He and his
companion, however, rigidiy complied with it, lying close in the hold or
under the boats, while suspicious officials searched the ship, a proof,
he triumphantly declares, of the audacious malice which has asserted it
as a tenet of Rome that no faith need be kept with heretics.
Once more at sea, Turnel shaped his course for home, having, with some
difficulty, gained a supply of water and provisions at Fayal. All was
now harmony between him and his prisoners. When he reached Pembroke, in
Wales, the appearance of the vessel--a French craft in English hands--
again drew upon him the suspicion of piracy. The Jesuits, dangerous
witnesses among the Catholics of Fayal, could at the worst do little
harm with the Vice-Admiral at Pembroke. To him, therefore, he led the
prisoners, in the sable garb of their order, now much the worse for
wear, and commended them as persons without reproach, "wherein," adds
the modest father, "he spoke the truth." The result of their evidence
was, we are told, that Turnel was henceforth treated, not as a pirate,
but, according to his deserts, as an honorable gentleman. This interview
led to a meeting with certain dignitaries of the Anglican Church, who,
much interested in an encounter with Jesuits in their robes, were
filled, says Biard, with wonder and admiration at what they were told of
their conduct.
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