<134>It is impossible to track out with any certainty the policy of Salisbury either in domestic or foreign affairs. Not merely had he often to affect an unreal acquiescence in James’s opinions, but he seems, in order that he might keep himself in the current of political influence, frequently to have made a show of forwarding schemes of which he disapproved. Yet there is a strong probability that 1610.Salisbury and the anti-Spanish alliance.he hoped to make the English intervention in Juliers the basis of a fresh departure in foreign policy, and to place England at the head of an alliance which, without assuming a provocative attitude, should at least oppose a barrier to that Spanish aggression which, since the murder of Henry IV., had once more become a positive danger to Europe.
It was in this spirit that he had warmly supported the union with France, and that as soon as this was assured, he turned his attention to The case of the English merchants in Spain.those grievances of the English merchants in Spain which in 1607 had moved the compassion of the House of Commons, and which were still substantially unredressed. Cornwallis, indeed, had been most active in pressing these claims upon the attention of the Spanish Government, and had 1609.at his own expense employed advocates to maintain them in the courts of law. When he returned to England in 1609, he left behind him his secretary, Cottington, who was to act as agent for the King of England until the appointment of another ambassador. Cottington took up the cases immediately, and left no stone <135>unturned to obtain justice.[230] At last, on December 1, 1609, a judgment was given in the case of the ‘Trial.’ The vessel was to be restored to its owners, but nothing was said about the value of the merchandise, or about reparation for the inhuman treatment inflicted upon the crew. Nor was it easy to obtain restitution even of the vessel itself. The Duke of Feria, who had been Viceroy of Sicily when the seizure was effected, was dead, and his son, who had succeeded to his title, was far too powerful 1610.a personage to pay any attention to the sentence of an ordinary court. Cottington complained that, in spite of all his efforts, nothing was done. At last, three days after the signature of the treaty with France,[231] Salisbury wrote to him, ordering him to present his complaints formally before the Spanish Government, and to intimate that if justice were still denied, he was directed to return home at once, to give an account of the treatment to which English subjects were exposed.
The effect of this was immediate. He was told indeed that, in the case of the ‘Trial,’ nothing could be done for the present, as Effect of Cottington’s remonstrance.the Duke of Feria was in France, and it was necessary to wait for his return. Orders were, however, placed in his hands, commanding the various tribunals to proceed expeditiously in the other cases of which he complained. These orders he received on October 20, and 1611.on April 10 in the following year[232] he was able to report not only that he had at last obtained several decisions in favour of the merchants, but that those decisions had actually been carried into effect. There were, however, important cases still remaining undecided, and these were left to the advocacy of Sir John Digby, who was to go out as ambassador in the course of the summer of 1611.
Whilst Salisbury was thus extending his protection to Englishmen whose interests were menaced by Spain, he did not neglect the wider political aspect of the situation. It was <136>his anxious wish that the alliance with the enemies of the House of Austria The Princess Elizabeth.might be strengthened by the marriages of the King’s children.[233] The Lady Elizabeth had grown up far from the frivolities and dissipations of the Court, at Combe Abbey, under the watchful care of Lord and Lady Harrington. No better school could have been found for her than a country house, presided over by a master and mistress who gained the respect and the love of all who knew them. From them she learned the religion, free from fanaticism or superstition, which was at no distant date to support her under no ordinary trials. In the spring of 1611, she had not completed her fifteenth year, but she was already noted for a grace and discretion beyond her years. She was the darling of her brother Henry, and she won golden opinions from young and old at her father’s court, to which she was now transferred.[234] Young as she was, proposals had already been made for her hand. Since the plan for marrying her to the Prince of Piedmont had been wrecked on the Pope’s refusal to countenance it, her hand had been demanded for the youthful heir to the throne of Sweden, who was afterwards to be so well known as the great Gustavus Adolphus. James, however, had refused to countenance an alliance with an enemy of his brother-in-law the King of Denmark, and it was not till the beginning of 1611 that an offer was made which James thought worthy of being taken into consideration.
The Elector Palatine, to whose leadership the Protestant Union owed its existence, had died in the previous year, leaving his son, Frederick V., a minor. Proposed marriage with the Elector Palatine.Not long before his death, the old Elector had made advances to the English Court, with a view of obtaining the hand of Elizabeth for his heir. They had been not unfavourably received, but they do not appear to have assumed the form of a definite proposal. The idea was taken up, after the death of the Elector, by his widow, daughter of the great <137>William of Orange, and by her brother-in-law, the Duke of Bouillon, one of the leaders of the French Protestants. In January 1611, Bouillon met Edmondes at Paris, and sounded him as to the reception which the proposal of such an alliance would find in England. Edmondes, on applying for instructions, was told to answer that James regarded the marriage with a favourable eye, but that he could not give a decided answer till a formal demand had been made.[235] The Electress, on hearing this, declared herself well satisfied, but said that she could not send a regular proposal till she had secured the consent of the three guardians of her son, Count Maurice, the Prince of Anhalt, and Count John of Nassau.[236]
This reply must have reached London about the end of April. About a month before another application for Elizabeth’s hand The Duke of Savoy proposes a double marriage.had been made on behalf of the Prince of Piedmont by the Savoyard ambassador, the Count of Cartignana. On inquiry, it appeared that he had only authority to treat on condition that another marriage should be effected between the Prince of Wales and his master’s daughter, and that even on those terms he was not at liberty to promise to the Princess Elizabeth the free exercise of her religion. It is probable that the Duke knew that in no other way would Paul V. be induced to give permission to the marriage.
It is in the highest degree probable that, if Salisbury could have had his way, Cartignana would have been dismissed with a polite but decided refusal. But the Lord Treasurer had to reckon with that party at the English Court which was headed by Northampton, and which, believing that a restoration of Catholicism would be the safest bulwark against democratic Puritanism, hoped to effect its object by providing the Prince of Wales with a Catholic wife. Yet if Salisbury was unable entirely to break off the negotiation, he was strong enough to throw almost insuperable difficulties in its way. Cartignana, who was returning to Turin, was told that no overture could be made on the subject of the prince’s marriage, and that as to <138>the Princess, she would never marry without the free exercise of her religion. The King, said Salisbury, would not so abandon her to make her Queen of the world.[237]
In Northampton’s dream of a Catholic restoration James assuredly had no part. His own dream was nobler, if it was quite as impracticable. He wished James’s views.to put an end to religious warfare, and to persuade the Catholic powers and the Protestant powers of the Continent that it was for their real interest to abstain from mutual aggression. Why should not he and his family be the centre round which this new league of peace should form itself? Why should not one at least of his children be united in marriage bonds with a Catholic? The difference of religion ought to prove no hindrance, if mutual respect kept those united who were disunited by creed. The arrangement by which a Catholic bride was to be provided for the future King of England would be especially satisfactory if a princess could be found whose dowry would be large enough to be employed in the payment of her father-in-law’s debts. Scarcely had Cartignana left England when A Spanish Infanta offered.James’s hopes were encouraged by a far more brilliant proposal than that which the Savoyard envoy had it in his power to make. The Spanish ambassador, Alonzo de Velasco, declared that if the king would demand for his son the hand of the Infanta Anne, the proposal would not meet with a refusal at Madrid. Whatever Salisbury may have thought of the offer, James could not bring himself to suspect that the Spaniards merely wanted to amuse him,[238] and Digby ordered to ask for the Infanta.directed Digby to demand the Infanta on his arrival at Madrid, if he found that the Spaniards were in earnest, and were willing to agree to reasonable conditions.
