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the undertaking. In his reply to the queen on that occasion, he threw the whole blame of his conduct upon the advice of the Irish council. Notwithstanding this, he was compelled to a nearer expedition for the defence of the pale. His own remissness had, in fact, given courage to the lesser chiefs who dwelt around the English borders; and the O'Mores and O'Conors were up in arms in Leix and Ophaly. On his return from an expedition, in which he met with not sufficient opposition to add very materially to his reputation, he found his force so much reduced that it became necessary to apply for a reinforcement of a thousand men before he could proceed further. He, nevertheless, as a preliminary movement, ordered Sir Conyers Clifford into Connaught to compel Tyrone to send a part of his troops that way. Sir Conyers, as we have already had occasion to relate, at length marched on with a small body of 1500 horse and foot until he came to the Curlew mountains, among the passes of which he was surprised, defeated, and slain, by a body of Irish under O'Ruarke.

In the meantime the necessary reinforcements arrived from England. But the winter was approaching, and lord Essex was compelled to write to the queen, that nothing more could be done that season but to draw his now small forces to the north. It was late in September when, with 1300 foot and 300 horse, he took up a position on the borders of Tyrone. The rebel earl, with his army, were in sight ranged on the opposite hills.

Tyrone, who was thoroughly aware of Essex's nature, seems to have at once decided his course of conduct, and sent him a messenger to request an interview. Lord Essex returned for answer, that if the earl of Tyrone desired to speak to him, he should be found on the morrow in arms at the head of his troop. The next day a slight skirmish took place; but one of Tyrone's men cried out, with a loud voice, that the earl of Tyrone would not fight, but meet lord Essex unarmed and alone; and on the following day, as Essex again advanced, he was met by Hagan, Tyrone's messenger, who declared his master's wish to submit to the queen, and his request that lord Essex would meet him at the ford of Ballycliach. The lord-lieutenant consented, and sent some persons forward to view the ford. They found Tyrone himself in waiting, who assured them that lord Essex and he could hear each other with perfect ease across the river. Lord Essex arrived, and the earl of Tyrone, on seeing him at the river side, spurred down the hill from his party, and, coming alone to the bank, without any hesitation, rode into the stream until the water was up to his knee, and saluting lord Essex, whose romantic spirit was captivated by this dexterous specimen of Irish frankness, they had a long conversation, which we are not enabled to detail, but which the reader of the foregoing pages may with sufficient probability conjecture. On the subject of the grievances he had endured from the Irish government, Tyrone's material for complaint and self-justification was too obvious to be neglected; many harsh measures were to be complained of; much doubtful conduct explained away, or ascribed to self-defence against those whose design it had been to drive him to extremity; much, too, could be easily distorted; and, as in all such pleadings, it was easy to omit all that could not be excused. The quick, but not

profound apprehension of the rash and generous Essex, could easily be won by such a tale told under such circumstances; and it is quite plain from the result that he was completely the dupe of his antagonist's speciousness and his own generosity.

The conference was for a long time carried on, to the great surprise of the English; and, as some writers relate the story, Tyrone had come up from the river, and the two hostile leaders for some time continued the conversation as they rode together on the bank. This, if true, exhibits the indiscretion of the queen's lord-lieutenant more strongly than we should venture to describe it. At length Tyrone beckoned to his party, and his brother, Cormac, came forward, accompanied by M'Guire, MacGennis, O'Quin, &c.; while lord Essex called the earl of Southampton, Sir Warham St Leger, Sir Edward Wingfield, &c., and a truce was concluded, which was to be renewed every six weeks, till the "calends of May,"* either party having the power to break it on fourteen days' notice. It was immediately after this most unfortunate and ill-managed, though, in some respects, inevitable transaction, that Essex received from the queen the following severe and highly characteristic epistle :

66

" ELIZABETH REGINA.-BY THE QUEENE.

Right trusty and right well beloved cosen and councellor, and trusty and well beloved, we greet you well. Having sufficiently declared unto you before this time, how little the manner of your proceedings hath answered either our direction or the world's expectation; and finding now by your letters, by Cuffe, a course more strange, if stranger may be, we are doubtful what to prescribe you at any time, or what to build upon by your owne writings to us in any thing. For we have clearly discerned, of late, that you have ever to this hower possessed us with expectations that you would proceede as we directed you; but your actions shew alwaies the contrary, though carried in such sort as you were sure we had no time to countermand them.

