the country of the Scots, or that part of Great Britain lying to the north of the Tweed; is situated between the 54th and 59th degrees of north latitude, and extends in length about 278 miles, and in some places near 180 in breadth; containing an area of 27,794 miles. On the south it is bounded by England; on the north, east, and west, by the Deucalidian, German, and Irish seas.

It is extremely difficult to give any satisfactory account of the origin of the appellation of Scots, from which the name the country has derived its name. It has puzzled the most eminent antiquaries, whose conjectures serve rather to perplex than to clear up the difficulty. Nor is this to be wondered at, when Varro and Dionysius could not agree about the etymon of Italia, nor Plutarch and Solinus about that of Roma. All that we know with any degree of certainty, concerning the appellation of Scot, amounts to this—that it was at first a term of reproach, and consequently framed by enemies, rather than assumed by the nation distinguished by that name. The Highlanders, who were the genuine descendents of the ancient Scots, are absolutely strangers to the name, and have been so from the beginning of time. All those who speak the Gaelic language call themselves... The Picts, who possessed originally the northern and eastern, and in a latter period also the more southern division, of North Britain, were at first more powerful than the Caledonians of the west. It is therefore probable, that the Picts, from a principle of malevolence and pride, were ready to traduce and ridicule their weaker neighbours of Argyle. These two nations spoke the same language, the Gaelic. In that language Scots, or Scot, signifies a corner or small division of a country. Accordingly a corner of North Britain is the very name which Giraldus Cambrensis gives the little kingdom of Argyle, which the six sons of Muredes king of Ulster were said, according to his information, to have erected in Scotland. Scot in Gaelic is much the same with little or contemptible in English; and Scotaean, literally speaking, signifies a small flock; metaphorically, it stands for a small body of men. (Dr Macpherson's Differ.)

Others observe, that in the same language the word Scott signifies a wanderer, and suppose that this may have been the origin of the name of Scots; a conjecture which they think is countenanced by a passage in Ammianus Marcellinus, (l. xxvii.) who characterizes the men by the epithet of roaming; "per diversa vagantes." (Mr Macpherson, and Mr Whitaker).

All that we can say is, that for some one of the reasons couched under the above disparaging epithets, their malicious or sneering neighbours, the Picts or the Britons, may have given the appellation of Scots to the ancestors of the Scottish nation.

At what time the inhabitants of the west of Scotland came to be distinguished by this name is uncertain. Prophryius the philosopher is the first who mentions them, about the year of the Christian era 267; and towards the middle of the 4th century we find them mentioned with other British nations by Am. Marcellinus, in the passage above referred to.

The origin of the Scots has been warmly disputed by many antiquaries of note; particularly by Mr Macpherson and Mr Whitaker. The first contends that they are of Caledonian, the latter that they are of Irish extraction. Each supports his position with such arguments and authorities, that an impartial inquirer is almost at a loss which of their opinions he ought to espouse. What appears most probable is, that they are both partly in the right and partly in the wrong.—The Scots seem to have been originally descended from Britons of the south, or from Caledonians, who being pressed forward by new colonies from Gaul, till they came to the western shore of Britain, passed over from thence into Ireland, probably about 100 years before the Christian era. About the year of Christ 320, they returned again into Britain; or at least a large colony of them, under the conduct of Fergus, and settled on the western coasts of Caledonia, from whence they had formerly migrated. As early as the year 340, we find them associated with the Picts in their expeditions to the Roman province, and for 90 or 100 years after, their ravages are frequently mentioned by the Roman and British writers. (Whitaker's Hist. of the Britons, 284).

The territory of the ancient Scots, before the annexation of Pictavia, comprehended all that side of Scotland, Caledonia which lies along the north and western ocean, from the firth of Clyde to the Orkneys. To wards the east, their dominions were divided from the territory, Pictish territories by those high mountains which run from Dumbarton to the firth of Tain.—In process of time the Scots, under the reign of Kenneth the son of Alpin, became so powerful as to subdue entirely their neighbours the Picts, and gave their own denomination to all Caledonia, Pictavia, and Valonia; all which are still comprehended under the general name of Scotland.

Like those of all other nations, the historians of Scotland assume too great an antiquity for their countrymen; however, they are much less extravagant in this respect than many others. By them the reign of Fergus, the first Scots monarch, is placed in 330 B.C. He was the son of Ferchard an Irish prince; and is said to have been called into Scotland by the Caledonians to assist them against the southern Britons, with whom they were then at war. Having landed on one of the Abudes or western isles, he had a conference with the Caledonians, whose language and manners he found to be the same with those of his countrymen. Having then landed in Scotland, and taken the field at the head of his new allies, he engaged the Britons under their king Coilo. Victory declared in favour of the Scots; Coilo was defeated and killed, and from him the province of Kyle first received its name. After this Fergus was declared king of the Scots, with the solemnity of an oath. But he did not long enjoy his new dignity: for having been recalled to Ireland to quiet some commotions there, he was drowned, by a sudden tempest, on his return, at a place in Ireland called from him Knock-Fergus, or Carrick-Fergus; i.e. Fergus's Rock.

Fergus was succeeded by his brother Feritharis, to the prejudice of his two sons Ferlegus and Mainus. This, we are told by the ancient Scottish writers, was succession done in conformity to a law, by which it was ordained, in use that whilst the children of their kings were infants, among the one of their relations who was reckoned the most fit for the government should be raised to the throne, but that after his death the sovereignty should return to the sons of the former king. This was the case at present; however, Ferlegus, impatient for the crown, made a formal demand of it from his uncle. The dispute being referred to an assembly of the states, Feritharis was confirmed on the throne; and Ferlegus would have been condemned for sedition, had not his uncle interposed. However, he was imprisoned; but having made his escape, he fled first to the Picts, and then to the Britons, in order to excite them against Feritharis. With both he failed in accomplishing his purpose; but in the mean time his uncle being stabbed in his bed, the suspicion fell upon Ferlegus, who was thereupon set aside from the succession, and died in obscurity, the throne being conferred upon his brother Mainus.

The reigns of Mainus, Dornadil, and Nothat, afford nothing remarkable, excepting that Donadil, who was a great hunter, instituted the laws of hunting in this country. Nothat was killed in a battle with Reuther his nephew; upon which the latter was immediately invested with the sovereignty. A bloody war ensued, in which both parties were reduced to the last extremity, and glad at length to conclude a peace. The fate of Reutha is not known; but it is generally supposed that he ended his life in the year 187 B.C.

The reigns of Reutha, Theresus, Jashna, and Finnan, afford no remarkable transactions, excepting that under the last we find the first beginnings of the Scottish parliament; as he enacted, that kings should do nothing without the consent of their grand council.—After him followed Duritus, Even, and Gillus, whose reigns afford nothing of consequence. Even II., the nephew of Finnan, who succeeded Gillus, is said to have built the towns of Innerlochy and Inverness. He overcame Belus king of the Orkneys, who had invaded Scotland; and was succeeded by his son Eder, in whose time Julius Caesar invaded the southern parts of this island. Eder is said to have afflicted the Britons against the common enemy. He was succeeded, after a reign of 43 years, by his son Even III., who is represented as a monster of cruelty and lust. Not content with having 100 noble concubines of his own, he made a law that a man might marry as many wives as he could maintain; and that the king should have the first night with every noble bride, and the nobles the like with the daughters of their tenants. Nor was he less remarkable for his cruelty and rapaciousness, which at last occasioned a rebellion; and Even was dethroned, imprisoned, and put to death.

We meet with nothing memorable in the history of Scotland from this time to that of Agricola, excepting that the famous Caractacus, who was carried prisoner to Rome, is said to have been one of the Scottish monarchs; which, however, seems not very probable, as the Romans in his time had not penetrated near so far as Scotland. The invasion of Agricola happened during the reign of Corbred, called by the Roman historians Galgacus. Agricola having completed the conquest of the southern parts, and in a great measure civilized the inhabitants, formed a like plan with regard to Scotland. It is probable, that at this time the Caledonians or Scots were rendered more formidable than ever they had been, by the accession of great numbers from the south; for though the Romans had civilized the greatest part, it cannot be doubted that many of those savage warriors, disdaining the pleasures of a peaceful life, would retire to the northward, where the martial disposition of the Scots would better suit their inclination. The utmost efforts of valour, however, were not proof against the discipline of the Roman troops and the experience of their commander. In the third year Agricola had penetrated as far as the river Tay; but the particulars of his progress are not recorded. The following year he built a line of forts between the friths of Forth and Clyde, to exclude the Caledonians from the southern parts of the island; and the year after, he subdued those parts which lay to the south and west of his forts, namely, the counties of Galloway, Cartyre, and Argyle, which at that time were inhabited by a people called Canti, though some historians place these as far south as Cheshire in England, and the north part of Wales. This supposition, however, can scarcely be admitted, when we consider that Tacitus expressly informs us, that the people whom Agricola conquered had never before been known to the Romans.

Agricola still pursued the same prudent measures by which he had already secured the possession of such a large tract of country, that is, advancing but slowly, and building forts as he advanced, in order to keep the people in obedience. The Scots, though commanded by their king who is said to have been well acquainted with the manner of fighting and discipline of the Romans, were yet obliged to retreat; but at last, finding that the enemy made such progress as endangered the subjugation of the whole country, he resolved to cut off their communication with the southern parts, and likewise to prevent all possibility of a retreat by sea. Agricola, though solicited by some of his officers, refused to retreat; but divided his troops into three bodies, having a communication with each other. Upon this, Galgacus resolved to attack the weakest of the three, which consisted only of the ninth legion, and lay at that time, as is said, at a place called Lodore, about two miles from Loch-Leven in Fife. The attack was made in the night; and as the Romans were both unprepared and inferior in number, the Scots penetrated into the heart of their camp, and were making a great slaughter, when Agricola detached some light-armed troops to their assistance; by whom the Caledonians in their turn were routed, and forced to fly to the marshes and inaccessible places, where the enemy could not follow them.

This engagement has been magnified by the Roman historians into a victory, though it can scarce be admitted from the testimonies of other historians. The Romans, however, certainly advanced very considerably, and the Scots as constantly retreated, till they gained the foot of the Grampian mountains, where by the Romans the Caledonians resolved to make their last stand. In the eighth year of the war, Agricola advanced to the foot of the mountains, where he found the enemy ready to receive him. Tacitus has given us a speech of Galgacus, which he has undoubtedly fabricated for him, in which he sets forth the aspiring disposition of the Romans, and encourages his countrymen to defend themselves vigorously as knowing that everything valuable was at stake. A desperate engagement accordingly ensued. In the beginning, the Britons had the advantage, by the dexterous management of their bucklers; but Agricola having ordered three Tungrian and two Batavian cohorts, armed with short swords, and embossed bucklers terminating in a point, to attack the Scots, who were armed with long swords, the latter soon found these weapons useless in a close encounter; and as their bucklers only covered a small part of their bodies, they were easily cut in pieces by their adversaries. The most forward of their cavalry and charioteers fell back upon their infantry, and dispersed the centre; but, the Britons endeavouring to out-flank their enemies, the Roman general opposed them with his horse; and the Caledonians were at last routed with great slaughter, and forced to fly into the woods, whither the Romans pursued with so little caution that numbers of them were cut off. Agricola, however, having ordered his troops to proceed more regularly, prevented the Scots from attacking and cutting off his men in separate parties as they had expected; so that this victory proved the greatest stroke to the Caledonians that they had hitherto received. This battle is supposed by some to have been fought in Strathern, half a mile south from the kirk of Comrie; but others imagine the place to have been near Fortingal-Camp, a place somewhat farther on the other side of the Tay.

Great as this victory was, it seems not to have been productive of any solid or lasting advantage to the Romans; since we find that Agricola, instead of putting an end to the war by the immediate conquest of all Caledonia, retreated into the country of the Forells, commonly supposed to be Forfarshire, though others imagine it to have been the county of Fife. Here he received hostages from part of the Caledonians; and ordered part of his fleet to sail round Britain, that they might discover whether it was an island or a continent. The Romans no sooner had left that part of the country, than the Caledonians demolished all the forts they had raised; and Agricola being soon after recalled by Domitian, the further progress of the Roman arms was stopped; Galgacus proving superior to any of the successors of that general.

From the time of Agricola to that of Adrian, we know little of the affairs of Scotland, excepting that during this interval the Scots must have entirely driven the Romans out of their country, and reconquered all that tract which lay between Agricola's chain of forts and Carlisle on the west, and Newcastle or Tynemouth-Bar on the east; which Adrian, on visiting Britain, thought proper to fix as the northern boundary of the Roman dominions. Here he built a wall of turf between the mouth of the Tine and the Solway frith, with a view to shut out the barbarians; which, however, did not answer the purpose, nor indeed could it be thought to do so, as it was only built of turf, and guarded by no more than 18,000 men, who could not be supposed a sufficient force to defend such an extent of fortification.

On the departure of Adrian, he left Julius Severus as his lieutenant; but this man, though one of the greatest commanders of his age, did not carry his arms to the northward of Adrian's wall; and this long interval of peace gave so much security to Mogold the Scottish monarch, that he degenerated into a tyrant, and was murdered by some of his noblemen. The only instance of his tyranny which is produced, however, is a law by which it was enacted, that the estates of such as were condemned should be forfeited to his exchequer, without any part thereof being allotted to their wives and children; an act which subsists almost in its full force to this day in Great Britain and the best regulated European governments.

In the reign of Antoninus Pius, the praepotator Lollius Urbicus drove the Scots far to the northward, and repaired the chain of forts built by Agricola, which lay between the Carron on the Frith of Forth and Dunglass on the Clyde. These were joined together by turf walls, and formed a much better defence than the wall of Adrian. However, after the death of Antoninus, Commodus having recalled Calpurnius Agricola, an able commander, who kept the Scots in awe, a more dangerous war broke out than had ever been experienced by the Romans in that quarter. The Scots having passed the wall, put all the Romans they could meet with to the sword; but they were soon repulsed by Ulpius Marcellus, a general of consummate abilities, whom Commodus sent into the island.—In a short time the tyrant also recalled this able commander. After his departure the Roman discipline in Britain suffered a total relaxation; the soldiery grew mutinous, and great disorders ensued; but these were all happily removed by the arrival of Clodius Albinus, a person of great skill and experience in military affairs. His presence for some time restrained the Scots within proper bounds; but a civil war breaking out between him and Severus, Albinus crossed over to the continent with the greatest part of the Roman forces in Britain; and meeting his antagonist at Lyons, a dreadful battle ensued, in which Albinus was utterly defeated, and his army cut in pieces. See Rome n° 375.

The absence of the Roman forces gave encouragement to the Scots to renew their depredations, which Severus they did with such success, that the emperor became apprehensive of losing the whole island; and Scots, which determined to go in person and quell these troublesome enemies. The army he collected upon this occasion was far more numerous than any the Romans had ever sent into Britain; and being commanded by such an able general as Severus, it may easily be supposed that the Scots must have been very hard pressed. The particulars of this important expedition are very imperfectly related; however, we are assured that Severus lost a vast number of men, it is said not less than 50,000, in his march through Scotland. Notwithstanding, he penetrated, it is said, to the most northern extremity of the island, and obliged the enemy to yield up their arms. On his return, he built a much stronger fortification to secure the frontiers against the enemy than had ever been done before, and which in some places coincided with Adrian's wall, but extended farther at each end. But in the mean time the Scots, provoked by the brutality of the emperor's son Caracalla, whom he had left regent in his absence, again took arms; on which Severus himself took the field, with a design, as it would seem, to extirpate the whole nation; for he gave orders to his soldiers "not to spare even child in the mother's belly." The event of his furious declaration is unknown; but in all probability the death of the emperor, which happened soon after, put a stop to the execution of this revenge; and it is certain that his son Caracalla, who succeeded Severus, ratified the peace with the Scots.

During all these important transactions, Scotland was governed by Donald I., who is said to have been the first Christian king of this country. From him to the time of Eugene I., no remarkable occurrence offers; but under the latter the Roman and Pictish forces were united against the Scots. The Picts were commanded by their king named Hargus; and the Romans by Maximus, who murdered Valentinian III., and afterwards assumed the empire*. The allies defeated Eugene in the county of Galloway; but Maximus being obliged to return southward on account of an insurrection, the Picts were in their turn defeated by the Scots. Next year, however, Maximus marched against the Scots; who being now reduced to extremity, brought into the field not only all the men capable of bearing arms, but the women also. In this engagement the Picts would have been utterly defeated, had not they been supported by the Romans; but Eugene being killed. killed, with the greatest part of his nobility, the Scots were defeated; and so well did the conquerors improve their victory, that their antagonists were at last totally driven out of the country. Some of them took refuge in the Æthiopic islands, and some in Scandinavia and Ireland, from whence they made frequent descents upon Scotland. The Picts were at first mightily pleased with the victory they had gained over their antagonists: but being commanded to adopt the laws of the Romans, and to choose no king who was not sent from Rome, they began to repent of their having contributed to the expulsion of the Scots; and in the year 421, when Ataulphus king of the Goths sent over a body of exiled Scots to Britain, under Fergus a descendant of the royal family of Scotland, the Picts immediately joined them against the common enemy. The consequence of this was, that the Britons were pushed to the last extremity; and the Romans being obliged, on account of the inundation of northern Barbarians who poured in upon them, to recall their forces from Britain, the inhabitants were reduced to the most miserable situation that can be imagined. In the time of Fergus II., they were obliged to give up all the country which lies to the north of Adrian's wall; and in the reign of Grimus or Graham, the successor of Fergus, they were obliged to write that remarkable letter to Rome, intitled "The groans of the Britons." This however, not being attended with success, the Britons were obliged to call in the Saxons to their assistance. By these new allies the Scots were defeated in a great battle, and their king (Eugene) drowned in the river Humber; which put a stop for some time to these incursions.

Hitherto we have seen the Scots very formidable enemies to the southern Britons. But when the Saxons became the enemies of the Britons, the Scots joined in a strict alliance with the latter; and the famous king Arthur is said to have been assisted by the Scots in all his battles with the Saxons: neither does it appear that this league was ever dissolved again, though the united efforts of the Scots and Britons were not sufficient to preserve the independency of the latter.

The next remarkable event in the history of Scotland is the war with the Picts, which took place in the ninth century. The occasion of the quarrel was, that Dongal king of Scotland pretended a right to the Pictish throne; which, however, was rejected by the Picts: upon which both parties had recourse to arms; but when every thing was ready for the campaign, Dongal was drowned in crossing the river Spey.

At this time the dominions of the Scots comprehended the western islands, together with the counties of Argyle, Knapdale, Kyle, Kintyre, Lochaber, and a part of Braidalbane; while the Picts possessed all the rest of Scotland, and part of Northumberland; so that the Picts seem to have been by much the most powerful people of the two. However, the Scots appear to have been superior in military skill; for Alpin, the successor of Dongal, having engaged the Pictish army near Forfar, after an obstinate engagement defeated them, and killed their king, though not without the loss of a great number of his own men. The Picts chose Brudus, the son of their former king, to succeed him; but soon after deposed and put him to death, on account of his rapidity and indolence. His brother Kenneth shared the same fate on account of his cowardice; till at last another Brudus, a brave and spirited prince, ascended the throne. Having raised a powerful army, he began with offering terms of peace to the Scots; which, however, Alpin rejected, and insisted upon a total surrender of his crown. Brudus on this endeavoured to procure the affluence of Edwin king of Northumberland. Edwin accepted the money; but pretending to be engaged in other wars, he refused the affluence which he at first promised. Brudus, not dismayed by this disappointment, marched resolutely against his enemies; and the two armies came to an engagement near Dundee. The superior skill of the Scots in military affairs was about to have decided the victory in their favour, when Brudus bethought himself of the following stratagem to preserve his army from destruction. He caused all the attendants, and even the women who attended his army, to assemble and shew themselves at a distance as a powerful reinforcement coming to the Picts. This struck the Scots with such a panic, that all the efforts of Alpin could not recover them; and they were accordingly defeated with great slaughter. Alpin himself was taken prisoner, and soon after beheaded by order of the conqueror. This execution happened at a place now called Pit-alpin, but in former times Bar-alpin, which in the Gaelic language signifies the death of Alpin. His head was afterwards stuck upon a pole, and exposed on a wall.

Alpin was succeeded by his son Kenneth II., who being a brave and enterprising prince, resolved to take a most severe revenge for his father's death. The Scots, however, were so dispirited by their late defeat, that they were exceedingly averse to any renewal of the war: while, on the other hand, the Picts were so much elated, that they made a law by which it became death for any man to propose peace with the Scots, whom they resolved to exterminate; and some of the nobility were expelled the council on account of their opposition to this law. The consequence of this was, that civil dissensions took place among them, and a bloody battle was fought between the opposite parties before the Scots had thought of making any farther resistance.

By these dissensions Brudus, who had in vain endeavoured to appease them, was so much affected, that he died of grief; and was succeeded by his brother Drusten.—The new prince also failed in his endeavours to accommodate the civil differences: so that the Scots, by gaining so much reprieve, at last began to recover from their consternation; and some of them having ventured into the Pictish territories, carried off Alpin's head from the capital of their dominions, supposed to have been Abernethy. In the mean time Kenneth found means to gain over the nobility to his side by the following stratagem; which, however ridiculous, is not incredible, if we consider the barbarism and superstition of that age. Having invited them to an entertainment, the king introduced into the hall of Kenneth where they slept, a person cloathed in a robe made of the skins of fishes, which made such a luminous appearance in the dark, that he was mistaken for an angel or some supernatural messenger. To add to the terror of those who saw him, he denounced, through a speaking trumpet, the most terrible judgements, if war was not immediately declared against the Picts, the murderers of of the late king. In consequence of this celestial admonition, war was immediately renewed with great vigour. The Picts were not deficient in their preparations, and had now procured some assistance from England. The first battle was fought near Stirling; where the Picts, being deserted by their English auxiliaries, were utterly defeated. Druken escaped by the swiftness of his horse, and a few days after made application to Kenneth for a cessation of hostilities; but as the Scottish monarch demanded a surrender of all the Pictish dominions, the treaty was instantly broken off. Kenneth pursued his good fortune, and conquered the counties of Merns, Angus, and Fife; but as he marched against Stirling, he received intelligence that these counties had again revolted and cut off all the garrisons which he had left, and that Druken was at the head of a considerable army in these parts. On this Kenneth hastened to oppose him, and a negotiation again took place. The result was equally unfavourable with the rest. Kenneth insisted on an absolute surrender of the counties of Fife, Merns, and Angus; which being refused, both parties prepared for a decisive battle. The engagement was very bloody and desperate, the Picts fighting like men in despair. Druken renewed the battle seven times; but at last was entirely defeated and killed, and the counties in dispute became the immediate property of the conqueror.

Kenneth did not fail to improve his victory, by reducing the rest of the Pictish territories; which he is said to have done with the greatest cruelty, and even to have totally exterminated the inhabitants. The capital, called Gamlet (supposed to have been Abernethy), held out four months; but was at last taken by surprise, and every living creature destroyed. This was followed by the reduction of the Maiden Castle, now that of Edinburgh; which was abandoned by the garrison, who fled to Northumberland.

After the reduction of these important places, the rest of the country made no great resistance, and Kenneth became master of all the kingdom of Scotland in the present extent of the word; so that he is justly to be esteemed the true founder of the Scottish monarchy. Besides this war with the Picts, Kenneth is said to have been successful against the Saxons, though of these wars we have very little account. Having reigned 16 years in peace after his subjugation of the Picts, and composed a code of laws for the good of his people, Kenneth died of a fistula, at Fort Teviot, near Dupplin in Perthshire. Before his time the seat of Scots government had been in Argyllshire; but he removed it to Scone, by transferring thither the famous black stone supposed to be the palladium of Scotland, and which was afterwards carried off by Edward I. of England, and lodged in Westminster abbey.

Kenneth was succeeded by his brother Donald, who is represented as a man of the worst character; so that the remaining Picts who had fled out of Scotland were encouraged to apply to the Saxons for alliance, promising to make Scotland tributary to the Saxon power after it should be conquered. This proposal was accepted; and the confederates invaded Scotland with a powerful army, and took the town of Berwick; however, they were soon after defeated by Donald, who took also their ships and provisions. This capture proved their ruin; for some of the ships being loaded with wine, the Scots indulged themselves too much with that liquor, that they became incapable of defending themselves; the consequence of this was, that the confederates rallying their troops, attacked them in that state of intoxication. The Scots were defeated by the Saxons, twenty thousand of the common soldiers lay dead on the spot; the king and his principal nobility were taken prisoners; and all the country from the Tweed to the Forth became the property of the conquerors. Still, however, the confederates found themselves unable to pursue their victory farther; and a peace was concluded, on condition that the Saxons should become masters of all the conquered country. Thus the Forth and Clyde became the southern boundaries of the Scottish dominions. It was agreed that the Forth should from that time forward be called the Scots Sea; and it was made capital for any Scotsman to set his foot on English ground. They were to erect no forts near the English confines, to pay an annual tribute of a thousand pounds, and to give up 60 sons of their chief nobility as hostages. A mint was erected by the Saxon prince named Offreth, at Stirling; and a cross raised on the bridge at that place, with the following inscription, implying that this place was the boundary between Scotland and England:

Anglos a Scottis separat crux ista remotis: Arma hic stant Briti, stant Scotti hac cruce tali.

After the conclusion of this treaty, so humiliating to the Scots, the Picts, finding that their interest had been entirely neglected, fled to Norway, while those who remained in England were massacred. Donald shared the common fate of unfortunate princes, being dethroned and shut up in prison, where he at last put an end to his own life in the year 858.—In justice to this unhappy monarch, however, it must be observed, that the character of Donald, and indeed the whole account of these transactions, rests on the credit of a single author, namely Boece; and that other writers represent Donald as a hero, and successful in his wars; but the obscurity in which the whole of this period of Scottish history is involved, renders it impossible to determine anything satisfactory concerning these matters.

Donald was succeeded by his nephew Constantine, the Son of Kenneth Mac Alpin, in whose reign Scotland was first invaded by the Danes, who proved such formidable enemies to the English. This invasion is said to have been occasioned by some exiled Picts who fled to Denmark, where they prevailed upon the king of that country to send his two brothers, Hungar and Hubba, to recover the Pictish dominions from Con-Danconstantine. These princes landed on the coast of Fife, where they committed the most horrid barbarities, not sparing even the ecclesiastics who had taken refuge in the island of May at the mouth of the Forth. Constantine defeated one of the Danish armies commanded by Hubba, near the water of Leven; but was himself defeated and taken prisoner by Hungar, who caused him to be beheaded at a place since called the Devil's Cave, in the year 874.

This unfortunate action cost the Scots 10,000 men; but the Danes seem not to have purchased their victory very easily, as they were obliged immediately Scotland, afterwards to abandon their conquests, and retire to their own country. However, the many Danish monuments that are still to be seen in Fife, leave no room to doubt that many bloody scenes have been acted here between the Scots and Danes besides that above mentioned.

Constantine was succeeded by his brother Eth, surnamed the Swift-footed, from his agility. Concerning him we find nothing memorable; indeed the accounts are so confused and contradictory, that it is impossible to form any decisive opinion concerning the transactions of this reign. All agree, however, that it was but short; and that he was succeeded by Gregory the Great, contemporary with Alfred of England, and that both princes deservedly acquired the name of Great. The Danes at their departure had left the Picts in possession of Fife. Against them Gregory immediately marched, and quickly drove them into the north of England, where their confederates were already masters of Northumberland and York. In their way thither they threw a garrison into the town of Berwick; but this was presently reduced by Gregory, who put to the sword all the Danes, but spared the lives of the Picts. From Berwick Gregory pursued the Danes into Northumberland, where he defeated them; and passed the winter in Berwick. He then marched against the Cumbrians, who being mostly Picts, were in alliance with the Danes. Them he easily overcame, and obliged to yield up all the lands they had formerly possessed belonging to the Scots, at the same time that he agreed to protect them from the power of the Danes. In a short time, however, Constantine the king of the Cumbrians violated the convention he had made, and invaded Annandale; but was defeated and killed by Gregory near Lochmaben. After this victory Gregory entirely reduced the counties of Cumberland and Westmoreland, which, it is said, were ceded to him by Alfred the Great; and indeed the situation of Alfred's affairs at this time renders such a cession by no means improbable.

We next find Gregory engaged in a war with the Irish, on account of his supporting Donach, an Irish prince, against two rebellious noblemen. The Irish were the first aggressors, and invaded Galloway; but being repulsed with great loss, Gregory went over to Ireland in person, where the two chieftains who had been enemies to each other before, now joined their forces in order to oppose the common enemy. The first engagement proved fatal to one of their chiefs named Brian, who was killed with a great number of his followers. After this victory Gregory reduced Dundalk and Drogheda. On his way to Dublin, he was opposed by a chieftain named Cormel, who shared the fate of his confederate; being also killed, and his army entirely defeated. Gregory then became guardian to the young prince whom he came to assist, appointed a regency, and obliged them to swear that they would never admit into the country either a Dane or an Englishman without his consent. Having then placed garrisons in the strongest fortresses, he returned to Scotland, where he built the city of Aberdeen; and died in the year 892, at his castle of Dondore in the Garloch.

Donald III. Gregory was succeeded by Donald III., the son of Constantine, who imitated the virtues of his predecessor. At that time the Scots historians unanimously agree that Northumberland was in the hands of their countrymen; while the English as unanimously affirm, that it was subject to the Danes, who paid homage to Alfred. Be this as it will, however, Donald continued to live on good terms with the English monarch, and sent him a body of forces, who proved of considerable advantage to him in his wars with the Danes. The reign of Donald was but short; for having marched against some robbers, (probably no other than the Danes) who had invaded and ravaged the counties of Murray and Ross, he died at Forres soon after having defeated and subdued them in the year 903. He was succeeded by Constantine III., the son of Eth the swift-footed, concerning whom the most remarkable particular we find related is his entering into an alliance with the Danes against the English. The occasion of this confederacy is said to have been, that the English monarch, Edward the Elder, finding the Scots in possession of the northern counties of England, made such extravagant demands upon Constantine as obliged him to ally with the Danes in order to preserve his dominions in security. However, the league subsisted only for two years; after which the Danes found it more for their advantage to resume their ancient friendship with the English.

As soon as Constantine had concluded the treaty with the Danes, he appointed the presumptive heir to the Scottish crown, Malcolm, or, according to some, Eugene the son of the late king Donald, prince of the southern counties, on condition of his defending them against the attacks of the English. The young prince had soon an opportunity of exerting his valour; but not behaving with the requisite caution, he had the misfortune to be defeated, with the loss of almost all his army, himself being carried wounded out of the field; and in consequence of this disaster, Constantine was obliged to do homage to Edward for the possessions he had to the southward of the Scots boundary.

In the beginning of the reign of Athelstan the son of Edward the Elder, the northern Danes were encouraged by some conspiracies formed against that monarch, to throw off the yoke; and their success was such, that Athelstan thought proper to enter into a treaty with Sithric the Danish chief, and to give him his daughter in marriage. Sithric, however, did not long survive his nuptials; and his son Guthred, endeavouring to throw off the English yoke, was defeated, and obliged to fly into Scotland. This brought on a series of hostilities between the Scots and English, which in the year 938 issued in a general engagement. At this time the Scots, Irish, Cumbrians, and Danes, were confederated against the English. The Scots were commanded by their king Constantine, the Irish by Anlaf the brother of Guthred the Danish prince, the Cumbrians by their own sovereign, and the Danes by Froda. The generals of Athelstan were Edmund his brother, and Turketil his favourite. The English attacked the entrenchments of the confederates, where the chief resistance they met with was from the Scots. Constantine was in the utmost danger of being killed or taken prisoner, but was rescued by the bravery of his soldiers; however, after a most obstinate engagement, the confederates were defeated with such slaughter, that the slain are said to lie... have been innumerable. The consequence of this victory was, that the Scots were deprived of all their possessions to the southward of the Forth; and Constantine, quite dispirited with his misfortune, resigned the crown to Malcolm, and retired to the monastery of the Culdees at St Andrews, where he died five years after in 943.

The distresses which the English sustained in their subsequent wars with the Danes gave the Scots an opportunity of retrieving their affairs; and in the year 944 we find Malcolm, the successor of Constantine, invested with the sovereignty of Northumberland, on condition of his holding it as fief of the crown of England, and afflicting in defense of the northern border. Soon after the conclusion of this treaty Malcolm died, and was succeeded by his son Indulfus. In his reign the Danes became extremely formidable by their invasions, which they now renewed with greater fury than ever, being exasperated by the friendship subsisting between the Scots and English monarchs. Their first descent was upon East Lothian, where they were soon expelled, but crossed over to Fife. Here they were a second time defeated, and driven out; and so well had Indulfus taken care to guard the coasts, that they could not find an opportunity of landing; till having seemed to steer towards their own country, the Scots were thrown off their guard, and the Danes on a sudden made good their landing at Culen in Banffshire. Here Indulfus soon came up with them, attacked their camp, and drove them towards their ships; but was killed in an ambuscade, into which he fell during the pursuit. He was succeeded by Duffus, to whom historians give an excellent character; but, after a reign of five years, he was murdered, in the year 965. He was succeeded by Culen the son of Indulfus, who had been nominated prince of Cumberland in his father's life-time, as heir apparent to the throne. He is represented as a very degenerate prince; and is said to have given himself up to sensuality in a manner almost incredible, being guilty of incontinence not only with women of all ranks, but even with his own sisters and daughters. The people in the mean time were fleeced, in order to support the extravagance and luxury of their prince. In consequence of this, an assembly of the states was convened at Scone for the resettling of the government; but on his way thither Culen was assassinated, near the village of Methven, by Rohard, thane or sheriff of Fife, whose daughter the king had debauched.

The provocations which Culen had given to his nobility seem to have rendered them totally untractable and licentious; which gave an occasion to a remarkable revolution in the reign of Kenneth III, who succeeded Culen. This prince, being a man of great resolution, began with relieving the common people from the oppressions of the nobility, which were now intolerable; and this plan he pursued with so much success, that, having nothing to fear from the great barons, he ordered them to appear before him at Lanark; but the greatest part, conscious of their demerits, did not attend. The king so well dissembled his displeasure, that those who came were quite charmed with his affability, and the noble entertainment he gave them; in consequence of which, when an assembly was called next year, the guilty were encouraged to appear as well as the innocent. No sooner had this assembly met, however, than the place of meeting was beset with armed men. The king then informed them that none had any thing to apprehend excepting such as had been notorious offenders; and these he ordered to be immediately taken into custody, telling them, that their submitting to public justice must be the price of their liberty. They were obliged to accept the king's offer, and the criminals were accordingly punished according to their deserts.

About this time Edgar, king of England, finding himself hard pressed by the Danes, found means to unite the king of Scotland and the prince of Cumberland along with himself in a treaty against the Danes; which gave occasion to a report that Kenneth had become tributary to the king of England. This, however, is utterly denied by all the Scots historians; who affirm that Kenneth cultivated a good correspondence with Edgar, as well because he expected assistance in defending his coasts, as because he intended entirely to alter the mode of succession to the throne. About this time the Danes made a dreadful invasion. Their original intention seems to have been to land on some part of the English coasts; but finding them, probably, too well guarded, they landed at Montrose in Scotland, committing everywhere the most dreadful ravages. Kenneth at that time was at Stirling, and quite unprepared; however, having collected a handful of troops, he cut off many of the enemy as they were straggling up and down, but could not prevent them from besieging Perth. Nevertheless, as the king's army constantly increased, he resolved to give the enemy battle. The scene of this action was at Luncarty, near Perth. The king is said to have offered ten pounds in silver, or the value of it in land, for the head of every Dane which should be brought him; and an immunity from all taxes to the soldiers who served in his army, provided they should be victorious; but, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of the Scots, their enemies fought so desperately, that Kenneth's army must have been totally defeated, had not the fugitives been stopped by a yeoman and his two sons of the name of Hay, who were coming up to the rise of the battle, armed with such rustic weapons as their condition in life afforded. Buchanan and Borce inform us, that these country-men were ploughing in a field hard by the scene of action, and perceiving that their countrymen fled, they loosed their oxen, and made use of the yokes as weapons, with which they first obliged their countrymen to stand, and then annoyed their enemies. The fight was now renewed with such fury on the part of the Scots, that the Danes were utterly defeated; and, after the battle, the king rewarded Hay with the barony of Errol in the Castle of Gowrie, ennobled his family, and gave them an armorial bearing alluding to the rustic weapons with which they had achieved this glorious exploit.

In the year 994, Kenneth was murdered at the instigation of a lady named Fenella, whose son he had murdered, caused to be put to death. The murder was perpetrated in Fenella's castle, where she had persuaded the king to pay her a visit. His attendants waited long near the place; but, being at length tired out, they broke open the doors, and found their king murdered; upon which they laid the castle in ashes; but Fenella... escaped by a postern. The throne was then seized by an usurper named Constantine; who, being killed in battle after a reign of a year and a half, was succeeded by Grime the grandson of king Duffus; and he again was defeated and killed by Malcolm the son of Kenneth, the lawful heir of the Scottish throne. After this victory, however, Malcolm did not immediately assume the sovereignty; but asked the crown from the nobles, in consequence of a law passed in the reign of Kenneth, by which the succession to the throne of Scotland became hereditary. This they immediately granted, and Malcolm was accordingly crowned king. He joined himself in strict alliance with the king of England; and proved so successful against the Danes in England, that Sweno their king resolved to direct his whole force against him by an invasion of Scotland. His first attempt, however, proved very unsuccessful; all his soldiers being cut in pieces, except some few who escaped to their ships, while the loss of the Scots amounted to no more than 30 men. But in the mean time, Duncan, prince of Cumberland, having neglected to pay his homage to the king of England, the latter invaded that country in conjunction with the Danes. Malcolm took the field against them, and defeated both; but while he was thus employed in the south, a new army of Danes landed in the north at the mouth of the river Spey. Malcolm advanced against them with an army much inferior in number; and his men, neglecting everything but the blind impulses of fury, were almost all cut to pieces; Malcolm himself being desperately wounded.

By this victory the Danes were so much elated, that they sent for their wives and children, intending to settle in this country. The castle of Nairn, at that time thought almost impregnable, fell into their hands; and the towns of Elgin and Forres were abandoned both by their garrisons and inhabitants. The Scots were everywhere treated as a conquered people, and employed in the most servile offices by the haughty conquerors; who, to render the castle of Nairn, as they thought, absolutely impregnable, cut through the small isthmus which joined it to the land. All this time, however, Malcolm was raising forces in the southern counties; and having at last got an army together, he came up with the Danes at Mortlach near Balveny, which appears at this day to have been a strong Danish fortification. Here he attacked the enemy; but having the misfortune to lose three of his general officers, he was again obliged to retreat. However, the Danish general happening to be killed in the pursuit, the Scots were encouraged to renew the fight with such vigour, that they obtained at last a complete victory; but suffered so much, that they were unable to derive from it all the advantages which might otherwise have accrued.

On the news of this ill success, Sweno ordered two fleets one from England and another from Norway, to make a descent upon Scotland, under the command of Camus, one of his most renowned generals. The Danes attempted to land at the mouth of the Forth; but finding every place there well fortified, they were obliged to move farther northward, and effected their purpose at Redhead in the county of Angus. The castle of Brechin was first besieged; but meeting with a stout resistance there, they laid the town and church in ashes. From thence they advanced to the village of Panbride, and encamped at a place called Karboddo. Malcolm in the mean time was at hand with his army and encamped at a place called The Dunes Barr, in the neighbourhood of which both parties prepared to decide the fate of Scotland; for as Moray feared, and the northern provinces were already in the possession of the Danes, it was evident that a victory at this time must put them in possession of the whole. The engagement was desperate, and so bloody, that the rivulet which proceeds from Loch Tay is said to have had its water dyed with the blood of the slain; but at last the Danes gave way and fled. There was at that time in the army of Malcolm, a young prince of the name of Keith (a). He pursued Camus; and having overtaken him, engaged and killed him; but another family of Scots officer coming up at the same time, disputed with Keith the glory of the action. While the dispute lasted, Malcolm came up; who suffered them to decide it by single combat. In this second combat Keith proved also victorious, and killed his antagonist. The dying person confessed the justice of Keith's claim; and Malcolm dipping his finger in his blood marked the shield of Keith with three strokes, pronouncing the words Veritas vincit, "Truth overcomes," which has ever since been the armorial bearing and motto of the family of Keith (b).

The shattered remains of the Danish forces reached their ships; but being driven back by contrary winds, and provisions becoming scarce, they put ashore 500 men on the coast of Buchan, to procure them some food; but their communication with the ships being soon cut off, they fortified themselves as well as they could, and made a desperate resistance; but at last were all put to the sword. The place where this massacre happened is still called Crudans; being probably an abbreviation of Cruor Danorum, the blood of the Danes, a name imposed on it by the ecclesiastics of those days.

Swen, not yet discouraged, sent his son Canute, afterwards king of England, and one of the greatest invaders of that age, into Scotland, with an army more powerful than any that had yet appeared. Canute landed in Buchan; and, as the Scots were much weakened by such a long continued war, Malcolm thought proper to act on the defensive. But the Scots, who now thought themselves invincible, demanded to be led

(a) This prince is said to have commanded a colony of the Catti, a German nation who settled in the northmost part of Scotland, and from whom the county of Caithness takes its name.

(b) Mr Gordon, in his Itinerarium Septentrionale, observes, that in all probability the Scots gained two victories over the Danes on the present occasion; one near the place called Karboddo, already mentioned; and the other at Aberlemno, four miles from Brechin. At both places there are monuments with rude sculptures, erected most probably in memory of a victory. That at Karboddo is called Camus's cross; near which, somewhat more than a century ago, a large sepulchre, supposed to be that of Camus, was discovered. It consisted of four great stones; and had in it a huge skeleton, supposed to be that of the Danish prince. The fatal stroke seemed to have been given him on the back part of the head; a considerable portion of the skull being cut away, probably by the stroke of the sword. led onto a general engagement. Malcolm complied with their desire, and a battle ensued; in which though neither party had much reason to boast of victory, the Danes were so much reduced, that they willingly concluded a peace on the following terms, viz. That the Danes should immediately depart Scotland; that as long as Malcolm and Swen lived, neither of them should wage war with the other, or help each other's enemies; and that the field in which the battle was fought should be set apart and consecrated for the burial of the dead. These stipulations were punctually fulfilled by Malcolm, who built in the neighbourhood a chapel dedicated to Olaus, the tutelar saint of these northern nations.

After all these glorious exploits, and becoming the second legislator in the Scottish nation, Malcolm is said to have ruined the latter part of his reign with avarice and oppression; in consequence of which he was murdered at the age of 80 years, of which he had reigned above 30. This assassination was perpetrated when he was on his way to Glamis. His own domestics are said to have been privy to the murder, and fled along with the conspirators; but in passing the lake of Forfar on the ice, it gave way under them, and they were all drowned, their bodies being discovered some days after. The latter part of this account is confirmed by the sculptures upon some stones erected near the spot; one of which is still called Malcolm's grave-stone; and all of them exhibit some rude representations of the murder and the fate of the assassins.

Malcolm was succeeded, in the year 1034, by his grandson Duncan I., but he is said to have had another grandson, the famous Macbeth; though some are of opinion that Macbeth was not the grandson of Malcolm, but of Fencella who murdered Kenneth III. The first years of Duncan's reign were passed in tranquillity, but domestic broils soon took place on the following occasion. Banquo, thane of Lochaber, and ancestor to the royal family of Stewart, acted then in the capacity of steward to Duncan, by collecting his rents; but being very rigid in the execution of his office, he was way-laid, robbed, and almost murdered. Of this outrage Banquo complained as soon as he recovered from his wounds and could appear at court. The robbers were summoned to surrender themselves to justice; but instead of obeying, they killed the messenger. Macbeth represented this in such strong terms, that he was sent with an army to reduce the insurgents, who had already destroyed many of the king's friends. This commission he performed with such success, that the rebel chief put an end to his own life; after which Macbeth sent his head to the king, and then proceeded with the utmost severity against the insurgents who were composed of Irishmen, Islanders, and Highlanders.

This insurrection was scarcely quelled, when the Danes landed again in Fife; and Duncan put himself at the head of an army, having the thanes Macbeth and Banquo serving under him. The Danes were commanded by Swen king of Norway, and eldest son of Canute. He proceeded with all the barbarity natural to his nation, putting to death men, women, and children who fell in his way. A battle was fought between the two nations near Culross, in which the Scots were defeated; but the Danes purchased their victory so dearly, that they could not improve it; and Duncan retreated to Perth, while Macbeth was sent to raise more forces. In the mean time Swen laid siege to Perth, which was defended by Duncan and Banquo. The Danes were so much distressed for want of provisions, that they at last consented to treat of a peace, provided the pressing necessities of the army were relieved. The Scots historians inform us, that this treaty was set on foot in order to amuse Swen, and gain time for the stratagem which Duncan was preparing. This was no other than a barbarous contrivance of infusing intoxicating herbs into the liquors that were sent along with the other provisions to the Danish camp. These soporifics had their intended effect; and while the Danes were under their influence, Macbeth and Banquo broke into their camp, where they put all to the sword, and it was with difficulty that some of Swen's attendants carried him on board; but we are told that his was the only ship of all the fleet that returned to Norway. It was not long, however, before a fresh body of Danes landed at Kinghorn in the county of Fife; but they were entirely defeated by Macbeth and Banquo. Such of the Danes as escaped, fled to their ships; but before they departed they obtained leave to bury their dead in Inchcolm, a small island lying in the Forth, where one of their monuments is still to be seen.

Thus ended the formidable invasions of the Danes; after which Duncan applied himself to the administration of justice, and the reformation of the manners of his subjects. Macbeth, however, who had obtained great reputation by his success against the Danes, began to form ambitious designs, and to aspire to the crown itself. The fables relating to his usurpation are so well known from the tragedy composed by Shakespeare which bears the name of Macbeth, that we shall not take notice of them here; but only observe, murdered that at last Duncan being unconscious of offence, and by Macbeth, not taking the necessary precautions for his defence, who afterwards murdered him at Inverness by Macbeth, who succeeded him in the throne.

During the greatest part of the reign of the usurper, Malcolm, the true heir to the crown of Scotland, kept close in his principality of Cumberland, without any thoughts of ascending his father's throne. Macbeth, for some time governed with moderation, but at last became a tyrant. Becoming jealous of Banquo, the most powerful subject in his dominions, he invited him to an entertainment, and caused him to be treacherously murdered. His son Fleance was destined to the same fate, but escaped to Wales. After him Macduff, the thane of Fife, was the most powerful person in Scotland; for which reason, Macbeth determined to destroy him. On this Macduff fled to France; and Macbeth cruelly put to death his wife, and children who were yet infants, and sequestered all his estate. Macduff vowed revenge, and encouraged Malcolm to attempt to dethrone the tyrant. Macbeth opposed them with his whole force; but being defeated in a pitched battle, he took refuge in the most inaccessible places of the Highlands, where he defended himself for two years; but in the mean time Malcolm was acknowledged king of Scotland, and crowned at Scone.

The war between Macbeth and the new king continued for two years after the coronation of the latter; but at last he was killed in a sally by Macduff. However, Scotland.

ever the public tranquillity did not end with his life. His followers elected one of his kinsmen named Lulach, surnamed the Idiot, to succeed him; but he not being able to withstand Malcolm, withdrew to the north, where being pursued, he was killed at Effey in Strathtyndie, after a reign of four months.

Malcolm being now established on the throne, began with rewarding Macduff for his great services; and conferred upon his family four extraordinary privileges:

1. That they should place the king in his chair of state at the coronation. 2. That they should lead the van of all the royal armies. 3. That they should have a regality within themselves; and, 4. That if any of Macduff's family should happen to kill a nobleman unexpectedly, he should pay 24, and, if a plebeian, 12 marks of silver.

The king's next care was to reinstate in their fathers possessions all the children who had been disfranchised by the late tyrant; which he did in a convention of his nobles held at Forfar.

In the time of William the conqueror, we find Malcolm engaged in a dangerous war with England, the occasion of which was as follows. On the death of Edward the Confessor, Harold seized the throne of England, to the prejudice of Edgar Atheling the true heir to the crown. However, he created him earl of Oxford, and treated him with great respect; but on the defeat and death of Harold, William discovered some jealousy of Edgar. Soon after, William having occasion to pay a visit to his dominions in Normandy, he appointed Edgar to attend him, along with some other noblemen whom he suspected to be in his interest; but on his return to England, he found the people so much disaffected to his government, that he proceeded with great severity, which obliged great numbers of his subjects to take refuge in Cumberland and the southern parts of Malcolm's dominions.

Edgar had two sisters, Margaret and Christina; these, with his two chief friends, Gospatric and Martelwin, soon made him sensible how precarious his life was under such a jealous tyrant, and persuaded him to make preparations for flying into Hungary or some foreign country. Edgar accordingly set sail with his mother Agatha, his two sisters, and a great train of Anglo-Saxon noblemen; but by storms of weather was forced into the frith of Forth, where the illustrious exiles landed at the place since that time called the Queen's Ferry. Malcolm no sooner heard of their landing than he paid them a visit in person; and at this visit he fell in love with the princess Margaret. In consequence of this, the chief of Edgar's party repaired to the court of Scotland. William soon made a formal demand of Edgar; and on Malcolm's refusal, declared war against him.

William was the most formidable enemy the Scots had ever encountered, as having not only the whole force of England, but of Normandy, at his command. However, as he had tyrannized most unmercifully over his English subjects, they were much more inclined to assist his enemies than their own prince; and he even found himself obliged to give up the county of Northumberland to Gospatric, who had followed Edgar, upon condition of his making war on the Scots. This nobleman accordingly invaded Cumberland; in return for which Malcolm ravaged Northumberland in a dreadful manner, carrying off an immense booty, and inviting at the same time the Irish and Danes to join him.

Even at this time the Danes kept up their claims upon the crown of England, so that they could not be supposed very zealous for the interest of Edgar. The Irish were also interested in advancing the cause of Harold's three sons, who had put themselves under their protection; and besides, their chief view seems to have been to obtain plunder at the expense of any party. However, as all these views tended to the pulling down of William's power, an union was formed against him; but when they came to particular stipulations, the parties immediately disagreed. The three sons of Harold, with a body of Irish, made a descent upon Somersetshire, and defeated a body of English; but the Irish having thus obtained an opportunity of acquiring some booty, immediately retired with it, after having ravaged the country. The Danes landed at the mouth of the Humber from 40 small ships, where they were joined by Edgar and his party; and had the allies been unanimous, it is probable that William's government would have been overthrown.

By this time William had taken from Gospatric the earldom of Northumberland, and given it to Robert Cummin one of his Norman barons; but the Northumbrians, having joined Gospatric, and received the Danes as their countrymen, murdered Cummin and all his followers at Durham, where they had been guilty of great cruelties. After this they laid siege to the forts built by William in Yorkshire; but not being able to reduce them, the English, Scots, and Danes united their forces, took the city of York itself, and put to the sword three thousand Normans who were there in garrison; and this success was followed by many incursions and ravages, in which the Danes and Northumbrians acquired great booty. It soon appeared, however, that these allies had the interest of Edgar no more at heart than the Irish; and that all the dependence of this forlorn prince was upon Malcolm, and the few Englishmen who had followed his fortune; for the booty was no sooner obtained, than the Danes retired to their ships, and the Northumbrians to their habitations, as though they had been in perfect safety. But in the mean time William, having raised a considerable army, advanced northwards. He first took a severe revenge upon the Northumbrians; then he reduced the city of York, and put to death all the inhabitants; and perceiving that danger was still threatened by the Danes, he bribed them with a sum of money to depart to their own country.

Malcolm was now left alone to encounter this formidable adversary; who, finding himself unable to oppose such a great force, withdrew to his own dominions, where he remained for some time upon the defensive, but not without making great preparations for invading England once more. His second invasion took place in the year 1071, while William was employed in quelling an insurrection in Wales. He is said at this time to have behaved with the greatest cruelty. He invaded England by Cumberland; ravaged Teesdale; and at a place called Hundreds-keld, he massacred some English noblemen, with all their followers. From thence he marched to Cleveland in the north-riding of Yorkshire; which he also ravaged with the utmost cruelty, sending back the booty with part part of his army to Scotland; after which, he pillaged the bishopric of Durham, where he is said not to have spared the most sacred edifices, but to have burnt them to the ground. In the meantime Gospatric, to whom William had again ceded Northumberland, attempted to make a diversion in his favour, by invading Cumberland; but being utterly defeated by Malcolm, he was obliged to shut himself up in Bamborough castle; while Malcolm returned in triumph with his army to Scotland, where he married the princess Margaret.

The next year William, having greatly augmented his army, invaded Scotland in his turn. The particulars of the war are unknown; but it certainly ended much to the disadvantage of the Scots, as Malcolm agreed to pay him homage. The English historians contend that this homage was for the whole of his dominions; but the Scots with more show of reason affirm, that it was only for those he possessed in England.

On the conclusion of the peace, a cross was erected at Stanmore in Richmondshire, with the arms of both kings, to serve as a boundary between the possessions of William and the feudal dominions of Malcolm. Part of this monument, called Re-cross, or rather Roy-cross, or The cross of the kings, was entire in the days of Camden.

This peace between Malcolm Canmore and William produced the greatest alteration in the manners of the Scots. What contributed chiefly to this was the excellent disposition of queen Margaret; who was, for that age, a pattern of piety and politeness; and next to this was the number of foreigners who had settled in Scotland; among whom were some Frenchmen, and from this time the friendship of the Scots with that nation may be dated. Malcolm himself, also, though by his ravages in England he seems naturally to have been a barbarian, was far from being adverse to a reformation, and even set the example himself. During her husband's absence in England queen Margaret had chosen for her confessor one Turgot, whom she also made her assistant in her intended reformation. She began with new-modelling her own court; into which she introduced the offices, furniture, and manner of living, common among the more polite nations of Europe. She dismissed from her service all those who were noted for immorality and impiety; and charged Turgot, on pain of her displeasure, to give his real sentiments on the state of the kingdom, after the best inquiry he could make. By him she was informed, that faction reigned among the nobles, rapine among the commons, and incontinence among all degrees of men. Above all, he complained that the kingdom was destitute of a learned clergy, capable of reforming the people by their example and doctrine. All this the queen represented to her husband, and prevailed upon him to set about the work of reformation immediately; in which, however, he met with considerable opposition. The Scots, accustomed to oppress their inferiors, thought all restrictions of their power were as many steps towards their slavery. The introduction of foreign offices and titles confirmed them in this opinion; and such a dangerous insurrection happened in Moray and some of the northern counties, that Malcolm was obliged to march against the rebels in person. He found them, indeed, very formidable; but they were so much intimidated by his resolution, that they treated the clergy who were among them to intercede with the king in their favour. Malcolm received their submission, but refused to grant an unconditional pardon. He gave all the common people indeed leave to return to their habitations, but obliged the better sort to surrender themselves to his pleasure. Many of the most guilty were put to death, or condemned to perpetual imprisonment; while others had their estates confiscated. This severity checked the rebellious spirit of the Scots, upon which Malcolm returned to his plans of reformation. Still, however, he found himself opposed even in those abuses which were most obvious and glaring. He durst not entirely abolish that infamous practice of the landlord claiming the first night with his tenant's bride; though, by the queen's influence, the privilege was changed into the payment of a piece of money by the bridegroom, and was afterwards known by the name of merchetia mulierum, or "the woman's mark." In those days the Scots were without the practice of saying grace after meals, till it was introduced by Margaret, who gave a glass of wine, or other liquor, to those who remained at the royal table and heard the thanksgiving; which expedient gave rise to the term of the grace-drink. Besides this, the terms of the duration of Lent and Easter were fixed; the king and queen bellowed large alms on the poor, and the latter washed the feet of six of their number; many churches, monasteries, &c., were erected, and the clerical revenues augmented. However, notwithstanding these reformations, some historians have complained, that, along with the manners of the English and French, their luxuries were also introduced. Till this reign the Scots had been remarkable for their sobriety and the simplicity of their fare; which was now converted into excess and riot, and sometimes ended fatally by quarrels and bloodshed. We are told, at the same time, that even in those days, the nobility eat only two meals a-day, and were served with no more than two dishes at each meal; but that their deviation from their ancient temperance occasioned a diminution of the strength and size of the people.

In the year 1077, Malcolm again invaded England; but upon what provocation, or with what success, is not well known. But in 1088, after the death of the Conqueror, he again espoused the cause of Edgar Atheling, who had been reduced to implore his assistance a second time, when William Rufus ascended the throne of England. At the time of Edgar's arrival, Malcolm was at the head of a brave and well-disciplined army, with which he penetrated a great way into the country of the enemy; and, as it is said, returned to Scotland with an immense booty. Some historians tell us, that in this expedition Malcolm met with a defeat, which obliged him to return; and indeed this is not a little countenanced by others, who say, not indeed that he was defeated; but that it was the will of God he should proceed no farther. But, be this as it will, William resolved to revenge the injury, and prepared great armaments both by sea and land for the invasion of Scotland. His success, however, was not answerable to the greatness of his preparations. His fleet was dashed to pieces by storms, and almost all on board of it perished. Malcolm had also laid waste the country through which his antagonist was to pass, in such Scotland, such an effectual manner, that William lost a great part of his troops by fatigue and famine; and, when he arrived in Scotland, found himself in a situation very little able to resist Malcolm, who was advancing against him with a powerful army. In this distress, Rufus had recourse to Robert de Mowbray earl of Northumberland, who dissuaded him from venturing a battle, but advised him by all means to open a negotiation by means of Edgar and the other English noblemen who resided with Malcolm. Edgar undertook the negotiation, on condition of his being restored to his estates in England; but met with more difficulty than he imagined. Malcolm had never yet recognized the right of William Rufus to the throne of England, and therefore refused to treat with him as a foreign prince; but offered to enter into a negotiation with his brother Robert, furred named Curt bese, from the shortness of his legs. The two princes accordingly met; and Malcolm, having shewed Robert the disposition of his army, offered to cut off his brother William, and to pay to him the homage he had been accustomed to pay to the Conqueror for his English dominions. But Robert generously answered, that he had resigned to Rufus his right of primogeniture in England; and that he had even become one of William's subjects, thereby accepting of an English estate.

An interview with William then followed, in which it was agreed that the king of England should restore to Malcolm all his southern possessions, for which he should pay the same homage he had been accustomed to do to the Conqueror; that he should restore to Malcolm 12 disputed manors, and give him likewise 12 marks of gold yearly, besides restoring Edgar to all his English estates.

This treaty was concluded in Lothian, according to the English historians; but at Leeds in Yorkshire, according to the Scots. However, the English monarch looked upon the terms to be so very dishonourable, that he resolved not to fulfil them. Soon after his return, Edgar and Robert began to press him to fulfil his engagements; but receiving only evasive answers, they passed over into Normandy. After their departure, William applied himself to the fortification of his northern boundaries, especially Carlisle, which had been destroyed by the Danes 200 years before.

As this place lay within the feudal dominions of Malcolm, he complained of William's proceeding, as a breach of the late treaty; and soon after repaired to the English court at Gloucester, that he might have a personal interview with the king of England, and obtain redress. On his arrival, William refused him admittance to his presence, without paying him homage. Malcolm offered this in the same manner as had been done by his predecessors, that is, on the confines of the two kingdoms; but this being rejected by William, Malcolm returned to Scotland in a rage, and prepared again for war.

The first of Malcolm's military operations now proved fatal to him; but the circumstances of his death are variously related. According to the Scots historians, Malcolm having laid siege to Alnwick, and reduced the place to such straits, that a knight came out of the castle, having the keys on the point of a spear, and pretending that he designed to lay them at Malcolm's feet; but instead of this, he ran him through the eye with the spear, as soon as he came within reach. They add, that prince Edward, the king's eldest son, was mortally wounded in attempting to revenge his father's death. The English historians, on the other hand, contend, that the Scots were surprised in their camp, their army entirely defeated, and their king killed. On this occasion the Scots historians also inform us, that the family of Piercy received its name; the knight who killed the Scots king having been furred named Piercy-eyes, from the manner in which he gave that monarch the fatal stroke. Queen Margaret, who was at that time lying ill in the castle of Edinburgh, died four days after her husband.

After the death of Malcolm Canmore, which happened in the year 1093, the throne was usurped by his brother, Donald Bane; who, notwithstanding the great virtues and glorious achievements of the late king, had been at the head of a strong party during the whole of his brother's reign. The usurper, giving way to the barbarous prejudices of himself and his countrymen, expelled out of the kingdom all the foreigners whom Malcolm had introduced, and obliged them to take refuge in England. Edgar himself had long resided at the English court, where he was in high reputation; and, by his interest there, found means to rescue his nephew young Edgar, the king of Scotland's eldest son, out of the hands of the usurper Donald Bane. The favour he showed to him, however, produced an accusation against himself, as if he designed to adopt young Edgar as his son, and set him up as a pretender to the English throne. This accusation was preferred by an Englishman whose name was Orgar; but, as no legal proofs of the guilt could be obtained, the custom of the times rendered a single combat between the parties unavoidable. Orgar was one of the strongest and most active men in combat; but, the age and infirmities of Edgar, allowed him to be defended by another.—For a long time none could be found who would enter the lists with this champion; but, at last, one Godwin of Winchester, whose family had been under obligations to Edgar or his ancestors, offered to defend his cause. Orgar was overcome and killed; and, when dying, confessed the falsehood of his accusation. The conqueror obtained all the lands of his adversary, and William lived ever afterwards on terms of the strictest friendship with Edgar.

This combat, trifling as it may seem to us, produced very considerable effects. The party of Edgar and his brother's (who had likewise taken refuge at the English court) revived in Scotland, to such a degree, that Donald was obliged to call in the Danes and Norwegians to his assistance. In order to engage them more effectually to his interest, the usurper yielded up to them the Orkney and Shetland islands; the Norwegians but when his new allies came to his assistance, they behaved in such a manner as to become more intolerable to the Scots than ever the English had been. This discontent was greatly increased when it was found that William designed to place on the throne of Scotland, a natural son of the late Malcolm, named Duncan, who had served in the English armies with great reputation. Donald attempted to maintain himself on the throne by the assistance of his Norwegian allies; but, being abandoned by the Scots, he was obliged Scotland obliged to fly to the isles, in order to raise more forces; and in the mean time Duncan was crowned at Scone with the usual solemnity.

The Scots were now greatly distressed by two usurpers who contended for the kingdom, each of them supported by a foreign army. One of them, however, was soon dispatched. Malpedir, thane of Mearns, surprized Duncan in the castle of Mentieth, and killed him; after which he replaced Donald on the throne. The affection of the Scots, however, was by this time entirely alienated from Donald, and a manifest intention of calling in young Edgar was shown. To prevent this, Donald offered the young prince all that part of Scotland which lay to the southward of the Forth; but the terms were rejected, and the messengers who brought them were put to death as traitors. The king of England also, dreading the neighbourhood of the Norwegians, interposed in young Edgar's favour, and gave Atheling the command of an army in order to restore his nephew. Donald prepared to oppose his enemies with all the forces he could raise; but was defeated by the Scots, and obliged to fly: his enemies pursued him so closely, that he was soon taken; and being brought before Edgar, he ordered his eyes to be put out, condemning him at the same time to perpetual banishment, in which he died some time after.

The historians of these times inform us, that this revolution was owing to the interposition of St Cuthbert, who appeared to Edgar, informing him that he should prove victorious, provided he repaired next day to his church, and received his banner from the hands of the canons; which he accordingly did, and proved ever afterwards a most grateful votary to his patron. During his reign a strict friendship subsisted between the courts of England and Scotland; owing to the marriage of Henry I. of England with the princess Matilda, sister to Edgar. This has given occasion to the English historians to assert that Edgar held the kingdom of Scotland as a feudatory of Henry; and to this purpose have forged certain writings, by which Edgar acknowledges "That he held the kingdom of Scotland by gift from his lord William king of England; and, with consent of his said lord, he gives to Almighty God, and the church of Durham, and to the glorious bishop St Cuthbert, and to bishop William, and to the monks of Durham, and their successors, the manors of Berwick and Coldingham, with several other lands possessed by his father Malcolm: and this charter is granted in the presence of bishop William, and Turgot the prior; and confirmed by the croffes of Edgar his brother, and other noblemen." But that these writings must be forged, appears from the non-existence of the original charter, and from their being related in quite a different manner by some other authors.—For the same purpose a seal has been forged of Edgar sitting on horseback, with a sword in his right-hand, and a shield on his left-arm, within a bordure of France. But this last circumstance is a sufficient proof of the forgery; since, in the same repository in which this seal is kept, there are five charters of the same Edgar, which are undoubtedly genuine; and on the seals belonging to them he is represented sitting on two swords placed across, with a sceptre in one hand, a sword in the other, a royal diadem on his head, with this inscription round it, SCOTORUM BASILEUS, which the best English antiquaries allow to have been a title denoting independency.

After a reign of nine years, Edgar died at Dundee, Alexander I in the year 1107; and was succeeded by his brother Alexander I. furnished the Fierce from the impetuosity of his temper. On his accession to the throne, however, the Scots were so ignorant of his true character, on account of his appearance of piety and devotion, that the northern parts of the kingdom were soon filled with ravages and bloodshed, by reason of the wars of the chieftains with each other. Alexander immediately raised an army, and marching into Moray and Ross-shire, attacked the insurgents separately; and having subdued them all, he put great numbers of them to death. He then set himself to reduce the exorbitant power of the nobles, and to deliver the common people from the oppression under which they groaned. A remarkable instance of this appeared on his return from the expedition just now mentioned. In passing through the Mearns, he met with a widow, who complained that her husband and son had been put to death by the young earl their superior. Alexander immediately alighted from his horse, and swore that he would not remount him till he had inquired into the justice of the complaint; and, finding it to be true, the offender was hanged on the spot. These vigorous proceedings prevented all attempts at open rebellion; but produced many conspiracies among the profligate part of his private subjects, who had been accustomed to live under more remiss government. The most remarkable of these took place while the king was engaged in building the castle of Baledgar, so called in memory of his brother Edgar, who had laid the foundation-stone. It was situated in the Carse of Gowrie, which, we are told, had formerly belonged to Donald Bane, but afterwards came to the crown, either by donation or forfeiture. The conspirators bribed one of the king's chamberlains to introduce them at night into the royal bed-chamber; but Alexander, alarmed at the noise, drew his sword, and killed six of them; after which, by the help of a knight named Alexander Carron, he escaped the danger, by flying into Fife. The conspirators chiefly resided in the Mearns, to which Alexander once more repaired at the head of an army; but the rebels retreated northwards, and crossed the Spey. The king pursued them across that river, defeated them, and brought to justice all that fell into his hands. In this battle, Carron distinguished himself so eminently, that he obtained the name of Skrimgeour, or Skrimzeour; which indeed is no other than the English word skirmisher or fighter.

The next remarkable transaction of Alexander's reign, as recorded by the English historians, was his journey into England, where he paid a visit to Henry I. whom he found engaged in a war with the Welsh. The occasion of this was, that Henry had planted a colony of Flemings on the borders of Wales, in order to keep that turbulent people in awe, as well as to introduce into his kingdom the manufactures for which the Flemings were famous. The Welsh, jealous of this growing colony, invaded England; where they defeated the earl of Chester and Gilbert Strongbow, the two most powerful of the English subjects. Alexander, in virtue of the fealty which he had sworn for his English possessions, readily agreed to lead an army into Wales. Here he defeated one of the chieftains, and reduced him to great straits; but could not prevent him from escaping to Griffith prince of North-Wales, with whom he was closely allied. Henry also marched against the enemy, but with much worse success in the field than Alexander; for he lost two-thirds of his army, with almost his whole baggage, by fatigue, famine, or the attacks of the Welsh. This loss, however, he made up in some measure by his policy; for having found means to raise a jealousy between the two Welsh chiefs, he induced them to conclude a peace, but not without restoring all his lands to the one, and paying a considerable sum of money to the other. Alexander died in 1124, after a reign of seventeen years; and was buried at Dunfermline.

This prince, dying a bachelor, was succeeded by his younger brother David; who interfered in the affairs of England, and took part with the empress Maud in the civil war she carried on with Stephen. In 1136, David met his antagonist at Durham; but as neither party cared to venture an engagement, a negociation took place, and a treaty was concluded. This, however, was observed but for a short time; for, in the following year, David again invaded England, on some frivolous pretences. He defeated Stephen at Roxburgh; and forced him to retreat precipitately, after losing one half of his army. Next year he renewed his invasion; and, though he himself was a man of great mildness and humanity, he suffered his troops to commit such outrages, as firmly united the English in opposition to him. His grand-nephew William cut in pieces the vanguard of the English army at Clitheroe; after which he ravaged the country with such cruelty, that the inhabitants became exasperated beyond measure against him. New associations were entered into against the Scots; and the English army receiving great reinforcements from the southward, advanced to Northallerton, where the famous standard was produced. The body of this standard was a kind of box which moved upon wheels, from whence arose the mast of a ship surmounted by a silver cross, and round it were hung the banners of St Peter, St John de Beverley, and St Wilfred. Standards of this kind were common at that time on the continent of Europe; and so great confidence had the English in this standard, that they now thought themselves invincible. They had, however, a much more solid ground of confidence, as being much better armed than their antagonists. The armies met at a place called Culter Moor. The first line of the Scots army was composed of the inhabitants of Galloway, Carrick, Kyle, Cunningham, and Renfrew. These by some historians are called Picts, and are said to have had a prince of their own, who was a feudatory to David. The second line consisted of the Lothian men, by which we are to understand the king's subjects in England as well as the south of Scotland, together with the English and Normans of Maud's party. The third line was formed of the clans under their different chieftains; but who were subject to no regular command, and were always impatient to return to their own country when they had acquired any booty. The English soldiers having ranged themselves round their standard, dismounted from their horses, in order to avoid the long lances which the first line of the Scots army carried. Their front-line was intermixed with archers; and a body of cavalry, ready for pursuit, hovered at some distance. The Picts, besides their lances, made use of targets; but, when the English closed with them, they were soon disordered and driven back upon the centre, where David commanded in person. His son made a gallant resistance, but was at last forced to yield; and the last line seems never to have been engaged. David, seeing the victory decided against him, ordered some of his men to save themselves by throwing away their badges, which it seems Maud's party had worn, and mingling with the English; after which he himself, with his shattered forces, retreated towards Carlisle. The English historians say, that in this battle the Scots were totally defeated, with the loss of 10,000 men; but this seems not to be the case, as the English did not pursue, and the Scots were in a condition for carrying on the war next year. However, there were now no great exploits performed on either side; and a peace was concluded, by which Henry, prince of Scotland was put in possession of Huntingdon and Northumberland, and took an oath of fealty to Stephen. David continued faithful to his niece the empress as long as he lived; and died at Carlisle in the year 1153, after a glorious reign of somewhat more than 29 years.

David was succeeded by his grandson Malcolm IV. surnamed the Maiden, on account of his continence. He appears to have been a weak and superstitious prince, and died of a depression of spirits in the year 1165. He was succeeded by his brother William I., who immediately entered into a war with Henry II. of England, on account of the earldom of Northumberland, a war with England, which had been given up by Malcolm; but Henry, finding his affairs in a very embarrassed situation, consented to yield up this county, on David's paying him homage, rather than continue the miseries of war. In 1172, he attempted to avail himself of the unnatural war which Henry's sons carried on against their father, and invaded England. He divided his army into three columns: the first of which laid siege to Carlisle; the second he himself led into Northumberland; and the king's brother, David, advanced with the third into Leicestershire. William reduced the castles of Burgh, Appleby, Warkworth, and Garby; and then joined that division of his army which was besieging Carlisle. The place was already reduced to such straits, that the governor had agreed to surrender it by a certain day, provided it was not relieved before that time: on which the king, leaving some troops to continue the siege, invested a castle with some of the forces he had under his command, at the same time sending a strong reinforcement to his brother David; by which means he himself was left with a very small army, when he received intelligence that a strong body of English, under Robert de Stuteville and his son, were advancing to surprise him.—William, sensible of his inability to resist them, retired to Alnwick, to which he instantly laid siege; but in the mean time acted in such a careless and unthinking manner, that his enemies actually effected their de- Scotland. designs. Having directed a party of their soldiers in Scots habits, they took the king himself prisoner, and carried him, with his feet tied under the belly of a horse, to Richmond Castle. He was then carried in chains before Henry to Northampton, and ordered to be transported to the castle of Falaise in Normandy, where he was shut up with other state-prisoners. Soon after this accommodation took place between Henry and his sons, and the prisoners on both sides were set at liberty, William only excepted; and he bore his confinement with great impatience. Of this Henry took the advantage, to make him pay homage for the whole kingdom of Scotland, and acknowledge that he held it only as a fief of the crown of England; and, as a security, he was obliged to deliver into the hands of Henry all the principal forts in Scotland, viz. the castles of Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, Edinburgh, and Stirling; William at the same time agreeing to pay the English garrisons which were put into these castles. David, the king's brother, with 20 barons, who were present at the signing of this shameful convention, were put into the hands of Henry as hostages for William's good faith; after which the king was set at liberty, and returned to Scotland.

The affairs of Scotland were now in the greatest confusion. The people of Galloway, at the head of whom were two noblemen or princes called Othred and Gilbert, had taken the opportunity of asserting their independency on the crown of Scotland; and, having expelled all the Scots officers out of the country, they demolished all the forts which William had erected in their country, and put to death all the foreigners. But in the mean time a quarrel ensuing between the two chiefs, Othred was murdered by Gilbert, who immediately applied to Henry for protection.

Henry, in order to give all possible sanction to the convention betwixt him and William, summoned him to meet him and his son at York. William obeyed the summons, and along with him appeared all the great nobility and landholders; who confirmed the convention of Falaise, swore fealty to Henry, and put themselves and their country under his protection. In the mean time Gilbert, who was at the head of the rebels in Galloway, had offered to put himself and his people under the protection of the king of England, and to pay to Henry 2000 marks of silver yearly, with 500 cows and as many hogs, by way of tribute; however, Henry, that he might oblige his new feudatory William, refused to have any concern in the affair. On this, William ordered his general Gilchrist to march against him; which he did with such success, that Gilbert was entirely defeated, and Galloway again reduced under the dominion of Scotland. Very soon after this victory, Gilchrist fell under the king's displeasure on the following occasion. He had married Matilda, sister to William; and on suspicion, or proof of her incontinence, put her to death at a village called Mearns, near Dundee. The king being highly displeased at such a gross affront to himself, summoned Gilchrist to take his trial for the murder; but as the general did not choose to make his appearance, his estates were confiscated, his castles demolished, and he himself banished. He took refuge in England; but as the conventions between William and Henry imported that the one should not harbour the traitorous subjects of the other, Gilchrist was forced to return to Scotland with his two sons. There they were exposed to all the miseries of indigence, and in perpetual fear of being discovered, so that they were obliged to lurk from place to place. William, on his return from an expedition against an usurper whom he had defeated, happened to observe three strangers, who, though disguised like rustics, appeared by their noble mien to be above the vulgar rank. William, who first discovered them, was confirmed in this apprehension, by seeing them strike out of the high road, and endeavouring to avoid notice. He ordered them to be seized and brought before him. The eldest, who was Gilchrist himself, fell upon his knees before him, and gave such a detail of his misfortunes as drew tears from the eyes of all present; and the king restored him to his former honours and estates. From the family of this Gilchrist that of the Ogilvies is said to be descended.

The Scots continued to be in subjection to the English until the accession of Richard I. This monarch being a man of romantic valour, would needs undertake an expedition into the Holy Land against the Turks, according to the superstition of the times. That he might secure the quiet of his dominions in his absence, he determined to make the king of Scotland his friend; and in order to this, he thought nothing could be more acceptable than releasing him and his subjects from that subjection which even the English his homage themselves considered as forced and unjust. However, by Richard I., he determined not to lose this opportunity of supplying himself with a sum of money, which could not but be absolutely necessary in such an expensive and dangerous undertaking. He therefore made William pay him 10,000 marks for this release; after which he entered into a convention, which is still extant; and in this he acknowledges, that "all the conventions and acts of submission from William to the crown of England had been extorted from him by unprecedented writings and durees." This transaction happened in the year 1189.

The generosity of Richard met with a grateful return from William; for when Richard was imprisoned by the emperor of Germany in his return from the Holy Land, the king of Scotland sent an army to assist his regency against his rebellious brother John, who had attempted to usurp the throne of England. For this Richard owed his obligation in the highest degree; but William afterwards made this an handle for such high demands as could not be complied with. Nevertheless, the two monarchs continued in friendship as long as Richard lived. Some differences happened with king John about the possession of Northumberland and other northern counties; but these were all finally adjusted to the mutual satisfaction of both parties; and William continued a faithful ally of the English monarch till his death, which happened in the year 1214, after a reign of 49 years.

William was succeeded by his son Alexander II., a youth of 16. He revived his claim to Northumberland, and the other northern counties of England; but John, supposing that he had now thoroughly subdued the English, not only refused to consider the demands of Alexander, but made preparations for invading Scotland. John had given all the country between Scotland and the river Tweed to Hugh de Balliol and ano- Scotland. another nobleman, upon condition of their defending it against the Scots. Alexander fell upon Northumberland, which he easily reduced, while John invaded England. Alexander retired to Melros, in order to defend his own country; upon which John burnt the towns of Wark, Alnwick, and Morpeth, and took the strong castles of Roxburgh and Berwick. He next plundered the abbey of Coldingham, reduced Dunbar and Haddington, ravaging the country as he passed along. His next operation was directed against Edinburgh; but being opposed by Alexander at the head of an army, he precipitately marched back. Alexander did not fail to pursue; and John, to cover his retreat, burnt the towns of Berwick and Coldingham. In this retreat the king of England himself set his men an example of barbarity, by setting fire every morning to the house in which he had lodged the preceding night. In short, such desolation did John spread all around him, that Alexander found it impossible to continue his pursuit; for which reason he marched westward, and invaded England by the way of Carlisle. This place he took and fortified; after which he marched south as far as Richmond, receiving homage from all the great barons as he went along. At Richmond he was again stopped by John's ravages, and obliged to return through Westmoreland to his own dominions.

When the English barons found it necessary to put themselves under the protection of Lewis, son to the king of France, that prince, among other acts of sovereignty, summoned Alexander to do him homage; but the latter being then engaged in the siege of Carlisle, which had fallen into the hands of king John, he could not immediately attend. In a short time Alexander found himself obliged to abandon this enterprise; after which he laid siege to Barnard-castle; but being baffled here also, marched southwards through the whole kingdom of England, and met Lewis at London or Dover, where the prince confirmed to him the rights to Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. He continued a faithful ally to Lewis and the barons in their wars with John; and, in 1216, brought a fresh army to their assistance, when their affairs were almost desperate. This once more turned the scale against John; but he soon after dying, the English easily became reconciled to the government of Henry III. and the party of Lewis dwindled every day, till at last he was obliged to drop all thoughts of being king of England.

As long as Lewis continued in England, Alexander proved faithful to his interest; but, in 1217, he was on such good terms with Henry as to demand his eldest sister, the princess Joan, for a wife. His request was granted, and in 1221 he espoused the princess; while his eldest sister Margery was married to Hubert de Burgh justiciary of England, and his second sister to Gilbert earl Marshal, the two greatest subjects in England.

As long as the queen of Scotland lived, a perfect harmony subsisted between the Scots and English; but, in 1239, queen Joan died without children; and Alexander soon after married Mary, the daughter of Engelrand de Coucy, a young and beautiful French lady, by whom he had a son named Alexander, in 1241. From this time a coolness took place between the two courts, and many differences arose; but no hostilities were commenced on either side during the lifetime of Alexander, who died in 1249, in the 35th year of his reign.

After the death of his father, Alexander III. immediately took possession of the throne. He is the first of the Scots kings of whose coronation we have any particular account. We are told, that the ceremony was performed by the bishop of St Andrew's, who girded the king with a military belt, probably as an emblem of his temporal jurisdiction. He then explained in Latin, and afterwards in Gaelic, the laws and oaths relating to the king; who agreed to and received them all with great appearance of joy, as he also did the benediction and ceremony of coronation from the same prelate. After the ceremony was performed, a Highlander, probably one of those who went under the denomination of Sannachies, repeated on his knees before the throne, in his own language, the genealogy of Alexander and his ancestors, up to the first king of Scotland.

In 1250, the king, though no more than ten years of age, was married to the daughter of Henry, who thought it a proper opportunity to cause him to make homage for the whole kingdom of Scotland. But Alexander, notwithstanding his youth, replied with great sense and modesty, that his business in England was matrimony; that he had come thither under Henry's protection and invitation; and that he was no way prepared to answer such a difficult question.

Henry seems to have been encouraged to make this attempt by the distracted state of the Scots affairs at that time; for, during the minority of the king, the nobility threw everything into confusion by their dissensions with one another. The family of Cumnin were now become exceedingly powerful; and Alexander II. is blamed by Buchanan for allowing them to obtain such an exorbitant degree of power, by which they were enabled almost to shake the foundation of government. Notwithstanding the king's refusal to submit to the homage required of him, they imagined that Henry's influence was now too great; and fearing bad consequences to themselves, they withdrew from York, leaving Henry in full possession of his son-in-law's person. Henry, however, to show that he deserved all the confidence which could be reposed in him, publicly declared, that he dropped all claim of superiority with regard to the crown of Scotland, and that he would ever afterwards act as the father and guardian of his son-in-law; confirming his assurances by a charter. Yet when Alexander returned to Scotland, he found they had made a strong party against his English connections. They now exclaimed, that Scotland was no better than a province of England; and having gained almost all the nobility over to this with his opinion, they kept the king and queen as two state-prisoners in the castle of Edinburgh. Henry had secret intelligence of these proceedings; and his queen privately sent a physician whom she could trust, to inquire into her daughter's situation. Having found means of being admitted into the young queen's presence, she gave him a most lamentable account of her situation. She said, that the place of their confinement was very unwholesome, in consequence of which their health was in imminent danger; and that they had... Scotland had no concern in the affairs of government. Historians do not inform us by what means they were reduced to this dismal situation; only in general, that the Cummins usurped the whole power of the state. Henry did not well know how to act. If he proceeded at once to violent measures, he was afraid of the lives of his daughter and son-in-law; and, on the other hand, by a more cautious conduct, he left them exposed to the wicked attempts of those who kept them in thraldom, some of whom, he very well knew, had designs on the crown itself. By advice of the Scots Royalists, among whom were the earls of Dunbar, Fife, Strathern, Carrick, and Robert de Bruce, Henry assembled his military tenants at York, from whence he himself advanced to Newcastle, where he published a manifesto, disclaiming all designs against the peace or independency of Scotland; declaring, that the forces which had been collected at York were designed to maintain both; and that all he meant was to have an interview with the king and queen upon the borders. From Newcastle he proceeded to Wark, where he privately dispatched the Earl of Gloucester, with his favourite John Manfel, and a train of trusty followers, to gain admission into the castle of Edinburgh, which was then held by John Baliol and Robert de Rois, noblemen of great influence both in England and Scotland. The earl and Manfel gained admittance into the castle in disguise, on pretence of their being tenants to Baliol and Rois; and their followers obtained access on the same account, without any suspicion, till they were sufficiently numerous to have mastered the garrison, had they met with any resistance. The queen immediately informed them of the thraldom and tyranny in which she had been kept; and among other things declared, that she was still a virgin, as her jailors obliged her to keep separate from her husband. The English, being masters of the castle, ordered a bed to be prepared that very night for the king and queen; and Henry, hearing of the success of his party, sent a safe-conduct for the royal pair to meet him at Alnwick. Robert de Rois was summoned by Henry to answer for his conduct; but throwing himself at the king's feet, he was punished only by the sequestration of his estate, as was John Baliol by a heavy fine, which the king of England reserved entirely to his own use.

Alexander and his queen were attended to Alnwick by the heads of their party; and when they arrived, it was agreed that Henry should act as his son-in-law's guardian; in consequence of which several regulations were made in order to suppress the exorbitant power of the Cummins. That ambitious family, however, were all this time privately strengthening their party in Scotland, though they outwardly appeared satisfied with the arrangements which had been made. This rendered Alexander secure; so that, being off his guard, he was surprised when asleep in the castle of Kinroth by the Earl of Menteith, who carried him to Stirling. The Cummins were joined in this treason by Sir Hugh de Abernethy, Sir David Lochore, and Sir Hugh de Barclay; and in the mean time the whole nation was thrown into the utmost confusion. The great seal was forcibly taken from Robert Stuterville, substitute to the chancellor the bishop of Dunkeld; the estates of the royalists were plundered; and even the churches were not spared. The king at last was delivered by the death of the earl of Menteith, who is said to have been poisoned by his wife, in order to gratify her passion for a young English gentleman named John Ruffell. This charge, however, was never proved; but it is certain that the earl died at a juncture very critical for Scotland, and that his death disconcerted all the schemes of his party, which never afterwards could make head against the royalists.

Alexander being thus restored to the exercise of regal authority, acted with great wisdom and moderation. He pardoned the Cummins and their adherents, upon their submitting to his authority; after which, he applied himself to the regulation of his other affairs; but a storm was now ready to break upon him from another quarter. We have already seen, that the usurper Donald Bane, brother to Malcolm Conmore, had engaged to deliver up the isles of Orkney and Shetland to the king of Norway, for afflicting him in making good his pretensions to the crown of Scotland. Haquin, the king of Norway, at this time alleged that these engagements extended to the delivering up the isles of Bute, Arran, and others in the frith of Clyde, as belonging to the Ebbuds or Weltern isles; and as Alexander did not think proper to comply with these demands, the Norwegian monarch appeared with a fleet of 160 sail, having on board 20,000 troops, who landed and took the castle of Aire. Alexander immediately dispatched ambassadors to enter into a treaty with Haquin; but the latter, flushed with success, would harken to no terms. He made himself master of the isles of Bute and Arran; after which he passed over to Cunningham. Alexander, prepared to oppose him, divided his army into three bodies. The first was commanded by Alexander high steward of Scotland, (the great grandfather of Robert II.), and consisted of the Argyll, Athol, Lenox, and Galloway men. The second was composed of the inhabitants of Lothian, Fife, Merse, Berwick, and Stirling, under the command of Patrick earl of Dunbar. The king himself led the centre, which consisted of the inhabitants of Perthshire, Angus, Mearns, and the northern counties. Haquin, who was an excellent commander, disposed his men in order of battle, and the engagement began at a place called Largs. Both parties fought with great resolution; but at last the Norwegians were defeated with dreadful slaughter, no fewer than 16,000 of them being killed on the spot. The remainder escaped to their ships; which were so completely wrecked the day after, that Haquin could scarce find a vessel to carry him with a few friends to Orkney, where he soon after died of grief.

In consequence of this victory, Owen, or John, king of the island of Man, submitted to Alexander; and his example was followed by several other princes of the islands belonging to the Norwegians. Haquin's son, Magnus, a wise and learned prince, soon after arrived in Scotland with fresh reinforcements, and proposed a treaty; but Alexander, instead of listening to an accommodation, sent the earls of Buchan and Murray, with Allan the chamberlain, and a considerable body of men, to the western isles, where they put to the sword some of the inhabitants, and hanged their chiefs for having encouraged the Norwegian invasion. In the mean time, Magnus returned to Norway; where a treaty was at last concluded between him. him and Alexander. By this Magnus renounced all right to the contested islands; Alexander at the same time consenting to pay him 1000 merks of silver in the space of two years, and 100 yearly ever after, as an acknowledgment for these islands. To cement the friendship more firmly, a marriage was concluded between Margaret the daughter of Alexander, and Eric the son and heir of Magnus, who was also a child; and, some years after, when the parties were of proper age, the marriage was consummated.

From this time to the accession of Edward I. of England, we find nothing remarkable in the history of Scotland. That prince, however, proved a more cruel enemy to this country than it had ever experienced. Alexander was present at the coronation of Edward, who was then newly arrived from the Holy Land, where he had been on a crusade. Soon after this Alexander paid him homage for his English estates; particularly for the lands and lordships of Penrith and others, which Henry had given him along with his daughter. He proved an excellent ally to Edward in his wars against the French; and the latter passed a charter, by which he acknowledged that the services of the king of Scotland in those wars were not in consequence of his holding lands in England, but as an ally to his crown. Even at this time, however, Edward had formed a design on the liberties of that kingdom; for in the charter just mentioned, he inserted a salvo, acknowledging the superiority, by which he referred his right to the homage of the kingdom of Scotland, when it should be claimed by him or his heirs.

The bishop of Norwich suggested this salvo; and this was the reason why Alexander would not perform the homage in person, but left it to be performed by Robert Bruce earl of Carrick; Alexander standing by, and expressly declaring that it was only paid for the lands he held in England.—No acts of hostility, however, took place during the lifetime of Alexander, who was killed on the 19th of March 1285, in the 45th year of his age, by his horse rushing down the black rock near Kinghorn, as he was hunting.

Both before and after the death of Alexander, the great subjects of Scotland seemed to have been sensible of Edward's ambitious designs. On the marriage of Margaret with Eric prince of Norway, the states of Scotland passed an act obliging themselves to receive her and her heirs as queen and sovereigns of Scotland. Edward at that time was in no condition to oppose this measure, in which the Scots were unanimous; and therefore contented himself with forming factions among the leading men of the country. Under pretence of resuming the crofs, he renewed his intrigues at the court of Rome, and demanded leave from the pope to collect the tithes in Scotland; but his holiness replied, that he could make no such grant without the consent of the government of Scotland. On the death of Margaret queen of Norway, her daughter, in consequence of the act abovementioned, was recognized by the states as queen of Scotland. As she was then but two years old, they came to a resolution of excluding from all share in the government, not only Edward I., but their queen's father; and they accordingly established a regency from among their own number, consisting of the six following noblemen; six. Robert Willart bishop of Glasgow, Sir James Cummin of Badenoch senior, James lord high steward of Scotland, who were to have the superintendency of all that part of Scotland which lay to the south of the Forth; William Fraser bishop of St Andrews, Duncan Macduff earl of Fife, and Alexander Cummin earl of Buchan, who were to have the direction of all affairs to the north of the same river.

With these arrangements Eric was exceedingly displeased, as considering himself as the only rightful guardian of his own child. He therefore cultivated a good correspondence with Edward, from whom he had received considerable pecuniary favours; and perceiving that the states of Scotland were unanimous in excluding all foreigners from the management of their concerns, he fell in with the views of the king of England, and named commissioners to treat with those of Edward upon the Scots affairs. These negotiations terminated in a treaty of marriage between the queen of Scotland and Edward prince of Wales, young as between them both were. This alarmed the states of Scotland, young who resolved not to suffer their queen to be disposed of without their consent. It was therefore agreed by the commissioners on both sides, to acquaint them prince of the result of their conferences, and to demand Wales, that a deputation should be sent up for settling the regency of Scotland, or, in other words, for putting the sovereign power into the hands of the two kings. As the two parties, however, were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity, being first cousins, a dispensation was applied for to pope Boniface, who granted it on condition that the peers of Scotland consented to the match.

Though the Scots nobility were very much against this match, they could not refuse their consent to it when proposed by the father and grand-uncle of their young queen. They therefore appointed the bishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow, with Robert Bruce lord of Anandale, and John Cumming, to attend as their deputies, but with a salvo to all the liberties and honours of the realm of Scotland; to which Edward agreed. These deputies met at Salisbury with those of England and Norway; and it was at last agreed, 1. That the young queen should be sent from Norway, (free of all marriage-engagements), into England or Scotland. 2. That if the queen came to England, she should be at liberty to repair to Scotland as soon as the distractions of that kingdom should be settled: that she should, on her arrival in her own dominions, be free of all matrimonial contracts; but that the Scots should engage not to dispose of her in marriage without her father or Edward's consent. 3. The Scots deputies promised to give such security as the Norwegian commissioners should require; that the tranquillity of the nation should be settled before her arrival there. 4. That the commissioners of Scotland and Norway, joined with commissioners from England, should remove such regents and officers of state in Scotland as should be suspected of disaffection, and place others in their stead. If the Scots and Norwegian commissioners should disagree on that or any other head relating to the government of Scotland, the decision was to be left to the arbitration of English commissioners.

The party of Edward was now so strong in Scotland, that no opposition was made to the late agreement, in a parliament held at Brechin to deliberate upon the settlement of the kingdom. It is uncertain whether whether he communicated in form to the Scots parliament the pope's dispensation for the marriage; but most probably he did not; as, in a letter written to him by the states of Scotland, they mention this as a matter they heard by report. On the whole, however, they highly approved of the marriage, upon certain conditions to which Edward was previously to agree; but the latter, without waiting to perform any conditions, immediately sent for the young queen from Norway. This exceedingly displeased Eric, who was by no means inclined to put his daughter into the hands of a prince whose sincerity he suspected, and therefore shifted off the departure of the princess till he should hear farther from Scotland. Edward, alarmed at this, had again recourse to negotiation; and ten articles were at last drawn up, in which the Scots took all imaginable precautions for the safety and independency of their country. These articles were ratified by Edward on the 28th of August 1289; yet, even after the affair of the marriage was fully settled, he lost no time in procuring as strong a party as he could. At the head of these were the bishop of St Andrew's and John Baliol. That prelate, while he was in England, was highly caressed by Edward, from whom he had great expectations of preferment; and Baliol, having great estates in England, considered the latter as his sovereign. The bishop, on his return to Scotland, acted as a spy for Edward, and carried on with him a secret correspondence informing him of all public transactions. It appears from this correspondence, that the Scots were far from being unanimous as to the marriage. Bruce earl of Annandale suspected, for some reason or other, that the young queen was dead; and, soon after Michaelmas 1290, assembled a body of forces, and was joined by the earl of Mar and Athol. Intelligence of these commotions was carried to Edward by Baliol; and the bishop of St Andrew's advised Edward, in case the report of the queen's death should prove true, to march a body of troops towards Scotland, in order to secure such a successor as he thought proper.

Edward, in the mean time, consented to allow ambassadors to be sent from Scotland to bring over the young queen; previous to which he appointed the bishop of Durham to be lieutenant in Scotland for the queen and her future husband; and all the officers there, both civil and military, obliged themselves to surrender their employments and fortresses to the king and queen, that is, to Edward, immediately on their arrival in Scotland. But while the most magnificent preparations were making for the reception of the young queen, certain intelligence of her death was received; but it is not certainly known whether this happened before the arrival of the ambassadors in Norway, or after her departure from thence.

The Scots were thrown into the utmost consternation by the news of their queen's death, while on the other hand Edward was as well prepared as if he had known what was to happen. The state of Scotland at this time indeed was to the last degree deplorable. The act of succession established by the late king had no farther operation, being determined by the death of the queen; and since the crown was rendered hereditary, there was no precedent by which it could be settled. The Scots, in general, however, turned their eyes upon the posterity of David Earl of Huntingdon, brother to the two kings Malcolm the Maiden and his successor William, both of whom died without lawful issue. The earl had three daughters. Margaret, the eldest, was married to Allan lord of Galloway; the only issue of which marriage was Derverguill wife to John Baliol, who had a son of the same name, a competitor for the crown. The second daughter, Isabella, was married to Robert Bruce; and their son Robert was a candidate likewise. The third daughter, Ada, had been married to Henry Hastings, an English nobleman, and predecessor to the present earl of Huntingdon. John Hastings, the son of this marriage, was a third competitor; but as his claim was confessedly the worst of the three, he only put in for a third of the kingdom, on the principle that his mother was joint-heir with her two sisters (c). Several others claimants now started up. Florence earl of Holland pretended to the crown of Scotland in right of his great-grandmother Ada, the eldest lawful sister of William, some time king; as did Robert de Pynkeny, in the right also of his great-grandmother Marjory, second sister of the same king William. Patrick Gallightly was the son of Henry Gallightly, a bastard of William; William de Roos was descended of Isabel; Patrick, earl of March, of Ilida or Ada; and William de Vefci, of Marjory; all of them three natural daughters of king William. Roger de Mandeville, descended from Aufric, another natural daughter of William, also put in his claim; but the right of Nicolas de Soulis,

(c) The pedigree of the three principal competitors will be fully understood from the following scheme.

| David I. King of Scots. | |------------------------| | Henry Prince of Scotland. | | David Earl of Huntingdon, second son. |

3. Ada = Henry de Hastings. 2. Isabella = Robert Bruce. 1. Margaret = Allan of Galloway.

| Henry de Hastings. | Robert Bruce, competitor. | John Balliol, competitor. | |-------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------| | John de Hastings, competitor. | | | Scotland. Soulis, if bastardy could give a right, was better than the former. His grandmother Marjory, the wife of Allan le Huitier, was a natural daughter of Alexander II. and consequently sister to Alexander III.

John Cumming lord of Badenoch derived his claim from a more remote source, viz. Donald Bane, who usurped the crown about 200 years before this time; but he was willing to resign his pretensions in favour of John Baliol. The latter indeed had surely the best right; and, had the succession been regulated as it is in all hereditary kingdoms at this day, he would undoubtedly have carried it. Bruce and Haillings, however, pleaded, that they were preferable, not only to John Baliol the grandchild of Margaret, but also to Dervegild her daughter and his mother, for the following reason. Dervegild and they were equally related to their grandfather earl David: she was indeed the daughter of his eldest daughter; but she was a woman, they were men; and, said they, the male in the same degree ought to succeed to sovereignties, in their own nature impalpable, preferable to the female.

Notwithstanding this number of candidates, however, it was soon perceived, that the claims of all of them might be cut off excepting two, viz. Baliol and Bruce, of whom the former had the preference with respect to hereditary right, and the latter as to popularity. Baliol had strongly attached himself to Edward's party; which being by far the most powerful in Scotland, gave him a decided superiority over Bruce. The event was, that Edward, by his own party most probably, though, some say, by the unanimous voice of the Scots parliament, was appointed to decide between the two competitors. It soon appeared, however, that Edward had no mind to adjudge the crown to any person but himself; for, in an assembly held at Norham on the 10th of May 1291, Brabazon the chief justice of England informed the members, "That his master was come thither in consideration of the state of the realm of Scotland, which was then without a king, to meet them, as direct sovereign of that kingdom, to do justice to the claimants of his crown, and to establish a solid tranquillity among his people; that it was not his intention to retard justice, nor to usurp the right of any body, or to infringe the liberties of the kingdom of Scotland, but to render to every one their due. And to the end this might be done with the more ease, he required the assent of the states ex abundante, and that they should own him as direct sovereign of the kingdom; offering, upon that condition, to make use of their counsels to do what justice demanded." The deputies were astonished at this declaration, and replied, that they were by no means prepared to decide on Edward's claim of superiority; but that Edward ought previously to judge the cause between the two competitors, and require homage from him whom he should choose to be king. Edward treated this excuse as trifling, and gave them till next day to consider of his demand. Accordingly, on that day, the assembly was held in Norham church, where the deputies from Scotland insisted upon giving no answer to Edward's demands, which could be decided only by the whole community; representing, at the same time, that numbers of the noblemen and prelates were absent, and that they must have time to know their sense of the affair. In consequence of this, Edward gave them a delay of three weeks; which interval he employed in multiplying claimants to the crown of Scotland, and in flattering each with hopes, if he would acknowledge his superiority. But when the assembly met, according to appointment, on the 2d of June following, they found the place of meeting surrounded by a numerous army of English. Edward had employed the bishop of Durham to draw up an historical deduction of his right to the crown of Scotland; which has since been published. In this paper mention is made of the fealty and homage performed by the kings of Scotland to the Anglo-Saxon kings of England; but no sufficient evidence is brought of any such homage being actually performed. As to the homage performed by the kings of Scotland from the time of William the Conqueror to that of the dispute between Bruce and Baliol, the Scots never denied it; but they contended, and indeed with justice, that it was performed for the lands which they held from the crown of England; and they alleged, that it was as far removed from any relation to a fealty or homage performed for the crown of Scotland, as the homage paid by the English monarchs to the crown of France was removed from all relation to the crown of England. With regard to the homage paid by William king of Scotland to Henry II. of England, it was not denied that he performed it for the whole kingdom of Scotland; but they pleaded, that it was void of itself, because it was extorted when William was a prisoner to Henry; and they produced Richard I.'s charters, which pronounced it to have been compulsive and iniquitous.

But, however urgent these reasons of the Scots might be, Edward was by no means disposed to examine into their merits. Instead of this, he cloathed the several pretenders to the crown; and having found them already to comply with his measures, he drew up the following charter of recognition to be signed by them all.

"To all who shall hear this present letter.

"We Florence earl of Holland, Robert de Bruce lord of Annandale, John Baliol lord of Galashiell, John Hastings lord of Abergavenny, John Cummin lord of Badenoch, Patrick de Dunbar earl of March, John Veschi for his father Nicholas Soulis, and William de Rofs, greeting in the Lord:

"Whereas we intend to pursue our right to the kingdom of Scotland; and to declare, challenge, and aver the same before him that hath most power, jurisdiction, and reason to try it; and the noble prince Edward, by the grace of God king of England, &c., having informed us, by good and sufficient reasons, that to him belongs the sovereign seigniory of the same: We therefore promise, that we will hold firm and stable his act; and that he shall enjoy the realm to whom it shall be adjudged before him. In witness whereof, we have set our seals to this writing, made and granted at Norham, the Tuesday after the Ascension, in the year of Grace 1291."

Edward then declared, by the mouth of his chancellor, that although, in the dispute which was arisen between the several claimants, touching the succession to the kingdom of Scotland, he acted in quality of sovereign, in order to render justice to whomsoever Scotland ever it was due; yet he did not thereby mean to exclude himself from the hereditary right which in his own person he might have to that crown, and which right he intended to assert and improve when he should think fit: and the king himself repeated this protestation with his own mouth in French. The candidates were then severally called upon by the English chancellor, to know whether they were willing to acknowledge Edward's claim of superiority over the crown of Scotland, and to submit to his award in disposing of the same; which being answered in the affirmative, they were then admitted to prove their rights. But this was mere matter of form; for all the force of England was then assembled on the borders in order to support the claims of Edward, and nothing now remained but to furnish him with a sufficient pretence for making use of it. He observed, that the Scots were not so unanimous as they ought to be in recognizing his superiority, and that the submission which had been signified by the candidates was not sufficient to carry it into execution; for which reason he demanded that all forts in Scotland should be put into his possession, that he might resign them to the successful candidate.

Though nothing could be more shameful than a tame compliance with this last demand of Edward, the regency of Scotland did not hesitate at yielding to it also; for which they gave the following reasons. "That whereas they (the States of Scotland) had, with one assent, already granted that king Edward, as superior lord of Scotland, should give sentence as to their several rights and titles to the crown of Scotland, &c., but as the said king of England cannot put his judgment in full execution to answer effectually, without the possession or seisin of the said country and its castles; we will, grant, and assent, that he, as sovereign lord thereof, to perform the things aforesaid, shall have seisin of all the lands and castles in Scotland, until right be done to the demandants, and to the guardians and community of the kingdom of Scotland, to restore both it and its castles with all the royalties, dignities, franchises, customs, rights, laws, usages, and possessions, with their appurtenances, in the same state and condition they were in when he received them; saving to the king of England the homage of him that shall be king; so as they may be restored within two months after the day the rights shall be determined and affirmed; and that the profits of the nation which shall be received in the mean time, shall be kept in the hands of the chamberlain of Scotland that now is, and one to be joined with him by the king of England; so as the charge of the government, castles, and officers of the realm, may be deducted. In witness whereof, &c."

For these reasons, as it is said, the regency put into the hands of Edward all the forts in the country. Gilbert de Umfrerville alone, who had the command of the castles of Dundee and Forfar, refused to deliver them up, until he should be indemnified by the States, and by Edward himself, from all penalties of treason of which he might afterwards be in danger.

But though Edward had thus got into his hands the whole power of the nation, he did not think proper to determine every thing by his own authority. Instead of this, he appointed commissioners, and promised to grant letters-patent declaring that sentence should be passed in Scotland. It had been all along foreseen that the great dispute would be between Bruce and Baliol; and though the plea of Cumming was judged frivolous, yet he was a man of too much influence to be neglected, and he agreed tacitly to resign it in favour of Baliol. Edward accordingly made him the compliment of joining him with Baliol in nominating candidates. Bruce was to name 40 more; and the names of the 80 were to be given in to Edward in three days; after which the king was to add to them 24 of his own choosing. The place and time of meeting were left in their own option. They unanimously pitched upon Bewick for the place of meeting; but as they could not agree about the time, Edward appointed the 2d of August following. Soon after this, the regents resigned their commissions to Edward; but he returned them, with powers to act in his name; and he nominated the bishop of Caithness to be chancellor of Scotland; joining in the commission with him Walter de Hemondesham an Englishman, and one of his own secretaries. Still, however, he met with great difficulties. Many of his own great men, particularly the earl of Gloucester, were by no means fond of increasing the power of the English monarch by the acquisition of Scotland; and therefore threw such obstructions in his way, that he was again obliged to have recourse to negotiation and intrigue, and at last to delay the meeting until the 2d of June 1292: but during this interval, that he might the better reconcile the Scots to the loss of their liberty, he proposed an union of the two kingdoms; and for this he issued a writ by virtue of his superiority.

The commissioners having met on the second of June 1292, ambassadors from Norway presented themselves in the assembly, demanding that their master should be admitted into the number of the claimants, as father and next heir to the late queen. This demand too was admitted by Edward, after the ambassadors had acknowledged his superiority over Scotland; after which he propounded that the claims of Bruce and Baliol should be previously examined, but without prejudice to those of the other competitors. This being agreed to, he ordered the commissioners to examine by what laws they ought to proceed in forming their report. The discussion of this question was attended with such difficulty, and the opinions on it were various, that Edward once more adjourned the assembly to the 12th of October following; at which time he required the members to give their opinions on the two following points: 1. By what laws and customs they ought to proceed to judgment; and, supposing there could be no law or precedent found in the two kingdoms, in what manner. 2. Whether the kingdom of Scotland ought to be taken in the same view as all other fiefs, and to be awarded in the same manner as earldoms and baronies? The commissioners replied, that Edward ought to give justice conformable to the usage of the two kingdoms; but that if no certain laws or precedents could be found, he might, by the advice of his great men, enact a new law. In answer to the second question they said, that the succession to the kingdom might be awarded in the same manner as to other estates and great baronies. Upon this, Edward ordered Bruce and Baliol to be called before before him; and both of them urged their respective pleas, and answers, to the following purpose.

Bruce pleaded, 1. That Alexander II., despairing of heirs of his own body, had declared that he held him to be the true heir, and offered to prove by the testimony of persons still alive, that he declared this with the advice and in the presence of the good men of his kingdom. Alexander III. also had declared to those with whom he was intimate, that, failing issue of his own body, Bruce was his right heir. The people of Scotland also had taken an oath for maintaining the succession of the nearest in blood to Alexander III., who ought of right to inherit, failing Margaret the Maiden of Norway and her issue.—Baliol answered, that nothing could be concluded from the acknowledgment of Alexander II., for that he left heirs of his body; but made no answer to what was said of the sentiments of Alexander III. and of the oath made by the Scottish nation to maintain the succession of the next of blood.

2. Bruce pleaded, that the right of reigning ought to be decided according to the natural law, by which kings reign; and not according to any law or usage in force between subject and subject: That by the law of nature, the nearest collateral in blood has a right to the crown; but that the constitutions which prevail among vassals bind not the lord, much less the sovereign: That although in private inheritances, which are divisible, the eldest female heir has a certain prerogative, it is not so in a kingdom that is indivisible; there the nearest heir of blood is preferable whenever the succession opens.—To this Baliol replied, that the claimants were in the court of their lord paramount; and that he ought to give judgment in this case, as in the case of any other tenements depending on his crown, that is, by the common law and usage of his kingdom and no other. That by the laws and usages of England, the eldest female heir is preferred in the succession to all inheritances, indivisible as well as divisible.

3. It was urged by Bruce, that the manner of succession to the kingdom of Scotland in former times, made for his claim; for that the brother, as being nearest in degree, was wont to be preferred to the son of the deceased king. Thus, when Kenneth Macalpin died, his brother Donald was preferred to his son Constantine, and this was confirmed by several other authentic instances in the history of Scotland.—Baliol answered, that if the brother was preferred to the son of the king, the example proved against Bruce; for that the son, not the brother, was the nearest in degree. He admitted, that after the death of Malcolm III., his brother usurped the throne; but he contended, that the son of Malcolm complained to his liege lord the king of England, who dispossessed the usurper, and placed the son of Malcolm on the throne; that after the death of that son the brother of Malcolm III., again usurped the throne; but the king of England again dispossessed him, and raised Edgar, the second son of Malcolm, to the sovereignty.

