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years old, in his inexperience of human nature, and especially of the Irish form of it. No words could be truer, wiser, or more generous; but those only listen effectively to words of wisdom and generosity, who themselves possess something of the same qualities; and the Irish would not have required that such an address should be made to them if they had been capable of profiting by it. If Surrey was sanguine of any good result, he was soon undeceived. He had no sooner landed than the whole country was in arms against him -O'Neile, O'Carroll, O'Connor, O'Brien, Desmond, broke into simultaneous rebellion, acting, as was proved by intercepted letters,' under instructions which Kildare had sent from England. Surrey saw at a glance the justice of the language of the report. He informed Wolsey briefly of the state of the country, and advised that unless the King was prepared for extreme measures, he should not waste money in partial efforts.* Writing subsequently to Henry himself, he said that the work to be done was a repetition of the conquest of Wales by Edward I., and it would prove at least as

This is one of them, and another | amends therefore, desiring you to of similar import was found to have keep good peace to Englishmen till been sent to O'Neile. Life and an English deputy shall come there; health to O'Carroll, from the Earl and when an English deputy shall of Kildare. There is none Irishman come thither, do your best to make in Ireland that I am better content war upon Englishmen then, except with than with you; and whenever I such as be toward me, whom you come into Ireland, I shall do you know well yourself.'-State Papers, good for anything that ye shall do vol. ii. p. 45. for me; and any displeasure that I have done to you, I shall make you

2 Ibid. p. 62.

tedious and as expensive. Nevertheless, if the King could make up his mind to desire it, there was no insuperable difficulty. He would undertake the work himself with six thousand men. The difficulty would

be then, however, but half overcome, for the habits of the people were incurable. Strong castles must be built up and down the island, like those at Conway and Carnarvon; and a large immigration would be necessary of English colonists. Either as much as this should be done, the Earl thought, or nothing. Half measures only made bad into worse; and a policy of repression, if not consistently maintained, was unjust and pernicious. It encouraged the better affected of the inhabitants to show their good will to the Government; and when the Irish were again in power, these persons were marked for vengeance.

Practical experience was thus laid against Henry's philosophy; and it would have been well if the King could have discerned clearly on which side the truth was likely to lie. For the misfortune of Ireland, this was not the case. It was inconvenient at the moment to undertake a costly conquest. Surrey was maintained with a short retinue, and from want of power could only enter upon a few partial expeditions. He inflicted a heavy defeat upon O'Neil; he stormed a castle of O'Connor's; and showed, with the small means at his disposal, what he might have done with far less support than he had required. He went where he pleased

1 Surrey to Henry VIII.: State Papers, vol. ii. pp. 72,-3,-4

through the country. But his course was 'as the way of a ship through the sea, or as the way of a bird through the air.' The elements yielded without resistance, and closed in behind him; and after eighteen months of manful exertion, feeling the uselessness of further enterprises conducted on so small a scale, to the sorrow and alarm of the Irish council, he desired and obtained his recall.1

Meanwhile, in England, the Earl of Kildare had made good use of his opportunities. In spite of his detected letters, he had won his way into favour. He accompanied Henry to the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where he distinguished himself by his brilliant bearing; and instead of punishing him as a traitor, the King allowed him to marry Lady Elizabeth Grey, daughter of the Marquis of Dorset, and nearly related to the blood royal. He was then permitted to return to Ireland; not, however, immediately as deputy. An intermediate effort was made to govern through Lord Ormond, whose intentions were excellent, but unfortunately the Irish refused to submit to him. The Earl of Desmond remained in rebellion, and invaded Kilkenny from the south; and two years followed of universal insurrection, pillage, and murder. Kildare accused Ormond to the English council as responsible; Ormond retorted with similar charges against Kildare, and commissioners were

1 Council of Ireland to Wolsey: | friend in the Duke of Suffolk. HisState Papers, vol. ii. pp. 92,-3. tory of Ireland, by EDWARD CAM2 Campion says Kildare had a PION, p. 161.

sent over to 'investigate,' with instructions, if they saw reason, to replace Kildare in his old office.

The permission was sufficient; in 1524 he was again deputy; and no deliberate purpose of misrule could have led to results more fatal. The Earl, made bold by impunity, at once prepared for a revolt from the English Crown. Hitherto he had been contented to make himself essential to the maintenance of the English sovereignty; he now launched out into bolder measures, and encouraged by Henry's weakness, resolved to dare the worst extremity. On the breaking out of the French war of 1523-24, his kinsman, the Earl of Desmond, opened a negotiation with Francis I. for the landing of a French army in Munster. Kildare, while professing that he was endeavouring to take Desmond prisoner, was holding secret interviews with him to concert plans for a united move, and was strengthening himself at the same time with alliances among the native chiefs. One of his daughters became the wife of the O'Connor; another married O'Carroll, of Leap Castle; and a third the Baron of Slane; and to leave no doubt of his intentions, he transferred the cannon and military stores from Dublin Castle to his own fortress at Maynooth. Lord Ormond sent information to England of these proceedings, but he could gain no

1 Act of Attainder of the Earl of | B. xi. fol. 352. Kildare Irish Statute Book, 28

:

Hen. VIII. cap. I.
An account of
this negotiation is to be seen in a
paper in the British Museum, Titus,

2

Act of Attainder of the Earl of Kildare: Ibil.

3 The elder sisters of the fair Geraldine' of Lord Surrey.

hearing. For three years the Geraldines were allowed to continue their preparations undisturbed; and perhaps they might have matured their plans at leisure, so odious had become the mention of Ireland to the English statesmen, had not the King's divorce, by embroiling him with the Pope and Emperor, made the danger serious.

The alliance of England and France had disconcerted the first scheme. No sooner was this new opportunity opened than, with Kildare's consent, Desmond applied to Charles V. with similar overtures. This danger was

The Emperor's chaplain, Gon- | that the gentleman of the Earl of zalvo Fernandez, was the agent Desmond had just returned from through whom the correspondence Spain with presents from the Emwith Desmond was conducted.-peror to the Earl. State Papers, vol. vii. p. 186. And see Cotton. MS. Vespasian, c. iv. fol. 264, 276, 285, 288, 297.-' He sent unto the Emperour, provoking and enticing him to send an army unto this said land.'-Act of Attainder of the Earl of Kildare. See also LELAND, vol. ii. p. 136.

The account given by Gonzalvo Fernandez of his visit to Desmond is among the Archives at Brussels, and supplies a curious picture of the state of the country.

Report of Gonzalvo Fernandez.

'April 28, 1529. 'On arriving at the coast of Ireland we touched at a port belonging to the King of England named Cork. Many of the Irish people came on board the ship, and told me

'Leaving Cork, we were driven by bad weather into another harbour called Beran,* from whence I sent one of my servants to inform the Earl of my arrival. In four days the Earl's answer came, telling me that I was welcome, and that he wai at a place called Dingle, where he hoped to see me. He addressed his letter to me as Chaplain of our Sovereign Lord the Emperor;' and this, I understand, is his usual mode of expression when speaking of his Majesty. He had also sent to some of the other noblemen of the country, with whom he proposed to form a league, to tell them of my arrival.

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I set out again, and on the way five of the Earl's people came to me to say that their master had gone to a harbour a few miles off to capture

Beerhaven, perhaps.

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