tertainment of strangers, besides the common care of reparations, had assigned unto him the commodity of the three quarters of the temporal lands, which he raised out of such rents, cuttings and services as were to be exacted of the coloni ecclesiastici, or Termoners. Thus were things ordered, where the distribution of the church goods into four parts was admitted, as may be observed in those places, which belong to the diocese of Clogher, in a part of Tyrone, in Fermanagh, and in the county of Monaghan, called in times past Ergallia, where quarta episcopalis is said to have been granted to the bishop of Clogher, by Innocentius the second, at the request of Malachias. For so we read in the register of that bishoprick: "Malachias, archiepiscopus Ardmachanus, apostolicæ sedis legatus, ab Innocentio II. impetravit quartam episcopalem per totam Ergaliam dari episcopo Clochorensi, sicut in pontificali ejusdem ecclesiæ combusta continetur; quam vidimus, legimus, et approbavimus." Howbeit, it appeareth by Bernard, that this Malachias, all the time that he was bishop, enjoyed not the benefit of any tithes, nor yet of lands, either mensal or censual; but lived rather by coshering after the Irish fashion. "Non servos," saith Bernard in his life, "non ancillas, non villas, non viculos, non denique quicquam redituum ecclesiasticorum, seculariumve, vel in ipso habuit episcopatu. Mensæ episcopali, nihil prorsus constitutum, vel assignatum, unde episcopus viveret; nec enim vel domum propriam habuit; erat, autem, pene incessanter circuiens parœcias omnes, evangelio serviens, et de evangelio vivens, sicut constituit ei Dominus; dignus est, inquiens, operarius mercede sua." But to return to the matter, whence I have a little digressed. As in Clogher the canonica dispositio quartarum was in use, so, in the dioceses of Derry, and Raphoe the distribution in tertias was observed. There the Herenach taketh up tertiam episcopalem of the tithes, which he delivereth not in kind, but payeth in consideration thereof Bernard, in vit. Malach. a yearly rent unto the bishop. He giveth unto him, in like manner, a certain annuity out of the Termon lands, which possibly might have been due, according to my former conjecture, in regard of the bishop's interest in the third of the temporal lands belonging unto that church. So there should remain two thirds both of the tithes and of the temporalities. The two thirds remaining of the temporalities the Herenach held for the maintenance of his charge; the parson and vicar contented themselves with the two thirds of the tithes, which were equally divided between them; the parson, vicar and herenach, charging themselves in common with the keeping up and reparation of the church. This is the order observed in Derry and Raphoe. In the diocese of Armagh, from which also the state of the diocese of Kilmore differeth not much, the tithes are divided into three parts, whereof the parson hath two, and the vicar one; the archbishop challenging only certain mensal tithes out of the lands lying about the city of Armagh. The Herenach possesseth the temporal lands of the church, yielding a rent unto the bishop, and intermeddleth not with the tithes; yet beareth together with the parson and vicar, the charge of reparations. So in divers dioceses, divers customs are held for the distribution of the church revenues: whereupon it falleth out sometimes, that in one and the same county very different customs are observed in that behalf. As, namely, in one part of Tyrone, belonging to the diocese of Clogher, the bishop and vicar have one half of the tithes, and the parson the other; in another part, belonging to the diocese of Derry, the parson, vicar and herenach divide the tithes betwixt them in such sort as formerly hath been declared; and in another part, belonging to the diocese of Armagh, the parson taketh up two third part of the tithes, and the vicar one; the archbishop and herenach claiming no part thereof. And thus have I delivered my judgment, not so much of the present state, and much less of that which were meet to be settled hereafter, the ordering whereof I wholly refer unto the higher powers, not minding to inter pose myself in state affairs, as of the original and first estate of Corbes, Herenaches and Termon lands; wherein as I myself profess that I have carried an indifferent hand, without any partiality or private respect whatsoever, (mihi enim isthic nec seritur nec metitur) so would I have none to imagine, that I take upon me peremptorily to determine any thing in this matter of antiquity; as being not ignorant with what obscurities questions of that nature are involved, especially where help of ancient monuments is wanting. My purpose only was to point unto the fountains, and to compare the present state of things with the practice of ancienter times; thinking I have done well, if hereby I may give occasion of further enquiry unto those who have greater judgment and more leisure to hold out the truth of this business. |