"monarch," he asked, "be contented to hold any "correspondence with the pope ?" "I answered," writes the resident, "that therein having neither "commissionn, or so much as any the least under

standing of his majesty's mind in that case, "I could not resolve him: but said, that I verily thought, that in matters civil, his majesty, (suspicions being once taken away), would not deny "to correspond with him, as with other temporal "princes."

Some further steps were taken towards the work of reconciliation: but the whole went off in a manner, at which the reader must smile*. In a former chapter, we have mentioned the work of king James, called his Apology and Præmonition: by his majesty's desire, the resident requested leave to present it to the Spanish monarch: the duke of Lerma, "with a great sigh wished, that the rare and singular talents of his Britannic majesty, whereof "all the world took so great a notice, had been employed upon a better, a more sound and pleas

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ing subject: but he marvelled much, that to his majesty it should not be understood, that the king of Spain was so entire and sincere in his "faith and obedience to the church of Rome, from "whom it was upon pain of excommunication

directly forbidden receipt or reading of any books: "of such a nature, as is said to be that of his Bri"tannic majesty, as there could not be so much as "a concert that he would by any means be drawn "to receive it." To this the resident replied at * Vol. iii. p. 66.

length: finally, he observed to the duke that," no "work could be more glorious to the king of Spain, "whom God had made so mighty a king, (and a king blessed with the government of so large a

part of the world), as to putting his royal hand "to the clipping of those overgrown feathers of "the see of Rome; the mistake whereof had drawn "so large a portion of christendom from it. I added "hereunto," continued the resident, "the example "of the French king and of the seigniory of Venice, "who had both received the book, without fear or

scruple. The duke having given me leave to say "thus much, replied, that the king, in his religion "and obedience to the see of Rome, (which all his "ancestors had theretofore held and professed),

was so immoveably fixed and determined, as he held it not fit to call it in question or dispute; and "therefore he never would receive, much less give "reading to, any book containing matter derogatory "either to the one or the other."

It appears by the correspondence, which we have mentioned, that the fugitives quarrelled among themselves; that every day their party became weaker; and that it had dwindled to nothing before the end of the reign of James. A few English, and several Irish families remained in Spain; some of these and their descendants obtained both civil and military offices of distinction; others were successfully engaged in commerce. All the colleges established in Spain by father Persons have continued to the present time, but passed, on the dissolution of the society of Jesus, into other hands.

A remarkable circumstance presents itself in this place for notice. The Spanish nation has always singularly regarded the Irish. This has been attributed, by some, to the supposed Milesian descent of the latter; by others, to the emigrations from Ireland to Spain, in consequence of the dreadful persecutions and confiscations, which took place during the reigns of James the first, and the first two Charles'; and afterwards, both during the usurpation, and at the revolution in 1688. The greater part of these emigrants settled in Gallicia; and, till the recent alteration in the Spanish constitution, all the Irish, who settled in that province, were ranked as subjects born within its territory. In every other part of Spain, they were allowed extensive privileges, and, in the ordinary intercourse of life, met with particular favour *.

* Some further particulars of the Spanish party occur in Dr. Birch's Historical View of the Negotiations between "the Courts of England, France, and Brussels," 8vo. 1749, ́an interesting publication, now become very scarce (p. 229 to 257). He shows that a regiment of English, chiefly catholics, in the Spanish pay, were stationed in the Low Countries; and intimates that it was the intention of the archduke to send the regiment into England, immediately upon the execution of the gunpowder plot; but Dr. Birch brings no evidence that connects the regiment with the plot. He mentions that father Owen and father Baldwin, two jesuits, were suspected of being privy to the plot, and that king James required them to be delivered up to him; offering, at the same time, that “they "should be questioned for nothing, except the part which 66 they were accused of having taken in the plot; that they "should not be tortured;" and that "the Spanish ambassador "should be present at their examination and trial." This was refused; but both jesuits were imprisoned; and an offer

CHAP. LII.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE LAWS PASSED AGAINST

THE CATHOLICS; IN THE REIGNS OF ELIZABETH AND JAMES.--DEATH OF JAMES.

1625.

THE laws, which were passed by the last monarch

of the house of Tudor and the first of the house of Stuart, against the English catholic subjects, for their religious principles and the exercise of their religion, were irreconcileable with every principle of justice and humanity. We shall now present the

:

made to James, that they should be interrogated in prison, and their papers examined by commissioners of his nomination this he refused. The two jesuits were afterwards released: and father Owen succeeded father Persons in the rectorship of the English college at Rome, and the prefecturate of the jesuits in the English mission;-but, in 1610, father Baldwin was seized, as he was passing through the Palatinate, and delivered to sir Ralph Winwood, who procured him to be sent to England. Great discoveries were expected, but nothing appeared against him, and he was never brought to trial. He was however kept in prison till November 1612, when he was exchanged for Mr. Mole, lord Rosse's tutor, who was at that time a prisoner in the inquisition at Rome.-(See in addition to the pages cited from Birch's Negotiations, Winwood's Memorials, vol. iii. p. 210, 211, 407; and Dodd's Hist. vol. ii. p. 393-417.-Nothing ever appeared against either of the fathers.

Birch has added, at the end of the Memoirs, a "Relation "of the State of France, in the Reign of Henry the fourth, by sir George Carew," a very curious and important document,—which, even now, deserves to be read and meditated.

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reader with a succinct view of their general effect and operation.

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1. From the planting of christianity in our island, till the infant reign of Edward the sixth, the mass was the solemn service, at which the catholics of England, as their brethren throughout the world, assembled, to express their adoration of the Deity, to commemorate the death and passion of his Son, to thank him for his blessings, and to implore his protection and favour, on themselves and their neighbours. It was restored by queen Mary. We," it is said in the statute, which passed for that purpose, "found it in the church "of England, left to us by the authority of the "catholic church." It was proscribed, and another service substituted in its stead by Elizabeth; and by a law passed in her reign, a priest who should say or sing mass, was to forfeit two hundred marks, and suffer imprisonment for twelve months; the hearer was to forfeit one hundred marks, and to be imprisoned for six months.

2. A person who refused to assist at the church service, devised in the reign of Edward the sixth, and established by the act of uniformity, which, whatever might be its merit, was certainly, (as it is termed in the statute of queen Mary), "a new thing," was denominated in the law a recusant ; he was to forfeit twelve pence for each Sunday's absence; was to be presented by the churchwardens to the ecclesiastical court, and there excommunicated: the excommunication was to be certified into chancery, the writ de excommunicato capiendo