In the midst of all his difficulties at home and abroad, the consummate skill with which Olivares played upon the English statesmen is almost amusing at this distance of time. Hopton's spirits rose and fell from week to week, as those of Anstruther did in Vienna. Olivares and the Emperor understood each other perfectly, and had no difficulty between them in keeping England quiet with the old bait of the restoration of the Palatinate. A specimen from Hopton's letters will illustrate the clever way in which Olivares beguiled his interlocutor.
"In the time my memorial was in debate I sometimes took occasion to see the Conde (i.e. Olivares). On one it happened that the Ave Maria bell rang, and when he had ended his prayer he examined me in all the material points of our religion, wherein, I perceive, he is not ignorant. In the sacrament of baptism I said all the essential parts are the same in both Churches. But, he said, here they say, 'O! he was christened by a minister; but I (Olivares) tell them that I see no cause why a man may not as well be saved being christened by a minister as by a priest.' This was in the palace, on the occasion of the christening of our Princess, of whom they have begun to talk of as theirs.[[36]] When the Duke of Lennox went to kiss the Prince's hand, the Countess of Olivares, who was present, bade the Prince ask for his cousin's hand, and said, 'You have a mistress there; and then, turning to us, she said, 'We are beginning to galantear (i.e. to court) already.' He (Olivares) examined me upon the Lord's supper, and was much pleased to know the chiefest difference is in the manner of the presence. He asked me concerning divorces, and approved of the practice of confession, though, he said, that it was too lightly practised amongst them. Did we, he asked, receive the blessed Virgin? I said he who did so was not considered a good Christian. He said, 'The top of the difference is the Pope's supremacy, and the chiefest scruple was in temporalities, because you would not have him meddle in matters of Kings.' I said yes; whereupon he shook his head and said no more. I know his meaning, as things stand between him and the Pope. He said that if that point could be agreed I think it would not be hard to reconcile Protestants to the Church."[[37]]
All this talk about marriage and reconciliation in religion had done duty only ten years before; but apparently the English diplomatists were as ready as ever to follow the Will o' the Wisp until the time of danger for Spain had passed and they could safely be shelved. The young Duke of Lennox was flattered and treated with almost royal honours, and Hopton himself was quite confused by the sustained amiability of Olivares. But at length even he began to doubt; and presented a strongly worded memorial to Philip, calling upon him to have the Palatinate restored. After inordinate delay the reply to this was simply another promise to instruct the Spanish ambassador with the Emperor to urge the matter again upon him. In very truth this eternal shuttlecock between Vienna and Madrid was growing stale again; and the English Government did now, when it was too late, what it should have done at first, namely, talk of preparations for war. But it was only talk; and though it frightened Olivares for a week or two, Hopton deplored that the preparations were not being made a good earnest to fight; "for this is the only way to bring Spain to reason, and they themselves are making preparations for a big war."
In fact it was quite evident now to everyone that unless Spain promptly withdrew her pretensions a great war to the death would have to be fought with France. Her troops in the Emperor's armies had never ceased in Central Europe to meet in combat those of Louis XIII., but the impending resumption of rule by Spain over Catholic Flanders was an event that again threatened the integrity of France itself; for with Spanish frontiers, north, south, and east of her, the old position that had led to the great wars between Charles V. and Francis I. in the previous century would be repeated; and the new France which had arisen under Henry IV., and had been strengthened by Richelieu, would never suffer without a struggle a return to the old state of affairs. Money, constant, never-ending money, was the first desideratum of King Philip, if such a war as that foreshadowed, in addition to the struggle in Germany, was to be undertaken. The outer realms, and especially Portugal, were in a condition of sulky apprehension; but Philip was forced to meet the legislatures before he could get money from them. It was a necessity that he and Olivares dreaded and hated, but it had to be faced. All the Cortes therefore were summoned. "All to get money for their great engagements: how great they are they know not themselves," wrote Hopton.
