was of the virtue of the tree, and receiving a but as him that excelleth and hath the prefalse accusation against God himself. The tenth by entertaining in their minds Satan's suggestions, and evil concupiscence appearing in the first motions leading to the forenamed sins. ON THE OATH OF SUPREMACY.1 What the danger of the law is for refusing this oath, has been sufficiently opened by my lords the judges, and the quality and quantity of that offence has been aggravated to the full by those that have spoken after them. The part which is most proper for me to deal in is the information of the conscience touching the truth and equity of the matters contained in the oath; which I also have made choice the rather to insist upon, because both the form of the oath itself requireth herein a full resolution of the conscience (as appeareth by those words in the very beginning thereof, "I do utterly testify and declare in my conscience," &c.), and the persons that stand here to be censured for refusing the same have alleged nothing in their own defence, but only the simple plea of ignorance. That this point, therefore, may be cleared, and all needless scruples removed out of men's minds, two main branches there be of this oath which require special consideration. The one positive, acknowledging the supremacy of the government of these realms, in all causes whatsoever, to rest in the king's highness only. The other negative, renouncing all jurisdictions and authorities of any foreign prince or prelate within his majesty's dominions. For the better understanding of the former we are, in the first place, to call unto our remembrance that exhortation of St. Peter: "Submit yourselves unto every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be unto the king, as having the pre-eminence, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him, for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well." By this we are taught to respect the king, not as the only governor of his dominions simply (for we see there be other governors placed under him), eminence over the rest; that is to say (according to the tenure of the oath), as him that is the only supreme governor of his realms. Upon which ground we may safely build this conclusion, that whatsoever power is incident unto the king by virtue of his place must be acknowledged to be in him supreme; there being nothing so contrary to the nature of sovereignty as to have another superior power to overrule it. "Let him who is a king not have a king." God, for the better settling of piety and honIn the second place, we are to consider that esty among men, and the repression of profaneness and other vices, hath established two distinct powers upon earth: the one of the the sword, committed to the civil magistrate. keys, committed to the church; the other of That of the keys is ordained to work upon the inner man, having immediate relation to the remitting or retaining of sins. That of the sword is appointed to work upon the outward man, yielding protection to the obedient, and inflicting external punishment upon the rebellious and disobedient. By the former the spiritual officers of the church of Christ are enabled to govern well, to speak, and exhort, and rebuke, with all authority, to loose such Lord's prison until their amendment, or to as are penitent, to commit others unto the bind them over unto the judgment of the great day, if they shall persist in their wilfulness and obstinacy. By the other princes have an imperious power assigned by God unto them for the defence of such as do well, and executing revenge and wrath on such as do evil; whether by death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment, according to the quality of the offence. When St. Peter, that had the keys committed unto him, made bold to draw the sword, he was commanded to put it up, as a withal. And on the other side, when Uzziah weapon that he had no authority to meddle the king would venture upon the execution of the priest's office, it was said unto him, “It pertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn in cense unto the Lord, but unto the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense." Let this, therefore, be our second conclusion-that the power of the sword and of the keys are two distinct ordinances of God; 1 From a very rare work entitled "Clavi Trabales, or Nailes fastened by some great Masters of Assemblyes, and that the prince hath no more authority to with a preface by the Lord-bishop of Lincoln. 1661. A enter upon the execution of any part of the speech delivered in the Castle Chamber at Dublin, 22d Nov-priest's function, than the priest hath to in ember, 1622, at the censuring of some officers who refused to take the oath of supremacy. Usher, then Bishop of Meath." By the late Primate trude upon any part of the office of the prince. In the third place we are to observe that the power of the civil sword (the supreme manag- | of the second (which respecteth moral honesty, ing whereof belongeth to the king alone) is not and the offices that man doth owe unto man): to be restrained unto temporal causes only, so the civil magistrate is to use his authority but is by God's ordinance to be extended like- also in redressing the abuses committed against wise unto all spiritual or ecclesiastical things the first table as well as against the second; and causes; that as the spiritual rulers of the that is to say, as well in punishing of an heretic, church do exercise their kind of government, or an idolater, or a blasphemer, as of a thief, in bringing men into obedience, not of the or a murderer, or a traitor; and in providing, duties of the first table alone (which concern- by all good means, that such as live under his eth piety and the religious service which man government may lead a quiet and peaceable is bound to perform unto his Creator) but also life in all piety and honesty. MAURICE FITZGERALD. FLOURISHED ABOUT 1612. [Maurice Fitzgerald was the son of David duff (the