Mountjoy

“ Mountjoy with a small force at once set out for the disaffected districts. He punished the offenders, and rapidly brought the towns to submission. On 26 May Mountjoy was summoned to England and never returned to Ireland, although he assisted the privy council, to which he was admitted as soon as he reached home, with his wide knowledge of Irish affairs until his death. He brought with him to his house at Wanstead, which he had purchased of Essex early in 1599, O'Neil, earl of Tyrone, in order to enable him to make a personal submission to James. ”

“ Mountjoy's feelings base in the idea at the first blush of it. She did not like to be untrue to her gallant nephew. But as she came to turn it in her mind there were certain circumstances which recommended the change to her—should the change be necessary. Florence certainly had expressed an unintelligible objection to the elder brother. Why should the younger not be more successful? Mrs. Mountjoy's heart had begun to droop within her as she had thought that her girl would prove deaf to the voice of the charmer. ”

“ She does not appear to be a young lady whose head would easily be turned. It is her heart of which I am thinking." The interview ended by Lady Mountjoy passing the Belgian lover on to Mrs. Mountjoy.
"Florence!" said Mrs. Mountjoy.
"Yes, Mrs. Mountjoy;—I have the great honor of asking your permission. I am well known to Sir Magnus and Lady Mountjoy, and they can tell what are my circumstances. I am forty years of age."
"Oh yes; everything is, I am sure, quite as it should be. But my daughter thinks about these things for herself." ”

“ Mountjoy struck the outlaws on one flank just as Lionel of Montmorency came down upon the other. In the time a man would need to run a furlong’s length, a score or more of the varlets were slain by shafts and cross-bow quarrels or by the swords of our men-at-arms, fifty more had clasped their hands above their heads in token of surrender, and the Monkslayer and the remainder of his crew had taken flight toward the center of the forest. ”

“ Mountjoy. "Mind you stay indoors this evening, sir," the maid continued, looking and speaking so excitedly that Hugh hardly knew her again. "My mistress is coming to see you, and I shall come with her."
Such an act of imprudence was incredible. "You must be out of your senses!" Mountjoy exclaimed.
"I'm out of myself sir, if that's what you mean," Fanny answered. "I do so enjoy treating a man in that way! The master's going out to dinner—he'll know nothing about it—and," cried the cool cold woman of other times, "he richly deserves it." ”

“ Grey, to the dismay of creditors, to the incredulous wonder of Augustus, and almost to the annihilation of Mountjoy himself, he had done it. But there had been nothing in Mountjoy's conduct which had in truth wounded him. Mountjoy's vices had been dangerous, destructive, absurdly foolish, but not, to his father, a shame. He ridiculed gambling as a source of excitement. No man could win much without dishonest practices, and fraud at cards would certainly be detected. ”

“ In 1600 Mountjoy went to Ireland as lord deputy in succession to Essex, where he succeeded in suppressing the rebellion of Hugh O’Neill, earl of Tyrone, whom Essex had failed to subdue. In July 1601 Mountjoy made himself master of Lough Foyle, and in the following December he defeated O’Neill’s Spanish auxiliaries at Kinsale, and drove them out of the country. In 1602 the earl of Tyrone made his submission to Mountjoy in Dublin. ”

“ Still, try as she would, she could not turn it till old Marvin came to her help. Then indeed the rusty lock gave way, the door swung slowly open, and my father, the Lord of Mountjoy, followed by half a score of knights and men-at-arms, stepped forth into the candlelight.
When Lady Mountjoy at last was free from my father’s embrace, she stood with her hands on his shoulders and asked a dozen questions, demanding that he answer all at once.
“Whence comest thou, my lord? Are the Scots beaten? Had’st thou news of the treachery of the Old Wolf of Carleton? How many men hast thou? Oh! ”

“ Mountjoy denied indignantly that she was alone in the world.
"Is there any protection that a man can offer to a woman," he asked, "which I am not ready and eager to offer to You? Oh, Iris, what have I done to deserve that you should speak of yourself as friendless in my hearing!"
He had touched her at last. Their tender charm showed itself once more in her eyes and in her smile. She rose and approached him.
"What exquisite kindness it must be," she said, "that blinds a clever man like you to obstacles which anyone else can see! ”

