before receyued Ires both by oon Mr Woode, & Brooks, aswel from my Lordes of the Cunsell, intymating to me both ther determynations of the sending hyther of my L Cobham wth an armye, signyfieng also ther plesure to me to attende upon my L Cobham to mak all necessary prouisions for his furnyture, I repaired to Kylmaynam, to speke wth Mr St leger then Deputy: and beyng ther, he sente for me into a Chamber wch is called St Johns Chamber, wher he, wth dyuers of the Cunsell wer then sitting, and when I came in, they all roose, so after salutations, Mr Sentleger went aparte from the reste to the gret wyndowe taking me wth hym, and entring into coversation wth me of the cause of my comeng, I shewed him theffecte of my lres & instructions, desiring him, because I wold not be seen to contempne neithr his prsente auctie, ne dismynysh his estimation amonge the people, that I moght haue his commissions to certen persons to prouyde their provisions, rather then to do it by vertue of my lres, and he said I shuld have; and after thus comoneng of the frenchmens comyng hither, Mr Alen, saithe he, ye ar a man of knowleg, what shall the frenchmen I praie you doo here, and so declaryng his opinion therin; mary quoth I, that wch they went aboute the last yere, to persuade the Yrishmen to consente to haue Ireland ioyned to the crowne of ffraunce, by my trowthe saith he, that wer a vayne devise, ffor the irishmen wolbe no longer subiect to them, then it plese them selves, but lik as they be waverving wth us, wch have been long here by title, so they wolbe to them; In good faithe said I thogh ye iudge therin the likeliod, yet I am of this opinyon, that the frenchemen haueng conceyved that they cannot wel kepe Scotlande onles they foote in Irlande, and so if they moght dryve us awaye, and haue or sea portes, I think they wold not moche ferre of the reste; But said I, what gretter dishonor can be spoken of the frenchemen, then they, (after to wynne ther amyties, we haue rendred them Bulleyne,) now thus untruly to use us, which I trust god woll revenge upon them: well Mr Alen saith he, I woll telle you, the frenche kyng is in his flowers of youthe, pusant and hygh mynded, and if th' emperor wer goone, he aspireth to be lord of cristendome, and knowing that therin ther is no obstacle but the king, & our nation, he woll bylik do what he may to occupie us wth Scotland, & this Cuntrie, that we shall not giue him impedyment elliswher, and yet for all this said I, those that come from beyond the sea, report that th' emperor is uery colde to uswards; Mary saithe he, that now apperith well, for of late ther is aboue xl or 1 ml poundes worthe of bullyon of the kings seised in flaunders, and th'emperor hath made a forfett of it, wch is no small hinderance to the kings affaires, spially in soch a tyme as this is, but saithe he, if th'emperor wel remembred the kindnes of the kings fader to him, he shuld shew no soche ingratitude to his son; and then said I, when I was in Ingland, I culd never heare that he had any cause of unkindness to us, saving some said he was offended wth or religion, wch as me semyth all things considered, shuld be a small cause of unkindnes, well said he, it wer not gret maruell that he, and his, shuld be offended therin: as to see daylie at yor eye, that in that matter at home among orselves, oon of us is offended wth another, and I am

