1577 > Volume 3 > Body Text: Section 4 of 4: The thirde Booke of the Hiſtorie of Ireland, compriſing the raigne of Henry the eyght: continued by Richard Stanihurſt, and vvritten to the right honorable Sir Henrie Sidney Knight, Lord Deputie of Ireland, Lord preſident of VVales, Knight of the moſt noble order of the Garter, and one of hir Maieſties priue Counſayle within hir Realme of Englande.
Snippet: 120 of 344 (1577, Volume 3, p. 91)

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Howſoeuer iniuriouſly wee be handled and forced to defend our ſelues in armes,Thomas Fitz Girald his re+bellious O|ration. whẽ neither our ſeruice nor our good meaning towardes our prince his Crowne auayleth, yet ſay not hereaf|ter, but in this open hoſtilitie which here we pro|feſſe and proclayme, we haue ſhewed our ſelues no villaynes, nor churles, but warriours and Gentlemen. This ſworde of eſtate is yours, [page 78] and not mine, I receyued it with an othe, and haue vſed it to your benefite. I ſhould deſteyne mine honour. if I turned the ſame to your an|noyance. Nowe haue I neede of mine owne ſword, which I dare truſt. As for the common ſword it flattereth me with a painted ſcabberde, but hath in deed a peſtilent edge, already bathed in the Giraldines bloud, & now is newly whet|ted in hope of a further deſtruction. Therefore ſaue your ſelues from vs, as from open enimies, I am none of Henrie his Deputie, I am his fo. I haue more mind to conquer, than to gouerne, to meete him in the field, than to ſerue him in office. If al the hearts of England and Ireland, that haue cauſe thereto, would ioine in this qua|rell (as I hope they wil) then ſhould he ſoone aby (as I truſt he ſhal) for his crueltie and tyranny, for which the age to come may lawfully ſcore him vp among the auncient Tyrants of moſt abhominable and hatefull memorie.