(The correspondence begins in June 1601.) Very early on Thursday, March 24, 1603, Elizabeth went to her account, and James received the news from Sir Robert Carey, who reached Holyrood on the Saturday night, March 26.

James entered London on May 6, and England was free from the fear of many years concerning a war for the succession.

The Catholics hoped for lenient usage: disappointment led some desperate men to engage in the Gunpowder Plot.

James was not more satisfactory to the Puritans.
Encouraged by the fulsome adulation which grew up under the Tudor dynasty, and free from dread of personal danger, James henceforth governed Scotland "with the pen," as he said, through the Privy Council.
This method of ruling the ancient kingdom endured till the Union of 1707, and was fraught with many dangers.

The king was no longer in touch with his subjects.