ission in England during the seventh century was
one of the great things of history._

The following expressions of Dr. von Doellinger respecting the Irish
Church are more ardent than any I have ventured to use:--

'During the sixth and seventh centuries the Church of Ireland stood in
the full beauty of its bloom. The spirit of the Gospel operated amongst
the people with a vigorous and vivifying power: troops of holy men, from
the highest to the lowest ranks of society, obeyed the counsel of
Christ, and forsook all things that they might follow Him. There was not
a country in the world, during this period, which could boast of pious
foundations or of religious communities equal to those that adorned this
far distant island. Among the Irish the doctrines of the Christian
religion were preserved pure and entire; the names of heresy or of
schism were not known to them; and in the Bishop of Rome they
acknowledged and venerated the Supreme Head of the Church on earth, and
continued with him, and through him with the whole Church, in a never
interrupted communion. The schools in the Irish cloisters were at this
time the most celebrated in all the West.... The strangers who visited
the island, not only from the neighbouring shores of Britain, but also
from the most remote nations of the Continent, received from the Irish
people the most hospitable reception, a gratuitous entertainment, free
instruction, and even the books that were necessary for the studies....
On the other hand, many holy and learned Irishmen left their own
country to proclaim the Faith, to establish or to reform monasteries in
distant lands, and thus to become the benefactors of almost every
country in Europe.... The foundation of many of the English Sees is due
to Irishmen.... These holy men served God, and not the world; they
possessed neither gold nor silver, and all that they received from the
rich passed through their hands into the hands of the poor. Kings and
nobles visited them from time to time only to pray in their churches, or
to listen to their sermons; and as long as they remained in the
cloisters they were content with the humble food of the brethren.
Wherever one of these ecclesiastics or monks came, he was received by
all with joy; and whenever he was seen journeying across the country,
the people streamed around him to implore his benediction, and to
hearken to his words. The priests entered the villages only to preach or
to administer the