body of English troops than had ever before been at the disposal of a President of Munster had accompanied him from Dublin; they were outnumbered twenty-fold by the native troops that he was sent to subdue. The ordinary resources of his own genius, which were neither few nor feeble, inspired him with little confidence; but in the device which he had brought with him from England, and which Cecyll had refused to hearken to, his own faith was unshaken, although no man else could be brought to think well, or even patiently of it. To explain to the reader the notable scheme of Sir George Carewe, and to inform him how it was that Sir Robert Cecyll shrank from the mere proposal of it to the Queen, it may be convenient to call to his recollection some of the circumstances attending the suppression of the previous great rebellion in 1583, in which Gerald, the 16th Earl of Desmond, lost the largest patrimony in the kingdom. His great possessions, considerably over half a million of acres, were forfeited to the crown, the blood of the Geraldines attainted, and the Earldom of Desmond extinguished! But this mighty blow, crushing prince and principality, had swerved from its legitimate direction, for it so happened that, by English law, the great rebel had never been legitimately Earl of Desmond at all! His father, James, the 15th Earl, had had a son by his first marriage, whom he had chosen to set aside by a Will in favour of Gerald, his son by a second wife; Gerald had succeeded in forcing himself upon the country, and the English Government had found it more expedient to acknowledge a proud and fiery chieftain than to champion the legal right of a submissive and feeble rival; but not the less was his elder brother Sir Thomas of Desmond legitimately the Earl! And not the less was his son, James Fitz-Thomas, heir by English law, to every acre which the Queen had seized; and to the Earldom of Desmond which the Queen had declared attainted! It had been expedient to acknowledge the usurping Earl; it continued expedient to maintain his right, for upon it depended the lapse of the noblest patrimony in Ireland to the crown, and the consequent distribution of it amongst a powerful body of gentleman-beggars who were in favour at the court; but a day came when the expedience of this state policy was less apparent. The first act of O'Neill, on his coming into Munster, had been to summon James Fitz-Thomas to his presence, and offer him the alternative of assuming instantly the title of Earl of Desmond, or of moving aside into the royal shadow and making place for his younger brother. James Fitz-Thomas required no time for deliberation; he accepted his earldom at the hands of O'Neill, and was proclaimed by him lawful head of the Geraldines. There are few personages in Irish history who inspire so great sympathy as James Fitz-Thomas, the Sugan Earl of Desmond. A sense of his own right and of his own dignity induced him to assume a position for which he was unequal. He was a truthful, honourable and brave man, but he possessed neither the fiery courage nor the abilities of his race. His childhood had been overshadowed by the might of his imperious uncle, and his manhood by the withering vengeance of the Queen, and the great ruin of his house. From the time of his uncle's fall till the arrival of O'Neill in Munster he had been a hopeless suppliant for his inheritance. The small portions of the Desmond lands that had been allotted to him were greedily coveted by one or other of the Queen's favourites, or the needy relatives of English noblemen who had cast their fortunes in Ireland, and who looked upon every acre left to a Fitz-Gerald as robbed from themselves. The consciousness of being constantly surrounded by a multitude of enemies and spies had suppressed the spirit that was needed for the command of the wild undisciplined men who flocked to his banner. and looked to find in him the daring that they remembered in his uncle. As a soldier or a political chief he contrasts disadvantageously with O'Neill and Florence MacCarthy, whose names are mostly associated with his, but history has enabled us to assert that his character, if it had less of brilliancy than theirs, had fewer blemishes. Sir Thomas of Desmond had lived and died, with what patience he possessed, under the great robbery of his title and inheritance. He had solicited for justice, and sent his son to the court to protest against the spoliation which had been made of his property, but beyond some fair promises and the gratuity of a mark a day to his son-promised for life and paid for a year, had gained nothing by his loyalty. There was one man in Ireland-it is difficult to believe there was more-who "found it strange" that the son should seize the first opportunity that offered to make an effort to recover the dignity and estates of his ancestors. A man as single-minded as himself, one who was probably loyal because the Fitz-Geralds were otherwise, the bitterest enemy of his house, the same who had pursued the great Earl his uncle to his death,-Thomas, Earl of Ormond,-was, at that time in command of the Queen's forces in Ireland, and as soon as the tidings reached him that James Fitz-Thomas had joined the rebels, he wrote him a grand letter, to which, personal respect for the veteran who wrote it obtained from the young man a temperate and modest answer. These letters are now laid before the reader, not so much because that of Fitz-Thomas contains an eloquent narrative of the wrong inflicted upon his father and upon himself, as that it will remove all doubts, which it had been expedient to encourage, as to his lawful claim to the title which he assumed. "The Earl of Ormond to James Fitz Thomas. "James Fitz Thomas, Hit seemed to us most strange when wee hard you were combined and ioyned wth theis Leinster Traytors lately repaired into Mounster, consideringe how your father Sir Thomas alwaies contynued a dutifull subject, and did manie good offices to further Her Mats service, from wch course if you should degresse and now ioyn wth those unnaturall traytors we maie think you very unwise, and that you bring uppon yoursealf your owne confusion weh is th ende of all traytors; as by daylye experience you have