his authority to reconcile Pembroke and Buckingham; and before the session opened the malcontent earl had changed into an unwavering supporter of the Government. Charles eager for war. Between James and his son, the difference was one as well of principle as of temperament. Charles, entirely devoid as he was of any general conception of the course of European politics, had no eyes for anything except the insults to which he had been subjected in Spain, and the miserable condition of his sister. The only remedy, he bade Lennox assure his father, was war. James could at least regard the question from a higher point of view, if he could not succeed in discovering a fitting solution. "God be my witness," he said to Lennox, who had brought this message from the Prince, "that I never did, nor ever can desire anything, except my salvation, so much as the peace of Christendom and the good of my kingdom; and these can only be secured by the Spanish marriage." When the reply was conveyed to Charles, the Prince told one of his confidants, that he could never forget the dishonour which he had received in Spain. It was his father's fault that he had not yet taken complete vengeance. He hoped this would soon be rectified: if not, he should be king one day, and he would then give himself no rest till he had completely ruined Spain. On the whole, however, Charles had good reason to be satisfied with his father's conduct. There were from time to time, indeed, fits of hesitation and reluctance; and rumours reached the ears of those interested in such tidings, that James had declared himself to be tired of Buckingham.2 But such rumours, if there was any truth in them at all, did not reveal the whole truth. The moment that James gave a serious thought to the matter, he knew that if he was to recover the Palatinate, Buckingham's way was the only way open to him, and that the Spanish proposals had but to be fully stated to be rejected. Just at this time the same proposals which had been made by Spain in the preceding autumn were Inojosa to Philip IV., * Valaresso to the Doge, ΙΟ Feb. Madrid Palace Library. Jan. 30, Ven. Transcripts. Feb. 9' 1624 Negotiation of Della Rota. BAVARIAN OFFERS. 181 brought before him from another quarter. A Capuchin friar, travelling under the assumed name of Francesco della Rota, appeared in England, with offers from the new Elector of Bavaria. The Elector, like the Emperor, was ready to yield much for the sake of peace. The only difference in their terms was, that whilst Ferdinand required that Frederick's son and heir should be educated at Vienna, Maximilian required that he should be educated at Munich, or, if James preferred it, under some Catholic prince elsewhere. Of course there was much said about offering all possible safeguards for the boy's religion; but what was the value of such safeguards to a youth brought at the most impressionable age within the circle of the ideas of the Catholic priesthood?1 To this plan James gave a distinct refusai; but it was easier for him to see what was not to be done than to decide, for himself and others, what he wished to do. As the Commissioners would not settle his difficulties Parliament. for him, the whole question was referred to the coming Parliament. The breach with Spain referred to The elec. tions. By the time the consultations of the Commissioners were brought to a close the elections were almost completed. In ordinary times the House of Commons was brought into existence under very composite influences. In the counties the choice of the great landowners weighed heavily upon the freeholders. In the smaller boroughs the owner of some neighbouring manor, to whom the citizens were bound by the obligations of ancestral courtesy, or immediate interest, could often dispose of the seat at his pleasure. The Government, too, was not without influence. The boroughs of Lancashire and the sea-coast towns of Kent, for instance, were in the habit of returning nominees of the Chancellor of the Duchy, or of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. In this way the House came to represent not merely the electors, but also the effective strength of the nation. who took part in its debates were men who were accustomed as mass of The men 22 1 Rusdorf, Mémoires, i. 156–239. Inojosa to Philip IV., Feb. 12 Madrid Palace Library. magistrates, or in other ways, to take their share in the business of government. They were in the habit of acting under responsibility-in the habit, too, of attempting to render their actions subvervient to the national good. Their election was very far from being a mere form. When measures are proposed in the course of this and the following years, the leaders of the assembly, again and again, in spite of the lack of reporters, make use of the argument, "What will our constituents say?" as the best rejoinder possible. For some years, as political excitement had increased, there had been a tendency in the electors to shake off the control to which they had hitherto to some extent submitted, and to require independence as the one thing needful. In the present instance the name of courtier was the surest passport to rejection, and in many places candidates supported by Buckingham, or even by the Prince, were left unchosen.1 Coke and andys. In two cases James was desirous of overruling indirectly the choice of the constituencies. He had a lively recollection of Coke's attitude in the last Parliament, and he seriously designed to get rid of the old lawyer by sending him to Ireland, as member of a commission appointed to investigate the state of that country. He destined for the same employment Sir Edwin Sandys, whose opposition to the Court was of earlier date than Coke's. The step, however, was too palpably unwise to be insisted on, and both Coke and Sandys were allowed to take their seats.2 Parliament had been summoned for February 12, but was put off till the 16th, because, as men amused themselves by saying, the King had not yet made up his mind what to reply to the Spanish ambassadors.3 On the 16th it was again postponed, on account of the death of James's old friend and kinsman, the Duke of Lennox.4 Feb. 16. Death of Lennox. 