is dignity and
the unconditional obligation of his subjects. Even in his
Parliamentary speeches he did not refrain from expressing them. He
made no secret of them in his life in the country, where he met with
unbounded veneration from every one. It was remarked as a point of
contrast between him and Elizabeth, that while she had always spoken
of the love of her subjects, James on the contrary was always talking
of the obedience which they owed him on the ground of divine and human
right. And people recognised many other points of contrast between
them besides this.[385] When the Queen had formed a resolution, she
had never shrunk from the trouble of directing her attention to its
execution even in the minutest details. King James did not possess
this ardour; for he could not descend from the world of studies and
general views in which he lived, to take a searching interest in the
business of the government or of justice. He had indeed been known to
say that it was annoying to him to hear the arguments on both sides
quietly discussed in a question of right submitted to him; for that in
that case he was unable to come to any conclusion. The Queen loved
gallant men and characters distinguished for boldness: the King was
without any sense of military merit, and felt uncomfortable in the
presence of men of enterprising spirit. He thought that he could only
trust those whom he had chained to himself by favours, presents, and
benefits. The Queen served as a pattern of everything which was proper
and becoming. James, who restricted himself to the intercourse of a
few intimate friends, formed attachments which he thought were to
serve as the rule of life. He himself was slovenly; in England, as
formerly in Scotland, he neglected his appearance, and indulged in
eccentricities which appeared repulsive to others, and were taken
amiss from him. Even at that time there was a common feeling in
England in favour of what is becoming in good society; and although
the feeling was for a long time less deeply engraved on men's minds,
and less sensitive to every outrage than it became at a later period,
men did not pardon the King for coming into collision with it.

Hence this sovereign appeared in complete contradiction with himself.
Careless, petty, and at the same time most unusually proud; a lover of
pomp and ceremony, yet fond of solitude and retirement; fiery and at
the same time lax; a man of genius and yet pedantic; eager to acquire