The romance of George Villiers, first duke of Buckingham, and some men and women of the Stuart court by Gibbs Philip 1877-1962

Author:Gibbs, Philip, 1877-1962
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Buckingham, George Villiers, Duke of, 1592-1628
Publisher: London, Methuen & co
Published: 1908-09-04T05:00:00+00:00

CARDINAL dp: RICHELIKU

KKIKAIT BY I'Mll.UPK UK CHAMI'AKJNK IN THK I.OL'VRK

thus hoodwinked them—the truth being that Buckingham himself was easy to hoodwink, because he had staked his future on notliing more substantial than false hopes—^he laid down the conditions of the marriage treaty upon precisely the same lines as those demanded by Spain. And Buckingham, who had destroyed the Spanish treaty amidst the applause of the English nation, now used his influence with the Prince to accept terms which had so recently been denounced as an outrage upon the conscience of his country.

James, old as he was now, and racked with rheumatism so that he was almost a cripple^ had strength of mind enough to refuse for a long time to bind himself to abolish the penal laws against the Catholics, and to give them absolute liberty of worship, but under the continual pressure of the man who was still called his Favourite, though now his master, his protests grew weaker with every ailment The Prince himself was not inclined to agree with the French conditions, and more than once or twice was so enraged with the demands of Richelieu (who posed as being coerced into making severe conditions in the treaty by the Pope and the Sacred College at Rome) that he was on the point of throwing up the whole business in favour of seeking a Protestant wife. But he was a partner in Buckingham's foreign policy, and completely under the dominating influence of the Duke, so that he also yielded step by step to the French conditions, buoyed up, as Buckingham himself, by the hope that a French army would co-operate with English forces in Germany. Richelieu pandered to these hopes by vague promises, and by ostentatious movements of French troops. And thus dangling a bait under the noses of Prince Charles and his adviser, he drew them on, further and still further until he had them fast bound in the spider's web of his diplomacy. At first a letter had been demanded from the English King promising liberty of worship in his realnu Then when that was conceded, a treaty with formal clauses must be privately signed by the King, his son, and a Secretary of State Then, later on, that must be submitted and sanctioned by the Privy Council. Then James must show his sincerity by at once stopping all cases instituted against English Catholics for the exercise of their faith. Carlisle, still acting as ambassador in Paris, was passionate with indignation against these stipulations.

210 THE FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

which he knew were in utter defiance of the strongest prejudices of Parliament, and of the majority of the English people, and he vainly implored the King and the Prince to be more chary of their concessions to the French Ambassador in England. He believed, and was bold enough to suggest, that Buckingham was playing too much into the hands of France.

This, indeed, must be admitted. A new ambassador, Effiat by name, had come from Paris to

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