Venice: August 1641, 1-15 | British History Online

Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 25, 1640-1642. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1924.

Citation:

'Venice: August 1641, 1-15', in Calendar of State Papers Relating To English Affairs in the Archives of Venice, Volume 25, 1640-1642, ed. Allen B Hinds( London, 1924), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/venice/vol25/pp186-197 [accessed 28 November 2024].

August 1641, 1-15



Aug. 2. Senato, Secreta. Deliberazioni. Corti. Venetian Archives.	233. To the Ambassador in England. We enclose a copy of the exposition of the Secretary of England in the Collegio three days ago. We wish you to express once more to Lord Fildin our appreciation of what he has said and done. We rejoice to hear of the arrival of the French ambassador. We enclose a summary of the news of Italy. Ayes, 77. Noes, 1. Neutral, 1. [Italian.]
Aug. 2. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Inghilterra. Venetian Archives.	234. Giovanni Giustinian, Venetian Ambassador in England, to the Doge and Senate. The energetic preparations of the queen to proceed with the princess to Holland have caused parliament much anxiety this present week, and obliged them to take steps to thwart a purpose so open to suspicion, considered by all to be prejudicial to the interests of the parliamentarians, and by no means honourable to the crown or to her husband himself. With this in view the parliament, on Friday, pointed out to the king the objections to this journey, the impossibility, under present circumstances, of carrying it out with the amount of state that the greatness of England requires, and the ignominy that would ensue in the end if the queen should humiliate herself by taking her daughter to the Prince of Orange, who in birth and other prerogatives is so inferior to this august house. They petitioned him to banish the thought from her mind and to allow these very sensible considerations to be represented to her Majesty. The king admitted the force of these representations and agreed that they should be put before his wife. But she, being determined to carry out her purpose, merely made a formal and general reply to this office and declared in set terms that considerations of her personal safety persuaded her to take the step and did not admit of postponing it any longer. Impressed by the inflexibility of this reply the parliamentarians considered that severe measures would prove most efficacious to constrain her Majesty to change her mind. So they immediately brought forward once more the affair of the conspiracy, which I reported, letting it be freely understood that they would pursue the enquiry until everything was thoroughly sifted. They sent an intimation to the lady, who is entrusted with the custody of the crown jewels, to have them ready so that she may answer for them and not to permit them to be taken elsewhere. To the officials who receive the queen's revenues they sent an order to produce their transactions, and they threaten other and more violent measures should her Majesty persist in her original intention to go. Under such vigorous pressure and moved by the strong arguments of the king and of the French ambassador she has finally yielded to what all desire and yesterday she sent word to parliament that on this occasion also she would give proof of her zealous desire to please the people. Parliament expressed satisfaction at hearing this new decision and to show their pleasure they have selected six members to go and thank the queen, to promise her every reasonable satisfaction and to hold out some hopes that some of her fugitive servants may even be permitted to return. (fn. 1) And so this affair will be terminated. It has kept the whole Court in great agitation for several days. With a view to pleasing the king and the French ambassador I have not failed, when it was opportune, to encourage in the queen the sentiment of gratifying the generality and the French ambassador has been to this house to day to express to me his gratitude. Although all the provisions for the king's journey to Scotland have been sent forward as well as the attendants, the talk about it is dying away. The Scots do not now seem so eagerly desirous of it as they professed to be in the past, and there is some indication that this journey also may ultimately be prevented by parliament, or at any rate postponed to some other time, that is to say until the affairs have been adjusted and the Scottish and English troops alike dismissed, so that no occasion whatever may be left for the fear that with the help of those forces Ins Majesty may in the future reestablish his former authority and avenge himself for the licence of the most seditious, and so that he may be compelled hereafter patiently to endure the hard laws which the audacity of his subjects has prescribed to him, which leave him destitute of credit and stripped of all authority, with nothing but the bare title of king. Parliament has passed a bill forbidding all military officers and soldiers from proceeding to the service of foreign princes without a fresh permission. The levies I reported for the French and Catholic ambassadors are thus suspended. The French ambassador is labouring to obtain the licence and hopes to succeed without much trouble. The Spaniard on the other hand does not feel so confident, suspecting with reason that this last order is directed to preventing the transport to the coast of Spain of the Irish, to whom, on the strength of agreements made, he has disbursed considerable sums of money. He considers this as lost, which only adds to the hurt and shame. The French ambassador here has made cautious overtures to induce this