1620 Resumption of the marriage treaty. TREATMENT OF THE CATHOLICS. - 345 at least, secured. His next step was to bind more firmly the chains which he had laid upon James, by assuring him of his master's readiness to proceed with the marriage treaty, if only means could be found to satisfy the Pope. If James would give satisfactory assurances about the English Catholics, Lafuente would carry the treaty to Rome, and formally demand the dispensation. Of the liberty of worship, without which, as he well knew, the Pope's consent could not be obtained, the Spaniard said nothing. He knew that to ask for that would be to risk a complete breach, and he therefore left James to embody his resolution in his own words.1 Improved treatment of the On April 27 James sent the two Secretaries of State to Gondomar, to inform him that steps had already been taken to ameliorate the condition of the English Catholics. In consequence of his irritation at the return of Catholics. the banished priests, the promise which he had given Gondomar, that he would put an end to the exactions of the pursuivants, had not been fulfilled. That form of persecution, however, was now to come to an end. Commissions were to be issued to inquire into the misdeeds of these harpies, and to take in hand the leasing of the recusants' lands, and the compositions for offences against the penal laws. The Catholics would thus have the advantage of dealing with an official body instructed to act with moderation, instead of with greedy courtiers, who had obtained grants of forfeitures, and who had pushed to the extreme the legal rights which they had thus acquired. All persons refusing to take the oath of allegiance were to be set at liberty on condition that they would leave the kingdom within forty days.3 On the following day, Gondomar received another visit. 1 Gondomar to Philip III., CXV. 9. xvii. 212. Part 18. 3 There were ten of them. Order for release, April 24, Rymer xvii. 193. April 28. James declares his intentions about the Catholics. Buckingham and Digby brought with them a letter from James. to the King of Spain, in which he promised that the future Princess of Wales and her servants should enjoy the free exercise of their religion within the walls of the palace which was to be assigned to her. Besides this, no Catholic should suffer death for conscience' sake. It was impossible to repeal the penal laws without consent of Parliament, but they should be mitigated in practice, and all complaints should receive due attention.1 Buckingham who, though he wished to see the Palatinate preserved from invasion, was anxious to keep on good terms with Spain, assured the ambassador that it was impossible for the King to go farther than this. If he did, the people would rise in insurrection, and would cut all the Catholics in pieces. 2 In reply, Gondomar took high ground. It was impossible, he said, to believe that James really wished for peace with Gondomar's Spain. Piracy was never more rife, or the attacks reply. upon Spanish trade in the East and West Indies more incessant. Was not Captain North now bound for the Amazon, with the King's commission, no doubt to do what Raleigh had done before him? Were not the drums even then beating in the streets to gather soldiers to fight for the Palatine in Bohemia? Was not the King himself in constant correspondence with the enemies of the Emperor in Germany, and was he not urging them to resist the Emperor's designs. The English had now the advantages of peace and war at the same time. The King of Spain did not want such a peace as that. God had given him power enough to fight all the nations of the world together. He had hardy mariners amongst his subjects, and if he was provoked, it would be as easy for them to attack England as it would be for Englishmen to attack Spain. If James wished to maintain peace, he must change his ways. If he wished the Infanta to marry his son, he must satisfy Philip in respect to religion. Such was the appearance of James's policy in the eyes of 'The King to Philip III., April 27, Prynne's Hidden Works of Darkness, 8. 2 See p. 348. 1620 GONDOMAR AND JAMES. 347 Gondomar. The Spaniard hit the mark in saying that it attempted to combine the advantages of peace and war at the same time. When he ended, Buckingham acknowledged that he could not deny that in many things the ambassador had spoken truly. Digby knew that there was another side to the question. If James, he said, granted to the Catholics all that Gondomar wished, England would be Catholic, and mass would be said. publicly in the churches. Whether this was true or not, at all events it was the prevalent belief in England that it was true. interview with the King. On May 6, Gondomar had an interview with the King himself, at which the Prince was present as well as Buckingham. James complained much of his misfortune in having to May 6. Gondomar's deal with the troubles in Germany, and assured the ambassador that the Catholics should in future be as little molested as his other subjects. He pressed Gondomar to say what it was that would content the King of Spain in matters of religion. Gondomar did not venture to say that nothing short of liberty of worship would be accepted. All that he could do, as he informed his master in describing the scene, was so to frame his answers as to prevent James from imagining that he