restoration of the father was by no means advisable; and that he ought
to be dealt with as the Duke of Saxony had been dealt with by Charles
V.[427] Olivarez carried the Council with him in favour of this
policy. The strictly Catholic point of view, which had been asserted
by the German line of the house of Austria, was again adopted as the
rule of policy in Spain.

This was a resolution that decided the destinies of Spain. That power
again renounced the policy of compromise which it had observed for a
quarter of a century. The young King Philip IV and his ambitious
favourite revived the designs of Philip II, or, as the former once
expressed it, of Charles V: to the restoration of Catholic ascendancy
in Germany they sacrificed the friendship of King James, which was of
inestimable advantage to the monarchy, inasmuch as it kept the coasts
of Spain free from all danger of attack from the English forces.[428]
Olivarez was too violent, too young, and too ill-informed to have any
clear conception of the influence of these relations.

But as in great transactions every step has consequences, it is clear
that the Spanish predilections of King James, and the policy founded
on them, were thus brought to an end. For maintaining these it was
necessary not only that they should be advantageous to the Catholics
in England, but that they should be equally serviceable to the
Protestant interests in Germany, which in the present instance were
his own: otherwise he would never have found rest again in his own
country, or his own family, or perhaps even in his own breast. He had
asked for the reinstatement of his son-in-law in the electorship as
well as in the possession of his hereditary dominions, or at least for
the hearty assistance of Spain in effecting this object.[429] And the
Prince of Wales shared these views. He once said to Count Olivarez
that, without the restoration of the Elector Palatine, the marriage
was impossible, and the friendship of England could not be expected.
The Spaniards did not think fit to impart to him the resolution which
had been taken in the Council of State; but still this implied a new
direction given to the course of affairs which could be followed
although it was not talked of. The Spaniards contented themselves with
dwelling on the necessity of sending the youthful Count Palatine to
Vienna for education: as to his father, who was under the ban, they
held out indeed a prospect of the restoration of