Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/279

 ,1570-] STATE OF IRELAND. 259 would by law be better governed and more to her Ma- jesty's advantage than by this uncertain kind of regi- ment, whereof no good account can be yielded.' l 1 So beastly are this people/ wrote another, ' that it is not lenity that will win them. It is not the image nor the name of a President and council that will frame them to obedience ; it must be fire and sword, the rod of God's vengeance. Yaliant and courageous soldiers must make a way for law and justice, or else farewell to Ireland.' 2 One permanent element of weakness there was which affected other interests besides those of Ireland - the poverty of the Crown. The cost to England of the Irish Government over and above the revenue levied in Ireland itself from the date of Elizabeth's accession had been 90,000^., and of this 70,000^. remained unpaid remained in the form of outstanding debts to the farm- ers and contractors who had supplied the army, and of Exchequer bills bearing usurious interest. Elizabeth was sparing, on principle, of her subjects' purses as well as her own ; and after all, when the demands upon the treasury from France, from Flanders, from Scotland, the expenses of the navy, the expenses of the fortifications on the coast, are considered against the revenue, the wonder is rather at the greatness of the results which Elizabeth achieved, than at the short- comings in the particular departments. The condition of the finances must have been as well known to Cecil 1 Nicholas White to Cecil, Feb- I 2 Eokeshy to Cecil, April 15 : ruary 9 : MSS. Ireland. MSS. Ibid.