sermon had been caused
by the advice to which Lord Mountjoy alludes, as having
been given by him, it must have been preached late in the
year 1602, and as it was most probably not preached till
after the official declaration made in consequence of the
communications from England, we must fix the date of
March, 1602-3, or 1603, so that all prophetical accuracy
is removed from the sermon : it was a judicious conjecture,
or more probably a mere application of the remarkable
prophecy to Ireland, where the preacher fixed the com-
mencement of the period from the sin of Ireland, but did not
exactly limit it to forty years.

A circumstance to which military history affords few
parallels occurred about this time in Ireland. The Kng-
lish army, after having suppressed the rebellion of the
native Irish, and taken Kinsale from their allies the
Spaniards, determined to testify their respect for learning,
and subscribed the sum of £1800 for the use of the library
in Trinity College, Dublin. This sum was intrusted to
Dr. Chaloner and Mr. Ussher, who were sent to London,
for the purpose of |)urchasing books. The anecdote re-
lated by Bernard, that Ussher visited Christopher Good-
man, in Chester, on his death-bed, fixes the date of this
mission to the year 1603, for Goodman died on the 4th of
June, 16038.

s Dr. Bcrn.'ird mentions that Ussher, on his journey "visited Mr.
Christopher Goodman, wlio had been Professor of Divinity in Edward the
Sixth's days, then lying on his death bod at Chester, and that he would
be often repeating some grave wise speeches lie heard from him." The
biographer docs not mention the cause of Ussher visiting Goodman. It
most probably arose from some acquaintance formed by his father or

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOI' USSHER.

These two faithful and attached members of Dublin
College executed their task with great diligence and skill.
It is not a little remarkable that they met in London Sir
Thomas Bodloy, then engaged in a similar occupation for
the purpose of making his magnificent bequest to the Uni-
versity of Oxford, and these distinguished individuals be-
came known to each other, giving mutual assistance in
their difficult undertaking.

Soon after the return of Ussher from London he was
presented'' by Archbishop Loftus to the chancellorship of
St. Patrick's Cathedral. To this dignity the parish of
P'inglass belonged, and there he preached every Lord's day.
His biographers are not content with detailing his anxious
fulfilment of the duties imposed upon him, but always strive,
with unnecessary zeal, to find some extraordinary cause for
exalting his services. They state, in the present instance,

unule with Goodman, when he went over to Ireland as chaplain to Sir
Henry Sydney. Ussher certainly could not at any time of his life have
approved of Goodman's opinions. The truth is, says Wood, " Goodman
was a most violent nonconformist, and for rigidness in opinion he went
beyond his friend Calvin, who remembers and mentions him in his Epis-
tles, 1561." Goodman was known by a book against the government of
women, which he published in hatred to Queen Mary. The title was,
' ' llow superior Powers ought to be obeyed of their Subjects, and wherein
they may lawfully, by God's Law, be disobeyed and resisted, wherein is
declared the Cause of all this present Misery in England, and the only
way to remedy the same. Printed at Geneva by John Crispin, MDLVIII."
This book (as also the similar one by John Knox) was disapproved of by
Beza, Fo.\, and most of the Protestants at Geneva. In the reign of Eli-
zabeth Goodman promised " never to write, teach, nor preach any such
offensive doctrine,'' and in the year 1571 was compelled to sign a protes-
tation of his obedience to the Queen. The whole document is given by
Strype, Annals, vol. ii. p. I, pag. 141 ; yet he does not appear to have much
changed his sentiments, for Strype says, " I find him in Cheshire, anno
1584, a refuser of subscription to the Articles, and a dissuader of others
thereto. Of whom Archbishop Whitgift complained unto the Lord Trea-
surer, that it was Mr. Goodman, a man that for his perverseness was
sufficiently known."

^ The date of the presentation cannot be ascertained. Harris, in his
edition of Ware, gives the date of 1607, but this must bo a mistake, as
Archbishop Loftus died in April, 1605. The appointment must have
taken place between the end of lG03and the beginning of 1605. It is pro-
bable that he then resigned his fellowship. He certainly was not a Fellow
in 1606.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHEH.

that, as Chancellor, he was not under any obligation to
preach at Finglass ; but this must be a mistake, for as there
was not a vicar endowed, the cure of souls was in the dig-
nitary. That he fulfilled the duty imposed upon him with
exemplary fidelity and diligence is surely praise enough.
Fie indeed took care that his successors should be exone-
rated from this duty, and when he was about to resign the
chancellorship for the bishopric of Meath, he endowed a
vicarage with a glebe, and a portion of the tithes. The deed
bears date in 1621. This dignity was the only ecclesiastical
preferment which Ussher enjoyed, until his promotion to
the episcopal bench. " Here," says Dr. Parr, " he lived
single for some years, and kept hospitality proportionable
to his income, nor cared he for any overplus at the year's
end (for indeed he was never a hoarder of money) ; but for
books and learning he had a kind of laudable covetousness,
and never thought a good book, either manuscript or print,
too dear."

In the year 1606, Ussher again visited England for the
purpose of consulting books and manuscripts'. During this
visit he became acquainted with the two celebrated anti-
quarians, Camden and Sir Robert Cotton. Camden was,
at this time, preparing a new edition of his Britannia, and
he applied to Ussher for information about Nennius and St.
Patrick, and also with respect to the antiquities of Ireland,
particularly of Dublin. The answers to these inquiries
Camden inserted in his description of Dublin, and added
this flattering acknowledgment, " Hsec de Dublinio, quo-
rum plurima diligentite et doctrinse Jacobi Usheri, canccl-
larii ecclesise S. Patricii, qui annos varia doctrina et judicio
longe superat, me debere agnosco." The history and eccle-
siastical antiquities of Ireland had for a long time attracted
the attention of Ussher, andnowdivided his studies with his
laborious undertaking of reading through the works of the
Fathers. From this period it was his practice to visit Eng-

'He also purchased a considcrablu number of books for iiiraself and for
!iis college. A list of them, with the prices annexed to several, is still
extant in his handwriting, and preserved among the MSS. of Trinity
College, Dublin.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

land every third year, and spend one month at Oxford,
another at Cambridge, and the third in London, where the
collection of Sir Robert Cotton was the object of greatest
attraction.

In the year 1G07 Ussher took the degree of Bachelor of
Divinity. His biographers have not transmitted the subjects
of disputation on this occasion ; but Dr. Bernard states,
that when he performed the acts, he only committed to
paper the heads of the several subjects, and, as in his Eng-
lish sermons, trusted for the rest to " the strength of his
memory and his present expression." He expressed him-
self in Latin with great fluency, and, even at a late period
of his life, when, during his Primacy, he acted as moderator
of a disputationJ, at St. Patrick's, he excited the admi-
ration of his auditory by the fluency of his language,
though he could not have had any practice for more than
seventeen years.

Immediately after his taking this degree he was appointed
Professor of Divinity'' in the University of Dublin, and
continued to deliver lectures during the following fourteen
years, at first twice, afterwards once in every week. His
principal subject was an answer to the controversies of Bel-
larmine. Dr. Bernard says, he read three volumes of these
lectures, and that it would be an honour to the University
where they were read, to have them published. There is
only one volume now in existence, and it does not appear
that the other two were ever deposited in the Library of
Trinity College. The volume now in existence bears evi-
dence of having been commenced with an intention of pub-
lishing the lectures, but they are left unfinished in every
part ; 1 have, however, printed them in the fourteenth
volume of the Archbishop's works, as much anxiety was
expressed to have them made public. There is a great deal

.j Dr. Bernaril ;ias recorded, that in the speech which the Archbishop
delivered on that occasion, he took occasion to defend the use of hoods for
graduates, againr.t the charge of being Popish ornaments, and maintained
that tliey were used in tlie time of Basil and Gregory Nazianzenus.

■> The origin of the Divinity Professorship was a legacy from James
Cottrcl!. Esq., of £8 per annum for ever, towards the maintenance of a
Divinity lecturer.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOl' USSHER.

of information contained in them, imperfect as they arc,
and a remarkable display of logical acuteness in a contest
with the most learned and able disputant of the Komish
Church.

It appears from the letters that passed between him and
Dr. Ward^ that he was at this time laboriously employed in
arranging the Canons of the ancient Church. His disco-
very of the true arrangement was, however, anticipated,
as he states himself, " by a learned Parisian :" that learned
Parisian was Leschassier, who published an anonymous
tract, the title of which is, " Consultatio Parisii cujusdam de
con troversia inter Sanctitatem Pauli Quinti et serenissimam
rempublicam Venetam ad virum clarissimum Venetum."
They both arrived at the same conclusion, that the first
collection of Canons consisted only of those made at the first
general Council, and the five provincial Councils, the Canons
of Nice, Ancyra, Neocaesarea, Gangra, Antioch, and Lao-
dicea, to which were subsequently added those promulgated
in the general Councils which followed. Ussher, however,
states that he " resolved after the same manner, but upon
somewhat a more sure ground." I suppose he alludes to the
testimony of Dionysius Exiguus, which had been made use
of by him, and not noticed by Leschassier, for in all other
respects the arguments are similar ; they discovered that the
Canons quoted at Chalcedon as the ninety-fifth and ninety-
sixth were the same as the sixteenth and seventeenth Canons
of the council of Antioch, and by adding the number of Ca-
nons framed at Nice with the number of those of the five
provincial Synods, the numbers were found to agree. The
letters of Ussher and Ward on this subject are well deserving
of attention, and we must feel surprised at the forbearance of
these learned men, in not making public their laborious in-
vestigations on this intricate subject. It is probable that
Ussher reserved this, along with his history of the Decretal
Epistles, for the Bibliotheca Theologica, which he had al-
ready commenced. He notices the common mistake of
attributing the collection to Isidorus, and adds, " as in

' See vol. XV. pag. .37.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

my Bibliotheca Theologica, God willing, I shall fully de-
clare."

About the same time the attention of Ussher was turned
to a very different subject, by the constant disputes and
litigations to which it had given rise, and he composed a
work on the original and first institution of Corbes, Here-
naches, and Termon lands. This treatise was not published™
but sent over to Archbishop Bancroft, and presented by
him to King James. The substance of it was printed
by Sir Henry Spelman in his Glossary, and due ac-
knowledgments made to the author, whom he designates
as " Literarum insignis Pharus." In this learned treatise
Ussher maintains that the Termon lands were those set
aj)art for the endowments of churches, as by the Canons of
various Councils it was ordered that a bishop should not
consecrate a church until an instrument of such donation
were presented to him. The name he derives from the
Irish Ceapmain, signifying a sanctuary, and brings forward
as an example Termonfechin, the sanctuary of Fechin, with
little expectation, no doubt, that ere long those lands would
form his residence as Archbishop of Armagh. Of these
Termon lands the bishops were the chief lords. The He-
ronachs he supposes to have been archdeacons, not the
archdeacons who exercise jurisdiction under the bishop, but
those who, according to primitive practice, were of a rank
inferior to presbyters. The Corbes were of a still higher
rank, and were the rural deans, archpresbyters, or chorepis-
copi, from which latter name, by a barbarous contraction,
the word was derived, comorbanus, corbanus, corba". Both
Corbes and Herenachs were anciently married men, until ce-
libacy was enforced upon the clergy, and we find their sons
succeeding to their offices. The Herenachs held these lands

It was first published by General Vallancey in the ' ' Collectanea de
Rebus Hibernicis," from the MS. in the handwriting of Ussher preserved
in the library of Trinity College, and dated 1609. It will be found in
vol. xi. of the Archbishop's works, p. 419.

" Colgan derives it from comoibait, a successor, as frequent mention is
made in the Annals of Ireland, of the comorbans of St. Patrick, Albe,
Jarlath, Columb, Fechin, and others. — Trias. Thaum. p. 293.

LIFE OF ARCHIUSHOP USSHER.

from the bishop, dean, and chapter, and liad renewals upon
the first entry ot" every new Herenach, and upon the conse-
cration of every new bishop; the Herenach was bound to
reside upon and manure the land, out of the profits to pay
rent to the bishop, to keep hospitality, and to repair part of
the fabric of the church. A certain portion of free land re-
mained to the Herenach, which was termed ad honorem
villcB, and was not chargeable with any rent. The first
mention of a Corbe is in the Annals of Ulster, at the year
858, or 859 according to the ordinary computation. There
it is recorded, "that O' Carroll, King of Ossorye, assisted
with other kings, brought his army into the field against
the King of Taraughe : but Imfeathgna. Patrick's Corbe, and
Imsuairlecl) Finno his Corbe", interposing themselves,©' Car-
roll was persuaded to yield to St. Patrick and his Corbe."
Ussher has brought forward various passages from ancient
records, more particularly those of Armagh, in support of
his theory : however, he concludes his tract with great mo-
desty : " So would I have none to imagine, that I take upon
me peremptorily to determine any thing in this matter of
antiquity, as being not ignorant with what obscurities ques-
tions of that nature are involved, especially where help of
ancient monuments is wanting."

In 1609, Dr. Chaloner and Mr. Ussher went to London
for the purpose of purchasing books for the library of Tri-
nity CollegeP. During this visit he increased the number
of his acquaintance among the learned men then in England,
Sir John Bourchier, afterwards Earl of Bath, Dr. Dave-
nant, afterwards Bishop of Salisbury, Sir Henry Savile,
Mr. Selden, Mr. Briggs, Professor of Astronomy at Oxford,
and many othersi, with whom he kept up a correspondence

0 I am indebted to my friend, Dr. Todd, for a correction of the Arch-
bishop's quotation from the Annals of Ulster. lie mistook the preposition
im for part of the name. It should be Feathghna Corbe of Patrick, and
Suairlech Corbe of Finnian.

P In the College accounts for the September quarter of that year is the
following entry : " Laid out by Dr. Chaloner and Mr. Ussher, in London,
for books, globes, &c., £107 Os."

T Dr. Parr mentions Camden, Cotton, and Ward; but it appears that
ITssherhadbcen in correspondence with these individuals some yearsbefore.

LIFE OF AnCFlIilSIIOP USSHER.

(luring- the rcmaiiulor of Iiis life. His name was now so
well known in London, that some notice was taken of him
at Court, and he preached before the household. Dr. Smith
says: " Neque enim coram Ilegia Majestate, conscensis sa-
cris rostris, comparuit, sive defuit opportunitas sivc potius
a propria modestate inhibitus retractusque." On his return
to Ireland he induced the learned Thomas Lydiaf to ac-
company him, and he procured for him chambers in the
College, and an appointment of Reader, with a salary of
£3 6s. 8d. per quarter. The first entry in the account
book is to Mr. Lydiat, partly for reading, partly by way of
benevolence, £5, December 23, 1G09. It is not accurately
known how long he remained in Ireland. He certainly had
returned to London in August, 1611, for in the collection
of letters there is one from him to Ussher dated August
22, 16U.

' Thomas Lydiat is one of the instances selected by Dr. Johnson
to prove tho vanity of literary expectations :

Hear Lydiat's life and Galileo's end.

He was the son of Christopher Lydiat, lord of the manor of
Aulkryngton, or, as it is commonly called, Okerton [he calls it Aler-
ton, in a letter to Ussher : see Works, vol. xv. p. 39], near Banbury
in Oxfordshire, and citizen of London. He was elected on the found-
ation of Winchester College, and thence proceeded to New College,
Oxford, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1391. His desire to under-
take the duties of a clergyman was impeded by a defective memory
and an imperfection of utterance, as he states himself in the dedication
of a sermon to Bishop Bancroft of Oxford, and resigning his fellowship,
he entered on his small patrimonial property at Okerton. His first work
was published in 1605, " Tractatus de variis Annis." Of this he pub-
lished a defence in 1607, against the arrogant censures of Scaliger, who
used the most scurrilous and indecent language in speaking of him ; and
he again attacked the proud dictator of literature in his " Emendatio
Temporum ab Initio Mundihucusquo compendio facta contra Scaligerum
Pt alios." This was dedicated to Henry Prince of Wales, who made the
author his chronographer and cosmographer. Wood says, that all his
hopes of advancement were blighted by the death of the Prince, and that
then he accepted Ussher's offer, and went with him to Ireland. This
is a mistake, for Lydiat went to Ireland in 1G09, and returned to Eng-
land before the death of the Prince. The ultimate provision intended for
him in Ireland seems to have been the school of Armagh, then worth fifty
pounds per annum. On returning to England, ho found the living of
Okerton, which he had before declined, again vacant, and, with some re-

I. U K OF ARCHBISHOP USSHHR.

.•u

About the timo' that Lydiat left the Collogo, the pro-
vostsliip became vacant by the resignation of Alvey, and
was offered by the Fellows to Ussher, but he decliMcd

luctance, he accepted it. Ho is reported to have composed there 600
sermons, on the Harmony of the Gospels. Having become security for a
friend he was unable to pay the debt, his patrimony having been ex-
pended in the publication of books, and ho was thrown into the Bocardo
prison at Oxford. From this he was liberated by tho generosity of Sir
William Boswell, Archbishops Laud and Ussher, and some other friends.
Selden refused to contribute, in resentment for a supposed slight offered
him by Lydiat, who called him, in tho Marmora Aruudoliana, simply au
industrious writer. These misfortunes do not appear to have damped
his zeal for the advancement of learning, for no sooner had he been re-
leased from prison, than he presented a petition to Charles I. for his
patronage in an intended voyage to the East to collect manuscripts.
The Civil War put a stop to any hopes of success from such a petition,
and his loyalty exposed him to new troubles. He states, in a letter to Sir
William Compton, governor of Banbury Castle, that "he had been twice
pillaged by the Parliament forces of Compton House to the value of at
least £70, and was forced, for a quarter of a year, to borrow a shirt to
shift himself ; also that he had been twice carried away from his home,
and barbarously treated by the soldiers. The cause of which ill usage
was, that ho had denied them money, and defended his books and papers,
and, while a prisoner in Warwick Castle, had spoken much for the King
and bishops." He at length rested from his labours on the third of
April, 1646, in the 73th year of his age. After the Restoration, the
Warden and Fellows of New College placed a stone witli an inscription
over his grave in Okerton churchyard, and erected a monument to his
memory in their cloister.

In the Biographia Britannica, it is stated that, soon after his return,
he entered into the married state with a sister of Ussher, for which
fact the authority given is the alleged subscription of " your loving-
brother-in-law" to some letters. The letters, however, are only signed,
"your loving friend and brother," which latter appellation Ussher be-
stows upon others of his correspondents among the clergy. Mr. Briggs,
indeed, says, " I pray you salute from me your brother, Mr. Lydiat ;" but
this was in a letter dated August, IGIO, so that Lydiat must have been
married before ho had been a year in Ireland, if that be considered autho-
rity. I cannot find any proof that Lydiat was married to a sister of
Ussher, or indeed that he was married at all. The recorded incidents of
his life seem to prove he never was.

' Dr. Parr, and he is, of course, blindly followed by all the other
biographers, says, that Ussher was offered the provostship in 1610, when
in his thirtieth year. But the offer must have been made in 1609, for on
the 14th of November, 1609, the election of Temple was confirmed by the
Fellows, Masters of Arts, and Lecturers, and he entered upon his office
the 23rd of December, 1609.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP U9SHER.

the honour. It cannot be very clearly ascertained what was
his reason for refusing such a situation : Dr. Parr states,
that it arose " from his fear of its proving a hindrance to his
studies;" perhaps, also, he thought its duties would inter-
fere with his visits to England, which would be necessary
for the completion of the studies in which he was engaged;
and perhaps he shrunk from encountering the difficulties in
which the unsettled state of the College must involve its
new Provost, difficulties which could only be overcome
by greater promptness and decision, than ever appeared
in his character. Dr. Smith says that Ussher recom-
mended and procured the election of William Temple.
It is to be hoped he did not, for Temple does not seem
to have been at all fitted for his situation. Temple was
the third appointment made by the English government,
of persons whom they were anxious to get rid of, and un-
willing to promote in England. Temple had been secro*-
tary to the unfortunate Earl of Essex at the time of his
death, and fled into Ireland to escape the enmity of Cecil:
there he remained in retirement till he was appointed Pro-
vost: though the appointment was nominally in theFellows,
yet in no case was it ever made without the direction of the
government. Temple had strong puritanical tendencies,
and resisted the orders' of Archbishop Abbot to wear a sur-

' The letter of Archbishop Abbot, the Chancellor of the University,
to Archbishop Jones, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, gives a curious account
of Irish uniformity at that time, and I therefore give an extract from it.

Feb. 25, 1613.

" His Majesty hath been informed by some or other lately come

out of Ireland, of an abuse which his Highness doth exceedingly take at
heart, and that is, that at the cathedral churches in Dublin as also at
the College, the Prebendaries and dignitaries of the one, and the Provost
and fellows of the other do refuse to come into the quire or into the cha-
pel on Sundays and Holydays in their surplices and hoods fit for their
degrees. I cannot express to your Lordship how exceedingly his Majesty
is offended thereat, and therefore hath been pleased to command me to
write a peremptory direction with all speed and with all the authority
which his Highness can give me, that you call before you the dignitaries
and prebendaries of the cathedral churches who offend in this kind, as
also the Provost and such of the fellows as transgress, and that you let
them know that it is his Majesty's express commandment, that they con-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

plice in the College chapel on Sundays and Holydays. He
wrote a long and elaborate answer to prove how unreason-
able it was to call upon a layman to wear a surplice ; and
he states the curious fact, that Sir John Cheke, Provost
of King's College, Cambridge, Sir Thomas Smith, and
Sir Henry Savile, Provosts of Eton, were excused from
wearing surplices. Though the conscience of Temple was
so tender on the subject of wearing a surplice, it did not
prevent him from making improper leases of the College
lands for his own emolument, or violating the Statutes for
the purpose of getting two sons appointed Fellows : the dis-
putes between him and the Fellows and his mismanage-
ment became so notorious, that we shall find Ussher joining
in a plan to procure his resignation of the Provostship.

In 1612 Ussher took the degree of D. D. at a grand
Commencement*^ held in the Cathedral of St. Patrick, be-
cause there was no room sufficiently large in Trinity Col-
lege. The subjects of the two Latin treatises, which he
delivered as part of the exercises for the degree, were, The
seventy Weeks of Daniel, and, The Reign of the Saints with
Christ for a thousand years, Rev. xx.4, " explaining," says
Dr. Parr, " these texts so misapplied by the millenaries both
in elder and latter times." At this Commencement Dr. Dun
was Vice-Chancellor, and Dr. Hampton, Archbishop of Ar-
magh, acted as Moderator of the Divinity disputations.

form themselves to the laws and decent orders of the realm, or that they
leave their places to such as will observe them. For his Majesty sayeth,
that it is no reason to suffer those places which should be seminaries of
obedience, to be the ground plotte of disorder and disobedience ; neither
is there any reason to be severe against the Papists, if his Highness should
be remiss against the Puritans. I do therefore in his Majesty's name
require your Lordship to be resolute and peremptory in this business and
withall to send unto me the names of such as shew themselves refractory
in this kind ; that forthwith there may be order taken for the removing
of them, since it is an intolerable wrong unto our Church, that they who
live by it should distract themselves from the obedience thereof, and so
either be separatists, or else be a distinct Church in a Church, to the great
scandal and offence of such real papists as may be coming towards us,
if they might be assured upon what settled grounds to find us."

It would have been well for the Church if Archbishop Abbot had fol.
lowed his own directions.

" For a detailed account of this Commencement see Appendix No. //.

VOL. I. D

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

In 1013 Dr. Ussher went to London for the purpose of
publishing his first work, the title of which was, " Gravis-
simse Qusestionis de Christianarum Ecclesiarum in Occi-
dentis prsesertim partibus ab Apostolicis temporibus ad nos-
tram usque setatem, continua successione et statu, Historica
Explicatio." The work was dedicated to James I., and gra-
tified greatly that monarch, who considered himself pre-
eminently qualified to understand its apocalyptic discus-
sions. The great object of this work was to answer the
question of the Romanists, where was the religion of the
Protestants before Luther ? and to prove that Christ had
always a Visible Church of true Christians, who had not
been tainted with the errors and corruptions of the Church
of Rome. Ussher himself states in his preface, that his
work may be considered as a continuation of Bishop Jew-
ell's Apology for the Church of England; in which he had
proved that her doctrines were the same as those professed
by the Church in the first six centuries. The design of
Ussher was to bring down the argument to the Reforma-
tion. The first part extended to the accession of Gre-
gory VIL in the eleventh century. The second part was
to have extended to the year 1370, and the third part to
the year 1513. The third part never was published, nor
the last hundred years of the second part. Ussher, in a
letter to Lydiat, says : " you have rightly observed that
in my discourse, De Christianarum Ecclesiarum successione
et statu, there is wanting for the accomplishment of the
second part an hundred years' story : which defect in the
continuation of the work is by me supplied. I purpose to
publish the whole work much augmented : but I do first
expect the publication of my uncle Stanihurst's answer to
the former, ivhich I hear since his death is sent to Paris to
be there printed. I am advertised also that even now there
is come out at Antwerp a treatise of my countryman Chris-
topher de Sacro Bosco, De verse Ecclesise investigatione,
wherein he hath some dealing with me. Both these I would
willingly see, before I set out my book anew : that if they
have justly found fault with any thing, I may amend it ; if
unjustly, I may defend it." Stanihurst had published at

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP LSSHER,

Douay a letter to his nephew with this title, " Richardi Sta-
nihursti Hibenii Dubliniensis brevis prsemonitio pro futura
concertatione cum Jacobo Usserio Hiberno Dubliniensi :
Qui in sua historica explicatione conatur probare Romanum
pontificem (legitimum in terris Christi Vicarium) verum et
germanum esse Antichristum." There is very little argu-
ment in the book. He calls his nephew " Historiarum hel-
luonem," and admits him " plurimorum scriptorum setates
et tempora haudquaquam sane indiligenter fuisse persecu-
tum." The letter consists of thirty-eight pages, and one-half
only is devoted to a refutation of the argument, if indeed any
part can be so called, for the principal subject is an invec-
tive upon the character and writings of Luther. The last
half of the letter is employed in enumerating some of the
cruelties said to be inflicted on Irishmen for their profession
of the Roman Catholic religion, principally detailing the
death of the two Romish bishops', Richard Creaghe titu-
lar Archbishop of Armagh, and Dermot Hurley of Cashel.

He avails himself of an unfortunate expression in the
dedication to King James, as an excuse for leaving his sub-
ject and wandering into abusive declamation. Ussher says
in the dedication, " Unum adhuc superest, quod votis om-
nibus a Majestate tua expetunt omnes boni, ut populo nos-
tro pereunti propere succurrere et peste Pontificia misere
laboranti facere velis medicinam." This Stanihurst inter-
prets as an exhortation to the King to have recourse to the
infliction of punishment, in order to crush the Roman Ca-

y The death of these two martyrs put forward by Stanihurst, and em-
bellished by the author of the Analecta, has formed a fruitful source of
declamation for Roman Catholic writers from that period to the time of
Dr. Milner. That Bishop Hurley was guilty of treason, and was hanged
for that crime, and not for his religion, can admit of no doubt. That he
■was tortured prev ious to his execution, in direct violation of the law,
must require stronger evidence than the testimony of two witnesses who
contradict each other, as to the mode in which the torture was inflicted,
in such a manner as would invalidate their testimony in any court of jus-
tice. The account of the poisoning Bishop Creaghe, and of the mode of
its discovery, was too ridiculous for Stanihurst to insert, and it seems ex-
traordinary that any writer could venture to publish such a monstrous
absurdity. I must refer the curious reader to the Analecta, as it would
be impossible to give the detail here.

I) 2 *

LIFE OF AllCHBISHOP USSHER.

tliolic religion in Ireland. He says, " Quod si regia Majes-
tas te consiliario, in hac ancipiti deliberatione, uteretur,
quid quseso remedii postmaturam disquisitionem proponen-
dum suaderes ? Anne bonorum direptionibus Catholicos
castigandos ? At hoc esset actum agere. Nec enim ob-
scurura est non paucos melioris notse Hibernos, priusquam
Rex Jacobus ad patrise nostrse gubernacula sederet, gravem
rei familiaris jacturam fecisse, quod vestris orgiis interesse,
atque in mulierarium (quem obstupescent posteri) in rebus
ecclesiasticis principatum jurare renuerint. Forte in car-
ceres condi censebis. Atque istis miseriis callum jamdu-
dum obduxerunt. Si gravioras exigas, quam quae ante actis
annis latee fuerunt, eo sententise tuse summa collineare vi-
detur, ut Catholicos Hibernos, quos Calvinianus magis-
tratus jam olim cecidit flagellis, noster Rex Jacobus cedat
te suasore, scorpionibus." This idle declamation was not
the mode of answering the arguments of his nephew, whom
he addresses as " Jacobe nepos."

The work of Ussher is a prodigious mass of quotations
from different writers, the author professing that he never
used his own words, when he could find those of another.
He makes the binding of Satan in the Apocalypse com-
mence with the rise of the Gospel, which may be dated
either from the incarnation or passion of Christ, or from
the termination of the Jewish polity by the destruction
of Jerusalem. The coming of Antichrist he places at the
end of the first six centuries, and the loosing of Satan at
the end of ten centuries. The 1000 years from the incar-
nation go down to the pontificate of Sylvester II., from the
passion to that of Benedict IX., and from the destruction of
Jerusalem to that of Gregory VII., the celebrated Hilde-
brand. He next proceeds to describe the state of the Church
under the tyranny of Antichrist, more particularly in the
reiofn of Innocent III., and concludes the work with a de-
fence of the Albigenses and Waldenses, and an account of
the various misstatements made by the different Roman Ca-
tholic writers confounding them with heretics of the worst
description. Ur. Smith states that the publisher of the edi-
tion of 1678 was guilty of fraud in putting on the title-page

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

" Opciis integri ab aiitore aucti et recogniti," as no addi-
tions had been made to the first edition. Now in this
statement Dr. Smith is undoubtedly mistaken. No person
could look at the edition of 1678 without perceiving that
very considerable additions had been made to the original
work. I cannot discover how the editor got those ad-
ditions; it must have been from some copy of the old edi-
tion prepared for publication by the author himself. In the
library of Trinity College is an imperfect interleaved copy
of the first edition of the work, with several additions writ-
ten in Ussher's handwriting ; these are all accurately printed
in the edition of 1678, but with considerable additions,
which 1 have inserted in the edition of the Archbishop's
■works, as their agreement with those, of whose authenti-
city there could be no doubt, was strong evidence in their
favor, and on verifying the quotations 1 found them correct.

While Ussher remained in London he appears to have
had frequent conferences with Archbishop Abbot, in which
a principal subject of discussion was the plan for giving a
new charter and statutes to Trinity College, Dublin. By
the first charter the Provost and Fellows had the power of
making statutes for themselves. In a letter written to Dr.
Chaloner, which most probably never reached him, as it is
dated only a few days before his death, Ussher states to
him the various objections of the Archbishop, and among
them two, which could not be expected from such a quar-
ter : " He^'' observed that there was no order taken that
the Scholars should come into the chappel clericaliter ves-
titi, and took great exception against the statute for the
ordering of commonplacing which he affirmed to be flat
puritanical." The Archbishop also complained of what has
been ever the great injury to Trinity College, the small
number of Fellows, " counting it a great inconvenience
that the Fellows resident should be so taken up with lec-
tures that they can have no time for themselves to grow up
in further learning." Up to the present day there has never
been a greater number of Fellows than of tutors, and to

" See Works, vol. xv. p. 72. This, no doubt, produced the letter to
the Chancellor of Ireland, from which an extract was given, pag. 32, note.

LIFE OF AKCHBISHOP USSHER.

any one acquainted with tlie embarrassing routine of lec-
tures during every term, it is only wonderful that there ever
has been found a Fellow, who was able to distinguish himself
in the paths of science or of literature. The proceedings as to
any change in the College were suspended by a refusal on the
part of the Provost and Fellows to surrender their charter,
a refusal the wisdom of which appeared very clearly from the
earnestness with which the measure was pressed upon them.

While Ussher was absent in London, his uncle Henry
Archbishop of Armagh died on the 2nd of April, and on
the 27th of the same month died also Dr. Chaloner. It is
probable that these events hastened the return of Ussher,
for we find him soon after in Dublin. Dr. Chaloner left
but one daughter, to whom he bequeathed a very conside-
rable fortune, enjoining her not to marry any person but
Dr. Ussher, if he should propose himself. Dr. Ussher did
offer himself, and he and Phoebe Chaloner were married about
the beginning of the year 1614. A relationship had existed
between them, for Dr. Chaloner married Rose the daughter
of Elinor Ussher, the wife of Walter Ball, Mayor of Dublin.
Dr. Ussher had but one child, a daughter, Elizabeth, who
was married to Sir Timothy Tyrrell of Shotover House^
near Oxford, to whom Dr. Barlow dedicated his edition
of the Chronology, and whose son James Tyrrell dedi-
cated the work on the Prince to Charles II., and was him-
self a learned and industrious writer.

In the year 1615 a Convocation of the Irish clergy, formed
after the model of the English convocation, assembled in
Dublin. This seems to have been the first convocation
ever held in Ireland. Dr. Parr and Dr. Smith indeed
assert the contrary ; Dr. Parr says, " There was now a

" Shotover House is not now in the possession of the family of Tyr-
rell : the last of the family who possessed it was the great-grandson of
Dr. Ussher, Lieutenant-General James Tyrrell, who died in 1742, and left
his estate from the Tyrrell family to his kinsman Augustus Schutz, Esq.
In the Library was preserved the volume of letters from which Dr. Parr
cut out those he published. The volume, with a few remaining letters, has
been presented to the Library of Trinity College by the present possessor,
George V. Drury, Esq. Some of these will be found in the sixteenth
volume of the Archbishop's works.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Parliament at Dublin and so a Convocation of the Clergy:"
and Dr. Smith, " ordinibus regni Hibernise in Parlia-
mento Dublinii a. mdcxv. habito coactis, pro more in-
dicta erat nationalis Archiepiscoporum episcoporum reli-
quique cleri Hibernife synodus :" but various circumstances
throw a doubt upon their evidence. The first cause of
doubt is to be found in the Convocation itself. The Par-
liament and Convocation certainly did not meet at the same
time, as stated by Dr. Parr. The Parliament met on the
18th of May, 1G13, and the Convocation did not assemble
till the end of 16 14, and most probably not till IG 15. Then
the proceedings of the Convocation argue novelty and im-
perfection : the clergy do not appear to have granted any
subsidies, or even to have claimed the right of taxing them-
selves. There is no Act of the Irish Parliament to confirm
the grant of a subsidy by the clergy, yet there is in exis-
tence the transmiss of an act for confirming the subsidies
granted by Convocation. The existence of the transmiss
proves the wish of the English Government to have all
things done regularly after the model of the Convocation in
Eno land, and its not beinof made use of establishes the fact
that the Irish Convocation did not understand the proper mode
of proceeding. The only business that is recorded to have
been transacted, the formation of the Articles, was not con-
cluded in proper form. They were not signed as in England
by all the members, but by Archbishop Jones, Speaker^' of
the House of Bishops in Convocation, and the Prolocutor
of the House of the Clergy in their names. But while the
imperfections of the Convocation of 1615 only afford an in-
direct argument for its nonexistence at an earlier period,
we can obtain more complete proof by examining the pro-
ceedings of former reigns. In the reign of Henry VIII.
we cannot find any reference of ecclesiastical matters to

> This fact Dr. Ryvos adduces as proof that Archbishop Hampton had
relinquished his claim to precedence of the Archbishop of Dublin, Ticg-
Angl. Duf. part. 3. pag. 44. but he is mistaken. Archblsliop Jones took
precedence as Lord Chancellor, and does not appear ever to have disputed
the procedonce of the Arehbisliop of Armagh. Primate Hampton after-
wards resisted Archbishop Bidkeley when claiminn; it. See pag. IGO.
The Chancellor took precedence of the Primate till the year 16.34.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the Convocation, nor can we find any claims of exemption
on the part of the clergj'. They were taxed in common
with his Majesty's other subjects. In the same reign
there is a passage in an Act of Parliament which seems
to prove that no Convocation existed in Ireland. The
preamble of the 28 Henry VIII. cap. 12, states: "At
every Parliament begun and holden within this land, two
Proctors of every diocese within the same land have been
used and accustomed to be summoned and warned to be
at the same Parliament, which were never by order of
law, usage, custom, or otherwise, any member or parcel of
the whole body of the Parliament, nor have had any right,
any voice or suffrage in the same, but only be there as coun-
sellors and assistants to the same ; and upon such things of
learning, as should happen in controversy, to declare their
opinions much like as the Convocation within the realm of
England is commonly at every Parliament begun and hol-
den by the King's Highness special license." Now this
reference to the Convocation of England appears to be de-
cisive proof that there was no such body existing in Ire-
land at that time ; for if there had, the comparison would
undoubtedly have been made with their own Convocation.
The Act was caused by an attempt of the Proctors to be mem-
bers of Parliament, an attempt which it attributes " to their
ambitious minds and presumption, inordinately desiring to
have authority and to intermeddle with every cause or
matter without any just ground." This attempt seems
very similar to the demand made by the English Convoca-
tion of 1547, yet there is no appearance of any such body
as that which acted in England ; nor is there any reference
made in the Act to the Prcemunientes clause, it simply speaks
of two Proctors out of every diocese.

In the year 1551 Edward VI. sent an order that the Li-
turgy of the Church of England should be read in Ireland.
Upon this order Sir Anthony St. Leger is not reported to
have summoned a Convocation, but says Cox, " Before he
issued a proclamation for the observance of it, he called an
assembly of the Archbishops and Bishops with others of
the then clergy of Ireland to propose the matter to them."

LIFE or AUCH13ISH01' USSHER.

In the second year of Elizabeth a Parliament was assem-
bled and no mention is made of a Convocation, though Acts
with respect to the Church were passed. And in the third
year of Elizabeth there was not any Parliament, yet she
signifies her pleasure to Lord Sussex the Lord Lieutenant
for a general meeting of the clergy and the establishment
of the Protestant religion. This of course was an order
to summon not a Convocation, but the ancient Synod of
the clergy, which had the power of settling all matters con-
cerning religion. It would appear then that the dissimila-
rity of the proceedings in England and Ireland with respect
to the Reformation arose from the different constitutions of
the two Churches. In England the Convocation, originally
instituted for the purpose of managing the temporal con-
cerns of the clergy, had gradually usurped the powers of the
Provincial Synod and become the instrument of framing-
Articles and Canons for the Church. In Ireland the Pro-
vincial Synod had not been superseded, and by their con-
sent given at three different times, in the reign of Edward
when summoned by Sir Anthony St. Leger, in the third
of Elizabeth called together by Lord Sussex, and in the
year 1665 by Sir Henry Sydney, the Clergy received the
use of the English Liturgy and expressed their conformity
to the doctrines of the English Church. There is indeed
a passage in the manuscript collections of Dudley Loftus
which has been adduced as proof of a Convocation having
been held in 15G0 : " This yeare was held a Convocation
of Bishops at the Queen's command for establishing the
Protestant religion." But he must have used the word Con-
vocation merely to express a meeting of the Bishops, and
would have adopted a very different phraseology had he
intended to describe the assembling of the Convocation.

Ware in his Annals of Ireland takes for granted that the
clergy met according to the orders given to the Lord De-
puty, and does not think it necessary to mention the fact.
But he prefaces the account of the consecration of Alexan-
der Craike to the bishopric of Kildare by saying, "soon
after the assembly of the Irish clergy had dispersed them-
selves." The reformation then in Ireland was carried on
by the regular assembly to which the affairs of the Church

LIFE Ol" ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

oiiglit. canonically to be intrusted, and the Englisli Liturgy
was accepted by a Synod of the clergy hchi in 1560.

In the year 1566 a book of Articles was put forth by the
authority of the Lord Deputy, the Archbishops and Bishops,
and other her Majesty's High Commissioners^ for Causes
Ecclesiastical in the same realm'', which were to be publicly
read b)'' the clergy " at their possession-taking, and twice
every year afterwards." It would appear that the English
Articles were not in force at this time in Ireland, because
this book of Articles is copied from a similar production
issued in England'' before the publication of the Thirty-
nine Articles, and designed, no doubt, to supply the want
of an authorized formulary. Its publication in Ireland would
therefore seem to warrant the supposition of a similar want
there. It has indeed been argued from L^ssher's sermon be-
fore the House of Commons that subscription'' to the English

* These Commissioners were appointed by Elizabeth in the year 1563,
and are not taken notice of in any history of Ireland with which I am ac-
quainted. Lcland indeed, and he is followed by Bishop JIant, states
that a High Commission Court was established in Dublin in 1593. Pos-
sibly this is an error of the press, and that he wrote 15G3, alluding to
these Commissioners. The commission is dated the sixth of October in
the sixth year of her reign, and is addressed to Adam Archbishop of
Armagh, Hugh Archbishop of Dublin, Thomas Earl of Ormonde, Gerald
Earl of Desmond, Gerald Earl of Kildare, Hugh Bishop of Jleath, Robert
Bishop of Kildare, Thomas Bishop of Leighlin, Sir Henry Radcliffe,
Knight; Sir AVilliam Fitzwilliam, Knight; Sir Robert Cusack, Knight;
John Phmkett, Robert Dillon, James Bathe, Francis Agarde, Robert
Cusacke, the Maiours of * * * * * for the time being, Terence the
Dean of Armagh, John Garvy and Henry Draycott. The Commission
is very long, and extends over a large range of business including heresy
and other subjects of spiritual jurisdiction.

•> Of this publication the contemporary historians give no account, and
it was utterly imknown till ray learned friend Archdeacon Cotton disco-
vered a copy of it in a collection of pamphlets in the library of Trinity
College, Dublin. As it is believed there is not another copy in existence,
I have given the Articles in the Appendix printed exactly from the ori-
ginal edition. See App. III. pag. 21.

Wilkin states that these Articles were put forth before the consecra-
tion of Archbishop Parker, but Burnet places their publication after the
consecration, while the Bishops were waiting for a Convocation, in which
a new body of Articles were to be composed. The title of the Articles
supports Burnet's opinion, for it states "set out by order of both Arch-
bishops Metropolitans and the rest of the Bishops."

A circumstance mentioned incidentally by Wood would seem to prove

LIFE Ol' ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Articles was required in Ireland. Ussher certainly says, " we
all agree that the Scriptures of God are the perfect rule of
our faith, we all consent in the main grounds of religion
drawn from thence : we all subscribe to the articles of doc-
trine agreed upon in the Synod of the year 1562 for the
avoiding of diversities of opinions and the establishing of
consent concerning true religion :" but it does not appear
to me that these words are decisive, he might have used
them in a general sense as merely expressive of assent,
and indeed must have done so, for many of the persons he
addressed had never subscribed the Articles. But whether
the Thirty-nine Articles of the English Church were in
force or not, every dictate of prudence would have suggested
the propriety of assimilating the two Churches, and we must
seek for the cause of forming a new code in the circum-
stances to which I have before alluded. The spirit which
had endeavoured but unsuccessfully to force the Lambeth
Articles on the English Church, had acquired fresh strength
in Ireland from the unjustifiable conduct of the Government
in their selection of persons for the high offices of the
Church, and was now enabled to carry through the Convo-
cation, and obtain the assent of the Lord Deputy for a sys-
tem more exclusive and more dogmatical than that which
had been attempted by Whittaker and his associates. On
the meeting of the Convocation Randolph Barlow% B.D.,
Chaplain to the Lord Deputy Chichester, was elected Pro-
locutor of the Lower House. Jones Archbishop of Dublin
and Chancellor of Ireland presided in the Upper House.
It is said that Dr. Ussher was appointed to draw up the
Articles, but whether or not such a formal appointment

subscription was not required. He says, "John Ball (about the year
1G08) made shift to be ordained a minister in London, without subscrip-
tion, by an Irish bishop." — Wood, Athen. Oxon. vol. ii. p. G71.

Barlow was in 1G29 consecrated Archbishop of Tuam. It appears
that he was indebted for his promotion to the recommendations of the Lord
Deputy Falkland and of Ussher then Archbishop of Armagh. On ac-
count of the poverty of the See from the lands and other possessions being
withheld, he was permitted to hold in commendam the deanery of Christ
Church and the Archdeaconry ofMeatb. Archbishop Barlow died at
Tuam on the I6th of February, 1638, in the 6Cth year of his age.

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHER.

were made, he must have had the principal share in their
formation from his high character and from the situation he
held as Professor of Divinity in the University. There is
not any thing contained in the Articles, which is not in
strict conformity with the opinions he entertained at that
period of his life. The Articles were 104 in number, drawn
up under nineteen heads*^; of these some are of a character
unsuited to articles of faith, and approach that of a homily,
such are the tenth and twelfth, of the service of God, and
of our duty towards our neighbour. Others with rigid pre-
cision determine questions which had hitherto never been
introduced into articles of faith : thus there is a particular
explanation of what in Scripture is only revealed in general
terms concerning the generation of the Son, which in con-
formity with the notions of Calvin the Article pronounces
to be from the person, not the essence of the Father, Thus
the Pope is pronounced to be Antichrist, Thus also deci-
sions are given about the primeval state, and the fall of the
angels, and the state of the souls of men after deaths. But

'Bishop Mant in his History of the Church of Ireland remarks, that in
a notice prefixed it was stated that they comprehended the Kine Articles
agreed on at Lambeth, but that they omitted to state that these Articles
were suppressed by Queen Elizabeth. I must beg to say that the Bishop
has been deceived by referring either to an edition of the Articles pub-
lished in London in 1629 or to the copy of them printed at the end of
NeaVs History of the Puritans. In those editions there is the notice men-
tioned by the Bishop, and also the index in the margin pointing out the
particular words in the Lambeth Articles, but in the original edition pub-
lished in Dublin in 1615 there is no allusion whatever to the Lambeth
Articles, no notice prefixed, no index in the margin. In order to obviate
any mistakes of the kind I have printed in the Appendix the Articles
taken verbatim from the original edition, a copy of which is in the library
of Trinity College See App. IV. p. xxxi.

f Dr. Heylin objects to the Articles that they support the Sabbatarian
doctrine of a Judaical rest on the Lord's day, but this objection cannot
be maintained. The passage in the Article is as follows : " The first day
of the week, which is the Lord's day, is wholly to be dedicated to the ser-
vice of God, and therefore we are bound therein to rest from our common
and daily business, and to bestow that leisure upon holy exercises both
public and private." It may be doubted whether this passage ought to
form part of an article of faith, but the doctrine put forward is unex-
ceptionable. Ileylin also states that the Irish Articles contain Calvin's
doctrine of Christ's descent into Hell, There does not appear any such

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the most important ground of objection to the Irish Arti-
cles is the introduction of tlie Lambeth Articles, which had
been so recently rejected by the Church of England. By
this unfortunate proceeding a serious impediment was in-
terposed to prevent any agreement between the Churches
of England and Ireland. It is impossible but Ussher and
those who acted with him must have been aware of this
evil, and great must they have thought the necessity of in-
troducing the Lambeth Articles, when they chose such an
alternative : they must have considered that the English
Articles expressed imperfectly, if at all, their views of Chris-
tian doctrine. It has indeed been confidently put forward
by the advocates of Calvinistic opinions in the English
Church, that the Thirty-nine Articles are exclusively Cal-
vinistic, and that they cannot admit an interpretation at
variance with those particular views. In vain has the his-
tory of the introduction of the Articles claimed as exclu-
sively favorable, in vain have the known opinions of the
framers been brought forward'' to oppose such an assertion,
yet still arguments and facts are alike disregarded, and
still the assertion is confidently repeated. Another line of
argument is suggested by the conduct of the predestinarian
party. They never had, nor ever thought they had, the

agreement. Calvin says, " Nihil actum erat si corporea tantum morte
defunetus fuisset Christus, sed operae simul pretium erat, ut divinse ultio-
nis severitatem sentire : quo et irpe ipsius intercederet, et satisfaceret
justo judicio. Unde etiam eum oportuit cum inferorum copiis a;ternseque
mortis honore, quasi consertis manibus luctari." — Inst. lib. 2, cap. 16.
Calvin asserted that the pains Christ endured in his soul before his death
were so great, that in them he suffered the pains of the damned ; in this
way making the grievous tortures of his soul equivalent or the same as
the descent into Hell, thus displacing the words of the Creed, and making
that which the Creed supposes to have taken place after his death, to
precede that event. An objection which he treated with contempt : " Ni-
mis frivola adeoque ridicula est eorum exceptio, qui dicunt hoc modo per-
verti ordinem: quia absurdum est sepulturse subjici quod praecedit." Now
the Irish Articles strictly adhere to the order, " He endured most grie-
vous torments immediately in his soul and most painful sufferings in his
body. He was buried and descended into Hell and the third day arose
from the dead."

See more particularly the late Archbishop Laurence's Bampton Lec-
tures, a model of theological reasoning.

LIFE OF AllCHBISHOP USSHER.

power of making a change in the Articles without exerting
it, of which the Lambeth Articles, the alterations proposed
by the Assembly of Divines and the Irish Articles are de-
cisive proofs. Their opponents never proposed any such
measure ; satisfied with the guarded forms of expression
in these Articles, they shrunk from incurring the danger
of unsettling the established profession of faith. And it
cannot be said they had not the power — to omit other pe-
riods, at the Convocation of 1661 they would not have had
any difficulty in raising a hostile cry against them, and
excluding every thing which could favor the opinions of
their bitterest enemies, who had trampled under foot the
Church of their Fathers, and had persecuted the individual
members of it with the most relentless severity.

Dr. Parr has endeavoured to defend Dr. Ussher from the
charge of having proposed any thing different from the Ar-
ticles of the Church of England, on the ground that in
such a case James would not have given his Deputy autho-
rity to sign them. But an argument founded upon James'
consistency* cannot be considered as deserving of much at-
tention. The facts are still open, and it is as easy to form an
opinion upon the subject now, as when the Lord Deputy
gave his approbation. Dr. Heylin may have gone too far
in saying what has given so much offence, " that the pas-
sing the Irish Articles was an absolute plot of the Calvi-
nians and Sabbatarians in England to make themselves so
strong a party in Ireland as to obtain what they pleased in
this Convocation :" but certainly they were framed with a
strong desire to conciliate the Non-conformists^ and an utter

' Mosheim says very truly of this extraordinary character : " Puritanae
et disciplinae et doctrin.Te, quam juvenis totam imbiberat, capitalis hostis ;
Arminianorum, quorum condemnationem valde promoverat, fautor et
patronus certissimus ; episcopalis denique gubernationis vindex acer-
rimus." — Instit. Hist. Eccles. p. 856.

jDr. Reid in his History of the Presbyterians has asserted this strongly,
but he has carried his proofs far beyond what he is justified in doing.
He asserts that the validity of ordination by presbyters is clearly implied.
I cannot find any words which can be so interpreted. Again he says,
the doctrine of absolution is condemned and the forgiveness of sins taught
to be only declaratory. Though this has also been stated by Dr. Heylin

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

cUsregartl of the proceedings in England, which must have
been fresh in the recollection of the compilers. The effect of
them upon Ireland was most injurious to the progress of true
religion. " Several'' of them gave great offence to the Ro-
man Catholics and hindered their conversion ; and others of
them gave as much encouragement to the Puritans brought
out of Scotland into Ulster; and both made their advan-
tage of them to the prejudice of the Church of Ireland."'

It is a matter of no small difficulty to account for the
consent of James to these Articles. The Article on the ob-
servance of the Lord's day must at that time have been con-
sidered at direct variance with the Book of Sports, and this
opposition might justly be considered as sufficient to rouse
his notions of prerogative into open hostility against sucli
doctrines. Wood probably gives a solution for many of the
anomalies connected with these Articles : he says that Dr.
James Montague, Dean of the Royal Chapel and succes-

I cannot find authority for it. The conilemnation seems to be confined
to the Popish doctrine of absolution, and the words of the prayer in the
Morning and Evening Service are copied exactly. Again he says, Lent is
disclaimed as a religious fast, I cannot find the word in the Articles.
Still further he maintains, that no authority is claimed for enforcing ec-
clesiastical canons or decreeing rites and ceremonies. This is certainly
a very bold assertion, for the seventy-seventh Article gives the power as
fully as it is claimed by the English Church. He is correct in stating that no
allusion is made to the mode of consecrating the higher orders of the mi-
nistry, but he should have added that the ordination of presbyters and dea-
cons was equally omitted, and while the Liturgy remained in force neither
was necessary. It is certainly true that the Pope is unhesitatingly called
Antichrist, an assertion carefully kept out of the English Articles though
firmly believed by many, if not all, the compilers, because they thought it
might lead to divisions upon a point, which was not of vital importance.
Many a true member of the Church of England and determined opponent
of the See of Rome does not believe, that the Pope is Antichrist. Amid
this applause of the ultra-Protestant party it is curious to find an emi-
nent Roman Catholic writer maintaining that Ussher in these Articles
supported the doctrine of the real presence, yet such is the statement of
Dr.O'Conor. Hib. MS. Stow, vol.ii. p. 57. A real presence inDr.O'Conor's
sense of the word is certainly not maintained in the Article, which most
clearly states : " Being no otherwise present with the visible elements
than things signified and sealed arc present with the signs and seals, that
is to say, symbolically and relatively."
Carte's Life of Ormond, vol. i. p. 7^^.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

sively Bishop of Bath and Wells, and of Winchester, "being'
a great stickler in the quarrels at Cambridge, and a great
master in the art of insinuation, had cunningly fashioned
King James unto certain Calvinian opinions, to which the
King's education in the Kirk of Scotland had before in-
clined him. So that it was no very hard matter for him
(having an Archbishop also of his own persuasion) to make
use of the King's authority for recommending the Nine Ar-
ticles to the Church of Ireland, which he found would not
be admitted in the Church of England." Another power-
ful assistant to Archbishop Abbot and Bishop Montague
was no doubt to be found in the Lord Deputy Chichester,
who had been a pupil of the notorious Puritan Cartwright.
It might also have been part of the crooked policy™, for
which James was remarkable. Aware that the greater part
of the Irish people were addicted to Popery, he might have
been anxious to drive them into the other extreme as a
means of their discovering the errors of their ways and
choosing the true doctrine which lay between the opposite
errors. Another reason may be found in the state of the
North of Ireland. There was no part of his policy towards
Ireland upon which James prided himself more than upon
the settlement of Ulster. This was carried on most vigo-
rously by settlers from Scotland, who poured into the coun-
try tempted by the superior richness of the soil. Upon
these adventurers James relied principally for the mainte-
nance of his power against the Roman Catholic natives,
and they were so considerable in number as to extort al-
most any concession they thought fit to demand. It re-
quires not much inquiry to ascertain what their views
were : " They" brought with them hither such a stock of
Puritanism, such a contempt of bishops, such a neglect of
the public Liturgy and other divine offices of the Church,
that- there was nothing less to be found among them than

' Wood's Athenae, vol. ii. pag. 854.

» His policy will not however appear in this instance to have been at all
different from that which he pursued almost immediately after in sending
deputies to the Synod of Dort.

" Heylin, Hist, of Presbyterians, p. 393.

LIFE OF AHCHUISHOP USSMKR.

the government and forms of worship established in the
Church of England."

To the question as to the authority of the Articles Dr. Ber-
nard answers : " Now" whereas some have doubted whether
they were fully established as the Articles of Ireland, I can
testify that I have heard him say, that in the forenamed
year 1615 he saw them signed by Archbishop Jones then
Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Speaker of the House of
the Bishops in Convocation, signed by the Prolocutor of
the House of the Clergy in their names, and also signed
by the then Lord Deputy Chichester by order from King
James in his name." But this evidence will not prove that
the Articles were fully sanctioned, for it does not appear
that they ever were submitted to Parliament. Without that
sanction they could not be legally enforced. Queen Eliza-
beth was greatly blamed for stopping in the House of Lords
the bill, which had passed the Commons, for enforcing the
Thirty-nine Articles, as if it were an invasion of her prero-
gative, and she did not submit till the year 1571, yet the
same persons who censured her conduct will maintain the
complete establishment of the Irish Articles, and that it re-
quired an Act of Parliament to alter or remove them.

In the year 1614 Ussher was chosen Vice-Chancellor of
the University of Dublin. The entry in the Registry is
as follows: "Mar. 2, 1614, Doctor Ussher was chosen Vice-
Chancellor by the Provost and Fellows, and the next d;iy
he was confirmed and approved touching this choice by the
whole Senate of the University. July 3, 1817. Dr. Ussher
was again chosen Vice-Chancellor by the Provost and Fel-
lows"."

From a letter of Dr. Ward it appears that Ussher was

" Bernard's Life of Ussher, p. 50.

" There is a curious entry with respect to him in 1616.

"May 13, 1616. Mr. Dr. Ussher was chosen to supply the place of
Vice-Provost during the Provost's absence.

" It was agreed that Mr. Dr. Ussher should have the fee of his Profes-
sorship of Theological Controversies under the College Seal."

It does not appear whence the necessity of tliis new appointment under
the College Seal, nor how he could be elected Vicc-Provost when not a
Fellow.

VOL. I.

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHEH.

in London in April, 1G15, but except the expression of re-
gret in the letter at not meeting him, there are no other
traces of his visit. Sir Oliver St. John soon after his ap-
pointment as Lord Deputy, was entertained at Trinity Col-
lege with a public disputation. It is stated in the College
Registry: "July 23, 1617. Lord Deputy, Lord Chancel-
lor, and Earl of Arundel were entertained at the College
with a theological lecture and disputation. The performance
of the former was by Dr. Ussher, of the latter by Mr. Mar-
tin respondent, Mr. Egerton and Mr. Donnellan opponents.
The questions were, " Spiritus Sanctus in Scriptura lo-
quens est solus infallibilis judex controversarium," and
" Jejunium pontificium neque Scripturse neque rationi est
consentaneum."

In the Autumn of the year 1619 Dr. Ussher determined
to visit England again. But he found that however James
might have been influenced to give his assent to the Irish
Articles, he had not extended his favour to their compiler.
Unfavourable reports of him had been industriously circu-
lated in London, and it was very evident that he was an ob-
ject of suspicion to the jealous monarch. Dr. Bernard says :
" And now he wanted not enemies in scandalizing him to
King James under the title of a Puritani', so odious to him
in those days." Under these circumstances he succeeded
in procuring a very extraordinary document, a letter of
recommendation from the Lord Deputy and Council in Ire-
land to the Privy Council in England. The letteris as follows:

p Dr. Parr has given the following letter addressed to Dr. Ussher in
order to prove, that the nickname of Puritan was given to many who did
not deserve it.

" Rev. Sir, — I hope you are not ignorant of the hurt that is come to
the Church by this name, Puritan, and how his INIajesties good intent and
meaning therein is much abused and wronged ; and especially in this
poor country, where the Pope and Popery is so much affected. I being
lately in the country had conference with a worthy painful preacher, who
hath been an instrument of drawing many of the meer Irish there from
the blindness of Popery to embrace the Gospel, with much comfort to
themselves and heart breaking to the Priests, who perceiving they can-
not now prevail with their juggling tricks, have forged a new devise :
They have now stirred up some crafty Papists, who very boldly rail both
at ministers and people, saying, They seek to sow this damnable heresie

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

" May it please yovn* Lordships,
" The extraordinary merit of the bearer Mr. Doctor
Ussher j^revaileth with us to oft'er him that favour (which
we deny to many that move us) to be recommended to your
Lordships : and we do it the rather, because we are desi-
rous to set him right in his Majesties opinion, who it
seemeth has been informed, that he is somewhat transported
with singularities, and unaptness to be conformable to the
rules and orders of the Church. We are so far from sus-
pecting him in that kind, that we may boldly recommend
him to your Lordships, as a man orthodox and worthy to
govern in the Church, when occasion shall be presented,
and his Majesty may be pleased to advance him ; he being-
one that hath preached before the State here for eighteen
years, and has been his Majesties Professor of Divinity in
the University for thirteen years. And a man who has
given himself over to his profession : an excellent and pain-
ful preacher, a modest man, abounding in goodness, and his
life and doctrine so agreeable, as those who agree not with
him, are yet constrained to love and admire him. And for
such a one we beseech your Lordships to understand him,
and accordingly to speak to his Majesty : and thus with the
remembrance of our humble duties we take leave.

" Your Lordships most humbly at command.

Ad. Loftus, Cane. John King. Oliver St. John.
Henry Docwra. William Tuamensis.

William Methwold. Dud. Norton. Fra. Aungiers.
" From Dublin the last of Sept. 1G19."

of Puritanism among them ; whicli word, though not understood, but
only known to be most odious to his Majesty, makes many afraid of join-
ing themselves to the Gospel, though in conference their consciences are
convicted herein : so to prevent a greater mischief that may follow, it
were good to petition his Majesty to define a Puritan, whereby the mouths
of these scoffing enemies would be stopt : and if his Majesty be not at
leisure, that he would appoint some good men to do it for him ; for the
effecting thereof you know better than I can direct, and therefore I com-
mit you and your affairs to the blessing of the Almighty, praying for your
good success there and safe return hither, resting

" Yoin- assured Friend, to his power

" Emanuel Downing.

•'Dublin, 24th Oct. 1620."

E 2

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

This attestation appears to have produced a good effect,
but Ussher was indebted for his success much more to a
conversation with his INIajesty, in which the King exercised
his favourite office of examinant into points of faith and doc-
trine. Of the particulars of the interview no record has
been preserved. If the King pressed his two favourite
subjects of discussion, the Head of the Church, and the
unlawfulness of resistance to regal authority, Ussher could
have given his Majesty the fullest satisfaction, that he did
not entertain Puritanical notions on these questions ; but
whatever were the topics debated, he succeeded so com-
pletely, that the King declared, " that the knave Puritan
was a bad, but the knave's Puritan an honest man." It
is probable indeed that his Majesty had many interviews
with Ussher, who appears to have remained two years
in England. In January 162j Dr. Montgomery, Bishop
of Meath, died, and the King immediately named Dr.
Ussher the new bishop"), and often boasted " that he was a
bishop of his own making." The appointment was hailed
with great delight in Ireland, as the following letter from
the Lord Deputy testifies :

" To Dr. James Ussher, Bishop Elect of Meath.

" Dublin, 3rd February, 1620.
" My Lord, — I thank God for your preferment to the
Bishoprick of Meath ; his Majesty therein has done a gra-
cious favour to his poor Church here : there is none here
but are exceeding glad that you are called thereunto, even
some Papists themselves have largely testified their glad-
ness of it. Your grant is, and other necessary things shall
be sealed this day or to-morrow. I pray God bless you and
whatever you undertake, so I rest

" Your Lordship's most afi'ectionate Friend,

" Ol. Grandisone."

<i Dr. Parr states that his conge d'elire was immediately sent over, and
he was elected by the Dean and Chapter. This is a strange mistake. A
conge d'elire is never issued in Ireland, as the Bishoprics are absolute do-
natives by the 2 Eliz. c. 4 ; and Meath is the only See in Ireland in which
there is not a Dean and Chapter.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Various circumstances at this time had raised the cry of
Popery against the King. His remarkable change of sen-
timent after the Synod of Dort was represented by the Pu-
ritans as a conversion to Popery. His refusal to assist his
son-in-law the Elector Palatine was held up as a desertion
of the Protestant cause, and his projected alliance for his
son with the Infanta of Spain gave a new subject for cla-
mour. The King, to silence these rumours, called a new
Parliament, but the suspicions of the people extended from
the monarch to the House of Commons; and the report was
industriously circulated, that many members of the House
of Commons were Roman Catholics. In order to remove
all pretext for these murmurs it was determined, that the
members of the House of Commons should attend at St.
Margaret's church on the first Sunday in Lent to receive
the communion, and the new Bishop elect was called upon
to preach on the occasion. The foUovving extract from the
Bishop's memorandums has been preserved by Dr. Parr :
" 1 was appointed by the Lower House of Parliament
to preach at St. Margarets Westminster. The Prebends
claimed the privilege of the Church and their exemption
from episcopal jurisdiction for many hundred years, and
offered their own service : whereupon the House being dis-
pleased appointed the place to be at the Temple. 1 was
chosen a second time : and Secretary Calvert by the ap-
pointment of the House spake to the King, that the choice
of their preacher might stand: the King said, it was very
well done. Feb. 13 being Shrove Tuesday 1 dined at Court;
and betwixt four and five I kissed the Kings hand, and
had conference with him touching my sermon. He said,
' I had charge of an unruly flock to look to next Sunday.'
He asked me how I thought it could stand with true divi-
nity, that so many hundred should be tyed upon such short
warning to receive the communion upon a day, all could
not be in charity after so late contentions in the House :
many must needs come williout prej)aration and eat their
own condemnation : that himself required all his own hons-
hold to receive the communion, hut not all the same day,
unless at Easter, ulicn the whole Kent was a time of pro-

LITE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

paration. He bad me to tell them I hoped they were all
prepared, but wished they might be better ; to exhort them
to unity and concord ; to love God first, and then their
Prince and country ; to look to the urofent necessities of
the times and the miserable state of Christendom with Bis
dat qui cito dot. Feb. 18th the first Sunday in Lent I
preached at St. Margarets to them : and Feb. 27th the
House sent Sir James Perrot and INIr. Drake to give me
thanks, and to desire me to print the sermon, which was
done accordingly ; the text being upon the First of the
Cor. X. 17. ' For we being many are one bread and one
body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.' " The
sermon'^ was judicious and forcible. In the first part treat-
ing of the Communion of Saints and the mystic body of
the Church, he exhorts his hearers to preserve peace not less
in civil than in ecclesiastical matters, and to unite in bro-
therly love not only with our own fellow-citizens, but with
all those joined to us in the same faith ; and he concludes this
part with a compliment upon the liberality, with which they
had voted supphes for the support of the Palatine and the
Protestant religion. In the second part he puts forward
clearly and distinctly the doctrine of the Church of England
with respect to the Sacraments, that " they are signs and
more than signs, even pledges and assurances of the inte-
rest we have in the heavenly things, that are represented by
them ;" and then more particularly enters into the question
about the real presence, which is to be found not in the
external symbols, but in the mind of the worthy recipient,
and exposes the idolatry of the service offered by the Ro-
man Catholics in their sacrifice of the mass. He concludes
with some very strong remarks upon the Jesuits' doctrine
with respect to oaths, and more particularly the oath of al-
legiance, and warns his hearers that " they must provide by
all good means that God be not dishonoured by their ido-

' This sermon was printed in 1621. Sec Works, vol. ii. pag. 315. Dr.
Parr sajs that this sermon and one upon Ephes. iv. 13, concerning the
unity of the Catholic faith, were all the sermons he could find to have been
juiM'bhcd with his allowance.

LIFE OF AKCHUISHOr USSHEU.

latries, nor our King and State endangered by their secret
treacheries."

The death of Bishop Montgomery had not only vacated
the See of Meath, but also that of Clogher, to which James
Spottiswood, brother of the celebrated Archbishop of St.
Andrews, had been named. A serious dispute arose be-
tween him and Primate Hampton as to the exercise of epis-
copal jurisdiction, before he was consecrated. A letter^ is
preserved from Ussher to the Primate professing his de-
termination to respect his metropolitan authority, but at
the same time urging his Grace not to bring the question
into the courts of law, as he feared they would interpret
the words of the Patent in a manner favourable to the
King's prerogative, and not to the power of the Keys ;
that the Act of Elizabeth which took away the conge delire
put the bishop who received the King's patent into the
same situation, as if he were canonically elected and con-
firmed. The Archbishop in answer asserts his own opinion,
and combats the arguments advanced by Ussher, but de-
clares that he has no intention of bringing the matter into
the courts of law, that he resists the exercise of jurisdiction,
and that he will defend himself, if the Bishop of Clogher
should feel aggrieved and bring an action against him. It is
to be supposed that the Bishop did not feel himself justified
in taking such a step, for there is no further notice of the
proceedings. Before he returned to Ireland, the Bishop elect
resigned the Professorship of Divinity in the University of
Dublin. From the measures taken about the appointment
of a successor, it appears that the same pernicious counsels,
to which I have before alluded, influenced the government
of the College. In the Registry Book there is the follow-
ing entry : " May 9, 1621. Mr. Preston of Queen's Col-
lege Cambridge was chosen Professor of Theological Con-
troversies, Mr. Dr. Ussher, who is now Bishop of Meath,
having surrendered his interest to that place, which for
many years together he performed with great credit and
good to the College." Preston, whom Ward with great

" Sec Letter xlii. vol. xv. p 15.5.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP t'SSHER.

justice calls the Patriarch of the Presbyterian party, de-
clined the office. He no doubt preferred the chance of being
chosen Master of Emmanuel College at Cambridge, to
which station he soon after got himself appointed by a
trick. Samuel Ward of Ipswich was then named Professor,
but he also declined. The reason is not known, but it is
tolerably certain that no loss was sustained by his refusal,
for he was soon after silenced by the High Commission
Court, and retired into Holland, where it is said that he'
rejected episcopal ordination, and that he and Mr. Bridge
ordained each other. After the place being thus virtually
vacant for four years Mr. Joshua Hoyle, one of the Senior
Fellows, was appointed in March 1623. He was "a noted
Puritan," fled to England in 1641 and became one of the
Assembly of Divines. He assisted also in the evidence
against Archbishop Laud for his conduct as Chancellor of
the University of Dublin.

Dr. Ussher" was consecrated in St. Peter's Church, Drog-
heda, by Primate Hampton. The assisting bishops were
Robert Bishop of Down, Thomas Bishop of Kilmore, and
Theophilus^ Bishop of Dromore. His high promotion
rather increased than diminished his zeal to spread the true
doctrines of Christianity through the land, and he directed
his attention to the conversion of the numerous Roman
Catholics who were spread over his diocese. He preached
with indefatigable constancy, following, as Dr. Bernard re-
marks, the example of St. Augustine, who " episcopatu"
suscepto multo instantius ac ferventius majore authoritate,
non in una tantum regione sed ubicunque rogatus, verbum
salutis aeternse alacriter et suaviter, pullulante atque cres-
cente Domini ecclesia, prsedicabat :" and he still further

' The only defence Mr. Brooke, in his Historj' of the Puritans, can make
for Ward is, that the story is not probable.

" I cannot ascertain the date of the consecration. The writ of conse-
cration bears date June 27, 1621. Harris, in his edition of Ware, says
that Dr. Ussher was presented to the living of Trim on the 17th of
April, 1620, but was never instituted. This is a mistake. The patent
granted him the Rectory of Trim, to hold in commendum with the Bishop-
rick.

' Theopliilus Duckworth, brother-in-law to Dr. Usslicr.
" Posidon. in Vita August.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSUEU.

bound himself to the observance'' by the motto of his epis-
copal seal, " Vae mihi si non Evangelizavero," which he
continued after his appointment to the Primacy. When
the Roman Catholics expressed a wish to hear him preach,
but hesitated at going into the church, he went so far as
to indulge their prejudices, and preached to them in the
Sessions' House. The sermons produced such an effect,
that the priests prohibited the members of their congrega-
tion from listening to them in any place whatever. His
conferences with the Roman Catholics led him to per-
ceive that one of the strongest holds which their religion
had upon their minds, was the notion of its antiquity, the
notion that they held unimpaired the doctrines handed down
from generation to generation. To eradicate these false
opinions the Bishop composed -his tract upon the religion
of the ancient Irish, designed to shew that the creed of
Pope Pius was as unlike the creed of their ancestors, as
it was to that of the Protestants whom they regarded as
heretics, and this work he published some years afterwards
in London.

In the commencement of the year 1622 a Royal Com-
mission was issued for the visitation of the province of Ar-
magh, and the several bishops made a return of the state of
their several dioceses. The report for the diocese of Mcath
was of course drawn up by the new Bishop, and is still pre-
served in the Library of the University of Dublin. As this
document was the first episcopal act of Bishop Ussher and
contains very curious information with respect to the state
of the Church at that period, I have printed the return at
length in the Appendix^. Though the diocese of Meath
was at that time the best arranged and most civilized part
of Ireland, the description affords lamentable proof of the
want of adequate religious instruction for the people, and
gives a ready answer to the question, why the Reformation
did not make greater progress ; want of churches, want of
residences, and want of income for the clergy.

* Dr. Bernard sajs that an anagram was given to liim of his name
.James Meath, I am the same.

* Sec Appendix V. p. li.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

In this year the clamour unjustly raised against him pro-
cured the removal of the Lord Deputy Grandison. His con-
duct in enforcing the Penal Statutes against the Roman
Catholics and obliging the Regulars to leave the country, had
been grossly exaggerated into crimes of enormous oppression
and tyranny. The clamour thus excited by the Roman Ca-
tholics was industriously extended by many of the most pow-
erful members of the State, whom the Lord Deputy with
more honesty than caution had forced to disgorge the plun-
der, which they had iniquitously made of the Church lands.
This was an olfence not to be forgiven, and these lawless
titled plunderers joined the cry of the Roman Catholics, and
beset the throne with applications to remove the Lord Depu-
ty. Their complaints were successful, and the King removed
the Deputy, though with strange inconsistency he at the same
time heaped honours upon him as the reward of his services.

The success of these schemes was attributed by the Ro-
man Catholics solely to their own influence, and raised their
spirits to such a height that they could no longer be res-
trained within the limits of decent order and subordination.
While the country was in this state of excitement, Henry
Cary Viscount Falkland arrived in Dublin, and was sworn
in Lord Deputy on the 8th of September, On this occa-
sion the Bishop of Meath was called upon to preach, and
in a letter to Lord Grandison gives the following account
of the sermon and of the reasons which induced him to de-
liver such advice. " The day that my Lord of Falkland
received the sword I preached in Christ Church, and fitting
myself to the present occasion took for my text these words
in the thirteenth to the Romans ' He beareth not the sword
in vain.' There I shewed, 1. What was meant by this
sword. 2. The subject wherein that power vested. 3. The
matters wherein it was exercised. 4. Thereupon what it
was to bear the sword in vain. Whereupon falling upon
the duty of the magistrate in seeing those laws executed
that were made for the furtherance of God's service, I first
declared that no more was to be expected herein from the
subordinate magistrate, than he had received in commission
from the supreme ; in whose power it lay to limit the other

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHIiK.

at his pleasure. Secondly, I wished that if his Majesty
(who is under God our supreme Governor), were pleased
to extend the clemency towards his subjects that were re-
cusants, some order notwithstanding might be taken with
them, that they should not give us public aflfronts, and take
possession of our churches before our faces. And that it
might appear that it was not without cause that I made this
motion, I instanced in two particulars that had lately fallen
out in mine own diocess : the one certified unto me by Mr.
John Ankers, preacher of Athlone, a man well known unto
your Lordship, who wrote unto me, ' that going to read
prayers at Kilkenny in Westmeath he found an old priest
and about forty with him in the church ; who was so bold
as to require him (the said Ankers) to depart, until he had
done his business.' The other concerning the friars who
not content to possess the house of Multifernan alone,
whence your Lordship had dislodged them, went about to
make collections for the re-edifying of another abbey near
Mullingar, for the entertaining of another swarm of locusts.
These things I touched only in general, not mentioning
any circumstances of persons or places. Thirdly, I did en-
treat, that whatsoever connivance were used unto others,
the laws might be strictly executed against such as revolted
from us, that we might at least keep our own, and not suf-
fer them without all fear to fall away from us. Lastly, I
made a public protestation, that it was far from my mind
to excite the magistrate unto any violent courses against
them, as one that naturally did abhor cruel dealings, and
wished that effusion of blood might be held rather the
badge of the whore of Babylon, than of the Church of
God." Such is the account which the Bishop gives of his
sermon. It certainly was not received in any friendly spirit.
The Roman Catholic priests persuaded their flocks that the
preacher had told the Lord Deputy, that " the sword had
rested too long in the sheath," and that the arm of perse-
cution should be raised against all recusants. The censure
was not confined to the Roman Catholics : the Primate,
Hampton, wrote a very severe letter' to the Bishop, and

'■ St'e Works, vol. xv. p. 183.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

advised him to give lenitives of his own accord for all
which was conceived overharsh and sharp," He adds a
recommendation to leave Dublin, and spend more time in
his diocese. The result of all this clamour was, that the
Bishop of Meath found it necessary to preach an explana-
tory sermon* to appease the tumult, but further information
is not afforded : Cox does not relate where the sermon was
preached, or on what occasion, or whether the Lord Deputy
was present. Dr. Parr and Dr. Bernard, who must have
been acquainted with the whole transaction, preserve a most
mysterious silence upon the subject, they never even men-
tion the occurrence, which is the more remarkable as in the
collection of letters published by Dr. Parr there is found
not only the Bishop's letter to Lord Grandison, but also
the Primate's severe reproof.

It appears however that the Government could not have
been displeased with the Bishop's sermon, for within two
months he was called upon to execute a very delicate and
important office in the Privy Council*". " Certain officers"
had refused to take the oath of supremacy and were sum-
moned before the Privy Council to be censured. On this
occasion the Bishop of Meath was appointed to address the
recusants : the object of his speech'^ is thus stated by him-
self : " What the danger of the law is for refusing this oath
hath been sufficiently opened by my Lords the Judges ;
and the quality and quantity of that offence hath been ag-
gravated to the full by those that have spoken after them.
The part which is most proper for me to deal in, is the in-
formation of the conscience touching the truth and equity

^ Cox's Hist, of Ireland, vol. ii. p. 39.
There is some difficulty in ascertaining the date of his appointment
as a Privy Counsellor. In Dr. Parr's collection of letters there is one
from Mr. H. Holcroft to the Bishop of Meath dated June 23, 1623, mak-
ing an apology for not having sooner forwarded his letter of appointment
to be a Privy Counsellor. As he certainly was a Privy Connsellor in No-
vember 1G22, the date of this letter must be a mistake, and I suppose
ought to have been June 1622. — See vol. xv. p. 189. King James had
in November 1621 issued a King's letter granting to the Bishop a remit-
tal of his First Fruits as a proof of his regard.

^ The speech is given at length, vol. ii. p. 459.

LIFE OF AIICIIBISHOP USSUEH.

of the matters contained in the oath." The Bishop stated
that there were two branches of the oath which required
special consideration. " The one positive, acknowledging
the supremacy of the Government of these realms, in all
causes whatsoever, to rest in the King's highness only ; the
other negative, renouncing all jurisdictions and authorities
of any foreign prince or prelate within his Majesty's domi-
nions," Dr. Leland states that the Bishop " enforced the
lawfulness of the oath with powerful eloquence." I must
differ from this excellent critic ; indeed 1 can only account
for his statement upon the supposition that he never read
the speech, for there does not appear to me one eloquent
passage in the whole argument. I should have said that
any appearance of eloquence was studiously avoided, and
the speech confined to mere quotations of authorities. How-
ever it is said to have produced an effecf*. Dr. Parr states
" that divers of the offenders being satisfied that they might
lawfully take their oaths, did thereby avoid the sentence of
praemunire, then ready to be pronounced against them."
A copy of the Bishop's speech^ was sent to the King, who
expressed in the most flattering terms his sense of the abi-

^ The correctness and authority of the interpretation was maintained
many years after. In 1662 the Earl of Cassilis refused to take the oath
of supremacy unless an explanation were made of tlie supremacy, as the
words of the oath were large : and he stated that when the oath was
enacted in England a clear explanation was given in one of the Articles
of the Church of England, and more copiously afterwards in a discourse
by Archbishop Ussher, published by King James' order. — See Burnet,
Hist, of his own Times, vol. i. p. 144.

« A curious proof is afforded by this speech of the Bishop of Meath
that the Irish Articles never were fully sanctioned. He refers for an ex-
planation of his position " that the power of the civil sword only is meant
by that Government," to the Book of Articles agreed upon in the Convo-
cation holden in London in 1562, and quotes at length the thirty-seventh
Article. He then proceeds : " If it be here objected that the authority
of Convocation is not a sufficient ground for the exposition of that which
was enacted in Parliament ; I answer that these Articles stand confirmed,
not only by the Royal assent of the Prince (for the establishing of whose
supremacy the oath was framed) but also by a special Act of Parliament,
13 Eliz. c. 12." Now he might have quoted the very same words from the
Irish Articles, and it would have been more suited to his subject to have
done so, if he had not been impeded by the want of sanction to the Irisii
Articles which the English possessed.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOl' USSHER.

lity with which the nrg-uments had been brought forward.
His letter was as follows :

" James Rex,

" Right Reverend Father in God and Right truly and
well beloved Councellor, we greet you well. You have
not deceived our expectations, nor the gracious opinion we
ever conceived of your abilities in learning, and of your
faithfulness to us and our service. Whereof as we have
received sundry testimonies both from our precedent De-
puties, as likewise from our Right trusty and well beloved
Cousin and Counsellor, the Viscount Falkland, our present
Deputy of that realm : so have we now of late, in one parti-
cular, had a further evidence of your duty and affection well
expressed by your late carriage in ourCastle Chamber there,
at the censure of those disobedient magistrates, who refused
to take the oath of supremacy. Wherein your zeal to the
maintenance of our just and lawful power, defended with
so much learning and reason, deserves our princely and gra-
cious thanks ; which we do by this our letter unto you, and
so bid you farewell. Given under our signet at our Court
at Whitehall, the eleventh of January 1622. In the twen-
tieth year of our reign of Great Britain, France and Ireland.

" To the Right Reverend Father in God
and our Right trusty and well beloved
Councellor, the Bishop of Meath."

No particulars have been transmitted to us of the man-
ner in which the Bishop of Meath managed his diocese, nor
of the measures he adopted to improve the wretched state
of his clergy and their churches, which are so fully described
in the report made in the first year of his consecration to
the Regal visitation. That he made considerable efforts to
convert the Roman Catholics by preaching to them has
been already mentioned, and that the Roman Catholics
took offence at his measures may be collected from a let-
ter of Sir Henry Bourgchier dated April 1622, in which
he says, " I hear^ much murmurings among the Papists

f See Letter 1. Works, vol. xv. p. 174.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

here, especially those of our country against some new
persecutions (you know their phrase) lately raised in Ire-
land, and particularly against some courses of your Lord-
ship's in the diocese of Meath ; as namely in the case of
clandestine christenings, &c. beyond all others of your
rank." Yet the severe remark in Archbishop Hampton's
letter before alluded to confirms what a mere inspection of
the dates of his visits to England must have suggested to
every one, that his private studies occupied too much of his
time. Even before he was Bishop of Meath we may well
wonder how he could have discharged the duties of the Pro-
fessorship of Divinity, when he was two years absent in
England, from September 1619 to July 1G21. Wenow find
him obtaining a King's letter from James ordering the Lord
Deputy and Council to grant him leave of absence for an
indefinite time. The letter was as follows :

" James Rex.

" Right trusty and well beloved Cousins and Councellors,
we greet you well. Whereas we have heretofore in our
princely judgment made choice of the Right Reverend
Father in God Dr. James Ussher Lord Bishop of Meath,
to employ him in collecting the Antiquities of the British
Church before and since the Christian faith was received by
the English nation. And whereas we are already given to
understand, that the said Bishop hath already taken pains
in divers things in that kind, which being published might
tend to the furtherance of religion and good learning: Our
pleasure therefore is, that so soon as the said Bishop hath
settled the necessary affairs of his bishoprick there, he
should repair into England and to one of the Universities
here, to enable himself by the helps to be had there to pro-
ceed the better to the finishing of the said work. Requiring
you hereby to cause our Licence to be passed unto him the
said Lord Bishop of Meath, under our great seal, or other-
wise as he shall desire it, and unto you shall be thought fit,
for his repairing unto this kingdom for our service, and for
his continuance here, so long time as he shall have occasion
to stay about the perfecting of those works undertaken

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

by him, by our commandment and for the good of the
Church."

The Bishop must have proceeded to London about the
end of November 1023. It appears from a letter of Sir
Henry Bourgchier, that he had not reached London on the
22nd of November 1623, and Dr. James in the January
following mentions that he had been some few weeks there.
Dr. Parr is very confused in this part of his narrative, he
makes the Bishop return to Ireland in 1624, publish his
answer to the Jesuit Malone, and proceed again to England ;
but the answer to the Jesuit was published in London at
the very end of 1624 or beginning of 1625, and I think it
could be proved from the dates of letters that the Bishop
did not return to Ireland till August, 1626. He preached
before the King in June, 1624, was in England certainly in
September and November, and resident at Much Haddam
in the beginning of January, and in August, 1625.

The subject of the sermon he preached before the King
at Wansted was the L"'^niversality. of the Church of Christ,
a learned and well arranged discourse, particularly suited
to the taste of James, as it enters into the question of the
Roman Church as predicted in the Apocalypse, and of the
Pope being Antichrist, discusses the different creeds, and
then answers the objections of the Roman Catholics in the
question, where was the religion of the Protestants before
Luther, The sermon was published by command of the
King. The Bishop also published his answer to the Jesuit
Malone^, which had been for some time in preparation.
Six years had elapsed since William Malone, an Irish Je-
suit, published a challenge for any Protestant to answer him,

s William Malone was born in Dublin about the year 1586. He went
at an early age first to Portugal, then to Rome, where he became a mem-
ber of the Order of Jesuits in the twentieth yesir of his age. He soon
after returned to Ireland, and remained there till he was sent for to Rome
and appointed Rector of the Irish College of St. Isidore. After governing
this College for six years he returned again to Ireland as Superior of the
whole Mission of the Jesuits. In this office he excited the suspicion of
the Government, and was arrested ; but having contrived to make his
escape, he fled to Spain, where he died in 1659, Rector of the Irish College
at Seville.

LITE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

What Bishop of Rome did alter the religion which the Pro-
testants acknowledge to have been true for the first four
hundred years? and how can their religion be true which
disalloweth the chief articles which the Saints and Fathers
of that primitive Church held to be true? Dr, Ussher put
forth a short answer at the time, replying in general to the
question proposed, and accepting the challenge by calling
upon Malone to bring forward his proofs. This Malone
never did ; and Ussher would not have proceeded further,
had not, as he says himself in the preface, " some of
high place in both kingdoms advised him to go forward
and to give the judgment of antiquity touching those par-
ticular points in controversy wherein the challenger was so
confident, that the whole current of the doctors, pastors,
and fathers of the primitive Church did mainly run on his
side." The work consists of eleven chapters, on Tradition,
the Real Presence, Confession, the Priest's Power to for-
give sins, Purgatory, Prayers for the Dead, Limbus Pa-
trum, and Christ's descent into Hell, Prayers to Saints,
Images, Free Will, Merits, and is dedicated to King James,
but I believe he died before the work was actually pub-
lished. The author declares, " the doctrine which I take
upon me to defend is that which by public authority is pro-
fessed in the Church of England, and comprised in the Book
of Articles agreed upon in the Synod held at London in
the year MDLXII. concerning which I dare be bold to
challenge our challenger and all his complices that they
shall never be able to prove that there is either any one
article of religion disallowed therein, which the Saints and
Fathers of the primitive Church did generally hold to be
true, or any one point of doctrine, which by those Saints
and Fathers was generally held to be untrue." In this work,
as in that " De Ecclesiarum Christianarum Successione et
Statu," the number and variety of the quotations must as-
tonish the reader; the very list of authors which are quoted
is suflficient to impress the mind with wonder at the learning
and diligence of the author. This work will always hold
a foremost place among the bulwarks of the Protestant faith
against the innovations of Romanism, and is particularly

VOL. I. F

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHER,

successful in exhibiting the novelty of the doctrines, which
are triumphantly put forward as the <' Quod ubique, quod
semper, quod ab omnibus." To give any abstract of the
work would be impossible, it must be read through in order
to form any opinion of its merits. Three years elapsed be-
fore Malone took any notice of this work, and he then pub-
lished at Douay an answer, the title of which was " A
Reply to Dr. Ussher's Answer about the Judgment of An-
tiquity concerning the Romish Religion." The argument
was weak, and supported either by false and garbled quota-
tions from the Fathers, or by extracts from books of doubt-
ful authority containing such false miracles and legends as
could only impose upon the ignorant, and the style was
such as rendered it unworthy of the Bishop's notice. " Not
a page," says Dr. Synge, "may be found, wherein he
useth not a licentious libertie and a reviling tongue against
the most learned answerer. Whereupon some Divines did
labour to dissuade the most Reverend the Lord Primate
from rejoining thereunto, in regard of the indignity of the
raylor and violence of the work, and also because it would
hinder him in other studies more necessary for the Church,
and did offer their endeavours to examine the same, which
being accepted the work is now so farre prepared that it
waytes at the presse." Dr. Synge then adds that he pub-
lished the first part because he understood that the adverse
party had used deceit, and got possession of the sheets as
they were printed in order to answer them. This first part
is stated to be, " wherein the general answer to the chal-
lenge is cleared from. all the Jesuits' cavills." The whole
work was never published. Dr. Hoyle, who also published
an answer"* in 1641, states that "it was first intended that
all should go under one as a common work, without any
particular name," and that he, for his part, was ready. But
seeing, he says, " the work suffered some unexpected de-
layes, he undertook a more laborious task, and as the Lord
Primate had prevented him in the Fathers, he directed his

^ A third answer was published by Mr. Puttock, who styles himself,
Minister of God's Word at Navan.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

course for the schoolmen, that he might ' persequi foiites
Papismi' and drive them home to their own cabin."

On the 3rd of January, 1C2|, died Primate Hampton,
and in the March following James appointed the Bishop of
Meath' his successor. This was almost the last act of
James' reign, for he died within a few days. His succes-
sor, however, did not shew himself less attentive to the new
Primate, for not long after his accession he signified by a
letter under his privy signet to the Lord Deputy and the
Treasurer of Ireland, that " Whereas the present Arch-
bishop of Armagh had for many years together, on several
occasions, performed many painful and acceptable services
to his dear Father deceased, and upon his special directions,
that therefore he was pleased, as a gracious acceptation
thereof, and in consideration of his said services done or to
be done hereafter, to bestow upon the said Primate out of
his princely bounty 400 pound English, out of the reve-
nues of that kino;dom."

Since his arrival in England he had been in the habit of
preaching constantly, and had been induced by some minis-
ters in Essex to preach on the week days, as they could not
hear him on Sundays ; but this exertion was too much for
his strength, and immediately upon his appointment to the
Primacy he was seized with a quartan ague, from which he
did not recover for many months. Soon after his reco-
very an incident occurred, which produced important con-
sequences to the Primate in his after life. The only note
of it in his handwriting is as follows : " That in November,
1625, he was invited by Lord Mordant and his lady to my
Lord's house at Drayton in Northamptonshire, to confer

' Dr. Parr, and of course the succeeding biographers, here relate his
election by the Dean and Chapter, which never could have taken place,
see page 52. Dr. Parr then proceeds to relate a circumstance which I do
not very well understand, and shall give in his own words : " The next
testimony that he received of His Majesty's favour was his letter to a per-
son of quality in Ireland, who had newly obtained the custodium of the
temporalities of that see, forbidding him to meddle with, or receive any
of the rents or profits of the same, but immediately to deliver what he
had already received unto the receivers of the present Archbishop, since
he was here employed on His Majesty's special service."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

with a priest he then kept, by the name of Beaumont, upon
the points in dispute between the Church of Rome and ours :
and particularly that the religion maintained by publick
authority in the Church of England was no new religion,
but the same that was taught by our Saviour and his Apos-
tles, and ever continued in the primitive Church during the
purest times." Lord Mordant, afterwards Earl of Peter-
borough, was a zealous Roman Catholic, and his lady, the
daughter and heiress of Howard Lord Effingham, a Protes-
tant : Lord Mordant was very anxious for the conversion of
his lady, and consented that each should choose a divine to
hold a disputation on the controverted points between the
Churches. Lady Mordant made choice of Archbishop Ussher,
and prevailed upon him, though not yet quite recovered, to
undertake the journey. His antagonist was a priest called
Beaumont, but his real uame was Rookwood, a brother of
Ambrose Rookwood, who had been executed for the Gun-
powder Plot. The points proposed were, Transubstantia-
tion, Invocation of Saints, Images, Visibility of the Church.
Three days were spent in disputation, three hours in the
forenoon of each day, and two hours in the afternoon, and
during this time the Primate was opponent. On the fourth
day the Jesuit was to take the place of opponent, while the
Primate was the respondent ; but when the appointed hour
arrived he did not appear, but sent, as an excuse, a message
to the Earl, " that all the arguments he had framed within
his own head, and thought he had them as perfect as his
Paternoster, he had forgotten: that he believed it was the
just judgment of God upon him thus to desert him in the
defence of his cause, for the undertaking of himself to dis-
pute with a man of that eminence and learning without the
license of his superiors." The Earl was displeased with this
shuffling excuse, and entered into further discussion with
the Archbishop, the result of which was that he became a
sincere convert, and continued a member of the Church of
England till his death, and the Archbishop obtained in the
Countess a faithful friend, whose attachment soothed and
comforted the closing hours of his life. Dr. Bernard gives
this narrative from an eye-witness, and it is confirmed by a

tTFE OF AHCHBISHOP USSHEli.

reproach thrown upon Beaumont by Chaloner, a secular
priest, who admonishes him " to beware of Drayton House,
lest he should there chance to light upon another Ussher
and be again put to flight, to the great disgrace both of
himself and his profession."

The Primate did not return to Ireland, after his appoint-
ment to the Primacy, till August 1626. It appears that his
arrival there had been anxiously looked for, and he had re-
ceived most flattering letters of congratulation from Lord
Falkland, the Lord Deputy, from the Lord Chancellor Lof-
tus, the Archbishop of Dublin, and many other distinguished
persons. The only one of these given in Dr. Parr's collec-
tion, is from the Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, Thomas
Moygne ; this letter is not only complimentary to the Pri-
mate, but gives a lamentable picture of the Irish Church.
" I do congratulate with unspeakable joy and comfort your
preferment, and that both out of the true and unfeigned
love I have ever borne you (for many years continued) as
also out of an assured and most firm persuasion that God
hath ordained you a special instrument for the good of the
Irish Church, the growth whereof (notwithstanding all His
Majesty's endowments and directions) receives every day
more impediments and oppositions than ever, and that not
only in LTlster, but begins to spread itself into other places,
so that the inheritance of the Church is made arbitrary at
the Council table: impropriators in all places may hold all
ancient customs, only they upon whom the cure of souls is
laid are debarred : St. Patricks^ ridges which you know

) Among the duties reserved in ancient leases, that denominated Ridges
occurs frequently ; it appears probable that a certain number of days in
harvest to which the lord was entitled became commuted, and the duty
ascertained by the measure of the pace in preference to that of time :
hence a ridge of work in sowing or reaping became by mutual consent a
substitute for the service of one or more days. It appears from the Rolls,
4 Edw. VI., that on the 10th of May, 1350, the Warden and Procurators
of the parish church of St. Patrick leased the ridges of corn called St.
Patrick's ridges, throughout the dioceses of Ferns, Ossory, Leighlin, and
Kildare, and the deaneries of Omurthy, Rathmore, and Salmon-Leap, for
three years, at si.x marks Irish per annum. Ussher, in his Proctor's book
for 1606, has in his receipts for that year inserted as follows :

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

belonged to the fabiick of that church are taken away :
within the diocess of Ardagh the whole clergy, being all
poor vicars and curates, by a declaration of one of the judges
this last circuit (by what direction I know not) without
speedy remedy will be brought to much decay; the which
I rather mention because it is within your province. The
more is taken away from the King's clergy, the more ac-
crews to the Pope's ; and the servitors and undertakers,
who should be instruments for settling a Church, do hereby
advance their rents and make the Church poor. In a word,
in all consultations which concern the Church not the advice
of sages but of young counsellors is followed."

Before the Primate left England he was engaged in a
very disagreeable contest with Dr. Ryves about the patent
which he took out for the office of Judge of the Preroga-
tive Court. It would seem from the letters of Archbishop
Ussher, that Dr. Ryves'^ claimed by his patent "to exercise
the office of the Prerogative and Faculties" independently
of the Primate, and that he had contrived to get the sup-
port of the Lord Keeper Williams. The Archbishop
wrote to the Lord Keeper and the Lord Treasurer a let-
ter, commenting upon the conduct of Dr. Ryves with a
severity quite unusual to him : he says : " Vour Lordships
had need to watch this mans fingers,, whenever you trust

" Item St. Patrickes ridges for Kilkennye .... 2/. 13s. 4d.
Item St. Patrickes ridges for tlie deanrye of Mor-

phye, the Nase and Kildare 21. Os. Qd.

N. B. St. Patricks ridges from henceforth set to Mr. Robinson and

Mr. Bolger for Gl. 13s. <id. Irish per ann.
Item Mr. Robinson to pay an organist during his life 10/. Irish per
annum." — Masons Hist, of St. Patrick's, p. 71.
From the letter of the Bishop of Kilmorc it appears that these ridges
had been only lately taken away from tlie church in 1625.

Dr. Ryves had been a Fellow of New College, Oxford, and afterwards
an eminent advocate in Doctors' Commons and the Court of Admiralty.
In the year 1618 he was made a Master in Chancery, and Judge of the
Faculties and Prerogative in Ireland. He wrote there, " The Poor Vi-
car's Plea," and an able answer to that mischievous work called " Ana-
lecta sacra." On the Rebellion of 1641 he loft Ireland and supported the
cause of his Royal master, fighting in his service at an advanced age.
He was one of the assistants to the King at the treaty of peace in the
Isle of Wight, and was held in great esteem by His Majesty.

Lll'K Of AltCHBISHOP USSHEU.

liim witli drawing up of any orders or letters that do con-
cern his own particular ; for otherwise you may chance to
find him as nimble in putting tricks upon yourselves for his
own advantage, as now he is in putting them upon me ;"
and again he says: " By his incensing of my lord of Can-
terbury against me (of whose Grace I never yet deserved
evil), by his abusing of me in his reports unto your Lord-
ships, and by his disgraceful traducing of me in all compa-
nies, he hath made himself utterly unworthy of the favor
which I intended to shew unto him." The Archbishop
most fairly states : " Did ever any reasonable man hold it
to be a thing unreasonable, that a substitute should be or-
dered by him that hath appointed him to be a substitute?"
He then mentions the peculiar difficulties in Ireland, " that
the power of granting dispensations is not by law restrained
to any competent distance of place, to any certain number
of benefices, or to any qualification of persons, and therefore
that it was in no ways fit the substitute should have autho-
rity to grant faculties as he listed ;" and he concludes with
the fair proposal, " that the same power should be reserved
to him and his successors that the Archbishop of Canter-
bury retains unto himself in the office of Prerogative and
Faculties." The termination of this dispute is not recorded ;
but it is more than probable that Dr. Ryves, supported by
the Lord Keeper, triumphed, and this opinion is confirmed
by the favor subsequently shewn to him : he was knighted
by Charles, and appointed his Advocate.

The Primate was scarcely settled in his new dignity,
when a political measure, fraught with consequences of great
moment to Ireland, called him forward. The Roman Ca-
tholic party had at this time assumed a very hostile posi-
tion. A bull had been issued by Pope Urban VIII., ex-
horting his Irish flock to give up their lives rather than
take the oath of supremacy, by which the sceptre of the
Catholic Church was wrested from the hand of the Vicar
of God ; and this unchristian exhortation to rebellion had
already begun to produce its effect in the manifest contempt
of Lord Falkland's government. In this state of affairs
Charles determined to increase his forces in Ireland. The

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

account of the subsequent proceedings is thus given by Dr.
Leiand : " With a strict attention to ceconorny the additional
recruits were destined to fill up the old instead of forming
any new bodies : yet still unable to supply the necessary
expence and unassisted by Parliament, the King without
scruple recurred for the present to prerogative. He ordered
the army to be quartered on the different counties and towns
of Ireland, who were to maintain them in turn, for three
months at a time, with money, cloaths, and victuals. To
reconcile the people to an imposition so extraordinary and
so severe, letters were addressed by his Deputy to the seve-
ral communities, recommending a chearful submission, pro-
mising that the usual composition should be suspended,
and that the King should grant other graces, which should
amply repay this their extraordinary expence. The hopes
of extorting some favourable concessions from the King's
necessities induced the Irish subjects to submit, with less
reluctance, to the present burden. They were still exposed
to vexatious inquisitions into the titles of their estates, and
were impatient to be freed from the apprehensions of liti-
gious suits. The popish party were not more solicitous for
the interests of their religion, than to extricate themselves
from the disadvantages and mortifications to which they
were exposed by the penal statutes. Their brethren in
England were assiduous to recommend themselves to the
King, by supporting zealously his unconstitutional mea-
sures. With the same policy the recusants of Ireland af-
fected an extraordinary solicitude to provide for the neces-
sities of his Irish government. They conferred with the
State at Dublin. They gave Lord Falkland assurances,
that if some indulgence were granted to those of their reli-
gion, a voluntary contribution might be obtained for the
maintenance of the King's army. Those of the Protestant
party, who had their grievances to be redressed, and their
apprehensions to be quieted, concurred in these assurances.
They were favourably received. A grand meeting of the
principal nobility and gentry, in which the popish party
was by far the more numerous, assembled in the castle of
Dublin : they offered large contributions to purchase secu-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

rity to their lands, and a suspension of the penal statutes.
Lord Falkland, far from discouraging their overtures, advised
them to send agents into England to make a tender of their
dutiful services to the King, and to submit the grievances
and inconveniences to which they were exposed, to his gra-
nerous consideration. The bare hopes of indulgence were
sufficient to elevate the spirits of the popish party, even to
extravagance. Reports were spread that they were now to
be gratified with a full toleration of their religion, and it
was exercised with an offensive triumph, as if that tolera-
tion were already granted."

It is not to be supposed that these proceedings were suf-
fered to pass unheeded by the Protestant party in Ireland.
Their religious feelings taught them that the danger of
selling the truth and establishing idolatry in the land was a
sin against God, while their political sagacity could not but
foresee the danger to their peaceful settlement, of giving ad-
ditional powers to their bitterest enemies, already too strong
in their numbers. These apprehensions were deeply felt by
the clergy of the Established Church, and the awful crisis
which seemed approaching called forward the Primate to
assemble his brethren, and deliberate upon the measures
which ought to be pursued. Twelve of the Prelates assem-
bled, and drew up a form of protestation, which was as fol-
lows :

" The Judgment of divers of the Arch-Bishops, and Bishops
of Ireland, concerning Toleration of Religion.

" The religion of the Papists is superstitious, and ido-
latrous ; their faith and doctrine, erroneous and heretical ;
their Church in respect of both, apostatical. To give them
therefore a toleration, or to consent that they may freely
exercise their religion, and profess their faith and doctrine,
is a grievous sin, and that in two respects : For,

"1. It is to make our solves accessary, not only to their
superstitions, idolatries, and heresies, and in a word, to all
the abominations of Popery ; but also (which is a conse-
quent of the former) to the perdition of the seduced people,
which perish in the deluge of the Catholick apostacy.

LIFE OF AUCHDISHOr USSHER.

" 2. To grant them toleration, in respect of any money
to be given, or contribution to be made by them, is to
set religion to sale, and with it, the souls of the people,
whom Christ our Saviour hath redeemed with his most
precious blood : And as it is a great sin, so also a matter
of most dangerous consequence : the consideration whereof
we commend to the Wise and Judicious. Beseeching the
God of Truth, to make them, who are in authority, zea-
lous of God's glory, and of the advancement of true re-
ligion : zealous, resolute, and courageous against all Po-
pery, superstition and idolatry. Amen.

" Ja. Armaclianus. Richard, Cork, Cloyne, Rossens.

Mal. Casellen. Arch. Alachadens.

Anth. Medensis. Tho. Kilmore, & Ardagh.

Tho. Femes, and Leglilin. Theo. Dromore.

Ro. Dunensis, &c. Michael, Waterford & Lysmore.

Georg. Derens. Fran. Lymerick."

It does not appear why the other bishops did not sign
this document. The bishopric of Clonfert was at this time
vacant, and the Bishop of Ossory most probably was unable
to leave Kilkenny, as he was upwards of eighty years of
age ; yet still seven bishops remain to be accounted for.
Dr. Smith states that the Primate summoned the meeting
at Drogheda^ which may have rendered it inconvenient for
some of them to attend.

