Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 3, 1620-1628. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1767-1830.
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'House of Lords Journal Volume 3: 19 May 1626', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 3, 1620-1628( London, 1767-1830), British History Online https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol3/pp631-645 [accessed 29 September 2024].
'House of Lords Journal Volume 3: 19 May 1626', in Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 3, 1620-1628( London, 1767-1830), British History Online, accessed September 29, 2024, https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol3/pp631-645.
"House of Lords Journal Volume 3: 19 May 1626". Journal of the House of Lords: Volume 3, 1620-1628. (London, 1767-1830), , British History Online. Web. 29 September 2024. https://prod.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol3/pp631-645.
In this section
DIE Veneris, videlicet, 19 die Maii,
Domini tam Spirituales quam Temporales, quorum nomina subscribuntur, præsentes fuerunt:
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p. Archiepus. Cant. Archiepus. Eborum. p. Epus. London. p. Epus. Durham. Epus. Winton. Epus. Petriburg. Epus. Hereforden. Epus. Wigorn. p. Epus. Norwicen. p. Epus. Roffen. Epus. Co. et Lich. Epus. Bath. et W. p. Epus. Bangor. p. Epus. Elien. Epus. Cicestren. p. Epus. Oxon. p. Epus. Cestren. p. Epus. Landaven. Epus. Lincoln. Epus. Sarum. Epus. Exon. p. Epus. Meneven. p. Epus. Bristol. Epus. Asaphen. Epus. Carlien. p. Epus. Gloucestren. |
p. Thomas Coventrey, Miles, Ds. Custos Mag. Sigilli. p. Comes Marleborough, Mag. Thesaurar. Angliæ. Comes Manchester, Præs. Concilii Domini Regis. Comes Wigorn, Ds. Custos Privati Sigilli, et Senesc. Hospitii. p. Dux Buckingham, Mag. Admirall. Angliæ. Marchio Winton. Comes Arundell et Surr. Comes Maresc. Angliæ. Comes Pembroc, Camerar. Hospitii. p. Comes Oxon. Comes Northumbriæ. Comes Salop. p. Comes Kantii. Comes Derbiæ. p. Comes Rutland. Comes Cumbriæ. p. Comes Sussex. Comes Huntingdon. Comes Bath. Comes Bedford. p. Comes Hertford. p. Comes Essex. Comes Lincoln. p. Comes Nottingham. Comes Suffolciæ. p. Comes Dorsett. p. Comes Sarum. p. Comes Exon. p. Comes Mountgomery. p. Comes Bridgewater. P. Comes Leicestriæ. Comes North'ton. p. Comes Warwic. p. Comes Devon. p. Comes Cantabr. p. Comes Carlile. p. Comes Denbigh. p. Comes Bristol. p. Comes Angles. p. Comes Holland. Comes Clare. p. Comes Bolingbrooke. p. Comes Westmerland. p. Comes Berk. p. Comes Cleveland. p. Comes Mulgrave. Comes Danby. p. Comes Tottnes. p. Comes Monmouth. Vicecomes Mountague. p. Vicecomes Wallingford. Vicecomes Purbeck. p. Vicecomes Manusfeild. Vicecomes Colchester. p. Vicecomes Rochford. Vicecomes Tunbridge. p. Vicecomes Say et S. p. Vicecomes Wimbleton. p. Ds. Conway, Prin. Secret. p. Ds. Abergavenny. Ds. Audley. p. Ds. Percy. Ds. Willoughby. p. Ds. Delawarr. p. Ds. Berkley. p. Ds. Morley. Ds. Dacres. p. Ds. Scroope. p. Ds. Dudley. p. Ds. Stourton. Ds. Herbert. Ds. Darcy. Ds. Vaux. Ds. Windsore. p. Ds. Mordant. Ds. St. John de B. p. Ds. Cromewell. Ds. Evre. p. Ds. Pagett. p. Ds. North. p. Ds. Compton. p. Ds. Howard. Ds. Wootton. p. Ds. Russell. p. Ds. Grey de G. Ds. Petre. p. Ds. Spencer. p. Ds. Denny. p. Ds. Stanhope de (fn. 1) H. Ds. Arundell. Ds. Teynham. Ds. Stanhope de Sh. p. Ds. Noel. Ds. Brooke. p. Ds. Mountague. p. Ds. Grey de W. Ds. Deyncourt. Ds. Roberts. p. Ds. Ley. Ds. Vere. |
The House to attend the K.
The Lord Chamberlain signified to their Lordships, That His Majesty is pleased that this House attend Him at Two this Afternoon at Whitehall.
Tenants of Bromfield and Yale.
Hodie Billa, An Act for the establishing of the Estates of the Tenants of Bromfeild and Yale, in the County of Denbigh, and of the Tenures, Rents, and Services, thereupon reserved, was sent down to the Commons, by
Mr. Baron Bromley and
Sir Peter Mutton.
D. of Buck. retires out of the House.
The Earl of Bristoll being called for, to be brought to the Bar, the Duke of Buckingham moved the House, That he might have Leave to retire, left his Presence should give some Distaste to the said Earl; and so the Duke did withdraw himself.
E. of Bristol at the Bar.
The said Earl being brought to the Bar; the Lord Keeper told him, That the Lords do expect his Answer unto Mr. Attorney's Charge.
Unto which he answered, That he had brought it; but desired to be excused for the Length thereof, and as touching the Charge, he said, that he finds no direct Treason therein laid unto his Charge; only Two Points come near it by Circumstances; videlicet, That he is illaffected to this Religion, and that he is well-affected unto Spaine; for clearing whereof, he made a large Remonstrance of his Zeal unto the true Religion here established, even from his Youth to this Day, and of his constant and faithful Services unto the King's Majesty, and His Father, of Blessed Memory, and to the State.
Then he delivered his Answer, written in Paper; but desired that it might be ingrossed in Parchment, which he said had been done but that he had not Time; and he desired also that no Advantage might be taken to any illegal Form thereof.
His Counsel to read his Answer.
The House was pleased (at the Earl's Motion), that his own Counsel might read his Answer; which he did, the Earl sitting by on a Stool allowed him, and explaining and enforcing (as Occasion was) any Part thereof.
This ended; the Lord Keeper demanded of him whether he had any more to say.
Petitions for an Equality between him and the D. of Buckingham.
Whereupon the Earl, complaining of the Inequality between himself and the Duke of Buckingham, and that, by reason of his Restraint, he was disabled to follow any Thing against the Duke of Buckingham, and his Counsel were disheartened to give him their free Advice; he earnestly urged their Lordships Promise of an Equality between them; and said, "That his Counsel informs him, there is no Treason contained in all the Charge against him, save one only, that comes near a Statute touching Religion; which he humbly submitted to the House, and besought their Lordships to take some Course, by the Resolution of the Judges or otherwise (as they should please), That it may be declared, whether his Case be Treason or not, before (fn. 2) it be further proceeded in; and that he may have Liberty to examine his Witnesses; and further, that Mr. Attorney might not take hold of any Matter of Form or Legality, to his Prejudice."
And Mr. Attorney (replying) said, "That he would take hold of the Matter only, and not of the Form nor Legality; and desired also (as the Earl had), that the House would direct the Course how the Witnesses may be examined, and the Manner of his further proceeding against the said Earl."
E. of Bristol withdrawn.
The said Earl being withdrawn;
The House Agreed, His Counsel to be encouraged to give him their free and faithful Advice and Counsel. And it was further Ordered, The said Earl of Bristol to have Liberty to go abroad, in the Custody of Mr. Maxwell, to take the Air, for his Health's Sake; which was granted at the Earl's humble Request.
At the Bar again— The E. has Leave to go abroad for the Air, in the Custody of the Gentleman Usher.
The Earl of Bristol being at the Bar again, and his Counsel with him; the Lord Keeper signified unto him, That the Lords cannot at this Time settle his Petitions; but will in due Time: That His Majesty's and their Lordships Meaning is, that his Counsel do freely give him their Advice and Counsel, without any Doubt at all, or any Discouragement; and that he had Liberty to go abroad, in the Custody of Mr. Maxwell, for his Health's sake.
For which the Earl of Bristol rendered his humble Thanks unto His Majesty, and to their Lordships.
Dyed and Dressed Cloaths.
The Lords Committees for venting of Dyed and Dressed Cloths are to meet this Afternoon, at Four of the Clock.
"The Answer of John Earl of Bristoll to the Articles of several High Treasons, and other great and enormous Crimes, Offences, and Contempts, supposed to be committed by him, against our late Sovereign Lord King James, of Blessed Memory, deceased, and our Sovereign Lord the King's Majesty that now is; wherewith the said Earl is charged by His Majesty's Attorney General, on His Majesty's Behalf, in the most High and Honourable Court of Parliament, before the King and the Lords there.
E. of Bristol's Answer to the Articles of Impeachment exhibited against him.
"The said Earl not acknowledging any the supposed Treasons, Crimes, Offences, or Contempts, wherewith he is charged, in and by the said Articles, to be true, and saving to himself all Advantage and Benefit of Exception to the Uncertainty and Insufficiency of the said Articles, and several Charges in them contained; and humbly praying that his Cause may not suffer for want of legal Form, whereunto he hath not been inured, but may be adjudged according to such real and effectual Grounds and Proofs as may be expected from an Ambassador (the Ground of the Charge growing thence); and that he may have Leave to explain himself, and his own Meaning, in any Thing that may seem to admit of a doubtful Construction; for Answer saith as followeth:
Concerning his furthering the Designs of Spain, with respect to the Palatinate and the Marriage with the Insants.
