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Deep Learning Toolbox™
Getting Started Guide

Mark Hudson Beale

Martin T. Hagan
Howard B. Demuth

R2021b
How to Contact MathWorks

Latest news: www.mathworks.com

Sales and services: www.mathworks.com/sales_and_services

User community: www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral

Technical support: www.mathworks.com/support/contact_us

Phone: 508-647-7000

The MathWorks, Inc.

1 Apple Hill Drive
Natick, MA 01760-2098
Deep Learning Toolbox™ Getting Started Guide
© COPYRIGHT 1992–2021 by The MathWorks, Inc.
The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used or copied
only under the terms of the license agreement. No part of this manual may be photocopied or reproduced in any form
without prior written consent from The MathWorks, Inc.
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more information.
Revision History
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 Contents

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Getting Started
1
Deep Learning Toolbox Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

Get Started with Deep Network Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

Classify Image Using Pretrained Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15

Get Started with Transfer Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17

Create Simple Image Classification Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-26

Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network

Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-29

Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network

Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-34

Shallow Networks for Pattern Recognition, Clustering and Time Series

......................................................... 1-40
Shallow Network Apps and Functions in Deep Learning Toolbox . . . . . . . 1-40
Deep Learning Toolbox Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-41
Shallow Neural Network Design Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-42

Fit Data with a Shallow Neural Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-44

Defining a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-44
Fit Data Using the Neural Net Fitting App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-44
Fit Data Using Command-Line Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-53

Classify Patterns with a Shallow Neural Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-61

Defining a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-61
Classify Patterns Using the Neural Net Pattern Recognition App . . . . . . . 1-62
Classify Patterns Using Command-Line Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-68

v
 Cluster Data with a Self-Organizing Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-75
Defining a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-75
Cluster Data Using the Neural Net Clustering App . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-75
Cluster Data Using Command-Line Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-81

Shallow Neural Network Time-Series Prediction and Modeling . . . . . . . 1-88

Time Series Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-88
Defining a Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-89
Fit Time Series Data Using the Neural Net Time Series App . . . . . . . . . . 1-89
Fit Time Series Data Using Command-Line Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-97

Train Shallow Networks on CPUs and GPUs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-107

Parallel Computing Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-107
Parallel CPU Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-107
GPU Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-108
Multiple GPU/CPU Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-108
Cluster Computing with MATLAB Parallel Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-108
Load Balancing, Large Problems, and Beyond . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-109

Sample Data Sets for Shallow Neural Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-110

Shallow Neural Networks Glossary

vi Contents
Acknowledgments

vii
Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the following people:

Joe Hicklin of MathWorks for getting Howard into neural network research years ago at the
University of Idaho, for encouraging Howard and Mark to write the toolbox, for providing crucial help
in getting the first toolbox Version 1.0 out the door, for continuing to help with the toolbox in many
ways, and for being such a good friend.

Roy Lurie of MathWorks for his continued enthusiasm.

Mary Ann Freeman of MathWorks for general support and for her leadership of a great team of
people we enjoy working with.

Rakesh Kumar of MathWorks for cheerfully providing technical and practical help, encouragement,
ideas and always going the extra mile for us.

Alan LaFleur of MathWorks for facilitating our documentation work.

Stephen Vanreusel of MathWorks for help with testing.

Dan Doherty of MathWorks for marketing support and ideas.

Orlando De Jesús of Oklahoma State University for his excellent work in developing and
programming the dynamic training algorithms described in “Time Series and Dynamic Systems” and
in programming the neural network controllers described in “Neural Network Control Systems”.

Martin T. Hagan, Howard B. Demuth, and Mark Hudson Beale for permission to include various
problems, examples, and other material from Neural Network Design, January, 1996.

viii
 1

Getting Started

• “Deep Learning Toolbox Product Description” on page 1-2

• “Get Started with Deep Network Designer” on page 1-3
• “Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code” on page 1-13
• “Classify Image Using Pretrained Network” on page 1-15
• “Get Started with Transfer Learning” on page 1-17
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network” on page 1-26
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-34
• “Shallow Networks for Pattern Recognition, Clustering and Time Series” on page 1-40
• “Fit Data with a Shallow Neural Network” on page 1-44
• “Classify Patterns with a Shallow Neural Network” on page 1-61
• “Cluster Data with a Self-Organizing Map” on page 1-75
• “Shallow Neural Network Time-Series Prediction and Modeling” on page 1-88
• “Train Shallow Networks on CPUs and GPUs” on page 1-107
• “Sample Data Sets for Shallow Neural Networks” on page 1-110
1 Getting Started

Deep Learning Toolbox Product Description

Design, train, and analyze deep learning networks

Deep Learning Toolbox provides a framework for designing and implementing deep neural networks
with algorithms, pretrained models, and apps. You can use convolutional neural networks (ConvNets,
CNNs) and long short-term memory (LSTM) networks to perform classification and regression on
image, time-series, and text data. You can build network architectures such as generative adversarial
networks (GANs) and Siamese networks using automatic differentiation, custom training loops, and
shared weights. With the Deep Network Designer app, you can design, analyze, and train networks
graphically. The Experiment Manager app helps you manage multiple deep learning experiments,
keep track of training parameters, analyze results, and compare code from different experiments. You
can visualize layer activations and graphically monitor training progress.

You can exchange models with TensorFlow™ and PyTorch through the ONNX™ format and import
models from TensorFlow-Keras and Caffe. The toolbox supports transfer learning with DarkNet-53,
ResNet-50, NASNet, SqueezeNet and many other pretrained models.

You can speed up training on a single- or multiple-GPU workstation (with Parallel Computing
Toolbox™), or scale up to clusters and clouds, including NVIDIA® GPU Cloud and Amazon EC2® GPU
instances (with MATLAB® Parallel Server™).

1-2
 Get Started with Deep Network Designer

Get Started with Deep Network Designer

This example shows how to use Deep Network Designer to adapt a pretrained GoogLeNet network to
classify a new collection of images. This process is called transfer learning and is usually much faster
and easier than training a new network, because you can apply learned features to a new task using a
smaller number of training images. To prepare a network for transfer learning interactively, use Deep
Network Designer.

Extract Data for Training

In the workspace, unzip the data.

unzip('MerchData.zip');

Select a Pretrained Network

Open Deep Network Designer.

deepNetworkDesigner

Load a pretrained GoogLeNet network by selecting it from the Deep Network Designer Start Page. If
you need to download the network, then click Install to open the Add-On Explorer.

Deep Network Designer displays a zoomed-out view of the whole network. Explore the network plot.
To zoom in with the mouse, use Ctrl+scroll wheel.

1-3
1 Getting Started

Load Data Set

To load the data into Deep Network Designer, on the Data tab, click Import Data > Import Image
Data. The Import Image Data dialog box opens.

In the Data source list, select Folder. Click Browse and select the extracted MerchData folder.

The dialog box also allows you to split the validation data from within the app. Divide the data into
70% training data and 30% validation data.

Specify augmentation operations to perform on the training images. For this example, apply a random
reflection in the x-axis, a random rotation from the range [-90,90] degrees, and a random rescaling
from the range [1,2].

1-4
 Get Started with Deep Network Designer

Click Import to import the data into Deep Network Designer.

Using Deep Network Designer, you can visually inspect the distribution of the training and validation
data in the Data tab. You can see that, in this example, there are five classes in the data set. You can
also view random observations from each class.

1-5
1 Getting Started

Deep Network Designer resizes the images during training to match the network input size. To view
the network input size, in the Designer tab, click the imageInputLayer. This network has an input
size of 224-by-224.

Edit Network for Transfer Learning

To retrain a pretrained network to classify new images, replace the last learnable layer and the final
classification layer with new layers adapted to the new data set. In GoogLeNet, these layers have the
names 'loss3-classifier' and 'output', respectively.

1-6
 Get Started with Deep Network Designer

In the Designer tab, drag a new fullyConnectedLayer from the Layer Library onto the canvas.
Set OutputSize to the number of classes in the new data, in this example, 5.

Edit learning rates to learn faster in the new layers than in the transferred layers. Set
WeightLearnRateFactor and BiasLearnRateFactor to 10. Delete the last fully connected layer
and connect your new layer instead.

Replace the output layer. Scroll to the end of the Layer Library and drag a new
classificationLayer onto the canvas. Delete the original output layer and connect your new
layer instead.

1-7
1 Getting Started

Check Network

Check your network by clicking Analyze. The network is ready for training if Deep Learning Network
Analyzer reports zero errors.

1-8
 Get Started with Deep Network Designer

Train Network

To train the network with the default settings, on the Training tab, click Train.

If you want greater control over the training, click Training Options and choose the settings to train
with. The default training options are better suited for large data sets. For small data sets, use
smaller values for the mini-batch size and the validation frequency. For more information on selecting
training options, see trainingOptions.

For this example, set InitialLearnRate to 0.0001, ValidationFrequency to 5, and MaxEpochs to

8. As there are 55 observations, set MiniBatchSize to 11 to divide the training data evenly and
ensure the whole training set is used during each epoch.

1-9
1 Getting Started

To train the network with the specified training options, click Close and then click Train.

Deep Network Designer allows you to visualize and monitor the training progress. You can then edit
the training options and retrain the network, if required.

1-10
 Get Started with Deep Network Designer

Export Results from Training

To export the results from training, on the Training tab, select Export > Export Trained Network
and Results. Deep Network Designer exports the trained network as the variable
trainedNetwork_1 and the training info as the variable trainInfoStruct_1.

You can also generate MATLAB code, which recreates the network and the training options used. On
the Training tab, select Export > Generate Code for Training.

Test Trained Network

Select a new image to classify using the trained network.

I = imread("MerchDataTest.jpg");

Resize the test image to match the network input size.

I = imresize(I, [224 224]);

Classify the test image using the trained network.

[YPred,probs] = classify(trainedNetwork_1,I);
imshow(I)
label = YPred;
title(string(label) + ", " + num2str(100*max(probs),3) + "%");

1-11
1 Getting Started

For more information, including on other pretrained networks, see Deep Network Designer.

See Also
Deep Network Designer

More About
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29
• “Build Networks with Deep Network Designer”
• “Deep Learning Tips and Tricks”
• “List of Deep Learning Layers”

1-12
 Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code

Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code

This example shows how to use deep learning to identify objects on a live webcam using only 10 lines
of MATLAB code. Try the example to see how simple it is to get started with deep learning in
MATLAB.

1 Run these commands to get the downloads if needed, connect to the webcam, and get a
pretrained neural network.

camera = webcam; % Connect to the camera

net = alexnet; % Load the neural network

If you need to install the webcam and alexnet add-ons, a message from each function appears
with a link to help you download the free add-ons using Add-On Explorer. Alternatively, see Deep
Learning Toolbox Model for AlexNet Network and MATLAB Support Package for USB Webcams.

After you install Deep Learning Toolbox Model for AlexNet Network, you can use it to classify
images. AlexNet is a pretrained convolutional neural network (CNN) that has been trained on
more than a million images and can classify images into 1000 object categories (for example,
keyboard, mouse, coffee mug, pencil, and many animals).
2 Run the following code to show and classify live images. Point the webcam at an object and the
neural network reports what class of object it thinks the webcam is showing. It will keep
classifying images until you press Ctrl+C. The code resizes the image for the network using
imresize.

while true
im = snapshot(camera); % Take a picture
image(im); % Show the picture
im = imresize(im,[227 227]); % Resize the picture for alexnet
label = classify(net,im); % Classify the picture
title(char(label)); % Show the class label
drawnow
end

In this example, the network correctly classifies a coffee mug. Experiment with objects in your
surroundings to see how accurate the network is.

