dare and Viceroy of Ireland, was summoned to England at the instigation of his enemies and by the advice of Cardinal Wolsey, who was then all-powerful and not at all favorable to the Geraldines. The earl was accused of being unfaithful to the king, and of having in his office of viceroy connived at rebels and disturbers. He was thrown into prison, and the news inflamed the youthful mind of his eldest son, Thomas Geraldine, who had been left by his father to exercise his power in his absence. When he received the news of his father's arrest, he handed back the sword of state to the chancellor and privy council, and, with courage worthy of a man, but the folly of a child, took up arms against the king, (A.D. 1534.) But this furious outburst was soon quelled with the death of its author and five of his uncles, the only one of the family who was saved being Gerald Geraldine, the youngest son, who was hidden by a faithful nurse from the rage of his enemies.* But as it was said that this escape was favored by Leonard, Lord Gray, he afterward paid the penalty of this connivance with his head. But how could so young a boy take to flight, or, if he did, how could he effect it successfully, at so young an age and surrounded by so many dangers? Nor could any common man give a shelter to a youth of so noble a race without it being remarked. But the affectionate care of his nurse shone forth in this emergency, and she had as a partner in her trouble, and the guide of her flight, the Thomas Leverous of whom I now write.

"He was as a father to the youth while he grew up, and by constant flight eluded the snares of his enemies; and a guide and counsellor when he grew up and travelled in foreign lands. When he was named to the bishopric of Kil

Our author is here inaccurate. Gerald and Edward were the two sons of Earl Gerald, by his second wife, Lady Elizabeth Gray. Edward, the youngest, was conveyed to his mother in England; Gerald, the elder, aged about thirteen, found an asylum in Thomond. See Haverty's Ireland, p. 361.

dare, he lost nothing of his humility, gentleness of mind, piety, and Christian charity; yea, rather, his lowliness of spirit and contempt of worldly honors and riches increased as he was elevated in dignity and wealth.

"When, after the death of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., Queen Mary, the daughter of the former and sister of the latter, restored the exiled Gerald to his rank and title, his faithful friend and guardian, Thomas Leverous, was established in the bishopric of Kildare.*

"That diocese is ample and honorable, the land thereof is rich, the inhabitants numerous, and embrace many noble families; but of these by far the most numerous and most honorable is that of the Geraldines. His bishopric Thomas enjoyed during the reign of Queen Mary, but at her death, when her sister Elizabeth succeeded to the crown by the will of her father, she gave instructions to the viceroy, the Earl of Sussex, to tender the oath of the queen's ecclesiastical supremacy to the bishops of Ireland, and to drive from their sees whoever should refuse to take it.

"When Bishop Leverous was summoned by Sussex to take the oath, and he refused to take it, as being against his conscience, the earl asked him for what reason he denied that the queen was the head of the church, since so many illustrious men, and so many doctors and bishops, both in England and Ireland, had acknowledged her as such. But he gave for answer only such a simple reason as any common man might understand, namely, that all true ecclesiastical jurisdiction must come from Christ our Lord; and, since he had not given even the smallest share of ecclesiastical power to his Mother, so glorious and so dear, so adorned with virtues and honors, how much less could such supreme jurisdiction be given to any one of the same sex! St. Paul would not allow any woman even to speak

"He succeeded by provision of Queen Mary, March 1st, 1554, but was not confirmed by the pope's bull till the 3d of August, 1555."-Ware's Antiquities: Bishops of Kildare.

in church how much more are all excluded from judging, ruling, and presiding! St. John Chrysostom well expressed the mind of our Lord (lib. ii., De Sacerdotio) when he thus spoke of all persons of that weaker sex: 'When the question is of the headship of the church, and of entrusting to one the care of so many souls, the whole feminine sex must, by its nature, be excluded from a task of such weight.' So also Tertullian: 'It is not permitted to a woman to speak in the church, nor to teach, nor to offer, nor to claim a share in such offices reserved to men, much less in that of the priesthood.'