"1. To the First Article, he saith, That he did not advance or further the Designs of the King of Spaine against our late Sovereign Lord the King, His Children, Friends, or Allies; or traiterously, falsely, willingly, or as a Traitor to our said late Sovereign Lord the King, by any Letters, or other Messages, sent in the Years 1621, 1622, 1623, or at any other Time, inform, advise, or assure, the said late King, that the Emperor and King of Spaine, or either of them, would really, fully, or effectually, make Restitution, or Plenary Restoration, to the Count Palatine and his Children, of the Dominions, Territories, and Possessions of the said Count Palatine, or of the Electoral Dignity; or that the King of Spaine did really, fully, or effectually, intend the Marriage between the Lady his Sister and the Prince our said Sovereign Lord, according to the Articles formerly propounded between the said Two Kings, as by the said Article is alledged; neither doth or did he the said Earl know that the Emperor and King of Spaine, or either of them, never really intended such Restitution or Restoration as aforesaid; or that the King of Spaine never really intended the said Marriage, as by the said Article is also alledged; nor both he the said Earl know that the Emperor, or King of Spaine, or either of them, intended, by the said Treaties in the Article mentioned, to gain Time for compassing their own Ends and Purposes, to the Detriment of this Kingdom, as by the said Article is also alledged; neither was the said late King James made secure upon any such false Assurances given unto him by the said Earl, nor thereby lost the Opportunity of Time; nor were the Dominions, Territories, and Possessions of the Count Palatine, or the Electoral Dignity, thereby lost, or any Part thereof taken out of the Possession of the said King James; nor the said Count Palatine, the Lady Elizabeth his Wife, or their Children, dispossessed, disinherited, or bereaved thereof, or of any Part thereof, by any Act or Default of him the said Earl; nor did or was he the said Earl (fn. 3) the Cause of any Thing to the Dishonour of our said late Sovereign Lord King James, or to the Disherison of the said late King's Children or their Posterity, or to the disanimating or discouraging of any the rest of the Princes of Germany, or any other Kings or Princes in Amity and League with His said late Majesty; nor did any Thing, in of concerning the same, contrary to his Duty and Allegiance, or contrary to the Trust and Duty of an Ambassador, or falsely, willingly, or traiterously, or as a Traitor to our said Sovereign Lord the King, in any such Sort, or by any such Ways, Means, or Inducements, as by the said Article is supposed, or by any other Ways or Means whatsoever; but the said Earl dealt therein, and in all his said Trusts as an Ambassador, carefully, faithfully, and honestly, and as became a faithful and loyal Subject, Servant, Counsellor, and Ambassador, as he is most assured to make very evidently apparent; and for a plain and clear Demonstration of the Truth and Manner of his Proceedings, touching the Matters contained in the said Article, the same consisting of several Parts; videlicet, the Loss of the said Palatinate, and the Match with the said Lady of Spaine, and of his several Employments, as of one extraordinary Embassage to the Emperor, and of another to the King of Spaine, in the Years 621, 1622, 1623, aforesaid; he humbly craveth Leave of this most High and Honourable Court, to separate the Businesses, and distinguish the Times; and, beginning with the Palatinate, first to give an Account of his Embassage to the Emperor, and so to make as brief a Deduction as he can of his whole Carriage in that Business, from the Beginning of his Employment, to the Time he left it. In his Embassage to the Emperor, he propounded all Things faithfully, according to his Instructions; and the Answers which he returned unto His late Majesty, of most Blessed Memory, were the very same, and none other than such as were given him by the Emperor, under His Hand and the Imperial Seal; the which, according to his Duty, he faithfully sent unto His said Majesty, and withall did honestly, faithfully, and truly advertise His said Majesty what he understood and thought then upon the Place; but was so far from giving unto His Majesty any ill-grounded Hopes in that Behalf, that he wrote unto the Lords of the Council here in England, from Vienna, the 26th of July 1621, in sort as followeth: videlicet,
"I am further to move your Lordships, that there may be a Dispatch made presently into Spaine, to His Majesty's Ambassador and Mr. Cottington, that they there deal effectually for the preparing and ripening of the Business against my coming; and that they use some plain and direct Language, letting the Ministers there know that the late Letter sent by the King of Spaine to the Emperor was colder and more reserved than His Majesty had Reason to expect. I shall conclude with telling your Lordships, that, although I despair not of good Success in this knotty Business, yet I hope His Majesty and your Lordships lay not aside the Care of all sitting Preparations for a War, in case a Peace cannot honourably be had. And (amongst other Things) I most earnestly recommend unto your Lordships, and by your Lordships unto His Majesty, the continuing abroad yet, for some small Time, of Sir Robert Mauncell's Fleet upon the Coast of Spaine; which, in case His Majesty should be ill used, will prove the best Argument he can use for the Restitution of the Palatinate.
"And the said Earl further saith, That this his Advice was really seconded by his Actions, by being the Cause, as he returned Homeward out of Germany, of bringing down of the Count Maunsfelt, whereby the Town of Frankendale was relieved; and by supplying of His Majesty's Army (then in great Distress) with Moneys and Plate, to the Value of Ten Thousand Pounds, merely out of his Zeal and Affection to the Good of the King and His Children; having no Order or Warrant for the doing of it; but might easily have excused it, either through Want of Order, or Want of Means, but that his Heart was ever really bent, in Effect more than Shews, to serve the King's Son-in-law and his Cause, as by the Discourse of this Business will appear: And how acceptable these Services then were will appear by the Letters of the Queen of Bohemia, dated in October 1621, in these Words following:
"My Lord,
Having understood from Heidelberge how you have shewed your Affection to the King and me in all Things, and in the Help of Money you have lent our Soldiers, I cannot let so great an Obligation pass, without giving you many Thanks for it by these, Lines, since I have no other Means to shew my Gratefulness to you. Howsoever, assure yourself, that I will never be forgetful of the Testimonies you give me of your Love, which I entreat you to continue, in doing the King and me all the good Offices you can to His Majesty. You have been an Eye Witness of the miserable Estate our Countries are in: I entreat you, therefore, to solicit His Majesty for our Help. You have given me Assurance of your Affection. I entreat you now to shew it, in helping us, by your good Endeavours to His Majesty; and you shall ever bind me to continue, as I am already, your very affectionate Friend,
"Elizabeth.
With other Letters, about the same Time, both from the King of Bohemia and Council of Heydelberge, to the same Effect. And how much Satisfaction His late Majesty received in that Behalf, and touching that Business, will several Ways appear (and particularly by His printed Speech in Parliament). And the said Earl likewise appealeth to both the House of Parliament, to whom, by His late Majesty's Order, he gave a just and true Account of that Employment, with what true Zeal he proceeded, and how he pressed that single Treaties and Promises might no longer be relied on, but that a fitting Preparation for a War might go along Hand in Hand with any Treaty of Accommodation; and, for a conclusive Testimony of His late Majesty's Approbation of his Carriage in this Employment, he humbly desireth that a Letter of the Duke of Buckingham's, under his own Hand, bearing Date the 11th of October 1621, being verbatim that which followeth, may be read:
"My Lord,
"I am exceeding glad that your Lordship hath carried yourself so well in this Employment, that His Majesty is not only infinitely pleased for the Service you have done, for which He commanded me to give your Lordship Thanks in His Name, until He see you Himself, but that you have given all Men Cause to commend His Majesty's Choice of such a Man, that, unless your Heart had gone with the Business, could never have brought it to so good a Pass: Amongst other Things, His Majesty liketh very well the Care of clearing His Honour, whereof He will advise further with your Lordship, at your coming over. I hope you will not find your Negotiation with the Infanta of such Difficulty as you seem to fear in your Letter; seeing my Brother Edward hath brought with him a Letter from His Majesty's Sonin-law, whereby he putteth himself wholly to His Majesty's Advice and Pleasure for his Submission, as you will perceive by the Copy of the Letter itself, which I here send your Lordship; wherein though there be many Things impertinent, yet of that Point you might make good Use, for the Accomplishment of the Business, wherein I have written to the Spanish Ambassador, to use his Means and Credit likewise with the Infanta; which I assure myself he will effectually do, especially seeing the Impediments are taken away by Count Maunsfelt's Composition, and this Conformity of His Majesty's Son-in-Law to the Submission; for the Money your Lordship hath so seasonably laid out, His Majesty will see you shall sustain no Loss, holding it very unreasonable you suffer any Thing by the Care of His Service, which you have shewed, so much to His Contentment, and to the great Joy of
"Your Lordship's faithful Servant,
"George Buckingham.
"Having given this Account of his Employment with the Emperor, he humbly craveth Leave to make it known in what sort (before this his Employment) he endeavoured to serve the Prince Palatine and his Cause; which will best (fn. 4) appear by His late Majesty's own Testimony, upon the going of Sir Frauncis Nethersole to the Prince Palatine; at which Time His Majesty, being out of His Royal and just Heart desirous to do a faithful Servant Right, commanded Sir Frauncis Nethersole to let the Prince Palatine understand how good a Servant the said Earl had been unto Him, and how active in His Affairs; as will best appear by a Dispatch of the said Sir Frauncis Nethersole's, written all in his own Hand, to Sir George Calvert, in Answer of what was commanded him, dated in Prague, 11th of August 1620, and sent by His late Majesty to the said Earl, for his Comfort, being as followeth:
"Right Honourable,
"That you may the better be assured that I have neither forgotten nor neglected the Commandments received from His Majesty by your Honour, you will be pleased to have the Patience to hear me report what I said to this King upon the Delivery of my Lord Digbie's Letters to His Majesty; which was, that the King my Master (whose Justice is so much renowned over the World) did use to shew it in nothing more than in vindicating His Servants from wrongful Opinions; whereof He knew noble Hearts were more sensible than of Injuries done to their Persons or Fortunes; that, out of this Royal Disposition, His Majesty having found my Lord Digby mistaken by some of His own People at Home, by Occasion of his being by Him employed in the Affairs with Spaine; and having thereupon conceived a Jealousy that the same Noble Lord might be also misreported hitherto; Their Majesties had, in that respect, given me a particular Commandment to assure His Majesty, that He had none more nor more truly affectionate Servant in England; and, for Proof thereof, to let His Majesty understand, that whereas the Baron Donagh, now His Majesty's Ambassador in England, had, since his coming thither, obtained but Three great Points for His Majesty's Service; to wit, the Loan of Money from the King of Denmarke, the Contributions in England of the City and Country, and the sending of Ambassadors to the contrary Party; that the Lord Digby had been the first Propounder of all those to the King my Master, before His Majesty's Ambassador, or any other of His Servants in England; although his Lordship had been contented that others (who were but set on) should carry away the Thanks and Praise; because his Lordship, being known to be the first Mover therein, might possibly weaken the Credit he hath in Spaine, and to render him the more unable to serve both his own Master and His Majesty. In which respect I humbly prayed His Majesty also to keep this to Himself.
"By which Testimony it may appear, as the said Earl conceiveth, how he the said Earl behaved himself before his said Embassage, and in his said Embassage, with His said late Majesty's Approbation thereof.
"Now he most humbly craveth Leave to give your Lordships an Account how he proceeded after his Return from the Emperor's Court: As soon as he came into England, he discovered to His Majesty, and the Lords of His Council, in what great Wants he had left the Forces in the Palatinate, and solicited the present sending away of Money; and thereupon Thirty Thousand Pounds was borrowed of Sir Peter Vanlore, Sir Baptist Hickes, and Sir William Cockaine, and presently sent into the Palatinate, besides the Ten Thousand Pounds which he had lent, for which he paid the Interest out of his own Purse Six Months, having also given, not long before, Five Hundred Pounds, by Way of Benevolence, to the Service of the said Palatinate. Now, in the Interim betwixt his Return from the Emperor, which was in November 1621, and his going into Spaine, in May 1622, he first gave an Account, as is aforesaid, of his Embassage to both the Houses of Parliament; and moved them as effectually as was possible, for the Supplying of His Majesty, and that the Money might be wholly employed for the Succour of the Palatinate. The Parliament being dissolved, he solicited, with great Care and Industry, the settling of some Course for the Supplying of the Palatinate; and His Majesty was persuaded to maintain Eight Thousand Foot and One Thousand Six Hundred Horse, under His own Standard, and in His Pay, in the Palatinate, and to establish a certain Course for the due Payment of the said Army; and the Lord Chichester was, upon his the said Earl's Motion, sent for out of Ireland; and he the said Earl, by his Majesty's Commandment, took Care of his Dispatch. And in this Estate the said Earl left this Affair at his Departure towards Spaine, 1622; nothing doubting but all Things would have effectually and constantly been pursued, according to the Order which was settled and resolved on at his Departure. At his Arrival at the Court of Spaine, he presently proceeded according to his Instructions, pressing the Business of the Palatinate as effectually as could be; and faithfully laboured and effected from Time to Time (as far as the Point of Negotiation) all Particulars that were given him in Charge, as will appear by His late Majesty's Letters upon every particular Occasion: And if, by the Accidents of War for that Summer, the Marquis of Baden, the Count Maunsfelt, and the Duke of Brunswicke received each of them an Overthrow, or by Neglect or ill-ordering the Affairs there, whereof His late Majesty so far complained to His Son-inLaw as to give Order for the withdrawing of His Forces (as will appear by His Majesty's Letters of the 3rd of June 1622, as also by His Letter to Sir Horace Vere and the Lord Chichester, of the same Date), if there were not a speedy Hedress. If, by any of these Accidents, those Businesses have miscarried, the Earl hopeth he shall not be liable to the Blame, it having no Relation to him or his Employment; having so far, and so honestly, with his best Affections, employed his Care and utmost Service in the Business; and His Majesty was pleased, by many several Letters, upon several Occasions, to signify His gracious Acceptance of His Service, as in His Letters of the 24th of November 1622, writing as followeth: videlicet,
"Your Dispatches are in all Points so full, and in them We receive so good Satisfaction, as in this We shall not need to enlarge any further; but only to tell you that We are well pleased with the diligent and discreet employing of your Endeavours, in all that concerneth Our Service; so are We likewise with the whole Proceedings of Our Ambassador, Sir Walter Aston. Thus We bid you heartily Farewell. Newmarket, the 24th of November, 1622.