1-13
1 Getting Started

To watch a video of this example, see Deep Learning in 11 Lines of MATLAB Code.

To learn how to extend this example and show the probability scores of classes, see “Classify
Webcam Images Using Deep Learning”.

For next steps in deep learning, you can use the pretrained network for other tasks. Solve new
classification problems on your image data with transfer learning or feature extraction. For
examples, see “Start Deep Learning Faster Using Transfer Learning” and “Train Classifiers Using
Features Extracted from Pretrained Networks”. To try other pretrained networks, see
“Pretrained Deep Neural Networks”.

See Also
trainNetwork | trainingOptions | alexnet

More About
• “Classify Webcam Images Using Deep Learning”
• “Classify Image Using Pretrained Network” on page 1-15
• “Get Started with Transfer Learning” on page 1-17
• “Transfer Learning with Deep Network Designer”
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network” on page 1-26
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-34

1-14
 Classify Image Using Pretrained Network

Classify Image Using Pretrained Network

This example shows how to classify an image using the pretrained deep convolutional neural network
GoogLeNet.

GoogLeNet has been trained on over a million images and can classify images into 1000 object
categories (such as keyboard, coffee mug, pencil, and many animals). The network has learned rich
feature representations for a wide range of images. The network takes an image as input, and then
outputs a label for the object in the image together with the probabilities for each of the object
categories.

Load Pretrained Network

Load the pretrained GoogLeNet network. You can also choose to load a different pretrained network
for image classification. This step requires the Deep Learning Toolbox™ Model for GoogLeNet
Network support package. If you do not have the required support packages installed, then the
software provides a download link.

net = googlenet;

Read and Resize Image

The image that you want to classify must have the same size as the input size of the network. For
GoogLeNet, the network input size is the InputSize property of the image input layer.

Read the image that you want to classify and resize it to the input size of the network. This resizing
slightly changes the aspect ratio of the image.

I = imread("peppers.png");
inputSize = net.Layers(1).InputSize;
I = imresize(I,inputSize(1:2));

Classify and Display Image

Classify and display the image with the predicted label.

label = classify(net,I);
figure
imshow(I)
title(string(label))

1-15
1 Getting Started

For a more detailed example showing how to also display the top predictions with their associated
probabilities, see “Classify Image Using GoogLeNet”.

For next steps in deep learning, you can use the pretrained network for other tasks. Solve new
classification problems on your image data with transfer learning or feature extraction. For examples,
see “Start Deep Learning Faster Using Transfer Learning” and “Train Classifiers Using Features
Extracted from Pretrained Networks”. To try other pretrained networks, see “Pretrained Deep Neural
Networks”.

References

1 Szegedy, Christian, Wei Liu, Yangqing Jia, Pierre Sermanet, Scott Reed, Dragomir Anguelov,
Dumitru Erhan, Vincent Vanhoucke, and Andrew Rabinovich. "Going deeper with convolutions."
In Proceedings of the IEEE conference on computer vision and pattern recognition, pp. 1-9. 2015.
2 BVLC GoogLeNet Model. https://github.com/BVLC/caffe/tree/master/models/bvlc_googlenet

See Also
googlenet | classify | Deep Network Designer

More About
• “Classify Image Using GoogLeNet”
• “Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code” on page 1-13
• “Get Started with Transfer Learning” on page 1-17
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29
• “Transfer Learning with Deep Network Designer”
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network” on page 1-26
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-34

1-16
 Get Started with Transfer Learning

Get Started with Transfer Learning

This example shows how to use transfer learning to retrain SqueezeNet, a pretrained convolutional
neural network, to classify a new set of images. Try this example to see how simple it is to get started
with deep learning in MATLAB®.

Transfer learning is commonly used in deep learning applications. You can take a pretrained network
and use it as a starting point to learn a new task. Fine-tuning a network with transfer learning is
usually much faster and easier than training a network with randomly initialized weights from
scratch. You can quickly transfer learned features to a new task using a smaller number of training
images.

Extract Data

In the workspace, extract the MathWorks Merch data set. This is a small data set containing 75
images of MathWorks merchandise, belonging to five different classes (cap, cube, playing cards,
screwdriver, and torch).

unzip("MerchData.zip");

Load Pretrained Network

Open Deep Network Designer.

deepNetworkDesigner

Select SqueezeNet from the list of pretrained networks and click Open.

1-17
1 Getting Started

Deep Network Designer displays a zoomed-out view of the whole network.

1-18
 Get Started with Transfer Learning

Explore the network plot. To zoom in with the mouse, use Ctrl+scroll wheel. To pan, use the arrow
keys, or hold down the scroll wheel and drag the mouse. Select a layer to view its properties.
Deselect all layers to view the network summary in the Properties pane.

Import Data

To load the data into Deep Network Designer, on the Data tab, click Import Data > Import Image
Data. The Import Image Data dialog box opens.

In the Data source list, select Folder. Click Browse and select the extracted MerchData folder.

Divide the data into 70% training data and 30% validation data.

Specify augmentation operations to perform on the training images. Data augmentation helps prevent
the network from overfitting and memorizing the exact details of the training images. For this
example, apply a random reflection in the x-axis, a random rotation from the range [-90,90] degrees,
and a random rescaling from the range [1,2].

1-19
1 Getting Started

Click Import to import the data into Deep Network Designer.

Edit Network for Transfer Learning

To retrain SqueezeNet to classify new images, replace the last 2-D convolutional layer and the final
classification layer of the network. In SqueezeNet, these layers have the names 'conv10' and
'ClassificationLayer_predictions', respectively.

On the Designer pane, drag a new convolution2dLayer onto the canvas. To match the original
convolutional layer, set FilterSize to 1,1. Edit NumFilters to be the number of classes in the
new data, in this example, 5.

Change the learning rates so that learning is faster in the new layer than in the transferred layers by
setting WeightLearnRateFactor and BiasLearnRateFactor to 10.

Delete the last 2-D convolutional layer and connect your new layer instead.

1-20
 Get Started with Transfer Learning

Replace the output layer. Scroll to the end of the Layer Library and drag a new
classificationLayer onto the canvas. Delete the original output layer and connect your new
layer in its place.

1-21
1 Getting Started

Train Network

To choose the training options, select the Training tab and click Training Options. Set the initial
learn rate to a small value to slow down learning in the transferred layers. In the previous step, you
increased the learning rate factors for the 2-D convolutional layer to speed up learning in the new
final layers. This combination of learning rate settings results in fast learning only in the new layers
and slower learning in the other layers.

1-22
 Get Started with Transfer Learning

For this example, set InitialLearnRate to 0.0001, ValidationFrequency to 5, MaxEpochs to 8. As

there are 55 observations, set MiniBatchSize to 11 to divide the training data evenly and ensure the
whole training set is used during each epoch.

To train the network with the specified training options, click Close and then click Train.

Deep Network Designer allows you to visualize and monitor the training progress. You can then edit
the training options and retrain the network, if required.

1-23
1 Getting Started

Export Results and Generate MATLAB Code

To export the results from training, on the Training tab, select Export > Export Trained Network
and Results. Deep Network Designer exports the trained network as the variable
trainedNetwork_1 and the training info as the variable trainInfoStruct_1.

You can also generate MATLAB code, which recreates the network and the training options used. On
the Training tab, select Export > Generate Code for Training. Examine the MATLAB code to learn
how to programmatically prepare the data for training, create the network architecture, and train the
network.

Classify New Image

Load a new image to classify using the trained network.

I = imread("MerchDataTest.jpg");

Resize the test image to match the network input size.

I = imresize(I, [227 227]);

Classify the test image using the trained network.

[YPred,probs] = classify(trainedNetwork_1,I);
imshow(I)
label = YPred;
title(string(label) + ", " + num2str(100*max(probs),3) + "%");

1-24
 Get Started with Transfer Learning

References
[1] ImageNet. http://www.image-net.org

[2] Iandola, Forrest N., Song Han, Matthew W. Moskewicz, Khalid Ashraf, William J. Dally, and Kurt
Keutzer. "SqueezeNet: AlexNet-level accuracy with 50x fewer parameters and <0.5 MB model
size." Preprint, submitted November 4, 2016. https://arxiv.org/abs/1602.07360.

[3] Iandola, Forrest N. "SqueezeNet." https://github.com/forresti/SqueezeNet.

See Also
trainNetwork | trainingOptions | squeezenet | Deep Network Designer

More About
• “Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code” on page 1-13
• “Classify Image Using Pretrained Network” on page 1-15
• “Transfer Learning with Deep Network Designer”
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network” on page 1-26
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer”

1-25
1 Getting Started

Create Simple Image Classification Network

This example shows how to create and train a simple convolutional neural network for deep learning
classification. Convolutional neural networks are essential tools for deep learning and are especially
suited for image recognition.

The example demonstrates how to:

• Load image data.

• Define the network architecture.
• Specify training options.
• Train the network.
• Predict the labels of new data and calculate the classification accuracy.

For an example showing how to interactively create and train a simple image classification network,
see “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29.

Load Data

Load the digit sample data as an image datastore. The imageDatastore function automatically
labels the images based on folder names.
digitDatasetPath = fullfile(matlabroot,'toolbox','nnet','nndemos', ...
'nndatasets','DigitDataset');

imds = imageDatastore(digitDatasetPath, ...

'IncludeSubfolders',true, ...
'LabelSource','foldernames');

Divide the data into training and validation data sets, so that each category in the training set
contains 750 images, and the validation set contains the remaining images from each label.
splitEachLabel splits the image datastore into two new datastores for training and validation.
numTrainFiles = 750;
[imdsTrain,imdsValidation] = splitEachLabel(imds,numTrainFiles,'randomize');

Define Network Architecture

Define the convolutional neural network architecture. Specify the size of the images in the input layer
of the network and the number of classes in the fully connected layer before the classification layer.
Each image is 28-by-28-by-1 pixels and there are 10 classes.
inputSize = [28 28 1];
numClasses = 10;

layers = [
imageInputLayer(inputSize)
convolution2dLayer(5,20)
batchNormalizationLayer
reluLayer
fullyConnectedLayer(numClasses)
softmaxLayer
classificationLayer];

For more information about deep learning layers, see “List of Deep Learning Layers”.

1-26
 Create Simple Image Classification Network

Train Network

Specify the training options and train the network.

By default, trainNetwork uses a GPU if one is available, otherwise, it uses a CPU. Training on a
GPU requires Parallel Computing Toolbox™ and a supported GPU device. For information on
supported devices, see “GPU Support by Release” (Parallel Computing Toolbox). You can also specify
the execution environment by using the 'ExecutionEnvironment' name-value pair argument of
trainingOptions.

options = trainingOptions('sgdm', ...

'MaxEpochs',4, ...
'ValidationData',imdsValidation, ...
'ValidationFrequency',30, ...
'Verbose',false, ...
'Plots','training-progress');

net = trainNetwork(imdsTrain,layers,options);

1-27
1 Getting Started

For more information about training options, see “Set Up Parameters and Train Convolutional Neural
Network”.

Test Network

Classify the validation data and calculate the classification accuracy.

YPred = classify(net,imdsValidation);
YValidation = imdsValidation.Labels;
accuracy = mean(YPred == YValidation)

accuracy = 0.9892

For next steps in deep learning, you can try using pretrained network for other tasks. Solve new
classification problems on your image data with transfer learning or feature extraction. For examples,
see “Start Deep Learning Faster Using Transfer Learning” and “Train Classifiers Using Features
Extracted from Pretrained Networks”. To learn more about pretrained networks, see “Pretrained
Deep Neural Networks”.

