transfer of crowns, on religious pretexts and by the will of the people; and, on the other hand, he however allowed the raising of recruits and money for his son-in-law, contrary to the promise which he had given to the Spaniards. His theoretical assertions were opposed, among others, by Archbishop Abbot, who said, "Frederick must accept the Bohemian crown, and follow where God leads him, step by step. The Kings of the earth who gave their power to the beast, should abandon the whore, and give her up to ruin.” Satires and caricatures were more intelligible than these apocalyptical interpretations. Thus a farce was performed at Brussels in which Frederick was assisted by Denmark with 100,000 pickled herrings; by the Netherlands, with 100,000 butter-tubs, and by King James, with 100,000 Ambassadors. The King was represented with pockets turned inside out, and with a sword at his side, which many persons, in spite of all their efforts, could not draw.

If it be allowed that it was hazardous to assist subjects in war against their ancient sovereign, difficult to act in Germany with a foreign military force, and desirable to attain the object in view by negociations; yet James should never have sacrificed his dignity, and placed himself in a contemptible light. This he did when, according to a report of the French Ambassador, he said to

Ff2

Gondomar, "You have reason to write to your master that I am a deceiver, a worthless and faithless man. The Palsgrave is a wicked man, a usurper; I give you my royal word that I will not assist the confederate Princes." And yet, at the very same time, James promised the contrary to the Palatine Ambassador.

The Spaniards paid the King in his own coin, as clearly appears in the long and tedious negociations relative to the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Infanta Mary, sister of Philip IV. Considering the condition of religious and political parties at that time, such an extraordinary alliance of a Protestant Prince Royal with a Princess of the greatest Roman Catholic House, was unquestionably of the highest importance, and hopes and fears, extending far into futurity, were built on the announced or implied object. James, with his usual vanity, thought that if he influenced the Protestants through a daughter, and the Roman Catholics through a daughter-in-law, (8) he would be everywhere the arbitrator, allay all storms, establish peace, and recover the Palatinate for his son-in-law, with the assent of Spain. The Spaniards pretended to agree to this, in order to keep the King of England and his subjects from taking any warlike resolutions, and to gain time; but if, which cannot be supposed, they really had had any serious desire to second

those political plans, they were not able to execute them, while they were perseveringly opposed by Austria and Bavaria.

The Spaniards looked upon the proposed marriage more in a religious than a political view. While one party vehemently censured the notion of exposing a princess of the orthodox faith among the sinful community of heretics, another party looked upon it as a dispensation of Providence to restore Catholicism in England, and renew the connection with Rome. These conflicting views and objects, the wish to deceive and the fear of being deceived, caused the negociations to be so protracted, that Buckingham, taking advantage of Charles's impatience, conceived the plan for the Prince to go himself to Madrid, and gain the Princess like a true knight. James's objections were overruled, his consent almost extorted, and the formal Spanish Court extremely surprised by the arrival of the Prince. This resolution, exclaims the Venetian Ambassador, Valaresso, is an abyss of incredible wonders, a labyrinth without entrance or issue, approved by nobody, without a parallel in ancient or modern history. It is contrary to the true interests of the King, of the kingdom, of the Prince, and of Buckingham. If, as some affirm, Gondomar said, the marriage will come to pass if the Prince goes to Spain, he probably only meant

to express the impossibility of the alliance by the impossibility of such a journey.

The Prince was treated in Madrid with very great respect so long as it was believed that he would embrace the Roman Catholic religion, and there, as well as at Rome, the demands and conditions with respect to religion rose continually higher, because they believed that Charles had, by his precipitation, made it impossible to recede; nay, Olivarez plainly declared, we must take it for granted that His Highness, when he undertook the journey, had resolved to come over to our Church. Charles in fact made many concessions, and, on the 26th of November, 1623, the Papal dispensation was at length received in London; but with the addition that it would be null and void, unless all the conditions were executed. But the very first condition that the Roman Catholics in England should enjoy, toleration, and the free exercise of their religion, could not possibly be executed in the state of excitement which then prevailed. Though King James therefore swore to the conditions of the marriage, and gave a grand entertainment, at which, according to ancient custom, the dessert was allowed to be scrambled for, and the plates and dishes broken by way of rejoicing, essential obstacles still remained, and new ones arose in Madrid.

According to the etiquette of the Spanish court,

Charles saw the Infanta very seldom, and by stealth, wherefore one morning, acting more like a lover than a Prince, he leapt over a wall, accompanied by Buckingham, into her garden, to speak to her. This, however, gave great offence, and the forward conduct of Buckingham, who did not spare even the Prince, was considered by the grave Spaniards as highly indecorous. It was still more unfortunate that Buckingham completely quarrelled with Olivarez, who was at that time so powerful in Spain, and said to him, in the presence of the Prince and of King Philip, "that he acknowledged in every possible way the goodness of the King, but that he owed to the minister neither gratitude nor friendship." Olivarez answered, "this was quite indifferent to him, but with the priests, who had been consulted, he insisted that the conditions relative to religion must be executed before the marriage, and as much liberty granted to the Roman Catholics in England, as had been granted to the Protestants by Rudolph, Matthias, and Henry IV."

Buckingham, who had at first been so eager to bring about this marriage, was now equally desirous of breaking it off; returned with Charles to England, taking advantage of the favorable dispositions of the people and the Parliament for the Prince and himself, unjustly accused the Earl of Bristol of having conducted the affair badly at Madrid, and