found the means of establishing themselves upon the eastern borders
of the island, and of possessing themselves of some of the walled
towns, which they subsequently turned to such good account in
fortifying themselves against surprise and baffling the pursuit of
the natives, when worsted in the open field.

Whether the subtle influences of a common nationality moved Pope Adrian
the Fourth--who was an Englishman named Nicholas Breakspear,--to issue
the famous Bull granting Ireland to his fellow countryman, Henry the
Second of England, or whether, as it has been alleged, no such Bull was
ever issued, and that the one still extant is a forgery, it matters but
little now. The Pope's claims extended to the spiritual jurisdiction of
Ireland only; and even had he granted the Bull in question, and assumed
the right of conveying the whole island to the English king, the
transfer was obtained under false pretenses for, from the very wording
of the document itself, it is palpable that Henry led the Sovereign
Pontiff, to believe that Ireland was sunk in the grossest ignorance and
superstition, and that, in making a descent upon it, he had only the
glory and honor of the Church in view. So terrible a distortion of the
facts of the case on his part, necessarily rendered all action based
upon his statement morally invalid at least; and thus it is, that even
those who have confidence in the genuineness of this Bull, regard it as
utterly worthless, and at not all admissable into any pleadings which
ingenious English politicians may choose to advance on the subject.

So inveterate the hostility that manifested itself on the part of the
Irish towards the invader from the moment that his foul and sacrilegious
foot first desecrated their soil, a reign of terror was at once
inaugurated in the vicinage of his camp or stronghold, by those
chieftains with whom he came into more immediate contact, and upon whose