When Digby arrived, in June, he found that the Spanish Government was June, 1611.The Spanish Government draws back.by no means anxious for the alliance. Philip passed Digby on to Lerma, who, as soon as he saw him, began to make excuses. He said that, <139>although he should be glad if such a marriage could take place, the difference of religion was an obstacle which could only be removed by the Pope; and that if the King thought that his daughter would be drawn away from her faith, he would not consent to see her married to a heretic, if it were to save his kingdom.[239] In spite of these obstacles, however, the matter should be taken into consideration, and in due time an answer should be given. The fact was, as Digby soon learned, that the Queen-Regent of France had proposed that the double marriage, to which she had been unable to obtain her husband’s consent, should now take place; and that the Spaniards rightly judged that an alliance with a Catholic sovereign was more likely to prove lasting than one with Protestant England. Some weeks later, Digby was informed that the ambassador in England had exceeded his instructions, and that the Infanta Anne was to become the wife of the young King of France. If, however, the Prince of Wales would be content with her sister Maria, Spain would be ready to negotiate on the subject. In reporting this conversation, Digby begged the King to give up all thought of a Spanish match for the Prince. The Infanta Maria, he told him, was a mere child, not yet six years of age, and it was certain that the Spaniards were only desirous of playing upon his credulity.[240]
Salisbury was delighted with the turn matters had taken. The Prince, he said, could find roses elsewhere; he need not trouble himself about this Spanish olive.[241] James, perhaps ashamed of having been deceived so thoroughly, was only anxious to let the matter drop. But his desire for a Catholic daughter-in-law had not died away, and Northampton was not likely to be slack in arguments in favour of such a plan. Salisbury, however, resolved that if there was to be a Catholic Princess of Wales it should be one of his own choosing.
Before the end of October he sent for Lotto, the agent of <140>the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and asked him to enquire whether his master would October.Salisbury proposes a Tuscan Princess.give one of his sisters to the Prince. The agent said something about the question of religion. “If you want,” replied Salisbury, “to change the religion of the realm, we will never consent, but if you only wish that the Princess shall have the exercise of her own religion, we shall easily agree.” He added that, as Treasurer, he had another point to mention. He wished to know what portion the Grand Dukes of Tuscany were accustomed to give.[242]
Whilst Salisbury’s message was on the way to Florence, Cartignana reappeared in England with instructions to ask for the Princess Elizabeth alone. November.The Savoyard marriage rejected.Salisbury threw all his weight into the scale against him, and James inclined to follow Salisbury’s advice. When, in December, James consents to the marriage of his daughter with the Elector Palatine.he learned that the Electress had obtained the consent of her son’s guardians to his marriage with the English Princess, he gave up all thought of marrying his daughter to the Prince of Piedmont. Cartignana returned home complaining of the indignity put upon his master by the preference shown to a German elector.[243]
To show that something more than a merely family alliance was intended, James directed Winwood March 28, 1612.Treaty of alliance with the Union.to attend a meeting which was held by the German Protestants at Wesel in the beginning of 1612, and to assent to a treaty, by which the King of England and the Princes of the Union agreed upon the succours which they were <141>mutually to afford to one another in case of need.[244] The envoys who brought this treaty to England for ratification were empowered to make a formal demand for the hand of Elizabeth, and on May 16, the marriage contract was signed.[245]
The treaty was perhaps the more acceptable to James because the Spanish Government had lately been compelled to unmask its views. Continued offers of Spain.All through the spring, Digby had been from time to time charged with messages to his master to the effect that Philip would gladly agree to give his younger daughter to the Prince, if only matters of religion could be accommodated. When Lerma was asked what was meant by accommodating matters of religion, he coolly replied that Philip expected that the Prince of Wales should become a Catholic.
For some time at least no more was heard of a Spanish marriage. No one would have rejoiced more than Salisbury at the failure of the negotiation with Spain, combined with the success of the negotiation with the Elector Palatine. He was no longer May.Salisbury’s death.capable of joy or sorrow. His health had long been failing. Though he had not completed his forty-ninth year he was prematurely old. In December, 1611, he had an attack of rheumatism in his right arm. Towards the 1612.end of the month, it had almost entirely passed away.[246] A few weeks later he was seized with an ague, which was accompanied by symptoms which indicated that his whole system was breaking up.[247] From this condition he rallied, and it was supposed that the danger was at an end. In the second week in March he was able to walk in his garden and began to apply himself to the business of his office. A few days later it was given out that he was completely recovered, and that his illness had never been serious.[248] The change did <142>not last long. The physicians were unable to discover the nature of the disorder which was again settling upon him. Towards the end of April, he made up his mind to try the Bath waters, though he was told that the place would only prove injurious to him. He was anxious to be quiet, and to lose sight of the men who, as he well knew, were only waiting for his death to scramble for his offices. Before he went, he twice dragged himself to the council table, and on each occasion spoke for no less than two hours.[249] He remained at Bath for sixteen days. At first he revived a little, but afterwards he rapidly grew worse. His mind was troubled by the remembrance of the plotters in London, and he could not rest satisfied without making one more effort to show them that he was still alive. In this determination he was strengthened by his dislike of what he called the suffocating sulphurous air of Bath. Summoning the last remains of his strength, he set out for London. He never accomplished his journey. On May 24 he breathed his last at the parsonage-house at Marlborough.[250]
When the dying statesman left Bath, his steps had been hastened by a desire to show himself once more in London, to the discomfiture of his rivals. Before he reached Marlborough, all such thoughts seemed to have left him for ever. If he expressed any anxiety, it was that his children might live virtuous and religious lives. When he spoke of himself, his words were those of a man who had been too much occupied with the affairs of life to know much about theological questions. Whatever his faults were, and they were many, he had in the main striven to do his duty to his country. Whatever may be the truth concerning the dark intrigues with the Spanish ambassador, or concerning those more private vices with which rumour delighted to blacken his fame, to all appearance, at least, he died as one who was aware of having committed many faults, <143>but who was ignorant of any deed which might weigh down his conscience in the hour of death, and who had kept the simplicity of his faith intact. The victories and the defeats of the world were all forgotten now. Quietly and calmly the last of the Elizabethan statesmen went to his rest.[251]
The news of the Treasurer’s death was received in London with satisfaction. The heartless Northampton and his followers fancied that Unpopularity of Salisbury.the time was now come when they might rule England unchecked, and might divide the spoils of office amongst themselves. Bacon believed that a free field would now at last be open for the exercise of his talents, and for the reforms upon which he had meditated so long. James had long been weary of the yoke, and was by no means sorry to be rid of his monitor. Nor was it only at Court that the dead man’s name was regarded with aversion. The popular party, which was daily growing in strength, looked upon him as the author of the hated impositions. Many who cared little about politics, only knew him as the great man who had kept the reins of government in his own hands, and who himself was rich whilst the Exchequer was lying empty. Other causes have made posterity unjust to his memory. The system of government which he upheld was deservedly doomed, and when it had passed away, it was hard to believe that anyone could innocently have taken part in practices which a later age condemned as oppressive and injurious to the welfare of the nation. It was still harder to imagine that the man who succeeded, whilst Essex and Raleigh, Northumberland and Bacon failed, could have prospered except by the most unscrupulous treachery.
