Fitzgibbon goes to France, and negotiates with England.
Finding that no expedition left Vigo, and that the King trusted Stukeley more than him, Fitzgibbon determined to see what he could do in France. At Bordeaux he was received with honour by the bishop, who gave him a horse to ride during his stay. On arriving at Paris he was at once waited on by Captain Thomas, a native of the Pale in the French service, who offered him such courtesies as were in the English Ambassador’s power. He asked and received an introduction to the Cardinal of Lorraine, to whom he manifested his own importance and the weakness of Ireland. Thomas, who had access to the Cardinal, let him know that Ireland was strong enough to resist a multitude—a statement which would have been hardly borne out by Sidney or Fitzwilliam. With better reason the captain reminded his Eminence that Fitzgibbon was a Geraldine, and that the heads of that House were in prison. The Cardinal’s demeanour then became cool, and the poor Archbishop began to think that after all Queen Elizabeth might be his best card. A second Irish soldier was appointed to watch him, and to report anything of importance that he might let fall. The Queen would not promise to restore him to his see, but was willing to pardon him, and to give him as good a living in Ireland. If Walsingham thought him insincere, he was to pump every possible secret out of him, and then try to get him given up by the French King as a rebel. The Archbishop’s terms were a pardon under the Great Seal, restoration to his see, and license to go back to Ireland with eight companions; in consideration of which he was ready to be a loyal subject, and to let her Majesty have all ‘news.’ Being pressed to substitute ‘secrets’ for ‘news,’ he said he was very unwilling to do anything which might deprive him of a future asylum in Spain or elsewhere. Should the Queen think fit to restore him to his country and place—he said nothing about the lost pall—he would show to Walsingham in writing ‘both the names of the conspiracy, and also the remedy.’ But Elizabeth would not hear of his returning to Ireland except by way of England, and he was far too wary for that.
Later movements of Fitzgibbon.
He sought an interview with Anjou, but here Captain Thomas was before him, and told the French prince that Ireland was poor, and only an expense to the Queen, and that the Archbishop was of small credit, having been banished for brawling. Monsieur then sent the exiled prelate two hundred crowns, and said he was afraid he should not have time to see him. Fitzgibbon seemed for a moment inclined to go to England, and sue for pardon; but ‘sinister practices’ prevented this, if it had ever been seriously intended. The Archbishop went off to Nantes and afterwards found his way to Scotland, where he suffered imprisonment. Returning again to the Continent, he continued to intrigue against Elizabeth, and died at Oporto in 1578 without having effected anything of importance. Captain Thomas continued to draw his sixteen crowns per month from the French Government, and received thanks from Queen Elizabeth, but she does not seem to have conferred those substantial rewards at which Walsingham hinted. She had conveniently discovered in the course of the intrigue that the Archbishop was not of much importance, and that he was no relation to the Earl of Devon.[207]
FOOTNOTES:
[196] Sir Francis Englefield to Dorothy Devereux, Domestic Calendar, April 19, 1570; same to the Duchess of Feria, ib., April 20. Roger Hooker, a layman, was Dean of Leighlin in 1580, and probably for some time before: this was a strange experience for the father of Richard Hooker.
[197] John Corbine to Cecil, March 2, 1569; Sidney to Cecil, April 18, 1570; Fitzwilliam to Burghley, April 7 and May 7, 1571.
[198] John Corbine to Cecil, March 21, 1569; Sidney to Cecil, April 18, 1570; Mendoza to Cecil, Nov. 9; Norris to the Queen, Foreign Calendar, Jan. 3, 1571; Viscount Decies to Fitzwilliam, March 28. Note by William Herlle, April. For an account of the spy Herlle, see Froude, chap. xxi.
[199] ‘Istius insulæ rursum erigere et stabilire regale solium.’
[200] Statement presented to the King of Spain by the Archbishop of Cashel, on the part of the Irish Catholics, Spicilegium Ossoriense, i. 59.