354 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2ni S. X. Nov. 3. 'CO. 



tended to invest that minister with powei* to treat 

 with the Nuncio, in any manner, and at any time, 

 he might choose. But here the matter rested. 

 Thougli the Pope ofiered to withdraw from the 

 country any priests that were obnoxious to the 

 government, still no notice was taken, no names 

 were given up ; and, while Parry was privately 

 forbidden to see the Nuncio, or to communicate 

 %vith him, except through the agency of "some 

 third person" {France, Cecil to Parry, Nov. 6, 

 1603), James himself hesitated not to declare, 

 through Secretary Cranbourne, that he had no 

 intention, in anything that he had done, of going 

 beyond mere words of civility, — "from which" 

 (all "private dealing" with the Pope) '■'Ms Ma- 

 jesty is cleare and sounde at hart, exceptinge tcrmcs 

 of civillitye." This is the declaration of one of the 

 very letters cited by Mr. Gardiner {France, 

 Cranb. to Parry, Feb. 20, 1605) ; and yet James, 

 if we are to believe his apologist, was spending his 

 fruitless endeavours "to enter into an arrange- 

 ment with the Pope " ! 



3. Mr. Gardiner tells us that Lindsay, having 

 at length "set out for Rome, gave out on his way 

 that he was charged with an embassy to the Pope" 

 (p. 82.) Now it is true, indeed, that, in a letter 

 which Mr. Gardiner does not quote, an unau- 

 thenticaled rumour of the kind is mentioned, as 

 having bej^n a subject of complaint in the Star- 

 Chamber (Semple to Lindsay, 1605, Domestic Pa- 

 pers, XV. No. 26.) : but, in the letter Aviiich he 

 docs quote, ifc is distinctly stated that he did 

 nothing of the sort ; and that, so far from assum- 

 ing the character of an ambassador, he evei^y- 

 where declared that he had no charge or commission 

 from the King, and was returning to Rome only 



as a private person.* 



4. Again, Mr. Gardiner assures us that, " on 

 his arrival" (of course in Rome), Lindsay "as- 

 serted boldly that the Queen was already a Ca- 

 tholic in heart," and that the King "was almost 

 prepared to follow her example" {ibid.). This 

 statement he makes on the authority of Villeroi, 

 in the letter to which I just now referred : but 

 Villeroi, who is speaking, not of Rome, but of 

 Venice, relates only what has been reported to him 

 from that city ; while Lindsay himself, in one of 

 the very letters which jNIr. Gardiner quotes, as- 

 sures the King, whom he is addressing, that the 



' story is absolutely false : — 



" I doubt not," he says, " but tlieir will be many 

 thinges written unto j-our Ma*'" concerning this matter; 

 hut, for my part, I have that consolation, and shall aun- 

 Bwere upon the price of ni}' head, that I have said nothing 

 lierein, either unto the Pope or any other, but these fower 

 <irtieles, which were written by your IMa"*'' owne hande, 

 as I doubt not your Ma''« will perceive, when you shall 



* " Toutefois il a declare qu'il n'aaucune charge, et qu'il 

 s'en retourne h, Rome, pour y vivre privement, comme il 

 ■a fait autrefois." — D.'pcches de Beaumont, itoyal MSS. 

 Brit. Mus., Villeroi a Beaumont, Dec. 22j 1G04. 



receive the Pope's letters." —Lindsay to the King, Itali/, 

 No. 15, Jan. 23, 1605. 



5. Cardinal Camerino proposed to present James 

 with a copy of Baronius, then just published. 

 This intention was made known to the King ; and 

 the King, whose " annoyance" at this, among other 

 matters, " it is impossible," says Mr. Gardiner, 

 " to over-estimate," immediately " directed his 

 ambassador at Paris to inform the Nuncio, in^ as 

 polite terms as possible, that Cardinal Camerino 

 had better save himself the trouble of sending 

 presents to England" (x. 82.)._ Now, if tliese 

 words are to be received according to their ordi- 

 nary acceptation, they unquestionably mean that 

 the- proposal had given offence, and that the pre- 

 sents, if sent, would be returned. And yet, what 

 are the facts, as detailed in the very letters to 

 which Mr. Gardiner himself appeals ? Wishing 

 to present the volumes in question to thelving, 

 but fearful at the same time of creating displea- 

 sure, Camerino, in the first instance, directed the 

 Nuncio to ascertain from the English ambassador 

 whether he might venture to send them : the am- 

 bassador, who was Sir Thomas Parry, referred 

 the matter to James himself; and the latter, by 

 Secretary Cranbourne, wrote back to say that, 

 for the sake of avoiding any appearance of " pri- 

 vate dealing" with Rome, he would rather not 

 "be drawn" to question of acceptation"; that if 

 Parry, therefore, could " avoyde it without perti- 

 cular disswasion," it would be well; but that, if 

 the volumes should be presented, it was " a mat- 

 ter in itselfe of noe great consequence," and " not 

 worth the refusing." {France, Parry to Cranbourne, 

 Jan. 7 ; and Cranbourne to Parry, Feb. 20, 1605.) 



6. On the return of Lindsay to Rome, the 

 Pope, says Mr. Gardiner, " appointed a comniit- 

 tee of twelve cardinals, for the purpose of taking 

 under consideration the condition of England . . . . 

 {\nd publicly ex-pressed his intention of sending a 

 Nuncio into England" {ibid). But, again, what 

 says the very letter of Lindsay to which Mu. 

 Gardiner appeals ? Why, that, having received 

 James's message, the Pope, in a commission of 

 twelve cardinals, " helde consultation what was 

 metest to his Holmes to do ;" that the first subject 

 of consideration was, " to see in ivhat forme the 

 Pope should send unto y-^ Ma*'% whether a legate, 

 a nuntio, or a secular gentleman ;" that this, how- 

 ever, was so far from being "■publicly'''' spoken of, 

 that the Pope, before the cardinals assembled, 

 " made them j-eceive the sacrament, that ivhut was 

 spoken there shoidde remaine secret ;''' and^ that 

 Lindsay himself was able to obtain the infor- 

 mation which he conveyed to James on the sub- 

 ject, only in a private official conversation with 

 Cardinal Aldobrandini, one of the twelve. — Italy, 

 Lindsay to the King, Jan. 23, 1605. 



I could easily multiply these instances of in- 

 accuracy on the part of Mb. Gardiner. For the 



