Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/60

 44 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 65. he said from the pulpit that ' Pity it was there could not be found any of that courage to bereave her of her life.' Father Allen, the principal, spoke afterwards in the same strain, ' inveighing most heinously against the Queen, saying that her law exceeded for cruelty both heathen and Turk, and that she sought nothing but blood.' Language of this kind was congenial food for Tyrrell and his companion, and they went on upon their way greatly strengthened and comforted. Tyrrell was not a stranger in Rome. He had been educated at the English College, and thither he went on his arrival, taking Ballard with him. He explained to the rector, Father Alfonzo Algazari, the object of his coining. The rector ' being rejoiced to hear of priests of that mind,' consulted Everard Mercuriano, the general of the order to which the Englishmen belonged. Mercuriano sent for Tyrrell, and inquired who Ballard was, ' whether he was of credit in England/ ' whether he was wise and fit for any great action ; ' and the answers being satisfactory, he procured for them the interview which they desired with the great person whom they had come to consult. Gregory received them in his cabinet. They prostrated themselves, kissed his foot, and re- mained kneeling, while Algazari, as their spokesman, described their errand. ' May it please your Holiness,' he said, ' here be these reverend priests lately come from the hot harvest in England, who have come hither partly to gain strength to give the enemy a new encounter, but chiefly to obtain such spiritua.1 graces from your beatitude as the