Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/318

29# REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 59. mei. so hateful, that before God in agony of soul I doubt the event. There lyeth some secret mystery in this universal rebellious disposition. God bless her Majesty. I can but die at my post. I only hope I may die with the loss of Ireland, rather than live in England to be- moan it. As her Majesty will spend no more money here, we must hazard our lives as we are, even with these falsehearted Pale men/ l Thus it seemed as if all was over, and that the only remaining resource was to revert to the old ways and govern Ireland for and through the Irish themselves. The language of the Archbishop of Cashel to Cardinal Alciati shows that before the Government attempted to force a religion upon them which had not a single honest advocate in the whole nation, there was no in- curable disloyalty. If they were left with their own lands, their own laws, and their own creed, the chiefs were willing to acknowledge the English Sovereign. A firm administration and a rigid enforcement of order would have been by far the best for Ireland ; but if this could not be because of the expense, the policy of con- ciliation graciously carried out would have been the only wise alternative. The disappointment of the h opes which they had placed in Spain might have satisfied the Geraldines that they had nothing to look for from Philip, while the point of religion once disposed of, there was no further reason for their preferring Spain to England. 1 Fitzwilliam to Burghley, October 28 : MSS. Ireland.