THE EXPEDITION INTO SPAIN.
1623
The Palatinate.--Wars between the Protestants and Catholics.--Frederic
dispossessed of his dominions.--Flees to Holland.--Elizabeth.--James's
plan.--Donna Maria.--Negotiations with Spain.--Obstacles
and delays.--Buckingham's proposal.--Nature of the
adventure.--Buckingham's dissimulation.--Charles persuaded.--James's
perplexity.--He reluctantly yields.--James's fears.--Royal
captives.--Buckingham's violence.--Angry disputes.--James's
distress.--Charles and Buckingham depart.--Charles and Buckingham's
boisterous conduct.--Arrested at Dover.--Arrival at Paris.--Princess
Henrietta.--Bourdeaux.--Entrance into Madrid.--Bristol's
amazement.--Charles's reception.--Grand procession.--Spanish
etiquette.--The Infanta kept secluded.--Athletic amusements.--Charles
steals an interview.--Irregularities.--Delays and
difficulties.--Letters.--The magic picture.--The pope's
dispensation.--The treaty signed.--Buckingham is hated.--He breaks
off the match.--Festivities at the Escurial.--Taking leave.--Return
to London.--The Spanish match broken off.
In order that the reader may understand fully the nature of the
romantic enterprise in which, as we have already said, Prince Charles
embarked when he was a little over twenty years of age, we must
premise that Frederic, the German prince who married Charles's sister
Elizabeth some years before, was the ruler of a country in Germany
called the Palatinate. It was on the banks of the Rhine. Frederic's
title, as ruler of this country, was Elector Palatine. There are a
great many independent states in Germany, whose sovereigns have
various titles, and are possessed of various prerogatives and powers.
Now it happened that, at this time, very fierce civil wars were raging
between the Catholics and the Protestants in Germany. Frederic got
drawn into these wars on the Protestant side. His motive was not any
desire to promote the progress of what he considered the true faith,
but only a wish to extend his own dominions, and add to his own
power, for he had been promised a kingdom, in addition to his
Palatinate, if he would assist the people of the kingdom to gain the
victory over their Catholic foes. He embarked in this enterprise
without consulting with James, his father-in-law, knowing that he
would probably disapprove of such dangerous ambition. James was, in
fact, very sorry afterward to hear of Frederic's having engaged in
such a contest.
The result was quite as disastrous as James feared. Frederic not only
failed of getting his new kingdom, but he provoked the rage of the
Catholic powers against whom he had undertaken to contend, and they
poured a great army into his own original territory, and made an easy
conquest of it. Frederic fled to Holland, and remained there a
fugitive and an exile, hoping to obtain help in some way from James,
in his efforts to recover his lost dominions.
The people of England felt a great interest in Frederic's unhappy
fate, and were very desirous that James should raise an army and give
him some efficient assistance. One reason for this was that they were
Protestants, and they were always ready to embark, on the Protestant
side, in the Continental quarrels. Another reason was their interest
in Elizabeth, the wife of Frederic, who had so recently left England a
blooming bride, and whom they still considered as in some sense
pertaining to the royal family of England, and as having a right to
look to all her father's subjects for protection.
But King James himself had no inclination to go to war in such a
quarrel. He was inactive in mind, and childish, and he had little
taste for warlike enterprises. He undertook, however, to accomplish
the object in another way. The King of Spain, being one of the most
powerful of the Catholic sovereigns, had great influence in all their
councils. He had also a beautiful daughter, Donna Maria, called, as
Spanish princesses are styled, the Infanta. Now James conceived the
design of proposing that his son Charles should marry Donna Maria, and
that, in the treaty of marriage, there should be a stipulation
providing that the Palatinate should be restored to Frederic.
These negotiations were commenced, and they went on two or three years
without making any sensible progress. Donna Maria was a Catholic, and
Charles a Protestant. Now a Catholic could not marry a Protestant
without a special dispensation from the pope. To get this
dispensation required new negotiations and delays. In the midst of it
all, the King of Spain, Donna Maria's father, died, and his son, her
brother, named Philip, succeeded him. Then the negotiations had all to
be commenced anew. It was supposed that the King of Spain did not wish
to have the affair concluded, but liked to have it in discussion, as
it tended to keep the King of England more or less under his control.