crown to consign an army to the Palatine immediately, and has intimated that his king will add to its strength as well with a paid body of troops. The proposal gave pleasure but it will not be accepted, the parliamentarians standing steadfastly to their original opinion not to involve themselves in new expenditure. All the same they talk of sending very soon another ambassador to Caesar, charged to inform him of the last declaration of parliament here and of their fixed determination to have recourse to arms if the negotiations for the restitution of the Palatine house to their ancient patrimony prove fruitless. But even if this mission takes place its sole object will be to stir alarm in the minds of the imperialists, without any real intention of proceeding to acts, as I have reported before. Although France has shown her good will towards the Palatine by such advantageous proposals, yet the Prince does not seem to attach any value to the assistance of that crown and goes about saying freely that at the price of his interests the Most Christian is turning his thoughts to promoting the greatness of the House of Bavaria, the Palatine's principal enemy, so that amid such palpable coolness and such public differences little or nothing that is good can be hoped for from those princes. The French ambassador has approached the Queen mother with fresh representations that if she is disposed to dismiss from her service the three ministers banned by France, (fn. 2) all the goods which she enjoyed in times past will be restored to her and she will be received in that kingdom with the most conspicuous demonstrations of esteem and honour by the king, her son. But she has declined to receive this generous advance, in order not to lose the services of Fabroni, which are so grateful to her. So two days ago she sent an individual to the Cardinal Infant to ask again that passports may be granted to her although she previously asked in vain. (fn. 3) Parliament has recently been holding several debates upon the reform of religion, but all without result owing to the differences of opinion, every one persisting obstinately in advocating the opinions of his own sect. Meanwhile confusion in this matter has reached the utmost limit, as every one openly professes the religious opinions which please him best, and all are tolerated, except the Catholic. Preaching in the churches is no longer confined to the ministers, but any person from the common people may venture to proclaim the forms and dogmas of the particular faith which he follows. Quite recently, in particular, some women have held forth from the pulpits, bringing forth a new faith before a numerous concourse of people, so that one may say that there are as many religions as there are persons. This is a disastrous state of affairs which threatens ruin to the state unless such scandalous licence is speedily and vigorously restrained. London, the 2nd August, 1641. [Italian.]
Aug. 5. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Haya. Venetian Archives.	235. Zuanne Zon, Venetian Secretary at the Hague, to the Doge and Senate. There has been much talk of late about the coming of the Queen of England and they have been preparing quarters for her, but on the arrival here of the decisions of the parliament there, of which your Excellencies will have heard, they have stayed the principal measures. They seem glad of this circumstance, because it relieves the state of a great expense. The States have permitted their ambassador to return during his Majesty's sojourn in Scotland. There is talk of the queen mother seeking a union with the princes of Sedan. The Hague, the 5th August, 1641. [Italian.]
Aug. 9. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Inghilterra. Venetian Archives.	236. Giovanni Giustinian, Venetian Ambassador in England, to the Doge and Senate. With all my caution I have not succeeded in escaping trouble amid the disturbances of this kingdom, but thank God, I have come through it all with honour and glory to the name of your Excellencies. From this sheet you shall hear all that happened and all the perils met. When I came to this Court, I brought with me from France an English priest to act as my chaplain, (fn. 4) as my predecessors had always done, and in accordance with the actual practice of the ambassadors of France, Spain and Portugal, as well as the Resident of Florence. These also keep their chapels open without fear, with the same publicity as they have used in the past. But in my anxiety to avoid all unpleasant incidents, so as not to involve your Serenity in troublesome affairs, at the beginning of the outcry against the Catholics, when severe laws were being issued against the very priests, I considered it advisable, under the circumstances of the time, to have the divine offices celebrated in my chapel with closed doors, the idea being to prevent a crowd of people gathering, with disturbance to this house, without showing a conspicious lack of zeal. Later on I also sent the Secretary Agostini to Mr. Fildin, who is a member of parliament, to represent to him, as he did very wisely, that I had heard the declarations against English priests, and being anxious, consistently with the dignity of my office, to conduct myself in a manner satisfactory to the government here, I wished to inform him that I had brought an English priest with me for my own service exclusively. Although I knew that ambassadors were not subject to the laws here, yet I should be glad to have some further assurance as to whether the position of this priest was sufficiently safe. He thanked me for the confidence and replied that he would give notice of the matter to parliament and would then let me know their intentions. Four