seene; wherefore wee will that you doe putly make your repaire unto us wheresoever you shall heer of our beinge, to lay downe your greifes and complaints, if you have anie; and if you stand in anie doubt of yourself, theis our Ires shall be for you and such as shall accompanie you in your cominge and retorninge from us, your safetyes, and further in your drawinge neere the place where we shalle be we will send safe conduct for you. "Geven at the Campe of Cowlin, "8 Octr. 1598. "Thomas Ormond & Ossery. "Wee need not put you in minde of the late overthrowe of the Earle your uncle, who was plaged, wth his ptakers, by fier, sworde, and famine; and be assured if you pceede in anie traiterous actions, you will have the like ende. What Her Mats forces have done against the King of Spaine and is hable to doe against anie other enemy the world hath seen, to Her Highnes immortall fame; by wch you maie iudge what she is able to doe against you, or anie other that shall become traytors. "To James Fitz Thomas Fitz Geralde. "Give theis in Hast." "James Fitz Thomas to the Earl of Ormond. "Rt. Hon. I receaued your Los lres wherein yor. Ho, dothe specifie that you think it verie straunge that I shoald ioyne in action wth theis gentn. of Leinster. It is soe that I have ever at all times behaved myself dutifullie and as true a subiect to Her Matie as ever laie in me; and as it is well known to yo Hour. I have showed my willingness in service against my uncle, and his adherents, wherebie I have bin partelie a meane of his destruction. Before my uncle's deseace it may be remembered by your Lo: that I have bin in England from my father cleaiming title to his inheritance of the House of Desmonde, wch is manifestlie known to be his righte, whereuppon Her Matye hath pmised of her gratious favour to doe me justice uppon the decease of my uncle, who then was in action, and have allowed me a marke sterling pr. diem towards my maintenance, untill her Mats further pleasure were knowne, of wch I never receaued but one years paie, and ever since my uncles decease I could gett no hearinge concerninge my inheritance of th Earldome of Desmonde, but have bestowed the same uppon divers undertakers, to disinherite me for ever; haueing all this while staied myself, in hope to be gratiouslie delt wthall by Her Matie; seeinge no other remedie, and that I could gett no indifferencie, I will follow by all the meanes I can to mainetaine my right, trusting in Th Almightie to further the same. My very good Lord I haue seene soe manie bad ensamples, in seeking of diuerse many gents. bluddely false and sinister accusations cutt off and executed to deathe, that the noblemen and cheif gentln of this province cannot thinck themselves assured of their lyves if they were contented to loose their lands and livings; as for example Redmond Fitz Geralde, uppon the false informacon of a scurfey boy, for safeguard of his leif, was putt to death, being a gent of good callinge, being 3 score years of age, and innocent of the crime chardged wth all. Donagh McCraghe alsoe was executed uppon the false informacon of a villanious Kerne, who wthin a seveunight was put to death within your Los Libertie at Clonmell, who tooke uppon his salvation all that he said against the said Donough was untrue, that he was subborned by others. Of late a poore cosen of ours James Fitz Morrys of Mochollapa is soe abbominablie dealt wthal, uppon the false information of an Englisehman, accusinge him of murder, who never drew sworde in anger all the daies of his leife, and is manifestlie knowne that he never gave cause to be suspected of the like; Pierce Lacie who was an ernest servitor, and had the killinge of Rory McMorogho and the apprehension of Morogho Oge till he left him in the geoale of Limerick, and after all his services was driven for the sauegarde of his leif to be a fugitive. To be briefe with yo Lo Englishmen were not contented to have our lands and livings but unmercifullie to seeke our leives, by false and sinister meanes, : under cullor of Lawe; and as for my prte I will prevent it the best I maie. "Committing yo Lo. to God I am, "From the Camp at Carrigrone, Ja: Desmonde. "12 Oct. 1588. "To the right hono. my verie good Lo and cosen therle of Ormond and Ossery, Lo Leuet General of her Mats forces wthin the realme of Ireland theis to be delivered." It is not the purpose of the present narrative to follow the course of the great struggle which ensued. In the palmiest days of his prosperity, as he afterwards acknowledged to Carewe, Fitz-Thomas numbered as many as 8,000 well armed men. Sir George Carewe might, he wrote to Cecyll that he would, have ventured to give battle to this large force, had it not been that a man as wary as himself, and whose neutrality he feared more than the open rebellion of the Sugan Earl,-for so was James Fitz-Thomas called,-lay in patient observation beyond his reach, within the fastnesses of Desmond, professing unwavering loyalty, yet in possession of all the issues of that wild country into which Carewe must have penetrated before he could bring the Geraldines to battle. The reader who follows, through the pages of the "Pacata Hibernia," the struggles in Munster in 1600, and who becomes interested in the fortunes of the gallant man who ventured fortune, dignity, and life upon the hazard of their success, must often be astonished that Florence MacCarthy (supposing him to have been, as that history asserts that he was, not less rebellious than Fitz-Thomas himself, and at the head of a powerful body of troops) could have received the many letters from the Sugan Earl, which are printed there, and which appeal alternately to his patriotism, his honour, and his interest for some open co-operation, and yet have made no move to join him! But in truth this sagacious chieftain understood, far better than Fitz-Thomas, the strategy of the President of Munster, and how to encounter it. At the very time when the necessities of the Earl were the most urgent, and his appeals the most touching, the Fabian policy of the man who seemed so indifferent to his danger, alone stood between him and his destruction. The troops which Florence MacCarthy had in his pay were not merely "his own people," but disci |