hich is grateful to God, as
we discover on close examination it is required of us. Forasmuch,
then, as thou hast signified to us, most clear son in Christ, that
thou art wishful to enter the island of Ireland, to subdue that people
under the laws, and to root out of it the weeds of vice, and art
wishful to pay to St. Peter, a pension of one penny a-year for each
house, and to preserve intact the rights of the Church in that
country; we, regarding favourably, and vouchsafing to thy petition our
gracious assent, hold it to be a grateful and acceptable thing, that
thou shouldst enter that island, to extend the boundaries of the
Church; to stem the torrent of crime; to correct morals; to introduce
virtue; to augment the Christian religion; and to execute what thy
mind may have found good for God's honor, and the country's
prosperity. And let the people thereof receive thee honorably, and
respect thee as their Lord; the rights of the Church remaining intact,
and saving the pension to St. Peter and the most Holy Roman Church of
one penny a-year for each house. And, shouldst thou be so fortunate as
to accomplish what thou hast planned, strive to improve the Irish
nation, by good morals; and act in such a manner by thyself, as well
as by those whom thou shalt employ, and whom thou shalt first have
proved to be trustworthy by reason of their fidelity, their opinions
and conduct, that the Church may be adorned, the Christian faith
extended, and everything that belongs to the honor of God, and
salvation of souls, so ordered by thee in Ireland, as to qualify thee
to deserve an eternal reward in heaven, and a glorious name on earth
through all ages." [2]

This famous brief, by which Henry II. of England held himself divinely
authorized to conquer Ireland, is strongly disapproved of by many
writers, especially by Irish ones; who will not alloy it the least
excuse, but overwhelm it with abusive censure. And yet the plain truth
is, Adrian meant it, as he worded it, for Ireland's good.

However false the grant of Constantine the Great,--on which the claim
set up for St, Peter's dominion over the islands is founded,--may have
been proved in later times to be; yet it is certain that both the
grant and claim in question were in the 11th, and 12th centuries
firmly believed in by all orthodox christians, just as much so as that
the Pope was literally our Saviour's vicar on earth, before whose
powers every other had to bow. That the king of