never resisted capture, he could not answer for similar passive dispositions on the part of their flock. "We are lost!" he whispered to Rookesby. "That fellow has recognised me: I saw it in his eye. Look to yonder door: close it, and prevent these fellows from summoning their companions, while I unfasten this bolt. Quick!" The two men had been keenly watching the movements of the pursuivant, and as Jasper rushed to the door communicating with the interior of the house, one of them suddenly swung his staff in the air, dealing a heavy blow, which brought the unfortunate spy to the ground; and while Cuffe was fumbling at the bolts in the uncertain light, the other pounced upon him and enfolded him in an embrace that seemed like an iron band. Cuffe struggled and kicked with fury, and being of powerful build and great strength, contrived to loosen his captor's hold, and with a violent wrench slipped from his grasp. But the alarm had been given, and several others, full of consternation at the unexpected intrusion, hurried to the assistance of their friends, and, notwithstanding his desperate resistance, Cuffe was overpowered by numbers, and lay gagged and bound at their feet. They lifted up the still insensible form of Rookesby, who was instantly recognised, although his wretched calling was yet unknown to those who wonderingly scanned his pale and blood-stained features. As the terrified members of the congregation slowly passed out, Cuffe regarded them with looks of fierce resentment; and when Hilda, with her hood thrown fearlessly back, paused for a moment to cast a look of pity on the prostrate forms, he thought to himself, for speech was impossible with the gag bound fast between his teeth : "I shall know you again, young lady; so stare your fill. I would drink to our better acquaintance, if these knaves would suffer it." Rookesby had by this time recovered consciousness, and when the shrouded form of the priest at length stood before him, he strove to hide his face with his hands and groaned aloud. "You have made a sad mistake here," said Father Gower. "This is Jasper Rookesby: one of our own people. How did this come about?" "There is no mistake at all, sir," gruffly replied one that stood by. "He brought hither Master Cuffe, the pursuivant-that fellow there. Master Cuffe and I are old acquaintances. We have met before in the Clink prison, where he sought to add an inch or so to my stature, as he told me, by hanging me up by the hands." "A pursuivant!" said Gower. "And in company with Rookesby. “A Will you explain the meaning of this?" he inquired, looking narrowly at the spy. "It needs no words," said the first speaker, as Jasper silently hung his head. “And now I think of it, Master Rookesby was here when the officers last visited us; and I have often marvelled how he effected his escape on that occasion. 'Tis plain as broad daylight that he has betrayed us to the Council, and the presence of yonder pursuivant is ample proof of his treachery.” The Jesuit left the room, sadly shaking his head; and a short whispered colloquy ensued, at the conclusion of which the eyes of both prisoners were bandaged, and Cuffe, expecting death every moment, found himself borne along in the arms of three men, who carried him to a considerable distance and then left him. It was not until morning was far advanced when the two friends were discovered in their ignominious plight by some labourers, to whom they related a rambling story of having been set upon by cutpurses, severely maltreated, and left for dead. With dejected looks, and filled with savage thirst for vengeance upon those who had not only escaped, but also rendered them. objects of ridicule, they slowly took the road back to London. Later in the day Cuffe returned to the cottage, with a strong body of followers, and although they searched the place with the utmost care, their labour was in vain-the Papists had vanished without leaving a single trace of their unlawful proceedings. (To be continued.) LIMERICK. THE historic city of Limerick derives its name from Luimneach, the ancient appellation of the Lower Shannon. In a poem composed upon the death of St. Cummine Foda (A.D. 661), whose remains were conveyed from Munster up the Shannon to be interred in his episcopal church of Clonfert, the word occurs in the following passage: "The Luimneach did not bear on its bosom of the race of Munster into A corpse in a boat so precious as Cummine, son of Fiachna. I sorrow for Cummine, since the day his shrine was covered; My eyelids have been dropping tears since the lamentation at his barque." In the Annals, the term Luimneach, is applied to the city of Limerick, from the period of the earlier Danish incursions, when it became a principal station for the pirate galleys of the Northmen. From this point their fleets swept the Shannon, and thus they were enabled to devastate and plunder, almost with impunity, the shrines and monasteries in the adjacent country. In one of their predatory expeditions, A.D. 843, we find that "the Forannan Primate of Ard-Macha was taken prisoner, with his relics and people, by the foreigners, and carried to their ships at Luimneach.' After the overthrow of the tyrant, Turgesius, the Irish princes relaxed their efforts with the first success gained over the Northmen, and the latter, deemed no longer formidable, were suffered to retain possession of several of the maritime towns. Thus we read of Amlaff, the son of the King of Norway, ruling in Dublin, while his brothers, Sitric and Ivar, held respectively the cities of Waterford and Limerick. Even during the reign of Brian, by whom the Danish power in this country was ultimately annihilated, the Northmen, when expelled from the islands in the Shannon, were permitted to remain in Limerick upon condition of paying an annual tribute to the Irish monarch. Ware mentions some of the Ostmen who presided over the See of Limerick, viz.:-Harold, A. D. 1151; Torgesius, who assisted at the Synod of Kells, A. D. 1152; Brictius, one of the prelates from Ireland, who was present at the Council of Lateran. After the munificent grant made by the monarch, Muircheartach O'Brien "of the City of Cashel of the Kings, to the religious of Ireland for ever," Limerick became the seat of royalty of the Princes of Thomond. In 1101, Donnell MacLoughlin having disputed the claim of Muircheartach O'Brien to the sovereignty of Ireland, the latter led an army to the north, and having demolished the ancient stronghold of Aileach, ordered that in every provision sack a stone of the ruined fort should be conveyed to Limerick. At the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion, upon the arrival of Henry II., Donnell O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, repaired to Cashel, and having done homage, made formal surrender of his city of Limerick to the English monarch. He soon repented of his premature submission, and realizing the danger of his country, flew to arms, and inflicted a severe defeat on the army of Strongbow, at Thurles. This exploit roused the spirit of other native princes. Strongbow, who had taken refuge in Waterford, instantly despatched messengers to Raymond le Gros, then in Wales, beseeching his aid in the emergency, and promising him the hand of his daughter, Basilia. Raymond, responding to the summons, soon landed in Ireland, and with a strong force advanced against Limerick. Fording the Shannon, he led the assault in person, captured the city, and delivered it up to pillage. Raymond being soon after summoned to Normandy, was prcparing to sail, when news arrived in Dublin that the Norman garrison left in Limerick was closely besieged by the indomitable O'Brien. Speedy succour was implored, whereupon the Royal Commissioners ordered Raymond to return. Upon his approach O'Brien raised the siege, and took up a position near Cashel, to await the enemy. In the encounter which followed, the army of Thomond having been worsted, O'Brien and Roderic |