' The Archbishop of Armagh had a residence in Palace-street, Dro-
gheda, and another at Ternionfechen, within a few miles, from which many
of Archbishop Ussher's letters were written. The house at Termonfechon
was destroyed in the Rebellion of 1641, and never afterwards repaired.
Archbishop Bramhall had collected materials for repairing the house and
enclosing the park, but his death interrupted the work. He left by his will
the materials to his successor, but the work was not completed. A small
part of the wall was standing a few years ago, but it is now entirely de-
stroyed. It is a very general mistake that the castle which still remains
was the residence of Archbishop Ussher. It is so stated by Wright in his
Louthiana, by Grose, and by every succeeding writer. The archiepiscopal
residence stood close to the river on the west side. The castle is on the
cast side of the river, and is the property of the Rev. William Brabazon,
whose estate is separated by the river from that of the Archbishop of
Armagh. The palace in Droghodawas repaired, after the Restoration,
by Primate Bramhall, and subsequently enlarged by Primate Margetson,

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

The judgment of the Bishops was not made known
at the time it was drawn up ; its publication was reserved
for a very solemn occasion. On the 23rd of April, 1G27,
the Assembly met again, and the Bishop of Derry (Down-
ham) preached at Christ Church before the Lord De-
puty and Council. Dr. Bernard states that his text was
St. Luke, chap. 1, vv. 23, 24, 25, and that "he spake
much against mens subordinating religion and the keep-
ing of a good conscience for outward and worldly respects
and to set their souls to sale for the gain of earthly mat-
ters." He then proceeds, from the Bishop's notes, to
give the following account of the sermon : " The preamble
he made was thus : ' Are not many among us for gain and
outward respects, willing and ready to consent to a tolera-
tion of false religion, and thereby making themselves guilty

and continued the residence of the Primate until the appointment of Pri-
mate Boulter. The prominent part which that Prelate took in the govern-
ment of the country made it more convenient for him to reside in or near
Dublin, and in this practice, most injurious to the Church, he was followed
by his successors, Primate Hoadly and Primate Stone. During this period
the palace at Drogheda was suffered to go to ruin, and there is now con-
siderable difficulty in tracing its former site. Archbishop Hampton seems
to have been the first prelate who made any arrangements for fixing the
episcopal residence at Armagh, and he separated three hundred acres for
mensal lands. Nothing further was done till Primate Marsh rebuilt a house
in Armagh, as a residence for himself and his successors. From some mis-
take, a lessee of the Archbishop got possession of the house, and Primate
Lindsay could not recover it, but left £300 to assist in procuring a resi-
dence, on condition of the lease notbeing renewed to the tenant, Mr. Daw-
son. The house was recovered, but remained in a very unfit state for the
Primate's residence. When Dr. Robinson was removed from the See of
Kildare to the Primacy, he built on the mensal lands, separated by Arch-
bishop Hampton, a handsome residence for himself and his successors. It
is greatly to be regi-etted that the liberality and munificence of Primate
Robinson was not guided by good taste, or by any respect for the ancient
remains of the country to which he had been removed. When Bishop of
Ferns, he had part of the venerable old cathedral pulled down, in order
to build the walls of the churchyard, and he surrounded the ruins of the
ancient abbey at Armagh with the faim-offices. The present Primate,
Lord John Beresford, has expended very large sums of money in endea-
vouring to remove the original defects, but many of them are incurable.
The farm-yard is removed, and the abbey is now enclosed, so as not to
offend the good taste or good feeling of the visiter. The Abbey, however,
is a very rude structure, without any pretension to architectural beauty.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP TSSHEK.

of a great oft'ence, in putting to sale not only their own
souls but also the souls of others. But what is to be thought
of toleration of religion, 1 will not deliver my own private
opinion, but the judgment of the Archbishops and Bishops
of this kingdom, which I think good to publish unto you,
that whatsoever shall happen the world may know, that
we were far from consentinof to those favours which the
Papists expect.' After he had published it, and the people
had given their votes also with a general acclamation, cry-
ing. Amen ; he added as foUoweth : ' But some may object
in saying you hinder the King's service. I answer, God
forbid, that what is spoken for the maintenance of religion
and the service of God, should be thought to be an hinde-
rance of the King's service ; but we are so far from that, as
with all our hearts we desire not only that the sole army of
five thousand five hundred may be maintained, but also a
far greater army, besides that of trained soldiers, be settled
for the defence of the country : only this we desire, that his
gracious Majesty will be pleased to reserve to himself the
most of those peculiar graces, which of late have been
offered, the greatest whereof might much better be spared
than granted for the dishonor of God and the King, to the
prejudice and impeachment of true religion, and counte-
nance of the contrary ; and what is wanting may be supplied
by the country, and I shall exhort all good subjects and
sound Christians to shew their forwardness in this behalf.'
The Lord Primate, the next Lord's day, preached before
the same auditory ; the text was ' Love not the world nor
the things that are in the world,' when he made the like
application with the Bishop, rebuking those who for worldly
ends like Judas, sell Christ for thirty pieces of silver, or as
Balaam following the wages of unrighteousness: foretelling,
as he had often done, of judgments for these our inclinations
to such permissions and tolerations, that wherein men might
think to be gainers, at the end they would be losers ; that
speech of Jeremiah to Baruch, of Gods being about ' to
pluck up what he had planted,' and to break down what he
had built, and his bidding him ' not to seek great things for
himself,' he applied to these present times."'

MFE OF ARCHBISHOl' US.SHEK.

This conduct of the Irish prelates has drawn upon them
the severe reprehension of Bayle, in which he has been fol-
lowed by many other writers. He says : " Vous remarquerez,
s'il vous plait, qu'Usserus et ses sufragans agirent selon les
principes de I'intolerance la plus outree ; car ils ne se ton-
derent point sur des maximes d'Etat, comme font les into-
lerans mitigez. lis se fonderent uniquement sur la qualite
des cultes de la communion Romaine, sans faire mention de
son esprit persecutant, qui est la seule cause pourquoi les
tolerans memes supposent qu'il ne la faut point tolerer."
Bayle is undoubtedly mistaken in his statement with respect
to the advocates of toleration. Milton, in his Essay on
Toleration, expressly excepts the Romanists on the ground
of their idolatry alone. The authority or example of Mil-
ton™ would, however, be a bad defence for the Irish bishops.
Their best defence is to be found in the state of affairs at
that period. The suspension of the Acts prohibiting Roman
Catholics from the free exercise of their religion has already
been noticed". The effect of this toleration had been to
raise the spirits of the Roman Catholics beyond all just
bounds, and to excite them not only to display, in an offen-
sive manner, the celebration of their own ritual, but to inter-
rupt the services of the Reformed Church. The bishops
were, not without cause, alarmed at the consequences which
were likely to ensue, if, instead of a suspension of the laws
against them, actual power should be vested in the Roman
Catholics, and they were deeply impressed with the con-
viction that it was a great sin to sell this toleration for
money, that it was, in fact, " to set religion to sale." But

" Dr. Aikin, in his Life of Ussher, assigns as the reason for Milton's
inconsistency, "his familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures." This is
certainly an extraordinary statement. But this advocate of liberality can
find one class of men who are to be restrained from interference in public
matters. The bishops are not to be allowed to give an opinion in the
political concerns of the nation, because " they are influenced by peculiar
interests and prejudices." To carry out this principle, all persons ought to
be excluded, who had any prejudice in favour of one system of Christianity
in preference to another, and our legislators ought to be universal philan-
thropists, Infidels, or Deists.

" See pag. 21.

LIFE or ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

that they did not wish to put in force the laws against recu-
sants, is placed beyond doubt by expressions used subse-
quently by Archbishop Ussher, in his speech at the Privy
Council, for he there urges all " to refer it unto the sacred
heart of his Majesty how far he will be pleased to abridge
or extend his favor of whose lenity in forbearing to execute
the Statute, our recusants have found such experience, that
they cannot expect greater liberty, by giving any thing that
is demanded, than now already they do freely enjoy." In
fact, the bishops wanted no more than that the recusants
should have the free exercise of their religion as a matter
of favor or connivance, not of right ; that the legislature
should not by any public act give its sanction to a religion
which they considered idolatrous. In the age when it
occurred, and under the provocations which they had suf-
fered, the exemption from punishment for celebrating the
rites of a religion not sanctioned by the State was as much
as could be expected, much more than a few years after was
granted by the Parliament of England.

The protestation of the bishops had a considerable effect in
retarding the project of selling toleration to the Recusants :
but as a contribution was absolutely necessary to the suc-
cess of the King's affairs. Lord Falkland requested the Pri-
mate, "in° regard of the great esteem in which he was
held by both parties, to declare in a speech to the whole as-
sembly the true state of the kingdom and the necessity of a
standing army for the defence thereof against any foreign
invasion or intestine commotion, and consequently that a
competent supply was needful to be granted for that pur-
pose, and that without any consideration whatsoever as well
by the Roman Catholic, as Protestant subjects." The
Primate was very ready to undertake this office, as it would
remove all suspicion of the purity of his conduct, and prove
his affection for the service of the monarch. The Lord
Deputy summoned the Assembly at the Council Chamber
in Dublin Castle, on the 30th of April, when the Primate
delivered the following able speech :

"Parr's Life, pag. 29.

LIl'E Of AUCHBISHOP USSIIUK.

" My Lord,

*' The resolution of those Gentlemen in denying- to con-
tribute unto the supplying of the army, sent hither for their
defence, doth put me in mind of the Philosopher's obser-
vation, ' That such as have a respect to a few things, are
easily misled :' The present pressure which they sustain by
the imposition of the Souldiers, and the desire they have to
be eased of that burthen, doth so wholly possess their minds,
that they have only an eye to the freeing of themselves
from that incumbrance, without looking at all to the deso-
lations, that are like to come upon them by a long and
heavy war, which the having of an army in readiness,
might be a means to have prevented ; the lamentable effects
of our last wars in this Kingdom, do yet freshly stick in
our memories : neither can we so soon forget the depopu-
lation of our Land, when besides the combustions of war,
the extremity of famine grew so great, that the very wo-
men in some places by the way side, have surprised the men
that rode by, to feed themselves with the flesh of the horse,
or the rider : And that now again here is a storm towards,
wheresoever it will light, every wise man may easily fore-
see, which if we be not careful to meet with in time, our
State may prove irrecoverable, when it will be too late to
think of, Had I wist.

" The dangers that now threaten us, are partly from
abroad, and partly from home ; abroad, we are now at odds
with two of the most potent Princes in Christendom ; and
to both which, in former times, the discontented persons in
this Country have had recourse heretofore, profferring the
Kingdom it self unto them, if they would undertake the
conquest of it: for it is not unknown unto them that look
into the search of those things, that in the days of King
Henry the Eighth, the Earl of Desmond made such an
offer of this Kingdom to the French King, (the instrument
whereof yet remains upon record in the Court of Paris)
and the Bishop of Rome afterwards transferred the title of
all our Kingdoms unto Charles the Fifth, which by new
grants was confirmed unto his Son Philip, in the time of
Queen Elizabeth, with a resolution to settle this Crown

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

upon the Spanish Infanta : Which donations of the Pope's,
howsoever in themselves they are of no value, yet will they
serve for a fair colour to a potent Pretender, who is able
to supply by the power of the sword, whatsoever therein
may be thought defective. Hereunto may we add, that of
late, in Spain, at the very same time, when the treaty of
the match was in hand, there was a book published with
great approbation there, by one of this Country birth,
Philip O'Sullevan, wherein the Spaniard is taught, that
the ready way to establish his Monarchy (for that is the
only thing he mainly aimeth at, and is plainly there con-
fessed) is, first to set upon Ireland, which being quickly
obtained, the conquest of Scotland, next of England, then
of the Low countries, is foretold, with great facility will
follow after.

" Neither have we more cause in this regard to be afraid
of a foreign invasion, than to be jealous of a domestick
rebellion. Where, lest I be mistaken, as your Lordships
have been lately, I must of necessity put a difference be-
twixt the inhabitants of this Nation ; some of them are de-
scended of the race of the ancient English, or otherwise
hold their Estates from the crown, and have possessions
of their own to stick unto, who easily may be trusted
against a foreign invader, although they differ from the
State in matter of Religion : For proof of which fidelity in
this kind, I need go no further than the late wars in the
time of the Earl of Tyrone, wherein they were assaulted
with as powerful temptations to move them from their loy-
alty, as possibly hereafter can be presented unto them :
For, at that time, not only the King of Spain did confede-
rate himself with the Rebels, and landed his forces here
for their assistance, but the Bishop of Rome also, with his
Breves, and Bulls, solicited our Nobility, and Gentry, to
revolt from their obedience to the Queen, declaring that the
English did fight against the Catholick Religion, and
ought to be repugned as much as the Turks, imparting the
same favours to such as should set upon them, that he doth
unto such as fight against the Turks ; and finally, promising
unto them, that the God of Peace would tread down their

LIFE OF AUCIIBISHOP USSIIEK,

enemies under their feet speedily. And yet for all the Pope's
promises, and threatnings, which were also seconded by
a declaration of the Divines of Salamanca and Valladolid,
not only the Lords and Gentelmen did constantly con-
tinue their allegiance unto the Queen, but also were en-
couraged so to do by the Priests of the Pale, that were of
the Popish profession : who were therefore vehemently
taxed by the traytor O SuUevan, for exhorting them to
follow the Queen's side ; which he is pleased to term " Insa-
nam, & venenosam doctrinam, & tartareum dogma ; a mad
and venemous doctrine, and a hellish opinion." But besides
these, there are a great number of Irish, who either bear a
secret grudge against the English, planted amongst them,
or having nothing at all to lose upon the first occasion, are
apt to joyn with any foreign invader ; for we have not used
that policy in our Plantations, that wise States have used
in former times. They, when they settled new Colonies in
any place, did commonly translate the ancient inhabitants
to other dwellings. We have brought new planters into
the land, and have left the old inhabitants to shift for them-
selves ; who being strong in body, and daily increasing in
number, and seeing themselves deprived of their means and
maintenance, which they and their ancestors have formerly
iiijoyed ; will undoubtedly be ready, when occasion is oft'er'd,
to disturb our quiet ; whether then we cast our eyes abroad,
or look at home, we see our danger is very great.

" Neither may you. My Lords, and Gentlemen, that dif-
fer from us in point of Religion, imagine that the commu-
nity of profession will exempt you, more than us, from the
danger of a common enemy. Whatsoever you may expect
from a foreigner, you may conjecture by the answer which
the Duke of Medina Sidonia gave in this case in 88 ; That
his sword knew no difference between a Catholick and a
Heretick, but that he came to make way for his Master :
And what kindness you may look for from the country-
men that joyn with them, you may judge, as well by the
carriage which they ordinarily use towards you and yours,
both in the Court, and in the CoUedges abroad, as by the
advice not long since presented by them unto the Council

VOL. I. G

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

of Spain, wherein they would not have so much as the Irish
Priests and Jesuits, that are descended of English blood, to
be trusted, but would have you and yours to be accounted
enemies to the designs of Spain. In the Declaration pub-
lished about the beginning of the insurrection of James Fitz-
Morice, in the South, the Rebels professed, it was no part
of their meaning to subvert " Honorabile Anglorum so-
lium ;" their quarrel was only against the person of Queen
Elizabeth, and her Government : But now the case is other-
wise, the translating of the throne of the English to the
power of a Foreigner, is the thing that mainly is intended,
and the re-establishing of the Irish in their ancient posses-
sions, which by the valour of our ancestors were gained
from them.

" This you may assure your self, manet alta mente repos-
tum, and makes you more to be hated of them than any
other of the English nation whatsoever. The danger thereof
being thus common to us all, it stands us upon to joyn our
best helps for the avoiding of it ; only the manner how this
may be effected is in question. It was wont to be said,
Iniquum petas, ut Eequum feras, and such, perhaps, might
be the intent of the project the other day propounded unto
you ; but now I observe the distaste you have conceived
against that hath so far possessed you, that hardly can you
be drawn to listen to any equal motion. The exceptions
taken against the Project, are partly general, made by all ;
partly special, that toucheth only some particulars : Of the
former there are two, the quantity of the sum demanded,
and the indefiniteness of the time, which is unlimited. For
the proportion required for the maintenance of 5000 Foot,
and 500 Horse, you alledge to be so great, and your means
so small, that in undertaking that which you are no ways
able to perform, you shall but delude his Majesty, and dis-
appoint the army of their expected pay. And although the
sum required were far less, and for a time able to be born
by you ; yet are you fearful that the payment, being conti-
nued for some number of years, may afterwards be continued
as a constant revenue to his Majesties Exchequer, with
which perpetual burden you are unwilling to charge your
posterity.

LIFK OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

" The exceptions of the second kind, are taken against
the Grants annexed unto the former demands : the granting
whereof seemed rather to hinder than further the service,
as not so agreeing with the rules of equity. For first, some
have the full benefits of the grants, and have their charge
little augmented, as the countries which pay composition-
rents, which by those grants during the time of the new
payments are suspended. Secondly, others that have the
charge of the payment imposed upon them to the full, are
not partakers at all of the benefit of the grants, as the
British planted in the six escheated counties of Ulster,
Thirdly, such as are the most forward to further his Majes-
ties Service ; and to contribute with the most, are troubled
in conscience for yielding thereto upon the terms proposed,
especially for that condition, whereby the execution of the
Statute against Recusants is offer'd to be forborn.

" Wherein, if some of my Brethren, the Bishops, have
been thought to have shewed themselves more forward than
wise, in preaching publickly against this kind of tole-
ration ; I hope the great charge laid upon them by your
selves in the Parliament, wherein that Statute was inacted,
will plead their excuse. For there, the Lords Temporal,
and all the Commons, do in God's name earnestly require
and charge all Arch-Bishops and Bishops, and other Ordi-
naries, that they shall endeavour themselves, to the utmost
of their knowledge, that the due and true execution of this
Statute may be had throughout their dioceses ; and charged,
as they will answer it before God, for such evils and plagues
as Almighty God might justly punish his people, for ne-
glecting these good and wholesome laws. So that if in
this case they had holden their tongues, they might have
been censured little better than atheists, and made them-
selves accessary to the drawing down of God's heavy ven-
geance upon the people.

" But if, for these and such like causes, the former
project will not be admitted, we must not therefore think
our selves discharged from taking farther care to provide
for our safeties. Other consultations must be had, and other
courses thought upon, which need not be liable to the like

G 2

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOI' USSHER.

exceptions. Where the burden is born in common, and the
aid required to be given to the Prince by his subjects that
are of different judgments in religion; it stands not with
the ground of common reason, that such a condition should
be annexed unto the gift, as must of necessity deter the
one party from giving at all, upon such terms as are repug-
nant to their consciences. As therefore on the one side, if
we desire that the Recusants should joyn with us in granting
a common aid ; we should not put in the condition of exe-
cuting the Statute, which we are sure they would not yield
unto ; so on the other side, if they will have us to joyn
with them in the like contribution, they should not require
the condition of suspending the Statute to be added, which
we in conscience cannot yield unto. The way will be then
freely to grant unto his Majesty, what we give, without all
manner of condition that may seem unequal unto any side,
and to refer unto his own Sacred Breast, how far he will
be pleased to extend or abridge his favours : of whose le-
nity, in forbearing the executing of the Statute, our Recu-
sants have found such experience, that they cannot expect
a greater liberty, by giving any thing that is demanded,
than now already tliey do freely enjoy.

" As for the fear, that this voluntary contribution may
in time be made a matter of necessity, and imposed as a
perpetual charge upon posterity, it may easily be holpen
with such a clause as we find added in the grant of an aid
made by the Pope's Council, Anno 11 Hen. 3, out of the
Ecclesiastical profits of this Land, Quod non debet trahi in
consuetudinem, of which kinds of grants, many other ex-
amples of later memory might be produced : And as for the
proportion of the sum, which you thought to be so great
in the former proposition, it is my Lord's desire, that you
should signifie unto him, what you think you are well able
to bear, and what your selves will be content voluntarily to
proffer. To alledge, as you have done, that you are not able
to bear so great a charge as was demanded, may stand with
some reason ; but to plead an unability to give any thing
at all, is neither agreeable to reason or duty.

" You say, you are ready to serve the King, as your

LIKE OF AllCHlilSHOP USSHEU.

ancestors did heretofore, with your bodies, and lives, as
it' the supply of the King's wants with monies, were a thing-
unknown to our Fore-fathers. But if you will search the
Pipe-Rolls, you shall find the names of those who contri-
buted to King Henry the Third, for a matter that did less
concern the subjects of this Kingdom, than the help that
is now demanded, namely, for the marrying of his Sister to
the Emperour. In the Records of the same King, kept in
England, we find his Letters Patents directed hither into
Ireland, for levying of money to help to pay his debts,
unto Lewis the Son of the King of France. In the Rolls
of Gascony, we find the like letter directed by King
Edward the Second, unto the gentlemen, and merchants
of Ireland, of whose names there is a list there set down,
to give him aid in his expedition into Aquitaine, and for
defence of his Land (which is now the thing in question.)
We find an ordinance likewise made in the time of Edward
the Third, for the personal taxing of them that lived in
England, and held lands and tenements in Ireland.

" Nay, in this case you must give me leave, as a Divine,
to tell you plainly, tliat to supply the King means, for the
necessary defence of your Country, is not a thing left to
your own discretion, either to do, or not to do, but a matter
of duty, which in conscience you stand bound to perform.
The Apostle, Rom. 13. having affirmed. That we must be
subject to the higher powers, not only for wrath, but for
conscience sake, adds this as a reason to confirm it; For
tor this cause you pay tribute also, as if the denying such
j)ayment, could not stand with a conscionable subjection :
thereupon he infers this conclusion, Render therefore to all
their due, tribute to whom tribute, custom to whom cus-
tom is due ; agreeable to that known lesson which he had
learned of our Saviour, Henderi' unto Csesar the things
which are Csesar's, and unto God the things which are
God's : where you may observe, as to with-hold from God
the things which are God's, man is said to be a robber'' of
God; whereof he himself thus complaineth in the case of

r Mallh. cliap. xxii. vcr. 21.

'1 Mai. chap. iii. ver. 8,

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOr USSHEK.

substracting of tythes and oblations : So to deny a supply
to Caesar of such means as are necessary for the support of
his Kingdom, can be accounted no less than a robbing of
him of that which is his due ; which I wish you seriously
to ponder, and to think better of yielding something to this
present necessity, that we may not return from you an
undutiful answer, which may be justly displeasing to his
Majesty."

A copy of this speech was sent over by the Lord Deputy
to the King, who expressed in strong terms his approba-
tion of the zeal and fidelity which it displayed. The speech,
though no unfavourable specimen of political talents, failed
in the accomplishment of the end proposed, a failure which,
as Dr. Parr remarks, was attended with the most impor-
tant consequences to the country, for had the army been
increased to the full establishment, it is most probable the
disastrous rebellion of 1641 would never have taken place.

In addition to these political anxieties, the Primate was
greatly occupied by the affairs of Trinity College. The
disputes between the Provost and Fellows, to which allu-
sion has already been made% still continued, and it appeared
that the removal of the Provost in some quiet manner, was
evidently the only method of preserving the discipline and
good order of the College. Archbishop Ussher seems to have
persuaded the Provost to resign, for he states, in a letter to
Archbishop Abbot: " The** time is now come, wherein we
have at last wrought upon Sir William Temple to give up
his place, if the other may be drawn over." That other was
Mr. Sibbes, the preacher of Gray's Inn. However, all dif-
ficulty about the resignation was unexpectedly removed by
the death of Sir William Temple, who expired on the 15th
of January, 162|, five days after the date of the Primate's
letter. When the vacancy occurred, he wrote a second time
to Archbishop Abbot, renewing his recommendation of Mr.
Sibbes, but, in case of his refusal to accept the office, sug-
gesting Mr. Bedell or Dr. Featley. The Archbishop of
Canterbury sent over Mr. Sibbes, with a letter not very

' See p.ig. 33.

' See vol. .\v. pag. 361.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

complimentary to the preceding Provosts : " I send unto
you Mr. SibbeSj who can best report what I have said unto
him. I hope that CoUedge shall in him have a very good
master, which hitherto it hath not had." The Fellows,
however, on this occasion, did not shew any wish to oblige
either their Chancellor or Vice-Chancellor. They divided,
indeed, into two parties', but neither chose Mr. Sibbes. It
does not appear what could have been the cause of such a
disappointment, when Mr. Sibbes had actually come over
to Dublin. It is, however, most probable that he declined
being a candidate when he saw the unpromising aspect of

' The following letter, written at the close of this dispute, by the
Chancellor of the University, Archbishop Abbot, and preserved among
the papers of Trinity College, may perhaps be interesting :
" To my verie loving Friends the Seniors and other fellows of T. C. near
Dublin give these.

" Salutem in Christo. I am sorry that upon the death of your late Pro-
vost there was such distraction in your election, that for all the time since
your College hath been forced to be without the principall governor
thereof. But it hath at length pleased his Majesty to give a remedy
thereunto by appointing unto you for that place Mr. Beedle, a man of
great worthe, and one who hath spent some time in the parts beyond the
seas, and so comoth unto you better experienced than an ordinary person.
You shall do well to yield unto him all reverence and respect, which will
not only be a good contentation to his Majesty, but a comfort unto him,
that having left his country and friends here he may find a quiet harbour
to rest there vidth the good affection and lyking of those with whom hee is
to converse.

"I have looked into the question ; whether the Seniors or the whole
Society be to make election of such places as are voyd within your house ;
but do evidently find that in the constitution of your College (as things
stand now) it doth appertayn to the sett number of your auncients, and
not to the generality ; which should be no discontentment to the juniors,
because in progress of time themselves may ascend unto that which the
others enjoy. I have no more to recommend unto you, but that in the
elections of your fellows and scholars you should ever have a principall
care to the bringing in of the natives of that country, for to that end your
College was principally founded, and both God and the King, together
with all good men, may and do expect so much at your hands. And so
praying the God of peace to direct all your ways in peace and love one
to another, and to blcsse all your studies to the honour of his name, and
to the good of his Church, I forbear to be further troublesome unto you,
but rest

"Your very loving friend and Chancellor,

" G. Cant.

" Lambelh, June 2, 1G27."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

afTairs in the College, and tins explanation is confirmea
by the fact, that Archbishop Ussher recommended others.
When the Senior Fellows elected the learned Joseph Mede,
they stated that he was one of the persons named by Arch-
bishop Ussher. The Junior Fellows elected Dr. Robert
Ussher, son to Primate Henry Ussher, and formerly a Fel-
low, and he was actually sworn in Provost. However, the
Senior Fellows persevered in their election, and sent over a
deputation to Cambridge, requesting Mede to accept the
office ; but this he declined, assigning as his reasons " the
great difference accompanying their election and the incon-
veniences that he saw must follow thereupon."

Upon the refusal of Mr. Mede, the Senior Fellows elected
Mr. Bedell. Although the right of election was at that
time vested in the Fellows, yet it appears that the King,
the Chancellor, and Vice-Chancellor, had but little regard
to the chartered rights of the Fellows", or considered that
they had only a right of election after a nomination, which
is a mere nullity. The entry in the College Registry is as
follows : " May 30. Mr. William Bedell a batchelor of Theo-
logy of Emanuel College in Cambridge was promoted to the
place by the King's Majesty's mandat : our most Reverend
Chancellors letters of recommendation, our Vice-Chancellor
the Lord Primate of Ireland, Dr. James Ussher, approving
of him ; was admitted and chosen by the unanimous consent
of the Fellowes the xvi"" of August." Bedell's reluctance
to accept the Provostship was overcome by the advice of
the Primate, and he set out for Dublin. His diary is still
preserved in the first Registry book of Trinity College, and
in it is described his arrival in Dublin, and his setting out
the next day on horseback to visit the Primate at Termon-
fechen, near Drogheda, where most of the Fellows were
assembled to meet him. The first act of the Primate to the

" This practice of interference continued also in tlie election of Bedell's
successor. Nor was the interference confined to the Provostship. There
is an official letter, in 1634, recommending, or commanding, the College
to return Sir James Ware and James Donnellan as burgesses ; and the
mandates to appoint Fellows, contrary to the provisions of the Statutes,
are numerows.

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSIIER.

new Provost, was placing under his care a lately converted
Roman Catholic priest, Mr. O Fary^'.

These public and embarrassing duties did not divert the
Primate's attention from the interests of literature, or from
augmenting his library with manuscripts as well as printed
works. To the MSS. in the East he looked particularly
for assistance in his Biblical researches, and he found an able
agent in jNIr. Davies, who was settled at Aleppo, as chap-
lain to the English merchants residing there. Among the
treasures procured by Mr. Davies were several copies of the
Samaritan Pentateuch, and the Syriac version of the Old
Testament. The Archbishop says, in a letter to Capellus :
" Samaritanam'" Pentateuchi editionem vel primus vel certe
inter primos nostris temporibus in occidentem ipse intuli."
With indefatigable diligence he collated the various readings
of the Hebrew and Samaritan copies, and would have pub-
lished them, had he not found it impossible to find a booksel-
ler who would undertake the work. However, at the request
of Selden, he transcribed, for his Marmora Arundeliana,
those parts of the fifth and eleventh chapters of Genesis
which contain the genealogies of the Patriarchs, and accom-
panied the copy with a very learned letter^, in which he
examines the Samaritan chronology, as published by Sca-
liger, and comments upon the remarks of Julius Africanus,
Eusebius Caisariensis, and Georgius Syncellus. Selden, in
his preface, acknowledges his obligations to the Primate in
very strong terms : " Codicem vero^, qui ha^c nobis suppe-
ditavit Samaritanum magnis impensis ante quadriennium
aut circiter ex oriente sibi comparavit reverendissimus an-
tistes, Jacobus Usserius, archiepiscopus Armachanus, vir
summa pietate, judicio singular!, usque ad miraculum doctus
et Uteris severioribus promovendis natus. Mecum exemplar
quod vetustius est et charactere Samaritano, scilicet vctus-

^ In Bedell's Rogistry is the following entry : "Mr. O Fary desired a
chamber, and had liberty to keep in y' w''' belongs to the Provost at y''
staire foot."

" See Letter 295, vol. xvi. pag. 219. It is probable that the first copy
was introduced into Europe by Pietro della Valle.

* Letter 127, vol. xv. pag. 380. > Selden, op. torn. ii. pag. 1445.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEIl.

tissimo et Ebifeis in usu ante Esdree tempera, descriptura,
pro humanitate sua, cui plurimum me debere semper agnos-
co, in Anglia circa id tempus communicavit. In Hiberniam
secum postmodum transvexit, priusquam iis quae volui inde
exscribere adversaria mea ditassem. Literis igitur nuper
rogatus, eas capitum v. et. xi. Geneseos partes quae patriar-
charura tempera designant, ex eodem ad me ex Hibernia
transmisit exscriptas, seu potius accuratissime depictas.
Nam ut ipsissimi characterum apices ubique reprtesenta-
rentur curavit, quod charta oleo perlita, quae facilem ex-
scribenti operam efficeret, preestitum est." The copy from
which these extracts were given, was presented by the
Archbishop to the library of Sir Robert Cotton, with the
following inscription :

" Pentateuclium Samaritanimi a decern tribuum reli-
quiis, post regni Israelitici escidiujn, primo acceptum,
a Dositheo Samaritanim pseudo-proplieta, temporibus
Apostolorum postea iuterpolatum, ab Ecclesiasticis
scriptoribus Eiisebio, Diodoro, Hieronymo, Cyrillo,
Procopio, Auespero, Georgio Clironograplio identidem
citatum, atque a Cuthaeis hodiernis demum redemp-
tum, Bibliothecce Cottonianse, quse amicissinii Domiui
siimma humanitate semper milii patuit,

" L. M. D.
" Jacobus Usseeius
" Armachanus, Hiberniae Primas."

There is also the following memorandum in the Arch-
bishop's handwriting :

" Ex librarii notatione ad calcem Geueseos colligimus
exemplar hoc sexcentis siclis argenteis (h. e. libris An-
glicanis 75) emptum fuisse mense Eabi anni 792. regni
Ismaelis, circa Martium viz. mensem anni rerte Chris-
tiana? 1390.

" Jacobus Armachanus."

Two other copies were presented by the Archbishop, one
to Archbishop Laud, and the other to Ludovicus de Dieu.
On the copy presented to Archbishop Laud, and now depo-
sited in the Bodleian Library, is written :

LIKE 01" ARCHBISHOP USSHEll.

" Pentateucluim hoc Saniaritanum, iu principio et
fine mutilatum, antiquissimis Phoenicuni Uteris descrip-
tum, ab Ecclesiasticis scriptoribiis Eusebio, Diodoro
Tarsensi, Hieronymo, Cyrillo, Procopio, Gazajo, Georgio
Syncello et aliis sapius est citatum, a Cuthteis vero
hodiernis una cum aliis aliquot eorum mouuuientis
redemit

" Jacobus Usserius Armachanus
" Hibernise Primas."

Underneath Archbishop Laud has written :

" Quilibrum tunc mihi dono dedit.

"W. Cant."

In the end of the book is the following memorandum :

" Folia postrema 1i£ec sex jussu reverendissimi prse-
sulis Gulielmi Laud Arcliiepiscopi Cantuarensis de-
scripta sunt ex vetusto, eoque integro, Bibliotheca;
Cottonianse exemplari : quod anno Ismaelitarum, sive
Hegirse Mahommedanaj dclxiv. id est, salutis reparatse,
a. mccclxii. junctis operis in Oriente exararunt Itha-
mar ben Aharon atque Abraham ben Abi Nitzaion,
nomine seu auspiciis Semoki Tobi Isaak, ben Semoki
Selomoh, ben Jacob, ex familia Isburiana, summo in
agro Damasceno principatu insigni : sic Abraham ille
ad Numerorum calcem in memorato exemplari subno-
tavit."

De Dieu uses the strongest language to express his sense
of the favour conferred upon him. He speaks of a Syrian
manuscript given him " ab^ ornatissimo, doctissimo, et
leterna memoria digno Prsesule, Jacobo Usserio Archiepis-
copo Armachano, qui et ante biennium me Pentateucho
Samaritano beaverat." In two letters^ written to De Dieu,
the Archbishop gives an account of the different manu-
scripts which he had obtained from the East, and he subse-
quently lent them to Bishop Walton, for the edition of the
Polyglott Bible which he was preparing. The Archbishop

' Ludov. do Dieu, Comment, in quaUior Evangclia, Priet'.
» Sec Letters 186 and 190. vol. xv. pag. 555, 567.

LIFE OF AHCHBISHOP CSSHER.

at this time was meditating an edition of the Syriae version
of the Old Testament, and sent a person into Holland for
the purpose of purchasing types fit for the work: no account
is given of the cause which induced him to give up so im-
portant an undertaking.

In the year 1628'' commenced'the correspondence between
the Archbishop and Laud, then Bishop of London, which
was kept up without interruption for twelve years, and only
terminated by the unfortunate calamities of the country. It
is quite evident that Ussher had no suspicion of his illus-
trious correspondent entertaining any aflfection for the doc-
trines of Popery, and his exertions to make him Chancellor
of the University of Dublin prove incontestably that he
regarded him as the fittest person to support the Protestant
University, and with it the cause of Protestantism in Ire-
land. On the other hand, the terms in which Archbishop
Laud speaks of Ussher, afford sufficient evidence that he
was not the Puritan which the enemies of our Church
represent him to have been, and that if he did not enforce
the discipline of the Church, it was not from want of affec-
tion for its ordinances, but from the gentleness of his nature,
which rendered him unwilling to inflict punishment.

The next year commences with an extraordinary demand
upon the Archbishop to exert his authority in civil matters,
and gives a curious specimen of the state of Ireland at that
period. The declaration of the Bishops, of which an ac-
count has been given before, and the still more annoying
remonstrance of the English House of Commons to the
King, " that the Popish religion was publicly professed in
every part of Ireland : and that monasteries and nunneries
were there newly erected and replenished with votaries of
both sexes, which would be of evil consequence, unless
seasonably repressed," were not sufficient to prevent the
success of the Recusants in obtaining favours from the
Crown. In despite of public clamour and suspicion, the
Irish agents proceeded to London, and made an offer to the

^ In the Diary of Provost BedoU it is recorded, that on the •28th of De-
cember in this }-ear, the Primate dined in the College Hall.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHER.

King of a voluntary contribution of one hundred and twenty
thousand pounds, to be paid in three years. The graces
which they solicited in return for this extraordinary exer-
tion of loyalty, were in some instances favourable to Recu-
sants, but in general were calculated for the redress of
grievances which persons of all denominations experienced,
and had an obvious tendency to promote the peace and
prosperity of the country. The bounty was accepted, the
graces were conferred, and were transmitted, by way of
instructions, to the Lord Deputy and Council. The articles
in these instructions were very numerous: perhaps the most
important was that for the security of all proprietors; their
several estates were to be confirmed to them and their heirs
by the next Parliament to be holden in Ireland, and also
an Act was to be passed for a free and general pardon, in
order to remove the apprehensions of every one throughout
the realm. In these instructions the sincerity of the King
is at least doubtful, for he took no legal steps'^ to summon
a Parliament: however, the people relied on the royal pro-
mise, and the concessions were considered as fully granted,

In the instructions the King fixed the third day of the succeeding
month of November, as the time when he intended the Parliament sliould
be holden. Lord Falkland, without attending to any further circumstances
of formality, issued writs of summons for an Irish Parliament to meet on
the day named by the King. The impropriety of this proceeding was ob-
vious : by the law of Poynings, a certificate of causes and considerations,
by the Lord Deputy and Council, was previously necessary, before the
King's license could be transmitted for holding a Parliament in that king-
dom. The Council Board of England soon discovered and censured an
omission so essential. The matter was referred to the Judges, who pro-
nounced the present writs of summons illegal and void. It seems extra-
ordinary that the King and his Ministers could have been ignorant of the
legal method of proceeding on this occasion : or if that careless inatten-
tion to the affairs of Ireland, which sometimes prevails in England in
times the most composed, betrayed them into error in those days of agi-
tation, it is still more extraordinary that the Deputy and Council of Ire-
land should have been equally ignorant and erroneous. But whether the
irregularity were casual or premeditated, nothing could have been cor-
rected more easily and readily, if Charles had been sincerely disposed to
give effectual relief and satisfaction to his Irish subjects. Yet no new
writs were issued, or any new time assigned for a legal and regular
convention of the Irish Parliament.— Leland, vol. ii. pag. 487.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

because an Act of State, though not confirmed by Parlia-
mentary sanction, had usually great authority in Ireland ;
but before any suspicion of sincerity was excited, these
graces produced discontent and divisions. All submitted
cheerfully to the contribution, which was the price of the
favours conferred, but the Recusants assumed to themselves
the whole merit, and disregarded the Protestants, who paid
above a third part of the public charge ; they professed the
greatest loyalty, but secretly exulted in the persuasion, that
the authority of the Crown in Ireland could not be sup-
ported without their assistance, and, urged on by their
ecclesiastics, proceeded to the most imprudent excesses.
They celebrated their religious worship with public solem-
nity, and with the full parade of their ostentatious ritual.
They seized churches for their service, avowedly and se-
verely executed their ecclesiastical jurisdiction, erected every-
where new monasteries, and even in the city of Dublin
established a college for the education of their youth, under
the superintendence of a distinguished ecclesiastic.

The Protestants, galled by these intemperate proceedings,
urged upon the Lord Deputy the necessity of interference.
Lord Falkland, indisposed to severity from his natural dispo-
sition, and instructed by the English Government to display
the greatest moderation in religious matters, was at length
compelled to issue a proclamation, importing that " the late
intermission of legal proceedings, against Popish pretended
titular Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Deans, Vicars-gene-
ral, Jesuits, Friars, and others, deriving their pretended
authority from the see of Rome, in contempt of his Majesty's
royal power and authority, had had such an extravagant
insolence and presumption in them, that he was necessi-
tated to charge and command them, in his Majesty's name,
to forbear the exercise of their Popish rites and ceremo-
nies." This proclamation was not treated even with the
common respect due to an Act of State. At Drogheda
it was received with peculiar marks of contempt, as ap-
pears from a letter of the Lord Deputy to Archbishop
Ussher, in which he states : " 1 have received information
both of the unreverend manner of publishing the late pro-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

clamation at Diogheda, and the ill observance of the same
since it was published. For the first, that it was done in
scornful and contemptuous sort, a drunken soldier being
first set up to read it, and then a drunken serjeant of the
town ; both being made by too much drink incapable of that
task (and perhaps purposely put to it), made the same seem
like a May game. And for the latter, that there is yet very
little obedience shewed thereto by the Friers and Priests ;
only that they have shut up the foredoor of some of their
mass houses ; but have as ordinary recourse thither by their
private passages, and do as frequently use their superstitious
services there, as if there were no command to the con-
trary ; those mass houses being continued in their former
use (though perhaps a little more privately) without any
demolishing of their altars, &c." The Lord Deputy then
complains, in very strong terms, of the Archbishop not
having given him information of the proceedings at Drog-
heda, and censures him for his neglect of duty as a Privy
Counsellor. He concludes by calling upon him to take the
assistance of Mr. Justice Philpot, and inquire into the cir-
cumstances of the case.

Archbishop Ussher appears to have been justly oifended
with this letter, and the Lord Deputy sent him an apo-
logy, protesting he did not intend to give his Grace any
cause of discontent, and blaming his Secretary. It seems
strange, indeed that the Lord Deputy should not require
his information from the commander of the garrison at
Drogheda, rather than from the Archbishop ; more particu-
larly, as the Archbishop had just been visited by a severe
domestic calamity, in the sudden death of his learned and
excellent brother, Ambrose Ussher''. A few days after, a

Ambrose Ussher, the only brother of the Archbishop, was educated
for a short time at Cambridge, and then became a Scholar and Fellow of
Trinity College, Dublin. Ilis literary attainments were very considera-
ble, particularly in the Eastern languages. The very learned William
Eyre mentions him with great respect, in a letter to the Archbishop.
" Interea vero loci agnosco me valde obajratum esse et tibi et doctissimo
fratri tuo Arabrosio, qui peritissima manu sua quaidam in meum usum ex
Alcorano Arabice exscripsit." — Epist. 4. vol. xv. pag. 21. He died in
March, 162|. The only work he published was, A brief Catechism, very

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP CSSHER.

letter of thanks was sent to the Archbishop from the Lord
Deputy and Council, for his exertions in investisratinir some
irregular proceedings charged against the titular Bishop of
Raphoe, and for ascertaining the proprietors of the conven-
tual houses in that town. They inform His Grace that they
had given directions to His ^Majesty's Attorney- General,
" to put up informations in His Majesty's Court of Exche-
quer against the proprietors and possessors of the houses,
that thereby may be made for such further cause of pro-
ceeding as the several cases shall require."

On the 1 3th of September, 1G29, Archbishop Ussher
consecrated, at St. Peter's, Drogheda, the learned and ex-
well serving for the instruction of youth, published without date. There
is a large collection of his works, in manuscript, preserved in the library
of Trinity College. The most considerable work was a translation of the
Bible into English, with a dedication to James I. It is supposed that this
was not printed, in consequence of the translation undertaken by direction
of the King. The other works are :

Disputationes contra Bellarminum de Capitibus Fidei cum Synagoga
Romana controversis. 4 tom. fol.

An Arabic Dictionary and Grammar.

Sermons onLuke, xvii. 16, Rom. x. 17; on perfect Reformation, preached
before the State; on Psalm cxix. 60, against delaying Repentance.
Sermons on Matt. xi. 28, 29, 30 ; Psalm Ixxxii. 7 ; Luke, x. 20.
Notffi in Evangelium S. Matthaei.
Exposition of the four first Chapters of St. Matthew.
Summaria Religionis Christians Methodus.
The beginning of a work entitled, The greater Catechism.
Theologia sen Corpus Theologise positivse cum Catena S. Scripturae.
Miscellanea Theologica.

The Reducing of Scripture Doctrine to the Use of the Conscience.
An Exposition of St. Paul's Epistle to Philemon.
The Examples of Holy Scripture unfolded.

Loca in quibus Arabica Geneseos translatio ab Interpretatione LXX.
recedit vel in quibus ab ea cum fonte Hebrsea discrepat.

Loca in quibus Arabica Evangelia diiferimt a Vulgata Lectione.
Apocalj-psis S. Johannis Hebraice.
A Discourse on Acts, xxiii. 1, 2, 3.

Texts of Scripture to illustrate those two Articles of the Creed con-
cerning the Holy Ghost and the Catholic Church.

Various Forms of Prayer, and several Forms of Blessing, collected
from the Liturgy and the Holy Scriptures.

The Principles of Religion explained in English, Greek, Latin, and
Hebrew.

The Foundation of the Christian Religion gathered into six Principles.

LIFE Of ARCIIBISHOr USSUER.

emplary Dr. Bedell'", Bishop of Kilinore and Ardagli : the
assisting bishops were Robert Bishop of Down and Connor,
Theophilus Bishop of Dromore, and James Bishop of
Clogher. This appointment appears to have been made at
the request of the Bishop of London (Laud), who, in one
of his letters to Archbishop Ussher, expresses great satis-
faction that " Mr. Bedells preferment gives your Grace

Important Considerations about Popery, collected from different Places.
Confutatio Errorum Ecclesipe Romana?.
Libri 4. de sacra Eucharistia, et Libri duo contra Papistas.
Translation of the cxlv. cxlvii. cxlviii. cl. Psalms.
Sermons on Matthew xi. 28, 33, 41, with miscellaneous Observations on
other Matters.

Notie in Aratum Solensem, Martialem, Ovidii Epistolas, Elegias, Li-
brum de Arte Amandi, &c. pro illustranda Sacra Scriptura.

NotfEinNicandrum, Plautum, Catullum, TibuUum, Propertium, Gra}cos
Autores, Titum Andronicum, Ennium, Naevium, M. Pacuvium, L. Accium,
Annajum Senecam, Manilium, Petronium Arbitrum, pro illustranda S.
Scriptura.

NotjB in Pindari Carmina.

Excerpta ex Prospero Aquitanico Episcopo Rcgiensi.

Of the Kingdom of Great Britain, or a Discourse on the Question of
Scotland's Union with England, shewing, 1st. What the Union is ; 2dlj'.
Reasons enforcing the Union ; 3dly. The supposed Enormities from the
Union answered.

Laus Astronomia?.

De Usu Spherte, cum Numero Constellationum.

« Mr. Mason, in his Life of Bishop Bedell, has described the Fellows at
this period " as factious and uncivilized;" and adds, " that it is scarcely
to be wondered at, that his gentle spirit should shrink from the certain
tempest." That disturbances had arisen in the College, nay, that there
never had I eea peace within its walls, is very certain : but that this was
the consequence of the misrule, to which the Fellows had been subjected
from the first opening of the College, will appear from the following letter
addressed to the Provost, which places them in a very favourable point
of view, and proves that they fully appreciated the value of his services :
" To the Rev", and worshipful William Bedell, D. D., and Provost of

T. Coll. near Dublin these give. At Horminger, near St. Edmonds

Bury in Suffolk.

" Rev. and Wokshipful Sib, — Our earnest desire of your speedy re-
turn and present residence in the College, as the present condition doth
require, doth enforce us to solicit and importune you, as well by letters
as by this speciall messenger, to hasten your journey towards us. The
College affairs and welfare, as depending upon your providence and care
in all actions and government thereof, doth require your presence and care
more and more. In the time of your absence you know there can be no
VOL. I. H

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

such contentment." The Fellows of Trinity College were
obliged to petition the King, that they might be allowed

lawful admission of students unto this society without your authority and
approbation : there can be no conferring of degrees either in the College
or University : no election of Fellows or Scholars, no distribution of
chambers to such as will resort hither in expectation of your admission.
The Fellows are not to proceed against any parties in matters of law
without consent of the Provost, for no pleadings in their name can be
effectual, and without such course and order the College is like to suffer
at their hands this next Term, who have any controversy with it for
lands or rents. It is to be considered that the tenants being backward to
pay their rents will take occasion to delay their payments, as appeareth
by their words and actions in some part since your departure, alledging
that no discharge can secure them in the absence of the Provost, and that
the power and authority of the Fellows is no sufficient warrant in his
absence for their security from futui-e troubles. Some reports have pos-
sessed very many in this kingdom that you intend to resign your place of
Provost in this College, and to continue your residence in England, which
reports, as we hope, are most untrue, and such thoughts are far from
your heart, whose zeal and affection doth aim above all things at the
glory of God and the good of his Church, both which you cannot any
where so much as in this kingdom further and advance, if it please you to
continue and persist in your former zealous and godly resolutions : as we
know no man so worthy of this government as yourself, so our affection
and duty do ever according to your deserts prefer you before all others.
Your first endeavours amongst us do assure us of prosperous success in
the godly education of the students of this society, and pronounce much
future happiness to arise to this Church and Commonwealth, by your
longer residence and godly labours. We beseech you that neither expec-
tation of altering the College charter or effecting any other matter at
Court may delay your return. The words of discontented men and
ignorant relations of some others ought not to divert wise men from their
prudent and honest determination, which, we assure us, will be truly veri-
fied in you. Mr. John Floyd is departed hence for England without con-
sent or notice of the Fellows : as his attempts have formerly proved, his
labours are to hinder the good of this College by his pragmatical and
sinister plots. His allegations to you we desire you to refer to full trial
at your return. He hath formerly showed himself as ready to deny as
to affirm the same things. We desire you as for the glory of God, so for
the perpetual good of the College, to persist constant in your desire to
advance this society by your presidence and residence therein : there is
no place nor people that love you better or more willing and careful to en-
crease your means. The part of the lecture at Christ Church, which
became void by Mr. Parry's departure, is conferred on you: and there
is good hope that the benefice of the Treasurership of St. Patrick's Church
will shortly devolve unto you, which is compatible with your place in the
College as the opinion is of those that know that living best. The more
ample relation of these and all other passages we refer to Mr. Travers,

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHER.

to exercise their chartered right of electing a Provost, and,
by the advice*^ of the Bishop of London, the King " leaves

who from us is to inform jou of all occurrences and particulars according
to our common directions. Your present return or letters must settle us
and all others concerning the truth of these forementioned reports, and ol'
your intentions and resolutions in this behalf, both which we expect and
daily wish for, beseeching God to direct and bless unto you and us all
our designs and actions, that they may tend to his glory, the welfare of
his Church and the good of this College, which cannot well consist with
any credit without the presence of her Provost, as her chiefest Governor,
Protector, and Preserver. These our relations and hearty requests of
your return and presence we recommend with the dutiful remem-
brance of our duties and best affections unto you : and continue in all
service and love, most willing and desirous to procure a further encreaso
and continuance of all happiness unto you, as your most affectionate and
truly loving well wishers

Nath. Lynch. John Johnson. Joseph Travers.

David Thomas. W'" Fitzgerald.
" Trin. Coll. Dublin, 28 April, 1628."

It appears also from the following document, that the Fellows had not
confined themselves to mere expressions of good will, but had exerted all
their influence to procure for their Provost the office of Lecturer at Christ
Church :

" To the Rt. Honble the Lord Deputy, the humble petition of the Vice
Provost, Fellows and Scholars of Trin. Coll. near Dublin.

" Humbly representing, that whereas there was a concordatum of £40
St. yearly granted unto the said College in anno 1599 for the keeping of
a public and standing lecture unto the State : which £40 st. was in the
year following by letters patents confirmed unto this College for ever
to the use abovementioned, as likewise for tiie better maintenance of the
Provost, and hath accordingly been paid unto the said College from
time to time until of late years the Provost and Fellows left it in your
Lordships disposal. Now in regard our grant thereof is good as con-
firmed unto us by Letters Patents as may appear, and that we have lately
drawn over a worthy and able man as well in the general for the public
good and service of the Church, as in particular of this Society, to less
means than he enjoyed in his own country : it may therefore please your
Lordship that for the better maintenance of our said Provost, who is de-
sirous to undertake a part of that charge in the Cathedral, the said
£40 St. per annum, may be continued and paid unto the College, as it
hath formerly been, the grounds and reasons remaining the same at this
present, upon which these payments have been made in former times.
And they shall ever pray, &c. &c."

f However Bishop Laud might have given this advice, and thus have
principally contributed to the election of Dr. Robert Ussher, his real in-
tentions appear from a letter addressed to Lord Strafford. He writes
thus : "When the Bishop of Kilmore was preferred from that government,

H 2

100

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU,

them to their freedom'^, so as they did choose such a man as
wouUl be serviceable to the Church and him," The choice

I was resolved to make the Dean of Cashel that now is (William Chappel)
his successor ; and tho my Lord Primate writ very earnestly for a native
and his kingsman that now is Provost, with assurance of his sufficiency
(yet now his Grace writes to me that the Provost is too weak for the
government, and the Statutes too), and tho two of the fellows came over
and petitioned his Majesty, yet all this should hardly have taken me ofF,
had not the Dean of Cashel at that time absolutely refused me, and if
now your Lordship think him as fit for the place as I do, I will join with
you for the preferring the present Provost, and to be revenged of his
former refusal put in the Dean of Cashel, always provided that for his
better encouragement he may hold the deanery." — See Strafford's Letters,
vol. i. pag. 213.

E The proceedings in this business where the King professed his willing-
ness to comply, will shew in what manner rights founded on royal charters
were considered in those days, and how lightly they were treated by the
King and his ministers. When the King announced his intention of
appointing the Provost to the bishoprics of Kilmore and Ardagh, the
Lord Deputy sent the following letter to the Fellows :

" After our hearty commendations. The enclosed is extracted out of
his Majesty's letter unto us of the 16 of last month ; for conferring of the
Bishopricks of Kilmore and Ardagh upon Mr. Bedell now Provost of that
College. By it you shall discern his Majesty's royal care of your Society
and of the property thereof, and to that end his pleasure expressed touching
your forbearance to proceed to the election of another Provost, until his
resolution be signified, which we require you to observe accordingly. So
we bid you heartily farewell. From his Majesty's Castle of Dublin, 13
May 1629.

" Your very loving friend,

"Henry Falkland.

" ' Extract.

' ' ' And as we were pleased by our former gracious letters to establish
the said William Bedell by our Royal authority in the Provostship of the
said College of the blessed Trinity near Dublin : where we are informed
that by his care and good government there hath been wrought great re-
formation, to our singiilar contentment ; so we purpose to continue our
said care of that Society being the principal nursery of religion and learn-
ing in that our Realm, and recommend unto the College some such person
from whom we may expect the like worthy effects for their good as we
and they have found from Mr. Bedell. This we would have you signify
to the end that they may not proceed to make their election of another
Provost, until they shall understand our further resolution : which shall
be guided by no other reason or motive but what regards their prosperity
which we exceedingly affect. Neither do we purpose to make this a pre-
cedent to deprive them of any liberty granted them by their charter.

" 'Dated 16 April, 1629, &c.' "

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHER.

101

Icll upon Dr. Robert Usshcr, the individual elected by the
junior Fellows on the former vacancy.

" At the Court of Greenwich, the 18 of June, 1629.
' ' His Majesty being graciously pleased to allow to the Fellows and
College of Dublin the liberty of election of a Provost according to their
privilege, doth notwithstanding out of his princely care to have that
place well supplied, require the Fellows of that College before they admit
the person they shall so elect, to advertise his Majesty of their choice ;
and to this effect the clerk of the signet now attending is to prepare such a
letter or warrant as is agreeable for his Majesty's signature.

" Dorchester."

"June 26, 1629.

" I think it fit that a letter be prepared for his Majesty's signature
to the Lord Deputy to give order accordingly to the College at Dublin to
proceed to an election, after that my Lord Primate of Armagh hath
certified his judgment of Dr. Ussher.

" Gui.. London."

" Charles Rex.

" To our right trusty and right well beloved Cousin and Coimsellor
Henry Viscount Falkland, Lord Deputy of our Realm of Ireland.

"Right trusty and right well beloved Counsellor we greet you well.
Whereas the Fellows of the College of the blessed Trinity near Dublin
in that our realm of Ireland have nominated unto us for sufficiency in
learning and other abilities one Robert Ussher Doctor of Divinity as a fit
man to be their Provost ; we therefore at the nomination of the said Fel-
lows, in our princely disposition being desirous that a meet personage
should be preferred thereunto, ai"e graciously pleased to condescend thus
far unto them for their humble request herein, viz. that they shall pro-
ceed to an election of the said Dr. LTssher to be their Provost of the said
College. Wherefore we do hereby will and command you, upon receipt
of these our letters to permit and suffer the said Fellows to proceed to an
election of the said Dr. Ussher accordingly, any former inhibition or re-
straint to the contrary notwithstanding. Nevertheless our express will
and pleasure is, and we do by these presents require you to take special
care that the said Dr. Ussher be not after their election thereunto ad-
mitted, until we shall hereafter by our other letters signify imto you,
that we have received from the Lord Primate of Armagh a certificate of
his judgment and approbation of the said Dr. Ussher's fitness for that
place. And for so doing these our letters shall be your sufficient warrant
and discharge in that behalf.

" Given under our Signet at our Palace of Westminster the 29th day
of June in the 5th year of our reign."

Next follows the letter of the Lords Justices for the admission of Dr.
Ussher :

" After our hearty commendations. By letters from the late Lord
Deputy dated the 3rd of August last grounded on his Majcstys Utters of

102

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEH.

It seems extraordinary that no mention is made of Mede,
who had been elected by the senior Fellows on the former
vacancy. Mr. Francis Burnet applied to Mede, to know*^ if
he would accept the place of Provost, which was now about
to be vacant, and to which he had been formerly nomi-
nated by Archbishop Ussher. Most probably Mede's
regard for the Primate, and his knowledge of the relation-
ship between his Grace and Robert Ussher, prevented him
from accepting the proposal ; this supposition is confirmed
by a passage in a letter which he wrote to the Archbishop
after the appointment was filled up : he states' in it, that
though at first he had not given a positive refusal, yet
afterwards he had prevented Sir Nathaniel Rich from ap-
plying to the King to get him nominated. In Bishop
Laud's letter of June 25 we find him mentioning *' that
Lord Dorchester had desired the Fellows to recommend
two persons to his Majesty for the office, that choice might

the l(3th of April you were permitted to proceed to tlic election of Dr.

obert Ussher to be Provost of that College, with directions not to admit
him, until his Majestys further pleasure signified therein, which election
we are informed you have made accordingly ; and in obedience to the said
directions issued unto you have forborne to admit him. Now forasmuch
as his Majesty by his letters of the 13th of November last, hath declared
his royal approbation of the said election, we have therefore thought fit
to signify to you his gracious pleasure ; that you may (according to the
privilege given you by your charter) proceed to a free admission, confir-
mation and settling of the said Dr. Robert Ussher into the place of Pro-
vost of that Society, and unto all rights and profits thereunto belonging
and enjoyed by the former Provosts there ; and this being to no other
end, we bid you heartily farewell. From his Majesty's Castle of Dublin
13 Jan. 1629.

" Your very loving friends

Ad. Loftus Cane. } ^ ... ..

Justiciarn.

" Richard Cooke

When the admission was completed, the College was compelled to pay
for the King's Letter permitting them to admit the Provost. So narrow
were the means they possessed, that tlie demand for ten pounds caused
considerable inconvenience to them, and was with difficulty discharged.
It seems scarcely credible, that while it was allowed to have a Provost
elected under the privileges of the original charter, there should at the
same time be introduced a charge upon them for the royal interference in
their election.

h Mede's Works, pag 782. ' Ibid. pag. 783.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

103

be made between tbem :" a measure which they did not
think proper to adopt. These two persons may, perhaps,
have been Robert Ussher and Joseph Mede.

Upon this occasion the King was pleased to pay a
very high compliment to Archbishop Ussher, for he com-
manded the Bishop of London (Laud) to inquire from him,
what was his knowledge and judgment of the worth and
fitness of Dr. Ussher for this place, setting all kindred and
affection aside : " and upon that certificate of yours the
King will leave them to all freedom of their choice, or con-
firm it if made." Archbishop Ussher answered that appeal
in the following words : " Dr. Ussher is indeed my cousin-
german, but withal the son of that Father, at whose in-
stance, charge and travel the charter of the first foundation
of the CoUedge was first obtained from Queen Elizabeth,
which peradventure may make him somewhat the more to
be observed by that society. To his learning, honesty and
conformity unto the discipline of our Church no man, I
suppose, will take exception : and of his ability in govern-
ment he hath given some proof already, while he was Vice
Provost in that house ; where his care in preventing the
renewal of the leases at that time was such, that thereby
we have been now enabled so to order the matter, that
within these six years the College rents shall be advanced
well nigh to the double value they have been. Whereunto
I will add this much more, that I know he sincerely intend-
eth the good of his country, meaneth to go on where Dr.
Bedell hath left ; and in his proceedings will order himself
wholly according as your Lordship shall be pleased to direct
him. Which if it may prove an inducement to move his Ma-
jesty to confirm his election ; I shall hold myself strongly
engaged thereby to have a special eye to the government of
that College : seeing the miscarriage of any thing therein
cannot but in some sort reflect upon myself, who would
rather lose my life, than not answer the trust reposed in mc
by my Sovereign." Dr. Ussher was confirmed in the office
of Provost, but by no means answered the expectations that
the Archbishop formed of him.

The Primate received in the kindest spirit the apology

104

LU'E OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

of the Lord Deputy already alluded to, and determined to
pay him every respect on his unjust removal from the
government of Ireland. He declared his intention of
making a journey of purpose to Dublin having now no
other business there ;" and accordingly did attend him to
the water-side, where the Lord Deputy took an affectionate
leave; and, kneeling down, requested his Grace's blessing
before his departure. Dr. Parr states, " that the Primate
did not fail to express his friendship to Lord Falkland on
all occasions after his departure, doing his utmost by letters
to several of the Lords of his Majesties Privy Council here,
for his vindication from several false accusations which were
then laid to his charge by some of the Irish nation before his
Majesty ; which letters together with the vindication of the
Council of Ireland by their letter to his Majesty of his just
and equal government, did very much contribute to the
clearing of his innocence in these things whereof he was
then accused." It did not require the sagacity of the Arch-
bishop to discover that Lord Falkland was sacrificed to the
impatience of Charles and his ministers at the murmurings-*
of the Irish malcontents. The recusants, irritated at the
least restraint, inveighed against the agents whom they
had so lately commissioned to England, and maintained
that without authority they had imposed a tax too great to
be borne. Those who dreaded an inquiry into the titles of
their estates joined in the clamour ; and the result was,
that the Government was compelled to receive a quarterly

J Mr. lluid, in his History of the Presbyterians, on this, as well as upon
many other occasions, suits his narrative to the interests of his party.
He says : " The Romanist party were not without royal countenance and
support ; but owing to the zealous interference of the Protestant prelates,
who warmly opposed the legal toleration of Popery, it was not always in
the power of the King to favor them. Lord Falkland, whom Charles con-
tinued in the office of Deputy, was a lenient and inactive governor ; but
being married to a Roman Catholic lady, he was at all times prompt
enough in fulfilling the favorable wishes of the Court towards the Roma-
nists." The fact was, that Lord Falkland was removed, because he had
endeavoured to control the Roman Catholics, and roused them to petition
against him. The conduct of Archbishop Ussher at his departure would
alone be sulBcient to authenticate this view of the matter, if additional
evidence were required.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

105

payment of five thousand pounds instead of ten thousand
pounds ; that they were unable to meet the demands for
payment from the troops ; and in their discontent and an-
noyance admitted every complaint against the Lord Deputy.

The administration was now committed to the Lord Chan-
cellor, the Viscount Loftus, and the Lord Treasurer, the
Earl of Cork. The new Lords Justices, without consulting
the English ministry, or waiting for any instructions from the
King, pursued the recusants with severity, and threatened all
persons who absented themselves from divine service in the
parish churches, with the penalties of the Statute enacted
in the second year of Elizabeth's reign. They were, how-
ever, soon informed that this severity was not acceptable to
the King, nor deemed consistent with his present interests
in Ireland. The triumph of the recusants knew no bounds;
and a most extraordinary occurrence, even in those lawless
times, took place in the City of Dublin, A fraternity of
Carmelites appeared in the habit of their order, and pub-
licly celebrated their religious rites in Cork-street, then one
of the most frequented parts of Dublin. The Archbishop
of Dublin (Bulkeley), and the Mayor of Dublin, roused by
this defiance of law and government, led a party of the
army to their place of worship, and attempted to disperse
the assembly. The friars and their congregation repelled
the attack by force, and obliged their assailants to consult
their safety by a precipitate flight. The Archbishop escaped
with great difficulty by taking shelter in a house. No re-
mark is made by any of the historians upon the circumstance
of the Archbishop of Dublin appearing at the head of an
armed body ; and there seems no possible excuse for his
laying aside his sacred character, as the Mayor was present
to control the body of soldiers. No surprise was manifested
by the English Council, for they directed that the house
" wherein the Reverend Archbishop and the Mayor of Dub-
lin received the first publick affront be sjieedily demolished
and be a mark of terror to the resisters of authority." The
Lords Justices had been warned by the former reprimand,
and communicated their proceedings to the English Govern-
ment. Their report was now favourably received, and an

106

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

answer sent to the following effect: " By your letter we
understand how the seditious riot, moved by the Friars and
their adherents in Dublin hath by your good order and re-
solution been happily suppressed : and we doubt not but
by this occasion you will consider, how much it concerneth
the good government of that kingdom, to prevent in time
the just growing of such evils." The consequence of these
disturbances was the seizing upon the house in Back-lane
which had been used as a Popish college^ and giving it to
the University of Dublin, who placed there a rector and
scholars, and maintained a weekly lecture which the Lords
Justices often countenanced by their presence.

The alarming state of the Church induced the Commit-
tee of the Privy Council', to whom the affairs of Ireland
were intrusted, to represent the matter to the King ; and
His Majesty immediately sent the following letter to the
Archbishops of the four provinces :

" Charles Rex.

" Most Reverend Father in God, right trusty, and en-
tirely beloved, we greet j^ou well. Among such disorders

I* From the Kecords of Trinity College it appears that, at this time,
three mass-houses were given to the College, two in Bridge-street, and
one in Back-lane. Two Bachelors were appointed Masters in Bridge-
street, and their place to be annually elective. And, some time after,
there is an entry, that a Baehelor was appointed lecturer of all the Un-
dergraduates in Bridge-street, to receive a quarterly tuition, and also
the same quarterly rent for their chambers as were paid in Trinity Col-
lege, viz., 3s. 4d. from a Fellow Commoner, and Is. 8c?. from a Pen-
sioner. How long these houses remained in the possession of the College
cannot be ascertained. They were certainly occupied by them in 1637.
The enemies of Lord Strafford laid to his charge at his trial, that he had
restored to the Papists two mass-houses, which had been assigned to the
use of the University ; but he defended himself by alleging that they had
been restored in consequence of suits at the Council Board, and that he
had endeavoured to maintain their seizure.

' Dr. Parr calls them the Lords' Committee for Irish Aifairs, but it is
evident, from the letter itself, that it was a Committee of the Privy
Council. He also dates the letter 1G31, but this is a mistake, it should
be 1630; for April, 1630, was in the sixth year of Charles' reign. Bishop
Bedell had, on the 1st of April, 1630, addressed a letter to Bishop Laud,
giving a most melancholy account of the dioceses of Kilmore and Ardagh,
but this could not have reached London in time to have occasioned the
letter from the King.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

107

as the Lords of our Privy Council, deputed by us to a particu-
lar care of our realm of Ireland, and the affairs thereof, have
observed and represented to us in that Government, as well
ecclesiastical as civil ; we have taken in special considera-
tion the growth and increase of the Romish faction there,
and cannot but from thence collect, that the clergy of that
Church are not so careful as they ought to be, either of
God's service, or the honour of themselves, and their pro-
fession, in removing all pretences to scandal in their lives
and conversation ; wherefore as we have by all means en-
deavoured to provide for them a competency of maintenance,
so we shall expect hereafter on their part a reciprocal dili-
gence ; both by their teaching and example, to win that
ignorant and superstitious people to join with them in the
true worship of God. And for that purpose we have
thought fit, by these our letters, not only to excite your
care of these things according to your duty, and dignity of
your place, in that Church, but further to authorize you in
our name to give by your letters to the several bishops in
your provinces a special charge, requiring them to give
notice to their clergy under them in their dioceses respec-
tively, that all of them be careful to do their duty, by
preaching and catechising in the parishes committed to
their charge : and that they live answerable to the doctrine
which they preach to the people. And further we will, that
in our name you write to every bishop within your pro-
vince, that none of them presume to hold with their bishop-
rics any benefice™, or other ecclesiastical dignity whatsoever

The great offender was IMichael Boyle, Bishop of Waterford and Lis-
more. He was Fellow of St. John's, Oxford, when Laud was President,
and his character then was, "that he would have done any thing or sold
any man for sixpence profit." By the all-powerful interest of his cousin,
the Earl of Cork, ho was made Bishop of Waterford, and obtained a pa-
tent from James I. to hold, in commcndam with the bishopric, all the dig-
nities, promotions, and benefices which he possessed, except the deanery
of Lismore, and all benefices, dignities, and promotions, either with or
without cure, compatible or incompatible, in Ireland, in his or any other's
patronage. There was, indeed, one limitation, that he should not hold
more than one dignity or prebend in the same cathedral. His nephew,
Michael, Bishop of Cork, and afterwards Lord Primate and Lord Chan-
cellor, continued the same abuse after the Restoration, and appropriated

108

LIFE OF AUCHBISIIOP USSHER.

in their own hands, or to their own use, save only such as
we have given leave under our broad seal of that our
kingdom to hold in commendam : And of this we require
you to be very careful, because there is a complaint brought
to the said Lords Committees for Irish Affairs, that some
bishops there, when livings fall vacant in their gift, do
either not dispose them so soon as they ought, but keep the
profits in their own hands, to the hindrance of God's ser-
vice, and great offence of good people ; or else they give
them to young and mean men, which only bear the name,
reserving the greatest part of the benefice to themselves,
by which means that Church must needs be very ill, and
weakly served ; of which abuses, and the like (if any shall
be practised), we require you to take special care for the
present redress of them, and shall expect from you such
account of your endeavours herein, as may discharge you,
not to us only, but to God, whose honour and service it
concerns. Given under our signet at our palace at West-
minster, the twelfth of April, in the sixth year of our
Reign,"

Upon this letter Dr. Parr remarks, that it was evident
how much His Majesty was offended at the increase of the
Popish party in Ireland, and relates an anecdote which he
copied from Archbishop Ussher's memorandum book, in
these words: "The King once at Whitehall, in the presence
of George Duke of Buckingham, of his own accord said to
me, that he never loved Popery in all his life, but that he
never detested it before his going to Spain,"

The commands of the King fully agreed with the opinions
and practices of the Primate. His eflfects had been unre-
mitting to convert the Roman Catholics ; more than a year
before he had succeeded in the case of a gentleman of con-
siderable fortune, Mr. James Dillon ; and there is in the

to his own use the revenues of the livings that became vacant in his dio-
cese, under the pretence that he could not find clergymen to accept them.
He, however, was able to discover incumbents, when the Lord President
of ISIunster, Lord Orrery, announced to him, that, unless the livings were
filled, he would sequester their revenues for the support of some students
in Trinity College, Dublin.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

109

collection of letters" one addressed to the Archbishop by Dr.
Hakewill", afterwards Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, in
which he speaks " of this young gentleman whom you were
pleased to commend as a jewel of price to my care and trust,
praising God that your Lordship hath been made his in-
strument to reclaim him from the superstitions of the
Romish Church, and wishing that we had some more fre-
quent examples on that hand, in these cold and dangerous
times," This Mr. James Dillon was afterwards Earl of
Roscommon : and, at a subsequent period, it appears!" that
the Primate undertook the care of the young Lord of Evagh,
his father being dead, and kept a tutor for him in his own
family. Dr. Parr gives the following account of the Arch-
bishop's conduct in carrying out the directions contained in
His Majesty's letter : " lie'' made it is business to reclaim
those deluded people who had been bred up in the Roman
Catholic religion from their infancy ; for which end he began
to converse more frequently and more familiarly with the
gentry and nobility of that persuasion, as also with divers
of the inferior sort that dwelt near him, inviting them often
to his house, and discoursing with them with great mild-
ness of the chief tenets of their religion ; by which gentle
usage he was strangely successful, convincing many of them
of their errors, and bringing them to the knowledge of the

" See vol. XV. pag. 417.

" The Archbishop entertained a very high respect for Dr. Ilakcwill,
and addressed the following letter to him in praise of his work, " An
Apologue or Declaration of the Power and Providence of God:"

" Worthy Sir,

" It lyeth not in my power to make any sufficient requitall unto you for
the many courtesies which I received from you at Oxford ; but especially
for your last remembrance of mee with that noble monument of your
learning and Industrie, which you were pleased to send unto me. Other
books I seldom read but once, and that cursorily too for the most part :
but here juvat usque morari, the things contained thei-ein being so artifi-
cially mixed with such variety of learning and matter of delight, that
they can not but decies repetita placere.

" Your faithful friend and brother,

" Ja. Armachanus."

I' See MSS. Smith, in Bodleian Library, vol. Ixxiii. pag. 33.
'I Parr's Life, pag. 39.

110

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

truth. And he also advised the bishops and clergy of his
province to deal with the Popish recusants in their several
dioceses and cures after the same manner ; that if possible
they might make them understand their errors and the
danger in which they were ; which way in a country, where
there are no penal laws to restrain the publick profession of
the religion, was the best if not the only means that could
be used. Nor was his care confined only to the conversion
of the ignorant Irish Papists ; but he also endeavoured the
reduction of the Scotch and English sectaries to the bosom
of the Church as it was by law established, conferring and
arguing with divers of them, as well ministers as laymen,
and shewing them the weakness of those scruples and ob-
jections they had against their joyning with the publick
service of the Church and submitting to its government
and discipline."

In the winter of this year, the Primate suffered severely
from an extraordinary loss of blood : he says himself, "which
instruction'^ God did shortly after really seal unto me by his
fatherly chastisement, whereby he brought me even unto the
pits brink, and when I had received in myself the sentence
of death was graciously pleased to renew the lease of my
life again, that I might learn not to trust in myself, but in
him which raised the dead." On the 29th of May, 1630,
the Queen was safely delivered of a son. The King sent a
special messenger, Thomas Preston, Portcullis, one of the
officers of arms, to announce the joyful event* to the Lords
Justices, who appointed a day of public thanksgiving, and
wrote to the Primate an earnest request, that he would
preach at Christ Church on the occasion, if he could do so
without danger to his health. The Primate, though not

■• See letter 1G3, vol. xv. pag. 480.

' The event was received by his Majesty's subjects with very different
feelings. The Puritans were greatly disappointed, for they looked to the
descendants of the Electress Palatine. One of the leaders of that party did
not scruple to say, "He could see no such cause of joy, as the others did;
for God had already better provided for us, in giving the Queen of Bohe-
mia such a hopeful progeny brought up in the Protestant religion, whereas
the King's children being to be brought up under a mother of the Romish
persuasion, it was uncertain what religion they would follow."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Ill

yet perfectly recovered, complied, and preached a thanks-
giving sermon on the text, " Instead' of thy fathers shall be
thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the
earth."

At this time the Primate was actively engaged in endea-
vouring to prevent the grant of some impropriations from
the Church. From the correspondence with the Bishop of
London, and with the Lords Justices, it appears that Sir
John Bathe had obtained a letter from the King, granting
him certain impropriations, which had been all conferred
upon the Church. The Primate urges upon the Lords
Justices the propriety of stopping Sir John Bathe's patent,
because the letter from the King " had been gotten by mere
surreptition." He proceeds with great earnestness: " What-
soever" they knew or knew not of his Majesty's own pious
resolution and constant purpose never to revoke that which
he hath once given to God ; I rest so confident, as I dare
pawn my life upon it, that when he did sign those letters of
Sir John Bathe's, he had not the least intimation given
unto him, that this did in any way cross that former gift
which he made unto the Church, upon so great and mature
deliberation, as being grounded upon the advice, first of the
Commissioners sent into Ireland ; then of the Lords of the
Council upon their report in England, thirdly of King
James, that ever blessed Father of the Church, and lastly,
of the Commissioners for Irish affairs, unto whom for the
last debating and conclusion of this business, I was by his
now Majesty referred myself at my being in England." He
then concludes with the reasonable request, that " your
Lordships will stay your hands from passing Sir John Bathe's
patent, until my Lord of London himself shall signifie his
Majesties further pleasure unto you in this particular." This
letter was dated the 3rd of April, and at that very time they
sealed the patent in spite of this remonstrance, and kept the
fact concealed from the Archbishop, who persevered in his
endeavours to prevent, as he thought, the robbery from
being committed. He writes instructions a few days after

' Psalm xlv. ver. 16.

Letter 105, vol. xv. pag. 488.

112

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

to Dean Lesly, to take the proper measures for stopping the
patent ; among them is the following : " You are to put
the Lords Justices in mind from me, that in the instructions
which they received with the sword, they are authorized to
make stay of the passing of any grant, for which the Kings
letters are brought unto them, where they have cause to
doubt whether his Majesty were fully informed or no con-
cerning the conveniency or inconveniency of that particu-
lar. Wherein if my Lord of London's letter be not of
authority sufficient otherwise to make a legal attestation of
his Majesties royal intendment : yet I suppose it will carry
so much weight with it, as to stay their hands a little while
longer (as they have done hitherto, when they had nothing
so strong a motive) until his Majesty being fully informed
upon both sides, shall signifie his express pleasure unto
them in this particular. And in doing otherwise, they may
justly conceive that it will be charged upon them for a
neglect in performance of his Majesties pleasure." The
deception was carried on for three months, and at length
Bishop Laud writes to the Primate : " Though in your last
letters you be confident Sir John's grant is not past the
Seals, as he hath avouched it is : yet I must acquaint your
Grace that you are mistaken therein ; for it appeared at the
last sitting of the Committee, that the seal was put to his
grant at the beginning of April last. Of which doctrine
you may make this use ; what close conveyance and car-
riage there may be when the Church is to be spoiled."

Another paragraph in this letter shews at what an early
period the exaggerations with respect to the wealth of the
Irish Church commenced. Sir John Bathe stated, in a
speech for the purpose of enforcing his claims to the impro-
priations, " that the clergy had a third part of the king-
dom." Bishop Laud adds: " I represented to the Lords
the paper which you sent me concerning the state of the
County of Louth. It was a miserable spectacle to them
all." This return for Louth is not preserved ; but the
Return of the Diocese of Meath, printed in the Appendix,
will sufficiently prove the real state of the clergy.

These letters also bring to our notice the endeavours of

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

113

tlie Primate to procure the deanery of Armagh for the learned
Gerard John Vossius, and thus induce him to fix his resi-
dence in Ireland. Lord Brook had some time before made
an attempt to bring Vossius into England, by offering him
a readership at Cambridge, but he had excused himself on
the ground that he was unwilling, "in regard of his wife
and children, to bring them from all their kindred into a
strange place." Subsequently Charles I. had given him
the reversion of a prebend in the cathedral of Canterbury,
into which he was installed in the year 1629, and received
an allowance of one hundred pounds a year notwithstanding
his absence^. Bishop Laud remarks, that " the prebend
of Canterbury, would he have been a priest and resided
upon it, would have been as much to him as the deanery of
Armagh." Vossius did not accept the offer of the deanery,
if indeed it ever was made. Bishop Laud's answer to the
Primate's application is very mysterious : " But"' howso-
ever, my Lord, the King having given him that preferment
already, will hardly be brought to give him another, espe-
cially considering- what 1 could write to you, were it fit.
Nevertheless out of my love to the work you mention, if
you can prevail with Vossius to be willing, and that it may
appear the Deanery of Armagh will be of sufficient means
for him and his numerous family, if your Grace then certify
me of it, I shall venture to speak, and do such offices as
shall be fit." From this it appears that no scruple existed
in the minds of Laud or Ussher, as to giving prebends or
deaneries to persons who were not priests. Had this been
the opinion of Laud alone, many would gladly have seized
upon the fact, as an additional proof of his devotion even to
the abuses of the Romish system, but they will scarcely ven-
ture to include Ussher in such a censure. It seems, however,

" Grotius, after congratulating Vossius upon his appointment, says :
" Sane praeter commoda quaj tibi inde evenerunt, honos ille eximius est
et quod sciam tibi ac Pctro Molinaeo externorura habitus nemini. Id vero
est tanquam Corinthi raeruisse civitatnm." Grotius was mistaken, for the
^ same preferment had been given to Casaubon, and the same allowance
made to him.

" Letter lfi2, Works, vol. xv. pag. 478.
VOL. I. I

114

IJFE OF AUCIIBISHOP USSHER.

extraordinary, that Bishop Laud, in a subsequent letter to
the Primate, complains in very strong terms of the Lord
Chancellor Loftus holding an archdeaconry of good value,
when he was only a deacon. " Surely'' my Lord, if this
be so>, there is somewhat in it that I will not express by
letter, but were I his superior in ordinary, I know what
I would do, and that I have plainly expressed both to his
Majesty and the Lords committee."

The Primate was at this time much distressed by the
disputes, in which Bishop Bedell war involved by his zea-
lous endeavours to remove all abuses Irom his diocese. At
first the Primate appears to have been very unfavorably
impressed by the Bishop's conduct, but gradually these mis-
conceptions were removed, and their ancient friendship
restored. It is not improbable that much of the alienation

" See Letter 176, Works, vol. xv. pag. 525.

> The case was worse, for Sir Adam Loftus was only a layman. He
appears to have got possession of the Archdeaconry of Glendaloch about
the year 1594, for in that year he was Proctor to the CEconomy : his name
appears in the regal visitation of 1615. Sir Adam Loftus was nephew to
the Archbishop of Dublin ; he was a Professor of the Civil Law, and in
1595 constituted Judge of the JIarshall Court ; in 159S appointed Master
in Chancery ; in 1619 made Chancellor of Ireland, and in 1622 created a
peer by the title of Viscount Loftus of Ely. Shortly after the date of
tliis letter attempts were made to dispossess him of the archdeaconry.
It appears from an ancient visitation book in the Consistorial Registry
Office of Dublin, that a trial was held in the Archbishop's Court, and the
archdeaconry declared vacant. On the 24th of April, 1638, the Arch-
bishop of Dublin collated Edward Stanhope to the archdeaconry, who was
installed on the 1st of May, 1639, and appeared at the visitation of 1640.
Loftus, appealed, and the name of Viscount Loftus of Ely appears in the
Visitation Books of the three following years. However he contrived
to defeat the decision, it is certain he held the archdeaconry till his death,
which took place in 1643. These proceedings about the archdeaconry
will sufficiently account for the hostility of Lord Strafford to the Chan-
cellor, when a charge was brought against him before the Privy Council.
However illegal the sentence appears to us, it was not unusual at that
period, and in this case sanctioned by the approbation of the King him-
self. The invasion of the rights of the Church must have made Strafford
ready to listen with eagerness to any charges made against Lord Ely,
and no additional incitement was required from the base motives as-
signed to him by some historians. At this distance of time we can dis-
passionately view the transaction, and we must look with the utmost
indignation upon a Lord Chancellor trampling upon the law of the land,

LIFK OF ARCIIUISKOI' USSIIICR.

115

might have been caused by the misrepresentations of the
Primate's chaplain, Dr. Bernard^ who was then Dean of
Kilmore, and the only cleigyman in the diocese who re-
sisted the Bishop's endeavours to remove pluralities. The
Dean had applied to the Bishop for the living of Kildrom-
farten, which Mr. Hilton was ready to resign in his favor,
and the Primate had seconded the application ; but the
Bishop, in his letter to the Primate, makes an apology for
not complying with his Grace's request, by saying, "as I
easily conceived, that being solicited by your old servant
you could do no less than you did ;" and assigns as his rea-
son to the Dean, " that he did not know the place nor the
people, but if they were mere Irish, he did not see how Mr.
Dean should discharge the duty of a minister to them."
Bishop Bedell himself speaks in the strongest language of

to hold a paltry ecclesiastical benefice, and, when deprived of it by the
proper authorities, still maintaining possession by unjustifiable appeals.

The records of the Cathedral of St. Patricii afford melancholy proof
of the rapacity of Archbishop Loftus and his family, to which allusion was
made before, pag. 6. Sir Adam Loftus, son to the Archbishop, obtained
a grant from James I., in 1G18, of the entire prebend of Tymothan, the
townland of Tymothan, containing a castle, five tenements, and four
plowlands, with all tithes, great and small. And the Archbishop himself
procured the reversion of tlie archdeaconry for George Covvlie, gent. ;
and in 1615 we find it recorded that the mensal of the archdeaconry was
greatly reduced, by this man having granted the tithes of Rathfariiham
to Robert Leicester, a servant of the Archbishop.

' Nicholas Bernard had been educated at Cambridge, and introduced
to the Primate, then Bishop of Meath, in the year 1624. The Primate
brought him over to Ireland in 1026, and in the autumn of that year or-
dained him. His Grace's interest procured for him the deanery of Kil-
more in the next year. It seems very extraordinary that Bishop Bedell
should, in 1630, speak of him as the Primate's " old servant." The bio-
graphers of Bishop Bedell state that Dr. Bernard was so ashamed of his
being the only person who resisted the Bishop's wishes about pluralities,
that he exchanged his deanery for that of Ardagh ; but this is not cor-
rect, for he did not make the exchange till 1637. In 1635 the Primate
gave him the vicarage of St. Peter's, Drogheda, where he resided, in
care of his Grace's library, till after the siege in 1641. Soon after the
rebellion he left Ireland, and was appointed Rector of Whitechurch, in
Shropshire, and preacher to the Society of Gray's Inn. He then was ap-
pointed Chaplain and Almoner to Oliver Cromwell. He seems to have
had very accommodating religious opinions, for on the Restoration he
continued to hold his living of Whitechurch, and died soon after.

116

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the hostility of the Dean : " And* as for mine accuser
(whose hatred I have incurred only by not giving way to
his covetous desire of heaping living upon living to the
evident damage not only of other souls committed to him,
but of his own) truly 1 am glad and do give God thanks, that
this malignity which a while masked itself in the pretence of
friendship, hath at last discovered itself by public opposition.
It hath not, and 1 hope it shall not be in his power to hurt me
at all, he hath rather shamed himself : and although his high
heart cannot give his tongue leave to acknowledge his folly,
his understanding is not so weak and blind as not to see it."

The immediate cause of bringing the Bishop into o{)-
position with the Primate, was an attempt on the Bishop's
part to remove his lay Chancellor'', and preside himself

» Letter 168, Works, vol. xv. pag. 537. The Bishop also says to the
Primate: "As touching his traducing me in your pulpit at Cavan, I
have sent your Grace the testimonies of Mr. Robinson and Mr. Feate."
I cannot comprehend why he should call the pulpit in Cavan the Pri-
mate's pulpit ; Cavan was not in the diocese of Armagh, but of Kilmore.

Bishop Bedell complained of all the ecclesiastical courts. He says, in
a letter to the Primate, "he had been wont to except one court, but
he had heard that it is said among great personages here that my
Lord Primate is a good man, but his court is as corrupt as others."
He speaks of his own Chancellor, Mr. Cook, as "the most noted man
and most cried out upon ;" and Bishop Burnet says of him, " He had
bought his place from his predecessor, and so thought he had a right
to all the profits that he could raise out of it, and the whole business of
the court seemed to be nothing but extortion and oppression. For it
is an old observation, that men who buy justice will sell it." The
Bishop discovered that the patent under which his Chancellor acted was
invalid, as not having the Bishop's seal, and being defective in other par-
ticulars (see Letter ICO, where, among the defects, he mentions " the
false Latin," a circumstance not very unusual), and inhibited Mr. Cook
from acting under it. Mr. Cook, the Chancellor, brought the matter into
the Primate's court. The Bishop submitted it to the Primate's decision,
but not his Chancellor's, or to the Synod of the province, I cannot find
that the cause was tried in the Archbishop's court: perhaps the difficulty
arose from the objection of Bishop Bedell just mentioned, or from a re-
mark in the answer of the Primate, " In your judging of Mr. Cooks
patent to be void, I wish you would not be too forward upon that point.
To pronounce in a judicial manner of the validity or invalidity of a patent,
is no office of the Ecclesiastical but of the civil magistrate ; and for the
one to intromit himself into the judicature of that which pertaineth to
another, you know draweth near to a Prajmunire." At a subsequent period
the cause was brought into the Court of Chancery, and the Lord Chan-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEIl.

117

in his own court. However, various other complaints
appear to have been made against him. The Bishop,
in his letter to Archbishop Ussher, stated that he had
been accused to him of being a Papist, an Arminian,
of bowing at the name of Jesus, of pulling down the seat
of his predecessor to erect an altar, and of undervaluing'^
the Primate's preaching. The Primate answers the Bishop
with great severity. The following passage is very remark-
able: " Mosf* of the slanders wherewith you were so much
troubled I never heard till you now mentioned them your-
self ; only the course which you took with the Papists, was
generally cried out against : neither do I remember in all

cellor confirmed Mr. Cook's appointment, with £100 costs. The details
of these transactions are not given in any of the Lives of Archbishop
Ussher, and in the Lives of Bishop Bedell are not arranged correctly.
Bishop Burnet, and he is followed by Mr. Mason, places the trial in the
Court of Chancery before the discovery that the patent was illegal. Now
this is certainly not the case, for the suspension of Mr. Cook and the trial
in the Archbishop's court are mentioned in the letters written in the end
of the year 1629 and the beginning of 1C30. But a disgraceful story,
related by the son-in-law of Bishop Bedell, fixes the date of the trial after
the appointment of Chancellor Bolton, which took place in 1639. The
story is, that when Bishop Bedell asked the Lord Chancellor Bolton
" how he came to make so unjust a decree ?" he answered, " that all his
father had left him was a register's place ; so he thought he was bound to
support those courts, which he saw would be ruined if the way he took
had not been checked." The Bishop appears to have argued his case
both on the invalidity of the patent, and on the general question of tho
powers vested in the bishop.

<^ The story of this complaint is too happy an illustration of the mode in
which such accusations are got up, to be omitted. The story was, that
the Bishop compared the Primate's preaching to one Mr. Whiskins, Mr.
Creighton and Mr. Baxter's, and preferred them. The Bishop states the
facts in these words: "Thus it was: Mr. Dunsterville acquainted me
with his purpose to- preach of Prov. xx. 6 : ' But a faithful man who can
find ;' where he said the doctrine he meant to raise was this, that Faith
was a rare gift of God. I told him I thought he mistook the meaning of
the text, and wished him to choose longer texts, and not bring his dis-
courses to a word or two of Scripture, but rather to declare those of the
Holy Ghost. He said, your Grace did so sometimes. I answered, there
might be just cause, but I thought you did not so ordinarily. As for
those men, Mr. Whiskins, and the rest, I never heard any of them preach
to this day. Peradventure their manner is to take longer texts, where-
upon the comparison is made up, as if I preferred them before you."

<• See Letter 161, Works, vol. xv, pag. 473.

118

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

my life, that any thing was done here by any of us, at
which the professors of the Gospel did take more offence,
or by which the adversaries were more confirmed in their
superstitions and idolatry. Whereas 1 could wish that you
had advised with your brethren, before you would adven-
ture to pull down that which they have been so long a
building; so I may boldly aver, that they have abused
grossly both of us, who reported unto you, that I should
give out, that I found myself deceived in you. What you
did, I know was done out of a good intention, but 1 was
assured that yeur project would be so quickly refuted
with your present success and event, that there \Yould be
no need, that your friends should advise you to desist from
building such castles in the air." The Bishop, in his an-
swer, declares that all this is a riddle to him, but it is very
evident to what the Primate alluded. The censure was
upon the Bishop's attempt at converting the Irish, by trans-
lating the Scriptures into the Irish language, and by circu-
lating a short catechism with the Irish and English on
opposite pages. The objection affords a melancholy instance
of the strength of prejudice. The Primate, w ho could so
convincingly argue upon the impropriety of prayers in an
unknown tongue, and upon the necessity of translating the
Scriptures into different languages, yet failed to apply his
own principles to the case immediately before him, the
case of the Irish nation. Blinded by the false notion of
upholding English influence by exterminating the Irish
language, and taught to reverence the policy which dic-
tated an Act of Parliament in direct opposition to the prin-
ciples of the Reformation, the Primate censured as a mode
of confirming superstition and idolatry, the first judicious
attempt that had been made to spread the doctrines of the
Reformation through the countrJ^ It is not a little singu-
lar that the two bishops who, at different periods, exerted
themselves most strenuously to spread the knowledge of the
Irish language among the clergy were Englishmen, Bishop
Bedell and Primate Marsh.

It would appear from the whole correspondence, that no-
thing gave the Primate so much offence as Bishop Bedell's

LIFK OF AllCHBISHOl' USSHEU.

119

c'omphiint about liis triennial visitation. The Bishop, with
not a little want of courtesy, says in his letter : " In that of
your late visitation, they see no profit but the taking of
money." The Primate is evidently much hurt by this re-
mark, and, after defending himself against the charge of
oppressing the clergy of Kilmore, concludes thus : " I am
a fool, I know, in thus commending (or defending rather)
myself, but consider who constrained me." These unfortu-
nate differences were not settled till Bishop Bedell, in the
following summer, visited the Archbishop atTermonfechin,
and then a perfect reconciliation took place, as he himself
states in a letter to the Archbishop : " 1 cannot easily ex-
press what contentment I received at my late being with
your Grace at Termonfechin. There had nothing hap-
pened to me, 1 will not say, since I came into Ireland, but
as far as I can call to remembrance in my whole life, which
did so much affect me on this hand, as the hazard of your
good opinion. For loving and honoring you^ in truth (for
the truths sake, which is in us and shall abide with us
for ever) without any private interest, and receiving so
unlooked for a blow from your hand, (which I expected
should have tenderly apply'd some remedy to me, being
smitten by others) 1 had not present the defences of reason
and grace. And although I know it to be a fault in my-
self, since in the performance of our duties, the judgment
of our Master, even alone, ought to suffice us; yet I could
not be so much master of mine affections, as to cast out
this weakness. But blessed be God, who (as I began to
say) at my being with you refreshed my spirit by your kind
renewing and confirming your love to me : and all humble
thanks to you, that gave me place to make my defence, and
took upon you the cognisance of mine innocency." Upon
the question of the right of the Chancellors to preside in

'■ Dr. Ward, in a letter to the Primate about this time, says : "I know
not how my Lord of Kilmore doth sort with the Irish. I persuade myself
he hath godly and pious intentions : He is discreet and wise, industrious
and diligent, and of great sufficiency many ways. I do persuade myself,
the more your Lordship doth know him, the more your Lordship will love
him : and this I dare say, ho truly honoreth and sincerely loveth your
Lordship." — See Works, vol. xv. pag. 507.

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LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the courts of the several dioceses Bishop Burnet states,
that " the other Bishops did not stand by our Bishop in
this matter ; but were contented to let him fall under cen-
sure, without interposing in it as a cause of common con-
cern : Even the excellent Primate told him, the tide vpent
so high that he could assist him no longer ; for he stood by
him longer than any of the order had done." The expla-
nation of this conduct is given so correctly, and the cha-
racter of Primate Ussher is so well drawn by Bishop Bur-
net, that I must again quote his words : " No man was
more sensible of the abuses of the spiritual court than Usher
was; no man knew the beginning and progress of them
better, nor was more touched with the ill effects of them :
and together with his great and vast learning, no man had
a better soul and a more apostolical mind. In his conver-
sation he expressed the true simplicity of a Christian : for
passion, pride, self will or the love of the world seemed not
to be so much as in his nature. So that he had all the
innocence of the dove in him. He had a way of gaining
peoples hearts and of touching their consciences, that look'd
like somewhat of the apostolical age reviv'd ; he spent
much of his time in these two best exercises, secret prayer
and dealing with other peoples consciences, either in his
sermons or private discourses ; and what remained, he de-
dicated to his studies, in which those many volumes that
came from him, shewed a most amazing diligence and ex-
actness, joined with great judgment. So that he was cer-
tainly one of the greatest and best men that the age or
perhaps the world has produced. But no man is entirely
perfect ; he was not made for the governing part of his
function. He had too gentle a soul to manage that rough
work of reforming abuses : and therefore he left things as
he found them. He hoped a time of reformation would
come. He saw the necessity of cutting off many abuses,
and confessed that the tolerating those abominable corrup-
tions that the canonists had brought in, was such a stain
upon a Church, that in all other respects was the best
reformed in the world, that he apprehended it would bring
a curse and ruin upon the whole constitution. But though

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

121

Jio prayed for a more favourable conjecture, and would have
concurred in a joint reformation of those things very hear-
tily ; yet he did not bestir himself suitably to the obliga-
tions that lay on him for carrying it on : and it is very likely
that this sat heavy on his thoughts when he came to dye,
for he prayed often and with great humility, that God
would forgive him sins of omission, and his failings in his
duty. It was not without great uneasiness to me that I
overcome myself so far as to say any thing that may seem
to diminish the character of so extraordinary a man, who
in other things was beyond any man of his time, but in this
only he fell beneath himself: and those that upon all other
accounts loved and admired him, lamented this defect in
him, which was the only alloy that seemed left, and with-
out which he would have been held perhaps in more vene-
ration than was fitting. His physician Dr. Bootius, that
was a Dutchman, said truly of him, ' If our Primate of
Armagh were as exact a disciplinarian as he is eminent in
searching antiquity, defending the truth and preaching the
Gospel, he might without doubt deserve to be made the
chief Churchman of Christendom.' But this was necessary
to be told, since History is to be writ impartially, and I
ought to be forgiven for taxing his memory a little ; for 1
was never so tempted in any thing that I ever writ, to dis-
guise the truth as upon this occasion : yet though Bishop
Usher did not mind himself, he had a singular esteem for
that vigor of mind, which our Bishop expressed in the re-
forming these matters."

With this passage Dr. Parr is greatly offended, and
speaks of "the injurious reflections upon the Archbishop,
taken up partly from uncertain reports, and partly upon
the Bishop's letter to him upon that occasion and he
adds : " of which inadvertency as the composer of that
life is already made sensible, so we hope that he will do
him right, according as he hath promised, when time shall
serve." If Bishop Burnet ever made such a promise, he
certainly did not fulfil it, for the passage remains uncon-
tradicted. Nor do I think the warmest admirer of the Arch-
bishop ought to wish any change made in the faithful

122

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

delineation of his character. That any human being
should be faultless, or equally great in all the various
relations of life, is an expectation that can never be re-
alized ; and we ought to be grateful to the biographer who
marks the distinguishing characteristics of the individual
whose life he narrates. This observation is particularly
necessary now, as the biographers of eminent ecclesiastics
in our day seem to think they are bound to put forward the
subjects of their memoirs as perfect beings, and all the pecu-
liarities of character, all the shades which give reality to
the picture, are lost in one unbroken expanse of panegyric.
The character of Archbishop Ussher, as given by Bishop
Burnet, is as near perfection as human nature could reach ;
it would have appeared perfect, had he not unfortunately
been placed in a situation which exposed his defects, if de-
fects they can be called, when they arose "from the gen-
tleness of his nature," from " the innocence of the dove."
Were the undeviating line of panegyric to be followed,
and Dr. Parr's representation of his fitness for governing to
be admitted, the state of the Irish Church when Lord
Strafford^ assumed the reins of government would be an
enigma incapable of solution, and the successful exertions
of Bishop Bramhall, in recovering the property, and cor-
recting the abuses of the Church, would be utterly unintel-
ligible. Even the very dispute which has occasioned these
remarks can only be accounted for by the retiring meek-
ness of the Archbishop, which shrank from the contest,
in which the bolder spirit of Bishop Bedell fearlessly en-
gaged. The anxiety of the two great prelates to uphold the
religion they professed was equal ; their detestation of in-
justice, oppression, and sacrilege alike strong; their diffe-

' Archbishop Laud felt this strongly, and he saj s, in one of his letters
to the Lord Deputy : " I find your Lordshiji hath a good opinion of my
Lord Primate's learning- and honesty, and I verily think he will not de-
ceive your expectation in either ; but you are pleased to ask me a ques-
tion whether that be all that goes to a good Bishop and a good governor ?
I must needs answer, no; but if that which is further required be want-
ing in him, I am the more sorry." — Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 156.
I believe it will be foimd that a devoted student has never made an efficient
bishop. Learning is one of the qualifications necessary, but only one.

LIFE OF AUr.HBISHOP USSHEU.

123

rences coukl only arise from the different views they took
of the proper modes to effect a remedy, and those different
views depended upon the different constitution of their
minds, upon the firmness of the one contrasted with the
mildness of the other.

In the year 1631, the Primates published in Dublin his
History of Gotteschalcus*^. He had been collecting mate-
rials for a history of the Pelagian controversy, when the
publication of Vossius's history made him give up the pur-
suit: however meeting sometime after with several incidents
relating to Gotteschalcus, which he had not before known,
he determined to publish a life of that unfortunate monk,
and he dedicated it to Vossius, as the facts there collected
might be of use to him in preparing a new edition of his
work. The Life, like many of his other works, is given
almost entirely in the language of others, the different ex-
tracts being merely connected together by a sentence or two.
He prefixes to the life a brief account of the revival of the
Pelagian heresy in Ireland during the seventh century, a fact
which is proved by a letter' addressed, during the vacancy

s Mr. Tyrrell mentions, in the particulars of the Archbishop's life sent
by him to Dr. Smith, that it was by the advice of Archbishop Ussher,
Lord Pembroke, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, purchased the
valuable collection of manuscripts from the library of Signor Barocci,
and presented them to the University of Oxford ; yet Eishop Laud says,
in a letter to Archbishop LTssher (see Works, vol. xv. pag. 527), "it
gives me much content that I was the means of it." In the year 1628 the
Archbishop made the first mention of them in a letter to an unnamed
Lord : " That famous library of Giacomo Barocci, a gentleman of Venice,
consisting of 242 Greek manuscript volumes, is now brought into England
by Mr. Fetherstone the stationer ;" and he requests his Lordship to inter-
fere with the King to have them purchased. In the following year Sir
Henry Bourchier informs the Archbishop, that this great treasure had
been purchased for the University of Oxford by the Earl of Pembroke, at
the price of £700.— See Works, vol. xv. pag. 430.

In a letter to Dr. Ward he speaks of it as "the first Latin book that
ever was printed in Ireland;" but in this his Grace was certainly mis-
taken. At least two were printed before ; Sir James Ware printed his
work, " Archiepiscoporum Casseliensum et Tuamensium Vita;," in 1626,
and " De Praisulibus Lageuia'," in 1628.

' This letter was afterwards published by the Archbishop in his "Syl-
loge Epistolarumllibcrnicarum." — SeeEpist. IX., Works, vol.iv. pag. 427.

124

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

of the papacy, by the clergy of Rome to Tomianus Arch-
bishop of Armagh, and other bishops and clergy, and he gives
a statement of the attempts made by Bede to eradicate the
heresy from England. In the next century, the controversy
about Pelagianism and predestination was agitated in Spain,
and in the ninth century broke out with still greater vio-
lence in Germany, having been excited by Gotteschalcus^,
a monk at Orbais, in the bishopric of Soissons. Gotteschal-
cus appears to have been involved in difficulties from his
very youth. He had been placed an infant in the monas-
tery of Fulda, and when he grew up, he wished not to take
the monastic vows. The matter was referred to the coun-
cil of Mentz in 829, and decided in favor of Gotteschal-
cus. But Rabanus, the abbot of Fulda, appealed against
the sentence to Louis le Debonnaire, who compelled Orga-
rius Archbishop of Mentz, to reverse the decision. Upon
this Gotteschalcus would not return to Fulda, but took the
vows at Orbais. His ordination also engaged him in con-
test with the Bishop of Soissons, for the see of Rheims
being vacant, he was ordained by Rigboldus a Chorepis-
copus, without the consent of the Bishop of Soissons, in
whose diocese the monastery was situated. This disagree-
ment sent him to travel. He went to Rome, and when re-
turning commenced his mission for propagating his peculiar
opinions. Within a very short space of time he had the
ablest writers in Europe engaged in the controversy ; in
defence of him appeared Remigius Archbishop of Lyons,
Prudentius Trecassinus, Ratramnus of Corhey ; and on the
the other side Hincmar Archbishop of Rheims, Amalarius
Archbishop of Lyons, Rabanus Maurus Archbishop of
Mentz, and Johannes Scotus. The proceedings with re-
gard to Gotteschalcus afford a melancholy example of the
disunion which existed among the Christian Churches. He
appears first to have commenced his public disputations in
the presence of Nothingus Bishop of Verona, who soon com-
municated the opinions to Rabanus. Rabanus immediately

j This name Ussher interprets to be the Servant of God, from Gott, God,
and schalch, a servant.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

125

pronounced them heretical. Gotteschalcus with great intre-
pidity proceeded to Mentz, and again met his old opponent,
now raised from the abbot of Fulda to the Archbishop of
Mentz. The Archbishop assembled a Council in the year
848, to which Gotteschalcus presented a written statement of
his opinions upon the subject of predestination. The Council
condemned the doctrines, but did not venture to punish
Gotteschalcus, as he belonged to the archdiocese of Rheims.
Kabanus sent his prisoner to Hincmar, with a letter which
certainly does not do him any credit ; he commences it :
" Notum est dilectioni vestrse, quod quidam gyrovagus mo-
nachus, nomine Gothescalc, qui se asserit sacerdotem in
vestra parochia ordinatum, de Italia venit ad nos Mogun-
tiam," Whatever his errors might have been, Rabanus
ought not to have spoken in such terms of the individual,
whom he had compelled to adopt the monastic life. Nor
can we feel any respect for the conduct of Hincmar and his
associates. A synod was summoned at Quiercy, where the
doctrines of Gotteschalcus were again considered, and he
himself sentenced to be degraded from his office of a priest,
and to be flogged until he should throw into the flames a
book in which he had made collections from Scripture to
support his opinions, and then that he should be confined
in the monastery of Hautvilliers.

The cruelty and injustice of this punishment is well de-
scribed by Remigius : " Quapropter illud prorsus omnes
non solum dolent, sed etiam horrent : quia inaudito irreli-
giositatis et crudelitatis exemplo, tamdiu ille miserabilis
flagris et caedibus trucidatus est, donee (sicut narraverunt
nobis, qui praesentes aderant) accenso coram se igni libel-
lum, in quo sententias Scripturarum sive sanctorum Patrum
sibi collegerat, quas in concilio offerret, coactus est jam pene
emoriens suis manibus in flammam projicere atque incendio
concremare, cum omnes retro hseretici verbis et disputatio-
nibus victi atque convicti sint, et sic pravitas, quae videba-
tur hominis fuerit coercenda, ut nulla divinis rebus inferre-
tur injuria. Maxime cum illi sensus, qui ipso continebantur
libello (excepto uno quod extremum ponitur) non essent
sui sed ecclesiastic! ; nec igitur damnandi, scd pia et paci-

126

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

fica fuerint inquisitione tractandi." Hincmar himself ap-
pears to have felt this impropriety, for he endeavoured to
persuade his victim to retract his opinions, but in vain.
Twenty years after he renewed these efforts, when the
wretched prisoner was sinking into the grave, and sent
a formulary which he was to sign before he could be
received into the communion of the Catholic Church. The
firmness of mind had not sunk under the decay of bodily
strength. Gotteschalcus firmly refused to sign the docu-
ment, and Hincmar denied Christian burial to his remains.

So far there appears but one united effort on the part of
the Church to extinguish the errors of Gotteschalcus. But
the Primate has, with consummate skill, brought forward
the opinions of the opposing disputants, and has also mar-
shalled against the decrees of the Councils of Mentz and
Chiersi, the canons of the Councils of Valence, Langres, and
Toul, and also the censure of the Church at Lyons. Al-
though the Archbishop has given the extracts with great
fairness, yet it is quite evident that he leans very decidedly
in favor of Gotteschalcus, and considers him as only putting
forward the doctrines of Augustine, he speaks of " Gottes-
chalci'' pariter ac Augustini sententiam de prsedestinatione
orthodoxam," and refers to the Confessions^ as establishing

I* Works, vol. iv. pag. 192.

