The Protestant Archbishop, Dr. Browne, the Lord Chancellor, and some other members of the Council, set out on a “visitation” of the four counties of Carlow, Wexford, Waterford, and Tipperary, in which the church militant was for the nonce represented by the church military.  They transmitted an account of their expedition, and the novel fashion in which they attempted to propagate the Gospel, to England, on the 18th January, 1539.  One brief extract must suffice as a specimen of their proceedings.  “The day following we kept the sessions there [at Wexford].  There was put to execution four felons, accompanied with another, a friar, whom we commanded to be hanged in his habit, and so to remain upon the gallows for a mirror to all his brethren to live truly."[399]

There was One, whom from reverence I name not here, who said, when about to die, that, when “lifted up, He should draw all men unto Him.”  Centuries have rolled by since those most blessed words were uttered, but they have been verified in the disciples as well as in the Master.  The “lifting up” of a friar upon the gallows, or of a bishop upon the block, has but served to draw men after them; and the reformations they failed to effect during their lives, by their preaching and example, have been accomplished after and because of their martyrdoms.

The reformers now began to upbraid each other with the very crimes of which they had accused the clergy in England.  When mention is made of the immense sums of money which were obtained by the confiscation of religious houses at this period, it has been commonly and naturally supposed, that the religious were possessors of immense wealth, which they hoarded up for their own benefit; and although each person made a vow of poverty, it is thought that what was possessed collectively, was enjoyed individually.  But this false impression arises (1) from a mistaken idea of monastic life, and (2) from a misapprehension as to the kind of property possessed by the religious.

A brief account of some of the property forfeited in Ireland, will explain this important matter.  We do not find in any instance that religious communities had large funds of money.  If they had extensive tracts of land, they were rather the property of the poor, who farmed them, than of the friars, who held them in trust.  Any profit they produced made no addition to the fare or the clothing of the religious, for both fare and clothing were regulated by certain rules framed by the original founders, and which could not be altered.  These rules invariably required the use of the plainest diet and of the coarsest habits.  A considerable portion—­indeed, by far the most considerable portion—­of conventual wealth, consisted in the sacred vessels and ornaments.  These had been bestowed on the monastic churches by benefactors, who considered that what was used in the service of God should be the best which man could offer.  The monk was none the richer if he offered