was well satisfied with the proposal to which he had been listening. Gondomar knew that if he could win the Prince to change his religion it would matter little what James might say or do. He was, however, obliged to confess that he could, at present, see no likelihood of this. Charles, he said, was on terms of the closest familiarity with him, and assured him that he would never persecute the Catholics; but he had had a bad education, and was a confirmed heretic. Gondomar's opinion of the Prince. about perse Nevertheless, the Spaniard was inclined to put more trust in the son than in the father. No one could be sure that what James's James said one day he would not unsay the next. language Though at one time he assured Gondomar that he cution. meant to do much more for the Catholics than he had promised, at another time, in the presence of some Protestants, he expressed his surprise that the Spanish ambassador should have talked about persecution as existing in England. It was not persecution, he said, to carry out the laws. Gondomar replied that it was persecution to take away life and estate from those who were living honestly and as loyal subjects. At all events, if these laws were to be executed, it was needless to take any further trouble about the marriage treaty. Gondomar's master. What to recommend to Philip, Gondomar hardly knew. He foresaw the evil result of a breach, and yet he did not see how a breach could be averted. On the whole, he advice to his recommended that Lafuente should go to Rome for the dispensation. It was impossible even in this way to gain very much time, as James was sure to be impatient. Still, in the mean time, the King might die, and his son might be converted. If this did not happen the Pope might make it a condition of the dispensation that James should summon T'arliament to confirm his concessions to the Catholics, and to agree that these concessions should be actually put in force for a whole year before the Infanta arrived. In giving this advice, Gondomar unwittingly revealed the unreal nature of the compact which he was striving to effect. He knew how to deal with persons, but he did not know how to deal with a nation. He expected great things from the hope which the Prince had already held out to him, of coming in person to Madrid to claim his bride. He did not understand the national feeling in England, and he fancied that it was enough that the greater number of the old nobility of England were either openly or secretly Catholics. Gondomar, however, was made to feel that the good-will of James was not everything in England. He pleaded against the support which had been given May. to Captain North's expedition to the Amazon, and his of Captain objections were supported by Digby, who was wise enough to see that no good could come of an attempt to establish an English trade in the midst of the Spanish Indies. But North, like Raleigh, had powerful friends at Court, and before the order for stopping his voyage was issued, he had slipped out of Plymouth harbour, and was well on his way across the Atlantic. When it was too late, a proclamation was Madrid Faiace Library. Expedition North. Gondomar to Philip III., May 22, 1620 APPEAL FROM THE UNION. 349 issued to arrest him, and his brother, Lord North, was imprisoned for a few days, on the charge of complicity with his evasion.1 Gondomar pleads for Lake. Even Gondomar's influence with the King had its limits. He was extremely anxious to see his old friend and pensioner Lake restored to office. But though James consented to re-admit Lake to Court, and to a certain degree of favour, he resolutely refused to give him back the Secretaryship. To a request that he would show indulgence to Lady Lake, who had not yet acknowledged the justice of her sentence, he was equally deaf. "As for my Lady Lake," he said, "I must both confess to have pronounced an unjust sentence, and break my promise to my Lady Exeter in a matter of justice, if I grant her any ease at this time. Besides this cause hath no respect to religion, except the Romish religion be composed of the seven deadly sins, for I dare swear she is guilty of them all. If Spain trouble me with suits of this nature, both against my justice and honour, their friendship will be more burdensome than useful to me.' "3 th.. Union. The Princes of the Union were not likely to be content with James's reception of their appeal for help. Towards the end of April they applied to him again. The Duke Fresh applica'ion from of Bavaria, it was now known, had come to terms with the Elector of Saxony, and they had every reason to fear the worst. Nothing, however, could induce James to take a decided course. In private he assured Dohna that if the Princes were really attacked he would send twenty or thirty thousand men to help them; whilst to the Princes 12, 18. 22, 28. 1 Sanchez to the King, Feb. 19; Sanchez to Buckingham, Feb. 19, S.P. Spain. Chamberlain to Carleton, Feb. 26, S.P. Dom. cxii. 104. Salvetti's News Letter, May Proclamation, May 15, Rymer, xvii. 215. The Council to the Warden of the Fleet, May 21, 1620, Council Register. 2 Salvetti's News-Letter, May Woodward to Windebank, May 22, S.P. Dom. cxv. 50. 18. 28. The King to Buckingham, Halliwell's Letters of the Kings of England, ii. 149. The letter is without a date, but it may be safely assigned to April or May, 1620. |