“ Arthur Mountjoy, traitor to Ireland. Set that on his tombstone, and disgrace him for ever. Listen, boys—listen! There is a patriot among you. I am the patriot—preserved by a merciful Providence. Ha, my Lord Harry, search the earth and search the sea, the patriot is out of your reach! Nurse! What's that the doctor said of me? The fever will kill him? Well, what does that matter, as long as Lord Harry doesn't kill me? Open the doors, and let everybody hear of it. I die the death of a saint—the greatest of all saints—the saint who shot Arthur Mountjoy. ”

“ Harry, during the two days, shot some hares in company with Mountjoy, but not a word more was said about the adventure in London. Nor was the name of Florence Mountjoy ever mentioned between the two suitors. "I'm going to Buston, you know," Mountjoy said once.
"So your father told me."
"What sort of a fellow shall I find your uncle?"
"He's a gentleman, but not very wise." No more was said between them on that head, but Mountjoy spoke at great length about his own brother and his father's will.
"My father is the most singular man you ever came across." ”

“ Then, without speaking a word to his aunt, he marched out of the room and left the house, closing the front-door after him with a loud noise, which testified to his anger.
"He has gone!" said Mrs. Mountjoy, with a tone of deep tragedy.
"It is better so," said Florence.
"A man must take his chance in such warfare as this," said Harry. "There is something about Mountjoy Scarborough that, after all, I like. I do not love Augustus, but, with certain faults, Mountjoy is a good fellow."
"He is the head of our family," said Mrs. Mountjoy, "and is the owner of Tretton." ”

“ The queen, that she might check his progress, returned to her former intention of appointing Mountjoy lord deputy; and though that nobleman, who was an intimate friend of Essex, and desired his return to the government of Ireland, did at first very earnestly excuse himself on account of his bad state of health, she obliged him to accept of the employment. Mountjoy found the island almost in a desperate condition; but being a man of capacity and vigor, he was so little discouraged, that he immediately advanced against Tyrone in Ulster. ”

“ I hope you're pretty well, Captain Scarborough." Beyond that there was no word of salutation, and no reference to Mountjoy's wonderful absence.
"What's it to be:—twos and tens?" said Captain Vignolles, arranging the cards and the chairs.
"Not for me," said Mountjoy, who seemed to have been enveloped by a most unusual prudence.
"What! are you afraid,—you who used to fear neither man nor devil?"
"There is so much in not being accustomed to it," said Mountjoy. "I haven't played a game of whist since I don't knew when."
"Twos and tens is heavy against dummy," said Major Moody. ”

“ But I think the thing that warmed me most toward my former squire and constant comrade was the loyalty he ever had to the class of folk from which he sprung. Lord Mountjoy often gave to him authority over working crews at some necessary task on farm or highway or scouting parties of swordsmen and archers that rode the Marches to guard against the Welsh marauders. It would have been no wonder had such a sudden rise to title and preferment bred in a youth who had been born in a forester’s cot a certain arrogance of manner and an overweening confidence in his own worth and deserts. ”

“ You know Mr. Mountjoy, my lord? That's right. Draw in your chair, Mountjoy. My professional prospects threaten me with ruin—but while I have a roof over my head, there's always a welcome for a friend. My dear fellow, I have every reason to believe that the doctor who sold me this practice was a swindler. The money is gone, and the patients don't come. Well! I am not quite bankrupt yet; I can offer you a glass of grog. Mix for yourself—we'll make a night of it."
Hugh explained (with the necessary excuses) that his object was to say a few words to Lord Harry in private. ”

“ Mountjoy, after frequent indecisive skirmishes with 160O’Neill, amused himself by offering a reward of £2,000 for that chieftain’s head, and smaller amounts for those of his most important lieutenants. But no man was found among the faithful clansmen of Tyrone to murder his chief for the base bribe of the Lord Deputy. Yet Mountjoy continued to gain ground in Ulster, little by little, and he built more forts, commanding important passes, and garrisoned them in great force. He also caused most of the woods to be cut away, and thus laid the O’Neill territory wide open for a successful invasion. ”