4. Bruce pleaded, that there are examples in other countries, particularly in Spain and Savoy, where the son of the second daughter excluded the grandson of the eldest daughter. Baliol answered, that examples from foreign countries are of no importance; for that according to the laws of England and Scotland, where kings reign by succession in the direct line, and earls and barons succeed in like manner, the issue of the younger sister, although nearer in degree, excludes not the issue of the eldest sister, although more remote; but the succession continues in the direct line.

5. Bruce pleaded, that a female ought not to reign, as being incapable of governing: That at the death of Alexander III., the mother of Baliol was alive; and as she could not reign, the kingdom devolved upon him, as being the nearest male heir of the blood royal. But to this Baliol replied, that Bruce's argument was inconsistent with his claim: for that if a female ought not to reign, Isabella the mother of Bruce ought not, nor must Bruce himself claim through her. Besides, Bruce himself had sworn fealty to a female, the maiden of Norway.

The arguments being thus stated on both sides, Edward demanded an answer from the council as to given in favour of Baliol. He also put the following question to them: By the laws and usages of both kingdoms, does the issue of the eldest sister, tho' more remote in one degree, exclude the issue of the second sister, though nearer in one degree; or ought the nearer in one degree issuing from the second sister, to exclude the more remote in one degree issuing from the eldest sister? To this it was answered unanimously, That by the laws and usages of both kingdoms, in every heritable succession, the more remote in one degree linearly descended from the eldest sister, was preferable to the nearer in degree issuing from the second sister. In consequence of this, Bruce was excluded from the succession; upon which he entered a claim for one third of the kingdom: but being baffled in this also, the kingdom of Scotland being determined an indivisible fee, Edward ordered John Baliol to have seisin of Scotland; with this caveat, however, "That this judgment should not impair his claim to the property of Scotland."

After so many disgraceful and humiliating concessions on the part of the Scots, John Baliol was crowned king at Scone on the 30th November 1292; and sconed finalised the ceremony by doing homage to the king of England. All his submissions, however, could not satisfy Edward, as long as the least shadow of independence remained to Scotland. A citizen of Berwick appealed from a sentence of the Scots judges appointed by Edward, in order to carry his cause into England. But this was opposed by Baliol, who pleaded a promise made by the English monarch, that he should "observe the laws and usages of Scotland, and not withdraw any cause from Scotland into his English courts." Edward replied, that it belonged to him to hear the complaints made against his own ministers; and concluded with asserting his right, not of Edward only to try Scots causes in England, but to summon the king of Scotland, if necessary, to appear before him in person. Baliol had not spirit to refuse; and therefore signed a most disgraceful instrument, by which he declared, that all the obligations which Edward had come under were already fulfilled, and therefore that he discharged them all.

Edward now thought proper to give Baliol some marks of his favour, the most remarkable of which was giving him seisin of the Isle of Man; but it soon appeared, appeared, that he intended to exercise his rights of superiority in the most provoking manner. The first instance was in the case of Malcolm, earl of Fife. This nobleman had two sons, Colban his heir, and another who is constantly mentioned in history by the family name of Macduff.—It is said, that Malcolm put Macduff in possession of the lands of Reres and Crey. Malcolm died in 1265; Colban his son, in 1270; Duncan the son of Colban, in 1288. To this last earl, his son Duncan, an infant, succeeded. During the nonage of this Duncan, grand-nephew of Macduff, William bishop of St Andrew's, guardian of the earldom, dispossessed Macduff. He complained to Edward; who having ordered his cause to be tried, restored him again to possession. Matters were in this state, when Baliol held his first parliament at Scone, 10th February 1292. There Macduff was cited to answer for having taken possession of the lands of Reres and Crey, which were in possession of the king since the death of the last earl of Fife. As his defences did not satisfy the court, he was condemned to imprisonment; but an action was referred to him against Duncan, when he should come of age, and against his heirs.

In all this defence, it is surprising that Macduff should have omitted his strongest argument, viz. that the regents, by Edward's authority, had put him in possession, and that Baliol had ratified all things under Edward's authority. However, as soon as he was set at liberty, he petitioned Baliol for a rehearing; but being rejected, he appealed to Edward, who ordered Baliol to appear before him in person on the 25th of March 1293: but as Baliol did not obey this order, he summoned him again to appear on the 14th of October. In the mean time the English parliament drew up certain standing orders in cases of appeal from the king of Scots; all of which were harsh and capricious. One of these regulations provided, "that no excuse of absence should ever be received either from the appellant, or the king of Scotland respondent; but that the parties might have counsel if they demanded it."

Though Baliol had not the courage to withstand the second summons of Edward, he behaved with considerable resolution at the trial. The cause of Macduff being come on, Edward asked Baliol what he had to offer in his own defence; to which he replied, "I am king of Scotland. To the complaint of Macduff, or to ought else respecting my kingdom, I dare not make answer without the advice of my people."—Edward affected surprise at this refusal, after the submissions which Baliol had already made him; but the latter steadily replied, "In matters respecting my kingdom, I neither dare nor can answer in this place, without the advice of my people." Edward then desired him to ask a farther adjournment, that he might advise with the nation. But Baliol, perceiving that his doing so would imply an acquiescence in Edward's right of requiring his personal attendance on the English courts, made answer, "That he would neither ask a longer day, nor consent to an adjournment."—It was then resolved by the parliament of England, that the king of Scotland had offered no defence; that he had made evasive and disrespectful answers; and that he was guilty of manifest contempt of the court, and of open disobedience. To make recompense to Macduff for his imprisonment, he was ordered damages from the king of Scots, to be taxed by the court; and it was also determined that Edward should inquire, according to the usages of the country, whether Macduff recovered the tenements in question by the judgment of the king's court, and whether he was dispossessed by the king of Scots. It was also resolved, that the three principal castles of Scotland, with the towns wherein they were situated, and the royal jurisdiction thereof, should be taken into the custody of the king, and there remain until the king of Scots should make satisfaction for his contempt and disobedience. But, before this judgment was publicly intimated, Baliol addressed Edward in the following words: "My lord, I am your liege-man for the kingdom of Scotland; that, whereof you have lately treated, respects my people no less than myself: I therefore pray you to delay it until I have consulted my people, lest I be surprized through want of advice: They who are now with me, neither will nor dare advise me in absence of the rest of my kingdom. After I have advised with them, I will in your first parliament after Easter report the result, and do to you what I ought."

In consequence of this address, Edward, with consent of Macduff, stopped all proceedings till the day after the feast of Trinity 1294. But before this term Edward was obliged to suspend all proceedings against the Scots, by a war which broke out with France. In a parliament held this year by Edward, the king of Scotland appeared, and consented to yield up the whole revenues of his English estates for three years to assist Edward against his enemy. He was also requested and ordered by Edward, to extend an embargo laid upon the English vessels all over Scotland; and this embargo to endure until the king of England's further pleasure should be known. He also requested him to send some troops for an expedition into Gascony, and required the presence and aid of several of the Scottish barons for the same purpose. The Scots, however, eluded the commands of Edward, by pretending that they could not bring any considerable force into the field; and, unable to bear his tyranny any longer, entered into negotiations with Philip king of France, an alliance Having assembled a parliament at Scone, they prevailed upon Baliol to dismiss all the Englishmen whom he maintained at his court. They then appointed a committee of twelve, four bishops, four earls, and four barons, by whose advice every thing was to be regulated; and, if we may credit the English historians, they watched the conduct of Baliol himself, and detained him in a kind of honourable captivity. However, they could not prevent him from delivering up the castles of Berwick, Roxburgh, and Jedburgh, to the bishop of Carlisle; in whose custody they were to remain during the war between England and France, as a pledge of his allegiance. Notwithstanding this, Baliol concluded the alliance with Philip; by which it was stipulated, that the latter should give in marriage the eldest daughter of the count of Anjou to Baliol's son; and it was also provided, that Baliol should not marry again without the consent of Philip. The king of Scotland engaged to assist Philip in his wars at his own expense, and with his whole power, especially if Edward invaded France; and Philip on his part engaged Scotland, gaged to assist Scotland, in case of an English invasion, either by making a diversion, or by sending succours.

Puffed up with the hopes of assistance from France, the Scots invaded Cumberland with a mighty army, and laid siege to Carlisle. The men abandoned the place; but the women mounted the walls, and drove the assailants from the attack. Another incursion into Northumberland proved almost as disgraceful. Their whole exploits consisted in burning a nunnery at Lamley, and a monastery at Corbridge, though dedicated to their patron St Andrew; but having attempted to storm the castle of Harbottle, they were repulsed with loss. In the mean time Edward, with an army equal in number to that of the Scots, but much superior on account of its discipline, invaded the east coast of Scotland. Berwick had either not been delivered according to promise, or had been refused by the Scots, and was now defended by a numerous garrison. Edward assaulted it by sea and land. The ships which began the attack were all either burnt or disabled; but Edward having led his army in person, took the place by storm, and cruelly butchered the inhabitants, to the number of 8000, without distinction of sex or age. In this town there was a building called the Red hall, which certain Flemings possessed by the tenure of defending it at all times against the king of England. Thirty of these maintained their ground for a whole day against the English army; but at night the building being set on fire, all of them perished in the flames. The same day the castle capitulated; the garrison, consisting of 2000 men, marched out with all the honours of war, after having sworn never to bear arms against England.

In the mean time, Baliol, by the advice of his parliament, solemnly and openly renounced his allegiance to Edward, sending the following declaration.

"To the magnificent prince, Edward, by the grace of God, king of England; John, by the same grace, king of Scotland.

"Whereas you, and others of your kingdom, you not being ignorant, or having cause of ignorance, by your violent power, have notoriously and frequently done grievous and intolerable injuries, contempts, grievances, and strange damages against us, the liberties of our kingdom, and against God and justice; citing us, at your pleasure, upon every slight suggestion, out of our kingdom; unduly vexing us; seizing our castles, lands, and possessions, in your kingdom; unjustly, and for no fault of ours, taking the goods of our subjects, as well by sea as land, and carrying them into your kingdom; killing our merchants, and others of our kingdom; carrying away our subjects, and imprisoning them: For the reformation of which things, we sent our messengers to you, which remain not only unredeemed, but there is every day an addition of worse things to them; for now you are come with a great army upon the borders, for the disinheritting us, and the inhabitants of our kingdom; and, proceeding, have inhumanly committed slaughter, burnings, and violent invasions, as well by sea as land: We not being able to sustain the said injuries, grievances, and damages any longer, nor to remain in your fealty or homage,

extorted by your violent oppression, we restore them to you, for ourself, and all the inhabitants of our kingdom, as well for the lands we hold of you in your kingdom, as for your pretended government over us."

Edward was presented with this renunciation by the hands of the intrepid Henry, abbot of Aberbrothick; and as it was favourable to his political views, he received it rather with contempt than anger. "The foolish traitor," said he to the abbot, "since he will not come to us, we will go to him." The abbot had been persuaded by his enemies, of whom he had many in Scotland, to present this letter, in hopes that Edward would have put him to death; but he had address enough to escape safe out of his hands, without receiving any other answer.

Though this scheme of renunciation had been concerted some time before, the declaration was not sent to Edward till after the taking of Berwick. The fate of Scotland, however, after it, was soon decided. The Earl of March had taken part with Edward, but the countess betrayed his castle of Dunbar into the hands of the Scots. Edward sent a chosen body of troops to recover the place. The whole force of Scotland opposed them on the heights above Dunbar; but leaving defeated their advantageous post, and pouring down on their enemies in confusion, they were dispersed and defeated.

The castle of Dunbar surrendered at discretion; that of Roxburgh followed the same example; the castle of Edinburgh surrendered after a short siege; and Sterling was abandoned. The Scots, in the mean time, were guilty of the greatest extravagances. During the short interval between the loss of Berwick and the defeat at Dunbar, an order was made for expelling all the English ecclesiastics who held benefices in England; all the partizans of England, and all neutrals, were declared traitors, and their estates confiscated. But the great successes of Edward soon put an end to these impotent acts of fury. Baliol was obliged to implore the mercy of the conqueror. Divested of his royal ornaments, and bearing a white rod in his hand, he performed a most humiliating penance; confessing, that by evil and false counsel, and through his own simplicity, he had grievously offended his liege lord. He recapitulated his various transgressions, in concluding an alliance with France while at enmity with England; in contracting his son with the niece of the French king; in renouncing his fealty; in attacking the English territories, and in resisting Edward. He acknowledged the justice of the English invasion and conquest; and therefore he, of his own free consent, resigned Scotland, its people, and their homage, to his liege-lord Edward, 2d July 1296.

The king of England pursued his conquests, the barons everywhere crowding in to swear fealty to him, and renounce their allegiance with France. His journey ended at Elgin, from whence he returned southward; and, as an evidence of his having made an absolute conquest of Scotland, he carried off from Scone the wooden chair in which the kings were wont to be crowned. This chair had for its bottom the fatal stone regarded as the national palladium (v). Some of the charters belonging to the abbey were carried off, and

(n) "This stone is thus described by W. Hemingford, T. i. p. 37. "Apud monasterium de Scone positus erat lapis Scotland. the seals torn from others: "which," says Lord Hailes, "is the only well-vauched example which I have found of any outrage on private property committed by Edward's army. It is mentioned in a charter of Robert I., and we may be assured that the outrage was not diminished in the relation."

On the 28th of August 1296, Edward held a parliament at Berwick, where he received the fealty of the clergy and laity of Scotland. It is said, that while the English monarch was employed in the conquest of Scotland, he had promised the sovereignty to Robert Bruce, lord of Anandale, in order to secure his fidelity; but being put in mind of his promise, he answered, "Have I no other business but to conquer kingdoms for you?" Bruce silently retired, and passed his days in obscurity. Among those who professed their allegiance at this parliament, was Robert Bruce the younger, earl of Carrick. After this, Edward took the most effectual methods of securing his new conquest. He ordered the estates of the clergy to be restored; and having received the fealty of the widows of many of the Scottish barons, he put them in possession of their jointure-lands, and even made a decent provision for the wives of many of his prisoners. Yet, though in everything he behaved with great moderation towards the Scots, he committed the government of certain districts, and of the chief castles in the south of Scotland, to his English subjects, of whose fidelity and vigilance he thought himself assured. In order to conciliate the affections of the clergy, he granted to the Scottish bishops, for ever, the privilege of bequeathing their effects by will, in the same manner as that privilege was enjoyed by the archbishops and bishops of England. In honour of the "glorious Confessor St Cuthbert," he gave to the monks of Durham an annual pension of 40 pounds, payable out of the revenues of Scotland, by the tenure of maintaining, before the shrine of the saint, two wax-tapers of 20 pounds weight each, and of distributing twice a year one penny each to 3000 indigent persons. At last, having settled every thing, as he thought, in tranquillity, he departed for England, with all the pride of a conqueror.

The tranquillity established by Edward, however, was of short duration. The government of Scotland at that time required many qualities which Edward's vicegerent's had not. Warenne, Earl of Surrey, who had been appointed governor, took up his abode in England, on pretence of recovering his health. Creffingham, the treasurer, was a voluptuous, proud, and selfish ecclesiastic; while Ormesby the justiciary was hated for his severity. Under these officers the administration of Edward became more and more feeble; bands of robbers infested the highways, and the English government was universally despised. At this critical moment arose Sir William Wallace, the hero to Wallace, much celebrated in Scottish tales, and by which indeed his real exploits are so much obscured, that it is difficult to give an authentic relation of them. The most probable account is, that he was the younger son of a gentleman (Wallace of Ellerslie) in the neighbourhood of Paisley. Having been outlawed for some offence, (generally supposed to have been the killing of an Englishman), he associated with a few companions of fortunes equally desperate with his own. Wallace himself was endowed with great strength and courage, and an active and ambitious spirit; and by his abilities, eloquence, and wisdom, he maintained an authority over the rude and undisciplined multitudes who flocked to his standard. In May 1297, he began to infest the English quarters; and being successful in his predatory incursions, his party became more numerous, and he was joined by Sir William Douglas. With their united forces, these two allies attempted to surprise Ormesby the justiciary, while he held his courts at Scone; but he saved himself by a precipitate flight. After this, the Scots roved over the whole country, assaulted castles, and massacred the English. Their party was joined by many persons of rank; among whom were Robert Wishart bishop of Glasgow, the Steward of Scotland and his brother Alexander de Lindsay, Sir Richard Lundin, and Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell. Young Bruce would have been a vast accession to the party; for he possessed all Carrick and Anandale, so that his territories reached from the frith of Clyde to Solway. But the wardens of the western marches of England suspected his fidelity, and summoned him to Carlisle. He obeyed, and made oath on the consecrated host and on the sword of Becket, to be faithful and vigilant in the cause of Edward; and to prove his sincerity, he invaded, with fire and sword, the estate of Sir William Douglas, and carried off his wife and children. However, he instantly repented of what he had done: "I trust," (said he), "that the pope will absolve me from an extorted oath;" on which he abandoned Edward, and joined the Scottish army.

All this time Edward was in France, not in the least suspecting an insurrection among people whom he imagined he had thoroughly subdued. As soon as he received the

laps pergrandis in ecclesia Dei, juxta magnum altare, concavus quidem ad modum rotunda cathedra confectur, in quo futuri reges loco quali coronationis ponebantur ex more. Rege itaque novo in lapide positio, mitterum solemnia incepta peraguntur, et praeterquam in elevazione facri dominici corporis, semper lapidatus manit." And again, T. i. p. 100. "In redeundo per Scone, prcecepit tolli et Londinis carari, lapidem illam, in quo, ut supra dictum est, Reges Scotorum solabant ponere coronationis fux, et hoc in signum regni conquisiti et resignati." Wallingham mentions the use to which Edward put this stone: "Ad Weltmonasterium transtulit illum, jubens inde fieri celebrantium cathedram faceretum." This account of the fatal stone is here transcribed, that it may be compared with the appearance of the stone that now bears its name at Westminster.

Fordun has preserved the ancient rhymes concerning it: L. xi. c. 25.

"Hic rex fecit totum Scotiae fecit sibi notam, Qui sine mensura tulit inde jocalia plora, Et prater lapidem, Scotorum quem fore fedem Regum decrevit fatum; quod sic inolevis, Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocunque locutione Inveniant lapidem, regnavre teneantur ibidem."

This was the stone which Gathelus sent from Spain with his son when he invaded Ireland, which king Fergus won in Ireland, brought over with him, and placed at Scone. As the most proper authority for a story of this nature, see Acts of Sir William Wallace, by Blind Harry, B. i. c. 4. Scotland. the intelligence, he ordered the Earl of Surrey to suppress the rebels; but he declining the command of the army himself on account of his health, resigned it to his nephew, Lord Henry Percy. A great army, some say no fewer than 40,000 men, was now assembled, with which Percy marched against the Scots. He found them encamped at Irwin, with a lake in their front, and their flanks secured by entrenchments, so that they could not be attacked without the utmost danger. The Scots, however, ruined everything by their dissensions. Wallace was envied on account of his accomplishments, which had raised his reputation above the other officers, whose birth and circumstances were higher than his. His companions accordingly became jealous, and began to suggest, that an opposition to the English could only be productive of farther national destruction. Sir Richard Lundin, an officer of great rank, formed a party against Wallace, and went over to Edward with all his followers. He attempted to justify his treachery, by saying, "I will remain no longer of a party that is at variance with itself;" without considering that he himself, and his party, were partly the occasion of that variance. Other leaders entered into a negotiation with the English. Bruce, the Steward and his brother Alexander de Lindefay, and Sir William Douglas, acknowledged their offences, and made submissions to Edward for themselves and their adherents.

This scandalous treaty seems to having been negotiated by the bishop of Glasgow, and their recantation is recorded in the following words.—"Be it known to all men: Whereas we, with the commons of our country, did rise in arms against our lord Edward, and against his peace, in his territories of Scotland and Galloway, did burn, slay, and commit divers robberies; we therefore, in our own name, and in the name of all our adherents, agree to make every reparation and atonement that shall be required by our sovereign lord; referring always what is contained in a writing which we have procured from Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford, commanders of the English forces; at Irvine, 9th July 1297. To this instrument was subjoined, "Esfora Sire Willaume;" the meaning of which lord Hailes supposes to be, that the barons had notified to Sir William Wallace their having made terms of accommodation for themselves and their party.

Edward accepted the submission of the Scottish barons who had been in arms, and granted liberty to those whom he had made prisoners in the course of the former year, on condition that they should serve him in his wars against France. The inconstancy of Bruce, however, was so great, that acknowledgments of submission or oaths of fealty were not thought sufficiently binding on him; for which reason the bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, and Alexander de Lindefay, became sureties for his loyalty and good behaviour, until he should deliver his daughter Marjory as a hostage.

Wallace alone refused to be concerned in these shameful submissions; and, with a few resolute followers, resolved to submit to every calamity rather than give up the liberty of his country. The barons had undertaken to procure his submission as well as their own; but finding that to be impossible, the bishop of Glasgow and Sir William Douglas voluntarily surrendered themselves prisoners to the English. Edward, however, ascribed this voluntary surrender, not to any honourable motive, but to treachery. He asserted, that Wifheart repaired to the castle of Roxburgh under pretence of yielding himself up, but with the concealed purpose of forming a conspiracy in order to betray that castle to the Scots; and in proof of this, Edward appealed to intercepted letters of Wifheart. On the other hand, Wallace, ascribing the bishop's conduct to traitorous perfidy, plundered his house, and carried off his family captives.

Immediately after the defection of the barons at Irvine, Wallace with his band of determined followers attacked the rear of the English army, and plundered their baggage; but was obliged to retire, with the loss of 1000 men. He then found himself deserted by almost all the men of eminence and property. His army, however, increased considerably by the accession of numbers of inferior rank, and he again began to act on the offensive. While he employed himself in besieging the castle of Dundee, he was informed that the English army approached Stirling. Wallace, having charged the citizens of Dundee, under the pain of death, to continue the blockade of the castle, hastened with all his troops to guard the important passage of the Forth; and encamped behind a rising ground in the neighbourhood of the abbey of Cambuskenneth. Brian Fitz-allan had been appointed governor of Scotland by Edward; but Warrenne, who waited the arrival of his successor, remained with the army. Imagining that Wallace might be induced by fair means to lay down his arms, he dispatched two friars to the Scottish camp, with terms of capitulation. "Return," said Wallace, "and tell your masters, that we came not here to treat, but to assert our right, and to set Scotland free. Let them advance, they will find us prepared." The English, provoked at this answer, demanded impatiently to be led on to battle. Sir Richard Lundin remonstrated against the absurdity of making a numerous army pass by a long narrow bridge in presence of the enemy. He told them, that the Scots would attack them before they could form on the plain to the north of the bridge, and thus certainly defeat them: at the same time he offered to show them a ford, which having crossed with 500 horse, and a chosen detachment of infantry, he proposed to come round upon the rear of the enemy, and by this diversion facilitate the operations of the main body. But this proposal being rejected, the English army began to pass over; which was no sooner perceived by Wallace, than he rushed down upon them, and broke them in a moment. Cressingham the treasurer was killed, and many thousands were slain on the field, or drowned in their flight. The loss of the Scots would have been inconsiderable, had it not been for that of Sir Andrew Moray, the intimate friend and companion of Wallace, who was mortally wounded in the engagement. The Scots are said to have treated the dead body of Cressingham with the utmost indignity; to have flayed him, and cut his skin into pieces, which they divided among themselves; while others tell us, they used it for making girths, and saddles.

The victory at Stirling was followed by the surrender der of Dundee castle, and other places of strength in Scotland; at the same time the Scots took possession of Berwick, which the English had evacuated. But as a famine now took place in Scotland by the bad seasons and miseries of war, Wallace marched with his whole army into England, that he might in some measure relieve the necessities of his countrymen by plundering the enemy. This expedition lasted three weeks, during which time the whole tract of country from Cockermouth and Carlisle to the gates of Newcastle was laid waste with all the fury of revenge and rapacity; though Wallace endeavoured, as far as possible, to repress the licentiousness of his soldiers.

In 1298, Wallace assumed the title of "Governor of Scotland, in name of king John, and by consent of the Scottish nation;" but in what manner this office was obtained, is now in a great measure unknown. In a parliament which he convoked at Perth, he was confirmed in his authority; and under this title he conferred the constabulary of Dundee on Alexander surnamed Skirmecour and his heirs, on account of his faithful aid in bearing the royal standard of Scotland. This grant is said to have been made with the consent and approbation of the Scottish nobility, 29th March 1298. From this period, however, we may date the very great jealousy which took place between Wallace and the nobles who pretended to be of his party. His elevation wounded their pride; his great services reproached their inactivity in the public cause; and thus the councils of Scotland were perplexed with distrust and envy, when almost its very existence depended on unanimity.

In June 1298, Edward, who had all this time been in Flanders, returned to England, and summoned the Scottish barons, under pain of rebellion, to attend him in parliament; and, on their disobeying his summons, he advanced with his army towards Scotland. His main force commanded by himself assembled at Berwick; but a body of troops, under the earl of Pembroke, having landed in the north of Fife, were defeated with great loss by Wallace, on the 12th of June. The same month Edward invaded Scotland by the way of the eastern borders. No place resisted him except the castle of Dirleton. After a resolute defense, it surrendered to Anthony Beck, bishop of Durham.

Meanwhile the Scots were assembling all their strength in the interior part of the country. Few barons of eminence repaired to the national standard. They whose names are recorded, were John Comyn of Badenoch, the younger; Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, brother to The Steward; Sir John Graham of Abercorn; and Macduff, the grand-uncle of the young earl of Fife. Robert Bruce again acceded to the Scottish party; and with his followers guarded the important cattle of Air, which kept the communication open with Galloway, Argyleshire, and the isles.

The aim of Edward was to penetrate into the west, and there to terminate the war. He appointed a fleet, with provisions, to proceed to the frith of Clyde, and await his arrival in those parts. This precaution was absolutely necessary for the subsistence of his numerous army in a country impoverished and waste.

Waiting for accounts of the arrival of his fleet, he established his head-quarters at Templeliston, between Edinburgh and Linlithgow.

A dangerous insurrection arose in his camp. He had bestowed a donative of wine among his soldiers; they became intoxicated; a national quarrel ensued. In this tumult the Welsh slew 18 English ecclesiastics. The English horsemen rode in among the Welsh, and revenged this outrage with great slaughter. The Welsh in disgust separated themselves from the army. It was reported to Edward, that they had mutinied and gone over to the Scots: "I care not," said Edward, dissembling the danger; "let my enemies go and join my enemies; I trust that in one day I shall chastise them all."

Edward was now placed in most critical circumstances. As the fleet with provisions had been detained by contrary winds, he could not venture to advance, neither could he submit any longer in his present quarters. To retreat would have nullified the glory of his arms, and exposed him to the obloquy and murmurs of a discontented people. Yet he submitted to this hard necessity. Abandoning every prospect of ambition and revenge, he commanded his army to return to the eastern borders. At that moment intelligence arrived that the Scots were advanced to Falkirk.

Edward instantly marched against them. His army lay that night in the fields. While Edward slept on the ground, his war-horse struck him and broke two of his ribs. The alarm arose, that the king was wounded. They who knew not the cause, repeated the cry, "The king is wounded; there is treason in the camp; the enemy is upon us." Edward mounted on horseback, and by his presence dispelled the panic. With a fortitude of spirit superior to pain, he led on his troops. The battle at break of day, the Scottish army was defeated, forming a flotilla field at the side of a small eminence in the neighbourhood of Falkirk.

Wallace ranged his infantry in four bodies of a circular form. The archers, commanded by Sir John Stewart, were placed in the intervals. The horse, amounting to no more than a thousand, were at some distance in the rear. On the front of the Scots lay a morass. Having drawn up his troops in this order, Wallace pleasantly said, "Now I have brought you to the ring, dance according to your skill."

Edward placed his chief confidence in the numerous and formidable body of horsemen whom he had selected for the Scottish expedition. These he ranged in three lines. The first was led by Bigot Earl Marshal, and the Earls of Hereford and Lincoln; the second by the bishop of Durham, having under him Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton; the third, intended for a reserve, was led by the king himself. No mention is made of the disposition of his infantry: it is probable that they were drawn up behind, to support the cavalry, and to annoy the Scots with their arrows and other missile weapons.

Bigot, at the head of the first line, rushed on to the charge. He was checked by the morass, which in his impetuosity he had overlooked. This obliged him to incline to the solid ground on his left, towards the right flank of the Scottish army. The bishop of Durham, who led the second line, inclined to the right. Scotland right, turned the morris, and advanced towards the left flank of the Scottish army. He proposed to halt, till the reserve should advance. "To make, bishop," cried Balfour, and instantly charged. The shock of the English cavalry on each side was violent, and gallantly withstood by the Scottish infantry; but the Scottish cavalry, dismayed at the number and force of the English men-at-arms, immediately quitted the field. Stewart, while giving orders to his archers, was thrown from his horse and slain. His archers crowded round his body, and perished with him. Often did the English strive to force the Scottish circle. "They could not penetrate into that wood of spears," as one of their historians speaks. By repeated charges, the outermost ranks were brought to the ground. The English infantry incessantly galled the Scots with showers of stones and arrows. Macduff and Sir John Graham fell. At length the Scots were broken by the numbers and weight of the English cavalry, and the rout became universal.

The number of the Scots slain in this battle must have been very great. As is commonly the case, it is exaggerated by the historians of the victors, and reduced too low by the historians of the vanquished.

On the side of the English, the loss was inconsiderable. The only persons of note who fell were Brian le Jay, master of the English Templars, and the prior of Torphichen in Scotland, a knight of another order of religious fidelity (e).

The Scots in their retreat burnt the town and castle of Stirling. Edward repaired the castle, and made it a place of arms. He then marched into the west. At his approach, Bruce burnt the castle of Ayr, and retired. Edward would have pursued him into Carrick; but the want of provisions stopped his further progress. He turned into Annandale, took Bruce's castle of Lochmaben, and then departed out of Scotland by the western borders.

Here may be remarked the fatal precipitancy of the Scots. If they had studied to protract the campaign, instead of hazarding a general action at Falkirk, they would have foiled the whole power of Edward, and reduced him to the necessity of an inglorious retreat.

In 1299, Edward thought proper to release John Baliol the unfortunate king of Scotland, whom he had detained of kept close prisoner ever since the year 1296. Before this time Baliol had used the most disgraceful methods to recover his liberty. He had solemnly declared, that "he would never have any intercourse with the Scots; that he had found them a false and treacherous people; and that he had reason to suspect them of an intention to poison him." However, notwithstanding all his protestations, Edward still detained him in captivity; but at last released him at the mediation of the pope, though after a singular form: He ordered the governor of Dover to convey him to the French coast, and there to deliver him to the papal nuncio, "with full power to the pope to dispose of Baliol and his English estate;" in consequence of which he was conveyed to Witland, delivered to the nuncio in presence of a notary and witnesses, and a receipt taken for his person. Notwithstanding this abject state, however, the Scots continued to own him for their king, and to assert their national independency. Though the misfortune at Falkirk had deprived them of a very considerable extent of territory, they were still in possession of the whole country beyond the Forth, as well as the county of Galloway. By general consent William Lamberton bishop of St Andrew's, Robert Bruce earl of Carrick, and John Cummin the younger, were chosen guardians of Scotland in name of Baliol. Wallace at this time was reduced to the condition of a private

(e) "This account of the action at Falkirk, extracted from Lord Hailes's Annals, is drawn, his lordship informs us, from the testimony of the English historians. They have done justice," he observes, "to the courage and steadfastness of their enemies; while our historians represented their own countrymen as occupied in frivolous unmeaning contests, and, from treachery or resentment, abandoning the public cause in the day of trial.

It would be tedious and unprofitable to recite all that has been said on this subject by our own writers from Fordun to Abercrombie. How Wallace, Stewart, and Comyn, quarrelled on the punctilio of leading the van of an army which stood on the defensive: How Stewart compared Wallace to 'an owl with borrowed feathers.' How the Scottish commanders, buffed in this frivolous altercation, had no leisure to form their army: How Comyn traiterously withdrew with 10,000 men; how Wallace, from resentment, followed his example: How by such disastrous incidents, the Scottish army was enfeebled, and Stewart and his party abandoned to destruction. Our histories abound in traits of this kind: There is scarcely one of our writers who has not produced an invective against Comyn, or an apology for Wallace, or a lamentation over the deserted Stewart. What diffusions may have prevailed among the Scottish commanders, it is impossible to know. It appears not to me that their diffusions had any influence on their conduct in the day of battle. The truth seems to be this: The English cavalry greatly exceeded the Scottish in numbers, were infinitely better equipped and more adroit: the Scottish cavalry were intimidated, and fled. Had they remained on the field, they might have preserved their honour; but they never could have turned the chance of that day. It was natural, however, for such of the infantry as survived the engagement, to impute their disaster to the defection of the cavalry. National pride would ascribe their flight to treachery rather than to pusillanimity. It is not improbable that Comyn commanded the cavalry; hence a report may have been spread, that Comyn betrayed his country; this report has been embellished by each successive relator. When men are seized with a panic, their commander must from necessity, or will from prudence, accompany them in their flight. Earl Warrenne fled with his army from Stirling to Berwick; yet Edward I. did not punish him as a traitor or a coward.

The tale of Comyn's treachery, and Wallace's ill-timed resentment, may have gained credit, because it is a pretty tale, and not improbable in itself: but it amazes me that the story of the congress of Bruce and Wallace after the battle of Falkirk should have gained credit. I lay aside the full evidence which we now possess, that Bruce was not, at that time, of the English party, nor present at the battle. For it must be admitted, that our historians knew nothing of those circumstances which demonstrate the impossibility of the congress. But the wonder is, that men of sound judgment should not have seen the absurdity of a long conversation between the commander of a flying army, and one of the leaders of a victorious army. When Fordun told the story, he placed a 'narrow but inaccessible glen' between the speakers. Later historians have substituted the river Carron in the place of the inaccessible glen, and they make Bruce and Wallace talk across the river like two young declaimers from the pulpits in a school of rhetoric." vate man; nor had he at this time the command of the Scots armies, nor any share in their councils.—The new guardians undertook to reduce the castle of Stirling, and Edward prepared to defend it. The Scots posted themselves at the Torwood, and chose their ground judiciously, so that Edward could scarce have raised the siege without dislodging them; which finding it impossible for him to do, he returned home in disgust. Next year, he invaded Scotland on the west side, wasted Annandale, and reduced Galloway; but the Scots being now taught by experience to avoid a general action, chose their posts with such skill, that Edward could not penetrate farther; and the same year a truce was concluded with the Scots, to continue till Whitunday 1301.

This year a new competitor appeared for the crown of Scotland. Boniface VIII., in a bull directed to Edward, averred, that Scotland belonged anciently, and did still belong, to the holy see; and supported his extravagant claim by some strange authorities; such as, that Scotland had been miraculously converted by the relics of St Andrew: after which he proceeded to show the futility of Edward's pretensions, and that Scotland never had any feudal dependence on England. He required Edward to set at liberty all the Scottish ecclesiastics, particularly Willard bishop of Glasgow, and to remove his officers from the patrimony of the church: "But, (added he), should you have any pretensions to the whole, or any part of Scotland, send your proctors to me within six months; I will hear and determine according to justice: I take the cause under my own peculiar cognizance."

This interposition of the pope had probably been procured by Scottish emissaries at the court of Rome; but, however ridiculous his pretensions might be, they afforded matter of very serious consideration to Edward. After spending a whole winter in deliberations, Edward and his parliament made separate answers to the pope. The answer of the parliament was to the following purpose: "All England knows, that ever since the first establishment of this kingdom, our kings have been liege-lords of Scotland. At no time has the kingdom of Scotland belonged to the church. In temporals, the kings of England are not amenable to the see of Rome. We have with one voice resolved, that, as to temporals, the king of England is independent of Rome; that he shall not suffer his independence to be questioned; and therefore, that he shall not send commissioners to Rome. Such is, and such, we trust in God, ever will be our opinion. We do not, we cannot, we must not permit our king to follow measures subversive of that government which we have sworn to maintain, and which we will maintain."

The king entered into a more full refutation of the pope's arguments; and having, as he thought, answered them sufficiently, he marched again into Scotland; but, by the mediation of France, another truce was concluded, to last till St Andrew's day 1302.

After the expiration of the truce, Edward sent an army into Scotland, under the command of John de Segrave. This general divided his troops into three bodies; but, keeping them so far distant that they could not support each other, they were all engaged and defeated in one day by the Scots, near Roslin†.

This, however, was the last successful exploit of the Scots at this period. The pope deserted them; and the king of France concluded a peace with England, in which all mention of the Scots was industriously avoided; so that they were left alone to bear the whole weight of Edward's resentment, who now invaded their country in person with a mighty army. He met with no resistance in his progress, except from the Scots in the castle of Brechin, which was commanded by Thomas Vado Maul, a brave and experienced officer. He held out Edward in person for 20 days against the whole power of the English with a vast army; but at last, being mortally wounded, the place army capitulated. From thence he proceeded northward, according to some historians, as far as Caithness. He then returned towards the south, and wintered in Dumfriesshire. In that place there was an abbey of the Benedictine order; a building so spacious, that, according to an English historian, three sovereign princes with all their retinue might have been lodged conveniently within its precincts. Here the Scottish nobles sometimes held their assemblies. The English soldiers utterly demolished this magnificent fabric.

The only fortress that remained in the possession of the Scots was the castle of Stirling, where Sir William Oliphant commanded. To protect this single place of refuge, Comyn assembled all his forces. He polled his army on the south bank of the river, in the neighbourhood of Stirling, there to make the last stand for the national liberty. The Scots fondly imagined, that Edward would attempt to force the passage, as the impetuous Cretingham had attempted in circumstances not dissimilar. But the prudence of Edward frustrated their expectations. Having discovered a ford at some distance, he crossed the river at the head of his whole cavalry. The Scots gave way, and dispersed themselves.

All resources but their own courage had long failed them; that last resource failed them now. They hastened to conciliate the favour of the conqueror. Previous to this, Bruce had surrendered himself to John de St John, the English warden. Comyn and his followers now submitted to Edward. They stipulated for their lives, liberties, and estates; referring always to Edward the power of inflicting pecuniary mulcts on them as he should see fit.

From the general conditions of this capitulation, the following persons were excepted; Willard bishop of Glasgow, the Stewart, Sir John Soulis, David de Graham, Alexander de Lindsay, Simon Fraser, Thomas Bois, and Wallace. With respect to them it was provided, that the bishop of Glasgow, the Stewart, and Soulis, should remain in exile for two years, and should not pass to the north of Trent; that Graham and Lindsay should be banished from Scotland for six months; that Fraser and Bois should be banished for three years from all the dominions of Edward, and should not be permitted, during that space, to repair to the territories of France. "As for William Wallace, it is agreed, that he shall render himself up at the will and mercy of our sovereign lord the king, if it shall seem good to him." These were all the conditions that the Scottish nation stipulated for the man who had vanquished the English at Stirling, who had expelled them from Scotland, and who had once set his country free! Amid this wreck of the national liberties, Wallace scorned submission. He lived a free man; a free man he resolved to die. Fraser, who had too oft complied with the times, now caught the same heroic sentiments. But their endeavours to rouse their countrymen were in vain. The season of resistance was past. Wallace perceived that there remained no more hope; and fought out a place of concealment, where, eluding the vengeance of Edward, he might silently lament over his fallen country.

Edward assembled what is called a parliament; at St Andrew's. Wallace, Fraser, and the garrison of Stirling, were summoned to appear: They appeared not, and sentence of outlawry was pronounced against them.

Edward now prepared to besiege the castle of Stirling; and, foreseeing that the reduction of this place would be attended with considerable difficulty, he stripped the abbey of St Andrew's of the lead which covered it, in order to employ the metal in bullets for his battering-machines. Oliphant was solemnly summoned to surrender; but in vain. Edward drew out all his artillery, and battered the walls with stones of 200 pounds weight. The besieged, however, defended themselves with obstinacy, and killed a great number of the English: but at last they were obliged to surrender; and Edward, looking upon the conquest of Scotland as now complete, set out for York, and from thence to Lincoln.

Though Edward had thus met with all the success he could desire in his expeditions against the Scots, he could not but perceive that his dominion over them must be very precarious, as long as he held them in the subjection of a conquered people. He resolved therefore once more to renew his attempts for an union of the two kingdoms. He began with taking into favour the bishop of Glasgow, Robert Bruce, and John Mowbray, who, next to Bruce and the Cumminges, was amongst the greatest of the Scottish nobility. To them he recommended the settling the affairs of their country, but in such a manner as to leave it in his power to effect the proposed union with England. This scheme, however, was by no means agreeable to Bruce; who had now no other competitor for the crown but Cumming, who was in a great measure incapable of opposing his designs: neither indeed could it ever be made agreeable to the bulk of the nation; and therefore came to nothing at last. Scotland, however, was subdued. Its inhabitants had renounced every idea of asserting their liberty, and only strove to make their court to the conqueror. Wallace alone remained an exception. Edward, who had received into favour those who had proved traitors over and over again, showed a mean revenge against the only man who discovered a steady and honourable spirit, and whose friendship seemed worth the courting. Ralph de Haiberton, a prisoner, offered his assistance for discovering Wallace; and for this purpose he was granted a temporary liberty: but what he did in this very dishonourable employment, is unknown. Certain it is that Wallace was discovered, and betrayed into the hands of the English, by Sir John Menteith, as is commonly supposed; who is also said to have been the intimate friend of Wallace, though without any just foundation. Be this as it will, however, this celebrated and heroic patriot was arraigned at Westminster as a traitor to Edward, and as having burnt villages, stormed castles, and slaughtered many subjects of England. Wallace denied his ever having been a traitor, and indeed with truth; for he had always been the avowed enemy of Edward, and had not at any time owned allegiance to him. But whatever his defences might have been, they were of no avail with a judge who had resolved on his destruction. Wallace was condemned to die a traitor's death; and the sentence was executed with the utmost rigour. In his last moments he asserted that independency which a degenerate nation had renounced. His head was placed on a pinnacle at London, and his mangled limbs were distributed over the kingdom.

After the death of Wallace, Edward thought of nothing but settling the affairs of Scotland as a conquered country; however, he took care to preserve the ancient forms as far as was consistent with the dependent state of the nation. It has been said, indeed, that Edward abrogated all the Scottish laws and customs, and endeavoured to substitute the English in their stead; but this is denied by others. Lord Hailes gives us at length the record with respect to these laws, in the following words. "And, with respect to the laws and usages of the government of Scotland, it is ordained, that the custom of the Scots and the Brets shall for the future be prohibited, and be no longer practised. It is also ordained, that the king's lieutenant shall forthwith assemble the good people of Scotland; and that, at such assembly, shall be read over the statutes made by David king of Scots, and also the additions and amendments which have been made by other kings; and that the lieutenant, with the assistance which he shall then have, as well of Englishmen as of Scots, shall amend such of these statutes and usages as are plainly against the laws of God and reason, as they best may in so short a space, and in so far as they can without consulting the king; and as to matters which they cannot undertake to correct of themselves, that they be put in writing, and laid before the king by the lieutenant, and any number of commissioners, with parliamentary powers, whom the Scots shall think fit to choose. That they shall meet with commissioners appointed by the king, and finally determine as to the premises."

This is the record by which it is generally supposed that the law of Scotland was abrogated. But Lord Hailes is of opinion, that the usage of the Scots and Brets here mentioned was something different from the common law of the land. "We know," (says he,) "from our statute-book, that the people of Galloway had certain usages peculiar to themselves; Stat. Alex. II. c. 2. One was, that causes were tried among them without juries, [Quon. Attach. c. 72. 73. placed in some ancient MSS. among L.L. David I. c. 15.] and this may probably have been the usage which Edward abolished. The people of Galloway were sometimes distinguished by the name of Scots; thus the wild Scot of Galloway is an expression to be found in ancient instruments, and is proverbial even in our own days. The usage of the Brets, I take to be what relates to the judge called britibh, or brebon; in Ireland, brebon; and consequently, that the thing here abolished was the commutation of punishments by exacting a pecuniary mulga." An indemnity was now granted to the Scots upon certain conditions. Various fines were imposed, from one to five years rent of the estates of the delinquents. One year's rent was to be paid by the clergy, excluding the bishop of Glasgow; two by those who were more early in their submissions than Comyn; three by Comyn and his associates, and by the bishop of Glasgow; four years rent was to be paid by William de Baliol and John Willehart; and five by Ingelram de Umfraville, because they had stood out longer. Three years rent was also paid by the vassals of Baliol, Willehart, and Umfraville. These fines were to be paid in moieties. The person taxed was to pay half his income annually; and thus Umfraville, taxed in five years rent, was allowed ten years to discharge the fine. This was an express reservation to Edward of all the royal demesnes which Baliol might have alienated. There was also an exception for those who were already in custody, and those who had not yet submitted.

Thus, after a long and obstinate contest, was Scotland wholly reduced under the dominion of Edward. But within four months, that system was overthrown, which the incessant labour of fifteen years had established by craft, dissimulation, and violence, with a waste of treasure, and the effusion of much blood. The causes of this event are related as follows. Der verguill of Galloway had a son, John Baliol, and a daughter named Marjory. John Comyn was the son of Marjory, and, setting Baliol aside, was heir to the pretensions of Der verguill. He had for many years maintained the contest against Edward; but at last laid down his arms, and swore fealty to the conqueror; and as Baliol had repeatedly renounced all pretensions to the crown of Scotland, Comyn might now be considered as the rightful heir. His rival in power and pretensions was Bruce earl of Carrick. This young nobleman's grandfather, the competitor, had patiently acquiesced in the award of Edward. His father, yielding to the times, had served under the English banners. But young Bruce had more ambition, and a more restless spirit. In his earlier years he acted upon no regular plan. By turns the partisan of Edward and the vicegerent of Baliol, he seems to have forgotten or stifled his pretensions to the crown. But his character developed itself by degrees, and in maturer age became firm and consistent. According to the traditionary report, Bruce made the following proposal to Comyn: "Support my title to the crown, and I will give you my estate; or give me your estate, and I will support yours." The conditions were properly drawn out and signed by both parties; but Comyn, either through fear or treachery, revealed the whole to Edward. On this the king showed Bruce the letters of his accuser, and questioned him very hard; but the latter found means to pacify him by mild and judicious answers. Notwithstanding this, however, Edward still suspected him, though he dissembled his sentiments, until he should get the brothers of Bruce into his power, and then destroy all the family at once. The king having drank freely one evening, informed some of his lords that he had resolved to put Bruce to death next day. The earl of Gloucester, hearing this resolution, sent a messenger to Bruce, with twelve pence and a pair of spurs, as if he had meant to restore what he had borrowed. Bruce understood the meaning of his message, and prepared for flight. The ground was covered with snow, which would have discovered his flight; but, it is said, that Bruce ordered his farrier to invert the shoes of his horses, and immediately set out for Scotland in company with his secretary and groom. In his way he escaped, observing a foot-passenger whose behaviour seemed to be suspicious, and whom he soon discovered to be the bearer of letters from Comyn to the English monarch, urging the death or immediate imprisonment of Bruce. The latter, filled with resentment, immediately beheaded the messenger, and set forward to his castle of Lochmaben, where he arrived the seventh day after his departure from London. Soon after this he repaired to Dumfries, where Comyn happened at that time to reside. Bruce requested an interview with him in the convent of the Minorites, where he reproached him with his treachery. Comyn gave him the lie, and Bruce instantly stabbed him; after which he hastened out of the convent, and called, "To horse." His attendants, Lindey and Kirkpatrick, perceiving him pale, and in extreme agitation, inquired how John Comyn was with him? "Ill," replied Bruce; "I doubt I may have slain Comyn." "You doubt!" cried Kirkpatrick; on saying which, he rushed into the place where Comyn lay, and instantly dispatched him. Sir Robert Comyn, a relation, attempted to defend his kinsman, and shared his fate. Bruce had now gone so far, that it was in vain to think of retracting; and therefore set himself in opposition to Edward in good earnest. The justiciaries were then holding their court at Dumfries; who hearing what had happened, imagined their own lives to be in danger, and barricaded the doors. Bruce ordered the house to be set on fire; upon which they surrendered; and Bruce granted them leave to depart out of Scotland without molestation.

The above account of this catastrophe is taken from the Scots historians; those of England differ in many particulars. Lord Hailes supposes both to be wrong, concerning and that the true circumstances of the quarrel are unknown. "My opinion (says he) is, that Bruce, when he met Comyn at Dumfries, had no intention of embracing his hands in his blood, nor any immediate purpose of asserting his right to the crown of Scotland; that the slaughter of Comyn was occasioned by a hasty quarrel between two proud-spirited rivals; and that Bruce, from necessity and despair, did then assert his pretensions to the crown."

The death of Comyn affected the Scots variously, according to their different views and interests. The relations of the deceased viewed it as a cruel assassination, and joined with Edward in schemes of revenge. Some, who wished well to the peace of their country, thought that it was better to submit quietly to the government of the English, than to attempt a revolution, which could not be effected without much danger and bloodshed; but, on the other hand, the friends of Bruce now saw the necessity they were under of proceeding to the coronation of the new king without loss of time. The ceremony was therefore performed at Scone on the 25th of March 1306, in presence of two earls, the crowned bishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow, the abbot of Scone, John de Athol, and John de Menteith. It had been customary, since the days of Macbeth, for man... Scotland, one of the family of Fife to put the crown on the king's head; and Bruce found the prepossession of the Scots in favour of this circumstance so strong, that he was obliged to seek for an expedient to satisfy them. Macduff the earl of Fife was at that time in England, where he had married a near relation of Edward. His sister was wife to the earl of Buchan, one of the heads of the family of Comyn, and consequently the determined enemy of Robert. By an uncommon effort of female patriotism, she postponed all private quarrels to the good of her country, and in her husband's absence repaired, with all his warlike accouterments, to Bruce, to whom she delivered them up, and placed the crown upon his head. This crown is said to have been made by one Conyers an Englishman, who narrowly escaped being punished for it by Edward.

The king of England received intelligence of all these proceedings with astonishment; and without delay sent a body of troops, under the command of Aymer de Valence earl of Pembroke, to suppress the rebellion. Bruce omitted nothing for his defence. He had always been considered by his countrymen as a promising accomplished young nobleman, but firmly attached to Edward's person and government; for which reason he had not been trusted by those independent patriots who joined Wallace. But their confidence was now gained by his rendering himself obnoxious to Edward, that no possibility of a reconciliation was left; and he soon law himself at the head of a small army. With these, who consisted of raw and unexperienced soldiers, Bruce formed a camp at Methven near Perth, which last was the head-quarters of the enemy; but knowing the disadvantage under which he laboured from the inexperience of his men, he resolved to act upon the defensive. The English general at last sent Bruce a challenge to fight him, which was accepted; but, the day before the battle was to have been fought by agreement, the Scots were attacked by surprise, and totally defeated. Bruce behaved with the greatest valour, and had three horses killed under him. Being known by the slaughter which he made, John Mowbray, a man of great courage and resolution, rushed upon him, and catching hold of his horse's bridle, cried out, "I have hold of the new-made king!" but he was delivered by Christopher Seton. Some Scottish historians have asserted, that on this occasion all the prisoners of note were put to death; but others inform us, that though Edward did send orders to that purpose, the English general pardoned all those who were willing to swear fealty to his master; however, it is certain, that after the battle of Methven, many prisoners were hanged and quartered.

This disaster almost gave the finishing stroke to the affairs of Bruce. He now found himself deserted by a great part of his army. The English had taken prisoners great numbers of women whose husbands followed Bruce; and all those were now ordered, on pain of death, to accompany their husbands. Thus was Bruce burdened with a number of useless mouths, and found it hard to subsist. The consequence was, that most of his men departed with their families, so that in a few days his army dwindled down to 500. With these he retreated to Aberdeen, where he was met by his brother Sir Neil, his wife, and a number of other ladies, all of whom offered to follow his fortune through every difficulty. But however heroic this behaviour might be, it put Bruce to some inconvenience, as he could scarce procure subsistence; and therefore he persuaded the ladies to retire to his castle of Kildrummy, under the protection of Sir Neil Bruce and the earl of Athol. In the mean time the defection among Bruce's troops continued, so that now he had with him no more than 200 men; and as winter was coming on, he resolved to go into Argyleshire, where Sir Neil Campbell's estate lay, who had gone before to prepare for his reception. In his way thither he encountered incredible difficulties; and Argyleshire some of his followers being cut off at a place called with great Dalry, the rest were disheartened, that they all forsook him, excepting Sir Gilbert Hay, Sir James (sometimes called lord) Douglas, and a few domestics. Bruce, however, kept up the spirits of his little party by recounting to them the adventures of princes and patriots in circumstances similar to his own. Having crossed Lochlomond in a small crazy boat, he was discovered by his trusty friend the earl of Lenox, who had been profligated in England, and now lived in a kind of exile on his own estate. The meeting between these friends was very affecting, and drew tears from the eyes of all present. Lenox, who had heard nothing of Bruce's misfortunes, furnished him and his half-famished attendants with plenty of provisions; but, being soon made sensible that it was impossible for them to live in a place where they were well known, and surrounded by enemies, Bruce resolved to seek out some more safe habitation. For this purpose Sir Neil Campbell had already provided shipping; but our adventurers had scarcely set sail, when they were pursued by a large squadron of the enemy's fleet. The bark which carried the earl of Lenox escaped with the utmost difficulty to Cantire, where Bruce was already landed; and, at their meeting, both agreed that whom he and their persons should never afterwards be separated while they remained alive.

In the mean time Edward, having compromised some differences with his English subjects, resumed his old project of entirely subduing Scotland; and his intention now appears to have been to divide the lands of such as he suspected of disaffection among his English followers. He ordered a proclamation to be made, that all who had any title to the honour of knighthood, either by heritage or estate, should receive a pair to Westminster, to receive all military ornaments, their horses excepted, from his royal wardrobe. As the prince of Wales came under this denomination, he was the first who underwent the ceremony; which gave him a right to confer the like honour on the sons of above 300 of the chief nobility and gentry of England. The prince then repaired, at the head of this gallant train, to Edward; who received them, surrounded by his nobility, in the most solemn manner. The king then made a speech on the treachery of the Scots, whose entire destruction he vowed. He declared his resolution of once more heading his army in person; and he desired, in case of his death, that his body might be carried to Scotland, and not buried till signal vengeance was taken on the perfidious nation. Scotland. Having then ordered all present to join him within fifteen days, with their attendants and military equipages, he prepared for his journey into Scotland. He entered the country soon after Bruce's defeat at Methven. The army was divided into two bodies; one commanded by the king himself; the other by the prince of Wales; and, under him, by the earls of Lancaster and Hereford, with orders to proceed northwards, and penetrate into the countries where the interest of Bruce was strongest. As he passed along, Edward caused all that fell into his hands, whom he suspected of favouring Bruce's party, to be immediately executed. The bishop of Glasgow was the only exception to this barbarity; he was taken, but had his life spared on account of his function.

In the mean time, as the prince of Wales continued his march northwards, Bruce's queen began to be alarmed for her own safety. She was advised to take sanctuary at the shrine of St Duthac in Rossshire; but there she was made prisoner by William earl of Ross, who was of the English party. By Edward's order, she was sent to London; her daughter, who was taken at the same time, being shut up in a religious house. The directions for the entertainment of the queen are still preserved. She was to be conveyed to the manor of Berwick; to have a waiting-woman, and a maid-servant, advanced in life, sedate, and of good conversation; a butler, two men-servants, and a footboy for her chamber, sober, not riotous, to make her bed; three greyhounds when she inclines to hunt; venison, fish, and the fairest house in the manor. In 1308, she was removed to another prison; in 1312, she was removed to Windsor castle; 20 shillings per week being allowed for her maintenance. In 1314, she was committed to Rochester castle, and was not set at liberty till the close of that year.

The only fortress which Bruce possessed in Scotland was the castle of Kildrummy; and it was soon besieged by the earls of Lancaster and Hereford. One Olburn treacherously burnt the magazine; by which means the garrison, destitute of provisions, was obliged to surrender at discretion. The common soldiers were hanged; Sir Neil Bruce and the earl of Athol were sent prisoners to Edward, who caused them to be hanged on a gallows 50 feet high, and then beheaded and burnt. The countess of Buchan, who had crowned king Robert, was taken prisoner; as was lady Mary Bruce, the king's sister. Some historians say, that Edward ordered these two ladies to be shut up in wooden cages, one to be hung over the walls of the castle of Roxburgh, and the other over those of Berwick, as public spectacles; but lord Hailes only tells us, that the countess of Buchan was put into close confinement in the castle of Berwick (a).

About this time also many others of Bruce's party were put to death; among whom were Thomas and Robert Alexander Bruce, two of the king's brothers, and John Wallace, brother to the celebrated Sir William. Bruce himself, in the mean time, was in such a despicable situation, that it was thought he never could give more disturbance; and it was even reported that he was dead. All his misfortunes, however, could not intimidate him, or prevent his meditating a most ferocious revenge upon the destroyers of his family. He first removed to the castle of Dumbarton, where he was hospitably received and entertained by Angus lord of Kintyre; but, suspecting that he was not safe there, he sailed in three days to Raerhin, a small island on the Irish coast, where he secured himself effectually from the pursuit of his enemies. It was during his stay in this island, that the report of his death was generally propagated. Notwithstanding this, his party increased considerably; and, even when he landed on this island, he was attended by 300 men. However, after having lived for some time in this retreat, being apprehensive that the report of his death might be generally

(a) M. Westminster, p. 455, says, "Capitur etiam et illa impissima conjuratrix de Buchan, de qua consul- tus Rex, ait, Quia gladio non percussit, gladio non perficit; verum, propter illecitam conjurationem quam fecit, in domicilio lapideo et ferreo, in modum coronae fabricato, firmissime obstruitur, et apud Berwickum sub illo fo- raminibus suspendatur, ut fit data, in vita et post mortem, spectaculum victoribus, et opprobrium sempiternum." Other English historians, copying M. Westminster, have said the same thing. We cannot, therefore, blame Abercrombie for saying, "She was put in a wooden cage shaped like a crown, and in that tormenting posture hung out from high walls or turrets to be gazed upon and reproached by the meanest of the multitude," vol. i., p. 579. Hemingford, vol. i., p. 221, relates the story in a manner somewhat different. He says, that the earl of Buchan's husband fought to kill her for her treason; but that Edward restrained him, and ordered her to be confined in a wooden cage.

The intentions of Edward I. touching the durance of the countess of Buchan, will be more certainly learned from his own orders, than from the report of M. Westminster. His orders run thus: "By letters under the privy-seal, be it commanded, that the chamberlain of Scotland, or his deputy at Berwick upon Tweed, do, in one of the turrets of the said castle, and in the place which he shall find most convenient, cause construct a cage strongly latticed with wood, (de fullo, i.e. beams of timber or palisades), cross-barred, and secured with iron, in which he shall put the countess of Buchan. And that he take care that she be so well and safely guarded therein, that no one may issue therefrom. And that he appoint one or more women of Berwick, of English extraction, and liable to no suspicion, who shall minister to the said countess in eating and drinking, and in all things else convenient, in her said lodging-place. And that he do cause her to be so well and strictly guarded in the cage, that she may not speak with any one, man or woman, of the Scottish nation, or with any one else, saving with the women who shall be appointed to attend her, or with the guard who shall have the custody of her person. And that the cage be so constructed that the countess may have therein the convenience of a decent chamber, (efement de chambre courte); nevertheless, that all things be so well and surely ordered, that no peril arise touching the right custody of the said countess. And that he to whom the charge of her is committed shall be responsible, body for body; and that he be allowed his charges." Fodera, T. ii., p. 1014.

Such were the orders of Edward I., and he surely was not a man who would suffer his orders to be disobeyed. Here, indeed, there is a detail concerning the custody of a female prisoner, which may seem ridiculously minute, but which is inconsistent with the story related by M. Westminster and other historians. To those who have no notion of any cage but one for a parrot or a squirrel, hung out at a window, we despair of rendering this mandate intelligible. Scotland. Generally credited among his friends in Scotland, it was resolved to attempt the surprise of a fort held by the English under Sir John Hastings, on the isle of Arran. This was performed with success by his two friends Douglas and Sir Robert Boyd, who put the greatest part of the garrison to the sword. The king, hearing of their success, passed over into Arran; but, not knowing where his people resided, is said to have found them out by blowing a horn. He then sent a truly servant, one Cuthbert, into his own country of Carrick; with orders, in case he found it well affected to his cause, to light a fire on a certain point near his castle of Tunberry, whence it could be discovered in Arran. Bruce and his party perceived the signal, as they thought, and immediately put to sea. Their voyage took up but little time; and as Bruce had now 400 men along with him, he resolved immediately to act on the offensive. His first exploit was to surprise his own castle of Tunberry, which had been given, along with Bruce's estate, to lord Henry Percy. Him he drove out, along with the English garrison; but in the mean time he met with his servant Cuthbert, who gave him disagreeable intelligence. This man had met with very little encouragement on his landing in Scotland; in consequence of which he had not lighted the fire agreed upon as a signal of his success, that which Bruce had observed having been kindled by accident. He also told him, that the English were in full possession of the country, and advised his master to be upon his guard. Soon after this the king was joined by a lady of fortune, who brought along with her 40 warriors. By her he was first particularly informed of the miserable fate of his family and relations; which, instead of disheartening, animated him the more with a desire of revenge. However, he did not immediately attempt any thing himself, but allowed Douglas to attempt the recovery of his estate of Douglas-dale, as Bruce himself had recovered his in Carrick. In this expedition Douglas was joined by one Thomas Dickson, a man of considerable fortune, and who gave him intelligence concerning the state of the country. By his advice he kept himself private till Palm Sunday; when he and his followers, with covered armour, repaired to St Bride's church, where the English were performing divine service. The latter were surprised, but made a brave defence; though, being overpowered by numbers, they were at last obliged to yield. Douglas, without farther resistance, took possession of his own castle, which he found well furnished with arms, provisions, and money. He destroyed all that he could not carry with him, and also the castle itself, where he knew that he must have been besieged if he had kept it.

While Bruce and his friends were thus signalizing themselves, and struggling with the English under so many disadvantages, it is natural to think that they must have met with many dangerous and difficult adventures. Many of these indeed are related by the Scots historians; but most of them have the appearance of fables, and it is now impossible to distinguish the true from the false; for which reason we shall pass them all over in silence, confining ourselves only to those facts which are at once important and well authenticated.

In 1307, the earl of Pembroke, advanced into the west of Scotland to encounter Bruce. The latter did not decline the combat; and Pembroke was defeated. Three days after this, Bruce defeated with great slaughter another English general named Ralph de Monthermer, and obliged him to fly to the castle of Air. The king laid siege to the castle for some time, but retired by the approach of succours from England. This year the English performed nothing but burning the monastery at Paisley. Edward, however, resolved still to execute his utmost vengeance on the Scots, tho' he had long been retarded in his operations by a tedious and dangerous indisposition. But now, supposing that his malady was decreased so far that he could safely proceed on his march, he offered up the horse-litter, in which he had hitherto been carried, in the cathedral church of Carlisle; and, mounting himself on horseback, proceeded on the way towards Solway. He was so weak, however, that he could advance no farther than six miles in four days; after which he expired in flight of Scotland, which he had so often devoted to destruction. With his dying breath he gave orders that his body should accompany his army into Scotland, and remain unburied until the country was totally subdued; but his son, disregarding this order, caused it to be deposited in Westminster abbey.

The death of such an inveterate enemy to the Scottish name could not fail of raising the spirits of Bruce and his party; and the inactive and timid behaviour of his son Edward II., contributed not a little to give them fresh courage. After having granted the guardianship of Scotland to his favourite Piers de Gaveston earl of Pembroke, whom his father had lately banished, he advanced to Cumnock, on the frontiers of Ayrshire, and then retreated into England; conferring the office of guardian of Scotland upon John de Bretagne earl of Richmond, a fortnight after he had bestowed it on Gaveston. He was no sooner gone than Bruce invaded Galloway. The inhabitants refusing to follow his standard, he laid waste the country; but was defeated, and obliged to retire northwards, by the guardian. In the north he over-ran the country without opposition; and soon began to move southwards again, in order to repair his late disgrace. He was encountered by Comyn earl of Buchan with an undisciplined body of English, whom he entirely defeated and dispersed. But about this time he was seized with a grievous distemper, which weakened him so much, that no hopes were left of his recovery. In this enfeebled situation he was attacked by the earl of Buchan and John Mowbray an English commander, who had assembled a body of troops with design to effect the English face their late disgrace. The armies met at Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. Bruce was too weak to support himself, and therefore was held upon horseback by two attendants; but he had the pleasure of seeing his enemies totally defeated, and pursued with great slaughter for many miles; and it is reported, that the agitation of his spirits on that day proved the means of curing him of his disease. This battle was fought on the 22d day of May 1308.

The king of Scotland now took revenge of his enemies, after the manner of that barbarous age, by wasting the country of Buchan with fire and sword. His successes had so raised his character, that many of the Scots who had hitherto adhered to the English cause, now Scotland now came over to that of Robert. Edward, the king's brother, invaded Galloway, and defeated the inhabitants of that country. John de St John, an English commander, with 1500 horsemen, attempted to surprise him; but Edward having received timely information of his designs, ordered the infantry and meaner part of his army to entrench themselves strongly, while he himself, with no more than 50 horsemen, well armed, under cover of a thick mist, attacked his enemies, and put them to flight. After this he reduced all the fortresses in the country, and totally expelled the English from it. About this time also, Douglas, when roving about the mountainous parts of Tweedale, surprised and made prisoners Thomas Randolph the king's nephew, and Alexander Stewart of Bonkhill, who had hitherto continued inimical to the interests of Robert. Randolph was conducted to the king, but talked to him in an haughty strain; upon which his uncle put him into close confinement.

The next exploit of Robert was against the lord of Lorn, a division of Argyllshire. It was this nobleman who had reduced the king to such straits after his defeat at Methven; and he now resolved to take ample revenge. Having entered the country, the king arrived at a narrow pass, where the troops of Lorn lay in ambush. This pass had a high mountain on the one side, and a precipice washed by the sea on the other; but Robert having ordered Douglas to make a circuit and gain the summit of the mountain with part of the army, he entered himself with the rest. He was immediately attacked; but Douglas with his men rushed down the hill, and decided the victory in favour of the king; who soon after took the castle of Dunstaffnage, the chief residence of this nobleman.

While Robert and his associates were thus gaining the admiration of their countrymen by the exploits which they daily performed, the English were so unsettled and fluctuating in their counsels, that their party knew not how to act. Edward still imagined that there was a possibility of reconciling the Scots to his government; and for this purpose he employed William de Lamberton, bishop of St Andrew's; who, after having been taken prisoner, and carried from one place of confinement to another, had at last made such submissions, as procured first his liberty, and then the confidence of Edward. This ecclesiastic having taken a most solemn oath of fidelity to Edward, now resolved to ingratiate himself, by publishing against Robert and his adherents a sentence of excommunication, which had been resolved on long before. This, however, produced no effect; and the event was, that, in 1309, through the mediation of the king of France, Edward consented to a truce with the Scots. This pacific disposition, however, lasted not long. The truce was scarcely concluded, when Edward charged the Scots with a breach of it, and summoned his barons to meet him in arms at Newcastle; yet, probably being doubtful of the event of the war, he empowered Robert de Umfraville, and three others, to conclude a new truce; declaring, however, that he did this at the request of Philip king of France, as his dearest father and friend, but who was in no fort to be considered as the ally of Scotland.

The new negotiations were soon interrupted. They were again renewed; and in the beginning of the year 1310 the truce was concluded, but entirely disregarded by the Scots. The progress of Bruce now became very alarming. The town of Perth, a place of great importance, was threatened; and to relieve it, Edward ordered a fleet to sail up the river Tay: he also commanded the earl of Ulster to assemble without delay a body of troops at Dublin, and from thence to invade Scotland; his own barons were ordered to meet him in arms at Berwick. About the end of September, he entered Scotland; passed from Roxburgh, through the forest of Selkirk, to Biggar; from thence he penetrated into Renfrew; and turning back by the way of Linlithgow, he retreated to Berwick, where he continued inactive for eight months.

During this invasion, Robert had carefully avoided a battle with the English; well knowing, that an invasion undertaken in autumn would ruin the heavy-armed cavalry, on which the English placed their chief dependence. His cause was also favoured by a scarcity which prevailed at this time in Scotland; for thus, as magazines and other resources of modern war were then unknown, the English army were greatly retarded in their operations, and found it impossible to subdue the country.

The spirit of enterprise had now communicated itself to all ranks of people in Scotland. In 1311, the castle of Linlithgow was surprised by a poor peasant named William Binnock. The English garrison were secure, and kept but a slight guard; of which Binnock being informed, concealed eight resolute men in a load of hay, which he had been employed to drive into the castle. With these, as soon as the gate was opened, he fell upon the feeble guard, and became master of the place; which was dismantled by Robert, as well as all the other castles taken in the course of the war.

Edward now resolved to invade Scotland again; and for this purpose ordered his army to assemble at Roxburgh. But Robert, not contented with defending his own country, resolved in his turn to invade England. He accordingly entered that country, and land, and cruelly ravaged the bishopric of Durham. He returned loaded with spoil, and laid siege to Perth. Having remained six weeks before the place, he raised the siege, but returned in a few days; and having provided scaling ladders, approached the works with a chosen body of infantry. In a dark night he made the attack; and having waded through the ditch, though the water flooded to his throat, he was the second man who reached the top of the walls. The town was then soon taken; after which it was plundered and burnt, and the fortifications levelled with the ground. This happened on the 8th of January 1312.

Edward was now become averse to the war, and renewed his negotiations for a truce; but they still came to nothing. Robert again invaded England; burnt great part of the city of Durham; and even threatened to besiege Berwick, where the king of England had, for the time, fixed his residence. He next reduced the castles of Batel, Dumfries, and Dalfwinton, with many other fortresses. The castle of Roxburgh, a place of the utmost importance, next fell into his hands. The walls were scaled while the garrison were revelling on the eve of Lent. They retreated into the inner. Scotland. inner tower; but their governor, a Frenchman, having received a mortal wound, they capitulated.

Randolph, the king's nephew, who had been imprisoned, as we have already observed, was now received into favour, and began to distinguish himself in the cause of his country. He blockaded the castle of Edinburgh so closely, that all communication with the neighbouring country was cut off. The place was commanded by one Leland, a knight of Gascony; but the garrison suspecting his fidelity, imprisoned him in a dungeon, and chose another commander in his stead. One William Frank presented himself to Randolph, and informed him how the walls might be scaled. This man in his youth had resided in the castle; and having an intrigue with a woman in the neighbourhood, had been accustomed to descend the wall, during the night, by means of a ladder of ropes; whence, by a steep and difficult path, he arrived at the foot of the rock. Randolph himself, with 30 men, undertook to scale the castle-walls at midnight. Frank was their guide, who still retained a perfect memory of the path, and who first ascended the wall. But before the whole party could reach the summit, an alarm was given, the garrison ran to arms, and a desperate combat ensued. The English fought valiantly till their commander was killed; after which they threw down their arms. Leland, the former governor, was released from his confinement, and entered into the Scottish service.

In 1313, king Robert found the number of his friends increasing with his successes. He was now joined by the earl of Athol, who had lately obtained a grant of lands from Edward. This year, thro' the mediation of France, the conferences for a truce were renewed. These, however, did not retard the military operations of the Scots. Cumberland was invaded and laid waste; the miserable inhabitants besought Edward's protection; who commended their fidelity, and desired them to defend themselves. In the mean time Robert, leaving Cumberland, passed over into the isle of Man, which he totally reduced. Edward found great difficulties in raising the supplies necessary for carrying on the war; but at last overcame all these, and, by the beginning of the year 1314, was prepared to invade Scotland with a mighty army. In March he ordered his ships to be assembled for the invasion; invited to his assistance Eth O'Connor, chief of the Irish of Connaught, and 26 other Irish chiefs; summoned them and his subjects in Ireland to attend his standard, and gave the command of these auxiliaries to the earl of Ulster. His barons were summoned to meet him at Berwick on the 11th of June; and 22,000 foot-soldiers, from the different counties of England and Wales, were required by proclamation to assemble at Wark.

In the mean time the successes of the Scots continued. Edward Bruce had reduced the castles of Rutherglen and Dundee, and laid siege to the castle of Stirling. The governor of the place agreed to surrender, if he was not relieved before the 24th of June; and to this Edward agreed, without consulting his brother. The king was highly displeased with this rash treaty, which interrupted his own operations, allowed the English time to assemble their small force, and at last obliged him either to raise the siege or to put all on the event of a single battle. However, he resolved to abide by the agreement, and to meet the English by the appointed day. Having appointed a general rendezvous of his forces between Falkirk and Stirling, he found their number to amount to somewhat more than 30,000, besides upwards of 15,000 of the decline and undisciplined rabble that followed the camp. He determined to wait the English in a field which had the brook or burn of Bannock on the right, and Sterling on the left. His chief dread was the strength and number of the English cavalry, and these he took every method to oppose. The banks of the brook were steep in many places, and the ground between it and Sterling was partly covered with wood. The king commanded many pits, of about a foot in breadth and two or three feet deep, to be dug in all places where cavalry could have access. From the description given of them by the historians of those times, there seem to have been many rows of them, with narrow intervals. They were carefully covered with brushwood and sod, so that they would easily be overlooked by a rash and impetuous enemy. It is said by some authors, that he also made use of caltrops, to annoy the horses in the most effectual manner.

On the 23d of June, the Scots received intelligence of the approach of Edward, and prepared to decide of the fate of their country. The front of their army extended from the brook called Bannockburn to the neighbourhood of St Ninians, pretty nearly upon the line of the present turnpike-road from Stirling to Kilsyth; and the stone in which the king is said to have fixed his standard, is still to be seen. Robert commanded all his soldiers to fight on foot. He gave the command of the centre to Douglas, and Walter the young steward of Scotland; his brother Edward had the command of the right wing, and Randolph of the left; the king himself taking charge of the reserve, which consisted of the men of Argyle, Carrick, and the islanders. In a valley to the rear, said to be to the westward of a rising ground now called Gilles-till, he placed the baggage, and all the useless attendants on his army.

Randolph was commanded to be vigilant in preventing the English from throwing succours into the castle of Stirling; but 800 horsemen, commanded by Sir Robert Clifford, made a circuit by the low grounds nearest to the castle, and approached the castle. The king, perceiving their motions, chid Randolph for his inadvertency, on which the latter hastened to encounter that body. As he advanced, the English wheeled to attack him. Randolph drew up his men in a circular form, with their spears protruded on every side. At the first onset Sir William Daynecourt, an English commander of distinguished valour, was killed; but Randolph, who had only a small party with him, was surrounded on all sides, and in the utmost danger. Douglas perceived his danger, and requested the king to let him go to his assistance. Robert at first refused, but afterwards consented with reluctance. Douglas set out without delay; but, as he approached he saw the English falling into disorder; upon which he called to his men to stop, and not diminish the glory of Randolph and his men by sharing their victory.

Robert was in the front of the line when the vanguard of the English appeared. He was meanly dressed, with a crown above his helmet, and a battle-ax. On Monday the 24th of June, the whole English army moved on to the attack. The van, consisting of archers and lancers, was commanded by Gilbert de Clare earl of Gloucester, nephew to the English king, and Humphry de Bohun constable of England; but the ground was so narrow, that the rest of the army had not sufficient room to expand itself; so that it appeared to the Scots as consisting of one great compact body. The main body was brought up by Edward in person, attended by Aymer de Valence earl of Pembroke, and Sir Giles d'Argentine, two experienced commanders. Maurice abbot of Inchaffray, placing himself on an eminence, celebrated mats in the sight of the Scottish army. He then passed along the front, barefooted, with a crucifix in his hands, and in few words exhorted the Scots to fight for their rights and liberty. The Scots fell down on their knees; which being perceived by Edward, he cried out, "They yield! See, they implore mercy." "They do," answered Umfraville, one of his commanders, "they do implore mercy, but not from us. On that field they will be victorious or die."

As both parties were violently exasperated against each other, the engagement began with great fury. The king of Scotland, perceiving that his troops were grievously annoyed by the English archers, ordered Sir Robert Keith the marischal, with a few armed horsemen, to make a circuit and attack the archers in flank. This was instantly accomplished; and as the weapons of the archers were useless in a close encounter, they could make very little resistance, at the same time that their flight spread disorder through the whole army.

Robert now advanced with the reserve; the whole English army was in the utmost confusion; for the defeat of the archers had decided the victory in favour of the Scots. The young and gallant earl of Gloucester attempted to rally the fugitives, but was thrown from his horse and cut in pieces, which increased the general confusion. At this critical moment, the numerous attendants on the Scottish camp, prompted by curiosity or the desire of plunder, illused from their retirement. The English mistook them for a body of fresh troops coming to the assistance of their enemies, and fled with precipitation on all sides. Many sought refuge among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Stirling castle; and many were drowned in the rivers. Pembroke and Sir Giles d'Argentine had never quitted Edward during the action; but now, seeing the battle irretrievably lost, Pembroke constrained the king to quit the field. D'Argentine refused to fly. He was a man of great valour, and had a high reputation in Scotland. According to the vulgar opinion, the three most eminent worthies in that age were the emperor Henry of Luxemburg, Robert Bruce, and Giles d'Argentine. He is said to have thrice encountered two Saracen warriors in Palestine, and to have killed them both each time. His valour now availed him but little; for rushing into the midst of the Scots army, he was instantly cut in pieces. Douglas, with 60 horsemen, pursued Edward close. At the Torwood he met Sir Lawrence Abernethy, who was hastening to the English rendezvous with twenty horsemen. The latter soon abandoned the cause of the vanquished, and joined Douglas in the pursuit of Edward, who fled to Dunbar, Linlithgow. He had scarcely arrived there, when he was alarmed by the approach of the Scots, and again obliged to fly. Douglas and Abernethy followed him with such affluency, that (as Lord Hailes chooseth to Latinize the expression of an ancient historian) ne vel minendi locum concederetur; but, notwithstanding their utmost efforts, Edward got safe to Dunbar, where he was received by the earl of March, who protected him till he could be conveyed by sea to England.

Such was the decisive battle of Bannockburn, the greatest defeat the English ever sustained from the Scots. On the side of the latter no persons of note were slain excepting Sir William Vipont, and Sir Walter Rois the favourite of Edward Bruce; and so grievously was Edward afflicted by the death of this man, that he exclaimed "O that this day's work were undone, so Rois had not died!" On the English side were slain 27 barons and bannerets, and 22 taken prisoners; of English knights there were killed 42, and 60 taken prisoners; of esquires there fell 700; but the number of the Bannockburn common men who were killed or taken, was never known with any certainty. The Welsh who had served in the English army were scattered over the country, and cruelly butchered by the Scottish peasants. The English, who had taken refuge among the rocks in the neighbourhood of Stirling, surrendered at discretion: the castle was surrendered, and the privy-seal of England fell into the hands of the king of Scots. The spoils of the English camp were immense, and enriched the conquerors, along with the ransoms of many noble prisoners who fell into their hands. Robert showed much generosity in his treatment of the prisoners who fell to his share. He set at liberty Ralph de Monthermer, and Sir Marmaduke Twege, two officers of high rank, without ransom; and by humane and generous offices alleviated the misfortune of the rest. The dead bodies of the earl of Gloucester and the lord Clifford were sent to England, that they might be interred with the usual solemnity. There was one Baston, a Carmelite friar and poet, whom Edward is said to have brought with him in his train to be spectator of his achievements, and to record his triumphs. Baston was made prisoner, and obliged to celebrate the victory of Robert over the English. This he did in wretched Latin rhymes; which, however, procured his liberty. After the battle of Bannockburn, the earl of Hereford retreated to the castle of Bothwell, where he was besieged by Edward Bruce, and soon obliged to surrender. He was exchanged for the wife, sister, and daughter of the king, the young earl of Marr, and the bishop of Glasgow.

The terror of the English after the defeat at Bannockburn is almost incredible. Walsingham affirms, that many of them revolted to the Scots, and assisted them in plundering their own country. "The English," says he, "were so bereaved of their wonted intrepidity, that an hundred of that nation would have fled from two or three Scotsmen." Edward Bruce and Douglas entered England on the eastern side, ravaged Northumberland, and laid the bishopric of Durham under contribution. From thence they proceeded to Richmond, laid Appleby and some other towns in ashes, and returned home loaded with plunder. Edward summoned a parliament at York, in order to concert means for the public security; and appointed the earl of Pembroke, formerly the guardian of Scotland, to be guardian of the country between the Trent and the Tweed. Robert, however, sent ambassadors to treat of a peace; but the Scots were too much elated with their good fortune to make concessions, and the English were not yet sufficiently humbled to yield to all their demands. The ravages of war were again renewed; the Scots continued their incursions into England, and levied contributions in different places.

In 1315, the English affairs seemed a little to revive. The Scots indeed plundered Durham and Hartlepool; but they were repulsed from Carlisle, and failed in an attempt on Berwick. The Irish of Ulster, oppressed by the English government, implored the assistance of Robert, and offered to acknowledge his brother Edward as their sovereign; who accordingly landed at Carrickfergus on the 25th of May 1315, with 6000 men. This was an enterprise evidently beyond the power of Scotland to accomplish, and which could not but be perceived by Robert. However, there were motives which induced him to consent. The offer of a crown, though ever so visionary, inflamed the ambition of Edward Bruce, whose impetuous valour made no account of difficulties, however great. It might have been deemed ungenerous, and perhaps would not have been politic or safe, to have rejected the proposals of the Irish for the advancement of his brother, to whom the king owed more than he could repay. Besides, the invasion of Ireland seemed a proper expedient for dividing the English forces. The event proved unfortunate. Edward, after performing and suffering more than could almost have been expected from human nature, was at last defeated and killed by the English, as is related under the article IRELAND, n° 42.

The king himself had gone over into Ireland, in order to assist his brother in attempting the subjection of that country; but during his absence the English had made several attempts to disturb the tranquillity of Scotland. The earl of Arundel invaded the forest of Jedburgh with a numerous army; but being drawn into an ambuscade by Douglas, he was defeated with great loss. Edmund de Cailaud, a knight of Gascony and governor of Berwick, invaded and wasted Teviotdale; but while he was returning home loaded with spoil, he was attacked, defeated, and killed by Douglas. Soon after this, intelligence was conveyed to Douglas that one Robert Neville had boasted that he would encounter him whenever he saw his banner displayed. Douglas did not long delay to give him an opportunity. He advanced to the neighbourhood of Berwick, displayed his banner, and burnt some villages. Neville, provoked at these ravages, took the field, encountered Douglas, and was defeated and killed. By sea the English invaded Scotland, and anchored off Inverkeithing in the firth of Forth, where they soon after landed. Five hundred men, under the command of the Earl of Fife and the sheriff of that country, attempted to oppose their landing, but were intimidated by the number of their enemies. William Sinclair bishop of Dunkeld happened to meet the fugitives; and having by his reproaches obliged them to rally, he led them on again to the charge, and drove the English to their ships with considerable loss. For this exploit Robert conferred the title of the king's bishop on Sinclair; and he was long remembered by his countrymen on this account.

In 1317, after king Robert had returned from his tions with Irish expedition, a bull was issued by the pope (John the Pope XXII.) commanding a two years truce between England and Scotland, under pain of excommunication. Two cardinals were dispatched into Britain to make known his commands; and they were privately empowered to inflict the highest spiritual censures on Robert Bruce, or whomever else they thought proper. About the beginning of September 1317, two messengers were sent to Robert by the cardinals. The king gave them a gracious reception; and after consulting with his barons, returned for answer, that he very much desired a good and perpetual peace, either by the mediation of the cardinals, or by any other means. He allowed the open letters from the pope, which recommended peace, to be read in his presence, and listened to them with due respect. But he would not receive the sealed letters addressed to Robert Bruce governor of Scotland; alleging, that there might be many of his barons whose names were Robert Bruce, and that these barons might probably have some share in the government. Unless, therefore, the letters were addressed to him as king of Scotland, he could not receive them without advice of his parliament, which he promised immediately to assemble on the occasion. The messengers attempted to apologize for the omission of the title of King. "The holy church was not wont," they said, "during the dependence of a controversy, to write or say anything which might be interpreted as prejudicial to the claims of either of the contending parties." "Since then," answered the king, "my spiritual father and my holy mother would not have given me the appellation of king during the dependence of the controversy, they ought not to have prejudiced my cause by withdrawing that appellation from me. I am in possession of the kingdom of Scotland; all my people call me king; and foreign princes address me under that title; but it seems that my parents are partial to their English son. Had you presumed to present letters with such an address to any other sovereign prince, you might perhaps have been answered in a harsher style; but I reverence you as the messengers of the holy see."

The messengers, quite abashed with this reply, changed the discourse, and requested the king that he would consent to a temporary cessation of hostilities; but to this he declared, that he never would consent, while the English daily invaded and plundered his people. His counsellors, however, informed the messengers, that if the letters had been addressed to the king of Scots, the negotiations would instantly have been been opened. This slighting omission they imputed to the intrigues of the English at the court of Rome, hinting at the same time that they had received this intelligence from Avignon.

When the messengers had informed the cardinals of these proceedings, the latter determined to proclaim the papal truce in Scotland; in which hazardous office they employed Adam Newton, guardian of the monastery of Minorites at Berwick, who was charged with letters to the clergy of Scotland, particularly to the bishop of St Andrew's. The monk found the king encamped with his army in a wood near Old Cambus, making preparations for assaulting Berwick. Personal access was denied to the king; but the monk, in obedience to his masters, proclaimed the truce by the authority of the pope. The king sent him for answer, that he would listen to no bulls, till he was treated as king of Scotland, and had made himself master of Berwick.

The poor monk, terrified at this answer, requested either a safe-conduct to Berwick, or permission to pass into Scotland, and deliver his letters to the Scottish clergy. Both were refused; and he was commanded to leave the country without loss of time. He set out for Berwick; but in his way thither was attacked by robbers, or some who pretended to be so. By them he was stripped and robbed of all his parchments, together with his letters and instructions; the robbers also, it is said, tore the pope's bull, without any regard to its sanctity.

In 1318, king Robert proceeded in his enterprise against Berwick, but resolved to employ artifice as well as force in the reduction of it. A citizen of Berwick, by name Spalding, having been ill used by the governor, resolved to revenge himself; and therefore wrote a letter to a certain Scottish lord, whose relation he had married, offering on a certain night to betray the post where he kept guard. The nobleman communicated this important intelligence to the king. "You did well," said Robert, "in making me your confident; for if you had told this either to Randolph or Douglas, you would have offended the one whom you did not trust: Both of them, however, shall aid you in the execution of the enterprise." The king then commanded him to repair to a certain place with a body of troops; to which place he also gave separate orders to Douglas and Randolph to repair at the same hour, each with a body of troops under his command. The forces thus cautiously assembled, marched to Berwick, and, assisted by Spalding, scaled the walls, making themselves masters of the town in a few hours. The garrison of the castle, perceiving that the number of Scots was but small, made a desperate sally, with the men who had fled into the castle from the town; but, after an obstinate conflict, they were defeated and driven back, chiefly by the extraordinary valour of a young knight named Sir William Keith of Galloway.—This happened on the 28th of March 1318.

King Robert no sooner heard of the success of his forces against the town, than he hastened to lay siege to the castle of Berwick. This was soon obliged to capitulate; after which the Scots entered Northumberland, and took the castles of Wark, Harbottle, and Mitford. In May, they again invaded England, and penetrated into Yorkshire. In their progress they burnt the towns of Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Scarborough, and Skipton in Craven, forcing the inhabitants of Rippon to redeem themselves by paying 1000 marks; after which they returned to Scotland with much booty; and, as an English historian expresses it, "driving their prisoners before them like flocks of sheep."

This year the interposition of the pope was obtained against Robert, with a view to intimidate the Scottish nation; and the two cardinals residing in England were commanded to excommunicate Robert Bruce and his adherents, on account of his treatment of the messengers of the holy see, and his assault of Berwick, after a truce had been proclaimed by the papal authority. This sentence was accordingly put in execution; though Robert had certainly been excommunicated before, if not oftener, before. Messengers were sent from Scotland to Rome, in order to procure a reversal of the sentence; but Edward dispatched the bishop of Hereford, and Hugh d'Epencer the elder, to counteract this negociation, informing his holiness at the same time of certain intercepted letters which had been written from Avignon to Scotland; upon which the pope ordered all the Scots residing at Avignon, and all of that place who had corresponded with Scotland, to be taken into custody.

The most remarkable transaction of this year, however, was the defeat and death of Edward Bruce in Ireland; of which an account is given under the article IRELAND, No. 42. His body was quartered, and distributed for a public spectacle over Ireland; and his head was presented to Edward by John lord Bermingham the commander of the English army; in return for which service, he was rewarded with the title of earl of Louth.

In the meantime Edward, who had summoned a parliament to meet at Lincoln, was obliged to prorogue it on account of the Scottish invasion, and to assemble an army at York for the defence of his country. At Michaelmas it was determined, in a parliament held at London, that every city and town in England should furnish a certain proportion of men completely armed. Thus a considerable body of troops was soon raised; but, when they assembled at York, their party-anomisties and mutual distrust rose to such an height, that it was found necessary to send them back to their habitations.

In 1319, Edward, having succeeded so well in his negotiations with the court of Rome, resolved to make similar attempts with other powers to the prejudice of the Scottish nation. Accordingly he requested the count of Flanders to prohibit the Scots from entering his country; but to this request he received the following remarkable reply: "Flanders is the common country of all men; I cannot prohibit any merchants from trafficking thither, for such prohibition would prove the ruin of my people." Finding himself baffled in this attempt, the English monarch once more again determined to have recourse to war; and with this view commanded his army to assemble at Newcastle upon Tyne, on the 24th of July 1319; but before he proceeded, he requested the prayers of the clergy for the success of his expedition; and, to render their prayers prayers the more effectual, he at the same time demanded from them a great sum of money by way of loan.

Every thing being now in readiness, the English army approached Berwick, which was commanded by Walter the Steward of Scotland. This nobleman had long apprehended an attack from the English, and had taken every means of defence in his power. The enemy, however, confiding in their numbers, made a general assault; but were repulsed on the 7th of September, after a long and obstinate contest. Their next attempt was on the side towards the river. At that time the walls of Berwick were of an inconsiderable height; and it was proposed to bring a vessel close to them, from whence the troops might enter by a drawbridge let down from the mast. But the Scots annoyed the assailants so much, that they could not bring this vessel within the proper distance; and at the ebb of the tide it grounded, and was burnt by the besieged.

The English had then recourse to a new-invented engine which they called a saw, but for what reason is unknown. In many particulars it resembled the telamoniarium of the ancients. It appears to have been a large fabric composed of timber, and well-roofed, having flanges within it, and in height surpassing the wall of the town. It was moved upon wheels, and served for the double purpose of conducting the miners to the foot of the wall, and armed men to the form. This machine was counteracted by one constructed by John Crab, a Flemish engineer in the Scots service. This was a kind of moveable crane, whereby great stones might be raised on high, and then let fall upon the enemy. The English made a general assault on the quarter towards the sea, as well as on the land side; so that the garrison, exhausted by continual fatigue, could scarce maintain their posts. The great engine moved on to the walls; and, though stones were incessantly discharged against it from the crane, their effect was so small, that all hope of preserving Berwick was lost. At length a huge stone struck it with such force, that the beams gave way, and the Scots pouring down combustibles upon it, it was reduced to ashes. The English, however, still continued the attack. The Steward, with a reserve of 100 men, went from post to post, relieving those who were wounded or unfit for combat. One folder of the reserve only remained with him when an alarm was given that the English had burnt a barrier at the port called St Mary's, possessed themselves of the drawbridge, and fired the gate. The Steward hastened thither, called down the guard from the rampart, ordered the gate to be set open, and rushed out upon the enemy. A desperate combat ensued, and continued till the close of day, when the English commanders withdrew their troops.

Notwithstanding this brave defence, it was evident that the town could not hold out long without a speedy relief; and Robert could not, with any probability of success, attack the fortified camp of the English. He therefore determined to make a powerful diversion in England, in order to oblige Edward to abandon the undertaking. By order of the king, 15,000 men entered England by the western marches. They had concerted a plan for carrying off the queen of England from her residence near York; but being disappointed in this attempt, they laid waste Yorkshire. The archbishop of York hastily collected a numerous body of commons and ecclesiastics, with whom he encountered the Scots at Mitton, near Boroughbridge, in the north-riding of Yorkshire. The English were instantly routed; 3000 were left dead on the field, and great part of those who fled perished in the river Swale. In this action 300 ecclesiastics lost their lives. The news of this successful inroad alarmed the besiegers of Berwick. The barons whose estates lay to the southward remote from the Scottish depredations, were eager for continuing the siege. But they were opposed by those of the north; who were no less eager to abandon the enterprise, and return to the defence of their own country. With them the earl of Lancaster concurred in opinion; who, understanding that his favourite manor of Pontefract was exposed to the ravages of the Scots, departed with all his adherents. Edward, upon this, drew off the remainder of his army, and attempted to intercept Randolph and Douglas; but they eluded him, and returned in safety to Scotland.

The unsuccessful event of this last attempt, induced Edward seriously to think of peace; and accordingly a truce between the two nations was concluded on the 21st of December 1319, which interval of tranquillity the Scots made use of in addressing a manifesto to the pope in justification of their cause. This was drawn up in a spirited manner, and made a very considerable alteration in the councils of Rome. The pope, foreseeing that Robert would not be terrified into submissions, ordered Edward to make peace with him in the best manner he could. A negotiation was accordingly set on foot, which soon terminated ineffectually; the time was not renewed, and in 1322 a mutual invasion took place. The Scots penetrated into Lancashire by the western marches; and, after plundering the country, returned home with an extraordinary booty: while Edward made great preparations for an expedition into Scotland by land, which took place in August the same year. In this, however, he was not attended with success. Robert had caused all the cattle to be driven off, and all the effects of any value to be removed from Lothian and the Merse; fixing his camp at Culross, on the north side of the Firth of Forth. His orders for removing the cattle were so punctually obeyed, that, according to common tradition, the only prey which fell into the hands of the English was a lame bull at Tranent in East Lothian. Edward, however, still proceeded, and penetrated as far as Edinburgh, but without any hopes of subduing the kingdom. His provisions being consumed, many of his soldiers perished for want; and he was obliged at last to retire without having seen an enemy. On their return, his soldiers burnt the abbeys of Holyrood, Melrose, Dryburgh, &c., killed many of the monks, and committed other sacrileges: but when they returned to their own country, and began again to enjoy a plentiful living, they indulged themselves in such excesses as were productive of mortal diseases; insomuch, that, according to an English historian, almost one half of the great army which Edward had brought from England with him were destroyed either by hunger or gluttony.

No sooner were the English retired than they were pursued by the Scots, who laid siege to the castle of Norham. Scotland. Norham. Edward lay at the abbey of Biland in Yorkshire, with a body of troops advantageously posted in the neighbourhood. The Scots, invited, as is said, by some traitors about the king's person, attempted to surprise him; and it was the utmost difficulty that he made his escape to York, abandoning all his baggage and treasure to the enemy. The English camp was supposed to be accessible only by a narrow path; but Douglas undertook to force it, and Randolph presented himself as a volunteer in this dangerous service under his friend Douglas. The Highlanders and men of the Isles climbed the precipice on which the English camp stood, and the enemy were driven out with great loss. The Scots pursued them to the very gates of York, waited the country without control, and returned home unmolested.

Edward, disheartened by repeated losses, agreed to a cessation of arms "with the men of Scotland who were engaged in war with him." But the king of Scotland would not consent to it in that form; however, he gave his consent, on the proper form being employed, to which Edward now made no objection. This treaty was concluded on the 30th of March 1323, and was to endure until the 12th of June 1336. It was agreed, that, during the continuance of it, no new fortresses should be erected in Cumberland, to the north of the Tyne, or in the counties of Berwick, Roxburgh, or Dumfries; and by a very singular article it was provided, that "Bruce and the people of Scotland might procure absolution from the pope; but in case there was no peace concluded before the expiration of the truce, that the sentence of excommunication should revive." The treaty was ratified by Robert, under the style of the king of Scotland, 7th June 1323.

The next care of Robert was to reconcile himself to the church, and to obtain from the pope the title of king, which had been so long denied him; which at last, though not without great difficulty, was obtained. This year a son was born to the king of Scotland at Dunfermline, and named David. The court-poets of this time foretold, that this infant would one day rival his father's fame, and prove victorious over the English. But scarce had this future hero come into the world, when a rival began to make his appearance. John Baliol, the unfortunate king of Scotland, had long been dead; but left a son named Edward, heir to his pretensions to the crown. The young prince had resided on his paternal estate in Normandy, neglected and forgotten; but in 1324 was called to the court of England, for the purpose, undoubtedly, of setting him up as a rival to young David Bruce, in case his father, now broken with fatigues, should die in a short time. The negotiations for peace, however, still went on; but the commissioners appointed for this purpose made little progress, by reason of demands for feudal sovereignty still made by the English. The reconciliation with the church was also broken off, by reason of the Scots keeping possession of Berwick. This had been taken during the papal truce; and Robert thought proper still to lie under the sentence of excommunication, rather than to part with such an important fortress.

In the beginning of the year 1327, Edward II. was deposed, and succeeded by his son Edward III., then in his 15th year. He renewed the negotiations for peace, and ratified the truce which his father had made; but, hearing that the Scots had resolved to invade England if a peace was not immediately concluded, he summoned his barons to meet him in arms at Newcastle, and fortified York.—We are not certainly informed of the reasons which induced the Scots at this time to disregard the truce; however, it is certain, that on the 15th of June 1327, Douglas and Randolph invaded England by the western marches, with an army of 20,000 horsemen. Against them Edward III. led vade English army, consisting, at the lowest calculation, of 30,000 land men, who assembled at Durham on the 13th of July. The Scots proceeded with the utmost cruelty, burning and destroying every thing as they went along; and on the 18th of the same month, the English discovered them by the smoke and flames which marked their progress. They marched forward in order of battle towards the quarter where the smoke was perceived; but, meeting with no enemy for two days, they concluded that the Scots were about to retire. Disembarking themselves then of their heavy baggage, they resolved by a forced march to reach the river Tyne, and, by posting themselves on the north bank of that river, to intercept the Scots on their return. On the 20th of July, the cavalry having left the infantry behind, crossed the river at Haidon; but before the rest of the army could come up, the river was swollen by sudden rains, that it could no longer be forded; and thus the troops remained divided for several days, without any accommodation for quarters, and in the greatest want of provisions and forage. The soldiers now began to murmur; and it was resolved again to proceed southwards. The king proclaimed a reward of lands, to the value of 100l. yearly for life, to the person who should first discover the enemy discovering on dry ground, where they might be attacked; where they and many knights and esquires swam across the river are on this strange errand. The army continued its march for three days without any news of the Scots; but on the fourth day, certain accounts of them were brought by an esquire, Thomas Rokesby: who reported, that "the Scots had made him prisoner; but that their leaders, understanding his business, had set him at liberty; saying, that they had remained for eight days on the same ground, as ignorant of the motions of the English as the English were of theirs, and that they were desirous and ready to combat." With this man for their guide, the English soon came in view of the Scots. They were advantageously posted on a rising ground, having the river Were in front, and their flanks secured by rocks and precipices. The English dismounted and advanced, hoping to allure the Scots from their strong post; but in vain. Edward then sent a herald to Randolph and Douglas, with a message in the style of chivalry: "Either," says he, "suffer me to pass the river, and leave me room for ranging my forces; or do you pass the river, and I will leave you room to range yours; and thus shall we fight on equal terms." To this the Scottish commanders answered, "We will do neither. On our road hither we have burnt and spoiled the country; and here we are fixed while to us it seems good; and if the king of England is offended, let him come over and chastise us."

The The armies continued in sight of each other for two days; after which the English, understanding that their enemies were distressed for provisions, resolved to maintain a close blockade, and to reduce them by famine. Next day, however, they were surprised to find that the Scots had secretly decamped, and taken post two miles up the river in ground still stronger, and of more difficult access, amidst a great wood. The English encamped opposite to them near Stanhope park.

At midnight Douglas undertook a most desperate enterprise, somewhat resembling those of the ancient heroes. With 200 horsemen he approached the English camp, and entered it under the guise of a chief commander calling the rounds. Having thus eluded the sentinels, he passed on to the royal quarters, overthrew every thing that opposed him, and furiously assaulted the king's tent. The domestics of Edward desperately defended their master; and his chaplain, with many others of his household, were slain. However, the king himself escaped; and Douglas, disappointed of his prey, rushed through the enemy, and effected a retreat with inconsiderable loss. The following day, the English learned from a prisoner, that orders had been issued in the Scottish camp for all men to hold themselves in readiness that evening to follow the banner of Douglas: on which, apprehending an attack in the night, they prepared for battle, lighting great fires, and keeping a strict watch; but in the morning, they were informed by two trumpeters whom they had taken prisoners, that the Scots had decamped before midnight, and were returning to their own country. This report could scarcely be credited, and the army remained for some hours in order of battle; but at length some scouts having crossed the river, returned with certain intelligence that the Scottish camp was totally deserted: which when the young king of England was certainly informed of, he burst into tears; for the enterprise, which thus terminated in disappointment and dishonour, had cost an immense sum. Every preparation had been made for opposing an enemy, and auxiliaries had even been procured at a most enormous expense from Hainault. These auxiliaries consisted of heavy-armed cavalry; and they were now so much worn out that they could scarce move. Their horses were all dead, or had become unserviceable, in a campaign of three weeks; so that they were obliged to procure horses to convey themselves to the south of England. Edward having rested at Durham for some days, marched to York, where he disbanded his army. Barbour, a Scots historian, relates, that there was a morass in the rear of the Scottish camp, which he calls the two-mile morass; that the Scots made a way over it with brushwood, removing it as they went along, that the English might not pursue them by the same way. The English historians are filled with descriptions of the strange appearance of the deserted camp of the Scots. They found there a number of skins stretched between stakes, which served for kettles to boil their meat; and for bread, each soldier carried along with him a bag of oatmeal, of which he made cakes, toasting them upon thin iron plates, which appear to have been part of their armour.

On the return of Douglas and Randolph, the king led his army against the eastern borders, and besieged the castle of Norham. However, in 1328, Edward, wearied out with continual losses and disappointments, consented to a perpetual peace between the two kingdoms on the following conditions. 1. The treaty which the kings of Scotland were wont to sit at the time of their coronation, shall be restored to the Scots. 2. The king of England engages to employ his good offices at the papal court for obtaining a revocation of all spiritual processes depending before the holy see against the king of Scots, or against his kingdom or subjects. 3. For these causes, and in order to make reparation for the ravages committed in England by the Scots, the king of Scots shall pay 30,000 merks to the king of England. 4. Restitution shall be made of the possessions belonging to ecclesiastics in either kingdom, whereof they may have been deprived during the war. 5. But there shall not be any restitution made of inheritances which have fallen into the hands of the king of England or of the king of Scots, by reason of the war between the two nations, or through the forfeiture of former possessors. 6. Johanna, sister of the king of England, shall be given in marriage to David, the son and heir to the king of Scots. 7. The king of Scots shall provide the princess Johanna in a jointure of 2000l. yearly, secured on lands and rents, according to a reasonable estimation. 8. If either of the parties shall fail in performing these conditions, he shall pay 2000 pounds of silver to the papal treasury.

This peace, ratified at Northampton, is styled ignominious by the English historians, and the marriage of the Scots prince to the king of England's sister, denominated that base marriage; because at this time all pretensions to sovereignty over Scotland were given up, though they had in vain attempted to establish them by a ruinous war of 20 years. The marriage of the infant prince was celebrated on the 12th of July 1328.

On the 7th of June 1329 died Robert Bruce, unquestionably the greatest of all the Scottish monarchs. His death seems to have been occasioned by the excessive fatigues of military service; and his disease, called by the historians of those times a leprosy, was probably an inweterate scurvy, occasioned by his way of living. He died at the age of 55. He was married to Isabella, daughter of Donald the tenth earl of Marr; by whom he had a daughter named Marjory, married to Walter the steward of Scotland; whose husband died in 1326. The second wife of Robert was Elizabeth, the daughter of Aymer de Burgh earl of Ulster. By her he had a son, David II.; a daughter named Margaret, married to William earl of Sutherland; another, named Matilda, married to an esquire named Thomas Isaac; and Elizabeth, married to Sir Walter Oliphant of Gask. He had also a natural son named Robert.

That king Robert I. was a man of unquestionable virtue and humanity, as well as unequalled in the knowledge of the military art, must be evident from many particulars already related. The only questionable part of his character is his severe punishment of a conspiracy formed against him in the year 1320; a relation of which, to avoid interrupting our detail of more important matters, we have deferred till now.—The chief of the conspirators were William de Soulis, whose ancestor had been a candidate for the crown of Scotland; Scotland; the countess of Stathera, and some other persons of high rank. The Countess discovered the plot; after which Soulis confessed the whole, and was punished with perpetual imprisonment; as well as the countess, notwithstanding her having made the discovery. Gilbert de Malerb and John de Logie, both knights, and Richard Brown an esquire, were put to death as traitors; but the person most lamented was Sir David de Brechin, for his bravery styled the flower of chivalry. He was nephew to the king, and served with great reputation against the Saracens. To him the conspirators, after having exacted an oath of secrecy, revealed their designs. He condemned their undertaking, and refused to share in it; but did not discover it, on account of the oath he had taken. Yet for this concealment he was tried as a traitor, condemned and executed, without regard to his personal merit or his relation to the king. The conspirators were tried before the parliament at Scone in 1320; and this session, in which so much blood was shed, was long remembered by the vulgar under the name of the black parliament. Whether there was any thing real in this conspiracy, or whether the king only made use of this pretence to rid himself of such as were obnoxious to him, cannot now be known with certainty.

After the death of Robert, the administration was assumed by Randolph, in consequence of an act passed in 1318, by which he was appointed regent in case of the king's death. In his new character he behaved himself in a most exemplary manner; and by impartially discharging the duties of his station, and rigidly administering justice, he secured the public tranquillity in the most perfect manner. A severe exercise of justice was now rendered not only necessary, but indispensable. During a long course of war, the common people had been accustomed to plunder and bloodshed; and having now no English enemies to employ them, they robbed and murdered one another. The methods by which Randolph repressed these crimes, were much the same with those which have been adopted in later times; for he made the counties liable for the several robberies committed within their bounds. He even ordered the farmers and labourers not to hoard the tools employed by them in agriculture during the night-time, that the sheriff's officers might be the more vigilant in securing them. He gave orders for severely punishing all vagabonds, and obliged them to work for their livelihood; making proclamation, that no man should be admitted into a town or borough who could not earn his bread by his labour. These regulations were attended with the most salutary effects. A fellow who had secreted his own plough-irons, pretending that they were stolen, being detected by the sheriff's officers, was instantly hanged. A certain man having killed a priest, went to Rome, and obtained absolution from the pope; after which he boldly returned to Scotland. Randolph ordered him to be tried, and, on his conviction, to be executed: "Because, said he, although the pope may grant absolution from the spiritual consequences of fin, he cannot screen offenders from civil punishment."

King Robert, just before his death, had desired that his heart might be deposited in our Saviour's sepulchre at Jerusalem; and on this errand the great commander set out for Douglas was employed, who set sail in June 1339 land with a numerous and splendid retinue. He anchored King Ro- off Sluys in Flanders, the great emporium of the low bret's heart countries, where he expected to find companions in his pilgrimage; but learning that Alphonso XI. the young king of Leon and Castile, was engaged in a war with Oimyo the Moor, he could not resist the temptation of fighting against the enemies of Christianity. He met with an honourable reception at the court of Spain, and readily obtained leave to enter into what was thought the common cause of Christianity. The Spaniards first came in sight of their enemy near Theba, a castle on the frontiers of Andalusia, towards the kingdom of Granada. The Moors were defeated; but Douglas giving way to his impetuous valour, pursued the enemy too eagerly, and throwing among them the casket which contained the heart of his sovereign, cried out, "Now pass thou onward as thou wert wont, Douglas will follow thee or die." The fugitives rallied and surrounded Douglas; is killed by who, with a few of his followers, was killed in attempting to rescue Sir Walter St Clair of Rossin. His body was brought back to Scotland, and interred in the church of Douglas. His countrymen perpetuated his memory by bestowing upon him the epithet of the good Sir James Douglas. He was one of the greatest commanders of the age; and is said to have been engaged in 70 battles, 57 of which he gained, and was defeated in 13.—Of him it is reported, that meeting with an officer at the court of Alphonso, who had his face quite disfigured with scars, the latter said to him, "It astonishes me, that you, who are said to have seen so much service, should have no marks of wounds on your face." "Thank heaven," answered Douglas, "I had always an arm to protect my face."

