^lOSANCflfj^
O
^UIBRARYOr
^^UIBRARY<9/:
^^MtUNIVER% ^lOS ANCf If J.
%a3AiNn3WV^ ^ojiivjio^ ^.yojnvjjo^ %?U3nvsoi^
-<
%a3AINa3WV^
^lOSANCElfj-^
o ^
.H;OFCAIIFO/?^.
^OF-CAlllFO/?^
>?7AHVM3!T^^ >'^-,lHVHflnA^
^\yEUNIVER%
^lOSANCElf4,
■^Aa3AlN,13WV
^^tllBRARYQ^v ^^\\E•lINIVER5/^ ^lOSANGtlfj>
%0JITV3JO^
>\;OFCA1IFO%
^IIIBRARY(9/^
-oAllIBRARYQ/-^
^TiUDUVSOl^ %a3AINrt]WV^ '^itfOJllVDJO^ '%0JI1V3J0'^
^OFCAIIFO% .^,0FCAIIF0%
AWEUNIVERJ/a
ee.
■<
v^lOSANCElfj]>
^
%avaan# %i3onvsov'<^ %a]AiNn3Wv^
^lOSANCElfXy.
'^/sMAiNn-awv*'
v^lOSANCEl%
o
%a3AIN(]3l\V^
j^UIBRARYQ^ ^^lllBRARYQ/r
^•OF CALI FO/?^ , ^OF CAll FOfi»)^
^^OAavaan# ^'^Aavagii^
.^WE•l]NIVER5•/A
^ ^lOSANCElfjv.
'^iSOJIlVDJO'*^ ^^OJIIVJJO^ -^TiiJONVSOl^
,\\^EUNIVER^/A
g:
O
<ri]33Nvsor-^
''ya3AiNa-3v\v
v>.lOSANCFlfj-^
"^ ' ^>i3AIN(l 3\\^
^ILIBRARYOr
,^OF'CAIIFO%
i^
^WE .INIVER% ^lOS ANCElfj>
^>\tliBRARYQr^ v>MLIBRARYa.
.^MEUNIVERS/A vvlOSANCflfx^
M.OF'CAllFOMi/x .A.OF'CAllF0/?.<
AWf:UNIVERS/A
v^lOSANCElfT>
^^IIIBRARYQ^ ^vM-
Wjiivdjo"^ ^J'iijDNVsov'^ %a3AiNn-3WV** ^oinm^"^
^OfCAIIFO/?^
,^WEUNIVERS//v
^10SANCEI%
O
I
CAIIF0%
avaaiH^"^ >&Aav}iaiH^ ^riijoNVSOi^ '^/^a3AiN(i3WV ^^AavjigiH'^ %;
^OfCAlIFO/?^ ^01
UNIVERJ/A ^lOS«ICflfj>
o
lONVSOl^
■^/saiAiNn-aftV'
^MIBRARYQ^
u? 1 f r** ^
-v^^lUBRARYQ^
^^OJITVJJO^
%ojnv3jo^
.^WE•UNIVER5•/A
<riUDNVS01^
w\ms/A
o
vvlOSANCEl^r^
o
^OFCAIIFO/?^
^OFCAllFno-
.^ME•lINIVERS■/A
#^
%a3AiNn3.i\v >&Aava8n#' ^^Aaviianii^'^ ^-TiuaNvsoi^
C3 *
IBRARYQr
CAIIF0%
t
^5^l■llBRARYQ^^
^1
^<i/0JllV3JO>^
^S;OFCAIIFO%,
_ cs
>
AWEUNIVERi"//)
v^lOSANCElfx^
o
.^HIBRARY^/- -^l-
<rii33Nvsov'<^ "^aaAiNQjuv^ \mm\^ \k
^(?Aava8ii-#
-^WEUNIV£R5/^
^lOSANCElfx^
-<
"^AaaAiNn-iwv^
^OFCAIIFO/?^ 4-01
UNIVERS/A
o
.^lOSANCElfj>
"^/^aaAiNnjwv^
^tllBRARYOc^ A^ILIBRARY(?/^
^\WEUNIVEWy^ ^11
%JI1VDJ0^ '^OJITVDJO'^ %13DNVS01=^ %J
ANGLO-ROMAN PAPERS
/t^A
^
ANGLO-ROMAN PAPERS
/. — The English Palace in Rome
II. — The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
III. — Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine, Papal
Envoy to the Court of George III.
W. MAZIERE BRADY
AutJior of '•^Clerical and Parochial Records of Cork, Cloyiie, and Ross" " The English
Stale Church in Ireland," '■'■Ike APGillicuddy Pa/ers," ^^ The Epis-
copal Succession in England, Scotland, and Ireland,
A.D. 1400 to 1S75," etc., etc.
ALEXANDER GARDNER
ipublistjcr to Jl^rr itlairati} Ujr Quern
PAISLEY; and 26 PATERNOSTER SQUARE, LONDON
1890
PREFACE
The following papers require little in way of preface or intro-
duction. The reader need scarcely be reminded that the
account of the English Palace is by no means complete, and
that no attempt has been made to write at length the histories
of its successive owners. The many extracts from the State
Papers concerning Lorenzo Campeggi were made by the
author some five-and-twenty years ago, when he thought of
collecting materials for a life of that great man (a work which
remains for an abler hand to accomplish) but they refer chiefly
to the Divorce case and Campeggi's two missions to Henry
VIII. His missions to Germany, which have been but briefly
noticed, are far more important in relation to Luther's revolt
against the Church.
Of the eldest natural son of Charles II. nothing need be here
said, save that the precise parentage of his mother, Mary
Stuart, and the particulars of the death and burial of James
Stuart the younger, the grandson of Charles II., are yet to be
discovered.
The memoirs of Cardinal Erskine, now first published, give
but a sketch of his eventful life, with few comments from the
author, who might perhaps have enlarged on many topics, such
as the amiable character of the Cardinal, shown by his patience
under adversity and by the warm friendships he contracted
with many leading men of his day. His personal virtues arc
145)1 9(1-^
4 Preface.
also evidenced by the fact that his name is never mentioned in
the scandalous and false histories concerning the Roman Court,
and that the " Diaries" of the time throw not the slightest slur
upon his character.
The Revolution, which in Erskine's time overwhelmed the
Papal government, apparently for ever, driving into exile the
Pope and Cardinals, and reducing Rome to a French garrison
town despotically governed by such Generals as Miollis and
Radet, cannot but remind us of the Italian Revolution in our
own days, accomplished, similarly, by force of arms, and at-
tended, similarly, by seizure of Rome and the Pontifical States.
The more brutal and coarse behaviour of the first Napoleon
towards Pius VI. and Pius VII., finds, happily, no parallel in
the treatment of Pius IX. by Victor Emmanuel, but in other
respects the results of the Italian occupation of Rome were
much the same to the Church. The Pope, it is true, was not
bodily carried into exile, but was allowed to occupy one of
his palaces, the other being broken into by locksmiths to serve
as a residence for the victor. The French revolutionists — to
adorn Paris — robbed the Vatican of its treasures. The Italians
despoiled the Pope as effectually, by annexing the Vatican
and its contents as national property. By both revolutions
the temporal possessions of the Pontiff were taken from him,
but under the later revolution the confiscation of Church
property was more complete. The French left the churches in
Rome standing, while the Italians threw down many of them,
selling the altars by auction, and they not only confiscated the
property of all Religious Communities but also seized that
of all Charitable Foundations. Italian legislation — personal
violence being discarded — bids fair to accomplish, what the
Preface. 5
French by brutality effected, the banishment or exile of the
Pope.
There is a striking contrast between the policy, a century
ago, of Great Britain towards the French Revolution and that
of the same country in the present time towards the Italian.
George III. and Mr. Pitt, although fully as Protestant as Lord
Palmerston, Mr. Gladstone and Lord Salisbury, yet saw no
danger to Protestantism and Great Britain in the reception of
a Papal envoy at St. James' and the complete restoration of
the Pope's temporal power. The later rulers of the British
empire fomented the Italian revolution by direct and indirect
assistance, regarding the unity of Italy as an event to be
worthily accomplished per fas aut nefas, and showing no dis-
pleasure when the oldest kingdom in Europe was overthrown
by brute force.
Yet they might have considered that the Roman States
were no more a hindrance to the real unity of Italy than was
the Principality of Monaco or the Republic of San Marino,
and that revolutions, whether glorified by the genius of a
Napoleon, or debased by blasphem}', secret conspiracy and
assassination, are dangerous things to foster. The same re-
volutionists who in Italy clamoured for Rome and got it, now
clamour for Trent and Trieste, Savoy and Nice, and arc
actively stirring up disaffection against British rule in Malta
on the false pretext that because the Maltese speak the
Italian language — which they do not — the island belongs to
Italy!
Rome, October, 1S90.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES.
Lettere inedite, by Vincenzo Armanni, printed at Macerata, 1674.
MSS. in the Archivio Borghese, Rome.
,, ., „ Campeggi, Bologna.
,, ,, ,, Colonna, Rome.
„ ,, ,, Comunale, Rome.
,, „ „ dei Gesuiti, Rome.
„ ,, ,, di Propaganda Fede, Rome,
,, „ ,, di Stato, Genoa.
„ ,, ., di Stato, Rome.
„ ,, ,, Ricci, Rome.
,, ,, ,, Segreto Vaticano, Rome.
„ ,, „ Torlonia, Rome.
„ in possession of Giancarlo Rossi, Rome.
,, in the English College, Rome.
,, ,, Ghislieri, Rome.
„ „ National Library, Naples.
,, ,, in the Scots College, Rome.
Register of the Parish of S. Giovanni Carbonara, Naples.
State Papers, Rolls' Office, London.
CONTENTS.
Page
The English Palace, now Torlonia, in Rome, 9
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II., - 93
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine, Papal Envoy
TO THE Court of George III., - - 121
Appendix — The Rock of Dozza, - - - 269
Index, - - 273
CORRECTIONS.
Page 13,
15.
40,
for Sodorini, read Soderini.
„ 16,
line
il>
,, Worcestor, ,
, Worcester
„ 17,
9,
, , Winchester, ,
, W^orcester
„ 17.
26,
,, Winchester, ,
, Worcester
„ 25,
27.
,, prisoner, ,
, poisoner.
„ 29,
ii>
„ 1551.
. 1521.
„ S4,
9,
,, Ilutt, ,
, Mutte.
„ 154,
18,
,, noveles, ,
, novelties.
„ 197,
8,
,, emigre, ,
, emigre.
The English Palace, now Torlonia, in
Rome.
ON the way to the Vatican, on the right hand of the piazza
Scossacavalli, is a large palace, whose massive walls and
stone encased windows at once recall the memory of Bramante's
masterpieces, while the great entrance gate plainly suggests
that it was added or altered by a much inferior architect. The
confiding tourist is sometimes told that this palace was given
by Henry VIII. to Cardinal Wolsey for his Roman residence.
As a matter of fact, Wolsey never saw it. Thirty or forty
years ago, all visitors to Rome who were of any consideration
from their rank, fortune, or talent, were familiar with this
palace as the scene of the magnificent balls, concerts, and
theatrical entertainments given by the great bankers. Prince
Giovanni and Prince Alexander Torlonia, during the middle
part of this century. Of this palace and its successive owners
and occupiers, the following pages will treat.
The Torlonia palace in the Borgo, built from designs by the
celebrated architect Bramante, is one of the most ancient
palaces in Rome. The huge palazzo di Venezia was erected
some thirty years earlier, and the Cancelleria was completed
about the time when the Torlonia was commenced. But
nearly all the other great palaces, such as the Altemps, Altieri,
Barberini, Braschi, Borghese, Bonaparte, Caetani, Mattei, Chigi,
Falconieri, Farnese, Massimo, Odescalchi, Orsini, Pamfili,
Rospigliosi, Sciarra, Spada, etc., have no higher antiquity than
the Torlonia. This palace, apart from its age and architecture,
lO The English Palace in Rome.
has a special interest for Englishmen, inasmuch as it was once
the property of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and was given to
the former of these kings for the express purpose of an English
national palace, for the use of English kings and English
ambassadors in Rome.
During the latter part of the fifteenth century, England sent
many orators or envoys to the Papal court. In 1484, under
Richard III., John Shirvvood, ambassador of England, was
consecrated for the See of Durham in the church of S. Onofrio,
Rome, on the 26th May, the Feast of S. Augustine, Apostle
of England. Shirwood had been present at King Richard's
coronation, and the Pope was asked by His Majesty to make
Shirwood a cardinal. Bishop Shirwood was first sent to Rome
by Edward IV. as a lawyer, to manage civil and ecclesiastical
affairs. He wrote verses, and collected books and manuscripts
to send to England. In February, i486, Shirwood, John
Dunmowe, [or Dumor, or Dunow] and Hugh Spalding, were
made proctors for Henry VII. at Rome. No less than ten
orators or ambassadors of Henry VI I., on the 8th of May, 1487,
at 20 of the clock, entered Rome in procession by the Porta
Viridaria, now Angelica, which was called Viridaria in the time
of Nicolas IV., and retained that nomenclature until the year
1563. They were Thomas Milling, Bishop of Hereford ; John
Shirwood, Bishop of Durham ; John Dunmowe, Bishop of
Limerick ; John Weston, Prior of S. John of Jerusalem, extra
imiros Londoni ; William, Benedictine Prior of Canterbury ;
the Deacon of the church of Salisbury ; Turcho Pellerius,
Knight of S. John of Jerusalem ; two lay Knights ; and Hugh
Spalding, Rector of Coniglon, York. They were all received
in audience on the 14th of May, by Pope Innocent VIII.
On the 14th of December, 1492, the Bishop of Durham and
John de Gigliis of Luca, (afterwards Bishop of Worcester)
appeared in public consistory ; and, as orators in name of
Henry VII., took the oath of obedience to the new Pope,
Alexander VI. (Borgia). On this occasion the Bishop of Dur-
TJie English Palace in Rome. ii
ham made an oration " well and elegantly composed, but
propter inexpeditam expressivani^ (hesitation in speech) not over
pleasing " to the auditors. The Bishop of Durham died on the
1 2th of January, 1494, and was carried on the 14th for burial
to the church of the English Hospital. The procession
included fifty torch-bcarcrs.
In 1496, on the 17th of June, at 22 of the clock, the Ven^'"-"-
Robert Sherborne [Bishop of St. David's in 1505, and of Chi-
chester in 1508], Archdeacon of Buckingham and Secretary of
Henry VH., came to Rome, and at the instance of the
Cardinal Archbishop of Siena, [Todeschini-Piccolomini, after-
wards Pius ni], Protector of England, was received by all the
officials of all the Cardinals, and by the members of the Papal
Court, and was escorted to the house of John de Gigliis, who
was also an orator. On this occasion there was a dispute for
precedence between the ambassadors of England and Spain,
which was settled by placing the Englishman, Sherborne,
between the Archbishop of Cosenza (Fleury) on the right, and
John de Gigliis, on the left. The ambassadors of the King of
the Romans, of Spain, Naples, and Venice, followed. On
Sunday, July 31st, [same year, 1496], the Pope and Cardinals
rode in state to the church of S. Maria in piazza del Popolo,
where High Mass was sung by Bartolomeo Fleury, Bishop of
Cosenza, in honour of the King of England, who had joined in
league with the Pope, the King of the Romans, the King of
Spain, and the Dukes of Venice and Milan. The oration was
delivered by Hadrian de Corncto, Clerk of the Camera
Apostolica. The Bishop of Cosenza was then secretary to the
Pope, but, on the 14th of September following, was arrested on
the charge of falsification of Briefs, and imprisoned in the
castle of S. Angclo ; and, in secret consistory of the nth of
October, he was degraded and deprived of all his offices. Seven
days later, the Pope made " Adrianum Castcllenscm de Cor-
neto " his secretary in room of P^leury, and at the same time
gave him the Rochet as Protonotary.
12 Tlie English Palace hi Rome.
This Hadrian, the precise dates of whose birth and death
are alike unknown, was born in Corneto about the year 1458,
and derived the name of Castellensis, or De Castello, from his
mother, the representative of a noble family of Castello di
Mont' Alto in the Marches of Ancona. He became secretary
to Cardinal Rodrigo (Lenzugli, or Lenzoli] Borgia, afterwards
Pope Alexander VI., and held various minor appointments in
the Roman Curia. In 1488, he was sent by Pope Innocent VIII.
as special envoy to James III., King of Scotland, to make
peace between England agd Scotland, but he arrived too late,
just at the time of the Scotch King's death. He, however,
gained much favour with the English monarch Henry VII.,
and, having resigned, in 1489, his office of Notary of the
Camera Apostolica, he took up his residence in England in
1490, as Collector of the rents of the Holy See — an office which
he retained during the remainder of the pontificate of Inno-
cent VIII., and during the reigns of the three succeeding
pontiffs, namely, Alexander VI., Pius HI., and Julius II.
Hadrian seems to have resided in England from 1490 to 1492,
when he returned to Rome on the death of Innocent, and he
lived in England as Collector for some time during the ponti-
ficate of Alexander VI. ; but during the latter part of his term
of office, was permitted to discharge his English duties by
deputy. He was Clerk of the Camera in 1494, and also
Chamberlain and writer of Apostolical Letters. In 1497, he
was Protonotary Partecipante, and in 1498, was sent as Nuncio
to Louis XII. of France. He was Treasurer General in 1500.
In 1 501, he was deputed to carry the pallium to the Archbishop
of Canterbury [Henry Dean], and, in February, 1502, was
made Bishop of Hereford, which See he held until 1504, when
he became Bishop of Bath and Wells.
In the consistory of May 31, 1503, Hadrian was created by
his early patron, Alexander VI., a Cardinal, with presbyteral
title of S. Grisogonus, and Protector of England.
Cardinal Hadrian was famous for his great learning, and
The EnglisJi Palace in Rovie. 13
wrote and spoke Latin with such excellence, that he \\as
reputed a second Cicero. He was an eminent Greek and
Hebrew scholar, and commenced a new translation of the Old
Testament. He was still more famous for his wealth, and was
styled "the rich Cardinal." He obtained most of his money
from the English preferments conferred on him by Henry VH.,
who also employed him as his ambassador at Rome.
Some time before the year 1503, he constructed a magnificent
palace, from designs of Bramante, in the Borgo, near to the
house and garden of Cardinal Francesco Sodorini, and near
also to the villa of another Cardinal, then some time deceased,
namely the Cardinal Aleriensis [Ardicinus de la Porta, created
1489, died 1493].
It was in the vineyard or garden of this villa of Cardinal
Hadrian, that Pope Alexander VI. caught his mortal illness.
The circumstances are variously related. Some accounts are
to the effect that the Pope and his son, Duke Valentino, [Cesar
Borgia] formed a diabolical plot against the Cardinal's life, in
order to possess themselves of his great wealth. They invited
themselves to sup with the Cardinal on the evening of the 5th
of August, 1503, and sent him a present of poisoned wine.
They arrived before the time appointed, and being thirsty,
asked for wine to drink. The Coppiere gave them by mistake
the poisoned flask. The Pope, the Duke, and the Cardinal all
drank of it. The Pope, being aged, was unable to recover
from the effects. The Duke, being younger, fared better,
having also mixed his portion with water. He took prompt
remedies, and was wrapped in the warm body of a slaughtered
mule, and recovered, although with much damage to his con-
stitution. The Cardinal, to quench the internal burning heat
of his stomach, was put into a large vessel of cold water, and
saveci his life with the loss of all his skin. Part of this account
is vouched by the testimony of Bovio, Bishop of Nocera, who
says he heard it from the lips of Cardinal Hadrian himself.
But this stor}', improbable in itself, will not bear the test of
14 TJie English Palace in Rome.
research, and can be received only by those who are willing to
believe anything wicked, provided it be to the disparagement
of the Borgia family. It is not to be credited that the Pope
would create Hadrian a Cardinal in May, only to murder him
three months afterwards. A much more reasonable version of
the affair is given by Giustiniani, who writes that on Saturday,
August 12, 1503, the Pope was absent from the meeting of the
Segnatura, being ill with fever. At 2 o'clock on the night of
the 13th, he says that the Pontiff, after eating, vomited and
had fever. The Duke was also in bed with fever. The cause
of their maladies was that some eight days previously they
went to cat supper in a vineyard of Cardinal Hadrian, remained
there till night, and that all were the worse for it — " tutti ne
sono risentiti." The first to get ill was the Cardinal, who on
Friday (August 11) was at Mass, and after eating got a great
paroxysm of fever. On the 14th, the Duke was very bad. On
the 1 8th, Master Scipio, the Medico, told Giustiniani that
apoplexy was the origin of the Pope's illness. When it is
remembered that the month of August is one of the very worst
in Rome for health, and that the neighbourhood of the Vatican
is notoriously insalubrious, and that deaths from fever were
unusually frequent in that autumn of 1503, no surprise can be
felt that fever should have resulted from an imprudent supper,
partaken of late in the evening, in a vineyard situated between
S. Peter's and the Castle of S. Angelo. The then unfinished
palace of Cardinal Hadrian was not, as at present, surrounded
by houses and streets, but lay amid vineyards and fields, the
arid earth sending up its exhalations to mingle with the
poisonous air of the reeking banks of the Tiber.
Within seven months from the death of Alexander VI., his
immediate successor. Pope Pius III., being also dead, and
Julius II. being the reigning Pontiff, Cardinal Hadrian deter-
mined to make a gift to Henry VII. of the palace and garden
so unfortunately connected with the last illness of Pope Alex-
ander, who had been Hadrian's first patron and constant
Tlie English Palace iji Rome. 15
friend. The deed by which this princely donation was effected
is still extant in the Archivio di Stato in Rome. It bears date
in March 150*. The Cardinal, in presence of the Notary,
Bcnimbene, acknowledges that he had received, and hopes to
receive in future, favours and benefits from the Most Serene
King of England, and declares, laying his hands on his breast,
after the manner of a prelate's oath, that he freely, spon-
taneously, and of mere gratuitous good will, gives, transfers,
etc., irrevocably and fully, the said palace and garden to King
Henry VII., his heirs and successors, and to whomsoever the
said King and his successors may wish to cede or transfer
them, for the use, however, of the English nation in Rome, or
for the use and habitation of the English Ambassadors, or of
the King when coming to Rome and residing in the Roman (tJ-Krf 1
Court. The palace thus given away is described as : — " Certain Ro-i^ vUj
houses and buildings of the donor, not yet finished, and
adorned with magnificent work of marbles and Tiburtine ("""
stones, adding not a little to the beaut)' and splendour of the ^ «^''> '•■
city, and erected out of the private moneys of the donor, which / ,
he obtained by his ecclesiastical preferments." The premises
are situate " in the Borgo of the Basilica of Blessed Peter,
Prince of the Apostles, in the via Alexandrina, lately con- ,
structed and named after Pope Alexander VI., of happy
memory. In front of the palace is the said public street, thie
Via Alexandrina. In the rear is the Via Sistina prope imwos,
leading to the Castle of S. Angelo. The side towards the
Apostolic Palace is on the public road, near the house and
garden of His Eminence the Cardinal of Volterra [Francesco
Sodorini] ; and on the other side, which is towards the Castle
of S. Angelo, is the road which the donor, Cardinal Hadrian,
himself granted in order to make his said palace or villa form
an island, near to the house and garden of Cardinal Aleriensis,
of happy mcmor)'."
The Via Alessandrina and the Via Sistina prope niuj-os,
which are across the Tiber, must not, of course, be confounded
1 6 The English Palace in Rome.
with the present Via Alessandrina near the Forum of Trajan,
and the Via Sistina near the Pincio.
Cardinal Hadrian was promoted by Henry VH. from the
See of Hereford to that of Bath and Wells, in 1 504, a short
time before his magnificent donation of his palace to the King.
Sylvester de Gigliis, Bishop of Worcester, was at that time the
English ambassador in Rome, and was entitled to be the first
occupant of the new English Palace.
Suddenly, on the ist of September, 1507, His Eminence
Cardinal Hadrian disappeared from Rome. He had some
quarrel with the Bishop of Worcester, ambassador of
Henry VH., and had written to the King, complaining of the
Bishop, and also animadverting in strong terms upon the con-
duct of the Pope and Cardinals. The King sent Hadrian's
letter to the Pontiff, and sequestrated the Cardinal's English
revenues. Cardinal Hadrian, not knowing that his letter to
the King had been communicated to His Holiness, went to the
Pontiff, and requested his mediation with the King. Ascer-
taining the awkwardness of his position, and fearing arrest, the
Cardinal fled away by night ; and afterwards wrote from
Spoleto, imploring pardon and permission to return. Julius II.,
who was the declared foe of Alexander VI., seems to have
entertained some animosity against Cardinal Hadrian, whom
he, nevertheless, pardoned on this occasion, and accordingly the
Cardinal came back and appeared in consistory on the loth of
September.
But Hadrian was not at ease, and distrusted the Pontiff.
Again, on the 6th of October, in the same year 1507, he fled
by night, and in disguise, to Trani, in Puglia, where he
remained until the year 151 1, and from 151 1 to 15 13, he
resided at and near Riva, on the banks of Lago di Garda.
Plere he lived under the protection of the Emperor Maximilian
and the Bishop of Trent, and had the parishes of Tione and
Tenna under his care, having procured the necessary ecclesias-
tical licence to hold them. His residence was mostly the
Tlie English Palace in Rome. 17
Castle of Tenna, otherwise called the Rock of Riva. On the
death of Pope Juh"us, he returned to Rome and attended the
conclave, when Leo X. was elected on the 4th of March, 15 13.
For a few years Cardinal Hadrian lived in Rome on good
terms with Leo X., who seems to have treated him with much
kindness and consideration, and certainly befriended him on
many occasions.
In 1 5 14, Henry VHI,, urged on by Silvester de Gigliis,
Bishop of Winchester, endeavoured to induce the Pope to take
the Collectorship in England from Cardinal Hadrian and give
it to Andreas Ammonius, the King's Latin secretary. Leo X,
after receiving three letters on the subject from Henry VHI.,
issued a brief, dated 31st of October 1514, (second year of
Pontificate), appointing Ammonius to be Collector, but
reserving a portion of the fees for Cardinal Hadrian. This
arrangement was set aside in consequence of the protest of the
Cardinal.
According to a letter written from London on March 3,
151 5> by Polydore Vergil, the sub-collector, to Cardinal
Hadrian, the Pope had sent a brief to the King on the 8th of
January, stating that Hadrian had consented to give up the
Collectorship to Ammonius. Another brief of the same date
came for the Bishop of Winchester. Vergil says these briefs
were either extorted from the Pope or were surreptitious.
Vergil uses in this letter the word mole for the Bishop of
Winchester, to signify his underhand dealings, and calls
Ammonius Harenarius, and Wolsey Le mi ; and depicts Wol-
sey as a tyrant.
A copy of this letter was made by Ammonius, and has a
postscript addressed to Wolsey. The postscript (written
doubtless by the Bishop of Worcester) says that the Pope's
thanks had been sent to the King and Wolsey, and that the
unbecoming words used by Vergil when speaking of the Pope
had been noted. The writer says that the Pope had seen
similar letters in which King Henry is described as a boy.
TJie EnHisJi Palace in Rome.
ruled by others, and signing papers without knowing their
contents. It is then stated that the Pope would be glad to
have some manifest reason for chastising Cardinal Hadrian,
and a request is made that the letters of Hadrian and Polydore
Vergil may be intercepted.
It was quite false, however, to represent the Pope as desirous
to injure Cardinal Hadrian, and it may well be believed that
the name of King Henry VIII. was unwarrantably used in
this malicious communication. Indiscreet letters of Vergil
were doubtless intercepted, but those of Cardinal Hadrian to
Vergil if intercepted, gave no opportunity for injury to him at
this time, when he seemed on good terms with the King and
Wolsey, and ignorant, to a great extent, of the plot formed
against him.
Cardinal Hadrian, on the 26th of March, 15 15, signed a deed
appointing Andreas Ammonius sub-collector in perpetuity, and
on the next day wrote to Wolsey, thanking him for the favour
shown to himself and Polydore in the office of collector, and
commending their cause to his consideration. The Bishop of
Worcester, on the 29th of March, writing to Wolsey, says : —
"The Pope had expedited bulls in favour of the appointment of
Ammonius to the collectorship, making sure that Hadrian
would not oppose it, which he did, affirming that the King
never dictated the letters, and that he had heard from a very
high councillor in England that the King did not intend he
should be turned out of his office. The Pope compromised
the matter, appointing Andreas sub-collector, reserving to the
Cardinal a pension of 1400 ducats, as the King will learn from
Ammonius, by which the Cardinal will suffer no loss. . . .
It is the intention of His Holiness that the King should de-
clare Ammonius his sub-collector, and that a deed should be
given him by the Cardinal for that purpose."
Polydore Vergil, doubtless for his insolent language respect-
ing the King and Wolsey, was imprisoned, but had powerful
friends in Rome. Leo X. on the 30th of August, 15 15, wrote
TJie EnglisJi Palace in Rome. 19
to Henry VIII. to say that he had written to the King already
in behalf of Polydorc Vergil, sub-collector, detained in prison
some months at the King's command. The Pope repeats his
request for Pol3'dore's liberation and the restoration of his
goods. He commends Hadrian, Cardinal of Bath. Julius,
Cardinal de Medici, also wrote from Verona on the 3rd of
September, to Henry VIII., saying that he would not have
written so strongly in behalf of Polydore, who, he is sorry to
hear has been thrown into prison, had not Cardinal Hadrian
been so ready to comply with the King's wishes in the matter
of the collectorship. As Ammonius has obtained possession,
he begs that the King will not allow Polydore to be detained
any longer.
Cardinal Hadrian promoted the advancement of Wolsey to
the purple, and wrote a congratulatory letter to him on the
loth of September, 15 15, the day Wolsey became a Cardinal.
Leo X. on the 19th of September, wrote to the King in praise
of Cardinal Hadrian, who is a great friend to his Majesty. On
the 6th of October, Cardinal Wolsey wrote to Hadrian to say
that he cannot fail to comply with his request to forgive Poly-
dore Vergil his offences. And on the 8th of November, the
Cardinal of Santa Prassede writes to Wolsey, testifying to
Cardinal Hadrian's zeal in advancing Wolsey's promotion,
which his enemies [the Bishop of Worcester among them]
denied. Leo X., in a letter dated the ist of December, 15 15,
and written to Henry VIII., again commends Cardinal
Hadrian as a constant defender of the Holy Sec, and well
deserving of his Majesty's favour.
The Bishop of Worcester, however, on the I9lh of January,
1 5 16, in a letter to Cardinal Wolsey, says that the Pope bids
him write that Cardinal Hadrian is always obtaining briefs
from him in his own commendation, and in praise of the ser-
vices which he has rendered in procuring the Cardinalate for
Wolsey. These letters — so says the Bishop — are not to be
trusted. Whenever the Pope grants such a brief, and the
20
TJie Enolish Palace in Rome.
word nostro is not found at the foot of it, he is not to pay any
attention to it. It is quite as well that Wolsey should know
how to repay deceit by deceit. Polydore is deceitful and
malicious. The Bishop, on the 20th of April, 15 16, told
Ammonius that Cardinal Hadrian regards him with the whites
of his eyes and always insults him to his face. He also says
no man is a greater enemy of England than this "ribaldo"
Hadrian. Cardinal Hadrian, on the nth of May, 1 5 16, writing
to Wolsey, speaks of VVolsey's friendship to him, now that he
has discovered the falsehood of his maligners.
In 1 5 17 both Hadrian and the Bishop of Worcester fell
under the indignation of Henry VIII., on account of their
presumed neglect in not forwarding to the English Court
certain intelligence respecting Tournay. Hadrian was con-
sidered bound to watch the King's interests, and the Bishop
was the King's special ambassador and orator at Rome for the
King's subjects at Tournay. In the month of February, 15 17,
De Gigliis received a most bitter letter, touching the revocation,
granted by the Pope to the French, respecting the Bishopric of
Tournay, and excused himself by professing his entire ignor-
ance of the whole proceeding, however incredible it might
seem that the Pope should pass a bull and he should be
ignorant of it. Cardinal Hadrian had told De Gigliis nothing
of this bull. Leo X., on the 21st of February, 1517, wrote to
Wolsey in behalf of Hadrian, who complains of being unjustly
accused by Wolsey of not having informed him of the restitu-
tion of the Bishop of Tournay. He asserts that he (the Pope)
never communicated the affair to the Cardinal Hadrian or
any one else.
Hadrian, on the 22nd of March, 15 17, Lxtare Sunday, cele-
brated Mass in the chapel of the Palace before the Pope. On
the 31st of March, 15 17, the Cardinal writes a confidential
letter to Henry VIII., excusing himself for not writing more
frequently, and saying that yesterday he had a long talk with
the Pope, and this day read out in consistory the Papal letters
TJie English Palace in Rome. 21
to the Emperor. On the 23rd of April, Hadrian tells VVolsey
that he (Hadrian) was appointed by the Pope to be one of a
select commission of Cardinals ; and in a letter dated the 23rd
of May, from London, written by the Venetian ambassador to
the Doge, it is mentioned that Cardinal Hadrian is to be the
King's Commissioner with the Pope, but without recalling
Bishop De Gigliis.
On the same day, May 23, Cardinal Hadrian wrote from
Rome to Wolsey, announcing that on Tuesday the 19th, the
two Cardinals, De Sauli and Siena, were brought to the Castle
of S. Angelo, and accused by the Pope, in presence of the
other Cardinals, of attempting to poison him by means of a
Surgeon, who was taken at Plorence. On the 12th of June, the
Bishop of Worcester writes from Rome of the confession of
Cardinals Sauli and Siena ; and of Cardinal St. George, who
acknowledges that he was privy to their designs ; of the con-
sistory summoned on the 8th ; their profession of their
innocence ; the Pope's urgency that they should confess
whether they knew of any conspiracy against him, (for at that
time the perjury of Cardinal Hadrian was unknown) ; of the
solemn denial of Cardinal Volaterra ; of the confessions of the
two guilty Cardinals which had been taken apart, one confessing
that Hadrian was his accomplice, the other, Volaterra ; but one
was not privy to the other. The consistory urged Hadrian
and Volaterra to fall at the Pope's feet and beg his pardon,
which they did with tears in their eyes, confessing their guilt.
He pardoned them, referring their penalty to the consistory,
which was set at 60,000 ducats, and was finally fixed by the
Pope at 25,000. . . . Cardinal Hadrian — so says the Bishop
of Worcester — has the assurance to request a brief from the
Pope to the King, attesting his innocence, but has been
refused.
Marco Minio, the Venetian ambassador at Rome, gave a
different and more truthful account, when writing to the Doge
on the 13th of June : — This morning Hadrian went to the
The EnzlisJi Palace m Rome.
Palace with the Cardinals S. Crucis and Grimain on money-
business, "and he, as it were, asked pardon a second time,
although, according to report, his transgression was very slight.
For being with the Cardinal of Siena, [Cardinal Alfonso]
Petrucci and that ribald, Master Giovanni Battista of Vercelli,
(the same who was to have poisoned the Pope's fistula) as
Hadrian chanced to pass by, Siena said, ' That fellow will get
the College out of trouble ; ' and the Right Reverend Hadrian,
for having heard these words and not reporting them, has
been in great peril so as to be obliged to expiate his crime in
coin."
The Bishop of Worcester was evidently a watchful enemy of
Cardinal Hadrian, for he now wrote to Ammonius to tell him
he might be quite at his ease about the Collectorship (which
Hadrian held) and his looo ducats, and that the Pope will find
means to cancel his obligations to Hadrian.
Cardinal Hadrian paid the fine of 12,500 scudi in gold, and
the night after, namely on the 3ist of June, 15 17, fled away
from Rome. He was traced to Tivoli and Fondi, and lastly to
Venice. On the morning of the 7th of July, a safe conduct to
allow him to stay at Venice was made out for him at his
request by the Signory in full college. This is mentioned in
the Diary of Marin Sanuto, who adds : " It is said he will go
to Padua, or to England, where he is liked, and has his income."
On the 19th of July, Cardinal Hadrian, apparently uncon-
scious of Wolsey's enmity, wrote from Venice to Wolsey : —
He had written, on the 12th of July, of the disturbances at
Rome and his own troubles. He has inclosed his letters to the
King in this to Wolsey, and begs his intercession with the
King to procure his pardon from the Pope, and that he may
remain in Venice and devote himself to letters. The Venetians
— he adds — are very good friends to the King, and he was
recommended to them by Henry VH. and Pope Julius.
The Bishop of Worcester, in a letter to Ammonius, says : —
Cardinal Hadrian has reached Venice, disguised as a fool, as
The English Palace in Rome. 23
he left Rome. He demanded and obtained audience of the
college [of Ten] who gave him a safe conduct. No doubt
Hadrian has written much to excuse himself. The Pope
advises them to beware of him. His privation in facto shall
be pronounced as soon as he is expelled from where he is.
Even now he does not desist from intriguing. But at least
Worcester's 1000 ducats are safe, and also, he trusts, the
Collectorship, if sufficient influence be used. This must be well
thought of, for if he (Hadrian) be deprived of the Collector-
ship, and not of the Cardinalate, the former may be restored in
time, and if Ammonius have only the name, he will be com-
pelled to pay 200 ducats a year to Hadrian.
Scbastiano Giustiniani, Venetian ambassador in London,
writes to the Council of Ten, on the 31st of July : — He had
sent his son to the Bishop of Winchester [Fox] with the letters
and those of Cardinal Hadrian. He apprehends some difficulty
in Hadrian's business, as Wolsey has already obtained the See
(of Bath). Giustiniani again writes on the 6th of August to
the Doge : — He presented to the King the letters from the
Signory and Hadrian, which last he "extracted from the pac-
ket addressed by his Lordship to the Cardinal of York;"
otherwise Wolsey would never have delivered it to his IMajesty.
The King said he was perfectly acquainted with the business,
and had heard from the Pope that he intended to deprive and
degrade Hadrian. On his endeavouring to excuse Cardinal
Hadrian for absenting himself from Rome, rather than incur
danger, the King said : — " I understand this matter better than
you Venetians ; " and seemed greatly exasperated against him.
He thinks this is owing to Wolsey. He would have presented
the letter to Wolsey but he "has been ill of this sweating sick-
ness, and would that the perspiration had carried off his wish
for these benefices ! "
His (Giustiniani's) son has returned from the l^ishop of
Winchester, who had likewise taken the sweat. lie (Fox)
said that one of the pontifical briefs greatly exaggerated
24 TJie English Palace in Rome.
Hadrian's crimes, and urged that the See of Bath should be
given to Wolsey in coniuiendani. But in the second brief the
anger of the Pope was much softened, and he seemed to delay
the execution of the former one. The second brief, however,
is not to be found, and your highness will comprehend by
whose means it has been secreted.
On the 15th of August, Giustiniani, in a letter to the Doge,
says : — Upon sending his secretary to Cardinal Wolsey, the
latter made bitter complaints against the Signory, and
especially against the writer. " Your master " — he said to the
secretary — " has had the daring to give letters, and to canvass
against me, at the request of a rebel (Hadrian) against his
Holiness. Nor can I but complain of the Signory for taking
such a delinquent under her protection." " Continuing a long
while in this state of mental excitement, he again bursts forth
to the secretary thus : — ' I charge your ambassador and you
not to write anything out of this kingdom without my consent,
under pain of the indignation of the King and of the heaviest
penalties ; ' which expressions and all those above mentioned,
he repeated several times, becoming more and more exasper-
ated. While thus irritated, he held a cane in his hand, and
kept knawing it with his teeth."
The ambassador, Giustiniani, called in person upon Wolsey
early in the morning and found him in bed, and waited three
hours, but was refused admission on the plea of Wolsey's
indisposition. On the 17th of August, Giustiniani again called
on Wolsey in the morning, was admitted, and begged to be
heard, and detailed to Wolsey the whole of Hadrian's conduct
and his arrival at Venice. Wolsey exculpated Giustiniani and
turned his anger against the Signory. Giustiniani made the
best apology he could, and said that rather than offend him,
the Signory would incur the ill-will of the whole college of
Cardinals. " Whilst delivering this defence, I could not express
to your highness the rabid and insolent language used by him,
both against your sublimity and myself, repeating, as he did
TJie English Pa/ace iti Rome. 25
several times, that he held me not in the sh'ghtcst account, nor
yet the Venetians, who were wont to favour ribalds and rebels,
and to persecute the good ; that God and the potentates of the
world would avenge such deeds ; and that your highness was
ahva}-s for the rebels of the Church, and opposed to the pontiffs
past and present ; and that for this you had done penance, and
were accustomed to proceed with deceit and mendacity ; and
that the city of Venice would be a seat for conspirators against
the Pontiff; on which account he meant to be the State's bitter
enemy and mine, though at the same time, by reason of my
other good qualities, he regretted my being the minister of
such iniquities ; and that your Signory would find also that his
Majesty took the thing very much amiss, saying, Go on, and
write to the State to proceed in favouring rebels against me,
for she will see what \ ictory she will gain."
Giustiniani told Wolscy that he had received letters of the
22nd of July from Venice, stating that the Pope was much
mollified towards Hadrian and thanked the Signory for its
conduct in that respect. Wolsey declared that he did'nt believe
the letter ; because six days ago he had received a brief from
the Pope, stating that if the Venetians wrote anything in
favour of Hadrian, Wolsey was not to believe them. Gius-
tiniani made no answer to his bitter and insolent language ;
but as to his insinuation that Venice had been adverse to the
Church, he said it had done more for the Church than any
other potentate. At the conclusion of the colloquy, Wolsey
said that if Venice persevered in favouring this rebel prisoner,
who is said also to have poisoned Pope Alexander, the King
and himself would be most hostile to them. The Venetian
ambassador desires a soothing answer to be sent, but is quite
ready to do his duty stoutly and is not terrified at the punish-
ment of others, and would feel no scruple in retaliating the
insolent language to which he has been subjected.
In August and September 15 17, Cardinal Hadrian was still
at Venice. The Emperor wrote to the Venetians in his behalf.
2
26 TJie English Palace in Rome.
The King of France was also anxious to intercede for the un-
fortunate Cardinal. But Henry VIII. was inexorable, and
urgently pressed the Pope, through the Bishop of Worcester,
to deprive him.
On the 8th of October, 15 17, Giustiniani, writing from
London to the Doge, says : — I obtained an interview with
Cardinal Wolsey with difficulty . . . and communicated
to him their (the Council of Ten's) apology respecting Hadrian.
He replied : — " I do not doubt but that the Signory did not
write with the intention of offending me, and I believe, as you
say, that the circumstances were not understood at Venice :
still you cannot acquit yourself of having done evil against me,
contrary to your debt of gratitude, considering the love I bore
you : and in truth I should have expected such an injury from
any other person in the world rather than from you. He
proceeded thus with such wrath and violence, and so much
threatening and bitter language, that I could not repeat one
half of it. In fact he hemmed me in on every side, and great
need had I for patience to tolerate what he said to me." After
a while Giustiniani overcame his arrogance and he said : — " I
regretted that a man of your ability and worth should be
deceived by a ribald, and for the future I shall be more yours
and the Signory's likewise than ever." He also warned Venice
to beware of Hadrian, as he communicated with the Emperor
and had always acted with him against the Signory. . . ,
On taking leave he allowed Giustiniani to kiss his hand,
contrary to his custom.
From this month of October, 15 17, the name of Hadrian
seems no longer mentioned by the Venetian ambassador, and
Hadrian's foes at Rome became more active. The agents of
Wolsey in Rome were incited by bribes to hasten the process
for the deprivation of Hadrian, and the Bishop of Worcester
was promised a pension by Wolsey as a reward for his services.
The Bishop, writing from Rome, on the loth of December,
1 5 17, to Wolsey, says he has urged the Pope to perform his
TJie English Palace in Rome. 27
promises and deprive Hadrian, but found him dilatory as
usual. The Pope had issued a bull of citation but would not
publish it at present. Some friends of Hadrian had offered in
his name to resign Bath and Wells to Wolsey with a pension
of 3,000 ducats, if he will prevent the sentence of deprivation.
Worcester told the Pope that such terms would be refused, and
that justice and not avarice was the motive for pressing for the
sentence. Had the King wished, he might have impounded
the revenues of the See by reason of a debt that Hadrian owed
to Henry VH., but the King will not permit any Bishop in his
realm to conspire against the universal Head of the Church.
Leo X. was by no means desirous to ruin Cardinal Hadrian,
but was rather inclined to pardon him, and had actually issued
a brief for that purpose. But the continued absence of Hadrian
left the Pope unable to do more than to delay the process.
In February, 15 18, he writes to Henry VHI. that he will
comply with his wish to proceed against Hadrian, but it must
be done consistently with the honour of the Holy See. Two
days later, the Vice-Chancellor at Rome reminds the impatient
Henry that the law must be strictly observed, to avoid scandal,
and that some delay must take place. Sylvester de Gigliis, the
Bishop of Worcester, was as much interested — so he wrote — in
the business he has on hand against Hadrian, as if his life
depended on it, and attributes the delay to the infrequency of
letters from the King and Wolsey. In reply to this hint,
Wolsey writes to the Bishop, on the 27th of February, saying
that he would do nothing more in Hadrian's affair, only that
he knew how much the King felt on the subject. He blames
the procrastination, and desires the Bishop to tell the Pope that
he cannot oblige the King more highly than by depriving that
infamous Cardinal, and allowing Wolsey to hold Bath and
Wells in conjunction with his present, or any other, arch-
bishopric. He will let the Bishop know, when Hadrian is
deprived, what is to be done with Hadrian's palace.
Henry VIII. also tells the Pope : — That his Holiness may
28 The English Palace in Rome.
understand how much he has at heart the deprivation of
Cardinal Hadrian, he has thought right to ask it again under
his own hand. This letter had its effect, and on the loth of
April, 1 518, the Bishop of Worcester was quite certain of the
deprivation. Henry VHI. had also begged the Emperor not
to intercede for Hadrian.
The absence of Cardinal Hadrian from Rome without license
from the Pope had been mentioned in the consistory of June
the 22nd, 1 5 17, but it was not until the consistory of April 12,
1 5 18, that the formal accusation of contumacy for non-
appearance was made by the Procurators Fiscal, and further
proceedings ordered. On the 26th of April, 1 5 18, the articles
of accusation were admitted, and sworn evidence was taken
concerning his flight and absence. In June, the Papal Legate,
Campeggi, was stopped at Calais by order of Henry VIII.,
because of delay in pronouncing sentence on Hadrian, although
a provisional sentence of contumacy had been given in the
consistory of May 17. At last, on the 5th of July, final
sentence of deprivation was passed in consistory, by which
Cardinal Hadrian de Castello was stripped of his Cardinalate
and all his privileges, bishopric and benefices of every kind.
The last mention of Hadrian's name in the State Papers
occurs in a letter of the Cardinal of Gurk [Girolamo Balbo] to
Wolsey, dated from Augsburg the 20th of December, 15 18,
stating that the Pope has appointed payment to be made of a
debt of 600 ducats due to the writer from Cardinal Hadrian,
deposed, out of the fruits of his benefices confiscated in
England. Cardinal De Medici and the Pope will write to
Wolsey in that behalf. The writer begs Wolsey's favourable
interference in this matter.
Of what became of Cardinal Hadrian after his deprivation,
nothing is known with certainty. It is said by some that he
went to France and finally to Constantinople, where he lived
— so it was reported — under an assumed name until he died.
The precise time of his death cannot be ascertained, but it is
TJie English Palace in Rome. 29
probable that he died before 1523, the year of the death of Leo
X., as, if he had survived that Pontiff, he would most likely-
have returned to Rome and claimed a seat in the Conclave.
Perhaps a search in the Venetian archives would elucidate the
mystery of Hadrian's ultimate fate.
It was said of Cardinal Hadrian that his learning brought
him honour, his riches envy, and his ambition calamity, and
that he had applied to himself a prophecy, said to have been
uttered by a witch or magician in the Appenine mountains, to
the effect that a Hadrian would be Pope. The prophec\-, if
ever uttered, was fulfilled by the election, in 1551, to the
pontificate, not of Hadrian de Corneto, but of Hadrian VI. of
Utrecht.
Among the English ambassadors who may have occupied
apartments in the palace given by Cardinal Hadrian, was
Christopher Bainbridge, made bishop of London in 1507 and
archbishop of York in 1508. He was created Cardinal Priest
with title of S. Prassede by Julius H. on the nth of September,
1508, and in May, 15 10, appears as ambassador of Henry VHI.
of England, and Custos of the English Hospital. He died —
not without suspicion of foul play — in Rome on the 14th of
July, 1 5 14, and was buried in the English Hospital. Sylvester
de Gigliis, who was Bishop of Worcester from December,
1498, to his death in Rome in April, 1521, seems to have
succeeded his uncle John in the ambassadorship, as well as in
the bishopric of Worcester, and probably lived for a short time
in the English Palace in Rome.
The palace, however, which had been given in 1504-5, to
Henry VH. on the express provision that it was to serve as a
residence for English Kings and their ambassadors when in
Rome, was, in 15 19, granted, freely, and without any
reservation, by Henry VHI. to Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggi,
one of the most notable personages of his day.
The Campeggi family was of Bologna and of considerable
9.ntiquity. Records still extant mention one Lorenzo da
30 Tlie English Palace in Rome.
Campeggio in the year 1170. His grandson, Benvenuto was
Prior of S. Maria dei Galluzzi, a church afterwards demolished
to give a site for the Cathedral of S. Petronio. Ugolino, son of
Lorenzo da Campeggio, was Captain-General of the Pisani and
defeated the combined fleets of the Kings of Hungary and
Bohemia, and for this victory was permitted to add to his
family arms two anchors of silver. Donato, son of Ugolino,
conquered in combat one Vinceslao Lambertazzi, and adjoined
a dead man's skull to his armorial bearings. In succession to
Donato were Ugolinazzo, Nicolo and Faciolo, all men of
repute in Bologna. Faciolo's son, Bartolomeo, was Doctor of
Laws and so highly esteemed for his goodness that his houses
were spared by the populace when, after the death of Annibale
Bentivoglio, the residences of the partizans of the Canetoli were
destroyed.
Giovanni Zaccaria, son of Bartolomeo, and brother of
Girolamo, Bishop of Parenzo, and Privy Councillor of Charles
v., was a famous lawyer, and ambassador to Pope Julius H.,
and he married Dorotea Tabaldini of Mantua, and died on the
3rd of September 1 511, leaving, besides three daughters, five
sons, namely, Lorenzo, afterwards Cardinal ; Tomaso, Bishop
of Parma and Piacenza, and afterwards of Feltre ; Marc
Antonio, Bishop of Grosseto ; Antonio Maria, Senator of
Bologna ; and Bartolomeo, Count of Pescina and Captain in
the army of the Emperor Charles V.
Lorenzo, the future Cardinal, was born in Milan in the year
1474. When nineteen years old he was Professor in the
University of Padua, and three years later held a chair in
Bologna. He was reputed the most learned Canonist of his
times. He married in 1500 Francesca de' Guastavillani, a lady
of noble birth, and had five children by her. She died in
1 5 10. Lorenzo Campeggi, being then ^^6 years old, was
induced by Julius H. to embrace the ecclesiastical career, and
was made Bishop of Majorca in 15 10, and auditor of the Rota
in 1 51 1. He was then appointed Nuncio to the Emperor
TJie English Palace ?n Rome. 31
Maximilian to detacii him from the party of the French Kin^
Louis XII., and to induce the Emperor to withdraw his favour
from the pseudo-council of Pisa, and send envoys to the
intended council of the Lateran. Campcggi set out for Vienna
on the nth of August, 15 11, but Maximilian refused to see
him, or to acknowledge him as Nuncio. After two month's
delay, by the assistance of Matthew Lange, Bishop of Gurk,
Campeggi succeeded in getting a secret audience with Maxi-
milian in a forest during a hunting party, and made such good
use of the interview that the Emperor accepted him as Nuncio,
and took him into friendship ; eventually, and after much
hesitation, consenting to break with Louis and side with the
Pope. The Bishop of Gurk was sent to Rome to represent
Maximilian, and at the same time Campeggi was recalled from
Vienna. The Emperor, on Campeggi's departure, gave him on
the 20th of August, 1 5 12, the rank and privileges of Count
Palatine, including the right to legitimate persons born out of
wedlock, grant the degree of Doctor, and confer the dignity of
Knighthood. On the 20th of November, 15 12, at the request
of the Bishop of Gurk, Campeggi was made Bishop of Fcltre ;
and soon after was made Papal Nuncio to the court of the
restored Duke of Milan, Maximilian Maria Sforza, and as such
was present at the Duke's installation in Milan on the 29th of
December, 15 12.
In February 15 13, Julius II. died, aud De Medici succeeded
him as Leo X. By this Pope Campeggi was confirmed as
Nuncio to Milan, and was also made administrator of the
cities of Parma and Piacenza, then restored to the Pope.
In December 15 13, Campeggi was sent on a second embassy
to the Emperor Maximilian, to make peace between the
Emperor and the King of Hungary, and form a league against
the Turk. He was away on this harassing mission for nearly
four years, and was the constant companion of the Emperor in
many fatiguing journeys and festivities, the result being that
he laid the foundation for future gout in his constitution. The
32 The English Palace in Rome.
Emperor had a high opinion of Campeggi, and gave him the
secular government of Feltre and the right to carry the sword
as well as the crozicr, and urged the Pope to make him a car-
dinal. Leo X. acceded to the request, and mentioned before
Albert, the Emperor's ambassador, the names of some twenty
or thirty intended cardinals. When Campeggi's name was
pronounced, Albert said, " Holy Father, this one name is worth
fifteen of the others." On the 27th of June, 1517, Campeggi,
while absent, was made Cardinal Priest with title of S. Thomas
in Parione. On the 30th of October, 15 17, the Emperor con-
firmed the Palatinate rights previously granted to Lorenzo,
and extended them to his sons, his brothers, and their
successors, and to his uncle Jerome, Bishop of Parenzo.
Campeggi, departing, arrived at Bologna on the 29th of
November ; there received the cardinal's hat, and on December
the 29th, left Bologna for Rome, where he hired for residence
the palace of Tor Millina from the Mellini family The lease
is dated in 15 17.
Cardinal Campeggi was appointed on the 3rd of March,
1 5 18, as Legate a Latere to Henry VHI. to form a league
against the Turk. No such Legate had been in England for
200 years previously, and Henry was at first disposed to reject
this mission, but said that if however he had no other business
except that of treating against the Turk, he would admit him.
He stipulated that all those faculties which are usually con-
ceded to Legates de jure should be suspended, that Cardinal
Wolsey should be joined in the Commission as first and senior
Legate, and with equal authority, and that but one cross, that
of Wolsey, should be carried before them, and also that the
deprivation of Cardinal Hadrian de Castello should be formally
pronounced. The Pope agreed to these demands. His Holi-
ness addressed a brief,* dated the loth of April, 15 18, to the
Duke of Norfolk, High Treasurer of England, informing his
* The original of this brief is extant among the Campeggi archives in bologna.
Tlie English Palace in Rome. 33
Grace of the mission of Campeggi, and desiring him to place
full and entire confidence in whatever Campeggi might com-
municate to him on behalf of the Pope, and requesting the aid
and assistance of the Duke towards the furtherance of the
Pope's desires.
Cardinal Campeggi soon afterwards set out on his mission to
England. On the 19th of May, 1518, he was at Lyons, where
he stopped over Easter, sending on his secretary, Florianus
Montinus, and on the 28th of May was at La Palisse. He was
at Calais on or before the 21st of June, but was ordered to wait
there by Henry VHI., who was resolved that Cardinal
Hadrian's deprivation should be effected before the Legate
entered England. On the 29th of June, Campeggi wrote from
Calais to Wolsey, to remonstrate about this delay. When the
King at last learned from Rome that Hadrian was deprived,
he sent a Knight of the Garter to Campeggi at Calais. On
Friday the 23rd of July, 15 18, the Legate took ship and landed
at Deal near Sandwich, where he was received by the Bishop
of Chichester, Lords Abergavenny and Cobham, and a great
number of nobles and gentry, who conducted him to Sandwich,
where he remained that night. On the next day, they con-
ducted him to Canterbury, where he arrived between 9 and
10 A.M., and after changing his clothes was received by all the
clergy, with the mayor and aldermen, who conducted him to
the gates of Christchurch, where he was received by the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Rochester, the Abbots of
S. Augustine and P^avcrsham, and the Priors of Christchurch
and S. Gregory, all in pontificalibus. After kissing the Holy
Crucifix, he was brought up to the high altar, the monks
singing Suinmce Triniiati, etc., and thereupon the Archbishop
said prayers over him. After kissing certain relics, he was led
to S. Thomas's shrine, with anthem of S. Thomas ; which
ended, he sang the collect Dcus pro aijus ccclcsia, etc., and then
solemnly blessed the people. He was then conducted by the
Archbishop and said lords to S. Augustine's Abbey, where he
34 The English Palace in Rome.
was received by the Abbot and brethren, and led up to the
high altar, and thence to his lodging. The Archbishop
returned to his palace with most of the lords to dinner.
On Sunday the Legate remained at S. Augustine's, and
heard high mass in the choir ; after which he had a great
dinner, at which the Archbishop and nobles were present.
After dinner he went to Christchurch, and saw S. Thomas's
shrine and other relics, and then returned to his lodging at
S. Augustine's.
Early on Monday (26th of July) morning, when it thundered,
lightened, and rained sore, Campeggi departed with the bishops
and lords ; dined at Sittingbourne, and then went to Boxley
Abbey, where he passed the night. On Tuesday, attended by
the archbishop and a thousand horse, many in armour and
gold chains, he went to the archbishop's palace at Oxford,
where the archbishop received him, and there he remained two
days, during which time the archbishop made him good and
great cheer and divers pleasures and goodly pastimes. On the
Thursday (29th of July) after, he went on to Levisham near
Greenwich, where he dined with Mr. Wm. Hattecliff, one of
the clerks of the green cloth. After dinner, about one o'clock,
he proceeded to Blackheath, and was met by the Duke of Nor-
folk, the Bishop of Ely, and all the ambassadors, with a great
number of lords, the Bishop of Durham pronouncing a con-
gratulatory oration on his coming. This done, the company, to
the number of 2000 horse, formed in order according to their
degrees, and proceeded towards London. The King's tent, of
cloth of gold, was set up in a meadow two miles from London,
beyond S. Thomas Watergate, wherein the Legate changed his
apparel and his mule. The Bishop of Lincoln, the Earl of
Surrey, Lord Admiral, Lord D'Arcy and others, joined the
pageant here. Campeggi, dressed in pontificals, then went on
to London, with his cross borne before him, with " two pillers
and two balaxes." The nobles rode before him, and after him
his brother, a prothonotary, with Thomas Halsey, an English-
The Ehj^Hs/i Palace in Rome. 35
man, who is a bishop in Ireland. The Legate's servants came
next, dressed all in red, and after them the Archbishop's
servants, clothed in one livery with red hats, (except the
chaplains) to the number of 200 horse. From S. George's
Church to London Bridge, the way was lined on both sides
with the clergy of London, in copes of gold, friars and
monks, with gold and silver crosses, singing hymns, and, as the
Legate passed, censing him and sprinkling him with holy
water. At London Bridge an oration was made to him. At
the foot of the bridge were two bishops in pontificals, who
received him and presented him with the relics of the Saints to
kiss. So loud were the rejoicings, and such salvos of artillery
rent the air, as if the heavens themselves would fall. The
London crafts began their order in " Gracious Strete," in
Cheapside, welcomed by the mayor and aldermen ; and a brief
Latin oration was made by Mr. Moore. At Paul's Church,
the Bishops of Lincoln and London, and all the ministers of
Paul's received him, and the Bishop of London made a short
oration ; after which he was taken up to the high altar ; then
returned to his mule, and was conveyed to his lodging in
Bath's place.
On Tuesday, the 3rd of August, the two Legates, Thomas,
Archbishop of York, and Cardinal, first Legate in commission,
and the Legate from the Bishop of Rome, were received b}' the
King as fcjllows : first the King, with the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and other noble men, went from his dining chamber
into the hall, and a little below the middle waited till they had
entered. He then advanced as far as the spear, and there the)-
embraced. After a little speech the two Legates separated ;
the Cardinal Wolsey, being chief in commission, on the King's
right hand, and a little before him ; one bearing his train on
the right, a little behind him. The other Legate, Campe^igi,
in like manner, on the King's left. Their crosses, pillars, and
hats were borne before them. The King's sword was borne by
the Earl of Surrey, the Admiral, between the Legates. They
36 The English Palace in Rome.
were followed into the dining chamber by all the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal. The room was hung with arras,
having a cloth of estate, chair and cushions, for the King, of
rich cloth of gold of tissue. The chair stood on a timber stage,
about six inches from the ground, covered with cloth of gold ;
and two chairs of cloth of gold were set for the Legates on the
King's right.
Giustiniani, writing to the Doge, says : — He was invited to
join the two Legates at Greenwich. " His Majesty went as
far as the lower hall to meet them, dressed in his royal insignia,
with the greater part of the prelates and barons of the Kingdom;
and the Legates saluted him with great marks of respect. He
likewise returned the salute, doffing his bonnet with respectful
gestures ; and being taken between them, he came to the
upper hall, where, at the extremity, the throne had been pre-
pared, and two benches, one on the right hand, the other on
the left." The two Primates, with the Bishops, stood on the
right of the throne. The two Legates sat on two gilt chairs :
in the larger, the Legate of York ; in the lesser, Campeggi,
then the Spanish Ambassador. On the left were the three
Dukes and other lords. Wolsey, standing cap in hand, the
King standing likewise, made a Latin speech. " To this his
Majesty replied, also in Latin, most eloquently and with all
gravity, after which they seated themselves." An answer to
this was made in the King's name, by one of VVolsey's atten-
dants, stating his Majesty would no wise fail in his duty as a
Christian ; of which, however, he had no need to be reminded.
This ended, the King and the Legates entered a chamber,
where they remained an hour.
The Legates went to court on the 8th of August, where
Mass was performed, and a banquet given, more sumptuous
than had yet been seen. No business was transacted. Little
respect (adds Giustiniani) was shown to the See Apostolic.
On the 25th of September, the King gave public audience
to the French ambassadors at Greenwich, when Campeggi and
Tlie English Palace in Rome. 37
Giustiniani were present. The Bishop of Paris delivered an
oration, to which the Bishop of Ely replied. The King then
led the French ambassador, attended by Wolsey, into a
chamber, Campeggi and others remaining outside.
On the 3rd of October (writes Giustiniani to the Doge), the
general peace was proclaimed at St. Paul's. That day, the
King, the two Legates, all the ambassadors, the Lords and
Bishops, were present at a solemn Mass, celebrated by Wolsey
with unusual splendour. After a grave oration by Pace, the
King, the Cardinal, and the French ambassadors, proceeded to
the high altar, where the peace was read and sworn to in a tone
audible only to the parties concerned. Thinks this equivalent
to cancelling the clause against the Turks.
The King and the rest then went to dine with the Bishop of
London, his Majesty returning afterwards to Durham House
in the Strand. " P"rom thence the Cardinal of York was fol-
lowed by the entire company to his own dwelling, where we
sat down to a most sumptuous supper, the like of which, I
fancy, was never given either by Cleopatra or Caligula : the
whole banqueting hall being so decorated with huge vases of
gold and silver, that I fancied myself in the tower of Chosroes,
where that monarch caused divine honours to be paid him.
After supper, a mummery, consisting of twelve male and
twelve female masquers, made their appearance in the richest
and most sumptuous array possible, being all dressed alike.
After performing certain dances in their own fashion, they
took off their visors. The two leaders were the King and the
Queen Dowager of France, and all the others were lords and
ladies, who seated themselves apart from the tables, and were
served with countless dishes of confections and other delicacies.
Having gratified their palates, they then regaled their eyes and
hands ; large bowls, filled with ducats and dice, being placed
on the tables for such as liked to gamble : shortly after which,
the supper tables being removed, dancing commenced, and
lasted until after midnight."