“ In the interval Essex was in frequent communication with Mountjoy, and begged him to bring his army from Ireland into England, and in concert with King James of Scotland to rescue him from prison and to overthrow the queen's councillors. But King James was unwilling to join in the plan, and Mountjoy refused to meddle with it after he had once reached Ireland. ”

“ Ormond and his followers; 2. Rebel horse and foot;
3. Rebels concealed in woods; 4. Bogs.
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of Mountjoy. The situation, as every English leader soon found, was one that admitted of no possible fellowship between two alternatives, success and pity; between the commonest and most elementary dictates of humanity, and the approval of the queen and her Council. There was but one method by which a success could be assured, and this was the method which Mountjoy now pushed relentlessly, and from which Essex's more sensitively attuned nature evidently shrank. ”

“ In the presence of that great mystery, humanity must submit to be ignorant. Wait, Iris—wait!"
She answered him with the simplicity of a docile child: "I will do anything you tell me."
Mountjoy was too fond of her to say more of Lord Harry, for that day. He was careful to lead the talk to a topic which might be trusted to provoke no agitating thoughts. Finding Iris to all appearance established in the doctor's house, he was naturally anxious to know something of the person who must have invited her—the doctor's wife. ”

“ Mountjoy.
"They shall not quarrel at all," said Florence, "There is no cause for quarrelling. When a girl has given herself away there should be an end of it. No man who knows that she has done so should speak to her again in the way of love. I will leave you now; but, Harry, you must come again, in order that I may tell you that you must not have it all your own way, just as you please, sir." Then she gave him her hand, and passing on at once to Mountjoy, tendered her hand to him also. "You are my cousin, and the head now of my mother's family. ”

“ Returning to Ireland in 1687, Mountjoy was made a brigadier-general, with the pay of 497l. 10s. a year. Clarendon was gone, and Tyrconnel, as viceroy in his stead, was busy discharging protestant soldiers and replacing them by Roman catholic recruits. Mountjoy's regiment was quartered at Londonderry when William landed in Torbay. It had been less interfered with than others, and still consisted largely of protestants. ”

“ Mountjoy continues weak. Whatever your secret, I cannot ask you to communicate it to him in his present condition. He has been grieved and angry beyond all belief by Lady Harry's decision to rejoin her husband. It is hard to understand that a man should be so true a friend and so constant a lover. Yet he has brought himself to declare that he has broken off all friendly relations with her. He could no longer endure London. ”

“ In sheer desperation, Mountjoy resolved to inform Lord Harry that his union with Miss Henley would be followed by the utter ruin of her expectations from her father. Whether the wild lord only considered his own interests, or whether he was loyally devoted to the interests of the woman whom he loved, in either case the penalty to be paid for the marriage was formidable enough to make him hesitate. ”

“ It was expected that Mountjoy would have accompanied Essex to Ireland, but he remained at home, and in August of the following year was appointed lieutenant of the force to be raised to resist another anticipated Spanish Armada. But there was no breach in his friendly relations with Essex. In the summer of 1599 Mountjoy sent a secret messenger to Scotland to assure King James that Essex would support his succession to the English throne, and according to Essex's friend, Sir Charles Davers, Mountjoy ‘entered into’ the business to ‘strengthen’ Essex's position. ”

“ Fifteen letters sent by Mountjoy during that time to Henry VIII and Wolsey are preserved among the Cottonian MSS. at the British Museum (Calig. D 6. f. 299; Calig. E 2. f. 29065; V. Calig. E 4. f. 290) , and they testify to his energetic rule. He set up and administered law-courts, and made the small and irregular advances sent him from home go as far as possible in strengthening the fortifications. His friend Erasmus paid him a visit at Tournai, and Mountjoy tried in vain to induce Wolsey to give the scholar a prebend in the church there. ”