BUCKINGHAM'S WARLIKE DESIGNS. CHAP. I. 1623. regain the reality. It might seem easier to drag Theseus from his bed of pain than to move James to a declaration of war. A lover of peace by temperament and by force of reason, he knew too well what faults had been com- Palatinate, mitted on both sides to be eager to join in the doubtful fray. Great, too, as was the influence exercised over him by his favourite and his son, it is hardly likely that this alone would have sufficed to overcome his reluctance to embark on so arduous an undertaking. In 1620, in spite of his unwillingness to displease those with whom he was in continual intercourse, Charles and Buckingham, backed by the almost unanimous. voice of his Council and his Court, had in vain urged him to take part in the strife. But at the close of 1623. he was no longer in a position to offer resistance. His plan for settling the affairs of Germany with the help of Spain had broken down completely. Even James was driven to acknowledge that that path was no longer open to him, and that if the Palatinate was to be recovered at all, it must be recovered by force of arms. The only question for him to decide, therefore, was whether he was willing to abandon all hope of its. recovery or not. And this he was decidedly not prepared to do. The abandonment of his daughter and her children from considerations of state policy, was so grievous to him, that, though Buckingham would doubt, less have much moral and physical inertness to combat, he could always make use of the King's real desire to recover the Palatinate as a lever to move him in the direction of decisive action. 1624. tions. 3 In January 1624, James to a great extent yielded Diplomatic himself into the hands of Buckingham. The marriage preparaceremony at Madrid had been postponed under circumstances which made it almost a matter of certainty that it would never be heard of again. Bristol, the CHAP. I. 1624. Jan. Hopes of a French alliance. chief supporter of the alliance, was recalled from his embassy in Spain, and the Earl of Oxford, who had been confined in the Tower for nearly two years on account of a violent attack upon Gondomar's influence, was set at liberty. Writs were issued for a new Parliament. Once more, as in 1620, ambassadors were ordered to make ready to start in every direction. This time they were to be the messengers, not of peace, but of war. Sir Isaac Wake was to stir up the Duke of Savoy and the Republic of Venice. Sir Robert Anstruther was to wait upon the Princes of Northern Germany and the King of Denmark. Sir James Spens would do the like office with the King of Sweden. The States General were invited to send commissioners to negotiate a close alliance, and the invitation was made more attractive by a letter in which Conway was allowed impudently to represent the plot which had been hatched between Buckingham and Gondomar for the partition of the territory of the Republic as a mere unauthorised suggestion of Spanish iniquity.1 Yet these steps, important as they were, formed only part of the great plan which Buckingham had conceived. Ever since the war had broken out in Germany, France had given a passive, but not the less a real, assistance to the Emperor. Now, however, hints had reached Buckingham that all this might yet be changed. While he was still at Madrid, an English friar named Grey had formed the wild project of converting the Prince; and, when he found that he had no chance of success, had talked with Buckingham of his influence with Mary de Medici, and of the probability that she might be induced to offer her youngest daughter, the Princess Henrietta Maria, as a substitute 1 Conway to the Prince of Orange, Conway to Carleton, Jan. 1, (S. P., Holland). Compare Prince Charles and the Spanish Marriage, i. 334. A FRENCH MARRIAGE SUGGESTED. for the Infanta. How far Buckingham gave heed to the friar's prattle it is hard to say. At all events Grey made his way to Paris, saw the Queen Mother, and was sent on by her to London, after the Prince's return, to explain to Buckingham her readiness to assist in forwarding the suggested marriage. It is true that when the affair came to the ears of Tillières, the French ambassador in London, both Mary and Buckingham thought it expedient to disavow all knowledge of the intrigue.1 But the seed was already sown. James agreed to take up the project as soon as the treaty with Spain was definitively disposed of. In the meanwhile it was arranged that Lord Kensington should be sent over to Paris to feel the ground, and to lay the foundations of a complete friendship between the two courts. CHAP. 1. 