45 
1811.] Extracts from the Portfolio of a Man of Letters. 
fessor, and had often had free conver¬ 
sations with him about England; that he 
was hut aweak simple sort of man, lived in a 
very private obscure manner, and that he 
could not now believe wliat was reported 
of him.’’ He added,“ he knew liis nephew 
Alexander Peretti very well, and iiad 
frequently entertained iiim at his liouse.” 
'i’he council, pleased with this account, 
tl)Oiight him the most proper person to 
observe the Pope’s actions, and sure ttiey 
might confide in him on account of the 
obligations he lay under to the Earl of 
Essex. Furnished with the Queen’s pic¬ 
ture, enriched with diamonds as a present 
to the Pope’s nephew, and unlimited 
instructions to draw for money, Carr 
proceeded to Rome, and arrived just as 
the Pope had made his nephew a car¬ 
dinal; glad of tills opportunity to renew 
liis former acGuaiittance, he immediately 
went to pay his compliments to his Emi¬ 
nence, who received him very affection¬ 
ately, and offered to introduce him to 
the honour of kissittg his holiness’s feet. 
Tins was what Carr wished for, tltough 
lie was undet some apprehension that, if 
Sixtus was so much changed, he would 
not know him again. 
Prior to his being introduced, he hap¬ 
pened to^ be witness to the Pope’s beha¬ 
viour to the Spanish ambassador, upon 
his paying tiihute for the kingdom of 
Naples, \viiich he looked upon as ;i sure 
indication of his not being favourably in¬ 
clined to the court of Spain, and imme¬ 
diately wrote his account of it to En¬ 
gland. Soon after he was introduced by 
the cardinal to his holiness; the Pope re¬ 
ceived him in a very affable manner, and 
calling to mind several circumstances 
which liad happened in the course of 
their former acquaintance, amongst other 
things said, “ Sir, yon often used to in¬ 
vite our nephew to dine at your house, 
he ought now to invite you,” and turning 
to the cardinal said, “ Pray see tliat you 
make that English gentleman welcome.” 
Tiie cardinal asked hint several questions 
at dinner concerning the state of affiiirs 
in England, and seemed much pleased 
when he found he was so well acquainted 
with the Queen’s great favourite, the Earl 
of Essex ; and hinted to him at taking 
leave, “ that he might expect the honour 
of seeing his holiness frequently.” 
From tins conversation with his ne¬ 
phew, and the sudden return of Mr. Carr 
to Rome, the Pope began to suspect he 
was sent by tlie Queen to observe his 
proceedings, and find out how he stood 
fifi'ected to the Spaiuartls. This sus¬ 
picion, however, he carefully concealed; 
and instead of treating him as a spy, he 
endeavoured by his openness and affa¬ 
bility to draw out of him such secrets as 
he wanted to know,- relating to the En¬ 
glish nation. 
In a few days he sent for him again^ 
and enquired particularly, as out of cu¬ 
riosity, concerning the temper and dis¬ 
position of the Queen, her di^ss, her 
"percson, her manner of speaking, &c. &:c. 
When Carr iiad given the Pope satis¬ 
factory answers, he shewed him her pic¬ 
ture, which he had in his pocket. The 
Pope having looked at it some time, witli 
a good deal of seeming pleasure, said, 
“ This princess reigns with wisdom, and 
will be fortunate.” Carr was highly 
pleased with the Pope, and judged from 
thence tliat he had no aversion to his 
mistress. Sixtus then asked him, “ How 
the English and Spaniards agreed now', 
as the latter were volucres call, pretend¬ 
ing to tly over every body’s head,” and 
without staying for an answer, added, 
“ We fancy your Queen is a good deal 
ernharrussed at present, as the maxims 
of her government must naturally incline 
lier to send a speedy and effectual suc¬ 
cour to the Hollanders; and on the other 
hand, we imagine she is afraid to do it, 
lest it should provoke Philip to fall upon 
lier with all his forces ; but if she stands 
in awe of him now, she will have greater 
reason to do so when he has conquered 
them, and acquired so much more 
strength. It is impossible those provinces 
should hold out long, as nob «iy is ca¬ 
pable of assisting tliem but the Queen of 
England, and she dares not, though it is 
her interest; but pray tell us what will 
become of England, when he is master 
of the Low Countries? We shall then 
order a requiem to be sung for it.” From 
this discourse, Carr concluded that the 
Pope, either knowing or suspecting that 
hewas employed to send intelligence to 
England, took this method of hirtting to 
liim, that it was his opinion she should 
take the states of Holland into her pro¬ 
tection ; and as he was ordered to ac¬ 
quaint her witii every thing, he sent im¬ 
mediate mdvice of it, with a minute de¬ 
tail of whatever else had passed since his 
arrival at Rome, in a cypher to the Eari 
of Essex. At the receipt of these letters, 
the Queen was freed from the apprehen¬ 
sions she had entertained of the Pope, 
and laid them before her privy-couacil, 
who unanimously advised her to send 
speedy relief to the Low Countries. The 
nest 'day the cardinal introduced a con¬ 
versation 
