prerogatives, in the magnitude and importance of the new countries;
and could not have been sent by Verrazzano, without permission, to a
private person, and especially a foreigner, without subjecting
himself to the charge of disloyalty, if not of treason, which there
is no other evidence to sustain. On the other hand it could not have
been delivered by the king to this Carli. It is not probable, even
if such a letter could have come into the hands of Francis, absent
from his capital in the midst of warlike preparations, engaged in
forming his army and en route for the scene of the invasion, that he
could have given it any consideration. But if he had received it and
considered its import, there was no official or other relation
between him and Carli, or any motive for him to send it forward in
advance of his coming to Lyons, to this young and obscure alien.
There was no possibility, therefore, of Carli obtaining possession
of a private copy of the letter through Verrazzano or the king.

The only way open to him, under the most favorable circumstances,
would have been through some publicity, by proclamation or printing,
by order of the king; in which case, it would have been given for
the benefit of all his subjects. It is impossible that it could have
been seen and copied by this young foreigner alone and in the city
of Lyons, and that no other copies would have been preserved in all
France. The idea of a publication is thus forbidden.

No alternative remains except to pronounce the whole story a
fabrication. The Carli letter is untrue. It did not inclose any
letter of Verrazzano of the character pretended. And as it is the
only authority for the existence of any such letter, that falls with
it.