as appointment was made exclusively by the king, as to Ferns in 1539, and to Ross in 1544. Kilmore is the only see which can be positively alleged forming an exception to the general rule; of which Harris has stated it to be "observable that lying in an unsettled and tumultuous country it had been much neglected by the crown of England; and that even after the Reformation, the bishops of it succeeded either by usurpation or by papal authority"." And from this there was no deviation till 1585, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Peculiar condiof Kilmore. tion of the diocese Pope's nomince. Meanwhile a convincing example of the practical Remarkable case effect of the transfer of the supremacy from the of rejection of tho Pope to the king, and of the consequent subsitution of the royal instead of the papal patronage, is furnished by the life of a certain individual. In 1521, on a vacancy in the see of Limerick, King Henry the Eighth felt great anxiety, and laboured earnestly, in stead of the deceased prelate, to introduce Walter Wellesley or Wesley, for whom he entertained a high regard. But the king's favourite was rejected, and another person promoted by the Pope. Ten years after, namely, in 1531, Wellesley obtained the See of Kildare by the provision of the Pope, Clement the Eighth, at the instance of the king, who again exerted himself for his advancement. On Bishop Wellesley's death in 1540, by the like provision of the Pope, a successor was nominated; and as he survived only a few days, a second received the Pope's nomination. But the king, having been now declared supreme head of the Church of Ireland, rejected the nomination; and a successor of his own choice, William Miagh, was 22 WARE'S Bishops, p. 230. Remittance by the king of a bishop Brownc. consecrated, and maintained undisturbed possession of the see". In 1542, the king having made a grant of cerdebt from Arch- tain lands, which in great part belonged to the Archbishop of Dublin, but which the archbishop was contented liberally to release to his majesty, the Lord Deputy and Council prayed the king to remit to him a debt of 280., "in respect of his said conformity, and that he hath, sithence his repair into this your realm, sustained great charges in your highness' service, and came very poor to his said promotion, having no manner dilapidations of the goods of his predecessor; whereby he shall not only be the more able to serve your majesty, and be well requited for his said conformity, but also bind him, according to his most bounden duty, to pray to Almighty God for the long preservation of your most royal estate; otherwise we think the man shall not be able to pay your majesty, and live in any honourable estate"." The king granted the prayer in the archbishop's favour: "not doubting but he will the better apply his charge and office, and provide that there may be some good preachers to instruct and teach the people in those parts. Willing, therefore, you, our deputy and council, that you have a special regard also to this point; and as you may provide that they may learn by good and catholick teaching, and the ministration of justice, to know God's laws and ours together; which shall daily more and more frame and confirm them in honest living and due obedience, to their own benefits, and the universal good of the country 25." The king grants the favour sought for the Arch bishop. 23 WARE'S Bishops, pp. 510, 389. 24 State Papers, vol. iii., part iii., p. 390. 25 Ib., p. 396. 66 sought for check non-residence. 1542. In the same year", the Lord Deputy and Council Assistance of Ireland applied to the Privy Council in England ing the clergy's for their assistance in checking an abuse which was prevalent among the Irish clergy. "Being advertised that some beneficed persons have resort thither, intending to sue for licences of non-residence, contrary to the laws of this realm, which, if they should obtain, were great hindrance to the common weal here; we shall, therefore, beseech your good lordships to move the king's majesty to stay such suits for licenses of non-residence." In the same year", among "certain devices for the reformation of Ireland," by John Travers, together with others for its civil improvement, we find the following directed to its spiritual good. "Whereas the inhabitants of this realm, for the more part, have of long time, and yet hitherto be, ignorant of the true doctrine of Christ, for lack of preaching the same, which hath caused them to neglect due obedience to God and the king,; it shall be, for the remedy hereof, necessary that the Archbishop of Dublin, my Lord of Meath, and such others as favour the Gospel, do instruct the Irish bishops of this realm; causing them to relinquish and renounce all popish or papistical doctrine, and to set forth sincerely, within each of their dioceses, the true word of God." Plan for dissemitruth by the nating Christian bishops. 1542. tinency of priests. In the same year", the king wrote to the Lord Acts for the conDeputy and council. "We think it meet, that seeing we have passed here the act for the continency of priests, you should in like manner follow, and do the same there; or, at the least, upon consideration of the state of the country, cause such a reasonable 26 State Papers, vol. iii., part iii., p. 418. 27 Ib., p. 431. 28 Ib., P. Plan for converting Christ's Church into a free school. August, 1542. book to be devised and sent hither for that purpose, as may be to God's pleasure in the avoiding of that sin, and to the advancement of the honest name and fame of our clergy of that realm." By the English statute of 31 Henry VIII., c. 14, the incontinency of priests was made felony; but by chapter 10 of the next session, this statute, on account of its severity, was repealed for the first and second offences; and the crime was, in the first instance, made punishable with loss of goods, and, if the offender had more than one benefice, with the forfeiture of the revenues of all but one; the second offence subjected him to the forfeiture of all his revenues; and the third to perpetual imprisonment. The Lord Deputy had devised a scheme, which he communicated in a letter from himself and the council to the king, August the 27th, 1542, for having the perpetual residence of a council in Dublin; and as a house for their residence and their entertainment, he proposed to appropriate Christ's Church, which had formerly been a house of regular canons, and was lately converted into a cathedral with a dean and chapter, but which he thought might be spared for that purpose, as less well endowed, and less meet to be preserved and maintained, than the other cathedral of St. Patrick. Out of the revenues thus appropriated, a free-school also was to be founded, "whereof there is great lack in this land, having never a one within the same:" and for maintenance of the church of Christ's Church the parishioners of three or four small churches, nigh adjoining, were to be annexed to the parish of Christ's Church, and their own churches turned to some other use, and provision to be thus made for preserving and maintaining the building, and for the necessary supply of ministers. The plan was again brought forward by the Lord Deputy, and pressed Plan again upon the king's attention, in a commuuication of June, 1543. June the 4th, 1543. pressed, favourable to it; The. , in his answer, admitted "the device to King not unhave a good appearance," and that "some fruit and benefit might thereby ensue to the realm;" and he expressed his pleasure to have a more particular declaration of the revenues, and of their intended employment: that he might resolve and determine the matter, as he should think most expedient. Further deliberation, however, changed the sen- Its failure. timents of the Lord Deputy. The revenues on investigation proved to be less than had been imagined. Christ's Church was "the metropolitan church, in whose name or title much of the archbishop's lands was annexed to the see." The mayor also and commons of the city, having heard “that the same was moved to be changed from the name of a college and to be made a parish church, and that there were no more colleges of the king's new erection within the whole realm, and that their city would be totally defaced and disparaged," made earnest suit that the said Christ Church might stand as it then was. The result was a change in the purpose of the government, and thus Christ Church retained its character of a cathedral. The whole particulars may be found in the correspondence between the two governments; State Papers, vol. iii., part iii., pp. 414, 468, 484, 489. The 15th of March, 1543, died Archbishop Death of Primate Cromer. Regard being had to the impediments March 15, 1543. Cromer, |