So they continued to send embassies back and forth, with drafts of
treaties, articles, conditions, and stipulations without number. There
were endless discussions about securing to Donna Maria the full
enjoyment of the Catholic religion in England, and express agreements
were proposed and debated in respect to her having a chapel, and
priests, and the right to celebrate mass, and to enjoy, in fact, all
the other privileges which she had been accustomed to exercise in her
own native land. James did not object. He agreed to every thing; but
still, some how or other, the arrangement could not be closed. There
was always some pretext for delay.
At last Buckingham proposed to Charles that they two should set off
for Spain in person, and see if they could not settle the affair.
Buckingham's motive was partly a sort of reckless daring, which made
him love any sort of adventure, and partly a desire to circumvent and
thwart a rival of his, the Earl of Bristol, who had charge of the
negotiations. It may seem to the reader that a simple journey from
London to Madrid, of a young man, for the purpose of visiting a lady
whom he was wishing to espouse, was no such extraordinary undertaking
as to attract the attention of a spirited young man to it from love of
adventure. The truth is, however, that, with the ideas that then
prevailed in respect to royal etiquette, there was something very
unusual in this plan. The prince and Buckingham knew very well that
the consent of the statesmen and high officers of the realm could
never be obtained, and that their only alternative was, accordingly,
to go off secretly and in disguise.
It seemed, however, to be rather necessary to get the king's consent.
But Buckingham did not anticipate much difficulty in this, as he was
accustomed to manage James almost like a child. He had not, however,
been on very good terms with Charles, having been accustomed to treat
him in the haughty and imperious manner which James would usually
yield to, but which Charles was more inclined to resist and resent.
When Buckingham, at length, conceived of this scheme of going into
Spain, he changed his deportment toward Charles, and endeavored, by
artful dissimulation, to gain his kind regard. He soon succeeded, and
then he proposed his plan.
He represented to Charles that the sole cause of the delays in
settling the question of his marriage was because it was left so
entirely in the hands of embassadors, negotiators, and statesmen, who
involved every thing in endless mazes. "Take the affair into your own
hands," said he, "like a man. Set off with me, and go at once into
Spain. Astonish them with your sudden and unexpected presence. The
Infanta will be delighted at such a proof of your ardor, courage, and
devotion, and will do all in her power to co-operate with you in
bringing the affair at once to a close. Besides, the whole world will
admire the originality and boldness of the achievement."
Charles was easily persuaded. The next thing was to get the king's
consent. Charles and Buckingham went to his palace one day, and
watching their opportunity when he was pretty merry with wine,
Charles said that he had a favor to ask, and wished his father to
promise to grant it before he knew what it was. James, after some
hesitation, half in jest and half in earnest, agreed to it. They made
him promise that he would not tell any one what it was, and then
explained their plan. The king was thunderstruck; his amazement
sobered him at once. He retracted his promise. He never could consent
to any such scheme.
Buckingham here interposed with his aid. He told the king it was
perfectly safe for the prince to go, and that this measure was the
only plan which could bring the marriage treaty to a close. Besides,
he said, if he and the prince were there, they could act far more
effectually than any embassadors in securing the restoration of the
Palatinate to Frederic. James could not withstand these entreaties and
arguments, and he finally gave a reluctant consent to the plan.
He repented, however, as soon as the consent was given, and when
Charles and Buckingham came next to see him, he said it must be given
up. One great source of his anxiety was a fear that his son might be
taken and kept a prisoner, either in France or Spain, and detained a
long time in captivity. Such a captive was always, in those days, a
very tempting prize to a rival power. Personages of very high rank may
be held in imprisonment, while all the time those who detain them may
pretend not to confine them at all, the guards and sentinels being
only marks of regal state, and indications of the desire of the power
into whose hands they have fallen to treat them in a manner comporting
with their rank. Then there were always, in those days, questions and
disputes pending between the rival courts of England, France, and
Spain, out of which it was easy to get a pretext for detaining any
strolling prince who might cross the frontier, as security for the
fulfillment of some stipulation, or for doing some act of justice
claimed. James, knowing well how much faith and honor were to be
expected of kings and courts, was afraid to trust his son in French or
Spanish dominions. He said he certainly could not consent to his
going, without first sending to _France_, at least, for a
safe-conduct--that is, a paper from the government, pledging the honor
of the king not to molest or interrupt him in his journey through his
dominions.
