But he wanted decision. Three
parties had presented themselves to his choice; to earn, by the promptitude
of his acquiescence, the gratitude of the new government; or to maintain by
arms the right of his deposed brother; or to declare, as he was strongly
solicited to declare, in favour of Charles Stuart. Much time was lost in
consultation; at length the thirst of resentment, with the lure of reward,
determined him
[Footnote 1: Whitelock, 678.]
[Footnote 2: Thurloe, 669, 670. Ludlow, ii. 199. Journals, May 7, 9, 18,
26, 31.]
to unfurl the royal standard;[1] then the arrival of letters from England
threw him back into his former state of irresolution; and, while he thus
wavered from project to project, some of his officers ventured to
profess their attachment to the commonwealth, the privates betrayed a
disinclination to separate their cause from that of their comrades in
England, and Sir Hardress Waller, in the interest of the parliament,
surprised the castle of Dublin.[a] The last stroke reduced Henry at once to
the condition of a suppliant; he signified his submission by a letter
to the speaker, obeyed the commands of the house to appear before the
council,[b] and, having explained to them the state of Ireland, was
graciously permitted to retire into the obscurity of private life.
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