Note 100 — Chapter II
Reading edition
The interpretation of the following letter seems doubtful, but it is worth quoting. It is a curious fact that Lord Castlemaine should have either taken, or intended to take, orders in the Church of Rome.
January 1, 1677. To the Lord Castlemaine at Liège: “118 and 109, as I am privately told, are now perfectly reconciled to the Duke of York, and fully resolved to serve him and his interest, so that if the Lords and Commons when they meet do nothing, the King will dissolve them and once more publish a toleration. Consider if Mr. Skinner can make a seasonable check of mettlesome stuff for the conjuncture. By a letter from Mr. Warner at Paris I find D. of Cleveland persuaded that Ld. Castlemain is already made a priest by the Jesuits’ underhand contrivances, and that she obstructed it what she could at Rome. I should think it expedient that she should continue in that belief, that she may think it now too late to go about to hinder it.” Unsigned Longleat MSS. Coventry Papers xi. 347.