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320 CASSIAN OF STANLEY with the world of his day 23 • Indeed he exercised a busy and varied apostolate among the people, so much so that on one occasion, at least, it caused adverse comment about him 24 • The extant correspondence of Father Archangel, a small but appreciable part of which is avail– able in print, if reduced to order and summarized, would contribute not a little to a better understanding of the part he played in the religious life of his time 25 • His work was appreciated, and it speaks much for the high opinion in which he was held that his name should be included, together with those of two of his fellow Capuchins from Britain, on a list of names of persons suitable to be appointed bishops in England. This list was submitted to Rome, in 1607, by Maffeo Barberini, later to become Urban VIII, but at this time nuncio in Paris" 6 • Father Archangel's activities were well known to the English authorities who were kept well informed by their agents abroad. His name occurs not infrequently in reports on English priests made by spies on the Continent. There is, for instance, this very explicit mention of him in a report written about 1603 which reads: « Father Archangell by the name of Mr. Barlow, a gent[leman] of good worth in his Countrie, his father is a justice of the peace in Pem– brokeshire and he a poore Capucine but well thought of in France and in great reputation » 27 • He was well known to the spiritual elite of the Paris of his day 23 Manuel de la Province de Paris a /'usage au Pere Dominique de Paris, Bibi. Natio– nale, Paris, ms. Ponds franr;:. 6451, p.121; EMMANUEL DE L\N:\!ODEZ, O.F.M.Cap., Les Peres Gardiens des Capucins du couvent de la rue Saint-Honore i1 Paris (1574-1790), Paris 1893, 9, 11, 14; HILDEBRAND [VAN HOOGLEDE], op. cit., loco cit. 24 De Confessione saecularium in Ordine nostro, in Analecta O.F.M.Cap. 19(1903) 280. In a letter, reprinted in this article, it is stated that the Procurator General of the Capuchins affirms that Father Archangel « s'ingerisce troppo in cose secolari sotto prctcsto di spiritualita et che nuovamentc ha havuto qualche mortificazionc ». It does not say on what Father Archangel burnt his fingers (see, also, p.279, 283, 372). The Procurator General at the time the letter was written was Clemente da Noto (cl'. FELJCE DA M,IRETO, op. cit., 118). 25 Apart from the well-known letters which Father Archangel wrote to the young Ab– bess of Port-Royal, there arc such letters as those mentioned, for instance, in various stud– ies, e.g. RoMUALD0 A S. MARCELLO, O.F.l\11.Cap., De ignoto manuscripto versio11is Italicae operis Claudii ab Abbeville, O.F.M.Cap., in Coll.Franc. 13(1.943) 309. In manuscript there is, for instance, the interesting letter which Father Archangel sent to the Procurator General of the Capuchins, dated 17th September, 1624, asking him to intercede with the Pope for the appoint– ment of a bishop in England (Westminster Archives, Roman Letters, B. 26). An important letter sent to Father Archangel by Lord Montague, dated 9 July, 1617, is found in ROBERT O'CONNELL, O.F.M.Cap., Historia Missionis Hibernicae Capuccinorum, 170-173. The reference here is to the transcript of O'Connell's work in the Irish Capuchin Provincial Archives. I am indebted to Fr. Benedict, O.F.M.Cap., of the Irish Province for a copy of this transcript. The autograph copy of O'Connell's work is in the Bibliothcque Municipale at Troyes, ms. 706. This was not available at the time of writing. 2H Vatican Archives, Nunziatura di Francia, t.51, f.391-392. The draft of this letter is in the Vatican Library, Barb.lat. 5871, f.315. Cf. CASSIAN REEL [OF STANLEY], O.F.M.Cap., Fa/her Constan– tine, O.F.M.Cap. (15?-1616), in Biographical Studies 2(1953) 29-30. 21 Public Record Office, S.P. 15/34/ 132. We give the date as about 1603, for in the same .report it is stated that at « Mountford" there is « Mr. Fitz, a Capueine who was latelie in
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