Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/427

1535.] victory. But our story must now turn to another country, which contained no such leavening element, and which had longer to wait for the tide of misfortune to change.

The Irish difficulty, under the Plantagenets, the Tudors, the Stuarts, and the House of Hanover, has preserved one uniform characteristic. The country has exerted a magical power of transformation upon every one connected with it. The hardest English understanding has given way before a few years of residence there; the most solid good sense has melted under the influence of its atmosphere.

On the close of the rebellion of Lord Thomas Fitzgerald, Lord Leonard Grey, to whom he surrendered, repaired with his prisoner to London; and after receiving a handsome present as the reward of his services, returned to his post as marshal of the army. In his absence the deputy, Sir William Skeffington, and Lord James Butler extinguished the remains of disaffection which were still smouldering in the southern counties. They made an armed progress through Tipperary and Cork into Limerick, receiving the submission of the leading chiefs. Dungarvon, which had been fortified by the Earl of Desmond, and was intended as a place of landing for the Spaniards, attempted a resistance; but a few English fishing-vessels, accidentally on the coast, blockaded the harbour. Skeffington had cannon with him; and after six hours' bombardment the garrison