Page:The Works of Francis Bacon (1884) Volume 1.djvu/492

364 HISTORY OF KING HENRY VII. his country, and the weather being extraordinary foul and stormy, the earl returned into England. So that the expeditions on both parts were, in ef fect, but a castle taken, and a castle distressed ; not answerable to the puissance of the forces, nor to the heat of the quarrel, nor to the greatness of the expectation. Amongst these troubles, both civil and exter nal, came into England from Spain, Peter Hialas, some call him Elias, surely he was the forerunner of the good hap that we enjoy at this day ; for his embassage set the truce between England and Scotland ; the truce drew on the peace; the peace the marriage ; and the marriage the union of the kingdoms ; a man of great wisdom, and, as those times were, not unlearned ; sent from Ferdinando and Isabella, Kings of Spain, unto the king, to treat a marriage between Catharine, their second daughter, and Prince Arthur. This treaty was by him set in a very good way, and almost brought to perfection. But it so fell out by the way, that upon some conferences which he had with the king touching this business, the king, who had a great dexterity in getting suddenly into the bosom of ambassadors of foreign princes, if he liked the men ; insomuch as he would many times commu nicate with them of his own affairs, yea, and em ploy them in his service, fell into speech and dis course incidently, concerning the ending of the debates and differences with Scotland. For the king naturally did not love the barren wars with Scotland, though he made his profit of the noise of them. And he wanted not in the council of Scotland, those that would advise their king to meet him at the half way, and to give over the war with England ; pretending to be good patriots, but indeed favouring the affairs of the king. Only his heart was too great to begin with Scotland for the motion of peace. On the other side, he had met with an ally of Ferdinando of Arragon, as fit for his turn as could be. For after that King Ferdinando had, upon assured confidence of the marriage to succeed, taken upon him the person of a fraternal ally to the king, he would not let, in a Spanish gravity, to counsel the king in his own affairs. And the king, on his part, not being wanting to himself, but making use of every man s humours, made his advantage of this in such things as he thought either not decent, or not pleasant to proceed from himself; putting them off as done by the counsel of Ferdinando. Wherefore he was content that Hialas, as in a matter moved and advised from Hialas himself, should go into Scotland, to treat of a concord be tween the two kings. Hialas took it upon him, and coming to the Scottish king, after he had with much art brought King James to hearken to the more safe and quietcounsels, wrote unto the king, mat he hoped that peace would with no great difficulty cement and close, if he would send some <vjse and temperate counsellor of his own, that might treat of the conditions. Whereupon tins king directed Bishop Fox, who at that time was at his castle of Norham, to confer with Hialas and they b/nh to treat with some commissioners deputed from the Scottish king. The commission ers on both sides met. But after much dispute upon the articles and conditions of peace, pro pounded upon either part, they could not conclude a peace. The chief impediment thereof was the demand of the king to have Perkin delivered into his hands, as a reproach to all kings, and a person not protected by the law of nations. The King of Scotland, on the other side, peremptorily denied so to do, saying, that he, for his part, was no competent judge of Perkin s title : but that he had received him as a suppliant, protected him as a person fled for refuge, espoused him with his kinswoman, and aided him with arms, upon the belief that he was a prince; and therefore that he could not now with his honour so unrip, and, in a sort, put a lie upon all that he had said and done before, as to deliver him up to his enemies. The bishop, likewise, who had cer tain proud instructions from the king, at the least in the front, though there were a pliant clause at the foot, that remitted all to the bishop s discre tion, and required him by no means to break off in ill terms, after that he had failed to obtain the delivery of Perkin, did move a second point of his instructions, which was, that the Scottish king would give the king an interview in person at Newcastle. But this being reported to the Scot tish king, his answer was, that he meant to treat a peace, and not to go a begging for it. The bishop also, according to another article of his in structions, demanded restitution of the spoils taken by the Scottish, or damages for the same. But the Scottish commissioners answered, that that was but as water spilt upon the ground, which could not be gotten up again; and that the king s people were better able to bear the loss than their master to repair it. But in the end, as persons capable of reason, on both sides they made rather a kind of recess than a breach of treaty, and concluded upon a truce for some months following. But the King of Scotland, though he would not formally retract his judg ment of Perkin, wherein he had engaged himself so far; yet in his private opinion, upon often speech with the Englishmen, and divers other ad vertisements, began to suspect him for a counter feit. Wherefore in a noble fashion he called him unto him, and recounted the benefits and favours that he had done him in making him his ally, and in provoking a mighty and opulent king by an offensive war in his quarrel, for the space of two years together ; nay more, that he had refused an honourable peace, whereof he had a fair offer, if he would have delivered him ; and that, to keep his promise with him, he had deeply offended both his nobles and people whom hu might not