In 1331, Edward Baliol began to renew his pretensions to the crown of Scotland, about the same time that David II. and his consort Johanna were crowned at Scone; which ceremony was performed on the 24th of November. Some historians relate, that he was excited to this attempt by one Twynham Lowrison, a person who had been excommunicated for refusing to do penance for adultery, and afterwards was obliged to fly on account of his having way-laid the official, beat him, and extorted a sum of money from him. But however this may be, it is certain, that in this year differences began to arise with England, on the following account. It had been provided by an article of the treaty of Northampton, that "Thomas lord Wake of Ledel, Henry de Beaumont, called earl of Buchan, and Henry de Percy, should be restored to their estates, of which the king of Scots, by reason of the war between the two nations, had taken possession." This article had been executed with respect to Percy, but not to the other two; and though Edward had repeatedly complained of this neglect, he could not obtain any satisfaction (r.)

As this is an important period of history, we shall here transcribe the opinion of lord Hailes concerning the causes of this strange delay of executing an article seemingly of little importance where a nation was concerned. "By the treaty of Northampton," says he, "all the claims of the English barons to inheritances in Scotland were disregarded." The disinherit ed barons now resolved to invade Scotland, though their force consisted of no more than 3000 infantry, and 400 men at arms. Edward would not permit them to enter Scotland by the usual way; as he himself did not yet choose openly to take part in their quarrel. For this reason they were obliged to take shipping, and landed at a place called Raven-share, Ravenspur, or Ravensburgh, at the mouth of the Humber (a). Randolph, having intelligence of the English preparations, had marched an army to the frontiers of East Lothian; but, being afterwards informed of the naval armament, he marched northwards; but died at Musselburgh, five miles east of Edinburgh, on the 20th of July 1332. With him died the glory of Scotland. The earl of Marr, a man whose only merit consisted in his being related to the royal family, was chosen to succeed him in the regency.—Edward in the mean time fell upon a most curious expedient to shew the justice of his cause. In March 1332 he had published a prohibition for any person to infringe the treaty of Northampton. The disinherit ed lords had been suffered to embark, expressly for the purpose of invading Scotland, after this prohibition was published. After they were gone, Henry de Percy was empowered to punish those who should presume to array themselves in contempt of his prohibition; and because he understood that the Scots were arming in order to repel those invaders whom Edward had indirectly sent against them, he empowered Henry de Percy to arm against them.

Excepting those of Henry de Percy, Thomas lord Wake of Ledel, and Henry de Beaumont. Percy procured satisfaction; but the others did not.

Henry de Beaumont, in the reign of Edward II, had associated himself with the nobility against the D'Espensers, and on that account had suffered imprisonment and exile. He aided queen Isabella in the invasion which proved the cause of the deposition, captivity, and death of her husband. Although, under the administration of Mortimer, he had obtained a share in the partition of the spoils of the D'Espensers, he persisted in opposing the measures of the new favourite; and, although his own interests were secured by the treaty of Northampton, he boldly exclaimed against the injustice done to the other barons by that treaty. He joined the princes of the blood-royal in their attempt to rescue the young king from the hands of Isabella and her minions, and placed him in their own; and, on the failure of that ill-advised conspiracy, he again took refuge in foreign parts. It appears that lord Wake, having followed the political opinions of Henry de Beaumont, was involved in like calamities and disgrace. While the queen dowager and Mortimer retained their influence, the claims of those two barons were altogether overlooked; but, within forty-eight hours after the execution of Mortimer, a peremptory demand was made by Edward III, to have their inheritance restored.

The demand was unexpected and alarming. Made at the very moment of the fall of Isabella and Mortimer, and in behalf of men who had loudly protested against the treaty of Northampton, it indicated a total and perilous change in the system of the English.

Randolph, of late years, had beheld extraordinary vicissitudes in England. The D'Espensers alternately persecuted and triumphant, and at length abased in the dust: The fugitive Mortimer elevated to supreme authority, victorious over the princes of the blood-royal, and then dragged to a gibbet. Hence it was natural for Randolph to wish, and even to look, for some new revolution which might prove more favourable to the Scottish interests. Meanwhile, with great reason and good policy, he delayed the restitution of the inheritances claimed under the treaty of Northampton, in behalf of the avowed opposers of that treaty.

Besides, it was necessary for Randolph to be assured that the English, while they urged the performance of one article of that treaty, did, on their part, sincerely purpose to perform its more important articles, by continuing to acknowledge the succession in the house of Bruce, and the independency of the Scottish nation.

Of this, however, there was much reason to doubt. For the English king had taken Baliol under his protection, and had granted him a passport to come into England, with permission to reside there during a whole year, (10th October 1330). These things had no friendly or pacific appearance.

Be this as it will, the event too fatally justified the apprehensions of Randolph; for, while Edward III, was demanding restitution of the estates reserved by the treaty of Northampton, his subjects were arming in violation of that treaty.

It is remarkable, that, on the 24th March 1331, Edward appears to have known of the hostile association of the disinherit ed barons. His words are, "Quia ex relatu accepimus plurimorum, quod diversi homines de regno nostro, et ali (meaning Baliol and his attendants,) pacem inter nos, et Robertum de Brus, nuper Regem Scotorum, initam et confirmatam infringere machinantur, diversas congregationes hominum ad arma indies faciunt, et, per marchias regni nostrri, diffam terrarum Scotiae, ad eam modo guerriero impugnandum, ingredi intendantur?" Feodera, T. iv. p. 511. And yet, on the 2nd April following, he demanded restitution of the inheritance of lord Wake, one of the barons in arms; Feodera, T. iv. p. 518.

(a) This place does not now exist; having been overwhelmed by the sea many centuries ago. mies, led by Alexander Moubray, crossed the river at midnight. They ascended a rising ground, came unperceived on the right flank of the Scottish army, and made a dreadful slaughter. At the first attack, young Randolph halted with 300 men at arms to oppose the enemy; and being seconded by Murdoch earl of Menteith, Alexander Fraser, and Robert Bruce natural son to the late king, he gave a check to the English, and maintained the combat on equal terms. But now the regent himself, along with the whole multitude, rushed forward to battle without the least order; so that while the hindmost pressed on, the foremost were thrown down, trodden upon, and suffocated. The slaughter lasted many hours, and the remains of this vast army were utterly dispersed. Many men of eminence were killed; among whom were Donald earl of Marr, author of the whole catastrophe; Thomas earl of Moray, Murdoch earl of Menteith, Robert earl of Carrick, Alexander Fraser, and Robert Bruce. The slaughter of the infantry and of the men at arms was very great; the most probable accounts make it 2000 men at arms, and upwards of 13,000 common soldiery. The loss of the English was inconsiderable.

The day after this victory, Baliol took possession of Perth; and, apprehending an attack from the earl of March, caused the ditch to be cleared, and the town to be fortified with palisadoes. The first information which the earl received of this dreadful defeat was from a common soldier, who fled from the place mortally wounded. When this poor wretch came up, he had time to do no more than to show his wounds; after which he fell down, and expired. On his arrival at the field of battle, he found a dreadful confirmation of the intelligence given by the soldier; but instead of taking his measures with any prudence, he and his men hurried on headlong to Perth, actuated only by a blind impulse to revenge. At first they designed to assault the place; but their hearts failing them, they next determined to reduce it by famine. This, however, could not be done unless the Scots were masters at sea. One John Crab, a Flemish engineer, (who had distinguished himself by destroying the famous engine called the sow at the siege of Berwick) had continued for many years to annoy the English on the eastern coasts. After the blockade of Perth was formed, he came with ten vessels to the mouth of the Tay, where the English fleet was, and took the ship belonging to Henry de Beaumont; but soon after all his ten vessels were burnt by the English in a general engagement. After this the blockade of Perth was raised, the earl of March disbanded his army, and Edward Baliol was crowned king of Scotland at Scone, on the 24th of September 1332.

The new monarch was no sooner put in possession of the kingdom, than he left Perth in the hands of the earl of Fife, while he himself repaired to the southern parts of the kingdom. But the party of king David was far from being extinguished. Baliol was scarce gone, when the town of Perth was surprized, and its fortifications razed, by James Fraser, Simon Fraser, and Robert Keith. The earl of Fife was made prisoner, with his family and vassals. Andrew Murray of Tullibardine, who had directed the English to a ford on the river Earn, was put to death as a traitor. Such of the Scots as still adhered to the interest of their infant prince, chose Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell regent. He was a brave and active man, but had not as yet sufficient force to attempt anything considerable.

In the mean time, Baliol behaved in a most shameless manner. At Roxburgh he made a solemn surrender of the liberties of Scotland; acknowledged Edward for his liege-lord; and, as if this had not been sufficient, he became bound to put him in possession of the town, castle, and territory of Berwick, and of other lands on the marches, extending in all to the yearly value of 200l. "on account," as the instrument bears, "of the great honour and emoluments which we have procured through the sufferance of our lord the king, and by the powerful and acceptable aid which we have received from his good subjects." He also proffered to marry the princess Johanna, whom he considered as only betrothed to David Bruce, and to add 500l. to her jointure; and this under the penalty of 10,000l. to be appropriated as a portion to the young lady, or otherwise disposed of for her behoof. He further engaged to provide for the maintenance of David Bruce as the king of England should advise; and, lastly, he became bound to serve Edward in all his wars, excepting in England, Wales, and Ireland, for the space of a year together, with 200 men at arms, and all at his own charges; and he bound his successors to perform the like service with 100 men at arms. But afterwards, Edward having engaged to maintain him on the throne of Scotland, Baliol bound himself to serve him in all his wars whatever.

Though the greatest part of the nation submitted to this shameful treaty, it roused the indignation of those who wished well to the liberties of their country. John, the second son of Randolph, now earl of Moray by the death of his brother; Archibald, the youngest brother of the renowned Douglas; together with Simon Fraser, assembled a body of horsemen at Moffat in Annandale; and, suddenly traversing the country, assaulted Baliol unexpectedly at Annan. His brother Baliol himself escaped almost naked, with scarce a single attendant, and fled to England. After his departure, the Scots began to make depredations on the English frontiers. Edward issued a proclamation, in which he solemnly averred, that the Scots, by their hostile depredations, had violated the peace of Northampton. Baliol in the mean time being joined by some English barons, returned to Scotland; took and burnt a castle where Robert de Colville commanded; and, establishing his quarters in the neighbourhood of Roxburgh, began to make preparations for besieging Berwick. Just after his arrival, Archibald Douglas, with 3000 men, invaded England by the western marches, plundered the country, and carried off much booty; in revenge for which, Sir Anthony de Lucy made an inroad into Scotland, defeated and took prisoner Sir William Douglas, celebrated in history by the appellation of the knight of Liddesdale, whom Edward caused to be put in irons. About the same time Sir Andrew Murray, the regent, attacked Baliol, with a view to discomfit him before the reinforcements which he expected out of England could arrive. A sharp conflict ensued at Roxburgh, in which the regent, attempting to rescue a soldier, was taken prisoner; and thus Scotland was at once deprived of its two ablest commanders.

Archibald Douglas was now declared regent; and Edward prepared to invade Scotland, in order to take vengeance on its inhabitants, as he said, for the wrongs they had done, and to seek such redress as might seem good to himself. He ordered possession to be taken of the isle of Man in his own name; and soon after made it over to Sir William de Montague, who had some claim of inheritance in it. The chief design of Edward in this expedition, however, was to obtain possession of the town of Berwick, which had been already ceded to him by Baliol. This appeared to the Scots a place of no less importance than it did to Edward; and therefore they took all the precautions in their power to prevent the loss of it. The earl of March was appointed to command the castle, and Sir William Keith the town. The Scots made an obstinate defence; yet it was evident that they must soon have yielded unless they were relieved by an army. At length the regent, with a numerous army, appeared in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to convey succours into the town, or to provoke the enemies to quit the advantage of the ground, and engage in battle. But all his efforts were vain; the English obstructed every passage, and stood on the defensive.

The regent then entered Northumberland, waited the country, and even assaulted Bamburgh castle, where Philippa the young queen of England had her residence. He fondly imagined that Edward III. would have abandoned the siege of Berwick, after the example of his father, in circumstances not dissimilar. Edward nevertheless persevered in his enterprise.

During a general assault, the town was set on fire, and in great measure consumed. The inhabitants having experienced the evils of a siege, and dreading the worse evils of a storm, implored the earl of March and Sir William Keith to seek terms of capitulation. A truce was obtained; and it was agreed, that the town and castle should be delivered up on terms fair and honourable, unless succours arrived before the hour of vespers on the 19th July.

It was specially provided, "that Berwick should be held as relieved, in case 200 men at arms, in a body, should force their passage into the town."

By the treaty, Sir William Keith was permitted to have an interview with the regent. He found him with his army in Northumberland; urged the necessity of his return; and showed him, that Berwick, if not instantly relieved, was lost for ever. Persuaded by his importunities, the regent resolved to combat the English, and either to save Berwick or lose the kingdom.

On the afternoon of the 19th of July the regent prepared for battle. He divided his army into four bodies. The first was led by John earl of Moray, the son of Randolph; but as he was young and inexperienced in war, James and Simon Frazer, soldiers of approved reputation, were joined with him in the command. The second body was led by the Steward of Scotland, a youth of 16, under the inspection of his uncle Sir James Stewart of Rosyth. The third body was led by the regent himself, having with him the earl of Carrick and other barons of eminence. The fourth body, or reserve, appears to have been led by Hugh Earl of Roos.

The numbers of the Scottish army on that day are variously reported by historians. The continuator of Hemingford, an author of that age, and Kayghton, who lived in the succeeding ages, ascertain their numbers with more precision than is generally required in historical facts.

The continuator of Hemingford minutely records the numbers and arrangement of the Scottish army. He says, that, besides earls and other lords or great barons, there were 55 knights, 1,100 men at arms, and 13,500 of the commons lightly armed, amounting in all to 14,655.

With him Kayghton appears to concur, when his narrative is cleared from the errors of ignorant or careless transcribers.

It is probable, however, that the servants who tended the horses of persons of distinction and of the men at arms, and the useless followers of the camp, were more numerous than the actual combatants.

The English were advantageously posted on a rising ground at Halidon, with a marshy hollow in their front. Of their particular disposition we are not informed, further than that Baliol had the command of one of the wings.

It had been provided by the treaty of capitulation, "That Berwick should be considered as relieved, in case 200 men at arms forced their passage into the town." This the Scottish men at arms attempted; but Edward, aware of their purpose, opposed them in Halidon, person, and repulsed them with great slaughter. The Scottish army rushed on to a general attack; but they had to descend into the marshy hollow before mounting the eminences of Halidon. After having struggled with the difficulties of the ground, and after having been incessantly galled by the English archers, they reached the enemy. Although fatigued and disordered in their ranks, they fought as it became men who had conquered under the banners of Robert Bruce. The English, with equal valour, had great advantages of situation, and were better disciplined than their antagonists. The earl of Roos led the reserve to attack in flank that wing where Baliol commanded; but he was repulsed and slain. There fell with him Kenneth earl of Sutherland, and Murdoch earl of Menteith.

In the other parts of the field, the events were equally disastrous. The regent received a mortal wound, defeated, and the Scots everywhere gave way. In the field, and during a pursuit for many miles, the number of slain and prisoners was so great, that few of the Scottish army escaped.

Besides the earls of Roos, Sutherland, and Menteith, there were among the slain Malcolm earl of Lennox, an aged baron; he had been one of the foremost to repair to the standard of Robert Bruce, and he now paid the last duties to his country; Alexander Bruce earl of Carrick, who atoned for the short defection from the family of his benefactor; John Campbell earl of Athole, nephew of the late king; James Frazer, Scotland. Fraser, and Simon Fraser; John de Graham, Alexander de Lindeyay, Alan Stewart, and many other persons of eminent rank.

The Steward had two uncles, John and James. John was killed, and James mortally wounded and made prisoner (ii).

The regent, mortally wounded, and abandoned on the field of battle, only lived to see his army discomfited and himself a prisoner.

This victory was obtained with very inconsiderable loss. It is related by the English historians, that, on the side of their countrymen, there were killed one knight, one esquire, and 12 foot-soldiers. Nor will this appear altogether incredible, when we remember that the English ranks remained unbroken, and that their archers, at a secure distance, incessantly annoyed the Scottish infantry.

According to capitulation, the town and castle of Berwick surrendered. The English king took twelve hostages for securing the fidelity of the citizens of Berwick.

Thus was the whole of Scotland reduced under the subjection of Baliol, excepting a few fortresses; so that it became necessary to provide for the safety of the young king and queen. Accordingly, they were conveyed to France, where they were honourably entertained. Meanwhile Baliol employed himself in making new concessions to his liege-lord Edward; and in 1334 the work of submission was completed by a solemn instrument drawn up by Baliol, in which he surrendered great part of the Scottish dominions, to be for ever annexed to the crown of England. In this instrument Baliol said, "he had formerly become bound to make a grant to Edward of lands on the marches, to the amount of two thousand-pound lands; that the Scottish parliament had ratified his obligation; and that he had accordingly surrendered Berwick and its territory; and now, for completely discharging his obligation, he made an absolute surrender to the English crown of the forests of Jedburgh, Selkirk, and Ettrick; of the counties of Roxburgh, Peebles, and Dumfries; together with the county of Edinburgh and the constabularies of Linlithgow and Haddington." This extraordinary surrender was made with so much precipitation, that Baliol forgot to except his own private estate out of it. This, however, was generously restored to him by Edward; who proclaimed, that, "having already received satisfaction in full, he had too much reverence for God, justice, and good faith to man, that the cession should be prejudicial to the private rights of the king of Scots." At the same time Baliol presented himself before his liege-lord; did homage, and swore fealty, "for the whole kingdom of Scotland and the isles adjacent."

A quarrel now arose among the disinherited lords, to whom this revolution had been owing, which produced the worst consequences to the interest of Baliol. The brother of Alexander de Moubrey died, leaving daughters, but no issue-male. Moubrey having claimed a preference to the daughters of his brother, Baliol countenanced his suit, and, as it appears, put him in possession of the inheritance. Henry de Beaumont, earl of Buchan, and David de Strathbolgie, or Hastings, earl of Athol, espoused the cause of the heirs-general; but perceiving that their solicitations were not heard, they left the court in disgust, and retired to their castles about the end of August 1334. Baliol soon perceived his error in offending these two powerful lords; and in order to regain their favour, dismissed Moubrey, and conferred on David de Strathbolgie the whole estates of the young Steward of Scotland. Thus he alienated the affections of Moubrey, and added to the power of the earl of Athol, who was by far too powerful before.

About this time Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, party every having regained his freedom, began to assemble the whole friends of liberty, and was immediately joined by tested Moubrey. In a moment everything was in confusion. Geoffrey de Moubrey, governor of Roxburgh, revolted; Henry de Beaumont was besieged in his castle of Dandargy by Murray and Moubrey, and forced to surrender, but obtained liberty to depart into England. Richard Talbot, endeavouring to pass into England with a body of troops, was defeated and taken prisoner by Sir William Keith of Galston. The Steward of Scotland, who had lain concealed in the isle of Bute ever since the battle of Halidon, now passed over to the castle of Dunbarton, which was one of the few forts remaining to king David. With the assistance of Dougal Campbell of Lochow, he made himself master of the castle of Dunoon in Cowal. His tenants of the isle of Bute attacked and slew Alan de Lisle the governor, and presented his head to their master. John the son of Gilbert, governor of the castle of Bute, was made prisoner in the action. He ordered the garrison to surrender, and attached himself to the Scottish interest. Encouraged by these successes, the Steward entered his ancient inheritance of Renfrew, and compelled the inhabitants to acknowledge the sovereignty of David. Godfrey de Rof, the governor of Ayrshire, submitted to the Steward. The earl of Moray returned from France, whither he had fled after the battle of Halidon, and was acknowledged regent along with the Steward. The earl, having raised a body of troops, marched against the earl of Athol, compelled him to retire into Lochaber, and at last to surrender; after which he embraced the party of the conquerors. Baliol was now obliged to retire again into England, in order to solicit assistance from Edward; and this was readily granted. Edward himself took the field at a very unfavourable season for assistance of military enterprises. His army was divided into two parts. With the one Edward waited Lothian, while Baliol did the like in Avondale with the other; and in the mean time Patrick earl of March, notwithstanding the unfavourable posture of affairs, renounced the allegiance he had sworn to England. His motive for this was, that though the kings of England had maintained him in an independency dangerous to Scotland, he was assured that they would never permit him to become formidable in a country which they themselves possessed.

(ii) Fordun, l. xiii. c. 28, relates, that Sir James Stewart was slain; the English historians, that he was mortally wounded and made prisoner. It may be remarked, that at Halidon two Stewarts fought under the banner of their chiefs; the one Alan of Dreghorn, the paternal ancestor of Charles I., and the other James of Rosyth, the paternal ancestor of Oliver Cromwell. The year 1335 is remarkable for the siege of Lochleven castle by the English, under John de Strivelin. This fort was built on a small island, and very difficult of access. The English commander erected a fort in the cemetery of Kinross; and at the lower end of the lake, from whence runs the stream called the Water of Leven, he raised a strong and lofty bulwark, by means of which, he hoped to lay the island under water, and oblige the garrison to surrender. But four of the Scots soldiers, having found means to approach the bulwark undiscovered, pierced it so dangerously, that the waters, rushing out with a prodigious force, overflowed part of the English camp; and the garrison sallying out during the confusion occasioned by this unexpected inundation, stormed and plundered the fort at Kinross. At this time the English commander, with many of his soldiers, happened to be absent at Dunfermline, celebrating the festival of St Margaret. On his return he swore that he would never desist till he had taken the place, and put the garrison to the sword; however, his utmost efforts were at last baffled, and he was obliged, notwithstanding his oath, to desist.

In the mean time the regents assembled a parliament at Dairsy near Coupar in Fife; but no plan of defense could be fallen upon, by reason of the animosities and factions which prevailed among the barons. Through the mediation of the French, some terms of peace were proposed; but being rejected by the English, Edward again invaded Scotland, cruelly ravaging the country with one army, while Balliol and the earl of Warrane did the same with another. Soon after this invasion, Count Guy of Namur landed at Berwick with a considerable number of men-at-arms in the service of the English. He advanced to the neighborhood of Edinburgh; but was defeated and taken prisoner by the earls of March and Moray, and Sir Alexander Ramsay. In this engagement one Richard Shaw, a Scottish esquire, was singled out by a combatant in the army of Sir Guy, and both pierced each other with their spears; the stranger being stripped, was discovered to be a woman. The earl of Moray treated Guy with the greatest respect, not only allowing him and the remainder of his troops to depart Scotland without molestation, but even attending him to the borders, accompanied by William Douglas and his brother James. On his return, William de Preston, warden of the castle and forest of Jedburgh, attacked and defeated his party; James Douglas was killed, the earl himself taken prisoner and carried into England.

Thus was the Scottish nation once more reduced to the brink of ruin. Alexander de Mowbray, Geoffrey de Mowbray, and some others, pretending powers from "the earl of Athol and Robert the Steward of Scotland," concluded a treaty with Edward at Perth; the substance of which was, that all the Scots should receive pardon, and have their fees, lands, and offices restored, excepting those who by common assent in parliament should be excluded. The liberties of the church, and the ancient laws and usages of Scotland, were to remain in full force. All offices were to be filled with Scotchmen, excepting that the king should appoint whom he pleased within his regalities.

The earl of Athol now began to persecute with the utmost fury those who wished well to the cause of Scotland. With 3000 men he besieged the castle of Kil-drommey, which had hitherto been the great refuge of Athol's followers. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell resolved at all events to attempt the rescue of his wife and family, who were shut up in this castle. With 1100 men he surprized Athol in the forest of Kilblain. The earl's men, seized with a panic, fled and dispersed themselves; on which their commander, refusing to accept of quarter, was killed. Sir Andrew Murray then assembled a parliament at Dunfermline, where he was immediately appointed regent.

In 1336, the king of England perceiving that the Scots were taken under the patronage of France, resolved to invade their country, and crush them at once before they could have any assistance from their new allies. In this expedition he penetrated as far as Inverness; but the Scots, commanded by Sir Andrew Murray, avoided coming to a general action; so that Edward could not effect anything of consequence. The inhabitants of Aberdeen attacked one Thomas Rossheme, who had landed at Dunoter. They were defeated; but Rossheme fell in the action. Edward chastised the vanquished severely for their temerity, and laid the town in ashes. He then began to repair the castles whose fortifications had been demolished by king Robert. He put in a state of defense the castles of Dunoter, Kincelvin, Lawrington, Stirling, Bothwell, Edinburgh, and Roxburgh; greatly augmented the fortifications of Perth, and left a considerable body of troops in the place. The Scots began to reduce these castles as soon as Edward was departed; and in 1337, under Sir Andrew Murray, invaded Cumberland. No great exploits, however, were now performed on either side. Edward being employed in preparations for invading France, had little leisure to attend to the affairs of Scotland; and the Scots, divided among themselves, and destitute of these leaders under whom they had acquired so much glory, could not now annoy their enemies as formerly. The most remarkable transaction was the siege of the castle of Dunbar, belonging to the earl of March. The English commander was the earl of Salisbury. The earl of March was absent; but his wife, the daughter of Randolph, from her complexion commonly called Black Agnes, undertook to defend it in her husband's absence. The English again employed that huge machine called a siege tower, formerly mentioned in our account of the siege of Berwick; it met with the same fate now as at that time; an huge floe, let fall upon it from the top of the walls, crushed it to pieces. The English, baffled in every attack, turned the siege into a blockade; but Alexander Ramsay having found means to enter it with 40 resolute men, the garrison made a sally, and cut in pieces the advanced guard of the enemy. The English, disheartened by so many misfortunes, abandoned the enterprise.

In 1338, Sir Andrew Murray the regent died, and was succeeded in his office by Robert the Steward of Robert the Bruce. In 1339 he reduced the town of Perth and Stirling, the castle of Stirling; and gained over to the Scottish interest William Bullock, governor of the castle of Coupar; after which, having expelled the enemy from every In 1341, the castle of Edinburgh was surprised by a device of Sir William Bullock. According to his appointment, one Walter Currie of Dundee privately received into his ship the knight of Liddesdale, with William Fraser, Joachim of Kinbuck, and 200 retinue men. Currie cast anchor in Leith road, pretending to be an English shipmaster, who had a cargo of wine and provisions, with which he proposed to furnish the commander of the castle. His barrels and hampers were brought to the castle gate, and suddenly thrown down in such a manner as to obstruct the shutting of it. Currie and his men then flew the centinels; and the knight of Liddesdale, with a party who lurked in the neighbourhood, rushed in, overpowered the garrison, and made themselves masters of the place.

On the 4th of March this year, the king and queen arrived from France, and landed at Inverkeithing in Kin- cardineshire.

In 1342, Alexander Ramsay took the strong fortres of Roxburgh; for which important service the king bestowed on him the charge of the sheriff of Teviotdale, at that time held by William Douglas knight of Liddesdale. The king's liberality proved fatal to Ramsay; for from that time Douglas became his implacable and inveterate enemy; and having, after a pretended reconciliation, unexpectedly surprised him with three of his friends, he put them instantly to death, carrying off Ramsay himself to his castle of the Hermitage, where he caused him to be starved to death in a most barbarous manner. The unhappy man was confined in a room, over which was an heap of wheat; a few grains of which were let fall every day through a hole, not as many as would support life, but as would protract it for a time, and make him longer sensible of the agencies of hunger; and in this miserable situation he survived for 17 days. About the same time Sir William Bullock was put to death by Douglas in a similar manner; nor was king David at that time in a capacity to punish such atrocious crimes committed by so powerful a subject.

In the mean time, David having raised a powerful army, prepared to take a severe revenge of the English, from whom he had suffered so much. Edward was at that time in France, but commanded Baliol to raise all the militia beyond the Trent; which order, however, produced but little effect; so much was this mean-spirited prince despised by the English. David invaded Northumberland without opposition, and ravaged the country; but was obliged to raise the siege of Newcastle, which was commanded by Sir John Nevil, an excellent officer. David, exasperated at this repulse, entered the bishopric of Durham, which he ravaged in the most cruel manner. However, on the approach of Edward with a powerful army, the Scots thought proper to retire; and a two years truce was agreed upon.

This pacification was but short-lived. In 1345 the Scots again prepared to invade England, while Edward took all necessary measures for opposing them; however, this year the Scots were successful, ravaging Westmoreland, and burning several towns. The year ended with a new truce between the two nations; and hostilities were not renewed till 1346, when David Scotland entered England with an army of 50,000 men. His first exploit was the taking of the fortres of Liddel, and massacring all whom he found in it. The commander, Sir Walter Selby, capitulated with a Scots knight for his life; but the bargain being disapproved of by David, he ordered two of Selby's sons to be strangled in his presence, and then the father's head to be cut off. From thence the Scots marched to Lanercost, which they plundered; then passing into Northumberland, they pillaged the priory of Hexham, but spared the town, that it might serve as a magazine. Three other towns, Corbridge, Darham, and Darlington, were spared for the same reason. In his march to Durham, it is said that he would have made the county a desert, had not some of the monks paid him a contribution of a thousand pounds to spare their estates; however, according to Kniggeton, every Englishman who fell into David's hands was put to death, unless he could redeem his life by paying threepence.

To put a stop to the cruelties of this barbarous invader, the queen of England, in her husband's absence, assembled a powerful army, which was divided into four bodies; the first commanded by Lord Henry Percy; the second by the archbishop of York; the third by the bishop of Lincoln, the lord Mowbray, and Sir Thomas Rokeby; and the fourth and principal division was headed by Edward Baliol.—The king of Scotland headed a chosen battalion, composed of the flower of his nobility, and the auxiliaries with which he had been supplied by France. The high reward of Scotland headed the second line; and the third was commanded by the earls of Moray and Douglas. While the English were approaching, Lord Douglas and Sir David Graham skirmished with them, but were defeated with the loss of 500 of their men; which seemed an omen of the disaster that was about to ensue. The general engagement began between the battle archers on both sides; but the English being much of Durham superior in the use of the bow, the steward of Scotland advanced to the relief of his countrymen. The English archers, unable to bear his attack, fell back upon Lord Henry Percy's division, which was thus put in confusion, and would have been totally defeated, had not Baliol advanced to their relief with a body of 4000 horse. The steward was then obliged to retire; by which means he left the flank of that division commanded by David, and which was then engaged with another line of the English, exposed to an attack. Baliol perceived the advantage; and, without pursuing the steward, attacked the king's division, which was immediately cut in pieces or dispersed. David was left with about 80 noblemen and gentlemen, but still defeated, maintained the fight with obstinacy; nor would he yield even when wounded in the head with an arrow, expecting every moment to be relieved by the steward and that line of his army which was still entire under the lords Murray and Douglas. At last, finding himself totally overpowered, he attempted to retreat, but was overtaken by a party under one John Cope land. This captain, endeavouring to seize the king, had two of his teeth struck out by a blow of his gauntlet; but at last, finding it in vain to resist, the king was obliged to yield his sword and surrender himself a prisoner.—After he was taken, Baliol attacked Scotland.

tacked and totally routed that division of the Scottish army which had hitherto remained entire under the lords Moubray and Douglas. In this battle the Scots lost a great number of their nobility, and 15,000 common soldiers. Many persons of the first distinction were also taken along with the king; and had it not been that the escape of the Scots was favoured by the aversion of the English soldiers, who neglected the pursuit in order to plunder, scarce a single Scotman would have returned.

Account of King David after this unfortunate battle, was carried to the castle of Bamborough, where he was kept with so much privacy, that for some time it was not known where he was, or that he had been taken prisoner. As soon as the truth was known, the queen of England demanded the royal prisoner from Copeland; but the latter positively refused to part with him even to the queen, unless she could produce an order to that purpose under Edward's hand and seal. This resolute behaviour was resented by the queen, and a complaint made to the king; in consequence of which, Copeland was summoned to appear before Edward, after having resigned David to the custody of lord Nevil. The English monarch, at that time in France, approved of all that he had done, rewarded him with 500l. a-year, and sent him back to England with the honour of knighthood. David was then escorted by Copeland, attended, it is said, by 20,000 men from the castle of Ogle in Northumberland, till the lord Nevil, by indenture, delivered him into the hands of Sir Thomas Rokeby sheriff of Yorkshire. In the same pompous manner he was conducted all the way to London, which he entered on a black courser. He was received in the capital with the greatest solemnity by the lord-mayor and other magistrates, the city-companies under arms lining all the streets through which he passed, the houses loaded with spectators, who expressed a generous concern for his captivity. Being arrived at the tower, he was delivered, by indenture likewise, to the custody of the constable, the lord John Darcy, on the 2d of January 1347.

Baliol now, encouraged by the misfortune of his rival, made an effort once more to establish himself on the throne of Scotland; and before the end of the year reduced the castles of Hermitage and Roxburgh, the forest of Ettrick, the Merse, with the counties of Annandale, Teviotdale, and Tweedale. The Scots continued faithful to the cause of their king, notwithstanding his misfortune, and chose the Steward for the guardian of the kingdom. He behaved with a prudence equal to the high station he filled: nevertheless the progress of Baliol was so rapid, that it is scarce probable he could have maintained his ground, had not Edward again consented to a truce; which, however, seems to have been ill observed on the part of the Scots. In fact, though both Scots and English historians are silent as to particulars, we find, that about the end of the year 1348, all Scotland was recovered out of the hands of the English; excepting Berwick, Roxburgh, Hermitage, and Lanric, which was part of Baliol's hereditary estate, and defended by him with an army. The Scots historians inform us, that the English, in revenge of the damages done to their country by the breach of the peace, proclaimed a tournament and other military exercises at Berwick, to which they invited the Scots; but in their way thither the latter fell into an ambuscade, and were all cut in pieces.

The years 1349 and 1350 were remarkable only for a dreadful plague which invaded Scotland, after having ravaged the continent of Europe. According to Fordun, one-third of the people of Scotland perished plague at this time. The patient's flesh swelled exceedingly, and he died in two days illness; but the mortality chiefly affected the middling and lower ranks of people. The same dreadful calamity continued throughout the years 1351 and 1352; occasioning a cessation of arms not only in Scotland, but throughout all Europe.

All this time king David remained a prisoner in England; for, though several treaties had been proposed, they had hitherto come to nothing, because the English monarch insisted upon being indemnified for the ravages the Scots had committed in his territories. At last it was agreed, that the king of Scotland should be immediately set at liberty, on paying 90,000 merks for his ransom, by equal proportions within the space of nine years: That 10,000 merks, monarch, being the first proportion, should be paid at the feast of Candlemas next to come; the second at Candlemas 1357, and so on till complete payment should be made of the whole: That, during the said space of nine years, there should be a truce between the two kingdoms: That 20 Scots gentlemen, of the best families in the kingdom, should remain in England as hostages and sureties for the said sum; and that, if any part thereof was not paid at the precise time appointed, then David should remain a prisoner in England till it was paid; or, if he was detained by any just cause, that the lord high steward, the lord Douglas, John of the Isles, and others of the highest rank, should come and supply his place.

These terms were rejected by the Scots nobility; rejected by and, in 1355, war was re-commenced with England, at the instigation of France, who sent 40,000 crowns to Scotland as a supply for defraying the expenses.

With this sum the guardian, having raised an army, once more took the field; but not before the English had destroyed the Lothians and Douglastide. A battle was fought on Nisbit-moor; in which the English being drawn into an ambuscade, were totally defeated. The next attempt of the Scots was against the town of Berwick, which they designed to sur Berwick prise by escalade. They met, however, with such taken by a vigorous resistance, that many persons of distinction were killed. However, the attack proved successful; but the acquisition was of no great importance, as the castle still held out. Edward, in the mean time, hearing of the loss of the town, hurried back from France to London. Here he laid but three days, and marched northward to raise the siege. He reached Durham on the 23d of December 1355, where he by Edward appointed all his military tenants to meet him on the 1st of January 1356. On the 14th of the same month he arrived before Berwick, which was instantly retaken; but the Scots were allowed to depart for their own country. The reduction of this place produced an extraordinary effect: For Baliol now perceiving that Edward meant not to establish him on the throne of Scotland, but to retain in his own possession as many places of that country as he could, came at last Scotland to the resolution of giving up to the king of England the whole of Scotland. This indeed was no more than a form, because at that time he was not possessed of the kingdom. However, the ceremony was performed at Roxburgh; and Baliol presented his crown, and some earth and stones, by way of investiture. Baliol in return was to have a revenue of 2000 pounds a-year; and, as Edward was at the head of an excellent army, he had little doubt of being able to force the Scots to submit.

The affairs of Scotland were now in a very critical situation; and it was necessary to gain time. For this reason Edward was amused with a negotiation; and to this he more willingly listened, as he was at that time waiting for his fleet, from which he great expectations. A little time, however, discovered the deceit. The Scots plainly told Edward, that they would die rather than submit to his demands; and he, in return, threatened a most dreadful revenge. His fleet in the meantime arrived in the frith of Forth; the mariners destroyed and pillaged all that was within their reach, without sparing even the sacred edifices, carrying off the statues of the blessed virgin, loading the monks with chains, and committing every thing in those days called impiety and sacrilege. Edward had by this time marched as far as Haddington, but was obliged to receive provisions all the way from his fleet; for the Scots had desolated the country through which he passed. During his march his army was harassed, and his foragers cut off; so that he was reduced to distress; and at last, his fleet being totally destroyed by a storm, he was obliged to return to England without accomplishing any thing.

In the mean time the prince of Wales, who had been left by his father to carry on the war in France, defeated and took prisoner John king of France at the battle of Poitiers. In this battle were 3000 Scots, who had gone over as auxiliaries to the French monarch, and who suffered extremely. However, the success of Edward, instead of rendering him haughty, seemed to have a contrary effect; and, by the mediation of pope Innocent, a truce for two years was concluded with France, in which the Scots were comprehended. During this interval, the ransom of the king of Scots was settled at 100,000 marks to be paid in ten years; for which 20 hostages were to be given as formerly. In consequence of this treaty, David at last obtained his liberty in 1358; and Edward laid aside all hopes of ever subduing Scotland. As for Baliol, he was now sunk in oblivion; and it is not known what became of him, or when he died.

David, though now restored to liberty, found himself greatly embarrassed with the payment of such a large sum as had been stipulated for his ransom; the kingdom of Scotland being then in a most miserable som and exhausted situation. After sending his queen, and going into England himself, he could obtain no greater favour than a respite of a few months for the payment of the second moiety; so that he was at last constrained to ask assistance from France. This could scarce be expected in the distressed situation of that kingdom; however, it was at last agreed, that 50,000 marks should be paid to Scotland, in case the Scots would consent to renew the war the following years. Neither party, however, kept their word; and David, being still greatly distressed about the remainder of his ransom, at last entered into a very extraordinary negociation with Edward, by which he consented that the king of England should be his successor to the throne of Scotland. But this negociation was defeated through the invincible hatred which the Scots bore to an English governor. David then, being entirely unable to discharge the remainder of his ransom, was obliged to enter into a new treaty; by which the treaty with kingdom of Scotland became indebted to Edward the sum of 100,000 pounds Sterling, to be paid by equal proportions within the space of 25 years, during which there should be a truce between the two nations.

From this time we meet with little more of any moment in the reign of king David. After the death of his queen Johanna, the sister of Edward, he married a Scots woman, of mean birth, named Margaret Logie; but by neither of his wives had he any children. Queen Margaret he divorced, on what pretence is not known; however, she left the kingdom, and complained personally to the pope, who treated her as David's lawful wife, and enjoined her husband to receive her as such under the most severe penalties. What effect these threats had on the king, is not known; but it is certain that Margaret never returned to Scotland; and, and is succeeded on the 22d of February 1371, David himself died, leaving the kingdom to his nephew Robert Stewart, Robert the first of that family who sat on the throne of Scotland (g).

Some Concerning the origin of the Stewart family, we have the following account by the Scots historians. Fleance, the son of the celebrated Banquo, after his father's murder by Macbeth, fled into Wales, where he had a son named Walter, by a princess of that country. After the restoration of Malcolm Canmore, this Walter returned to Scotland, where he was promoted to the high stewardship, a dignity held by service, and which entitled the possessor to all the privileges of a baron. Walter was now distinguished from this office, by the title of Walter the Stewart, which descended to his posterity; and Steward, afterwards Stewart, or Stuart, became their surname.

On this account Lord Hailes has the following remarks. "Our historians have recorded the achievements of Walter the Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm III. He is said to have been the father of Alan, and the grandfather of that Walter who was indeed Stewart of Scotland in the reign of David I. and Malcolm IV. It may perhaps be ascribed to strange prejudices, or to a spirit of skepticism, when I declare, that hitherto I have seen no evidence that such a person as Walter Stewart of Scotland, in the reign of Malcolm III., did ever exist.

"We are gravely told, 'That Walter the son of Fleance, the son of Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, having killed a man at the court of Griffith, prince of Wales, sought refuge with Edward the Confessor; and having killed another man at Edward's court, sought refuge with Alan the Red, earl of Britany; that, on the Norman invasion, he came to England with the earl of Britany, and signalized himself at the battle..." Some authors tell us, that at the accession of Robert II., his title was disputed by William earl of Douglas. If such claim was preferred, an assembly of the States set it aside, and it was resolved that Robert should be crowned at Scone; and to take away for the future all disputes concerning the succession.

The battle of Hastings in 1066: That the earl of Britany, by his first wife Emma, daughter of Siward earl of Northumberland, had an only child Christina; and that he bestowed her in marriage on the young hero.

This is the story, which, after various improvements since the days of Boece, has had the good fortune to obtain credit.

"That Walter, before he had well attained to the age of manhood, should have slain two men in private quarrels, is a circumstance improbable, yet possible; and therefore I object not to it. But his alliance with the earl of Britany cannot be so easily admitted.

"Alan surnamed le Roux, a younger son of Eudo earl of Britany, was one of the gallant adventurers who came over with William the Conqueror; he had neither territories nor court. The historians of Britany positively assert that he had no children. Besides, it is hard to say, by what accident Alan le Roux should have become acquainted with Emma the daughter of Siward earl of Northumberland! I suppose that our historians invented this alliance, in order to strengthen the connection between Walter the Stewart and Malcolm III.

According to one account, the genealogies of their families stand thus:

Siward earl of Northumberland

Emma = Alan earl of Britany

Another daughter = Duncan king of Scots

Christina = Walter the Stewart

Malcolm III.

Thus Walter the Stewart and Malcolm III. were cousins-german.

According to another account, the genealogy of their families stands thus:

Siward earl of Northumberland

His sister = wife of Duncan

Emma = Alan Earl of Britany

Malcolm III.

Christina = Walter the Stewart.

Thus the mother of Walter the Stewart, and Malcolm III. were cousins-german.

It is said, "That Walter the Stewart had a son, Alan, also Stewart of Scotland." The evidence of this is to be found in a charter granted by earl Gospatrick, and in another charter granted by his son Waldeve earl of March, at Dunbar. In them Alden, or Aldan Dapifer, is mentioned as a witness; that is, say our antiquaries, Allan, the steward of Scotland.

This is the fundamental proposition on which the genealogy of the house of Stewart, as it is commonly understood, may be said to rest. It will be remarked, that this hypothesis takes it for granted, that Alden or Aldan, and Alan, are the same; upon what authority, I know not. The Alden mentioned in the two charters seems to have been the steward of earl Gospatrick, and of earl Waldeve, not the steward of Scotland.

To the charter by earl Gospatrick, there are eight witnesses: Andrew the arch-deacon; Adam his brother; Nigel the chaplain; Ketel the son of Dolphin; Ernald; Alden the Stewart [Dapifer]; Adam the son of Alden; Adam the son of Gospatrick? Is it possible for credulity itself to believe, that the Alden placed so low in such company, was the high steward of Scotland, a man at least as honourable as Gospatrick himself? I can have no doubt, that the witnesses to this charter were the dependents or household-servants of earl Gospatrick; and that if we interpret Nigellus Capellanus to be Nigel the earl's chaplain, we must interpret Aldanus Dapifer to be Alden the earl's steward.

To the charter granted by earl Waldeve, there are nine witnesses. Alden Dapifer is the seventh in order. There are only three among them who seem to have been landed men: Elias de Haddelandena (probably Haffenden), William de Copland, and William de Hellebat, (q. Ellbottle); all the three are placed before Alden Dapifer.

It has been remarked, "That in those days the title of steward, or dapifer, was too high a title to be given to the retainer of an earl." I answer, that the Saxon Chronicle, anno 1093, says, "Morael of Boebbahurh was thæs corles steward," i.e. Morel of Bamborough was this earl's steward, or the steward of Robert earl of Northumberland. Besides, to a charter granted by earl Gospatrick the elder, Lambertus Dapifer is a witness. If Lambertus Dapifer, in a charter of Gospatrick the elder, implies Lambert the steward of the family of March, why should Aldanus Dapifer, in the charters of the son and grandson of Gospatrick, imply the steward of Scotland?

There was a certain princess of Denmark, who brought forth a son to a bear. This son was called Bern, and, natural enough like, had ears like a bear. He was the father of Siward earl of Northumberland. Brompton, p. 945 ap. Twidten. This last article occasioned a recall of all the Scots from the English armies, which Edward looked upon to be a prelude to an invasion. He accordingly issued writs for assembling all the militia in the north of England. At this time an invincible hatred subsisted between the neighbouring people of both nations, which Scots and extended not only through the lower ranks, but had English pervaded the higher classes also. The inhabitants of the borders, indeed, paid very little regard to the orders of their respective sovereigns; so that daily hostilities were committed by them upon each other, when there was peace between the sovereigns. The inhabitants of these countries had established with one another certain conventions, which have since been collected, and go by the name of the Border-laws. The families of Douglas and Percy, whose estates lay contiguous to one another, were at perpetual variance. It had been common for the borderers of both kingdoms, during a truce, to frequent each other's fairs; and a servant of the earl of March had been killed in a fray at that of Roxburgh, which was still in the hands of the English. Justice for this murder was demanded from lord Percy; but he slighted the complaint. On this the earl of March, with his brother the earl of Moray, assembling their followers, entered the next fair that was held in Roxburgh, plundered and burnt the town, and killed all the English who fell into their hands. The English borderers were ordered to lay waste the lands of the earl of March; but, in their way thither, destroyed the estate of Sir John Gordon, a man of great property in the south of Scotland. Sir John in his turn invaded England, from whence he drove off a large booty in cattle, and a number of prisoners. In his retreat he was attacked by a body of fresh troops under Sir John Lisburn, at

Vol. IX.

"I believe that no defender of the common hypothesis will answer this objection, by pretending that Lambertus Dapifer was indeed Stewart of Scotland. Such an answer would leave no room for Walter Stewart of Scotland, who is held to have been a distinguished personage in the reign of Malcolm III."

"It is curious to see upon what slight grounds our antiquaries have established the connection between Aldanus Dapifer and the house of Stewart. Walterus filius Alan appears to have flourished in the reign of David I. In the reign of Malcolm IV., he is termed Dapifer. Hence it has been rashly concluded, that Walterus Dapifer filius Alan was the son of that Aldanus Dapifer who is a witness to the charters of Godspatric and Waldeve.

"I persuade myself, that Aldanus Dapifer, and Alan the father of Walter Stewart of Scotland, in the reign of Malcolm IV., were different persons; and that they had nothing in common but the Christian name, if indeed they had that in common.

"Some of my readers may demand, 'Who then was Alan the father of Walter, Stewart of Scotland in the reign of Malcolm IV.?'"

"I can only answer this question by demanding, 'Who was the father of Martach earl of Marre in the reign of Malcolm III.; of Gilchrist earl of Angus in the reign of Alexander I.; of Fergus lord of Galway in the reign of Malcolm IV.; or of Friskinus de Morawis, ancestor of the family of Sutherland, in the reign of William the Lion?' Or, to keep in the supposed line of the royal family of Stewart, 'Who was the father of Banquo Thane of Lochaber?'

"Many answers may no doubt be made to this last question. Kennedy says, that the father of Banquo was one of the seven sons of Corc king of Munster; Sir George MacKenzie, of Ferquhard, the son of Kenneth III.; and Simpkin, the son of Ferquhard Thane of Lochaber, the son of Kenneth, the son of Murdoch, the son of Doir, the son of Eth king of Scotland.

"It is remarkable, that Abercrombie relates all those contradictory stories, without ever suspecting the natural inference arising from them, 'That if noble persons are not satisfied with a long pedigree, proved by authentic instruments, they must believe in flattering and ignorant fictions; and that if they scorn to wait for the dawn of record to enlighten their descent, they must bewilder themselves in dark and fabulous genealogies.'

"In the reign of David I., before the middle of the 12th century, the family of the Stewarts was opulent and powerful. It may therefore have subsisted for many ages previous to that time; but when, and what was its commencement, we cannot determine." Scotland, a place called Caram. An obstinate encounter followed. The Scots were five times repulsed; but at last they renewed the charge with such fury, that they made Lilburne, his brother, and several other persons of distinction, prisoners, together with all their surviving soldiers. On this lord Percy with 7000 men encamped at Duns, in the south of Scotland; but was obliged to retire, probably for want of subsistence for his army. In the mean time, Mulgrave, the governor of Berwick, who had been ordered to join Percy with a detachment from the garrison, was on his march intercepted, defeated, and taken prisoner by Sir John Gordon; after which the border war became general on both sides. The issue of these disturbances is but little known; however, in 1377, we find them raging with more violence than ever. The fair of Roxburgh was once more the scene of action, and the town was again burnt down by the Scots. Lord Percy, who was now earl of Northumberland, resolved to take signal vengeance. He ravaged the Scots borders, particularly the earl of March's estate, for three days, at the head of 10,000 men. Some time after this, the Scots insurgents became powerful enough to surprise Berwick; which, however, was quickly retaken by the English, who soon after invaded Scotland. In this expedition, however, they succeeded so ill, that Percy thought proper to desist from his expedition.

The Scots in the mean time began hostilities by sea, under one Mercer, an experienced sailor; but he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by the English, with all his fleet. In 1379, England was afflicted with a dreadful plague, of which the Scots took advantage to invade the country. The English historians tell us that they behaved with the utmost barbarity, killing and plundering the defenceless inhabitants without mercy.

This predatory war continued, generally to the disadvantage of the English, till the beginning of November 1380, when a truce was concluded, to continue for a year; which, however, related only to the borders. This truce, like the others, was but very indifferently observed; so that, in 1383, new negotiations were set on foot; but, in 1384, the war was renewed with greater fury than ever. In the spring, the earls of March and Douglas took the castle of Lochmaben, and intercepted a rich convoy which the English were sending to Roxburgh; burnt to the ground the castle of Wark, and committed such devastations in the north of England, that several gentlemen offered to resign their estates to king Richard, because they were not able to defend them against the Scots. The Duke of Lancaster entered Scotland at the head of an army; but the inhabitants had removed every thing valuable, so that he marched on to Edinburgh without accomplishing any thing of consequence. On his return, he was harrassed by flying parties of Scots, who destroyed a considerable number of his men. This year also the French sent a body of auxiliaries into Scotland. The earls of Northumberland and Nottingham entered Scotland with an army of 10,000 horse and 6000 archers; but retired after having committed some devastations in the southern counties. The Scots revenged themselves by laying waste all the northern part of England to the gates of Newcastle. Berwick was taken by the Scots, and soon after surrendered for the sum of 2000 marks. A truce was then, as usual, concluded; but in the mean time king Robert was meditating a most severe blow against the English.

The Duke of Burgundy having come to the possession of the estate of his father-in-law the earl of Flanders, claimed the sovereignty of the town of Ghent; but they refused to submit to him, and in this refusal were protected by king Richard II. of England. On this the duke of Burgundy proposed to the French court to invade England in concert with the Scots. This being agreed to, a fleet was fitted out at Sluys; on board of which John de Vienne, the French admiral, embarked, carrying along with him 50,000 pounds in gold, which the duke of Burgundy advanced in order to be distributed in Scotland, where the admiral arrived safe with a considerable reinforcement, together with supplies of all kinds of military stores. Two thousand auxiliaries, of whom 500 were men-at-arms; arrived with this fleet, and 400 suits of complete armour were brought along with them, in order to be distributed among the bravest of the Scots.

The Scots were for a short time elated with the great attention which had been paid them by the French king; but, in the mean time, the Flemings having revolted, the French abandoned the Scots to sustain the whole weight of the English resentment, that they themselves might employ their arms in Flanders. King Richard took the field with a more numerous army than had ever been mustered in England before. Hostilities were begun by the Scots, who, according to custom, invaded the northern parts of England, and carried off a considerable booty; however, in their retreat, they were in the utmost danger of being cut off by the duke of Lancaster, who had been sent with an army to intercept them. The English army proceeded northwards; but could accomplish nothing, on account of the country being defoliated, till they came to Edinburgh, which they laid in ashes. Being, however, incessantly harrassed by parties of the enemy, they were obliged to retreat.

Nothing remarkable happened till the year 1378, when, after a short truce, the war was renewed with fresh fury. Northumberland and Westmoreland were ravaged by the earls of Fife and Douglas, and Lord Nithsdale defeated a body of 3000 English; after which he formed the plan of invading Ireland, the inhabitants of which had of late been very active against the Scots. In 1388, Douglas obtained permission to raise a body of forces for this invasion; and having landed in safety, defeated the Irish, plundered the town of Carlingford, and loaded fifteen ships with the booty. From thence the Scots sailed to the isle of Man, which in like manner was plundered and laid waste; after which they returned with their booty to Loch Rien in Scotland.

Encouraged by this success, Robert determined to proceed on a more enlarged plan. Having assembled parliament at Aberdeen, a double invasion of England was resolved upon. Two armies were raised; one consisting of 25,000 men, commanded by the earls of Menteith and Fife, Douglas lord of Galloway, and Alexander Lindsay; the other army, consisting of the like number, was commanded by the earls of Dou- Scotland. Douglas, March, Crawford, Moray, the lord high Constable of Scotland, and other persons of distinction. The former entered Cumberland, and the latter Northumberland, both which countries they laid waste, and both armies were to meet within ten miles of Newcastle. The English were thrown into the greatest consternation. Newcastle was defended by the earl of Northumberland, whose age and infirmities rendered him incapable of taking the field; but his place was abundantly supplied by his two sons Henry and Ralph, the former of whom is known in English history by the name of Hotspur. The town was garrisoned by the flower of the English nobility and gentry, as well as the inhabitants of the adjacent countries, who had fled thither for refuge. Douglas selected 2000 foot and 300 horsemen out of the two armies, and encamped on the north side of the town, with a view, according to the Scots historians, of storming it next day. In the meantime he was challenged by Hotspur to fight him hand to hand, with sharp ground spears, in fight of both armies. Douglas accepted the challenge, and Percy was unhorsed the first encounter, and obliged to take refuge within the portcullis or gate of the town; from whence Douglas brought off his antagonist's lance, with a pennon affixed to it, and swore in his hearing, that he would carry it into Scotland. Next day Douglas attempted to storm the town; but being repulsed in the attack, he decamped in the night. Percy, breathing furious revenge, pursued and overtook the Scots at Otterburn. His arrival was quite unexpected, so that the principal commanders of the Scottish army were sitting down to supper unarmed. The soldiers, however, were instantly prepared for battle; but in the hurry necessarily attending a surprise of this kind, Douglas forgot to put on his cuirass. Both leaders encouraged their men by the most animating speeches; and both parties waited for the rise of the moon, which happened that night to be unusually bright. The battle being joined on the moon's first appearance, the Scots began to give ground; but, being rallied by Douglas, who fought with a battle-ax, the English, though greatly superior in number, were totally routed. Twelve hundred were killed on the spot; and 100 persons of distinction, among whom were the two Percys, were made prisoners by Keith marshal of Scotland. On the side of the Scots the greatest loss was that of the brave earl Douglas, who was killed in consequence of going to battle without his armour, as above related.

It was this single combat between Douglas and Percy, and the subsequent battle, which gave rise to the celebrated ballad of Chevy Chase.

In the meantime the bishop of Durham was marching towards Newcastle with an army of 10,000 men; but was informed by the runaways of Percy's defeat, which happened on the 21st of July 1388. In a council of war it was resolved to pursue the Scots, whom they hoped easily to vanquish, as being wearied with the battle of the preceding day, and laden with plunder. The earl of Moray who commanded in chief, having called a consultation of his officers, resolved to venture a battle. The prisoners were almost as numerous as the whole Scots army; however, the generals required no more of them than their words of honour that they should continue inactive during the battle, and remain prisoners still. This condition being complied with, the Scots drew out their army for battle. Their rear was secured by marshes, and their flanks by large trees which they had felled. In short, their appearance was so formidable, that the English, dreading to encounter a resolute enemy so strongly secured, retired to Newcastle, leaving the Scots at liberty to continue their march to their own country.

Robert being now oppressed with age, so that he could no longer endure the fatigues of government, the administration of affairs devolved upon his second son the earl of Fife; for his eldest son was by nature indolent, and besides lame by an unlucky blow he had received from a horse. Early in the spring of 1389, he invaded England with success; but the same year a truce was concluded, to last from the 19th of June 1389 to the 16th of August 1392; in which the allies of both crowns were included. This truce was violently opposed by the nobility, who suspected their king of being too much under French influence. Upon this the court of France thought proper to send over ambassadors to persuade the nobility to comply; informing them, that in case of a refusal, they could expect no assistance either of men or money from the continent. With difficulty they prevailed, and peace between England and Scotland was once more restored. Scarce, however, was this truce finished, when the peace of the nation was most scandalously violated by Robert's third son the earl of Buchan. This prince having a quarrel with the bishop of Murray, burnt down the fine cathedral of Elgin, which has been called by historians the lanshan and ornament of the north of Scotland. The king for this crime caused his son to be imprisoned; and a civil war would have been the consequence, had it not been for the veneration which the Scots retained for their old king. However, they did not long enjoy, their beloved monarch; for he died on the 19th of April 1390, in the 75th year of his age and the 19th of his reign.

On the death of Robert II. the crown devolved upon his eldest son John; but the name being thought unlucky in Scotland, he changed it for that of Robert, though he was still called by the commonalty Robert John Fernzater. He had been married to Annibal, the daughter of Sir John Drummond, ancestor to the noble family of Perth; and was crowned along with his comfort at Scone, on the 13th of August 1390. He confirmed the truce which had been entered into with England, and renewed the league with France; but the beginning of his reign was disturbed by the wars of the petty chieftains with each other. Duncan Stewart, son to Alexander earl of Buchan, who had died in prison for burning the cathedral of Elgin, assembling his followers under pretence of revenging his father's death, laid waste the county of Angus. Walter Ogilvy the sheriff of Angus, attempting to repel the invaders, was killed, with his brother and 60 of their followers. The king then gave a commission to the earl of Crawford to suppress them; which he soon did, and most of them were either killed or executed. The followers of the earl of Buchan were composed of the wildest Highlanders, distinguished by the title of Cat-Account of terence, which answers to that of banditti. That such a race of people existed is certain from the records of fact. Scotland; but it is not easy to determine how they obtained their subsistence, being void of the knowledge of agriculture and of every civil art. There is some reason to believe that many of them came from the Western Isles; and that they or their ancestors had emigrated from the eastern parts of Ireland. The lands they inhabited were never cultivated till towards the middle of the last century; and, according to the most authentic accounts, they lived entirely upon animal-food.

The earl of Crawford's success against the followers of Buchan encouraged Robert to intrust him with a commission for subduing other insurgents by whom the peace of the country was disturbed. The most remarkable of these, were the Clan Chattan and Clan Kay. As both these tribes were numerous and brave, Crawford was not without apprehensions that they might unite against him as a common enemy, and defeat him if he attempted to suppress them by force. He proposed therefore that the two rival clans should each choose 30 men, to determine their differences by the sword, without being allowed the use of any other weapon. The king and his nobility were to be spectators of the combat; the conquered clan were to be pardoned for all their former offences, and the conquerors honoured with the royal favour. This proposal was readily accepted by both parties, and the north inch of Perth was to be the scene of action. But, upon mustering the combatants, it was found that one of them, belonging to the clan Chattan, had absented himself. It was proposed to balance this difference by withdrawing one of the combatants for the clan Kay; but not one of them could be prevailed on to resign his place. At last one Henry Wynd a saddler, though no way connected with either party, offered to supply the place of him that was absent, on condition of his receiving a French crown of gold (about 7s. 6d. of our money); which was immediately paid him. The combat then began with incredible fury; but at last, through the superior valour and skill of Henry Wynd, victory declared in favour of the clan Chattan. Only ten of the conquerors, besides Wynd, were left alive; and all of them desperately wounded. Of the clan Kay only one remained; and he having received no hurt, escaped by swimming across the Tay.

While these internal broils were going on, the truce which had lately been concluded with England was so ill observed, that it became necessary to enter into fresh negotiations. These, like others which had taken place before, had very little effect. The borderers on both sides had been so accustomed to ravage and plunder, that they could not live in quiet. King Robert also was thought to be too much attached to the king of England. He had introduced the new title of duke, which he bestowed first on the prince royal; but making an offer of that honour to one of the heads of the Douglas family, it was rejected with disdain. That powerful family had never lost sight of an ancient claim they had upon the castle of Roxburgh, which was still in the possession of the English; and this year the son of the earl of Douglas, Sir William Stewart, and others, broke down the bridge of Roxburgh, plundered the town, and destroyed the forage and corn there and in the neighbouring country. The English applied for satisfaction; but obtained none, as the confusion which involved the kingdom by the deposition of Richard II. and the accession of Henry IV. prevented them from having recourse to arms, the only argument to which the Scots patriots in those days would listen.

No sooner was the catastrophe of Richard known in Scotland, than they resolved to avail themselves of it; and invading the north parts of England, demolished the castle of Wark, and laid the neighbouring country under contribution. The situation of Henry's affairs did not admit of his resisting this insult. He contented himself with nominating his brother the earl of Westmoreland, to treat with the Scots about a truce or peace; or, if that could not be obtained, to make a mutual agreement, that the towns of Dumfries in Scotland, and Penrith in England, should be free from hostilities during the war. To this proposal the Scots paid no regard; and being encouraged by the court of France, who resented the deposition of Richard, they renewed their ravages in England. In 1400, the king of England called a parliament, in order to consult on the most proper means of repelling the Scottish invasions; and in this he was greatly assisted by the divisions of the Scots among themselves.

The duke of Rothesay, the heir-apparent of the crown, was now grown up to man's estate, and it was thought proper to provide a suitable consort for him. The marriage of Robert was said to have scandalously put up his son's marriage at auction, and offered him to the lady whose father could give the highest price. The earl of March was the highest bidder; and advanced a considerable sum in ready money, on condition that his daughter should become the royal bride. This fond match was opposed by Douglas, who proposed his own daughter the lady Margery. So degenerate was the court of Scotland at this time, that neither the king nor the duke of Rothesay opposed this proposal of a new match, because it was to be purchased with a fresh sum; and they even refused to indemnify the earl of March for the money he had already advanced.

As the duke of Albany sided with Douglas, a council of the nobility was privately assembled, which annulled the contract of the lady Elizabeth Dunbar, the earl of March's daughter, in favour of the lady Margery, daughter to the earl of Douglas; but without taking any measures for repaying the money to the earl of March. The continuator of Fordun informs us, that the earl of Douglas paid a larger sum for his daughter's fortune than that which had been advanced by the earl of March, and that the earl of Douglas's daughter was married to the duke of Rothesay; that, before the marriage was celebrated, March demanded Earl of that the money he had advanced should be reimbursed; March but receiving an unsatisfactory answer, he declared, that as the king had not fulfilled his bargain, he would bring unexpected calamities upon the country. Accordingly he fled into England, leaving his castle of Dunbar to the custody of his nephew Robert Maitland, who soon after put it into the hands of the earl of Douglas, called in history Archibald the Grim, from the ferocity of his visage.

As soon as Robert heard of the revolt of the earl of March, he sent ambassadors demanding back his subject; but the request was disregarded. On the other hand, the earl of March demanded repossession. Scotland. Section of the castle of Dunbar, pleading, that he had committed no act of treason, but had come to England under a safe conduct from king Henry, on purpose to negotiate his private affairs; but this request was disregarded; upon which he sent for all his family and followers to England, where they joined him in great numbers. This produced a war between the two kingdoms. The earl of March, with Henry Percy by surname of Hotspur, invaded Scotland, penetrating as far as Haddington, and carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants into captivity. From thence they went to Peebles, and then to Linton, ravaging the country all the way as they passed along. They next besieged the castle of Hales, and took several of the neighbouring forts; but Archibald the Grim, or rather his son, having raised an army against them, they were struck with terror, and fled to Berwick, to the gates of which they were pursued by the Scots.

At this time the Scottish admiral, Sir Robert Logan, was at sea with a squadron; but miscarried in an attempt he made upon some English ships of war that protected their fleet when fishing upon the coast of Scotland. After this the English plundered the Orkney islands; which, though belonging to the crown of Norway, were at that time governed, or rather farmed, by Sinclair the Scots earl of Orkney and Caithness.

All this time the earl of March continued under the protection of the king of England. He had received repeated invitations to return to his allegiance; but all of them being rejected, he was proclaimed a traitor; and the Scottish government made a formal demand of him from king Henry. With this latter not only refused to comply, but renewed his league with the lord of the Isles. He pretended also, that at this time he had intercepted some letters from the Scottish regency, which called him "a traitor in the highest degree;" and he alleged this as a reason why he protected not only the earl of March, but the lord of the Isles.

On the 25th of July 1400, the earl of March renounced his homage, fealty, and service, to the king of Scotland, and transferred them to Henry by a formal indenture. For this the earl was rewarded with a pension of 500 marks Sterling and the manor of Cliftonstone in Sherwood forest. Henry now began to reassert the claim of homage from the kings of Scotland, and even to meditate the conquest of the kingdom. He had indeed many reasons to hope for success; the principal of which were, the weaknesses of the Scottish government, the divided state of the royal family, and the dissensions among the chief nobility. For this purpose he made great preparations both by sea and land; but before he set out on his journey, he received a letter from the duke of Rothesay, full of reproaches on account of the presumptuous letters which Henry had addressed to Robert and his nobility. The letter was addressed by the duke to his adversary of England, as the Scots had not yet recognized the title of Henry to the crown of England. Towards the end of it the duke, according to the custom of the times, desired Henry, in order to avoid the effusion of Christian blood, to fight him in person with two, three, or an hundred noblemen on a side. But this challenge produced no other answer from Henry than that "he was surprised that the duke of Rothesay should consider noble blood as not being Christian, since he desired the effusion of the one, and not of the other." Henry arrived at Leith on the very day in which he had appointed the Scottish nobility to meet him and pay their homage, and conclude a peace between the two crowns. In all probability, he expected to have been joined by great numbers of the discontented Scots; and he flattered the English with a promise of raising the power and glory of their country to a higher pitch than it had ever known. Under this pretext, he seized upon the sum of 350,000 pounds in ready money, besides as much in plate and jewels, which had been left by Richard in the royal treasury. He raised also vast contributions on the clergy and nobility, and likewise on the principal towns and cities. At last, finding that neither his vast preparations, nor the interest of the earl of March, had brought any of the Scots to his standard, he formed the siege of Edinburgh castle, which was defended by the duke of Rothesay, and, as some say, by the earl of Douglas. The duke of Albany, brother to king Robert, was then in the field with an army, and sent a letter to king Henry, promising, that if he would remain where he was for six days, he would give him battle, and force him to raise the siege, or lose his life. When this was wrote, the duke was at Calder-muir; and Henry was so much pleased with the letter, that he presented the herald who delivered it with his upper garment and a chain of gold; promising, on his royal word, that he would remain where he was until the appointed day. On this occasion, however, the duke forfeited his honour; for he suffered six days to elapse without making any attempt on the English army.

Henry in the mean time pushed on the siege of Edinburgh castle; but met with such a vigorous resistance from the duke of Rothesay, that the hopes of reducing it were but small. At the same time he was informed that the Welsh were on the point of rebellion under the famous chieftain named Owen Glendower. But fails he. He knew also that many of the English were highly dissatisfied with his title to the crown; and that he owed his peaceable possession of it to the moderation of the earl of March, who was the real heir to the unfortunate Richard, but a nobleman of no ambition. For these reasons he concluded it best to raise the siege of Edinburgh castle, and to return to England. He then agreed to a truce for six weeks, but which was afterwards prolonged, probably for a year, by the commissioners of the two crowns, who were met at Kelso.

In 1401, Scotland suffered a great loss by the death of Walter Trail the archbishop of St Andrew's, a most exemplary patriot and person of great influence. Archibald Douglas the Grim had died some time before, and his loss was now severely felt; for the king himself, naturally feeble, and now quite disabled by his age and infirmities, was sequestered from the world in such a manner, that we know not even the place of his residence during the last invasion of Scotland by the English. This year also queen Anastasia died, so that none remained who might be able to heal those divisions which prevailed among the royal family. Robert duke of Albany, a man of great ambition, Scotland, ambition, was an enemy to the duke of Rothsay, the heir-apparent to the crown; and endeavoured, for obvious reasons, to impress his father with a bad opinion of him. This prince, however, appears to have been chargeable with no misdemeanor of any consequence, excepting his having debauched, under promise of marriage, the daughter of William Lindsay of Roify. But this is not supported by any credible evidence; and, though it had been true, could never justify the horrid treatment he met with, and which we are now about to relate.

One Ramorgny, a man of the vilest principles, but an attendant on the duke of Rothsay, had won his confidence; and, perceiving how much he resented the conduct of his uncle the duke of Albany, had the villany to suggest to the prince the dispatching him by assassination. The prince rejected this infamous proposal with such horror and displeasure, that the villain, being afraid he would disclose it to the duke of Albany, informed the latter, under the seal of the most inviolable secrecy, that the prince intended to murder him; upon which the duke, and William Lindsay of Roify, his associate in the treason, resolved upon the prince's death. By practising upon the dozing king, Lindsay and Ramorgny obtained a writ directed to the duke of Albany, empowering him to arrest his son, and to keep him under restraint, in order for his amendment. The same traitors had previously possessed the prince with an apprehension that his life was in danger, and had persuaded him to seize the castle of St Andrew's, and to keep possession of it during the vacancy of that see. Robert had nominated one of his bastard brethren, who was then deacon of St Andrew's, to that bishopric; but being a person no way fitted for such a dignity, he declined the honour, and the chapter refused to elect any other during his lifetime; so that the prince had a prospect of possessing the castle for some time. He was riding thither with a small attendance, when he was arrested between the towns of Nidi and Strathrum, (according to the continuator of Fordun), and hurried to the very castle of which he was preparing to take possession.

The duke of Albany, and the earl of Douglas, who was likewise the prince's enemy, were then at Culross, waiting the event of their detestable conspiracy; of which they were no sooner informed, than they ordered a strong body of ruffians to carry the royal captive from the castle of St Andrew's; which they did, after cloathing him in a rustic cloak, mounting him on a very sorry horse, and committing him to the custody of two execrable wretches, John Selkirk and John Wright, who were ordered by the duke of Albany to starve him to death. According to Buchanan, his fate was for some time prolonged by the compassion of one of his keeper's daughters, who thrust thin oat-cakes through the chinks of his prison-walls, and by a woman who, being a wet nurse, found means to convey part of her milk to him through a small tube. Both these charitable females were detected, and put to death; the young lady's inhuman father being himself the prosecutor. The prince himself died a few days after, on Easter-eve, his hunger having impelled him to devour part of his own flesh.

In the mean time, Robert, being yet ignorant of the murder of his son, had renewed, or rather consented to renew, hostilities with England. On the expiration of the truce, Henry had sent a commission to the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland to offer the Scots any terms they could reasonably desire; but every offer of this kind being rejected, there was a necessity for renewing hostilities. The earl of March had received another pension from Henry, on condition of his keeping on foot a certain number of light troops to act against the Scots. This had been done; and so effectually did these now annoy their enemies, that the earl of Douglas was obliged to take the field against them. By dividing his men into small parties, he repelled the depredations of these invaders; and Thomas Haliburton, the commander of one of the Scottish parties, made incursions into England as far as Bamborough, from whence he returned with a considerable booty. This encouraged another chieftain, A Body of Patrick Hepburn, to make a similar attempt; but being elated with his success, he remained too long in the enemy's country; so that the earl of March had time to send a detachment to intercept him on his return. This produced a desperate encounter, in which Hepburn was killed; the flower of the youth of Lothian, who had attended in this expedition, were cut off, and scarce a single Scotman remained unwounded.

On the news of this disaster, the earl of Douglas applied to the duke of Albany for assistance. He was immediately furnished with a considerable army, according to some, consisting of 10,000; according to others of 13,000; and according to the English historians, of 20,000 men. Murdoch, the son of the duke, attended the earl on this expedition, as did also the earls of Moray, Angus, Orkney, and many others of the chief nobility, with 80 knights. The Scots on this occasion conducted themselves with the same imprudence they had done before. Having penetrated too far into the country, they were intercepted by the English on their return, and obliged to engage at a place called Homeldon, under great disadvantages. The consequence was, that they were utterly defeated, and almost the whole army either killed or taken.

Henry Hotspur, to whom this victory was chiefly owing, resolving to pursue the advantage he had gained, entered the southern parts of the kingdom, and laid siege to a castle called Cocklawys, on the borders of Teviotdale. The castle was for some time bravely defended; but at last the governor entered into a treaty, by which it was agreed to deliver up the castle, in case it was not relieved by the king or governor in six weeks; during which time no additional fortifications were to be made. But while the English were retiring, one of Percy's soldiers pretended that the Scots had broke the capitulation, by introducing a mattock into the place. The governor, hearing of this charge, offered to fight any Englishman who should engage to make it good. A champion was accordingly tugled out, but was defeated by the Scotman; and the English army retired according to agreement. The matter then being debated in the Scottish council, it was resolved to send relief to the castle. Accordingly the duke of Albany, with a powerful army, set out for the place; but before he came there, certain news were received of the defeat and and death of Hotspur, at Shrewsbury, as related under the article ENGLAND, No. 182.

In the year 1404, king Henry, exceedingly desirous of a peace with Scotland, renewed his negotiations for that purpose. These, however, not being attended with success, hostilities were still continued, but without any remarkable transaction on either side. In the mean time, king Robert was informed of the miserable fate of his eldest son the duke of Rothesay; but was unable to resent it by executing justice on such a powerful murderer. After giving himself up to grief, therefore, for some time, he resolved to provide for the safety of his second son James, by sending him into France. This scheme was not communicated to the duke of Albany; and the young prince took shipping with all imaginable secrecy at the Baas, under the care of the earl of Orkney. On his voyage he was taken by an English privateer off Flamborough-head, and brought before Henry. The English monarch having examined the attendants of the prince, they told him that they were carrying the prince to France for his education. "I understand the French tongue," replied Henry, "and your countrymen ought to have been kind enough to have trusted me with their prince's education." He then committed the prince and his attendants close prisoners to the tower of London. The news of this disaster arrived at the castle of Rothesay in the isle of Bute (the place of Robert's residence) while the king was at supper. The news threw him into such an agony of grief, that he died in three days, the 29th of March 1405, after having reigned near 15 years.

By the death of Robert and the captivity of the prince, all the power devolved upon the duke of Albany, who was appointed regent by a convention of the states assembled at Scone. The allegiance of the people, however, to their captive prince could not be shaken; so that the regent was obliged to raise an army for the purpose of releasing him. Henry summoned all his military tenants, and made great preparations; but, having agreed to treat of a final peace with Ireland and the lord of the Isles, the regent laid hold of this as a pretence for entering into a new negotiation with the English monarch; and a truce was concluded for a year, during which time all differences were to be settled. In consequence of this agreement, Rothesay, king at arms, was appointed commissary-general for the king and kingdom of Scotland; and in that quality repaired to the court of England. At the time when the prince of Scotland was taken, it seems that there had been a truce, however ill observed on both sides, subsisting between the two nations. Rothesay produced the record of this truce, which provided that the Scots should have a free navigation; and in consequence of this he demanded justice of the captain and crew of the privateer who had taken the prince. Henry ordered the matter to be inquired into; but the English brought their complaints as well as the Scots; and the claims of both were so intricate, that the examination fell to the ground, but at the same time the truce was prolonged.

In the end of the year 1409, or the beginning of 1410, the war was renewed with England, and Henry prepared to strike a fatal blow which he had long meditated against Scotland. He had, as we have seen, entered into a league with the lord of the Isles, where a considerable revolution then happened. Walter Leffley had succeeded to the estate and honours of the earl of Rothesay, in right of his wife, who was the heir. By that marriage, he had a son named Alexander who succeeded him; and a daughter, Margaret, who was married to the lord of the Isles. This Alexander had married one of the regent's daughters; and dying young, he left behind him an only daughter, Euphane, who was deformed, and became a nun at North Berwick. Her grandfather the regent procured from her a resignation of the earldom of Rothesay, to which she was undoubtedly heir, in favour of John earl of Buchan, but in prejudice of Donald lord of the Isles, who was son to Margaret, sister to the earl Alexander, and consequently the nearest heir to the estate after the nun. Donald applied for redress; but his suit being rejected, he, with his brother John, fled into England, where he was most graciously received by king Henry. According to the instructions given him by the English monarch, Donald returned to his own dominions in the Isles, where he raised an army, and passing over into Rossshire violently seized on the estate in dispute. In a short time he found himself at the head of 10,000 Highlanders; with whom he marched into the province of Moray, and from thence to Strathbogie and Garioch, which he laid under contribution. Advancing towards Aberdeen, with a view to pay his troops with the plunder of that city, which was then a place of considerable trade, he was met by the earl of Marr, whom the regent had employed to command against him, at a village called Harlaw, in the neighbourhood of Aberdeen. A fierce engagement ensued, in which great numbers were killed on both sides, and the victory remained uncertain; but Donald, finding himself in the midst of an enemy's country, where he could raise no recruits, began to retreat next day; and the shattered state of the royal army prevented him from being pursued, he escaped to his own dominions, where in a short time he submitted and swore allegiance to the crown of Scotland.

In the mean time Henry continued the war with Scotland, and refused to renew the truce, though frequently solicited by the Scots. He had now, however, sustained a great loss by the defection of the earl of March, who had gone over to the Scots, though the historians have not informed us of his quarrel with allegiance to the English monarch. On his return to Scotland, he had been fully reconciled to the Douglas family, and now strove to distinguish himself in the cause of his country. This, with the countenance which was shown the Scots by the court of France, a bull published by the pope in their favour, and the vigorous behaviour of the regent himself, contributed to reduce Henry to reason; and we hear of no more hostilities between the two nations till after the death of the English monarch, which happened in the year 1413.

In 1415, the truce being either broken or expired, the Scots made great preparations for besieging Berwick. The undertaking, however, came to nothing; all that was done during the campaign being the burning of Penrith by the Scots, and of Dumfries by the English. Next year a truce was agreed upon, and a treaty entered into for the ransom of king James, which which was so far advanced, that the English king agreed to his visiting Scotland, provided he engaged to forfeit 100,000 pounds sterling in case of his failing to return by a certain day. For reasons now unknown, this treaty was broken off, and vast preparations were made for a new invasion of Scotland; which, however, was executed with so little success, that it became known among the common people of Scotland by the name of the false raid, or the foolish expedition.

In 1420 died Robert Duke of Albany, regent of Scotland, at the age of 80; and such was the veneration which the Scots had for his memory, that his post of regent was conferred upon his eldest son Murdoc, though a person no way qualified for that station. The war with England was now discontinued; but in France Henry met with the greatest opposition from the Scots auxiliaries, insomuch that at last he proclaimed all the Scots in the service of the Dauphin to be rebels against their lawful sovereign, and threatened to treat them as such wherever he found them. It was not long before he had an opportunity of putting this menace into execution; for the town and castle of Melun being obliged through famine to capitulate, one of the articles of capitulation was, that all the English and Scots in the place should be resigned to the absolute disposal of the king of England; and, in consequence of his resolution above-mentioned, caused twenty Scots soldiers who were found in the place to be hanged as traitors. In 1421, Henry returned to England, and with him James the Scots king. On his arrival there, he was informed that the Scots, under the earl of Douglas, had made an irruption into England, where they had burned Newark, but had been forced to return to their own country by a pestilence, though a new invasion was daily expected. Instead of resisting this insult, Henry invited the earl of Douglas to a conference at York; in which the latter agreed to serve him during life, by sea and land, abroad or at home, against all living, except his own liege-lord the king of Scotland, with 200 foot and as many horse, at his own charges; the king of England in the mean time allowing an annual revenue of £100, for paying his expense in going to the army by sea or land.

At the same time a new negotiation was set on foot for the ransom of king James; but he did not obtain his liberty till the year 1424. Henry V. was then dead; and none of his generals being able to supply his place, the English power in France began to decline. They then became sensible how necessary it was to be at peace with Scotland, in order to detach such a formidable ally from the French interest. James was now highly censured, and at his own liberty, within certain bounds. The English even consulted him about the manner of conducting the treaty for his ransom; and one Dougal Drummond, a priest, was sent with a safe conduct for the bishop of Glasgow, chancellor of Scotland, Duubar earl of March, John Montgomery of Arbroath, Sir Patrick Dunbar of Bele, Sir Robert Lawder of Edrington, Sir William Borthwick of Borthwick, and Sir John Forrester of Corforphyn, to have an interview, at Pomfret, with their master the captive king of Scotland, and there to treat of their common interests. Most of those noblemen and gentlemen had before been nominated to treat with the English about their king's return; and Dougal Drummond seems to have been a domestic favorite with James. Hitherto the Scottish king had been allowed an annual revenue of 700 pounds; but while he was making ready for his journey, his equipages and attendants were increased to those befitting a sovereign; and he received a present from the English treasury of £100, for his private expenses. That he might appear with a grandeur every way suitable to his dignity, at every stage were provided relays of horses, and all manner of fish, flesh, and fowl, with cooks and other servants for furnishing out the most sumptuous royal entertainment. In this meeting at Pomfret, James acted as a kind of a mediator between the English and his own subjects, to whom he fully laid himself open; but, in the mean time, the English regency issued a commission for settling the terms upon which James was to be restored, if he and his commissioners should lay a proper foundation for such a treaty. The English commissioners were the bishops of Durham and Worcester, the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, the lords Nevil, Cornwall, and Chaworth, with master John Wodeham, and Robert Waterton. The instructions they received form one of the most curious passages of this history; and we shall here give them, as they are necessary for confirming all we have said concerning the dispositions of the two courts at this juncture.

First, To make a faint opposition to any private conference between the king of Scotland and the Scotch commissioners.

Secondly, To demand that, before the said king shall have his full liberty, the kingdom of Scotland should pay to the English government at least thirty-six thousand pounds as an equivalent, at two thousand pounds a-year, for the entertainment of king James, who was maintained by the court of England, and not to abate any thing of that sum; but if possible to get forty thousand pounds.

Thirdly, That if the Scots should agree to the payment of the said sum, the English commissioners should take sufficient security and hostages for the payment of the same; and that if they should not (as there was great reason for believing they would) be so mollified, by such easy terms, as to offer to enter upon a negotiation for a final and perpetual peace between the two people, that then the English should propose the same, in the most handsome manner they could. Further, that if such difficulties should arise as might make it impracticable immediately to conclude such perpetual peace, that the English ambassadors should, under pretence of paving a way for the same, propose a long truce.

Fourthly, That in case the English commissioners should succeed in bringing the Scots to agree to the said truce, they should further urge, that they should not send to Charles of France, or to any of the enemies of England, any succours by sea or land. Further, that the said English commissioners should employ their utmost endeavours to procure the recall of the troops already furnished by the Scots to France. The English are commanded to insist very strenuously upon this point, but with discretion.

Fifthly, If the Scots should, as a further bond of amity between the two nations, propose a marriage between their king and some noblewoman of England, Scotland: the English commissioners are to make answer, "That the king of the Scots is well acquainted with many noblewomen, and even those of the blood-royal, in England; and that if the king of the Scots shall please to open his mind more freely on that head, the English commissioners shall be very ready to enter upon conferences thereupon." But (continues the record) in case the Scotch commissioners should make no mention of any such alliance by marriage, it will not appear decent for the English to mention the same, because the women of England, at least the noblewomen, are not used to offer themselves in marriage to men.

Sixthly, If there should be any mention made concerning reparation of damages, that the commissioners should then proceed upon the same as they should think most proper; and that they should have power to offer safe-conduct to as many of the Scots as should be demanded for so repair to the court of England. Those instructions are dated at Westminster, July 6th, 1423.

Nothing definitive was concluded at this treaty, but that another meeting should be held at York instead of Pontefract. This meeting accordingly took place. The English commissioners were, Thomas bishop of Durham, chancellor of England, Philip bishop of Winchester, Henry Percy earl of Northumberland, and Mr John Wodeham. Those for Scotland were William bishop of Glasgow, George earl of March, James Douglas of Balveny, his brother Patrick abbot of Cambuskenneth, John abbot of Balmerino, Sir Patric Dunbar of Bute, Sir Robert Lawder of Edrington, Mr George Borthwick archdeacon of Glasgow, and Patric Houston canon of Glasgow. On the tenth of September, after their meeting, they came to the following agreement:

First, That the king of Scotland and his heirs, as an equivalent for his entertainment while in England, should pay to the king of England and his heirs, at London, in the church of St Paul, by equal proportions, the sum of forty thousand pounds sterling.

Secondly, That the first payment, amounting to the sum of ten thousand merks, should be made six months after the king of Scotland's entering his own kingdom; that the like sum should be paid the next year, and so on during the space of six years, when the whole sum would be cleared; unless, after payment of forty thousand merks, the last payment of ten thousand should be remitted, at the intreaty of the most illustrious prince Thomas duke of Exeter.

Thirdly, That the king of Scotland, before entering his own kingdom, should give sufficient hostages for performance on his part. But, in regard that the Scots plenipotentiaries had no instructions concerning hostages, it was agreed,

Fourthly, That the king of Scotland should be at Berwick, or Durham, by the first of March next, where he should be attended by the nobles of his blood, and other subjects, in order to fix the number and quality of the hostages.

Fifthly, That, to cement and perpetuate the amity of the two kingdoms, the governor of Scotland should send ambassadors to London, with power to conclude a contract of marriage between the king of Scotland and some lady of the first quality in England.

James, it is probable, had already fixed his choice upon the lady Joan, daughter to the late earl of Somerset, who was son to John of Gaunt duke of Scotland; Lancaster by his second marriage; but he made his people the compliment, not only of consulting their opinion, but of concluding the match. The commissioners, after their agreement at York, proceeded towards London; and Thomas Somerville of Carnwath, with Walter Ogilvy, were added to their number. Being arrived at that capital, they ratified the former articles, and undertook for their king, that he should deliver his hostages to the king of England's officers, in the city of Durham, before the last day of the ensuing month of March; that he should also deliver to the said officers four obligatory letters, for the whole sum of forty thousand pounds, from the four burghs of Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee, and Aberdeen; that he should give his obligatory letter to the same purpose, before removing from Durham, and should renew the same four days after his being arrived in his own kingdom; that the hostages might be changed from time to time for others of the same fortune and quality; that if any of them should die in England, others should be sent thither in their room; and that while they continued to stay in England, they should live at their own charges.

The marriage of James with the lady Joan Beaufort, was celebrated in the beginning of February 1424. The young king of England presented him with a suit of cloth of gold for the ceremony; and the next day he received a legal discharge of 10,000 pounds, to be deducted from the 40,000 at which his ransom was fixed, and which sum was given as the marriage portion of the lady. The ceremony being performed, the king and queen set out for Durham, where the hostages were waiting; and arrived at his own dominions, along with the earl of Northumberland and the chief of the northern nobility, who attended him with great pomp. On the 20th of April the same year, he was crowned at Scone; after which ceremony, he followed the example practised by other sovereigns at that time, of knighting several noblemen and gentlemen.

During the dependence of the treaty for James's release, the Scots had emigrated to France in such numbers, that no fewer than 15,000 of them now appeared in arms under the duke of Bourbon; but as the history of the war in that country has already been given under the article FRANCE, we shall take no farther notice of it at present, but return to the affairs of Scotland.

On his return James found himself in a disagreeable situation. The great maxim of the duke of Albany, when regent, had been to maintain himself in powerland, by exempting the lower class of people from taxes of every kind. This plan had been continued by his son Murdoch; but as the latter was destitute of his father's abilities, the people abused their happiness, and Scotland became such a scene of rapine, that no commoner could say he had a property in his own estate. The Stewart family, on their accession to the crown of Scotland, were possessed of a very considerable patrimonial estate, independent of the standing revenues of the crown, which consisted chiefly of customs, wards, and reliefs. The revenues of the paternal estate belonging to James, had they been regularly transmitted to him, would have more than maintained him in a splendour equal to his dignity, while he was in England; nor would he in that case have had any occasion for an allowance from the king of England. But as the duke of Albany never intended that his nephew should return, he parcelled out among his favourites the estate of the Stewart family, in such a manner that James upon his return found all his patrimonial revenues gone, and many of them in the hands of his best friends; so that he had nothing to depend on for the support of himself and his court, but the crown-revenues above-mentioned, and even some of these had been mortgaged during the late regency. This circumstance, of itself sufficiently disagreeable, was attended with two others, which tended to make it more so. The one was, that the hostages which had been left for the king's ransom in England, being all of them persons of the first rank, were attended by their wives, families, children, and equipages, which rivalled those of the same rank in England, and drew a great deal of ready money out of the nation. The other circumstance arose from the charge of the Scots army in France; where Charles, who had never been in a condition to support it, was now reduced to the utmost necessity; while the revenues of James himself were both scanty and precarious. To remedy these inconveniences, therefore, the king obtained from his parliament an act obliging the sheriffs of the respective counties to inquire what lands and estates had belonged to his ancestors David II., Robert II., and Robert III.; and James formed a resolution of resuming these lands wherever they could be discovered, without regard to persons or circumstances. On this occasion many of the most illustrious personages in the kingdom were arrested: the duke of Albany, his two sons, and the earl of Lennox the duke's father-in-law, were put to death, though their crimes are not specified by historians. Buchanan mentions a tradition, that James barbarously sent to the countess of Lennox the heads of her father, husband, and sons; for the following more barbarous reason, that in the bitterness of her grief she might drop some expressions tending to involve others in the same catastrophe. The countess, however, calmly said, "That, if the charges against the criminals were proved, they deserved their fate."

James now proceeded with great spirit to reform the abuses which had pervaded every department of the state, protected and encouraged learning and learned men, and even kept a diary in which he wrote down the names of all the learned men whom he thought deserving of his encouragement. James himself wrote some poetry; and in music was such an excellent composer, that he is with good reason looked upon to have been the father of Scots music, so much admired for its elegant simplicity. He introduced organs into his chapels, and a much better style of architecture into all buildings whether civil or religious. Neither did he confine his cares to the fine arts, but encouraged and protected those of all kinds which were useful to society; and, in short, he did more towards the civilization of his people than had been done by any of his predecessors.

In the mean time the truce continued with England. James, however, seemed not to have any inclination to enter into a perpetual alliance with that kingdom. On the contrary, in 1428, he entered into a treaty with France; by which it was agreed, that a marriage should be concluded between the dauphin of France, afterwards Lewis XI., and the young princess of Scotland; and so great was the necessity of king Charles for troops at that time, that he demanded only 6000 forces as a portion for the princess.

The rest of the reign of James was spent in reforming abuses, curbing the authority of the great barons, and recovering the royal estates out of the hands of usurpers. In this, however, he used too much severity, that he was at last murdered, in the year 1437. The perpetrators of this murder were the earl of Athol; Robert Graham, who was connected with the earl, and who was discontented on account of his losing the estate of Strathern, which had been re-annexed to the crown; and Robert, grandchild and heir to the earl of Athol, and one of the king's domestics. The king had dismissed his army, without even referring to himself a body-guard, and was at supper in a Dominican convent in the neighbourhood of Perth. Graham had for some time been at the head of a gang of outlaws, and is said to have brought a party of them to Perth in the dead of the night, where he posted them near the convent. Walter Stratton, one of the king's cup-bearers, went to bring some wine to the king while at supper; but perceiving armed men standing in the passage, he gave the alarm, and was immediately killed. Catharine Douglas, one of the queen's maids of honour, ran to bolt the outer door; but the bar was taken away by Robert Stuart, in order to facilitate the entrance of the murderers. The lady thrust her arm into the flaps; but it was instantly broken, and the conspirators rushed in upon the king. Patrick Dunbar, brother to the earl of March, was killed in attempting to defend his sovereign, and the queen received two wounds in attempting to interpose herself between her husband and the daggers of the assassins. James defended himself as long as he could; but at last expired under the repeated strokes of his murderers, after having received 28 wounds.

After the murder of James I., the crown devolved upon his son James II., at that time only seven years of age. A parliament was immediately called by the queen-mother, at which the most cruel punishments were decreed to the murderers of the late king. The crime, no doubt, deserved an exemplary punishment; but the barbarities inflicted on some of those wretches are shocking to relate. Within less than six weeks after the death of the king, all the conspirators were brought to Edinburgh, arraigned, condemned, and executed. The meaner sort were hanged; but on the earl of Athol and Robert Graham the most cruel torments were inflicted, such as pinching with hot irons, dislocation of the joints, &c. The earl of Athol had, besides, a crown of red-hot iron put on his head; and was afterwards cut up alive, his heart taken out, and thrown into a fire. In short, so dreadful were these punishments, that Eneas Sylvius, the pope's nuncio, who beheld them, said, that he was at a loss to determine whether the crime committed by the regicides, or the punishment inflicted upon them, was the greatest.

As the late king had preferred no form of a regency in case of his death, the settlement of the government became a matter of great difficulty as well. Archibald earl of Douglas, who had been created Duke of Touraine in France, was by far the greatest subject in the kingdom; but as he had not been a favourite in the preceding reign, and the people were now disgusted with regencies, he was not formally appointed to the administration, though, by his high rank, he in fact enjoyed the supreme power as long as he lived; which, however, was but a short time. He died the same year (1438); and Sir Alexander Livingston of Callendar was appointed to succeed him as governor of the kingdom, that is, to have the executive power, while William Crichton, as chancellor, had the direction of the civil courts. This was a most unfortunate partition of power for the public. The governor and chancellor quarrelled; the latter took possession of the king's person and the castle of Edinburgh, to neither of which he had any right; but the former had on his side the queen-mother, a woman of intrigue and spirit. Her son was shut up in the castle of Edinburgh; and in a short time there was no appearance either of law or government in Scotland. The governor's edicts were counteracted by those of the chancellor under the king's name, and those who obeyed the chancellor were punished by the governor; while the young earl of Douglas, with his great following and dependents, was a declared enemy of both parties, whom he equally fought to destroy.

The queen-mother demanded access to her son, which Crichton could find no pretext for denying her; and she was accordingly admitted with a small train into the castle of Edinburgh. She played her part so well, and dissembled with so much art, that the chancellor, imagining she had become a convert to his cause, treated her with unbounded confidence, and suffered her at all hours to have free access to her son's person. Pretending that she had vowed a pilgrimage to the white church of Buchan, she recommended the care of her son's person, till her return, to the chancellor, in the most pathetic and affectionate terms; but, in the mean time, she secretly sent him to Leith, packed up in a cloaitha-chest; and both she and James were received at Stirling by the governor, before the escape was known. As every thing had been managed in concert with Livingston, he immediately called together his friends; and laying before them the tyrannical behaviour of the chancellor, it was resolved to besiege him in the castle of Edinburgh, the queen promising to open her own granaries for the use of the army. The chancellor foresaw the storm that was likely to fall upon him, and sought to prevent it by applying to the earl of Douglas. That haughty nobleman answered him in the terms already mentioned, and that he was preparing to exterminate both parties. The siege of Edinburgh castle being formed, the chancellor demanded a parley, and to have a personal interview with the governor; which the latter, who was no stranger to the sentiments of Douglas, readily agreed to. Common danger united them in a common cause; and the chancellor resigning to the other the custody of the castle and the king's person, with the highest professions of duty and loyalty, the two competitors swore an inviolable friendship for each other. Next day, the king cemented their union, by confirming both of them in their respective charges.

The lawless example of the earl of Douglas encouraged the other great landholders to gratify their private animosities, sometimes at the expense of their honour as well as their humanity. A family-difference intestine happened between Sir Allan Stuart of Darnley, and Sir Thomas Boyd of Kilmarnock; but it was concluded that both parties should come to a peaceable agreement at Polmaisthorn, between Linlithgow and Falkirk, where Stuart was treacherously murdered by his enemy. Stuart's death was revenged by his brother, Sir Alexander Stuart of Bellmouth, who challenged Boyd to a pitched battle, the principals being attended by followings which carried the resemblance of small armies. The conflict was fierce and bloody, each party retiring in its turn, and charging with fresh fury; but at last victory declared itself for Stuart, the bravest of Boyd's attendants being cut off in the field. About this time, the illanders, under two of their chieftains, Lauchlan Maclean and Murdoch Gibson, notorious freebooters, invaded Scotland, and ravaged the province of Lenox with fire and sword. They were opposed by John Colquhoun of Luss, whom they slew, some say treacherously, and others, in an engagement at Lochlomond, near Inchmartin. After this, the robbers grew more outrageous than ever, filling all the neighbouring country not only with rapine, but murders of the aged, infants, and the defenceless of both sexes. At last, all the labouring hands in the kingdom being engaged in domestic broils, none were left for agriculture; and a dreadful famine ensued, which was attended, as usual, by a pestilence. James was now about ten years of age; and the wisest part of the kingdom agreed, that the public difficulties were owing to a total disrespect of the royal authority. The young earl of Douglas never had fewer than 1000, and sometimes 2000 horse in his train; so that none was found hardy enough to controul him. He pretended to be independent of the king and his courts of law; that he had a right of judicature upon his own large estates; and that he was entitled to the exercise of royal power. In consequence of this he issued his orders, gave protections to thieves and murderers, affected to brave the king, made knights, and, according to some writers, even noblemen, of his own dependents, with a power of sitting in parliament.

The queen-mother was not wholly blameless as to those abuses. She had fallen in love with and married Sir James Stuart, who was commonly called the Black Knight of Lorn, brother to the lord of that title, and a descendent of the house of Darnley. Her affection for her husband renewed her intrigues in the state; and not finding a ready compliance in the governor, her interest inclined towards the party of the Douglases. The governor sought to strengthen his authority by restoring the exercise of the civil power, and the reverence due to the person of the sovereign.

The conduct of the lord Callendar was in other respects not so defensible, either as to prudence or policy. Upon the queen expressing her inclination that her husband might be admitted to some part of the administration, the governor threw both him and his brother the lord Lorn into prison, on a charge of unlawful practices against the state, and abetting the earl of Douglas in his enormities. The queen, taking fire at her husband's imprisonment, was herself confi- in a mean apartment within the castle of Stirling; and a convocation of the estates was called, to judge in what manner she was to be proceeded against. The case was unprecedented and tender; nor can we believe the governor would have carried matters to such extremity, had he not had strong evidences of her illegal behaviour. She was even obliged to dissemble her resentment, by making an open profession before the estates, that she was entirely innocent of her husband's practices in time past, and that she would for the future behave as a peaceable and dutiful subject to the laws and the sovereign. Upon her making this profession (as Lindsay calls it), she was released, as were her husband and his brother, being hailed by the chancellor and the lord Gordon, who became sureties for their good behaviour in the penalty of 4000 marks. The governor is accused, after this, of many arbitrary and partial acts of power; and indeed, if we consider his situation, and the violence of the parties which then divided Scotland, it was next to impossible, consistently with his own safety, to have exerted the virtues either of patriotism or moderation.

The chancellor was inwardly vexed at the small regard which the governor paid to his person and dignity, and secretly connected himself with the queen-mother; but in the mean time he remained at Edinburgh. The king and his mother continued all this time at Stirling; where the governor, on pretence of consulting the public safety, and that of the king's person, maintained a strong guard, part of which attended James in his juvenile exercises and diversions. The queen-mother did not fail to represent this to her son as a restraint upon his liberty; and obtained his consent to put himself into the chancellor's hands. The latter, who was a man of activity and courage, knew well how to avail himself of this permission; and crossing the Forth in the dark with a strong body of horse, they surrounded the king as he was hunting next morning by break of day. It was easy to perceive from the behaviour of James, that he was no stranger to the chancellor's attempt; but some of the king's guard offering to dispute the possession of his person, Sir William Levington, the governor's eldest son, restrained them, and suffered the king to depart quietly. This surprisal happened on a day when the governor was absent from Stirling; and the chancellor, to make sure of his royal acquisition, entered Edinburgh at the head of 4000 horse, where the king and he were received by the citizens with loud acclamations of joy.

The governor showed no emotion at what had happened; on the contrary, he invited the chancellor to an interview, and settled all differences with him in an amicable manner. The young lord Douglas, however, continued to brave both parties. As if he had been a sovereign prince, he demanded by his ambassadors, Malcolm Fleming of Cumbernauld, and Allan Lawder, the investiture of the sovereignty of Tournai from Charles the seventh of France; which being readily granted him, served to increase his pride and influence. The first-fruit of the accommodation between the two great officers of state was the holding a parliament at Edinburgh, for redressing the public disorders occasioned by the earl of Douglas; and encouragement was given for all persons who had been injured to make their complaints. The numbers which on that occasion reported to Edinburgh were incredible; parents, children, and women, calling out for vengeance for the murder of their relations, or the plunder of their estates; till, by the multiplicity of their complaints, they became without remedy, none being found bold enough to encounter the earl of Douglas, or to endeavour to bring him to a fair trial. The parties therefore were dismissed without relief, and it was resolved to proceed with the haughty earl in a different manner. Letters were written to him by the governor and chancellor, and in the name of the estates, requesting him to appear with his friends in parliament; and to take that lead in public affairs to which they were intitled by their high rank and great possessions. The manner in which these letters were penned, made the thoughtless earl consider them as a tribute due to his greatness, and as proceeding from the inability of the government to continue the administration of public affairs without his countenance and direction. Without dreaming that any man in Scotland would be so bold as to attack him, even single or unarmed, he answered the letters of the chancellor and governor, by assuring them that he intended to set out for Edinburgh: the chancellor, on pretence of doing him honour, but in reality to quiet his suspicions, met him while he was on his journey; and inviting him to his castle of Crichton, he there entertained him for some days with the greatest magnificence and appearance of hospitality. The earl of Douglas believed all the chancellor's professions of friendship, and even sharply checked the wile of his followers, who counselled him not to depend too much on appearances, or to trust his brother and himself at the same time in any place where the chancellor had power. The latter had not only removed the earl's suspicion, but had made him a kind of convert to patriotism, by painting to him the miseries of his country, and the glory that must redound to him and his friends in removing them. It was in vain for his attendants to remind him of his father's maxim, never to risk himself and his brother at the same time; he without hesitation, attended the chancellor to Edinburgh; and being admitted into the castle, they dined at the same table with the king. Towards the end of the entertainment, a bull's head, the certain prelude of immediate death, was served up. The earl and his brother started to their feet, and endeavoured his brother to make their escape; but armed men rushing in, overpowered them, and tying their hands and those of Sir Malcolm Fleming with cords, they were carried to the hill and beheaded. The young king endeavoured with tears to procure their pardon; for which he was severely checked by his unrelenting chancellor.

In 1443, the king being arrived at the age of 14, declared himself out of the years of minority, and took upon himself the administration of affairs. He appears to have been a prince of great spirit and resolution; and he had occasion for it. He had appointed one Robert Sempill of Fulwood to be chief governor of the castle of Dumbarton; but he was killed by one Galbraith (a noted partisan of the earl of Douglas), who seized upon the government of the castle. The popularity of the family of Douglas having somewhat subsided, Scotland. Induced, and the young earl finding himself not supported by the chief branches of his family, he began to think, now that the king was grown up, his safest course would be to return to his duty. He accordingly repaired to the king at Stirling; and voluntarily throwing himself at his majesty's feet, implored his pardon for all his transgressions, and solemnly promised that he would ever after let a pattern of duty and loyalty to all the rest of his subjects. The king, finding that he insisted on no terms but that of pardon, and that he had unconditionally put himself into his power, not only granted his request, but made him the partner of his inmost councils.

James had always disliked the murder of the earl of Douglas and his brother; and the chancellor, perceiving the ascendancy which this earl was daily gaining at court, thought it high time to provide for his own safety. He therefore resigned the great seal, and retired to the castle of Edinburgh, the custody of which he pretended had been granted to him by the late king during his life, or till the present king should arrive at the age of 21; and prepared it for a siege. The lord Callendar, who knew himself equally obnoxious as Crichton was to the earl of Douglas, and that he could not maintain his footing by himself, resigned likewise all his posts, and retired to one of his own houses, but kept possession of the castle of Stirling.

As both that and the castle of Edinburgh were royal forts, the two lords were summoned to surrender them; but instead of complying, they justified their conduct by the great power of their enemies, who fought their destruction, and who had been so lately at the head of robbers and outlaws; but promised to surrender themselves to the king as soon as he was of lawful age, (meaning, we suppose, either 18 or 21.) This answer being deemed contumacious, the chancellor and the late governor, with his two sons Sir Alexander and Sir James Levington, were proclaimed traitors in a parliament which was summoned on purpose to be held at Stirling. In another parliament held at Perth the same year, an act passed, that all the lands and goods which had belonged to the late king should be possessed by the present king to the time of his lawful age, which is not specified. This act was levelled against the late governor and chancellor, who were accused of having alienated to their own uses, or to those of their friends, a great part of the royal effects and jewels; and their estates being confiscated, the execution of the sentence was committed to John Forrester of Corforphin, and other adherents of the earl of Douglas.

This sentence threw all the nation into a flame. The castle of Crichton was besieged; and being surrendered upon the king's summons and the display of the royal banner, it was levelled with the ground. It soon appeared that the governor and chancellor, the latter especially, had many friends; and in particular Kennedy bishop of St Andrew's, nephew to James the first, who sided with them from the dread and hatred they bore to the earl of Douglas and his family. Crichton thus soon found himself at the head of a body of men; and while Forrester was carrying fire and sword into his estates and those of the late governor, his own lands and those of the Douglasses were overrun. Corforphin, Abercorn, Blackness, and other places, were plundered; and Crichton carried off from Scotland them more booty than he and his adherents had lost.

Particular mention is made of a fine breed of mares which Douglas had lost on this occasion. That nobleman was so much exasperated by the great damages he had sustained, that he engaged his friends the earl of Crawford and Alexander Ogilvy of Innerquharity, to lay waste the lands of the bishop of St Andrew's, whom he considered as the chief support of the two ministers. This prelate was not more considerable by his high birth, than he was venerable by his virtue and sanctity; and had, from a principle of conscience, opposed the earl of Douglas and his party. Being conscious he had done nothing that was illegal, he first admonished the earl of Crawford and his coadjutor to desist from destroying his lands; but finding his admonitions ineffectual, he laid the earl under an excommunication.

That nobleman was almost as formidable in the northern, as the earl of Douglas had been in the southern parts of Scotland. The benedictine monks of Aberbrothoc, who were possessed of great property, had chosen Alexander Lindsay, his eldest son, to be the judge or bailiff of their temporalities; as they themselves, by their profession, could not sit in civil or criminal courts. Lindsay proved so chargeable, by the great number of his attendants, and his high manner of living, to the monks, that their chapter removed him from his post, and substituted in his place Alexander Ogilvy of Innerquharity, guardian to his nephew John Ogilvy of Airley, who had an hereditary claim upon the bailiwick. This, notwithstanding their former intimacy, created an irreconcilable difference between the two families. Each competitor strengthened himself by calling in the affluence of his friends; and the lord Gordon taking part with the Ogilvies, to whom he was then paying a visit, both parties gathered their forces in the neighbourhood of Aberbrothoc. The earl of Crawford, who was then at Dundee, posted from thence to Aberbrothoc, and placing himself between the two armies, he demanded to speak with Ogilvy; but, before his request could be granted, he was killed by a common soldier, who was ignorant of his quality. His death exasperated his friends, who immediately rushed on their enemies; and a bloody conflict ensued, which ended to the advantage of the Lindays, that is, the earl of Crawford's party. On that of the Ogilvies, were killed, Sir John Oliphant of Aberdargy, John Forbes of Pittigo, Alexander Barclay of Gartly, Robert Maxwell of Teling, Duncan Campbell of Campbellfather, William Gordon of Burrowfield, and others. With those gentlemen, about 500 of their followers are said to have fallen; but some accounts diminish that number. Innerquharity himself, in flying, was taken prisoner, and carried to the earl of Crawford's house at Fishhaven, where he died of his wounds; but the lord Gordon (or, as others call him, the earl of Huntley) escaped by the swiftness of his horse.