' Milner.in his Church History, wishes to throw a doubt upon the genuine-
ness of the Confessions, because, at the close of one of t hem, Gotteschalcus
appeals to the judgment of God, and demands that the trial should proceed
by boiling water, oil, pitch, and fire, a degree of enthusiastic presump-
tion which was most culpable. The historian forgets the manners of the
age, and that this practice had been sanctioned by the decrees of councils
and the laws of monarchs. Most appropriately on this subject, the Arch-
bishop quotes a passage from Johannes Mariana : " Visum est controvcr-
siam ignis judicio permittere : sic ejus seculi mores erant rudes et agres-
tes, noque satis expensi ad Christians pietatis exemplum." To prove
that this custom was derived from the Heathens, he quotes the following-
passage from the Antigone of Sophocles :

"^Hfitv S' troijjLOi Kai fxvdpuvQ aiptiv y^tpoiv,
Kai TTVp ddpirttv, Kai Qcovg opKiofioTiiv
To /ti/rt dpacrat, jiiin Tij) ^vvtiS'tvai
To TTpayfia jiovXtvaavTi, jxtjT tlpyaafikvij),"

and refers to Spelman's Glossary, in voce "judicium Dei," for further

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

127

the correctness of his opinions. It is not my intention to enter
into a discussion, how far the opinions of Gotteschalcus,
even if they agreed with those of Augustine, are the ortho-
dox creed of the Church ; but the most zealous defenders
of this unfortunate writer must allow that he expressed
himself most unguardedly, and enabled his opponents to
make a strong case against him. There can be no doubt
that he taught a twofold predestination, one to eternal life,
the other to eternal death ; that God does not will the sal-
vation of all men, but only of the elect; and that Christ
suffered death, not for the whole human race, but only for
that portion of it to which God had decreed eternal salva-
tion. His opponents state that he went much further, and
that he wished to have it believed, that God not only pre-
destinated certain persons to suffer punishment, but likewise
to commit the sins by which they incurred that punishment.
Archbishop Rabanus, in his letter to Archbishop Hincmar,
says " that he had seduced many who had become less
careful of their salvation, since they have learned from him
to say, why should 1 labour for my salvation ? If I am pre-
destinated to damnation I cannot avoid it, and on the con-
trary if I am predestinated to salvation, whatever sins I may
be guilty of, 1 shall certainly be saved." That Gotteschal-
cus must have been very unguarded in his language is evi-
dent from the fact, that many distinguished ecclesiastics at that
time held the opinions, which his friends maintain were advo-
cated by him, and yet never were censured by ecclesiastical
authority. Archbishop Amolo, in his letter to Gotteschal-

authorities. But Mr. Milnor appears never to have heard of Usshor's
Life of Gotteschalcus. He says he found great difficulty in procuring infor-
mation on the subject, and extracted his account from Du Pin and
Fleury. He complains of the Magdoburgiaii Centuriators as not afford-
ing their readers any proper materials on which to form a judgment, a
fault into which he undoubtedly falls himself, for he gives his readers no
information whatever. His ignorance of Ussher's work, or the subsequent
one of iMauguin, is very extraordinary. He should certainly have referred
to them, when he wished to make a defence for Gotteschalcus and his opi-
nions. For the particulars which I have added to the Archbishop's Life
of Gotteschalcus, I am indebted to Mabillon, and the lives of Gotteschal-
cus, Rabanus, and Hincmar, in Ceillier's "Auteurs Ecclesiastiquos."

128

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

cus, seems to have expressed accurately his faults : •* Dis-
plicet nobis valde, quia tarn dure et indisciplinate et im-
maiiiter de divina praedestinatione seiitis et loqueris in
damnatione reproborum." The same unguarded style ap-
peared in his arguments about the Trinity, when he asserted
" Deltas sanctse Trinitatis trina est." Hincmar wrote a
book to refute this blasphemy. Archbishop Ussher refers
to the confession of Gotteschalcus, as sufficient proof that
he was not guilty of the heresy of the Tritheists'", however
objectionable the expressions might be, and quotes the fol-
lowing defence from Colvenerius : " Id quidem minus recte
et improprie dicitur : cum trium personarum in Sancta Tri-
nitate non sit nisi una numero Deltas. Sed eo sensu dici
potest trina Deltas, quia est in tribus personis."

Mauguin has brought forward an extraordinary charge
against the Archbishop, couched in the most disrespectful
language. He accuses him of having published without
leave the Confessions of Gotteschalcus, from a manuscript
which Sirmond had lent him. His words are : " Cum"
Sirmondus illius copiam Usserio fecisset, ratus sola lectione
contentum fore, ab eo fraude delusus est." Mauguin gives
no authority for this accusation, and I cannot find any
mention of it in Sirmond's writings. The character of the
Archbishop is the best refutation of such a calumny : but
we might find in the preface to the History additional proof
that the writer was not claiming more merit for his work
than he deserved: in the most unassuming manner he says:
" Ex Lugdunensis Ecclesise scriptis et Flodoardo, majore
ex parte cam contexens, de meo vero nihil adferens nisi
ordinem." Dr. Smith states, that in his private letters he
acknowledges the kindness of Sirmond, but that he did not
publish the acknowledgment, being prohibited by the do-
nor, lest he might be injured by the zealous Romanists.
This defence seems founded rather on conjecture than on
any evidence now extant. In a letter to Dr. Ward, the

" " In confessione sua Deum naturaliter quidem unura, sed personali-
ter trinum clarissime pradicat." — Gotteschalci Hist., Works, vol. iv.
pag. 17-

" Mauguin, Gotteschalc. Controv. Histor. Dissertat. pag. 94.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

129

Archbishop speaks of having obtained the two confessions,
never before printed, from Corbey Abbey in France, and
in another of having " had them from Jacobus Sirmondus."

The publication of Gotteschalcus seems to have been in
direct opposition to the orders issued by the King against
reviving the Predestinarian controversy, yet no censure
was passed upon the author or his book. This is the more
striking, if we compare the conduct of Bishop Laud to Dr.
Downham, Bishop of Derry. The Bishop of Derry printed,
a short time before the publication of Gotteschalcus, a work,
in which he " handled" the controversy of perseverance and
the certainty of salvation ;" or, as Prynne calls it, " a book?
against the Arminians and the totall and finall Apostacie
of the Saints from Grace." As soon as this book reached
England, a letter was written, in the King's name, to
Archbishop Abbot, desiring him to call in and suppress
the work within the realm of England, and a similar letter
was addressed to Archbishop Ussher. In proof that Bishop
Laud was the author of this insult to Bishop Downham,
Prynne quotes'' a letter from Archbishop Ussher, which,
as he states, was found at Lambeth. The letter is as fol-
lows :

" My most honoured Lord,
" The 8th of October, I received your letters of the 22
August &c. The last part of your Lordship's letter con-
cerneth the Bishop of Derryes book, for the calling in
whereof the 15 day of October I received his Majesties let-
ters dated at Woodstock the 24 of August^ whereupon I

" See Letter IGS.Works, vol. xv. pag. 482. I believe the book referred
to i.s, " The Covenant of Grace, or an E.\position upon Luke, i. 73, 74,
75." Dublin, 163L

I' Canterbury's Doom, pag. 171. '> Ibid. pag. 172.

This was the day after that on which the three Puritans, Ford of Mag-
dalen Hail, Thorn of Balliol, and Hodges of E.xeter, were expelled from
Oxford, for their sermons reflecting upon the royal instructions. The
text of Hodges was well chosen for an inflammatory harangue, being
taken from Numbers, chap. iv. : " Let us make a captain and return into
Egypt." At the same time tiie learned John Prideaux, Rector of Exeter
College and Regius Professor of Divinity, was publicly censured by the
King and Council for supporting these men.

VOL. I. K

130

LIFE OF AKCHBISHOl' USSUEU.

presently sent out warrants and caused all the bookes that
were left unsent into England to be seized upon ; what did
pass heretofore to the presse of Dublin, I had no eye unto,
because it was out of my province, and the care I supposed
did more properly belong unto my brother of Dublin. But
seeing his Majestie hath been pleased to impose that charge
upon me: 1 will (God willing) take order that nothing
hereafter shall be published contrary unto his Majesties
sacred directions. It seemeth your Lordship did conceive
that my Lord of Derryes booke came out since the Histo-
ric of Gotteschalcus, whereas it was published about half a
yeare before, whereby it came to passe, that all the coppies
almost both in Ireland and England were dispersed before
the prohibition came forth. The matter is not new (as
your Lordship hath rightly observed) but was long since
preached in St. Pauls church, when Doctor Bancroft was
your Lordships predecessour in that see, at which time the
treatise of Perseverance was to have been published, with
Dr. Downams Lectures upon the loth Psalme, as at the end
of that booke is partly intimated. And in the History of
Gotteschalcus your Lordship may see your owne observa-
tion fully verefied, that after Prelates had written against
Prelates, and Synods against Synods, these things could
have no end, until 1)oth sides became weary of contending.
But sure 1 am I have made your Lordship weary long ere
this : and therefore it is high time now to end. Therefore
craving pardon for this prolixitie, 1 humbly take leave and
rest

" Your Honours faithfull servant,

" Jaco. Armachanus.

''Drorjheda, November 8, 1631."

This letter was probably manufactured by Prynne. There
are many letters extant from Archbishop Ussher to diffe-
rent prelates, and he never commences any one of them
" Most Honoured Lord." The commencement of all his
letters to Laud when Bishop of London, is " My very good
Lord ;" and he never concluded them " Your Honours
faithfull Servant." There is, however, no doubt that the
order was sent to suppress Bishop Downham's book. The

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEll.

131

cause of a similar order not having- been against the His-
tory of Gotteschalcus, we must seek in the high respect
entertained for the Archbishop by Charles I., and still more
by Bishop Laud. Collier accounts for the circumstance
thus : " Ussher's'' book being written in Latin did less dis-
service ; and besides some regard was shewn to the emi-
nence of his station."

Dr. Parr states that the Archbishop went to London in
the close of the year 1631, and published there his work on
the religion anciently professed by the Irish and British.
It must have been in January, 1G3|-, for there is a letter from
him to Dr. Forbes, dated the 13th of December, 1G31, from
Drogheda. Except the publication of this book there does
not remain any account of the Archbishop's employment
during his residence in England, which was not, however,
of long continuance, as we find that he was in Dublin at
the commencement of the following June. The work on
the religion of the ancient Irish and British had appeared
before, in nearly the same form, appended to a treatise of
Sir Christopher Sibthorp, one of the Judges of the Court
of King's Bench in Ireland. The new edition is dedicated
to his very much honoured friend, Sir Christopher Sibthorp.
In this dedication he states that he was induced to publish
the work, from the hope that "a true discovery of the reli-
gion anciently professed in this kingdom might prove a
special motive to induce his poor countrymen to consider a
little better of the old and true way from whence they havehi-
thertobeen misled." Though notprofessedly written to refute
their errors, he pointedly refers throughout to the false his-
tories of Campian the Jesuit and OSullevan. Of the latter
he does not hesitate to say : " Philip* O Sullevan a worthy

* Collier, Eccles. Hist. vol. ii. pag. 750. Collier contradicts tlio letter
by saying, " For preventing- tliese prohibited sallies Beadle Bishop of
Kilmore was ordered to overlook the press and keep it inoffensive." Ho
does not, however, give any authority for the statement.

' Rel. of ancient Irish, Works, vol. iv. p. 834. O Sullevan, often called
OSullevan Bear, from the part of the county of Cork where he was born,
was descended from an ancient Irish family, remarkable for their hosti-
lity to the English government. He fled with his parents into Spain after
the battle of Kinsale, and was educated at Compostella. His first work

132

LIFE OF AUClIBfSHOP USSIIER.

author to ground a report of antiquity upon : who in relation
to matters that fell out in his own time, discovereth himself
to be as egregious a liar as any (I verily think) that this
day breatheth in Christendom."

In this work the learned author quotes the opinions of the
most celebrated writers, upon the important points of doc-
was " llistoria; Catholicre Compendium," of which Archbishop Ussher
gives the character quoted above. He next published " Patriciana decas,
sive Libri decern qulbus de divi Patricii vita, purgatorio, miraculis ro-
busque gestis, de religiouis Ibernicae casibus, constantia, martyribus,
divis, de Anglorum lubrica fide, De Anglo-Hereticie Ecclesi;e sectis,
cacopra'sulibus, Jubileisplenissimis, liturgia, sacra pagina, cseremoniis et
institutis accurate agitur." To this book he added an Appendix, with
this title : " O Sullevani Bearri Iberni, Archicornigeromastix sive Jacobi
Usheri Heresiarchae coafutatio." As the book is very scarce, and no
description could give an idea of the vulgar false invective in which the
writer indulges, I shall give an extract:

" Fsheri descriptio : Tuis te coloribus pingam. Quis sis, lectorem paucis
docebo. Es igitur ex ista AnglohiBretica colluvione, quae Iberniam nostra
fetate inundavit, homulus insigniter improbus. Tui nominis obscuri
famam apud Anglos tuos facile propagasti, e concione rudibus clamoribus
in Catholicos et etiam haereticos bacchando."

He then proceeds to prove the follomng propositions : " Usherus hse-
reticorum judicio indoctus. Usherus idiota. Usherus ursus. Usherus
eorniger." A difficulty, however, seems to strike him, how Ussher, if of
so despicable a character, could have been promoted, and he is not with-
out an answer, " Quamobrem vero, quoeret aliquis, cum sis Anglorum
tuorum judicio indoctus et imperitus, ab eis tantis honoribus es ornatus?
Est in promptu causa. Quia turn tu maxinius adulator, insigniter impro-
bus, impudeutissimus es : Evangelicam veritatem audacissime oppugnas:
falsa sentis : divina et humana jura violare doces, fas atque nefas eodeni
animo ducis ; turn Angli tui res pra-postere aestimant, vitiis virtutum
pr;emia proponunt, amplissiiuarum dignitatum sedes sapientissimis atque
sanctissimis viris ademptas insipientibus atque flagitiosissimis attribuunt,
ipsique coeci non luscum juxta proverbium, sed maxime ea-cum ducem se-
quuntur."

These extracts will surely be sufficient to satisfy any person as to the
value of the book. I must quote one story, which he tells gravely of the
Archbishop. The story is briefly as follows : When James I. saw Ussher's
work " De Anglic;e Rcligionis Continuatione," which hehad appointed him
to write, he was so shocked that he §ent him away, and only recalled him
to supply materials to Spalatensis, who was about to treat of the same
subject. That Spalatensis found him " adeo garrulum, inertem, inutilem,
solidaque ductriua destitutum ;" that he ever afterwards called him " le-
quaeulus," and that the English heretics considered his Apology against
Father Francis Suarius so bad. that they would not let iiim publish it.

LIFE OF AKCIIBlSHOr USSIIER.

133

trine that arc in controversy with the Ciiurch of Rome, and
thus enables us to judge " whether ol hotli sides hath de-
parted I'rom the religion of our ancestors." The inhabitants
" of the greater and the lesser Scotland, that is of Ireland
and the famous colony deduced from thence into Albania,"
he considers as the same people, and professing nearly the
same religion with their neighbours the Britons.

The treatise is divided into eleven chapters. The first
treats of the Holy Scriptures, For precepts enjoining their
use upon the laity he quotes Sedulius, who lived in the
fifth, and Claudian, who lived in the ninth century. And
to prove these precepts were observed, among many others,
he quotes Bede's account of Bishop Aidan, " that all who
went in his company whether they were of the clergy or of
the laity were tied to exercise themselves either in the read-
ing of the Scriptures or in the learning of Psalms ;" and
also the account of Furseus and Kilianus (who lived in the
seventh century), that " from the time of their very child-
hood they took care to learn the Holy Scriptures, whence
it may easily be collected, that in those days it was not
thought a thing unfit, that even children should give them-
selves unto the study of the Bible." He establishes the fact,
that though the Latin translation was in use, yet reference
was constantly made to the originals. Sedulius and other
writers repeatedly maintain that the Greek of the New Tes-
tament is incorrectly rendered by the Vulgate. In the Old
Testament they follow the translation of the Septuagint
rather than the Vulgate. And as to the Apocryphal books,
they do not follow the Romanists in their classification, nor
do they mention them with more respect than many of the
ancient Fathers, who expressly exclude them from the num-
ber of books to be considered as canonical.

The second chapter treats of Predestination, Grace, Mer-
cies, Faith, Works, Justification, and Salvation. In this
the Archbishop is more successful in proving that the wri-
ters did not hold the doctrines of the Church of Rome, than
in establishing the theories of St. Augustine. There are
passages in Sedulius and Claudius which seem to reject such
an interpretation, and their real meaning is established by

134

LIFE OF AllCHUlSIIOl' USSHER.

the laborious attempt, which the Archbishop makes to force
them into an agreement with the Calvinistic doctrine. The
point, however, is established beyond controversy, that the
doctrines put forward were entirely at variance with the
Romish doctrines of modern times, with the doctrines of
justification and merit as put forward by the Council of
Trent. It must, however, be acknowledged, that though
the grounds of sound doctrine had been truly settled at the
beginning by Palladius and Patricius, the poison of the
Pelagian heresy broke out among the Irish clergy two
hundred years afterwards, as appears from the letter ad-
dressed by the clergy of Rome during the vacancy of the
see, to which I have alluded before".

The third chapter treats of Purgatory. This the Arch-
bishop naturally commences with a refutation of the fable
of St. Patrick's Purgatory, and shows that Henry of Sal-
trey, who flourished about the middle of the twelfth cen-
tury, is the first writer who speaks of its existence. As a
proof that the doctrine of purgatory itself did not prevail in
the early ages, he quotes the treatise " De tribus Habita-
culis," generally attributed to St. Patrick, in which no
mention w^hatever is made of such a place. " The three
habitations under the power of Almighty God are the first,
the lowermost, and the middle : the highest of which is
called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Heaven, the
lowermost is termed Hell, and the middle is named the pre-
sent world or the circuit of the Earth." To this authority
is added an ancient Canon of one of the Irish synods,
wherein it is affirmed, " the soul being separated from the
body is presented before the judgment-seat of Christ, who
rendereth its own unto it according as it hath done, and
neither the Archangel can lead it unto life until the Lord
hath judged it, nor the Devil transport it unto pain unless
the Lord do damn it."

After bringing forward extracts from several Irish writers,
the Archbishop concludes this part of his subject with a
most important observation, that the prayers and oblations

" Supra, pag. 123.

LIFE OK AUCIIUISHOr USSIIEU.

135

for the (loail mentioned by the early writers, " are expressly
noted to have been made for them, whose souls were sup-
posed at the same instant to have rested in bliss." To esta-
blish this he quotes Adamnanus, who wrote at the close of
the seventh century, and relates, " That St. Colme (better
known as St. Columb-kill) caused all things to be prepared
for the sacred ministry of the Eucharist, when he had seen
the soul of St. Brendan received by the holy angels," and
that he did the same when Columbanus, Bishop of Leinster,
departed this life ; for, said he, " I must to day, although I
be unworthy, celebrate the holy mysteries of the Eucharist
for the reverence of that soul, which this night carried be-
yond the starry firmament betwixt the holy choirs of angels,
ascended into Paradise." Various other passages he quotes
from Bede and different authors, all proving "that an honor-
able commemoration of the dead was intended and a sa-
crifice of thanksgiving for their salvation rather than of
propitiation for their sins."

The fourth chapter treats of the worship of God, the
public form of Liturgy, the sacrifice and sacrament of the
Lord's Supper. As to the worship of God, the authority
of Sedulius alone is sufficient, who says, " to adore any
other beside the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost
is the crime of impiety," and "all that the soul oweth unto
God if it bestow it upon any beside God, it committeth
adultery." He also reproves the wise men of the heathen,
for thinking that they had found out a way " how the in-
visible God might be worshipped by a visible image," with
which Claudius agrees, saying, that "God is to be known
neither in metal nor stone." That the form of Liturgy
varied in different parts of the country is placed beyond a
doubt, by the preface of Gillibertus, the Pope's Legate, at
the close of the eleventh century, to his book, " De Usu
Ecclesiastico," addressed to the whole clergy of Ireland.
He tells them he had composed the book " to the end that
those diverse and schismatical orders, wherewith in a man-
ner all Ireland is deluded, may give place to one Catholic
and Roman office." The uniformity was completely esta-
blished at the Council of Cashel, when it was ordered,

136

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP CSSIIEK.

" that al! divine offices of holy Church should from thence-
forth be handled in all parts of Ireland according as the
Church of England did observe them."

The Archbishop next proves that Mass was synonimous
with public liturgy, and that (he word was used even when
prayers were said without the celebration of the Holy Com-
munion. " So the last mass, that St. Colme was ever
present at, is noted by Adamnanus to have been Vesper-
tinalis Dominiese noctis missa." However, the word was
more specially applied to the administration of the Lord's
Supper, and in Adamnanus the sacred ministry of the Eu-
charist, and the solemnities of the Mass, are taken for the
same thing. The celebration of the Lord's Supper was
then generally called the oblation of the healthful sacrifice,
in the performance of which the minister was said to give,
and the communicant to receive the sacrifice, as well as to
offer it unto the Lord. Thus we read of offerinof the sacri-
fice unto God in the speech of Gallus to his scholar Magno-
aldus : " ISIy master Columbanus is accustomed to offer
unto the Lord the sacrifice of salvation in brazen vessels ;"
of giving the sacrifice to man. as when it is said, in one of
the ancient synods of Ireland, that "a Bishop by his tes-
tament may bequeath a certain proportion of his goods for
a legacy to the priest that giveth him the sacrifice :" and of
receiving the sacrifice from the hands of the minister, as
in the sentence of the synod attributed unto St. Patrick,
" He who deserveth not to receive the sacrifice in his life,
how can it help him after his death." From these facts it
appears, " that the sacrifice of the elder times was not like
unto the new mass of the Romanists, wherein the priest
alone doth all ; but unto our communion, where others also
have free liberty given unto them to eat of the altar as well
as they that serve the altar." That the communion was
received in both kinds the Archbishop proves by many
quotations from Bede and other writers ; perhaps one of the
most remarkable is a legend of St. Bridget, one of whose
miracles is reported, even in later Romish writers, to have
been performed, when she was about to drink out of the
chalice at the time of her receiving the Eucharist. It is

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSIIHR.

137

not possible to abridge the learned argument about transub-
stantiation, and it is not doing justice to the subject to
make a selection from the numerous authorities which prove
the doctrine was not maintained by the Irish Church. How-
ever, the comment of Sedulius upon the words of our Sa-
viour, " Do this in remembrance of me," may be quoted vvitli
effect : " He left a memory of himself unto us, even as if
one that was going a long journey should leave some token
with him, whom he loved ; that as oft as he beheld it, he
might call to remembrance his benefits and friendships."
To the same effect Claudius says : " Because bread doth
confirm the body and wine doth work blood in the flesh ;
therefore the one is mystically referred to the body of
Christ, the other to his blood." This primitive doctrine
had for a length of time its defenders, in opposition to all
the efforts of the Romish power. Thus, so late as the year
1384, Henry Crumpe, the monk of Baltinglass, maintained
that " the body of Christ in the sacrament of the altar was
only a looking glass to the body of Christ in Heaven."

The fifth chapter treats of Chrism, sacramental Con-
fession, Penance, Absolution, Marriage, Divorces, and sin-
gle Life of Clergy. That the Irish did not use chrism in
the baptism of their children is placed beyond doubt, by a
letter^ of Archbishop Lanfranc to Terdelvacus, in which he
complains of the omission. And, at a subsequent period,
Bernard reports of Malachias, that he " introduced the most
wholesome use of confession, which the Irish before were
either ignorant of or did neglect." Marriage was certainly
not a sacrament, for Sedulius reckons it among those things
" which are gifts, but not spiritual." Indeed, there are but
too good grounds for believing, that till a very late period
marriage was very much neglected in Ireland, and the ut-
most freedom of divorce allowed or practised.

'1 hat the celibacy of the clergy was not enjoined is evi-
dent from the canon of the synod held by St. Patrick,
Auxilius, and Iscrninus, where it is ordered, " that their
wives shall not walk with their heads uncovered." St. Patrick

* Epist. llibcrn. Syllog. Ep. 28, Works, vol. iv, pag. 493.

138

LIFE or AUCH13ISH01' USSHEU.

himself was the son of a deacon, and the grandson of a
priest. But perhaps the most decisive evidence is the letter
of Pope Innocent the Third to his Cardinal Legate, Jo-
hannes Salernitanus, in which he commands him to abolish
the custom prevalent in Ireland, whereby sons and grand-
children did use to succeed their fathers and grandfathers in
their ecclesiastical benefices.

The sixth chapter treats of the discipline of the early-
monks, and abstinence from meats. In this the Archbishop
proves the remarkable difference between the monks of early
days in Ireland and the mendicant orders established under
papal authority. He quotes the celebrated Richard, Arch-
bishop of Armagh, who maintained at Avignon, in 1357, that
" no man could prudently and holily take upon himself the
perpetual observation of voluntary beggary ; forasmuch as
such kind of begging, as well by Christ as by his apostles
and disciples, by the Church and by the Holy Scriptures, was
both dissuaded and also reproved." Upon the point of dif-
ference of meats Claudius observed, that the children of wis-
dom do understand, that neither in abstaining nor in eating
is there any virtue, but in contentedness of bearing the
want, and temperance of not corrupting a man's self by
abundance, and of opportunity of taking or not taking those
things, of which not the use, but the concupiscence is to be
blamed."

The seventh chapter treats of the Church and various
states thereof, especially in the days of Antichrist : of mi-
racles also, and of the Head of the Church. The early
Irish writers certainly did not consider it necessary that
miracles should be continued in the Church. Sedulius says,
" faith having increased miracles were to cease; forasmuch
as they are declared to have been given for their sakes that
believe not ;" and Claudius, " Now when the number of
the faithful is grown, there be many within the holy Church,
that retain the life of virtues and yet have not these signs
of virtues ; because a miracle is to no purpose shewed out-
wardly, if that be wanting, which it should work inwardly.
For according to the saying of the Master of the Gentiles,
languages are for a sign not to the faithful, but to infidels ;"

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

139

and again, that " every miracle is vain which vvorkcth not
some profit unto man's salvation." Had these rules been
observed, the lives of Irish saints would not have been
filled with the monstrous fables which now disgrace them;
tiiey are not unjustly designated by the Archbishop as "lewd
tales." As to the Head of the Church, the Irish writers
agree in referring it to Christ, and repeatedly assert that
the same supremacy which was granted to St. Peter over
the churches of the Circumcision, was granted to St. Paul
over the churches of the Gentiles ; and that the power to
bind and to loose, which our Saviour might seem to give to
St. Peter alone, was given unto the rest of the Apostles,
and has descended to every true priest.

The next chapter treats of the Pope's spiritual jurisdic-
tion. Campion the Jesuit asserts, that " when Ireland first
received Chinstendom, they gave themselves unto the juris-
diction, both spiritual and temporal, of the see of Rome."
This the Archbishop proves to have been said " of the spi-
ritual power untruly, of the temporal absurdly." It cannot
be shewn out of any monument of antiquity, that the Bishop
of Home did ever send any legate to exercise spiritual juris-
diction, much less temporal, before Gillebertus, "quem aiunt
prima functum legatione Apostolicte sedis per universam
Hiberniam," to use the words of no less an authority than
St. Bernard, in his life of Malachias. The fable of Joceline,
that St. Patrick had obtained a pall from Rome, he refutes
by the evidence of St. Bernard, who distinctly asserts that
" from the very beginning until his time the metropolitical
see of Armagh wanted the use of the Pall," The evidence
on this subject is so strong, that it seevns difficult to ima-
gine how any writer can have the hardihood^" to controvert

" Dr. J.Iilner has taken a view of the question different from any that
had been adopted previous to the time of Ussher. He says that tlie grant-
ing of the palls was to free the Irish bishops from the metropolitan ju-
risdiction of the see of Canterbury. If any one will read the Life of
Malachy by St. Bernard, he will find that the Archbishops of Armagh
neither recognised the authority of the Pope nor the Archbishop of Can-
terbury, and exercised an authority which they never ventured to assume
after the palls were sent from Rome.

Thry not only consecrated bishops, but they erected new bishoprics,

140

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

it, and it can be only controverted by a falsification of the
ancient writers. As to the appointment of the bishops,
Campion himself is obliged to acknowledge, that in Ire-
land the monarch had a negative on the nomination of the
bishops. The dependence upon the Archbishop of Canter-
bury only extended as far as the three settlements of the
Ostmans, Dublin, Waterford, and Limerick. These strangers
wished to be considered as Romans, and not as Irish, and
hence applied to the Roman Archbishop of Canterbury for
consecration. The letter of the clergy and laity of Dublin
to Ralph Archbishop of Canterbury, asking consecration
for their newly elected bishop Gregory, gives abundant
proof that this was not a general practice, but one most
displeasing to the Irish bishops. In it is the following pas-
sage : " Know you for verity, that the bishops of Ireland
have great indignation towards 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."

He next proceeds to show, that there is not any approved
record of antiquity, from which it can be deduced, that visi-
tations of the clergy were held in Ireland by the Pope's autho-
rity, or indulgences sought by the people at his hand. The
documents brought forward usually to establish these points
either are forgeries, or do not establish the facts. The
quotations, if genuine, would go no further than to establish
a profound respect for the Church of Rome, a respect in
which the Archbishop fully coincides, but they do not prove
that any perpetual privilege of infallibility was attached to
that see; and the practice of the Irish clergy abundantly
proves that they thought themselves at liberty to resist the
decisions of the Roman Pontiff, even in cases where there
was little cause for so doing.

and even an archbishopric, as they thought fit. It appears difficult for a
Roman Catholic writer to dispute the authority of St. Bernard, " Muta-
bantur et multiplicabantur episeopi pro libitu Metropolitani, ita ut unus
episcopatus uno non esset contentus, sed singula3 pene ecelesiae singulos
haberent episcopos." — Bern. Vit. Malach. And in the ancient legends it
is to King Engus that the establishment of the archbishopric of Muuster
at Emly is attributed, and to King Brandubh the placing of the arch-
bishopric of the whole province of Leinster at Ferns.

LIFE OF Ar!CHT?ISIIOP USSHER.

The question of Easter is then discussed. It is clearly
proved that the Irish differed from the Romans in the time
of celebrating Easter. The Romans observed the Sunday
which fell between the fourteenth and the twenty-first day
of the moon (both terms included) next after the twenty-
first day of March, and they used the cycle of nineteen
years. The Irish, with the Britons, kept Easter upon the
Sunday which fell between the fourteenth and twentieth
day of the month, and followed the cycle of eighty-four
years. Pope Honorius first addressed letters to the Irish
on the subject, and the southern part of the island con-
formed : forty years after the northern part followed the
example.

The last subject of discussion is the temporal power of
the Pope. The favorers of papal supremacy have produced
three titles for the Pope's dominion over Ireland. The first
is a special grant supposed to be made by the inhabitants
of the country at the time of their first conversion to Chris-
tianity ; the second is the right which the Pope challengeth
to himself over all islands in general ; and the third is the
Treaty made by King John with the Pope. The first of
these claims was invented by Polydore Virgil in the reign
of Henry VIII., and is refuted at once by the Bull of
Adrian, giving Ireland to Henry II., which lays claim to
no such grant, but founds his right" upon the authority of
the Pope over all islands. This strange title is founded
upon the grant of Constantine, long since acknowledged to
be a notorious forgery. And even if it were true, no more
power is given by it to the Church of Rome over islands
than in general over the whole Continent, and in particular
over Judea, Greece, Asia, and Africa, which have not
usually been considered part of St. Peter's temporal patri-
mony. It is scarcely necessary to add, that Constantine
had himself no authority over Ireland, and, therefore, could

* " Sane omnes insulas, quibus sol justiti.T Christus illuxit, et qua; do-
ciimenta fidei Christianse suscoperunt, ad jus S. Putri et saero.sanctjB
RomaniP ecclesUe ((juod tua etiam nol)ilitas recognoscit) non est dubium
pertinere." — Bull. Adrian. IV. ad Ueiir. II. Aiu/. reg.

142

LIFE or AUCHBISHOl' USSHER.

not confer it upon another. As to the argument from the
convention with John, it is dismissed as altogether un-
worthy of notice.

The Archbishop then gives an abstract of the history of
Ireland, as concerned with the title of the King of England,
and shows that it arose partly from conquest, partly from
the submission of the bishops and clergy, followed by that
of the kings and chieftains, and that the whole was con-
firmed by the authority of the Pope. Restates that Ireland
had always been considered as a kingdom, and ridicules the
notion of Pope Paul IV. erecting it into one in the year
1555. To prove this point a remarkable story is narrated
from the history of the Council of Constance. The ambas-
sadors from the Kings of England and France disputed
about precedency, and the English obtained their cause by
quoting from Albertus Magnus, "that Europe was divided
into four kingdoms, namely, the Roman for the first, the
Constantinopolitan for the second, the third the kingdom
of Ireland, which is now translated to the English, and the
fourth the kingdom of Spain. Whereby it appeareth that
the King of England and his kingdom are of the more emi-
nent ancient kings and kingdoms of all Europe, which pre-
rogative the kingdom of France is not said to obtain."

Such is a brief abstract of this remarkable work, a work
which has been attacked in parts by several Roman Catho-
lic writers, but has never received even a plausible answer.
The facts, indeed, are so well attested and so conclusive,
that but little room is left for cavil or sophistry. The very
phraseology of the bull by which Adrian conferred Ireland
on Henry II., is sufficient to prove the want of subjection
to the papal see, and nothing is left for its supporters but
the extravagant boldness of O SuUevan, asserting that the
Pope never intended to confer the lordship of Ireland upon
Henry, but only appointed him his deputy for the collec-
tion of the ecclesiastical tribute. It is no doubt true that
Henry offered the yearly payment of a penny for each
house, but it is nearly certain that vvas the first payment
ever made to the Roman see by Ireland. There would be
no more powerful argument with the Irish Roman Catho-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHRR.

14:3

lies, to turn them from tlie error of their ways, than this
appeal to the religion of their ancestors. Could they once
be persuaded, that the relijjion of Ireland in the days of its
saints and martyrs was unlike the modern creed of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, the great charm which attaches them
to their superstitious errors would at once be broken, and a
new appearance given to the Reformed Church of their
country. Whenever this happy consummation shall arrive,
it must be remembered with gratitude that the first step
was made by Archbishop Ussher, and that the attractive
boast of antiquity was silenced by his accurate research and
lucid argument.

Not long after another work was published in Dublin,
" Veterum Epistolarum Hibernicarum Sylloge, quae partim
ab Hibernis, partim ad Hibernos, partim de Hibernis vel
Rebus Hibernicis sunt conscriptae." This collection of let-
ters extends from the pontificate of Gregory the Great to
the end of the twelfth century, and gives an interesting
account of the ecclesiastical discipline and jurisdiction of
the Irish Church during that period. Among the subjects
treated of, the controversy about the celebration of Easter
holds a prominent place, as the Irish Church had been ac-
cused of supporting the heresy of the Quartodecumans, and,
though not guilty of their errors, yet could not, without
long and protracted discussions, be brought over to adopt
the practice of the Church of Rome. Much progress was
made in settling this dispute, by the learned letter^ of Cum-
mianus Hibernus to Seginus the Abbot of Hy, written
about the year 634, which the Archbishop found among the
manuscripts of Sir Robert Cotton, with the title, " Epistola
Cummiani directa Segino Abbati de disputatione Lunte."
In the preface to this valuable collection, which he has illus-
trated with learned notes, the Archbishop has put together
various authorities, to prove that literary quiet and repose
distinguished Ireland from the seventh to the tenth century.
Bede mentions that from his country many of the nobles,
and also of the middle classes, sought for instruction in

V Sol- Epist. 11, Works, vol. iv. pag. 432.

144

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Ireland, and that'' the Irish nation was peaceable and most
friendly to the English. " Erant," says Bede, "in Kiber-
nia multi nobilium simul et mediocrium de gente Anglo-
rum, qui tempore Finani et Colmani episcoporum, relicta
insula patria vel divinse lectionis vel continentioris vita gra-
tia illo acceperunt. Et quidam quidem mox se monasticse
conversationi fideliter mancipaverunt : alii magis circum-
eundi per cellas magistrorum lectioni operara dare gaude-
bant. Quos omnes Scoti libentissime suscipientes, victum
eis quotidianum sine pretio, libros quoque ad legendum et
magisterium gratuitum prsebere curabant." Several other
writers are quoted to the same purpose, concluding with the
following remarkable passage from Camden : " Anglo Sax-
ones nostri ilia setate in Hiberniam tanquam ad bonarum
literarum mercaturam undique confluxerunt : unde de vitis
Sanctis ssepissime in nostris scriptoribus legitur ; Amanda-
tus est ad disciplinam in Hiberniam."

Various passages are quoted to prove that Ireland was
called Scotia until the end of the eleventh century. Alcuin
speaks in one place of Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht,
having been educated in Hibernia, and afterwards calls the
seat of his education " Scotorum patria ;" but perhaps the
most remarkable passage is from the account of Sulgenus,
Bishop of St. David's, written by his son. He describes
Sulgenus as determining to visit Ireland, after the example
of his fathers, for the sake of study ; then as having been
driven into Albania by contrary winds, and, after a residence
of five years at length reaching the fields of the Scoti, and
there devoting thirteen years to the reading of the Sacred
Scriptures.

No subject has given occasion to more unfounded ridi-
cule, than the claims of the Irish to a superiority of literary
attainments in the dark ages, as they are usually called.
The Scottish writers without hesitation claim for their
country everything that is said of Scotia, utterly disregard-
ing the testimony of all the ancient historians. No fact of

' "Gentem fuisse innoxiam et nationi Anglorum semper amicissimam."
— Bed. Eccles. Hist. lib. iv. cap. 22.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

145

early European history can be demonstrated with more cer-
tainty than the position of Archbishop Ussher, that up to
the twelfth century Ireland was preeminently distinguished
as Scotia. The English and other writers reject the narra-
tives altogether, as fables invented by the monks of later
times. It must be allowed that the injudicious zeal of
many advocates has given a powerful support to this scep-
ticism. These writers, animated with a desire to maintain
the glory of their country, have drawn a picture of Ireland
in remote times, such as would only suit the progress of
civilization at . the present day. In the warmth of their
patriotism they have forgotten, that the testimonies with
regard to learning in Ireland are only relative to the state
oi other European countries, and by attempting to establish
an absolute quantity of literary knowledge utterly unattain-
able at the period in question, have drawn down the suspi-
cion of forgery upon the whole narrative. What Archbishop
Ussher maintained was, that Ireland enjoyed a greater re-
putation for learning than any other country ; drew to its
seminaries the students from England and the Continent ;
and spread over Europe a multitude of learned men, who
attracted attention every where to the country of their birth
and education. In the words of Selden : " The Irish a
people antiently (according to the name of the Holy Island
given^ to Ireland) much devoted to and by the English
much respected for their holiness and learning." No person
can read with impartiality the ancient English historians,
or even the brief extracts made by Archbishop Ussher,
without acknowledging that a literary fame was attached to
Ireland from the seventh to the twelfth century, far above
that of all the surrounding nations. The extent of the in-
struction given at her seminaries it would not be difficult to
ascertain, but that would involve a discussion unsuited to
my present purpose. It, no douht, would not come up'' to
the notions of literary excellence in these our days, yet per-

' Festo Aviono insula sacra dicta TliUernia.
Those who hold in contempt the learning of this period ought to read
Mr. Maitland's admirable " Essay.s on the Dark Ages."
VOL. I. L

146

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

haps it taught a patient diligence of investigation, and a
laborious system of preparation, which might be profitably
adopted instead of the railroad speed of modern education.

Some doubts may possibly be started as to the propriety
of inserting this collection of letters among the works of
the Archbishop. Their publication, however, seemed ab-
solutely necessary, in order to render intelligible the pre-
face and very valuable notes which must have been included
in the works. If any further apology be required, it may
be found in the interesting matter which those letters con-
tain, affording information of the highest value to the stu-
dent of early European history. The Archbishop certainly
had planned a new edition of the Sylloge ; there is preserved
a copy in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, with cor-
rections in his handwriting, and some notes with Bishop
Bedell's name at the end of them : these have been inserted
in the present edition.

At this period, if we are to give credit to the Presbyte-
rian writers, Archbishop Ussher exerted himself not merely
to grant their ministers toleration, but to countenance them
in occupying parishes as their lawful incumbents, yet re-
fusing to conform to the Liturgy. It is stated confidently,
that when Bishop Echlin of Down suspended two remark-
able Puritans, Blair and Livingston, Blair appealed to the
Primate, who immediately desired the Bishop to relax his
erroneous censure. The whole narrative is suspicious in
the extreme. Bishop Echlin was a Scotchman, so liberal
in his notions of episcopal authority, that when Blair came
to him for admission into a benefice, with a request from
Lord Claneboy to admit him on easy terras^ as he was an

The absurdity of Mr. Blair saying that the Bishop would impose no
conditions, and that neither patron nor prelate could say that he had broken
any condition to them, is thus ably exposed by Bishop Mant : " This is
.a perfect delusion. In conferring holy orders, a Bishop is personally
nothing : he has nothing whatever to say or to do about conditions on his
own account. He is the trustee, the representative, the minister, the or-
gan of the Church : in her name he acts ; his course of proceeding is pre-
scribed by her, and he has promised and is pledged to faithfulness in
following it. Thus he is appointed by the Church to confer episcopal or-
dination, and in so doing he is to conduct himself by lawful authority, and

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

147

enemy to episcopacy and an established Liturgy, the Bishop
complied with his prejudices to such an extent, that he asked
him to submit to ordination from the adjacent brethren, and
" to let him come in amonp- them in no other relation than a
presbyter." When the Bishop could so far forget the duty
he owed to the Church, of which he had been appointed an
overseer, it must have been some very extraordinary viola-
tion of the laws of the land, which obliged him to come for-
ward and silence those for whose sake he had ventured so
much. That Archbishop Ussher should countenance what
was too flagrant a breach of discipline for Bishop Echlin to
pass over, is not within the limits of credibility. The ac-
count of his life, as given by Dr. Bernard, no friend of the
Church, contradicts the assertion. Dr. Bernard states:
" He^ was a constant assertor and observer of the Liturgy
of the Church of England to the last. In the Church it
was (by his approbation) as duly observed by myself; we
had there an organ and a quire, on Sunday the service was
sung before him, as is used in Cathedrals in England. An-
thems were sung very frequently, and often instead of a
psalm before sermon. He came constantly to the Church
in his episcopal habit and preached in it, and for myself (by
his approbation) when I officiated I wore ray surplice and
hood, administered the communion, and at such occasions

according to the form of ordination which the Church has provided ; he
is to enforce on the candidate the duties which the Church requires, and
to demand of him an acknowledgment of the conditions which the Church
imposes ; he is not ' to come in among others in no other relation than as
a presby ter' among presbyters, an equal among equals, but he is to come
prominently forward, a Bishop above presbyters, a superior above minis-
ters of a lower order; he is not to see the candidate receive ordination
from others, but he is himself to ordain him The Bishop who should err
from this line would betray his trust, compromise the Cliurch's character,
assume an unlawful power, break his promise, and forfeit his pledge of
fidelity. Thus he would commit a grievous sin. And any person who
should seduce, or tempt or encourage him to the commission would be a
partaker of the sin ; nor could he, by the supposed absence of a condition
imposed by the Bishop, be held excused from observing the conditions
virtually and implicitly imposed by the Church. " — £p. Maiit's Hist, of the
Church of Ireland, vol. i. pag. 4.35.
Clavi Trabales, pp. 57, .58. 59.

L 2

148

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

preached in them also. And for all other administrations
they were fully observed in each rite and ceremony accord-
ing to the rubric of the Book of Common Prayer — And
for the Protestant inhabitants that were refractory in the
northern parts of Ireland (where the Scotch had mingled
with the English) he did his utmost to reclaim them in his
provincial visitations, which 1 was a witness of, and em-
ployed by his directions among them for that end." And
to the same effect Dr. Parr says : " Nor® was his care con-
fined only to the conversion of the ignorant Irish papists ;
but he also endeavoured the reduction of the Scotch and
English sectaries to the bosom of the Church, as it was by
law established, conferring and arguing with divers of them,
as well ministers as laymen, and showing them the weak-
ness of those scruples and objections they had against their
joyning with the publick service of the Church, and sub-
mitting to its government and discipline."

The very narrative itself contains many circumstances no-
toriously false. Mr. Blair says the cause of his appealing to
Archbishop Ussher was his having previously known him ;
that five years before he had been introduced to him by Lord
Claneboy, and had received a general invitation to his table.
" But," says he, "having once met with the English liturgy
there I left my excuse with my patron, that I expected
another thing than formal liturgies in the family of so
learned and pious a man. The Primate excused himself by
reason of the great confluence that was there, and had the
good nature to entreat me to come to Tredafl' where his
usual residence was." Blair goes to Drogheda, is greatly
pleased with all he sees, and departs with an assurance from
the Primate that it would break his heart, if the successful
ministry of the Puritans in the North was interrupted.
Here is the distinct assertion, that the Archbishop read the
Liturgy only when he was in Dublin, exposed to the obser-
vations of many ; yet Dr. Bernard, giving a detail of the
arrangements of the house at Drogheda, states, that morn-
ing and evening prayers, acording to the Liturgy, were

<• Parr's Life, pag. 39.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHEK.

149

read every day, and that the Archbishop never failed to
attend except prevented by iihiess : and he also adds, that
there were no Protestants in Drogheda who scrupled at the
use of the cross in baptism, or kneeling at the communion
table, or the like, but " in^ all things conformed to what
they saw was approved by him." Now these were points
upon which Blair held the very opposite opinions, and
boasted of having convinced Lord Claneboy and others that
sitting was the proper posture for receiving the communion.
The first censure is said to have been inflicted in Septem-
ber, 1631, and in May, 1632, they were summoned before
the Bishop and silenced, with two others. On this occasion
it is reported that they again applied to the Primate, and
that he declined interfering, because the Lords Justices had
received orders from the King concerning them. Now, it
is most probable, from a letter of Bishop Laud to Lord
Strafford, that this interference of the Lords Justices was at
the suggestion of the Primate, for Bishop Laud says : " I
am commanded by his Majesty to send your Lordship a
clause of a letter sent to me by the Lord Primate of Ar-
magh, Mar. 1, 1632, at which time his princely pleasure
was that your Lordship should assure the Lord Primate,
that he would see the jurisdiction of the Church established
there to be maintained against both recusants and other
factionists whatsoever; and that you should do your best
endeavour to stop all such rumours, as may dishearten the
Bishops in God's service and his." This passage proves
decisively that the Archbishop, so far from supporting, had
applied for further powers to put down the Dissenters of
the North. The whole narrative of Blair is remarkable
for its self-sufficiency and arrogance. " It is not a little
remarkable," observes Bishop Mant^, "with what arrogant
self-sufficiency these irregular ministers habitually speak of
their own proceedings, frequently attributing their irregu-
larities and lawlessness to a special divine interposition ;
and how continually they ascribe to the worst motives the

f Clavi Trabales, pag. 58.

^ Hist, of Church of Ireland, vol. i. pag. 46-3.

150

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEll.

conduct of the Bishops and other friends of the Church,
who acted agreeably to their principles and engagements as
episcopalians. Episcopacy and every thing connected with
it appeared in their eyes and is represented in their writings
as a sort of spiritual leprosy ; and even their most favored
Ussher could obtain from Mr. Livingston no better charac-
ter than that of being ' a godly man though a bishop.' "

It is with great regret 1 am obliged to record the assis-
tance, which the Primate gave to an arbitrary act violating
the privileges of Trinity College, Dublin. On the 10th of
July, 1632, a letter'' was delivered to the Provost from the
Lords Justices and the Primate, desiring him to admit Wil-
liam Newman to a fellowship. Newman was under the pro-
tection of Lord Chancellor Loftus, and was afterwards his
domestic chaplain'. The Provost called upon the Fellows
to advise what answer should be returned. " The opinion
of the major part was, that in regard yielding of this desire
were the breach of our statute form for election, and by rea-
son of the statute which maketh him incapable who pro-
cureth letters in his behalf, satisfaction to their Lordships

The letter was as follows : " After our hearty commendations, The
testimonies which Mr. Newman Master in the Arts hath given of his abi-
lities in learning hath prevailed with us to join in these our letters to you
in his behalf. That by our mediation your favours may be so far extended
to him, as to admit him a fellow of that house where he first became a
scholar and continued so long as to have received his degree of Master :
and because he did formerly sit for a fellowship there, and performed
what in such cases are required with good satisfaction to that House as
we are informed. And in regard if he should be put to sit for it a second
time, it might in common construction be interpreted so as it might re-
flect upon him in his reputation beyond your intendment. And for that
he hath already given good proof of his abilities, we therefore pray you
that you will forthwith admit him into his Fellows place, according to his
seniority, without putting him to any such second sitting for it, which we
conceive will be a favour well placed, and such as we will accept in very
good part at your hands, and will aclcnowledge with special thanks. And
so we bid you heartily farewell : from his Maj. castle of Dublin
" Your very loving friends

" Adam Loftus, Cane. R. Corke.
"Ja. Arsiachanus.

" 23 June 1632."

' Sec Commons' Journal, vol. i. pag. 232, June 11, 1(t41.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

151

request could not be given without breach of our oath taken
to have the statutes observed."

Newman, relying upon the interest which he possessed,
proceeded immediately to London with the letter recom-
mending- him to the College, and an additional one from
the Chancellor. He was not disappointed, but returned
to Ireland, bringing with him the following mandamus
from the Kinof :

" Charles R.
" Trusty and well beloved, we greet you well. We are
given to understand that William Newman a native of that
country and Master of Arts, being qualified every way for
his sufficiency and recommended both by our Lords Jus-
tices and the Primate of Armagh to a fellowship in your
House : and for whose election both you the Provost and
some others consented : only some that combined them-
selves to oppose Government opposed. We therefore re-
solving hereafter to have the proceedings of such opposers
examined and censured as it shall deserve, do now require
and command you according to the recommendation of our
Justices and Primate, that you forthwith elect and admit
the said William Newman to be a fellow of your House,
wherein we expect your ready obedience. Given under our
signet at our Court at Whitehall the 16 day of September
in the 8th year of our reign.

" By his Majestys commandment
" J. Coke.

" Provost §• Fellows of
Trinity College."

Mr. Newman was admitted by the Provost in compliance
with this mandate. The interference of the Primate in this
business seems very extraordinary. His signature was not
necessary to give effect to the mandate of the Lords Jus-
tices, and as Vice-Chancellor of the University he ought to
have resisted any encroachment upon its privileges. The
resistance of the Fellows seems to have made a deep im-
pression upon his mind, and in a letter to Archbishop Laud,
written a year after, he describes the Fellows " as so fac-

152

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

tious, that notliing would please tliem which came from their
superiors." If all the acts of their superiors were like the
forcing Mr. Newman upon them, their resistance was highly-
meritorious, and reflects great credit upon their disinterest-
edness and courage.

The next year was remarkable for two events closely con-
nected with the future life of the Archbishop, the arrival of
Lord Strafford inlreland,and the appointment of Bishop Laud
to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. The first request
of Bishop Laud to the Lord Deputy respecting the Church,
was to assist the Primate in his efforts to recover the impro-
priations for the Church : " P humbly pray your Lordship,
that in the great cause of the impropriations which are yet
remaining in his Majestys gift and which he is most gra-
ciously willing to give back to God and his service, you
will do whatsoever may justly be done for the honour and
service of our two great masters, God and the King, that you
would countenance and assist the Lord Primate of Armagh
in all things belonging to this great service : and particu-
larly for the procuring of a true and just valuation of them,
that the King may know what he gives the Church. I
pray, my Lord, be hearty in this, for I shall think myself
very happy, if God be pleased to spare my life to see this
business ended." — " I further pray your Lordship to take
notice by the Lord Primate of Armagh, of the readiness of
the Lord Chief Justice' of L'eland to set forward the main-
tenance of the ministers in that kingdom, and to encourage
him to advance the same. As also to move the Lord Chief
Justice for his opinion, what legal course he shall think
fittest may be held for the present means of Curates out of
the impropriations™ in Ireland ; which I am credibly in-

Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 82.
' Sir George Shurley, Knt.

™ The first person who appears to have considered the state of the impro-
priations was Lord Chancellor Weston. He drew out a plan for restoring
them to their proper use, which he intended to have presented to Queen
Elizabeth, but death prevented him, and the manuscript was lost. In the
year 1620 Dr. Ryves dedicated to King James a work called " The poore
Vicars Plea," in which he proves clearly, that by the ecclesiastical laws
which were in force at the time of the dissolution of abbeys in the reign

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

153

formed liis Lordship is very able and willing to give." The
exertions of the Archbishop in the case of Sir John Bathe
have already been mentioned, and he procured " a grant" of
a patent from his Majesty to be passed in his own name,
although for the use of the Church, of such impropriations
belonging to the Crown as were then leased out, as soon
as they should fall ; which though it did not succeed, being
too much neglected by those who were concerned more im-
mediately, yet it sufficiently shews my Lord's pious inten-
tions in this matter." The Presbyterian writers are most
anxious to show that the affairs of the Irish Church were
carried on by Lord Strafford and Bishop Laud, in direct
opposition to the wishes of Archbishop Ussher. It is only
necessary, however, to read the letters which passed be-
tween these distinguished individuals, in order to ascertain
that the utmost cordiality existed between them. Lord
Strafford and Bishop Laud certainly expressed their regret
that firmness of character was not to be found in Arch-
bishop Ussher, but in one of his earliest letters Lord Strat-
ford says : " To° my Lord Primate (as I take it) I have
given so good satisfaction, as his Lordship is well informed
in his Majesty's purposes and ways concerning matters of
religion, and tells me, it is shame for them when Ezekias
and Josias call upon them for the performance of these du-
ties." And the Primate, in a letter to Archbishop Laud,
says : " Upon'' the arrival of the Lord Deputy, I found him
very honorably affected toward me and very ready to further
me, as in other things that concerned the Church, so parti-
cularly in that which did concern the settlement of the
lands belonging to the archbishoprick of Armagh."

The Primate, taking advantage of the favorable disposi-

of Henry VIII., the bishops had full power, within their several dioceses,
to allot so much of the tithes as would serve for the maintenance of a
minister, and that the same laws stand in full force, uncontrolled by any
Statute of either kingdom. However impropriations still remain ; in
some parishes there is no allowance whatever for the vicar, in many
others an allowance of £5.

" Parr's Life, pag. 41. " Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 173.

p Letter 184, Works, vol. xv. pag. 572.

154

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

tion which the Lord Deputy had evinced towards him, ob-
tained a commission for inquiring into the lands belonging
to the see, and " took his journey (though in an unseason-
able time of the year) into the northern parts of the king-
dom." Such is the mode in which he describes proceeding
from Dublin to Armagh in the month of September. He
took advantage of his residence at Armagh to solemnize
the translation of the Bishop of Raphoe% and to consecrate
the Bishop of Ardagh*^ in the cathedral church of Armagh,
" where no such act had been performed within the memory
of any man living." These circumstances the Primate states,
in a letter to Archbishop Laud, as an excuse for not
sooner congratulating him on his promotion, which he does
with all the warmth of a sincere friend and admirer. The
high opinion which he entertained of Archbishop Laud in-
duced him to exert all the interest he possessed, to have
him appointed to the Chancellorship of the University of
Dublin, vacant by the death of Archbishop Abbot. He
says : " I advised them to pitch upon none other but your-
self, which they did with all readiness and alacrity." Arch-
bishop Laud did not wish to hold the office, and wrote to
Lord Stratford : " As' for the College I am very sorry they
have chosen me Chancellor, and if they will follow the di-
rections I have given them by my Lord Primate, I hope
they will send me a resignation, that I may give it over

John Lesley, Bishop of the Isles, was translated to Raphoe in the
year 1G33. This distinguished prelate evinced his loyalty to his Sovereign
in the most remarkable manner. His castle at Raphoe was the last which
held out against Oliver Cromwell. Nor was his zeal for the Church less
distinguished. He exercised his pastoral functions during the Common-
wealth, and, though prosecuted by the ruling powers, persevered in hold-
ing occasional confirmations and ordinations in Dublin. He lived to see
the Restoration, and such was his anxiety to welcome his monarch, that,
though very far advanced in years, he rode from Chester to London in
twenty-four hours. He was in 1661 translated to Clogher, and when he
died in 1671, was said to be the oldest bishop in the world, having been
consecrated fifty years before. This prelate was father of the celebrated
Charles Lesley.

^ Jolin Richardson was consecrated Bishop of Ardagh on the resigna-
tion of Bishop Bedell.

' Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 213.

LIFE OF AECHBISHOr USSHER.

155

and your Lordship be chosen, being upon the place and
able to do them much good." Archbishop Ussher wrote a
second letter" to Archbishop Laud, urging upon him tlie
necessity of his taking the office of Chancellor, in order to
preserve the College, and gives a lamentable account of the
disorders then prevalent. He speaks of the factious spirit
of the Fellows, and states that nothing will restore order
except the removal of the Provost, " who is of too soft and
gentle a disposition to rule so heady a company," and the
enactment of new Statutes^, which would confer increased
powers upon the Provost. It must have been very painful to
the Archbishop to advise the removal of Provost Ussher, as
he was not only his relative, but had been recommended ex-
pressly by himself for the situation. Both the recommenda-
tions of Archbishop L^ssher were carried into effect. Some
years elapsed before the new Statutes were given to Trinity

" This and the former letter are dated in Dr. Parr's collection 1632,
but this is evidently a mistake. I have changed their place, and placed
them between those of August and December, 1G33, as Lord Strafford
landed in Dublin on the 25th of July, 1033, and Archbishop Laud was
translated to Canterbury in the following September.

' Dr. Reid, in his History of the Presbyterians, vol. i. pag. 167, has
represented the removal of Provost Ussher, and the enactment of new
Statutes for Trinity College, as a deliberate plan arranged between
Archbishop Laud and Lord Strafford, for the purpose of establishing
Arminianism in Ireland. He says, in allusion to Lord Strafford's com-
plaints of the state of the College: " This disorderliness, it is more than
probable, consisted solely in the leaven of puritanism which had existed in
this seminary from its foundation." The Provost " was related to the
Primate and entertained the same sentiments with his predecessors and
his illustrious kinsman on the doctrinal points on which the Church was
divided. The College thus governed had of course exercised considerable
influence in forming the minds of the Irish clergy and rendering them
averse to the innovations of Laud. Until this influence should be en-
trusted to other hands it was evidently impossible to effect any extensive
or permanent alteration of the national faith. A change, therefore, both
in the Provost and the Statutes, became necessarily a part of Wentworth's
plan of reformation." Now this gross misstatement was not the result of
ignorance. Dr. Reid had before him the documents which proved every
insinuation false. Archbishop Ussher's statement of " the disorderli-
ness" of the College is much stronger than Lord Strafford's, and he is so
convinced of the unfitness of his kinsman, that he recommends the remo-
val of the man whom he had actually himself placed in the Provostship. As

15G

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

College, but the Provostship was almost immediately vacated,
by the removal of Dr. Ussher to the archdeaconry of Meath.
He was subsequently promoted to the bishopric of Kildare.
The person recommended by Archbishop Laud to Lord
Strafford was William Chappell, Dean of Cashel, and the
Lord Deputy took effectual means to secure his election.
He thus describes them : " I went to the College myself,
recommended the Dean to the place, told them I must
direct them to chuse the Dean, or else to stay until they
should understand his Majesty's pleasure, and in no case to
chuse any other. They are all willing, so as on Thursday
next he will be Provost, and your Grace shall not need to
trouble the King about it." The election of Mr. Chappell
was certainly disagreeable to Archbishop Ussher, and,
whether by his interference"^' or not, several months elapsed
before the new Provost was sworn into office.

to the Statutes, the defects of the existing Statutes had been pointed out
many years before by Archbishop Abbot ; see Letter 11, vol. xv. pag. 72.
Bishop Bedell drew up a new code of Statutes while he was Provost,
which received indeed the consent of the Fellows, but was rendered in-
complete by the original charter of Queen Elizabeth. And Archbishop
Ussher, in his letter requesting Arclibishop Laud to accept the office of
Chancellor, when he uses the strong language, "miserere domus laben-
tis," mentions, as the first step to amendment in the College, the revision
of the Statutes. Thus unfounded is the charge, that the alteration was a
plan to get rid of puritanical Statutes. The new Statutes subsequently
drawn up by the Chancellor are modelled upon those arranged by Bishop
Bedell, and it would be difficult indeed to discover in the alterations any
leaning towards Popery. I have already been obliged to notice the mis-
statements of Dr. Reid, and regret to say further occasions will hereafter
occur. A fair history of Presbyterianism is still a desideratum. Dr.
Reid's history must take its place beside Neal's History of the Puritans,
and seems deserving of equal credit with its precursor. Dr. Reid states,
that " while sectarian bigotry is the offspring of pride and ignorance,
true wisdom and genuine piety are ever characterized by candour and
charity." It is not very difficult to answer the question, whether his ac-
count of the conduct of Strafford and Laud to the University of Dublin,
be characterized by candor and charity or by sectarian bigotry.

" Chappell himself attributed it to Ussher. He has left an account of
his own life in Latin verse (published by Hearne, in the fifth vol. of Lc-
land's Collectanea), and in this he plainly intimates the cause :

" Augusti initio deferor Dublinium,
Propositus eligor ; nec admittor tamen

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

157

In the letter of congratulation to Archbishop Laud al-
ready alluded to, reference was made to a transaction which
attracted considerable attention, the erection of a monument
by the Earl of Cork in St. Patrick's cathedral. The Earl
of Cork had, with the consent of the Dean and Chapter of
St. Patrick's, erected a monument to the memory of his
wife at the east end of the cathedral, and had agreed to pay
for the erection of a screen, which should separate it from
the choir, and form a place for the communion table. The
approbation of the Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin had
also been obtained. An account of this transaction had been
forwarded to Laud when Bishop of London, but no steps
seem to have been taken about it until the arrival of Lord
Strafford. This delay made Lord Cork consider Lord
Strafford as the individual who complained of the monu-
ment", an opinion which was one of the causes that in-
fluenced him to prosecute the Lord Deputy with such hos-
tility, and become a principal agent in effecting his death.
Archbishop Ussher's defence for giving his consent is very
strange ; he says : " The place wherein it is erected was
an ancient passage intoachappel within that church, which
hath time out of mind been stopped up with a partition

Ad regimen. Ita quidem voluit. Injuriam

Ignoscat ipsi hanc Deus et innumerabiles.

Nono sequentis Februarii die

(Tandem expiato crimine baud visendi eum

Quum rus abiret) recipior. Recolligo

Me ; turn minime omisso oportebat esse animo."

It seems scarcely credible that the Archbishop could have carried his
resentment so far, merely because the Provost elect did not wait upon
him, yet it may be observed, that the first step Bedell took on coming to
Ireland was to proceed immediately to Drogheda, where the Primate
then was.

" Archbishop Laud mentions the rumors to Lord Strafford : "I had
almost forgotten to tell you that all this business about demolishing my
Lord of Cork's tomb is charged upon you as if it were done only because
he will not marry his son to my Lord Clifford's daughter, and that I do it
to join with you ; whereas the complaint came against it to me out of Ire-
land and was presented by me to the King before I knew that your Lord-
ship was named for Deputy there. Hut jealousies have no end." — Straf-
ford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 211.

158

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

made of boards and lime. I remember I was present when
the Earl concluded with the Dean to allow thirty pounds
for the raising of another partition betwixt this new monu-
ment and the Quire, wherein the ten commandments might
be fairly written : w hich if it were put up, I see not what
offence could be taken at the monument ; which otherwise
cannot be denied to be a very great ornament to the
church." How the monument could be an ornament to the
church, if it were to be enclosed between the east end and
this partition, is not very easily understood ; but, waiving
this question, the very fact of such a partition becoming
necessary proves, that the monument ought not to have
been erected in that place. It certainly was near the pas-
sage into the Lady's Chapel, but then the monument was
not in the ancient passage, but against the wall which se-
parated the choir from the Lady's Chapel. Archbishop
Laud, in his answer to the Earl of Cork, accurately de-
scribes the place " where^ the high altar stood and where
the communion table should now stands" Lord Cork wrote

y Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 222. The description seems most cau-
tiously worded, yet Dr. Leiand, in his History of Ireland, vol. iii. pag. 11,
says, " that it took up the place of what the prelate of Canterbury af-
fected to call the Great Altar." This is a falsification of quotation for
which there is no excuse. I should be sorry to defend all that Archbishop
Laud did or wrote, I am ready to admit his errors, and lament his faults,
but I cannot avoid remarking upon the utter recklessness of truth which
has distinguished the attacks upon this Prelate from the days of Prynne
to the present. " To this day," says Mr. Southey, " those who have in-
herited the opinions of the Puritans repeat with unabated effrontery the
imputations against him, as if they had succeeded to their implacable
temper and their hardihood of temper also." {Book of the Church, vol. ii.
pag. 437).

^ Archbishop Laud concludes his letter to the Earl of Cork with great
severity and equal truth: "Your Lordship will I hope give me leave to
deal freely with you, and then I must tell your Lordship, if you have done
as you wrote, you have suffered strangely for many years together by the
tongues of men, who have often and constantly affirmed, that you have
not been a very good friend to the Church in the point of her mainte-
nance. I hope these reports are not true, but if they be, I cannot account
your works charitable, having no better foundation than the livelihood of
the Church taken away to do them." The ravages which this mighty Earl
had committed upon the property of the Church were very extensive.
His great attempt was purchasing the College of Youghal on a doubtful

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

159

an elaborate letter to Archbishop Laud, defending the situa-
tion of the monument, and detailing the improvements he
had made in the cathedral ; one of these is most quaintly
worded, and gives a melancholy picture of the Irish churches:
" Where there was then but an earthen flower at the upper
end of the Chancell, which was often overflowne, I raysed
the same three steps higher, making the staires ofhewen
stone, and paving the same throughout whereon the com-
munion table now stands very dry and gracefully." The
Primate and the Archbishop of Dublin wrote letters in
favor of the Earl, but the determination of Archbishop
Laud was not to be shaken, and he procured a King's let-
ter to be issued, authorizing an investigation. This was
held, and Lord Strafford thus describes the conclusion of
this affair, which had attracted so much notice, and was
destined to attract still more : " The^ two Archbishops and
himself with four other Bishops and the two Deans and
Chapters were present, when we met, and made them all
so ashamed that the Earl desires he may have leave to pull
it down without reporting further into England''."

title, and then endeavouring to obtain a grant of it from his brother, the
Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, at that time Warden of the College.
Lord Strafford summoned him before the High Court of Castle Chamber,
where he forced him to abide his arbitration, and then awarded that he
should pay£13,000 to the King for the issues of thirty-five years, and that
all the appendant advowsons should be seized for the Crown. This was
not the only occasion on which Lord Strafford forced him to give up his
ill-gotten possessions. Lord Strafford, in March, 1634, writes thus :
" No longer since than this term a poor vicar was restored to an impro-
priation and two vicarages usurped there thirty years and better by the
Earl of Corke, we put him in possession, the ease in good faith very
clear, and now the Earl pretendeth to bring the tryal of the right to the
Common Law, when your Lordship may judge what good measure the
man may expect from a Jury against the Earl." — Strafford's Letters,
vol. i. pag. 380. And Dr. Bramhall states, " that the Earl of Cork holds
the whole Bishoprick of Lismore at the rent of 40s. or five marks by the
year." — Letter to Archbishop Laud. The Earl of Cork, in his Diary,
says, that Lord Strafford prejudiced him no less than £40,000 in his per-
sonal estate, and in his inheritance 2000 marks a year.
" Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 298.

•> The monument was subsequently placed on the south side of the chan-
cel, where it still remains, and forms a considerable impediment to the

IGO

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

The next important business that occurred was one, in
which the Primate was more immediately concerned, namely,
the determination of the question of precedence between
the archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, which became
now particularly necessary, as Parliament was about to be
summoned. This dispute had been of very ancient date,
and had been renewed by Archbishop Bulkeley against
Primate Hampton, and subsequently against Primate Us-
sher. The dispute commenced in the year 1182, when
John Comyn, the first English Archbishop of Dublin, ob-
tained a Bull from Pope Lucius III., " that following the
authority of the sacred canons, no archbishop or bishop,
should, without the assent of the Archbishop of Dublin (if
in a bishoprick within his province), presume to celebrate
any synod, or handle any causes or ecclesiastical matters of
the same diocese, unless enjoined thereto by the Roman
Pontiff or his legate." From this period to that of the
Reformation, there was a continued succession of contests
between the rival archbishops, and each, as his interest pre-
vailed at Rome, or in London, obtained a Bull or a King's
Letter in his favour. Archbishop Alan, who held the see
of Dublin in the middle of the sixteenth century, and had
many disputes with Archbishop Cromer of Armagh, states,
that he read in the registry at Rome a decree of Pope In-
nocent VI., that both the archbishops should be Primates,
but, for the sake of distinction, the Archbishop of Armagh
should style himself Primate of all Ireland, and the Arch-
bishop of Dublin Primate of Ireland, after the example
of Canterbury and York. It seems strange that this de-
cree should not have been known for 180 years, and it is
most certain that it did not settle the controversy even at
the time when it is said to have been made.

At the Reformation the Archbishops of Armagh and Dub-
lin took opposite sides, Archbishop Dowdal strenuously
opposing the introduction of the English Liturgy, and Arch-
bishop Browne, with not less zeal and much more ability,
exerting himself to expose the errors of Popery. These

restoration of the cathedral, as it has stopped up some of the arches, and
is so verj' high, that tliere is no other place where it can be erected.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

161

circumstances caused Edward VI. to issue letters patent
conferring the Primacy upon Archbishop Browne and
his successors. Upon the accession of Mary, Archbishop
Browne was compelled to surrender his patent, and in
the year 1553 letters patent passed the Great Seal, re-
storing the Primacy to the see of Armagii : " We restore
the primacy of all Ireland which your predecessors beyond
the memory of man have been known to have held ; and
we confirm to you for ever the same, commanding that all
other Archbishops and Bishops shall pay obedience to the
Primates in the exercise of the Primatial office." During
the reign of Elizabeth no dispute occurred. Archbishop
Loftus, while in [)ossession of the see of Armagh, took pre-
cedence, and yielded it when he was translated to Dublin.
Archbishop Jones, indeed, took precedence*^, because he was
Lord Chancellor of Ireland, but the claim for the see was
not renewed till Archbishop Bulkeley succeeded. On the
8th of February, 1G26, Charles directed letters to the Lord
Deputy Falkland and the Privy Council to examine into,
and finally determine the question of precedence between
the tvvo prelates. Nothing, however, appears to have been
done until the month of June, 1634, a short time before the
meeting of Parliament, when Lord Strafford summoned the
two Archbishops before the Council, and heard the cause
for two days. Mac Mahon states that Archbishop Bulke-
ley exerted himself to the utmost, attended by a number of
lawyers, " causidicorum turba stipatus." Archbishop Ussher
drew up the statement^ in defence of the privileges of his
see, and obtained a decision^ in favor of the precedence of

See before, pag. 39.

The statement actually made is, it is believed, still preserved among
the manuscripts of Trinity College. The argument is in the Archbishop's
handwriting, and is printed in the Appendix No. VI. p. cxxix.
^ The decision is as follows :

" Wentwokth.

"Whereas the Kings most excellent Majesty by his Letters of the 8th
of July, in the second year of his Highness's reign, directed to the Lord
Deputy of this Kingdom, and to the Chancellour, and Keeper of the Great
Seal, to the Chief Governour, or Governours of this Kingdom, which for
the time should be, and to all other his Highness's Officers, and Ministers
here, to whom it shou'd, or might in any wise appertain, was graciously
VOL. I. M

1()2 LIFE OF AHCHRISHOP USSHER.

Armagh. The justice of this decision was strongly impugned
by Talbot, the titular Archbishop of Dublin, and he attri-

pleased to take notice of a contention between the late Lord Primate, and
the now Lord Archbishop of Dublin touching Precedency, and therein
declar'd his Royall pleasure, and accordingly requir'd the Lord Deputy,
and Councill here, to take due examination of the said difference viewing
the Records, and hearing what wou'd be produc'd, and alledg'd on either
side, and thereupon to sett down order for the speedy, and final ending
of the same, that so the scandal arising upon such unseemly contention
betwixt Prelats might be avoided, whereof nothing had been hitherto
done in execution of his Majestie's commandment.

" And whereas his Majesty having in his High Wisdom, found reason
to call a Parliament in this Kingdom, which is to be assembled the four-
teenth day of July next, wherein as well the now Lord Primate the Lord
Archbishop of Armagh, as also the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, must ne-
cessarily have many occasions to meet as well in the Parliament House,
as in the Convocation House, and otherwise, and forasmuch as we hold
it fitt, that before the publick meetings, there shou'dbe an end put to that
controversy to avoid the scandal, which may otherwise arise thereupon.

" We therefore by virtue of his Majesty's said Letter, called both the
said Archbishops before us at this Board, where we have two several
days taken due examination of the difference, and view'd the Records, and
heard what wou'd be produc'd, and alledg'd on either side : Upon debate
whereof, it appear'd as well by the testimony of Bernard, in the life of
Malachias, as by the old Roman Provincialls and divers other evidences,
that the See of Armagh hath from all antiquity been acknowledg'd to be
the prime See of the whole Kingdom, and the Archbishop thereof reputed
not a Provinciall Pi-imate (as the other three Metropolitan are) but a
National, that is to say, the sole Primate of L-eland, properly so called,
which title hath hitherto in such a peculiar manner been attributed unto
him, that he is thereby still vulgarly known, and distinguish'd from all the
rest of the Archbishops of the land.

"And whereas in latter times, George Brown, Archbishop of Dublin
had by sinister practice procur'd letters from King Edward the Sixth,
for the transferring of the dignity of the Primacy of all Ireland from the
See of Armagh to the See of Dublin, it appeared out of the Rolls of the
Chancery that (complaint being thereof made by George Dowdall, Arch-
bishop of Armagh), he did surrender the same, and upon the cancelling
thereof, new Letters Patents issued under the Great Seal, bearing date
the 12th day of March, in the first year of Queen Mary, wherein first it
is declar'd, that the Archbishops of Armagh, since beyond the memory of
man had enjoy 'd the Dignity, and stile of the Primates of all Ireland :
Secondly, both the Office and Title of the Primacy of all Ireland is re-
stored, and confirmed to them for ever : Thirdly all other Archbishops,
and Bishops are commanded to answer, and obey them in the exercise
of said Office of Primacy.

" It was further also made manifest that in the succeeding days of
Queen Elizabeth, the Archbishop of Dublin, (so long as he was not Keeper

LIFE OI' AKCHBISUOI' USSIIEU.

buted it to the high favoi*^ in which Arclibishop Ussher
stood with Strafford, while, as we have already seen, the
Presbyterian writers endeavour to prove that Archbishop
Laud and Strafford were doing every thing to diminish the
influence of Ussher, and establish Arminianism and Popery
in Ireland.

of the Great Seal, or Chaucelloiir) both at the Councill Board, and in the
execution of the high Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical (even for
such things, as did properly concern the Diocess of Dublin itself), did
constantly subscribe after the Archbishop of Armagh, and Lastly as in
the body of the Statute for the Erections of free Schools, in Parliament
held at Dublin the twelfth year of Queen Elizabeth, the Archbishop of
Armagh is nominated before the Archbishop of Dublin, so at the Parlia-
ment held at the same place in the seven and twentieth year of the said
Queen of Famous Memory, where all the Archbishops and Bishops are
rank'd in their order, Armagh was set down in the first place, and Dub-
lin in the second, as the Parliament Roll exhibited unto us did most
plainly testify.

" Upon all which, we conceive it to be very fit, and just, and accord-
ingly do Order, Judge, and Decree, That the said Lord Archbishop of
Armagh, and his Successors for ever, shall from time to time, and at
all times hereafter, take place, and have Precedency, and be rank'd and
inserted before the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, and his Successors, as
well in the Parliament as in the Convocation-house, and in all other
Meetings, and in all Commissions, and other Things whatsoever upon all
occasions, wherein they shall be mentioned, either together, by themselves,
or with others, and in all places, as well within the Diocese or Province
of Dublin, as otherwise, until upon better matter to be shew'd on the part
of the Lord Archbishop of Dublin, than hath hitherto been shew'd by him,
it shall be adjudg'd otherwise by his Majesty or by this Board : Whei'eof
we require as well the said Lord Archbishop of Dublin, as his Successors,
and all others whom it may concern, from time to time to take notice,
and to yield obedience thereunto accordingly.

" Given at her Majestys Castle of Dublin the six and twentieth day of
June 1634."

At the same time it was determined, that the Archbishop of Armagh
should have precedence of the Lord Chancellor, and in this respect be put
upon an equality with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

' " Quia imperiosi Proregis Straffordi tanta fuit in Usserum propensio,
ac contra Buckleanas partes pertinacia, tanta in consiliariismeticulosis ac
illiteratis Proregi submissio, tanta adulatio ac linguae Latinai inscitia
(unum si excipias Rapotensem, hunc vero minime competentem judicem
fateberis, utpote Armacani suffraganeum) ut contra publica Cancellariae
monumentB; et clarissimam D. Bernardi mentem, contra sententiam latam
tempore Regis Jacobi, imo contra praxim ejusdem temporis iniquum fuerit
decretura pro sede Armaeana promulgatum." — Primal. Dublin, pag. ■22.

M 2

164

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOI' USSHKK.

The dispute thus settled in the Church of Ireland, was
renewed by the titular bishops of the Roman Catholic
Schism. Bishop Plunket published in 1672 a treatise with
the title, " Jus Primatiale," which was answered by Bishop
Talbot in a tract entitled, " Primatus Dubliniensis, vel
summa Rationum, quibus innititur Ecclesia Dubliniensis in
possessione, et prosecutione sui Juris ad Primatum Hiber-
niae." The best treatise upon the subject was published in
1728 by Hugh Mac Mahons, Roman Catholic Archbishop
in Armagh. He has exhausted the subject, and given a
much more complete defence of the rights of the see than
Archbishop Ussher*^.

A short time before this judgment was passed, Archbishop
Ussher had consecrated Dr. John Bramhall Bishop of
Derry. This distinguished ecclesiastic had been brought
over to Ireland by Lord Stratford, and had been employed
by him in the royal visitation of Ireland : but it does not
appear whether he was one of the commissioners, that he
was the chief director of the visitation is certain. His bio-
grapher, Bishop Vesey, says : " He was either one of his
Majesties commissioners with Baron Hilton, Judge of the
Prerogative, or such a Coadjutor that all was governed by
his direction." The lamentable description he gave of the
state of the Church, both as to spirituals and to temporals,
belongs more to the general history of Ireland than to the
Life of Archbishop Ussher, and I must proceed to give an
account of the meeting of the Convocation in 1634.

s The title of the work is "Jus Primatiale Armacanum in omnes Ar-
chiepiscopos, Episcopos, et universum Clerum totius Regni Ilibernise,
assertum per H. A. M. T. H. P." that is, Hugoneni Armacanum Metro-
politanum Totius Hiberniie Primatem.

*■ Mac Mahon states that the question had been finally settled at Rome :
'• Quibus utrinque aqua lanee perpensis in sacro coetu Cardinalium SS.
Congregationis de propaganda fide, Secretarius Raldescus Archiepiscopus
CsEsarese, postea Cardinalis Colonna pronunciavit, L'Armacu/io sta a ca-
vallo, id est, Armacani rationes proivalere. Aliquanto post utriusque
partis iterum ventilatis accurate monumentis, et preemissa (ut consuevit)
matura deliberatione SS. Congregatio, approbante Summo Pontifice,
iuseri mandavit officio S. Patricii ad 17. diem Martii hac verba, Armaca-
nam sedem Romani Pontificis authoritate totius insula principem Metropoli-
tanum coiistituit." — Jus Primal, pag. 21.

LIFE OF AllCIIBISHOP USSHEK,

1G5

At the commencement of tlie year 1634 the Lord Deputy
addressed two letters, one to the King, detailing his rea-
sons for wishing to call a Parliament, the other to the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, putting forward the lamentable state
of the Church, and the necessity of establishinof its ao-ree-
ment in doctrine and discipline with the Church of England,
His Majesty consented, writing to Lord Strafford : " Upon
these reasons alledged by you, and the confidence which we
have, that you have well weighed all the circumstances
mentioned by you, or otherwise necessary to the calling of
a Parliament ; and especially relying upon your faith and
dexterity in managing so great a work for the good of
our service ; we are fully persuaded to condescend to the
present calling of a Parliament, which accordingly we au-
thorize and require you to do, and therein to make use of
all the motives you here propound." The Lord Deputy
considered the state of the Church so deplorable, that it
was useless to attempt introducing a conformity in religion
with England, until " the' decays of the material churches
be repaired and an able clergy be provided." The Arch-
bishop of Canterbury in reply most wisely recommends
that he should set about " the repair of the material and
spiritual church together." The Lord Deputy took the
advice, and set about t!ie two important amendments
vigorously. He complains that he " finds'' all men utterly
ignorant in the orders and forms to be observed in the
meetings and sittings of Parliaments," and he requests that
the Secretary will send him over all the necessary forms.
The arrangements were made according to these forms, and
■writs issued for summoning a Convocation similar to those

' Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 187.

I* Nothing can be more melancholy than his statement : " An unlearned
clergy, which have not so much as the outward form of churchmen to
cover themselves with, nor their persons any way reverenced or pro-
tected ; the churches unbuilt ; the parsonage and vicarage houses utterly
ruined ; the people untaught thorough the non-residency of the clergy,
occasioned by the unlimited shameful numbers of spiritual promotions
with cure of souls, which they hold by oommondams ; the rites and cere-
monies of the church run over without all decency of habit, order or gra-
vity, in the course of their service ; the possessions of the eliurch to a

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

made use of in England. On the 14th of July the Parlia-
ment assembled, and in great state proceeded with the Lord
Deputy to St. Patricks Cathedral, where the Archbishop
of Armagh preached before them on the text, " The scep-
tre shall not depart from Judah nor a lawgiver from between
his feet, until Shiloh come, and to him shall the gathering
of the people be." On the meeting of the Convocation
Dean Lesley was chosen Prolocutor of the Lower House.
The great difficulty which presented itself was the sup-
posed attachment of the Primate to the Articles of 1615,
■which were principally, if not entirely drawn up by him.
Lord Strafford says, in a letter to the Archbishop of Can-
terbury : "It' is true my Lord Primate seemed to disallow
these articles of Ireland but when it comes to the upshot, 1
cannot find he doth it so absolutely as I expected. Some
little trouble there hath been in it, and we are all bound
not to advertise it over, hoping among ourselves to recon-
cile it." The Archbishop in answer says: " I™ knew how
vou would find my Lord Primate affected to the articles of
Ireland, but I am glad the trouble that hath been in it will
end there without advertising it over to us." Lord Straf-
ford's determination, which received the approbation of the
King and the Archbishop of Canterbury, was " to'* have
the articles of England received in ipsissimis verbis, leaving
the other as no ways concerned in the state they now are,
either aflSrmed or disaffirmed." Some letters of the Lord
Deputy have been lost, which would throw considerable
light upon the proceedings, that took place before the open-
great proportion in lay hands : the Bishops aliening their very principal
houses and demesnes to their children, to strangers ; farming out the ju-
risdictions to mean and unworthy persons ; the Popish titulars exercising
the whilst a foreign jurisdiction much greater than theirs. The schools
which might be a means to season the youth in virtue and religion, either
ill provided, ill governed in the most part, or which is worse applied some-
times underhand to the maintenance of Popish schoolmasters. Lands
given to these charitable uses, and that in bountiful proportion, especially
by King James of ever blessed memory, dissipated, leased forth for little
or nothing, concealed contrary to all conscience and the excellent pur-
pose of the founders." — Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 187, 188.

' Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 298. Ibid. pag. .329.

■ Ibid. pag. 298.

LU'E OF AKCHBISHOr USSHEU.

1(57

ing of the Convocation. In a letter dated December 16,
the Lord Deputy says : " In" a former letter of mine I
mentioned a way propounded by my Lord Primate how to
bring upon this clergy the articles of England and silence
those of Ireland without noise, as it were aliud agens, which
he was confident would pass amongst them. In my last I
related to you, how his Grace grew fearful he should not
be able to effect it, which awakened me, that had rested
secure upon that judgment of his, and had indeed leaned
upon that belief so long, as I had not bestirred myself,
though I say it, like a man, I had been fatally surprized to
my extream grief for as many days as I have to live."
This is the whole account which has been preserved, and
we are at a loss to ascertain what was the Primate's plan,
or to discover the reasons which influenced him to despair
of carrying it ; we have fortunately a full detail of the
measures which were adopted, and of the mode in which
the Lord Deputy secured his success.

During the first short session of the Parliament the Con-
vocation does not appear to have done any thing except
making a liberal grant to the King of eight subsidies'' :

° Strafford's Letters, voi. i. pag. 342.

V The form was as follows : " Iliustrissimo ac potentissimo Principi,
ac Domino nostro clementissimo Carolo ; Dei gratia Anglife Scotiae et
Hibernise, fidei defensori &c. Jacobus Provideiitia divina Armachanus
Archiepiscopus, totius Ilibernia} Priraas et Metropolitanus, cum omiii
observantia tanto Principi debita, prosperum in hac vita successura et in
futura jeternam felicitatem. Sercnissimje vestrrc Majestati, per publicum
hoc instrumentum notum facimus, quod Prwlati et clerus totius Hibernia;,
in sacra synodo national!, jussu serenissimie ]Majestatis vestrie, in eeclesia
Cathedrali Sancti Patricii Dublinii legitime congregati, recolentes multa
ilia et summa beueficia, qu<e eommuniter cum ceteris subditis vestris
percipiunt (veluti sunt pura? religionis exercitium, justitiii? administratio,
publicaque pax, in qua omnium bonorum affluentia continetur) et multo
magis singularem Majestatis vestrre zelum erga decorum domus Dei et
h;ereditariam illam munificentiam, qua ordinem ecclesiasticum Regia Ma-
jestas vestra, paternis insistens vestigiis, prosequitur ; non modo Deo
optimo maxinio humillimas pro vobis gratias agendas, ot assiduas preces
pro Regni vestri tranquillitate fundendas, sed etiam gratitudinera suam
aliquo indicio Regiie vestra? sublimitati testificandam duxerunt, et octo
Integra et ultronea subsidia, unanimi consensu, ncmine prorsus dis-
senticnte, Rcgi.x vestra' sublimitati alacriter concesserunt, Majestatem

1G8

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

and It was on its reassembling in November that they com-
menced to consider the state of the Church, and tlie neces-
sity of establishing canons. The first step in the Upper
House was agreeing upon the following petition to the King
in favor of the inferior clergy :

vestram rogantes, ut ex affectus largitate potiiis quam rei ipsius tenui-
tate, hoc officium suum metiatur. Tenor vero coacessionis preedicta; se
habet in hunc qui sequitur modum.

"Most gracious and dread Soveraigne, we your Majesties most loyall
subjects, the prelates and clergie of this church and kingdom of Ireland,
called together out of the severall provinces of Armagh, Dublin, Cashell
and Tuam, by the authoritie of your Highnesse writ, and orderly assem-
bled in a national syuode or convocation, being lately dejected and de-
pressed to the lowest degree of misery and contempt, by the warres and
confusions of former times, having our churches ruined, our habitations
left desolate, our possessions aliened, our persons scorned, our very lives
subject to the bloody attempts of rebellious traytors ; and now by the
pietie and bountie of your blessed Father, and by the gracious influence
of your sacred Majestie being new enlived, and beginning to lift up our
heads out of darknesse and obscurity, doe freely acknowledge to your
immortal glory before God and the whole Christian world, that as no
Church under Heaven did ever stand more in need, so none did ever finde
more royal and munificent patrons and protectors than the poore Church
of Ireland ; you have not onely made restitution of that which the iniqui-
tie of former ages had bereft us of, but also, as though you intended to
expiate their faults, enriched us with new and princely endowments ; all
which great favours doe yet become more sweet unto us, whilst we enter-
tain them as pledges of your future unexhausted goodnesse; and if we
doe not seriously endeavour, throughout our whole lives, to make un-
f'aigned expressions of true loyaltie and thankfulness to your sacred Ma-
jestie, we deserve to be condemned by men and punished by God as mon-
sters of ingratitude ; to which infinite obligation and many others, we
may adde your Majesties inestimable goodnesse in providing for us your
present Deputie Thomas Viscount Wentworth, a governour so just, care-
full, provident and propitious to the Church."

Then proceeds the enactment of the different provisions, and it con-
cludes thus ;

" In quorum omnium et singulorum praemissorum fidem et testimonium,
nos Jacobus Arehiepiscopus Armachanus, totius Hibernise Primas ante-
dictus, has prwsentes literas nostras testimoniales, sive hoc praesens pub-
licum instrumentum ad humilem rogatum PrKlatorum et Cleri prsedicti,
sigilli nostri appensione ac signo, nomine et subscriptione Johannis Forth
Armigeri notarii public!, jussimus et fecimiis communiri. Dat' vicesimo
.^''-xto die instant" mensis Julii, Anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo tri-
cesimo quarto, Regniqne vestri felicissimi. scilicet Anglise ScoticC et
Iliberniae. decimo."

LIFE OF ARCIIBISHOr USSHUK.

169

" To our dread Sovereign Charles by the grace of God
King of Great Britain France and Ireland.

" The Humble petition of his Highness's most lo3'al and
devoted subjects the Archbishops and Bishops of Ireland
assembled in Convocation by his Majestys special com-
mand

" Sheweth unto your sacred Majesty

" That in the whole Christian world the rural clergy
have not been reduced to such extreme contempt and beg-
gary, as in this your Highness's kingdom by the means of
the frequent appropriations, commendams and violent intru-
sions into their undoubted rights in times of confusion :
having their churches ruined, their habitations left desolate,
their tythes detained, their glebes concealed, and by inevi-
table consequence an invincible necessity of a general non
residence imposed upon them, whereby the ordinary subject
has been left wholly destitute of all possible means to learn
true piety to God, loyalty to their Prince, civility towards
one another, and whereby former wars and insurrections
have been occasionally both procreated and maintained.
Whereas by settling a rural clergy, endowed with compe-
tency to serve God at his altar, besides the general protec-
tion of the Almighty, which it will most surely bring upon
your Majesty and this kingdom, barbarism and superstition
will be expelled, the subject shall learn his duty to God and
his Sovereign, and true religion be propagated.

" Our most humble suit is, that your Highness would be
graciously pleased for God's cause and for his Churches
cause and for the encouragement of others by your Royal
example to so good a work: to perfect the j)ious intentions
of your blessed Father and your sacred Majesty by establish-
ing upon a rural and resident clergy those appropriations,
which are yet in the crown undisposed. So as the same
may bring no diminution to your revenue, nor considerable
prejudice to the rights of the Imperial Crown of this Realm,
as by a representation of the true state of these benefices
made to the Lord Deputy and hereunto annexed mayappear.
And your devoted beadsmen, as they are more obliged in
the strictest bonds of duty and gratitude, than any clergy

170

LITE or AUCIIBISHOI' L'SSHEK.

in the whole world to a Prince, will be incessant suitors to
the God of Heaven for the long continuance of your blessed
reign, and the perpetuation of this crown and scepter to
your posterity until the second coming of Christ Jesus.

Ja. Armachanus.
" Arch. Casselens."

The Lower House of Convocation were in the meantime
discussing the question of the canons, in which was included
that of the Articles of religion. The narrative, as given by
Lord Stralford to Archbishop Laud, is so complete and so
minute, that it bears the stamp of truth, and must be fol-
lowed in preference to that of Dr. Parr, or that of Bishop
Vesey in his Life of Archbishop Bramhall. Lord Strafford
commences his narrative by stating, that he was so much
employed upon the business of Parliament, that he neglected
the affairs of the clergy, " reposing secure upon the Pri-
mate, who all this while said not a word of the matter." At
length he learned, " that the Lower House of Convocation
had appointed a committee to consider the canons of the
Church of England, that they did proceed to the examina-
tion without conferring at all with their Bishops, that they
had gone thorough the book of Canons and noted in the
margin such as they allowed with an A. and on others they
had entered a D. which stood for Deliberandum ; that in
the fifth article' they had brought the Articles of Ireland to
be allowed and received under the pain of excommunication,
and that they had drawn up their Canons into a body and
were ready that afternoon to make report in the Convoca-
tion." The Lord Deputy immediately sent for the Chair-
man of the Committee, Andrews'^ Dean of Limerick, re-

1 He means the fifth canon, which in the English canons establishes the
Thirty-nine Articles as settled in 1562, under pain of excommunication.

' Lord Strafford proposed a curious punishment for Dean Andrews.
" If your Lordship think Dean Andrews hath been to blame and that you
would chastise him for it, make him Bishop of Femes and Laughlin to
have it without any other commcndam than as the last Bishop had, and
then I assure you he shall leave better behind him, than will be recom-
pensed out of that Bishoprick, which is one of the meanest of the whole
Kingdom." The punishment was inflicted, and the Lord Deputy reported

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSUER.

171

quiring him to bring the volume of Canons so noted in the
margin, and also the draught he was to present to the
House. When he had read over the proceedings, he ex-
pressed with great indignation his opinion of what had been
done; told him, not a Dean of Limerick, but Ananias, had
sat in the chair of the Committee, and commanded him on
his allegiance not to report any thing from the Committee
until he heard again from him. On the following morning
he had a meeting of the Primate, the Bishops'' of Meath,
Raphoe, Kilmore, and Derry, the Prolocutor, and all the
members of the Committee, and publicly told them, " how
unlike clergymen, that owed canonical obedience to their
superiors, they had proceeded in the Committee ; how un-
heard a part it was for a few petty clerks to presume to
make articles of faith without the privity or consent of State
or Bishop; what a spirit of Brownism and contradiction he
observed in their deliberations, as if indeed they purposed
at once to take away selfgovernment and order forth of the
Church, and leave every man to chuse his own high place
where liked him best." The Lord Deputy then laid his in-
junctions,

First. Upon Dean Andrews, that he should report nothing
from the Committee to the House.

Secondly. He enjoined the Prolocutor, Dean Lesley,
that in case any of the Committee should propound any
question', he should not put it, but break up the sitting for
that time, and acquaint the Lord Deputy with it.

Thirdly. That he should put no question at all touching
the receiving or not of the Articles of the Church of Ireland.

that the Dean was well satisfied. " Never any so well pleased or so much
desirous to take a Rochet to loss as he : Had he not died Bishop, he had
been immemorial to posterity, where now he may be reckoned one of the
worthies of his time."— Strajfbrd's Letters, vol. i. pag. 344, 378.

The Bishop of Meath was Antony ^Martin ; the Bishop of Raphoe
John Lesley ; the Bishop of Kilmore William Bedell, and the Bishop of
Derry John Bramhall.

' Lord Strafford says that there were some hot spirits, who moved that
they should petition him for a free synod, but in fine they could not agree
among themselves who should put the hell about the cat's neck, and so
this likewise vanished.

172

LIFK Ol" AIU;HUlSIIur LSSUIiR.

Fourthly. That he should put the question for allowing
and receiving the Articles of the Church of England, wherein
he was by nanae and in writing to take their votes, barely,
content or not content, without admitting any other dis-
course at all, for he would not endure that the Articles of
the Church of England should be disputed.

And finally ; because there should be no question in the
Canon that was thus to be voted, he desired the Lord Pri-
mate would be pleased to frame it, and after he had perused
it, he would send the Prolocutor a draught of the Canon
to be propounded, enclosed in a letter of his own.

The Lord Deputy then proceeds, in his letter to the
Archbishop : " The Primate accordingly framed a canon,
a copy whereof you have here, which I not so well approving
drew up one myself more after the words of the Canon in
England, which 1 held best for me to keep as close as I could
and then sent it to my Lord. His Grace came instantly to
me, and told me he feared the canon would not pass in such
form, as 1 had made it, but he was hopeful as he had drawn
it, it might : besought me therefore to think a little better
of it. But I confess having taken a little jealousy, that his
proceedings were not open and free to those ends 1 had
mv eyes upon, it was too late now either to persuade or
atfright me. I told his Lordship I was resolved to put it
to them in those very words, and was most confident there
were not six in the House that would refuse them, telling
him by the sequel we should see whether his Lordship or
myself better understood their minds on that point, and by
that I would be content to be judged: only for order sake
I desired his Lordship would vote" this canon first in the
upper House of Convocation ; and so voted, then to pass the

" Dr. Parr states: "In the Convocation tlie Lord Primate at tlie in-
stance of the Lord Deputy and the Archbishop of Canterbury thought tit
to propose, that to express the agreement of the Church of Ireland with
that of England both in doctrine and discipline, the thirty nine articles
should be received by the Church of Ireland, which proposal was there-
upon consented to by both Houses of Convocation and tlie said articles
were declared to be the confession of faith of the Churcii of Ireland."
This is certainly not the same statement of the transaction which Lord
Strafford gave, and must be rejected as incorrect.

i.iFK OF AHCHnrsiior i ssuer

173

question beneath also. Without any delay then I writ a
letter to Dean Lesley the Prolocutor with the Canon en-
closed, which was that afternoon unanimously voted^ first
with the Bishops and then with the clergy, excepting one
man."

Bishop Vesey, in his Life of Primate Bramhall, has given
a narrative of the proceedings in the Convocation, which he
states to have received from Archbishop Price, then Arch-
deacon of Kilmore, and a member of the Lower House, yet
the narrative cannot be easily reconciled with the letter of
the Lord Deputy. Bishop Vesey's statement is as follows :
" The Bishop of Derry laboured in the Convocation to have
the correspondence between the two Churches more entire
and accurate ; and discoursed with great moderation and
sobriety of the convenience of having the articles of peace
and communion in every national Church, worded in that
latitude that dissenting persons in those things, that con-
cerned not the Christian faith, might subscribe, and the
Church not lose the benefit of their labours for an opinion,
which it may be they could not help : that it were to be
wished that such Articles might be contrived for the whole
Christian world, but especially that the Protestant Churches
under his Majesty's dominion might all speak the same
language ; and particularly that those of England and
Ireland being reformed by the same principle and rule of
Scripture, expounded by universal tradition, Councils, Fa-

* Mr. Moore, in his History of Ireland, has given an account of the
transaction which certainly has the claim of novelty. He says : " Not-
wthstanding the lively protest of the Lord Deputy, the Articles of Usher,
chiefly in consequence of the general deference felt for his character, were
retained by the Irish Church ; and the Canon enjoining them is the first
of the hundred then passed in Convocation and approved by the King."
Moore's History of Ireland, vol. iv. p. 191. This is not the only extraor-
dinary blunder about the ecclesiastical history of Ireland which this
volume contains. The meeting of the Bishops at the Primate's house, and
the sermon of Bishop Downham at Christ Church (see pag. 75), arc thus
described: "A synod was forthwith held in Christ Church, Dublin, by
Downham, Bishop of Derry, at which eleven other Bishops attended, and
the following grave resolution was the result." — Pag. 178. The author's
ignorance of ecclesiastical affairs is scarcely credible, when he makes the
Bishop of Dei ry hold a synod in a cathedral in the diocese of Dublin.

174

I.lFt; OF ARCHUISHOP TSSHER.

thers and other ways of conveyance might confess their
faith in the same form. For if they were of the same opi-
nion, why did they not express themselves in the same
words ? But he was answered, that because their sense was
the same, it was not material if the expressions differed,
and therefore it was fitter to confirm and strengthen the
Articles of this Church passed in Convocation and con-
firmed by King James in 16 15 by the authority of this pre-
sent synod. To this the Bishop of Derry replyed, that the
sense might be the same, yet that our adversaries clamoured
much that they were dissonant confessions, and it was rea-
sonable to take away the offence, when it might be done so
easily : but for the confirmation of the Articles of 1615, he
knew not what they meant by it, and wished the propounder
to consider, whether such an act would not instead of rati-
fying what was desired, rather tend to the diminution of
that authority by which they were enacted, and seem to
question the value of that synod and consequently of this :
for that this had no more power than that, and therefore
could add no moment, but by so doing might help to iner-
vate both. By this prudent dressing of the objection he
avoyded the blow he most feared, and therefore again ear-
nestly pressed the receiving of the English articles, which
were at last admitted : whereupon immediately drawing up
a Canon and proposing it, it passed accordingly."

It does not appear when the transactions here narrated
could have taken place. It is evident, from the conference
with the Lord Deputy, that the question had not been
previously discussed in the Upper House ; it is one of his
subjects of complaint against the Lower House, that they
had acted without consulting the Bishops : and there was
scarcely time for such discussions after the conference, as
the canon passed in the same afternoon. It should also be
remarked, that the Lord Deputy had positively prohibited
the discussion of the reception of the Irish Articles, and
had actually given the canon to the Primate to propose.
The mode which Bishop Vesey describes of " dressing the
objection" would not reflect much credit upon the talents
or honesty of Bishop Bramhall. The objection was childish.

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHEU.

175

and it would not have required the learning of the Primate
to have answered it, by shewing that the acts of a council
might be approved and confirmed by a succeeding one,
without impairing the authority of either one or the other.
It is most probable that Archbishop Price, in giving an ac-
count of the proceedings, had mixed up what occurred on
the occasion of passing the first Canon, and the subsequent
enactment of the others.

The Canon, as drawn up by Lord Strafford, does great
credit to his sagacity, and did not require the apology
which he offered to Archbishop Laud for any mistakes he
might have made, " in"' regard he had been out of his
sphere." It is as follows :

" For the manifestation of our agreement with the Church
of England in the confession of the same Christian faith
and the doctrine of the Sacraments ; we do receive and ap-
prove the Book of Articles of Religion, agreed upon by
the Archbishops and Bishops and the whole clergy in the
convocation holden in London in the year of our Lord 1562
for the avoiding of diversities of opinions and for the esta-
blishing of consent touching true religion. And therefore
if any hereafter shall affirm that any of those Articles are in
any part superstitious or erroneous, or such as he may not
with a good conscience subscribe unto, let him be excom-
municated, and not absolved before he make a publick re-
cantation of his error."

It is quite evident, from the preceding narrative, that
Lord Strafford considered he had not been fairly treated by
Archbishop Ussher. However, even at the moment of his
greatest indignation, his respect for the Primate's character
appears very strongly. In the letter to Archbishop Laud,
which contains his vehement invective upon the proceed-
ings against his wishes, he says : " It is very true for all
the Primate's silence it was not possible but he knew how
near they were to have brought in those Articles of Ireland
to the infinite disturbance and scandal of the Church, as I

" Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag-. 344.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

eonceive ; ami certainly could have been content I had
been surprized. But he is so learned a Prelate and so good
a man, as I do beseech your Grace it may never be imputed
unto him."

Much controversy has arisen, whether or not the Irish
Articles were repealed by this Canon. It seems a mere
question of words. The Primate, in a letter to Dr. Ward,
says : " The articles of religion agreed upon in our former
synod anno 1615, we let stand as they did before. But for
the manii'esting of our agreement with the Church of Eng-
land, we have received and approved your Articles also con-
cluded in the year 1562, as you may see in the first of our
Canons'^^." The opinion of the Primate was, that the Irish Ar-
ticles contained the doctrine of the Eng-lish Articles more
fully set forth, and that the English Articles were only re-
ceived as expounded by the Irish ; and, acting up to this
view, he required the candidates for orders to sign both the
Irish and English Articles, a practice in which he was fol-
lowed by some other bishops. But it is quite evident that
the last act of the Convocation superseded all preceding
ones, and that the Canon enforcing the English Articles
tacitly repealed all acts with respect to other Articles. This
was the view taken of the subject by Bishop Taylor, in his
sermon at the funeral of Archbishop Bramhall, to whom he
attributed the adoption of the English Articles, and thus

* It has been stated by many writers, that the Primate and several
other Bishops petitioned the Lord Deputy, that he would suffer the Irish
Articles to be ratified by the Parliament, and that he rejected the propo-
sal with extreme indignation See Smith's Life ofL'ssher; Bp. Mant's

History, pag. 494. But this account is not easily reconciled with the fore-
going letter, or with the letters of Archbishop Laud. There is no men-
tion of it by Dr. Parr or Dr. Bernard. I am inclined to think that its
authority rests upon the following passage in the charge of the Scottish
Commissioners against Lord Strafford: ""When the Primate of Ireland
did press a new ratification of the Articles of their Kirk in Parliament
for barring such novations in religion ; he boldly menaced him with the
burning by the hand of the hangman, all of that Confession, altho con-
firmed in former Parliaments." The Scottish Commissioners having made
the charge is certainly no proof of the fact. Their charge is absurd, for
the Articles never were confirmed in former Parliaments, and if they had
been, there would have been no occasion for the Primate to apply that
they should again be confirmed.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOr USSHEK,

177

<lcscril)es the advantages resulting from the enactment,
" that-^ tliey anil we miglit be populus unius labii, of one
heart and one lip, building up our hopes of Heaven on a
most holy faith ; and taking away that Shibboleth which
made this Church lisp too undecently, or rather in some
little degree to speak the speech of Ashdod, and not the
language of Canaan."

It is certain that, after the Restoration, no attempt was
ever made to enforce subscription to the Irish Articles, and
that for admission to holy orders the only subscription to
Articles required has been signing the first Canon, w hich en-
forces the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England.

Dr. Parr states, that it has been entirely a mistake to
suppose that any ditference existed between the Primate
and Bishop Bramhall on the subject of the Articles ; that
their only difference of opinion was about the Canons. Ko
sooner had the agreement with the Church of England in
doctrine been settled in the Convocation, than the Bishop
of Derry moved that there should be a similar agreement
in government, and that the English Canons of 1G04 should
be received as the Canons^ of the Church of Ireland. This

> Taylor's Works, vol. vi. pag 431.

