10 See the _Edinburgh Encyclopædia_, articles “Copernicus”, and
“Gallileo”.
11 See _The Martyrs of Science_, by Sir David Brewster; or the
_Edinburgh Review_, July, 1844, p. 173.
12 See _Martyrs of Science_; or the _Edinburgh Review_, July, 1844, p.
174.
13 It is singular that the sufferings of Irish Catholics should meet
with more sympathy from an English Protestant clergyman than from an
Irish Catholic lecturer. The relations between our country and “our
glorious deliverer” are thus described by the Rev. Sidney Smith:—
“The war carried on in Ireland against King William cannot deserve
the name of a rebellion: it was a struggle for their lawful prince,
whom they had sworn to maintain, and whose zeal for the Catholic
religion, whatever effect it might have produced in England, could
not by them be considered as a crime. This war was terminated by the
surrender of Limerick, upon conditions by which the Catholics hoped,
and very rationally hoped, to secure to themselves the free
enjoyment of their religion in future, and an exemption from all
those civil penalties and incapacities which the reigning creed is
so fond of heaping upon its subjugated rivals.
“By the various articles of this treaty, they are to enjoy such
privileges in the exercise of their religion as they did enjoy in
the time of Charles II.; and the king promises, upon the meeting of
parliament, ‘to endeavour to procure for them such _further
security_ in that particular as may preserve them _from any
disturbance_ on account of their said religion’. They are to be
restored to their estates, privileges, and immunities, as they
enjoyed them in the time of Charles II. The gentlemen are to be
allowed to carry arms; and no other oath is to be tendered to the
Catholics who submit to King William than the oath of allegiance.
These and other articles _King William ratifies for himself, his
heirs and successors, as far as in him lies, and confirms the same,
and every other clause and matter therein contained_.
“These articles were signed by the English general on the 3rd of
October, 1691; and diffused comfort, confidence, and tranquillity
among the Catholics. On the 22nd of October, the English parliament
excluded Catholics from the Irish Houses of Lords and Commons, by
compelling them to take the oaths of supremacy before admission.
“In 1695, the Catholics _were deprived of all means of educating
their children, at home or abroad_, and of the privilege of being
guardians to their own or to other persons’ children. Then all the
Catholics were disarmed, and then _all the priests banished. After
this_ (probably by way of joke) an act was passed to _confirm_ the
Treaty of Limerick,—the great and glorious King William totally
forgetting the contract he had entered into, of recommending the
religious liberties of Catholics to the attention of
Parliament”—_The Works of the Reverend Sidney Smith._ London:
Longman and Co., 1854, pp. 272, 273.
_ 14 The Life of Milton._ By the Rev. John Mitford: prefixed to his
Works. London: Bickers and Bush. Vol. i. p. cxlvi.
_ 15 Ib._, p. cxliii.
16 Ap. _Usher_, _loc. cit._, p. 47: _Villaneuva Synod. S. Patricii_, p.
3.
_ 17 Poenitentiale_, can. 5.
_ 18 De Arreis_, § 3 and § 4.
_ 19 Poenitent._, v. 12.
_ 20 Ibid._, ii. 16.
_ 21 Poenitentiale_, can. 14 and can. 23.
_ 22 Poenitentiale_, can. 30.
_ 23 Curry MSS._ § 60; and Dr. Reeves on _The Culdees_, pag. 209.
24 Reeves, loc. cit., pag. 202, seqq. The _cumhal_ in the Latin
documents is expressed by _ancilla_. Its literal meaning is
_bondmaid_, whose equivalent was reckoned at three cows. See
O’Donovan, _Book of Rights_, page 139.