"And afterwards His Majesty was likewise pleased, in His Letters of the 7th of January 1622, a little before our Gracious Sovereign Lord the King, then Prince, His coming into Spaine, to write as followeth: videlicet,
"Concerning that other unfortunately knotty Affair, of the Palatinate; to say the Truth, as Things stand, I know not what you could have done more than you have done already.
"And whereas it is objected that the Palatinate should be lost, by the Hopes he the said Earl gave by his Letters out of Spaine, it is an Objection of Impossibility; for there was nothing left but Manham and Franquendale when his first Letters out of Spaine could possibly come to His late Majesty's Hands; for he did not begin there to negotiate in that Business until August 1622; and about that Time Hedelberg, and all but Manham and Franquendale, was lost; and Manham he had saved by his Industry, had it not been so suddenly delivered, as is by His Majesty acknowledged, by his Letters of the 24th of November 1622, writing thus: videlicet,
"And howsoever the Order given to the Infanta, for the Relief of Manham, arrived too late, and after the Town was yielded into the Hands of Tilley; yet must we acknowledge it to be a good Effect of your Negotiation, and an Argument of that King's sincere and sound Intention.
"And Frankendale, being by the said Earl's Means once saved, was again the second Time saved, merely by his the said Earl's Industry in procuring a Letter from the King of Spaine, dated the 11th of February 1623, whereupon followed the Treaty of Sequestration, which hath since continued. And he the said Earl was so far from hindering Succours, by any Letters or Counsel of his, that he was the Solicitor, and in great Part the Procurer, of most of the Succours that had been sent thither, as is formerly set down: And when His Royal Majesty that now is, and the Duke of Buckingham, arrived at the Court of Spaine, they found the said Business of the Palatinate in so fair a Way, that the Spanish Ministers told them the King should give His late Majesty a Blank in that Business, to frame His own Conditions, as appeareth by His late Majesty's Letter of the 8th of October 1623, as followeth: videlicet,
"Our Son did write to Us out of Spaine, that that King would give Us a Blank, in which we might frame Our own Conditions; and the same He confirmeth unto Us now.
"And the like touching the Blank was also acknowledged by the Duke of Buckingham, in his Speech in Parliament. After the Return of His Majesty out of Spaine, it will appear by Testimony of Sir Walter Aston, and by his and the said Earl's Dispatches, that the said Earl wanted not Industry and Zeal in this Business, insomuch as the last Answer the Earl procured therein from the King of Spaine was fuller than he the said Earl was Ordered by His late Majesty's latest Letters to insist upon; so as, by that which hath been alledged, the said Earl hopeth your Lordships will be satisfied not only that he wanted neither Will nor Industry, but that he hath, with all true Zeal and Affection, and with his own Means, faithfully served Their Majesties and the Prince Palatine in this Cause; and forasmuch, in that Affair, he had all that could be betwixt Christian Princes: And if, in the said Assurances, there hath been any Deceit (as by the said Article is intimated), which he never knew nor believed, he referreth it to God to punish their Wickedness; for betwixt Princes there can be no greater Tye than their Words, Oaths, Hands, and Seals; all which he procured in that Behalf: And both he the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston were so confident that the Business would be ended to His late Majesty's Satisfaction, that, in a joint Dispatch to His said late Majesty, of the Three and Twentieth of November 1623, after His now Majesty's Return into England, they wrote as followeth:
"We hope that Your Majesty may, according to Your Desire signified to me (the Earl of Bristoll) by the Letters of the 8th of October, give to Your Majesty's Royal Daughter this Christmas the comfortable News of the near expiring of her great Troubles and Sufferings, as unto the Prince Your Son the Congratulation of being married to a most Excellent Princess.
"And having thus given your Lordships an Account of his Proceedings touching the Palatinate, he will, by your Lordships good Favour, proceed to the other Part of the Charge, concerning the Marriage. And first, touching the Hopes and Assurances that he is charged to have given to His late Majesty, and Ministers of State, here in England, of the Spaniards real Proceedings in the said Match, when it is said he knew he never meant it; he faith, he never gave any Hopes of their real Proceeding; but such and the very same that were first given unto him, without adding or diminishing; neither could he have done otherwise, either with Honesty or Safety: And he further faith, The Hopes that he gave were not upon slight or vain Intelligence; but, as well in that of the Match as the other of the Palatinate, his Advertisements were grounded upon all the Assurances, both upon Word and Writing, that could pass betwixt Christians, as will be made evidently appear by his Dispatch of the 9th of September 1623; which he humbly desireth may be read (if the Length of it may not displease), the Substance of it being to shew all the Engagements and Promises of the King of Spaine, that He really intended the Match; and the Cause why the Conde De Olivares pretended to the Duke of Buckingham, that the Match was not formerly meant, was only thereby to free himself from the treating any longer with the said Earl, to the End he might treat for larger Conditions in Point of Religion with the said Duke; the said Conde De Olivares taking Advantage of having the Person of His Majesty, then Prince, in their Hands; and with this Dispatch the said Earl acquainted His Majesty that now is, then in Spaine, before he sent it; and His Majesty, upon the reading of it, was pleased to say, that the Earl had proceeded with so much Caution and Care that, in Case the Spaniards should be false, he might be sure to shame them for their Falsehood: And by this Dispatch the said Earl doubteth not but it will appear to this most Honourable Court, that, whilst the treating of that Business was in his Hands, he proceeded in it not only with Care and Industry, but with some Measure of Vigilancy: And for the clearing of an Objection that hath been alledged; videlicet, That the Match was neither meant before the Duke's going into Spaine nor after, the Earl craveth Leave to set down some few Reasons of many, which caused him to believe that the said Match had been really meant; and that it was so conceived by both Their Majesties and the King of Spaine, and Their chief Ministers on both Sides; for first, the Duke of Buckingham certified His late Majesty, that the Business of the Marriage was brought to a happy Conclusion; whereupon His late Majesty was pleased to give Order to the said Duke and Earl to proceed in Business, which His said late Majesty would not have treated until the Marriage were concluded; as will appear by a Letter of His said late Majesty, jointly to the Duke of Buckingham and the said Earl, of the 23d of July 1623. Secondly, it will appear, by Letters of the Lord Conway to the Duke of Buck. bearing Date the Third and Fourth of September 1623, that the said Duke had good Assurance of the Conclusion of the said Match; and, upon this Confidence, were all Things put in due Execution in England, as hath been capitulated; and the Lord Conway and others fully settled and agreed all the Points of Immunity and Liberty for the Roman Catholics, for the Use of their Religion, as was sct down in the Declaration of the Ninth of August 1623, hereafter mentioned, in the Answer to the Fifth Article of this Charge. Thirdly, the very Day that His now Majesty and the Duke of Buck. departed from The Escuriall in Spaine, towards England, the said Duke solemnly swore the Treaty of the said Marriage, and the Furthering of it all that should be in his Power, upon the Holy Evangelist, in the Presence of the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston: Fourthly, the Treaty of the Marriage had formerly been signed, sealed, and solemnly sworn, by the King of Spaine; and when His Majesty and that King took their Leaves, the King of Spaine did solemnly protest, (fn. 5) on the Word of a King, faithfully and punctually to perform all that had been capitulated in the Treaty of the Marriage; and thereupon embraced His Majesty at His Departure; and the very next Day sent a Letter unto His Majesty, all written with His own Hand, vowing and protesting to make good all that He had capitulated or promised unto His Majesty at His Departure the Day before; so that, if there were no true Meaning on the Part of Spaine to make the Marriage, as by Mr. Attorney is pretended, yet certainly the said Earl hath not been slightly deceived; neither can it be, as he conceiveth, any Fault in him, since not only His late Majesty, but also His Majesty that now is, and the Duke of Buck. being then both upon the Place, did confidently believe (and that upon other Grounds than the Informations, Suggestions, or Persuasions of the said Earl), that the Marriage was really intended; and to that Effect, both His late Majesty of Blessed Memory, and His most Excellent Majesty that now is, after His Return into England, wrote unto him the said Earl several Letters; assuring him that Their Intents and Pleasures were to have the said Match proceeded in. And thereupon the Powers of His Majesty, then Prince, were again renewed, and sent unto the said Earl; so that the said Earl, having so many and so great Causes to be assured that the Match was really intended on both Sides, he conceiveth it will be hard for Mr. Attorney to make good that Part of his Charge, wherein he affirmeth that the Earl should know the contrary, or give Assurances upon false Grounds, as in the said Article is alledged.
Concerning his continuing the Treaty with Spain, touching the Match, upon Generalities.
