194 THE CECILS
the present day. " It was," says Dr. Jessopp, 1 ' part of that vile system which his father had established, and into which he was perhaps forced, of employing every means that came to hand for obtaining information of the doings of the Catholics. That he gave any information, or that he ever betrayed the trust committed to him, there is not a tittle of evidence to show." This is not strictly true, for he certainly did give information, but of such a character that the Spanish Ambassadors continually complained that he was not keeping to his part of the bargain, and as the relations between the countries grew worse, the information became more and more confused. 2 He is said to have accepted a pension also from France, and it is probable that he was able, or thought he would be able, to do good services to both these friendly powers, and so to further the growth of good relations between them, without in any way betraying the interests of England.
These transactions are the more strange since we know from other sources that Salisbury was distinguished among his contemporaries for being impervious to bribes. " The heart of man," says Sir Walter Cope, " was never more free from baseness and bribes : he hated the bribe and the taker." 3
The corruption at Court in the early part of
1 Diet. Nat. Biog., IX. 402.
2 Gardiner, I. 216.
8 " Apology for Sir R. Cecil," etc. (Gutch, Collectanea Curiosa, I. 120).
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