days later he came to this house and said that parliament highly appreciated my cautious procedure. As for the priest, since he was in my service, there was no doubt but that he would be perfectly safe. These assurance have since proved false, and derived solely from his imagination. But as I could not conceive that he would take the name of parliament in vain, I thought no more of the matter. By dint of the circumspection of which I have written before I have kept trouble at a distance from this house, amid all these perils and popular threats, to the no small astonishment of the other ambassadors, who have not been so fortunate. In the mean time an individual had arrived in this city, an Englishman, who after having been a Jesuit for some time, changed his religion and turned preacher and an implacable persecutor of priests. Being anxious to distinguish himself against his order by some conspicuous exhibition, it occurred to him to bring about the arrest of my chaplain. So he laid his snares and meeting the chaplain in the city, denounced him as a priest, calling for assistance to arrest him. The chaplain was accordingly seized, (fn. 5) and although he announced that he was a gentleman of my household, he was told that that was the very reason for his arrest. I heard of this incident at a time when I happened to be at the house of the Earl of Arundel, a leading minister who holds Venetian ministers in special regard owing to courtesies shown by your Excellencies to his wife. I informed his Excellency of what had happened. He seemed greatly vexed and undertook to speak to the king about it, advising me to lose no time in informing his Majesty myself. In the mean time I sent the Secretary Agostini to tell Fildin, who was greatly perturbed. Although it was the middle of the night he insisted on coming to see me and promised to do everything in his power to secure the release of the prisoner as well as the punishment of the over zealous preacher. I thanked him and reminded him of what he had told me, and though it was not true, he repeated it again. On the following day I saw his Majesty and told him what had happened, asking him for the release of the priest and for the punishment of the other. The king expressed great displeasure and constrained me to give him a memorial. On the following morning he himself took this to the Upper House of parliament. There it was decided that his Majesty had the power himself to release the prisoner and to oblige the preacher to do penance to me. The king sent me word of this decision by the Earl of Arundel and Fildin, promising that everything should be done that very day. But when he gave orders for this to be carried into effect to the Secretary of State, who is a Puritan and an enemy of the Catholics, that minister said that it could not be done without the consent of the Lower House as well. The king regretted this suggestion and sent the Earl of Arundel to me again to warn me of this hitch and suggest speaking to the Secretary to conciliate his goodwill in the matter. I did so and he courteously promised me a prompt and happy dispatch. After all this the king sent to pray me, through one of the queen's leading ladies, to write nothing to your Excellencies about this affair, which he realised hardly enhanced his dignity. At the same time he assured me that he would be as solicitous for the safety of this religious as he would be for the preservation of his own royal person. To these humble and friendly representations I returned suitable thanks. In order to keep your Excellencies out of the matter I added that I was a minister of good intentions, my aim was to promote good relations and not to create differences between his Majesty and the Senate, and I assured him that I would abstain from communicating with your Serenity until it was all over, as I thought would be right. When the business was in this position and discussed by everyone in accordance with his own particular prejudices, the ambassadors of France and Spain came to this house to offer their services and, if necessary to make protests, declaring that my interests included their own as well. I expressed my extreme gratification to them for it all but did not think it desirable to avail myself of their help, as I did not wish to prejudice the prestige of your Excellencies or impair the vigour of my offices. I was also waiting for the results of the king's efforts. His Majesty had noticed the disinclination of the secretary to settle this affair and he sent a secret intimation to me that he would not take it amiss if in a special audience I should repeat my instances, to afford him a basis for bringing the matter to a satisfactory termination. I responded to this suggestion performing a very complete office, to which his Majesty replied with a frank expression of his own sentiments. He said that I was in the right and thanked me for my patience. His honour was concerned, and upon his royal word I should have satisfaction within two days. He added more about the merits of your Serenity and in appreciation of my activities. After these offices His Majesty again asked the Upper House, in a paper, for the release, of the priest. This was agreed to and the proposal was then sent to the Lower House for their consent, which was promptly given. The king then directed the secretary of state to carry this decision into effect and send back the prisoner to me. But this minister through negligence or deliberate malice, tarried so long that the term arrived in which accused persons must unfailingly be dealt with by justice. This priest in company with another priest, in the presence of a great crowd, was brought forward and condemned to be hanged on the gallows on the following