"To the Second Article, the said Earl saith, That he did not falsly, willingly, or traiterously, or contrary to his Allegiance, or the Trust and Duty of an Ambassador, continue (fn. 6) the Treaties upon Generalities, without effectual pressing of the King of Spaine unto particular Conclusions, according to His late Majesty's Instructions or Directions; nor intended to have continued the said Treaties upon Generalities, without reducing them to Certainties and direct Conclusions; nor did therein any Thing to the Dishonour of His said late Majesty, or to the Danger or Detriment of His Majesty's Person, His Crown, or Dominions, or of His Confederates or Allies, as by the said Article is alledged; but directly denieth all the supposed Offences, wherewith he standeth charged by the said Article; and for a clear Declaration and Manifestation of the Truth and Manner of his Proceedings, that it may appear to this High and most Honourable Court, how (fn. 7) far he hath been from ofsending in that Kind, not continuing the said Treaties One Day longer than Necessity enforced, but rather pressing beyond than coming any Way short of his Instructions and Directions; he faith; and First, as to the continuing of the Treaties upon Generalities; that the Temporal Articles were, by Agreement on both Sides, not to be treated nor settled, until such Time as the Articles of Religion were fully agreed; for that it was held most proper and honourable for both Sides, first to see if the Difficulties of Religion might be reconciled, before they passed to any further Engagements. And the said Articles of Religion (by reason of the Pope's new Demands, sent into England by Mr. Gage) were not signed, nor condescended unto by His late Majesty, nor His Majesty that now is, then Prince, until the Fifth Day of January 1622, and then were sent away Post out of England to the said Earl, by Mr. Symon Digby, who arrived with them at Madrid, in Spaine, about the Five and Twentieth Day of the same Month; but the Earl's Care was such to have no Time lost in the settling of the Temporal Articles, that, before he would condescend (so much as de bene esse) unto the Articles of Religion, that they should be sent back again unto Rome, he procured the King of Spaine to promise, that, within the Time limited for the procuring of the Dispensation (which was by March or April following at the farthest), all the Temporal Articles should be settled and agreed, to the End that the Infanta might be delivered at the Spring, as by the King of Spaines Answer in Writing was declared to (fn. 8) be that King's Intention. And accordingly Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl did (not in general, but most industriously) labour to settle all particular Articles (as they did most of them): videlicet, That the Portion should be Two Millions, it appearing that it was so agreed by the late King of Spaine, the present King's Father: That, the Dispensation coming, the Desposorios should be within Forty Days after; and the Infanta's Departure from Madrid should be within Twenty Days after that: And that Don Duarte de Portugall should be the Man that should attend the Infanta in the Journey: And all other Particulars necessary for the Conclusion of the said Treaty were, by Sir Walter Aston, and the said Earl, and the Spanish Commissioners drawn up into Heads in Writing; and, after many Debates, they were consulted with that King; and the Second of March 1622, Stilo vet. the Conde Do Gondamar and the Secretary Don Andreas de Prada, were appointed to come home to the House of the said Earl, to signify unto Sir Walter Aston and himself (as they did) that the King of Spaine had declared His Resolution in all the Particulars, and given them Order to come to a speedy Conclusion with them of all Things; and that King's Answer to that Conclusion the Earl saw, and read, all written with His the said King of Spaines own Hand. On the 7th Day of the same Month of March 1622, the King's Majesty (then Prince) and the Duke of Buckingham arrived at Madrid; and then the Spaniards took new Hopes, and the Negotiation was put into a new Form; so that where it is objected against the Earl, that he entertained and continued the Treaty so long upon Generalities, he conceiveth it is not meant of the Spiritual Articles, for they were such as were sent from Rome to England, and from thence they came to the Earl; and for the Temporal Articles, they not being to be settled or treated till the Articles of Religion were concluded, he conceiveth it cannot be alledged, with any Colour, that in them His Majesty was entertained with Generalities; since, from the Time that the said Articles of Religion were brought unto the said Earl by Mr. Symon Digby, being about the Five and Twentieth of January, there were but Six Weeks until the Seventh of March following, when His Majesty, then Prince, arrived in Spaine; and in the Interim all the abovespecified Particulars were settled; and the Time that hath been spent in this Treaty hath not been through his the said Earl's Default in continuing upon Generalities, without pressing to Particulars; but hath been caused as well by Difficulties which the Business brought with it, as also by exterior Accidents; videlicet, the Wars of Bohemia, the Death of Two Popes, and of the late King of Spaine, without the least Fault of the said Earl's, as is acknowledged by His late Majesty, of Blessed Memory, in the said Earl's Instructions of the 14th of March 1621; neither could any Delay therein be attributed to him the said Earl, for he was employed in those Times into Flaunders and Germany; and Sir Walter Aston, and Sir Francis Cottington, for the Space of Three or Four Years, were resident in Spaine, from whence the Hopes they gave were upon all the discreet Grounds that Ministers can expect from a State: But the Earl resumed this Business only Six Months before His Majesty's coming into Spaine; and he was so desirous to see His Majesty, then Prince, bestowed, that he pressed nothing so much, both to the King and Prince, as that the Prince, might lose no more Time, and rather break the Match with Spaine than suffer any further Delays, as will appear by his Dispatches, from his First Arrival at the Court of Spaine, until His Majesty, then Prince, His coming; for, in his Letters of the 28th of June 1622, being the First he wrote after his First Audience, he was so desirous that no Time might be lost, that in them he craveth Leave of His then Majesty, that, in Case he should find any Delays in Spaine, he might (without expecting any new Order) take his Leave, and come Home. And, upon the Return of Sir Frauncis Cottington, in September following, he wrote both to the King, and His Majesty then Prince; videlicet, to the King, as followeth:
"I shall presume to add to that which Mr. Cottington will deliver unto Your Majesty, by Word of Mouth, of the present Estate of the Match, what I conceive to be the right Way to bring it to a speedy Issue: That Your Majesty will be pleased positively to declare what (fn. 9) You will do in Point of Religion; and that You will appoint me a certain limited Time by which this King should procure the Dispensation, or conclude the Match without it; and, in Case there shall be no further Delay therein, that then I may declare Your Majesty to be free and disengaged, to bestow the Prince in such Sort as You shall judge most convenient.
"And to the Prince, at the same Time, he wrote in the subsequent Words: videlicet,
"That which will be necessary for His Majesty presently to do, on His Majesty's Part, is, to declare Himself how far He will be pleased to extend in Point of Religion, in such Form as Mr. Cottington will propound unto your Highness; and that he set me a prefixed limited Time to break or conclude the Match, either with the Dispensation or without it; and for the rest, it may be left to my Negotiation. But your Highness may be pleased to hasten this His Majesty's Resolution, with all possible Speed.
"And the said Earl saith, That, having received from His said late Majesty, His Resolution in Point of Religion, and a limited Time according to his Desire, he was so precise and punctual therein, that, although the making or breaking off the Marriage depended upon it, he would not give One Month's longer Time for the procuring of the Dispensation, until he had first acquainted His said late Majesty therewith, and received His Directions under His own Hand, as will appear by His said Majesty's Letters of the 25th of October 1622, as followeth:
"Right Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor, We greet you heartily well. Whereas, by your last Letter, written to Our Secretary, dated the 29th of September, you are desirous to have Our Pleasure signified unto you under Our own Hand, whether We will be contented or not to grant a Month's longer Time for the coming of the Dispensation from Rome than We have already limited unto you, in Case they shall there conclude all Things else to Our Contentment, with a Resolution to send the Infanta hither the next Spring; We do hereby declare unto you, that, in that Case, you shall not break with them for a Month's longer Delay. We also wish you not to trouble yourself with the rash Censure of other Men, in Case Your Business should not succeed; resting in that full Assurance of Our Justice and Wisdom, that we will never judge a good and faithful Servant by the Effect of Things so contingent and variable. And with this Assurance We bid you heartily Farewel.
"And he further saith, That when he had agreed unto the Articles of Religion, and that a settled Time was appointed for the coming of the Dispensation, and a Conclusion of the Match; although he would bind himself to nothing without His Majesty's Approbation; yet, for that no Time might be lost, he agreed to the (fn. 10) Propositions de bene esse, sent by Mr. Porter, of the 10th of December 1622, to the End the Articles might be sent immediately to Rome, without losing so much Time as to hear first from England. And humbly moved, that, in Case His Majesty should approve of the said Articles, He would send His Approbation directly to Rome, for the gaining of Time; which His Majesty was pleased to do. And at the same Time he wrote both to His said late Majesty; and His Majesty then Prince, as followeth: videlicet,
"To His Majesty:
"This is the true State of the Business, as it now standeth. If Your Majesty approve of what is done, I hope it will have a happy and short Conclusion. If Your Majesty think it not fit to condescend and allow of these Articles, I have done the utmost of my Endeavours; and shall humbly persuade Your Majesty not to lose a Day longer in the Treaty; so much it importeth Your Majesty and Your Kingdoms that the Prince were bestowed.
"And to the Prince, in Letters of the like Date, in this Sort:
"I presume now to write unto His Majesty that which I think it my Duty to say; likewise unto your Highness; that, in Case you shall not approve of what is now conditionally agreed, you permit not a Day more to be lost in this Treaty; for it is of so great Consequence that your Highness were bestowed, that it importeth almost as much that you were speedily as fittingly married. But I hope that His Majesty and your Highness will in such Sort approve of this last Agreement, as you will speedily bring this long Treaty to a happy Conclusion. I am out of Hope of bringing Things to any better Terms; and therefore I deal clearly with your Highness; and do not only most humbly persuade, but on my Knees beg it of you, that you either resolve to conclude this Match as you may, or speedily to break it, and bestow yourself elsewhere; for no less than the Happiness of your Kingdoms, and the Security of the King your Father and yourself depend upon it.
"All which Things being considered; the Earl most humbly submitteth himself to the Judgement of this most High and Honourable Court, whether those Delays, which several Accidents have brought forth in this Business, can be attributed to his Fault; since, on the one Side, he hopeth it will evidently appear to your Lordships, that he ever moved His Majesty and the Prince to admit of no Delays, but rather to think of some other Course; and, on the other Side, it will appear, by all his Dispatches, that he pressed Things with the Ministers of Spaine to as speedy a Conclusion as the utmost Terms of fair Negotiation and Good-manners would bear. And whereas it is pretended that the Spaniards should take Occasion, by entertaining the said Treaties, to abuse His late Majesty (which he knoweth not); yet he saith, that he used all the Industry and Vigilancy that a careful Minister could do, and that, from the Spaniards, all the Assurances by Oaths, Words, and Writings, which could be expected from Christians, the which he faithfully, without adding or diminishing, represented unto His said Majesty. And His said Majesty, in those Times, was pleased to conceive, upon those Assurances, that they dealt really with Him; and he conceiveth, that His Majesty that now is (then Prince), and the Duke of Buckingham were pleased to write as much to the late King's Majesty, at their first coming into Spaine; and that all which the said Earl had written touching that Employment was there avowed by the Conde of Olivares and Conde De Gondemar, to the said Prince and Duke, at their Arrival at Madrid. And he hopeth that, if his Dispatches may be perused, it will appear, and be adjudged, that he served His Majesty with some Measure of Vigilancy, as well as Fulness of Fidelity.
Concerning his magnifying the dangerous Consequences of a War with Spain, and the great Power of that Kingdom.
"3. To the Third Article, the said Earl saith, That he did not, either by Word or Letters, to His late Majesty or His Ministers, extol or magnify the Greatness and Power of the King of Spaine, nor represented to His late Majesty the supposed Dangers which would ensue unto Him, if a War should happen between Him and the said King of Spaine; nor affirmed nor insinuated, as in the said Article is mentioned, to any such Intent as by the said Article is alledged: But, if he did at any Time speak or write of the Power and Greatness of the King of Spaine, or represented any Dangers to His late Majesty that might ensue by entering into Hostility with the said King, it was as a faithful Counsellor and Servant to His Master, by Way of his Advice and Opinion, which he ever delivered sincerely, faithfully, and truly, according to the present Occasion; and in no wife to any such Intent as in the said Article is mentioned, nor to any other evil Intent or Purpose whatsoever. But he hath been so far from diffuading His late Majesty to take Arms, that he hath, upon all just Occasions, advised that all fitting Preparations for War might be made; as (beginning with the Year 1621, from which Time he is only charged) will appear by his Speech in Parliament presently upon his Return out of Germanie, that he hoped His Majesty would rely no longer upon single Treaties, but make all fitting Preparations for a War, and that the Parliament would enable His Majesty thereunto; and by the Care he took before his going again upon his Embassage into Spaine, that the Establishment of an Army under His Majesty's own Standard, of Horse and Foot, and in his own Pay, may be fully settled and provided for; as likewise his Advice to the Lords of the Council, that His Majesty might have a Curb upon the King of Spaine, upon all Occasions, by continuing of Sir Robert Maunsell's Fleet upon the Coast of Spaine, as will appear by his Letter written from Vienna, of the 26th of July 1621, mentioned in the Answer to the First Article. By all which it well appears that he laboured and endeavoured, as much as in him lay, that His Majesty might be well prepared for any Occasion of a War that should happen; and he no way remembereth to have discouraged, or to have spoken or written any Thing that might have been understood to have tended to the discouraging of His said late Majesty, from the taking of Arms, or entering into Hostility against Spaine, or for resisting of Him and His Forces from attempting the Invasions of His late Majesty's Dominions, or the Dominions of His late Majesty's Confederates, Friends, or Allies, as by the said Article is charged against him; nor remembereth that he hath had any Cause so to do. But, if he hath in any Kind spoken or written of Spaine, or the Power of it, it may have been to His late Majesty, or to His Majesty that now is, by Way of Discourse, speaking of the Solidness of the Spanish Proceedings, of their serious and deliberate debating of Business before they resolved on them, and of their constant pursuing of them when they were once resolved; wishing that England and other Nations would herein imitate them, for that he supposed the right Way to impeach the Spanish Greatness, was to grow as wise as they, and to beat them at their own Weapons; but otherwise he is confident he hath never been heard to speak or write any Thing that might give any Terror or Discouragement to His late Majesty, or His chief Ministers; knowing that Englande need take little Terror at the Power of Spaine, having, almost in all Attempts and Enterprizes, won Honour upon them; and as for the presenting of the Dangers that might ensue upon a War, though he knoweth not what is aimed at in that Particular, yet he is most confident, out of the Integrity of his own Conscience, that he hath neither said or advised any Thing but what befitted a faithful Counsellor and Ambassador; which was, truly to deliver his Opinion, as he understood it, upon the present Occasion. And as for the affirming that His Majesty's Quiet should be disturbed, and He not permitted to hawk or hunt; he remembereth not what Discourse he may have had or written to any Person, how fit it might be, upon the being embroiled in a great War, seriously to tend it, and to make it our whole Work; but, as he is confident it will appear that, what Discourse soever it may have been, it wanted not the true Zeal and Affection which he hath ever borne to the King's Service; so he hopeth it will be found not to want that due Respect and Reverence on his Part, which he ought to shew unto so gracious a Master; neither can it be conceived that the Considerations of Hunting, Hawking, or Ease, should be Considerations worthy of so great and prudent a King, to withhold Him from a War for the Good of Christendom and His Kingdoms, if He should have been justly provoked thereunto.
