Ruy Gómez de Silva a Francisco de Eraso (Extracto)

London,

. . . . . Things are drifting on here where religion is concerned; and as for political passions, they are so common and open that we no longer pay any attention.

I do not want to injure anyone, but I fear our ambassador's attitude has not always been wise, for from what we have been able to make out, he has taken sides for one of the parties here, and as his influence with the Queen is great he is able to be of use to some and do serious harm to others. The result is that those who are out of favour are resentful, and one of them is Paget, who, as the ambassador himself confesses, helped him more than anyone else during the marriage negotiations. The King has already done much to remedy this, and so may God be pleased to grant us skill!

I believe I have already written to you that these folk have split up into two new factions, one for the King and the other for the Queen; but the King is so gracious with all of them that he keeps them pleased with themselves.

Let the Emperor keep on writing to his son and urging him to persevere in this undertaking. As I wrote to you, the Queen is a good soul, but not as able as we were led to suppose—I mean as a stateswoman. The ambassador, far from succeeding in affairs here, gets everything into a muddle, and whereas he ought to be lighting us on our way he has plunged us into darkness. However, I do not blame him, but rather the person (fn. 5) who sent a man of his small attainments to conduct so capital an affair as this match, instead of entrusting it to a Spaniard.

Holograph. Spanish.