"Before your departure no man's counsell was held sound which perswaded not presently the maine prosecution in Ulster-all was nothing without that, and nothing was too much for that. This drew on the sudden transportation of so many thousands to be carried over with you, as when you arrived we were charged with more than the liste, or which wee resolved to the number of three hundred horse; also the thousand, which were onely to be in pay during the service in Ulster, have been put in charge ever since the first journey. The pretence of which voyage appeareth by your letters, was to doe some present service in the interim, whilst the season grew more commodious for the maine prosecution, for the which purpose you did importune, with great earnestnesse, that all manner of provisions might be hastened to Dublin against your returne.

"Of this resolution to deferre your going into Ulster, you may well thinke that we would have made you stay, if you had given us more time, or if we could have imagined by the contents of your owne writings that you would have spent nine weekes abroad. At your re

* Moryson.

turne, when a third part of July was past, and that you had understood our mislike of your former course, and making your excuse of undertaking it onely in respect of your conformitie to the council's opinion, with great protestations of haste into the north, we received another letter of new reasons to suspend that journey yet a while, and to draw the army into Ophalia; the fruit whereof was no other at your comming home, but more relations of further miseries of your army, and greater difficulties to performe the Ulster warre. Then followed from you and the counsell a new demand of two thousand men, to which if we would assent, you would speedily undertake what we had so often commanded. When that was granted, and your going onward promised by divers letters, we received by this bearer now fresh advertisement, that all you can doe is to goe to the frontier, and that you have provided onely for twentie daies' victuals. In which kind of proceeding wee must deale plainly with you and that counsell, that it were more proper for them to leave troubling themselves with instructing us, by what rules our power and their obedience are limited, and to bethink them if the courses have bin onely derived from their counsells, how to answere this part of theirs, to traine us into a new expence for one end, and to employ it upon another; to which we could never have assented, if we could have suspected it would have been undertaken before we heard it was in action. And, therefore, wee doe wonder how it can be answered, seeing your attempt is not in the capitall traytor's countrey, that you have increased our list. But it is true, as wee have often said, that we are drawne on to expence by little and little, and by protestations of great resolutions in generalities, till they come to particular execution of all which courses, whosoever shall examine any of the arguments used for excuse, shall find that your owne proceedings beget the difficulties, and that no just causes doe breed the alteration. If lack of numbers, if sicknesse of the army, be the causes, why was not the action undertaken when the army was in a better state? If winters approach, why were the summer months of July and August lost? If the spring was too severe, and the summer that followed otherwise spent-if the harvest that succeeded was so neglected, as nothing hath beene done, then surely must we conclude that none of the foure quarters of the yeere will be in season for you and that counsell to agree of Tyrone's prosecution, for which all our charge was intended. Further, we require you to consider whether we have not great cause to thinke that the purpose is not to end the warre, when yourself have so often told us, that all the petty undertakings in Leinster, Munster, and Connaught, are but loss of time, consumption of treasure, and waste of our people, until Tyrone himself be first beaten, on whom the rest depend. Doe you not see that he maketh the warre with us in all parts by his ministers, seconding all places where any attempts be offered? Who doth not see that, if this course be continued, the warres are like to spend us and our kingdome beyond all moderation, as well as the report of the successe in all parts hath blemished our honour, and encouraged others to no small proportion. We know you cannot so much fayle in judgement as not to understand that all the world seeth how time is dallied, though you think the allowance of that counsell, whose sub

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scriptions are your echoes, should serve and satisfie us. How would you have derided any man else that should have followed your steps? How often have you told us, that others which preceded you had no intent to end the warre? How often have you resolved us, that untill Loughfoyle and Ballishannin were planted, there could be no hope of doing service upon the capitall rebels? We must, therefore, let you know, that as it cannot be ignorance, so it cannot be want of meanes, for you had your asking-you had choice of times—you had power and authority more ample than ever any had, or ever shall have. It may well be judged with how little contentment wee search out this and other errors; for who doth willingly seeke for that which they are so loth to find-but how should that be hidden which is so palpable? And, therefore, to leave that which is past, and that you may prepare to remedy matters of weight hereafter, rather than to fill your papers with many impertinent arguments, being in your generall letters, savouring still, in many points, of humours that concerne the private of you our lord-liefetenant, we doe tell you plainly, that are of that counsell, that we wonder at your indiscretion, to subscribe to letters which concerne our publike service when they are mixed with any man's private, and directed to our counsell table, which is not to handle things of small importance.

