share a whole pye reckoned to my lord at ten pounds, being composed of ambergris, magisterial of pearl, musk, &c..... And after such suppers, huge banquets no less profuse, a waiter returning his servant home with a cloak-bag filled with sweetmeats and comfects valued to his lordship at more than ten shillings the pounda."

Weldon speaks of the earl of Carlisle's giving at Essex house, to the French ambassador, the most sumptuous feast that was ever seen before or since, "in which was such plenty, and fish of that immensity, brought out of Muscovia, that dishes were made to contain them; no dishes in all England before could near hold them." The fish was no doubt sturgeon. The glories of his French embassy are thus described by Wilson: "He, with a great train of young noblemen and other courtiers of eminency, suited themselves with all those ornaments that could give lustre to so dazzling an appearance as love and the congratulation of it carried with it.... I remember I saw one of the lord ambassador's suits (and pardon me that I take notice of such petty things): the cloak and hose were made of very fine white beaver, embroidered richly all over with gold and silver; the cloak, almost to the cape, both within and without, having no lining but embroidery. The doublet was of cloth of gold, embroidered so thick that it could not be discerned, and a white beaver hat suitable, brimful of embroidery both above

VOL. II.

a Osborn's Memoirs of king James, c. 38.

and below. This is presented as an essay, for one of the meanest he wore." The day of audience being fixed, some debate arose whether the ambassador and his train should go in coaches or on horseback; but the former mode was rejected, because it would conceal too much the splendor of their equipments; and it was agreed that they should ride with rich footcloths. "Six trumpeters and two marshals in tawny velvet liveries completely suited, laced all over with gold richly and closely laid, led the way. The ambassador followed, with a great train of pages and footmen in the same rich livery incircling his horse, and the rest of his retinue according to their qualities and degrees, in as much bravery as they could devise or procure, followed in couples, to the wonderment of the beholders. And some said, how truly I cannot assert, the ambassador's horse was shod with silver shoes lightly tacked on; and when he came to a place where persons or beauties of eminency were, his very horse prancing and curveting in humble reverence, flung his shoes away, which the greedy understanders scrambled for, and he was content to be gazed on and admired till a farrier, or rather the argentier, in one of his rich liveries among the train of footmen, out of a tawny velvet bag took others and tacked them on, which lasted till he came to the next troop of grandees. And thus, with much ado, he reached the Louvrea."

a

Wilson, p. 92 et seq.

Hay

Hay was afterwards employed in several other embassies, none of which proved more prosperous than the first but these failures were probably less to be imputed to himself than to his master;—a prince singularly unfortunate in the results of that diplomacy of which he made so great a point and on which he expended such enormous sums of money.

James was at this time intent on cultivating by all means the friendship of the young king of France, and on occasion of the assassination of the marshal D'Ancre by order of Louis, he did not scruple to assure him of his approbation of the act. The situation of the king of France, who, though major and married, was still held in bondage by those who had assumed the direction of affairs during his minority, appears to have recalled to James the circumstances of his own youth in Scotland, and we find his impressions and those of English politicians thus memorably recorded in a letter from secretary Winwood to sir Guy Carleton ambassador to Holland:

...." As the king was young in years, so was he in thraldom and captivity under the queen his mother, and she in subjection to the marshal D'Ancre, both at the devotion of the king of Spain, who confidently may be said to have had as much power and authority in the management of affairs in the court of France, as the duke of Lerma hath in the court of Spain. And this may be believed, that in our age the king of Spain never received so heavy a blow; and that without noise or bruit, for in honor he may E 2

not

not take notice of it, which so apparently doth recall the proceedings, or rather renverse the very foundations of his ambitious designs."

state.

"No action hath happened amongst us, which so lively hath discovered the passionate affections of our hearts; for all our parasites and pensioners of Spain have lost all patience, and, which is worse, all modesty and moderation; condemning this action as most impious and inhuman, bloody and tyrannical; not considering that it was at the choice of the king, whether he would neglect the safety of his person and the preservation of his crown, both which must have fallen if Ancre had stood; or proceed, as he did, sine forma et figura judici, by martial law against the usurper of his crown and But what opinion soever private particular men, who aim at nothing else but the advancement of their own fortunes, have of this action, his majesty is pleased to approve of it: which doth appear not only by the outward demonstration of his exceeding joy and contentment, when first he received the news thereof, but also by letters which with his own hand he hath written to the French king..... Besides, Mr. comptroller, who hath charge in all diligence to return into France, hath express order to congratulate with the marshal de Vitry, for so now he is, that by his hands the king his master was delivered out of captivity, et mis hors de page." So lax was the morality of James and his politicians

Letters from and to sir Dudley Carleton knight, p. 129.

even where personal interest was out of the question, so large the latitude which they thought allowed to kings in the vindication of their authority!

During the course of this year, a long-pending negotiation was concluded between James and the United Provinces, for the restoration of the cautionary towns which had been put into the hands of queen Elizabeth as security for the money lent by her to the States. That portion of the people who considered much of national glory to consist in the power of strongly influencing the politics of Europe, loudly inveighed against a step by which a lasting pledge for the good behaviour of a neighbouring state was yielded up in consideration of a sum of money, which was also much inferior to the just demands of the English crown. Others, however, thought it reasonable to resign a possession valuable only as a means of interference and annoyance, in exchange for the offered price, and the good will of the Hollanders. It is needless in this place to discuss the arguments by which each opinion might be supported; no one can doubt that James, for the sake of supplying what some called his necessities and others his extravagance, without the intervention of a parliament, would readily have acceded to measures still more injurious to national honor; and it is also clear, that to a prince of his inert and timorous character the occupation of these towns was of no manner of value. The bargain made by the Dutch appears to have been a highly advantageous one for them, and it was also beneficial to

James