38 The English Palace in Rome.
On the 5th of October, the bridal entertainments for the
marriage of the Princess Mary (sister to Henry) and the
Dauphin, were celebrated at Greenwich. The decorations
were sumptuous. The King stood in front of his throne ; on
one side was the Queen and the Queen Dowager of France.
The Princess was in front of her mother, dressed in cloth of
gold, with a cap of black velvet on her head, adorned with
many jewels. On the other side were the two Legates.
Tunstal made an elegant oration ; " which being ended, the
most illustrious Princess was taken in arms, and the magnificos,
the French ambassadors, asked the consent of the King and
Queen on behalf of each of the parties to this marriage con-
tract ; and both parties having assented, the Right Reverend
Legate, the Cardinal of York, placed on her finger a small
x\x\<g, juxta digitum puellce, but in which a large diamond was
set (supposed to be a present from Wolsey), and my Lord
Admiral passed it over the second joint. The bride was then
blessed by the two Legates, after a long exordium from the
Cardinal of York — every possible ceremony being observed.
Mass was then performed by Cardinal Wolsey, in the presence
of the King and all the others, the whole of the choir being
decorated with cloth of gold, and all the court in such rich
array that I never saw the like, either here or elsewhere." All
the company then went to dinner, the King " receiving the
water for his hands from three Dukes and a Marquis." The
two Legates sat on the King's right ; on the left were the Lord
Admiral and the Bishop of Paris ; and the Dukes of Bucking-
ham, Norfolk, and Suffolk, were seated " at the inside of the
table. The other two French ambassadors, the Spaniard, one
from Denmark," Giustiniani, with others, dined in another
chamber. " After dinner, the King and the Cardinal of York,
with the French ambassadors, betook themselves into a certain
room, to conclude some matters which remained for settlement;
and all the rest departed."
Many other entertainments of extraordinary luxury followed.
The English Palace in Rome. 39
to which Cardinal Campeggi was invited. The King seemed
devoted to amusements. Giustiniani, on the 13th of January,
1 5 19, found his Majesty starting on one of his pleasure ex-
cursions. On the 19th, he writes : The King and the Legates
are absent, amusing themselves. The business of Campeggi's
mission was evidently drawing to a close.
On the 17th of March, 15 19, Giustiniani writes to the Doge: —
An ambassador from the King Catholic has arrived to ratify
the league between the princes of Christendom. Yesterday
was appointed for his audience, for which sumptuous prepara-
tions were made. A great number of lords and prelates had
been convened, " including seventeen bishops not usually in
attendance at the great court." As the Pope had sent a fresh
commission to the Legates, in confirmation of what had been
done, it was arranged that they should come to court as if
newly sent by him. Accordingly they were met by the King,
the prelates, lords and ambassadors, " with all the ceremonies
observed on a first arrival. The prothonotary Campeggi
(brother of the Legate) delivered an eloquent oration, lauding
the King for his promptitude in the Christian expedition.
Then a Spanish ambassador made an oration, thanking the
King for naming his Sovereign as a chief confederate, not
mentioning the Pope or any other. Pace replied, qualifying
the Pope ''tanquain coniitcni cofifccdcrationis ; " and, to mitigate
the arrogance of such an expression, he added, " coviitevi et
qtiod maxiuie optavit hie sacratissiniiis rex, principevi conficdera-
tionis!' The chief author of these proceedings is Wolsey,
whose sole aim is to procure incense for his King and himself
Cardinal Campeggi seems to have given, during this embassy
to England, satisfaction both to the Pope and the King.
Henry VIII. was very liberal in his gifts. He gave to Cam-
peggi the palace which Cardinal Hadrian, in 150^, had
presented to Henry VII. It is described — in the patent,
which is dated from Westminster, March 12, 15 19 (tenth year
of the reign of Henry) — as an unfinished house at Rome, near
40 The English Palace in Rome.
the house of the Canons and Chapter of St. Peter's and the
house of Cardinal Francesco Sodorini. Cardinal Wolsey,
writing on March 25, 15 19, to Sylvester de Gigliis, Bishop of
Worcester, the King's ambassador in Rome, states that " out
of consideration for the many good qualities of Campeggi, the
King has given him a house at Rome ; " and the Bishop is
" to see that there is no difficulty in investing Campeggi
with it."
On the 20th of March, 15 19, Cardinal Campeggi celebrated
High Mass in state at Greenwich, giving plenary indulgence
to all present ; after which, near the High Altar, the two
Legates, in the name of his Holiness, confirmed the League.
A banquet was afterwards given, the two Legates sitting at
the same table with the King.
Leo X. wrote on the 13th of April, 15 19 (seventh of his
Pontificate), to Henry VHI., thanking him for his hospitality
to Cardinal Campeggi and his noble present to him. It is
stated that Campeggi received from the King 6000 scudi to
furnish the palace, besides ten superb horses, and also forty
vessels of gold and silver, worth 6000 scudi.*
Henry VHI. wrote from Greenwich on the i8th of August,
1 5 19, to the Pope, to say that he could not but regret that his
Holiness had recalled Campeggi, and that he doubted if any
other man could have performed his office with such splendour,
skill, and assiduity, and served the cause of Christendom with
* The gold and silver plate given by Henry VIII. to Cardinal Campeggi
remained for many years in possession of his descendants, but having been divided
among various members of the family at different periods, cannot now be traced.
The Cardinal was also presented by Henry with several pieces of tapestry, which
once adorned his palace in the Borgo and his castle of Dozza. These tapestries at
present are possessed by the Marchese Girolamo and the Marchese Pietro, sons of
the late Marchese Emilio Malvezzi Campeggi, and are preserved at Bologna.
These tapestries, sufficient for five rooms, were executed from designs of Luca
d' Olanda. A picture, also by Luca d' Olanda, representing the Presepio, now
belongs to Marchese Alfonzo, son of the late Marchese Carlo Malvezzi Campeggi,
of Bologna.
The Enc^lish Palace in Rome. 41
equal honour to his Holiness. The King has given him the
ratification of the five years' tiuce, and entrusted him with a
message to the Pope.
Cardinal Wolsey, writing on the following day to the Bishop
of Worcester at Rome, says : — " Campeggi, who is now return-
ing, has acted with great moderation and prudence, and gained
the good opinion of all men. . . . The King was not well
satisfied with the Pope's neglect in the affairs of Germany, but
he (Wolsey) and Campeggi have removed his dissatisfaction."
On the 22nd of August, 15 19, Campeggi, on his way to
Rome, wrote from Dover to Henry VHL, thanking his
Majesty for his kindness and liberal gifts of plate, and stating
that Sir PIdward Belknapp, who accompanied him from London,
had been very attentive to him. He wrote also to Wolsey to
the same effect. The details of the cost of embarking the
Cardinal were : — Expense of the passage of the Lord Legate
and his company by the commandment of Sir Edward Belk-
napp on the 24th of August : The freight of the Henry, jCs 5
the Myghell Bayly, £'^ 6s. 8d.; for more mariners for the Legate
being in the same ship, 20s.; the Myghell Yong, £^ 6s. 8d.; the
Barbera Foche, ;^3 6s. 8d.; prymmage of the horses and stuff,
20s.; the bridges, 5s.; for the boats carrying the company on
board, 8s.; for the porters carrying the company into the boats,
2s. 6d. Mem. — My Lord Legate's whole charge of shipping
amounted to £1^ 15s. 6d. " There is a privy seal for three of
the ships, directed to the Customer there."
Campeggi left for Calais on the 24th at seven o'clock, and
he arrived, after a good passage, about eleven o'clock. He
was well received by the magistrates and townsmen, and
especially by the Treasurer, at Calais, and started on the
morning of the 26th, at seven o'clock, for P^landers.
Campeggi, on September 21, 15 19, wrote to Wolsey from
Blois : — He had not written to him since his last letter from
Calais. He proceeded thence through France to Brussels, and
paid his respects to the Lady Margaret and Prince Ferdinand,
3
42 TJie English Palace in Rome.
and satisfied them of the King's and Wolsey's good feelings
towards them. He arrived at the court of France on the 19th.
He had an interview with the King the next day. He spoke
of the kind treatment he had received in England. The King
expressed his great affection to England, and his desire for a
firm union. He is well aware of Henry's cordiality from other
proofs than the restitution of Tourna\', and begged Campeggi
to say so. On presenting his letters, he embraced him, and
offered him with great delicacy a pension of 8000 francs. Is
indebted for this liberality to the King of England, but would
accept no benefit except from England. He will proceed on
his journey to-morrow.
Another account of this interview with the French King was
sent to Wolsey by Boleyn, who wrote from Blois on the 24th
of September, 15 19, and says: — On Sunday came the Pope's
Legate that was late in England, and was brought to the court
on Monday by the Cardinal of Bourbon and others. The King
received him " in his dining chamber somewhat within the
door," embraced him, and led him by the hand " to a beddys
syde in the same chamber, and so standing there talked with
hym half a quarter of an howre," when he delivered the King
a letter from England, which he read ; and calling the other
Legate, " talked with him, leaning on the bcdd, more than half
an howre," whilst the Cardinal of Bourbon talked with the
other Legate. The Legate speaks ver\' highly of the liberality
of England ; says that the King willed the other Legate to
shew him that he would give him an annual pension of 8000
francs a year, which he refused, as he could not serve two
masters, and wished to remain faithful to Henry. He left
Blois yesterday morning, when Boleyn accompanied him a
mile on his way, and received from him two letters, transmitted
herewith — one to Wolsey, the other to the Venetian ambassador
in England. Campeggi had no other convoy than his own
company of twenty-four horses and five mules.
Campeggi next writes from Lyons on the 3rd of October,
TJic English Palace i7i Rome. 43
1 5 19, to Wolsey, saying : — " I arrived here on the ist, intending
to cross the Alps in two days." Since he wrote from Blois,
nothing worth mentioning has occurred, except that by reason
of the rain the roads have been very difficult. It seems that
Erasmus supped with Campeggi at Bruges, and liked the
sincerity and openness of the Cardinal.
On the 9th of November, 15 19, the Bishop of Worcester,
writing to Henry VIII. from Rome, says : — " The return of the
Legate Campeggi, who has sounded the King's praises every-
where, has greatly augmented the King's reputation at Rome.
He extols the balls, music, and tournaments, and the wonderful
splendour of the English court, and is an excellent trumpeter."
Campeggi writes to Wolsey on December 4, 15 19: — "He
has not written since his last from Blois. Had very bad
weather and much rain. Reached Bologna on the 20th of
October, and stayed there to recruit until the 14th of November.
He started for Rome on the 26th with no better weather, and
entered the city incognito. Next day, the 28th, was received
by all ranks at the city gates, and was conducted from S'^
Maria del Popolo to the palace, where he saluted the Pope and
Cardinals. Afterwards, the consistory being dismissed, had,
with the Bishop of Worcester, an audience of the Pope. He
expressed to his Holiness the King's friendship for the Hoi}'
See, his desire for the peace of Christendom, and presented his
letters, which the Pope returned to Campeggi to read ; then he
presented those relating to the treaty ; thirdly, those referring
to his own return ; fourthly, those containing his promised
promotion to the See of Salisbury. ... A consistory was
held on the 2nd of December, in which the Pope announced
the return of Campci^^gi, commended the King, and ordered
his letter to be read. This was done by Dom. Cornarus, Dean
of the Deacons, with a loud voice. The rules of the consistory
did not allow Campeggi to make an oration, but he seconded
the Pope's eulogium by buzzing about the King's praises,
seorsum et levi susiirror
44 TJie English Palace in Rome.
On the 20th of February, 1520, Campeggi, in a letter from
Rome to Wolsey, says : — He has sent the sapphire ring,
which Wolsey gave him on their voyage to Greenwich, to a
Moor confined in Hadrian's Mole, who reads the inscription —
In nomine Dei regnavit Rex Soloinon super Syon. The Moor
has since turned Christian, and has been baptized by the Pope
in St. Peter's. Sends six byreta made according to the measure
given him, and two enclosed in a case (in techa).
On the 3rd of March, 1520, Cardinal Campeggi wrote to
Wolsey to say that he was in great trouble for means to repair
the house given him by the King, which is, he states, in a
ruinous condition. He proposes to borrow i^iooo for three
years, for which he offers a bond to John Cavalcanti [a merchant
of Florence] or some other responsible merchant. He hopes,
as the King has given him the bishopric of Salisbury, and
promises to do more for him, he will not deny him this favour.
The See of Salisbury, it may be noted, was not then vacant,
and Campeggi did not get possession of it until after the death
of Bishop Audley, which occurred on the 24th of August,
1524.
On the loth of October, 1520, Campeggi tells Wolsey: —
" He (the Pope) gave me, without my asking, the office of
Signatura Justiciae, also held by the said Cardinal (a nephew
of Julius H., Bishop of Agen, just dead); and though this has
no revenue, it is the hinge of the whole court and the right
hand of the Pope, and is usually given to a Cardinal of known
faith and learning." He was made Papal Secretary on the 8th
of November, 1520.
Campeggi wrote from Rome to Henry VHI. on the loth of
February, 1521, to say that he had sent him by Parker a horse
which he had procured from a Roman noble by the advice of
Gregory Casali. In March of the preceding year, a similar
present had been made by Campeggi to the King.
On the 15th of April, 1 521, when Sylvester de Gigliis, Bishop
of Worcester, was dying, and again on the 15th of May, when
TJie EuglisJi Palace in Ronie. 45
the Bishop had been a month dead, Campeggi wrote from
Rome to Henry VIII., asking to have the See of Worcester
until such time as Sahsbury should be vacant. The King did
not accede to this request, but gave the bishopric to Cardinal
de Medici, at the same time satisfying Campeggi that it would
be wiser for him to wait.
During the fourteen years between 150* and 15 19, the period
during which the palace was the property of English Kings,
Cardinal Bainbridge and Bishop Sylvester de Gigliis, as already
stated, were entitled to residence in the English Embassy.
After 1 5 19, when Campeggi became owner, no further right of
residence for English envoys existed. Accordingly, in April,
1 52 1, John Clerk, ambassador of England, when entering
Rome, was waited on by the retinues and officials of Cardinals
Campeggi and de Medici, but went to the house of de Medici,
from whence he dates a letter on the 8th of July same j'ear.
But in September, 1522, it is stated that Cardinal Campeggi
has lodged another envoy of the King, namely, Mr. Thomas
Hannibal, and his servants. This Thomas Hannibal, writing
from Rome to Wolsey on the 13th of December, 1522, asserts
that he cannot get a house in Rome " that is anything honest"
under 150 ducats a )'ear. Again, John Clerk, now Bishop of
Bath, when entering Rome on the 3rd of June, 1523, went to
reside in the house of Cardinal dc Medici.
On the iith of June, 1523, it is mentioned that Campeggi,
alone of the Cardinals, lives in the Pope's palace. And on the
14th of September, 1523, Hannibal and Clerk, writing to
Wolsey from Rome, say : — " The Cardinals of the greatest
authority here are Medici, SS. Quatuor and Campeggi, who
form a triumvirate in the College."
For more than three years, from 15 19 to 1524, Cardinal
Campeggi resided in his palace in Rome, and during that
period took part in two conclaves. Leo X. died December i,
I52i,and was succeeded by Adrian VI., who entered Rome
on the 29th of August, 1522, and died on the 24th of September,
46 The English Palace in Rome.
1523. Clement VII. (de Medici) was elected Pope on the i8th
of October, 1523, and on the 2nd of December, same year,
gave to Campeggi the archbishopric of Bologna.
The Duke of Austria at this time entreated the Pope for aid
against Luther, whose heresy was daily increasing ; and
Clement VII., as Wolsey was informed by letters from Rome,
dated January 9, 1524, determined to send Campeggi as
Legate. On the 17th of January, writing to Henry VIII., the
Pope says : — When about to send Campeggi to the Diet at
Nuremberg, he heard with pleasure of Henry's resolve to send
ambassadors thither, and has ordered his Legate to consult
with them. He will not allow Henry's interests to suffer by
the absence of Campeggi. On the 20th of January, Campeggi
informs Henry VIII. of his appointment as Legate to Germany.
It is, — he writes, — a very onerous office, but he trusts to the
Pope's authority and Henry's. Asks if he can serve the King
in any way in his new capacity, and expects to leave before
the end of the month.
Campeggi, when he set out on his mission, took Bologna in
his way. He made his public entry, as Archbishop, into
Bologna on the 12th of February, 1524, sang Mass in St.
Petronius on the 14th, and gave a grand banquet to the
nobles. After dinner, the Senate presented him with a silver
basin, worth 500 scudi in gold. On the iSth of February, he
left Bologna for Germany.
On the 2nd of April, 1524, Campeggi writes to Henry VIII.
from Nuremberg, to thank the King for appointing him Pro-
tector of the English nation and for commending him to the
Pope. Campeggi wishes he were at Rome to perform his
duties as Protector, but the Pope's will and the calamities of
the times compel him to undertake the present most odious
charge. Clement VII., on the i6th of May, 1524, informs
Henry VIII. that at the last Diet at Nuremberg, the Pope by
Campeggi and the Emperor by the Arch Duke, required that
the decrees of the Diet of Worms should be observed.
TJie EiiglisJi Palace in Rome. 47
Clerk, writing to Wolsey from Rome on the 26th of June,
1524, says that he had thanked the Pope for consulting the
King as to whether he should send another Legate to England
about Turkish aff^iirs ; and said that Wolsey had so much
authority, etc., that the King was content with him. The
Pope, smiling, turned to Campeggi and said : — '' Nonne Jicec
predixiiniis ? " Clerk immediately added, that if any one were
sent, no one would be more acceptable than Campeggi ; who
thanked the King and Wolsey for their good mind, and said
that if they had wished for another Legate, it would have given
him pleasure to have gone.
Audley, Bishop of Salisbury, died on the 23rd of August,
1524, and Campeggi for some years had had the King's ex-
press promise to give it to him. It was not, however, given to
him at once, or without several applications. Clement VII.,
on the 2ist of September, 1524, wrote to Henry VIII. in be-
half of Campeggi, for the bishopric which had already been
promised him by the King and Wolsey. On the 22nd of
September, Gio. Matt. Giberto, Datary, writing to the Floren-
tine ambassadors with Charles V., says : — From Germany,
Cardinal Campeggi writes that the affairs of Luther are be-
coming settled, but the Duke of Saxony and the Free towns
are daily growing more obstinate in their perfidy. The Arch-
duke is acting nobly. On the ist of October, 1524, Campeggi
wrote from Vienna to Henry VIII., asking his Majesty to con-
fer the bishopric of Salisbury on him ; and on the lOth of
same month wrote to Wolsey, reminding him of his necessities,
as he hears the Bishop of Salisbury is dead, and enclosing a
letter for the King, to be delivered if Wolsey thinks right.
On the 1st of November, 1524, Henry VIII. wrote to the
Pope, requesting him to promote Campeggi to Salisbury ; and
on the nth of November, Wolsey wrote to the Pope to
acknowledge the receipt of his two letters recommending Cam-
peggi for Salisbury. " The King," Wolsey adds, " has written
48 The English Palace in Rome.
to his Holiness for the promotion of Campeggi, although many
objected to the appointment of a cardinal and a foreigner."
Clement VII., on the 29th of November, 1524, thanked
Wolsey for his letters and for his commendation of Campeggi,
who is now in Germany.
On the same day (November 29), Campeggi wrote from
Vienna to the King and to Wolsey, thanking them for his pro-
motion. In his letter to Wolsey, he acknowledges that it is
their benevolence, and not his deserts, and he feels the difficulty
caused by his being a foreigner. By zeal and faithfulness he
will prevent Wolsey from repenting his kindness. Wolsey has
saved Campeggi's dignity and fortune from destruction. His
agents will attend to the business at Rome. Hopes that Wol-
sey will see to his duties to the King and the Church at Salis-
bury, and inform him or " Jacobum meum " what else is to be
done. He refers Wolsey to Giacomo for an account of his
embassy.
Dr. Clerk, Bishop of Bath, writes to Wolsey on the 5th of
December, 1524, from Rome, saying he had received, on the
27th of November, Wolsey 's letters of the nth, and one of
them is the King's pleasure concerning the see of Salisbury.
The Pope is grateful to Wolsey for his exertions in behalf of
Campeggi. The appointment is very popular in Rome, and
therefore Clerk in his last letters had spoken in Campeggi's
favour.
On the 28th of December, 1524, Campeggi wrote to Henry
VIII. from Buda. He wrote last from Vienna to thank the
King for his liberality. He arrived at Buda on the iSth, and
was met by the King of Hungary more than two miles from
the city.
The College of Cardinals wrote letters, on the 2nd of Janu-
ary, 1525, both to Henry VIII. and Wolsey, to testify their
pleasure at the promotion of Campeggi to the see of Salisbury.
On the i6th of January, 1525, Cardinal Wolsey, writing to
Clerk, Bishop of Bath, says — The Lutheran heresy makes it
TJie English Palace in Rome. 49
necessary to act wisely. . . . Campeggi's journey into
Almain has done nnuch good.
Dr. Thomas Benet wrote to Wolsey on the 6th of February,
1525, to say that he had accomplished all things touching the
installation of the Bishop of Salisbury, for which the Chapter
demands ^10, which he has deferred till he knows Wolsey 's
pleasure. " The bishop's Vicar here in the Cathedral church is
destitute, whom your Grace doth name to the Chapter." The
value of it is ^12 a year. He must be a priest and a singing
man, and keep the choir daily.
Campeggi, on the 7th of February, 1525, in a letter to Wol-
sey, from Buda, states that he hears from Giacomo that the
Bishop of London has lately tendered Campeggi's oath of
allegiance to the King. Expresses his great obligations to
him. Refers him to Giacomo for the news. On the same day
Campeggi wrote to Henry VHI. to the same effect.
On the 26th of April, 1525, Campeggi writes to Wolsey from
Buda. He is still detained here by Bohemian affairs, which
are yet in such a case that they will be altogether finished
within the next month. Is troubled by private as well as
public cares. Many who have hitherto assisted him with
money are pressing for repayment, thinking that he is rich
through the instrumentality of the King here. Asks Wolsey
to assist him.
Campeggi, on the 21st of July, 1525, wrote to Wolsey from
Bologna: — He arrived at Bologna on the 13th of July.
Wolsey's letter of May 31 was brought to him there from
Buda. It made him forget the trouble of his long journey to
hear of Wolsey's health and kindness to him (on which his
friend Giacomo enlarged), and of the arrangements for paying
the revenues of Salisbury to Giacomo. Would wish to stay
here during August to rest himself, his servants, and cattle, and
to avoid the heat of the city (Rome); but the state of affairs
and the Pope's wishes prevent it. Is the less vexed at this, as
he knows that Wolsey and the King will employ him there.
50 The English Palace in Rome.
Will not stay longer in Bologna than family matters compel
him. In another letter to Wolsey, undated, Campeggi reminds
him of his request, that of the two houses occupied by Francis
Bombarderio in the Cathedral of Salisbury, the smaller may be
taken from him, and the keys sent to the Cardinal.
On the 20th of September, 1525, Henry VIII. and Wolsey,
in separate letters, notify to the Pope the recall of the Bishop
of Bath (Clerk), whose services are required in England, and
whose place will be taken by Jerome Ghinucci, Bishop of
Worcester, and Sir Gregory Casale.
Campeggi, on the 24th of October, 1525, writes to Henry
VIII. to announce his return to Rome. He arrived on the
1 8th, tired out with the difficulties and troubles of the embassy
to Germany and Hungary. He shudders at the recollection
of the dangerous places he has passed through. He can say,
without boasting, that he has prevented from falling many
places which were tottering, and has raised up others which
had fallen. The popular, so-called, Evangelical fervour has
driven both the bad and the good to arms, as he predicted.
Many have already expiated their crime by blood, but there is
great hope that the application of steel and cautery will prevent
the cancer from proceeding further. Nothing was a greater
hardship to him during his embassy than his absence from the
city, and his inability to serve his Majesty. He will devote
himself and the See of Salisbury to his service.
A letter of the same date and tenor was addressed to Wolsey.
Cardinal Campeggi wrote, on the 5th of November, 1525, a
complimentary letter on the return of Clerk, Bishop of Bath,
to England, in whose place arrived the Bishop of Worcester
and Sir Gregory Casale. Casale wrote from Rome on the 7th
of November to say that Clerk left to-day for England. The
Bishop of Worcester had arrived in Rome on the 31st of
October.
The year 1526 was one of disaster for Rome and Christendom.
TJie English Palace in Rome. 51
A plague broke out, and although it abated in May, it increased
in June.
On the 29th of August, 1526, the King of Hungary was
totally defeated by the Turks, and was drowned while at-
tempting to escape.
In a Consistory, summoned on receipt of the sad news.
Cardinal Campeggi made a long speech, bewailing the state of
Christendom and the helpless condition of the Pope.
Taking advantage of the defenceless condition of Rome, and
breaking the agreement lately made with the Pope, the troops
of the Colonna, under Hugh Moncada, Viceroy of Naples,
surprised Rome on the night of the i8th of September, 1526,
and seizing three gates, passed by Ponte Sisto through the
Trastevere to St. Peter's. The invaders forced the Pope to
take refuge in the castle of St. Angelo, and plundered the
Basilica of St. Peter's, the palace of his Holiness, and the
houses in the Leonine citj'. The greater part of the Borgo
Nuovo escaped, being protected by the guns of St. Angelo.
Ghinucci, Bishop of Worcester, wrote on the 20th and 23rd of
September an account of this event to Wolsey, and says that
Don Hugo visited the Pope, who gave as hostages his nephews,
Cardinal Cibo and de Ridulphis. Don Hugo demanded that
the castle and other hostages should be given up, but the Pope
refused. On the following day, the 21st, an agreement was
made between the Pope and Don Hugo de Moncada, Captain
General of the Imperial fleet, and was approved by the College
of Cardinals. It was dated Rome, in the castle of St. Angelo ;
present : the College of Cardinals and Don Hugo, Don Martin
of Portugal, the Portuguese ambassador, and the Bishop of
Trevesi, Governor of the city. The Pope was still in the castle
on the 23rd of September.
Sir Gregory Casale gives the following account : — " Next
morning (the 19th September), the Colonnas, with whom his
Holiness had truce, at break of day were at the Porta di San
Giovanni without the Pope's knowledge, who, having some
52 The English Palace in Rome.
days before sent out of Rome looo foot, whom he had kept as
a guard, was obliged to send two Cardinals (one of whom was
Campeggi) to pray the Romans to take arms in his defence.
No one stirred except some friends ; and the good Colonnas,
with 600 horse and 6000 foot, of which there were not 2000
that were not of the rabble (villani), marched through Rome,
with only a little resistance at the Porta di San Spirito. They
sacked the Pope's palace, the half of the Borgo, and a number
of houses, including those of the Cardinal Aracceli and the
Venetian ambassador, and robbed vestries, etc. Never was
such cruelty and sacrilege. The Pope appealed to several
Cardinals in vain, till the writer, leaving his house in danger,
came to the castle and urged Signor Alberto (Count de Carpi,
the French ambassador,) and the Venetian ambassador not to
allow the Pope to suffer so great an indignity. At last, next
morning, the Pope held a Consistory, and a truce was
arranged."
On the 24th of September, 1526, Campeggi wrote from Rome
to Henry VIII., saying : — "The Pope, who is in great trouble,
is sending to England the Bishop of Worcester, to inform the
King of recent occurrences at which he was present. All his
hope in this critical time is in the King. All Christendom is
in danger from the Turk, now that the King of Hungary has
been defeated and slain."
Campeggi wrote to Wolsey on the 7th of February, 1527,
expressing the satisfaction he felt when he first had the happi-
ness of being personally introduced to Wolsey, and thanking
him for the care he has taken of his interests, and especially
for his late letters when Campeggi had fallen into some
disgrace with the King, for which there was no foundation.
Has now been able to throw away all trouble, and can sleep
safe from fear of destruction. He cannot express the delight
with which the Consistory heard from the Pope that the King
had sent him an ambassador (Russell), who had arrived from
Civita Vecchia with a large sum of money ; and, in order to
The English Palace in Rome. 53
display his liberality to the Holy See, had received orders
from the King to denounce war against the Viceroy and
Bourbon if they did not forthwith abandon the siege of
different cities of the Church. The Cardinals are unanimous
in declaring that Henry was God's blessing to them — the
patron of Italian liberty and the real defender of the Faith.
He praises the King's book against Luther highly, which, he
says, is to be reprinted in many thousands of copies, to show
that he can defend Christendom not less by genius and learning
than by money and arms.
Evil days, however, for Rome and Campeggi were at hand.
On Saturday, May the 4th, 1527, the Duke of Bourbon arrived
before the city, and asked the Pope's consent to his passing to
Naples, offering to pay for provisions. He received a rough
refusal from Signor Rans [Renzo da Ceri], at the instigation of
the Pope, who had obtained for the recruiting of his army
300,000 ducats by creating eight new Cardinals. On Sunda}-,
the 5th, Bourbon drew off his troops from Rome behind St.
Peter's, pretending to cross the Tiber ; but early on Monday,
the 6th, while there was a great mist, he prepared to assault
the town behind the Campo Santo at Thurion (Torrione, now
Cavalleggieri) gate ; and the said Sieur (Bourbon) was among
the first to mount the walls, where four ensigns were planted.
He was there wounded by artillery, (directed by Benvcnuto
Cellini,) and assisted to descend, and carried into a neighbouring
chapel ; but when the gate of Thurion was taken, he was con-
veyed to the church of Campo Santo. Captain Rans, who was
on the walls with 4000 men, seeing that they retreated, as
many men were killed by the artillery of the assailants, cried
out that Bourbon, Orange, and four ensigns were taken, in
order to encourage them to return to the wall. They, however,
retreated to the Piazza di Santo Spirito ; but Rans left them,
and went to the castle of St. Angelo, where was the Pope, with
five or six Cardinals. Cardinal SS. Ouatuor, who was wounded,
and Cardinal de Ccsis, retired with Rans. The besiegers con-
54 T^Ji^ English Palace in Rome.
tinued to advance ; and the Romans, seeing that Rans had
deserted them, tried to escape, some jumping into the Tiber.
The Imperialists killed everyone they met — men, women, and
children. This lasted from the morning till 2 P.M., during
which time Bourbon was killed. Before his death he confessed,
received his Creator, and desired to be carried into Milan,
although some think he meant Rome, for he was continually
saying " a Rome, a Rome, a Rome." About two in the after-
noon, the Imperialists took the gate of S. Pancras, where they
encountered some resistance, and then began to pillage, which
lasted at least ten or twelve days (or, according to other
accounts, three or four days), without there being any resistance,
except in three or four houses, which they mined and blew up.
Many people had sent their goods, amounting to two millions
of gold, to the house of the Portuguese ambassador ; but they
w^ere obliged to surrender on promise of their lives. They gave
out that as soon as the city was taken, the Prince of Orange
took possession of the Pope's palace, in which were lodged
Cardinals Campeggi, Cibo, and Rodulpho. Both the Generals
tried to stop the pillage, but unsuccessfully, though afterwards
the Germans obeyed the Prince, and the Spaniards Captain
D'Urbin.
Volumes (wrote Sanga to the Nuncio in England) would be
required to describe but one of their misdeeds. They strewed
on the ground the sacred body of Christ, took away the cup,
and trod under foot the relics of the Saints to spoil their orna-
ments. No church nor monastery was spared. They violated
nuns amid the cries of their mothers, burnt the most magnificent
buildings, turned churches into stables, and made use of
crucifixes and other images as marks for their harquebusses.
It is no longer Rome, but Rome's grave. They dressed the
old wooden crucifix, revered by all nations, which stood on one
of the seven altars of S. Peter's, in the uniform of a lansknecht.
S. Peter and S. Paul, who have Iain so many years buried
The English Pa/ace in Rome. 55
under the altar of S. Peter's, never suffered such indignities,
even from those who made them martyrs.
The houses of nobles and Cardinals were sacked, even
though the owners were reputed Imperialists. Five Cardinals
of the party of the Emperor ransomed their houses at sums
varying from 45,000 to 25,000 ducats each, making together
185,000 ducats ; and after paying these ransoms, their houses
were again plundered. No one was spared. The palace of
Campeggi was rifled. The German and Spanish troops, but
especially the German, many of whom were Lutherans,
behaved with amazing cruelty. Many persons were tortured
to compel them to reveal their treasures.
For months Clement VII. was a prisoner in S. Angelo.
Negotiations were carried on between the Pope and the
deputies of the Prince of Orange. It was proposed that his
Holiness should pay 300,000 ducats ; the Cardinals* with him,
twelve in number, including Campeggi, 200,000 ducats ; and
certain merchants, 100,000 ducats. Also that the Pope and
eight Cardinals should go as the Emperor's prisoners to Gaeta,
and surrender Ostia, Civita Vccchia, Parma, Placentia, and
Lucca ; and that Cardinal Colonna, who entered four days
after the capture, with 8000 men, should be made Vice-Pope !
These terms were rejected, and the Pope, hoping for aid
from without, was inclined to refuse all negotiations. Cam-
peggi, alone of the Cardinals, was for making further proposals ;
"for," said he, "it is not a simple commander of a fortress who
is besieged, but a Prince on whom the common safety and the
whole life of the Republic hangs : to whom, if any accident
shall happen, to what condition will the Republic be reduced?"
* These included, besides Campeggi, Accolti, Archbishop of Ravenna ; Gaddi,
Bishop of Ferrara; Alexander Farnese, afterwards Paul III.; FrancioUo Orsini ;
Cibo, nephew of Leo X.; Nicolo Rodolfi, nephew of Leo X.; Giovanni Salviati,'
nephew of Leo X.; Marco Cornaro, nephew of the Queen of Cyprus ; the Cardinal
SS. Quatuor, and Cardinal De Cesis. Jacopo Salviati, father of Cardinal Giovanni,
was also in the castle during the seige.
56 The English Palace in Rome.
Yielding to these arguments, the Pope agreed with the foe
on the 6th of June, and gave himself into their hands, certain
Cardinals being hostages, and a sum of money being promised.
The German and Spanish troops were to guard the Pope until
all the money should be paid, and the other conditions fulfilled.
Campeggi was sent into the city as Legate, to rule it and try
to keep down the excesses of the soldiers ; and at this time he
received the church of S. Maria in Trastevere for his title. On
the same day, June the 6th, the Pope and Cardinal Farnese
wrote letters, by Sir Gregory Casale, to Wolsey, to implore the
aid of Henry VIII. And on the 7th of June Cardinal Cam-
peggi writes to Wolsey from S. Angelo, saying : — That he
writes by Casale, who had been with them at the siege of S.
Angelo a month complete, and had rendered good service.
Campeggi has been plundered of all he had, and has been com-
pelled to redeem his life with a large sum of money. He
wishes his collector in England to gather his rents and transmit
them as soon as possible. Six other Cardinals wrote at same
time to Wolsey, to implore assistance.
On the 15th of July, Clement VII. issued a bull from the
castle of S. Angelo, referring to the Pope's personal danger
from the plague during his imprisonment, some of the officers
of his chamber having died of it ; and empowering the Car-
dinals, in the event of his death taking place while in captivity,
to meet in Bologna, Perugia, or Ancona, for the election of the
future Pope ; or, if these cities be under interdict, or in open
rebellion against the Church, in Florence, Turin, or Mantua.
The election may take place wherever a majority of the
Cardinals agree that it shall be held. But if the See fall
vacant when the Pope is away from Italy, the election is to
take place at Rome, unless that city be in rebellion. In the
first case, absent Cardinals are to be waited for, ten days ; in
the second, a month.
From letters of the 3rd of September, it appears it was
intended to remove the Pope to Gaeta, and that the Spaniards
The Engl is Ji Palace in Rome. 57
had fortified themselves in the castle of S. Angelo, and were
using great pains to prevent letters being carried to and from
Rome.
On the 2nd of October, Laurentio Rodolfo writes from Rome
to Cardinal Rodolfo : — " The Germans have re-entered Rome,
and will not leave it unless they arc paid 1 50,000 ducats. They
have so terrified the people, that their demands are in part
listened to, and when they could not get ready money, they
have demanded hostages for security. The Pope is very in-
dignant, and has resolved with his Cardinals neither to give
hostages nor money, except in their own persons. Whilst they
were deliberating, Alarcon (Governor of the castle) made his
appearance, saj'ing that the Germans had sworn to commit
some great enormity, unless hostages were given to them
immediately. The Pope, much moved, said he would not
allow it, and shed so many tears that even his enemies were
moved to pity him. Alarcon, with all his efforts, and by
shutting the door, could scarcely prevent the Pope from joining
us as a hostage. At last he suffered us to go. We were con-
ducted honourably by the Spaniards, undergoing only the
ceremonial punishment of being exhibited in the Campo de'
Fiori, where the Germans had assembled in great tumult.
Alarcon delivered us (the hostages) to the German band, and
after we had been shown to the infantry, we were taken to the
house of the Picard Massatosti, who treated us with great
respect. Fears this gentle treatment will not last. They
directed us to urge the Pope to pay the money, that we might
the sooner be liberated. We replied that we were not hostages
for money, but for observance of the terms made between the
Pope and the Emperor, which provided that taxes should be
imposed by commissioners on the states of the Church to the
sum of 250,000 ducats ; and that the Imperialists were bound,
if necessary, to see them levied, which it was impossible to do
while the Pope was a prisoner. We are reconciled to perpetual
58 The E)iglish Palace in Route.
imprisonment, as only death is worse than what we have
suffered ah-eady."
Further news was brought by a person who was sent by
Cardinal Triulzi from the castle of S. Angelo to Lautrec on the
7th of October.
The General of the Franciscan Order came from Spain to
Rome, and told the Pope, in the Emperor's name, that he
should be liberated on condition of holding a general council
for the reformation of the Church. The Emperor demands for
security, during the war in Italy, Civita Castellana, Orvieto,
Forli, Bologna, and Ancona ; a promise from the Pope that he
will never oppose him ; twelve hostages to be named by the
Emperor ; 200,000 crowns in two months, for the wages of the
army, in addition to the 400,000 crowns granted at the first
capitulation.
The Pope answered that he would agree to a council, but
Christian princes must first agree with each other about the
place where it shall be held. He would not promise about
giving up the cities named, as he did not know whether they
would be contented, and was sure they did not wish to be
under Spanish rule. As to the hostages, he desired the
General to name those whom the Emperor wished to have ;
and he would then give an answer. His Holiness said he was
not bound to pay the money demanded, and if he was bound
to pay it, he had agreed with the Vice-roy to pay it in two
years, within which it was impossible.
A person who left the castle of S. Angelo on the 3rd of
November, relates : The Pope had made an agreement with
the Imperialists, and they had sent to Don Hugo for a ratifica-
tion, which was expected in six days. The Pope is to give the
lance knights 30,000 ducats, for one payment, and the same
sum after they leave the city. He is to give the Spaniards
40,000 ducats, which are to be raised in Rome, and 240,000
ducats a month for four months ; and 50,000 to the lance
knights for three months. The benefices in the kingdom of
The English Palace in Rome. 59
Naples are to be sold for 600,000 ducats, to be divided between
the Pope and the Emperor, etc. The Imperialists wished to
have carried off the Cardinals Campeggi, Triulzi and Pisa,
because they would not agree to this treaty.
Although the Pope was kept prisoner in the most strong and
straight place of the Castle, called the Rock, and although no
one was allowed to see him without witnesses, yet letters and
messages passed from the cardinals and others to their friends
outside. Communications from the Castle, issued on the 13th,
reached the Venetian ambassador and Sir Gregorx' Casalc, and
were written by the Cardinal of Pisa. It seems there was no
hope of any agreement with the Imperialists, as the Pope could
not procure the money demanded. An escape was now planned
for His Holiness.
Benvenuto Cellini, by the Pope's order, had some time
previously removed the jewels of the tiaras and stitched them
into the dresses of the Pope and his chamberlain. The Pope
was disguised as a merchant, and, leaving the Castle, was
received by Luigi Gonzaga, called Rodomonte of Mantua, and
some soldiers. Count Guido Rangoni had ready fifty swift
horses. The Pope escaped on the night of the 7th of Decem-
ber, 1527, and fled away to Orvieto.
But although the Pope had escaped from imprisonment, his
troubles were not ended. Henry VIII. had already demanded
bulls for divorce, and dispensation to marry Anna Boleyn. To
grant the divorce was to further exasperate Charles V., the
nephew of Queen Katherine ; to refuse it, was to incur
the bitter resentment of Henry. Agents of the iMiglish
King had pressed for a favourable answer from the Pope
when a captive, and now that he was free they became
still more importunate. Wolsey desired that he himself
and an English ecclesiastic should be commissioned by
his Holiness to decide the matter without appeal, and
various bulls and dispensations were submitted to the
Pope, which he refused to sign unless with alterations
6o The English Palace in Rome.
rendering them useless for the King's purpose. Henry
vainly tried to intimidate the Pope by threats that if he
refused, the consequence would be the withdrawal of
Henry's favour and the loss of England to Catholicism.
Clement professed his earnest desire to satisfy the King if
possible, and consented to send a Legate to England to hear
the cause. Henry was impatient, and on the 27th of December,
1 527, wrote asking that Campeggi or Cardinal Trano or Farnese
might be sent without delay. " Tell the Pope," he wrote to
Sir Gregory Casale, " that haste is of the utmost importance
and delays are dangerous. Urge the Cardinal who is appointed
to make diligent speed, and tell him he shall be liberally pro-
vided for. Let him not excuse himself for want of money."
On the 13th of January, 1528, Sir Gregory Casale writes from
Orvieto : — The Pope will consent to send whomsoever Casale
shall nominate — Campeggi, Cesarini, etc. Campeggi would be
the most suitable, but cannot leave Rome immediately, unless
Lautrec advances. On the 22nd of February, Casale announces
that the Imperialists had quitted Rome on the 17th, and that
Campeggi is set at liberty, and that all who belong to the Court
are going back to Rome. On the 26th of February, Casale writes
to Wolsey from Orvieto : — " Wrote to Campeggi that, when
the city is restored to liberty, he can depart and leave some
one in his place as Governor of Rome. Asked whether he
would go to England, if there were occasion ; to which he
answered, that he should be much pleased to revisit the King
and yourself" On the ist of March, Casale again writes from
Orvieto, stating that he had spoken to Campeggi, pressing him
to go to England. On the 13th of April, 1528, Gardiner and
Casale wrote at great length from Orvieto to Wolsey, describ-
ing their repeated attempts to worry the Pope into compliance.
They say there is no Cardinal here, except Campeggi, fit for
this Legation. On the nth of May, Wolsey urges Campeggi
to set out at once, and not to grudge the trouble of the journey.
Again, on the 23rd of May, Wolsey tells Campeggi : — Both
TJie English Palace m Rome. 6i
the King and m}'sclf were much pleased at the Pope choosing
him as Legate. While eagerly expecting him, received letters
from Casale and Gardiner, saying that his journey was delayed
by the gout, by his duties as Legate at Rome, and by the
difficulty of procuring horses and servants. Presses him to
make haste. Gardiner will supply him with money. Advises
him to come with few attendants, and let the others follow.
He will find horses, mules, money, and all he wants, ready for
him in France. Wolsey will cross the sea to conduct him to
England. Hopes that his gout is not bad enough to prevent
his journey. The Pope will, without delay, appoint a Vice-
Legate at Rome. Would not urge haste, but that both the
King and Council think it necessary for him to be Wolsey 's
colleague. Promises him ample recompense. Fears the King
may think that the Pope wishes to gratify the Emperor by
offending him, and that what has been reported of Campeggi
is true. If Campeggi values the King's favour, if he is grateful
for benefits, if he thinks W'olsey can ever be of service to him,
if he wishes the authority of the Church to be undiminished,
he must start on his journey at once, for it cannot be delayed
longer without irreparable harm. On the same day, Wolsey
wrote to Casale, urging him, if Campeggi is ill, to send any
other Cardinal who is fit.
In spite of all these urgent appeals, the commission to Wolsey
and Campeggi to examine and decide on the validity of the
King's marriage without appeal, was not issued until the 8th
of June, 1528, from Viterbo, and that after many altercations
with — and promises made to — the Pope.
Letters from V^iterbo, of the 13th of June, relate that Cam-
peggi has come hither from Rome to go to England in the
cause of the divorce. He stays here, awaiting an answer from
Genoa to a request for a galley to carry him to Marseilles ; but
if it do not come, he will go by land.
Casale writes from Viterbo on the 15th of June, 1528, about
the divorce. The Pope seemed to refer the matter to Cam-
62 The English Palace in Rome.
peggi and would do nothing without his counsel, so that it was
of the utmost importance to prepare him. He is now most
anxious to accommodate himself to the King's will. Got him
to give up his journey to Bologna, where he would have wasted
time. He will travel by post horses, if the gout permits him,
by the road we would wish for speed. Having crossed the sea
from Corneto to Marseilles, he can make the journey in three
days. Has sent Baptista to ask Andrea Doria for two galleys
in the name of the Pope and the French ambassador, to conduct
the Legate from Corneto. A good deal of tact will be necessary
to get them, as he is afraid of more Germans coming to Genoa.
Baptista will endeavour to get them scairas et non pestiferas.
Meanwhile, Campeggi will make his will, and arrange to go to
Portus Veneris or Leghorn if the galleys are not sent to
Corneto. We have got the President of Provence, the French
ambassador here, to write that everything may be ready for
him at Marseilles. If the galleys cannot be had, he will go by
land, and has arranged to procure clothes at Avignon.
Cardinal Campeggi embarked at Corneto on the 25th of
July, 1528, for Marseilles, and from thence proceeded by land
to Lyons, where Dr. Stephens met him with horses. He was
expected to leave Lyons on the 31st of August, and the Bishop
of Bath, Dr. Clerk, then in Paris, borrowed of the Pope's Legate
to France " a fair well trimmed and furnished mule and four
carriage mules ; the which, with 20 horses of mine own and
four carriage mules also of mine own, and ten horses of the
Master of the Rolls," were sent forward to Orleans for the use
of Campeggi.
On the 14th of September, 1528, Campeggi arrived at Paris.
The Legate, Cardinal Salviati, with a goodly company, met
him some three miles outside Paris ; and fifteen or sixteen
Bishops and Archbishops met him at the gates. Clerk and
Tayler offered him money, which he refused, saying he would
take nothing except horses and mules for his journey. He had
a long audience on the 15th with the King of France, who
The English Palace in Rome. 63
treated him with much respect, and kept him in conversation
more than two hours. Campeggi was visited by the Cardinal
of Bourbon, the Duke of Albany, and many noblemen.
On the 1 6th of September, Campeggi wrote to Wolsey from
Paris, acknowledging letters, and stating that he cannot sit on
horseback and will require a litter and other conveniences, and
must stay in Paris two or three days.
On the same day, he wrote to Giacomo Salviati, the Pope's
Secretary : — On the 8th (of September), at Orleans, I re-
ceived yours of the 21st of August, and, on the 13th, your
second letter of the 28th. Since then I have arrived in Paris,
and received yours of the 3rd by the hands of the Legate here.
I will say nothing of my journey and its perils, or of my
infirmity. My negotiation proceeds smoothly. As you recom-
mend, I will endeavour to give no cause for scandal. These
[English] ambassadors urge me to depart. The Bishop of
Bath returns with me to England, and Dr. Tayler remains
here. Master (Sir) Francis Brian, of the King's chamber, is
here ; he came many days ago to accompany me to England.
In order to obtain a litter, and to get some clothes made, I
shall not depart hence for two days. As to proceeding pru-
dently, I will follow your instructions and what I know to be
the Pope's mind. I promised him that I would exert all my
powers to move [the King from his determination]. As to not
binding myself, or giving any promise, his Holiness may trust
to my fidelity. Neither with all his kingdom, nor with all his
treasure, will he [the King] be able to cause me to deviate from
my duty. I will be careful, when speaking with him, not to
promise any sentence. If }-ou mean to say that I am to do
nothing whatever without informing the Pope, I do not see
how, in case it should be impossible to shake the King's
opinion, the trial can be avoided without scandal. They would
think I had come to hoodwink them, and might resent it. You
know how much that would involve. But, so far as the sentence
itself is concerned, 1 will observe all your instructions, and they
64 The English Palace in Rome.
shall never learn my opinion until I am about to give judg-
ment, — that is to say, if the cause should proceed so far.
Campeggi, on the i8th of September, was "seven leagues
out of Paris in a horse litter, troubled with the gout all the
way." On the 19th (Saturday), he was to be at Clermont,
another seven leagues. He was to reach Breteuil on Sunday,
Amiens on Monday, Abbeyville on Tuesday, Motrell on
Wednesday, Boulogne on Thursday, and Calais on Friday.
On the 24th of September, Bishop Clerk writes to Wolsey
from Mottreul [Montreuil] : — " My lord Cardinal Campegius,
ever since our departing from Paris, hath been very sore
troubled with the gout in both hands and also somewhat in
his feet, and for all that he hath put himself to as much pain
as was possible. Without tarrying or sojourning any day,
thanked be God, he has arrived here in Moottrell, still carried
in a litter, for he cannot ride, his feet being not able to abide
the sqwasse of the stirrup, ne his hands to hold the bridle, as
more plainly Sir Francis Bryan will inform your Grace, who
hath right well done his part here, I assure your Grace, in
assisting diligently and conducting the said Cardinal, as in
providing him, from time to time, horses for his carriage," etc.
On Monday, September 28, Campeggi was at Calais, and
they intended to cross the channel on the morrow, if the wind
was favourable. Campeggi still suffered from gout, and as the
horse litter he used when coming from Paris had to be sent
back, the Archbishop of Canterbury* had consented to lend
* The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Warham, was now an invalid and dis-
inclined for much exertion. He wrote from Otforde to Wolsey on the 21st of
September, 1528, to say he had received Wolsey's letters, bidding him to receive
the Legate Campegius and accompany him to Rochester. He was at Canterbury
lately, intending to stay there most of the winter, but was obliged for his health's
sake to remove. He fears that if he went thither now or in October, at which
time he is usually troubled with his old disease in his head, he would not escape
without extreme danger. In spite of all precautions he feels signs of it, and he
fears that after the shaking in his horse litter he should not be able to do anything.
Would be right glad to wait on the said Legate, but it would not be meet for him
TJie English Palace in Rome. 65
his own horse h'ttcr to Campeggi for the journey between
Dover and Canterbury. Campcggi, on the ist of October,
wrote from Canterbury to the King and Wolsey, saying that
he had crossed over from Calais on the 29th, and had a
prosperous voyage, but was very ill of the gout and much
shattered. His brother Antonio takes these letters.
Campeggi was received at Canterbur)-, on the 30th of
September, by Sir Francis Bryan, the Bishop of Chichester,
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Mayor and Aldermen, the
Prior of Christchurch, the Abbot of St. Austins, a Suffragan
Bishop in pontificals, friars, and others.
On Monday, the 5th of October, Campeggi arrived at Dart-
ford, being provided with a litter sent by Wolsey. He arrived
at Dartford at ten in the morning, and rested there that day,
" for he can in no wise labour after his dinner." He was sore
vexed since leaving Canterbury. Clerk wrote to Wolsey, that
the Legate is very ill appointed for wine. That sent was very
bad. On the 6th of October, the Cardinal was at Lewisham.
In a letter to Salviati, dated 17th of October, 1528, Campeggi
says : — When I arrived within four miles of London, I wrote
to Di Feltro. On Wednesday, the 7th of October, I reached
the suburbs of London, and lodged at the house of the Duke
of Suffolk. It was arranged that my cntrj' should be made
publicly the next da}', and the Cardinal of York was to take
part in it. But I was so prostrated by the gout, that I could
not travel any further, either in a litter or on horseback. So I
remained in the Duke's house all the next daj-, and in the
evening the Cardinal conveyed me to the river, and I proceeded
in a barge to the lodging assigned to me — namely, Bath House
— without any noise or pomp. I have remained there till this
present time, and am confined to bed, my agony being greater
to go in a liUer while the other rode on horseback. lie asks, therefore, to be
excused, and desires credence for his steward, whom he sends. Dr. Warham,
however, was obliged to attend in person on Campeggi.
66 The English Palace in Rome.
than usual, owing to the journey. I do not know when I shall
be sufficiently free from pain to be able to visit the King. The
following day, Wolsey came to see me. I had believed and
hoped that he would not discuss any business with me ; but he
entered immediately into the cause of my coming
The King, being desirous to give me audience, removed to
his palace here in London on the river, not far distant from my
lodging. Although I could neither ride nor walk, and could
not sit without discomfort, I was compelled on the 22nd of
October to go for my first audience. I was warmly received
and welcomed by his Majesty. The ambassadors and all the
prelates and princes of the kingdom were assembled in a large
hall. Public audience was given us, and, in the name of us
two Legates, my secretary, Floriano, made an appropriate
speech. Dr. Fox replied. The King then withdrew with us
into another chamber, where I presented the Pope's letter.
Bath Place, where Campeggi was lodged, was the London
residence of the Bishop of Bath, Dr. Clerk, who was by no
means pleased to be obliged to vacate it for the Cardinal. Dr.
Clerk wrote on the iSth of September to Dr. Stephen Gardiner,
saying : — If there is no remedy but that the Cardinal must
lie in my house, I must take it patiently. It is strange, that
as there are other houses better than mine, men cannot be con-
tented with them. I should like to know where I am to lodge.
My lord's Grace must give his commandment to the owners,
or else my folks will not be admitted. Again he writes on
same day to Gardiner : — " I assur you that lewd knave Jamys
(Giacomo, Campeggi's chamberlain,) that nevyr dcd good, hath
so paynted Norwyche Place to the Cardynall, that it seemyth
that logyng hym ther ye wold have logyd hym in a pygge
stye." He must, therefore, be lodged in Bath Place ; but
Duresme Place would doubtless have been better, as it is a
goodlier house than Bath Place. If Wolsey cannot spare
Durham Place, or otherwise disposes of Bath Place, Gardiner
must ask Wolsey for some convenient lodging for Clerk, as it
TJic EyiglisJi Palace in Rome. 67
would grieve him to be turned out of his own, unless it were
the King's and Wolsey's pleasure. Asks Gardiner to find out
Wolsey's wish, and let Clerk's people know. Knows Cam-
peggi would be better lodged at Durham Place, but would not
tell him so here, as he would think he did not wish to let him
have his house. On the 14th of October, 1528, a warrant was
issued to Sir Andrew Windesore, Master of the Great Wardrobe,
to deliver for the use of the Legate of Rome 12 feather beds
and bolsters, 24 pairs of sheets, 12 pairs of blankets, and 12
counterpoints.
The situation of Campeggi may be imagined from the secret
instructions he had received from the Pope through Sanga,
that he was " not to proceed to sentence under any pretext,
without express commission ; but to protract the matter as
long as possible, if haply God shall put into the King's heart
some holy thought, so that he may not desire from his Holiness
a thing which cannot be granted without injustice, peril, and
scandal."
On the 23rd of October, after dinner, the King visited Cam-
peggi privately, and the interview lasted four hours. Campeggi
exhorted his Majesty not to attempt this matter of divorce,
but, in order to confirm and clear his conscience, to establish
the succession of the kingdom and to avoid scandals ; and said
that if he had any scruples, he could have a new dispensation,
Campeggi was convinced that the King wanted a divorce and
was so certain of the nullity of the marriage with Katherine,
that nothing could make him believe the contrarw
On the 26th of October, Campeggi writes to Salviati, the
Pope's Secretary, saying : These people warmly insist on the
affair being despatched with all celerity ; but it is neces.sary
that the Pope should take some resolution, and write what I
am to do, in such a manner that I may exhibit it, so as to
leave no burden on my shoulders; for I am unable, being here,
to defend myself from their constant solicitation. At Christmas
all the barons and prelates of the kingdom are to be here for
68 TJie English Palace in Rome.
this " expedition," and therefore this movement cannot be
suspended without peril. Again I humbly implore that such
a reply may be given me that I may be able to breathe freely.
You may judge of my condition, when, in addition to bodily
indisposition, I find myself in an infinite agitation of mind.
For twenty days I have had the gout in one of my knees, so
that I am unable to use it without great pain.
Yesterday I wrote thus far. This morning at daybreak,
being in bed not a little tormented with the gout, the Cardinal
of York came to visit me, and gave me to understand that the
King had spoken with the Queen, who had demanded of him
foreign councillors, proctors and advocates, and that the King
had granted her for councillors the Archbishop of Canterbury,
the bishops of Rochester, Bath and London, and others. He
will not agree to her having a Spaniard. Then the Cardinal
told me the Queen had asked permission of the King to come
and confess to me ; which he had granted. Accordingly at 9
o'clock, the second hour of the day, she came privately and
was with me for a long space. Although she told me all under
the seal of confession, yet she gave me liberty, indeed she be-
sought me, to wTite to our Lord, the Pope, certain resolutions,
etc. Campeggi urged her to enter into religion and to remove
all difficulty, but she refused, and her obstinacy in not accept-
ing this sound council did not much please Campeggi.
On the 28th of October, Campeggi wrote in the same strain
to Sanga, and said, in the end of his letter : In my last con-
versation with Wolsey, he repeated many times (in Latin) ;
" Most reverend Lord, beware lest, in like manner as the
greater part of Germany, owing to the harshness and severity
of a certain Cardinal, has become estranged from the Apostolic
See and from the Faith, it may be said that another cardinal
has given the same occasion to England with the same result."
He (Wolsey) often impresses upon me that if this (divorce) is
not granted, the authority of the See Apostolic in this king-
dom will be annihilated ; and he certainly proves himself very
The English Palace in Rome. 6g
zealous for its preservation — having done and still doing for it
very great services — because all his grandeur is connected with
it.
On Saturday November 24, 1528, Wolscy and Campeggi
visited the Queen, and suggested that she might remove all
difficulties by entering into religion, and thus leaving the King
free to marry again. By this course she would lose nothing,
for the King's affection was already lost to her, and she would
secure the peace of Christendom, her own rank as a princess,
and the succession to her daughter, in the event of Henry
having no male issuse by a subsequent marriage. The Queen
obstinately refused these offers.
Sir Francis Bryan and Peter Vannes were now (Nov. 28)
sent to Rome to induce the Pope to condemn as forged or in-
efficient the dispensation granted by Pope Julius, and to
inquire whether the Pope will dispense with the King to have
two wives, making the children of the second marriage legiti-
mate as well as those of the first ; whereof some great reasons
and precedents, especially of the Old Testament, appear.
These repeated applications to His Holiness failed to change
the mind of the Pope, who, while desirous to please the King
in all things possible, professed himself unable to do anything
contrary to justice and the honour of the Holy See.
At last on the 31st of May, 1529, the Legating Court was
opened in the Parliament chamber, near the Convent of the
Friars Preachers, and the Legates summoned the King and
Queen to appear before them on the i8th of June, between 9
and 10 am.
On the i6th of June Campeggi informs Salviati that the
Queen on the previous day "came to visit me, even to my bed-
side, owing to my gout, which is accompanied by a slight
feverishness, she being very anxious and peri)lcxcd about her
affairs. The cause of her coming was to tell me that her
advocates, who ought to have come from Flanders, had not
come, because, it seemed, the Emperor had given them to
70 The English Palace in Rome.
understand that he did not wish them to do so, as the place is
not safe." Consequently the Queen found herself without any
one to plead for her ; for although she had certain other
English councillors assigned her by the King, it was easy to
believe that they would in every thing have greater regard to
the King's pleasure than to her necessity. She therefore re-
quested my aid and counsel. In reply, I exhorted her to keep
a good heart, to rely upon the King's justice, and upon the
conscience and learning of those prelates who have been
assigned to her for councillors, and to rest sure that nothing
inconsistent with justice and reason would be done by us
Legates. She did not accede in the least to Campeggi's hints
of taking vows.
On Friday, June i8, the Court met a second time, and the
Queen appeared in person and protested against the jurisdic-
tion of the Cardinals, who cited the Queen to re-appear before
them on Monday the 2ist of June, to hear their decision. On
the 2 1st the Queen again protested against the jurisdiction of
the Legates, and appealed to the Pope himself On the refusal
of the Cardinals to admit her protest, she left the Court.
On the 17th of July, 1529, the Pope revoked the commission
to the Cardinals, and on the 23rd, Cardinal Campeggi
adjourned the Cause to Rome. On the 29th of August and
on the 1st of September, the Pope wrote to Henry VIII., to
Wolsey and Campeggi, advoking the King's cause to Rome.
Campeggi was now anxious to leave England, and on the
14th of September went with Wolsey to see the King and en-
deavour to take farewell, as he had had his recall. Du Bellay,
writing to Montmorency, says he thinks Campeggi will obtain
permission and be off as soon as possible. Du Bellay, in a
letter to the same, dated September 18, says that Campeggi
expected to leave within ten or twelve days, and adds: I think
they would like to treat him at his departure rather more
graciously than they had intended to do, hoping that there
may be some change at Rome, if the Emperor treat the Pope
The English Palace in Rome. 71
as badly as they expect he will ; so that Campcgi,n miijht still
be of use to them, or at least not do them injury, as he would
if ill-treated at his departure.
On the 22nd of September, 1529, Cardinal Campeggi gave
license to Wolsey to take timber from the manor of Sonnyng,
Berks, for his college at Oxford, and also confirmed Wolsey as
his Proctor in the diocese of Salisbury.
Henry VIII., on the 30th of September, 1529, writes to the
Pope : On the return to )our Holiness of Cardinal Campeggi,
we could have wished, not less for your sake than our own,
that all things had been so expedited as to have corresponded
to our expectations, not rashly conceived but owing to your
promises. As it is, we are compelled to regard with grief and
wonder the incredible confusion which has arisen. If the
Pope can relax divine laws at his pleasure, surely he has as
much power over human laws. Complains that he has been
often deceived by the Pope's promises, on which there is no
dependence to be placed ; and that his dignity has not been
consulted in the treatment he has received. If the Pope, as
his ambassadors write, will perform what he has promised, and
keep the cause now advokcd to Rome in his own hands, until
it can be decided by impartial judges, and in an indifferent
place, in a manner satisfactory to the King's scruples, he will
forget what is past, and repay kindness by kindness, as
Campeggi will explain.
On the 7th of October, 1 529, Campeggi writes to Salviati : — I
suspect that my letters have been intercepted ... 1 was
requested by the Cardinal of York to repair to a town of his
called the More, where he has a very fine palace. I went there
accordingl)'. On the day following my arrival, which was on
the 5th ult., two breves were sent from the King's court to the
Cardinal, both of the same date, I think the 19th of July, — the
one concerning the federation made with the Emperor, the
other concerning the citation. Seeing that both contained
credentials for me, and that no other letters appeared, I was
72 The English Palace tn Rome.
somewhat annoyed. All diligence was used to discover them,
but there was no order, and they excused themselves, saying
that they had not reached their hands. . . . This done, I
sent to request an audience of the King, which was deferred a
week, owing to the arrival at that time of an ambassador from
the Emperor. Meanwhile, the duplicates arrived of your letters
of 19 and 23 July, continued to August i. The originals,
which you announce having dispatched with the " capitulation,"
had never reached me. I repaired, therefore, to the King at
the appointed time. . . . Whatever it may be, as his
Majesty is of this opinion, and is persuaded by others that the
marriage is null by divine law, his mind cannot but be some-
what enraged and disappointed because the affair has not
succeeded to his liking. In other things, the King's mind is
good. He has told me, with apparent sincerity, that he would
never fail to be a most Christian King and a good Defender of
the Faith ; and that, though all the world should prove false,
he himself would never fail in doing service as a good Christian
King. In this conversation I alluded to the Lutheran affairs,
and to this Parliament which is about to be holden, and I
earnestly pressed upon him the liberty of the Church. He
certainly seemed to me very well disposed to exert his power
to the utmost. . . . Lastly, he gave me a kind dismissal.
On returning home, I was attacked with a pain in the side,
together with the gout, which have tortured me ceaselessly for
ten days ; in which, however, I have collected my baggage, and
I departed on the 5th [of October] from London. To-day I
reached Canterbury.
On the 1 2th of October, the Bishop of Bayonne, writing to
Francis I., says in a post-script : — Campeggi is still at Dover,
and I have just heard that, on pretence of want of ships, they
will not let him pass, without consulting about it, for fear he
carries off the treasure of the Cardinal of York.
