such freedoms.

Besides, it was soon found that the characters of these high-born
visitors, especially that of Buckingham, were corrupt, and their lives
very irregular. Buckingham was accustomed to treat King James in a
very bold, familiar, and imperious manner, and he fell insensibly into
the same habits of intercourse with those about him in Spain. The
little reserve and caution which he manifested at first soon wore off,
and he began to be very generally disliked. In the mean time the
negotiation was, as Bristol had expected, very much put back by the
prince's arrival. The King of Spain formed new plans, and thought of
new conditions to impose. The Catholics, too, thought that Charles's
coming thus into a Catholic country, indicated some leaning, on his
part, toward the Catholic faith. The pope actually wrote him a long
letter, the object of which was to draw him off from the ranks of
Protestantism. Charles wrote a civil, but rather an evasive reply.

In the mean time, King James wrote childish letters from time to time
to his two dear boys, as he called them, and he sent them a great many
presents of jewelry and splendid dresses, some for them to wear
themselves, and some for the prince to offer as gifts to the Infanta.
Among these, he describes, in one of his letters, a little mirror, set
in a case which was to be worn hung at the girdle. He wrote to Charles
that when he gave this mirror to the Infanta, he must tell her that it
was a picture which he had had imbued with magical virtue by means of
incantations and charms, so that whenever she looked into it, she
would see a portrait of the most beautiful princess in England,
France, or Spain.

At last the great obstacle in the way of the conclusion of the treaty
of marriage, which consisted in the delays and difficulties in getting
the pope's dispensation, was removed. The dispensation came. But then
the King of Spain wanted some new guarantees in respect to the
privileges of Catholics in England, under pretense of securing more
perfectly the rights of the Infanta and of her attendants when they
should have arrived in that country. The truth was, he probably wished
to avail himself of the occasion to gain some foothold for the
Catholic faith in England, which country had become almost entirely
Protestant. At length, however, all obstacles seemed to be removed,
and the treaty was signed. The news of it was received with great joy
in England, as it seemed to secure