See Also
trainNetwork | trainingOptions

More About
• “Start Deep Learning Faster Using Transfer Learning”
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-29
• “Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code” on page 1-13
• “Classify Image Using Pretrained Network” on page 1-15
• “Get Started with Transfer Learning” on page 1-17
• “Transfer Learning with Deep Network Designer”
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-34

1-28
 Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer

Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep

Network Designer
This example shows how to create and train a simple convolutional neural network for deep learning
classification using Deep Network Designer. Convolutional neural networks are essential tools for
deep learning and are especially suited for image recognition.

In this example, you:

• Import image data.

• Define the network architecture.
• Specify training options.
• Train the network.

Load Data

Load the digit sample data as an image datastore. The imageDatastore function automatically
labels the images based on folder names. The data set has 10 classes and each image in the data set
is 28-by-28-by-1 pixels.

digitDatasetPath = fullfile(matlabroot,'toolbox','nnet','nndemos', ...

'nndatasets','DigitDataset');

imds = imageDatastore(digitDatasetPath, ...

'IncludeSubfolders',true, ...
'LabelSource','foldernames');

Open Deep Network Designer. Create a network, import and visualize data, and train the network
using Deep Network Designer.

deepNetworkDesigner

To create a blank network, pause on Blank Network and click New.

To import the image datastore, select the Data tab and click Import Data > Import Image Data.
Select imds as the data source. Set aside 30% of the training data to use as validation data.
Randomly allocate observations to the training and validation sets by selecting Randomize.

1-29
1 Getting Started

Import the data by clicking Import.

Define Network Architecture

In the Designer pane, define the convolutional neural network architecture. Drag layers from the
Layer Library and connect them. To quickly search for layers, use the Filter layers search box in
the Layer Library pane. To edit the properties of a layer, click the layer and edit the values in the
Properties pane.

Connect layers in this order:

1 imageInputLayer with the InputSize property set to 28,28,1

2 convolution2dLayer
3 batchNormalizationLayer
4 reluLayer
5 fullyConnectedLayer with the OutputSize property set to 10
6 softmaxLayer
7 classificationLayer

1-30
 Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer

For more information about deep learning layers, see “List of Deep Learning Layers”.

Train Network

Specify the training options and train the network.

On the Training tab, click Training Options. For this example, set the maximum number of epochs
to 5 and keep the other default settings. Set the training options by clicking Close. For more
information about training options, see “Set Up Parameters and Train Convolutional Neural
Network”.

1-31
1 Getting Started

Train the network by clicking Train.

The accuracy is the fraction of labels that the network predicts correctly. In this case, more than 97%
of the predicted labels match the true labels of the validation set.

To export the trained network to the workspace, on the Training tab, click Export.

1-32
 Create Simple Image Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer

For next steps in deep learning, you can try using pretrained networks for other tasks. Solve new
classification problems on your image data with transfer learning. For example, see “Get Started with
Transfer Learning” on page 1-17. To learn more about pretrained networks, see “Pretrained Deep
Neural Networks”.

See Also
trainingOptions | Deep Network Designer

More About
• “Create Simple Image Classification Network” on page 1-26
• “Start Deep Learning Faster Using Transfer Learning”
• “Try Deep Learning in 10 Lines of MATLAB Code” on page 1-13
• “Classify Image Using Pretrained Network” on page 1-15
• “Get Started with Transfer Learning” on page 1-17
• “Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer” on page 1-34

1-33
1 Getting Started

Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep

Network Designer
This example shows how to create a simple long short-term memory (LSTM) classification network
using Deep Network Designer.

To train a deep neural network to classify sequence data, you can use an LSTM network. An LSTM
network is a type of recurrent neural network (RNN) that learns long-term dependencies between
time steps of sequence data.

The example demonstrates how to:

• Load sequence data.

• Construct the network architecture.
• Specify training options.
• Train the network.
• Predict the labels of new data and calculate the classification accuracy.

Load Data

Load the Japanese Vowels data set, as described in [1] on page 1-0 and [2] on page 1-0 . The
predictors are cell arrays containing sequences of varying length with a feature dimension of 12. The
labels are categorical vectors of labels 1,2,...,9.

[XTrain,YTrain] = japaneseVowelsTrainData;
[XValidation,YValidation] = japaneseVowelsTestData;

View the sizes of the first few training sequences. The sequences are matrices with 12 rows (one row
for each feature) and a varying number of columns (one column for each time step).

XTrain(1:5)

ans=5×1 cell array

{12×20 double}
{12×26 double}
{12×22 double}
{12×20 double}
{12×21 double}

Define Network Architecture

Open Deep Network Designer.

deepNetworkDesigner

Pause on Sequence-to-Label and click Open. This opens a prebuilt network suitable for sequence
classification problems.

1-34
 Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer

Deep Network Designer displays the prebuilt network.

1-35
1 Getting Started

You can easily adapt this sequence network for the Japanese Vowels data set.

Select sequenceInputLayer and check that InputSize is set to 12 to match the feature dimension.

Select lstmLayer and set NumHiddenUnits to 100.

1-36
 Create Simple Sequence Classification Network Using Deep Network Designer

Select fullyConnectedLayer and check that OutputSize is set to 9, the number of classes.

Check Network Architecture

To check the network and examine more details of the layers, click Analyze.

1-37
Other documents randomly have
different content
been the first to go under, then the smaller tradesmen, crushed by the
alcabala tax on all sales, and the tampering with the currency; and the turn
now had come of the great merchants and bankers; whilst even the nobles
and churchmen had been bled freely by the last "voluntary donation."[1] In
these circumstances it is not surprising that the dissatisfaction became
almost clamorous in its intensity. Such pasquins passed from hand to hand
on Liars' Walk that people said that the ghost of Villa Mediana must surely
be walking his old haunts again, so bitter were they. Olivares, it was
whispered, had poisoned the Infante Carlos, and had tried to send Fernando
by the same road. The French were ready with great armies to devastate
Spain, only because Olivares was coquetting with the rebel Orleans. Even
the Pope, said the gossips, was being insulted and flouted by this minister,
who was but an ill-born Jew in disguise.[2] "If you heard," wrote Hopton to
Cottington, in August 1632, "the libels and foolish inventions of the people
against the Conde, you would never desire to be a favourite."[3]

Olivares' Thus affairs in the capital went from bad to worse.

difficulties Fanaticism spent itself upon the loan-mongers, mostly
Genoese and Jews with Portuguese names, who served
Olivares in extremity, and many of them, and the richest, fell into the hands
of the Inquisition. There were frequent hints, uttered beneath bated breath,
that if all men had their due Olivares himself would be burnt in a sambenito
outside the gate of Fuencarral, for he had risen by the devilish arts of
sorcery, and kept the King in his power by witchcraft.[4] Enormous
difficulty was experienced in levying troops for the war, for the country was
half depopulated, and many able-bodied men fled: the old spirit of
confidence in a sacred mission was gone, and they had now no stomach for
a fight provoked by the King's favourite. The Catalans looked on in sulky
suspicion, believing that Olivares needed the soldiers to rob them of their
liberties; whilst in Madrid itself, though there were only eight companies of
troops, "and more idle men to be spared than in half Spain."[5] The shirkers
flocked by thousands into ecclesiastical and noble service, or in that of the
Inquisition, with little or no pay, in order to escape enlistment.[6] News
came daily, too, of reverses in Flanders, and serious riots in Biscay against
the salt tax; and in the meanwhile the French armies were mustering upon
the Pyrenean frontier to menace Spanish territory when the dread hour
should strike. No spot of brightness indeed appeared anywhere.
 Olivares had opened secret negotiations direct with Charles I. for an
offensive and defiance alliance against France, in union with the party of
Marie de Medici and the Duke of Orleans; and again the English were sure
for a time that now the Palatinate would be restored,—too late, however, in
any case, for poor Frederick, who had just died. But soon another cause for
dispute changed Olivares' tone towards England. Behind the amiable talk
about the Palatinate large bodies of men for the Spanish service had been
raised in Ireland. This, it was seen, would not do. Charles I. was willing to
oblige Spain in return for concessions in the matter of the Palatinate; and
Scottish, or even English, mercenaries, he said, might be obtained. But
Catholic Irishmen, "utter rebels"! Olivares was told plainly that he could not
have; "for if ever Spain meant to do us harm it would be by means of the
Irish." So the new Irish troops were stopped by England before they were
embarked, and Olivares, in a violent rage, said he had been betrayed and
ruined, and would never trust an Englishman again. England, indeed, at last
was learning what manner of man Olivares was. Suave and diplomatic
when it served his turn, but, whilst gaining everything, giving nothing but
vague promises in exchange. English shipmasters were still being
disgracefully despoiled; not a step had really been taken for the restoration
of the Palatinate; and Charles was more than justified in insisting upon
practical proofs of Spanish friendship before he stretched a point to help
Olivares.

A dissolute Through all this gathering trouble, with deep discontent

court at home and menace on all sides, the trivial life in Madrid
went on in the usual way. "The King hath been very sensible
of the losse of Rheinsberg," wrote Hopton in June 1633; "and the Conde
hath endeavoured to divert him with playes and maskes at a new house
(Buen Retiro) he hath built near the St. Geronimo monasterie: a thing of
noe great expense for such a King, yet murmured at by the people, who will
allow to governors in times of misfortune nothing but care."[7] As time
went on, Philip had grown more idle and dissolute than ever; and the tone
of the Court had followed the fashion of the King. The newsletters of the
period from Madrid are simply a collection of atrocious scandals touching
the honour of the highest people in the Court. The blame for this also was
laid, though not very justly, upon Olivares, who, having lost his only
daughter, the Marchioness de Heliche, to his enduring grief, had now cast
the whole of his affection upon his bastard son Julian, whom he
subsequently legitimated, and rechristened Enrique Felipe de Guzman, to
the fury of the nobles who were opposed to him. But this fact, although it
contributed ostensibly to his fall, as the Queen was persuaded that he had
induced Philip to legitimate his own favourite bastard Don Juan in order
that he, Olivares, might have a good precedent to do likewise with his, was
really but a venial fault in a Court so corrupt as this.

A budget of In his private letters to Cottington, Hopton occasionally

scandal allowed himself to tell some of the current scandal
concerning courtiers, who were, of course, well known to
Cottington. He appears in one of his letters to have hinted at a terrible
misfortune as having happened to some highly placed ladies in Madrid, but
without giving details. Charles I. saw the letter, and was much offended
apparently that the scandal should be mentioned vaguely. Hopton (26th
October 1633) wrote an abject letter of apology to King Charles,
beseeching pardon, and saying that he had only mentioned scandal and
avoided particulars in order to save the lady's honour; but in obedience to
his Majesty's orders he would now tell the whole story.

