was the "British Solomon"; but the French
ambassador came nearer to the mark when he called him "the wisest fool
in Christendom."

The King wrote on witchcraft, kingcraft, and theology, and composed
numerous commonplace verses. He also wrote a sweeping denunciation of
the new plant called tobacco, which Raleigh (S392) had brought from
America, and whose smoke now began to perfume, or, according to James,
to poison, the air of England. His Majesty had all the superstitions
of the age, and one of his earliest acts was the passage of a statute
punishing witchcraft with death. Under that law many a wretched woman
perished on the scaffold, whose only crime was that she was old, ugly,
and friendless.

417. The Great Puritan Petition (1603).

During the latter part of Elizabeth's reign, the Puritans (S378) in
England had increased so rapidly that Archbishop Whitgift told James
he was amazed to find how "the vipers" had multiplied. The Puritans
felt that the Reformation had not been sufficiently thorough.

They complained that many of the forms and ceremonies of the Church of
Engalnd were by no means in harmony with the Scriptures. Many of them
wished also to change the Episcopal form of Church government, and
instead of having bishops appointed by the King, to adopt the more
democratic method of having presbyters or elders chosen by the
congregation.

While James was on the way from Scotland to London to receive the
crown, the Puritans presented the "Millenary Petition" to him. It was
so called because it purported to have a thousand signers. The
ministers presenting it asked that they might be permitted to preach
without wearing the white gown called a surplice, to baptize without
making the sign of the cross on the child's forehead, and to perform
the marriage ceremony without using the ring. Bishop Hooker and Lord
Bacon had pleaded for a certain degree of toleration for the Puritans.
They even quoted the words of Christ: "He that is not against us is
for us." But the King had no patience with such a plea.

418. Hampton Court Conference (1604).

The King convened a conference at Hampton Court, near London, to
consider the Petition, or rather to make a pedantic display of his
own learning. The probability that he would grant the petitioners'
request was small. James had come to England disgusted with the
violence of the Scotch Presbyterians or Puritans (S378), especially
since Andrew Melville, one of thei