That he was careless of the Success of his Embassy, and only intent on his own private Fortune.
"4. To the Fourth Article, the said Earl saith, That he did not any Thing contrary to his Duty and Allegiance, or contrary to the Faith and Trust of an Ambassador, as by the Article is alledged; but did intend the Service and Honour of His late Majesty, and no corrupt or sinister Ends of his own, or his own Advancement, as by the Article is also alledged: And as for the Conference which is pretended he should hold concerning the Treaty, that, being told there was little Probability that the said Treaties would or could have good Success, and that he should acknowledge as much, and yet say that he cared not what the Success thereof would be, but that he would take Care to have his Instructions perfect, and to pursue them punctually, and would make his Fortune thereby, or Words to that Effect; he doth not remember to have ever held any such Discourse, though it is true that the Time hath been many Years since, when he thought the Match very unlikely to be effected, in regard of the unequal Answers which were given in Prince Henrie's Time, and the Unlikelihood of accommodating the Differences of Religion: And saith further, that the reviving of the Treaty of the said Match, for His Majesty that now is, was not by his Means; but he ever clearly declared his Opinion, both to His late Majesty and to His Majesty that now is, that, in the First Place, he wished and advised a Protestant Match; but, in the Duty of a Servant, understanding that both Their Majesties really desired the Match with Spaine, he did seriously and faithfully intend the Service and Honour of Their Majesties, and effectually endeavoured to procure Their Ends; and it is very likely he might say he would get his Instructions perfect, and to pursue them punctually (as he conceiveth, was lawful and fit for him to do); but for the latter Part of this Conference, that he should say he would make a Fortune by it, or any Words to that Effect, he was in the Year 1621, and ever since, of that Rank and Quality, both in Regard of his Employments, Fortunes, and his Master's Favour, that he assureth himself he did not, and dare answer so far for his own Discretion, that it was impossible for him to hold so mean and unworthy a Discourse.
Concerning his Intention to encourage the Popish Religion and its Professors, in Case the Marriage with the Infanta took Place.
"5. To the Fifth Article, the said Earl saith, That he did not intend or resolve that, if the Marriage, in the former Articles mentioned, should have been effected, that thereby the Romish Religion and the Professors thereof should be advanced, or the true Religion and Professors thereof discouraged or discountenanced, as by the said Article is alledged; nor did he, to any such End or Purpose, or otherwise, at any Time, counsel or persuade the late King's Majesty to set at Liberty the Jesuits and Priests of the Romish Religion, or to grant or allow unto the Papists and Professors of the Romish Religion a free Toleration, or silencing of the Laws made and standing in Force against them, as in the said Article is also alledged; but contrarily, upon all Occasions, to the utmost of his Power, did labour to prevent all the Inconveniencies, in Point of Religion, that might come by the matching with any Princess of a differing Religion, as well appeareth by the Paper of his Opinion, that His Majesty should marry with a Lady of His own Religion, hereafter mentioned, in his Answer to the Seventh Article: And for further Proof thereof, he saith, that, in the whole Treaty with Spaine, he ever stood stricter in Point of Religion than by his Instructions he needed to have done, as will appear by the Testimony of Sir Walter Aston, and his Dispatches of the 12th of December 1622, and other Dispatches, which he desireth may be read. And as for counselling or persuading to set at Liberty Jesuits, or Priests, he utterly denieth to have done any such Thing, as before he hath answered; although it be true that, the Embassage of Spaine being far different from Employments in other Places, where there is a Body of our Reformed Religion, and where His Majesty hath Kindred and Allies, whereby His Majesty's Ministers may be informed of the necessary Occurrences of State without the Help of Priest or Jesuit; but in Spaine there being none but Roman Catholicks, nor any other Manner of Correspondency or Intelligence but by them, the Ambassadors must make Use of all Sorts of People, especially of Jesuits and Priests; and, to that Purpose, Ambassadors thither have always a particular Warrant, under the King's Hand, to treat and make Use of Priests, Jesuits, and all other Sorts of Men, unless it be such as be proclaimed Rebels; and divers Times the Ministers employed in Spaine, to gratify some whom they there employed for the King's Service, as he believeth, at their particular Suit, moved His Majesty to extend Grace and Favour to some particular Friend or Kinsman of theirs, being a Roman Catholick, and imprisoned in England; and that he remembereth to have happened to others, but doth not remember to have himself written to His late Majesty in that Kind. And as concerning his Advice and Counsel to set at Liberty Jesuits and Priests, and the granting to the Papists a Toleration (fn. 11) and Silencing of the Laws against them; he faith, that His late Majesty was engaged, by the Treaty of Madrid, 1617, in divers Matters concerning Religion, as likewise by Promises to the Conde of Gondomar, and His Letters to the King of Spaine, of the 17th of April 1620, wherein He is pleased to promise some Particulars in Favour of Roman Catholicks, as by the said Letter will appear. And, notwithstanding the said Earl had sufficient Warrant, under the King's own Hand, to assure the King of Spaine that whatsoever was agreed in the said Articles, or in the said Letter, His Majesty would sincerely perform; yet the said Earl was so cautious in that Point, that when, for the Conclusion of the Match (the other Articles of Religion being all agreed), it was preffed by the Spanish Ministers, that a Clause of Connivance might be inserted, with Protestation that the Form and Way thereof should be wholly left to His Majesty's Wisdom and Clemency, and that His Majesty's Roman Catholick Subjects should acknowledge this Grace only to come from the King's Mercy and Goodness; yet the said Earl would not condescend or assent thereunto, but only de bene esse, as by his Letters to Mr. Secretary Calvert, bearing Date the 8th of October 1622, will appear; thereby to give His Majesty Time to take it into Consideration, before he would engage or bind Him in this Point. And the said Earl faith, that he did not, by Letters or otherwise, ever counsel or persuade His late Majesty to grant and allow unto the Papists, and Professors of the Romish Religion, a free Toleration and Silencing of the Laws made and standing in Force against them; but ever protested against any such Toleration. And when any such Proposition hath been offered to be made in Spaine, he hath ever refused so much as to give Ear unto it, or to suffer it to be propounded; although it be true, that he hath since seen a Writing, touching Pardons, Suspensions, and Dispensations for the Roman Catholicks, bearing Date the Seventh of August 1623, signed by some of the Lords in England, wherewith he was never acquainted; but it was treated and concluded by others with the Spanish Ambassadors here in England, whilst the said Earl was in Spaine; neither was his Advice or Counsel in it; for, if he had known it, he should have protested against it, as far as with Duty and Goodmanners he might have done. And so the said Earl leaveth it to your Lordships to consider of the Difference betwixt the Conditions of the Treaty of Madrid, of the 12th of December 1622, concluded by him and Sir Walter Aston, and of those which were after concluded here in England, expressed in the said Writing, and ready to be shewn to your Lordships, if in your Wisdoms it shall so seem fit. And then he doubteth not, but your Lordships will judge the said Earl to be very unfortunate, to be charged with an Article of this Kind.
Concerning his giving false Information relative to the Treaties.
"6. To the Sixth Article, the said Earl saith, That he gave not any false Information, or Intelligence, concerning the Treaties in the said Article mentioned, either unto the late King's Majesty, or unto His Majesty that now is, then Prince; neither doth he know that His late Majesty, by Hopes taken from his the said Earl's Assurances, or by Jealousies or Suspicions by the Delays in the Proceeding with Spaine, was enforced, for the speedy Conclusion of those Treaties, or to the Intent to discover the ill Intention of the King of Spaine and Emperor, to take His Journey into Spaine, as by the said Article is supposed; for the said Earl saith, that the Assurances which he gave His late Majesty, and His Majesty that now is, concerning those Treaties, were such as it had been Dishonesty and Breach of his Duty and Trust for him to have held back, being the same that were there given him by the Emperor and the King of Spaine, and their Ministers, upon as great Assurances as can pass betwixt Ministers of Princes in like Cases. And as for the Delays of Spaine, they could never be so ill, and with so little Colour complained of, as at the Time of His Majesty's coming thither; for that a certain Time was before then prefixed for the coming of the Dispensation, videlicet, in April 1623, at the furthest, which was the next Month after the Prince's Arrival at Madrid; and the Desposorios were to have been within Forty Days following, and the Infanta to begin her Journey into England within Twenty Days after; so as Three Months Patience longer would have shewed the Issue of the Business, without putting of the Person of the Heir Apparent to the Crown into so eminent a Hazard, for the trying an Experiment. And it is an Argument of great Suspicion, that, because the Spaniards were suspected to have dealt falsely, and so the less to be trusted, therefore the Person of the Prince should be put into their Hands, to try Conclusions. But the Truth is, that, though that was made the pretended Ground and Occasion of the Journey, it was neither the Assurances of the said Earl, nor the Jealousies of Spaine, but other Motives, that were the original Cause of His Majesty's said Journey, as shall be sufficiently made appear in due Time; and the said Earl having gotten an Inkling thereof by something that was let fall by the Conde of Gondomar to that Purpose, instantly dispatched away Mr. Gresley to His late Majesty, to have this Journey prevented; who, upon the Confines of Fraunce, met His Majesty and the Duke of Buckingham on their Journey towards Spaine, and told them as much; so that, although he confesseth what is said in the Charge to be true, videlicet, that, by the said Journey, the Person of the Prince, and the Peace and Safety of this Kingdom, did undergo such apparent Danger, as at the Remembrance thereof the Hearts of all good Subjects do tremble; yet the Blame of it is due to the Authors and Advisers of the said Journey, and not to the said Earl: And although it pleased God, to the exceeding great Joy and Comfort of the said Earl and of all good Men, to send His Gracious Majesty Home with Safety, yet never was the Person of any Prince, upon such Grounds, exposed to so great a Hazard; and, in such Cases, not the Success but the Counsels are considerable.
Concerning his advising His Majesty (then Prince) to change His Religion.
