82 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



1:2nd s, X. Aug. 4, '60. 



land by illness till the end of the year 1604. 

 Before that time the answer to the Pope's rather 

 extraordinary request had been already given in 

 the Latin letter which had been sent to Sir T. 

 Parry in order to be shown to the Nuncio in 

 Paris. Mr. Tierney, who prints this letter, and 

 makes use of his own guess at the date of it, which 

 happens to be erroneous, to bring an unfounded 

 charge of hypocrisy against James, says of this 

 letter*: — 



"How far its declarations, particularly as regards the 

 education of the young prince, agree with the instructions 

 given to Lindsay before the death of Elizabeth is uncer- 

 tain." 



The instructions were verbal, and it is there- 

 fore impossible to produce them. The accom- 

 panying memoranda are, however, still extant, and 

 are completely in accordance with the Latin letter 

 written a year and a half later. It may be worth 

 while to give them at length : — 



" Instructions to my trustie servant Sir James Lindsay, 

 for answer to the leltre and comission brought by him from 

 the Pope unto me. 



" First, you shall excuse my not sending any answer 

 to the Pope directly in ane Lre for such important rea- 

 sons as by tongue I have declared unto you, to be im- 

 parted unto him. 



" Next you shall make my just excuse, why I cannot 

 satisfie his desire in those particular points contained in 

 his Lre for such weighty reasons as by tongue I have in- 

 formed you to deliver unto him. 



" Thirdlj', you shall assure him that I shall neuer be 

 forgettfull of the continuall proof I have had of his" cour- 

 tisy, and especially be this his so courtious and unex- 

 pected message W^ I shalbe euer carefull to requite thank- 

 full}' by all civil courtisies that shall lye in my power, 

 the particulars whereof I remitt lykewise to your decla- 

 ration. 



" And, lastly, you shall informe him of my honest in- 

 tention in all things, as you have many times heard it 

 out of myne owne mouth, and how I shall euer keep 

 inviolably two points : The first, neuer to dissemble what 

 I think, especially in matters of conscience. And the 

 other, neuer to reject reason when I heare it, but without 

 any prseoccupied self opinion of my owne to refuse no- 

 thing that can be prooved lawful), reasonable, and without 

 corruption." f 



It may be remarked, in passing, that the light 

 thus thrown upon James's conduct on this occa- 

 sion may perhaps give additional value to the 

 confession of Balmerino, which most writers have 

 agreed to disbelieve. 



To return, however, to Lindsa'y. At last, to- 

 wards the end of 1604, he set out for Kome. He 

 gave out on his way that he was charged with an 

 embassy to the Pope. On his arrival he asserted 

 boldly that the queen was already a Catholic in 

 heart, and that the king only needed enlighten- 

 ment on some particular points, especially on the 

 question of the Pope's supremacy over kings, to 



* Tierney's Dodd, iv. App. p. xxi. 



t S. P. 6., Italian States, Jan. ? 1605. This is the date 

 of [Lindsay's proceedings at Rome. The original paper 

 must have been written in 1602. 



follow her example.* The Pope was overjoyed. 

 He immediately appointed a committee of twelve 

 cardinals for the purpqse of taking under consi- 

 deration the condition of England.f Cardinal 

 Camerino talked of sending the king a copy of 

 Baronius' History which had been recently pub- 

 lished. The Pope publicly expressed his intention 

 of sending a Nuncio into England.| 



Ridiculous as all this appears, it is impossible 

 to over-estimate tlie annoyance which it gave to 

 James ; and when James was really annoyed, 

 there was no folly of which he was incapable. 

 For a week or two all Europe believed that he 

 was about to renounce his faith. He immediately 

 declared Lindsay's story to be a lie. His ambas- 

 sador at Paris was directed to inform the Nuncio 

 in that city in as polite terms as possible that 

 Cardinal Camerino had better save himself the 

 trouble of sending presents to England. § He 

 was also directed to inform him of the true state 

 of the case. 



These rumours reached England at an unfortu- 

 nate time. During the winter James had been 

 employing his energies in an attempt to put down 

 Puritanism. He was, therefore, already labouring 

 under a suspicion of a leaning towards Popery. 

 In a letter* of the Archbishop of York written 

 about this time an opinion is expressed which 

 must have been pretty general. Upon receiving 

 an order to proceed against the Puritans, the 

 archbishop wrote to Cranbourne : — 



•' I wish with all my heart that the like order were taken, 

 and given not only to all Bishops, but to all magistrates 

 and justices, to proceed against Papists and Recusants, 

 who of late, partly by this round dealing against Puri- 

 tans, and partly by reason of some extraordinary favour, 

 have grown mightily ;in number, courage, and influ- 

 ence." 11' 



Thus it will be seen that when the news of 

 Lindsay's proceedings arrived in England, the 

 whole country was already in a ferment. James's 

 principles were tried, and they gave way beneath 

 the test. One false step led to another. He would 

 prove the purity of the motives which led him to 

 persecute the Puritans, by adding to it the perse- 

 cution of the Roman Catholics. Accordingly on 

 the 10th Feb. 1605, he commanded the Lords of 

 the Council to see that the laws were put in exe- 

 cution, though even then he forbade the shedding 

 of blood. 



* Depeches de Beaumont. Villeroi a Beaumont,- Dec. 

 r]i, 1604. 



t S. P. O., French Series, Parry to Cranbourne, Jan. 

 7th, 1605. 



X S. P. 0., Italian States, Lindsay to the King, Jan. 

 23rd. Probably N. S. 



§ S. P. 0., French Series, Cranbourne to Parry, Feb. 

 20th, 1605. 



II Archbishop Hutton to Cranbourne, Dec. 18th, 1601. 

 Winwood, ii. 40. This letter gives additional evidence 

 that the instructions to the Council of the North in 1603, 

 mentioned in a former paper, were not put in force. 