1624. Jan. Offer of th ambassa James had thus given his consent to the opening of Jan. 13 a negotiation which would leave little room for any Spanish further understanding with Spain. But his resolution dors. was not so fixed as to be entirely beyond the influence of a specious offer from the other side. On January 13, the Spanish ambassadors, Inojosa and Coloma, assured him of their master's anxiety to do everything in his power to regain his friendship. Before the end of August, they asserted, all that part of the Palatinate which was occupied by Spanish troops should be placed in his hands. Negotiations should be opened, at a time to be fixed by himself, for the settlement of all other points at issue. Some middle course was indicated as likely to obviate the difficulty about the education of Frederick's sons; and Philip, though he still refused to promise, as he had once promised in a moment of forgetfulness, to draw his sword against 1 Tillières to Puisieux Dec. 30, Jan. 17; Harl. MSS. 4593; fol. 3, 16, 25, b. Jan. 9, 8 5 CHAP. 1. 1624. Jan. 13. missioners the Emperor, was ready to engage to do anything else in his power to bring about a favourable result.'1 Much to Buckingham's disgust, James thought the The Com- offer worth listening to. But James had not made up for Spanish his mind either way, and he agreed to consult the consulted. Commissioners for Spanish Affairs before taking a final affairs to be Jan. 14. Questions them. decision. The body thus appealed to consisted of twelve of the leading Privy Councillors, and may perhaps be regarded as the germ of our modern cabinets. It had been called into existence in 1617, to discuss the marriage treaty with Spain, as soon as it was openly taken in hand. Its numbers had been constantly filled up as vacancies occurred. As it had recently, by a majority of seven to five, approved of the issue of writs for a new Parliament, Buckingham had good reason to expect its support in his present difficulties.2 When the Commissioners met, two questions were proposed to laid before them. In the first place:-Had the King of Spain seriously intended to give his sister to the Prince? In the second place :-Did his conduct about the Palatinate deserve a declaration of war ?3 When the votes were taken, three only, those of Buckingham himself, of Carlisle, who hated Spain as much as his 26 Feb. 29 1 Compare Valarcsso's Despatches, Jan. 18, Jan. 23, with Siri, Memorie Recondite, v. 568; and Chamberlain to Carleton, Jan. 17; Court and Times, ii. 446. 3 The two questions are abbreviated from the form given by Hacket (i. 167.) He says they were put immediately after the King's arrival at Whitehall, i.e. after Dec. 24. As I find no trace of such consultations elsewhere, I suspect he confused them with a discussion whether writs should be issued for a Parliament. After the King left Whitehall, i.e. on Jan. 13, we do hear of consultations in Chamberlain's letter of Jan. 31, for instance, S. P. Dom., clviii. 72. There is a curious draft of a letter (S. P. Spain), perhaps drawn up by Buckingham, as what he wished the King to say, and not accepted by James. OPPOSITION TO BUCKINGHAM. 1. 1624. Jan 14. They ask for infor placable disposition would allow him to hate anything, CHAP. and of Conway, who would doubtless have voted the other way if his patron had desired him to do so, but who was only in this case following his own instincts in opposing Spain, were given in favour of war. The mation. other nine members of the Commission stated that they had not sufficient information before them, and asked permission to make a thorough examination of all the despatches bearing upon the subject.1 ham's Buckingham was very angry. He sprung from his Buckingseat, pouring out the most unmeasured abuse of the anger. Commissioners as he strode out of the room, as a hen that hath lost her brood and clucks up and down when she hath none to follow her.' 2 Taking the Prince with him, he hurried down to Newmarket to complain to the King. "What," he said to Chichester, who was passing near him as he left Whitehall, "are you turned too?" It was Buckingham's greatest misfortune in life that he never could understand that it was possible for men to differ from him without some sinister motive. Divergence of opinion was ever with him a thing not to be met with argument, but to be overcome by violence. 7 The King him. Buckingham met with better success at Royston. Jan. 20. From whatever motive, James had no desire to see the supports whole secret of the past negotiation unfolded before the Commissioners. He wrote to inform them that their request could not be granted, but that they must nevertheless tell him what they thought of the Spanish offer. On the 20th Charles, leaving Buckingham to keep guard over his father, returned to London. He assured the Commissioners that he would never think 1 Tillières to Puisieux, Jan: Harl. MSS., 4593; fol. 26, b, 3 Chichester to Buckingham, Jan. 25. Cabala, 197. |