hold, that there were other men, on our earth, for whom
the Redeemer had not died; on this ground they appealed
to Pope Zachary against him; but so little effect had
this gross distortion of his true doctrine at Rome, when
explanations were given, that Feargal was soon afterwards
raised to the See of Saltzburgh, and subsequently canonized
by Pope Gregory IX. In the ninth century we find an Irish
geographer and astronomer of something like European
reputation in Dicuil and Dungal, whose treatises and
epistles have been given to the press. Like their
compatriot, Columbanus, these accomplished men had passed
their youth and early manhood in their own country, and
to its schools are to be transferred the compliments paid
to their acquirements by such competent judges as Muratori,
Latronne, and Alexander von Humboldt. The origin of the
scholastic philosophy--which pervaded Europe for nearly
ten centuries--has been traced by the learned Mosheim to
the same insular source. Whatever may now be thought of
the defects or shortcomings of that system, it certainly
was not unfavourable either to wisdom or eloquence, since
among its professors may be reckoned the names of St.
Thomas and St. Bernard.

We must turn away our eyes from the contemplation of
those days in which were achieved for Ireland the title
of the land of saints and doctors. Another era opens
before us, and we can already discern the long ships of
the north, their monstrous beaks turned towards the holy
Isle, their sides hung with glittering shields and their
benches thronged with fair-haired warriors, chanting as