Chapuys, in a letter to Charles V., describes the outrage on
Campeggi thus : — It was feared that Cardinal Wolsey would
The English Palace in Rome. 73
get his goods out of the country, and therefore a strict watch
was kept at the ports ; and the watch insisted on opening the
coffers of Cardinal Campeggi, notwithstanding his passport,
and, on his refusal, broke open the locks. lie said they had
done him great wrong to suppose that he could be corrupted
by the Cardinal, since he had been proof against the innumerable
presents offered him by the King.
Cardinal Campeggi, of course, protested against this un-
courteous treatment, more fitting for a criminal than an
ambassador ; and in reply, the King wrote to him the follow-
ing letter, dated from Windsor, the 22nd of October, 1529 : —
I have read your latter letters, in which you complain grie-
vously of the disrespect shown to the Pontifical dignit}', and
the violation of your Legatine authority, because certain porters
of ours have examined your baggage ; and a rumour has pre-
vailed that you and the Cardinal of York had been guilty of
collusion in our cause ; and that you would not leave England
until this calumny had been cleared up, and satisfaction given
for so atrocious a wrong.
I cannot sufficiently wonder — proceeds the King — that your
wisdom should exaggerate such minute offences, and take such
dire offence, as though it were in my power to anticipate the
temerity of the mob, or the excessive officiousness of others in
discharge of their duty. As to your Legateship, no wrong has
been done by me or mine, seeing that your authority only
extended so far as to the termination of my cause, and when
that was revoked by Papal inhibition, it had expired ; and
neither I nor my subjects acknowledge that you have any other
authorit}'. I wonder that j-ou are so ignorant of the laws of
this kingdom that \'ou were not afraid to make use of the title
of Legate when it became defunct, seeing that you are a bishop
here, and so bound by the most solemn obligation to observe
and respect my roj'al dignity, jurisdiction, prerogative, etc.
As to the business of the porters, long before your return
into Italy they had received orders to allow no one to pass on
5
74 TJie English Palace in Ro7ne.
any legal suspicion, even with our letters patent, without
diligent examination of their baggage. As we had no intention
that this should prove an annoyance to you, nor hinder your
journey, or cause you any loss, we request that you will take
this in good part ; and we regret that greater caution and
prudence was not shown by the officers in discharge of their
duty. As it was done in fulfilment of their oath, we trust you
will not consider them deserving of punishment. You will do
us wrong if you think the worse for this fact.
As to the other part of your complaint, touching the rumour
which has arisen, it would be hopeless for you to stay here in
the expectation of removing it by any process. A wise man
will pay no attention to ordinary rumours. You may infer
from it that my subjects are not very well pleased that my
cause has come to no better conclusion. I shall have reason
to doubt your faith and the integrity of your friendship when
your words and professions so little agree.
Campeggi did not cross the sea till the 26th of October,
owing to the various hindrances which met him between
London and Dover. But before he crossed, he had learned
that Cardinal Wolsey had been deprived of the Seal and of
the management of all affairs, and of a great part of his
servants ; and that an inquiry was being made respecting his
money and other possessions, with very evident signs of his
tending ruin. Campeggi thought that Wolsey had done nothing
in the past, so far as ecclesiastical matters are concerned, to
merit such disgrace.
On the 4th of November, 1529, Campeggi arrived at Paris,
and had audience of the French King on the 8th, and on the
day following set out for Italy.
In January, 1530, Campeggi, the Pope, and the Emperor
were all at Bologna, where the Emperor's coronation took
place on the 24th of February. On the 21st of March, Croke
reported that the King's friends were like to lose many by the
solicitation of Campeggi, who procures for the Queen against
The English Palace in Rome. 75
the King all the friends he can. On the 27th of March, the
Bishop of Tarbes wrote to Francis I., announcing the departure
of the Emperor from Bologna, and saying : — The Pope will
leave on Monday next for Rome. Campeggi is going with the
Emperor as Legate. He shows great desire to do you service,
and would be a good means of intimating to the Emperor
an)'thing you would not wish should appear to come from you.
The Diet at Augsburg commenced on the 19th of June,
1 530: Cardinal Campeggi, as Papal Legate, took part in it,
and wrote from thence to Henry VHI. on the 28th of June,
saying : — Certain Princes of Germany, who favour Luther,
produced their propositions, feeble, and to say the truth, not fit
to be listened to. Were it not for the obstinacy of the
heretics, he would be in good hope of bringing them back to
the way of Christ. The piety of the Emperor and Ferdinand
is a great encouragement. Tlie proceedings of Henr\', though
so far away, had much contributed ; and the reports of his
burning the books of heretics, which have much added to his
renown, and strengthened others.
Clement VH., in order to further mark his sense of the value
of Campeggi's services, issued on the 3rd of May, 1530, a brief
for investing him with the Lordship of Dozza, or Doccia, a
feudal estate with a castle built on the rock, formerly belonging
to Imola, and brinc^ing to its possessor the title of Count. In
the Rock is a chamber once adorned with tapestry, which was
given to Lorenzo Campeggi by Hcnrx- VHI. (See Appendix.)
Cardinal Campeggi, about the year 1531, seems to have been
deprived by Henry VHI. of the English Protectorate, for
Augustine de Augustinis, Campeggi's ph}-sician, writing on the
3rd of June, 1531, to the Duke of Norfolk, says : — After Cam-
peggi had recovered from his gout, he had a long interview
with the Emperor. He told me that his mind was entirely set
upon justice. He said this, after he had been deprived of the
Protectorate, at which he is very much grieved, and thinks it
was done at the suggestion of the Casalis. A successor to him
']6 The English Palace in Rome.
in this office was not immediately appointed, for on the 20th
of March, 1532, Cardinal de Trani was seeking the nomination,
and the King was inclined to get either Cardinal de Monte or
de Trani as Protector, if Cardinal Farnese would not accept
the post. The matter was still undecided on April 29, 1532.
On the 24th of December, 1532, Augustine, writing to
Cromwell, says : — The Pope, on the 19th day after he had left
the city (Rome), came to this town, Bologna. He was mounted
on a Turkish horse and wore a red cloak. The Emperor
arrived on P^'riday, the 13th, and was met at seven miles
distance by the Cardinals, who waited two hours for his arrival.
The Emperor, when received by the Pope, knelt down to kiss
his toe, which the Pope would not permit. When the Emperor
entered the church and saw Campeggi in the throng, he turned
some steps out of the way to embrace him, and asked after
his health.
On the same day, Nicholas Hawkins, writing to Henry
VHI. from Bologna, says: — "The Emperor hath given Cam-
pcgius a bishopric, and at his coming now to Bologna, came to
him sitting among the Cardinals, and did him great honour
and reverence," etc.
In 1533, March 6, Campeggi writes from Bologna to Henry
VHI. to thank him for his letter assuring him of the King's
favour. He hopes nothing will ever deprive him of the
conscience of having served Henry with faith and zeal.
In June of this year (1533), Dr. Benet, writing from Rome
on the 13th, says : — " The Consistory being held this day. . .
Cardinal de Monte took the King's part, and shewed himself
rather your protector than otherwise, where[as] Campegius,
your Protector, did it not so earnestly."
And in June, or July, 1533, the King writes to Boner: —
" And where[as], as ye write in your said letters, [of June 19,
but not found,] ye be secretly informed of the unkind and
ingrate dealing and proceeding of Cardinal Campeggius against
us, who, of good congruence, and in manner, as the case
The English Palace in Rome. yj
standeth, of duty, ought not, of all others, to be our adversary,
as well for that he hath been of long time in visage, counten-
ance, and demonstration, our friend, and hath been promoted
and beneficed by us, as specially for that he is our Protector,
whereby he endureth, as it were, our own person for the defence
of us and our realm, in all matters to be there treated touching
the same."
On the 25th of March, 1534, sentence was pronounced in the
King's divorce case, establishing the validity of the marriage
with Katherine. Henry VIII., enraged at his failure to gain
over the Roman Court, vented his anger upon Campeggi and
those whom he supposed to have been backward in supporting
his cause. Cardinal Wolsey had been long ago punished for
presumed remissness, and was dead. Cardinals Campeggi and
Ghinucci held English bishoprics, and were so far in his power.
Campeggi was deprived of Salisbury on the 21st of March,
1534, according to Hardy's Lc Neve, where it says the depriva-
tion was effected by Act of Parliament. Other accounts give
the date as March 11, 1535. Cardinal Ghinucci was deprived
of the Worcester bishopric about the same time, his suc-
cessor, Hugh Latimer, having been consecrated for that See in
September, 1535.
The connection of Campeggi with Salisbury appears briefly
as follows : — The Papal Ikills were dated December 2, 1524,
and he got Restitution of Temporalities on Januarj- 11, 1525.
According to the Sarum Register of " Laurcntii de Campegio,"
there were but four institutions to benefices in 1524, and none
were in the Bishop's gift. Thomas Bcnct was Vicar-Gcncral.
In 1530, Campeggi made appointments to two livings, the
second of them being that of West Kyngton, which he gave to
Hugo Latymer. In 1531, the Bishop disposed of five livings,
all to Englishmen. In 1533, he gave four benefices, all to
Englishmen, excepting one, the Prebend of Highworth, which
was given to Guido Jcnctto.
In 1534 begins the Register of "Thomas Benct, LL.D.,
78 The English Palace hi Rome.
Vicar in Spiritualities, by commission of Henry VIII." The
Register of Nicholas Shaxton begins in 1535-
Cardinal Campeggi made an effort, in 1536, to regain the
favour of Henry VIII. On the 5th of June, 1536, he wrote
from Rome to the Duke of Suffolk, to say that he had sent his
brother, Mark Antony, [Bishop of Grosseto] to England, on
his affairs, and wishes the kind favour of the Duke in his
brother's behalf The instructions given on this occasion to
his brother were probably intercepted by the King's agents, as
the originals are now preserved in the British Museum, and a
Latin copy of them is extant in the State Paper Office in
London. Mark Antony was to ask a safe conduct to England,
and to request an interview with Henry or his councillors. He
was to try whether it would be of any use for Lorenzo Cam-
peggi to supplicate the King to restore to him the revenues of
Salisbury, and make his brother agent and proctor to receive
them, or at least to retain the revenues in the hands of officials
and responsible receivers. Mark Antony was to remind Henry
of the Council to be held the next year at Mantua, at which it
would be useful to the King to have Campeggi again as Pro-
tector. Campeggi's friends were the Dukes of Norfolk and
Suffolk, the Bishops of Bath, Durham and Winchester, and
Polidore Vergil. If Mark Antony wanted a man to go first to
England to get the safe conduct, and engage lodgings, Lorenzo
recommended for this purpose " Gerardus Buoncourt, Canon of
S. Paul in Liege, formerly my Master of the Stables, and now
resident in Leige," who knows the English language.
It is needless to state that this attempt to conciliate Henry,
and regain the bishopric of Salisbury, was unavailing.
Paul HI., in a bull dated October 8, 1537, convoked a
general council to meet at Vicenza, on May i, 1538, nominating
three Legates, Cardinals Campeggi, Simonetti, and Aleandro,
to preside at the opening ; but no bishops attended, and the
council was suspended.
Two years later the career of Lorenzo Campeggi drew to its
The English Palace in Rome. 79
close. He had long suffered from gout and rheumatism, and
in July, 1539, was attacked with dysentry. The last will and
testament of Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggi, Bishop of Palestrina,
bears date the 19th of July, Saturdaj-, 1539, and was signed in
palazzo Trastyberino, testator's usual residence. He left his
eldest son, Count Rodolfo, General of the Venetian forces, his
heir, [who died in 1545 without male heirs] and mentioned his
sons, Alexander, Bishop of Bologna, and Giambattista, Bishop
of ^Majorca. He also mentioned two daughters and a niece
Paula, daughter of his brother Antonio Maria Campeggi, and
wife to John Philip Malvezzi. He charged his brother, Thomas,
Bishop of Fcltre, and his son Alexander, Archbishop of
Bologna, to bury him in the church of S. Maria in Trastevere,*
* In the outer vestibule of S. Maria in Trastevere, on a sarcophagus, with, on
the top, a pediment for a bust, is the following inscription : —
D. O. M.
Lauren et Alex
Camteggior. Bo.nomen.
S. R. E.
Cardinalium
OSSA.
Laure.ntio Campeggio. Er. Card. Tit. Basil. IIujus
Qui matura /Etate sacris initiatus atqle in coll. patrum Purpurator.
Ob MERITA ADsciTus Legationiuus Ger.manica et Anglica aliisque pub-
LICIS
muneribus egregir. kunctl's decessir viii k.\i. aug a. mdxxxix annos
natus LXVII.
Itemque Ai.exandro F. ejus TREsn. Card. Tit. S. Luci.i-: ad septem solia
QUEM PRUDENTIA RERU.M GEKENDAR. DOCTRI.NA FAMA RELIGIOMS IROl'AGAND.li
Studio florentem mors intercepit XI Kal. Act. MDLIV /i:t su.k .XLVII.
Underneath in smaller letters : —
IIORUM commune SEPULCRUM CUM PAVIMENTUM BaSIL. RESTITUERETUR
KORTUnO REPEKTUM
Ex CONLAT. March .Kmii.m etCaroli Malvezzi Campegg. Bonon. iieredum
prickecti novov. oper. loco illustri statuendum et exornandum cura-
runt a. MDCCCLXVIII.
The remains of Cardinal Lorenzo were never removed to Bologn.i. The Car-
dinal's eldest son, Count Rodolfo, who died in 1545, was buried in the Church of
S. I'rocolo in Bologna.
8o TJie English Palace in Rome.
and to remove his body afterwards to Bologna, to the Church
of S. Frocolo. He named in his will some six or seven nieces
or grand-daughters. He died on the 25th of July, 1539, and
was buried in the Church of S. Maria in Trastevere, of which
he had been the titular Cardinal. Two days before Campeggi's
death, the Pope gave the administration of Salisbury to Car-
dinal Contarini.
Lorenzo had one uncle, two brothers, and two sons, bishops,
and one of these sons became a Cardinal. Thus five of the
Campeggi family were mitred, and four of them were at the
Council of Trent.
The palace in the Borgo became the property of the male
children of Cardinal Lorenzo ; and Cardinal Alexander, his
son, dying in 1554, bequeathed his portion of it, with the
furniture and plate, to his cousin John, Archbishop of Bologna,
who died in 1563, leaving his brothers Vincenzo, Baldassare,
and Annibale, his residuary legatees. Giambattista, Bishop of
Majorca, another son of Cardinal Lorenzo, sold his portion on
22nd January, 1555, to John, Archbishop of Bologna, for 2,500
scudi.
On the 9th of June, 1561, Counts Vincenzo and Lorenzo
Campeggi leased the Palace in the Borgo to Cardinal Tolomeo
Galli.
In February, 1607, the Campeggi family determined to sell
the Palace in the Borgo, and Battista Volta was chosen as
Proctor for Count Rodolfo, Count Antonio and Count Lorenzo
Campeggi. Count Rodolfo by deeds dated March 8, and 29,
1608, purchased one third part of the palace for 2,117 scudi,
from Count Girolamo, the last descendant of Count Vincenzo,
and thus had two parts. The remaining third belonged to
Counts Antonio and Lorenzo, sons of Count Annibale
Campeggi. Rodolfo was son of Count Baldassare. And
Counts Vincenzo, Baldassare and Annibale were all sons of
Antonio Maria Campeggi, Senator of Bologna, and brother to
Cardinal Lorenzo, whose son Rodolfo had no male issue.
TJie EnsrlisJi Palace in Rome.
The sale of the palace was effected by instruments dated the
3rd and 13th of July, 1609, to the then tenant under lease,
John Baptist Borghese, for the sum of 12,000 scudi. Paul V.,
a Borghese, was then Pope, and ratified the purchase, which
was declared to have been made for Cardinal Scipione
Borghese, nephew to John Baptist.
Six and twenty years later, by instrument date ]\Iarch 12,
1635, Marc Antonio Borghese, Prince of Sulmona, sold the
palace in the Borgo for 17,000 scudi, to the Marchese Antonio
Campeggi.
But in 1650 the Campeggi family finally parted with their
interest in the palace once possessed by Henry VII., for by
deed of sale, dated 19th April, 1650, the Marchese Tommaso
Campeggi transferred it, for the sum of 15,000 scudi, to
Cardinal Girolamo Colonna. The palace, at the time of this
sale, was let to the venerable the " Arciconfraternita della
Morte."
Girolamo Colonna was created Cardinal by Urban VIII., in
1627, was archbishop of Bologna from 1632 to 1645, ^''ch priest
of S. John Lateran from 1645 to 1661, and in the latter year be-
came Bishop of Frascati. In 1650, the year of Jubilee, he pur-
chased the palace in the Borgo which he occupied occasionally,
having a residence elsewhere, in addition to the episcopal
palace in Frascati. He lived in the Borgo in time of Easter,
Holy Week, " Cavalcate," and other functions, and often gave
receptions there to his friends and relatives. The Cardinal's
apartments on the first and ground floors were sumptuously
furnished. Don Antonio Colonna also lived in this palace, in
the first floor when the Cardinal was absent, and in the second
floor when his Eminence came to reside. The Cardinal died in
1666.
The Constable of Naples, Don Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna,
succeeded as the Cardinal's heir to the possession of the palace,
and by instrument dated the 2nd of December, 1669, let it to
the Queen Maria Cristina of Sweden. The rent was 500 scudi
82 TJie English Palace in Rome.
annually, and the lease was for three years, with condition that
unless notice to the contrary were given, the lease should be
continued for another term of three years, and so on, with
similar clause of renewal. The Queen, however, after some
time moved to the Riario palace in Trasterere, now called the
Corsini, where she died, in the year 1689.
On the demise of Don Lorenzo, his successor, the Constable
Don Filippo II., let the palace to Cardinal Radziejowski
[created 1686, died 1705] for the annual rent of 700 scudi. The
same Don Filippo, on the 4th of April, 1693, obtained license
from Pope Innocent XII., to sell or mortage certain properties
of the Colonna family, including this palace. And by instru-
ment dated February 26, 1699, the Reverenda Camera
Apostolica, or the Pope himself, purchased it from Don Filippo,
for 14,000 scudi, and on the i8th of June, same year, gave it
to the Ecclesiastical College or Hospital of the Cento Preti,
which was subsequently transferred to Ponte Sisto by Clement
XI. The "Cento Preti" was established for receiving poor
priests suffering from infirmities and maladies.
The palace which had been found too small for the numerous
sick inmates, was sold on the 17th of October, 1720, by Cardinal
Imperial!, " Protettore degli Infirmarii e del Collegio Ecclesia-
stico," to Conte Pietro Giraud (son of Giovanni Giraud, of
Lyons in France, deceased), for the sum of 14,000 scudi, and
for ninety-six years was known as the Palazzo Giraud.
Conte Pietro Giraud died in 1746, and in his will, dated 20th
Novem.ber, 1743, and opened on the 2nd of July, 1746, makes
mention (besides a brother and five children deceased) of his
sons Alessio, Stefano, Bernardino, and Ferdinando, and a
daughter, Maria Plauditta, who had been married on the 5th of
February, 1742, to the Marchese Tiberio Astalli. The will has
an inventory attached, of the Count's property, in which is
mentioned — " II Palazzo in Borgo nuovo, sulla Piazzo di S.
Giacomo, Scossacavalli, isolato."
Bernardino, one of the younger sons of Count Pietro, was
TJie English Palace in Rome. 83
born in Rome, in tiic family palace, on the 14th of July, 1721,
was created Cardinal on the 19th of April, 1773, and died on
the 3rd of May, 1782. The Cardinal's will, made Septembers,
1781, and opened June, 1782, makes mention of the furniture
of the palace in the Borgo, and of his brothers Counts Alcssio
and Ferdinando.
In 1816, the Counts Pietro, Giovanni, Giuseppe and Francesco
Giraud, sold their palace to the Fabbrica of S. Pietro, for a
Studio di Musaici. The price was only 8,000 scudi, as it was
in want of substantial repairs. The date of this sale was
February 20, 18 16. At that time Don Tommaso Boschi was
Economo, and Cardinal Braschi was Prefect, of the Reverenda
Fabbrica di S. Pietro.
The Mosaic Manufactory was soon removed to the Vatican,
as the palace in the Borgo was found unsuitable, owing to its
bad state of repair. The Reverenda Fabbrica of St. Peter's
then sold the palace with its furniture to Prince Giovanni
Torlonia, for the sum of 8,200 scudi. The deed of sale bears
date March 29, 1820, and the Economo of the P'abbrica was
Monsignor Pietro Maccaiani. The price now given appears
small, but Prince Torlonia expended in repairs of the palace,
and on buildings in its rear, the sum of 200,000 scudi in the
year of its purchase.
The origin of the Torlonia family is recent. Two PVench-
men, the brothers Marino and Giovanni Torlony, whose
parents were dead, left Angerolles, in the department of Puy-
de-Dome, in 1780, for Paris. There the}- commenced business
on a small scale, and being honest and frugal, had moderate
success. In 1789 thej' became contractors or sub-contractors
for supplying the wants of the French Army on its way to
Italy, and they accompanied the Regiment of General Miolli.s,
and arrived in Rome in 1792. Marino Torlonia died a {q\w
days after arrival, and Giovanni was left alone to continue his
struggle for advancement.
Giovanni was on intimate terms with Ugo Basville, the
84 The English Palace i7i Rome.
French Consul in Rome, who in anticipation of death by
violence, gave into Torlonia's secret keeping a large sum of
money, the property of the French Government. Basville was
killed, as he expected, in a riot which he himself provoked
by driving in the Corso and displaying revolutionary emblems
before a hostile crowd. He tried at first to escape and took
refuge in the house of one Hutt, a banker, who lived in the
Palombara palace in via dell' Impresa near Montecitorio.
Basville was followed to this house, and after a short resistance
was killed. The date of this tragical occurrence, which involved
Rome and the Papacy in many calamities, was the 14th of
January, 1793.
Basville's money was well employed by Torlonia, and was
subsequently returned with interest to the French Government.
So rapid was the advancement of Giovanni Torlonia in
wealth and honour, that he is found in 1796 contributing, as a
Marchese, eighty horsemen towards the formation of the Guarda
Civica or Nazionale, while the Colonna furnished a regiment ;
the Marchese Camillo Massimo, 56 horsemen , Prince Gius-
tiniani, 37 ; Prince Barberini, 37 ; Prince Chigi, 26 ; Duke
Sforza Cesarini, 56 ; Conte Giraud, 30 ; and Conte Corridori,
120 footmen. During the occupation of Rome by the French
revolutionists, Giovanni Torlonia bought the church of S.
Romualdo (now demolished) to save it from profanation, and
he restored it in 18 14 to the then Abbot, Mauro Cappellari,
afterwards Pope Gregory XVI.
In 1809 Giovanni was formally enrolled among the Roman
Patricians, and in 181 3 he purchased from Prince Pallavicini
the estate of Civitella-Cesi ; and in 18 14 was created by Pius
VII., Prince of Civitella-Cesi. He was also Duke of Poli and
Bracciano. Dying in 1829, he left issue by his wife, Anna
Maria Scultheis, two sons and two daughters. Of the daughters,
one, Maria Luigia, by her husband, Prince Domcnico Orsini,
was mother of Filippo Orsini, the present Prince Assistant at
the Pontifical Throne. The other daughter, Maria Teresa,
TJie English Palace in Rome. 85
married Conte Mariscotti, whose family palace is now occupied
by the Banca Romana.
Prince Giovanni's elder son, Marino [born 1796, died 1865],
Duke of Poli and of Bracciano, married, in 1821, Anna, daughter
and reputed heiress of Duke Sforza Cesarini, and had b\' her
Giulio, Duke of Poli, father, by his wife Teresa Chigi, of
Leopoldo, Duke of Poli, formerly Syndic of Rome, who married
in 1886 Eleonora, daughter of Prince di Belmontc. The second
son of Duke Marino and Anna Sforza Cesarini was Giovanni,
who married Francesca Ruspoli.
Prince Giovanni's second son, Alessandro, Prince of Civitella-
Cesi, was born June i, 1800, and died February 7, 1888. He
married in 1840, Teresa, daughter of Prince Colonna, and by
her had issue two daughters: Giovannina, who died in 1875,
and Anna Maria Conesti, who married in 1872 Don Giulio
Borghese, third son of the late Prince Borghese. On this
marriage, Don Giulio assumed the name of Torlonia, and this
change of name was confirmed by Royal decree in 1S75.
The palace in the Borgo was used by Prince Giovanni
Torlonia and his son, Prince Alessandro, for many years, not
as a residence, but as a place for giving entertainments. A
large room on the first floor was magnificently fitted up to
serve, as occasion offered, for a ball room, a theatre, or concert
room. P'or these monster gatherings, held once a month during
the season, as many as 1300 cards of invitation were sometimes
issued. The guests included, besides the Cardinals, Ambassa-
dors, and members of the Papal Court, the princii)al Roman
nobles, Royal and distinguished persons visiting Rome, and
strangers of every country. The lists of the persons invited,
and details of the expenses incurred, are still preserved in the
Torlonia archives.
Among these lists occur the names, for 1827, of Sir Archibald
and Lady Campbell, Lady Westmoreland, George Rennic and
his wife, the Duke and Duchess of Hamilton, Don Jerome
Napoleon Bonaparte, and Captain and Mrs. Arthur Blackwood.
S6 The English Palace in Rome.
In January, 1839, at a ball given for the Grand Duke of Russia,
the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland and the Duke of Dev^on-
shire were present. The cost of that entertainment was 7000
francs, the wine bill including 94 bottles, 40 being champagne.
In Advent of the same year, three concerts were given, at a
cost of about 10,000 francs. In May, 1846, the performers at
a theatrical entertainment were paid over 4000 francs. Among
those invited were Lords Cadogan, Compton, Walpole, Northesk,
Headford, Fingall, Tullamore ; Ladies Clifford, Bury, Montague,
Duff Gordon, Charleville, Susannah Cunninghame, Stuart,
Malcolm ; and Lord and Lady Brabazon, the Bertie Matthews
family, Scully, More O'Ferrall, the Welds, Ruxtons, Petre,
Hon. Mr. Gust, Col. Caldwell, and Mr. Bodenham ;
besides the Duchess de Cadore, Count Nesselrode, La-
martine, the Prince de Holstein, etc. In March, 185 1,
Lady Georgina Grey, Lord Grey de Wilton, Lord Charles
Bruce, Lord Dunglass, Sir Adam Hay and Mrs. Sherlock
and family ; four Americani distincti, namely, Messrs.
Stone, Post, Forbes and Howe ; Lord and Lady Man-
ners, Lady Caroline Barrington, Lord Gormanston, Lady
Vane, Lord Rendlesham, Lord and Lady Blantyre, Sir John
and Lady Packington, Lord and Lady Campden, Lady Bate-
son, Sir James and Lady Carnegie, and over one thousand
other persons, were invited to a ball which cost 7,300 francs.
The candles were 1383 in number, and 96 bottles of champagne
were used.
On the i8th of February, 1852, the " annual Monster Ball,"
as the Globe called it, was given. The invitations were 1500.
Among the guests were Major and Lady Spencer, Lady
Dufferin, Lord Gififord, Sir Coutts Lindsay, Lord and Lady
Middleton and three daughters, Lord and Lady Overstone and
Miss Strutt, a trio marked: — molto distinto ; Viscount and
Viscountess Fielding, Raikes Currie, Smith Barry, Madame,
Miss and Mr. Sherlock [cogniti] ; Mr. Wheble, Cattolico
distinto ; Miss Oddy, Madame Eustace e famiglia gid cognita ;
The English Palace in Rome. 87
Earl of VValpole, Miss Campbell, sister of Lady Lcvcii ; Mr.
Howard Galton, antico ainico delta casa ; Messrs. Lockwood
and Cartwright, cogniti ; Mr. and Mrs. Winton Corry, and their
brother Mr. Fortescue, who were recommended by the Prussian
Minister.
On the 20th of February 1854, at another Fcsta in Borga,
were present nine Cardinals, including Cardinals Antonclli and
Wiseman. The cost of these various entertainments, which
were very numerous, was about 5,000 francs each on an average,
for the refreshments alone, exclusive of the decorations. The
wine bills, it is notable, were very moderate, but did not include
any wines which were not in bottles. The invitation cards
were generally for eight o'clock p.m., at which hour the Cardinals
and the ecclesiastics arrived. They remained until 9.30 or 10
p.m., and always left before the dancing commenced. A special
supper room was always reserved for the Prince and a few of
his most distinguished guests. These sumptuous entertain-
ments were continued until the Princess Torlonia became
afflicted with mental derangement.
In 1S53 Prince Torlonia commenced his great work, the
drainage of Lake I-^ucino, which he successfully accomplished
after the expenditure of millions of fiancs. On its completion,
King Victor Emmanuel presented him with a gold medal
specially coined to commemorate the event.
Among the works of art and possessions of Prince Aless-
andro may be noticed the museum and gallery in the Lungara ;
the high altar of the church of the Gesi!i ; the Torlonia chapel
in S. John' Lateral! ; the palace in piaz/.a Vcnezia ; the villa
Nomentana ; and the villa Albani. He restored the Apollo
and the Argentina theatres. His charity was almost boundless,
and he founded and endowed the Torlonia Conservatory at S.
Onofrio, for eighty female orphans, and an infant asylum, for
three hundred children, to be fed, clothed, and educated, at his
sole cost. By his will, he ordained that his charitj- institutions
should be maintained under the administration of his daughter
The Efiglish Palace in Rome.
and her husband, but that they should be closed and suppressed
in case of any interference of the authorities, political or
ecclesiastical.
The Duke di Saldanha, Portuguese Ambassador, occupied
the palace in the Borgo from the ist of November, 1862, to
the end of December, 1864, paying 2400 scudi, or 12,900
francs. He remained in the palace five months longer, to the
end of May, 1865, and paid 3000 scudi, or 16,125 francs.
In 1869, the year of the Vatican Council, Prince Alexander
Torlonia generously gave the palace in the Borgo to Pope
Pius IX., for the use and accommodation of bishops coming to
Rome to attend the Council. Among the ecclesiastics who,
on that occasion, were given apartments in the palace were the
Archbishop of Gaeta, the Bishop of Imola, the Cardinal arch-
bishop of Ravenna, and the Patriarch of Antioch.
After the entry of the Italian troops into Rome in the month
of September, 1870, and the seizure of the Pontifical territory
by Victor Emmanuel, the sittings of the Vatican Council were
suspended, and have not been yet resumed. Pius IX. no
longer required palaces in which to give accommodation to
bishops, and accordingly restored the palace in the Borgo to its
owner.
And as Prince Alexander Torlonia did not want the palace,
either for his own residence or for entertainments, he let the
principal floor for a time to a Russian nobleman ; and after-
wards in 1879 to Mr. J. C. Hey wood, its present occupant.
The upper storey of the palace was let to His Eminence
Cardinal Parocchi, and afterwards to Cardinal Laurenzi.
Mr. Heywood, an American gentleman of highly cultivated
literary taste, and author of several Dramatic Poems, " Sforza,"
*' Herodias," " Antonius," etc., has converted the large ball room
into a library. His well chosen collection of books and manu-
scripts includes many precious first editions, and ranks as one
of the most valuable private libraries in Rome. This library
contains about 14,000 volumes, of which over one hundred are
The English Palace in Rome. 89
Aldinc editions, either " firsts " or cditioncs principes, some in
original bindings and all in good condition. There is a Boccaccio
of 1478, another of 1493, with woodcuts, and another of 1527
(the genuine edition) ; the Aldine Horace, in size 164 milli-
metres ; and the Virgil, a " first " : Mr. Quaritch paid £\^S ^oi"
his copy : the rarest Elzevir " Le Patissier Francois" of 1685,
beautifully bound. Noteworthy are : — An Italian Romance of
Chivalry, with caricatures by Leonardo da Vinci on the
margins ; a fine copy of the Rabelais of 1741 (Amsterdam)
3 vols, in large paper, a copy of which sold a few years ago in
Paris for 6,500 francs ; a volume of woodcuts published in
1549, representing the martyrdom of the Apostles and showing
S. Matthias with his head in a perfect guillotine ; a very early
and fine copy of Froissart's Chronicles ; some very early and
rare books relating to the discovery of America ; Josephus,
seven books of the Jewish War, printed by Pannaartz in the
Massimo palace ; a Silviiis Italicus, by George Laver, Rome
1471 ; the "Virgil of 1476," which is complete and contains
the EpitapJiia Virgilii which arc wanting in Lord Spencer's
copy ; a Nuremberg Bible, folio, with printed initials, 1477
(Coburgcr) in antique binding ; the Nuremberg Chronicle,
1493, folio ; a Pontificalis FJber, 1485, folio, editio princeps,
printed in red and black Gothic characters, with music, and
with eighteen exquisitely painted initials in gold and colours ;
Pliny's Natural History, Jenson, Venice, 1476, folio, Landino's
translation into Italian, with thirty-seven large initials in gold
and colours; Liber de Arte distillandi de Siniplicibus, Strasburg,
1500, folio, with 297 coloured woodcuts ; Acta Sanctorum,
(Rollandists), including the original editions of October 1786,
Brussels, and October 1794, Tongcrlo.e ; the Lucca edition of
Baronius (Annals), large paper ; Muratori's Reruni Italicaruui
Scriptorcs; Montfaucon's Antiquitatcs, fifteen vols, first edition,
large paper, f(jlios ; Ptolemy's Geography, 1508, folio, containing
the first map indicating America ; Perrault's Fairy Tales, with
vignettes, 1697 ; Homer's Iliad and Hymn to Ceres, 4 volumes
6
90 The English Palace in Rome.
folio, Parma, i8o8, printed by order of Napoleon I., presenta-
tion copy from the Empress to Prince St. Angelo of Naples ;
the famous Virgil, published by order of the Duchess of Devon-
shire, Annibale Caro's translations, Rome, 1819, two volumes
folio, on vellum paper, with fifty-five full-page engravings :
only 150 copies were printed, at the cost to the Duchess of
;^37,ooo : Mr. Heywood's copy was the one given by the
Duchess to Cardinal della Somaglia and bears her Grace's
autograph presentation, and it has two portraits of Caro, one
before, the other after, lettering, and also a proof portrait of the
Duchess,
Mr. Heywood possesses also several MSS. of value. He
purchased one collection of thirty-six MSS. which had been
offered to Mr. Astor, the then American Minister in Rome for
30,000 francs. Several of these MSS. are palimpsests : thirty-
two are on parchment, and the dates of all but two of them
range from the tenth to the fifteenth century. The bindings
are antique, and seven bear the arms of Pope Pius VI. One of
these codices is an Herodotus with richly illuminated large
initial letters, and with marginal notes by Paul IV. (Carafa,
Pope, 1 555-1559) : another codex is a Psalterinm, the music
written in very small dots with illuminated tails, and without a
single line of music staff, the date of which, according to De
Rossi, may be of the 8th, and certainly can not be later than
the tenth century. There is also an Office for Easter with
grotesque illuminations ; and there are several Books of Hours,
one of which is of the fourteenth century and has fifteen large
paintings and illuminated initials, the margins being bordered
with exquisite work in gold and colours. A collection of
autograph letters of Paul IV. (chiefly addressed to his sister)
were given by Mr. Heywood to Leo XIII., on the occasion of
his jubilee.
A very rare book now in Mr. Heywood's possession merits
notice. It is a copy of the works of Flavins Josephus " De
Greco in Latinum traductus per Venerabilem presbyterum
The Euglish Palace in Rome. 91
Ruffinum Aquilejenscm," etc. " Imprcssum in inclita civitate
Venetiarum per Magistrum Raynaldum dc Novimagio Aleman-
num anno salutis 14S1 ultimo die Martii." It is a volume in
folio with twenty-eight initial letters in gold and colours con-
taining miniature figures of persons, animals, fruits, flowers and
arabesques. This edition was unknown to Brunet and also
to Graesse. Haym mentions it but asserts that he had never
seen a copy. It is undoubtedly exceedingly rare, and there is
a strong probability that this well-preserved and very hand-
some copy is the only one in existence.
It remains for the writer to express his thanks to the
Princes Colonna, Borghese, and Torlonia, and to Marchese
Alfonso Malvezzi-Campcggi, for their kindness in permitting
him to make extracts from their family archives.
A very brief abstract of the foregoing paper was read by the
writer at a meeting of the " British and American Archaeolo-
gical Society of Rome" on the i6th of April, 1889.
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.*
C~'IIARLES II., although he had no legitimate issue, left
many natural children, some of whom he ennobled. A
few of them left descendants who still hold a place in the
British Peerage. His amours began when he was sixteen or
seventeen years old. One of the first of these was with Lucy
Waters or Walters or Barlow, by whom he had a son who
was created Duke of Monmouth. Charles, during his exile,
had children by Catherine Peg and Elizabeth Killegrew, and
his " seventeenth mistress abroad " was Eleanor, daughter of
Robert Needham, Viscount Kilmorey, and widow of Peter
Warburton. She became, in 1644, the second wife of John, the
first Lord Byron, and died in 1663.
Barbara Villiers, daughter of Viscount Grandison, and wife
to Roger Palmer, bore to Charles, three sons, who were created
respectively Dukes of Southampton, Grafton and Northumber-
land, and a daughter, the Countess of Lichfield. Barbara her-
self was made Duchess of Cleveland, and her complaisant
husband was made Earl of Castlemaine.
P^ranccs, daughter of Walter Stuart, son of Lord Blant>'re,
was reputed to be another mistress of Charles II., and married,
in 1667, the 5th Duke of Richmond.
Louise Oucrouaillc, maid to the Duchess of Orleans, was
invited, after the death of her mistress, to P^ngland by Charles,
and was created, in 1673, Duchess of Portsmouth, and her son
* This article, now enlarged and altered, w.is printed in the Scottish A'n'ir:v for
April, li>ii5, under the title of " Sluarl I'relenderb."
94 The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
Charles, born 1672, was made Duke of Richmond in 1675, and
was naturalized in France, in 1685, as Duke of Aubigny.
Louis XIV., at the request of Charles 11., conferred on Louise
the dukedom of Aubigny, to descend after her death to any of
his natural sons whom Charles might nominate, and to the
male descendants of such natural son, to the intent that
Aubigny might always continue in the possession of the House
of Stuart. The title is still held by the Dukes of Richmond.
By Moll or Mary Davies, herself a natural daughter of
Colonel Howard, Charles had two daughters, one of whom was
Mary, Countess of Dervventwater. By Lady Shannon he had
Charlotte, Countess of Yarborough.
By the famous Nell Gwin, Charles had two sons, of whom
the eldest, Charles Beauclerc, born in 1670, was created Duke
of St. Albans, and was ancestor of the present Duke of that
title.
It must be conceded that Charles II. was not ashamed to
acknowledge his children, and was liberal in the bestowal of
money and titles upon them and their mothers. He gave
among them some eight or ten dukedoms, to say nothing of
lesser honours.
The above-mentioned ladies were not, however, the only
recipients of the favour of the King, and, strange to say, one of
the earliest of the amours of Charles has remained to this day
wholly unnoticed by English writers, although that amour
resulted in the birth of a son, who was older than the Duke of
Monmouth, and who was the father of a Prince Stuart, whose
existence has never been mentioned by any writer until the
present time.
The late Baron de Reumont, formerly Prussian Ambassador
at Florence, and author of a History of the City of Rome,
published, in 1882, in the Historiches farbuch der Goerres
Gesellschaft, a very brief article on ' A Stuart Pretender in the
Seventeenth Century.' A learned Jesuit, Father Boero, now
dead, wrote a history of the Conversio)i of Charles II., King of
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 95
England, to the Catholic Church, which appeared in 1S63, in the
Civilta Cattolica (Fifth Series, vols. VI. and VII.) and in the
course of this history gave an account of the eldest of all the
natural sons of that monarch, and published translations of
some autograph letters of King Charles, addressed to the then
General of the Jesuits, Father Oliva, residing at S. Andrea del
Ouirinale in Rome. He also gave extracts from the entrance
books of the Jesuit Novitiate, proving that a natural .son of
Charles II. had been admitted a novice into the order of
Jesuits. The la=t will and testament of this son of Charles II.
was published in V Italia Reale, a Naples newspaper (18S1,
No. 13), by Don Scipione Volpicella, first librarian in the
National Library, Naples. And also, the parish priest of S.
Sofia in St. Giovanni Carbonara, Naples, lately discovered a
certificate, parti)- illegible, of the marriage, on the 19th of
February, 1669, of Signor Giacomo Enrico Bovcri ....
and Signora Teresa Corona. The Jesuit Father who wrote the
articles in the Civilta Cattolica seems to have been unaware
that James Stuart, alias Dc la Cloche du Bourg de Jersey, alias
Henri de Rohan, alias Boveri, had ever left the Jesuits or
committed matrimony, for he concludes his account b)-
expressing his belief that James Stuart went to Flanders to
complete his novitiate and died a Jesuit. Both the Jesuit
writer and the Baron de Reumont were likewise unaware that
many particulars concerning this son of Charles II. were
published so far back as the year 1674 by Vincenzo Armanni
of Gubbio in the third volume of his Lcttcrc, printed at
Macerata by Guiseppe Picciiii. Armanni gives an account of
the courtship and marriage of this Prince James Stuart, and
al.so furnishes a full copy of his last will and testament, but is
silent respecting any issue of the marriage of James Stuart with
Teresa Corona. iJocumcnts exist, however, in the archives of
the Propaganda at Rome, which prove that a son was born of
the Corona marriage, celebrated at Naples in 1669, antl in the
following pages the career of that son will be traced, and from
96 The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
the Armanni Lettere and the Civilta Cattolica will be given a
somewhat fuller notice than has hitherto been published in
English of the father.
It is known that in September, 1646, Prince Charles, by
licence of King Charles I., went to Jersey. Some accounts say
that he went to Jersey from Holland. While in Jersey he be-
came father of his first illegitimate son, by a lady whom the
writer in the Civilta Cattolica describes as a principalissima
daina, and who, Armanni says, was of the Royal Stuart blood.
Charles II., writing to the General of the Jesuits, says he was
but sixteen or seventeen years old when this affair happened,
more through youthful folly than from malice, and describes
the mother of his son as a " young lady of a family the most
distinguished in the realm." The son, in his will, describes her
as " Donna Maria Stuardo della familia delli Baroni di S.
Marzo." In 1646 (as Sir Bernard Burke kindly informed the
writer), Charles Stuart, sixth Duke of Lennox in Scotland, and
third Duke of Richmond in England, was fourth Earl of March.
It may be presumed that the Mary Stuart mentioned in the
will was a member of the family of which this Earl of March
was the head.
The son, James Stuart, was sent, immediately after his birth,
to France and Holland, to be brought up secretly. He was
provided, when of a sufficient age, with good teachers, and was
instructed in literature and science. Unfortunately, according
to the Jesuit account, he fell into the hands of heretics and was
educated in the sect of the Calvinists. His father was very fond
of him, but for grave reasons refrained from publicly acknow-
ledging him as his son. In the year 1665, the King had this
son with him in London, and intended to keep him near him
for some time longer ; but the young man, who was studiously
inclined and disliked the idleness of the Court, demanded per-
mission to leave England. This permission was granted, and
the son, previous to his departure, received from the King the
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 97
following curious document, written on parchment, and still
preserved among the Jesuit archives : —
"Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, France, Scotland, and Ire-
land — We confess and acknowledge as our natural son M. James Stuart, who by
our order and command has lived in France and other countries under a feigned
name up to the year 1665, when we took him under our care. After the said year,
he being in London, we of our express will and for just reasons have commanded
him still to live under another name, that of De la Cloche* du Bourg de Jersey, and,
for important reasons affecting the peace of the realm which we have always pro-
moted, we prohibit him from speaking of this until after our death. Then it shall
be permitted him to present to Parliament this our declaration, which with entire
good will and justice we consign to him at his request, written in his own language
(French) to remove every excuse for his showing it to any other person to be inter-
preted. Given at Whitehall, 27 September, 1665. Written and subscribed by
our hand, sealed with our ordinary seal for letters without any alteration.
(Signed) Charles."
James Stuart, alias De la Cloche, went from London to
Holland to pursue his studies, and was provided by his father
with sufficient means for his livelihood. Fearing, however, that
his father's death might leave him in pecuniary embarrassment,
he wrote, in 1667, to the King, and received the following
reply : —
"Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, France, Scotland, and Ire-
land. — M. James Stuart, whom we have already acknowledged for our natural son,
and who lives under the name of De la Cloche, has represented to us that he,
should he survive our death, might be in want of sustenance if not recognised by
our Parliament, and by reason of other difticulties which he might meet in this
matter. Therefore we, yielding to his request, have deemed it ju^t to assign and
leave him a charge on our realm, if it may so please the successor to our crown and
our Parliament, to the amount of ^^500 sterling per annum ; which sum he shall not
be permitted to enjoy save on the terms of his residing in London in the religion of
his fathers, and observing the English Liturgy. — At Whitehall, 7 February, 1667.
Written and sealed by our own hand, Charles."
The language of the last part of the document conveys a
suspicion that the young James Stuart, who had been reared a
Presbyterian or Calvinist, was becoming unsettled in his
* There is still a family of this name in Jersey.
g8 The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
religious belief. And so it happened ; for, a few months later,
James Stuart is found in Germany, at Hamburg, where the
Jesuits had at that time an establishment, and were most suc-
cessful in making conversions. On the 29th of July, 1667, he
made his abjuration and was reconciled to the Roman Church,
and on this occasion confided the secret of his birth to the
Queen of Sweden,* who wrote to King Charles for confirmation
of the statement of the son. On this occasion the Queen of
Sweden gave the young convert a certificate, written in Latin,
to the following effect : —
"James Stuart being incognito under the feigned name of De la Cloche du
Bourg, born in the island of Jersey, the natural son of Charles II., King of Eng-
land, and as such secretly acknowledged to us by his Britannic Majesty, abandoning
the sect of Calvin in which he was born and hitherto lived, was joined to the Holy
Roman Church in Hamburg on the 29lh of July, 1667. In confirmation of which
we have thought good to give attestation under our hand, although contrary to
custom, in order that he, under these e.xtraordinary circumstances, may open his
mind, to his director only, in confession, and seek counsel for the salvation of his
soul. (Signed) Christina Alexandra."
James Stuart, not being contented with being a Catholic,
determined to become a religious, and for this purpose left
Hamburg and proceeded to Rome. The certificate given him
by the Queen of Sweden was presented under the seal of con-
fession to one of the Jesuit Superiors, and enabled him to get
a dispensation from the impediment of illegitimacy, and he was
admitted into the novitiate of the Jesuits at S. Andrea del
Ouirinale. A book, entitled Ingressus Novitiorum ab anno
163 1 ad 1675, gives the date of his entrance and a list of his
clothes, countersigned " Giacomo della Cloche manu propria."
It runs thus : —
* The archives of the Marchese Ricci in Rome contain a report of the insults
offered by the mob in Hamburg to the Queen of Sweden, when she celebrated the
creation of the new Pope, Clement IX., in 1667, by illuminating her palace and a
display of fireworks, etc. Several of the rioters were killed. Her Majesty showed
much courage on the occasion.
TJie Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 99
"James de la Cloche, of the island of Jersey, under the King of England, aged
24, came to S. Andrea, April 11, 166S. He had with him a hat, a mantlet, and
priest's dress of silk, a doublet and breeches of black stuff, a waistcoat of yellow
leather, a leather mask, coloured sword sash, a pair of white silk stockings, two
shirts and an over-shirt, a pair of under-breeches and stockings of linen, three
handkerchiefs and a cap of while cotton, two pairs of small shoes, three collars,
three pair of cuffs, a pair of gloves, a hair brush, a pair of shoes, and two pairs of
thread collar buttons."
King Charles II., when apprised of the step his son had
taken, wrote to the General of the Jesuits to express his satis-
faction, and requested that his son mit^ht be allowed to visit
London. The Kin<^ wrote in French, not in Latin, and was
especially anxious that no Englishman should be called in as
interpreter, and that all should be kept as secret as possible.
In midst of the cares of royalty he had pra)-cd God that he
might find one single person to whom to confide the interests
of his salvation without affording the Court a shadow of
suspicion that he was a Catholic. Although a multitude of
priests were near him, some in the service of the Queens in the
palaces of St. James and Somerset House, and some scattered
about London, he feared to be seen conversing with anj- of
them, even if disguised, for detection would soon fol.ow. He
considers it providential to have a son a Catholic, whom he
prefers, however inexperienced, to any other person, as he will
be always competent to administer to him secretly the sacra-
ments of confession and communion, which he desires to
receive as soon as possible.
"Our son," he continues, "is a young cavalier whom you have admitted into
your society in Rome under the name of De la Cloche di Jersey, and who was born
when we were not much more than sixteen or seventeen years old, of a young lady,
one of the most distinguished in our realms, more through our youthful frailty than
deliberate wickedness. He is dear to us on account of his excellent disposition,
learning and docility. Many grave reasons of .State prevent our public recognition
of liiiu at present, but we hope in a few years that these reasons may tlisap|)car.
We gave him, in 1665, our letters to testify his birth, to be of service to him in the
event of our death."
The secret of his parentage is, says His Majesty, known in
lOO TJie Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
London to the Queens only. The General is not to send any
reply except through his son ; for a letter sent from Rome, in
answer to one addressed to the late Pope, occasioned such
trouble that, in order to quiet suspicions of the King being in
treaty with the Pontiff, his majesty was forced to permit many
things to be done to the prejudice of many Irish Catholics.
The Queen of Sweden herself is not to be trusted in this busi-
ness. She is a woman, and that is enough to make him fear
that she cannot keep the secret. The General is not to let her
know that he is acquainted with the true parentage of De la
Cloche. If the Queen enquires about him the General is to
say he is gone as a missionary to Jersey or some other part of
the kingdom. Charles may perhaps write to the Pope by a
secret envoy to get his beloved son ordained a priest without
publication of his true name, etc. But the ordination is not to
be in Rome. The son might go to Paris and visit the King of
France, or if it please him better, the Duchess of Orleans.
Either of those personages would manage a private and secret
ordination. If he should come to London the Queen or the
Queen-mother can easily provide a bishop to ordain him in
secret. The king desires much to see his son, not to dissuade
him from becoming a Jesuit priest, but to embrace him. His
son, while in England, may live with the Jesuits and follow
their rule, but not in London, but in some city not far off, and
he may afterwards return to Rome and to the Jesuits there.
This letter, dated August 3rd, 1668, contained another directed
' For our most honourable son, the Prince Stuart, living among
the Reverend Fathers of Jesus under the name of Signor de la
Cloche — at Rome.' In this letter the King mentions the trans-
mission of money for his son's maintenance to the Queen of
Sweden, and says that the two Queens in London are most im-
patient to see him, as they had been told the fact of his con-
version to the Roman religion.
"We will not," writes Charles, " put the least impediment in 3our way. Never-
theless, measure well your own strength and consider your constitution, which
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. loi
seems to us rather weak and delicate. One can be a good Catholic without being
a Religious. And you must remember that we have had the intention of recognising
you publicly in a few years. You must, moreover, consider that for our part you
may i)retend to equal, and perhaps more ample titles than the Duke of Monmouth,
who is as young as you are. If liberty of conscience and the Catholic religion
should be restored in this realm, you might have some hopes of the crown, for we
assure you that if God permits us and our most honoured brother, the Duke of
York, to die without children, the kingdom fails to you, and the Parliament cannot
legally oppose it, excepting that you should be excluded from the succession as
being a Catholic, liberty of conscience not being established, or, as at present, by
the limitation of the choice of a King to Protestant princes.
" If, on mature deliberation, you prefer to serve God in the institute of the
Jesuits who have received you, we will not oppose the divine will, which we have
already too much irritated by our sins.
" We desire to show our benevolence towards the Jesuits who have received you,
and we will aid them in some suitable manner, being assured whatever we give will
be employed to the service of God. Besides, we do not wish that a person of your
birth should remain with them without leaving something as a memorial of his
condition."
This letter was dated from Whitehall, August 4, 1668, and
terminated with the words : — " I am your affectionate father,
Charles, King of England, France, Scotland, and Ireland."
On the 29th of August, 1668, the King wrote two other
letters to the General, in the first of which he urges the imme-
diate departure of his son, and suggests a plan for keeping the
Queen of Sweden in ignorance of his son's visit to London.
The messenger who brought these letters was not to appear in
the house of the Father General, nor to stay more than one
day in Rome, lest he should be observed and recognised by
some Englishman. Of all the temporal ills which could befall
his Majesty, the proof of his being a Catholic would be the
worst, for it would infallibly cause his death and occasion many
tumults in the realm. Therefore the General is not to feel
surprise at the precautions to be taken to ensure secrecy in the
affair of his son's visit. He now wishes his son not to visit the
King of France and the Duchess of Orleans until he has first
seen his father, nor to write to the Oucen of Sweden, who is in
I02 The Eldest Natural Son of diaries II.
Italy.* The son, when he arrives in London, is to take an
opportunity of presenting himself to the Queen when at Mass
at St. James's, or when visiting the Queen-mother. Pie is to
present a sealed letter to the Queen as if it were a petition, and
in this letter to state briefly his name. The Queen has orders
to introduce him to the King, in a prudent manner, so as not
to excite suspicion. The second letter, written a few moments
after the first was sealed, informs the General that the Queens
wished a little delay and further precautions for secrecy. They
had heard that no Jesuit was ever permitted to go abroad
without a companion of the same order. The King approves
of the rule in general, but begs that an exception may be made
in the case of his son, whom he has charged on his filial
obedience to travel alone. All his plans would be ruined if a
priest or an Italian accompanied his son to England. Private
instructions were given to trusty agents at all the chief ports of
the Kingdom to expect a foreign prince, of such and such
stature and lineaments, and facilitate his journey. The young
prince does not love company nor conversation of companions
nor the Court. When in England in 1665 he got tired of his
residence there before a year was out. And when he enters
our palace, he will have no one to talk to, save us and the
Queens, nor will he write letters to any one save to the Father
General. Let him go to Genoa, where the Jesuits have a house,
and in Genoa let him seek out an English ship. But let no
Jesuit visit the ship or speak to the captain. Let him leave
his religious dress in the Jesuit house in Genoa, and he can
resume it on his return to Rome. On his voyage and on his
* From ihe Colonna archives we are enabled, by the courtesy of Prince Giovanni
Colonna, to state that the Queen of Sweden, on the 2nd of December, 1669, con-
tracted to rent from the owners, the Colonna family, the ancient palace of the
English Embassy, now the Torlonia Palace, in the Borgo, for a term of three years,
at the annual rent of 500 scudi. Her Majesty contemplated a lengthened stay in
Rome, as the contract contained a clause providing for further renewals of the lease
for additional periods of three years on the expiration of the first and each suc-
ceeding term.
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 103
arrival in England, he is to call himself Henri de Rohan, the
name of a certain Calvinist French prince, who is an intimate
friend of the King. So anxious is the King in this affair, that
he takes note secretly and circumspectly of all departures and
arrivals of vessels at the various ports, and of the arrivals of all
strangers.
" This," says His Majesty, " we do on colour of zeal for the Kingdom and on
pretext of maintaining the Protestant religion, to which we feij^n to be more than
ever attached, although before God who sees the heart we abhor it as most false
and pernicious. We now desire our son not to travel via F" ranee. We ask you,
Father General, to spread a report that he is gone to Jersey or Ilanton to see his
l)retended mother, who wishes to become a Catholic. So far from preventing our
son from following his vocation as a Catholic or a Jesuit, we and the Queen will
press it upon him more urgently than any spiritual director whom he could have.
No doubt, when time and circumstances shall permit our writing to acquaint His
Holiness of the obedience which we owe to him as Vicar of Christ, we hope that
he will entertain for us such benevolence as not to refuse our son the cardinal's hat.
If it should be inconvenient for him to reside in England as a Cardinal, we can
send him to reside in Rome, as we intend, with all the royal magnificence due to
his rank. If he wishes, nevertheless, to be a simple Jesuit, we shall not force the
purple on him against his will. We have consulted our physician as to the effects
of sea-sickness on persons of weak constitution, and have been informed that sea-
sickness never killed any one, but on the contrary was beneficial to some. Our
son may manage that the ship in which he sails, shall, if he becomes ill, stop at
different ports on the way. He might, of course, come direct to London, but for
important reasons we wish him to land at some other port, and to travel to London
by carriage."
The General of the Jesuits, to whom the King of England
wrote so frankly and familiarly, placed no obstacle in the way
of the departure of the novice, who was not yet a priest, and
had not even completed one of the two years of the novitiate,
nor made the necessary studies in theolog)*. James Stuart,
abandoning for the time the alias of De la Cloche, adopted that
of Henri de Rohan, and about the middle of October, 166S,
left Rome, carr)-ing with him the following brief answer from
the General to the King ; —
" Sacra Maesti — Dal latorc di questa, che e gentilhuomo Trancese (De Rohan),
intenderk Voslra Maestii la fedele esecuzione da me data alle tre sue letlerc, e la
104 I'Ji^ Eldest Nahiral Son of diaries II.
mia inesplicabile osservanza alia sua reale persona. Con la stessa prontezza e fede
esequiro quanto Vostra Maesti si degnerk d' impormi ; e procurero di essere,
qual Ella mi presuppone e qual mi obliga ad essere : E profondissimamente a V.
M. m' inchino. — Livorno, 14 Ottobre, 1668."
The journey of " Henri de Rohan " to London, which was
most probably via Leghorn not Genoa, must have been
prosperous and his stay in England exceeding short, for on the
1 8th of November, 1668, King Charles sends a letter to the
General of the Jesuits by the hands of Signor " De la Cloche,
Jesuit, at Rome." In this letter the King informs the General
that his son " had earnestly expressed a desire to return to
Rome as our Ambassador to your most Reverend Paternity,
to which request he gave consent on the condition that he
should return to London immediately after speaking to your
Paternity and obtaining the things we request, and which our
very dear and honoured son will explain to you viva voce ; and
also reconducting to us as he passes through France, the
Reverend Father whom he left there." The King, obeying
the request of his son, promises a handsome donation towards
paying off debts due on S. Andrea del Quirinale and for the
purposes of additional buildings or improvements. The young
Jesuit brought with him from London a bill for ;^8oo at six
months date in favour of the Father General, Signor Gian
Paolo Oliva," signed by King Charles on the i8th of November,
1668, and intended for payment of the maintenance and
travelling charges of "our most dear and honoured son a Jesuit
living under the name of De la Cloche."
The writer of the Stuart articles in the Civiltd Cattolica de-
clared that he could find no further traces in the Jesuit records
of James Stuart or De la Cloche. He supposed, and probably
correctly, that he went again on a journey to London, but he
was wrong in supposing that James Stuart ever returned to S.
Andrea del Quirinale to complete his novitiate. The learned
Father was also in error when he states that no writer, English
or foreign, had ever known anything concerning this son of
Charles H.
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 105
Vinccnzo Armanni of Gubbio wrote much about the con-
version of England, and had been himself in that country. He
was blind for twenty years before his death, but carried on a
voluminous correspondence. He knew something of the
parentage of James Stuart, but nothing of his connection with
the Jesuits. This is not to be wondered at, inasmuch as the
Father General of the Jesuits and James Stuart himself ob-
served the strictest secrecy concerning the novice who passed
under the name of Dc la Cloche.
Armanni, in his letter to " Francesco Maria Doria [son] of
Brancaleonc," relates that Prince James went to Naples, to
benefit his health, in company with a Frenchman, a Cavalier
of the Order of S. John of Jerusalem. The real condition of
the Prince was not then known to any one in Naples. The
Cavalier continued his journey and went on to Malta, and
before departing from Naples recommended the Prince to the
good offices of the Abbate di S. Aniello, one of the Canons
regular of S. Salvatorc, a church which no longer exists, but
was formerly in the Castello dell' Uovo, anciently called Isola
di San Salvatore. The Prince chose for his spiritual director
one of the Canons of this church, who was also parish priest
of the place, and this parish priest was the informant of
Armanni.
Two ladies, mother and daughter, were in the habit every
Friday of attending the church of S. Salvatore ; and after
confession and communion they were in the habit of kneeling
before a miraculous crucifix and praying to God for the happy
.settlement in life of the daughter. The parish priest saw them
one Friday, just when he was anxious to find a suitable lodging
for Prince Stuart, and he at once proposed to the mother to
allow the prince to become an inmate of their house. They
were of mezzana condition, poor but respectable, and the famil)'
consisted of Francesco Corona, his wife Annuccia d' Amicij,
their sons Gaetano and Giovanni Rattista Nicola, and their
daughters Teresa and Chiara. The prince was soon struck
7
io6 TJie Eldest Nahiral Son of Charles II.
with the beauty and modesty of Teresa, but was himself a
guarded admirer, and gave her no hint of his intentions until
one day when he met her issuing from her mother's chamber,
and abruptly asked her to accept him as a husband : — Mi
volete vol per marito ? The young lady blushed deeply, and
said that if God had intended him for her husband He would
have made her his equal in rank. She then went back to her
mother's room, and afterwards studiously avoided the company
of the prince.
The ardour of the lover was not quenched by this reserved
conduct of the lady. He laid the case before the parish priest,
his confessor, who strongly disapproved of the attachment, and
advised the prince to proceed no further with the courtship.
But James Stuart was dissatisfied, and for some time ceased his
usual religious devotions, and altogether neglected his first
confessor. At last he chose another spiritual director, to whom
he revealed not only his passion for Teresa Corona, but also
the secret of his birth, showing to him also the letters written
by the Queen of Sweden and the Father General of the Jesuits.
Under the encouragement of this new director the young lady's
scruples were removed, and she consented to be his wife. The
prince was anxious to make it appear that his intended father-
in-law was not altogether a pauper, and accordingly he gave a
sum of money to Signor Francesco Corona to serve as a dowry
for Teresa. Signor Corona could not deny himself the pleasure
of exhibiting this money before his friends, and he indiscreetly
boasted before his neighbours concerning his rich son-in-law.
This foolish behaviour caused a report to be spread in Naples
that the wealthy Englishman lodging with Signor Corona was
an adventurer of whom no one knew anything, and who was
probably a coiner of false money. The rumour reached the
ears of the Viceroy, who ordered the arrest of the mysterious
stranger. The certificates and papers attesting the parentage
of James Stuart were then produced, and the excitement in
Naples was increased. Crowds flocked to see the English
I
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 107
prince and the future princess. The Viceroy ordered that the
prince should be lodged in the Castle of S. Elmo, and treated
with every consideration due to a prisoner of rank. The
princess was sent to a Convent where she received courteous
and respectful usai^e. The j)rince wrote a letter to the Viceroy
imploring release, and begging that the utmost secrecy might
be observed in the matter. He also wrote to the Father
General of the Jesuits, beseeching him to interpose his good
offices with the Viceroy, and to obtain permission for him to go
to England via Leghorn and Marseilles. The Viceroy had,
however, alread}- written to London, and waited for a reply.
Immediately on the arri\-al of the answer from London, the
prince was set at liberty and left Naples. It may be supposed
he went to England. After a few months he returned to
Naples with an assignment of 50,000 scudi, and he intended to
remove at once to Venice, and to take with him his wife, her
parents, her sister and brothers. But these intentions were
never carried out, for the prince was seized with a violent fever
and died. He showed much piety during his illness, and when
the Viaticum was brought he insisted, although in a very weak
condition, upon getting out of bed in order to receive the sacred
particle on his knees. His last will and testament, dictated to
a notary, is a curious document. Armanni printed it in cxtenso.
The testator describes himself as " D. Giacomo Sluardo,
Figliuolo naturale di Carlo II., procreato con la Sii;nora D.
Maria Stuardo dcUa familia delli Baroni di S. Marzo." He
wishes to be buried in the church of the Monastery of S.
