"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, zealous of God's glory, and of the advancement of true religion zealous, resolute, and courageous against all Popery, superstition and idolatry. Amen.

"JA. Armachanus.

MAL. Casellen.

ANTH. Medensis.

THо. Fernes, and Leghlin.

Ro. Dunensis, &c.

GEORG. Derens.

RICHARD, Cork, Cloyne, Rossens.
ARCH. Alachadens.

THO. Kilmore, & Ardagh.

THEO. Dromore.

MICHAEL, Waterford & Lysmore.
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, Drogheda, and another at Termonfechen, within a few miles, from which many of Archbishop Ussher's letters were written. The house at Termonfechen 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 destroyed. 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 east 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 Drogheda was repaired, after the Restoration, by Primate Bramhall, and subsequently enlarged by Primate Margetson,

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, 1627, the Assembly met again, and the Bishop of Derry (Downham) preached at Christ Church before the Lord Deputy 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 keeping of a good conscience for outward and worldly respects and to set their souls to sale for the gain of earthly matters." 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 toleration of false religion, and thereby making themselves guilty

and continued the residence of the Primate until the appointment of Primate Boulter. The prominent part which that Prelate took in the government 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 considerable 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 mistake, 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 residence, on condition of the lease not being renewed to the tenant, Mr. Dawson. 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 Archbishop Hampton, a handsome residence for himself and his successors. It is greatly to be regretted 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 farm-offices. The present Primate, Lord John Beresford, has expended very large sums of money in endeavouring 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.

of a great offence, 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, I 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 consenting to those favours which the Papists expect.' After he had published it, and the people had given their votes also with a general acclamation, crying, Amen; he added as followeth : 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 hinderance 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 countenance 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."

This conduct of the Irish prelates has drawn upon them the severe reprehension of Bayle, in which he has been followed by many other writers. He says: "Vous remarquerez, s'il vous plait, qu'Usserus et ses sufragans agirent selon les principes de l'intolerance la plus outrée; car ils ne se fonderent point sur des maximes d'Etat, comme font les intolerans mitigez. Ils se fonderent uniquement sur la qualité des cultes de la communion Romaine, sans faire mention de son esprit persecutant, qui est la seule cause pourquoi les tolerans mêmes 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 MiltonTM 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 offensive manner, the celebration of their own ritual, but to interrupt 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 conviction 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 philanthropists, Infidels, or Deists.

" See pag. 21.

that they did not wish to put in force the laws against recusants, is placed beyond doubt by expressions used subsequently 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 suffered, 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 success of the King's affairs, Lord Falkland requested the Primate, "in regard of the great esteem in which he was held by both parties, to declare in a speech to the whole assembly 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 purpose, 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.