This battle seems to have let loose the fury of civil discord all over the kingdom. No regard was paid to magistracy, and no respect had to any consideration but that of clergy. The most numerous, fiercest, and best allied family wreaked its vengeance on its foes, either by force or treachery; and the enmity that actuated the parties, drowned in them every sentiment of honour, and every feeling of humanity. The Lindseys, secretly strengthened and abetted by the earl of Douglas, made no other use of their victory than carrying fire and sword through the estates of their enemies; and thus all the north of Scotland presented scenes of murder and devastation. Towards the west, Robert Boyd of Dumbarton, governor of Dumbarton, basely surprised Sir James Stuart of Achmyno, and treated his wife with such inhumanity, that she expired in three days, under her confinement in Dumbarton castle. The castle of Dunbar was taken by Patrick Hepburn of Hales. Alexander Dunbar dispossessed the latter of his castle of Hales; but it was retaken by the partizans of the earl of Douglas, whose tenants, particularly those of Annandale, are said to have behaved at that time with peculiar fierceness and cruelty. At last, the gentlemen of the country, who were unconnected with those robbers and murderers, which happened to be the case with many, shut themselves up in their several houses, each of which, in those days, was a petty fortress, which they victualled, and provided in the best manner they could for their own defence. This wise resolution seems to have been the first measure that composed the public commotions.

The earl of Douglas, whose power and influence at court still continued, was sensible that the clergy, with the wiser and more disinterested part of the kingdom, considered him as the source of the dreadful calamities which the nation suffered; and that James himself, when better informed, would be of the same opinion. He therefore sought to avail himself of the juncture, by forming secret but strong connections with the earls of Crawford, Ross, and other great noblemen, who wanted to see their feudal powers restored to their full vigour. The queen-dowager and her husband made little or no figure during this time of public confusion; she had retired to the castle of Dunbar, while it was in Hepburn's possession, where she died soon after. She left by her second husband three sons; John, who in 1455 was made earl of Athol, by his uterine brother the king; James, who under the next reign, in 1469, was created earl of Buchan; and Andrew, who afterwards became bishop of Murray. As the earl of Douglas was an enemy to the queen-dowager's husband, the latter retired to England, where he obtained a pass to go abroad, with 20 in his train; but being taken at sea by the Flemish pirates, he died in his confinement.

The great point between the king and Sir William Crichton, whether the latter should give up the castle to his majesty, remained still undecided; and by the advice and direction of the earl of Douglas, who had been created lord-lieutenant of the kingdom, it had now suffered a nine months siege. Either the strength of the castle, or an opinion entertained by Douglas that Crichton would be a valuable acquisition to his party, procured better terms for the latter than he could otherwise have expected; for he and his followers were offered a full indemnity for all past offences, and a promise was made that he should be restored not only to the king's favour, but to his former post of chancellor. He accepted of the conditions; but refused to act in any public capacity till they were confirmed by a parliament, which was soon after held at Perth, and in which he was restored to his estate and honours. By this reconciliation between Douglas and Crichton, the former was left at full liberty to prosecute his vengeance against the lord Callendar, the late governor, his friends and family. Their fate was deservedly thought hard. The governor himself, Sir James Dundas of Dundas, and Sir Robert Bruce of Clackmannan, were forced to save their lives by the loss of their estates; but even that could not procure them their liberty, for they were sent prisoners to the castle of Dumbarton. The fate of Alexander, the governor's eldest son, and of two other gentlemen of his name and family, was still more lamentable; for they were condemned to lose their heads. Those severities being inflicted after the king had in a manner re-admitted the sufferers into his favour, fanned the public outcry against the earl of Douglas. We have in Lindsay an extract of the speech which Alexander Livingston, one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his time, made upon the scaffold, in which he complained, with great bitterness, of the cruel treatment his father, himself, and his friends, had undergone; and that he suffered by a packed jury of his enemies.

The king being now about 18 years of age, it was thought proper that a suitable consort should be provided for him; and, after various consultations, Mary, the daughter of Arnold duke of Gueldres, was chosen, at the recommendation of Charles king of France, though the marriage was not completed till some time after. This produced an immediate rupture with England. The earls of Salisbury and Northumberland landed entered Scotland at the head of two separate bodies. The former burnt the town of Dumfries, as the latter did that of Dunbar; while Sir John Douglas of Balveny made reprisals by plundering the county of Cumberland, and burning Alnwick. Upon the return of the English armies to their own country, additional levies were made, and a fresh invasion of Scotland was resolved upon under the earl of Northumberland, who had under him a lieutenant, whom the Scots of those days, from the bushiness and colour of his beard, called Magnus with the red mane. He was a soldier of fortune, but an excellent officer, having been trained in the French wars; and he is said to have demanded no other recompense for his services from the English court, but that he should enjoy all he could conquer in Scotland. The Scots, in the mean time, had raised an army commanded by George Douglas earl of Ormond, and under him by Wallace of Craigie, with the lords Maxwell and Johnston. The English having passed Solway Frith, ravaged all that part of the country which belonged to the Scots; but hearing that the earl of Ormond's army was approaching, called in their parties, and took up a camp on the banks of the river Sark. Their advanced guard was commanded by Magnus; their centre by the earl of Northumberland; and the rear, which was composed of Welch, by Sir John Pennington, an officer of courage and experience.

The Scots drew up in three divisions likewise. Their battle right wing was commanded by Wallace, the centre by Sark, the earl of Ormond, and their left wing by the lords Maxwell and Johnston. Before the battle joined, the earl of Ormond harangued his men, and inspired them with very high resentment at the treachery of the English. English, who, he said, had broken the truce. The signal for battle being given, the Scots under Wallace rushed forward upon their enemies; but, as usual, were received by so terrible a discharge from the English archers, that their impetuosity must have been stopt; had not their brave leader Wallace put them in mind, that their forefathers had always been defeated in distant fights by the English, and that they ought to trust to their swords and spears; commanding them at the same time to follow his example. They obeyed, and broke in upon the English commanded by Magnus, with such fury, as soon fixed the fortune of the day on the side of the Scots, their valour being suitably seconded by their other two divisions. The slaughter (which was the more considerable, as both parties fought with the utmost animosity) fell chiefly upon the division commanded by Magnus, who was killed, performing the part of a brave officer; and all his body-guard, consisting of picked soldiers, were cut in pieces.

The battle then became general: Sir John Pennington's division, with that under the earl of Northumberland, was likewise routed; and the whole English army, struck by the loss of their champion, fled towards the Solway, where, the river being swelled by the tide, numbers of them were drowned. The loss of the English in slain amounted to at least 3000 men. Among the prisoners were Sir John Pennington, Sir Robert Harrington, and the earl of Northumberland's eldest son the lord Percy, who lost his own liberty in forwarding his father's escape. Of the Scots about 600 were killed; but none of note, excepting the brave Wallace, who died three months after, of the wounds he had received in this battle. The booty that was made on this occasion is said to have been greater than any that had fallen to the Scots since the battle of Bannockburn.

The rest of the history of this reign consists almost entirely of a relation of the cabals and conspiracies of the great men. The earl of Douglas had entered into a confederacy with the earls of Crawford, Moray, and Ross, and appeared on all occasions with such a train of followers as bade defiance to royal power itself. This insolence was detested by the wiser part of the nation; and one Macellan, who is called the Tutor of Bonny, and was nephew to Sir Patrick Gray, captain of the king's guard, refused to give any attendance upon the earl, or to concur in his measures, but remained at home as a quiet subject. This inoffensive behaviour was by the earl considered as treason against himself; and violently seizing upon Macellan's house and person, he sent him close prisoner to the castle of Douglas. As Macellan was a gentleman of great worth and reputation, his uncle Gray applied earnestly to James in his favour; and such was that prince's regard for Macellan, that he wrote and signed a letter for his release, addressed to the earl of Douglas. Upon Gray's delivering this letter to Douglas at his castle, the latter seemed to receive it with the highest respect, and to treat Gray with the greatest hospitality, by inviting him to dinner; but, in the mean time, he gave private orders that Macellan's head should be struck off, and his body exposed upon the green before the castle covered with a linen cloth. After dinner, the earl told Gray, that he was ready to obey the king's commands; and conducting him to the green, he showed him the lifeless trunk, which he said Gray might dispose of as he pleased. Upon this, Gray mounted his horse, and trusted to his swiftness for his own safety; for he was pursued by the earl's attendants to the gates of Edinburgh.

The confederacy against James's government was now no longer a secret. The lords Balveny and Hamilton, with such a number of other barons and gentlemen, had acceded to it, that it was thought to be more powerful than all the force the king could bring into the field. Even Crichton advised James to dissemble. The confederates entered into a solemn bond and oath never to desert one another during life; and, to make use of Drummond's words, "That injuries done to any one of them should be done to them all, and be a common quarrel; neither should they desist, to their best abilities, to revenge them: that they should conciliate indifferently against whatsoever persons within or without the realm, and spend their lives, lands, goods, and fortunes, in defence of their debates and differences whatsoever." All who did not enter into this association were treated as enemies to the public; their lands were destroyed, their effects plundered, and they themselves imprisoned or murdered. Drummond says, that Douglas was then able to bring 40,000 men into the field; and that his intention was to have placed the crown of Scotland upon his own head. How far he might have been influenced by a scene of the same nature that was then passing between the houses of York and Lancaster in England, we shall not pretend to determine; though it does not appear that his intention was to wear the crown himself, but to render it despicable upon his sovereign's head. It is rather evident, from his behaviour, that he did not affect royalty; for when James invited him to a conference in the castle of Stirling, he offered to comply provided he had a safe-conduct. This condition plainly implied, that he had no reliance upon the late act of parliament, which declared the proclamation of the king's peace to be a sufficient security for life and fortune to all his subjects; and there is no denying that the safe-conduct was expedited in the form and manner required.

This being obtained, the earl began his march towards Stirling with his usual great following; and arrived there on Shrove-Tuesday. He was received by the king as if he had been the best of his friends, as between well as the greatest of his subjects, and admitted to king James-up with his majesty in the castle, while his attendants and the earl were dispersed in the town, little suspecting the catastrophe that followed. The entertainment being over, the king told the earl with an air of frankness, "That as he was now of age, he was resolved to be the father of all his people, and to take the government into his own hands; that his lordship, therefore, had no reason to be under any apprehensions from his old enemies, Callendar and Crichton; that there was no occasion to form any confederacies, as the law was ready to protect him; and that he was welcome to the principal direction of affairs under the crown, and to the first place in the royal confidence; nay, that all former offences done by himself and his friends should be pardoned and forgot."

This speech was the very reverse of what the earl Scotland. of Douglas aimed at. It rendered him, indeed, the first subject of the kingdom; but still he was controllable by the civil law. In short, upon the king's pre-emptorily putting the question to him, he not only refused to dissolve the confederacy, but upbraided the king for his government. This produced a passionate rejoinder on the part of James; but the earl represented that he was under a safe-conduct, and that the nature of his confederacy was such, that it could not be broken but by the common consent of all concerned. The king insisted upon his setting the example; and the earl continuing more and more obdurate, James stabbed him with his dagger; and armed men rushing into the room, finished the slaughter.

After the death of the earl of Douglas, the confederacy came to nothing. The insurgents excused themselves as being too weak for such an enterprise; and were contented with trailing the safe-conduct at a horse's tail, and proclaiming, by trumpets and horns, the king a perjured traitor. They proceeded no farther; and each departed to his own habitation, after agreeing to assemble with fresh forces about the beginning of April. James lost no time in improving this short respite; and found the nation in general much better disposed in his favour than he had reason to expect. The intolerable oppressions of the great barons made his subjects esteem the civil, far preferable to the feudal, subjection; and even the Douglases were divided among themselves; for the earl of Angus and Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith were among the most forward of the royalists. James at the same time wrote letters to the earl of Huntley, and to all the noblemen of his kingdom who were no parties in the confederacy, besides the ecclesiastics, who remained firmly attached to his prerogative. Before the effect of those letters could be known, the insurgents had returned to Stirling, (where James still wilfully kept himself upon the defensive); repeated their insolences, and the opprobrious treatment of his safe-conduct; and at last they plundered the town, and laid it in ashes. Being still unable to take the castle, partly through their own divisions, and partly through the diversity of the operations they were obliged to supply, they left Stirling, and destroyed the estate of Sir John Douglas of Dalkeith, whom they considered as a double traitor, because he was a Douglas and a good subject. They then besieged his castle; but it was so bravely defended by Patrick Cockburn, a gentleman of the family of Langton, that they raised the siege; which gave the royal party further leisure for humbling them.

All this time the unhappy country was suffering the most cruel devastations; for matters were now come to such extremity, that every man must be a royalist or a rebel. The king was obliged to keep on the defensive; and though he had ventured to leave the castle of Stirling, he was in no condition to face the rebels in the field. They were in possession of all the strong passes, by which his friends were to march to his assistance; and he even consulted with his attendants on the means of escaping to France, where he was sure of an hospitable reception. He was diverted from that resolution by bishop Kennedy and the earl of Angus, who was himself a Douglas, and prevailed upon to wait for the event of the earl of Huntley's attempts for his service. This nobleman, who was descended from the Seatonians, but by marriage inherited the greatest estates of the Gordons in the north, had raised an army for James, to whose family he and his ancestors, by the Gordons as well as the Seatonians, had been always remarkably devoted. James was not mistaken in the high opinion he had of Huntley; and in the meantime he issued circular letters to the chief ecclesiastics and bodies-politic of his kingdom, setting forth the necessity he was under to proceed as he had done, and his readiness to protect all his loyal subjects in their rights and privileges against the power of the Douglases and their rebellious adherents. Before those letters could have any effect, the rebels had plundered the defenceless houses and estates of all who were not in their confederacy, and had proceeded with a fury that turned to the prejudice of their cause.

The indignation which the public had conceived against the king, for the violation of his safe-conduct, began now to subside; and the behaviour of his enemies in some measure justified what had happened, or at least made the people suspect that James would not have proceeded as he did without the strongest provocation. The forces he had assembled being unable, as yet, to act offensively, he resolved to wait for the earl of Huntley, who by this time was at the head of a considerable army, and had begun his march southwards. He had been joined by the Forbeses, Ogilvies, Leslie, Grant, Irving, and other relations and dependents of his family; but having advanced as far as Brechin, he was opposed by the earl of Crawford, the chief ally of the earl of Douglas, who commanded the people of Angus, and all the adherents of the rebels in the neighbouring counties, defeated, headed by foreign officers. The two armies joining battle on the 18th of May, victory was for some time in suspense; till one Colonel of Bonnymoon, on whom Crawford had great dependence, but whom he had imprudently disobliged, came over to the royalists with the division he commanded, which was the best armed part of Crawford's army, consisting of battle-axes, broad-swords, and long spears. His defection fixed the fortune of the day for the earl of Huntley, as it left the centre flank of Crawford's army entirely exposed to the royalists. He himself lost one of his brothers; and fled with another, Sir John Lindsay, to his house at Finhaven, where it is reported that he broke out into the following ejaculation: "That he would be content to remain seven years in hell, to have, in so timely a season, done the king his master that service the earl of Huntley had performed, and carry that applause and thanks he was to receive from him."

No author informs us of the loss of men on either side, though all agree that it was very considerable upon the whole. The earl of Huntley, particularly, lost two brothers, William and Henry; and we are told, that, to indemnify him for his good services, as well as for the rewards and presents he had made in lands and privileges to his faithful followers, the king bestowed upon him the lands of Badenoch and Lochaber.

The battle of Brechin was not immediately decisive. The rebels in favour of the king, but proved so in its consequences. The earl of Moray, a Douglas likewise, took profit advantage of Huntley's absence to ravage and harass the Scotland: the estates of all the royalists in the north; but Huntley returning from Brechin with his victorious army, drove his enemy into his own county of Moray, and afterwards expelled him even from thence. James was now encouraged, by the advice of his kinsman Kennedy bishop of St Andrew's, to whose firmness and prudence he was under great obligations, to proceed against the rebels in a legal manner, by holding a parliament at Edinburgh, to which the confederated lords were summoned; and upon their non-compliance, they were solemnly declared traitors. This proceeding seemed to make the rebellion rage more fiercely than ever; and at last, the confederates, in fact, disowned their allegiance to James. The earls of Douglas, Crawford, Ormond, Moray, the lord Balveny, Sir James Hamilton, and others, signed with their own hands public manifestos, which were pasted on the doors of the principal churches, importing, "That they were resolved never to obey command or charge, nor answer citation for the time coming; because the king, so far from being a just master, was a bloodsucker, a murderer, a transgressor of holiness, and a supprimer of the innocent." It does not appear, that those and the like atrocious proceedings did any service to the cause of the confederates. The earl of Huntley continued victorious in the north; where he and his followers, in revenge of the earl of Moray's having burnt his castle of Huntley, ravaged or seized all that nobleman's great estate north of the Spey. When he came to the town of Forres, he burnt one side of the town, because it belonged to the earl, and spared the other, because it was the property of his own friends. James thought himself, from the behaviour of the earl of Douglas and his adherents, now warranted to come to extremities; and marching into Annandale, he carried fire and sword through all the estates of the Douglases there. The earl of Crawford, on the other hand, having now recruited his strength, destroyed the lands of all the people of Angus and elsewhere, who had abandoned him at the battle of Brechin; though there is reason to believe, that he had already secretly resolved to throw himself upon the king's mercy.

Nothing but the most obstinate pride and inveteracy could have prevented the earl of Douglas, at this time, from taking the advice of his friends, by returning to his duty; in which case, James had given sufficient intimations that he might expect pardon. He coloured his contumacy with the specious pretext, that his brother's fate, and those of his two kinsmen, sufficiently instructed him never to trust James or his ministers; that he had gone too far to think now of receding; and that kings, when once offended, as James had been, never pardoned in good earnest. Such is the chief reasoning, with others of less consequence, which Drummond has put into the mouth of Douglas at this time. James, after his expedition into Annandale, found the season too far advanced to continue his operations; and returning to Edinburgh, he marched northwards to Angus, to reduce the earl of Crawford, who was the second rebel of power in the kingdom. That nobleman had hitherto deferred throwing himself at the king's feet, and had refused his arms, in the manner related, only in hopes of himself and his party obtaining better terms from James. Perceiving that the earl of Douglas's obstinacy had cooled some other lords of the confederacy, and had put an end to all hopes of a treaty, he resolved to make a merit of breaking the confederacy, by being the first to submit. James having arrived in Angus, was convinced of his march through the country, when the earl Crawford, and some of his chief followers fell on their knees before him on the road, bare-headed and bare-footed. Their dreary looks, their supplicant postures, and the tears which streamed abundantly from the earl, were expressive of the most abject contrition; which was followed by a penitential speech made by the earl, acknowledging his crimes, and imploring forgiveness.

James was then attended by his chief counsellors, particularly bishop Kennedy, who, he resolved, should have some share in the favour he meant to extend to the earl. He asked their advice; which proving to be on the merciful side, James promised to the earl and his followers restitution of all their estates and honours, favour, and full pardon for all that had passed. The earl, as a grateful retribution of this favour, before the king left Angus, joined him with a noble troop of his friends and followers; and, attending him to the north, was extremely active in suppressing all the remains of the rebellion there.

The submission of the earl of Crawford was followed by that of the earl of Douglas; which, however, continued only for a short time. This powerful nobleman soon resumed his rebellious practices; and, in the year 1454, raised an army to fight against the king. The king erected his standard at St Andrews; marched from thence to Falkland; and ordered all the forces of Fife, Angus, and Strathern, with those of the northern parts, to rendezvous by a certain day at Stirling; which they did to the number of 30,000. Douglas assembled his forces, which amounted to 40,000, some say 60,000 men, on the south side of the river Carron, about halfway between Stirling and Abercorn. However, notwithstanding this superiority of force, the earl did not think it proper to fight his sovereign. Bishop Kennedy, the prelate of St Andrew's, had advised the king to divide his enemies by offering them pardon separately; and so good an effect had this, that in a few days the earl found himself deserted by all his numerous army, excepting about 100 of his nearest friends and domestics, with whom he retired towards England. His friends had indeed advised him to come to a battle immediately; but the earl, for reasons now unknown, refused it. However, in his journey southwards, he raised a considerable body of forces, consisting of his own tenants, of outlaws, robbers, and borderers, with whom he renewed his depredations on the loyal subjects of the king. He was opposed by the earl of Angus, who, though of the name of Douglas, continued firm in the royal cause. An engagement ensued at Ancram-muir; where Douglas was entirely defeated, and he himself with great difficulty escaped to an adjacent wood. What his fate was after this battle, does not appear; but it is certain that his estates were afterwards forfeited to the king.

The rest of the reign of James II. was spent in making proper regulations for the good of his people. In killed by 1460, he was killed at the siege of Roxburgh castle, by accident, the bursting of a cannon, to which he was too near when it was discharged. This siege he had undertaken Scotland, taken in favour of the queen of England, who, after losing several battles, and being reduced to distress, was obliged to apply to James for relief. The nobility who were present concealed his death, for fear of discouraging the soldiers; and in a few hours after, the queen appeared in the camp, and presented her young son, James III., as their king.

James III. was not quite seven years of age at his accession to the crown. The administration naturally devolved on his mother; who pushed the siege of Roxburgh castle with so much vigour, that the garrison was obliged to capitulate in a few days; after which the army ravaged the country, and took and dismantled the castle of Wark.—In 1466, negotiations were begun for a marriage between the young king and Margaret, princess of Denmark; and, in 1468, the following conditions were stipulated:

1. That the annual rent hitherto paid for the northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland should be for ever remitted and extinguished. 2. That king Christiern, then king of Denmark, should give 60,000 florins of gold for his daughter's portion, whereof 10,000 should be paid before her departure from Denmark; and that the islands of Orkney should be made over to the crown of Scotland, by way of pledge for the remainder; with this express proviso, that they should return to that of Norway after complete payment of the whole sum. 3. That king James should, in case of his dying before the said Margaret his spouse, leave her in possession of the palace of Linlithgow and castle of Down in Menstheith, with all their appurtenances, and the third part of the ordinary revenues of the crown, to be enjoyed by her during life, in case she should choose to reside in Scotland. 4. But if he rather chose to return to Denmark, that in lieu of the said lifestent, palace, and castle, she should accept of 120,000 florins of the Rhine; from which sum the 50,000 due for the remainder of her portion being deducted and allowed, the islands of Orkney should be re-annexed to the crown of Norway as before.

When these articles were agreed upon, Christiern found himself unable to fulfil his part of them. Being at that time engaged in an unsuccessful war with Sweden, he could not advance the 10,000 florins which he had promised to pay down as part of his daughter's fortune. He was therefore obliged to apply to the plenipotentiaries to accept of 2000, and to take a farther mortgage of the isles of Shetland for the disgrace of other 8000. The Scottish plenipotentiaries, of whom the earl of Boyd earl of Arran was one, gratified him in his request; and this concession is thought to have proved fatal to the earl. Certain it is, that his father was beheaded for treasonable practices alleged to have been committed long before, and for which he produced a parliamentary indemnity to no purpose: the earl himself was divorced from his wife the king's sister, and obliged to live in perpetual exile, while the countess was married to another.

In 1476, those misfortunes began to come on James which afterwards terminated in his ruin. He had made his brother, the duke of Albany, governor of Berwick; and had entrusted him with very extensive powers upon the borders, where a violent propensity for the feudal law still continued. The Humes and the Hepburns, then the most powerful subjects in those parts, could not brook the duke of Albany's greatness, especially after he had forced them, by virtue of a late act, to part with some of the estates which had been inconsiderately granted them in this and the preceding reign. The pretended science of judicial astrology, by which James happened to be incredibly infatuated, was the easiest as well as most effectual engine that could work their purposes. One Andrew, an infamous impostor in that art, had been brought over from Flanders by James; and he and Schevez, then archbishop of St. Andrews's, concurred in persuading James that the Scotch lion was to be devoured by his own whelps; a prediction that, to a prince of James's turn, amounted to a certainty.

The condition to which James reduced himself by his belief in judicial astrology, was truly deplorable. The princes upon the continent were uniting with the same infatuation; and the wretches who befell his person had no safety but by continuing the delusion in his mind. According to Lindsay, Cochran, who had some knowledge of architecture, and had been introduced to James as a master-mason, privately procured an old woman, who pretended to be a witch, and who heightened his terrors by declaring that his brothers intended to murder him. James believed her; and the ungarded manner in which the earl of Mar treated his weakness, exasperated him so much, that the earl giving a further loose to his tongue in railing against his brother's unworthy favourites, was arrested, and committed to the castle of Craig Miller; from whence he was brought to the Canongate, a suburb of Edinburgh, where he suffered death.

The duke of Albany was at the castle of Dunbar when his brother the earl of Mar's tragedy was acted; Albany and James could not be easy without having him like escaped, but wife in his power. In hopes of surprising him, he marched to Dunbar; but the duke, being apprised of his coming, fled to Berwick, and ordered his castle of Dunbar to be surrendered to the lord Evensdale, though not before the garrison had provided themselves with boats and small vessels, in which they escaped to England. He ventured to come to Edinburgh; where James was so well served with spies, that he was seized, and committed close prisoner to the castle, with orders that he should speak with none but in the presence of his keepers. The duke had probably suspected and provided against this disagreeable event; for we are told that he had agents, who every day repaired to the castle, as if they had come from court, and reported the state of matters between him and the king, while his keepers were present, in so favourable a light, that they made no doubt of his soon regaining his liberty and being re-admitted to his brother's favour. The seeming negociation, at last, went so prosperously on, that the duke gave his keepers a kind of a farewell entertainment, previous to his obtaining a formal deliverance; and they drank so immoderately, that being intoxicated, they gave him an opportunity of escaping over the castle-wall, by converting the sheets of his bed into a rope. Whoever knows the situation of that fortress, must be amazed at the boldness of this attempt; and we are told that the duke's valet, the only domestick he was allowed to have, making the experiment before his master, broke his neck; upon which the duke, lengthening the rope, In 1482, the king began to feel the bad consequences of taking into his favour men of worthless characters, which seems to have been one of this prince's pernicious foibles. His great favourite at this time was one Cochran, whom he raised to the dignity of earl of Mare. All historians agree that this man made a most infamous use of his power. He obtained at last a liberty of coinage, which he abused so much as to endanger an insurrection among the poor people; for he issued a base coin, called black-money by the common people, which they refused to take in payments. This favourite's skill in architecture had first introduced him to James; but he maintained his power by other arts: for, knowing that his master's predominant passion was the love of money, he procured it by the meanest and most opprobrious methods. James, however, was inclined to have relieved his people by calling in Cochran's money; but he was diverted from that resolution, by considering that it would be agreeable to his old nobility. Besides Cochran, James had other favourites whose professions rendered them still less worthy of the royal countenance; James Hommil a taylor, Leonard a blacksmith, Torfian a dancing-master, and some others. The favour shown to these men gave too much offence to the nobility, that, after some deliberation, they resolved to remove the king, with some of his least exceptionable domestics (but without offering any violence to his person) to the castle of Edinburgh; but to hang all his worthless favourites over Lawder-bridge, the common place of execution. Their deliberation was not kept so secret as not to come to the ears of the favourites; who suspecting the worst, awakened James before day-break, and informed him of the meeting. He ordered Cochran to repair to it, and to bring him an account of its proceedings (a). According to Lindsay, who seems to have had very minute information as to this event, Cochran rudely knocked at the door of the church, just after the assembly had finished their consultation; and upon Sir Robert Douglas of Lochleven (who was appointed to watch the door) informing them that the earl of Mar demanded admittance, the earl of Angus ordered the door to be thrown open; and rushing upon Cochran, he pulled a massy gold chain from his neck, saying, that a rope would become him better; while Sir Robert Douglas stripped him of a costly blowing-horn he wore by his side, as was the manner of the times, telling him he had been too long the hunter of mischief. Cochran, with astonishment, asked them whether they were in jest or earnest; but they soon convinced him they were in earnest, by pinioning down his arms with a common halter till he should be carried to execution.

The earl of Angus, with some of the chief lords, attended by a detachment of troops, then repaired to the king's tent, where they seized his other favourites, Thomas Preston, Sir William Rogers, James Hommil, William Torfian, and Leonard; and upbraided James himself, in very rude terms, with his misconduct in government, and even in private life, in not only being counselled by the above minions, but for keeping company with a lady, who was called the Daff. We know of no resistance made by James. He only interceded for the safety of a young gentleman, one John Ramsay of Balmain. Cochran, with his other worthless favourites, were hanged over Lawder-bridge before his eyes; and he himself was conducted, under an easy restraint, to the castle of Edinburgh.

James, though confined, behaved with great spirit; and even refused to pardon those who had confined him, or who had any hand in the execution of Lawder. At last, however, he was relieved by the duke of Albany, who, at the queen's desire, undertook to deliver her husband from confinement. This he accomplished, as some say, by surprising the castle of Edinburgh; though, according to others, the gates were opened, upon a formal requisition made for that purpose by two heralds at arms. After he had obtained his liberty, the king repaired to the abbey of Holyrood-house with his brother, who now acted as his field minister. All the lords who were near the capital came to pay him their compliments; but James was so much exasperated at what had happened, that he committed 16 of them prisoners to the castle of Edinburgh. After his release, James granted a patent to the citizens of Edinburgh, and enlarged their privilege.

In 1487, James finished some secret negotiations in which he had engaged with Henry king of England some time. The principal articles agreed on between the two monarchs were, That king James's second son should marry Catherine the third daughter of Edward IV. and sister to the princess Elizabeth, now queen of England; and that James himself, who was now a widower, should marry queen Elizabeth. A third marriage was also to be concluded between the duke of Rothsay and another daughter of Edward IV. That in order to these treaties, and for ending all controversies concerning the town of Berwick, which the king of Scotland desired so much to possess, a congress should be held the ensuing year.

(a) Lindsay's description of this upstart's magnificence is very particular, and may serve to give the reader an idea of the finery of that age. "Cochran," says he, "the earl of Mar, came from the king to the council, (which council was holden in the kirk of Lawder for the time) who was well accompanied with a band of men of war, to the number of 100 light axes, all clad in white livery, and black bands thereon, that they might be known for Cochran the earl of Mar's men. Himself was clad in a riding-pie of black velvet, with a great chain of gold about his neck, to the value of 300 crowns; and four blowing horns, with both the ends of gold and silk, set with precious stones. His horn was tipped with fine gold at every end, and a precious stone, called a kerly, hanging in the midst. This Cochran had his heemont borne before him, overlaid with gold; so were all the rest of his horns; and all his pallions (pavilions or tents) were of fine canvas of silk, and the cords thereof fine twined silk; and the chains upon his pallions were double overlaid with gold." But in the mean time a most powerful confederacy was formed against the king; the origin of which was as follows. James was a great patron of architecture; and being pleased with the situation of Stirling castle, he resolved to give it all the embellishments which art could bestow; and about this time he made it the chief place of his residence. He raised within it a hall, which at that time was deemed a noble structure; and a college, which he called the chapel-royal. This college was endowed with an archdeacon who was a bishop, a subdean, a treasurer, a chanter and subchanter, with a double set of other officers usually belonging to such institutions. The expenses necessary for maintaining these were considerable, and the king had resolved to assign the revenues of the rich priory of Coldingham for that purpose.

This priory had been generally held by one of the name of Hume; and that family, through length of time, considered it as their property: they therefore strongly opposed the king's intention. The dispute seems to have lasted some years; for the former parliament had passed a vote, annexing the priory to the king's chapel-royal; and the parliament of this year had passed a statute, strictly prohibiting all persons, spiritual and temporal, to attempt anything, quarrel with directly or indirectly, contrary or prejudicial to the family said union and annexation. The Humes resented their being stripped of so gainful a revenue, the loss of which affected most of the gentlemen of that name; and they united themselves with the Hepburns, another powerful clan in that neighbourhood, under the lord Hales. An association was soon formed; by which both families engaged to stand by each other, and not to suffer any prior to be received for Coldingham, if he was not of one of their surnames. The lords Gray and Drummond soon joined the association; as did many other noblemen and gentlemen, who had their particular causes of discontent. Their agents gave out, that the king was grasping at arbitrary power; that he had acquired his popularity by deep hypocrisy; and that he was resolved to be signally revenged upon all who had any hand in the execution at Ladder. The earl of Angus, who was the soul of the confederacy, advised the conspirators to apply to the old earl of Douglas to head them: but that nobleman was now dead to all ambition, and instead of encouraging the conspirators, he patriotically exhorted them to break off all their rebellious connections, and return to their duty; expressing the most sincere contrition for his own past conduct. Finding he could not prevail with them, he wrote to all the numerous friends and descendants of his family, and particularly to Douglas of Cavers, sheriff of Teviotdale, dissuading them from entering into the conspiracy; and some of his original letters to that effect are said to be still extant. That great man survived this application but a short time: for he died without issue at Lindores, on the 13th of April 1488; and in him ended the first branch of that noble and illustrious house. He was remarkable for being the most learned of all the Scots nobility, and for the comeliness of his person.

James appears to have been no stranger to the proceedings of the conspirators: but though he dreaded them, he depended upon the protection of the law, as they did upon his pusillanimity. His degeneracy in this respect is remarkable. Descended from a race of heroes, he was the first of his family who had been branded with cowardice. But his conduct at this time fully justifies the charge. Instead of vigorously supporting the execution of the laws in his own person, most bitter he shut himself up in his beloved castle of Stirling, and raised a body-guard; the command of which he gave to the lord Bothwel, maiter of his household. He likewise issued a proclamation, forbidding any person in arms to approach the court; and Bothwel had a warrant to see the same put into execution. Though the king's proceedings in all this were perfectly agreeable to law, yet they were given out by his enemies as to many indications of his aversion to the nobility, and served only to induce them to parade, armed, about the country in more numerous bodies.

The connections entered into by James with Henry alarmed the conspirators, and made them resolve to strike the great blow before James could avail himself of an alliance that seemed to place him above all opposition either abroad or at home. The acquisition of Berwick to the crown of Scotland, which was looked upon to be as good as concluded; the marriage of the duke of Rothesay with the daughter of the dowager and sister to the consort-queen of England; and, above all, the strict harmony which reigned between James and the states of his kingdom, rendered the conspirators in a manner desperate. Besides the earl of Angus, the earls of Argyle and Lenox favoured the conspirators; for when the whole of James's convention with England is considered, and compared with after-events, nothing can be more plain, than that the success of the conspirators was owing to his English connections; and that they made use of them to affirm, that Scotland was soon to become a province of England, and that James intended to govern his subjects by an English force. Those specious allegations did the conspirators great service, and inclined many, even of the moderate party, to their cause. They soon took the field, appointed their rendezvous, and all the south of Scotland was in arms. James continued to rely upon the authority of his parliament; and summoned, in the terms of law, the insurgents to answer at the proper tribunals for their repeated breaches of the peace. The conspirators, far from paying any regard to his citations, tore them in pieces, buffeted and otherwise maltreated the messengers, and set the laws of their country at open defiance. Even north of the Forth, the heads of the houses of Gray and Drummond spread the spirit of disaffection through the populous counties of Fife and Angus; but the counties north of the Grampians continued firm in their duty.

The duke of Rothesay was then a promising youth about fifteen years of age; and the subjecting the kingdom of Scotland to that of England being the chief, if not the only, cause urged by the rebels for their appearing in arms, they naturally threw their eyes upon that prince, as his appearance at their head would give strength and sanction to their cause; and in this they were not deceived. James, in the mean time, finding the inhabitants of the southern provinces were either engaged in the rebellion, or at best observed a cold neutrality, embarked on board of a vessel which was then lying in the frith of Forth, and passed to the north of that river, not finding it safe to go by land. land to Stirling. Arriving at the castle, he gave orders that the duke of Rothesay (as foreseeing what afterwards happened) should be put under the care of one Schaw of Sauchie, whom he had made its governor, charging him not to suffer the prince upon any account to depart out of the fort. The rebels giving out that James had fled to Flanders, plundered his equipages and baggage before they passed the Forth; and there they found a large sum of money, which proved to be of the utmost consequence to their affairs. They then surprized the castle of Dunbar, and plundered the houses of every man to the south of the Forth whom they suspected to be a royalist.

James was all this time making a progress, and holding courts of justice, in the north, where the great families were entirely devoted to his service, particularly the earls of Huntley, Errol, and Marshal. Every day brought him fresh alarms from the south, which left him no farther room either for delay or deliberation. The conspirators, notwithstanding the promising appearance of their affairs, found, that in a short time their cause must languish, and their numbers dwindle, unless they were furnished with fresh pretexts, and headed by a person of the greatest authority. While they were deliberating who that person should be, the earl of Angus boldly proposed the duke of Rothesay; and an immediate application was made to Schaw the young prince's governor, who secretly favoured their cause, and was prevailed upon by a considerable sum of money to put the prince into their hands, and to declare for the rebels.

James having ordered all the force in the north to assemble, hurried to Perth (then called St John's town), where he appointed the rendezvous of his army, which amounted to 30,000 men. Among the other noblemen who attended him, was the famous lord David Lindsay of the Byres, (an officer of great courage and experience, having long served in foreign countries), who headed 3000 foot and 1000 horse, mostly raised in Fifehire. Upon his approaching the king's person, he presented him with a horse of remarkable spirit and beauty, and informed his majesty, that he might trust his life to his agility and sure-footedness. The lord Ruthven, who was sheriff of Strathern, and ancestor (if we mistake not) to the unfortunate earls of Gowry, joined James at the head of 3000 well-armed men. The whole army being assembled, James proceeded to Stirling; but he was astonished, when he was not only denied entrance into the castle, but saw the guns pointed against his person, and understood, for the first time, that his son was at the head of the rebels. Schaw pretended that the duke of Rothesay had been carried off against his will; but the king's answer was, "Eye, traitor, thou hast deceived me; and if I live, I shall be revenged on thee, and thou shalt be rewarded as thou had served." James lay that night in the town of Stirling, where he was joined by all his army; and understanding that the rebels were advancing, he formed his line of battle. The earl of Athol his uncle, who was trusted by both parties, proposed an accommodation; which was accordingly effected, if we are to believe Abercromby and other historians; but we know not the terms, for none are mentioned on either side. James is said to have failed on his part; but had there been any grounds for such a charge against him, there can scarcely be a doubt that the rebels would have published them. That a treaty was entered into, is pall dilute; and the earl of Athol surrendered himself as a hostage into the hands of the rebels.

James was sensible of the advantage which public clamour gave to his enemies; and he applied to the kings of France and England, and the pope, for their interposition. His holiness named Adrian de Castello for his nuncio on that occasion; and the two kings threatened to raise troops for the service of James. He, by a fatality not uncommon to weak princes, left the strong castle of Edinburgh, where he might have been in safety till his friends, who had dispersed themselves upon the faith of the late negotiation, could be re-assembled; and crossing the Forth, he made another attempt to be admitted into the castle of Stirling; but was disappointed, and informed that the rebels were at Torwood in the neighbourhood, and ready to give him battle. He was in possession of the castle of Blackness; his admiral, Wood, commanded the Forth; and his loyal subjects in the north were upon their march to join him. Hawthornden says, that the rebels had made a show of dismiffing their troops, that they might draw James into the field; and that while he remained at Blackness, he was attended by the earls of Montrose, Glencairn, and the lords Maxwell and Ruthven. To give his northern troops time to join him, he proposed a negociation; but that was soon at an end, upon the rebels peremptorily requiring him to resign his crown to his son, sign his crown, that is, to themselves.

The rebels had been inured to war. They consisted chiefly of borderers, well armed and disciplined; in which they had the advantage of the king's Lowland subjects, who had not been accustomed to arms. What the numbers on both sides were, does not clearly appear; but it is probable, that the forces of James were superior to the rebels. They were then at Falkirk; but they soon passed the Carron, encamped above the bridge near Torwood, and made such dispositions as rendered a battle unavoidable, unless James would have dispersed his army, and gone on board Wood's ships; but he did not know himself, and resolved on a battle. He was encamped at a small brook, named Sauchie-burn, near the same spot of ground where the battle with great Bruce had defeated the English under Edward the second. The earl of Montrose, the lords Ardkine, Graham, Ruthven, and Maxwell, commanded the first line of the king's army. The second was commanded by the earl of Glencairn, who was at the head of the Westland and Highland men. The earl of Crawford, with the lord Boyd and Lindsay of Byres, commanded the rear, wherein the king's main strength consisted, and where he himself appeared in person, completely armed, and mounted upon the fine horse which had been presented to him by Lindsay.

The first line of the royalists obliged that of the rebels to give way; but the latter being supported by the Anandale men and borderers, the first and second line of the king's army were beat back to the third. The little courage James possessed had forsaken him at the first onset; and he had put spurs to his horse, in his army, tending to gain the banks of the Forth, and to go on board one of Wood's ships. In passing through the village Scotland. village of Bannockburn, a woman who was filling her pitcher at the brook, frightened at the sight of a man in armour galloping full speed, left it behind her; and the horse taking fright, the king was thrown to the ground, and carried, bruised and maimed, by a miller and his wife into their hovel. He immediately called for a priest to make his confession; and the rustics demanding his name and rank, "I was (said he incrustiously) your king this morning." The woman, overcome with astonishment, clasped her hands, and running to the door called for a priest to confess the king.

"I am a priest (said one passing by), lead me to his majesty." Being introduced into the hovel, he saw the king covered with a coarse cloth; and kneeling by him, he asked James whether he thought he could recover if properly attended by physicians? James answering in the affirmative, the villain pulled out a dagger and stabbed him to the heart. Such is the dark account we are able to give of this prince's unhappy end. The name of the person who murdered him is said to have been Sir Andrew Borthwick, a priest, one of the pope's knights. Some pretend that the lord Gray, and others that Robert Stirling of Keir, was the regicide; and even Buchanan (the tenor of whose history is a justification of this murder), is uncertain as to the name of the person who gave him the fatal blow.

It is probable that the royalists lost the battle through the cowardice of James. Even after his flight his troops fought bravely; but they were damped on receiving the certain accounts of his death. The prince, young as he was, had an idea of the unnatural part he was acting, and before the battle he had given a strict charge for the safety of his father's person. Upon hearing that he had retired from the field, he sent orders that none should pursue him; but they were ineffectual, the rebels being sensible that they could have have no safety but in the king's death. When that was certified, hostilities seemed to cease; nor were the royalists pursued. The number of slain on both sides is uncertain; but it must have been considerable, as the earl of Glencairn, the lords Sempill, Erskine, and Ruthven, and other gentlemen of great eminence, are mentioned. As to the duke of Rothesay, who was now king, he appeared inconsolable when he heard of his father's death; but the rebels endeavoured to efface his grief, by the profusion of honours they paid him when he was recognized as king.

The remorse and anguish of the young king, on reflecting upon the unnatural part he had acted, was inexpressible; and the noblemen who had been engaged in the rebellion became apprehensive for their own safety. The catastrophe of the unfortunate James III., however, was not yet become public; and it was thought by many that he had gone aboard some of the ships belonging to the Scottish admiral Sir Andrew Wood. James, willing to indulge hope as long as it was possible, desired an interview with the admiral; but the latter refused to come on shore, unless he had sufficient hostages for his safety. These being delivered, Sir Andrew waited upon the king at Leith. He had again and again, by messages, assured him that he knew nothing of the late king; and he had even offered to allow his ships to be searched: yet such was the anxiety of the new king, that he could not be satisfied till he had examined him in person. Young James had been long a stranger to his father, so that he could not have distinguished him easily from others. When Wood therefore entered the room, being struck with his noble appearance he asked him, "Are you my father?" "I am not," replied Wood, bursting into tears; "but I was your father's true servant, and while I live I shall be the determined enemy of his murderers." This did not satisfy the lords, who demanded whether he knew where the king was. The admiral replied, that he knew not; and upon their questioning him concerning his manoeuvres on the day of battle, when his boats were seen plying backwards and forwards, he told them, that he and his brother had determined to afflit the king in person; but all they could do was to save some of the royalists in their ships. "I would to God, (says he) my king was there safely, for I would defend and keep him steadfastly from all the traitors who have cruelly murdered him: for I think to see the day to behold them hanged and drawn for their demerits." This spirited declaration, and the freedom with which it was delivered, struck the guilty part of the council with dismay; but the fear of sacrificing the hostages procured Wood his freedom, and he was suffered to depart to his ships. When he came on board, he found his brother preparing to hang the two lords who had been left as hostages; which would certainly have been their fate, had the admiral been longer detained.

Wood had scarcely reached his ships, when the lords, calling the inhabitants of Leith together, offered them a large premium if they would fit out a sufficient force to destroy that bold pirate and his crew, as they called Wood; but the townsmen, who, it seems, did not much care for the service, replied, that Wood's ships were a match for any ten ships that could be fitted out in Scotland. The council then removed to Edinburgh, where James IV. was crowned on the 24th of June 1487.

In the month of October this year, the nobility and others who had been present at the king's coronation, converted themselves into a parliament, and passed an act by which they were indemnified for their rebellion against their late sovereign; after which, they ordered the act to be exemplified under the great seal of Scotland, that it might be producible in their justification if called for by any foreign prince. They next proceeded to the arduous task of vindicating their rebellion in the eyes of the public; and so far did they gain upon the king by the force of flattery, that he consented to summon the lords who had taken part with his father, before the parliament, to answer for their conduct. In consequence of this, no fewer than 28 lords were cited to appear at Edinburgh in the space of 40 days. The first upon the list was the lord David Lindsay, whose form of arraignment was as follows. "Lord David Lindsay of the Byres, answer Lindsay of for the cruel coming against the king at Bannockburn Byres, with his father, giving him counsel to have devoured the king's grace here present; and, to that effect, gave him a sword and a good horse, to fortify him against his son. Your answer hereto."—Lord Lindsay was remarkable for the bluntness of his conversation and the freedom of his sentiments; and being irritated by this charge, he delivered himself in such a manner concerning the treason of the rebellious lords, as abashed the boldest of his accusers. As they were unable to Scotland. answer him, all they could do was to press him to throw himself upon the king's clemency; which he refused, as being guilty of no crime. His brother, Patrick Lindsay, undertook to be his advocate, and apologized upon his knees for the roughness of his behaviour, and at last obtained an informality in the proceedings of the court; in consequence of which Lindsay was released, upon entering into recognizance to appear again at an appointed day; however, he was afterwards sent prisoner by the king's order, for a whole twelvemonth, to the castle of Rothesay in the Isle of Bute.

The regicides now endeavoured to gain the public favour by affecting a strict administration of justice. The king was advised to make a progress round the kingdom attended by his council and judges; while, in the mean time, certain noblemen and gentlemen were appointed to exercise justice, and to suppress all kinds of disorders in their own lands and in those adjoining to them, till the king came to the age of 21. The memory of the late king was branded in the most opprobrious manner. All justices, sheriffs, and stewards, who were possessed of heritable offices, but who had taken up arms for the late king, were either deprived of them for three years, or rendered incapable of enjoying them for ever after. All the young nobility who had been disdained by their fathers for taking arms against the late king, were, by act of parliament, restored to their several seisinements in the most ample manner. At last, in order to give a kind of proof to the world that they intended only to retake the state of the nation, without prejudice to the lower ranks of subjects, who did no more than follow the examples of their superiors, it was enacted, "That all goods and effects taken from burgesses, merchants, and those who had only personal estates, or, as they are called, unlanded men, since the battle of Stirling, were not only to be restored, but the owners were to be indemnified for their losses, and their persons, if in custody, were to be set at liberty. Churchmen, who were taken in arms, were to be delivered over to their ordinances, to be dealt with by them according to law." The castle of Dunbar was ordered to be demolished; and some statutes were enacted in favour of commerce, and for the exclusion of foreigners.

These last acts were passed with a view to recommence the boroughs, who had been very active in their opposition to the late king. However, the lords, before they dissolved their parliament, thought it necessary to give some public testimony of their disapproving the late king's connection with England. It was therefore enacted, "That as the king was now of an age to marry a noble princess, born and descended of a noble and worshipful house, an honourable embassy should be sent to the realms of France, Brittany, Spain, and other places, in order to conclude the matter." This embassy was to be very splendid. It was to consist of a bishop, an earl, or lord of parliament, a secretary, who was generally a clergyman, and a knight. They were to be attended by 50 horsemen; 5000l. was to be allowed them for the discharge of their embassy, and they were empowered to renew the ancient league between France and Scotland; and in the mean time a herald, or, as he was called, a trusty squire, was sent abroad to visit the several courts of Europe, in order to find out a proper match for the king. One considerable obstacle, however, lay in the way of this embassy. The pope had laid under an interdict those who had appeared in arms against the late king; and the party who now governed Scotland were looked upon by all the powers of Europe as rebels and murderers. The embassy was therefore suspended for a considerable time; for it was not till the year 1491 that the pope could be prevailed upon to take off the interdict, upon the most humble submissions and professions of repentance made by the guilty parties.

In the mean time, the many good qualities which discovered themselves in the young king began to conciliate the affections of his people to him. Being considered, however, as little better than a prisoner in the hands of his father's murderers, several of the nobility made use of that as a pretence for taking arms. The most forward of these was the earl of Lenox, who with 2000 men attempted to surprise the town of Stirling; but, being betrayed by one of his own men, he was taken unawares, defeated, and the castle of Dumbarton, of which he was the keeper, taken by the opposite party. In the north, the earls of Huntley and Marshall, with the lord Forbes, complained that they had been deceived, and declared their resolution to revenge the late king's death. Lord Forbes having procured the bloody shirt of the murdered prince, displayed it on the point of a lance, as a banner under which all loyal subjects should lift themselves. However, after the defeat of Lenox, the northern chieftains found themselves incapable of marching southwards, and were therefore obliged to abandon their enterprise.

The cause of the murdered king was next undertaken by Henry VII. of England, who made an offer to send five ships to Sir Andrew Wood of five ships to revenge it. The admiral accepted the proposal; but the English behaving as pirates, and plundering indiscriminately all who came in their way, he thought proper to separate himself from them, yet without offering to attack or oppose them. Upon this, James was advised to send Sir Andrew Wood, to offer him a pardon, and a commission to act against the English freebooters. Wood accepted of the king's offer; and being well provided with ammunition and artillery, he, with two ships only, attacked the five English vessels, all of which he took, and brought their crews prisoners to Leith, for which he was nobly rewarded by his majesty.

This conduct of Wood was highly resented by the king of England, who immediately vowed revenge. The Scottish admiral's ships had been fitted out for commerce as well as war, and Henry commanded his best sea-officer Sir Stephen Bull, to intercept him on his return from Flanders, whither he had gone upon a commercial voyage. Wood had no more than two ships with him; the English admiral had three; and Scottish ships much larger, and carrying a greater weight of metal, than the Scottish vessels. The English took their station at the island of May in the mouth of the Frith of Forth, and, having come unawares upon their enemies, fired two guns as a signal for their surrendering themselves. The Scottish commander encouraged his men as well as he could; and finding them determined to stand by him to the last, began the engagement in sight of numberless spectators who appeared. Scotland.

peared on both sides of the river. The fight continued all that day, and was renewed with redoubled fury in the morning; but in the mean time the ebb-tide and a south wind had carried both squadrons to the mouth of the Tay. Here the English fought under great disadvantages, by reason of the sand-banks; and before they could get clear of them, all the three were obliged to submit to the Scots, who But is taken carried them to Dundee. Wood treated his prisoners with all his great humanity; and having afterwards presented them to king James, the latter dismissed them not only without ransom, but with presents to the officers and crews, and a letter to king Henry. To this Henry returned a polite answer, a truce was concluded, and all differences for the present were accommodated.

James all this time had continued to display such moderation in his government, and appeared to have the advantage of his subjects so much at heart, that they became gradually well-affected to his government, and in 1490 all parties were fully reconciled. We may from thence date the commencement of the reign of James IV.; and the next year the happiness of his kingdom was completed, by taking off the Pope's interdict, and giving the king absolution for the hand he had in his father's death.

Tranquillity being thus restored, the negotiations concerning the king's marriage began to take place, but met with several interruptions. In 1493, Henry VII. proposed a match between the king of Scotland and his cousin the princess Catharine. James was too much attached to France to be fond of English connections, and probably thought this match below his dignity; in consequence of which the proposal was treated with contempt. However, notwithstanding this ill success, Henry made another offer of alliance with James; and, in 1495, proposed a marriage betwixt him and his eldest daughter Margaret. This proposal was accepted; but the match seems not to have been at all agreeable to James; for, at the very time in which he was negotiating the marriage, he not only protected Perkin Warbeck, the avowed enemy and pretender to the crown of Henry, but invaded England on his account. This conduct was highly resented by the English parliament; but Henry himself forgave even this grave insult, and the marriage negotiations were once more resumed. The bride was no more than ten years and six months old; and being only the fourth degree of blood from James, it was necessary to procure a dispensation from the pope. This being obtained, a treaty of perpetual peace was concluded between the two nations, on the 1st of July 1503, being the first that had taken place for 170 years, since the peace of Northampton concluded between Robert I. and Edward III.

One of the great ends which Henry had in view in promoting this marriage, was to detach James from the French interest; no sooner, therefore, was the treaty signed, than he wrote to his son-in-law to this purpose; who, however, politely declined to break with his ancient ally. On the 16th of June, the royal bride set out from Richmond in Surrey, in company with her father, who gave her the convoy as far as Colleweaton, royal upon the residence of his mother the countess of Richmond.

After passing some days there, the king resigned his daughter to the care of the earls of Surry and Northumberland, who proceeded with her to the borders of Scotland. Here a number of the company were permitted to take their leave; but those who remained still made a royal appearance. At Lamberton-church they were met by James, attended by a numerous train of his nobility and officers of state. From Lamberton they proceeded to Dalkeith, and next day to Edinburgh; where the nuptials were celebrated with the greatest splendour. On this occasion, it is said, that the Scots surpassed all their guests in extravagance and luxury; which must have been owing to the great intercourse and commerce which James and his subjects maintained with foreign courts and countries.

After the celebration of the nuptials, James appears to have enjoyed a tranquillity unknown almost to any of his predecessors; and began to make a considerable figure among the European potentates. But comes the magnificence of his court and embassies, his liberal bounty to strangers and to learned men, his costly edifices, and, above all, the large sums he laid out in ship-building, had now brought him into some difficulties; and he so far attended to the advice and example of his father-in-law, that he supplied his necessities by reviving dormant penal laws, particularly with regard to wardships and old titles of estates, by which he raised large sums. Though he did this without assembling his parliament, yet he found agents who justified these proceedings, in the same manner as Empson and Dudley did those of Henry, under the sanction of law. At last, however, touched with the sufferings of his subjects, he ordered all prosecutions to be stopped. He even went farther: for, sensible of the detestation into which his father-in-law's avarice had brought himself and his administration, he ordered the ministers who had advised him to those shameful courses to be imprisoned; and some of them, who probably had exceeded their commission, actually died in their confinement.

About this time, James applied himself, with incredible assiduity, to building ships; one of which, the ship of St Michael, is supposed to have been the largest then maritime in the world (m). He worked with his own hands in building it; and it is plain, from his conduct, that he

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(a) Of this ship we have the following account by Lindsay of Pitscottie. "In the same year, the king of Scotland bigged a great ship, called the Great Michael, which was the greatest ship, and of most strength, that ever sailed in England or France. For this ship was of so great stature, and took so much timber, that, except Falkland, she walked all the woods in Fife, which was oak-wood, by all timber that was gotten out of Norway; for she was so strong, and of so great length and breadth, (all thewrights of Scotland, yea, and many other strangers, were at her device, by the king's commandment, who wrought very busy in her; but it was a year and day ere she was complete); to wit, she was twelve-score foot of length, and thirty-fix foot within the sides. She was ten foot thick in the wall, outted jets of oak in her wall, and boards on every side, to flark and so thick, that no cannon could go through her. This great ship cumbered Scotland to get her to the sea. From that time that she was afloat, and her masts and sails complete, with tows and anchors afflicting thereto, she was counted to the king to be thirty thousand pounds of expenses, by her artillery, which was very great and costly to the king, by all the rest of her orders; to wit, she bare many cannons, fix on every side, with three great battels, two behind in her decks, and one before, with was aspiring to be a maritime power, in which he was encouraged by the excellent seamen which Scotland then produced. The first essay of his arms by sea was in favour of his kinsman John king of Denmark. This prince was brother to Margaret queen of Scotland; and had partly been called to the throne of Sweden, and partly possessed it by force. He was opposed by the administrator, Sture, whom he pardoned after he was crowned. Sture, however, renewing his rebellion, and the Norwegians revolting at the same time, John found himself under such difficulties, that he was forced to return to Denmark; but he left his queen in possession of the castle of Stockholm, which she bravely defended against Sture and the Swedes. This heroic princess became a great favourite with James; and several letters that passed between them are still extant. The king of Denmark, next to the French monarch, was the favourite ally of James; who, early in his reign, had compromised some differences between them. It likewise appears, from the histories of the north, that both James and his father had given great assistance to his Danish majesty in reducing the Norwegians; and he resolved to become a party in the war against the Swedes, and the Lubeckers who assisted them, if the former continued in their revolt. Previous to this, he sent an ambassador to offer his mediation between John and his subjects. The mediation was accordingly accepted of, and the negotiations were opened at Calmar. The deputies of Sweden not attending, John prevailed with those of Denmark and Norway to pronounce sentence of forfeiture against Sture and all his adherents. In the mean time, the siege of the castle of Stockholm was so warmly pressed, that the garrison was diminished to a handful, and those destitute of all kind of provisions; so that the brave queen was forced to capitulate, and to surrender up the fortresses, on condition of her being suffered to depart for Denmark; but the capitulation was perniciously broken by Sture, and she was confined in a monastery.

It was on this occasion that James resolved to employ his maritime power. He wrote a letter, conceived in the strongest terms, to the archbishop of Upsal, the primate of Sweden, exhorting him to employ all his authority in favour of the king; and another letter to the Lubeckers, threatening to declare war against them, as well as the Swedes, if they jointly continued to assist the rebels. According to Holinshed, James, in consequence of king John's application, gave the command of an army of 10,000 men to the earl of Arran, who replaced John upon his throne. Though this does not strictly appear to be truth, yet it is certain, that, had it not been for James, John must have sunk under the weight of his enemies. Sture, whose arms had made a great pro-

grest, hearing that a considerable armament was fitting out in Scotland, and knowing that James had prevailed with the French king to assist John likewise, agreed to release the queen, and to wait upon her to the frontiers of Denmark; where he died. By this time, James's armament, which was commanded by the earl of Arran, had set sail; but perceiving that all matters were adjusted between John and the Swedes, the ships returned sooner than James expected, "which (says he, in a very polite letter he wrote to the queen upon the occasion) they did not have done, had they not brought him an account that her Danish majesty was in perfect health and safety." The severity of John having occasioned a fresh revolt, James again sent a squadron to his assistance, which appeared before Stockholm, and obliged the Lubeckers to conclude a new treaty.

James, having thus honourably discharged his engagements with his uncle the king of Denmark, turned his attention towards the Flemings and Hollanders, who had insulted his flag, on account of the assistance he had afforded the duke of Gueldres, as well as from motives of rapaciousness, which distinguished those traders, who are said not only to have plundered the Scots ships, but to have thrown their crews overboard to conceal their villany. James gave the command of a squadron to Barton; who put to sea, and, without any ceremony, treated all the Dutch and Flemish traders who fell into his hands, as pirates, and sent their heads in hogsheads to James. Soon after, Barton returned to Scotland, and brought with him a number of rich prizes, which rendered his reputation as a seaman famous all over Europe.—James was then so much respected upon the continent, that we know of no resentment shown either by the court of Spain, whose subjects those Netherlanders were, or of any other power in Europe, for this vigorous proceeding.

The peace with England continued all the time of Henry the VII. nor did his son Henry VIII. tho' quarrelled he had not the same reason as his father to keep well land, with the Scots, for some time show any disposition to break with them. A breach, however, did very soon take place, which was never afterwards thoroughly made up, on the following occasion.

About 30 years before, one John Barton, (a relation, probably, to the famous Barton), commanded a trading vessel, which was taken by two Portuguese sea-captains in the port of Sluyss; and the captain, with several Scotchmen, were killed in endeavouring to defend their property. The action was esteemed cowardly as well as piratical, because it was done under the protection of a large Portuguese squadron. The ship and the remaining part of the crew, with the cargo, were carried to Portugal, from whence no redress could be obtained; and James III. grant-

Vol. IX.

with three hundred shot of small artillery, that is to say, myand and battret-falcon, and quarter-falcon, flings, pestilent ferpenters, and double-dogs, with hagtor and culvering, cors-bows and hand-bows. She had three hundred mariners to fail her; she had six score of gunners to use her artillery; and had a thousand men of war, by her captain, shippers, and quarter-masters.

"When this ship past to the sea, and was lying in the road, the king gart floot a cannon at her, to effay her if she was wight; but I heard say, it deareher her not; and did her little faith. And if any man believe that this description of the ship be not of verity, as we have written, let him pas to the gate of Tillibardin, and there, afore the same, ye will see the length and breadth of her, planted with hawthorn, by the wright that helped to make her. As for other properties of her, Sir Andrew Wood is my author, who was quarter-master of her; and Robert Bar-

tyne, who was master-shipper." extraordinary, as James was, in effect, to fight against Scotland. The pope and his allies were keen for a war with England. The old counsellors, on the other hand, who saw the flourishing state of Scotland, arising from a long peace and their commerce, which was protected by a fleet, dreaded the ruinous consequences of a war. The queen naturally headed this party; and she was joined by the earl of Angus and the wisest part of the nobility. Their arguments made no impression upon James. He had received a present from Lewis of four ships laden with wine and flour, and two ships of war completely equipped, one of them carrying 34 pieces of brass ordnance. He promised to the French queen, upon his honour, that he would take the field against the English; and she had sent him a fresh letter, gently reproaching him for want of gallantry, and for not being so good as his word. In short, the reasonings of the wisest and best part of the nobility were over-ruled, and the expedition against England was resolved on.

The earl of Hume, who was chamberlain of Scotland, was, at this juncture, at the head of 7000 or 8000 men, with whom he committed prodigious devastations on the English borders. Henry's queen, Catharine of Spain, whom he had left regent of his dominions, issued a commission of array, directed to Sir Thomas Lovel, knight of the garter, for assembling the militia of the counties of Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, Leicester, Stafford, Rutland, Northampton, and Lincoln. The management of the war, however, was chiefly committed to the earl of Surrey, who assembled the militia of Chester, Lancaster, Northumberland, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and the bishopric of Durham. The earl of Hume had by this time laid great part of Northumberland waste; and his men were returning home laden with booty. The earl of Surrey, resolving to intercept them, ordered Sir William Bulmer to form an ambush with 1000 archers, at a place called Broomhouse, extremely convenient for that purpose, by which the Scots must pass. As the latter expected nothing of that kind, Bulmer executed his orders with great success. The archers assaulted the Scots all at once, and made to good use of their arrows, that their main body was put to flight, 500 were killed, and 400 taken, with the lord Hume's standard, which he left on the field of battle; the greatest part of the plunder being recovered at the same time. The commonalty of Scotland termed this expedition of the lord Hume's the Ill road.

James was more exasperated than ever by this defeat, and continued his preparations for invading England with additional vigour. His queen did all that became a wise and prudent wife to divert him from his fatal purpose. She endeavoured to work upon his superstition, by recounting to him her ominous dreams and boding apprehensions. James treating these as mere illusions and fictions of the brain, he had recourse to other arts. While James was waiting at Linlithgow for the arrival of his army from the north and the Highlands, he assisted one afternoon at the vespers in the church of St Michael. Being placed in one of the canon's seats, a venerable, comely man of about 52 years of age, entered, dressed in a long garment of an azure colour, and girded round with a towel or roll. roll of linen, his forehead bald, and his yellow locks hanging down his shoulders; in short, he was dressed and formed to appear like St Andrew, the apostle of Scotland, as he is represented in painting and sculpture. The church being crowded, this personage, with some difficulty, made his way to the king's feet; and leaning over it, he spoke to the following purpose:

"Sir," (said he,) "I am sent hither to intreat you for this time to delay your expedition, and to proceed no farther in your intended journey: for if you do, you shall not prosper in your enterprise, nor any of your followers. I am further charged to warn you, if ye be so refractory as to go forward, not to use the acquaintance, company, or counsel of women, as ye tender your honour, life, and estate." After delivering these words, he retired through the crowd, and was no more seen, though when the service was ended, James earnestly inquired after him.

That this scene was acted, seems to be past dispute; for Sir David Lindsay, who was then a young man, and present in the church, reported it both to Buchanan and Lindsay the historian. It is, however, equally certain, that the whole was a contrivance of the queen, to whose other afflictions the stings of jealousy were now added. In one of the Scotch inroads into England, one Heron, the proprietor of the castle of Ford, had been taken prisoner, and sent to Scotland; where he was detained on a charge of murder, of which he seems to have been innocent. The English historians mention this as having passed after James entered England: but from the latter part of the supposed phantom's speech, it is probable that it happened before; and that Heron's wife and beautiful daughter had been for some time soliciting James for his deliverance. Be that as it may, it is too probable that James was smitten with the charms of the daughter; and that her mother, who was a most artful woman, knew how to avail herself of the conquest. Pretending that she had interest enough to procure the release of the lord Johnston and Alexander Home, who were prisoners in England, she was permitted by James to keep a constant correspondence with the earl of Surry, to whom she is said to have betrayed all James's secrets and measures. The rendezvous of James's army was at the Burrow-moor, to which James repaired; and having given orders for the march of his artillery, he lodged at the abbey of Holyrood-house. While he was there, another attempt was made to divert him from his purpose of invading England: but James, deaf to all the solicitations and inventions of his queen, mustered his army; and on the 22nd of August he passed the Tweed, encamping that night near the banks of the Tweed. On his arrival at Tweedmouth on the 14th, he called an assembly of his lords together, and made a declaration, that the heirs of all such as should die in the army, or be killed by the enemy during his stay in England, should have their wards, relief, and marriages of the king; who, upon that account, dispensed with their age. This is said to have been the crisis of that prince's fate. Abandoned to his passion for his English mistress, she prevailed with him, at her mother's instigation, to trifle away his time for some days; during which interval, the junction of the English army was formed. The earl of Surry, the English general, was then at Pomfret; but ordered the landholders of the neighbouring counties to certify to him in writing what number of men each could furnish, charging them to be ready at an hour's warning; and he laid his plan fo, as not to bring his army into the field till James had advanced so far into England, as to render it very difficult for him to retire without a general battle. This precaution afforded the lady Ford (as she is called) in persuading James that there was no danger in the delay, because the English had not the face of an army in the field.

In the mean time, the earl of Surry ordered the governors of Berwick and Norham, the two strongest places on the frontiers of England, to prepare for a vigorous resistance in case they were attacked; and directed them to certify how long they could hold out, in hopes, that if they made a resolute defence, James would march on, and leave them in his rear. The governor of Norham's answer was, that his castle was so well provided, as to leave him no doubt, in case of a siege, to be able to defend it till king Henry should return from abroad, and relieve it in person. James, however, besieged it on the 25th of August, and battered it so furiously, that he took it by capitulation on the fifth day after. James then proceeded to the castle of Erol, belonging to the family of Manners (now duke of Rutland); which he took and demolished likewise, as he also did Wark, and arrived before the castle Ford. The Scotch army is generally allowed to have consisted of at least 50,000 men when it passed the Tweed. At this time it was encamped on the heights of Cheviot, in the heart of a country naturally barren, and now desolate through the precautions taken by the English general. Being obliged to extend their quarters for the benefit of subsistence, the mercenary part of them had acquired a considerable plunder, with which, as usual, they retired to their own country, as many more did for want of subsistence. The earl of Surry knew their situation, and ordered the rendezvous of his army, first at Newcastle, and then near Norham, having certain intelligence of the vast desertions daily happening in the Scotch army, which had reduced it greatly. The wetness of the season rendered his march, especially that of the artillery, extremely difficult; but being joined by several persons of great distinction, he marched on the 3rd of September to Alnwick, where he was reinforced by 5000 hardy veteran troops, sent from the English army on the continent, under the command of his son, the lord-admiral of England; so that the English authors admit his army to have consisted of 26,000 men, all completely armed and provided for the field. James having, in the manifesto which he dispersed on his entering England, given the death of Barton as one of the causes of his invasion, the lord-admiral had prevailed with Henry to send him upon this service; and he informed James by a letter, that he intended to justify the death of that pirate in the front of the English army.

By this time the army of James was, by defection and other causes, reduced to less than half its numbers; but the chief misfortune attending it was his own conduct. His indolence and inactivity, joined to the scandalous examples of his amours, at such a season, had disgusted several of his greatest men and best friends; and some of them more than suspected a cor- respondence between the English lady and the earl of Surry. James was deaf to all their remonstrances; and the earl of Angus declared, that he was resolved to return home, as he foretold that the ruin of the army was inevitable through the obstinacy of James. He accordingly withdrew to Scotland, but left behind him his two sons. The lord Hume and the earl of Huntley were likewise discontented. The former had brought his men into the field; but, according to some Scotch historians, with a design rather to betray than to serve James; but Huntley, though he disliked his master's conduct, remained firmly attached to his person.

The defection or backwardness of those great men seemed to make no impression upon James. He had chosen a strong camp in the neighbourhood of Ford, on the side of a mountain called Flodden-hill; and he was separated from the English army by the river Till. This advantageous situation put the earl of Surry under great difficulties; for it rendered the Scotch army inaccessible, as it was fortified by artillery, and was now well supplied with provisions by the change of its situation. The earl drew up a manifesto, with which he charged Rouge Croix herald, who was attended by a trumpet. It contained some proposals for an exchange of prisoners, which seems to have been calculated to give the lady Ford the more credit with James; but concluded with reproaches for his perfidious invasion of England, and a defiance to James to fight him in a general battle. The herald was farther charged with a verbal commission to acquaint James, that the earl of Surry had issued orders that no quarter should be given to any of the Scotch army but the king himself.

A council of war was called on this occasion; in which the earl of Huntley and others made strong remonstrances against a general engagement. They shewed how fatal it must be to Scotland, should it prove unsuccessful; and that the wisest course James could follow was to return home, where, if he was pursued by the enemy, he could fight to great advantage. The earl of Huntley, however, added, that his opinion should be determined by that of the king and council; and that he was equally ready to share his majesty's danger as his glory.

Huntley and the other noblemen were opposed by the French ambassador, who represented a retreat as disgraceful to the nobility of Scotland and the arms of James; and used many romantic arguments of the same kind, which but too well suited with the king's disposition. According to Drummond, the council were of opinion, that the king should immediately be called in; but be that as it will, the majority of them were certainly of opinion, that it was beneath the dignity of James to fight the earl of Surry at that nobleman's requisition, and that James could lose no honour by returning home. Patrick lord Lindsay of Byres, mentioned on a former occasion, and who was president of the council, expressed himself so strongly on that head, that James, in a passion, is said by the historian Lindsay to have sworn, that if ever he lived to return to Scotland, he would hang that nobleman at his own gate. He ordered Rouge Croix to be called in; and after treating him with great politeness, he sent a message to the earl of Surry by one of his own heralds (Islay), importing, that he would give the English battle on the Friday following; and that had he received such a message from the earl even in his own castle of Edinburgh, he would have left that, and all other business, to have fought him. With this message, a small manifesto, in vindication of James's conduct, was sent by the same herald.

The earl of Surry, who was then so firm that he was carried about in a sedan or chariot, had foreseen that James would return an answer by one of his own heralds; but, unwilling that he should obtain any knowledge of the situation of the English camp, he ordered proper persons to receive him at two miles distance, where soon after he attended himself in person. Islay executed his commission without paying much respect to the person of the English general; who dismissed him, after bestowing great compliments upon the honour and courage of James. The earl then ordered his army to march in the line of battle towards Wollerhaugh. There he was joined by Rouge Croix, herald, who gave him an account of the strong situation of the Scottish camp; but the advanced posts of the English army were then within three miles of their enemies, and the earl of Surry found his difficulties daily increasing. The roads were broken up, the swelling of the rivers cut him off from the necessary communications for supplying his army, and nothing but a battle could save him either from being disbanded or destroyed.

James seems to have so far regarded the advice of his wisest counsellors, as not to abandon his strong situation. They endeavoured to persuade him, that it was a sufficient guard to his honour, if he did not decline the battle on the day appointed; and that his engagement did not bind him to fight upon disadvantageous ground. The Scots, at the same time, knew of their enemy's distresses; and, as Drummond elegantly expresses it, they remonstrated to their king, that he lacked nothing but patience to be victorious. His imperiousness thus lying on the defensive, the earl of Huntley again sent Rouge Croix to inform James that he was ready to give him battle. James was sensibly nettled at this tacit imputation upon his honour, and perhaps was inwardly vexed for having followed the wise advice of his noblemen. It is certain, from the best authorities, that he neglected the necessary precautions for guarding the passages of the Till, which the English crossed, partly at a place where it was fordable, and partly at a bridge. We are told, not without a great appearance of probability, that while the English were passing the bridge, Borthwick, master of the Scotch artillery, fell upon his knees, and begged permission from James to point his cannon against the bridge; but that James answered him in a passion, that it must be at the peril of his (Borthwick's) head, and that he was resolved to see all his enemies that day on the plain before him in a body. The earl of Surry, after passing the Till, took possession of Braxton, which lay to the right of the Scotch camp; and by that situation he cut off the communication of his enemies with the Tweed, and commanded the Till below Eton-castle. The Scotch generals saw themselves now in danger of being reduced to the same straits in which their enemies had been involved. Scotland two days before, and their country open to an invasion of the English army. James had secret intelligence that this was far from being the intention of the English general; and imagining that the latter's intention was to take possession of a strong camp upon a hill between him and the Tweed, which would give the English a farther command of the country, he resolved to be beforehand with the earl, and gave orders for making large fires of green wood, that the smoke might cover his march along the height, to take advantage of that eminence. But while this stratagem concealed his march from the English, their movements were concealed from him; for when he came to the brow of the height over which he had marched, he found the enemy drawn up in order of battle on the plain, but so close to the height where he was, that his artillery, on which his great dependence was, must overshoot them.

A battle was now not only unavoidable, but the only means of saving the Scotch army, which was probably far from being a disagreeable circumstance to James. His person was so dear to his troops, that many of them dressed themselves as nearly as they could in the same coats of armour and with the same distinctions that James wore that day. His generals had earnestly desired him to retire to a place of safety, where his person would be secure in all events; but he obstinately refused to follow their advice; and on the ninth of September, early in the morning, dispositions were ordered for the line of battle. The command of the van was allotted to the earl of Huntley; the earls of Lenox and Argyle commanded the Highlanders under James, who, some say, served only as a volunteer; and the earls of Crawford and Montrose led the body of reserve. The earl of Surrey gave the command of his van to his son, the lord-admiral; his right wing was commanded by his other son, Sir Edward Howard; and his left by Sir Marmaduke Constable. The rear was commanded by the earl himself, lord Dacres, and Sir Edward Stanley. Under those leaders served the flower of all the nobility and gentry then in England. Other writers give different accounts of the disposition of the English army, but they may be reconciled by the different forms into which the battle was thrown before it was decided. The lord Hume is mentioned as serving under the earls of Crawford and Montrose, and Hepburn earl of Bothwell in the rear.

The first motion of the English army was by the lord-admiral, who suddenly wheeled to the right, and seized a pass at Milford, where he planted his artillery so as to command the most sloping part of the ascent where the Scots were drawn up; and it did great execution. The Scots had not foreseen this manoeuvre; and it put them into such disorder, that the earl of Huntley found it necessary to attack the lord-admiral; which he did with so much fury, that he drove him from his post; and the consequence must have been fatal to the English, had not his precipitate retreat been covered by some squadrons of horse under the lord Dacres, which gave the lord-admiral an opportunity of rallying and new-forming his men. The earl of Surrey now found it necessary to advance to the front, so that the English army formed one continued line, which galled the Scots with perpetual discharges of their artillery and bows. The Highlanders, as usual, impatient to come to a close fight, and to share in the honour of the day, which they now thought their own, rushed down the declivity with their broad-swords, but without order or discipline, and before the rest of the army, particularly the division under lord Hume, advanced to support them. Their impetuosity, however, made a considerable impression upon the main battle of the English; and the king bringing up the earl of Bothwell's reserve, the battle became general and doubtful; but by this time the lord-admiral, having again formed his men, came to the assistance of his father, and charged the division under the earls of Crawford and Montrose, who were marching up to support the Highlanders, among whom the king and his attendants were now fighting on foot; while Stanley, making a circuit round the hill, attacked the Highlanders in the rear. Crawford and Montrose, not being seconded, according to the Scotch historians, by the Humes, were routed; and thus all that part of the Scotch army which was engaged under their kings, was completely surrounded by the division of the English under Surrey, Stanley, and the lord-admiral. In this terrible situation, James acted with a coolness not common to his temper. He drew up his men in a circular form, and their valour more than once opened the ranks of the English, or obliged them to stand aloof, and again have recourse to their bows and artillery. The chief of the Scotch nobility made fresh attempts to prevail with James to make his escape while it was practicable; but he obstinately continued the fight; and thereby became accessory to his own ruin, and that of his troops, whom the English would gladly have suffered to retreat. He saw the earls of Montrose, Crawford, Argyle, and Lenox, fall by his side, with the bravest of his men lying dead on the spot; and darkness now coming on, he himself was killed by an unknown hand. The English were ignorant of the victory they had gained; and had actually retreated from the field of battle, with a design of renewing it next morning.

This disaster was evidently owing to the romantic disposition of the king himself, and to the want of discipline among many of his soldiers; though some writers have ascribed it to the treachery of lord Hume. Many of James's domestics knew and mourned over his body; and it appeared that he had received two mortal wounds, one through the trunk with an arrow, and the other on the head with a bill. His coat of armour was presented to queen Catherine, who informed her husband, then in France, of the victory over the Scots. The loss on both sides, in this engagement, is far from being ascertained; though Polydore Virgil, who lived at the time, mentions the loss of the English at 5000, and that of the Scots at 10,000.

After the death of king James IV. the administration devolved on the queen-dowager; but she being big with a posthumous child, and unable to bear the weight of public business, accepted of Beaton archbishop of Glasgow and chancellor of Scotland, with the earls of Huntly, Angus, and Arran, to assist her in the affairs of government. Soon after her husband's death, she had wrote an affecting letter to her brother the king of England, informing him of her pregnancy. setting forth the deplorable state of the kingdom, with her own condition, and imploring his friendship and protection for herself and her infant son. This letter seems never to have been communicated by Henry to his council; but he answered it, and informed his sister, that if the Scots would have peace, they should have peace, and war if they chose it. "He added (according to Drummond), that her husband had fallen by his own indiscreet rashness, and foolish kindness to France; that he regretted his death as his ally, and should be willing to prohibit all hostility against the country of Scotland during the minority of her son. For a remedy of present evils, one year's truce and a day longer was yielded unto; in which time he had leisure to prosecute his designs against France, without fear of being disturbed or diverted by the incursions and raids of the Scots upon his borders."

Thus far Drummond; but though Henry might grant this time to his sister's intercessions, yet it certainly did not become a national measure; for it appears by a letter dated two years after, from the Scots council to the king of France, published by Rymer, that the Scots never had desired a truce. So far from that, the French influence, joined to a desire of revenge, remained so strong in the kingdom, that after the meeting of the parliament, some of the members were so violent as to propose a renewal of the war. This motion was indeed overruled by the more moderate part of the assembly; but they could not be brought to make any advances towards Henry for a peace; and every day was now big with public calamity, which seems to have gathered strength during the queen's illness. The archbishopric of St. Andrew's being vacant, it was offered by universal consent to Elphinstone bishop of Aberdeen; but being now old and infirm, he declined it. Three competitors for that high dignity then appeared. The first was Gavin Douglas, who was then abbot of Aberbrothock, to which he was presented by the queen upon her recovery (having been brought to bed of a son) the very day before her marriage with his nephew the earl of Angus; and upon the death of bishop Elphinstone in November following, she presented him likewise to the archbishopric of St. Andrew's. The second competitor was John Hepburn, prior of St. Andrew's; a bold, avaricious, restless, but shrewd and sensible priest. By his office he had received the rents of the see during its vacancy; and having prevailed with the canons, on pretence of ancient privileges, to elect him archbishop, without regard to the nomination either of the queen or pope, he drove Douglas's servants from the castle of St. Andrew's, of which they had taken possession. The third and most powerful competitor was Forman bishop of Moray in Scotland, and archbishop of Bourges in France, a dignity to which he had been raised for his public services. He had in his interest not only the duke of Albany (son to the traitor duke) first prince of the blood, but also the court of Rome itself; and having received the pope's bull and nomination to the dignity, he was considered by the Scotch clergy in general, and by the principal tenants and dependents upon the see, as the legal archbishop.

The preference given to Forman discouraged Douglas from pursuing his pretensions; but Hepburn, being supported by the clan of his own name and by the Humes, made so formidable a head against his rivals, that none could be found daring enough to publish the papal bull in favour of Forman. The friends of the latter, however, having intimated to the earl of Hume, that his credit at the court of Rome could easily procure the rich abbey of Coldingham for his younger brother, the earl put himself at the head of his followers, and, notwithstanding all the opposition given by the Hepburns, he proclaimed the pope's bull over the crofs of Edinburgh. This daring action plainly proved that the earl of Hume had more power than the queen-regent herself; but Hepburn's resolution, and the greatness of his friends, obliged Forman to agree to a compromise. Hepburn was advanced to the see of Moray, without accounting for the revenues of the archbishopric, which he had received during its vacancy; and he gave Forman a precent of three thousand crowns, to be divided among his friends and followers.

In April 1514, the posthumous son of whom the queen had been delivered in Stirling castle, was by the bishop of Caithness baptized Alexander. On the 6th of August this year she was married to the earl of Angus; than which nothing could be accounted more impolitic. She had neither consulted her brother Angus nor the states of Scotland in the match; and by her having accepted of a husband, she in fact resigned all claim to the regency under the late king's will. The Douglaston did not dispute her having divested herself of the regency; but they affirmed, that the states might lawfully reinstate her in it; and that the peace of the kingdom required it, as it was the only measure that could preserve the happy tranquillity which then subsisted between Scotland and England. The earl of Hume put himself at the head of the opposition to this proposal. He knew that he had enemies, and he dreaded that the farther aggrandizement of Angus must weaken his interest on the borders. He was joined by a number of the young nobility, who, tho' otherwise divided, united against Angus. In short, the general opinion was, that the Douglaston were already too great; and that, should the queen be reinstated in the regency, they must be absolute within the kingdom, and engross all places of power and profit. It was added by the earl of Hume, that he had, out of respect to the late king's memory, submitted to the queen's government; and that, now she had made a voluntary abdication of it by her marriage, it ought not to be renewed.

After some deliberations, the duke of Albany was chosen regent. He was a man possessed of all the qualities requisite for a good governor; nor did he receive the expectations of the public. On his arrival at Glasgow, he took upon him the titles of earl of March, Marr, Garioch, lord of Annandale, and of the isle of Man, regent and protector of the kingdom of Scotland. On his arrival at Edinburgh he was received in form by the three estates of the kingdom, and the queen had methim at some distance from the town. The parliament then refused its session, and the three estates took an oath of obedience, till the king, then an infant of four years old, should arrive at the years of maturity.

The first thing at which the regent aimed, was the con- conciliating the differences among the various contending families in the kingdom; at the same time that he suppressed some daring robbers, one of whom is said to have had no fewer than 300 attendants in his infamous profession. So great was his love of good order and decency, that he punished the lord Drummond with the loss of his estate for having struck Lyon king at arms, whose person, as the first herald in Scotland, ought to have been held sacred. Nay, it was at the earnest solicitation of Lyon himself, and many of the chief nobility, that a greater punishment was not inflicted. However, the forfeiture was afterwards remitted; but not before Drummond had, upon his knees, acknowledged his offence, and submitted himself before Lyon.

The regent had not been long in office before he took into favour Hepburn the prior of St Andrew's, whom he consulted for information concerning the state of Scotland. Hepburn acquainted him with all the feuds and animosities which raged among the great families of Scotland, their ferocious character, and barbarous behaviour to their enemies. He represented the civil power as too weak to curb these potent chieftains; and gave it as his opinion that the regent's administration ought to be supported by foreign arms, meaning those of France.

Hepburn is said also to have gained an ascendancy over the regent by means of large sums of money laid out among his domestics, by a fawning and plausible address, and by well-directed flatteries; and he employed this ascendancy to destroy those who were obnoxious to himself. The earl of Hume, as being the first subject in rank and authority, became obnoxious to the regent, through the infamies of Hepburn; and as that nobleman had frequent occasion to be at court in virtue of his office of chamberlain, he soon perceived that neither he nor his friends were welcome guests there. Alarmed for his own safety, he resolved to form a party along with the queen-mother and her new husband against the regent. This was by no means a difficult task; for the queen naturally imagined that her new husband ought to have had some share in the government; and the earl of Angus readily concurred in the scheme.

In the mean time, the regent was making a progress through Scotland, where bloody feuds were raging among the nobles; but before any remedy could be applied to these disorders, he was informed of the schemes laid by the queen-mother and her party; and that she had resolved to fly into England with her two infants. On this he instantly returned to Edinburgh; and, as no time was to be lost, set out at midnight that very night, and surprised the castle of Stirling, where he found the queen-mother and her two infants.

The regent, after this bold step, took care to show that the care of the royal infants was his chief study. As he himself was nearly allied to the crown, in order to remove all suspicions and calumnies on that account, he committed the care of the king and his brother to three noblemen of the most unexceptionable characters in the kingdom, but of whom we now know the name only of one, viz. the earl of Lennox. They were appointed to attend the princes by turns; to whom also a guard, consisting partly of French and partly of Scots, was assigned; and the queen-mother was left at liberty to reside where she pleased.

The earl of Hume, finding his schemes thus abortive, retired to his own estate; from whence he was driven into England, by the earls of Arran and Lennox. The queen-mother retired to a monastery at Coldstream; and messengers were dispatched to the court of England, to know how Henry would have his sister disposed of. He ordered the lord Dacre, his warden of the marches, to attend her to Harbottle-castle in Northumberland; and here she was delivered of her daughter the Lady Mary Douglas, mother to Henry lord Darnley, father to James I of England. The regent dispatched ambassadors to Henry, in order to vindicate his own conduct. He likewise sent to assure the queen that she had nothing to fear in Scotland; and to invite her to return thither, where she should at all times be admitted to see her children. This offer, however, she declined; and set out for London, where she was affectionately received and entertained by her brother. But in the meantime many disorders were committed throughout the kingdom by the party of the queen-mother; who, by the interposition of archbishop Forman, they were at present terminated without bloodshed, and some of the principal offenders were persuaded to return to their duty. Among these was the earl of Angus himself, the queen's husband; which when King Henry heard, he exclaimed, "That the earl, by deferring his wife, might he had acted like a Scot." Lord Hume refused to surrender himself, or to accept of the regent's terms; and was of consequence declared a traitor, and his estate confiscated. All this time he had been inflicting the borders at the head of a lawless banditti; and now he began to commit such devastations, that the regent found it necessary to march against him at the head of 1000 disciplined troops. Hume being obliged to lay down his arms, was sent prisoner to Edinburgh castle; where the regent very unaccountably committed him to the charge of his brother-in-law the earl of Arran. Hume easily found means to gain over this near relation to his own party; and both of them, in the month of October 1545, escaped to the borders, where they soon renewed hostilities. Both the earls were now proclaimed traitors, but Hume was allowed fifteen days to surrender himself. This short interval the different regent employed in quashing the rebellion, for which purpose the parliament had allowed him 15,000 men. He besieged the castle of Hamilton, the earl of Arran's chief seat, which was in no condition of defense; but he was prevailed upon by Arran's mother, daughter to James II, and aunt to the regent himself, to forbear further hostilities, and even to pardon her son, provided he should return to his duty. Arran accordingly submitted; but the public tranquillity was not by that means restored. An association, at the head of which was the earl of Moray, the king's natural brother, had been formed against the earl of Huntly. That nobleman was too well attended to fear any danger by day; but his enemies found means to introduce some armed troops in the night-time into Edinburgh. On this a fierce skirmish ensued, in which some were killed on both sides; but farther bloodshed was prevented by the regent, who confined all the lords in prison till he had brought about a general One Hay, who had been very active in stirring up the quarrels, was banished to France; and only the earl of Hume now continued in arms.

In 1516 died the young duke of Rothesay: an event which brought the regent one degree nearer the crown, so that he was declared heir in case of the demise of young James. Negotiations were then entered into about prolonging the truce which at that time subsisted with England; but Henry insisting upon a removal of the regent from his place, they were for the present dropped. Finding, however, that he could neither prevail on the parliament as a body to dismiss the regent, nor form a party of any consequence against him, he at last consented to a prolongation of the truce for a year.

In 1517, the affairs of the regent requiring his presence in France, he resolved, before his departure, to remove the earl of Hume, who, as we have seen, alone continued to disturb the public tranquillity. Under pretence of settling some differences which still remained with England, he called a convention the nobility and sent special letters to the earl of Hume and his brother to attend, on account of their great knowledge in English affairs. Both of them imprudently obeyed the summons, and were seized and executed as soon as they arrived at Edinburgh. But whatever occasion there might be for this severity, it lost the affections of the people to such a degree, that the regent could scarce get the place filled up which lord Hume had possessed. That of lord warden of the marches he at last gave to his French favourite La Beaute, called by historians Sir Anthony D'Arcy. The post of lord chamberlain was given to lord Fleming. Soon after this the regent levied an army, on pretence of repelling some disturbances on the borders. These being speedily quelled, he seized on his return upon the earl of Lennox, and forced him to deliver up his castle of Dumbarton; not choosing to leave it, during his intended absence in France, in the custody of a nobleman of suspected fidelity; and from similar motives he afterwards took him along with him on his departure for the continent. He then procured himself to be nominated ambassador to France, in which character he left the kingdom; having committed the government to the archbishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow, the earls of Arran, Angus, Huntley, and Argyle, with the warden D'Arcy, on whom was his chief dependence.

On the departure of the regent, the queen-mother left the English court; and arrived with a noble retinue at Berwick, on purpose to visit her son. Here she was received by her husband; for whom she had contracted an invincible aversion, either on account of his infidelities to her bed, or because he had deserted her in the manner already related. However, she suppressed her resentment for the present, and accompanied him to Edinburgh. Here, in consequence of the proposals made by the regent, she demanded access to her son; but was refused by D'Arcy. Lord Erskine, however, who was one of those to whom the care of the young king was committed, conveyed him to the castle of Craigmillar, (where D'Arcy had no jurisdiction,) on pretence that the plague was in Edinburgh; and there the queen was admitted; but this gave such offence to D'Arcy, that Lord Erskine was obliged to carry back the king to the castle of Edinburgh, where all further access was denied to his mother. In short, the behaviour of this favourite was on all occasions so haughty and violent, that he rendered himself universally odious; and was at last murdered, with all his attendants, in his way to Dunfermline, where he proposed to hold a court of justice.—His death was very little regretted; yet his murderers were prosecuted with the utmost severity, and several persons of distinction declared rebels on that account.

Mean while the regent was treated with high marks of distinction in France. The king showed him the greatest respect, promised to assist in establishing his authority in Scotland, and solemnly confirmed the ancient league between the two kingdoms. Soon after, the earl of Lenox arrived from France, with assurances of protection and assistance from the king, who was highly pleased at the zeal of the governors in pursuing D'Arcy's murderers; and 500 soldiers arrived with him to reinforce the garrisons, especially that of Dunbar.

All this time the queen-mother continued at Edinburgh, employing herself in attempts to procure a divorce from her husband, under pretence of his having been previously contracted to another. The affairs of the kingdom again began to fall into confusion, and many murders and commotions happened in different parts of the country. The earl of Arran had the chief direction in the state; but the earl of Angus, notwithstanding the difference with his wife, had still great interest, and waited every opportunity to oppose him. This emulation produced an encounter at Edinburgh; in which victory declared for Angus, and 72 followers of the routed party were killed. This skirmish was fought on the 30th of April 1519, and has been known in Scots history by the name of Cleansie the Angus.

On the 19th of November 1521 the regent returned from France. He found the kingdom in great disorder. The earl of Angus domineered in the field, but his antagonists outvoted his party in the parliament. The queen-mother, who had fixed her affections on a third husband, hated all parties almost equally; but joined the duke of Albany, in hopes of his depriving the other two of their power. This happened according to her expectation; and she was with the regent when he made a kind of triumphal entry into Edinburgh, attended by a number of persons of the first rank.—The earl of Angus was now summoned to appear as a criminal; but his wife interceded for him, not out of any remains of affection, but because he gave her no opposition in the process of divorce which was depending between them.—In the mean time, Henry VIII. of England, perceiving that the Scots War with England were entirely devoted to the French interest, sent a letter full of accusations against the regent, and threats against the whole nation if they did not renounce that alliance. No regard being paid to these requisitions, lord Dacre was ordered to proclaim upon the borders, that the Scots must stand to their peril if they did not fall in with his measures by the first of March 1522. This producing no effect, Henry seized the effects of all the Scots residing in England, and banished them his dominions, after marking them, according to bishop Leslie, with a cross, to distinguish them from his Scotland. his other subjects. A war was the unavoidable consequence of these proceedings; and, on the 30th of April, the earl of Shrewsbury, Henry's steward of the household, and knight of the garter, was appointed commander in chief of the army that was to act against the Scots; and in the mean time lord Dacres made an inroad as far as Kelso, plundering and burning wherever he came.

The regent ordered his army to rendezvous at Rosslyn; but the Scots, remembering the disaster at Flodden, showed an extreme aversion to the war, and even told the regent to his face, that though they would defend themselves in case they were attacked, they would not engage in a French quarrel. The regent remonstrated, but without effect; and as the malcontents continued obdurate, he was in danger of being left by himself, when the queen-mother interposed, and prevailed upon lord Dacres to agree to a conference, the event of which was a renewal of the negotiations for peace.

The regent, perceiving, by the disgrace of this expedition, that he had lost his former popularity, determined to revenge himself; and therefore told those whom he could trust, that he was about to return to France, from whence he should bring such a force by sea and land, as should render it unnecessary for him to ask leave of the Scots any more to invade England. Accordingly he embarked for France on the 25th of October, but publicly gave out that he would return the ensuing August.

On the regent's arrival in France, he made a demand of 10,000 foot and 5000 horse for carrying on the war against England; but the situation of king Francis did not then allow him to spare so many at once, though he was daily sending over ships with men, ammunition, and money, for the French garrisons in Scotland. At last it was publicly known in England, that the regent was about to return with a strong fleet, and 4000 of the best troops in France; upon which Henry determined, if possible, to intercept him. Sir William Fitz-Williams, with 36 large ships, was ordered to block up the French squadron in the harbour of Finhead; Sir Anthony Poyntz cruised with another in the western seas, as Sir Christopher Dow and Sir Henry Shireburn did in the northern with a third squadron. The duke of Albany, being unable to cope with Fitz-Williams, was obliged to fetch out from another port with twelve ships, having some troops on board. They fell in with Fitz-Williams's squadron; two of their ships were sunk, and the rest driven back to Dieppe. Fitz-Williams then made a descent at Treport, where he burnt 18 French ships, and returned to his station off Finhead. By this time the French had given the duke such a reinforcement as made him an overmatch for the English admiral, had the men been equally good; but the regent had no dependence upon French sailors when put in competition with the English. Instead of coming to an engagement, therefore, as soon as Fitz-Williams appeared, he disembarked his soldiers, as if he had intended to delay his expedition for that year; but a storm arose, which obliged the English fleet to return to the Downs, the regent took that opportunity of reembarking his men, and, failing by the western coasts, arrived safe in Scotland.

All this time the earl of Surrey had been carrying Scotland, on the most cruel and destructive war against Scotland; infomuch that, according to cardinal Wolsey, "there cruel devastation was left neither house, fortresses, village, tree, cattle, stack of corn, nor other succour for man," in the countries of Tweedale and March. The regent's return did not immediately put a stop to these devastations; for the intestine divisions in Scotland prevented him from taking the field. His party was weakened by his long absence, and the queen-mother had been very active in strengthening the English interest. A parliament was called in 1523, where it was debated whether peace or war with England should be resolved on; and the determinations of this parliament were evidently on the worst side of the question. Henry was at this Henry of time so well disposed to cultivate a friendship with France, that he offered to James his eldest sister Mary in marriage; but the Scots, animated by the appearance of their French auxiliaries, and corrupted by their gold, rejected all terms, and resolved upon war. However, when the army was assembled, and had advanced to the borders, he found the same difficulty he had formerly experienced; for they flatly refused to enter England. With great difficulty he prevailed upon part of the army to pass the Tweed; but not meeting with success, he was obliged to return to Scotland, which at this time was divided into four factions. One of these were headed by the regent, another by the queen, a third by the earl of Arran, and a fourth by the earl of Angus, who had lived as an exile under Henry's protection. Had it been possible for the earl of Angus and his wife to have been reconciled to each other, it would have been much for the interest of the kingdom; but all the art even of cardinal Wolsey could not effect this. At last, the duke of Albany, finding all parties united against him, resigned his office of regent of Scotland. On the 14th of May that year, he went on board one of his own ships for France, from whence he never returned to Scotland. He did not indeed make a formal abdication of his government. So far from that, he requested the nobility, whom he convened for that purpose, to enter into no alliance with England during his absence, which he said would continue no longer than the first of September following; to make no alteration in the government; and to keep the king at Stirling.

The nobility, who were impatient for the absence of the regent, readily promised whatever he required, but without any intention of performing it; nor indeed was it in their power to comply; for it had been previously determined that James himself should now take the administration into his own hands. According to Buchanan, the regent had no sooner returned to France than Scotland relapsed into all the miseries of anarchy. The queen-dowager had the management of public affairs, but her power was limited. The earl of Arran, apprehending danger from the English, entered into the views of the French party. The queen-mother's dislike to her husband continued as great as ever, which prevented an union among those who were in the English interest; and Wolsey took that opportunity of restoring the earl of Angus to all his importance in Scotland. The queen-mother, therefore, had no other way left to keep herself in power, but to bring James himself into action. Scotland. the 29th of July, therefore, he removed from Stirling to the abbey of Holyrood-house; where he took upon himself the exercise of government, by convoking the nobility, and obliging them to swear allegiance to his person a second time. The truce with England was now prolonged, and the queen's party carried all before them. On the very day on which the last truce was signed with England, the earl of Angus entered Scotland. He had been invited from his exile in France into England, where he was caressed by Henry, who disregarded all his father's intentions to send him back to France, and now resolved to support him in Scotland. Yet, though his declared intention in sending the earl to Scotland was, that the latter might balance the French party there, the king enjoined him to sue, in the most humble manner, for a reconciliation with his wife, and to cooperate with the earl of Arran, who now acted as prime minister, as long as he should oppose the French party. On his return, however, he found himself excluded from all share in the government, but soon found means to form a strong party in opposition to Arran. In the mean time ambassadors were sent to the court of England, in order to treat of a perpetual peace between the two nations. At the same time a match was proposed between the young king of Scotland and Henry's daughter. This had originally been a scheme of Henry himself; but the emperor Charles V, had refused to outbid him, by offering James a princess of his own family, with an immense treasure. The ambassadors arrived at London on the 19th of December, and found Henry very much disposed both to the peace and to the match. Commissioners were appointed to treat of both; but they were instructed to demand by way of preliminary, that the Scots should absolutely renounce their league with France, and that James should be sent for education to England till he should be of a proper age for marriage. The Scottish commissioners declared, that they had no instructions on these points: but one of them, the earl of Caithness, offered to return to Scotland, and bring a definitive answer from the three states; and in the mean time the truce was prolonged to the 15th of May 1525. On his arrival at Edinburgh, he found the earl of Angus the leading man in parliament; by whose influence it was determined that the Scots should renounce their league with France, and substitute in place of it a similar league with England; and that the king should be brought up at the English court till he was of an age proper for marriage: but at the same time they required of Henry to break off all engagements with Charles V, who was the bitter enemy of Francis, and at that time detained him prisoner. To this the English monarch returned but a cold answer, being then engaged in a number of treaties with the emperor, among which one was concerning the marriage of the princess Mary with his imperial majesty himself; however, before Caithness returned, a truce of two years and a half was concluded between England and Scotland.

But now the queen-mother, though she had always been a warm advocate for an alliance between the two nations, yet disliked the means of bringing it about. She saw her husband's party increasing every day in power; so that now she had no other resource than in keeping possession of the king's person, whom she removed to the castle of Edinburgh. Being now under the necessity of convening a parliament, it was resolved to hold it within the castle; which, being an unconstitutional measure, gave a great handle to the earl of Arran and his party to complain of the innovation. They began with remonstrances; but finding them ineffectual, they formed a blockade of the castle with 2000 men, and cut off all communication with the town by means of trenches. As no provisions could thus be got into the castle, the queen ordered some of the cannon to be turned against the town, in order to force the citizens to break the blockade. Several shot were fired: but when all things appeared ready for a civil war, matters were compromised, though in such an imperfect manner as left very little room to hope for perfect tranquillity. It was agreed, that the king should remove out of the castle of Edinburgh to the palace of Holyroodhouse; from whence he should repair with all possible magnificence to his parliament, in the house where it was commonly held; and there a finishing hand was to be put to all differences. This agreement was signed on the 25th of February 1526. The parliament accordingly met, and the king's marriage with the princess James with of England was confirmed: but no mention was made of the king's being sent for his education into that country; on the contrary, he was committed to the care of eight lords of parliament. These were to have the custody of the king's person, every one his month successively, and the whole to stand for the government of the state; yet with this limitation, "that the king, by their counsel, should not ordain or determine any thing in great affairs to which the queen, as princess and dowager, did not give her consent." This partition of power, by giving the queen a negative in all public matters, soon threw every thing into confusion. The earl of Angus, by leading the king into various scenes of pleasure and dissipation, so gained the ascendancy over him, that he became in a manner totally guided by him. The queen-mother, perceiving that she could not have access to her son, without at the same time being in company with her husband, whom she hated, retired suddenly with her domestics to Stirling. Thus the king was left under the sole tuition of the earl of Angus, who made a very bad use of his power; engrossing into his own hands, or those of his friends, all the places of honour or profit. The archbishop of St Andrew's having now joined the queen's party, advised her to make a formal demand upon her husband, that the order of government which had been settled last parliament should take place, and that under a penalty he should set the king at liberty. To this the earl answered by a kind of manifesto drawn up by his brother; in which he declared, that "the earl of Angus having been so highly favoured by his good uncle the king of England, and that James himself being under great obligations to him, that neither the queen nor the other lords need be in any pain about him, as he chose to spend his time with the earl of Angus rather than with any lord in the kingdom." James himself, however, had discernment sufficient to perceive, that notwithstanding all the fair pretences of the earl to recover of Angus, he was in fact no better than his prisoner, his liberty, and resolved to attempt the recovery of his liberty. The earls of Argyle and Arran had for some time retired from court, where they had no share in the administration, and were living on their own estates; but the earl of Lennox dissembled his sentiments so well, that he was neither suspected by the earl of Angus, nor any of the Douglas family, who were his partisans. The king being gained upon by his insinuating behaviour, opened his mind to him, and requested his assistance against his treacherous keepers. At the same time he sent letters to his mother, and the heads of her party, by some of his domestics whom Lennox had pointed out, instructing them to remove him from the earl, and not suffer him any longer to remain under his imperious jurisdiction; adding, that if this could not be done by any other means, they should use force of arms.

On receiving this letter, the queen and her party assembled their forces at Stirling, and without loss of time began their march for Edinburgh. Angus, on the other hand, prepared to give them a warm reception, but at the same time to carry along with him the king. This resolution being made known to the queen-mother, she was so much concerned for the safety of her son, that the whole party disbanded themselves; and thus the authority of the earl of Angus seemed to be more established than ever. Nothing indeed was now wanting to render him despotic but the possession of the great seal, which the archbishop of St Andrew's had carried with him to Dunfermline. As no deed of any consequence could be executed without this, he prevailed upon the king to demand it by a special message; in consequence of which, the archbishop was obliged to give it up. About this time the divorce which had been so long in agitation between the queen-mother and the earl of Angus, actually took place; which, no doubt, increased the dislike of James to his confinement, while the imprudence of Angus gave every day fresh matter of disgust. As Angus knew that he had no firm support but in the attachment of his followers to his person, he suffered them to rob and plunder the estates of his opponents without mercy. These, again, did not fail to make reprisals; so that, towards the end of the year 1526, there was scarce any appearance of civil government in Scotland. Thus the court became almost totally deserted; every nobleman being obliged to go home to defend his own estate. Even Angus himself shared in the common calamity, and hence was frequently obliged to leave the king to the custody of Lennox. To this nobleman the king now made the most grievous complaints, and charged him to contrive some plan for his escape. Lennox accordingly recommended to him the baron of Buccleugh, who was very powerful in the southern parts, and a violent enemy to Angus and the whole family of Douglas. To him he gave orders to foment the disorders in the southern parts to such a degree as to require the king's personal presence to compose them. Buccleugh was then to attack the party, and take the king by force from the Douglas' side. This scheme was put in execution, but Buccleugh had the misfortune to be defeated; so that the attempt proved abortive, and James found himself in a worse situation than ever. After this attempt, however, as the earl of Angus could not but know that Lennox had been accessory to it, the former behaved towards him with such visible indifference, that Lennox openly declared against him, and advised the king to make up friendship with the archbishop of St Andrew's in order to effect his liberty. This was accordingly done; but the interest of the archbishop and Lennox was over-balanced by that of Arran and the Hamilton family, whom the earl of Angus now drew over to his party. However, the earl of Lennox, having received powers from the king for that purpose, suddenly retired from court; and published a manifesto, inviting all loyal subjects to assist him in delivering the king from confinement by merit. In consequence of this he was soon joined by a numerous army, with whom he advanced towards Edinburgh. Angus did not fail to assemble his adherents; and sent orders to the inhabitants of Edinburgh to take the field, with the king at their head. The citizens immediately got themselves under arms; but James pretending to be indisposed, Sir George Douglas, brother to the earl of Angus, made him the following speech: "Sir, rather than our enemies should take you from us, we will lay hold of your person; and should you be torn in pieces in the struggle, we will carry off part of your body." Upon this speech, which James never forgot, he mounted his horse and set forward to Linlithgow, but with a very slow pace; inasmuch that Sir George Douglas, afraid of not coming in time to succour his brother, made use of many indecent expostulations and actions to push James on to the field of battle. Three express messengers arrived from the earl of Angus; the first informing his brother that he was about to engage with a superior army; the second, that Angus was engaged with a division of Lenox's army, commanded by the earl of Glencairn; and that Lennox himself was engaged with the Hamiltons. The third informed him that Lenox, if not actually defeated, was on the point of being so. Upon receiving this last news, James hastened to the field of battle, that he might save Lennox, and put an end to the bloodshed. But he came too late; for the royal party was already defeated with great slaughter; and Lennox himself, after being wounded and taken prisoner, was murdered by Sir James Hamilton.

On the night of the battle, the king was removed to Linlithgow; and though he was under the greatest grief for the fate of Lennox, the behaviour of the Douglas' struck him with such terror that he dissembled his sentiments. The earl of Angus led his victorious troops into Fife, in hopes of surprising the queen and the archbishop of St Andrew's. The queen, on the news of his approach, fled, with her new husband and band Henry Stuart brother to lord Evansdale, to Edinburgh, where they were admitted into the castle. The archbishop fled to the mountains, where he was obliged to keep cattle as a shepherd. Angus, after having plundered the cattle of St Andrews and the abbey of Dunfermline, returned in triumph to Edinburgh, where he prepared to besiege the castle; but the queen, hearing that her son was among the number of the besiegers, ordered the gates of the castle to be thrown open, and surrendered herself and her husband prisoners to James, who was advised to confine them to the castle.—After these repeated successes, the earl of Angus established a kind of court of justice, in which he prosecuted those who had opposed him, among whom was the earl of Caithness. He was offered by Sir James Hamilton, natural son to the earl of Arran, the same who had murdered Lenox, an indemnity if he would own himself a vassal of that house; but this condition was rejected. Being called to his trial, and accused of having taken arms against the king, a gentleman of his name and family, who was his advocate, denied the charge, and offered to produce a letter under James's own hand, deferring him to assist in delivering him from his gaolers. This striking evidence confounded the prosecutor so much, that the earl was acquitted; but on his return home he was way-laid and murdered by one Hugh Campbell, at the instigation of Sir James Hamilton.

