Of these, the three last, with Parsons, alone acted, and they sat to hold Inquisitions at Ardwhin, Co. Down (recte Ardquin), on the 5th July, 1605, and in the town of Antrim on the 12th July, 1605. They were commissioned to ascertain what lands Sir Con O’Neill and his father, Brian Fertagh, were possessed of in Upper Claneboy and the Great Ardes, with the rents and “cuttings” to which they were subject. Their other duty was to discover what property in the Counties of Antrim and Down should have come to the Crown by attainder or forfeiture, so that the £100 a year granted to Thomas Irelande might be provided thereout. The verdict then found took shape in a return, which was put to such an illegitimate use that it was not enrolled for 79 years, lest its terms should leak out. For by the time the Commissioners had completed their labours and returned to Dublin, Cecil silenced the murmurings of the Deputy, and counselled him to come to an understanding with Hamilton. The “one Letter more” never was signed, for the policy recommended from London made it unnecessary. Cecil having, in 1599, promoted Chichester to the Irish command, acted as his protector ever after. He used lovingly dub him “poor Arthur,” but “poor Arthur’s” appeal against Hamilton made too large a draft on his power. Instead of procuring a fresh King’s Letter he evidently warned him to make terms with the royal favourite, for within a month the Deputy treated “the Scot” as a bosom friend. The Antrim Inquisition was then availed of, with the aid of the ductile Parsons, as the groundwork of an enormous grant to Hamilton, who arranged to hand over a large slice of the plunder to the Deputy. This dispensed Cecil from having to beseech James I. for another “Letter” for Chichester, and from that forth a working partnership was established between the Deputy and Hamilton. This alliance in ill-doing linked them for life. Backed by Davies, and with the help of the Lord Chancellor (Jones, Archbishop of Dublin—called that “rascal Jones” by Dean Swift), they organised a conspiracy to cheat the State unmatched in Anglo-Irish annals. CHAPTER IV. AN EVIL PARTNERSHIP.