Put forth as A: ticles of Agree clergy. which she had imprudently taken, and fall back upon the surer and safer position of the English church. The Articles, of which some particulars have ment among the been now specified, were in the end put forth as "Articles of Religion, agreed upon by the Archbishops, and Bishops, and the rest of the Clergy of Ireland, in the Convocation holden at Dublin, in the year of our Lord God, 1615, for the avoiding of diversities of opinions, and the establishing of consent touching True Religion." And annexed to them was "The Decree of the Synod, If any Minister, of what degree or quality soever he be, shall publickly teach any doctrine contrary to these Articles agreed upon; if after due admonition he do not conform himself, and cease to disturb the peace of the Church, let him be silenced, and deprived of all spiritual promotions he doth enjoy." A question was mooted at the time relative to the authority of the Articles, but has been answered by the irrefragable evidence of Dr. Bernard, in his Their authority life of Primate Ussher: "Now whereas some have doubted whether they were fully established as the Articles of Ireland; I can testify that I have heard him say, that in the forenamed year, 1615, he saw them signed by Archbishop Jones, then lord chancellor of Ireland, and speaker of the house of bishops in convocation; signed by the prolocutor of the house of the clergy in their names; and also signed by the then Lord Deputy Chichester, by order from King James, in his name. And," he proceeds, "whereas some have rashly affirmed that they were repealed by Act of Parliament, anno 1634, or recalled by any decree of the synod then, needs no further confutation than the sight of either." But satisfactorily established. cerning their we need not now anticipate this question, which question conmay be more fitly deferred till we come to the trans- repeal. actions of that year. of the provinco In the same year, wherein these articles were Regal visitation agreed on, there seems to have been a regal visita- of Dublin, 1615. tion of the province of Dublin. The MSS. Library of Trinity College contains the following document, with reference to the state of the diocese, and the difficulty of supplying its wants, by reason of the impropriations, and of the scarcity of sufficient ministers for the cures. The reader will notice the distinction between "preachers" and "reading ministers;" a distinction which is frequently made in similar documents of this period, as was lately observed in the diocesan report of Ferns and Leighlin. The statement is evidently that of the arch- Statement of his bishop himself, Thomas Jones, who had been consecrated bishop of Meath in 1584, and translated to the archiepiscopal see of Dublin in 1605; and the manuscript is apparently his own rough copy of his report to the visitors. diocese by Arch bishop Jones. procuring curates "I confess," he says, "here is but a slender account Impossibility of yielded of these two last deaneries, Omurthie and Wicklow, in some parishes. which lie in places remote. I humbly pray my true excuse may be considered of; which is, that I cannot possibly get curates to supply the services of these churches. The rectories are impropriate, and the farmers cannot be drawn to yield [any competent means to administer for serving the cure; besides, if we could get means, we cannot possibly get ministers. The natives of this kingdom, being generally addicted to Popery, do train up their children in superstition and idolatry; so soon as they come to age, they send them beyond seas, from whence they return either priests, Jesuits, or seminaries, enemies to the religion established, and pernicious members to this state. Such English ministers and preachers, as come hither for relief Archbishop's care in furnishing the Dublin churches with preachers. Number of ministers in the diocese. Repeated insolence of the Papists, 1616. Calumnies on the king's government, dedicated to the prince. out of England, we do but take them but upon credit, and many of them do prove of a dissolute life, which doth much hurt. I do humbly desire a small supply of ministers, and I will have an especial care to their placing in the best manner I can. Some places are fallen void since the beginning of this visitation, for which I know not how to provide incumbents; for the present this is our case. "I might add hereunto that my archiepiscopal jurisdiction was granted away by my predecessor to a civilian. The grant was confirmed by both deans and chapters. My jurisdiction hath not yielded me any manner of profit, save only my since my preferment to this see; in which time I have furnished all the churches of Dublin