of thofe Souls that Chrift had purchased with his Blood: Therefore he refolved to fet about that Apoftolical Work of converting the Natives with the zeal and care that fo great underftanding required. He knew the gaining on fome of the more knowing of their Priests was like to be the quickest way; for by their means he hoped to fpread the knowledge of the Reformed Religion among the Natives; or rather of the Chriftian Religion, to freak more ftrictly, For they had no fort of notion of Christianity, but only knew that they were to depend upon their Priefts, and were to confefs fuch of their actions, as they call fins, to them; and were to pay them Tythes. The Bishop prevailed on feveral Priests to change, and he was fo well fatisfied with the truth of their converfion, that he provided fome of them to Ecclefiaftical Benefices: Which was thought a ftrange thing, and was cenfured by many, as contrary to the interest of the Englife Nation. For it was believed that all those Irish Converts were ftill Papifts at heart, and might be fo much the more dangerous, than otherwise, by that difguife which they had put on. But he on the other hand confidered chiefly the duty of a Chriftian Bishop: He also thought the true intereft of England was to gain the Irif to the knowledge of Religion, and to bring them by the means of that which only turns the heart to love the English Nation: And fo he judged the Wifom of that courfe was apparent, as well as

iety of it. Since fuch as changed their

Reli

Religion would become thereby fo odious to their own Clergy, that this would provoke them to further degrees of zeal in gaining others to come over after them: And he took great care to work in those whom he trufted with the care of Souls, a full conviction of the truth of Religion, and a deep fenfe of the importance of it. And in this he was so happy, That of all the Converts that he had raised to Benefices, there was but one only that fell back, when the Rebellion broke out: And he not only apoftatized, but both plundered and killed the English among the firft. But no wonder if one murderer was among our Bishop's Converts, fince there was a traitor among the twelve that followed our Saviour. There was a Convent of Fryers very near him, on whom he took much pains, with very good fuccefs: That he might furnish his Converts with the means of inftructing others, he made a fhort Catechifm to be printed in one freet, being English on the one Page, and Irish on the other, which contained the Elements, and moft neceffary things of the Christian Religion, together with fome forms of Prayer, and fome of the most inftructing and edifying paffages of Scripture: This he fent about all over his Diocefs; and it was received with great joy, by many of the Irish, who seemed to be hungering and thirsting after Righteoufnefs, and received this beginning of knowledge fo well, that it gave a good encouragement to hope well upon further endeavours.

The

The Bishop did alfo fet himself to learn the Irifb Tongue; and though it was too late for a Man of his years to learn to speak it, yet he came to understand it to fuch a degree, as to compofe a compleat Grammar of it, (which was the firft that ever was made, as I have been told) and to be a Critick in it: He alfo had Common Prayer read in Irifb every Sunday in his Cathedral for the benefit of the Converts he had made, and was always prefent at it himself, and he engaged all his Clergy to fet up Schools in their Parishes; For there were fo very few bred to read or write, that this obftructed the converfion of the Nation very much, The New Teftament and the Book of Common Prayer were already put in the Irifo Tongue; but he refolved to have the whole Bible, the Qld Testament as well as the New, put alfo into the hands of the Irish; and therefore he laboured much to find out one that understood the Language fo well that he might be imployed in fo facred a Work: And by the advice of the Primate, and feve ral other eminent perfons, he pitched on one King, that had been converted many years before, and was believed to be the eleganteft writer of the Irish Tongue then alive, both for Profe and Poetry. He was then about feventy, but notwithstanding his Age and the difadvantages of his Education, yet the Bishop thought him not only capable of this Imployment, but qualified for an higher character; therefore he put him in Orders, and gave him a Benefice in his Diocefs, and fet him to work,

work, in order to the tranflating the Bible; which he was to do from the English Tranf lation; fince there were none of the Nation to be found that knew any thing of the Originals. The Bishop fet himself fo much to the revising this Work, that always after Dinner or Supper he read over a Chapter; and as he compared the Irish Translation with the English, fo he compared the English with the Hebrew and the Seventy Interpreters, or with Diodati's Italian Tranflation, which he valued highly; and he corrected the Irish where he found the English Translators had failed. He thought the ufe of the Scriptures was the only way to let the knowledge of Religion in among the Irish, as it had first let the Reformation, into the other parts of Europe: And he used to tell a paffage of a Sermon that he heard Fulgentio preach at Venice, with which he was much pleased: It was on thefe Words of Chrift, Have ye not read; and fo he took occafion to tell the Auditory, That if Chrift were now to ask this Queftion, Have ye not read? all the anfwer they could make to it, was, No, for they were not fuffered to do it. Upon which he taxed with great zeal the reftraint put on the use of the Scriptures, by the See of Rome. This was not unlike what the fame perfon delivered in another Sermon preaching upon Pilate's Quef tion, What is Truth? he told them that at laft after many fearches he had found it out, and held out a New Teftament, and said, There it was in bis Hand, but then he put it in his

pocket,

pocket, and faid coldly, But the Book is pros bibited; which was fo fuited to the Italian genius, that it took mightily with the Au ditory. The Bishop had obferved that in the Primitive times, as foon Nations, how barba rous foever they were, began to receive the Chriftian Religion, they had the Scriptures tranflated into their vulgar Tongues: And that all people were exhorted to study them ; therefore he not only undertook and began this Work, but followed it with fo much industry, that in a very few years he finished the Tranflation; and refolved to fet about the printing of it: For the bargain was made with one that engaged to perform it. And as he had been at the great trouble of examining the Tranflation, fo he refolved to run the venture of the Impreffion, and took that expence upon himself. It is fcarce to be imagined what could have obftructed fo great and fo good a Work. The Priefts of the Church of Rome had reafon to oppose the printing of a Book, that has been always fo fatal to them; but it was a deep fetch to poffefs reformed Di vines with a jealousy of this Work, and with hard thoughts concerning it: Yet that was done; but by a very well disguised method : For it was faid that the Tranflator was a weak and contemptible Man, and that it would expofe fuch a Work, as this was, to the fcorn of the Nation, when it was known who was Author of it: And this was infufed both

Earl of Strafford, and into the ArchCanterbury: And a bold young Man pre