During these transactions in the south, many of the Highland clans were perpetrating the most horrid scenes of rapine and murder, which in some places reigned also in the Lowlands. The state of the borders was little better than that of the Highlands; but it engaged the attention of Angus more, as he had great interest in these parts. Marching, therefore, against the banditti which infested these parts, he soon reduced them to reason. His power seemed now to be firmly established, inasmuch that the archbishop of St Andrew's began to treat with Sir George Douglas, to whom he offered lucrative leases and other emoluments if he would intercede with the regent, as Angus was called, in his favour. This was readily agreed to; and the archbishop was allowed to return in safety to his palace about the same time that Angus returned from his expedition against the borderers. Nothing was then seen at court but festivities of every kind, in which the queen-mother, who was now relieved from her confinement, partook; and she was afterwards suffered to depart to the castle of Stirling; which Angus, not attending to its value, had neglected to secure. In the mean time the archbishop invited the Douglasses to spend some days with him at his castle; which they accordingly did, and carried the king along with them. Here James dissembled to well, and seemed to be so enamoured of his new way of life, that Angus thought there could be no danger in leaving him in the hands of his friends till he should return to Lothian to settle some public as well as private affairs. Having taken leave of the king, he left him in the custody of his uncle Archibald, his brother Sir George, and one James Douglas of Parkhead, who was captain of the guards that watched his majesty on pretence of doing him honour. The earl was no sooner gone than the archbishop sent an invitation to Sir George Douglas, deferring him to come to St Andrew's, and there put the last hand to the leases, and finish the bargains that had been spoken of between them. This was so plausible, that he immediately set out for St Andrew's; while his uncle the treasurer went to Dundee, where he had an amour. James thinking this to be the best opportunity that ever presented to him for an escape, resolved to avail himself of it at all events; and found means, by a private message, to apprize his mother of his design. It was then the season for hunting and diversion, which James often followed in the park of Falkland; and calling for his forester, he told him, that as the weather was fine, he intended to kill a stag next morning, ordering him at the same time to summon all the gentlemen in the neighbourhood to attend him with their best dogs. He then called for his chief domestics, and commanded them to get his supper early, because he intended to be in the field by day-break; and he talked with the captain of his guard of nothing but the excellent sport he expected to have next morning. In the mean time, he had engaged two young men, the one a page of his own, the other John Hart, a helper about his tables, to attend him in his flight, and to provide him with the dress of a groom for a disguise. Having formally taken leave of his attendants, charging them to be ready early in the morning, and being left alone, he stole softly out of his bed-chamber, went to the stable unperceived by the guards, dressed himself in his disguise; and he and his companions mounting the three best horses there, galloped to Stirling-castle; into which, by the queen's appointment, he was admitted soon after day-break. He commanded all the gates to be secured; and the queen having previously prepared every thing for a vigorous defence, orders were given that none should be admitted into the castle without the king's permission.

About an hour after the king escaped from Falkland, Sir George Douglas returned; and being assured that his Majesty was asleep, he went to bed. It appears, that James had been seen and known in his flight; for in the morning the bailiff of Abernethy came post-haste to inform Sir George that the king had passed Stirling bridge. They had, however, some glimmering hope that the king might be gone to Bamborough; but that surmise was soon found to be false; and an express was dispatched, informing Angus of all that had happened. The earl quickly repaired to Falkland, where he and his friends came to a resolution of going to Stirling, and demanding access to the king.

James by this time had issued letters to the earls of Huntly, Argyle, Athol, Glencairn, Montgomerie, Rothes, and Eglinton; the lords Graham, Levington, Lindsay Sinclair, Ruthven, Drummond, Evandale, Maxwell, and Semple. Before all of them could arrive at Stirling, the earl of Angus and his friends were upon their journey to the same place; but were stopped by a herald at arms, commanding them on their allegiance not to approach within six miles of the king's residence. This order having sufficiently intimated what they were to expect, the earl deliberated with his party how to proceed. Some of them were for marching on and taking the castle by surprise; but that was found to be impracticable, especially as they had no artillery. The earl and his brother therefore resolved to make a show of submission to the king's order; and they accordingly went to Linlithgow. By this time all the nobility already mentioned, and many others, had assembled at Stirling; and James, calling them to council, inveighed against the tyranny of the Douglasses with an acrimony that sufficiently discovered what pain it must have given him when he was obliged to bear it in silence. He concluded his speech with these words: "Therefore I declare, my lords, that I may be satisfied of the said earl, his kin, and friends. For I vow that Scotland shall not hold us both, while I be revenged on him and his."

The result of the council's deliberation was, that proclamation should be made, renewing the order for the Douglas not to approach the court, and diverting the earl of Angus and his brother of all their public employments. In the mean time, such was the moderation of the assembly, that by their advice James ordered the earl to retire to the north of the Spey till his pleasure should be known; but his brother was commanded to surrender himself a prisoner in the castle of Edinburgh, to take his trial in a very full parliament, (all the members being summoned to attend), to be held in that city next September. The earl and his brother considered their compliance with those conditions as a prelude to their destruction; and resolved to justify their treasons by still greater excesses, in surprising the town of Edinburgh, and holding it against the king and parliament, before the latter could assemble. Historians have not done that justice to the proceedings of the royal party on this occasion which they deserve. The management of the king's escape, his reception into Stirling, the fortifying that castle, and the ready obedience of his great nobility, some of whom attended him with their followers before they received any summons for that purpose, are proofs of wise and spirited deliberations. Their conduct at this time, was equally consistent with the same plan of foresight.

It was naturally to be supposed that the Douglas, who remained assembled in a numerous body, would make the attempt already mentioned; but the royalists had the precaution to dispatch the lord Maxwell and the baron of Lochinvar, with a body of troops, to take possession of the town, till James could arrive with 2000 forces to their relief. Maxwell and Lochinvar made such dispatch, that they were in possession of the town when the Douglas appeared before it, and repulsed them; while a most terrible storm had scattered the troops under James before he could come to their assistance, so effectually, that, being left almost without attendants, his person might have been taken by the smallest party of the enemy. Upon the retreat of the Douglas from Edinburgh, the parliament met; and none of them appearing in pursuance of their summons, the earl of Angus, his brother Sir George Douglas, his uncle Archibald Douglas, and Alexander Drummond of Carnock, with some of their chief dependents, were indicted and forfeited for the following offences: "The assembling of the king's lieges, with intention to have affasted his person; the detaining of the king against his will and pleasure, and contrary to the articles agreed upon, for the space of two years and more; all which time the king was in fear and danger of his life." We know of no advocate for the earl and his friends but one Banantyne, who had the courage to plead their cause against those heinous charges; and so exasperated were both the king and parliament against them, that the former swore he never would forgive them, and the latter that they never would intercede for their pardon. Thus it was not deemed sufficient simply to declare their resolutions; but the solemnity of oaths was added, with an intention to discourage the king of England from continuing the vigorous applications he was every day making, by letters and otherwise, for the pardon of Angus; and to shut out all hopes of that kind, James created his mother's third husband (to whom she had been married for some time) lord Methven, and gave him the direction of his artillery.

The disgrace and forfeiture of the Douglas having created many vacancies in the state, Gavin Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, and tutor to the king, was nominated lord chancellor, though but indifferently qualified for a post that ought to have been filled by an able statesman; and Robert Carnefoss, a person (says Buchanan) more eminent for wealth than virtue, was made treasurer; but this last was soon after displaced, being suspected of favouring the Douglas; and Robert Barton, one of the king's favourites, was appointed to succeed him. The Douglas still kept their arms; and being joined by a great number of outlaws and robbers in the south, they ravaged all the lands of their enemies, carrying their devastations to the very gates of Edinburgh. A commission of lieutenancy was offered to the earl of Bothwell to act against those rebels; but he declining it, it was accepted by the earl of Argyle and lord Hume, who did great service in protecting the country from the outlaws. Several villages, however, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh were burnt; and all the provisions the Douglas could find were carried off to their castle of Tantallon, which now served as their head-quarters, and was threatened with a siege.

It is remarkable, that the castle of Dunbar remained still in the hands of the duke of Albany's garrison, who recognized no master but him. The place was well stored with artillery of all kinds; and lying in the neighbourhood of Tantallon, it was easy to transport them to the siege; but James thought he had no right to make use of them without the consent of one Maurice, governor of the castle. Having summoned, by proclamation, the inhabitants of Fife, Angus, Strathearn, Stirlingshire, Lothian, Merse, and Teviotdale, to be ready to appear at Edinburgh on the 10th of December, with 40 days victuals, to assist in the siege, he sent three noblemen to borrow artillery from Maurice, and to remain as pledges for the safe redelivery of the same; and the several pieces required were accordingly sent him. This delicacy is the more remarkable, as we are told that the duke of Albany had given orders that every thing in his castle should be at the king's service. However unanimous the parliament might appear against the Douglas, yet James was but ill seconded in this attempt. The scheme of unfortunate, if severely proceeded against, generally find friends; and the enemies of the Douglas had impolitically rendered it treasonable for any person to shelter or protect the earl of Angus, his kinsmen, or followers. This proceeding, in a country where the Douglas had so many connections, carried with it an appearance of cruelty and a thirst of revenge, especially as James had chosen such a season of the year for carrying on the siege. In short, after battering the place for some days, and losing one Falconer, his chief engineer, the king was obliged to abandon his enterprise, or rather to turn the siege into a blockade, with no great credit to his first essay in the field. Some historians intimate, that Angus found means to corrupt the other engineers; but we find, that before this time, a negociation was going forward between James and the king of England; the nature of which proves proves that the former was now rendered more plausible towards the Douglases, and was the true reason why the siege was suspended.

The truce between Scotland and England was now near expiring; and Henry, under colour of that, gave a commission to the prior of Durham, Thomas Magnus, Sir Anthony Ughtred captain of the town and castle of Berwick, William Frankelyn chancellor of Durham, and Sir Thomas Tempell. James seems to have been in no haste to enter upon this negociation, because he understood that the English commissioners were privately instructed to insist upon the Douglases being restored to their estates and dignities. England was at that time the principal ally of Francis against the emperor; and this gave a handle for Francis to interpose so far in favour of the Douglases, that he brought James to consent to a preliminary negociation for their obtaining at least a secure retreat in England. This was at last complied with.

James being now delivered from all dread of the Douglases, and under no control from any party, shewed excellent dispositions for government. Finding that the borderers were by no means pleased with the late treaty, and that they were renewing their depredations, he resolved to strike at the root of an evil which had to long proved disgraceful and dangerous to his ancestors, by giving no quarter to the chiefs of these robbers, whose principal residence was in Liddefield. This was the more necessary, as their daring attempts had exasperated the English so much, that they had actually burnt a town in Teviotdale; and they had killed one Robert Kerr, a man of some consequence. Two of the chiefs of the Scots borderers were Cockburn of Kenderlaw, and Adam Scot, commonly called king of the thieves. Both of them were barons; and had been so inured to the practice, that they thought there was no crime in robbing; they therefore appeared publicly in Edinburgh; where James ordered them to be apprehended, tried, and hanged. He next proceeded with great firmness against many noblemen and principal gentlemen, who were only suspected of being disaffected to the late peace. All of them had behaved with great loyalty, and some of them had done him the most important services. Of this number were the earl of Hume, the lord Maxwell, with the barons of Baccleugh, Farnheril, Polwart, Johnston, and Mark Kerr. Though we know nothing particularly of what was laid to the charge of those noblemen and gentlemen, yet so zealous was James for the impartial administration of justice, that he ordered them all, with many other chief gentlemen of the borders, to be sent to prison; where they lay till they entered into recognizances themselves, and found bail for their good behaviour.

Of all the party of the Douglases, none of any note, excepting Alexander Drummond of Carnock, was suffered to return home, at the earnest request of the ambassadors and the treasurer Barton. This lenity was of very little consequence; for James having appointed the earl of Murray to be sole warden of the Scotch marches, with power to treat with the earl of Northumberland, their conferences had broken off on account of fresh violences happening every day; and some information he had received from them, had prevailed with James to imprison the noblemen and gentlemen we have already mentioned. He now resolved to attempt in person what his predecessors and he had so often failed in by their deputies. As he was known to be violently addicted to hunting, he summoned his nobility, even by north the Forth, to attend him with their horses and dogs; which they did in such numbers, that his hunting retinue consisted of above 8000 persons, two-thirds of whom were well armed. This preparation gave no suspicion to the borderers, as great hunting-matches in those days commonly consisted of some thousands; and James having set out upon his diversion, is said to have killed 540 deer. Among the other gentlemen who had been summoned to attend him, was John Armstrong of Gilnockhall. He was the head of a numerous clan, who lived with great pomp and splendour upon the contributions unto the border which they laid the English on the borders. He was himself always attended by twenty-five gentlemen, with 26 on horseback, well mounted and armed, as his body of his followers. Having received the king's invitation, he was fond of displaying his magnificence to his sovereign; and adorning himself and his guard more pompously than common, they presented themselves before James, from whom they expected some particular mark of distinction for their services against the English, and for the remarkable protection they had always given to their countrymen the Scots. On their first appearance, James, not knowing who he was, returned Armstrong's salute, imagining him to be some great nobleman; but upon hearing his name, he ordered him and his followers to be immediately apprehended, and sentenced them to be hanged upon the spot. It is said that James, turning to his attendant, asked them, pointing at Armstrong, "What does that knave want, that a king should have, but a crown and a sword of honour?" Armstrong begged hard for his life; and offered to serve the king in the field with forty horsemen, besides making him large presents of jewels and money, with many other tempting offers. Finding the king inexorable, "Fool that I am (said he) to look for warm water under ice, by asking grace of a graceless face;" and then he and his followers submitted to their fate. Those and some other executions of the same kind restored peace to the borders.

Hitherto we have considered only the civil transactions of Scotland; but now religion comes to be a principal affair in the history of the country. The opinions of Luther had been propagated in Britain soon after his preaching in 1517. They had for some years insensibly gained ground; and, at the time the contentions began between James and his nobility, were become formidable to the established religion. We have seen how James escaped from the hands of his nobles by means of the archbishop of St Andrew's. To the clergy, therefore, he was naturally favourable; and as they of necessity opposed the reformation, James became a zealous persecutor of the reformed. On the other hand, the nobility having already opposed the clergy and clergy in civil affairs, did so likewise in those of religion. The clergy finding themselves unequal in argument, had recourse to more violent methods. Rigorous inquisitions were made after heretics, and fires were everywhere prepared for them.

The first person who was called upon to suffer for the reformed religion was Patrick Hamilton, abbot of Patrick Ferne. Scotland. Ferne. At an early period of life he had been appointed to this abbacy; and having imbibed a favourable idea of the doctrines of Luther, he had travelled into Germany, where, becoming acquainted with the most eminent reformers, he was fully confirmed in their opinions. Upon his return to Scotland, he ventured to expose the corruptions of the church, and to insist on the advantages of the tenets which he had embraced. A conduct so bold, and the avidity with which his discourses were received by the people, gave an alarm to the clergy. Under the pretence of a religious and friendly conference, he was seduced to St Andrew's by Alexander Campbell, a Dominican friar, who was instructed to remonstrate with him on the subject of the reformation. The conversations they held, only served to establish the abbot more firmly in his sentiments, and to inflame his zeal to propagate them. The archbishop of St Andrews, the archbishop of Glasgow, and other dignitaries of the church, constituting a court, called him to appear before them.

The abbot neither lost his courage, nor renounced his opinions. He was convicted, accordingly, of heretical pravity, delivered over to the secular arm, and executed in the year 1537 (a). This reformer had not attained the 24th year of his age. His youth, his virtue, his magnanimity, and his sufferings, all operated in his favour with the people. To Alexander Campbell, who insulted him at the stake, he objected his treachery, and cited him to answer for his behaviour before the judgment-seat of Christ. And this persecutor, a few days after, being seized with a frenzy, and dying in that condition, it was believed with the greater sincerity and confidence, that Mr Hamilton was an innocent man and a true martyr.

A deed so affecting, from its novelty and in its circumstances, excited throughout the kingdom an universal curiosity and indignation. Minute and particular inquiries were made into the tenets of Mr Hamilton. Converts to the new opinions were multiplying in every quarter, and a partiality to them began to prevail even among the Romish clergy themselves. Alexander Seton, the king's confessor, took the liberty to inveigh against the errors and abuses of Popery; to neglect, in his discourses, all mention of purgatory, and pilgrimages, and saints; and to recommend the doctrines of the reformed. What he taught was impugned; and his boldness rising with contradiction, he defended warmly his opinions, and even ventured to affirm, that in Scotland there were no true and faithful bishops, if a judgment of men in this station is to be formed from the virtues which St Paul has required of them. A sarcasm so just, and so daring, inflamed the whole body of the prelacy with resentment. They studied to compass his destruction; and, as Mr Seton had given offence to the king, whom he had exhorted to a greater purity of life, they flattered themselves with the hope of conducing him to the stake; but, being apprehensive of danger, he made his escape into England.

In 1533, Henry Forest, a Benedictine friar, who discovered a propensity to the reformed doctrines, was not so fortunate. After having been imprisoned for some time in the tower of St Andrews, he was brought to his trial, condemned, and led out to the flames. He had said, that Mr Hamilton was a pious man, and a martyr; and that the tenets for which he suffered might be vindicated. This guilt was aggravated by the discovery that friar Forest was in possession of a New Testament in the English language; for the priests deemed a careful attention to the scriptures to be an infallible symptom of heresy. A cruelty so repugnant to the common sense and feelings of mankind, while it pleased the insolent pride of the ecclesiastics, was destroying their importance, and exciting a general disposition in the people to adopt in the fullest latitude the principles and sentiments of the reformed.

The following year, James Beaton archbishop of St Andrews, though remarkable for prudence and moderation, was overawed by his nephew and coadjutor David Beaton, and by the clergy. In his own person, or by commissions granted by him, persecutions were carried on with violence. Many were driven into banishment, and many were forced to acknowledge what they did not believe. The more strenuous and resolute were delivered over to punishment. Among these were two private gentlemen, Norman Gourlay and David Straton. They were tried at Holyroodhouse, before the bishop of Ross; and refusing to recant, were condemned. King James, who was present, appeared exceedingly solicitous that they should pass from their confession; and David Straton, upon being adjudged to the fire, having begged for his mercy, was about to receive it, when the priests proudly pronounced, that the grace of the sovereign could not be extended to a criminal whom their law and determination had doomed to suffer.

A few years after, the bishops having assembled at Edinburgh, two Dominican friars, Kilner and Beve, with Sir Duncan Sympon a priest, Robert Forrester a gentleman of Stirling, and Thomas Forrester vicar of Doulour in Perthshire, were condemned to be consumed in the same fire.

At Glasgow, a similar scene was acted in 1539. Hieronymus Ruffel a grey-friar, and a young gentleman of the name of Kennedy, were accused of heresy before the bishop of that see. Ruffel, when brought to the stake, displaying a deliberate demeanor, reasoned gravely with his accusers, and was only answered with reproaches. Mr Kennedy, who was not yet 18 years of age, seemed disposed to disavow his opinions, and to sink under the weight of a cruel affliction; but the exhortation and example of Ruffel awakening his courage, his mind assumed a firmness and constancy, his countenance became cheerful, and he exclaimed with a joyful voice, "Now, I defy thee, Death; I praise my God, I am ready."

James Beaton, the archbishop of St Andrews, happening

(a) His tenets were of the following import, and are enumerated in the sentence pronounced against him. "Man hath no free-will. Man is in sin so long as he liveth. Children, incontinent after their baptism, are sinners. All Christians, that be worthy to be called Christians, do know that they are in grace. No man is justified by works, but by faith only. Good works make not a good man, but a good man doth make good works. And faith, hope, and charity, are so knit, that he that hath the one, hath the rest; and he that wanteth the one of them, wanteth the rest." Keith, Hist. of the Church and State of Scotland, Appendix, p. 3. pening to die about this time, the ambition of David Beaton, his coadjutor, was gratified in the fullest manner. He had been created a cardinal of the Roman church, and he was now advanced into the possession of the primacy of Scotland. No Scottish ecclesiastic had ever invested with greater authority; and the reformers had every thing to fear from formidable an enemy. The natural violence of his temper had fixed itself in an overbearing insolence, from the success which had attended him. His youth had been passed in scenes of policy and intrigue, which, while they communicated to him address and the knowledge of men, corrupted altogether the simplicity and candour of his mind. He was dark, designing, and artificial. No principles of justice were any bar to his schemes. His heart did not open to any impressions of pity. His ruling passion was an inordinate love of power; and the support of his consequence depending alone upon the church of Rome, he was animated to maintain its superstitions with the warmest zeal. He seemed to take a delight in persiflage and dissimulation; he had no religion; and he was stained with an inhuman cruelty, and the most open profuseness of manners. In connection with these defects, he possessed a persevering obstinacy in pursuing his measures, the ability to perceive and to practise all the arts which were necessary to advance them, and the allurements of ostentation and prodigality.

He was scarcely invested in the primacy, when he exhibited an example of his taste for magnificence, and of his aversion to the reformed. He proceeded to St Andrews with an uncommon pomp and parade. The earls of Huntley, Arran, Marischal, and Montrose, with the lords Fleming, Lindsey, Erskine, and Seton, did the honour to attend upon him; and there appeared in his train, Gavin archbishop of Glasgow and lord high chancellor, four bishops, six abbots, a great many private gentlemen, and a vast multitude of the inferior clergy. In the cathedral-church of St Andrews, from a throne erected by his command, he harangued concerning the state of religion and the church, to this company, and to a crowd of other auditors. He lamented the increase of heretics; he insisted upon their audacity and contempt of order; he said, that even in the court of the sovereign too much attention was shown to them; and he urged the strong necessity of acting against them with the greatest rigour. He informed this assembly, that he had cited Sir John Borthwick to appear before it, for maintaining tenets of faith hostile to the church, and for dispersing heretical books; and he desired that he might be assisted in bringing him to justice. The articles of impeachment, his accusation (a) were read against Sir John Borthwick; who neither appeared in his own person, nor by any agent or deputy. He was found, notwithstanding, to be guilty; and the cardinal, with a solemnity calculated to strike with awe and terror, pronounced sentence against him. His goods and estate were confiscated; a painted representation of him was burned publicly, in testimony of the malediction of the church, and as a memorial of his obstinacy and condemnation. It was ordained, that in the event of his being apprehended, he should suffer as a heretic, without hope of grace or mercy. All Christians, whether men or women, and of whatever degree or condition, were prohibited from affording him any harbour or solace. It was declared, that every office of humanity, comfort, and solacement, extended to him, should be considered as criminal, and be punished with confiscations and forfeitures.

Sir John Borthwick, having been apprised of his danger, fled into England; where he was kindly received by Henry VIII. who employed him in negotiations with the Protestant princes of Germany. Cardinal Beaton perceived with concern that this act of severity did not terrify the people. New defections from the church were announced to him. Andrew Cunningham son to the master of Glencairn, James Hamilton brother to Patrick Hamilton the martyr, and the celebrated George Buchanan the historian, were imprisoned upon suspicions of heresy; and, if they had not found the means to escape, must have died at the stake. In this declining condition of Popery, the cardinal held many mournful consultations with the bishops. All their intrigues and wisdom were employed to devise methods to support themselves. The project of an inquisitorial court was conceived, and exhibited a distant view of the extirpation of heretics. To erect this tribunal, they allured James V. with the hopes of the confiscation and spoils, which might enrich him, from the persecution and punishment of the reformed. He yielded himself to their solicitations, and gave them the sanction of his authority.

A formal commission was granted, constituting a court

(b) They are preferred by archbishop Spotifwood, and display great liberality of mind, in a period when philosophy may be said to have been unknown in Scotland. They are thus detailed by this judicious writer.

1. "That he held the pope to have no greater authority over Christians, than any other bishop or prelate had. 2. "That indulgences and pardons granted by the pope were of no force nor effect, but devised to abuse people, and deceive poor ignorant souls. 3. "That bishops, priests, and other clergymen, may lawfully marry. 4. "That the heresies, commonly called heresies of England, and their new liturgy, were commendable, and to be embraced of all Christians. 5. "That the people of Scotland are blinded by their clergy, and professed not the true faith. 6. "That churchmen ought not to enjoy temporalities. 7. "That the king ought to convert the rents of the church into other pious uses. 8. "That the church of Scotland ought to be governed after the manner of the English. 9. "That the canons and decrees of the church were of no force, as being contrary to the law of God. 10. "That the orders of the friars and monks should be abolished, as had been done in England. 11. "That he did openly call the pope simoniac, for that he sold spiritual things. 12. "That he did read heretical books, and the New Testament in English, and some other treatises written by Melanchthon, Oecolampadius, and Erasmus, which he gave likewise unto others. 13. "The last and greatest point was, that he refused to acknowledge the authority of the Roman see, or be subject thereunto." Hist. of the Church, p. 70. court of inquiry after heretics, and nominating for its president Sir James Hamilton of Fennard, natural brother to the earl of Arran. The officious affluence of this man, his ambition, and his thirst of blood, were acceptable in a high degree to the clergy; and to this bad eminence their recommendation had promoted him.

Upon the slightest suspicion he was allowed to call any person before him, to scrutinize into his creed, and to absolve or to condemn him. A tribunal so dreadful could not have found a director more suited to it. He was in haste to fill the prisons of the kingdom with culprits, and was marking down in lists the names of all those to whom hereby was imputed by popular report, and whom the arts of malicious men had represented as the objects of correction and punishment. But, while he was brooding over mischief, and multiplying in fancy the triumphs of his wickedness, an unexpected turn of affairs presented him in the light of a criminal, and conducted him to the scaffold.

The brother of Mr Hamilton the martyr, to avoid persecution, had been obliged to go into banishment; but, by the intercession of his friends, he was permitted to return for a short time to his own country, that he might regulate the affairs of his family. He was connected with Sir James Hamilton; and, trifling to the ties of blood, ventured to prolong his stay beyond the period allotted to him. This treachery was trivial. Sir James Hamilton, being willing to give a signal example of severity, and by this means to ingratiate himself the more with the priesthood, took the resolution to make his own relation the first victim of his power. Mr Hamilton, attentive to his personal security, and not unacquainted with the most private machinations of this inquisitor, dispatched his son to the king, who was about to pass the Forth in a barge, and intreated him to provide for his safety, as Sir James Hamilton had confided with the house of Douglas to assassinate him. James V., being at variance with the house of Douglas, had reasons of suspicion, and was disposed to believe every thing that was most flagitious of Sir James Hamilton. He instructed the young gentleman to go with expedition to Edinburgh, and to open the matter to the privy-council; and that he might be treated with the greatest respect, he furnished him with the ring which he was accustomed to send to them upon those important occasions which required their address and activity. Sir James Hamilton was apprehended and imprisoned. An accusation of having devised and attempted the king's death at different times, was preferred against him. His defense appeared to be weak and unsatisfactory. A jury, which consisted of men of rank and character, pronounced him guilty; and, being condemned to suffer the death of a traitor, he lost his head, and the quarters of his body were exposed upon the gates of the city of Edinburgh. The clergy, who could not prevent his trial and execution, regretted his death, but did not think of appointing a successor to him in their court of inquisition.

In other respects, however, James shewed great concern for the welfare of his people. Being dissatisfied with the ordinary administration of justice, he had recourse to the parliament of Paris for a model of the like institution in Scotland. Great objections lay to juries in civil matters, and to ambulatory courts of justice. The authority of the heritable jurisdictions was almost exclusive of all law; for though the king might preside in them, yet he seldom did; and appeals before the council were disagreeable and expensive. The institution of the lords of articles, threw too much weight into their courts of scale, as no business could be transacted in parliament but what they allowed of and prepared; and it was always in the power of the crown to direct them as the king pleased. The true source of the public grievances, in matters of property, lay in the disregard shown to the excellent acts which had passed during the reigns of the three first James's, and which had not been sufficiently supported in the late reigns. The evil had gathered strength during the minority of James V.; and he resolved to establish a standing jury for all matters of law and equity, (for, properly speaking, the court of secession in Scotland is no other), with a president, who was to be the mouth of the assembly. On the 13th of May, this year, as we find by a curious manuscript in the British museum, the lords of the articles laid before the parliament the proposition for instituting this court, in the following words: "Item, aent (concerning) the second artickel concerning the order of justice; because our sovereign lord is maist desirous to have a permanent order of justice for the universall of all his liege; and therefore tendis to institute an college of cunning and wife men for doing and administration of justice in all civil actions: and therefore thinke to be chosin certain persons maist convenient and qualified yair (there), to the number of fifteen persone, half spiritual, half temporal, with an president."

In the year 1533, hostilities were recommenced with England; but after some slight incursions on both sides, a truce again took place. The most remarkable transactions of these years, however, next to the religious persecutions already mentioned, were the negotiations for the king's marriage. Indeed, there is scarce any monarch mentioned in history who seems to have had a greater variety of choices, or who was more difficult to be pleased. The situation of affairs on the continent of Europe had rendered Scotland a kingdom of great consequence, as holding the balance between France, England, and the emperor of Germany; and each of the rival powers endeavoured to gain the favour of James by giving him a wife.—In 1534, king Francis offered him his daughter; and the match was strongly recommended by the duke of Albany, who was still living in France, and served James with great fidelity. The same year the Imperial ambassador arrived in Scotland, and presented, in the name of his master, the order of the golden fleur-de-lis to James, who had already been invested with that of St Michael by Francis. At the same time he offered him his choice of three princesses; Mary of Austria, the emperor's sister, and widow of Lewis king of Hungary; Mary of Portugal, the daughter of his sister Eleonora of Austria; or Mary of England, the daughter of Catharine and Henry. Another condition, however, was annexed to this proposal, viz.: that, to suppress the heresies of the time, a council should be held for obviating the calamities which threatened the Christian religion. Those proposals would have met with a more ready acceptance from James, had not his clergy, at this time... Scotland, time, been disgusted with Charles, for allowing too great a latitude to the Protestants of Germany. James, in his answer, returned the emperor his acknowledgements, in the most polite terms, for the splendid alliances he had offered him. He touched the proposal of the council as being a measure rather to be wished for than hoped, because it ought to be free and holy, and upon the model of the first councils; its members consisting of the most charitable, quiet, and disinterested part of the clergy. He said, that if such a council could be obtained, he would willingly send ecclesiastics to it; but if not, that every prince ought to reform the errors of doctrine, and the faults of the clergy, within his own dominions. He bewailed the obdurate conduct of his uncle in his divorce and marriage; and offered his best offices for effecting a reconciliation between him and the emperor, wishing that all the princes of Christendom would unite their arms against their common enemy the Turks. He hinted, very justly, that his Imperial majesty had offered more than he could perform, because his cousin, Mary of England, was not at his disposal. The ambassador replied, that his master, if persuasions failed, would compel Henry by force of arms to resign her. James answered this ridiculous declaration by observing, that the emperor then would be guilty of a breach of all laws both divine and human; that it would be impolitic to give a preference to any of the three princesses, all of them being so illustrious and deserving; but, to show how much he valued an alliance with his Imperial majesty, he would become a suppliant to that prince for his niece, daughter to Christian king of Denmark, to become his bride. The ambassador's answer to this unexpected request was, that she was already betrothed to the count palatine, and that before that time the marriage was probably consummated.

But whether the Imperial ambassador had any right to offer the English princess or not, it is agreed by most historians, that he was offered either Mary or Elizabeth by their father Henry himself. To Mary of Bourbon, the daughter of the duke of Vendome, he is said to have been contracted; but for some reasons or other all these matches were broken off; and the king at last went to France, where he married Magdalen the eldest daughter of Francis. The nuptials were celebrated at Paris in the year 1537, with great magnificence; and among other things served up by way of desert at the marriage-feast, were a number of covered cups filled with pieces of gold and gold-dust, the native product of Scotland, which James distributed among the guests. This gold was found in the mines of Crawford-moor, which were then worked by the Germans. In the beginning of May the royal pair embarked for Leith, under convoy of four large ships of war, and landed on the 28th of the same month. The joy of the Scots was inexpressible, but it was of short continuance; for the young queen died of a fever on the 2nd of July the same year.

King James did not long remain a widower; for the same year he sent Beaton abbot of Arbroath, to treat of his second marriage with a French lady, Mary of Guise, duchess-dowager of Longueville. In this he was rivalled by his uncle Henry VIII., but not before James had been contracted to her. But this was nothing to Henry; for he not only insisted upon having this lady for his wife, but threw out some menaces against Francis, because he would not comply with this unjustifiable request. In January 1538, she was married to James, and escorted to Scotland by the admiral of France with a considerable squadron; both James and Francis being suspicious that Henry would make some attempt to intercept the royal bride. But nothing of this kind happened, and she landed safely at Fifewells; from whence she was conducted to the king at St Andrew's.

But while James appeared thus to be giving himself up to the pleasures of love, he was in other respects showing himself a bloody tyrant. Some cruel differences subsisted between the families of Gordon and Forbes in the north. The heir of the house of Gordon had been educated in a loose dissipated manner, and kept company with a worthless fellow named Strahan. Having refused this favourite something he had asked, the latter attached himself to Gordon earl of Huntley, who, it is said, afflitted him in forming a charge of treason against Forbes. He was accused of intending to restore the Douglas's to their forfeited estates and honours; which improbable story being supported by some venal evidences, the unhappy young man was condemned and executed as a traitor. The king could not but see the injustice of this execution; and, in order to make some amends for it, banished Strahan the kingdom. The following execution, which happened a few days after, was much more inhuman inasmuch that it would have stained the annals even of the most despotic tyrants. The earl of Angus, finding that he could not regain the favour of the king, had recourse to the method usual in those days, viz. committing depredations on the borders. This crime was sufficient with And of the James to occasion the death of his innocent filter, the dowager-lady of Glamis. She had been courted by mil. one Lyon, whom she had rejected in favour of a gentleman of the name of Campbell. Lyon, exasperated at his repulse, found means of admittance to James, whom he filled with the greatest terrors on account of the practices of the family of Angus; and at last charged the lady, her husband, and an old priest, with a design of poisoning the king in order to restore Angus. The parties were all remarkable for the quiet and innocent lives they led; and even this circumstance was by their diabolical accuser turned to their prejudice, by representing it as the effect of cunning or caution. In this reign an accusation of treason was always followed by condemnation. However, the evidence against the lady appeared so absurd and contradictory, that some of the judges were for dropping the prosecution, and others for recommending her case to the king; but the majority prevailed to have it determined by a jury, who brought her in guilty; and she was condemned to be burnt alive in the Castle-hill of Edinburgh. The defence she made would have done honour to the ablest orator, and undeniably proved her innocence; but though it was reported to James, it was so far from mitigating her sentence, that it was aggravated by her husband being obliged to behold her execution. The unhappy husband himself endeavoured to make his way over the castle-wall of Edinburgh; but the rope proving too short, he was dashed. dashed in pieces: and lord Glamis her son, though but a child, was imprisoned during the remainder of this reign. The old priest, though put to the torture, confessed nothing, and was freed. Lyon, like the other accuser already mentioned, was banished the kingdom.

Whether these and other cruelties had affected the king's conscience, or whether his brain had been touched by the distractions of the different parties, is unknown; but it is certain, that, in the year 1540, he began to live retired: his palace appeared like the cloistered retreat of monks; his sleep was haunted by the most frightful dreams, which he confounded into apparitions; and the body of Sir James Hamilton, whose execution has already been mentioned, seemed continually present to his eyes. Perhaps the loss of his two sons, who died on the same day that Sir James was executed, might have contributed to bring this man more remarkably to his remembrance. No doubt, it added to the gloom of his mind; and he now saw his court abandoned by almost all his nobility.

At last James was in some degree roused from his inaction, by the preparations made against him by his uncle Henry VIII. of England. Some differences had already taken place; to accommodate which, Henry had desired a conference with James at York. But this the latter, by the advice of his parliament, had declined. The consequence was a rupture between the two courts, and the English had taken 20 of the Scots trading vessels. Henry threatened to revive the antiquated claim of the English superiority over Scotland, and had given orders for a formidable invasion of the Scotch borders. He complained that James had usurped his title of Defender of the Faith, to which he had added the word Christian, implying that Henry was an infidel: but the kings of Scotland had, some time before, been complimented by the papal see with that title. James, on the other hand, threw his eyes towards Ireland, the north part of which was actually peopled with inhabitants who owned no sovereign but the king of Scotland, and who offered to serve James against the English; some of their chiefs having actually repaired to Scotland, and done homage to James. Henry had, about this time, declared himself king of Ireland, of which he was before only styled the lord; and James roundly asserted, that he had a preferable claim to at least one half of that island, which had been peopled by the subjects of Scotland. Though the Scotch historians of this reign take very little notice of this incident, yet James appears to have been very tenacious of his title; and that there was a vast intercourse carried on between the subjects of Scotland and the northern Irish, who unanimously acknowledged James for their natural sovereign. Indeed, this was the only ground of quarrel that the king, with the least shadow of justice, could allege against Henry.

His parliament being met, many public-spirited acts were passed; and before the assembly was dissolved, the members renewed the acts against leasng-making; by which is meant the misrepresenting the king to his nobles, or the nobles to their king; and James, to dismiss them in good humour, passed an act of free grace for all crimes committed in his minority; the earl of Angus, and Sir George and Sir Archibald Douglas, being excepted.

Henry, after cutting off the head of his wife Catherine Howard, married and divorced the princess Anne of Cleves, and found himself either deserted or distrusted by all the princes on the continent, Protestant as well as Roman Catholic. James and his clergy relied greatly on this public odium incurred by Henry; but the emperor having again quarrelled with Francis, left Henry, whose dominions they had threatened jointly to invade, at liberty to continue his preparations against the Scots. He first ordered his fleet, then the most formidable of any in the world, to make fresh descents upon Scotland. At the same time, he appointed a very considerable army to rendezvous upon the borders, under the command of Sir Robert Bowes, one of his wardens, the earl of Angus, and his two brothers Sir George and Sir Archibald Douglas. James was every day expecting supplies of money, arms, and other necessaries from France; but these not arriving, he reassembled his parliament on the 14th of March, which gratified him in all his demands. Many excellent regulations were made for the internal government, peace, and security of the kingdom, and against the exportation of money instead of merchandise. Acts were passed for fortifying and embellishing the town of Edinburgh, and for better supplying the subjects with wine and all the other necessaries of life. The royal revenue was increased by many additional estates; and the last hand was put to one of the best plans for a national militia that perhaps ever appeared. As yet, excepting in the disappointment which Henry met with from his nephew in not meeting him at York, he had no grounds for commencing hostilities. But it is here proper to observe, that the queen-mother was then dead; and consequently the connection between James and Henry was the queen weakened. Whatever her private character might have been, she was certainly a happy instrument of preventing bloodshed between the two kingdoms. She was buried with royal honours at Perth.

James, to all appearance, was at this time in a most desirable situation. His domain, by forfeitures and otherwise, far exceeded that of any of his predecessors. He could command the purse of his clergy; he had large sums of ready money in his exchequer; his forts were well stored and fortified; and he was now daily receiving remittances of money, arms, and ammunition from France. All this show of happiness was only in appearance; for the affections of his nobility, and the wishes of his subjects, were now alienated from him more than ever, by the excessive attachment he shewed to bigotry and persecution.

He had nominated the earl of Huntley to command his army on the borders, consisting of 10,000 men; and his lieutenant-general was Sir Walter Lindlay of Torphichen, who had seen a great deal of foreign service, and was deemed an excellent officer. Huntley acquitted himself admirably well in his commission; and was so well served by his spies, as to have certain intelligence that the English intended to surprise and burn Jedburgh and Kelso. The English army under Sir Robert Bowes and the Douglasses, with other northern Englishmen, continued still upon the bor- Scotland; and one of the resolutions the Scotch nobility and gentry had come to, was not to attack them on their own ground, nor to act offensively, unless their enemies invaded Scotland. Huntley being informed that the English had advanced, on the 24th of August, to a place called Haldanrig, and that they had destroyed great part of the Scotch and debatable lands, resolved to engage them; and the English were astonished, when at day-break they saw the Scotch army drawn up in order of battle. Neither party could now retreat without fighting; and Torpichien, who led the van, consisting of 2000 of the best troops of Scotland, charged the English so furiously, that Huntley gained a complete and easy victory. Above 200 of the English were killed, and 600 taken prisoners; among whom were their general Sir Robert Bowes, Sir William Mowbray, and about 60 of the most distinguished northern barons; the earl of Angus escaping by the swiftness of his horse. The loss of the Scots was inconsiderable.

In the mean while, the duke of Norfolk having raised a great army, had orders to march northwards, and to disperse a manifesto, complaining of James for having disappointed him of the interview at York, and reviving the ridiculous claim of his own and his ancestors superiority over the kingdom of Scotland. It was plain, from the words of this manifesto, that Henry was still placable towards James; and that he would easily have dropped that claim, if his nephew would have made any personal advances towards a reconciliation.

The condition of James was now deplorable. The few faithful counsellors he had about him, such as Kirkaldy of Grange, who was then lord treasurer, plainly intimated, that he could have no dependence upon his nobles, as he was devoted to the clergy; and James, sometimes, in a fit of distraction, would draw his dagger upon the cardinal and other ecclesiastics, when they came to him with fresh propositions of murder and proscriptions, and drive them out of his presence. But he had no constancy of mind; and he certainly put into his pocket a bloody scroll that had been brought him by his priests, beginning with the earl of Arran, the first subject of the kingdom. In one of his cooler moments, he appointed the lord Erskine, and some others of his nobility, to make a fresh tentative for gaining time; and Henry even condescended to order the duke of Norfolk, (who was then advanced as far as York), the lord privy seal, the bishop of Durham, and others, to treat with him. The conferences were short and unsuccessful. The duke bitterly complained, that the Scots fought only to amuse him till the season for action was over. In short, he considered both them and Learmouth, who was ordered to attend him, as so many spies, and treated them accordingly. It was the 21st of October before he entered the east borders of Scotland. According to the Scotch historians, his army consisted of 40,000 men; but the English have fixed it at 20,000.

James affected to complain of this invasion as being unprovoked; but he lost no time in preparing to repel the danger. The situation of his nobility, who were pressed by a foreign invasion on the one hand, and domestic tyrants on the other, induced them to hold frequent consultations; and in one of them, they resolved to renew the scene that had been acted at Laverbridge under James III. by hanging all his grandsons' evil counsellors. The Scotch historians say, that this resolution was not executed, because the nobility could not agree about the victims that were to be sacrificed; and that the king, who was then encamped with his army at Fallamoor, having intelligence of their consultation, removed hastily to Edinburgh; from whence he sent orders for his army to advance, and give battle to the duke of Norfolk, who appears as yet not to have entered the Scotch borders. The answer of the nobility was, that they were determined not to attack the duke upon English ground; but that if he invaded Scotland, they knew their duty. The earl of Huntley, who commanded the van of the Scotch army, consisting of 10,000 men, was of the same opinion: but no sooner did Norfolk pass the Tweed, than he harassed the English army, cut off their foraging parties, and distressed them in such a manner, that the duke agreed once more to a conference for peace; which was managed, on the part of the Scots, by the bishop of Orkney and Sir James Learmouth; but nothing was concluded. The English general, finding it now impossible on many accounts to prosecute his invasion, repassed the Tweed; and was harassed in his march by the earl of Huntley, who defeated him from the pursuit the moment his enemies gained English ground.

James, whose army at this time amounted to above 30,000 men, continued still at Edinburgh, from whence he sent frequent messages to order his nobility pursue and generals to follow the duke of Norfolk into England; but they were disregarded. James was flattered, that now he had it in his power to be revenged for all the indignities that had been offered by England to Scotland. In this he was encouraged by the French ambassador, and the high opinion he had of his own troops. About the beginning of November, he came to a resolution of reassembling his army, which was disbanded upon the duke of Norfolk's retreat. This project appeared so feasible and so promising, that several of the nobility are said to have fallen in with it, particularly the lord Maxwell, the earls of Arran, Cassilis, and Glencairn, with the lords Fleming, Somerville, and Erskine: others represented, but in vain, that the arms of Scotland had already gained sufficient honour, by obliging the powerful army of the English, with their most experienced general at their head, to make a shameful retreat before a handful; that the force of Scotland was inferior to that of England; and that an honourable peace was still practicable. It was said, in reply to those considerations, that the state of the quarrel was now greatly altered; that Henry had in his manifesto declared his intention to enslave their country; that he treated the nobility as his vassals; that the duke of Norfolk had been guilty of burning the dwellings of the defenceless inhabitants, by laying above twenty villages and towns in ashes; and that no Scotchman, who was not corrupted by Henry's gold, would oppose the king's will. The last, perhaps, was the chief argument that prevailed on the lord Maxwell, a nobleman of great honour and courage, to agree to carry the war into England by Solway, provided he was at the head of 10,000. Scotland. 10,000 men. It was at last agreed, that the earl of Arran and the cardinal should openly raise men, as if they intended to enter the east marches, where they were to make only a feint, while the lord Maxwell was to make the real attempt upon the west. Private letters were everywhere circulated to raise the men who were to serve under the lord Maxwell; among whom were the earls of Cassilis and Glencairn, the lords Fleming, Somerville, Erskine, and many other persons of great consideration. James, who never was suspected for want of courage, probably would have put himself at the head of this expedition, had he not been dissuaded from it by his priests and minions, who reminded him of the consultations at Fallamoor, and the other treasonable practices of the nobility. They added, that most of them being corrupted by the English gold, he could not be too much on his guard. He was at last persuaded to repair to the castle of Lochmaben or Carlaverock, and there to wait the issue of the inroad.

It was probably at this place that James was prevailed on to come to the fatal resolution of appointing one Oliver Sinclair, a son of the house of Rosslyn, and a favourite minion at court, to command the army in chief; and his commission was made out accordingly. On the 23rd of November, the Scots began their march at midnight; and having passed the Eile, all the adjacent villages were seen in flames by the break of day. Sir Thomas Wharton, the English warden of those marches, the bastard Dacres, and Mulgrave, hastily raised a few troops, the whole not exceeding 500 men, and drew them up upon an advantageous ground; when Sinclair, ordering the royal banner to be displayed, and being mounted on the shoulders of two tall men, produced and read his commission. It is impossible to imagine the consternation into which the Scots were thrown upon this occasion; and their leaders setting the example, the whole army declared, (according to the Scotch authors), that they would rather surrender themselves prisoners to the English, than submit to be commanded by such a general. In an instant, all order in the Scotch army was broken down; horse and foot, soldiers and scullions, noblemen and peasants, were intermingled. It was easy for the English general to perceive this confusion, and perhaps to guess at its cause. A hundred of his light horse happened to advance; they met no resistance: the nobles were the first who surrendered themselves prisoners; and the rest of the English advancing, they obtained a bloodless victory; for even the women and the boys made prisoners of Scotch soldiers, and few or none were killed. The lord Herbert relates the circumstances of this shameful affair with some immaterial differences; but agrees with the Scotch authorities upon the whole. He mentions, however, no more than 800 common soldiers having been made prisoners. The chief of the prisoners were the earls of Cassilis and Glencairn, the lords Maxwell, Fleming, Somerville, Oliphant, and Gray, with above 200 gentlemen besides.

James was then at Carlaverock, which is about twelve miles distant from the place of action, depressed in his spirits, and anxious about the event of the expedition, which is to this day called the Raid of Solway Moss. When the news came to his ears, and that the earl of Arran and the cardinal were returned to Edinburgh, he was seized with an additional dejection of mind, which brought him to his grave. In such a situation, every peccant circumstance of his former life wounded his conscience; and he at last sunk into a full melancholy, which admitted of no consolation. From Carlaverock he removed to Falkland; and was sometimes heard to express himself as if he thought that the whole body of his nobility were in a conspiracy against his person and dignity. The presence of the few attendants who were admitted into his chamber, and who were the wicked instruments of his misconduct, seemed to aggravate his sufferings; and he either could not or would not take any sustenance. His death being now inevitable, Beaton approached his bed-side with a paper, to which he is said to have directed the king's hand, pretending that it was his last will. On the 18th of December, while James was in this deplorable state, a messenger came from Linlithgow, with an account that his queen was brought to bed of a daughter; and the last words he was distinctly heard to say, were, "It will end as it began: the crown come by a woman, and it will go with one; many miseries approach this poor kingdom; king Henry will either master it by arms, or win it by marriage." He then turned his face to the wall, and in broken ejaculations pronounced the word Solway Moss, and some faint expressions alluding to the disgrace he suffered. In this state he languished for some days; for it is certain he did not survive the 13th.

James V. was succeeded by his infant daughter Mary, whose birth we have already mentioned. James had by marriage no steps for the security of his kingdom, so that ambitious men had now another opportunity of throwing the public affairs into confusion. The situation of Scotland indeed at this time was very critical. Many of the nobility were prisoners in England, and critical of those who remained at home were factious and turbulent. The nation was dispirited by an unsuccessful war. Commotions were daily excited on account of religion, and Henry VIII. had formed a design of adding Scotland to his other dominions. By a testamentary deed which cardinal Beaton had forged in the name of his sovereign, he was appointed tutor to the queen and governor of the realm, and three of the principal nobility were named to act as his counsellors in the administration. The nobility and the people, however, calling in question the authenticity of this deed, which he could not establish, the cardinal was degraded from the dignity he had assumed; and the estates of the kingdom advanced into the re-earl of Arran, James Hamilton, earl of Arran, whom they judged to be entitled to this distinction, as the second pointed person of the kingdom, and the nearest heir, after Mary, to the crown.

The disgrace of cardinal Beaton might have proved the destruction of his party, if the earl of Arran had been endowed with vigour of mind and ability. But his views were circumscribed; and he did not compensate for this defect by any firmness of purpose. He was too indolent to gain partizans, and too irresolute to fix them. Slight difficulties filled him with embarrassment, and great ones overpowered him. His enemies, applying themselves to the timidity of his disposition, betrayed him into weaknesses; and the esteem which which his gentleness had procured him in private life, was lost in the contempt attending his public conduct, which was feeble, fluctuating, and inconsistent.

The attachment which the regent was known to profess for the reformed religion, drew to him the love of the people; his high birth, and the mildness of his virtues, conciliated their respect; and from the circumstance, that his name was at the head of the roll of heretics which the clergy had presented to the late king, a sentiment of tenderness was mingled with his popularity. His conduct corresponded, at first, with the impressions entertained in his favour. Thomas Guillaume and John Rough, two celebrated preachers, were invited to live in his house; and he permitted them to declaim openly against the errors of the church of Rome. They attacked and exposed the supremacy of the pope, the worship of images, and the invocation of saints. Cardinal Beaton and the prelates were infinitely discontented, and indefatigably active to defend the established doctrines.

This public sanction afforded to the reformation was of little consequence, however, when compared with a measure which was soon after adopted by Robert lord Maxwell. He proposed, that the liberty of reading the scriptures in the vulgar tongue should be permitted to the people; and that, for the future, no heretical guilt should be inferred against any person for having them in his possession, or for making use of them. The regent and the three estates acknowledged the propriety of this proposal. Gavin Dunbar archbishop of Glasgow, and chancellor of Scotland, protested, indeed, for himself and for the church, that no act on this subject should pass and be effectual, till a provincial council of all the clergy of the kingdom should consider and determine, whether there was a necessity that the people should consult and study the scriptures in the vulgar tongue. But his protestation being disregarded, the bill of the lord Maxwell was carried into a law, and the regent made it generally known by a proclamation.

From this period, copies of the Bible were imported in great numbers from England; and men, allured by an appeal so flattering to their reason, were proud to recover from the supine ignorance in which they had been kept by an artful priesthood. To read became a common accomplishment; and books were multiplied in every quarter, which disclosed the pride, the tyranny, and the absurdities of the Romish church and superstitions.

The death of James V. proved very favourable to the ambitious designs of Henry. He now proposed an union of the two kingdoms by the marriage of his son Edward VI. with Mary the young queen of Scotland. To promote this, he released the noblemen who had been taken prisoners at Solway, after having engaged them on oath, not only to concur in promoting the alliance, but to endeavour to procure him the charge and custody of the young queen, with the government of her kingdom, and the possession of her estates. The earl of Angus and his brother, who had been fifteen years in exile, accompanied them to Scotland, and brought letters from Henry recommending them to the restitution of their honours and estates. The regent was inclined to favour the demands of persons of such eminent station; but though the states were inclined to the marriage, they refused to permit the removal of the queen into England, and treated with contempt the idea of giving the government of Scotland and the care of the estates to the king of England. Sir Ralph Sadler, the English ambassador, exerted all his endeavours to induce the regent to comply with the requisitions of his master; but all his intrigues were unsuccessful; and Henry, perceiving that he must depart from such extravagant conditions, at last authorized the commissioners to consent to treaties of amity and marriage, on the most favourable terms that could be procured. In consequence of these powers given to the commissioners, it was agreed that a firm peace and alliance should take place between the two nations, and that they should mutually defend and protect one another in case of an invasion. The queen was to remain within her own dominions till she was ten years of age; and Henry was not to claim any share in the government. Six nobles, or their apparent heirs, were to be surrendered to him in security for the conveyance of the young queen into England, and for her marriage with prince Edward, as soon as she was ten years of age. It was also stipulated, that though the queen should have issue by Edward, Scotland should retain not only its name, but its laws and liberties.

These conditions, however advantageous to Scotland, yet did not give entire satisfaction. Cardinal Beaton, who had been imprisoned on pretence of treasonable schemes, and was now released from his confinement by the influence of the queen-dowager, took all opportunities of proclaiming against the alliance, as tending to destroy the independency of the kingdom. He pointed out to the churchmen the dangers which arose from the prevalence of heresy, and urged them to unanimity and zeal. Awakening all their fears and selfishness, they granted him a large sum of money with which he might gain partizans; the friars were instructed to preach against the treaties with England; and fanatical men were instructed to display their rage in offering indignities to Sir Ralph Sadler.

Cardinal Beaton was not the only antagonist the regent had to deal with. The earls of Argyle, Huntly, Bothwel, and Murray, concurred in the opposition; and having collected some troops, and possessed themselves of the queen's person, they assumed all the authority. They were joined by the earl of Lennox, who was made to hope that he might espouse the queen-dowager and obtain the regency. He was also inclined to oppose the earl of Arran, from an ancient quarrel which had subsisted between their two families; and from a claim he had to supercede him, not only in the enjoyment of his personal estates, but in the succession to the crown. The regent, alarmed at such a powerful combination against him, inclined to attend to some advances which were made him by the queen-dowager and cardinal. To refuse to confirm the treaties, after he had brought them to a conclusion, was, however, a step so repugnant to probity, that he could not be prevailed upon to adopt it. He therefore, in a solemn manner, ratified them in the marriage abbey-church of Holyrood-house, and commanded the great seal of Scotland to be appended to them. The same day he went to St Andrew's, and issued a mandate. date to the cardinal, requiring him to return to his allegiance. To this the prelate refused to pay any attention, or to move from his castle; upon which the regent denounced him a rebel, and threatened to compel him to submission by military force. But in a few days after, the pusillanimous regent meeting with Beaton, forsook the interest of Henry VIII. and embraced that of the queen-dowager and of France. Being in haste also to reconcile himself to the church of Rome, he renounced publicly, at Stirling, the opinions of the reformed, and received absolution from the hands of the cardinal.

By this mean-spirited conduct the regent exposed himself to universal contempt, while cardinal Beaton usurped the whole authority. The earl of Lennox, finding that he had no hopes of success in his suit to the queen-dowager, engaged in negotiations with Henry, to place himself at the head of the Scottish lords who were in the English interest, and to affect the cause of the reformation. The consequence of all this was a rupture with England. Henry not only delayed to ratify the treaties on his part, but ordered all the Scottish ships in the harbours of England to be taken and confiscated. This violent proceeding inflamed the national disgusts against the English alliance; and the party of the cardinal and queen-dowager thus obtained an increase of popularity. Henry himself, however, was so much accustomed to acts of outrage and violence, that he seemed to think the step he had just now taken a matter of no moment; and therefore he demanded that the hostages, in terms of the treaty of marriage, should still be delivered up to him. But the cardinal and regent informed his ambassador, Sir Ralph Sadler, that from their own authority they could not command any of the nobles to be committed to him as hostages; and that the offensive strain of behaviour assumed by the English monarch, might have altered the sentiments of the Scottish parliament with regard to a measure of such importance. After much altercation, the conferences were broken off; and as the lords who were released from captivity had promised to return prisoners to England, it now remained with them to fulfil their promise. None of them, however, had the courage to do so, excepting the earl of Cassile; and Henry, being struck with his punctilious sense of honour, dismissed him loaded with presents.

Cardinal Beaton being thus in possession of power, took measures to secure it. The solemnity of the coronation of the young queen was celebrated at Stirling. A council was chosen to direct and assist the regent in the greater affairs of state, at the head of which was the queen-dowager. John Hamilton, the abbot of Paisley, who had acquired an ascendancy over the regent, was also promoted to the privy seal, and made treasurer of the kingdom; and cardinal Beaton, upon the request of the regent and the three estates, accepted the office of lord high chancellor.

After the flatteries and the hopes with which the earl of Lennox had been amused, the cardinal had reason to dread the utmost warmth of his resentment. He had therefore written to Francis I., giving a detail of the critical situation of affairs in Scotland, and intreating him to recall to France the earl of Lennox, who was now interested to oppose the influence and operations of the queen-dowager. But the indignation with which the treachery of the cardinal had inflamed the earl of Lennox, precipitated him into immediate action, and defeated the intention of this artifice. In the hostile situation of his mind towards Scotland, an opportunity of commencing hostilities had presented itself. Five ships had arrived in the Clyde from France, loaded with warlike stores, and having on board the patriarch of Venice, Peter Contarini, legate from Paul III.; with La Brosse, and James Menaige, ambassadors from France; and 30,000 crowns, which were to be employed in strengthening the French faction, and to be distributed by the queen-dowager and the cardinal. Prevailing with the commanders of these vessels, who conceived him to be the fast friend of their monarch, he secured this money for his own use, and deposited the military stores in his castle of Dumbarton, under the care of George Stirling the deputy-governor, who at this time was entirely in his interests.

By the successful application of this wealth, the earl of Lennox called forth the full exertion of his party in levying a formidable army, with which he threatened the destruction of the regent and the cardinal, offering them battle in the fields between Leith and Edinburgh. The regent, not being in a condition to accept the challenge of his rival, had recourse to negotiation. Cardinal Beaton and the earl of Huntly proposed terms of amity, and exerted themselves with so much address, that the earl of Lennox, losing the opportunity of chastising his enemies, consented to an accommodation, and indulged anew the hope of obtaining the queen-dowager in marriage. His army was dismissed, and he threw himself at the feet of his mistress, by whom he was, in appearance, favourably received; but many of his friends were seduced from him under different pretences; and at last, apprehending his total ruin from some secret enterprise, he fled to Glasgow, and fortified himself in that city. The regent, collecting an obliged army, marched against him; and having defeated his friend the earl of Glencairn in a bloody encounter, was able to reduce the place of strength in which he confided. In this ebb of his fortune, the earl of Lennox had no hope but from England.

The revolution produced in the political state of Scotland by the arts of cardinal Beaton, while it defeated the intrigues of Henry VIII., pointed all its strength against the progress of the reformation. After abandoning his old friends, the regent, in connection with the cardinal, was ambitious to undo all the services he had rendered to them. The three estates annulled the treaties of amity and marriage, and sent commissioners to conclude an alliance with France. The regent discharged the two preachers and the Guillame and Rough, whom he had invited to impugn the doctrines of the church. He drove back into England many pious persons, whose zeal had brought them to Scotland, to explain and advance the new opinions. He cared with particular respect the legate whom the pope had sent to discourage the marriage of the young queen with the prince of Wales, and to promise his assistance against the enterprises of Henry VIII. He procured an act of parliament to be passed for the persecution of heretics; and, upon the foundation of this authority, the most rigorous proceedings were concerted against the reformed; when the arms of Eng- England, rousing the apprehensions of the nation, gave the fullest employment to the regent and his counsellors.

In the rage and anguish of disappointed ambition, the earl of Lenox made an offer to assist the views of the king of England; who, treating him as an ally, engaged, in the event of success, to give him in marriage his niece the lady Margaret Douglas, and to invest him in the regency of Scotland. To establish the reformation in Scotland, to acquire the superiority over it to Henry VIII., and to effectuate the marriage of the prince of Wales with the queen of Scots, were the great objects of their confederacy.

Henry, though engaged in a war with France, which required all his military force, could not refuse the earliest opportunity in his power to execute his vengeance against Scotland. Edward Seymour, earl of Hartford was appointed to command 10,000 men; who were embarked at Tynemouth, aboard a fleet of 200 ships, under the direction of Sir John Dudley lord Lisle. This army was landed without opposition near Leith; and the earl of Hartford made it known to Sir Adam Otterburn, the provost of Edinburgh, that his commission empowered him to lay the country waste and desolate, unless the regent should deliver up the young queen to the king of England. It was answered, that every extremity of distress would be endured, before the Scottish nation would submit to so ignominious a demand. Six thousand horse from Berwick, under the lord Evers, now joined the earl of Hartford. Leith and Edinburgh, after a feeble resistance, yielded to the English commander; who abandoned them to pillage, and then set fire to them. A cruel devastation ensued in the surrounding villages and country, and an immense booty was conveyed on board the English fleet. But, while an extreme terror was everywhere excited, the earl of Hartford reembarked a part of his troops, and ordered the remainder to march with expedition to the frontiers of England.

The regent, assisted by cardinal Beaton and the earls of Huntley, Argyle, Bothwell, and Murray, was active, in the mean time, to collect an army, and to provide for the security of the kingdom. He felt, therefore, the greatest surprise on being relieved so unexpectedly from the most imminent hazard; and an expedition, conducted with so little dexterity, did not advance the measures of Henry VIII. To accomplish the marriage of the young queen with the prince of Wales, to possess himself of her person, or to achieve a conquest over Scotland, were all circumstances apparently within the reach of the English commander; and yet, in the moment of victory, he neglected to prosecute his advantages; and having inflamed the animosities of the Scottish nation, by a display of the passions and cruelty of his master, left them to recover from their disaster, and to improve in their resources.

The earl of Lenox, taking the opportunity of the English fleet, went to consult with Henry VIII. upon the desperate state of his affairs. He renewed his engagements with this monarch; and received in marriage the lady Margaret Douglas, with possessions in England. Soon after, he arrived in the frith of Clyde, with 18 ships and 600 soldiers, that he might secure the castle of Dunbarton, and employ himself in committing spoil and devastation. But George Stirling, to whom the castle was intrusted refused to surrender it; and even obliged him to reembark his troops. After engaging in a few petty incursions and skirmishes, he returned to England.

In 1544, Henry consented to a truce; and Scotland, after having suffered the miseries of war, was subjected to the horrors of persecution. The regent had procured an act of parliament for the persecution of the reformed; and the cardinal, to draw to himself an additional splendour and power, had obtained from the pope the dignity of legate a latere. A visitation of his own diocese appeared to him the most proper method of commencing the proposed extirpation of heresy; and he carried with him in his train the regent, and many persons of distinction, to assist in his judicatories, and to share in his disgrace.

In the town of Perth, a great many persons were accused and condemned. The most trifling offences were regarded as atrocious crimes, and made the subjects of prosecution and punishment. Robert Lamb was hanged for affirming that the invocations of saints had no merit to save. William Anderson, James Reynold, and James Finlayson, suffered the same death, for having abused an image of St Francis, by putting horns upon his head. James Hunter, having kept their company, was found to be equally guilty, and punished in the same manner. Helen Strike, having retorted, when in labour, to invoke the alliance of the Virgin, was drowned in a pool of water. Many of the burgesses of Perth, being suspected of heresy, were sent into banishment; and the lord Ruthven, the provost, was upon the same account dismissed from his office.

The cardinal was strenuous in persecuting heresy in other parts of his diocese. But the discontentments and clamour attending the executions of men of inferior station were now lost in the fame of the martyrdom of George Wishart; a person who, while he was respectable by his birth, was highly eminent from the opinion entertained of his capacity and endowments.

The historians of the Protestant persuasion have spoken of this reformer in terms of the highest admiration. They extol his learning as extensive, insist on the extreme candour of his disposition, and ascribe to him the utmost purity of morals. But while the strain of their panegyric is exposed to suspicion from its excess, they have ventured to impute to him the spirit of prophecy; so that we must necessarily receive their eulogiums with some abatement. It may be sufficient to affirm, that Mr Wishart was the most eminent preacher who had hitherto appeared in Scotland. He was certainly cultivated by reflection and study, and he was amply possessed of those abilities and qualifications which awaken and agitate the passions of the people. His ministry had been attended with the most flattering success; and his courage to encounter danger grew with his reputation. The day before he was apprehended, he said to John Knox, who attended him; "I am weary of the world, since I perceive that men are weary of God." He had already reconciled himself to that terrible death which awaited him. He was found in the house of Cockburn of Ormiston, in East Lothian; who refusing to deliver him to the fer- Scotland. servants of the regent, the earl of Bothwell, the sheriff of the county, required that he should be intrusted to his care, and promised that no injury should be done to him. But the authority of the regent and his counsellors obliged the earl to surrender his charge. He was conveyed to the cardinal's castle at St Andrew's, and his trial was hurried on with precipitation. The cardinal and the clergy proceeding in it without the concurrence of the secular power, adjudged him to be burnt alive. In the circumstances of his execution, there appears a deliberate and most barbarous cruelty. When led out to the stake, he was met by priests, who, mocking his condition, called upon him to pray to the virgin, that she might intercede with her Son for mercy to him. "Forbear to tempt me, my brethren," was his mild reply to them. A black coat of linen was put upon him by one executioner, and bags of powder were fastened to his body by another. Some pieces of ordnance were pointed to the place of execution. He spoke to the spectators, intreating them to remember that he was to die for the true gospel of Christ. Fire was communicated to the faggots. From a balcony in a tower of his castle, which was hung with tapestry, the cardinal and the prelates, reclining upon rich cushions, beheld the inhuman scene. This insolent triumph, more than all his afflictions, affected the magnanimity of the sufferer. He exclaimed, that the enemy, who so proudly placed himself, would perish in a few days, and be exposed ignominiously in the place which he now occupied.

Cardinal Beaton took a pleasure in receiving the congratulations of the clergy upon a deed, which, it was thought, would fill the enemies of the church with terror. But the indignation of the people was more excited than their fears. All ranks of men were disgusted with an exercise of power which despised every boundary of moderation and justice. The prediction of Mr Wishart, suggested by the general odium which attended the cardinal, was considered by the disciples of this martyr as the effusion of a prophet; and perhaps gave occasion to the assassination that followed. Their complaints were attended to by Norman Leslie, the eldest son of the earl of Rothes, whom the cardinal had treated with indignity, though he had profited by his services. He confessed to be their leader. The cardinal was in his castle at St Andrew's, which he was fortifying after the strongest fashion of that age. The conspirators, at different times, early in the morning, entered into it. The gates were secured; and appointing a guard, that no intimation of their proceedings might go to the cardinal, they dismissed from the castle all his workmen separately, to the number of 100, and all his domestics, who amounted to no fewer than 50 persons. The eldest son of the earl of Arran, whom he kept as an hostage for his father's behaviour, was alone detained by them. The prelate, alarmed with their noise, looked from his window, and was informed that his castle was taken by Norman Leslie. It was in vain that he endeavoured to secure the door of his chamber by bolts and chells. The conspirators brought fire, and were ready to apply it, when, admitting them into his presence, he implored their mercy. Two of them struck him hastily with their swords. But James Melvil, rebuking their passion, told them, that this work and judgment of God, though secret, ought to be done with gravity. He reminded the cardinal, in general terms, of the enormity of his sins, and reproached him in a more particular manner with the death of Mr Wishart. He swore, that no hopes of his riches, no dread of his power, and no hatred to his person, were any motives which actuated him; but that he was moved to accomplish his destruction, by the obstinacy and zeal manifested by him against Christ Jesus and his holy gospel. Waiting for no answer to his harangue, he thrust the cardinal three times through the body with his dagger, on the 29th of May 1546.

The rumour that the castle was taken, giving an alarm to the inhabitants of St Andrew's, they came in crowds to gratify their curiosity, and to offer their assistance, according to the sentiments they entertained. The adherents and dependents of the cardinal were clamorous to see him; and the conspirators, carrying his dead body to the very place from which he had beheld the sufferings of Mr Wishart, exposed it to their view.

The truce, in the mean time, which had been concluded with England was frequently interrupted; but peace between England and France was made. Mutual depredations kept alive the hostile spirit of the two kingdoms; and while the regent was making military preparations, which gave the promise of important events, a treaty of peace was finished between England and France, in which Francis I. took care to comprehend the Scottish nation. In this treaty it was stipulated by Henry, that he was not to wage war against Scotland, unless he should be provoked by new and just causes of hostility.

But the murderers of cardinal Beaton, apprehensive of their safety, had dispatched messengers into England, with applications to Henry for assistance; and being joined by more than 120 of their friends, they took the resolution of keeping the castle, and of defending themselves. Henry, notwithstanding his treaty with France, resolved to embrace this opportunity of augmenting the disturbances of Scotland. He hastened to collect troops; and the regent and his counsellors pressed France for supplies in men and money, and military stores and artillery.

The high places which the cardinal occupied were filled up immediately upon his death. John Hamilton, abbot of Paisley was elected archbishop of St Andrews, and George earl of Huntly was promoted to be chancellor. By these officers the regent was urged to proceed with vigour against the conspirators; and it was a matter of the greatest anxiety to him to recover his eldest son, whom they detained in custody. The clergy had, in the most solemn manner, pronounced them to be accursed; and agreed to furnish, for four months, a monthly subsidy of 3000 l. to defray the expense of reducing them to obedience. The queen-dowager and the French faction were eager, at the same time, to concur in avenging the assassination of a man to whose counsels and services they were so greatly indebted. And that no dangerous use might be made of the eldest son of the earl of Arran, who, after his father, was the heir of the monarchy, an act of parliament was passed, excluding him from his birthright while... while he remained in the possession of the enemies of his country, and substituting his brothers in his place, according to their seniority. The dark politics of Henry suggested the necessity of this expedition; and in its meaning and tendency there may be remarked the spirit and greatness of a free people.

A powerful army laid siege to the castle of St Andrews, and continued their operations during four months; but no success attended the assailants. The fortifications were strong; and a communication with the besieged was open by sea to the king of England, who supplied them with arms and provisions. The garrison received his pay, and the principal conspirators had pensions from him. In return for his generosity, they were engaged to promote the marriage of his son with the young queen; to advance the reformation; and to keep in custody the eldest son of the regent. Negotiation succeeded to hostility; and as the regent expected assistance from France, and the conspirators had the prospect of support from an English army, both parties were disposed to gain time.

A treaty was entered into and transacted; in which the regent engaged to procure from Rome an absolution to the conspirators, and to obtain from them from the three estates an exemption from prosecutions of every kind. Upon the part of the besieged, it was stipulated, that when these conditions were fulfilled, the castle should be surrendered, and the regent's son be delivered up to him. In the mean time Hen. VIII died; and a few weeks after, Francis I also paid his debt to nature. But the former, before his death, had recommended the prosecution of the Scottish war; and Henry II., the successor of Francis, was eager to show his attention to the ancient ally of his nation.

When the absolution arrived from Rome, the conspirators refused to consider it as valid; and an expression used by the pope, implying an absurdity, furnished an apology for their conduct. They knew that the counsellors of Edward VI. were making vigorous preparations to invade Scotland; they were confident of their present ability to defend themselves; and the advocates for the reformation encouraged them with hopes and with flattery.

The favourites of the reformation, in the mean time, adopting the intolerant maxims of the Roman Catholics, were highly pleased with the assassination of Beaton; and many of them congratulated the conspirators upon what they called their godly deed and enterprise. John Rough, who had formerly been chaplain to the regent, entered the castle and joined them.

At this time also John Knox began to distinguish himself in an eminent manner, both by his success in argument, and the unbounded freedom of his discourse; while the Roman clergy, everywhere defeated and ashamed, implored the assistance of the regent and his council, who assured them that the laws against heretics should be put in execution.

In the mean time the castle of St Andrew's being invested by a fleet of 16 sail under admiral Strozzi from France, was obliged to capitulate. Honourable conditions were granted to the conspirators; but after being conveyed to France, they were cruelly used, from the hatred entertained by the Catholics against the Protestants. Many were confined in prisons; and others, among whom, says Dr Stewart, was John Knox, were sent to the galleys. The castle itself was razed to the ground.

The same year, 1547, Scotland was invaded by an English army under the duke of Somerset, who had been chosen protector of England during the minority of Edward VI. The design of this invasion was to oblige the Scots to comply with the scheme of Henry VIII. and conclude a marriage between Edward and the young queen of Scotland. The English army consisted of 13,000 men; besides which the protector had a fleet of 60 sail, one half of which were ships of war, and the others consisted of vessels laden with provisions and military stores. On the other hand, the regent opposed him with an army of 40,000 men. Before the commencement of hostilities, however, the duke of Somerset addressed a letter or manifesto to the government; in which he pressed the marriage with such powerful arguments, and so clearly showed the benefits which would result from it to both nations, that the regent and his party, who were adverse to peace, thought proper to suppress it, and to circulate a report that the English had come to force away the queen, and to reduce the kingdom to a state of dependence. All hopes of an accommodation being thus removed, the English army advanced in order to give battle to the Scots. They found the latter posted in the most advantageous situation, around the villages of Musselburgh, Inveresk, and Monckton; so that he could not force them to an action, at the same time that he found himself in danger of having his communication with his ships cut off, which would have totally deprived his army of the means of subsistence. In this dangerous situation he had again recourse to negotiation, and offered terms still more favourable than before. He now declared himself ready to retire into England, and to make ample compensation for the injuries committed by his army, if the Scottish government would promise that the queen should not be contracted to a foreign prince, but should be kept at home till she was of age to choose a husband for herself, with the consent of the nobility. These concessions increased the confidence of the regent so much, that, without taking advantage of the strength of his situation, he resolved to come to a general engagement. The protector moved towards Pitkey, a gentleman's house to the eastward of Musselburgh; and Pitkey, the regent conceiving that he meant to take refuge in his fleet, changed the strong ground in which he was encamped. He commanded his army to pass the river Esk, and to approach the English forces, which were posted on the middle part of Fife-hill. The earl of Angus led on the van; the main body of the battle marched under the regent; and the earl of Huntley commanded in the rear. It was the regent's intention to seize the top of the hill. The lord Grey, to defeat this purpose, charged the earl of Angus, at the head of the English cavalry. They were received upon the points of the Scottish spears, which were longer than the lances of the English horsemen, and put to flight. The earl of Warwick, more successful with his command of infantry, advanced to the attack. The ordnance from the fleet assisted his operations; and a brisk fire from the English artillery, which was planted on a rising-ground, served still more to intimidate the Scottish soldiery. The remaining troops... Scotland under the protector were moving slowly, and in the best order, to take a share in the engagement. The earl of Angus was not well supported by the regent and the earl of Huntley. A panic spread itself through the Scottish army. It fled in different ways, presenting a scene of the greatest havoc and confusion. Few perished in the fight; but the chase continuing in one direction to Edinburgh, and in another to Dalkeith, with the utmost fury, a prodigious slaughter was made. The loss of the conquerors did not amount to 500 men; but 10,000 soldiers perished on the side of the vanquished. A multitude of prisoners were taken; and among these the earl of Huntley, the lord high chancellor.

Amidst the consternation of this decisive victory, the duke of Somerset had a full opportunity of effectuating the marriage and union projected by Henry VIII., and on the subject of which such fond anxiety was entertained by the English nation. But the cabs of his enemies threatening his destruction at home, he yielded to the necessities of his private ambition, and marched back into England. He took precautions, however, to secure an entry into Scotland, both by sea and land. A garrison of 200 men was placed in the isle of St Columba in the Forth, and two ships of war were left as a guard to it. A garrison was also stationed in the castle of Broughty, which was situated in the mouth of the Tay. When he passed through the Merse and Teviotdale, the leading men of these counties repaired to him; and taking an oath of allegiance to king Edward, surrendered their places of strength. Some of these he demolished, and to others he added new fortifications. Hume castle was garrisoned with 200 men, and intrusted to Sir Edward Dudley; and he posted 300 soldiers, with 200 pioneers, in the castle of Roxburgh, under the command of Sir Ralph Bulmer.

The only resource of the regent now was the hope of assistance from France. The young queen was lodged in the castle of Dunbarston, under the care of the lords Erskine and Livingstone; and ambassadors were sent to Henry II. of France, acquainting him with the disaster at Pinkney, and imploring his assistance. The regent had asked permission from the protector to treat of peace, and the earl of Warwick was appointed to wait for them at Berwick; but none were ever sent on the part of Scotland. It was not long therefore before hostilities were recommenced by the English. Lord Gray led an army into Scotland, fortified the town of Haddington, took the castles of Yester and Dalkeith, laid waste the Merse, and the counties of East and Mid Lothian. On the other hand, in June 1548, Monsieur de Delfé, a French officer of great reputation, landed at Leith with 6000 soldiers and a formidable train of artillery.

In the mean time the regent was in disgrace on account of the disaster at Pinkney; and the queen-dowager being disposed to supersede his authority, attempted to improve this circumstance to her own advantage. As she perceived that her power and interest could best be supported by France, she resolved to enter into the strictest alliance with that kingdom. It had been proposed that the dauphin of France should marry the queen of Scotland; and this proposal now met with many partizans, the hostilities of the English having lost a great number of friends to the cause of that country. It was resolved to send the queen immediately to France, which would remove the cause of the present contentions, and her subsequent marriage with the dauphin would in the fullest manner confirm the friendship betwixt the two nations. The French government also entered deeply into the scheme; and in order to promote it, made presents of great value to many of the Scottish nobility. The regent himself was gained over by a pension of 12,000 livres, and the title of duke of Châtellerault. Monsieur de Villegeynon, who commanded four galleys in the harbour of Leith, making a feint as if he intended to proceed instantly to France, tacked about to the north, and, sailing round the isles, received the queen at Dunbarton; whence he conveyed her to France, and delivered her to her uncles the princes of Lorraine, in the month of July 1548.

These transactions did not put an end to the military operations. The siege of Haddington had been undertaken as soon as the French auxiliaries arrived, and was now conducted with vigour. To reinforce the garrison, 1500 horse advanced from Berwick; but an ambuscade being laid for them, they were intercepted, and almost totally destroyed. Another body of English troops, however, which amounted only to 300 with several persons, was more successful. Eluding the vigilance of the Scots and the French, they were able to enter Haddington, and to supply the besieged with ammunition and provisions. The lord Seymour, high admiral of England, made a descent upon Fife with 1200 men, and some pieces of artillery; but was driven back to his ships with great slaughter, by James Stuart, natural brother to the young queen, who opposed him at the head of the militia of the county. A second descent was made by him at Montrose; but being equally unsuccessful there, he was obliged to leave Scotland without performing any important or memorable achievement.

Having collected an army of 17000 men, and adding to it 3000 German Protestants, the protector put it under the direction of the earl of Shrewsbury. Upon the approach of the English, Delfé, though he had been reinforced with 15,000 Scots, thought it prudent to retreat, and to hazard a decisive battle. He raised the siege of Haddington, and marched to Edinburgh. The earl of Shrewsbury did not follow him to force an engagement; jealousies had arisen between the Scots and the French. The insolence and vanity of the latter, encouraged by their superior skill in military arts, had offended the quick and impatient spirit of the former. The fretfulness of the Scots was augmented by the calamities inseparable from war; and after the conveyance of the young queen to France, the efficacious and peculiar advantage conferred upon that kingdom by this transaction was fully understood, and appeared to them to be highly disgraceful and impolitic. In this state of their humour, Delfé found not at Edinburgh the reception he expected. The quartering of his soldiers produced disputes, which ended in an insurrection of the inhabitants. The French fired among the citizens. Several persons of distinction fell, and among these were the provost of Edinburgh and his son. The national discontent and inquietudes were driven, by this event, to the most dangerous extremity; and Désé, who was a man of ability, thought of giving employment to his troops, and of flattering the people by the splendour of some martial exploit.

The earl of Shrewsbury, after supplying Haddington with troops, provisions, and military stores, retired with his army into England. Its garrison, in the enjoyment of security, and unsuspicious of danger, might be surprised and overpowered. Marching in the night, Désé reached this important post; and destroying a fort of observation, prepared to storm the main gates of the city, when the garrison took the alarm. A French deserter pointing a double cannon to the thickest ranks of the assailants, the shot was incredibly destructive, and threw them into confusion. In the height of their consternation, a vigorous sally was made by the besieged. Désé renewed the assault in the morning, and was again defeated. He now turned his arms against Broughty castle; and, though unable to reduce it, he yet recovered the neighbouring town of Dundee, which had fallen into the possession of the enemy. Hume castle was retaken by stratagem. Désé entered Jedburgh, and put its garrison to the sword. Encouraged by this success, he ravaged the English borders in different incursions, and obtained several petty victories. Leith, which from a small village had grown into a town, was fortified by him; and the island of Inchkeith, which is nearly opposite to that harbour, being occupied by English troops, he undertook to expel them, and made them prisoners after a brisk encounter.

His activity and valour could not, however, compose the discontent of the Scottish nation; and the queen dowager having written to Henry II. to recall him, he was succeeded in his command by Monsieur de Thermes, who was accompanied into Scotland by Monluc bishop of Valence, a person highly esteemed for his address and ability. This ecclesiastic was designed to supply the loss of cardinal Beaton, and to discharge the office of lord high chancellor of Scotland. But the jealousies of the nation increasing, and the queen dowager herself suspecting his ambition and turbulence, he attained not this dignity, and soon returned to his own country.

De Thermes brought with him from France a reinforcement of 1000 foot, 2000 horse, and 100 men-at-arms. He erected a fort at Aberlady, to distress the garrison of Haddington, and to intercept its supplies of provision. At Coldingham he destroyed a troop of Spaniards in the English pay. Fast-castle was regained by surprise. Difficulties in the English court, did not permit the protector to act vigorously in the war. The earl of Warwick was diverted from marching an army into Scotland. An infectious distemper had broken out in the garrison at Haddington; and an apprehension prevailed, that it could not hold out for any length of time against the Scots. The earl of Rutland, therefore, with a body of troops, entered the town; and after setting fire to it, conducted the garrison and artillery to Berwick. The regent, in the possession of Haddington, was solicitous to recover the other places which were yet in the power of the English. De Thermes laid siege to Broughty castle, and took it. He then besieged Lawder; and the garrison was about to surrender at discretion, when the news arrived that a peace was concluded between France, England, and Scotland.

By this treaty Henry II. obtained the restitution of Boulogne and its dependencies, which had been taken from him by the king of England, and for which he paid 400,000 crowns. No opposition was to be given to the marriage of the queen of Scotland with the dauphin; the fortresses of Lawder and Douglas were to be restored to the Scots, and the English were to destroy the castles of Roxburgh and Eymouth.

After the ratification of the articles, the queen dowager embarked with Leon Strozzi for France, attended by many of the nobility. Having arrived there, she communicated to the king her design of assuming the government of Scotland, and he promised to assist her against the utmost of his power. But the jealousy which reigned between the Scotch and French rendered the accomplishment of this design very difficult. To remove the regent by an act of power, might endanger the scheme altogether; but it might be possible to persuade him to resign his office voluntarily. For this purpose intrigues were immediately commenced; and indeed the regent himself contributed to promote their schemes by his violent persecution of the reformed. The peace was hardly proclaimed, when he provoked the public resentment by an action of sanguinary infamy. Adam Wallace, a man of simple manners, but of great zeal for the reformation, was accused of heresy, and brought to trial in the church of the Black Friars at Edinburgh. In the presence of the regent, the earls of Angus, Huntley, Glencairn, and other persons of distinction and rank, he was charged with preaching without any authority of law, with baptizing one of his own children, and with denying the doctrine of purgatory; and it was strenuously objected to him, that he accounted prayers to the saints and the dead to be an useless superstition, that he had pronounced the mass to be an idolatrous service, and that he had affirmed that the bread and wine in the sacrament of the altar, after the words of the consecration, do not change their nature, but continue to be bread and wine. These offences were deemed too terrible to admit of any pardon. The earl of Glencairn alone protested against his punishment. The pious sufferer bore with resignation the contumelious insults of the clergy; and by his courage and patience at the stake gave a sanction to the opinions he had embraced.

Other acts of atrocity and violence stained the administration of the regent. In his own palace, William Crichton, a man of family and reputation, was assassinated by the lord Semple. No attempt was made to punish the murderer. His daughter was the concubine of the archbishop of St Andrew's, and her tears and intercessions were more powerful than justice. John Melvil, a person respectable by his birth and his fortune, had written to an English gentleman, recommending to his care a friend who at that time was a captive in England. This letter contained no improper information in matters of state, and no suspicion of any crime against Melvil could be inferred from it. Yet the regent brought him to trial upon a charge of high treason; and, for an act of humanity and friendship, he was condemned to lose his head. The estate of Melvil, forfeited to his family, was given to David the youngest son of the regent. Amidst the pleasures and amusements of the French court, the queen-dowager was not inattentive to schemes of ambition which she had projected. The earls of Huntley and Sutherland, Marischal and Caithness, with the lord Maxwell, and other persons of eminence who had accompanied her to France, were gained over to her interests. Robert Carnegie of Kinuzird, David Panter bishop of Rois, and Gavin Hamilton commendator of Kilwinning, being also at this time in that kingdom, and having the greatest weight with the regent, were treated with a most punctilious respect. Henry declared to them his earnest wish that the queen-dowager might attain the government of Scotland. In case the regent should consent to this measure, he expressed a firm intention that no detriment should happen to his consequence and affairs; and he desired them to inform him, that he had already confirmed his title of duke of Chatelherault, had advanced his son to be captain of the Scots gendarmes in France, and was ready to tender other marks of favour to his family and relations. Upon this business, and with this message, Mr Carnegie was dispatched to Scotland; and a few days after, he was followed by the bishop of Rois. The bishop being a man of eloquence and authority, obtained, tho' with great difficulty, a promise from the regent to resign his high office; and for this service he received, as a recompense, an abbey in Poitou. The queen-dowager, to Scotland, full of hopes, prepared to return to Scotland.

The queen-dowager now prepared to return to Scotland, and in her way thither made use of a safe-conduct obtained from Edward VI. by the king of France. The English monarch, however, had not yet forgot the beautiful queen of Scotland; and did not fail to urge his superiority of claim to her over the dauphin. The queen-dowager did not seriously enter upon the business; only in general terms complained of the hostilities committed by the English; and two days after this conversation, she proceeded towards Scotland, where she was conducted by the earl of Bothwell, lord Hume, and some other noblemen, to Edinburgh, amidst the acclamations of the people. She had not long been returned to the capital, when the conduct of the regent afforded her an opportunity of exerting her influence and address to the advantage of her project. The regent having proposed a judicial circuit through the kingdom, under pretence of repressing crimes and disorders, molested the people by plunder and rapine. Great fines were levied for offences pretended as well as real; and the Protestants in particular seemed to be the objects of his displeasure and severity. In his progress he was accompanied by the queen-dowager; and, as she affected to behave in a manner directly opposite, the most disagreeable comparisons were made between her and the regent. The bishop of Rois, to whom he had promised to resign his office, did not fail to put him in mind of his engagements; but he had now altered his mind, and wished still to continue in power. His resolution, however, failed him on the first intimation of a parliamentary inquiry into the errors of his administration. An agreement with the queen-dowager then took place; and it was stipulated, that he should succeed to the throne upon the death of the queen without issue; that his son should enjoy the command of the gendarmes; that no inquiry should be made into his expenditure of the royal treasures; that no scrutiny into his government should take place; and that he should enjoy in the most ample manner his duchy and his pension. These articles were ratified at an assembly of parliament, and the queen-dowager was formally invested with the regency.

Mary of Lorraine, the new regent, though she had with great difficulty attained the summit of her wishes, seemed to be much less versant in the arts of government than of intrigue. She was scarce settled in her new office when she rendered herself unpopular in two respects; one was by her too great attachment to popular France, and the other by her persecution of the reformed religion. She was entirely guided by the councils of her brothers the duke of Guise and the cardinal of Lorraine; and paid by far too much attention to M. d'Oyfel the French ambassador, whom they recommended to her as an able and faithful minister. Several high offices were filled with Frenchmen, which excited in the highest degree the resentment of the Scottish nobility; and the commonalty were instantly prejudiced against her by the partiality she showed to the Papists. At first, however, she enacted many salutary laws; and while she made a progress herself through the southern provinces of the kingdom to hold judiciary courts, she endeavoured to introduce order and law into the western countries and isles; first by the earl of Huntley, and afterwards by the earls of Argyle and Athole, to whom she granted commissions for this purpose with effectual powers. In another improvement, which the queen-regent attempted in vain by the advice of her French council, she found herself opposed by her own people. It was proposed that the possessions of every proprietor of land in the kingdom should be valued and entered into registers; and that a proportional payment should be made by each. The application of this fund was to maintain a regular and standing body of soldiers. This guard or army, it was urged, being at all times in readiness to march against an enemy, would protect effectually the frontiers; and there would no longer be any necessity for the nobles to be continually in motion on every rumour of hostility or incursion from English invaders. No art, however, or argument, could recommend these measures. A perpetual tax and a standing army were conceived to be the genuine characteristics of despotism. All ranks of men considered themselves to be insulted and abused; and 300 tenants of the crown assembling at Edinburgh, and giving way to their indignation, sent their remonstrances to the queen-regent in such strong and expressive language, as induced her to abandon the scheme. Yet even thus the attempt she had made left an impression in the minds of the people. They suspected her to be a secret enemy to their government and liberties; and they were convinced that Henry II. was engaging her in refinements and artifices, that he might reduce Scotland to be a province of France.

While an alarm about their civil rights was spreading itself among the people, the Protestants were rising daily in their spirit and in their hopes. John Knox (A), the reformer whose courage had been confirmed by misfortunes, etc.,

(a) When he was sent to France, (says Dr Stewart) with the conspirators against cardinal Beaton, he was confined to the galleys; but had obtained his liberty in the latter end of the year 1549. and whose talents had improved by exercise, was at this time making a progress through Scotland. The characteristic peculiarities of Popery were the favorite topics of his declamation and censure. He treated the mass, in particular, with the most sovereign contempt, representing it as a remnant of idolatry. Many of the nobility and gentry afforded him countenance and protection. They invited him to preach at their houses, and they partook with him in the ordinances of religion after the reformed method. Religious societies and assemblies were held publicly, in defiance of the Papists; and celebrated preachers were courted with affluence and bribes, to reside and officiate in particular districts and towns. The clergy cited him to appear before them at Edinburgh, in the church of the Black-friars.

On the appointed day he presented himself, with a numerous attendance of gentlemen, who were determined to exert themselves in his behalf. The priesthood did not choose to proceed in his prosecution; and Mr Knox, encouraged by this symptom of their fear, took the resolution to explain and inculcate his doctrines repeatedly and openly in the capital city of Scotland. In 1556, the earl of Glencairn allured the earl Marischal to hear the exhortations of this celebrated preacher; and they were so much affected with his reasonings and rhetoric, that they requested him to address the queen-regent upon the subject of the reformation of religion. In compliance with this request, he wrote a letter in very disagreeable terms; and the earl of Glencairn delivered it with his own hand, in the expectation that some advantage might in this manner be obtained for the reformed. But the queen-regent was no less offended with the freedom of the nobleman than the preacher; and, after perusing the paper, she gave it to James Beaton archbishop of Glasgow, with an expression of disdain, "Here, my lord, is a paqul."

Amidst these occupations, Mr Knox received an invitation to take the charge of the English congregation at Geneva; which he accepted. The clergy called upon him, in his absence, to appear before them, condemned him to death as a heretic, and ordered him to be burned in effigy.

The injurious treatment of Mr Knox did not in the least obstruct the progress of the reformation. Defections were made from Popery in every town and village; and even many members of the church, both secular and regular, were forward to embrace the new principles, and to atone for their past mistakes by the bitterest railleries against the corruptions and the folly of the Romish faith. The priests were treated in all places with ridicule and contempt. The images, crucifixes, and relics, which served to rouse the decaying fervours of superstition, were stolen from the churches, and trampled under foot. The bishops implored the assistance of the queen-regent. Citations were given to the preachers to appear in their defence. They obeyed; but with such a formidable retinue, that it was with difficulty she was permitted to apologize for her conduct. James Chalmers of Gaitgirth, pressing forward from the crowd, addressed himself to her: "We vow to God, that the devices of the prelates shall not be carried into execution. We are oppressed to maintain them in their idleness. They seek to undo and murder our preachers and us; and we are determined to submit no longer to this wickedness." The multitude, applauding his speech, put their hands to their daggers.

A worthy messenger was dispatched to Geneva, inviting John Knox to return to his own country. But in the infancy of their connection, the Protestants being apprehensive of one another, uncertain in their counsels, or being deserted by persons upon whom they had relied, it appeared to them that they had adopted this measure without a due preparation; and, by opposite dispatches, Mr Knox was requested to delay his journey for some time.

To this zealous reformer their unsteadiness was a matter of serious affliction; and in the answer he transmitted to their letters, he rebuked them with severity; but amidst this correction he intreated them not to faint under their purposes, from apprehensions of danger, which, he said, was to separate themselves from the favour of God, and to provoke his vengeance. To particular persons he wrote other addresses; and to all of them the greatest attention was paid. In 1557, the first formal bond of agreement, which obtained the appeal, covenantation of the first Covenant, was entered into, and all the more eminent persons who favoured the reformation were invited to subscribe it. The earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Morton, with the lord Lorn, and John Erskine of Dun, led the way, by giving it the sanction of their names. All the subscribers to this deed, renouncing the superstitions and idolatry of the church of Rome, promised to apply continually their whole power and wealth, and even to give up their lives, to forward and establish the word of God. They distinguished the reformed, by calling them the Congregation of Christ; and by the opprobrious title of the Congregation of Satan, they peculiarized the favourers of Popery.

After the leaders of the reformation had subscribed the first covenant, they addressed letters to John Knox, and Calvin urging in the strongest terms his return to Scotland; and that their hopes of his assistance might not be disappointed, they sent an address to John Calvin, the celebrated reformer, begging him to join his commands to their intrigues. The archbishop of St Andrew's, who perceived the rising storm, was in a difficult situation. A powerful combination threatened ruin to the church; and he had separated himself from the politics of the queen-regent. The zeal of the Roman Catholics pointed out strong measures to him; and his dispositions were pacific. The clergy were offended with his remissness and neglect of duty. The reformers detested his looseness of principles, and were shocked with the dissolute depravity of his life and conversation. He resolved to try the force of address, and did not succeed. He then resolved to be severe, and was still more unsuccessful.

The earl of Argyle was the most powerful of the arch-reformed leaders. To allure him from his party, the bishop of archbishop of St Andrew's employed the agency of Sir David Hamilton. But the kindnesses he affected, and the advices he bestowed, were no compliment to the understanding of this nobleman; and his threats were regarded with scorn. The reformers, instead of glee, losing their courage, felt a sentiment of exultation and triumph; and the earl of Argyle happening to die about this time, he not only maintained the new doctrines in his last moments, but intreated his son to seek for honour in promoting the public preaching of the gospel, and Jesus Christ, and in the utter ruin of superstition and idolatry.

It was determined by the archbishop and the prelates, that this disappointment should be succeeded by a furious persecution of the reformed. Walter Millar, a priest, had neglected to officiate at the altar; and having been long under the suspicion of heresy, was carried to St Andrew's, committed to prison, and accused before the archbishop and his suffragans. He was in an extreme old age; and he had struggled all his life with poverty. He sunk not, however, under the hardness of his fate. To the articles of his accusation he replied with signal recollection and fortitude. The firmness of his mind, in the emaciated state of his body, excited admiration. The insults of his enemies, and their contempt, served to discover his superiority over them. When the clergy declared him a heretic, no temporal judge could be found to condemn him to the fire. He was resigned to another day; and so great sympathy prevailed for his misfortunes, that it was necessary to allure one of the archbishop's domestics to supply the place of the civil power, and to pronounce the sentence of condemnation. When brought to the stake, the resolution of this sufferer did not forsake him. He praised God, that he had been called to seal up the truth with his life; and he conjured the people, as they would escape eternal death, not to be overcome by the errors and the artifices of monks and priests, abbots and bishops.

The barbarity of this execution affected the reformers with inexpressible horror. Subscriptions for mutual defence were taken. The leaders of the reformation, dispersing their emissaries to every quarter, encouraged the vehemence of the multitude. The covenant to establish a new form of religion extended far and wide. The sharp point of the sword, not the calm exertions of inquiry, was to decide the disputes of theology.

When the leaders of the reformation were apprised of the ardent zeal of the people, and considered the great number of subscriptions which had been collected in the different counties of the kingdom, they assembled to deliberate concerning the steps to be pursued. It was resolved, accordingly, that a public and common supplication of the whole body of the Protestants should be presented to the queen-regent; which, after complaining of the injuries they had suffered, should require her to bestow upon them her support and assistance, and urge her to proceed in the work of a reformation. To explain their full meaning, a schedule, containing particular demands, was at the same time to be presented to her scrutiny. To Sir James Sandilands of Calder they committed the important charge of their manifesto and articles of reformation; and in appointing him to this commission, they consulted the respect which was due both to the government and to themselves. His character was in the highest estimation. His services to his country were numerous; his integrity and honour were superior to all suspicion; and his age and experience gave him authority and reverence.

The petition or supplication of the Protestants was expressed in strong but respectful terms. They told the queen-regent, that though they had been provoked by great injuries, they had yet, during a long period, abstained from assembling themselves, and from making known to her their complaints. Banishment, confiscation of goods, and death in its most cruel shape, were evils with which the reformed had been afflicted; and they were still exposed to these dreadful calamities. Compelled by their sufferings, they presumed to ask a remedy against the tyranny of the prelates and the estate ecclesiastical. They had usurped an unlimited domination over the minds of men. Whatever they commanded, though without any sanction from the word of God, must be obeyed. Whatever they discharged, though from their own authority only, must be avoided. All arguments and remonstrances were equally fruitless and vain. The fire, the faggot, and the sword, were the weapons with which the church enforced and vindicated her mandates. By these, of late years, many of their brethren had fallen; and upon this account they were troubled and wounded in their consciences. For, conceiving themselves to be a part of that power which God had established in this kingdom, it was their duty to have defended them, or to have concurred with them in an open avowal of their common religion. They now take the opportunity to make this avowal. They break a silence which may be misinterpreted into a justification of the cruelties of their enemies. And disdaining all farther dissimulation in matters which concern the glory of God, their present happiness, and their future salvation, they demand, that the original purity of the Christian religion shall be restored; and that the government shall be so improved, as to afford to them a security in their persons, their opinions, and their property.

With this petition, or supplication, of the Protestants, Sir James Sandilands presented their schedule of demands, or the preliminary articles of the reformation. They were in the spirit of their supplication, and of the following tenor.

I. It shall be lawful to the reformed to peruse the scriptures in the vulgar tongue; and to employ all the reformers of their native language in prayer publicly and in private.

II. It shall be permitted to any person qualified by knowledge, to interpret and explain the difficult passages in the scriptures.

III. The election of ministers shall take place according to the rules of the primitive church; and those who elect shall inquire diligently into the lives and doctrines of the persons whom they admit to the clerical office.

IV. The holy sacrament of baptism shall be celebrated in the vulgar tongue, that its institution and nature may be the more generally understood.

V. The holy sacrament of the Lord's supper shall likewise be administered in the vulgar tongue; and in this communion, as well as in the ceremonial of baptism, a becoming respect shall be paid to the plain institution of Christ Jesus.

VI. The wicked and licentious lives of the bishops and estate ecclesiastical shall be reformed; and if they discharge not the duties of true and faithful pastors, The Queen-regent now found it necessary to flatter the Protestants. She assured them by Sir James Sandilands, their orator or commissioner, that every thing they could legally desire should be granted to them; and that, in the mean time, they might, without molestation, employ the vulgar tongue in their prayers and religious exercises. But, upon the pretence that no encouragement might be given to tumults and riot, she requested that they would hold no public assemblies in Edinburgh or Leith. The Congregation, for this name was now assumed by the Protestants, were transported with these tender proofs of her regard; and while they sought to advance still higher in her esteem by the inoffensive quietness of their carriage, they were encouraged in the undertaking they had begun, and to accomplish the work of the reformation.

Nor to the clergy, who at this time were holding a provincial council at Edinburgh, did the Congregation scruple to communicate the articles of the intended reformation. The clergy received their demands with a storm of rage, which died away in an innocent debility. Upon recovering from their passions, they offered to submit the controversy between them and the reformed to a public disputation. The congregation did not refuse this mode of trial; and desired, as their only conditions, that the scriptures might be considered as the standards of orthodoxy and truth, and that those of their brethren who were in exile and under persecution might be permitted to assist them. These requests, though reasonable in a high degree, were not complied with; and the church would allow no rule of right but the canon law and its own councils. Terms of reconciliation were then offered on the part of the estate ecclesiastical. It held out to the Protestants the liberty of praying and administering the sacraments in the vulgar tongue, if they would pay reverence to the mass, acknowledge purgatory, invoke the saints, and admit of petitions for the dead. To conditions so ineffectual and absurd the Congregation did not deign to return any answer.

The meeting of the parliament approached. The parties in contention were agitated with anxieties, apprehensions, and hopes. An expectation of a firm and open assistance from the queen-regent, gave courage to the reformed; and, from the parliamentary influence of their friends in the greater and the lesser baronage, they expected the most important services. They drew up with eagerness the articles which they wished to be passed into a law; and as the spirit and sense of their transactions are to be gathered in the completest manner from the papers which were framed by themselves, it is proper to attend to them with a punctilious exactness. Their petitions were few and explicit.

I. They could not, in consequence of principles which they had embraced from a conviction of their truth, participate in the Romish religion. It was therefore their desire, that all the acts of parliament, giving authority to the church to proceed against them as heretics, should be abrogated; or, at least, that their power should be suspended till the disputes which had arisen were determined and brought to a conclusion.

II. They did not mean that all men should be at liberty to profess what religion they pleased, without the control of authority. They consented that all transgressors in matters of faith should be carried before the temporal judge. But it was their wish that the clergy should have only the power to accuse; and they thought it conformable to justice, that a copy of the criminal charge should be lodged with the party upon trial, and that a competent time should be allowed him to defend himself.

III. They insisted, that every defence consistent with law should be permitted to the party accused; and that objections to witnesses, founded in truth and reason, should operate to his favour.

IV. They desired that the party accused should have permission to interpret and explain his own opinions; and that his declaration should carry a greater evidence than the deposition of any witness; as no person ought to be punished for religion, who is not obstinate in a wicked or damnable tenet.

V. In fine, they urged, that no Protestant should be condemned for hereby, without being convicted, by the word of God, of the want of that faith which is necessary to salvation.

The Congregation presented these articles to the queen-regent, expecting that she would not only propose them to the three estates assembled in parliament, but employ all her influence to recommend them. But finding themselves disappointed, they began to suspect her sincerity; and they were sensible that their petitions, though they should be carried in parliament, could not pass into a law without her consent. They therefore abstained from presenting them; but as their complaints and desires were fully known in parliament, they ordered a solemn declaration to be read there in their behalf, and demanded that it should be inserted in the records of the nation. In this declaration, after expressing their regret for having been disappointed in their scheme of reformation, they protest ed, that no blame should be imputed to them for continuing in their religion, which they believed to be proceedings founded in the word of God; that no danger of life, and no political pains, should be incurred by them, for disregarding statutes which support idolatry, and for violating rites which are of human invention; and that, if insurrections and tumults should disturb the realm, from the diversity of religious opinions, and if abuses should be corrected by violence, all the guilt, disorder, and inconvenience thence arising, instead of being applied to them, should be ascribed to those solely who had refused a timely redress of wrongs, and who had despised petitions presented with the humility of faithful subjects, and for the purposes of establishing the commandments of God, and a most just and salutary reformation.

The three estates received this formidable protest with attention and respect; but the intention of inserting it in the national records was abandoned by the Congregation, upon a formal promise from the queen-regent, that all the matters in controversy should speedily be brought by her to a fortunate issue.

While the Protestants were thus making the most Scotland. Vigorous exertions in behalf of their spiritual liberties, the queen-regent, in order to establish herself the more effectually, used every effort to promote the marriage of her daughter with the dauphin of France. In 1557, commissioners were appointed to negotiate this marriage; but while these negotiations were going on, the court of France acted in the most perfidious manner. The king and the princes of Lorraine, abusing the confidence reposed in them by the queen of Scotland, and taking advantage of her youth and inexperience, engaged her privately to sign three extraordinary deeds or instruments. By the first she conveyed the kingdom of Scotland to the king of France and his heirs, in the default of children of her own body. By the second she assigned him, if she should die without children, the possession of Scotland, till he should receive a million of pieces of gold, or be amply recompensed for the sums expended by him in the education of the queen of Scotland in France. By the third she confirmed both these grants in an express declaration, that they contained the pure and genuine sentiments of her mind; and that any papers which might be obtained, either before or after her marriage, by means of the Scottish parliament, should be invalid, and of no force nor efficacy. On the 24th of April, the nuptials were celebrated; and the dauphin, Francis, was allowed to assume the title of king of Scotland.

The French court demanded for him the crown and other ensigns of royalty belonging to Scotland; but the commissioners had no power to comply with their request. It was then desired, that when they returned home, they should use all their influence to procure the crown-matrimonial of Scotland for the dauphin. This also was refused; the court of France was disgusted; and four of the commissioners died, it was supposed of poison, given them by the princes of Lorraine. This subject, however, was pressed, on the return of the surviving commissioners, by the king of France himself, the queen of Scotland, and the queen-regent. The Protestants also joined their interest, hoping by that means to gain over the queen and queen-regent to their party; so that an act of parliament was at length passed, by which the crown-matrimonial was given to the dauphin during the time of his marriage with queen Mary; but without any prejudice to the liberties of the kingdom, to the heirs of her body, or to the order of succession. With so many restraints, it is difficult to see the advantages which could accrue from this gift so earnestly sought after; and it is very probable that the usurpations of France in consequence of it would have been productive of many disturbances; but these were prevented by the death of Francis in December 1560.

But before this event took place, Scotland was, by the intrigues of France, involved in confusion on another account. After the death of Mary queen of England, and daughter to Henry VIII., the princes of Guise insisted on the claim of Mary queen of Scots to the crown of England, in preference to that of Elizabeth, whom they looked upon as illegitimate. This claim was supported by the king of France, who prevailed with the queen of Scots herself to assume the title of queen of England, and to stamp money under that character. The arms of England were quartered with those of France and Scotland; and employed as ornaments for plate and furniture of Mary and the dauphin. Thus was laid the foundation of an irreconcilable quarrel between Elizabeth and the queen Mary; and to this in some measure are we to ascribe the inactivity with which the former persecuted the unhappy queen of Scotland at every time she had it in her power.

But while they imprudently excited a quarrel with England, they yet more imprudently quarrelled also with the majority of the people of Scotland. As Elizabeth professed the Protestant religion, it was easily foreseen, that the Congregation, or body of the reformed in Scotland, would never consent to set against her in favour of a Popish power; and as they could not scheme to be gained, it was resolved to destroy them at once, destroy all by putting to death all their leaders. The queen-regent gave intimation of her design to re-establish the Popery, by proclaiming a solemn observance of Easter, partly in receiving the sacrament according to the Romish communion herself, and commanding all her household to receive it in the same manner. She next expressed herself in a contemptuous manner against the reformed, affirmed that they had insulted the royal dignity, and declared her intention of restoring it to its ancient lustre. The preachers of the Congregation were next cited to appear at Stirling, to answer the charges which might be brought against them. Alexander earl of Glencairn, and Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudon, were deputed to admonish her not to persecute the preachers, unless they had been obnoxious by circulating erroneous doctrines, or disturbing the peace of government.

The queen-regent in a passion told them, that the Treacherous preachers should all be banished Scotland, though their doctrines were as sound as those of St Paul. The deputies urged her former kind behaviour and promises; but the queen-regent answered, that "the promises of princes ought not to be exacted with rigour, and that they were binding only when subservient to their conveniency and pleasure." To this they replied, that in such a case they could not look upon her as their sovereign, and must renounce their allegiance as subjects.

