necessary a new ratification of the articles, and before its arrival, Buckingham instigated the prince to make known the necessity of his immediately quitting Spain. This was startling; but Philip IV. was too jealous for the honor of his sister to press his stay, and preparations were made to grace his departure with every possible mark of honor and affection, since it could not yet be suspected that he entertained the most distant thought of breaking the match....." The ninth of this month," writes the earl of Bristol to the lord-keeper in August 1623, the prince intendeth, God willing, to begin his journey for England; and the day before, I conceive, the contract will be. The infanta is to follow in the spring, and the prince hath commanded my stay here. I know not how things may be reconciled here before my lord duke's departure, but at present, they are in all extremity ill between this king and his ministers and the duke; and they stick not to profess, that they will rather put the infanta headlong into a well than into his handsa." The contract of marriage was not however celebrated before the prince's departure, partly for want of the pope's ratification, partly because Charles himself did not urge it; but he solemnly confirmed by oath the articles of the treaty, witnessed the taking of a like oath by the king of Spain, his council and some of the great officers, and publicly deposited in the earl of Bristol's hands a proxy for the king of Spain, empowering him to marry the infanta within a certain number of days after the arrival of the ratification. Nothing in short was omitted on either side to give mutual satisfaction, and to manifest to the world the terms of friendship and brotherhood on which they parted. The details are thus given in a contemporary letter: -- "The king brought him (the prince) to the Escurial, and a little before his departure the king and he went into a close coach, and had a large discourse together, my lord of Bristol being in another coach hard by, to interpret some hard words when he was called. And so they parted, with many tender demonstrations of love. A trophy of marble is erected in the place where they parted. Many rich presents were given on both sides. The prince bestowed upon the queen the biggest crown pearl in the world, between two diamonds. He gave the infanta a rope of pearl and an anchor of great diamonds, with many other jewels. He hath been very bountiful to every one of the king's house, and all the guard. Never prince parted with such an universal love of all. He left every mouth fiilled with his commendations; every one reporting him to be a truly noble, discreet and well deserving prince... My lord of Buckingham at first was much esteemed, but it lasted little; his French garb, with his stout hastiness in negotiating, and his over-familiarity with the prince, was not liked. Moreover, the council of Spain took it ill, that a green head should come with such a superintendent power to treat of an affair of such consequence among so 66 many many grave ministers of state, to the prejudice of so grave and well deserving a minister as my lord of Bristol, who laid the first stone of this building. Hereupon, his power was called in question, and found imperfect in regard it was not confirmed by the council. Thus the business began to gather ill blood between Olivares and him, and grew so far out of square, that unless there had been good heads to piece them together again, all might have fallen quite off the hinges. He did not take his leave of the countess of Olivares, and the farewell he took of the conde himself was harsh; for he told him he would be an everlasting servant to the king of Spain, the queen and the infanta, and would endeavour to do the best offices he could for the concluding of this business, and strengthening the amity between the two kingdoms:—but for himself, he had so far disobliged him, that he could make no profession of friendship to him at all. The conde turned about, and said he accepted of what he had spoken, and so parteda." After these adieus the prince and his confident turned their steps towards St. Andero, where they were to embark. Sir Thomas Somerset and sir John Finett had been sent on board the English fleet to Spain, with orders immediately to announce to the prince, wherever he should then be, its arrival for his and the infanta's service. Six leagues in-land from St. Andero they met the prince on his journey a Cabala, p. 16. thither; thither; "when," says Finett, "besides the joy his highness received at our encounter and the fleet's arrival, (a news that he said made him look upon me when I told it, as on one that had the face of an angel,) the duke of Buckingham, when I after met him and told him the like, to express his content, kissed me, and, drawing from his finger a diamond of above an hundred pounds value, gave it me for a presenta." No sooner was Charles safe on board an English vessel, than he said openly to those about him, that it was a great folly in the Spaniards to use him so ill and then suffer him to come away. The day after his embarkation, too, he sent one of his attendants back to Madrid, under pretence of fetching something left behind, for the purpose of secretly delivering to the earl of Bristol a letter commanding him, when the dispensation should arrive, to forbear delivering the proxy till sufficient security should be given against the infanta's throwing herself into a nunnery after the espousals, and thus frustrating himself and his country of the hopes of posterity. This chicane, for it was nothing more, demonstrated the utter insincerity of Charles in the oaths and protestations with which he had voluntarily bound himself on quitting Madrid. Bristol, anxious and alarmed, hastened to apply for the securities required, and to assure Charles that none would be denied by the king or the infanta which could in reason or a Finetti Philox. p. 121. propriety propriety he asked. Then, craving leave to write to his highness "like a faithful plain servant," he proceeded to inquire whether it was his highness's real pleasure that the proxies in his hands should be made use of, or not. If not, other pretexts might be found in the discussion of the temporal articles to create delay. "But," he adds, "these inconveniences I conceive will follow. First, it will be of great discomfort to the infanta, who, until the desposorios are past, is not her own woman, but must be governed by the pleasure of the junta, which I think she is very weary of; neither till then may she declare herself to be yours, nor comply with your highness in answering of your letters and messages, and giving you those respects and comforts which I know she would be glad to do. But if she should any way judge, that the delay of the desposorios should arise from your highness's part, I conceive she would take it most heavily. Secondly, it will certainly raise great jealousies in this king and his ministers, and retard the resolutions that are fit to be taken with speed for the putting in execution that which is capitulated......I dare not so much as give myself leave once to question your highness' intentions of proceeding to the real effecting of the match, which makes me desirous that all things may be executed that may any way retard or disturb it. Only I shall....presume to say thus much to your highness That for divers years I know the king your father and yourself have held this the fittest match in the world, and by a desire of effecting it your |