CAMEO Conduct of Buckingham. 1623. scrambled over a high wall and leaped down before her. Taken by surprise, Maria Althea screamed and ran away, and the old Marquess, who was in attendance, fell on his knees and begged the Prince to go away, since his own head would be in danger if he permitted an interview. The correspondence with the Pope was suddenly ended by the death of Gregory XV. in July, 1623. Cardinal Barberini was elected only eleven days later, and took the name of Urban VIII. He wrote to Charles, offering him a dispensation if he would return to the faith of his forefathers, probably thinking the Prince had been long enough in Spain to be converted. Yet it does not appear that he attended at any of the Spanish services, or gave ear to any arguments, though attempts were made on his suite through the many exiles. Sir Edmund Verney, finding a priest sitting by the sick-bed of one of the Prince's pages, fairly boxed the ears of the dangerous visitor. The hopes that any steps would be taken for the restoration of the Palatinate melted away, and the Pope on the one hand, and the Spanish Court on the other, became more and more convinced that whatever the English King and his son might wish, their people would never consent to liberty of conscience for the Roman Catholics. There was delay upon delay, and very hard it was to tell what was any one's real purpose or wish. James had made large presents to the Infanta, and prepared a fleet to bring her home, yet when it was proposed to celebrate the marriage at Madrid at once, and send the Princess and her dower to England in the spring, after the promises of toleration to the Romanists had been carried out, he hung back and would have nothing done. The dispensation did not come, and Charles remembered the Queen's words that there was no serious intention of permitting the marriage, and he became very anxious to get away. Moreover, Buckingham, always a spoilt child, was, when the novelty wore off, perfectly unmanageable in his weariness of the etiquette of Spanish state. The King had made him a Duke, that he might be on a level with the Spanish grandees, but they knew very well that he was only the son of a country knight, and rank conferred was nothing in their eyes compared with inherited nobility. Moreover, he was absolutely devoid of the training in dignity and good breeding that would have fallen to a scion of the old English noble families; and the more he was bored by the formalities of a Court where the King might not move his chair for himself, the more he displayed his familiarity with royalty, lolling about in deshabille in the Prince's room and using all the foolish nicknames for Baby Charles that were the fashion at home, and keeping his hat on even when the Prince was bareheaded. This disgusted the Spaniards extremely, and Philip began seriously to think that the influence of such a man would be a serious impediment to his sister's peace. Lord Bristol expostulated in vain, and sent warnings home of the mischief that this behaviour was doing, and at the same time, letters from home assured Buckingham that he would lose influence over King James if he did not return to reassert his power. Charles and the favourite therefore determined to leave Madrid. Charles told Philip that his father required him at home, but gave authority, as soon as the dispensation arrived, to his namesake Don Carlos to espouse the Infanta by proxy. There was a grand leave-taking, and exchange of presents. Charles gave to the Infanta a diamond anchor, to the Queen a pair of earrings, and to the King a jewelled sword-hilt. He received in return many splendid gifts, in especial some fine pictures by Titian and other great Italian masters; also some curiously-worked sedan-chairs. Buckingham had already sent the King a live elephant, four camels, and some of the handsome Spanish asses, and watched for "birds of rare colour to present to her Majesty." There was a celebrated nun at Carrion of high reputation for sanctity, and Maria Althea gave Charles a letter written with her own hand to deliver to this saintly person; and he then took leave, with as much of the air of a lover as could be shown to a lady kept at such a distance. The King went with the English party to the Escurial, and after several days spent there, Charles proceeded, escorted by Gondomar, had his interview with the nun ; and arrived at Sant Andero, where, after being nearly drowned in reaching it, he found himself safely on board an English ship, to his great joy. He safely arrived at Portsmouth, and was received with bonfires, ringing of bells, and rapturous joy by the people on his way to London, where the King was enchanted to receive him. They seem to have agreed that the whole scheme was a failure. Only a fortnight after Charles's departure, the dispensation from the Pope actually arrived, but in the midst of the preparations for the marriage by proxy, there came a courier from England, declaring that it was not to be proceeded with unless the Palatinate were restored, or at any rate the King of Spain should take up arms for its restoration. Charles had left a letter behind measures till he heard from him for Bristol, bidding him take no England. Philip, whether he had been sincere or not, felt himself dishonourably treated. All was anger on both sides; the ambassadors were recalled, and James found himself on the brink of his greatest dread, a war with Spain. CAMÃO Return of 1623. CAMEO XIV. THE RUIN OF THE PALATINATE. (1621-1624.) CAMEO Causes of the Thirty Years' War. THE Thirty Years' War had fairly begun. It arose from many more causes than the mere attempt of Frederick of the Rhine to gain Bohemia, though that enterprise was the spark which set fire to the train. The fact was, that the Roman Catholic Church had acquiesced tacitly in her losses in Germany during the calm and conciliatory reigns of Ferdinand I. and Maximilian II., but that she had now recruited her strength and become aggressive, endeavouring to recover the ground that had been relinquished, while the Protestants were determined to resist. They knew that the Emperor Ferdinand II. was an ardent Catholic, and prepared to consider himself as much the champion of his Church as Philip II. had been, and that his main object was to recover those prince bishoprics which had been secularised, and were held by Lutherans who bore the title of Bishop without being in Holy Orders at all. A hundred years' possession and inheritance made the holders feel as if they had a right to these; and the two leagues, Protestant and Catholic, were full of mutual defiance, But Johann Georg, Elector of Saxony, was jealous of the Elector Palatine, and had not been gratified at his assumption of a crown. Besides, Frederick's Calvinism was almost as displeasing to