1 Valaresso to the Doge, Feb. , Ven. Transcripts. 6 16' 2 These are the only Parliament names in the commission (Rymer, xvii. 531), or in Chamberlain's contemporary letters. 4 Hacket is quite mistaken in supposing (i. 174) that there is an error in the date of the curious letter in which Williams advised Buckingham to 1624 Feb. 19. Parliament. OPENING OF THE SESSION. 183 The speech with which James opened his last Parliament was couched in a tone of unusual hesitation. The old selfconfidence with which, in his happier days, he had Opening of sought to school his hearers into submission, had entirely left him. Convinced at last that peace could no longer be maintained unless he abandoned as unattainable the object for which he had striven so long, and yet shrinking with his whole soul from opening the floodgates of war, he The King's was equally unwilling to turn his back upon his old speech. policy, or to enter heartily upon a new one. Casting himself upon the compassion of his hearers, he pleaded before them the anxiety with which he had striven to deserve his people's love; and told the Houses how, as a pledge of his confidence in them, he was come to ask their advice in the greatest matter that ever could concern any king. He had hoped to settle peace abroad and at home. But he now knew what the pretensions of Spain really were. The whole story would be told them by his Secretaries, who would be assisted by the Prince and Buckingham. "When you have heard it all," he added, "I shall entreat your good and sound advice, for the glory of God, the peace of the kingdom, and weal of my children. Never king gave more trust to his subjects than to desire their advice in matters of this weight; for I assure you ye may freely advise me, seeing of my princely fidelity you are invited thereto." Having thus removed the prohibition which had brought about the dissolution of the last Parliament, James turned to a subject on which his hearers were peculiarly sensitive. Exp'ains what he has "I pray you,” he said, “judge me charitably as you done about the Catholics. will have me judge you; for I never made public nor private treaties but I always made a direct reservation for the weal public and cause of religion, for the glory of God and the good of my subjects. I only thought good sometimes to wink and connive at the execution of some penal statutes, and not to go on so rigorously as at other times; but accept the office of Lord Steward. It was written after Hamilton's death in 1625, and will be noticed in its proper place. I never did think it with to dispense with any, to forbid or alter any that concern religion, I neither promised nor yielded. my heart, nor speak it with my mouth. man doth not always use the spur, but must sometimes use the bridle, and sometimes the spur. So a king that governs evenly is not bound to carry a rigorous hand over his subjects upon all occasions, but may sometimes slacken the bridle, yet so as his hands be not off the reins." How far was this statement true? Such words were very far from being a full and fair representation of the past negotiations. But they were at least in accordance with what James had wished to do, and were not very far from that which, by some stretch of imagination, he may have fancied himself to have done. They give an accurate account of his first offers to Spain in 1620; and when, in 1623, he went much farther, he had at least reserved to himself, by a protest, the right of cancelling his obligations, if reason of state should so require.' It is hardly likely, however, that the Commons, if they had known the whole story, would have told it in the same way. After a few more words, James retired from the scene. He had thrown down the reins of government, and there was one Arrangements for Bucking ham's appearance. standing by who was eager to take them from his failing hands. James, it is true, had told the Houses that the information for which they were looking would be communicated to them by his Secretaries, with the assistance of Buckingham and the Prince. But so subordinate a part would hardly have suited Buckingham. Before the appointed day arrived it was understood that the communication would be made by the Duke, and that the Secretaries, and even the Prince himself, would be content to give him what assistance he might need. The Houses were to assemble, not as usual in the Painted Chamber, but in the great hall of the palace, where they were accustomed to wait upon the King. If Buckingham had said, "I am the King," he could not have expressed himself more plainly. 1 Conway to Buckingham, July 23. 1623, Hardwicke S. P. i. 430. See p. 70. |