[1] Taafe,
however, took a middle way, and persuaded[b] the duke to send De Henin as
his envoy to the supreme council, with powers to conclude the treaty in
Ireland.
The assembly had just been dismissed[c] when this envoy arrived. By the
people, the clergy, and the nobility, he was received as an angel sent from
heaven. The supply of arms and ammunition which he brought, joined to his
promise of more efficient succour in a short time, roused them from their
despondency, and encouraged them to indulge the hope of making a stand
against the pressure of the enemy. Clanricard, left without instructions,
knew not how to act. He dared not refuse the aid so highly prized by the
[Footnote 1: Clanricard, 4, 5, 17, 27. Ormond was also of the same opinion.
He writes to Taafe that "nothing was done that were to be wished 'undone'";
that the supreme council were the best judges of their own condition; that
they had received permission from the king, for their own preservation,
"even to receive conditions from the enemy, which must be much more
contrary to his interests, than to receive helps from any other to resist
them, almost upon any terms."--Clanric. 33, 34. There is in the collection
of letters by Carte, one from Ormond to Clanricard written after the battle
of Worcester, in which that nobleman says that it will be without
scruple his advice, that "fitting ministers be sent to the pope, and apt
inducements proposed to him for his interposition, not only with all
princes and states".
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