day, after being dragged through the city at the horse's tail, with other humiliating circumstances. Although it was late in the evening when I heard about this, yet in order to prevent this mischief and such shame, I went straight to the secretary, told him the state of affairs and asked him to put it right and to carry out the orders of the king and the parliament. He made various frivolous excuses and caused the execution of the sentence to be suspended for a single day only, promising that at the end he would settle the matter to my entire satisfaction. But he did nothing until the middle of the day which preceded the one determined for the execution of the sentence. Orders were issued to the prisons for his release. As I heard that the king was about to leave the city in a few hours and would not return until the evening of the following day, I made up my mind to see the queen, and ask her to use her influence to make sure that his Majesty's commands should not be delayed any longer, involving the death of this religious. The queen waxed angry at the behaviour of the secretary. She bore witness to the king's goodwill and promised to speak to him at once. She did so and when his Majesty heard the facts he was greatly incensed. He sent for the secretary and in the queen's presence reprimanded him severely. When the minister tried to excuse himself by inventions he only inflamed the king's wrath, and his Majesty angrily told the secretary that he was telling lies. The minister being stirred by the fear of losing with the royal favour his office as well, broke out into the following words : he marvelled that his Majesty should permit ambassadors to avail themselves of English priests, thereby infringing the laws of the realm. If the king would allow him, his secretary should write to Venice in such a way that your Serenity would be induced to disapprove my offices and of my employing a chaplain of this character. He asserted boldly that the republic has not the same sentiments towards the Roman Court as other Princes have and that this example would serve as a warning to the other ambassadors as well. His Majesty made no reply to these bold and scandalous suggestions inspired by anger and uttered in the presence of many gentlemen of the Court, by one of whom I was immediately informed in confidence. The king, indeed, ordered the Master of the Ceremonies to proceed to this house and express to me his Majesty's grief that matters had gone so far, and to assure me that he will cause the prisoner to be restored with all honour, and will further give such satisfaction as shall be judged proper by the Council. The Master of the Ceremonies, as from himself, tried to find out from my own lips what I should claim. I thanked him very cordially for these offices of his Majesty. I said that I knew the wisdom of the king and his ministers, and so I hoped that they would give me conspicuous satisfaction that would make plain to the world and to all the foreign ministers resident at this Court the esteem in which they hold the Senate and its ministers. I indicated in the first place that they should cause the conviction to be annulled, and then that his Majesty should be pleased to send an earl to me with the royal coaches to take me to the palace to a state audience such as is given at a first entry, and at this offer apologies for what had happened, making a public expression of the sentiments which the king had been good enough to express to me privately. I did not bar the way to other steps being taken, in order not to commit myself to this alone, which the Master of the Ceremonies did not think would be easily conceded. With this reply he returned to the palace. Today he informs me in the king's name that the matter has been before the Council and they have decided that under the Great Seal of England the conviction shall be annulled, that the prisoner shall be released with all honour, that audience shall be given me tomorrow publicly in the manner suggested, and that the Earl of Warwick, a great lord and councillor of state is selected to come with the royal coaches and other lords of Court to fetch me from my house. In this way the affair will be settled in a dignified manner. It has caused me great anxiety, on the score of the reputation of this charge. Decidedly his Majesty could not do more in honour of the minister of your Excellencies. In order to render this audience more conspicuous and stately I have ordained that the coaches of the ambassadors and ministers of the Court and other friends shall be invited. It will be necessary to pay the usual gratuities which are given at a first audience and to incur other expenses for the Great Seal and the king's guards. But the money will be well employed for the upholding of the dignity of my country. I will send your Excellencies a faithful account of what takes place. Meanwhile, in order to avoid any more tiresome incidents, I will cause the priest to cross the sea, after he has stayed a day or two at this house. In the future I shall employ foreign subjects to discharge his duties, as I feel sure that such would be the wish of your Excellencies. I trust that you will approve of the manner in which I have conducted myself in this necessary occasion, which to tell the truth has won the applause of the Catholics and of the Protestants equally, while it renders the greatness of your Excellencies more conspicuous than ever at this Court as well as the zeal of your minister. One of the queen's priests (fn. 6) has also been arrested, and although she is pressing for his release she has not yet been able to obtain it. This only renders the release of mine the more conspicuous. London, the 9th August, 1641. [Italian.]
