The first necessary step was to secure the financial support of the Pope without letting him know the real object of the proposed invasion. Gregory XIII. was cautious and unambitious, though not unwilling to signalise his pontificate by some great effort against heresy, but, like most Italians, with no desire to aggrandise Spain politically. He was surrounded by Cardinals representing different interests: Medici, D’Este, Gonzaga, Rusticucci, Santorio, and others favouring the French view, which looked with hope towards the conversion of James Stuart and an arrangement with Elizabeth to recognise him as her heir, the real object being, of course, the exclusion of Spanish influence from England. Cardinal Sanzio watched the interests of the House of Guise, while the Secretary of State, Caraffa, Sirleto, Como, Dr. Allen (somewhat later), and the Spanish ambassador, the Count of Olivares, worked craftily and incessantly to forward Philip’s wishes. It will be recollected that when Father Parsons, under the name of Melino, went to Rome at the instance of Guise in the autumn of 1583, to beg the Pope’s assistance in money for the combined Anglo-Scottish project, Gregory XIII. had readily promised what was asked of him, much to Philip’s annoyance. When, therefore, Olivares, in Philip’s name in the spring of the following year, 1584, sounded the Pope upon the much vaster project of invading England with a great force direct, the Pontiff blandly replied that he would contribute what he had promised to Guise through Parsons, and at the same time recommended to Philip the Guisan plan of an invasion of Scotland as a preliminary of the conquest of England for the faith. It was not so easy, replied Philip, to liberate the King of Scotland, nor was it safe for the Duke of Guise to stir from his house in France unless in great force. If he were to try the Scottish plan he would probably be lost, which would be an irreparable blow to the Catholic cause in France. Then Philip gently pushed James Stuart into the background. He shall be helped with money, of course, and the English Catholics shall be kept in good heart, but the affair is a great one, and will take time and much money if it is to be done with a certainty of success; above all, the Pope must “contribute very largely, and must find ways and means, through his holy zeal, to do much more than any one has yet imagined.”[261]