The sole test of loyalty demanded was the acceptance of an English title and the education of a son at the English court; though in some cases, like that of the O'Neills, a promise was exacted to use the English language and dress, and to encourage tillage and husbandry.

Compliance with conditions such as these was procured not merely by the terror of the royal name but by heavy bribes.

The chieftains in fact profited greatly by the change.

Not only were the lands of the suppressed abbeys granted to them on their assumption of their new titles, but the English law-courts, ignoring the Irish custom by which the land belonged to the tribe at large, regarded the chiefs as the sole proprietors of the soil.

The merits of the system were unquestionable; its faults were such as a statesman of that day could hardly be expected to perceive.