God and the King

"There is no managing an unreasonable people. By Heaven, my lord, they do not deserve my care."
The speaker was standing by an open window that looked on to one of the courts of Whitehall Palace, listening to the unusual and tumultuous noises that filled the sweet summer air-noises of bells, of shouting, the crack of fireworks, and the report of joyous mock artillery.
It was late afternoon, and the small apartment was already left by the departing daylight and obscured with a dusky shade, b...