Soon after this transaction, the queen-regent received the news that the reformation was established in Perth, Lord Ruthven the provost of the city was summoned the Provost to answer for this innovation; but his reply was, that he had no dominion over the minds and consciences of men. The provost of Dundee, being ordered to apprehend an eminent preacher named Paul Methven, sent him intelligence of the order, that he might provide for his safety. The proclamation for observing Easter was everywhere despised and neglected, and people exclaimed against the mass as an idol. New citations in the mean time had been given to the preachers to appear at Stirling. They obeyed the summons; but attended by such multitudes, that the queen-regent, dreading their power, though they were unable to without arms, intreated Mr Erskine of Dun, whom they had sent before as a deputy, to stop their march; assuring him that all proceedings against the preachers should be flopped. In consequence of this, the multitude dismissed; yet, when the day came on which the preachers should have appeared, the queen-regent, with unparallelled folly as well as treachery, caused them to be declared traitors, and proclaimed it criminal to afford them any subsistence.

Mr Erskine, exasperated by this shameful conduct, hastened to the Congregation, apologized for his conduct, and urged them to proceed to the last extremes.

At this critical period also John Knox returned from Geneva, and joined the Congregation at Perth. The great provocations which the Protestants had already received, joined to the impetuous passions of the multitude, were now productive of the greatest disorders. Images were destroyed, monasteries pulled down, and their wealth either seized by the mob or given to the poor. The example of Perth was followed by Coupar in Fife; and similar insurrections being apprehended in other places, the queen-regent determined to punish the inhabitants of Perth in the most exemplary manner. With this view she collected an army; but being opposed with a formidable power by the Protestants, she thought proper to conclude an agreement.

The Protestants, however, dreaded her sincerity; and therefore entered into a new covenant to stand by and defend one another. There fears were not vain. The queen-regent violated the treaty almost as soon as made, and began to treat the Protestants with ferocity. The earl of Argyle, and the prior of St Andrew's, who about this time began to take the title of lord James Stuart, now openly headed the Protestant party, and prepared to collect their whole strength. The queen-regent opposed them with what forces she had, and which indeed chiefly consisted of her French auxiliaries; but, being again afraid of coming to an engagement, she consented to a truce, until commissioners should be sent to treat with the lords of an effectual peace. No commissioners, however, were sent on her part; and the nobles, provoked at such complicated and unceasing treachery, resolved to push matters to the utmost extremity. The first exploit of the reformed was the taking of the town of Perth, where the queen-regent had placed a French garrison.

The multitude, elated with this achievement, destroyed the palace and abbey of Scone, in spite of all the endeavours of their leaders, even of John Knox himself, to save them. The queen-regent, apprehensive that the congregation would commit farther ravages to the southward, resolved to throw a garrison into Stirling; but the earl of Argyle and lord James Stuart were too quick for her, and arrived there the very day after the demolition of the abbey and palace of Scone. The people, incapable of restraint, and provoked beyond measure by the perfidious behaviour of the Catholic party, demolished all the monasteries in the neighbourhood, together with the fine abbey of Cambuskenneth, situated on the north bank of the Forth. From Stirling they went to Linlithgow, where they committed their usual ravages; after which, they advanced to Edinburgh. The queen-regent, alarmed at their approach, fled to Dunbar; and the Protestants took up their residence in Edinburgh.

Having thus got possession of the capital, the congregation assumed to themselves the ruling power of the kingdom, appointed preachers in all the churches, and seized the mint, with all the instruments of coining. The queen-regent, unable to dispute the matter in the field, published a manifesto, in which she set forth their sedition, commanding them to leave Edinburgh within six hours, and enjoining her subjects to avoid their society under the pain of treason. The congregation having already lost somewhat of their popularity by their violent proceedings, were now incapable of coping with government. As they had not established themselves in any regular body, or provided a fund for their support, they felt their strength decay, and multitudes of them returned to their habitations. Those who remained found themselves obliged to vindicate their conduct; and, in an address to the regent, to disclaim all treasonable intentions. Negotiations again took place, which ended as usual; the queen-regent, who had taken this opportunity of collecting her forces, marched against the congregation on the 23rd of July 1558. The Protestants now found themselves incapable of making head against their enemies; and therefore entered into a negociation, by which all differences were for the present accommodated. The terms of this treaty were, that the town of Edinburgh should be open to the queen-dowager and her attendants; that the palace of Holyrood-house and the mint should be delivered up to her; that the Protestants should be subject to the laws, and obtain from molesting the Roman-catholics in the exercise of their religion. On the queen's part, it was agreed, that the Protestants should have the free exercise of their religion, and that no foreign troops should enter the city of Edinburgh.

Notwithstanding this treaty, however, the reformed had no confidence in the queen's sincerity. Having heard of the death of Henry II. of France, and the accession of Francis II. and Mary to that kingdom, they seem to have apprehended more danger than ever. They now entered into a third covenant; in which they engaged themselves to refuse attendance to the queen-dowager, in case of any message or letter; and that immediately on the receipt of any notice from her to any of their number, it should be communicated without reserve, and be made a common subject of scrutiny and deliberation. It was not long before they had occasion for all their constancy and strength. The queen-regent repented of the favourable terms she had broken by granting the reformed; and being denied the favour which she requested of saying mass in the high-church of Edinburgh, she ordered them to be everywhere disturbed in the exercise of their religion.

In this imprudent measure, the queen-regent was confirmed by letters which now came from Francis II. and Mary, promising a powerful army to support her interests. The envoy who brought these dispatches also carried letters to the lord James Stuart, now the principal leader of the Protestants, and natural brother to the queen. The letters were filled with approaches and menaces, mixed with intreacies; and along with them the envoy delivered a verbal message, that the king his master was resolved rather to expend all the treasures of France than not to be revenged on the rebellious nobles who had disturbed the peace of Scotland. The lord James Stuart was not to be frightened by these menaces. He returned a cool and deliberate answer, apologizing for the Protestants, and vindicating them from the charge of rebellion; but at the same time intimating his full resolution of continuing to head the reformed as he had already done. The letters of Francis and Mary were soon followed by 1000 French soldiers, with money and military stores; and the commander was immediately dispatched again to France, to solicit the affluence of as many more soldiers, with four ships of war, and 100 men-at-arms. But before he could set out, La Brossie, another French commander, arrived with 2000 infantry; and that the congregation might be defeated not only by arms but in disputation, the same ship brought three doctors of the Sorbonne, to show the pernicious tendency of the new doctrines. Thus matters were pushed on beyond all hopes of reconciliation.

The nation was universally alarmed on account of the introduction of French troops, to which they saw no end. The queen-regent attempted to quiet the minds of the public by a proclamation; but their fears increased the more. The congregation assembled at Stirling, where they were joined by the earl of Arran, and soon after by his father, the duke of Chatellerault. They next deliberated on the measures to be followed with the queen-regent; and the result of their consultations was, that an expostulatory letter should be addressed to her. This was accordingly done; but as the queen behaved with her usual duplicity, the nobles called the people to arms. Mutual manifestos were now published; and both parties prepared to decide the contest by the sword. The congregation having seized Broughty castle, marched from thence to Edinburgh. The queen-regent retired to Leith, which she had fortified and filled with French troops. Thither the nobles sent their last message to her, charging her with a design to overthrow the civil liberties of the kingdom. They requested her to command her Frenchmen and mercenaries to depart from Leith, and to make that place open and patent, not only to the inhabitants who had been disfranchised of their houses, but to all the inhabitants of Scotland. They declared, that her denial of this request should be considered by them as a proof of her intention to reduce the kingdom to slavery; in which case, they were determined to employ their utmost power to preserve its independency. Two days after this message, the queen-regent sent to them the lord Lyon, whom she enjoined to tell them, that she considered their demand not only as presumptuous, but as an encroachment on the royal authority; that it was an indignity to her to be dictated to by subjects; that Frenchmen were not to be treated as foreigners, being entitled to the same privileges with Scotsmen; and that she would neither disband her troops, nor command the town of Leith to be made open and patent. The lord Lyon then, in the name of the queen-regent, commanded the lords of the congregation to depart from Edinburgh, and disperse themselves, under the pain of high-treason. The Protestants, irritated by this answer, after some deliberation, degraded the queen-regent; and to this purpose the nobility, barons, and burgesses, all agreed in subscribing an edict, which was sent to the principal cities in Scotland, and published in them.

The next step taken by the congregation was to summon Leith to surrender; but meeting with defiance instead of submission, it was resolved to take the town by escalade. For this service ladders were framed in the church of St Giles; a business which, interrupting the preachers in the exercise of public worship, made them prognosticate misfortune and mischievous to the congregation. In the displeasure of the preachers, the common people found a source of complaint; and the emissaries of the queen-dowager acting with indefatigable industry to divide her adversaries, and to spread chagrin and dissatisfaction among them, discontent, animosity, and terror, came to prevail to a great degree. The duke of Chatellerault discouraged many by his example. Defections from the Protestants added strength to the queen-dowager. The most secret deliberations of the confederated lords were revealed to her. The soldiery were clamorous for pay; and it was very difficult to procure money to extinguish their claims. Attempts to soothe and appease them, discovering their consequence, engendered mutinies. They put to death a domestic of the earl of Argyle, who endeavoured to compose them to order; they insulted several persons of rank who discovered a solicitude to pacify them; and they even ventured to declare, that, for a proper reward, they were ready to suppress the reformation, and to re-establish the mass.

It was absolutely necessary to give satisfaction to the Protestant soldiery. The lords and gentlemen of the congregation collected a considerable sum among them; but it was not equal to the present exigency. Elizabeth's avarice of many taught them to withhold what they could afford, and the poverty of others did not permit them to indulge their generosity. It was resolved, that each nobleman should surrender his silver plate to be struck into money. By the address, however, of the queen-dowager, the officers of the mint were bribed to conceal, or to convey to a distance, the stamps and instruments of coinage. A gloomy despair gave disquiet to the congregation, and threatened their ruin. Queen Elizabeth, with whose ministers the confederated lords maintained a correspondence at this time, had frequently promised them her assistance; but they could not now wait the event of a deputation to the court of England. In an extremity so pressing, they therefore applied for a sum of money to Sir Ralph Sadler and Sir James Croft, the governors of Berwick; and Cockburn of Ormiston, who was entrusted with this commission, obtained from them an aid of 4000 crowns. Traitors, however, in English councils of the congregation, having informed the subsidy queen-dowager of his errand and expedition, the earl taken by Bothwell, by her order, intercepted him upon his return, discomfited his retinue, and made a prize of the English subsidy.

To rouse the spirit of the party, an attack was projected upon Leith, and some pieces of artillery were planted against it. But before any charge could be made, the French soldiers fell out to give battle to the troops of the congregation, possessed themselves of their cannon, and drove them back to Edinburgh. A defeated report that the victors had entered this city with the fugitives, filled it with disorder and dismay. The earl of Argyle and his Highlanders hastened to recover the honour of the day, and harrassed the French in their retreat. This petty conflict, while it elated the queen-dowager, served to augment the despondence of the Protestants.

Vain of their prowess, the French made a new sally from Leith, with a view to intercept a supply of provisions. Scotland visions and stores for the congregation. The earl of Arran and the lord James Stuart advanced to attack them, and obliged them to retire. But pursuing them with too much heat, a fresh body of French troops made its appearance. It was prudent to retreat, but difficult. An obstinate resistance was made. It was the object of the French to cut off the soldiers of the congregation from Edinburgh, and by this means to divide the strength of that station. The earl of Arran and the lord James Stuart had occasion for all their address and courage. Though they were able, however, to effect their escape, their loss was considerable, and the victory was manifestly on the side of their adversaries.

About this time William Maitland of Lethington, secretary to the queen-dowager, withdrew secretly from Leith, and joined himself to the confederated nobles. He had been disgusted with the jealousies of the French counsellors, and was exposed to danger from having embraced the doctrines of the reformed. His reception was cordial, and corresponded to the opinion entertained of his wisdom and experience. He was skilled in business, adorned with literature, and accustomed to reflection. But as yet it was not known, that his want of integrity was in proportion to the greatness of his talents.

The accession of this statesman to their party could not console the lords of the congregation for the unpromising aspect of their affairs. The two discomfitures they had received, sunk deeply into the minds of their followers. Those who affected prudence, retired privately from a cause which they accounted to be desperate; and the timorous fled with precipitation. The wailings and distress of the brethren were melancholy and infectious; and exciting the ridicule and scorn of the partisans of the queen-dowager, were thence augmented the more. A distress not to be comforted seemed to have invaded the Protestants; and the afflicted nobles consented to abandon the capital. A little after midnight, they retired from Edinburgh; and so great was the panic which prevailed, that they marched to Stirling without any stop or intermission.

John Knox, who had accompanied the congregation to Stirling, anxious to recover their unanimity and courage, addressed them from the pulpit. He represented their misfortunes as the consequences of their sins; and intreating them to remember the goodness of their cause, assured them in the end of joy, honour, and victory. His popular eloquence corresponding to all their warmest wishes, diffused satisfaction and cheerfulness. They passed from despair to hope. A council was held, in which the confederated nobles determined to solicit, by a formal embassy, the aid of queen Elizabeth. Maitland of Lethington, and Robert Melvil, were chosen to negotiate this important transaction; and they received the fullest instructions concerning the state and difficulties of the congregation, the tyrannical designs of the queen-dowager, and the danger which threatened England from the union of Scotland with France.

The queen of England having maturely considered the case, determined to assist the reformers; whose leaders now dispersed themselves, and went to different parts of the kingdom, in order to employ their activity there for the common cause. The queen-dowager, imagining that the lords were fled, conceived great hopes of being able to crush the reformed at once. Her sanguine hopes, however, were soon checked, on receiving certain intelligence that queen Elizabeth was resolved to give them assistance. She now took the best measures possible, as circumstances stood; and determined to crush her enemies before they could receive any assistance from England. Her French troops took the road to Stirling, and waited in their march troops all the grounds which belonged to the favourers of the reformation. After renewing their depredations at Stirling, they passed the bridge there; and proceeding along the side of the river, exercised their cruelties and oppressions in a district which had distinguished itself by an ardent zeal against popery. While the terror of their arms was thus diffusing itself, they resolved to seize the town and castle of St Andrew's, which they considered as an important military station; and as a convenient place of reception for the auxiliaries they expected from France.

But the lord James Stuart employed himself to interrupt their progress and retard their attempts; and it was his object at the same time to keep the force of the congregation entire, to hazard no action of importance, and to wait the approach of the English army. A small advantage was obtained by the French at Petticur; and they possessed themselves of Kinghorn. The lord James Stuart, with 500 horse and 100 foot, entered Dysart. With this inconsiderable strength he proposed to act against an army of 4000 men. His admirable skill in military affairs, and his heroic courage, were eminently displayed. During 20 days he prevented the march of the French to St Andrew's, intercepting their provisions, harassing them with skirmishes, and intimidating them by the address and the boldness of his stratagems.

Monteir d'Oyfel, enraged and ashamed to be disconcerted and opposed by a body of men so disproportionate to his army, exerted himself with vigour. The lord James Stuart was obliged to retire. Dysart and Wemyss were given to the French troops to be pillaged; and when d'Oyfel was in full march to St Andrew's, he discovered a powerful fleet bearing up the frith. It was concluded, that the supplies expected from France were arrived. Guns were fired by his soldiers, and their joy was indulged in all its extravagance. But this fleet having taken the vessels which contained their provisions, and the ordnance with which they intended to improve the fortifications of the castle at St Andrew's, a period was put to their rejoicings. Certain news was brought, that the fleet they observed was the navy of England, which had come to support the congregation. A consternation, deepened by the giddiness of their preceding transports, invaded them. Monteur d'Oyfel perceived now the value and merit of the service which had been performed by the general lord James Stuart; and thinking no more of St Andrew's conquest, fled to Stirling, in his way to Leith, from which he dreaded to be intercepted; but he reached that important station after a march of three days.

A formal treaty was now concluded between the lords of the Congregation and queen Elizabeth; and in between the mean time the queen-dowager was disappointed in her expectations from France. The violent administration of the Scots Protestant tenants. Scotland. Aration of the house of Guise had involved that nation in troubles and distress. Its credit was greatly diminished, and its treasury was nearly exhausted. Persecutions, and the spirit of Calvinism, produced commotions and conspiracies; and amidst domestic and dangerous intrigues and struggles, Scotland failed to engage that particular distinction which had been promised to its affairs. It was not, however, neglected altogether. The count De Martigues had arrived at Leith, with 1000 foot and a few horse. The marquis D'Elbeuf had embarked for it with another body of soldiers; but, after losing several ships in a furious tempest, was obliged to return to the haven from which he had sailed.

In this reverse of her fortunes, many forsook the queen-dowager. It was now understood that the English army was upon its march to Scotland. The Scottish lords who had affected a neutrality, meditated an union with the Protestants. The earl of Huntley gave a solemn assurance that he would join them. Proclamations were issued throughout the kingdom, calling upon the subjects of Scotland to assemble in arms at Linlithgow, to re-establish their ancient freedom, and to assist in the utter expulsion of the French soldiery.

The English fleet, meanwhile, under Winter the vice-admiral, had taken and destroyed several ships, had landed some troops upon Inchkeith, and discomfited a body of French mercenaries. Upon the foundation of these acts of hostility, the princes of Lorraine rained dispatches to the chevalier de Sevre to Queen Elizabeth, to make representations against this breach of the peace, and to urge the recall of her ships. This ambassador affected likewise to negotiate concerning the evacuation of Scotland by the French troops, and to propose methods by which the king of France might quarter the arms of England without doing a prejudice to Queen Elizabeth. But to prevent the execution of vigorous resolutions against the queen-dowager, and to gain time, were the only objects he had in view. With similar intentions, John Monuc bishop of Valence, a man of greater address and ability, and equally devoted to the house of Guise, was also sent at this time to the court of England. Queen Elizabeth, however, and her ministers, were too wise to be amused by artifice and dexterity. The lord Grey entered Scotland with an army of 1200 horse and 6000 foot; and there commanded under him the lord Scroop, Sir James Croft, Sir Henry Percy, and Sir Francis Lake. By an inclement policy, the queen-dowager had already wasted all the country around the capital. But the desolation she had made, while it was ruinous to the Scottish peasants, affected not the army of England. The leaders of the Congregation did not want penetration and foresight, and had provided themselves against this difficulty. The duke of Chatellerault, the earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Menteith, the lord James Stuart, and the lords Ruthven, Boyd, and Ochiltree, with a numerous and formidable force, joined the English commander at Preston.

Struck with the sad condition of her affairs, despairing of a timely and proper succour from France, and reminded by sickness of her mortality, the queen-dowager retired from Leith to the castle of Edinburgh, and put herself under the protection of the lord Erskine. At the period when she was appointed to the regency, the lord Erskine had received from the three estates the charge of this important fortress, with the injunction to hold it till he should know their farther orders; and giving way to the solicitations of neither faction, he had kept it with fidelity. By admitting the queen-dowager, he yielded to sentiments of honour and humanity, and did not mean to depart from his duty. A few only of her domestics accompanied her, with the archbishop of St Andrews, the bishop of Dunkeld, and the earl Marischal.

The confederated nobles now assembled at Dalkeith to hold a council; and conforming to those maxims in vogue among the Protestants, they invited her to an accommodation of the present troubles. In a letter which they wrote to her, they called to her remembrance the frequent manifestos and messages in which they had pressed her to dismiss the French soldiery, who had long oppressed the lower ranks of the people, and who threatened to reduce the kingdom itself to servitude. The aversion, however, with which she had constantly received their suit and prayers, was so great, that they had given way to a strong necessity, and had intreated the assistance of the queen of England to expel these strangers by the force of arms. But though they had obtained the powerful protection of this princess, they were yet animated with a becoming respect for the mother of their sovereign; and, abhorring to stain the ground with Christian blood, were disposed once more to solicit the dismissal of these mercenaries, with their officers and captains. And that no just objection might remain against the grant of this their last request, they assured her, that a safe passage by land, to the ports of England, should be allowed to the French; or that, if they judged it more agreeable, the navy of queen Elizabeth should transport them to their own country. If these proposals should be rejected, they appealed and protested to God and to mankind, that it should be understood and believed, that no motive of malice, or hatred, or wickedness of any kind, had induced them to employ the fatal expedient of arms and battles; but that they had been compelled to this disagreeable and distressful remedy, for the preservation of their commonwealth, their religion, their persons, their estates, and their posterity. They begged her to weigh the equity of their petition, to consider the inconveniences of war, and to think of the rest and quiet which were necessary to relieve the afflictions of her daughter's kingdom; and they besought her to embalm her own memory, by an immortal deed of wisdom, humanity, and justice.

To give authority and weight to the letter of the associated lords, the lord Grey directed Sir George Howard and Sir James Croft to wait upon the queen-dowager, and to stipulate the peaceable departure of the English troops, upon the condition that the French mercenaries were immediately dismissed from her service, and prohibited from residing in Scotland. Returning no direct answer to the applications made to her, she delayed time to deliberate upon the revolution which it became her to adopt. This equivocal behaviour corresponded with the spirit of intrigue which... which had uniformly distinguished the queen-dowager; and it is probable, that her engagements with France did not permit her to be open and explicit.

The combined armies marched towards Leith. A body of the French, posted upon a rising ground called the Hawk-bill, disputed their progress. During five hours the conflict was maintained with obstinate valour. At length the Scottish horsemen charged the French with a fury which they were unable to resist. They fled to Leith with precipitation; and might have been cut off from it altogether, if the English cavalry had exerted themselves. Three hundred of the French soldiers perished in this action, and a few combatants only fell on the side of the Congregation.

Leith was invested. The pavilions and tents of the English and Scottish nobility were planted at Restalrig, and around it. Trenches were cast; and the ordnance from the town annoying the combined armies, a mount was raised, upon which eight cannons were erected. A continued fire from these, against St Anthony's tower in South Leith, being kept up and managed with skill, the walls of this fabric were shaken, and the French found it necessary to dismount their artillery. Negligent from security, and apprehensive of no attack, the English and Scottish officers occupied themselves in amusements, and permitted a relaxation of military discipline. The French, informed of this supineness and levity, made a fall from Leith. While some of the captains were diverting themselves at Edinburgh, and the soldiery were engaged at dice and cards, they entered the trenches unobserved, and, pushing their advantages, put 600 men to the sword. After this slaughter, the Protestants were more attentive to their affairs. Mounts were built at proper distances, which, being fortified with ordinance, served as places of retreat and defence in the event of sudden incursions; and thus they continued the blockade in a more effectual manner.

The army under the marquis D'Elbeuf, promised so often to the queen-regent, was in vain expected by her; but she received, at this time, supplies in money and military stores; and Monluc bishop of Valence, though defeated in dexterity by Elizabeth and her millers, had arrived in Scotland to try anew the arts of delay and negotiation. Conferences were held by him with the queen-dowager, with the English commanders, and with the confederated nobles; but no contract or agreement could be concluded. His credentials neither extended to the demolition of Leith, nor to the recall of the French mercenaries; and tho' he obtained powers from his court to consent to the former of these measures, they were yet burdened with conditions which were disgraceful to the Congregation; who, in the present prosperous state of their fortunes, were not disposed to give up any of the objects for which they had struggled so long, and to the attainment of which they now looked forward with a settled hope and expectation.

Though the grave and measured orations of Monluc could not overpower the plain and stubborn sense of the Congregation, yet as he affected to give them admonitions and warnings, and even ventured to insult them with menaces, they appear to have conceived a high indignation against him. Under this impulse, and that in so advanced a stage of their affairs they might exhibit the determined firmness of their resolutions, and bind to them by an indissoluble tie the earl of Huntley and the other persons who had joined them in consequence of the English alliance, they thought of the assurance and stability of a new league and cove. The fourth nant, more solemn, expressive, and resolute, than any covenant, which they had yet entered into and subscribed.

The nobles, barons, and inferior persons, who were parties to this bond and association, bound themselves in the presence of Almighty God, as a society, and as individuals, to advance and set forward the reformation of religion, and to procure, by every possible means, the true preaching of the gospel, with the proper administration of the sacraments, and the other ordinances in connection with it. Deeply affected, at the same time, with the misconduct of the French statesmen, who had been promoted to high offices; with the oppressions of the French mercenaries, whom the queen-dowager kept up and maintained under the colour of authority; with the tyranny of their captains; and with the manifest danger of conquest to which the country was exposed, by different fortifications upon the sea-coast, and by other dangerous innovations; they promised and engaged, generally and individually, to join with the queen of England's army, and to concur in an honest, plain, and unreveled resolution to expel all foreigners from the realm, as oppressors of public liberty; that, by recovering the ancient rights, privileges, and freedom of their nation, they might live for the future under the due obedience of their king and queen, be ruled by the laws and customs of the country, and by officers and statesmen born and educated among them. It was likewise contracted and agreed by the subscribers to this bond and covenant, that no private intelligence by writing or message, or communication of any kind, should be kept up with their adversaries; and that all persons who refused the godly enterprise in which they were united, should be regarded as their enemies, and reduced to subjection and obedience.

When the strong and fervid sentiment and expression of this new association were communicated to the queen-dowager, she resigned herself to sorrow, gives herself up to despair. Her mind, inclined to despondency by the increase of her malady, felt the more intensely the cruel distractions and disquiets into which the kingdom had been driven by the ambition of France, her own doating affection for the princes of Lorraine, and the vain prognostications of flatterers and courtiers. In the agony of passion, she besought the malediction and curse of God to alight upon all those who had counselled her to persecute the preachers, and to refuse the petitions of the most honourable portion of her subjects.

In the mean time, the siege of Leith was prosecuted. But, the strength of the garrison amounting to more than 4000 soldiers, the operations of the besiegers were slow and languid. An accidental fire in the town, which destroyed many houses and a great part of the public granary, afforded them an opportunity of playing their artillery with some advantage; and a few days after they made a general assault. But the tenants scaling-ladders which were applied to the walls became too short, and Sir James Croft, who had been gained to the queen-dowager, having acted a treacherous attack on Leith, Scotland. cherous part, the attempt failed of success, and 1000 men were destroyed. The combined armies, however, did not lose their resolution or their hopes. The English and Scots animated the constancy of one another; and in the ratification of the treaty of Berwick, which was now made, a new source of cordiality opened itself. Letters also had come from the duke of Norfolk, promising a powerful reinforcement, giving the expectation of his taking upon him the command of the troops in person, and ordering his pavilion to be erected in the camp. Leith began to feel the misery of famine, and the French to give themselves to despair. The besiegers abounded in every thing; and the arrival of 2000 men, the expected reinforcement from England, gave them the most decisive superiority over their adversaries. Frequent sallies were made by the garrison, and they were always unsuccessful. Discouraged by defeats, deprived with the want of provisions, and languishing under the negligence of France, they were ready to submit themselves to the mercy of the Congregation.

Amidst this distress the queen-dowager, wasted with a lingering distemper and with grief, expired in the castle of Edinburgh. A few days before her death, she invited to her the duke of Chatellerault, the lord James Stuart, and the earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Marshal, to bid them a last adieu. She expressed to them her sorrow for the troubles of Scotland; and made it her earnest suit, that they would consult their constitutional liberties, by dismissing the French and English from their country; and that they would preserve a dutiful obedience to the queen their sovereign. She professed an unlimited forgiveness of all the injuries which had been done to her; and entreated their pardon for the offences she had committed against them. In token of her kindness and charity, she then embraced them by turns; and, while the tear started in her eye, presented to them a cheerful and smiling aspect. After this interview, the short portion of life which remained to her was dedicated to religion; and that she might allure the Congregation to be compassionate to her Popish subjects and her French adherents, she flattered them, by calling John Willocks, one of the most popular of their preachers, to assist and comfort her by his exhortations and prayers. He made long discourses to her about the abominations of the mass; but she appears to have died in the communion of the Romish church; and her body being transported to France, was deposited in the monastery of St Peter, at Rheims, in Champagne, where her sister Renée was an abbess.

The death of the queen-dowager, at a period so critical, broke altogether the spirit of the French troops. They were blocked up so completely, that it was almost impossible for any supplies to reach them either by sea or land; and France had delayed so long to fulfil its magnificent promises, that it was no longer in a capacity to take any steps towards their accomplishment. Its internal distresses and difficulties were multiplying. The nobility, impoverished by wars, were courting the rewards of service, and struggling in hostility. The clergy were avaricious, ignorant, and vindictive. The populace, knowing no trade but arms, offered their swords to the factious. Francis II., the husband of Mary, was without dignity or standing. Catharine de Medicis his mother was full of artifice and falsehood. Insurrections were dreaded in every province. The house of Guise was encompassed with difficulties, and trembling with apprehensions, so that they could not think of profiting in their views of distant conquests. It was necessary that they should abandon for a time all the proud projects they had formed for the extension of the French monarchy. It was chiefly in the exemption from foreign wars that they could hope to support their own greatness, and apply a remedy to the domestic disturbances of France.

It appeared to Francis and Mary, that they could not treat in a direct method with the Congregation, into whom they affected to consider as rebellious subjects, negociation without derogating from their royal dignity. In negociating a peace, they therefore addressed themselves to both queen Elizabeth. It was by her offices and interference that they projected a reconciliation with the confederated lords, and that they meant to extinguish the animosities which, with so much violence, had agitated the Scottish nation. They granted their commission to John Monluc bishop of Valence, Nicholas Pelleve bishop of Amiens, Jacques de la Brosse, Henry Clentin sieur d'Oyfet, and Charles de la Rochefaucoult sieur de Randan; authorising them in a body, or by two of their number, to enter into accords and agreements with the queen of England. The English commissioners were Sir William Cecil principal secretary of state, Nicolas Wotton dean of Canterbury and York, Sir Ralph Sadler, Sir Henry Percy, and Sir Peter Crew; and the powers of treaty were to be exercised by them all in conjunction, or by four, three, or two of them.

The plenipotentiaries of France, though empowered only to treat with England, were yet, by a separate commission, entrusted to assure the Congregation, that notwithstanding the heinous guilt incurred by them, Francis and Mary were inclined to receive them into favour, upon their repentance and return to obedience; and to abstain for ever from all inquiry into their conduct. They had full authority, at the same time, by this new deed, to hear, in conjunction with the commissioners of Elizabeth, the complaints of the Congregation, and to grant, with their consent, the relief which appeared to them to be the most proper and salutary.

The nobility and people of Scotland, choosing for their representatives the lord James Stuart, the lord Ruthven, and Maitland of Lethington, expressed their willingness to concur in reasonable measures for the re-establishment of the public union and tranquillity. By the mode of a formal petition, they enumerated their grievances, laid claim to a redress of them, and be-fought a uniform protection to their constitution and laws. To this petition the intercession of queen Elizabeth effected the friendly attention of Francis and Mary; and upon a foundation concerted with so much propriety, Monluc and Randan, Cecil and Wotton, the acting plenipotentiaries of England and France, drew up and authenticated the celebrated deed of relief and concession which does so much honour to the spirit, prudence, and magnanimity of the Scottish nation.

By this accord and agreement, Francis and Mary stipulated Scotland stipulated and consented, that no French soldiers and no foreign troops should be ever introduced into Scotland without the counsel and advice of the three estates. They concurred in the opinion, that the French mercenaries should be sent back into France, and that the fortifications of Leith should be demolished. They agreed that commissioners should be applied to visit Denbar, and to point out the works there which ought to be destroyed; and they bound and engaged themselves to build no new fortress or place of strength within the kingdom, and to repair no old one, without a parliamentary authority and sanction. They consented to extinguish all debts which had been contracted for the maintenance of the French and Scotch soldiery in their service. They appointed the estates of the realm to hold a parliament for the discussion of affairs of state; and they obliged themselves to consider the acts of this assembly as valid and effectual in every respect. They confirmed the ancient law of the country, which prohibited the princes of Scotland from making peace and war without the advice of the three estates. It was accorded and agreed by them, that the three estates, in concurrence with the queen, should elect a council for the administration of affairs during her majesty's absence. They became bound to employ the natives of Scotland in the management of justice both civil and criminal, in the offices of chancellor, keeper of the seals, treasurer, comptroller, and in other stations of a similar nature; and to abstain from the promotion of all foreigners to places of trust and honour, and from investing any clergyman in the charge of affairs of the revenue. They determined to establish an act of oblivion, and to forget and bury forever the memory of all the late transactions of war and offence. It was concluded by them, that a general peace and reconciliation should take place among all parties. They expressed their determination, that no pretence should be assumed by them, from the late contentions, to deprive any of their subjects of their estates or offices. And they referred the reparation which might be proper to compensate the injuries that had been sustained by bishops and ecclesiastics, to the judgment of the three estates in parliament.

Upon the subject of the reformation, the plenipotentiaries of England and France did not choose to deliberate and decide, although articles with regard to it had been presented to them by the nobles and the people. They referred this delicate topic to the ensuing meeting of the parliament; and the leaders of the congregation engaged, that deputies from the three estates should repair to the king and queen, to know their intention concerning matters of such high importance.

After having granted these concessions to the nobility and the people of Scotland, upon the part of their respective courts, Monbuc and Randan, Cecil and Wotton, concluded another deed of treaty and agreement. By this convention it was determined, that the English and French troops should depart out of Scotland; that all warlike preparations should cease; that the fort of Aymouth should be raised to the ground, in terms of the treaty of Cambrai; that Francis and Mary should abstain from bearing the title and arms of England or Ireland; that it should be considered, whether a farther compensation should be made to Elizabeth for the injuries committed against her; and that the king and queen of Scots should be fully and sincerely reconciled to the nobility and the people of their kingdom. The interests of England and France were the particular objects of this agreement. But though the concessions to the Protestants were not inserted in it at full length, an expressive reference was made to them; and they received a confirmation in terms which could not be misunderstood or controverted. This deed recorded the clemency of Francis and Mary to their subjects of Scotland, the extreme willingness of the nobility and the people to return to their duty and allegiance, the representation they had offered of their grievances, and the request of queen Elizabeth that redress should be afforded to them; and it appealed to the consequent concessions which had been stipulated to their advantage.

By these important negotiations, the Protestants, while they humbled France, flattered queen Elizabeth; and while they acquired a power to act in the establishment of the reformation, restored its civil constitution to Scotland. The exclusion of foreigners from offices of state, the limitation of the Scottish princes with regard to peace and war, the advancement of the three estates to their ancient consequence, and the act of oblivion of all offences, were acquisitions most extensively great and useful; and, while they operated the fullest security to the reformed, gratified all their happiest and most sanguine expectations.

The peace, so fortunately concluded, was immediately proclaimed. The French mercenaries embarked for their own country, and the English army took the road to Berwick. Amidst events so joyful, the preachers exhorted the confederated nobles to command the solemnity of a thanksgiving. It was ordered accordingly; and after its celebration, the commissioners of the boroughs, with several of the nobility, and the tenants in capite, were appointed to choose and depute ministers to preach the gospel in the principal towns throughout the kingdom. John Knox was called to discharge the pastoral functions at Edinburgh, Christopher Goodman at St Andrews, Adam Heriot at Aberdeen, John Row at Perth, Paul Methven at Jedburgh, William Christie at Dundee, David Ferguson at Dunfermline, and David Lindley at Leith. That the business of the church, at the same time, might be managed with propriety, superintendents were elected to preside over the ecclesiastical affairs of particular provinces and districts. Mr John Spottwood was named the superintendent for the division of Lothian, Mr John Willocks for that of Glasgow, Mr John Winram for that of Fife, Mr John Erskine of Dun for that of Angus and Merns, and Mr John Cartwell for that of Argyle and the Isles. This inconsiderable number of ministers and superintendents gave a beginning to the reformed church of Scotland.

Amidst the triumph and exultation of the Protestants, the meeting of the parliament approached. All persons who had a title from law, or from ancient custom, to attend the great council of the nation, were called to assemble there. While there was a full convention of the greater barons and the prelates, the inferior tenants in capite, or the lesser barons, upon an occasion so great, instead of appearing by representation, tion, came in crowds to give personally their assistance and vote; and all the commissioners for the boroughs, without exception, presented themselves.

It was objected to this parliament when it was assembled, that it could not be valid, since Francis and Mary were not present, and had not empowered any person to represent them. But by the terms of the late concessions to the nobility and the people, they had in effect dispensed with this formality; and the objection, after having been agitated with heat for some days, was rejected by a majority of voices. The lords of the articles were then chosen; and as the Protestant party were superior to the Popish faction, they were careful, in electing the members of this committee, to favour all those who were disposed to forward the work of the reformation. The first object which the lords of the articles held out to the parliament, was the supplication of the nobility, gentry, and all the other persons who professed the new doctrines. It required, that the Romish church should be condemned and abolished. It reproved the tenet of transubstantiation, the merit of works, papistical indulgences, purgatory, pilgrimages, and prayers to departed saints; and considering them as perilous errors, and as fatal to salvation, it demanded, that all those who should teach and maintain them, should be exposed to correction and punishment. It demanded, that a remedy should be applied against the profanation of the holy sacraments by the Roman Catholics, and that the ancient discipline of the church should be restored. In fine, it intimated, that the supremacy and authority of the pope should be abolished; and that the patrimony of the church should be employed in supporting the reformed ministry, in the provision of schools, and in the maintenance of the poor.

This supplication of the Protestants was received in parliament with marks of the greatest deference and respect. The popish doctrines it censured, and the strong language it employed, excited no dispute or altercation. The nobility, however, and the lay members, did not think it expedient that the patrimony of the church, in all its extent, should be allotted to the reformed ministry, and the support of schools and the poor. Avoiding, therefore, any explicit scrutiny into this point, the parliament gave it in charge to the ministers and the leading men of the reformation, to draw up, under distinct heads, the substance and sense of those doctrines which ought to be established over the kingdom. Within four days this important business was accomplished. The writing or instrument to which the reformed committed their opinions was termed, "The Confession of Faith, professed and believed by the Protestants within the realm of Scotland (A)." It was read first to the lords of the articles. It was then read to the parliament; and the prelates of the Romish church were commanded, in the name of God, to make publicly their objections to the doctrines it proposed. They preserved a profound silence. A new diet was appointed for concluding the transaction. The articles of the confession were again read over in their order, and the votes of the parliament were called. Of the temporal nobility, three only refused to bellow upon it their authority. The earl of Athol, and the lords Somerville and Bothwel, protested, that "they would believe as their fathers had done before them." The bishops and the estate ecclesiastical, from a consciousness of the weakness of popery, seemed to have lost all power of speech. No dissent, no vote, was given by them. "It is long," said the earl Marischal, "since I entertained a jealousy of the Romish faith, and an affection to the reformed doctrines. But this day has afforded me the completest conviction of the falsehood of the one, and the truth of the other. The bishops, who do not conceive themselves to be deficient in learning, and whose zeal for the maintenance of the hierarchy cannot be doubted, have abandoned their religion, and their interest in it, as objects which admit of no defence or justification."

All the other constituent members of this great council were zealous for the establishment of the reformation, and affirmed the propriety of its doctrines. Thus the high court of parliament, with great deliberation and solemnity, examined, voted, and ratified the confession of the reformed faith.

A few days after the establishment of the Confession Abolition of Faith, the parliament passed an act against the mass of the multitude, and the exercise of the Romish worship. And it provided not to ordain, that all persons saying or hearing mass should, for the first offence, be exposed to the confiscation of their estates, and to a corporal chastisement, at the discretion of the magistrate; that for the second offence, they should be banished out of the kingdom; and that for the third offence they should incur and suffer the pains of death. This ferocity, it is to be acknowledged, did not suit the generosity of the Protestants; and while an excuse is sought for it in the perfidiousness of the Romish priesthood, it escapes not the observation of the most superficial historians, that these severities were exactly those of which the Protestants had complained so loudly, and with so much justice. By another ordinance, the parliament, after having declared, that the pope, or bishop of Rome, had inflicted a deep wound and a humiliating injury upon the sovereignty and government of Scotland, by his frequent interferences and claims of power, commanded and decreed, that, for the future, his jurisdiction and authority should be dead and extinct; and that all persons maintaining the smallest connection with him, or with his feet, should be liable to the loss of honour and offices, proscription and banishment.

These memorable and decisive statutes achieved the overthrow of the Romish religion. To obtain to these proceedings, and to its other ordinances, the approbation of Francis and Mary, was an object of the greatest anxiety, and of infinite moment to the three estates. Sir James Sandilands lord St John, was therefore appointed to go to France, and to express to the king and queen the affection and allegiance of their subjects, to explain what had been done in consequence of the late concessions and treaty, and to solicit their royal ratification of the transactions of the parliament. The spirited behaviour of the congregation had, however, exceeded all the expectations of the princes of Lorraine; and the business of the embassy, and the ambassador himself, though a man of character and probity, were treated not only with ridicule, but with infill

(A) It is given at full length in Knox, in the collection of confessions of faith, vol. 2, and in the statute book, parl. 1567. Scotland, insult and contumely. He returned accordingly without any answer to his commission. Instead of submitting the heads and topics of a reformation to Francis and Mary, by a petition or a narrative, the parliament had voted them into laws; and from this informality the validity of its proceedings has been suspected. But it is observable of the Protestants, that they had not concealed their views with regard to religion and the abolition of Popery; that in the grant of redress and concession, and in the deed of treaty, no actual prohibition was made to bar the establishment of the reformation; that a general authority was given to the parliament to decide in affairs of state; and that Francis and Mary were solemnly bound to authenticate its transactions. Though a formality was invaded, the spirit of the treaties was yet respected and maintained. The nation, of consequence, imputed the conduct of Francis and Mary to political reasons suggested by the princes of Lorraine, and to the artifices of the popish clergy; and as Elizabeth did not refuse, upon her part, the ratification of the agreements, and solicited and pressed the French court in vain to adopt the same measure, a strength and force were thence communicated to this conclusion.

When the three estates dispatched Sir James Sandilands to France, they instructed the earls of Morton and Glencairn, with Maitland of Lethington, to repair to the court of England. By these ambassadors they presented to Elizabeth their sincere and respectful thanks, for the attention shown by her to Scotland, in her late most important services. And while they solicited the continuance of her favour and protection, intreated, in an earnest manner, that her majesty, for the establishment of a perpetual peace and amity, would be pleased to take in marriage the earl of Arran, the next heir after his father to the Scottish monarchy. The queen made new and fervent professions of her regard and attachment; and gave the promise of her warmest aid when it should be necessary, in their just defence, upon any future occasion. She spoke in obliging terms of the earl of Arran; but as she found in herself no present disposition to marriage, she desired he might consult his happiness in another alliance. She expressed a favourable opinion of the Scottish nobility; and as a demonstration of her affection and esteem, she took the liberty to remind them of the practices which had been employed to overturn their independency, and begged them to consider the unanimity and concord of their order as a necessary guard against the ambition and the artifice of the enemies of their nation.

The success of the Congregation, though great and illustrious, was not yet completely decisive. The refusal of Francis and Mary to ratify their proceedings, opened up a source of bitterness and inquietude. The Popish party, though humbled, was not annihilated. Under the royal protection it would soon be formidable. Political considerations might arise, not only to cool the amity of England, but even to provoke its resentment. And France, though it could now transport no army against Scotland, might soon be able to adopt that expedient. Cruel dilatations and severe calamities were still to be dreaded. In the narrowness of their own resources they could find no solid and permanent security against the rage and weight of domestic faction, and the strenuous exertions of an extensive kingdom. All their fair achievements might be blasted and overthrown. Popery might again build up her towers, and a sanguinary domination destroy alike their religious and civil liberties.

While the anguish of melancholy apprehensions repressed the triumph of the congregation, the event which could operate most to their interests was announced to them. This event was the death of Francis II. The tie which knit Scotland to France was thus broken. A new scene of politics displays itself. Catharine de Medicis, the queen-mother, ruled Charles IX., and was the personal enemy of the queen of Scots. The power and the credit which Mary had lent to her uncles, and the frequent and humiliating disappointments which the queen-mother had suffered from her influence over Francis, were now repaid with a studied indifference and neglect. In the full perfection of her charms, with two crowns upon her head, and looking towards a third, she felt herself to be without grandeur and without consequence. Leaving a court where she had experienced all the enjoyments of which humanity is susceptible, she retired to Rheims to indulge her sorrow.

In the humiliation of their queen, and in the change produced in the councils of France, the Protestants found every possible encouragement to proceed with vigour in the full establishment of the reformed doctrines. After the dissolving of the parliament, they turned their thoughts and attention to the plan of policy which might suit best the tenets and religion for which they had contended. The three estates, amidst their other transactions, had granted a commission to Mr John Winram, Mr John Spotifwood, John Willocks, Mr John Douglas, Mr John Row, and John Knox, to frame and model a scheme or platform of ecclesiastical government. They were not long in complying with an order so agreeable to them, and composed what is termed the First Book of Discipline; in which they explained the uniformity and method which ought to be preserved concerning doctrine, the administration of the sacraments, the election and provision of ministers, and the policy of the church.

A convention of the estates gave its sanction to the Presbyterian scheme of government. But while the Book of Discipline sketched out a policy beautiful for its simplicity, yet it required that the patrimony, and the rich possessions of the ancient church, should be allotted to the new establishment. The reformers, however, so successful in the doctrines and the policy they had proposed, were here very unfortunate. This reformed church did not pay a more respectful regard to this proposal than the celebrated parliament had done, which demolished the mass and the jurisdiction of the see of Rome. They affected to consider it as no better than a dream. The expression "a devout imagination" was applied to it in mockery; and it was not till after long and painful struggles, that the new establishment was able to procure to itself a becoming and necessary provision and support. The Romish clergy were strenuous to continue in their possessions, and to profit by them; and the nobles and Scotland, the laity having seized upon great proportions of the property of the church, were no less anxious to retain the acquisitions they had made.

The aversion entertained from bestowing riches upon the Presbyterian establishment, encouraged the ardour which prevailed for advancing all the other views and interests of the reformed. And this end was also promoted in no inconsiderable degree by the insidious policy of Catharine de Medicis. She was willing to increase and to foster all the difficulties and dangers in the situation of the queen of Scots and her subjects. Upon this account she had engaged Charles IX. to dispatch Monsieur Noailles to the Scotch parliament, to urge it in strong terms to renew the ancient league between the two kingdoms, to dissolve the alliance with England, and to re-establish over Scotland the Popish doctrines and the Popish clergy. A new meeting of the estates was assembled, which considered these strange requisitions, and treated them with the indignation they merited. Monsieur Noailles was instructed to inform his sovereign, that France having acted with cruelty and perfidiousness towards the Scots, by attacking their independency and liberties under the cover and pretence of amity and marriage, did not deserve to know them any longer as an ally; that principles of justice, a love of probity, and a high sense of gratitude, did not permit the Scottish parliament to break the confederacy with England, which had generously protected their country against the tyrannical views of the French court, and the treacherous machinations of the house of Guise; and that they were never to acknowledge the Popish clergy to be an order of men, or the legal possessors of the patrimony of the church; since, having abolished the power of the pope, and renounced his doctrines, they could bestow no favour or countenance upon his vassals and servants.

To this council of the estates a new supplication was presented by the Protestants. They departed from the high claim which they had made for the riches and patrimony of the Popish church; and it was only requested by them, that a reasonable or decent provision should be allotted to the true preachers of the gospel. This application, however, no less than their former exorbitant demand, was treated with neglect and indifference. But amidst the anxiety manifested by the nobles and the tenants of the crown to hold the Presbyterian clergy in subjection and in poverty, they discovered the warmest zeal for the extension and continuance of the reformed opinions. For in this supplication of the Protestants, an ardent desire being intimated and urged, that all the monuments of idolatry which remained should be utterly destroyed, the fullest and most unbounded approbation was given to it. An act accordingly was passed, which commanded that every abbey-church, every cloister, and every memorial whatsoever of Popery, should be finally overthrown and demolished; and the care of this cruel, but popular employment, was committed to those persons who were most remarkable for their keenness and ardour in the work of the reformation. Its execution in the western counties was given in charge to the earls of Arran, Argyle, and Glencairn; the lord James Stuart attended to it in the more northern districts; and in the inland divisions of the country, it was intrusted to the barons in whom the Congregation had the greatest confidence. A dreadful devastation ensued. The populace, armed with authority, spread their ravages over the kingdom. It was deemed an execrable lenity to spare any fabric or place where idolatry had been exercised. The churches and religious houses were everywhere defaced, or pulled to the ground; and their furniture, utensils, and decorations, became the prizes and the property of the invader. Even the sepulchres of the dead were ransacked and violated. The libraries of the ecclesiastics, and the registers kept by them of their own transactions and of civil affairs, were gathered into heaps, and committed to the flames. Religious antipathy, the sanction of law, the exhortation of the clergy, the hope of spoil, and, above all, the ardour to put the last hand to the reformation, concurred to drive the rage of the people to its wildest fury; and, in the midst of havoc and calamity, the new establishment surveyed its importance and its power.

The death of Francis II., having left his queen Mary in a very disagreeable situation while she remained in France, it now became necessary for her to think on returning to her own country. To this she was forcibly cited both by the Protestants and Papists; the former that they might gain her over to their party; and the latter, hoping that, as Mary was of their own persuasion, Popery might once more be established in Scotland. For this deputation, the Protestants chose lord James Stuart, natural brother to the queen; and the Papists, John Leslie, official and vicar-general of the diocese of Aberdeen. The latter got the start of the Protestant ambassador, and thus had the opportunity of first delivering his message. He advised her strongly to beware of the lord James Stuart, whom he represented as a man of unbounded ambition, who had espoused the Protestant cause for no other reason than that he might advance himself to the highest employments in the state; nay, that he had already fixed his mind on the crown itself. For these reasons he advised that the lord James Stuart should be confined in France till the government of Scotland could be completely established. But if the queen was adverse to this measure, he advised her to land in some of the northern districts of Scotland, where her friends were most numerous; in which case an army of 20,000 men would accompany her to Edinburgh, to restore the Popish religion, and to overcome her enemies. The next day the lord James Stuart waited upon her, and gave an advice very different from that of Leslie. The surest method of preventing insurrections, he said, was the establishment of the Protestant religion; that a standing army and foreign troops would certainly lose the affections of her subjects; for which reason he advised her to visit Scotland without guards and without soldiers, and he became solemnly bound to secure their obedience to her. To this advice Mary listened with attention; and lord James, perceiving that she was prejudiced in his favour, took care to improve the favourable opportunity; by which means he obtained a promise of the earldom of Marre.

Before Mary set out from France, she received an embassy from queen Elizabeth, pressing her to ratify the treaty of Edinburgh, in which she had taken care to get a clause inserted, that Francis and Mary should forever abstain from assuming the title and arms of England and Ireland. But this was declined by the queen of Scotland; and her refusal greatly augmented the jealousies which already existed between her and Elizabeth, inasmuch that the latter refused her a safe passage through her dominions into Scotland. This was considered by Mary as a very high indignity; she returned a very spirited answer, informing her rival, that she could return to her own dominions without any assistance from her, or indeed whether she would or not. In the month of August 1561, Mary set sail from Calais for Scotland. She left France with much regret; and at night ordered her couch to be brought upon deck, desiring the pilot to awaken her in the morning; if the coast of France should be in view. The night proved calm, so that the queen had an opportunity once more of indulging herself with a flight of that beloved country. A favourable wind Mary lands now sprung up, and a thick fog coming on, she escaped a squadron of men of war which Elizabeth had sent out to intercept her; and on the 20th of the month she landed safely at Leith.

But though the Scots received their queen with the greatest demonstrations of joy, it was not long before an irreconcilable quarrel began to take place. The Protestant religion was now established all over the kingdom; and its professors had so far deviated from their own principles, or what ought to have been their principles, that they would grant no toleration to the opposite party, not even to the sovereign herself. In consequence of this, when the queen attempted to celebrate mass in her own chapel of Holyroodhouse, a violent mob assembled, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the lord James Stuart and some other persons of high distinction could appease the tumult. Mary attempted to allay these fermentations by a proclamation, in which she promised to take the advice of the states in religious matters; and in the mean time declared it to be death for any person to attempt an innovation or alteration of the religion which she found generally established upon her arrival in Scotland. Against this proclamation the earl of Arran protested, and formally told the herald, the queen's proclamation should not protect her attendants and servants if they presumed to commit idolatry and to say mass. John Knox declared from the pulpit, that one mass was more terrible to him than if 10,000 armed enemies had landed in any part of the kingdom to re-establish Popery. The preachers everywhere declaimed against idolatry and the mass; keeping up, by their mistaken zeal, a spirit of discontent and sedition throughout the whole kingdom. John Knox was called before the queen to answer for the freedom of his speeches; but his unbounded boldness when there gave Mary much disquiet, as not knowing in what manner to deal with him. The freedoms, however, which were taken with the queen, could not induce her to depart from that plan of government which she had laid down in France. To the Protestants she resolved to pay the greatest attention; from among them she chose her privy-council, and heaped favours upon the lord James Stuart, who for his activity in promoting the reformation was the most popular man in the kingdom; while to her courtiers of the Roman Catholic persuasion she behaved with a distant formality.

In the mean time the difference between the two rival queens became every day greater. The queen of Scotland pressed Elizabeth to declare her nearest heir to the crown of England, and Elizabeth pressed Mary to confirm the treaty of Edinburgh. With this the latter could not comply, as it would in fact have been renouncing for ever the title to that crown for which she was so earnestly contending. Endless negotiations were the consequence, and the hatred of Elizabeth to Mary continually increased. This year the queen of Scotland amused herself by making a circuit through part of her dominions. From Edinburgh she proceeded to Stirling; from thence to Perth, Dundee, and St Andrew's. Though received everywhere with the greatest acclamations and marks of affection, she could not but remark the rooted aversion which had universally taken place against Popery; and upon her return to Edinburgh, her attention was called to an exertion of this zeal, which may be considered as highly characteristic of the times. The magistrates of this city, after their election, enacted rules according to custom, for the government of their borough. By one of these acts, which they published by proclamation, they commanded all monks, friars, and priests, together with all adulterers and fornicators, to depart from the town and its limits within 24 hours, under the pains of correction and punishment. Mary, justly interpreting this exertion of power to be an usurpation of the royal authority and a violation of order, displaced the magistrates, commanded the citizens to elect others in their room, and granted by proclamation a plenary indulgence to all her subjects not convicted of any crime, to repair to and remain in her capital at their pleasure.

Besides these disturbances on account of religion, the kingdom was now in confusion on another account. The long continuance of civil wars had left a proneness to tumults and insurrections every where; and thefts, rapine, and licentiousness of every kind, threatened to subvert the foundations of civil society. Mary made considerable preparations for the suppression of these disorders, and appointed the lord James Stuart her chief justiciar and lieutenant. He was to hold two criminal courts, the one at Jedburgh and the other at Dumfries. To assist his operations against the banditti, who were armed, and often associated into bodies, a military force was necessary; but as there were at present neither flanking army nor regular troops in the kingdom, the county of Edinburgh, and ten others, were commanded to have their strength in readiness to assist him. The feudal tenants, and the allodial or free proprietors of these districts, in complete armour, and with provisions for 20 days, were appointed to be subservient to the purposes of his commission, and to obey his orders in establishing the public tranquillity. In this expedition he was attended with his usual success. He destroyed many of the strong-holds of the banditti; hanged 20 of the most notorious offenders; and ordered 50 more to be carried to Edinburgh, there to suffer the penalties of law on account of their rebellious behaviour. He entered into terms with the lord Grey and Sir John Foster, the wardens of the English borders, for the mutual benefit of the two nations; and he commanded the chiefs of the disorderly clans to submit to the queen, and to obey her orders with regard to the securing... In the mean time the queen was in a very disagreeable situation, being suspected and distrusted by both parties. From the concessions she had made to the Protestants, the Papists supposed that she had a design of renouncing their religion altogether; while on the other hand the Protestants could scarce allow themselves to believe that they owed any allegiance to an idolater. Disquietts of another kind also now took place. The duke of Chattellerault, having left the Catholics to join the opposite party, was neglected by his sovereign. Being afraid of some danger to himself, he fortified the castle of Dunbarton, which he resolved to defend; and in case of necessity to put himself under the protection of the queen of England.

The earl of Arran was a man of very slender abilities, but of boundless ambition. The queen's beauty had made an impression on his heart, and his ambition made him fancy himself the fittest person in the kingdom for her husband. But his fanaticism, and the violence with which he had opposed the mass, disgusted her. He bore her dislike with an uneasiness that preyed upon his intellects and disordered them. It was even supposed that he had concerted a scheme to poison himself or her person by armed retainers; and the lords of her court were commanded to be in readiness to defeat any project of this sort. The earl of Bothwell was distinguished chiefly by his proclivities and the licentiousness of his manners. The earl of Marischal had every thing that was honourable in his intentions, but was over wary and slow. The earl of Morton possessed penetration and ability, but was attached to no party or measures from any principles of rectitude: His own advantage and interests were the motives which governed him. The earl of Huntley, the lord chancellor, was unquiet, variable, and vindictive: His passions, now fermenting with violence, were soon to break forth in the most dangerous practices. The earls of Glencairn and Menteith were deeply tinctured with fanaticism; and their inordinate zeal for the new opinions, not less than their poverty, recommended them to queen Elizabeth. Her ambassador Randolph, advised her to secure their service, by addressing herself to their necessities. Among courtiers of this description, it was difficult for Mary to make a selection of ministers in whom to confide. The consequence and popularity of the lord James Stuart, and of Maitland of Lethington, had early pointed them out to this distinction; and hitherto they had acted to her satisfaction. They were each of eminent capacity: but the former was suspected of aiming at the sovereignty; the latter was prone to refinement and duplicity; and both were more connected with Elizabeth than became them as the ministers and subjects of another prince.

Besides the policy of employing and trifling flatterers who were Protestants, and the precaution of maintaining a firm peace with England, Mary had it also at heart to enrich the crown with the revenues of the ancient church. A convention of estates was assembled to deliberate upon this measure. The bishops were alarmed with their perilous situation. It was made known to them, that the charge of the queen's household required an augmentation; and that as the rents of the church had flowed chiefly from the crown, it was expedient that a proper proportion of them should now be refused to uphold its splendour. After long consultations, the prelates and estate ecclesiastical, considering that they existed merely by the favour of the queen, consented to resign to her the third part of their benefices, to be managed at her pleasure; with the reservation that they should be secured during their lives against all farther payments, and relieved from the burden of contributing to the maintenance of the reformed clergy. With this offer the queen and the convention of estates were satisfied. Rentals, accordingly, of all their benefices throughout the kingdom, were ordered to be produced by the ancient ecclesiastics; the reformed ministers, superintendents, elders, and deacons, were enjoined to make out registers of the grants or provisions necessary to support their establishment; and a supereminent power of judging in these matters was committed to the queen and the privy-council.

While the prelates and estate ecclesiastical submitted to this offer from the necessity of their affairs, it was by no means acceptable to the reformed clergy, who at this time were holding an assembly. It was their earnest wish to effect the entire destruction of the ancient establishment, to succeed to a large proportion of their emoluments, and to be altogether independent of the crown. But while the Protestant preachers were naturally and unanimously of these sentiments, the nobles and gentlemen who had promoted the reformation were disposed to think very differently. To give too much of the wealth of the church to the reformed clergy, was to invest them with a dangerous power. To give too great a proportion of it to the crown, was a step still more dangerous. At the same time it was equitable, that the ancient clergy should be maintained during their lives; and it conflicted with the private interests of the noblemen and gentlemen, who had figured during the reformation, not to consent to any scheme that would deprive them of the spoils of which they had already possessed themselves out of the ruins of the church, or which they might still be enabled to acquire.

Thus public as well as private considerations contributed to separate and divide the lay Protestants and ministers of the preachers. The general assembly, therefore, of the Protestants, was not by any means successful in the views which had called them together at this time, and which they submitted to the convention of estates. Doubts were entertained whether the church had any title to assemble itself. The petition preferred for the complete abolition of idolatry, or for the utter prohibition of the mass, was rejected, notwithstanding all the zeal manifested by the brethren. The request that Mary should give authority to the book of discipline, was not only refused, but even treated with ridicule. The only point pressed by the church, which attracted any notice, was its requisition of a provision or a maintenance; but the measure invented for this end was in opposition to all its warmest desires.

This measure, however, so unpromising to the preachers in expectation, was found to be still more unsatisfactory upon trial. The wealth of the Romish church had been immense, but great invasions had been made upon it. The fears of the ecclesiastics, up- on the overthrow of popery, induced them to engage in fraudulent transactions with their kinsmen and relations; in consequence of which many possessions were conveyed from the church into private hands. For valuable considerations, leases of church-lands, to endure for many years, or in perpetuity, were granted to strangers and adventurers. Sales also of ecclesiastical property, to a great extent, had been made by the ancient incumbents; and a validity was supposed to be given to these transactions by confirmations from the pope, who was zealous to assist his votaries. Even the crown itself had contributed to make improper dispositions of the ecclesiastical revenues. Laymen had been presented to bishoprics and church-livings, with the power of disposing of the territory in connection with them. In this diffusion of the property of the church, many fair acquisitions, and much extensive domain, came to be invested in the nobles and the gentry.

From these causes, the grant of the third of their benefices, made by the ancient ecclesiastics to the queen, with the burden of maintaining the reformed clergy, was not near so considerable as might have been expected. But the direction of the scheme being lodged in the queen and the privy-council, the advantage to the crown was still greater than that bestowed upon the preachers. Yet the carrying the project into execution, was not without its inconveniences. There were still many opportunities for artifice and corruption; and the full third of the ecclesiastical benefices, even after all the previous abstractions of them which had been made, could not be levied by any diligence. For the ecclesiastics often produced false rentals of their benefices; and the collectors for the crown were not always faithful to the trust reposed in them. The complete produce of the thirds did not amount to a great sum; and it was to operate to the expenses of the queen, as well as to the support of the preachers. A scanty proportion went to the latter; and yet the persons who were chosen to fix and ascertain their particular stipends or provisions, were the fast friends of the reformation. For this business was committed in charge to the earls of Argyle and Morton, the lord James Stuart, and Maitland of Lethington, with James Macgill the clerk-register, and Sir John Ballenden the justice-clerk. One hundred Scottish merks were deemed sufficient for a common minister. To the clergymen of greater interest or consideration, or who exercised their functions in more extensive parishes, 300 merks were allotted; and, excepting to superintendents, this sum was seldom exceeded. To the earl of Argyle, to the lord James Stuart, to lord Erskine, who had large ecclesiastical revenues, their thirds were usually remitted by the queen; and upon the establishment of this fund or revenue, she also granted many pensions to persons about her court and of her household.

The complaints of the preachers were made with little decency, and did not contribute to better their condition. The coldness of the Protestant laity, and the humanity thrown to the ancient clergy, were deep wounds both to their pride and to their interests. To a mean spirit of flattery to the reigning power, they imputed the defection of their friends; and against the queen they were animated with the bitterest animosity. The poverty in which they were suffered to remain inflamed all their passions. They industriously sought to indulge their rancour and turbulence; and invererate habits of insult fortified them into a contempt of authority.

To the queen, whose temper was warm, the rudeness of the preachers was a painful and endless iniquitude, which, while it festered her religious prejudices, had the good effect to confirm her constancy to her friends, and to keep alive her gratitude for their activity. The lord James Stuart, who was entitled to her respect and esteem from his abilities, and his proximity to her in blood, had merited rewards and honours by his public services and the vigour of his counsels. After his successful discharge of her commission as chief justiciary and lord lieutenant, she could not think of allowing him to descend from these offices, without bestowing upon him a solid and permanent mark of her favour. She advanced him into the rank of her nobility, by conferring upon him the earldom of Marre. At the same time she contributed to augment his consequence, by facilitating his marriage with Agnes the daughter of the earl of Maribhal; and the ceremonial of this alliance was celebrated with a magnificence and ostentation so extravagant in that age, as to excite the fears of the preachers lest some avenging judgment or calamity should afflict the land. They exclaimed with violence against his riotous feasting and banquets; and the masquerades which were exhibited upon this occasion, attracting in a still greater degree their attention, as being a species of entertainment hitherto unknown in Scotland, and which was favourable to the profaneness of gallantry, they pointed against them the keenest strokes of their censure and indignation.

The abilities of the earl of Marre, the ascendancy he maintained in the councils of his sovereign, and the distinctions which he had acquired, did not fail to expose him to uncommon envy. The most desperate of his enemies, and the most formidable, was the earl of Huntley. In their rivalry for power, many causes of distrust had arisen. The one was at the head of the Protestants, the other was the leader of the Papists. Upon the death of Francis II. Huntley and the Popish faction had sent a deputation to Mary, inviting her to return to Scotland, and offering to support her with an army of 20,000 men. His advances were treated with attention and civility, but his offer was rejected. The invitation of the Protestants, presented by the earl of Marre, was more acceptable to her. Huntley had advised her to detain his rival in confinement in France, till the Roman Catholic religion should be re-established in Scotland. This advice she not only disregarded, but carelessly his enemy with particular civilities. Upon her arrival in her own country, Huntley renewed his advances, offering to her to set up the prelacy in all the northern countries. He even conversed in a pressing manner upon this subject with her uncles and the French courtiers who attended her. Still no real attention was paid to him. He came to her palace, and was received only with respect. He was lord high chancellor without influence, and a privy councillor without trust. The earl of Marre had the confidence of his sovereign, and was drawing to him the authority of government. These were cruel mortifications to a man of high rank, inordinate ambition, Scotland, immense wealth, and who commanded numerous and warlike retainers. But he was yet to feel a stroke still more severely excruciating, and far more destructive of his consequence. The opulent estate of Marre, which Mary had erected into an earldom, and conferred upon his rival, had been lodged in his family for some time. He considered it as his property, and that it was never to be torn from his house. This blow was at once to insult most sensibly his pride, and to cut most fatally the finesse of his greatness.

After employing against the earl of Marre those arts of detraction and calumny which are so common in courts, he drew up and subscribed a formal memorial, in which he accused him of aiming at the sovereignty of Scotland. This paper he presented to the queen; but the arguments with which he supported his charge being weak and inconclusive, she was the more confirmed in her attachment to her minister. Huntley then addressing himself to the earl of Bothwel, a man disposed to desperate courses, engaged him to attempt to involve the earl of Marre and the house of Hamilton in open and violent contention. Bothwel represented to Marre the enmity which had long subsisted between him and the house of Hamilton. It was an obstacle to his greatness; and while its destruction might raise him to the highest pinnacle of power, it would be most acceptable to the queen, who, beside the hatred which princes naturally entertain to their successors, was animated by particular causes of offence against the duke of Chatellerault and the Earl of Arran. He concluded his exhortation with making an unlimited offer of his most strenuous services in the execution of this flagitious enterprise. The earl of Marre, however, abhorring the baseness of the project, suspicious of the sincerity of the proponer, or satisfied that his eminence did not require the aid of such arts, rejected all his advances. Bothwel, disappointed upon one side, turned himself to the other. He pradised with the house of Hamilton to assassinate the earl of Marre, whom they considered as their greatest enemy. The business, he said, might be performed with ease and expedition. The queen was in use to hunt the deer in the park of Falkland; and there the earl of Marre, unsuspecting any danger, and slenderly attended, might be overpowered and put to death. The person of the queen, at the same time, might be seized; and by detaining her in custody, a sanction and security might be given to their crime. The integrity of the earl of Arran revolting against this conspiracy, defeated its purposes. Dreading the perpetration of so cruel an action, and yet sensible of the resolute determination of his friends, he wrote privately to the earl of Marre, informing him of his danger. But the return of Marre to his letter, thanking him for his intelligence, being intercepted by the conspirators, Arran was confined by them under a guard in Kennell house. He effected notwithstanding his escape, and made a full discovery of the plot to the queen. Yet in a matter so dark he could produce no witnesses and no written vouchers to confirm his accusations. He therefore, according to the fashion of the times, offered to prove his information, by engaging Bothwel in single combat. And though, in his examinations before the privy council, his love to the queen, his attachment to the earl of Marre, the atrocity of the scheme he revealed, and, above all, his duty and concern for his father the duke of Chatellerault, threw him into a perturbation of mind which expressed itself violently in his speech, his countenance, and his actions; yet his declarations, in general, were so confident and firm, that it was thought advisable to take the command of the castle of Dumbarton from the duke of Chatellerault, to confine the other conspirators to different prisons, and to wait the farther discoveries which might be made by accident and time.

The earl of Huntley, inflamed by these disappointments, invented other devices. He excited a tumult while the queen and the earl of Marre were at St Andrew's with only a few attendants; imagining that the latter would fall forth to quell the insurgents, and that a convenient opportunity would thus be afforded for putting him to the sword without detection. The caution, however, of the earl of Marre, defeating this purpose, he ordered some of his retainers to attack him in the evening when he should leave the queen; but these affluents being surprised in their station, Huntley affected to excuse their being in arms in a suspicious place and at a late hour, by frivolous apologies, which, though admitted, could not be approved.

About this period, too, letters were received by Mary from the pope and the cardinal of Lorraine, in consequence of the intrigues of the earl of Huntley and the Roman Catholic faction. They pressed her to consider, that while this nobleman was the most powerful of her subjects, he was by far the most zealous in the interests of the church of Rome. They intreated her to flatter him with the hope of her marriage with Sir John Gordon his second son; held out to her magnificent promises of money and military supplies, if she would set herself seriously to recover to power and splendour the ancient religion of her country; and recommended it to her to take measures to destroy the more strenuous Protestants about her court, of whom a roll was transmitted to her, which included the name of her confident and minister the earl of Marre. These letters could not have reached her at a juncture more unfavourable for their success. The earl of Marre, to whom she communicated them, was encouraged to proceed with the greatest vigour in undermining the designs and the importance of his enemies.

New incidents exasperated the animosities of the enemies of the earl of Marre and his own. Sir John Gordon and the lord Ogilvie having a private dispute, happened to meet each other in the high street of Edinburgh. They immediately drew their swords; and the lord Ogilvie receiving a very dangerous wound, Sir John Gordon was committed to prison by the magistrates. The queen, at this time in Stirling, was informed by them of the riot; and while they expressed a fear lest the friends of the prisoner should rise up in arms to give him his liberty, they mentioned a suspicion which prevailed, that the partizans of the lord Ogilvie were to assemble themselves to vindicate his quarrel. The queen, in her reply, after commending their diligence, instructed them to continue to have a watch over their prisoner; made known her desire that the law should take its course; and counsellled them to have no apprehensions of the kindred of the parties at variance, but to rely upon the earl of Marre for providing Sir John Gordon, however, found the means to break from his confinement; and flying into Aberdeenshire, filled the retainers of his family with his complaints, and added to the disquiet of his father the earl of Huntley.

The queen, upon returning to Edinburgh, held a consultation upon affairs of state with her privy council; and soon after set out upon a progress to the northern parts of her kingdom. At Aberdeen she was met by the lady Huntley, a woman of deep dissimulation and of refined address; who endeavoured to conciliate her affections, was prodigal of flattery, expressed her zeal for the Popish religion, and let fall insinuations of the great power of her husband. She then interceded with the queen for forgiveness to her son; and begged with a keen importunity, that he might be permitted to have the honour to kiss her hand. But Mary having told her, that the favour she had solicited could not possibly be granted till her son should return to the prison from which he had escaped, and submit to the justice of his country, the lady Huntley engaged that he should enter again into custody, and only intreated, that, instead of being confined at Edinburgh, he should be conducted to the castle of Stirling. This request was complied with; and in the prosecution of the business, a court of judicature being called, Sir John Gordon made his appearance, and acknowledged himself to be the queen's prisoner. The lord Glamis was appointed to conduct him to the castle of Stirling. But upon the road to this fortress, he deceived the vigilance of his guards, hastened back, and gathering 1000 horsemen among his retainers, entrusted his security to the sword.

In the mean time, the queen continued her progress. The earl of Huntley joined himself to her train. His anxiety to induce her to allow him to attend her to his house of Strathbogie was uncommon; his intrigues were even pressed beyond the bounds of propriety. The intelligence arrived of the escape and rebellion of Sir John Gordon. The behaviour of the father and the son awakened in her the most alarming suspicions. Assembling her privy-council, who, according to the fashion of those times, constituted her court, and attended her person in her progresses through her dominions; she, with their advice, commanded her heralds to charge Sir John Gordon and his adherents to return to their allegiance, and to surrender up to her their houses of strength and castles, under the pains of high-treason and forfeiture. Disdaining now to go to the house of the earl of Huntley, where, as it afterwards appeared, that nobleman had made secret preparations to hold her in captivity, she advanced to Inverness by a different rout. In the castle of Inverness she promised to take up her residence; but Alexander Gordon the deputy governor, a dependent of the family of Huntley, refused to admit her. She was terrified with the prospect of a certain and imminent danger. Her attendants were few in number, the town was without walls, and the inhabitants were suspected. In this extremity, some ships in the river were kept in readiness as a last refuge; and she issued a proclamation, commanding all her loyal subjects in those parts immediately to repair to her for her protection. The Frasers and Monroes came in crowds to make her the offer of their swords. The Clan Chattan, though called to arms by the earl of Huntley, forsook his standard for that of their sovereign, when they discovered that his intentions were hostile to her. She employed this strength in laying siege to the castle, which surrendered itself upon the first assault. The lives of the common soldiers were spared, but the deputy-governor was instantly executed. The queen, full of apprehensions, returned to Aberdeen.

To intimidate the earl of Huntley, to punish the troubles which his family had created to the queen, and to convince him that his utter ruin was at hand, a measure infinitely humiliating was now concerted and put in practice. The earl of Marre resigned the rich estate of that name to the lord Erskine, who laid claim to it as his right; and received in recompence, after its erection into an earldom, the territory of Murray, which made an extensive portion of the possessions of the earl of Huntley.

The lady Huntley hastened to Aberdeen to throw herself at the feet of her sovereign, to make the offer of the most humble submissions on the part of her husband, and to avert by every possible means the downfall of his greatness. But all access to the queen was refused to her; and the earl of Huntley was summoned to appear in person before the privy council, to answer for his conduct, and to make a full resignation of all his castles and fortresses. He did not present himself, and was declared to be in open rebellion. A new proclamation was circulated by the queen to collect together a sufficient strength to subdue the insurgents. The command of her troops was given to the earl of Murray, who put them instantly into motion. Huntley advancing towards Aberdeen to give them defeated battle, was informed of their approach. He halted at Corrichie, solacing himself with the hope of a decisive victory. The army of the queen was the most numerous; but there were several companies in it in whom little confidence could be placed. There the earl of Murray posted in the front of the battle, and commanded them to begin the attack. They recoiled upon him in disorder, according to his expectation; but a resolute band, in whom he trusted, holding out their spears, obliged them to take a different course. Their confusion and flight made Huntley conceive that the day was his own. He therefore ordered his soldiers to throw aside their lances, and to rush upon the enemy sword in hand. His command was obeyed, but with no precaution or discipline. When his men came to the place where the earl of Murray had stationed himself, the points of the extended spears of his firm battalion put a termination to their progress. The panic communicated by this unexpected resistance was improved by the vigour with which he pressed the assailants. In their turn they took to flight. The companies of the queen's army which had given way in the beginning of the conflict were now disposed to atone for their misconduct; and taking a share in the battle, committed a signal slaughter upon the retainers of the earl of Huntley. This nobleman himself expired in the thong of the pursuit. His sons Sir John Gordon and Adam Gordon were made prisoners, with the principal gentlemen who had assisted him.

Mary, upon receiving the tidings of this success, discovered neither joy nor sorrow. The passions, however, ever, of the earl of Murray and his party were not yet completely gratified. Sir John Gordon was brought immediately to trial, confessed his guilt, and was condemned to suffer as a traitor. The sentence accordingly was executed, amidst a multitude of spectators, whose feelings were deeply affected, while they considered his immature death, the manliness of his spirit, and the vigour of his form. Adam Gordon, upon account of his tender age, was pardoned; and fines were levied from the other captives of condition according to their wealth. The lord Gordon, after the battle of Corrichie, fled to his father-in-law, the duke of Châtellerault, and put himself under his protection; but was delivered up by that nobleman, all whose endeavours in his favour were ineffectual. He was convicted of treason, and condemned; but the queen was satisfied with confining him in prison. The dead body of the earl of Huntley was carried to Edinburgh, and kept without burial, till a charge of high treason was preferred against him before the three estates. An ostentatious display was made of his criminal enterprises, and a verdict of parliament pronounced his guilt. His estates, hereditary and moveable, were forfeited; his dignity, name, and memory, were pronounced to be extinct; his ensigns armorial were torn from the book of arms; and his posterity were rendered unable to enjoy any offices, honour, or rank within the realm.

While these scenes were transacting, Mary, who was sincerely solicitous to establish a secure amity between the two kingdoms, opened a negociation to effectuate an interview with Elizabeth. Secretary Maitland, whom she employed in this business, met with a most gracious reception at the court of London. The city of York was appointed as the place where the two queens should express their mutual love and affection, and bind themselves to each other in an indissoluble union; the day of their meeting was fixed; the fashion and articles of their interview were adjusted; and a safe-conduct into England was granted to the queen of Scots by Elizabeth. But in this advanced state of the treaty it was unexpectedly interrupted. The disturbances in France, the persecution of the Protestants there, and the dangerous consequence which threatened the reformed countries, seemed to require Elizabeth to be particularly upon her guard, and to watch with eagerness against the machinations of the adversaries of her religion. Upon these pretences she declined for a season the projected interview; sending to Mary with this apology Sir Henry Sidney, a minister of ability, whom she instructed to dive into the secret views of the Scottish queen. This was a severe disappointment to Mary; but it is reasonable to believe, that Elizabeth acted in the negociation without sincerity, and upon principles of policy. It was not her interest to admit into her kingdom a queen who had pretensions to her crown, and who might strengthen them; who might raise the expectations of her Roman-Catholic subjects, and advance herself in their esteem; and who far surpassed her in beauty, and in the bewitching allurement of conversation and behaviour.

Amidst affairs of great moment, a matter of smaller consequence, but which is interesting in its circumstances, deserves to be recorded. Châtellard, a gentleman of family in Dauphiny, and a relation of the chevalier de Bayard, had been introduced to queen Mary by the sieur Damville, the heir of the house of Montmorency. Polished manners, vivacity, attention to please, the talent of making verses, and an agreeable figure, were recommendations to this man. In the court they drew attention to him. He made himself necessary in all parties of pleasure at the palace. His affinities drew to him the notice of the queen; and, at different times, she did him the honour to dance with him. His complaisance became gradually more familiar. He entertained her with his wit and good-humour; he made verses upon her beauty and accomplishments; and her politeness and condescension infused into him other sentiments than gratitude and reverence. He could not behold her charms without feeling their power; and instead of stifling in its birth the most dangerous of all the passions, he encouraged its growth. In an unhappy moment, he entered her apartment; and, concealing himself under her bed, waited the approach of night. While the queen was undressing, her maids discovered his situation, and gave her the alarm. Châtellard was dismissed with disgrace; but soon after received her pardon. The frenzy, however, of his love compelling him to repeat his crime, it was no longer proper to show any compassion to him. The delicate situation of Mary, the noise of these adventures, which had gone abroad, and the rude suspicions of her subjects, required that he should be tried for his offences and put to punishment. This imprudent man was accordingly condemned to lose his head; and the sentence was put in execution.

The disagreeable circumstances in which Mary found herself involved by reason of her quarrel with Elizabeth, the excessive bigotry and overbearing spirit of her Protestant subjects, together with the adventure of Châtellard, and the calumnies propagated in consequence of it, determined Mary to think of a second marriage. Her beauty and expectations of the crown of England, joined to the kingdom which she already possessed, brought her many suitors. She was addressed by the king of Sweden, the king of Navarre, the prince of Conde, the duke of Ferrara, Don Carlos of Spain, the arch-duke Charles of Austria, and the duke of Anjou. Amidst so many illustrious names, it seems wonderful how queen Elizabeth could propose one of her own subjects, lord Robert Dudley, a nobleman possessed of no good quality excepting those external perfections which usually gain the hearts of the fair sex. Numberless were the intrigues and negotiations which were carried on by the friends of the respective candidates for this amiable princess; who at last resolved to yield to the dictates of love, without much consulting those of policy or ambition. Lord Darnley, the eldest son of the earl of Lennox, arrived choice of Scotland in the year 1565, and was presented to the queen at the castle of Wemyss in Fife. He was received by her majesty with an approbation which at once discovered her intentions; and soon after, she declared her intention of marrying him, dispatching at the same time ambassadors to England and France, to acquaint these courts with her design, and to gain their consent. The French court made no objections; but Elizabeth's consent was by no means Scotland, to be gained; and even from her own subjects Mary met with considerable opposition. An inveterate enmity had taken place between the duke of Chatelherault and the earl of Lennox, in consequence of which the former deserted the court, and very few of the Hamiltons repaired to it. The lord James Stuart, now earl of Murray, fought to promote the match with lord Dudley. In consequence of this he was treated openly with disrespect by the earl of Lennox; he lost the favour of his sovereign, and Darnley threatened him with his vengeance when he should be married to the queen. John Knox in the mean time behaved in the most furious manner, forgetting not only the meek and peaceable behaviour of a Christian, but the allegiance of a subject. This preacher even interfered with the marriage of his sovereign. He warned the nobility, that if they allowed a Papist or an infidel to obtain her person and the government of Scotland, they would be guilty, to the full extent of their power, of banishing Jesus Christ from the kingdom, of bringing down upon it the vengeance of God, of being a curse to themselves, and of depriving their queen of all comfort and consolation. As Darnley was a Papist, he was of consequence execrated by the whole body of Protestants, laity as well as clergy; while, on the other hand, he was supported by the earls of Athol and Caithness, the lords Ruthven and Hume, and the whole Popish faction.

It was exceedingly unfortunate for the queen, that neither lord Darnley himself, nor his father the earl of Lennox, had any talents for business; and as they naturally had the direction of the queen's affairs, it is no wonder that they were very ill managed. But a source of opposition, more violent than any imperfections of their own, rose up to them in the attachment which they discovered to a person upon whom the queen had of late bestowed her favour with an imprudent prodigality. David Rizzio from a mean origin raised himself to a distinguished eminence. He was born at Turin, where his father earned a subsistence as a musician. Varieties of situation and adventure, poverty, and misfortunes, had taught him experience. In the train of the count de Morette, the ambassador from the duke of Savoy, he had arrived in Scotland. The queen, desirous to complete her band of music, admitted him into her service. In this humble station he had the dexterity to attract her attention; and her French secretary falling into disgrace, from negligence and incapacity, he was promoted to discharge the duties of his office. A necessary and frequent admission to her company afforded him now the fullest opportunity to recommend himself to her; and while she approved his manners, she was sensible of his fidelity and his talents. His mind, however, was not sufficiently vigorous to bear with success and prosperity. Ambition grew upon him with preferment. He interfered in affairs of moment, intruded himself into the conventions of the nobles at the palace, and was a candidate for greatness. The queen consulted with him upon the most difficult and important business, and intrusted him with real power. The suppleness, servility, and unbounded complaisance which had characterized his former condition, were exchanged for insolence, ostentation, and pride. He exceeded the most potent barons in the stateliness of his demeanor, the sumptuousness of his apparel, and the splendour of his retinue. The nobles, while they despised the lowness of his birth, and detested him as a foreigner and a favourite, were mortified with his grandeur, and insulted with his arrogance. Their anger and abhorrence were driven into fury; and while this undervening minion, to uphold his power, courted Darnley, and with officious affluencies advanced his suit with the queen, he hastened not only his own ruin, but laid the foundation of cruel outrages and of public calamity.

To the earl of Murray the exaltation of Rizzio, so offensive in general to the nation, was humiliating in a more particular degree. His interference for the earl of Leicesters, the partiality he entertained for Elizabeth, his connections with secretary Cecil, and the favour he had shown to Knox, had all contributed to create in Mary a suspicion of his integrity. The practices of Darnley and Rizzio were thence the more effectual; and the fullest weight of their influence was employed to undermine his power. His passions and dispositions were violent; and in his mind he meditated revenge. Mary, aware of her critical situation, was solicitous to add to her strength. Bothwel, who had been imprisoned for conspiring against the life of the earl of Murray, and who had escaped from confinement, was recalled from France; the earl of Sutherland, an exile in Flanders, was invited home to receive his pardon; and George Gordon, the son of the earl of Huntly, was admitted to favour, and was soon to be reinstated in the wealth and honours of his family.

As soon as Bothwel arrived, the earl of Murray insisted that he should be brought to a trial for having plotted against his life, and for having broke from the place of his confinement. This was agreed to; and on the day of trial Murray made his appearance with 800 of his adherents. Bothwel did not choose to contend with such a formidable enemy; he therefore fled to France, and a protestation was made, importing that his fear of violence had been the cause of his flight. The queen commanded the judge not to pronounce sentence. Murray complained loudly of her partiality, and engaged deeper and deeper in cabals with queen Elizabeth. Darnley, in the mean time, pressed his suit with eagerness. The queen used her utmost endeavours to cause Murray subscribe a paper expressing a consent to her marriage; but all was to no purpose. However, many of the nobility did subscribe this paper; and she ventured to summon a convention of the estates at Stirling, to whom she opened the business of the marriage; and who approved of her choice, provided the Protestant religion should continue to be the establishment.

In the mean time ambassadors arrived from England, with a message importing Elizabeth's entire disapprobation and disallowance of the queen's marriage with lord Darnley. But to these ambassadors Mary only replied, that matters were gone too far to be recalled; and that Elizabeth had no solid cause of displeasure, since, by her advice, she had fixed her affections not upon a foreigner, but upon an Englishman; and since the person she favoured was descended of a distinguished lineage, and could boast of having in his veins the royal blood of both kingdoms. Immediately after this audience she created lord Darnley a lord and a knight. The oath of knighthood was administered to him. He was made a baron and a banneret, and called lord Armanagh. He was belted earl of Rois. He then promoted 14 gentlemen to the honour of knighthood, and did homage to the queen, without any reservation of duty to the crown of England, where his family had for a long time resided. His advancement to be duke of Albany was delayed for a little time; and this was so much resented by him, that when informed of it by the lord Ruthven, he threatened to stab that nobleman with his dagger.

In the meantime the day appointed for the assembly of parliament, which was finally to determine the subject of the marriage, was now approaching. The earl of Murray, encouraged by the apparent firmness of Elizabeth, goaded on by ambition, and alarmed with the approbation bestowed by the convention of the estates on the queen's choice of lord Darnley, perceived that the moment was at hand when a decisive blow should be struck. To inspirit the resentments of his friends, and to justify, in some measure, the violence of his projects, he affected to be under apprehensions of being assassinated by the lord Darnley. His fears were founded abroad; and he avoided to go to Perth, where he affirmed that the plot against him was to be carried into execution. He courted the enemies of Darnley with unceasing assiduity; and he united to him in a confederacy the duke of Chatellerault, and against the earls of Argyle, Rothes, and Glencairn. It was not the sole object of their association to oppose the marriage. They engaged in more criminal enterprises. They meditated the death of the earl of Lennox and the lord Darnley; and while the queen was upon the road to Calendar place to visit the lord Livingston, they proposed to intercept her and to hold her in captivity. In this state of her humiliation, Murray was to advance himself into the government of the kingdom, under the character of its regent. But Mary having received intelligence of their conspiracy, the earl of Athol and the lord Ruthven raised suddenly 300 men to protect her in her journey. Defeated in this scheme, the earl of Murray and his associates did not relinquish their cabals. They thought of new achievements; and the nation was filled with alarms, suspicions, and terror.

Amidst the arts employed by the Scottish malcontents to inflame the animosities of the nation, they forgot not to infuse upon the dangers which threatened the Protestant religion from the advancement of lord Darnley, and from the rupture that must ensue with England. Letters were everywhere dispersed among the faithful, reminding them of what the eternal God had wrought for them in the abolition of idolatry, and admonishing them to oppose the restoration of the mass. A supplication was presented to the queen, complaining of idolaters, and insisting upon their punishment. In the present juncture of affairs it was received with unusual respect; and Mary instructed the Popish ecclesiastics to abstain from giving offence of any kind to the Protestants. A priest, however, having celebrated the mass, was taken by the brethren, and exposed to the insults and fury of the populace at the market-place of Edinburgh, in the garments of his profession, and with the chalice in his hand; and the queen having given a check to this tumultuous proceeding, the Protestants, rising in their wrath, were the more confirmed in the belief that she meant to overthrow their religion. The clergy, the most learned and able, held frequent consultations together; and while the nation was disturbed with dangerous fermentations, the general assembly was called to deliberate upon the affairs of the church. Their hope of success being proportioned to the difficulties in the situation of the queen, they were the less scrupulous in forming their resolutions; and the commissioners, whom they deputed to her, were ordered to demand a parliamentary ratification of their decrees.

They insisted, that the mass, with every remain whatsoever of Popery, should be universally suppressed throughout the kingdom; that in this reformation, the queen's person and household should be included; and that all Papists and idolaters should be punished upon conviction according to the laws. They contended, that persons of every description and degree should resort to the churches upon Sunday, to join in prayers, and to attend to exhortations and sermons; that an independent provision should be assigned for the support of the present clergy, and for their successors; that all vacant benefices should be conferred upon persons found to be qualified for the ministry, upon the trial and examination of the superintendents; that no bishopric, abbey, priory, deanery, or other living, having many churches, should be bestowed upon a single person; but that, the plurality of the foundation being dissolved, each church should be provided with a minister; that the glebes and manors should be allotted for the residence of the ministers, and for the reparation of churches; that no charge in schools or universities, nor care of education, either public or private, should be intrusted to any person who was not found and able in doctrine, and who was not approved by the superintendents; that all lands which of old had been devoted to hospitality, should again be made subservient to it; that the lands and rents which formerly belonged to the monks of every order, with the annuities, alterations, obits, and the other emoluments which had appertained to priests, should be employed in the sustentation of the poor and the upholding of schools; that all horrible crimes, such as idolatry, blasphemy, breaking of the Sabbath, witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, adultery, manifest whoredom, the keeping of brothels, murder, and oppression, should be punished with severity; that judges should be appointed in every district, with powers to pronounce sentences and to execute them; and, in fine, that for the ease of the labouring husbandmen, some order should be devised concerning a reasonable payment of the tythes.

To these requisitions, the queen made an answer full of moderation and humanity. She was ready to agree of the three estates in establishing the reformed religion over the subjects of Scotland; and she was steadily resolved not to throw into hazard the life, the peace, or the fortune, of any person whatsoever upon account of his opinions. As to herself and her household, she was persuaded that her people would not urge her to adopt tenets in contradiction to her conscience, and thereby involve her in remorse and uneasiness. She had been nourished and brought up in the Romish faith; she conceived it to be founded on the word of God; and she was desirous to continue in it. Scotland. But, setting aside her belief and religious duty, she ventured to assure them, that she was convinced from political reasons, that it was her interest to maintain herself firm in the Roman Catholic persuasion. By departing from it she would forfeit the amity of the king of France, and that of other princes who were now strongly attached to her; and their disaffection could not be repaired or compensated by any new alliance. To her subjects she left the fullest liberty of conscience; and they could not surely refuse to their sovereign the same right and indulgence. With regard to the patronage of benefices, it was a prerogative and property which it would ill become her to violate. Her necessities, and the charge of her royal dignity, required her to retain in her hands the patrimony of the crown. After the purposes, however, of her situation, and the exigencies of government, were satisfied, she could not object to a special assignment of revenue for the maintenance of the ministry; and, on the subject of the other articles which had been submitted to her, she was willing to be directed by the three estates of the kingdom, and to concur in the resolutions which should appear to them the most reasonable and expedient.

The clergy, in a new assembly or convention, expressed a high displeasure with this return to their addresses. They took the liberty to inform the queen, that the doctrines of the reformation which she refused to adopt, were the religion which had been revealed by Jesus Christ, and taught by the apostles. Popery was of all persuasions the least alluring, and had the fewest recommendations. In antiquity, content of people, authority of princes, and number of protelytes, it was plainly inferior to Judaism. It did not even rest upon a foundation so solid as the doctrines of the alcoran. They required her, therefore, in the name of the eternal God, to embrace the means of attaining the truth, which were offered to her in the preaching of the word, or by the appointment of public disputations between them and their adversaries. The terrors of the mafs were placed before her in all their deformity. The fayer of it, the action itself, and the opinions expressed in it, were all pronounced to be equally abominable. To hear the mafs, or to gaze upon it, was to commit the complicated crimes of sacrilege, blasphemy, and idolatry. Her delicacy in not renouncing her opinions from the apprehension of offending the king of France and her other allies, they ridiculed as impertinent in the highest degree. They told her, that the true religion of Christ was the only means by which any confederacy could endure; and that it was far more precious than the alliance of any potentate whatsoever, as it would bring to her the friendship of the King of kings. As to patronages, being a portion of her patrimony, they intended not to defraud her of her rights; but it was their judgment, that the superintendants ought to make a trial of the qualifications of candidates for the ministry; and as it was the duty of the patron to present a person to the benefice, it was the business of the church to manage his institution or collation. For without this restraint, there would be no security for the fitness of the incumbent; and if no trials or examinations of ministers took place, the church would be filled with misrule and ignorance. Nor was it right or just that her majesty should retain to herself any part of the revenue of benefices; as it ought to be all employed to the uses of the clergy, for the purposes of education, and for the support of the poor. And as to her opinion, that a suitable assignment should be made for them, they could not but thank her with reverence; but they begged to solicit and importune her to consider upon the particulars of a proper scheme for this end, and to carry it into execution; and that, taking into a due consideration the other articles of their demands, she would study to comply with them, and to do justice to the religious establishment of her people.

From the fears of the people about their religion, disturbances and insurrections were unavoidable; and before Mary had given an answer to the petitions or address of the clergy, the Protestants, to a formidable number, had marched to St Leonard's Craig; and, dividing themselves into companies, had chosen captains to command them. But the leaders of this tumult being apprehended and committed to close custody, it subsided by degrees; and the queen, upon the intercession of the magistrates of Edinburgh, instead of bringing them to trial, gave them a free pardon. To quiet, at the same time, the apprehensions which had gone abroad, and to controvert the injurious reports which had been industriously spread of her inclination to overturn the reformed doctrines, she repeatedly issued proclamations, assuring her subjects, that it was her fixed determination not to molest or disturb any person whatsoever upon account of his religion or conscience; and that she had never presumed even to think of any innovation that might endanger the tranquillity or do a prejudice to the happiness of the commonwealth.

While Mary was conducting her affairs with discretion and ability, the earl of Murray and his confederates continued their consultations and their intrigues. After their disappointment in the conspiracy against the queen and the lord Darnley, they perceived that their only hope of success or security depended upon Elizabeth; and as Randolph had promised them her protection and assistance, they scrupled not to address a letter to her, explaining their views and situation. The pretences of their hostility to their sovereign upon which they affected to insist, were her settled design to overturn the Protestant religion, and her rooted desire to break all correspondence and amity with England. To prevent the accomplishment of these purposes, they said, was the object of their confederacy; and with her support and aid they did not doubt of being able to advance effectually the emolument and advantage of the two kingdoms. In the present state of their affairs they applied not, however, for any supply of her troops. An aid from her treasury was now only necessary to them; and they engaged to bestow her bounty in the manner the most agreeable to her inclinations and her interests. The pleasure with which Elizabeth received their application was equal to the aversion she had conceived against the queen of Scots. She not only granted to them the relief they requested, but assured them by Randolph of her esteem and favour while they should continue to uphold the reformed religion and the connection of the two nations. Flattered by her assurances and generosity, they were strenuous to gain partizans, and to difunite disunite the friends of their sovereign; and while they were secretly preparing for rebellion, and for trying their strength in the field, they disseminated among the people the tenets, That a Papist could not legally be their king; that the queen was not at liberty of herself to make the choice of a husband; and that, in a matter so weighty, she ought to be entirely directed by the determination of the three estates assembled in Parliament.

Elizabeth, at the same time, carrying her disputation to the most criminal extremity, commanded Randolph to ask an audience of Mary; and to counsel her to nourish no suspicions of the evil of Murray and his friends; to open her eyes to their sincerity and honour; and to call to mind, that as their services had hitherto preserved her kingdom in repose, her jealousies of them might kindle it into combustion, make the blood of her nobles to flow, and cast into hazard her person and her crown. Full of astonishment at a message so rude and so improper, the queen of Scots desired him to inform his mistress, that she required not her instructions to distinguish between patriotism and treachery; that she was fully sensible when her will or purpose was resisted or obeyed; and that she possessed a power which was more than sufficient to repress and to punish the enormities and the crimes of her subjects. The English resident went now to the earl of Lennox and the lord Darnley, and charged them to return to England. The former expressed an apprehension of the severity of his queen, and sought an assurance of her favour before he could venture to visit her dominions. The latter, exerting greater fortitude, told him, that he acknowledged no duty or obedience but to the queen of Scots. The resident treating this answer as disrespectful to Elizabeth, turned his back upon the lord Darnley, and retired without making any reverence, or bidding him an adieu.

The behaviour of Elizabeth, so fierce and so perfidious, was well calculated to confirm all the intentions of Mary; and this, doubtless, was one of the motives with which she was actuated. But while the queen of Scots was eager to accomplish her marriage, she was not insensible to the rising troubles of her country. The parliament which she had appointed could not now be held; it was therefore prorogued to a more distant day; and the violence of the times did not then permit it to assemble. By close letters she invited to her, with all their retainers, the most powerful and the most eminent of her subjects. Bothwell was recalled anew from France; and by general proclamations she summoned to her standard the united force of her kingdom. The castle of Edinburgh was likewise provided amply with stores and ammunition, that, in the event of misfortunes, it might afford her a retreat and defence. The alacrity with which her subjects flocked to her from every quarter, informed her of her power and popularity; and while it struck Murray and his adherents with the danger to which they were exposed, it declared to them the opinion entertained by the nation of the iniquity and the selfishness of their proceedings.

On the 29th of July 1565, the ceremony of marriage between the queen and lord Darnley was performed. The latter had been previously created duke of Albany. The day before the marriage, a proclamation was published, commanding him to be styled king of the realm, Scotland, and that all letters after their marriage should be directed in the names of her husband and herself. The next day after it, a new proclamation was issued confirming this act: he was pronounced king by the sound of kings' trumpets, and associated with the queen in her government. This measure seems to have been the effects of the extreme love the queen had for her husband, which did not permit her to see that it was an infringement of the constitution of the kingdom; though perhaps she might also be urged to it by the prevailing eagerness of lord Darnley himself, and the partial counsels of David Rizzio. The earl of Murray made loud complaints, remonstrated, that a king was imposed upon the nation without the consent of the three estates, and called upon the nation to arm against the beginnings of tyranny. The malcontents accordingly were immediately in arms; but their success was not answerable to their wishes. The bulk of the nation were satisfied with the good intentions of their sovereign, and she herself took the earliest opportunity of crushing the rebellion in its infancy. The earl of Murray was declared a traitor; and similar steps were taken with others of the chiefs of the rebels. She then took the field against them at the head of a considerable army; and having driven them from place to place, obliged them at last to take refuge in England. Queen Elizabeth received them with that duplicity with which her conduct was so remarkable. Though she herself had countenanced, and even excited them to revolt, she refused to give an audience to their deputies. Nay, she even caused them to emit a public declaration, that neither she, nor any person in her name, had ever excited them to their rebellious practices. Yet, while the public behaviour of Elizabeth was so acrimonious, she afforded them a secure retreat in her kingdom, treated the earl of Murray in private with respect and kindness, and commanded the earl of Bedford to supply him with money. Mary, however, resolved to proceed against the rebels with an exemplary rigour. The submissions of the duke of Chatelherault alone, who had been less criminal than the rest, were attended to. But even the favour which he obtained was precarious and uncertain; for he was commanded to use the pretence of sickness, and to pass for some time into foreign countries. A parliament was called; and a summons of treason being executed against the earls of Argyll, Glencairn, and Rothes, with others of the principal rebels, they were commanded to appear before the three estates; in default of which their lives and estates were declared to be forfeited.

In the meantime Throgmorton the English ambassador solicited the pardon of the rebels; which Mary was at first inclined to grant. However, by the persuasion of the court of France, she was not only induced to proceed against them with rigour; but acceded to the cedes to the treaty of Bayonne, by which the destruction of the treaty of Protestants was determined. This measure filled the Bayonne whole court with terror and dismay. The rebels were acquainted with the danger of their situation; and being now driven desperate, they were ready to engage in the most atrocious designs. Unhappily, the situation of affairs in Scotland rendered the accomplishment of their purposes but too easy. Violent dif- guts had taken place between the queen and her husband. Her fondness had been excessive; but she soon perceived that the qualities of his mind were not proportioned to his personal accomplishments. He was proud, disdainful, and suspicious. No persuasions could correct his wilfulness; and he was at the same time giddy and obdurate, insolent and mean. The queen in consequence began to show an indifference towards him; which he took care to augment, by showing the like indifference towards her, and engaging in low intrigues and amours, indulging himself in dissipation and riot, &c. However, the desire of dominion was his ruling passion; and the queen, finding his total incapacity for exercising his power to any good purpose, had excluded him from it altogether. He was therefore at present a proper object for the machinations of the rebels, and readily entered into an agreement with them to depose the queen; vainly thinking by that means that he should secure the crown to himself. However, as the parliament was soon to assemble, in which the rebels had every reason to believe that they would be condemned for high-treason, it was necessary therefore that the kingdom should be thrown into disorder before that time came, otherwise their fate was inevitable. Practising on the imbecility of Darnley, they prevailed upon him that a criminal correspondence subsisted betwixt the queen and David Rizzio (a). For this reason the king resolved upon his destruction; and the conspirators hoped thereby not only to get an indemnity to themselves, but to effect a total revolution at court, and the entire humiliation of Bothwell, Huntley, and Athol, who were the associates of Rizzio. However, in order to save themselves, they engaged the king to subscribe a bond, affirming that the project of assassinating Rizzio was altogether of his own devising; acknowledging that he had solicited them to take a part in it, from the apprehensions that resistance might be made to him; and agreeing, upon the word and honour of a prince, to protect and secure them against every hazard and injury to which they might be exposed from the achievement of his enterprise. Having procured this security, and having allured the earl of Lennox the king's father to approve their measures, they adjusted the method of the projected murder; and dispatched a messenger to the English frontier, advertising the earl of Murray and the rebels of their intentions, and inviting them to return to the court.

Upon the 9th day of March, about 7 o'clock in the evening, armed men, to the number of 500, surrounded the palace of Holyrood-house. The earl of Morton and the lord Lindsay entered the court of the palace, with 160 persons. The queen was in her chamber at supper, having in her presence her natural sister the countess of Argyll, her natural brother Robert commendator of Holyrood-house, Beton of Creich master of the household, Arthur Erskine, and David Rizzio. The king entering the apartment, seated himself by her side. He was followed by the lord Ruthven, who being waited with sickness, and clad in armour, exhibited an appearance that was hideous and terrible. Four ruffians attended him. In a hollow voice he commanded Rizzio to leave a place which did not become him. The queen, in astonishment and consternation, applied to the king to unfold to her this mysterious enterprise. He affected ignorance. She ordered Ruthven from her presence, under the pain of treason; declaring to him at the same time, that if Rizzio had committed any crime, she would produce him before the parliament, and punish him according to the laws. Ruthven drawing his dagger, advanced towards Rizzio. The queen rose to make an exertion of her authority. The unfortunate stranger laid hold of her garments, crying out for justice and mercy. Other conspirators rushing into the chamber, overturned the table, and increased the dismay and confusion. Loaded pistols were presented to the bosom of the queen. The king held her in his arms.

(a) That there subsisted a criminal intercourse between Mary and Rizzio is a scandal which is now given up by her enemies. It seems to rest on the authority of Buchanan and Knox; and their evidence in this case is clearly of no weight, nor only from their being the furious partizans of her adversaries, but from the multitude of falsehoods which they anxiously detail to calumniate her. The love she felt for Darnley was extreme, and their acquaintance commenced a month or two after the appointment of Rizzio to be her secretary for French affairs. She became pregnant soon after her marriage; and it was during her pregnancy that Rizzio was assassinated. These are striking presumptions in her favour. And what seems to put her innocence out of all question, is the silence of the spies and residents of Elizabeth with regard to this amour: for, if there had been anything real in it, they could not have made their court to their queen more effectually than by declaring to her its peculiarities; and their want of delicacy, so observable in other circumstances, would have induced them upon this occasion to give the greatest fulness and deformity to their information.

It appears that Rizzio was ill-favoured, and of a disagreeable form. Buchanan says of him, "Non faciem cultus honestabat, sed facies cultum defruebat." Hist. Scot. lib. xvii. This expression is very strong; but it would have little weight if other authors had not concurred in giving a similar description of Rizzio. In a book intitled, "Le Livre de la Morte de la Reyne d'Ecosse," and printed in the year 1587, he is said to be "disgracie de corps." Caufin, ap. Jebb, p. 37. This work too, while it records the unkindness of nature to his person, has observed, that he was in his old age when he made a figure in the court of Mary. "Elle traitoit ordinairement avec David Riccio son secretaire, homme sage & prudent, qui possedoit son oreille." Ibid. And other authors give their testimonies to the same purpose.

It is probable that the panegyrists of Mary exaggerate somewhat the imperfections as well as the good qualities of Rizzio. But there seems in general to be no reason to doubt his fidelity and talents, any more than his ugliness and facility. He had therefore a better title to be her secretary than her lover. It is an absurdity to think that a queen so young and beautiful would yield herself to deformity and old age. A common prostitute must be brought to endure this misfortune. The capacity of the man was a recommendation to him; and as he owed everything to her bounty, and was a stranger, he had the greatest reason to rely upon his faithfulness. The perfidiousness and duplicity of her courtiers drew closer the tie of their connection; and as Rizzio was studious to make himself agreeable, and was skilful in games of hazard, he was always ready to be a party with her in those innocent amusements which fill up the little intervals of life. Keith. Append. p. 124. George Douglas, snatching the dagger of his sovereign, plunged it into the body of Rizzio. The wounded and screaming victim was dragged into the antechamber; and so eager were the assassins to complete their work, that he was torn and mangled with fifty-six wounds.

While the queen was pressing the king to gratify her inquiries into the meaning of a deed so execrable, Ruthven returned into their presence. She gave a full vent to indignation and reproach. Ruthven, with an intolerable coldness and deliberation, informed her, that Rizzio had been put to death by the counsel of her husband, whom he had dishonoured; and that by the perfusion of this minion she had refused the crown-matrimonial to the king, had engaged to re-establish the ancient religion, had resolved to punish the earl of Murray and his friends, and had entrusted her confidence to Bothwel and Huntley, who were traitors.

The king, taking the part of Ruthven, remonstrated against her proceedings; and complained that from the time of her familiarity with Rizzio, she had neither regarded, nor entertained, nor trusted him. His suspicions and ingratitude shocked and tortured her. His connection with the conspirators gave her an ominous anxiety. Apprehensions of outrages still more atrocious invaded her. In these agitated and miserable moments she did not lose herself in the helplessness of sorrow. The loftiness of her spirit communicated relief to her; and wiping away her tears, she exclaimed, that it was not now a season for lamentation, but for revenge.

The earls of Huntley, Bothwel, and Athol, the lords Fleming and Levington, and Sir James Balfour, who were obnoxious to the conspirators, and at this time in the palace, found all resistance to be vain. Some of them eluding the vigilance of Morton, made their escape; and others were allowed to retire. The provost and magistrates of Edinburgh getting intelligence of the tumult, ordered the alarm-bell to be rung. The citizens, apprehensive and anxious, approached in crowds to inquire into the welfare of their sovereign; but she was not permitted to address herself to them.

The conspirators told her, that if she presumed to make any harangue, they would "cut her in pieces, and cast her over the walls." The king called to the people that she was well, and commanded them to disperse. The queen was shut up in her chamber, uncertain of her fate, and without the consolation or attendance of her women.

In the morning a proclamation was issued by the king, without the knowledge of his queen, prohibiting the meeting of the parliament, and ordering the members to retire from the city. The rebellious lords now returned from England, and arrived at Edinburgh within 24 hours after the assassination of Rizzio. The queen, knowing of how much consequence it was for her to gain the earl of Murray, invited him to wait upon her. Notwithstanding the extreme provocation which she had met with, Mary so far commanded her passions, that she gave him a favourable reception. After informing him of the rudeness and severity of the treatment she had met with, the queen observed, that if he had remained in friendship with her at home, he would have protected her against such excesses of hardship and insult. Murray, with an hypocritical compassion, shed abundance of tears; while the queen seemed to entertain no doubt of his sincerity, but gave him room to hope for a full pardon of all his offences. In the mean time, however, the conspirators held frequent consultations together, in which it was debated, whether they should hold the queen in perpetual captivity, or put her to death; or whether they should content themselves with committing her to close custody in Stirling castle till they should obtain a parliamentary sanction to their proceedings, establish the Protestant religion by the total overthrow of the mass, and invest the king with the crown-matrimonial and the government of the kingdom.

