inflicted on the hapless Indians of America, were capable of any
conceivable cruelty.

Petitions upon petitions poured in on the queen from those whose
fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons had been put to death, or were
still groaning in the Spanish Inquisition, or in other prisons, both in
the old and new worlds. Dorothy Seely, whose husband was among them,
entreats that she and the friends of such of Her Majesty's subjects "as
be there imprisoned, inflicted, and tormented beyond all reason, may be
allowed to fit out certain ships for the sea at their own proper
charges, and to capture such inquisitors or other papistical subjects of
the King of Spain as they can take by sea or land, and to retain them in
prison in England with such torment and diet as Her Majesty's subjects
had suffered in Spain."

To strengthen this petition, it is stated "that not long since the
Spanish Inquisition executed sixty persons of Saint Malo, in France,
whereupon the Frenchmen, having armed and manned their pinnaces, lay in
wait for the Spaniards, and took a hundred and beheaded them, sending
the Spanish ships to the shore with the heads, leaving in each ship only
one man to relate the cause of the revenge--since which time the Spanish
Inquisition has never meddled with those of Saint Malo."

Froude tells us that one of the French rovers, commanded by Jacques
Leclerc, called by the Spaniards Pie de Palo--"timber leg"--sailed from
Havre, and captured a Portuguese vessel worth 40,000 ducats, as well as
a Biscayan ship laden with iron and wool, and afterwards chased another
papist ship into Falmouth, where he fired into her and drove her on
shore. The captain of the Spaniard appealed for protection to the
governor of Pendennis, but the governor replied that the privateer was
properly commissioned, and that without special orders from the queen he
could not interfere. Pie de Palo then took possession of her as a
prize, and afterwards anchored under shelter of Pendennis, waiting for
further good fortune. As it was the depth of winter, and the weather
being unsettled, five Portuguese ships, a few days later, were driven in
for shelter. Ascertaining the insecurity of their position, they
attempted to escape to sea again, but Pie de Palo dashed after them and
seized two of the five, which he brought back as prizes. Philip
complained to the English Government of the robberies committed on his
subjects, and attempts were made to put a stop