He had great influence over the appointment of judges: while he naturally wished to appoint to the Bench men of legal ability, a record of loyalty to the Crown was also generally required. It is interesting that he was prepared to appoint judges of Gaelic descent, like James Donnellan, and even some who were known to have Roman Catholic leanings. He was criticised for favouring old friends like John Bysse who were considered too infirm to be effective, but this also shows one of his main virtues, loyalty: as Elrington Ball remarks, those whom Ormond had ever loved, he loved to the end. Himself a merciful man, he encouraged the Irish judges to show a similar spirit of clemency; as he remarked, a man who has been reprieved can later be hanged, but a man who has been hanged can never be reprieved. In general, the judges followed his example and, by the standards of the age, were merciful enough.