THE MEXICAN MESSIAH. 10 i 



which, could have "been launched quietly or obscurely, nor was 

 there any reason why it should be. The contemplated voyage 

 must have been a matter of public knowledge and comment in 

 some locality ; it could not have been attempted without prepara- 

 tions on some scale of magnitude ; and such preparations for such 

 a purpose must have attracted at least local attention and ex- 

 cited local interest. It is thus reasonable to suppose that the im- 

 portance and singularity of a project to cross the Atlantic for 

 missionary purposes would have insured some record being made 

 of the enterprise. A fortiori, if the venturesome missionary ever 

 succeeded in returning if he ever came back to tell of his won- 

 derful adventures the fact would have been chronicled by his 

 religious confreres and made the most of then and for the benefit 

 of future ages. It comes, therefore, to this accepting Quetzat- 

 coatl as a Christian missionary from Europe, we have right and 

 reason to expect that his singular and pious expedition would 

 have been put upon record somewhere. 



The next step in the inquiry is to search for the most likely 

 part of Europe to have been the scene of the going forth and 

 possible return of this missionary. The island of Tlapallan, ac- 

 cording to the Mexican tradition, was the home whence he came 

 and whither he sought to return. The name of the country 

 affords no assistance, and it might not be safe to attach impor- 

 tance to its insular designation. But in looking for a country in 

 western Europe possibly an island which from A. d. 500 to 

 A. D. 800 might have sent out a missionary on a wild transatlantic 

 expedition, one is soon struck with the possibility of Ireland 

 being such a country. To the question, "Could Ireland have 

 been the Tlapallan, or Holy Island, of the Mexican tradition ? " 

 an affirmative answer may readily be given, especially by any one 

 who knows even a little of the ecclesiastical history of the coun- 

 try from A. D. 500 to A. D. 800. In that period no country was 

 more forward in missionary enterprise. The Irish ecclesiastics 

 shrunk from no adventures by land or sea, however desperate and 

 dangerous, when the eternal salvation of heathen peoples was in 

 question. On land they penetrated to all parts of the Continent, 

 preaching the gospel of Christ and founding churches and re- 

 ligious establishments. On sea they made voyages for like pur- 

 poses to the remotest known lands of the northern and western 

 seas. They went as missionaries to all parts of the coast of 

 northern Britain, and visited the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the 

 Shetland and Faro Islands. Even remote Iceland received their 

 pious attention, and Christianity was established by them in that 

 island long before it was taken possession of by the Norwegians 

 in the eighth century. 



Prima facie, then, Ireland has not only a good claim, but really 