^ It does not appear clearly what Canons were in force previously to
this Convocation. No mention is made in the correspondence of any
Canons in force ; yet there is a passage in Dr. Bernard's work, whicli
speaks of Canons being drawn up by Dr. Ussher in 1G14. Probably,
though drawn up, they never received the Royal sanction. The passage
is as follows: "Anno 1614. He (Dr. Ussher) was a principal person
appointed for the collecting and drawing up of such Canons as might best
concern the discipline and government of the Church of Ireland, taken
out of Queen Elizabeth's Injunctions and the Canons of England, to be
treated upon by the Archbishops and IJishops and Clergy of that King-
dom, some of which I have, which were written then with his own hand
and presented by him ; The two first of tiiem were these,

"1. That no other form of Liturgy or Divine Service shall be used in
any church of this Realm, but that which is established by Law, and
comprized in the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of Sacra-
ments &c.

" 2. That no other form of Ordination shall be used in this nation, but
which is contained in the Book of Ordering of Bishops, Priests, and Dea-
cons, allowi'd by authority, and hitherto practiced in the Churches of
England and Ireland &c.

" And in his subscription (in rel.ition to the above mentioned) it is in
VOL. I. N

178

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

proposal was strenuously resisted by the Primate", on the
ground that it would be a betrayal of the privileges of a
national Church ; that some discrepancy ought to appear,
that the Church of Ireland might declare its independence
of the Church of England, and also express her opinion,
that rites and ceremonies need not be the same in all
churches, which are independent of each other, but that
different Canons might coexist with the same faith and com-
munion. The Primate was successful in his opposition, and
it was resolved, that such of the English Canons as were
suitable to the state of Ireland should be retained, and that
others should be added to them. The execution of this task
was intrusted to the Bishop of Derry**, and the Book of

these words, viz. I do acknowledge the form of God's Service prescribed
in the Book of Common Prayer, is good and godly, and may lawfully be
used, and do promise that I myself will use the form in the said Book
prescribed in celebration of Divine Service and Administration of the
Sacraments, and none other. I do also acknowledge, that such as are
consecrated and ordered according to the form prescribed in the Book of
Ordination set forth by Authority, have truly received Holy Orders and
have power given them to exercise all things belonging to that sacred
function, whereunto they are called &c." — Bernard. Clavi Trabales, pag.
62, G3.

^ Lord Strafford, in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, says:
" I am clear of your Lordship's opinion, it were fit the Canons of Eng-
land were received here as well as the Articles : but the Primate is hugely
against it ; the business is merely point of honour (or as Sir Thomas
Cognesby would have expressed it, matter of punctilio) lest Ireland might
become subject to the Church of England, as the province of York is to
that of Canterbury. Needs forsooth we must be a Church of ourselves,
which is utterly lost unless the Canons here differ, albeit not in substance,
yet in some form, from yours in England; and this crotchet put the good
man into such an agony, as you cannot believe so learned a man should be
troubled withal. But I quieted him by approving his writing to your Lord-
ship, and assuring him I should repose myself in whatever was asserted by
your Grace: to whose wisdom indeed I wholly submit myself, being very
ready to do therein, as I shall receive directions from you. The truth is
I conceive there are some Puritan correspondents of his, that infuse these
necessities into his head, besides a popular disposition, which inclines him
to a desire of pleasing all, the sure way I think never to please a man's
self. You will among the rest find a rare canon against the sword salve,
which 1 take to be a speculation far fetched and dear bought."— 5?ra/-
ford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 381.

•> This is the account of the matter usually given, but Dr. Bernard says :
" For the more perfect canons of the Church of Ireland, constituted anno

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

179

Canons soon passed the Convocation, and received His Ma-
jesty's assent. The arrangement was totally different from
the English book, and the number was reduced from one
hundred and forty-one to one hundred. Upon the unfortu-
nate'= result of the Primate's objections I fully agree with
Bishop Mant, and shall quote a passage from his History
of the Church of Ireland : " IF the object was to maintain
the independence and free agency of the Irish Church, that
object might have been attained by appending to the Eng-

1634 in the Convocation there (whereof I was a membei') most of them
were taken out of these of England, and he being then Primate had a
principal hand in their collection and proposal to the reception of them, the
methodizing of all which into due order I have seen and have it by me writ-
ten in his own hand throughout : whereby 'tis apparent what his judgment
was in relation to them." After this declaration of Dr. Bernard it is vain
to talk of the Popish tendency given to the Canons by Archbishops Laud
and Bramhall.

The difference between the English and Irish Canons occasions at this
moment considerable difficulty. Wliat are the Canons now in force in Ire-
land ? The Act of Union declares, that the " churches of England and Ire-
land as now by law established, be united into one protostant episcopal
church to be called the United Church of England and Ireland, and that tlie
doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, of the said united Church,
shall be, and shall remain in full force for ever, as the same arc now by
law established for the Church of England." Now it is impossible that this
should be the case, unless the English Canons form the code of the United
Church. But, it is said. Parliament had no right to abolish the Canons of
the Irish Church ; the Canons must remain in force until tlie Convocation
repeal them. That Parliament had no right must bo admitted, but that
it usurped the rights of Convocation in the whole of the fifth article of
the Act is quite clear, and if in one part, how can we argue that it did not
in all ? The usurpation was sanctioned by the consent of the Upper House
of Convocation in the House of Lords, and by tlie tacit consent of the
clergy who would have formed the Lower House. The question seems
beset with difficulties, and has not, I believe, been ever legally deter-
mined. I know the late Bishop of Ferns, when giving any orders to his
clergy, always quoted both tlie Canons of the English and Irish Church
as his authority, feeling himself incompetent to decide the question. One
of the ablest men of his day, and a member of the House of Lords at the
time of the Union, Bishop O'Beirne, always maintained that the Irish Ca-
nons were abrogated by an assumption of power on the part of the Parlia-
ament, an assumption which was considered preferable to summoning after
so long an interval the Convocation, and which would be rendered legal
by the submission of the clergy.

Mant's History, vol. i. pag. 504.

N 2

180

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEll.

lisli Canons, or interweaving- with tlioni, such adriitions as
appeared requisite for national purposes, and then adopting
the code in pursuance of Bishop Bramhall's proposal in its
orijjinal form with those additions. Such a code would have
been more complete in itself, and better fitted for preserving
that unity of Christian profession which was avowedly ma-
nifested by the adoption of the English Articles, than by
rejecting some of the English canons and new modelling
the whole. For whilst the wisdom of these objections is
by no means palpable or indisputable, the new modelling
of tlie code gives an appearance of discrepancy which does
not exist."

Carte states, that " the^ Convocation contained many mem-
bers who were puritanical in their hearts, and made several
trifling objections to the body of Canons extracted out of
the English, which was offered to their judgment and ap-
probation, particularly to such as concerned the solemnity
and uniformity of divine worship, the administration of the
Sacrament and the ornaments used therein, the qualifica-
tions for Holy orders, for benefices and for pluralities, the
oath against simony, the times of ordination, and the obli-
gation to residency and subscription." In these remarks
there is much truth, as a brief examination of the difference
between the Enghsh and Irish Canons will show. However,
on some of the points mentioned by him it will appear that
there is no discrepancy whatever between the two codes.

As to the solemnity and uniformity of divine worship.
The general principle of uniformity is as distinctly put for-
ward by the third Irish as by the fourteenth English Canon.
The third Irish Canon enacts, " That form of Liturgy or
divine service and no other shall be used in any church of
this realm, but tiiat which is established by the Law and
comprized in the Book of Common Prayer and administra-
tion of Sacraments." The English Canons, however, were
not content with this general uniformity, and enjoined se-
veral observances in the mode of worship. The eighteenth
Canon gave the following directions : " All manner of per-

- Cartf's Life of the Duke of Ormond, vol. i. pag, 78.

LU K OF AKCHlUSHOr USSHER.

181

sons then present shall reverently kneel upon their knees,
when the General Confession, Litany, and other prayers are
read ; and shall stand up at the saying of the Belief, ac-
cording to rules in that behalf prescribed in the Book of
Common Prayer; And likewise when in time of Divine
Service the Lord Jesus shall be mentioned, due and lowly
reverence shall be done by all persons present, as it hath
been accustomed ; testifying by these outward ceremonies
and gestures their inward humility, Christian resolution, and
due acknowledgement that the Lord Jesus Christ, the true
eternal Son of God, is the only Saviour of the world, in
whom alone all the mercies, graces and promises of God to
mankind for this life and the life to come, are fully and
wholly comprized. None either man, woman, or child, of
what calling soever, shall be otherwise at such times busied
in the church, than in quiet attendance to hear, mark, and
understand that which is read, preached or ministred ; say-
ing in their due places audibly with the Minister the Con-
fession, the Lords Prayer, and the Creed, and making such
other answers to the publick prayers, as are appointed in
the Book of Common Prayer." The corresponding Irish
Canon, the seventh, omits all these particulars, and substi-
tutes this general direction, " using all such reverent ges-
tures and actions, as by the Book of Common Prayer are
prescribed in that behalf, and the commendable use of this
Church received."

In the administration of the Sacraments I cannot per-
ceive any deviation^ from the rules prescribed in the Eng-
lish Canons. The two rules which affected particularly the

' In tlie Irish Canons is omitted allogetlier the cxijlanation of the use oK
the cross in baptism, wliioh is given in the tliirticth English Canon, anil
also the very important injunction with whifh it concludes, admonishing
all persons, "that things of themselves indift'erent do in some sort alter
their natures, when they are either commanded or forbiilden by the lawful
magistrate, and may not be omitted at every man's pleasure contrary to
the Law, when they be commanded ; nor used when they are prohibited."

The form of [irayer to be used by all preachers before their sermons is
also omitted in (he Irish Canons, and also the order to have the Ten Com-
mandmei\ts set up at the east end of every church, and to have chosen
sentences wriUi n upon the walls in i)la' es convenient.

182

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Dissenters, are strictly enforced in the eighteenth Canon :
" No minister when he colebrateth the communion shall
wittingly administer the same to any but such as kneel ;"
and " Likewise the minister shall deliver both the bread
and wine to every communicant severally."

There does not appear any difference as to "the orna-
ments used in divine service," for, though there is not an
Irish Canon corresponding to the fifty-eighth English, which
enjoins the use of a surplice, yet the following passage in
the seventh Irish Canon enacts the same thing in another
form: "All Ministers shall likewise use and observe the
orders, rites, ornaments, and ceremonies prescribed in the
Book of Common Prayer and in the Act of Uniformity
printed therewith, as well in reading the Holy Scriptures
and saying of prayers, as in administration of the Sacra-
ments ; without either diminishing in regard of preaching
or in any other respect, or adding anything in the matter
or form thereof." And this Canon alludes to the surplice
as a dress universally adopted, for it orders, that in Cathedral
and Collegiate churches, hoods shall be worn by the Deans,
&c., along with their surplices.

The other provisions mentioned by Carte, as grounds of
objection to the English Canons, are as rigidly enforced in the
Irish, namely, the qualifications for holy orders, for benefices
and for pluralities'?, the oath against simony, the times of or-
dination, and the obligations to residency and subscription''.
There are several additions to the Irish Canons arising from
the peculiar circumstances of the Church of Ireland. The
first is in the eighth Canon, where it is enacted, that " every
Beneficiary and Curate shall endeavour that the Confession
of sins and Absolution and all the second service (at or be-

B There is a difference in the restriction. In the English Canon the two
benefices must be within thirty miles, in the Irish they must be under £40
a year.

The subscription may at first sight appear different, but it is really
the same. By the English Canons the candidate for orders is obliged to
sign three Articles, asserting the King's supremacy, the obligation to re-
ceive the Book of Common Prayer, and the agreement of the Thirty-nine
Articles to the Word of God. By the Irish he is obliged to sign the first
four Irish Canons, which contain the same articles in substance.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

183

fore the Communion to the Homily or Sermon) where the
people all or most are Irish, shall be used in English first
and after in Irish, if the Ordinary of the Place shall so think
meet." This most useful order, which would seem to make
it absolutely necessary that, where most of,the people are
Irish, that is, speak Irish, the minister of the parish should
also speak Irish, is rendered nugatory, or rather mischievous,
by the eighty-sixth Canon, which directs, that " where the
minister is an Englishman and many Irish in the parish,"
such a parish clerk shall be appointed " as shall be able to
read those parts of the service which shall be appointed to
be read in Irish." This Canon gives the permission which
seemed to be refused by the eighth, and sanctions the ap-
pointment of a minister unacquainted with Irish ; while, in
order to protect his incompetence, it gives an authority,
which it was not competent to bestow, to a layman, to read
the most solemn parts of the service. The Canon, in this
particular, would seem to contradict the Book of Common
Prayer, and, therefore be inoperative. In another parti-
cular it is opposed to an Act of Parliament ; the Act of
Uniformity then in operation strictly forbad the service
being performed in Irish, and, as I already remarked, forget-
ful of the first principles of the Reformation, ordered a Latin
service. The eighty-sixth Canon seems to have been dic-
tated by a not very strange contrariety of feeling, the strong
sense of duty in preaching to a benighted people in a lan-
guage which they could understand, and the powerful mo-
tive of self-interest in those who were unwilling or unable
to qualify themselves for the undertaking, yet wished to
secure the best preferments in the Church. Another Canon',

' Dr. Reid, in his History of the Presbyterians, states that this Canon
was proposed by Bishop Bedell, who, supported by Ussher and the great
majority of his brethren, defeated Bramhall, " who like his patron and
prototype Laud, was averse to the general education of the people." This
is a mere gratuitous assertion for the purpose of attacking Archbishop
Laud. He was not the patron of Bramhall, however after his promotion
he might have become his friend. Archbishop Ussher certainly had been
opposed to instructing the people in Irish, see above, pag. 118, and it is
not likely that within such a short time he would have become so zealous
a convert, however he might have relaxed his opposition.

184

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

dictated by a better spirit, and calculated to do unmixed
good, was unfortunately never enforced. The ninety-fourth
Canon directed, that " where all or the most part of the
people are Irish, they shall provide also the said books
(namely the Bible and Book of Common Prayer) in the
Irish tongue, so soon as they may be had. The charge
of these Irish books being to be borne also wholly by the
parish."

The eleventh Canon, requiring ministers to catechize
every Sunday, is copied exactly from the fifty-ninth Eng-
lish Canon'', with this remarkable and useful addition :
" Neither shall the minister admit any to be married or to
be Godfathers or Godmothers at the baptism of any child,
or to receive the Holy Communion, before they can say the
Articles of Belief, the Lord's prayer and the commandments
in such a language as they understand." The twelfth Ca-
non is not found among the English, and seems to have
embodied Archbishop Ussher's directions to his clergy. It
desires " the heads of the Catechism to be divided into as
many parts as there are Sundays in the year and explained
in the parish churches. In the handling whereof the minis-
ters and curates are to use such moderation that they do
not run into curious questions or unnecessary controversies,
but shortly declare and confirm the doctrine proposed, and
make application thereof to the behoof of the hearers."

An addition to the nineteenth Canon was the occasion of
great offence. It was as follows : " And the minister of every
parish — shall, the afternoon before the said administration,
give warning by the tolling of the bell or otherwise, to the
intent that if any have any scruple of conscience, or desire
the special ministry of reconciliation he may afford it to
those that need it. And to this end the people are often to
be exhorted to enter into a special examination of the state
of their own souls ; and that finding themselves either ex-
tremely dull or much troubled in mind, they do resort unto
Gods ministers to receive from them as well advice and

^ The English Canon, as well as the Irish, is contradicted by the Ru-
bric, for they desire the instruction to be given before Evening Prayer,
and the Rubric now desires it should be given after the Second Lesson.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

185

counsel for the quickening of their dead hearts, and the sub-
duing of those corruptions whereunto they have been sub-
ject; as the benefit of absolution likewise for the quieting
of their conscience by the power of the keys, which Christ
hath committed to his ministers for that purpose." It would
seem difficult for those who received the Liturgy of the
Church of England to consider this Canon " as an inculca-
tion of the popish doctrine of auricular confession." It does
not go farther than the conclusion of the first exhortation in
giving notice for the Communion, an exhortation which was
not considered as Popish by Bucer. It, however, was brought
into notice by the injudicious conduct of an English clergy-
man named Croxton, sent over into Ireland as chaplain to
Lord Mountnorris by Archbishop Laud. This young man,
who seems to have from the very first conducted himself inju-
diciously, and offended Archbishop Ussher by his behaviour
in the Convocation and by his preaching, carried the obser-
vance of this Canon to a length which he acknowledged
himself was " counted a most strange act without all war-
rant." He states himself, that he " sacramentally heard
the confessions of the people committed to his charge in
Goran (a certaine thoroughfare towne in the county of Kil-
kenye) in the chancell, they kneeling before the altar." This
conduct, which might well be said to be without all war-
rant, was seized upon by Prynne as one of the proofs that
Archbishop Laud favored Popery'. Archbishop Laud, how-
ever, did not approve ; what he says is : "I remember well
there is somewhat in the Canons of Ireland established last
Parliament that belongs to confession, but I have not the
Canons by me at Croydon, and I cannot particularize, only
I doubt Croxton hath born himself too boldly upon it — I
did not hold it fit to send this copy to my Lord Primate
because both you and I know he hath a stitch against Crox-
ton already, and I love not to make things worse, since
I know too well that very little trifles in Church preten-
sions make much noise and are hardly laid down." It was
unfortunate, however, that he did not in stronger terms

' See Canterbury's Doom, pag. 195.

186

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEIl.

censure™ such unauthorized proceedings, adopted as if in
conformity with the rules of the Church, yet in direct vio-
lation of the letter as well as the spirit of them.

It appears from a letter of Archbishop Laud, that the Pri-
mate had been in correspondence with him during the time of
the Convocation sitting, but unfortunately these letters have
perished. Archbishop Laud congratulates the Primate upon
the happy termination of the Convocation and Parliament.
He expresses his unqualified approbation of the arrange-
ments about subscription : " As° for the particular about
subscription, 1 think you have couched that well, since, as
it seems, there was some necessity to carry that article
closely. And God forbid you should, upon any occasion,
have rolled back upon your former controversy about the
Articles. For if you should have risen from tbis conven-
tion in heat, God knows when or how the Church would
have cooled again, had the canse of difference been never so
slight. By which means the Romanists, which is too strong
a party already, would both have strengthened and made a
scorn of you. And therefore ye are much bound to God
that in this nice and pricked age you have ended all things
canonically and yet in peace. And I hope you will be all
careful to continue and maintain that which God hath thus
mercifully bestowed upon you." Upon the Canons, how-
ever, he did not bestow such unlimited approbation : " And
for your Canons" to speak truth and with wonted liberty

"The Bishop of the diocese was at this time incapable of interfering.
Wheeler, Bishop of Ossory, was upwards of ninety years of age.
" Works, vol. xvi. pag. 7.

o It appears, from a letter of Sir George Radcliffe to Bishop Bramhall,
that the Canons excited great alarm among the Roman Catholics. He
says: "The Canons are published in print this week; and by occasion of
speaking thereof, here is a panic fear risen in this town (Dublin) as if a
new persecution (so they call it) were instantly to be set on foot." — Raw-
don Papers, pag. 22. This passage Dr. Reid takes hold of to prove the
prevalence of nonconformity at that period, " when the trepidation and
alarm reached the car of Radcliffe, the Master General of the Ordnance."
To heighten the effect Dr. Reid omits that Sir George Radcliffe was prin-
cipal secretai-y to Lord Strafford, the man upon whose assistance in the
government he most relied, and, therefore, most likely to hear of any
panic. But, had he thought fit to read to the end of the letter, he would

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

187

and prudence, thongh I cannot but think the English canons,
especially with some few amendments, would have done
better ; yet since you and that Church have thought other-
wise, I do very easily submit to it, and you shall have my
prayers that God would bless it."

At this time Lord Strafford revived the Court of High
Commission, which had been introduced in the reign of
Elizabeth. He had proposed its establishment to Arch-
bishop Laud before, but at the same time suggested that
" it should not be set on foot, till we see what may become
of the Parliament." His object in establishing this court
is thus stated by him : " TheP use of it might be very
great to countenance the despised state of the clergy ; to
support ecclesiastical courts and officers, much sufl'ering by
means of the overgrowth of Popery in this kingdom ; to
restrain the extreme extortion of oflficials, registers and such
like ; to annul all foreign jurisdiction, which daily grows
more insolent than other ; to punish the abominable poly-
gamies, incests, and adulteries, which both in respect of the
exercise of a foreign jurisdiction, and for the forementioned
reasons are here too frequent ; to provide for the mainte-
nance of the clergy, and for their residence, either by them-
selves or able curates ; to take an account how monies given
to pious uses are bestowed ; to bring the people here to a
conformity in religion, and in the way to all these, raise
perhaps a good revenue to the crown. But then I could
wish there be good choice had in naming the commis-
sioners." The unconstitutional nature of this Court cannot
be denied ; but Mr. Moore bears this high testimony to the
character of the Lord Deputy : " In^ the hands of Straf-
ford its enormous power was made subservient wholly to
fiscal purposes, and he could boast with great pride, that
during his government in Ireland, ' not the hair of a man's.

have found that Radcliffe meant to describe the Roman Catholics as fpar-
ing the Canons. lie speaks of a book lately published at Canibi-idge by a
country minister, styling himself Priest, and says : " This startles a Pu-
ritan as much as the Canons do the Papist."

f Strafford's Letters, vol. i. pag. 187.

1 Moore's History of Ireland, vol, iv. pag. 215.

188

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHKR.

head was touched for the free exercise of his conscience.'
In a similar spirit he wisely declared that fines to enforce
conformity were ' an engine rather to draw money out of
men's pockets than to raise a right belief in their hearts.' " At
the head of the Commission Court the Primate was placed.

At the close of the Convocation he was called upon by
the University of Dublin to assist at the Commencements
held in July, 1635, and to moderate in the Divinity Act.
In a letter to Dr. Ward he says : " 1 have been almost
tired with continual attendance upon our long continued
Parliament and Convocation ; which being done they would
needs impose upon me also the moderating of the Divi-
nity Act, and the creating of Doctors at our last Commence-
ments'"."

One of the first matters brought before the High Com-
mission Court was a petition that had been presented by the
clergy in Convocation, for the suppression of Popish school-
masters, and for an inquiry into the abuses of free schools.
The Lord Deputy^ expressed his approbation of the peti-

Prynne quotes a letter from the Primate to Archbishop Laud, which
does not appear in the collection of letters. It is dated Jan. 4, 163|. He
says: " That this conceit is so rife in the minds and mouths of the Pa-
pists nowadayes, that we are comming on and every day drawing nigher
unto them than other ; for the stopping of these slanderous mouths, let
this suffice, that whatsoever others imagine of the matter, I stand fully
convinced in my conscience that the Pope is Antichrist ; and therefore if
1 should be so mad as to worship the Beast or to receive the marks of his
name, I must bo abroKaraKpiToQ and Justly expect the revenge that is
threatened against such. Apoc. xiv. 10. 1 1 ."' — Canterbury's Doom, pag. 554.
^ The Lord Deputy's letter was as follows :

" To the Lord Primate and the rest of the Commissioners for Eccle-
siastical causes.

" After our very hearty commendations. Whereas the whole Clergy of
this kingdom assembled in Convocation did present their humble petition,
amongst other things that all Popish schoolmasters should be suppressed,
that inquiry should be made by the commissioners into the abuses of free
schools, and to give speedy order for the reformation of tiiem; that whereas
frequent burials in Abbeys is an occasion of the great neglect and con-
tempt of parish churches, and mainly prejudicial to the Clergy, some good
course might be^takeu to restrain tiiat abuse by Act of State ; W§ havt;
thought fit hereby not only to testify our approbation thereof, but also
earnestly to desire you, as those to whose care it doth more properly ap-
pertain, to take the same into your serious consideration, and we do hereby

LIKK OF AUCHUISHOl* I'SSIIUK.

18'J

tion, ami referred it to tlie Primate and tlie other Commis-
sioners, adding also an earnest request, that they wouhl
take measures to enforce the residence of the clergy. Ano-
ther reformation, with regard to the Church service, which
the Lord Deputy effected, with the assistance of the Lord
Primate, was the observance of holydays. Lord Strafford,
in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, says : " After'
speech with my Lord Primate concerning the due keeping
of the Holydays according to the rules ecclesiastical, we
resolved to recommend it to the four Archbishops, and they
to their suffragans, which I have done very effectually, so
as 1 am confident the former omission or neglect thereof
will be recompensed by a heedful observance of them for
the future." It appears then most clearly, that Archbishop

require and authorize you to advise of some good means whereby the said
abuses be prevented for the future ; especially to see that publick schools,
whether they be founded by statute, or by his Majesty's princely endow-
ment, be not so extremely neglected as they are, or served by popish or
other stipendiaries ; and to proceed to the deprivation of such persons as
you shall find to have been grossly culpable in this kind.

" And further, whereas we cannot but take notice of the general non-
residence of clergymen to the dishonour of God, the disservice of their
cures, the vain expense of their means in cities and corporate towns, and
the great scandal of tlie Church ; we do hereby require and authorize you
to proceed instantly with all severity to the reformation of this great
abuse, and to cause all those whom you shall find to live idly about this
city of Dublin or other cities or corporate towns, or upon their farms, to
repair instantly to their parish churches to attend that charge, whereof
they owe an account both to God and man ; and if they shall disobey your
commands in this respect, to sequester their livings for a year ; and if
they be still negligent, to deprive them : purposing upon our 'return into
this kingdom (if it shall so please God and his xMajesty) to take a strict ac-
count of your proceedings and good endeavours in each of these particulars.

"Yet it is not our meaning thereby to restrain any from following their
lawful suits or occasions in this city or elsewhere, so long as shall be ne-
cessary for the dispatch of such their affairs ; but withal we would not
have pretences admitted for just reasons of their absence. In the due and
circumspect performance of which, you shall effect a great reformation,
highly acceptable to Almighty God, most pleasing to his most excellent
Majesty, becoming yourself and those charges you exercise in this Church,
and contenting all good men. So I rest

" Your affectionate friend

^ " Wentwouth.

" Dubim Castle this 2n(l of June 1636."

' Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. pag. 42.

190

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

Ussher did not consider the service of the Church holydavs
as Popish, but insisted upon their observance in the midst
of Dissenters. Dr. Bernard acknowleds:es the fact, and re-
hites, that " the" annual Festivals of the Church he (the
Primate) duly observed, preaching upon their several com-
memorations : On Christmas day, Easter, Whitsunday he
never failed of Communions; that excellent treatise of his
entitled, ' The incarnation of the Son of God,' was the sub-
stance of two or three sermons, which I heard him preach
in a Christmas time ; Good Fryday he constantly kept very
strictly, preaching himself then upon the Passion beyond
his ordinary time, when we had the publick prayers in their
utmost extent also, and without any thought of a supersti-
tion he kept himself fasting till evening."

At the close of this year, or, according to our reckoning,
at the commencement of the next, the Primate addressed
the following circular letter to the Archbishops and Bishops :

" My very Good Lord

" I am commanded to declare unto you that it is the
pleasure of the State, that the suspending of the proceed-
ings against recusants for their clandestines, for which you
received directions before the beginning of the Parliament,
shall be still continued, until you do receive more special
instructions to the contrary. And that in the mean time,
in a quiet and silent manner, you withdraw all such pro-
ceedings, and be careful to place able and worthy ministers
in all parishes, who may endeavour to win and reduce the
adverse party by instruction and good example.

" 1 am further also required by letters directed unto me
from his Majesty, dated at Hampton Court the 24th of
December last, to admonish all my brethren, the lords
Bishops, that they concur in the great work of plantation
now in hand, by planting Protestants upon their lands.

" So I commit you to God's blessed protection and rest
" Your Lordships most assured loving brother

" Ja. Armachanus.

" Dublin March 17 1636.

" Clavi Trabalps. pag. 63.

LIFE OF ARCIIBISFtOP USSHER.

191

" But for the particular of marriages you are to take or-
der that the banns also be thrice denounced in our parisli
churches, and a note preserved of their names who are to be
married ; or that otherwise they take out their license for
marriag-e, paying those accustomed fees, that they of our
own profession used to do upon the like occasions. These
things I thought good to acquaint your Lordship as so I rest."

At this period the Primate was engaged in a contest with
Chappell% Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, which ex-
cited very great attention, was the subject of lengthened
correspondence between the Lord Deputy and the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and was the immediate cause of
procuring the new Charter and Statutes for Trinity Col-
lege, that measure which had been recommended so many
years before by Archbishop Abbot. The history of this
transaction is involved in very great obscurity, as the Re-
gistry of Trinity College furnishes very imperfect informa-
tion, and, while there are many gaps in the letters which
passed between Archbishop Laud and Lord Strafford, there
is only one letter on the subject preserved from the Arch-
bishop to the Primate, and not one of the Primate's. It
should be recollected that, accorditig to the ancient charter,
the duration of a Fellowship was limited to seven years, and
that the Visitors of the College were the Chancellor or his
Vice-Chancellor, the Archbishop of Dublin, the Bishop of
Mcath, the Vice-Treasurer, theTreasurer-at-VVar, the Chief
Justice of the King's Bench, and the Mayor of the City of
Dublin. A Senior Fellowship became vacant at the end of
December, 1635, and doubts arose as to the eligibility of
the first three Junior Fellows, Hoyle, Feasant, and Cullen,
Hoyie having refused to wear a surplice till the Sunday
before the election, and all three being notoriously negli-

* Provost Chappoll expresses strongly the misery of the situation in
which he was placed by his appointment to the Provostship :
"Exinde me Collegio totus dice

In ordinem ut redigam. Rcdigo per gratiam
Dei mei, cui laus et honor in seculum.
Quid non patior, hoc dum ago. Ruunt facto agniinu
In me profana turba Rom.T GcnevKquc."

192

LIFE OF AUCHBISIIOP LSSHEIJ.

gent ill attendance upon chapel. After mucli discussion, the
three having- been passed over, the Provost proposed Mr.
Ware, who, though more attentive than the others, was not
free from bhime. While the Board were discussing his elec-
tion, a mandate was delivered from the Visitors, inhibiting
them from proceeding. The inhibition was signed by the
Archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, the Bishop of Meath,
the Mayor of Dublin, and Adam Loftus, the Vice- Treasurer.
The Provost, though justly indignant at such a proceeding
having been taken on the petition of three Junior Fellows,
without hearing the other party, submitted.

The power of election was vested by the Statutes in the
Provost and four Senior Fellows. The number was rapidly
diminishing, and the Provost, afraid that the power of elect-
ing would cease, had recourse to a singular expedient. He
and two Senior Fellows, being the major part, repealed the
Statute which limited the power of election to four Senior
Fellows. This repealing power Archbishop Abbot had de-
cided did not belong to the Provost and Fellows by the
Charter. Upon this a Visitation was held, as is collected
from circumstantial evidence, but no record of it exists,
and Newman and Conway, the two Senior Fellows who
voted with the Provost, were expelled. It seems strange,
when the Visitors proceeded so far, they did not expel the
Provost also ; yet some punishment must have been inflicted
upon the Provost, for Archbishop Laud writes to Lord
Strafford : "I send you a copy of the Visitors' last act
against the two Senior Fellows that joined with the Pro-
vost in this business, and himself." It is most probable that
only a censure was passed upon the Provost, for, in his let-
ter to the Primate, Archbishop Laud says : " His'^ Majesty
was of necessity to be made acquainted with the business
because the censure of the Provost, if he deserves it, is re-
ferred to himself." The Archbishop further says, in a letter
to the Lord Deputy : " 1" have within these two days re-
ceived letters out of Ireland from my Lord Primate. All
is naught there. His letters are three sides of a paper in

" Usshor's Works, vol. xvi. pag. 23.
^ Strafford's Letters, voi. ii. pag. 24.

iAVK OF AUCHHISHOP USSHEIl.

193

his small close hand. All the proceeding-s set down at larfre.
If the relation be true, the Provost is much to blame. The
business is now I)rought to me, which I am most sorry for,
in reoard I know how thiiij^s are between them two." Lord
Strafford replies : " As concerning the difference betwixt the
Provost and Fellows of the College at Dublin, it seems they
are grown very high. For which 1 am sorry but how to
help it I know not, being in this only able to follow such di-
rections as I shall receive from his Majesty and your Grace —
Methinks the act of the Visitors was very precipitate and vio-
lent, so sharply to expel the two senior Fellows and all. this
for a Fellows sake that never wore a surplice, but now being
in danger otherwise to lose his preferment. Indeed I judge
this hot proceeding rather to come from the vehemence of
Dr. Martin Bishop of Meath, than from the mild and gentle
disposition of the Primate. But however it be, considering
that my Lord Justice Wandesford hath laid open the root
whence all these disagreements arise, and certainly most
truly, it will be a business fit for your Grace to apply an
expedient unto, and for us to attend your order and pursue
it at after with all the care possible, which your Grace may
be assured of from me, and that I will never give it over
(discontent it as much as it will) till I see all settled and
executed, as you shall please to prescribe therein."

Archbishop Laud in answer says : " 1^ am heartily sorry
for the ditVerence that is fallen out between my Lord Pri-
mate and the Visitors of the College near Dublin, and the
Provost and some Senior Fellows there. This unhappy dif-
ference began as I take it while your Lordship was there,
but I am confident it had never grown to this height had
not your Lordsliip come thence. It is in my judgment a
great business in itself that the prime Prelates in the king-
dom and the Provost of the Colleg-e should be at such eajjer
difference in the open face of that state and in view of so
many Romanists as swarm there, and cannot but look upon
it with joy. But it is far more dangerous in the consequence
if I much mistake not. For that College, as your Lordship

V Si iMlToril's Letters, vol. ii. pag. SG,
VOL. I. O

194

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHIiR.

has often acknowledged unto me both by letters and other-
wise, having been as ill governed as any other in Christen-
dom, or worse, will never be able to recover and to settle
to be a good seminary for that Church, if both the power
and the credit of the Provost be not upheld by his Supe-
riors ; and should a Provost that is otherwise vigilant and
careful err in some circumstantial business, it is far better
for the publick if not to maintain his errors, yet to pass by
them, rather than to give countenance and encouragement
for such young heads, as seek for no other liberty than that
which may make way for licentiousness. My Lord upon
this ground I could heartily wish the heats, which 1 doubt
not have been in this business, had been forborn or that yet
your Lordship could bring it to that temper that both par-
ties would lay down the cause and not put me to give a pub-
lic decision, which as this case stands may do some hurt,
which way soever the justice of the cause upon full evidence
shall sway my judgment."

He then proceeds to state, that he had drawn up from all
the papers sent to him a full statement of the facts, and to
request that the Lord Deputy would call the parties before
him, and read the case so prepared, that before he gave
judgment the facts might be acknowledged, on which that
judgment w^as to rest. He wrote also, on the same day, a
letter to the Primate, containing nearly the same particu-
lars, and concluding with these words : " My hope is great
in your Grace's moderation, but if all fail, I shall make a
binding decision, so soon as ever the state of the business
is sent me back."

There is now no allusion to the College in Strafford's
letters for ten months, and it is not easy to ascertain the
course of proceedings in that interval, except that some
reconciliation had taken place between the Visitors and
the Provost. It is certain that at the Visitation, Hoyle
and Feasant, two of the petitioning Fellows, were ap-
pointed Senior Fellows, and with them Ware, CuUen
having been passed over for some reason not explained.
The reconciliation must have been effected by the restora-
tion of Newman and Conway, and the expulsion of Fea-

LIFE OF ARCHlilSHOP USSHER.

195

sant% which events certainly took place before the following
March. Archbishop Laud seems to have come to the de-
termination of putting an end to these disturbances for the
future, by giving- to the College a new Charter and a body
of Statutes. Various difficulties presented themselves in
overcoming the objections of the Fellows, and it was neces-
sary that the Provost and four Senior Fellows should ac-
cept the new Charter. These difficulties, however, the Chan-
cellor determined to overcome by the strong arm of power.
Mr. Newman had now ceased to be a Fellow from lapse of
time. There were but four Senior Fellows% one of them
hostile, and another doubtful. In March the Lord Deputy
sent a mandate to appoint John Harding a Senior Fel-
low, and in May another mandate to appoint Thomas Mar-
shall. There was now a sufficient number to receive the
Charter, and accordingly it was accepted'' on the 5th of

^ Of Feasant we hear nothing more, except, perhaps, he was the Tho-
mas Feasant who, in 1641, presented a petition to the House of Commons
against the Bishop of Cork, which was referred to the College Committee,
and afterwards sent up, with many otliers, to tlie House of Lords.

The Senior Fellows were Kerdiffe, Chaplain to the Bishop of Meath,
and very hostile, Conway, Hoyle, and Wai'e.

The Act of Acceptance is as follows :

" We the Provost Fellows and scholars of the College near Dublin have
decreed on the 11 day of May in the year of our Lord 1637 and of the
reign of our Sovereign Lord King Charles the 13th to accept and receive
the new Charter and Statutes sent unto us from his Majesty. And by
these presents we do in all humility and thankfulness accept and receive
the same to all those ends and purposes whereunto they are by his Majesty
sent unto us. In witness whereof we have subscribed these presents.
" Dated June 5 " Wm. Chappell Provost.

" A. D. 16.37. John Hakding.

Thos. Marshalf,.
Ro. Conway.
Nath. Hoyle.
AuTH. Ware."

In the charges against Provost Chappell presented to the House of
Commons, one is, that he, with two Fellows, William Newman and Robert
Conway, were the only persons who accepted the Charter. To what this
alludes I caniiot guess. There appears but one acceptance, which is given
above, signed by the Provost and five Senior Fellows, when Mr. Newman
had ceased to be a Fellow. It has been conjectured, that the Provost and
these two Fellows must have given some consent to receiving a Charter,

o 2

196

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP U«;SHER.

June, 1637, being Trinity Monday, and signed by the Pro-
vost and five Senior Fellows. On the same day, at three
o'clock, the Primate and the Archbishop of Dublin went
into the chapel of the College, and the Provost and Fellows
took the oaths prescribed by the new Statutes'^. The Visi-
tors having retired, the Provost and Fellows proceeded to
fill up the nnmber of Senior Fellows for the first time during
two years, and then they elected six Junior Fellows to com-
plete the whole body.

Soon after this Archbishop Laud expresses to the Lord
Deputy his satisfaction, " that the differences of the College
are at last appeased." He then adds: " Great pity it is
that such young fellows and so ill conditioned as Fesant

which was in contemplation at the same time that thej' passed the vote
rescinding the Statute about the majority, and that this act would ac-
count for the severity of the Visitors, who must have been offended at the
attempt to remove them. But the report to the Commons speaks of the
Charter having been received by them alone, though professing to be with
the consent of the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars. Besides, it is more
than probable that the change of Visitors was suggested to Archbishop
Laud by the events of the Visitation. The only mode of accounting for
the charge seems to be, that the accusers of Bishop Chappell were not
very exact, provided they could secure his condemnation, and mixed up
the two transactions, the events previous to the Visitation with the accep-
tance of the Charter.

The principal points of difference between the old and new Charter
were, that the appointment to the Provostship was lodged in the Crown ;
that the duration of a Fellowship was for life ; that the power of making
Statutes was reserved to the King; that the number of Visitors was re-
duced to two, and a reference in all eases of moment requii-ed to the
Chancellor ; and that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor was in the
Chancellor. The change in the appointment of the Provost was merely
nominal, for the King had interfered in every election from the foundation
of the College. The limitation of a Fellowship in the first Charter to
seven years from the degree of A. M., however necessary and useful for
an infant establishment, was calculated to keep the Society in a state of
perpetual imbecility. In ordinary cases there could not be any Fellow
more than thirty years of age, not any who had taken the first degree in
Divinitv. though their oath bound them to that study, not an individual
who could be elected Provost. It was a strange anomaly in the Charter,
that while the duration of a Fellowship was thus confined to seven years,
there was no limit whatever to the tenure of a scholarship. It is to be
remarked, however, that the College did not resign the old Charter. They
only accepted the new one. which recited the old one, and confirmed it iu
most parts.

Lll'E Ol" ARCHI3ISH01> USSHEU.

197

and Cullen<i should be able to get within the Visitors and
cause such disturbances; but the expulsion of Fcsant bein^j;
so deseruedly laid hold on, hath wrought that cure, if a full
cure it be : for your Lordship knows as well as 1 that the
disease hath another caused which cannot be expelled, and
therefore the malady may 1 doubt fret inwardly still." This
cause was, no doubt, the bad feeling that subsisted between
the Primate and the Provost. Lord Stratford, in answer,
says : " F hope all is very right betwixt my Lord Primate
and the Provost, and I trust will so continue. However, I
shall certainly awake to the prevention of any disturbance,
which might unsettle the peace of the College — And if
there were any thing in me to contribute to the benefit and
preferment of the Provost, I should run to it with all my
heart for he is a very worthy person ; always provided he
continue Provost, for I assure you, he hath begot a mighty
reformation amongst them. And 1 see that good work might
and will prosper in his hands, and therefore great pity it
were to remove him thence. 1 assure you I do not know
where he can do more service to the Church and Common-
wealth, yet I would not be misunderstood, I am not minded
to punish him for his merit, or be against his advancement,
were it to the best Bishoprick in the Kingdom, for he de-
serves it, but still conditionally that he keep the College.
In the mean space he hath better than £.500 a year and is

Yet CuUen, at this time, was a Senior Fellow, having been coopted on
the day the new Charter was I'eceived.

Chappell himself referred all the disturbances in College to the Pri-
mate and the Bishop of Meath :

" Primatus in me odium interim est

Midensis hand languet (subigc Deus animos)
Collegii male administrati arguor
(Quod ipsi adegerant miserrimum in statum
Ego rcparaveram) Bicius urget Domum."
By Bicius he means John Bysse, the Recorder of Dublin.

f Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. pag. 120. Lord Strafford, for the purpose
of improving the discipline of the College, and also of assimilating it to
the Universities of England, issued an Act of the Lord Deputy and Coun-
cil, giving to the Proctor of the University jurisdiction in the city of Dub-
lin. This Act was signed by the Primate, the Chancellor (Loftus), and
fifteen other Privy Councillors.

198

LIFE OF AUCHBIsHOP ISSHER.

passing well contented withal. I have so great an opinion
of his government and integrity that I am putting my son
thither under his eye and care ; by which you will judge I
purpose not to have him one of Prynne's disciples."

In the next letter of Archbishop Laud, it appears very
evident what judgment he would have given, had he been
called upon to decide between the Visitors and the Provost.
His words are : " should never have betraved so deserv-
ing a man for any man's greatness, but God be thanked, tis
much better as it is and I heartily thank you for it." The
conduct of Archbishop Laud and Lord Stratford towards the
College seems to have met with general approbation at the
time, for, among the various charges brought against each of
them on their trials, no accusation was preferred respecting
their government of the College, with the exception of their
promoting Chappell. Dr. Heylin, in his Life of the Arch-
bishop, says : " Nor'' could his care and providence for the
encourasrement of learning: be confined to this side of the
sea : the like course being taken by him shortly after, as well
for reviving and perfecting the broken statutes of the Col-
lege near Dublin as the enlarging the privileges of that
University."

Scarcely had a year elapsed', when the differences between
the Primate and the Provost were renewed, and there can be
no doubt whatever that the justice of the case lay with the
Primate, who was supported by the powerful but unavail-
ing aid of the Bishop of Derry. Chappell was promoted
to the Bishopric of Cork, and allowed to hold the Provost-
ship in commendam, thus exhibiting a direct violation of
the Statutes^ within a year of their being promulgated.

t StrafiFord's Letters, vol. ii. pag. 132.
Cyprianus Anglicus, pag. 316.

' In this interval the Primate was iu considerable danger from the over-
turning of his carriage. The particulars are not handed down to us, but
the accident is thus alluded to, in a letter from the Archbishop of Canter-
biu-y to the Bishop of Derrv, dated Feb. 17, 163J: " I am very glad to
hear, since my Lord Primate had a mischance by his coach, he caught no
harm by it." — Ravcdon Papers, pag. 48.

Another direct violation of the Statutes was committed at the same
time. Dr. Harding, Vicc-Provost, who had been admitted a Fellow by

LIl-K OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

199

Lord Strafford says : " I' take it to heart to continue the
Provost in the College howbeit the Primate is or shortly
will be bitterly out with him, and the Bishop of Derry affec-
tionate for Mr. Howlet to succeed in the Provostship."

Archbishop Laud, in answer to Lord Strafford, says :
*' My last gave your Lordship notice that both the Primate
and my Lord of Derry were earnest with me by their seve-
ral letters, not against the Provost but for Mr. Howlet, in
regard they thought the Statute would no way bear his
continuance™ in the College. I likewise acquainted you
what answer I had given both of them. But I am very
heartily sorry to hear that there is like to be a new quarrel
between the Primate and the Provost. And if your Lord-
ship take his stay in the College to heart, as you write you
do, you must prevent that quarrel, or else you will have a
party raised in the College to hinder all the good which the
Provost might do, which is the chief aim of your wishing
his stay there. And methinks you might speak privately
with the Primate, and so do what you would with him. As
for the Bishop of Derry, I presume you can rule him ; but

mandamus the preceding year, was presented to a living by Lord Straf-
ford, which obliged him, in compliance with his oath, to vacate his Fel-
lowship. He accordingly did resign, but immediately produced a King's
letter to be restored to his fellowship without taking the oath of a Fellow.
The reason assigned for this extraordinary favor was, that he was tutor
to Lord Strafford's son, and to the sons of some other Privy Councillors.
' Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. pag. 194.

™ The Provostship was again held with a bishopric, when, in 1644, the
Bishop of Meath (Martin) was appointed Provost, and held the place till
he died of the plague in 1650. An attempt was made by the Lord Lieu-
tenant, in 1794, to make the Bishop of Cloyne (Bennet) Provost, but was
prevented by the determined resistance of the Fellows, who presented a
petition to the King in person. Of the attempt to force the Bishop of
Cloyne upon the College Edmund Burke thus speaks : " One Dr. Bennet,
not content with his Bishopric, was so greedy and so frantic at this time
when the Church labours under so much odium for avarice, as to wish to
rob the members of its seminary, men of the first character in learning
and morals, of their legal rights, and by dispensation to grapple to him-
self, a stranger and wholly unacquainted with the body, its lucrative Pro-
vostship as a commendam."— See Einst. Corres. with Rt. Hon. Ed. Burke
and Dr. Laurence, pag. 307. The Fellows, hearing that the recommendation
of the Bishop of Cloyne had actually been sent over by the Lord Lieute-
nant, the Earl of 'Westmoreland (and it ai)pears, from the correspondence of

200

LIFE OF AKCHBISHOP USSHER.

if this be not done, you were better send the Provost with
honor to his bishoprick, and think of as good a successor as
you can for the College." Lord Straftord would not yield ;
he had determined to keep Chappell Provost, and he braved
all the evils which resulted from such an unwise measure.
He seems, however, to have taken Archbishop Laud's ad-
rice in one particular, and to have conferred with the Pri-
mate, as appears from the following curious passage in a
subsequent letter: " The Primate hath not been here this
winter howbeit I was one night with his Grace at Drogheda
w here his Lordship made me a noble welcome. Found there
the best house 1 have seen in Ireland, built by Primate
Hampton ; yet not so much as a communion table in the
Chapel, which seemed to me strange : no bowing there I
warrant you." Upon this the Archbishop remarks: " I am
glad your Lordship hath been at Drogheda and that there
you find one of the best houses in Ireland. It seems Pri-
mate Hampton did that good to the see. And truly I would
wonder, that the Chapel should have never a Communion
table in it, save that I know some divines are of opinion,
that nothing belonging to that Sacrament is ought extra

the Bishop with Dr. Parr, that they were rightly informed), took the bold
step of presenting a petition to the Bishop of Oloyne himself, and explain-
ing the incompatibility of a commenilam with the Statutes. The following
is the Bishop's account of the transaction : "1 did not answer the College
address argumentatively but gave them their own words, ' that I should
both for their sakes and my own weigh maturely the reasons for my de-
termination.' 1 hear they were astonished at the politeness of their recep-
tion : I conclude they were conscious of the malice concealed in their ad-
dress and expected to be kicked down stairs." — Parr's Worhs, vol. i. pag.
480. It certainly was sufficient reason to petition against the Bishop's fit-
ness for the Provostship, if they expected that he would kick down stairs
two clergymen who waited upon hini. The facts, however, were totally
different. The two individuals who waited upon him were a Senior and
Junior Fellow, Dr. Hall and Mr. Elrington, who were afterwards succes-
sively Provosts. They gave no copy of their address, and the Bishop re-
ceived them under the idea that they w ere frightened at their useless
opposition, and came now to conciliate. As Dr. Hall read on the Bishop
became aware of the real nature of the address, and appeared greatly
disconcerted. He was taken so much by surprise, that he could only ^/fe
them back their own words, and sent tiiem away, saying he would send an
answer, which never arrived.

LIFE OF AUCHBISIIOP USSHER.

201

usum, and do therefore set the table aside in any corner
(good enough for it) save only at the time of administration.
Now 1 pray you tell me in good earnest, may not Churches
and Chapels be thought so too, might they be as easily
removed and set up again as the tables may ? But 1 take
myself bound to give you an account, why I think all will
not be quiet between my Lord Primate and my Lord of
Cork. The truth is when I understood your Lordship's
mind so fully set to have my Lord of Cork continue Pro-
vost, I writ to my Lord Primate a very fair answer to a
letter" of his, which he had written against it. In that my
letter I made a fair interpretation for the Provost's holding
the College in commendam, and as I thought then and do
still a just one : to this I added this clause that it was fit
for his Lordship and myself to give your Lordship all con-
tent" in any thing we might possibly do, considering what
a great benefactor under God and the King you have been
to the Church of Ireland. But since these letters of mine,
sent four months at least, I never heard word from my Lord
Primate. And I take it his Grace hath printed a book since
that and sent me never a copy, unless perchance it have
miscarried."

The book to which Archbishop Laud alludes was " Im-
manuel or the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of
God." That the Primate did not resent, however he might
have disapproved, the continuance of Bishop Chappell as
Provost, is evident from this very book, for it is dedicated
to Lord Stratford as " Grati animi qualecunque testimo-
nium." This treatise, as it has been before stated, was the
substance of several sermons preached by the Primate at
Drogheda, and is as simple as the nature of the subject would

" The letter is given in the Works, vol. xvi. pag. 36.

" This is no excuse for Archbishop Lauil, the Chancellor of the TTniver-
slty, to suffer the Statutes to be trampled upon. It is quite evident he
felt himself wrong, for he says in the very same letter : " And yet further
I believe this business of my Lord of Corkes holding the College thrives
never the better, because I know my Lord of Derry was as earnest with
mo as the Primate himself was, that the College could not be held in com-
mendam by the Statutes." The Bishop of Cork did hold the Provostship
tillJuly, 1040.

202

LIFE or ARCHBISHOP USSIIEK.

permit ; it consists principally of a collection of texts from
Scripture skilfully arranged. There does not seem any thing'
peculiar in his view of the subject.

At this time the Primate was again involved in a dispute
with Bishop Bedell, and it must be acknowledged, that his
Grace allowed his ancient friend to be most unj ustly trampled
upon bj'^ his Court. The Primate had particularly recom-
mended to Bishop Bedell Mr. King, a convert from Popery,
as the fittest person to assist him in translating the Bible
into Irish. The Bishop was so pleased with Mr. King, that
he gave him a living in his diocese, where he finished his
translation. But soon a stop was put by violence to this
most useful undertaking. Representations were made to
the Archbishop of Canterbury, that King was not a person
fit to be intrusted with such an undertaking, and his Grace
informed Bishop Bedell, that " the man whom he employed
to translate the Bible into Irish w^as a man so ignorant that
the translation cannot be worthy publick use in the Church,
and besides obnoxious, so as the Church can receive no
credit from any thing that is his." Bishop Bedell, in a letter
to Lord Strafford, vindicates him from this charge, by ap-
pealing for his character to Archbishop Ussher, the Bishop
of Meath, Lord Dillon, and Sir James Ware. He then pro-
ceeds to detail the various outrages that have been perpe-
trated under the color of law. It appears that a young man
named Bailey pretended that the living, which the Bishop
had given to Mr. King, had lapsed to the Crown, obtained
a grant of it under the Great Seal, and thrust the legal in-
cumbent out of his benefice. The Bishop cited Bailey before
him, and remonstrated with him upon his violent intrusion
into another man's benefice, and upon his having perjured
himself, for he had taken an oath on receiving a vicarage
not to accept any other. Bailey procured a dispensation
from the Prerogative Court, notwithstanding his oath, to
hold more benefices. The Bishop considering this as one
of the worst and most scandalous abuses of Popery, and
having tried all gentler methods of influencing Bailey, finally
proceeded to deprive him of his benefice, and excommuni-
cated him. Bailey appealed to the Prerogative Court, and

LU'K Ol' ARCHBISHOP USSHKK.

203

the Bishop was cited to appear before them. He appeared,
but declined the authority of the Surrogates. He gave in his
reasons in twenty-four articles for refusing to answer to any
person but the Primate. The Court, however, persevered,
declared the Bishop contumacious, absolved the offender
from his sentence, and restored him to his benefice. " The
strangest part," says Bishop Burnett, " of this transaction
was that which the Primate acted, who though he loved
the Bishop beyond all the rest of his order, and valued him
highly for the zealous discharge of his office, that distin-
guished him so much from others ; yet he could not be pre-
vailed on to interpose in the matter nor to stop the unjust
prosecution? that this good man had fallen under for so good
a work." It cannot be ascertained what was the cause of
the Primate's conduct. His biographers are silent upon
the subject. From a letter of Lord Strafford's, already
quoted, it appears that the Primate had not been in Dublin,
and he might, therefore, not be fully acquainted with the
proceedings of the High Commission Court ; but it is not
within the limits of possibility, that one of his Suffragan
Bishops could have been summoned to his Court without
notice having been given him of such a remarkable circum-
stance. It has been already remarked, that the Primate had

I' The unfortunate Mr. King, now far advanced in years, suffered even
more than the Bishop. His sufferings are thus detailed by Bishop Bedell
to Lord Strafford: " Touching his being obnoxious, it is true there is a
scandalous information put in against him in the High Commission Court
by his despoiler Mr. Baily (as my Lord of Derry told him in my hearing
he was) and by an excommunicate despoiler, as myself before the execu-
tion of any sentence declar'd him in the Court to be. And Mr. King being-
cited to answer and not appearing (as by law he was not bound) was
taken pro confesso, deprived of his ministry and living, fined an hundred
pound, decreed to be attached and imprisoned. His adversary Mr. Baily,
before he was sentenced, purchased a new dispensation to hold his bene-
fice, and was the very next day after (as appears by the date of the insti-
tution) both presented on the Kings title (although the benefice be of my
collation) and instituted by my Lord Primate's Vicar : shortly after in-
ducted by an Archdeacon of another diocess, and a few days after he
brought down an attachment and delivered Mv. King to the Pursuvant :
He was haled by the head and feet to horseback, and brought to Dublin,
where he hath been kept, and continued under arrest there four or five
months : and hath not been suffered to purge his supposed contempt by

204

LIFE OF AHCMBISHOP USSIIER.

been very averse to Bishop Bedell's mode of proceeding
towards the Irish, but his scruples with respect to instruct-
ing them in the Irish language must have been entirely
removed, when he recommended Mr. King as a fit person to
translate the Bible into Irish. The cause of the Primate's
abandoning the Bishop to his enemies must have been,
that his Grace felt alarm at the novel measures which were
adopted by Bishop Bedell, and dreaded the subversion of
the Establishment. While this contest with Bailey was pro-
ceeding, Bishop Bedell had summoned a synod of his clergy,
and enacted canons for their government. This was con-
sidered as a measure of a very questionable character, and
though the High Commission Court did not take any pro-
ceedings against the Bishop, and though it is said that the
Primate recommended his opponents to let him alone, " lest
he should be thereby provoked to say more for himself, than
any of his accusers could say against him," yet many able
civilians considered that the assembly was illegal, and that
the enacting of canons subjected him to a Praemunire ; and
certainly no bishop, either in England or Ireland, ever ven-
tured to follow his example. The Primate's mild disposi-
tion might have shrunk from engaging in such turbulent
discussions, as he had some years before from the contro-

oath and witnesses ; that by reason of his sickness he was hindred, whereby
he was brought to death's door, and could not appear and prosecute his
defence : and that by the cunning of his adversary he was circumvented,
intreating that he might be restored to liberty and his cause into the for-
mer estate. But it hath not availed him : my reverend colleagues of the
High Commission do some of them pity his case, others say the sentence
passed cannot be reversed, lest the credit of the Court be attached. They
bid him simply submit himself and acknowledge his sentence just. Whereas
the Bishops of Rome themselves after most formal proceedings do grant
restitution in integrum and acknowledge that, Sentcntia Romanae Sedis
potest in melius commutari. My Lord, if I understand what is right di-
vine or humane, there be wrongs upon wrongs ; which if they reached
only to IMr. Kings person were of less consideration ; but when through
his side that great work, the translation of Gods book, so necessary for
both his Majesty's kingdoms, is mortally wounded, pardon me, I beseech
your Lordship, if I be sensible of it, I omit to consider what feast our
adversaries make of our rewarding him thus for that service ; or what
this example will avail the alluring of others to conformity." — Life of
BedcU by Bishop Burnett, pag. 103, 104.

LIFE OF AUCHI5ISHOP USSHER.

205

versles about the ecclesiastical courts, yet we must deplore
the abandonment of the pious and ardent Bishop to the
tyrannical proceedings of the High Commission Court, and
the suspension of his most salutary measures for the propa-
gation of true religion among the Irish peasantry. From a
passage in the letter of Bishop Bedell to the Lord Deputy,
it would seem that Bishop Bramhall had taken his part
against Bailey, but without success. It is strange that,
when so many circumstances connected with the Church, of
much less consequence, are mentioned in the correspon-
dence between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord
Deputy, there should be no allusion to the case of Bishop
Bedell. It might reasonably be expected, that the enact-
ment of diocesan canons would have attracted the notice of
the Archbishop, ever watchful about the minutest questions
of Church discipline, but, while the disputes in remote
parishes form a subject of correspondence, not the slightest
mention is made of the diocese of Kilmore.

In Augusf, 1639, was published the Primate's long ex-
pected work, " Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates."
It had been commenced at the request of King James, and,
at the interval of nearly twenty years, was published with a
dedication to his son. To panegyrize this extraordinary

1 The precise date is given in the following letter from the Primate to
the Bishop of Derry, published in the Rawdon Papers :

" My very good Lord,

" I joyed much to receive a letter written with your own hand after so
dangerous an accident, and so much the more, that I understood thereby
what good use you have made of that fatherly chastisement wherewith it
hath pleased God (with so gracious an event) to visit you, for the conti-
nuance of whose blessings towards you my prayers shall never be wanting.
The public troubles that are feared from Scotland begin now to drown all
the thoughts we have had either of our own or our friends private griev-
ances. The first day of July came out that Protestation of the Covenan-
ters, which manifested how guilefully they have circumvented their good
King with a semblance of a pretended peace. The 29th of the same month
at four of the clock in the morning His Majesty went in poste from Bar-
wick and afterwards rested at Theobalds, whence he now — (with safety
of his sacred person) expecteth the issue of that conferred assembly, which
is to begin on Monday next. In that same month of July victorious Duke
Bernard died of a burning fever. Yesterd ly I received the first entire
copy of my book and I now give order that one of them shall be presently

206

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

monument of human learning is unnecessary, to detail its
contents impossible. The author, commencing with the first
introduction of Christianity into the British isles, continues
his laborious researches to the close of the seventh century.
He commences his history with the various fabulous narra-
tives respecting the introduction of Christianity into Britain,
through which he steers his course with great caution. He
thence proceeds to the formation of the diflFerent British
sees, and the first notices of British bishops in ecclesiastical
history, with the accounts of the Diocletian persecution, and
the early events of the life of Cons tan tine. Upon the in-
troduction of the Pelagian heresy he dwells more fully, and
gives a minute and detailed account of its various forms and
various authors, down to the arrival of Augustine in Eng-

sent down unto you. How my woods of Lisson are used, your Lordship
may see by the enclosed letter of Mr. Chambers. Whether that Mr. Church
which he speaketh of be the man whom your Lordship committed the care
of marking the trees unto, I know not ; and thus doth Sir Thomas Staples
serve his own turn sure enough ; but for the payment of his rent return-
eth me for answer, that there is no money in the country. I should take
it for a great favour at his hands, that 1 should have no rent paid me at
all, and that he would leave my woods entire and unwasted to my succes-
sor. Whereby I know your Lordship will have a care also, when God
shall restore you to your perfect strength : for which none shall more
heartily pray than

" Your Lordship's most faithful

" friend and loving brother

"Ja. Akjiachanus.

" Temonfeckui Aug. 10 1639."

Thus superscribed :
" To the Right Reverend Father
in God, my very good Lord
and brother, the Lo. Bishop
of Derrye These D. D."

Archbishop TJsslier had frequently borne testimony to the care with
which Bishop Bramhall executed his task as one of the Royal Commis-
sioners. In a letter, dated within a year after the Act passed for the
preservation of Church property, the Primate says : " I find by the cata-
logue of compositions, that the augmentation of the rents of this see
amounteth to £735. 4. 4 per annum, and that you have now passed the
greater part of your journey. Not only myself but all my successors will
have cause to honor tlie memory of the Lord Deputy and yours, whom
God hath used as an instrument to bring this work to such perfection."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

207

land. The learned author then turns his attention to ano-
ther part of the country, and traces the colonies of the Picts
and Scots in their various movements. He concludes with
their conversion to Christianity, and a full account of the
preaching of St. Patrick and other Irish saints. The first
edition of this work was printed in quarto, 1639. The au-
thor prepared numerous additions for another edition, but
did not live to publish it. It was printed long after his
death at London, in folio, in the year 1677.

The Primate was called upon to preach before the Parlia-
ment assembled in March, 163:^%. His text was : " Moses'
commanded us a law even the inheritance of the congrega-
tion of Jacob. And he was King in Jeshurun when the
heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered
together." This was the last public act which the Primate
performed in Ireland, and immediately after he went over
to England with his family, intending to remain for a con-
siderable time, in order to pursue his literary labours in
London and Oxford. It proved, however, a final farewell
to his native country, which was soon after plunged in all
the horrors of massacre and civil war, and only recovered
from them with such a change in its ecclesiastical constitu-
tion that the Primate's return there was impossible. The
Primate found the King in unfortunate collision with his
newly assembled Parliament, and having waited on his Ma-
jesty, by whom he was most graciously received, proceeded
without delay to Oxford. He was lodged in Christ Church,
where apartments were provided for him by Dr. Morice,
one of the Canons, and Hebrew Professor in the University.
There he was allowed to devote himself to study only for a
short period, having been called up to London, in order
that his influence and advice might calm the contentions,
which were now assuming a most alarming appearance. Sir
George Wentworth, writing to the Bishop of Derry, in
June, 1640, mentions, that " My Lord Primate is very
much followed here upon Sundays, hath been often with
his Majesty and well used, but I cannot well tell whether

Deuteron. cap. 3.'J. v. 4. 3.

208

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

he is commanded to print his sermons, or to state the ques-
tion of Scotland ; I hear it said the latter. Mr. Pryn is
very much with his Lordship, who lives at Warwick House
whose company we have sometimes."

The clamor against episcopacy being then very violent,
the Primate endeavoured to devise a plan which might
satisfy the more moderate reformers. He appears to have
been employed in drawing up some paper on the subject,
whether at the request of the King or not is unknow'n, when
the unfinished manuscript was stolen out of his writing desk
and printed with the following title, " The directions of
the Archbishop of Armagh concerning the Liturgy and
episcopal government." The Primate immediately applied
to the House of Commons, and an order was issued for sup-
pressing the book, in the following form :
" An order of the Commons House of Parliament for the
suppressing of another' pamphlet falsely fathered upon
the said Archbishop of Armagh Die Martis 9. Feb.
1640.

" Whereas complaint hath been made unto us by James
Lord Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland,
that a certain pamphlet hath been lately most ingeniously
fathered' upon him and spread under the false title of the
Bishop of Armagh, ' Directions to the House of Parlia-
ment concerning the Liturgy and episcopal government.'
It is this day ordered in the Commons House of Parlia-
ment, that the IMaster and company of Stationers and all
others whom it may concern shall take such course for the

' Dr. Bernard states, that this alludes to a pamphlet called " Vox Hy-
berniae," which had been published in the Primate's name, and suppressed
by an order of the House of Peers, but in this he must be mistaken, as the
order against the publisher of " Vox Hybemise" was not made for a year
after. I have not discovered the pamphlet referred to.

' Notwithstanding this application of the Primate, declaring the book
to be spurious, the Puritans republished it in 1660, as a genuine work, so
that, as Dr. Bernard says, " it is sold up and down as his and accordingly
produced at this day by many upon all occasions to his great injury."
They added to the title the following paragraph, which was notoriously
false : ' ' Being thereunto requested by the Honourable the House of Com-
mons, and then presented in the year 1642."

LIFE OF ARCHIUSHOP USSHER.

209

suppressing of the said book, that they shall not suffer it to
be put in print ; or if it be already printed, not permit the
same to be divulged; and if any man shall presume to print
or publish the book above mentioned that he or they shall
be then liable to the censure of the said House.

" H. Elsyng. Cler. Dom. Com."

VVhitelocke mentions the attempt of the Primate as if it
had been authoritatively made in some shape or other, for
he says : " The Primate of Armrgh offered an expedient for
conjunction in point of discipline, that episcopal and pres-
by terial government might not be at a far distance, reducing
episcopacy to the form of a synodical government in the
ancient church." Dr. Bernard published, in 1658, what he
declares to have been the real plan of the Archbishop ; the
title is, " The" reduction of Episcopacy unto the form of
synodical government received in the ancient Church : Pro-
posed in the year 1641 as an expedient for the prevention
of those troubles which afterwards did arise about the mat-
ter of Church government." This tract, if it be really
printed as the Archbishop wrote it, and had not first received
some pruning from the antiepiscopal prepossessions of Dr.
Bernard, was certainly a very great concession to popular
clamor. The four propositions, of which it consists, are es-
sentially the same with those respecting Church government
laid down by Knox and the heads of the Presbyterian
party, except that they require the appointment of Chore-
piscopi or suffragan bishops, equal in number to the rural
deaneries, and conformable to the Act passed in the twenty-
sixth year of Henry VIII., and revived in the first of Eli-
zabeth. It would seem that, by taking away from bishops
all power of order and jurisdiction, there was left to them
but the empty title of superintendent or president of the
ecclesiastical Synod. If the Primate ever did make such
a concession, it must have arisen from the effect produci-d
upon his gentle nature by the violent commotions which he

" The tract lias been repul)lislicil in the twoll'th voluino of tlio An hlji-
sliop's works, pag. 527.

VOL. J. P

•210

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHKR.

witnessed. He must have considered resistance impossible,
and that the preservation of any shadow of our ecclesiastical
constitution was better, than the risk of its total destruction
before the reforming rage of the Lower House of Parlia-
ment. Almost immediately after he published opinions on
the subject much more in conformity with his station in
the Church, and maintained with great effect the apostolical
origin and establishment of bishops.

We come now to a transaction which involves most deeply
the Archbishop's character, and is very differently related
by different authors. The pusillanimous conduct of nearly
one-half the House of Lords had occasioned the passing of
the bill of attainder against Lord Strafford, and all the mea-
sures of intimidation which had been successful with the
Lords were exerted to extort the King's consent to the
iniquitous sentence, a sentence which, as has been truly
remarked, " was a greater enormity than the worst of those
which his implacable enemies prosecuted with so much cruel
industry." Betrayed by his Privy Council, deserted by his
Judges, Charles applied for advice to five of his Bishops,
the Archbishop of Armagh, the Bishop of London (Juxon),
the Bishop of Durham (Morton), the Bishop of Lincoln
(Williams), and the Bishop of Carlisle (Potter), and unfor-
tunately did not receive that support which was to be ex-
pected from such a consultation. The situation of the
Bishops was, however, one of extreme difficulty. As it has
been well expressed, " The^ misery of these learned men
must have equalled the conviction of their impotence. A
remedy was asked for the remediless. They sadly knew
their weakness. Already they were degraded in the eyes of
their country. They were about to be rejected from the
rights of free men, to give an equal vote with their fellow-
citizens ; nor could they be insensible, while their chief lay
in the durance of the Tower, and the screams of a maddened
populace were echoing, ' No Bishops,' that heads more able
to contrive mischief than their own, and hands more skilful
in the arts of destruction, were fast undermining the Hie-

* D'lsraoli's Life and Reign of Cliarles I., vol. iv. pag. 182.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

rarchy. In that day of dereliction and terror could the
Bishops be more exempt from the common infirmities of
our nature, than were all the Right Honorable Privy Coun-
cillors? These already had bowed with 'hat in hand giving-
them good words' to the insolent citizens, as these Lords
going to their House tremblingly passed through their sul-
len lines, promising, provided they would be quiet, the
blood of Strafford ! Or were the Bishops to be less terrified
than those oracles of the law, who in the sanctuary of jus-
tice, sitting at the tribunal of life and death, had revoked
their decree and vacillated, till they echoed the cry of the
populace around them ?"

Yet, even in that day of dereliction and terror, two of
those bishops rose superior to all the alarms of earthly vio-
lence, and did advise their wretched sovereign not to do
any thing against his conscience, and those two were Arch-
bishop Ussher and Bishop Juxon. Yet such was, such is,
among many writers, the anxious wish to throw odium upon
the episcopal order, that the conduct of these two great
and good men has been arraigned, and they have been
held up as betrayers of their trust, against evidence, which
seems to defy every attempt at cavil. The basest motives
have been assigned for deciding the Primate's conduct ; it
has been stated that he was influenced by revenge for
Strafford having outwitted him in superseding the Irish
Articles and passing the English Articles in their place.
We might appeal to the whole life and conduct of the Pri-
mate, whether there is one single incident to be found, which
could justify an accusation of such base, deliberate malig-
nity. While the Roman Emperor has been handed down
with infamy to posterity by the philosophic historian, as
"odium in longum jaciens," his deep-laid schemes do not
exhibit an instance of human depravity so revolting, as the
fiendlike motives attributed to the mild and pious Ussher. If
we must condescend to refute the infamous calumny, surely
there are abundant materials in the conduct of the Primate
towards Strafford during his trial, his visits to him in tiie
Tower, both before and after his condemnation, his being
selected by the noble victim as the person to bear his lust

p 2

212

LIFE OF AKCHBISHOP rSSHEH.

request to Archbishop Laud, and still further, to attend iiim
in the awful closingr scene of his life.

Dr. Bernard ^ives the following account of the trans-
action, from a manuscript in the Primate's handwriting :
" That Sundav raorninor wherein the King: consulted the
four Bishops'^ (of London, Durham, Lincoln and Carlile) the
Archbishop of Armagh was not present, being then preach-
ing (as he then accustomed every Sunday to do) in the
Church of Covent-Garden ; where a message coming unto
him from his Majesty, he descended from the pulpit, and
told him that brought it, he was then (as he saw) imployed
about God's business ; which as soon as he had done, he
would attend upon the King, to understand his pleasure :
but the King spending the whole afternoon in the serious
debate of the Lord Strafford's case, with the Lords of his
Council, and the Judges of the land, he could not before
evening be admitted to his Majesty's presence.

" There the question was again agitated, whether the
King in justice, might pass the bill of attainder against 'the
Earl of Strafford, (for that he might shew mercy to him
was no question at all ;) no man doubting but that the King,
without any scruple of conscience, might have granted him
a pardon, if other reasons of State (in which the Bishops
were made neither judges, nor advisers) did not hinder him.
The whole result therefore of the determination of the
Bishops, was to this eflfect ; That therein the matter of fact,

" Carte savs that the Parliament appointed four bishops, the Archbi-
shop of Armagh, the Bishops of Durham, Lincoln, and Carlisle, being all
Calrinists, and in favor with the faction. That the King, distrusting the
four, sent first for Bishop Juxon, who advised him not on any considera-
tion to pass a bill of attainder against the dictates of his conscience.
AVhen the other bishops came thev acted the part assigned to them, for
which they had been very properly chosen by the heads of the faction, and
advised his Majesty to pass the bill. The four bishops came again in the
evening to renew the charge. The extraordinary falsehoods contained in
the above statement afford a melancholy proof of the force of prejudice.
In order to exalt Bishop Juxon at the expense of the other four, Carte
invents a new arrangement. He makes the Primate present when he
was absent, and he makes Bishop Juxon absent in the evening, when be
was present. It seems to have been sufficient for Carte that they were
selected by the Parliament ; they must be made guilty at all events.

LII E OF AliClllllSHOl' USSllER.

213

and matter of law, were to be distinguished : That of the
matter of fact, he himself might make a judgment, having
been present at all proceedings against the said Earl ; where,
if upon the hearing of the allegations on either side, he did
not conceive him guilty of the crimes wherewith he was
charged, he could not in justice condemn him : but for the
matter in law, what was treason, and what was not, he was
to rest in the opinion of the Judges ; whose office it was to
declare the law, and who were sworn therein to carry them-
selves indifferently betwixt him, and his subjects : Which
gave his Majesty occasion to complain of the dealing of the
Judges with him not long before : That having earnestly
pressed them to declare in particular, what point of the
Lord of Strafford's charge they judged to be treasonable,
(forasmuch as upon the hearing of the proofs produced, he
might in his conscience, perhaps, find him guiltless of that
fact) he could not by any means draw them to nominate
any in particular, but that upon the whole matter, treason
might justly be charged upon him. And in this second
meeting, it was observed, that the Bishop of London spake
nothing at all'', but the Bishop of Lincoln not only spake,
but put a writing also into the King's hand, wherein, what
was contained, the rest of his brethren knew not."

Upon this narrative Dr. Parr remarks, that it gives proof
"of the Primate's modesty, who would not set down his
own particular judgment in the matter, but only that it
agreed with that of his brethren, and also of his charity and
fidelity, who would not (though to acquit himself) betray
his trust and accuse the only person of that company, who
was supposed to have moved the King to the doing of it."

" For this silence Bishop Juxon has been accused of acting cunning^ly ;
but he had most decidedly given his opinion in the morning against the
casuistry of Bishop AVilliams, and his subsequent silence could not have
been unintelligible to the distressed monarch. The objections of Bishop
Juxon to this doctrine were distinctly stated by the King to Sir Edward
Walker: " Having ascribed the opinion that the king had a double capa-
city of a public and a private man to Ussher, the king replied, 'No, I
assure you it was not he;' whence I infer that it was cither York or
Durham, for at the same time the king fully justified the Bishop of Lon-
don for his stout opinion agaiust it." — Pag. 300.

214

LIFK OF AKCHBISHOP XJSSHER.

It is fortunate, however, for the character of the Primate,
that he was compelled to disclose the whole case, and vin-
dicate himself from the odious charge. When he was sup-
posed to be dying, at St. Donate's castle in Wales, Dr. Parr
asked his Grace whether he had advised the King to pass
the bill against the Earl of Strafford. To which the Pri-
mate answered : " I know there is such a thing most wrong-
fully laid to my charge ; for I neither gave nor approved of
any such advice as that the King should assent to the bill
against the Earl ; but on the contrary told his Majesty,
that if he was satisfied by what he heard at his trial, that
the Earl was not guilty of treason, his Majesty ought not
in conscience to consent to his condemnation. And this the
King knows well enough, and can clear me if he pleases."
The hope of the Primate was fulfilled, for, when a report
reached Oxford that the Primate was dead, the King ex-
pressed in very strong terms, to Colonel William Legg and
Mr. Kirk, who were then in waiting, his regret at the
event, speaking in high terms of his piety and learning.
Some one present said, " he believed he might be so, were
it not for his persuading your Majesty to consent to the
Earl of Strafford's execution ;" to which the King in a
great passion replied, " that it was false, for after the bill
was passed the Archbishop came to me, saying with tears
in his eyes, Oh Sir, what have you done ? I fear that this
act may prove a great trouble to your conscience and pray
God that your Majesty may never suffer by the signing of
this bill." Dr. Parr states, that he had certificates in the
handwriting of both those gentlemen asserting these facts.

It seems unnecessary to pursue this subject further, but
it may be added that, the day after the bill had been passed,
the King selected the Primate as the fittest person to be
intrusted with a message of the most interesting kind, to be
delivered to the Earl privately. The memorandum^ was
preserved in the Primate's Almanack.

> T!iis memorandum was preserved by Primate Margetson, and shewn
by him to Mr. Radcliff, who enclosed a copy to the Earl's son, William,
Earl of Strafford, in the following note :

" My Lord, — Since I wrote last to your Lordship, my Lord Primate

LIFE OF AUCHBISHOP USSHIIK.

215

May 11, 1641.

'< The King wisheth me to deliver unto my Lord Straf-
forde tomorrow,

<' 1. That if the Kings life only were hazarded thereby,
he would never have given passage unto his death.

" 2. That the execution without extream danger could
not be deferred.

" 3. That he was moved by the Lords for his wife and
children and intended to dispose his entire estate upon them.

" 4. That if his son be capable, he will take especial no-
tice of him for his imployment and preferment (which I
must tell none but him).

*' 5. That for Lord Chancellor, Lowther, and Derry he
stops the proceedings, until they give good reason for their
authority.

"6. Lord Dillon's ability above all the natives.

" 7. Earle of Orraond shall be Kt. of Garter in his place.

" 8. Carpenter to be at liberty to look to his estate or
any one whom he shall appoint to have care of his children.

" May 12. The Lo. Strafford beheaded at Towre Hill.

" Mem. My Lo. Chancellor, Lo. Lowther and Lo. Pre-
sident of Munster."

In the last letter which Lord Strafford wrote to Sir George
Radcliffe, he alludes to this communication from the Pri-
mate : " The^ King saith he will give all my estate to my
son, sends me word so by my Lord Primate. Gods good-
ness be ever amongst us all, this being the last I shall write ;
and so blessed Jesus receive my soul."

hath shewed me my Lord Primate Ussher's Almanack. In the beginning
whereof I found written what is contained in the note I here send your
Lordship, the conveyance whereof being the only occasion of this letter.
" I rest, my Lord,

" Your Lordship's most humble
" And obedient Servant,

" Thomas Radcliffe.

" Dublin, Nov. 17, 16C6.

" P.S. The strokes that are in the two lines after the eighth head were
in the original."

^ Strafford's Letters, vol. ii. pag. 418.

216

l-IFK OK AltCHUISHOP TSSHKR.

From all this accumulated evidence, nothing can be
clearer, than that the Primate did not recommend the King
to sign Lord Strafford's death warrant. The unenviable
distinction belongs to Bishop Williams, who addressed his
monarch with Machiavelian casuistry: he told him "that*
there was a private and a public conscience; that a public
conscience as a King might not only dispense with, but
oblige him to do that, which was against his private con-
science as a man ; and that the question was not whether
he would save the Earl of Strafford, but whether he should
perish with him ; that the conscience of a King to preserve
his kingdom, the conscience of a husband to preserve his
M'ife, the conscience of the Father to preserve his children
(all which were now in danger) weighed down abundantly
all the considerations the conscience of a Master or a friend
could suggest to him for the preservation of a friend or a
servant." Well might Lord Clarendon'' call such arguments
" unprelatical and ignominious."

But this sophistical argument did not comprise the whole
of what Bishop Williams did. He gave into the King's
hand a paper, which was not communicated to any of the
other Bishops. This paper, most probably, determined the
King, yet there is considerable doubt as to what it con-
tained. Bishop Hacket, the biographer and panegyrist of
Bishop Williams, says, that he assured him the following
morning, that it was a paper containing reasons against the
King's passing the bill for perpetuating the Parliament.
This is not credible. It is not to be supposed that Bishop
Williams would have selected the moment when the King
was anxiously consulting the Bishops about one great ab-

" Clarendon's History, vol. ;. pag. 342. Ed. 4to.

^ Mr. D'lsracli remarks : " This argument is so perfectly characteristic
of the subtilizing manner of this extraordinary personage, that Cla-
rendon cannot be accused of purposely rendering the sophistry more
odious than it is ; he has certainly stated it with a malicious perspica-
city." I cannot discover the malice of Lord Clarendon, in stating the
argument clearly and distinctly. If he stated with perspicacity what
Bishop Williams said, the admirers of that prelate (if any he has) have
no reason to complain. Mr. Brodie says Clarendon unjustly condemns
Bishop Williams, because the other bishops acquiesced. It is clear that
all the other bishops did not assent to this casuistry, and Lord Clarendon
does censure the bishops for not protesting more strongly against it.

LIFE Ol" ARCHBlSllOl' USSHEl!

217

sorbing question, to offer advice upon a totally different
subject, which was evidently considered by the unfortunate
Monarch as unimportant, in comparison with the fate of
his minister. Besides, the advice is utterly irreconcileable
with IJishop Williams' policy, and would have tended to de-
feat the object of all his casuistry. The popular clamor would
have been almost as violent if one bill had been rejected, as
if both had. Another, and more probable opinion is, that
liishop Williams delivered to the King the letter of Lord
Strafford, releasing him from his promise to protect his life.
The subject of this letter is involved in deep mystery. Carte
maintains that it was a forgery of Bishop Williams. It is
an undoubted fact that Lord Strafford expressed the great-
est surprise at learning his fate, and, starting from his chair,
exclaim.ed, " Put not your trust in princes nor in the sons
of men, for in them is no salvation." To account for this
strong emotion, we must either believe the letter to be a
forgery, or assign for the writing it the cold and calculating
motive suggested by Hume, so unworthy the character of
the magnanimous prisoner. Hume says: "Perhaps Straf-
ford hoped that this unusual instance of generosity would
engage the king still more strenuously to support him."
Hume has also assigned several reasons for believing the
letter to have been sent by Lord Strafford ; the strongest
of these is the testimony of Clarendon, who certainly con-
sidered the letter as genuine : and it would appear that the
most convincing argument against its being genuine is to
be found in the statesmanlike sagacity of Strafford, who
could not have advised a measure, which must, in the end,
have proved as ruinous to his master as it was fatal to him-
self. We must, 1 fear, acquiesce in the unsatisfactory con-
clusion at which Mr. DTsraeli arrived, "we must believe
that we have the story too imperfectly to comprehend it."

It became the painful duty of the Primate to attend Lord
Strafford from the time of the bill passing to his death. It
has been already stated that he was the bearer*^ of several

*■ Dr. Aikin, in his Lifo of tho .Vrchbishop, says, " an office which must
have been very ungratcfut to one who heartily disapproved the act ; but

218

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

messages from the king to his faithful subject. He was
also employed by Lord Strafford to convey his last message
to Archbishop Laud. Orders had been issued that the
Archbishop should not see Lord Strafford, and this order
was enforced even when Strafford, on the night before his
execution, requested of the lieutenant of the Tower permis-
sion to speak with his venerable friend, saying, " You
shall hear what passeth between us, for it is not a time now
either for him to plot heresy, or me to plot treason." The
lieutenant answered, that he was bound by his orders, and
advised him to petition Parliament for that favor. No,
said Strafford, with bitter irony, " I have gotten my de-
spatch from them, and will trouble them no more. I am
now petitioning a higher court, where neither partiality
can be expected, nor error feared." He then turned to
Archbishop Ussher, who was in attendance upon him, and
said, " My Lord I will tell you what I should have spoken
to my Lord's Grace of Canterbury. You shall desire the
archbishop to lend me his prayers this night, and to give
me his blessing when I go abroad tomorrow ; and to be in
liis window that, by my last farewell, I may give him
thanks for this and all his other former favours." The
Primate having immediately proceeded to the aged Arch-
bishop's apartments, and delivered him the mournful mes-
sage, returned to his illustrious friend with the following
answer: " That in conscience he was bound to the first,
and in duty and obligation to the second ; but he feared
weaktiess and passion would not lend him eyes to behold
his last departure." In describing the transactions of the
next morning, Archbishop Laud said, " As he past by, he
turned towards me, and took the solemnest leave that I
think was ever by any at distance taken one of another."
Solemn indeed it was, for Strafford, attended by Archbishop
Ussher, stopped before the window, and, when his venera-
ble friend came to it, bowed himself to the ground, and said,

perhaps the King, who was liimself a skilful casuist, had convinced the
Primate of its lawfulness." — Pag. 261. To comment upon such a pas-
sage would be an insult to the moral feeling of the reader.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

219

" My Lord, your prayers and your blessings." Laud lifted up
his hands and bestowed both, and then, overcome with his
feelings, fell to the ground senseless ; while Strafford, bow-
ing himself a second time, said, " Farewell, my Lord ; God
protect your innocency." Archbishop Ussher attended
this illustrious sufferer to the scaffold, and knelt beside him
even in his last devotions at the block. Soon after the
execution he went to give an account of his faithful servant
to the King, and assured His Majesty " that he had seen
many die, but never saw so white a soul return to his
Maker." Charles was greatly moved at the recital, and
burst into tears. The Primate's admiration of Lord Straf-
ford's conduct is also expressed in the following letter, ad-
dressed to Bishop Bramhall :

" My very good Lord,

" However*^ I have been silent all this while (expecting
every day to get from his Majesty some such answer as I

^ Rawdon Papers, pag. 84. There is no date to the letter, nor to the
following, which must have been written soon after, though in the Raw-
don Papers it is placed first.

" Salutem in Christo Jesu.

" My Lokd,

" The commissioners from the Parliament there are required by the
Lords of the Council here to produce, on Monday next, some precedent
for their proceedings in any capital cause, since the time of Poyning's
Act, otherwise than by Bill : which if they cannot do (as it is verily be-
lieved they cannot), no other form of judicatory power is like to be
granted unto them ; and so all danger, so far as concerneth the main of
the matter, is past. Untill that point be determined, we forbear to pro-
ceed further ; although if that fail, as well as that which you prescribe,
all other likely means shall be essayed, and pursued to the utmost for the
compassing of tliat which you desire. And although the thoughts of the
highest are for the present wholly taken up with the apprehension both
of the voting down of episcopacy by the House of Commons, and the hot
pursuit of some troubles which are conceived to be raised as well in Eng-
land as in Scotland ; yet shall no occasion be pretermitted of compassing
your desires before your Parliament committee be dismissed which is
thought will be in about a fortnight hence. Sir John Clotworthy hath
presented a far larger petition to the House of Commons for the abolish-
ing of episcopacy in Ireland than that which you sent unto me, and signed
with a huge number of hands. When I shewed unto the King that pas-
sage of your letter, that it were no difficult task (if that were thought the
way) to get half of those hands to a contrary petition andSUOOO of bettej-

220

LllK OF AKCHBlSHOl> USSHER.

might hope would give you full contentment), yet I assure
you my care never slackened in soliciting your cause at
Court, with as much vigilance as if it did touch mine own
person. I never intermitted an occasion of mediating with
his Majesty in your behalf, who still pitied your case,
acknowledging the faithfulness of your service both to the
Church and to him, avowed that you were no more guilty
of treason than himself, and assured me that he would do
for you all that lay in his power. My Lord Strafford, the
very night before his suffering (which was most Christian
and magnanimous, ad stuporein usque), sent me to the
King, giving me in charge, among other particulars, to
put him in mind of you and the other two Lords that are
under the same pressure, who thereupon declared unto me
that he had already given orders that the Parliament was
not to proceed in their judgm.ent, until they could shew
some precedent of such legal process, exercised there since

number in Ulster to the contrary, he twice wished me to direct you to
pursue it : and whilst that the Bishops are there together, it were not
amiss that as many hands as could be, should be procured for the conti-
nuance of episcopacy ; one schedule containing the subscription of the
clergy of the land (which are no Bishops), and 4 others of the laity of the
4 provinces to the same effect, as we are like to be here by the means
aforesaid. Mr. Rowley hath moved no such matter here as was reported.
How far I have proceeded in saving the rights of the (Jhurch (as much as
the violence of the present storm would permitj I have declared in my
letters to the Archbishop of Dublin and the rest of the heads of the Con-
vocation. Somewhat more I have prevailed since in the matter of those
customs which they term barbarous, which I will signify unto them upon
the next occasion of writing. I have not much ado to work with his Ma-
jesty for the necessary relief of the Scottish ministers which are here:
and it would be very unreasonable that the ministers of that nation which
are there, should come over at this time and put him to a further charge
which (God knows) he is little able to bear as things now stand with him, I
should therefore wish that both they and ]Mr. Mathews also should conti-
nue where they are, and I will move his Majesty to take order with the 11
Justices and our new Lord Lieutenant (the Earl of Leicester) that provi-
sion may be made for them there. Thus with the remembrance of my
heartiest respects unto your good wife (whom I have always found to be
as you have represented her unto me), I commend you both unto the bles-
sing of Almighty God, and ever rest

" Your faithful friend,

And loving brother,

" Ja. Abjiachanus."

LIFK OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

221

Poyning's Act, telling them tliat he was loath to give into
new courses, and wishing them to acquaint him with what
they had to say against you, that he might do them right
therein as he found cause. All attendance upon the King's
Council for the despatching of the same and upon the com-
mittee of the House of Lords, together with the incessant
interpellation of others, doth so distract me, that I do not
know where to turn myself at this present, whereof your
son is in part a witness, who can tell you what shift I make
to scribble those few lines to you. And so with remem-
brance of my hearty commendations to your good wife, and
my most hearty prayers for a happy ending to your great
trouble, I recommend you to God's blessing, and ever rest
your assured loving brother,

" Ready to do you all service,

"James Aumachanus.

" The petition you sent me against episcopacy will be to
no purpose. If we can save it here (for which I can tell
you we are put to our utmost), there will be no need to
fear any thing that moveth from thence. His INIajesty
told me he made a conscience to take any part of my Lord
Strafford's estate unto himself, but intended to dispose it
wholly to the benefit of his wife and children."

The Primate soon became a great sufferer from the cala-
mities of the times. The rebellion broke out in Ireland,
and amidst its disastrous consequences destroyed almost all
the property of the Primate. Dr. Parr says : " In a very
few days the rebels plundered his houses in the country,
seized on his rents, quite ruined or destroyed his tenements,
killed or drove away his numerous flocks and herds of cattle
to a very great value, and in a word, had not left him any
thing in that kingdom which escaped their prey, but his
library and some furniture in his house in Drogheda, which
were secured by the strength of that place, notwithstanding
a long and dangerous siege by the rebels; which library
was some years after conveyed over to Chester, and from
thence to London : This must needs reduce him to a very
low condition, happening not long after Michaelmas, when

222

LIFE OF AKCIIBISIIOl' USSHER.

he expected a return of his rents, so that he was forced for
his present supply to sell or pawn all the plate and jewels
he had ; this, though a very great tryal, yet made not any
change in his natural temper and heavenly disposition, still
submitting to God's providence with Christian patience and
magnanimity, having long before learned to use the things
of this world, as if he used them not ; and in whatsoever
condition he was, therewith to be content." In the January
following he obtained a temporary provision, by a grant
from the king, of the see of Carlisle^ in commendam,
vacant by the death of Dr, Potter. The provision, how-
ever, was not of any great value, as the revenues of the see
were impaired by the encampments of the English and
Scottish armies on the borders, and was but of short dura-
tion, as the Parliament soon seized upon all the episcopal
lands.

Dr. Bernard states that the Primate received from the
University of Leyden an offer of the place of Honorary
Professor, with a salary larger than had usually been at-
tached to it, and also one from the Cardinal Richelieu to

* " Letters wrote to Dr. Nat. Ellison by Mr. John Nicholson from Rose
Castle in Cumberland, Oct. 9, 1703, about Archbishop Usher being Bishop
of Carlisle.

" I have now looked into our Register and Court rolls and find that a
court was kept at Linstock in Bishop Potters name 13 May 1641 (in
which year he dyed) and 16 Feb. 7 Car. I. 1641 a grant to Archbishop
Usher of the Bishoprick of Carlisle to be held in commendam with Ar-
magh &c. The letters patent registered here 13 June 1642, the said
Archbishop, as Bishop of Carlisle, granted a commission (under his ar-
chiepiscopal seal) unto Mr. Isaac Singleton Archdeacon and Chancellor,
Dr. Lane. Dawes, Mr. Rich. Smith, Mr. Lewis West, and Mr. Frederick
Tunstall, prebendaries then of Carlisle, Will. Richardson B. D., John
Hasty, Lane. Lowther, Will. Fairfax, Chr. Peale, Charles Usher and
Simo Tullie CI. A.M. for giving institutions in his absence and to visit
&c. Severall institutions were accordingly dispatched in the Archbishop's
name, the last of which (as here registered) is dated 3 Nov. 1643. He
disposed of one of the Prebends of Carlisle to one Mr. Hen. Hutton, the
16 Septr. 1643. There were severall courts held in his Grace's name and
tenants admitted &c. but I do not find or have ever heard, that he was
here in person. He seems to have had the revenue of this Bishoprick for
about two years, which was collected and managed for him by one Cap-
tain or Mr. Sharpe."— iJ/is.s. Ed. of Wood's Athen., vol. iv. pag. 799.

LIFE OF AnCIlBISHOP USSHER.

223

settle in France, where he shouhi enjoy a pension and free-
dom of religion. However, there is some doubt as to either
of these offers having been made, for Dr. Parr states he
never heard the Primate mention them. Dr. Smith ac-
counts for the anecdote of Cardinal Richelieu from the fact,
that, on the publication of the work De Primordiis Eccle-
siarum Britanniarum, the Cardinal sent the Primate a gold
medal of considerable value, bearing his likeness, accom-
panied with a complimentary letter. The Primate, in re-
turn, sent the Cardinal a present of two Irish greyhounds,
probably the celebrated wolf-dogs. D'Alembert has men-
tioned this present from the Primate, and considers it as a
witty reprimand ; but this could never have entered the Pri-
mate's mind, and would have been a bad return for so
marked a civility*^. A very slight notice of an invitation
to the Primate from the Regent Queen of France, Anne
of Austria, appears in a letter of his to Dr. Arnold Brate,
dated November, 1651. The whole is contained in these
words, " I haveS made known to the Queen of France that

there can be no possible expectation of my

removing to those quarters."

A solemn fast having been ordered for the 22nd of De-
cember, 1641, the Primate preached before the House of
Lords. Soon after a bookseller in London published the
sermon from notes that he had taken, under the title of Vox
Hiberniae. The Primate petitioned the House of Lords to
suppress the work :

" To the R* Honourable the House of Peeres now
assembled in Parliament, the humble petition of .Tames,
Archbishop of Armagh.

f " Le Cai'dinal de Richelieu sensible a toutes les esp^ces de gloire, ou,
si Ton veut, de vanite, avoit aussi voulu pour se faire panegyristes dans
toute I'Europe, donner des pensions a quelques savans et rangers. II en
offrit une au savant Usserius, archeveque d'Armagh en Irlande, et tres
peu riche, tout archeveque qu'il etoit, car I'opulence, disoit il, est reser-
vee aux prelats catholiques. Usserius au lieu d'accepter la gracieuse pro-
position du Cardinal, lui envoya des levriers, espece des chiens qui est
excellente in Irlande ; cette fiere et plaisante reponse d^gouta le niinistre
de faire a d'autres de pareilles offres, et de s'exposer a un parcil rcraer-
cSment." — CEuvres d' Alemhfil^ torn. ix. p. 224.

s Letter 294, Works, vol. xvi. pag. 203.

224

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP I'SSHER.

" Humbly Sliewetli,

" That whereas your Lordships were pleased to employ
your Petitioner in preaching before you on the Fast Day,
the 22 of December last (which service, according to his
meane abilitie, he was carefull to perform :) so it is that
one John Nicholson having got into his hands a collection
of some rude and incoherent notes of that sermon, tooke
the boldness to publish the same (under the title of Vox
Hibernise) as a true relation of that which was uttered
before your Lordships that day. Which, being in many
places void of common sense, and in the whole every way
unanswerable to what was fit to be delivered before so
Honourable and judicious an audience.

" His humble request is, that your Lordships would be
pleased to call in that supposititioas pamphlet, &c. &c."
Die Veneris, 11 Feb. 1641.

"Ordered by the Lords in Parliament, that a Booke con-
cerning the L. Archbishop of Armagh, being published
and printed by John Nicholson, shall be called in and sup-
pressed.

"Jo. Browne,

" Cleric. Parliam."

" To the Wardens and company
of the Stationers of London.

In this year a collection of Tracts in defence of Epis-
copacy was published at Oxford, which were selected from
the writings of distinguished English divines, Hooker, An-
drews, and Meerwood. Li this collection^ appeared two

Milton published a reply to the tracts in this collection, with the title,
" Of prelatical episcopacy, and whether it may be deduced from the
apostolical times by virtue of those testimonies which are alledged to that
purpose in some late treatises ; one whereof goes under the name of
James Archbishop of Armagh." Dr. Johnson remarks upon this : "I
have transcribed this title to shew by his contemptuous mention of Usher,
that he had now adopted the puritanical savageness of manners." This
answer was soon followed by " The Reason of Church Government urged
against Prelacy, " which was particularly directed against Bishop Andrews
and Primate Ussher, and is written in the scurrilous and irreverent strain
which distinguishes all the writings of Milton against episcopacy. He
discovers in it that "Lucifer was the first prelate angel;" and, though writ-

LIFB OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER,

225

tracts of Archbishop Ussher, one " the Original of Bishops
and Metropolitans briefly laid down ;" the other " A geo-
graphical and historical Disquisition touching the Asia pro-
perly so called." The first of these the Primate wrote at
the request of Bishop Hall' ; and in it he deraonstrates,
from the writings of the Fathers of the second and third
century, that the succession of Bishops can be deduced
from the days of the apostles ; that by " the angels of
the seven churches" are to be understood "seven singu-
lar bishops who were the constant presidents over these

ing by name against two such distinguished individuals, he ventures to say,
" it were a great folly to seek for counsel in a hard intricate scruple from
a dunce prelate, when there might be found a speedier solution from a
grave and learned minister." In Milton's eyes, all the learning and vir-
tues of Andrews and Ussher were annihilated by their acceptance of the
episcopal office. Johnson was not too severe when he said, " Such is the
controversial merriment of Milton ; his gloomy seriousness is yet more
offensive. Such is his malignity that hell grows darker at his frown."
' The request was conveyed in the following letter :

" To the Most Reverend Father in God, and my Most Honoured Lord,

the Lord Arch Bishop of Armagh, and Primate of Ireland.
"Most Reverend, and my most worthily Honoured Lord.

" That which fell from me yesterday suddenly and transcursively, hath
since taken up my after-midnight thoughts, and I must crave leave, what
I then moved, to importune, that your Grace would be pleased to bestow
one sheet of paper upon these distracted times, in the subject of Episco-
pacie, shewing the Apostolical original of it, and the grounds of it from
Scripture, and the immediately succeeding antiquity; Every line of it
coming from your Grace's hand would be ' super rotas suas :' as Solomons
expression is, very Apples of Gold, with Pictures of Silver, and more
worth than volumes from us : Think, that I stand before you like the Man
of Macedon, and that you heare me say, Come and help us : And as your
Grace is wholly given up to the common good of the Church, say, whe-
ther you can deny it? and if it please your Grace to take your rise from
my humble motion to expresse your self in this question, wherein I am pul)-
likely interested, or otherwise, to professe your voluntary resolutions for
the selling of many, either misled, or doubting soules, it will be the most
acceptable, and (I hope) the most successefull work, that your Grace hath
ever undertaken ; It was my earnnst motion long ago to {fiiyag rtg') to
intreat this labour from your Grace, which now comes from my mean-
nesse; your gratious humility will not even from so low hands disregard
it ; with my zealous suit, and hopcfull expectation of a yielding answer,
I humbly take leave, and am

" Your Graces humbly, and heartily devoted

" Jos. EXON."
VOL. I. Q

22G

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

churches ;" and that these seven cities were metropolitical,
to which several neighbouring towns were subject, — an
arrangement which took place in other parts of the Roman
empire, in conformity with the civil divisions, so that there
can be no doubt of the existence of anarchiepiscopal govern-
ment, according to the ancient canons of the Church.

In his disquisition touching Asia, he clearly pointed out the
distinction between Asia Minor and the Lydian Asia, so
often mentioned in the New Testament, which, by eccle-
siastical and other writers, was frequently called Proconsu-
lar Asia and the Asian diocese. The provinces of Asia
Minor were distinguished by Cicero^ into four, Phrygia,
Mysia, Caria, and Lydia, by which division he must have
comprehended ^Eolia and Ionia under Mysia and Lydia.
The Primate then proceeds to prove, that the Asia men-
tioned in the New Testament, and more particularly the
seven Churches, are contained within the limits of Lydia,
and that each of these seven cities was a metropolis, and
that they were made choice of to be the seats of the princi-
pal Churches, in consequence of the civil division of the
country.

In the next chapter he points out the changes which oc-
curred in the distribution of the provinces, from the time of
Augustus to that of Constantine. In the time of Augus-
tus the Proconsular Asia extended as far as the division
pointed out by Cicero ; but in the reign of Constantine it
was confined within the bounds of the Lydian Asia, and a
distinction was made between the Proconsular Asia and the
Asian diocese, the one being put under the command of the
Proconsul of Asia, and the other under the government of
the Vicarius of Asia or the Asian diocese. Nor did the
variations cease with the reign of Constantine; many changes
were made in the reigns of succeeding Emperors.

It appears that, when under the first Emperors there
were several metropolitical cities in the same province,
great disputes arose between the different cities of Procon-
sular Asia respecting precedency. Constantine, in order to

^ Orat. pro Flat-co.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

227

stop these disputes, ordered, that in every province there
should be but one chief city held for the metropolis, and
that Ephesus should hold that rank in Proconsular Asia, as
it was the ordinary place for the meeting of the Common
Council, and was considered the common treasury of Asia.
It is true, indeed, that this constitution was not strictly
adhered to, for many of the succeeding Emperors, to gratify
the ambition of Bishops contending for the honor of their
respective cities, allowed two metropolitans in one pro-
vince. Ephesus had been considered, in the civil arrange-
ment, as so preeminently the first city of the Proconsular
Asia, that its Proconsul was exempted from the jurisdic-
tion of the Praefectus Prsetorio Orientis ; and, conformably
to this, in the ecclesiastical arrangement, the Bishop of
Ephesus was not only held to be the Metropolitan of Pro-
consular Asia, but also the Primate of all the provinces
that were contained within the compass of the whole Asian
diocese.

The Primate also established the fact, that there was a
great harmony between the civil and ecclesiastical govern-
ment, and that the bishops of every province were subject
to the metropolitan bishop, who held the same place as
our archbishop, as the magistrates that ruled in the subor-
dinate cities were subject to the chief governor of the
province.

At the commencement of the year 1642 the King with-
drew from London, and finally repaired to York. The Pri-
mate, feeling that his presence was no longer of any use,
obtained leave from both Houses of Parliament to retire to
Oxford, for the purpose of prosecuting his literary pur-
suits. On his arrival at Oxford he was accommodated by the
learned Dr. Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester, with his house
near Exeter College, and continued with great industry to
avail himself of the treasures contained in the Bodleian
library. The Primate, however, did not confine himself to
his studies in the library ; he became a constant preacher,
and in the forenoon of almost every Sunday preached either
at St. Olave's Church or at All Hallows, where a very large
congregation attended to hear him. Dr. Parr states, that

228

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

" notwithstanding the learnedness of most of his hearers,
he rather chose a plain substantial mode of preaching for
the promoting of piety and virtue, than studied eloquence
or a vain ostentation of learning ; so that he quite put out
of countenance that windy, affected sort of oratory, which
was then much in use, called florid preaching or strong
lines." He also particularly mentions the effect which he re-
members to have followed a sermon preached by the Primate
in the chapel of Exeter College, on the first verse of the eigh-
teenth chapter of Proverbs : " Through desire a man having
separated himself seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom."
He says: "In which sermon he so lively and pathetically
set forth the excellency of true wisdom as w^ell human as
divine, and that desire which every ingenious and vertuous
soul ought to have for it, that it wrought so effectually
upon the hearts of many of the younger students, that it ren-
dered them more serious, and made them ply their studies
much harder than before."

At the close of the year the King went to Oxford, after
the battle of Edge- Hill, and the Primate was called upon
to preach before him on the first Sunday after his return,
a duty which he performed frequently during the King's
residence. On one occasion, when the Primate was about
to administer the Holy Communion to His Majesty in the
chapel of Christ Church, the King, making a sign to him
for a short pause, rose from his knees, and thus addressed
him in a loud voice :

" My Lord, I espy here many resolved Protestants, who
may declare to the world the resolution I do now make. I
have to the utmost of my power prepared my soul to be-
come a worthy receiver : and may I so receive comfortably
the blessed Sacrament, as I do intend the establishment of
the true Protestant religion, as it stood in its beauty in the
happy days of Queen Elizabeth, without any connivance of
Popery. I bless God, that in the midst of the public dis-
tractions I have still liberty to communicate ; and may this
Sacrament be my damnation, if my heart do not join with
my lips in this protestation."

This declaration, made with such solemnity, in the pre-

LIFE Ol' ARCIIHISHOI' USSHKU.

229

sence of many of the iioblos and a large coDg'regation, was
soon after printed and distributed widely, but with little
effect, so inveterate was the hostility to the monarch.

