the expedition failed, an indemnity should be found in the plunder of Genoa or of the States of the Pope. Gondomar, therefore, without appearing publicly in the affair, did his best to throw obstacles in its way. As the merchants were desirous that Southampton should himself take the command of the expedition, it was easy to speak of the scheme as an arrangement concocted for the mere purpose of furthering the Earl's ambition. According to Gondomar, all that he really wanted was to bring about a war with Spain, in order that he might be called upon to replace the aged Nottingham, as Lord High Admiral of England.1 April. Consulta James laid the whole subject before the Commissioners to whom the marriage treaty had been already referred. They immediately summoned before them the merchants whose interests were affected by the continuance of piracy, and asked them whether they were prepared to contribute a fair proportion of the expenses. They also sent for a few old sea captains, in order to have their opinion on the feasibility of the enterprise. tions on the proposal. The merchants at once offered to find 40,000l. in two years; and, after a little pressing, said that if the enterprise were seriously taken in hand, they would not be backward in increasing their contribution. But there seemed some doubt whether the enterprise was likely to serve any useful purpose after all. Both the merchants and the sailors agreed that it was perfectly hopeless to think of taking, by a sudden attack, a place so strongly fortified as Algiers; and Nottingham and Monson supported the dissentients with all the weight of their authority. A long series of operations would be necessary. If the fleet could keep the sea for a sufficient length of time, it might be possible to wear out the enemy by destroying his vessels and by cutting off his prospects of plunder. But if such a scheme was to be carried out, it was evident that the assistance of Spain would be indispensable. Yet everyone, with the exception of been made for a direct attack upon Genoa, by men with whom Southampton was intimate. 12, 1 Gondomar to Philip III., July 21617, Simancas MSS. 2850, fo!. 1. Naval Tracts of Sir W. Monson, in Churchill's Voyages, iii. 167. 1617 PROPOSED ATTACK ON ALGIERS. 71 one or two of the Commissioners, shrank from carrying on war with the King of Spain for an ally. Still, it was madness to think that a blockading squadron could keep the sea without a single friendly port as a place of retreat in time of need; and all that could be said was, that the King of Spain might perhaps consent to contribute in money to the undertaking, and to open his ports to the English and the Dutch, by whom the rea! work would be done. That English and Spanish sailors could not be brought together without coming to blows, was the opinion of all whose advice was asked upon the subject.1 May. Digby ordered to support the plan. As soon as these recommendations were reported to James, he gave orders that Digby should take them for his guidance, and should excuse himself for asking for money only, on the plea that the Spanish ships were too large to be usefully employed on coast service.2 Such was the promising opening of the first serious effort to reap benefit from the Spanish alliance. But, before inquiring how Digby fared at Madrid, it will be well to cast a glance upon the domestic affairs of England. 1 Commissioners for the Spanish business in London to those with the King, April 30, Bacon's Letters and Life, vi. 175. * Commissioners with the King to those in London, May 6, S. P. Dom. xcii. II. 72 March. The Privy Council. CHAPTER XXIV. THE PRIVY COUNCIL AND THE FAVOURITE. Ar the time when James thought fit to lay his Spanish project before commissioners selected from the Privy Council, that body itself was hardly in a position to exercise much influence over the course of affairs. It is true that the new members who had lately taken their seats at the Board were such as were likely to add no small weight to its authority. But its composition was so heterogeneous, and those who sat at it had received promotion for such opposite reasons, that it is strange that their consultations did not terminate in open strife. Abbot was there because he hated Rome, and Andrewes because he detested Geneva. Edmondes had gained his seat by his services in maintaining the French alliance, and Digby by his energetic efforts in favour of Spain. One secretary, Sir Ralph Winwood, never ceased to call for war with the Spanish monarchy. The other secretary, Sir Thomas Lake, thought that such a war was to be avoided by all possible means, and was himself in receipt of a Spanish pension. Arundel, the heir of the eldest branch of the Howards, brought with him the feelings and the prejudices of the old nobility, whilst Bacon was longing to transform the realm after the fashion which his own genius had suggested to him. A council thus composed was admirably adapted to serve as a consultative body, and James might have learned far more from its deliberations than he could possibly by the King. have gained from a Board at which there was greater unity of sentiment. But James unfortunately did not really Its treatment 1617 JAMES AND HIS MINISTERS. 73 wish to learn anything that these men might be able to teach him. It would have been far better if he had been either a little more in earnest, or a little less in earnest, about public affairs. A king who, like Louis XIV., could have applied himself to the laborious task of overlooking the daily working of the machine of government might have obtained from such a council the materials for the exercise of an independent judgment. A king who, like Louis XIII., cared for nothing but dogs and falcons, might have found another Richelieu who would relieve him from the task which was too heavy for his own shoulders. But James thought enough about politics. to make him jealous of interference, and not enough to make them the business of his life. The Council was accordingly allowed to occupy itself with matters of detail, to examine into accounts, and to report on schemes for the improveIment of the revenue. Questions of higher importance were either neglected altogether, or were reserved for the King's special consideration, to be chatted over with his favourites in some idle hour, after a hard day's hunting at Theobalds or Royston. Nor was it only in the administration of political affairs that the looseness of James's hand was felt. That official corruption was alarmingly prevalent at Whitehall was Official corruption. a secret to no one. The main causes of the evil admit of an easy explanation. With merely a nominal salary, the great officers of the Crown were left to depend, for the remuneration due to their services, upon the payments which, under various names, were made by those who needed their assistance. In some cases these payments were limited by an authorised scale of fees. In other cases they were restrained by custom within the bounds of moderation. But there would always be instances occurring to which no rules could apply. Men who wanted to drive a bargain with the Government soon discovered that official doors could only be opened with a golden key, and the more questionable the character of the petition was, the larger was the bribe which the petitioner was willing to administer. Even if there had been a recognised code of official morality in existence, it would have been almost impossible to draw the line between money which might honestly be accepted and money which ought at all hazards to be refused. In truth, every man was left to draw the line for himself. What the temptations were to which an official was exposed may be gathered from the reply which was said to have been made by a statesman, who had himself held the office of Lord Treasurer, to a friend who asked him what the profits of the place might be. "Some thousand pounds," he said, "to him who, after his death, would go to heaven: twice as much to him who would go to purgatory, and no one knows how much to him who would adventure to a worse place." 2 The courtiers. In addition to the officials whose pay was merely nominal, the King was surrounded by a crowd of hungry courtiers whose pay was nothing at all. To them flocked day by day all who had any favour to beg, and who hoped that a little money judiciously expended would smooth the way before them. Some of the applicants, no doubt, were honest men who merely wanted to get a chance of doing honest work. But there were not a few whose only object was to enrich themselves in some discreditable way, and who were ready to share the booty with those who would lend them a helping hand in their roguery. James's James's head. That it was his duty to make war upon this evil system was a thought which never seems seriously to have entered into Even if he had felt the desire, he supineness. lacked the firmness and energy by which alone great reforms are effected. Any glaring instance of peculation, especially when his own interests were touched, must of course be punished. But in general he seems to have thought that, if his ministers could secure payment for their services without dipping their hands into the Exchequer, it was so much the better for him. If he felt that the world was out of joint, he never went so far as to imagine that it was his business to take much trouble to set it right. "If I were to imitate the con The Earl of Manchester. 2 Lloyd's State Worthies (ed. 1766), ii. 351. |