Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 3.djvu/463

1541.] were unequal in the eye of justice, and responsibility was increased in proportion to the rank of the offender.

With Lord Leonard Grey the chapter of Irish misfortunes for the time was closed. The rule of folly was over—the rule of prudence commenced, and for the remaining years of the reign of Henry VIII. Ireland settled down, apparently for ever, into an attitude of quiescent obedience. Something of the improvement was due to the judgment of the ablest statesman who as yet had undertaken the administration of the country; something, also, to the skill with which Henry threw a bait to the Celtic chieftains, which they swallowed with unreluctant greediness. Their devotion to the Pope was considerable in quantity, and in substance was moderately genuine. It was not proof, however, against the temptation of a share in the spoils of 'religion.' In a full Parliament held by St Leger in Dublin, at which O'Neil, Desmond, O'Brien, O'Donnell, Mac William, and the other most turbulent Irish leaders were present, the religious houses, which five years before had been saved by the clergy, were condemned to the same fortune which they had experienced in England. The lands were distributed among the Irish nobles on terms so easy as to amount to a present; and the participation in the sacrilege, and the actual accomplishment of the suppression, if it did not inspire the Celtic leaders with gratitude towards England, yet suspended the