The need for money
But money had to be got somehow, even before the Cortes could meet or King go to his eastern realms. All the taxes had been anticipated, the loan-mongers had run dry, and the silver from the indies had not arrived. Writing in February 1632, Hopton says; "They have levied heavy contributions on the tradesmen of Madrid,[[38]] but they press them not hard yet, trying mild means first, and then passing to violent. However, they spare not those who are known to be moneyed men; for they have sent to the Duke of Bejar for 100,000 ducats, and to the Duke of Medina Sidonia, and others in proportion. It will be a very great sum in all, but will be needed for the war next summer." Cardinal Borgia contributed 50,000 crowns, and nobles, merchants, and churchmen were squeezed as they had never been squeezed before, even in the time of Lerma.[[39]] In the Cortes of Castile (February 1632) a spirited protest for once was made, representing the poverty of the country, and saying that it was unjust to impoverish the land in order to send vast sums of money to the Emperor for a war useless to Spain.[[40]] But, as usual, the deputies, who were bribed heavily, ended in voting despairingly what was asked; and after taking the oath of allegiance, as has already been described, to Prince Baltasar Carlos in the Church of St. Geronimo, they were promptly dismissed.
The two Infantes
The journey of the King to Aragon was an anxious matter. Olivares had complicated the situation by aiding Marie de Medici and Gaston Duke of Orleans in their armed revolt against the government of Richelieu, to the openly expressed fury of the people of Madrid, who hated disloyalty to a King, even if he were King of France; and the rumour prevailed that in revenge for the action of Olivares a French army was preparing to invade Catalonia and carry the war into Spain itself. The risk and danger of the King's journey were urged upon Philip, and discussed at length in his Council; but Olivares, whilst admitting the risk, concluded that, "considering the penury of your Majesty's treasury, ... the suffering to be incurred and the risk of annoyance from the Cortes would be lesser evils than the loss of the two millions (of ducats) we hope to get."[[41]] But though the voyage was decided upon, of one thing Olivares had quite made up his mind, namely, that the King's two brothers should not be left behind to plot at liberty the downfall of the favourite they hated. Don Carlos, left to himself and excluded from all affairs by Olivares, had fallen into a dissipated mode of life; and both he and his abler brother Fernando were on terms of intimate friendship with the Count-Duke's enemy, the Admiral of Castile and his kinsmen, especially with Don Antonio de Moscoso, who was the inseparable factotum of Don Fernando. A most interesting paper, transcribed at length by Novoa as being written at the time by Olivares to the King on the subject of the two Infantes, shows how bitter and unscrupulous the minister was towards these two young Princes. The vilest suspicion is expressed as to their loyalty, and the most cynical distrust of all their actions and words. It had been decided to send Fernando to Flanders, but for various reasons he had not yet been allowed to start; and when the voyage of the King to Barcelona was decided upon, Olivares made his cowardly secret attack upon him and his brother Carlos in the document in question.[[42]] The nobles who are friendly to the Infantes are all represented as traitors and scoundrels; and the Princes themselves are credited not only with unworthy behaviour, but also with evil plots and designs.
"In any case," says Olivares, "they must both be separated from all their friends, and this voyage to Barcelona will offer a good opportunity for doing it without attracting public notice. Fernando," he continues, "is already kicking over the traces, and assuming airs on the strength of his going to Flanders; and the money he has command of is making him dangerous. He and Carlos are close friends, and their secret communications indicate an evil bent. Under the pretext of these Cortes in Barcelona your Majesty might get Fernando and his servants out of Madrid, saying that you wanted him to look after ecclesiastical affairs there, and the noble and university members of the Cortes, leaving him there when you return to deal with and close the assembly. Moscoso, who has a wife in Madrid and does not like travelling, would stay here, ... and if he was bold enough to disobey orders and try to join the Infante, we would soon find means to upset his projects. As for Don Carlos, when the Admiral is away from him, and the Prince absent, his household will assume a very different aspect. Seeing the musters of enemies on our frontiers and the dangers threatening us on every hand, it will be a good plan to send the (Catalan) nobles to their own estates, to see what troops they can raise, giving out that Fernando is to be their leader, surrounding him with greyheads to keep him more enclosed, and even imprisoned, for it is a grave crime for him to show annoyance as he does at your Majesty's orders.... So, Sire, if we get the Admiral away from here there will be a way to prevent him from returning, and the Infante Fernando may remain in Barcelona better occupied than he is now, whilst Carlos, quieter and in better frame of mind, may stay by your Majesty's side."
Philip and the Catalans