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JAM of the apartments, and had nearly forced his way to the king's chamber, when the alarm was given and he was compelled to retreat. He made his escape to the fastnesses in the north, and though soon after attainted in parliament, continued long to disturb the peace of the country. In the beginning of 1593, the earl of Huntly and other heads of the Romish faction entered into a conspiracy, for the purpose of bringing a Spanish force into the country, with the object of re-establishing popery and invading England. The plot, however, was detected, and the conspirators were compelled to flee the kingdom. Scarcely was this danger over, when Bothwell, who had failed in another attempt to seize the royal person at Falkland, and had taken refuge in England, where he had been protected by Elizabeth, suddenly returned; and assisted by the adherents of the late favourites, Arran and Lennox, seized the palace (24th July) at the head of an armed band, and made the king his prisoner. James behaved with unusual coolness and courage in the presence of the ruffian; but was obliged to comply with his demands, and had both to dismiss his chief ministers, and to grant a full pardon to the traitor. During several years the country was distracted by the contentions of Bothwell and the Roman catholic peers; but at length the rival factions became reconciled, and having united their forces under the earls of Huntly and Errol, they encountered and completely defeated the royal army, commanded by the earl of Argyll at Glenlivat in Aberdeenshire, October 3, 1594. The king, greatly incensed at this disaster, lost no time in conducting in person an expedition against the insurgents, who were compelled to make their submission, and were allowed to retire to the continent on giving security that they would not again seek to overthrow the protestant religion, or disturb the peace of the kingdom. Bothwell, too, was driven into exile, and the country seemed at length about to enjoy the blessings of peace, when James became involved in new troubles in consequence of a keen dispute into which he was brought with the presbyterian clergy, who were dissatisfied with the king's lenient policy towards the popish lords, and his proposal to recall them from exile. The contest raged for some months with unexampled violence. The clergy alarmed at the favour shown to the Romanists, denounced the king's policy from the pulpit; and David Black, minister of St. Andrews, is alleged to have represented the court as being under the influence of Satan, and to have said that all kings were "devil's bairns." James was highly incensed at these proceedings, and caused Black to be summoned to appear before the privy council to answer for his "undecent and uncomely speeches." He denied the charges made against him, but declined the king's jurisdiction in the matter, and was supported by his clerical brethren. The commissioners of the general assembly were in consequence ordered to leave Edinburgh, and Black was banished to the district beyond the Tay. The pulpits of the capital resounded with denunciations against the king and his advisers; and a rumour having arisen that Huntly, the leader of the popish lords, had been admitted to a secret interview with the king, a tumult was excited in Edinburgh which put James in great fear for his personal safety, and caused him to retire to Linlithgow, 1596. James promptly availed himself of this opportune occurrence to carry out his favourite policy. By an unusual exertion of vigour and firmness he suppressed the insurrection, punished the rioters, compelled the ministers to take refuge in England, and recalled and pardoned the popish lords on their making a recantation of their errors. He turned the occasion to account also, in bringing the constitution of the church more into accordance with his views of government, and contrived to procure an act to be passed, conferring seats in parliament on a certain number of ministers, who should be chosen as representatives of the church in the supreme court of the country. The comparative t ranquillity which Scotland enjoyed from this period till the union of the crowns was broken in 1600, by one of the darkest and most mysterious events in Scottish history—the Gowrie conspiracy—an account of which is given elsewhere (see ). The closing years of James' residence in Scotland, were mainly occupied with measures for securing his succession to the English throne, which he claimed in right of his descent from Margaret, eldest daughter of Henry VII. He had for a considerable time carried on a correspondence with Sir Robert Cecil, whose friendship and good offices he had secured; and acting by the advice of this wily statesman, he had spared no pains to conciliate all parties in England, and to acquire the support of the most powerful of the nobility. At length the death of Elizabeth, which took place 24th March, 1603, put him in possession of his long-desired inheritance. Accompanied by a splendid retinue, including many of his principal nobility, he set out from Edinburgh on the 5th of April, and entered London on the 7th of May, having been welcomed everywhere on his progress with demonstrations of loyalty and joy. But in no long time his arbitrary principles and fondness for unworthy favourites alienated the affections of his new subjects, and involved him in serious difficulties. He began well, however, and for a time followed the wise policy of Elizabeth, entering into a close alliance with France for the support of the Dutch, and resistance to the ambitious designs of Spain. A few weeks after his arrival in London, a conspiracy was detected, which is known in history by the name of "Raleigh's Plot." Much obscurity hangs over this affair, but the object of the conspirators is alleged to have been to place on the throne the Lady Arabella Stewart, the cousin of the king (see ). James' first parliament met on the 19th of March, and was opened by a speech, which, as Hume remarks, "proves him to have possessed more knowledge and greater parts, than prudence or any just sense of decorum or propriety." He was very desirous that the two kingdoms over which he now reigned should be completely incorporated, and a motion to this effect was made by the famous Sir Francis Bacon, the king's solicitor. But this proposal, which does credit to the sagacity which James at intervals displayed, was bitterly opposed by both nations, and consequently failed. In the session of 1604, however, commissioners from the two countries agreed to the entire abrogation of all hostile laws on both sides, to the abolition of border courts and customs, and to a free intercourse of trade throughout the king's dominions. All Britons too, born since the death of Queen Elizabeth, were declared to be naturalized subjects in either kingdom.

The puritans were now a numerous and powerful party in the country, and were naturally desirous to be relieved from the disabilities under which they laboured. A petition was therefore presented to the king, signed by upwards of eight hundred ministers holding puritan opinions, praying that, in order to remove their difficulties, certain alterations should be made in the services of the Church of England. With the view of settling these disputed points, a conference was held at Hampton Court in January 1604. The established church was represented by an imposing array of great dignitaries, and the puritans by the learned Dr. Reynolds and three other ministers. James himself presided as moderator, but took a conspicuous and most undignified part in the debate against the puritans, and was rewarded by the fulsome flattery of the bishops. Bancroft declared that James was "such a king as since Christ's time the like had not been;" and Whitgift professed to believe that his majesty spoke under the special influence of the Holy Spirit. This conference was followed by a proclamation enforcing conformity, and by a persecution of the puritans, both clergy and laity.

Peace with Spain was concluded on the 18th of August, 1604, much to the gratification of the king, who cordially detested war. In the following year the celebrated Gunpowder Plot was discovered, of which an account has already been given under and. Several severe acts were in consequence passed by the parliament against the Roman catholics; but James, partly from timidity, partly from policy, showed a decided disinclination to carry them into execution. For several years after this incident the reign of James was marked by no event, foreign or domestic, worthy of mention, except the appointment by royal authority of certain learned men to make a new translation of the sacred scriptures, which was commenced in 1607, and completed in about three years. James undoubtedly deserves no small credit for the preparation of this version, which has done great service to the cause of religion. In 1612 he had the misfortune to lose his eldest son Henry, a youth of great promise, in his nineteenth year; and a few months later (February, 1613) his eldest daughter, the princess Elizabeth was married to Frederick, the elector palatine, a weak good-natured prince "as unworthy of such a wife as James was of such a daughter."

A marked weakness of James was his extraordinary predilection for favourites. Sir George Home, earl of Dunbar, Philip Herbert, earl of Montgomery and Pembroke, and Sir James Hay, earl of Carlisle, had in turn been the objects of his silly and mutable fondness. In 1610 a new favourite, Robert