h Isles was united under the name of
Stuart. As a hundred years before the last great province of France
had been gradually united to the French crown, and even within human
memory Portugal, like the other provinces of the Spanish peninsula,
had been added to the crown of Spain, so now a united Britain was
formed side by side with these two great powers. James himself noticed
the resemblance, and a proud feeling of self-confidence filled his
breast, when he reflected that the change had been made without the
help of arms, as if by the force of the internal necessity of things.
Just as formerly the claim to universal supremacy together with the
spread of the Church had greatly increased the importance of the
Papacy, so now the claim to hereditary right possessed by James seemed
to him of immeasurable value, for by it he had won so great and
coveted a prize: it appeared to him the expression of the will of God.

Surprise might be felt that France, which for several centuries had
exercised a ruling influence on Scotland, and which in this union of
the two crowns might have seen a disadvantage if not a danger for
herself, allowed it to take place without obstruction. This conduct
may be explained principally by the violent opposition which existed
between Henry IV and Spain even after the peace of Vervins, and by the
hostile influence incessantly exercised by that power upon the
internal relations of his kingdom, in the pacification of which he was
still engaged. It would have been dangerous for Henry himself to
revive the hatred between England and Scotland, which could only have
redounded to the advantage of his foes.

James I however did not intend, and could not be expected to occupy
exactly the same position as his predecessor. If he had adopted her
views, yet this was a compliance exacted from him by a regard to the
succession: he had felt that it was wrung from him. It is
intelligible, and he did not attempt to disguise the fact, that he
felt the death of Elizabeth to be in some sense his emancipation. He
avoided appearing at her obsequies; every word showed that he did not
love to recall her memory. In London people thought to please him by
getting rid of the likenesses of the glorious Queen, and replacing
them by those of his mother. The first matter which was submitted to
him whilst still in Scotland, and which engaged him on the journey and
immediately after his arrival, was the question whether he should
proce