"The tragedy began in Cardinal Zapata's house, where there is a niece of

his, daughter of his sister the Countess de Valenzuela, a very fine lady, and
exceedingly well beloved by her uncle, who married her about two years
ago to the eldest son of the Count de Sevilla, with whom she lived about a
year, and, being left a widow, returned to the protection of the Cardinal, her
uncle. In the house there lived a favourite servant of the Cardinal, one
Joseph Cabra, who had entered the service at Zaragoza as a page, but now
occupied the post of highest trust in the household. The Count of Sevilla's
son was jealous of this man before he died; but since his death the Count his
father has proceeded criminally against the young Countess and Cabra, for
living in adultery together and murdering the husband. It is now certain that
since she became a widow she lived with Cabra and had a child by him,
which made them resolve on a secret marriage. This was concealed for
some months, and divulged at last through a slip of Cabra's, who failed to
pay sufficiently handsomely the officers of the church where they were
married. The whole business then came out. Cabra fled to his own country,
where he thought he would be safe; and there he published something
vindicating his quality. There was no reason, he argued, why his marriage
with the Countess should be considered strange. Others of greater inequality
had been married before; for instance, the Duchess of Peñaranda and her
steward Avellaneda. He knew this, he said, by his having had access to the
secret books of Toledo Cathedral. The Duchess of Peñaranda was a younger
daughter of the Cardinal Duke of Lerma; and she was known in her youth
to have been free, but all passed under her high spirits. The Duke of Lerma
had a page called Avellaneda, who, being a favourite, was appointed to wait
upon his daughter in those liberties she assumed, and to be the instrument
of justification to her and him. The Duke of Lerma having died, the page
was appointed steward, and although he was already married, she (the
Duchess) had a child by him, who is now five years old. Eighteen months
ago, Avellaneda's wife died, and the Duchess married him. When the bans
were published, her son, the present Duke of Peñaranda, happened to be
present; but the names being common ones he did not suspect, though he
mentioned the matter to his mother as a curious coincidence. This marriage
being discovered by the disclosures in Cabra's pamphlet, threw all the town
in a turmoil. The Duke of Peñaranda assembled in the house of his sister,
the Marchioness of Villena, his confidential kindred, to consult them as to
what had to be done. There it was decided that he must first kill Avellaneda.
When this news reached the palace, the King sent for the Duke of
Peñaranda, and ordered him to do nothing as he (the King) would take the
matter into his own hands. He sent to Illescas, where Avellaneda was, and
had him brought in a cart to the common prison here; the Duchess being
sent to the royal convent of nuns of St. Domingo el Real,[8] where she still
remains. Cabra, who had caused all this trouble, was also imprisoned, and
his wife as well, though she in her justification said: 'Why punish me, who
try to live in the grace of God?—let them look to those who live like
strumpets'; and amongst those who did so she mentioned the Dowager
Duchess of Pastrana. The affair has caused dreadful scandal, but has been
hushed up. The good old Cardinal (Zapata) has taken so much to heart the
misfortune of his niece, who, after having been committed to the custody of
an Alcalde de Corte, has been sent to a nunnery, that ill-meaning people say
that she is really his daughter. He is so troubled about it that he has moved
to six different houses in six months, and much mistrust exists. Another
thing has arisen out of the affair. The great distaste to the house of
Peñaranda has caused the Duke to retire from Court. The King was quite
willing for him to go, but did not like his wife to go with him. She is the
daughter and heir to the Marquis of Valdonquilla, the uncle of the Admiral
(of Castile), who, without taking any notice of the King's displeasure,
forced her to follow her husband. But they say the commerce is
established."

This budget of scandal sent to the King of England shows how utterly
rotten was the moral condition of the Court, when it sufficed for one
disgraceful episode to be made public for a whole string of others to follow
touching the honour of those who stood highest. This scandalous
immorality, arising apparently from the absolute degeneration of religion
into a formula, and of its ceasing to be a guide of conduct, extended to all
classes of society, and terrified stories were told of horrible irreligious rites
being carried on in the conventual houses themselves by a secret society
called the "illumined ones" (alumbrados). The particulars of one awful
scandal of the sort, which was investigated by the Inquisition at this time
(1633), caused great excitement in Madrid. It related to the proceedings of
the nuns of St. Placido of Madrid, who were pronounced by the Benedictine
chaplain, Fray Garcia, to be nearly all possessed of the devil; and on the
pretext of exorcising them he was with them almost day and night. This
went on for three years, when the fact that twenty-eight out of the thirty
nuns in the convent were said to be possessed appeared so strange and
suspicious, that the Inquisition intervened; and, in the course of a long
inquiry and much torture of the chaplain, uncovered an appalling story of
sacrilege, black magic, and immorality combined, for which all the persons
implicated were severely punished; though a few years afterwards (1638)
an attempt was made to whitewash the condemned.[9]

It is needless to say that in such a society as this, idle, depraved, and to

all effects pagan under its morbid devotion, the race after pleasure became
ever keener, notwithstanding the disasters abroad and the misery at home.
The Saints' days were excessively numerous, and the parishes vied with
each other in the attractions of their religious performances; the autos-de-fe
alternated with the constant bull-fights, cane tourneys, and the other
festivities so often described in earlier pages; the amorous adventures of the
King became more frequent, or at all events were more talked about, than
before; and the new palace and garden of the Buen Retiro formed a more
suitable background for such proceedings than the old palace had been.
Every birth in the King's family, every reception of ambassadors, every
royal anniversary, was made the excuse for one of these long series of
festivities. Hopton, writing to Coke in October 1633, says that the King was
then boar killing at the Escorial and Balsain, and that already the capital
was preparing to welcome him back in the following week with a series of
bull-fights and cane tourneys.

The Buen "Great preparations are being made to warme a new

Retiro house built near by the monastery of St. Geronimo, and
contrived by Olivares.... The business seems to be a matter
of Olivares' or the King's affection, or both, as about 1000 men are at work
to have the place ready in time. They are working day and night, as well as
Sundays and holidays. I doubt what will happen when the place is burdened
with such a posse of people as usually resort to such pastimes, the mortar
being yet greene, the building will run some hazard. There is much talk in
the town about it, generally against the charge thereof being taken from the
bellys of the people by an imposition on wine, flesh, etc. They suffer it
worse because they say it is a fancy of the Conde's (Olivares)."[10]

In another letter, Hopton mentions that the house-warming of the Buen

Retiro is to last four days; with bull-fights, running at the ring, wild beast
fights and other similar sports; in which "I may say without flattery, the
King, with his excellent comportment, exceeded all that came in with him.
The house is very richly furnished, and almost all by presents; for the
Conde hath made the matter his own, by whose means it hath wanted not
friends."[11] And then, as if to furnish a fit commentary upon all this
wasteful frivolity, the English ambassador proceeds to say that trade with
the Indies was dead, and that, "if things go on like this they will not be able
to re-establish it, and that Portuguese Indian trade has been almost quite
killed by neglect."[12]
Charles I. and Whilst the drums were beating in Madrid and other great
Olivares cities to enlist recruits to face the French in the coming war,
and Olivares, almost in despair, was casting about for fresh
ways of getting large sums of money, he ceaselessly endeavoured to win
England to his side. It was clear that the old method and the old bait would
have to be changed somewhat, for bland verbal assurances from the
Spaniards in favour of a restoration of the Palatinate, whilst the Emperor
was left unpledged, could no longer impose upon the least suspicious of
diplomatists. The new move was an extraordinary one, and displays vividly
the falsity of Charles I. For some time previous to the beginning of 1634,
Olivares had been delighting Hopton by his conciliatoriness, and somewhat
mystifying him by arch hints as to the future. Writing on the 24th January
1634, Hopton says that Olivares was very much better disposed in English
affairs than he was wont to be. "I have done him several services, and try to
leave him contented."

A few weeks after this, an explanation of the Count-Duke's amiability

came to Hopton in the form of a private letter from Windebank, the
Secretary of the King of England, enclosing the copy of an address made by
the resident Spanish agent in London, Nicolalde, to Charles. There had been
a talk for weeks of sending some great personage from Spain as a special
ambassador; but in the meantime Nicolalde had cast soundings by
suggesting a close alliance between England and the Emperor, in which the
Palatine would join. Charles had replied cautiously, saying that he would
consider it if the Palatine were confirmed in the possession of the territories
he now held, and especially the Lower Palatinate. But the real inwardness
of it all was revealed in a private letter of 13th February from Cottington to
Hopton, saying that Charles was willing to league himself with the Emperor
and Spain on certain conditions, but that Coke, the Secretary of State, was
to be kept entirely in the dark about it, the negotiations being carried on
with the King (Charles) direct through Windebank. The object of the
proposed alliance was, "the expulsion of foreigners from the empire, and
the reduction of the rebels to due obedience," which meant the crushing of
the Dutch Protestants. King Charles, says Cottington, is quite set upon it.
The plan can only miscarry by incredulity on the part of Olivares, or any
waywardness of Nicolalde; and Charles, as an earnest of his good faith,
offers the escort of an English fleet to the Infante Fernando, if it was
intended to send him to Flanders by sea.[13]

Intrigues with Behind this there was another mysterious negotiation

Charles I. going on, relating apparently to a marriage between
Charles's eldest daughter Mary Stuart to Prince Baltasar
Carlos, both of whom were children of tender years. Many close
conversations on the subject took place between Hopton, as the personal
mouthpiece of King Charles, and Philip and his minister. The constant
claims and complaints of the English merchants and shipmasters of Spanish
extortion annoyed Hopton almost as much as Olivares, because they
introduced an element of trouble in these loving confabulations. But
Hopton, though zealous to serve his King, was clearly ill at ease, as well he
might be, for it was a dangerous business for Charles to receive a big
money subsidy from SPain, as was proposed, and to turn the arms of
England against the Protestants. Hopton goes so far, indeed, as to say in his
letters to Windebank that he is not in favour of the subsidy, but that King
Charles should fit out a fleet at his own expense against the Dutch. This
will, he says, be easier, and will leave Charles more free and able to bring
the Dutch to reason. But, he continues, if the matter is undertaken at all, it
must be seen through to the end, or Holland will wax too insolent to be
borne.

Long discussions with the Council of State and with Olivares kept
Hopton busy in Madrid for months; the while the great betrayal proposed
was kept from the Secretary of State and all the responsible ministers in
England, a good foretaste of the policy that led Charles Stuart to ruin and
the block. To the official Secretary of State, Hopton had much to say about
the great preparations being made in Spain for war, but no word about the
secret plan for England to join in it on the Catholic side. Great loans and
levies are constantly being raised, he reported in April 1634.

"This great ship," he wrote, meaning of course Spain, "contains much

water (i.e. money), but many leaks, and is always dry. It is certain that they
have made loans this year for 13 millions (of ducats), and are still treating
of more, yet at the end of the year they will neither have money in their
purse, nor army paid, nor nobody contented; which is to be attributed to the
hard terms wherewith they do their business. For being masters of the mines
of gold and silver, and withal having but few friends, nobody will serve
them but for their interests: and their own subjects are so well conceited of
themselves, as they think they cannot be paid enough."[14] "In their present
levies," he continues, "though they are sorry men, they give them 3 reales a
day, which is 18 pence English, and yet have all they can do to keep them
from running away. Subjects are fearfully hardly pressed. The hard usage of
business men in the Indian trade has made concealment general, which has
greatly reduced the revenue of the crown. Great measures were taken to
discover unregistered treasure in the last fleet, and they found 600,000
ducats, and will yet find more. But this again will stop trade."

