On May 26, 1578, Sidney retired from office, broken in health and fortune. Describing his condition, he says that he was 'fifty-four years of age, toothless and trembling, being five thousand pounds in debt.' Later he declared that he was twenty thousand pounds poorer than when he had succeeded to his father's estate--a commentary on his inability to take advantage in a pecuniary sense of his viceroyalty. His wail is dated 'from Ludlow Castle, with more pain than heart, March 1, 1582.' [Sidenote: English colony absorbed] But Sidney was the victim of his time. There was no English colony now; it had been absorbed by the native Irish families, and to make war against the natives was to make war against the {70} Fitzgeralds, the Butlers, and other great families better known by their titles. Happily for England, Ireland was never united, and if Sidney gained no great conquests he was, by reason of the schisms amongst his enemies, enabled to maintain the sovereignty of Elizabeth in Ireland. It was a purely nominal sovereignty, but it sufficed for the time being. {71} CHAPTER V The gradual disappearance of the distinctively English population did not pass unnoticed in England. During some hundreds of years there had been many attempts to induce English families to emigrate to Ireland, but without any great success. To the average English person Ireland was an uncivilized country inhabited by savages and murderers. Elizabeth's councillors, however, resolved to put into practice the theories of previous viceroys and their advisers. A new English colony was to be created, but instead of crowding all the emigrants into Dublin, the bolder policy of scattering them all over the country was adopted. On the retirement of Sidney, Sir William Pelham was appointed Lord Justice until the arrival of Lord Grey of Wilton, 'the hanging viceroy.' Two years of systematic brutalities were as much as the country and Elizabeth could stand. She recalled Grey and left the government in the hands of Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin, and Sir Henry Wallop, treasurer, while she and her council, now firmly resolved on the great 'plantation' scheme, could find a willing and a competent instrument to carry out the plan. They found {72} one in Sir John Perrott, and in June, 1584, he was made Lord Deputy. [Sidenote: The undertakers]