With Respect To The Two Sees Of Canterbury And St. David's,
I Will Briefly Explain My Opinion Of Their Present State.
On one
side, you will see royal favour, affluence of riches, numerous and
opulent suffragan bishops, great abundance of
Learned men and well
skilled in the laws; on the other side, a deficiency of all these
things, and a total want of justice; on which account the recovery
of its ancient rights will not easily be effected, but by means of
those great changes and vicissitudes which kingdoms experience from
various and unexpected events.
The spot where the church of St. David's stands, and was founded in
honour of the apostle St. Andrew, is called the Vale of Roses; which
ought rather to be named the vale of marble, since it abounds with
one, and by no means with the other. The river Alun, a muddy and
unproductive rivulet, {124} bounding the churchyard on the northern
side, flows under a marble stone, called Lechlavar, which has been
polished by continual treading of passengers, and concerning the
name, size, and quality of which we have treated in our Vaticinal
History. {125} Henry II., on his return from Ireland, is said to
have passed over this stone, before he devoutly entered the church
of St. Andrew and St. David. Having left the following garrisons in
Ireland, namely, Hugh de Lacy (to whom he had given Meath in fee) in
Dublin, with twenty knights; Fitz-Stephen and Maurice Fitzgerald,
with other twenty; Humphrey de Bohun, Robert Fitz-Bernard, and Hugh
de Grainville at Waterford, with forty; and William Fitz-Adelm and
Philip de Braose at Wexford, with twenty; on the second day of
Easter, the king embarked at sunrise on board a vessel in the
outward port of Wexford, and, with a south wind, landed about noon
in the harbour of Menevia.
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