Mary now began to perceive the full extent of her wretchedness; and therefore, as her last resource, applied to the king, whom she treated with all those abominations usually employed by the fair sex when the cause they want to gain the the ascendancy over the other. The king, who, with all his faults, had a natural facility of temper, was easily gained over. The conspirators were alarmed at his coldness, and endeavoured to fill his mind with fears concerning the duplicity of his wife; but, finding they could not gain their point, they at last began to treat of an accommodation. The king brought them a message, importing, that Mary was disposed to bury in oblivion all memory of their transgressions; and he offered to conduct them into her presence. The earls of Murray and Morton, with the lord Ruthven, attended him into her presence; and, falling on their knees before the queen, made their apologies and submissions. She commanded them to rise; and having desired them to recollect her abhorrence of cruelty and rapaciousness, she assured them with a gracious air, that instead of designing to forfeit their lives and possess herself of their estates, she was inclined to receive them into favour, and to give a full pardon, not only to the nobles who had come from England, but to those who had assassinated David Rizzio. They were accordingly ordered to prepare the bonds for their security and forgiveness, which the queen promised to take the earliest opportunity of subscribing; but in the mean time the king observed, that the conspirators ought to remove the guards which they had placed around the queen, that all suspicion of restraint might be taken away. This measure could not with any propriety be opposed, and the guards were therefore dismissed; upon which the queen, that very night, left her palace at midnight, and took the road to Dunbar, accompanied by the king and a few attendants.

The news of the queen's escape threw the conspirators into the utmost consternation; as she immediately issued proclamations for her subjects to attend her in arms, and was powerfully supported. They sent therefore the lord Semple, requesting, with the utmost humility, her subscription to their deeds of pardon and security; but to this message she returned an unfavourable answer, and advanced towards Edinburgh with an army of 8000 men. The conspirators now fled with the utmost precipitation. Even John Knox retired to Kyle till the storm should blow over. On the queen's arrival at Edinburgh, a privy council was The rebelliously called, in which the conspirators were charged to appear as guilty of murder and treason; their places are declared of strength were ordered to be rendered up to the officers. officers of the crown; and their estates and possessions were made liable to confiscation and forfeiture.

But while the queen was thus eager to punish the conspirators, she was sensible that so many of the nobility, by uniting in a common cause, might raise a powerful party in opposition to her; for which reason she endeavoured to detach the earl of Murray from the rest, by making him offers of pardon. Sir James Melville accordingly pledged himself to produce his pardon and that of his adherents, if he would separate from Morton and the conspirators. He accordingly became cold and dilatory to them, and exclaimed against the murder as a most execrable action; but notwithstanding his affected anger, when the conspirators fled to England, he furnished them with letters of recommendation to the earl of Bedford. After the flight of the conspirators, the king thought it necessary for him to deny his having any share in the action. He therefore embraced an opportunity of declaring to the privy council his total ignorance of the conspiracy against Rizzio; and not satisfied with this, he, by public proclamations at the market-place of his capital, and over the whole kingdom, protested to the people at large, that he had never bestowed upon it, in any degree, the sanction of his command, consent, assistance, or approbation.

In the meantime the queen granted a full and ample pardon to the earls of Murray, Argyle, Glencairn, and Rothes, and their adherents; but towards the conspirators she remained inexorable. This lenity, to Murray especially, proved a source of the greatest uneasiness to the queen; for this nobleman, blind to every motive of action distinct from his own ambition, began to contrive new plots, which, though disappointed for a time, soon operated to the destruction of the queen, and almost to the ruin of the nation.

In 1569, the queen was delivered of a prince, who received the name of James. This happy event, however, did not extinguish the quarrel betwixt her and the king. His desire to intrude himself into her authority and to fix a stain upon her honour, his share in the murder of Rizzio, and his extreme meannesses in publicly denying it afterwards, could not fail to impress her with the strongest sentiments of detestation and contempt. Unable, however, totally to divest herself of regard for him, her behaviour, though cold and dilatory, was yet decent and respectful. Calcinatus, at this time ambassador extraordinary from France, conceived that a reconciliation might be effected, and employed himself some time in this friendly office. Nor were his endeavours altogether ineffectual. The king and queen spent two nights together; and proceeded, in company with each other, to Meggetland in Tweedale, in order to enjoy the diversion of the chase, attended by the earls of Huntley, Bothwell, Murray, and other nobles. From thence they passed to Edinburgh, and then took the road to Stirling. Had the king been endowed with any prudence, he would have made the best use of this opportunity to have regained the affections of his queen; but, instead of this, finding that he was not immediately intrusted with power, his peevishness suggested to him a design of going abroad. To Monsieur du Croc, the French resident, who had attended Mary at Stirling, he ventured to communicate his chimerical project. This statesman represented to him its wildness and inefficacy; and could hardly believe that he was serious. To his father the earl of Lennox, who paid him a visit at this place immediately upon Mary's departure from it, he likewise communicated his intention; and all the intrigues, arguments, and remonstrances of this nobleman, to make him drop his design, were without success. He provided a vessel, and kept it in readiness to carry him from his dominions. The earl of Lennox, after returning to Glasgow, where he usually resided, gave way to his paternal anxieties, and solicited the queen by letter to interfere with her authority and persuasions; and upon the evening of the day in which she received this dispatch, the king alighted at Holyrood-house. But the names of the nobles who were with the queen being announced to him, he objected to three of them, and insisted that they should be ordered to depart, before he would enter within the gates of the palace. The queen, alarmed with a demeanour so rude and so unwarrantable, condescended to leave her company and her palace to meet him; and it was with great difficulty that she was able to entice him into her own apartment. There he remained with her during the night. She communicated to him his father's letter, and employed every art and blandishment to engage him to explain his perverse design. But he gave her no return or satisfaction. He was unmoved with her kindness; and his silence, dejection, and peevishness, augmented her distresses. In the morning, she called her privy council to assemble in the palace, and invited to her Monsieur du Croc the French envoy. By the bishop of Ross she explained the intention of the king, and made known the dispatch of the earl of Lennox. The privy council were urgent to know the reasons of a voyage that appeared to them so inexplicable; and earnestly pressed the king to unburden himself. If his resolution proceeded from discontent, and if there were persons in the kingdom who had given him causes of offence, they assured him, that they were ready, upon his information, to take the necessary steps to make him easy and happy. No quality or rank should exempt those from inquiry and punishment who had committed misdemeanors against him. This, they said, confounded with his honour, with the honour of the queen, and with their own. If, however, he had received no sufficient provocation to justify his behaviour, and if he had no title to complain of actual injuries, they admonished him to remember, that his flight from a queen so beautiful, and from a kingdom so ancient and noble, would expose him to the greatest ridicule and disgrace. They pointed out the happiness of his fortune, and counselled him not to part lightly with all its flattering advantages. The queen herself, taking his hand into hers, and pressing it with affection, bethought him to say by what act or deed she had unfortunately induced him to conceive so fatal a purpose. Her memory did not reproach her with any crime or indiscretion which affected his honour or her integrity; yet if, without any design upon her part, she had incurred his displeasure, she was disposed to atone for it; and she begged him to speak with entire freedom, and not in any degree to spare her. Monsieur du Croc then addressed him, and employed his interest and persuasions to make him reveal his inquietudes. But all this respectful attention and ceremonious duty were ineffectual. Obstinate forward, he refused to confess that he intended any voyage, and made no mention of any reasons of discontent. He yet acknowledged with readiness, that he could not with justice accuse the queen of any injury or offence. Oppressed with uneasiness and perturbation, he prepared to retire; and, turning to her, said, "Adieu, Madam! you shall not see me for a long time." He then bowed to the French envoy, and to the lords of the privy council.

He hastened back to Stirling, leaving the queen and her council in surprise and astonishment. They resolved to watch his motions with anxiety, and could not conjecture what step he would take. Mary, to prevent the effect of rumours to her disadvantage, dispatched a courier to advertise the king of France and the queen-mother of his conduct. It was not possible that a prince so meanly endowed with ability, could make any impression upon her allies. Nor did it appear to be in his power to excite any domestic insurrection or disturbance. He was universally odious; and, at this time, the queen was in the highest estimation with the great body of her subjects. After passing some days at Stirling, he addressed a letter to the queen, in which, after hinting at his design of going abroad, he intimated his reasons of complaint. He was not trusted by her with authority; and she was no longer studious to advance him to honour. He was without attendants; and the nobility had deserted him. Her answer was sensible and temperate. She called to his remembrance the distinctions she had conferred upon him, the uses to which he had put the credit and reputation accruing from them, and the heinous offences he had encouraged in her subjects. Though the plotters against Rizzio had represented him as the leader of their enterprise, she had yet abstained from any accusation of him, and had even behaved as if she believed not his participation in the guilt of that project. As to the defects of his retinue, she had uniformly offered him the attendance of her own servants. As to the nobility, they were the supports of the throne, and independent of it. Their countenance was not to be commanded, but won. He had discovered too much flattery to them; and they were the proper judges of the deportment that became them. If he wished for consequence, it was his duty to pay them court and attention; and whenever he should procure and conciliate their regard and commendation, she would be happy to give him all the importance that belonged to him.

In the mean time, the earls of Murray and Bothwell were industriously striving to widen the breach between the king and queen, and at the same time to foment the division between the king and his nobles. The earl of Morton excited disturbances on the borders; and as no settled peace had taken place there since Mary's marriage, there was the greatest reason to believe that he would succeed in his attempts. Proclamations on this were issued by the queen to call her subjects to arms; and he proceeded to Jedburgh, to hold justice-courts, and to punish traitors and disorderly persons. In the course of this journey she was taken dangerously ill; infirmity that, believing her death to be at hand, she called for the bishop of Ross, telling him to bear witness, that she had persevered in that religion in which she had been nourished and brought up; taking the promise of her nobles, that after her death they would open her last will and testament, and pay the respect to it that consisted with the laws; recommending to them the rights of her infant-son, and the charge of educating him in such a manner as might enable him to rule the kingdom of his ancestors with honour; and intreating them to abstain from all cruelty and persecution of her Roman Catholic subjects. Notwithstanding her apprehensions, however, and the extreme violence of her distemper, the queen at last recovered perfect health. As soon as she was able to travel, she visited Kelso, Wark castle, Hume, Langton, and Wedderburn. The licentious borderers, on the first news of her recovery, laid down their arms. Being desirous to take a view of Berwick, the queen advanced to it with an attendance of 1000 horse. Sir John Forster, the deputy-warden of the English marches, came forth with a numerous retinue, and conducted her to the most proper station for surveying it, and paid her all the honours in his power by a full discharge of the artillery, and other demonstrations of joy. Continuing her journey, she passed to Ayemouth, Dunbar, and Tantallon; proceeding thence to Craigmillar castle, where she proposed to remain till the time of the baptism of the prince, which was soon to be celebrated at Stirling.

During the severe sickness of the queen, her husband kept himself at a distance; but when she was so far recovered as to be out of danger, he made his appearance; and being received with some coldness and formality, he retired suddenly to Stirling. This cruel neglect was a most sensible mortification to her; and while she suffered from his ingratitude and haughtiness, she was not without suspicions that he was attempting to disturb the tranquillity of her government. She was seized with a settled melancholy; and, in her anguish, often wished for death to put a period to her existence. Her nobles, who were caballing against her, remarked her condition, and took advantage of it. Bothwell, who had already recommended himself by his services, redoubled his efforts to heighten the favour which these services had induced her to conceive for him. At this time, it is probable, he sought to gain the affection of the queen, with a view to marry her himself, providing a divorce from her husband could be obtained, which was now become the subject of consultation by Murray and his associates. After much deliberation, the queen herself was acquainted with this project; and it was told her, that provided she would pardon the earl of Morton and his associates, the means should be found of effectuating the divorce. This was urged as a matter of state by the earls of Murray, Lethington, Argyle, and Huntley; and the queen was invited to consider it as an affair which might be managed without any interference on her part. The queen replied, that she would listen to them, upon condition that the divorce could be obtained according to the laws, and that it should not be any way prejudicial to her son; but if they meant to operate their purpose by a disregard to these points, they must not think any more of it; for rather than consent to their views, she would endure all the torments, ments, and abide by all the perils, to which her situation exposed her. The eagerness of the proposers of this scheme at last alarmed the queen with fears for her husband's safety. She imagined that they had a plot against his life; and therefore charged them to attempt nothing that would stain her honour or burden her conscience; expressed her fears, that what they might perform under the belief of advancing her prosperity, might provoke her displeasure, and turn to her hurt; and recommended it to them to allow matters to continue in their present condition, and to wait with resignation, till the wisdom of God should provide a remedy for her sufferings.

In the mean time preparations were made for the baptism of the young prince; to assist at which the queen left Craigmillar and went to Stirling. The ceremony was performed on the 17th of December 1566. After the baptismal rites were performed, the name and titles of the prince were three times proclaimed by the heralds to the sound of trumpets. He was called and designated, Charles James, James Charles, prince and Steward of Scotland, duke of Rothesay, earl of Carrick, lord of the Isles, and baron of Renfrew. Amidst the scenes of joy displayed on this occasion, the king showed his folly more than he had done before. As Elizabeth did not mean to acknowledge him in his sovereign capacity, it was neither consistent with the dignity of the queen, nor his own, that he should be present at the baptism. He did not indeed present himself either at the ceremony or the entertainments and masquerades with which it was accompanied. At this juncture, however, though he had often kept at a greater distance before, he took up his residence at Stirling, as if he had meant to offend the queen, and to expose their quarrels to the world. Du Croc, who was inclined to be favourable to him, was struck with the impropriety of his behaviour, that he affected to have instructions from France to avoid all intercourse with him; and when the king proposed to pay him a visit, he took the liberty to inform him, that there were two passages in his chamber; and that if his majesty should enter by the one, he should be constrained to go out by the other.

While he resided at Stirling, the king chiefly confined himself to his chamber. His strange behaviour to the queen did not give the public any favourable idea of him; and as the earl of Murray and his faction took care to augment the general odium, no court was paid to him by foreign ambassadors. His situation, therefore, was exceedingly uncomfortable; but though he must have been conscious of his imprudence and folly, he did not alter his conduct. In a sudden humour he left Stirling, and proceeded to Glasgow. Here he fell sick, with such symptoms as seemed to indicate poison. He was tormented with violent pains, and his body was all covered over with putrefaction of a bluish colour; so that his death was daily expected. Mary did not repay his coldness to her by negligence. She set out immediately for Glasgow, and waited on him with all the affluence of an affectionate wife until he recovered; after which she returned with him to Edinburgh; and as the low situation of the palace of Holyroodhouse was thought to render it unhealthy, the king was lodged in a house which had been appointed for the superior of the church, called St Mary's in Scotland. This house stood upon an high ground, and in a salubrious air; and here she staid with him some days. Here the conspirators thought proper to finish their plot in the most execrable manner. On the 10th of February 1567, about two o'clock in the morning, the house where the king resided was blown up by gunpowder. The explosion alarming the inhabitants, excited a general curiosity, and brought multitudes to the place from whence it proceeded. The king was found dead and naked in an adjoining field, with a servant who used to sleep in the same apartment with him. On neither was there any mark of fire or other external injury.

The queen was in the palace of Holyroodhouse, taking the diversion of a masked ball, when the news of the king's death was brought to her. She showed the utmost grief, and appeared exasperated to the last degree against the perpetrators of a deed at once so shocking and barbarous. The most express and peremptory orders were given to inquire after the perpetrators by every possible method. A proclamation was issued by the privy-council, assuring the people, that the queen and nobility would leave nothing undone to discover the murderers of the king. It offered the sum of 2000 l. and an annuity for life, to any person who should give information of the devisers, counsellors, and perpetrators of the murder; and it held out this reward, and the promise of a full pardon, to the conspirator who should make a free confession of his own guilt and that of the confederates. On the fourth day after this proclamation was published, a placard was affixed to the gate of the city-prison, affirming, that the earl Bothwell, James Balfour, David Chalmers, and black John Spencer, were the murderers. No name, however, was subscribed to this intelligence, nor was any demand made for the promised reward; so that it was difficult to know whether this advertisement had been dictated by a spirit of calumny or the love of justice.

In the mean time, the earl of Murray conducted himself with his usual circumspection and artifice. Upon a pretence that his wife was dangerously sick at the gulf his castle in Fife, he, the day before the murder, obtained the queen's permission to pay a visit to her. By this means he proposed to prevent all suspicion whatever of his guilt. He was so full, however, of the intended project, that while he was proceeding on his journey, he observed to the person who accompanied him, "This night, before morning, the lord Darnley shall lose his life." When the blow was struck, he returned to Edinburgh to carry on his practices. Among foreign nations, the domestic disputes of the queen and her husband being fully known, it was with the greater ease that reports could be propagated to her disadvantage. To France letters were dispatched, expressing, in fervent terms, her participation in the murder. In England, the ministers and courtiers of Elizabeth could not flatter that princess more agreeably, than by industriously detracting from the honour and the virtue of the Scottish queen. Within her own dominions a similar spirit of outrage exerted itself, and not without success. As her reconciliation with her husband could not be unknown to her own subjects, it was interpreted to be dissimulation and treachery. The Protestant clergy, who were her most determined enemies, possessed a leading direction among the populace; and they were the friends and the partizans of the earl of Murray. Open declamations from the pulpit were made against Bothwell, and strong insinuations and biting taunts were thrown out against the queen. Papers were dispersed, making her a party with Bothwell in the murder. Every art was employed to provoke the frenzy of the people. Voices, interrupting the silence of the night, proclaimed the infamy of Bothwell; and portraits of the regicides were circulated over the kingdom.

The queen's determination, however, to scrutinize into the matter was unabated; and to the earl of Lennox, the king's father, she paid an attention which he could only have expected from her upon an emergency of this kind. Having pressed her by letter to the most diligent inquiry after the regicides, she returned an answer so completely to his wishes, that he was fully convinced of the sincerity and rigour with which she intended to proceed against them; and he urged her to assemble the three estates, that their advice might direct the order and manner of their trial. She wrote to him, that an assembly of the estates was already proclaimed; and that it was her earnest and determined will and purpose, that no step should be neglected that could conduce to the advancement and execution of justice. Yielding to his anxieties, he addressed her anew, intreating that the trial might not be delayed; observing, that it was not a matter of parliamentary inquiry; advising, that it would be more proper to proceed to it with the greatest expedition; and urging her to commit to prison all the persons who had been named and described in the papers and placards which had been set up in the public places of the city. The queen informed him, that although she had thought it expedient to call a meeting of the parliament at this juncture, it was not her meaning that the proceedings against the regicides should be delayed till it was actually assembled. As to the placards and papers to which he alluded, they were so numerous and contradictory, that she could not well determine upon which to act: but if he would condescend to mention the names which, in his opinion, were most suspicious, she would instantly command that those steps should be taken which the laws directed and authorized. He in return named the earl of Bothwell, James Balfour, David Chalmers, black John Spence, Francis Sebastian, John de Burdeaux, and Joseph the brother of David Rizzio; and assured her majesty, that his suspicions of these persons were weighty and strong. In reply to his information, Mary gave him her solemn promise, that the persons he had pointed out should abide and undergo their trial in conformity to the laws, and that they should be punished according to the measure of their guilt: and she invited him to leave immediately his retirement, and to meet her at her court, that he might witness the proceedings against them, and the zeal with which she was animated to perform the part that became her.

While the queen carried on this correspondence with the earl of Lennox, she resided partly at the palace of the lord Seton, at the distance of a few miles from her capital, and partly at Holyroodhouse. By the time that she sent her invitation to him she was residing in her capital. She delayed not to confer with her counsellors, and to lay before them the letters of the earl of Lennox. Bothwell was earnest in his protestations of innocence; and he even expressed his wish for a trial, that he might establish his integrity. No facts pointed to his guilt; there had appeared no accuser but the earl of Lennox; and no witnesses had been found who could establish his criminality. Her privy council seemed to her to be firmly persuaded that he was suffering under the malice of defamation. Murray, Morton, and Lethington, whatever might be their private machinations, were publicly his most strenuous defenders; and they explained the behaviour of the earl of Lennox to be the effect of hatred and jealousy, against a nobleman who had outrun him so far in the career of ambition. But though all the arts of Murray and Bothwell, Morton and Lethington, were exerted to their utmost extent to mislead the queen, they were not able to withhold her from adopting the strain of conduct which was the most proper and the most honourable to her. It was her own ardent desire that the regicides should be punished; she had given her solemn promise to the earl of Lennox, that the persons whom he suspected should be prosecuted; and amidst all the appearances in the favour of Bothwell, and all the influence employed to serve him, it is to be regarded as a striking proof of her honour, vigour, and ability, that she could accomplish this measure. An order, accordingly, of the privy-council was made, which directed, that the earl of Bothwell, and all the persons named by Lennox, should be put to the knowledge of an assize for the murder of the king, and that the laws of the land should be carried into full execution. The day of the trial was appointed. A general invitation was given to all persons whatsoever to prefer their accusations. And it is in the earl of Lennox was formally cited to do himself justice, by appearing in the high court of judicature, and by coming forward to make known the guilt of the culprits.

In the mean time, it was proper to repress that spirit of outrage that had manifested itself against the queen. No discoveries, however, were made, except against James Murray, brother to Sir William Murray of Tullibardine, who, at different times, had published placards injurious to her. He was charged to appear before the privy-council; but refusing to obey its citation, it was made a capital offence for any commander of a vessel to convey him out of the kingdom; and the resolution was taken to punish him with an exemplary severity. Effecting, however, his escape, he avoided the punishment due to his repeated and detestable acts of calumny and treason.

The day for the trial of Bothwell approached. The conspirators, notwithstanding their power, were not without apprehensions. Their preparations, however, for their safety had been anxious; and, among other practices, they neglected not to attempt to throw a panic into the earl of Lennox. They were favoured by his consciousness of his unpopularity and his want of strength, by his timidity and his spirit of jealousy. Suspicions of the queen's guilt were infused into him; and the dangers to which he might be exposed by insisting on the trial, were set before him in the strongest This remonstrance and protestation appeared not to the court of sufficient importance to interrupt the trial. They paid a greater respect to the letters of the earl of Lennox to the queen insisting upon an immediate prosecution, and to the order of the privy council consequent upon them. The jury, who consisted of men of rank and condition, after considering and reasoning upon the indictment for a considerable time, were unanimous in acquitting Bothwell of all share and knowledge of the king's murder. The earl quitted.

Of Caithness, however, the chancellor of the affize, made a declaration in their name and his own, that no willful error ought to be imputed to them for their verdict; no proof, vouchers, or evidence to confirm or support the criminal charge, having been submitted to them. At the same time he offered a protestation for himself, that there was a mistake in the indictment, the 9th day of February instead of the 10th being expressed in it as the date of the murder. It is not to be doubted, but that this flaw in the indictment was a matter of design, and with a view to the advantage of Bothwell, if the earl of Lennox had made his appearance against him. And it has been remarked as most indecent and suspicious, that soldiers in arms should have accompanied him to the court of justice; that during the trial, the earl of Morton stood by his side to give him countenance and to assist him; and that the four assassins to the chief juricar were warm and strenuous friends to the earl of Murray.

Immediately after his trial, Bothwell set up in a conspicuous place a writing, subscribed by him, challenging to single combat, any person of equal rank with himself, who should dare to affirm that he was guilty of the king's murder. To this challenge an answer was published, in which the defiance was accepted, upon the condition that security should be given for a fair and equal conflict: but no name being subscribed to this paper, it was not understood to correspond with the law of arms; and of consequence no step was taken for the fighting of the duel. Two days after, the parliament met, and there the party of Bothwell appeared equally formidable. The verdict in his favour was allowed to be true and just. He was continued in his high offices; and obtained a parliamentary ratification of the place of keeper of Dunbar castle with the estates in connection with it; and other favours were conferred upon Murray, with the rest of the nobles suspected as accomplices in the murder.

A very short time after the final acquittal of Bothwell, he began to give a greater loose to his ambition, and conceived hopes of gaining the queen in rise with marriage. It has been already remarked, that he the queen had infidiously endeavoured to gain her affection during the lifetime of her husband; but though he might have succeeded in this, the recent death of the king in such a shocking manner, and the strong suspicions which must necessarily still rest upon him notwithstanding the trials he had undergone, necessarily prevented him from making his addresses openly to her. He therefore endeavoured to gain the nobility over to his side; which having done one by one, by means of great promises, he invited them to an entertainment, where they agreed to ratify a deed pointing him out to the queen as a person worthy of her hand. hand, and expressing their resolute determination to support him in his pretensions. This extraordinary bond was accordingly executed; but in the mean time the earl of Murray, that he might appear to be disengaged from the present intrigues, had asked permission from the queen to go to France. In his way thither he visited the court of Elizabeth, where he did not fail to confirm all the reports which had arisen to the disadvantage of Mary; and he now circulated the intelligence that she was soon to be married to Bothwell. As this rumour preceded the subscription of the bond by the nobility, it was thus intended to fix the greater reproach on the queen, and to give strength to all the wildest suspicions which had gone abroad to her disadvantage. Her partizans in England were exceedingly alarmed; and even queen Elizabeth herself addressed a letter to her, in which she cautioned her not to afford such a mischievous handle to the malice of her enemies.

Mary, upon the dissolution of the parliament, had gone to Stirling to visit the young prince. Bothwell, armed with the bond of the nobles, assembled 1000 horse, under the pretence of protecting the borders of which he was the warden; and meeting her upon her return to her capital, dismissed her attendants, and carried her to his castle of Dunbar. To prevent interruption and bloodshed, and with a view to stop inquiry for a time, he had ordered his officers to inform Sir James Melvil and the gentlemen of her retinue, that what he did was in obedience to her command. The sense of his guilt, danger of discovery, hope, desire, and ambition, all concurred to give the firmest determination to his purposes. The queen was now his prisoner; and he must win her or be undone.

An outrage so unexpected, so daring, and from a subject so faithful and submissive, filled Mary with indignation and surprise. She loaded him with reproaches, called to his mind all the favours she had bestowed upon him, and wondered at that vileness of ingratitude which could permit him to be so rude and hostile to her. He intreated her pardon in the most humble terms; and fought to soften and remove her resentment and apprehensions by the timid respectfulness of his behaviour. He told her of the vehemency of his love, and of the malice of his enemies. He imputed his enterprise to these motives; and conjured her to condescend to take him for her husband, and to afford him that assurance of her favour, as it alone was sufficient to protect him. He protested, that his happiness was to devote his life to her; and that the only sovereignty he coveted was to serve and obey her with the most unremitting zeal and the fondest attachment. Having advanced this suit and offer, he communicated to her the bond of the nobles, and displayed its recommendations and promises. Her amazement was infinite. She perceived that he had gained to him the principal men of her kingdom. She was his prisoner; and no inquiries were made for her. She had no counsellor and no friend, with whom to consult; and there was no prospect of an insurrection in her favour (a).

In this helpless situation the queen was overcome by his persuasions, and gave him her promise that he should be her husband. The artful Bothwell knew too well that a promise obtained in this manner would in all probability be retracted as soon as the queen was set at liberty; especially as he had been married only six months before to Lady Jane Gordon, sister to the earl of Huntley. He now availed himself of the arts of seduction, of which he was a great master; and having persuaded the queen to yield to his desires, the performing of the ceremonial of marriage became indispensably necessary. Towards the accomplishment of this, a divorce from his lawful wife was first to be procured; and this was soon obtained. The parties were cousins within the prohibited degrees, and had not obtained a dispensation from Rome. Their marriage, therefore, in the opinion of the queen and her Roman-Catholic subjects, was illicit, and a profane mockery of the sacrament of the church. The husband had also been unfaithful; so that two actions of divorce were instituted. The lady commenced a suit against him in the court of the commissaries, from his charging him as guilty of adultery with one of her maids. The earl himself brought a suit against his wife before the court of the archbishop of St Andrews, upon the plea of consanguinity. By both courts their marriage was decided to be void; and thus two sentences of divorce were pronounced.

Bothwell now conducted the queen from Dunbar to her capital. But instead of attending her to her palace of Holyrood-house, his jealousy and apprehensions induced him to lodge her in the castle of Edinburgh, where he could hold her in security against any attempt of his enemies. To give satisfaction, however, to her people, and to convince them that she was no longer a prisoner, a public declaration upon her part appeared to be a measure of expediency. She presented herself, therefore, in the court of session; the lords chancellor and president, the judges, and other persons of distinction, being present. After observing that some stop had been put to the administration of justice upon account of her being detained at Dunbar against her will by the lord Bothwell, she declared, that though she had been highly offended with the outrage offered to her, she was yet inclined to forget it. His courteousness, the sense she entertained of his past services to the state, and the hope with which she was impressed of his zeal and activity in the future, compelled her to give him and his accomplices in her imprisonment.

(a) Spotiswood, p. 202. Copying Buchanan, a very inadequate authority, has said, that her nobles sent her a message, informing her that they would come with an army to her deliverance; and that she refused their offer. Mr Hume and other writers have adopted these mistakes. But nothing could be farther from the intention of the faction of Murray and Morton than to give her any assistance; and their power was now so formidable, as to prevent every interference in her behalf from any other quarter. This offer is also inconsistent altogether with the bond subscribed by the nobility; and Murray and his party never affirmed that any such message had been sent. Indeed, from the nature of the fact, its certainty would have been established beyond a doubt by the enemies of Mary, if it had been real; and, in this view of the matter, she could not have ventured to insert in her public instructions to her ambassador at Paris this expressive passage: "We saw no appearance to be rid of him (Bothwell), never man in Scotland making an attempt to procure our deliverance." Keith, p. 390. prisonment a full and complete pardon. She at the same time desired them to take notice, that she was now at her freedom and liberty; and that the proposal, in consideration of his merits, to take an early opportunity to promote him to new and distinguished honours.

It was understood that the queen was immediately to advance him to be her husband. The order was given for the proclamation of the bans; and Mr John Craig, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, was desired to perform this business. But though the order was subscribed by the queen, he refused absolutely his compliance without the authority of the church. The brethren, after long reasonings, granted him permission to discharge this duty. His scruples, notwithstanding, and delicacy, were not yet removed. He protested, that, in obeying their desire, he should be allowed to speak his own sentiments concerning the marriage, and that his publishing the bans should infer no obligation in him to officiate in the solemnity. In his congregation, accordingly, before a crowded audience, and in the presence of several noblemen and privy counsellors, he declared that the marriage of the queen and the earl of Bothwell was unlawful, and that he was prepared to give his reasons for this opinion to the parties themselves. He added, that if leave to do this was denied him, he would either abstain altogether from proclaiming the bans, or take the liberty, after proclaiming them, to inform his people of the causes of his disapprobation of the marriage. He was carried before the lords of the privy-council; and the earl of Bothwell called upon him to explain his behaviour. He answered, that the church had prohibited the marriage of persons separated for adultery; and that the divorce between him and his wife must have been owing to collusion; since the sentence had been given with precipitation, and since his new contract was to be broken; and he objected to him the abduction and ravishment of the queen, and the suspicion of his guilt in the king's murder. This bold language drew no reply from Bothwell that was satisfactory to Mr Craig, or that could intimidate him. He proclaimed in his church the bans of the marriage; but he told the congregation, that he discharged the suggestions of his conscience in pronouncing it to be a detestable and scandalous engagement. He expressed the sorrow he felt for the conduct of the nobility, who seemed to approve it from their flattery or silence; and addressing himself to the faithful, he bethought them to pray to the Almighty, that he would turn a resolution intended against law, reason, and religion, into a comfort and benefit to the church and the kingdom. These freedoms were too great to pass unnoticed. Mr Craig was ordered anew to attend the privy council; and he was reprimanded with severity for exceeding the bounds of his commission. He had the courage to defend himself. His commission, he said, was founded in the word of God, positive law, and natural reason; and upon the foundation of these topics he was about to prove that the marriage must be universally foul and odious, when the earl of Bothwell commanded him to be silent. The privy-council, struck with the vigour of the man, and apprehensive of the public discontent, did not dare to inflict any punishment upon him; and this victory over Bothwell, while it heightened all the suspicions against him, served to encourage the enemies of the queen, and to undermine the respect of her subjects.

Mary, before she rendered her hand to Bothwell, created him duke of Orkney. The ceremony was performed in a private manner after the rules of the parish church; but, to gratify the people, it was likewise solemnized publicly according to the Protestant rites by Adam Bothwell bishop of Orkney, and an ecclesiastic who had renounced the Episcopal order for the reformation. It was celebrated with little pomp and festivity. Many of the nobles had retired to their seats in the country; and those who attended were thoughtful and sad. Du Croe, the French ambassador, sensible that the match would be displeasing to his court, refused to give his countenance to the solemnity. There were no acclamations of the common people. Mary herself was not unconscious of the imprudence of the choice she had made, and looked back with surprise and sorrow to the train of circumstances which had conducted her to this fatal event. Forsaken by her nobles, and imprisoned at Dunbar, she was in perilous a situation that no remedy could save her honour but death. Her marriage was the immediate and necessary consequence of that situation (n). It was the point for which her enemies had laboured with a wicked and relentless policy.

Mary was unfortunate in her first marriage, but much more so in her second. Bothwell had neither talents for business nor affection for his wife. Ambitious and jealous to the last degree, he sought only to establish himself in power, while his tears and jealousies made him take the most improper means. The marriage had already thrown the nation into a ferment; and the least improper exercise of power, or indeed an appearance of it, even on the part of the queen, would be sufficient to ruin them both forever. Perhaps the only thing which at this juncture could have pacified the people, would have been the total abolition of Popery, which they had often required. But this was not thought of. Instead of taking any step to please the people, Bothwell endeavoured to force Bothwell at the earl of Marr to deliver up the young prince to his temple to custody. This was sufficient to make the flame, which had hitherto been smothered, break out with all its violence. It was universally believed that Bothwell, his power, who had been the murderer of the father, designed to take

(n) "The queen (says Melvill) could not but marry him, seeing he had ravished her and lain with her against her will." Memoirs, p. 159. In the following passage, from an historian of great authority, in our history, this topic is touched with no less exactness, but with greater delicacy. "After Mary had remained a fortnight under the power of a daring profligate adventurer, says lord Hailes, five foreign princes would have solicited her hand. Some of her subjects might still have fought that honour; but her compliance would have been humiliating beyond measure. It would have left her at the mercy of a capricious husband; it would have exposed her to the disgrace of being reproached, in some furlong hour, for the adventure at Dunbar. Mary was so situated, at this critical period, that she was reduced to this horrid alternative, either to remain in a friendless and hazardous celibacy, or to yield her hand to Bothwell." Remarks on the History of Scotland, p. 204. take away the life of the son also, and the queen was thought to participate in all his crimes. The earl of Murray now took advantage of the queen's unfortunate situation to aggravate himself and effect her ruin. After having visited the English court, he proceeded to France, where he assiduously disseminated all the reports against the queen which were injurious to her reputation; and where, without being exposed to suspicion, he was able to maintain a close correspondence with his friends Morton and Lethington, and to inspirit their machinations. His associates, true to his ambition and their own, had promoted all the schemes of Bothwell upon the queen with a power and influence which had injured their success. In confederacy with the earl of Murray himself, they had conspired with him to murder the king. Afflicted with the weight of the earl of Murray, they had managed his trial, and operated the verdict which acquitted him. By the same arts, and with the same views, they had joined with him to procure the bond of the nobles recommending him to the queen as a husband, afflicting his integrity and innocence, recounting his noble qualities, expressing an unalterable resolution to support the marriage against every opposer and adversary, and recording a wish that a defection from its objects and purposes should be branded with everlasting ignominy, and held out as a most faithless and perjured treachery. When the end, however, was accomplished for which they had been so zealous, and when the marriage of the queen was actually celebrated, they laid aside the pretence of friendship, and were in haste to entitle themselves to the ignominy which they had invited to fall upon them. The murder of the king, the guilt of Bothwell, his acquittal, his divorce, and his marriage, became the topics of their complaints and declamation. Upon the foundation of this hated marriage, they even ventured privately to infer the privy of the queen to all his iniquity and transgressions; and this step seemed doubtless, to the mass of her own subjects and to more distant observers, a strong confirmation of all the former suspicions to her shame which had been circulated with so much artifice. Their imputations and devices excited against her, both at home and abroad, the most indignant and humiliating odium. Amidst the ruins of her fame, they thought to bury forever her tranquillity and peace; and in the convulsions they had meditated, they already were anticipating the downfall of Bothwell, and snatching at the crown that tottered on her head.

But while this cabal were prosecuting their private interests, several noblemen, not less remarkable for their virtue than their rank, were eager to vindicate the national integrity and honour. The earl of Athol, upon the king's murder, had retired from the court, and was waiting for a proper season to take revenge upon the regicides. The earl of Marre, uneasy under the charge of the young prince, was solicitous to make himself strong, that he might guard him from injury. Motives so patriotic and honourable drew applause and partizans. It was sufficient to mention them. By private conference and debate, an association was indefensibly formed to punish the murderers of the king, and to protect the person of the prince. Morton and Lethington encouraged and prospered a combination from which they might derive so much advantage. A convention, accordingly, was appointed at Stirling, for the purpose of consulting upon the measures which it was most expedient to pursue. They agreed to take an early opportunity to appear in the field; and when they separated, it was to collect their retainers, and to inspirit their passions.

Of this confederacy, the leading men were the earls of Argyle, Athol, Morton, Marre, and Glencairn; the lords Hume, Semple, and Lindsay; the barons Kirkaldy of Grange, Murray of Tullibardine, and Maitland of Lethington. The earl of Bothwell was sensible, that if he was to sit upon a throne, he must wade to it through blood. By his advice, two proclamations were issued in the name of the queen, under the pretence of suppressing insurrections and depredations upon the borders. By the former, she called together in arms, upon an early day, the earls, barons, and freeholders of the districts of Forfar and Perth, Strathern and Menteith, Clackmannan, Kinross, and Fife. By the latter, she charged the greater and lesser baronage, with all the inferior proprietors of the shires of Linlithgow and Edinburgh, and the constabulary of Haddington and Berwick, to prepare immediately for war, and to keep themselves in readiness to march upon her order. These military preparations admonished the association to be firm and active, and added to the public inquietudes and discontents. The rumours against the queen were most inclement and loud. It was said, that she meant to overturn the constitution and the laws; that she had been careless of the health of her son, and was altogether indifferent about his preservation; that she had separated herself from the councils and assistance of her nobles; and that she wished to make her whim or discretion the only rule of her government. Agitated with the hazardous state of her affairs, she published a new proclamation, in which she employed herself to refute these accusations; and in which she took the opportunity to express, in a very forcible manner, not only her attachment to her people and the laws, but the fond affection that she bore to the prince, whom she considered as the chief joy of her life, and without whom all her days would be comfortless.

The declarations of the queen were treated with scorn. The nobles, abounding in vassals, and having the hearts of the people, were soon in a situation to take the field. They were advancing to the capital. The royal army was not yet assembled; and the queen and Bothwell suspected that the castle of Edinburgh would shut its gates upon them. The fidelity of Sir James Balfour the deputy-governor had been flaggered by the practices of the earl of Marre and Sir James Melvil. Mary left her palace of Holyrood-house, and was conducted to Borthwick castle. The associated lords, informed of her flight, took the road to this fort. But he obliged them with 2000 horse. The lord Hume, by a rapid gallop to Dunbar, presented himself before it with the division under his command: but being unable to guard all its avenues, the queen and Bothwell effected their escape to Dunbar; where the strength of the fortifications gave them a full security against a surprize.

Upon this second disappointment, the nobles resolved to enter Edinburgh, and to augment their strength by new partizans. The earl of Huntley and the lord Boyd were here on the side of the queen, with the archbishop of St Andrew's, the bishop of Ross, and the... Scotland, the abbot of Kilwinning. They endeavoured to animate the inhabitants to defend their town and the cause of their sovereign. But the tide of popularity was favourable to the confederated lords. The magistrates ordered the gates of the city to be shut; but no farther resistance was intended. The lords, forcing St Mary's port, found an easy admittance, and took possession of the capital. The earl of Huntley and the queen's friends fled to the castle, to Sir James Balfour, who had been the confident of Bothwell, and who agreed to protect them, although he was now concluding a treaty with the insurgents.

The associated lords now formed themselves into a council, and circulated a proclamation. By this paper they declared, that the queen being detained in captivity, was neither able to govern her realm, nor to command a proper trial to be taken of the king's murder. In an emergency so pressing, they had not despaired of their country; but were determined to deliver the queen from bondage, to protest the person of the prince, to revenge the murder of the king, and to vindicate the nation from the infamy it had hitherto suffered through the impunity of the regicides. They therefore commanded in general all the subjects of Scotland whatsoever, and the burgesses and inhabitants of Edinburgh in particular, to take a part with them, and to join in the advancement of purposes so beneficial and salutary. The day after they had published this proclamation, they issued another in terms that were stronger and more resolute. They definitely expressed their persuasion of Bothwell's guilt in the rape and seduction of the queen, and in his perpetration of the king's murder, in order to accomplish his marriage. They incited it as their firm opinion, that Bothwell was now instigated with a design to murder the young prince, and that he was collecting troops with this view. Addressing themselves, therefore, to all the subjects of the realm, whether they resided in counties or in boroughs, they invited them to come forward to their standards; and desired them to remember, that all persons who should presume to disobey them, should be treated as enemies and traitors.

Bothwell, in the mean time, was not inactive; and the proclamations of the queen had brought many of her vassals to her assistance. Four thousand combatants ranged themselves on her side. This force might augment as she approached to her capital; and Bothwell was impatient to put his fortunes to the issue of a battle. He left the strong castle of Dunbar, where the nobles were not prepared to assail him, and where he might have remained in safety till they dispersed themselves. For their proclamations were not so successful as they had expected; their provisions and stores were scanty; and the zeal of the common people, unsupported by prosperity, would soon have abated. Imprudent precipitation served them in a most effectual manner. When the queen had reached Gladsmoor, she ordered a manifesto to be read to her army, and to be circulated among her subjects. By this paper, she replied to the proclamations of the confederated nobles, and charged them with treachery and rebellion. She treated their reasons of hostility as mere pretences, and as inventions which could not bear to be examined. As to the king's murder, she protested, that she herself was fully determined to revenge it, if she could be so fortunate as to discover its perpetrators. With regard to the bondage from which they were so desirous to relieve her, she observed, that it was a falsehood so notorious, that the simplest of her subjects could confute it; for her marriage had been celebrated in a public manner, and the nobles could hardly have forgotten that they had subscribed a bond recommending Bothwell to be her husband. With regard to the industrious defamations of this nobleman, it was urged, that he had discovered the utmost solicitude to establish his innocence. He had invited a scrutiny into his guilt; the justice of his country had absolved him; the three estates assembled in parliament were satisfied with the proceedings of his judges and jury; and he had offered to maintain his quarrel against any person whatsoever who was equal to him in rank and of an honest reputation. The nobles, she said, to give a fair appearance to their treason, pretended, that Bothwell had schemed the destruction of the prince, and that they were in arms to protect him. The prince, however, was actually in their own custody; the use they made of him was that of a screen to their perfidiousness; and the real purposes with which they were animated, were the overthrow of her greatness, the ruin of her posterity, and the usurpation of the royal authority. She therefore intreated the aid of her faithful subjects; and as the prize of their valorous service, she held out to them the estates and possessions of the rebels.

The associated nobles, pleased at the approach of the queen, put themselves in motion. In the city of Edinburgh they had gathered an addition to their force; and it happened that the Scottish officer who commanded the companies, which, in this period, the king of Denmark was permitted to enlist in Scotland, had been gained to assist them. He had just completed his levies; and he turned them against the queen. The nobles, after advancing to Musselburgh, refreshed their troops. Intelligence was brought that the queen was upon her march. The two armies were nearly equal in numbers; but the preference in point of arms and discipline, belonged decisively to the followers of the nobles. The queen posted herself on the top of Carberry hill. The lords, taking a circuit to humour the ground, seemed to be retreating to Dalkeith; but wheeling about, they approached to give her battle. They were ranged in two divisions. The one was commanded by the earl of Morton and the lord Hume. The other was directed by the earls of Athol, Marr, and Glencairn, with the lords Lindsay, Ruthven, Sempill, and Sanquhar. Bothwell was the leader of the royal forces; and there served under him the lords Seton, Yester, and Borthwick.

It was not without apprehensions that Mary surveyed the formidable appearance of her enemies. Do Croce, the French ambassador, hastened to interpose his good offices, and to attempt an accommodation. He assured the nobles of the peaceful inclinations of the queen; and that the generosity of her nature disposed her not only to forgive their present insurrection, but to forget all their former transgressions. The earl of Morton informed him, that they had not armed themselves against the queen, but against the murderer of the late king; and that if she would surrender him to to them, or command him to leave her, they would consent to return to their duty. The earl of Glencairn desired him to observe, that the extremity to which they had proceeded might have instructed him that they meant not to ask pardon for any offences they had committed, but that they were resolved to take cognizance of injuries which had provoked their displeasure. This aspiring language confounded Du Croc, who had been accustomed to the worshipful submissions that are paid to a despot. He conceived that all negociation was fruitless, and withdrew from the field in the expectation that the sword would immediately give its law and determine every difference.

Mary was full of perturbation and distress. The state into which she had been brought by Bothwell did not fail to engage her serious reflection. It was with infinite regret that she considered the consequences of her situation at Dunbar. Nor had his behaviour since her marriage contributed to allay her inquietudes. The violence of his passions, his suspicions, and his guilt, had induced him to surround her with his creatures, and to treat her with insult and indignity. She had been almost constantly in tears. His demeanor, which was generally rude and indecent, was often savage and brutal. At different times his provocations were so insulting, that she had even attempted to arm her hand against her life, and was furious to relieve her wretchedness by spilling her blood. Upon his account, she was now encompassed with dangers. Her crown was in hazard. Under unhappy agitations, she rode through the ranks of her army, and found her soldiers dispirited. Whatever respect they might entertain for her, they had none for her husband. His own retainers and dependents only were willing to fight for him. He endeavoured to awaken the royal army to valour, by throwing down the gauntlet of defiance against any of his adversaries who should dare to encounter him. His challenge was instantly accepted by Kirkaldy of Grange, and by Murray of Tullibardine. He objected that they were not peers. The lord Lindsay discovered the greatest impatience to engage him, and his offer was admitted; but the queen interposing her prerogative, prohibited the combat. All the pride and hopes of Bothwell sunk within him. His soldiers in small parties were secretly abandoning their standards. It was equally perilous to the queen to fight or to fly. The expedient most prudent for her was to capitulate. She desired to confer with Kirkaldy of Grange, who remonstrated to her against the guilt and wickedness of Bothwell, and counselled her to abandon him. She expressed her willingness to dismiss him upon the condition that the lords would acknowledge their allegiance and continue in it. Kirkaldy passed to the nobles, and received their authority to assure her that they would honour, serve, and obey her as their princess and sovereign. He communicated this intelligence to her. She advised Bothwell to provide for his safety by flight; and Kirkaldy admonished him not to neglect this opportunity of effecting his escape. Overwhelmed with shame, disappointment, terror, remorse, and despair, this miserable victim of ambition and guilt turned his eyes to her for the last time. To Kirkaldy of Grange she stretched out her hand; he kissed it; and taking the bridle of her horse, conducted her towards the nobles. They were approaching her with becoming reverence. She said to them, "I am come, my lords, to express my respect, and to conclude our agreement; I am ready to be instructed by the wisdom of your counsels; and I am confident that you will treat me as your sovereign." The earl of Morton, in the name of the confederacy, ratified their promises, and addressed rebels in these words: "Madam, you are here among us in your proper place; and we will pay to you as much honour, service, and obedience, as ever in any former period was offered by the nobility to the princes your predecessors."

This gleam of sunshine was soon overcast. She remained not many hours in the camp, till the common soldiers, instigated by her enemies, presumed to insult her with the most unseemly reproaches. They exclaimed indignantly against her as the murderer of her husband. They reviled her as a lewd adulteress, in the most open manner, and in a language the most coarse and the most opprobrious. Her nobility forgot their promises, and seemed to have neither honour nor humanity. She had changed one miserable scene for another that was deeper and more hopeless. They surrounded her with guards, and conducted her to her capital. She was carried along its streets, and shown to her people in captivity and sadness. She cried out to them to commiserate and protect her. They withheld their pity, and afforded her no protection. Even new insults were offered to her. The lowest of the populace, whom the declamations of the clergy had driven into rage and madness, vied with the folly in the licentious outrage of invective and execration. She besought Maitland to solicit the lords to repel the insupportable atrocity of her treatment. She conjured him to let them know, that she would submit herself implicitly to the determination of the parliament. Her intrigues and her sufferings made no impression upon the nobles. They continued the savage cruelty of their demeanour. She implored, as the last request she would prefer to them, that they would lend her to her palace. This consolation, too, was refused to her. They wished to accustom her subjects to behold her in disgrace, and to teach them to take a triumph in her miseries. In the most mortified and afflicting hour she had ever experienced, oppressed with fatigue, and disfigured with dust and sorrow, they shut her up in the house of the lord provost; leaving her to revolve in her anxious and agitated mind the indignities she had already endured, and to suffer in anticipation the calamities they might yet inflict upon her.

The malice of Morton and his adherents was still far from being gratified. In the morning, when the queen looked from the window of the apartment to which she had been confined, she perceived a white banner displayed in such a manner as to fix her attention. There was delineated upon it the body of the late king, stretched at the foot of a tree, and the prince upon his knees before it, with a label from his mouth containing this prayer, "Judge and revenge my cause, O Lord!" This abominable banner revived all the bitterness of her afflictions. The curiosity of the people drew them to a scene so new and so affecting. She exclaimed against the treachery of her nobles; and she begged the spectators to relieve her from their tyranny. The eventful story of the preceding day had thrown her capital into a ferment. The citizens of a better condition crowded to behold the degraded majesty of their sovereign. Her state of humiliation, so opposite to the grandeur from which she had fallen, moved them with compassion and sympathy. They heard her tale, and were filled with indignation. Her lamentations, her disorder, her beauty, all stimulated their ardour for her deliverance. It was announced to the nobles, that the tide of popular favour had turned towards the queen. They hastened to appear before her, and to assure her, with smiles and courtesy, that they were immediately to conduct her to her palace, and to re-establish her in her royalty. Imposing upon her credulous nature, and that beautiful humanity which characterized her even in the most melancholy situations of her life, they prevailed with her to inform the people, that she was pacified, and that she wished them to disperse themselves. They separated in obedience to her desire. The nobles now conveyed her to Holyroodhouse. But nothing could be farther from their intentions than her re-establishment in liberty and grandeur. They held a council, in which they deliberated concerning the manner in which they ought to dispose of her. It was resolved, that she should be confined during her life in the fortress of Lochleven; and they subscribed an order for her commitment.

A resolution so sudden, so perfidious, and so tyrannical, filled Mary with the utmost astonishment, and drew from her the most bitter complaints and exclamations. Kircaldy of Grange, perceiving with surprise the lengths to which the nobles had proceeded, felt his honour take the alarm for the part he had acted at their desire. He expostulated with them upon their breach of trust, and censured the extreme rigour of the queen's treatment. They counselled him to rely upon the integrity of their motives; spoke of her passion for Bothwell as most vehement, and insisted on the danger of intrusting her with power. He was not convinced by their speeches; and earnestly recommended lenient and moderate measures. Discreet admonitions, he said, could not fail of impressing her with a full sense of the hazards and inconveniences of an improper passion, and a little time would cure her of it. They assured him, that when it appeared that she detested Bothwell, and had utterly abandoned his interests, they would think of kindness and moderation. But this, they urged, could hardly be expected; for they had recently intercepted a letter from a forgery of her to this nobleman, in which she expressed, in the most glowing terms, the warmth of her love, and her fixed purpose never to forsake him (a). Kircaldy was desired to peruse this letter; and he pressed them no longer with his remonstrances. The queen, in the meantime, sent a message to this generous soldier, complaining of the cruelty of her nobles, and reminding him that they had violated their engagements. He instantly addressed an answer to it, recounting the reproaches he had made to them; stating his advice; describing the surprize with which he had read her intercepted letter; and conjuring her to renounce and forget a most wicked and flagitious man, and, by this victory over herself, to regain the love and respect of her subjects. The device of a letter from her to Bothwell completed the amazement of the queen. So unprincipled a contempt of every thing that is most sacred, so barbarous a perseverance in perfidiousness and injustice, extinguished every sentiment of hope in her bosom. She conceived that she was doomed to inevitable destruction, and sunk under a pang of unutterable anguish.

The Lords Ruthven and Lindsay arrived in this paroxysm of her distress, to inform her, that they were commanded to put in execution the order for her confinement. They charged her women to take from her all her ornaments and her royal attire. A mean dress was put upon her; and in this disguise they conveyed her with precipitation to the prison appointed for her. The lords Seton, Yeild, and Borthwick, thought to have rescued her, but failed in the attempt. She was delivered over to William Douglas the governor of the castle of Lochleven, whom they enjoined to detain her in close custody. In this castle, which was situated in the middle of a lake, Mary could not easily contrive to carry on a correspondence with her friends. Douglas the governor was nearly related to the earl of Morton; and had married the mother of the earl of Murray, a woman of an imperious temper, who had been the concubine of James V., but who fancied herself to have been his queen, and that her son was the true heir of the Scottish monarchy. The fidelity of such keepers could not well be shaken; and the earl of Morton and his adherents found a malignant joy in reflecting, that here she would not only experience the common severities and languors of a prison, but be exposed to the bitter mortification of studied insults and neglects.

Upon the same day on which the nobles subscribed the order for the imprisonment of the queen, they entered into a bond of concurrence or confederacy. By this deed they bound and cemented themselves into a body for the strenuous prosecution of their quarrel; and it detailed the purposes which they were to forward and pursue. They proposed to punish the murderers of the king, to examine into the queen's rape, to dissolve her marriage, to preserve her from the bondage of the nobles.

(a) "Mr Home is candid enough to give up the authenticity of this letter; and indeed, so far as I have observed, there is not the slightest pretence of a reason for conceiving it to be genuine; (Hist. of England, vol. 5, p. 120.) It was not mentioned by the earl of Morton and his adherents to Throgmorton, when Elizabeth interfered in the affairs of Scotland upon the imprisonment of the queen in the castle of Lochleven; a period of time when these statesmen were desirous to throw out every imputation to her prejudice, and when in particular they were abusing her with vehemence for her attachment to Bothwell; (Keith, p. 419.) Nor was it made use of by Murray before the English commissioners. Mary, in the condition to which the nobles had reduced her, could not well think of a step of this sort, although her attachment to Bothwell had been as strong as they were pleased to pronounce it. For, not to speak of the greatness of her distress, she was guarded by them so strictly, as to make it vain for her to pretend to elude their vigilance. In regard, too, to her love of Bothwell, it is not clear that it was ever real. While the king was alive, there are no traces of their improper intercourse. The affair of Dunbar was a criminal seduction. The arts of a profligate man, the frailty of nature, and the violence of a temporary tenderness, overcame her. There was no sentiment of love upon either side. After her marriage, his rudeness extinguished in her altogether any remain of kindness and respect; and hence the coldness with which she parted with him." Stuart's History of Scotland, vol. i. p. 253. note. Scotland. age of Bothwel, to protect the person of the prince, and to restore justice to the realm. The sanction of a most solemn oath confirmed their reliance upon one another; and in advancing their measures, they engaged to expose and employ their lives, kindred, and fortunes.

It is easy to see, notwithstanding all the pretended patriotism of the rebels, that nothing was farther from their intentions than to prosecute Bothwel and restore the queen to her dignity. They had already treated her in the vilest manner, and allowed Bothwel to escape when they might easily have apprehended and brought him to any trial they thought proper. To extirpate themselves was their only aim. Eleven days after the capitulation at Carberry hill, they held a convention, in which they very properly assumed the name of lords of the secret council, and issued a proclamation for apprehending Bothwel as the murderer of the king; offering a reward of 1000 crowns for any person who should bring him to Edinburgh. A search had been made for the murderers of the king that very night in which the queen was confined in Lochleven castle. One Sebastian a Frenchman, and captain Blackader, were then apprehended; and soon after James Edmondstone, John Blackader, and Mynart Frazer, were taken up and imprisoned. The people expected full and satisfactory proofs of the guilt of Bothwel, but were disappointed. The affirmation of the nobles, that they were possessed of evidence which could condemn him, appeared to be no better than a pretence or artifice. Sebastian found means to escape; the other persons were put to the torture, and sustained it without making any confession that the nobles could publish. They were condemned, however, and executed, as being concerned in the murder. In their dying moments, they protested their innocence. A sanguine hope was entertained that captain Blackader would reveal the whole secret at the place of execution, and a vast multitude of spectators were present. No information, however, could be derived from what he said with regard to the regicides; but while he solemnly protested that his life was unjustly taken away, he averred it as his belief that the earls of Murray and Morton were the contrivers of the king's murder.

The lords of the secret council now proceeded to the greatest enormities. They robbed the palace of Holyroodhouse of its furniture and decorations; converted the queen's plate into coin; and possessed themselves of her jewels, which were of great value; and while the faction at large committed these acts of robbery, the earl of Glencairn with solemn hypocrisy demolished the altar in the queen's chapel, and defaced and destroyed all its pictures and ornaments. These excessive outrages, however, lost them the favour of the people, and an association was formed in favour of the queen. The court of France, as soon as the news of Mary's imprisonment arrived, dispatched M. de Villeroi to console with her upon her misfortunes; but the lords of the secret council would not admit him to see her, upon which he immediately returned to his own country. The earl of Murray, however, was at this time in France; and to the promises of this ambitious and treacherous wretch the king trusted, imagining him to be a steady friend to the unfortunate queen. Elizabeth also pretended friendship, and threatened the associated lords; but as they had every reason to doubt her sincerity, they paid no regard to her threats, and even refused to admit her ambassador to Mary's presence.

From all these appearances of friendship Mary neither did nor could derive any real assistance. On the Mary 24th of July 1567, the lord Lindsay, whose imperious pellucid behaviour, says Dr Stuart, approached to insanity, signa re-ignation was ordered by the lords to wait upon the queen at her Lochleven. He carried with him three deeds or in-crown-instruments, and was instructed not to be sparing in rudeness and menaces in order to compel her to subscribe them. By the first, she was to resign her crown to her infant-son; by the second, the appointed earl of Murray regent of Scotland; and by the third, she constituted a council to direct the prince till this nobleman should arrive in Scotland, or in the event of his death or refusal of the office. On the part of the queen all resistance was vain. Sir Robert Melvil assured her, that her best friends were of opinion, that what she did by compulsion, and in a prison, could have no power to bind her; and of this she was also assured by Throgmorton, the English ambassador, in a letter which Sir Robert Melvil brought in the scabbard of his sword. Mary therefore, forlorn and helpless, could not resist the barbarous rudeness with which Lindsay pressed the subscription of the papers, though she would not read them. Five days after, the lords Coronation of the secret council met at Stirling, for the coronation of James VI, representing the three estates of the kingdom. A protestation was made in the name of the duke of Chatellerault, that this solemnity should neither prejudice his rights of succession nor those of the other princes of the blood. The young prince being presented to them, the lords Lindsay and Ruthven appeared, and in the name of the queen renounced in his favour her right and title to the crown, gave up the papers she had subscribed, and surrendered the sword, sceptre, and royal crown. After the papers were read, the earls of Morton, Athol, Glencairn, Marre, and Menteith, with the master of Graham, the lord Hume, and Bothwel bishop of Orkney, received the queen's resignation in favour of her son in the name of the three estates. After this formality, the earl of Morton, bending his body, and laying his hand upon the Scriptures, took the coronation-oath for the prince, engaging that he should rule according to the laws, and root out all heretics and enemies to the word of God. Adam Bothwel then anointed the prince king of Scotland; a ceremony with which John Knox was displeased, as believing it to be of Jewish invention. This prelate next delivered to him the sword and the sceptre, and finally put the crown upon his head. In the procession to the castle from the church where the inauguration was performed, and where John Knox preached the inauguration sermon, the earl of Athol carried the crown, Morton the sceptre, Glencairn the sword, and the earl of Marre carried the prince in his arms. These solemnities received no countenance from Elizabeth; and Throgmorton, by her express command, was not present at Elizabeth.

Soon after this ceremony, the earl of Murray returned from France; and his presence gave such a stimulus to his faction, that very little opposition could be given by the partisans of Mary, who Scotland; who were unsettled and desponding for want of a leader.

A little time after his arrival, this monstrous hypocrite and traitor waited upon his distressed and insulted sovereign at Lochleven. His design was to get her to desire him to accept of the regency, which he otherwise pretended to decline. The queen, unsuspicious of the deepness of his arts, conscious of the gratitude he owed to her, and trusting to his natural affection, and their tie of a common father, received him with a tender welcome. She was in haste to pour forth her soul to him; and with tears and lamentations related her condition and her sufferings. He heard her with attention; and turned occasionally his discourse to the topics which might lead her to open to him her mind without disguise in those situations in which he was most anxious to observe it. His eye and his penetration were fully employed; and her distress awakened not his tenderness. He seemed to be in suspense; and from the guardedness of his conversation she could gather neither hope nor fear. She begged him to be free with her, as he was her only friend. He yielded to her entreaties as if with pain and reluctance; and taking a comprehensive survey of her conduct, delivered it with all the severity that could affect her soul. He could discover no apology for her misgovernment and disorders; and, with a mortifying plainness, he pressed upon her conscience and her honour. At times she wept bitterly. Some errors she confessed; and against calumnies she warmly vindicated herself. But all the could urge in her behalf made no impression upon him; and he spoke to her of the mercy of God as her chief refuge. She was torn with apprehensions, and nearly distracted with despair. He dropped some words of consolation; and after expressing an attachment to her interests, gave her his promise to employ all his consequence to secure her life. As to her liberty, he told her, that to achieve it was beyond all his efforts; and that it was not good for her to desire it. Starting from her feet, she took him in her arms, and kissing him as her deliverer from the scaffold, solicited his immediate acceptance of the regency. He declared he had many reasons to refuse the regency. She implored and conjured him not to abandon her in the extremity of her wretchedness. There was no other method, she said, by which she herself could be saved, her son protected, and her realm rightly governed. He gave way to her anxiety and solicitations. She behought him to make the most unbounded use of her name and authority, desired him to keep for her the jewels that yet remained with her, and recommended it to him to get an early possession of all the forts of her kingdom. He now took his leave of her; and embracing anew this pious traitor, she sent her blessing with him to the prince her son.

In the mean time the wretched earl of Bothwell was struggling with the greatest difficulties. Sir William Murray and Kirkaldy of Grange had put to sea in search of him. He had been obliged to exercise piracy in order to sustain himself and his followers. His pursuers came upon him unexpectedly at the Orkney islands, and took three of his ships; but he himself made his escape. Soon after, having seized a Turkish trader on the coast of Norway, two ships of war belonging to the king of Denmark gave chase to him as a pirate. An engagement ensued, in which Bothwell was taken. His officers and mariners were hanged in Scotland; but Bothwell himself, being known by some Scottish merchants, had his life spared. He was thrown, however, into a dungeon, where he remained ten years; and at last died melancholy and distracted. The regent sent commissioners to the king of Denmark to demand him as a prisoner; but that prince considering him as a traitor and usurper, totally disregarded his request.

The dreadful fate of Bothwell did not make any alteration in the situation of the queen. Her enemies, bent on calumniating her, thought of framing letters which they desired to pass on the world as having been written to him by the queen; and in this infamous transaction, it is said, they were assisted by the celebrated George Buchanan. Upon the slender support of these letters they built their hopes of defending their conduct; and being afraid that some time or other they might be called to an account for this conduct, they framed an act, by which they declared their own behaviour to be exceedingly proper and meritorious, at the same time that they blamed the queen as the occasion of all the mischief that had happened; since it was most certain, said they, "by her letters to Bothwell, and their private marriage, that she was art and part of the actual device and deed of the murder of her husband; and that she fully deserved the treatment she had already met with, and the resentment which might yet be shown her."

On the 15th of December 1567, the regent thought proper to call a parliament; in which, as there was no power to resist him, every thing was carried his own way. The queen was condemned unseen and unheard; her enemies obtained a full pardon not only for all they had done, but for all they might do against her. The letters from the queen to Bothwell were held to be true and genuine; his estates were forfeited; and after the dissolution of the assembly, four of his servants, who had been convicted of being accessory to the death of the king, were executed. But though they were pricked with to accuse the queen, they absolutely refused to do so. When on the scaffold, they addressed themselves to the people; and after having solemnly declared the innocence of the queen, they protested before God and his angels, that the earl of Bothwell had informed them that the earls of Murray and Morton were the contrivers of the king's murder.

It was impossible that such transactions as these could advance the popularity of the regent. His unbounded ambition and cruelty to his sovereign, began at last to open the eyes of the nation; and a party was forming itself in favour of the queen. She herself had been often meditating her escape from her prison; and she at last effected it by means of a young gentleman, The queen George Douglas, brother to her keeper, who had fallen in love with her. On the 2d day of May 1568, from about seven o'clock in the evening, when her keeper was at supper with his family, George Douglas, possessing himself of the keys of the castle, hastened to her apartment, and conducted her out of prison. Having locked the gates of the castle, they immediately entered a boat which waited for them; and being rowed across the lake, the lord Seton received the queen with a chosen band of horsemen in complete armour. That night he conveyed her to his house of Niddrie in West Lothian; where having rested a few hours, she set out for Hamilton.

The escape of the queen threw her enemies into the greatest consternation. Many forsook the regent openly; and still more made their submissions privately, or concealed themselves. He did not, however, despond; but resolved to defend himself by force of arms. The queen soon found herself at the head of 6000 men, and the regent opposed her with 4000. Mary, however, did not think it proper to risk a battle; knowing the capacity of the regent as a general, and that his officers were all men of approved valour and experience. But in this prudent resolution she was overruled by the impetuosity of her troops. A battle was fought on the 13th of May 1568, at Langside near Glasgow, in which Mary's army was defeated, and her last hopes blasted. The unfortunate queen fled towards Kirkcudbright; where having a present safety, she deliberated on the plan she should afterwards follow. The result of her deliberations, as frequently happens in cases of perplexity, led her to take the worst step possible. Notwithstanding all the peril she had found in Elizabeth, Mary could not think that she would now refuse to afford her a refuge in her dominions; and therefore determined to retire into England. To this she had been solicited by Elizabeth herself during her confinement in Lochleven castle; and she now resolved to make the fatal experiment. The lord Herries and the archbishop of St Andrew's remonstrated in vain upon the imprudence and the perils of this conduct. They fell upon their knees, conjuring her to forego a resolution that must terminate in her ruin. Their arguments, their intreacies, and their tears, were all ineffectual. She determined to seek a refuge in England, and to court in person the protection of a queen who had never ceased to disturb her reign, and whose dominions were the common and the secure retreat of the most insolent and the most rebellious of her subjects.

In obedience to her order, the lord Herries addressed a letter to Mr Lauder, the deputy commander at Carlisle; and after detailing her defeat at Langside, desired to know if she might trust herself upon English ground. This officer wrote instantly an answer, in which he said, that the lord Scroop the warden of the frontiers being absent, he could not of his private authority give a formal assurance in a matter which concerned the state of a queen; but that he would send by post to his court to know the pleasure of his sovereign; and that if in the mean time any necessity should force Mary to Carlisle, he would receive her with joy, and protect her against her enemies. Mary, however, before the messenger could return, had embarked in a fishing boat with fifteen attendants. In a few hours she landed at Workington in Cumberland; and from thence she proceeded to Cockermouth, where she continued till Mr Lauder, having assembled the gentlemen of the country, conducted her with the greatest respect to castle of Carlisle.

To Elizabeth she announced her arrival in a dispatch, which described her late misfortunes in general and pathetic terms, and in which she expressed an earnest solicitude to pay her a visit at her court, and the deep sense she entertained of her friendship and generosity.

The queen of England, by obliging and polite letters, condoled with her upon her situation, and gave her assurances of all the favour and protection that were due to the justice of her cause. But as they were not accompanied with an invitation to London, Mary took the alarm. She thought it expedient to instruct lord Fleming to repair to France; and she intrusted lord Herries with a most pressing remonstrance to Elizabeth. Her anxiety for an interview in order to vindicate her conduct, her ability to do so in the most satisfactory manner, and her power to explain the ingratitude, the crimes, and the perfidy of her enemies, were urged to this princess. A delay in the state of her affairs was represented as nearly equivalent to absolute destruction. An immediate proof was therefore requested from Elizabeth of the sincerity of her professions. If she was unwilling to admit into her presence a queen, a relation, and a friend, she was reminded, that as Mary's entrance into her dominions had been voluntary, her departure ought to be equally free and unrestrained. She valued the protection of the queen of England above that of every other potentate upon earth; but if it could not be granted, she would solicit the amity, and implore the aid, of powers who would commiserate her afflictions, and be forward to relieve them. Amidst remonstrances, however, which were so just and so natural, Mary failed not to give thanks to Elizabeth for the courtesy with which she had hitherto been treated in the castle of Carlisle. She took the opportunity also to beg of this princess to avert the cruelty of the regent from her adherents, and to engage him not to waste her kingdom with hostility and ravages; and she had the prudence to pay her compliments in an affectionate letter to secretary Cecil, and to court his kind offices in extricating her from her difficulties and troubles.

But the queen of England was not to be moved by remonstrances. The voluntary offer of Mary to plead her cause in the presence of Elizabeth, and to satisfy all her scruples, was rejected. Her distresses were rather a matter of exultation than of pity. Her deliberations, however, and those of her statesmen, were not directed by maxims of equity, of compassion, or of her generosity. They considered the flight of Mary into England as an incident that was fortunate and favourable to them; and they were solicitous to adopt those measures which would enable them to draw from it the greatest profit and advantage. If the queen of Scots were allowed to return to her own dominions, it was probable that she would soon be in a condition to destroy the earl of Murray and his faction, who were the friends of England. The house of Hamilton, who were now zealous in the interests of France, would rise into consideration and power. England would be kept in perpetual turmoils upon the frontiers; Ireland would receive molestation from the Scots, and its disturbances grow important and dangerous. Mary would renew with redoubled ardour her designs against the Protestant religion; and a French army would again be introduced into Scotland. Elizabeth and her ministers, rejecting this scheme, examined the case of the queen of Scots, if she should remain at liberty in England. In this situation she would augment the number of her partizans, send to every quarter her emissaries, and inculcate her title to the crown. Foreign am- Scotland, ambassadors would afford her aid, and take a share in her intrigues; and Scotland, where there was so high an object to be gained, would enter with cordiality into her views. This plan being also hazardous, it was deliberated whether the queen of Scots might not be allowed to take a voyage into France. But all the pretensions which had hitherto threatened the crown of Elizabeth would in this case be revived. A strong resentment to her would even urge Mary and Charles IX. to the boldest and most desperate enterprises.

The party of the queen of Scots in England, strong from motives of religion and affection, and from discontentments and the love of change, would stimulate their anger and ambition. England had now no territories in France. A war with that country and with Scotland would involve the greatest dangers. Upon revolting these measures and topics, Elizabeth and her counsellors were induced to conclude, that it was by far the wisest expedient to keep the queen of Scots in confinement, to invent methods to augment his distress, to give countenance to the regent, and to hold her kingdom in dependence and subjection.

In consequence of this cruel and unjust resolution, Mary was acquainted, that she could not be admitted into Elizabeth's presence till she had cleared herself of the crimes imputed to her; she was warned not to think of introducing French troops into Scotland; and it was hinted, that for the more security she ought to be removed further from the frontier. This message at once showed Mary the imprudence of her conduct in trusting herself to Elizabeth. But the error could not now be remedied. She was watched to prevent her escape, and all her remonstrances were vain. The earl of Murray had offered to accuse her; and it was at last concluded that Elizabeth could not, consistent with her own honour and the tranquillity of her government, suffer the queen of Scots to come into her presence, to depart out of England, or to be restored to her dignity, till her cause should be tried and decided. An order was given to remove her from Carlisle castle to a place of strength at a greater distance from the borders, to confine her more closely, and to guard against all possibility of an escape.

In consequence of these extraordinary transactions, a trial took place, perhaps the most remarkable for its injustice and partiality of any recorded in history. Mary, confined and apprehensive, submitted to be tried as they thought proper. The regent, who was to be the accuser, was summoned into England, and commissioners were appointed on both sides. On the 4th of October, the commissioners met at York; and four days after, the deputies of the queen of Scots were called to make known their complaints. They related the most material circumstances of the cruel usage she had received. Their accusations were an alarming introduction to the business in which the regent had embarked; and notwithstanding the encouragement shown to him by Elizabeth, he was assailed by apprehensions. The artifices of Maitland added to his alarms. Instead of proceeding instantly to defend himself, or to accuse the queen, he sought permission to relate his doubts and scruples to the English commissioners. In his own name, and with the concurrence of his associates, he demanded to know whether they had sufficient authority from Elizabeth to pronounce, in the case of the murder, Guilty or not guilty, according to the evidence that should be laid before them; whether they would actually exercise this power; whether, in the event of her criminality, their sovereign should be delivered to him and his friends, or detained in England in such a way as that no danger should ensue from her activity; and whether, upon her conviction, the queen of England would allow his proceedings and those of his party to be proper, maintain the government of the young king, and support him in the regency in the terms of the act of parliament which had confirmed him in that office. To these requisitions, it was answered, upon the part of the English deputies, that their commission was so ample, that they could enter into and proceed with the controversy; and that they had liberty to declare, that their sovereign would not restore the queen of Scots to her crown, if satisfactory proofs of her crime should be produced; but that they knew not, and were not instructed to say, in what manner she would finally conduct herself as to her person and punishment. With regard to the sovereignty of the prince, and the regency of the earl of Murray, they were points, they observed, which might be canvassed in an after period. These replies did not please the regent and his associates; and they requested the English commissioners to transmit their doubts and scruples to be examined and answered by Elizabeth.

But while the regent discovered in this manner his apprehensions, he yet affirmed that he was able to answer the charges imputed to him and his faction; and this being in a great measure a distinct matter from the controversy of the murder, he was desired to proceed in it. It was contended, that Bothwell, who had the chief concern in the murder of lord Darnley, possessed against such credit with the queen, that within three months Mary, after that horrible event, he seized her person and led her captive to Dunbar, obtained a divorce from his wife, and married her; that the nobility, being moved with his crimes, did confederate to punish him; to relieve her from the tyranny of a man who had ravished her, and who could not be her husband; and to preserve the life of the prince; that having taken arms for these purposes, the earl marched against them; but that, proposing to decide the quarrel by single combat, his challenge was accepted; that he declined, notwithstanding, to enter the lists, and fled; that the queen, preferring his impunity to her own honour, favoured his escape by going over to the nobility; that they conducted her to Edinburgh, where they informed her of the motives of their proceedings, requested her to take the proper steps against him and the other regicides, and intreated her to dissolve her pretended marriage, to take care of her son, and to consult the tranquillity of her realm; that this treatment being offensive to her, she menaced them with vengeance, and offered to surrender her crown if they would permit her to possess the murderer of her husband; that her inflexible mind, and the necessities of the state, compelled them to keep her at a distance from him, and out of the way of a communication with his adherents; that during her confinement, finding herself fatigued with the troubles of royalty, and unfit for them from vexation of spirit and the weakness of her body and intellect, she freely and of her own will resigned. igned her crown to her son, and constituted the earl of Murray to the regency; that the king accordingly had been crowned, and Murray admitted to the regency; that the sanction of the three estates assembled in parliament having confirmed these appointments, an universal obedience of the people had ensued, and a steady administration of justice had taken place; that certain persons, however, envious of the public order and peace, had brought her out of prison, and had engaged to subvert the government; that they had been disappointed in their wicked attempts; and that it was most just and equitable, that the king and the regent should be supported in power, in opposition to a rebellious and turbulent faction.

This apology, so imperfect, so impudent, and so irreconcilable with history, received a complete confutation from the deputies of the queen of Scots. To take arms against her because Bothwell had her favour, was, they said, a lame justification of the earl of Murray and his friends; since it had never been properly manifested to her that he was the murderer of her husband. He had indeed been suspected of this crime; but had been tried by his peers, and acquitted. His acquittal had been ratified in parliament, and had obtained the express approbation of the party who were now so loud in accusing him, and who had conspired against his authority. These rebels had even urged her to accomplish her marriage with him, had recommended him as the fittest person to govern the realm, and had subscribed a bond affecting his innocence, and binding themselves to challenge and punish all his adversaries and opponents. They had never, either before or after the marriage, like true subjects, advertised the queen of his guilt; till, having experience of their strength, they secretly took arms, and invested her in Borthwick castle. The first mark of their displeasure was the sound of a trumpet in hostility, and the display of warlike banners. She made her escape to Dunbar; and they returning to Edinburgh, levied troops, issued proclamations, took the field against her, under the pretence of delivering her from his tyranny, and got possession of her person. She was willing to prevent the effusion of blood, and was very far from preferring his impunity to her honour. Kirkcaldy of Grange, in obedience to instructions from them, desired her to cause him to retire, and invited her to pass to them under the promise of being served and obeyed as their sovereign. She consented, and Kirkcaldy taking Bothwell by the hand, recommended it to him to depart, and assured him that no man would pursue him. It was by their own contrivance that he fled; and it was in their power to have taken him; but they showed not the smallest desire to make him their prisoner. He remained too for some time in the kingdom, and was unmolested by them; and it was not till he was upon the seas, that they affected to go in search of him. When she surrendered herself in the sight of their army, the earl of Morton ratified the stipulations of Kirkcaldy, made obedience to her in their names, and promised her all the service and honour which had ever been paid to any of her predecessors. They were not slaves, however, to their engagements. They carried her to Edinburgh, but did not lodge her in her palace. She was committed to the house of a burgess, and treated with the vilest indignities. She indeed broke out into menaces, and threatened them; nor was this a matter either of blame or of wonder. But it was utterly false that she had ever made any offer to give away her crown, if she might possess Bothwell. In the midst of her sufferings, she had even required them by secretaries Maitland to specify their complaints, and besought them to allow her to appear in parliament, and to join and assist in seeking a remedy to them from the wisdom of the three estates. This overture, however, so salutary and so submissive, they absolutely rejected. They were animated by purposes of ambition, and had not in view a relief from grievances. They forced her from her capital in the night, and imprisoned her in Lochleven; and there, they affirm, being exhausted with the toils of government and the languors of sickness, she, without constraint or solicitation, resigned her crown to her son, and appointed the earl of Murray to be regent during his minority. This indeed was to assume an unlimited power over facts; but the truth could neither be concealed, nor overturned, nor palliated. She was in the vigour of youth, unassailed by maladies, and without any infirmity that could induce her to surrender the government of her kingdom. Nor was it unknown to them that the earl of Athol and the barons Tullibardine and Lethington, principal men of their council, dispatched Sir Robert Melvil to her with a ring and presents, with a recommendation to subscribe whatever papers should be laid before her, as the only means in her power to save her life, and with an assurance that what she did under captivity could not operate any injury to her. Melvil, too, communicated to her an intimation in writing from Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, which gave her the same advice and the same assurance. To Sir Nicholas Throgmorton she sent an answer, informing him that she would follow his counsel, and enjoining him to declare to his mistress her hapless state, and that her resignation of her crown was constrained. Nor did this ambassador neglect her commission; and it was a popular persuasion that Elizabeth would have marched an army to her relief, if she had not been intimidated by the threat of the rebels, that the blood of the queen of Scots would be the wages of her soldiers. It was also not to be contradicted, that when the lord Lindsay presented to his sovereign the instruments of resignation, he menaced her with a closer prison and a speedy death if she should refuse to subscribe them. It was under an extreme terror, and with many tears, that she put her name to them. She did not consider them as her deeds; did not read them; and protested, that when she was at liberty, she would disavow subscriptions which had been extorted from her. Even Douglas, the keeper of Lochleven, could not endure to be a witness of the violence employed against her. He departed out of her presence, that he might not see her surrender her rights against her will; and he sought and obtained from her a certificate, that he was not accessory to this compulsion and outrage. Nor did it consist with the slightest probability or reason, that she would, of her own will and accord, execute a resignation of her royal estate, and retain no provision for her future maintenance. Yet by these extraordinary deeds, the condition to which she was reduced, was most miserable and wretched. For no portion whatever of her revenue: venue was referred to her, and no security of any kind was granted either for her liberty or her life. As to the coronation of the prince, it could have no validity, as being founded in a pretended and unreal religion. It was also defective in its form; for there were in Scotland more than an hundred earls, bishops, and lords; and of these the whole, or at least the major part, ought to concur in matters of importance. Now there did not exist in it more than four earls, six lords, one bishop, and two or three abbots. Protestations, too, were openly made, that nothing transacted at that period should be any prejudice to the queen, her estate, and the blood-royal of Scotland. Neither could it be rightly conceived, that if the queen had willingly surrendered her dignities, she would have named the earl of Murray to the regency in preference to the duke of Châtellerault, who had a natural and proper claim to it, and who had deserved well of his country by discharging that high office during her minority. As to the ratification of the investiture of the young prince, and the regency of the earl of Murray by the estates, it was observable, that this was done in an illegal parliament. It was an invalid confirmation of deeds, which in themselves had no inherent power or efficacy. The principal nobility, too, objected in this parliament to this ratification. Protestations were made before the lords of the articles, as well as before the three estates, to interrupt and defeat transactions which were in a wild hostility to the constitution and the laws. Neither was it true that the government of the king and the regent was universally obeyed, and administered with equity and approbation. For a great division of the nobility never acknowledged any authority but that of the queen, and never held any courts but in her name; and it was notorious, that the administration of the usurpers had been marked and distinguished by enormous cruelties and oppressions. Many honourable families and loyal subjects had been persecuted to ruin, and plundered of their wealth, to gratify the retainers and soldiers who upheld this insolent domination; and murder and bloodshed, theft and rapine, were prevalent to a degree unheard of for many ages. Upon all these accounts, it was inferred, that Elizabeth ought to support the queen of Scots, to restore her to her crown, and to overthrow the power of a most unnatural and rebellious faction.

To these facts the regent did not pretend to make any objection; and though required by the English commissioners to produce founder and better reasons for his treatment of the queen, he did not advance anything in his own behalf. He even allowed the charges of treason and usurpation to be pressed against him, without presuming to answer. This surprising behaviour, which might readily have been construed into an acknowledgment of his guilt, it seems, proceeded from some conferences which he had with the duke of Norfolk. This nobleman was a zealous partisan for the succession of Mary to the English crown. He was strongly possessed with the opinion, that his misfortunes, while she was disposed to gratify her animosity and jealousies against the queen of Scots, was secretly resolved, by fixing a stain upon her, to exclude her altogether from the succession, and to involve her son in her disgrace. He was eager to defeat a purpose, which he conceived to be not only unjust in itself, but highly detrimental to his country. It was in his power to act with this view; and he observed with pleasure, that Maitland of Lethington was favourable to Mary. To this statesman, accordingly, he ventured to express his surprise, that the regent could be allured to think of an attempt so blameable as that of criminalising his sovereign. If Mary had really given offence by miscarriage and mistakes, it yet was not the business of a good subject industriously to hold her out to scorn. Anxious and repeated conferences were held by them; and at length it was formally agreed, that the regent should not accuse the queen of Scots; and that the duke in return should protect him in the favour of Elizabeth, and secure him in the possession of his regency.

But while the regent engaged himself in this intrigue with the duke of Norfolk, he was desirous notwithstanding of gratifying the resentments of Elizabeth, and of advancing his own interests by undermining secretly the fame and reputation of his sovereign. He instructed Maitland, George Buchanan, James Macgill, and John Wood, to go to the duke of Norfolk, the earl of Suffolk, and Sir Ralph Sadler, and to communicate to them as private persons, and not in their character of commissioners, the letters to Bothwel, and the other proofs upon which he affirmed the guilt of the queen of Scots. It was his desire that they would examine these papers, give their opinion of them to Elizabeth, and inform him whether she judged them sufficient evidences of Mary's concern in the murder of her husband. If this should be her opinion, he testified his own readiness, and that of his associates, to swear that the papers were genuine, and of the handwriting of the queen. By this operation, he was solicitous to establish his vouchers as incontestable, and as testimonies of record. The commissioners examined his papers, and heard the comments of Buchanan and his other assistants; but they do not seem to have bestowed the fullest credit upon them. They described them, however, to Elizabeth; pointed out the places of them which were strongest against Mary; and allowed that their force and meaning were very great, if their genuineness could be demonstrated. But of their genuineness they acknowledged that they had no other evidence than flout assertions, and the offer of oaths. Elizabeth, who received their dispatches, did not think it expedient to empower them to adopt a method of proof so palpably suspicious, and in which she could not openly concur, without grossly violating even the appearance of probity. The regent had before attempted to engage her in a direct assurance of the validity of his papers, when he submitted copies of them to her inspection by his secretary Mr Wood. His attempt at this juncture was of a similar kind; and it could not recommend him to the English commissioners.

Nor were these the only transactions which took place during the continuance of the commissioners at York. The inventive and refining genius of Lethington had suggested to him a project, which he communicated in confidence to the bishop of Ross. It received the warm approbation of this ecclesiastic; and they determined to put it to a trial. While they attended the duke of Norfolk to the diversion of hawking, they insinuated into him the notion of his allying himself with with the queen of Scots. Her beauty, her accomplishments, and her kingdom, were high allurements to this nobleman; and as he was the greatest subject of England, and perhaps of Europe, he seemed not to be unworthy of them. The proposal was very flattering to the admiration he entertained of Mary, to his ambition, and to his patriotism. The more he thought of it, he was the more convinced of its propriety. His access to be informed of the practices of the regent, destroyed in him the operation of these flanders by which her enemies were so active to traduce her. In this state of his mind, the lady Scroop, his filter, who resided at Bolton Castle with Mary, completely confirmed his resolution. For from her he learned the orderly carriage and the amiable dispositions of the queen of Scots. He was now impatient to have a fit season to make her formally the offer of his hand.

Elizabeth in the mean time was thrown into confusion by the refusal of the regent to accuse the queen of Scots. To give a positive answer to his doubts and scruples was not consistent with her honour; and yet, without this concession, she was assured that the Scottish deputies would not exhibit their charge or crimination. Having deceived Mary therefore with fair promises, she was active in gaining over the regent to her views; which having done, he consented at last to prefer his accusation against Mary before the commissioners, who now met at Westminster by the command of Elizabeth. The charge was expressed in general and presumptive terms. It affirmed, that as James Earl of Bothwell was the chief executor of the murder of King Henry, so the queen was his persuader and counsellor in the device; that she was a maintainer and fortifier of this unnatural deed, by stopping the inquisition into it and its punishment, and by taking in marriage the principal regicide; that they had begun to exercise a cruel tyranny in the commonwealth, and had formed a resolution of destroying the innocent prince, and of transferring the crown from the true line of its kings to a bloody murderer and a godless tyrant; and that the estates of the realm, finding her unworthy to reign, had ordered her to resign the crown, her son to be crowned, and the earl of Murray to be established in the regency. Before this accusation was preferred, the earl of Lennox presented himself before the English commissioners; made a lamentable declaration of his griefs, and produced to them the letters which had passed between him and Mary concerning the murder, with a writing which contained a direct affirmation of her guilt.

The deputies of Mary were astonished at this accusation, being a violent infringement of a protestation which they had formerly given in, and which had been accepted, namely, that the crown, estate, person, and honour of the queen of Scots, should be guarded against every assault and injury; yet in all these particulars she was touched and affected. It was understood that no judicial proceedings should take place against her; yet she was actually arraigned as a criminal, and her deputies were called upon to defend her. They discovered not, however, any apprehension of the validity of the charge; and while they fully explained the motives which actuated the earl of Murray and his factions in their proceedings, they imputed to persons among themselves the guilt of the king's murder. They affirmed, that the queen's adherents were the accomplices of Bothwell; that they had subscribed a bond conspiring the death of the king; and that their guilt had been attested in the sight of 10,000 spectators by those of their confederates who had already been executed. They exclaimed against the enormous ingratitude, and the unparalleled audacity of men, who could forget so completely all the obligations which they owed to their sovereign; and who, not satisfied with usurping her power, could even charge her with a murder which they themselves had committed. They represented the strong necessity which had arisen for the fullest vindication of their mistress; and they said, that in so weighty an extremity, they could not possibly suppose that she would be restrained from appearing in her own defence. They had her instructions, if her honour was touched, to make this requisition; and till it was granted, they insisted, that all proceedings in the conference should be at an end. A refusal of this liberty, in the situation to which she was driven, would be an infallible proof that no good was intended to her. It was their wish to deal with sincerity and uprightness; and they were persuaded, that without a proper freedom of defence, their queen would necessarily fall a victim to partiality and injustice. They therefore earnestly pressed the English commissioners, that she might be permitted to present herself before Elizabeth, the nobles of England, and the ambassadors of foreign nations, in order to manifest to the world the injuries she had suffered, and her innocence.

After having made these spirited representations to the English commissioners, the deputies of Mary desired to have access to the queen of England. They were admitted accordingly to an audience; and in a admitted to formal address or petition they detailed what had happened, insisted that the liberty of personal defence should be allowed to their mistress, and demanded that the earl of Murray and his associates should be taken into custody, till they should answer to such charges as should be preferred against them. She desired to have some time to turn her thoughts to matters of such high import; and told them, that they might soon expect to hear from her.

The bishop of Ross, and the other deputies of Mary, in the mean time, struck with the perfidious management of the conference, convinced of the jealousies and passions of Elizabeth, sensible that her power over her commissioners was unlimited, and anxious for the deliverance of their mistress, made an overture for an accommodation to the earl of Leicester and Sir William Cecil. They proposed, that the original meaning of the conference should still be adhered to, notwithstanding the accusation which had been presented by the earl of Murray; and that Elizabeth, disregarding it as an effort of faction, should proceed to a good agreement between Mary and her subjects. For this scheme, which is so expressive of their suspicions of Elizabeth and of her commissioners, they had no authority from their mistress. They acknowledged accordingly, that it was made without her instructions, and intimated that they were moved to it by their anxiety for peace and the re-establishment of the affairs of the Scottish nation. They were introduced at Hampton-court to Elizabeth; who listened to their motion, motion, and was adverse from it. They then repeated the desires of the petition they had presented to her; but she did not think it right that the queen of Scots should yet have the liberty to defend herself in person. She confessed, indeed, that it was reasonable that the should be heard in her own cause; but she affirmed, that she was at a loss at what time she should appear, in what place, and to whom she should address herself. While she let fall, however, the hope that Mary might obtain the permission so repeatedly and so earnestly re- quested, she expressed her resolution that the earl of Murray should first be heard in support of his charge, and that she should attend to the proofs which he af- firmed himself in readiness to produce. After this busi- ness should be transacted, she told the deputies of Mary that she would again confer with them. It was to no purpose that they objected to a procedure so strange and so improper. An accusation, said they, is given; the person accused is anxious to defend her- self; this privilege is denied to her; and yet a de- mand is to be made for the vouchers of her guilt. What is this but an open violation of justice? It did not become them to dispute her pleasure in her own dominions: but they would not, they informed her, consent to a measure which was so alarming to the in- terests of their queen; and if it was adopted, she might expect that a protestation of its invalidity would be lodged with her commissioners.

The English commissioners resumed the conference, and were about to demand from the earl of Murray the proofs with which he could support his accusation. The bishop of Roos and his associates being admitted to them, expressed themselves in conformity to the conversation they had held with Elizabeth. They de- clared, that it was unnatural and preposterous in their sovereign to think of receiving proofs of the guilt of the queen of Scots before she was heard in her own defence; and they protested, that in the event of this proceeding, the negociation should be dissolved, and Elizabeth be disarmed of all power to do any preju- dice to her honour, person, crown, and estate. The commissioners of the English queen were affected with this protestation, and felt more for the honour of their mistress than for their own. They refused to receive it, because there were engrossed in it the words of the refusal which Elizabeth had given to the petition for Mary. They did not choose to authenticate the terms of this refusal by their subscriptions; and were felicitous to suppress so palpable a memorial of her ini- quity. They alleged, that the language of her refu- sal had not been taken down with accuracy; and they prejudiced Mary's deputies to present a simpler form of protestation. The bishop of Roos and his colleagues yielded not, however, immediately to their insidious importunity; but, repeating anew their protestation as they had at first planned it, included the express words of Elizabeth; and, when compelled by the power of the commissioners to expunge the language of the English queen, they still insisted upon their pro-

(a) These vouchers, Dr Stuart observes, correspond not with the arts and parade which led to and attended their production. They consisted of acts of that parliament which had given sanction to the resignation of the queen, the coronation of her son, and the regency of the earl of Murray. They consisted of the supposed confes- sions of the criminals who had suffered for the king's murder. Though these persons, however, had accused Bothwell, and were doubtless his accomplices; yet, instead of criminating the queen, they had not only refuted the the adversaries of Mary were put; in order to make the strange evidence that was produced wear some degree of plausibility, would far exceed our bounds. It is sufficient to say, that after having wearied themselves with prevarication and falseshood; after having pressed Mary to abdicate her crown, a requisition with which she never would comply; and after having finally refused to hear her in her own defence, Elizabeth; on the 10th of January 1569, gave leave to the earl of Murray and his accomplices to depart her dominions; telling them, that since they came into England, nothing had been objected to them which could hurt their honour as men, or affect their allegiance as subjects. At the same time she told them, that they had produced no information or evidence by which she was entitled to conceive any bad opinion of the queen of Scotland. It was therefore her pleasure to allow the affairs of Scotland to continue precisely in the condition in which they were situated at the beginning of the conference. Three days after this, they formally took their leave of the queen of England. The deputies of Mary remonstrated, protested, and argued, to no purpose; the English privy-council, with the most provoking indifference, told them, that "the earl of Murray had promised to their sovereign, for himself and his company, to return to England whenever she should call upon him. But, in the mean time, the queen of Scots could not, upon many considerations, be suffered to take her departure out of England. As to her deputies, they would move Elizabeth to allow

them the practices of her enemies to charge her with guilt, but had openly protected her innocence in their dying moments. In fine, they consisted of a box with letters, contracts, and sonnets. This box then, with its contents, was the evidence upon which the earl of Murray and his friends had the chief, and indeed the only, reliance; and it is upon this evidence, whatever it is, that the apology of Elizabeth must finally rest for her signal inhumanity to the queen of Scots. No papers were ever exhibited in circumstances so peculiar and so interesting; and as they are ultimately found to be either genuine or false, they will lead to the most instructing conclusions. In themselves, in their connection with illustrious persons, and in the reference in which they stand to public and private transactions and events, they are objects of a most important inquiry. It is therefore fit, and even necessary, to hold out a succinct and connected detail of their meaning and history in the situations in which they appeared before their exhibition to the English commissioners by the earl of Murray and his associates. This display or deduction of them will contribute to unfold the truth, and be a proper and sure foundation upon which to judge, not only of the papers themselves, but of the subsequent conduct and operations of the rival queens.

It is uniformly affirmed upon the part of the earl of Murray and his faction, that the casket with the letters and the sonnets had been left by Bothwell in the castle of Edinburgh; that this nobleman, before he fled from Scotland, sent a messenger to recover them; and that they were found in the possession of this person. The 20th day of June 1567, is fixed as the date of this remarkable discovery. The governor of the castle at this time was Sir James Balfour. George Dalgleish, a servant of Bothwell's, is named as his messenger upon this errand. He was seized, it is said, by the domestics of the earl of Morton; and it was the earl of Morton himself who made the actual production of the casket and its contents.

This story is unsupported by vouchers, contains improbabilities, and cannot be reconciled with history and Smart's events. There remains not any authentic or unsuspicious evidence that the queen had dishonoured the bed of lord Darnley; and upon the supposition that she had actually been engaged in a criminal intercourse with Bothwell, it is yet widely improbable that she would have written these letters. But even upon the hypothesis that she was actually guilty with Bothwell, and had addressed these papers to him, the story still labours with difficulties. The earl of Bothwell was exposed to more than suspicions of a concern in the murder of the king. These papers contained manifest proofs of his guilt. It evidently was not his interest to preserve them. His marriage with the queen was celebrated upon May 15, 1567. This event was the signal for her adversaries to revolt from Bothwell to whom they had pretended friendship, and to involve her in the ruin of his overthrow. They revolted accordingly; and he was loudly reproached with the murder of the king. Now, in this situation, admitting that he had hitherto preserved any criminal papers, he must have felt the strongest inducements to destroy them; and Mary herself must have been ardently animated with the same wish. The castle of Edinburgh was at this time entirely at their command; and Sir James Balfour was their deputy, and the creature of Bothwell. If his enemies should possess themselves of these papers, his destruction was inevitable. They were in arms against him. Upon the 6th day of June, they compelled him to retire from Holyroodhouse. From his marriage till the 5th day of June, it was in his power to have destroyed these papers; and if they had really existed, it is not to be imagined that he would have neglected a step so expedient, not only for his own security and reputation, but for those of the queen. Upon the 6th day of June, it is evident that he entertained some suspicions of the fidelity of Sir James Balfour, since he avoided to take refuge in the castle of Edinburgh. Upon Carberry-hill, on the 15th day of this month, he was admonished that he was undone. He went immediately to the castle of Dunbar, where he remained for some days, and formed the scheme of his flight. The queen was that day made a prisoner at Carberry-hill; and the day after, she was shut up in Lochleven. In this season, when Sir James Balfour was his enemy, when all his hopes had perished, and when he had resolved to effectuate his escape, he is made to be anxious about the casket and the papers. He had neglected to take possession of them, when his impulse to destroy them must have been keen and powerful, and when it was completely in his power. He is made to send for them when his difficulties and despair render it improbable that he could think of them, and when it was altogether impossible that he could recover them. His messenger is intercepted with the casket; and the adversaries of the queen, upon the 20th day of June, become possessed of vouchers with which they might operate Scotland. them to return to Scotland; and they believed that she would not detain them."

Mary was exceedingly disappointed and chagrined by this singular issue of her cause. Her friends during this period had increased, and the cruel and injurious treatment she had met with was so flagrant, that the earl of Murray and his faction were apprehensive of a sudden reverse of fortune. The earls of Argyle and Huntley protested against the injustice of their proceedings, at the same time that they openly accused the earl of Murray and Maitland of Lethington as the associates of Bothwell in the murder of the king.

This charge, according to the custom of the times, they offered to defend as true and certain by the law of arms; and they protested, that if their adversaries operate her destruction. These inconsistencies are strong, and of a force not easily to be controlled; and the story is open to other objections, which are still greater, and altogether unsurmountable.

A few days after George Dalgleish was taken, he was examined judicially in a council where the earls of Morton and Athol are marked as present. It was natural, upon this occasion, to make inquiries about the casket and the papers. No questions, however, were put to him on this subject. He was not confronted with Sir James Balfour the governor of the castle, to whom the casket is said to have been committed in charge, nor with the domestics of the earl of Morton, who had apprehended him. He was kept in prison many months after this examination; and during a period, when the rebels were pressed infinitely to apologize for their violence against the queen, there were opportunities without number of bringing him to a confession. These opportunities were yet avoided; and there exists not the slightest evidence to show that the casket and the papers had been ever in his possession. Is it then to be supposed, that if the casket and the papers had really been discovered with him, the establishment of a fact so important would have been neglected by the adversaries of the queen? No. They would have accomplished its proof in the completest manner; and they had the most powerful inducements to operate this measure. When Dalgleish, too, was executed, he asserted the innocence of the queen, and actually charged the earls of Murray and Morton as the contrivers of the murder.

The 20th day of June 1567 is fixed as the era of the discovery of the letters. If this discovery had been real, the triumph of the enemies of the queen would have been infinite. They would not have delayed one moment to proclaim their joy, and to reveal to her indignant subjects the falseness and the infamy of her guilt. They preferred, however, a long and profound silence. It was not till the 4th day of December 1567 that the papers received their first mark of notice or distinction. From the 20th day of June to the 4th day of December many transactions and events of the highest importance had taken place; and the most powerful motives that have influence with men had called upon them to publish their discovery. They yet made no production of the papers, and ventured not to appeal to them. In the proclamation which they issued for apprehending Bothwell, they inveigh against his guilt, and express an anxious desire to punish the regicides; yet though this deed was posterior to the 20th day of June, there is no assertion in it to the dishonour of the queen; and it contains no mention of the box and the letters. An ambassador arrived from France in this interval, to inquire into their rebellion, and the imprisonment of the queen; yet they apologized not for their conduct by communicating to him the contents of the casket. Sir Nicholas Throgmorton was sent to Scotland by Elizabeth with instructions to act with Mary as well as with her adversaries. They denied him the liberty of waiting upon her at Lochleven, where she was detained a close prisoner; and they were careful to impress him with the idea that her love of Bothwell was incurable. He pressed them on the subject of their behaviour to her. At different times, they attempted formally to vindicate themselves; and they were uniformly vehement on the topic of the love which she bore to that nobleman. There could not possibly, therefore, have been a happier period for a display of the box and the letters. They yet abstained from producing them to him. They were solicitous to divide the faction of the nobles for the queen; and there could not have been a measure so effectual for this end as these vouchers; yet they called no convention of her friends to surprise and disunite them with this fatal discovery. They flattered the Protestant clergy, attended the assemblies of the church, and employed arts to inflame them against the queen; but they ventured not to excite the fury of these godly fathers by exhibiting to them the box and the letters. They compelled the queen to subscribe a resignation of her crown; and they had the strongest reasons to be solicitous to justify this daring transaction. The box and the letters would have served as a complete vindication of them; yet they neglected to take any notice of these important vouchers; and were contented with relying on the wild and frivolous pretence, that the queen, from sickness and fatigue, was disquieted with the care of her kingdom. In fine, when the earl of Murray went to Lochleven to pay his very remarkable visit to the queen, and proceeded to extremities the most rude, indecent, and cruel, he did not reproach her with the box and the letters. Yet, if these papers had been real, it is incredible to conceive that he would have abstained from pressing them upon her. For it was his purpose to overwhelm her with distress. It was not long after this visit that he accepted the regency, and completed his usurpation of the government. The conclusion to be drawn from this enumeration of concurring particulars, is natural and unavoidable. These memorable papers had not yet any existence. nobles that passion for liberty which had once so much distinguished the Scottish nation, but which now seemed to be exchanged for a servile subjection to the queen of England. But some dispatches which preluded these topics being intercepted, Mary was removed from Bolton to Tutbury castle, where she was intrusted to the earl of Shrewsbury, and committed to closer confinement than she had yet experienced; while Elizabeth dispersed manifestos all over the northern counties of England, complaining of reports injurious to her honour, and disclaiming all hostile intentions towards the liberties of Scotland.

In the mean time Murray returned to Scotland, where he took every method to establish himself in his ill-acquired power. Mary had commanded the duke of Chattellerault to return to Scotland, in order to raise forces for her behoof; but this nobleman had been long detained in England by the artifices of Elizabeth, so that Murray had arrived there before him. The duke, however, began to raise forces, and might have proved a troublesome antagonist, had not Murray deceived him by a pretended negociation, and got him into his power; immediately after which he imprisoned him, and forced most of the other lords who were on that side to submit.

When the news of this important event reached the queen of Scots, she instructed the bishop of Ross to repair to Elizabeth, and to make remonstrances in their behalf. By the agency of this ecclesiastic, whom she had constituted her ambassador, she meant to conduct

When the adversaries of the queen had achieved the overthrow of Bothwel, and had thrown her into the prison of Lochleven, they had occasion to fear her return to popularity, and her deliverance from confinement. They were not absolutely certain that Elizabeth would refuse to take the part of the queen; and they had apprehensions from the interposition of France. They accordingly held consultations about the method the most efficacious for their security and protection. When the earl of Murray assumed the regency, it was absolutely necessary that they should come forward with their vindication; and from their being possessed of the power of government, they could manage their vindication to the greater advantage. Accordingly, in this critical period, they in reality made their defence. In a privy-council, assembled by the earl of Murray upon the 4th day of December 1567, an inquiry was concluded, which had been agitated for some days, and of which it was the object to examine into the conduct of the lords, barons, and gentlemen, who had acted against the queen. This was in fact an investigation made by themselves into their own behaviour and actions. The event was as favourable as might be expected. They pronounced, that from the time of the murder of the king, till the period of their deliberations, they had acted as faithful and true subjects; and that every extremity to which they had proceeded against the queen, had its source in her own misconduct. They affirmed, that she was a party with the earl of Bothwel in the king's murder, and that this murder had been committed with a view to their marriage. To support this conclusion, they appealed to the letters which she had written to him; and they mentioned them as the chief and justifying causes of their rebellion. It appears not, however, that the letters were read in this council, or examined in it; but it may be concluded at least, that they were now actually in existence. Upon the 4th day, then, of December 1567, the letters first received their mark of distinction.

In the act of this singular privy-council, it is observable, that the enemies of the queen impute to the letters their knowledge of her guilt, and point to them as the source or spring of their rebellion. Now, according to their own account, the letters were not discovered till the 20th day of June. Yet there is nothing more certain than that they were in arms, and had displayed their hostile banners, in the month of May. In consequence of their order, the queen was even committed to the castle of Lochleven upon the 16th day of June. The letters therefore could not possibly give rise to events which were prior to their discovery. This is to reverse altogether the laws of nature. Previously to the period in which they acknowledged that they first saw the letters, they affect to have been governed by them. This act of council, a solemn deed of their own, is therefore an express evidence against the authenticity of the letters.

But let this act of council be considered in the light the most favourable to them, and be tried by transactions of their own, which were absolutely posterior to the 20th day of June. It was upon the 26th day of this month that they proclaimed Bothwel a traitor. In this act of proclamation, they impute to him the murder of the king; but they charge him also with treason, as the ravisher of the queen; affirm, that her marriage with him was forced, and that she was under bondage; assign as their reason for taking arms, their desire to punish him as the author of the murder and the rape; and command the subjects of Scotland not to afflict him in any respect, under the penalty of being accounted partners with him in these horrible crimes. Now, if their act of council is to be believed, and if the letters are genuine, they were at this very time under the strongest conviction of her guilt, considered her as a deviser and accomplice of the murder, and believed that her view in the murder was to accomplish the marriage. They could not therefore with any probability have charged Bothwel as exclusively guilty of the murder, of having committed a rape upon her in order to accomplish his purposes, and of being exposed to the laws of his country for the joint crimes of murder, treason, and ravishment. This evidence is not single and unsupported. In a laboured manifesto on the subject of their rebellion, which they delivered to Throgmorton upon the 11th day of July, they expressly represent the queen as free from any concern in the death of her husband. They directly acknowledge, that the crimes of Bothwel had put arms into their hands; that he had accomplished the murder, in order that he might compel the queen to marry him; that in reality the marriage was effected by force and power; and that he kept her in captivity. They express it as their firm persuasion, that he had schemed to take away her life, as well as that of the prince her son. These are positive and definitive declarations; and they are in the most absolute contradiction to the sense of their act of council, and to the authenticity of the letters. In a regular and formal deed, which they issued up- duet her transactions with the queen of England; and from the conclusion of the conferences, she had been meditating a proper plan upon which to accomplish her liberty and restoration. The bishop of Rois, after complaining loudly of the rigorous proceedings of the regent, and intimating the general belief which prevailed that he was supported by the English court, pressed the propriety of a final settlement of the affairs of his mistress. With this view, he was admitted by Elizabeth and her privy-counsellors to frequent conferences; and they even desired him to present to them in writing, the articles which he was commanded to propose as the foundation of a treaty. He failed not to comply with this injunction; and it was the import of his schedule of agreement, that Mary should engage never to molest Elizabeth, and the lawful heirs of her body, in the matter of the succession to the crown of England and Ireland, if a reciprocal security should be given to her upon her own rights upon their demise or failure; that a new treaty of alliance and friendship should be concluded between the two queens, by the advice of the estates of both kingdoms; that this league should be ratified by their oaths and seals, and confirmed by parliamentary acts; and, if any farther assurance should be deemed necessary on the part of Mary, that she would procure the kings of France and Spain to be the guarantees of her punctuality and concord; that in compliance with the pleasure of Elizabeth, she would extend her clemency to all her subjects who had offended her, under the proviso on the 21st day of July, they described the wickedness of Bothwell, and positively assert, that after he had committed the murder, he treasonably assaulted the person of the queen, took her captive to Dunbar, and, keeping her in bondage, constrained her to marry him. To the same purpose, additional evidence might be brought; but these vouchers are sufficiently powerful and instructive. For if it had been true, that the conspirators had been possessed of the letters upon the 20th day of June, and had been actuated with resentment against the queen as art and part of the murder, with a view to the marriage, they could not possibly, in a posterior day of that month, and in the month of July, have described her as under bondage, as innocent and ravished, as compelled to marry, in danger of her life, in constraint, and in captivity.

