element, which produced kindred effects. To honour the divinity of fire, temples were, therefore, raised, altars were erected, and priests appointed to celebrate its rites and guard its sanctuary from profanation. For this abuse of reason, that ennobling attribute with which Providence has exalted mankind that they might know their Creator, the followers of the superstition we now treat of, were, indeed, grievously culpable. Yet, it must be conceded, that the error which the people of the East served was of a more refined and sublimated character than that, which ordinarily prevailed in the regions of the West. From From many of the gross and revolting ordinances, by which the other forms of Paganism were defiled, the Eastern ritual appears to have been exempt; nor did it supply the same strong incentives to passion, which, in other countries, the prevailing system of Idolatry usually administered. This sketch of the peculiar superstition practised in the East exhibits the more prominent features of the worship received in Ireland, before the Gospel had been there disseminated. In the Irish, as well as in the Eastern ritual, the veneration of fire held an important place. From the history of St. Patrick's mission we learn, that the attention of the Irish monarch was first attracted towards the Saint, by the apparent temerity of the holy man in lighting up a fire within view of the royal residence, at a period, when to do so was forbidden by the ceremonial of the national superstition. The strong predilection of the Irish people for this worship, may be inferred, from the earnestness with which St. Patrick laboured to detach them from it. With a dignity and eloquence worthy of his sacred character, the Apostle of Ireland denounces, in his * Vid. Prideaux' Connection, part 1, chap. 4. confessions, the perversity, which gave to a creature the homage due to Him alone, from whom the universe, and whatsoever the universe contains, derive their origin and perfection. "For," says he, "that sun which we behold, rises each day for our benefit by the order of God; but that sun shall not reign, nor shall his splendour endure for ever. But all who adore him are wretched, and shall be subjected to punishment. For us, we believe and adore the true sun, who is Christ."* Of the superstition which prevailed among the Irish people, before their conversion to Christianity, some vestiges, it is said, may be yet traced in the island. Among these are reckoned the round towers, some of which still outlive the decay of time and the violence of the tempest. These structures, it has been asserted by writers + conversant with the antiquities of Ireland, were once temples sacred to the divinity of fire. The probability of the assertion is strengthened by this circumstance that in the East similar structures have been recently discovered, in which, it appears certain, that the adoration of fire was formerly celebrated. With the worship of fire the Irish people appear to have blended that of some other supposed deities. Indeed, a similar admixture of different superstitions is discernible in the history of almost every Pagan country. The unhappy influence which first seduced man from the adoration of the true God conducted him, unceasingly, from one error to another still more gross and more revolting. Nor can this be deemed strange, if we reflect on the source whence idolatry emanated-the corruption of the human heart. No idol was ever adored until some passion, to which *Confess. p. 22. it bore a real or fancied analogy, had been first honoured in the human breast, and had acquired there an ascendancy that obscured the light of reason. The indulgence of any passion, while it weakens the powers of reason, and obscures the distinction between vice and virtue, impels its victim to the gratification of other inordinate propensities. In proportion as In proportion as the passions of men multiplied and became violent, a corresponding increase occurred in the number of Pagan deities; till, at length, the vilest objects in creation were deemed worthy of religious homage. But though, in the multiplication of its divinities, the superstition received in Ireland resembled that of other countries, yet the objects of public adoration in that island were not "the works of the hands of men," but more commonly some ideal incorporeal beings, to which the fervour of imagination ascribed the attributes of the divinity. Some rude memorials, indeed, that bore a certain relation to the deities they venerated, the Irish people appear to have at least partially used. But idols, such as were ordinarily employed in the Pagan worship, had no place in the superstition adopted throughout the Island.* Unde colligendum Hibernorum numina fuisse deos topicos, scilicet, montanos, campestres, fluviales....et id genus alios locorum genios.-OGYGIA, part 3, c. 22. CHAPTER II. Narrative of the principal circumstances connected with the missions of Palladius and St. Patrick-Death of Palladius-St. Patrick appointed to succeed him. BEFORE his ascension into heaven, the Divine Legislator of the new dispensation was careful to instruct his Apostles, how his church was to be administered, after He should have departed from them. In the belief of the Catholic church it was ordained by her Holy Founder, that while each bishop watched over the spiritual interests of his own particular flock, the guardianship of the entire sheepfold should be confided to one Supreme Pastor-the successor of St. Peter in the Apostolic See. To this the lawful representative of the Prince of Apostles, the duty of watching over those sheep, who had already heard the Shepherd's voice, was especially entrusted. But the charity of the Redeemer admonished him to whom the chief pastoral dignity was confided, that there were other sheep who were to be brought within the fold, that there might but the "one sheepfold and the one shepherd." To cause these sheep to hear the Shepherd's voice, and to conduct them into the mysterious fold of the church, the zeal of the most exalted in the Christian ministry was to be unceasingly exerted. Of the fidelity with which the Pontiffs who succeeded St. Peter in the Roman See com plied with this important duty, the records of ecclesiastical antiquity make honourable mention. To the provident solicitude of the Roman Pontiffs, the Church of Ireland is indebted for the success, which attended the first dissemination of the Gospel seed in our island. During the pontificate of Celestine, intelligence reached the eternal city, that the tidings of man's redemption had been received with joy by some of the inhabitants of Ireland. The zeal of Celestine for the cause of religion was immediately awakened. He looked around for a Pastor, to whom the interests of the rising church might be confided. His attention was soon fixed on Palladius. Palladius was, it is conjectured, a native of Britain, and had received the holy order of Deaconship. By his exertions, German of Auxerre, and Lupus of Troyes had been sent to Britain, to check the progress of Pelagianism in that country. The connection that was thus formed between Palladius and those pastors of the British Church who supported his exertions against Pelagianism, gave him an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the state of religion in Ireland. It cannot, moreover, be doubted, that St. Celestine was desirous to station in the vicinity of Britain an ecclesiastic, who had evinced so much zeal for repressing the growth of heresy in that island. But whatever may have been the motives which influenced the decision of the Pope, it is certain, that Palladius was the object of his choice. To the choice of the Holy Father, Palladius yielded immediate obedience. As yet, however, he had been initiated only in Deacon's orders. Before he could enter on the discharge of the important duties now confided to him, it was necessary, that he should be promoted to the superior dignity of Bishop. With his own hands, the Supreme Pontiff |