ts of fines. It was clear that both at home and abroad James
purposed to withdraw from that struggle with Catholicism which the
hotter Protestants looked upon as a battle for God. What the king really
aimed at was the security of his throne. The Catholics alone questioned
his title; and a formal excommunication by Rome would have roused them
to dispute his accession. James had averted this danger by intrigues
both with the Papal Court and the English Catholics during the later
years of Elizabeth; and his vague assurances had mystified the one and
prevented the others from acting. The disappointment of the Catholics
when no change followed on the king's accession found vent in a wild
plot for the seizure of his person, devised by a priest named Watson;
and the alarm this created quickened James to a redemption of his
pledges. In July 1603 the leading Catholics were called before the
Council and assured that the fines for recusancy would no longer be
exacted; while an attempt was made to open a negotiation with Rome and
to procure the support of the Pope for the new government. But the real
strength of the Catholic party lay in the chance of aid from Spain. So
long as the war continued they would look to Spain for succour, and the
influence of Spain would be exerted to keep them in antagonism to the
Crown. Nor was this the only ground for a cessation of hostilities. The
temper of James was peaceful; the royal treasury was exhausted; and the
continuance of the war necessitated a close connexion with the
Calvinistic and republican Hollanders. At the same time therefore that
the Catholics were assured of a relaxation of the penal laws,
negotiations for peace were opened with Spain.

[Sidenote: James and the Puritans.]

However justifiable such steps might be, it was certain that they would
rouse alarm and discontent among the sterner Protestants. For a time
however it seemed as if concessions on one side were to be balanced by
concessions on the other, as if the tolerance which had been granted to
the Catholic would be extended to the Puritan. James had hardly crossed
the Border when he was met by what was termed the Millenary Petition,
from a belief that it was signed by a thousand of the English clergy. It
really received the assent of some eight hundred, or of about a tenth of
the clergy of the realm. The petitioners asked for no change in the
government or organization of the Church, but for a reform of its
courts, the