524 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 62. themselves, and was the hero of the hour. The ex- ample found, as was natural, immediate imitators. may say of Ireland/ wrote Sir Edward Fitton a few weeks later, ' that it is quiet ; but if universal oppression of the mean sort by the great, if murders, robberies, burnings, make an ill commonwealth, then I cannot say we are in good case.' 1 Public sentiment at Dublin however was unanimous in its approbation. Essex was the man who would cauterize the long-standing sores. There was a soldier in Ireland at last who understood the work that was to be done and the way to set about it. Beloved by the soldiers, ' admirable alike for re ligion, nobility, and courtesy/ ' altogether the Queen's, and not bewitched with the factions of the realm/ the governor of Ulster had but to be armed with supreme power, and the long- wished- for conquest of Ireland would be easily and instantly achieved. 2 Fitzwilliam. who had been waiting impatiently for Sidney's coming to relieve him, was not more reconciled to his place by the popularity of Essex, or by Essex's performances. He himself ( was made the packhorse/ he said, ' for re- proof and disgrace.' He was ruined in fortune. He was blamed for all that went wrong. He complained piteously that ' his fate would be to be buried in Ireland and slandered in England/ 3 He and Essex could not work healthily together ; 1 Fitton to Burghley, January 5, 1575 : MSS. Ireland. ? Waterhouse to Walsingham, January I : MSS. Ibid. 3 Fitzwilliam to the Council, April 26 : MSS. Ibid.
