of his intellect was taxed to keep on good or even safe terms with
France, did his best to stem these opposing currents. His private
letters to his old and confidential friend, Noel de Carom, States'
ambassador in London, reveal the perplexities of his soul and the upright
patriotism by which he was guided in these gathering storms. And this
correspondence, as well as that maintained by him at a little later
period with the successor of Aerssens at Paris, will be seen subsequently
to have had a direct and most important bearing upon the policy of the
Republic and upon his own fate. It is necessary therefore that the
reader, interested in these complicated affairs which were soon to bring
on a sanguinary war on a scale even vaster than the one which had been
temporarily suspended, should give close attention to papers never before
exhumed from the musty sepulchre of national archives, although
constantly alluded to in the records of important state trials. It is
strange enough to observe the apparent triviality of the circumstances
out of which gravest events seem to follow. But the circumstances were
in reality threads of iron which led down to the very foundations of the
earth.

"I wish to know," wrote the Advocate to Caron, "from whom the Archbishop
of Canterbury received the advices concerning Vorstius in order to find
out what is meant by all this."

It will be remembered that Whitgift was of opinion that James was
directly inspired by the Holy Ghost, and that as he affected to deem him
the anointed High-priest of England, it was natural that he should
encourage the King in his claims to be 'Pontifex maximus' for the
Netherlands likewise.

"We are busy here," continued Barneveld, "in examining all things for the