n effected had not been communicated to him, or he
thought it prudent to conceal them, for he informed Henry that the
traitor had yielded without conditions, either of pardon, life, lands,
or goods, "but only submitting to his Grace's mercy."[378] The truth,
however, was soon known; and it occasioned the gravest embarrassment.
How far a government is bound at any time to respect the unauthorized
engagements of its subordinates, is one of those intricate questions
which cannot be absolutely answered;[379] and it was still less easy to
decide, where the object of such engagements had run a career so
infamous as Lord Thomas Fitzgerald. No pirate who ever swung on a
well-earned gallows had committed darker crimes, and the king was called
upon to grant a pardon in virtue of certain unpermitted hopes which had
been held out in his name. He had resolved to forgive no more noble
traitors in Ireland, and if the archbishop's murder was passed over, he
had no right to affect authority in a country where he was so unable to
exert it. On the other hand, the capture of so considerable a person was
of great importance; his escape abroad, if he had desired to leave the
country, could not have been prevented; and while the government
retained the benefit which they derived from his surrender, their honour
seemed to be involved in observing the conditions, however made, by
which it had been secured.

[Sidenote: The Duke of Norfolk advises delay of punishment.]

[Sidenote: Fitzgerald is hanged the following year at Tyburn.]

It is likely, though it is not certain, that Lord Leonard foresaw the
dilemma in which Henry would be placed, and hoped by means of it to
secure the escape of his kinsman. His own ultimate treason throws a
shadow on his earlier loyalty; and his talent was fully equal to so
ingenious a fraud. He had placed the king in a position from which no
escape was possible that was not open to grave objection. To pardon so
heavy an offender was to violate the first duty of government, and to
grant a general licence to Irish criminality; to execute him was to
throw a shadow indirectly on the king's good faith, and lay his generals
open to a charge of treachery. Henry resolved to err on the side on
which error was least injurious. The difficulty was submitted to the
Duke of Norfolk, as of most experience in Irish matters. The duke
advised that execution should be delayed; but added significantly, "quod
defertur non aufertur."--Pa