On the first of July, 1643, the assembly of Divines met
in Henry the Seventh's chapel, and to this meeting the
Primate was summoned, but refused to attend'. This as-
sembly was convened by the authority of the two Houses
of Parliament, the King having refused his consent to the
bill, and was ordered to propose measures for reforming
the Liturgy and discipline of the Church. The ordinance
under which the assembly met differed in two very remark-
able particulars from the bill which passed the Houses of
Parliament, but did not receive the King's consent. The

' Archl)ishop Ussher had attended the committee appointed by the
House of Lords, in March, I64J, for settling of peace in the Church.
This Committee, witli Bisliop Williams as chairman, had been summoned
immediately after the imprisonment of Archbishop Laud, who inserted
the following note in his diary: "A committee for religion settled in the
Upper House of Parliament. Ten Earls, ten Bishops, ten Barons. So
the lay votes will be double to the clergy. This committee will meddle
with doctrine as well as ceremonies, and will call some Divines to them
to consider of the businesse, as appears by a letter hereto annexed sent
by the Lord Bishop of Lincoln to some Divines to attend this service :
upon the whole matter 1 believe this committee will prove the Nationall
synod of England to the great dishonour of the Church. And what else
may follow upon it, God knows." The Committee continued to sit little
more than a month, when the introduction of the bill for the suppression
of Deans and Chapters put an end to its proceedings. It is more than
probable that its continuance would not have been of advantage to the
(jhurch, and that dangerous concessions would have been made to the
Puritan party. It must be acknowledged, however, that the absurd prac-
tices of those who called themselves the High Church party, insisting upon
unimportant, perhaps dangerous, ceremonies, as matters of vital impor-
tance, gave great strength to their opponents. If we read Fuller's ac-
count of the innovations in discipline which were to be corrected, we might
imagine we were reading the events of later times. " Advancing candle-
sticks in parochial churches in the day time on the Altar so called. Mak-
ing canopyes over with traverses of curtains, in imitation of the vaile
before the Holy of Holyes, on each side and before it. Having a Creden-
tia or side table (as a chappell of ease to the mother altar) for divers uses
in the Lords Supper. Forbidding a direct prayer before sermnn &c. pro-
tending for some of these innovations the injunctions and advovtiseraents
of Queen Elizabeth whicli are not in I'orce, and appertayning to the
printed Liturgy secundo et tertio Edvardi se.xti, which is reformed by
Parliament." — Fuller's Church Histonj, book xi. pag. 175.

230

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

assembly was restrained from the exercise of ecclesiastical
jurisdiction, and consisted not only of divines but also of
lay assessors. So jealous were the two Houses of what
they considered their privileges, that they prohibited the
assembly from debating upon any point, which had not been
submitted by them for their deliberation. They would not
leave to the clergy the power of electing the members, but
named one hundred and twenty persons from the diflferent
counties, without any regard to parishes or dioceses. Two
only of the episcopal order were selected along with the
Primate, the Bishop of Exeter (Brownrigg), and the Bishop
of Bristol (Westfield). The Primate not only declined
attending the meetings of the assembly of Divines, but
preached against its authority, and denounced™ in strong

™ Dr. Aikin cannot perceive any reason for this conduct of the Primate,
but his being flattered by the attention of the King to him at Oxford. If
Dr. Aikin did not consider it of any consequence, that the King had pro-
tested against the interference with his authority in the calling of such an
assembly, or that the rights of the Church were invaded by suppressing
its synods, he might at least have found sufficient ground to justify the
Primate in the materials of which the body was composed. He might
have taken the authority of Milton, no admirer of episcopacy, for their
characters: "The most of them were such as had preached and cried
down with great show of zeal the avarice and pluralities of Bishops and
Prelates, and that one cure of souls was a full employment for one spiri-
tual pastor, how able soever, if not a charge rather above human strength.
Yet these conscientious men (ere any part of the work done, for which
they came together and that on the public salary) wanted not boldness to
the ignominy and scandal of their pastor-like profession, and especially
of their boasted reformation, to seize into their hands or not unwillingly
to accept, (besides one, sometimes two or more of the best livings) col-
legiate masterships in the Universities, rich lectures in the city, setting
sails to all winds that might blow gain into their covetous bosoms. By
which means these great rebukers of non residence, among so many dis-
tant cures, were not ashamed to be seen so quickly pluralists and non
residents themselves, to a fearful condemnation doubtless by their own
mouths.

" And well did these disciples manifest themselves to be no better prin-
cipled than their teachers, trusted with committeeships and other gainful
offices, upon their commendations for zealous (and as they sticked not to
call them) godly men ; but executing their places like children of the
Devil, unfaithfully, unjustly, unmercifully, and where not corruptly, stu-
pidly. So that between them the teachers and these the disciples there
hath not been a more ignominious and mortal wound to faith, to piety, to
the work of reformation, nor more cause of blasphemy to the enemies of

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEH.

231

terms its illegality and schismatical tendencies. This con-
duct could not escape the watchful attention of the Parlia-
ment. A complaint was made by the Committee to the
House of Commons, who immediately removed his name,
and proceeded to inflict the severest punishment they could
upon him, by confiscating his noble library", then deposited
at Chelsea College. Dr. Featley", who was one of the
few episcopal divines that attended the meetings, with the
assistance of SeldenP, who was one of the lay members,

God's truth, since the first preaching of the Reformation." — Milton's Hist,
of Enyland, Works, vol. iv. jiag. 85.

n The Primate's library had been protected from destruction in Ireland
by its being deposited at Drogheda. Dr. Bernard says : " When we were
besieged four months by those Irish Rebells and when they made no ques-
tion of devouring us : the Priests and Friers without talked much of the
prize they should have in the library which I had the custody of, but the
barbarous multitude of burning it and me by the flame of the books, in-
stead of faggots under me ; but it pleased God in answer of our prayers
and fasting wonderfully to deliver us, and it out of their hands ; and so
the whole with all his manuscripts, were sent him that summer to Ches-
ter, and are still preserved here ; I do believe his prayers were very pre-
valent for us." — Bernard's Life of Ussher, pag. 94.

° Dr. Featley had been chaplain to Archbishop Abbot, and was a man
of very considerable learning. Clarendon says, " that the Assembly had
raised great advantage to themselves upon his reputation in learning."
He was the last divine who ventured to advocate episcopacy in the As-
sembly. This fact he endeavoured to turn to his own advantage, and
wrote to Archbishop Ussher an account of what he had done, with a re-
quest that he would " procure a good opinion from the King towards him,
and some Bishopric or Deanery for his recompence." The letters, sent
by a person who had insinuated himself into his confidence, for the pur-
pose of betraying him, were opened by the Assembly, and the writer was
immediately expelled, "his livings sequestered, his study of books and
estates seized, and himself committed to a common gaol, where he conti-
nued to his death ; which bef'el him sooner through the extreme wants he
underwent ; so solicitous was that party to remove any impediment that
troubled them, and so implacable to any who were weary of their journey,
though they had accompanied them very far in their way." — Clarendon,
Hist., book vii. vol. iii. pag. 471.

P This distinguished scholar had been an early friend of the Primate,
and several letters are preserved which passed between them from the year
1622. When the House of Commons were debating the question, whether
they should admit Archbishop Ussher into the Assembly of Divines, Sel-
den said : " They had as good inquire whether they had best admit Inigo
Jones, the King's architect, to the company of mouse-trap in?.kers." —
App. ad Aunal. Wilhelmi Wyrcester. Ed. Hearne, torn. ii. pag. 6'J.5. Sel-

232

LIFK OF ARCHBISHOP USSHKK.

either obtained a grant of the library, or purchased it for a
small sum of money, and thus preserved for the Primate the
most part of the invaluable collection ; part had been em-
bezzled during the seizure, and among the articles taken
away were many papers and collections of his own writing,
and all the letters either to or from his learned friends,
which he had left behind him at his departure from Ireland.

About this time the persecution of the Parliament forced
for protection to Oxford one that became afterwards an at-
tached and faithful friend") to the Primate, the learned and
pious Dr. Henry Hammond. This distinguished sufferer
in the royal cause became a constant correspondent on theo-
logical subjects with the Primate, and was soon employed
by him in defending some of his writings. The Primate
had now completed a work upon which he had been long
engaged, and published a corrected edition of the Epistles
of Ignatius, which had undergone many corruptions and
interpolations. The title of the work was, " Polycarpi et
Ignatii Epistolse : una cum vetere interpretatione Latina ex
irium Manuscriptorum codicum coUatione integritati suae
restituta : Accedit et Ignatiarum epistolarum versio anti-
qua alia, ex duobus manuscriptis in Anglia repertis nunc
primura in lucem edita. Quibus prsefixa est non de Ignatii
solum et Polycarpi scriptis, sed etiam de Apostolicis con-
stitutionibus Clementi Romano tributis, Jacobi Usserii Ar-
chiepiscopi Armachani Dissertatio. 1644." It had been
acknowledged by many writers, that the Epistles of Igna-
tius had been corrupted, but no plan had occurred of sepa-

den appears to have treated the Divines of this Assembly with very little
respect. Whitelock, describing the meetings of the Assembly, says : "In
these debates Mr. Selden spake admirably and confuted divers of them in
their own leai'ning. And sometimes when they had cited a text of Scrip-
ture to prove their assertion, he would tell them, ' Perhaps in your little
pocket Bibles with gilt leaves,' which they would often pull out and read,
' the translation may be thus, but the Greek or Hebrew signifies thus and
thus,' and so would silence them."

1 Dr. Parr alludes to some reports which were prevalent, that the Pri-
mate had given "a scandalous unbeseeming character of Doctor Ham-
mond;" and justly remai'ks, that the falsehood of the charge is proved
by the terms of respect and kindness which appear in the letters now
extant. Of the allusion nothing more can be now traced.

LIKE OF AKCHBISHOI' USSHUK.

233

rating the interpolations from the genuine readings, when
the sagacity of the Primate pointed out a most ingenious
method, which he adopted with great success. He disco-
vered that three English writers in the thirteenth and four-
teenth centuries, Windeford, Robert Bishop of Lincoln, and
Tissington, had quoted a passage from Ignatius in the
same manner that it had been cited by Theodoret, which
yet did not appear either in the Greek edition or the com-
mon Latin version, and immediately commenced a search
for a manuscript of that Latin version, which must have
been in England. He found two, one in the library of
Caius College, Cambridge, the other in the private library
of Montague Bishop of Norwich, which has been since lost.
On comparing these manuscripts with the writings of the
Fathers who lived within the first five centuries, he found
that they agreed throughout, and diifered in many places
from the received editions. Satisfied that he had now the
means of restoring the genuine text, he marked with red
letters the interpolations of the Vulgate editions. His con-
jectures received a singular confirmation from an ancient
Greek manuscript at Florence, copied and printed by Vos-
sius, which nearly agreed, as to the rejected passages, with
the Latin version printed in England. To his edition the
Primate prefixed a learned dissertation, in nineteen chap-
ters, upon the Epistles, and also upon the Apostolic Consti-
tutions. He conceives that the corruptions of both were
made at the same time, the sixth century, and by the same
hand, for the purpose of supporting Arianism. Salmasius
and Blondel expressed their dissent; they were ready to
admit that the Archbishop had proved the existence of in-
terpolations, but denied that there was any evidence of
the genuine text of Ignatius having been discovered, and
ventured even to assert, that all the epistles put forth un-
der the name of Ignatius were written by some impostor.
In the Appendix' which the Archbishop subsequently pub-

' The Appendix contained:

"I. Ignatii EpistoUc genuinas a postorioris Interpolatoris assumentis
libera, ex Gricco Mediceo oxeinplari cxpressac, et nova version"' Latina
explicate.

234

LIFE OF ARCH15ISHOP USSHEK.

Hshed, he took a slight but very pointed notice of the in-
consistency of their objections : " Interim satis mirari non
potui duos magni nominis viros conjecturis suis tantum tri-
buisse, ut quum Polycarpi ad Philippenses literas, quibus
Ignatianas a se subjectas fuisse ipse confirmat, germanas
fuisse fateantur, et has ipsas quae Ignatio tribuuntur epis-
tolas, ex Mediceo codice a novitiis assumentis demum libe-
ratas, non minus quam Polycarpi ipsam, Eusebii tempori-
bus in omnibus manibus fuisse non negent : in hisce tamen
efEngendis impostorem aliquem nomen Ignatii ementitum
esse confidentissime pronuncient ; quanquam de setate qua
planus iste vixerit, inter ipsos omnino non conveniat."
Blondel published a letter in his defence, which the Pri-
mate referred to Dr. Hammond, with a request that he
would give his opinion of several particulars which it con-
tained relating to the Valentinian heresy, episcopal and
chorepiscopal power, and some difficulties concerning them
arising from the Canons of the eastern Councils. Dr. Ham-
mond executed his task with great ability, and promised a
fuller answer if necessary. The Archbishop expressed^ his
thanks, and claimed his promise, which was fulfilled. The
Primate again expressed' his thanks, and the great satisfac-
tion he felt at the mode in which the task was performed.
It had been for several years the anxious wish of the Pri-
mate to procure a Syriac version of the Epistles of Ignatius,
and he had it placed second on the list of books, which he de-
sired Christopher Ravius, then his agent at Constantinople,

" II. Ignatii martyriutn, a Philone, Agathopode et aliis qui passioni
illius interfupi-ant, descriptum, ex duabus antiquis Latinis ejusdem versio-
nibus, nunc primum in lucem editum.

"III. Tiberiani, Plinii secundi et Trajani Imperatoris de constantia
raartyris Epistolse.

" IV. Smyrnensis Ecclesire de Polycarpi martyris Epistola, cum anti-
qua Latina ejusdem metaphrasi, integre nunc primum edita.

"V. In Ignatii et Polycarpi Acta atque Epistolas, etiam Ignatio per-
peram adscripta, Anuotationes."

The Prefaces and Dissertation have been printed in the seventh volume
of the Primate's works, but it was not possible to add the notes, without
printing the works of Ignatius.

5 See Letter 261, vol. xvi. pag. 135.

' Letter 282, vol. xvi. pag. 174.

LIFE Ol' A11CH15ISHOP USSHKU.

235

to search for diligently. " Hos" libros omnes sollicite ves-
tiges velim quaque transibis, et si quos reperias, diligenter
in adversariis notes locos ubi extant, et nomina eorum in
quorum manibus sunt, itidemque pretium quo eos divendere
velint, ut et nomina nostratium mercatorum in eisdem locis
commorantium, ut sic postea, quando ad nos reversus fueris,
accersere eos, si pretium placuerit, possimus." His eflforts
were, iiowever, fruitless^ as also the attempt to procure
an Arabic, Persic, or Armenian version of the same Epis-
tles.

It had been the Primate's intention to have annexed the
epistle of Barnabas to those of Ignatius, but the manuscript
•was entirely destroyed by a fire in the printing office, and
no part of the work was preserved, except a few pages
which had been printed off, and contained the Editor's PrcB-
inonitio concerning the age, author, and purpose of the
epistle. This was afterwards inserted, though in an imper-
fect state, in Bishop Fell's edition of the same epistle, Ox-
ford, 1686, and has again been printed, in the same muti-
lated condition by Cotelerius, although Dr. Smith had pub-
lished, from papers which he had fortunately discovered, the
few lines which were deficient.

Soon after the publication of Ignatius, a most distin-
guished compliment was paid to the Primate" by the Uni-

" Letter 220, Works, vol. xvi. pag. 54. It appears from this letter
that the Archbishop made Ravius an allowance of twenty-five pounds a
year, in order to engage him in his service.

" Dr. Smith states, that forty years afterwards, Dr. Huntington, subse-
quently Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and Bishop of Raphoe, sought
in vain for the Syriac version tiirough Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and
Egypt. The recent discovery of a Syriac version of four Epistles by Mr.
Cureton, among the treasures of the British Museum, is well known, and
has excited considerable controversy. This is not the place for entering
into such a question. I must join with Professor Lee in regretting the
subject had not been discussed by an Ussher or a Pearson, though I be-
lieve we differ much in our expectations as to what the result would have
been.

™ The Archbishop had been admitted D. D. ad eundem from the Uni-
versity of Dublin in the year 1626. He was then residing at Jesus Col-
lege, and pursuing his searches in the Bodleian Library, — Fasti Oxon.
vol. i. pag. 427.

236

LIFE OF AUCHI3ISH0P USSHliK.

versity of Oxford. At a convocation held on the 10th of
March, 164|, it was decreed, that an engraving of the Arch-
bishop of Armagh should be executed at the expense of the
University, with a suitable inscription, and prefixed to his
edition of Ignatius. Some delay having arisen, the engrav-
ing was not prefixed to the edition of the Epistles of Igna-
tius, but, subsequently, to his treatise De Symbolo. The
inscription was as follows :

" Jacobus Usserius, Archiepiscopus Armachanus, totius
Hibernise Primas, Antiquitatis primsevse peritissimus, ortho-
doxse religionis vindex avavr/ppjjroc, errorum malleus, in
concionando frequens, facundus, prsepotens, vitse inculpatse
exemplar spcctabile.

" Rob. Pink, Vice-Cancell."

When the deputies from the two contending parties in
Ireland were summoned to Oxford, Archbishop Ussher was
one of eight persons named by the Irish Privy Council. It
is not necessary here to detail the various demands made on
both sides, or to discuss how far the King committed him-
self by his final answer to the deputies from the Roman
Catholics. These are subjects of general history. But Sir
Charles Coote, one of the Protestant deputies, has charged
the Primate with improper submission to the wishes of the
King, and the following attestation is given by Prynne, iu
his history of the trial of Archbishop Laud :

" I Sir Charles Coote do hereby testifie, that being at
Oxford the last summer as one of the agents for the Protes-
tants of Ireland, and finding the Irish popish agents to be
very prevalent there, and the Archbishop of Armagh to be
often present at the debates concerning the businesse of Ire-
lande, and conceiving him to have some power with his
Majesty, I addressed myself to the said Archbishop, and
besought him that he would interpose his power with his
Majesty in the behalfe of the Protestants ; for if the Irish
agents obtained their desires, the Protestants in Ireland
were destroyed, and Popery would be introduced : to which

LIKE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHKR.

237

the Archbishop replyed ; that was the intention whicli he
knew better than I did, and said, we must submit."''

" Charles Coote.

" Dated this 14 of Aprill, 1645."

Dr. Aikin observes, that "the authenticity of this docu-
ment cannot be doubted." I am quite sure that such an
attestation was made by Sir Charles Coote, but the impor-
tant question is of a different nature, whether tlie statement
he made was true, and there is very satisfactory evidence
that it was not : even if we reject the Primate's own testi-
monyy before the Commissioners at White Hall. On the
fifth of November^ immediately succeeding the conference

^ Prynne, in his usual style, says: " A very strange speech of a saint-
seeming Protestant Arch Prelate," and " the very best and learnedest in
all the whole pack of Prelates, even the Primate of Armagh, Bishop
Usher (of whom most men have hitherto had a very honorable opinion,
though a great servant and instrument of Canterburies in Ireland, as ap-
pears by sundry originall letters to him under his hand) hath e.xtreamely
degenerated in his Christian zeale for the Protestant religion, even in his
own bleeding country since he turned Royalist and Cavalier ;" and he
concludes with the following charitable prayer: " The God of Heaven
for ever deliver us from such an hypocriticall false archiopiscopal genera-
tion of vipers, whose heads and hopes of succession in both kingdoms we
trust your Honours have for ever cut off in the decapitation of this Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the very worst of all his trayterous predecessors."
— Canterbury's Doom, Epist. Dedicat. pag. 14.

V See pag. 248.

^ A strange story is told by Wood about another sermon on the 5th of
November: "A copy of two little tracts written by Ralph Buckland,
which contain ejaculations very full of most fervent devotions for the
reconcilement of England and Scotland to the Roman Church coming
afterwards into the hands of the most learned Dr. Usher, Primate of Ire-
land, he took occasion in a sermon preached in St. Mary's, Oxon. 5 Nov.
1640, to tell the learned auditory then present, that the said two books
having been printed at Rome in 1603 or thereabouts, the Gunpowder
treason which was discovered two years after in England, was then tliere
known, and prayers sent up to God Almighty for a prosperous success
thereof from certain passages ('drawn,' as 'tis said in the title, 'out of
the Holy Scriptures') which he then publicly read before them, some if
not all of which are these: Ps. ii p. 25, = Confirm their hearts in hope,
for the redemption is not far off. The year of visitation draweth to an
end, and jubilation is at hand.' — Ps. ii. p. 32, ' But the memory of novel-
ties shall perish with a crack : as a ruinous house falling to the ground.'
Ibid. p. 3.3, 'He will come as a flame that burneth out beyond the fur-

238

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

of the deputies at Oxford, the Primate preached before the
King-, and gave great offence to several of the audience, by
his severe remarks upon the Roman Catholics. His text
was, " And'' our adversaries said, they shall not know, nei-
ther see, till we come in the midst amongst them, and slay
them and cause their works to cease ;" and the particular
passage which gave offence was desiring them not to repose
any trust in the Papists, " for that upon the first opportu-
nity they will serve us here, as they did the poor Protestants
in Ireland."

Dr. Parr mentions the subjects of two other sermons
preached by the Archbishop before the King,in order to prove
that he never flattered either of the contending parties. The
first was preached on a fast-day, and the text was: " If" my
people which are called by my name shall humble them-
selves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways : then will I hear from Heaven, and will for-
give their sin and will heal their land." The venerable
preacher*^ dwelt with great force upon the folly of expecting
that God would bless the arms of those who provoked him

nace,' &e. 'His fury shall fly forth as thunder.' — Ps. iv. p. 54, 'The
crack was heard into all lands, and made nations quake for fear.' — Ibid,
p. 66, 'In a moment canst thou crush her bones,' &c. All which pas-
sages, delivered from the pulpit by that learned and godly Archbishop
being then generally believed, I must make bold to tell the reader, being
an eager pursuer of truth, that by the several copies of the said books
which I have seen, it doth not appear at all, that they were printed at
Rome, or where else : and if it may really be guessed by the make or
mould of the letter, wherewith they were printed, I should rather take
(as one or more Doctors of this University do the like) to have been
printed either at Rheims or Doway, or not unlikely at Antwerp ; for at
Rome there were seldom before that time, then or since such fine or clear
letters used, as by multitudes of books which I have seen, that were
printed at that place appears, nor indeed ever were, or are any English
books printed there." — Wood's Athence. Ed. Bliss, vol. ii. p. 105. The
history of this sermon may be true, but 1 cannot reconcile the dates.
I believe the Primate was in London in November, 1640 ; he certainly
was there in June ; see pag. 207. That must have been after his return
from Oxford, and if so, he did not leave London till the beginning of the
year 1642.

' Nehem. chap. iv. ver. 11. ''2 Chron. chap. vii. ver. 14.

"= The Primate appears to have been actively engaged, during his stay
at Oxford, in the service of the King. The unfortunate dispute between

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSUER.

239

to anger by their dissolute lives jind utter disregard of his
commands. In the course of the sermon he used the fol-

the Monarch aud the Parliament had harassed the mind of many a good
and upright citizen, and left them unable to decide what was their duty
on this perplexing question. To Archbishop Ussher these doubts were
frequently communicated, and his advice sought as a guide through the
difficulties of their situation. Dr. Parr was not able to discover any of
these queries, but he has preserved several of the Primate's answers,
from which we can fairly deduce the nature of the questions.

" To the first.

" No man is bound to leave his vocation and turn souldier, unless sum-
moned and commanded by his Majesty, or those who have commission
from him for the gathering of the people to war. Moses (and so succes-
sively the chief governor) had the power of the trumpet for that purpose
(Num. X. 29) and accordingly the duty and oath of allegiance binds every
subject to come in to the defence of his sovereign against what power
soever. The danger of poverty and ruine of estate must give way to
publick respects : nor must it be provided against but in a just way ; in
the prosecution of which life and goods and evei'y thing else must be com-
mitted to the providence of God.

" To the second.

" For the discerning of the justness of the cause, we must not look only
at the ends pretended (which though never so fair and specious do not
justifie a bad cause or unlawful means) nor at the wickedness or evil car-
riage of instruments imployed in the prosecution ; which doth not con-
clude the cause to be bad and unjust : but we must look at the means used
for such ends and then consider the ends, whether intended by those who
do pretend them. By these we shall see the cause of the adverse party
to the King is unjust.

" For first, the means they use is war maintained against their Sove-
reign ; the end pretended is the defence of religion, laws, liberties : but
war made by subjects, though really intending such an end, is unjust.

"I. It has no warrant of Scripture, but is disallowed Prov. xxx. 31.
' No rising up against a King.' 1 Sam. viii. 18. No remedy left them
against the oppression of the King but crying to the Lord. The Prophets
also, which bitterly reproved the idolatrous and unjust kings of Israel and
Judah, never called upon the elders of the people by arms to secure the
worship of God or the just government of the kingdom. In the xiii. to
the Romans aud the 1 Ep. ii. cap. of Peter the same doctrine of passive
obedience is taught and accordingly was the doctrine and practice of the
primitive Christians

" II. Arms taken up by subjects do invade the powers and rights of
the Sovereign ; for it takes from him the sword, which he is said to bear,
Rom. xiii. 4, and so doth every supreme magistrate : the supreme power
being signified by bearing the sword, as the best interpreters do affirm :
and as our laws and the oath of supremacy doth acknowledge our King
the onely supreme governor, and to be vested with the power of arms.
Now what saith the Scripture ? ' He that takes the sword shall perish

240

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP I'SSHER.

lowing remarkable words : " The casting of our eyes upon
other men's sins more than upon our own, makes us to es-

by the sword;" that is, he that takes and uses it without warrant, mth-
out and against his consent that bears the sword, that is supreme.

" Also war undertaken by subjects invades the rights of the Sovereign,
his revenue, customs &c., will not give to Caesar what is Ca;sar's. But
the Scripture is very express in preserving rights and power entire, even
to the worst princes ; ' Give unto Csesar that which is Caesar's,' said our
Saviour when Coesar was bad enough : and St. Paul bids us ' Render them
their due tribute, custom, honour,' when the Emperours were at the
worst : and our laws determine insurrection or levying of war to be trea-
son, not against a religious and just prince only, but indefinitely against
any.

" Secondly their pretences are taken away if we consider, that the con-
tinuance of the established religion and government, together with a just
reformation of all abuses and grievances has been offered, promised, pro-
tested for by his Majesty : but the religion and government of Church
and State, as by law established, will not content the adverse party, how-
ever they pretend to fight for religion and laws : I mean those of the
party, which are the main contrivers of the enterprize, and those also,
upon whose number the main strength of the faction rests, being of such
sects for the most part, as are by the law to abjure the land, because not
to be held within the bounds of any settled government. There are (no
question) many which follow them, and do really intend the advancement
of religion, going after them, as many did after Absalom, in the simpli-
city of their hearts, expecting a speedier course of justice and redress of
grievances, which they suffered by some evil officers under David, 2 Sam.
XV. 4.11. But for the other to whom we owe this war, and who will rule
and dispose all, if they do prevail ; their end intended and driven at is
the abolishing of the publick Service and Liturgy, which is established by
law, the utter taking away of episcopal government, which has always
been : and for their greater security they will have the power, which by
law is his Majesty's : and because these are not granted, arms are taken
up by subjects to the invading of his Majesty's rights and power; •end
for the maintaining of them the right and liberty of subjects are de-
stroyed.

" To the third.

" Hence will appear what is to be answered to the third Query, that
there is precept and example for passive obedience, but none for taking
arms to divert apparent innovation. The example commonly abused to
this purpose is that of the Israelites preparing to go out to war against
their brethren, the Reubenites and Gadites, for raising an altar. Jos. xxii.
13. But^it is altogether impertinent for those arms are taken up and that
war prepared by those that had the supreme power.

" To the Fourth,

" The right being discovered, it would tend much to the ending of this
war and the restoring of our peace, if the King's subjects w ould rise as
one man to maintain the right : Every particular man is bound to do it

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

241

teem the things we suffer, to be the injuries of men and not
the punishments of God : When the outward senses fail, we

upon the summons of his Sovereign, commanding his assistance. The
danger and loss of estate in discharge of duty is but an outward conside-
ration, and to bo left to the providence of God, as was said in the first
resolution.

" To the other part of this fourth query, Answer. That necessary
maintenance is due to him that lawfully bears arms, ' For who gooth a
warfare any time (as the xipostle saith) at his own charges.' And if the
army cannot be maintained but by free quarter, it is lawful to receive
maintenance that way, though at the cost of others, when private interest
will give way to the publick. Indeed the abuse of free quarter may make
a soldier guilty of the sins here mentioned, but then it is by his own wil-
ful transgression.

" To the Fifth,

" He must in the prosecution of his military duty so behave himself, as
to observe John Baptist's rule, ' Do violence to no man,' that is, unjust
violence; for he forbids not to use force against them of the adverse party
who are in arms ready to offer force. For sparing friends and kindred
he must be guided by Christian forbearance so to do it, as thereby not to
endanger any present design, or at lai'ge to hinder the public service. As
for the King's person it cannot be everywhere, so that he mijst not limit
his duty and service to the immediate defence of it; but to know that to
serve any where in the defence of his Majesty's just cause is to defend
him.

" To the Sixth.

" It is lawful to fight in the company of notoriously wicked men, and
of a different faith, looking at the cause, whatever inordinate ends they
have: the primitive Christians fought in the company of heathens and
idolaters under their heathen Emperors, and did by prayer obtain relief
for the whole army, when it was in distress; which did also show, that
God approved that their service, it being the duty they owed to their
lawful Emperors. From the performance of which duty to a Sovereign
the many evil examples and occasions of sin, which a military life abounds
with, cannot excuse that subject, that is justly commanded to it: but the
eonscionable soldier must commend himself to the grace and protection
of the Almighty, who is able to keep him from the dangers as of the body,
so of the soul too: Remember the examples of the good and faithful cen-
turion that came to our Saviour Luke vii. and of the godly centurion Cor-
nelius who is approved of God, Acts, x.

" To the Seventh.

" For obeying extrajudicial precepts of his Majesty: if they be such as
command a man to be active in doing that which is unjust, by the known
laws of the land, he yields truest obedience that denies to fulfil such a
command: only this must not generally be pronounced as a rule in time
of war, where necessity will be in many things a stronger law, than thai
which is fixed for a peaceable government, liut if they be such commands
as make me only passive, by requiring some of my estate upon a loan or
VOL, 1. U

242

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

take it to be a sign of approaching death ; and so when we
are given over to have eyes and see not, ears and hear not,
it is an argument of decaying souls : For as no prayers or
fastings in the world can sanctifie a rebellion nor tempt God
to own an unjust party, so neither will a good cause alone
justlfie us, any more than a true religion without practice :
we must first do our duties, otherwise neither the one nor
the other will do us any good." And, during the negocia-
tion for peace at Uxbridge, he preached a second fast ser-
mon before the King, on the text, " The^ fruit of righteous-
ness is sown in peace of them that make peace :" and spoke
with great severity of those who had warred against their
Sovereign ; he expressed an earnest wish, that those who
had taken up arms in rebellion against their Prince, would
consider the evils which arose from contention, strife, and
wars, and would speedily accept the gracious concessions
which were oflfered to them by His Majesty.

In the spring of the year 1645, the affairs of the King
declining, and Oxford being threatened by the Parliament's
troops with a siege, the Primate was strongly recommended
to quit that city, and, with the King's permission, took advan-
tage of the Prince of Wales going with a large escort to Bris-
tol, and accompanied him there. From thence he proceeded
to Cardiff, which town was strongly garrisoned under the com-
mand of his son-in-law, Sir Timothy Tyrrell. There he was

tax ; I may not hastily square with my Sovereign by denyal and standing
out : for any man, as he may recede from his riglit, and that which is his
own, so ought he not to contest with his Sovereign upon matters of no
very great moment. As for the infringing of the liberties of the subject,
such taxes or loans or any other extrajudicial commands of the King
must be general extending to all or most subjects, and customary, being
often imposed before they can be judged so immediately to infringe the
subjects liberty, as to make a subject think he is bound to deny.

" To the Last.

" To yield to Martialists quartered upon him, if they be the King's, he
is bound in duty ; if of the rebels, he is directed by prudence to yield unto
it, when they can by force command it.''

Before this time the Primate had written, at the King's command, a
treatise on the power of the Prince and the obedience of the subject,
which was not printed till after his death.

■I James, chap. iii. ver. 18.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

243

received by the Governor and his daughter with every token
of respect and affection, and continued to reside in peace for
nearly a year, pursuing his studies with indefatigable indus-
try, as he had not omitted to bring with him from Oxford
several chests of books. He was at this time particularly
engaged in the composition of his Chronological Annals,
and had made considerable progress in the first part. Dur-
ing his residence the King retired to Ragland Castle, the
seat of the Marquess of Worcester, after the fatal battle of
Naseby, and thence proceeded to Cardiff, where he took up
his abode in the same house with the Primate. The King
received the Primate with his accustomed favor, and called
upon him to preach*^ before him on the only Sunday during
which he remained at Cardiff. He was soon obliged to hurry
away, and carry with him the greater part of the garrison and
all the military stores, so that Cardiff became no longer a place
of safety.

The Primate was greatly perplexed as to a choice of
residence, and entertained serious thoughts of embarking
for France or Holland, as he was so near the sea : but an
invitation from Lady Stradling to her castle of St. Do-
nate's in Glamorganshire, decided him to remain. How-
ever, before he and his daughter could avail themselves of
the invitation, unexpected difficulties occurred. The inhabi-
tants of the country had risen in great numbers, nominally
in defence of the King, but with the fixed determination to
exclude every English garrison and every English com-
mander from the country. Trusting, however, to the pro-
mise of their guides, that they would lead them through
unfrequented and safe paths, the Primate and his daughter
ventured to set out on their journey ; but they had soon
cause to repent of their determination. Ere they had tra-
velled far, they fell in with some stragglers, who dragged
them to the main body of the insurgents. There, being dis-

In a volume of Collectanea, preserved in the Bodleian Library, are
metrical versions of the 100th and 101st Psalm, by Sir Philip Sydney, and
in the margin of the 101st is written, in the Primate's hand : " 1 delivered
a copy of this to the King at Cardifife Aug. 4. 1G45. having preached there
unto him the day before."

R 2

244

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

covered to be English, they were treated with great cruelty,
torn from their horses, and stripped of all their baggage. Nor
was this all, the ruffians broke open their chests, and in an
instant scattered about all the Primate's books and papers.
Some officers, who were gentlemen of the country, fortu-
nately came up, and expressed great regret for the outrage
that had been committed ; they caused the horses to be im-
mediately restored, and as much of the basrafaofe as could be
found, but the books and papers were dispersed so that they
could not be recovered. The officers then conducted the Pri-
mate and his daughter to the neighbouring house of Sir John
Aubrey, where they were hospitably received and lodged
for the night. Dr. Parr, who was travelling along with the
Primate, says : " I must confess that I never saw him so
much troubled in my life ; and those that were with him
before myself said, that he seemed not more sensibly con-
cerned for all his losses in Ireland than for this ; saying to
his daughter and to those that endeavoured to comfort him :
' 1 know that it is God's hand and 1 must endeavour to bear
it patiently, though I have too much human frailty not to
be extremely concerned, for I am touched in a very tender
place, and He has thought fit to take from me at once all
that I have been gathering together above these twenty
years, and which I intended for the advancement of learning
and the good of the Church.' The next day divers of the
neighbouring gentry and clergy came to visit him and con-
dole this irreparable loss, promising to do their utmost
endeavours that what books or papers were not burnt or
torn should be restored ; and so very civilly waited on him
to St. Donate's. And to let vou see that these gentlemen
and ministers did not only promise, but were also able to
perform it, they so used their power with the people, that
publishing in the churches all over those parts, that all that
had any such books or papers should bring them to their
ministers or landlords, which they accordingly did ; so that
in the space of two or three months there was brought into
him bv parcels all his books and papers so fully, that being
put altogether, we found not many wanting ; those most
remarkable that I or others can call to mind, were two

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEIl.

245

manuscripts concerning the Waldenses, which he much va-
lued, and which he had obtained towards the continuing of
his De Ecclesiarum Christianarum successione, and also
another manuscript catalogue of the Persian Kings com-
municated by Elichmannus, and one volume of manuscripts,
Varise Lectiones of the New Testament : and of printed
books only TuUy's works and some others of less concern-
ment." In a letter to Dr. Hammond, written four years
after, the Primate says : " The* varieties of readings of the
new Testament out of the Cambridge copies, I have sent
unto you; but those out of the Oxford ones (wherein your-
self had a chief hand) I can by no means find, and do much
fear that they were plundered among my other books and
papers by the rude Welsh in Glamorganshire."

The Primate's residence at St. Donate's was rendered
agreeable, not only by the kind and respectful attention of
his hostess, but also by the circumstance that it contained
a most valuable library, rich in books and manuscripts of
great value, collected by Sir Edward Stradling and his son
Sir John, both distinguished antiquarians, and correspon-
dents of the learned Camden. The Primate seized eagerly
upon this opportunity of illustrating his Antiquities of the
British Churches, and made many valuable additions re-
specting the early ecclesiastical history of Wales, which were
inserted in the edition published after his death. His stu-
dies, however, were soon interrupted by a dangerous and
painful disorder, terminating in so profuse an haemorrhage
from the nose, that he was thought to be expiring, and the
report of his death was generally circulated. It was on this
occasion that the circumstances occurred with respect to
Lord Strafford, which have been before^ related. Dr. Parr
states that the Primate, praising God and perfectly resigned
to his will, employed himself in giving earnest advice to all
around him ; he said : " It is a dangerous thing to leave all
undone till our last sickness. 1 fear a death bed repentance
will avail us little, if we have lived vainly and viciously,
and neglected our conversion, till we can see no longer."

Letter 282, Works, vol. xvi. pag. 174. E Sec above, pag. 214.

246

LIFE OF AKCHBISHOP USSHEK.

He then exhorted them to fear God, to love and obey Jesus
Christ, and to lead a holy life, assuring them, " then you
will find the comfort of it at your death, and your change
will be happy." Among the persons who came to see him
was a relation of Lady Stradling, who was a member of the
House of Commons ; to him he said : " Sir you see I am
very weak and cannot expect to live many hours ; you are
returning to the Parliament, I am going to God ; my blood
and life is almost spent : I charge you to tell them from me,
that I know they are in the wrong, and have dealt very in-
juriously with the King, and I am not mistaken in the mat-
ter." Bishop Hacket relates another testimony of the Pri-
mate to the injustice of the suspicions entertained against
the King ; he says : " On'^ July 24 1654 at Hygate in Sur-
rey I had conference about this defamation with that excel-
lent Primate of Armagh, Dr. Ussher ; says he, stop their
mouths with this that I shall faithfully tell you. Sir Wil-
liam Parsons our Chief Justice, was much trusted with the
King's affairs in Ireland ; he deceasing, his friends and exe-
cutors sent his papers to me to look them over : in his
cabinet I found a letter written by the King to warn him
to look well to the meetings of the Popish Irish, for he had
received certain intelligence out of Spain, that they were
upon some great design of blood and confusion." His
learned friend, John Greaves, Savilian Professor of Astro-
nomy, was so convinced of his death, that he wrote an in-
scription for his monument. The Primate, however, slowly
recovered, but with returning health new anxieties pressed
upon him. From the utter ruin of the royal cause, he could
no longer remain in safety where he was, obnoxious as he
had become to the party now in absolute power, and at
length resolved, if possible, to withdraw to the Continent.
For this purpose a vessel was procured, and a passport from
the Earl of Warwick, Lord Admiral ; but, before he sailed,
a squadron of ships, under the command of Molton, Vice-
Admiral under the Parliament, came near Cardiff. The
Primate immediately sent Dr. Parr with his passport, and

Racket's Life of Archbishop Williams, part ii. pag. 197-

LIFE OF AUCHUlSHOr USSHER.

247

a request that he might be allowed to proceed on his
voyage unmolested. The Vice-Admiral returned a rude
and threatening answer, declaring his intention of bringing
the Primate prisoner to the Parliament.

At this distressing moment a kind invitation was brought
to him from the Countess Dowager of Peterborough, re-
questing him to take up his abode at her house in London.
This offer the Primate immediately accepted, but was consi-
derably embarrassed as to the means of procuring money for
prosecuting his journey. Some of the neighbouring gentry,
suspecting his distress, sent without any concert, or suffering
their names to be known, considerable sums to the venerable
prelate, and enabled him to discharge the debts contracted
by his long illness, and also to commence his journey to
London, which he did in the month' of June, 1646. The
Countess of Peterborough had hoped that, by her interest
with some of the influential members of Parliament, she
would be able to secure the Primate from all molestation,
and had given him an assurance to that effect ; but no sooner
had he arrived in London, than he found it was necessary
he should notify his arrival to the Committee then sitting
at Goldsmiths' Hall. The Primate immediately sent Dr.
Parr to give them notice that he was in town, and resident
at the house of the Countess of Peterborough ; but the inso-
lent Commissioners refused to receive this communication,
and insisted upon the Archbishop appearing before them in
person. His Grace complied, and appeared before the
Court of Examiners, who examined him with great strict-
ness, whether he had any permission to leave London for
Oxford, and where he had been since he left Oxford. The
Commissioners not being able to found any accusations

' Wood relates that the Archbishop, passing through Gloucester on his
journey to London, having heard of John Biddle, " spake to and used him
with all fairness and pity as well as with strength of argument to con-
vince him of his dangerous error, telling him that cither he was in a dam-
nable error, or else that the whole Church of Christ, who had in all ages
worshipped the Holy Ghost, had been guilty of idolatry : But Biddle, who
had little to say, was no whit moved either by the learning, gravity, piety
or zeal of that good Archbishop, but continued, as 'tis said, obstinate."—
Bliss. Ed. of Wood, vol. iii. pag. 594.

248

LIFE OF AKCHUISHOP USSHER.

against him upon these points, as he was able to produce the
permission granted by Parliament for his removal to Oxford,
next proceeded to interrogate him about his communications
with Sir Charles Coote, and his having been requested to
influence the King to grant a toleration of religion in Ire-
land. The Primate replied, that he had never been applied
to by Sir Charles Coote"^, or any other person, on the sub-
ject ; that as soon as he heard of the Irish agents having
arrived at Oxford, he went to the King, and besought His
Majesty not to make any concessions to the Irish on the
subject of religion without consulting him ; that when the
point of toleration was discussed at the Council, the King
and all the Lords refused to grant it, and that he, for his
part, was ever opposed' to it, as a thing most dangerous to
the Protestant religion. The Committee being satisfied on
these points, the Chairman called upon him to take the
negative oath, which was required from all those, who came
to London from any of the King's garrisons. The Primate
requested time for consideration, which was granted, and,
through the influence of Selden and some other friends,
members of the House of Commons, was never called upon
for his decision. He soon afterwards retired, with the Coun-
tess of Peterborough, to her house at Ryegate, where he
constantly preached in the parish church to a large congre-
gation of the neighbouring gentry.

During the Primate's residence in Wales, a book was pub-
lished under his name by Mr. Downham, entitled : " A
Body of Divinity, or the Sum and Substance of the Chris-
tian religion." The Archbishop lost no time in writing to
the editor, and sent him the following letter, disavowing the
work :

Yet it was after this solemn declaration, of whicli he must have been
aware, that Prj'nne dared to publish the story about the Archbishop
which has been related before, pag. 236.

' Dr. Aikin says, that Ussher " miglit probably deny this with a safe
conscience, for it appears as if he only submitted to what others had de-
termined." The compliment to the Archbishop that he was probably tell-
ing truth is only to be equalled by the fairness with which the narrative
is given.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

'249

" Sir, — You may be pleased to take notice, that the
Catechisme you write of is none of mine, but transcribed
out of Mr. Cartwright's catechisme and Mr. Crook's and
some other Englisli Divines, but drawn together in one
method as a kinde of common place book, where other
mens judgments and reasons are strongly laid down, though
not approved in all places by the collector ; besides that the
collection (such as it is) being lent abroad to divers in scat-
tered sheets, hath for a great part of it miscarried ; the one
half of it as I suppose (well nigh) being noway to be reco-
vered, so that so imperfect a thing copied verbatim out of
others, and in divers places dissonant from my own judge-
ment, may not by any means be owned by me ; But if it
shall seem good of any industrious person to cut of what is
weak and superfluous therein, and supply the wants thereof,
and cast it into a new mould of his own framing, I shall be
very well content that he make what use he pleaseth of any
the materials therein, and set out the whole in his own
name : and this is the resolution of

" Your most assured loving friend,

" Ja. Armachancs.

''May 13 1645."

When the Primate thus positively declared that the book
was in divers places dissonant from his oivn judgement, and
that it could not by any means be owned by liini, it might
have been supposed that it would never have been repub-
lished with his name, or quoted as his work™ ; yet the fact is
far otherwise. Many editions have been published by those
who were aware of this letter, and yet affixed the Primate's
name ; and every advocate of supralapsarian doctrines quotes
in his support the opinions of Archbishop Ussher, as put

Dr. Bernard, who could not have been offended by the extreme doc-
trines contained in the work, says of it, "being so unpolished, defective
and full of mistakes he was much displeased at the publishing it in his
name." An edition was published in London so lately as the year 1841,
and the attention of the editors was drawn to the letter of Archbishop
Ussher. They promised to prefix the letter to the work, but they aever
fulfilled the promise.

250

LIFE OF AUCIIBISHOr USSHER.

forth in his " Body of Divinity." I understand that several
persons have expressed their disappointment at my not hav-
ing published " The Body of Divinity" among the works
of the Archbishop. Had the authorship been a matter of
doubtful evidence, there might be a plausible ground for
such complaint, but there can be none for not publishing
among the works of Archbishop Ussher what Archbishop
Ussher declared was not his work.

In the commencement of the year 1647 the Benchers of
Lincoln's Inn appointed the Archbishop their preacher.
There was some difficulty in prevailing upon the Primate
to accept the office, and still more in obtaining the consent
of the Parliament ; but at length the appointment was com-
pleted, which he held for nearly eight years, until the
increasing infirmities of age, weakness of sight, and loss of
teeth, obliged him to resign it about a year and a half
before his death. Mr. Hale, afterwards the celebrated Chief
Justice, was then a Bencher, and a particular friend of the
Archbishop. By his kind interference, the Benchers appro-
priated to the use of the Primate extensive apartments, to
which he was able to remove as much of his library as had
escaped the plunder of the Irish rebels and the English
Parliament, and which was, in fact, the only property he
now possessed. In this year he published the Appendix
Ignatiana, of which an account has already been given, and
also Diatriba de Romanse Ecclesise Symbolo Apostolico
vetere aliisque fidei formulis, turn ab Occidentalibus tum
ab Orientalibus, in prima Catechesi et Baptismo proponi
solitis. This learned work was dedicated to Gerard John
Vossius, who had anticipated him by a treatise on the three
Creeds. However this treatise contains much that had not
been treated of by Vossius or any other writer, and has
brought to light many facts, which had lain concealed in the
most obscure and unknown writers. One of the most re-
markable positions established by the Primate in this tract
is, that the latter clauses of the Nicene Creed, which were
generally considered to have been added at the Council of
Constantinople on account of the Macedonian heresy, had
formed part of the Creed long before the meeting of that

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

251

Council, which only made some slight variations in the
Creed submitted to its consideration.

There has been considerable doubt expressed, whether the
Primate enjoyed any pension from the Parliament after he
was deprived of the revenues of Carlisle. Whitelock, in his
Memorials, states, that about the year 1G46 there was an
order from Parliament to pay the Primate £400 per annum,
and there certainly appears in the Parliamentary Journals
an order, dated July 1649, for its continuance to the next
October. Dr. Bernard mentions the pension, but not its
amount, and adds, that it was suspended during the last two
years of the Parliament, but that, after their dissolving,
" the" care of him was renewed by his Highness the Lord
Protector; by whose order a constant competent allowance
was given for him for his subsistence, which contented him
and which I received from him to the last with other very
considerable summes extraordinary. All that knew him
found him very communicative not onely of his studies, but
of what he had out of his stipend to persons in want, wherein
he needed rather a bridle than a spur." Yet Dr. Parr seems
to think the pension was not paid ; he says : " 1 cannot hear
that he received it above once or twice at most, for the inde-
pendent faction getting uppermost soon put an end to the
payment." The following document" proves that a pension
had been granted at an earlier period than has been generally
supposed, but had not been paid for four years, as this warrant
bears internal evidence of being the first order for payment :

" By vertue of an Ordinance of both Howses of Parlia-
ment of the xxj"* daie of Septemb: 1643. And in pursuance
of an Order of the Commons Howse of the fifth of October
1647. these are to will & require you. Out of such Threa-
sure as shall be in your hands to paye vnto James Usher
Doctor in Divinitie the Sume of One hundred pownds, in
part of his Allowance of Fower hundred, to be paied quar-

" Bernard's Life, pag. 103, 104.

" This warrant was found in the Rolls' Office in London by W. H.
Black, Esq., and kindly communicated to me. He states that no other
such document e.vists among the series of warrants in the time of the
Commonwealth, which is extremely scanty and defective.

252

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

terly vnto him, (for one quarter of a yeere to be ended the
fifth daie of Januarie next ensueing), for his present sup-
porte and subsistance, and incourragement in his Studdies,
for the space of one whole yeere : Except He shall be pro-
vided with a Compatent good Livinge in the meane tyme ;
that then, from such tyme as He shall be provided for, this
Allowance to Cease. And for soe doing this together with
his Acquittance for the Receipte therof, shall be your War-
rant, & Discharge; And allso to the Auditor generall to
Allowe the same upon your Accompte. Dated at the Com-
mittee of Lords & Commons for his Ma''" Revenue sitting at
Westminster the fine & twentieth day of November. 1647.

" Pembroke & Mont.

" W. Say & Seale.
" P. Wharton.

" Cor. Holland.

" Tho. Hoyle.

" Int^

" To our verie Loving freind Thomas Fauconbridg Esq,
Receivor generall of the Revenue.
5) Doctor Usher.

"x™" Die Decembr 1647.
" Receiued by me James Usher Dcor in Divinity"!
of Thomas Fauconberge Esq'' Receiuo"" Generall of [ jh
the Revenew the some of fifty pounde in pt of one j

hundred pounde according to this warrant '

" Ja. Ussher Armachan.

" Wittnes

" W™ Burley.

" Vicesimo quarto die Februar 1647.
" Receiued by me James Lusher Deo' in Divinity
of Thomas Fauconberge Esq'' Receiuo"^ Geiiall of
the Reuenewe the Sume of Fiftie pounds in full of 1.
one hundred pounds According to the Warr* w'^in

menconed. I say rec

" Ja. L^ssher Armachan.

" Wittnes

" W°^ BtULEV.

"(Indorsed) Doctor Vsher. 239."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

253

In the beginning of the year 1648 the Primate published
another work, exhibiting his chronological and astronomi-
cal knowledge. The title of the book was, " Jacobi Usserii
Armachani de Macedonum et Asianorum anno solari Dis-
sertatio : cum Grsecorum astronomorum parapegmate ad
Macedonum et Juliani anni rationes accomodata." One of
his correspondents remarks, upon his dropping the title of
Archbishop and Primate : " Equidem^ libri tui frontem sub-
tristis et pajne flens aspexi. Jacobi Usserii Armachani vidi,
et quid, inquam ego apud me, de Archiepiscopo et totius
Hibernise Primate fit ? Hui : Tantane tarn patienter nullo
certamine toUi dona sines ? tantaque doctrinse virtutis et ho-
noris insignia humeris illis pendentia detrahi vel diripi potius
patieris? sed video quid sit; libris enim tuis tot tantisque
plurimis et optimis Anglice Latineque olim conscriptis
effectum esse putas, ut nulla regio tam remota sit, qute non
intelligat, nulla setas tam fera quae non recognoscat Arma-
chani titulum huic operi prsefixum non inquilinatus, sed
honoris et dignitatis tuse esse, et recte quidem putas itaque

" ' Parere neeesse est.

Nam quid agas, quum te furiosus cogat, et idem
Fortior?' "

This was not however the first tract, in the title of which
he had dropped any mention of his rank ; the title-page of
the tract on the Creed is exactly similar.

In this learned treatise the Primate establishes the fact,
that the Macedonian months were changed from lunar to
solar in the interval between the appointment of Philip to
the command against the Phocians and the battle of Gra-
nicus ; and then explains the subsequent introduction of
solar months into Greece, by which means he solves many
difficulties in chronology and ecclesiastical history : he en-
deavours particularly to determine the date of the martyrdom
of Polycarp by many ingenious arguments, and fixes on the
26th of March, in the year'' 169. He also compared the Gre-

P Letter 256, Worlcs, vol. xvi. pag. 125.

1 Another giant in learning, Bishop Pearson, has brought all his infor-
mation to bear upon this point, and in seven dissertations refuted the po-

254

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

cian and Macedonian months with the Julian, and with those
of other nations, and, having given the entire arrangement of
the Macedonian and Asiatic year, he added the rules tor the
cycles of the sun and moon, and for finding Easter for ever.
There are also added several curious accounts of the celes-
tial motions, according to Meton, Calippus, Eudoxus, and
others ; and finally an Ephemeris, being a complete Greek
and Roman calendar for the whole year, with the rising and
setting of the stars, as laid down by the ancient Grecian
astronomers.

When the news of the King being kept prisoner at Caris-
brook Castle in the Isle of Wight came to London, the Pri-
mate preached at Lincoln's Inn on the text, " Say"^ ye not,
A confederacy to all them to whom this people shall say, A
confederacy : neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid. Sanc-
tify the Lord of Hosts himself: and let him be your fear,
and let him be your dread." In this sermon he expressed
strongly his disapprobation of the proceedings taken by the
two Houses of Parliament against their lawful Prince ; he
condemned covenants and confederacies entered into con-
trary to the former oath of allegiance, and clearly pointed
out the obligation of all to fear God rather than man, in
discharging their duty to their King and their country. Not
long after, the Presbyterian party having recovered their
former preponderance by the absence of the army, and fear-
ing the return of the Independents to power, annulled their
former vote for non-addresses, and determined to open a
personal treaty with the King. As one of the principal sub-
jects of debate was to be church government, the King
required the assistance of some' of the episcopal clergy, and

sition of Archbishop Ussher by a variety of arguments, and proved almost
to demonstration that Polycarp suffered martyrdom on the 26th of March,
A. D. 147.

Isaiah, chap. viii. ver. 12. 13.
* There is great diversity in the lists given of the clergy who attended.
Fuller says, Archbishop Ussher, Duppa Bishop of Salisbury-, Doctors
Sheldon, Sanderson, Feme, were in attendance ; and that Prideaux Bishop
of Worcester, and Brownrigg Bishop of Exeter, were summoned, but did
not attend, the first from poverty, not having money to travel so far, the
other having been imprisoned by the Parliament. Whitelock names Arch-
bishop Ussher, Doctors Bainbridge, Prideaux, Warner. Ferne, and Mor-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

255

permission was granted. Archbishop Ussher was not sent
for, or certainly did not reach Newport, till the conference
had been going on for a considerable time. He arrived in
the month of November, and immediately preached before
the King, on his birth-day. The text was, " Remember' thou
art my first-born, my might and the beginning of my
strength." The sermon was published" immediately after,
not by the Archbishop, but by some persons who took notes,
and, as Dr. Parr, who was present, states, very imperfectly.
The sermon conveys the same ideas of prerogativeand divine
right, that are contained in the treatise of the Power of the
Prince, which had been written some years before. Dr. Parr
observes : " This sermon together with the Archbishops
steady carriage in the point of Episcopacy did so much
enrage both the Presbyterian and Independent factions,
that in their news-books and pamphlets at London they
reproached the Lord Primate for flattering the King, as also
for his persuading him not to abolish Bishops ; and that he
had very much prejudiced the treaty ; and that none among
the Kings chaplains had been so mischievous (meaning to
them) as he." The presence of the Primate was of little
avail to settling the differences. He proposed again the
plan he had drawn up in 1641, and obtained the consent of
the Presbyterian clergy, who approved^ of it as being, though
not all they wished for, yet as much as they could expect
to obtain. The King not only consented to the Primate's
plan, but offered, in addition, to suspend the exercise of
episcopal government for three years ; that after that time

ley. Neal gives a much longer list : at the beginning of the conference,
Juxon Bishop of London, Duppa Bishop of Salisbury, Dr. Sheldon, Dr.
Hammond, Dr. Oldsworth, Dr. Sanderson, Dr. Turner, Dr. Haywood, and,
towards the end, Ussher Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Bramhall, Dr. Pri-
deaux, Dr. Warner, Dr. Ferne, and Dr. Morley. This account is undoubt-
edly wrong : Drs. Sheldon and Hammond wore sent for, but were kept in
confinement at Oxford ; Bishops Bramhall and Prideaux were also absent.
It is strange that so simple a fact cannot bo ascertained ; there is how-
ever no doubt that the Archbishop of Armagh, the Bishop of Salisbury,
Drs. Sanderson, Ferne, and Morley, were in attendance.
'Genesis, chap. xlix. vcr. 3.

" The sermon is printed in the Archbishop's works, vol. xiii. pag. .35.3.
' See Baxter's Life, pag. 62.

25G

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the power of ordination should not be exercised by Bishops,
except with the consent of Presbyters, and that no other
episcopal jurisdiction should be exercised, except such as
should be agreed upon by His Majesty and the two Houses
of Parliament. The Parliamentary Commissioners were
however determined" to abolish episcopacy, and would not
consent to any compromise. I have already offered some
remarks upon the plan^ proposed by the Primate, which was
entirely founded upon his principle, that a Bishop differed
from a Presbyter in degree, not in order, a principle utterly,
as it would seem, irreconcileable with the preface to the
forms of ordination, which declares, that the Church receives
the orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. However, the
Primate, in maintaining that the Bishop only differed from
the Presbyter in degree, did not mean to assert what has
been pleaded on his authority. His opinion was, as stated
by Dr. Bernard, " that- the degree which the Bishop hath
above a Presbyter is not to be understood as an arbitrary
matter at the pleasure of men but that he held it to be of
Apostolical institution — and that this gradusis both derived

Charles gave a happy illustration of the nature of this treaty, in which
not one of his projiositions was conceded : " Consider Mr. Buckley, if you
call this a treaty, whether it be not like the fray in the comedy, where the
man comes out and says, there has been a fray and no fray, and being
asked how that could be ? Why, says he, there hath been three blows
given and I had them all."

Similar was the description of the satyrist :

" Si rlxa est ubi tu pulsas, ego vapulo tantum."

The extraordinary license which the dissenting ministers assumed is
sufficiently proved by two of them daring to tell His Majesty, "that if he
would not consent to the utter abolition of Episcopacy, he would be
damned."

Dr. Aikin's view of this subject is strange ; he says: " The good pas-
tor is to be applauded for an attempt to unite in the bonds of Christian
communion two hostile parties by an expedient which he thought need not
shock the prejudices of either." This is, at least, an assumption that
prejudices alone interfered in the question, whether the expedient was
consistent with the true doctrines of Christianity. Dr. Aikin has, indeed,
been correct in using the word expedient, and like other schemes of expe-
diency, it weakened the cause it was intended to uphold, without effecting
the imagined good.

> Bernard on Ordination by Presbyters, pag. 128.

LIFE OF AriCHHISIlOP USSHEI?.

257

fn)m the pattern prescribed l)y God in the old Testament
(where that distinction is found in the title of the Chief
Priest, who had the rule of the rest, called by the LXX.
iirhKOTTog) and from the imitation thereof brought in by the
Apostles and confirmed by Christ in the time of the New."
This explanation^ of the opinion held by the Primate, and
it is g^iven by an unexceptionable witness, will not tend
much to support the doctrine held by the Presbyterians, and
must cause deep regret, that the learned Prelate used ex-
pressions capable of being wrested to a sense totally different
from what was intended.

Baxter relates a story of the Primate, which is scarcely
credible; he says : " P asked him also his judgment about
the validity of presbyters' ordination ; which he asserted, and
told me, that the King asked him in the isle of Wight,
wherever he found in antiquity, that Presbyters alone or-
dained any? and that he answered, I can shew your Majesty
more, even where Presbyters alone successively ordained
Bishops : and instanced in Hierom's words of the presby-
ters of Alexandria chusing and making their own Bishops
from the days of Mark till Heraclius and Dionysius." This
story is not only inconsistent with the opinions at other times
put forward by the Primate, but rests upon so extraordinary
a mistake as to the meaning of Jerome, that it is difficult to
admit its veracity, however respectable the authority. Je-
rome does not speak"" of the ordination of bishops, but of
their election ; he states that each new bishop was elected
by the presbyters out of their own body, and placed by them
on the episcopal throne in token of his election, an act
which was not unfrequently, in those days, performed by the
people. The consecration followed, and was always per-

The distinction between order and degree was wholly unknown to the
ancient Church, and was invented by the schoolmen, for the purpose of
supporting their extravagant notions of the priesthood.
» Baxter's Life, pag. 206.

'' " Alexandria; a Marco Evangelista usque ad Heraclium et Dionysium
Episcopos, Presbytcri semper unum ex se electum in exceisiore gradu col-
locatum Episcopum nominabant : quomodo si Exercitus Imperatorom
faciat." — Hieron. Epist. ad Evavg. Op. tom. iv. p. 2, pag. 802.
VOL. I, S

258

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

formed by the provincial bishops. In the very next sen-
tence Jerome states that none but a Bishop can ordain.

Dr. Bernard relates a correspondence with the Archbishop,
which gives a much more correct statement of his views,
and proves that the difficulty, which embarrassed him, was
the validity of the orders in the Continental churches. The
Primate was most determined in upholding their validity,
and hence was led to lower his doctrine of episcopacy as far
as was possible, and perhaps farther than was consistent
with his upholding its apostolical origin. Dr. Bernard
states, that a report was circulated of the Primate having
given an unfavorable judgment of the ofdination beyond the

sea, founded on the following statement : " Mr."^

asked the Archbishop of Armagh on occasion of an ordina-
tion, what he thought of them that were ordained by Pres-
byters ; he said he judged their ordination to be null, and
looked on them as laymen. He asked him what he con-
ceived of the Churches beyond the sea. The Bishop an-
swered he had charitable thoughts of them in France : but
as for Holland he questioned if there w^as a church amongst
them or not ; or words to that purpose : this Dr. confi-
dently reports." The paper containing this statement was
forwarded to the Primate by Dr. Bernard, who gives the
following extracts from his Grace's answer; it is unfor-
tunate and rather extraordinary that he did not give the

whole letter : " Touching Mr. I cannot call to mind

that he ever proposed to me the question in your letter
enclosed, neither do I know the Dr. who hath spread the
report ; but for the matter itself, I have ever declared my
opinion to be that Episcopus et Presbyter gradu tantum
differunt, non ordine, and consequently that in places where
Bishops cannot be had, the ordination of Presbyters stand-
eth valid'' : yet on the other side holding as I do, that a

f Bernard of Ordination, pag. 123.

<' Dr. Bernard remarks, that " if tlie ordination of Presbyters in such
places where Bishops cannot be had, were not valid, the late Bishops
of Scotland had a hard task to maintain themselves to be Bishops, who
were not Priests, for their ordination was no other. And for this a pas-
sage in the Historie of Scotland wrote by the Archbishop of St. Andrews

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

259

Bishop hath a superiority in degree over a Presbyter, you
may easily judge that the ordination made by such Presby-
ters, as have severed themselves from those Bishops, unto
whom they had sworn canonical obedience, cannot possibly
by me be excused from being schismatical ; and howsoever
I must needs think that the Churches, which have no
Bishops, are thereby become very much defective in their
government, and that the Churches in France, who living
under a popish power cannot do what they would, are more
excusable in this defect than the Low Countries, that live
under a free state, yet for testifying my communion with

is observable, viz. that when the Scots bishops were to be consecrated by
the Bishops of London, Ely, and Bath here at London House An. 1609 ho
saith, a question was moved by Dr. Andrews Bishop of Ely touching- the
consecration of the Scottish Bishops, who, as he said, ' must first be or-
dained presbyters as having received no ordination from a Bishop.' The
Archbishop of Canterbury, Doctor Bancroft, who was by, maintained
' that thereof there was no necessity, seeing where Bishops could not be
had, the ordination given by the Presbyters must be esteemed lawful),
otherwise that it might be doubted if there were any lawfull vocation in
most of the Reformed Churches.' This applauded toby the other Bishops,
Ely acquiesced and at the day, and in the place appointed the three Scot-
tish Bishops were consecrated by the above said three English Bishops."
The opinion here assigned to Archbishop Bancroft was not given by that
distinguished Prelate. His opinion was, that there was no necessity the
Scottish Bishops should pass through the intermediate orders of deacon
and priest, for that the episcopal character might be fully conveyed at
one consecration; and for this he quoted several remarkable precedents.
Ambrose and Nectarius, both laymen, were consecrated bishops, one of
Milan, the other of Constantinople ; and Eucherius was consecrated Bishop
of Lyons without passing the inferior orders.

Neal, in his History of the Puritans, attributes this latter opinion to
Abbot, Bishop of London ; and Mr. Carwithen considers it more probable
than the other account given by Hoylin and Collier. This I cannot un-
derstand. The assertion of the validity of Presbyterian orders is quite
inconsistent with the opinions of Bancroft, whom Neal describes, in the
very next page, as the first who maintained the divine right of episco-
pacy ; and is quite consonant to the known sentiments of Abbot, who (to
use the words of Lord Clarendon), " for the strict observation of the dis-
cipline of the Church or the conformity to the articles or canons esta-
blished, made little inquiry and took less care; and having made very
little progress in the ancient and solid study of Divinity, he adhered only
to the doctrine of Calvin, and for his sake did not think so ill of his Dis-
cipline as he ought to have done."

2G0

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

these churches (whicli I do love and honour as true mem-
bers ot the Church Universal) I do professe that with like
affection 1 should receive the blessed Sacrament at the hands
of the Dutch ministers, if I were in Holland, as 1 should do
at the hands of the French ministers if I were in Charen-
tone." It is probable that this extract is fairly given, be-
cause Dr. Bernard has left the offensive word scht'smaiical
as applicable to the Dissenters in this country. He is most
anxious to do away the unfavorable impression, and makes
the following extraordinary explanation, to weaken its appli-
cation to those for whom, no doubt, it was intended : " All
that can give any offence is that term of schism. But in
regard tis not directly determined, but onely that he could
not be an advocate to excuse it ; and being delivered in that
latitude, that tis dubious whether forreign (to which the
question relateth) or domestike, former times or latter, may
take the application." This is solemn trifling. Archbishop
Ussher, living in the midst of, and suffering from the vio-
lence of Dissenters, who had thrown off their canonical
obedience, could not have forgotten that his expressions
might apply to his own country ; could not have used them
without direct reference to what was every hour passing
before him. And this passage alone is sufficient answer to
all the statements which have been industriously put for-
ward, and to which 1 have alluded in the early years of his
Primacy, as to the favor he bestowed upon the Dissenters
of the north of Ireland. His mild and gentle nature pre-
vented him from engaging in hostility with them, perhaps
from asserting the dignity of his office as much as he ought;
but schismatics he must ever have considered them, and
have been most anxious to bring them back to the Church
which they had deserted."

The offence taken by the Parliament at the conduct of
Archbishop Ussher was soon exhibited in a manner most
offensive to the distinguished individual. The Primate hav-
ing taken his last leave of the King, proceeded to South-
ampton, on his way to London, and was requested to preach
there on the following Sunday. No sooner had the com-
manding officer of the garrison heard of this, than he called

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEK.

261

upon the Primate, and asked him whether it was true that
he intended to preach on the morrow. On the Primate's
informing- him that such was his intention, the officer an-
swered, that it could not be permitted, and obliged him to
withdraw his promise. Dr. Parr says, " they were afraid
of his plain dealing, and that he would have declared against
that villainy they were then about to execute."

The Primate proceeded to London, and again took up
his residence at the house of Lady Peterborough, near
Charing Cross, whence he saw, for the last time, his beloved
Sovereign, on the day of his execution. The narrative is
thus given by Dr. Parr^ : " The Lady Peterborough's house
being just over against Charing Cross, divers of the Coun-
tesse's gentlemen and servants got upon the leads of the
house, from whence they could see plainly what was acting
at Whitehall : as soon as his Majesty came upon the scaf-
fold, some of the Household came and told my Lord Pi i-
mate of it, and askt him if he would see the King once more
before he was put to death: My Lord was at first unwil-
ling, but was at last perswaded to go up ; as well out of his
desire to see his Majesty once again, as also curiosity, since
he could scarce believe what they told him unless he saw
it : when he came upon the leads, the King was in his
speech ; the Lord Primate stood still and said nothing but
sighed, and lifting up his hands and eyes (full of tears)
towards Heaven seemed to pray earnestly; but when his
Majesty had done speaking, and had pulled off his cloak
and doublet, and stood stripped in his waistcoat, and that
the villains in vizards began to put up his hair, the good
Bishop no longer able to endure so dismal a sight, and being
full of grief and horror for that most wicked fact now ready
to be executed, grew pale and began to faint ; so that if he
had not been observed by his own servant and some others
that stood near him (who thereupon supported him) he had
swooned away. So they presently carried him down and
laid him on his bed, where he used those powerful wea-

« He was not present himself, but gives the narrative as it was related
by the Archbishop's faithful servant to his grandson, Mr. James Tyrrell,

262

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

pons, which God has left his people in such afflictions, viz.
prayers and tears ; tears that so horrid a sin should be com-
mitted, and prayers that God would give his Prince patience
and constancy to undergo these cruel sufferings ; and that
he likewise would not (for the vindication of his own honour
and providence) permit so great a wickedness to pass un-
punished." Dr. Parr further remarks, "that the Lord Pri-
mate was so deeply sensible and afflicted, that he kept that
day as a private fast so long as he lived ; and would always
bewail the scandal and reproach it cast, not only on our
own nation but religion itself; saying that thereby a great
advantage was given to Popery, and that from thencefor-
ward the Priests would with greater success advance their
designs against the Church of England and Protestant reli-
gion in general."

The suspicion which the Primate expressed, that the
advancement of Popery was connected with the commotions
in England, was shortly after fully confirmed by a letter
which he received from the Bishop of Derry. In this letter^
the Bishop states, that " in the year 1646 by an order from
Rome above 100 of the Romish clergy were sent into
England, and were most of them soldiers in the Parlia-
ment's army, and were daily to correspond with the Roma-
nists in our late King's army, that were lately at Oxford
and pretended to fight for his sacred Majesty : for at that
time there were some Roman Catholicks who did not know
the design a contriving against our Church and State of
England."

This letter gave great offence many years afterwards;
the circumstances are thus related by Evelyn : "18 April
1686. Ins the afternoon 1 went to Camberwell to visit Dr.
Parr. After sermon I accompanied him to his house, where
he shew'd me the Life and Letters of the late learned Pri-
mate of Armagh (Usher) and among them the letter of Bp
Bramhal's to the Primate, giving notice of the Popish prac-
tices to pervert this nation by sending an hundred Priests

' Letter 322, Works, vol. xvi. pag. 293.
s Evelyn's Memoirs, vol, i. pag. 626.

Lll li or AKCHlilSHOP USSHEK.

263

into England, who were to coiit'onne themselves to all sec-
taries and conditions'' for the more easily dispersing their

I" Dr. Aikin states, that "there is reason to believe that this imputa-
tion was merely the product of party credulity and calumny." Some of
the reasons assigned by him are curious : " The inveteracy of the Pres-
byterians against their persecutors was sufficiently great not to require
any stimulus, their strength was too considerable to need petty aid, the
conduct and character of their leaders were in general clear and open."
The inveteracy of the Presbyterians is one of the things to be explained,
for it seems difficult of explanation, how they could have been excited to
oppose the established order for such mere trifles ; and we can trace, from
the days of Edward to the death of Charles, a constant interference of the
emissaries from Rome to disturb the Church of England. It would not
be easy to find two words less descriptive of the characters of the leaders
opposed to Charles than clear and open. Cromwell might be selected as
the very personification of dissimulation. But Dr. Aikin continues his
argument by asserting that Bishop Bramhall was bad evidence, because
"a party refugee in a foreign country is of all persons the most subject
to be imposed upon." Without commenting upon the application of the
epithets party refugee to so distinguished a prelate, I shall only remark,
that there are few individuals in the history of that time less likely to be
imposed upon than Bishop Bramhall. But we have very strong evidence
in corroboration, given by a layman who was not a refugee. Sir William
Boswell wrote, from the Hague, the following letter to Archbishop Laud,
in the year 1640 :

" Most Reverend ;

" As I am here employ 'd by our soveraign lord the King, your Grace
can testify that I have left no stone unturn'd for his Majesty's advance-
ment ; neither can I omit (whenever I meet with treacheries or conspira-
cies against the Church and State of England) the sending your Grace
an accompt in general. 1 fear matters will not answer your expectations,
if your Grace do but seriously weigh them with deliberation. For be you
assur'd, the Romish clergy have guU'd the misled party of our English
nation, and that under a puritanical dress ; for which the several frater-
nities of that Church, have lately received indulgences from the See of
Rome, and Council of Cardinals, for to educate several of the young fry
of the Church of Rome, who be natives of his Majesty's realms and domi-
nions, and instruct them in all manner of principles and tenets contrary
to the episcopacy of the Church of England.

" There be in the town of Hague, to my certain knowledg, two dan-
gerous impostors, of whom I have given notice to the Prince of Orange,
who have large indulgences granted them, and known to be of the Church
of Rome, altho they seem Puritans, and do converse with several of our
English factors.

" The one, James Murray, a Scotchman, and the other John Napper,
a Yorkshire blade. The main drift of their intentions is, to pull down
the English episcopacy, as being the chief support of the imperial Crown

2(i4

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

doctrine among us. The letter was the cause of whole
impression being seiz'd, upon pretence that it was a politi-

t)l' our nation : for which purpose above sixty Romish clergy-men are gone
witliin these two years out of the monasteries of the French king's domi-
nions, to preach up the Scotch covenant, and Mr. Knox his descriptions
and rules within that Kirk, and to spread the same about the northern
coasts of England. Let therefore his Majesty have an inkling of these
crotchets, that he might be persuaded, whenever matters of the Chm'ch
come before you, to refer them to your Grace, and the episcopal party
of the realm : for there be great preparations making ready against the
Liturgy and ceremonies of the Church of England : and all evil con-
trivances here and in France, and in other Protestant holdings to make
your Grace and the episcopacy odious to all Reformed Protestants abroad.
It has wrought so much on divers of the forreign ministers of the Protes-
tants, that they esteem our clergy little better than Papists. The main
things that they hit in our teeth are, our bishops to be called lords ; the
service of the Church ; the cross in baptism; confirmation; bowng at
the name of Jesus ; the Communion Tables placed altar- ways ; our man-
ner of consecrations : and several other matters which be of late buzz'd
into the heads of the forreign clergy, to make your grievances the less
regarded in case of a change, which is aimed at, if not speedily prevented.

" Your Grace's letter is carefully delivered by my gentleman's own
hands unto the Prince.

"Thus craving yourGraces hearty prayers for my undertakings abroad,
as also for my safe arrival, that I may have the freedom to kiss your
Grace's hands, and to tell you more at large of these things ; I rest,
" Your Grace's most humble Servant,

Hayut; June 12, 1G40." " WiLLIAM BOSWELL.

The following passage from Baxter's Life, written by himself, ought
not to be suppressed : " And here I shall insert a passage not contempti-
ble concerning the Papists, because I am fallen into the mention of them.
In Cromwells days when I was writing that very book (a book against
the Papists) and my Holy Commonwealth, and was charging their trea-
sons and rebellions on the army, one Mr. James Stanfield, a reverend
minister of Gloucestershire, called on me and told me a story; which
afterwards he sent me under his hand and warranted me to publish it,
which was this ;

" One Mr. Atkins of Gloucestershire, brother to Judge Atkins, being
beyond sea with others that had served the late King, fell into intimate
acquaintance with a priest, that had been (or then was) governor of one
of their colleges in Flanders; they agreed not to meddle with each other
about religion, and so continued their friendship long. A little after the
King was beheaded, Mr. Atkins met this priest in London and going into
a tavern with him, said to him in his familiar way, ' What business have
you here? I warrant you come about some roguery or other.' Where-
upon the priest told him as a great secret, ' that there were thirty of them
here in London, who by instructions from Cardinal Mazarine did take care
of such affairs, and had safe in council and debated the question, whether

LIFE OF AUCHUISHOP USSHER.

265

cal or liistorical account of things not relating to theology,
tho' it had been licensed by y*^ Bishop ; which plainly shew'd

the King should be put to death or not ? and that it was carried in the
atRrinative, and there were but two voices for the negative, which was his
own and another: and that for his part he would not concur with them
as foreseeing what misery they would bring upon the country.' That Mr.
Atkins stood to the truth of this, but thought it a violation of the laws of
friendship to name the man.

" I would not print it without fuller attestation lest it should be a wrong
to the Papists. But when the King was restored, and settled in peace,
I told it occasionally to a Privy Counsellor, who not advising me to med-
dle any further in it, because the King knew enough of Mazarine's designs
already, I let it alone. But about this time I met with Dr. Thomas Goad,
and occasionally mentioning such a thing, he told me that he was fami-
liarly acquainted with Mr. Atkins and would know the certainty of him,
whether it were true-: and not long after meeting him again, he told me
that he spoke with Mr. Atkins and that he assured him that it was true ;
but he was loath to meddle in the publication of it. Nor did I think it
prudence myself to do it, as knowing the malice and power of the Papists."
— Reitq. Baxter, h. i. par. ii. pag. 373.

Baxter then refers to a work by Peter Du Moulin, called, " A vindica-
tion of the sincerity of the Protestant religion in the point of obedience
to Sovereigns, opposed to the doctrine of Rebellion, authorized and prac-
tised by the Pope and the Jesuits, in answer to a Jesuitical libel entituled
Philanax Anglicus." In the second chapter of this work Du Moulin
proves that the democratic principles which overturned the monarchy in
Charles the First's time, had been first taught by the Jesuits, Bellarmine,
Suarez, Lessius, and Mariana, and then states several facts, which strongly
corroborate the account given by Primate Bramhall and Mr. Baxter.
Bishop Kennet, in his Diary, also shews, from a sermon preached by Dr.
Whincup before the House of Lords, that these plots of the Court of Rome
had been detected even in 1643, and the impending danger pointed out to
the nation.

The proofs corroborative of the statements made by Archbishop Bram-
hall and Mr. Boswell are too numerous for insertion here, and are to be
found in Mr. Ware's work, " Foxes and Firebrands." To the authenticity
of the documents quoted in this work Strype bears strong testimony, in
the preface to his Life of Archbishop Parker. One of the most remark-
able stories I shall give, as it will not occupy much room : " When the
late King was murthercd, Mr. Henry Spotswood riding casually that way
just as his head was cut off, espied the Queen's confessor there on horse-
back, in the habit of a trooper, drawing forth his sword and flourishing
it over his own head in triumph (as others then did) : at which Mr. Spots-
wood being much amazed and being familiarly acquainted with the Con-
fessor rode up to him and said, ' () Father I little thought to have found
you here, or any of your profession at such a sad spectacle,' to which he
answered that there were at least forty or more priests on horseback
besides himself" — Fore* mid Firebrands, p. ii. pag. 8G.

266

LIFE or AKCHBISHOP USSHER,

what an interest the Papists now had, that a Protestant
booke, containing the life and letters of an eminent man,
was not to be publish'd. There were also many letters to
and from most of the learned persons his correspondents in
Europe. The book will, I doubt not, struggle through
this unjust impediment."

The Primate, except so far as his duty' at Lincoln's Inn
obliged him to appear, kept himself retired from public
affairs, and never in any manner acknowledged the usurpa-
tion. His opinion, as frequently expressed, was, that the
usurpation of Cromwell was like that of some of the Gre-
cian tyrants, and would have a similar fate, as it began by
an army, so it commonly ended with the death of the
usurper. The Primate now laboured assiduously to com-
plete what had been the occupation of many a year, and at
length, in the year 1650, published the first part of his
Annals of the Old Testament, extending from the Creation
to the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes. The title of the work
was, " Annalium Pars prior a temporis historici principio
usque ad Maccabaicorum initia producta ; una cum Rerum
Asiaticarura et uEgyptiarum Chronico ;" and in 1654 ap-
peared the second part, entitled, " Annalium pars posterior
in qua, prseter Maccabaicam et Novi Testamenti Historiam,
Imperii Romanorum Csesarum sub C. Juliano et Octaviano
ortus, rerumque in Asia et ."Egypto gestarum continetur
Chronicon, ab Antiochi Epiphanis regni exordio usque ad
Imperii Vespasiani initia atque extremum Templi et Rei-
publicse Judaicse excidium deductum." The completion of
the work was to have been an Ecclesiastical Chronicle, from
the destruction of the Temple to the beginning of the fourth

' Evelj-n notices the preaching of the Primate at Lincoln's Inn.
" 1649, March 25. I heard the Common Prayer (a rare thing in
these days) in St. Peter's, at Paul's Wharf, London ; and in the morning
the Archbishop of Armagh, that pious and learned man. Usher, in Lin-
coln's Inn Chapel.

" June 10. Preached the Archbishop of Armagh in Lincoln's Inn, from
Romans 3. verse 13.

" 1652, March 29. I heard y' excellent Prelate the Primate of|Ireland
(Jacob. L'sher), preach iu Lincoln's Inn, on 4 Heb. 16. encouraging
penitent sinners. '

LIFE OF AIlCHBISHOl' USSHELl.

267

century after Christ, but this he did not live to finish. The
general merits of this great work are so well known, that
it is unnecessary to dwell upon them. The system has been
adopted in the Reformed Churches, and the dates of Ussher
have been annexed to the later editions of the Bible, and
sanctioned by public authority. He fixed the creation of
the world in the year 4004 before Christ, which subse-
quently was discovered to be a very remarkable astronomi-
cal epoch ; and, following the Hebrew chronology, placed
the Deluge in the year of the world 1656, or 2348 before
Christ. The two other remarkable periods which he fixed
for establishing his harmony of sacred and profane chrono-
logy were the Exode, in the year of the world 2513, or
1491 years before Christ, and the return of the Jews, that
is, the first year of Cyrus, in the year of the world 3468, or
536 years before Christ.

About this time a very bitter controversy was carried on
between Ludovicus Cappellus and Arnold Boate-", an emi-
nent Hebrew scholar, concerning the various readings in
the Hebrew text of the Bible, and the possibility of cor-
recting them by the Septuagint. Both parties appealed to
the Primate, but he declined giving an opinion, till at
length he yielded to the repeated importunity of Cappellus,
and published " Epistola ad Ludovicum Cappellum de tex-
tus Hebraici variantibus lectionibus," 1652. Three years
afterwards he republished this letter, and another addressed
to himself by William Eyre, at the end of a tract, " De
Grseca Septuaginta interpretum versione Syntagma : cum
libri Estherje editione Origenica et vetere Graeca altera
ex Arundeliana Bibliotheca nunc primum in lucem pro-
ducta'^."

j Bishop Marsh says that " his name is now buried in oblivion, and de-
serves to be mentioned on no other account than that tliis attacli was
published in the form of a letter to Archbishop Usher." — Lectures, pag.
211. These remarks arc unjustly severe. Archbishop Ussher certainly
entertained a high opinion of the acquirements of Boate, and vindicates
bis observations in very decided language from the animadversions of
Cappellus.

These are printed at the close of the seventh volume of the Arch-
bishop's works. The treatise on the Septuagint is the only work placed

LIKE or AKCHBISHOP USSHER.

It is well known that Cappellus was the first writer who
ventured to question the propriety of the respect with which
the Hebrew text was received. He was Hebrew Professor
at the French Protestant University of Saumur, and pub-
lished', in 1624, his celebrated work, " Arcanum Punctua-
tionis revelatum." This work contains almost every argu-
ment that has since been urged against the antiquity of the
Hebrew vowel points, and was considered as an attack
upon the integrity of the Hebrew text itself. Into this
question the controversy soon turned, and Cappellus pub-
lished, in 1650, his " Critica sacra."

The Archbishop vindicates Buxtorf and Boate from the
charge brought against them by Cappellus, of not allowing
the slightest variation in the Hebrew text, and quotes from
the younger Buxtorf the following passage : " Neque enim
existimo tales esse ut in nuUo plane punctulo, apiculo
aut literula a primis Mosis et prophetarum autographis apo-
grapha unquam discesserint aut nullum omnino vitium vel
levissimum in eos irrepserit. Nam ue ipsi quidem Judaii
hoc asserunt : qui et antiquitus jam exemplaria corrupta,
sed ab Esra iterum correcta et restituta fuisse ; et posterio-
ribus temporibus cum inter celebres authores, tum inter
exemplaria varia dissensiones et discrepantes quasdam lec-
tiones," He also strongly censures the opinion of Cappel-
lus, that the ancient versions of Scripture are to be consi-
dered as so many copies of the Hebrew original, or that the
variations of the Hebrew text can be collected from them
with the same certainty as from Hebrew manuscripts. And
more particularly he refutes the notion, that the Septuagint
version exhibited the text of a Hebrew manuscript in exist-
ence when the translation was made. He remarks that there
may be other causes, besides a variation of copy, for diffe-
rences in a translation, and quotes from Cappellus himself
the acknowledgment that he had observed in the Septua-

out of chronological order, but this transposition was rendered necessary
by the impossibility of commencing the Annals at the close of a volume.

'Cappellus did not venture to publish this work iu France, but employed
Espenius to edit it at Leyden.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

2G9

gint many shameful deviations from the true meaning
of words and phrases, and from the design of the sacred
writers, even in those passages of Scripture where the
translators evidently had the same text which we now
possess.

The Archbishop equally rejects the use of the Samaritan
Pentateuch for ascertaining various readings in the Hebrew.
He conceives that this corruption of the Hebrew text was
introduced among the Samaritans by Dositheus, who is
mentioned by Origen as an impostor, pretending to be the
Christ foretold by Moses. These attempts to introduce
various readings from the version of the Septuagint and the
Samaritan Pentateuch, he designates as " viam longe peri-
culosissimam ad pervertendum Spiritus Sancti in mille Scrip-
turse locis germanum sensum." He then gives his own
version very clearly : " Sententia mea hsec perpetua fuit.
Hebrseum Veteris Testamenti codicem scribarum erroribus
non minus esse obnoxium, quam Novi codicem et libros
omnes alios : sed ad errores illos dignoscendos et corrigendos
peculiare hie nobis suppeditavisse subsidium tantopere ab
omnibus praedicatam Masoretharum industriam. Ex qui-
busdam veterum interpretationibus excerpi aliquas posse
variantes textus Hebraici lectiones : ex vulgata Grseca ver-
sione et editione Samaritana nuUas."

The Archbishop, in his Treatise on the Septuagint, puts
forward an opinion in which he is almost singular. He
maintains that the seventy Jews sent from Jerusalem to
Ptolemy Philadelphus translated only the Pentateuch, and
that this version, accurately corresponding with the Hebrew,
was deposited in the Alexandrine Library. That subse-
quently, in the reign of Philometor, an Alexandrine Jew
translated not only the Pentateuch, but all the books of the
Old Testament, in order to gratify the curiosity of the
Gentiles about the Jewish religion. That this version was
more correct in the Pentateuch than in any other part, be-
cause the author availed himself of the celebrated transla-
tion lodged in the Library of Ptolemy, and soon was gene-
rally received by the Jews, ignorant of any language but
Greek. The Greeks converted to Christianity by the Apos-

2T0

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

ties received this version from the Hellenist Jews living
amongst them, and the Latins from the Greeks.

The Archbishop further supposes, that although the ori-
ginal copy of the Septuagint perished when the Alexandrine
Library was destroyed by fire in the war of Julius Csesar, yet
some copies were preserved by private individuals : that Philo
saw one of those copies, which he so highly extolled for its
faithfulness, yet quoted in his works the common edition.
In the new Alexandrine Library, founded by Cleopatra, a
copy of the later version, revised by some person well
skilled in the Hebrew language, was deposited, and re-
mained for several ages, to the time of Chrysostom ; and
that from it Origen inserted in the Hexapla that which was
considered the uncorrupted version of the Septuagint, dis-
tinguished for its greater purity from the Vulgate. Arch-
bishop Ussher adds, that the copy which was preserved in
the Library of Cleopatra had been sent to her by Herod
along with a copy of the original Hebrew, and thus accounts
for an extraordinary mistake of Justin Martyr. He says:
" Ad bibliothecam Cleopatrge ornandam Herodes Judseorum
rex libros sacros Instrumenti veteris Hebraica lingua cou-
scriptos misit, ac Grsecam eorundem, quae Hellenistis in
Syria et Paleestina tum in usu erat, interpretationem, ab
aliquibus Hebraicse linguae peritis (ut videtur) recognitam
et pluribus in locis emendatam, quantum ex Justini M.
secunda pro Christianis Apologia colligere licet, mira qua-
dam afiXfipla Ptolemsei Philadelphi et Cleopatra? bibliothe-
carum historiam commiscentis." The opinion of the Arch-
bishop was refuted soon after its publication by Henry de
Valois, better known as Valesius, who, however, did not
fail, while opposing the theory of the Archbishop, to bear
testimony to the greatness of his learning, and the value of
his labors. He thus addresses the Archbishop : " Nolo hie
tibi laudes tuas ingerere. Neque enim id modestia tua, nec
amicitia nostra patitur. In plerisque quidem, quae illic a te
scripta sunt, assentior tibi ; tuamque eximiam eruditionem et
acumen ingenii magnopere demiror. Sunt tamen nonnulla
a quibus a te dissentiri cogor invitus." At a subsequent
period the whole subject was discussed with great learning

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

271

by Dr. Hody, and almost every writer unites with him in
condemning the theory of the Archbishop. This was the
last work published by Archbishop Ussher.

For some time it had suited the policy of Oliver Crom-
well to confer favors upon a few of the episcopal clergy.
He had sent for Dr. Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter, and
treated him with great professions of respect; and he had
made Dr. Bernard, Dean of Kilmore, formerly chaplain to
Archbishop Ussher, his Almoner. Cromwell now directed
his attention to Archbishop Ussher, and expressed a desire to
see him. The Primate at first hesitated to comply with the
request, but afterwards, fearing lest he might exasperate™ the
Protector against himself and the other episcopal clergy, he
obeyed the command. Dr. Parr is able only to state that
Cromwell received his visitor with great civility, but could
not learn what was the precise nature of the conversation be-
tween them, but that it referred generally to the promotion of
the Protestant interest at home and abroad. It is very im-
probable that Cromwell would have adopted any advice that
Archbishop Ussher gave him, but no doubt he wished to
make a display of consulting one whose character was held
in such high estimation over every part of Europe. Dr.
Bernard asserts that Cromwell settled upon the Archbishop
a sum of money arising from deodands ; but the only favor
Dr. Parr was aware of being offered, was a promise to grant
him a lease for twenty-one years of part of the lands belong-
ing to the see of Armagh, which the Archbishop did not
refuse, regarding them as in justice his own, and wishing
to make some provision for his daughter" and many grand-

Dr. Aikin says: " Cromwell showed himself superior to the religious
bigotry which at that time pervaded almost every sect, and was as far as
policy would suffer him to be the friend of toleration:" yet within two
pages he is obliged to record one of the most tyrannical acts of intolerance
on record. The utmost extent of his liberality was, that he extended un-
limited toleration to all except to Roman Catholics and members of the
Church of England. These he persecuted rigorously.

" It must have been about this time that Mrs. Ussher died, but no men-
tion is made of the event by any biographer. Dr. Parr states that it
preceded the Archbishop's death a year and a half. On the 27th June,
1602, a pension of £500 per annum was granted to I..ady Tyrrel by the
Irish Parliament.

272

LIf E OF ARCHBISHOP t'SSHER.

children, for whom he had as yet been able to do nothing.
The. grant, however, never actually passed during the Pri-
mate's life, and after his death was refused to his daughter
and her husband, on the pretext of malignancy.

About this time he resigned the office of preacher to the
Society of Lincoln's Inn, in consequence of the failure of his
sight" and the loss of his teeth. He, however, preached
several times after his resignation ; as a mark of respect
to the Society of Gray's Inn, where he had been admitted
a member thirty years before, he preached in their chapel
on the 5th of November, 1654, and, for the last time, at
Hammersmith, about Michaelmas, 1655. In November,
1654, his friend Selden, perceiving that his life was draw-
ing to a close, sent for the Archbishop and Dr. Langbaine,
and conversed with them on the state of his mind. Selden
is reported to have said, " that he had his study full of books
and papers of most subjects in the world ; yet at that time
he could not recollect any passage wherever he could rest
his soul, save out of the holy Scriptures, wherein the most
remarkable passage that lay most upon his spirit was that
in the Epistle to Titus, ' For the grace of God that bring-
eth salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, that, de-
nying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for
that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for
us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.' "
We must admire the happy choice of the passage upon which
the illustrious scholar rested his hopes, for, to use the words
of Bishop Horne, " were it required to produce from the
Scriptures that passage which exhibits in fewest words the
fullest account of the nature and design of Christianity, this
is perhaps the passage that should be fixed on for the pur-
pose." The death of Selden soon followed, and his executors

" Dr. Bernard says : •' No spectacles could help him, only when the sun
shined he could see at a window, which he hourly followed from room to
room in the house he lived in ; in winter the window was often opened for
him to write at."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOI' USSHER.

273

called upon the Primate to preach his funeral sermon. On the
14th of December the remains of Sekien were interred in the
Temple Church, with a full attendance of persons of the
highest rank, along with the Benchers and his numerous
friends. Archbishop Ussher pronounced a high and merited
eulogium on his attainments. He said, "he looked upon
the person deceased as so great a scholar, that himself was
scarce worthy to carry his books after him."

In the following year? the Archbishop was again called
into conference with the Protector. Cromwell, irritated by
the repeated attempts to effect the restoration of the exiled
monarch, " resolvedi to keep no longer any terms with the
royalists, who, though they were not perhaps the most im-
placable of his enemies, were those whom he could oppress
under the most plausible pretences, and who met with least
countenance and protection from his adherents." Against
the laity he enforced a most grievous and vexatious im-
position, which passed by the name of decimation, and
compelled them, without regard to any antecedent com-
positions or acts of indemnity, to redeem themselves anew
by large sums of money. From the episcopal clergy he
could extort but little money, and he issued a declara-
tion prohibiting them, under severe penalties, from teach-

p Evelyn gives an account of an interview with the Archbishop during
this year: " August 21. At Rygate was now y'^ Archbishop of Armagli,
the learned James Usher, whom I went to visite. He recciv'd me ex-
ceeding kindly. In discourse with him he told me how greate the loss
of time was to study much the Eastern languages ; that excepting Hebrew
there was little fruito to be gatlior'd of exceeding labour; that besides
some mathematical bookes, the Arabic itself had little considerable; that
the best text was y Hebrew Bible ; that y" Septuagint was finish'd in
70 daies, but full of errors about which he was then writing ; that St.
Hierom's was to be valued next the Hebrew; also that the 70 translated
the Pentateuch onely, the rest was finish'd by others ; that the Italians
at present understood but little Greeke, and Kircher was a mountebank ;
that Mr Seld«n's best book was his Titles of Honour ; that the Church
would be destroyed by sectaries, who would in all likelihood bring in Po-
perie. In conclusion he recommended me to y"" study of Philologie above
all human studies ; and so with his blessing I took my leave of this excel-
lent person, and returned to Wotton." — Erclyii'iiMcnwirs, vol. i. pag. 294.

1 Hume, Commonwealth, chap. Gl.

VOL. I, T

274

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

ing in a school, either public or private, or from exercising
any part of their ministerial functions. Many of the clergy
in London and its neighbourhood, hearing that Crom-
well professed great respect for Archbishop Ussher, en-
treated him to wait upon the Protector and endeavour to
procure for them the same liberty of conscience which he
granted to all classes of Dissenters ; to solicit permission,
as they were excluded from the public churches, to officiate
in their own private congregations ; and to be secured from
the disturbance of the soldiers, who interrupted their ser-
vice and insulted their persons. The Archbishop complied,
and prevailed so far as to obtain a promise that the episco-
pal clergy should not be molested, provided they did not
interfere with subjects relating to the Government. The
Primate went a second time to get the promise confirmed
and put in writing. He found the Protector under the hands
of his surgeon, who was dressing a boil on his breast. The
Protector requested the Primate to sit down, and that he
would speak with him as soon as the dressing was com-
pleted. Upon this a very remarkable conversation ensued.
Cromwell addressed the Primate, and said, pointing to the
boil, " if this core were once out, I should be soon well."
The Archbishop replied : "I doubt the core lies deeper ;
there is a core in the heart, which must be taken out or else
it will not be well." " Ah !" replied the Protector, " so
there is indeed." And, though he affected to be uncon-
cerned, a sigh followed his words. When the Primate in-
troduced the subject of his visit, Cromwell told him, that
having more maturely considered the subject, he had been
ndvised by his council not to grant any indulgence to men
who were restless and implacable enemies to his person and
government; and then dismissed him with professions of
civility and kindness. The aged Archbishop returned to
his lodgings in great agitation, and deeply lamented the ill
success of his interference. Dr. Parr relates, that he visited
the Primate soon after in his chamber, and heard from him
words to the following effect: " This false man hath bro-
ken his word with me, and refuses to perform what he pro-
mised ; well, he will have little cause to glory in his wick-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

275

edness, for he will not continue long ; the King will return;
though I shall not live to see it, you may. The Govern-
ment, both in Church and State, is in confusion, the Papists
are advancing their projects, and making such advantages
as will hardly be prevented'."

>■ " The Primate of Ireland, after interceding with Cromwell for ejected
ministers without success, retired to the country, using this expression to
Dr. Gauden, 'that he saw some men had only guts and no bowels,' intes-
tina non viscera." — Further Continuation of Friend/y Debates. London,
1670, p. 148.

Another writer states that the Archbishop succeeded : " Tis true
Oliver Cromwell and his officers did once, upon some provocation of a
pretended plot against him, by a proclamation prohibit their preach-
ing, keeping schools, &c. But by the intercession of that excellent man,
Archbishop Usher, they had their liberty again, and preached and en-
joyed their places all the time of the usurpation, and those that were kept
out of their livings had their fifths allowed them." — Fourth Plea of the
Conformists for the Non-Conformists, p. 110. This statement is quite er-
roneous, as the following extracts from Evelyn's Memoirs will abundantly
prove :

" Nov. 27. This day came forth the Protector's edict or proclamation,
prohibiting all ministers of the Church of England from preaching or
teaching any scholes, in which he imitated the Apostate Julian; with y*^
decimation of all y*^ royal parties revenues throughout England.

" Dec. 25. There was no more notice taken of Christmas day in
churches. I wont to London, where Dr. Wild preached the funeral ser-
mon of preaching, this being the last day, after which Cromwell's procla-
mation was to take place, that none of the Church of England should
dare either to preach or administer sacraments, teach schoole, &c., on
pain of imprisonment or exile. So this was y mournfullest day that in
my life I had seen, or y* Church of England herself since y« Reformation ;
to the great rejoicing of both Papist and Presbyter. So pathetic was his
discourse that it drew many teares from the auditory. Myself, wife, and
some of our family receiv'd y' communion ; God make me thankful! who
hath hitherto provided for us the food of our soules as well as bodies.
Lord Jesus pity our distress'd Church, and bring back the captivity of
Sion.

" 165(), Aug 3. I wont to London to receive the B. Sacrament, the first
time the Church of England was reduced to a chamber and conventicle,
so sharp was the persecution. The parish churches wore filled with sec-
taries of all sorts, blasphemous and ignorant mechanics usurping the pul-
pits every where. Dr. Wild preach'd in a private house in Eleet-streete,
where we had a greate meeting of zealous Christians, who were generally
much more devout and religious than in our greatest prosperity.

" Dec. 25. I went to London to receive the B. Communion this holy
festival, at Dr. Wild's lodgings, where I rejoiced to find so full <an assem-

2TG

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

The Primate appears at this time to have been impressed
with the idea of his approaching dissolution ; in his alma-
nac he noted every year, opposite his birth-day, his age,
and in January, 165.5-^1, he wrote, " Now aged 75 years,
my years are full;" and a little below he wrote, in large let-
ters, " Resignation." About the middle of February he left
London for Rveo^ate, takingf his last leave of his friends
and relatives. On his arrival there he resumed the task of
finishing his Chronologia Sacra with as much diligence as
the weakness of his eyes permitted ; but their failure im-
peded his progress so much, that he determined, if he lived,
to employ an amanuensis. Dr. Parr went down to visit
him in the following March, and preached before him.
After the sermon the Archbishop, as was his usual practice,
conferred with him in private, and said : " I thank you for
your sermon, I am going out of the world, and 1 now de-
sire, according to your text, ' To seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God,'
and to be with him in Heaven ; of which we ought not to
doubt, if we can evidence to ourselves our conversion, true
faith and chanty, and live in the exercise of those Chris-
tian graces and virtues with perseverance; mortifying daily
our inbred corruptions, renouncing all ungodliness and
worldly lusts ; and he that is arrived at this habitual frame
and holy course of life is the blessed and happy man, and
mav rejoice in hope of a glorious eternity in the kingdom
of Heaven, to receive that inheritance given by God to those
that are sanctified." Dr. Parr left him without any appre-
hension that his life was so soon to terminate. On the 20th
of March the Archbishop had spent all the earlier part of the
day in his study, and when the light failed him, he visited
a lady who was dying in the house, and occupied the time
till supper in giving her advice, and preparing her for that
journey which he himself was the first to take. At supper

bly of devout and sober Christians." — Evelyn's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 296-
303.

Dr. Wild, who so faithfully kept up the performance of the English
Liturgy during the persecution, had been chaplain to Archbishop Laud,
and after the Restoration was made Bishop of Dcrry. He died in 1665.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEU.

277

he complained of violent pain in his hip, which was sup-
posed to be a return of the sciatica vvith whicli he had before
been afflicted. The next morning the pain affected his
side, which it then appeared arose from pleuritic inflamma-
tion. Medical aid was ineffectual, and after several hours
of acute pain his strength was so much reduced that it was
manifest he could not long survive. He prepared for the
awful termination like one to whom the thought of death
was familiar, and having joined in prayer with the chaplain
of the Countess, he addressed those around him, and ex-
horted them to prepare for death in the hour of their health
and strength. He then took leave of the Countess of Pe-
terborough, and, having expressed his grateful thanks to
her for her continued acts of kindness to him, he exerted
the last remains of his strength in giving her spiritual coun-
sel, as the best return he could make : he then requested
that he might be left alone to his private devotions. The last
words he was heard to utter were: " O Lord, forgive me,
especially my sins of omission." Soon after he sunk to rest,
about one o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st of March, in
the seventy-sixth year of his age and the thirty-fifth of his
episcopate, having been four years Bishop of Meath, and
thirty-one years Archbishop of Armagh, the hundredth
bishop of that see from St. Patrick.

On opening the body a quantity of coagulated blood was
found on the left side, and it appeared that the physician
had mistaken the complaint, not perhaps expecting a pleu-
risy in a man so advanced in years. It was resolved by his
relatives and friends to bury the Archbishop at Ryegate,
and the Countess of Peterborough offered them her family
vault. But before the arrangements could be completed an
order was sent to Sir Timothy and Lady Tyrrell, by the
Protector, forbidding them to bury the Archbishop any
where but in Westminster Abbey, and announcing his in-
tention of having a public funeral. His son-in-law and
daughter were afraid to refuse, though well aware that the
design of Cromwell was, not to honor the Archbishop, but
to gain credit for himself with different parties for such a
mark of respect to one so gent-rally revered; and that he

278

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

never would pay all the expenses of the funeral, but throw
the greater part of it upon them, who were very ill able to
afford such an expenditure. Their apprehensions were but
too well founded ; Cromwell gave them only £200 out of
the deodands in his almoner's hands, while the family were
obliged to contribute three times that amount^

* By the kindness of Mr. Black, which I have before had occasion to
acknowledge, I am able to insert the original order from the Records in
the Public Record Office, Rolls House.

" Nicholas Barnard Docto'' in Divinity cc'' to be expended in and about the
Funerall of Docf Usher, late Arch Bishoppe of Armagh and Primate
of Ireland.

"Oliver Lord Protector of the Comon- wealth of England Scotland and
Ii eland, and the dominions thereto belonging, To the Com''* of and for
our Treasury Greeting, our Will and Pleasure is and wee doe hereby re-
quire and cumaund you That out of such Our Treasure as is or shalbee
remayning in the Receipt of our Excheq'' you forthwith pay or cause to bee
paid unto Nicliolas Barnard Docto'' in Divinity or his Assignes the siime
of Two Hundred Pounds of lawful money of England to bee expended in
and about the defraying of the chai'ges of the Funerall of James Usher
Docto'' in Divinity late Arch-Bishopp of Armagh and Primate of Ireland
deceased, And for soe doeing theis Our Lres or the Inrollm' thereof shal
bee a sufficient Warrant and discharge vnto you the said Com''* of our
Treasury and to all others the Officers and Ministers of our said Excheq'
to whom these presents sliall appertaine. And Our Further will and plea-
sure is that the said surae of Two hundred pounds bee soe paid without
any Fees whatsoever for the same. Given vnd'' Our Privy Soale at Our
Pallace of Westminster the second day of Aprill iu the yeare of Our Lord
One thousand six hundred Fifty six.

" ApriU xj'h, 1656." " ^- Whithed.

Doctor Xichn- "Order is taken this 10th of Aprill,1656. By vir-
liis lianiavd ,.,.,■> , p ■ • i i ^ j ii

for the fime- tue of his higlmes lettres ot privie seale aated ttie

tile Bisl'iop* of second day of the same that you deliver and pay of
Arm.igh. such of his hignes treare as remaineth in your charge
unto Nicholas Barnard docto'' in divinitie the sume of 200" to be f QC''.
expended in and about y" defraying of the charges of the Fune- \ Brage.
rail of James Usher docto'' in divinitie late archbishopp of Ar-
magh and primate of Ireland deceased. The said siime to be paid
without any Fees for y<" same. And theise togeather with his or his
assignes acquittance for the same shall be your discharge herein.

" T. WiDDRINGTON.

"Aprill Utii, 1656." "W.Sydenham.

" Afiilt xji/i 1656.
Barnard. " To Docto' Nicliolas Barnard CC" for and towards
the funerall charges of James Usher late Archbishop of Armagh. CC"
Bv privie scale dated the second of this instant.