Buckingham, instead of attempting to reassure the king by fresh
arguments and persuasions, broke out into a passion, accused him of
violating his promise not to reveal their plan to any one, as he knew,
he said, that this new opposition had been put into his head by some
of his counselors to whom he had made known the design. The king
denied this, and was terrified, agitated, and distressed by
Buckingham's violence. He wept like a child. His opposition at length
gave way a second time, and he said they might go. They named two
attendants whom they wanted to go with them. One was an officer of the
king's household, named Collington, who was then in the anteroom. They
asked the king to call him in, to see if he would go. When Collington
came in, the king accosted him with, "Here's Steeny and Baby Charley
that want to go to Spain and fetch the Infanta. What think you of it?"
Collington did not think well of it at all. There followed a new
relapse on the part of the king from his consent, a new storm of anger
from Buckingham, more sullen obstinacy on the part of Charles, with
profane criminations and recriminations one against another. The whole
scene was what, if it had occurred any where else than in a palace,
would have been called a brawl.
It ended, as brawls usually do, in the triumph of the most
unreasonable and violent. James threw himself upon a bed which was in
the room, weeping bitterly, and saying that they would go, and he
should lose his Baby Charley. Considering that Charles was now the
monarch's only child remaining at home, and that, as heir to the
crown, his life was of great consequence to the realm, it is not
surprising that his father was distressed at the idea of his exposing
himself to danger on such an expedition; but one not accustomed to
what is behind the scenes in royal life would expect a little more
dignity and propriety in the mode of expressing paternal solicitude
from a king.
Charles and Buckingham set off secretly from London; their two
attendants were to join them in different places--the last at Dover,
where they were to embark. They laid aside all marks of distinction in
dress, such as persons of high rank used to wear in those days, and
took the garb of the common people. They put on wigs, also, the hair
of which was long, so as to shade the face and alter the expression of
their countenances. These external disguises, however, were all that
they could command. They could not assume the modest and quiet air
and manner of persons in the ordinary walks of life, but made such
displays, and were so liberal in the use of their money, and carried
such an air and manner in all that they did and said, that all who had
any intercourse with them perceived that they were in disguise. They
were supposed to be wild blades, out on some frolic or other, but
still they were allowed to pass along without any molestation.
They were, however, stopped at Dover, where in some way they attracted
the attention of the mayor of the town. Dover is on the Channel,
opposite to Calais, at the narrowest point. It was, of course,
especially in those days, the point where the principal intercourse
between the two nations centered. The magistrates of the two towns
were obliged, consequently, to be on the alert, to prevent the escape
of fugitives and criminals, as well as to guard against the efforts of
smugglers, or the entrance of spies or other secret enemies. The Mayor
of Dover arrested our heroes. They told him that their names were Tom
Smith and Jack Smith; these, in fact, were the names with which they
had traveled through England thus far. They said that they were
traveling for amusement. The mayor did not believe them. He thought
they were going across to the French coast to fight a duel. This was
often done in those days. They then told him that they were indeed
persons of rank in disguise, and that they were going to inspect the
English fleet. He finally allowed them to embark.
On landing at Calais, they traveled post to Paris, strictly preserving
their incognito, but assuming such an air and bearing as to create the
impression that they were not what they pretended. When they reached
Paris, Buckingham could not resist the temptation of showing Charles a
little of life, and he contrived to get admitted to a party at court,
where Charles saw, among other ladies who attracted his attention, the
Princess Henrietta. He was much struck with her beauty and grace, but
he little thought that it was this princess, and not the Infanta whom
he was going in pursuit of, who was really to become his wife, and the
future Queen of England.
The young travelers thought it not prudent to remain long in Paris,
and they accordingly left that city, and pressed forward as rapidly as
possible toward the Spanish frontier. They managed, however, to
conduct always in such a way as to attract attention. Although they
were probably sincerely desirous of not having their true rank and
character known, still they could not resist the temptation to assume
such an air and bearing as to make people wonder who they were, and
thus increase the spirit and adventure of their journey. At Bourdeaux
they received invitations from some grandees to be present at some
great gala, but they declined, saying that they were only poor
gentlemen traveling to inform their minds, and were not fit to appear
in such gay assemblies.
