s, the archbishop says, "A bird may be taught to speak with as
much sense as many of the clergy do in this country. These, though not
scholars, yet are crafty to cozen the poor common people and to dissuade
them from following his highness' orders. The country folk here much
hate your lordship, and despitefully call you, in their Irish tongue,
the Blacksmith's Son. As a friend, I desire your lordship to look well
to your noble person. Rome hath a great kindness for the duke of
Norfolk, and great favors for this nation, purposely to oppose his
highness."

A short time after this, the pope sent over to Ireland (directed to the
Archbishop of Armagh and his clergy) a bull of excommunication against
all who had, or should own the king's supremacy within the Irish nation;
denouncing a curse on all of them, and theirs, who should not, within
forty days, acknowledge to their confessors, that they had done amiss in
so doing.

Archbishop Browne gave notice of this in a letter, dated, Dublin, May,
1538. Part of the form of confession, or vow, sent over to these Irish
papists, ran as follows; "I do farther declare him or her, father or
mother, brother or sister, son or daughter, husband or wife, uncle or
aunt, nephew or niece, kinsman or kinswoman, master or mistress, and all
others, nearest or dearest relations, friend or acquaintance whatsoever,
accursed, that either do or shall hold, for the time to come, any
ecclesiastical or civil power above the authority of the mother church;
or that do or shall obey, for the time to come, any of her the mother of
churches' opposers or enemies, or contrary to the same, of which I have
here sworn unto: so God, the Blessed Virgin, St. Peter, St. Paul, and
the Holy Evangelists, help me, &c." This is an exact agreement with the
doctrines promulgated by the councils of Lateran and Constance, which
expressly declare, that no favour should be shown to heretics, nor faith
kept with them; that they ought to be excommunicated and condemned, and
their estates confiscated; and that princes are obliged, by a solemn
oath, to root them out of their respective dominions.

How abominable a church must that be, which thus dares to trample upon
all authority! how besotted the people who regard the injunctions of
such a church!

In the archbishop's last-mentioned letter, dated May, 1538, he says,
"His highness' viceroy of this nation is of little or no power with the
old natives. Now both English and Irish