black) Fitzgerald, and, as his poems testify, lived in Munster in the time of Elizabeth. Though several works of his are extant the facts of his life are shrouded in darkness. It is supposed that he died in Spain, where many of the most eminent Irishmen of his time found an exile's home. His journey thither probably suggested the Ode on his Ship, though, as Miss Brooke says in her Reliques of Irish Poetry, it is possible the third ode of Horace deserves that credit. In O'Reilly's Irish Writers is a list of seven poems by Fitzgerald which were in O'Reilly's possession in 1820. Fitzgerald seems to have been a man of considerable education and of refined taste. The Ode on his Ship is greatly admired in the original for its purity of language and strength of expression.] ODE ON HIS SHIP.1 Bless my good ship, protecting power of grace! Spread their angelic shields! Before us the bright bulwark let them place, Oh calm the voice of winter's storm! 1 Translated by Miss Brooke. Arrest the fury of its wing, And terrors of its force! Adieu, ye sweet retreats, Where the famed hunters of your ancient vale, Were wont of old to dwell! Receive me now, my ship!-hoist now thy sails To steer us safe through ocean's rage, Stout is my well-built ship, the storm to brave. Her bulk, tremendous on the wave, Erects its stately height! Dreadful in the shock of flight When her sharp keel, where dreadful splendours While, from Dunboy, along the smiling main play, Cuts through the foaming main its liquid way. We sail, until the destined coast we gain, SIR JAMES WARE. BORN 1594-DIED 1666. aside. Though religious and political strife seethed all round him, and though he himself stood forth honourably for his political leaders and friends, he has kept his works almost absolutely free from any taint of either bigotry or intolerance. [Among all the men who have made posterity | though they may be added to, cannot be set their debtors by preserving for its edification the relics of a dying past few deserve more credit than Sir James Ware, and few have had that credit accorded them with more of common consent. Living chiefly in a time when the air was full of horrors, and being himself, in consequence of the office he held, constantly brought in contact with these things, he yet found time to collect an enormous amount of Irish manuscripts, and to compile a series of works which every day renders more and more important, and which, Ware was born in Castle Street, Dublin, on the 26th November, 1594, his father being then auditor-general of Ireland after having already served as secretary to two different lord deputies. At sixteen he entered Trinity College as a student, and while there, much to his advantage, made the acquaintance of Usher, who had already started on the road to fame. Like Usher, Ware was quick at learning, and in regular course he took his degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts. Like Usher also, he had already commenced the labours which were to make him famous, and before he was thirty years of age his collection of books and manuscripts was anything but contemptible. In 1626 he visited London, and in that same year the Antiquities of Ireland began to appear. It was published in parts, as were almost all his works, and, as Magee observes, still bears the external evidences of profound patchwork. In London he was introduced by Usher to Sir Robert Cotton, who gave him every help in his power, and who placed his library and collection at his service. He availed himself largely of the treasures thus placed before him, and he also made considerable researches among the state papers in the Tower and elsewhere. Soon after his return to Ireland he commenced the publication of his Lives of the Irish Bishops; and two years later, in 1628, he again visited London, where he this time made the acquaintance of Selden, and from whence he brought back to Ireland large additions to his collection. In 1629 he was knighted, and in 1632, when his father died, he succeeded to both the fortune and office of his parent. In 1639 he was made one of the privy-council, and the same year, despite the labours of his office and the distractions by which he was surrounded, he managed to publish his most quoted work, the Writers of Ireland. In this year also he was elected member of parliament for the university of Dublin, and in 1640, as the friend of Strafford, he strongly opposed the election of the Irish committee which was sent to London to assist in the accusation of the unlucky viceroy. During the rule of Borlase and Parsons and the succeeding viceroyalty of Ormond, the conduct of Ware was such as to be admired by friend and foe. In 1644 Ware left Dublin for Oxford as one of the deputies from Ormond to the king, and while in Oxford he still continued his favourite studies, and was made a Doctor of Laws by the university. On his way back to Ireland the vessel in which he sailed was captured by a Parliamentarian vessel, and he was sent a prisoner to the Tower of London, where he remained ten months, until exchanged, and returned to Dublin. In 1647, on the surrender of Dublin, he was given up as one of the hos tages and despatched to London, where he was detained two years. On his again returning home he lived privately for a time, but in 1649 the Puritan deputy ordered him to quit the kingdom, and with one son and a single servant he departed for France. In France Ware resided chiefly at Caen and Paris, and at both places busied himself, as might be expected, in his favourite pursuits of hunting for manuscripts and making extracts from those lent to him or which he was allowed to see. In 1651 he was permitted to return to London on family business, and in 1653 he was allowed to return to Ireland to visit his estate, which was then in a sad condition. In 1654 he published his final instalment of the Antiquities of Ireland, of which a second and improved edition appeared in 1659. In 1656 appeared his Works Ascribed to St. Patrick, in 1664 his Annals of Ireland, and