No. VII.
LETTERS OF THE ARCHPRIEST HARRISON RELATIVE TO THE APPOINTMENT OF AN AGENT AT THE ROMAN CURIA, &c. TRANSCRIBED
AND
TRANSLATED
BY
DOM GILBERT DOLAN, O.S.B. THE Nuntio at the Court of Brussels was in many ways more closely connected with England than any other Papal representative. The majority of the English colleges and convents lay in Belgium, and he was geographically nearer to London than any other Nuntio. There were, therefore, many reasons for Dr. Harrison's frequent communication with this ecclesiastical centre. Unfortunately , the name of the proposed agent does not appear. We only learn that he was the brother of the secretary to the Nuntio, who at this time was Monsignor Lucio Sanseverino, Archbishop of Salerno. The MS. from which this is printed is a contemporary draft or copy belonging to Miss Harting. Copied on the same sheet of paper and the first letter bearing the later date, it seems probable that it was a covering one to the others relating to the appointment of agent at the Curia Romana. The vacancy for the name of the agent in the letter- patent may have been left for the Nuntio to fill in correctly. These and other documents may throw light on one another.
Illustrissimo Nuntio Belgico:
Secretario ejus Agenti nostro fratri. 13 Dec. , 1618.
Illustrissime Domine, Solitus sum vernali et æstivo tempore visitare partes remotiores regni , ut disciplinam ecclesiasticam (quantum fieri potest in his turbulentissimis temporibus) conservare, concordiam mutuam pacemque nutrire dissensiones et contentiones si quæ fuerint compescere queam : quæ causa fuit silentii mei , quo hucusque usus sum ut litteris vestris vernalibus , quæ aliquantulo tardius ad me pervenerunt respondere nequivi. Nunc vero vel imprimis, tibi gratias quas potero ago exhibeo certe maximas pro ultimis ad me tuis litteris omni humanitate ac charitate plenis in quibus omnia amoris officia pro nobis hic in Anglia offerre ac præstare dignatus es, sicut de reipsa et de facto Reverendo Domino Matthæo Kellisono præsidi meritissimo collegii nostri Duaceni sæpe contulisti, quod te protegente nunc reflorescere ac pristinum splendorem recuperare videtur. Ideoque de felici progressu illius collegii spem maximam concipiens plura dicere supersedeo, et ad miserabilem luctuosumque patriæ nostræ Angliæ statum redeo , de qua licet moerore ac squallore oppressa, in spem maximam tamen erectus sum, ut Deus tandem aliquando miseraturus populi sui afflicti, et persecutionis quæ catholicis per universum regnum affligit : maxime vero præfectus partium borealium sævit, qui sacerdotem sæcularem crudeliter more solito trucidandum præcepit , die noctuque exploratores suos mittens qui catholicos deprehendere , incarcerare ac bonis suis spoliare domi forisque invigilant : facinorisque ejus nephan-