Approach of Everything possible was done by Olivares to please the

war English at this juncture. The prisoners of the Inquisition at
Cadiz were released, Hopton was made much of, King
Charles was the most popular potentate amongst the idlers of Madrid;
whilst the French ambassador, stoned and insulted in the streets, was fain to
take refuge in a monastery twelve miles away to avoid scandal. "They want
our friendship now," wrote Hopton, "and we may make our market." The
English ambassador had his head quite turned by so much attention, and, to
the anger of King Charles, was drawn by the superior diplomacy of
Olivares into going beyond his instructions in his promises to the Spaniards.
The King of England had been bitten too often by Spanish plausibility not
to be distrustful; and Windebank's letter to Hopton, in May 1634, was
almost violent in its scolding. Hopton had gone so far as to say that the
English had decided to put a powerful army in the field to punish the
insolence of the Dutch, whereas King Charles had only broached it as a
proposition, and Nicolalde in the meanwhile was pledging the Spaniards to
nothing. When Olivares was pressed for guarantees in return for the English
aid he craved, the usual story was told; and by the middle of July Hopton
wrote to Windebank—
 "The business, as I expected when I saw them haggling, has come to
naught. They only want to keep us neutral; and the affair is at an end. I am
not sorry, unless the Palatine might be made secure. When I said they would
oblige the gratefullest prince living, Olivares replied: 'No hay gratitud entre
Reyes' (There is no gratitude between kings)."[15]

Olivares was beset on all sides. Detested by the nobles, with nearly all of
whom he was at feud;[16] feared and dreaded by the commercial
community, whom he had ruined; overworked, and at his wits' end to face
the vast present and prospective drains upon the national resources, striving
not only to do all the work of State himself and to direct everything, but
also to keep the King in a good humour by providing an endless series of
amusements for him, the Count-Duke was "so spent with the burden of
business that lies upon him," as Hopton wrote, "as to deserve pity, if he
would only pity himself." There was no class of people now that did not
feel the crushing weight of the war expenditure, even before the great war
with France had begun. In June 1634, Hopton reports that "a new tax had
been imposed of one-eighth of the value of all wine sold in Madrid, with no
exception allowed, and one twenty-fourth of all that is sold in the Castilian
realms. All the shops that sell wine are shut, so that all stock may be
registered and an account be rendered of sales. They think thus to charge
the retailer under great penalties. It is like to be a great trouble, and the
greater part of the benefit will be consumed in officers and false accounts."
"I doe much doubte," he continues, "that by degrees those impositions will
first be laid upon all things of home fabric and growth, and afterwards upon
those things imported from abroad; and your Honour (Coke) may guess to
what immoderation the revenues of this crown will grow by this means."
[17]

The good, simple ambassador made no allowance for the self-stultifying

operation of oppressive taxation, and if he had reviewed the state of affairs
a few years later, he would have seen, as we shall in the course of this book,
that, so far from benefiting Philip's treasury, these blighting impositions on
the exchange of commodities ended in a decrease of the revenue. But whilst
the citizens were groaning under impossible burdens, and the curses of a
whole nation were following the careworn Count-Duke, the King, as much
afflicted with the troubles of his people as anyone, but looking upon them
as a visitation of providence, must needs seek in pleasure distraction from
his vicarious sorrow which the oppressed citizens themselves could not
escape.

"All the Court is at the new house" (i.e. the Buen Retiro) "for a
fortnight," wrote Hopton in July 1634, "which time hath been spent in all
manner of entertainments and much to their Majesties' contentment,
wherein the Count of Olivares took great pains, all things being ordered by
himself; and so well, as it savoured of his excellent judgment in all things,
especially in the furniture of the house, which was such as not to be thought
there had been so many curiosities in the whole kingdom; and this at very
little expense, for it was for the most part done by presents. Howbeit the
things that were bought were dearly and punctually paid for, inasmuch as
nobody can wisely complain."

Furnishing the Doubtless no one could wisely complain, but many had
Buen Retiro reason to do so, for few great people with art collections
escaped spoliation, and the other palaces were to a great
extent denuded of their treasures, for the purpose of cramming the Buen
Retiro with rarities. Some of the nobles, like the Auditor Tejada, were artful
enough to have copies made of their best pictures, and sent the copies as
originals to the Buen Retiro. But, as in his case, this was bitterly resented by
Olivares if it was found out. The Marquis of Leganés, the nephew of the
Count-Duke, had a superb collection of pictures and articles of vertu
brought from Flanders and Italy; but when he was called upon to disgorge,
his wife stepped in and claimed the whole collection as her dowry, and the
Marquis was let off with the present of a piece of tapestry. The chapel was
fitted up at the expense of the President of the Council of Castile; the
Infante Fernando continued to send beautiful objects, many of them spoils
of war from Flanders; Olivares' brother-in-law Monterey had to surrender
much of the vast store of pictures he had collected at Naples; and all the
painters in Madrid were kept busy copying or designing canvasses for the
new palace,[18] under the direction of the King's painter, Don Diego
Velazquez, who, having returned from his long visit to Rome, was now, and
had been for the last three years, again working indefatigably in his studio
in the old Alcazar.

This, indeed, was the period when the great artist produced some of the
best of his work, such as the Surrender of Breda (the Lanzas), the portraits
of the child Prince Baltasar Carlos, the fine portrait of Olivares reproduced
in this book, and the famous equestrian portrait of Philip himself. In the
midst of all the growing national trouble, this in many respects was the
most brilliant and perhaps the happiest time of Philip's reign, so far as he
personally was concerned. His habits were fixed and his pleasures keen. His
fits of contrition were frequent, it is true; but they were always banished by
fresh pleasures or amours contrived by Olivares. The King intermittently
attended to State business himself; but the interminable discussions and
reports by the various Councils upon every subject made the despatch of
business peculiarly irksome and tedious. The Spanish system of a
consultative and deliberative bureaucracy, indeed, seemed specially devised
to disgust anyone but a patient laborious plodder like Philip II. His
grandson, impatient of detail and quick of apprehension, loathed the dull
pompous discussions of the Councils, and not unnaturally was content to
hear a summary of results from Olivares, whose final decision he always
confirmed.

Philip's Philip's domestic life at this time had every reason to be

domestic life happy, though the growing tension between his wife and
Olivares had to some extent estranged them, and the Queen
was, under the influence of the minister, somewhat ostentatiously excluded
from public business, not unnaturally to her annoyance. She was, however,
a good wife, and shared Philip's frequent pleasures gaily, whilst in devotion
of the peculiar Spanish type she was even more emphatic than he. She had a
woman's reason for her dislike of Olivares, as well as the political
objections to him which were the ultimate cause of his fall. It has already
been mentioned that in pursuance of his system of doing everybody's work,
the minister had taken under his care the management of the King's affairs
of gallantry, and the results thereof. This, of course, was perfectly well
known to the Queen, and the satirical poets who wrote so copiously of
frailty in high places took care to publish the fact. Even Hopton, when in a
gossiping mood, referred to it more than once. Speaking of the skits that
were current about Olivares and the new palace, he wrote: "He (Olivares)
hath had likewise some harsh words with the Admiral for speaking to the
King in disparagement of his new house; and the Queen hath had her little
saying to him also, for some opinion she had of some secret pleasures there
brought to the King."

Whatever may have been the sum of Philip's infidelities, and it cannot be
denied that they were numerous, they were never more than temporary and
vulgar intrigues, which, whilst they would naturally annoy his wife, did not
threaten her permanent influence or interfere with her continuous marital
life with her husband. With monotonous regularity almost every year the
Queen gave birth to a child, usually a girl, whose advent was an excuse for
the customary series of costly festivities so often described in earlier pages,
festivities that in most cases lasted almost as long as the life of the child
whose advent they greeted; for all the infants up to this time (1634) had
died except the sturdy, promising little Baltasar Carlos, who was idolised by
his father and mother, and, so far as the oppressive etiquette of the Court
would allow, was petted by the whole Court. The little Prince who was born
in 1629, had early developed a love for horsemanship and field sports, and
as a baby horseman, hunter, or soldier, he is presented to the life again and
again by Velazquez. From Flanders his admiring uncle Fernando sent him
many presents, beautiful armour and weapons in miniature, which now
adorn the rich Armeria in Madrid, martial toys, and above all in 1633 what
afterwards became the Prince's favourite steed, a "little devil of a stallion
pony," as the Infante calls him, that had to be lashed liberally before
Baltasar Carlos was allowed to mount him.[19]

The The limited number of his near relatives had become a

Portuguese source of embarrassment to Philip. Of his two brothers, one,
problem Carlos, had died, and the other, the Infante Cardinal
Fernando, was in Flanders fighting and working heroically.
There were no other Spanish relatives, but the heir Baltasar Carlos and the
beautiful illegitimate son Juan, now growing into a handsome, clever lad in
the secluded castle of Ocaña, whilst the German archdukes had drifted
farther and farther from Spain, as had the Savoy Princes. It had always been
the policy of the house of Austria to keep the Spanish nobles powerless in
the Peninsula. They might command Spanish armies abroad and act as
viceroys across the seas, but were never to be trusted with executive power
in the realms of Spain; and it had become increasingly difficult, now that
the nobles of the outer realms had grown distrustful of Olivares, to find men
of the respective provinces who were of sufficient rank and could be trusted
to govern the non-Castilian territories in the name of the King. The
principal difficulty was in Portugal, where the widest autonomy, and every
possible guarantee against Spanish oppression, had been granted by Philip
II. But, as we have seen, the tendency for a long time past, and especially
under Olivares, had been to curtail the rights enjoyed by Portugal since the
union of the crowns.

The promise that none but Portuguese should rule in the country had
been disregarded almost from the first in the appointment of Viceroys. The
Austrian nephew, the Archduke Albert, had reigned under Philip II.; and
Moura, the wise half-Portuguese minister of Philip II., had ruled Portugal
for years under his son. But to appoint a Portuguese noble now, with
Olivares' known policy, would have been highly dangerous, and the
Portuguese would hardly have stood a Spanish noble, even if Philip had
dared to appoint one. The policy of conciliation that Philip II. had adopted
had left the house of Braganza, which had a better claim to the Portuguese
crown than Philip, richer and more powerful than most sovereigns. The
reigning Duke of Braganza had married a sister of the Spanish Duke of
Medina Sidonia, the head of the Guzmans, of which house Olivares was a
cadet; and in normal circumstances Braganza might have been the ideal
man for Viceroy. But the circumstances were not normal. The deepest
discontent reigned in the country at the ruin that had befallen its trade in
consequence of its union with Spain, and especially at the new taxation for
Spanish objects proposed at the bidding of Olivares; and a subject so
powerful and so popular as Braganza was naturally suspect. The difficulty
was met at the end of 1634 by going somewhat far afield for a ruler of
Portugal. The younger daughter of Philip II., the Infanta Catharine, had
married Carlo Emmanuele, Duke of Savoy, in 1585; and one of their
daughters, Princess Margaret, the widowed and dispossessed Duchess of
Mantua, a first cousin of Philip, was brought to Spain to govern Portugal,—
the idea being that, as she was a lady and a foreigner, she would be a safe
and obedient instrument in the hands of Olivares. In November 1634 she
entered Madrid in great state, and at the bull-fights and other festivities held
to celebrate her coming she sat by the side of Philip and his Queen, which
the Madrileños thought a great and unusual honour, accorded in order to
give her higher prestige and authority before she set out for her fateful
government, a figurehead for Olivares' attempts against Portuguese
autonomy.

Catalonia Catalonia was more uneasy even than Portugal. There

had been a talk all the summer of the King's going thither to
ask for more money, and the Catalans were in anger at the very idea. So
great was the ill-feeling, that the Viceroy, the Duke of Cardona, a humble
servant of Olivares, thought it safer to keep out of the way of his subjects;
and the Castilian soldiers were daggers-drawn with the people, in whose
houses they were billeted, in defiance of the Catalonian constitution.

