viii
INTRODUCTION
that the amount of good grain is here very small compared itwithis clear the quantity the chaff. Walsingham's papers in the Record
of
Office contain many reports of this sort, some descriptions of which may be found in the Calendars. They are as a rule so unreliable (see Bancroft's description of Fawether , p. 391) that they need special treatment. Perhaps some diligent critic may in time find that a few pages here and there are worthy of credit, but they can never , as a class, be reckoned worthy of a place by the side of the first hand and official pieces, of which our collection is mainly composed . Minutiæ have also been deliberately omitted from this collection. A not inconsiderable quantity of very short notices , passing references and small variations between different accounts , have been collected, and at one time I hoped to be able to include them in an Appendix, together with references to all printed authorities (see p . 6, § 15). But time has failed me to reduce these numerous and varied citations to such precise order and uniformity as would alone justify their publication. It only remains for me to thank many friends who have given me active assistance in my work. To the present Rector of Stonyhurst College , and to his predecessor in office, my special thanks are due for the loan of valuable manuscripts . To Father Patrick Ryan, to Mr. Richard Trappes -Lomax, and to Miss Stearn , my debt is no less considerable for their willing and constant aid in the transcription and collation of documents , in the reading and correction of proofs, and the compilation of the Index.
J. H. POLLEN , S.J. Second Sunday of Lent, 1908 .