Salisbury’s want of sympathy with the foremost men of his own generation prevented him from attracting round him the Causes of his failure.rising talent of the next. He founded no political school; he left behind him no watchword by which the leaders in the great conflict which was so soon to break out could arouse the flagging energies of their followers; he threw no light upon the questions which were for such a length of <144>time to agitate the minds of his countrymen; he stood alone whilst he lived, and when he died there were few to mourn his loss.
Bacon spoke truly of Salisbury when he told the King that he was fit to prevent affairs from growing worse, though he was not fit to make them better. James, in his reply, let it be known that he thought that Salisbury had failed in preventing his affairs from growing worse.[252] The charge was true, but it was not altogether true that the fault lay at Salisbury’s door. It was James, whose extravagance had driven the Treasurer to the necessity of laying the impositions which raised such ill-feeling between the nation and the Crown; and if Salisbury failed to give his support to the wider ecclesiastical policy of the House of Commons, his mistake in this respect was shared by James.
Of Salisbury’s unwearied industry it is unnecessary to speak. His presence at the Treasury breathed at once a new spirit into the financial administration. Nothing was too small to escape him. He succeeded without difficulty in raising the revenue to an amount which would have filled Elizabeth with admiration, though it was all too little for her successor.[253] All the while he was carrying on the business of Secretary, which he continued to hold, and directing the course of foreign and domestic policy.
Of his foreign policy it is difficult, if not impossible, to speak with certainty. It is probable that if he had been left to himself he would have advocated a general policy of distrust towards Spain, and a cautious alliance with the Dutch Republic. But he was not his own master. James’s fantastic views on the possibility of obtaining the concurrence of all sorts of persons by the simple expression of honest opinion, had nowhere greater scope than in the direction of his foreign relations. Salisbury <145>had not to guide, but sometimes to influence, often merely to follow. He had to advocate schemes which he detested, and to co-operate with persons whom he disliked. It is probable that, if we knew all, these considerations would be found to supply the key to the riddle of his seemingly cordial relations with Northampton, and of the friendly footing upon which, by the acceptance of large sums of money, he stood with successive Spanish ambassadors. There can be little doubt that his latest achievement, the alliance with the Elector Palatine, was all his own, and that it fairly represents the policy to which, if he had had free course, he would have addicted himself in by-past years.
However ably the late Treasurer discharged the duties of his place, it could hardly be expected that the aspirants for office could look on with satisfaction whilst he engrossed the whole work and credit of government. It remained to be seen whether those who were so eager to occupy his seat would be able to imitate his wisdom.
It was generally expected that the white staff of the late Lord Treasurer would be placed in the hands of Northampton; but Northampton was The Treasury put in commission.by no means eager, at such a time, to take upon himself the responsibilities of the office. The Treasury was therefore entrusted to the charge of Commissioners. Their names were not likely to inspire confidence in their skill. The only man amongst them who had any practical acquaintance with finance was Sir Julius Cæsar, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and even he had no abilities above those which might be possessed by any experienced clerk. The high-sounding names of the Earls of Northampton, Suffolk, and Worcester, and of Lords Zouch and Wotton, only served to fill up the list.[254]
Far more eagerness was shown to obtain the Secretaryship, which did not entail the labour of watching over an empty Exchequer. Candidates for the Secretaryship.The post was coveted by a large number of persons, each of whom imagined that he had the best claim to succeed to the deceased statesman. Amongst them was one, who if James could have been bold <146>enough to accept him as an adviser, and humble enough to submit to his teaching, might have made the course of his reign different from what it was. Bacon offered to forsake the law and to devote himself to the task of reconciling the King with his Parliament.[255] James, however, was in no hurry to meet his Parliament again, and had a very insufficient perception of the necessity of changing his mode of government if he was to avoid disaster. Bacon was therefore passed over in silence. Gradually, however, the numbers of those who had any chance of obtaining the object of their desires diminished; and at last it was rumoured among the courtiers that the choice lay between Sir Henry Wotton, Sir Thomas Lake, and Sir Henry Neville.[256]
Sir Henry Wotton was supported by the influence of the Queen, and at first even by that of the Prince of Wales. He was looked upon as Sir Henry Wotton.a man likely to walk in the path which had been traced out by Salisbury. It was reported that before his death Salisbury had intended to resign the Secretaryship in his favour. He was a man of integrity and ability, and had won the regard of James as well by his reputation for learning as by a service which he had rendered him before his accession to the English throne. There was something in him of that steadiness and solidity of character for which Salisbury had been distinguished, but it is hardly likely that he would have succeeded as a statesman. Even if he had been naturally qualified to act as the guide of a nation which requires in its leaders sympathy with its noblest aspirations, his long absence from his native land was sufficient to create a wide gulf between himself and his fellow-countrymen. Since he had completed his education, he had spent the greater part of his life in Italy, at first by choice, and latterly as Ambassador at Venice. The opposition which had been aroused by nine years of unpopular government found no echo in his breast. He had only heard of the errors of his Sovereign through the medium of a distant correspondence. If he had learned in Italy to be tolerant of differences of opinion, he had also learned to think <147>with indifference of that great cause of Protestantism in which England was sure for a long time to come to feel the deepest interest.[257]
Sir Thomas Lake was a man of a very different character. He had no pretensions to be anything more than a diligent and ready official. Sir Thomas Lake.No scheme of policy, domestic or foreign, was ever connected with his name. Of the three rivals he is the only one of whom we hear that he offered a bribe to obtain the post which he coveted. His promotion would hardly have given pleasure to anyone, excepting perhaps to Northampton.
The candidate whose selection would have given most satisfaction to the nation was undoubtedly Sir Henry Neville. In the reign of Elizabeth, he had served with credit as Ambassador at Paris. He was in London at the time when Essex was planning his foolish and unprincipled rebellion, and had unfortunately been made acquainted with a portion at least of the schemes of the conspirators. There was no reason to suppose that he sympathised with them in the slightest degree; but either from thoughtlessness, or from regard for his informants, he omitted to give information to the Government of what he had heard. As this amounted to misprision of treason, he was committed to the Tower, from which he was only released at the accession of James, in company with Southampton and the other conspirators who had escaped the scaffold. In the Parliament which met in the following year he sat for Berkshire, and although he refrained from taking any prominent part in opposition to the Government, there was never any doubt that his sympathies were with the popular party. A little before the end of the first session of 1610, he took an opportunity of stating to the King, in the plainest possible terms, what the demands of that party were, and of pressing upon him the necessity of giving way. It is evident that the elevation of such a man to the secretaryship would <148>have been equivalent to a declaration on the part of the King that he was willing to retrace his steps, and in future to govern in accordance with the wishes of the House of Commons. The members of the last Parliament who happened to be in London, came flocking round their candidate. Southampton came up from the country, hoping that the time was now come when the friends of Essex might be admitted to power, and did all he could to forward Neville’s prospects.
