[19] The whole of Shane's statements are from his letter to the Queen, Feb. 8, 1561. For the refutation of his charge against Sussex, see the Queen to the Nobility and Council of Ireland, May 21, and the Council's answer, June 12.
[20] Lord Justice Fitzwilliam to Cecil, Feb. 8, 1561; Jaques Wingfield to Sussex, Feb. 23.
[21] Protection for Shane O'Neill, March 4, 1561; Fitzwilliam to the Queen, April 5, 8, and 26.
[22] Sir William Cecil to Argyle, April 2, 1561 (not sent till the 27th); Instructions by Sussex to William Hutchinson, sent into Scotland, April 27.
[23] Sir Henry Radclyffe to Cecil, May 3. The lines from Ovid are:--
Cuncta prius tentanda, sed immedicabile vulnus Ense recidendum est, ne pars sincera trahatur.--_Met._ i. 190.
They were quoted by Sir Edward Dering in his speech against Bishops, &c., in the Long Parliament. The Queen to the Nobility and Council of Ireland, May 21. Sussex to Cecil, July 17.
[24] Wingfield to Sussex, Feb. 23; Fitzwilliam to Cecil, April 5, and the enclosures.
[25] Fitzwilliam to Cecil, May 30, 1561, and to Sussex same date. The _Four Masters_ incorrectly place the event under the year 1559.
[26] Shane O'Neill to the Lord Justice, June 8. He calls his messenger 'nebulo,' and says 'diversis torquidibus torturavi eum et auriculam ejus fidi.' Campion. _Four Masters_, 1561.
[Sidenote: Sussex returns and invades Ulster.]
Sussex landed on June 2, and advanced within three weeks to Armagh, where he fortified the cathedral and posted a well-provided garrison of 200 men. Shane could do nothing in the field, but withdrew with his cattle to the border of Tyrconnel. Calvagh O'Donnell was hurried about from one lake-dwelling to another; and Hutchinson, the confidential agent of Sussex in Scotland and Ulster, retired to Dublin in despair. Believing that the possession of Armagh would give him an advantage in negotiation, Sussex made overtures through the Baron of Slane; but O'Neill refused to come near him until he had seen the Queen, who had given his messenger a superlatively gracious answer. In the meantime he demanded withdrawal of the garrison, maintaining that the war was unjust and unprovoked. He had not, he said, libelled the Lord-Lieutenant, and had he done so he would have scorned to deny his authorship. He professed great readiness to go to London, but repeated that money was necessary, and laid upon the Viceroy the whole responsibility of nullifying the Queen's good intentions. In future, he grandly declared, he would communicate only with head-quarters, and he hoped that her Majesty would support his efforts to civilise his wild country. He was not such a fool as to put himself in the power of an Irish Government, and he gave a long list of Irishmen who had suffered torture or death through their reliance on official promises. Sussex replied that the money was ready for Shane if he would come for it before the campaign began, and he issued a proclamation calling on the O'Neills to support the young heir to the Earldom of Tyrone. Shane merely warned the Baron of Slane to look out for something unpleasant; for Earl of Ulster he intended to be. That great dignity had long been merged in the Crown, and the Baron could hardly fail to see what Shane was aiming at.[27]