"To conclude, if you will say though the army be in list twenty thousand, that you have them not, we answer then to our treasurer, that we are ill served; and that there need not so frequent demands of

full pay. If you will say the muster-master is to blame, we much

muse then why he is not punished, though say we might to you our generall, if we would ex fuere proprio judicare, that all defects by ministers, yea though in never so remote garrisons, have been affirmed to us, to deserve to be imputed to the want of care of the generall. For the small proportion you say you carry with you of three thousand five hundred foot, when lately we augmented you two thousand more, it is to us past comprehension, except it be that you have left still too great numbers in unnecessary garrisons, which doe increase our charge, and diminish your army, which we command you to reform, especially since you, by your continual reports of the state of every province, describe them all to be in worse condition than ever they were before you set foote in that kingdom. So that whosoever shall write the story of this yeere's action, must say that we were at great charges to hazard our kingdom, and you have taken great paines to prepare for many purposes which perish without understanding. And therefore, because we see now by your own words, that the hope is spent of this year's service upon Tyrone and O'Donell, we do command you and our counsell to fall into present deliberation, and thereupon to send us over in writing a true declaration of the state to which you have brought our kingdome, and what be the effects which this journey hath produced, and why these garrisons which you will plant farre within the land in Brenny and Monaghan, as others, whereof we have written, shall have the same difficulties.

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Secondly, we looke to hear from you and them jointly, how you think the remainder of this year shall be employed; in what kind of

warre, and where, and in what numbers; which being done, and sent us hither in writing with all expedition, you shall then understand our pleasure in all things fit for our service; until which time we command you to be very careful to meet with all inconveniences that may arise in that kingdom where the ill-affected will grow insolent upon our ill success, and our good subjects grow desperate when they see the best of our preserving them.

"We have seene a writing, in forme of a cartel, full of challenges that are impertinent, and of comparisons that are needless, such as hath not been before this time presented to a state, except it be done now to terrify all men from censuring your proceedings. Had it not bin enough to have sent us the testimony of the counsell, but that you must call so many of those that are of slender experience, and none of our counsell to such a form of subscription. Surely howsoever you may have warranted them, wee doubt not but to let them know what belongs to us, to you, and to themselves. And thus expecting your answer wee ende, at our manor of Nousuch, the fourteenth of September, in the one and fortieth yeere of our raigne, 1559."

The effect of this letter was the return of lord Essex to complete his tragic history in England. Of this the particulars are known to every one. He left Loftus, archbishop of Dublin, and Sir George Carew lords justices, and departed in the latter end of September. The truce had been entered into by Tyrone, as one of those ordinary expedients by which he contrived to gain time, without sacrificing the least consideration of his own convenience, and was only, therefore, to be observed till he thought fit to break it. Nor was this powerful rebel without encouragement from the foreign enemies of England, who communicated aid or incentive, according to their characters and the nature of their designs. From the Pope he received a crown of Phoenix plumes, the worthy reward of the champion of the Roman

see.

The king of Spain sent him the less doubtful gift of a sum of money, and a promise of a further supply. He came in consequence to the resolution to renew the war, and easily found a pretext to avoid the stipulation of notice: at the same time, he took the title of O'Niall. In January he made the expedition already detailed into Munster, to spirit up the Sugan earl of Desmond, and returned after having successfully stirred up the southern districts to insurrection.

The queen had formerly designed to send over Charles Blount, lord Mountjoy, as lord-lieutenant to Ireland; but was deterred by the representations of lord Essex, who was desirous to secure for himself a post which promised a quick and cheap-won harvest of military honour: with the usual good faith of courtiers, he represented the small military experience, the bookish character, the narrow income of his friend; and thus succeeded in his object. But in the moment of disgrace, his motives were correctly weighed, and lord Mountjoy was now selected by the queen, and landed, together with Sir George Carew, at Howth, on 14th February.

He was but a short time in the country when he perceived the errors of his predecessors, and formed a plan of operation, which though at first difficult to be carried into effect, had the merit of skilful and judicious adaptation to the nature of the country, and the habits of the

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