Even if James had been otherwise disposed to look upon Neville with favour, all this would have been sufficient to move his jealousy. Although, James determines to be his own secretary.from some unexplained motive, Rochester gave his support to the popular candidate, the King at once declared against him, saying that he would have no secretary imposed upon him by Parliament.[258] He let it be known that he had no thought, for the present at least, of making an appointment at all. He imagined that he was perfectly capable of acting as his own secretary, and of directing the complicated machinery of the domestic and foreign policy of the Government himself. Lake would be sufficiently capable of receiving and sending out the despatches and other necessary documents. If he needed any assistance beyond this, Rochester, whom he had recently raised to the dignity of a Privy Councillor, would be with him. To James it was a recommendation that Rochester had no real knowledge of public business. He wanted an instrument, not a statesman. In the same spirit he chose the Sir George Carew, who had been Ambassador in France, to be Master of the Court of Wards, apparently on the principle that a candidate who was in no way distinguished amongst his contemporaries was more likely, than an abler man would be, to submit to the bidding of his Sovereign.
It would have been strange if the attitude assumed by the English Government 1613.Relations between England and Spain.during the last months of Salisbury’s life had not made a difference in its relations with the Court of Spain. As long as there had been any hope that the overtures of that Court would <149>meet with a favourable reception in England, Digby had found that the ministers of Philip III. were not indisposed to redress the grievances of which he was instructed to complain. As soon as he could obtain a hearing, The merchants’ grievances.he presented a memorial, in which the wrongs done to the English merchants were set down in detail,[259] and he threatened the Spaniards with the severe displeasure of his master if justice were not done. He was met with Dec., 1611.abundant promises of compliance, and orders were immediately given that the cases should be brought to a speedy decision. In some of the more recent ones, where the tribunals had not yet taken cognizance of the supposed offences, commands were issued that the goods which had been seized by the King’s officers should at once be restored to their owners.
Digby was not content, as Cornwallis had been, with merely demanding justice, and reporting his good or bad success from 1612.Digby investigates the causes of the evils complained of.time to time to his Government. Immediately upon his arrival at Madrid he set himself to investigate the causes of the evils complained of, and did his best to devise a remedy against their recurrence. He was not long in discovering that they were the almost inevitable result of the Spanish judicial system. Whenever, in consequence of a real or supposed infringement of the customs’ law, sentence was given in the local courts against a merchant, the property in question was immediately confiscated and divided into three equal parts, which were assigned respectively to the King, the judge, and the informer. Thus it happened that the interest of the judge would lead him to pronounce sentence for the Crown whenever the case was sufficiently doubtful to give him an excuse for doing so. It was true that an appeal lay to the Courts at Madrid, and that not only were these courts notorious for their integrity, but as a matter of fact, scarcely a single instance had occurred since the peace, in which an Englishman had appealed to them without obtaining a sentence in his favour. But their forms of procedure were extremely wearisome, and it was seldom that a case was before <150>them for less than two or three years. Such a delay, involving as it did the residence at Madrid of the merchant himself, or of his representative, in order to watch the proceedings, caused an expense which none excepting the most wealthy traders could afford. Nor were the difficulties of the merchant at an end even when he had obtained a favourable sentence, as his goods had been divided immediately after the original decision had been given against him. The informer was sure to be a beggar, who had spent long ago all that had fallen to his share. The judge had probably been removed to some distant station, perhaps in America, and if he were still to be found where the wrong had originally been done, it was no easy matter to put the law in force against a great man presiding in his own court. The King’s third was the only one which there was a chance of recovering, but so low was the Treasury that the Royal warrants for satisfying claims of this nature scarcely ever obtained payment in less than two or three years.
To remedy these evils Digby proposed two changes, which the Spanish Government at once promised to adopt. In future, Remedies agreed to.whenever an appeal was made against the decision of the local court, it was to be brought before a special commission, which would be able to hear and determine the matter at once. The second concession was of still greater importance: the goods were no longer to be confiscated by the inferior judges, but bonds were to be given by which the owners engaged to pay their value, in case of the rejection of their appeal. In order to show his willingness to oblige the English, the King directed, a few days after these arrangements had been made, that several Englishmen, who were prisoners in the galleys, should immediately be set at liberty.
Lastly, Digby had long been urging his Government to appoint consuls. It had often happened that, either through ignorance or wilfulness, Consuls.English traders had suffered punishment for the breach of Spanish laws. Digby thought it would be well to have some experienced person present at the chief ports, to warn inexperienced Englishmen of their danger, and to send him intelligence which would save him from advocating the causes of men who were themselves <151>to blame. The Government at home fully agreed with his suggestion, and appointed a person named Lee to act as Consul at Lisbon. They also directed that Cottington should reside in the same capacity at Seville.[260]
Before Salisbury’s death a strange overture had reached James from Madrid. Philip III. had become a widower in the preceding autumn, and Rumours that the King of Spain intends to ask for the Princess.Digby was allowed to understand that he would gladly take the Princess Elizabeth for his second wife. Queen Anne was delighted to hear that such a prospect was opening before her daughter, and Velasco informed his Government that not only was James ready to give his consent, but that Elizabeth herself would cheerfully renounce the Protestant faith in which she had been nurtured.[261]
In consequence of this information, the Spanish Court decided upon despatching a special mission to James. Pedro de Zuñiga, who was chosen for this service, had formerly resided in England as ambassador, and was therefore well qualified, by his knowledge of the court to which he was accredited, to fulfil July, 1612.Zuñiga’s mission.the delicate service entrusted to him. Ostensibly he was only sent to give explanations concerning the French marriages; but in Spain, nobody doubted that he was empowered to demand the Princess for his master, if, upon his arrival, he should have reason to believe that the offer would be accepted. As soon as he had time to discover what the King’s real intentions were, he found that the marriage with the Elector was irrevocably decided upon, and that there was as much probability of the Princess Elizabeth deserting the religion of her childhood as there was of the King of Spain turning Protestant. Accordingly, when James granted him an audience, he contented himself with giving explanations on the subject of the negotiations with which the two courts had been occupied in the past year. As soon as he had finished, the King asked him if he had nothing more to say, and on his replying in the <152>negative, dismissed him with evident signs of anger.[262] It can hardly be doubted that he was eager to return in kind the insult which he had received in the preceding year, and that he was vexed at being baulked of an opportunity of venting his indignation. As soon as Zuñiga was gone, James told his councillors what had passed, and assured them that nothing should ever induce him to allow his daughter to marry a Papist.[263]
Though James had made up his mind to carry out the contract into which he had entered with the Elector Palatine in May, The reception of the Elector in England.there were still many points to be settled, and it was not till September that the negotiations were sufficiently advanced to allow the young Elector to set out to visit his affianced bride. When it was known that the vessel in which he sailed had arrived in safety at Gravesend, the enthusiasm in London was unbounded. As his barge passed up the river to Whitehall, he was welcomed by the thousands who had come out to see him arrive. James received him cordially, and even the Queen forbore to give expression to her dislike. It was not long before he was able to assure himself that he had won the heart of Elizabeth as well as her hand, though, if rumour is to be trusted, she had hitherto shared her mother’s dislike of a connection which she had been taught to regard as a marriage of disparagement. The impression which he made upon all who conversed with him was favourable, and even those who, before his arrival, <153>had spoken slightingly of the match, were obliged to confess that, as far as his personal appearance went, he was worthy even of Elizabeth herself.
