nturies, except when they served as instruments of
royal vengeance. The earl of Middlesex had been raised, by Buckingham's
interest, from the rank of a London merchant, to be treasurer of
England; and, by his activity and address, seemed not unworthy of
that preferment. But, as he incurred the displeasure of his patron,
by scrupling or refusing some demands of money during the prince's
residence in Spain, that favorite vowed revenge, and employed all his
credit among the commons to procure an impeachment of the treasurer. The
king was extremely dissatisfied with this measure, and prophesied to
the prince and duke, that they would live to have their fill of
parliamentary prosecutions.[*] In a speech to the parliament, he
endeavored to apologize for Middlesex, and to soften the accusation
against him.[**] The charge, however, was still maintained by the
commons; and the treasurer was found guilty by the peers, though the
misdemeanors proved against him were neither numerous nor important. The
accepting of two presents of five hundred pounds apiece, for passing
two patents, was the article of greatest weight. His sentence was, to
be fined fifty thousand pounds for the king's-use, and to suffer all the
other penalties formerly inflicted upon Bacon. The fine was afterwards
remitted by the prince, when he mounted the throne.

This session, an address was also made, very disagreeable to the king,
craving the severe execution of the laws against Catholics. His
answer was gracious and condescending;[***] though he declared against
persecution, as being an improper measure for the suppression of any
religion, according to the received maxim, "That the blood of the
martyrs was the seed of the church." He also condemned an entire
indulgence of the Catholics; and seemed to represent a middle course as
the most humane and most politic. He went so far as even to affirm
with an oath, that he never had entertained any thoughts of granting a
toleration to these religionists.[****] The liberty of exercising
their worship in private houses, which he had secretly agreed to in the
Spanish treaty, did not appear to him deserving that name; and it was
probably by means of this explication, he thought that he had saved his
honor. And as Buckingham, in his narrative,[v] confessed that the king
had agreed to a temporary suspension of the penal laws against the
Catholics, which he distinguished from a toleration, (a term at that
time extremely odi