No doubt Arnold had a hard task, but it is clear that he was not the man to make it easier. The Queen's best officers in Ireland were slighted daily. The Lord Justice treated Archbishop Loftus with marked rudeness at the Council Board. The Irish service had so completely bewitched him that no Englishman could look for favour. Everything was hoped for from Shane, whom he praised continually to the Queen, though obliged to remind O'Neill himself that his deeds were not so very laudable. Seeing that the men who opposed him favoured Ormonde, Arnold was in all things partial to Kildare, and to the Geraldine party generally. The irregularities which he found in every branch of the public service were really matters of long standing, hardly to be visited on individuals, and largely the fault of the Home Government. Arnold insinuated many things against Vice-Treasurer Fitzwilliam; but when Fitzwilliam's accounts were produced they were found to be quite correct. Stanley was recalled less because of Arnold's accusations than because he was disliked by Sidney, and the Queen particularly stated that she did not despise the Marshal's service, nor credit the reports against him. The difficulty of finding out the exact truth was no doubt very great. Even Cecil was not always well served, for portions of a letter addressed by Fitzwilliam to him were copied out, and transmitted to Arnold. Excuses may be made for a man who with good intentions had raised a hornet's nest about his ears; but he was evidently quarrelsome, arbitrary, credulous, and deficient in personal dignity, a quality which probably carries as much weight in Ireland as in any country in the world.[110] FOOTNOTES: [88] Cusack to the Privy Council, June 8, 1564; Clanricarde to the Queen, April 12, 1565; Lord Justice and Council to Desmond, July 1, 1564; to Thomond, July 2; Desmond to Winchester, July 26; to Cecil, July 27; Wrothe to Lord R. Dudley, Aug. 16; Orders taken by Sir Thomas Cusack and others between the Earls of Desmond and Thomond; Desmond, Dunboyne, Curraghmore, and others to Cusack, Sept. 11. Stanley's letter is in the _Arch. Journal of Ireland_, 3rd series, i. 405; _Four Masters_, 1564, who say Corcomroe Abbey, with its church patronage, was given to Donnell O'Brien as an equivalent for surrendering his claims by tanistry. [89] Earl of Ormonde's proclamation, July 1, 1564. The copy in the R.O. is by Sir T. Wrothe's clerk, and the signatures are not given. [90] Ormonde to Cecil, Nov. 22, 1564; Cusack to same, Jan. 12, 1565; Desmond's petition to the Queen, June 1, 1565 (No. 53), and Ormonde's answer, June 6.