"7. To the Seventh Article the said Earl saith, That he did not move or persuade His Majesty, then Prince, to change His Religion, neither in the Manner in the said Article mentioned, or in any other Manner whatsoever; neither did he conceive that the Charge in itself, as it is laid, will, in any reasonable Construction, bear any such Inference as is made thereupon; so as he conceiveth he needeth not to make any further or other Answer thereunto: Yet, that it may appear that the Motion he made unto the said Prince was not traiterously, falsely, or cunningly, nor without Ground, nor to any such Intent as in the said Article is supposed: and to manifest unto this most High and Honourable Court how far he was from any such Intention; he faith, that he doth acknowledge that, within few Days after His Majesty's coming into Spaine, whilst he had that great Honour to have His Majesty lodged in his House, and to have so Royal a Guest; finding by the Spanish Ministers that there was a general-received Opinion in that Court, that His Majesty's coming thither was with Intention to become a Roman Catholick; and the Conde of Gondomar having that very Morning pressed the Earl not to hinder so pious a Work (for so he termed it) of His Majesty's Conversion, and seemed to be assured of the Duke of Buckingham's Assistance therein; His Majesty being all alone in a Withdrawing Room in the said Earl's House, the said Earl kneeled unto Him, and told Him that he had a Business to impart unto Him, which highly importeth His Majesty to know, so he might be sure his Boldness therein might be pardoned; which His Majesty graciously promised; and thereupon the said Earl told His Majesty, that the general Opinion in that Court was, that His Majesty's coming thither was with Intention to be a Roman Catholick, and there to declare it. And he confesseth, that, at the same Time (in regard of those Things which he hath heard), he humbly besought His Majesty to deal freely with him, as with a Servant of whose Fidelity He might be confident; or Words to that Effect: But he was so far from persuading His Majesty to be a Roman Catholick, that, without expecting His Majesty's Answer, he declared himself to be a Protestant, and so should always continue; yet he said he would serve His Majesty, and labour to advance His and the King His Father's Affairs, with as much Fidelity and Honesty as any Catholick whatsoever. And His Majesty was pleased then to make unto the said Earl a full and clear Declaration of His Religion, and of His constant Resolution therein; and seemed to be much displeased that any should have so unworthy an Opinion of Him as to think He would, for a Wife, or any Earthly Respect whatsoever, so much as to waver in His Religion. Whereupon the said Earl besought His Majesty to pardon his Boldness, and then entreated Him not to suffer His Business to be overthrown, by permitting that Conceit of His Conversion any longer to remain in the Spaniards, nor to do any Thing that might give them Hope therein; alledging, that it was impossible the Marriage could be, without a Dispensation. And so long as the Spaniards (who were to procure the Dispensation) should have Hope of His Majesty's Conversion, they would rather clog the Dispensation than hasten it; for, whilst they should have Hope of all of His Conversion, they would never content themselves with a Part to which they were tied by the Articles agreed upon with the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston. At which Time His Majesty was pleased to approve of his Opinion; and said, He would expect the Dispensation; and did thereupon afterwards send Mr. Andrewes to Rome, to hasten it. And the next Day the said Earl dealt very roundly with the Condes of Olivares and Gondomar; telling them, it was a discourteous Manner of proceeding, to press His Majesty beyond the Conditions which had been formerly agreed upon in Point of Religion, and to make His Condition the worse for the great Obligation He had put upon them by putting Himself into their Hands; whereat they took such Offence, that they estranged themselves from him for a long Time after. And that the said Earl did thus proceed with the Condes, and that this is not a new-framed Answer, to satisfy the present Objection, but that which really and indeed passed, will appear by his Dispatches, sent unto His late Majesty, of Blessed Memory, before His Majesty that now is came out of Spaine, and were first there shewed unto His Majesty, bearing Date the 9th of September 1622; so that, although it be true that the said Earl did not dissuade His Majesty (for that there was no Cause for it), yet, without expecting His Majesty's Answer, he first made a true and clear Profession of his own Religion; and when His Majesty had declared unto him His Zeal and Constancy, he humbly besought Him that the Spaniards might not, for any Respect, be longer held in any Hopes in that Point. And because (fn. 12) the Point of Religion is that which all Men of Honour and Honesty should chiesly desire to clear, especially having Imputations of that Nature laid upon them as the said Earl hath in the said Article; he humbly beseecheth your Lordships that he may not seem to digress from his Charge, in tendring to your Lordships Satisfaction in that Particular, not by the foresaid verbal Discourse only (which (fn. 12) he protesteth was with much Zeal to Religion, and dutiful Care to the Prince in that Kind), but by some written Testimony of his former Opinion both of the Match and Religion, when he was first employed into Spaine, for the treating of this Marriage, in the Year 1617. His late Majesty having commanded him to give Account thereof unto His Majesty that now is; he, at his Departure towards Spaine, presumed to give unto His Majesty his Opinion in Writing, signed with his own Hand, to be kept as a Testimony of his future Actions. The Copy whereof is this which followeth:
"Sir,
"The Opinion which I have ever presumed humbly to offer to His Majesty, concerning your Highness's Marriage, hath been, that, both in regard of Conscience, Satisfaction to His Majesty's People and Allies, as likewise for the Security and Quiet of His Majesty's Estates, that your Highness might take to Wife some Protestant Princess, although she were neither Daughter to a King, nor had so ample Portion as might relieve the King's present Necessities; for that there might be many Ways found for the helping of the King's Wants, either by some few Years Providence and Frugality, or by winning of the Affections of the People to the supplying of His Majesty by Way of Subsidies in Parliament; whereas, contrariwise, if the Number and Power of the Papists shall be increased, as undoubtedly it will by your Highness's matching with any Catholick Princess whatsoever, through the Commerce which must be of Necessity for the Exercise of her Religion, for herself and Family, within your Highness's Court, and thereby by Degrees those Two different Religions shall grow to an Equality of Power; it will be of great Hazard and Disquiet to the State, and not to be redressed without greater Danger and Courses of Violence, than is proper or usual for this State to put in Practice. But, in Case His Majesty, out of His Wisdom and Considerations best known unto Himself, hold it fittest that your Highness match with Fraunce or Spaine, or any other Catholick, either for that the present Time assordeth no Protestant Princess, who is for Years or Blood suitable to your Highness, or that can in any considerable Measure, by her Portion, supply His Majesty's present Wants; I then conceive that the Match by which this State shall suffer least Inconveniencies and Cumbers, and whereby His Majesty's Necessities shall, by the Greatness of the Portion, be the most relieved, is with Spaine; if such a Match may be made with such Conditions of Religion as other Catholick Princes will content themselves withall. Thus much I thought fit humbly to present unto your Highness, for that I see my Employment is liable to the Censure of many worthy and religious Men; with whom though I concur in my Opinion, yet I seem much to differ from them in my Ways; for that it is more proper for me to be true to my Master's Ends and Service, than, by declaring this, to procure their Satisfaction. Only to your Highness I thought fit to make this Declaration, and shall be a Suitor unto you for your Favour, as you shall see me really labour to put this in Effect. And if His Majesty shall, either by the Motion of Parliament, or any other Proposition which may be made unto Him, think it fit to proceed with a Protestant Match, as I shall wish as well unto it as any Man living; so I hope in such sort to manage the present Business that I have in Hand, as it shall rather much further than any Way cross or hinder it. But, in Case His Majesty shall not be drawn to hearken to any Proposition for a Protestant Match, I then conceive that your Highness both doth and will approve, that I really and effectually labour to procure a Match for your Highness with Spaine, upon such Conditions, in Point of Religion and Portion, as to His Majesty shall seem fit.
"Besides which Declaration of his Opinion, he hath all the Days of his Life, and (fn. 13) in all Places, lived and avowed himself a Protestant, never having done the least Act that was not suitable to the same Profession; and that, in all his Foreign Employments, for the Space of Fourteen Years, of more than Five Hundred Persons of all Qualities that have attended him, there was never any one perverted in his Religion, save Two Irish Footmen, who in Ireland had been bred Papists; and he humbly desireth the Testimony of Doctor Mawe and Doctor Wrenne, His Majesty's Chaplains, who were with His Majesty in Spaine, and of Mr. Sampford, one of the Prebends of Canterbury, Mr. Boswell, Parson of St. Lawrence in London, and Mr. Frewen, Divinity Reader in Magdalen College in Oxford, and now one of His Majesty's Chaplains, who were His Chaplains in Spaine, as well for the frequent Use of the Sacrament, as constant Profession and Exercises of Religion; and the Testimony also of such Catholicks as are known to have been his ancient Acquaintance and Friends; and to examine them upon Oath, whether, either publicly or privately, in Spaine or in England, they have known him in any Kind to make Shew, or so much as forbear upon all Occasions avowedly to declare the Religion that he professeth; and that the said Mr. Frewen, and Mr. Wake, his now Chaplain, may be also examined, whether, in Extremity of several Sicknesses whereunto he hath of late Years falien, he hath not ever settled his Conscience with them towards God, and made a Confestion of his Faith, resolving as befitted a Protestant and a good Christian.
Concerning his exaggerating the Advantages of the Roman Religion
"8. To the Eighth Article, the said Earl saith, That he did not at any Time, or in any Place, endeavour to persuade the Prince to change his Religion, and to become a Romish Catholick, or to be obedient to the usurped Authority of the Pope of Rome; neither did the said Earl, to that End or Purpose, or otherwise, use unto His Majesty, then Prince, the Words in the Article mentioned; videlicet, That the State of England did never any great Thing but when they were under the Obedience of the Pope of Rome, and that it was impossible they should do any Thing of Note otherwise, as in the said Article is charged; but the said Earl acknowledgeth that, upon Occasion of a Letter which came to His Majesty, then Prince, putting His Majesty in Mind of the great Actions of His Royal Progenitors in the Holy Wars; and that the great Kings of those Times did not only employ Their Forces, but in Their Persons went into the Holy Land; the Earl believeth, that, by Way of Discourse only, and not otherwise, he may have said that, in regard of the Difference of Religion, it were of more Difficulty to undertake such great Actions now than in former Ages; and it might well be instanced in the present Treaty of Marriage, wherein the Pope's Consent was to be obtained; and to this Effect, and upon the like Grounds, he is confident there are very many that have, nay few of Nearness about His late Majesty that have not, often heard His Majesty say, That He was the true Martyr, that suffered more for His Religion than all the Princes of Christendom besides; instancing in divers Particulars; but especially in that He could not match His Children with Kings of His own Rank, without the Pope's Leave. But the said Earl saith, That he never alledged any such Thing, to other Purpose than to shew that only Conscience and Love to Truth (in which regard Protestants suffered much), and not any Temporal Respects, made us constant and zealous to the Profession of our Religion. By which Discourses he ever attributed much to the Honour and Sincerity of (fn. 13) the Protestant Religion; but never used it as an Argument to persuade, as in the Accusation is insinuated. Besides, he conceiveth that, by Way of Answer thereunto, the same Question may be asked, which His Majesty was pleased to ask of the said Earl in the Seventh Article; videlicet, What the said Earl saw in His Majesty, that he should think Him so unworthy as to change His Religion, for a Wife, or any Earthly Respect whatsoever? So why should it be thought that the becoming more fit to undertake great Actions in the World (being a mere Moral and Temporal Respect) should be an Argument to persuade in Conscience so religious and wise a Prince, and so well instructed as His Majesty is, as though the Soul of a Christian Prince were to be wrought upon, in Point of Truth and Belief, by Temporal and Worldly Respects of Conveniences and Greatness? It were necessary, for the proving of this Assertion that the said Earl persuaded His Majesty touching His Religion, to produce some Arguments that he used out of Scripture, to satisfy Him in Point of Conscience, in some Tenet of the Roman Church, or that he procured any Conference with learned Men for His Satisfaction in Point of Religion; otherwise the Argument used in this Article, against the said Earl, doth, as he conceiveth, carry little Strength to prove the Charge of persuading of His Majesty, either in regard of itself, or indeed in regard of His Majesty's Piety.
Concerning his advising the Count Palatine's Son being brought up at the Emperor's Court.