Francesco di Paola, outside the Porta Capuana, and sopra
terra covie c di dovere, and precisely at the wall of the Chapel
of the Misericordia. The Fathers of the convent are to erect a
suital)lc marble monument, with an inscription, and he leaves
for this purpo.se 400 scudi to the Fathers, as well as 600 ducats
for a weekly Mass, in perpetuity, to be said for the repose of
his soul. The cost of his funeral, which was to be private, was
to be dcfra)cd by his father-in-law, according to instructions
io8 The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
confided to his spiritual father, the Rev. Father Antonio di
Gaglicano, at that time " Correttore " of the convent.
He then makes provision for his heirs, be they son or sons,
daughter or daughters, his wife being then pregnant by the
marriage which had been celebrated on the 19th of February,
1669, in the parish church of S. Sofia, after exploratione de
vohmta e altri atti solenni in the cathedral church. " And,
therefore," proceeds the testator, " I devotedly supplicate and
represent to his Britannic Majesty that he will remit and
assign," to my child or children, male or female, one or more
as may be, " to be born of the said Teresa Corona, my wife,
the ordinary principality, either of Wales or IMonmouth, or
other province customary to be given to the natural sons of
the Crown," of the value of 100,000 scudi. And he supplicates
his Majesty with all devotion to regard the will of the Supreme
Judge Immortal, who in his universal judgment will rigorously
repay all the acts of injustice done to poor innocents.
Furthermore, he prays his Majesty to restore and assign to
his heirs 80,000 scudi of income, the property of D. Maria
Stuardo, his mother, of her proper fortune, and belonging to
him, her son and her rightful heir. He appoints Louis XIV.
of France to be the guardian of his child or children. He
recommends to the favourable notice of his Majesty all the
Corona family, namely, Signor Francesco Corona, a gentleman
of Sora ; his consort, Signora /\nnuccia d' Amicij (father and
mother of Teresa); their son Gaetano, their daughter Chiara,
another son Giovanni Battista Nicola, and a nephew, a Chierico,
called D. Ciccio Arduino. To Corona and his wife and their
three children here named he bequeaths 50,000 scudi each, to
be paid once by his Britannic Majesty over and above the
180,000 scudi to be paid annually to his heirs. To Fr. Antonio
da Gagliano he leaves 10,000 scudi ; and 5,000 to Fr. Feliciano
di Hivago, of the same convent, which sums are to be applied
according to his secret instructions.
He earnestly prays the King of France to urge the King of
TJie Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 109
England to carry out all the provisions of this will, and in order
to secure the punctual payment of the legacies, which amount
to 291,000 scudi, he assigns and gives his lands, called the Mar-
quisate of Juvignis* [Juvigne or Juvigny?], worth 300,000
scudi.
He expressly orders and commands his wife Teresa to remain
always a widow, and expresses his certain belief that she will
so remain.
He then earnestly prays his father-in-law to go barefooted,
after confession and communion in the cathedral, and to pray
with his face to the ground before the Blessed Sacrament, for
forgiveness of the testator's sins, and to do the same afterwards
before the chapel of S. Aspremo, " where I espoused his
daughter," and he is to do the same in the church of S. Fran-
cesco di Paula before the chapel of the Saint, and also before
the chapel where his body shall lie. Each prayer is to be
fervent and di tutto ciiorc, and of at least a quarter of an hour
in duration. After the payment of the legacies, his sister-in-law
Chiara is to be placed in a convent of noble ladies, with a
dowry of 5,000 scudi. The interest of the rest of her fortune
is to be paid to her personally. Should the notary allow any
particulars of the will to be divulged before the testator's
death, it is to be torn in pieces by his father confessor. The
notary is to be paid 50 ducats by Signor PVancesco Corona.
This will, which is without date, was made in 1669, and in
that year the unfortunate prince died, aged about twenty-two
years. According to his father's account, he was born in 1647,
but according to the statement in the entrance books of the
Jesuits he was twenty-four )-ears old in 1668, and therefore was
born in 1644. The account given by the king is more likely to
be the true one. He was, however, the eldest son of all the
• Juvignis is probably a mistake for Aubigny, the dukedom which belonged to
the Dukes of Richmond and Lennox of the older creation, which, after their death,
was given by Louis XI\'. to the Duchess of Portsmouth, and to which her descen-
dants, the Dukes of Richmond, succeeded.
no TJie Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
natural sons of Charles II., who always professed love and
affection for him, and once even held out to him hopes of the
inheritance of the English crown. That inconsistent monarch
seems to have been afraid to acknowledge his son on account
of his being a Catholic, except to the Queen and a few other
persons who were pledged to secrecy. It is extremely unlikely
that His Majesty gave any approval to the Corona marriage,
or took much trouble about the posthumous issue of that
marriage. Of course he never dreamed of carrying out all the
provisions of the will, and he probably contented himself with
sending a sum of money sufficient to provide for the modest
wants of his son's widow, and perhaps enough to place her and
her family in a position of comparative affluence. Whatever
pecuniary arrangements were made on this occasion by Charles
II., were made doubtless on the terms that secrecy should be
observed in the matter, and that the widow should not be en-
couraged to claim the rank of an English princess for herself,
or the principality of Wales for her son. The Stuart prince
was doubtless buried in the church of Francesco di Paola, out-
side Porta Capuana, according to the directions of his will, but
that church and the convent which adjoined it, and the registers
and monuments, were totally destroyed in 1806, the epoch of
the French military occupation of Naples, in order to form the
grand piazza in front of the Royal Palace, and therefore it is
impossible to search there for records of his burial, or for traces
of the monument erected, if such were ever erected, to the
memory of the defunct prince.
The foregoing account of Prince James Stuart has been
mainly derived from the documents published in 1674 by
Vincenzo Armanni, and from those published in the Civilta
Cattolica. Armanni and the Civilta are both, as has been
already noted, silent on the subject of any issue of the marriage
celebrated between the prince and the Signorina Teresa
Corona.
Documents, however, are still preserved in Naples and in the
TJic Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 1 1 1
archives of the Propaganda in Rome, which prove that a
posthumous son, the issue of that marriage, was born in Naples
in 1669, in the month of December, and was baptised in that
same year in the parish church of S. Sofia, b)' the name of
James. Of this son's career from his birth to the }-ear 171 1,
no particulars have been discovered. But in the year 171 1,
that son, who was then forty-two years of age, went from
Naples, his native country, to Rome, and there gave himself
out as Prince James Stuart, grandson to King Charles II., and
a prince of the royal family of Stuart. He was at once arrested
as a vagabond and impostor by the Pope Clement XI., and the
most rigorous inquiries were instituted to ascertain the truth or
falsehood of his pretensions. These enquiries resulted in esta-
blishing, to the perfect satisfaction of the Pontiff, the identity
of the prince, and the truth of his claims to the rank of a
grandson of Charles II. As the insult and imprisonment had
been public, the Pope wished to make public reparation, and
accordingly Prince James Stuart was admitted to a special
audience, and permitted to kiss the Pope's foot. This ceremony
took place with much formality in the presence of Cardinal
Ottoboni, then Grand Chancellor of the Holy Roman Church ;
Cardinal Paolucci, Secretary of State ; and Cardinals Delia
Tremeglia, Accioli, and Sacropanti. The prince was received
with royal honours. The documents concerning this affair
were deposited in the office of the Camera Apostolica, scaled
with three seals, and entitled " Causa magna Stuarda." Search
has been made in the Vatican Secret Archives for these docu-
ments, but without success.
After this Pontifical recognition, all Rome and all the
ecclesiastical authorities were convinced of the rank and con-
dition of the Prince James Stuart, who remained some time in
Rome, no doubt enjoying the hospitalities of the princes and
Cardinals.
From Rome the Prince went to Vienna, where he was re-
ceived with great favour by the Emperor Charles VI. and the
112 The Eldest NaUiral Son of Charles 11.
Empress Eleonora Amalia, and where he remained for some
years.
He then made a tour of many of the sovereign courts of
Germany, being well received by the several princes and by
all the sacred Roman empire as a Stuart prince. He was
escorted in state from one court to the other, and was assigned
attendants and equipages of horses, and obtained all the marks
of respect usually accorded to royal personages. An account
of the honours paid to him was printed in Cologne, with date
of Feb, 6, 1724. The Elector of Bavaria treated him with
especial regard.
Having terminated his journeys round great part of Ger-
many, the Prince next visited Venice, and was recognised by
the Republic, and was received with all suitable honours.
This visit to Venice probably occurred in 1726, for in that
year the ecclesiastical authorities in Venice seem to have sent
to Naples for information concerning the Prince, and to have
received in reply a formal document or certificate dated from
Naples, March 30, 1726, signed by " Franciscus Card. Pigna-
tellus," Archbishop of Naples, and addressed to all and singular
whom it may concern, and notably to the Patriarch of Venice.
This document was printed in Venice for the ecclesiastical
authorities, and bears, in attestation of its merits, the signatures
of the officials of the ecclesiastical court of Venice. The
following extract from it puts the marriage of James Stuart
the elder with Teresa Corona, and the birth of a posthumous
son, beyond doubt : —
" ex processu . . fabricato super identitate personce D. Jacobi Stuardo, filii
posthumi D. Jacobi Enrici de Boveri Roano Stuardo filii naturalis Caroli II., Regis
Anglice, clare constat de matrimonio contracto inter secundo dictum D. Jacobum
Henricum de Boveri Roano Stuardo Anglicanum et D. Theresiam Corona Nea-
politanam in hac nostra Metropolitana ecclesia Neapolitana die 19 Feb. an. 1669
(sexagesimi noni); necnon predictum D. Jacobum Stuardo posthumum ortum fuisse
in hacmet civitate Neapolis, in constantia jam dicti matrimonii, eodem an. 1669,
ac Baptizatum in parochiali ecclesia S. Soffice hujus civitatis."
The date of the birth of the posthumous son, and the month
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 113
(September, 1669,) in which the father died, appear from the
following extract obtained by the present writer from the
registry of the parish church of S. Sofia in S. Giovanni a
Carbonara — Libro XIII. de' Battezzati, folio 254 : —
" 1669 il giorno dieci del niese di Dicembre si c amniinistrato il sagraniento del
Battesimo ad un fanciuUo nato nel medesimo giorno dal fu D. Ciaconio de Boveri
Bosano [Roano] Stoardo (il quale mori cjualtro mesi prima di nascere il figlio) c
dalla Siga D. Teresa Corona legitimi conjugi domiciliali in quesla Parrocchia, al
quale fu imposto il noma di Giacomo. La Levatricc fu Giuditta de Paula."
It must be observed that in these documents the son of
Charles II. is described as bearing the names of James and
Henry de Boveri, probably an alias, and De Rohan (Roano),
another alias, but not as De la Cloche du Bourg de Jersey ;
while the marriage is said to have been solemnized in the
Cathedral, whereas the Prince in his \\\\\ assigns the marriage
to the church of S. Sofia, and the betrothal or espousal to the
Cathedral.
Prince James Stuart, the younger, remained in Venice for
many years, probably until the year 1734, and then changed
his residence to Genoa. The Archbishop of Genoa, Monsignor
Nicolo Maria de Franchi, a Dominican, received a letter, dated
iith of May, 1734, from the Archbishop of Naples, recom-
mending the Prince to his notice, and enclosing proofs of his
identity. In consequence of this letter, the Archbishop of
Genoa was \Q.xy kind to Prince James, who appears at this
time to have been in reduced circumstances. On the 30th of
December, 1740, " P. Gio Batta (Giovanni Battista) Pllippi,
Custode della Metropolitana di S. Lorenzo," certifies that " the
Prince has been many years resident in the parish of S. Lorenzo
and is now in extreme necessity, and is obliged to inhabit a
small room unprovided with necessaries." On the 25th of May,
1741, the Prince writes for pecuniary aid to the Congregation
of the Propaganda Fide in Rome, giving details of his arrest in
Rome in 171 1, and of his visits to various Courts. He sends
his baptismal certificate and his letters of naturalisation to this
1 14 TJie Eldest Natural Son of Charles 11.
archi-episcopal court. He appeals for aid on the ground of
his poverty, and of his constant efforts in behalf of the interests
of the Catholic Church in England. He has always continued
a Catholic. He does not, however, give any particulars of the
great services he professes to have rendered to religion. He
now (1741) lives in Genoa in a private manner, but preserves
his credit and esteem as a true descendant of the Royal House
of Stuart. He had received much assistance from the Most
Illustrious and Most Reverend the Master of Misericordia.
Don Felix Corneco, the Envoy Extraordinary of the Most
Catholic King, had also shown him exceeding kindness, visiting
him in his palace, inviting him in public form to his house and
table, and giving him money for his appanage and more con-
venient sustenance. The Genoese Government, when it was
rumoured that the Prince was disposed to leave Genoa, decreed
him a sum of money to defray the costs of his journey. The
Prince encloses documents in proof of his identity, and refers
the curious who desire further information to the historical
letter published by Vicenzo Armanni, mentioning the page
and volume in which the account of his father appears. The
Prince, now aged seventy-two years, wrote again to Cardinal
Pietra, then the Prefect of Propaganda, on the 15th of February,
and also on the 21st of July, 1741, imploring aid, but seems to
have had no direct reply. These letters were written by an
amanuensis, but bear the autograph signature, in straggling
and feeble handwriting, of " Principe Giacomo Stuardo." After
the date of July 21, 1741, these letters cease. Cardinal Pietra
or the Pope may have sent the aged Prince some pecuniary
relief through other channels than that of Propaganda. The
legitimate head of the Stuarts was at that time residing in
Rome under the title of James HI., and may have been the in-
strument of succouring the needs of his illegitimate kinsman.
It may be conjectured that the Prince James Stuart died in
Genoa in the year 1741 or later, and it may be presumed that
The Eldest Natural Son of CJiarles II. 115
he died unmarried and childless, as in none of his man)- letters
and documents is there the least allusion to wife or issue.
Nothing has been found in the Archives at Genoa which
directly concerns this James Stuart. In 1881 and 1885 the
Archivist Commendatore Cornelio Desimoni caused the
parochial books of S. Lorenzo to be searched for traces of him
but in vain. The Registers of the Magistrato di Misericordia
were also examined. In the Archivio di Stato were examined
all the papers of the Signoria, the Senate and Magistrates, and
even the treasury accounts to see whether any sums were re-
corded as paid to Prince Stuart. Nothing whatever has yet
been discovered excepting the original in print of the follow-
ing :—
Serenissimo
Jacobo Tertio
Vaticinium
Jacobus tertius anglle rex.
anagramma purissimum litterale
exul es, at victoria regnabis.
DlSTICHON.
exul terrestri regno coelestis amore
Jacobus vincens utraque scertra gerit.
Jo Maria Abbas Curti
This paper may have been printed b}- the charge or in the
interest of Trince James. It did not however meet with the
approbation of the authorities, for it appears from a note added
to it, that the Abbas Curti, the publisher of the paper, was
called for and reprimanded for his imprudence. This paper is
to be found in the Sala Senato (filz 4'-') under date of 28th of
August 1 74 1.
The writer in the Civilta Cattolica, not having before him the
accounts published by Armanni, was convinced that James
Stuart, the elder, or De la Cloche, completed his novitiate, and
he even supposes him to have been present at the death bed of
ii6 TJie Eldest Natural So7i of Cliarles II.
King Charles, his father, in the year 1685. The Jesuit writer
seems to base his argument upon the fact that the original
testimonials given by the King to his son still exist among the
Jesuit archives. Had the son left the Jesuits he would, so is
the contention, have taken away with him the document prov-
ing his birth and entitling him to pecuniary support. But De
la Cloche, alias De Rohan, had these papers with him in Naples,
showed them when he was arrested as an adventurer, and
probably they passed, on his death in 1669, to the Jesuit
Fathers in Rome. At the time of his arrest he had written to
the Father General to help him in his difficulties. It is quite
certain from documents extant among the Jesuit archives that
Charles II. was a liberal benefactor to S. Andrea del Ouirinale.
It appears from the King's letter to the Father General, dated
November, 10, 1667, that the pecuniary aid then promised was
to be paid in a year from that time, and the promise must have
been fulfilled after the marriage of the son in February, 1669.
It is not unlikely that the delicate health of the Prince was the
cause of his leaving the novitiate. His marriage was sudden
and a surprise, and undoubtedly a foolish step. But King
Charles was a good-natured father, and probably made some
provision for his son and grandson through means of the King
of France or the Queen of Sweden. Prince James Stuart, the
younger, appears not to have been in pressing want until his
old age, and during his visits to the German and Italian
Courts must have had other resources than the charity of
princes.
Some remarks are perhaps required in anticipation of the
objections which may be taken to the truth of the foregoing
account. The two Stuarts may be deemed by some to have
been impostors who traded on forged certificates and letters.
What facts, it may be asked, can be adduced in favour of the
documents regarding the elder Stuart? There is, first of all,
the traditional belief that Charles II. gave a large sum of
money to the Church and Convent of S. Andrea del Ouirinale
The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II. 117
in Rome, in recognition of the reception of an illegitimate son
into the Order of Jesuits. The documents written by Charles
and by the Queen of Sweden are extant among the Jesuit
archives, and are regarded as genuine. The Jesuit Father
(Boero) who published them in extcnso in the Civilta Cattolica,
was a very learned writer, and not likely to be deceived. The
Novitiate entrance book can hardly be a forgery. The elder
Stuart, if a spy or impostor, could readily have been detected
by reference to the Jesuits at Hamburg, or to the Queen of
Sweden, who was undoubtedly in Rome at the time. She
states that she had been in communication with Charles II.
about the son. If it be said that her certificate was revealed
to the Jesuits under the seal of confession, and that, therefore,
no reference could have been made to her, it may be rejoined
that the letters of the King contain express reference to the
Queen, and thus opened the way for free communication with
her Majesty. The marriage certificate of James Stuart with
Teresa Corona is still to be found in the parish register of S.
Sofia in Naples, and his last will and testament lies in the
National Library in the same city. The will and all the de-
tails of the marriage were published in 1674, within five years
of the occurrences, by Armanni, who derived his information
from the parish priest who introduced Prince Stuart to his
future wife. Neither the priest nor Armanni had an)' un-
worthy objects to serve by communicating or publishing these
accounts. The elder Stuart, so far as appears, got no money
from the Queen of Sweden, the Jesuits, or the Coronas. In
1674, the elder Stuart was dead, and Armanni knew and wrote
nothing about the posthumous son. It is easy to understand
why the Jesuits in 1669 were silent concerning the marriage or
the issue. They were ashamed of their novice, who found he
had no true vocation for the religious state, and left them to
re-enter the world ; but they were grateful for the suins be-
stowed on them by Charles II. Their silence led afterwards
to a general belief, still unshaken, among members of the
ii8 The Eldest Natural Son of Charles II.
Order, that the son of Charles II. always remained a Jesuit
until his death. Armanni knew nothing of the precise con-
nection of James Stuart with the Jesuits. If we suppose the
elder Stuart to have been an impostor, we must believe that
the Jesuits participated in the imposture by giving credence to
forged letters from King Charles and the Queen of Sweden ;
and the letter of Oliva, the Father General of the Order, must
be suspected as a forgery. The King's gift of money must
likewise have been a myth.
It may be said that the letters of Charles II. and the will of
his son betray the hand of an impostor. A Catholic father
would be horrified at the notion of confessing to his own son.
But Charles II., at the date of his letters, was not a Catholic,
although he professed to be one in heart. He wrote loosely
and with levity, and it is not surprising that he manifests as
little knowledge of Catholic doctrine as of the true principles
of morality. That his son should betray ignorance of English
customs and modes of government can excite no wonder, as
he was brought up in foreign parts. But the general tone of
the King's correspondence gives a picture of the manners of
the English Court in 1668 which agrees in the main with what
is recorded by Papal agents in their confidential reports on the
state of England made in 1669 and 1670 to the Holy See.
Parts of these reports were published in Vol. III. oi Episcopal
SiLccession in England, Scotland, and Ireland, pp. 108- 117. The
King, both in his letters and in the Papal reports, appears the
same miserable dissembler — a Catholic to his wife and Father
Howard, and speaking to Catholic agents as a Catholic prince
ought, but, at the same time, fearful of betraying in public his
Catholic sentiments, and ready to sacrifice the interests of his
Irish and English Catholic subjects to keep himself on the
throne. And his directions for the secret reception of his son
in 1668 correspond remarkably with the details of the secret
reception, in 1670, of Airoldi, the Papal envoy.
The elder Stuart, if an impostor, profited little by his impos-
The Eldest Natural Son of Cliarlcs II. 119
ture. He gained a penniless bride of humble rank, and died
with deception on his lips. His will, if he were an impostor,
was a blasphemous, as well as a foolish composition. If his
wife and members of the Corona family knew him to be an
impostor, could they have concocted the will, and, if so, to
what possible use or purpose? Could they have deceived the
parish priest? It is certain the will was not concocted by the
younger Stuart, who was five years old when the will was
printed b)- Armanni.
The case of James Stuart the younger is different from that
of the elder. Proofs, indeed, are not wanting to identify the
James Stuart who came to Rome in 171 1 with the James
Stuart baptised in Naples in 1669. We might ascertain better
the nature of these proofs if we could see the documents which
were in 1711 deposited in the Camera Apostolica with the title
of Causa magna Stuarda. Search has been made, hitherto in
vain, for these papers, both in the Vatican Library and in the
Secret Archives of the Vatican. But the proofs adduced in
171 1 were sufficient to satisfy Pope Clement XI. They doubt-
less included documents from the Archbishop of Naples, which
would account for the education and career of the Prince be-
tween 1669 and 171 1. During the years between 171 1 and
1 74 1, the movements of Prince James Stuart seem to have
been well known and to have been without concealment.
Until his latter )-ears, he seems to have had no pressing
pecuniary difficulties. If he were an impostor, no discovery of
his imposture appears to have been made, although there was
ample time and full opportunity to discover it. His last ap-
peals to the Propaganda are made with confidence, and with
bold reference to the proofs of his parentage, and at a time, be
it remembered, when the legitimate head of his house, under
the title of James III., was actually residing in Rome, and
ready to denounce an impostor, especially an impostor who
sued for money.
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc.
THE materials for these Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc arc
in great part drawn from a manuscript life of His Emin-
ence, written by his secretary, the Reverend Michel Angclo Ucl
Medico, who seems to have received from Erskine all the
Cardinal's papers, consisting of numerous letters and docu-
ments, and sundry loose notes upon persons and things, some
of them written in the English language, but most of them in
Italian ; and besides these was a diary kept by Erskinc, with
regularity, save for a very few breaks, from the I2th of
December, 1801, to the nth of April, 1803. This original
Diary and nearly all the original papers quoted by Del Medico,
are no longer to be found in the Ghislicri College in Rome, to
which Del Medico bequeathed all his library and papers, be-
sides a sum of money. In fact no original Erskinc papers now
remain there, save the Cardinal's Will, the inventory of his
furniture at Paris, and the receipt of his servants for their
wages, etc.
Many, however, of the original Erskine documents which
Del Medico quoted, and some which he did not quote and
may never have seen, passed into the possession of the late
Giuseppe Angelini, Vicc-Gerent of Rome, archbishop in parti-
bus, Canon of S. Peter's, etc., etc. Monsignor Angelini in-
herited a taste for collecting autographs, and bought a quantity
of Erskine papers, and generously gave a portion of them to the
Rector of the English College in Rome, and placed the rest
among his autographs. At the death of the Vice-Gcrent, the
entire " Angelini Collection " containing many thousands of
8
122 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
valuable autographs, passed, by purchase, to the well known
Cavaliere Giancarlo Rossi, now residing in the Odescalchi
Palace in Rome. Free access to these original manuscripts
was kindly given to the writer by Cavalier Rossi and by Arch-
bishop Henry O'Callaghan and Monsignor Giles, the late and
the present Rector of the English College.
The writer obtained access to Del Medico's life of Erskine
by favour of Duke Salviati, the present Patron of the
Ghislieri College, and was enabled by the Rector of the College,
Monsignor Galimberti, to make copious extracts from it. The
first twelve pages of this manuscript, which contains on the
whole 600 pages, are taken up with a copy of the Erskine
genealogy, legally drawn by officials and magistrates of Edin-
burgh, and bearing the date of May 26, 1769. It was signed
at Edinburgh.
The genealogy of the Erskines, Earls of Kellie and Earls of
Mar, in Scotland, needs no repetition in these pages. It has in
late years been prominently brought into notice by contro-
versies about the right of succession to the Mar Peerage. But
in the Papal archives are two dispensations for intermarriage
between persons related in the fourth degree, both dated from
Avignon and concerning the Erskine family. The first is
dated March 3, 1355, and is a dispensation granted by Pope
Innocent VI., for removing the impediments to the marriage of
the Noble Robert Erskine and the Noble Donna Cristiana de
Keth [Keith]. This was granted with consent of the King of
Scotland, who was a blood relation of the lady.
The second dispensation was granted by Pope Urban VI.,
on 29th of November, 1393, for removing impediments to the
marriage of the Noble Thomas de Erskine with the Noble
Donna Maria de Douglass. These dispensations may tend to
fix the dates of these marriages.
In regard to the parentage of Cardinal Erskine, his father
was Colin, seventh son of Sir Alexander Erskine of Cambo,
Baronet, by the Lady Anne Erskine, daughter of the third
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 123
Earl of Kellic. This Colin, an adherent of the Stuarts, went
into voluntary exile, and came to Rome, and married Agatha
Gigli, who was of the noble family of Gigli of Anagni, which
family was one of those called the Seven Stars of Anagni. By
her, who died on the 28th of September, 1786, aged 75 years,
and was buried in the Scotch College in Rome, he had but
two children, Charles, born in Rome on the 13th of February,
1739, and Clementina, wife to the Advocate Pio Ferrari.
A portrait of Colin Erskine, which is now in the possession
of Monsignor Campbell, rector of the Scots College in Rome,
has beneath it the words: — COLINUS ARESKINUS SCOTO-
BRITANNUS ALEXANDRI ARESKINI EQUITIS AURATI FAECIAL-
lUM ANTISTITIS VULGO DICTI LEONIS ARMORUM REGIS
FILIUS, ORIIT ROM.E 1 8 JANUARII 174O -KTAT. SU.E 35.
Charles, who, when very young, lost his father, was taken
under the care of the Cardinal Duke of York, who placed him,
when only nine years old, in the Scots College in Rome. He
entered the College on the 27th of May, 1748, and received
the sacrament of confirmation from Monsignor De Rossi, Vice-
Gerente of Rome, on the 13th of April, 1749. But when
called on to decide whether he would take the customary oath
against becoming a Religious, he refused, and consetjuently he
left the College on the 4th of November, 1753, being then
about fourteen \-cars old.
He now determined upon the stud}' of Law, and steadily
acquired knowledge, taking occasional holidays at Caprarola, in
the house of his maternal cousin. Canon Domenico Salvatori.
His career as a lawjer, which he completed by serving in
the studio of Sala, was very brilliant, and he was soon ranked
among the most successful advocates. He took his degree as
Doctor in Laws with much eclfit in the Roman Arciginnasio,
on the 2ist of November, 1770; obtained success in some
celebrated lawsuits, and attracted the favourable notice of the
then reigning Pontiff, Pius VI. His Holiness, on the 13th of
February, 1776, gave him an annual charge of 200 scudi on the
124 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
bishopric of Ferrara, and Prince Sigismond Chigi, in 1780,
made him his Auditor. Erskine was now in the height of his
fame as a leading advocate in Rome. His eloquence and his
talent for administration brought him plenty of clients and
plenty of money.
Pius VI., however, wished to bind Erskine more nearly to
the service of the Holy See, and consequently, in May, 1782,
on the death of Cardinal Giraud, he made him his Pro-iiditore,
and at same time made him Promotore del/a Fede, a domestic
prelate, Canon of St. Peter's and a Concistorial Advocate.
On the 1st of June, 1782, he was made Dean of the College of
Concistorial Advocates. These favours, great as they were,
caused Erskine to lose his freedom in a great measure, as well
as the opportunity for increasing his fame as an advocate,
and the further public practice of a profession in which he
delighted. Henceforth his eloquence and his exquisite Latinity
were to be confined to secret congregations. Notwithstanding
his regret at thus losing his favourite practice, he went with the
other persons, who at the same time had received promotions,
to meet Pius VI. on his way to return to Rome, and offered his
thanks, on the 12th of June, 1782, to His Holiness, in Civita
Castellana.
On the 28th of May, 1783, Monsignor Erskine received the
Minor Orders in St. Peters from the Cardinal of York, and the
orders of Subdeacon on the 28th of August following, from the
same Cardinal. He had been made a Votaftte of the Segna-
tura di Grazia in July of same year. But Erskine's work as a
Vatican prelate and in the Roman congregations may be here
omitted, as he was in a few years to enter on a different sphere
of action.
The French Revolution soon displayed all the ferocity of a
pitiless persecution of nobles and clergy, and gave horrible
examples of its savagery in the dreadful massacres in Paris,
which took place on the second and third days of September,
1792, and were followed by similar enormities in the provinces
Metnoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 125
of I'Vancc. Emigration gave the only liopc of escape, and
England offered the surest refuge. Many nobles, and many
bishops and ecclesiastics of every grade, fled to Great Britain,
which for the priests, however, was not in all respects, owing to
the then stringent laws against Catholics, an entirely satis-
factory place of abode. The British Government, indeed, and
the British people, were prompt, as on all similar occasions, to
offer compassionate welcome to the Catholic priests. And
even the fish vendors, when the Catholics landed in poverty
and misery, showed their sympathy by giving them fish for
nothing.
Pius VI. observed, and wished to utilize, this generous feel-
ing displayed by the English towards the refugees, and
conceived the idea of sending an envoy to the British Court for
the purpose of obtaining some legalized liberty for the French
Catholic clergy residing in England. Monsignor Erskine was
the most suitable person for such a mission, yet it was feared
he would not be received as an envo}', because the laws of
England were against it ; and as a private person he could
make no treaty, and gain no access to the British Ministers.
Besides, there was risk that such a mission might prove useless,
or worse, by this intervention of Rome, a thing abhorred by
Protestants, and by which the condition of the refugees might
be rendered still more painful.
Yet the Pope had some reasons for expecting a favourable
issue to his endeavours. He had had kindly intercourse with
some members of the Royal Family of England. In the end of
of the year 1775, William Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and
brother to George HI., was in Rome with his wife, and was so
well received by Pius VI. that he remained a year and a half
in an apartment which he took on lease in the Ripetta, in a
palace next the Church of S. Rocco, opposite to the unsightly
bridge recently built over the Tiber to replace the old ferryboat.
In Rome was born, on the 15th of January, 1776, the Duke's
only son, William I'rederick, second Duke of Gloucester, and a
126 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Field-marshal. Also in November, 1791, the sixth son of George
III., Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, came to Rome,
where he resided some years for the winter and spring seasons,
and where he contracted a marriage, celebrated by a Protes-
tant minister on the 4th of April, 1793, with Lady Augusta de
Ameland, daughter of the fourth Earl of Dunmore, a Scotch
peer. The Duke of Sussex went frequently to visit Pius VI.,
with whom he was on most friendly terms. And once the
Duke was seen following on horseback the cortege of the Pope,
who was then returning to Rome from the Marches. Of all
this was not George III. well informed, and was not His
Majesty likely to make a suitable return, by shewing equal
urbanity to a Papal Envoy, provided the necessary regards
were observed towards the English Government and people ?
Pius VI. also was well aware that the actual dispositions at
that time existing between England and France were such as
strongly aided his purpose. Notwithstanding, he determined
to leave nothing to hazard, and resolved that propositions on
the subject should be made to the English Government
indirectly, through the means of Mr. Jenkins, an Englishman
then living in Rome as British Consul or Agent. The answers
to these overtures were favourable, but it was stipulated that
the mission should not pretend to have a public character.
Monsignor Erskine was now selected by the Pope as the
person to whom the English mission should be entrusted.
Erskine, indeed, was not only the best, but perhaps the only
man suitable for the expedition. Although born in Rome, he
was the son of a Scotchman, possessed British nationality, and,
according to English laws, was entitled to enter England with-
out permission or passport. Moreover, his journey might be
set down to his natural desire to visit and make nearer
acquaintance with his paternal and noble relatives, and this
presumption would serve to conceal, at least before the eyes of
the public, the principal motive of his mission. His personal
qualities were altogether in his favour. And his rare talents,
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 127
his already proved experience in affairs, his knowledge of the
laws and customs of Great Britain, not to mention his facility
of speaking the English language, with which he was most
familiar, marked him out as specially adapted for the service.
His position as Envoy was in the highest degree delicate, and
altogether novel and without precedent. He could count
very little on the instructions given him by Cardinal De
Zelada, Papal Secretary of State, for these were necessarily
limited to the general view of obtaining protection from Great
Britain for the clerical refugees from France, and alleviating,
as far as possible, the condition of English Catholics. It was
enjoined on him to act with prudence, and thus he was left to
rely chiefly on himself, being held personally responsible for all
his conduct.
Among the Secret or Private Archives of the Vatican, now
so liberally opened to historical students by the wisdom of Leo
Xni., is a letter curiously illustrating the feeling current a
hundred years ago respecting- the subject of diplomatic
relations between England and Rome. It was written in
Italian, by one Joseph Denham, to the Secretary of State,
Cardinal De Zelada, and was dated from Onano, a village near
Viterbo, on the 3rd of September, 1793. ^'^ English it is as
follows : —
" Eminence, — When I was in the world I had the honour of
being known to your lordship and of enjoying your patronage ;
but it is now seven years since I have seen you, and two full
years that I have lived in this miserable place, separated from
human commerce and little informed of what is passing in the
world. Therefore, if what I am about to say has no founda-
tion, your lordship will attribute it only to my ignorance of the
facts.
" I have supposed that the Pope has destined Monsignor
Erskine as Apostolic Envoy to the Court of London, upon
which subject the devotion I profess to his Holiness urges mc
128 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
to inform your Eminence that, as well as my memory serves
me of the laws of England, there exists an Act of Parliament
inhibiting the King from receiving any Minister of the Pontiff.
I would not wish the honour and dignity of the Holy Father
to be compromised, for, if my idea be correct, deplorable con-
sequences might ensue.
" I have thought, however, of a mezzo termine by means of
which the intent might be obtained without the least violation
of the Anglican laws. I premise that the affair must be
regarded as one merely secular and without introducing a word
about religion.
" I would wish, then, that the credentials of the Envoy should
be sent in the name of the Senate and people of Rome, setting
forth that, for certain interests of theirs, it was necessary to
despatch an Envoy to treat concerning them with his Brittannic
Majesty, and that for this purpose such or such a person was
nominated with all necessary and opportune faculties, etc.
The patent of said credentials would be subscribed by the
Senators of Rome, with the seal of the Capitol affixed.
" The significance of this would be fully comprehended by
the King and his Ministers, and the Envoy would be well
received, without giving umbrage either to the laws, or to the
populace, who might otherwise be capable of committing
excesses, such as happened in 1780, on the occasion of the new
laws in favour of the Catholics.
" If my supposition be correct, and if my idea finds favour
with your Eminence, make use of it as you please, otherwise
let it remain buried. I am always most thankful for the
favours received from your Eminence in past years; and, being
full of true gratitude and veneration, I salute the sacred purple.
" Your Eminence's most humble, devoted, and obliging
servant,
"Joseph Denham."
The Pope, no doubt, duly considered the advice of Mr.
Denham, but declined to follow it. He arranged for this
Memoirs of Carditial Erskine. 129
mission in another way, and before the end of autumn all was
prepared. Monsii^nor Erskine, having taken leave of the Pope
with all due formalities, began his journey to England on the
morning of Friday, the 4th of October, 1793. He, however,
went out of his way on the very beginning of his travels, and
proceeded to Caprarola, where he passed the night of Friday,
and took farewell of his nearest relatives on the mother's side,
the Salvatori, with whom he used to spend his vacations as a
boy and his leisure time as a man. On the following morning,
that of the 5th of October, he resumed his journey by way of
Tuscany, passing through Sienna, Florence, Bologna, Modeua,
Parma, Mantua, Verona, and thence to Trent and Botzen, so
as to enter German}' by the gates of the Tyrol. Then he went
on by Augsburg and Stuttgart to the Rhine, and then to Aix-
la-chapelle, and by Brussels to Ostend, where he took ship for
England. He landed at Margate in the little island of Thanet,
and crossing to the mainland, arrived at last in London on the
13th of November, forty days from his departure from Rome.
Monsignor Erskine himself stated that the Police and Custom
house officials, on his entrance upon British territory, seemed
to have been previously advised of the arrival of a diplomatic
personage, for they displayed to him a courtesy far exceeding
what was due to a mere fellow countryman. And the postillions,
divining from this special treatment, the quality of the traveller,
took care, on each change of the post horses, to announce,
with emphasis, to the postillions who succeeded them, tJie
Ambassador of tJie Pope ! This was done the whole way up to
London, and Erskine could not perceive that the news was
received in any sinister manner, but the rather with an increased
desire to serve him. The Papal Government was duly informed
of this auspicious beginning, and being satisfied with this
reception, published, in the first days of Januar)-, in the Diario
di Roma, the arrival in London of Monsignor Erskine, Promotor
of the Faith, and also his departure from London for Edinburgh.
This last item of news was to conform to the conduct to be
130 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
observed by Erskine, as if his primary object was that of visiting
his relations.
But it was not precisely to Edinburgh that Monsignor
Erskine went on leaving London, but to St. Andrews, which
was further north by a day's journey, and in the county of Fife.
Here dwelt Lord Kellie, the head of the family, who received
him with all demonstrations of affection, and with sincere
expressions of his satisfaction in embracing a cousin as
yet only known to him by name. It was with much
pleasure that Erskine in later years recollected his visits
to these cousins on this and other occasions. They
were three in number, including Lord Kellie, and all of them
were married but without male issue, and they saw with
regret that in their families the dignity of a Peer of Scotland
could not be continued. They told their Roman cousin to
consider that he was to succeed after them to the legal inheri-
tance of all the titled possessions of the family and to the
Scotch Earldom, which he must inherit if he survived them,
without, however, a seat in Parliament, as he was a Catholic.
They went further and proposed to him, that, as they no longer
had any hope of male issue, and as he was the only person who
could remedy the mischief, he should marry and beget heirs.
Monsignor, in reply, scouted the project as wholly incapable of
execution, seeing that he was already a sub-deacon and could
not take a wife. They insisted that he, if he chose to ask a
dispensation, would easily get it, because in this way the
succession of the Erskine family and the dignity of a Scotch
peerage would be established in a Catholic branch. Monsignor
Erskine expressed surprise at hearing the religious motives
which his Protestant cousins adduced to prevail on him to
abandon the ecclesiastic state. But they must have felt still
more astonishment in perceiving that the love of riches and
rank had no effect on his mind towards inducing him to such a
step, even though the Pope, in the case of a mere sub-deacon
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc. 1 3 1
and in view of making one of the primary families of Scotland
a Catholic one, should give his consent.
London, in a very short time, became the habitual residence
of Monsignor Erskine, for there, where the seat of the British
government was fixed, he was to fulfil the duties of his mission.
He doubtless, besides his Roman credentials, had letters
of introduction from Lord Kellie to friends in the great
capital. And it was not long before he was admitted
to Court, to the State receptions customary to be held
by the King on appointed days. On these occasions were
assembled in a large saloon in St. James' Palace, the Diplomatic
corps and a goodly number of nobles, British and Foreign, all
arranged in a great semi-circle. The chief places were occupied,
according to their respective ranks, by members of the Diplo-
matic body, which enjoys, moreover, another distinction in
London, namely that of having access to the Royal palace by
a courtyard separated from the crowd of all the other carriages
of the lords and gentlemen presenting themselves for admis-
sion to the same Receptions. Monsignor Erskine well knew
that he could not pretend to any distinction for himself as a
representative of the Pope, but he proposed to himself to
sustain by prudence his own proper character, by availing
himself of all circumstances which might offer a favourable
opportunity. Accordingly, on the first occasion of a Reception,
he presented himself at the entrance of the palace, and there
giving his name, heard the order given to his coachman to pass
into the court)-ard of the Diplomatic body, l^y this he was
enabled to perceive plainly that the ICnglish Government,
without attributing a special character to him as Papal Envoy,
acknowledged him in general as a representative of a l-'oreign
Sovereign.
lie had next to decide upon the i>recise place he was to
occupy among the Ambassadors, Ministers, and other Di[)lo-
matic personages, who were accustomed to take their j)laces,
one after the other, in order according to the etiquette
132 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
prescribed among themselves ; and in this matter Erskine had
to avoid opposition on the part of those, who would not readily
yield him precedency, and at the same time to avoid the least
exhibition of ostentation in a Court, which up to that time had
been hostile to the Holy See, but which in this conjuncture of
affairs, assumed, so to speak, an attitude of condescension and
courtesy. He therefore chose to take his place as the last of
the Diplomatic body, which he did with such tact, as to leave
it in doubt whether he was last of that body, or the first among
the nobles admitted to the Reception. This discreet behaviour
of Erskine was extremely gratifying to the Government, which
was not in the least desirous of compromising itself in the face
of a Protestant nation. The King himself, George HI., showed
to Erskine his satisfaction with his conduct, by stopping longer,
as he went round, to speak with him, than he stopped with the
others, on all occasions when Erskine presented himself. This
preference, as might be expected, excited wonder among many
who were present, and among some of them raised envy.
Erskine himself, when Cardinal, used to relate what the sub-
jects of his conversations with George HI. were. At the first
Reception, after various other questions, His Majesty asked
him what was his office in the Roman Court. Monsignor
Erskine had to explain the duties of the Promotor of the Faith,
and this he did with brevity and precision, and concluded by
saying that in Rome he was vulgarly styled TJie Devil's
Advocate, at which the King burst into a fit of laughter. On
another occasion George HI. asked Erskine what he thought
of London. He promptly answered : — " In London I find a
city without limits, a population without numiber, and riches
which overflow into the public streets." His Majesty was
highly pleased, and declared that he had never heard a more
beautiful nor more expressive definition of London. In fine,
George HI. found continual matter for conversation with
Erskine, to whom he put many and often varied demands,
concerning Roman affairs, sacred and profane. The King
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskiiic. 133
knew well that Erskinc was able to satisfy his curiosity, by
reason of his full knowledge of the things asked about, and of
his singular facility in conversation.
Many persons, on learning of this frequent attendance of
Monsignor Erskine at state receptions, along with ambassadors,
ministers and high officials, will be desirous to know in what
uniform or dress, he presented himself at Court before the
King. Of course he could not wear the dress of a prelate of
the Roman Court, a dress with which he never could have got
admission to the Court of George III., without exposing him-
self to insult or to worse. His dress, accordingly, must be that
which is usually termed the dress of etiquette, to be worn on
occasions of attending the royal receptions. So Erskine chose
to put on the black court-dress of a secular, and to wear the
sword which generally gives to that dress an imposing and
formal appearance. Erskine relied much on the colour, be-
cause he only wore the same dress, and so could not be con-
founded with other persons who might wear black on certain
occasions, but not always, in the King's presence. It so hap-
pened that Erskine presented himself at Court in this black
dress, on the anniversary of the King's birthday. The Master
of Ceremonies, on seeing him, told him that no black dresses
were admissible on that day, and that on account of his dress,
and for that reason sold}-, he was obliged to refuse him en-
trance to the ro)-al reception. Monsignor Erskine replied re-
solutely that his dress was that of his representative character,
and not a dress of mourning. The Master of Ceremonies then
begged him to wait a little, and passed into the King's apart-
ment, from whence he issued in a few moments to tell Erskinc
he might enter, and at the same time he excused himself for
having put difficulties in the way of his introduction. Thus it
happened on that state reception, when black dresses arc
strictly prohibited, that Erskine was permitted to wear an
entirely black costume in deference to his quality as a Roman
ecclesiastic, a qualit}- then and in this w.i)- publicl}- acknow-
134 Memoirs of Cardmal Erskine.
ledged, not without amazement on the part of the numerous
nobles who were present. From this incident it may be seen
how prudently Erskine acted in his choice of his court dress, a
matter which to some might seem of very trivial moment, but
which to him, at that court and in those times, was one deserv-
ing his special consideration. Subsequently, on many occasions,
inside Catholic churches and chapels, Erskine did not hesitate
to show himself as a prelate of the Roman Church, and within
them to celebrate ecclesiastical functions, such as never had
been attempted or even named in all England, since the epoch
of the Anglican schism and heresy.
Monsignor Erskine did not fail to keep De Zelada, the
Cardinal Secretary of State, fully informed of all his doings in
London ; and he maintained also a very brisk correspondence
with Cardinal Filippo Campanelli, the Pro-Datary, who was
highly esteemed by the Pontiff. That Pius VI. was fully satis-
fied with Erskine's proceedings, and pleased with his manner
of acting, and with the results obtained from the very beginn-
ing of his mission, was manifestly proved by the anxiety of the
Pope to advance Erskine to a higher position in the Roman
prelacy.
Erskine had hardly completed three months of his residence
in England, when the Pope, in secret consistory of the 2ist of
February, 1794, made him his Uditore, in room of Aurelio
Roverella, promoted to the cardinalate. This high office had
been held by Cardinal Giraud as Pro-Auditore until his death,
and after that by Campanelli and Roverella successively, until
they became cardinals. It was arranged that the Abbate
Donato as Vice-Uditorc should discharge the duties of the
office in the absence of Erskine. With singular goodness the
Pope ordered that the revenues of the auditorship, from time to
time as they accrued, should be funded and placed in deposit
in order that Erskine, who had other revenues for his support
in England, might, on his return to Rome, find an accumula-
tion of money very convenient to meet the expenses of his
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskijie. 135
elevation to the purple. This shows the kindness and fore-
thought of rius VI., who intended to create Erskine a cardinal.
But alas ! the unfortunate irruption of the French troops into
the Papal States, caused Erskine to lose all the money thus
deposited in his favour. Erskine, on the 2Sth of February,
1794, wrote to thank the Pope and the Secretary of State for
his promotion.
The fury of the Revolution was now no longer confined
within the limits of P'rancc. War was kindled with Piedmont,
Austria, Spain and England, and the peace of Europe was
threatened. The Great Powers began to seriously occupy
themselves with the affairs of France, in order to provide for
public tranquillity and security. Rumours prevailed about the
month of May, 1795, that the Powers allied against P>ance
had it in contemplation to assemble a Congress of Plenipo-
tentiaries to establish the means of an accommodation and a
general peace. This intelligence was of high importance, and
the Pope determined to take timely measures to have a Papal
representative in that Congress, to sustain the rights of the
Holy See in the preservation of the Catholic religion, now
oppressed by France, and in defence of the Papal States,
assailed by the invasion of Avignon and Venaissin. The Pope
chose Erskine to be his representative in the expected Congress,
and a dispatch to that effect was sent to him on the 6th of June,
1795-
This dispatch states that in view of the assembly of a Con-
gress, Erskine was to be, in anticipation, furnished with
provisional credentials as Papal Representative, to obviate all
possible delays in transmission or loss of letters, etc. These
credentials were to be kept secret until occasion arose for their
production. But Erskine, if he thought it advantageous, might,
but with due caution, confide the secret of these credentials to the
Ministers of Great Britain, or of any other of the Allied Powers.
The chief object of the Pope and the one nearest his heart, was
the safety and protection of the Catholic religion and its com-
136 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
plete restoration in France, His second object concerned the
temporal interests of the Holy See, the restitution of Avignon
and Venaissin, reparation for the injuries inflicted on the
Pontiff, his ministers, etc., during the first years of the Revolu-
tion, and compensation for the losses incurred by the Papal
Treasury. The letters of credence, addressed to Monsignor
Erskine by Cardinal De Zelada, Secretary of State, were as
follows : —
" Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Sir,
"In the event of the realization, hereafter, of the reports
which are now spread abroad of the probability of the convo-
cation of a Congress, in which will take part the Plenipotentiary
of His Majesty the Emperor and representatives of the other
Powers allied in the actual war against France, in order to
deliberate upon an accommodation and a general Peace, His
Holiness the Pope, for the purpose of avoiding prejudicial
delay, has determined from this very moment to authorize
your Lordship and to charge you — as by these presents He
does authorize and charge you — to present yourself, in His
Pontifical name and in quality of His Representative, to the
Congress and to the aforesaid Plenipotentiaries, to set forth
and guarantee the just claims and the incontestable rights of
the Holy See, upon the several subjects which can affect the
interests, as well spiritual as temporal, of the same, in the said
matter of an accommodation and general peace with France,
the said Plenipotentiaries of the allied Powers being therefore
entreated to recognize your Lordship, provisionally, as such,
and as provided, for that purpose, with the Pontifical confidence
and authorization, until such time as there shall be opportunity
to receive from the Papal Court, powers more in conformity
with the customs of Courts and of similar Congresses, together
with ulterior and opportune instructions for the full discharge
of this your commission.
" This will suffice to serve your Lordship for rule and
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 137
guidance according to opportunities, and with sentiments of the
most distinguislied esteem I cordiall)- kiss your hands. I
remain }-our Lordship's faithful servant, F. X. Card, de Zelada.
Rome 6. June 1795."
In consequence of disagreements among the aUied Powers,
the Congress did not take place, yet the instructions and
credentials, which duly reached Monsignor Erskine, were not
wholly useless. For as he was now furnished with credentials,
which put him in a position to present himself as an Envoy
Extraordinary of the Holy See in a general Congress of the
Powers allied against France, his diplomatic character at the
Court of Great Britain acquired a much higher consideration.
For it cannot be supposed that the commission entrusted to
Erskine by the Pope remained unknown to the Ministers of the
British Government. And Monsignor Erskine himself must
have communicated the secret, in accordance with the sugges-
tions given to him to do so whenever the opportunity offered
to further, by so doing, the cause of the Pontiff. And although
no Congress of the kind expected was held, }'et Monsignor
Erskine was enabled to provide that in all the English treaties
with P^rancc the interests of the Holy See should be effectually
served.
A society of antiquaries in London, having compiled a
volume of Roman Military Antiquities, presented, with a
courtesy then rather uncommon in a Protestant association, a
copy to the Pope, through the instrumentality of Erskine, who
sent it on 12th of June, 1795, to Rome, by the Italian courier,
Pio Rotondi, together w ith letters from himself Pius VI. was
surprised and pleased on its arrival, and desired Monsignor to
thank the antiquaries in his name, and to say that althouL;h he
could not himself read ICni^lish, he was quite certain the book
was admirabl)' composed. The Pope then proceeded to express
to Erskine his sense of the loss of Cardinal Campanelli, who
had died on 17th of February, 1795. Campanelli was a
9
138 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
devoted friend and trusted adviser of the Pontiff, and also a
constant correspondent of Consignor Erskine, who had written
to him at least eighty letters from London in the course of
fifteen months.
The Pope, after deploring Campanelli's loss as irreparable,
expressed his astonishment at the treaty of peace between
Spain and France, which had been signed at Basle on the 22nd
of July, 1795. The conduct of the Minister of Spain was by
no means pleasing, for he gave festive entertainments in Rome
to the French officers, who were then exacting exorbitant con-
tributions from the Papal States, and were about to spoil the
city of those monuments which were the delight of Pius VI.
Meanwhile the life led by Erskine in London, was a busy
one. He communicated with the Vicars Apostolic of England
and Scotland and with the Irish bishops, and gave to them
advice and instructions. He had frequent and friendly inter-
views with the minister, Mr. Pitt, and pleaded for the interests
of the Holy See and for British Catholics and the French
refugees. Among these Frenchmen were some Trappists who
lived in the country, supporting themselves on land given them
by a rich Englishman. They professed their Rule, and wore
their habit, inside and around their house, with a liberty and
tranquillity up to that time unknown in England. And when
Erskine visited them, they met him with a procession headed
by the Cross. A community of Nuns had escaped from the
Low Countries to England, with all their valuables, and the
Austrian Government had meanly applied to the British
Minister for restitution of all the precious objects which the
poor nuns had carried off. On Erskine's representations, the
Austrian demand was quietly set aside by Mr. Pitt.
Erskine met in society many Anglican bishops and clergy-
men, and almost invariably their conversations ended in
controversy, carried on, however, with good humour. He used
to quote against them their own Church Catechism. On one
occasion, a bishop said to him that " in his judgment the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 139
Roman Church went too far in tlic pomp of her external
worship, while the English went to the contrary extreme, but
between the two he preferred the Roman mode, for it acted
efficaciously on the popular class."
It is unnecessary here to enter into details of the French
occupation of Rome and the brutal violence practised on the
person of Pius VI., who rashly consented to the treaty of
Tolentino, made under compulsion on the 19th of February,
1797. Previousl}' to that time the Pope had been violently
stripped of the greater part of his dominions, and was virtually
prisoner, soon to become one in dread realit)', and he was as
helpless before Bonaparte, as his successor, Pius IX., was be-
fore Victor Emmanuel.
The events of the sad years, 1796 and 1797, threw additional
labour upon the shoulders of Erskine. As Great Britain had
more open intercourse with foreign parts, London became a
centre of correspondence between Erskine and the Papal
Nuncios in Madrid, Lisbon, Vienna, the Rhine and Holland.
He wrote frequent despatches to Monsignors Casoni, Pacca,
Ruffo, Delia Genga and Brancadoro. His Vienna despatches
were sent sometimes through the hands of Marchcse de Circclli,
Neapolitan Minister at London, and sometimes through Mr.
Canning, then Under Secretary of State ; and very often in
these roundabout ways he contrived to send letters to Rome
and the Pope, as also to the Papal Secretary of State, Cardinal
Giuseppe Doria.
Erskine had given a large parcel and letters for the Pope
and Doria into tlie hantis of Pio Rotondi, the courier, who was
sent to Tuscany by Cavalier Angiolini, the then diplomatic
agent in England of the Grand Duke. Pio left London not
before the 30th of December, 1797, and taking a longer route
than usual, in order to avoid armies on the march, did not
reach Tuscan}' until the end of P^cbruary, 179S, when he found
the Pope in Sienna, where had lived since the 25th of that
month.
140 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Pius VI., on the i6th of March, 1798, wrote from Sienna to
thank Erskine for the parcel, which was a present to the Pope
of a service of table linen and an assortment of razors, which
latter articles were very welcome to His Holiness. The Pope's
letter, after mention of the razors, proceeds as follows : —
" We have said that We received your kind present in this
place of exile, because the French force compelled Us to
decamp from Rome, declaring that the Civil Government
belonged to the people. The first step which the French took
at the opening of the Revolution was to burn Us, in effigy,
publicly in Paris. Next they possessed themselves of Avignon
and Venaissin, and then they seized the three provinces of
Bologna, Ferrara and the Romagna, and, piece by piece, they
took all the rest ; so that of all our Sovereignty nothing remains
to Us save the memory. The war, for them so fortunate, is a
war against Religion, for they perpetrated a thousand sacri-
ligious outrages against the Church, — as the late Bishop of
Spires wrote to Us — against the priests and friars, confiscating
their property. And this was the system which they have
always pursued, and still continue to pursue in Rome. They
found out a pretended excuse in the circumstance that General
Duphot was killed by Our civic troops ; but his death was in
consequence of his own attempt to force their quarters and
disperse them. They resisted, as was their duty, and in the
confusion shots were fired, and a bullet happened to kill the
General. This is the undeniable truth, as results from the
Process instituted by order of Our Secretary of State. But
they have determined to colour all their iniquities by this pre-
text, in order to carry into execution the plan they had
concerted beforehand, which was to impose intolerable contri-
butions, to quarter their soldiers by compulsion, stimulating
poor families, who could scarcely feed themselves, to give
entertainment to officers, soldiers, and horses. Several prelates
were arrested in Castel S. Angelo and sent to the convent of
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskiue. 141
the Convertitc, in the Corso, as hostages for six or seven
Cardinals who are to be banished — they say — to Sicily, and
have already been sent to Civita Vecchia. If maltreatment
had been offered to the French, there might be excuse for
them, but in reality every attention and consideration was
shewn them.
" Before entering Rome they gave assurances in writing that
the form of Government would not be changed ; but at their
very first ingress, they insisted that the keys of the city gates
and of Castel S. Angelo should be consigned to them. Before
Our enforced departure, they posted guards within the inner-
most rooms of Our apartment, put seals on Our presses, and
carried away every thing there was of any value. They
despoiled the Vatican of its most precious monuments, such as
statues, pictures and codexcs ; and thc}- did the same in many
private houses, notwithstanding their declaration that all
property would be safe.
"We Ourselves determined not to leave — whatever might be
the cost — Our Residence, taking into consideration Our age,
over eighty years, our state of convalescence after a malady of
the duration of two years and a half, which took away the use
of our feet. But it was not possible for Us to obtain the favour
of remaining, as the)' threatened to make Us leave the Palace
by force, so that we were obliged to drink the bitter cup, and
to go out from Our States, and retire, as they ordered, to thc
dominions of Tuscany. Could greater barbaritj' be shown ?
On leaving thc palace, which was before day. We found at foot
of the grand staircase, an escort of seventy Dragoons and two
Commissaries. The Commissaries accompanied Us all the
way here to Sienna, though the Guards on horseback were
dismissed at the end of the first stage.
"Now although We ([uitc understand that in London you
cannfjt bring to the front religious motives, )-et such motives,
when they involve questions of Sovereignty and the rights of
nations, must make a strong impression. And for the same
142 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
reason We, being personally known to the Emperor of Russia,
have written a Brief to him, imploring his aid under the present
most bitter circumstances, and We doubt not that he, albeit a
Schismatic, will take to heart Our unfortunate situation. And
therefore your Lordship must employ means to secure that in
the Congress, which must be held for peace, either in Rastadt
or elsewhere, restitution shall be made to Us of the States
which were violently taken from Us, beginning with Avignon
and Venaissin, It is a thing certain, and not disputed, that
what is gained in an unjust war must be restored and
cannot pass into the dominion of the unjust possessor. A war
more unjust than that of the French against the Holy See, cannot
be imagined, wherefore We have the most just of titles to claim
back all that has been taken from Us. He who shall be
destined to act for Us in the quality of Our Commissary for
Great Britain, must make himself Our Advocate, and put
forward the afore-mentioned reasons of the spoil and sackage
committed against Us without the smallest cause of complaint.
We leave this business to you, to whom are not wanting activity
and eloquence.
"On the evening of the seventh of this month, seven cardinals
were carried to Civita Vecchia for transportation to Sicily, or,
as some say, to Portugal. We shall wait to see what other
acts of hostility they shall perpetrate. We have said from the
beginning that the French pretend to justify their sack of
Rome by the slaying of General Duphot. We now add, that
besides the fact that he caused his own death by his determina-
tion to force one of the quarters of our Civic Guards, every sort
of satisfaction was offered to the French, but they, neither ac-
cepting such satisfaction nor refusing it, proceeded to im-
mediate action, and committed those excesses which We have
described, thus evidently proving that it was a mere pretext of
which they took advantage to torment Us in every way.
" And now We give you from Our heart the Paternal
Apostolical Benediction. From Sienna, the Church of the
Mcvioirs of Cardinal Erskine. 143
Assumption, the i6th of March, 1798, and 24th year of Our
Pontificate. Pius, P. P. VI."
The Emperor Paul I. of Russia had visited Rome, in 17S2,
under the name of Conte del Nord, his mother, the Empress
Catherine, being then alive, and he had often visited the Pope,
for whom he professed much affection. The letter now sent to
him by Pius VI. gave an impulse to the sending of an army
into Italy under General Souvarow.
Pius VI., in another letter to Erskine, dated from Florence
the 28th of July, 1798, writes : — "The matrimonial dispensa-
tion, which was sent to you from America, We return to you
herewith enclosed, but in all similar cases you must inform Us
as to whom to send them for execution, for We, not having
here the Penitenzieria, address them at hazard, and the more
so as the handwriting of the missionaries and bishops arc un-
intelligible." The Pope next referred to the sudden death of
Bishop Charles Berington, Vicar Apostolic of the Midland
district in England, who, he supposed, had not before d}-ing,
signed the retractation required of him by Rome. The Pope
thought that Erskine had taken the good part in agreeing with
the three Vicars Apostolic for selection of a successor, dela}'ing
the confirmation of the choice until the re-establishment of the
congregation of the Propaganda, unless indeed Erskine should
confirm such successor in conformity with the sentiments of
the Cardinal Prefect. Meanwhile, adds the Pope, there is no
need to talk of coadjutors, for as the penal laws arc abrogated,
no district is left exjiosed to the risk of remaining without a
pastor. lie had not received from Bishop Douglas a request
for a coadjutor. Erskine must have already received an
answer "about tiie miserable affair of Monsignor Ilussey.
And We ask )-our advice how to get Bishop Douglas to yield"
[in the matter of the Veto], The Pope expressed his sorrow at
the revolt in Ireland, deploring the necessity of bloodshed, al-
though the Irish bishops, fulfilling their duty, inculcated on the
Catholics the proper subordination. This letter shows that
144 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Pius VI., in the midst of his sufferings and infirmities, even
during his sore persecution, found time to give minute attention
to ecclesiastical matters, and was not wholly absorbed in
political affairs.
On the suppression of the Congregation of the Propaganda
by the French Government, and the expulsion, or flight, of the
Cardinals from Rome, Cardinal Borgia, the Pro-Prefect of that
Congregation, managed to find a refuge in Padua, then fallen
under Austrian domination. Erskine was enabled to communi-
cate frequently with Cardinal Borgia via Vienna, and also
with the Pope, first directly and afterwards through Monsignor
Odescalchi, Nuncio in Tuscany, who gave his assistance until
the French seized on Tuscany and carried the Pope elsewhere.
The blow given by the Revolution to the Propaganda and
the Oriental and National Colleges in Rome, threatened to be
a fatal one for the Missions to Infidels and Heretics. Erskine
did his best to remedy the evil by opening correspondence with
Missionaries in all parts of the world. He referred everything
to the judgment of Cardinal Borgia, and he and Borgia, two
persons only, transacted the entire business of Propaganda.
Erskine opened a new correspondence with P. Giovanni
Battista Marchini, Procurator of Propaganda, at Maccao in
China; with Mgr. Luigi Maria di Gesu, bishop of Upsala and
Vicar Apostolic in Malabar ; with P. Arcangelo, Prefect
Apostolic per interim at Martinique ; with the Bishop of
Baltimore ; with D. Paolo Moretti, Missionary in Stockholm ;
with Mgr. Cortenovis, Vicar Apostolic of Ava and Pegu ; and
with many others. The French seized also all the revenues
of the Propaganda, and Monsignor Erskine collected and
administered funds for the Missions, and gave an exact account
of his receipts and disbursements.
Monsignor Erskine now lost all his Roman revenues as
Uditore, and as Papal Envoy, and got but little from his
Canonry in S. Peter's, and from his pensions, owing to the
enormous forced contributions levied by the French. His
Memoirs of Cat'diiial Erskine. 145
noble relatives, had they been called on, would certainly have
given him pecuniary assistance. But there was no occasion for
this, for George III. provisionally pensioned Monsignor Erskine
during the time of the occupation of the Papal States. This
spontaneous liberality was not unusually shown to other
Diplomatists under similar circumstances, but was truly remark-
able when shown to Erskine. This is undoubtedly the first and
onl)' instance since the schism, of a Papal agent subsidized by
the British Government.
News of the death at Valence in France of Pius VI. on the
29th of August, 1799, soon reached Monsignor Erskine. The
circumstances of this death of the Pope in exile, and after
unparalleled sufferings and persecutions, excited in England
extraordinary emotion, and Erskine determined to celebrate a
sumptuous, and almost public. Requiem Mass in London. For
this purpose he chose the Irish Catholic chapel of S. Patrick in
Sutton Street, near Soho Square, which was in the Westminster
district and in the same neighbourhood as the Spanish, French,
Portuguese and Bavarian chapels, which were all under the
protection of their respective Governments. In S. Patrick's,
which had no Diplomatic protection, Monsignor Erskine was
consequently more free to make his own arrangements. The
mass was celebrated on the i6th of November. In the midst of
the church rose a magnificent catafalque, surrounded by man)'
rows of torches and covered b}' a richly adorned Baldacchino.
On the top of the catafalque, on an ample cushion, reposed the
Tiara, while at the two extremities were placed the family
arms of the Pope, and at the sides the following inscription was
seen : — " Pio VI. Pont. Max., Qui Christianas Religionis odio
in Captivitatem ductus, obiit Valentias in Galia: D. xxi.K Aug.
