Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 2.djvu/168

148 and dispersed calumny; and they returned on all such occasions to Ireland more trusted than ever, to laugh at the folly which they had duped.

The farce had already continued through two generations at the opening of the Reformation. Gerald, the eighth earl, was twice in rebellion against Henry VII. He crowned Lambert Simnel with his own hand; when Lambert Simnel fell, he took up Perkin Warbeck; and under pretence of supporting a competitor for the crown, carried fire and sword through Ireland. At length, when England was quiet, Sir Edward Poynings was sent to Dublin to put down this new King-maker. He took the Earl prisoner, with some difficulty, and despatched him to London, where he appeared at the council-board, hot-handed from murder and treason. The King told him that heavy accusations would be laid to his charge, and that he had better choose some counsel to plead his cause. The Earl looked at him with a smile of simplicity. 'I will choose the ablest in England,' he said; 'your Highness I take for my counsel against these false knaves.' The accusations were proceeded with. Among other enormities, Kildare had burnt the cathedral at Cashel, and the Archbishop was present as witness and prosecutor. The Earl confessed his offence: 'but by Jasus,' he added, 'I would not have done it if I had not been told that my lord Archbishop was inside.' The insolent wit, and the danger of punishing so popular a nobleman, passed