At last they approached Madrid. They had, besides Collington, another
attendant who spoke the Spanish language, and served them as an
interpreter. They separated from these two the day before they entered
Madrid, so as to attract the less attention. Their attendants were to
be left behind for a day, and afterward were to follow them into the
city. The British embassador at Madrid at this time was the Earl of
Bristol. He had had charge of all the negotiations in respect to the
marriage, and to the restoration of the Palatinate, and believed that
he had brought them almost to a successful termination. He lived in a
palace in Madrid, and, as is customary with the embassadors of great
powers at the courts of great powers, in a style of the highest pomp
and splendor.
Buckingham took the prince directly to Bristol's house. Bristol was
utterly confounded at seeing them. Nothing could be worse, he said, in
respect to the completion of the treaty, than the prince's presence in
Madrid. The introduction of so new and extraordinary an element into
the affair would undo all that had been done, and lead the King of
Spain to begin anew, and go over all the ground again. In speaking of
this occurrence to another, he said that just as he was on the point
of coming to a satisfactory conclusion of his long negotiations and
toils, a demon in the shape of Prince Charles came suddenly upon the
stage to thwart and defeat them all.
The Spanish court was famous in those days--in fact, it has always
been famous--for its punctilious attention to etiquette and parade;
and as soon as the prince's arrival was known to the king, he
immediately began to make preparations to welcome him with all
possible pomp and ceremony. A great procession was made through the
Prado, which is a street in Madrid famous for promenades, processions,
and public displays of all kinds. In moving through the city on this
occasion, the king and Prince Charles walked together, the monarch
thus treating the prince as his equal. There was a great canopy of
state borne over their heads as they moved along. This canopy was
supported by a large number of persons of the highest rank. The
streets, and the windows and balconies of the houses on each side,
were thronged with spectators, dressed in the gay and splendid court
dresses of those times. When they reached the end of the route, and
were about to enter the gate of the palace, there was a delay to
decide which should enter first, the king and the prince each
insisting on giving the precedence to the other. At last it was
settled by their both going in together.
If the prince thus, on the one hand, derived some benefit in the
gratification of his pride by the Spanish etiquette and parade, he
suffered some inconvenience and disappointment from it, on the other
hand, by its excluding him from all intercourse or acquaintance with
the Infanta. It was not proper for the young man to see or to speak to
the young lady, in such a case as this, until the arrangements had
been more fully matured. The formalities of the engagement must have
proceeded beyond the point which they had yet reached, before the
bridegroom could be admitted to a personal interview with the bride.
It is true, he could see her in public, where she was in a crowd, with
other ladies of the court, and where he could have no communication
with her; but this was all. They arranged it, however, to give Charles
as many opportunities of this kind as possible. There were shows, in
which the prince could see the Infanta among the spectators; and they
arranged tiltings and ridings at the ring, and other athletic sports,
such as Charles excelled in, and let him perform his exploits in her
presence. His rivals in these contests did not have the incivility to
conquer him, and his performances excited expressions, at least, of
universal admiration.
But the prince and Buckingham did not very willingly submit to the
stiffness and formality of the Spanish court. As soon as they came to
feel a little at home, they began to act with great freedom. At one
time the prince learned that the Infanta was going, early in the
morning, to take a walk in some private pleasure grounds, at a country
house in the neighborhood of Madrid, and he conceived the design of
gaining an interview with her there by stealth. He accordingly
repaired to the place, got admitted in some way within the precincts
of the palace, and contrived to clamber over a high wall which
separated him from the grounds in which the Infanta was walking, and
so let himself down into her presence. The accounts do not state
whether she herself was pleased or alarmed, but the officer who had
her in charge, an old nobleman, was very much alarmed, and begged the
prince to retire, as he himself would be subject to a very severe
punishment if it were known that he had allowed such an interview.
Finally they opened the door, and the prince went out. Many people
were pleased with this and similar adventures of the prince and of
Buckingham, but the leading persons about the court were displeased
with them. Their precise and formal notions of propriety were very
much shocked by such freedoms.