Lutherans as Romanism itself. So the Protestant Union accepted the assurance of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria, the head of the Catholic League, that there was no intention of resuming the secularised bishoprics provided the Protestants kept the peace, and it promised neutrality, so that the advance of Maximilian and Count Tilly into Bohemia was unmolested in the rear. The Marquis Ambrogio Spinola, an able Italian subject of Spain, was in command of the armies of the Low Countries, in union, of course, with Austria. His presence further overawed the union, and Frederick, as a rebel, was put to the ban of the Empire on January 2nd, 1621, and on the 12th of April a treaty was signed at Mentz, by which the union dissolved itself, and agreed to withdraw the troops that were protecting the Palatinate. Thus it was left to its fate, and the only army that Frederick could reckon as belonging to his cause, was that of Count Mansfeld, who still held two towns in Bohemia, and a regiment of English volunteers, under Sir Horace Vere, in the Palatinate. King James was trying to mediate, but would do no more, though he wrote very affectionate letters, which encouraged his daughter and her husband with vain hopes, while they remained at the Hague, and their Flemish neighbours derided them. At Antwerp a play was acted, in which a courier being asked what succours the Palsgrave would have, replied that he would have a huge army, for the King of Denmark would send him 100,000; the Dutch, 100,000; the King of England, 100,000, and being asked of what these numbers consisted, he replied 100,000 herrings, 100,000 cheeses, and 100,000 ambassadors; of which, in truth, James I. was most liberal, for he had already sent five in two years to Vienna. Spinola already held the part of the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine. His army, though hostile, was not so terrible as that of Mansfeld, because they had some sort of pay, and were kept in some species of discipline, whereas the bands of the Protestant general received no pay at all, and had to live on what they could seize from the country round, so that they were as terrible to their friends as to their enemies. In fact, the soldiers of the Thirty Years' War were a race apart, such as, it may be hoped, may never be seen again. The gradual change in warfare effected by gunpowder was by this time complete; and the fire of large masses of infantry had become more effective than the charges of knights in heavy armour. In fact, the knight, with his personal attendants, had become a thing of the past, and with him, those golden visions of chivalry, whose decay Cervantes was at this very time showing up in his masterpiece of melancholy irony, Don Quixote. It had been knighthood with its code of honour, defective though it were, and often ill-followed, which gave the only softening to warfare. The mercenaries, whether called Free Lances, Free Companions, or Landsknechts, had always been a scourge, happily unknown in England, save under John, but they had swarmed over France all through the Hundred Years' War; the condottieri of Italy had hired out such bands, the German landsknechts and the Swiss infantry had ever since sold their arms and their courage; and in Germany there was no lack of such warriors. These soldiers were formed in troops or companies, which together made up a regiment. Ten companies of three hundred men apiece was the proper amount for the infantry, but the full number of men was seldom reached ; and cavalry regiments were supposed to have from five hundred to a thousand men in them, but they were not thought of nearly so much consequence as the heavy infantry. The modern military titles had come into use. The commander of a regiment received his САМЕО XIV. Ban of the 1621. CAMEO The Officers. commission direct from the crown (corona), and therefore was called in Spanish coronel, which in French and thence in English became colonel, though English pronunciation preserved the original r, while the Germans kept to their native tongue, and termed him Oberste. Under him he had his lieutenant-colonel and major, the last being the chief of the captains, so that there might be some one to take the command if the superior officer were killed or wounded. The captains had a great deal of power, and were supposed to be a sort of fathers to their men, whom they themselves hired and paid with the money received from the colonel (when there was any to receive). The captain rode on the march, but in time of battle went on foot, carrying the same weapon as his soldiers used, whether pike or musket. The lieutenants were ready to take the captain's place in his absence, or to lead the company, in case he were struck down. The ensign had the charge of the banner of the regiment. He was sometimes called the Ancient, as was also the banner. There is a question whether the name was enseigne mispronounced, whether it were really ancient and given because of the antiquity of the badge or whether because a strong, tall, powerful man being requisite, he was in those days often one of the veterans, though later custom made the ensigncy the first grade of commissioned officers. There was one general standard for the whole regiment, generally with some allegorical picture painted on it, and each company had its own banner. These banners were of the colours of the regiment, in different combinations, so that each man might know his own, as for instance black and yellow might be in stripes, perpendicular, horizontal, transverse, in squares, in lozenges, and one bordering the other &c., and the regiments, were often called by the names of their banners, not of their uniforms, for these had scarcely come in, except that the officers would wear scarfs of the colour of the cause they espoused. The banner was solemnly delivered to a new ensign, by the colonel, with the words "As your bride or your own daughter, from the right hand to the left; and if both your arms should be shot off, you should take it with your mouth; and if you cannot preserve it thus, wrap yourself therein, commit yourself to God, so to be slain, and die as an honourable man." This oath was generally admirably kept, and the spirit of it has survived to this very day. The ensign never quitted the banner without special permission, and always slept close to it, and wherever he bore it in battle, the company was bound to follow. On a march and in camp, no soldier was allowed to roam out of sight of the colours without permission, and to flee from them in battle was death. There was a provost-marshal to each regiment, who acted as accuser before a court-martial of forty men, both officers and soldiers, and if an offence were adjudged worthy of death, the criminal was slain by the weapons of his |