LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Girling, Rev. W., Scarning, Norfolk. Gilman, Samuel, Esq., Sprouston, Gilman, Col., Hingham, Norfolk. Gifford, Adolphus Frederic, Esq., 37, Albion Street, Hyde Park. Hughes, Rev. H. H., St. John's Huddlestone, Rev. G., Upwell, Huddlestone, Peter Esq., London. Muriel, John, Esq., Ely. Norgate, Esq. M. D., Norwich. Neville, Rev. C., East Grinsted, Essex. Nursey, Rev. P., Burlingham, Norf. Overton, R. Esq., Fakenham. 2 cop. Page, Thomas, Esq., Ely. Price, Rev. H., Bangor, N. Wales. Pearce, William Esq., London. Phayre, Rev. R., Raynham, Norf. Pratt, Rev. W., Harpley, Norfolk. Rippengale, Rev. S., Langham, Norfolk. Royle, Rev. J., Wereham, Norfolk. Sparke, Rev. E. B., Prebendary of Ely. 2 copies. Selwyn, Rev. W., PrebendaryofEly. Swatman, Rev. E., L. Fransham. Stevens, R. Esq., M. D., Ely. Tatham, Rev. Ralph, St. John's Tatham, Rev. T., Colkirk, Norfolk. Townley, Rev. Gale, Beaupre Hall, Upjohn, Rev. W., Dalling, Norf. Vogan, Rev. T. S. L., Weston, Norwich. Weyland, John, Esq., Woodrising INTRODUCTION. DISCOURSE ON THE RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT BRITONS, IRISH, AND SCOTS. § I.-My principal authorities. IN conducting this inquiry I shall freely avail myself of the following sources of information: Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, folio. Usher's Britannicarum Ecclesiarum Antiquitates, folio and 4to. Usher's Discourse of the Religion anciently professed by the Irish and British, 4to. Stillingfleet's Origines Britannica, folio. Lanigan's Ecclesiastical History of Ireland, 4 vols. 8vo. O'Halloran's History of Ireland, 3 vols. 8vo. Walsh's Prospect of Ireland, 12mo. Betham's Irish Antiquarian Researches, 8vo. Mabillon de Liturgiâ Gallicaná, 4to. Thomassii Codices Sacramentorum nongentis annis vetustiores, Romæ, 1680, 4to. § II. That the British Isles were not converted by Romish Missionaries. As circumstances oblige me to observe the strictest literary economy, I shall not attempt to detail the fabulous narratives relative to the conversion of Britain, but shall confine myself to those facts which, while they bear the stamp of certainty, prove the light of the gospel to have dawned upon these Islands long before the arrival of the earliest Romish missionaries. The foundation of the first christian church at Glastonbury by Joseph of Arimathea; the embassy sent by king Lucius to Pope Eleutherius; and the subsequent mission of Phaganus and Derwinus, have been so amply recorded by Spelman at the beginning of his Concilia, and by Archbishop Usher in the early chapters of his Brit. Eccl. Antiq. that any reader who feels interested in what may be termed the a He was a Roman Catholic priest. B 2 CONVERSION OF THE BRITISH ISLES. mythology of history, may gratify his curiosity to its fullest extent. The tradition respecting the preaching of St. Paul in Britain, certainly ought not to be classed with those to which I have just alluded; since we are expressly assured by his contemporary Clement, near the commencement of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, that St. Paul "having taught the whole world righteousness, and for that end travelled even to the utmost bounds of the West, at last suffered martyrdom;" and Venantius Fortunatus tells us of the same apostle "Transiit oceanum, vel qua facit insula portum, Quasque Britannus habet terras, quasque Ultima Thule." But whatever credit is to be attached to these traditions, the conversion of the British Isles, either during the Apostolic age, or that which immediately followed, is a fact in which they all agree; a fact to which Tertullian, Origen, Theodoret, Nicephoras, Gildas, &c. bear their united testimonies, and which may therefore be safely relied on. The quotations are to be seen in Spelman and Usher, ubi supra. In the Acts of the Council of Arles, which was held A.D. 314, we find the subscriptions of three British bishops,-viz. "Eborius Episcopus de Civitate Eboracensi, Provinciâ Britannicâ. "Restitutus, Epus de Civitate Londinensi, Prov. suprascriptâ. "Adelfius Epus de Civitate Colonia Londinensium." British bishops were also present at the Councils of Nice, A. D. 315; Sardis, A. D. 347; and Ariminum, A.D. 359.b It is therefore historically certain that the christian church had been fully established in Britain at least 266 years before the mission of Augustine by Pope Gregory the Great. с With respect to Ireland, Usher has, in his sixteenth chapter, given us an account of Sedulius, Albeus, Mansuetus, Declan, and other Irish saints, who flourished before the arrival of Palladius, the earliest Romish missionary, and St. Patrick's immediate predecessor; and Bede, Prosper, and other historians agree in the assertion, that he was sent by Pope Celestine, not to evangelize an idolatrous nation, but-" ad Scotos in Christum credentes," i. e. to the Scots (or Irish) believing in Christ: for the term Scoli was at this period exclusively appropriated to the Irish; as we learn from Bede, who, after saying, Hibernia autem et latitudine sui status, et salubritate multum Britanniæ præstat," adds-" Hæc autem propriè patria Scotorum est." 66 § III. The agreement between the British and Irish Churches. If it should appear upon inquiry, that the most perfect uniformity subsisted between the ancient British and Irish churches, it will necessarily follow, that any discovery which we may hereafter make respecting the doctrine or discipline of either of these churches, will apply equally to the other an observation which, as it is of the greatest importance to the success of our inquiry, (on account of b Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. c. viii. folio, p. 104, &c. c Hist. lib. i. c. 13. d Hist. lib. i. c. 1. THEY