NAMES I. OF ENGLAND AND VT. OF SCOTLAND (1567 [England 16031-1625), only son of Mary queen of Scots and Henry lord Darnley, was b. within the cast e of Edinburgh, June 19, 1566. On his mother's forced resignation of the crown, James was proclaimed king of Scotland. July_29, 1567. The direction of his childhood devolved principally on the earl of Mar. His classical education he received from the famous George Buchanan. In 1578 the earl of Morton, then regent. was driven from power, and James nominally assumed the direction of affairs. But the new government was unpop ular, and Morton soon succeeded in re-establishing himself. His fall was, however, ultimately effected by the united influence of the duke of Lennox and of the earl of Arran. Morton was condemned and executed on the charge of having been accessory to the murder of Darnley. After his death. Lennox and Arran ruled for some Limo without control. On Aug. 12, 1582, however, a party of the nobles seized the king at Ruth yen castle; and by authority thus acquired, they imprisoned Arran, and banished Lennox. In 1583 a counterplot restored James to freedom; he immediately restored Arran to power. Time confederate lords were obliged to flee to(England. In 1585, through the connivance of queen Elizabeth, they returned, and with an army of 10,000 men, obliged James to capitulate in Stirling castle. Arran was again banished. In 1586 queen Mary, then a prisoner in England, was condemned by the English court to be executed. Though James remonstrated strongly, he nevertheless, after his mother's execution, concluded an offensive and defensive a;liance with England. In the winter of 1589 James went to Denmark, where he married the princess Anne, daughter of Frederick II., king of that country. From 1591 to 11:94 the kingdom was disturbed by various treasonable attempts by the earls of Bothwell. Huntly, and other Roman Catholic lords. It was not till James had marched against Huntly in person that these disturbances were suppressed: Long ecclesiastical disputes followed between king and clergy. In 1600 occurred the Gowrie conspiracy (q.v.). By the death of Elizabeth in 1603, James succeeded to the throne of England. He soon became unpopular with his new subjects.
The anger of the Roman Catholics at the severities used towards them. was the cause of the famous gunpowder plot (q.v.). The tieason was discovered on Nov. 5, 1605. Nor did time increase the popularity of James with any class of his subjects. Weak and good-natured, lie impoverished his exchequer to enrich parasites; lie degraded time pre rogative of the crown by the sale of titles of dignity; the title of baronet, which he originated, Could be bought for £1000, a barony for £5,000, and an earldom for 220,000: A Scotchman of the name of Carr became the royal favorite about the year 1607; hon ors and emoluments were showered upon him, and in 1613 he was created earl of Somerset. In his turn, Somerset gave place to Buckingham. Under these minions, the name and power of England, so formidable under Elizabeth, sunk to insignificance. In 1617 James revisited Scotland; a visit 1+.1lich his angry disputes with the clergy did not give him much leisure to enjoy. In 1619 his eldest son, Henry prince of Wales, died. to the great grief of the nation. James bad set his heart upon effecting a marriage between his son Charles (now prince of Wales) and a Spanish princess. For some time, it seemed as if his design would succeed; and in 1623 Charles actually went to the court of Spain, along with Buckingham, to prosecute his suit. Buckingham, however, having quarreled with the leading men of the Spanish court, the negotiation ultimately failed through his pique. A %Jar with Spain was the result. James died Mnrch 27, 1625. He was aptly termed by Sully "the wisest fool in Christendom." " He was indeed," says Macaulay, " made up of two men—a witty, well-read scholar, who wrote, disputed, and harangued, and a nervous, driveling idiot who acted." His reign is interesting to the student of English constitutional history, as it was during it that parliament may be said to have taken its first decided stand in its long contest with the crown. The parlia ment of 1621 is especially memorable on this account.