Of all those who had favoured the Elector’s suit no one had been more deeply interested in its success than the Prince of Wales. The marriage favoured by the Prince of Wales.His attachment to his sister had ripened into the warmest affection during the few years which had passed since she had left Lord Harrington’s roof. He had been deeply vexed when he learned that there was a prospect of an offer being made to her by the King of Spain, and had publicly declared that, in his eyes, whoever favoured such a match was a traitor. He believed that the only aim of the Spaniards was to get the succession to the English throne into their hands, and that, as soon as they had possession of the Princess, they would immediately clear the way for her accession by murdering himself and his brother. He was proportionably delighted when he learnt that his father had irrevocably declared in favour of the Elector.
Whilst James was engaged in concluding the arrangements for his daughter’s marriage, he was also busy in deliberating with his councillors upon Question of the Prince’s marriage. Proposed alliances with Savoy or Tuscany.the equally important question of providing a wife for the Prince. He knew that the Duke of Savoy was ready, on the slightest hint, to renew the offer which he had made on behalf of his daughter, and that the Grand Duke of Tuscany had willingly accepted the overture made to him by Salisbury. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, however, had consulted the Pope, and had been informed that the union which he proposed would not meet with the approbation of the Church.[264] The Duke of Savoy, who was desirous of freeing himself from the chains of Spanish domination, was more bent upon securing a political ally than upon obtaining the approbation of the Pope. He offered to give his daughter a dowry of seven hundred thousand crowns,[265] and engaged that she would be content if she were allowed the exercise of her religion <154>in the most private manner possible. This marriage was warmly supported by Wotton, who had passed through Turin on his return from his embassy at Venice. His fondness for Italian society rendered him blind both to the political objections to the match, and to the domestic unhappiness which was likely to ensue if such a man as Prince Henry were to be condemned to live with a wife who would find it impossible to sympathise with him in any one of his feelings.
At first Wotton contrived to carry the Prince with him. It was not long, however, before the young man’s good sense told him that such a marriage would conduce neither to his own welfare nor to that of the country. Yet, in spite of this feeling, he determined to keep quiet, in order not to provoke his father by untimely opposition to a plan which might never be actually presented to him for his acceptance. James, indeed, had not confined his attention to the two Italian Courts. The Duke of Bouillon A marriage with a French Princess suggested.had been in England in the spring, when he had taken an opportunity of bringing before the King the advisability of entering into a close alliance with France, and had even hinted that it was not impossible that, after all, the Spanish marriages might come to nothing, and that in that case the Regent would gladly bestow the hand of her eldest daughter upon the Prince of Wales. If this should not prove to be the case, there would be no difficulty in obtaining her sister, the Princess Christina. James, upon making inquiry, found that Bouillon had no authority for giving any hopes of the elder Princess, and was for a time disposed to give up all further thoughts of the alliance, as Christina was a mere child, in her seventh year.[266]
A week or two later he changed his mind. The French alliance would be worth having, in the state in which Europe then was. The mere fact of such an overture having come from France showed that the Regent was not disposed to place herself unreservedly in the hands of Spain. In truth, though she was glad enough to obtain the support of the Spaniards against her enemies, foreign and domestic, she had no idea of <155>joining in a crusade against Protestantism. She wanted to be quiet, and she thought that an alliance with her great neighbours would be likely to preserve her from foreign war, and to overawe her turbulent nobles at home. If she could gain an influence in England as well as in Spain, so much the better; it would be one chance the more for peace. With these guarantees, she would surely be able, when the time came when she would be called upon to deliver over the government to her son, to boast that in her hands France had not been exposed to the miseries of war.
James, too, loved peace, and an alliance which might free the French Court from the subserviency to Spain which had lately Arguments in its favour.characterised its policy was not to be lightly rejected. He therefore ordered Edmondes to discuss the matter in an unofficial manner with the French minister Villeroi, and to ascertain under what conditions the Regent would agree to the match.[267] After all, if the Prince should be willing to consent to defer his marriage for so long a time, the extreme youth of the Princess might not be an objection. If the Regent could be persuaded to part with her daughter at once, she might be educated in England, and would, in all probability, be induced to embrace the religion of her future husband.
Edmondes accordingly made his proposal to Villeroi, and expressed his hope that if the marriage were agreed to, the Princess would be sent into England before the end of the following year. In consequence of that minister’s illness, it was not till September 25 that he was able to forward an answer to James. Villeroi assured him that the Regent was most anxious for the conclusion of the marriage, but that she begged for a little longer time, in order that her daughter might be fully instructed in her religion before she left her home. Edmondes, however, stated that it was his belief that the Queen was so desirous of the marriage that, if she were pressed upon this point, she would certainly give way; and, in fact, on November 7, he was able to write that Villeroi had <156>informed him that his mistress was ready to consent to part with her daughter at the time proposed by James.[268]
By the King’s command, Edmondes’s despatch of September 25 was forwarded by Rochester to the Prince, with a request that The question submitted to the Prince.he would give his opinion upon a matter which concerned himself so deeply. The Prince did not give any decided answer. The Savoyard Princess, he said, would bring with her a larger dowry than the daughter of the Queen of France. On the other hand, the French marriage would give far greater satisfaction to the Protestants abroad. If the offer of the Regent was to be accepted, it must be understood that the Princess was only to be allowed the exercise of her religion in private, and it must be expressly stipulated that she should be sent over before the end of the following year at the latest, in order that there might be a reasonable prospect of her conversion. If he seemed indifferent, his father must remember that he knew little or nothing of State affairs, and that the time for making love, which was his part in the matter, had not yet arrived.[269]
The French alliance had the support of no less a man than Raleigh. In a treatise which he wrote at this time[270] he went once more over Raleigh’s pamphlet.the arguments against the Savoy match which had been urged by him when the Princess’s marriage was being discussed in the preceding year. A marriage with a German lady would, he said, be equally undesirable, as the friendship of Protestant Germany was already secured. On the other hand, it was of the utmost importance that France should be won over as soon as possible to the cause of European liberty. He saw at once that the present friendship between France and Spain could not last for ever, and <157>that, if Spain should renew her aggressions, France would of necessity be found sooner or later in opposition to her natural enemy.
It is evident that, in spite of these arguments, the Prince was ill at ease. He knew that if he expressed his real sentiments to his father The Prince not satisfied.he would only draw down upon himself a torrent of argument. After all, even if the Princess should be sent over at an early age, it was not certain that he would succeed in converting her, and ‘he was resolved,’ as he afterwards expressed it, ‘that two religions should never lie in his bed.’[271] He was secretly meditating a scheme of which, as yet, he did not breathe a syllable to anyone; he would accompany his sister to Germany: when there, he would fling politics to the winds, and choose a wife for himself.
This plan of his was destined never to be accomplished. For some weeks he had been far from well. During the summer The Prince’s illnesshe had neglected to take the most ordinary precautions for the preservation of his health. In the hottest season within living memory he had allowed himself to take far too violent exercise. Like his father, he was fond of fruit, and had partaken of it in unusually large quantities. He had even indulged in the imprudent practice of swimming immediately after supper.
