oath as he could." The nobles at last came
to terms, and took the proffered pledge in the most solemn manner, in
presence of the Blessed Sacrament. This accomplished, the knight
returned to England; and on his safe arrival, after a stormy passage,
made a pilgrimage to Saint Saviour's, in Cornwall.

It is quite impossible now to judge whether these solemn oaths were made
to be broken, or whether the temptation to break them proved stronger
than the resolution to keep them. It is at least certain that they were
broken, and that in a year or two after the Earl of Kildare had received
his pardon under the Great Seal. In May, 1492, the Warbeck plot was
promulgated in Ireland, and an adventurer landed on the Irish shores,
who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second son of
Edward IV., who was supposed to have perished in the Tower. His stay in
Ireland, however, was brief, although he was favourably received. The
French monarch entertained him with the honours due to a crowned head;
but this, probably, was merely for political purposes, as he was
discarded as soon as peace had been made with England. He next visited
Margaret, the Dowager Duchess of Burgundy, who treated him as if he were
really her nephew.

Henry now became seriously alarmed at the state of affairs in Ireland,
and sent over Sir Edward Poyning, a privy counsellor and a Knight of the
Garter, to the troublesome colony. He was attended by some eminent
English lawyers, and what was of considerably greater importance, by a
force of 1,000 men. But neither the lawyers nor the men succeeded in
their attempt, for nothing was done to conciliate, and the old policy of
force was the rule of action, and failed as usual. The first step was to
hunt out the abettors of Warbeck's insurrection, who had taken refuge in
the north: but the moment the Deputy marched against them, the Earl of
Kildare's brother rose in open rebellion, and seized Carlow Castle. The
Viceroy was, therefore, obliged to make peace with O'Hanlon and
Magennis, and to return south. After recovering the fortress, he held a
Parliament at Drogheda, in the month of November, 1494. In this
Parliament the celebrated statute was enacted, which provided that
henceforth no Parliament should be held in Ireland until the Chief
Governor and Council had first certified to the King, under the Great
Seal, as well the causes and considerations as the Acts they designed to
pass, and till the same should be a