with sufficient preachers, which before they did want. 1 have preferred none but a preacher in my cathedral church, or other parts. I take God to witness, I have used my best endeavours to place a good ministry; and my care and travail shall be still employed to perform his majesty's religious directions, and to discharge a good conscience before God. "So within this diocese of Dublin there is the number of thirty-eight preachers, and above forty reading ministers; besides there are two publick schoolmasters within this diocese, one within the city of Dublin, and the other in St. Patrick's; which teach free schools, and their scholars do prosper well, thanks be to God"." In 1616 the interposition of the government was again called for, by the insolent conduct of the Papists, of which a specimen was given by the publication of a book, written by David Rooth, vicar apostolick, at the instigation and charge of a Popish nobleman. The book was filled with a multitude of false and malicious accusations of the king's government in Ireland, and yet dedicated to the Prince of Wales: an example of singular shamelessness and • From the MS. E. 3, 14, Trin. | tion Book of the Province of DubColl. Dublin. The Regal Visita- | lin in 1615. folly, to dedicate to the son aspersions and slanders upon the father. But, as if the author intended to mock the son, as well as to insult the father, he added another dedication, by way of appeal, to all foreign emperors, kings, and princes; wherein he avers, that the Irish look for nothing, but that the king would use them like a king, that is, not like a tyrant: comparing King James to Julian the Apostate, and Caius Caligula; and the English to dogs and wild beasts". counteraction by But generally the exorbitances of the Papists Measures of were at the time such as to constrain the govern- the government. ment to act towards them with greater strictness. Two measures were accordingly adopted for their more effectual restraint: one was the banishing of all their regular clergy, who swarmed in vast multitudes through almost every part of the kingdom; the other was to permit no magistrates or other officers to discharge their functions, unless they had qualified themselves by taking the oath of supremacy according to law. In pursuance of these resolutions a proclamation was issued against the Popish clergy, Proclamation in October, 1617. And, on the 5th of March fol- against the lowing, the government seized on the liberties of Waterford, with all their rent-rolls, ensigns of authority, and publick revenues; for that city had rendered itself particularly obnoxious to punishment for its magisterial delinquencies. Three mayors in three successive years had refused to take the oath of supremacy, when tendered by the Lord President of the province, acting under a special commission; one of them, in the mean time, without the assist ance of the Recorder, had presided at a gaol-delivery, and tried and condemned a person accused of felony, 7 Cox, ii. 33. Popish clergy, 1617. megal conduct of the Mayor of Waterford. and by his own order caused him to be executed. It appeared also on an investigation taken in September, 1617, that the statute of Queen Elizabeth for uniformity had not been given in charge at their sessions for two years preceding". Mountgomery, 1620. SECTION IV. Elevation of James Ussher to the Bishoprick of Meath. His Efforts for the Conversion of Papists. King's Commission for Inquiring into the State of the Province of Armagh. Reports from Seren Dioceses in that Province. Presumption of the Popish Clergy exemplified. Bishop Ussher's Sermon on the Swearing-in of Lord Deputy Viscount Falkland. Primate Hampton's Letter on the occasion. Proceedings concerning the Papists. Death of Primate Hampton. Bishop of Meath appointed to succeed him. Death of the King. State of the Church. Death of Bishop IN 1620 died George Mountgomery, bishop of Clogher, during whose incumbency King James annexed many other grants, and especially the abbey of Clogber, with its revenues, to the bishoprick, which thus became one of the richest in the kingdom. His death caused a vacancy at the same time in the see of Meath, which for ten years had been possessed by him together with that of Clogher'. Contest of the In the see of Clogher he was succeeded by James Spottiswood, brother of the celebrated John Spottiswood, archbishop of St. Andrew's, in Scotland, and chancellor of that kingdom; but before his consecration he had a contest with Primate Hampton, concerning the exercise of episcopal jurisdiction by a bishop before his solemn ordination to that office. The Primate was disposed to bring the matter to a pub1 WARE'S Bishops, p. 188. Cox, ii. 34. |