Though he had complained of feeling unwell during the whole of the autumn, it was not till October 10 that he was actually attacked by an illness which is now known to have been typhoid fever.[272] A violent cold was attended with other symptoms of disease. Two days afterwards he recovered to some extent, and insisted, in opposition to the advice of his physicians, upon going out. For some days he kept up, but he looked pale and haggard. On the 24th he foolishly played <158>at tennis, in which he exposed himself in his shirt to the chilly air of the season. The next day the fever was upon him, and he was forced to take to his bed.
On November 1 he was somewhat better, and the King, the Queen, and his brother and sister, as well as the Elector, were admitted one by one to his bedside to see him. They left him in the belief that he might yet recover. The amendment was not for any length of time; he grew worse and worse, and the physicians lost all hope. On the 6th he was evidently dying. The Queen, and death.who had often derived benefit from Raleigh’s prescriptions, sent, as a last resource, to the prisoner in the Tower for help. He immediately prepared a medicine, which was given to the dying Prince. It was all in vain; before the day was over, the sufferer was no more.
Of all who knew him, the one who felt his loss most deeply was his sister Elizabeth. Since her visit to his sick room on the 1st, she had made repeated efforts to see him, and had even attempted to penetrate to his apartments in disguise. She was, however, not allowed to pass, as, by that time, it was considered that his disease was infectious. Nor had he forgotten her: the last words he uttered in a state of consciousness were, “Where is my dear sister?”[273]
Throughout the whole of England the sad news was received with tears and lamentations. Never in the long history of England had Universal grief.an heir to the throne given rise to such hopes, or had, at such an early age, inspired every class of his countrymen with love and admiration. They were not content with sorrowing over his memory, they vented their affection in the foolish outcry that their beloved Prince had been murdered. Sometimes it was Rochester, sometimes it was Northampton, who was supposed to have administered the poison which carried him off. Nor was there any lack of suspicions more horrible still: grave men actually whispered to one another that James himself had a hand in the imaginary murder of his son.
If the Prince had lived, he certainly would not have thrown <159>the reins of government into the hands of the leaders of the House of Commons. Character of the Prince.He would not have anticipated the result of the inevitable struggle by abandoning what he would have considered to be his rights; he would have had his own views on every question as it arose, and he would have striven by every means in his power to carry them out. Northampton was right, as far as he and such as he were concerned, when he said that ‘the Prince, if ever he came to reign, would prove a tyrant.’ He would have made short work with the men and measures which Northampton regarded with approval.
Whether the young Henry would have fulfilled the promise of his youth it is impossible to say. It is enough for us that a keen observer has placed it on record that he was slow of speech, pertinent in his questions, patient in listening, and strong in understanding.[274]
Northampton must have felt his position strengthened by the removal of a formidable antagonist. Yet he was not long in discovering that Bayley’s sermons.he and those who agreed with him were intensely unpopular. A little more than a week after the Prince’s death, one of his chaplains, named Bayley, preached a sermon, in which he told his congregation that Religion was lying bleeding, and that there were members of the Council who attended mass, and told their master’s secrets to their wives, by whom they were betrayed to the Jesuits.[275] Bayley was reprimanded by the Archbishop, but he only repeated his accusation, in a more distinct form, on the following Sunday. Similar insinuations were made by other preachers, who took care not to bring any direct accusation which could be laid hold of by the Government. Star Chamber fines imposed on six persons for slandering Northampton.A few days later, Northampton heard that it was a matter of common conversation that, after he had published the speech which he had delivered at Garnet’s trial, he had written secretly to Bellarmine, beseeching him to take no notice of what he had said, as he had only spoken in opposition to the Papal claims, for the sake of pleasing the <160>King and the people. The story obtained credit the more easily as, in all the controversial works which had appeared upon the Catholic side, not a word had been said of Northampton’s speech. Whether it were true or not, Northampton took the course which in those days was the usual resource of persons in authority who thought themselves maligned. He summoned before the Star Chamber six unlucky persons, who had been detected in spreading the report, and sent them away smarting under heavy fines. As might be expected, such a proceeding, though it rendered the newsmongers of the day more cautious in what they said, had no effect in changing their opinions.[276]
But if Northampton was allowed to inflict punishment upon his personal opponents, he was not allowed to guide the policy of the Government. Betrothal of the Princess.Hopes had been entertained, by those who were interested in breaking off the marriage of the Princess, that James would be less willing to carry out his design now that, by the death of her brother, she was a step nearer to the throne. He was determined to show that he had set his heart upon the match by directing the signature of the final marriage articles upon November 17, and by ordering that the ceremony of betrothal should take place on the 27th, the marriage itself being necessarily postponed on account of the Prince’s death.
The solemnity of the betrothal was almost marred by Sir Thomas Lake, who was directed to act as Secretary for the occasion. In that capacity he was called upon to read the contract in French, in order that the young couple might repeat the words after him. His translation, however, was so bad, and his pronunciation so detestable, that those who were present could not refrain from laughing, till the Archbishop, whose whole heart was in the scene before him, broke in with the solemn words, “The God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of <161>Jacob, bless these nuptials, and make them prosperous to these kingdoms and to His Church.”[277]
Although Lake was allowed to act as Secretary on this occasion, it was generally understood that, in spite of his Parliamentary antecedents, 1613.Question of the Secretaryship.Neville was now the candidate most likely to obtain the post, if the King should determine to fill it up. In the beginning of January the Council petitioned him to name a Secretary.[278] With his usual impulsiveness, James had at first thrown himself into the business of the office, and had read and answered despatches with commendable regularity. But he had soon grown tired of the labour, and complaints were heard that business was often at a standstill for want of his application to the duties which he had voluntarily undertaken. James promised to consider the advice of his Council; but he was too desirous of keeping power in his own hands to take any steps in the matter.
But whatever might be the King’s decision on this point, he threw no obstacles in the way of the solemnisation of the marriage Feb. 14.Marriage of the Princess.to which all good Protestants were hopefully looking forward. The ceremony was performed with all possible pomp and splendour on February 14, 1613. Even the Queen herself condescended to be present, though she had long looked with displeasure on the alliance, and had hitherto refrained from showing any sign of favour to the Elector. His frank and hearty manners seem to have won her over, and to all appearance she was now perfectly contented <162>with her daughter’s lot. None of those who were present at that gay scene had the slightest foreboding of what that lot would be. If it was to be sad and stormy, at least it was to be without shame.
It was not long before the shadows of Elizabeth’s future life began to fall upon her. The expenses connected with her marriage amounted to more than 60,000l.[279] Such a burden would have been severely felt at any time; but in the disordered condition in which the finances were, it was almost insupportable. James was accordingly obliged, as a mere matter of necessity, in less than a month after the wedding, to dismiss the greater number of the attendants who had been appointed to wait upon the Elector during his stay in England. The Princess felt the slight put upon her husband deeply.[280] It was not the last time that James would be forced to turn his back upon her for want of means to help her.
On April 10 the Elector and his bride left Whitehall. They travelled slowly, as if Elizabeth were loth to take leave of the land in which The princess and her husband leave England.she had spent so many happy days. When they reached Margate they were detained by the state of the weather, and it was not till the 25th that they set sail for Holland.[281] Both she and her husband were young to face the storms which were before them, neither of them having yet completed their seventeenth year.