	237. Giovanni Giustinian, Venetian Ambassador in England, to the Doge and Senate. When all expectation had ceased that the Scots any longer desired the presence of his Majesty in that kingdom, an individual has arrived on purpose to urge him to go there. The king has sent the letters themselves to the parliament and has intimated to them that since the urgency of affairs there admits of no further delay he is determined to set out in the middle of this month, in conformity with what was established. The announcement of this hasty move caused no slight apprehension, in the Lower Chamber in particular, and in very lengthy discussions they have gone into the means by which they may put a stop to or at least postpone this journey until they have an opportunity to find out with more certainty the suspected intentions of the Scots. But so far his Majesty holds fast to his original determination, which increases suspicion of a secret intelligence with that people. Every one is awaiting with curiosity the outcome of this move, which might possibly change the troubled course of events here and raise again the fortunes of the king. During his Majesty's absence the parliament will remain in being, but it will not proceed with fresh deliberations until his return ; and the Council of State will take part in the government of the monarchy, under the superintendence of parliament. In the interval the queen with the rest of the Court will proceed to Bristol, 100 miles from here, in order to be nearer her husband, and to avoid remaining under the tactless control of the parliament. All the foreign ministers propose to follow her, as well for the purpose of observing the course of events, as to avoid exposure, in the absence of their Majesties, to the insolences of this licentious people, and to those dangers which would be inevitable should his Majesty decide to return to this kingdom accompanied by the forces of Scotland, and by the remains of the English army stationed at York. In view of the emergency and there being no time to wait for instructions from the Signory, I shall follow the example of the others, feeling persuaded that your Excellencies will approve of the step as a necessary one for the proper fulfilment of my duties, and in particular to shelter myself from fresh molestation. I also hope that you will not lose sight of the considerable expenses which I shall have to incur on the journey, and for the maintenance of two houses at the same time, and that you will permit me to share the public liberality which in such cases is customarily dispensed generously to all indifferently. M. di More returned from Holland last week. He brought assurances to the Queen Mother that she shall receive the best of treatment in her passage through those States. The Dutch ambassador has confirmed all this but has nevertheless repeated that their High Mightinesses cannot grant a safe conduct to her three ministers. On the other hand the Prince of Orange, by private promises, has expressed his intention to the Queen to arrange for them to pass through secretly and in safety. Accordingly even if the Cardinal Infant should not be disposed to grant the passports which have been asked, her Majesty will doubtless accept the invitation. She announces that she will set out on Monday and will stop at the city of Canterbury to await the answer from Flanders, as well as the actual passport from Holland, for which she has sent again. She will be carried across by the king's ships and the Earl of Arundel has been selected by his Majesty to accompany her to the place of embarcation, whether to Flanders or to Holland. To the written request of the French ambassador for permission to raise levies parliament has returned an unsatisfactory answer. Accordingly he is no better pleased with the government here than the Spaniard, finding it indisposed to do anything for the Most Christian king, his master. A dispute of some importance has occurred these last days in parliament between the Earl of Pembroke, the Lord Chamberlain, and the eldest son of the Earl of Arundel, both persons of high rank. To punish their temerity and their lack of respect to that Senate they have both been sent prisoners to the Tower. The queen, who cherishes oldstanding grudges against the Chamberlain, has taken advantage of this opportunity to induce her husband to take away the office from him. Apart from the dignity this is worth 50,000 crowns a year. His Majesty has conferred the appointment on the Earl of Essex, a leading man among the Puritans. (fn. 7) Although in the past he has shown himself utterly opposed to the king's interests, his Majesty hopes that the stimulus of ambition as well as of profit will suffice to secure his devotion, and if he succeeds in winning over the earl he will have achieved a great gain, since that nobleman possesses the strongest party in parliament. After justice had attempted by the most absolute promises of safety and other rewards to induce the priest who was condemned to death in company with my chaplain, to change his faith, and after he had refused every proposal with great constancy, he suffered the glorious pains of martyrdom in public on Monday, amid admiration for his great zeal. (fn. 8) The queen, the king himself and the Catholics regret the event, but it has produced corresponding gain for the Catholic faith this perfect example of constancy having persuaded many Protestants to throw themselves into the arms of the true Church. Thus through the means of one innocent victim, the Roman religion, instead of being depressed is more and more established in the hearts of good men. London, the 9th August, 1641. Postscript : since writing the above I learn that many leading gentlemen, under the pretext of accompanying the Queen Mother to Holland, are crossing the sea, being afraid more particularly of fresh disturbances in this city in the absence of their Majesties. This constrains me the more to follow the Court as well as the other ambassadors, to avoid the danger of irreparable incidents. [Italian.]
