succeeded him as governor of the cautionary town of Flushing (patent dated 1 Feb. 1587, in Rymer's Fœdera, xvi. 2). On 5 Oct. following he commanded a party of six hundred horse, and successfully intercepted a convoy of provisions designed for the relief of Zutphen. As governor of Flushing he justified the confidence placed in him. In June 1587 he despatched a force with provisions to strengthen Sluys, which the Duke of Parma was on the point of blockading, and, according to Roger Williams [q. v.], who commanded the party, it was entirely due to his resolution and quick despatch that the town was not lost without a blow, ‘as a number of others were in those countries far better than Sluys’ (Discourse of Warre, p. 57). In the quarrel between the estates and the Earl of Leicester he loyally supported the latter, and, after Leicester's withdrawal from the Netherlands in December 1587, he himself incurred the censure of the estates by supporting a movement on the part of the citizens of Campveer and Arnemuyden to place themselves under the immediate protection of Elizabeth. Others attributed his action to a desire to make himself master of Walcheren, out of a feeling of pique because the estates had given away the regiment of Zeeland, of which his predecessor, Sir Philip Sidney, had been colonel, to Count Solms. Russell disavowed being actuated by any feeling of ill-will towards either the estates or Prince Maurice, and the dispute was finally terminated by Elizabeth disclaiming any wish to encroach on the authority of the estates (Grimstone, Hist. of the Netherlands, pp. 867–871). Otherwise, Russell's conduct as governor of Flushing seems to have afforded general satisfaction, and Elizabeth was particularly gratified by the request of the deputies of the churches of the Netherlands that he might be continued at his post (cf. Motley, United Netherlands, ii. 444). But he was not on very friendly terms with Leicester's successor, Lord Willoughby [see Bertie, Peregrine, Lord Willoughby de Eresby]. Though subsequently reconciled to Willoughby (Bertie, Five Generations, p. 210), he begged his friends ‘to help him away from so beggarly a government wherein he should but undo himself without hope of service or reward’ (Harl. MS. 286, f. 95). His petition was granted, and on 16 July 1588 he was superseded by Sir Robert Sidney.
On 16 May 1594 he was appointed lord-deputy of Ireland, in place of Sir William Fitzwilliam (1526–1599) [q. v.]; and in July following the degree of M.A. was conferred on him by the university of Oxford. He landed at Howth on 31 July, and on 11 Aug. was sworn in with due solemnity. The chief danger that threatened the peace of the country was due to the menacing attitude of the Earl of Tyrone [see O'Neill, Hugh, second Earl of Tyrone] and Hugh Roe O'Donnell [q. v.] Four days later Tyrone unexpectedly presented himself before the council and tendered his submission. This step took Russell and the council by surprise, and Tyrone was allowed to return to his own country in safety. Afterwards, when Russell recognised his mistake in thus letting Tyrone escape, he tried, not perhaps very successfully, to shift the blame on to the council; but Elizabeth, while publicly accepting his excuses, did not fail to read him a severe lecture in private. Meanwhile the garrison at Enniskillen was being hard pressed by Sir Hugh Maguire [q. v.] and O'Donnell, and, a relief party under Sir Henry Duke having been repulsed with loss, Russell was constrained to march thither in person. Accordingly, leaving the Earl of Ormonde ‘to keep the borders’ against Fiagh Mac Hugh and Walter Reagh Fitzgerald, he set out towards the north on 18 Aug. Proceeding by way of Mullingar, Athlone, Roscommon, and Boyle, and through the mountains and bogs of O'Rourke's country, he succeeded in relieving Enniskillen on 30 Aug., and ten days later returned in safety to Dublin. Seeing how completely he had been deceived by Tyrone's specious promises, he tried to retrieve his blunder by inviting the earl again to Dublin. Tyrone declined the invitation, and on 8 Dec. Russell wrote that he had broken off all manner of temporising courses with him. Recognising the necessity for vigorous action, he applied for reinforcements under the command of an experienced leader. His request was granted; but he was mortified to find that the general selected to co-operate with him was Sir John Norris (1547?–1597) [q. v.], president of Munster. Norris had petitioned against Russell's appointment as Leicester's successor in the government of the Netherlands, and a commission, with the title of general of the army in Ulster in the absence of the lord-deputy, was now given him with authority almost equal to Russell's. Norris, however, did not arrive in Ireland till the beginning of May 1595, and in the meantime Russell made several unsuccessful attempts to capture Fiagh Mac Hugh.
On 16 Jan. he instituted ‘a hunting journey’ to Ballinacor, and, having proclaimed Fiagh, his wife, and Walter Reagh traitors, returned to Dublin. A fortnight later, accompanied by Sir George Bourchier, Sir
