James Stuart, the first King James of England, but the sixth of Scotland, was one of the most foolish and the most mischievous kings we ever had in England. He was the son of the unhappy Mary Queen of Scots, and after she was put in prison the first time, the Scotch lords made James king, though he was quite an infant. The lords gave him the best masters they could find to teach him, and he learned what was in books very well, but nobody could ever teach him how to behave wisely. When Queen Elizabeth died, James, king of Scotland, became king of England, because he was Elizabeth’s cousin, and from that time England and Scotland have been under one king, and are called Great Britain. As soon as James heard the queen was dead, he set out from Scotland to come to London; for as Scotland was then a very poor country, he and a great number of Scotchmen who came with him thought they had nothing to do but to come to England, and get all the money they could by all sorts of ways. Then he made so many lords and knights that people began to laugh at him and his new nobles. But, worst of all, he fancied that parliaments had no business to prevent kings from doing whatever they pleased, and taking money from their subjects whenever they liked. You may think how vexed the English were when they found that they had a king so unfit for them, after their wise Queen Elizabeth. The queen of James was Anne, the daughter of the King of Denmark. She was very extravagant, and loved feasts and balls, and acted plays herself, and filled the court with rioting, instead of the ladylike music and dancing, and poetry and needlework, that Queen Elizabeth and her ladies loved. Instead of riding about among the people, and depending on their love and good will, James was always hiding himself; the only thing he seemed to love was hunting, and for the sake of that he neglected his people and his business. The favourites he had were far from being useful, or wise, or brave. He chose them for their good looks and rosy cheeks, without inquiring anything about their behaviour. He dealt severely with the Roman Catholics, whom he put in prison, and from whom he took a great deal of money. Then he disliked those Protestants who did not wish to have bishops as well as parish clergymen, and who are mostly called Presbyterians; but some were then named Puritans, and he would not let them alter the Prayer-book. The Roman Catholics being tired of the ill usage they got from King James, some of them thought that, if they could kill him, they might take one of his young children to bring up themselves, and have a Roman Catholic king or queen, and get all England and Scotland for themselves. They thought besides, that they had better kill all the lords and all the gentlemen of the House of Commons too, and so get rid of the whole Protestant parliament.