mind that by his project of toleration he was encouraging doctrines
which he had himself proved in his writings to be superstitious and
idolatrous. At this time moreover religious profession and political
freedom were most closely connected: all these penal laws which the
King was removing had been passed in Parliament, and were the work of
the legislative power as a whole. The Archbishop reminded the King in
conclusion that when he annulled the statutes of parliament by royal
proclamation, he created an impression that he thought himself at
liberty to trample on the laws of the land.[423]

The wishes of the King did not lean so decidedly in that direction as
people assumed. Buckingham and the Prince, who recommended him to take
the oath, remarked to him, among other observations, that his promise
that Parliament should repeal the penal laws against the Catholics
within three years would be fulfilled, if he merely exerted himself to
the extent of his strength for that object, even if it should prove
impossible to attain it.[424] In general everything was merely
preliminary, and depended on further agreement. The Prince entreated
his father to transmit to him the ratification of the articles, that
he might decline them or not according to circumstances. He even
wished that, in order to put an end to the dilatoriness of the
Spaniards, his father should make an express declaration that any
longer delay would compel him again to enforce the penal laws against
the Catholics.[425] All these announcements, which filled the
Catholics with joy and hope, but the Protestants with dejection,
mistrust, and anxiety, were however only political agencies, and were
intended to serve a definite end. The object was in the first instance
to put an end by this means to all delay in sending the Infanta to
England.

Although some religious scruples were still awake in the minds of the
Spaniards yet they presented no further obstacle. The conditions for
granting a dispensation which had been prescribed by the Pope to the
Spanish Court, had been accepted; the Spanish ambassadors had been
satisfied: the only question now was whether the Infanta should be
conveyed to England at once with the Prince on his return, or in the
following spring. As formerly the Tudors so now the Stuarts appeared
to be taking their position as a dynasty in Europe in connexion with
the Spanish monarchy.

Only one difficulty remained, that connected with the Palatina