[37] He was but little above five feet in height, and, in the phrase of the time, a "Crouchback." King James, who was not a man of much delicacy in such matters, was fond of giving him nicknames in consequence. Cecil wrote to Sir Thomas Lake, October 24th, 1605: "I see nothing y^t I can doe, can procure me so much favor, as to be sure one whole day what title I shall have another. For from Essenden to Cranborne, from Cranborne to Salisbury, from Salisbury to Beagle, from Beagle to Thom Derry, from Thom Derry to Parret which I hate most, I have been so walked, as I think by y^t I come to Theobalds, I shall be called Tare or Sophie." (R.O. _Dom. James I._ xv. 105.) [38] _History_, i. 92. [39] In the same document James I. is spoken of as "the most judycious, learned, and rareste kinge, that ever this worlde produced." (R.O. _Dom. James I._ xxviii. 29.) [40] Digby to the King, S. P., _Spain_, Aug. 8. Gardiner, _History_, ii. 216. [41] At the trial of Essex, Cecil exclaimed, "I pray God to consume me where I stand, if I hate not the Spaniard as much as any man living." (Bruce, _Introduction to Secret Correspondence of Sir R. Cecil_, xxxiii.) Of the Spanish pension Mr. Gardiner, after endeavouring to show that originally Cecil's acceptance of it may have been comparatively innocent, thus continues (_History of England_, i. 216): "But it is plain that, even if this is the explanation of his original intentions, such a comparatively innocent connection with Spain soon extended itself to something worse, and that he consented to furnish the ambassadors, from time to time, with information on the policy and intentions of the English Government.... Of the persistence with which he exacted payment there can be no doubt whatever. Five years later, when the opposition between the two governments became more decided, he asked for an increase of his payments, and demanded that they should be made in large sums as each piece of information was given." At the same time it appears highly probable that he was similarly in the pay of France. _Ibid._ [42] Queen Elizabeth regarded as treasonable any discussion of the question of the succession. [43] Gardiner, i. 215. [44] _Chamberlain to Carleton_, July 9th, 1612, R.O. [45] "Tout ce que vous a dit le Comte de Salisbury touchant le mariage d'Espagne est rempli de deguisements et artifices à son accoutumée.... Toutefois, je ne veux pas jurer qu'ils négocient plus sincerement et de meilleur foi avec lesdites Espagnols qu'avec nous. Ils corromproient par trop leur naturel, s'ils le faisoient, pour des gens qui ne leur scauroient guère de gré."--Le Fèvre de la Boderie, _Ambassade_, i. 170. [46] (Of the Earl of Northumberland.) "On tient le Comte de Salisbury pour principal auteur de sa persécution, comme celui qui veut ne laisser personne en pied qui puisse lui faire tête." De la Boderie. _Ibid._ 178. [47] R.O. _Dom. James I._ lxix. 56.