An. MDCCXCIX." Under the organ at the end of the Chapel
and fronting the altar, was this in.scription in P2nglish : — " Pius
VI., born at Ccsena 27 Dec, MDCCXVII., elected Pope 15
Feb MDCCLXXV, a just, munificent, magnanimous Prince, a
Pontiff revered for his piety and zeal in the cause of Religion,
146 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
led by his enemies into captivity. Whilst furnishing in the
midst of adversity and sufferings the brightest example of
Christian patience and unsubdued fortitude, He resigned his
soul to the bosom of his God at Valence in France XXIX. Aug.
MDCCXCIX ; forgiving his persecutors, and praying for the
restoration of tranquillity to the Church and to the World."
The Solemn Mass was. said by Bishop Douglas, and the
sermon was preached by Dr. O'Leary, and then five absolutions
were given by the bishops of Lombez, Rhodez, Montpelier and
Waterford, and Bishop Douglas. In the choir assisted the
archbishop of Narbonne and the bishops of Nantes, Angouleme,
Arras, Uzes, Cominges, Troyes, S. Pol de Leon, Lescars and
Moulins. Three other French bishops then in London, were
too ill to attend. The Ministers of Austria, Russia, Naples,
Sardinia, Portugal and Bavaria were all present. As Monsignor
Erskine was neither a priest nor a bishop, he could neither
preach nor pontificate at the Mass. He published, however, a
Panegyric on Pius VI. with an account of the Funeral.
The Conclave for election of a new Pope began in Venice on
the 1st of December, 1799, and Cardinal Consalvi was
Secretary to the Conclave, and received letters for Erskine,
notably one dated on the 17th of December, containing the
news of the allowance fixed for the Cardinal Duke of York.
Doubtless Erskine lost no time in forwarding this news the
moment he got permission, not only for sake of the attachment
of his family to that of the Stuarts, but also out of gratitude to
the protector of his infancy.
Cardinal Chiaramonti was elected Pope on the 14th of
March, 1800, as Pius VII. ; and five days later Consalvi, Pro-
Secretary of State, informed Erskine that he had been con-
firmed in his office of Uditore S. S., and sent him on the 23rd
of March the Cypher for correspondence. Erskine continued
to write his despatches, which were still forwarded by Mr.
Canning, the Under Secrctar}- of State, as well as by Count
Woronzow, and the couriers of Lords Grenville and Minto.
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 147
On the /th of May, 1800, Pius VII. sent to Erskine a Brief
from Venice, saying : — " We are persuaded you will continue
your services with the same zeal, fidelity and honour, as
hitherto displayed, especially in conducting Our affairs with
this generous government, for which We have the highest
esteem and the most lively attachment, in this respect yielding
nothing to Our Predecessor."
Pius VII., w^ho left Venice on the 6th of June, 1800, and
made his solemn entry into Rome on the 3rd of July, now re-
stored ecclesiastical affairs, and Cardinal Gerdil, Prefect of the
Congregation of the Propaganda, resumed his duties. Erskine
now gave a full account of all his money transactions to the
Economist of the Propaganda, and on the iSth of July, began
to compile a book in which were entered all the receipts and
disbursements, for use, in case of his death, of his executors.
From this book it appears that from January, 1798, to the end
of September, 1801, the total of the sums received and de-
posited with Coutts, the banker, was ^^27,2 59 i6s. 8d. Of this
sum, divided into four portions, no less than ^26,065 i6s. 8d.
pertained to the private account of Cardinal Borgia, for each
of the four portions had this note annexed to it : — " This sum
does not belong to the Congregation, but stands to the credit
of his eminence Cardinal Borgia, to whose disposal it is per-
sonally confided, and to whom alone I am responsible." The
remainder — i^ii93 13s. 3d. — was received by Erskine in five
portions, and was placed to the disposal of the Congregation
and its Prefect.
The disbursements were : — To the I^ench bishop of S. Pol
de Leon, £\2i:\, 7s. 2d. From August 27, 1799, to August 24,
1 801, on eight cheques of Cardinal Borgia, ;^4927 18s. 6d.
From June 18, 1799, to September 22, 1801, Erskine sent sums
amounting to ^^7658 i6s. to missionaries, as follows : — To G.
B. Marchini, the Propaganda Procurator at Maccao in China,
on i8th June, 1799, ;^i8oo ; on August 25th, 1800, ;^900 ; on
loth March, 1801, £6^^ ; in all ^3375. To M. Lctondel,
148 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Proctor of French bishops and missionaries at Maccao, £\Zo.
To M. Shwendinam, Proctor of French missionaries at
Coromandel, Pondichery, etc., on June 18, 1799, i^i35. For the
same, per Abbe Chaumont on 24th June, 1799, iS^45. For the
bishop of Gortina, on rst October, 1799, £i\2 lis., and an
equal sum for traveUing expenses of Signors G. B. Rabeau and
Stefano Jourdain, for the Oriental Missions. To the same on
25th August, 1800, £a,'J2 IIS., for missionaries at Cochin China,
Siam, etc.; and ;^337 lis., to be sent to Monsignor Cortenovis,
Vicar Apostolic of Ava and Pegu at Rangoon ; and on loth
March, 1801, ^^^675 2s., for the missions of Tonquin, Cochin
China, S' Tchuen, Siam, Coromandel, etc. In all was sent to
Abbe Chaumont for transmission to aforesaid destinations,
;^I755 6s.
On 27th July, 1799, ;^II2 IIS. was sent to Most Rev.
George Hay, in Edinburgh. To Monsignor Luigi Maria di
Gesu, bishop of Upsala, and Vicar Apostolic at Verapolis,
coast of Malabar, were sent on 7th October, 1799, ^450 ; on
23rd August, 1800, ^337 I OS., and on loth March, 1801, ii337
los. : in all ^^1125.
To Don Paolo Moretti in Stockholm, were sent on 25th
August, 1800, £^2 1 6s. ; on 27th February, 1801, ;6i95 12s.,
and on 22nd September, 1801, ;^I44 5s., in all ^413 3s. To
Monsignor Cortenovis at Rangoon, on 13th March, 1 801, ^337
los. To R. D. Troyes, ^^225. All these sums make a total of
;^7658 los, sent by Erskine to missions, exclusive of ^^^325
7s. 10., paid on the order of Cardinal Gerdil, the Prefect, and
making the gross sum of ^12,911 i6s., 4d., of which ^12,587
1 8s., 6d. was set to account of Cardinal Borgia, and ^325 7s.
lod. to the account of the Congregation. Receipts were entered
for all these items, and for their transmission Erskine found a
very good medium in a Jew, who gave him great satisfaction.
The balance at Coutts, amounted to ^14,347 13s. 7d., and of
this, ^13,477 1 8s. 2d. was put to the disposal of Borgia, and
^^869 15s. 5d. to that of the Prefect /r<? tempoi'c of Propaganda.
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 149
Monsignor Erskine was- one of the fourteen Cardinals
reserved in petto in the Consistory held by Pius VII. on the
23rd of February, iSoi, when thirteen other Cardinals were
published. Erskine begged the Pope not to publish him as
Cardinal as long as his Mission lasted in England, in order not
to offend the susceptibility of a Protestant nation. His conduct
in this respect gave great satisfaction to Mr. Pitt, to whom, as
well as to George III., Erskine's creation in petto was made
known. Indeed His Majesty asked him all about his dress as
Cardinal.
At this time the Bali Ru.spoli asked Erskine to get him a
passport and license to reside in England, Erskine obtained it
for him from the Home IMinister, William Henry Cavendish,
third Duke of Portland. In this passport Ruspoli was styled
" a Subject of His Holiness the Pope," but the permission was
only to travel or reside anj-whcre at a distance of ten miles
from the coast. This limitation was perhaps because Ruspoli
was a Knight of Malta, of which island the British had taken
possession.
On the 6th of March iSoo, Mgr. Agostino Vallc was
nominated as Erskine's coadjutor in his office of Consistorial
Advocate, and Mgr. Lachini was made Vicc-Uditore in room
of Donati.
Erskine, in view of his departure for Rome to be proclaimed
a Cardinal, wrote to Canon Preston on the 30th of Ma\-, iSoi,
as if he was then on the point of leaving London, but the
affairs of France and the Holy See caused a delay of scvcial
months. The Concordat, which in September, iSoo, had
begun to be negotiated in Paris by Mgr. Spina, archbishop of
Corinth, and Father Caselli, Superior General of the Servites of
Mary, was already arranged in the principal matters ; and
Consalvi, the Secretary of State, left Rome on the night of the
5th of June, 1 801, and went to Paris to conclude it, antl he
signed it as Plenipotentiary of the I loly See, on the 3rd of Jul\',
1801. The ratification, which was done by the Pope in
150 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
August, and afterwards by the First Consul, Bonaparte, com-
pleted all the formalities necessary to the validity of this
Convention, which was subsequently published solemnly. The
presence of Erskine in England was necessary for the carrying
into execution parts of this Concordat.
For by the second article it was agreed that the Holy See,
in concert with the French Government, should newly arrange
the boundaries of the French Dioceses. By the third, it was
stipulated that the Pope should notify to the existing occupants
of French bishoprics, that he expected them, in view of the
good and unity of the Church, to make every sacrifice of their
personal rights, even to the resignation of their respective sees,
and that in case of their refusal to resign, provision would be
made, in any case, without regard to their resistance, for the
government of the new dioceses by new bishops. By the fourth
article, the new bishops were to be nominated by the First
Consul within three months from the publication of the Bulls,
and were to be canonically instituted, afterwards, by the Pope,
according to the forms customary in France before the change
of Government.
Pius VII., had now to ask all the old bishops to resign their
sees, in order to effect this new organization of the clergy and
church of France. It was a hard thing to ask, but necessary
under the circumstances. Of all the French bishops, some were
hidden away, and some re-entered France, when the persecu-
tions ceased under the Consulate, but did not exercise, at least
openly, their episcopal jurisdiction. Other bishops were
dispersed in the Southern parts of Italy, or in Germany, or
England. In England were three archbishops, those namely
of Narbonne, Aix and Bourdeaux, and the bishops of Lescar,
Arras, Montpelier, Angouleme, Nantes, Noyon, S. Pol de Leon,
Usez, Perigeaux, Cominges, Lombez, Vannes, Moulins, Rhodez,
Troyes and Avranche. From these prelates the strongest
opposition was anticipated. They were in a country where
resistance to French innovations was strengthened by national
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc. 1 5 i
rivalr)-. The presence, moreover, of the Count d' Artois,
natural heir to the Crown of France, re-animated their old
sentiments of devotion and loyalty and tended to keep them
back from any act signif)'ing defection from their sworn
fidelity.
To Erskine was left the task of confronting these difficulties.
And to him were sent, in September, by the Papal Secretary
of State, the Briefs for every one of the French bishops then in
England, with the necessary instructions for accompanying
each Brief with a letter from Erskine himself, to inform the
recipient of the steps taken by the Pope in behalf of each
prelate.
On the 1 6th of September, Erskine sent the Briefs to the
bishops, along with a letter which he afterwards published in
French and Italian, at the press of L. Nardini, A. Dulau & Co.
Portland Street, London. Erskine's letter was as follows : —
"By express command of Pope Pius VII., I transmit to ycur
Lordship the Pontifical Brief herewith enclosed, the receipt of
which you will be pleased at once to acknowledge, and I pra)'
you to send me without delay the convenient response.
" The Pope has not omitted to practise every possible
endeavour to preserve to your Lordship your See, but had
experienced most profound regret in finding your resignation,
in these urgent circumstances, indispensably required for the
good of the Church and fijr her Unity, and for peace and for
the re-establishment in France of the Catholic Religion. His
Holiness, moreover, has charged me to assure your Lordship,
that he has in every possible wa}- recommended }ou to the
First Consul, whom he has asked to keep you in view in his
nominations to the new dioceses, and at least to provide for
your subsistence. And such is the an.xiety of the Pope to
contribute in every possible way to the relief of )our Lordship,
that he will not omit any favourable conjuncture for alleviating
the burden of }our situation and helping your personal needs.
" Having thus discharged the duty laid on me b)' the Pope, I
152 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
now proceed in my private character to offer my services to
your Lordship, and to sign myself your Lordship's devoted
and obedient servant — Charles Erskine."
Ths French bishops were dilatory, and instead of sending
separate replies, met together at the house of the archbishop of
Narbonne, to draw up a joint-letter to be sent in the name of all.
Erskine, hearing of this, wrote to the archbishop, to remind him
that a common answer would not satisfy the Pope, who had
written to each prelate individually. This letter had its effect,
and by the beginning of October, Erskine had answers from
all the prelates, and he sent these answers in one packet, on
the 6 of October, through means of M. Otto, the French
Minister in London, to Monsignor Spina in Paris.
These bishops, for the most part, refused, on various pre-
texts, to resign the Sees which they canonically held. This
opposition continued in spite of the execution of the Concordat,
and only began to cease when Louis XVIII., after the Bourbon
restoration, made a new Concordat with the Pope, amplifying
the former one and improving it to the benefit of the Clergy,
and to the better administration of the Dioceses. It is to be
noted that the French bishops, who resisted the Concordat,
and disobeyed the Papal Briefs, yet did no act to disturb the
new bishops in the administration of their dioceses, either by
way of protests or by declarations of nullit}^ so that the
Concordat was tranquilly carried out in France. The only
exception was that of the Bishop of Blois (whose name is not
mentioned as one of the refugees in England) who carried his
opposition to such a length, as to think himself authorized
to exercise his episcopal jurisdiction in France, and even when
he was abandoned by his brethren, in the time of Louis XVIII.,
reputed himself the only legitimate bishop of France, and so
became the founder of La Petite Eglise, a schismatical church
which caused no great consequences and became extinguished
with him.
Five prelates, the archbishops of Aix and Bordeaux, and the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
bishops of Lcscar, Cominges and Troycs promptly resigned.
The remaining, to the number of fourteen, refused.
Monsignor Erskine, for his part in executing the Concordat,
was styled a Bonapartist, but his real sentiments on that topic
were that Pius VII., in his fear of a new invasion of Rome on
the withdrawal of the French Minister, Cacault, condescended
too much. Bonaparte had more need for the Concordat than
he chose to allow. Five days after the Battle of Marengo,
Bonaparte told Cardinal Martiniana, bishop of Vercelli, that he
had resolved to live at peace with the Pope, and come to an
agreement for the restoration of Religion in France. The first
advance towards this was made by Bonaparte, who, however,
when the negotiations commenced, changed his conciliatory
tone to or.e of bullying. Erskine knew that the French
bishop': in England were hardly dealt with, but his duty was
not to indulge his own sentiments, but to execute the orders of
tlyj Pope.
There was now no further business to detain Erskine in
England, and he was free to return to Rome to assume the
/dignity of a Cardinal. From the 4th of October, 1801, Cardinal
Caprara, Legate a latere, was in Paris to publish and execute
the Concordat. In the beginning of October peace was con-
cluded between England and the allies with France, and it was
agreed to hold a congress at Amiens to settle the basis for the
general peace of Europe, and Bonaparte facilitated the return
of the French emigrants to their homes. In England the penal
laws against Catholics were relaxed, and Catholic worship was
freely permitted within their chapels.
Eskine himself thus summed up his work in I^ngland : —
I. He obtained open communication — closed heretofore for
two hundred years — between the Holy See and the British
Government, and direct correspondence between the respective
Secretaries of State, a thing vainly attempted on many previous
occasions, and notably some little time before Erskine's arrival
in England.
10
154 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
2. He gained the accordation to himself of all the privileges
and Court distinctions given to Foreign Ministers, although
ostensibly he had no public character, and thus secured the
decorum due to the Holy See.
3. He obtained that in the constitution made by England
for Corsica, nothing was fixed in religious matters without the
approbation of the Pope.
4. He gained for the Papal Government freedom to act
against those subjects of Great Britain who, when travelling or
residing in the States of the Church, committed infractions of
the laws.
5. He secured the aid of the British fleet in protecting
cargoes of grain, etc., and in protecting the Papal coasts, which
were infested by pirates in time of the late war.
6. He impeded the adoption, in the British Parliament, of
the motion for the dissolution of the religious communities of
nuns existing in many parts of England.
7. He opposed some noveles which ministers wished to
introduce into Ireland, respecting bishops and parish priests, to
the prejudice of the Holy See, and when the bishops gave
their consent to these innovations he caused the execution of
such measures to be suspended.
8. He secured that Ministers should not intermeddle in the
choice of Vicars Apostolic in England, to which intervention
they had been stimulated by some of the badly affected among
the chief of the English Catholic gentlemen.
9. He appeased the great dissensions he had found existing
among Catholics.
10. He prevented the scandal about to be produced by the
excessive zeal of a foreign bishop, who was not acquainted with
the English laws and customs.
11. He took part with Ministers in removing the impedi-
ments placed by the French recusant prelates in the way of the
return to France of the French priests.
12. He obtained the open manifestation to the Emperor of
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 155
Russia of the intention of the British Government to restore
the three Legations to the Holy See.
13. In each of the several treaties between Great Britain and
France, including that of Amiens, he secured the support of
Great Britain for the interests of the Holy See.
14. But for the insuperable obstacle of the King's scruples,
he would have obtained the total abrogation of the laws against
the Irish Catholics.
15. In the treaty of Amiens, the Pontifical States were
named so expressly, by the British representative there, and of
this there was no precedent since the schism.
16. He celebrated the public funeral of Pius VI.
17. He caused public prayers to be offered in all the chapels
of the three kingdoms for Pius VI. in captivity.
18. He maintained correspondence with Nuncios and agents
of the Holy See in all parts of Europe.
19. He contributed towards procuring from the British
Government a subvention for the Vicars Apostolic in Scotland.
20. He spared much expense to the Holy See by his
economy, and by his dispensing with the services of paid
secretaries.
In reference to the proposed substitution of Titular Bishops
for Vicars Apostolic — a measure above alluded to — which was
strongly urged by several Catholics c frank, and was favoured
by Pitt, Erskine was afraid that the free choice of the Holy See
would be fettered. He said to Mr. Pitt : — " Are you content
with the conduct of the Vicars ? " The reply was : — " Yes, I
have no reason to complain of them." " Well then " — rejoined
Erskine — " I advise you to ask for no change, of which neither
you nor I can foresee the consequences." Mr. Pitt then said :
— "You are right," and he wholly abandoned the proposal,
which he had probably entertained mercl)' out of complaisance.
Erskine prepared for leaving England carl)' in December,
and wrote letters to the French bishops to announce his
intentions. The archbishop of Narbonne, in the name of all of
156 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
them, sent a courteous reply, dated the 9th of December, from
Somerset Street. Monsignor Erskine chose to return to Rome
by way of Paris, partly because it was the shortest route and
partly because he wished to witness the solemn publication of
the Concordat, and to observe the conduct of Bonaparte. In
the passport enabling Erskine to cross to France, which was
given him by the Principal Secretary of State, Thomas, Lord
Pelham, was written, in the place for designating his quality,
" Monsignor Erskine, late Legate from His Holiness at this
Court J'
" I left London " — wrote Erskine in his Diary — " at 7 A.M.
on the 1 2th of December 1801, and arrived at Dover after 7 P.M.
Here, as the cmbarcation was not ready, I staid all the 13th at
the Ship Inn. Ou the morning of the 14th, at 4 after mid-
night, I sailed in the Minerva Packet, Captain Hammond. The
best wind prevailed and the sea was most tranquil for two-thirds
of the passage ; but then the wind changed a little, and the sea
began to swell, with consequent nausea. I reached Calais at 8
the same morning. We would have taken an hour less in
crossing, if the Captain, fearing the sand banks at the
East of Calais, had not bent too much to the West, in
consequence of which, when he perceived his mistake at
day break, he had to tack back to regain the point. When
we arrived at Calais, two Guards came on board to take the
passengers' names. One remained on board until the other,
after a long time, returned with licence for our landing. Then
we went processionally into a miserable hole, where was a
woman distributing national coccards, a pretext to get a
present of 24 sous, and a dishevelled fellow who again wrote
down our names, comparing them with our persons. Thence
we went in procession once more to the Hotel de Ville, where
we had more interpellations and exhibitions of passports. In
mine was written : — Charge d" affaires a la Cour d' Angleterre.
After this I went to the Kingston Hotel, which had been
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 157
recommended to me by Signor Masseria,* cousin of the First
Consul, and who, for a long time preceding the secret
negotiation afterwards carried on in London by the
French Minister, M. Otto, Count de Mosloy, was passed
forwards and backwards from Paris to London, and from
London to Paris, to prepare the way for the said negotiation.
The hotel is kept by Grandsir, a most excellent man, and his
brave wife, who enlightened me about French money and the
payments to be made for post horses, postillions, hotels, and all
things concerning travelling."
Erskine had been treated in England by Customhouse and
other officials with the respect due to his diplomatic character ;
and on his first arrival at Calais was disgusted and angry with
the French douaniers for ransacking his carriage and tossing
about everything in his imperial, trunks and boxes. The
carriage, it may be noted, was made expressly to his order,
and at much expense, by one of the best manufacturers in
London, who, when Erskine asked whether it would bear a
long journey, said : — " Your Honour may go to China ; and
dont pay me when you return if you find repairs necessary."
This carriage did not go to China, but Erskine used it on his
present journey and for many years in Rome, and on his last
journey from Rome to Paris.
"After breakfast" — proceeds Erskine — "I went to the
Commissary General of the Ports of the Straits and of the
Harbour of Calais, named Mangaud, a man, to say truth,
exceedingly brusque. On entering, I presented a letter from
M. Otto, recommending the Commissary to pay me all the
regards due to my public character and the good intelligence
which passed between my Court and the French Republic. He
had scarcely read it when he made me a thousand reverences
* This was Philip Masseria, a Corsican, who from 1799 to 1801, fought in the
service of England, and died in London in 1807. His father was a Corsican
adventurer and conspirator.
158 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
and compliments with all the French politeness, and at once
restored my passport and was hardly prevented from accom-
panying me to the street door. I returned to my hotel, and
soon after Father O'Leary returned also, with Mr. Macrae,
Captain Portlock and his daughter and Mr. Garret. They all
told me that because they were seen in my company they had
their business speedily settled.
" During dinner a messenger came from the Mayor of the
city to say that he and the chief municipal officials desired per-
mission to pay me a visit. I replied that I was very sensible
of the honour intended, but was unwilling to give them so
much trouble, and that but for my unsuitable dress I had rather
go to see them. About an hour afterwards, the Mayor, M.
Michou, the Juge de Paix, the Commissary of the Executive,
and the Head of the Tribunal of Commerce, arrived and passed
a good half hour. The conversation turned chiefly on the re-
turn of religion. The Mayor seemed a very sensible man.
Many compliments passed on both sides, with many eulogies
of the First Consul. They rejoiced at the resurrection of
France from the disorder to which she was reduced without
religion, morality or restraint. They asked me if I believed
the re-establishment of the Catholic religion would be quickly
effected. I answered that there was no doubt of it, from the
moment that on the part of His Holiness and of the First
Consul there was established a mutual agreement in all good
faith. Delay only arose from the necessity of previously
systematising and regulating all the details for its accomplish-
ment. I accompanied them to the door and they took leave
of me with all sorts of compliments, and were, as I flattered my-
self, well contented with me. The Englishmen above men-
tioned were present during this visit and were most edified,
taking it as a mark (and so it was) of respect to the Holy
Father, and as an indication of the disposition of the French
to return to the better way. Father O'Leary (the only
Catholic among them) said that this meeting was ample com-
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 159
pensation for his journey, even should he derive no benefit to
his health, for the improvement of which he was travelling.
In the evening, just as I was going to bed, M. Mangaud sent a
note to apologise for not visiting me, as an accident had hap-
pened to him when out riding. I sent a proper answer."
Monsignor Erskine left Calais on the 15th of December, and
when changing horses at Boulogne-sur-Mer, met a fat woman,
who boasted of the reception there given to Lord Nelson when
he attacked that place with his flotilla, and said the English
lost in that affair near 600 men, mostly by drowning. The
English confessed to a loss of about 300. Erskine slept on the
night of the 15th at Abbeville, and reached Amiens on the
evening of the i6th. In Amiens were then assembled the
Plenipotentiaries of France, Joseph Bonaparte ; of Great
Britain, Marquess Cornwallis ; and of Holland, Mr. Schimel-
penning. They expected from Spain the Count del Campal-
anque. Erskine slept at the hotel Eclaire, where he found Mr.
Merry, Secretary of the English Legation to the Congress.
On the morning of December 17, after a good chat with Mr.
Merry, Erskine left Amiens, and reached Paris on the i8th,
some time before evening fell. He went to the Hotel de
Rome, Rue S. Dominique, Faubourg S. Germain, and hired
" a very convenient and decent " apartment, the same which
Monsignor Spina had occupied.
In his diary Monsignor Erskine describes his first day in
Paris thus : —
" December 19. This morning I went to visit Cardinal
Caprara and then to leave a packet of Madame Osmond's with
the Duchess de la Tremouillc, whom I saw in a small and
poorly furnished room with a mean looking bed in the corner.
She was stitching at an embroidery frame. She was once the
favourite of the Ouccn. Che catastrophe ! She returned a
month ago from Petersburg, to which city, on the invitation
of Paul I., she had gone from London where I had known her.
I found in the same house, and far better lodged, the Duchess
i6o Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
De CruzoUe, whom also I had known in London. I then went
to Count Marcost and left him a letter from Count Woronzow;
then to Count Philip De Cobentzel and to Mr. Krathoffer,
secretary of the Austrian Legation, leaving for each a letter
from Count Starhemberg : then to Marchese Lucchesini, and
to M. Portalis, Councillor of State and Minister of Worship.
Then to Mr. Fesch, uncle of the First Consul, leaving for him
a letter from Signor Masseria. And then to Mr. Perregueaux,
banker, with a letter from Mr. Coutts. In the evening I was
visited by my old friends, the Marchese and Marchesa
Lucchesini ; and then came in Cardinal Caprara and told me
the First Consul knew of my arrival and would probably
receive me in a day or two."
Monsignor Erskine used to say, in reference to his first inter-
view in Paris with the Cardinal Legate, that the moment he
saw him he recognised in Caprara a diplomatist whose entire
business was to say and unsay, so that little or nothing could
be concluded from his discourse. And he carried this system
to the most trifling matters. For example, when inviting
Erskine to dine with him whenever he pleased, he instantly
added that Erskine would have so many invitations that it
would not be worth his while to dine with him, but that Erskine
would do well to accept the other invitations. The characters
of Erskine and Caprara were entirely opposed, and there never
could be anything between them save relations of mere con-
venience. As a matter of fact Erskine never once in his diary
mentioned dining with Caprara, although he frequently met
him at dinners.
On the 20th of December, Erskine went to Mass at S. Roch,
which he thought "badly kept." He seemed surprised at some
customs in this church. "You take a chair from a woman who
keeps a quantity of them in a corner, and moves about collect-
ing a sou from each person. Then a man decked in a short
surplice with a hood shaped like a nautilus shell, and a purse
in his hand, collects the alms, preceded by a boy in uniform
Memoh's of Cardinal Erskine. i6i
like that of a hall porter, and with a staff similar to that of a
running footman, who tells the people in a rather loud tone of
voice to make room." After mass, Erskine paid visits to the
Prussian Minister, and to Mr. Jackson, the British Minister,
whom he had known in London, but both were out. He then
went and talked to Cardinal Caprara, and then, at Caprara's
suggestion, went to Cavalier Azara, the Spanish Minister. He
then returned home, put on his boots and took a walk. In the
evening he wrote letters to Cardinals Borgia and Gerdil, to tell
them of the sums he had left with Coutts to their credit on the
Propaganda accounts. Erskine now received a letter which
had arrived in London the very day he left that city. It was
a despatch from the office of the Secretary of State in Rome,
and was dated on the 12th of December 1801. It mentions the
dangerous condition of Cardinalde Zelada, who had a fresh attack
of erysipalis. It says : — "The French Government has granted
to Monsignor Spina the body of Pius VI., and Spina and Padre
Caselli are returning to Rome with their precious deposit. The
Holy Father enjoys good health and assists at all the Advent
chapels and functions. It seems the French troops will soon
evacuate the kingdom of Naples, passing by way of Fermo,
Loreto, Ancona and Pesaro. The march of 12,000 men cannot
but be severely felt by the Papal States in the present scarcity
of provisions and in the miserable condition of the Treasury.
On the completion of this march, Ancona will be evacuated."
. . . " No further news about the Congress of Lyons."
Monsignor Spina had left Paris a little before Erskine's
arrival, and had gone to Valence. On the night of the 33rd
of December, they disinterred the case containing the body of
Pius VI., which had alrcad}', by Bonaparte's order, been buried
in the public cemetery. On the loth of January, tiie body
was formally consigned to Spina, who caused it to be carried to
Marseilles on a car drawn by four horses.
The Pope gave earnest attention to the Congress of Lyons,
to which had been convoked all the Deputies of the cities of
1 62 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Lombardy and the Legations, and of other cities occupied by
the French troops in Italy. The constitution for the new
Repubh'c in Italy was to be shaped in this Congress, and it
was feared that danger to religion would result.
On the 2 1st of December, after mass at S. Valery, Erskine
went to Caprara, and made appointments with him for the
evening. He drew £\(Xi sterling from the banker Perregaux,
and bought a repeater from Lessine, the watchmaker, paying
for it 50 crowns. He then called on M. Talleyrand, Minister
of Foreign Affairs, who was not at his office, as the day was
the Decade, the Republican substitute for Sunday. He then
went home and had a long visit from the Russian Minister,
Count Marcost.
In the evening, as previously arranged with Caprara, "I
went " — relates Erskine in his diary — " to Cavalier Azara, who
has got old in body and spirit, and at his house met the
Princess Santa Croce, dressed in the extreme of the present
Paris fashion ; and the Cavalier Angiolini, formerly Tuscan
Minister ; and the Marchese Serristori, ambassador of the King
of Etruria and his wife lately arrived in Paris. From thence
Cardinal Caprara and I went to the house of Madame Grand,
where, at my first entrance, I was introduced to Minister
Talleyrand. Here were also the famous Prince of Nassau ; the
Count de Westfalen ; the Count de Cobentzel; the Princess di
Due Ponti, an old lady who played chess ; the Count of
Narbonne, whom I had met in Rome at Mesdame's ; the
Ligurian Envoy Frarega and Signor Sevra; M. Deere, Minister
of the Marine ; Signor Bouligni, formerly Spanish Minister at
Constantinople, from whence he was sent away at the request
of Paul I. and of England ; two brothers of Talleyrand, his
nephew and niece, and other ladies."
Of Talleyrand, Monsignor Erskine noted, but not in his Diary,
that " Chenier presented Talleyrand, who had to emigrate in
time of the Revolution, to the Convention, as a true Republican,
and so caused his return from exile."
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 163
And of Azara, the Spanish Minister, Erskine narrated as
follows : —
" Azara went to the Consul, Bonaparte, the same evening
that the Preliminaries of peace with Great Britain were signed,
and when Savary announced the Spanish Ambassador, Bona-
parte discharged at him all possible expletives, approaching
close to him with foam at his mouth."
On the same day, December 21, Erskine wrote to Cardinal
Consalvi, Secretary of State, giving an account of his journey
from London, and intimating his purpose of waiting in Paris
before resuming his journey to Rome, partly to avoid the
inclemency of the season and partly to see the publication of
the Concordat and add one to the cortege of the Cardinal
Legate on the day of that solemnity. Moreover, he wrote, " I
shall not be wholly useless as long as the correspondence with
the bishops in England continues." To this long letter is
added the following postscript: — "In giving an account to your
Eminence, in my letter of the 8th, of the result of the affair
with this Mr. P^egan, I forgot to enclose the note of Lord
Hervey, who is the intermediary link between my note and
memorandum, and the reply which was given viva voce. I
enclose meanwhile a copy with translation " into Italian. Lord
Hervey means the Earl of Bristol and Protestant bishop of
Derry, who was doubtless recommending some one for a vacant
Catholic see in Ireland.
On the 22nd of December, " I went " — proceeds Erskine —
" to visit, as advised by Caprara, the Ministers of War, Marine,
Justice, Finance, Interior, Police and National Treasury.
While I was out, M. Portalis, Prince Giustiniani, Cav. Angiolini,
Count de Cobentzcl, M. Krathoffer and M. Perregcaux called
on me. And when I returned, Mr. Jackson came and remained
some time. Card. Caprara with Monsignors Sala and Mazio
also called when I was out. One of the Vicars General of the
Archbishop of Aix, with M. Dc Boi.sgelin, one of the Arch-
bishop's nephews, came to tell me that Madame dc Grammont
164 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
desired to pay me a visit. I said I would go to her. This
morning the Minister Tallyrand left for Lyons.''
December 23. "I went to M. Portalis and afterwards to
the Cardinal Legate to inform him of the result of our confer-
ence. During my absence M. Fesch and General Berthier,
Minister of War, called. I wrote to London to the Archbishop
of Aix and to Bishop Douglas. I dined with the Prussian
Minister. Then I went home and M. De Boisgelin came, and
we went together to Madame Brunot, and at her house met
Madame de Grammont and her daughter, wife to one of the
nephews of the Archbishop of Aix." Monsignor Erskine, be-
fore leaving London, had been consulted by the Archbishop of
Aix and the other French prelates who obeyed the Pope and
resigned their sees, as to how they should behave in regard to
returning to France. Erskine had then advised them not to stir
from England until invited by the Pope himself, in order to
shew that no personal interest or inconsiderate love of country
had induced them to resign. They had followed this advice.
Now, however, that Erskine was in Paris and plainly saw the
good to be produced by their presence, he thought it his duty
to write to the Archbishop of Aix and invite him and the other
bishops who had resigned, to return to France as quickly as
they could. Erskine added that the Cardinal Legate was of
the same opinion. He did not of course introduce the name
of Portalis, the Minister of Worship, though his letter had been
agreed upon between Portalis and himself
Dec. 24. " The Abb6 O'Connor, Marchese Fonseca, and
Princess Santa Croce paid me visits. I wrote a note for M.
Portalis, and going to leave it with him, found him at home, and
went to see him. He was engaged with Abbe Bernier. I
afterwards left cards on Mr. Murphy and Mr. Parish who
had called on me." The Abbe Bernier now mentioned in
Erskine's diary, was Parish Priest of S. Laud d' Angers, and,
together with J oseph Bonaparte and Emanuel Cretet, Councillors
of State, was chosen to treat and conclude the Concordat in
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 165
Paris with Cardinal Consalvi, Monsignor Spina and Father
Casclh", who were nominated by the Pope for this office,
Bcrnicr took also part in the execution of the Concordat, and
finally was promoted to the liishopric of Orleans, where he
ended a career which once had a certain kind of celebrity.
Dec. 25. Monsignor Erskine went to Mass on Christmas
Day at the church of S. Valcry, and his diary contains a long
description of the ceremony of the " Pain Benit," which was
new to him. He was visited by Canon Welch and Abb(!'
Bernier, and had a card from the Finance Minister. He dined
with Cav. Azara, and met there Cardinal Caprara, Princess
Santa Croce, a Spanish lady and her husband, General Pardo,
the Secretary of Legation and others.
On the 26th of Dec, Monsignor Erskine, after Mass at S.
Valery, took a long walk and then received several visits. He
dined with Marchese Lucchesini and spent the evening with
Cav. Azara and met the Abbe Sabatier, one of those who
caused the re-union of the States General. Erskine notes in
his diary: — " In Paris they do nothing but dance, eat, go to
the theatre, and amuse themselves. Of politics one never
hears a word. When the epoch of the Terror was over, there
was a ball to which no one was admitted, who had not had
some near relative guillotined, or was not introduced by some
one who had, and this was called the Ball of the Victims. In
London, the ladies who emigrated went with the head and
neck a la Guillotine!'
" The Abbe Inncs, Superior of the Scotch College," writes
Erskine, " was with me on the 27th to consult on what steps
should be taken for recovering the property of the said College
formerly existing here. I advised him to draw up a memorial
to the Marquess Cornwallis and present it here to the British
Minister, Mr. Jackson. Principal Gordon is malcontent. All
the interesting Manuscripts, so valuable for the notices they
contained of the Stuart family, were sent by Abbe Innes to
Mr. Stapleton (now Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District),
1 66 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
then President of Douay College, to be sent to England. In
that moment the embargo was put on. Stapleton consequently
gave them (as he himself could not convey them) to the custody
of a trusty person in Douay itself. This person not long after
was arrested and thrown into prison ; and his wife, fearing that
these English papers, of the contents of which she knew
nothing, might prejudice her husband, burnt them all. Some
time previously ;^5,ooo sterling had been offered for a copy of
these Manuscripts."
M. Portalis came to see Erskine on the 28th of December, to
tell him that the First Consul would receive him privately, and
with pleasure, on any morning it might suit Cardinal Caprara
to bring him. And on the 29th, Caprara notified that he would
on the following day make the presentation. Erskine had in
writing asked M. Portalis to procure him this audience, which
he considered indispensable in consideration of the charge
sustained by him in England, and the part he took in executing
the Concordat. Erskine spent most of the 29th of December
with Lucchesini, visiting the Gobelin Tapestry Manufactory, of
which he entered a very long and minute account in his diary.
" This establishment," wrote Erskine, " was then emerging
from the misfortunes it suffered in the Revolution. Even in
the time of the Directory they one day promised protection
and the next day carried off the workmen to the wars. The
Director is M. Guillaumot, who, in 1750, took the first prize in
Rome for architecture. The maintenance of the factory costs
the Government 50,000 crowns per annum. Each workman
gets three francs and ten sous a day, besides a dwelling and a
small garden. The working hours are graduated according to
the season, as they only work by day light. All are men who
begin as boys, and it takes about twenty years to make a
perfect artist. General Berthier went one day to see this
manufactory, which before he thought was all done by
machinery. The Director told him of the time and trouble it
cost to train the pupils, and that six of them were at that
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 167
moment actually serving in the army. The General sent an
order for their return. The looms were at first placed
horizontally, and were irremovable until all the work was com-
pleted. Under the web was the design, and behind the
shoulders of the weaver the original was hung on the wall as at
present, the loom being between the weaver and the light.
They only work at one portion at a time, and the rest — already
made or to be made — was rolled up on two cylinders, as was
also the original : so that the workmen never saw an}-thing but
the reverse side, until all was finished. Subsequently the loom
was made moveable on two pivots, so as to turn and allow the
right side to be seen at pleasure of the weaver. Afterwards
they employed the foot loom, which was less inconvenient for
the workman, who was no longer obliged to stand bent, as over
the other looms, and moreover the design, which previously
was over a paper placed under the web, was now on the web
itself, thus rendering the execution more exact. The same
disadvantage remained, however, namely that of making the
work by pieces, and the originals suffered by being wound and
unwound as before. At present, in the gallery formerly set
apart for pictures of the French school, which are now removed
to Versailles, the present Director has erected a loom on which
tapestries of any size can be worked. For the height of the
room permits this, and thus the originals, of all dimensions, can
staud entirely displayed on the wall. At first they used silk
for the brighter tints, now they are beginning to use wool f ir
all the tints. Notwithstanding the invention of perpendicular
looms, they still continue to work occasionally on the horizontal.
What beauty! What delicacy in the gradations of the tints,
what vivacity of colouring, and what subtlety of work ! In the
Director's cabinet were two small tapestry pictures representing
vases with flowers, and the head and half bust of a boy. One
would swear they were paintings. There was also an oval
piece, with the head in profile of the First Consul, marvellously
imitating bronze. As regards the building, there is nothing
1 68 Memoirs of Cardinal Erski?ie.
grand about it, either within or without, nay it is less than
grand or handsome. The taste for exterior show is reserved
for Rome, where they employ in the appearance what might
be better employed in the substance."
Erskine thus describes his first interview with Bonaparte :
"On 30th of December, Cardinal Caprara came at 12 to bring
me to see the First Consul in the Tuileries in the apartment on
the first floor, the side of the Pavilion de Flore. At foot of the
staircase where we dismounted is a hall for servants : inside the
entrance door of the Palace were two Grenadiers, and two more
were stationed above before the door of the apartment, and
they presented arms to the Cardinal. On entering the apart-
ment is a saloon, where were servants of the First Consul,
dressed in grey liveries, with silver lace on the collars and on
the turnings of the cuffs. We passed on into an antechamber,
and found there the aide-du-camp, Lauriston (the same who
carried to London the Preliminaries of the Peace, and who is of
Scotch origin, and of the family of the famous Law, Minister of
Finance), who went in to announce us, and a moment afterwards
came out again, to make the Cardinal pass in. Some minutes
afterwards M. Portalis, Councillor of State and Minister of
Worship, came out to tell me to enter. In the midst of the
room and standing up was the First Consul in a blue coat
embroidered in gold, white waistcoat and pantaloons, half boots
with spurs, his hair without powder and negligently drawn on
to the forehead. His coat is always either blue or red, cut in
military fashion with small collar turned back, and double
breasts, which he keeps buttoned. His aspect is rather serious,
but tempered with sweetness : eye somewhat sunk — nose
aquiline — mouth small — complexion a pale dark. His face is
less long than as represented in portraits ; indeed, I have never
yet seen any portrait which gave a perfect likeness of him.
His stature is less than the mean, and, as it seemed to me, he
is lean by nature and by fatigue.
" The Cardinal Caprara remained also standing, and M.
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 169
Portalis was present. He [Bonaparte] received me gracefully,
and talked on various subjects, passing rapidly from one to
another, and after about a quarter of an hour made me a bow,
and I retired. Some moments afterwards the Cardinal and
M. Portalis came out, and at the foot of the staircase we
separated, and each of us went his own way. In the evening I
was introduced to the house of Madame de Montesson, step-
mother of Egalite, Duke of Orleans. There was good company
and in good number."
Elsewhere Erskine wrote of Bonaparte : — " He lets no one
at all into the secrets of his projects. He writes his own letters
and gives his orders directly to Generals, Ambassadors, etc.
Once a month he holds a Review, and afterwards a reception
of the Foreign Ministers, whom he invites the same day to
dinner. He goes to bed every night in the same bed with his
wife, and here he sometimes receives the couriers, and she is
obliged to hide herself under the sheets. . . . He was
once on the point of divorcing her. The horses were put to
the carriage that he might go to make his declaration at the
Municipality. He was just issuing from the palace. Barras
threw himself at his feet and calmed him." Bonaparte was
not very tender towards the members of the fallen Directory,
for " Barras lives in Brussels under surveillance ; Carnot in
Flanders, on very limited means ; Seyes remains eclipsed, and
lives in Paris ; Rcveillcre-Lepaux lives near the Jardin des
Plantes. This man was the real persecutor of Pius VI., in
order to found his religion of Theophilanthropists. The other
Directors yielded to his severities against the Pope, as he
refused on any other terms to assent to their measures."
Apropos of Pius VI., P^skine says that "General Burgoin, now
Minister in Sweden, who wrote a ' Report on Spain,' was the
author of the ' Life of Pius VI.' "
Erskine observes on the conduct of Bonaparte with his
Generals : — " The Generals who give him umbrage arc sent
away as Ambassadors. Massena was destined for Constanti-
1 1
170 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
nople, but was unwilling to go there. When he was recalled
from Italy, on the charge of pillaging, he withstood a fierce
attack from Bonaparte in the presence of many witnesses."
Regarding the jealousy and dissensions between General
Moreau and the First Consul, Erskine has several notes, and
writes : — " When news arrived in Paris of the decisive victory
gained by Moreau at Hohenlingen [on 2nd of December, 1800]
Madame Moreau went to congratulate Madame Bonaparte,
saying that from this point every ulterior obstacle would be
removed. She was received very coldly ; and a similarly cold
reception was given to General Moreau when he arrived."
Much discontent was felt, according to Erskine, by Catholics
and Sectarians, at the mode in which the re-establishment of
religion was carried out, and many of the Generals and officers
were disaffected towards Bonaparte. Among these was General
Moreau, " who has many friends, and lives retired in a house
near the Invalides, going often to the chase, but never to
parade. He said openly at a dinner-table, in the presence of
many persons, that if any one attempted to do violence to his
conscience, he would rise against it and would have many
followers." Erskine adds : — " When I was suppiug with Zalt,
one of the Mayors of Paris, he told me that the suburb of S.
Antoine and Moreau were ready to do again what they had
already done." Moreau was subsequently coudemned to two
years' imprisonment, for participation in a Royalist plot, but
was suffered to retire to America. In July 1813, he returned
to Europe on the invitation of the Allies, was wounded
mortally at the battle of Dresden, and died on ist of September
1813.
" Bonaparte," observed Erskine, " makes bishops as he makes
troops, and sends those of Brabant into Italy, and those of the
Romagna into Brabant, and sends Frenchmen into Piedmont,"
etc.
Monsignor Erskine, according to his diary, went on the 31st
of December, " to dejeuner at one o'clock to Madame Grand.
Memoirs of Cardinal Ersktne. 171
The company was limited," but included the Cardinal Lcc^ate
and several ambassadors. The refreshments were " tea, coffee,
chocolate, butter, Pan di Spagna, cold fowl and game." " M.
Portal, the most celebrated physician in Paris came in." The
same day Erskine dined with Mr. Jackson, the British Minister,
and met among others, " Lord William Bcntinck, son of the
Duke of Portland, arrived a few days ago from Egypt, where
he had been six months. He had previously made the cam-
paign [in Italy] of 1799 with General Suwarow. He confirmed
to me what Colonel Woronzow had told me about this General.
Lord William hates Egj'pt, where, according to him, all is bad
except its fertility. The English, moreover, never would have
been able to carry out the expedition [under Abercromb}-] had
General Menou made other dispositions." " Lord Colorain "
was at this party.
On the 1st of January, 1802, Erskine "went with Cardinal
Caprara to be introduced to Madame Bonaparte. She was
out. We left our names." On the same day Erskine received
via London, duplicate despatches from the Cardinal Secretary
of State, Consalvi, and thus replied : —
"Signor Cardinal, Secretary of State: From London have
been sent to me despatches of your Eminence, dated the 7th
and 14th of last November, and as the first of these needs no
answer, I pass on to the second. And here first of all I return
to your Eminence very many thanks for your kindness in
assuring mc that my conduct in London, in the affair of the
French bishops, has met with the benign approval of His
Holiness.
" As regards the package, of which your Eminence reminds
me, containing Briefs of the Pope and a letter in his own hand,
which in my letter of the 21st of last month, I told you that I
knew, at my arrival in Paris, had been sent to London by
Cardinal Caprara, in consequence of which, I wrote to the
Vicar Apostolic of that district, I now add that the day it
reached me, being sent back from London, and on the following
lyz JSIeinoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
day, the 23rd of December, I re-directed it to the said Vicar
Apostolic, enjoining him to distribute the letters without delay,
and give me an account of it. I cannot but admire the
paternal clemency of His Holiness in the style adopted in his
letter to the archbishop of Narbonne. I desire it will have effect,
but I don't know how to hope for it in the case of those who
have transformed an affair of Religion into an affair of
Chivalry, and are proud of it.
" By the same despatch I received the Pro-Mcmoria of the
Commissary of Antiquities on the attempt of this Banker,
Sloane, and the orders of your Eminence to get a sequestration
put, in name of His Holiness, on the monument so stealthily
carried off by the said person. Now, even had this order
reached me in time, yet I could not have executed it, nor could
the Ministry have helped me. For the laws of the country
prevent this — a country where once persons or things are
landed, they cannot be called on to give account of any crime
committed by them in foreign dominions, nor has the Ministry
the least arbitrary power. It is necessary to exercise all the
care in Rome, but on this topic I will not enlarge, and will
only repeat that which I had the honour to write to you some
time ago, and recently in reference to the affair of ]\Ir. Fegan,
namely, let your Eminence execute the laws rigorously, without
partiality, or exception of persons or Nations ; and, allow me
to add that the pecuniary penalty will be the best of all ; not,
however, left to the arbitrary will of the Judge, but fixed by
the law itself. As to the monument in question, I already
knew it was in London, and I marvelled when I reflected on
the little vigilance and fidelity of those persons on whom
depends the execution of the laws which prohibit clandestine
exportation of such things. The delinquency of such persons
should be most severely punished. I knew also that in London
nobody came forward to purchase the said monument, sculpture
being no longer in fashion, and paintings being more sought
after. So that diligence in respect to pictures ought to be re-
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskiiie.
'/o
doubled. It seems, then, to me that it would be much better
that Signor Conestabile should make an offer to Mr. Sloane to
redeem the said monument, at the price paid for it, or, if
necessary, at a higher price, he undertaking also the cost of the
return carriage which cannot be very much.
" Apropos of this Mr. Sloane, I had the honour to write to
your Eminence to say that I was informed there was some
thought of nominating him British Consul in Rome, and I said
I would write to know whether he would be approved of by
my Court. I now desire that your Eminence should write me
an answer to the effect that he is one of those persons who
give trouble to the Pontifical Government by aiding in trans-
gressions of the laws, and seeing that such is his conduct in a
private station, and thence inferring what might be expected
from him if invested with a public character, I should notify
to the British Government that he would not be agreeable to
the Pope, nor a help towards maintaining that good intelligence
which it is desirable to preserve between the British Govern-
ment and the Pope's. Your Eminence will know the proper
terms to adopt. I only venture to make the suggestion. I
also venture to say that there is in Rome one Mr. Moire,
a Scotchman, who lives near the Cavalletto, who seems well
adapted for the post. Your Eminence can procure information
about him, and if the result be satisfactory, you can write to
me, as if for my private instruction, that I may send your letter
just as sent to me, that is with the answer about Sloane and
the suggestion about Moire, to the Minister who spoke to me
in London about the said intended nomination to the Consulate.
I remain etc. Paris, ist Jan. 1802."
This Mr. Sloane or Sloan was Alexander, son of William
Sloane and Sara Macloun, of Glasgow diocese, born in 1754.
The Catholicity of his parents as well as his precise age was
uncertain, but he himself abjured the errors of Calvinism, and
was admitted at the age of 18 years into the Scots College,
Rome, on the 17th of May 1772. Of his own accord, and
174 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
without having taken any holy order, he left the College in
1774, and eventually became a Banker in Florence and Rome,
realizing a large fortune. He married Aloysa Hayes, and had
several children. One of his sons, Francis, built the Facade of
the church of Santa Croce, in Florence, and his name is thereon
inscribed in memory of his munificence. He died at Rome on
the 8th of November, 1S02, and was buried in the Scots College
with the following inscription : —
D. O. M.
Alexandro Sloane
scotorum hujus collegii alumno benemeritenti
Qui vixit annos L
OBIIT V IDUS NOVEMBRIS A.D. MDCCCH.
Aloysa Hayes uxor et filii moerentes
CONJUGI ET PaTRI OPTIMO
Hoc pietatis et grati animi
MONUMENTUM POSUERE.
The Earl and Countess of Mountcashel were now staying at
the same hotel as Monsignor Erskine, and some other English
people. On the 3d of January, Erskine went to Abbe Bernier
and gave him two cartouche boxes, which had been given by
the Grand Lama to Sir John Macpherson when he was
Governor General of India. One of these boxes contained
powder of gold, and the other had goat's hair scented with
musk. They were intended for a present to the wife of the
First Consul from Sir John, but Erskine thought they should
first be submitted to Bonaparte to decide whether the horrible
odour of musk could be adventured for presentation to Madame
Bonaparte. The cold was now intense, and the Seine had
overflowed. Erskine that day, the 3rd, dined with Madame
Laborde, whose circumstances were not so good as in former
days. He met at dinner General Ventimiglia, " who was in
the service of Naples in the famous expedition against the
French in Rome, and he met also Signer Lachene, a Pied-
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 175
montese gentleman, who, by his singing, got married in London
to an ugly rich woman, whom he treated, as was reported, very
badly. He sang with Madame Noaille, daughter of Madame
Laborde, who sings exceedingly well." News came of the
"death of [Visconti] the archbishop of Milan, suddenly, in the
arms of M. Talleyrand, at whose house he was at dinner — a
large party of 80 persons — on the 30th of December. An old
man of 82 years, he had travelled to Lyons in spite of the
severity of the weather." The next day, Erskine had a visit
from Canon Welch, " who was born in France of an English
family, and was made by Pius VL a Canon of the Vatican
Basilica, so that he used to boast of having three nationalities
at the same time — Engli.-^h, French, and Roman. He was now
attached without special title to the Legation of Cardinal
Caprara.
Erskine, on the 5th of January, met with a disappointment.
The Abbe Bernier was to have called for him at 1 1 to bring
him to the parade at the Tuileries, but broke his promise and
sent an excuse at half-past 11. Consequently he went alone
and was late, and, although furnished with a ticket from
General Duroc, could hardly get in, and got such a bad place
that he could see nothing. He went afterwards to the church
of the Carmine, celebrated for the massacre of three bishops
and over two hundred priests, on the 2nd of September, 1792.
"Every 15th of the Republican month," writes Erskine, "the
First Consul holds a review or parade, and afterwards receives
the Foreign Mini.sters in public, standing in the middle of the
audience chamber, between the two other Consuls, with a crowd
about him of Generals, who pay court to him. On these occa-
sions he receives also the credentials of any new Foreign
Minister. The new Minister steps from out the diplomatic
circle, and presents his credentials to the First Consul, who at
once passes them on to his Secretary of State, and the affair is
over. This morning this function was performed by Mr.
Jackson, the British Minister. The First Consul then, leaving
176 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskiiie.
the other two Consuls erect on their feet at their posts,
advances a few paces to talk briefly with each of the Foreign
Ministers, who then present their countrymen. The Foreign
Ministers — and sometimes some of those presented — are then
invited to dinner. At the dinner are present Madame Bona-
parte, the three Consuls, the Generals, ambassadors, officials of
State, and those soldiers, who at the parade had received the
distinction of valour — the musket, sabre, or other gift. And to
these the First Consul, in the course of the dinner, ^ays especial
attention. Generally the First Consul and Madame Bonaparte
sit at the middle of the table at opposite sides. The First
Consul sits between the Presidents of the Consulate and of the
Corps Legislatif, and Madame Bonaparte sits between the two
other Consuls. The Foreign Ministers are shewn to their
proper seats by a chamberlain. The rest of the guests take
places where they can. There is only one hot course, and
desert. The dinner is quickly over. All agree that Bonaparte
has no passion for the table, nor for women, gambling or
hunting. It is only the passion for glory which fills his mind."
"Yesterday evening after 11, Cardinal Caprara privately
married, in the rooms of the First Consul, Louis, brother to the
First Consul, and Madamoiselle Beauharnais, daughter of
Madame Bonaparte, and General Murat and the younger
sister of the First Consul. The last couple had been married
some time previously with the civil forms only." At this
nuptial benediction were present, " besides two or three other
persons, Bonaparte himself, his wife, his mother, his uncle, his
brother next to him in age, and his elder sister with her
husband, and his third brother. For the last couple the cere-
mony was convenie7it. A temporary altar had been erected."
The First Consul left Paris on the night of the 8th of
January, 1802, for Lyons, attended by a splendid company,
and he was shortly nominated by the Congress to be the
President of the new Cisalpine Republic. " Bonaparte had a
fixed desire for this nomination, but at first did not wish to
Memoirs of Cardhial Erskine. 177
say so. The Congress did not, or would not, understand his
hints. Different proposals were made, and Bonaparte got into
a fury. At last he unbosomed himself to Melzi [Count Fran-
cesco Melzi, the Vice-President] and Marescalchi [Count
Ferdinand Marescalchi, Minister of the Republic], who exerted
themselves in his behalf, and the affair was settled to his
satisfaction."
Erskine, on the 12th of January, paid a "visit by appointment
to the Second Consul, Cambaccres [afterwards Duke of Parma],
and was well received. There were several persons in the
antechamber. Immediately when I was announced, I was
introduced to the Consul, with whom were a General, four or
five other persons, and M. Portalis. The Consul kept me about
half an hour in conversation, such as is customary on such
occasions, asking whether I had had a good passage to Calais,
if I was going to make any stay, if I had been ever before in
France, if the climate suited me, if I had begun to see the
sights of Paris, if I had found acquaintances, and so on." On
the 14th, Erskine paid a visit to the Third Consul, Le Brun
[afterwards Duke of Placentia], and dined with Cambaccres.
Almost all the Ambassadors and Ministers were present.
" The dinner was magnificent and excellent, served in the best
manner: exquisite ices, coffee and liqueurs." The same evening
Erskine went with Lord and Lady Mountcashcl to a party
given by Mr. Smith, a rich American, and met there Madame
Stliel, " Lady Caycr," and a host of notables. Cambact'rcs
always had a reputation for loving a good dinner. " In a
Council of State, after a long sitting protracted to 7 p.m., two
plans were proposed about cod-fishing. One plan, proposed
by Admiral Brueys, was adopted, and contained thirty-three
articles. Bonaparte said : " Let us proceed now to the dis-
cussion of the articles. What — exclaimed Cambaccres — the
articles — and when shall we dine! It is now seven o'clock !
Bonaparte took a violent fit of laughing which alarmed
Cambaccres, and the sitting broke up. Bonaparte, as far as he
178 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
was concerned, would have sat till morning without thinking of
dinner or anything else. He is indefatigable, and works fifteen
hours a day."
Among the persons now met in society by Erskine, was the
Minister of the Treasury, Marbe Marbois, one of those who
returned from transportation in Guiana. — The Calvinist Haller,
the French Commissary, who went to Pius VI. on the 15th of
February, 1798, to announce the establishment that day of the
Republic, and that the Pope's reign was over, and who on the
17th February brutally compelled the Pope to give up the
rings off his fingers and surrender the Vatican treasures, —
Baron Denon, who accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, and
published a most valuable account of his travels, — Madame
Neckar, — General Marmont [Marshal and Duke of Ragusa],
noted by Erskine as " a young man of very obliging manners,
married to a daughter of Perregeaux the Banker, — " M. De
Burk, of Irish origin, who was Danish Minister at Stockholm,
and thence passed in the same quality to Spain," — Barthelemy,
" formerly Minister in England, afterwards in Switzerland when
the Revolution was formed there, author of the treaty of peace
with Prussia and Spain, afterwards member of the Directory
and exiled to Guiana. He is tall, pale, and of prepossessing
aspect, and by his discourse one would believe that he dis-
approved of Revolution. In London he left various opinions
about him. Mallet du Pin says that in the Swiss Revolution
he had no bounds. His banishment to Guiana after the 18
Fructidor of the year 8 is in his favour."
Erskine dined once (January 28), " with Marbe Marbois, and
met Barthelemy, two priests, and another person, lately returned
from Guiana, to which place they had been transported after
the affair of 18 Fructidor. Thus there were at table five who
had experienced the same lot. The whole way from Paris to
their embarcation they were transported in a cage with iron
bars, and at sea they were treated as slaves and fed on putrid
fish and biscuits rotten with weevils. At Guiana, where the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 179
Governor is Victor Hughes, noted for his horrible wickedness
in Guadaloupe, these five, with others to the number of 300,
were dispersed here and there. A few had something of their
own and fared less badly, and others found a benevolent
receiver and were fairly well treated. But others, and that by
far the greater number, were crowded together and were very
badly off. The air is the worst possible. There is only one
village, called Guiana, on the sea-side, and containing about
400 inhabitants. The country has here and there dwellings, or
rather huts, for Europeans. There are some wandering tribes
of natives, formerly instructed by the Jesuits, who are peace-
able, and as far as concerns the baptizing of their children, are
Christians. The soil is most fertile, but uncultivated. Excellent
coffee is produced."
Miss Helen Maria Williams, an authoress who favoured the
doctrines of the Girondists, attracted the notice of Erskine at a
party given by Lady Mountcashel, and is thus described in his
diary : — " One lady was all in black, with spangles of jet and
silver, with a veil in same style, covering all one side of her
face and descending from her head upon her arms ; and as she
excited my curiosity by the singularity of her dress, I found
her to be Miss Williams, who has published many little books
on the French Revolution — works similar to her attire."
On the 31st of January, "about 6| P.M., the cannons
announced the return of the First Consul from Lyons, and I
went to welcome back M. Talleyrand. The emigrants who
have returned, seem resolved to get themselves into trouble.
They wont associate with the others, and have adopted a
coccard in which the national colours, except the blue, can be
hardly distinguished. It is said they talk indiscreetly, and do
not treat with civility the members of the Government when
they meet them in society. It is certain that the Government
has given them to know that it is not content with them."
On the 2nd of February, the son of Consul Le Brun left
Paris for Rome to carry the demand of the First Consul for
i8o Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
the archbishopric of Milan for Cardinal Caprara, and this
request was acceded to.
On the 4th of February, Erskine " saw the review or parade
at the Tuileries from the windows of Maret, Secretary of State,"
and was highly delighted with the magnificent spectacle. "The
parade is really well worth seeing. Prussians, Austrians, and
Russians, all are enchanted by it. The Consular Guard is
surprising. What splendid men, what precision and facility of
movements ! The uniforms of the soldiers are simple, but
elegant and commodious, while those of the Generals and
heads of battalions and squadrons are rich with gold em.broidery
and in exquisite taste. There were Grenadiers on foot and on
horseback, Fusiliers, Chasseurs, Pioneers and Horse Artillery
with six pieces of cannon. Bonaparte — on a beautiful white
horse, in midst of Generals and Aides-du-camp — was dressed
in the uniform of the Consular Guard, i.e., blue coat, white vest
and breeches, with half boots and hat without plume, and
passed along the front and then through the lines of infantry
and cavalry. Afterwards he stopped at the left wing, and all
the troops filed past him." "When 1 returned to my hotel at
4 P.M., I found an orderly had come with a letter from one of
the Prefects of the Palace, inviting me to dine with the First
Consul." Erskine, of course, accepted this invitation, and thus
describes the dinner : —
" In the first room were servants and Grenadiers at the
doors, as well as on the stairs and at the Palace entrance : in
the second room a numerous guard of Grenadiers : in the third
the military band : in the fourth, which is very large, were
Generals, State Officials of all kinds. Foreign Ministers and
distinguished strangers just presented. I was the sole and
only person in ecclesiastical habit, and I had been invited
without previous presentation in public audience. There were
arm-chairs at either side of the chimney piece, which was
opposite the entrance door, and a line of stools removed from
the walls on the side opposite the windows, and to the right of
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 181
the entrance door. Four ladies came, the wives of members
of the administration. After some time Madame Bonaparte
with her daughter, wife to Louis Bonaparte, and Madame
Murat. This last lady sat down on a fauteuil between the
door and the mantelpiece. On the other side of the chimney-
piece sat Madame Bonaparte, and next to her was another
lady. Next came Madame Louis and then the three other
ladies. I was presented to Madame Bonaparte by a Prefect of
the Palace. After some time the Minister of State came in by
the same door, then, after brief interval, the Second and Third
Consuls, and finally the First Consul, who went to compliment
the ladies, and afterwards put himself with his back to the fire-
place. Shortly the door was again opened, and the announce-
ment was made, Madame est servie. Thereupon the Second
Consul took the hand of Madame Bonaparte and they walked
on, the First Consul following by himself Then the ladies
followed, and then all the rest without order and as best they
could. It was fully half-past six when we entered the Gallery
and found a long table for about two hundred persons. In the
middle sat the First Consul, with the President of the Corps
Legislatif on one side and the President of the Tribunate on
the other. Madame Bonaparte was opposite her husband and
between the two Consuls. Then the other ladies, Generals,
Ambassadors, High Officers of State, etc., took their places.
Then all the others took places at hap-hazard and with(jut
distinction.
" I found m)-sclf not far from the middle, between Marbois,
Minister of the Treasur)-, and General Morticr, Commandant
of the Paris Military Division. But one hot course, followed
by desert, all excellent and well served. At half past .seven
we had already left the table and gone to the next room for
coffee. The company was now dispersed between the coffee-
room and that in which we had been assembled before dinner.
In the latter was the First Consul, the centre of a group. I
placed myself at a little distance towards the door. Bonaparte
1 82 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
saw me, and soon moved towards me and spoke to me very
courteously, saying he had doubted whether I had already left
Paris. He then discussed my appointment to the Cardinalate,
my relations in Scotland, how I came to be a Catholic, and to
be born in Rome, and lastly he asked the age of the Cardinal
Duke of York. He then, after a few words with the Ministers
of Denmark and Russia, turned into the other room where the
rest of the company was."