in 1665 he saw the completion of his Lives of the Irish Bishops. The Restoration brought restoration of his previous offices to Ware, and at the election for parliament he was again chosen member for the university. He was soon also appointed one of the four commissioners for appeals in excise cases, and he was offered the title of viscount, which he "thankfully refused." Two blank baronetcies were then presented to him, and these he filled up with the names of two friends. A little later, on the 1st December (Wills says the 3d), 1666, he died, famed for uprightness and benevolence. He was buried in the family vault in the church of St. Werburgh, Dublin. Ware's works were all written and published in Latin, but in the following century they were translated into English by Walter Harris, who married Ware's great-granddaughter, and thereby inherited his manuscripts. His translation filled two massive folio volumes, which are to be found on the shelves of every library deserving the name. The very excellence of these important works-their brief accuracy and minute comprehensivenessrender them almost as unquotable as a dictionary. In them, also, the author rarely falls into theorizing, for which, says Wills, "he had too little genius, yet too much common sense." Magee speaks of him as a great, persevering bookworm, a sincere receiver and transmitter of truth." Bishop Nicolson says of him, "To Sir James Ware (the Cambden of Ireland) this kingdom is everlastingly obliged for the great pains he took in collecting and preserving our scattered monuments of antiquities."] Besides the vulgar characters, the ancient LANGUAGE OF THE ANCIENT IRISH.1 Irish made use of various occult forms and arti Some learned men are of opinion that the British was the ancient language of the Irish; and they labour to demonstrate this assertion from the vast abundance of British words which the Irish, even at this day, use, either entire or but little corrupted. I confess I am of the same opinion, but as I think that their most ancient language was British, introduced among them by their first colonies, who were from Britain, so I cannot but be of opinion that their proper language was partly refined and polished by the intermixture of other colonies, and that it was partly changed by the revolutions of time. According to Horace- "Such words which now the present age decries, The Greeks and Italians may serve us for examples of this assertion, and (which is not to be forgotten in this place) it is evident that, in some years after the arrival of the Saxons, the British language was in Britain itself, as it were, banished and thrust down into Cornwall and Wales, insomuch that in the other parts of the island scarce the least tract or footstep of the ancient language remains to this day. Besides, as the Irish of old spoke the ancient British language, so also they borrowed their alphabet or letters from the ancient Britains, as it is possible the Saxons afterwards might have done from the Irish, when they flocked to their schools for the sake of education. Further, as, among other arguments, the first inhabitants of Ireland are thought to be colonies of Britains, from the affinity between their languages, so the Albanian Scots, especially those of the north, are for the same reason thought to be colonies of the Irish. "It is from many arguments plain (says Johannes Major) that we derive our origin from the Irish. This we are taught by Bede, an Englishman, who would not be fond of lessening the offspring of his own country; this is evident from the language, for almost half Scotland speaks Irish at this day, and more did so some time past." 1 This and the three following pieces are from The Whole Works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland, translated by Walter Harris, and published in Dublin in 1764. ficial rules in writing called ogum, to which they committed their secret affairs. I have in my custody an ancient parchment book filled with such characters. SURNAMES OF THE ANCIENT IRISH. Surnames have been added to the proper names of the ancient Irish either from some remarkable action, or from the quality of the mind, or from the colour, or mark, or defect in the body, or from some accident, and sometimes ironically. Thus Neill, king of Ireland, was called Nigialac,2 because he had exacted nine hostages from the petty kings, and held them for some time bound in fetters. King Bryen was called Boruma, because he had recovered from the provincialists of Leinster an annual tribute called by that name. Caenfela was called the wise; St. Barr, Finn Barr, or Barr the white; St. Cornin, Fada, i.e. long Cornin; and Æd, Clericus Barbosus, the bearded clerk, from an overgrown beard he affected to wear. . . . The same practice prevailed among the Grecians. Seleucus, the third king of Syria, was called Ceraunus, the thunderbolt, from his violent temper. Ptolemy, the seventh king of Egypt, was known by the name of Physcon, from the grossness of his paunch; and, to pass by other instances, the last Ptolemy his excessive fondness of the pipe. So among save one was called Auletes, or the piper, from the Romans Marcus Valerius was called Corvus, and his posterity Corvini, because in a single combat he slew a Gaul, who had challenged him, by the help of a raven. One of the Scipios got the name of Africanus, the other of Asiaticus, from victories obtained by them in these two different quarters of the world. So a man born in the absence of his father was called Proclus, if after his father's death, Posthumus, and if lame, Claudius. . . It is to be observed that the old Irish besides surnames took other names, by ancient custom, from their paternal names, as Dermod MacCormac, or the son of Cormac; Cormac MacDonald, or the son of Donald; Donald MacTirdelvach, or the son of Tirlagh. At length, in the reign of King Brien, the surnames of the Irish, or family names, began to be fixed, and handed down to posterity 2 Nigi signifies nine, and geall a pledge or hostage. |