"To the Ninth Article the said Earl faith, That there was a Discourse in Spaine of the Way of accommodating of the Prince Palatine's Affairs; and by way of Discourse, it was moved, that the Marriage of his Eldest Son with a Daughter of the Emperor, and his Son to be bred in the Emperor's Court, would be the fairest Way for the pacifying of and accommodating of those Businesses; and the Earl, by way of such Discourse, and not otherwise, did say, that he thought His late Majesty would not be averse, either to the said Match or to the breeding of the Prince Palatine's Son with the Emperor, so as thereby the whole Patrimonial Estate of the Prince Palatine, with the Dignity Electoral, might be fully restored; and that his Son might be bred in his own Religion, and have such Preceptors and such a Family as His late Majesty (fn. 14) and his Father (meaning the Prince Palatine) should appoint; and they to have free Exercise of their Religion, for so His late Majesty had often declared Himself to the said Earl, and wished him to lay Hold of any Occasion for the entertaining of any such Proposition; and otherwise than so, and upon the Terms aforesaid, and by that Way of Conference and Discourse only, he delivered not any Opinion to His Majesty, at His Majesty's being in Spaine; for the said Earl is very confident, that His Majesty was returned out of Spaine before any Proposition made for the said Marriage, other than by Way of Discourse as aforesaid; the same, as the said (fn. 15) Earl believeth, being first moved and debated on by way of Proposition here in England, betwixt Mr. Secretary Calvert, and the Ambassador of the King of Spaine, about the Second of October 1623. And His late Majesty, upon a Relation made unto Him by a Letter of Mr. Secretary Calverts, approved of the Proposition, and declared the same to be the only Way, as he supposed, with Honour to accommodate those great Businesses; and wrote (fn. 15) to that Purpose to his Son-inlaw the Prince Palatine, by His Letters dated the 19th Day of November 1623; a Copy of which Letter, together with a Copy of Mr. Secretary Calvert's Relation, the Lord Conwaye, by His late Majesty's Commandment, sent unto the said Earl; the Tenor of which Letter, translated out of French, is as followeth:
"We have thought good that the Way to provide best and most soundly for your Affairs, and not only to procure but assure also your Peace, was to cut up by the very Roots that Evil which hath been settled in the Heart of the Emperor, by the great Displeasure and Enmity which He hath conceived against you; for the removing and quite extinguishing of which, it seemeth to Us no better or more powerful Means can be used than that of a good Alliance, which may be proposed by Us, between your Eldest Son and the Daughter of the said Emperor, upon the Assurance We have, that We shall not be refused in this Overture, if you on your Part will give your Consent; and for the more Surety of the good Success thereof, We are determined, before any such Proposition be made unto the Emperor, to interest the King of Spaine with Us in the Business; who (We trust) will lend Us His helping Hand, as well for the effecting and bringing of it to a good Conclusion, as in procuring likewise (fn. 16) the Conditions. If it happen that the Emperor should demand that your said Son, during his Minority, should be brought up in His Court, We shall tell you that We, for Our Part, see no Reason why you should stick at it, upon such Conditions as he might be tied unto; to wit, that the young Prince should have there with him such a Governor as you shall please to appoint him, although he be no Roman Catholick; and that neither he, nor any of his, should be any way forced in Matter of their Conscience. And Our Meaning is, so to order Our Proceedings in this Treaty, that, before your said Son be put into the Hands of the Emperor, We will have (fn. 17) a clear and certain Assurance of an honourable, entire, and punctual Restitution of all whatsoever belongeth unto you; as also We will take Care to provide accordingly as fully and exactly for the Assurances requisite for the Liberty of Conscience of him and his Domesticks, as they have done here with Us touching those which have been granted them for the Infanta. And therefore, seeing no Inconveniency at all that may cause your Averseness or Backwardness in this Business, which We for our Parts think to be the best, shortest, and most honourable Way that you can take for the compassing of the entire Restitution, and making your Peace ever with the Emperor; We hope your Opinion will concur with Ours therein, and shall intreat you by the first to send Us your Allowance.
"By which Letter, written after His Majesty's coming out of Spaine, it appeareth unto your Lordships, that there was no Proposition of the Marriage betwixt the Son of the Prince Palatine and the Emperor's Daughter when that Letter was written; for therein His Majesty faith, He was determined to interest the King of Spaine in the Business, before any such Proposition should be made to the Emperor; and it will also thereby appear what His late Majesty's Opinion was of the Conveniency thereof; which the said Earl hopeth will acquit him, if, by Way of Discourse only, he declared what he knew was His Majesty's Inclination, which with Honesty he could not have concealed. And the said Earl saith, That he doth not remember what Answer Sir Walter Aston made upon that Discourse, which he then delivered, nor what Replies the said Earl made; but sure he is, that whatsoever the said Earl said, or what Answers of Replies soever were made, as it was by Way of Discourse, and not otherwise, so it was according to that which he then truly conceived to be the best and easiest Way to accommodate the Business, and to be his Master's Pleasure, which the said Sir Walter Aston might be ignorant of, as he is confident he was; and not out of any Disaffection to our Religion, or for any sinister Respect or Regard to the House of Austria, as by the said Articles is intimated; for he did not conceive the breeding of the Prince Palatine's Son with the Emperor, having a Governor appointed by His late Majesty and his Father, and he and his Domesticks to have free Use of their own Religion, to be a Matter of Impossibility, or of such dangerous Consequence in Point of Religion as to imply his Conversion, as by the Article is intimated; well knowing that, in the Emperor's Court, all Princes there, though His Prisoners, and other His Counsellors and Servants about His Person, and of great Command in His Armies, being avowed Protestants, have the free Use of their Religion; and it is not to be supposed that the Son of the Prince Palatine, Grandchild to the King of Greate Brittainc, should be matched, and not Care had to capitulate for the Use of his Religion, being ever granted to the meanest Princess that is bestowed; and His Majesty's special Care in this Point is fully seen in the said Letter.
Concerning his breaking his Instructions, by fixing a Day for the Desposorios.
"To the Tenth Article, wherein the said Earl is charged to have presumptuously broken his Instructions, in setting a Day for the Desposorios, before he had Assurance that a Monastery should not rob the Prince of His Wife, and before a full Conclusion were had of the other Treaty of the Palatinate, together with that of the Marriage, the same being supposed to be done contrary to the Prince's Commandment, by a Letter from Segovia, and several Letters from His late Majesty, tying him to the same Restrictions; and that the said Earl himself had so consessed, with Promise of Obedience thereunto; and by Way of Aggravation is further charged, that he had set so short a Day for the said Desposorios, that, without extraordinary Diligence, the Prince might have been bound, yet neither sure of a Wife, nor the Prince Palatine of any Restitution, nor any Assurance given of the Temporal Articles: He saith, That, by comparing this Article of his too much Forwardness with the Second Article, whereby he is charged with continuing the Treaties upon Generalities without reducing them to Certainties and direct Conclusions; your Lordships will perceive how impossible it was for him to avoid an Exception; but, for direct Answer to the present Charge, he saith, That he did not presumptuously, nor to his yet Knowledge, break his Instructions, nor set any Day at all for the Desposorios, but was therein merely passive, in admitting the Day nominated by the King of Spaine, according to the Capitulation long before made; nor did he, presumptuously, wittingly, or willingly, disobey any Commandment or Direction of His late Majesty, or His Majesty that now is, then Prince, which he could understand not to be countermanded, or by precedent or future Instructions otherwise explained. And, for the better Manifestation of the Truth of his Proceedings in and concerning the same, he saith, That the Day of the Departure of His Majesty, then Prince, from The Escuriall, in Spaine, His Highness delivered unto him, in the Presence of the Commissioners on both Sides, his Powers, with Public Declaration taken in Writing by Cirica, Secretary to the King of Spaine, of the Prince's Pleasure, and how he the said Earl should use them; videlicet, That he should deliver them unto the King of Spaine, upon the coming of the Dispensation cleared from Rome, according to that which had been agreed; which was to be within Ten Days after the coming of the said Dispensation. And he further saith, It is true that the Prince afterwards, by his Letters sent by one Mr. Clarke, commanded him the said Earl not to deliver the said Powers till he should have received Security that the Infanta, after her being betrothed, should not enter into any Religious Order; and that, before he proceeded, he should sent unto His Majesty (then Prince) such Security as should be offered, that he might judge whether it were sufficient or not; whereupon the said Earl (as became a faithful Servant) presented unto His late Majesty and His Majesty that now is (then Prince) such Assurances as were offered unto him for securing of that Point, together with such Reasons as he conceived were fit to be offered to Their Considerations; which gave unto His late Majesty and His Majesty that now is (then Prince) such Satisfaction, as They were pleased to dispatch a Post presently unto him, absolutely discharging him of that Commandment, as by Their several Letters, dated the 8th of October 1623, will appear; that of His late Majesty being as followeth:
"We have received yours, brought us by Greslye, and the Copy of that to Our dear Son. And We cannot forbear to let you know how well We esteem the dutiful, discreet, and judicial Relation and humble Advice to Ourself and Our Son; whereupon having ripely deliberated with Ourself, and communicated with Our Dear Son, We have resolved, with the Good-liking (fn. 18) of Our Son, to rest upon that Security in Point of Doubt for the Infanta's taking a Religious Order, which you, in your Judgement, shall think meet.
"And that other Letter of His Majesty that now is (then Prince) as followeth: videlicet,
"Your Letters to the King and me, concerning the Doubt I made after I came from Saint Lawrence, hath so satisfied Us both, that We think it fit no longer to stick upon it; but leave it to your Discretion, to what Security you shall think sufficient.
"Whereby he was absolutely freed of that Commandment; and being so freed thereof, he then remained under the Order which His Majesty, then Prince, had left with him at His Departure; which was, to proceed, according to the Capitulations, and his Highness's Declaration when he delivered the said Powers to him; and so he intended to have done, till, by his Highness's Declaration of the 13th of November 1623, he was directly commanded the contrary; which Commandment he really and punctually obeyed; and for such his Intention, till he was so countermanded, he conceived he had not only sufficient Warrant, but had highly offended if he had done otherwise; for First, for his proceeding to consummate the Match, he had Warrant and Instruction, under His late Majesty's Hand; Secondly, it was the main Scope of his Embassage; Thirdly, he was enjoined to it by the King and Prince's Commission, under Their Great Seals; Fourthly, he had positive Order, under His late Majesty's Hand, by Letters since; Fifthly, it was agreed by Capitulation, that it should be within Ten Days after the coming of the Dispensation; Sixthly, His late Majesty and His Majesty that now is (then Prince) signified unto him, by Their Letters, at the same Time when They discharged him of his Commandment touching the Infanta's entering into Religion, that They intended to proceed in the Marriage, as by His Majesty's Letter, of the Eighth of October 1623, will appear; Seventhly, the Powers were to that End left in his Hands, and after again renewed after His Majesty's Return into England; Eighthly, he had overthrown the Marriage without Order; for, although Sir Walter Aston and himself used all possible Means for the gaining of Time, and deferring of the Desposorios, yet the King of Spaine caused it formally to be protested, That, in Case he the said Earl should insist upon the deferring of the Desposorios, He would hold himself freed from the Treaty, by the said Earl's enfringing of the Capitulations; and in Truth, although the King of Spaine should have condescended to have prorogued the Desposorios until one of the Days of Christmas, as by the Letter (which is by the Article acknowledged to be mistaken) was required, yet the Prince's Powers had before that Time been expired; Ninthly, he durst not, without a precise Warrant, put such a Scorn upon so Noble a Lady, whom he then conceived likely to have been the Prince's Wife, as to nominate a Day for her Marriage, when the Powers were out of Date; Tenthly, he was himself sworn to the Treaty; and lastly, he could not, in Honour and Honesty, but endeavour to perform that Public Trust reposed in him when the Powers were deposited in his Hands; with Public and Legal Declaration, taken into an Instrument by the Secretary of State to the King of Spaine, leading and directing the Use of them, and the same being then Instrumentum Stipulatum, wherein as well the King of Spaine was interested by the Acceptation of the Substitution, as the Prince by the granting of the Powers, he could not in Honesty fail that Public Trust, without clear and undoubted Warrant; which as soon as he had he obeyed; so as, the Case standing thus, the said Earl is very confident, that the supposed Countermands or Directions of Restrictions, when they shall be perused and considered of, will appear to have been very slender and insufficient Warrant against the aforesaid Orders and Reasons herein before specified; and is also as confident, that what is assumed out of the said Earl's Dispatches will also appear to be misunderstood; and that, if he had proceeded to the Execution of the Desposorios before he received direct and express Commandment to the contrary by the foresaid Letter of the 13th of November 1623 (which he readily and punctually obeyed), he had not (under Favour) broken his Instructions, nor deserved any Blame for Lack of Assurance of Restitution of the Palatinate or Temporal Articles: And first, of the Palatinate, His Majesty did not send unto the said Earl express Direction not to dispatch the Desposorios until a full Conclusion be had of the other Treaty of the Palatinate together with that of the Marriage, as by the said Article is alledged; only His late Majesty, by the foresaid Letters of the 8th of October, required the said Earl so to endeavour that His Majesty might have the Joy of both at Christmas; whereas his Instructions, of the Fourteenth of March 1621, were express, that he should not make the Business of the Palatinate a Condition of the Marriage; and His late Majesty's Letters, of the 30th of December 1623, were fully to the same Effect: Yet did the said Earl, according to what was intimated by the said Letters of the 8th of October, so carefully provide therein, as that, before the Powers were to have been executed, he had an absolute Answer in the Business of the Palatinate, that the same should be really restored, according to His late Majesty's Desire; and the Conde De Olivares, both in his Master's Name and his own, desired the said Earl and Sir Walter Aston, that they would assure His Majesty of the real Performance thereof, and entreated them, if Need were, they should engage their Honours and Lives for it, as by their joint Dispatch, of the 23d of November 1623, will appear; and so much the said Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl agreed should be delivered to them in Writing, before they would have delivered the Powers, and so the said Earl declared it; the which Answer in Writing should have been the same which since was given them, of the 8th of January 1623; and both Sir Walter Aston and the said Earl were so confident therein, as they by their said Letters of the 23d of November wrote to His late Majesty as followeth: videlicet,
"That His Majesty might, according to His Desire, signified to the said Earl by His Letters of the 8th of October, give as well to His Majesty's Daughter, that Christmas, the comfortable News of the near expiring of her great Troubles and Sufferings, as to His Son the Prince the Congratulation of being married to a most Worthy and most Excellent Princess.