On the 14th of February, Erskine received a visit from
Eugene Montmorency (second son of the Duke de Lavalle)
and his sposa, Mademoiselle de Bethune ; and in the evening
he went to a splendid conversazione, given by Madame de
Montesson. Madame Bonaparte, and her daughter, wife to
Joseph Bonaparte, were present. Madame Bonaparte wore a
magnificent dress, " with two rows of stupendous pearls falling
on her breast." Madame Visconti had superb diamonds and a
"golden cord round her waist, a long piece of which hung
down at one side, with here and there olive-shaped buttons,
which were made to open. Each button contained a different
scent." Count Marcost was covered with diamonds. He had
been offered 204,000 lire for one hat ornament, given him by
the French Government. There was also a ball and supper,
for which Erskine did not remain.
Peace was concluded at Amiens on the 25th of March, 1802,
and was celebrated in Paris on the 26th by discharges of cannon
from the Invalides and the Tuileries, with illuminations in the
evening. Erskine walked out to observe the effect on the
people, and writes that the pronouncement of peace produced
" nothing. They tell me it is always so."
" lu Amiens the conclusion was very similar to the prelimin-
aries. England proposed to recognise the King of Etruria and
the Italian Republic, on condition that the King of Sardinia
should be restored : and insisted, similarly, on the restitution
of the Legations to the Pope. France insisted on maintaining
a number — no matter how small — of troops in the States of
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 183
Naples and the Pope. Kvcry day a new pretension was
advanced under a new shape. Enj^land did not profit by the
situation of the fleet in their power at S. Domingo. Lord
Cornwallis was identified with Joseph Bonaparte. It is said
they had a project to open the navigation of the Black Sea,
and that on this condition France would not oppose the views
of Britain and Russia upon Turkey."
"The Concordat was submitted on the 5th of April to the
Legislature by M. Portalis, Minister of Worship, who also
proposed the organic laws for Catholic and Protestant worship.
He spoke two and a half hours. The propositions passed in
the affirmative, and the discussion was remitted to the
Tribunate ; and on the 7th the Tribunate passed them b)- 'j'i
votes against 7. Simeon spoke, and the President was Girardin.
On the 8th, the resolutions of the Tribunate were brought to
the Corps L^gislatif. The hall was thronged, and the galleries
were crowded by spectators, men and women. The Deputies
of the Tribunate, Simeon, Lucien Bonaparte, and Jocourt,
entered the hall at 2 P.M. Lucien Bonaparte spoke ; and
afterwards Jocourt, a Protestant, made a brief speech upon the
regulations fixed for the Protestants. The Government orators
did not ask to speak. The voting was 228 for and 21 against
the measure. In the hall the result caused a sensible feeling
manifested by sneers, laughter, and disgust. The Convention
or Concordat and the organization were now become law, and
so the President, Marcorelle, proclaimed."
" The next day, the 9th, Cardinal Caprara, Legate a latere,
paid his first public visit to the Government. He left his house,
Rue Plumet, Hotel de Montmorin, about half-past one. The
carriages of the three Consuls came to fetch him, which with
his own made ten carriages. One carriage led the way with
Cross-bearer and Chaplain and the Cross inside ; and a detach-
ment of gendarmes, trum[)eter, and officers at the head. The
carriage of the First Consul came next, containing the Legate,
myself, and a Prefect of the Palace, with mounted officers
184 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
riding beside the windows, and at the back of the carriage.
Then came the carriages of the second and third Consuls, and
of the Cardinal, all containing the suite. Gendarmes on every
side, and lastly another detachment of gendarmes followed by
two detachments of dragoons, each a hundred in number.
" The route was by the Boulevards des Invalides, Rue
Crenelle, the Palace of the Corps Lcgislatif {plim Bourbon), the
Bridge and Quay of the Revolution and the Grand Carrousel,
to the great gate of the Tuileries. The Legate, on arrival,
found the Cross-bearer already standing with the Cross raised.
At the entrance and along the staircase were Grenadiers and
officers lining the way and presenting arms. The Cross pre-
ceded as far as the door of the Council chamber on the first
landing, and the Legate passed to the second landing place,
with the same Prefect of the Palace ever on his left. At the
outer door of the apartment, a General met the Legate, and
there was still the same accompaniment of grenadiers, present-
ing arms, with beating of tambours. The Legate was met at
the second door by General Duroc, Commandant of the Palace,
and at the third by the Prefect of the Palace on duty. The
fourth door was shut. The Prefect passed in through it and
closed it behind him. Then on a sudden the door was thrown
wide open, and we entered the audience chamber.
"At the end of this chamber were three chairs with four
aidcs-du-camp behind them, and the three Consuls stood in
front. At the sides stood the Ministers of State, Prefects and
Councillors. On the entrance of the Legate, the First Consul
advanced to the middle of the room to meet him. Here the
Legate interchanged compliments in French with the First
Consul. Then a chair was brought and placed opposite to the
chairs of the Consuls, but no one sat down. Then the Legate
read in Latin a formula of oath, the reading of which had all
the air of a surprise. In fact, half-an-hour before the Legate
left his house, Portalis went to him on this subject — although
the Legate had told me that an agreement had been made that
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 1S5
no oath was to be read. Portalis brought a formula which the
Legate could not approve. Portalis then departed, but returned
at the very moment when the Legate should have mounted his
carriage, and Portalis and the Legate were together some
minutes in private.
"After the reading of the oath, the First Consul talked with
the Legate on common matters, and asked the names of those
with him. He asked me after my health. He then asked the
Legate if he had brought Theologians. The Legate pointed
out one Theologian whom the First Consul addressed, telling
him to hold fast to sound doctrine and the true spirit of the
Gospel, which meant peace and charity. To this the Theo-
logian replied, ' Maxima Sana!
Those accompanying Cardinal Caprara, and by him presented
in this public audience, were : — Monsignor Erskine, Uditore
S.S.; Monsignor Sala, Secretary of Legation, and Signor Mazio,
Canonist ; Signor Welch, Canon of S. Peter's, and Maestro
di Camera to Caprara; Abbe Valdorini, private Secretary;
Messieurs Jarry, Le Surre, and Lecotte, the French Secretaries ;
Abbe Ducci, Secretary for Pxclesiastical Affairs; and the Abbe
Rubbi, Theologian.
" The Legate then went to see Madame Bonaparte, who was
sitting in a room and was near the fireplace. They rose when
the Legate entered and when he left. They sat and talked
some time. The seat of the Legate was half turned to the
side of that of Madame. The procession on returning from
the Palace and the route were the same as in coming."
On the nth of April, Erskine wrote in his diary: — "This
morning the Cardinal Legate went with the usual cortege
(myself excepted) to Notre Dame, where he consecrated the
Abbe Cambaceres, archbishop nominate of Rouen ; the Abbe
Bernier, bishop nominate of Orleans ; and Abbe Pancemont,
parish priest of S. Sulpicc, bishop nominate of Vannes ; and he
installed the archbishop of Paris, Relloy, formerly bishop of
Marseilles." This is the last entry in Erskine's diary.
12
1 86 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Monsignor Erskine, when keeping this diary, by no means
confined himself to notices of breakfasts, dinners, and visits to
and from great men, and pubh'c functions and receptions. On
the contrary, his longest entries are descriptions of the principal
churches and establishments in Paris, the catacombs. Botanical
and Zoological Gardens, manufactories, etc. His remarks on
scientific subjects were verj' minute, and he filled some pages
with a detailed account of a watch with a new escapement.
But although he discontinued his diary, he did not omit to
make occasional notes on persons and things.
On Easter day, April i8, the same year, 1802, the Legate, to
solemnize the Concordat, celebrated High Mass at Notre Dame
with great pomp, in presence of all the great dignitaries, civil
and military. After the gospel, the new bishops took the
oaths, according to the stipulations of the Concordat. The
day was kept as a public festival by order of the Government.
But many persons were by no means contented with the terms
of the Concordat. On the day of the celebration in Notre
Dame, Erskine says that " Augereau, Macdonald, Massena
and Bernadotte, retired to the end of the church during the
sermon, and talked to each other with manifest signs of
displeasure." And " on the day of the publication of the Con-
cordat many military men at the Bureau of War made such a
rumpus, that several of the clerks took their hats and went
away."
Even before Easter Day, when the Concordat was celebrated,
dissensions had arisen between the French Government and
Rome about the appointment of bishops. The Pope required
a satisfactory retractation from the "Constitutional" bishops be-
fore giving them institution to the new sees under the Concordat.
The terms of this retractation were difficult to settle. Erskine
says that, "On the evening of the 15th April, every negotiation
was nearly broken off. Portalis had a violent altercation with
the Legate, during which he insulted the Legate to his face
and abused the Pope. The subject of this quarrel was a letter
Memoir s of Cardinal Erskine. 187
which was to be .signed by Rich, a 'Constitutional,' nonninated
to a see by the First Consul. The Legate was under the im-
pression that he would have to depart, and therefore gave the
necessary order to destroy the Papers. The following morning
Bernier came. Another letter was drawn up, and more than
this, the bishops were to make a private retractation to be united
to the latter, and then the Profession of Faith might be con-
sidered to be satisfactory."
Erskine says that "Camus [Armand Gaston] is the man who
directs Portalis." Camus was a chief promoter of the Civil
Constitution of the Clergy ; and Portalis, b>- the Organic laws,
endeavoured, as far as possible, to replace in vigour the " Con-
stitution " under the cloak of the Concordat. " From all the
Departments," wrote Erskine, " came declarations that the
Constitiitionals were not wanted as bishops." The Second and
Third Consuls and some members of the Tribunate were
" against the adoption of the Constitutiojials." And finally,
" The Legate little by little is reduced to humiliation and to
nullity."
That the Legate was himself somewhat to blame, is shewn
in a memorandum written by Erskine, with the heading : —
''False steps of the Legate, ist. In the Bulls for bishops, a re-
tractation and satisfaction were required from the Constitutionals.
The French demand the omission of this, and the Cardinal
Legate consents. 2nd. The Government sends a note to the
Legate, and asks him to forward it to the Pope. The note
was to ask the Pope's consent to the nomination of some Con-
stitutional bishops. The Legate refused to send it on, and tells
the Government to send it themselves. And so they did. The
Legate sent no notice in advance to Rome, and sent his
despatches by the courier of the Government. 3rd. The Legate
declared that he could not give institution to the Constitutional
bishops elect, without their declaration that they were adherents
to the Holy See ; would accept all the decrees against the
Civil Constitution of the Clergy ; and would be submissive and
1 88 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
obedient to the Pope. They were to sign a letter to that effect.
On Good Friday (xA.pril i6) they refused to do this. Another
letter in general terms was proposed. The Legate consents
that they should make a declaration and retractation in the
presence of Bernier and another bishop, and receive the ab-
solution. 4th. The declarations were made and Bernier alone
bore witness to them. The Constitutionals denied that they
ever made these declarations and were not publicly contradicted
by the Legate."
" As it was known that the Constitutional bishops denied
having made any verbal retractation before Bernier,it was judged
necessary that they should append their signatures to their own
proper retractations. Portalis after some difficulty consented to
this course. A formula for this purpose was sent by the Legate
to each bishop on the 7th of June, the day after Pentecost. The
First Consul sent to summon the Legate, and another messenger,
an hour later, notified the Legate to bring Sala with him. They
found Bonaparte furious. He said the Legate was a perjurer
for having written a circular to the bishops without previous
communication to the Government. He told Sala that the
Court of Rome had sent Seminary boys to cross with subter-
fuges the operations of the Government. Several times he rose
fiom his seat and went towards him as if to beat him. He
broke a vase in his rage. He said the Constitutionals had the
merit of having preserved Religion, and that they could not
make any retractation. The Legate hardly spoke a word. Sala
made some little answer. Then Bonaparte asked the Legate
if he had anything to say on the part of His Holiness, and en-
quired after the Pope's health. The Legate replied that the
Pope was ill and suffered from weakness of the head, and re-
collected with difficulty. Bonaparte turned again to Sala and
said : — This means that the Pope wants a modification of the
organic laws, and I cannot see why these laws should displease
His Holiness as they were made to protect Religion, which in
this respect will be under the intiuence of the Civil power."
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 189
Monsignor Erskine had intended to leave Paris after the
functions of Easter Day, but was detained waiting for a farewell
audience of the First Consul. This was the reason assigned
by him in a letter to Cardinal Consalvi, dated the 8th of Ma)-.
Again, on the 25th of June, he was still expecting his audience.
He at last got one, but on what day is not stated. According
to Moroni, Bonaparte told Erskine, on his taking leave, that
"he would be happy to do him a service, for he esteemed him
highly."
Finally, after a sojourn of eight months and a half, Erskine
left Paris on the 29th of August, 1802, at 4.30 A.M. He
travelled in his good English carriage, and by easy stages. On
the 2nd of September he reached L}-ons, stopping in the Hotel
d' Europe, and remained there four days. He writes of
Lyons : — " The number of inhabitants is diminished by one
third. There are not 80,000 at present. The looms before the
Revolution were 14,000 : two years ago they were reduced to
6,000, and now are 9,000. . . . The churches were despoiled
and half ruined as at Paris. Five churches are in the hands of
"Constitutionals" — Jansenism has made strides here."
On 6th of September he set out for Turin, where he arrived
on the 1 2th, and lodged in the Albergo Nazionale, thus spend-
ing six days in his second stage. The passage of Mont Cenis
must have taken- up some time. He was charmed by the
views. " On Mont Cenis were planted Crosses, and General
Jourdan [Marshal and Peer of France], caused the arm of one
to be cut off." Leaving Turin on the 13th, he reached Milan
on the 15th, and stayed there two days. He gave up the
post horses, and bargained with a vetturino to take himself and
carriage to P^lorence in si.x days. He went b)' Lodi, Piaccnza,
Fiorenzuola, Parma, Reggio, and Modena to Bologna, where he
stopped to visit Don Gregorio Ciiiaramonli, the Pope's brother,
and he arrived in Florence within the time agreed on with the
vetturino, on the 22nd September.
In Florence he remained some days, and met many friends,
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
notably the Princess Corsini and her son Don Neri, and Don
Orazio Borghese, and met also some English travellers, among
whom was Lady Cooper. From Florence he went with post
horses to Siena, which city he had not seen before, and where
he was charmed with the Cathedral. Going on by Radicofani,
he arrived at Viterbo in the end of September.
At Viterbo, Monsignor Erskine received a surprise, which
was by no means agreeable. He there found a person awaiting
him, commissioned by Consalvi, Secretary of State, to give him
notice, that as he was soon, in the very next consistory, to be
published a Cardinal, and as already Monsignor Lacchini had
for eighteen months performed the duties of Pro-Uditore, it
was thought opportune for the despatch of public affairs, that
the discharge of the Auditor's business should be continued by
the said Lacchini, while to Erskine would remain merely the
title and honour of Auditor, and the usual residence in the
Quirinal or Vatican palace.
It may well be imagined what effect such unexpected news
must have produced on the vivacious temperament of Erskine.
He must have considered it the highest honour to discharge
the duties, were it but for a few days, of an office which in his
absence from Rome, had been conferred on him by two Popes,
and therefore he regarded as most injurious to himself this
hindrance now opposed to him. The first resolution which he
took in the burning heat of his resentment, was to stop in
Viterbo and there await his promotion to the Cardinalate. But
when his effervescence had calmed down, and he had considered
the matter in reference to public opinion, which he knew
would be in his favour, he determined on continuing his
journey to Rome. He was, however, so painfully affected by
this severe blow that for the rest of his life the remembrance of
it always revived his sense of the injustice done to him. He
used to add that by this blow were scattered to the winds all
the magnanimous intentions of Pius VI., who had ordered the
fees of the Auditorship to be funded and placed in deposit to
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc. 191
meet Erskinc's expenses when he should be proclaimed a
Cardinal. Erskinc took this misfortune as a manifest sign that
under Consalvi, he would never, even though he were a
Cardinal, be promoted to any of the great offices of State, nor
be called on to take part in the grand affairs of the Papacy,
internal or foreign. Nor was he far wrong in his anticipations.
Erskine reached Rome on the ist of October, 1802, and the
Roman Diario of the 4th, announced his arrival, giving him
the title — as was due to him — of Uditore SS. The Pope gave
him audience ver}- soon, and received him with his usual kind-
ness, giving him many signs of his particular esteem. He even
took him in his carriage, along with the Majordomo, Monsignor
Gavotti, on the occasion of his visit to Castel Gandolfo, on the
1 8th of October.
On his part, Monsignor Erskine was anxious to give His
Holiness a token of his filial attachment, and he presented
him with a case, expressly brought from London, containing
eye-glasses and spectacles of all kinds, with a set of lenses
graduated to every kind of sight, the whole being mounted in
gold and of exquisite workmanship. His Holiness was much
pleased with this valuable present, which he greatly admired,
although he had no personal occasion for it, his eyesight being
good. The Pope subsequently, about 1808, gave it to Lucien
Bonaparte, who made constant use of the glasses, and was in
the habit of exhibiting the case and its contents to his visitors,
as a gift from I lis Holiness, of luiglish and very precious
workmanship.
Monsignor Erskine was now residing in the Auditor's apart-
ment, in the Ouirinal palace, which I'ius VH. had chosen for
his habitation this )-ear. It was now suggested that this
apartment should be given to some one else, as the Vice-
.\uditor preferred, even after becoming .Auditor, to occupy his
old rooms in the Spada palace in the Corso, a situation more
convenient for his legal business. It distressed Erskinc to find
these indelicate attempts to anticijiate his departure. The
192 Memoirs of Cardinal Erski?ie.
coolness towards him displayed by Cardinal Consalvi was also
annoying. It was the custom for papal nuncios or envoys on
returning to Rome, to give to the Secretary of State a verbal
and confidential account of their mission. When Erskine
discharged this duty, Consalvi gave little attention and evinced
no anxiety for information. Erskine failed not to shew his
disgust at this apathy exhibited by Consalvi to the affairs of
England, and told the Pope that his Secretary of State did not
even condescend to ask him about the weather in London.
Much of this strange behaviour of Consalvi may be explained
by the fact that French influence was rapidly becoming ascen-
dant in Rome. Bonaparte no longer intended to observe the
Treaty of Amiens. And owing to the circumstances of Italy
and the position of the Pontifical States, the Roman policy was
almost entirely, and of necessity, the policy of the French.
Monsignor Erskine, though born in Rome, yet by his nation-
ality and temperament, and by his inclination reinforced by
his many j-ears of residence in Great Britain, was, and was
considered an Englishman. He could not therefore figure
prominently in the Roman go\ernment without hurting the
susceptibilities of PVance which, in spite of the Peace of Amiens
— soon broken — maintained always a national antipathy to
England. On the other hand, Pius VII. recognized in Erskine
a man of high genius and experience in business, and did not
omit to consult him in various matters, especially in such as
related to the internal administration of the Papal government.
On one occasion during an audience with the Pope, the con-
versation fell on the subject of various administrative disorders
and irregularities. The tenants of the lands of the Camera
Apostolica had got into the habit of offering for long leases
of these lands such sums as rent, that the other competitors
were driven away. But after getting into possession, they im-
portunately demanded reductions of rent, which they managed
to obtain by persistent applications and by pathetic representa-
tions of the harshness of the terms of the contracts into which
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 193
they had inconsiderately — as they pretended — entered. The
abatements, sometimes exceeding all fairness, proved detri-
mental to the Papal treasury. The Pope asked Krskinc for his
opinion as to the best way to put a stop to this abuse, which
had long become habitual. Erskine replied promptly, that he
had ready two distinct plans, one, which he knew beforehand
would not commend itself to the Pope's kind heart, and another
which possibly might please him. The first plan was, that as
these abatements were very common, inasmuch as every tenant
counted on them as a certainty, it was necessary to make an
example which would stop these irregularities once for all ;
and he proposed on the next appeal for abatement, to refuse
it, and exact the entire payment by seizing the securities taken
by the Government for due execution of the contract, and to
do this without regard to the consequences of such a proceed-
ing to the tenant. The tenant ought to know his own business
and to calculate his own interest: nothing was concealed fri^n
him in his preliminary investigations, and the offers of rival
competitors shewed him the true value of the lands. But he
wished to triumph over the other competitors and to cheat the
Government. Let him pay the penalty. One such example
would suffice to prevent recurrence of similar disorders. The
Pope at once shewed repugnance to this proposal, and then
Erskine set forth his second plan in which would be found the
mercy so dear to His Holiness.
This second plan was to accord a carefully calculated abate-
ment to the tenant, and to admit that the tenant's mistake in
concluding the contract arose from unforeseen circumstances.
But the abiitement was to be onl)- fur the past }'cars, and from
the date of the concession the contract was lu be considered
as rescinded and null, and a fresh letting was to be held with
observance of greater regularity. This second plan pleased th.e
Pope and was approved b}- him, but was never put into execu-
tion, in consequence, probably, of the opposition of those whose
duty it was to carry it out. The tenants continued to obtain
194 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
enormous abatements and to enjoy long leases to the immediate
loss of the Treasury and consequent detriment of the Public.
Notice was now given to Monsignor Erskine to be ready for
the consistory to be held in January, 1803, and which was
actually held in the Ouirinal on the 17th of that month.
Erskine and two others, Locatelli and Castiglione, all previously
reserved in petto, were created Cardinal Deacons. Among the
seven Cardinal Priests now created were four French arch-
bishops, namely Jean Di Dieu Raimond de Boisgelin, arch-
bishop of Tours ; Jean Baptiste de Belloy, archbishop of
Paris ; Stephen Humbert de Cambaceres, archbishop of Rouen;
and Joseph Fcsch, archbishop of Lyons. The hat was given
to Erskine three days afterwards. And in secret consistory of
the 28th of March following, he was granted for his title the
church of S. Maria in Campitelli. This church was selected in
recognition of Erskine's attachment to the Stuart family, for it
had given his first title to the Duke of York, when he was
made a Cardinal, at the age of twenty-three years. The Con-
gregations assigned to Erskine were the Council, Propaganda,
Rites and the Fabbrica.
One of the first duties the new Cardinal had to perform was
to notify, on the forms prescribed by the Secretar}- of State,
his appointment to all the reigning Catholic Sovereigns of
Europe, including the First Consul of France. Erskine also
sent congratulatory letters to the absent Cardinals who were
appointed in the same consistory as he was, and notably to his
personal friend De Boisgelin, formerly a refugee in London.
De Boisgelin replied on the 5th of February, expressing his
pleasure that both of them were together in the same list of
promotions. " We were so long," he says, " in accord with each
other in the course of a difficult negotiation that it seems as if
Divine Providence designed to crown together our constant
union." The " only bitterness is that, while we are united in
participation of the same dignity, we are separated in society.
Your Eminence will be kept in Rome to enjoy the advantages
Memoirs of Cardinal lirskine. 195
due to your merits and services, and I must stay in my arch-
bishopric to discharge my duties." Dc Boisgelin also wrote a
long letter on the i6th of April to Cardinal Erskine, from
which it ma\- be gathered that he did not wish the Pope to
forget his past services to the church, nor to assume that his
promotion ought to be ascribed solely to Bonaparte's nomina-
tion. De Boisgelin asserts that he had been ever obedient to
the Popes — to Pius VI. in the time of the Revolutiou, and to
Pius VII. at the time of the Concordat. He had at the Pope's
bidding resigned his See of Aix. Yet he always retained
affection for the old dj'nasty. The sentiments of loyalty to
the Bourbons were shared by all the members of the De Bois-
gelin family, to whom this promotion to the purple was so
little pleasing, that the only portrait of the archbishop to be
found in the family is one — a whole length and full size — in
the dress not of a cardinal but of a prelate.
Among the earliest letters of felicitation received at this
time by Cardinal Erskine was one from Sir Francis Burdctt,
dated London, April 23, 1803. It begins by commendations
of one Mr. William Closse, and then proceeds : — " Pray accept
my congratulations upon )'Our new honours, and believe me a
sincere partaker in whatever can add to your comfort and
happiness." Sir Francis had married, in 1793, Sophia, youngest
daughter of Thomas Coutts, the banker. Mr. Coutts himself,
towards the end of May, wrote his congratulations to his old
friend, and alludes to the unusual Spring, and the consequent
bad effects to be feared on the harvest. All this — he says — is
nothing compared with the renewal of the war, which he con-
sidered inevitable and the greatest calamity.
Prince Woronzow wrote thus, from London : —
" Ilarley Sttect^ 5 Aout, jSo^.
" C est avec un plaisir inexprimable que j'ai ret^u votre
aimable lettre, Cara Emincnza. Ce souvenir d' une Pcr.sone si
estimable ct a la quelle je suis si attache, m' est bien precieux.
196 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
" Le retard de ma response, ne provient que de la difficulte
de faire passer une lettre d' un Pays si heretic, dans celui de la
Saintete. Vous nous voyez peutetre prets a etre envahis et
extermines, vue la Puissence de celui qui se prepare a notre
extermination, aide des mandemens des Saints Eveques de 1'
E'glise Galicane et des veux des fidels de cette meme E'glise ;
mais John Bull est un heretic obstine, qui a 1' air de vouloir
mourir dans une impenitence finale. Aussi il se prepare a bien
recevoir les aimables uisiteurs qui viendront pour le convertir a
coup de canons.
" En attendent je vous prie de bien recevoir notre Ministre
le C'^- Boutourlin, qui va resider a Rome. II est mon neveu ;
c' est un homme d' esprit, d' instruction, d' une caractere franc
et honct et d' un fond de gayete, qui rend sa societe tres
aimable. Je vous suplie de lui accorder votre amitie et je vous
r^pond d' avance qu' il la meritcra. Ne vous attendez pas de
trouver en lui un Diplomate fin, astucieux et fort occupe d'
affaires. Celles qu' il y a entre nos deux cours, ne sont ni
frequentes ni dificiles a s' arranger. II s' occupe plus des
autcurs classiques, des beaux ars et de tout ce qui regarde 1'
antiquite, que de la Politique, que d' ailleurs est devenue tout
a fait inutile depuis la recente decouverte si philantropique qu'
on a fait d' abreger etsimplifier les negotiations en introduisant
la methode d' argumenter par de bouches a feux, qui eclair-
cissment tout ce qui est douteux et finissent par prononcer
victoricussement tout ce qu' on avance. Ce sont la le vrais
arguments ad hominem.
" Ma fille et M"^- Jardine, sensibles et reconnaissentes de
votre obligent souvenir, vos prient de le leurs conserver. Moii
fils est dans son Pays assidue a s' instruirc dans cette nouvelle
manierc de negotier, si eloquente et si prompte. II brule d'
envie de pouvoir aussi argumenter en compagnie de quelque
milliers de es compatriotes, contre ceux qui s' exercent deja
dans ce grand genre d' eloquence.
" Tous nos amis comuns se portent bien.
Memoirs of Cardinal Ersktne. 197
" Adio Cara Emincnza : portcz vous bien : conservez moi votre
amitic' qui m' est chore ct voyez que la micnnc vous est vouc
pour toujours."
Count dc Bouterlin was in this year, 1803, appointed by the
Emperor of Russia, Alexander I., to be his Envoy Extraordinary
at the Holy See with Count Cassini, the former Charge d'
affaires, as Councillor of Legation, but very soon afterwards, in
consequence of the arrest in Rome of the French emigre
Vernegues, who was attached to the Russian embassy in Rome,
and was therefore under the protection of Russia, the Emperor
broke off all diplomatic relations with the Pope.
Cardinal Erskine about this time, out of good-feeling and
kindness of heart, took upon himself a troublesome duty, more
properly to be discharged by a British Representative in Rome
had there been one. Frederick Hervey, Earl of Bristol, and
protestant bishop of Dcrry in Ireland, died on the 8th of July,
1803, in Albano, having had none but hired servants and
salaried persons at his deathbed. This wealthy but eccentric
Peer had passed five years in Rome or Italy, and being
passionately devoted to the P'ine Arts, gave commissions to
artists, and made large purchases, and left not a few debts at
his death. In this disorder of his affairs, and in the absence of
his son who lived in England, Cardinal Erskine came forward,
and being uncertain whether there was any will or testamentary
document, took, on the 2nd of July, provisional possession of
all the property of the deceased, and employed his own Auditor,
the Avvocato Celestini, to compile an inventory of everything
belonging to the late Earl, and to collect and transport all the
articles to Rome. Erskine also secured the safety of all the
property of the deceased which remained in hlorcnce in the
Villa Strozzi, which the late Earl had taken on lease : and this
was done by getting Duke Strozzi to serve notice on the keeper
of the Villa not to allow the least thing to be removed by any
one who was not legally authorized.
198 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Meanwhile the creditors, clamourous for settlement of their
claims, and unwilling to abide the result of proceedings in
England, or to wait for the arrival in Rome of the heir,
petitioned the Pope to nominate Erskine as guardian and
administrator of the inheritance. The Pope desired his auditor,
Monsignor Lacchini, to communicate with Cardinal Erskine,
and ascertain his wishes on the subject. The Cardinal in reply
told Monsignor Lacchini that he could not accept this charge,
and that his exertions had been only for the purpose of
securing the property and preventing dilapidation and pillage.
He therefore took the liberty of suggesting Celestini, who had
hitherto acted in the affair, and knew all the circumstances of
the case, as a proper person to be made Administrator. Now,
however, as his object of saving the property had been attained,
he resigned all superintendence over the late Earl's affairs, and
declined all further proposals to assume the management or
distribution of the assets.
The manner in which the new Earl of Bristol regarded the
conduct of Erskine on this occasion will be best seen from the
following letter, which is still preserved : —
" Tunhridge, A ugust zg, i8oj.
" My Dear Cardinal,
" It is quite impossible that I should ever be able to express
how deeply and sensibly I feel your kind and friendly conduct
on the late melancholy occasion. No words can convey it, so
I will not attempt it, but trust to your doing justice to feelings
which it is out of my power to describe. May we some time
or other meet at Rome, and you will then be in some degree a
judge of the impression which your real kindness has made
upon me.
" Since I heard from you I have had a letter from Torlonia,
who I find is in considerable advance, both during my poor
father's life and since, for the various expenses which have
arisen. I answered it by general civility, but could take no
Mctnoirs of Cardinal lirskinc. i()cf
step respecting the money till I know whether there is a will
amongst the papers at Rome.
" This letter is, of course, entirely' for yourself. The last will
which has been found in this country was written at a time
when I was not on good terms with my father, and leaves all
the personalty — to the amount of near two hundred thousand
pounds — to a distant relation. If unfortunately there is no
subsequent will in Italy, it will fall to the person who gets the
personalty (a Mr. Henry Bruce, in Ireland) to pay all the debts
in all parts of the world. All the landed estate was entailed
upon me, and therefore comes to me without being subject to
his debts of any description : and if the personalty is left awa)'
from me, as that is more than twenty times sufficient to dis-
charge his debts, I shall leave the law to take its course, and
pay nothing but those expenses, of any sort, which your
Eminence may have order'd, and which of course will be an
exception to my general rule. You see, my dear Cardinal,
that this is a letter of perfect confidence, intended for your own
eye. Torlonia need be under no uneasiness. As soon as we
know whether there is another will and who are the executors,
immediate steps can be taken to pay all debts of every descrip-
tion without an hour's delay. Adieu, my dear Cardinal, and
believe me to be, with the most sincere attachment, )-our trul)'
obliged and affectionate friend and servant.
Bristol."
This letter, stamped bj' the foreign office postal stamp antl
sealed with a black seal with the I'^arl's arms, was directed in
French : —
"A Son Eminence Monseigneur le Cardinal ICrskinc, etc.,
En son llutel, a Rome."
Among his English friends who rejoiced at the promotion of
Erskine to the purple were his kinsman, the Earl of Buchan,
and the members of the Coutts family, with whom Erskine was
200 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
in correspondence long before his visit to Great Britain. The
following letter, which was printed by the Scottish Antiquarian
Society, and copied for the author by Lieut-Colonel Fergusson,
was written to the Earl of Buchan by Erskine some years
before his mission to George III. : —
Rome, Jmie 6tk, lyS^.
My Lord, — I am quite ashamed, on having delayed so long
to give an answer to the letter with which }'our Lordship was
pleased to honour me in the last year. Although I may have
wherewith to excuse my silence ; yet, I must confess, it is quite
out of my power to justify it : nevertheless, I will venture to
produce what may in some measure apologize for my fault ;
relying for the rest on your humanity and good nature.
When I received your Lordship's letter, I was seized with a
weakness in my eyes, to which I have been subject for some
years past, during the heat of summer, which almost entirely
hinders me from reading or writing. In that situation, although
I attempted it several times, yet I was obliged at last to give
over the thought of answering your Lordship's letter for that
season ; especially in a language, to which not being used, it
required some better application : for although you was so
kind as to put it in my option, to write to you either in Italian
or Latin, I looked upon it as disgraceful for me, considering
myself as Scotch, to make use of an}- other language but that
of our own country. Being obliged on the said account to put off
writing to your Lordship, I thought to make some atonement
for it by exerting myself, in the meantime, in preparing those
measures which migrht forward vour researches, that in the end
I might show, that if I had been silent I had not been idle.
To that purpose I addressed myself to the keeper and clerks
of the Vatican library, but as I could have no satisfactory
answer from them, I applied next to the keeper of the Secret
Archives, where all the old bulls and letters, and other such
papers, are preserved ; and as he flattered me with the hopes
Mcv2 oil's of Cardinal Er shine. 20 1
that such things might be found there as might prove useful,
providing I could obtain a leave from the Pope for the extrac-
tion of such notices as I should require, I made my petition to
His Holiness, by whom it was graciously granted. You may
easily see, my Lord, that the bringing about this work with
different persons, and the waiting for the proper opportunity to
speak to the sovereign, took up more time than I had imagined
at the beginning ; but as I had gone so far, and was fixed on
the scheme of accounting in some measure for my dilation, I
still expected, until I should be favoured by the gentleman
keeper, who being occupied about the publication of some
work, could not comply with my demands neither so soon nor
so fully as I desired. At last I received from him the enclosed
note [of twelve Papal Bulls relating to Scotland of dates 1216-
1261]; but another unexpected accident retarded my furthering
it to you. Mr. Gavin Hamilton, who had been long thinking
of returning to his native country, being at last resolved to
undertake that journey in the beginning of the late spring, I
thought of sending my letter by him ; but, as it happens,
having put it off from one week to another, he did not set off
until some days past, and I don't know for what accident he
forgot to acquaint me with the day of his departure. So that
also on account of this unexpected combination, my letter set
out some days later than it should. This is what I may say in
my behalf Unexpected circumstances, and perhaps a pre-
mature desire to show to your Lordship my will to serve )-ou,
have produced my fault, for which I beg your pardon.
Now, late indeed, but once at last, I render to you m)^ Lord,
and to all the gentlemen of the [Antiquarian] Society [of
Scotland], my most humble thanks for the honour bestowed
on me, by giving me a place in your learned Societ}\ I am so
much the more sensible at it, as it flatters me with the thought,
that although so far removed, yet by this means I have acquired
a new connection with the country from which I draw my
origin. It must give to your Lordship a particular satisfaction
13
202 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
to have been the promoter and founder of a Society so
beneficial to Scotland ; which entitles you to the gratitude of
all those who love their country ; and I am proud, that so
generous an institution should be owing to the patriotic spirit
of a person to whom I have the honour to be related. As
much as it depends on me, I shall leave nothing unattempted,
by which I may be useful to the object on which our Society
has been erected. To that purpose, I shall not cease to insist
on the gentleman, the keeper of the Archives ; and since the
Pope was so gracious as to give leave to copy any papers I
should ask for, if your Lordship thought proper to write to His
Holiness a letter on that account, I believe it would be very
well received by him, and if you would mention in it my
connection with you, it would be honourable to me. Besides
the note which I send enclosed, of such Bulls as have been
found hitherto, the keeper has shown me a muniment on
parchment, of which, if you desire it, I may likewise send a
copy. It is an oath of allegiance of John Baliol to King
Edward the First. It begins by narrating, that on the death
of King Alexander, several pretenders to the Crown of Scotland
appeared ; that they agreed that the question should be
decided by Edward ; that he had declared for Baliol as next
heir. To show his right, there is a kind of genealogical tree
from Alexander the First down to him : then it is said, that
Baliol had attempted to revolt from Edward, contrary to the
oath taken at his election, and now apprized of his fault, he
renews his oath of allegiance, which is set down per extenso.
This is a part of history well known ; but if your Lordship
should choose to have a copy of the said paper, I can further
[forward] it to you. In the meantime, other researches shall
be made : and I hope they shall not be useless. In order to
draw more the keeper in our interest, I think it would not be
improper to make him an honorary member of the Society.
His name is Abbate Gaetano Marini, Prefetto dell' Archivio
Segreto Vaticano. As to the collection of Bulls you have
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 2O3
mentioned to mc, there is such a thing, but I do not think it
worth purchasing for the Society, since it could draw no
advantage from it, for its interest. In the Vatican Library,
perhaps, something might be found : but in that unsafe chaos,
to which the tceepers themselves are strangers, it will be a mere
accident if anything be hit upon ; and I doubt very much if
Assemani [Stephen, Gustos of the Vatican Library] could ever
have been able to fulfil what he promised. Nevertheless, I
shall use all my endeavours, that proper researches may be
done [made] there.
By Mr. Gavin Hamilton you will receive my portrait, which
I had sent to him beforehand. It will gain an additional
merit to the original, to have it placed in so good company as
you hinted to me. The names of Mr. Henry and Mr. Thomas
Erskine had already reached to this town by the public papers;
and by several of my acquaintances here, it had been reflected
on the singularity of three persons of the same name, being in
the same profession at the same time, in three so distant
countries. But your brothers, my Lord, have a more ample
and more luminous scene whereto exert themselves, and talent
more apt to fill it. I must be satisfied, that born at a distance
from the country of my fathers, if I have added no lustre, I
have at least done no disgrace to our family. This is the aim
which I proposed to myself from the beginning, and although
deprived of many subsidies, I hope I have attained to it. As
to Mr. David Erskine, I was always of your Lordship's opinion,
but I have heard since that he is gone to the East Indies. I
thank you for the account you was so kind to give me as to
my other relations, and am glad they have begun to repair the
losses sustained by our family at other times. But, my Lord,
must I despair of ever seeing you or your worthy brother in
this country? I daresay that you would find in Italy, and
especially in Rome, many things not unworthy the trouble of
a journey ; and it should be the greatest happiness I could
ever enjoy in my life, to be here for some time in your
204 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
company. In the meantime, if it were not too much liberty
for one portrait to ask three, I should be very happy to have
in my possession the portraits of persons that I so much
admire.
Mr. John Geddes, by whom I received your letter, will be
the deliverer of this. I heard from him with pleasure the
regard which your Lordship has for him, who well deserves it.
I have been very happy with his acquaintance and company in
my younger years, and have always had a particular esteem
for his virtues and merit.
I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect,
My Lord,
Your most obedient and most humble
servant and kinsman,
Charles Erskine.
From a letter to Lord Buchan, written from Romo May i,
1790, by Monsignor Erskine, it appears that Mr. and Mrs.
Coutts, and their daughters, visited Rome in that year, and
brought to Erskine a letter of introduction from Lord Buchan.
Erskine showed the Coutts famil}' all the attention in his power.
From the same letter it appears that the Cardinal Duke of
York, had promised, on Erskine's request, to send to Lord
Buchan portraits of the Cardinal's family. {See the life of Hon.
Henry Erskine, by Licut.-Colonel Alex. Fergusson. Edinburgh.
1882.)
Mr. Coutts, the banker, wrote on the 31st of October, 1803,
lo Erskine, stating that the Rev. Henry Hervey Bruce, the heir
10 the personalty, had given him an order to open in his name
a credit with Torlonia for ^^"14,000, with which to satisfy the
debts due to Torlonia, and to all the other creditors of the de-
funct Lord Bristol. This fortunate clerg)-man was created a
Baronet on the 9th of June, 1804.
As a member of the Congregation of the Propaganda,
Cardinal Erskine naturally took a leading part in discussions
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 205
upon affairs concerning Great Britain and Ireland. This
appears from his votes in Propaganda in this year, 1803, in the
matter of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Vicars Apostolic.
These Vicars in times of persecution acted independently each
of the other, with extraordinary faculties in points of discipline,
and with free expenditure of the funds entrusted to their
administration. This independence, so useful to the Church in
past times, might degenerate into despotism very dangerous in
times of peace. At present the Church in England enjoyed
peace and freedom of worship. But certain inconveniences had
arisen between the vicars and their clergy, and it would be
better to re-enter into the jurisdiction of the Common Ecclesi-
astical Law, according to the decrees of the Council of Trent,
as far as the execution of such decrees may be permissible.
Erskine proposed to the congregation to order the Vicars
Apostolic to meet together for joint consultation at least once
a year, and to hold their first meeting as soon as possible, and,
in this first meeting, to consider the erection of a general
Seminary ; to provide for impeding publication of pernicious
books and pamphlets ; and to arrange a system to be followed
for good administration of the mission funds.
In the Propaganda congregation, held on the 2nd of August,
1803, to take into consideration the claims of the President
and Superiors of Maynooth College to send up candidates for
ordination without consent of their diocesans, it was unani-
mously decided that the old concession by which students of
colleges might be ordained by any bishop, without dimissory
letters from their diocesans, and with testimonial letters from
the rectors only, was now out of date ; was originally granted
for times of peril and necessity ; and was now abrogated in
times when the profession of the Catholic faith was free, and
when Maynooth itself was founded and subsidized by the
Government.
Erskine was now made Protector of Scotland, where the
Catholic Faith languished more than in other parts of the J3ritish
2o6 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
States, and where Catholics were few and scattered. He was
also made Protector of the Scots College in Rome, in which he
had been once a student Immediately upon his appointment
as Protector, he called upon the Rector of the College, the Rev.
Paul Macpherson, a Scotchman, and agent of the Scotch
bishops, to furnish him with a report upon the condition of the
College, pecuniary and otherwise. This report is still extant.
Macpherson had come forward spontaneously to assume
direction of the College at a time when the former Superiors
or Rectors had abandoned it, and he endeavoured to save it
from total ruin. The report gives a lamentable picture of the
past management, and suggests as the best remedy for past
evils the establishment of a Superior or Rector of the Scotch
nationality, to direct and administer it under the sole control
of the Cardinal Protector. A Scotch Rector knew the habits
and dispositions of his fellow-countrymen much better than
Italians, for, in the past, the Italian Superiors, by hurting the
susceptibilities and opposing the national inclinations of the
students had occasioned quarrels, resistance, disorders, and
sometimes scandals. A Scotch Rector would exert himself to
maintain as large a number as possible of students for the
mission, and would also, indirectly, assume a certain responsi-
bility towards the Scotch Vicars Apostolic, a responsibility of
which the Italian Rectors shewed themselves completely
independent. PVom this time forth a Scotch Rector has always
been at the head of the College. Cardinal Erskine endeavoured
to restore the finances of the College, and with partial
success.
By the Bull of Foundation of this college, Clement VIII.
granted it the Abbey of S. Elia in Mellicuca, in the diocese of
Mileto in Calabria, and by another bull of January, 1603, gave
it the Abbey of S. Mennato, in the diocese of S. Agata dei
Goti, in Terra di Lavoro.
These two abbeys had been enjoyed for many years
peaceably by the college, but as Clement had entrusted to the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 207
Jesuits the direction and administration of the abbey lands as
well as of the college, the two abbeys, on the suppression of the
Jesuits in the kingdom of Naples in the last century, were
seized and alienated by the Royal Court, on the plea that they
belonged to the Jesuit Order and not to the Scots College.
The then Cardinal Protector of the College protested against
this usurpation and was told by the Royal Court that the
abbeys would be restored to the College when the Jesuits
ceased to be its directors. This condition became fulfilled in
1773, but the promise of restitution was not kept, and owing
to the circumstances of the time, no further steps were then
taken. Cardinal Erskine, on becoming Protector, revived the
claims of the College by an able statement, corroborated by
documents, to be presented to the Naples Court in the name
of the bishops and clergy of Scotland, and the support of the
British Ambassador at Naples was promised. But for various
reasons the application was not renewed till the year 1S05.
Before the end of that year the second invasion of the Naples
States by the French, and the installation of Joseph Bonaparte
as the new king of Naples, destroyed all hope of recovering for
the College, the lost abbeys.
Cardinal Erskine was more successful in the case of the be-
quests left to the College by Cardinal Giuseppe Spinelli,
formerly Protector of Scotland and Prefect of the Propaganda,
who, by his will dated June 28th, 1759, ordained that a sum of
money, amounting to ten thousand Roman scudi should be
kept by a trustee, to be employed for Scotch missions, and also
declarmg that for the same purpose he had constituted in Rome
a censo or mortgage with the Jerusalem Order [of Malta] at
2\ per cent. The annual receipts were to be applied to main-
tain three additional students in the Scots College. Cardinal
Spinelli gave also, for Scotch missions, fifty policies, or " Luog/ii
di Monte S. Pietro" of which the interest was to be at the dis-
posal of the Cardinal Protector of the College pro tempore.
These Spinelli bequests incurred, at the time of the French
2o8 Memoirs of Cardhml Erskine.
invasion, the fate of all properties of Religious Foundations.
And even when the Pontifical Government had been restored,
the LiiogJii di Monte had to submit to reductions. But the
Censo, or Mortgage, made with the Order of Malta, was fully
re-established, and secured for the College, after an attempt,
defeated by Cardinal Erskine, made by Bali Buzi to obtain a
reduction of twenty-five per cent, on the payments.
The Scots College also regained full possession of its
valuable vineyard near Marino, which had been alienated and
declared national property by the Revolutionary Government.
Cardinal Erskine, in December, 1803, by a strongly worded
letter to the Conestabile Colonna, the Governor of Marino,
caused that functionary to put a stop to the injuries done to the
vineyard by evil-disposed neighbours ; and he also opposed and
finally silenced the unjust claims upon the vine}-ard, put for-
ward by one Giuseppe Brancadoro and his heirs.
The Vicars Apostolic of Scotland sent their thanks to him
for accepting the Protectorship of Scotland and of the Scots
College in the following letter : —
"My Lord,
" The pleasure and satisfaction which wc felt upon the news
of your Eminence's being appointed, by the Holy See, Protector
of these our Missions, could not, with propriety, be expressed
by an individual. It was for this reason that none of us
hitherto took the liberty of troubling your Eminence upon that
occasion. But being now assembled with the principal
members of our Clergy, this was one of the first objects which
fixed the attention of all. It is in the name of the Scots
Mission, at the request of the Scots Missionaries, and we have
reason to believe we might add, with truth, it is with the
approbation and applause of the whole nation and of every
Scotsman, that we express our joy upon an event which will
form an epoch in the Ecclesiastical history of this country.
Whilst we look forward, with well founded hopes, to the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc. 209
effects of your powerful and zealous patronage, we must beg
leave to offer your Eminence our grateful tha>4:s for your
generous and kind attention, which our College and Agent in
Rome have already experienced. We have not to inform your
Eminence of the difficulties, in which we arc constantly
involved: they are well known to you. It is a comfort to us to
reflect, with confidence, that you will neither lose sight of them
nor omit anything A\hich can extricate us from them or
alleviate them.
" We have the honour to be, with profound respect, My Lord,
your Eminence's most obedient humble servants,
* Geo. Hay, Bp. of Daulia, V.A. in Scotland.
* John Chisholm, Bp. of Oria, V.A.
* Alex""- Cameron, Maximianopolit. Coadj'-
* ^neas Chisholm, Diocesar^' Coadjutor.
Preshome, 14th Aug'- 1804."
The endorsement on this letter contains the following : —
" Sussidio mandato ai detti Vicarii Apostolic! dalla Congrega-
zione di Propaganda ncl 1807." The subsidy was 1,000 Scudi.
A certain Monsignor Antonio Scarpelli, a man of some
literary merits, had published the first of a series of letters on
Pxonomy, Political and Agrarian, and had sent a copy to the
Pope. He received encomiums for his first letter from the
principal Economists of Italy, and was about to publish further
letters, when to his surprise he received, on the 27th of Juno,
1803, an intimation from Consalvi, Secretary of Stale, that he
was not to proceed further with the publication of his letters,
either in his own or an\' other name ; inasmuch as they tlirectl\-
attacked the .system established in the Pontifical States, were
injurious to Monsignor Vergani, the Secrctar)' of the Congrega-
tion for re-ordering the State, and were dangerous in the wa)-
of prejudicing public opinion against certain measures about
to be taken by that Congregation.
Scarpelli from the 23rd of January, 1803, had been writing to
2IO Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Erskine to tell him of the efforts he was making to fix Prince
Stanislaus Poniatovvski in Rome, by getting the Prince to
purchase certain of the State lands, and notably Castel
Gandolfo and the Lake of Albano. He complained of the
tricky and annoying manner shown towards him, the Prince's
agent in these purchases, by the officials, and was particularly
severe, and bold almost to impertinence in his remarks upon
Consalvi, and upon Lante, the Treasurer General, whom, in his
letters to themselves, he taxed with bad faith. He was
determined to resist the attempt to stop his writings and sent
to the Pope a petition energetically drawn up, and demanded
as Censors for his future publications, two personages, of rank
not to be imposed on by the Authority of any Minister, who
had no private prejudices or interests to serve and who were
capable of feeling what was due to the Pope, namely Cardinals
Erskine and Pacca. The first knew the English system of
Political Ec(^nomy — the second was acquainted with the North
and South of Europe. The pope assented to this petition on
the 20th of July, 1803, and copies of the supplica and rescript
were sent on August the 1st to both Cardinals, who accepted
the charge, and when Scarpelli sent the proofs of his letters for
examination, he received them back through Cardinal Erskine
who wrote his full approval, adding that Cardinal Pacca was of
the same opinion. Scarpelli succeeded in publishing his works,
but from the st}'le of his correspondence was evidently, like
many reformers, a disagreeable sort of man.
In February, 1803, the city of Cingoli, in general council,
chose by acclamation Cardinal Erskine as Com-Protettore.
And by Brief of nth of October, 1804, Erskine was made
Visitator Apostolic of the Monastery of S.S. Augustine and
Rocco in Caprarola, then reduced to a pitiable state of poverty.
The Abbess set forth in a petition to the Pope that each nun
had only half an Italian pound of meat per diem, and on
maigre days one &^%, and half a pound of ricotta. The whole
daily cost of each person in the monastery could not exceed
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 2 1 1
five Bajocci — less than twopence halfpenny ! In December,
1804, Erskine was elected Protector of the Vcn. Hospital of
S. John the Evangelist, in Caprarola. In August, 1805, he
became Protector of the Monastery of Monte Luce, in Perugia,
where he re-established the annual Fair, conceded to that
Monastery by Benedict XIV. And, in 1807, the Municipalities
of Castiglion on Lake Trasimeno, and of Proceno, near Viterbo,
elected him their Protector.
A few months after his publication as Cardinal, Erskine was
appointed by Pius VII. to be administrator and Economo of
the Giraud patrimony, consisting largely of lands held under
the Pope, but the Cardinal by letter of August 7th, 1803, to
Mgr. Lacchini, the Uditore S.S., declined this charge, under the
plea of want of leisure, but asked that his resignation should be
kept secret until the appointment of a successor in that post, lest
the creditors should rush in and press their claims to the ruin
of the property and of the heirs, the Counts Giraud. But
Erskine's resignation was not accepted, and he continued to
manage the property until he finally resigned his charge in
March, 1806, having at that time provided for all payments on
the estate, leaving the brothers. Counts Pietro, Giovanni,
P^ancesco and Giuseppe Giraud to arrange their own private
debts. The Duke of Scrmoncta, Prince Don P'rancesco Caetani
wrote to the Cardinal on the iith of January, 1S04, to settle
his disordered affairs and arrange with his creditors. ICrskine
by letter of the 13th of January, accepted, but only on the con-
dition that all the Duke's ministers should thenceforward be
dependent on him alone. Yet on the 27th of January, same
year, the Cardinal told the Duke that some unforeseen circum-
stances had happened which prevented him from further ad-
ministering the property. Then in same: year, 1 804, at the
request of Count Tiberio Soderini, the Cartlinal was dcputctl
[rescript dated i6th September,] administrator of the Soderini
property, a charge which he fulfilled until he resigned it on
212 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
17th of February, 1807, by letters to Soderini and the Papal
Auditor.
In this year, 1804, Cardinal Erskine received from the Vice-
Gerent the orders of Deacon, and he officiated as Deacon
Ministrante on the Feast of S.S. Peter and Paul in the Basilica
of the Vatican at the High Mass celebrated by the Pontiff.
That Erskine amid such manifold occupations did not lose
sight of his Scotch relations appears from the following letter
from the Earl of Buchan : —
" My dear Cardinal Cousin,
" I have had lately the great satisfaction of
marking to our good Cousin, the Earl of Kellie, in the strongest
manner, the influence of esteem, friendship and kindness upon
publick conduct, in refusing on the most earnest sollicitations
of the Prince of Wales, to lift up my hand against an Erskine.
" Nothing could be more magnanimous than the conduct of
Lord Kellie towards me since when he really thought himself
in danger of losing his election as one of our sixteen Peers : he
abstained even from asking me to support him !
" Your Eminence mentions, in your last letter to me, the de-
clining state of your brother Cardinal, my Stuartine kinsman,
to whom, I hope, you will have the goodness to renew my re-
quest for Portraits of himself and his unfortunate Brother.
" As the Lenoxian race of Princes must end with the
Cardinal, the line of Buchan is indisputably in the next degree
of male representation of the Family, of which the Cardinal is
the present Heir.
" I have reason to believe that both by Battoni and Mengs
there are more than one portrait of each of the Royal person-
ages, and I earnestly solHcit to be gratifyed with such of those
originals as his Eminence may select, to be placed in my Hall
of Kindred.
" What your Eminence says concerning the beautiful works
of Michael Agnuolo and Raffaelle, Antonio Tcmpesta and
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 213
others, on the walls of the Vatican, is consolataiy, though I
cannot digest the barbarity of removing a Brutus from the
Capitol of Rome, where only it was significantly classical. It
is much worse than removing a Sun dial which marks only
ignorance, whilst the other deed is high treason against the
golden rays of Apollo.
" Duppa has, from tracings, beautifully and correctly engraved
the heads of Michael Agnuolo and Raffaelle, with which I
mean to adorn the walls of my Abbey at Dryburgh.
" Your good Cousin, my brother Henry Erskine, has lately
married a most worthy and amiable lady of a highly cultivated
mind and of dispositions perfectly suited to his age and
circumstances : you will rejoice with me on this event.
"Lady Buchan desires to join in best respects and good
wishes, and 1 remain cordially,
" Your affectionate Cousin
Buchan.
Edinburgh, January 22d. 1S05."
The writer of the above letter was David Stuart, i ith Earl of
Buchan, who was indefatigably devoted to literary and scientific
pursuits, and who may be considered the founder of the
Antiquarian Society of Scotland. His brother Ilenr)- married
for his second wife, on the 7th of Januar)-, 1805, h^rskine,
daughter of Alexander Monro, Esq., and widow of John iurn-
bull, Esq.
The next letter is from Frances, daughter of Mr. Tiv^nas
Coutts, the great Banker, who on the 7th of September, 1800,
had become the second v.ife of the first Marquess of Bute : —
" Mount Edgcumbe, March 20th, 1806.
" Caro Amico, My Lord Cardinal,
" How grateful it is to be remembered b\- those we esteem
and for whom one feels an affectionate regard, whatever
distance may be between us, whatever circumstances this
214 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
chequered life may offer. Your Eminence, I am confident, is
certain that the friendship of Lord Bute and myself can never
alter towards you, and therefore whenever you can, pray do
not omit making us happy by telling us you enjoy good health
and everything you can desire.
" Alas: my health is worse and worse, and the Physicians all
agree that nothing but a warm climate will restore me entirely.
Your acceptable letter and very valuable Medallion only came
to my hands a few days ago : the date of your letter is April
the second, 1804, so where it has been all this time I know not.
I cannot give you a greater proof of its resemblance to
risola Bella than the following. I received the letter and
parcel in Cornwall, at the seat of Lord Grenville, Boconnoc,*
where we have been all winter on account of my health. There
was nothing to lead Lord Bute to think of your Eminence at
that moment, or of Mount Stuart, yet before I had read the
letter he at once exclaimed ah ! this is Mount Stuart. Pray
express this to Madama Dionigi, and say how much we have
both admired it. I cannot say how much I value it, or how
much pleasure your recollection of that place affords us both.
Ever since my Physicians have urged a warm climate, and now
have declared such to be necessary, I have, I own, encouraged
a hope that some accident might give us an opportunity of
visiting once more Cara Italia : and the idea of seeing you, my
dear Lord Cardinal, once more, is truly most grateful. Yet I
hardly know we can hope for so great a pleasure. Meanwhile
I am much weaker and certainly must not pass the next winter
in England.
" I forget if when you were in this country you saw this place.
It is uncommonly beautiful, almost unlike every other. We do
not think it absolutely without resemblance of Bute, tho'
superior in cultivation and beauty.
* Buconnoc [near Lostwithiel, Cornwall, now the property of Lady Louisa
Fortescue].
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc. 215
" The weather has been very severe — cold East winds, a
great deal of snow and frost.
" I hear constantly from my dear father who is well, as
mamma and my two sisters are very well. I believe I need
not say we often talk, and oftener miss the amiable and agree-
able society of your Eminence. Indeed, indeed we can never
forget and must ever remember with heartfelt pleasure the
happy days we have passed with )-ou. Mow delit^htful to talk
over all those times would it be, and I will still flatter myself
we may yet have this happiness.
" My little girl is now four years old, her brother three, and I
think you would like to sec them. The boy is the image of his
father, and she, I am told, is like me. They are everything I
can wish at present, and enjoy robust health.
" If I knew how, I would apologize to your Eminence for the
length of this letter, but that you have taught me to feel so
lively a sense of your goodness that I feel it would be formal
and unnecessary. I will therefore conclude this with all manner
of warm regards from Lord Bute as well as myself, and with
the assurance of unalterable regard and affection I am, my dear
Lord Cardinal, your sincere friend, FRANCES BUTE."
This letter was addressed : " Al Sua Eminenza — II Cardinale
Erskine — Roma."
The Madama Dionigi mentioned in this letter was Marianna
Dionigi, a well known authoress. She published : " Viaggi in
alcune Citt^ del Latio, che diconsi fondate dal Re Saturno."
1809. Roma. This work contains numerous and valuable
engravings. She was an intimate friend of Cardinal Erskine.
The late Monsignor Angelini, archbishop of Corinth, Vice-
gerent of Rome and Canon of S. Pctci's, wrote on the cover of
his package of Erskine papers, a few lines upon Erskinc, and
there states that to the house of Marianna Dionigi used to
resort the flower of literary societ)', Erskine, namel)', who
brought epigraphs, which Enrichctta, daughter of Marianna,
and then but nine years old, translated into Italian ; Cunich
2l6 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
[Raimondo] who also brought epigraphs to be similarly treated ;
Visconti [G. B. A.] the famous Antiquary, who composed
metrical epigraphs to be put into verses by Enrichetta ; and
Morcelli, Stefano Antonio, who discussed, before it was en-
graved, the inscription afterwards placed at the foot of the
obelisk at the Ouirinal, beginning with the words, " Me quondam
Egypti dilectum," etc. In this house also they lamented the
death of Winkelman, assassinated, in 176S, by Francesco
Arcangeli. The infant prodigy, Enrichetta, is now the Contessa
Orfei, and an esteemed poetess. Erskine was about twenty-
five or thirty years of age when he first began to frequent the
casa Dionigi, and his friendship with the Dionigi family con-
tinued to his death.
The Emperor Napoleon, who had hitherto forced by threats
Pius VII. to comply with his wishes and adopt the French
policy, determined to proceed further, and either to make the
Pope his complete slave in all matters, civil and ecclesiastical,
or to deprive him of his temporal power, leaving him the name
merely of Bishop of Rome. Accordingly Napoleon wrote on
the 13th of February, 1806, to the Pope setting forth his deter-
mination in harsh language ; and Cardinal Fesch, on the 2nd
of March, drew up a note in softer terms, but to much the same
effect. Pius VII. was invited to break off communications with
all the other European Powers, to shut his harbours against the
Russians, Swedes and English, and to expel them from Rome
and the States of the Church. The Pope was to be at peace
with France and her friends, and at war with all the enemies of
P"rance. For the Father of the Faithful thus to become a
French satrap was impossible, yet Napoleon's demands were
not to be rejected without deliberating on the consequences.
Pius VII. convoked all the Cardinals in Rome, to the number
of thirty-two, to assemble together on the 8th of May, 1806,
and he laid the matter before them, requiring each Cardinal
to take two days to consider the letters of Napoleon and
Fesch, and then to give his opinion cither in writing or viva
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 217
voce. A second Convocation of Cardinals was held on the 8th
of June, to consider the recognition of Joseph Bonaparte as
King of Naples. Pius VII. was supported by all the Cardinals
in refusing to obey Napoleon, but to please him, accepted, on
the 17th of June, the resignation of Consalvi, Secretary of State.
The King of Naples he would acknowledge, provided he sought
investiture from the Holj' See.
Meanwhile the French troops, which had seized Ancona in
October, 1805, had by the following year occupied all the
harbours of the Pontifical territory in the Mediterranean as
well as the Adriatic, and on the ist of November, 1807, the
French General Lemarrois proclaimed himself Governor-
General of the provinces of Ancona, Macerata, Fermo, and
Urbino, which he had already sometime occupied by his troops,
and by decree of Napoleon of April 2, 1808, all these provinces
were united to the Kingdom of Italy.
Cardinal Erskine felt the effects of this invasion, for his own
income was chiefly derived from abbey and church lands
situated in the usurped provinces. In June, 180S, his abbey of
S. Maria di Lastreto, near Fossombrone, was sequestrated, and
the sequestrator, the Marchesc Giuseppe Capalti, seized the
private property of the Cardinal, such as his cattle, the arrears
due by tenants, and the wool, grain, etc., already stored.
Erskine succeeded in getting restitution of his personal
property so illegally confiscated, but when he proceeded to sell
his cattle he was met by a prohibition, based on the plea that
the cattle might be wanted for the use of the farmers ! He
got this prohibition removed, but lost all his revenues from the
abbey of Lastreto and from the Priorj- of S. Domenico Loricato.
Rome itself was occupied, on the 2nd of P^ebruary, 180S, by
French troops commanded by General Miollis, who planted
eight pieces of cannon against the gates of the Quirinal Palace.
In February and March fourteen Cardinals were forced by
Miollis to depart from Rome, and among these were Doria,
Pro-Secretary of State ; Somaglia, Vicar of His Holiness ; and
14
2i8 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
liraschi, Secretary of Memorials. The Pope nominated
Gabrielli as Pro-Secretary ; Despuig, Pro-Vicar ; and AntonelH,
Pro-Secretary of Briefs. But on the night of the i8th of June,
1808, Cardinal Gabrielli was seized in the Quirinal Palace and
deported to his See of Sinigallia, and on the night of September
6, Cardinal Antonelli, the Dean of the Sacred College, and Pro-
Secretary of Briefs, was forcibly carried away from Rome.
Cardinal Pacca was now nominated Pro-Secretary of State,
and Cardinal Erskine was made Pro-Secretary of Briefs in
room of Antonelli.
Cardinal Erskine might have effected, on the first entrance
of the French troops, an escape to England, to which course he
had been previously strongly urged by his cousins in Scotland
and his friends in London. He was known to be a foreigner,
of a nation hostile to France, and was therefore exposed to the
enmity of Napoleon. But he resolved to remain at his post
and to help Pius VII. in his sore tribulations. When appointed
Pro-Secretary of Briefs, he at once set to business and called
for exact information concerning the state of his office, the
number of the clerks, and its financial position. This informa-
tion was supplied to him. As his new duties necessitated
constant attendance on the Pope, and as he feared that, as had
happened to other Cardinals, he would be violently removed,
he requested permission to follow the example of Cardinal
Despuig, and to reside in the Quirinal. The Pope consented,
and Erskine went into tV.e Auditor's apartment, which had
remained vacant ever since he had left it to become Cardinal.
