Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/432

 416 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 66. in Paris. From thence lie went to Milan, where he 'justified himself before the Grand Inquisitor. In the warmth of conversion he desired to do something great for the cause which he had espoused. Meditating much on the afflictions of the English Catholics, and pondering how he could deliver them from ' captivity,' he thought for himself of the obvious means, which his knowledge of the Queen and Court would give him special opportunities to execute, and he consulted a Jesuit acquaintance at Venice. The Jesuit commended his devotion, introduced him to the Nuncio as a chosen vessel, and sent word of him to Pope Gregory. He re- turned in the autumn (1583) to Paris, where, being a Welshman, he fell in with his countryman Thomas Morgan. The two worthies were not long in under- standing each other. The assassination was a constant subject of conversation between them; but Parry, pro- fessing conscientious scruples, desired the opinion -of certain learned divines. If his doubts could be resolved, he promised to undertake the business. He was aware already of the opinion of the Jesuits, but accident brought him across a priest of the old school ; and there were clergy still with antiquated notions, to whom murder was still a crime, and regicide was sacrilege. This man strongly condemned what Allen as warmly commended, and, distracted between his counsellors, he agreed at last to refer the question to the Vatican. If the Pope would sanction his purpose, and give him ab- solution for it beforehand, he promised to be satisfied. Morgan took him to the Nuncio at Paris. The Nuncio