Besides, it was soon found that the characters of these high-born
visitors, especially that of Buckingham, were corrupt, and their lives
very irregular. Buckingham was accustomed to treat King James in a
very bold, familiar, and imperious manner, and he fell insensibly into
the same habits of intercourse with those about him in Spain. The
little reserve and caution which he manifested at first soon wore off,
and he began to be very generally disliked. In the mean time the
negotiation was, as Bristol had expected, very much put back by the
prince's arrival. The King of Spain formed new plans, and thought of
new conditions to impose. The Catholics, too, thought that Charles's
coming thus into a Catholic country, indicated some leaning, on his
part, toward the Catholic faith. The pope actually wrote him a long
letter, the object of which was to draw him off from the ranks of
Protestantism. Charles wrote a civil, but rather an evasive reply.
In the mean time, King James wrote childish letters from time to time
to his two dear boys, as he called them, and he sent them a great many
presents of jewelry and splendid dresses, some for them to wear
themselves, and some for the prince to offer as gifts to the Infanta.
Among these, he describes, in one of his letters, a little mirror, set
in a case which was to be worn hung at the girdle. He wrote to Charles
that when he gave this mirror to the Infanta, he must tell her that it
was a picture which he had had imbued with magical virtue by means of
incantations and charms, so that whenever she looked into it, she
would see a portrait of the most beautiful princess in England,
France, or Spain.
At last the great obstacle in the way of the conclusion of the treaty
of marriage, which consisted in the delays and difficulties in getting
the pope's dispensation, was removed. The dispensation came. But then
the King of Spain wanted some new guarantees in respect to the
privileges of Catholics in England, under pretense of securing more
perfectly the rights of the Infanta and of her attendants when they
should have arrived in that country. The truth was, he probably wished
to avail himself of the occasion to gain some foothold for the
Catholic faith in England, which country had become almost entirely
Protestant. At length, however, all obstacles seemed to be removed,
and the treaty was signed. The news of it was received with great joy
in England, as it seemed to secure a permanent alliance between the
two powerful countries of England and Spain. Great celebrations took
place in London, to do honor to the occasion. A chapel was built for
the Infanta, to be ready for her on her arrival; and a fleet was
fitted out to convey her and her attendants to her new home.
In the mean time, however, although the king had signed the treaty,
there was a strong party formed against the marriage in Spain.
Buckingham was hated and despised. Charles, they saw, was almost
entirely under his influence. They said they would rather see the
Infanta in her grave than in the hands of such men. Buckingham became
irritated by the hostility he had awakened, and he determined to break
off the match entirely. He wrote home to James that he did not believe
the Spanish court had any intention of carrying the arrangement really
into effect; that they were procrastinating the affair on every
possible pretext, and that he was really afraid that, if the prince
were to attempt to leave the country, they would interpose and detain
him as a prisoner. King James was very much alarmed. He wrote in the
greatest trepidation, urging "the lads" to come away immediately,
leaving a proxy behind them, if necessary, for the solemnization of
the marriage. This was what Buckingham wanted, and he and the prince
began to make preparations for their departure.
The King of Spain, far from interposing any obstacles in the way, only
treated them with greater and higher marks of respect as the time of
their separation from his court drew nigh. He arranged great and
pompous ceremonies to honor their departure. He accompanied them, with
all the grandees of the court, as far as to the Escurial, which is a
famous royal palace not far from Madrid, built and furnished in the
most sumptuous style of magnificence and splendor. Here they had
parting feasts and celebrations. Here the prince took his leave of the
Infanta, Bristol serving as interpreter, to translate his parting
speeches into Spanish, so that she could understand them. From the
Escurial the prince and Buckingham, with a great many English noblemen
who had followed them to Madrid, and a great train of attendants,
traveled toward the seacoast, where a fleet of vessels were ready to
receive them.
[Illustration: THE ESCURIAL.]
They embarked at a port called St. Andrew. They came very near being
lost in a storm of mist and rain which came upon them while going out
to the ships, which were at a distance from the shore, in small boats
provided to convey them. Having escaped this danger, they arrived
safely at Portsmouth, the great landing point of the British navy on
the southern shores of England, and thence proceeded to London.
They sent back orders that the proxy should not be used, and the match
was finally abandoned, each party accusing the other of duplicity and
bad faith. King James was however, very glad to get his son safe back
again, and the people made as many bonfires and illuminations to
celebrate the breaking up of this Catholic match, as they had done
before to do honor to its supposed completion. As all hope of
recovering the Palatinate by negotiation was now past, the king began
to prepare for the attempt to conquer it by force of arms.