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Charles never forgave himself for this act of betrayal.
查理因這次背叛抱憾終身
But it had never occurred to Strafford that his death would actually make things worse for Charles rather than better.
但斯特拉福德未曾想到的是他的死 反而使得形勢進一步惡化
And what happened next was the worst that could happen.Ireland erupted.
最糟糕的事情發生了 愛爾蘭宗教矛盾爆發
With Strafford executed,Irish Catholics felt unprotected against Protestant reprisals.
斯特拉福德被處以極刑后 愛爾蘭天主教徒感到 來自新教徒復仇的威脅
In a pre-emptive strike, they attacked first.
于是他們決定先發制人
Late in 1641,news of Irish killings began filtering through England,
1641年末 愛爾蘭屠殺的消息傳到了英格蘭
graphically illustrated by a campaign of atrocity prints.
殺戮的慘狀被繪制成圖片四處流傳
Now, bad things did happen,but the usual fantasy pictures of impaled babies
慘案雖然確有發生 但當時常見的刺死嬰兒的虛構圖片
tripped the wire of Anglo-Protestant paranoia.
勾起了英國新教徒的疑心病
Even worse, it was rumoured that the Catholic rebels claimed to be acting on behalf of the king.
更糟的是 有傳言說天主教叛逆者 聲稱自己代表國王
The Puritan press hit the streets screaming, "We're next".
清教報紙上印滿了"下一個就是我們"
Charles was painfully aware how costly his dream of a united Britain had become.
查理痛苦地意識到 他統一不列顛的夢想代價之沉重
First, the Presbyterian Scots had brought down his personal rule,
首先 蘇格蘭長老會削弱了他的王權
now the mass panic triggered by the Catholic Irish threatened to finish off his power altogether.
而現在愛爾蘭天主教引發的大騷動 極可能將他的統治徹底終結
