 As the chief parliamentary spokesman for an abandoned policy , Calvert no longer served a useful purpose to the English Royal Court , and by February 1624 his duties had been restricted to <unk> the Spanish ambassador . The degree of his <unk> was shown when he was reprimanded for supposedly delaying diplomatic letters . Calvert bowed to the inevitable . On the pretext of ill health , he began negotiations for the sale of his position , finally resigning the secretariat in February 1625 . 