Aug. 9. Collegio, Secreta. Esposizioni, Principi. Venetian Archives.	238. The Secretary of England came into the Collegio and spoke substantially as follows : All Catholic priests subjects of his Majesty are required to leave the realm, by a decree of parliament of the 24th July last, upon pain of death, and they must not stay in the island. (fn. 9) In spite of this law an English priest who lived in the house of the Venetian ambassador and under his protection, walked about the city without any concern, and was accordingly imprisoned. Our ambassador asks me to inform your Serenity, assuring you that the priest will be treated with moderation, owing to the respect for you and for the ambassador, who is popular and respected by every one, esteemed by his Majesty and all the Court. The doge replied : We have no information about this affair except what you have just told us. We are sure that the matter will be dealt with with every regard as we know that the ambassador would have no one in his house who might cause offence. We therefore hope that this priest will be treated with discretion. The Secretary replied : The priest is an Englishman, a subject of his Majesty ; if he had been of another nation he would not have been interfered with. The doge said : Yours is the only information we have. The secretary then added : I previously recommended an English merchant to your Serenity's protection. He has again approached me with a memorial, which I present, and he handed it to the secretary. After it was read the doge said these Signors will consider your office together with the memorial. He then took leave. [Italian.]
Filza.	The Memorial. 239. The ambassador of the King of Great Britain made request at divers times that your Serenity would delegate the cause of me, Laurence Hyder, an Englishman, to a number of Senators selected from the body of the Senate, and the doge replied that this was not usual but that I should go to the ordinary Courts, and despatch would be recommended, and I have this in some of my causes. As I am unable to obtain dispatch up to the present, through being unable to have pender in the Quarantia Civil Vecchia and of the Venti Savii, after spending twelve years in many misfortunes and vexations caused me by the Avogador Pisani, by which goods to the value of more than 40,000 ducats were taken from me, as I have shown the Inquisitors, with the addition of two years' imprisonment, as appears from the ban against the Avogador, I pray you to beseech his Serenity to give strict orders that my causes may be dispatched as soon as possible, as I am detained here by this matter and can no longer support the cost of such delays. [Italian.]
Aug. 9. Collegio, Secreta. Esposizioni, Roma. Venetian Archives.	240. The papal nuncio came into the Collegio and said, among other things : His Holiness has heard from several quarters of what has happened in England to Count Rossetti, his familiar, and with what real piety the ambassador of your Serenity, amid all that confusion, has put right many of the things that occurred, now the affairs of the Puritans there have come to such a pass. The pope has directed me to thank the republic warmly for the piety of the Senate and the prudence shown by the ambassador, of whom it is impossible to speak without the highest praise. This is the truth. Your Serenity might give him the orders, but the ambassador deserves the praise, because he could not have carried them out with greater prudence or opportuneness. Affairs there could not be in greater confusion. The Puritans put up with the old Catholics there but cannot suffer the new ones. Your Serenity exercises your protection at Constantinople also. His Holiness commends to your Serenity the charge of the Faith in England, during these events, because all the advantage may rest with you alone, not with others, and it will increase your merit with all Christendom, because this is a universal interest, which will serve to show your customary piety ever more clearly. The doge replied that they deeply regretted the disturbances in England, especially where they injured religion. For this the republic was always ready to shed its blood. The incident was a grave one. Thank God it had been repaired by their ambassador because some spectacle, some notable injury might follow. The ambassador behaved prudently and deserves praise for his prompt action in fulfilling his instructions, and he will continue to act vigorously, giving effect to the piety of the Senate. The nuncio added, I assure your Serenity that the more the republic does for religion the more God will assist her. The action was truly great and affects everyone. All see the piety of the republic and acclaim her merits throughout Christendom ; and I congratulate your Serenity warmly. [Italian.]
Aug. 11. Senato, Secreta. Dispacci, Costantinopoli. Venetian Archives.	241. Girolamo Trivisano, Venetian Bailo at Constantinople, to the Doge and Senate. A few days ago there was a quarrel between some English merchants and certain Jews. They broke each others' heads. At the instance of Ancocaua the Vizier sent to arrest the English in their own house. They protest that the Jews were in the wrong. The ambassador asked for audience to request their release. It was refused. He went without asking and was not admitted, being sent back with a serious rebuff. The merchants were obliged to ransom themselves by a payment of 3000 reals. The Vigne of Pera, the 11th August, 1641. [Italian ; deciphered.]