" Brace."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

279

The arrangements were not completed till the 17th of
April, when the corpse, on its approach to London, was met
by the carriages of all the persons of rank then in town.
The clergy of London and its vicinity attended the hearse
from Somerset House to Westminster Abbey, where the
concourse of people was so great, that a guard of soldiers
was rendered necessary. Dr. Bernard, the Primate's for-
mer chaplain, preached the funeral sermon upon a very ap-
propriate text: "And Samuel died, and all Israel were gathered
together, and lamented him and buried him." After which
the body was deposited in St. Erasmus' chapel, next to the
tomb of Sir James FuUerton, his early instructor, and the
funeral service was read' according to the Liturgy of the
Church of England.

Primate Ussher was in person moderately tall and well
made, preserving to the last an erect carriage, with brown
hair and a sanguine complexion. His features" expressed
gravity and benevolence combined, and his appearance
commanded respect and reverence. He was of a strong and
vigorous constitution, which enabled him to bear a life of
incessant study. He rose at five o'clock in summer and at

' It does not appear how this could have been done after the prohibition
issued by the Protector so short a time before. Of course it had his
permission, which must have been extorted by the universal respect en-
tertained for the memory of the Archbishop. Ou the same day Payne
Fisher, Poet Laureat to Oliver Cromwell, went to Oxford, and delivered
in Christ Church Hall an oration in praise of the Archbishop. It was after-
wards published with a very pompous title : " Armachanus redivivus, vel
in Aprilis 17, diem funeris Reverendiss. pientiss. eruditiss. Jacobus Usserii,
Arraachi;e Archiepiscopi Hybernia;que nuper Primatis Oratio anniver-
saria," &c.

Dr. Parr says, " that the air of his face was so hard to hit, that though
many pictures were taken of him yet he never saw but one like him, and
that painted by Mr. Lilly, who was afterwards knighted." The painter
is better known as Sir Peter Lely. This, no doubt, is the original of the
well-known print in Houbraken's Heads of illustrious Persons. The en-
graving prefixed to this volume is taken from a p.iinting preserved in Tri-
nity College as an original portrait. It bears the date of 1G54, and has a
strong resemblance to the picture by Sir Peter Lely. Some good judges
have supposed it a copy by one of his pupils, but from the date it would
appear much more probable that the Archbishop sat for the portrait, and
that it was the last ever taken of him."

280

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

six in winter, was remarl<ably simple and temperate in his
manner of living, though, while his income permitted, he
supported with hospitality and splendor the dignity of his
high station. His manners were very courteous and affable,
free from every appearance of pride or ostentation. His
temper was sweet and placable, though he could rebuke
with severity when he thought the occasion required it.
A passage from Erasmus's panegyric upon St. Augustin
has been not inaptly applied'' to the Archbishop: " Aderat'''
admiranda quasdam animi lenitas, quam Paulus vocat /.taK/oo-
Ovjuiav, atque adeo mansuetudo qusedam invincibilis ; banc
Petrus appellat wpavTi^Ta, quam Plato putat non ita fre-
quenter deprehendi in his, quibus contigit acrius ingenium.
Ingenii felicitas prorsus erat incomparabilis, sive spectes
acumen vel obscuiissima facillime penetrandi, sive capacis
niemoriai fidem, sive vim quandam mentis indefatigabilem.
Ad docendum semper erat paratus, non aliter quam avidus
negociator ad lucrum."

1 have already quoted'' the character given of the Pri-
mate by Bishop Burnet, and I can do little more than re-
peat my opinion of its correctness. The incidents related
iu the life of the Primate prove that meekness^' and cheer-

' Dr. Bernard carries the parallel between St. Augustine aud Archbi-
shop Ussher to a number of particulars, even to their both dying in the
seventj'-sixth year of their ages. He seems annoyed that there was a
ditFerenee of fifteen years in the time of their being preachers of the
Gospel.

" Prsef. in Augustinum. Erasmi Op. torn. 3, pag. 1246.
' See above, pag. 120.

y jMr. Butler makes a strange mistake vnth respect to the Archbishop.
He says : " A fairer, a more learned, or a more honorable name than that
of Archbishop Usher the Church of England cannot produce ; yet did this
venerable man, with a file of musketeers, enter the Catholic Chapel in
Cork-street, Dublin, during the celebration of divine service, seize the
priest in his vestments, and hew down the crucifix." — Book of the R. C.
Church, pag. 302. The narrative to which this alludes has been given
before, pag. 105, but Archbishop Ussher had no part in the transaction.

Mr. Butler relates another story more in keeping with the character of
the Archbishop, but I know not on what authority. He says that the
Archbishop, " being wrecked on a desolate part of the Irish poast, applied
to a clergyman for relief, and stated, without mentioning his name or
rank, his own sacred profession. The clergyman rudely questioned it.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEH.

281

fulness, united with fervent devotion, were the distinguish-
ing features of his mind. A saying is recorded of him,
which strongly corroborates this view of his character : " If
good people would but make goodness agreeable, and smile
instead of frowning in their virtue, how many they would
win to the good cause." " If," says Dr. Parr, "he perceived
any, whom he accounted truly religious, sad and melan-
choly, he would often ask them why they were so, and if
anything really troubled them ; if not, he would proceed
thus: ' If you have entirely devoted yourselves to the ser-
vice of God, what reason have you to be melancholy, when
(if you will seriously consider) none have more cause to be
cheerful, than those who lead a holy and a virtuous life ; by
tbis your dejection you may bring an evil report upon reli-
gion, for people seeing you always sad, will be apt to think
tis that occasions it ; and that you serve a hard master
whose yoke is heavy and commands grievous, which will
deter others and scare them from the ways of piety and vir-
tue, which you ought by no means to do, for sincere Chris-
tians may and ought to rejoice and to show themselves
cheerful ; whereas the vicious and wicked have the greatest
reason to be sad :' and as he advised others so he himself
was always of an even, cheerful temper, seldom troubled or
discomposed''." While he was ever ready to urge upon those

and told him peevishly, he doubted whether he knew the number of the
commandments. ' Indeed I do,' replied the Archbishop meekly, 'there are
eleven.' ' Eleven,' said the clergyman, ' tell me the eleventh and I will as-
sist you.' 'Obey the eleventh,' said the Archbishop, 'and you certainly will.
A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another.' " — Ibid.
pag. 314. It does not appear that the Archbishop was ever shipwrecked.

» Yet Dr. Parr mentions an instance of weakness in the Archbishop,
which we could scarcely think credible, but which strongly marks the
fanatical spirit of the times : " Amongst many of those advices which he
gave to those who came to him for spiritual counsel, one was concerning
afflictions as a necessary mark of being a child of God, which some might
have gathered out of certain unwary passages of books, and which he him-
self had met with in his youth, and which wrought upon him so much that
he earnestly prayed God to deal with him that way, and he had his re-
quest. And he told me from that time he was not without various afflic-
tions througli the whole course of his life ; and, therefore, he advised that
no Christian should tempt God to show such a sign for a mark of his pa-
ternal love, but to wait and be prepared for them, and patient under them,

282

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

who came within his observation the duty of diligence in
their respective vocations, and the pernicious effects of idle-
ness upon the individual himself and all around him, setting
himself an illustrious example of the most devoted applica-
tion, yet he never exhibited any moroseness or severity in
checking innocent recreations ; on the contrary he recom-
mended their moderate use as necessary to unbend the mind
and keep it from melancholy or too deep attention to busi-
ness. As for his own recreations, to quote the words of his
chaplain and constant companion, " walking was his great-
est delight, and at spare times he loved pleasant conversa-
tion and innocent mirth, himself often telling stories, or
relating the wise or witty sayings of other men, or such
things that had occurred to his own observation ; so that
his company was always agreeable, and for the most part
instructive ; but still he would conform himself to the genius
and improvements of those he conversed with ; for as with
scholars he would discourse of matters of learning, so could
he condescend to those of meaner capacities. He could not
endure that any should ridicule either Scripture or religion,
or dwell upon any man's private faults or calamities, and
above all things he could not suffer obscene communication
or swearing ; he knew it displeased God, and therefore it
extremely offended him ; and where he could not make the
persons desist from it, he would presently leave the place
and their company : and when he could not with decency
or good manners go away, and though he was always very
uneasy in such conversations, yet he did not always express
his abhorrence of it in words, nor reprove these persons,
when he considered it might do more harm than good, but
would then hold his peace, waiting for an opportunity to do
it with gentleness, and by way of advice, when the persons
concerned might happily be convinced he did it purely for

and to consider the intention of them, so as to be the better for them,
when they are inflicted ; and by no means to judge of a man's spiritual
state either by or without afflictions, for they are fallible evidences in spi-
ritual matters ; but that we should look after a real and sincere conver-
sion and internal holiness, which indeed is the only true character and
evidence of a state of salvation." — Parr s Life, pag. 90.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

283

their good, and not in reproach to them : and I remember
once when there had happened some discourse at table from
persons of quality, that did not please him ; he said nothing-
then, seeming not to hear them; but after dinner wlien I
waited on him to his chamber, he looked very m^LuicLuIy,
which I taking notice of, and asking him if I might know
the cause : ' It is a sad thing (said he) to be forced to put
one's foot under another's table, and not only to have all
sorts of company put upon him, but also to be obliged to hear
their follies, and neither be able to quit their company, nor
to reprove their intemperate speeches.' "

The Primate set an example in his own family of the
strictest regularity and devotion. He had prayers four times
a day ; at six in the morning and eight in the evening, and
the full service in his chapel before dinner and supper, at
which times he was always present. This would be suffi-
cient answer to the charges brought against him of under-
valuing the Liturgy of the Church of England. These
charges seemed to have pressed heavily upon his mind, and
in his memorandum-book was found the following declara-
tion, written only two months before his death :

" Jan. 16, 1655.
" Of the Book of Common Prayer 1 have always had a
reverend and high esteem ; and therefore that at any time
I should say it was an idol, is a shameless and most abomi-
nable untruth. j ^ „

At an earlier period he wrote a letter to the clergy of
Carlisle, when he was unable to visit them, in which he
charged them to use the Book of Common Prayer and the
public Catechism in their churches.

His attention also to the discipline' of the Church seems

=> Mr. Simeon states in the Memoirs of his Life, that he was informed
Archbishop Ussher had preached in the Kirk of Scotland. In answer to
this it is sufficient to say, that the Archbishop never was in Scotland,
and could not, therefore, have availed himself of Mr. Simeon's excuse,
" that he was acting in accordance with the established religion." Mr. Si-
meon adds : "He knows some very high churclimen had done so." It
is unfortunate he did not mention their names, that we might know what
were his ideas of a high churchman.

284

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

to have been equally strict. In addition to the fact'' that
he conf5tantly wore his episcopal habit in Church, and
made his chaplain wear his surplice in administering the
communion, and in preaching, Dr. Bernard mentions'^ that
while the Primate continued at Urogheda, there were not
any Protestant inhabitants who scrupled at the cross in
baptism, and kneeling at the Communion, or the like, but
in all things conformed to what they saw was approved by
him. In the minute account which, fortunately for the
Archbishop's character, his puritanical chaplain has given
of the proceedings at Drogheda, a curious proof is aiforded
of the extent to which the clergy in Ireland had been in-
duced to adopt the practices of the Dissenters : one of the
circumstances which Dr. Bernard considers as deserving of
notice in the Archbishop is, that he never wore his hat in
Church.

The Archbishop was a constant and impressive preacher,
" his very voice and gesture were moving and persuasive,
yet without any affectation, so that his preaching was with
authority, 'and not with enticing words of human wisdom,
but in demonstration of the Spirit and with power.'" He
acquired such fluency and command of words, that for many
years he never committed more to writing than the heads
of his sermons ; when he had well considered the subject,
he trusted the rest to his memory, and was not careful of
the polish or exactness of his style. Hence he was most
unwilling that any of his sermons should be published^, ex-
cept the two which he prepared carefully and printed him-
self. Dr. Parr thus describes the plan of his popular sermons:
" As he was an excellent textuary so it was his custom to
run through all the parallel places that concerned the sub-

*" See before, p. 147. Clavi trabales, pag. 58.

It seems to have been the practice with many persons to take down
his sermons. A volume was printed, soon after his death, of the sermons
preached at Oxford in 1640. These I have reluctantly published among his
works, and also a few out of a larger collection preserved in MS. in the
Library of Balliol College, Oxford. Many others are extant in different
places. I have lately seen six sermons on the six witnesses of St. John.
They are practical sermons not at all relating to the controversy as to the
genuineness of the passage.

LIl'E OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

285

ject on which he treated, and paraphrase and illustrate them
as they referred to each other, and their particular contexts ;
he himself, as he past on, turning his Bible*" from place to
place, and giving- his auditory time to do the like : whereby
as he rendered his preaching extreme easie to himself, so it
became no less beneficial to his auditors, acquainting them
with the holy Scriptures, and enabling them to recur to the
proofs he cited, by which the memory was very much helped
to recover the series of what was discoursed upon from them :
He never cared to tire his auditory with the length*^ of his
sermon, knowing well, that as the satisfaction in hearing
decreases, so does the attention also, and people instead of
minding what is said, only listen when there is like to be
an end."

The directions as to preaching which the Archbishop
gave to ministers on their ordination are still extant, and

' I regret that this disagreeable, and now very common, practice, can
plead such authority in its support, But I trust that, if any are inclined
to follow the Archbishop's example in one part, they will in all, and more
particularly attend to the directions he has given. The Archbishop ap-
pears carefully to have arranged the whole plan of his discourse, indeed,
as Dr. Parr remarks, to trust to his memory for the delivery. If those
who attempt in our days to preach without a written sermon would de-
vote sufficient time to the preparation, less mischief would arise from the
practice, and the congregation would escape the dull repetitions and in-
coherent rhapsodies which are unhappily so prevalent in modern sermons.

' An anecdote confirmatory of this is recorded of the Archbishop.
About a year before he died, when he had given up preaching, he was
persuaded by the Countess of Peterborough to preach in the parish
church, that of St. Martin. Having preached for some time he looked at
the hour-glass (then, and for many years after, always placed in the pul-
pit), and from the weakness of his sight imagining that it was out, he
concluded by telling his auditory that the time was past, and he would
leave the remainder of his discourse to another opportunity, if God would
enable him again to address them. The congregation, perceiving the
mistake, and fearful of never having an opportunity to hear him again,
made signs to the reader to inform him that the glass was not out, and
that they requested hira to go on ; the Archbishop received the commu-
nication very kindly, and, resuming his discourse, concluded with an ex-
hortation which lasted for half an hour, and powerfully affected the
auditory. They were so moved, says Dr. Parr, that none went out of
the church until he had done his sermon ; from which we may conclude
that it was not an unfrequent practice for persons, as soon as they were
tired of the sermon, to leave the church.

286

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

deserve to be made known ; as, if they were followed,
they would counteract many of the evils of extempore
preaching- :

" I. Read and study the Scriptures carefully, wherein
is the best learning, and only infallible truth : they can
furnish you with the best materials for your sermons, the
only rules of faith and practice, the most powerful mo-
tives to persuade and convince the conscience, and the
strongest arguments to confute all errors, heresies, and
schisms : therefore, be sure let all your sermons be con-
grous to them, and to this end it is expedient that you
understand them, as well in the originals as in the trans-
lations.

" II. Take not hastily up other men's opinions without
due trial, nor vent your own conceits, but compare them
first with the analogy of faith, and rules of holiness re-
corded in the Scriptures, which are the proper tests of all
opinions and doctrines.

" III. Meddle with controversies and doubtful points as
little as may be in your popular preaching, lest you puzzle
your hearers, or engage them in wrangling disputations,
and so hinder their conversion, which is the mean design
of preaching.

" IV. Insist most on those points that tend to affect sound
belief, sincere love to God, repentance for sin, and that may
persuade to holiness of life : press these things home to the
conscience of your hearers, as of absolute necessity, leaving
no gap for evasions, but bind them as close as may be to
their duty ; and as you ought to preach sound and orthodox
doctrine, so ought you to deliver God's message as near as
may be in God's words, that is, in such as are plain and in-
telligible, that the meanest of your auditors may under-
stand ; to which end it is necessary to back all practical
precepts and doctrines with apt proofs from the holy Scrip-
tures ; avoiding all exotic phrases, scholastic terms, unne-
cessary quotations of authors, and forced rhetorical figures,
since it is not difficult to make easy things appear hard, but
to render hard things easy is the hardest part of a good ora-
tor as well as preacher.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

287

" V. Getyour hearts sincerelyaffected with the things you
persuade others to embrace, that so you may preach expe-
rimentally, and your hearers perceive that you are in good
earnest, and press nothing upon them but what may tend to
their advantage and which yourself would venture your
own salvation on.

" VI. Study and consider well the subjects you intend to
preach on, before you come into the pulpit, and then words
will readily offer themselves, yet think what you are about
to say before you speak, avoiding all uncouth, phantastical
words or phrases, or nauseous, indecent, or ridiculous ex-
pressions, which will quickly bring preaching into contempt,
and make your sermons and persons the subject of sport
and merriment.

" VII. Dissemble not the truth of God in any case, nor
comply with the lusts of men, or give any countenance to
sin by word or deed.

" VIII. But above all you must never forget to order
your own conversation as becomes the Gospel, that so you
may teach by example as well as precept, and that you may
appear a good divine everywhere, as well as in the pulpit,
for a minister's life and conversation is more heeded than his
doctrine.

" IX. Yet after all this take heed you be not puffed up
with spiritual pride of your own virtues ; nor with a vain
conceit of your parts or abilities, nor yet be transported with
the applause of men, nor dejected or discouraged with the
scoffs or frowns of the wicked and profane."

In diligence as a preacher he set a very remarkable ex-
ample, and declared that none of his labors administered
to him so much comfort in his old age as that, since he
had been called to the ministry, he had endeavoured to dis-
charge the great duty of preaching the Gospel ; while, as
1 have already mentioned'^, he made the motto of his episco-
pal seal, " Vse mihi si nonevangelizavero." The Archbishop
has been charged with placing this duty too high, and
showing a marked contem|)t for the Liturgy of the Church.

6 See pag. 283.

288

LTFK OF AKCHBlSHOr USSHEH.

This calumny was circulated in a very offensive manner''
during his life, and ought to have been sufficiently refuted
by the practice observed in his family, as I have already
stated. Its prevalence must be traced to the mildness of
his disposition, which shrunk from enforcing the strict dis-
cipline of the Church, and to his connexion with many who
dissented widely from the Church of Ireland. However he
does not appear in the least degree to have countenanced
those latitudinarian notions, which were entertained by seve-
ral contemporaries, who held bishoprics in the north of Ire-
land, while their practice tended to subvert the Church they
were commissioned to defend. I cannot find any instance
ever charged upon him of havingirregularly conferred orders,
or listened to the scruples of those within his diocese who
wished to enjoy the benefices without performing the duties
of a minister of the Church, — practices which were not un-
usual at that time.

Dr. Parr states that he was particularly careful in his ordi-
nations, and always observed St. Paul's injunction, " Lay
hands suddenly on no man." Far from encouraging the
lowest of the people to become preachers in the congre-
gation, he never was known to ordain any person who was
not suflficiently qualified in point of learning, except one,
and the case of that individual will prove how much his
care exceeded that of other bishops in those strange times.
The narrative is thus given by Dr. Parr : " There was a
certain English mechanick living in the Lord Primate's
diocess, who constantly frequented the public service of the
Church, and attained a competent knowledge of the Scrip-
tures, and gave himself to read what works of practical
divinity he could get, and was reputed among his neigh-
bours and Protestants thereabouts a very honest and pious
man ; this person applyed to the Lord Primate, and told
him that he had an earnest desire to be admitted to the mi-
nistry ; but the Bishop refused him, advising him to go
home and follow his calling, and prav to God to remove
this temptation ; yet after some time he returns again, re-

See pag. 283.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

280

Hewing his request, saying he could not be at rest in his
mind, but that his desires towards that calling increased
more and more ; whereupon the Lord Primate discoursed
him, and found upon examination that he gave a very good
account of his faith and knowledge in all the main points of
religion. Then the Bishop questioned him farther, if he
could speak Irish, for if not his preaching would be of little
use in a country where the greatest part of the people were
Irish, that understood no English. The man replyed, that
indeed he could not speak Irish, but if his Lordship thought
fit, he would endeavour to learn it, which he bid him do,
and as soon as he had attained the language to come again,
which he did about a twelvemonth after, telling my Lord
that he could now express himself tolerably well in Irish,
and therefore desired ordination ; whereupon the Lord Pri-
mate finding, upon examination, that he spake truth, or-
dained him accordingly, being satisfied that such an ordi-
nary man was able to do more good, than if he had Latin
without any Irish at all, nor was the Bishop deceived in
his expectation, for this man, as soon as he had a cure,
employed his talent diligently and faithfully, and proved
very successful in converting many of the Irish Papists to
our Church, and continued labouring in that work, until
the rebellion and massacre, wherein he hardly escaped with
life."

Much controversy has arisen as to the Primate's theologi-
cal opinions'. On one point, however, all are agreed, that in

' Dr. Heylin charged the Archbishop with differing from the Churcli
of England in six points: the divine authority of the Christian sabbath;
the opinion that Bishops andPresbyters differ in degree only, not in order ;
the limitation of redemption to the elect; the real presence in the Holy
Communion ; the power of absolution ; and the descent into hell. The
Archbishop's grandson, Mr. James Tyrrel, published an answer to these
charges in the form of an Appendix to Dr. Parr's life. I have reprinted this
tract in the Appendix, No. VII., not that I agree with all the views taken
by the writer, but because I thought that the defence of the Archbishop by
so near a relative ought to be preserved. I have, as the subjects occurred,
remarked upon these several opinions, and shall not discuss them again.
Dr. Aikin, by a strange blunder, quotes the Appcndi.x as if written by Dr.
Parr, though he states that he published it as the " vindication of a near
relation of the Lord Primate."

VOL. I. U

290

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

the earlier part of his life he had held rigidly the opinions
of Calvin. Of this one fact ought to be quite sufficient evi-
dence, namely, his introduction of the Lambeth Articles into
the Articles of the Church of Ireland. The point at issue is
whether the Archbishop found reason, at a subsequent pe-
riod, to change these opinions. That he had done so we
might argue from the friendship which subsisted between
him and Archbishop Laud, and from the high terms in
which he spoke of that unfortunate Prelate. A rigid Cal-
vinist could not honestly have spoken in such terms of Laud's
promotion to the archbishopric of Canterbury, as are to be
found in ArchbishopUssher's letter^, and still less would he
have exerted all his influence to procure the appointment of
Chancellor to the University of Dublin for one whose reli-
gious opinions he must have so strongly disapproved. The
change of his opinions at a later period of his life'^ is placed
beyond all doubt by the following letter of Dr. Hammond :
" To' your queries all that 1 have to return is, first, that
the Bishop (Ussher) did for many years acknowledge uni-

j See Letter 190. Works, vol. 15. pag. 571.
It would appear that even at a much earlier period of his life he was
not an advocate for the extreme opinions which have been attributed to
him. In the sermon preached before the King, in 1624, is the following pas-
sage: " There is an error in heart as well as in brain, and a kind of igno-
rance arising from the will as well as from the mind. And therefore, in
the Epistle to the Hebrews, all sins are termed dyvorinara, ignorances, and
sinners ayvoovvrtg kuI TrXavojfitvot, ignorant and erring persons; because
however, in general, the understanding may be informed rightly, yet when
particular actions come to be resolved upon, men's perverse wills and in-
ordinate aft'ections cloud their minds and lead them out of the way. That,
therefore, is to be accounted sound knowledge which sinketh from the brain
into the heart, and from thence breaketh forth into action, setting head,
heart, hand, and all at work: and so much only must thou reckon thyself
to know in Christianity, as thou art able to make use of in practice. For,
as St. James saith of faith, ' show me thy faith by thy works ;' so doth he
in like manner of knowledge : ' Who is a wise man and endued with know-
ledge amongst you ? let him show out of a good conversation his works
with meekness and wisdom.' And St. John much to the same purpose :
' Hereby do we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar
and the truth is not in him.' " — Works, vol. ii. pag. 502, 503.

' See Nineteen Letters of the Rev. Henry Hammond, D. D., now first
published from the originals by Francis Peck, M. A., London, 1739.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

291

versal redemption, but that with a distinction of non ex
(Bquo pro omnibus, which puts me in mind of the words
of Holy Maximus in his Ke^. Trept ayaTri)?, that Xpiarbc
vTTip TTavTwv 1% 'icsov, which last words (when I read them
long since) I could not guess why they were added, till
I saw there was somebody that granted the airiOaviv virip
TravTMv, but denied the iaov. Secondly, that a little before
his leaving London (1 was told it by some that heard him
about this time two years) at St. Peter's Paul-wharf, as also
in several other places, he preached a sermon, which himself
called a soul-saving sermon, on Rom. vii. 30, part of the
verse, * whom he called, them be justified,' in which he ear-
nestly pressed the sincerity of God's universal call to every
one of all sinners, to whom the Gospel was preached ; press-
ing throughout all his sermon the universal free invitation of
all by God. Apoc. xxii. 17. ' Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely.' Isaiah Iv. 1,7.' Ho, every one
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. Let the wicked for-
sake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and
let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon
him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon
adding that without this made good, all preaching to con-
vert sinners as yet in their sins from the evil of their
ways, would want a firm foundation. Thirdly, that a learned
divine going after this to him, and taking rise from these
words of his, ' that God intended truly that all whom he
called by the word to repent and believe, might certainly,
if they would, and God truly would they should come
and repent,' &c. to ask, ' Can they all will ? Doth God
with his word give internal grace to all that are called by
it, that they may repent if they will ; and that they cer-
tainly can will ?' He answered : ' Yes they all can will, and
that so many will not, 'tis because, as 1 then taught, they
resist God's grace ;' alleging Acts, vii. 51, 'Ye stiflfnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist
the Holy Ghost ; as your fathers did, so do ye.' This and
much more he then declared, and in fine concluded with
these words, ' Bishop Overall was in the right, and I am of
his mind.'

292

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

" Fourthly. A learned Doctor that was frequently with
the Bishop, wrote Mr. Pierce word (as he wrote me, on my
asking- liim the same question which you do me) ' that that
Bishop told him lately before his death that he wholly dis-
liked the Genevan form of doctrine in this matter.' This
is all that hath come within my reach of your first ques-
tion."

Dr. Pierce sent the testimonies of Dr. Brian Walton,
Dr. Gunning, and Mr. Thorndike, to Dr. Bernard, pre-
facing them with these words : " First" I will give you the
certificates of three most pious, most learned, and (I had
almost said) most irrefragable persons, whom (as you say
very well) you may possibly honour as much as I. And
that for many other reasons, so in particular for this also,
that they were ever, and are still, most serious honourers of
the Primate of happy memory, whose judgment could not
but direct him to have them also in special honour. The
first and chief of those certificates is from the Rev. Dr.
Walton, even before 1 had the happiness to have seen his
face. Of which I transcribe you the following copy."

Part of a letter from Dr. Walton to Dr. Pierce :
" This I can testify, that having often discourse with the
late most reverend Father in God, James L. Primate of
Armagh, concerning divers controversies in divinity, and in
particular the last time that he was in London, which was not
long before his death, concerning the controversies of grace
and free-will, election and reprobation, and the dependents
thereupon ; he did declare his utter dislike of the doctrine
of absolute reprobation, and that he held the universality
of Christ's death, and that not only in respect of suffi-
ciency, but also in regard of efficacy, so that all men were
thereby salveable ; and that the reason why all were not
thereby saved, was because they did not accept of salvation
off"ered, and that the grace of conversion was not irresistible,
but that men might and often did reject the same. And that
in these points he did not approve the doctrine of Geneva,

Pierce's Self Revenger exemplified in Mr. William Barlee, App.
pag. 154.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

293

but was wholly of Bishop Overall's opinions. All which
I took the more notice of, because he was generally con-
ceived to be of another judgment. And all this will be
attested by

" Brian Walton."

Part of a letter from Mr. Gunning to Dr. Pierce :
" Because you desire me to speak my knowledge of my
Lord Primate's judgment concerning your question, as in
justice to the truth and to the honour of his Grace, and for
that you are threatened (as I hear) by some, that they will
in print testify that the contrary to your thesis was my
Lord Primate's judgment, in the last years also of his life;
I shall truly, therefore, give you his discourse with me (as
much as tends to this purpose), and my memory of his
sermon.

" At a sermon which my Lord Primate preacht at St.
Peter's Pauls wharfe, the last that he intended to preach
there (as it was said) I was an auditor ; having heard that
he had preached that sermon in more places than one before,
and did himself profess to think it a sermon (as indeed it
was) containing such necessary truths, as without which all
preachings and sermons would be unfruitful. It was on
Rom. viii. 30 (part of the verse), in which sermon he very
earnestly pressed the sincerity of God's universal call to
every one of all sinners, to whom the Gospel was preached ;
alleging and pressing almost throughout his sermon the uni-
versal pre-invitation of all by God throughout the Scriptures.
As that of Apoc. xxii. 17, ' Whosoever will let him take
the water of life freely :' and so that of Esai, Iv. 1, 7 ; and
added with much godly zeal, that without this being made
good, all preaching to convert sinners (as yet in their sins)
from the evil of their ways would want a firm foundation.
This was his main scope in that sermon. I went to him
in one of the week days following the Lord's day, and gave
him my thanks. And in the process of our discourse, which
was wholly spent upon that subject (much too long to be
told at large) his Grace expressed his judgment in these
following results. That God, together with his word

294

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

preached, doth give internal grace to all that are called by
it, that they may repent and be converted if they will, yea
they all can will. And that so many will not, it is because
they resist God's grace according to that of Acts, vii. 51,
' Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, yee
do always resist the Holy Ghost.' He farther said, that
God gives to all, who are called, posse non resistere, and
distinctly concluded in these words : ' Bishop Overall was
in the right and I am of his mind.' This will be attested
by

" Peter Gunning."

" The third certificate I received was at first by word of
mouth, and afterwards by writing in these following words:

" ' Calling to mind that you questioned me whether my
Lord Primate said to me that Christ dyed for all intention-
ally, I have thought fit to say further, that I did answer
you affirmatively, not because I do remember that he used
that word, but because I am satisfied he could mean no
otherwise. The suflScience of his death not signifying that
which either of us understood to be in question. And that
sufficience of grace, which Dr. Ward maintained (with my
Lord Primate's approbation) that the Gospel bringeth
to all that hear it preached, argueth the intent of his
death (and not only the value of it) being given in con-
sideration of it. Thus much as by a witness will be de-
posed by

" ' H. Thorndike.'"

These declarations appear sufficiently decisive as to the
change of opinion in the Archbishop. It should be re-
membered that the three individuals were not ordinary per-
sons, but men of considerable talents and extended infor-
mation, well trained in the controversy, and all prepossessed
with the notion, that the opinions of the Archbishop were
very diflFerent from what they found them to be. They must
have, therefore, studied every word with great care, and
not have been deceived by any preconceived notions, which
would make them distort what they heard into an agreement
with them. They must have given the interpretation they

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

295

did to the Archbishop's words with great hesitation, and
not have ventured to put forward the strong and decisive
declarations which they have recorded, unless all doubt had
been removed by irresistible conviction. Dr. Bernard has
of course endeavoured to invalidate the force of these testi-
monies, but the weakness of his attempt only corroborates
more strongly the statement. The only answer he can give
is by stating that the Archbishop's objections extended to
the supralapsarian doctrine, but not to the sublapsarian,
and by interpreting his dissent fromGeneva as a dissent from
Beza, not from Calvin.

A similar testimony can be procured from a very diffe-
rent quarter. Calamy, in his Abridgment of Baxter's life,
gives the following narrative : *' While" he (Baxter) con-
tinued there, he became acquainted with the pious and
learned Archbishop Ussher, who then liv'd at the Earl
of Peterborough's in Martin's-lane : and their mutual visits
and interviews were frequent. There having been a differ-
ence between Dr. Kendall and Mr. Baxter about the ex-
tent of redemption, they by agreement met at the Arch-
bishop's lodgings, leaving it to him to arbitrate between
them : who freely declared himself for the doctrine of uni-
versal redemption, and own'd that he was the person who
brought both Bishop Davenant and Dr. Preston to acknow-
ledge it. Having given his judgment he perswaded both
to forbear a farther prosecution of the controversie, which
they readily promis'd."

It seems to have been an opinion entertained by many
admirers of the Primate, and prominently put forward by
Dr. Bernard in several parts of his narrative, that he was
inspired with a spirit of prophecy. I have already alluded
to the well-known application of a prophecy of the Jewish
Church to the rebellion in Ireland. Others that have been
put forward appear to have no better claim to the character
of prophecy. The fact seems to be, that the Primate, deeply
impressed with the tragic scenes and violent changes which
he had lived to witness, was accustomed to speak with con-

" Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter's Life, pag. 684. cd. 1702.

296

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

siderable confidence of still greater impending evils, and
among these a temporary triumph of Popery seems to have
haunted most strongly his imagination". Baxter, relating

" In the Biographia Britannica the following narrative is given :
" That year wherein he died, being asked by a gentleman what his
present apprehensions were of a very great persecution that would fall
upon the Church of Christ in these nations of England, Scotland, and
Ireland (concerning which he had ever confidently spoken many years
past, when we were in the fullest peace and settlement), whether he did
not believe these sad times to be passed, or whether yet to come ? He
told me they were yet to come, and that he did as confidently expect them
as ever he had done that they would fall upon ourselves the Protestant
churches in Europe. I answered, I hoped they might have been past as
to this nation, since that I thought, though we in them had been punished
less than our sins deserved, and that the wars had left much less devas-
tation than by that means had been brought upon other countries, yet
many a house, fair and great, had been left without inhabitants ; many
a family had been impoverished, and many thousand lives lost in that
war ; that Ireland and Scotland had drimk deep of the cup of God's anger
to the overthrow of Government, and almost utter destruction of a great
part of those nations. He, turning to me, and fixing his eyes with that
ireful look which he used to have when he spake God's words and not
his own, and the power of God upon him to constrain him so to do,
' Fool not yourself with such hopes, for I tell you all that you have
yet seen have been but the beginning of sorrows to what is yet to
come upon the Protestant churches of Christ, which shall ere long fall
under sharper persecution than hath ever yet been upon them. And
therefore,' said he to me, 'look you be not found in the outer court, but
a worshipper in the temple before the altar ; for Christ will measure all
that profess his name, and call themselves his people ; and the outward
worshippers he will leave to be trodden down by the Gentiles.

" ' The outward court (said he) is the formal Christians, whose reli-
gion stands in performing the outside duties of Christianity, without
having an inward life and power of faith and love uniting them to Christ ;
these God will leave to be trodden down and swept away by the Gen-
tiles. But the worshippers within the temple and before the altar are
those who worship God in spirit and in truth ; whose souls are made his
temples, where he is honored and adored in the most inward thoughts
they have, and who sacrifice their lusts and foul affections in their own
wills to him. God will hide them in the hollow of his hand and under the
shadow of his wings. And that will be one great difference between the
last and other preceding persecutions. In them the most eminent and
.spiritual ministers were, first or last, violently fallen upon ; but in this last
these will be preferred by God, as a seed of that glory that shall imme-
diately fall to the Church as soon as these storms are over; for as they
will be the sharpest, so they will be but short, and shall take away but
the gross hypocrites and formalists, while the true spiritual believers
lehall be preserved till the calamity be past.'

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

297

a conversation with the Primate, says : " I have heard of
his prediction that Popery would be restored again in Eng-
land for a short time, and then fall forever: and asking

"I then asked him by what instruments this great trial would be
brought on? He answered, 'by the Papists.' I replied, 'that they
were less countenanced and less in number in these nations, and the
hearts of the people were more set against them, than ever since the Re-
formation.' He answered, 'that it would be by their hands, and in the
way of a sudden massacre, and that the now Pope would be the instru-
ment of it.'

" And these things he spoke with the assurance and ireful look that
I have observed him to speak with, when I have heard him myself predict
things very unlikely in human appearance to come, which I myself had
then lived to see happen according to his predictions ; which made me
give more attention to what he uttered.

" And he then added, that the Papists were in his opinion the Gentiles
spoken of in Rev. ii., to whom the outward court should be left, that they
may tread it under foot, they having received the Gentile worship in their
adoring images and saints departed, and taken to themselves many media-
tors. ' And this,' said he, ' is now designing among them, and therefore
look you bo ready.'

" This was the substance, and for the greatest part (I think) the words
themselves, which that holy man spake to me."

It is then stated that these prophecies were repeated to his daughter,
and the following letter is given from her, in answer to inquiries upon the
subject :

" Sir, — I cannot speak so punctually to the particulars of your paper,
but much of it I have heard him speak with great assurance in the begin-
ning of summer, before the rebellion in Ireland. Sir Thomas Barring-
ton's lady was inquiring his opinion of the interpreters of the Revelations
and of the prophecies of Daniel ; she was desirous to hear whither the last
bitter dregs would be poured out upon the world. I can never forget
with what trouble he expressed his answer, viz.. That he could not see
but that God intended them on the northern parts. ' And,' said he,
' I besought God in mercy to divert a share of the time from our domi-
nions, and that they may not begin with poor Ireland. But we must all
(said he) taste of them.' I am certain Mrs. Barrington, who is yet living,
was present at this discourse as well as myself, when my father, among
other admonitions, was pleased to give me his commands to be prepared
for times of persecution : for he feared wicked people would for a time
prevail, and that the persecution would be sharp, but would not last
long. The last day that I saw my dear father he told me that I should
see in a short time London burnt ; at which when I was troubled ;
' Yes,' says ho, 'it will be burnt to a cinder' (that was his expression):
' How can we expect other than judgment upon the scat of rebellion and
sin, and miseries that have proceeded from thence." He was also confi-
dent of his Majesty's return within five years or kss. lie said, ' it will

298

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

him of it, he pretended to me no prophetical revelation for
it to himself, but only his judgment of the sense of the
Apocalypse."

Of the Primate as a man of learning it is almost unne-
cessary to speak ; the works which he has published suffi-
ciently attest the stupendous extent of his information'', and

be in a short time ; you will live to see it, but I shall not :' and said, ' my
thoughts and dreams are often troubled by being carried by violence
into a great church.' These were his last discourses to her who is

" Your faithful Servant,

"E. Ttrrel."

I cannot discover any evidence for the authenticity of this letter. The
preceding part is said to be quoted from a Manuscript in the Musaeum
Thoresbianum, and has been nearly published in a pamphlet, "Bishop
Usher's second prophesie, which was delivered to his daughter on his
sick bed, wherein is contained divers prophetick sayings for the years
1680, 1681, 1682, 1683, 1684, which were by him predicted for the said
years." This is generally printed at the end of another tract, with the
title " Strange and remarkable Prophecies and Predictions of the holy,
learned, and excellent James Usher, late Lord Archbishop of Armagh
and Lord Primate of Ireland." London, 1678.

If the author of these tracts had been endeavouring to prove by his
publication that the Archbishop had not the gift of prophecy, he could
not have been more successful.

p Quis non mirabitur stupendam ejus industriam ac plane incredibilem;
qui libros studiorum suorum instrumenta undccunquc terrarum diligen-
ter conquisivit ? Primus ille omnium ex Oriente per procuratores suos
Pentateuchum Samaritanum Europse intulit (uti testis est Seldenus in
editionis consilio ante marmora sua Arundeliana) cujustribus e Syria de-
latis exemplaribus Bodleianam, Leidensem et Cottonianam ditavit biblio-
thecas, quartum autem sibimet ipsi reservavit. Qui plures libros legit
quam ca^teri conspexerunt, plures autem conscripsit quam alius quivis,
tot negotiis ccrte curisque districtus, vel legere unquam sustinuisset.
Qui sa;pius Evangelium pra>dicavit quam alii quidem plurimi, qui omnem
suam vitam et operam in illo uno collocarunt ; qui saepius hostem diputan-
do profligavit, quam reliqui conspexerunt. Quid porro memorem illud
epistolare commercium, quod ille cum plurimis viris doctis quotidie fere
exercebat, quo eruditionis vel couscientiie nodos solveret? Quantum
interim temporis in consulendis consolandisque aliis impertiebat ? Quan-
tum in excipiendis advenis ? Siquidem in accessibus comes admodum erat
et affabilis. Quantum in privatis precibus, quantum in domcsticis quo-
tidie impertiebat ? Quod denique laboris in munerc suo publico, ac eccle-
siarum omnium rebus administrandis exantlabat ? Qua; ego omnia dum
mccum recolo, non possum certo quin exclamare (quid de Ctesare olim
Cicero) O horribilem plane diligentiam. — Dillingham inVit.Usserii, pag.
81.82.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

299

the skill with which he could make use of the treasures he
possessed. His name became celebrated throughout Europe,
and his services to the cause of literature, more particularly
in the departments of history and chronology, have been ac-
knowledged by all modern writers. The panegyric of Sel-
den has been repeated from every part of Europe: "Jacobus''
Usserius, Archiepiscopus Armachanus, vir summa pietate,
judicio singulari, usque ad miraculum doctus et Uteris seve-
rioribus promovendis natus." Bishop Walton placed him''
at the head of his literary benefactors, and consulted him on
every difficult question which occurred. The Bishop says
of him, " Consilium suum quando ipsum convenirem liben-
ter impertivit, quo in multis me adjutum profiteor; baud
inique tamen tulit, quo erat animi candore, si in quibusdam
dissensum libere profiterer." It appears, however, from the
critical treatises in the last volume of the Polyglot, and
from the vindication of the whole work, that the editor most
frequently bowed to the learning and judgment of the Pri-

1 Prolegomen. ad Marmor. Arundel. Inscriptiones.
' The name of the Archbishop is signed to the recommendation of tho
work in the prospectus first put forth.

" Whereas there hath been presented unto us a draught of an edition
of the Bible, in the original and other learned languages, with a proof of
printed paper, wherein the same are, in several columns, represented to
the reader's view at once, and that (as is suggested) according to better
copies and editions than those of the Coraplut. Antwerp and Paris Bibles,
besides sundry needful additions which are wanting in them, whereby the
edition will become more perfect, and fitter for use than those formerly
mentioned, and yet the price very much lessened. We whose names are
here subscribed, having viewed and well considered the said design, and
being desired to give our judgments and opinions thereof, do conceive,
that both in regard of the said editions and copies, which are more exact
and perfect than those followed in other Bibles ; and of the various read-
ings and additions mentioned in the said draught, as also of the method
and order wherein the said languages are digested ; this work will become
more complete and perfect, and also more useful than any that hath been
hitherto published in that kind ; and that the printing thereof will con-
duce much to the glory of God and the public honour of our nation. And
therefore we do heartily desire that it may receive all due encouragement
from all whom it may concern.

"Ja. Armachanus.
"J. Selden."

300

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

mate, who contributed the various readings of sixteen ma-
nuscripts, which he had collated.

Nor was the assistance he gave to literary men confined
to the eastern languages. He appears to have been most
anxious about the study of northern antiquities, which lay
buried in the Gothic and Saxon languages. The learned
Abraham Whelock, Professor of Arabic and Saxon in the
University of Cambridge, in the preface to the Saxon
translation of Bede's History, acknowledges the encou-
ragement he received from the Primate in carrying on his
Saxon lectures at the University : and in his notes upon
the Persian Gospels expresses his obligations for the infor-
mation he obtained from the same eminent scholar, as to
the Doxology of the Lord's Prayer found in an ancient Go-
thic version of the Gospels. Francis Junius, in publishing
an ancient Saxon poem, supposed to be written by Csedmon,
a monk, states that he was supplied with the manuscript by
the Archbishop of Armagh ; and he also published a very
learned letter^ from the Primate to himself, relating to the
Gothic translation of the four Gospels, which he transcribed
from the Codex Argenteus.

The Primate's ideas of what could be effected by human
industry have been embodied in the answer to a request,
that he would give directions in writing for the advance-
ment of solid and useful learning, both sacred and profane.
The Primate thought the object would be best attained,

1. By learned notes and illustrations of the Bible.

2. By considering and inquiring into the ancient councils
and works of the Fathers.

3. By the orderly writing and digesting of ecclesiastical
history.

4. By gathering together whatsoever may concern the
state of the Jews from the destruction of Jerusalem to the
present age.

5. By collecting of all the Greek and Roman histories,
and digesting them into a body.

For the purpose of carrying out this gigantic undertaking,

' Works, vol. 16. pag. 189.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

301

lie proposed that the most loarru'd laeii from the two English
Universities should be presented to the prebends in the dif-
ferent cathedral churches, and enjoined to devote their time
to the advancement of this great object. So early as the year
1626, he had addressed a letter to the University of Oxford,
urging the revival' of the works of the ancient Fathers of
the Church ; from which the following extract is preserved
by Dr. Parr : " The business of reviving the ancient Fathers
works in Latin (so long projected and so many years fol-
lowed by Dr. James) I do greatly approve, and judge it to
be (as the times now are, and the books now printed at Co-
logne and elsewhere) most necessary, tending to the great
honor of this famous university ; the benefit of them that
shall be imployed therein, and the great good of the Church :
And if the heads of the university would be pleased, or might
be intreated to incourage and employ some of their younger
divines herein (whereof 1 see so great store, and some I
have found very painful in another kind) I shall think my-
self greatly honored by this University (as I confess I have
been very much already) if by my means they may be the ra-
ther encouraged to the performance of this great work." The
proposal, unfortunately, was not carried into effect. The

' The constant advice of the Primate to young students was, not to con-
fine themselves to epitomes, but to set themselves in earnest to read the
ancient authors ; to begin with the Fathers and peruse their works in
chronological order, and carefully to peruse along with them the Church
histories of the period, by which the student would understand the rise
and progress of the various heresies, and the particular doctrines and
ceremonies which prevailed or were introduced in each century. He dis-
suaded young divines from studying the writings of the schoolmen farther
than was necessary for understanding the controversies with the Church
of Rome, as their works were calculated only to puzzle, and tended to
advance neither religion nor learning, being well described by Pruden-
tius :

" Fidem minutis dissecant ambagibus
Ut quisque lingua est nequior :
Solvunt ligantque quaestionum vincula
Per syllogismos plectiles."

The Archbishop was particularly anxious that new terms should not be
introduced into theological discussions ; he always suspected those who
changed the terms used by the ancient writers, and quoted the maxim,
" Qui nova facit verba, novagignit dogmata."

302

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

rewards of learning were swept away, and the prediction"
of Bishop Hackett was fulfilled. A second time the cathe-
dral establishments have been removed, no doubt from a
better motive, but, it is to be feared, with dangerous conse-
quences. The dangers of the Church are at this moment
what they were when Archbishop Ussher made that appeal.
The Church is now as then, placed between the two ene-
mies, Romanism and ultra- Protestantism. Archbishop
Ussher was too well versed in these controversies not to
perceive that learning was the only human safeguard of the
Church ; a profound knowledge of the Scriptures in all their
bearings; a ready acquaintance with history, sacred and pro-
fane ; a thorough knowledge of antiquity. The great
strength of Romanism is her appeal to antiquity, and it is
only by such historical knowledge as Ussher possessed, that
appeal is satisfactorily refuted. The errors of ultra- Protes-
tantism lie in the opposite direction, but the same pro-
cess is to be applied to their removal ; the same application
of profound and diversified learning. And where is this
learning now to be procured ? The cry has been suc-
cessful against sinecures in the Church, and under that in-
vidious name has swept away the rewards, the support of
literary exertion ; and can we expect that young men of
eminent talents will sacrifice their hopes of advancement
and the enjoyments of life, to study in their earlier, and to
want and destitution in their more advanced years ? It is
much to be feared that the progress of events will soon
prove that the Church requires more than the service of its
parochial clergy, and that she will seek in vain for the
faithful son to defend the faith once delivered to the saints,
who has furnished himself with that panoply of learning,
which freedom from bodily toil could alone enable him to
prepare.

It had been the intention of Archbishop Ussher to be-
queath his magnificent library, consisting of nearly ten
thousand books and manuscripts, to Trinity College, Dub-

" Bishop Hackett said : " Upon the ruins of the reward of learning no
structure can be raised up but ignorance ; and upon the chaos of igno-
rance no structure can be built but profaneness and confusion."

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

303

lin, as a token of gratitude to the place where he had
received his education. But the destruction of all his pro-
perty, from the disastrous events of the time, obliged him
to change his disposition of it, and leave it, as his only
worldly possession, to his daughter, who had not received
any fortune from him, and was the mother of several chil-
dren. As soon as it was known that the library was to be
disposed of, the King of Denmark and Cardinal Mazarin
became competitors for the purchase, and a considerable
sum was offered ; but the Protector issued an arbitrary
order to the executors^ that they must not sell the books
without his permission. At the suggestion of some public-
minded individuals, the officers and soldiers of the victorious
army in Ireland, emulating the generosity of their predeces-
sors in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, subscribed £2200 in
order to present the library to the institution for which it
had been originally designed ; and the executors were com-
pelled to accept that sum, though much less than what had
been previously offered. With the library were given all
the Archbishop's MSS. which were not in his own hand-
writing, and a small but valuable collection of coins. When
the books arrived in Ireland the Protector and his son re-
fused to permit their being placed in Trinity College, but
kept them in the Castle of Dublin, under the pretence of
reserving them for the library of a new College or Hall,
which they intended to erect in Dublin. During the con-
fusion which followed the Protector's death, the precious
collection was exposed to various depredations, and many
books and most of the valuable manuscripts were stolen.
On the accession of Charles II. the library became his
property, and was presented by him to Trinity College,
Dublin, where it remains, a valuable but small part of its

" We can scarcely conceive a more unjustifiable act of tyranny than
this ; it was an act of direct robbery : yet Dr. Aikin endeavours to palliate
it. He says that the Protector stopped the sale, "conceiving that it would
be a disgrace to his administration to permit such a literary treasure to
be sent out of the kingdom." The excuse is utterly valueless. The act
is only one of the many proofs which can be produced, that the liberty of
the subject was not secured by the deposition of Charles I.

304

LIFE OF ARCHCISHOr USSHER.

noble library, bearing evident traces of the shameful treat-
ment to which it had been exposed.

The first work published after the Primate's death was a
collection of tracts by Dr. Bernard, to which he affixed the
title of, " The Judgement of the late Archbishop of Armagh
and Primate of Ireland. 1. Of the extent of Christ's death
and satisfaction. 2. Of the Sabbath and observation of
the Lord's day. 3. Of the ordination of other reformed
churches, with a vindication of him from a pretended change
of opinion in the first, some advertisements upon the latter,
and, in prevention of further injuries, a declaration of his
judgment on several other subjects." Dr. Bernard would
have consulted much better for the reputation of the Arch-
bishop if he had not published these papers. He has so mixed
his own opinions and comments with the Archbishop's, that
it is difficult to ascertain how far we can receive them as the
judgment of the Primate; and he has undoubtedly added
much in order to conciliate the favor of the Presbyterians,
with utter disregard to the character or declared sentiments
of his patron. The book on the satisfaction of Christ was
written in the year 1G17, before the synod of Dort, and was
carried there without the consent of the author, and com-
municated to many of the members. Its opinions were not
sufficiently violent to please some of the deputies, who did
not scruple to denounce it as favouring Arminianism and
even Popery. In answer to these the Archbishop published
the defence of his opinion.

I have already remarked" upon the unfairness of Dr. Ber-
nard publishing a short extract from a letter of the Arch-
bishop with respect to foreign ordinations. It seems merely
to have been extracted for the purpose of affording Bernard
an opportunity of explaining away all the statements of the
Archbishop, and establishing on his authority his own false
and mischievous opinions. He subsequently published a
tract about the meaning of Babylon in the Apocalypse,
which was certainly never intended for publication in such a
form by the Archbishop. It is evidently only the rough

See above, pag. 258.

LIFE OF AUCHBISIIOP USSHER.

305

draught of what might afterwards have been expanded into
a treatise worthy of the Archbishop's name.

The next work published was " the Power of the Prince."
This had been written many years before his death, and pre-
pared for publication by the Primate. It had originally been
composed at the request of Lord Strafford. On the breaking
out of the disturbances in Scotland in 1639, Sir George Rad-
cliffe applied to Dr. Bernard for the Primate's opinion on
the subject, which was immediately sent in writing : and no
sooner did the Primate arrive in Dublin than Lord Straf-
ford called upon his Grace to make public his opinions,
which he accordingly did, by preaching two sermons before
the State in Christ Church, on the text : " I" counsel thee
to keep the King's commandment, and that in regard of the
oath of God." Lord Strafford subsequently communicated
to the Lord Primate not only his own wish, but that of the
King, that he should either print these sermons or write a
treatise on the subject. He preferred the latter, and brought
the treatise over with him to England, where it was sub-
mitted to the King, " who having read the book, signified
his will and pleasure that it should be printed, to the end
that all his beloved subjects might receive the like satisfac-
tion from the same, as himself had done." The Archbishop
immediately sent the copy to London, that it might be
printed, but the person to whom it was intrusted, either
through carelessness or design, lost the manuscript, and it
never was recovered. The Archbishop sought in vain for
the original among his numerous papers, and never ceased
to express his regret at the loss of a work upon whicli he

" Eccles. chap. viii. ver. 2. Dr. Bernard says, "that the Primate's
judgment was always the same, and so declared by him on all occasions,
since I had the happynesse to be known to him : as annually upon the
King's inauguration day (which was constantly observed by him at
Drogheda with great solemnity), and occasionally in some learned ser-
mons preacht by him at tlio opening of the two Parliaments. And espe-
cially upon the first solemnity of his present Majestie's birth-day, Anno
1630. at Dublin. [See above, pag. 1 11.] But most fully in his two speeches,
the one made anno 1622, in defence of the oath of supremacy ; the other
anno 1627, before the Lord Deputy Falkland," &c. — Clavi Trahales,
pag. 48.

VOL. I. X

306

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

had spent so much labor. After his death his executors
were more successful, and discovered the original in the
handwriting of the Archbishop, but it was not a time to
publish such a treatise, and they were obliged to wait for
a more favorable opportunity. Immediately after the Re-
storation the Archbishop's grandson, James Tyrrell, pub-
lished the work, with a dedication to Charles II., and a
learned preface by Bishop Saunderson. The object of
that eminent Prelate, in the preface, was to vindicate the
doctrine of Archbishop Ussher by pointing out the weak-
ness of the arguments, by which " the original of all go-
vernment is derived from the people by way of pact or com-
pact, and answering the clamour raised against churchmen
for asserting the power of sovereign princes, and requiring
the obedience of the subject, which he considers can be com-
pletely performed by one short passage of St. Paul, ' Put
them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to
obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.' "

The Bishop observes that, in this work, "every thing
may be found which can be met with either in the Holy
Scriptures, fathers, philosophers, common reason and the
laws and statutes of the realm to prove it altogether unlawful
for a subject to take up arms against his sovereign prince."
The opinions advocated are the same which the Primate
maintained in the answers^' to some queries sent him after
the war had begun, by some person in the parliamentary
army, relative to the lawfulness of taking up arms. In these
he decidedly pronounced in favor of the duty of passive obe-
dience to the sovereign, and the obligation of rising in his
defence when summoned. His aim and object he states to
be, " no other but to confirm all good subjects in their duti-
ful obedience to their prince, and to prevent sedition and
rebellion in such, as being otherwise well-minded, might,
perhaps, for want of better information, be drawn out of
the way, and misguided to their own destruction."

It has been already stated that the Archbishop was em-
ployed upon preparing his Chronology at the moment he

y See before, pag. 239.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

307

was seized with his last iUness. The manuscript of this was
intrusted by his son-in-law, Sir Timothy Tyrrell, to Dr.
Barlow, the President of Queen's College, Oxford, and
afterwards Bishop of Lincoln, who published^ it at Oxford.
This work is imperfect at the beginning, but I am inclined
to think that the lost chapter is among the MSS. in the
Library of Trinity College ; it is, however, in so mutilated
a state that it was impossible to publish it.

The Archbishop appears, from the MSS. I have examined,
to have formed many plans for the Chronology. There is
a manuscript " De Temporibus sacris libri tres;" of this all
that remains is the division of the first two books into chap-
ters, and the subjects of each. There is another manu-
script divided into five books. The present form seems to
have been planned on the 10th of July, 1654, divided into
two parts, Chronologiae sacrse pars prior, pars posterior.
The object of this work was to establish the dates fixed in
the Annals, and to ])rove that the chronological calcula-
tions made use of in that work agreed with the accounts
given in Scripture, and by profane authors ; an argument
which could not have been carried on in the Annals them-
selves, without interrupting the order of events.

It had been the intention of the Archbishop to add to
this work a tract on the primitive year and calendar of the
ancient Hebrews.

' I have deviated from the order observed by him in the publication.
In bis edition of the vi'ork the synchronisms of the kings of Judah and
Israel were placed first, as being more perfect than the other part. This
arrangement was censured by Dr. Parr, and the editor of the Paris edi-
tion adopted the true order, which I have followed. There is a curious
oversight in the Paris edition. They copied the first edition, and called
what is with them the first part, "Pars hsec altera uKifaXog." I was, how-
ever, principally induced to make the change by a note which I found
written by Dr. Barlow in his copy of the work, which is preserved in the
Bodleian Library. The note is as follows : " Est error manifestus in his
schedis disponendis ; pro parte (enim) altera hujus Chronologiae inscribi
debet prima, dum caput primum (pag. 43) incipit cum temporis initio;
c. ii. de Temporis progressu ; ut relirjua capita xiii. scquentia eontineant
Chronologiam sacram Veteris Testamenti a Diluvio usque ad tempera
Elonis, Jud. c. xii. Chronologia enim, cap. xiii. relicta est imperfecta.
Chronologia vero AnnorumRegum, &c., quamvis incipit hie liber, debuit
ordine temporis non prfccedere sed sequi.

X 2

308

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

For the next work we are indebted to the care of
Archbishop Sancroft, who procured the manuscript by the
assistance of Dr. Parr, and employed his chaplain, Dr.
Henry Wharton, to edit the tracts, with this title: " His-
toria dogmatica Controversise inter Orthodoxos et Pon-
tificios de Scripturis et Sacris vernaculis. Accessere ejus-
dem Dissertationes duse, de Pseudo-Dionysii scriptis et de
Epistola ad Laodicenos." In the first of these Tracts the
Archbishop proves, by extracts from the Jewish writers be-
fore Christ, and also from the Greek and Latin Fathers
down to the year 600, that it was not the practice to cele-
brate public worship in an unknown tongue, and that the
people were exhorted to study the Scriptures. He then
explains the origin of the Popish error on the subject, and
proceeds to give extracts from various ecclesiastical writers
down to the year 1526, to prove that witnesses were not
wanting at any time to the truth, and that the consent of
all ages in establishing the Popish doctrines is a mere fic-
tion. To conclude this part of his subject he gives a list of
persons who were punished in England during the first
part of the sixteenth century for reading the holy Scrip-
tures in the vulgar tongue. The Archbishop next proceeds
to give authorities for reading the Scriptures from the Acts
of Councils, from the civil law and the decrees of emperors
and kings, from the canon law and the opinions of Popes,
and then from the practice of the primitive Church. He
concludes with an account of the contrary practice adopted
by the enemies of the Church, and with the testimonies of
adversaries.

Renaudot has attacked this treatise with great vehe-
mence ; he has even gone the length of asserting that the
Archbishop did not understand the versions of the Scrip-
tures, and had not seen the liturgies to which he referred :
" Ea* porro omnia, quae in adversaria conjecerat, ad ver-
siones Sacrge Scripturse et Liturgias spectantia hominis
sunt, qui qusecunque occurrebant absque delectu colligebat.
Nam quae de utroque argumento habet, prsesertim de ver-

» Liturg. Oriental Coll. torn. i. Dissert. Praev. c. vi. pag. xlix.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

309

sionlbas, a nemine scribi poterant, qui levissiniain illarum
notitiam habuisset. De Liturgiis ita loquitur, ut nullam
vidisse satis intelligatur." To answer such a charge would
be an insult to the memory of Primate Ussher. But, igno-
rant as he considers the Primate, Renaudot does attempt
to answer liis great argument. He says : " Prtecipuum
argumentum duxit ab Orientalium ecclesiarum exemplo,
* Syri enim Syriace, ut Grseci Greece, Coptitse Coptice,
Armeni Armenice, ^Ethiopes iEthiopice sacra faciunt.'
Ita sane neque tantum operse ponendum fuerat ad rei vul-
garis et notissimse probationem. Grseci Greece, Syriace
Syri liturgias celebrant antiquitus, id nemo inficiatur, nisi
illi forte, qui bellum illud de Crucis titulo argumentum ad-
mirantur. At quod inde Usserius et alii collegere, sacra
eorum Christianorum quos enumerant exemplo, populari
sermone celebranda esse, falsissimum est. Quippe Syri or-
thodoxi, Jacobitse et Nestoriani Syriacam linguam, cujus
ab aliquot sseculis usus vulgaris nuUus est, non magis iiitel-
ligunt, quam plebs rusticana nostra Latinam." It is scarcely
necessary to point out the fallacy of this answer. The ar-
gument of Archbishop Ussher did not relate to the present
state of the Eastern liturgies, but to the past. It is not of
any consequence to the truth of his conclusion, whether the
modern Syrians understand the Syriac Liturgy any more
than the modern Romans understand the Latin. The
question is, what was the practice of the Church for the first
six centuries. This question the Archbishop determines
by the existence of liturgies in the language which tlie peo-
ple understood, and this determination cannot be affected
by the subsequent change of language, which prevents the
liturgy being any longer intelligible. This fact only proves
that the primitive practice was not continued, and that
many churches now do not use a liturgy which is intelligi-
ble to the congregation, — a position which will not be con-
tested by any opponent of the Romish Church. The argu-
ment of the Archbishop is unanswerable, and has been
admitted as such by many able advocates of the Romish

*> Liturg. Oriental. Coll., lorn. i. Dissert. Pr;cv. c. vi. pag. xliv,

310

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

communion, who are quoted in the Historia Dogmatica.
" Optandum videtur," says Cassander, " ut juxta apostoli-
cum mandatum et priscum Ecdesise raorem in lingua vul-
gari preces peragerentur,"

To the Historia Dogmatica are annexed two treatises,
the first " De Pseudo-Dionysii scriptis," the second " De
Epistola ad Laodicenos." Both these treatises seem to be
oilly the sketches of a larger work. The Archbishop com-
mences the treatise on the writings of Dionysius by giving
the four arguments, which Photius, the Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, quotes from Theodorus the Presbyter. To
these he adds various others from the introduction of sub-
jects which belong to a later age than that of Dionysius,
the institution of monks, and many ceremonies which noto-
riously had not commenced at so early a period. He also
shows the inconsistencies of his statements as to the death
and assumption of the Virgin Mary. The Archbishop re-
fers*^ twice in this Treatise to his Bibliotheca Theologica.

<^ In the Bibliotheca Theologica the Archbishop attributes the author-
ship to Apollinaris, and from the manuscript of that work Dr. Cave has
quoted the following passage, illustrative of the history of these spurious
writings :

" Quum primum in lucem prodierunt Dionj'sio Areopagitse scripta at-
tributa (quorum inter primos memlnit Johannes Philoponus), quod multa
laborarent obscm-itate, scholiis ilia sub sexti sseculi initia illustranda cen-
suit Johannes Scythopolita, in quorum prooemioagnoscittamen, quod roXfiw-
ai rifff (sic enim loquitur) Xoic'opsTi' ei'e aipiutiQ rbv Gelov i\iovv<nov. Pos-
teaque de loco, ubi couservata fuerunt haec scripta, addit, AiaKovog Si
TiQ ' Pdtfiuiog, Hirpog ovojia, Sirjy}]<Tar6 fioi TravTaTa rou 9ilov Atovuclov
auiS^ftrQai, Kara Tt)v iv 'Vwjiri, Twv'Kpwv l3ifi\to6r)Kiiv dvctrtOsii-Uva.

" Et adhsereses quidem quod attinet, in collatione anno 532 inter Catho-
licos et Severianos habita, cum hairetici Dionysii Areopagitse scripta
pro se allegassent; aCatholicis de falsitate autoris exceptioneminterposi-
tam fuisse constat ; quod ilia neque Cyrillus neque Athanasius agnovisset :
et satis dubie de iisdem postea locutus est Gregorius M. ita inquiens,
' Fertur Dionysius Areopagita, antiquus videlicet et venerabilis pater,
dicere : quod ex rainorum angelorum agminibus foras ad explendum mi-
nisterium vel visibiliter vel invisibiliter mittunt.' De Romana vero biblio-
theca non negligenda est etiam ilia Anastasii bibliothccarii cum Grreco-
rum sententia consentiens conjectura in epistola ad Carolum Calvum
anno 860, exarata. Unde ego veram esse Grrecorum opinionem conjicio,
perhibentium libros ejus a prioribus hrereticis occultatos ; donee longo
post tempore ex opusculis ejus solus codex, qui nunc habctur, est Romae

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

311

The treatise on the Epistle to the Laodiceans refers to
the well-known controversy, and appears to have been only
a fragment of a larger dissertation.

I have already given'^ an account of the treatise upon
Corbes and Herenachs. Two other treatises were pub-
lished respecting the ancient constitution of Ireland. In
the treatise, " Of the first Establishment of English Laws
and Parliaments in the Kingdom of Ireland," the Arch-
bishop shows that, after the establishment of the English
government in Ireland, " such Statutes as were enacted
in Parliaments held in England, were intended always to

repei'tus, cseterisque, .aclhuc ineditis, nondum inventis, in Grfeciam aspor-
tatus. Ch'ca an. 630. jMaximus monacluis sua iu Dionysium scholia edidit;
in quibus contra eos disputat, qui Areopagitie scripta ilia adjudicabant,
et Apollinario attribuebant. Circa an. 649, Martinus I. in Synodo Ro-
mana contra htereticos liabita, Dionysium Areopagitam citat. Inter alios
libros a Paulo Papa circa an. 767. ad regem Pipinum missos, fuisse Dio-
njsii Areopagita; libros Grsece scriptos constat ex vigesima quinta Pauli
epistola a Gretsero edita. Anno DCLXXX. Agatho P. in epistola ad Imp.
CP. citat locum Dionysii ex libro divinorum noniinum. Anno DCCXCIV.
Hadrianus I. in libro de imag. ad Carolum Latine citat testimonia e.x
Dionysii epistola ad Johannem Evang. et libro de coelesti Hierarchia.
Anno DCCCXXIV. Dionysii authenticos libros Gra>ca lingua conscriptos
QSconoraus EcclesiiE CP. et cseteri legati Michaelis Imp. ad Ludovicum
Pium in ipsa vigilia solenuitatis S. Dionysii prresentarunt : ut habet
Hilduinus, qui turn adfuit, in praef. Areopagitic. et Sigebertus in Chron.
ad ann. DCCCXXIV. Inde in epistola ad Hilduinum (Dionysiaci coe-
nobii apud Parisienses tunc abbatem) ei mandat Ludovicus Imp. ut acta
Dionysii tum ex aliis scriptis, turn ex libris (inquit) ab eo patrio sermone
conscriptis, et auctoritatis nostrse jussione, ac tuo sagaci studio, inter-
pretumque sudore in nostram linguam explicatis consignaret, et Hildui-
nus in responsione ad eandem. ' De notitia (inquit) librorum quos patrio
sermone conscripsit, et quibus petentibus illis composuit, lectio nobis per
Dei gratiam et vestram ordinationem, cujns dispensatione interpretatos
scrinia nostra eos petentibus reserant, satisfacit.' Undo colligitur si non
ab Ililduino ipso (quo ad annum DCCCXXIV. Baronius incliuat) saltern
ab aliis, Ludovici Pii jussu, Dionysii libros Latine fuisse versos. Unde
hausta translatio epistoltc ad Apollophancm (quie in nostris Grsecis non
extat) ad Joannem Apostolum, et majoris partis epistolas ad Demopliilura,
quae ipsius Hilduini Areopagiticis inserta Icgitur. Ad ann. 1180, Joan-
nes Sarracenus (Joannis nostri Sarisburicnsis familiaris) suam Dionysii
versionem edidit: Ilobertus Grosthead Lincolnicnsis Episcopus circa an.
1250. Thomas vero Vercellensis Abbas Commentaries suos in Dionysium
.scripsit circa an. 1242."
See above, pag. 28.

312

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

have been made for the government as well of this king-
dom as of the other;" and he refers particularly to the Sta-
tute enacted at Westminster in the fourth year of King
Henry V., touching promotion of clerks of the Irish na-
tion, "by which it is evident that the Kings of England,
granting liberty of holding Parliaments in this land, in-
tended nothing less than to abridge their own authority
thereby, or to exempt the inhabitants of this realm from
the power of the laws, which should be made in the mother
kingdom." The matter was first called into question in the
second year of Richard I! I., and finally determined by the
Chief Justice of England, with the consent of all the
Judges assembled in the Exchequer Chamber, " that the
Statutes made in England do bind those of Ireland." He
answers the argument alleged from Poyning's Statute, con-
firming all Statutes heretofore made in England, by the
fact that the same Parliament passed an Act confirming the
Statutes made at Kilkenny; and that in the reigns of Henry
IV. and Henry VI. similar Acts were passed, confirming
Statutes passed by former Parliaments, " whereby it is ma-
nifest that from the reviving or confirming of any Statutes
no sufficient argument can be drawn to disannul the autho-
rity of those Acts before such confirmation." In the Par-
liament begun at London in the twenty-first year of King
Henry Vlll., the Act of Faculties was ordained, not only
for the realm of England, but also for all other the King's
dominions, and "the States of Ireland, assembled in Parlia-
ment in the twenty-eighth year of the same King, thought
it nothinof strange that the effects of the Act, ordained in
England, should be thus extended to the King's other do-
minions, but freely acknowledged so much."

From ^:he Act of Edward II., desiring that Parliaments
should be held once a year, and from the Act of Henry V I.,
restraining for a time their being called oftener, the Arch-
bishop infers that " the principal use of Parliaments in for-
mer times was not so much to make new laws, as to see the
old put in execution, and to advise of other matters that
concerned the state of the Commonwealth." He then gives
instances of the various purposes for which they were sum-

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

313

moned; sometimes for the trial of some great personages,
sometimes for consultation in times of great danger, some-
times for viewing the state of the king's tenants, sometimes
for hearing and determining controversies of right between
party and party, and sometimes for enacting and establish-
ing Statutes for the government of the land.

The other treatise is " a Discourse showing when and
how far the Imperial laws were received by the old Irish and
the several inhabitants of Great Britain." This treatise
appears to have been written for the use of Sir Arthur
Duck, and was incorporated by him in his work on civil law.
The Archbishop maintains " that the Irish never received
the imperial law, but received still their own Brehon law,
which consisted partly of the customs of the land, partly of
the ordinances enacted by their kings and chief governors."
Yet it appears from Sir John Davies that the Brehons in
giving of judgment were assisted by scholars, who had
learned much of the civil and canon law. The natives of
Scotland, being a colony of the Irish, used the like custo-
mary laws, until David introduced the laws of Justinian
about the middle of the twelfth century, or, as the Arch-
bishop considers more probable, about the middle of the four-
teenth century, referring it not to David I. but to David II.

In Britain the laws of Rome were observed, until the
Saxons drove the Britons into Cornwall and Wales, when
they returned to the customary laws of their own country,
having no written law until the year 940, in the reign of
Howel-Dha. The civil law was introduced into Enofland
in the year 1149 by Vacarius. Every attempt was made
to suppress it by Stephen, but it was restored again in the
reign of his successor, Henry II. A second attempt to
suppress the study of it was made by a king's writ in 1235,
but the clergy still continued to study it, as appears from
a reproof given to them by Roger Bacon in the reign of
Edward I., and the profession of it was finally established
at both the Universities, " with a protestation, however,
that the kingdom was not subject to the rule of that law ;"
as appeareth by the proceedings of the Parliament, anno 2
Richardi II.

314

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

Both these treatises were printed by Gutch in his Col-
lectanea Curiosa, from copies taken by Archbishop San-
croft, of the original MSS. preserved in the Archiepiscopal
Library at Lambeth, in the handwriting- of Archbishop
Ussher*.

I have already stated that the Primate never printed any
sermons but two, and expressed a wish that none should
be published as his. A few were printed during his life,
and in the year 16G0 a volume appeared with the title :
" Eighteen Sermons, preached in Oxford, 1640, of Conver-
sion unto God, of Redemption, and Justification, by the
Rev. James Ussher, late Bishop of Armagh, in L'eland ;
published by Jos. Crabb, Will. Wall, Thos. Lye, Ministers
of the Gospel, who wrote them from his mouth, and com-
pared their copies together ; with a preface concerning the
life of the pious author, by the Rev. Stanly Gower, some-
time Chaplain of the said Bishop, now ministerin Dorchester.

" He being dead yet speaketh. Heb. ii. 4."

These sermons I have reprinted in the thirteenth volume
of the Archbishop's works, not without considerable doubts
as to the propriety of disobeying the Archbishop's wishes.
There are in existence several volumes of manuscripts pur-
porting to be sermons of the Archbishop. The only one
of which there appears distinct evidence that it was taken
from notes of his sermons, is preserved in the Library of
Balliol College, Oxford, and a copy was given me by the
kindness of the Master, the Rev. Dr. Jenkyns. This volume
was given to the Library of Balliol College, by William
Crooke, a bookseller in London, about the year IG93. In
the marginal references are several allusions to the Archbi-
shop's works: " See my answer to the Jesuit's Challenge ;"
" See my Treatise de Christianarum Ecclesiarum succes-
sione et statu, c. vii. ss. 2 1 , 22, and the Answer to the Jesuit,
p. 514, 515." The following note must also refer to the
Archbishop: "Jo. Tissington, in Confessione cont. Jo.
Wicliff, quam MS. habeo." From these references it would
appear that the sermons in this collection were copied from

* They are printed now in the eleventh volume of the Archbishop's M'orks.

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

315

the Archbishop's notes ; and that he made very full notes^ of
his sermons is evident from the circumstance related before^,
of his having' preached the same sermon several times, be-
cause he thought the subject so important, " a soul-saving
sermon ;" yet the sermons themselves are not as well put
together as those before published. In order to gratify the
curiosity which exists about the preaching of one so distin-
guished in his day, I have completed the volume with ser-
mons from this collection ; I am convinced, however, that
the Archbishop was very prudent in forbidding the publica-
tion of the notes taken of his sermons, and that an unfavor-
able opinion will be formed of his powers as a preacher,
unless great allowance be made for the imperfect manner
in which they have descended to us.

It remains now to give some account of the MSS.** which

' The notes of three sermons are preserved in the Archbishop's hand-
writing, and are published in the fourteenth volume of his works. From
which it will appear what was his usual mode of preparation.

e See page 293.

h The following letter of Dr. Parr to Archbishop Sancroft, respecting
the MSS., is preserved amongst Archbishop Sancroft's papers, in the
Tanner Collection in the Bodleian Library :

" May it please your Grace,

" I presume (upon your Lordship's intimation when I waited
on your Grace) to present to your view som MSS. of that eminent Primat
Usher's, being his various collections and observations. Your Lordship
perhaps may think me easy when I so readyly comply in a matter of this
nature, and indeed I should blame myselfe, but that methinks, your
Lordship's temper is much like to that greate mans, whose memory to
me must be ever precious, with whom I had more than ordinary freedom
and intimate conversation for many yeares, haveing had the happiness
(time was) to be his chaplaine, and a great sharer in his affections. My
Lord, 1 would not expose these things (which cost him so much time and
labour) to every body's view and censure, scarcly to any besids yourselfe,
but not doubting your Lordship's candour, I hope you will preserve those
papers safe in your owne custody, untill your Lordship has given your-
selfe som diversion (at your spare houres) in peruseing them, and after-
ward be pleased to return them, and what else I have (by me) of tliat
kind, your Lordship may command the sight of them.

" I herewith send your Grace 2 fol'., 3 4'"^, and 4 8>"^ You will
easily discern what is written propria manu. There is in the begin-
ning of one of the 4'"^ a treatis of Theologio of Ambros TTsslicr, brother
to the Primate, a very learned young man who died too early. There

31G

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

were left by the Archbishop. There must have been great
destruction of the papers left b)' the Archbishop, as very little

is one of the fo^. which hath in it, The Arehion of Englands high Courts
of Justice, and a catalogue of theMSS. in Bibliotheca Tliuani, and also the
Index of the Greek MSS. in the Vatican. 1 have no more for this time
to say, but to beg your Lordship's pardon for this freedom I take, and
that you would interpret it to be the result from one that valuoth good-
ness in greatness, as the most valuable excellency, and that which chal-
lengeth the reverence and respects, as in your Grace it dos, from

"Your Lordship's humble Servant,
" Cainmerwell, Jan. 5th, 168J." " Ri. Park.

With this letter is preserved the original form of dedication to Arch-
bishop Sancroft, as proposed by Dr. Parr. There does not appear any
letter from the Archbishop, assigning his reasons for suppressing it ; but
there are two other letters from Dr. Parr, intreating his Grace's inter-
ference to expedite the license for publishing the life. Some account has
been given before, pag. 2G2, of the difficulties which impeded the publi-
cation.

THE DEBICATION.

•' To the most Reverend Father, Dr. William Sancroft, Lord Archbishop
of Canterbury, Primate of all England and Metropolitan.

" May it please yo'' Grace,

"I presume to address yo'' Lordship w''' these memorialls of
the life, actions, and death of the most Reverend Prelate, Dr. James
Ussher, sometime Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all L-eland.
And the rather for that he was of yo'' Ldship's order and degree in the
Church, and not only so, but worthy to be ranked w''' the most eminent
of Primitive Bpps in the Christian Church, since the ApTs for learning
and piety, so that it can in no waj' derogate from y"" L<'ship's honno'' to
put a value on him, and to allow him a great hight in yo'' Graces estima-
tion, yo''self being acquainted w"' him, and his virtues in his life-time.

" Besids I had not undertaken this publication of these memorialls in
this age, had not yo"" Lordship (when you allowed me the freedom of ac-
cess) intimated unto me yo'' wish that there might be a more larg and
perfect account given of Archbps Ushers life and character than hitherto
has bin don, w<^'' gave me som encouragm' to remind and review my owne
observations of him for several yeares of my close attendance on him
being entirely acquainted w"' himselfe and all his concernm'*; and per-
ceiveing that yo'' L''ship would often speake most worthyly of him, and
delighted to heare good things said of Primate Vsher, I could not but
think that yo'' L'^ship very well understood the most valuable worth of
the greatest men, and judged that reall piety, accompanied with most
choyce learning, and unfained humility, was cheifly remarkable in the
best qualified men, and most highly dignified in the Church, w'''' made me
think that yo'' Grace was much of his temper, and ever since I have ob-
served so much of him in yo'' L''ship's disposition and carriage, I cannot
choose but pay yo'^ Lordship all the high respects due unto you upon that

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

317

that can be considered valuable now remains. Dr. Parr
directly charges Dr. Bernard with having borrowed several

account, as well as to that reverend dignity of y'' place and office, in the
highest station in the Church.

" My L'' I would not be thought a flatterer either of the dead or liveing
in expectation of any secular advantage thereby, for I court it not, only
I beg yo'' L''ship's pardon if anything I have sayd of, or to yo' Grace
looks like a fawning, for I well know that 'tis but a meane art of begging
the favo'' of great men, w<^'' no good man can like. But my L"" there is
somewhat more that claims yo'' favorable permission of this dedication ;
for that yo'' L''ship knows how much you have contributed toward the
retreeving of those learned letters written by my L'' Primate, and to him
on severall subjects and occasions (herew"' published) w'^'' originalls had
bin lost had it not bin that yo'' L''ship was so inquisitive after y'", and at
last obtained a considerable number of the originals, w"'out w''' these we
have in possession would have bin much maimed, so that yo''L''ship has a
double claim to the performance. And I was very glad to find such an
one as yo''selfe, in this declining age, that disdaynes not to countenance
and encourage the true religion in principle and practice owned and
maintained in the Church of England, of w'^'' our Primate Usher was
ever an invincible assertor and maintainer to his last breath, in opposi-
tion to Popery and all other sectarian deuices and inventions, and upon
this account also I knew not where so well to lodg this narratiue (such as
it is) then in yo'' L''ship's hands.

" And moreover I was the more induC' to this performance of revive-
ing the memory of the learned and holy Primate, because som enuious
and spitfull men have labo''ed to aspers and dash the reputation of that
unspotted Primate, not understanding ther intrinsick worth, nor right
measures of reall piety, loyalty and sounder judgm' in matters of Reli-
gion, Policie, and ancient gouerm' by Bpps in the Church, yet notwith-
standing all calumnies he bore up his unblemished reputation, and stood
firm against all indignities and injuries, as a rock against the waves; and
lett it not be wondered at that som men (none of the best) snarle at emi-
nent men, as little dogs do at strangers, and I make no question but yo''
L''ship has argument enough to silence such bould men, that at all per-
adventure and at random, speake euill of dignities. But my L'' there is
yet another end why I publish these memorialls, W^^'' is partly to remove
the mistakes in som circumstances where those persons who have written
the life of this excellent Prelate, one after another have fallen under in
many instances.

" My L'' I have made this adventure to yo'' Grace as to one not byassed
by any secular interest to misjudg of persons, and things at the rule of
other mens humo'' or reports but to judg righteously as matters are, in
truth ; comparing things w"' things as most congruous to reall piety and
right wisdom, and so far I may p'sume of yo'' L 'ship's acceptation of what
I have herein offered concerning the excellent Primate Usher ; of whom
we speake and declare.

" But, my L**. I do not, I dare not, lay claime to yo'' L'^ship's patron-

318

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

volumes and never returned them. Both in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford, and in the Library of Trinity College,

age of my faileings in the stile or manner of writeing, for herein I can
make no apologie other than that of mine owne insufiBciency to perform
exactly so great an undertaking, never the less I haue on this subject
savcl nothing but the truth concerning the integrity, wisdom, loyalty, and
sanctity of that incomparable Prelate, in all his capacities and occur-
rences dureing the last 13 yeares of his life, and so far I crave yo'
L'^ship's allowance, and for the rest to cuerlooke and pass by the unwil-
ling and inuincible erratas; and prouided my L'' will entertaine a due
value for that admirable Primate, I am content to bare the blame of com-
ing short in my expressions, seeing he has deserued infinitely more than
I could express in words, and if I have not don it as I ought, it is not be-
cause I would not, but 1 could not.

"Please yo' Grace therefore to accept what I offer on this subject
w"" my due respects and reuerence to your eminency in the Church, and
for what I owe to yo'' personall candor, goodness, and piety, v,-^^ altoge-
ther meeting in yo"' Lordship hath hugely oblidged me to loue and honnof
you, who am,

" Your L<'ship's very humble Servant,

"R. P.

" Cammeru-ell, April 2ith, 1684.
'• Most Reuerd Father,

" I haue sent unto yo'' Grace the Life and Letters of the L"*
Primate L'sher. I hope yo'' Grace will peruse them, and after that I make
no question, yo'' Lordship will think that they are designed for the ser-
uice of the King, the Church, and Learning ; tis very much wondered at
by many R' Rev^ Bishops, and other learned and worthy persons that
the book should meet w"" any obstruction as to the publication ; being so
long expected and so much desired ; but when we consider in whose hands
it hath unfortunately fallen o' wonder must cease ; my L"" the whole life
and a greate part of the letters was printed off before the Act passed ;
but Dr. Midgly and Sir Rog. hath had the book for their licencing more
than 12 weeks, and giue no absolute denyall, yet now at last Sir Rog.
L'Estrang tells us that 'tis in the Chief Secretarys possession, and there
it must lye for ought I know much longer : my good Lord will yo'' Grace
be pleased to concern yo'' selfe a little to rescue that silent and innocent
prisoner, that it may com forth. And I am very confident yo'' Lordship
who has so great a value for the memory of that excellent Primate will
be very well pleased when you haue effected this worthy undertaking,
and you will ever oblidg,

" Yo'' faithful and obedient humble Seruant,

" Ri, Parr.

"Cam. Feb. 22, 168|.

" I left the Preface w'*" yo'' Grace in the morning.

"Most Revd. Father in God,

I am much oblidged to yo'' Grace that you vouchsafed to pe-
ruse the life of that excellent Primate as now it is written by me, and

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

319

Dublin, there is a great mass of Collectanea and of Collations,
which attest the extraordinary diligence of the Archbishop,
but scarcely anything in such a state as to be fit for publi-
cation. From the moment of the Archbishop's death great
anxiety was exhibited concerning the Bibliotheca Theolo-
gica, which had, from an early period' of his life, formed
the great object of the Archbishop's attention. The MS.

thank yo'' L''ship very heartyly for yo'' sense and advice given aboute it.
I am of yo' Graces opinion tlaat (as tilings are now) tliose passages re-
felting on the Papists (how true soever) will not be allowed by those in
whose hands the book is now. But my good Lord will it not be pity that
so many other excellent matters both in the life and letters concerning
Loyalty, piety and learning should be stifled for a few expressions or no-
tices at which som men may take offence. I hope it is no crime to say or
write that our King Charles the first was no friend to Popery, and that
he liued and died in the Coiiiunion of the Church of England, w<^'' he
alwayes owned and defended, and for that sense the Bpps^of L-eland gave
about Popery, was a good while agon, tho' it be probable that had they
liued untill now they would not have changed theire opinion; But my
Lord then was then, and now is now. But seeing it is so I humbly offer
to yo'' Grace that if those passages be offensive we will quickly take off
those sheets wherin those matters are, and print them againe, and in-
stead of them make up the vacancy w'*' such things as will be of another
nature, as I think I can easily do w't'out interrupting the story and as
for the letters I know but of two that can justly offend in those instances,
viz', that of the L'' Bp. Bramhals from Paris, and that of S' W'" Bos-
wels to Archbp. Laud fro the Hague ; and if that will satisfie, we will
take them quit away. My Lord, if you please to concern yo''selfe as by
these offers to facilitate the passage abroad of the rest you will doe no
dishono'" to yoi'selfe, but mightyly contribute towards the furnishing the
world w"" a treasure, and ever oblidge me (who otherwise must be at a
loss and too great an expense for me to beare) who am and must allwayes
be

" Your Graces most affectionate and obedient Servant,

" Ri. Parr.

" Cam. Feb. '2Ath, 168|."

On examining the pages in the Life by Dr. Parr, it would seem as if this
offer had been accepted, and an offensive page cancelled. Id page 92
are some severe remarks upon the Roman Catholics, which are brought
rapidly to a close, and pages 93 and 94 are printed in a difTerent type,
evidently for the purpose of concealing the omission of some passage.
The type of these pages is so much larger than that of the work, that
nearly half a page might have been omitted. 1 cannot trace any other
.similar change of type. The letters of Archbishop Bramhall and Sir
William Boswcll were not suppressed.

' He appears to have made some progress in it so early as the year
1608. See his letter to Dr. Ward, vol. xv. pag. 42.

320

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

was committed, at the special desire of the Archbishop, to
the care of his friend, Dr. Langbaine, Provost of Queen's
College, " as the only man on whose learning, as well as
friendship, he could rely, to cast them into such a form as
might render them fit for the press." Dr. Langbaine
proved himself worthy of the trust, and set to work most
laboriously, copying out the manuscript, and endeavouring
to fill up the quotations in the margin, which had been eaten
away by rats. Devoting himself with indefatigable indus-
try to this task during a severe winter, he caught cold in
the Bodleian Library, and died within a year after the Arch-
bishop. Dr. Fell, the learned Bishop of Oxford, endea-
voured to have the work completed, but without success.
The transcript of Dr. Langbaine remains in the Bodleian
Library, fairly written out, but in such a state that it
would require almost as much labor to prepare it for the
press as was expended in its original formation. The origi-
nal got into the possession of Bishop Stillingfleet, and is now
deposited in the British Museum. It is a folio of about 600
pages, written so closely as to be read with great difficulty,
every atom of paper covered with interlineations and mar-
ginal notes lying in every direction. I got a copy made of
Dr. Langbaine's work, and collated great part of it with
the original in the British Museum. It was done vvith
great fidelity, but as every page convinced me more and
more of the impossibility of publishing the MS., 1 gave up
the task. The original was lent by Bishop Stillingfleet
to Dr.Cave"^, and he made great use of it in his valuable pub-

Dr. Cave describes the work as in a worse state than it really was,
and undervalues the assistance which he derived from it. " Sed proh
dolor! opus erat institutum potius quam inchoatum, nec nisi rudis indi-
gestaque moles. Gravioribus enim negotiis occupatus, et belli civilis per
plures annos apud nos grassantis tempestate hinc inde jactatus, vix ultra
confusa quiedam collectanea progressus est. Eruditissimi praesulis auto-
graphum pro summa qua pollet, humanitate mihi communicavit Ed-
vardus Stillingfleet, a;dis Paulinse apud Londinenses Decanus, gentis
pariter ac seculi nostri ornamoiitum. Sed cum baud prseter schedas
quasdam laceras, et misci-o dctritas, male exaratas nulloque ordine dis-
positas contineret, spes, quam conceperam, prsclara exinde in usum
raeum depromendi, magnam partem frustrata est ; paucula excerpsi,

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

321

lication, so that not as much advantage as might be ex-
pected would be derived from an arrangement and publica-
tion of the whole work. There is in the Library of the
Dublin University a small thin folio, which appears to con-
tain the first sketch of the work.

Another MS. which was looked for with great curiosity
was the collection of lectures delivered as Professor of Divi-
nity on the Roman Catholic controversy. These Dr. Parr
states to have been lost, but I am sure that 1 found in our
College Library the work referred to, and, as it was spoken
so much of, have published it. However, it is in a very unfit
state for publication. The MS. was undoubtedly com-
menced as a fair copy for publication, but it never was
finished. There are blanks left in almost every dissertation,
and, though there is a great deal of curious matter and ex-
cellent argument in what remains, yet it is generally the
objection which is most formidable that is left unanswered,
the very subject on which information would be most de-
sired. No doubt the Archbishop left these points for fur-
ther consideration, wishing to make his argument as perfect
as possible, and the pressure of other business, or rather the
unfortunate distresses of his latter years, prevented that com-
pletion ever having been given. Not less anxiety was shown
for thelectures delivered on taking the degree of J3.D. I have
found four different treatises on the seventy weeks, but not
one completed, or even carried on far enough to be interest-
ing. They were evidently the first draughts of what he
was preparing, but the perfect copy is not to be found. I
have made up a volume of those tracts which are in the fit-
test state for publication, and I think it will afford good
evidence that we must rest the character of the Archbishop',

quaj servatis ut plurimum ipsius Usserii verbis, suis locis inseruntur."

Cave Proleijom. pag. 18.

' A German work has classed Archbishop Ussher among the writers on
music. " Usher (Jacob) ein gelehrter Erzbischoff von Armagh uml
Primas von Irrland, geb. zu Dublin am 4 Jan. 1580 ; hat in seinon Auna-
len dcs A. und N. Testaments, wie auch in seinen Britaunicaruni Ec-elc-
siarum autiquitatibus, &c., vorseliiedeiies zur musik Goschichto Gehiirigos
angefuhrt." — (Jvibvr Ilial. Biofj. Lex. Jer Tonkunsllcr.

VOL. I. Y

322

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

and our hopes of information, upon the works which he pub-
lished himself.

There is no monument to mark the spot where the ashes
of Archbishop Ussher repose. The following inscription
had been intended by his friend. Dr. John Greaves, to com-
memorate his learning and virtues :

M. S.

Jacobus Usserius
Archiepiseopus Armachanus
Hie situs est.
Ob

Raram eruditionem,
Ingenii acumen,
Dicendi et scribendi facilitatem,
Morum gravitatem suavitate conditam,
Vitie candorem et integritatem,
^quabilem in utraque fortuna anirai constantiam,
Orbi Christiano et piis omnibus charus,
Omniumque judicio prajterquam suo
Prfesul vere magnus :
Qui Ecclesiara veterum institutis,
Clerum suo cxemplo,
Populum concionibus,
Assidue iustruxit :
Qui Scripturas Veteris et Novi Foederis,
Commentariis ex ultima
Et recondita antiquitate illustravit,
Chronologiam sacram pristino nitori restituit,
Bonarum artium professores inopia afflictos
Munifieentia sublevavit.
Denique qui Hrereses repullulantes calamo erudite contudit.
His ingenii dotibus, liis anirai virtutibus ornatus
Antistes optimus, piissimus, meritissimus,
Inter bella eivilia et patrite suae et Ecclesise funesta,
Sibique luctuosa,
Cum ncc Patriae nec Ecclesiaj diutius prodesse poterat,
In Christo, Pacis auctore, placide obdormivit.
Anno Christi . . .
^Etatis sure . .

LIFE OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER.

323

A CATALOGUE

OF ARCHBISHOP USSHER'S OWN MANUSCRIPTS NOT PRINTED,

AS GIVEN BY DR. PARR.

Lemmata Manuscriptorum.

Censura Patrum et aliorum scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum, sive Biblio-
theca Theologica.

Historire dogmatica; qurestionum inter Ortbodoxos et Pontificios con-
troversarum specimen, in qusestione de communi sacrarum Scripturarum
usu, contra Scripturarum lucifugas. [Since printed.]

De veterum Pascalibus scriptis et de ratione Paschali, quibus computi
Ecclesiastici in universo orbe Christiano, ante Gregorianam reformatio-
nem, aperiuntur ex votustissimis manuscriptis codicibus notis illustra-
tum.

Veterum de tempore Passionis Dominicae et Paschalis Ta evpiaKO/xtpa.
Varise Lectiones et collationes Veteris et Novi Testamenti.

1. Genesis. Longe antiquissimum exemplar Grsecum Cottonianum
cum editione Francofurtensi, collatum.

2. Collatio Psalterii a B. Hieronymo ex Heb. conversi et a Jacobo
Fabro Parisiis An. 1313. editi, cum aliis exemplaribus manuscriptis
et impressis.

3. Annotationes variarum lectionum in Psalmis juxta Masoreth Ju-
dfeorum, sive cum nota aliqua Masoretica.

4. Psalterium cum versione Saxonica interlineata in Bibliotheca Sa-
lisburiensis Ecclesise.

5. Psalterium Gallicum cum Romano collatum et Hebraico napaX-
XijXojg oppositum, Manuscripto in Westmonasteriensis Ecclesia;
Bibliotheca.

6. Collatio Canticorum utriusque Testamenti cum editione vulgata
Latina.

7. Variaj lectiones et collationes N. Test, ex vetustissimis exempla-
ribus.

8. Collatio cditionis Clironici Eusebii a Josopho Scaligero editi cum
Manuscripto e Regia Bibliotheca.

9. Collatio variorum Pentateuchi Samaritani excmplarium cum notis
et observationibus.

10. Chronologia legum Codicis Theodosiani et Justiniani collata cum
Malmosburiensi manuscripto.

Juliana; periodi ad Juliani anni usum et vulgaris iera; Christianie, ad
anni Juliani pariter ct Gregorian! mcthodum accommodatte, fixa jam
Epocha, cum tabula reductionis dierum auni Juliani veteris ad dies anni
Gregoriani novi, hodie usitati in pluribus partibus orbis.

Ratio Bissextorum literarum Dominicaruin, Equinoctiorum et Festo-
rum Christianorum tam mobilium quam inimobilium.

De institutione Chronologica viz. de Tempore ct illius mensura, de die
cjusque partibus, de horis et scrupulis, de hebdomadibus et mensibus, de
anno Astrononiico, de varia annorum supputationc ; secundum Gr»ca
exemplaria.

324

LIFE OF A11CH13ISII0P USSHER.

Do differentia Circull et Spberw, do cursu septem Planetarum ot sig-
norum Cirlestium, etde quin(iuoparallolis in sphora zonas distinguentibus.

Voteres Obscrvationcs cpclestes Chaldaicie, Grajca; et jEgyptiaca?.

Insiguioruiu imporiorum et regnorum, qua; ante Cliristi adventum in orbc
floruorunt successiones et tempera, ad usum voteris HistoriiB studiosorum ;
eorum prresertim qui exoticam Chronologiam cum sacra cont'erre cupiunt.

Series Chronologica Syriaca Regum et Imperatorum Babylonicorum,
Persarum, Gra'corum et Romanorum a Nebuchadnezzar ad Vespasianum
ab anno mundi 4915 ad annum 5583.

De Fastis Magistratuum et Consulum et Triumphorum Romanorum, ab
urbe condita usque ad excessum Csesaris Aitgusti, ex fragraentis marmor-
eis foro Romano effossis, ot a doctissimis nostri temporis Chronographis
suppletis.

Catalogus Consulum ex variis autoribus.

De Ponderibus ot mensuris.

De Primis Ha'reticis et Hseresibus Judajorum.

Annotationcs Rabbinicaj ex scriptis Rabbinorum et eorum saerte Scrip-
tura; Interpretum.

Imperatorum Christianorum a Constantino magno usque ad Justiaianum
constitutiones et epistolaj collects et recensitte.

Veterum Anglo-Saxonum monumenta et Anglo-Saxonicarum epistola-
rum sylloge ex vai'iis MSS.

Epistohc Alcuini varia; ad divorsos missaj ineditse, in Bibliotheca Cot-
toniana MSS. collectoe et recensita?.

Epistohe venerabilis Archiepiscopi Lanfranci ad diversos missce, ex
antiipiissimo excmplari Bibliothecie Cottonianne collcctie et recensita;.

CoUcctiones genealogicaj, Ilistoricte, J.lathematicie, Astrologica;, Chro-
nologica;, et Theologicas varite.

MEMORANDUM.

That out of the forementioned Manuscripts the incomparable Sir Mat-
thew Hale, late Lord Chief Justice (having borrowed them), extracted
those four volumes, which he calls " Chronological remembrances extract-
ed out of the notes of Bishop Usher," mentioned in the Catalogue of his
Manuscripts, which he left to the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn.

Besides those Manuscripts above cited, the Primate Usher had writ-
ton his Polemical Lectures in the University of Dublin, while Professor
there, touching the points in Controversie between the Protestants and
Pontificians, 3 vols. 4to. [Lost.]

Ilis lectures pro forma when he commenced D. D., touching the 70
weeks, Dan. ix. 24. and De mille annis, mentioned Apoc. xx. 4. [Lost.]

His treatise of the Hermage and Oorban lands in England and Ireland,
yet to be seen in Bibliotheca Lambetliiana. [Since published.]

His Collections and observations touching the advancement and rcstaura-
tion of our northern antiquities in tlie Gothicli:, Anglo-Saxoniclc, and the
like obscure languages, and also concerning the doxology found in the
very ancient Gospels in Gotliick.

Ilis numerous Epistles, Latin and English, touching matters of learn-
ing and religion, many of them now printed.

APPENDIX.

APPENDIX.
I.

GENEALOGICAL TABLE,

FROM A MANUSCRIPT IN THE HANDWRITING OF ARCHBISHOP USSHEH.

ArlanJus = Anna

Ussher.

Hereford.

Thomas
Gaiton.

Agneta
Woodbome,

alias
Woodbone.

Thomas = Elizabetha
fitz Simons. Benuet.

Nicolaus = Domina Mar-
fitzSymons. garcta Flunket.

Joannes ~ Joanna Johannes ~ Jeneta

Ussher. Forster. Gaiton. Nangle.

Richardus Stanyhurste, Tliomas
ajor Civi- fitz Symons.
tatis Dub-
lin: 1489.
5^ H. 7.

Henricus = Margaria Nicholaus ^ Cathcrina

Gaiton. Bereeforde. Stanyhurst. Walslie.

Jenetta
Knighte.

Thomas j= Margareta
Ussher. Gaiton.

Jacobus
Stanyhurste.

Anna
Fitz Simons.

Arlandus = Margareta
Ussher. Staniliurste.

Jacobus.

GE^^EALOGY OF TH

AS GIVEN BY SI

Alson, daughter = Ailand Usher ( Bailiff) of Dublin

of — Taylour.
1st wife.

in 1460 and 1402 ; Mayor, 1409
and 1471. His name frequently
occurs on the Statutes of those
days, as an eminent merchant.

Anne, daughter
of — Birford.
2nd wife.

Thomas Usher,
only son.

Elizabeth, daughter
of — Oheevers.

Margaret,
only daughter.

John Usher, of
the City of
Dublin, mer-
chant. Col-
lector of the
Customs of
Dublin.

Joanna, daughter of Wil-
liam Koster, of Killeigh,
by Katherine, daughter

of Birt. of TuUoke ;

the said William's father
was William, who mar-
ried Genet Cusacke, of
Gerardston. — Rot. Pip.
18 H. VII.

William = Alsonc, = John

Bath.

only
daughter
and
heir.

Arland Usher = Reix, daughter

John
Bath.

Margaret, daughter of :
Thomas B"itz-John
of Franston, and
widow of Kichard
Foster. 1st wife.

Bellew,

ob. 13th Feb.

of Hol-

4 Phil, and

lywood.

Bellews-

Mary

town.

Robert Usher, of Sauntriffe = Katherine, daughter Katherine. Alsone.

or Sauntrie, alias Santry,
only son. Alderman of
Dublin ; at. 28 at his fa-
ther's death.

of Sedgrave,

of Kileglan, 1567.
2nd wife.

Richard Usher,
of Santriffe,
alias Santry,
County Dub-
lin, ob. Aug.
1615.

Elinor, daugh-
ter of Robert
Plunkctt, of
Duns.ighly,
by Anne Lady
of Carbery ;
buried in St.
John's, 6th
Sept., 1597.

Walter Ball, = Ellen, :
Alderman obit,
and Mayor 5th
of Dublin: Dec.
ob.SthDe- 1613.
cember,
1598. 1st
husband.

Robert Usher,
of Santry, only
son.

= Sir John
Eliot,
3rd Ba-
ron of
the Ex-
chequer,
ob. nth
Jan.
1616.
2nd hus-
band.

Margaret,
wife of
Robert
Feekins.

Anne, mar-
ried, 1 St,
Thos. son
of Richd.
Barnwall,
byElizab.
Shelton ;
and 2ndly,
to James
Sherlock.

Hose, wife
of John
Shelton,
Alder-
man and
Mayor of
Dublin,
ob. Dec.
1601.
Her hus-
band ob.
25th May,
1008.

AMILY OF USHER,

riLLIAM BETHAM,

f ARMS,

Robert Usher, Philip Usher,

ob. s. p. ob. s. p.

Thomas Usher =

Margaret, daughter of Henry Geydon, or Geton, Alderman
and Mayor of Dublin, by Margaret Birford ; she died

January, 1597, having married, 2ndly, Shillingford ;

3rdly , Richard Staine; 4thly, Sir Ambrose Forth, Knt.,
LL.D.

Margaret,

only
daughter.

John Usher, Alderman of :
Dublin; Sheriff, 1592 ;
ob. 1st May, IGOO. Left
a natural son, Stephen.

Katherine, daughter of Patrick May,
of Dublin, merchant. She married,
2nd, Thomas Hishoppe, of Dublin,
Alderman, and died 17th June,
leiti.

Lawrence =
Usher,
of Dub-
lin, mer-
chant.

Margaret,
daughter
of John
White,
Sheriff
of Dub-
lin ; ob.
26th Ap.
1G03.

Robert
Usher.

Arland
Usher ;

ob.
infans.

Elizabeth,
only dau.
married,
1st, to
Edward
Catling ;
2ndly, to
Christop.
Lynch, of
Croboy,
Recorder
ofDrogh-
eda, qui
ob. 29th
Mar.lG13;
leaving
issue by
her 2 sons
and 10
daughts.

Walter Usher, = Mary,daugh

Alderman of
Dublin, Oct.
12,1600. Will
dated 31st
March, 1636.

of — Ken-
nedy. Will
dated 20th
Nov. 1661.

George' Usher, =p Alson, dau

Amy,
wife of
Robert
Mapas,
ofDub-
lin, mer-
chant ;
ille ob.
HthJan.
1618 ;
2ndly,
of John
Nolan.

Mary

of Dublin.
Will dated
28th June,
1671.

of Patrick
Gough, of
Dublin, Al-
derman.

\ I I I

Christopher. Matthew. John. wife of

Brice, by whom
she had a son,
Richard.

Patrick.

John.

Ignatius.

Walter.

Anne.

Harbara.

Marj'.

APPENDIX I.

Henry Usher, Archdeacon of Dublin,
and Archbishop of Armagh, oh. 2nd
April, IG13, at Termon Feghan.
Buried at St. Slary's, Drogheda. He
married 2ndly, Mary Smith, by whom
he had three daughters.

Margaret, daughter
of Thomas Eliot,
of Balrisk. County
Meath,by Elizabeth
Martin. 1st wife.

Mark Usher, = Christian, daugh-

of Balsoon

ter of Robert
Conway, LL. D.

Luke Usher, Vicar of Fechan,
and Archdeacon of Armagh ;
ob. Gth Nov., at Termon
Feghan, 1C32. Will dated
same day, proved 1 Dth Nov.,
1632.

Mary, daughter of
Teige O'Connor ;
ob. 27th Nov.,
1641.

Rev. Mark Usher, of =p Jane, daugh- Joslin Usher. =

lialsoon. Clerk. Will
dated 19th August,
1698, proved 1st Sept.
following.

Henry Usher.

tor of Gilbert
Rawson, Esq.

James Usher.

of-

daughter

Christiana, only daughter,
wife of William Hamilton,
of Ercnagh, County Down.
Esq. ; ob. 26th Jan. 1680.
Buried at Do^\Tipatrick.

Margaret,
wife of

Banks.

Rev. Arland Ushfir,
of Tifeghan, in the
County of Louth.
Will dated 9th
July, 1659. Ob.
s.p.

GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF USSHER.

Vll

Thomas Usher.

CTiristopher
Usher, ob.
s.p.

Tobit = Margaret,
Usher. daughter
of

Francis
Usher.

William = Margaret,
Usher. dauRlitcr
of Capt.
John Park,
of Dun-
gannon,
County
Tyrone.

Margaret,
wile of
KdwarJ
Donnelan,
D. D.

