Meanwhile, the literary materials which Stephen White had accu- 

 mulated were not unemployed by himself ; and there is sufficient evi- 

 dence to prove that he not only meditated, but completed some historical 

 works on his favourite subjects. Of these, however, only one has de- 

 scended to our day, namely, his Apologia pro Hihernia adversus Camhri 

 Calumnias; which Mr. Bindon discovered among the Irish manuscripts 

 in the Franciscan collection at Brussels, as stated by him in his valu- 

 able communication to the Academy in 1847."^' This work, even in its 

 imperfect condition, is sufficient to justify the opinion which our fore- 

 fathers entertained of the learning and ability of the writer. Had he 

 been less generous, he might have been more desirous of literary fame ; 

 but he seems to have been unconcerned as to the doer, provided the work 

 was done ; and when, at the close of his life, a combined effort was made 

 by the ecclesiastics of his church to put his manuscript to the press, f 

 even this project failed, and the literary character of Stephen White had 

 still to rest on the testimonies of his contemporaries. J It was reserved 

 for a clergyman of our own times, after the lapse of two centuries, to 

 give publicity to the work.§ 



Stephen "White attained a very advanced age, and, as the letter to be 

 read demonstrates, preserved his literary ardour unabated. He was 

 living in the June of 1645, when Colgan published the first volume of 

 his Acta Sanctorum; and with that author's touching reference to the 

 kindness, learning, accuracy, and declining years of his friend, I shall 

 close these prefatory remarks, and proceed with my friend Count Charles 

 MacDonnell's interesting communication: — "ISTon prseteribo tamen, 

 quod excidere minime debuit, devotissimum in concivium Sanctorum 

 honore et cultu promo vendo studium R. P. Stephani Yiti Societatis Jesu, 

 Yiri de Patria bene meriti, et omnis generis antiquitatum scientia lau- 

 dati, sed sacrarum, prsesertim suae gentis et Patriae siti laudabilioris ; qui 

 nobis S. Columbse Abbatis Authore S. Adamnano, S. Brigidge Yirginis 

 Authore S. Yltano, et multa alia Sanctorum gesta, alibi, ea fide et ifute- 

 gritate, hand facile reperienda, communicavit ex suo promptuario, sacrse 

 et reconditse antiquitatis faecundo ; quod utinam praelo, quo maturum et 

 dignum est, prius donet, quam ipse coelo, quo meritis et setate maturus 

 est, et Sanctorum conturbio, ad quod anhelat, meritis exigentibus, re- 

 done tur."|| 



* Printed in the Proceedings, vol. iii., pp. 493-496. 



t See Mr. Bindon's extract from Robert Nugent's Letter to F. Charles Langri, in the 

 Proceedings, vol. iii., p. 496. 



% Dr. John Lynch, the author of Cambrensis Eversus, had the use of White's manu- 

 script, and no doubt derived much information and many suggestions from it. Cambr. 

 Evers. vol. i., p. 95, vol, ii., p. 232, (Reprint); where, see Editor's notes. 



§ Apologia pro Hibernia adversus Cambri Calumnias, etc., Auctore Stephano Vito, 

 nunc primum edita cura Matthsei Kelly, in Collegio S, Patricii apud Mayuooth, Profes- 

 oris. Dublinii, 1849, 



j| Acta Sanctorum Hibernioe, Proefatio ad Lectorem [p. 7]. 



