s been already mentioned that one of the ways in which the Lord Deputy had hoped to render Ireland useful to the English Crown was by supplying Charles with a body of efficient troops, who would be wholly under his control, and could be used, if necessary, to crush the pretensions of the English Parliamentary party. At the time of his arrival in Ireland the army was in a most unsatisfactory state. Almost from the beginning of the preceding reign, the complaints ... Read More

Policy of Wentworth.—Viscount Wentworth, previous to his arrival in Ireland, had been a somewhat prominent figure in English politics. At his first entrance into public life he had sided with the Parliament in its disputes with Charles, but afterwards had suddenly changed, from motives very difficult to understand. Henceforth, for good or ill, in adversity as in prosperity, he was the King's man. It was for the King, and solely with an eye to what he conceived to be his interest, that ... Read More