Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 25.djvu/438

Henrietta Maria the sum of 125,000l. as that which might be employed in corrupting members of parliament (Barberini to Rossetti, 16–26 Jan. 1641, Record Office Transcripts). So ready was she to snatch at any method of turning the tables upon her adversaries that she now favoured the marriage of her eldest daughter Mary to Prince William of Orange, which she had discountenanced in the preceding summer, in the hope that the bridegroom would bring with him a sum of ready money which might be useful in organising resistance to parliament, or might even conduct a body of Dutch troops to the help of the king.

With these hopes before her, Henrietta Maria set at nought the wish of parliament to expel Rossetti, and again before the end of December pressed the pope for aid. She promised that though Charles could not himself become a catholic for fear of deposition, he would grant liberty of worship to the catholics of all his kingdoms (Rossetti to Barberini, 25 Dec.–4 Jan. 1641, Record Office Transcripts). Early in January, however, being apparently anxious to have two strings to her bow, the queen opened a negotiation with the parliamentary leaders, offering, as far as can be now known, to admit some of them to office if they would allow Rossetti to remain. As the negotiation came to nothing at the time, it may be inferred that the proposal was rejected. Before the end of the month she found her position so difficult that on the plea of ill-health she proposed to visit France in April. It is possible, too, that she was still calculating on a favourable answer from Rome, and judged it prudent to be out of the way when the explosion came.

The queen's motives are the more difficult to disentangle, as she was living in the midst of a web of intrigue, on which it is impossible to throw complete light. In the beginning of February she was again holding interviews with the parliamentary leaders and proposing office to them, and on the 4th she sent a civil message to the House of Commons. Early in March she learnt that Richelieu not only would hear nothing of her visit to France, but was determined not to help her in any way; and about the same time she was informed by Rossetti that nothing was to be had from the pope unless the king would change his religion. She therefore turned for help in another direction. Henry Jermyn was her man of business, in whom she had the strongest confidence, and he and Sir John Suckling suggested to her a plot for bringing up the English army in the north to support the king. On 23 March, before the plan could be matured, Strafford's trial began; the queen was constantly present, and the necessity of acting quickly appeared more urgent. The plot, however, met with unexpected obstacles. The queen intended that Goring should command the army as lieutenant-general, but on the 29th it appeared that the officers of the army would not place themselves under him. On 1 April Goring betrayed the plan to the parliamentary leaders. Pym kept the secret for some time, but his knowledge led to increased vigour in the proceedings against Strafford. The queen did her best to save him, and won over some of the peers to vote for saving his life, but she could not make up her mind to abide by constitutional pressure. On 19 April Prince William of Orange arrived, bringing with him a large sum of money, the exact amount of which cannot be ascertained. All kinds of violent plans were talked of, and when rumours of these plans got abroad they were always supposed to have their centre in the queen's court.

On 2 May the marriage of the Princess Mary was celebrated. The next morning it was known that attempts had been made to deliver Strafford with the help of armed men. All London was in a state of excitement, and on 5 May Pym revealed his knowledge of the army plot. On the 6th Jermyn, Suckling, and others fled beyond sea. On the 8th the bill for Strafford's attainder was read for a third time in the House of Lords. There were also rumours that a French fleet was on its way to invade England. The queen prepared to fly to Portsmouth, and it was widely believed that she wished to take refuge in France because Jermyn was her lover, and she could not bear to live without him. By the advice of Montreuil, the French agent, she refrained from leaving Whitehall. An angry mob gathered round the palace, calling out for Strafford's execution; and when on the 9th Charles gave his consent to it, he was able to excuse the act in his own eyes by the danger to which his wife and children were exposed (the Elector Palatine to the Queen of Bohemia, 18 May,, British Statesmen, vi. 71; the King to the Queen, 9–19 Feb., Charles I in 1646, Camd. Soc., p. 18).

The queen could no longer retain Rossetti in England. Before he left she again begged him, on 2 June, to obtain money—150,000l. was the sum she named—on any terms short of her husband's conversion. On the 26th she and the king had their last interview with him, in which she declared that as soon as the houses were adjourned the king would take measures for his own advantage (Rossetti to Barberini, 9–19 July, in Record Office