[123] He contrived, by means of a Venetian priest, his spy, to obtain a copy of a letter from Philip to the Pope; a gentleman of the bedchamber taking the keys of the cabinet from the pockets of his holiness as he slept. Upon intelligence thus obtained, Walsingham got those Spanish bills protested at Genoa which should have supplied money for the preparations. CHAPTER XX. ON STITCHERY. "Here have I cause in men just blame to find, That in their proper praise too partial bee, And not indifferent to womankind, * * * * * Scarse do they spare to one, or two, or three, Rowme in their writtes; yet the same writing small Does all their deedes deface, and dims their glories all." Faerie Queene. "Christine, whiche understode these thynges of Dame Reason, replyed upon that in this manere. Madame Ise wel {that} ye myght fynde ynowe & of grete nombre of women praysed in scyences and in crafte; but knowe ye ony that by {the} vertue of their felynge & of subtylte of wytte _haue founde of themselfe_ ony newe craftes and scyences necessary, good, & couenable that were neuer founde before nor knowne? for it is not so grete maystry to folowe and to lerne after ony other scyence founde and comune before, as it is to fynde of theymselfe some newe thynge not accustomed before. "_Answere._--Ne doubte ye not {the} contrary my dere frende but many craftes and scyences ryght notable hathe ben founde by the wytte and subtylte of women, as moche by speculacyon of understandynge, the whiche sheweth them by wrytynge, as in craftes, {that} sheweth theym _in werkynge of handes_ & of laboure." _The Boke of the Cyte of Ladyes._ Again we must lament that the paucity of historical record lays us under the necessity of concluding, by inference, what we would fain have displayed by direct testimony. The respectable authority quoted above affirms that "many craftes and scyences ryght notable hathe ben founde by the wytte and subtylte of women," and it specifies particularly "werkynge of handes," by which we suppose the "talented" author means needlework. That the necessity for this pretty art was first created by woman, no one, we think, will disallow; and that it was first practised, as it has been subsequently perfected, by her, is a fact of which we feel the most perfect conviction.