s
of the first Messengers we can see the new spirit bearing fruit. The
slave of Slemish mountain returned breathing not vengeance for his
captivity but pity and generous kindness towards his captors. Colum the
exile did not seek to enlist the Picts against his native land, but
sought rather to give the message of that land to the wild Pictish
warriors, and to spread humane and generous feeling among them. Thus was
laid the foundation of a wide and universal consciousness; a bridge was
built between soul and soul.

From the waning of the Norsemen to the first coming of the Normans is a
period of about a hundred and fifty years. We shall best gain an insight
into the national and religious life of that time by gleaning from the
Annals the vivid and living pictures they never fail to give,--pictures
which are the records of eye-witnesses. The strictly contemporary
character of the records is vouched for by the correct entry of
eclipses: for instance, "on the day before the calends of September, in
the year 1030, there was a darkening of the sun."

We see the genius of the Norsemen suffering a like eclipse the year
before: "1029: Olaf son of Sitric, lord of the Foreigners, was taken
prisoner by Matgamain Ua Riagain lord of Breag, who exacted twelve
hundred cows as his ransom, together with seven score British horses,
three score ounces of gold, the sword of Carlus, the Irish hostages,
sixty ounces of white silver as the ransom of his fetters, eighty cows
for word and supplication, and four hostages to Ua Riagain as a security
of peace."

Two generations later we read: "1088: Tigearnac Ua Briain, chief
successor of Ciaran and Coman, died. He was a paragon of learning and
history." The work of the paragon Tigearnac, a history of Ireland, is
extant and writ in choice Latin, a monument at once of the classical
learning of our schools and of the historical spirit carried down from
the days of the pagan heralds and bards. Tigearnac quotes abundantly
from Greek and Latin authors, fortifying his conclusions with passages
from Eusebius, Orosius, Julius Africanus, Josephus, Jerome and Bede.

A half-century later we get a quaint and vivid glimpse into the
religious life of the time: "1145: A lime-kiln which was sixty feet
every way was erected opposite Emain Maca by Gilla Mac Liag, the
successor of Patrick, and Patrick's clergy in general." Here is the glow
of that devotion through work which gave us the great mediaeval
cathedral