The Irish standard., 1897-03-27
FORGING. A POPE'S BULL.
The Way in Which the English
Malign the Memory of
Adrian Fourth.
Evidence is Convincing That the
Whole rIatter is
Fraud.
No Need for lrishmen to Look
With Feeling Of Reproach Upon
His Holiness.

A the close Of the nineteenth century
10 sensible man thinks OF denying that
St. Patrick's influence is paramount on
Irish character, but the question Of his
infiuence during the dark and bloody
days OF the twelfth Is still questioned
by many. Once admit that Pope Adrian
lN. intrusted to RI English king the
task OF re-evangelizing and reforming
the Irish church and you admi that our
ancestors Of seven hundred years ago
must have, temporarily at least, turned
their backs on the teaching and example
of their glorious apostle and his sue
cessors, writes B. Morgan "A the Irish
World.
IL is therefore Of Importance to de-
ternine the truth about this bull which,
after being tacitly accepted for several
centuries, is now on it's trial before the
critical spirit Of cur own time. Ii has
the advantage of possession, but we are
convinced that a close and impartial
: study of history will Justify the state
ment that it is the perfdious forgery Of
one of the most perfidious kings in his
tory, and that tho pope 10 whom it is
attributed was one Ct tile least likely Of
all the successors OF st. Peter to be The
author CT such a document.
1t will perhaps be urged that the plea
Of forgery is a dangerous one to advance
in the case of a papal document Of such
importance, but there is really nc diff
case. 1t is matter of common knowl
edge that during the first three centuries
false epistles and gospels were forged
and widely accepted as genuine; that
several centuries later the Isidoran De-
creatls, after being long quoted by the
most learned men in the church, were
pproved to be spurious; that no more
than thirty years ago bull was forged
and published in Germany which set
Europe by the ears, and that even here
in America the same device has been
tried before our own eyes. If it be
doubted whether the twelfth century, SO
prolific of other crimes, We're not also
capable of this one, We have only to
point out that any visitor to the Royal
Irish Academy may see with his own
eyes q relic of the Norman Invaders in
the shape Of matrix for forging the
papal seal as appended to the bulls" of
the sovereign pontiff. The possibility
forging is thus disposed off, and we may
now proceed to consider the character OF
the two men most intimately associated
with the bull-Henry II. and Adrian ~.
There is no need to waste words on
Henry H., the murderer of st. Thomas
Df Cant nterbury of whom Cardinal Vivian,
the Roman legate to- Ireland, said
Never did I witness this mans equal in
lying Ii forgery could have served hi
lying If forgery could have served his
ends he would have been as ready to
use this means as that of aacrilege and
assassination. In 1855 when the bull is
supposed to have been granted, Henry
was a young man of twenty-five, and, in
the absence of positive evidence to the
contrary, it might appear that his evil
disposition had not yet revealed itself.
Such positive evidence, however, Is
abundant Roger Of Pontigny, con-
temporary, tells us that Archbishop
Theobald introduced Thomas, a Beckett,
to the young king in 1854, 'as we'll be-
- >f L IN
as from the notorius malignity Of his
family in their dealings With the rights
of ecclesiastical liberty John of Sails
bury. another>contempo pora1y, says that at
this period Archbishop Theobald dread
ed the evil effects of the folly and
malice Of the young and depraved men,
who were apparently his councillors"
and VILLAIN of Canterbury, who lived
. scribes ''tbe malice Of the kings designs
and the policy OF his ministers in "con-
spiring to strip tho church Of her pos
sessions" Can 1t be seriously alleged,
ii the face Of all this, that Pope Adrian
nv. considered Henry H., this dangerous
young man Of twenty-five, with the "no-
torious malignity OF his family" against:
the church hanging like an atmos-
i phere around him as 8. fit and proper
person to restore the decayed glo1ies Of
i; the Irish church? There is only one
hypothesis on which such an opinien can
s;Sbes based, viz, that Pope Adrian. the
& only Engiishman who has H.t In Peters
chair, was singularly indifferent, not
I, 4, only 5tO the rights of a nation which had
been consN Ncuous In its loyalty
h slchurch. hut a. the. we'll III