The growing danger from these provinces, and the busy intrigues of
Richelieu with the Dutch, to the intended detriment of Spain, again drove
Olivares to seek a renewal of the suspended negotiations intended to draw
Charles I. into the Catholic camp. At the end of July, Olivares sent for
Hopton in great excitement, to show him an intercepted letter of the Prince
of Orange, which, he said, disclosed a dangerous plan against England and
Spain. "Ah!" said the Count-Duke, "we ought to have carried out that
league of ours." "It was your fault," replied Hopton, "that it was not
concluded. Nicolalde in London was not authorised to give the necessary
pledges." "Well," retorted. Olivares, "the matter may be arranged now, if
you like." The hint was enough for Charles. The first thing, he said, was to
get rid of Nicolalde, who was unsympathetic; and he sent an English agent
named Taylor to Madrid to recommend this course to Philip.

Soon negotiations were in full swing again. Some great personage, the
Count of Humanes probably, was to be sent to England, whilst the Duke of
Medina Celi was to go to France, and endeavour to secure the return of
Marie de Medici the Queen-Mother and her son Orleans to France, which of
course would have meant the paralysation of Richelieu. When the news
came of the decisive battle of Nördlingen (page 260), gained over the
Swedes and Weimar by the Infante Fernando, the great rejoicings and
festivities with which Philip greeted the victory (October 1634), the
bonfires and bull-fights and Te Deums, did not disguise the fact that war
with France sooner or later must now be inevitably faced, and the efforts to
come to an agreement with England proceeded more warmly than ever.

The agreement In October, at length, Windebank sent to Madrid the draft

with Charles I. of the agreement, and one stands aghast at the unwisdom of
Charles and his secret advisers, in thus showing willingness
to betray the Protestant cause at the hollow charming of Olivares. England
was to provide twenty ships of at least 400 tons each, ostensibly to protect
the coast of England and Ireland; but as soon as the fleet was at sea, notice
was to be given to the Dutch in the form of an ultimatum to surrender to
Spain, or the English would attack them. Spain was nominally to lend, but
really to give, to Charles 200,000 crowns, and 100,000 a month for every
month the fleet was at sea.[20] When Hopton saw Philip with this draft, and
as usual raised the question of the Palatinate as a pendant to the Agreement,
only evasive answers were given to him, and again the negotiations flagged,
whilst desperate efforts were made in Spain itself to force the nobles to
raise and arm soldiers to take the field against France when the expected
war should begin in the spring.

But whilst Olivares was thus striving to obtain at least the neutrality of
England on the easiest terms for Spain, there was other diplomacy at work
at least as profound and more generous than his. The battle of Nördlingen
had broken up the effective league between Sweden and the German
Protestants, and John Frederick of Saxony, with the other German
Lutherans, soon made terms of compromise with the Emperor, by which
they gained the toleration they sought, and the Thirty Years' War came to an
end, so far as the religious struggle in Germany was concerned. But the far-
reaching schemes of Richelieu would have been frustrated if the war had
ended here, leaving Spain free from the drain of helping the Emperor; for
then she would have had power to deal with Holland effectually, and re-
establish her waning hold over Italy to the injury of France. So, as war with
Spain was necessary for Richelieu, he took good care to isolate his
opponent before it began. He first effected an alliance with the United
Provinces, and intrigued in Catholic Flanders with the nobles. Then he drew
into his net Savoy, Mantua, and Parma; he occupied the Valtelline again,
and Sweden was coupled to the car of France anew by Axenstiern, whilst,
as a last stroke, he strove hard to include Charles I. in his league with the
Dutch.

The intrigue At the end of 1634, Olivares sent to Hopton in a great

with England fright at news that he had heard, to the effect that Charles I.
had joined France and Holland in their league; and bitter
complaints were made of the treatment of Spanish cruisers in English ports
and in the Channel. In one case a Dutch prize had actually been taken away
from the Spanish captors by English vessels, and brought into Dover. What
was the meaning of it? asked Olivares in a towering rage. Was the King of
England going to throw them over after all? A mention of the Palatinate
only made him more furious still. Thus the bickering and bargaining went
on all through the year 1635; Hopton urging Olivares to send some news
worth the carrying by Taylor to London about the Palatinate, and the Count-
Duke wrangling over the details of the agreement about the subsidy to
England, which he swore that Charles had altered without consultation with
Nicolalde. "He (Olivares) is in a good humour now," wrote Hopton on one
occasion; "but he is of a most dangerous nature, to which we shall always
be subject as long as the business of the Palatinate shall last."

At length, when Olivares had exhausted the possibilities of prevarication

in Madrid, the secret draught agreement was sent back to London for
further discussion and amendment, and the continued neutrality of England
at least was secured for another breathing space. One is struck with positive
admiration for the masterly way in which, with this stale bait of the
Palatinate, England was beguiled by Olivares from year to year, and
prevented from joining the enemies of Spain. Richelieu had been bidding
for English aid or benevolent neutrality too, and this was a chance which, if
Charles had possessed any statesmanship worthy of the name, or any
national ambition apart from the advantage of his dynasty, might have
enabled England to play the part of the arbiter in Europe. But, as usual, the
chance was missed by the instability of Charles, and when the cloud of war
burst in the spring of 1635, the negotiations between London and Madrid
were still dragging on. There was a talk at one time of a partition of the
Spanish Netherlands between France and Holland after they should have
been conquered, and this made Charles more eager than ever for the
alliance with Spain to prevent such an eventuality, whilst both Olivares and
Richelieu were glad to keep him wavering with insincere negotiations. His
own condition, moreover, in England was already becoming difficult; for he
had levied the ship money, and had taken the first fatal step by deciding to
dispense with his Parliament; so that a strong ally with ready money was
desirable to him.

Windebank wrote to Hopton on 27th May 1635:

"The French ambassador is pressing King Charles very hard to make a

league with them; and it is not the fault of the Spaniards that it is not
already concluded, for they are going the right way to thrust us upon the
French, though they cannot send a letter or pass an ambassador without us.
This is a strange fascination, and they deserve to smart for it, as they will
dearly if Dunkirk be besieged and his Majesty help them not."[21]

A little later Hopton writes: "Their (the Spaniards) only hope for
Flanders and at sea is the friendship of our King. And yet they retain their
gravity, as if they were the arbiters of the world. I saw the Conde yesterday,
and, though he was a little troubled, yet he is very confident that all would
end to their honour."

The conclusion of the precious alliance with King Charles had evidently
at last to be carried through, or further delayed, by more highly-placed
ambassadors than Hopton and Nicolalde; and it was decided that Sir Walter
Aston should go to Madrid and the Count of Humanes to London. Olivares
was, or pretended to be, apprehensive of the coming of a new English
ambassador, but was assured by Hopton that Sir Walter was all that could be
desired from the Spanish point of view. Humanes, on the other hand, was
reported to be "an honest gentleman, but with a good enough conceipt of
himself. Thinking to get great things, he will be a little hard to deal with in
England." But the seas were crowded with Dutch and French cruisers, and
the land route through France was of course closed to Spaniards, so it was a
difficult thing to get Humanes to England at all, unless he went back in the
English ship that brought Aston. And so month after month of 1635 slipped
by, the war proceeding actively in Flanders against the Infante Cardinal, and
the French troops threatening Catalonia from Perpignan, whilst the English
treaty with Spain was still on the balance. Hopton, in June 1635, told
Olivares that this coldness and delay in his proceeding was producing a bad
effect in England, and that unless they stirred themselves King Charles
might look elsewhere. "Upon what ground do you say that," asked Olivares.
"Upon Nicolalde's way of proceeding, and the delay that is taking place. It
makes us think that the whole thing is a pretence," replied Hopton.
"Everything is now practically settled with very few alterations, and there
need be no more delay," Olivares assured him.

In July alarming news came to Madrid, that the Infante Cardinal had
sustained severe defeat in the Low Countries (at Tirlemont), and was in
personal danger. The Infante was intensely beloved in Spain, and the evil
tidings "caused great care to their Majesties and the whole Court, for I
cannot express what tenderness all sorts of people show to the Infante,"
wrote Hopton; and, almost for the first time, Philip flew into a violent rage
with Olivares, when he learnt that a letter written by the Infante, asking for
further resources, had been concealed from him. Olivares found himself
faced now, as he had never been before, by a determination on the part of
Philip to act in opposition to his advice. Philip had no lack of personal
courage, and under stress was capable of prolonged exertion. He was
burning, too, to distinguish himself in arms, as his brother had done; and,
urged thereto by many of Olivares' enemies, he was insistent in his wish to
lead his armies in person on the Catalonian frontier, now threatened by the
French. Olivares, knowing that if the King were in the field he could not
keep him isolated, or hope to retain his exclusive hold upon him, resisted
the King's desire to the utmost, and almost daily squabbles took place
between them on the subject.

The plot It was clear now to Olivares that the aid of English ships
thickens in the Channel was really in the circumstances desirable for
the success of Spain in Flanders. The road through
Lombardy had been rendered difficult by the adhesion of the several Italian
princes to Richelieu's league, and the war that was proceeding on the Rhine;
and the sea route was equally dangerous by reason of the Dutch and French
squadrons. So the Count-Duke made another desperate attempt to buy
Charles Stuart cheaply, and on trust. Late in July 1635, Olivares sent a very
pressing message to Hopton that he wanted to see him, and when the
ambassador presented himself in the palace, the Count-Duke asked him if
he had a confidential English servant he could lend him, to hurry off to
England at once with despatches for Nicolalde in London. "Yes," replied
Hopton, "my man David Matthew will serve your turn"; and before many
hours had passed David Matthew was speeding on his way to London, with
instructions to the Spanish agent that the maritime treaty was to be settled at
all costs. The question of the Palatinate, Olivares told Hopton again, should
really be settled now, though, not unnaturally, Hopton had his doubts; for he
knew secretly that the rebel Earl of Tyrone had been brought disguised to
Madrid by the Emperor's ambassador, and was plotting even then with
Olivares to raise sedition in Ireland if King Charles turned to the side of the
French.

Nicolalde in London still went no further than amiable speeches; but at

least Olivares' urgency had the effect of deciding Charles to send Sir Walter
Aston to Spain, though poor Humanes died in Madrid, whilst still waiting
for a ship to carry him, and was replaced as ambassador in London by
Count de Oñate, much to Hopton's delight, who looked upon the
appointment of so highly placed a personage as a great compliment. "For
what he cannot do, nobody can. He is very honest, but somewhat hasty. In
any case it is good to be rid of Nicolalde, who hates us." Aston, when he
arrived at Corunna in September 1635, was received with ostentatious
warmness; and it was evident that his coming meant more than the mere
ratification of a treaty already nearly concluded. Cottington sent by him
what he calls "a merry letter" to Olivares, to tell him "how French I have
become, for the Queen (Henrietta Maria) dined with me at Hanworth awhile
since, and not long after the new French ambassadors, who now are become
my friends, after complaining to the King of my ill affection to their
master's service, calling me Conde de Olivares." It is plain that Sir Francis
Cottington's "merriment" was intended to convey a hint that unless Olivares
was really prompt this time in closing the deal, Charles would go over to
the French. Hopton was hopeful but doubtful of Aston's better success than
his own, for he knew that the Palatinate still stood in the way, and that
Catholic Philip could never force the Emperor to restore it to a Protestant. "I
believe they wish for a close union," he wrote, when he was leaving to
return to England, "and this King might revoke the impediment if he liked,
but I shall never be convinced he will do it till he comes to the point."[22]

Money, as usual, was the great desideratum for Philip, if the war was to
be carried on with hope of success. Cortes were summoned both in Castile
and Barcelona, and the former, as usual, did as they were asked, and voted 3
million ducats for the year;[23] Olivares having at the time laid by, as we
are told, no less than 8 millions, "which he will make 16 before the war
begins in earnest." Spain was fortunate that year 1635, too, with the Indies
fleet, which arrived in June with 14 millions of ducats, "of which the
greater part will reach the King, besides the good profit he will get out of
the confiscations." The Cortes of Barcelona was, as always, difficult to deal
with; and for a time they were obstinate in their refusal to vote anything at
all. But it was their own country now that was threatened, and on the
promise of the King to relieve them from the levy of men for his armies, the
Cortes of Catalonia agreed to vote him 400,000 ducats, and promised as
much more as they could afford.

