The Irish standard., 1912-11-16
don't do as I do.'

Cec1lS may we'll rise up ana call ner
blessed The historian Green says
that she carved out rewards for her
the rights of property Lord Burleish
built up the estate Of the house Of
Cecil of the demesnes of the see Of
Peterboroush. The neighborhooi OF
Hatton garden to Ely palace recalls
the spoliation of another bishopric in
favor of the queens sprightly chan
cellor. Elizabeth rewarded her favor
ties with the spoil of the church and
kept bishoprics and deaneries vacant
till clergymen could be found base
enough to accept them on condition
of alternating some of their most val
liable possessions to some courtier
1.-THE reader may ask. Why rake
up this ancient history? This is my
answer, Some of those who today
benefit by reason of this sixteenth
century sacrilegc arc now telling us
that endowments made in the twelfth
century must not be touched And
they so back much further than that,
for l received a circular from some
funny parson the other clay saying
that it is sacrilegc to interfere with
the Exceptions of Igbright CA. d.
74), King Odo's Canons ca. D. 943),
and so on! So the Elizabethan Ce-
Gillian sacrilcgc is quite Il modern
business. :.
THE Duke of Rutland is probably
opposed to the disendowmcnt Of the
church in Wales. I have no definite
information on that point, but ! think
we may assume this to be the case.
And it is conceivable that he is
shocked at tho proposed alleged sacri-
lego involved. II that be SO we may
for Il moment turn our attention to
one Thomas Manners, created earl Of
Rutland by that most religious and
gracious monarch Henry VIII-Dc-
fender of the Faith Thomas Man
most greedy of all the courtiers who
begged for and obtained church prop
erty, and it is said that the grants of
1nonastic property which he obtained
from tho Defender of the Faith were
immense There Was Croxton Abbey
with land in fifty parishes, and the
suppressed monastery OF Clarendon,
consisting OF fourteen manors, not to
mention rectories lands and tene-
ments elsewhere. wonder what
sturdy Tom Manners would have said
if some one had used the word 'sacri-
lege.' He would have probably laugh
ed like q horse.
"It must not be supposed that the
Cavendishes were out Of the running
for the great 'Sacrilege Stakes for
that is not the case. William Caven-
dish was, in the days OF Henry VIII,
a small land owner in Suffolk, and no
doubt poor but honest Then he be-
came one of the commissioners for
taking the surrender of the religious
houses under Henry NITI--and I need
hardly say that he went into the busi-
ness with gusto.
I'm 1540 he received grant of the
lordships and manors of Northnmc
Childewickc and Cufflcy in Herts-
all monastic property That was only
a beginning, and he later on obtained
by judicious exchanges and by fav-
ors divers lands belonging to abbeys
and priories in Derby, Notts, Stafford
Dorset, Cornwall, Kent and Essex
not a bad stroke of business. Was
there any hesitation on the part OF
these great noblemen to accept this
form of property because it had been
originally bequeathed for the cause OF
, piety? The answer to that question
is the negative. There was not. MOI
have l ever heard of any modern des-
cendant giving up such property be-
, cause of it's being in any way tainted
with sacrilege.
The Pagets do not rank quite Will
the Cavendishes-but there was q
/ William Paget in the days of Henry
VIII, who was as busy as any of the
crowd who were cadging for church
| property. William Paget went tc
, France, and obtained the opinions o.
many learned men to win favor Of one
Of the divorces which Henry was an.
Xious to get. and the latter did no
forget Williams service to the caus'
of public morality and the 'sanctit,
Of family life So William Pagct, from
whom the Anslesey family is descend
ed. obtained-the reader must take il
breath here-so as to get through tn,
list-the manors of Burton, Branston
! Bromlem Stretton, Hornington
Wightmere and Austen in the count,
of Stafford. and the manors of Win