HOWEVER, the Irish and Catholic party was defeated, not by the valour of the enemy nor by the arms of the heretics, but by various crafts and stratagems. Not the least of the English stratagems was, that as soon as the war broke out they at once ceased persecution and tyranny and did not harass or annoy either the Irish priests of the English faction nor the Irish laymen of their province, although they never tolerated the open profession of the Catholic religion.
By this indulgence they retained the friendship of the Irish chiefs of the English faction, and of some of the priests and cities. For it is the custom of the English, and the policy of the Irish government in war and critical times and difficulties not to provoke the Irish with the least injustice, to make much of them, and load them with presents: in peace and prosperous times, they kill, destroy and ruin. They endeavoured with great assiduity to persuade the Finigald or English province, and the Irish chiefs of the new race that they would be expelled from their possessions and properties by the old Irish who were fighting for the Catholic Faith, if these conquered, and by this misrepresentation they rendered credulous men not only obedient to themselves but made many of them active against the Catholics.
The English Governors and clergy by themselves and their followers declaimed against the unheard of cruelty of the Spaniards, and unjustness of their laws, in order to deter the Irish from friendship with them, but there is at this day no Irishman who does not know perfectly well that the truth is otherwise.
The Irish, if they deserted the English a thousand times during the war, were nevertheless as often received back into friendship and all their former offences forgiven and themselves oftentime richly rewarded. But those who deserted once in times of peace were put to death, and the English, that they might not seem to break faith, falsely charge them with some new offence, and however trivial might be the charge it is sufficient to have them adjudged to death. Indeed, I am not surprised that an equal punishment should await those who never deserted from them, although they were Catholics. For although the English may not hate them more, assuredly they do not love more those Irish who are heretics, however friendly, graciously and plausibly they may behave towards them, when they require their assistance and help to destroy Catholics. When the Catholics are destroyed they then mete out the same punishment to heretics whom they know esteem the Catholics and are heretics not from conviction, but in appearance only and through fear. Actuated by a like spirit against the Scots, they spare no Scotchman.
Nor should another Protestant device be omitted—namely, the plan of laying waste the Catholics' lands, towns, crops and cattle with fire and sword, so that those whom they could not overcome by valour, they conquered by
Brass coin was, by order of the Queen, sent to Ireland in the year 1601, by which on the one hand the Queen replenished the exhausted resources of her army, and on the other withdrew Irish gold and silver. As soon as the war was finished this brass money became valueless, to the great injury of the Irish and of the Queen's tax-payers, especially merchants. Indeed the Protestants held that the Irish war would never have been finished while the Irish had victuals or gold or silver to procure them, and that their own army should be supplied from England. These were the reasons why so great a number of ruined Irish inundated foreign nations, especially Spain and France.