Saint Mary's beacon., 1873-02-06
~ LEoNARDrowN. THURSDAY MORN fEBktAHY g. 1878

You have signi6sd to Us. ouf well-be-
loved .on in Christ. that you propose to
enter the island Of ireland IN order "a
sutdss The people. De. -. We,
therefore. regarding your pious asd laud-
sble design With due favor. Dc, , do here
by declare onr viii and pleasure, that for
tie purpose Of eniarging the borders oi
'Chusch. &c. yea do enter and sake pas.
sessios of that fsland,1 Such m erroae.
1 Gus translation must be the more blamed
In the present instance. as II was scarcely
10 be expected that the ladics whom the
/, learned lecturer addressed would have
leisure 10 consult the original Latin text
! Of the document which he -prosessea 10
translate. This. howover. 10 not, the only
error into whic., Professor Richey has
been betrayed regarding the Bull ol
/ Adrian ~. Having meniiuned in /. note
tho ststement Of Roger de. Wesdsver. iha,
the Bull was obtained from Pope Adrian
in the year 1855. be adds his own opinion
that the grant sppears to have been made
in 1l72'2 However. At that date Pope
Adrian had been for ahon. thirteen. years
freed from the cares of his Pnniifcats.
having passed to q better world in The
year 1859. 49, =, .---...-- --.-
Second: Any one who attsntiveiy weighs
the words Of the above document will see
at once that its prescinds from all title Of
conquest. whilst At the same time il makes
no gin Of transfer Of dominion TO Henry
the Second. As far a. this letter Of
Adrian is coacerned. the visit of Henry
to our island might Be the enterprise of .
friendly monarch. who. at the Invitation
Of distracted state. would seek BY his
prcsence to restore peace aud 10 uphold
.he Observance Of the laws. Tins those
foolish theories must at once be set aside.
which rest on the groundless supposi,ion
that Pope Adrian authorised the invasion
and plunder Of our people BY the Anglo
Norman adventures.
Third: There is another serious error
which must alsc be set at rest by the SIM
pile pefusal Of tho above document.
mean that opinion which would fain set
forth the letter of Pope Adrian as dog
matical definition Of the Holy See. as If
the Sovereign Pontif then spoke e1 ca
fhedra, i. e., solcmnly propounded some
doctrine to be believed BY the Universal
Church. Now it Is manifest from the
letter itself that it has none of the condi-
tions required for definition er cathedra;
it is not addressed to the Universal Church,
it proposes no matter Of faith to be held
BY all the children Of Christ in fact, it
presents no doctrine whatever to be be-
licved by the faithful. and it is nothing
more than commendatory letter address
scd to Henry. resting on the good inten-
tious set forth by that monarch hl,nself -
There is one maxim. indeed. which ava
kens the suspicious Of the old GaiIican
school. viz: that all the Islands are sub
jcct to the authority of St. Peter How
ever. it is no doc,rinal teaching tha. is
thus propoundcd; it is matter of fact
admitted By Henry himself. a principle
recognized BY the international law Of Eu-
rope in the middle ages, maxim set down
by the various states themselves. the bc.-
ter to maintain peace and concord among
the princes of Christendom.
Fourth: To many i, will seem a para
dox. and yet il is fact, that the surpos-
ed Bull of Pope Adrian had no part what
ever in the submission of the Irish chief.
taius TO Henry the Second. Even accord
ing 10 those who niainiain its genuine
ness. this Bull was not published ill the
year IT'S. aud certainly no mention of it
was made in ireland till long after the
submission OF the Irish princes. The sue
cess Of the Anglo Normans was mainly
due to far different cause, Wig, to the
superior military skill and equipmen: of
the invaders. Among the Anglo Nor
man leaders were some of the bravcst
knights Of the kingdom, who had won
their laarels in the wars of France and
Wales. Their weapons aud armor rem
dered 1t almost impossible for the Irish
troops to meet them in the open field l.
The cross-bow which was made use Of for
the first time in this invasion, produced
as grea, change in military tactics rs
the riacc cannon in our own days. When
Henry came in person 10 Ireland his na-
merous army hushed all opposition. There
were 400 vessels in his feet. and liza min
imum Of twenty ave armed men be allow
ed for each vessel, we viii have an army
Of AZ least 10000 men fully equipped
landing uuopposed on the southern shores
efour islands Itis to this imposing force,
and the armor Of the Anglo-Norman
knights, that We must in great part refer
whatever success attended this invasion ol
the English monarch.
! To proceed now With the Immediate
matter Of our present historical inquiry.
the following is the summary Of the ar.
suments in favor Of the authenticity oi
Pope Adrian's letter. inserted in the irish.
nsan newspaper Of june the s,h last, by
j. G. OCsllsshan. ESQ. editor of the
'Macariae Exeidium. and author Of fmany
valuable works on Irish history We
hays. firstly. the tsssimOay.-o John Of
Salisbury, secretary to the Archbishop oil
Canterbury. and one Of the abiess writer's
Of his day. who relates bis having been
the envoy from Henry to Adrian. in
ll55. to ask for grant Of ireland. and
such grant having been obtained. ac-
eomPaGied by gold ring, eonszinina q
6ne emerald. as token Of iusestiturc
with which grant and ring the ssid Johu
returned to Henry We have, secondly,
the grant or Bull Of Adfisn, IN e.sraso Il
the works Of 0iralius Cambscnsi. and hi,
conseihfcrary. Rsdalfhs de Dieein. Dean
Of London. as we'll a in those Of Rere,
de, Vendovos, and Matths& Paris. We
! have. thirdly. several Bells Of Adfias',
successor, Pope AlexasAer IN. ssill farsh,
or % the parport q Adriau's, or in Hen.
J ry's favor, We have. fourthiy, the re.
. cor4~1 v<ck,s- ~~~ys.