Dorothy, wife of
Joseph Travers,
of Benborb,
County Ty-
rone, Esq.

Susan, wife of
Gregory
Wright,
Archdea-
con of
Dromorc.

Christian, wife of
Benjamin Bolton,
Esq . , youngest son
of Richard Bol ton ,
Cancell. Hib.

via

APPENDIX I.

George Usher, of rp Aneas, daughter

Dublin, merchant, of Kenan.

ob. 19th Jan. 1609.

John = — daugh.

of-

Usher,

of
Bal-
troie.

Henry Usher, of
Sutton and of
Warrenstou, Co.
of Meath. ■Will
dated 28th June,
1660.

Matthew
Usher.

Richard
Usher;
ob. 16th
May,
1616.

Robert Usher,
consecrated
Bp. of Kildare,
25th Feb. 163.5;
ob. in Eng-
land, Sept.
1642.— Ware.

Jenet,
wife of
Robert
Ball,
Mayor
of Dub-

Rose,
wife
of

Capt.
Ed-
ward

(

Gerald = Alice,
Usher, dau.
only of

son.

Nugent.

Rose.

lin ; ob. Trevor.

5th

June,

1620.

Elizabeth, daughter
of Nicholas Bir-
ford, of Kilrow,
County Meath ;
ob. 10th March.
1658.

Cicely.

Alicia. Mary. Catherine. Jane.

Maria.

GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF USSHER. ix

Amoldus, or Ar- = Margaret, daugh

land Usher ;
ob. 12th, and
bur. 2ilth Aug.
1598, in St.
Werburgh's
church, Dub-
lin.

of .lames Stani-
hurst, Recorder
of Dublin, by
Anne Fitzsi-

Christopher Usher,
Ulster Rex Armo-
rum totius Hiber-
niae. Archdeacon of
Armagh ; ob. coE.
25th June. 1597.

Katherine,
a virgin.

John = Hex. =
Money.

Garvey,
Dean of
Christ
Church,
Archdea-
con of
Meath.

John
Usher ;
ob. s. p.

James ^ Phoebe,

Usher,

daugh-

Arch-

ter of

bishop

huke

of Ar-

Chal-

magh,

loner.

and

D. D.

Primate

and Me-

tropo-

litan

of all

Ireland.

Ambrose Margaret,
Usher. married
to Robert

Mable, Anne,
wife to wife of
Dr. Wil-

Berming- Lewis
ham. Jones,
Bp. of
Kil-
dare.

liam
Hilton.

Sarah,
wife of
Theo-
philus
Buck-
worth,
Bp. of
Dro-
morc ;
be died
1652.

EUinor,
wife of
Robert
Lill, of
Trim,
Esq.;
he died
22nd
Nov.
1640.

I I
Thomasine. Eli2abeth.

, only child,

wife of Sir Timothy
Tyrrell, Knt.

APPENDIX I.

Maud = Christopher Usher, Bailiff of Dublin, anno
Darcy: 1500, and Mayor, annis 1518 61 1524; ob.
ob.Jan. 30th Januarj-, 1525-6, 10th Henry VIII.;
1523-4, also Customer and Collector of the Port
s. p. of D\ib\in.~ Lodge, MS.

1st wife.

Alsone, younger daughter of Thomas
Fitz- Williams of Bray and Meryon.
She married 2ndly, James Fitz- Sim-
mons, of Dublin, merchant ; and
3rdly, James Segrave, Alderman of
Dublin. 2nd wife.

John Usher, of the City of Dublin, merchant, Alderman
and Mayor of the same, 1 56 1 ; set. 2 at his father's
death, 1525. Had livery 1st March, 38 Henry VIII.
Inq. P.M. and Rot. Pip. 38 Hen. VIII. Ob. 1st May,
1600.

Alsone, or Alls, daughter of Sir
William Ne^vman, Alderman
and Mayor of Dublin; ob.
January, 1601, buried 26th of
same month.

Christopher Usher,
died young.

Margaret, daughter of Edward =
Cludde, of Orleton, County
of Salop, Esq., and widow of
George Goodman, of Saint
John's, Gent. ; ob. 8th Sept.
1603, s. p. 2nd wife.

: Sir William Usher, of Donnybrook,
near Dublin. Born 1588. Clerk
of the Council. Knighted by Sir
George Gary, L. D., 25th July,
1603. Will dated 28th December,
1657, proved 26th August, 1659.

Isabella, 2nd daughter
of Adam Loftus,
Lord Archbishop of
Dublin and Chan-
cellor of Ireland ;
ob. 1 1 th, and buried
13th Nov. 1597.

Arthur Usher, of:
Donnybrook,
drowned in the
river of said
place, 2nd Mar.
1628, V. patris.

Judith, eldest daughter of
Sir Robert Newcomen,
Knt., by Katherine, dau.
of Thomas Molyneux,
Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer; ob. 30th July,
1652, and buried Sept.
in St. Owen's, Dublin.

Adam Usher,
Ulster King
of Arms,1632i
ob. 1st July,
1633.

Mary, married to
■William Crofton,
of Temple House,
County of Sligo,
Esq.

Elizabeth,
daughter
of Sir
William
Parsons,
of Bella-
raont, Bt.
Ld. Jus-
tice of
Ireland ;
ob. 29th
Novcmb.
1638.
1st wife.

Arthur
Usher,
ob.
s. p.

Sir Wm. Usher,
of Bridgefoot,
Dublin, Knt.,
20th May, 1030,
lived at theCas-
tle of Grange, in
Co. Wicklow;
died 23rd Apr.
1671, seized of
Portraine, in
CountyDublin,
buried 23rdAp.
1671.

Ursula, only
daughter of
Capt. Geo.
St. Barbe, of
the House of
White Pa-
rish, in Wilt-
sh., by Mary,
daughter of
Edw. War-
burton, de-
scended of
the House of
Arly.inChe-
shire, and
Cornish, in
Flintshire.
2nd wife ;
married 14th
May, 1645.

James,

John,

Adam,

Joane, =

Beverly -

= Grace,

died

ob.

died

daugh-

Usher,

daugh-

young.

s. p.

young.

ter of

Esq.,

ter of

Sir
Percy
Smith,
Knt.

of Kil-
meadon
in Co.
Water-

Sir
Richard
Osborne,
of Bal-

1st

ford;

lynlayton,
Co. Wa-
terford,
Bart.
2nd wife.

wife.

ob.
1083.

Christopher Usher, -
of Dublin, Esq. ;
ob. Jan. 1706, bur.
10th June, 1700, in
St. Audeon's. Will
dated 2nd August,
1701, proved 15th
January, 1706.

Martha, daughter
of Thomas Pig-
got, of Long-
Ashton, in So-
merset, Esq.,
Master of Wards
in Ireland.

Margaret,
married

Nevil ;
both
died in
1682.

Judith, married
to Sir Jolm
Wemys, Knt.
She died nth
Oct. 1674, and
left 2 daugh-
ters.

Elizabeth,
died young.

William Usher, = Letitia, daut. and

ob. 20th Jan.
171S, buried in
St. Audeon's ;
only son and
heir.

co-heir of Sir
Henry Waring,
of Waringston;
ob. 6th Nov.
1732.

Henry Usher, :
Esq., Barris-
ter at Law;
ob. s. p.

Frances, daut.
of Sir Henry
\\'aring, of
Waringston ;
married 1739.

Nehemiah = Martha ; :
Donnelan, ob.July,
Chief Ba- 1797,bu.
ron of the in Saint
Exche- Aude-
qiicr. on's.

: Philip Per-
cival, bro-
ther of
John Earl
of Eg-
raont.

William,
s. p.

Henry,
s. p.

Christopher,

8. p.

John,
s. p.

Martha, wife
of Anthony
Marley, of
Dublin, Esq.

Florence.

I I
Elizabeth. Mary-Anne.

GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF USSHER. XI

Jane, married to Daniel
Molyneux, Ulster King
of Arms, who died 13th
June,] 032. Shedied 17th
May, 1C74, having had
issue 4 sons, Thomas,
William, Samuel, Adam,
and 3 daughters.

Margaret, married to Sir
Beverly Newcomen, Bt.
and son of Sir Rt. New-
comen, Knt., by Cathe-
rine, daught. of Thomas
Molyneux, Chancellor of
the Exchequer.

Alicia, married
to Sir Thos.
rhillips, of
Newtown Li-
mavady,Knt.
She died 1st
April, 1C71.

Eleanor, mar.
Sir Christo-
pher Foster,
Knt., Alder-
man & Mayor
of Dublin.

Anne, wife of Sir Robert
Meredyth, Kt., Chan-
cellor of the Exche-
quer in 1G18, eldest son
of Dr. Rd. Meredyth,
Bp. of I.eighlin. She
died 12th May, ICfiS.
He died 17th October,
1668.

Christopher

Usher,
died young.

Philip
Usher,
died young.

Arthur
Usher.

Margaret,
married to
Sir Paul
Davis, Kt.
Clerk of
the Coun-
cil. She
died 20th
July,1633.

Katherine,
married to
Sir Philip
Percivall,
Knt., an-
cestor of
Lord Eg-
mont. She
died 2nd
Jan. 1681.

Isabella,
married
to Sir
Percy
Smith.

Alice, married to Sir
Theophilus Jones, of
Osbertstown, County
Kildare, Knt., son of
Dr. Lewis Jones, Bp.
ofKillaloe,byMable,
daughter of Arnold
Usher and Margaret
Stanihurst ; ob. 1 2th
January, 1684.

John Usher,
of Monagh-
an ; ob. 1 0th
March, 164,5,
Barrister at
Law.

Alice, daughter of Samuel
Molyneux, of Buttesscy,
3rd son of Daniel Moly-
neux, Ulst. Kingof Arms,
and Jane Usher, daught.
of Sir William Usslier,
Clerk of the Cnuncil.

(

John
Usher,
Esq.,
son and
heir.

I I I I I
Christopher,
Samuel,
William,
William,
Thos..b.l704,
ob. s. p.

I I I
Letitia,
Alice,
Jane.

William
Usher ;
ob. 2ath
Novem-
ber,
1647.

Others,
ob. s. p.

Rev. Adam
Usher.

John
Usher,
ob. s. p.

Rebecca Wye ;
ob. 8th Aug.
1695.

Arthur
Usher.

Martha = Rev. Frederick

Cope.

Usher, Minis-
ter of Clon-
tarf ; ob. 1766.

I I I I
Adam,
William,
Charles,
Arthur.

Henry
Usher ;
ob. 18th

1658.

I I I I
Ursula,
Anne,
Rebecca,
Elizabeth.

xn APPENDIX I.

Mary, daughter =i= Beverly Usher,

Henry CoUey,
of Castlecar-
ber)'. County
of Kildare.

Mary
Usher.

Richard Colley,
assumed the
name of Wes-
ley, or M'el-
lesley, created
Baron Mor-
nington.

Francis
Usher,
died
young.

Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of John Sale,
Esq., LL.D.

of Nicholas Ly-
saght; married
26th of March,
1733.

Mary.

Judith, wife
of Edmond
Schuldham.

Garrett, Earl
of Mor-
nington.

Anne, daugh-
ter of Arthur
Lord Dun-
gannon.

Esq, 1st son,
M. P. for Wa-
terford ; ob.
1756. Will da-
ted 30th Sept.
1755.

Elizabeth,
sister of
Edmund
Schuld-
ham, Esq.

Elizabeth-Catherine.

Richard
Marquess
Wellesley.

William
Baron
Mary-
borough,
Earl of
Morning-
ton.

Arthur
Duke of
Welling-
ton.

Henry
Baron
Cowley.

Rev. Gerald
Valerian,
D. D.

GENEALOGY OF TFIE FAMILY OF U6SHER. XIU

James
Usher,
of Bal-
lyntay-
lor, Esq.
Attor-
ney at
Law.

= Jane, daut.
of Edmond
Donnel-
lan, Esq.

John =f- Mary, daut.

Usher.

Christo- :
pher Mus-
grave.Esq.

Susanna,
daut — ;
Ob. 1770.

Arthur

Usher.

Sir Richard
Musgrave,
Baronet.

and heir
of George
Lord St.
George.

Usher =p Elizabeth,

St.

George
Lord
St.
George.

Arthur

Usher.

Judith.

daughter
of Chris-
topher
Dominick,
Esq.

William Robert Emelia St.
Duke of Leinster. George.

Isabel, wife of
Edmund Hub-
bart. County
of Waterford,
Esq.

Anne, wife of
Sir William
Osborne, Bt.
2ndly of Fran-
cis Skiddy,
Gent.

Augustus = Charlotte

Frederick
Duke of
Leinster.

Augusta,
daugh.of
Charles
Earl of
Harrington.

Charles William
Marquess of
KiUlare.

Gerald.

Otho.

II.

ACCOUNT OF THE COMMENCEMENT

HELD ON THE 18th OF AUGUST, 1614.

ACCOUNT OF THE COMMENCEMENT

HELD ON THE 18th OF AUGUST, 1614,

AS GIVEN IN THE CHRONICLE OF LORD CHICHESTER'S GOVERNMENT OF
IRELAND.— Z>e«rf. Cur. Hib. p. 316.

The 18th of August, there was a great Commencement holden in
the University at Dublin, but because the rooms in the Trinity
College were very small, they held their acts of disputation in
the high choir of St. Patrick's church, and there proceeded that
day five doctors in theology, viz. :

Dr. Jones, Lord Chancellor, | ,

Dr. King, Bishop of Elphin, / ^race.

Dr. Usher, 1

Dr. Richardson, V in publick disputation.

Dr. Walsh, )

Batchelors of Divinity, 3.

Masters of the Arts, 15.

Batchelors of the Arts, 17.
The whole number of graduates at this Commencement, 38 ;
besides three that were incorporated.

The manner of this Commencement was accomplished in this
order : first, Dr. Hampton, Lord Archbishop of Armagh and
Primate of all Ireland, who having many years before proceeded
Doctor in Theology at the University in Cambridge, was now
at this Commencement incorporated into the University of
Dublin, and was the Senior Doctor Cathedral and Moderator
of theological acts in the Commencement ; so upon the day
appointed, viz., the 18th day of August, the said Dr. Hampton,
Lord Primate, together with the Provost, Fellows, and Scholars
of the house, passed from the College, through the City of
VOL. I. b

XVIU

APPENDIX II.

Dublin, in very stately order ; for the Lord Primate, and oilier
ancient Doctors, and also those that were to proceed Doctors,
were every one attired in scarlet robes, with their Doctors'
hoods ; also the Batchelors of Divinity, the Masters and
Batchelors of Arts were attired in other scholar-like attire as
appertained, which made a very beautiful show to the sight of
all men ; and they were further most highly graced with the
presence of the Lord Deputy, the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas
Ridgway, Knt., Treasurer, and Treasurer at War, with divers
others of the Council, who followed after them, and sat in
St. Patrick's Church, to hear their disputation and discourses,
which were performed as followeth :

First, when they were entered the choir of St. Patrick's
Church, the Masters and Batchelors of Arts sat down in their
places appointed for them, every one according to his degree ;
likewise Dr. Dun, being a Doctor in the Civil Law, and Vice-
Chancellor of the University, took his place, which was appointed
for him in the choir ; and then Mr. Anthony Martin, Proctor for
the College, ascended up into one of the pulpits, as Moderator of
the philosophical acts. And the Lord Primate, who was father
for the day of the theological acts, with those three which were
to proceed in the publick disputations, as also two Batchelors
of Divinity, did ascend up to their places which were appointed
for them on the right side of the choir. And when the Lord
Deputy, and the Lord Chancellor, and the Council, were set,
and all things in good order, Dr. Dun, the Vice-Chancellor of
the University, began an oration in Latin, being as a general
introduction into all the acts of that day's disputation, which he
performed learnedly ; and when he ended his oration, the Primate
began another oration in Latin, concerning the acts of Divinity,
and those that were to proceed Doctors.

This oration contained a long discourse wherein he adminis-
tered five academical ceremonies, as here do follow in order :

1 . He set them in his chair.

2. He gave them square caps.

3. He delivered them the Bible.

4. He put rings upon their fingers.

These ceremonies ministered severally to each of them, first to
Dr. Usher, then to Dr. Richardson, and lastly, to Dr. Walsh ;
and the Lord Primate expounded to them the signification of
each ceremony.

ACCOUNT OF THE COMMENCEMENT IN 1614. xix

This manner of Commencement was never used in Ireland
before this time. Now, all things being thus performed by the
Lord Primate, as is said, Dr. Usher went down into the choir,
and ascended up into one of the pulpits, where he made a ser-
mon-like oration upon the text, " Hoc est corpus meum;" and
after a long discourse thereon, the other two Doctors, viz., Dr.
Richardson and Dr. Walsh, disputed with Dr. Usher upon the
same point ; in which disputation, the Lord Primate, who was
the father of this theological act, was also Moderator in their
disputation, and finishing the act, they rose up, and returned
back to the Trinity College, where a stately dinner was provided
for the Lord Deputy and Council. And thus were all things
concerning the acts of Commencement in the University of
Dublin performed and accomplished to their high commenda-
tions and credit.

The total sum of all the graduates that have commenced in
this University, from the first foundation thereof to this present
year, 1614, inclusive, containing the space of 23 years,

Doctors in Divinity, 7

Doctors in Civil Law, I

Doctors in Physick, 1

Batchelors in Theology, 7

Masters of Arts, 38

Batchelors of Arts, 53

Batchelors of Music, 2

Total Graduates, 109

Besides those incorporated — 3, viz., one Doctor and two Mas-
ters of Arts.

And whereas it hath pleased God, that in these few years of
her infancy she hath brought forth such a learned issue, it is to
be hoped for, that in her more ripe and mature years (God
blessing her increase), she shall produce multitude of learned
children, who shall flourish in the Church and Commonwealth,
to the glory of God, and the increase of true Christian religion
in Christ Jesus. Amen.

b 2

III.

A BREFE DECLARATION

OF CERTEIN

PRINCIPALL ARTICLES OF RELIGION:

SET OUT BY ORDEK & AUCTHORITIE AS WELL OF THE

RIGHT HONORABLE SIR HENRY SIDNEY

KNYOHT OF THE MOST NOBLE ORDEB. LORD PRESIDET OF THE COUCEL IN
THE PRINCIPALLITIE OF WALES AND MARCHES OF THE SAME, &
GENERAL DEPUTIE OF THIS BEALME OF IRELAND,

AS BY

THARCHEBYSHOPS, & BYSHOPES

AND OTHER HER MAJESTIES HYCH COMMISSIONERS FOR CAUSES
ECCLESIASTICALL IN THE SAME BEALME.

A BREFE

Beclaratton of certetn

j^rintijiaU aiticUs of ^t=

Ugion: set out hy order 8f aucthoritie
as wellofthe ricjlit Honorable Sir Henry
Sidney Knyght of the most nolle order.
Lordpresidtt of the Coucel in the Prin-
cipallitie of wales and Marches of the
same, ^ genei^al deputie of th is Realme
of Ireland, as hy Thar cJceby shops, 8f
Byshopes 8f other her majesties Hygh
Commissioners for causes Ecclesiasticall
in the same Realme.

C f J>

Imprynted at Dublin by Humfrey
Powel the 20. of January. 1566.

THE BOOKE

A BREFE Declaration of certeine pryncipall Articles of Relygion
set out by order and aucthoritie as wel of the Ryght Honor-
able Sir Henry Sidneye, Knyght of the most noble order,
Lorde President of the Coiicil in the Principalitie of Wales,
and Marches of the same, and generall Deputie of this
Realme of Irelande — as by Tharchebyshopes and Byshopes
with the rest of her Maiesties Highe Comissioneres for
causes Ecclesiasticall in her Realme of Irelande, for the unitie
of Doctrine to be holden and taught of all Persons, Vicars,
and Curates, as well intestification of their comon consente
and full agrement in the said Doctryne, as also nessessarye
for the instructio of their people in their severall Cures, to
be read by the said Persons, Vicars and Curates at their
possescid takynge or fyrste entrie into their Cures, and also
after that yerelye at two several tymes by the Yerc, that is
to saye : the Sudays next folowynge Easterday and Sainct
Myghell Tharchangell, and this upo payne of Sequestration,
depriation, or other cohercion, as shalbe imposed upon
suche as shall herein make default.

ON ARTICLES.

Forasrauche as it appertayneth to all Chrysten men, but espe-
cially to the Ministers and the Pastoiirs of the Churche, beyinge
teachers and instructours of others, to be readye to geve a reason
of their fayth when they shalbe thereunto required : I for
my parte now appoynted your Parson, Vicar, or Curate, hau-
ynge before ray eyes the feare of God and tiie testimoiiye of

XXVI

APPENDIX HI.

my conscience, doo acknowledge for my selfe, and require you
to assent to the same.

The fyrste Article.

Fyrste, that there is but oneleuynge and true God, of infinit
power, wysdome, and goodnesse ; the maker and preseruer of al
thynges; and that in unitie of this Godhead tlier be thre per-
sons of one substance, of equal power and eternitie, the Father,
the Sonne, and the holye Ghost.

1^ The second Article.

I beleue also what soeuer is conteined in the holye can-
oical Scriptures, in the which Scripturs are coteined all
thynges necessary to saluation, by the which also al errours
and heresies may sufficientlye be reproued and conuicted, and
al doctrine and Articles necessarye to saluation established. I
doo most firnilye beleue and confesse all the Articles conteined
in the three Credes — the Nicene Crede, Athanasius Crede, and
our comon Creede, called the Apostels Creede, for these doo
brefly conteine the principal Articles of our faith, which are at
large set foorth in the holye Scriptures.

I acknowledg also the Church to be the Spouse of Christ,
wherein the word of God is truely taught, the Sacrametes
orderly ministred accoryng to Christes institution, and the
aucthoritie of the keiys duely used. And that every such perticuler
Churche hath aucthoritie to institute, to chaug, cleane to put
away ceremonies and other ecclesiasticall Eites, as they be super-
fluos, or be abused : and to constitute other, makyng more to
semelynesse, to order or edification.

^ The fourth Article.

Moreover, I confesse that it is not lawefull for any man to
take upon hym anye office or ministerye, eyther ecclesiasticall or
seculer, but such onely as are la wefully thereunto called by they r
hyghe aucthorities accordynge to the ordynaunces of this
Eealme.

^ The feyft Article.

Furthermore, I doo acknowledge the Queene's Maiesties
prerogative and superioritie of governemet of al estates and

THE BOOKE.

XXVll

in all causes, as wel ecclesiasticall as temporal, within this
Realme, and other her Dominions and Countreyes, to be agre-
able to Godes wourde, and of right to appertayne to her
hyghnes, in such sort as is in the late Act of Parliamet ex-
pressed : and sithens by her Maiesties iniunctions declared and
expounded.

The syxt Article.

Moreover, touchynge the Byshope of Rome, I do acknow-
ledg and confesse, that by the Scriptures and worde of God,
he hath no more aucthoritie then other Byshopes have in their
Provinces and Diosseces ; ad therefore the power which he
now chalengeth, that is, to be the supreme head of the univer-
sal Churche of Christ, and so to be above all Eraperours,
Kings, and Princes, is an usurped power, contrary to the
Scriptures and worde of God, and contrary to the example of
the primative Church : and therfore is for most iust causes
taken awaye and abolished within this Realme.

The VII. Article.

Furthermore I do graunt and cofesse, that the boke of co-
mon prayer and administration of the holye Sacramentes, set
foorth by the aucthoritie of Parlyament, is agreable to the Scrip-
tures, and that it is Catholyke, Apostolyke, and most for the ad-
vauncynge of Gods glorye and the edifiynge of Gods people,
both for y it is in a touge, y' may be understaded by y* people,
and also for the doctrine and forme of ministration conteyned in
the same.

The VIII. Article.

And although in the administration of Baptisme, ther is
neither exorcisme, oyle, salte, spittil, or halowynge of the water
now used: and for y'they were of lateyeres abused and esteemed
necessary, where they pertaine not to y* substaunce and neces-
sitie of the Sacramet ful and perfectly ministred to al intetes and
purposes agreable to the institucio of our Saviour Christe.

The IX. Article.

Moreover I do not onely acknowledg that privat Masses
were never used amogest the Fathers of the primitive Churche,
I meane publique ministration and receavinge of y^ Sacramet by
the Prieste alone without a iust number of comunicates, accord-

XXVlll

APPENDIX HI.

ynge to Christes saying, Take ye and eate yc, kc, but also that
the doctrine which maynteinith the Masse to be a propiciatory
sacrifice for the quicke and the dead, and a meane to delyver
soules out of purgatorye, is neyther agreable to Christes ordy-
naunce nor grounded upon doctrine Apostolycke, but contrary-
wise most ungodlye and most iniurious to the precious redemp-
tio of our Saviour Christ and his onely sufficient sacrifise
offered once for ever upon the alter of the Crosse.

The X. Article.

I am of that mynde also, that the holy Comunion or Sacramet
of the body and bloude of Christ, for the due obediece to Christes
institution, and, to expresse the vertue of the same, ought to be
mynistred unto the people under both kyndes, and that it is
avouched by certaine fathers of the Church to be aplayne sacri-
ledge to robbe them of the misticall cup, for whom Christ hath
shed his moste precious bloud : Seyinge he him selfe hath saied,
drinke ye all of this. Consyderynge also that in the tyme of the
auncyent doctours of the Church, as Ciprian, Jerome, Augustine,
Gelasius, and others, vi. hundreth yeares after Christ and more,
both the partes of the Sacramente were mynistred unto the
people.

The XI. Article.

Last of al, as I do utterly disalowe the extoUynge of Images,
Relicks, and fayned Miracles, and also all kynde of expressinge
God invisible in the forme of an olde man, or the holye ghoste
in forme of a dove, and all other vayne worshippynge of God
devised by mans fantasie, besydes or contrarye to the Scriptures :
As wandrynge on pilgrimages, settynge upe of Candels, prayinge
upo beades, and such lyke supersticion, which kynde of woorkes
have no promyse of rewarde in Scripture, but cotrary wise,
threatnynges and maladictions : So I do exhorte all men to the
obedyence of Godes lawe, and to the workes of fayght: As cha-
rytie, mercy, pitye, almes, devout and fervent prayer, with thaffec-
tion of the hart, and not with the mouth only, godly absti-
nence and fastynge, chastitie, obedyence to the rulers and
superyour powers, with such lyke workes and godlynes of lyfe
commaunded by God in his worde, which as Sainte Paule saith,
hath promises both of this lyfe, and of the lyfe to come, and are
workes only acceptable in Godes syght.

THE BOOKE.

XXIX

The XII. Article.

These thynges above rehearsed, though they be appoynted by
common order, yet do I without all compulsion, with fredome of
mynde and conscience, frome the bottome of my hart and upon
most sure perswasion, acknowledge to be true and agreable to
Godes worde, And therfore I exhort you al, of whom I have
cure, hartelye and obedientlye to embrace and receave the same,
that we all ioyning together in unitie of spirit, fayth, and cha-
rytie, may also at leangth be joyned together in the kyngdome of
God, that through the merites and deathe of our Saviour Jesus
Christe : to whom, with the Father and the holy Ghost be all
glory and empyre now and for ever. Amen.

Imprynted at Dublin in Saint Nycolas Stret, by Humfrey
Powell, Prynter appoynted for the Realme of Irelande.

IV.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION,

AGREED VPON BY

THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS,

AND THE REST OF THE CLEARGIE OF IRELAND,

THE CONUOCATION

HOLMEN AT DUBLIN IN THE YE/VRE OF OUR LORD GOD 1G16, FOR THE
AUOIDING OF DIUERSITIES OF OPINIONS, AND THE ESTABLISHING
OF CONSENT TOUCHING TRUE RELIGION.

Printed at Dublin by John Franckton, Printer to the Kings

MOST EXCELLENT MaJESTIE.

1615.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION,

AGRKED VPON BY

THE ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS,

AND THE REST OF THE CLEARGIE OF IRELAND,

IN THE CONUOCATION HOLDEN AT DUBLIN IN THE YEARE OF OUR LORD
COD 1613, FOR THE AUOIDING OF DIUERSITIES OF OPINIONS,
AND THE ESTABLISHING OF CONSENT TOUCHING
TRUE RELIGION.

Of the holy Scripture and the three Creeds.

1. The ground of our Religion, and the rule of faith and all
sauing trueth is the word of God, contained in the holy Scrip-
ture.

2. By the name of holy Scripture we understand all the
Canonicall Bookes of the Old and New Testament, viz. :

Of the Old Testament.

The 5 Bookes of Moses.

losua.

Judges.

Ruth.

The first and second of Samuel.
The first and second of Kings.
The first and second of Chro-
nicles.
Esra.

Nehemiah.
Esther.

VOL. I.

lob.

Psalmes.

Prouerbes.

Ecclesiastes.

The Song of Salomon.

Isaiah.

leremiah, his Prophesie and

Lamentation.
Ezechiel.
Daniel.

The 12 lesse Prophets.

xxxiv

APPENDIX IV.

Of the new Testament.

The Gospells according
to

Matthew.
Marke.
Luke.
John.

The Actes of the Apostles. \
The Epistle of S. Paul to the i
Romaines. |
Corinthians 2. \
Galathians.
Ephesians.

All which wee acknowledge to be giuen by the inspiration of
God, and in that regard to be of most certaine credit and high-
est authority.

3. The other Bookes, commonly called ApocryplialU did not
proceede from such inspiration, and therefore are not of suffi-
cient authoritie to establish any point of doctrine ; but the
Church doth reade them as Bookes containing many worthy
things for example of life and instruction of maners.

Such are these following :

Philippians.

Colossians.

Thessalonians 2.

Timothie 2.

Titus.

Philemon.

Hebrewes.

The Epistle of S. lames.
Saint Peter 2.
Saint lohn. 3.
Saint lude.

The Reuelation of S. lohn.

Baruch, with the Epistle of le-
remiah.

The song of the three Chil-
dren.
Susanna.

Bell and the Dragon.
The praier of Manasses.
The first booke of Maccha-
bees.

The second booke of Maccha-
bees.

4. The Scriptures ought to be translated out of the originall
tongues into all languages for the common use of all me :
neither is any person to be discouraged from reading the Bible
in such a language, as he doth vnderstand, but seriously ex-
horted to read the same with great humilitie and reuerence, as a
speciall meanes to bring him to the true knowledge of God, and
of his owne duty.

5. Although there bee some hard things in the Scripture

The thirde booke of Esdras.
The fourth booke of Esdras.
The booke of Tobias.
The booke of ludith.
Additions to the booke of Es-
ther.

The booke of Wisedome.
The booke of lesus, the Sonne

of Sirach, called Ecclesiasti-

cus.

AUTICLES OF RELIGION.

XXXV

(especially such as haue proper relation to the times in which
they were first vttered, and prophesies of things which were
afterwardes to bee fulfilled), yet all things necessary to be knowen
vnto euerlasting saluation are cleerely deliuered therein: and
nothing of that kinde is spoken vnder darke mysteries in one
place, which is not in other places spoken more familiarly and
plainely, to the capacitie both of learned and vnlearned.

6. The holy Scriptures containe all things necessary to salua-
tion, and are able to instruct sufficiently in all points of faith that
we are bound to beleeue, and all good duties that we are bound
to practise.

7. All and euerie the Articles contained in the J\i'icen Creede,
the Creede of Athanasius, and that which is commonly called
the Apostles Creede, ought firmely to bee receiued and beleeued,
for they may be proued by most certaine warrant of holy Scrip-
ture.

Of faith in the holy Trinitie.

8. There is but one liuing and true God, euerlasting, without
body, parts, or passions, of infinite power, wisedome, and good-
nes, the maker and preseruer of all things, both visible and
inuisible. And in vnitie of this Godhead, there be three persons
of one and the same substance power and eternitie : the Father,
the Sone, and the holy Ghost.

9. The essence of the Father doth not begett the essence of the
Sonne ; but the person of the Father begetteth the person of the
Sonne, by communicating his whole essence to the person begot-
ten from eternitie.

10. The holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Sonne,
is of one substance, maiestie, and glory, with the Father and the
Sonne, very and eternall God.

Of Go(ts eternall decree, and Predestination.

11. God from all eternitie did by his vnchangeable counsell
ordaine whatsoeuer in time should come to passe : yet so, as
thereby no violence is offred to the wills of the reasonable crea-
tures, and neither the libertie nor the contingencie of the second
causes is taken away, but established rather.

12. By the same eternall counsell God hath predestinated
some vnto life, and reprobated some vnto death : of both which
there is a certaine number, knowen only to God, which can
neither be increased nor diminished.

13. Predestination to life, is the euerlasting purpose of God,

c 2

xxxvi

APPENDIX IV.

whereby, before the foundations of the world were layed, he hath
constantly decreed in his secret counsell to deliuer from curse
and damnation, those whom he hath chosen in Christ out of
mankinde, and to bring them by Christ vnto euerlasting salua-
tion, as vessels made to honor.

14. The cause mouing God to predestinate vnto life, is not
the foreseeing of faith, or perseuerance, or good workes, or of any-
thing which is in the person predestinated, but onely the good
pleasure of God himselfe. For all things being ordained for
the manifestation of his glory, and his glory being to appeare
both in the workes of his Mercy and of his lustice : it seemed good
to his heauenly wisedome to choose out a certaine number
towardes whome he would extend his vndeserued mercy, leaning
the rest to be spectacles of his iustice.

15. Such as are predestinated vnto life, be called according
vnto Gods purpose (his spirit working in due season) and
through grace they obey the calling, they bee iustified freely, they
bee made sonnes of God by adoption, they be made like the image
of his onely begotten Sonne lesus Christ, they walke religiously
in good workes, and at length, by God's mercy they attaine to
euerlasting felicitie. But such as are not predestinated to sal-
uation, shall finally be condemned for their sinnes.

16. The godlike consideration of Predestination and our elec-
tion in Christ, is full of sweete, pleasant, and vnspeakeable comfort
to godly persons, and such as feele in themselues the working of
the spirit of Christ, mortifying the workes of the flesh, and their
earthly members, and drawing vp their mindes to high and
heauenly things : as well because it doth greatly confirme and
establish their faith of eternall saluation to be enioyed through
Christ, as because it doth feruently kindle their loue towardes
God: and on the contrary side, for curious and carnall persons,
lacking the spirit of Christ, to haue continually before their eies
the sentence of Gods predestination, is very dangerous.

17. Wee must receiue Gods promises in such wise as they be
generally set forth vnto vs in holy Scripture ; and in our doings,
that will of God is to be followed, which we haue expressely
declared vnto vs in the word of God.

Of the creation and gouernement of all things.

18. In the beginning of time, when no creature had any
being, God by his word alone, in the space of sixe dayes, created

AHTICLES OF RELIGION.

xxxvu

all things, and cifterwardes by his proiiidence doth continue, pro-
pagate, and order them according to his owne will.

19. The principall creatures are Angels and men.

20. Of Angels, some continued in that holy state wherein they
were created, and are by Gods grace for euer established therein :
others fell from the same, and are reserued in chaines of darke-
nesse vnto the iudgement of the great day.

21. Man being at the beginning created according to the
image of God (which consisted especially in the Wisedome of his
minde and the true Holyness of his free will) had the couenant
of the lawe ingrafted in his heart : whereby God did promise
vnto him euerlasting life, vpon condition that he performed
entire and perfect obedience vnto his Commandements, according
to that measure of strength wherewith hee was endued in his
creation, and threatned death vnto him if he did not performe the
same.

Of the fall of man, oriijinall sinne, and the state of man
before histification.

22. By one man sinne entred into the world, and death by
sinne; and so death went ouer all men, for as much as all haue
sinned.

23. Originall sinne standeth not in the imitation of Adam (as
the Pelagians dreame) but is the fault and corruption of the
nature of euery person that naturally is ingendred and propa-
gated from Adam : whereby it commeth to passe that man is de-
priued of originall righteousnes, and by nature is bent vnto
sinne. And therefore, in euery person borne into the world, it
deserueth Gods wrath and damnation.

24. This corruption of nature doth remaine euen in those that
are regenerated, whereby the flesh alwaies lusteth against the
spirit, and cannot bee made subject to the lawe of God. And
howsoeuer, for Christs sake there bee no condemnation to such
as are regenerate and doe beleeue: yet doth the Apostle acknow-
ledge that in it selfe this concupiscence hath the nature of sinne.

25. The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such,
that he cannot turne, and prepare himselfe by his owne na-
turall strength and good workes, to faith, and calling vpon
God. Wherefore we haue no power to doe good workes, pleas-
ing and acceptable vnto God, without the grace of (iod preucnt-
ing vs, that we may haue a good will, and working with vs when
wee haue that good will.

XXXVIU

APPENDIX IV.

26. Workes done before the grace of Clirist, and the inspira-
tion of his spirit, are not pleasing vnto God, for as much as they
spring not of faith in lesus Christ, neither do they make men
meete to receaue grace, or (as the Schoole Authors say) deserue
grace of congruitie : yea rather, for that they are not done in such
sorte as God hath willed and commaunded them to be done, we
doubt not but they are sinfull.

27. All sinnes are not equal], but some farre more heynous than
others ; yet the very least is of its owne nature mortall, and with-
out Gods mercy maketh the offendor lyable vnto euerlasting
damnation.

28. God is not the Author of sinne : howbeit he doth not only
permitt, but also by his prouidence gouerne and order the same,
guiding it in such sorte by his infinite wisedome, as it turneth to
the manifestation of his owne glory and to the good of his elect.

Of Christ, the mediator of the second Covenant.

29. The Sonne, which is the Word of the Father, begotten
from euerlasting of the Father, the true and eternall God, of one
substance with the Father, tooke mans nature in the wombe of
the blessed Virgin, of her substance : so that two whole and per-
fect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhoode were
inseparably ioyned in one person, making one Christ very God
and very man.

30. Christ in the truth of our nature, was made like vnto vs
in all things, sinne only excepted, from which he was cleerely
voyd, both in his life and in his nature. He came as a Lambe
without spott, to take away the sins of the world, by the sacrifice of
himselfe oncemade, and sinne (as Saint lohn saith) was not in him.
He fulfilled the law for vs perfectly : For our sakes he endured
most greiuous torments immediately in his soule, and most
painefuU sufferings in his body. He was crucified, and dyed to
reconcile his Father vnto vs, and to be a sacrifice not onely for
originall guilt, but also for all our actuall transgressions. He
was buried and descended into hell, and the third day rose from
the dead, and tooke againe his body, with flesh, bones, and all
things appertaining to the perfection of mans nature: wherewith
he ascended into Heauen, and there sitteth at the right hand of
his Father, vntill hee returne to iudge all men at the last day.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

xxxix

Of the communicating of the grace of Christ.

31. They are to be condemned, that presume to say that euery
man shalbe saued by the law or sect which he professeth, so
that he be diligent to frame his life according to that law, and
the light of nature. For holy Scripture doth set out vnto vs
only the name of lesus Christ whereby men must be saued.

32. None can come vnto Christ, vnlesse it bee giuen vnto him,
and vnlesse the Father drawe him. And all men are not so
drawen by the Father that they may come vnto the Son. Neither
is there such a sufficient measure of grace vouchsafed unto
euerie man whereby he is enabled to come vnto everlasting life.

33. All Gods elect are in their time inseperablye vnited vnto
Christ by the effectuall and vitall influence of the holy Ghost,
deriued from him as from the head vnto euery true member
of his mysticall body. And being thus made one with Christ,
they are truely regenerated, and made partakers of him and all
his benefits.

Of lustijication and Faith.

34. We are accounted righteous before God, onely for the
merit of our Lord and Saviour lesus Christ, applied by faith :
and not for our owne workes or merits. And this righteous-
nes, which we so receiue of Gods mercie and Christs merits,
imbraced by faith, is taken, accepted, and allowed of God, for
our perfect and full iustification.

35. Although this iustification be free vnto vs, yet it comuieth
not so freely vnto vs, that there is no ransome paid therefore at
all. God shewed his great mercie in deliuering vs from our former
captiuitie, without requiring of any ransome to be payd, or
amends to be made on our parts ; which thing by vs had been
vnpossible to bee done. And whereas all the world was not able
of themselues to pay any part towards their ransome, it pleased
our heavenly Father of his infinite mercie without any desert of
ours, to prouide for vs the most precious merits of his owne
Sonne, whereby our ransome might be fully payd, the lawe ful-
filled, and his iustice fully satisfied. So that Christ is now the
righteousnes of all them that truely beleeue in him. Hec for
them payd their ransome by his death. He for them fulfilled
the lawe in his life. That now in him, and by him euerie true
Christian man may be called a fulfiUer of the lawe: forasmuch
as that which our infirmitie was not able to effect, Christs ius-

APPENDIX IV.

tice hath performed. And thus the iuslice and mercie of God
doe embrace each other: the grace of God not shutting out the
iustice of God in the matter of our iustification ; but onely shut-
ting out the iustice of man (that is to say, the iustice of our own
workes) from being any cause of deseruing our iustification.

36. When we say that we are iustified by Faith onely, we doe
not meane that the said iustifying faith is alone in man, with-
out true Repentance, Hope, Charity, and the feare of God
(for such a faith is dead, and cannot iustifie) neither do we
meane, that this our act to beleeue in Christ, or this our
faith in Christ, which is within vs, doth of it selfe iustifie
vs, or deserue our iustification vnto vs, (for that were to ac-
count our selues to bee iustified by the vertue or dignitie of
some thing that is within our selues :) but the true vnderstand-
ing and meaning thereof is that although we heare Gods word
and beleeue it, although we haue Faith, Hope, Charitie, Repent-
ance, and the feare of God within us, and adde neuer so many
good workes thereunto : yet wee must renounce the merit of
all our said vertues, of Faith, Hope, Charitie, and all our
other vertues, and good deeds, which we either haue done,
shall doe, or can doe, as things that be farre too weake and
vnperfect, and vnsufficient to deserue remission of our sinnes, and
our iustification : and therefore we must trust onely in Gods
mercie, and the merits of his most dearely beloued Sonne,
our onely Redeemer, Sauiour, and lustifier lesus Christ. Ne-
uerthelesse, because Faith doth directly send vs to Christ for our
iustification, and that by faith given vs of God wee embrace the
promise of Gods mercie, and the remission of our sinnes, (which
thing none other of our vertues or workes properly doth :) there-
fore the Scripture vseth to say, that Faith without workes; and
the auncient fathers of the Church to the same purpose, that onely
Faith doth iustifie vs.

37. By iustifying Faith wee vnderstand not onely the common
belcefe of the Articles of Christian Religion, and a perswasion of
the truth of Gods worde in generall : but also a particular appli-
cation of the gratious promises of the Gospell, to the comfort of
our owne soules : whereby we lay hold on Christ, with all his
benefits, hauing an earnest trust and confidence in God, that he
will be mercifull vnto vs for his onely Sonnes sake. So that a
true beleeuer may bee certaine, by the assurance of faith, of the
forgiuenesse of his sinnes, and of his euerlasting salvation by
Christ.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

.xli

A true liuely iustifying faith, and the sanctifying spirit of
God, is not extinguished, nor vanisheth away in the regenerate,
either finally or totally.

Of sanctijication and good workes.

39. All that are iustified, are likewise sanctified : their faith
being alwaies accompanied with true Repentance and good
Workes.

40. Repentance is a gift of God, whereby a godly sorrow is
wrought in the heart of the faithfull, for offending God their
mercifuU Father by their former transgressions, together with a
constant resolution for the time to come to cleaue unto God, and
to lead a new life.

41. Albeit that good workes, which are the fruits of faith, and
follow after iustification, cannot make satisfaction for our sinnes,
and endure the seueritie of Gods iudgement : yet are they pleasing
to God and accepted of him in Christ, and doe spring from a
true and liuely faith, which by them is to be discerned, as a tree
by the fruite.

42. The workes which God would haue his people to walkein,
are such as he hath commaunded in his holy Scripture, and not
such workes as men haue deuised out of their own braine, of a
blinde zeale, and deuotion, without the warrant of the word of
God.

43. The regenerate cannot fulfill the lavve of God perfectly in
this life. For in many things we offed all : and if we say, we haue
no sinne, wee deceaue our selues, and the truth is not in vs.

44. Not euerie heynous sinne willingly committed after bap-
tisme, is sinne against the holy Ghost, and vnpardonable. And
therefore to such as fall into sinne after baptisme, place for repent-
ance is not to be denied.

45. Voluntary workes, besides ouer and aboue Gods com-
mandements, which they call workes of Superrogation, cannot
be taught without arrogancie, and impietie. For by them men doe
declare that they doe not onely render vnto God as much as they
are bound to doe, but that they doe more for his sake then of
bounden duty is required.

Of the service of God.

46. Our dutie towards God is to beleeue in him, to feare him,
and to loue him with all our heart, with all our minde, and with
all our soule, and with all our strength, to worship him, and to
giue him thankes, to put our whole trust in him, to call vpon

xlii

APPENDIX IV.

him, to honour his holy Name and his word, and to serue him
truely all the dayes of our life.

47. In all our necessities we ought to haue recourse vnto God
by prayer : assuring our selues, that whatsoeuer we aske of the
Father, in the name of his Sonne (our onely mediator and inter-
cessor) Christ lesus, and according to his will, he will vndoubt-
edly grant it.

48. Wee ought to prepare our hearts before wee pray, and
vnderstand the things that wee aske when wee pray : that both
our hearts and voyces may together sound in the eares of Gods
Maiestie.

49- When almightie God smiteth vs with affliction, or some
great calamitie hangeth oner vs, or any other waighty cause so
requireth ; it is our dutie to humble our selues in fasting, to be-
waile our sinnes with a sorrowful! heart, and to addict our selues
to earnest prayer, that it might please God to turne his wrath from
vs, or supplie vs with such graces as wee greatly stand in neede of.

50. Fasting is a with-holding'of meat, drincke, and all naturall
foode, with other outward delights, from the body, for the deter-
mined time of fasting. As for those ^abstinences which are
appointed by publike order of our state, for eating of fish and
forbearing of flesh at certaine times and dales appointed, they
are no wayes ment to bee religious fastes, nor intended for the
maintenance of any superstition in the choise of meates, but are
groiided meerely vpon politicke considerations, for prouision of
things tending to the better preseruation of the Commonwealth.

51. Wee must not fast with this perswasion of minde, that our
fasting can bring vs to heauen, or ascribe holynesse to the out-
ward worke wrought. For God alloweth not our fast for the
worke sake (which of it selfe is a thing meerely indifferent),
but chiefly respecteth the heart, how it is affected therein. It
is therefore requisit that first before all things we dense our
hearts from sinne, and then direct our fast to such ends as God
will allow to bee good: that the flesh may thereby be chastised,
the spirit may be more feruent in prayer, and that our fasting
may bee a testimony of our humble submission to Gods ma-
iestie, when wee acknowledge our sinnes vnto him, and are
inwardly touched with sorrowfulnesse of heart, bewailing the
same in the affliction of our bodies.

52. All worship deuised by mans phantasie, besides or con-
trary to the Scriptures (as wandring on Pilgrimages, setting vp
of Candles, Stations,' and lubilies, Pharisaicall sects and fained

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

-Xllll

religions, praying vpon Beades, and such like superstition) hath
not onely no promise of reward in Scripture, but contrariewise
threatnings and maledictions.

53. All manner of expressing God the Father, the Sonne, and
the holy Ghost, in an outward forme, is vtterly vnlawfull. As
also all other images deuised or made by man to the use of Re-
ligion.

54. All religious worship ought to bee giuen to God alone ;
from whome all goodnesse, health, and grace ought to be both
asked and looked for, as from the rery author and giuer of the
same, and from none other.

55. The name of God is to be vsed with all reuerece and
holy respect : and therefore all vaine and rash swearing is vtterly
to be condemned. Yet notwithstanding vpon lawfull occasions,
an oath may be giuen, and taken, according to the word of God,
iustice, iudgement, and truth.

56. The first day of the weeke, which is the Lords day, is
wholly to be dedicated unto the seruice of God : and therefore we
are bound therein to rest from our common and daily buysinesse,
and to bestow that leasure vpon holy exercises, both publike and
priuate.

Of the Ciuill Magistrate.

57. The Kings Maiestie vnder God hath the Soueraigne and
chiefe power, within hisEealmes and Dominions, ouer all manner
of persons, of what estate, either Ecclesiasticall or Ciuill, soeuer
they bee ; so as no other forraine power hath or ought to haue
any superiority ouer them.

58. Wee doe professe that the supreame gouernement of all
estates within the said Realmes and Dominions, in all causes, as
well Ecclesiasticall as Temporall, doth of right appertaine to
the Kings highnes. Neither doe we giue vnto him hereby the
administration of the Word and Sacraments, or the power of the
Keyes : but that prerogatiue onely, which we see to haue been
alwaies giuen vnto all godly Princes in holy Scripture by God
himselfe ; that is, that hee should containe all estates and degree
committed to his charge by God, whether they be Ecclesiasticall
or Ciuill, within their duty, and restraine the stubborne and
euill doers with the power of the Ciuill swoorde.

59. The Pope neither of himselfe, nor by any authoritie of the
Church or Sea of Rome, or by any other meanes with any other,
hath any power or authoritie to depose the King, or dispose any
of his Kingdomes or Dominions, or to authorise any other Prince

xliv

APPENDIX. IV.

to inuade or annoy him or his Countries, or to discharge any of
his subiects of their allegeance and obedience to his Maiestie, or
to giue licence or leaue to any of them to beare armes, raise
tumult, or to offer any violence or hurt to his Royall person, state,
or gouernement, or to any of his subiects within his Maiestics
Dominions.

60. That Princes which be excommunicated or depriued by
the Pope, may be deposed or murthered by their subiects, or any
other whatsoeuer, is impious doctrine.

61. The lawes of the Realme may punish Christian men with
death for heynous and grieuous offences.

62. It is lawfull for Christian men, at the commandement of
the Magistrate, to beare armes, and to serve in iust wars.

Of our duty towards our Neighbours.

63. Ovr duty towards our neighbours is, to loue them as our
selues, and to do to all men as we would they should doe to us ;
to honourand obey our Superiours, to preserue the safety of mens
persons, as also their chastitie, goods, and good names ; to beare
no malice nor hatred in our hearts ; to keepe our bodies in tem-
perance, sobernes, and chastitie; to be true and iust in all our
doings; not to couet other mens goodes, but labour truely to get
our owne liuing, and to doe our dutie in that estate of life vnto
which it pleaseth God to call us.

64. For the preseruation of the chastitie of mens persons,
wedlocke is commaunded vnto all men that stand in need thereof.
Neither is there any prohibition by the word of God, but that
the ministers of the Church may enter into the state of Matri-
mony: they being no where commaunded by Gods Law, either
to vow the estate of single life, or to abstaine from marriage.
Therefore it is lawfull also for the, as well as for all other
Christian men, to marrie at their owne discretion, as they shall
iudge the same to serue better to godlines.

65. The riches and goodes of Christians are not common, as
touching the right, title, and possession of the same : as certaine
Anabaptists falsely affirme. Notwithstanding euerie man ought
of such things as hee possesseth, liberally to giue almes to the
poore, according to his ability.

66. Faith giuen, is to be kept, even with Ilereticks and Irifidells.

67. The Popish doctrine of Equiuocation Sc mentall Reserua-
tion, is most vngodly, and tendeth plainely to the siibuersion of
all humame society.

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

xlv

Of the Church, and outward minislery of the Gospell.

68. There is but one Catholike Church (out of which there is
no saluation) containing the uniuersall copany of all the Saints
that euer were, are, or shalbe, gathered together in one body,
vnder one head Christ lesus : part whereof is already in heaven
triumphant, part as yet militant heere vpon earth. And because
this Church consisteth of all those, and those alone, which are
elected by God vnto saluation, & regenerated by the power of
his spirit, the number of whome is knowen only vnto God him-
selfe : therefore it is called the Catholike or vniversall, and the
Inuisihle Church.

69. But particular and visible Churches (consisting of those
who make profession of the faith of Christ, and line vnder the
outward meanes of saluation) be many in number : wherein the
more or lesse sincerly according to Christs institution, the
word of God is taught, the Sacraments are administred, and the
authority of the Keyes is vsed, the more or lesse pure are such
Churches to bee accounted.

70. Although in the visible Church the euill bee euer mingled
with the good, and sometimes the euill haue chiefe authoritie in
the ministration of the word & Sacraments : yet, for as much as
they doe not the same in their owne name, but in Christs, and
minister by his commission and authority, we may vse their
ministery both in hearing the word and in receauing the Sacra-
ments. Neither is the effect of Christs ordinance taken away by
their wicked nesse : nor the grace of Gods gifts diminished from
such as by faith and rightly doe receaue the Sacraments minis-
tred vnto them ; which are effectuall, because of Christs institu-
tion and promise, although they be ministred by euill men.
Neuerthelesse it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church,
that inquiry be made of euill ministers, and that they be accused
by those that haue knowledge of their offences, and finally being
found guiltie, by iust iudgement bee deposed.

71. It is not lawfull for any man to take vpon him the office
of publike preaching or ministring the Sacraments in the Church,
vnless hee bee first lawfully called and sent to execute the same.
And those we ought to iudge lawfully called and sent, which bee
chosen and called to this worke by men who haue publike autho-
ritie giuen them in the Church, to call and send ministers into
the Lords vineyard.

72. To haue publike prayer in the Church, or to administer

xlvi

APPENDIX IV.

the Sacraments in a tongue not vnderstood of the people, is a
thing plainly repugnant to the word of God, and the custome of
the Primitiue Church.

73. That person which by publike denunciation of the
Church is rightly cut off from the vnitie of the Church, and
excommunicate, ought to bee taken of the whole multitude of the
faithfull, as a Heathen and Publican, vntill by Repentance he be
openly reconciled and receaued into the Church, by the iudgement
of such as haue authoritie in that behalfe.

74. God hath giuen power to his ministers, not simply to
forgiue sinnes, (which prerogatiue he hath reserued onely to him-
selfe) but in his name to declare and pronounce vnto such as
truely repent and vnfainedly beleeue his holy Gospell, the abso-
lution and forgiuenesse of sinnes. Neither is it Gods pleasure
that his people should bee tied to make a particular confession
of all their knowen sinnes vnto any mortall man : howsoeuer any
person grieued in his conscience, vpon any speciall cause, may
well resorte vnto any godly and learned Minister, to receaue
aduise and comfort at his hands.

Of the authoritie of the Church, generall Councells, and
Bishop of Rome.

75. It is not lawfull for the Church to ordaine any thing that is
contrary to Gods word : neither may it so expound one place of
Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore although
the Church bee a witnesse, and a keeper of holy writt : yet as it
ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the
same ought it not inforce any thing to be beleeued vpon necessitie
of saluation.

76. Generall Councells may not be gathered together without
the commaundement and will of Princes ; and when they be
gathered together (for as much as they be an assembly of men
not alwaies gouerned with the spirit and word of God) they may
erre, and sometimes haue erred, euen in things pertaining to the
rule of pietie. Wherefore things ordained by them, as neces-
sary to saluation, haue neither strength nor authority, vnlesse it
maybe shewed that they bee taken out of holy Scriptures.

77. Euery particular Church hath authority to institute, to
change, and cleane to put away ceremonies and other Ecclesiasti-
call rites, as they be superfluous, or be abused ; and to constitute
other, makeing more to seemelynes, to order, or edification.

78. As the Churches of Jerusalem, Alexandria and An-

ARTICLES OF RELIGION.

xlvii

tioch h&ue erred: so also the Church Rome hath erred, not
onely in those things which concerne matter of practise and
point of ceremonies, but also in matters of faith.

79. The power which the Bishop of Rome now challengeth,
to be Suprearae head of the vniversall Church of Christ, and to be
aboue all Eraperours, Kings and Princes, is an usurped power,
contrary to the Scriptures and word of God, and contrary to the
example of the Primitiue Church : and therefore is for most iust
causes taken away and abolished within the Kings Maiesties
Realmes and Dominions.

80. The Bishop of Rome is so farre from being the supreame
head of the vniuersall Church of Christ, that his workes and
doctrine doe plainely discover him to bee that man ofsinne, fore-
told in the holy Scriptures, whome the Lord shall consume with
the spirit of his mouth, and abolish with the hrightnes of his
camming.

Of the State of the old and new Testament.

81. In the Old Testament the Commaundements of the Law
were more largely, and the promises of Christ more sparingly and
darkely propounded, shaddowed with a multitude of types and
figures, and so much the more generally and obscurely deliuered,
as the manifesting of them was further off.

82. The Old Testament is not contrary to the New. For both
in the Old and New Testament euerlasting life is offered to man-
kinde by Christ, who is the onely mediator betweene God and
man, being both God and man. Wherefore they are not to be
heard, which faine that the old Fathers did looke onely for
trasitory promises. For they looked for all benefits of God the
Father through the merits of his Sonne lesus Christ, as we now
doe : onely they beleeued in Christ which should come, we in
Christ already come.

83. The New Testament is full of grace and truth, bringing
ioyfull tidings vnto mankinde, that whatsoeuer formerly was
promised of Christ, is now accomplished : and so in stead of the
auncient types and ceremonies, exhibiteth the things themselues,
with a large and cleere declaration of all the benefits of the Gos-
pell. Neither is the ministery thereof restrained any longer to
one circumcised nation, but is indifferently propounded vnto all
people, whether they be lewes or Gentils. So that there is now
no Nation which can truly complaine that they be shut forth
from the communion of Saints and the liberties of the people of
God.

xlviii

APPENDIX IV.

84. Although the Law giuen from God by Moses, as touching
ceremonies and rites beabohshed, and the Ciuill precepts thereof
be not of necessitie to be receaued in any Common-wealth : yet
notwithstanding no Christian man whatsoeuer is freed from the
obedience of the Commaundements, which are called Morall.

Of the Sacraments of the New Testament.

85. The Sacraments ordained by Christ, be not onely badges
or tokens of Christian mens profession : but rather certaine sure
witnesses, and effLctuall or powerfull signes of grace and Gods
good will towards us, by which he doth worke inuisibly in vs,
and not onely quicken but also strengthen and confirme our
faith in him.

86. There bee two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord
in the Gospell, that is to say, Baptisme and the Lords Supper.

87. Those fiue which by the Church o^Eome are called Sacra-
ments, to witt, Co7iJir motion, Penance, Orders, Matrimony,
and E.Ttreame vnct'ion, are not to be accounted Sacraments
of the Gospell : being such as haue partly growen from corrupt
imitation of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the
Scriptures, but yet haue not like nature of Sacraments with Bap-
tisme and the Lords Supper, for that they haue not any visible
signe or ceremonie ordained of God, together with a promise of
sauing grace annexed thereunto.

88. The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed
vpon, or to be carried about; but that we should duely vse them.
And in such onely as worthyly receaue the same, they haue a
wholesome effect and operation ; but they that receaue them
vnworthylie, thereby draw iudgeraent vpon themselues.

Of Baptisme.

89. Baptisme is not onely an outward signe of our profession,
and a note of difference, whereby Christians are discerned from
such as are no Christians ; but much more a Sacrament of our
admission into the Church, sealing vnto vs our new birth (and
consequently our Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification) by
the communion which we haue with lesus Christ.

90. The Baptisme of Infants is to be retained in the Church,
as agreeable to the word of God.

91. In the administration of Baptisme, .E^rom'swe, Oile,Salte,
Spittle, and superstitious hallowing of the water, are for iust
causes abolished : and without them the Sacrament is fully and

ARTICLES or RELIGION.

xlix

perfectly administred, to all intents and purposes, agreeable to the
institution of our Sauiour Christ.

Of the Lords Supper.

92. The Lords supper is not onely a signe of the mutuall loue
which Christians ought to beareone towards another, but much
more a Sacrament of our preseruation in the Church, sealing
vnto us ovr spirituall nourishment and continuall growth in
Christ.

93. The change of the substance of bread and wine into the
substance of the Body and Bloud of Christ, commonly called
Transubstantiation, cannot be proued by Holy Writ ; but is
repugnant to plaine testimonies of the Scripture, ouerthroweth
the nature of a Sacrament, and hath giuen occasion to most grosse
Idolatry and manifold superstitions.

94. In the outward part of the holy Communion, the Bodie and
Bloud of Christ is in a most liuely manner represented; being
no otherwise present with the visible elements than things signi-
fied and sealed are present with the signes and scales, that is to
say, symbolically and relatiuely. But in the inward and spiri-
tuall part the same Body and Bloud is really and substantially
presented vnto all those who baue grace to receaue the Sonne of
God, euen to all those that belt't uL- in his name. And unto such
as in this manner doe worthylie and with faith repaire vnto the
Lords table the Bodie and Bloud of Christ is not onely signified
and offered, but also truely exhibited and communicated.

95. The Bodie of Christ is giuen, taken, and eaten in the
Lords Supper, onely after an heauenly and spirituall manner ; and
the meane whereby the Body of Christ is thus receaved and eaten
is Faith.

96. The wicked, and such as want a liuely faith, although they
doe carnally and visibly (as Saint Augustine speaketh) presse
with their teeth the Sacrament of the body and bloud of Christ,
yet in no wise are they made partakers of Christ; but rather to
their condemnation doe eat and drincke the signe or Sacrament of
so great a thing.

97. Both the parts of the Lords Sacrament, according to
Christs institution and the practise of the auncieut Church, ought
to be ministred vnto all Gods people; and it is plain sacriledge
to rob them of the mysticall cup, for whom Christ hath shed his
most precious bloud.

VOL. L d

APPENDIX IV.

98. Tlie Sacrament of the Lords Siqyper was not by Christs
ordinance reserued, carried about, lifted vp, or worshiped-

99. The sacrifice of the Masse, wherein tlie Priest is said to
offer vp Christ for obtaining the remission of paine or guilt for
the quicke and the dead, is neither agreeable to Christs ordi-
nance nor grounded upon doctrine Apostolike ; but contrary wise
most ungodly and most iniurious to that all-sufficient sacrifice of
our Sauiour Christ, offered once for euervpon the Crosse, which
is the onely propitiation and satisfaction for all our sinnes.

100. Priuate Masse, that is, the receiuing of the Eucharist by
the Priest alone, without a comjietent number of communicants,
is contrary to the institution of Christ.

Of the state of the soules of men, after they he departed out
of this life : together with the (/enerall Resurrection,
and the last ludgement.

101. After this life is ended the soules of Gods children be
presently receaued into Heauen, there to enjoy vnspeakeable com-
forts ; the soules of the wicked are cast into Hell, there to endure
endlesse torments.

102. The doctrine of the Church of Rome, concerning Limhus
Patrutyi, Limhus Puerorum, Pwgatorie, Prayer for the
dead, Pardons, Adoration of Ima<jes and PelicJies, and also
Inuocation of Saints, is uainely inuented without all warrant of
holy Scripture, yea and is contrary vnto the same.

103. At the end of this world the Lord lesus shall come in the
clouds with the glory of his Father ; at which time, by the al-
mightie power of God, the lining shalbe changed and the dead
shalbe raised ; and all shall appeare both in body and soule be-
fore his iudgement seat, to receaue according to that which they
haue done in their bodies, whether good or evill.

104. When the last iudgement is finished, Christ shall deliver
vp the Kingdome to his Father, and God shalbe all in all.

THE DECREE OF THE SYNOD.
If any Minister, of what degree or qualitie socuer he be, shall
publikely teach any doctrine cotrary to these Articles agreed
upon. If, after due admonition, he doe not conforme himselfe,
and cease to disturbe the peace of the Church, let him bee
silenced, and depriued of all spirituall promotions he doth enjoy.

FINIS.

^ (EextificMt

or THE

STATE AND REVENNEWES

OF THE

BISHOPPRICKE

MEATH AND CLONEMACKENOSH.

^ CTertificate

OF THE

STATE AND REVENNEWES

THE BISHOPPRICKE

MEATH AND CLONEMACKENOSH,

VIZ^-

meanes of the Bishopprick of Meath doe arise from

1 ^HcmporaltlES or Temporall rentes,

2 ©ItfiCS,

3 ^cntons,

4 proxies.

Temporalities belonging and apptayning to the Bishopp-
rick of Meath are these, viz'.

©1)0 JWannor of Ardbrackhan in theCountie of Meath where-
unto belongeth the house together w"* ccclx Akers or there-
aboutes of Demesne landes remayning in the B*" hands, Onely
there is a controversie whether the B^ should pay Tithes out
of his demesne lands to S'' Roger Jones whoe is the Kings Far-
mer for the Abbay of the Novan.

©!)£ (ZT^appdl of S' Maries in Ardbrackhan w'" the appurte-
nnces was demised quarto Januarij Anno 1532 by Edward B^ of
Meath Thomas Abbot of the Novan and Covent to Richard
Christen Register of Meath for Ixxxj yeares paying yearly xij"
notw"'standing the expiracon of w""" lease the thing is now held
by S' Roger Jones his Ma"" Farmor of the Abbey of the Novan
w"'out allowing any rent to the B"".

liv

APPENDIX V.

i^ClIStotone in the Countie of Meath a C acres of arable land.
A ffirrparke betweeue Neilstowne and the Moore, foure Mesuages
in Ardbrackhan and Ixiiij acres of Ardbrackhan land demised
by Edward B'' of Meath ix° Junij Anno vj'° Edwardi sexti to
Eichard Christen for iiij"xix^" yeares paying yearely viij' Jr. w"'
is vi' Ster. After the expiracon of w"'' Terme another lease is to be-
gin for iiij"xix" yeares graunted by Thomas of Meath primo
Janiiarij 1599 to Patrick Swayne w"" reseruacon of the same rent.

23ctaCjl)tagl)totonE contayning Ix"^ acres. It was first passed
in the former lease together w"" Neilstowne. But B*" Bradye get-
ting it into his owne handes passed it in fee farme to his Sonne
in the name of his Notary John Conan. Thence it is come by
meane Conveyaunces to Garret Dillon, the rent reserued is iij' Ir.
or xlv' ster. The writings I have not scene.

l^lCariStotonE in the Countie of Meath xxi acres and an halfe
ueere adioyning thereunto leased to Mr. William Hill of Allens-
towne 22'^'' Maij A° 1567 for Ixj yeares, he paying the yearely
rent of xxj' vj'' Ir. or xvj' j* ob. ster. A lease of the same in
reuercon was passed by B"" Jones quinto Julij A° 1605 to Thomas
Braughall for cj yeares w"" reseruacon of the same rent.

ollj house in Ricardstowne w"^ xxxvj acres of land
passed by B^ Jones to Thomas Braughall of Ardbrackhan yeo-
man xxiij" Maij A° 1605 for cj yeares w"" reseruacon of the
yearely rent of xxvj' viij'* Ir. or xx" ster. It is in the possession
of S' Roger Jones Knight.

®f)e iilannor of Ardrath in the Countie of Meath. It is
held by M' Cusack of Lismullen in fee simple w"'out any dutie
reserued to the B^.

^i)C JItannor of Clonarde in the County of Meath (was aun-
ciently the seate of the B''"'*') and Killian in the said Countie
w"" the villages of MollrickMoringuliath etc. contayning about five
hundred acres adioyning to the B*" Manno' house passed in fee
farme by Jones to Thomas Loftus knight for xx**' poundes
Ir. or xv' ster. p annu.

^lOVCblilJC in the Countie of Meath passed in fee farme by
Edward B^ of Meath nono Junij A" 6" Edwardi 6'' to the heires
of S' Thomas Cusack knight for T Ir. or xxxvij' sterling p annu.

23aUibavnC ^nagl)E nutJ i%loyl5Elt or Moydrome in the
said Countie contayning cl"' acres or thereaboutes in the parish
of Clouard leased by B'' Brady xxiiij". Februarij anno 1578 to

A CERTIFICATE, ETC.

George Fitz Gerrald for Ixj yeares for iii" Ir. or xlv'ster pannu.
A reueroon of the same graunted by B'' Jones to S' Edward Fitz
Garrald knight xxj° Maij A" 1605 for cj yeares to begin after
the expiracon of the former lease paying yearely iiij" Ir. or iij"
ster.

tZToUagl^f leased by B'' Brady xxv" Februarij A" 1578 to Wal-
ter Flynn for Ixj yeares, he paying thereout xx Ir. or xv'
ster. p annii. It is now held by S' Edward Fitz Garrald knight.

SrnEmulIen hxmt mtj Wiil^axtim in the Countle of Meath

contayning cxl'''' acres or thereabout leased by B'' Brady vltimo
Junij 1571 to Robert Bostock for Ixj yeares, he paying thereout
vj" Ir. or iiij" x' ster. Another lease in reuercon graunted by B""
Jones to Thomas Braughall of Ardbrackhan yeoman for cj yeares
w"' reseruaeon of the same rent.

.^fKtogfin contayning Ix acres in the Countie of Meath leased
by B"" Brady xxv" Februarij A" xxj" regni Elizabeth to Jasper
Staples for Ixj yeares. for the yearely rent of x? Ir. or xxxv' ster.
A reuercon afterward graunted to the same Jasper by B"" of
Jones for iiij'"'xix''" yeares w"'out augmentaeon of rent.

Sbcudockstotone (SBffErnocfeE anil ©nstlerngge in Newtowne

by Tryme in the Countie of Meath passed in fee farme by B''
Brady xxxj" Maij A° 1564 to Barnabe Scurlock for the yearely
rent of xvj" Ir. or xij" ster.

■STljE i^lnnnor of Tryme in the Countie of Meath his Ma"°
alloweth out of it to the B" yearely a pencon of v" Ir. or iiij." xv'
ster.

jjf arncfovtf) or Farren loare contayning Ix"" acres in the
Countie of Westmeath leased to Mr. Nugent of Dardistowne for
xxij' vj'' ster. p annu. The number of yeares I cannot learne.

tjaffctnaui als StafFernam in the said Countie contayning Ix'''
acres of arable land beside meadow leased by B'' Brady xxv"
Februarij A" 1578 vnto Peirce Nugent for l.xj yeares w"' reser-
uaeon of the yearely rent of xxxiij" iiij'' Ir. or xxv' ster.

IBlnoriie anll ©IjlUtljtofonC of Killowae in the Countie of
Westmeath leased by B'' ]\Iountgomery A" 1616 to James Murrey
for three lives w"' a reseruaeon of the rent of viij" ster p annu.

iSalaUiaCattan contayning fortie acres in Westmeath leased
by B'' Jones nono Maij A" 1591 vnto James IJrowne for l.xj
yeares beginning primo Martij 1610 w"' the reseruaeon of the
yearely rent of xxxiiij' Ir. or xviij' ster.

Ivi

APPENDIX V.

donfntlfovain contayningcx acres in Westnieath demised by
W Brady to John Conan now held by Roger Jones knight.
The rent is iiij" Ir. or xlv'' ster. The terme is saied to be about
fiftie yeares yet to come the lease I haue not seene.

23nIHnaSpl'tlie als Bishopstowne in the Countie of West-
meath two concurrent leases were grauntcd hereof by B'' Brady
for the yearley rent of xij beoues. Thone to John Dongan for
fiftie one yeares beginning xxiiij Februarij 1578. The other
to Peter Nangle for Ixj yeares beginning at Easter A° 1583.

©Inre in Westmeath leased by Brady to John Dongan
xxiiij'" februarij A° 1578 for Ij yeares w"' rescruacon of viij
beoues for the annuall rent.

23aUi'nKignam 23nlltntokl)am lEli'Imanaglian JSalUnluU

Hne "STullamOIiragSEV 23alIcmurrC in the parish of Moyraffyn

^^alltncUny JJalli'liilmuny at^crng SjallalircSilJ in the

parish of Moylin in Fercall in the Kings Countie. All these lands
together w"' the advowson of the Rectorie of Rath wire in the
Countie of Westmeath were passed in fee farme by Bishop Brady
to the Earle of Killdare for iiij'' Ir. or iij" ster. p annu. w"'' rent
allso is neuer paid. This was done vnder a colour of Exchaunge
of these lands for Bishoppescorte w''' the earle challenged as his
owne Whereas it is well knowne to haue been the auucient de-
mesnes of the Bishoppricke and the only house where he made
his residence in Westmeath. The land in Fercall is passed by
Ires patentes vnto S' Fraunces Blundell in the late plantacon of
O Moloyes Countrcy w"'out any recompence as yet giuen to the
B'' either for the land itselfe or for the small i-ent that was re-
serued uppon it.

^irjc whole rent now recerued out ofl

the Temporalities of the B""'"' of |

Meath (the demesnes of Ardbrack- )- Ixxxv" iiij' i"* ob.

ban notaccompted) amountethyearely |

to the some of J
S"!)? 'STttllCS ariseing out of the Rectories annexed to the
j3prici<e Qf ]vieath vizt.

®]^£ Rectory of Ballimore als Loxewdy in the Countie of
Westmeath leased by B'' Brady for cxl"'" beoues p annfi. But after-
ward by Bishop Dodde for the yeartlie rent ofxxx"ster. the les-
see being bound to bear all charges ordinarie and extraordinarie.
Wherevppon the question ariseth whether he be not hereby

A CERTIFICATE, ETC.

Ivii

bound to pay the kings twentietb part and the B''" proxies
yearely, the lease continueth for xvij or xviij yeares yet to come.
■^TljE Rectorie of the Nobber w"' the Chappells belonging there-
vnto worth Ix" ster. p annu. The tith corne and hay of Julians-
towne apptayning to this Eectorie was demised by Edward
L'' of Meathe A" prirao Edwardi 6" to Thomas S' Laurence als
Howth for iiij^xix"" yeares he paying thereout yearely iij markea
Ir. that is xxx' ster.

'd^E Rectorie of Tryme in the Countie of Meath lately an-
nexed by liis Ma"" to the B"'"'"'' w"'' is worth Communibus annis
(the vicars allowance being deducted) cc ster. A good parcell of
the Tithes of this Rectorie was leased by M"^ Draper (late B'' of
Killmore and parson of Tryme) for the vse of his wife who is
now turned Recusant. Another portion in the towne of Tryme
was demised by the said B^ Draper to Nicholas Locke for the
yearely rent of xxvj' Ir. or xx' ster.

Summa cciiij"x". ster

S^6e Pentions belonging to the B^"'^" of Meath are

(J5ut of the Rectorie of Paynestowne xx"""'*^' Ir. or v" ster.

Q^Wi of the priorie of Duleeke xxvj" xiij' iiij'' Ir. or xx" ster.

©Ut of the Priorie of Colpe xx" Ir. or xv" ster. heretofore
vsually paid by the now lord Viscount of Drogheda. But now
stayed because as he alleadgeth others should ioyne w'" him in
the payment thereof.

®Ut of S' Maries Abbay by Dublin xx" Ir. or xv" ster. here-
tofore duly paid by the Kings ffarmo" but now by many of
them denied.

Summa pentionu Iv" ster.

23ESteS I finde in B^' Bradyes rentall I finde v" viij' viij"
Irish paid as a pention out of the priorye of Molengare vj beoues
out of the monastery of Loxewdy. Six beoues out of the priory
of Derrowes. Six beoues of Wastina in the Deanrie of Loxewdy.
And foure beoues out of the Monastery of Kilbeggan none of
w""" are now paid.

©fie proxies are receaued by the B'' of Meath partlie out of
the Institutive, partlie out of the impropriate liveings.

'^\)Z Institutive proxies belonging to the B" of Meathe yeald
Ix" v' vj"" ster. in money xxx"° beoues.

Iviii

APPENDIX V.

©fie institutive proxies of the Arclideaconrie of Kells als
Nobber annexed to tlie 6""""= of Meath are yearly x" iiij' ix*
ster.

XHlit impropriate proxies giuen vp to King Henry the viij' by
Edward B'' of Meath and lately regraunted to the B"'"'"' by
our now gracious Soveraigne amount to the yearely some of Ixj"
vij' viij* Ir. w"*" is xlv" x' vj" ster. but some parcells of the lord
Viscount of Drogheda and others deny to pay [s/c] thing to the
Bp. Others put of their payment from the farmors of the x\b-
bayes to the farmo" of the Rectories appropriated therevuto.
And euery seuerall Rectorie is comonly deuided amongst so
many seuerall farmors that vnlesse a more certayne course be
taken herein his Ma''" gratious intention of augmenting the
meanes of this B''"'"'' wilbe vtterly frustrate.

Som of the proxies in all cxvj" ix** ster. and xx"^ beoues.

®f)£ State of the Revennewes belonging to the Bishopricke of
Clonemacnoshe really vnited to the B''"''" of Meath by Act of
Parliament viz''

the landes in Westmeath belonging to this B'"''"' were
demised by B'' Jones primo Nouembris A". Dm. 1592 to Edward
Maloane for Ixxj yeares he paying thereout tenne beoues yearely.
and preserving the young hawkes of Goshawkes faulcons and
Tassells breeding in the woods of Clonemacknosh. Halfe of w'"'
he is bound to deliver to the B"" of Meath at his house in Ard-
brackhan, or to pay iij" for euery hawke that shall be stollen, or
otherwise negligently lost, But by reason of the continuall felling
of the great Timber in those woods (for w'" the said lessee hath
noe licence graunted him in his lease) the hawkes w'^n this
yeare or two haue forsaken the place, and so the B"" hath lost
the benefit of that reservaeon.

the lands in the Countie of Roscommon belonging to the
said B""™" were passed in fee farme by B"" Jones xx° Nouem-
bris A" 1586 to Anthony Brabazon for the yearely rent ofx
markes Ir. or v" ster. There are twelue quarters of land enioyed
by this graunt much whereof was not in the B'" possession at
the tyme wherein this State was passed. There is none of the
Clergies hands to the Conveyance neither doth it appear by any
witnesses That by their consent their scale was affixed there-
vnto.

A CERTIFICATE, ETC. lix

■^TtoO quarters of land lying neere vnto Galloway passed (as it
is said) in fee farrae for the Annuall rent of xx' Ir. or xv' ster.
The Conveiaunce I haue not seene.

JpOlUEt quarters of land in the Countie of Mayo called Kill-
shamy leased by B"* Brady xxvj'° Augusti A° 1578 to James
Garvey for Ixj yeares for the yearely rent of iiij"°'''''= Ir. or xx' ster.

'2rJ)C Vicarages of Balliloughloe Tessai-an and Levanaghan als
Slevanaghan sett for the yearley rent of xxxix' ster.

(JTcrtagnt Prebends annexed to the B""'"' set for the yearely
rent of vij' ster. or thereabout.

Eele weere vppon the river of the Shannon worth iij" vj'
viij'' ster.

Summa totalis hereof each beefe being > j^^jh ^^^^
rated at xx' ster. amounteth vnto ^
^f)Ete is a great proportion of land in the province of Con-
naught w'"' auncientlie belonged to the B''"''"' of Clonemack-
noshe the perticulars whereof are to be seene extracted out of
the Register of that Church, but the originall booke hath lately
beene convayed away by the practize of a leude fellow whoe hath
therevppon fled the Countrey.

'vj'xxxij" vj' vj'' ob.

^OE the full value of the Bishoprick
of Meath and the B""'^""' of Clonemack-
noshe together w'" the rectorie of Tryme
and all other thinges to the said B''"''"'
of Meath vnited amounteth to the somme
of

St, out of w^"' his Ma*'
xx"° p' amounteth
yearely to xviij" iij' i'"
ob. ster. besides the
Arch^'^trienniall prox-
Lies.

The demesnes of Ardbrackhan not being herein accompted.

®i)£ State of the Dioces of Meath here followeth, vizt.

APPENDIX V.

£3 -a

2 J=

a o

S o *i

-a a, a)
■£ .5

a) a J3 .

CO
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=! 3

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O

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0) fc. o
+J

»- - ^

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixi

bJ3

c3 S !2

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(S o 2 0 d

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH. Ixiii

iSuiltJings

and Gleabe Lands.

A manse house, a
mesuage indiffe-
rently repaired, a
garden an orchard
An hagg-ard twentie
acres of arable land
and one acre of
moore.

A manse house now
ruined. A garden
an orchard and an
haggard. 3 acres of
Glebe.

ISuilUings
and Gleabe Lands.

Neither house nor
gleabe land s.iue only
a roome for an house.

The Church is
wholly ruined.

The Chauncell
is ruinous.

The Church and
Chauncell are
both indifferent-
ly well repaired.

This is a great
Church and both
Church and
Chauncell are in-
differently re-
paired.

m
c

He resideth.

He resideth at
another liveing of
his in y'^ same dio-
ces not far from
thence. Mr. Tho.
Lees a preaching
minister of good
life and conver-
sacion serueth thel
cure and resi-
deth at a liveing
of his owne w"'in
two miles.

1-*

.S
c

He resideth in
Drogheda.

s
"(3

1 1

cn
3
1

to «n

t: a

re 2

X =3
X §

u
1— (

5)
to

.3 »
5 2

1— (

& ^

1— « ^
._ CO

CO s

Encumbents.

Mr. Roger Dan-
by a preacher of
good life & con-
versacion Chap-
len to the right
Ho''i'= the lo.
Viscount Ealylo:

Ireland.

Mr. Richard
Pui'dam borne in
this countrey,
but of English
parents. A Cam-
bridge man of
good life and
conversacion.

Encumbents.

Mr. Robert Bur-
ton a reading
minister.

.§
s

ISiIlmoont in the

Countie of Meath
Presentative.

The Lord Arch''?
of Ardmagh lo: Pri-
mate of Ireland Pa-
tron.

iSalligartj) m tne
County of Meath.
Presentative. The
lo: Netterfeild lo:
Viscount of Bali-
more, Patron.

es>
a
a

■pont als St. Maries
of Drogheda in the
towne of Drogheda.
Presentatiue.

The lo: Moore lo:
Viscount of Droghe-
da is his Ma''« far-
m" of the Rectory
being impropriate
and Patron.

lO to

Ixiv

APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixv

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VOL. I.

Ixvi

APPENDIX V.

B
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3

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2 2 S

(A 3 ^

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—

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixvii

a a.'
§ P

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Ixviii

APPENDIX V.

-So

S -i

^ 5

None at all.
None at all.

A mansehouse long
since ruyned 12 acres
of wast land and six
acres of arable land.

and Gleabe Lands.

A manse house ru-
yned an acre and an
halffi of land.

o £ or o j:

3 ^ S S3 s s

_f- a; T-* a)

6 § 6 § 6 g

w
.*^

= ?
j: S >^

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c =: ^ c«
so 2j

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF RIEATH.

Ixix

C O fe

^■^ -a

^ '±

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a. 2 5-
J: t. — y a;

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a.3_ .

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^ S

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(i>

£ Pi

^ c ^ —

- 2 £

o-"^ P3 £ ^ ?; - S
°5 ^ S Sad

^ c ,^ 3

£C'?2 Si".!

Ixx

APPENDIX V.

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tc i£ C3 .S ci ^

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« £ *^ o s
£2 s 5^ ° '-^ pr"
3 -S — S

^ (/: i<5 ^ -«j

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c a

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r-i So 2 a-a

c S °

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxi

Co?

? 3
^ § I

j3 ^

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s a ^

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Ixxii

APPENDIX V.

-a

•-^ <y

None at all.
None at all.

None at all.

>£'

The Church
and Chauncell
ruyned.

The Church and
Chauncell rea-
sonable repayr-
cd.

The Church and
the Chauncell of
Crickestowne
reasonablie re-
payred.

The Church and
Chauncell of
Cookestowne
ruynous.

Tho Church and
the Chauncell
ruyned.

He residoth at
Ratowth w"in a
myle.

lie resideth at
Ratowth w'''in a
myle and seru-
eth all the said
Cures.

He rosidetli at
Ratowth.

He resideth at
his Vicarage of
Rathbeggan Nu.
29".

15" ster.
40" ster.

Nihil.

Nihil.
Nihil.

Nihil.

s
o

n $

5.g

Nihil.
Nihil.

Nihil.

Mr. Nicholas
Smyth als Agone
next abouo spe-
cified.

Vicar of Ra-
towth numero 28.

Vicar of Ra-
te wth numero 28"

Vicar of Don-
boyno numero
27".

ID
w
}-*

Knicglan in the
Countie of Meath
Patrick Sedgrave of
tho same Escj'' his
Ma"'« farmo'- of the
impropriate Rectory
thereof.

CSrcrnockc in the

v^ijuiiiiu UI iiiedi/ii iTi

Coman of Wians-
towiio gent, and M™
I5is(> of Dublin wi-
dow his Ma""' far-
mo''' of the Rectory
being impropriate.

CTooUcslotont in the
Countie of Meath
Two Chappells of
ease belonging to the
vicarage of Ratowth
numero 28".

ItilfarirU a Cliappell
of ease belonging to
the vicarage of Don-
boyne numero 27".

J5 52 fe) C5

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxlii

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Ixxiv

APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxv

p- a, —

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Ixxvi

APPKNDIX V.

T3 -73

sill

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2 3 '

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxvii

-a

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£ •§

>— • a

"3 ii
a

A manse house alto-
gether ruyned and an
acre of land.

» «

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Ixxviii

APPENDIX V.

None at all.
None at all.
None at all.
None at all.
None at all.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxix

The Church and
Chauncell are
ruyned.

The Church £
Chauncell al
gather ruynoi

o o

He resideth
supra.

He resideth
his vicarage
]Moyglare nun
ro 33.

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Ixxx

APPENDIX V.

» §

5 3 1

None at all.
None at all.

♦

S3 T3
^ rt

A fayre Castle and
an hall w"' lyine and
stone many houses of
office w"-'' are now de-
cayed A garden and
a backside and a Close
contayning two acres
of pasture.

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STATE OF THE DtOCESE OF MEATH.

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Ixxxii

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxxiii

<3)

a
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None at all.

None at all.
None at all.

A manse house co-
monly called the vica-
rage house \v"' bacl:-
sides thereunto be-
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impropriacon con-
verteth to his owne
vse.

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b- 00 CO 30 * ^ °°

f 2

Ixxxiv

APPENDIX V.

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxxv

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APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

Ixxxvii

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l.xxxviii

APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF INIEATH.

Ixxxix

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t— 1

"«

ob
S)

S
<-»

Mr. William
Hayley formerly
specified numero
l-2°etl7.

IMr. Nathaniell
Chapman a M' of
Artes and a
preacher.

Mr. Thomas
White formerly
specified numero
114".

fficrnonstoton: in the
County of INleath.
Presentatiue.

John Gernon of
Killingcoole in the
county of Lowth Pa-
tron.

ICottgljliraclian in the
Countie of Bleath
Collatiue. Thelo.Bp.
of Meath patron.

Bromconrag^ in the
County of Meath.
Presentatiue. The
lo: Baron of Slane
patron.

§ 1

xciv

APPENDIX V.

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APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

XCVU

w
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A manse house and
backside and 15 acres
of laud.

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backside.

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None at all.
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APPENDIX V.

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APPENDIX V.

None at all.

The Church and
Chauncell alto-
gether ruyned.

The Church and
Chauncell ruyned.

The Chappell is
altogether ruyn-
ed.

w
tR

He resideth at
another cure of
his w"'in two
myles.

He resideth there
and serueth this
cure also.

Ho resideth at
Rathwyer.

a
^

7" ster.
stipend.

7'' ster.
stipend.

Valued w"" the
said rectory
and vicarage.

Nihil.

Valuedw"'the
rectory and

Rathwyer.

s
o
w

Nihil.

Valued w"' the
rectory and vi-
carage oi
Rathwyer.

tn
«

Mr. John Ridg-
well a reading
minister of good
life and conver-
sacion.

Mr. John Ridg-
well next above
specified. He
sorueth this cure
also.

The parson and
vicar of Rath-
wyer.

ISalliboggan in the
County of Meath.

S'' ttrauncys Rush
Kn' farmo' of the
impropriate rectory.

GCnstlctorlian in the
County of Meath.

S'' ttrauncys Rush
Kn' farmo'- of the
impropriate rectory.

CTIonKnltn is a

Chappell of ease
w"'out cure belong-
ing to the rcctorie
of Rath wyer specified

■*

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH. cix

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XI X X C5 Ci Ci C5 c: C3 0

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MF.ATH.

CXV

♦

vt
>o

&
9

}->
o

«!

a>
s

300 acres of glebe
set out by K. James
but the Incumbent
hath no more than
188.

•e

The Church and
Chauncell ruyn-
ous.

The Church
ruynous.

the Chauncell
repayred.

The Church and
Chauncell ruyn-
ous.

He resideth at
Dublin.

Ho resideth

s s

■s *•

i, ^•

1ft

■*
•*

0 ^
ox

>o
S
a

Mr. Thomas Pil-
1311 a Batchelo''
of divinitie of
good life and
conversacion.

S 2

Ml-. Thomas Pil-
lyn next aboue
specified.

Mr. Neale Moloy
a natiue a M'' of
Artes and a
preacher of good
life and conver-
sacion.

e
w

in the Countie of
Westraeath. Colla-
tiue.

The lo. Bishop of
Meath Patron.

£; «

^rtimuigl)cr als Bal-
limurgher in the
Countie of West-
meath. Collatiue.
The lo. Bishop of
Meath Patron.

SI- Willm. Colley his
Ma"'* farmof of the
Impropriacon.

JFciCitll in the Kings
Countie. Collatiue.
The lo. Bp. of Meath
patron.

Willm. Colley
Knight and the Exe-
cuto" of S' William
Sarsfeild Knight and
the Widow Cosgraue
of Dublin far mo^'ofthe
Impropriate reetorie.

F-H

2 2 ® ^

li 2

CXVl

APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH,

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cxviii

APPENDIX V.

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATII.

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APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE Ol' WEATH.

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cxxii

APPENDIX V.

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STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATII.

cxxiii

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cxxiv

APPENDIX V.

-I •

rch and
ruyn-

■ch and
ruyn-

'ch and
ruyn-

ch and
ruyn-

The Chili
Chauncell
ed.

The Chui
Chauncell
pd

1
i

The Chui
Chauncell
ed.

The Chui
Chauncell
ous.

The Curate re-
sideth vt supra
about 7 myles
distant.

None. 1

None.

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U0

STATE OF THE DIOCESE OF MEATH,

CXXV

STj^m are in the Dioces of Meath

I3tgnitBf0 2. both CoUatiue belonging to the patronage of tlie
Bishop of Meath.

McctovifS Collatiue Presentatiue and Institutiue 51.

ITitaragfS Collatiue Presentatiue & Institutiue 63.

'Ef)e Patrons of every liveing, and the Farmo" of the impro-
priate rectoryes are all set do wne and specified in the first Columne
of w'^'' such as be Recusantes are noted w"' this marke in the
margent.

^11 the Churches specified in this Certificate are fitt to be
builded repayred and reedified.

If tf)e smallnfS of the meanes w''' cometh to the Incumbentes
be regarded, then many of the liveings in this Dioces are fitt to
be vnited to make vpp a competent meanes for the minister.
But if the spaciousnes of the parishes (w* are large and consist
of so many Inhabitantes as if they should be reformed and
brought to the Church, would be more in each parish then the
Church would hould), and the difference of the patrons, the
Patronages being in severall mens hands, I thinke none of them
fitt to be vnited, but that there were power and authoritie given
to the Bishopp for the bettering of the meanes of well deserving
ministers, to vnite such and so many liueings of the value of
Twenty poundes Ster. p ann. and vnder, as he shall thinke fitting
dureing the Incumbency of such well deserving Ministers.

0Lx aJcliUm itilton learned in the Lawes is OflSciall Generall of
the Dioces of Meath and exerciseth the generall Ecclesiasticall
Jurisdiction throughout the whole Dioces.

0ix S2liUm i^loorej^eaDe Minister and M' of Artes exerciseth the
Ecclesiasticall Jurisdiction in the remoate Deanryes of Bally-
more Loxewdy and Ardmurgher als Ballymurgher, vnder the
aboue named M" Willm Lilton.

is the true state of the Bishoppricke and Diocesse of
Meath certified vnto his Ma"" Commissioners by me
James Vssher Doctor of Divinitie Bishoppe of Meath
this xxviij"' day of May in the yeare of our Lord God
1 622. In witnesse whereof I haue hervnto put my hand
and seale.

JAMES MIDENSIS.

VI.

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION

THE CONTROVERSY

BETWIXT THE

ARCHBISHOPS OF ARDMAGH AND DUBLIN,
TOUCHING THE PRIMACY :

WHICH ENDED IN THE FIRST YEAR OF Q. MARY's KEIGN.

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION

THE CONTROVERSY

BETWIXT THK

ARCHBISHOPS OF ARDMAGH AND DUBLIN,
TOUCHING THE PRIMACY:

WHICH ENDED IN THE FIRST YEAR OF Q. MARY'S BEION.

The first occasion of the breach betwixt y" archbishops of Ard-
maghe and Dublin was occasioned by certain bulls procured by
the archbishop of Dublin from the court of Rome. For John
Comyn the first English archbishop of Dublin, being consecrated
by pope Lucius the third at Belitre, in the year of our Lord 1 182.
procured a bull from him ; wherein among other privileges, this
was inserted for one. " Sacrorum quoque canonum auctoritatem
sequentes, statuimus ut nullus archiepiscopus vel episcopus aljs-
que assensuDubliniensis archiepiscopi, si in archiepiscopatu fue-
rit, in dioecesi Dubliniensi conventus celebrare, causas etiam et
ecclesiastica negotia ejusdem dioecesis (nisi per Romanum ponti-
ficem, vel legatum ejus eidem fuerit injunctum) tractare praesu-
mat." Which notwithstanding the opposition of the archbishop
of Ardmaghe, was twice renewed again in the year 1216. by pope
Innocent III. in y*" end ; and Honorius III. in y" beginning of
his Papacye, at y" solicitation of Henrie de Londres, archbishop
of Dublin. This Henry entred itito a covenant with the arch-
bishop of Cashell, (the copy whereof is yet extant) to oppose y°
Primate's claymes with comon care and expenses ; and being a
favourite of y" Court, and y'' Pope's legate in this countrye, pre-
vayled so farre, that in y' year 1221. he obtayned this Bull fol-
lowing from the foresaid pope Honorius in y' behalfe of his See.
VOL. I. i

c.xxx

APTENDIX VI.

" Honorius episcopus, serviis servorum Dei, veneraLili fratri
Dublin, archiepiscopo, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.
Cum secundum divinae legis praeceptum nemo falcem suam
debet mittere iu messem alienam, ne quod ab alio non vult sibi
fieri alii facere videatur; nos tuis precibus inclinati auctoritate
praesentiura iuhibemus, ne cuiquam archiepiscopo vel alii prae-
lato Hiberniae (praeter suffraganeos tuos aut apostolicae sedis
legatum) sine tuo et successorum tuorum assensu bajulare cru-
cem, celebrare conventus (religiosis exceptis) vel causas eccle-
siasticas, nisi a sede apostolica delegatus [fuerit] tractare liceat
in provincia Dublin. Nulli ergo omnino hominum liceat banc
paginam nostrae inhibitionis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario
contraire ; siquis hoc attemptare praesumpserit, indignationem
omnipotentis Dei, et beatorum Petri et Pauli, apostolorum ejus,
se noverit incursurum. Datum Laterani sexto idus Decemb. pon-
tificatus nostri anno sexto."

The archbishop of Ardmaghe on the other side boare out him-
self with a grant obtained from Pope Celestine III. and con-
firmed also by his successor Pope Innocent III. By reason of
which contrarietye of grantes, a great controversye depended in
y^ court of Eome betwixt Eeynard of Ardmaghe, and Luke of
Dublin, in y^ year 1250. which was helde iu suspence, untill at
last Pope Urban IV. confirmed y*" order set down by Celestine,
and established y^ rights of y^ Primacye to y^ See of Ardmaghe
in manner following.

" Primatiara vero totius liibernia?, quam praedecessores tui
usque ad haec tempora inconcusse habuisse noscuntur, ad exem-
plar supradicti Caelestiui papae praedecessoris nostri, tibi tuisque
successoribus auctoritate apostolica confirmamus ; statuentes, ut
Hiberniae archiepiscopi, episcopi, et alii praelati tibi et tuis suc-
cessoribus, tanquam primati obedientiam et reverentiam omni
tempore debeant exhibere. Porro crucem, vexillum scilicet do-
minicum, per provincias et episcopatus tibi metropolitico et pri-
matiae jure subjectas, sicut praedecessoribus tuis concessum
fuisse dignoscitur, ante te deferendi licentiam impertimur."'

These privileges thus renued, were presentlye published by y*
Archbishop of Ardmaghe in a Provinciall Synod held at Drogh-
eda, whereof in the registry of that church we read thus : " Fe-
ria* secunda, luna 18 mensis Januarii, anno Dom. 1262. frater
Patricius Ostannail Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus, Hiberniae

^ Ex Reg. Octaviani archiep. Ardmagh, f. 282.

AN mSTOlUCAL NARRATION, ETC.

CXXXl

Primas concilium celebravit apud Pontem cum suftVaganeis pro-
vinciae suae, et quibusdam suffraganeis provinciae Tuamensis
sibi jure pi imatico subjectis, et quibusdam Canonicis cathedra-
libiis et consilio Domini Dubliniensis, cui interfuerunt Justitia-
lius et qiiidara magnates Hiberniae ; et ibidem privilegia Eccle-
siae Ardmachanae de jure primatiae post revocationem'' in Curia
Romana publicata fuerunt."

After this, controvers3'e ceased awhile untill the year'' 1311.
when in the parliament held before John Wogan, Lord Justice at
Kilkenny, the Bishops falling into argument about their juris-
dictions, the Bishop of Dublin forbad the Primate of Ardmaghe
to lift up his crosyer within the province of Leynster, as Campion
reporteth in his historye of Ireland, lib. 2. cap. 5. And in the
year 1313, this accident following thereupon is related, in the
Irish Annales published by Mr. Camden. " Frater Eolandus
Jorce, Primas Ardmachanus applicuit in insula de Houth in cras-
tino Annunciationis B. Mariae. De nocte surgens furtive levando
crucem suam, illam portavit usque Prioratum de Gratia Dei. Cui
occurrebant quidam de familiaribus Archiepiscopi Dubliniensis,
illam Crucem deponendo, et ipsum Ardmachanum tanquam con-
fusum a Lagenia effugarunt." In the same Annales likewise, at
the year of our Lord 1337. this narration is layd down : "Domino
Johanne Charleton existente Justitiario et teuente Parliamentum
Dublinii, magister David 0 Hirraghey, Archiepiscopus Ardma-
chanus vocatus ad Parliamentum fecit residentiam in monasterio
B. Mariae juxta Dublinium. Sed impeditus fuit per Archiepis-
copum et clericos, quia voluit portari Crucem ante eum, et no-
luerunt permittere eum." Upon which occasion David caused y"
foresayd clauses of Pope Urban's Bull, confirming y® privileges
of y® See of Ardmaghe to be exemplified under y'' great scale o[
Ireland nono vigesimo Nov. anno regni Edwardi III. undecimo,
as appears by the " Inspeximus" of y^ sayd letters Patent, pre-
served amongst y*" records of y* Towre of London, " inter patent,
an. 2. Hen. IV. part 3. membran. 5." But what further prose-
cution he made of this businesse I do not finde. But an" 3" Ed. 3
in y'' rolls of surrions of Pari, y' writt in y" first place directed
to y'' Primate, then to Dublin and y*" rest.

In the year 1349. the contention broke out more fiercely, be-

An rcnovaliunem ?

Or 1308 when Dublin and Cassliell joynod togother against tlif I'ri-
niato : as appearetli by K. Edw. II. k ttcrs dat. G" Junii an" rogni !'"" iu
y'' Remembrancers office.

i 2

cxxxii

APPENDIX VI.

twixt Richard Fitz Ralfe, commonly called S. Pilchard of Dun-
dalk, the famous archbishop of Ardmaghe and Alexander Bicke-
nore, Archbishop of Dublin ; the narration whereof in the regis-
trye of Ardmaghe is thus layd down. " Anno"^ Doni. 1349". Rex
Angliae misit diversas literas domino Richardo Archiepiscopo
Ardmachano, Hiberniae Primati. quod posset deferre Crucem
suara ante se in qualibet parte Hiberniae. Scripsit etiam majo-
ribus et potentibus Hiberniae, (juod Primatem Hiberniae in pro-
secutione juris Ecclesiae Ardmachanae, quoad Primatiam, juva-
rent, et in nuUo resisterent. Praedictus vero Dominus Richardus,
Primas Hiberniae, confisus de jure suo, et de potentia Dei, juva-
mine beati Patricii patron i sui accessit Cruce erecta ante se usque
ad Dubliniam, et per Dubliniam, et ibidem thalamum recepit, in
villa per tres noctes stetit, privilegia Ecclesiae Ardmachanae et
Bullas Primatiae coram Justitiariis Hiberniae, Priore de Kilma-
nam, et majoribus de Hibernia ibidem existentibus, legit et
publicavit, in omnes contradictores et rebelles sententiam ex-
communicationis fulminavit ; praedictus Justitiarius, et Prior de
Kilmanam cum suis complicibus, recepta pecunia de Archiepis-
copo Dublin, negotia Ecclesiae Ardmachanae impediverunt. Do-
mino vero Primate revertente ad villamPontanam. omnes illos et
singulos excommunicatos publice denominavit. Tpsi vero recog-
noscentes errorem ipsorum humiliter ad Dominum Primatem
usque villam Pontanam venerunt, et genibus flexis eodem coram
Primate absolutionera obtinuerunt. Eodem anno statim post
recessum Domini Primatis de Dublinia prior de Kilmanam se-
cundus principalis conspirator contra Ecclesiam Ardmachanam
infirmatus fuit ad mortem, et errorem suum recognovit, et nun-
cios solennes et procuratores speciales ad villam de Drogheda
usque Dominimi Primatem misit ; et se et omnes de parentela
sua ad hoc obligavit, quod nunquam ipsi aut aliquis ex ipsis
contra Ecclesiam Ardmachanam in ea parte insurgerent vel in-
surgeret ; et cito missis nunciis per miracula beati Patricii mor-
tuus est, et non traditus fuit ecclesiasticae sepulturae, donee
auctoritate Domini Primatis, quia in eo apparebant signa poeni-
tentiae salutaris, fuit absolutus.

Eodem anno Alexander archiepiscopus Dublin, propter inju-
ria? et seditiones, quas contra Ecclesiam Ardmachanam fecit et
procuravit, mortmis est."

John St. Paul, or De Sancto Paulo, succeeded Alexander in the

■I Ex Registro Octavian arehiep. f. 279.

AN HISTORICAL NAIUIAIION, bTC.

CXXXlll

Archbishoprick of Dublin, who nothing terrified with what had
passed, procured out of Enghmd in the year 1350. a revocation
of the Kings letters, granted to Richard of Ardniagh, and a stay
of his execution of the primacy within the province of Dublin,
as in the ensuing letters patent of King Edward III. more fully
may appear.

" Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Angliae, et Franciae, et Dominus
Iliberniae Justitiario ac Cancellario et Thesaurario nostris ibi-
dem, nee non universis et singulis officiariis ac ministris caete-
riscjue fidelibus nostris, tarn civibus et burgensibus, quani po-
pularibus in terra praedicta, infra libertates et extra, ad quos
praesentes literae pervenerint, salutem. Cum nuper Archiepis-
copus Ardmachanus Primatem Iliberniae se praetendens, sugge-
rensque ipsum practextu Primatiae hujusmodi et privilegiorum
sibi per sedem apostolicam (ut asserit) concessorum Crucem
suam eundo et equitando ubique per dictam terram nostram Hi-
bcrniae erectam ante se portari facere, et quam pluribus privile-
giis et jiiribus, ut ad Primatiam illam spectautibus per medium
ejusdem terrae debite uti posse literas nostras patentes de pro-
tectione et defensioue nostris pro se, honiinibus et familiaribus
suis in executione praemissorura faciend, mandatum etiam con-
linentes quod vos praefatum Archiepiscopuni dictam Crucem
suam ubilibet in terra praedicta, et in civitatibus et burgis, quam
locis aliis ante se portari facere, et quicquid ad dictam Primatiam
pertinet facere et exercere absque impedimento scu impetitione
ali(jua permitteretis. Nec non quaedam alia mandata nostra sin-
gularia vobis praefatis Justitiario ac Majori et Ballivis civitatis
nostrae Dublin, diversisque aliis majoribus, et ballivis, ac minis-
tris et fidelibus nostris sub magno sigillo nostro Angliae directa ;
quod dictas literas nostras in civitate Dublin, et alibi ubi expe-
dire videritis, publice proclamari et contenta in eisdem in singu-
lis articulis observari et teneri facerctis ; et omnibus fidelibus
nostris ibidem inhiberetis ex parte nostra, ne dicto Archiepiscopo
aut suis in cxercitio primatiae et privilegiorum suorum in terra
praedicta sub poena incarcerationis corporum suorum, ac cap-
tionis libertatum in manum nostram impedimentum aliquod
inferrent, contra tenorem literarum nostrarum earundem in can-
ccUaria nostra ad suggestionem hu jusmodi impctrassent, prout in
litcris nostris et mandatis praedictis continctur. Et licet per
tenorem cujusdam Bullae felicis recordalionis Ilonorii papae in
Cancellaria nostra praedicta sub sigillo nostro, quo utimur in
Hibernia, cxhibitum liqueat evidcnter, qu(xl idem Ilonorius

CXXXIV

APPENDIX VI.

