In fact, the Pale was 'a weltering sea of corruption--the captains out of credit, the soldiers mutinous, the English Government hated; every man seeking his own, and none that which was Christ's.' The purification of the Pale was left to Arnold, 'a hard, iron, pitiless man, careful of things and careless of phrases, untroubled with delicacy, and impervious to Irish enchantments.

The account books were dragged to light, where iniquity in high places was registered in inexorable figures.

The hands of Sir Henry Ratcliffe, the brother of Sussex, were not found clean.

Arnold sent him to the Castle with the rest of the offenders.

Deep, leading drains were cut through the corrupting mass.