His removal was effected with all secrecy and caution. For
the Quirinal Palace since September, 1808, was virtually
blockaded by French sentinels and Gendarmes. The great
gate giving access to the Piazza had only the small wicket
open, and carriages were no longer admitted within the Court-
yard. The very domestics and others in the Papal service who
iiad to pass in and out, were liable to be arrested and carried
for inspection to the nearest French Police Station. Erskine
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 219
managed to escape the notice of the French sentinels, and
entered the Ouirinal to reside, some days subsequent to the
proclamation of the new Government, and the consequent
publication of the Excommunication in June, 1809.
There were now shut up in the Ouirinal along with the Pope,
three Cardinals, namely Pacca, pro-secretary ; Despuig, pro-
vicar ; and Erskine, pro-secretary of briefs ; and there were
also Mgr. Naro, majordomo ; George Doria, master of the
camera, with the officials and the members of the Pontifical
household.
It might have been supposed that the three Cardinals would
have formed a convenient council for joint consultations on
affairs in this critical conjuncture, but on the contrary, Pacca
alone was the guide of his Holiness and directed everything.
Only occasionally and in private was Erskine consulted by the
Pope. Two nephews of Pacca who had voluntarily accompa-
nied their uncle, gave themselves great airs, and offered to in-
terfere in matters which did not concern them. Although
Pacca and Erskine had much esteem for each other, yet there
existed no such intimacy between them as to lead to confiden-
tial interchange of advice and opinions. Pacca thought
Erskine timid, because he was reserved and did not disclose his
sentiments on useless and inconvenient occasions. Erskine
was silent, because things were not directed according to his
ideas. He was aware that Pius VH. was profoundly humble,
and too much inclined to under-estimate his own talents, and
to depend on the advice of others. Pacca set this down to na-
tural weakness of character. Erskine urged the Pope, that in
necessary matters he should indeed avail himself of the judg-
ment and information of others, but that afterwards he should
adopt those resolutions which were dictated by his own saga-
city and by the Holy Spirit from above which would always
aid him.
Erskine's residence in the Quirinal palace did not last long.
On the evening of the 5th of July, 1S09, the three Cardinals
220 Monoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
were assembled in the rooms of the majordomo, with the chief
officers of the household. Their conversation naturally fell on
the circumstances of the moment and the news from the city,
when it was interrupted by a domestic, who said that he and
his companions, who had been standing at one of the windows
of the same apartment to get fresh air, had observed two men
who, in the extreme quiet and solitude of the street, were pass-
ing, and talking to each other with a pre-occupied air. Per-
ceiving persons in the majordomo's windows, which looked to-
ward the Quattro Fontatie, they stopped precisely on the foot-
path beneath, and with a stick struck with some force the curb-
stone of the footpath to excite the attention of the folks in the
window. Then one of them, without raising his head, said in
a very clear and distinct voice : — Keep ivell on guat'd this night,
for surely some great bloiv is in preparation against the Pope.
Such an announcement caused great agitation. Cardinal
Pacca at once sent for Pfyffer, Captain of the Swiss, who main-
tained relations with friends in the city, to ask whether he had
heard anything, and to charge him to procure some certain in-
formation. The Captain assured his Eminence that he had re-
ceived no communication of any importance from his friends,
and that if any suspicion had been hinted to him he would not
have failed to report it. But he promised to go and do what
was possible at that hour to provide further news.
Captain Pfyffer after a good half hour, returned and reported
that no movement of troops could be noticed at any point of
the Palace, as far as could be observed, and that everywhere
supreme tranquility prevailed, it being now near midnight.
He added that his news from outside was that no military
disposition — to be feared in the Palace — was on hand. Only
he heard that some Neapolitan troops — as was already known —
had arrived on the day before, and were to be employed by
General Miollis in the garrison of Rome, which was now
almost entirely unprovided with French soldiers. From all
this, from the complete quiet which prevailed, and from the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 221
hope which all persons naturally entertain that bad news maj-
be ill-founded or at least exaggerated, the)' began to think it
was a false alarm, such as had happened on other occasions,
and having remained together until after midnight, they
resolved to go to bed, and wished each other good night as
tranquilly as usual. Before separating, Erskine turned to Pacca
and asked whether he, as one ready for all events, had thought
of what was to be done concerning the sacred person of His
Holiness. Pacca replied ive icill think about it. Erskine re-
joined with some vivacity : Wc will think about it ! It ought
to have been thought about already, and went to his room.
Erskine, when he reached his own apartment, could not rid
himself of anxiety, in spite of the reassuring news which Pfyffer
had brought, and in spite of the prevailing silence and quiet.
In the agitation produced by the uncertainty of an event which
might have fatal consequences, he could not bring himself to go
to bed to seek repose. He therefore kept watch vigilantly, and
heard at two o'clock in the morning a certain regular tread
under his windows which looked out on the via della discesa di
Monte Cavallo. He went at once to the window to find out
whence this sound proceeded, and notwithstanding the obscurity
of that hour, was able to ascertain distinctly that a good many
troops in all silence were assembling on the Piazza of the
Quirinal. He then no longer doubted the truth of the warning
given in the early hours of the night, and while he stood hesi-
tating what to do, he became aware of some noisy movements
within the Palace itself There was now no room for doubt or
hesitation, and he resolved to proceed to the Papal apartments
and share the danger menacing the Pontiff It was neccssar)-
to pass to the Cortile of the Palace through a gate on the side
of the Panetteria, which was always guarded b)' a Swiss. But
to his horror he found the gate shut, and, in spite of the efforts
of his servant, who knocked at it and shouted, could find no
means to open it, and therefore was compelled to go back to
his room. Cardinal Despuig, whose apartment was at the
222 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
same side as Erskine's, was more lucky, for he had passed
through a httle time before, at the very moment when the
Swiss, obeying the orders of the French, suddenly shut the
gate and retiring from his post, threw the key away, so that to
re-open communication it was necessary to break down the
door.
One can but imagine the desolation and agitation of Erskine
thus cut off from his colleagues and the Pope, and fully ignorant
of what was happening, although he heard the tolling of the
Bell of the Ouirinal, the ever increasing noise of confused
movements, and the sound of the blows with which the French,
already admitted into the Cortile, were breaking down door
after door in order to have free passage everywhere. The
Cardinal remained a prisoner in his own apartment, for sentinels
were posted in all parts to prevent all circulation of the inmates.
The servant of Erskine said he saw his master striding up and
down his room in an indescribable state of agitation, and
exclaiming ever)' now and then. What has happened to the Pope ?
What ivill become of him ? The same servant used afterwards
to assert that from that time forth the Cardinal never was the
same man. From being robust and hearty he began to decline
in strength and health, and probably then was laid the founda-
tion of the malady which in little more than two years brought
him to his grave.
At last, on the morning of the 6th of July, Cardinal Erskine
became aware of the forced departure of Pius VII. and of the
principal circumstances of the breaking into the Palace, and the
irruption of French soldiers into the Pope's apartment. A
French officer notified to Erskine that he was at liberty either
to remain in the Ouirinal or to go to his own house. The
Cardinal at once removed to his apartment in the Capranica
Palace near the Valle theatre. Cardinal Despuig also left the
Quirinal on the same day.
Cardinal Erskine was now free, so far as appearances went,
but was in reality closely watched. He was moreover very
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskztte. 223
poor. He had been dependent, for his education and means to
pursue his studies, on his mother's family and on the Cardinal
Duke of York. He inherited no property from his father, who
had abandoned his own country in order to remain faithful to
the Stuarts. As an advocate he might have realized a fortune,
but his career as a lawyer, when most profitable, was cut short
by promotion to the Prelacy. He was always reckoned among
the poor Cardinals, for his income was only 4,000 scudi, about
iJ^Soo per annum. Now he had lost all his ecclesiastical income,
which was seized by the usurpers, and he was almost reduced
to beggary. Under these circumstances he resolved to avail
himself of the proposals formerly made to him by his cousins
in Scotland, and who had lately, through Mr. Coutts the
banker, repeated their offers of a home and money in case of
his finding himself ill-treated in Rome. But Napoleon's block-
ade continued. English ships especially were excluded from
all Italian ports. The transmission of letters was difficult, and
even bankers' despatches were rigorously examined.
Cardinal Erskine, however, wrote two letters — one to Lord
Kellie, the other to Coutts, disclosing his condition. He asked
Coutts to communicate with Lord Kellie, in the event of the
loss of his letter to his cousin. Torlonia, with much kindness,
undertook to cause these letters to reach their destination, as
far as lay in his power.
Meanwhile, to economise, Erskine gave up his horses, and as
he could not, being a Cardinal, walk in the streets of Rome,
nor mix with the multitude and so excite the suspicion of the
French, nor yet stay at home in perpetual imprisonment, he
determined to retire to Caprarola or to Castel Rubello. He
chose Castel Rubello, a place belonging to his relative, Salvatori,
and there he hoped to find cheapness, quiet and repose after
his trials. The French made no objection to his change of
residence.
The removal to the country at first did him good. He en-
joyed the healthier air and the long walks, and felt relieved
224 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
from his troubles, and restored to quiet and freedom. But in a
month or two the charms of rural retirement began to pall up-
on him. He sighed for more society than that afforded by his
two domestics and the parish priest, a worthy, but rough sort
of man. He had no library and no visitors, for his Salvatori
relatives were seldom in Castel Rubello. Cardinal Erskine
now fell into low spirits and thought himself neglected by his
cousins, because he had as yet received no answers to his
letters. In the month of September he wrote again to Coutts
the banker. But no letters from England arrived, and Erskine
felt broken down in spirits and in health. In October symp-
toms of some internal disorder appeared, and the Cardinal was
afraid of a sudden attack of paralysis or apoplexy. He said to
his servant, Lorenzo : — " Lorenzo, if ever you should perceive
that I can't speak, don't get me bled, but rather give me a
purgative."
While in this melancholy frame of mind, and in this deplor-
able state of health, Erskine was surprised on the 23rd of
November, by a messenger from General Radet, Inspector
General of Gendarmes at Rome, who brought a despatch from
the French Minister of Worship, Count Bigot de Priameneu,
enclosing a command to proceed to Paris, a passport and a
written order to the Imperial Gendarmes to furnish His
Eminence with the necessary escort from Orvieto to Paris.
The letter, dated from Paris, the 30th of October, 1809, was as
follows : —
" Monsignor Cardinal, I am charged, by His Majesty the
Emperor and King, to give you in his name the order to re-
move to Paris. I am authorized to render you the treatment
accorded to French Cardinals. I pray your Eminence to
acknowledge to me the receipt of this present letter and to
give me notice of your departure. Receive etc., Bigot de
Priameneu." The passport, written in the usual form, prescribed
the route from Orvieto, and was available up to the first day of
the next year. Cardinal Erskine was determined not to go to
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 225
Paris except by compulsion, and as this determination could
be better evidenced in Rome than in a countr)' place, and as
necessaries for the journey could be better provided in Rome,
he told the bearer of the despatch that he must first go to
Rome, and he refused to acknowledge the receipt of the letter,
lest by so doing he should seem to give his consent to this
forced journey.
Cardinal Erskine now returned to Rome, but not to his own
apartment in the Capranica palace, which he still rented, but
to a palace in Via di Aracocli, once the abode of Cardinal De
Zelada. On the second floor of this palace, lived Monsignor
Pio Ferrari, the husband of his only sister, Clementina Erskine.
A married Monsignor, as appears from Sala's Diario, was not
uncommon in Rome in those days. Certain offices in the Legal
Department of the Papal Government were held by married
men with the privilege of the title of Monsignor. Or perhaps
Ferrari's wife had died before her husband bore this title. Be
that as it may, the Cardinal's health demanded special assist-
ance, more easily to be obtained in the house of a relation than
in his own. On arriving at Ferrari's, the Cardinal fell ill and
remained in bed some time.
A great and sad change in Erskine's appearance was now
observed by his friends. But some persons deemed his illness
to be diplomatic only, and simulated in order to avoid the
Paris expedition. The French police were of this latter opinion,
for suddenly, on the 8th of December, General Radet sent him
the following letter, dated at " one o'clock of the afternoon " : —
" Eminence, The orders of H. M. the Emperor and King,
Napoleon, which have been transmitted to me 1>)' I lis
Excellency the Governor-General, arc that your Eminence
must leave within twenty-four hours for Paris. In notif)'ing to
your Eminence these orders of the Sovereign which do not
admit of delay or illusory excuse, I am charged to recommend
you to make known to their Excellencies the Ministers of
General Police and of Worship, the habitation which your
226 ATemou's of Cardinal Erskine.
Eminence shall choose in Paris on the moment of your arrival.
I offer to your Eminence the means of security for your
journey. I have the honour to be, with most respectful
consideration, your Eminence's most humble and devoted
servant, Radet."
The Cardinal did not obey this command, and the French
took no immediate notice of his delay, probably finding his
illness not so illusory as they had imagined, and waiting for
his recovery. Erskine, however, made preparations for leaving
and provided warm winter clothing, getting a box seat put to
his English carriage for his two domestics. The next question
was who was to accompany him ? Orazio Celestini, his
Auditor [who died Auditor of the Rota], promptly offered his
services. Erskine did not doubt his personal affection but
declined his offer with thanks, because he was of too vivacious
a disposition and occasionally imprudent ; and Erskine gave
as his reason that he wanted a Priest to be his companion, as
more becoming in the case of a Cardinal. Signora Marianna
Dionigi, by means of Count Antonio Bentivoglio, recommended
the Abbatc Michel Angelo de Medico, who was accustomed to
much travel and was at that time free and disengaged.
Meanwhile the Cardinal's illness, apparently of a rheumatic
character, proceeded with various alternations, until at Christ-
mas a decided improvement set in, giving hopes of a rapid and
permanent restoration of his health. An Aide-du-camp of
General Miollis, sent under pretext of polite enquiries after the
condition of the Cardinal, now paid a visit, and reminded him
of the intimation already twice given for leaving Rome, insist-
ing that as soon as possible he should start on the journey.
The Cardinal calmly and politely replied to the Aide-du-camp,
asking him to make General Miollis reflect that to a man
advanced in years, and not yet recovered from an illness of
about a month's duration, it could not but be extremely
inconvenient and perilous to health to undertake a journey in
the rawest part of the cold season : and therefore he begged a
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 227
respite at least until the opening of Spring. When the Aide-
du-camp replied that General Mioliis was not quite assured of
the reality, or at least the seriousness, of the illness, the
Cardinal, all inflamed with resentment, rose and sat up on the
bed where he had lain, and with his natural impetuosity said
to the Aide-du-camp : Tell the General that honour is hereditary
VI my family — an expression which signified much and was
faithfully reported to Mioliis, who complained of it and was
very angry.
Erskine knew now that the violence about to be done to him
was inevitable, he yet yielded to the remonstrances of his friends
and consented that one of them should interpose and tr)- to
obtain a delay until the Spring. In order to strengthen this
petition by authentic certificates concerning his health, a
consultation was held by three of the most eminent Roman
Doctors, including the Physician in attendance, who on the
30th of December unanimously signed a certificate, attested by
oath, that Cardinal Erskine was seventy-one [sic] years old, of
most delicate constitution, and now confined to bed for thirty-
five days with lumbar rheumatism, and consequent!}' was not
in a condition to undertake in that season any journey which
would expose him to the danger of very grave exacerbation. A
favourable response to this petition was confidently expected
by Erskine's friends, and he himself had some, but not very
strong, hopes that he would be allowed a further delay. That
very morning the Abbe Del Medico, who had accepted the
situation of Companion to the Cardinal, was introduced to
Erskine by Count Bentivoglio, and after conversation on other
matters the Cardinal told him that his duties would begin on
their leaving Rome, and probal)ly in Spring, but that it would
be well that Del Medico should arrange to be ready at any
moment for departure. The Cardinal repeated the same advice
on the following morning.
Nor was Erskine deceived, for on the 31st of December, just
after his talk with Del Medico, an aide-du-camp of Mioliis
228 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
came to intimate an absolutely immediate departure, although
the Cardinal was still kept in bed. This officer, either
spontaneously, or by suggestion of Miollis, did much to soften
the cruelty of this order, for while exhorting the Cardinal to
comply without further resistence and to exert himself to begin
the journey, he told him he might linger on the road at his
pleasure, make stoppages whenever and as long as he might
choose, and affirmed this to be the precise instruction of the
General and of His Imperial Majesty. As another inducement
not to remain longer in Rome, he reminded him that at the
commencement of the new year the provisional government in
Rome would cease, and the new government, entirely on a
French footing, would be established, and that scenes would
have to be witnessed which would necessarily be most painful
to him. Finally he told him that the same orders had been
given for the other two Cardinals who yet remained in Rome,
namely Vincenti and Delia Porta, both of whom were to
depart, although Delia Porta was in a very bad state of health.
Cardinal Erskine had no difficulty in admitting a further
delay in Rome to be most painful to contemplate, and that
Paris would afford a more pleasant residence as a city which he
had already known, and in which he might meet many influential
friends who formerly professed great attachment to him. His
present reluctance to set out arose from his infirmities, his need
of repose, and the want of pecuniary resources for such an
expensive journey. Finally he promised to use all possible
haste, and as for money he would travel as long as his means
held out. As the Officer did not mention the usual twenty-
four hours, Erskine thought he would be let alone for at least
a couple of days. But alas ! two hours had not elapsed when
the Officer returned before 4 o'clock P.M. to notify his departure
the following night, and by way of securing obedience posted
a Gendarme in the anti-chamber. He demanded the names of
the persons and domestics who were to accompany Erskine, for
insertion in the new passport to be given before starting, and
Memoirs of Cardinal Ersktne. 229
then went off to give similar intimations to the other two
Cardinals.
The French Government in Rome was known for its art of
vexing and worrying, so Cardinal Erskine bent to circumstances,
and gave directions to pack the trunks, and sent to Del Medico
to come quickly, ready for travel, and to forward his luggage.
The Cardinal himself arranged the packing of his travelling
case, sitting up in his bed, from which he thought he would
only rise to get into his carriage. By four o'clock P.M. on the
day appointed, all was ready for starting except the passport
and to send for the horses. By midnight the passport had not
arrived. The other Cardinals, Vincenti and Delia Porta, who
were similarly treated, had gone to bed. Cardinal Erskine
thought it wise to do the same, especially as the Gendarme
had asked for a bed for himself, and he sent word to Del
Medico, that in case of leaving during the night or early the
next morning, he would call for him at his house which lay
directly in the route.
The passports did not arrive that night nor yet on the follow-
ing day, which was New Year's Day, so that they spent that
solemnity in tranquility. Cardinal Erskine profited by the
delay to arrange better his travelling necessaries. He had to
complain of his servants for not having got the tailor to make
him a suit of garments to wear over his ordinary dress. They
had only bought the materials and packed them in a trunk.
Many Roman friends and a few prelates who were still in
Rome, came to visit His Eminence, and to all of them the
Cardinal seemed wonderfully recovered. The Cardinal went
to bed early, to save his strength as much as possible.
On the 2nd of January, 18 10, at about 8 o'clock A.M. the
passport was brought, and the Cardinal fixed midday as the
time for setting out. When Del Medico arrived at 10 o'clock,
ready for the road, he found a French Officer with Erskine, who
had brought from Miollis 3,000 francs, to pay for expenses.
This was not a gift, for as such it would not have been
230 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
accepted, but an advance of the allowance assigned by
Napoleon to all the Cardinals he deported. General Miollis
was very anxious that Erskine should receive this money, lest
there should be a repetition of the scandal which happened in
the case of Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo, who when forced away
from Amelia, to which place he had retired, had to stop at the
first town on his way, for absolute want of money to pay for
post horses. Erskine, in fact, had only funds to bring him as
far as Bologna, so that this advance of money was most
convenient. Del Medico took charge of the 3,000 francs, for
which Erskine gave a receipt. General Radet sent along with
the passport a written order to be presented to the Imperial
Gendarmes at any place where His Eminence desired an escort
for security. This apparent act of civility and respect was an
empty form, for the Cardinal was in reality a prisoner and
bound to obey the orders of the Gendarmes, as was soon
proved. All was now ready and the Cardinal was about to
send for the post horses, when he was informed that the
Gendarme in the anti-chamber would not allow them to depart
until the arrival of the other Gendarme who was to be their
escort. In fact the French police were arranging matters for
the departure on the same morning of the three Cardinals, who
were to go in the following order ; — first Vincenti, secondly
Delia Porta and last of all Erskine. But it was impossible for
Erskine to foresee this arrangement, and it so happened that
he only got his chocolate in the morning, and had to wait until
evening for refreshment.
While the Cardinal — in company with some intimate friends
who had come to say farewell, such as Mgr. Pio Ferrari,
Orazio Celestini, Count Alexander Cardelli and others — stood
waiting the order for departure, he was astonished by the
entrance of Luigi Chiaveri,* stepson of the Banker Torlonia,
♦ Anna Maria Schulteis, born 1760, married Guiseppe Chiaveri, by whom she
had three children, CaroHna, Luigi and Agostino Chiaveri. Her husband, Guiseppe
Chiaveri, died in 1783, and ten years later, in 1793, she took for her second husband
Duke Giovanni Torlonia, the great banker and founder of the Torlonia family.
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 231
who presented him with letters just ariivcd from England, and
informed him that iJ^400, b}' commission from Coutts, lay in the
Torlonia bank at his disposal. This was truly consoling news
for Erskine, and such as to cheer him in the midst of the
troubles which arose from illness and vexations. How long
had he desired answers to his letters to England and expected
them in vain? Now, on the point of stepping into his carriage,
he learnt that his cousins had not forgotten him and that
the remittance at present received was an earnest for future
succour. Had he known this a few hours earlier, he would
have rejected the money sent by MioUis. Yet he felt this
providential relief to be very timely. He had debts at Rome.
He must not abandon some old servants whom he could not
take with him. And therefore he resolved to leave the ^^^400
in Torlonia's bank at present, to discharge his obligations in
Rome. It must not be forgotten that some days before he
had received from Torlonia a circular letter, addressed to the
Bankers in the several towns in correspondence with Torlonia,
charging them to supply the Cardinal with whatever money he
might want. Even although Torlonia might have been certain
of eventual re-imbursement, yet he was none the less entitled
to praise for his forethought and kind interest displayed
towards his old friend.
Before proceeding further it may be proper to give the
purport of the letters* now received from England. They
were three in number, and two of them were from Mr. Thomas
Coutts to the Cardinal. In the first Coutts tells Erskine that he
had received his letter of July 12, 1809, and that as far as he
could look into the future, the Cardinal's position was a critical
one. Yet he had entertainctl some hope that out of respect
for his rank there would be given him in Rome suitable means
of subsistence, without reducing him to such a state of humili-
* It is to be regretted that the original letters have been lost. They arc here re-
produced from Del Medico 't, Italian version.
232 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
ation and need as was disclosed in his letter, which had smitten
him to the heart. He assures him that he had forwarded
the letter which had been enclosed for Lord Kellie, his cousin.
He adds, " when I reflect that the death of this Peer and of his
brother would raise you to so high a rank among the most
ancient and respectable names of Scotland, I see clearly that
your present position is all the more hard and cruel and the
worthier of pity and compassion. If we had now the former
Ministers Pitt and Fox, or men like them at the head of the
public affairs of our Government, I would not in the least
doubt that your position would be at once taken into considera-
tion and alleviated in the proper manner, but it must be
confessed that in the actual state of things I must not nourish
the smallest hope. You may be quite certain, my dear
Cardinal, that I shall neglect no means to serve you, and that
I shall work with Lord Kellie as far as may be in my power.
Meanwhile I have given directions to Torlonia to furnish you
with a credit for £200 ster. which will serve to extricate you
from your immediate embarrassment, and afterwards I shall
write again on the earliest opportunity."
In his second letter dated, September 30th, 1809, Mr. Coutts
writes : " I hope the letter will have arrived safely to you,
which I wrote, and the duplicate or triplicate, to inform you of
the commission given to Torlonia, and I will give orders to
furnish you, if you desire it, with a second sum of i^200 sterling,
so that iJ^400 may be at your service if necessary. You can
judge better than I can, what situation suits you best ; either
England or some country where the English are in force, and
where the most secure protection may be afforded to you, if
some remote part of Italy cannot be found to present an asylum
more advantageous to your health and more suitable to your
habits. Here we are threatened with a change in our Govern-
ment, I mean in the Ministry. If this should happen, your
friends may have offered to them an opportunity of getting
you such a pension as may put you into the independence of
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
deciding whether you will come to England or remain on the
Continent. Be very sure, m)' dear friend, that nothing will be
more warmly at my heart than the rendering to you some
essential service. It seems to me that your cousin is really
most anxiously exerting himself for the same purpose."
The third letter was from Lord Kellie, written on September
30th, 1809, from his residence near S. Andrews, and was in
answer to that of the Cardinal which had been sent through
Coutts. Lord Kellie began by saying that he had written by
way of Portugal, and under cover to the Advocate Lupacchioli,
as if directed by the Nuncio of that realm, a letter dated 30th
July, 1809, which, to judge by Erskine's silence had not reached
its destination. Nor had Erskine received a previous letter of
July 20th, 1808, in which Lord Kellie had given Erskine power
to draw on Coutts for iJ"200 sterling, whenever he might have
occasion. Lord Kellie, in November, 1808, had sent another
letter to the same effect. He then proceeds : " Our friend
Coutts writes me word that he has now sent a credit on Banker
Torlonia, which I hope will soon reach you. Be certain of my
affectionate attachment, and that as long as I have means to
succour you, you shall never find yourself in indigence. My
interest in you will never cease under any circumstances."
Finally in a postscript he adds : " I have submitted to Mr.
Coutts' opinion, whether it would be proper to write in )-our
behalf a Memorial to the King upon your unfortunate situation.
His Majesty was alwajs gracious to }ou when you were in
England. Addio."
The non-arrival of those letters may be accounted for by the
supposition that they were intercepted by the French Police,
and withheld on account of the suggestions that Erskine should
take refuge in England.
Cardinal Erskine was waiting for the Gendarme, who came
at 12 o'clock, and it was expected they would start at once.
But no — the Gendarme had not had his breakfast, and they
must wait until he got a dejeujicr a la fourchette. At last, at
15
234 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
half-past 12 o'clock, the Gendarme got into the saddle, aiid the
Cardinal entered his carriage, after embracing Ferrari and his
friends, amid the cheers of the people, who crowded about the
door wishing him a happy journey and a speedy return. He
was much moved by this demonstration of respect. The route
lay through the via del Gesii, piazza Venezia and the Corso.
The day was fine, and many persons in the streets saluted the
Cardinal with signs of their dissatisfaction at his departure.
In the Corso they met General Miollis in a carriage coming
from an opposite direction. The General took off his hat and
made a profound salutation to the Cardinal, who considered
this mock attention as an act of derision and a fresh insult.
They then passed the Porta del Popolo and were out of Rome,
the carriage being followed by the Gendarme.
Rome was now despoiled of all its old ecclesiastical splen-
dour. Not a single Cardinal was left in the city. Not even a
Bishop was spared to guide religious affairs. Monsignor de
Gregorio, then a simple priest, was appointed Apostolic Dele-
gate, and Monsignor Atanasio, then only a priest, was the
acting Vice-Gerent, with faculties also of Vicar of Rome.
Just after leaving the gates, the Cardinal desired the recita-
tion of the " Itinerary of Clerics," and afterwards eight De
profundis for souls in Purgatory. The De profundis were re-
peated at every change of horses, and as they were changed at
intervals of eight Roman miles, they recited one De profundis
for each mile. The daily routine during the whole journe}',
which took up twenty-four days, including the whole day they
stopped at Chalons-sur-Soane, was as follows : — They travelled
generally from morning till evening, and as they went recited
at intervals the Divine office for the day, according to the
order of the Vatican Basilica, of which the Cardinal had been
Canon. The De profundis was said at the proper intervals,
and the Rosary towards the evening. The rest of the time in
the carriage was spent in talking of the affairs of the day, or of
events in the past career of the Cardinal, who was very eloquent
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 235
in praise of England, to which country he longed to return.
Erskine sometimes read Horace, especially the Odes. When
evening fell they put up in the best inn they could find, and
after supper went to bed. Each morning Erskine took choco-
late made by his own servant after the Roman fashion.
At Storta, their first change of horses, the Postillions came
to the carriage door to express their sorrow at having been
employed to carry off a Cardinal. Tears were in their eyes,
and they never even looked at the niancia when put into their
hands. The Cardinal was much moved, but this demonstration
on the part of the Postillions was not repeated at any other
stage within the Pontifical States. When they reached Monte
Rosi, and were waiting for fresh horses and a fresh Gendarme,
a sub-officer of Gendarmes came to the carriage door, and
talked to the Cardinal about the carriage, which he much
admired, and about the journey. The Cardinal said he would
like to stop the night at Nepi, and the officer remarked, but
without the least appearance of dictation, that he could easily
push farther on to Civita Castellana.
At Nepi, the Cardinal stopped the carriage at Casa Bctti,
where he purposed to sleep, and went to the room shown him
by the Padrone. But when the servants were taking out the
luggage, the Gendarme, who kept in his saddle close to the
carriage, shouted to them to say they should not remove the
trunks, for they must resume the journey. In vain Del IMcdico
remonstrated. He told the Gendarme that General Miollis
had given the Cardinal permission to stop where and when he
liked, and that General Radct had provided the escort for
security not for surveillance. Finall}' he said that the Cardinal
had had nothing since his chocolate, and was in need of
refreshment and repose, having only risen the day before from
his bed to which he had been confined for thirty-five days.
The Gendarme would listen to nothing, and raised his voice as
if to threaten force. There was no help for it. They had to
go on. But the Cardinal got a soup, and also had some conver-
236 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskinc.
sation with Cardinal Delia Porta, who was in that very house.
It seems the police had directions not to allow two Cardinals
to meet together in any town in the Pontifical Territory. It
was very late when they arrived in Civita Castellana, and were
allowed to stop and rest in the only inn, and that a bad one,
in that city.
The next morning they left Civita Castellana at 6.30 A.M.,
and soon found, to the Cardinal's great joy, that no Gendarme
accompanied them, and that consequently they would be more
free to select their stopping places. In fact when nearing
Terni, the Cardinal recollected that a Convent of Discalced
Carmelites was but a little way off the main road, and that
there lived Cardinal Trajetto Carafa, who in consideration of
his age (over eighty) had, when driven from Rome, been dis-
pensed from proceeding farther. Erskine resolved to pay a
short visit to Carafa, and when near the Convent, got down
from his carriage and with his valet walked to the Convent,
sending on the carriage with Del Medico to Terni, with
instructions to hire a conveyance in Terni to bring the Cardinal
in half an hour to rejoin his travelling carriage at Terni,
intending to proceed thence to Spoleto to pass the night. The
French police were accurately informed of all this, but there
was no Gendarme to interfere, and Erskine, being not prevented
by force, visited every Cardinal he found on his route. The
Bishop of Terni, hearing of Erskine's position, drove in his own
carriage to find the two Cardinals at the Convent, and after an
hour's visit brought Erskine back with him to Terni. This
delay was very fortunate, for no fresh post-horses were to be
had in Terni, and the tired horses required a rest before starting
for Spoleto.
The journey to Spoleto was slow and tedious, and no oxen
were to be found to drag the carriage up the hill of Somma.
They did not arrive in Spoleto until half-past six in the
evening. Cardinal Erskine availed himself of an invitation
given in Rome to make use of the Pianciani palace. The
Memoirs of Cardinal Ersknic. 237
Count Pianciani was not of course in Spolcto, but had c^ivcn
Erskinc a letter to his Maestro di Casa, who hastily prepared a
repast. The Cardinal found compensation in this lordl}'
dwelling for his miserable treatment and bad nii^dit in Civita
Castellana.
Near Spoleto, on the road to Foligno, is a Convent of
Discalced Augustinians, in which resided Cardinal Antonelli,
Dean of the Sacred College, who was compelled by order of
General Miollis to leave Rome on the 6th of September, iSoS,
but by reason of his age, which was eight)-, was permitted to
retire to this Convent, where he lived a solitary life. Erskine
spent half an hour with him on the morning of the fourth of
January, and the poor old Dean parted from him with tears.
They arrived in Foligno at mid-day, and here the Cardinal
resolved to sleep and get the overcoats and trousers for himself
and servants, which had been forgotten to be done in Rome,
made up by a tailor, who was recommended by his old friend
the Marchese Gilberti, and who promised to have them ready
early next morning. Erskinc stayed in the inn — a bad one — all
day, close to the fire, and was visited by the bishop, Mgr.
Moscardini. Marchese Gilberti remained with him and shewed
him every attention. The tailor was not very punctual, and
they did not leave Foligno before half-past nine the following
morning. Some miles beyond Gualdo, the frontier, dividing
the Pontifical States from the Kingdom of Ital)', was reached,
and passports were demanded at both Custom houses. There
was no examination of luggage. At six p.m. they arrived at
Sigillo and sought for the Augustinian Convent, having got a
letter to the Prior from the Father Provincial. The Prior was
delighted to see them, and prepared rooms for them at once.
The Cardinal begged to be allowed to enter the room where
the I-^athers assembled in common, thinking it would be
warmer, and also wishing to give time for heating his own
apartment. Erskine was then brought to a roughly furnished
hall on the ground floor, and was glad to find great blocks of
238 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
wood blazing in a huge fireplace such as those once used in old
Roman palaces. Erskine liked this room so well that he asked
leave to sup theie with the Friars. The request was granted
but the Cardinal and his Secretary had a special supper.
Next morning at daybreak, the Feast of the Epiphany, the
Cardinal went to Mass with the Friars. Del Medico said Mass
at the High Altar, and the Church was full of people, all
coughing very much. Afterwards Chocolate was served for
Erskine and Del Medico, the servants got breakfast, and they
left at 9 a.m. On their (Miward route they passed a spot on
the hill side where the Marchese Lepri's carriage, being covered
with snow, was overturned, and the Marchese himself was with
difficulty rescued by the people of Sigillo. There was now a
bright sunshine and no snow. At Scheggia, the postillions
stopped the carriage to give opportunity to view the bridge,
which is of singular and ingenious construction, and after
Cantiano the road among the Appennines became most
enchanting. Erskine's astonishment was increased on nearing
the Furlo Pass, for there the chain of mountains closes in on
both sides, leaving only a narrow passage for the torrent. The
darkening of the air towards sunset gradually inspired a feeling
of horror, which came to a climax in penetrating the tunnel
cut in the living rock. The prospect on emerging from the
tunnel was marvellously beautiful. They passed the night at
Fossombrone, and in the morning (Sunday, January 7) drove
to Fano, where they changed horses, and got out to admire the
calm and placid .sea. They now saw a ship, which Erskine
pronounced to be an English one, and said to Del Medico :
How gladly would I leave all this beautiful country if I could
only save my person and remove myself from the insolent
domination of Napoleon ! He then talked of the freedom of
travel in England, the absence of the passport and dogana
nuisances, etc. They passed on through Pesaro and Cattolica
and reached Rimini in the evening. Here Prince Spada sent
his compliments to Erskine, apologizing for not coming in
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 239
person as he was fatigued. Spada was returning from Paris,
where he had been figuring as a member of the Deputation
sent from Rome, with Duke Braschi as President, to thank the
Emperor for all his benign doings in Rome ! Spada by his
message to Erskine shewed that he wished to keep well with
both sides. The Dukes Braschi owed their all to Pius VI., the
uncle of one Duke, and to Pius IX., the patron of another
Duke, who was as anxious to welcome Victor Emannucl as his
predecessor was to curry favour with Napoleon.
At 8 A.M. on next morning (January 8) they resumed travel,
but the atmosphere had changed, and the cold and frost caused
Erskine great suffering. At Cesena they visited Cardinal
Braschi, who by reason of gout and other ailments, had been
allowed to stay there. Braschi gave them a cordial reception
and refreshments. The conversation fell on Paris, which cit)'
Braschi had visited on two occasions, the first in \'J~'?^, when he
went as Ablegate to carry the Berretta to the two Cardinals,
De la Rochefoucauld and De Rohan, and the second time when
he was present with Pius VII. at the Coronation of Napoleon.
On taking leave, Braschi burst into tears bewailing the unhappy
state of affairs. They next went to Faenza, where they arrived
in the evening and were visited by Cavalier Dionigi Strocchi,
the Sub-Prefect. This was not a visit of formality or out of
mere respect, but was one of friendship, for Erskine and Strocchi
had been intimate friends years ago in Rome, in the house tif
Signora Marianna Dionigi. It was a most pleasant evening
for the Cardinal. The conversation fell on old times, the poets
and especially Horace. Strocchi made Erskine a present of
the Mymns of Callimacus, translated and published by him in
Milan, 1808 ; and of a Canto Genetl'.aco composed and published
in 1807, for the Vicino parto of Agosta Amalia, Vice-Ouecn of
Naples. This visit caused the Hotel people to be ver}- ci\il and
also moderate in their charges. Monsignor Zauli, who was
living in I""aenza on account of the troubles in Rt»me, came ti»
240 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
see Erskine and evidently wanted to talk politics, but was
prevented by the presence of the Sub- Prefect.
On the 9th of January they arrived at Bologna, at half past
one o'clock P.M., and stopped in the Pellegrino Hotel to pass
the night there, as they had business to transact, and the
Cardinal needed rest. In the evening Monsignor Scarpelli,
the Marchesi Boschi and and other friends canne in and paid
a very long visit. The next night they slept at Parma at
the Imperial Hotel, where they found Cardinal Vincenti, who
had left Rome the same day that Erskine left it, and had
hitherto been always in advance, but from Parma onwards was
always behind Erskine. The two Cardinals were glad to meet.
On the nth of January they passed through Piacenza and
slept at Castel S. Giovanni. They had a tedious journey, for
the roads were covered with ice. At Borgo S. Donnino the
Cardinal had put some questions to the Postmaster, who in
answering addressed him by his family name. Erskine then
asked him how he knew it ? The Postmaster frankly said : —
" From yesterday it was known here that your Eminence was
to pass, as also the other Cardinal who remains behind, and I
can also assure you that already at this hour it is known in
Milan that your Eminence has left Parma to pursue your
journey." This was a convincing proof to Erskine that
although he was not attended by a Gendarme, yet all his
movements were watched. Much snow fell this night.
Erskine on the 12th of January, arrived at Alexandria, and
lodged in the Albergo d' lialia. In the same hotel were
staying Duke Braschi, Cavaliers Falconieri and Palombi, who
along with Prince Spada had been sent by General Miollis to
thank the Emperor, in the name of the Romans, for having de-
stroyed the Pontifical Government and reduced Rome to a
simple French department. Duke Braschi was named Presi-
dent of this deputation, which had presented its homage to the
new Sovereign of Rome, with all the formalities and solemni-
ties prescribed by Bonaparte. In the morning they came to
Me )f loirs of Cardinal Erskine. 241
visit Erskine, who onl)' received Braschi and Falconieri. Pal-
ombi was left in another room to talk to Del Medico. The
conversation was brief, and only on matters of travel. Erskine,
when on the road, could not keep from telling Del Medico of
the painful impression produced by seeing Braschi, the nephew
of Pius VI., at the head of such a scoundrelly deputation, and
apparently content with his ignominious mission. At four
o'clock on this day (the 13th) they reached Turin and went to
La Bonne Feinine, an hotel recommended — and justly so, as
events proved — by a passing traveller for its good fare and
moderate charges.
Immediately on arrival, the Cardinal sent a note to Signora
Dcodata Salluzzo, a literary lady of much celebrity at that
time in Turin and in all Italy. She soon came to see Mis
Eminence. Then came a Gendarme to restore the passport
which had been given up on entering the city, but instead of
giving it, as is usual, to the servant, he insisted on consigning
it to the Cardinal himself, perhaps to make sure of his identity.
The then Governor of Turin was Prince Camillo Borghese, who
kept his post with almost sovereign magnificence. He knew
of the Cardinal's arrival, but paid him no visit, although he
usually shewed that courtesy to all the Roman travellers.
Perhaps he was afraid of causing suspicion by politeness to a
Cardinal. On the next morning (Sunday, January I4thj
Erskine went early to Mass at S. Lorenzo, which was near the
Hotel. Del Medico was the celebrant. The Padrone had sent
notice the evening before to the Sacristan, so that all was found
ready, and two very neat and polished seculars made excuses
to Del Medico for not using tho.sc distinctions proper to a
Cardinal, giving him to understand that they were sorry for
the omission, which was intentional, and not an over-sight.
There was nothing but a cushion placed at the rails for the
Cardinal, and a common chair if he wished to use it. After
mass they left Turin at 9 A..M. for Susa. The costumes of the
Contadine on the Sunday were very [)rett>'.
242 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
At Susa, where they arrived at half-past 3 o'clock in the
afternoon, they expected a refreshing rest as a preparation for
the passage of Mont Cenis. But the only hotel, the Post, in
Susa, was the worst they ever met. The dinner was bad and
disagreed with the Cardinal's stomach, though he had little
appetite and ate little. The beds were so bad that Erskine was
kept awake all the night. At five next morning (January 15)
they left Susa to make the ascent of the mountain. Erskine
seemed in bad condition for exposure to fatigue, and indeed
from the snow, the cold and hardship, had now lost all the
vigour which he had gained by the earlier portion of his
journey. The snow was falling, but there was no wind. The
Cardinal now felt the benefit of having his good London
carriage, which closed perfectly so as to exclude the cold air
from without. The movement of the carriage was like that of
a litter, easy and most comfortable; the lining was warm, and
the cushions were much softer than the bed at Susa. For
additional heat they afterwards lighted two wax candles and
kept them burning within the carriage.
In two stages they reached S. Martino, to change horses. It
was usual for travellers to dismount here to put slides under
the carriage, but the Postmaster told them that they might go
on as they were to the top of the mountain, as the road had
been kept free of snow by a number of men in expectation of
the arrival of some great personage who was to come from
Italy to pass into France. He said also that he would attach
to the carriage two horses in addition to the six which they had
employed from Susa. They would however be obliged to
travel slowly for the remaining three P'rench stages between
S. Martino and the plateau. Erskine was glad not to be re-
quired to leave the carriage. At mid day they reached the
plateau which terminates the ascent. Not far from the entrance
of this plateau is the Hospice established by the Monks with
the permission of Napoleon. The postillions had asked
whether Erskine would stop at the Hospice, and at first
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 243
received an answer in the negative. But short!}' afterwards the
Cardinal, who had occasion to get down from his carriage, got
such a fit of chill and trembling that he changed his mind.
The Monks gave him a cordial reception and put him in a
room with a blazing fire, as they perceived from his pallor that
he badly wanted warmth. They also gave him some hot broth.
The Superior, Dom Michel Angelo, in the Abbot's absence,
prayed the Cardinal to stop for dinner now, at their usual
hour, either in the general Refectory or in his own warm room
to avoid changing the air. There would be plenty of time to
travel after dinner. The Cardinal consented, and the table
was prepared. At dinner were present two French Com-
missaries, sent to maintain the road and keep it fit for the
passage of King Murat, who was expected from Naples.
Before dinner they were presented to the Cardinal, who talked
with them on general subjects. Erskine now learned of the
publication of Les Martyrs^ by Chateaubriand, a work — said
the Commissaries — of greater fame to the author than even his
Genie du Christia^iisvte. The dinner was good, and the trout
from the lake exquisite, but Erskine had no appetite, and his
illness was so apparent that he was prevailed on by the Monks
to stay the night, and at once to go to his bedroom and try to
sleep.
Del Medico took a short stroll outside, and then went to the
room of one of the Monks, with whom he talked, but always
with great caution and reserve, inasmuch as the two Com-
missaries were devoted to the French Government ; and a
single word, if overheard, might seriously compromise the
Cardinal. The Monk, noticing this reticence, took down an
octavo volume and asked if the things therein published about
Rome, Miollis, and the seizure of the Tope, were true. Del
Medico read a {q-w pages and was astonished to find printed in
French that which, if only written in manuscript in Rome,
would be most compromising and sufficient to cause the arrest
of the daring; writer. He came to the conclusion also that
244
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Monks living in retirement might be better informed about
affairs than folks living in the world.
To the surprise of Del Medico, the Cardinal now came in
and brought him to visit Dom Michel Angelo, the Superior, a
man of good presence, fresh for his age, and of polished
manners, fitted for one who had to receive many guests of rank
and position. Erskine after his two hours of sleep had regained
a little of his vivacity. This Hospice was like that of S.
Bernard or S. Gothard, and was endowed by Napoleon with
30,000 francs annually, with liberty to cut timber for fuel, on
condition of giving shelter and food to all travellers who
demanded hospitality. They kept a register of all their guests,
and shewed the autograph signatures of many Cardinals and
of Napoleon, who had twice been there. The Superior shewed
them Napoleon's room, which was well but plainly furnished.
The Superior little thought that in three years time he would
be called on to receive Pius VII., on his forced journey from
Savona to Fontainbleau.
They supped with the Monks in the Refectory, and trouts
were again cooked at the request of the Cardinal, who had
eaten so little at dinner, but now had a good appetite. He
slept well that night.
They rose early the next morning (January 16), and in the
chapel, which was not very warm, Erskine heard Mass said by
Del Medico. After coffee and milk they left the Hospice at
8 A.M. The Head Inspector of roads, who resided at the
Hospice, sent a number of men to accompany the carriage to
be ready to help the Cardinal in any difficulty. The greater
number of these men were dismissed with gifts by Erskine, and
with directions to thank, in the Cardinal's name, the Head
Inspector for his courtesy. He retained only four of these
men, and it was well he did so, for, when turning a corner, so
violent a gust of wind met them that the carriage would
certainly have been overturned but for the four men on foot,
who were prepared for the emergency, and by force of their
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 245
hands and arms kept the carriage from falling over. At Lans-
le-bourg they entered Savoy, and they slept in a good inn at
S. Jean de Maurienne.
They passed the night of the 17th at Chambory, and
resuming their journey on the iSth, fcuind the weather ex-
cessively cold. In vain they lighted four candles inside the
carriage. They pitied the poor servants on the box-scat and
would have brought them inside had there been room enough,
but the carriage was built for two only. At Les EcJielles Del
Medico and the servants had to get down and walk, for the old
road was precipitous and steep, as if going into an abyss.
Here two men with ropes and chains made the hind wheels of
the carriage immoveable. At Pont Beauvoisin, the French
frontier, they got sunshine, which they had not enjoyed for a
long time. They slept at Bourgoin, Hotel de la Postc. In
this hotel, Erskine, noticing some small hammers or maces on
the mantelpiece in the dining-room, asked the landlady what
they meant. She, with an air of great satisfaction, said there
had been that day a party of Freemasons, who used the
hammers to mark applause, etc. Erskine told Del Medico he
did not expect much from such an hotel, and he was right in
his judgment, for they were charged double prices and got very
inferior treatment.
At 2 P.M. of the iQth they arrived at the H^tel du Pare in
Lyons. The landlady observed the miserable state to which
the Cardinal was reduced by the extreme cold, and advised
him for his health's sake to make a short stay, and offered to
send for the Vicars General to visit him. But P>skine refused,
and said he only wanted rest, and he went to his room where
there was a blazing fire. Yet the cold was so intense that
water froze near the fireplace. At 7 P.M. on the 20th they
arrived for the night at Macon, and after mass on the 21st, set
out for Cha,lon-sur-Soanc, which they reached in the evening,
and put up at the Hotel du Pare.
Erskine was surprised when the landlad}', meeting him at the
24*^ Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
carriage door, called him " Eminence," and when he enquired
the reason, she said she knew his quality from the arms on the
carriage. But she probably got her information from the
police. In the same hotel were some Spanish prisoners of high
rank. They were six in number, and came after supper to
Erskine's room to pay him a visit, sta}'ing half-an-hour. They
were all military men, some of them Generals, and strongly
attached to Ferdinand. They said they were content with
their treatment by the French Government, and promised to
see the Cardinal off in the morning. Erskine invited them to
a Chocolate breakfast at 9 A.M. They came punctually.
Erskine apologised for the Chocolate which was not prepared
in the Spanish fashion. French Chocolate pleases neither
Italians nor Spaniards. They chatted pleasantly until the
hour for departure had passed, and the carriage had been some
time waiting at the door. Del Medico reminded His Eminence
of this, and the Cardinal said he was sorry to go. If you are
sorry — said Del Medico — there is an easy remedy. Let the
horses be taken off, and defer departure till to-morrow. The
Spaniards also urged the delay, as snow had fallen in the night
and the cold was intense. The Cardinal consented to remain,
and invited the Spaniards to coffee after the three o'clock
dinner. The Si)aniards regarded Erskine as a British subject,
and both Spaniards and Britons were then intolerant of the
French power. The Spaniards also visited Erskine in the
evening, and presented to him a young Englishman, a prisoner
of war, who had taken service in Spain ; and the Cardinal
spoke to him kindl}^, and in the English language. But when
alone with Del Medico, Erskine said he did not like this intro-
duction of the Englishman in an hotel which was doubtless
watched by the police, and he determined to go away in the
morning, and gave orders accordingly.
They departed at 8 A.M. on the 23rd of January, saluted by
the Spaniards, but the Englishman did not appear.
When in the carriaije with Del Medico, the conversation fell
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 247
oil the conduct to be observed in Paris, and the Cardinal
said : —
" I am now about to arrive in Paris, the last, or the last but
one, of the Cardinals, Vincenti alone arriving afterwards. It
may be said that the whole of the Sacred College is assembled
there, for only four or five are wanting who are disabled, by
age and infirmity, from travelling. Now I know for a certainty
that all the Cardinals get pecuniary support from the French
Government ; that they all arc presented at Court and generally
assist on Sundays at the Emperor's Mass ; and finally that
the)' all get apartments, carriages, servants, and everytliing
which would be suitable to their rank, if they were in free and
untrammelled circumstances, and if the Church were happy,
and if the Holy Father were joined with them, exercising in
freedom his full and independent authority. What ought I to
do, when I find them unanimously agreed in maintaining such
a course of behaviour ?
" To oppose them and adopt a different mode of life would
tend to nothing save to get m)self obloquy, and the reputation
of being imprudent, ridiculous, and fantastical. And I would
place myself in complete disunion from my colleagues, who,
after all, would not go back or change their conduct in the
least. It was our duty to make the Paris public see plainly
that we did not come to P>ance in answer to a simple invitation
of the Emperor, as they wished to have it understood, but
because we were reallj- carried off by force. We ought to have
made it patent to the wo: Id that we were in a state of mourning,
as trul}' the Catholic Church is, by reason of the outrageous
violence committed on the person of the Vicar of Christ, and
his strict imprisonment at Savona. This is why we should
from the first have rejected the pecuniary assignment under
any title, and afterwards we should have passed a retired life
in strict privac)*, occupying modest habitations, without carriages
or ostentation of luxur\-, as is suitable to prisoners and persons
violent!)- deported, and living each on his own i)rivate resources
248 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskiue.
— all our Ecclesiastical incomes being sequestrated — and the
richer fraternally assisting the poorer. Then there would be
little difficulty in abstaining from going to Court, in refusing
invitations, and in declining distinctions only granted to illude
the public. This in fine was the proper behaviour to be shown
by persons who yielded only to force. But the Cardinals in
Paris, and among them the most venerable of the Sacred
College have adopted quite another course. They go to Court,
and they assist at the Emperor's Mass, and if now they do not
see anything in it save the simple assistance at the Divine
sacrifice, the day will probably come when this assistance will
become problematical, and then, but too late, they will learn
the error they committed from the first." By this last observa-
tion Erskine probably alluded to the Emperor's second
marriage, as a step to which, measures were already taken for
the annulment of that with Josephine, a marriage which was
indeed a cause of schism among the Cardinals.
They halted on the night of the 23rd at Autun, on the 24th
at Avallon, and on the 25th at Sens. On the 26th of January,
1 8 10, at 4 o'clock P.M., they entered Paris by the Charentin
Barrier.
They drove first to the Hotel de Rome, but found it full.
Cardinals Doria and Gabrielli and other persons from Italy
were there. Then by advice of the well-known Courier, Livio
Palmoni, they tried the Hotel des Ministres which also was
full. They then, as night was coming on, told the Postillions
to drive to any hotel which they knew had accommodation,
and they were brought to the Hotel d' Autriche, Rue Traversiere
S. Honorc. It was necessar)- to accept here, at a very dear
price, two rooms on the third floor with a small bedroom for
the servants. On the following morning [January 27] Erskine
was going to call on Cardinal Doria for advice, when Doria's
servant, Carlino, who had been before in Paris with his master
when Nuncio in France, and who knew the French language
and the city well, came, in his master's name, to invite Erskine
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 249
and Del Medico to dinner, and to offer his services in finding a
lodging. Del Medico and Carlino went together on this quest,
and hired an apartment on the first floor of the Hotel
Taranne, Rue Taranne, an apartment tolerably convenient, but
not to be ready for occupation until the day after the morrow.
The carriage was also hired. There was great affluence of
strangers at that time into Paris and little choice of apartments.
Cardinal Despuig the same morning had taken a first floor in
the same hotel. In the mean while the master of the Hotel (V
Aiitriche^ hearing of their intended departure, offered at same
price a first floor apartment, but Erskine refused it.
Erskine and Del Medico at the hour appointed went to dine
with Cardinal Doria. . No one was at the table save the three
Cardinals and their three Secretaries. The\' were surprised to
find a meat dinner on a Saturda}', but they were informed that
in all French dioceses where the Cathedrals were dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin Mary, it was the privilege to eat meat on
all Saturdays between Christmas and the Purification. Some
other Cardinals came in to see Erskine. Before they went
away. Cardinal Doria invited Erskine to attend Mass on the
next day (Sunday, the 28th) in his — Doria's — chapel. The
Cardinal accepted the invitation, and went the next morning
and returned after Mass to his hotel, and received visits from
several Cardinals and Romans, who were then in Paris.
Among the first to visit Erskine was Cardinal Consalvi,
whose visit was necessarily brief, as he was to be presented the
very same morning to Napoleon by Cardinal Fesch. This
limitation of time was not accidental in a statesman like Con-
salvi, but was premeditated in order to avoid a long conversa-
tion with Erskine. In fact, Erskine and Consalvi saw little of
each other afterwards, and were now no better agreed in their
views than they had been in past years. Visits to Erskine
were made even after mid-day, by Cardinals who had assisted
at the Emperor's Mass and at a Reception general!}- held in
the Imperial Palace, and these visits were so frequent that
16
250 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Erskine had to put off his dinner, which had been fixed for
3 o'clock P.M. The landlord was distressed that so many
visitors had to climb to a third floor, and again, but in vain,
pressed Erskine to descend to the first floor.
Cardinal Erskine, on the 29th of January, went to reside in
the Hotel Taranne, which was in fact an hotel garni, for the
letting was for furnished rooms only, and without food of any
kind. They at first got their dinners sent in from a restaurant,
but afterwards, they hired a kitchen and a French cook, as the
Cardinal's health suffered from the restaurant diet.
The owners of the hotel were Monsieur and Madame Follet,
a very religious couple, just suited for ecclesiastical lodgers.
Madame used to tell how in time of the Revolution and the
Terror, she always had a priest to stay in the house, who often,
without being discovered, had celebrated mass and adminis-
tered sacraments in Erskine's apartments. The Cardinal was
now quite content. He had his intimate friend. Cardinal
Despuig, on the same floor with him, and at Despuig's request,
heard Mass in Despuig's chapel ; thus saving the trouble of
erecting a private chapel for himself. He was also near to the
S. Germain quarter of Paris, where most of his friends lived.
For a month or two, Cardinal Erskine seems to have been
in tolerable health, with only occasional ailments. He was
also without any pecuniary anxieties, thanks to the kindness
of his cousins. Early in February, he received from Rome the
following letter : —
'■'Rome, January, 2/, 1810.
"My Lord, — Although deprived of your direct accounts,
[letters from Erskine himself] I have heard with great satisfac-
tion [of] your arrival at Bologna in good health.
"A few days after your departure, we [the Bank of Torlonia]
received another letter from )-our friend Coutts, which we sent
to Messrs Perregaux at Paris, who will have remitted [it] to
your Eminency upon your arrival. Along with it was a new
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 251
credit for [a] further two hundred pounds sterh'ng, making
together six hundred pounds ; however as you have signed the
x'eceipt for only four hundred, if your Eminency should be dis-
posed to make use of the whole sum, I beg you will acquaint
me with it, that we may send your Eminency the receipts duly
made out, and give proper orders to Messrs Pcrregaux that the
sum may be at your disposal.
" I am so much taken up with business that I have no time
to entertain me longer with your Eminency. I'll procure my-
self that pleasure at the first leisure moment.
" I'll end my letter by assuring your Eminency of the very
great interest all my family takes to [in] your wellfare and
happiness. Wy mother [Duchess Torlonia], the Duke and my
brother, every one [who was] informed that I was going to
write [to] you, have desired to be kindly remembered to your
Eminency and to assure you of their most perfect esteem and
friendship.
" I remain with equal sentiments and with due regard, My
Dear Sir, your Eminency's Most Obb' h''''^ servant and
affectionate friend, Lewis Chiaveri." This letter was addressed :
— A Son Eminence Monseig"" Le Card. Erskine, a Paris.
On this letter was written in Italian 'by the Cardinal : —
" Answered the 6th of February, that I had left with ]\Ir.
Coutts the last i^200 st. placed in his Bank to my credit by my
Cousin Stewart Erskine [the Earl of Buchan ?], not having
occasion for it at present, and in order to draw it afterwards
with less loss [on the exchange] ; and that of Lord KcUie's
;^400, I had here drawn from Mr. Perregaux only 70 louis,
which made 1680 francs ; and that for this sum, united to the
sums which I had had from him in Rome, Signor Torlonia
could re-imburse himself by drawing the equivalent out of the
said £AfiO from the Bank of Coutts, leaving there [/.c, with
Coutts] the remainder for me to draw it directly from thence
[London] whenever I may have occasion ; without making it
252 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
make the useless and detrimental circuit of causing it to pass
by way of Rome."
This and the following letter are taken from the originals in
the extensive and very valuable Collection of Autographs
formerly belonging to the late Monsignor Angclini mentioned
on page 121, and now in the possession of Cav. Giancarlo
Rossi, a well known collector who kindly lent them to the
writer. The Angelini-Rossi Collection consists of about 250
cases of autographs of sovereigns, popes, princes, cardinals,
artists, illustrious men, etc., and is well worthy of a visit.
The Cardinal, who wrote on the 6th of February to Chiaveri,
received the following reply : — " My most respectable Lord, I
have received with an infinite pleasure the letter you have done
me the honour to write [toj me from Paris, the 6th inst, as it
informs me of your safe arrival and gives me the most satis-
factory accounts of your health, which I have communicated to
my family, who takes the greatest interest to [in] your well-
fare, and every member of it, beginning by my Mother, the
Duke and my brother, desire to be remembered to your
Eminency.
" I hear with pleasure that upon your arrival Messrs.
Perregaux remitted you Mr. Coutts' letter which I had for-
warded to them for your Eminency.
" I see that you prefer to leave in Messrs. Coutts' hands the
two hundred pounds which [they] had ordered me (I mean the
Duke) to pay you, as you suppose the exchange you will get a
better exchange at Paris than at Rome. For this same reason
you wish that the remainder of the former four hundred
pounds should be left also by [with] Messrs. Coutts in London,
which [wish] shall be complied with, less the sum of the 70
louis, which you have disposed of, as well as the other [sums]
your Eminency received at Rome which are put to your debit.
We shall write in consequence to Coutts by first opportunity.
" This is the first day of Carneval. The weather is shocking,
rainy and cold. We have had a severe frost these three days
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 253
past, as severe as you may have it at Paris. Our Governor
General gives this night a bal inasqu^, as he has already given
two that have been well attended. We shall have the usual
ones at the theatre, and if the weather favours us every thing
promises a brilliant Carneval.
" CheV Albert, Crivelli and Monsignor Haeffeler, the three
last Diplomatics that remained at Rome, have received orders
to depart. The first went off this morning. The others remain
as they have demanded their retreat. Crivelli has been dis-
pensed to go. I have thought these accounts might be agree-
able to you. I shall say no more upon these subjects.
" I remain entircl}' disposed at your commands ; with senti-
ments of a most sincere esteem and regard, My dear Sir, your
most obb' and h^''^ servant and affectionate friend, Louis
Chiaveri. Rome, February 24, 18 10."
" P.S. — Your Eminency may be sure of doing me the greatest
pleasure whenever you will favour me with your news."
This letter was addressed : " A Son Eminence Monseig'' Le
Card. Erskine, etc. etc., a Paris," with " Rue and Hotel
Tarenne " written over it.
At foot of this letter, Erskine wrote, in Italian : — " Answered
that he should let me know with precision how much of the
i^400 s'- 1 have drawn from his Bank, inclusive of exchange and
everything, I having taken 150 Roman scudi before going
away and £^0 s'- on my arrival here ; in order that I may
know how much, consequently, of the said ^400 s'- remains in
the hands of I\Ir. Coutts, to guide me in drawing from here the
drafts upon the same."
The good health of the Cardinal, mentioned in the foregoing
letters, was not of long duration, and the ill effects of his com-
pulsory journey from Rome to Paris, and that too when he was
sick and ought to have remained in his bed, soon began to
appear, and the Cardinal was obliged to call in physicians.
Dr. Portal was one of the first doctors of the time in Paris, and
254 Alemoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
had known Erskine in former days. He could find no great
disease in Erskine, and prescribed Tisane or some other de-
coction of herbs, and recommended rest and country air, as
soon as the season would permit, which meant about the end of
April. When questioned more particularly, Dr. Portal con-
fessed that he took a very sinister view of the case, and that
Erskine was a worn out machine without any recuperative
energy. Care and repose contributed to cause an apparent
improvement in the Cardinal's condition, but he had relapses
which compelled him to keep to his bed. He was able
occasionally to take drives in his carriage, and to make visits.
But his ill health retarded his presentation to the Emperor
which took place, as usual, on a Sunday, after Mass, and by
means of Cardinal Fesch. The presentation was very brief.
Erskine's name was pronounced by the Grand Almoner, and
the Emperor, in tone of interrogation, said : — "English?" and
Erskine answered " Scotch." With these two words the inter-
view began and ended. Yet Napoleon must have recollected
the Monsignor Erskine whom he had, as First Consul, received
with so much distinction in 1801. But circumstances — and
manners of Reception — had changed.
The miserable condition of Cardinal Erskine's health forbade
his acceptance of invitations to Court and excused his absence,
on the 2nd of April, from the ceremony of the ill-fated marriage
of Napoleon with Marie Louise, archduchess of Austria.
Those Cardinals who attended that ceremony were styled Red
Cardinals. Those who refused to attend it were st\-lcd Black
Cardinals, and were not permitted to use in public the insignia
proper to their rank, and were reckoned the Emperor's enemies.
Erskine, whose infirmities were known, Despuig, who was liable
to semi-apoplectic fits, and Dugnani, who suffered from no
slight malady, were exempted from censure, and although not
present at the marriage remained in the number of those who
were reputed to be " Reds.''
During his illness, Erskine was visited daily, especially in the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 255
evenings, by Cardinals, Prelates, and Roman gentlemen. The
Abbe Denina, Barruel, and Count Aldini, the Secretary of
Stale for Italy, were among his guests. Many were surprised
at the frequency of Count Aldini's visits, not knowing that
Aldini had been the assistant of Erskine in his lawyer's studio
at Rome.
In April, by advice of Dr. Portal, the Cardinal engaged a
country house close to Paris, outside the Barriere du Maine, on
the plain of Montrouge. It had a tolerably large garden and
once belonged to some noble famil}-, but now had fallen into
the hands of an Auctioneer and Valuator named Sibilet.
Erskine took it for a term ending the ist of October, and went
there to reside on the ist of May. The Cardinal's daily
routine at this country place was to hear an early Mass in the
chapel on the second floor — then to walk in the garden, and
then to transact business in his study. At mid-day he received
visitors from Paris, such as Despuig, Dugnani, Zondadari and
other Catdinals, the Prelates, De Gregorio and Valle, the Duke
di Zagarola, the two Massimi and Count Alexander Baglioni.