WERE NOT SUBJECT TO THE POPE. 3 the scanty supply of materials,) I am particularly anxious to impress upon the reader's attention. A single quotation from Bede will be amply sufficient for our purpose. In his History, talking of Lawrence, St. Augustine's successor, he says: "Forasmuch as he knew that the life and conversation of the Scots (who inhabited Ireland) as well as of the Britons, dwelling in Britain, to be in many respects uncanonical, he wrote to them a letter of exhortation." In the course of which he says: "But knowing the Britons, we thought that the Scots were better; we have however since learned from (the conduct of) Dagamus a bishop, and Columbanus an abbot, that with respect to their conversation, the Scots differ not from the Britons in any point: for Dagamus coming to us, not only refused to eat with us, but would not even take food in the house in which we were eating." In Chapter II. the reader will be presented with an account of the celebrated Paschal Controversy; in which the Britons, Irish, and Picts united together in opposition to the see of Rome.f § IV. Their opposition to the authority of the Pope. In the second chapter of my work many things will be found which properly belong to this branch of my subject, but to which I shall here only briefly allude. h The opposition of the Irish bishops to the pope on the subject of the Three Chapters, is thus spoken of by Baronius: "All the bishops who were in Ireland rose up simultaneously and earnestly in defence of the Three Chapters; and when they perceived that the Church of Rome had assented to their condemnation, they renounced (her communion) and joined themselves to the other schismatics." The Synod of Worcester, A.D. 601, in which the British bishops refused to acknowledge the authority of Augustine, and the celebrated reply of Dinooth, abbot of Bangor, will be found in Wilk. i. 24-27. The Conference of Whitbye, A. D. 664, in which Colman, an Irish bishop, vigorously opposed Wilfrid the champion of the Romish church, and after which he resigned the see of Lindisfarne, rather than submit to the authority of the pope, will be found in Wilk. i. 37. The letter of Naitan, king of the northern Picts, A. D. 714, and all the circumstances connected with the reception of the Roman Tonsure and Easter by his subjects, furnish us with a remarkable proof that the Picts then acknowledged the authority of the Pope for the first time. (Wilk. i. 75.) The grant of Ireland to Henry II. by Pope Adrian, in A.D. 1155, was for the ostensible purpose of "enlarging the boundaries of the church;" in addition to which, Pope Alexander III. confirmed the grant in A.D. 1172,-" provided that the abominations of the land being removed, that barbarous people, Christians only in name, may be reformed, and their disordered church reduced to regular dis-` cipline." e Lib. ii. c. 4. ✔ Wilk. i. 9. f See Wilk. Concil. i. 37, 66, 75, &c. h Annal. tom. vii. anno 566, num. 21. 1 See Wilk. i. 426, and following extracts. 4 THEY WERE NOT SUBJECT TO THE POPE. Roger Hoveden, and the Melrose annalist, tell us, that no pall had been sent to Ireland before the year 1151," although palls had been received in England more than 500 years before. As there were certainly archbishops in Ireland before 1151, and as the pull was a mark of subjection to the pope, this is a strong presumption in favour of the ancient independence of the Irish church. 66 It cannot be proved that the pope ever sent a legate to Ireland before the time of Gillebert in the 12th century; - Quem aiunt prima functum legatione Apostolicae sedis per universam Hiberniam," says St. Bernard his contemporary. Nor is there any proof that any visitations of the clergy were held anciently in Ireland in the pope's name much less that any indulgences were sought from Rome, or that Irish prelates received their confirmation from the pope.1 The following lines were by Taliessyn, a celebrated Welsh bard, who lived soon after the time of Augustine : "Gwae ny cheidw ey dheuaid Ai' ffon gnwppa." m Wo be to him who doth not keep Sedulius (an Irish saint) in his commentary upon Rom. ix. says: "It is certain that by this Petra, or stone, Christ is signified." Again he says" that Christ is the foundation of his church."" Claudius, who was also an Irishman, thus explains that celebrated passage (Matt. xvi.): "Upon this rock will I build my Church,-i.e. upon (our) Lord the Saviour." And in the same book he says: "For as, when all were questioned, Peter replied one for all, so what the Lord replied unto Peter, he replied unto all." Gildas moreover in his epistle declares, that to every godly priest it is said-Thou art Peter, &c. § V. They did not believe in Transubstantiation. In the notes to a MS. copy of the Four Gospels, written at Armagh in the 10th or 11th century, Christ is stated to have blessed the eucharistical bread, "that it might mystically become his body. In a spiritual sense this bread is the Church, which is the body of Christ." The writer also calls the eucharist "a figure of the body of Christ; the first figure of the New Testament, which is daily repeated, and is received in faith." In the Synod of Dublin, A. D. 1186, Can. iv. was as follows: "That the Host, which represents the Lamb without spot, the Alpha and Omega, be made so pure and white, that the partakers thereof may thereby understand the purifying and feeding of their souls rather than their bodies." This is taken word for word from Lanigan the Roman Catholic historian, (iv. 269,) who has published this important canon without any remark! j Usser. Brit. Eccl. Antiq. c. xvii. 4to. p. 870. m Chronicle of Wales ap. Usser. Disc. c. x. p. P Lanigan iii. 311, &c. 1 Usser. Disc. c. viii. p. 76, 86. 110. • De Excid. Brit. |