Before the Elector left her, in order to make preparations for her reception in the Palatinate, he was called upon to take part in The States join the Union.a ceremony which was of no slight importance to himself. On May 6 the States, at the request of the King of England,[282] signed a treaty with the Princes of the Union, by which the two parties engaged themselves for <163>fifteen years to give mutual succour to one another in case of need. Attempts had been The French refuse to do so.made in vain to induce the French to join the alliance. There was, however, one point upon which France still made common cause with England: when at the commencement of 1612 the Imperial throne became vacant by the death of Rudolph II., both countries had strenuously resisted an attempt on the part of Spain to obtain the election of the Archduke Albert,[283] and had done everything in their power to promote the success of Matthias. Spain was now renewing the attempt to favour the brother-in-law of Philip III., and the French Government again declared that it would use every means to hinder the election of Albert to the dignity of King of the Romans.[284]
James was now in close alliance with Holland and with Protestant Germany, and upon friendly terms with France. The position which James at the head of the Protestant Alliance.England had thus taken up promised to place him at the head of the league which was forming against the House of Austria and the German Catholics. Already his voice had been heard even in the far North, where his ambassadors had been successful in mediating a peace between two Protestant States, and in putting an end to a war in which the genius of the young Gustavus had maintained an unequal struggle against the superior forces of the King of Denmark.
The attitude taken by Spain was now thoroughly hostile. James’s treatment of Zuñiga in July 1612 caused great annoyance at Madrid, and 1612.Coolness of the Spanish Government.the relations between Digby and the Spanish Government grew perceptibly cooler. Nothing was done about the promised appointment of a tribunal of appeal for the causes of the English merchants, and for some time a steady resistance was opposed to the ambassador’s demand for the establishment of the new consuls. At last, in January 1613, he was told that, though Lee, who was a Protestant, would be admitted at Lisbon, only a Catholic would be allowed to act at Seville.[285]
<164>For some time it was even thought possible that Spain might venture upon a declaration of war. The Virginian Colony The Spanish Government dissatisfied with England.had long been a thorn in the sides of the Spanish Government, and long and anxious deliberations were held at Madrid upon the expediency of sending an expedition against it.[286] The ill feeling in Spain was increased by the return of several vessels which had gone out to take part in the Spitzbergen whale fishery, from which they had been driven by the crews of the ships belonging to the English Muscovy Company, which claimed the exclusive right to that lucrative employment.[287] Nor was the treatment which the recusants were now receiving at the hands of James likely to conciliate the good-will of a Catholic nation. The oath of allegiance had become a mere contrivance for filling the pockets of the courtiers. In 1611 a proclamation had been issued commanding that the oath should be administered according to law.[288] At first, two or three wealthy persons, who refused to take it, had been thrown into prison, and had only been released upon payment of large sums. It was, however, soon discovered that it was not necessary to go through these forms; it was enough to intimate to the persons who were supposed to be unwilling to take the oath, that unless they were ready to pay for their immunity, proceedings would be taken against them.[289] This course was never known to fail. The money, almost invariably, went directly, without even passing through the Exchequer, into the hands of some hanger-on of the Court, who had managed to secure a share of the booty. The treatment which the ordinary recusants received was equally harsh. The number of the persons whose lands were seized was considerably <165>greater than it had been in the earlier years of James’s reign. The new fine which had been imposed by Parliament upon persons whose wives refused the oath, pressed hardly upon Catholic ladies. Many of them were obliged to leave their husbands’ houses in order to remain in concealment.[290]
In the first days of 1613 the English Government was in expectation of a Spanish invasion. An order was therefore issued for Fear of invasion in England.an immediate search of the houses of the recusants for arms, and directions were given that none should be left in their hands beyond those which were sufficient for the defence of themselves and their families.[291] It was not long, however, before all apprehension was at an end. If the disorderly state of the English finances had, for a moment, led the Spaniards to imagine that an appeal to arms would terminate in their favour, they must speedily have remembered their own poverty, and a little reflection must have taught them that there was no surer means to fill the Exchequer of the King of England than an unprovoked aggression by a foreign enemy. They persuaded themselves that the colony in Virginia would certainly die out of itself, and they resolved to take no active measures to hasten what they considered to be its inevitable fate.[292] The defence of the English recusants must be postponed to a more convenient season. In the meanwhile they determined to replace their ambassador in England by one of Arrival of Sarmiento in England.the ablest diplomatists in their service, Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, better known to us by his later title as the Count of Gondomar. He was instructed to watch events, but to take no active steps in favour of the persecuted Catholics.[293]
[230] The despatches in the S. P. are full of details on this subject.
[232] Cottington to Salisbury, April 10, S. P. Sp.
[233] Elizabeth was now again James’s only daughter. The two children, Mary and Sophia, who had been born after his accession to the English throne, had both died in their infancy.
[234] Green, Princesses of England, vol. v.
[235] The Council to Edmondes, Feb. 7. Edmondes to Salisbury, Jan 19, S. P. France.
[236] Edmondes to Salisbury, April 24, ibid.
[237] Salisbury to Winwood, April 3, Winw. iii. 271. Sir R. Dudley to Paul V., Nov. 29⁄Dec. 9, 1612, Roman Transcripts, R.O.
[238] Digby to the King, June 4, 1613, S. P. Spain.
[239] Digby to ———, Birch, Life of Henry Prince of Wales, 530. Instructions to Digby, April 7, 1611; Digby to Salisbury, June 18, 1611, S. P. Sp.
[240] Digby to the King, Aug. 9, 1611, S. P. Sp.
[241] Salisbury to Winwood, Sept. 5, Winw. iii. 290.
[242] Lotto adds, in writing to his master, that there had been a talk of finding a Protestant wife for the Prince, ‘ma degli Inglesi et occulti Cattolici, che ve ne sono però molti, affirmano tutti, che se il signor Principe piglia una moglie heretica, che loro sono spediti per sempre, et che mai più quel Regno non tornerà Cattolico, che per essere stato non è molto Cattolichissimo. Sperebbono con l’introduzione d’una Regina Cattolica di poter forse tornare al lor primiero stato.’ — Abstract from Lotto’s despatches, Oct. 11⁄21, Oct. 25⁄Nov. 4, Oct. 31⁄Nov. 10, Roman Transcripts, R. O.
[243] Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 13; Court and Times, i. 144; Tidings from England, Dec., S. P. Dom., lxvii. 118. Edmondes to Salisbury, Dec. 21; Salisbury to Edmondes, Dec. 26, S. P. France.
[244] March 28. Rymer, xvi. 714.
[245] Ibid. xvi. 722.
[246] Chamberlain to Carleton, Dec. 4 and 18, Court and Times, i. 151.
[247] More to Winwood, Jan. 25 and Feb. 17, Winw. iii. 331, 337.
[248] Chamberlain to Carleton, Feb. 26, March 11 and 21 (Court and Times, i. 135, 137; S. P. Dom. lxviii. 78). Here, as in several instances, the editor of the valuable collection published as the Court and Times of <142>James I., has misplaced the letters, having forgotten to alter the date with the change in the commencement of the year.