Count Baglioni introduced to Erskine a Roman family, residing
not far off near the Barriere de Fourneaux, the head of which
was Francesco Belloni, Director of the School of Mosaics in
Paris, and this acquaintance was not only most agreeable to
Erskine but exceedingly useful, because Belloni assisted the
Cardinal very much in his business matters.
After dinner and the usual siesta, the horses were put to the
carriage for the Cardinal and Del Medico to take their drive
which almost always ended in a visit to Hotel Taranne to see
Cardinal Despuig and other friends. Before ten o'clock P.M.,
Erskine invariably left the coiiversaaione to return to the coun-
try. These evening reunions — the Cardinal used to say — in-
stead of cheering, saddened him. Sorrowful news were con-
stantly announced concerning the affairs of the Church and of
Rome, and worse events were threatened. P^rskine was so
sensitive and susceptible that he felt he never could be cured
256 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
of his malady as long as he remained in Paris, where he daily
experienced fresh motives of affliction. His digestion became
bad and his spirits were sinking.
Yet the country did him much good : the air was pure and
open, and he could walk freely in the garden and on the roads.
He gave little dinners to his friends, followed by games of
cards and chess. Sometimes he sent the carriage for Cavalier
Guiseppe Ciccolini, a noted chess player, and had a game be-
fore dinner.
After two months of this wholesome country life, Erskine
felt so much better that he resolved upon a short excursion
about Paris, and fixed on Versailles, He was joined in this
trip by Cardinal Dugnani, who was the last Papal Nuncio in
Paris under Louis XVI. and had witnessed the excesses of the
Revolution. Arrangements were made for the loth of July,
and the Cardinals met at the place appointed, Erskine with his
Secretary Del Medico, and Dugnani with his Secretary and
Monsignor Gaetani Marini and his nephew. They stopped at
Sevres and were courteously received at the Porcelain Factory
by the Director. Then they went to Versailles and saw all the
rooms in the Palace. The Cardinals had no external signs of
their rank, but were recognized, and Erskine was allowed to
retain his stick, a privilege not usually accorded. They admired
the gardens, the theatre, the Grand and Little Trianon, etc.,
and ate a good dinner, which had been ordered beforehand at
the Restaurant Du Gran Reservoir. Alquier, French Ambas-
sador at Rome when the city was occupied by the troops of
General Miollis, was, with a large party, in the room next to
that in which Erskine was dining. And when the Cardinals
were walking in the Orangery, Alquier pointed them out to his
friends. But the Cardinals took care not to look at, or take
notice of Alquier. They then drove to the Barriere of Sevres
and there separated, each to his home. Erskine felt no fatigue
and enjoyed his excursion.
They made another excursion on the 29th of August to the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 257
Church of S. Denis, with Cavalier Guiseppe Ciccoh'ni, and re-
marked the basso relievo of the decapitation of the Saint, which
the Revolutionists thought worthy to be preserved because it
resembled a guillotine. The dinner at the inn was good and
the Cardinal ate heartily, but the food was not sufficiently deli-
cate for the Cardinal's stomach, and he soon felt a kind of
heaviness which portended in him an attack of his usual indis-
position. They hurried away ; left Ciccolini at his house ; and
omitting the visit to Despuig, went at once to the country. In
the evening the disturbance of the Cardinal's stomach increased
to nausea, and for the next few days he had to remain in per-
fect quiet.
Autumn was approaching and it was necessary to make ar-
rangements about returning to Paris. Erskine would come to
no immediate decision, for he still indulged the hope that by
means of Count Aldini he might be permitted to go elsewhere,
perhaps to England. Paul MacPherson, the Rector of the Scots
College in Rome, had been lately allowed to pass into England.
But the public was altogether ignorant of the favour shewn to
MacPherson, while the passage of a Cardinal, and of a Cardinal
who had been Papal Envoy in London, would have aroused
attention, for it could not be kept secret, and would have ex-
cited unpleasant comment in a thousand wa\-s. In fact the
visits of Aldini to Erskine had ceased altogether, and by a third
person Erskine was given to understand that it was useless to
expect Aldini to move in the matter. Erskine then resigned
all thoughts of going to England.
In the beginning of October, the Cardinal told Del Medico
to search for a lodging in Paris, in the suburb of S. Germain,
but to avoid large hotels and hotels gartii. He wished to rent
and furnish an apartment of his own. The apartment was to
be well exposed to the sun, with few stairs, and wilh a carriage
entrance, and tranquil, in regard to the number and quality of
the lodgers. Del Medico and Bclloni set out to search, and
found a first floor apartment in a small hotel in Rue Crenelle,
258 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
S. Germain, no. 25, not far from the Croix Rouge. It had a
carriage entrance, a courtyard with stable and coach house, and
a convenient staircase with few steps. The apartment consisted
of servant's hall, dining and drawing rooms, and large bedroom
with two connecting cabinets, of which one had an outer door,
and was suitable for a chapel. In this suite of rooms, which
were exposed to the south, and looked into the courtyard, the
Cardinal was to live. Two other rooms looking into the street,
and subject to the noise of carts and carriages, were destined
for Del Medico. There was a spacious kitchen on the ground
floor and upper rooms for servants. The second floor was
occupied b}- a relative of the proprietor, who had a wife, but no
children. The apartment, although not sumptuous, was, for a
French one, convenient. The Cardinal liked it when he saw
it, and immediately came to an agreement with Courageiod,
the landlord. Del Medico bought some furniture which
belonged to Cardinal Ruffo Scilla, archbishop of Naples, who
had to leave Paris, and the rest he purchased with the help of
Signor Belloni.
By the end of October all was read)', and Erskine went to
live there. He was pleased with his new abode, and seemed
strengthened by his country life.
But very soon the Cardinal fell again ill in Paris, in conse-
quence of the cold which set in severely during the first days
of November. Cardinal Giuseppe Doria advised him to
consult Dr. Laennic, the doctor employed by Cardinal Fesch,
and a man of rising reputation. Dr. Laennic, by observation
and questions, endeavoured to discover the cause of the malady,
but his prescriptions afforded only temporary relief The
Cardinal however delighted in his visits and in his conversation,
both because he showed such evident anxiety to cure him, and
because he did not hesitate to display openl\- his opinions,
which were those of a deeply religious man.
Monsignor De Grcgorio, perceiving the attendance of the
French physicians to be useless, persuaded Erskine to tr)- an
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 259
Italian, Dr. Camillo Corona, then living in Paris. Dr. Corona
came and began by declaring that the symptoms mentioned
by the Cardinal, did not seem to be such as not to leave hope
for great alleviation and even a cure by means of the prescrip-
tions he would give him. Erskine was naturally pleased at
this encouraging view of his case, and cheerfully submitted to
the treatment adopted by the new doctor which was apparently
very simple. Corona, knowing Erskine's high reputation for
learning, did not, when visiting the Cardinal, confine himself
to medical matters, but began to show off his own literary
knowledge which was very extensive, and made a great impres-
sion on the Cardinal, who, to enjoy his society invited him to
supper every Wednesday along with Monsignor De Gregorio.
When Corona came, his medical examination of his patient
was brief, and the conversation was entirely on literature, and
was protracted sometimes into the hours of the night.
Corona's treatment proved as ineffectual as that of the French
doctors, and the malady, not being checked, augmented to-
wards the end of the year to such an extent that the Cardinal
had to stay in bed. Corona, who tried to buoy up the Cardinal
with hopes, privately confided to Del Medico his real opinion,
which was that as the malady resisted all remedies, dissolution
could not be far off. He therefore suggested a consultation
with the French doctors, which was, accordingly, held on the
2nd of January, 181 1, by Doctors Portal, Laennec, and Corona.
The three doctors, after the French manner, first went to-
gether into the sick man's chamber, and examined him in
presence of each other. They then retired by themselves for
private and free discussion unrestrained by the presence of the
patient.. One doctor after the other, at intervals, was seen to
re-enter the Cardinal's bedroom, to make additional enquiries
and then to retire in silence. Finally the three doctors con-
curred in deciding upon the measures to be taken, and wrote
their decision on a paper which they all three signed. There is
an adage that when doctors differ the patient dies. In this case
26o Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
the doctors agreed, but the result was the same. It is needless
to trouble the reader with all the details. It is sufficient to
mention that they advised some mechanical appliances, which
Erskine absolutely rejected, and twelve pills daily, which he
consented to swallow, provided he found them beneficial. He
made no objection to use seltzer or Spa waters at his meals in
place of common water.
In the first days of the new year, 1811, Cardinal Erskine
received a terrible shock by the arrest in Paris of Mgr. De
Gregorio, Father Fontana, and Cardinals Gabrielli, Opizzoni,
and Di Pietro, who subsequently were all shut up in prison in
the Donjon of Vincennes. These violent measures were caused
by the Brief of Pius VII., dated from Savona, in which His
Holiness severely blamed Cardinal Maury for assuming — albeit
merely as Vicar Capitular — the administration of the diocese
of Paris, on the sole nomination by the Emperor to the arch-
bishopric of Paris, notwithstanding that Maury was still the
bishop of Monte Fiascone. The persons now arrested were
charged by the Government with having taken part in the
drawing up, transmission and final expedition of this Brief, and
against them the In-ench police displayed the utmost rigour.
Attempts had been made to keep all this a secret from the
Cardinal, not to distress him. But even while Erskine was
ignorant of the arrest of De Gregorio, Erskine sent Del Medico
one morning to fetch De Gregorio, whom he wanted to consult
on some business. Del Medico went and was astonished to
learn that De Gregorio had been arrested and carried away by
the police on the previous night. It was necessary to tell the
Cardinal the reason wh\- De Gregorio could not come to him,
and eventually Erskine was made acquainted with all that had
happened.
During the greater part of January and February, Erskine
made some slight rally from the severe attack he had had in the
month of December, but yet had constant relapses and alterna-
tions more or less injurious. He resumed his drives, when the
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 261
weather permitted, and received visits from Despuig and the
iew Cardinals remaining in Paris, and from Monsignors
Morozzo and Valle, as well as from some Italian friends, and
notably from Count Alexander Baglioni. He also occasionally
invited some of them to supper to distract his mind from
painful thoughts. He was much pleased at the arrival in Paris
of Prince and Princess Chigi, who came every now and then to
visit him. He had an old intimacy with the Chigi family.
The Princess was a woman of spirit and talent, and her husband
had no ordinary learning. Their conversation cheered him
greatly.
Hopes were now entertained by the Cardinal that as he had
outlived the worst of the winter, he might expect benefit from
a change of air in the spring. He was the more encouraged
when he perceived towards the end of February a disappear-
ance of a certain swelling of his legs. But this symptom was
but the prelude to a fresh apoplectic seizure at the very end of
that month. The three doctors now unanimously recognized
the true nature of the Cardinal's malady, and adopted the
necessary means to arouse him from his state of profound
somnolency and stupor. They succeeded in this, but without
hope of saving his life. The stroke left no exterior signs and
must have acted internally as in previous attacks. In fact the
difficulty of administering nourishment was extreme, and the
disturbances of the stomach were more frequent. All prescrip-
tions were useless.
From this moment the Cardinal remained in bed, but had all
his senses about him, and even received a few visits. He
consulted frequently, and alone, with Mgr. Valle about his will,
but delayed the making of it, always saying there was yet time.
He was perfectly aware of his condition, and told the Parish
Priest who was exhorting him to resign himself to the will of
God, that he would not say an Ave Maria to have his life pro-
longed. He occupied himself chiefl)^ with the affairs of his
soul, and on the morning of the i6th of March, received the
362 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Viaticum in his chapel after Mass and in presence of all his
household. On the next morning, Sunday the i/tli, he
received Extreme Unction from the Abbe Harel, the Vicaire,
who was his Confessor, and before its administration, asked in
a clear and distinct voice, the pardon of all those present for
all his offences against them, and gave charge to Abbe Harel
to inform his colleages, the Cardinals, that he wished to die in
peace and concord with all, and therefore begged their pardon
for whatever he might have said or done to their displeasure.
Having thus provided, in his full senses, for his spiritual
needs, he wished to complete all his worldly dispositions by
making his will, and on the same morning — Sunday, March
17th — sent for Monsignor Valle and the Notary, Mr. Denys,
and proceeded to the Act in presence of Monsignors Morozzo
and Valle, the Abbe Harel, and others. The Cardinal had for-
gotten to name a testamentary executor, and Mgr. Morozzo
suggested Cardinal Latier de Bayanne, and went at once to the
house of that Cardinal, who lived close by, to ask his consent
to undertake the charge. But the Cardinal was not at home,
and Morozzo, not wishing further delay, took his acceptation
for granted, adding a clause of sub-delegation, intending Mgr.
Valle to be named sub-delegate. And so the will was reduced
to writing by the Notary, and was signed at about half-past 12
o'clock by the Cardinal and the witnesses, and remained secret
uiUil it was opened by the Notary after his death.
The business of the will occupied two hours and greatly
fatigued the Cardinal, who was unable to take nourishment,
except a spoonful of jelly, and yet seemed by repose and quiet
to revive a little. His exhaustion in the afternoon was so
extreme, that in the expectation of immediate death, they
began the Prayers for those in Agony, but in the evening his
pulse grew stronger, and Dr. Corona said that the end was not
}'et come. The two succeeding days passed much in the same
way, with an occasional crisis. On the Tuesday one of these
attacks was so violent that Dr. Corona told Del Medico to lose
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 263
no time, but proceed at once to the Prayers Recommending
the Soul to God. But the Cardinal, who preserved his senses
all through, told Del Medico the time had not come for that,
and Del Medico desisted. On Wednesday morning, after a
very agitated night, the Cardinal got calmer, and while Del
Medico was saying Mass in the adjoining chapel, gave signs to
those about him that he heard distinctly all the parts of the
Mass. Del Medico after finishing the Mass, went to the bed-
side, and was asked by Erskine for something to drink. Del
Medico offered him a glass of tisane, and Erskine asked for
his spectacles. These were given and then were changed for
others of greater force. Then Erskine made Del IMedico
indicate with his finger the part of the glass which separated
the tisane from the empty part. He drank nothing and it
was thus evident that the Cardinal, being conscious that his
sight had become enfeebled, wished to make experiment to
ascertain the fact. His sense of hearing was also enfeebled.
On the night before, a child was born to the Emperor. The
event was to be announced by the cannon of the Invalides,
twenty-one guns for a female, and one hundred and one for a
male child. At 10 A.M. the firing began and was loudly heard
in Erskine's house, which was not far off. They all counted
the guns and after the twenty-first gun, knew that a son had
been born. There was much noise in the street, but the
Cardinal heard nothing of all this, although the day before he
was sensible of the least sound. They told him nothing about
the guns or the birth.
The end was now at hand. Three priests recited slowly and
in a loud voice the Prayers for those in Agony, and at the end
of the first, Erskine was distinctly heard to answer Amen, and
to the last, articulated the letter A ; thus shewing that he
heard and understood. His life was thus reduced to mere
stertorous breathing, and finally passed away at six P.M. with a
strong gasp. The patience and resignation displayed by
Erskine during his long agony, and this slow and gradual ex-
264 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
tinction of life, without a single murmur or complaint of suf-
fering, was a subject of wonder and admiration to those who
witnessed this exemplary death scene. He died in a manner
truly worthy of a prince of the Church.
The same evening (of the 20th of March) Mr. Denys, the
Notary, was sent for and in the presence of Del Medico, Dr.
Corona, the servants and others, read out the Cardinal's will.
From the certified copy of this will, now preserved in the
Ghislieri College in Rome, it appears that the will was written
in French by the Notary, and signed by the Cardinal and the
witnesses. The witnesses actually present and signing were
M. Marie Maximilien Harel, Vicaire of the parish of S.
Germain Deprez ; Dr. Corona ; Fran9ois Mauie ; and Signor
Bclloni, the Director of the School of Mosaics. After direct-
ing three hundred masses to be said for the repose of his soul,
and prescribing that his funeral should be decent, and such as
was suitable to his circumstances, and that a certain inscription
should be put on a tablet in the church of S. Maria in
Campitelli at Rome, he makes the following bequests : —
" To Princess Chigi, her choice of any English work in his
library.
" He begs Madame Marianna Dionigi to accept, in memory
of him, all his engravings, framed or unframed, to be found
among his properties at Paris or in Rome.
" He directs all his money securities, his plate, furniture, and
property of every kind to be sold for payment of his debts,
expenses of his illness, etc., and the residue remaining after
such payments, to be divided into two equal portions. One of
these portions or moieties, he gives absolutely to his Secretary,
Dom. Michel Angelo Del Medico.
" The remaining portion he bequeaths to those persons who,
at the time of his death, should happen to be in his service on
yearly salaries, including the Secretary as one of these, but
excluding the French chamber maid, the cook and coachman,
who are to get only one hundred francs each."
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 265
Del Medico then gave notice of the death to the French
Minister of Worship, who exhibited no surprise at the intelli-
gence, having perhaps already heard of it from the police.
Del Medico enquired how he was to act about the funeral, and
the Minister replied that he must consult the Emperor, and
this was no time to mention death at the Tuilleries, and that
consequently Del Medico must wait. In the meanwhile, he
advised Del Medico to follow as much as possible the Roman
custom about embalming, etc., until the Emperor's pleasure
should be known concerning the public functions. Del Medico
caused to be celebrated every morning in Erskine's chapel, as
many requiem masses as he could, inviting the parochial clergy
and the Italian priests attached to other Cardinals, to say these
masses.
Del Medico also visited Cardinal Latier de Bayanne, who
was by no means overpleased at having been nominated
executor testamentary without previous notification or accept-
ance, but consented to accept the office, to show his respect for
the Sacred College. The embalming was performed by two
surgeons, Cayal and Sauvage, in presence of Dr. Laennec, all
three signing 'Ccv^ proces verbal.
Cardinal Vinccnti, in the meanwhile, fell suddenly ill, and on
the second day of his illness, while in the act of dictating his
will, expired. This second death of a Cardinal complicated
matters.
Del Medico went every second day to the Minister of
Worship to learn what was to be done about the funeral, and
the Minister's reply was that they should wait for the decision
of the Council of State, to which the matter had been referred.
It was certain that the Cardinal's own wishes for a modest
funeral would not be followed, and the Minister said that the
body should be buried in the Subterranean of S. Genevieve,
which was not then called the Pantheon, as the Emperor
intended to restore the Church. For precaution the corpse
was placed, on the eighth day after death, in a leaden coffin
17
266 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
with a leaden tube attached to the hands, and containing the
inscription dictated by the Cardinal himself.
Finally, at the end of March, the Minister of Worship
informed Del Medico that the Council of State had decided to
pay to Cardinals dying within the empire the same funeral
honours as were paid to Senators, and that the Mass would be
celebrated on the second day of April, in the Church of S.
Thomas Aquinas, the parish church of the late Cardinal
Vincenti. One Requiem Mass was to serve for both Cardinals,
This arrangement of one mass for two Cardinals was unseemly
and without precedent, but there was no remedy. The Minis-
ter gave all the orders for preparation of the church, the
cortege, etc., as if it all depended upon him. He afterwards in
excuse said that this course was adopted to save expense to
Erskine's heirs, but it turned out in the end that the expenses
were charged double, although there was but one Messa
Cantata.
Before lo o'clock a.m. on the 2nd of April, the courtyard of
the house wherein Cardinal Erskine died, was filled with
infantry and cavalry, with a band of music, and all the mourn-
ing coaches, and the hearse for the corpse. In good time came
the Parish Priest of the Abbaye au Bois (Erskine's parish) with
his clergy, for he wished to try whether he could succeed in
preceding the funeral convoy publicly with the cross uplifted
and the priests in cotta, as was done for Cardinal Caprara. But
the moment the attempt was made, the Commissary who pre-
sides on such occasions, interposed resolutely, and forbade it,
saying they had not the permission which had been granted in
the case of Caprara, who was considered always as a Cardinal
Legate. The funeral was almost entirely a military one,
except for the Cardinal's insignia on the hearse and the body
of priests who followed on foot in sottana and niantcllo.
The two funerals arrived almost simultaneously at the
church ; and the two coffins were placed beneath a catafalque
raised in the middle of the nave, with a Baldacchino. The
Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine. 26y
church was decorated with the cyphers of the two Cardinals in-
stead of their family arms. The clergy of S. Thomas Aquinas,
Vincenti's parish, and of the Abbaye au Bois, Erskinc's
parish, and all the Seminary of S. Sulpicc filled the church.
Near the High Altar, on the Gospel side, the Cardinals, along
with the Minister of Worship, were placed ; and on the Epistle
side were the French bishops then in Paris. By decision of
the Cardinals, the Mass was celebrated by the Parish Priest of
the Church, and Cardinal Guiseppe Doria gave two absolutions,
one for each Cardinal.
After this function, the bodies of the two Cardinals were car-
ried to the subterranean of S. Genevieve with the same order
of procession, save that now the two parish priests proceeded
in a mourning carriage, with cotta and stola, and none of the
cortege went on foot, but all rode in mourning coaches. This
second procession was more imposing than the former, because
there was double the number of troops and military bands, the
two corteges of the two Cardinals being united. The Cardinals
who assisted at the Mass went also to S. Genevieve, but
privately and by a different route, and were at S. Genevieve
before the corpses arrived there. The subterranean was
illuminated. The archpriest of the Basilica of Notre Dame,
with part of his clergy and with his cross raised in sign of his
jurisdiction, was in the vestibule to receive the bodies. Here,
in consigning the corpses, the two Parish Priests made brief
eulogiums of their respective Cardinals, and the archpriest
replied with laudatory notices of the defunct Eminences. The
singers of Notre Dame then intoned the last prayers of the
tumulation service, and the archpriest closed the ceremony with
benedictions. The coffins were deposited in a private
sepulchral cell wherein was also the body of Cardinal Caprara.
Over the coffins were placed two marble slabs, and on that of
Cardinal Erskine was put the inscription dictated by himself
Thus, after an interval of fourteen days from his death,
268 Memoirs of Cardinal Erskine.
Erskine was buried and his testamentary wishes concerning
the inscription were fulfilled in Paris.
The Minister of Worship made the executors furnish all the
bills for the expenses of the funeral which he himself had
ordered, and these bills were all paid out of the assets of the
deceased. The personal property of Erskine in Paris was
valued at 3,900 francs.
Finally the executors sent notice of the death to Erskine's
Scotch relatives, who, on learning the sad intelligence, withdrew
the funds which they had placed at Erskine's disposal in the
bank of Lafitte.
There still remains preserved in the Angelini-Rossi Collection
the paper on which the Erskine epitaph was originally written,
and which contained a much longer inscription of a laudatory
kind. All was marked out by the Cardinal except the part
prescribed by the will, and which may be seen upon a circle
of whitish marble under the cupola of the Church of S. Maria
in Campitelli in Rome. It is as follows: — " CAROLO. COLINI.
FILIO. S. M. IN. PORT. DIAC. CARD. ERSKINE. QUI. PATERNO.
GENERE. SCOTUS. ROMAE. NATUS. DIE. XIII. FEB. AN. MDCCXLIII.
OBIIT. PARISSIIS. DIE. XX. MAR. MDCCCXI. NOMINI. MEMORIAE-
QUE. EJUS."
APPENDIX,
CLEMENT VII. in the year 1528 had given to Cardinal
Lorenzo Campeggi, to reward his services to the Holy-
See, the lands and rock of Doccia or Dozza, with title of Count
and with mero e misto dominio, for the annual tribute or canone
of one pound of red wax, on condition, however, that if such
tribute were not paid to the Apostolic See for the Feast of
S. Peter, and if it should remain unpaid for two consecutive
years, the Campeggi family should forfeit the right to the said
feudal possession. On the 3rd of May, 1530, the Pope issued
a brief for investiture of the Cardinal into Dozza, and the
Cardinal, as the family records testify, took formal possession
in 1 53 1. His son. Count Rodolfo, succeeded him in 1539, and
retained possession until he died in 1545. On his death the
Imolesi, with 300 infantry, seized Dozza, and compelled the
inhabitants to submit to the dominion of Imola. This forcible
possession lasted for thirteen years, the Imolesi, by means of a
protracted and costly litigation, opposing the restitution of Dozza
to the Campeggi. In 1558 Paul IV. compelled the Imolesi to
restore Dozza, and Count Antonio Maria Campeggi became its
possessor. By viotu propria of Pope Pius IV, dated the 22nd
of August, 1562, Giovanni Campeggi, Archbishop of Bologna,
was nominated Governor for life of the castle of Dozza and its
territory. In 1563 the Imolesi again tried to repossess them-
selves of Dozza, but the Campeggi appealed to the Pope, and
offering 4,000 scudi of gold obtained Pontifical Bulls in 1565
for a new grant of the lordship of Dozza, in favour of Count
Vincenzo Campeggi and his brothers. Counts Annibale and
Baldassare, who were all sons of Count Antonio Maria.
270 TJie Rock of Dozza.
In 1592, Francesco Sforza, the Papal Legate of Romagna,
attempted for his amusement to enter Dozza, but without
the consent of the Feudal Lord, and the gates were shut
in his face by Francesco Bonini, the governor of the castle.
In consequence of this incident, Pope Clement VIII. trans-
ferred Dozza to Ercole II. Malvezzi ; but after earnest
entreaties was induced to re-concede the Lordship to Count
Rodoifo, son of Count Vincenzo Campeggi. Count Rodolfo
died without male issue, and his brother, Count Alessandro,
died in 1593, having had a son. Count Girolamo, who died
without issue, and by his death the descendants of Vin-
cenzo became extinct in the male line. The heirs of Dozza
were now the sons of Counts Annibale and Baldassare. Count
Baldassare had two sons, Count Giovanni (who died in 1600^
leaving one son, Lorenzo, an ecclesiastic) and Count Rodolfo,
who died without male issue in 1624.
Count Annibale, who died in 1588, had children by his wife
Orsina Volta, and among them was Count Antonio, successor
to his cousins, Rodolfo and Giovanni, in the Lordship of
Dozza, and who was created by Urban \'III., by Bulls, dated
20th of March, 1629, IMarchese di Dozza. This first Marchcse
died in 1637, and left, inter alios, a son, the Marchese Tomaso,
who married twice and had numerous children, but his sons all
died without male issue. On the death, in 1728, of his son,
Marchese Lorenzo, the last male of the family, the succession
to Dozza devolved upon Lorenzo's sister, Maria Francesca
Campeggi, who married the Marchese Matteo Malvezzi.
Before this date the Bolognese families of Malvezzi and
Campeggi had been connected b\' marriage. Count Vincenzo
Campeggi (nephew of Cardinal Lorenzo, and son of Antonio
Maria) married Brigida Malvezzi ; and Vincenzo's sister, Paola,
married Giovanni Filippo Malvezzi, and built the palazzo Mal-
vezzi de' Medici in Bologna.
Emilio Malvezzi, son of Matteo Malvezzi and Maria
Francesca Campeggi, was declared entitled to the inheritance
The Rock of Dozza. 271
of the Lordship of Dozza by decree of Pope Benedict XIII.,
dated December 5th, 1729, and accordingly was styled the
Marchese Emilio Malvezzi Campeggi. He married Teresa
Sacchetti of Rome, and dying, July 3rd, 1767, left as co-heirs
to Dozza his sons, Floriano, who had no issue, and Giacomo.
The Revolution of 1797 wrought a total change in the
conditions of Italy, political and governmental, and the feudal
rights of the Lords of Dozza were not spared. In the month
of February in that year, the Marchesi Malvezzi Campeggi
were compelled to present an inventory of all the cannons,
swords, firearms and other weapons which were in the Castle
of Dozza, and to consign them to the Commandant of the
piazza of Imola. In the following April, however, by a decree
of the Senate of Bologna, still extant, the Rock of Dozza was
restored to the Marchese Giacomo Malvezzi Campeggi as his
private property, proved to be such by legal evidence and
documents. And thus after 267 years of possession by the
Campeggi family, the feudal Lordship, with all its special
rights and privileges, became extinguished.
The Marchese Giacomo, last Feudal Lord of Dozza, died in
1806, leaving a son, Antonio, who was Knight Grand Cross of
the Order of S. George of Bavaria, and married Donna
Giuseppina, daughter of Prince Corsini, by whom he had,
besides other issue, two sons, the Marchesi Emilio and Carlo
Malvezzi Campeggi, who, after the death of their father in
1827, made a division of their inheritance, when the Rock of
Dozza became the property of Emilio.
The Marchese Emilio Malvezzi Campeggi married the
Contessa Bianca Petrucci, and died in 1872, leaving, among
other issue, an elder son, the Marchese Girolamo, who married,
firstly, the Contessa Anna Angela Grisaldi del Taja, and
secondly, the Marchesa Giovanna Durazzo, and has a son,
Giacomo.
The Marchese Carlo Malvezzi Campeggi had also two wives,
Rosa Bonaccorsi, by whom he had daughters, and the Contessa
272 The Rock Of Dosza.
Vittoria Ranuzzi, by whom he had daughters and a son, the
Marchese Alfonso, who married the Marchesa Anna Misciat-
tehi, and has issue three daughters and three sons, Antonio,
Carlo and Luigi.
The Campeggi arms are, a black dog rampant, in a field of
gold, and on the right the half of a black imperial eagle, dis-
played and crowned. To the coronet of a Marchese are added
two silver anchors crossed.
INDEX.
Abergavenny, Earl of,
Adrian, see Hadrian.
Alarcon,
Albano, Lake of,
Albany, Duke of,
Albert,
Albert, Chevalier,
Alberto, Count de Carpi
Aldini, Count
33
57
2IO
63
32
253
52
, _ , 355. 257
Aleriensis, Cardinal Delia Porta, 13, 15
Alexander VI., 10-15, 25. His sickness
and death, ... ■•• I3> H
Alquier, ... ... ••• 256
Ameland. Lady Augusta de, ... 126
Amiens, Treaty of, 155, I59, 182, 192
Ammonius, Andreas, 17-18, 20, 22
Angelini, Archbishop, 121, 215, 252
Angiolini, Cavalier, ... I39. 162, 163
Antiquarian Society of London, 13?
Antiquarian Society of Scotland, 200, 201
Antonelli, Cardinal, ... ... 218
Arcangeli, Francesco, ... 216
Armanni, Vincenzo, 95, 96, 105, no, 117
Artois, Count d', ... ■•. 15'
Asseniani, Stephen, ... .•■ 203
Astalli, Marchese Tiberio, ... 82
Bassville, Hugo De (Nicola Hugou) 83,
84
Bath, Bishop of, see Clerk.
Battista, Giovanni, ... ...
Bayanne, Cardinal De, see Latier
Bayanne.
Bayonne, Bishop of, ...
Beauharnois, Mademoiselle,
Belknapp, Sir Edward,
Bellay, Du,
Belloni, Francesco, ... 255, 257, 264
Belloy, Jean Baptiste de, Archbishop of
Paris, ... ... 1S5, 194
Benet, Dr. Thomas, ... 49. 76, 7?
r)enimbene, ... ••■ '5
Bentinck, Lord William,
Bentivoglio, Annibale,
Bentivoglio, Count Antonio, 226,
Berington, Bishop Charles,
Bernadotte, General,
Bernier, Bishop of Orleans, 164. 165,
175, 1S5, 188
22
de
72
167
41
70
171
30
227
143
1 86
Atanasio, Mgr
Aubigny (or Juvigny)
Aubigny, Duke of,
Audley, Bishop,
Augerau, General,
Augsburg, Diet of,
Austria, Archduke of,
Austria, Archduchess of,
Azara, Cavalier Nicola De, 161 -16
234
109, Footnote.
94
... 44. 47
186
75
46
254
165
Berthier, General,
Bethune, Mademoiselle de,
Bigot de Priameneu, Count, ..
Blois, Bishop of.
Boero, Father, S. J.,
Boisgelin, Cardinal De, 163,
Boisgelin, M. de,
Boleyn, Anne,
! Boleyn,
i Bombarderio, Francis,
j Bonaparte, Joseph, 159, 164, iS
164, 166
182
94,
194.
224
152
117
195
163
59
42
50
191,
207
176, iSi
iS^, 191
Baglioni, Count Alexander, 255, 261,
Bainbridge, Christopher, ... 29, 45
Balbo, Ciirolamo, Cardinal of Gurk, 28
Baliol, John, ... ••. 202
Baptista, ... ... ••• 62
Barras, Member of Directory, 169
Barthelemy, Director, ... 178
Barruel, ... •■• • •• 255
Bonaparte, Louis,
Bonaparte, Lucien, ... _ ,
Bonaparte, Madame, 169, 171. 176, 181,
^ 182. 185, 248
Bonaparte, Napoleon, His personal ap-
pearance, habits, character, etc., 168-
170. His Military Reviews, 175,
i 180. Marriages in his family, 176.
' Made President of Cisalpine Re-
public, 176, 177. His bad temper,
274
Index.
163, 188. Birth of his son, 263.
Mentioned, 163, 174, 17S-1S2, 184,
185, 187, 216, 217, 225
Boner or Bonner, ... ... 76
Borghese, Prince Camillo, ... 241
Borghese, Giovanni Battista, ... 81
Borghese, Giulio, ... ... 85
Borghese, Marcantonio, ... 81
Borghese, Orazio, ... ... 1 90
Borghese, Scipione, ... ... 81
Borgia, see Alexander VI.
Borgia, Cardinal, ... 144, 161
Borgia, Cesar, ... ... 13
Boschi, Marchese, ... ... 240
Bouligni, Signor, ... ... 162
Bourbon, Cardinal of, ... 42, 63
Bourbon, Duke of, ... ... 53
Bouterlin, Count, ... 196, 197
Bovio, ... ... ... 13
Bramante, ... ... ... 9,
Brancadoro, Guiseppe, ... 208
Braschi, Cardinal, ... 83, 218, 239
Braschi, Duke, ... 239-241
Brian, Sir Francis, ... 63-65, 69
Bristol, Earl of. Bishop of Derry, 163,
197
Bristol, Fifth Earl of, 198, 199
Bruce, Sir Henry Ilervey, ... 204
Brueys, Admiral, ... ... 177
Brunot, Madame, ... ... 164
Buchan, Earl of, ... 200, 204, 211
Buckingham, Duke of, ... 38
Burdctt, Sir Francis, ... 195
Burgoin, General, ... ... 169
Burk, Mr. De, ... ... 178
Bute, Marchioness of, ... 213
Bute, Marquess of, ... 214, 215
Buzi, Bali, ... ... ... 208
Cacault, ... ... ... 153
Caetani, see Sermoneta.
Cambaceres, Jean Jacques, Duke of
Parma, ... ... 177
Cambaceres, Cardinal Stephen, 185, 194
Cameron, Alexander, ... 209
Campbell, Monsignore, ... 123
Campeggi, Cardinal Lorenzo. His birth,
parentage, marriage and issue, 28-
30. Made a bishop and Nuncio to
Vienna, 30-31. Second embassy to
the Emperor at Vienna, 31. Created
a Cardinal, 32. Legate to Henry
VHL, who gives him the English
Palace in Rome, 32-40. Visits the
King of France and refuses a pension,
42. Returns to Rome, 43. Sent to
the Diet of Nuremberg as Legate to
the Emperor, 46. Is made Bishop
of Salisbury, 47. Returns to Rome,
50. His palace rifled by the troops
of the Bourbon, 55. Governor of
Rome after the sack, 60. Second
Legation to Henry VH., 62. Ad-
journs the Divorce Case, 70. Leaves
England and protests against the
breaking open his trunks at Dover,
73. Attends the Diet of Augsburg,
75. Deprived of Salisbury, 77.
Makes his will and dies, 79. His
issue and relations, 80. His brother's
descendants, see Appendix.
Campeggi, Marchese Antonio, 81
Campeggi, ^L1rchese Tommaso, 81
Campeggi, Marco Antonio, ... 78
Campeggi, Maria Francesca, ... 270
Campeggi, see Malvezzi-Campeggi.
Camus, Armand Gaston, ... 187
Canning, Mr., ... ... 139
Canterbury, Archbishop of, Henry Dean,
12. William Warham, },},, 34, 64,
65, 68.
Capalti, Marchese, ... ... 217
Caprara, Cardinal, 153, 159-163, 168,
171, 180, 183, 185, 187, 267
Carafa di Traietto, Cardinal Francesco,
236
Cardelli, Count Alexander, ... 230
Carmine, Church of the, ... 175
Carnot, Director, ... ... 169
Casale, Sir Gregory, 44, 50, 51, 56, 59,
60, 61, 75
Caselli, Padre, ... 161, 165
Casoui, Cardinal, ... ... 139
Cassini, Count, ... ... 197
Castiglione, Cardinal, ... 194
Castiglion, ... ... 211
Cavalcanti, John, ... ... 44
Cayal, Surgeon, ... ... 205
Cayer, Lady, ... ... 177
Celestini, Orazio, ... 197, 226, 230
Cellini, Benvenuto, ... ... 53, 59
Cento Preti, Hospital of the, ... 82
Chapuys, Ambassador of Charles V., 72
Charles L, ... ... ... 96
Charles H., 95, 96. Letters of, 97, 99-
103. Mistresses of, 93-94.
Charles V ... 46, 59, 72
Charles VL, ... ... Ill
Chateaubriand, ... ... 243
Chiaramonti, Cardinal. 1 Elected Pope
as Pius VHL, ... ... 146
Chiaramonti, Don Gregorio, ... 189
Index.
275
102
81
81
Chiaveri, Luigi, Giuseppe, Carolina and
Agostino, ... 230, 250, 251
Chichester, Bishop of, ... 33
Chigi, Prince Sigismond, ... 124
Chigi, Prince and Princess, 261, 264
Chisholm, /Eneas, ... ... 209
Chishohn, John, ... ... 209
Cibo, Cardinal, ... ... 5'
Ciccolini, Cav. Giuseppe, 256, 257
Cingoli, ... ... ■■• 2IO
Circelli, Marchesc de, ... I39
Clement VII., ... 46,47.60,75
Clement XL, ... ... m
Clerk, John, Bishop of Bath, 45, 47> 48,
50, 62-66
Cloche, De la, 95, 97-100, 105, 116
Clossc, Mr. William,... ... I95
Cobentzel, Count de, Austrian Ambassa-
dor, ... ... ... 160
Cobham, Lord, ... ... 33
Colerain, Lord, ... ... 171
Colonna, ... ... ••■ 5i> 52
Colonna, The Conestabile, ... 208
Colonna, Antonio, ... ... Si
Colonna, Filippo, ... ... 82
Colonna, Giovanni, Prince, ...
Colonna, Girolamo, Cardinal,...
Colonna, Lorenzo Onofrio,
Concordat, The, 149, 150, 152, 153, 156,
163, 165, 183, 186, 1S7
Conestabile, Signor, ... ... 173
Consalvi, Cardinal, 146, 149, 163, 165,
171, 189, 190, 192, 249
Cooper, Lady, ... ... 190
Cornwallis, Lord, ... 159, 165, 183
Corona, Dr. Camillo, 259, 262, 264
Corona, Francesco and Teresa, etc., 105,
106, 108
Corsini, Prince, ... ... 271
Corsini, Princess and her son, Neri, 190
Coutts, Thomas, 160, 161, 195, 204, 223.
231, 233. 250 253
Cretet, Emmanuel, ... ... I64
Crivelli, ... ••■ ••• 252
Cruzolle, Duchess de la, ... 160
Croce, Santa, Princess, 162, 164
Cunic, Raimondo, ... ... 215
D'Arcy, Lord, ... ... 34
Dauphin, The, ... ... 3^
Dean, Henry, see Canterbury.
De Gregorio, Mgr., ... 234,258,260
Delia Porta, sec Aleriensis.
Delia Porta, Cardinal, 228, 230, 236
Del Medico, Michel Angelo, 121, 226,
227, 229, 230, 262, 263
De Medici, Julius, see Clement \TIL and
Worcester.
Denham, Joseph, ... 127, 128
Denina, Abbe, ... ... 255
Denis, or Denys, Notary, 262, 264
Denon, Baron, ... ... 17°
Despuig, Cardinal, 218, 221, 222, 254
Dionigi, Marianna and Enrichetta, 214,
215, 226, 239, 264
Di Pielro, Cardinal, ... ... 260
Docciaor Y>oiz^,i,o footnote, 75, 269-272
Doria, Andrea, ... ... 62
Doria, Giorgio, afterwards Cardinal, 219
Doria, Cardinal Giuseppe, 130, 217, 248,
249, 267
Douglas, Bishop, .. ... I43
Ducci, Abbe, ... ■■• 185
Dugnani, Cardinal, ... ...254-256
Dunmore, Earl of, ... ... 126
Dunmowe, John, Bishop of Limerick, 10
Duphot, General, ... ... 142
Durham, Bishops of, Christopher Bain-
bridge, 29, 45, Thomas Ruthall, 34
Duroc, General, ... 175, ^^84
202
10
206
34, 37
122
Edward I., ...
Edward IV.,
Eha, S., ...
Ely, Bishop of,
English College,
Erasmus, ... ... ■•• 42
Erskine, Sir Alexander of Cambo and
Lady Anne, ... ... 122
Erskine, Cardinal Charles. Materials for
his life, 121. Plis birth, parentage
and ancestry ; and education, 122,
123. His first preferments, 124.
Sent as Envoy to George III., 129,
Visits Lord Kellie, 130. His resi-
dence in London, 131. His services
to the Propaganda, 144. Loss of
his Roman revenues ; and aid from
George III., 145. Celebrates Funeral
of Pius VI., 145, 146. Created
Cardinal in petto, I49- Deals with
the French bishops in England, 150.
Leaves London for Paris, 156-159.
His visits to Bonajiarte, 168, iSo,
185, 189. Leaves Paris for Rome,
189, 191. His views on a Roman
Land Question, 192-3. Published
as Cardinal, 194. Protects the Earl
of Bristol's property, I97-I99- De-
fends the property of the Scots
College, 205-209. Loses his Roman
revenues, 217. Is made Pro-Secre-
276
Index.
tary of Briefs, 218. His account of
the seizure of the Pope in the
Quirinal palace, 220-222. Retires
to Castel Rubello, 223. Is sum-
moned to Paris, 224. Returns to
Rome and falls into sickness, 225.
Is forced to leave Rome, 226-234.
His journey from Rome to Paris,
235-248. His presentation to the
Emperor, 254. His lingering sick-
ness, death and burial, 249268.
Erskine, Clementina, ... 225
Erskine, Colin, ... 122, 123
Erskine, David, Henry, and Thomas, 203
Fabbrica di S. Pietro,
Falconieri, Cav.,
Farnese, Cardinal,
Fegan, Mr.,
Fergusson, Lt.-Col., .
Ferrari, Pio,
83
240, 241
■ 56, 76
. 163
200, 204
123, 225, 230, 234
Fesch, Cardinal Joseph, 160, 194, 216,
249
Fleury, Bartholomew, ... 11
Floriano, see Montinus.
Follet, ilr., ... ... 250
Fontana, Father, ... ... 260
Fonseca, Marchese, ... ... 164
Fox, Mr. , the Statesman, ... 232
Fox, Richard, Bishop of Winchester, 23
France, King of, ... 26, 42, 62, loi
France, Queen Dowager of, ... 37
French bishops in England, ... 150
Furlo Pass, ... ... ... 23S
218, 248,
60, 61
132
Gabrielli, Cardinal, ...
Galimberti, Munsignor,
Gain, Cardinal Tolomeo,
Gardiner, Stephen, ...
Garret, Mr.,
Gavotti, Monsignor, ...
Geddes, John,
Genga, Delia, Monsignor,
George III.,
Gerdil, Cartlinal,
Ghinucci, Jerome, see Worcester
Ghislieri College, ... 121,
Giacomo, ... ... 48, 49
Gilberti, -Marchese, ...
Gigli, Agatha,
Gigliis, De, sec Worcester.
Giles, Monsignor,
Girandin, Presiilent of the Tribunate,
Giraud, Cardinal Bernardino, 82,
Giraud, Giovanni, and his family, 82,
133.
147.
260
1 22
80
, 66
15S
191
204
139
149
161
122
, 66
237
123
122
183
83
S3
Giraud, Counts Pietro, G
seppe and Francesco,
Giustiniani,
Giusiiniani, Sebastiano,
Gloucester, Duke of,...
Gobelin Tapestry,
Gonzaga, Luigi,
Gordon, Principal,
Grammont, Madame de,
Grand, Madame,
Gregorio, see De Gregorio.
Grenville, Lord,
Grimain, Cardinal, ...
Guiana (French),
Guiilaumot, M.,
Gurk, Bishop of, Matthew
Gurk, Cardinal of,
iovanni, Giu-
... 83, 211
14
23-26, 36-38
125
166, 167
59
... 165
... 163
162, 170
146, 214
22
... 178
166
31
28
Lange,
Hadrian VI., ... ... 29, 45
Hadrian de Castello or Corneto. His
birth and preferments, 11-13. His
Biblical and classical learning, 13.
His Supper to Pojie Alexander, 13-
14. Gives his palace to Henry \ H,
14-15. His first flight from Rome,
16. Unjustly accused of conspiring
against Leo X., 21. His second
flight from Rome, 22. Mentiqn of
him, 11-29, 32. Zl, 39-
Haeflfeler, Monsignor, ... 253
Haller. Commissary. ... 178
Halsey, Thomas, Bishop of Leighlin. 34
Hamilion, Gavin, ... ... 203
Hammond, Captain, ... ... 156
Hannibal, Mr. Thomas, ... 45
Harel, Abbate, ... 262, 264
Hattecliff, William, ... ... 34
Hawkins, Nicholas, ... ... 76
Hay, J iishop George, 148, 209
Henry VII., ... ... 10-15
Henry VIII., 9, 10, 17-29, 46, 53, 59,
66-78
Heretord, Bishop of,... ... 4
Hey wood, J. C. His library and MSS.,
88-91
Hughes, Victor, ... ... 179
Hugou, Nicola, alias De Bassville, 83-84
Hungary, King of, ... 31, 48, 51, 52
Hussey, Monsignor, ... ... 143
Innes. Abln^
Innocent VIII.,
165
10, 12
Jackson, Mr., English Minister, 161,
163, 165, 171, 175
James III. of Scotland, ... 12
Index.
277
Jardine, Mademoiselle, ... 196
Jarry, M., ... ... ... 185
Jenkins, Mr., English Agent in Rome,
126
Jocourt, M. Deputy, ... ... 183
Jourdan, General, ... ... 189
Julius II., ... ...12, 14, 16, 29-31
Juvigny, see Aubigny.
Katherine, Queen, ... 59, 67, 68-70
Kellie, Earl of, ... 223, 232, 233
Krathofter, Mr., ... ... 160
Laborde, Madame, .. ... 175
Lacchini, Monsignor, 149, 190, 198, 211
Lachene, Signer, ... ... 174
Laennic, Dr., ... 258, 259, 265
Lafitte, ... ... ... 268
Lama, The Grand, ... ... 174
Lange, Matthew, see Bishop of Gurk
and Carlo, Alfonzo and Girolamo
and Giacomo, 40, footnote.
Lante,
210
Lastreto,
217
Latier de Bayanne, Cardinal, 262, 265
Latimer, Hugh,
77
Laurenzi, Cardinal, ...
88
Lauriston,
168
Lautrec,
... 58, 60
Lavalle, Duke de.
182
Law, Minister of Finance,
168
Le Brun, Duke of Placentia, 177, 179
Lecotte, M.,
... 185
Lemarrois, General, ...
217
Lennox, Duke of,
... 96, 109
Leo X., 17-20, 27, 29,
31, 32, 40, 45
Leo XIII.,
127
Le Surre, M ,
185
Lepri, Marchese,
... 238
Lessine,
162
Lincoln, Bishop of, ...
••• 34, 35
Locatelli, Cardinal, ...
194
London, Bishop of, ...
35> 37, 68
Lorenzo,
224
Loricato,
217
Louis XII.,...
... 12, 31
Louis XVIII.,
152
Lucchesini, Marchese,
160, 165
Luther,
46-48, 53, 75
Lyons,
189
Lyons, Congress of, ...
161, 176, 179
Macrae, Mr., ... ... 158
MacDonald, General, ... 186
MacPherson, Sir John, ... 174
MacPherson, Paul, ... 206, 257
Malvezzi, Marchese Matteo, ... 270
Malvezzi-Campeggi, Marchesi Emilio
Mangaud, M.,
157,
159
Marbois, Marb^,
178,
181
March, Earl of.
96
Marcorelle, President,
183
Marcost, Count,
162,
182
Marescalchi, Count, ...
177
Maret, M., ...
180
Marini, Mgr. Gaetani,
202
Marino,
208
Mariscotti, Count,
85
Marmont, General, ...
178
Martiniana, Cardinal,
153
Mary, Princess,
38
Massacre of Bishops and Priests
,
175
Massena, General,
169,
170
Masseria, Signer,
157,
160
Massimi,
255
Massimo, Camillo, .
84
Maury, Cardinal,
260
Maximilian, Emperor,
• 16, 31
Maynooth College,
205
Mazio, Canonist,
185
Melzi, Count,
177
Mennato, S.,
206
Menou, General,
171
Merry, Mr.,
159
Michou, M.,
158
Milan, Duke of.
31
Milling, Thomas, Bishop of Hereford, 10
Minio, Marco, ... ... 21
Minto, Lord, ... ... 146
MioUis, General, Zt,, 217, 226, 227, 228,
229. 230, 234, 235, 240, 243
Misciatelli, Marchesa Anna, ... 272
Moire, Mr., ... ... 173
Moncada, Don Hugo de, ... 51
Mont Cenis, ... ... 189
Monte, Cardinal de, ... ... 76
Monte Luce, ... ... 211
Montcsson, Madame de, 169, 182
Montinus, Florianus, ... 33, 66
Montmorency, Eugene, ... 182
Moor, Baptism of a, ... 44
Morcelli, .Stefano Antonio, ... 216
Moreau, General, ... ... 170
Moroni's Dictionary, quoted, ... 189
Morozzo, Guiseppe, afterwards Cardinal,
261, 262
Morte, Confraternit.\ della, ... 81
Mosaics, Factory of. ... ... 83
Moscardini, Monsignor, ... 237
Mountcashel, Earl and Countess of, 174,
^^^
Murat, General, ... 176, 181, 243
2/8
Index.
Murphy, Mr., ... ... 164
Mutte or Mout [misprinted '' Hutte,"]
Stephen, ... ... 84
Narbonne, Archbishop of, ... 155
Narbonne, Count of, ... ... 162
Naro, Monsignor, ... ... 219
Nassau, Prince of, ... .. 162
Necker, Madame, ... ... 178
Nelson, Lord, ... ... 159
Noaille, jNIadame de, ... 175
Norfolk, Duke of, 32, 34, 38, 75, 78
Nuremberg, Diet of, ... ... 46
O'Callaghan, Archbishop Henry, 122
O'Connor, Abbe, ... ... 164
Odescalchi, Monsignor, ... 144
O'Leary, Rev. Dr., ... 146, 158
Oliva, Gian Paolo, S.J., 95, 99-105
Oppizoni, Cardinal, ... ... 260
Orange, Prince of, ... ... 55
Orfei, The Contessa, ... 216
Orleans, Duke of, Egalit^, ... 169
Orleans, Duchess of, ... loi
Osmond, Madame, ... ... 159
Otto, Count de Mosroy, ... 157
Pacca, Cardinal, ... 218, 219, 220
Pacca, Nephews of, ... ... 219
Pace, ... 37, 39
Palace, The English, Owners, see Car-
dinal Hadrian, Henry VII.. Henry
Vm.. Cardinal Canipeggi and his
family. Cardinal Borghese, Marchese
Antonio Campec;gi, Cardinal Giro-
lamo Colonna and his heirs. Pope
Innocent XII., Clement XI., Fab-
brica di S. Pietro, Prince Torlonia,
Prince Borghe.se Torlonia.
Palace, The English, Occupiers, .r^c Car-
dinal Gain, John Baptist Borghese,
the Arciconfraternit^ della Morte,
Don Antonio Colonna, the Queen of
Sweden, Cardinal Radziejowski, the
Cento Preti, the Mosaic manufactory,
the Duke di Saldanha, Piu.x IX. for
use of bishops attending the \"atican
Council, Mr. J. C. Hey wood, Car-
dinal Parocchi, Cardinal Laurenzi.
Palmoni, Livio, ... ... 248
Palombi, Cav., ... ... 240
Pancemont, Bishop of Vannes, 185
Pardo, General, ... ... 165
Paris, Archbishop of, ... yj, 38
Parish, Mr., ... ... 164
Paul I., Emperor of Russia, 142, 143,
159, 162
Pelham, Lord, ... ... 156
Perregueaux, Mr., 160, 162, 250, 251
Petrucci, Cardinal, ... ... 21, 22
Phififer or Phipher, Captain, ... 220
Pianciani, Count, ... ... 237
Pietro, Di, Cardinal, ... 260
Pisa, Cardinal of, ... ... 59
Pitt, Mr., ... ... 155, 232
Pius III., ... ... II, 12, 14
Pius VI., 123, 124, 125, 126, 129, 134,
135. 137. 138, 139- Letters of, 140-
143. Dsath of, 145, 155, 161
Pius VII., 146. Brief of, 147, 149, 150,
153
Pius IX., ... ... ... 88
Poniatowski, Prince Stanislaus, 210
Porta, Della, Cardinal, see Della Porta.
Portal, Dr., ... 171, 253, 255, 259
Portalis, M., 160, 164, 166, 168, 169,
177, 183, 184, 187
Portland, Duke of, ... 149, 171
Portlock, Captain, ... ... 158
Proceno, ... ... ... 211
Propaganda Accounts and Missions, 147,
148
Propaganda, Suppression of, ... 144
Radet, General, 224, 225, 230, 235
Radziejowski, Cardinal, ... 82
Rangoni, Count Guido, ... 59
Reaumont, Baron de, ... 94,95
Renzo da Ceri, or Rans, ... 53, 54
Reveillere-Lcpaux, ... ... 169
Ricci, Marchese, 98, footnote.
Rich, Bishop, ... ... 1S7
Ridolfis, Card, de, ... ... 51
Rochefoucauld, Cardinal de la, 239
Rochester, Bishop of, ... 33
Rodolfo, Cardinal, ... ... 57
Rohan, Henry de, ... 95, 103, 104
Rohan, De, Cardinal, .. 239
Rossi, Cavaliere Giancarlo, Collector of
Autographs, .. 122, 252
Rotondo, Pio, ... ... 139
Rubbi, Abbe, ... ... 185
Ruffo, Cardinal Fabrizio, ... 230
Rufib-Scilla, Cardinal, ... 258
Ruspoli, Bali, ... ... 149
Sabatier, Abbe, ... ... 165
Sack of Rome, ... ... 52-58
Sala, Cardinal Giuseppe Antonio, 123,
185, iSS
Index.
279
Salisbury, Bishopric of, 87. Bishop of,
44. 47
Saldanha, Duke di, ... ... 88
Saluzzo, Deodata, ... ... 241
Salvatori, Domenico, 123, 223, 224
Salviati, Giacomo, 55, 63, 67, 69, 71
Salviati, Giovanni, Cardinal, ... 62
Salviati, Duke, ... ... 122
Sanga, ... ... ... 68
Sanuto, Marin, ... ... 22
Sarum, Register, ... ... 77
Sauli, Cardinal de, ... ... 21
Sauvage, Surgeon, ... ... 265
Savary, Duke di Rovigo, ... 163
Scarpelli, Monsignor Antonio, 209, 240
Schimelpenning, Mr., ... 159
Scipio, Master, ... ... 14
Scots College, ... 206-209
Scullheis, Anna Maria, ... 84
S. Croce, Princess, ... 162, 164
S. Crucis, Cardinal, ... ... 22
S. George, Cardinal, ... 21
Sermoneta, Don Francesco Caetani, Duke
of, ... ... ... 211
Serristori, Marchese, ... ... 162
Seyes, Director, ... ... 169
Sherborne, Robert, ... ... 11
Shirwood, John, Bishop of Durham, 10,
II
Siena, Cardinal of (Petrucci), ... 21, 22
Simeon, M. Deputy, ... 183
Sloane, Alexander, Francis and William,
172, 173, 174
Smith, Mr., ... ... 177
Soderini, Francesco, ... 13, 15, 40
Soderini, Count Tiberio, ... 211
Somaglia, Cardinal, ... ... 217
Souvarow, General, ... ... 143
Spada, Prince, ... 238, 239, 240
Spalding, Hugh, ... ... 10
Spina, Monsignor, ... 159, 161, 165
Spinelli, Cardinal, ... ... 207
Stael, Madame de, ... ... 177
Stapleton, Mr., ... ... 165
Starhemberg, Count, ... 160
Stephens, Dr., ... ... 62
Strocchi, Cavalier Dionigi, ... 239
Strozzi, Duke, ... ... 197
Stuart, Prince James, 95, 97, 98, 106-108
Stuart, Prince James the younger, iii-
114, 119
Stuart, David, ... ... 213
Stuart Papers, ... 165, 166
Stuart, Maria, ... ... 96, 108
Suffolk, Duke of, ... 38, 65, 78
Surrey, Earl of, ... 34, 36, 38
Sussex, Duke of, ... ... 126
Suwarow, General, ... ... 171
Sweden, Queen of, 81, 82, 98, 100, loi
Talleyrand, M., 162, 164, 175, 179
Tayler, Dr., ... ... 52, 63
Terni, Pishop of, ... ... 236
Torlonia, Alexander and Giovanni, 9,
223, 230, 231
Torlonia Family, ... S3-S5, 87
Torlonia Balls, ... ... 85-87
Tor Mellina, ... ... 32
Trani, Cardinal of, ... ... 76
Trappists, ... ... ... 138
Tremouille, Duchless de la, ... 159
Trent, Council of, ... ... 80
Triulzi, Cardinal, ... ... 58, 59
Tunstall, Cuthbert, afterwards Bishop of
London, ... ... 38
Valdorini, Abb^', ... ... 185
Valle, Mgr. Agostino, 149, 261, 262
Vannes, Peter, ... ... 69
Vatican Council. Bishops lodged in
English Palace, ... ... 88
Ventimiglia, General, ... 174
Vergani, Monsignor, ... ... 269
Vergil, Polydore, ... 17, 18, 78
Vernegues, M., ... ... 197
Vincenti, Cardinal, 22S, 229, 230, 240,
265, 266
Visconti, Archbishop of Milan, 175
Visconti, G. B. A., ... ... 216
Visconti, Madame, ... ... 182
Volterra, Cardinal of, ... 21
Warham, Dr., see Canterbury.
Welch, Canon, ... 165, 175, 185
Westfalen, Count de,... .. 162
Weston, John, ... ... 10
Williams, Helen Maria, ... 179
Winchester, Bishop of, (Wolsey), 17
\\'inchester. Dr. Fox, Bishop of, 23
Winkleman, ... ... 216
Windesore, Sir Andrew, ... 66
Wolsey, Cardinal, 9, 17-2S, 32, 35-52,
56, 59-61, 63-74, 77
Worcester, Bishops of Jerome Ghinucci,
50-52. John de Gigliis, lo, ii, 29.
Sylvester de Gigliis, 16, 17, 19-23,
26-29, 40, 43-45, 52, 77.
Worcester, Cardinal Julius de Medici,
afterwards Clement VII., .. 45
W^oronzow, Colonel, ... ... 171
28o
Index.
Woronzow, Prince, ... 195, 196 Zagarolo, Duke of, ... ... 255
I Zalt, Mayor of Paris, ... 170
York, Cardinal, Duke of (Stuart), 123, , Zauli, Monsignor, ... ... 239
194, 204 Zelada, Cardinal De, 127, 136, l6l, 225
York, j^£ Wolsey. j Zondadari, Cardinal, ... 255
%SJ13AINn:3\\V> ^^O.JIlV3.J(y^ %0Jliy3JQ'^ ' <rii30NV,S01^ %a3AINn-.3#
^lOS ANCElfX.
o
%a3AINf)3\\V
^OFCAIIFO/?/^
•^<?Aav;jaiH^
.^WEUNIVERS//,
<
^lOSANCfl£j>
o
'^/Sa3AINn3WV
^UIBRARYQr
.^WEUNIVER%
^lOSANCElfj-^
o
-^HIBRARYQ^ ^IIIBRARYO^
^^OJITVOJO'^ <ril30NVS01^
%il3AINa-3WV**
^^rnmyi^' ^i^ojiivDjo'?
^^;OFCAIIFO% aWEiUNIVERJ//)
^mmms/^
■^■smmm^
%a3AINI13WV^
^.OF CAIIFO/?^ ^.0FCAIIF0%
'^c'Aavaaii-^ ''^OAHvjiaii-^
vS:lOSANCElfJ>
%a3AiNn-3yN^
^lllBRARYQc. A>^lllBRARYQ^
\\\E IINIVER% ^lOS ANCElfj>
^40jnv3jo^ ^^mmy\^ ■^nw'mm^
'^/^a3AINa 3WV^
vKlOSANCElfX^
o
so
■^/5{)3AINn 3WV^
^^,OFCAllF0«V
^OFCAIIFO%
oc ft, f ^ A S
"^^AHvaaiH^
.\WEl)NIVERS/,^
^J'ilSDNYSOV'^^
^lOSANCElfj^
"^/sasAiNnjwv
^^ILIBRARYOo .^WEUN1VER% ;v>:lOSANCElfj>
^<!fOjnV3JO^
^^l•llBRARYQr^
^VIIBRARYQ^^
<rii3wsoi^ ■%a3AiNn-3i\v^ '^^hojiivdjo^
"^^OJIWDJO-^
^0FCAIIF0%
^<?Aavaan#
AWEUNIVERS'/a
v^lOSANCEl%
1^ -^
<rii30Nvsoi^ %a3AiNn3Wv'
^OFCAllF0fi»^
S
>&Aavaaii-i^
^OF CAllFOff.^
^c'AiivaaiH'^
^OFCAIIFO^^
aw^ ^%avjiani^
^\\EUNIVERVA
^lOSANCElf^i,
3 1 158 610^3' ^<^ 4'
*jr
r^ M
^J513!)NVS01^
^ \J UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
^ 1 I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIUI ll|ll|||ll|||!>MI||nN||i:|i in.;.,
AA 001 130 743 6
If
jvaai
m
)
^lOSANCElfJV.
o
> =2
A>^lllBRARYQ^
^lUBRARYQr.
^WfcUNIVtR%
n^ ^/jaaAiNnaw^"* '^-^ojiivdjo'^ "^iJOJiiYD-jo^ <rii33NVsoi^
^lOSANC
^/saaAiNd
w//i
^10SANCEI%
.0
^OFCALIFO/?;!^
%ll3AINa-3WV^ ^(?Aiiva9n#
^OFCAll F0«»^ ^^\^E UNI VERV^
*>tWa8IH^
<rjl3DNVS01^
^lOSANC
%a3AINfi
Y6k ^5^l•lIBRARYQr
>i.
30"^^ %03I1V3JO:^
^WF•UNIVER5•/y^
^lOSANCElfj>
o
<^ll!BRARYQr^
-s^vM-llBRAf
<ri]30Nvsoi^ ^/^a3AiNn3WV^ %ojnv3JO>^
^Qiim
% ^OFCAIIFO/?^
^^Aavaaiii>^'
.^WEllNIVERJ/A
^lOSANCElfj>
o
o
%13DNVS01=^
c? ^
%a3AINn3WV^
.^;OFCAIIFO%
AS^nm
^(?AavaaiH^^ "^^Aavaai
3» cP
''I
O
'^/ja3AiNn-3WV**
v^lOSANCElfx^
o
%a3AINn-3WV'
^IIIBRARY<?/
-^IIIBRARYQ^;^
^(tfOJUVJ-JO"^
^OFCAllF0/?4^
<
^OFCAUFOff^
^avaaiH^
.^WE■UNIVER5•/A
<
^J^133NVS01^
AWEUNIVERS'A
%13!)NVS01^
^•lOSANC
%a3AiNn
'^/5a3AIN(1