he 3rd of November 1616. In 1620 he took up warmly the cause of his
sister the queen of Bohemia, and in 1621 he defended Bacon, using his
influence to prevent the chancellor's degradation from the peerage. The
prince's marriage with the infanta Maria, daughter of Philip III. of
Spain, had been for some time the subject of negotiation, James desiring
to obtain through Spanish support the restitution of his son-in-law,
Frederick, to the Palatinate; and in 1623 Charles was persuaded by
Buckingham, who now obtained a complete ascendancy over him in
opposition to wiser advisers and the king's own wishes, to make a secret
expedition himself to Spain, put an end to all formalities, and bring
home his mistress himself: "a gallant and brave thing for his Highness."
"Steenie" and "Baby Charles," as James called them, started on the 17th
of February, arriving at Paris on the 21st and at Madrid on the 7th of
March, where they assumed the unromantic names of Mr Smith, and Mr
Brown. They found the Spanish court by no means enthusiastic for the
marriage[1] and the princess herself averse. The prince's immediate
conversion was expected, and a complete religious tolerance for the
Roman Catholics in England demanded. James engaged to allow the infanta
the right of public worship and to use his influence to modify the law,
but Charles himself went much further. He promised the alteration of the
penal laws within three years, conceded the education of the children to
the mother till the age of twelve, and undertook to listen to the
infanta's priests in matters of religion, signing the marriage contract
on the 25th of July 1623. The Spanish, however, did not trust to words,
and Charles was informed that his wife could only follow him to England
when these promises were executed. Moreover, they had no intention
whatever of aiding the Protestant Frederick. Meanwhile Buckingham,
incensed at the failure of the expedition, had quarrelled with the
grandees, and Charles left Madrid, landing at Portsmouth on the 5th of
October, to the joy of the people, to whom the proposed alliance was
odious. He now with Buckingham urged James to make war on Spain, and in
December 1624 signed a marriage treaty with Henrietta Maria, daughter of
Henry IV. of France. In April Charles had declared solemnly to the
parliament that in case of his marriage to a Roman Catholic princess no
concessions should be granted to recusants, but these were in September
1624 deliberat