Philip's revolt Philip's great dispute with Olivares was with regard to his
wish to visit Barcelona during the session of the Cortes, and
to remain there with his army, ready to lead it either to Italy, France, or
elsewhere, as the events of the war might demand. The favourite was
shocked at the King being exposed to such danger, and especially at the
idea that he might leave the country; and he opposed with all his experience
and authority the King's plan. "If Olivares can hinder the King from
engaging his person he will do so. He pretends to give way, so as not to
cross the King, who is set upon it, but he will not fail of ways to compass
that which he wishes."[24] But though Olivares was determined, Philip was
obstinate; and when the minister, as was his wont, told the King that the
Council of State was opposed to his going, Philip addressed a rescript to the
Council, ordering them to discuss and vote on the question of his going, but
that every Councillor should give his reasons individually to him for the
advice he tendered. This was not in accordance with the usual procedure,
and under Olivares' guidance the Council declined to do it, saying that the
Count-Duke's knowledge of their opinions was so complete that he would
report them to the King. It appears that Philip had given peremptory orders
to Olivares to make every preparation for his immediate departure, and this
was the subject submitted by the minister to the Council for discussion.
With the arrogant Count-Duke dominating them, the Councillors, who were
all his humble servants, of course agreed with him against the King. Money
was short, they said, for the journey; and the recent successes in Flanders
might perhaps make the voyage unnecessary. In any case, they begged the
King not to undertake the matter lightly. Philip made the best of this halting
dissent, replying that he accepted the advice as to not going for the moment,
but ordered that everything should be made ready for his going at twenty
days' notice if it became necessary.[25]

Continued In the meanwhile the never-ending trivial show of

decadence Madrid went on. The idlers still paraded up and down the
Calle Mayor or gossiped on Liars' Walk for the greater part
of the day. Philip issued ferocious but ineffective pragmatics against
extravagance in dress and household appointments;[26] both the public
playhouses were filled, and the comedies applauded by eager crowds as
usual. But, on the other hand, famine had laid its grisly hand everywhere on
the arid lands of Castile, the excise had been increased until even in the
capital itself starvation was not a threat but a reality; the ecclesiastical
revenues were drained as they had never been drained before, and salaries,
pensions, and State debts were either not paid at all or else ruinously
curtailed. In Madrid, penury was now evident even amongst the better
classes;[27] and Philip, who always lived frugally in his own person, was
obliged to write to his brother Fernando, begging him to save to the utmost:
not to allow his household to wear other than plain cloth, and not to spend a
ducat unnecessarily.

Spanish troops were fighting under the Infante for the preservation of
Flanders, in Germany, in Italy, in the Valtelline, wherever the enemies of the
faith or the allies of Richelieu defied the Spanish claims; and yet it never
entered the head, apparently, either of Olivares or his master, that these
terrible sacrifices were useless to Spain; except that it was a point of honour
to hold the Catholic States of Flanders that had been the ancient inheritance
of its royal house. Holland was really lost beyond all recovery, though the
stiff-necked pride of Castile would not acknowledge it; the religious
question in Germany had already practically settled itself, and had left
Spain hardly an excuse for fighting for orthodoxy there. All that was
needed, even now, for Spain was to eat her unavoidable leek, to recognise
facts patent to all the world, and to abandon her impossible pretensions; and
peace with France and Holland might have been attained with ease. But
through all the suffering and stress, that if continued meant national
exhaustion, there was no indication anywhere of the conviction that Spain
must voluntarily humble herself or bleed to death.

Court The process of social decadence had gone on apace, as

diversions was inevitable in such circumstances. scandals were of
constant occurrence. At the end of 1635, when the grave
matters referred to were under discussion, two nobles, the Marquis del
Aguila and Don Juan de Herrera, came to blows with each other in the
theatre of the Buen Retiro Palace, in the presence of the King himself;[28]
and whilst they fled from justice, a greater noble still, the Count of Sastago,
Captain of the King's Guard, was accused of inciting them to the
disturbance. As was invariably the case, no sooner was one offence
mentioned than a dozen were added to it. The Count, it was said, had sold
the sergeancy of the guard for 1100 ducats; the provedor of the guard paid
him fifty reals every day, filched from the mess bill; he ill-treated his wife,
... and much else of the same sort; and as soon as Count de Sastago was
under lock and key for these offences, no less than three other noble Counts
were competing and quarrelling with each other for his place as Captain of
the Guard;[29] whilst, a few days afterwards, Zapata, the Lieutenant of the
Guard, was carried to prison for making a disturbance at the entrance of the
palace, and breaking down the barriers to get in, against the royal orders,
whilst Prince Baltasar Carlos was coming out.

On New Year's Eve 1636, we are told, "their Majesties went to dine at
the Buen Retiro, where there was in the afternoon a sort of comedy or
festival never seen before in Spain. First there appeared the poet Atillano,
who has come from the Indies, and who may justly be called a prodigy of
the world, as he proved himself to be on this occasion; for such is his poetic
rage, that he utters a perfect torrent of Castilian verse on any subject
proposed to him,[30] and, withal, in very remarkable style, with much taste
and adornments from the Scriptures and classical authors, brought in most
aptly, with comparisons, emphasis, digressions, and poetic figures, which
strike his hearers with astonishment, many believing that it can only be
done by devilish arts, for he never drops a foot or forgets a syllable.... After
Atillano came Cristobal, the blind man, well known at Court; and he also
showed his skill in turning out couplets impromptu, with his usual
prettiness and propriety, and quite in courtier-like fashion. But as he lacks
erudition, and the other man possesses much, you may well imagine the
difference between them. After the poets came Calabaza, the dwarfs, the
little negro, and the girls they call the Count's wrigglers;[31] and they
represented their figures and played a hundred monkey tricks to raise a
laugh. Afterwards the party ended by a ball and masquerade. It was very
good and diverting; and my lady Countess of Olivares gave the collation to
their Majesties."

Progress of the The year thus fittingly begun in the Court was signalised
war by the Cardinal Infante Fernando in Flanders and France by
military capacity which recalled the great days of the
Emperor a hundred years before. The French and Dutch allies were already
suspicious of each other, and were not co-operating cordially; so that
Fernando had been able to wear out the resistance of the French without a
general engagement, and whilst they, disorganised and decimated with
famine and disease, retreated into France, the Infante overran Picardy and
Champagne. He pushed his advance beyond the Somme and to the banks of
the Oise, threatening Paris itself, and elated Olivares planned a
simultaneous invasion of France under the Admiral of Castile, and yet
another from the side of Germany over the frontier of Burgundy. The only
one of these attacks that came to anything was that of the Cardinal Infante;
but even he, either from want of resources or lack of boldness, lagged on
the line of the Somme and Oise until the French had recovered from their
panic. Orange was also marching to aid his ally, and Paris had raised a great
army of citizens to resist further attack; and early in 1637 the Spaniards,
under the Cardinal Infante, had retreated into Flanders again, forced once
more to stand on the defensive. But the net result of the temporary display
of Spanish vigour had been to free the Catalonian frontier from imminent
fears from the French, and Philip had found no excuse for insisting further
upon his desire to place himself in command of his troops in Barcelona.

A perusal of the gossiping newsletters of the times, though, of course,

much that they record is merely trivial, throws a lurid light upon the utterly
lawless condition of the capital at this grave juncture, when the nation was
supposed to be straining every nerve to prevent humiliation at the hands of
its implacable enemy. It would be profitless to give details of all, or of any
large number, of the scandals mentioned by the chroniclers from day to day;
but as a specimen a few entries belonging to this year 1636 will give an idea
of the state of affairs in Philip's Court at the time. In January, Don Antonio
Oquendo, the famous naval commander, was at Mass in the church of Buen
Suceso,[32] when a challenge to immediate combat was brought from the
rival admiral Nicholas Spinola. Oquendo just gave himself time to confess,
and then met his opponent, both being mounted and armed with knives.
One of the combatants was wounded before the passers-by could interfere,
and the other fled to hiding.[33]

A turbulent A day or two later, proclamation was made in the streets

capital that the King ordered all the Portuguese murderers in
Madrid to leave within a week, or they would be
apprehended and sent before the judges, who Were considering their cases.
"The intention of this," sapiently says the chronicler, "appears to be that
they may thus be forced to enlist as soldiers, and the pragmatic with regard
to the number of lackeys allowed had a similar object." At the same time a
scandalous quarrel was going on between the officers of the Inquisition and
the alcaldes of the Court, or judges of first instance, on some trivial point of
etiquette, but which ended in wholesale excommunication of all the alcaldes
in a body, and several inferior officers on both sides being condemned and
imprisoned by the rival authorities. In the summer another panic occurred in
the Church of St. Philip and on Liars' Walk, because a heretic shouted some
sacrilegious words in the church; and soon afterwards an offended soldier
murdered by a pistol shot a gentleman named Bilbao on the steps leading to
the crowded atrium of the church, the most frequented spot in Madrid.
 On the 28th July there was a great bull-fight in the Plaza Mayor, which
had attracted a vast concourse of people, as the bulls were said to have been
unusually savage. They must have been so, for several men were killed; but
worse than this, daggers were drawn and a slashing match commenced
under the King's very eyes. Philip, outraged at such disrespect, ordered the
offenders to be arrested. They were handed by the alguacils to the Archers
of the Guard, from whom they managed to escape. Philip quite lost his
temper at this, which he very rarely did, and rose wrathfully to leave the
arena. The Queen pulled him by the cloak, and coaxed him into sitting
again whilst two more bulls and many horses were done to death. But the
King was still unappeased, and as he went out past the Archers of the Guard
he told them "that they had managed it very nicely. Why were they Archers,
he wondered, and what were they paid for?" the matter ending in mutual
recriminations between the Archers and the alguacils, and the punishment
of the former.

Matrimonial scandals succeeded each other daily in the Newsletters, and

the highest names in the Court are treated with the utmost scurrility in this
particular; whilst accusations of corruption on the part of judicial authorities
and priests are quite as common. The authorities whose duty it was to keep
order appear to have been as lawless as the rest of the citizens. The
Corregidor[34] (Governor of Madrid) had occasion in October to call upon
the King's upholsterer and valet de chambre, who was also captain of a
newly raised company of militia. The soldiers in his courtyard, for some
reason not stated, snatched the Corregidor's wand of office from the page
who carried it, and, having broken it, belaboured the boy's back with it. The
Corregidor, offended in his dignity, told the soldiers angrily that he was a
member of the Council of War, and their master; whereupon one of the
men-at-arms thrust his pike against the august breast of the Corregidor, and
threatened to kill him. Upon this a free fight took place between the
alguacils in attendance on the Corregidor and the soldiers, and after much
uproar one of the soldiers was overpowered and borne off in triumph by the
alguacils to the prison of the municipality, "notwithstanding that it was the
feast day of our seraphic father St. Francis." The Corregidor lost no time,
but sat in judgment at once, and of course found the soldier guilty. But
before the trial was done a great rabble of soldiers assembled outside the
Guildhall (Casa de la Villa) to rescue their comrade from the hands of
justice. The town officers read an order from the balcony that every soldier
was immediately to withdraw, and the stout-hearted Corregidor himself
arrested the ringleader, and, kicking and cuffing, thrust him into a cell. That
afternoon the Corregidor accompanied the first offender through the streets
of Madrid, whilst 200 strokes of the lash were administered on the poor
soldier's bare back, and when the Corregidor returned to the Guildhall he
stood by whilst the other offender was tortured on the rack. Out of this
arose a quarrel royal between the Council of War, who took the soldiers'
part, and the Royal Council, who were for the civil authorities; and for
weeks afterwards recriminations and punishments were abundantly
exchanged.

