strength rather than a constant cause of trouble to the dwellers in the Pale.  Nor again was it to introduce feudalism; for as I have shown, the system already in existence was feudalism without its advantages; the substitution of fixed dues for the barbarous custom of “coigne and livery” was an unmixed benefit to the occupiers of land.  And it cannot be denied that the first “Plantation” was a thorough success—­thriving settlements and prosperous farms took the place of forest and swamp.

If the position of Henry VIII had been one of difficulty, that of Elizabeth was far more critical.  The separation of the Church of England from Rome was now complete.  The great powers of the Continent were united in one supreme effort to stamp out the new heresy.  The massacre of St. Bartholomew had taken place in France; Philip II had ordered a Te Deum to be sung at Madrid, and the Pope had had a medal struck to commemorate the glorious event.  The lowest computation of those put to death for heresy in the Netherlands by Charles V was 50,000; and his successor had, at the instigation of the Holy Office, issued a proclamation sentencing to death the whole population—­men, women and children—­with the exception of a few persons specially named.  Alva boasted that he had put 18,000 Dutchmen to death on the scaffold, and the Pope presented him with a consecrated hat and sword, an honour which had previously been bestowed only on reigning sovereigns.  In Spain it was regarded not only as a sacred duty but a pleasant amusement for the King and his Court to watch the torturing of heretics.  England alone—­then a comparatively weak and insignificant country—­stood out against this overwhelming combination.  And in attempting to realize the position of affairs we must remember that in the sixteenth century the Papacy was not merely a religious system but also a tremendous political power.  We may now regard the claim of the Pope to depose princes as a harmless dream; but at that time it was a stern reality.  Thus matters came to a crisis when the Pope excommunicated Elizabeth and all who remained loyal to her, released her subjects from their allegiance, offered plenary indulgence and remission of sins to all who would take up arms against her, promised a liberal supply of graces and indulgences to Irish chieftains who would rebel, and gave Ireland to Philip of Spain.

It can hardly be denied therefore that England was engaged in a life and death struggle.  And unless Elizabeth would consent to the annexation of Ireland by Spain and to the conquest of England by some power that would treat the people there much as the heretics of the Netherlands were being treated by Philip, it must be admitted that any measures, however violent, became a political necessity—­a mere act of self-defence.  But though Elizabeth had already on hand a war with France, Spain and Scotland, her difficulties did not end there.  The North of Ireland was being invaded by Celts from Scotland, and