her own, as well as their great advantage. Though he was not a catholic in persuasion, former civil wars: though they were thus powerful, and consequently important, he stood tamely by, and saw them divested of their strong holds, and rendered almost wholly insignificant as a party. It is true, James kept up a kind of correspondence with Bouillon, whom at first he had refused to intercede for, and by him gave assurances of his "assisting the reformed if the whole body was assailed, the edicts broken, and they in danger of apparent ruin: in which case (says) Buckingham, in a letter to Sir Thomas Edmonds) his majesty doth engage himself to assist them; which though he should have no other means to perform, he will call a parliament for that purpose, not doubting but his people will be as ready to furnish him with means, as his majesty to engage himself to aid them in that cause." But James was not as good as his word. The reformed were assailed soon after, though not in a body: the edicts were broken in numberless instances, particularly in taking from them their strong towns; and they were in danger of apparent ruin"; and yet I know not that James afforded them the least assistance, any farther than by ordering his ambassadors to use their good offices on their behalf. "Yea, we are assured by the duke of Rohan himself, one of the protestant chiefs, that James urged him by letters (in any case) to make a peace, and to submit to, and wholly rely upon the promises of his own sovereign, pressing him moreover to consider the affairs of his * Birch's View of the Negotiations, &c. p. 406. b See Howell's Letters, p. 90. and Hist. of the Edict of Nantz, vol. II. p. 343, 420. he favoured those that were, provided they would swear allegiance unto him; and he son-in-law, and assuring him that he could not possibly give the reformed any assistance." Had the reformed been properly aided during the minority of Lewis the thirteenth, their power probably would have been so great that Richlieu's arts would not have overturned it: nor would France have given that disturbance to Europe she did, under Lewis the fourteenth." Advantages (says a noble author) might have been taken of the divisions which religion occasioned; and supporting the protestant party in France, would have kept that crown under restraints, and under inabilities, in some measure equal to those which were occasioned anciently by the vast alienations of its demesnes, and by the exorbitant power of its vassals. But James the first was incapable of thinking with sense, or acting with spirit"." And the writer of Tom Tell-Troath, addressed to James, and printed about the year 1622, has the following passage. "They (the French protestants) are indeed so many hostages which God almighty has put into your majesties hands to secure you, and your majesties dominions from all danger of that country: and to lose them were no other (in my opinion) than wilfully to tempt God to deliver us into the hands of our enemies. As long as God hath any children in France, we shall be sure to have brethren there. But they once gone, your brother of France will quickly b * Duke of Rohan's Discourse upon the Peace made before Montpellier, p. 44. at the end of his Memoirs, 8vo. Lond. 1660. Bolingbroke's Letters on the Study and Use of History, vol. II. p. 181. 8vo. Lond. 1752. not only relaxed" the rigour of the laws in shew whose child he is, and how incompatible the obedience he owes him (the pope) is with any goodwill he can bear your majestie. Since then the tye you have upon that prince's friendship is of so loose a knot, what can your majesty do better for yourself and yours, than to keep his enmity still clogged, by cherishing and maintaining so good a party in his country, as those of the religion".". What Mr. Kelly means by saying James made the interest of the protestants his own, on more than one occasion, I know not. He refers us indeed to the embassies of Sir Edward Herbert, and the earl of Carlisle into France, in order to intercede for the Hugonots, the latter of whom he observes from Rapin, spent vast sums, and consequently his master must be much in earnest to do them service". But what service did James do them? what success had his applications? none; and therefore we may be sure he very little regarded them. Had this gentleman known the character of the earl of Carlisle as one of the most expensive, luxurious men then living, he would have interpreted the words of Rapin as he ought. The vast sums spent by Carlisle, were not on the business of the Hugonots, or to promote their affairs; but in dress, equipage, and house-keeping, in which he knew no bounds. But I ask pardon for taking so much notice of the mistakes of a writer of so little consequence, either as to knowledge or judgment. 73 He not only relaxed the rigour of the laws in their favour, but consented to such terms for them in thę Harleian Miscellany, vol. II. 512. Remarks on the Life of James I. p. 7. fol. b See Kelly's Supplemental Lond. their favour, but consented to such terms marriage articles with Spain and France, as few of his protestant subjects approved.] It appears from a letter of Matthew Hutton, archbishop of York, to Cecyll, lord Cranborne, dated December 18, 1604, that the papists by "reason of some extraordinary favour were grown mightily in number, courage, and influence." They were in great hopes of a toleration, when they saw James set against the puritans; and it became so much the general expectation among them, that in order to clear himself of having intentions of granting it to them, his majesty thought proper to declare that "he never intended it, and would spend the last drop of his blood before he would do it, and uttered that imprecation on his posterity, if they should maintain any other religion, than what he truly professed and maintained," of which I have before taken notice". Not content herewith he ordered the laws against them to be put in execution, and they underwent many of them great hardships. Upon the discovery of the popish plot, there was a general prosecution of all papists set on foot, as might well be expected: “but king James was very uneasy at it," says Burnet, “which was much increased by what Sir Dudley Carleton told him upon his return from Spain, where he had been ambassador; (which I had from lord Hollis, who said to me, that Sir Dudley Carleton told it to himself, and was much troubled when he saw it had an effect contrary to what he had intended.) When he came home, he found the king at Theobald's, hunting in a very careless and unguarded manner: and upon that, in a Winwood, vol. II. p. 40. Osborn, p. 481. b Id. p. 49. and note 33. * Sce for them, in the marriage articles with order to the putting him on a more careful looking to himself, he told the king he must either give over that way of hunting, or stop another hunting he was engaged in, which was priest hunting: For he had intelligence in Spain, that the priests were comforting themselves with this, that if he went on against them, they would soon get rid of him.The king sent. for him in private to enquire more particularly into this; and he saw it had made a great impression on him, but wrought otherwise than he intended. For the king resolved to gratify his humour in hunting, and in a careless and irregular way of life, did immediately order all that prosecution to be let fall. I have the minutes of the council books of the year 1606, which are full of orders to discharge and transport priests, sometimes ten in a day a" I was inclined at first to call this whole story of Burnet's into question, by reason that Carleton was never ambassador into Spain: but on further search find it probable enough. For Carleton, in the year 1605, accompanied the lord Norris into Spain, and there might hear what he is said to have spoken to James. So that there is only a small mistake in Burnet, and his account is very probable. For though laws were enacted against the catholics, and the judges commanded on occasion to put them in execution, yet James had a great affection for them, and conferred on them many marks of his favour. Let us hear an indisputable writer on this matter, even James himself. "Not only," says he, "the papists themselves grew to that hight of pride, in confidence * Burnet, vol. I. p. 11. b See Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. I. col. 563. ← Winwood, vol. II. p. 54, 57. and Birch's View of the Negotiation, p. 227. |
