Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/324

REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 59. ' were the foundation of Irish disturbances ; ' and al- though the loyalty of Essex himself was above sus- picion, ' security was necessary that such as might suc- ceed him should live in order and obedience.' With this, and some other unimportant reservations, the peti- tion was granted. The Queen gave Essex a last caution to ' win the Irish by mildness/ and he prepared to go. 1 The military force was to be irresistible. It was to consist of 1 200 men, who were to be settled on the land as they took possession of it, and to do service in the field for their tenures. The Queen undertook to pay half the wages for the first year, and she advanced Essex io,ooo7. for the expenses of his outfit, taking security upon his English estates. The loan was to be repaid in yearly instalments of lOOoL, and, in default, a manor of that value was annually to lapse to her Ma- jesty. 2 So provided, in August, 1573, the young Earl and his companions set out upon their adventurous en- 2. 1 Essex to Elizabeth, November Elizabeth's personal carelessness in affairs of the greatest consequence is curiously illustrated in the history of this transaction. Four months later, when the results began to be doubtful, she sent Burghley a series of questions, as to the Earl's objects whether the country which had been granted to him was inhabited, and if so what he proposed to do with the people whether they were to be expelled, -or whether English colonists were to be introduced among them ? How they were to be governed ? How they were ' to have use of the Christian religion ? What were their laws and customs, and to whom the lands were sup- posed by themselves to belong ? Doubts moved by the Queen's Ma- jesty, touching the Earl of Essex, whereof she requires to be resolved, December, 1573. The questions were most proper; so proper that they ought to have been asked before the grant was made. 2 Remembrances for the Earl of Essex, August, 1573.