There was, indeed, in all spheres a shocking absence of real dignity and
restraint. Crimes of the most horrible description are mentioned as being
prevalent in the better classes;[35] and after the first outcry they were
allowed to go almost unpunished and unchecked. As may be supposed, in
such a state of society superstition of the grossest description was common.
The proceedings of the miracle-working nun of Carrion, to whom, it will be
recollected, the Infanta Maria had recommended the Prince of Wales, had
become so notorious that the Inquisition had taken her in hand, and
condemned her as a witch and an impostor. But this appears only to have
increased her fame for sanctity, for several books in her praise were burnt
by the Inquisition, and every measure taken to expose her frauds by the
Holy Office; but with so little effect, that after her death, early in 1637, an
edict was read in every church in Madrid pronouncing major
excommunication against all those who retained images, portraits,
signatures, crosses, certificates, beads, or books relating to her.[36] When
the Marquis of Aitona was unwilling to start from Madrid to take up the
governorship of Milan in the spring of 1636, and delayed his departure from
week to week, a fresh pretext for delay, and one generally praised, was that
it would be most unwise for him to leave Madrid on the Ides of March,
because it was the anniversary of the murder of Cæsar.

General The lawlessness was not confined even to grown people,

lawlessness but extended to children. It appears that late in 1636 a
pragmatic had been drafted, but not yet officially
promulgated, decreeing that no man in future might wear in Madrid the
long wisp of hair before the ears (guedejas) that had recently become the
fashion; and women were strictly forbidden to appear in the strange
farthingales or very wide hoop skirt, flattened back and front, called
guardainfantes; "although," says the chronicler, "it has not yet been
proclaimed, the boys are already hunting women who wear guardainfantes
as if they were cows, hissing and whistling at them, and insulting them
dreadfully. To such a length has this insolence been carried, that mounted
alguacils have been posted to prevent violence, two boys having been killed
in the street last Thursday by attendants upon the women, who had turned
upon the boys."[37]

Whilst Olivares bore upon his bowed shoulders the whole burden of
government, resorting to the most empirical means to raise money, such as
calling in the copper coin and restamping it to three times its former value,
[38] the King had to be distracted and kept amused by never-ending
entertainments, such as those that have been described in former pages.[39]
Hardly a week passed without some pretext for a long series of such shows,
which now usually took place at the favourite Buen Retiro. Aston, in one of
his letters to Coke in May 1636,[40] describes the festivities of Whitsuntide
that year.

"Three days of noble feasting," he calls it; "the first day a masquerade on
horseback, in the evening, and bull-fights on the other two days, with cane
tourneys. I was invited to all of them, and had the particular honour on the
first night to be placed in a balcony in the King's own apartments with the
grandees; this being an unusual honour. On the other days I occupied a
special balcony with my own people. When the welcome news of the
Cardinal Infante's victories in Picardy came to Madrid late in September
1636, the rejoicings were frantic. His Majesty and all the Court rode to Our
Lady of Atocha to give thanks.... They returned at night through the streets,
illuminated by countless torches; all the Councils having been ordered to
make a celebration in honour of the occasion, they all complied famously,
and with great sumptuousness, each feast having cost 2000 ducats, and
others are yet to come which will surpass them all."[41]
Continual A few weeks later, an excuse was found in the expected
festivities arrival in Madrid of the French Bourbon Princess of
Carignano, wife of Prince Thomas of Savoy, who was
fighting for the Spanish under the Cardinal Infante, and it was determined
that in her honour the Buen Retiro should surpass itself. Before the Princess
had even embarked for Spain, the great preparations were begun "to finish
the new arena at the Buen Retiro. Experts have been despatched to the
country around Madrid to obtain the 80,000 planks which will be needed
for the barriers that are to surround it. The work is going on so actively,
both in levelling the ground and erecting the woodwork, that there is no
cessation, even on Sunday or feast days; and the Corregidor has erected
there a scaffolding with a (neck) ring to punish the workmen who do not
complete their task properly, as an example to the others. A triumphal car is
also being made, of which the cover alone is to cost 4000 ducats; and it will
be enclosed in glass, in order that the inside may look more beautiful."[42]

Another fine feast is described by Aston in June 1636. Writing to Coke,

he says:

"The King and Queen retired to Buen Retiro to enjoy the curious gardens
and new waterworks contrived by Olivares, and a great variety of festivals.
One on Midsummer night was of the greatest ostentation and curiosity I
have ever seen in my life. I had the honour to be invited to it, and had
extraordinary favour and respect shown in the place that was given to me.
The entertainment was a play that was made on purpose to be acted by the
three several companies of players of this town, the intention whereof was
so good; the place where it was acted being set out with three several scenes
of much ostentation, and the disposition of the lights so full of novelty and
delight, that I am highly tempted to give your honour a larger description of
it, but that it would prove to be business enough for a large letter."[43]

It was not all feasting and play-going for Sir Walter Aston at the historic
"house with the seven chimneys." When he arrived to replace Arthur
Hopton, early in 1636, the famous agreement between Philip and Charles
was still uncompleted, and the complaints of the English shipmasters
against Spanish oppression were louder and more insistent than ever.
Tyrone and the Desmonds were in Madrid negotiating for the raising of
fresh Catholic Irish regiments for the Spanish service, and urging Philip to
make no terms about the Palatinate unless Charles would restore the lands
of O'Neill. But the aid of an English fleet in the Channel became more and
more desirable to Spain as the war went on; and it was clear that the old
vague promises and smiling plausibilities of Olivares had at last lost their
efficacy with Charles. An instructive light is thrown upon the methods by
which Olivares still strove to cope with the situation, by an original
holograph letter in the Record Office[44] from Olivares' confidential
secretary Rojas, to the imperial ambassador in Madrid, asking him by King
Philip's orders to "give some words of hope to the English ambassador
about the Palatinate." "It is of the utmost importance that we should make
use of all such expedients as present themselves; as it appears that the King
of England is extremely busy preparing a powerful fleet to be used to the
detriment of this Crown, ... probably against Brazil, in co-operation with the
Hollanders."

On the 18th June 1636, Olivares wrote a serious letter to Aston,

evidently intended to bring affairs to a crisis. He, Olivares, had news, he
said, of a design of a French naval attack on the English coast. Aston
replied coolly that he had no doubt due measures would be taken in
England to repel any attempt; but in the subsequent interview he succeeded
"in persuading," as he says, "the Conde to assent to the terms for the co-
operation of the English fleet, and Count de Oñate was instructed to start
for England at once. They are really trying to prove that they desire the
King of England's friendship. Indeed, in the present state of things it is
needful for them, and I hope our King will make wise use of the
opportunity."[45] But, withal, the Palatinate, which was the question nearest
to Charles's heart, was still left open, though Arundel in Vienna was
pushing the point there industriously, while the Palatine himself appealed
personally to Philip by a letter which received no answer.

When Count de Oñate eventually presented himself before King Charles

at Whitehall, the English King left no doubt that the Palatinate was
uppermost in his mind. Speaking in Latin, he asked Oñate three questions
—"Whether, having notice of the final answer of the Emperor to Arundel,
he hath any power by way of interpretation or otherwise to qualify the said
answer? Whether he hath power from the King of Spain to deliver to King
Charles, or the Prince Elector, that part of the Lower Palatinate in his
(Philip's) possession, and also by this mediation that part held by the
Emperor? Whether he hath commission to set down in particular those
conveniences that his father told Arundel the King of Spain would insist
upon? Whether, in accordance with the assurance given by the English
ambassador in Spain, King Charles may expect by him (Oñate) any more
particular and full satisfaction than hath yet been delivered?"[46] Needless
to say that Oñate had no clear answers to any of these questions, nor
instructions to forward the matter of the Palatinate definitely; and once
more discouragement fell upon those who had hoped to carry through the
treaty.

Hopton, when he arrived in London and heard the news, wrote to Aston
by Richard Fanshawe, who was on his way to Spain:

"A greater change has taken place in our purposes in the last month than
in years before. Our eyes are now opened to the intention of the house of
Austria to keep hold of the Palatinate. They must have a very mean opinion
of us to treat our King with so little courtesy. If his Majesty gives way to the
opinion of his subjects about the Palatinate, it will prove to Spain their
error. It is incredible that they should act thus. They will certainly lose us if
they be not careful." At the same time, the Spaniards were boasting in
Madrid that "the Palatinate has been put to bed, and the King of England
will not dare to break with us about it."

England again The need of Spain for English co-operation was now
shelved once again growing less urgent, for the star of Richelieu was
temporarily dimmed. The coalition of the Italian princes
against Spain had fallen to pieces, the Dukes of Mantua and Savoy died,
and Parma was forced to submit to Spain. The Valtelline was retaken and
occupied by the Spanish troops, and the Grisons conciliated; whilst
Cardinal la Valette's campaign in 1637 against the Infante Cardinal partially
failed. In Germany, too, the French were defeated all along the line, and,
worst of all, France lost Alsace. Richelieu, moreover, was faced by the
dangerous Court intrigues of Gaston of Orleans and his cousin Soissons,
and half France was in smouldering revolt against the taxation imposed by
the great Cardinal. The way across Lombardy and Tyrol to Germany and
Flanders by land was now open to Spanish troops; and Olivares, having
kept unstable Charles of England on the tenterhooks all these years with the
bait of the Palatinate, could now snap his fingers at him, and for a time drop
the mask.

[1] An attempt was made to enforce gifts of this donation from foreigners, and four English
youths at Bilbao resisted, but on Hopton's representations they were exempt.

[2] In fact, a notification had been sent to the Pope that the Nuncio in future would be
treated as any other ambassador, and the large revenue drawn by the Papacy from Spain
would be in future taken by the King. Upon this the Nuncio was withdrawn, and much
trouble ensued.

[3] Corner, the Venetian ambassador in Madrid, writing at the same period, says: "He
(Olivares) is greatly hated both by the grandees and by the people of all classes, but
nobody believes that he can be turned out of his place.... He is very austere and hard in his
dealings with people, which causes great anger, and the murmurs against him are open and
loud, even the preachers in the pulpits denouncing him; and everybody is saying that it is a
wonder he can stand against it all."

[4] As if to silence these terrible hints, Olivares had at this time adopted an ostentatiously
saintly mode of life. Corner speaks of him as living very quietly and in great melancholy
since the death of his only daughter. "He professes to live in much piety and devotion,
confessing and communicating every day. He has so many masses said daily, and to all
appearance lives the life of a devotee. He has now begun to lie in a coffin in his chamber
like a corpse, with tapers around him, whilst the de profundis is sung; whilst in ordinary
affairs he talks like a capuchin friar, and speaks of the grandeur of this world with the
greatest disdain."

[5] Hopton's MS. Notebook.

[6] Hopton, writing soon after this (January 1634), says the levies are going on very slowly.
Yesterday a pragmatic was published limiting the number of lackeys and squires, all