After some haggling Essex received a grant of all Antrim except the lands belonging to the chartered townsmen of Carrickfergus, the town and castle, and 1,000 acres for their support. He was freed from all cesses for seven years, and none of his tenants were to be obliged to serve in war beyond the limits of his grant. The grantee had unlimited power of alienation to men of English birth, and authority for twelve years to make new subdivisions or to rename old ones. He had all manorial rights except pleas of the Crown, and the freedom of all markets in Ireland for himself and his tenants. Free trade was granted with all lands in amity with the Queen for seven years. The patentee had power to give leave of absence to English tenants for twelve years on the appointment of a substitute, and to admit 100 foreigners as denizens. The Queen agreed to furnish 200 horse and 400 foot, the Earl providing a like number; and each party was bound to keep those numbers up. Costs of fortification were to be divided in the same way. Among the few things not granted were gold and silver mines, and the right to coin money. The consideration offered for this enormous grant consisted of the services to be rendered and of property amounting to 800 marks, left him by the Earl of March's will--a will of which the validity was disputed. Unpromising as this scheme must have appeared to many of those who knew Ireland best, it was advocated by Burghley, Sussex, and Leicester; and when failure threatened, Elizabeth accused them of having persuaded her against her better judgment. Sir Thomas Smith, in spite of his experience, was also in favour of the project.[242]
[Sidenote: Great alarm in Ulster. Fitzwilliam disapproves the project.]
In spite of Fitzwilliam's efforts to keep it quiet, the intended expedition was talked of in Ireland almost as soon as in London. The Lord Deputy earnestly begged that action might follow quickly, since the interval would certainly be filled with lies and cavillings. One cause of delay was that Essex had no ready money. The Queen was, however, willing to lend 10,000_l._ as first mortgagee of his property in Bucks and Essex, worth 500_l._ a year. Nor was the bargain a bad one. In less than one year 1,000_l._ was to be repaid, and in default, land worth 50_l._ a year was to be forfeited. There was the same penalty for not paying a second 1,000_l._ within two years; and if the whole 10,000_l._ were not repaid within three years, then the entire property pledged was to fall to the Queen. A further cause of delay was Burghley's desire for fuller information. Since the days of Henry VII. it had been the custom to send special commissioners in cases where the ordinary official reports were likely to be prejudiced or tainted, and Burghley now despatched Edmund Tremayne with instructions to investigate necessary matters and to return quickly, leaving to Fitzwilliam all that could not be done in a hurry. Tremayne, who knew Ireland well, was strongly impressed with the advantages of speed and secrecy, but he saw that much delay was unavoidable, and advised that the Earl should put forth rumours of the plan being indefinitely postponed. He was particularly anxious that the whole force should come together, lest the Irish might be tempted to cut off isolated bands. A servant of Essex who had brought letters to Maltby, Piers, and Smith, was sent back so as to give colour to the report of a postponement. But Lord Rich with 100 men, Sir Peter Carew and Sir Arthur Champernowne with forty each, and other gentlemen with smaller companies, could hardly make their arrangements secretly; nor could much promptitude be expected from such a heterogeneous body. For the Earl himself there had to be provided six pieces of artillery, much powder and match, trenching tools, 150 calivers, sixty muskets, 200 bows, and two surgeons at 16_s._ per month. 'I understand,' wrote Sir John Perrott, who had a Pembrokeshire quarrel with the noble adventurer, 'that the Earl of Essex, with a great rout, intendeth the conquest of the North. For her Majesty's service I wish him success, but for himself I care not what cometh thereof, for he and his friends have sought as much to discredit me in my absence as in them lay.' Neither Perrott nor Fitzwilliam were in love with the chivalric interloper, but they do not appear to have thwarted him; indeed, the Queen specially thanked the former for his friendly tone. Her instinct probably told her that men who had borne the burden and heat of the day with but little reward would hardly be prejudiced in favour of this courtly amateur.[243]