something of the same qualities; and the Irish would not have required
that such an address should be made to them if they had been capable of
profiting by it. If Surrey was sanguine of any good result, he was soon
undeceived. He had no sooner landed than the whole country was in arms
against him,--O'Neile, O'Carroll, O'Connor, O'Brien, Desmond, broke into
simultaneous rebellion, acting, as was proved by intercepted
letters,[304] under instructions which Kildare had sent from England.
Surrey saw at a glance the justice of the language of the report. He
informed Wolsey briefly of the state of the country, and advised that
unless the king was prepared for extreme measures, he should not waste
money in partial efforts.[305] Writing subsequently to Henry himself, he
said that the work to be done was a repetition of the conquest of Wales
by Edward I, and it would prove at least, as tedious and as expensive.
Nevertheless, if the king could make up his mind to desire it, there was
no insuperable difficulty. He would undertake the work himself with six
thousand men. The difficulty would be then, however, but half overcome,
for the habits of the people were incurable. Strong castles must be
built up and down the island, like those at Conway and Carnarvon; and a
large immigration would be necessary of English colonists.[306] Either
as much as this should be done, the earl thought, or nothing. Half
measures only made bad into worse; and a policy of repression, if not
consistently maintained, was unjust and pernicious. It encouraged the
better affected of the inhabitants to show their good will to the
government; and when the Irish were again in power, these persons were
marked for vengeance.

[Sidenote: The king persists in a middle way; and Surrey at length
desires his recal.]

Practical experience was thus laid against Henry's philosophy; and it
would have been well if the king could have discerned clearly on which
side the truth was likely to lie. For the misfortune of Ireland, this
was not the case. It was inconvenient at the moment to undertake a
costly conquest. Surrey was maintained with a short retinue, and from
want of power could only enter upon a few partial expeditions. He
inflicted a heavy defeat upon O'Neile; he stormed a castle of
O'Connor's; and showed, with the small means at his disposal, what he
might have done with far less support than he had required. He went
where he pleased through the country. But his c