"By which it will evidently appear he meant not to leave the Business of the Palatinate loose, when he intended to proceed to the Marriage; but he consesseth he was ever of Opinion, the best Pawn and Assurance His late Majesty could have of the real Proceeding in the said Business of the Palatinate was, that they proceeded really to the effecting of the Match; and of the same Opinion was His late Majesty also, and the Lords Commissioners here in England, as appeareth by his Instructions, dated the 14th of March 1621; which Opinion still continued in them, as appeareth by His late Majesty's Letters of the Seventh of January 1622. And as for and concerning the Temporal Articles, the said Earl faith, when the Desposorios were formerly appointed to have been (as he remembereth) on Friday the 29th of August, before the Departure of His Majesty (then Prince) out of Spaine (which was only hindered by (fn. 19) the not coming of the Dispensation), the Prince appointed him and Sir Walter Aston to meet with the Spanish Commissioners; and they drew up the Heads of the Temporal Articles, wherewith the Prince and Duke of Buckingham were acquainted; and, in Case the Dispensation had come, and the Desposorios been performed on that Day, there had then no other Provision been made for them before the Marriage: But, presently upon the Prince's Departure, he the said Earl caused them to be drawn into Form, and sent them to His late Majesty the 27th of September 1623; desiring to understand His Majesty's Pleasure with all Speed, especially if He disapproved any Thing in them; but never received Notice of any Dislike thereof until the aforesaid Letters of the 13th of November 1623, which put off the Desposorios; so as it appeareth the said Earl was so far from breaking his Instructions, or from having any Intention to have proceeded to the Execution of the Desposorios before His Majesty and Prince were satisfied in the Point of the Infanta's entering into Religion, or before convenient Assurance as well for the Restitution of the Palatinate as for Performance of the Temporal Articles, that he deserved, as he conceiveth (under Favour), no Blame, so much as in Intention; but, if he had erred in Intention only, as he did not, and the same never reduced into Act, the Fault: (as he conceiveth) was removed, by his Obedience before the Intention put in Execution, for so it is in Cases towards God Himself: And as to the Matter of Aggravation against him, that he appointed so short a Day for the Desposorios, as that, without extraordinary Diligence, the Prince had been bound; he thereto faith, as before, that he set no Day at all thereto, nor could defer it, after the Dispensation came from Rome, without a direct Breach of the March so long laboured in, and so much desired; yet he and Sir Walter Aston used all possible Industry to discover how the Motion of deferring the Match would be taken: And finding an absolute Resolution in the King of Spaine to proceed punctually in requiring the Powers, according to the Capitulations, within Ten Days after the coming of the Dispensation; and at that Time also getting Advertisement from Rome that the Dispensation was granted, and would presently be there; he the said Earl (to the End that, in so great a Case, he might have a clear and undoubted Understanding of His late Majesty's Pleasure) sent a Dispatch of Primo Novembris, with all Diligence, to His Majesty, letting His Majesty know, that it would not be possible for him to protract the Marriage above Twenty-four Days, unless he should hazard the breaking of it, for which he had no Warrant: But, that this was no new Resolution, nor the King so Streightened in Time as by the said Article is pretended, will appear by the said Earl's Dispatch of 24th September 1623; in which, upon the Scruple that was then made of the Infanta's entering into Religion, he wrote to the same Effect: videlicet, That, if the Dispensation should come, he knew no Means how to detain the Powers above Twenty or Twenty-four Days; so that, although that Difficulty happened not until about the Middle of November 1623, yet it was foreseen that it must of Necessity happen whensoever the Dispensation should come; and there was Warning of Two Months Time given thereof; videlicet, from the 24th of September, till the 29th of November, which was the Time appointed for the Desposorios; so as he most humbly submitteth himself to your Lordships which of the Two Ways was the safer, and more dutiful, for him to take; whether, upon Inference and Conjectures, to have overthrown so great a Business; or, on the other Side, First, to have presented to His Majesty with Truth and Sincerity (as he did), the true State of His Affairs, with his humble Opinion therein, with an Intimation, that, if His Majesty should resolve to break the Match, that for the said Earl's honest Discharge of the Public Trust reposed in him when the Powers were deposited in his Hands, and for his sufficient Warrant in so great a Cause, His Majesty would be graciously pleased to give him clear and express Order (which he then had not); and in the Interim, whilst His Majesty might take into Consideration the great Inconveniences that might ensue, the said Inconveniences might be suspended, and the Business kept upon fair Terms, that His Majesty might have His Way and Choice clear and unfoiled before Him; and as for the evil Consequences which are pretended would have followed, if the said Earl had proceeded to the Consummation of the Match before he had express Warrant to the contrary, [ (fn. 20) he must and doth confess] he then understood the clean contrary; for he supposed that His Majesty should have speedily seen the Marriage (which He had so long sought) effected; that the Prince should have had a worthy Lady, whom He loved; that the Portion was much greater than was ever given in Money in Christendom; that the King of Spaine had engaged Himself for the Restitution of the Palatinate; for which the said Earl conceived a Daughter of Spaine and Two Millions had been no ill Pawn, besides divers other Additions of Advantage to the Crown of England: whereas, on the contrary Side, he foresaw the Prince would be kept a Year at the least longer unmarried, a Thing that so highly concerned these Kingdoms; he doubted that the Recovery of the Palatinate from the Emperor and Duke of Bavaria by Force would prove of great Difficulty, and that Christendom was like to fall in a general Combustion; so desiring that His Majesty should have obtained His Ends, and have had the Honour and Happiness not only to have given Peace, Plenty, and Increase to His own Subjects and Crowns, but to have compounded the greatest Differences that had been these many Years in Christendom, and by His Piety and Wisdom to have prevented the Shedding of so much Christian Blood as he feared would ensue if these Businesses were disordered; these Reasons, he confesseth, and the Zeal unto His Majesty's Service, made him so earnestly desire the effecting of this Business; and cannot but think himself an unfortunate Man, that, His Majesty's Affairs being so near the settling to His Majesty's Content as he conceived they were, and hoping to have been to his Master not only a faithful but a successful Servant, to see the whole State of Affairs turned upside down, without any the least (fn. 21) Fault of his; and yet he the only Minister, on the English or Spanish Side, that remaineth under Disgrace.
Concerning his preferring a scandalous Petition to the House, to the Dishonour of the late King and His present Majesty.
"To the Eleventh Article the said Earl saith, That the said Article is grounded upon a Petition by him preferred to this most Honourable House, supposed to be scandalous; which your Lordships (as he conceiveth), according to the Custom (fn. 20) and Privileges of the House of Peers, would have been pleased first to have adjudged so to have been, either for Matter appearing in itself, or upon hearing of the said Earl; for, if the Matter appearing in the Petition itself be not excepted unto, it cannot (as he conceiveth), by collateral Averment, be taken for a Scandal, till it be examined and found false. But, for a plain and direct Answer thereunto, he saith, That the said Petition doth not warrant any such Inference as by the said Article is enforced; and that he hopeth to justify the Contents of his said Petition, in such sort as shall not displease His Majesty, nor deserve that Expression which is used in the Charge; but, contrarily, what he hath said, or shall say, therein, in his Defence, shall in all Things tend to the Honour or Service of His most Royal Majesty, by reducing unto His Memory divers Circumstances, and laying before Him the Passages of divers Particulars, which, by undue Practices, have been either concealed from His Majesty or misrelated unto him.
"Having thus offered unto this High and Honourable Court such Proofs and Reasons as (he hopeth) shall, in your Lordships Wisdoms and Justice, clearly acquit him of any Capital Crime, or wilful Offence; if it shall appear, out of Error of Judgement, too much Fervency of Zeal to His Majesty's Service, or Ignorance in the Laws of the Realm (wherewith he hath not been (fn. 22) able to be so well acquainted as he ought, by reason of his Foreign Employments by the Space of Fourteen Years), or by any other Ways or Means, he hath fallen into the Danger of the Laws for any Thing pardoned by the General Pardon made in the Parliament holden at Westm. in the Year of the Reign of our late Sovereign Lord King James, of England, etc. of Blessed Memory, the One and Twentieth; he humbly prayeth Allowance of the said Pardon, and the Benefit thereof; with this, that he doth and will approve that he is none of the Persons excepted out of the same; although he is very confident that he shall not need the Help of any Pardon, having received several Significations, as well from His Majesty's own Mouth, that he had never offended His Majesty, as lately by several Letters from the Lord Conwaye, that he might rest in the Security he was, and sit still, and should not be further questioned. But he hopeth your Lordships will not only find him so free from Blame that he shall need no Pardon, but that he hath served His late Majesty, of Blessed Memory, and His most Gracious Sovereign the King's Majesty that now is, with that Fidelity, Care, and Industry, that your Lordships will take such Course as you, in your Wisdoms, shall think fit, not only for upholding of the Honour and Reputation of a Peer of this Realm, after so many Employments; but will likewise become humble and earnest Suitors to His Majesty, on his Behalf (which he humbly prayeth), that he may be restored to His Majesty's Gracious Favour, which above all Worldly Things he most desireth."
Adjourn.
Dominus Custos Magni Sigilli declaravit præsens Parliamentum continuandum esse usque in diem crastinum, videlicet, 20m diem instantis Maii, hora nona, Dominis sic decernentibus.