ultery of the church and the dishonour of Christ, called together the
bishops and princes of the land,[388] and came, in one spirit, to
Malachy, prepared to use force. But he refused at first; pleading the
difficulty of the project, the numbers, strength and ambition of that
noble stock, urging that it was a great venture for him, a poor man and
of no account, to oppose himself to men so many, so great, of such sort,
so deeply rooted, who now for well-nigh two hundred years had _held_ as
_by hereditary right the sanctuary of God_,[389] and now also had taken
possession of it before him; that they could not be rooted out, not even
at the cost of human life; that it was not to his advantage that _man's
blood should be shed_[390] on his account; and lastly, that he was
joined to another spouse[391] whom _it was_ not _lawful for him to put
away_.[392]

21. (14). But when they persisted eagerly in the contrary opinion, and
cried out that the _word had come forth from the Lord_,[393] and
moreover ordered him with all authority to undertake the burden, and
threatened him with an anathema, he said, "You are leading me to death,
but I obey in the hope of martyrdom; yet on this condition, that if, as
you expect, the enterprise has good success, and God frees his
_heritage_ from _those that are destroying_ it,[394] all being then at
length completed, and the church[395] at peace, it may be lawful for me
to return to my former spouse and friend, poverty,[396] from which I am
carried off, and to put in my place there another, if then one is found
fit for it." Note, reader, the courage of the man and the purity of his
purpose who, for Christ's name, neither sought honour nor dreaded death.
What could be purer or what braver than this purpose, that after
exposing himself to peril and labour he should yield to another the
fruit--peace and security itself in the place of authority? And this he
does, retaining for himself according to agreement a free return to
poverty when peace and freedom are restored to the church. When they
gave the pledge, at length he assented to their will; or rather to the
will of God, who, he remembered, had long foreshown to him this
occurrence, at the fulfilment of which he was now grieved. For indeed
when Cellach was already ailing there appeared to Malachy--far away and
ignorant [of Cellach's condition]--a woman of great stature and reverend
mien. When he inquired who she was, the answer was given that she w