"And were it not that they are unfitted by nature and the condition of their sex from such exercise of authority, he who on earth raised his Mother to a dignity above all others, and above all women, and in heaven has placed her on a throne next to himself, would not have lowered her by refusing her an honor fitted to her sex, and which others of that sex might enjoy. But since by nature it was not fitting that women should share in it, it was no dishonor to his Mother not to participate in the jurisdiction which her Son conferred. Hence it followed that Elizabeth could not lawfully take, nor her father Henry give, nor any parliament bestow on women that authority which Christ gave, and which was, as the Scripture says, 'a fountain sealed up' to those men to whom he assigned it who bears on his shoulder the key of the house of David, and who gave to Peter his keys, by which the gate of heaven is shut and opened.

"The answer of the bishop pleased not the viceroy, who drove him from his bishopric as unworthy of the honor who thus dishonored his queen; yet he, with a sincere ́ mind, sought not to deprive her of any just honor, but only refused her an unlawful title and a vain figment of honor devised by flatterers, and which became not her head, adorned with an earthly crown.

"Driven thus from his cathedral see, and deprived of its revenues, humble and poor like Christ, he sought a strange and distant shelter in a distant district, rejoicing to suffer contumely for the name of Christ. As he had answered the viceroy when he threatened him with deprivation of all his goods and expulsion from his see unless he bowed him to the queen's will, 'What,' said he, will it avail a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' Thus he esteemed all things as dirt that he might gain Christ. O generous champion of Christ! who to prepare for the fight threw away all burdens, great was thy faith, great thy zeal for the faith, and great the reward laid up for thee in heaven! Thus was this aged man, of venerable appearance, unfitted for any business save the care of souls and the upholding of ecclesiastical discipline, compelled to turn his aged limbs to tasks fitted only for the youthful-the labors of a toilsome journey and a distant flight. When he was young, he went into voluntary exile for the sake of another; now, aged, he was compelled to seek his own living in exile. But he could console himself with the wise words of the great St. Leo (Serm. 9, De Quad.): 'As it is the occupation of the whole body to live piously, so it is the occupation of all time to bear the cross." No age, no time, no place, no state in this our mortal life, can insure the servants of Christ from bearing the cross; and there is often more danger from a concealed adversary than from an open enemy.

"In order, therefore, that he might secure his own safety, and be of service also to others, he went to Gerald, Earl of Desmond, and the Countess Joan, his wife, and the mother of Thomas Butler, Earl of Ormond, a wise and prudent heroine; and, being hospitably received by them, he kept himself with all prudence and peacefulness, lest he should bring any trouble on those who sheltered him.

"By his assiduity in his sacred ministry, he abundantly

compensated the generosity of his host, and his piety, modesty, sobriety of life, and fervor in promoting the divine honor made him acceptable to the neighboring nobles and the inhabitants, among whom he sedulously labored to preserve them from the novelties of heresy. He was constant in admonishing and exhorting in all fitting time. and place, and performing the work of a bishop; and labored like a simple priest in administering the sacraments, and found such labors sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.

"When, however, prudence required him to abstain from these exercises in places where he was well known or which were near his ordinary residence, his charity could not endure to be idle, but he cheerfully removed to more remote districts, and, like the busy bee, ever sought new fields of work.

"He travelled through various districts, instructing all, both old and young, with the same zeal, with teachings adapted to the age and intelligence of each; and the venerable bishop, in these labors, never thought of his rank or age, and even taught boys, like a common pedagogue, not only the elements of rhetoric and grammar, but even to read; and this not only in country villages, as in the village of Adare, in the territory of Connaught, but in municipal towns and noted places, as in Limerick, where he opened a school, and had for teacher under him Richard Creagh, then young, but who was afterward Archbishop of Armagh and Primate, of whom we have written more at length in the beginning of these notes.

"How noble a school, in which the teachers were so distinguished! how well cultivated the field, in which the laborers were so skilled! how fruitful the seminary, planted by such noble founders! how glorious the lecture-hall, in which such great doctors taught! Would that I might enter that school to hear you, Leverous and Creagh, teach