[249] Chamberlain to Carleton, March 25, Court and Times, i. 162, April 29, S. P. lxviii. 104.
[250] Chamberlain to Carleton, May 27, Court and Times, i. 168; Finett to Trumbull, May 28, Winw. iii. 367.
[251] Observations of Mr. John Bowles, Peck’s Desiderata Curiosa, 205.
[252] Letters and Life, iv. 278, note 1.
[253] A good sketch of what he effected in this office will be found in Sir Walter Cope’s Apology, printed in Gutch’s Collectanea Curiosa, i. 119. Mr. Spedding (Bacon’s Letters and Life, iv. 276) says that the total result of Salisbury’s financial administration appears to have been the halving of the debt, at the cost of almost doubling the deficiency. But the former was the result of his own labour; over the latter he had but little control.
[254] Chamberlain to Carleton, June 17, Court and Times i. 173. Lord Wotton was a brother of Sir Henry.
[255] Bacon to the King, Letters and Life, iv. 281.
[256] Chamberlain to Carleton, June 11, Court and Times, i. 171.
[257] The manifest dislike which he felt for his embassy to Holland in 1614–15 is enough to show how he felt in this matter. Winwood would never have begged to be removed to Italy or Spain. I have taken my view of Wotton from his voluminous unpublished correspondence in the Record Office.
[258] Chamberlain to Carleton, June 11 and 17, July 2, Court and Times, i. 171, 173, 179.
[259] Digby to Salisbury, Dec. 29, 1611, S. P. Sp.
[260] Digby to the Council; Digby to Salisbury, Jan. 19, S. P. Spain.
[261] The important part of Digby’s despatch of Jan. 4, 1612, is printed by Mrs. Everett Green, Lives of the Princesses, v. 178.
[262] Zuñiga’s despatch, Aug. 2, 1612, S. P. Sp. Mrs. Green (v. 179) supposes that James wished to receive a proposal, and was disappointed in not getting one. I do not think this is possible. If he still had any desire for the connection, he would not have allowed the contract to be signed in May. At that time he knew that Zuñiga was coming. Besides, his conduct ever since the German alliance had been suggested to him was that of a man who wished to see it accomplished. Perhaps too much has been made of his anger on this occasion; he had a very bad toothache at the time, which will account for a good deal of it.
[263] He had other reasons for distrusting Zuñiga. A few days before, he had discovered that the ambassador had brought large sums of money with him for the purpose of corrupting the courtiers. — Abbot to the King, July 22, S. P. Dom. lxx. 11.
[264] Carleton to the King, June 19; the Count of Vische to ———, July 14, 1612, S. P. Ven. Le Vassor, Hist. de Louis XIII. (1757) i. 159.
[265] Northampton to Rochester, Oct. 7, 1612, S. P. Dom. lxxi. 1.
[266] The King to Edmondes, June 1612, S. P. Fr. Christina was born on February 10, 1606.
[267] Edmondes to the King, July 21, 1612, S. P. Fr.
[268] Edmondes to the King, Sept. 25 and Nov. 7, 1612, S. P. Fr. The first of these despatches is endorsed with a wrong date, which may mislead anyone who is in search of it. The true date will be found at the end of the despatch itself.
[269] Rochester to the Prince, Oct. 2; the Prince to Rochester, Oct. 5, 1612; Birch’s Life of Henry, Prince of Wales, 308.
[270] A Discourse touching a Marriage between Prince Henry of England and a daughter of Savoy. Raleigh’s Works, viii. 237. The date, 9 Jacobi, is evidently erroneous.
[271] Wake to Carleton. Undated, 1612 (S. P. Ven.). Wake derived his information from Newton, to whom the Prince spoke of his designs upon his deathbed.
[272] The Illness and Death of Henry, Prince of Wales — a historical case of typhoid fever. By Norman Moore, M.D. This pamphlet, reprinted from the ‘St. Bartholomew Hospital Reports,’ vol. xvii., lays at rest for ever whatever may still be left of the old theory, that the Prince was poisoned.
[273] Corwallis, Life of Prince Henry, Somers’ Tracts, ii. 231; Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 12, 1612; Court and Times, i. 202.
[274] In Henricum Principem Walliæ elogium, Bacon’s Lit. and Prof. Works, i. 323.
[275] This, I suppose, referred to Suffolk.
[276] Chamberlain to Carleton, Nov. 19, Dec. 17, 1612, Court and Times, i. 206, 213; State Trials, ii. 862. The story of Abbot’s producing the letter can only refer to this trial, and is quite irreconcilable with the facts given us upon contemporary authority. If another trial had occurred later, we should surely have heard of it.
[277] Chamberlain to Carleton, Dec. 31, 1612, Court and Times, i. 215; Rymer, xvi. 725.
[278] Chamberlain to Carleton, Jan. 7, 1613, Court and Times, i. 218. Wotton was out of favour at this time, as James had just heard of his celebrated inscription in the Album at Augsburg, “Legatus est vir bonus peregre missus ad mentiendum Reipublicæ causâ.” The difficulty of the ordinary explanation has often been felt. It is impossible that he should have meant to make a joke which is unintelligible excepting in English, a language which was not understood at Augsburg. Is it not possible that the interpretation, “An ambassador is a good man sent to lie abroad for the sake of his country,” was a happy thought, which first occurred to him as a good excuse to make, when he was taxed by James with what he had done?
[279] This includes all the expenses of the Elector’s household during his stay in England, as well as the expenses of the journey to Heidelberg. The Princess’s portion was 40,000l. in addition.
[280] Chamberlain to Carleton, March 11, 1613, Court and Times, i. 232.
[281] Chamberlain to Carleton, April 29, S. P. Dom. lxxii. 120; Green’s Princesses, v. 221.
[282] The King to Winwood, April 1, 1613, S. P. Hol.
[283] Beaulieu to Trumbull, June 29, 1612, Winw. xiii. 375.
[284] Edmondes to the King, April 24, 1613, S. P. Fr.
[285] Cottington to Lake, Jan. 5; Digby to Lake, Jan. 18, S. P. Spain.
[286] Digby to the King, Sept. 13, 1612, S. P. Sp. In his despatches of the next six months, he frequently mentions the feelings of the Spaniards with respect to Virginia.
[287] Digby to Lake, Sept. 4, 1613, S. P. Sp.
[288] Proclamation Collection, No. 18, S. P.
[289] Cæsar to the King, Aug. 14, 1612, Lansd. MSS. 153, fol. 46 a. There are in the same volumes several letters from recusants, offering compositions for taking the oath, fol. 78–87. In the S. P. Dom. lxx. 9, is a list of seventy persons to be called upon to take the oath, dated July 18, 1612.
[290] Lewknor to ——— (Tierney’s Dodd. iv. 145). Many particulars in this letter are demonstrably gross exaggerations, but the facts of the persecution are probably in the main true. See also the account given by Lady Blount, March 1613, in the same volume. — App. 188.
[291] Council to Sheriffs, &c., Jan. 10, 1613 (Tierney’s Dodd. iv.; App. 188). The date given here is the true date.
[292] Digby to the King, Sept. 3, 1613, S. P. Sp.
[293] Instructions of Sarmiento, sent with Digby’s despatch of May 27, 1613, S. P. Sp.