On a Job Transfer

Charles James Stuart was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the first son of Mary and Henry Stuart. He was raised in Stirling, Scotland, and entered the business of his family at a young age. However, due to circumstances beyond his control, he got swept up in a political plot against some powerful people in Scotland, and Jim was imprisoned for a time. Eventually, he managed to get out of jail, and, with the financial assistance of a wealthy relative down in England who had taken a liking to him, he was able to continue working in Scotland in the family trade for some years.

Then, upon the death of his benefactress, Jim learned that he had been chosen to become the sole heir to her large estates and her position. However, he knew that with great wealth and position came great responsibility. And–and this was a big “and”–it also meant that he would have to move to London to oversee things there. And that was a large ask. Jim loved Scotland, and he knew that he would miss it if he had to spend most of his time in the English capital city. Besides, Jim had managed to fall for a Danish girl named Anne, and the couple were married. Jim even traveled from Leith over to Norway to get Anne and bring her home. The couple’s marriage was not terrible by most accounts, and three children were produced by the pair.

Meanwhile, Jim still had to decide if he would accept the transfer to the work of his deceased relative in London. He said that he would try it; after all, he could always return to Scotland if things didn’t quite work out, right? When he and Anne arrived in London, Jim decided that it was the right move. He told a friend that, in a sense, he’d traded a stone chair for a feather bed, meaning that his life in London was easier because of the wealth he’d inherited and the power that came with the wealth.

But not everything was roses in his new job. Jim soon found that, along with the money, there were some issues. While the woman herself had been wealthy, her businesses had debts, and he had to work hard to address those. And then there were those workers and advisors who had been around and been close to Jim’s dead relative. Some of them questioned whether or not this Scottish “rube” could handle all the affairs he had taken on in the inheritance. Two of the old hands at the job pretty much handled the day-to-day, and that left Jim free to deal with the big-picture stuff. People wondered if Jim could do that, because, while he had experience in the family business, he’d never run an operation this large before.

But Jim was wise for his years. He knew better than to come into a situation and make radical changes from the first. He was careful to learn who did what and how, and, once he found out who was capable and who was not, Jim dismissed the baggage and promoted the ones who were capable. He oversaw some trade agreements, arranged for the sale of some assets that weren’t producing and the acquisition of some that became good producers for him. Soon, the debt was erased. The people who worked for him largely loved his oversight.

Sadly, Jim’s health wasn’t great. He complained sometimes, wistfully, that he would feel better “back home” in Scotland, although by this time, Jim had been in the south for over two decades. He kept his Scottish accent throughout his life, although his children spoke with a London one. Jim had a stroke and died at the young age of 58. And, when he died, people in both Scotland and England mourned him. And you know about Jim Stuart because your house probably has something in it that was commissioned by him.

The King James Bible.

On an Assassination Plot

Let’s call him Guido. That’s the name he adopted when he left his native country to go fight in the Spanish Wars. While there, Guido made a name for himself as being a brave and somewhat reckless fighter. He became radicalized there as well, learning to combine religious fervor with a desire to enact vengeance for what he perceived to be wrongs done to people of the same belief he had.

Upon return to his homeland after the war, Guido quickly found many people who agreed with him. However, the discussions he and his like-minded compatriots had were by necessity held in secret. The government’s agents were everywhere, and people who openly opposed the government’s public and religious policies were rounded up, imprisoned, and, often, executed. Those in power did not tolerate any opposition, obviously.

All of that made Guido and his confederates even more radical in their desire to fight against what they felt was their right to worship God they way they wanted. No one person or group or government had the ability to take that away from them. Meanwhile, their numbers were being whittled down by the government’s oppression. And, so, feeling that there was nothing left to do except to fight against this perceived evil, the group hatched a conspiracy.

Guido’s plan was the one that the conspirators accepted. His brainstorm was to plant a large bomb in the basement of a government building and strike at the seat of power in the nation. The bomb was planted. The timing was agreed upon. All that was lacking was the detonation. And that’s where the plan went awry. It seems that the plotters had warned several people who shared their same religious beliefs, sending letters telling them to stay away from the government building during such and such a day and time. One of the members of one of the households that received one of these letters promptly informed the authorities.

After thinking that the warning was a hoax at first, the government was shocked into reality when they found Guido and the bomb in the basement of the government building. He was arrested. The government questioned him at length, demanding that he reveal the names of his fellow conspirators. Guido refused. That’s when the jailors began the torture. Soon, Guido gave up his fellow plotters. We have only a few hints of how extreme the torture was, but we have a signature he made on a document soon after the torture–a confession, actually–and the name is barely legible. Eventually, he and all the others were executed, their bodies torn to shreds, and their names becoming a byword for what happens to traitors who try to overthrow a government.

And so, the plot was foiled, but only barely. If it had succeeded. then history might have been different. Because, you see, Guido and his group had planted a large amount of gunpowder beneath the English Houses of Parliament in 1605. And Guido is remembered today as England’s most celebrated unsuccessful assassin.

In fact, every November 5th since then, the United Kingdom remembers him by lighting fires and shooting fireworks on Guy–Guido–Fawkes Day.

On the Queen’s Death

It’s been some time now since Queen Elizabeth died peacefully in her sleep at her residence. She deserves a moment of reflection by us on a life well lived. While her death was not from an accident or some other misfortune, it was still somewhat of a shock to the nation. When any monarch rules as long as she did, to think that she no longer sat on the throne stunned most of her loyal and loving subjects.

Elizabeth had spoken of death many times. “I know I am mortal,” she said once in a speech to Parliament, “and have prepared myself for death, whenever it shall please God to send it.” Her measured words, delivered in a calm, matter of fact manner, reminded all of her nation that death is no respecter of persons, that it visits both rube and royal, both commoner and king.

She was literally born to rule if anyone ever was. Her father, a ruler who saw the nation through perilous times and through terrible struggles, who led the nation for much of the middle part of the previous century, had not produced a son. It had therefore fallen to Elizabeth to assume the throne at a young age when the crown was vacated. At the time, some questioned whether such a young girl could rule, could wield power, and hold the nation together, but Elizabeth more than proved her detractors wrong.

When she passed, a simple notice was made on the gates of the residence. A crowd had gathered after hearing of her being unwell, expecting the worst but praying for the best. The murmured prayers and lit candles on behalf of the beloved monarch stretched up and down the street in front of the gates. After the announcement, the assembled crowd fell into hushed reverence, as the prayers became silent ones for both Queen and country.

As you know, Elizabeth’s funeral was attended by hundreds of dignitaries. The amount of sorrow over her death and the respect for her years of service affected all who saw the event. People began to wonder what would happen to the nation now that Elizabeth was gone. What would the new King be like as a monarch? Even if the incoming monarch were to prove capable and a good ruler, the consensus was that there would never be another like her.

And Elizabeth also had a way of engaging her people with her life. She set trends for the modern monarchy but also in the areas of the arts and fashion as well. Historians will continue to look to her time as monarch as sort of a golden age in the nation that may well never come again.

In fact, Queen Elizabeth I, who died in March, 1603, is known today as the greatest queen in England’s storied history.