suer that you, and every man wch haue th'experience of this realme do knowe, that if the frenchemens do come hither, they shall haue more frendship amongs this nation, for religious cause, then for ther owne sakes, and all that they woll give them; and so God helpe me said he, for myn awne parte, knowing the maner and ignorance of this people, when my Lordes of the Cunsell willed me to set furth the matters of religion here, wch to my power I haue doon, I had raither they had sente me into Spayne, or any other place wher the king shuld haue had cause to mak warre ther, then burdeyned me to set furthe the matters of religion here, and I told my Lordes no les befor my comeng awaye; and here pawsinge, he terned him to goo to the borde to sit for dispatche or consultation wth the reste, and imediately oon came, saying his meate was upon the borde; and so we went to dyner; wch doon, because I see not the clerks mak spede to mak my comissions, I went to a side borde, and wrote them my self, and assune as I had gotten them sugned, I departed to my lodg ing to Dublyn, and when I came ther, after I had pulled off my riding gerre, I determyned to go to repast that eventide wth Mr Deane of Cristchurche, and when I came thider, I founde ther my L of Dublyne, and Mr Basnet late Deane of St. Patricks, and so after repaste, we fowre together (all others advoyded out of the chamber) comoned of the newes of the frenche mennes comenge, & many other things touching th'occurrants presente, among wch Mr. Sentlegers faults, no ither of me, ne the rest was not forgotten: and specially my L of Dublyn assigning divers ffaultis to him in religion for his offering at thaulter at his landinge: the prymate & other things toching masse among all, he said he was but a dissymuler in religion, and was never willinge to haue it set furthe here, By our Lady said I, (as I suppose) ye goo not farre amysse ther, ffor this day to my self he confessid not moche less, (ded he soo saith my Lord) I praie you remember that. Now to shorten the matter, longe after this my Lord and I mett not together, but it was told me that he said, and I hard him self say no les, that Mr Sentleger should say to him, that if the Lords of the Counsell had letten all things alone in th’order king Henry VIII., lefte them, & medled not to alter religion, neither had the rebellion of Ingland, nor all thies hurly burleye haue happened: and to proue this article, it was told me he shuld advouche me for a witnes; wherin I said albeit Mr St leger haue so wronged me by taking from me honor, estimation & lyving, so as if I shuld folowe the fleshe if I moght drink him up in a cupp of water, he hath desyrued it of me, wch considered, no man wol accompte me for an indifferent witnes against him, yet if I shalbe used for a witnes upon the matter proponed; they ar lik to haue a faynt witnes, ffor if Mr Stleger wold do to me as moche more harme as he hath doon, I woll not lye to hurte him. Long after this about the latter eande of harveste, when my Lordes Seruante came out of Ingland, who broght him Ires from my lordes of the Cunsell for his repaire thider, his lordship sente for me to him, and shewing me both the said lres, & what he had proponed against Mr St leger, he asked my cunsell (as indeed I am of his fee) and among other things he desired me to remeber what wordes Mr St leger shuld haue had to me in Kylmaynam, when the brute of

the frenchemen was &c., at his going to Mounster; Rehersing theis wordes if my Lordes had letten all thinges in th'order the kings fader lefte them &c. I aunswered, that besides that no man upon the case wold tak me for an indifferent witnes against Mr St leger. I remembred no soch words spoken by him, (ffor of this proposition conteyned wtin the interrogatory I never hirde till now, Go to Go to &c) yes said my lord, remembre yorselfe better, ffor ye told it me the same day ye spake them in Mr Deane of Cristchurches lodging, he and Mr Basnet being present, wel my Lord said I, I think ye mystok me, But if it may please yow, when ye mete them next to inquire the truthe of them: and if they say as yow say, I woll calle them & myself both to better remembraunce, whereupon I meeting them after, I enquired of them, whether they harde me spek after soch sorte to my 1. of Dublyne, and they said my Lord had spoken wth them alredy in that matter, and they told him that they harde me not say as he alleged.

"Neverthelis after this, when at my Lordes request a litle before his going out, I wold mak no testimonyall to him in wrytinge of this article, The bishop of Kildare came to me persuadinge me on his behalf to put in writing the wordes Mr Sentleger spake to me in Kylmaynam, To whom I made this answer, Shew my lord that albeit I love his litle too bettir than all Mr St legers body, yet I woll do nothyng against truthe nor that wch shall not be decent for oon that hath been placed as I haue been, Therfor if it shall plese my Lords of the Counsell, to commaunde my Lord deputie to examyne me upon my oothe, I will truly declare, [if that may do my Lords plesure] what Mr. St leger said to me in Kilmaynan. written wth thande of me.-Iohn Alen."

This deposition, together with other papers in the volume before us, serves to corroborate the statement—of which we had not before conclusive evidence-that attempts were made by the Archbishop of Dublin to effect the ruin of St. Leger, who was six times chief governor of Ireland under Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary. Mr. Basnet, referred to in the document, was the first Dean of St. Patrick's who embraced the principles of the Reformation. He has acquired much censure for his conduct in unlawfully surrendering the Deanery to the King, as well as for having fraudulently possessed himself of considerable property. Bassenet was a native of Denbighshire, and, although in holy orders, he is said to have distinguished himself by his services against the Irish at the battle of Bellaho in 1539; fully confirming the complaint made by the natives more than two centuries before, against the military propensities of the Anglo Norman clergy. It may also be here observed, with reference to the exclusion of Irishmen from offices in the Church during

Catholic ages, that a Bull of Pope Leo X. still exists prohibit ing natives from holding any offices in St. Patrick's Cathedral. So carefully was this exclusion carried out in all departments of the Church, that no Irishman sat in the see of Dublin from the twelfth century to the time of the Reformation. Since that period, Englishmen have generally held the principal dignities in the Established Church of Ireland; the exclusion of Irishmen from offices of importance being a point in which the government of Great Britain still maintains the policy pursued in what are now called the dark ages.

