Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 10.djvu/598

 57^ REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 62. hearts were in the same place, and they had their per- sonal grievances to complain of also. But many of them remembered the fate of Silken Thomas and his uncles, and like Kildare they hung back, at least till something more definite was heard of the force coming from Corufia. The excitement however and the massa- cre of so many of their friends in the south, overtired the patience of the more impetuous or bigoted. Row- land Eustace, Yiscount Baltinglass, was one of those who had been imprisoned for the cess. He was a passionate Romanist ; but besides his creed he was connected in blood with the marauding tribes of the Wicklow mountains. He was the owner of Glenmalure, the scene of the murderous performance of the Naas garrison, and. the victims of that remarkable atrocity were dependents of the House of Eustace. There were therefore special causes peculiarly prompting him to rebellion. After vainly endeavouring to persuade Kildare to rise with him, in the middle of July, while Pelham was still at Ashketyn, lie threw off his allegiance, and sent circulars to tho nobles and officers specially connected with England, explaining that he had drawn the sword at the com- mand of the highest power upon earth, and inviting and expecting them to imitate his example. ' A woman incapable of orders,' he said, ' could not be head of the Church a thing which Christ did not grant to his own mother/ and Elizabeth by usurping the title had for- feited her sovereignty. 1 1 Baltinglass to the Mayor ofWaterford, July 18 ; To the Earl of Or- moiid, July 30 : MS8. Ireland.