d hitherto undergone. The earl of Bristol, a minister of
vigilance and penetration, and who had formerly opposed all alliance
with Catholics,[*] was now fully convinced of the sincerity of Spain;
and he was ready to congratulate the king on the entire completion of
his views and projects.[**] A daughter of Spain, whom he represents
as extremely accomplished, would soon, he said, arrive in England, and
bring with her an immense fortune of two millions of pieces of eight,
or six hundred thousand pounds sterling; a sum four times greater than
Spain had ever before given with any princess, and almost equal to all
the money which the parliament, during the whole course of this reign,
had hitherto granted to the king. But what was of more importance
to James's honor and happiness, Bristol considered this match as an
infallible prognostic of the palatine's restoration; nor would Philip,
he thought, ever have bestowed his sister and so large a fortune, under
the prospect of entering next day into a war with England. So exact was
his intelligence, that the most secret counsels of the Spaniards, he
boasts, had never escaped him;[***] and he found that they had all
along considered the marriage of the infanta and the restitution of
the Palatinate as measures closely connected, or altogether
inseparable.[****]

* Rushworth, vol. i. p. 292.

** Rushworth, vol. i. p. 69.

*** Rushworth, vol. i. p. 272.

**** We find, by private letters between Philip IV. and the
Conde Oliarez, shown by the latter to Buckingham, that the
marriage and the restitution of the Palatinate were always
considered by the court of Spain as inseparable. See
Franklyn, p. 71, 72. Rushworth, vol. i. p. 71, 280, 299,
300. Parl. Hist. vol. vi. p. 66.

However little calculated James's character to extort so vast a
concession; however improper the measures which he had pursued for
attaining that end; the ambassador could not withstand the plain
evidence of facts, by which Philip now demonstrated his sincerity.
Perhaps, too, like a wise man, he considered, that reasons of state,
which are supposed solely to influence the councils of monarchs, are
not always the motives which there predominate; that the milder views
of gratitude, honor, friendship, generosity, are frequently able, among
princes as well as private persons, to counterbalance these selfish
considerations; that the justice and moderation of James had been