The foundations of the difficulty had been laid in the reign of King James.  That monarch, who in figure, manners, and mind was in the strongest contrast to all the English kings who had preceded him, was infinitely more mischievous than a more foolish monarch could have been.  Coarse in manner—­a buffoon in demeanor—­so weak, that in many matters he suffered himself to be a puppet in the hands of the profligates who surrounded him, he had yet a certain amount of cleverness, and an obstinacy which nothing could overcome.  He brought with him from Scotland an overweening opinion of the power and dignity of his position as a king.  The words—­absolute monarchy—­had hitherto meant only a monarch free from foreign interference; to James they meant a monarchy free from interference on the part of Lords or Commons.  He believed implicitly in the divine right of kings to do just as they chose, and in all things, secular and ecclesiastical, to impose their will upon their subjects.

At that time, upon the Continent, the struggle of Protestantism and Catholicism was being fought out everywhere.  In France the Huguenots were gradually losing ground, and were soon to be extirpated.  In Germany the Protestant princes had lost ground.  Austria, at one time halting between two opinions, had now espoused vehemently the side of the pope, and save in Holland and Switzerland, Catholicism was triumphing all along the line.  While the sympathies of the people of England were strongly in favor of their co-religionists upon the Continent, those of James inclined toward Catholicism, and in all matters ecclesiastical he was at variance with his subjects.  What caused, if possible, an even deeper feeling of anger than his interference in church matters, was his claim to influence the decisions of the law courts.  The pusillanimity of the great mass of the judges hindered them from opposing his outrageous claims, and the people saw with indignation and amazement the royal power becoming infinitely greater and more extended than anything to which Henry VIII. or even Elizabeth had laid claim.  The negotiations of the king for a marriage between his son and the Infanta of Spain raised the fears of the people to the highest point.  The remembrance of the Spanish armada was still fresh in their minds, and they looked upon an alliance with Spain as the most unholy of contracts, and as threatening alike the religion and liberties of Englishmen.

Thus when at King James’ death King Charles ascended the throne, he inherited a legacy of trouble.  Unhappily, his disposition was even more obstinate than that of his father.  His training had been wholly bad, and he had inherited the pernicious ideas of his father in reference to the rights of kings.  Even more unfortunately, he had inherited his father’s counselors.  The Duke of Buckingham, a haughty, avaricious, and ambitious noble, raised by King James from obscurity, urged him to follow the path of his father, and other evil counselors were not wanting.