Guizot's
History Of England,
Vol. III.
From the Accession of James I.,
to the Expulsion of James II., 1603-1688.
History Of England.
Chapter XXII.
James I. (1603-1625).
Scarcely had the soul of Queen Elizabeth taken farewell of her body when a distant cousin of the great sovereign, Sir Robert Carey, posted to Scotland, being advised of her death by his sister, Lady Scrope, who formed part of the royal household. Cecil and the members of the council, outdistanced by the haste of the courtier, had at least the advantage, in despatching their emissaries to Edinburgh, of being able to announce to the king that he had been solemnly proclaimed in London a few hours after the death of Elizabeth. The wise promptitude of Cecil forestalled any foreign pretension. The only person who might have urged her rights to the throne, Lady Arabella Stuart, cousin-german of the King of Scotland by her father, and descending as he did, from Henry VII., was in good keeping. None thought of stipulating for a few guarantees in favor of the liberties of the country or for the reform of the abuses grown old with the royal power. The great men of the council expected the reward of their intrigues in favor of the new king, and public opinion saw with satisfaction the prospect of a union with Scotland, which promised to put an end to the continual wars between the two kingdoms. The Scots hoped to enrich themselves in England.
No one was more in need of such an opportunity than the king. His Majesty James VI. of Scotland, now also James I. of England, was so poor that he could not set out for his new kingdom until Cecil sent him money. He had, besides, no desire to encounter in death the sovereign whom he had so much dreaded during her lifetime, and the journey, begun on the 6th of April, proceeded so slowly that Elizabeth had for three weeks been sleeping in her tomb when her successor at length arrived, on the 3d of May, at Theobalds, in Hertfordshire, the country house of Sir Robert Cecil, where all the members of the council awaited him. On his way he had lavished the honor of knighthood upon all who had asked for it; since his departure from Scotland he had made a hundred and forty-eight knights. Cecil took advantage of the sojourn which the king made at Theobalds to completely gain his favor. Alone, among the colleagues of whom he was jealous, the Earl of Northumberland contrived to preserve his honors. Lord Cobham, Lord Grey, and especially Sir Walter Raleigh, were disgraced. The first concession granted to the wishes of the nation was the suspension of all the monopolies. This favor was proclaimed, on the 7th of May, upon the entrance of the king into the city of London. Severe measures with regard to hunting immediately followed the arrival of the monarch, who was passionately fond of that amusement.
The plague had broken out in London and delayed the coronation, but it did not hinder the conspiracies. The powerful hand of Elizabeth had been able to keep down, but could not prevent them. Her successor might disparage the wisdom and prudence of the government of the great queen who had raised him to his throne; but he was destined to see his authority often threatened and disowned. He began by making himself a dangerous enemy in depriving Raleigh not only of his place in the council, but of the honors and monopolies which constituted his fortune. The favor which the king manifested naturally enough to his Scottish friends made other malcontents. The Catholics, at first allured by the promises of James, saw him turn to the side of the Anglican Church. "I make the judges," he said joyfully during his journey from Scotland to England; "I make the bishops. By God's wounds, I can do as I please, then, with the law and the Gospel." He necessarily inclined to the side of power. Raleigh, Cobham, and Grey, supported for some time by the Earl of Northumberland, still an enemy of Cecil, found support among the priests and lesser Catholic gentlemen, to whom the Puritans allied themselves. The conspirators proposed to take possession of the person of the king, to induce him, it was said, to change his ministers. Before the day fixed upon, all the conspirators were arrested. Sir Walter Raleigh and Lord Cobham were conducted to the Tower. The plague delayed the judgment as it had delayed the coronation. The trial of Raleigh was, besides, difficult to conduct. Cecil took all the care that the matter deserved. Lord Cobham, in cowardly alarm, betrayed his accomplice. Both were accused of having sought to assassinate James in order to raise to the throne Lady Arabella Stuart. Raleigh defended himself in person with all the intelligence, all the animation, all the indomitable courage of which he had so many times given proof during his adventurous life. He was nevertheless condemned as well as Lord Cobham and Lord Grey. All three were pardoned when Cobham and Grey were already upon the scaffold. The tragic adventures of Sir Walter Raleigh were not yet at an end.