The project of founding an University in Dublin has hitherto been ascribed to Sir John Perrot's government, Mr. Shirley has, however, published "a device or peticion framed by th archebysshop of Dublin for an Universitie to be founded and erected in Irland, with a playne declaration howe the same may be easilie doon by the King's Majestie to the great glorie of God, his Majesties honor and immortal remembrance, and the spedier reducement of the people there to a due obedience and acknowledging of their duties in that behalf." This document shews that George Browne, the first Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, is entitled to the credit of having originated a Dublin University. A second plan for a College, drawn up in 1563, contains a minute calculation of the expenditure as follows:

:

"The Platt of a colledg to be erected, wth a principall or provost, two preachers, a reader of devinitye, a reader of Logick, a reader of philosophie, xii fellowes, xl skollers, a Mr of the grammer skoole, an ussher to the same, wth all other necessary officers, and chardgs, by estymate required, fytte for the said colledge.

ffor the principall by the yere .

ffor the viceprincipall being one of the fellows over & above his dyvidente by the yeere

For the Bowcer being allso one of the fellows, ouer & above his dividente by the yeere

For two preachers by the yeers 1.li for a peece, and
for both

For the reader of Divinitie by yere
Eor the reader of Philosophie by yere
For the reader of Logick by yere .
For xii fellowes to every iiij.li apece
For xii bachelers to every xls by the yeere
For the Mr of the grammar Skoole
For the Ussher of the same .

For xl skollers to every xiiis iiijd.

cc.li

xx.li

x.li

c.li

x.li

xlviij.li

xxiiij.li

xxx.li xx.li

xxvi.li xiiis iiiid

For the gardyner

For the diet of xii felloes at iis iiiid the weeke
For the diet of xii bachalers at iis a weeke per peece
For the diet of xl skollers at xviiid pr peece by the
weeke

For the diet of the Butler and Porter after ijs a weeke pr peece .

For fyer pr annm

x.li viiis

c.li

For otemeale, Salt, Candells, naprye & Vessells per an lx.li
For repracons, suyts, & extraordinary chardgs per an c.li
Summa xiic lxx.li xiis

"In

None of these plans were, however, brought into action until the year 1591, when Trinity College was established. the mean time,” says Mr. Shirley, "there was no sort of education for the Clergy, whose ignorance was naturally extreme, as many of the present collection of letters abundantly testify."

Of the other documents in the volume before us, perhaps the most circumstantial and minute are the examinations of Richard Creagh, titular Primate of Ireland, during his imprisonment in the tower of London in 1564-5. The originals of the following questions are preserved in the autograph of Cecil, while the answers are written by Creagh.

"To the questiones, what Lords of Irland and houe many wer previe to your goyng out of Irland towarde Rome, and houe many Englishmen wer preuie therto?

"I answher tryuely that as I neuer went aboute to hide my goyng away, so in likewise I neuer, nother by my self nother by anny other, by worde, writting, or other wyse, made anny Lorde that is, or was lyvyng under sun prevye of my goyng to Rome, nother also anny Englishman that I remembr: for goyng away I intended, if God would, for to enter unto such religion as I should there in Rome sye best, or moste agryable to my weke complexion, but as I was commanded by obedience to take my way to Rome, so byeng there ready for to enter to ye Religion of the Teatines, [Theatines] otherwyse called Paulins, duelyng at Montecavalo, I was commanded by the Cardinal, onther payn of inobedience, to chang nothyng abouth my self tell I should know further of ye Pops wyll, which wyll by the sayd Cardinal was aftherwarde declared unto me, and onder payn of coursying if I should be inobedient, & so was send wt the same will unto Ireland.