Papa inhibuit, ne cuiquam Arcliiepiscopo vel alii praelato Hiber-
niae praeter suflraganeos Dubliniensis Archiepiscopi, avit Apos-
tolicae Sedis Legatuin, sine ipsius Archiepiscopi Dubliniensis et
successorum suoriim assensu bajulare Cnicem, celebrare conven-
tus (religiosis exceptis) vel causas ecclesiasticas, nisi de sedis
apostolicae delegatis, tractare liceat in provincia Dublin, ipsaque
Dubliniensis Ecclesia sic dicta, et nonnullis aliis Sedis Aposto-
licae privilegiis et praescriptionibus legitimis sit munita ac gavisa
hactenus libertate, quod nullus Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus seu
alius terrae praedictae praeter ipsum Dublin. Archiepiscopum,
nullo unquam tempore Crucem suam ante se erectam in Dublin,
provincia bajulare debuit, nec etiam bajulavit, nec causas trac-
tavit ecclesiasticas in eadem, per quod jus seu ususprivilegiorum
aut praescriptio seu libertas hujusmodi de jure interrupta fuerint
vel interrumpi debuerint sive laedi ; prout inde sumus pleuius
inforniati : praefatus tamen Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus colore
literarum et mandatorum nostrorum praedictorum, quae tacite in
impetratione eorum de jure et privilegiis Dubliniensis Ecclesiae,
et expresse de contraria veritate ad minus veracem suggestionem
hujusmodi in dicta cancellaria nostra obtinuit ; et quae eo prae-
textu et ob propositas coram nobis quasdam alias causas surrep-
titie obtenta dici debent aliqua in grave et enorme praejudicium
ipsius Dublin, ecclesiae et cleri provinciae ejusdem, ac contra
privilegia, praescriptiones, usus et libertatem praedicta abusive
quibusdam confoederatis suis sibi assistentibus in eisadem civi-
tate et provincia Dublin, temere attemptavit, unde ejusdem civi-
tatis et partium vicinarum populus vehementer movebatur : et
nos advertentes, quod ex turbatione et praesumptione hujusmodi
literarum et mandatorum nostrorum praedictorum obteuta con-
gressus populorum provinciarum utrarumque bellicus verisinii-
liter formidatur ; nolentesque nec intentionis nostrae extitit nec
existit praejudicium seu injuriam praedictae Dublin, ecclesiae de
nostro patronatu existenti, seu ejusdem juribus, privilegiis, aut
libertati, ralione literarum et mandatorum nostrorum praedicto-
rum, seu alia causa fieri; sed desiderantes ipsam in suis juribus
et privilegiis confoveri, et eminentia ex praemissis pericula evi-
tari, et subditorum nostrorum paci et quicti ubilibet provideri,
})raedictas literas et raaudata nostra ad hujusmodi et majora sus-
citanda pericula inductiva, quatenus de facto processerunt, per
literas nostras patcntes vobis directas revocaverimus ; permit-
tentes quod quilibet jura in hac parte in forma juris prosequere-
tur, prout expedire novcrit, et defenderet, ita scilicet quod ex

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION, ETC.

CXXXV

hujusmodi praesumptiouibus tenierariis in populis nostris prae-
dicds non fieret conjunctio, nec pax nostra aliqualiter violaretiir,
prout in Uteris nostris praedictis plenius continetiir. Ac jam
intellexerimus quod quani plures malefactores et pacis nostrae
pertiirbatores ex utraque provinciarum praedictarum in diversis
considerationibus et conventiculis tam armati, qiiam alio modo
in diversis locis in terra praedicta congregati, praetextu literarum
nostrarum dictarum praedicto Arcbiepiscopo Ardmachano per
nos concessarinn, et sicut praedicitur, per nos revocatarum, Ar-
cbiepiscopuni Ardmachaniim praedictiim cum Cruce erecta et
coram eo in praedicta civitate Dublin, et alibi in provincia Dub-
lin, portata, et alia quae ad dictam Primatiam pertinent ibidem
extendendam, per hujusmodi potentiam suam manutenere propo-
nunt, in pacis nostrae laesionem et populi nostri partium illaruni
terrorem et commotiouem manifestam, et contra formam statuti
de armis contra pacem nostram non portandis editi, et contra
tenorem revocationis nostrae supradictae ; nos pacera nostram
ubique in dicta terra nostra inviolabiliter observari, et ipsam
pacera nostram laedentes juxta suorum denierita ac etiam dictum
statutum contra venientes juxta vim et etfectura ejusdem casti-
gari volentes et puniri ; ac periculis quae hujusmodi hominum
ad anna armatorum et aliorum evenire poterunt, quod absit,
praecavere vobis praefato Cancellario mandamus firmiter injun-
gentes, quod per brevia nostra sub sigillo, quo utimur in Miber-
nia, quoties necesse fuerit, omnibus et singulis, quos decet, dictis
in mandatis, quod publice proclamari, et ex ea parte nostra de-
I'endi faciatis, quod nulli sub forisfactura vitae et membrorum et
onuiium aliorum quae nobis f'orisfacere poterunt, hujusmodi con-
gregationes hominum ad arma armatorum, seu aliorum occasione
praescripta facerent aliquo modo ; et vobis praefatis justiliariis,
officiariis etministris nostris, et quorumcunque aliorum fidelium
nostrorum in terra praedicta infra libertates et extra mandamus
firmiter injungentes, quod omnes illos, quos aliquas hujusmodi
congregationes vel conventicula in terra praedicta, praemissa oc-
casione, seu quicquam aliud, per quod dicta pax nostra vel sta-
tutum praedictum laedi seu populum nostrum terreri, turbari aut
conmioveri valeant in hac parte inveneritis facieutos, inscqua-
mini, arrestetis, et capiatis et in prisonis nostris, donee ipsi per
vos pracfatos justiciaries, seu ad mandatum vcstrum suorum
demerita ac vim et efiectum statuti praedicti dcbite puniti fuerint,
salvo custodiri faciatis. In cnjus rei testimonium has llteras
nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Teste meipso apud Westmonas-

cxxxvi

APPENDIX VI.

teriimi octavo die Decembris, anno regni nostri Angliae vicesimo
quarto, regni vero nostri Franciae undecimo."

And when for all this Fitz Ralph would not give over the pro-
secution of that, which he conceived to be the right of his church,
the archbishop of Dublin obtain'd other letters patent from the
King in the year 1352, the tenor whereof is as followeth.

" Edwardus Dei gratia rex Angliae et Franciae, dominus Hi-
berniae justitiario et cancellario suis Hiberniae, qui nunc sunt,
vel qui pro tempore erunt, ac eorum loca tenentibus, salutem.
Cum scilicet Ecclesia Dublin, notorie sit metropolitica et sedi
apostolicae soli, et in solidum in spiritualibus omnibus juribus
immediate subjecta, adeo quod nullus archiepiscopus Ardmacha-
nus primatem Hiberniae se praetendens Crucem ante se erectam
in civitate, dioecesi et provincia Dublin, ut dicitur, jus habuit
bajulare, nec etiam bajulavit, nec jurisdictionem ibidem exercuit
aliquam ; Richardus tamen Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus in dic-
tis civitate, dioecesi, et provincia crucem suam ante se erectam
deferre, ac visitationis officium, ac jurisdictionem aliam indebite
exercere, et sic fideles nostros ad examen suum in ecclesiam
suam Ardmachanam inter inimicos nostros solicite (ut dicitur)
trahere nititur juxta vires, nedum in nostri et dictae ecclesiae
Dublin, injuriam, sed in commotionem populi et pacis nostrae
j)erturbationem, ac nostri dominii et ipsius terrae nostrae Hiber-
niae, nisi tantae praesumptioni celerius occurratur, subversionis
periculum manifestum. Nos de conservatione juris et honoris
ipsius Ecclesiae Dublin, (cum sit honorabilior ecclesia dictae
terrae) ac etiam gratia et consideratione venerabilis patris Johan-
nis archiepiscopi Dublin, (quern propter experta probitatis suae
merita summopere diligimus) sumus soliciti ; ac considerantes
quod civitas ilia est ibidem civitas nostri regni peculiaris et prae-
cipua ; ac provide desiderantes tam ipsius ecclesiae ut quam po-
puli nostri fidelis dictarum partium prospicere commodis et
quieti, et periculosis commotionum eventibus, quae ex dissen-
sione inter dictos archiepiscopos et illorum subditos provenire
poterunt, pro viribus obviare : vobis et cuilibet vestrum in dilec-
tione et ligeancia, in quibus nobis tenemini, firmiter injungendo
mandamus, quod singulis coraitibus, baronibus, militibus, vice-
comitibus, majoribus, ballivis, seneschallis libertatum ad omni-
bus aliis fidelibus nostris in terra Hiberniae, tam infra libertates,
quam extra, prout et quoties expedire videritis, ex parte nostra
firmiter inhibeatis, et per brevia sub sigillo nostro, quo utimur
in Ilibernia, quoties opus fuerit fact, faciatis firmiter inhiberi ;

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION, ETC.

CXXXVII

ne qui sub forisfactura omnium quae nobis forisfacere poterunt,
novitates aliquas in dicta terra Hiberniae, et in fidelibus populis
noslris ibidem (quibuscunque coloribus) introducant in hac
parte, aut usurpationes indebitas vel insolitas facere, sen arma-
tam potentiam super fideles nostros inducere, vel quaecunque
alia quibuscunque processibus attemptare praesumant, per quae
pax nostra ibidem laedi, aut populus noster praedictus sive com-
munitates commoveri vel terreri, seu divisio vel dissensio in
eisdem populis fieri, vel subversio juris regii (quod absit) ulte-
rius causari, seu dignitati nostrae regiae aliqualiter valeat dero-
gari ; et praemissa nihilominus, prout expedire videritis, in
civitatibus, villis et in locis aliis infra libertates et extra publi-
licari faciatis, et omnes quos post et contra inhibitionem et pro-
clamationeni nostras hujusmodi inveneritis sic delinquentes, tam
per incarcerationem corporum suorum, quam per captionem
terrarum, tenementorum, bonorum et catallorum suorum in ma-
num nostram juxta quantitatem delicti aliter casligari et puniri
faciatis, quod metu poenae alii expraesumpta audacia talia com-
mittere terreantur. De nominibus etiam eorum, qui sic deli-
quenmt, nos de tempore in tempus sub dicto sigillo nostro
Hiberniae ccrtificantes, ut eos juxta ordinationem nostri conoilii
punireraus : et praedicta omnia sicut nos et honorem nostrum ac
salvationem dictae terrae dilexeritis ; et vos ipsos erga nos in-
dempnes servare volueritis, cum omni diligentia faciatis. Teste
raeipso apud Westmonasterium duodecimo die Maii anno regni
nostri Angliae vicesimo sexto, regni vero nostri Franciae tertio
decimo."

From hence y'" controversye removed to the court of Rome in
the year 1353, where the matter being discussed at large before
Pope Innocent the sixth, is said to have received at last this
decision ; which as I found it written by John Allen archbishop
of Dublin, in y" dayes of king Henry the eighth ; in his own
very words I here lay it down. " Quinimo in bibliotheca papae
sccretiori Romae, dum isthic moram tra.xi (annis undecim procu-
rator reverendissimi domini Willelmi Cantuarensis Archiepis-
copi, totius Angliae Primatis) casu profecto fortuito; inter legen-
dum lites et controversias alias in curia inibi pendentes, in
registro InnocentiGti rcperi praetactam litem sopitam auctoritate
Papae, et api)robante CoUegio Cardinaliuni, sub hac forma
sequenti. viz. quod uterque esset Primas, sed ad distincte scri-
bendum Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus intitularet se totius Ili-
berni ie Primatem, Mttmpolitanus autcm Dublinicnsis exararet

cxxxviii

AI'PENniX VI.

se Hiberniae Primatem ; iiistar, inquit sunimiis pontifcx, in
Anglia, Cantuariensis et Ebor. quorum prior scribit se totius
Angliae Primatem, sed alter Angliae Primatem. Subscr. Johan-
nes Dublin, electus, manu mea propria, anno ab incarnat. 1529."

But it appeareth in the registrye of Ardmaghe, that the strife
was yet depending" in the court of Rome 20. January 1366. at
which time the controversye grew so hot betwixt Miles Sweet-
man, who succeeded Eichard Fitz-Ealfe in Ardmaghe, and Tho-
mas Mynotte^ who succeeded John St. Paul in Dublin, that king
Edward was faine to interpose himself again in the businesse. The
course which he required should be observed was, that the mat-
ter should friendlye be compounded betwixt them, and that
according to the example of y"" agreement made betwixt the Arch-
bishops of Canterburye and Yorke in the like case, both should
bear up their Crosiers in each others province, without any
interruption or resistance; as appeareth both by other of the
king's writs issued in this cause, and especially by his letters
directed to the Archbishop of Ardmaghe from Westminster 9.
Junii anno regni 40.

The answer which he received from the archbishop of Ard-
magh herein, was as followeth.

" Excellentissimo' in Christo Principi ac Domino, Domino
Edwardo Dei gratia Regi Angliae illustrissimo, ac Domino Hi-
berniae et Acquitaniae, suus huniilis capellanus Milo, eadem
gratia Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus, Hiberniae Primas salutem,
&c. Post cujus Brevis receptionem obtemperans mandatis ves-
tris personaliter comparui per duos dies, viz. 17. mensis Septem-
bris extunc sequente, et die 24. ejusdera mensis viz. die Jovis
proxime ante festum Sancti Michaelis, ad tractandum cum vene-
rabili patre Archiepiscopo Dublin, super materiam in ipso Brevi
contentam, de certis locis in provinciarum nostrarum confinio.
In quibus diebus et locis dictis, Archiepiscopus Dublin, praesen-
tiara suam non exhibuit personalem, licet ad hoc fuerit praemo-
nitus; sed die ultimo, viz. die Jovis proxime ante festum Sancti
Michaelis Archangeli proxime futurum, quosdam suos procura-
tores ad me in loco assignato personaliter existentem destinavit;
qui procuratores in tractatu illo mecimi habito, petivcrunt, ut
omnibus in ipso Brevi contentis parerem, praecipue de bajnla-
lione Crucinm nostrarum in provinciis nostris mutuo facienda;
quae facere non polui ex causis subsequentibus, pro eo quod

« Rog. :Milo. fol. 2j. a.

f Rrg. Milo. lol. I. b.

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION, ETC.

CXXXIX

propter brevitatem temporis a receptione vestri Brevis cum De-
cano et Capitulo meo acSufi'raganeis provinciae meaeprociil a me
distantibiis quidem per centum milliaria aut ultra, ac viarum dis-
crimiiia, licet pro consilio ipsonun ad haec habeuda diligentiam
dcbitam fecissem, quorum consilium in tam arduo negotio erat
necessarium et consensus, tractare non potui, et propterea nec
finem apponere in praemissis. Eo etiam quia super bajulatione
Crucis meae in signum superioritatis et juris Primatiae in provin-
cia Dublin, sicut in caeteris aliis Hiberniae provinciis jus com-
mune et privilegia a Sede Apostolica quam plurima, ac literas
vestrae dominationis excellentissimae diversas patentes, exempli-
ficationem quorundam privilegiorum praemissorum continentes,
habeo, quod sine impedimento exercere jus primatiae in provin-
cia Dublin, et Crucem suam bajulare et per totam liiberniam
valeat Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus Hiberniae Primas quilibet,
qui pro tempore fuerit, pro loco et tempore opportunis eidem
Excellentiae vestrae habeo exhibenda ; quorum aliqua inspicienda
in praesenti Excellentiae vestrae transmitto. Eo insuper quod
super bajulatione Crucis meae as juris Primatiae per multos
annos pendetlis motaex parte Ecclesiae meae Ardmachanae contra
Archiepiscopum Dublin, atquein ea parte in Romana curia inde-
cisa; sed super bajulatione Crucis suae in provincia mea nun-
quam controversia, sive debata, aut mentio habebatur, licet de
hoc ad suggestionem minus veram, nescio cujus aliter contine-
tur ; nec exemplum concordiae ad interpositionem partis vestrae
atque rogatum inter Archiepiscopos Cantueriensem et Eboracen-
sem initae, est inter nos consimile ac inter illos, quia nunquam
inter nos tanquam partes actrices ex utraque parte lis super baju-
latione Crucium et superioritatis in alterius provincia vertebatur.
Insuper quilibet Archiepiscopus Ardmachanus, Primas Hiberniae
habet, sou habere debet de jure et antiqua consuetudine Ires
Archiepiscopos in Hibernia sibi subjectos ; viz. Dublin. Cassclen-
sem et Tuamensem ; quorum unum, viz. Archiepiscopum Tua-
mtnsem recalcitrantem Ardmachanus vicit judicUiater in llomana
curia : et quod ipse cum jure primatico visitaret de quinquennio
in quinquennium, Bullam ab aj)ostolica sede obtinuit, quam
habeo de praesenti. Quare Excellentiae vestrae humiliter sup-
plico et devote, quatenus cum propter temporis brevitatem, prout
decet hominem status mei, non potero ad ipsam Excellentiam,
sicut Breve vcstrum requirit, personaliter in Angliani venire ;
etiam attcntis oxcusationibus meis supradictis ac aliis evidentiis
quam plurinuis jus Primatiae pracdictac concernentibus, quae in

cxl

APPENDIX VI.

omnibus hac vice exprirai non poterint, vestrae Excellentiae an-
tedictae, dignetur eadem me vestrum excusatum habere : et ne
talia vel consimilia Brevia in posteruni extra vestram Cancella-
riam emaneant, et si quae emanarunt, quod revocentur, de gratia
vestrae Celsitudiuis demandare. Prospere et feliciter vestram
excellentem dominationem conservet Altissimus ad utile regimen
sui populi ditioni vestrae subjecti per tempora longiora. Script,
sub meo sigillo in manerio de Dromiskin die Sabbati, &:c."

The order set down by King Edward in England for the
taking up of this controversy being not observed by the Arch-
bishops here, Lionel duke of Clarence, the king's son and Lieute-
nant in Ireland, directed the king's writ unto the sheriff of Dublin
(dated at Kilkenny, 3. Octob. anno regni 40. anno viz. Dom.
1366) "quod scire faciat Archiepiscopo Dublin, (so the words
of the precept run) quod sit coram locum tenente nostro in
terra nostra Hiberniae apud Tristelder die Martis proximo post
festum S. Lucae Evangelistae prox. futur. ad respondendum
nobis de contemptu praedicto." The like also was issued (no
doubt) against the Archbishop of Ardmagh. But what followeth
thereupon I cannot yet find.

In the days of Rich. Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin (who bore
the office of Lord Justice and Deputy six several times in this
kingdom) the matter was so strongly carried on against the Arch-
bishops of Ardmagh, that three of them one after another, John
Swayne in the year 1435. John Prene in the year 1442. and John
Mey in the year 1446. being summoned among the rest of the
Nobles to appear at Parliaments and grand councils, desired to
be excused for their non appearance, by reason of the wrong
offered unto them by the Archbishop of Dublin, in not suffering
them to bear up their Crosier within that province. Where it
is not to be omitted also, that upon the death either of Swayne
or Prene 1443. July the 15th. the Dean and Chapter of Ardmaghe
made choice of Eichard Talbot himself to be the Archbishop.
The proem of the letters, wherein they intimate this election unto
Pope Eugenius tlie fourth, setteth forth the privileges of the see
of Ardmaghe in manner following.

" Serenissimo in Christo Patri et Domino suo Domino Euge-
nic, digaa Dei providentia Sacrosanctae Romanae ac universalis
Ecclesiae summo Pontifici, sui humiles et devoti Decanus et Ca-
pitulum Ecclesiae Ardmachanae, vacante ecclcsia, quae mater
existit et Primatnm tenens omnium Ecclesiarnm totius Hiber-
niae, et exibtens in jure Primatiac plenario adco aucloritate apos-

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION, ETC.

cxli

tolic.1 privilegiata, quod omnes Hiberniae Archiepiscopi etEpis-
copi Archiepiscopo Ardmachano et successoriluis suis tanquam
sno Primati obedientam, reverentiam, et honorem omni tempore
debeant exhibere, et ad sui honoris primatialis insigne, cnicem
sive vexillum idem Archiepiscopus et Primas Ardmachaniis et
sui successores per omnes Hiberniae provincias et dioceses ante
se facere posset deferre ; indultis apostolicis et ipsius praedictae
Ecclesiae Ardmachanae chronicis super illo satis plene attestan-
tibus."

And^ indeed not long after this the Archbishops of Ardmagh
seem to have enjoyed and quietly exercised this primacy over all
the provinces of the kingdom ; for in the records belonging to
that archbishoprick we find letters issued by John Eole anno
1461. for visitation of the provinces of Cashel and Tuam, and
next year after, a sentence given upon an appeal made from the
Archbishop of Dublin to the Primates consistory in manner fol-
lowing: " In Dei nomine, Amen. Auditis, visis, cognitis, et ple-
nius intellectis, &c. dat 5. die Novembris, anno Dom. 1462."

Neither do I find any difference worth the relating after this
until the year of our Lord 1533. wherein at the time of Parlia-
ment John Allen, Archbishop of Dublin entered into contesta-
tion for precedency with George Crowmer Archbishop of Ard-
magh ; upon whom the office of Lord Chancellor was conferred
by the king the year before, which Allen formerly had exercised.
" Tempore meo 1553. orta est controversia inter me et Ardma-
chanum etiam tunc Cancellarium regis hie," is all that Allen
writeth of this ; who would not in all likelyhood have omitted
to make mention of the success of that contention, if the matter
had not been carried on the Chancellor's side. But to put an
end to all those controversies and contentions George Browne
the next successor of Allen, during the vacancy of the see of
Ardmaghe in the year of our Lord 1551. procured letters from
King Edward the sixth, that the title and office of the Primacy
of all Ireland should from thenceforth be for ever annexed unto
the see of Dublin. Which letters patents shortly after in the
beginning of the reign of Queen Mary, by the procurement of
George Dowdall, the then archbishop of Ardmaghe, were caused
to be surrendred by him in chancery ; upon the cancelling
whereof, new letters patent were passed under the great seal, for
the reestablishing of the said title and office of Primacy of all

8 Reg. Talbot, fol. 13. b. et 22. a.

cxlii

APPENDIX VI.

Ireland in tlie see of Ardmaghe, according to the antient usage ;
the copy of which patent doth here follow.

" Maria, &c. omnibus ad quos, &c. salutem. Praecliarissimus
frater noster bonae memoriae Edwardus sextus nuper Rex An-
gliae per literas suas patentes dederit et concesserit Georgio
Dublin. Archiepiscopo nomen, dignitatem, stylum, et titulum
totius Hiberniae Primatis, habenda sibi et successoribus suis
in perpetuum ; quod nomen, dignitatem, stylum, et titulum
dilectus noster Georgius Ardraachanus archiepiscopus et praede-
cessores sui a tempore, cujus contrarii memoria hominum non
extitit, habuerunt, usi et gavisi fuerunt, donee virtute earundem
literarura privatus et amotus fuit a dictis dignitate et officio ver-
sus omnes justitiae ordines absque aliquo bono fundamento sen
causa : quas quidem literas patentes dictus Archiepiscopus Dub-
lin, in cancellaria nostra Hiberniae reddidit cancellandas, et sic
eae cancellatae existunt ; sciatis quod Nos de gratia nostra spe-
ciali, ac ob alias certas causas nos moventes, ac ex certa scientia
et mero motu nostris juxta vim, formam, et efFectum quarundam
literarum sive instructionum nostrarum manu propria signata-
rum, signetoque nostro consignatorum praedilecto et fideli Con-
siliario nostro An thonio St. Leger ordinis nostriGarterii militi, uni
de privato concilio nostro Angliae, et Deputato nostro regni nostri
Hiberniae, et concilio nostro regni nostri Hiberniae praedict. di-
rectarum et in rotulis cancellariae nostrae Hiberniae praedictae
irrotulatarum, dictum nomen, stylum, et dignitatem Primatis, et
Primatiae totius Hiberniae praefato Georgio Archiepiscopo Ard-
machano damns, imponimus et restituimus per praesentes ; ac
ipsum Georgium Archiepiscopum Ardmachanum, successoresque
suos Archiepiscopos Ardmachanos totius Hiberniae, facimus,
constituimus, ordinamus et assignamus, et officium Primatiae
totius Hiberniae, nec non nomen, stylum, titulum et dignitatem
Primatiae et Primatis totius Hiberniae praedict. eidem Georgio
Archiepiscopo Ardmachano, et successoribus suis Archiepiscopis
Ardmachanis dedimus et concessimus, et per praesentes damns
et concedimus habendum, tenendum, gaudendum, occupandum
et exercendum officium praedictum, nomen, stylum, titulum, ac
caetera praemissa cum omnibus et singulis reverentiis, praeemi-
nentiis et honoribus universis praefoto Georgio Archiepiscopo
Ardmachano, et successoribus suis Archiepiscopis Ardmachanis
in proprios usus praefato archiepiscopatui sedique ejusdem uni-
tis, appropriatis, consolidatis, et annexis in perpetuum, in tam
amplis modo et forma prout dictus Archiepiscopus et praedeces-

AN HISTORICAL NARRATION, ETC.

c.xliii

sores sui, tempore, cujus contrarii memoria hominum non exti-
tit, habuit, gavisus fuit, et teiiuit, habuerunt, gavisi fuerunt et
tenuerunt ; volentes et firmiter injungentes, quod praefatus
Georgius Archiepiscopus, et siiccessores sui Archiepiscopi Ard-
machani, et non praedictus archiepiscopus Dublin, nec succes-
sores sui, nec quisquis alius archiepiscoporum tanquam totius
Hiberniae Primas ab omnibus ejus regni incolis deinceps cen-
seatur, appelletur, adjudicetur, et omnino vocetur, Mandantes
autem universis et singulis Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Decanis,
Archidiaconis, Eectoribus, Vicariis, Presbyteris, Ministris, et
fidelibus ligeis nostris, quod praefato Georgio Archiepiscopo
Ardmachano, et successoribus suis Archiepiscopis Ardmachanis
in exercitio officii Primatis et Primatiae praedictae, ac caetero-
rum praemissorum pareant, respondeant, obediant, et intendant,
prout decet, &c.

"In cujus rei, &c., aliquo statuto, &c. teste praefato Anthonio
St. Leger apud Dublin, duodecimo die Martii, regni nostro
primo."

VII.

VINDICATION OF THE OPINIONS AND ACTIONS

THE LORD PRIMATE USSHER

IS RKFERENCE TO THE

DOCTRINE AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,
AND HIS CONFORMITY THEREUNTO,

FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF PETER HEYLIN D. D. IN HIS PAMPHLET CALLED
RESPONDET PETRUS.

BY JAMES TYRRELL, ESQ.

VOL. I.

♦

VINDICATION OF THE OPINIONS AND ACTIONS

THE LORD PRIMATE USSHER

IN REFERENCE TO THE

DOCTRDifE AXD DISCIPLmE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,
AND HIS CONFORMITY THEREUNTO,

FROM THE ASPERSIONS OF PETER HETLIN D. D. IN HIS PAiVIPHLET CALLED
RESPONDET PETRUS.

BY JAMES TYRRELL, ESQ.

Finding that Dr. Heylin hath taken the pains to write this book
on purpose to callumniate and asperse the Lord Primate's me-
mory, and arraign his opinions and actions, as not conformable
to the doctrines of the Church of England, I cannot well omit to
consider what that author hath there laid to his charge, how
justly I shall leave to the impartial reader to judge ; for I hope I
shall make it appear that what the Lord Primate hath either pub-
lish'd, or written in private letters on those subjects, was on very
good grounds, and such as may very well be defended, as agree-
able to the sence and doctrine of our Church, contained in the
39 Articles. Or if after all I can say, the reader shall happen to
think otherwise, I desire him not to censure too hardly, but to
pass it by, since such difference (if any be) was not in the fun-
damental doctrines of our religion, but only some points of les-
ser moment ; or in which the Church itself has not tied men
either to this or that sence ; and that the Lord Primate held
these opinions, not out of contradiction or singularity, but only
because he thought them more agreeable to Scripture and rea-
son : tho in most of them I doubt not but to shew, that the
Doctor has stretched the Lord Primate's words farther than ever

k 2

cxlv'iii

APPF.NDIX VII.

his own sence and meaning was. But to come to the points in
which the Doctor hath made bold to question his judgment, the
first is his opinion of the divine morahty of the Sabbath, or
seventh days rest, asserted by him in two several letters, pub-
lished (tho perhaps not so prudently with those private reflec-
tions) by Dr. Bernard, in which controversy whether the autho-
rities made use of by the Lord Primate out of the Fathers and
other writers, do not make out the assertion by him laid down ;
or whether the Doctor has fairly and ingenuously answered those
quotations he cites in those letters, I shall not here take upon
me to examine, but shall observe thus much, that as it is a doc-
trine held by some of the Fathers, as also maintained by divers
learned Divines and Bishops of our Church, and therefore could
not be so Puritanical as the Doctor would have it ; especially
since the Lord Primate thought that he had the Church of Eng-
land on his side, as she hath declared her sence of this matter in
the first part of the homily of the time and place of prayer, viz. :
" God hath given express charge to all men, that upon the Sabbath
day (which is now our Sunday) they shall cease from all weekly
and work-day labour ; to the intent, that like as God himself
wrought six days, and rested the seventh, and blessed and con-
secrated it to quietness and rest from labour : even so God's
obedient people should use the Sunday holily, and rest from their
common and daily business, and also give themselves wholly to
the heavenly exercise of God's true religion and service." Which
passage being expresly in the point, of my Lord Primate's side,
the Sabbath day, mentioned in the fourth Commandment, being
there called our Sunday, and the same reason laid down for its
observation, viz. because" God had rested on the seventh day, &c.
The Doctor has no way to oppose this so express authority, but
to make (if possible) this homily to contradict it self; and there-
fore he produces another passage just preceding in this homily,
as making for his opinion, which that you may judge whether it
does so or no, I shall put down the passage as he himself hath
cited it, with his conclusions from it, and shall then further exa-
mine whether it makes so much of his side as he would have it,
viz. " As concerning the time in which God hath appointed his
people to assemble together solemnly, it doth appear by the
fourth Commandment, &c. And albeit this commandment of
God doth not bind Christian people so strictly to observe and

» Resp. Petru.s, sect. 7-

A VIN'niCATION, ETC.

cxiix

keep the utter ceremonies of the Sabbath day, as it was given
unto the Jews, as touching the forbearing of work and labour,
and as touching the precise keeping of the seventh day, after the
manner of the Jews ; (for we keep now the first day, which is
our Sunday, and make that our Sabbath, that is, our day of rest,
in honour of our Saviour Christ, who upon that day rose from
death, conquering the same most triumphantly :) yet notwith-
standing whatsoever is found in the Commandment appertaining
to the law of nature, as a thing most godly, most just and need-
ful for the setting forth of God's glory, ought to be retained and
kept of all good Christian people." So that it being thus resolved,
that there is no more of the fourth Commandment to be retained
by good Christian people, than what is found appertaining to the
law of nature ; and that the law of nature doth not tie us to one
day in seven, or more, to one day of the seven, than to any other ;
let us next see by what authority the day was changed, and how
It came to be translated from the seventh to the first. Concern-
ing which it follows thus in the said honiily, viz. : " This example
and commandment of God, the godly Christian people began to
follow immediately after the ascension of our Lord Christ, and
began to chuse them a standing day of the week to come toge-
ther in ; yet not the seventh day, which the Jews kept, but the
Lord's day, the day of the Lord's resurrection, the day after the
seventh day, which is the first day of the week, &c. sithence
which time God's people hath always in allj ages, without any
gainsaying, used to come together on the Sunday to celebrate
and honour God's blessed name, and carefully to keep that day
in holy rest and quietness." So far the homily. And by this
honiily it appears plainly, that the keeping of the Lord's day is
not grounded on any conunandment of Christ, nor any precept
of the Apostles, but tliat it was chosen as a standing day of the
week to come together in, by the godly Christian people imme-
diately after Christ's ascension, and hath so continued ever since.
Ikit the Doctor has been very careful in his quotations, not only
to take whatsoever in this homily he thinks makes for his pur-
pose, but has also been so wary as to leave out whatsoever he
thinks is against him ; and therefore the reader is to take notice,
that the place first cited by the Doctor immediately precedes that
before quoted by the Lord Primate, being connected to it by this
passage (which the Doctor omits), " And therefore by this Com-
mandment, we ought to have a time, as one day in the week,
wherein we ought to rest, yea from our lawful and needful works."

APPENDIX VII.

So likewise doth he omit that which immediately follows the
words quoted by my Lord Primate, viz. " So that God doth not
only command the observation of this holy day, but also by his
own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of
the same." And after the obedience of natural children, not only to
the commands, but also to the example of their parents, is urged,
it follows thus, as an argument for its observation, " So if we will
be the children of our heavenly Father, we must be careful to
keep the Christian Sabbath day, which is the Sunday ; not only
for that it is God's express commandment, but also to declare
our selves to be loving children, in following the example of our
gracious Lord and Father." After which it follows again in the
next paragraph (which is also concealed by the Doctor, tho it
connects the words aforegoing, and the passage he next makes
use of, together), " Thus it may plainly appear that God's will and
commandment was to have a solemn time, and standing-day in
the week, wherein the people should come together, and have in
remembrance his wonderful benefits, and to render him thanks
for them, as appertaineth to loving and obedient people." From
all which put together, I shall leave it to the ingenuous reader to
judge who hath most perverted the sence of this homily, the Lord
Primate, or the Doctor ? and w hether or no these conclusions fol-
lowing do not clearly follow from the passages above cited ; first,
that by the fourth Commandment it is God's perpetual will to have
one solemn and standing day in the week for people to meet toge-
ther to worship and serve him ? Secondly, That this day, tho it
be not the seventh day from the Creation, yet is still the Chris-
tian Sabbath, or day of rest, being still the seventh day, and still
observed, (not only because of our Saviour Christ's resurrection
on this day) but also that we keep the Christian Sabbath, which
is the Sunday, as well for that it is God's express commandment,
as also to shew ourselves dutiful children, in following the exam-
ple of our gracious Lord and Father, who rested on the seventh
day. Thirdly, That on this Christian Sabbath, or Sunday, we
ought to rest from our lawful and needful works, and common
and daily business ; and also give our selves wholly to heavenly
exercises of God's true religion and service. And therefore this
being the express words and sence of this homily, that we may
not make it contradict it self, the passages which the Doctor
relies so much upon, must have this reasonable construction, viz.
That the maker thereof, tho he supposed that we Christians were
not obliged to the precise keeping of the seventh day after the

A VINDICATION, ETC.

fli

manner of the Jews, yet notwithstanding whatsoever is found in
this commandment appertaining to the law of nature, ike. as most
just and needful for the setting forth of God's glory, ought to be
retained and kept of all Christian people. Which words must be
understood in a clean contrary sence to the Doctor's, viz. that
the meaning of the author was, (and which our Church confirms)
that by the law of nature the seventh day or one day in seven is
to be kept holy : or otherwise to what purpose serve these words
before recited, viz. " thus it may plainly appear that God's will and
commandment was to have one solemn and standing day in the
week, wherein people should come together '? &c." (that is, now
under the Gospel, as before under the law.) And what follows,
which the Doctor thinks makes for him, viz. " This example and
commandment of God the godly Christian people began to fol-
low immediately after the ascension of our Lord Christ, and
began to chuse them a standing day of the week to come toge-
ther in ; yet not the seventh day, which the Jews kept, but the
Lord's day, the day of the Lord's resurrection, the day after the
seventh day, which is the first day of the week, &cc." does rather
make against him ; that is, by God's example as well as com-
mand, they were obliged after Christ's ascension to chuse them
one standing day of the week to meet together in : And if so, that
must be one day in seven by an immutable moral institution ;;0r
else, the Church might, if they had so pleased, have celebrated the
Lord's resurrection (not as the homily says) on one standing day
of the week, but only at Easter ; and the law of nature, accord-
ing to the Doctor, not tying us to observe one day in seven, if
this commandment of keeping the Sabbath, or seventh day,
oblige none but the Jews; then the primitive Church might, if
they had pleased, have ({uite left olf setting aside any particular
day of the week for God"s service, and have thought it sufficient
to have kept one day (suppose) in a month or two, for men to
meet together for the service and worship of God : which whe-
ther those of the Doctor's party would be pleased with, I shall
not dispute ; but sure I am that the Church of England main-
tains no such doctrine.

But the Doctor, because he thinks the homily not enongli of
his side, undertakes to shew us upon what grounds the Lord's
day stood in the Church of England at the time of the making
this homily, and therefore he has put down the proem of an
Act of Parliament of the fifth and sixth years of Edward the
6th concernmg holy-days, by which he would have the Lord's

clii

APPENDIX VII.

day to stand on no other ground but the authority of the Church,
not as enjoyned by Christ, or ordained by any of his Apos-
tles. Which Statute whosoever shall be pleased to peruse,
may easily see that this proem he mentions, relates only to holy
days, and not to Sundays, as you may observe from this pas-
sage, viz. " which holy works as they may be called God's
service, so the times especially appointed for the same are called
holy-days, not for the matter or nature either of the time or day,
^c."' which title of holy-days was never applied to Sundays, either
in a vulgar, or legal acceptation. And tho the Doctor fancied
this Act was in force at the time when this homily was made,
and therefore must by no means contradict so sacred an autho-
rity as that of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons
yasserabled in Parliament : because this Act, tho repealed by
Queen Mary, he would have to be revived again the first year of
Queen Elizabeth, and so to stand in force at the time of making
this homily ; whereas whoever consults our Statute-book, will
find that this Statute of King Edward the 6th was not revived,
nor in force till the first of King James, when the repeal of this
Statute was again repealed: tho certainly the reviving of that,
or any other Statute, does not make their proems (which are
often very carelesly drawn) to be in every clause either good
law, or gospel : But tho the Doctor in other things abhors the
temporal powers having any thing to do in matters of religion ;
yet if it make for his opinion, then the authority of a Parliament
shall be as good as that of a Convocation. But I have dwelt too
long upon this head, which I could not well contract, if I spoke
any thing at all to justifie the Lord Primate's judgment in this
so material a doctrine.

The next point'' that the Doctor lays to the Lord Primate's
charge as not according to the Church of England, is a passage
in a letter to Dr. Bernard, and by him published in the book,
intituled. The Judgment of the late Primat of Ireland, &c. viz.
" That he ever declared his opinion to be, that Episcopus & Pres-
byter gradu tantum differunt, non ordine, and consequently that
in places where Bishops cannot be had, the ordination by Pres-
byters standeth valid. And however (saith he) I must needs
think that the Churches in France, who living under a Popish
power, and cannot do what they would, are more excusable in
that defect than those of the Low-Countries, that live under a

" Resp. Pet. sect. 10.

A VINDICATION, ETC,

cliii

Free- State, yet for the testifying my communion with these
Churches (which I do love and honour as true members of the
Church Universal) T do profess, that with like affection I should
receive the blessed Sacrament at the hands of the Dutch minis-
ters, if I were in Holland, as I should do at the hands of the
French ministers, if I were at Charenton." Which opinion as I
cannot deny to have been my Lord Primate's, since I find the
same written almost verbatim with his own hand, (dated Nov.
26. 1655. in a private note-book) not many months before his
death, with the addition of this clause at the beginning, viz. "Yet,
on the other side, holding as I do, that a Bishop hath superiority
in degree above Presbyters, you may easily judge that the ordi-
nation made by such Presbyters as have severed themselves from
their Bishops, cannot possibly by me be excused from being
schismatical." And concluding with another clause, viz. " for the
agreement or disagreement in radical and fundamental doctrines;
not the consonancy, or dissonancy in the particular points of
ecclesiastical government is with me (and I hope with every man
that mindeth peace) the rule of adhering to, or receding from the
Communion of any Church." And that the Lord Primate was
always of this opinion, I find by another note of his own hand,
written in another book many years before this, in these words,
viz. " The intrinsecal power of ordaining proceedeth not from
jurisdiction, but only from order. But a Presbyter hath the
same order in specie with a Bishop ; ergo, a Presbyter hath
equally an intrinsecal power to give orders ; and is equal to him
in the power of order ; the Bishop having no higher degree in
respect of intention, or extension of the character of order; tho
he hath an higher degree, i. e. a more eminent place in respect of
authority and jurisdiction in spiritual regiment." Again, " the
Papists teach that the confirmation of the baptized is proper to a
Bishop, as proceeding from the episcopal character as well as
ordination: and yet in some cases may be communicated to a
Presbyter, and much more therefore in regard of the over-ruling
commands of invincible necessity, although the right of baptising
was given by Christ's own commission to the Apostles, and their
successors : and yet in case of necessity allowed to lay-men :
even so ordination might be devolved to Presbyters in case of
necessity." These passages perhaps may seem to some men incon-
sistent with wliat the Lord Primate hath written in some of his
printed treatises, and particularly that of the Original of Episco-
pacy, wherein he proves from Rev. 3. \. that the Stiirs there des-

cliv

APPENDIX VII.

cribed in our blessed Saviour's right hand, to be the angels of
the seven Churches. 2. That these angels were the several
Bishops of those Churches, and not the whole Colledg of Pres-
byters, as Mr. Brightman would have it. 3. Nor has he proved
Archbishops less ancient, each of these seven churches being at
that time a metropolis, which had several Bishops under it ; and
4 that these Bishops and Archbishops were ordained by the
Apostles, as constant permanent officers in the Church, and so
in some sort jure divino ; that is, in St. Hierom's sence, were
ordained by the Apostles for the better conferring of orders, and
for preventing of schisms, which would otherwise arise among
Presbyters, if they had been all left equal, and independent to
each other. And that this may very well consist with their being
in some cases of necessity, not absolutely necessary in some
churches, is proved by the learned Mr. Mason, in his defence of
the ordination of ministers beyond the seas, where there are no
Bishops, in which he proves at large against the Papists, that
make this objection from their own schoolmen and canonists ;
" and that tho a Bishop receives a sacred office, eminency in
degree, and a larger ecclesiastical jurisdiction than a Presbyter,
yet that all these do not confer an absolute distinct order ; and
yet that Bishops are still jure divino, that is, by the ordinance
of God, since they were ordained by the Apostles, and whereunto
they were directed by God's Holy Spirit, and in that sence are
the ordinance of God. But if by jure divino, you would under-
stand a law binding all Christian Churches universally, perpe-
tually, unchangeably, and with such absolute necessity that no
other form of regiment may in any case be admitted, in this
sence we cannot grant it to be jure divino." And much of the
same opinion is the learned Bishop Davenant in his treatise.

So that you see here that as learned men, and as stout asserters
of episcopacy as any the Church of England hath had, have been
of the Lord Primate's judgment in this matter, tho without any
design to lessen the order of Bishops, or to take away their use
in the Church, since Mr. Mason in the said treatise, tho he
grants the French Churches (having a constant president of the
presbytery) to enjoy the substance of the episcopal office; yet
whereas their discipline is still very defective, he wishes them in
the bowels of Christ by all means to redress and reform it, and
to conform themselves to the ancient custom of the Church of
Christ : so that I hope after all, this question, Whether episco-
pacy be Ordo or Gradus, will prove only a difference in words

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clv

rather than substance, between those of the Lord Primate's judg-
ment, and those of the contrary, since they are both agreed in the
main points in controversie between them and the Presbyterians,
viz. That Bishops were ordained in the Church by the Apostles
themselves, from the direction, or at least approbation of our
Saviour himself, being the stars which St. John saw in his vision
in our Lord Christ's own hand, and that they are permanent,
immutable officers in the Church, which cannot subsist without
it, but in cases of pure necessity. And lastly, that those Presby-
ters, which in churches founded and setled with Bishops, do
separate from them, are guilty of schism. These things being
agreed upon on both sides, I think the rest of the controversie is
not worth contending about. But if any learned persons of the
Church of England, who are well vers'd in the writings of the
Fathers, and other ancient monuments of the Church, have
already proved, or can further make out, that episcopacy has
always been an absolute distinct order, as well as office in the
Church, I suppose the Lord Primate, were he now alive, would
be so far from opposing them, that he would heartily thank them
for giving him greater light, provided it could be done without
unchurching all those Protestant Churches abroad who want
Bishops. And I hope however, if the Lord Primate maybe thought
by the Doctor, or others, not to go high enough in this matter,
nor sufficiently to magnifie his own office, yet that he may well
be pardoned, since it proceeded from his excess of humility, and
charity towards our neighbouring-Churches, to whom no good
Protestants ought to deny the right-hand of fellowship.

The third point which the Doctor will have the Lord Primate to
hold contrary to the doctrine of the Church of England, " which
(he says) maintains an universal redemption of all mankind, by
the sufferings and death of Christ, as is proved by the prayer of
consecration of the sacred elements in the Sacrament, which
declares, that God hath given to his Son Jesus Christ, by his
suffering death upon the cross, and by the oblation of himself, a
full and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins
of the whole world. And also that in the publick catechism, the
party catechised is taught, to believe in God the Son, who hath
redeemed him, and all mankind. But that in this point the Lord
Primate is of a contrary judgment to the Church of England. For
as he seems not to like their opinion, who contract the riches
of Christ's satisfaction into too narrow a room, as if none had
any interest therein but such as were elected before the founda-

clvi

APPENDIX VII.

tion of the world ; so he declareth his dislike of the other extream
(as he is pleased to call it) by which the benefit of this satisfac-
tion is extended to the redemption of all mankind. The one ex-
tremity (saith he) extends the benefit of Christ's satisfaction so
far, ut" reconciliationem cum Deo, & peccatorem remissionem
singulis impetraverit, as to obtain a reconciliation with God, and
a remission of sins for all men at his merciful hands, p. 21.
which tho the}' are the words of the Remonstrants at the Confe-
rence at the Hague, anno 1611, and are by him reckoned for
imtrue ; yet do they naturally result from the doctrine of univer-
sal redemption, which is maintained in the Church of England ;
not that all mankind is so perfectly reconciled to Almighty God,
as to be really and actually discharged from all their sins, before
they actually believe, (which the Lord Primate makes to be the
meaning and effect of that extremity, as he calls it, p. 2.) but
that they are so far reconciled unto Him as to be capable of the
remission of their sins, in case they do not want that faith in
their common Saviour which is required thereunto." And here
the Doctor thinks he finds out two notable contradictions in the
Lord Primate's letter of the year 1617, since in one part thereof,
he seems to dislike of their opinion, who contract the riches of
Christ's satisfaction into too narrow a room ; as if none had any
kind of interest therein, but such as were elected before the
foundation of the world, as before was said. And in the other
he declares, that he is well assured that our Saviour hath ob-
tained at the hands of his Father reconciliation, and forgiveness
of sins, not for the reprobate, but elect only. p. 21. Now the
Doctor has done his worst. Yet I hope to prove that tho there
may be a diflference between my Lord Primate's way of explaining
this doctrine, and that of the Doctor's, (which proceeds indeed
from the different notions they had of election and reprobation) ;
yet that there is no such formidable contradiction in these two
propositions of my Lord Primate's by him laid down, as the Doc-
tor fancies ; or that the Ld Primate hath maintained any thing in
this doctrine contrary to that of the Church of England : for (I.)
the Doctor owns that all mankind is not so perfectly reconciled
to Almighty God, as to be really and actually discharged from
all their sins, before they actually believe ; but that they are so
far reconciled unto him, as to be capable of the remission of
their sins, in case they do not want that faith in their common

The Lord Primate's Judgmcut.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

civil

Saviour which is required thereinito. Now what will the Doctor
get by these words, " if they are so far reconciled to him, as to be
capable of the remission of their sins, in case they do not want
that faith which is required thereunto," since the question still
remains between the Lord Primate, and those of the contrary opi-
nion, whether all men can obtain, without the aid of grace, this
saving faith which is required thereunto ? Our Saviour says the
direct contrary, Joh. 6. 44. 65. " No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him : and I will raise him up
at the last day." And St. Paul tells us, Ephes. 2. 8. " For by grace
are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of your selves, it is the
gift of God." So Phil. 1. 29. And that likewise it is the great-
ness of God's power that raises man's heart unto this faith,
Ephes. 1. 19. So then faith being the work of God in man's
heart, (which he bestows on whom he pleases) all the question
now is, whether Christ has obtained reconciliation, and remission
of sins from his Father for those whom God foresaw would,
or could not obtain this saving faith ? and if not, consequently
not for the reprobate, (as the Lord Primate hath laid down) they
being only reprobate, for want of this faith. Nor will this be
contradictory to my Lord Primate's other proposition, " against
such who contract the riches of Christ's satisfaction into too
narrow a room, as if none had any kind of interest therein, but
such as were elected before the foundation of the world." Since
this is to be understood of ihe supralapsarian opinion, which
makes reprobation to be anfecedant to the fall of Adam, and not
only as a prseterition, but apredamnation for actual sins. Whereas
the Lord Primate held that mankind considered in massa corrupta
after the fall of Adam, was the only object of God's election or
reprobation ; so that it is in this sence that he is to be understood
when he says that our Saviour hath obtained at the hands of his
Father forgiveness of sins, not for the reprobate, but elect only.
Nor does he say that this proceeds from any deficiency in our
Saviour's death, and satisfaction, which is sufficient to save the
whole world, if they would lay hold of it, and apply it to them-
selves ; but the reason why all men were not thereby saved, was,
because they do not accept salvation when offered to them.
Which is the Lord Primate's express words, in a sermon upon
John 1. 12. concerning our redemption by Christ. So that those
passages in our Liturgy and Catechism, before cited by the Doc-
tor, of Christ's being a sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the
whole world ; and in the Catechism, of his redeeming all man-

clviii

APPENDIX VII.

kind ; must certainly be understood in this restrictive sence, viz.
to as many of the world of mankind, as God foresaw would lay
hold of this satisfaction by faith and good works; or else all
men must have a like share therein, whether they contribute any
thing to it by faith or repentance or not. And now I shall leave
it to the indifferent reader to judge whether the Lord Primate or
the Doctor are most to be blamed for breaking their subscrip-
tion to the 39 Articles (as the Doctor would have him guilty of
in this point) because the Church of England in its second Arti-
cle says expresly, " that Christ suffered, was crucified, dead, and
buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice not
only for original guilt, but also for the actual sins of men. In
which" (says he) " as well the sacrifice, as the effect and fruit
thereof, which is the reconciliation of mankind to God the Father,
is delivered in general terms, without any restriction put upon
them : neither the sacrifice, nor the reconciliation being restrained
to this or that man, some certain quidams of their own, whom
they pass commonly by the name of God's elect. The sacrifice
being made for the sins of men, of men indefinitly without limi-
tation, is not to be confined to some few men only." Yet after
the Doctor has said all he can, it seems still to me (and I suppose
to any unprejudiced reader) that these Christ suffered, &c. to re-
concile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, &c. for the actual
sins of men — to be, not general, but limited propositions : since
by reconciling his Father to us, can be understood no further
than to us that are not reprobates (every man supposing himself
not to be of that number) ; and in this sence the Lord Primate
himself makes use of the words we and us in his Body of Divi-
nity, when he speaks of justification and- reconciliation by faith,
tho he there supposes that all men are not actually justified, nor
reconciled to God by Christ's sufferings. And as for the last
clause, it is no more general than the former : for tho the word
men be used in that place indefinitly, yet it is not therefore a
general proposition, it being still to be understood of those men
who truly believe ; for otherwise it had been very easie and na-
tural for the framers of this Article to have added this small word
[all] ; and if they had, the question would have been much as it
was before, Christ's death being a sacrifice that did not actually
take away the sins of the whole world, (for then none could be
damned) tho vertually it hath power to do it, if it were rightly
applied, the sacrifice having such virtue in it self, that if all the
world would take it and apply it, it were able to expiate the sins

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clix

of the whole world, as the Lord Primate in the above cited
sermon very plainly and truly expresses himself on this doctrine.

The fourth point which the Doctor accuses the Lord Primat
not to hold according to the Church of England, is that of the
true and real presence of Christ's most precious body and blood
in the Sacrament. Which doctrine of a real presence, he first
proves from the words of the distribution, retained in the first
Liturgy of King Edward the Sixth, and formerly prescribed to be
used in the ancient missals, viz. " The Body of our Lord Jesus
Christ which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul
unto life everlasting. The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ," &c.
It is proved, secondly, by that passage in the publick Catechism,
in which the party catechised is taught to say, that the body and
blood of Christ are verily and indeed taken and received of the
faithful in the Lord's Supper. Now if a question should be made,
what the Church means by verily and indeed in the former pas-
sage, it must be answered, that she means, that Christ is truly
and really present in that blessed Sacrament, as before was said ;
the words being rendred thus in the Latin translation, viz. " Cor-
pus & sanguis Domini quae vere & realiter exhibentur," kc. verily
and indeed, as the English hath it, the same with vere and
realiter, (that is to say, truly and really) as it is in the Latin.
He likewise cites Bp. Bilson, Bp. Morton, and Bp. Andrews, all
of them to maintain a true and real presence of Christ in the Sa-
crament ; and likewise Mr. Alex. Noel in his Latin Catechism
makes the party catechised answer to this effect, that the body
and blood of Christ given in the Lord's Supper, and eaten and
drank by them, tho it be only in an heavenly and spiritual man-
ner, yet are they both given and taken truly and really, or in
very deed, by God's faithful people. By which it seems it is
agreed on both sides, (that is to say, the Church of England, and
the Church of Rome) that there is a true and real presence of
Christ in the holy Eucharist, the disagreement being only in the
modus praesentiae. But on the contrary, the Ld Primate, in his
answer to the Jesuit's Challenge, hath written one whole chapter
against the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament; in which
tho he would seem to aim at the Church of Rome, (tho by that
Church not only the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament,
but the corporal eating of his body is maintained and taught)
yet doth he strike obliquely and on the by on the Church of
England. All that he doth allow concerning the real presence
is no more than this, viz. " That in the receiving of the blessed

clx

APPENDIX VII.

Sacrament, we are to distinguish between the outward and the
inward action of the communicant. In the outward, with our
bodily mouth we receive really the visible elements of bread and
wine; in the inward, we do by faith really receive the body and
blood of our Lord ; that is to say, we are truly and indeed made
partakers of Christ crucified, to the spiritual strengthning of our
inward man." Which is no more than any Calvinist will stick to say.

But now after all these hard words the Doctor has here be-
stowed upon my Lord Primate (part of which I omit) ; I think I
can without much difficulty make it appear, that all this grievous
accusation of the Doctor's is nothing but a meer Xoyo/^oiy^tc/,, a
strife about words, and that the Lord Primate held and believed
this doctrine in the same sence with the Church of England ; 1 .
Then the 29th Article of our Church disavows all transubstan-
tiation, or the change of the substance of bread and wine in the
Supper of the Lord. The second asserts that the body of Christ
is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly
and spiritual manner ; and that the mean whereby the body of
Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is faith. And now I
will leave it to the unprejudiced reader to judge whether the
Lord Primate's way of explaining this Sacrament (according to
the passage before cited by the Doctor) does differ in sence from
these Articles, (however it may somewhat in words, as coming
nearer the Articles in Ireland, which the Bishop when he writ
this book had alone subscribed to, and was bound to maintain) :
for I think no true son of the Church of England will deny that
in this Sacrament they still really receive the visible elements of
bread and wine. 2. That in the inward and spiritual action we
really receive the body and blood of our Lord, as the Lord Pri-
mate has before laid down.

But perhaps it will be said, that the Lord Primate goes fur-
ther in this Article than the Church of England does, and
takes upon him to explain in what sence we receive the body
and blood of our Lord, and that otherwise than the Church of
England does ; he explaining it thus, that is to say, we are
truly and indeed made partakers of Christ crucified, to the spi-
ritual strengthning of our inward man ; whereas the Church
of England declares that the body of Christ is eaten only after
a heavenly and spiritual manner ; yet still maintains the body
of Christ to be eaten, whereas the Lord Primate only says, that
we are truly and indeed made partakers of Christ crucified,
but does not say (as the Article of our Church does) that we

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxi

are therein partakers of the body and blood of Cluist. Eut
I desire the objector to consider, whether the explanation of our
Church does not amount to the same thing in effect, that saying
that the body of Christ is eaten in the Supper after a heavenly
and spiritual manner; and the Lord Primate, that we are truly
and indeed made partakers of Christ crucified, viz. after a spiri-
tual, and not a carnal manner. But perhaps the Doctor's friends
may still object, that the Lord Primate does not express this real
presence of Christ's body and blood in the Sacrament, as Bp.
Bilson and Bp. Morton assert, the former saying " that Christ's
flesh and blood are truly present, and truly received by the faith-
ful in the Sacrament," and the latter expresly owning a real pre-
sence therein. And Bishop Andrews, in his Apology to Cardinal
Bellarmine, thus declares himself, viz. " Prtesentiam credimus
non minus quam vos veram, de modo pra^sentiae nil temere dcfi-
nimus." Which the Doctor renders thus : we acknowledg (saith
he) a presence as true and'' real as you do, but we determine
nothing rashly of the manner of it. And the Church Catechism
above cited, as also the Latin Catechism of Mr. Noel, confess the
body and blood of our Lord are truly and indeed (or as the Latin
translation renders it, vere & realiter) taken and received in the
Lord's Supper. Which the Lord Primate does not affirm. I know
not what such men would have. The Lord Primate asserts that
we do by faith really receive the body and blood of Christ, and
that in the same sence with Mr. Noel's Catechism, and the Arti-
cle of the Church, viz. that Christ's body is received after a spi-
ritual and heavenly manner. Which was added to exclude any
real presence as taken in a carnal or bodily sence. So that our
Church does in this Article explain the manner of the presence
(notwithstanding what Bp. Andrews says to the contrary.) Nor
know I what they can here further mean by a real j)resence,
unless a carnal one ; which indeed the Church of England at the
first Eeformation thought to be all one with the real, as appears
by these words, in the first Articles of religion agreed on in the
Convocation 1552, (Anno 5. Edw. 6.) " It beconieth not any of
the faithful to believe or profess, that there is a real or corporal
presence of the body and blood of Christ in the holy Eucbarist."
And that our Church did likewise at the first passing of the 39
Articles in Convocation, anno 1562, likewise disallow any real
presence, taken in a carnal sence, " Christ's body being always in
heaven at the right hand of God, and therefore cannot be in

He adds the word real, whieli is not in the Latin.
VOL. I. 1

clxii

appk>;dix vii.

more places than one :" appears by tlie original of those Articles,
to be seen in the library of Coi-pns Christi Colledg in Cambridg,
where tho this passage against a real or corporal presence (which
they then thought to be all one) are dash'd over with red ink ;
yet so, as it is still legible, therefore it may not be amiss to give
you Dr. Burnet's reasons'' in his 2d part of the History of the
Eeformation, p. 406, for the doing of it, . . "The secret of it was
this ; the Queen and her Council studied to unite all into the
commimion of the Church; and it was alledged, that such an
express definition against a real presence, might drive from the
Church many who were still of that perswasion ; and therefore
it was thought to be enough to condemn transubstantiation, and
to say that Christ was present after a spiritual manner, and
received by faith ; to say more, as it was judged superfluous,
so it might occasion division. I'pon this, these words were by
common consent left out; and in the next Convocation the Arti-
cles were subscribed without them. This shews that the doc-
trine of the Church, then subscribed by the Mhole Convocation,
was at that time contrary to the belief of a real and corporal pre-
sence in the Sacrament ; only it was not thought necessary, or
expedient to publish it. Though from this silence, which flowed
not from their opinion, but the wisdom of that time, in lea\'ing
a liberty for diScrent speculations, as to the manner of the pre-
sence, some have since inferred, that the chief pastors of this
Church did then disapprove of the definition made in King Ed-
ward's time, and that they were for a real presence." And that
our Protestant Bishops that were martyr'd in Queen Mary's days
were against this expression of a real presence of Christ as a
natural body, appears by those questions which they disputed on
solemnly at Oxford before their martyrdom : the first question,
" Whether the natural body of Christ was really in the Sacra-
ment?" The second, " Whether no other substance did remain
but the body and blood of Christ ?"' Both which they held in
the negative. So that since this expression of a real presence of
Christ's body, was not maintained by our first Protestant Refor-
mers, nor used by the Church of England in her Articles, I do
not see of what use it can be now, (tho perhaps only meant in a
spiritual sence by most that make use of it ; for the real presence
of a body, and yet unbodily; I suppose those that speak thus,
understand as little as I do) unless that some men love to come as

« Vid. Dr Burnet's Hist, of the Reformation, part 2, p. 405.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxiii

near the Papists as may be in their expressions, tho without any
hopes now of ever making them approach the nearer to us, and
in the mean time giving matter of ofl'ence and scandal to divers
ignorant and weak Christians of our own religion.

The fifth point that the Doctor taxes the Lord Primate with as
held by him contrary to the Church of England, is, " That she
teaches that the priest hath power to forgive sins, as may be
easily proved by three several arguments, not very easie to be
answered. The first is from those solemn words, used in the
ordination of the priest, or presbyter, that is to say, 'Receive the
Holy Ghost. Whose sins ye forgive, they are forgiven; and
whose sins ye retain, they are retained.' Which were a gross
prophanation of the words of our Lord and Saviour, and a meer
mockery of the priest, if no such power were given unto him, as
is there affirmed. The second argument is taken from one of
the exhortations before the Communion, where we find the peo-
ple are exhorted by the priest, ' that if they cannot quiet their
consciences, they should come unto him, or some other discreet
minister of God's Word, and open their grief, that they may
receive such ghostly advice and comfort, as their consciences
may be relieved, and that by the ministry of God s Word they
may receive comfort, and the benefit of absolution, to the quiet-
ing of their consciences, and avoiding of all scruple and doubt-
fulness.' The third and most material proof, is the form pre-
scribed for the Visitation of the Sick ; in which it is required,
* that after the sick person hath made a confession of his faith,
and professed himself to be in charity with all men, he shall
then make a special confession, if he feel his conscience troubled
with any weighty matter.' And then it follows, that after such
confession, the minister shall absolve him in this manner, viz.
' Our Lord Jesus Christ who has left power to his Church to
absolve all sinners that truly repent, and believe in him, of his
great mercy forgive thee thine offences : and by his authority
committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy sins, in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.'
Of the first of these three places, deduced all of them from the
best monuments and records of the Church of England, the Lord
Primate takes notice in his answer to the Jesuit's Challenge,
where he treateth purposely of the priests power to forgive sins,
but gives us such a gloss upon it, as utterly subverts as well the
doctrine of this Church in that particular, as her purpose in
it. And of the second he takes notice, where he speaks pur-

1 2

clxiv

APPENDIX VII.

posely of confession, but gives us such a gloss upon that also,
as he did upon the other. But of the third, which is more posi-
tive and material tlian the other two, he is not pleased to take
any notice at all, as if no such doctrine were either taught by the
Church of England, or no such power had been ever exercised
by the ministers of it : for in the canvassing of this point, he
declares sometimes that the priest doth forgive sins only decla-
rative, by the way of declaration only ; when on the considera-
tion of the true faith, and sincere repentance of the party peni-
tent, he doth declare unto him in the name of God, that his sins
are pardoned, and sometimes that tlie priest forgives sins only
optative, by the way of prayers and intercession ; when on the
like consideration he makes his prayers unto God, that the sins
of the penitent may be pardoned. Neither of which comes up
imto the doctrine of the Church of England ; which holdeth that
the priest forgiveth sins authoritative, by virtue of a power com-
mitted to him by our Lord and Saviour. That the supream power
of forgiving sins is in God alone, against whose divine majesty
all sins, of what sort soever, may be truly said to be committed,
was never question'd by any who pretended to the Christian faith.
The power which is given to the priest is but a delegated power,
such as is exercised by Judges under soveraign princes (where
they are not tied unto the verdict of twelve men, as with us in
England) who by the power committed to them in their several
circuits and divisions, do actually absolve the party which is
brought before them, if on good proof they find him innocent of
the crimes he stands accused for, and so discharge him of his
irons. And such a power as this, I say, is both given to, and
exercised by the priests, or presbyters in the Church of England.
For if they did forgive sins only declarative ; that form of abso-
lution which follows the general confession in the beginning of
the Common-prayer-Book would have been sufficient, where the
absolution is put in the third person ; or, if he did forgive sins
only optative, in the way of prayers and intercession, there could
not be a better way of absolution, than that which is prescribed
to be used by the priest or bishop, after the general confession
made by such as are to receive the Communion, viz. ' Almighty
God, and heavenly Father, &c. have mercy upon you, pardon
you, and deliver you from all your sins,' &c. Or else the first
clause in the form of absolution used at the Visitation of the
Sick, would have served the turn ; viz. ' Our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath left power to his Church to absolve all sinners, which

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxv

truly repent and believe in him, of his great mercy forgive thee
thine offences ;' and there could be no reason at all imaginable
why the next clause should be superadded to this prayer, viz.
' And by his authority committed to me, I absolve thee from all
thy sins,'&c. if the priest did not forgive sins authoritative,
by such a delegated and commissionated power as before we
spake of"

After all which tedious charge of the Doctor's against the Lord
Primate, which I have been forced to transcribe, to let the impar-
tial reader see 1 shall not answer him by halves, I doubt not but
to proue that first the Doctor hath dealt very disingenuously with
the Lord Primate's book, by him there cited, out of which he hath
culled some passages here and there, on purpose to cavil and find
fault : for I shall shew you (L) that the Lord Primate doth there
assert, that whatsoever the priest or minister contributes in this
great work of cleansing the souls of men, they do it as God's
ministers, and receiving a power from God so to do ; and that
tho perhaps he does not make use of the Doctor's distinction of
authoritative, yet he speaks the same sence. (2.) That admit the
priest does absolve authoritative, yet that this absolution can
only operate declarative, or optative, and not absolutely. And
3dly, that the Church of England in none of the three forms of
absolution above mentioned (no, not in the last which he so
much insists upon) does pretend to give any larger power to the
priest or minister than this amounts to.

As for the first head I have laid down, I shall prove it from
the Lord Primate's own words, in the same treatise before cited
by the Doctor ; who agrees with the Lord Primate, that the su-
pream power of forgiving sins is in God alone. Next, that the
power given to the priest, is but a delegated power from God
himself. Now that the Lord Primate owns the priest, or minister,
to be endowed with such a power, I shall put down his own
words in the said book : viz. " Ilavingf thus reserved unto God
his prerogative royal in cleansing the soul, we give unto his
under-officers their due, when we account of them as of the mi-
nisters of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Not as
lords, that have power to dispose of spiritual graces as they
please, but as servants that are tied to follow their Master's jjre-
scriptions therein ; and in following thereof, do but bring their
external ministry, (for which it self also they ate beholden to

Answer to tlic Jesuit's Cliallenge, Works, rol. iii. pag. 126.

clxvi

APPENDIX VII.

God's mercy and goodness) God conferring tlie inward blessing
of his Spirit thereupon, when and where he will : ' Who then is
Paul, (saith St. Paul himself) and who is ApoUos, but ministers
by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.'
' Therefore,' saith Optatus, ' in all the servants there is no domi-
nion, but a ministery ; cui creditor, ipse dat quod creditur, non
per quem creditur; it is he who is believed, that giveth the thing
that is believed, not he by whom we do believe.' Whereas our
Saviour then saith unto his Apostles, Joli. 20. ' Receive the Holy
Ghost : Whose sins ye forgive, shall be forgiven.' St. Ambrose,
St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom, and St. Cyril, make this obser-
vation thereupon, that this is not their work properly, but the
work of the Holy Ghost, who remittelh by them, and therein
performeth the work of the true God."

" To^ forgive sins therefore being thus proper to God only, and
to his Christ : his ministers must not be held to have this power
communicated unto them, but in an improper sence ; namely,
because God forgiveth by them ; and hath appointed them both
to apply those means by which he useth to forgive sins, and to
give notice unto repentant sinners of that forgiveness. For who
can forgive sins but God alone ? yet doth he forgive by them
also, unto whom he hath given power to forgive, saith St. Am-
brose. And tho it be the proper work of God to remit sins, saith
Ferus ; yet are the Apostles (and their successors) said to remit
also, not simply, but because they apply those means whereby
God doth remit sins."

After the Lord Primate had shewed in the pages before-going,
that the power of binding and loosing consists in exercising the
discipline of the Church, in debarring or admitting penitents
from or to the Communion, he proceeds thus ; " That'' this au-
thority of loosing remaineth still in the Church, we constantly
maintain against theheresie of theMontanists andNovatians, &c."

And after having confuted the uncharitableness of those here-
ticks, who denied that penit-.nts who had committed heinous
sins, ought to be received into the communion of the Church,
goes on thus, " That' speech of his (viz. St. Paul's) is specially
noted, and pressed against the hereticks by St. Ambrose, ' To
whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also : for if I forgave any
thing to whom I forgave it, for your sakes I forgave it, in the

? See the places cited at large in the book, pag. 127- 1"2>'^-
Works, vol. iii. pag. 127. ' Ibid. pag. 1-40.

A VINUICATION, ETC.

clxvii

person of Christ.' For as ' in the name, and by the power of
our Lord Jesus, such a one was dehvered to Satan ; so God
having given unto hira repentance, to recover himself out of the
snare of the Devil, in the same name, and in the same power
was he to be restored again ; the ministers of reconciliation stand-
ing in Christ's stead, and Christ himself being in the midst of
them that are thus gathered together in his name, will bind or
loose in heaven, whatsoever they according to his commission
shall bind or loose on earth." Then after he has shewn that the
power of the priest, or ministers of the Gospel, is only ministe-
rial and declarative, like that of the priests under the Law of
Moses, " Where'' the laws are set down that concern the lepro-
sie, (which was a type of the pollution of sin) we meet often
with these speeches ; the priest shall cleanse him, and the priest
shall pollute him ; and in vers. 44. of the same chapter', the
priest with pollution shall pollute him, as it is in the original ;
'not,' saith St. Hierom, ' that he is the author of the pollution,
but that he declareth him to be polluted, who before did seem
unto many to have been clean.' Whereupon the master of the sen-
tences (following herein St. Hierom, and being afterwards therein
followed himself by many others) observeth that ' in remitting,
or retaining sins, the priests of the Gospel have that right and
office, which the legal priests had of old under the law, in curing
of the lepers. These therefore (saith he) forgive sins, or retain
them whiles they shew, and declare that they are forgiven, or
retained by God. For the priests put the name of the Lord upon
the children of Israel, but it was he himself that blessed them.' "
*' Neither™ do we grant hereby, (as the aduersary falsly charg-
eth us) that a lay-man, yea or a woman, or a child, or any infi-
del, or a parrat likewise, if he be taught the words, may in this
sence as well absolve as the priest, as if the speech were all the
thing that here were to be considered, and not the power: whereas
we are taught that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in
power. Indeed if the priests by their office brought nothing with
them but the ministry of the bare letter, a parrat peradventure
might be taught to sound that letter as well as they ; but we
belieue that God hath made them able ministers of the New Tes-
tament, not of the letter, but of the spirit ; and that the Gospel
ministred by them, cometh unto us not in word only, but also

^ Works, vol. iii. pag. 147. 148.. ' Lev. 13.

Works, vol. iii. pag. 148. Bolliirmin. de Prenitont. lib. 3. cap. 2. sect, ull .

clxviii

AI'PENDIX VII.

in power, and in the holy Ghost, and in much assurance. For
God hath added a special beauty to the feet of them that preach
the Gospel of peace, that howsoever others may bring glad-tid-
ings of good things to the penitent sinner, as truly as they do :
yet neither can they do it with the same authority, neither is it
to be expected that they should do it with such power, such as-
surance, and such full satisfaction to the afflicted conscience.
The speech of every Christian (we know) should be imployed to
the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers ;
and a private brother in his place may deliver sound doctrine,
reprehend vice, exhort to righteousness very commendably : yet
hath the Lord notwithstanding all this, for the necessary use of
his Church, appointed publick officers to do the same things,
and hath given to them a peculiar power for edification, wherein
they may boast above others ; and in the due execution whereof
God is pleased to make them instruments of minislring a more
plentiful measure of grace unto their hearers, than may be ordi-
narily looked for from others. . . These" are God's angels, and
ambassadors for Christ, and therefore in delivering their message
are to be received as an angel of God, yea as Christ Jesus. That
look how the prophet Esay was comforted when the angel said
unto him, ' Thy iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged ;' and
the poor woman in the Gospel, when Jesus said unto her, ' Thy
sins are forgiven :' the like consolation doth the distressed sinner
receive from the mouth of the minister ; when he hath compared
the truth of God"s word faithfully delivered by him, with the
work of God's grace in his own heart. For as it is the office of
this messenger, to pray us in Christ's stead, that we would be
be reconciled unto God : so when we have listened unto this
motion, and submitted our selves to the Gospel of peace, it is a
part of his office likewise to declare unto us in Christ's stead,
that we are reconciled to God : and in him Christ himself must
be acknowledged to speak, who to us-ward by this means is not
weak, but mighty in us."

Having now shewn what the Lord Primate hath said in that
treatise; that the absolution of the priest, or minister, tho it be
declarative, yet is still authoritative, by virtue of that power
which Christ hath committed unto him. But that this is no
absolute power, but still only declarative, I shall prove in the
next place, as well from what the Lord Primate hath here laid

■' Works, vol. iii. pa;^. 149.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxix

down, as from the nature of the absohition it self, the Lord Pri-
mat having before declared, " that" the prayer of the priest is
onegreat means of obtaining remission of sins," I shall now shew
yon that the Doctor did not so well peruse the Lord Primate's
book as he might have done, when he so confidently affirms,
" that tho the Lord Primat has spoken somewhat of the declara-
tive and optative forms of absolution, yet he hath taken no notice
of the indicative, or that which is used in the absolution of the
sick :" of which sort take the Lord Primat's words ; " in'' the days
of Thomas Aquinas there arose a learned man among the Papists
themselves, who found fault with that indicative form of abso-
lution then used by the priest, I absolve thee from all thy sins,
and would have it delivered by way of deprecation ; alledging that
this was not only the opinion of Guliel. Altisiodorensis, Gulicl.
Paris, and Hugo Cardinal ; but also that thirty years were scarce
passed since all did use this form only, ' absolutionem & remis-
sionem tribuat tibi Omnipotens Deus, Almighty God give unto
thee absolution and forgiveness.' This only will I add, that as
well in the ancient Rituals, and in the new Pontificial of the
Church of Rome, as in the present practice of the Greek Church,
I find the absolution expressed in the third person, as attributed
wholly to God, and not in the first, as if it came from the priest
himself." And after the Lord Primate hath there shewn, " thaf
the most ancient forms of absolution both in the Latin and
Greek Church, were in the third and not in the first person, he
proceeds thus : " Alexander of Hales, and Bonaventure, in the
form of absolution used in their time, observe that prayer was
premised in the optative, and absolution adjoined afterward in
the indicative mood. Whence they gather that the priest's prayer
obtaineth grace, his absolution presupposeth it, and that by the
former he ascendeth unto God, and procureth pardon for the
fault ; by the latter he duscendeth to the sinner, and reconcileth
him to the Church. For although a man be loosed before God,
(saith the master of the sentences) yet is he not held loosed in
the face of the Church but by the judgment of the priest. And
this loosing of men by the judgment of the priest, is by the Fa-
thers generally accounted nothing else but a restoring them to

" Works, vol. iii. pag. 1.30. i' Ibid. pag. 135.

'I That all the antiunt forms of absolution in the Greek Church were till
of late only declarative, or optative, and always in the 3d, not first per-
son. See Dr. Smith's learned Account of the Gr. Church, pp. IHO. 181.

clxx

APPENDIX VII.

the peace of the Church, and admitting of thera to the Lord's
Table again : which therefore they usually express by the terms
of bringing them to the Communion ; reconciling them to, or
with the Communion ; restoring the Communion to them; ad-
mitting them to fellowship ; granting them peace, &c. Neither
do I find that they did ever use any such formal absolution as
this, I absolve thee from all thy sins : wherein our Popish priests
notwithstanding, do place the very form of their late-devised
sacrament of penance, nay hold it to be so absolute a form, that
(according to Thomas Aquinas his new divinity) it would not be
sufficient to say, Almighty God have mercy upon thee, or God
grant unto thee absolution and forgiveness : because, forsooth,
the priest by these words doth not signifie that the absolution is
done, but entreateth that it may be done. Which how it will
accord with the Roman Pontificial, where the form of absolution
is laid down prayer-wise, the Jesuits who follow Thomas may
do well to consider."

Now how near the Doctor approaches to this opinion of the
Papists when he urges these words, " I absolve thee from all thy
sins," as an argument of the priests power to forgive sins autho-
ritative, and as if this form had something more in it, or could work
further towards the remission of the sins of the penitent than any
of the rest, I shall leave it to the reader. Whereas whosoever
will consider the office of the priest, will find that it is not
like that of a Judg, or a Vice-roy (as the Doctor would have it)
under a Soverain prince; who has power not only to declare
the person absolved from his crimes, but also may reprieve, or
pardon him when guilty, or condemn him tho innocent, neither
of which perhaps the prince himself, by whose commission he
acts, would do : whereas the priest, whatever power he has dele-
gated from God, (which I do not deny) yet it is still only declara-
tive, and conditional, according to the sincerity of the repentance
in the person absolved. For as his absolution signifies nothing,
if the repentance of the penitent, or dying person, be not real
or sincere ; so neither can he hinder God from pardoning him,
if it be so indeed, tho he should be so wicked, or uncharitable,
as to deny him the benefit of this absolution, if he desire it : so
that the office of the priest in this matter, rather resembleth that
of an herald, who has a commission from his Prince to proclaim
and declare pardon to a company of rebels who have already sub-
mitted themselves, and promised obedience to their Prince ; which
j)ardon as it signifies nothing, if they still continue in their re-

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxi

bellion ; so tho the herald alone has the power of declaring this
pardon, yet it is only in the name, and by the authority of his
Prince, who had passed this pardon in his own breast before ever
the herald published it to the ofienders : so that it is in this sence
only that the priest can say thus, — " By his authority (viz. of our
Lord Jesus Christ) committed to me, I absolve thee from all thy
sins," since he does this not as Christ's Vicar, or Judg under him,
but as his herald or ambassador, or, as St. Paul words it, " In the
person of Christ forgives our offences ;" yet still conditionally,
that we are really penitent, and consequently is not effective, but
only declarative of that forgiveness.

I shall now in the last place shew you, that the Church of Eng-
land understands it in no other sence but this alone : and that if
it did, it would make it all one with that of the Papists. First, that
theform of absolution which follows the general Confession, is only
declarative the Doctor himself grants ; so likewise that before the
Communion is only optative, in the way of prayer and intercession,
and consequently no other than declarative or conditional ; and
therefore that the absolution to particular penitents both in order
to receive the Communion, as also in the Visitation of the Sick, are
no other likewise than declarative, appears from the great tender-
ness of the Church of England in this matter, not enjoining, but
only advising the penitent in either case to make any special con-
fession of his sins to the priest, (in which case alone this absolu-
tion is supposed to be necessary) unless he cannot quiet his con-
science without it, or if he feel his conscience troubled with any
weighty matter, after which confession the priest shall absolve
him. But our Church does not declare that either the penitent
is obliged to make any such special confession to the priest either
before the Sacrament, or at the point of death, or that any person
cannot obtain remission of their sins without absolution, as the
Church of Rome asserts ; so that it seems our Church's absolu-
tion in all these cases is no other than declarative, and for the
quieting of the conscience of the penitent, if he find himself so
troubled in mind, that he thinks he cannot obtain pardon from God
without it : tho the priest (as the herald above-mentioned, whose
office it is to proclaim the King's pardon) still absolves authori-
tative, and could not do it unless he were authorized by Jesus
Christ for that purpose. And if the Doctor, or any other, will
maintain any higher absolution than this, it must be that of the
Church of Rome, where a small attrition, or sorrow for sin, by
virtue of the keys (that is, the absolution of the priest) is made

elxxii

APPENDIX VII.

contrition, and the penitent is immediately absolved from all his
sins ; tho perhaps he commit the same again as soon as ever he
has done the penance enjoyned. And that the pious and judi-
cious Mr. Hooker (who certainly understood the doctrine of the
Church of England as well as Dr. H.) agrees fully with the Lord
Primate in this matter, appears from his sixth book of Ecclesias-
tical Policy, where after his declaring (with the Lord Primate)
" that for any thing he could ever observe, those formalities the
Church of Rome do so much esteem of, were not of such esti-
mation, nor thought to be of absolute necessity with the ancient
Fathers, and that the form with them was with invocation, or
praying for the penitent, that God would be reconciled unto him
for which he produces St. Ambrose, St. Plierom, and Leo, &c.
p. 96. he thus declares his judgment, viz. "As for the ministerial
sentence of privat absolution, it can be no more than a declara-
tion what God hath done ; it hath but the force of the Prophet
Nathan's absolution, [God hath taken away thy sins ;] than which
construction, especially of words judicial, there is nothing more
vulgar. For example, the Publicans are said in the Gospel to
have justified God ; the Jews in Malachy to have blessed the
proud man, which sin, and prosper ; not that the one did make
God righteous, or the other the wicked happy ; but to bless, to
justifie, and to absolve, are as commonly used for words of
judgment, or declaration, as of true and real efficacy ; yea even
by the opinion of the Master of the sentences, &c. priests are
authorized to loose and bind, that is to say, declare who are
bound, and who are loosed."

The last point in which the Doctor taxes the Lord Primate as
differing from the Church of England, is in the Article of Christ's
descent into hell ; " The"^ Church of England (says he) main-
tains a local descent ; that is to say, that the soul of Christ, at
such time as his body lay in the grave, did locally descend into
the nethermost parts, in which the Devil and his angels are
reserved in everlasting chains of darkness, unto the judgment of
the great and terrible day. This is proved at large by Bishop Bil-
son in his learned and laborious work, entitled. The Survey of
Christ'sSufferings. And that this was the meaning of the first lie-
formers, when this Article amongst others was first agreed upon
in the first Convocation of the year 1552, appears by that passage
of St. Peter, which is cited by them touching Christ's preaching to

Rfspon. Pctrus, sect. 10. § 7.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxiii

the spirits which were in prison. And tho that passage be left
out of the present Article, according as it passed in the Convo-
cation of the year 1662, yet cannot it be used as an argument to
prove that the Church hath altered her judgment in that point ;
as some men would have it ; that passage being left out for these
reasons following: for, first, that passage was conceived to make
the Article too inclinable to the doctrine of the Church of Rome,
which makes the chief end of Christ's descent into hell, to be
the fetching thence the souls of the Fathers, who died before and
under the law. And secondly, because it was conceived by some
learned men, that the text was capable of some other construc-
tion than to be used for an argument of this descent. The judg-
ment of the Church continues still the same as before it was, and
is as plain and positive for a local descent as ever ; she had not
else left this Article in the same place in which she found it, or
given it the same distinct title as before it had ; viz. De Descensu
Christi ad Inferos, in the Latin copies of King Edward the 6th,
that is to say. Of the going down of Christ into Hell, as in the
English copies of Queen Elizabeth's reign. Nor indeed was there
any reason why this Article should have any distinct place or
title at all, unless the maintenance of a local descent were in-
tended by it. For having spoken in the former Article of Christ's
suffering, crucifying, death and burial, it had been a very great
impertinency (not to call it worse) to make a distinct Article of
his descending into hell, if to descend into hell did signifie the
same with this being buried, as some men then fancied ; or that
there were not in it some further meaning, which uiight deserve
a place distinct from his death and burial. The Article speaking
thus, [viz. as Christ died for us, and was buried ; so is it to be
believed that he went down into hell] is either to be understood
of a local descent, or else we are tied to believe nothing by it,
but what was explicitly or implicitly comprehended in the for-
mer Article. And lastly ; that Mr. Alex. Noel, before mentioned,
who being Prolocutor of the Convocation in the year 1562, when
this Article was disputed, approved and ratified, cannot in rea-
son be supposed to be ignorant of the true sence and meaning of
this Church in that particular. And he in his Catechism (above
mentioned) declares, that Christ descended in his body into the
bowels of the earth, and in his soul, separated from that body,
he descended also into hell ; by means whereof the power and
efficacy of his deatii was not made known only to the dead, but
the Devils themselves; insomuch that both the souls of the un-

clxxiv

APPENDIX VII.

unbelievers did sensibly perceive tliat condemnation which was
most justly due to them for their incredulity ; and Satan himself
the Prince of Devils, did as plainly see that his tyranny, and all
the powers of darkness, were opprest, ruined, and destroyed.
But on the contrary the L. Primate allows not any such local
descent, as is maintained by the Church, and defended by the
most learned members of it, who have left us any thing in writ-
ing about this Article. And yet he neither followeth the opinion
of Calvin himself, nor of the generality of those of the Calviuian
party, who herein differ from their master ; but goes a new way
of a later discovery, in which although he had few leaders, he
hath found many followers. By Christ's descending into hell,
he would have nothing else to be understood but his continuing
in the state of separation between the body and the soul, his
remaining under the power of death during the time he lay buried
in the grave : which is no more in effect, tho it differ somewhat
in the terms, than to say, that he died, and was buried, and rose
not till the third day, as the Creed instructs us."

In vindication of the Lord Primate's judgment in the sence of
this Article, 1 shall lay down some previous considerations to
excuse him, if perhaps he differed from the sence of the Church

of England in this Article, if it should appear that it ought to be
understood in a strict and literal sence. For, first, you must
understand that this Article of Christ's descent into hell, is not
inserted amongst the Articles of the Church of Ireland, which
were the Confession of Faith of that Church when the Lord Pri-
mate writ this answer to the Jesuit ; the Articles of the Church
of England (amongst which this of Christ's descent into hell is
one) not being received by the Church of Ireland till the year
1634, ten years after the publishing of this book; so that he
could not be accused for differing from those Articles, which he
was not then obliged to receive, or subscribe to. 2dly. Had this
Article been then inserted, and expressed in the very same words,
as it is in those of the Church of England, could he be accused
of being heterodox for not understanding it, as the Doctor does,
of a local descent of Christ's soul into hell, or the places of tor-
ment, since the Church of England is so modest as only to assert,
that it is to be believed that he went down into hell, without
specifying in what sence she understands it ? For, as the Lord
Primate very learnedly proves in this treatise, " the' word hell

'Works, vol. iii. pag. 317-

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxv

in old Saxon, signifies no more than hidden, or covered ; so
that in the original propriety of the word, our hell doth exactly
answer the Greek which denotes tov ai^ti toVov, the place
which is unseen, or removed from the sight of man. So that the
word hell, signifies the same with Hades in the Greek, and In-
feri in the Latin. Concerning which St. Augustin gives us this
note ; ' The name of Hell (in Latin Inferi) is variously put in
Scriptures, and in many meanings, according as the sence of the
things which are intreated of do require.' And Mr. Casaubon
(who understood the property of Greek and Latin words as well
as any) this other; 'They who think that Hades is properly the
seat of the damned, be no less deceived, than they, who when
they reade Inferos in Latin writers, do interpret it of the same
place.' " Whereupon the Lord Primate proceeds to shew that by
Hell, in divers places of Scripture, is not to be understood the
place of the wicked, or damned, but of the dead in general ; as in
Psal. 89. 48. " What man is he that liveth and shall not see death?
shall he deliver his soul from the hand of hell V And Esa. 38. 18,
19. "Hell cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they
that go down in the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the
living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day." Where the oppo-
sition betwixt hell, and the state of life in this world, is to be
observed. Therefore since the word hell does not necessarily
imply a place of torment, either in Scriptures, or ancient au-
thors ; and that Christ's descent into Hell is not to be proved
from any express place of Scripture, as the Doctor himself grants,
since upon the review of the Articles of our Church, passed in
Edward the Sixth's time, this passage of St. Peter, of Christ's
preaching to the spirits in prison, was left out in the present Ar-
ticles of our Church, as not well bearing that interpretation.
And that the learned Grotius, and Dr. Hammond have in their
Comments on the New Testament, explained this place in a quite
different sence. So that all the light we can receive as to this
Article of our Creed, must be sought for in the ancient Fathers
of the Church, " whose opinions on this point are various and
uncertain (as the Lord Primat sufliciently sets forth in this trea-
tise) some of them understanding by this word Hell [or Hades],
Abraham's bosom, or place of happiness, whither the angels
carried Lazarus ; or that Paradise in which our Saviour promised
the good thief he sliould be with him. So that this sort of Hell
can have no great difiercnce from Heaven itself. Others of them
will have our SavioTir descend into Hell, or some out-skirts of

clxxvi

APPENDIX VII.

it, whicli were no places of torment, only that he might make the
patriarchs and prophets a visit, wliom they supposed to be there
detained, tho he did not fetch them from thence. Others, as
St. Jerora, St. Angustine, and others, suppose Christ to have
descended into Hell, as the place of torment, to bring forth such
souls of his as he found there. Others, that he went thither to
preach, and to bring from thence all the souls of the heathens,
that heard then, and believed his preaching. Others again, that
he emptied Hell of all its prisoners, and left the devils there
alone; which opinion, tho very untrue, was maintained by St.
Cyril, and others : into which error they were led by the super-
ficial consideration of those words of St. Peter above-mentioned."
From which difference, and variety of opinions we may learn,
that as theFathers were not infallible ; so this opinion of Christ's
local descent into hell, as a place of torment, was not generally
agreed on amongst them, no more than the reasons for which he
should go thither. And therefore sure our more modern authors,
as Bp. Bilson and Mr. Noel, could be no more certain than the
Fathers themselves, in what sence our Saviour descended into
hell, or what business he had to do there ; especially since this
Article of our Church only says, " we must believe he went down
into hell," without specifying in what sence he went thither;
which she might easily have done, if she had not thought it bet-
ter to leave men to their liberty to put what reasonable sence
they should think fit, upon so obscure and doubtful an Article;
and which has so little influence upon our faith or manners, sup-
posed to be taken in one or the other sence. Therefore I cannot
see how the Lord Primate deserves to be blamed if in a matter
of so great uncertainty and variety of 02^inions, he followed some
of the most sober of the Fathers, who did not understand Christ's
descent into hell, or Hades, to be understood of any local descent
into a place of torment. And that the Lord Primate was not the
first discoverer or broacher (as the Doctor would have him) of
this interpretation of Hades, or hell, for the state of souls as
separate from their bodies, I shall shew you from several quota-
tions the Lord Primate makes use of, out of the Fathers, and
other ancient authors to this purpose. First, as for the heathen,
or profiine writers, " he shews out of Plato, and other philoso-
l)hers and poets, that the w^ord Hades signifies a general invisi-
ble future state of the soul after it is separated from the body,
consisting of two places, one of bliss, and the other of torment,
according to the nature and actions of the soul whilst it was

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxvii

united with the body, and which places they fancied to be as far
beneath the earth as the heaven is from it : for they imagined
that the earth was not round but flat, and that the sea and skies
did meet. So that most of the ancient Fathers having no notion
of the roundness of the earth, and of its being encompassed with
air ; and likewise being most of them Platonic philosophers, it is
no wonder if they had the same notion of this Hades, as those
ancient philosophers and poets had before. Yet some of them
were better instructed, as St. Chrysostom, who says modestly,
' If thou dost ask me (saith he) of the situation and place of Ge-
henna? I will answer and say, that it is seated somewhere out of
this world ; and that it is not to be enquired in what place it is
situated, but by what means rather it may be avoided.' But St.
Gregory Nyssen, in his dialogue between himself and Macrina
touching the soul and the resurrection, makes her to answer the
question proposed by Gregory in this manner : * Where' is that
name of Hades so much spoken of ? and which is so much treated
of in our common conversation, so much in the writings both of
the heathen and our own? into which all men think that the
souls are translated from hence as into a certain receptacle ? for
you will not say that the elements are this Hades.' Whereunto
Macrina thus replies : 'It appeareth that thou didst not give
much heed to my speech, for when I spake of the translation of
the soul from that which is seen unto that which is invisible, I
thought I had left nothing behind to be enquired of Hades ;
neither doth that name, wherein souls are said to be, seem to mo
to signifie any other thing either in profane writers, or in the
holy Scripture, save only a removing unto that which is invisible
and unseen.' So likewise Theophylact, and Hugo Etherianus
after him, ' What" is Hades, or Hell ? Some say that it is a dark
place under the earth ; others say that it is the translation of the
soul from that which is visible, unto that which is unseen and
invisible. For while the soul is in the body, it is seen by the
proper operations thereof ; but being translated out of the body
it is invisible; and this did they say was Hades.' Hitherto also
may be referred the place cited before out of Origen in his fourth
book, TTifi xfxZ", which by St. Jerom is thus delivered: ' They"
who die in this world by the separation of the flesh and the soul,
according to the difference of their works, obtain divers places in
hell.' Where, by Hades, Infcri, or Hell, he meaneth indefinitely

' Works, vol. iii. pag.
VOL. I.

Ibid. pag. 380.

clxxviii

APPENDIX VII.

the other world ; in which how the souls of the godly were dis-
posed, he thus declares in another place : ' The soul leaveth the
darkness of this world, and the blindness of this bodily nature,
and is translated into another world, which is either the bosom
of Abraham, as it is shewed in Lazarus, or paradise, as in the
thief that believed upon the cross ; or yet God knows if that there
be any other places, or other mansions, by which the soul that
believeth in God, passing and coming unto that river which
maketh glad the city of God, may receive within it the lot of the
inheritance promised unto the Fathers.' For touching the deter-
minate state of the faithful souls departed this life, the ancient
Doctors (as we have shewed) were not so thoroughly resolved."

The Lord Primate having thus shewn in what sence many of
the ancient Fathers did understand this word Hades, which we
translate hell, proceeds to shew that divers of them expound
Christ's descent into hell (or Hades) according to the common
law of nature, which extends it self indifferently unto all that
die : " For' as Christ's soul was in all points made like unto
ours (sin only excepted) while it was joined with his body here
in the land of the living : so when he had humbled himself unto
the death, it became him in all things to be made like unto his
brethren, even in the state of dissolution. And so indeed the
soul of Jesus had experience of both : for it was in the place of
human souls, and being out of the flesh, did live and subsist. It
was a reasonable soul therefore, and of the same substance with
the flesh of men, proceeding from Mary. Saith Eustathius the
Patriarch of Antioch, in his exposition of that text of the Psalm,
' Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,' x^pog rZv an^paTTivav -^vy^iv,
the place of humane souls, (which in the Hebrew is the world of
spirits) and by the disposing of Christ's soul there, after the
manner of other souls, concludes it to be of the same nature with
other mens souls. So St. Hilary in his exposition of the 138th
Psalm, ' This is the law of humane necessity,' saith he, ' that the
bodies being buried, the souls should go to hell. Which descent
the Lord did not refuse for the accomplishment of a true man.'
And a little after he repeats it, that ' de supernis ad inferos mortis
lege descendit,' he descended from the supernal to the infernal
parts by the law of death. And upon Psal. 53. more fully ; ' To
fulfil the nature of man, he subjected himself to death ;' that is,
to a departure as it were of the soul and body ; and pierced into

V Works, vol. iii. p.ag. 383. 384.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

cLxxlx

the infernal seats, which was a thing that seemed to he due unto
man."

I shall not trouble you with more quotations of this kind out
of several of the ancient Greek and Latin Fathers which he makes
use of in this treatise, most of them agreeing in this, that Christ
died, and was buried, and that his soul went to that place or
receptacle, w'here the souls of good men do remain after death ;
which whether it is no more in effect but differing in terms, than
to say, he died and was buried, and rose not till the third day:
which the Doctor makes to be the absurdity of this opinion, I
leave to the judgment of the impartial reader; as I likewise do
whether the Lord Primate deserves so severe a censure after his
shewing so great learning as he has done, concerning the various
interpretations of this word Hades, or Hell, both out of sacred
and prophane writers, that it only serves to amaze the ignorant,
and confound the learned. Or that he meant nothing less in all
these collections than to assert the doctrine of tlie Church of
England in this particular ; or, whether Clirisfs local descent
into hell can be found in the Rook of Articles which he had sub-
scribed to, or in the Book of Common-Prayer which he was
bound to conform to? And if it be not so expressed in any of
these, I leave it to you to judge how far Dr. H. is to be believed
in his accusation against the Lord Primate in other matters. But
I doubt I have dwelt too long upon this less important Article,
which it seems was not thought so fundamental a one, but (as
the Lord Primate" very well observes) Ruffinus in his Exposi-
tion of the Creed takes notice, that in the Creed or symbol of
the Church of Home there is not added, he descended into hell ;
and presently adds, yet the force or meaning of the word seems
to be the same, in that he is said to have been buried. So that
it seems old Ruffinus is one of those who is guilty of this imper-
tinency (as the Doctor calls it) of making Christ's descent into
hell to signifie the same with his lying in the grave, or being
buried, tho the same author takes notice that the Church of
Aquileia had this Article inserted in her Creed, but the Church
of Rome had not, (which sure with men of the Doctor's way,
should be a rule to other Churches.) And further Card. Eellar-
min noteth (as the Lord Primate confesses) "that St. Auguslin
in his book, De Fide & Symbolo, and in his four books De
Symbolo ad Catechumenos, maketh no mention of this Article,

Works, vol. iii. pag. 3J1.

clxxx

APPENDIX VII,

when he doth expound the whole Creed five several times. Which
is very strange, if the Creed received by the African Church had
this Article in it. RufFinus further takes notice, that it is not
found in the symbol of the Churches of the East ; by which he
means the Nicene and Constantinopolitan Creeds, the latter of
which is nothing else but an explanation, or more ample enlarge-
ment of the Creed Apostolical." Tho this indeed be not at this
day read in the Greek or other Eastern Churches, or so much as
known or received in that of the'' Coptics and Abyssines.

But the Doctor having shown his malice against the Lord Pri-
mate's memory and opinions in those points, which I hope I have
sufficiently answered, cannot give off so, but in the next section
accuses him for inserting the nine Articles of Lambeth into those
of the Church of Ireland, being inconsistent with the doctrine of
the Church of England. But before I answer this accusation, I
shall first premise, that as I do not defend or approve that Bishops,
or others, tho never so learned Divines, should take upon them
to make new Articles, or define and determine doubtful ques-
tions and controversies in religion, without being authorized by
the King and Convocation so to do : yet thus much I may chari-
tably say of those good Bishops, and other Divines of the Church
of England, who framed and agreed upon these Articles, that
what they did in this matter, was sincerely, and as they then be-
lieved, according to the doctrine of the Church of England, as
either expresly contained in, or else to be drawn by consequence
from that Article of the Church concerning predestination. And
certainly this makes stronger against the Doctor : for if with him
the judgment of Bp. Bilson, Bp. Andrews, and Mr. Noel, in their
writings, be a sufficient authority to declare the sence of the
Church of England in those questions of Christ's true and real
presence in the Sacrament, and his local descent into hell ; why
should not the judgment and determination of the two Arch-
Bishops of Canterbury and York, with divers other Bishops and
learned Divines, after a serious debate and mature deliberation,
as well declare what was the doctrine of the Church of England
in those questions of predestination, justifying faith, saving
o-race, and perseverance ? But it seems with the Doctor, no
Bishops opinions shall be orthodox, if they agree not with his
own. But to come to the charge it self: the main reason why
the Doctor will needs have the Lord Primate to be the cause of

X Vid. Jobi Ludolfi, lib. 3. c. 5. 19. Hist, .l^thiop.

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxxi

the inserling these Articles of Lambeth into those of Ireland,
agreed on in Convocation 1G15, is, because the Lord Primate
being then no Bishop, but only Professor of Divinity in the Uni-
sity there, and a member of Convocation, was ordered by the
Convocation to draw up those Articles, and put them into Latin,
as if Dr. Usher could have then such a great influence upon it,
as to be able to govern the Church at his pleasure ; or that the
scribe of any Synod or Council should make it pass what Acts
or Articles he pleases ; or that one private Divine should be able
to manage the whole Church of Ireland, (as the Doctor would
needs have him do in this affair.) Whereas the Doctor having
been an ancient member of Convocation, could not but know
that all Articles after they are debated, are proposed by way of
question by the President and Prolocutor of either House, and
are afterwards ordered to be drawn into form, and put in Latin
by some persons whom they appoint for that purpose ; and tho
perhaps they might not be themselves in all points of the same
opinion with those Articles they are so ordered to draw up ; and
that Dr. Usher did not hold all those Articles of Ireland inthe same
sence as they are there laid down, appears from what the Doctor
himself tells us in this pamphlet ; for p. 1 16, he saith, " That it
was his (viz. the Lord Primate's) doing, that a different explica-
tion of the Article of Christ's descent into hell, from that allowed
of by this Church ; and almost all the other heterodoxies of the
sect of Calvin were inserted, and incorporated into the Articles
of Ireland." And p. 129, he finds fault with the 3Uth Article
of that Church, " because it is said of Christ, that for our sakcs
he endured most grievous torments, immediatly in his soul, and
most painful sufferings in his body. The enduring of which
grievous torments in his soul, as Calvin, not without some toucli
of blasphemy, did first devise : so did he lay it down for the true
sence and meaning of the Article of Christ's descending into hell.
In which expression as the Articles of Ireland have taken up the
words of Calvin, so it may be rationally conceived that they take
them with the same meaning and construction also." But the
Doctor owns that this was not the Lord Primate's sence of this
Article ; for p. 113, aforegoing, he says thus, " Yet he (viz. the
Lord Primate) neither follows the opinion of Calvin himself, nor
of the generality of those of the Calvinian party, who herein dif-
fer from their master ; but goes a new way of a later discovery,
in which altho he had few leaders, he hath found many follow-
ers." But as I shall not take upon me to enter into a dispute

clxxxii

APPENDIX VII.

with the Doctor or his followers, in defence of these Irish Arti-
cles, and to prove they are not contradictory to those of England,
it not being my business ; yet I cannot foibear to observe, that
it is highly improbable that all the Bishops and clergy of Ire-
land should incorporate the nine Articles of Lambeth, containing
all the Calvinian rigours (as the Doctor calls them) in the points
of predestination, grace, free-will, &c. if they had thought they
were inconsistent with those of the Church of England, and had
not been satisfied that it was the doctrine then held and main-
tained in those points by the major part of the Bishops and
clergy of our Church, as also believed by the King himself, who
confirmed them, and certainly would neuer else have sent one
Bishop, and three of the most learned Divines within his domi-
nions, to the Synod of Dort, to maintain against the Bemonstrants
or Arminians, the very same opinions contained in these Irish
Articles : but if all those must be counted by the Doctor for
rigorous Calvinists that maintain these Articles, and consequently
heterodox to the Church of England, I desire to know how he
can excuse the major part of onr Bishops in Queen Elizabeth and
King James's reign, and a considerable j^art of them during the
reigns of the two last Kings of blessed memory (some of whom are
still living) from this heterodoxy. And if all men must be guilty
of Calvinism, who hold these opinions concerning predestination,
grace, and free-will ; then the most part of the Lutherans (who
differ very little from Calvin in these points) must be Calvinists
too. Nor are these points held only by Protestants, but many
also of the Church of Rome hold the same, as witness the Jan-
scnists, and also the Order of the Dominicans, who come very
near to Calvin in the doctrines of predestination, &c. and are as
much opposed by the Jesuits, as the Arminians are by the Anti-
remonstrants in Holland. But perhaps the Doctor may make
St. Augustin a Calvinist too, since he is much of the same opi-
nion with the Lord Primate in most of these points against the
Pelagians.

Having now I hope vindicated the Lord Primate from these
unjust accusations of his differing from the Church of England
in matters of doctrine, I now come to answer his aspersions upon
the Lord Primate in lesser matters ; and that you may see how
unjustly he seeks out a quarrel against him, he makes it a crime
in him, because those who were aspersed with the names of
Puritans made their addresses to him by letters, or visits, and
because he was carress'd and feasted b}' them where-ever he

A VINDICATION, ETC.

clxxxiii

came, (as the Doctor will have it) as if the Lord Primate had no
other perfections but his asserting those Calvinian tenets.

Then he goes on to tax the Lord Primate with inconformity
to the rules and orders of the Church of England in several par-
ticulars : but with how great want of charity, and with how
many malicious inferences and reflections, without any just
grounds, I leave to the impartial reader who will give himself
the trouble to peruse that pamphlet, many of those passages
being cuU'd here and there out of Dr. Bernard's treatise, entitled
The late Lord Primate's Judgment, &c. without ever considering
what went before, or what followed after ; and without taking
notice that several things enjoined in the Canons of the Church
of England had no force or obligation in that of Ireland, where
those Canons were not yet subscribed to, or received : and con-
sequently such ceremonies as were by them enjoined, being in
themselves indifferent, as the Church declares, it had been sin-
gularity in him to have observed them there, and much worse to
have imposed them upon others: for it is truly said of him by
Dr. Bernard, " that he did not affect some arbitrary innovations,
(not within the compass of the rule and order of the Book of
Common-prayer) and that he did not take upon him to introduce
any rite or ceremony upon his own opinion of decency, till the
Church had judged it so." p. 117. What the Lord Primate's
behaviour was in England in relation to some of these ceremo-
nies of lesser moment, either to the peace or well-being of the
Church, the Lord Primate needs no apology, he having reason
enough for what he did, if he conformed himself no further than
the Doctor would have him. But to give one instance for all of
the Doctor's want of charity towards the Lord Primate ; Dr.
Bernard having asserted his conformity to theDiscipline, Liturgy,
and Articles of the Church of England, ..." and that many of
those who were called Puritans, received such satisfaction from
him, as to concur with him in the above- said particulars." The
Doctor immediately makes this remark : " Eor this (says he)
might very well be done, and yet the men remain as unconfor-
mable to the rules of the Church (their kneeling at the Commu-
nion only excepted) as they were before." Now what other rules
of the Church the Doctor means I know not, since I always
thought that whoever had brought over a Lay-Nonconformist to
conform to the service and orders of the Church, had done a
very good work ; and I know not when that is done, what is
required more to make him a true son of the Church of England.

clxxxiv

APPENDIX VII.

But I shall say no more on this ungrateful subject, since I doubt
not. but the Lord Primate's great esteem and reputation is too
deep rooted in the hearts of all good men, to be at all lessened
by the Doctor's hard reflections ; tho I thought I could do no
less than vindicate the memory of so pious a Prelate, since many
ordinary readers, who were not acquainted with this good Bishop,
or his writings, may think Dr. H. had cause thus to find fault
with him. So avoiding all invidious reflections upon the Eeve-
rend Doctor, long since deceased, I shall now conclude, heartily
wishing that whatever he hath written, or published, had never
done any more prejudice to that Church which he undertook to
serve, than any of those writings or opinions of the Lord Primate's,
which he so much finds fault with.

END OF THE FIEST VOLUME.

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Full text of "The whole works of the most Rev. James Ussher, D.D., Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland : now for the first time collected, with a life of the author, and an account of his writings"

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