This remarkable act of Murray's privy-council is the key to discover the forgery of the letters. It is not to be controverted, that they received in it their first mark of distinction. There is no previous memorial of them in history; and if there had been any, the conspirators would not have failed to have produced it. They had issued many proclamations and public papers; but in no proclamation or public paper preceding the 4th day of December, did they ever announce or appeal to the letters; although it was infinitely their interest to have done so. It is impossible that this could have been their line of conduct if the letters had been genuine. It is only to be accounted for on the hypothesis, that they are a forgery. The letters, considered as genuine papers, were unknown when they ought and could not fail to have excited the greatest noise and ferment. When considered as a forgery, their appearance was in the exact moment of propriety. For the conspirators having completed the usurpation of the government, were in a situation where it was absolutely necessary for them either to acknowledge their own transgressions, or to impeach the queen. Their crimes and rebellion, the necessities of their situation, and her impeachment, are all correspondent and explanatory. They are the parts of a whole, and throw mutually a light to one another.

In this act of council the conspirators discover the greatest anxiety for their pardon and security. Now, if the letters had been genuine, this anxiety would have been most unnatural; for the notoriety of her guilt would have operated most completely their justification and pardon. In this act of council they betray the utmost solicitude to establish the criminality of the queen. Yet if the letters had been real, her criminality would have been established from the moment of their discovery. This anxiety, therefore, for themselves, and this attempt against the honour of the queen, at a juncture so particular, are more than suspicious. They appear to be obviously the suggestions of their guilty fears; and the steps by which they thought to accomplish their purposes are a new evidence against them, and a fresh intimation of their guilt. It was with a view to the approaching convention of the estates that this act of council had been formed and managed. It was a preparation for the parliament, in which the conspirators had secured the fullest sway, and where they proposed to effectuate their pardon and security, and to establish the letters as decisive vouchers against the queen.

Accordingly, upon the 15th day of December 1567, the three estates were assembled. The conspirators invited no candid or regular inquiries or investigation. The friends of the nation and of the queen were overawed. Every thing proceeded in conformity to the act of council. The conspirators, by a parliamentary decree, received a full approbation of all the severities they had exercised against the queen. A pardon by anticipation was even accorded to them for any future cruelty or punishment they might be induced to inflict upon her. The letters were mentioned as the cause of this singular law; and this new appeal to them may be termed the second mark of their distinction. But amidst the plenitude of their power, the conspirators called not the estates to a free and honest examination of them. This, indeed, if the letters had been genuine, would have annihilated for ever all the consequence of the queen. Upon this measure, however, they ventured not. They apprehended a detection of their forgery, and a protestation against it. The letters were neither read, nor examined, nor recorded. The queen was not brought from her confinement to defend herself, and no advocate was permitted to speak for her. By a strong and unwarrantable exertion of authority, the parliament sustained them as vouchers of her guilt, without inspection, scrutiny, or debate. The conspirators, who were themselves the criminals, were here her accusers and her judges.

There was yet no actual exhibition or display of the letters. It was, however, necessary to describe them in the act of council, and in the ordination of the parliament; and these deeds having fortunately defended vision that they would submit to her sovereignty, deliver up the prince her son, restore her castles, give back her jewels, and surrender to her friends and servants the estates and possessions of which they had been deprived; that the murder of the king should be punished against all the actors in it without delay, and according to the laws; that, to prevent Bothwel from returning to Scotland, and to please those who imagined that it was in his power to excite ferments and trouble, he would be bound to institute a process of divorce against him; and that these articles being adjusted, the queen of England should allow her to proceed to Scotland, under a safe and honourable convoy, to be re-established by the three estates in her realm and government, and to be gratified with the dissolution of all the acts and statutes which had been passed to her prejudice.

These heads of alliance were received with a respect and cordiality which were not usually paid to the transactions of Mary in the court of Elizabeth; and the bishop of Ross was elated with expectation of Mary's justice, however, was not the sole, or even the chief cause of this attention and complaisance. A combination of the English nobles had taken place against Norfolk, Cecil, whose power and credit were objects of indignation and jealousy; and the duke of Norfolk had been active and successful in promoting the scheme of his marriage with the queen of Scots. Taking advantage of the condition of parties, he had practised with the principal nobility to encourage his pretensions to Mary.

To posterity, it is most remarkable, that from a comparison of them, it is to be observed, that the letters must have undergone essential alterations under the management of the conspirators. In the act of council, the letters are described expressly as written and subscribed by the queen; but in the act or ordination of the parliament, they are said to be only written with her own hand; and there is no intimation that they were subscribed by her. Under one form, they had been appealed to as vouchers of her guilt in the privy-council; under another form, they were mentioned as vouchers of it in the parliament. Now, if the letters had been genuine, they would have appeared uniformly with the same face. These variations are therefore stages in the progress of the forgery. The keenness of the conspirators engaged them at first to additio to them the name of the queen. But a maturer consideration of the gross impropriety of their contents, discovered to them, that her subscription would communicate to them an air of extravagance and improbability. They accordingly rejected this method, and adopted the form of executing the letters without her subscription. With this fashion of them, in fact, they were finally satisfied; and it is under this aspect that they were actually to be produced and to be known.

They were now as complete as the conspirators wished them to be; yet in this state, while they were un-subscribed, they wanted other formalities which are usual in dispatches. They were without any direction; they had no dates; and they had no seal. They must have been sent by the queen to Bothwel as open and loose papers. They yet contained evidence against herself and against him of the most horrid wickedness; and Nicholas Hubert, the person who is said to have carried them, was of the lowest condition, and indigent. There are most incredible circumstances on the supposition that the letters are authentic; and even when the letters are considered in the light of a forgery, they seem to intimate, that the conspirators did not intend any more than to appeal to them in their defence, to keep them from observation, and to rely on their authority on the parliamentary sanction to be communicated to them.

The letters, in their composition, bear no resemblance to the other writings of the queen. They have a vulgarity, an indelicacy, and a coarseness of expression and manner, that do not apply to her; and while they are disgusting from their want of elegance, they violate chronology. From a comparison of them with national records of undoubted faith, they appear to have been written upon days when the queen was differently employed, and in places where she was not actually present. It is not in one instance only that they exhibit this wild inconsistency. The examples of it are frequent, and attended with peculiarities that are palpable. The objections, therefore, to their authenticity upon this head seem decisive, and are not to be contradicted, or even palliated, without a violence and skepticism that are altogether destructive of historical evidence.

But while the genuineness of the letters is asifiable upon every side, the criminality to be deduced from them against the queen receives no support of any kind from history. It is the amount of the charge which they are brought to support, that she was concerned in the murder of the king in order to accomplish her marriage with Bothwel. Now her marriage with Bothwel was not voluntary; and she could have no concern in the murder with this view. At Dunbar she was detained against her will. Her adversaries were at that time the friends of Bothwel; and instead of taking arms to remove her out of his power, they allowed him full leisure to put in practice all his arts against her. They had even armed him with a bond, inculcating, in the strongest terms, his innocence of the murder; extolling, in the highest degree, his integrity, capacity, valour, and accomplishments; and recommending him to be her husband, in the most nervous and unequivocal language. This bond he produced to her when she was his prisoner; and it sufficiently informed her, that they were the friends of Bothwel, and that she could not expect to be relieved by them. The consequence of being under the dominion of Bothwel was her seduction; and the consequence of her seduction was her marriage. Now if Mary had been previously in criminal habits with this nobleman, and had joined with him in the murder in order to effect the marriage, there would not have been any occasion for all this artifice and criminality. The marriage would have followed naturally of itself; and these violent preparations would have been unnecessary. The friends of Bothwel would not have subscribed a bond, recommending him as a husband to the queen. They would not have inculcated his innocence of the murder, the integrity of his character, and the greatness of his virtues and accomplishments. Bothwel himself would not have lain in ambush. Mary; and he secretly communicated to them the promises of support he had received from the earl of Murray. By the advice and influence of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, he engaged in his behalf the earl of Leicester; and this nobleman imparted the matter to the earls of Pembroke and Arundel. The duke himself was able to conciliate the favour of the earls of Derby, Bedford, Shrewsbury, Southampton, Northampton, Northumberland, Westmoreland, and Sussex. In the mean time, he was eagerly pressing Mary herself with his suit and importunities; and had mutually exchanged the tokens of a constant and sincere love. It was in this forward state of the match, that the bishop of Ross drew up the schedule of articles for the accommodation of the rival queens.

At the desire of Elizabeth, her privy-council conferred with the bishop upon these articles at different times; and they expressed themselves to be highly pleased with their general import and meaning. Little doubt was entertained of their success; and the earl propose of Leicester, in order to complete the business, and to serve the duke of Norfolk, undertook to give them a more special force, and to improve them by the introduction of a stipulation about the marriage of the queen of Scots. According to his scheme of agreement, it was required of Mary, that she should be a party to no attempt against the rights and titles of the queen of England, or her heirs; that she should consent to a perpetual league, offensive and defensive, between the two kingdoms; that she should finally establish for her in her way from Stirling to her capital; he would not have carried her to Dunbar under a guard of soldiers; and he would not have been obliged to accomplish the marriage by new crimes, and to have found the way to her bed by treason and ravishment.

While the innocence, however, of the queen of a concern in the murder, and of any previous amour with Bothwel, is to be inferred from the arts and compulsion employed to produce this abominable marriage; the criminality of her enemies receives thence a confirmation of the strongest kind. They exempt the queen from all suspicion of being an accomplice with Bothwel; and, in fact, history records her sincere reconciliation with the king, her infinite surprize at the murder, and her uniform anxiety to punish the regicides. But they do more than fix upon her enemies the suspicion of a concern in the guilt of Bothwel. Without their concurrence, Bothwel could not have ventured on the murder; and without their aid, he could not have protected himself under the weight of its criminality. They gave him their concurrence, and afforded him their aid. The consequence was inevitable. He came off victorious from his trial. It was in their power, immediately upon the murder, to have completed his destruction. But without the marriage they could not accomplish the overthrow of the queen. They therefore affilited him with the bond recommending him to be her husband, and combined with him to effect the marriage. This brought their affairs to a crisis; and the nuptial solemnity was no sooner concluded, than they openly revolted, not only against the earl of Bothwel, but against the queen. The integrity and innocence which they had ascribed to this nobleman in the bond had no longer any existence. They exclaimed against him as foul with murder and infamy. In the bond they had represented the marriage as the most salutary and the most fortunate event that could happen; and they had pledged themselves by a solemn oath and engagement to uphold it at the expense of their lives, their fortunes, and their honour. But the moment that it was achieved, they exclaimed against it as unnatural, monstrous, and horrible. The same ambition which had prompted them in their former course, stimulated them in their new direction. All their measures tended to the usurpation of the royalty; and they finally compassed the object of their pursuit. In the state of their exaltation, they were exposed to dangers, and alarmed with fears. There was a necessity for them to vindicate their transactions against the queen. No apology but her guilt could be of any avail to them. They, therefore, formally imputed to her a concern in the murder of the king, with a view to the marriage with Bothwel. The letters were fabricated. Their ambition, the murder of the king, their protection of Bothwel, the bond, the marriage, their rebellion, their subversion of the government, the regency of the earl of Murray, and the letters, are all linked together in an inseparable connection. They establish, beyond a doubt, the innocence of the queen; and they vouch and testify in a manner the most clear and irrefragable, the unlimited perniciousness and the execrable cruelty of her enemies.

The evidence which points to the forgery of the letters is profuse and instructive. In its separate parts it is powerful and satisfactory. When taken together, and in the union of its parts, it is invincible. But amidst all its cogency and strength, there is a circumstance most peculiarly in its favour, and of which it required no aid or assistance. By this peculiarity it is cases completely in itself, and armed at every point. The letters have come down to us in the French, the Scottish, and the Latin languages. Now the conspirators alleged that they were written by the queen in the French language. From their examination, however, in these different languages, it appears demonstratively, that they were written originally in the Scotch language; and that the pretended French originals are a translation from the Latin of Buchanan, which is a version from the Scotch.

The letters, so weak on every side, and so incapable of sustaining any scrutiny, give the marks of suspicion and guilt in all the stages of their progress. Even with the parliamentary sanction afforded to them by the three estates, which the earl of Murray assembled upon the 15th day of December 1567, he felt the delicacy and the danger of employing them openly to the purposes for which they were invented. For while he was scheming with Elizabeth his accusation of the queen of Scots, he took the precaution to submit privately the letters to this princess by the agency of Mr Wood his secretary. This suspicious transaction took place early in the month of June 1568; and its object was most flagitious, and prescribes not only against his integrity, but against that of the English queen. Before he would advance with his charge, he solicited from her an afflu- establish the Protestant religion in Scotland; that she should admit to her favour those of her subjects who had appeared against her; that if she had made any assignment of her kingdom to the duke of Anjou, in the expectation of a marriage to be contracted between them, it should be dissolved; and that instead of looking to a foreign prince, whose alliance would be dangerous, not only to the religion but to the liberty of the two realms, she would agree to marry the duke of Norfolk, the first peer of England. These articles being communicated to the bishop of Ross, he was desired to transmit them to Mary; but, as they touched upon some points concerning which he had no instructions, he declined this office, and recommended the propriety of their employing a special messenger of their own, in a commission of such high importance. They accordingly appointed Mr. Candish to go with them to the queen of Scots, and, in a formal dispatch, assure them that the judges to be appointed in the trial of Mary would hold the letters to be true and probative.

By the encouragement of Elizabeth, the earl of Murray was prevailed upon to come to the resolution to prefer his accusation. He was soon to depart for England upon this business. A privy-council was called by him at Edinburgh. He took up in it, with formality, the letters from the earl of Morton, and gave a receipt for them to that nobleman. This receipt is remarkable and interesting. It is dated upon the 16th day of September 1568. It contains the first mention that appears in history of the discovery of the letters as in the actual possession of Dalgleish upon the 20th day of June 1567: For Dalgleish being alive upon the 4th day of December 1567, when the earl of Murray achieved the act of council, which is the era of the first evidence of the existence of the letters, and upon the 15th day of that month, when the three estates affected to sustain their authority, it was not proper at those periods to have made a formal mention of his name. But this person having been executed in January 1568, there was no longer any hazard of his giving a contradiction to the adversaries of the queen. This, however, is not the only suspicious circumstance which is recorded in the receipt. In the act of privy-council, and in the ordination of parliament in December 1567, when the earl of Murray and his associates were infinitely anxious to establish the criminality of the queen, the only vouchers appealed to of her guilt were the letters; and at that time, doubtless, they had prepared no other papers to which they could allude. But in the earl of Murray's receipt in September 1568, there is mention of other vouchers beside the letters. He acknowledges, that he also received from the earl of Morton contracts or obligations, and sonnets or love-letters. These remarkable papers, though said to have been found upon the 20th day of June 1567, appeared not till September 1568; and this difficulty is yet to be solved by those who conceive them to be genuine. The general arguments which affect the authenticity of the letters apply to them in full force; and circumstances peculiar to themselves evince, at the same time, their fabrication. They are not to be accounted for or explained on the supposition of the genuineness of the letters; but upon the hypothesis of the forgery of the letters, their use, and the era of their invention, may be pointed to with an obvious clearness. When the earl of Murray had agreed to accuse the queen of Scots, his anxiety about his proofs was redoubled. His apprehensions were excessive and alarming. The private communication of the letters to Elizabeth in June 1568 produced a wish that he could fortify these vouchers. For the letters only were at this time exhibited to the English queen. The notion that the love of Mary to Bothwell was inordinate, required to be supported. It was a fundamental principle with the conspirators; and they had no facts by which it could be fixed and illustrated. Between the months, therefore, of June and September 1568, between the dates of the communication of the letters to Elizabeth, and of the receipt of the box from the earl of Morton, the contracts and the sonnets were invented; and that they might answer their intentions they were made to express and imply, in a strong degree, the affection of Mary to Bothwell. The forgery was now finished; and the papers, while they mutually evince the weakness and impropriety of one another, all concur to establish the certain and uniform criminality of the enemies of the queen.

As to the casket or box in which the papers were deposited, it is said to have contained them from the 20th day of June 1567, when it is urged that they were first discovered. Yet of this box, in connection with the letters and papers, there is no mention of the act of council, or in the ordination of the parliament, where the letters are described; nor at the time when they were privately communicated to queen Elizabeth. The 16th day of September 1568 is the date of the first mention of the box as containing any vouchers against the queen. This box or casket had indeed belonged to Mary. She had received it from her husband Francis II.; and the use to which she put it was to hold her jewels. When the conspirators seized upon her jewels, it was appropriated by them; and they conceived, that it would give a propriety to their forgeries to lodge them in it.

The next date of the dismission of the box and its contents was upon the 10th day of October 1568. In the true spirit of the forgery, and with the most guilty anxieties, the earl of Murray communicated them by his agents to the English commissioners at York in a clandestine manner, and not in their public capacity. His scheme was to avoid the necessity of a judicial or exact examination of them; and to give them the stamp of authenticity, and of finished and definitive evidences against the queen of Scots, by his own oath and the oaths of his associates. His intrigues with Norfolk are still farther illustrative of the nature of his sensibilities and consciousnesses. The disappointment of Elizabeth, occasioned by his caution, guilt, and timidities, produced the removal of the conferences from York to Westminster. Her resentments against Mary, the satisfaction she afforded to his scruples, her power, and her promises of protection, brought him finally to the points she had in view. His public accusation of the queen of Scots was delivered; and at length it was succeeded by his public exhibition of the box and its contents. Scotland, they extolled the merits of the duke of Norfolk; assured her of the general favour and support of the English nobility, if she should approve of his love; and intimated their belief that Elizabeth would not be adverse from a marriage which gave the certain promise of tranquillity and happiness to the two kingdoms. This dispatch was in the hand-writing of Leicester; and it was subscribed by this nobleman, and the earls of Arundel and Pembroke, and the lord Lumley.

Mary, in the solitude of her prison, received this application with pleasure. By the lord Boyd she returned a very favourable answer to it; but took the liberty to admonish them of the necessity of their securing the good-will of Elizabeth, lest her dislike of the treaty or the marriage should excite new difficulties and misfortunes, and involve the duke of Norfolk in inconvenience and danger. This advice, the suggestion of her delicacy and prudence, did not draw sufficiently their attention. The duke of Norfolk was now impatient to conclude this great transaction, in which he had engaged himself; and admitted into his councils many nobles whom he had hitherto neglected to court, and many gentlemen who were considerable from their distinction and fortunes. The countenance and consent of the kings of France and Spain were thought necessary to the measures in agitation, and were solicited and obtained. In the universality of the applause with which they were honoured, it was supposed, that Elizabeth would be allured into a cordial acknowledgment of their propriety, or be compelled to afford them a reluctant approbation; and so ardent a belief prevailed of their fortunate termination, that the marriage-contract was actually intrusted to the keeping of M. Fenelon the French ambassador.

The activity of the duke of Norfolk with the English nobles did not so much engage his attention as to make him forget the regent. He kept up with him a close correspondence in consequence of the concert into which they had entered, and received the most ample assurances of his fidelity and service. The most languine and seducing hopes elated him. The regent, while he stipulated for terms of favour and security to himself and his faction, appeared to be full of the marriage, as a measure from which the greatest advantages would arise to the two kingdoms, to the two queens, and to the true religion. The match, in the mean while, was anxiously concealed from Elizabeth; but she was zealously pressed to conclude an accommodation with Mary, on the foundation of the schedule of agreement presented by the bishop of Rois. After having had many conferences with her privy-council, she seemed inclined to treat definitively for the restoration of the queen of Scots, and actually agreed to open the transaction to the regent. The lord Boyd was sent into Scotland upon this business; and while he carried her letters, he was intrusted with dispatches from Mary, the duke of Norfolk, and Sir Nicholas Throgmorton.

As the regent was returning from his northern expedition, he was saluted at Elgin by the lord Boyd, who immediately laid before him the dispatches and instructions with which he had been charged. The queen of England, in her letters, made three propositions in behalf of Mary, and intimated a desire that one of them should be accepted. The queen of Scots, she said, might be restored, fully and absolutely, to her royal estate; she might be associated in the government with her son, have the title of queen, and, till the prince should attain the age of 17 years, the administration might continue in the regent; or she might be permitted to return to Scotland in a private station, and have an honourable appointment to maintain her in a safe and happy obscurity. The dispatches from the regent desired, that judges might immediately be allowed to inquire into the legality of her marriage with Bothwell; and that, if it was found to have been concluded in opposition to the laws, it should be declared to be void, and the liberty be granted to her of entering anew into a matrimonial engagement.

The duke of Norfolk expressed to the regent the gratitude he felt for his friendship; promised him the niftes of command of the fullest exertions of his consequence Norfolk, and power; intreated him to proceed expeditiously in promoting the business of the marriage, and referred him to the instructions of lord Boyd for a satisfactory answer to any doubts which might give him disgust or uneasiness. By the letters of Throgmorton, the regent was advertised that the marriage of the queen of Scots with the duke of Norfolk was a certain and decided point; and he was counselled to concur heartily and expeditiously in this transaction, that his consent might not seem to have been extorted. Maitland of Lethington was recommended to him by this statesman, as the person whom he should choose to represent him in the English court, as he could negotiate both the terms and mode of his security and of that of his party. In fine, Throgmorton intreated him not to be troubled with any precise scruples or objections, for that his overthrow, if he resisted, would be inevitable; and, in the view of his services and cordiality, he assured him, that no man's friendship would be accepted with greater affection, and no man's estimation be higher or more fortunate. The zeal of Throgmorton induced him also, upon this occasion, to address to Maitland a dispatch, in which he was infinitely importunate to hasten his expedition to England, in the character to which he recommended him. He complimented him as the fittest person to open the match to the English queen, on the part of the regent and the Scottish nobility; and he represented the success of the scheme to be infallible, as Elizabeth would never be so unwise as to put her own safety, the peace of her kingdom, and the preservation of her people, in competition with the partial devices that might proceed from the vanity and the passions of any person whatsoever. He enumerated the names of the English nobility who had confederated to promote the marriage. He enlarged upon it as an expedient full of wisdom, and as advantageous in the highest degree to religion and the state. He pointed out the lasting and inseparable connection of England and Scotland, as its happy and undoubted consequence. For, if James VI. should die, the sceptres of the two kingdoms might devolve to an English prince; and if he should attain to manhood, he might marry the daughter of the duke of Norfolk, and unite, in his person, the two crowns.

These weighty dispatches employed fully the thoughts of the regent. The calls of justice and humanity were loud in the behalf of Mary; his engagements to Norfolk were precise and definitive; and the com- commission of Elizabeth afforded him the command of the most important services. But, on the other hand, the restoration of Mary, and her marriage, would put an end forever to his greatness; and, amidst all the stipulations which could be made for his protection, the enormity of his guilt was still haunting him with suspicions and terror. His ambition and his selfish sensibilities were an overmatch for his virtue. He practised with his partisans to throw obstacles in the way of the treaty and the marriage; and, on the presence of deliberating concerning the restoration of Mary, and on her divorce from Bothwel, a convention of the estates was summoned by him to assemble at Perth. To this assembly the letters of Elizabeth were recited; and her propositions were considered in their order. The full restoration of Mary to her dignity was accounted injurious to the authority of the king, and her association with her son in the government was judged improper and dangerous; but it was thought that her deliverance from prison, and her reduction to a private station, were reasonable expedients. No definitive decree, however, was pronounced. The letters of Mary were then communicated to this council, and gave rise to vehement debates. She had written and subscribed them in her character of queen of Scotland. This carriage was termed insolent and impertinent by the friends of the regent. They also held it unsafe to examine her requests, till they should be communicated to Elizabeth; and they inferrated, that some inclement and partial device was concealed under the purpose of her divorce from the earl of Bothwel. The favourites of Mary endeavoured to apologize for the form of the letters, by throwing the blame upon her secretaries; and engaged, that while the commissioners, or judges, were proceeding in the business of the divorce, new dispatches in the proper method should be applied for and procured. They were heard with evident symptoms of displeasure; and exclaimed, "that it was wonderful to them, that those very persons who lately had been so violent for the separation of the queen and Bothwel, should now be so adverse from it." The partisans of the regent replied, "that if the queen was so eagerly solicitous to procure the divorce, she might apply to the king of Denmark to execute Bothwel as the murderer of her husband; and that then she might marry the person who was most agreeable to her." The passions of the two factions were inflamed to a most indecent extremity; and the convention broke up with strong and unequivocal marks of hostility and anger.

Notwithstanding the caution with which Mary and Norfolk carried on their intrigues, intimations of them had come to Elizabeth. Norfolk himself, by the advice of the earl of Pembroke, had ventured to disclose his secret to Sir William Cecil, who affected to be friendly to him. The regent, in answer to her letters, transmitted to her the proceedings of the convention at Perth. The application of Mary for a divorce was a key to the ambitious hopes of the duke of Norfolk. She commanded Sir William Cecil to apply himself to discover the conspiracy. This statesman betrayed the confidence with which he had been entrusted; and Elizabeth, while the duke was attending her at Farnham, discovering a mixture of pleasantry and passion, admonished him to be careful on what pillow he repose his head. The earl of Leicester, alarmed by his fears, revealed to her at Titchfield the whole proceedings of the duke of Norfolk and his friends. Her fury was ungovernable; and at different times she loaded Norfolk with the severest reproaches and contumely, for presuming to think of a marriage with the queen of Scots without the sanction of her concurrence. Insulted with her discourse and her looks, abandoned by Leicester, and avoided by other nobles in whom he had confided, he felt his courage to forsake him. He left the court at Southampton without taking his leave, and went to London to the earl of Pembroke. New intimations of her displeasure were announced to him, and he retired to his seat at Kinninghall in Norfolk. His friends pressed him to take the field, and to commit his safety to the sword; but having no inclination to involve his country in the miseries of war, he rejected their advice; and addressing an apology to Elizabeth, protested that he never meant to depart from the fidelity which he owed to her; and that it was his fixed resolution to have applied for her consent to his marriage with the queen of Scots. In return, she ordered him to repair to her court at Windsor; and, as he appeared to be irresolute, a messenger was dispatched to take him into custody. He was first confined to the house of Paul Westworth, at Burnham, in the neighbourhood of Windsor, and then committed to the tower. The earls of Pembroke and Arundel, the lord Lumley, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, and the bishop of Ross, were also apprehended and confined.

Elizabeth, amidst the ferment of her inquietudes, forgot not to gratify her revenge by insulting the queen posted as Scots. The name of Mary was sufficient to convulse her with anger. The earl of Huntington, who affected to have pretensions to the crown of England that were preferable to those of the Scottish princess, was joined with the earl of Shrewsbury in the office of guarding her. His instructions were rigorous, and he was disposed to exceed them. The earl of Shrewsbury considered it as an indignity to have an associate who was a declared enemy to his charge, who had an interest in her death, and who was remarkable for a natural ferocity of disposition. Mary exclaimed against the indelicacy and rudeness of Elizabeth, and protested that all her intentions were commendable and innocent. Huntington took a delight in her sufferings. He ransacked her coffers with a view of making discoveries; but her prudence had induced her to destroy all the evidences of her transactions with the duke of Norfolk; and the officious affability of this jailor was only rewarded with two cyphers which he could not comprehend. The domestics whom she favoured were suspected and dismissed. Her train of attendants was diminished. An unrelenting watch was kept upon her. No couriers were allowed to carry her dispatches. No messengers were admitted to her presence; and all the letters from her friends were ordered to be intercepted, and to be conveyed to the queen of England.

The proceedings of the convention at Perth were afflicting to Elizabeth, to Mary, and to the duke of Norfolk. In the former they created suspicions of the by the regent; and they were a certain annunciation to the latter, that he was resolved to support himself in the govern- government of Scotland. Uncertain rumours had reached Elizabeth of the interviews he had held with Norfolk in the business of the marriage. Her surprise and indignation were infinite. Mr Wood, who brought from the regent his answer to her letter, was treated with disrespect. Secretary Cecil dispatched intimations to the lord Haddon, the governor of Berwick, to carry a penetrating eye to his operations. Elizabeth, by a special envoy, required from him an explanation of his ambiguous carriage. The regent, true to his interests, apologized to her for his connections with the duke of Norfolk, by laying open the design of that nobleman to cut him off, in his way to Scotland, by a full communication of whatever had passed between them in relation to Mary, and by offers of an unlimited submission and obedience.

While the duke of Norfolk was carrying on his intrigues with Mary, the scheme of an insurrection for her deliverance was advancing under the direction of the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland. Motives of religion were the chief foundation of this conspiracy; and the more zealous Catholics over England were concerned in it. Mary, however, by the advice of the duke of Norfolk, who was afraid of her matching with a foreign prince, did not enter into it with cordiality. It advanced notwithstanding; and the agents of the pope were lavish of exhortations and donations. The duke of Alva, by the order of his master the king of Spain, encouraged the conspirators with the offer of 20,000 men from the Netherlands; and, under the pretence of adjusting commercial disputes, he sent into England Chiapini Vitelli marquis of Celona, an officer of ability, that he might be at hand, and prepared to take the command of them. The report of an insurrection was universal. Elizabeth kept an army of 15,000 men near her person. The queen of Scots was removed to Coventry, a place of great strength; and if a superior and commanding force should appear before it, her ferocious keeper, it is said, had orders to assassinate her. Repeated commands were sent to the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland, to repair to court. But the imprisonment of the duke of Norfolk and his friends had struck a panic into them. They conceived that their conspiracy was discovered; and putting themselves at the head of their followers, they issued their manifesto. The restoration of Popery, the establishment of the titles of Mary to the English crown, and the reformation of abuses in the commonwealth, were the avowed objects of their enterprise. But they had embarked in a business for which they were altogether unequal. Their efforts were feeble and futile. The duke of Alva forgot his promises. Wherever the peace was disturbed by insurgents, there were troops to oppose them. The vigilance of Elizabeth disconcerted with ease the operations of men whom no resources or popularity could have conducted to greatness, and who could neither conquer nor die. The earl of Westmoreland, after concealing himself for some time in Scotland, effected an escape into Flanders, where he passed a miserable and useless existence; and the earl of Northumberland being taken by the regent, was imprisoned in the fortress of Lochleven.

As the fury of Elizabeth abated, her resentment to the duke of Norfolk lost its power; and she failed not to distinguish between the intrigues of an honourable ambition and the practices of an obstinate superstition.

It was the result of the examination of this nobleman, and of the confessions of the other prisoners, that Leithington had schemed the business of the marriage, and that the earl of Murray had encouraged it; that her consent was understood to be necessary to its completion; and that Mary herself had warmly recommended the expedient of consulting her pleasure. Upon receiving proper admonitions, the earls of Pembroke, Arundel, the lord Lumley, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, and the bishop of Rois, were released from confinement; and, after a more tedious imprisonment, the duke of Norfolk himself was admitted to his liberty. This favour, however, was not extended to him till he had not only submissively acknowledged his presumption in the business of the marriage; but had fully revealed whatever had passed between Mary and him, and solemnly engaged himself never more to think of this alliance, and never more to take any concern whatsoever in her affairs.

The regent, in the mean while, was very anxious to recover the good opinion of Elizabeth. Her treatment of Mr Wood, and her discovery of his practices, had excited his apprehensions. He therefore assembled at Stirling a convention of the estates; and taking her letters a second time into consideration, returned her a reply to them by Robert Pitcairn abbot of Dunfermline, in a style suited to her temper and jealousies, and from which she could decisively infer, that no favour of any kind would be shown to the queen of Scots. But this base condescension, though afflicting by his treachery to the duke of Norfolk, not being sufficient, in his opinion, to draw completely to him the cordiality of the queen of England, he was preparing to gratify her with another sacrifice. The partiality of Maitland to Mary, and his intrigues with Norfolk and the English malcontents, had rendered him uncommonly obnoxious to Elizabeth and her ministry. The late commotions had been chiefly ascribed to his arts; and it was natural to dread new calamities and tumults from the fruitful spring of his invention. Under the pretence of employing his service in dispatches to England, the regent invited him to Stirling. He was then with the earl of Athol at Perth; and suspecting some improper device, he obeyed the summons with reluctance. When he took his place in the privy-council, Captain Crawford, the minion of the earl of Lennox, who had distinguished himself in the trial of Mary, accused him, in direct terms, of being a party in the murder of the late king. The regent affected astonishment, but permitted him to be taken into custody. He was soon after sent to Edinburgh under a guard, and admonished to prepare for his trial. Upon similar charges the lord Seaton and Sir James Balfour were seized upon and imprisoned.

Kircaldy of Grange, the governor of the castle of Edinburgh, who was warmly attached to Maitland, acted by after having remonstrated in vain with the regent on Kircaldy of the violence of his conduct, employed address and stratagem in the service of his friend. Under the cover of night, he went with a guard of soldiers to the lodging where Maitland was confined; and showing a forged warrant for taking his person into keeping, got possession of him. Kircaldy had now in his castle the duke of Chatellerault, the lord Herries and Maitland. The regent sent for him to a conference; but he refused to obey his message. He put himself and his followers under the direction of his prisoners. The regent, condescending to pay him a visit, was more lavish than usual of his promises and kindness. His arts, however, only excited the disdain of this generous soldier. Since he could not lead out Maitland to the block, he instituted a process of treason against him, in order to forfeit his estates. Kircaldy, by the mouth of a trumpeter, desired him to commence similar actions against the earl of Morton and Mr Archibald Douglas, as it was notorious that they were parties to the king's murder. This messenger was likewise charged with delivering a challenge from him to Mr Archibald Douglas, and another from the lord Herries to the earl of Morton. This disappointment, and these indignities, made a deep impression upon the regent; and, in a thoughtful disaffected humour, he, about this time, made a short progress towards the English border, courting popularity, and deserving it, by an attention to order and justice.

Elizabeth, flattered by his submissive advances, and pleased with his ambition, was now disposed to gratify his fullest wishes; and she perceived, that by delivering to her the queen of Scots, she would effectually relieve herself of a prisoner whose vigour and intrigues were a constant interruption to her repose. A treaty for this purpose was entered into and concluded. The regent was to march an army to the English frontier, and to receive from her his sovereign into her own dominions, the victim of his power, and the sport of his passions. No hostages and no security were stipulated for her entertainment and good usage. His authority over her was to be without any limits. Upon his part, he was to deliver to Elizabeth the young prince, to put her in possession of the principal forts of Scotland, and to assist her with troops in the event of a war with France. This treaty, so fatal to Mary, and so ruinous to the independence of Scotland, escaped not the vigilance of the bishop of Ross. He complained of it in the strongest terms to Elizabeth; and declared it to be equivalent to a sentence of death against his mistress. The ambassadors of France and Spain were also strenuous in their remonstrances to her upon this subject. All reliance, however, was unavailing; and the execution of the treaty seemed inevitable. Yet how vain are the loftiest schemes of human pride! The career of the regent was halting to its termination; and the hand of an assassin put a period to his dream of royalty. Scotland did not lose its liberties; but Mary continued to be unfortunate.

James Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, who had been taken a prisoner at the battle of Langside, obtained his liberty and life; but his estates were forfeited. His wife, the heiress of Woodhouselee, retired upon this emergency to her paternal inheritance, in the hope that it might escape the rapacity of the regent. He had, however, given away in a gift to one of his favourites, Sir James Ballenden; and the instruments of his power having the inhumanity to strip her of her garments, and to turn her naked out of her house, in a cold and dark night, she became distracted before the morning. Hamilton vowed revenge; and the regent made a mockery of his threats. This contempt inspired his passions; and the humiliation of the house of Hamilton, to which he was nearly allied, fostered the eagerness of his discontentants. The madness of party fermented in him with the atrociousness of rage. His mind reconciled itself to assassination. After watching for some time a proper opportunity to commit his horrible purpose, he found it at Linlithgow. The regent was to pass through this town in his way from Stirling to Edinburgh. Intimations reached him that Hamilton was now to perpetrate his design; and he unaccountably neglected them. The assassin, in a house that belonged to the archbishop of St Andrew's, waited deliberately his approach; and firing his musket from a window, shot him through the body. The wound, when examined, was not judged to be mortal; but the regent finding its pain to increase, prepared himself for death; and in a few hours his soul took its departure. A fleet horse of the abbot of Arbroath carried the assassin to the palace of Hamilton; and from thence he soon after effected his escape into France.

The death of the earl of Murray made no favourable alteration in the affairs of Mary. Confusion and disorder prevailed throughout the kingdom; and though the friends of the queen were promised assistance from France, nothing effectual was done for them. At last the regency was conferred upon the earl of Lennox; an enemy to his queen, and who treated her friends with the utmost rigour. At the same time Elizabeth him continued to amuse with negotiations her unhappy rival. She granted liberty to the bishop of Ross to repair to the queen of Scots, who had been removed to Chatsworth, and to confer with her on the subject of the intended accord and treaty. Mary, conforming to the advances of Elizabeth, authorized the lord Levington to pass to her dominions, and to desire her friends to appoint a deputation of their number to give their assistance in promoting the salutary purpose of establishing the tranquillity of their country: and after meeting with some interruptions upon the English borders from the earl of Suffolk, this nobleman executed successfully his commission. The queen's lords gave powers to ten nobles to act in a body, or by two of their number, in the intended negotiation; and a safe-conduct from Elizabeth allowed them to enter the English realm, and to remain in it during the space of six months.

While the lord Levington was consulting the interests of Mary with her friends in Scotland, the bishop of Ross was making earnest suit with Elizabeth to proceed in the projected negotiation. His solicitations were not ineffectual; and Sir William Cecil and Sir Walter Mildmay received the instructions of their mistress to wait upon the queen of Scots at Chatsworth. The heads of accommodation which they proposed were explicit and particular; and the rigours they discovered towards the Scottish princess seemed to vouch their sincerity. It was proposed, that a perfect amity should take place between the two queens; that all the treaties which had formerly been concluded by the two nations should receive an ample confirmation; that the queen of Scots should ratify the treaty of Edinburgh, and forbear from advancing any title or claim to the crown of England during the life of Elizabeth, or to the prejudice of the heirs of her body. Scotland; that in case of foreign invasions, the two realms should mutually assist each other; that all foreign soldiers should be ordered to depart out of Scotland; that in the future, strangers of the profession of arms should be prohibited from repairing to it, and from taking up their residence in any of its castles or houses of strength; that Mary should hold no correspondence, directly or indirectly, with any subject of England, without the permission of the English queen; that the earl of Northumberland, and the English rebels in Scotland, should be delivered up to Elizabeth; that redress should be given to the subjects of England for the spoils committed upon them by the Scottish borderers; that the murderers of the lord Darnley and the earl of Murray should be duly and effectually punished; that before the queen of Scots should be set at liberty, the young prince her son should be brought into England, and that he should continue in the keeping of Elizabeth till the death of his mother, or till her resignation to him of her crown on attaining his majority; that the queen of Scots should not enter into a negotiation for her marriage without the knowledge of the queen of England, nor conclude it without her approbation, or that of the greatest part of the Scottish nobility; that none of the subjects of Scotland should be suffered to go to Ireland without the safe-conduct of Elizabeth; and that Mary should deliver to her sister all the testimonies and writings which had been sent from France, renouncing and disavowing the pretended marriage between her and the duke of Anjou. Besides these articles of agreement, it was proposed by another treaty to adjust the differences of the queen of Scots and her subjects; and Sir William Cecil and Sir Walter Mildmay embraced the present opportunity of conferring with her upon this business, under the pretence of facilitating its management in the future stages of its progress.

During their stay at Chatsworth, these statesmen were completely satisfied with the behaviour of the queen of Scots. The candour, sincerity, and moderation, which she displayed, were full assurances to them that upon her part there was no occasion to apprehend any improper policy or art; and the calamities of her condition were a still surer pledge of her compliance. Elizabeth, upon hearing their report, affected to be highly pleased with her sister, and sent a message to the earl of Lennox, instructing him in the conditions which had been submitted to Mary; and desiring him to dispatch commissioners into England to deliberate in the treaty, and to consult his interest and that of his faction. Nor did Mary neglect to transmit to her friends in Scotland the proposed terms of agreement; and the bishop of Ross, who had assisted her in the conferences with Sir William Cecil and Sir Walter Mildmay, conveyed intimations of them to the pope, the king of France, and the duke of Alva; besought their advice, and informed these princes, that unless an effectual relief could be expected from their favour, the necessities of her condition would compel her to subscribe to the hard and humiliating dictates of the queen of England.

But while Mary and her faction were indulging the hope of a termination to her troubles, Elizabeth was secretly giving comfort to her adversaries, and encouraging them to throw obstructions in the way of the treaty. Sir William Cecil wrote to the regent, expressing his disapprobation of the negotiations at Chatsworth; desiring him not to be apprehensive of the boastsings of the adherents of the queen of Scots; and advising him to make choice of commissioners, in the name of the king, in whose constancy and fortitude he could rely, and whom no address could allure from his interest, or from the common cause in which he and his friends were embarked. The earl of Suffolk also sent him dispatches, in which he admonished him to turn his anxious attention to the approaching negociation, and to insist on secure stipulations for the preservation of the prince, for his own safety, and for a general indemnity to the nobles and their adherents, whose party he had espoused. In every event, he represented it as proper for him to pay the greatest respect to Elizabeth; and, if no treaty should be concluded, he advised him to be prepared for reducing the friends of Mary to obedience, and for defending himself against invasions from abroad. By these artifices, the regent and his faction were inclined to intimate to Elizabeth their warm dissatisfaction with the terms of agreement which he had proposed to Mary; and Pitcairn abbot of Dunfermline, who had been appointed secretary of state in the room of Maitland of Lethington, was deputed to her upon this business. He exclaimed against the treaty as wild and impolitic; and contended, that no stipulations could bind Mary, whose religion taught her to keep no faith with heretics; that her claims to the English crown, and her resentment against the queen of England, as well as her own subjects, would, immediately upon her restoration, involve the two kingdoms in blood; and that no peace or quiet could be expected or enjoyed, but by adhering to the salutary maxim of detaining her in a sure and close captivity. Elizabeth did not discourage these inclement sentiments; and Pitcairn was assured by her, that from her natural love to the king, and her regard to the nobles who upheld his authority, she would faithfully provide for their security; and that if justice should appear decisively upon their side, she would even strenuously maintain their quarrel and their consequence.

Mary had been carried to Sheffield, and was recovering from a feverish indisposition. To this place the bishop of Galloway and the lord Levington, who had formerly been selected by her friends to be her acting deputies in England, repaired in order to impart to her both the state of affairs in Scotland, and to receive her commands. After repeated conferences on the subject of the approaching treaty, she gave them her commission and instructions, and joining to them the bishop of Ross, sent them to Elizabeth. They claimed an audience of this princess, and were admitted to it at Hampton-Court. Having presented their credentials, they informed her, that they were ready to conclude a treaty of concord and agreement, upon principles the most extensive and liberal; and, representing to her the impoverished and tumultuous state of their country, they begged her to proceed in the business with expedition. The orders, they said, which they had received, and their own inclinations, disposed them to follow her advice and counsel in all points which were honourable and consistent with reason; and as her protection was the only refuge of the adversaries. versaries of their queen, they took the liberty to observe, that it was completely in her power to put a period to all disturbances and animosity, and to accomplish an accord, which would not only confer upon her the highest reputation, but be of the most signal utility to the two kingdoms. Elizabeth declared, that it would please and flatter her in no common degree to advance in the negociation; and that it was a pain to her that the regent, by his delay in sending commissioners, should discover any aversion from it. This answer was deemed very favourable by the bishop of Rota and his associates; and they obtained her authority to dispatch a messenger to the regent to hasten his operations.

In the mean time, Mary received dispatches from the pope, the king of France, and the duke of Alva; and they concurred in recommending it to her to accept of the articles of accommodation which were offered by Elizabeth. The Turk was giving employment to the pope and the king of Spain; Charles IX., already enfeebled by the obstinate valour of the Huguenots, was busy in deceiving them with appearances of peace, and in plotting their overthrow; and the duke of Alva felt himself insecure in his government of the Netherlands. But while it was their counsel to Mary to conclude an agreement with the queen of England, they were yet lavish to her of their expressions of a constant amity; and if the treaty should miscarry, they promised to exert in her behalf all the efforts in their power, and to assist her adherents with money, ammunition, and troops.

The earl of Morton, the abbot of Dunfermling, and Mr. James Macgill, had been appointed by the regent and his faction to be their commissioners in the name of the king; and at length their arrival was announced to Elizabeth. Conforming to the spirit of their party, the earl of Morton and his colleagues took an early opportunity to justify to her the deposition of the queen of Scots, and by this means to interrupt the progress of the treaty. In an elaborate memorial, they affected to consider Mary as unworthy to reign, and asserted the constitutional power of the people to curb her ambition, and to throw her down from royalty. They endeavoured to intrench themselves within the authority of laws, civil, canon, and municipal; and they recited opinions to her prejudice by many pious divines. But though the general position, that the people have a title to resist the domination of the sovereign is clear and undoubtable; yet their application of it to the queen of Scots was wildly precarious and improper. To speak of her tyranny, and her violation of the rights of her people, was even a wanton mockery of truth and justice; for instead of having assumed an illegal exorbitancy of power, she had suffered in her own person and rights, and had been treated by her subjects with the most cruel and tyrannical insult. Elizabeth, who was unwilling and afraid to enter anew into the conduct of Mary, who was completely conscious of the insolence of her adversaries, and who did not approve of any maxims that precluded against the majesty of princes, received their memorial with surprise and indignation. She perceived not, she told them, any reason that could vindicate the severity which had been shown to the queen of Scots by her enemies; and counselled them to remember, that in the present negociation it was their proper business to consult the security of the king and of their faction.

Upon the part of Elizabeth, the commissioners were committed to the lord keeper Bacon, the earls of Suffolk and Leicester, the lord Clinton, the lord chamberlain, Sir William Cecil, who about this time was created lord Burleigh, with those Sir Francis Knollys, Sir James Croft, Sir Walter Mildmay, and Sir Thomas Smith. The deputies of Scots, Mary were invited to meet with the English commissioners in the house of the lord keeper; and after he had stated the general purposes of the treaty, he intimated to them, that there were two points which required a particular discussion. A proper security, he said, ought to be given by the queen of Scots for her due performance of the stipulations of the accord with Elizabeth; and it was expedient to concert the mode of the pardon and indemnity which she was to extend to the subjects of Scotland who had offended her. As an assurance of the accommodation with his mistress, he demanded, that the duke of Chatellerault, the earls of Huntley and Argyle, the lords Hume and Herries, with another person of high rank, should be surrendered to her, and remain in England for three years; that the castles of Dunbarton and Hume should be in her possession during the same period; and as to the article concerning the delivery of the prince into her custody, he observed, that it would be required from the regent, the queen of Scots not having the power of its performance. The deputies of Mary, surprized with this language, intreated the English delegates to reflect, that their queen, if deprived of the most faithful of her nobles, and of her safest forts, could have little desire or ambition to return to her own kingdom; for she would thus be unable to protect herself against the turbulence of her subjects, and be a sovereign without friends, and without strength. They were inclined, they said, to put their commission and power to the fullest stretch, in order to gratify Elizabeth; and they would agree, that two earls and two barons should be surrendered, for two years, as hostages of the fidelity of their sovereign; under the restriction, that they might be exchanged every six months for persons of an equal condition, if they should be desirous of returning to their own country. As to the giving up of any forts or castles, they would not agree to it, because, among the other inconveniences of this measure, similar claims would be competent to the king of France, by the spirit of the treaty of Edinburgh, which stipulated, that no French or English troops should be admitted into Scotland. The lord keeper Bacon, refusing his discourse, told them, that the whole realm of Scotland, its prince, nobles, and castles, were an inadequate pledge to the queen of England; and that, if his advice would be followed, the queen of Scots should not obtain her liberty upon any kind of security which could be granted by the Scottish nation. In all public treatises, said the delegates of Mary, no further assurance can be required from a sovereign than what consists with his safety; and when exactions are pressed from a contracting party in a league which are ruinous and impossible, it is understood, that a foundation is sought to break off the negociation. The English commissioners, now interfering in a body, declared upon their honour, that it was was the meaning of Elizabeth to agree to the restoration of the queen of Scots to her crown and realm upon receiving sufficient assurances for the articles of the accommodation; that the security offered for her acceptance, should be submitted to her deliberation; and that they would immediately proceed to confer with the deputies for the king of Scots.

The English commissioners were not unacquainted with the sentiments of the earl of Morton and his colleagues; and it was from this quarter that they expected a resolute and definitive interruption to the treaty. Nor did these delegates disappoint the expectations conceived of them. After affecting to take a comprehensive view of the articles under debate, they declared, that their commission gave them authority to treat about the amity of the two kingdoms, and the maintenance of the true religion; but that it conferred upon them no power to receive their queen into Scotland, or to surrender to Elizabeth the person of their king. They therefore begged not to be urged to accede to a league which, in some future period, might expose them to a charge of high-treason.

This singular declaration was considered to be solid and weighty by the English commissioners; and, in a new conference, it was communicated by them to the deputies of Mary. The bishop of Roos and his associates were disgusted with this formal impertinence. They did not hesitate to pronounce the plea of an insufficient commission from the king to his deputies to be an unworthy and most frivolous subterfuge. The authors, they said, of the deposition of their sovereign did not need any authority but their own to set her at liberty; the prince was not yet five years of age, and could give them no instructions; and the regent was wholly dependent upon the will and pleasure of the queen of England. It was represented in return by the English delegates, that the commission of king James to his deputies, having been perused by Elizabeth, was accounted by her to be insufficient; and that it was her opinion, that the earl of Morton should return to Scotland to hold a parliament for obtaining new powers. The bishop of Roos exclaimed, that the queen of Scots had been amused with deceitful promises, that the prudence of Elizabeth had been corrupted by partial counsels, and that the allegations and pretences held out for interrupting the negotiation were affected and unreal. The instructions, he said, from his sovereign to her commissioners, were to negotiate and to conclude, and not to trifle; and they would not by any means consent to protract, by artificial delays, a treaty which the queen of England, if her intentions were sincere and right, could immediately terminate upon reasonable and honourable terms. His speech and his demeanour, he acknowledged, were sharp and warm; and he besought them to excuse him, since, having been made an instrument to abuse his mistress with false hopes, he could not but resent the indignity, and express what he knew and what he felt. The English deputies, addressing him and his colleagues, observed, with an unshaken phlegm, that as the friends of Mary, and those of the king her son, could not agree, and as their queen was refused the assurance she expected, they held their commission to be at an end, and were no longer at liberty to negotiate.

The insincerity of Elizabeth, and the failure of the league or accord, filled Mary with resentment and complaints. Her animosities, and those of Elizabeth, were increased and fortified. She was in haste to communicate to her allies the unworthy treatment she had given; and she sent her commands to her adherents in Scotland to rise up in arms, to repose no trust in truces which were prejudicial and treacherous, and to employ all their resources and strength in the humiliation of the regent and his faction. Elizabeth, who by this time apprehended no enterprise or danger from Charles IX. or the duke of Alva, resolved, on the other hand, to give a strong and effecting support to the king's friends, and to disunite by stratagem, and opprest by power, the partizans of the Scottish princes. The zeal of the bishop of Roos having raised her anger, she commanded him to depart from London; and Mary, in contempt of her mandate, ordered him to remain there under the privilege of her ambassador. The high and unbroken spirit of the Scottish queen, in the midst of her misfortunes, never once awakened the generous admiration of Elizabeth. While it uniformly inflamed her rage, it seems also to have excited her terror. With a pusillanimous meanness, she sent a dispatch to the earl of Shrewsbury, instructing him to keep his charge in the closest confinement, and to be incessantly on his guard to prevent her escape. He obeyed, and regretted her severity. The expense, retinue, and domestics, of the queen of Scots, were diminished and reduced, and every probable means by which she might act to accomplish her liberty were removed from her. The rigours, however, that invaded her person could not reach her mind; and she pitied the tyrant that could add contumely to oppression, and deny her even the comforts of a prison.

All this time Scotland was involved in the miseries of civil war. The friends of Mary were everywhere punished with fines and forfeiture. Private families took the opportunity of the public confusion to revenge their quarrels against each other. Individuals of every denomination ranged themselves on the side either of the regent or of the queen, and took a share in the hostilities of their country. Fathers divided against sons, and sons against their fathers. Acts of outrage and violence were committed in every quarter, while, amidst the general confusion, religion was made the pretence by both parties.

In the mean time, though many encounters took place between the two factions, yet neither party seems to have been conducted by leaders of any ability to death, or skill in military affairs. This year, in one of these skirmishes, the regent himself was taken prisoner by a party of the queen's faction, and put to death. But this event made little alteration in the affairs of the nation. The earl of Marre, another of the queen's enemies, was chosen to the regency: but though he proposed to act against her party with rigour, he was baffled before Edinburgh castle, which was still held by her friends; and some bloody skirmishes were fought in the north, where victory declared in favour of the queen. These advantages, however, were more than compensated to the other party by the following event.

During the dependence of the negotiations with Elizabeth Scotland. Elizabeth for Mary's restoration, there had been communicated to her the scheme of a conspiracy for her deliverance by Robert Ridolphi a Florentine, who had lived in London many years as a merchant, and who was secretly an agent for the court of Rome. But to his letters, while the fate of the treaty was uncertain, she returned no reply. Its miscarriage, through the duplicity of Elizabeth, recalled them forcibly to her attention, and stimulated her to seek the accomplishment of her liberty by measures bolder and more arduous than any which had been hitherto employed by her. She drew up in cipher an ample discourse of her communications and of her situation, and dispatched it to the bishop of Roos, together with letters for the duke of Norfolk. Her instructions to this ecclesiastic were to convey the discourse and letters expeditiously to Norfolk, and to concert an interview between that nobleman and Ridolphi. The confidential servants by whom the duke acted with the bishop of Roos were Bannister and Barker; and having received from them the discourse and the letters, they were deciphered by Hickford his secretary. Having considered them maturely, he delivered them to Hickford, with orders to commit them to the flames. His orders, however, were disobeyed; and Hickford deposited them, with other papers of consequence, under the mats of the duke's bed-chamber. The contents of the discourse and the letters awakening the hope and ambition of Norfolk, he was impatient to see Ridolphi; and the bishop of Roos soon brought them together. Ridolphi, whose ability was inspired by motives of religion and interest, exerted all his eloquence and address to engage the duke to put himself at the head of a rebellion against his sovereign. He represented to him, that there could not be a season more proper than the present for achieving the overthrow of Elizabeth. Many persons who had enjoyed authority and credit under her predecessor were full of disgust; the Roman Catholics were numerous and angry; the younger sons of the gentry were languishing in poverty and inaction in every quarter of the kingdom; and there were multitudes disposed to insurrection from restlessness, the love of change, and the ardour of enterprise. He instigated to him, that his rank, popularity, and fortune, enabled him to take the command of such persons with infinite advantage. He insisted upon his imprisonment and the outrages he had suffered from Elizabeth; instigated the contempt to which he would expose himself by a tame submission to wrongs, extolled the propriety with which he might give way to his indignation and revenge; and pointed out the glory he might purchase by the humiliation of his enemies, and by the full accomplishment of his marriage with the queen of Scots. To give a strength and confirmation to these topics, he produced a long list of the names of noblemen and gentlemen with whom he had practised, and whom he affirmed to be ready to hazard their lives and riches for a revolution in the state, if the duke would enter into it with cordiality. To fix decisively the duke, he now opened to him the expectations with which he might flatter himself from abroad. The Pope, he assured him, had already provided 100,000 crowns for the enterprise; and if Popery should be advanced in England, he would cheerfully defray the whole charges of the war. The king of Spain would supply 4000 horse and 6000 foot, which might be landed at Harwich. Charles IX. was devotedly attached to the queen of Scots, notwithstanding the treaty which had been entered upon with Elizabeth for her marriage with his brother the duke of Anjou: and when he should discover, that, on the part of the English princes, this matrimonial scheme was no better than a device or a mockery, he would renounce the appearance of friendship he had assumed, and return to his natural sentiments of disdain and hatred, with an added outrage and discontent. In fine, he urged, that while he might depend on the affluence and arms of the greatest princes of Christendom, he would entitle himself to the admiration of all of them by his magnanimous efforts and generous gallantry in the cause of a queen so beautiful and so unfortunate.

The duke of Norfolk, allured by appearances so plausible and flattering, did not scruple to forget the duties of a subject, and the submissive obligation in matters of which he had bound himself to Elizabeth never more to interfere in the affairs of the Scottish princess. Ridolphi, in this forward state of the business, advised him to address letters to the Pope, the king of Spain, and the duke of Alva, expressive of his concurrence in the design, and inspiring their activity and resolutions. He even produced dispatches framed for this purpose; and while he intreated the duke to subscribe them, he offered to carry them himself to Flanders, Rome, and Spain. The duke of Norfolk, who was ambitious and timid, disposed to treason, and unfit for it, hesitated whether he should subscribe the letters; and at length refused to proceed to that extremity. He yet allowed the bishop of Roos, and Barker his servant, to go to the Spanish ambassador to express his approbation of the measures of Ridolphi, to acknowledge that the letters were according to his mind, and to empower this statesman to certify their authenticity to his court. Ridolphi, full of hopes, set out to execute his commission. He passed first to the duke of Alva, to whom he communicated the transactions in which he had been engaged, and with whom he held many conferences. There was at this time at Bruxelles Charles Bailly, a servant of the queen of Scots; and Ridolphi, after disclosing to him his proceedings with Alva, entrusted him with letters to her to the duke of Norfolk, the Spanish ambassador, and the bishop of Roos. When this messenger reached Calais, a letter was delivered to him from the bishop of Roos, desiring him to leave his dispatches with the governor of that place. From inexperience and vanity he neglected this notice; and being searched at Dover, his letters, books, and cloaths were seized, and he himself was sent to London, and imprisoned in the Marshalsea. The bishop of Roos, full of apprehensions, applied to lord Cobham the warden of the cinque ports, who was friendly to the duke of Norfolk; and obtaining by his means the packet of dispatches from Ridolphi, he substituted another in its place, which contained letters of no danger or usefulness. He had also the dexterity to convey intelligence of this trick to Bailly, and to admonish him to preserve a profound silence, and not to be afraid. This simple and unpracticed agent had, however, excited suspicions by the symptoms of terror he had exhibited upon being taken, and by exchanging, that the dispatches he brought would involve his own destruction and that of others. At his first examination he confessed nothing; but being sent to the tower, and put upon the rack, he revealed his conversations with Ridolphi, and declared, that the dispatches which he had brought had been delivered to the bishop of Rois. An order was granted for taking the bishop into custody. Having been aware, however, of his perilous situation, his house was searched in vain for treasonable papers; and he thought to screen himself from answering any interrogatories under the sanctity of his character as the ambassador of an independent prince.

An unexpected incident excited, in the mean while, the duke's new suspicions and alarms. Mary being desirous of friends and transmitting 2000 crowns to the lord Herries to advance her interests in Scotland, the duke of Norfolk undertook to convey it to him with safety. He intrusted it to the charge of his confidants Hickford and Barker, who putting it into a bag with dispatches from their master to lord Herries, ordered a servant called Brown to carry it to Bannister; who, being at this time on the border, could forward it to Scotland. Brown, suspicious or corrupted, instead of proceeding on his errand, carried the bag and its contents to Sir William Cecil, now lord Burleigh. The privy-council, deeming it treason to send money out of the realm for the use of the friends of Mary, whom they affected to consider as enemies, ordered Hickford and Barker to be apprehended. The rack extorted from them whatsoever they knew to the prejudice of their master. Hickford gave intelligence of the fatal discourse and the letters from Mary, which he had preferred in opposition to the orders given to him. All the proceedings between the queen of Scots, the duke of Norfolk, the bishop of Rois, and Ridolphi, were brought to light. A guard was placed upon the house of the duke of Norfolk, in order to prevent his escape. Sir Ralph Sadler, Sir Thomas Smith, Sir Henry Nevil, and Dr Wilson, were commissioned to examine him; and being impressed with the belief that the discourse and the letters had been destroyed, he positively denied that he had any concern in the affairs of the queen of Scots, or any knowledge of them whatsoever. He was committed to the tower a close prisoner. Bannister by this time was taken; and he confirmed the relations of Hickford and Barker. In the course of their discoveries, there appeared reasons of suspicion against many persons of rank and distinction. The earls of Arundel and Southampton, the lord Cobham, Mr. Thomas Cobham his brother, Sir Thomas Stanley, Sir Henry Percy, and other gentlemen who were friendly to the queen of Scots and the duke of Norfolk, were ordered to be lodged in different prisons; and the rack, and the expectation of a pardon, drew from them the fullest confessions. The duke was altogether unable to defend himself. The concurring testimonies of his friends and servants, with the discourse and the letters, which he fondly imagined had been committed to the flames, were communicated to him. He was overwhelmed with amazement and distress; and exclaimed, that he had been betrayed and undone. He made ample acknowledgements of his guilt, and had no foundation of hope but in the mercy of his sovereign.

By the confession of the duke himself, and from all the inquiries which had been made by the ministers of Elizabeth, it appeared obvious beyond a doubt, that the bishop of Rois had been the principal contriver of the conspiracy. Ridolphi had acted under his direction; and he had inspired the duke of Norfolk. He had and proceeded to the extremity of advising that nobleman to put himself at the head of a select band of adherents, and to seize boldly the person of Elizabeth. In his examinations he was treated with great rigour and insult. But he made an able defence, and peremptorily refused to make any answer to interrogatories. The counsellors of Elizabeth were disturbed with his obstinacy; and having certified him, that the rack would soon render him more pliant, he was ordered into close keeping in a dark apartment of the tower. When he had remained a few days in this melancholy situation, four privy-counsellors, the lord admiral, the lord Burleigh, Sir Francis Knollys, and Sir Thomas Smith, went to the tower, and caused him to be brought to them to the lieutenant's lodging. After having assured him that he was charged by all the prisoners as the principal contriver of the conspiracy, they insisted, in the name of their sovereign, that he should explain fully the part he had acted. The confessions of the duke of Norfolk and his servants, of the lord Lumley, Sir Thomas Stanley, and other gentlemen, with the discourse and dispatches of the queen of Scots, were set before him. They now protested upon their honour, that if he would make a free and open declaration of his proceedings, it should neither be employed against himself, nor against any other person; but that if he should continue to be resolute in refusing to give this satisfaction to their queen, who was anxious to search the matter to the bottom, they were instructed to let him know, that she would absolutely consider him as a private person, and order him to be tried and executed as a traitor. In this extremity he accepted the conditions held out to him, and disclosed minutely all the transactions of the principal parties in the conspiracy. But while he described the offences of his mistress, the duke of Norfolk, and himself, he could not avoid to detract from their blame by apologies. It was natural, he said, for the queen of Scots to exert the most strenuous endeavours in her power to recover her freedom and crown; and the methods she adopted to operate her purposes ought to be considered in connection with the arts of Elizabeth, who pertinaciously denied her access to her presence, who kept her a close prisoner in contempt of all the principles of humanity and justice, and who afforded an open and powerful assistance to her enemies. The duke of Norfolk he was earnest to excuse on the foundation of the advances which had been made in his marriage with the queen of Scots. Their plighted love, and their engagements, did not allow him to forsake her. As for himself, he was her ambassador and her servant; and being highly indebted to her generosity and kindness, he could not abandon her in captivity and distress without incurring the guilt of the most sinful treachery and ingratitude. The daring proposal he had made to seize the person of Elizabeth was the point, he observed, which seemed to press upon him the most severely; and he intreated them to believe, that he had moved it only with the view of trying the courage of the duke of Norfolk. The privy- Scotland. The counsellors of Elizabeth were now in possession of all the evidence they could expect in this important business. Norfolk was admonished to prepare for his trial; and bishop Lefly perceived, that though he might escape with his life, he would never more be permitted to reside in England, and to act there as the ambassador, the minister, and the friend of the queen of Scots.

The defeat of the duke of Norfolk's conspiracy was a blow to Mary which she could never recover. Her most faithful friends were languishing in prisons upon her account; she had no longer the counsels of the bishop of Ross; and the Spanish ambassador, who had entered into her concerns with an unscrupulous cordiality had been ordered to withdraw from England. The trial and condemnation of Norfolk soon followed, and plunged her into the most calamitous distresses.

The massacre of the Protestants at Paris in 1572 proved also extremely detrimental to her. It was interpreted to be a consequence of the confederacy which had been formed at Bayonne for the extermination of the reformed. The Protestants were everywhere transported with rage against the Papists. Elizabeth prepared herself against an attack from the Roman-Catholic powers; and was haunted with the notion that they meant to invade her kingdom, and to give it to the queen of Scots. Her ambassador at Paris, Sir Francis Walsingham, augmented her apprehensions and terror. He compared her weakness with the strength of her enemies, and assured her that if they should possess themselves of Scotland, she would soon cease to be a queen. He represented Mary as the great cause of the perils that threatened her personal safety and the tranquility of her kingdom; and as violent diseases required violent remedies, he scurried not to counsel her to unite Scotland to her dominions, and to put to death a rival whose life was inconsistent with her security. The more bigoted Protestants of Scotland differed not very widely in their sentiments from Sir Francis Walsingham; while those of them who were more moderate, were still more attached to their religion than to Mary; and amidst the indignation and horror into which the subjects of Scotland were thrown by the sanguinary outrages of Charles IX. and Catherine de Medicis, they surveyed the sufferings of their sovereign with a diminished sympathy.

This year the regent, finding himself beset with difficulties which he could not overcome, and the affairs of the nation involved in confusion from which he could not extricate them, died of melancholy, and was succeeded by the earl of Morton.

During the regency of the earl of Marre, a remarkable innovation took place, in the church, which deserves to be particularly explained, being no less than the introduction of Episcopacy instead of the Presbyterian form of worship. While the earl of Lennox was regent, the archbishop of St Andrews was put to death, on account of his being supposed to have had a concern in the death of the earl of Murray; after which the earl of Morton procured a grant of the temporalities of that see. Out of these he allotted a stipend to Mr John Douglas, a Protestant clergyman, who took upon him the title of archbishop. This violence excited censure and murmurs. In the language of the times, it was pronounced to be a profanation of the kirk, and a high contempt of God; and it underwent the scrutiny of the ministry in applications and complaints to the regent. The matter was doubtless of too much importance to be overlooked; and a commission of privy-counsellors and clergymen was appointed in the name of the king to inquire into it, and to reform and improve the policy of the church. This commission, upon the part of the privy-council, consisted of the earl of Morton, the lord Ruthven, Robert abbot of Dunfermline, Mr James Macgill, Sir John Balfour, and Colin Campbell of Glenorchie; and upon the part of the church there were named John Erskine of Dun, and Mr John Winram, Mr Hay, Mr Lindsay, Mr Pont, and Mr John Craig. There were long consultations and debates; and the influence and management of the earl of Morton directed their determinations. It was resolved, that till the majority of the king, or till the wisdom of the three estates should be consulted, the titles of archbishop and bishop should continue as in the times which preceded the reformation; and that a chapter of learned ministers should be annexed to every metropolitan or cathedral seat. It was determined, that the fees as they became vacant should be given to those of the Protestant ministry who were most eminent for their qualifications; that the archbishops and bishops should exercise no higher jurisdiction than what was permitted to superintendents; and that they should be subject to the control of the general assemblies of the church. It was agreed, that all abbots, priors, and other inferior prelates presented to benefices, should be examined by the bishop or superintendent of the diocese or precinct where the preferment was situated; and that their fitness to represent the church in parliament should be duly inquired into. It was judged that the king and the regent should recommend qualified persons to vacant bishoprics, and that the elections of them should be made by the chapters of the respective cathedrals. It was ordered, that all benefices with cure under prelacies, should only be disposed of to officiating ministers; that every minister should receive ordination from the bishop of the diocese, or the superintendent of the province; and that the bishops and superintendents, upon the ordination of ministers, should exact an oath from them to recognize the authority of the king, and to pay canonical obedience to their ordinary in all things that were lawful.

By these artful regulations the earl of Morton did not mean solely to consult his own capacity or that of the nobles. The exaltation of the Protestant church to be one of the three estates was a consequence of them; and the clergy being the strenuous enemies of Mary, he might by their means secure a decided influence in parliament. The earl of Marre, as regent, giving his sanction to the proceedings of the commission, they were carried into practice. The delusive expectation of wealth, which this revival of Episcopacy held out to the ministry, was flattering to them; and they bore with tolerable patience this severe blow that was struck against the religious policy of Geneva. Mr John Douglas was desired to give a specimen of his gifts in preaching; and his election took effect; notwithstanding the opposition that was made to it by John Knox and other ecclesiastics, who stood up for Scotland. The rules and forms which had been established at the reformation. He was inaugurated in his office by the bishop of Cathness, Mr John Spotwood superintendent of Lothian, and Mr David Lindsay, who violating the book of discipline, communicated to him his character and admission by the imposition of hands. This was a singular triumph to Episcopacy; and the exaltation of Douglas included other peculiarities remarkable and offensive. He denied that he had made any simoniacal agreement with the earl of Morton; yet it was known that the revenues of the archbishopric were almost wholly ingrossed by that nobleman. He had promised to resign, upon his instalment, the office of rector which he held in the university of St Andrew's; yet he refused to execute this engagement. He was in a very advanced age; and his mental qualifications, which had never been eminent, were in a state of decay.

A general assembly, which was holden at St Andrew's, considering the high moment of the new regulations introduced into the church, appointed commissioners to go to Mr Knox, who was at this time indisposed, and to consult with him deliberately in his house, whether they were agreeable to the word of God. But from the arts of the nobles, or from the sicknesses of Knox, it happened that this conference was not carried into execution. In a general assembly, however, which met at Perth, the new polity was reported and examined. The names of archbishop, dean, archdeacon, chancellor, and chapter, were excepted against as Popish distinctions, and as slanderous to the ears of pious Christians. A wish was expressed that they might be exchanged for titles less profane and superstitious; and an unanimous protestation was made, that the new polity was merely a temporary expedient, and should only continue and prevail till a more perfect order should be obtained from the king, the regent, and the nobility. This tolerating resolution left the new polity in its full force; and a colourable foundation was now established for the laity to partake in the profits of bishoprics. The simoniacal passion of Morton and Douglas was not long a matter of singularity. Mr James Boyd was appointed to the archbishopric of Glasgow, Mr James Paton to the bishopric of Dunkeld, and Mr Andrew Graham to the see of Dumblain; and these compromising ecclesiastics, upon being allowed competencies to themselves, gratified their noble friends with the greatest proportion of their revenues. The virtue of the common people approved not this spirit of traffic; and the bishops of the new polity were treated openly with reproach or with ridicule.

The year 1572 is also remarkable for the death of John Knox, whose mistaken zeal had contributed not a little to bring upon the queen those misfortunes with which she was now oppressed. Neither by his death, however, nor by the change of the regency, could she now be relieved. The earl of Morton was so much devoted to Elizabeth, that he received particular instructions from her how to guide the young king. His elevation, indeed, gave the finishing stroke to the queen's affairs. He employed himself with success in dividing her party among themselves, and by his means the duke of Chattellerault and the earl of Huntley were induced to forsake her. As for Elizabeth, she was bent on putting Mary to death; but as no crime could be alleged against her in England, she thought it proper that she should be carried back to suffer death in her own dominions. This proposal, however, was rejected; and the friends who remained true to Mary once more began to indulge themselves in hopes of succours from France. New misfortunes, however, awaited them. The castle of Edinburgh, which had hitherto been held for the queen by Kircauld of Grange, was obliged to surrender to an English army commanded by Sir William Drury. Kircauld was solemnly assured by the English commander of his life and liberty; but Elizabeth violated this capitulation, and commanded him to be delivered up to the regent. An hundred of his relations offered to become vassals to Morton, and to pay him 3000 merks yearly, if he would spare his life; but in vain: Kircauld and his brother Sir James were hanged at Edinburgh. Maitland of Lethington, who was taken at the same time, was poisoned in the prison-house of Leith.

The jealousy of Elizabeth did not diminish with the decline of Mary's cause. She now treated her with more rigour than ever, and patronised Morton in all greater enormities which he committed against her friends. Leftly bishop of Rois had been long imprisoned in England, on account of his concern in the duke of Norfolk's conspiracy. Morton earnestly solicited the queen to deliver him up, and would undoubtedly have put him to death; but this, as he had acted in the character of ambassador from Mary, was judged impolitic, and the prelate was suffered to depart for France. When he arrived there, he endeavoured in vain to stir up the emperor, the pope, and the duke of Alva, to exert themselves in behalf of the queen of Scotland; and, in 1574, the misfortunes of his royal mistress were farther aggravated by the death of Charles IX. Death of France, and her uncle the cardinal of Lorraine. The regent, in the mean time, ruled with the most despotic sway. He twice coined base money in the name of his sovereign; and after putting it into circulation the second time, he issued orders for its passing only for its intrinsic value. The duke of Chattellerault happening to die this year, the regent took every method of ruining all those of his name and family. He committed to prison all the Hamiltons, and every person of distinction who had fought for the queen at the battle of Langside, and compelled them to buy their liberty at an exorbitant price. He instigated Douglas of Morton, Lochleven to assassinate lord Arbroath, and it was with difficulty that the latter escaped the ambush that was laid for him. Reid, the bishop of Orkney, having left his estate to pious and charitable uses, the regent prohibited the execution of the will, and took upon himself the administration. To be rich was a sufficient crime to excite his vengeance. He entered the warehouses of merchants, and confiscated their property; and if he wanted a pretence to justify his conduct, the judges and lawyers were ready at his call.

In this disastrous period the clergy augmented the general confusion. Mr Andrew Melvil had lately returned from Geneva; and the discipline of his assembly being considered by him as the most perfect model of episcopal policy, he was infinitely offended with the introduction of Episcopacy into Scotland. His learning was considerable, and his skill in languages was profound. He was fond of disputation, hot, violent, and Scotland, and pertinacious. The Scottish clergy were in a humour to attend to him; and his merit was sufficient to excite their admiration. Inflated by his practices, John Drury, one of the ministers of Edinburgh, called in question, in a general assembly, the lawfulness of the bishops, and the authority of chapters in electing them. Melvil, after commending his zeal and his motion, declaimed concerning the flourishing state of the establishment of Geneva; and having recited the opinions of Calvin and Beza upon ecclesiastical government, maintained, that there should be no office-bearers in the church whose titles were not seen in the book of God. He affirmed, that the term bishop was nowhere to be found in it in the sense in which it was commonly understood, as Christ allowed not any superiority among ministers. He contended that Christ was the only lord of his church; and that the ministers of the word were all equal in degree and power. He urged, that the estate of the bishops, beside being unlawful, had grown unseemly with corruptions; and that if they were not removed out of the church, it would fall into decay, and endanger the interests of religion. His sentiments were received with a flattering approbation; and the archbishop of Glasgow, with the bishops of Dumbeld, Galloway, Brechin, Dunblain, and the Isles, were present in this assembly, they ventured not to defend their vocation. It was resolved, that the name of bishop conferred no distinction or rank; that the Episcopal estate were not more honourable than the other ministers; and that by the word of God their functions consisted in preaching, in administering the sacraments, and in exercising ecclesiastical discipline with the consent of the elders. The Episcopal estate, in the mean while, were watched with an anxious observation; and their faults and demerits of every kind were charged upon them with rudeness and asperity. In a new assembly this subject was again canvassed. It was moved, whether bishops, as constituted in Scotland, had any authority for their functions from the Scriptures? After long debates, it was thought prudent to avoid an explicit determination of this important question. But a confirmation was bestowed upon the resolution of the former assembly; and it was established as a rule, that every bishop should make choice of a particular church within his diocese, and should actually discharge the duties of a minister.

The regent, disturbed with these proceedings of the brethren, was disposed to amuse and to deceive them. He sent a messenger to advise them not to infringe and disfigure the established forms; and to admonish them, that if their aversion from Episcopacy was insurmountable, it would become them to think of some mode of ecclesiastical government to which they could adhere with constancy. The assembly taking the advantage of this message, made a formal intimation to him, that they would diligently frame a lasting platform of policy, and submit it to the privy-council. They appointed, accordingly, a committee of the brethren for this purpose. The business was too agreeable to be neglected; and in a short time Mr David Lindsay, Mr James Lawson, and Mr Robert Pont, were deputed to wait upon the regent with a new scheme of ecclesiastical government. After reminding him, that he had been a notable instrument in purging the realm of Popery, and begging that he would consult with them upon any of its articles which he thought improper or incomplete, they informed him, that they did not account it to be a perfect work to which nothing could be added, or from which nothing could be taken away; for that they would alter and improve it, as the Almighty God might farther reveal his will unto them. The regent, taking from them their schedule, replied, that he would appoint certain persons of the privy-council to confer with them. A conference was even begun upon the subject of their new establishment; but from his arts, or from the troubles of the times, no advances were made in it.

This year the earl of Bothwel died in Denmark; and in his last moments, being flung with remorse, he confessed that he had been guilty of the king's murder, revealed the names of the persons who were his accomplices, and with the most solemn protestations declared the honour and innocence of the queen. His confession was transmitted to Elizabeth by the king of Denmark; but was suppressed by her with a successful anxiety (A).

The regent still continued his enormities, till having rendered himself obnoxious to the best part of the compelled nobility, he was, in 1577, compelled to resign his office into the hands of James VI.; but as his majesty was then only twelve years of age, a general council of twelve peers was appointed to assist him in the administration. Next year, however, the earl of Morton having found means to gain the favour of the young king, procured the dissolution of this council; and by thus being left the sole adviser of the king, he hoped once more to be raised to his former greatness. This could not be done, however, without keeping the king in a kind of captivity, so that nobody could have access to him but himself. The king, sensible of his situation, sent a dispatch to the earls of Argyle and Athole, entreating them to relieve him. An army for this purpose was soon raised; and Morton's partisans were in danger of being defeated, had not the opposite party dreaded the vengeance of Elizabeth, who was resolved to support the earl of Morton. In consequence of this negotiation was entered into, by which it was agreed, that the earl of Argyle, with some others, should be admitted into the king's council; and that four noblemen should be chosen by each party to consider of some proper method of producing tranquillity in the nation.

This pacification did not greatly diminish the power of Morton. He soon got rid of one of his principal antagonists, the earl of Athole, by poisoning him at Athole's an entertainment; after which he again gave a loose to his resentments against the house of Hamilton, whom he persecuted in the most cruel manner. By these means, however, he drew upon himself a general hatred; and he was supplanted in the king's favour by the lord d'Aubigney, who came from France in the year 1579, and was created earl of Lennox. The next year Morton Keith and other historians have preferred what they call the earl of Bothwel's declaration at his death, and account it to be genuine. Their partiality for Mary induced them the more easily to fall into this mistake. The paper they give is demonstratively a forgery; and the want of the real confession of Bothwel is still a deficiency in our history.

(A) Jebb, vol. II. p. 227; It has never been published. Scotland, too was suspected of an intention to deliver up the king to Elizabeth, and a guard was appointed to prevent any attempts of this kind. The queen of England endeavoured to support her zealous partizan; but without effect. He was tried, condemned, and executed, as being concerned in the murder of Darnley. At the place of execution, it is said, that he confessed his guilt; but of this the evidence is not quite satisfactory.

The elevation of king James, and the total overthrow of Morton, produced no beneficial consequences to the unfortunate Mary. In the year 1581, she addressed a letter to Castelnau the French ambassador, in which she complained that her body was so weak, and her limbs so feeble, that she was unable to walk. Castelnau therefore intreated Elizabeth to mitigate a little the rigours of Mary's confinement; which being refused, the latter had thoughts of resigning her claims to the crown both of England and Scotland into the hands of her son, and even of advising him to use every effort in his power to establish his claim to the English crown as preferable to that of Elizabeth. But being apprehensive of danger from this violent method, she again contented herself with sending to the court of England incisive memorials and remonstrances. Elizabeth, instead of taking compassion on her miserable situation, affluently encouraged every kind of disorder in the kingdom, on purpose to have the queen more and more in her power. Thus the Scottish malcontents finding themselves always supported, a conspiracy was at last entered into, the design of which was to hold James in captivity, and to overthrow the authority of Arran and Lennox, who were now the principal persons in the kingdom. The chief actors in this conspiracy were the earls of Gowrie, Marre, and Glencairn, the lords Lindsay and Boyd, with the masters of Glamis and Oliphant. By reason of the youth and imbecility of the king, they easily accomplished their purposes; and having got him in their power, they promised him his liberty, provided he would command Lennox to depart the kingdom. This was accordingly done, but the king found himself as much a prisoner as before. The more effectually to detain him in custody, the rebels constrained him to issue a proclamation, wherein he declared himself to be at perfect liberty. Lennox was preparing to advance to the king's relief with a considerable body of forces, when he was disconcerted by the king's peremptory command to leave Scotland; upon which he retired to Dumbarton, in order to wait for a more favourable opportunity. The earl of Arran, being more forward, was committed to close custody for some time, but afterwards confined only in his house of Kinneil. The rebels took upon them the title of "lords for the reformation of the state."

The clergy, who had all this time been exceedingly approved of adverse to Episcopacy, now gave open countenance to the lords of the reformation. On the 13th of October 1582, they made a solemn act, by which the raid of Ruthven, as the capture of the king was called, was deemed a service most acceptable to all who feared God, respected the true religion, and were anxious for the preservation of the king and state; and every minister was commanded to declaim from his pulpit upon the expediency of this measure, and to exhort the people to concur with the lords in prosecuting the full deliverance of the church, and the perfect reformation of the commonwealth. Not satisfied with this approbation of the clergy, the conspirators got their proceedings approved by the states of Scotland, as "a good, a thankful, and a necessary service to the king;" at the same time that it was enacted, that no suit civil or criminal of any kind should ever be instituted by Mary against the persons concerned in it. Soon after this, Lennox took his leave of Scotland, and sailed for France, where both he died.

The unfortunate Mary was driven to despair when she heard that her son was taken prisoner by rebels who had been instigated by Elizabeth. In this distress, she addressed a most spirited letter to Elizabeth, in which she at once asserted her own innocence, and set forth the conduct of Elizabeth herself in such wise language as must have put the most impudent of her usual peradventures to the blush. Elizabeth could not reply, and therefore had recourse to her usual arts of treacherous negociation. New terms were proposed to Mary, who would gladly have submitted almost to anything, provided she could procure her freedom. It was proposed, as had often been done before, to associate the queen of Scots with her son in the government; but as this was to be referred to the king, who was in the hands of Elizabeth's friends, and to the parliament, who were under the power of the same faction, it is easy to see that no such association ever could take place, or indeed was ever intended.

After the death of Lennox, the conspirators apprehended no further danger, little supposing that a French ambassador would be able to deliver himself from captivity. This, however, in the year 1583, Scotland, by effecting in the following manner. A convention of the estates had been summoned to meet at St Andrew's. James, whom the earl of Arran, notwithstanding his confinement at Kinneil, had found means to instruct and advise, pretended a desire of visiting his grand-uncle the earl of March, who resided at St Andrew's, and was for that purpose permitted to repair thither a few days before the convention. The better to deceive the earls of Gowrie, Angus, and Marre, who attended him, he took up his lodgings in an old inn, which was quite open and defenceless. But having expressed a desire to see the castle of St Andrews, he was admitted into it; and colonel Stewart, who commanded the castle, after admitting a few of his retinue, ordered the gates to be shut. The earls of Argyle, Marischal, Montrose, and Rothes, who were in concert with the king, hastened to make him an offer of their swords. The opposite faction, being unprepared for hostilities, were filled with consternation. Of all the conspirators, the earl of Gowrie alone was willingly admitted into the king's presence, by the favour of Colonel Stuart, and received his pardon. The earls of March, Argyle, Gowrie, Marischal, and Rothes, were appointed to be a council for assailing the king in the management of his affairs; and soon after this, James set out for Edinburgh. The king no sooner found himself at liberty, than, by the advice of his privy-council, he issued a proclamation of mercy to the conspirators; but they, flattering themselves with the hopes of support from Elizabeth, obstinately refused to accept of his pardon. In consequence of this, they were were denounced rebels. Elizabeth failed not to give them underhand all the encouragement she could, and the clergy uttered the most seditious discourses against the king and government; and while they railed against Popery, they themselves maintained openly the very characteristic and distinguishing mark of Popery, namely, that the clerical was entirely independent of the civil power.

At last the rebels broke forth into open hostilities; but by the vigilance of Arran, the earl of Gowrie, who had again begun his treasonable practices, was committed to custody; while the rest, unable to oppose the king, who appeared against them with a formidable army, were obliged to fly into England, where Elizabeth, with her usual treachery, protected them.

The earl of Gowrie suffered as a traitor; but the severity exercised against him did not intimidate the clergy. They still continued their rebellious practices, until the king being informed that they were engaged in a correspondence with some of the fugitive lords, citations were given to their leaders to appear before the privy-council. The clergymen, not daring to appear, fled to England; and on the 20th of May 1584, the king summoned a convention of the estates, on the purpose to humble the pride of the church in an effectual manner. In this assembly the raid of Rothven was declared to be rebellion, according to a declaration which had formerly been made by the king. And, as it had grown into a custom with the promoters of sedition and the enemies of order, to decline the judgment of the king and the council, when called before them to answer for rebellious or contumacious speeches, uttered from the pulpit or in public places, an ordination was made, afflicting that they had complete powers to judge concerning persons of every degree and function; and declaring, that every act of opposition to their jurisdiction should be accounted to be treason. It was enacted, that the authority of the parliament, as constituted by the free votes of the three estates, was full and supreme; and that every attempt to diminish, alter, or infringe, its power, dignity, and jurisdiction, should be held and punished as treason. All jurisdictions and judgments, all assemblies and conventions, not approved of by the king and the three estates, were condemned as unlawful, and prohibited. It was ordained, that the king might appoint commissioners, with powers to examine into the delinquencies of clergymen, and, if proper, to deprive them of their benefices. It was commanded, that clergymen should not for the future be admitted to the dignity of lords of the session, or to the administration of any judicature civil or criminal. An ordination was made, which subjected to capital punishment all persons who should inquire into the affairs of state with a malicious curiosity, or who should utter false and slanderous speeches in sermons, declamations, or familiar discourse, to the reproach and contempt of the king, his parents, and progenitors. It was ordered that a guard, consisting of 40 gentlemen, with a yearly allowance to each of £200, should continually attend upon the king. This parliament, which was full of zeal for the crown, did not overlook the history of Buchanan, which about this time was exciting a very general attention. It commanded, that all persons who were possessed of copies of his chronicle, and of his treatise on the Scottish government, should surrender them within 40 days, under the penalty of £200, in order that they might be purged of the offensive and extraordinary matters they contained. This stroke of tyranny was furious and ineffectual. Foreign nations, as well as his own countrymen, were filled with the highest admiration of the genius of Buchanan. It was not permitted that his writings should suffer mutilation; they were multiplied in every quarter; and the severity exercised against them only served the more to excite curiosity, and to diffuse his reputation.

While the parliamentary acts, which struck against the importance of the church, were in agitation, the ministers deputed Mr David Lindsay to solicit the king that no statutes should pass which affected the ecclesiastical establishment, without the consultation of the general assembly. But the earl of Arran having intelligence of this commission, defeated it, by committing Mr Lindsay to prison as a spy for the discontented nobles. Upon the publication, however, of these acts by the heralds, Mr Robert Pont minister of St Cathberts, and one of the senators of the court of session, with Mr Walter Balcanqual, protested formally in the name of the church, that it dissented from them, and that they were consequently invalid. Having made this protestation, they instantly fled, and were proclaimed traitors. By letters and pamphlets, which were artfully spread among the people, their passions were roused against the king and his council. The ministers of Edinburgh took the resolution to forfeit their flocks, and to retire to England; and in an apology circulated by their management, they anxiously endeavoured to awaken commiseration and pity. They magnified the dangers which threatened them; and they held out, in vindication of their conduct, the example of the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, and of Christ himself, who all concurred, they said, in opposing the ordinations of men, when contradictory to the will of heaven, and in declining the rage of the enemies of God. The king appointed his own chaplains and the archbishop of St Andrew's to perform the ministerial functions in his capital. The clergy over Scotland were commanded to subscribe a declaration, which imported the supremacy of the king over the church, and their submission to the authority of the bishops. The national ferments increased in their violence. Many ministers refused to subscribe this declaration, and were deprived of their livings. It was contended, that to make the king supreme over the church was no better than to set up a new pope, and to commit treason against Jesus Christ. It was urged, that to overthrow assemblies and presbyteries, and to give dominion to bishops, was not only to overturn the established polity of the church, but to destroy religion itself. For the bishops were the slaves of the court, were schismatical in their opinions, and depraved in their lives. It was affirmed, that heresy, atheism, and Popery, would strike a deep root, and grow into strength. And the people were taught to believe, that the bishops would corrupt the nation into a resemblance with themselves; and that there everywhere prevailed dissimulation and blasphemy, persecution and obscenity, the profanation of the scriptures and... and the breach of faith, covetousness, perjury, and sacrilege. It was founded abroad, that the ministers alone were entrusted with ecclesiastical functions, and with the sword of the word; and that it was most wicked and profane to imagine, that Jesus Christ had ever committed the keys of the kingdom of heaven to civil magistrates and their servants or deputies.

While the clergy were thus impotently venting their wrath, Elizabeth, alarmed beyond measure at this sudden revolution, and terrified by a confession extorted by the rack from one Francis Throgmorton, concerning a combination of the Catholic princes to invade England, began to treat with Mary in a more sincere manner than usual; but, having gained over to her side the earl of Arran, the only man of activity in Scotland, she resolved to proceed to extremities with the queen of Scots. The Roman Catholics, both at home and abroad, were inflamed against her with a boundless and implacable rage. There prevailed many rumours of plots and conspiracies against her kingdom and her life. Books were published which detailed her cruelties and injustice to Mary in the most indignant language of reproach, and which recommended her assassination as a most meritorious act. The earl of Arran had explained to her the practices of the queen of Scots with her son, and had discovered the intrigues of the Catholic princes to gain him to their views. While her sensibilities and fears were severely excruciating to her, circumstances happened which confirmed them in their strength, and provoked her to give the fullest scope to the malignity of her passions.

Crichton, a Scottish Jesuit, falling into his own country, was taken by Netherland pirates; and some papers which he had torn in pieces and thrown into the sea being recovered, were transmitted to England. Sir William Wade put them together with dexterity; and they demonstrated beyond a doubt, that the invasion of England was concerted by the Pope, the Spaniard, and the duke of Guise. About this time, too, a remarkable letter was intercepted from Mary to Sir Francis Eglefield. She complained in it that she could have no reliance upon the integrity of Elizabeth, and that she expected no happy issue to any treaty which might be opened for her restoration and liberty. She urged the advancement of the "great plot;" she intimated, that the prince her son was favourable to the "deignment," and disposed to be directed by her advice; she intreated, that every delicacy with regard to her own state and condition should be laid aside without scruple; and she assured him, that she would most willingly suffer perils and dangers, and even death itself, to give relief to the oppressed children of the church. These discoveries, so exasperating to the inquietudes and distresses of Elizabeth, were followed by a deep and general consternation. The terror of an invasion spread itself with rapidity over England; and the Protestants, while they trembled for the life of their champion, were still more alarmed with the dangers which threatened their religion.

In this state of perplexity and distraction, the counsellors of Elizabeth did not forget that they had been the instruments of her persecution of the queen of Scots, and of the severities with which she had treated the Roman Catholics. They were fully sensible, that her greatness and safety were intimately connected with their own; and they concurred in indulging her fears, jealousies, and anger. It was resolved that Mary's death should perish. An association was formed, to which persons of every condition and degree were invited, on the professed business of this association or society was the preservation of the life of Elizabeth, which it was affirmed was in danger, from a conspiracy to advance some pretended title to the crown; and its members vowed and protested, by the majesty of God, to employ their whole power, their bodies, lives, and goods, in her service, to withstand, as well by force of arms as by other methods of revenge, all persons, of whatsoever nation or rank, who should attempt in any form to invade and injure her security or her life, and never to desist from the forcible pursuit of them till they should be completely exterminated. They also vowed and protested, in the presence of the eternal God, to prosecute to destruction any pretended successor by whom, or for whom, the detestable deed of the assassination of Elizabeth should be attempted or committed. The earl of Leicester was in a particular manner the patron of this association; and the whole influence of Elizabeth and her ministers was exerted to multiply the subscriptions to a bond or league which was to prepare the way, and to be a foundation for accomplishing the full destruction and ruin of the Scottish queen.

A combination so resolute and so fierce, which pointed to the death of Mary, which threatened her titles to the crown of England, and which might defeat the succession of her son, could not fail to excite in her bosom the bitterest anxieties and perturbation. Weary of her sad and long captivity, broken down with calamities, dreading afflictions still more cruel, and willing to take away from Elizabeth every possible pretence of severity, she now framed a scheme of accommodation, to which no decent or reasonable objection could be made. By Naw, her secretary, she presented it to Elizabeth and her privy-council. She protested in it, that if her liberty should be granted to her, she would enter into the closest amity with Elizabeth, and pay an obsequience to her above every other prince of Christendom; that she would forget all the injuries with which she had been loaded, acknowledge Elizabeth to be the rightful queen of England, abate from any claim to her crown during her life, renounce the title and arms of England, which she had usurped by the command of her husband the king of France, and reprobate the bull from Rome which had deposed the English queen. She likewise protested, that she would enter into the association which had been formed for the security of Elizabeth; and that she would conclude a defensive league with her, provided that it should not be prejudicial to the ancient alliance between Scotland and France, and that nothing should be done during the life of the English queen, or after her death, which should invalidate her titles to the crown of England, or those of her son. As a confirmation of these articles, she protested, that she would consent to stay in England for some time as an hostage; and that if she was permitted to retire from the dominions of Elizabeth, she would surrender proper and acceptable persons as sureties. She also protested, that she would make no Scotland alterations in Scotland; and that, upon the repeal of what had been enacted there to her disgrace, she would bury in oblivion all the injuries she had received from her subjects: that she would recommend to the king her son those counsellors who were most attached to England, and that she would employ herself to reconcile him to the fugitive nobles: that she would take no steps about his marriage without acquainting the queen of England; and that, to give the greater firmness to the proposed accommodation, it was her desire that he should be called as a party to it; and in fine, she affirmed, that she would procure the king of France and the princes of Lorraine to be guarantees for the performance of her engagements. Elizabeth, who was skilful in hypocrisy, discovered the most decisive symptoms of satisfaction and joy when these overtures were communicated to her. She made no advances, however, to conclude an accommodation with Mary; and her ministers and courtiers exclaimed against lenient and pacific measures. It was loudly infirmed, that the liberty of Mary would be the death of Elizabeth; that her association with her son would be the ruin both of England and Scotland; and that her elevation to power would extend the empire of Popery, and give a deadly blow to the doctrines of the reformation.

In the mean time an act of attainder had passed against the fugitive nobles, and their estates and honours were forfeited to the king; who, not satisfied with this, sent Patrick master of Gray to demand a surrender of their persons from the queen of England. As this ambassador had resided some time in France, and been intimate with the duke of Guise, he was recommended to Mary: but being a man of no principles he easily suffered himself to be corrupted by Elizabeth; and while he pretended friendship to the unfortunate queen, he discovered all that he knew of the intentions of her and her son. The most scandalous falsehoods were forged against Mary; and the less she was apparently able to execute, the more she was said to despond. That an unhappy woman, confined and guarded with the utmost vigilance, who had not for many years sufficient interest to procure a decent treatment for herself, should be able to carry on such close and powerful negotiations with different princes as were imputed to her, is an absurdity which it must forever be impossible to reconcile. That she had an amour with her keeper the earl of Shrewsbury, as was now reported, might be; though of this there is no proof. This, however, could scarce be treason against Elizabeth (A); yet, on account of this, Mary was committed to the charge of Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, zealous puritans, and who, it was hoped, would treat her with such severity as might drive her to despair, and induce her to commit some rash action. The earl of Leicester, said to be Elizabeth's paramour, even ventured to send assassins, on purpose, by the murder of Mary, at once to deliver his mistress from her fears. But the new keepers of the castle, though religious bigots, were men of strict probity,

Vol. IX.

(A) Amidst the infamous calumnies which this prince's was solicitous to fix upon the queen of Scots, it must excite the highest indignation to consider her own contempt of charity, and the unprincipled licentiousness of her private life. See Haynes's Collect. of State Papers, p. 69. &c.—Even when palsied with age, she was yet burning with unquenchable desires; and vain of her haggard and cadaverous form, sought to allure to her many lovers. See Murdla, p. 553, 560, 657, 718, 719, and the discoveries of a writer, whose pen, elegant, poignant, inquisitive, and polite, improves and embellishes every topic that it canvasses; Walpole, Catalogue of royal and noble Authors, vol. i., p. 126. [Stuart, vol. ii. p. 282, note.] be his most earnest endeavour to reconcile their common subjects to that measure; and that she might expect from him, during his life, every satisfaction and duty which a good mother could promise to herself from an affectionate and obedient son. But these fair blossoms of kindness and love were all blasted by the treacherous arts of Elizabeth. By the master of Gray, who had obtained an ascendant over James, she turned from Mary his affections. He delayed to ratify her association in the government; and he even appeared to be unwilling to press Elizabeth on the subject of her liberty. The master of Gray had convinced him, that if any favour was shown to Mary by the queen of England, it would terminate in his humiliation. He assured him, that if his mother were again to mount the Scottish throne, her zeal for Popery would induce her to seek a husband in the house of Austria; that she would dissolve his association with her in the government, on the pretence of his attachment to the reformed doctrines; and that he would not only lose the glory of his present power, but endanger his prospects of succession. Mary expostulated with him by letter upon the timidity and coldness of his behaviour; and he returned her an answer full of disrespect, in which he intimated his resolution to consider her in no other character than as queen-mother. Her amazement, indignation, and grief, were infinite. She wrote to Caflanau the French ambassador, to inform him of her inquietudes and anguish. "My son," said she, "is ungrateful; and I desire that the king your master shall consider him no longer as a sovereign. In your future dispatches, abstain from giving him the title of king. I am his queen and his sovereign; and while I live, and continue at variance with him, he can at the best be but an usurper. From him I derive no lustre; and without me he could only have been lord Darnley or the earl of Lennox; for I raised his father from being my subject to be my husband. I ask from him nothing that is his; what I claim is my own; and if he persists in his course of impiety and ingratitude, I will bestow upon him my malediction, and deprive him not only of all right to Scotland, but of all the dignity and grandeur to which he may succeed thro' me. My enemies shall not enjoy the advantages they expect from him. For to the king of Spain I will convey, in the amplest form, my claims, titles, and greatness."

Elizabeth having thus found means to sow dissension between the queen of Scots and her son, did not fail to make the best use she could of the quarrel for her own advantage. The Pope, the duke of Guise, and the king of Spain, had concluded an alliance, called the holy league, for the extirpation of the Protestant religion throughout Europe. Elizabeth was thrown into the greatest consternation on this account; and the idea of a counter association among the Protestant princes of Europe immediately suggested itself. Sir Edward Wotton was deputed to Scotland; and so completely gained upon the imbecillity of James, that he concluded a firm alliance with Elizabeth, without making any stipulation in favour of his mother. Nay, so far was he the dupe of this ambassador and his mistress, that he allowed himself to be persuaded to take into his favour Mr Archibald Douglas, one of the murderers of Lord Darnley; and, as if all this had not been sufficient, he appointed this assassin to be his ambassador for England.

Mary, thus abandoned by all the world, in the hands of her most inveterate and cruel enemy, fell a victim to her resentment and treachery in the year 1587. The year before, a conspiracy had been formed by some Popish zealots to assassinate Elizabeth; the principal contriver and intended actor in which was named Babington. This conspiracy was known by Elizabeth and her ministers the same year; so that the projectors of it would then have been taken into custody, if it had not been with a view to involve the unfortunate Mary in the guilt of it. Gilbert Gifford, one of the conspirators, who had discovered the whole to the English minister, was dispatched to the castle of Chartley in Staffordshire, where Mary was now confined, on purpose to commence a correspondence with her. To facilitate this business, Wallingham the English secretary wrote a letter to Sir Amias Paulet, requesting him to permit Gifford to bribe one of his servants. Paulet, however, refused to grant this request; upon which Gifford corrupted a brewer in the neighbourhood, who put his letters to Mary in a hole in the castle-wall. By the same conveyance it was thought that Mary would answer the letters; but she having had warning from France not to take a part in this conspiracy, did not make any return to the letters. It was then contrived that answers, in the name of the queen of Scots to Gifford, should be found in the hole of the wall. Wallingham, to whom these letters were carried, proceeded formally to decipher them by the help of one Thomas Philips, a person skilled in these matters; and after exact copies were taken of them, it is said that they were all artfully sealed and sent off to the persons to whom they were directed. It appears, however, that only the letters directed to Babington were sent to him; and the answers which he made to the queen's supposed letters were also carried to Wallingham. A foundation for criminating Mary being thus laid, the conspirators were quickly discovered, as being already known, and suffered the death of traitors. The unhappy princess, eagerly watched by Paulet, and unacquainted with the late occurrences, received a visit from Sir Thomas Gorges. This envoy, as instructed by Elizabeth, charged surprized her when she had mounted her horse to take the pleasure of the chase. His salutation was abrupt and unceremonious; and after informing her of the discovery and circumstances of the conspiracy of Babington, he rudely charged her with a concern in it. Her astonishment was great, and she desired to return to her chamber; but this favour was refused to her; and after being carried from one house to another, in an anxious and perplexing uncertainty, she was committed to Fotheringay castle in Northamptonshire. Naw and Curl, her two secretaries, the former a Frenchman, the latter a native of Scotland, were taken into custody. Paulet breaking open the doors of her private closet, possessed himself of her money, which amounted not to more than 7000 crowns. Her cabinets were carefully sealed up; and being sent to London, were examined in the presence of Elizabeth. They contained many dispatches from persons beyond the sea, copies of letters which had been dictated by her, and about 60 tables of ciphers and characters. There were also discovered in them many dispatches to her from English noblemen, which were full of admiration and respect. These Elizabeth concealed; but their authors suspecting that they were known, sought to purchase her forgiveness by the most abject protestations of an attachment to her person, and by the exercise of the most inveterate enmity to the queen of Scots. Naw and Curl declared, that the copies of her letters were in their handwriting. They had been dictated by her in the French language to Naw, translated into English by Curl, and then put into cipher. They contained not, however, any matters with which she could be reproached or criminated. It was upon the foundation of the letters which Gifford had communicated to Walsingham that her guilt was to be inferred; and with copies of these, and with an attested account of the conspiracy of Babington and his associates, Sir Edward Wotton was now dispatched into France to accuse her to Henry III., and to explain to him the dangers to which Elizabeth was exposed from the machinations and practices of the English exiles.

The privy-counsellors of Elizabeth deliberated upon the most proper method of proceeding against Mary. To some it appeared, that as she was only accessory to the plot, and not the designer of it, the most eligible severity to be exercised against her was a closer and more rigorous confinement; and they endeavoured to fortify this opinion, by observing, that she was sickly, and could not live long. By others who were haunted by the terrors of Popery, it was urged, that she ought to be put instantly to death by the formalities of the law. The earl of Leicester recommended it as most prudent to dispatch her secretly by poison. But this counsel was rejected as mean, disgraceful, and violent. The lawyers were of opinion, that she might be tried upon the statute of Edward III.; by which it was enacted to be treason to imagine the destruction of the sovereign, to make war against his kingdom, or to adhere to his enemies. Elizabeth, however, and her ministers, had provided a more plausible foundation for her trial. This was a parliamentary statute approving the act of association. As it had been passed while Mary was in England, it was argued, that she was bound by it in a local allegiance to Elizabeth. The next point of debate was the designation under which it was most advisable to arraign her. To employ a foreign name and title as directly descriptive of her, was not judged to be consistent with the law of England. It was therefore resolved to design her "Mary daughter and heir of James V., king of Scotland, and commonly called queen of Scots, and dowager of France."

This resolution being once taken, Elizabeth next appointed above 40 peers or privy-counsellors, and five judges, bellowing upon them in a body, or upon the greater part of them, absolute power and authority to inquire into the matters compassed and imagined against her by the Scottish princes, and to pass sentence according to the spirit and tenor of the act which had been passed. Of these commissioners a great majority proceeded to the castle of Fotheringay; and the day after their arrival, they deputies to Mary, Sir Walter Mildmay, Sir Amias Paulet, and Edward Barker a public notary, to deliver to her a letter from Elizabeth. In this letter the English queen gratified her unhappy passions, and after reproaching Mary with her crimes, informed her that commissioners were appointed to take cognizance of them. The Scottish princes, though astonished with the project of being brought to a public trial, was able to preserve her dignity, and addressed them with a composed manner and air. "It is a matter," said she, "altogether uncommon and strange, that Elizabeth should command me to submit to a trial, as if I were her subject. I am an independent sovereign; and will not furnish by any means my high birth, the princes my predecessors, or my son. Misfortunes and misery have not yet so involved me in dejection, as that I am to faint and sink under this new calamity and insult. I desire that you will remember what I formerly protested to Bromley, who is now lord chancellor, and to the lord La War. To speak to me of commissioners, is a vain mockery of my rank. Kings alone can be my peers. The laws of England are unknown to me; and I have no counsellors to whose wisdom I can apply for instruction. My papers and commentaries have been taken from me; and no person can have the perilous courage to appear as my advocate. I have indeed recommended myself and my condition to foreign princes; but I am clear of the guilt of having conspired the destruction of Elizabeth, or of having incited any person whatsoever to destroy her. It is only by my own words and writings that an imputation of this kind can be supported; and I am conscious beyond the possibility of a doubt, that these evidences cannot be employed against me." The day after she had, in this manner, refused to allow the jurisdiction of the commissioners, Paulet and Barker returned to her, and informed her that they had put her speech into writing, and desired to know if she would abide by it. She heard it read distinctly, acknowledged it to be rightly taken, and avowed her readiness to persist in the sentiments she had delivered. But she added, there was a circumstance to which she had omitted to speak. "Your queen," said she, "affords her letter to observe, that I am subject to the laws of England, because I have lived under their protection. This sentiment and mode of thinking are very surprising to me. I came into England, to crave her alliance and aid; and, ever since, I have been confined to a prison. The miseries of captivity cannot be called a protection, and the treatment I have suffered is a violation of all law." Remonstrances, however, were in vain: and Mary was obliged to stand a trial before this unjust tribunal.

After various formalities, the lord chancellor opened the case; and was followed by Sergeant Gawdry, who proceeded to explain the above statute, and endeavoured to demonstrate that she had offended against it. He stated her then entered into a detail of Babington's conspiracy; and concluded with affirming, "that Mary knew it, had approved it, had promised her assistance, and had pointed out the means to effect it." Proofs of this charge were exhibited against her, and displayed with great art. The letters were read which Sir Francis Walsingham had forged, in concert with Gifford, &c. and her secretaries Naw and Curl. The three spies had afforded all the necessary intelligence about the conspiracy, upon which to frame a correspondence between Mary and Babington, and upon which dis- patches might be fabricated in her name to her foreign friends; and the ciphers were furnished by her two secretaries. But beside these pretended letters, another species of evidence was held out against her. Babington, proud of the dispatch sent to him in her name by Walsingham and Gifford, returned an answer to it; and a reply from her by the same agency was transmitted to him. Deluded, and in toils, he communicated these marks of her attention to Savage and Ballard, the most confidential of his associates. His confession and theirs became thus of importance. Nor were her letters and the confessions of these conspirators deemed sufficient vouchers of her guilt. Her two secretaries, therefore, who had lately forsaken her, were engaged to subscribe a declaration, that the dispatches in her name were written by them at her command, and according to her instructions. These branches of evidence, put together with skill, and heightened with all the imposing colours of eloquence, were pressed upon Mary. Though she had been long accustomed to the perfidious inhumanity of her enemies, her amazement was infinite. She lost not, however, her courage; and her defence was alike expressive of her penetration and magnanimity.

"The accusation preferred to my prejudice is a most detestable calumny. I was not engaged with Babington in his conspiracy; and I am altogether innocent of having plotted the death of Elizabeth. The copies of Babington's letters which have been produced, may indeed be taken from originals which are genuine; but it is impossible to prove that I ever received them. Nor did he receive from me the dispatches addressed to him in my name. His confession, and those of his associates, which have been urged to establish the authority of my letters to him, are imperfect and vain. If these conspirators could have testified any circumstances to my hurt, they would not so soon have been deprived of their lives. Tortures, or the fear of the rack, extorted improper confessions from them; and then they were executed. Their mouths were opened to utter false confessions, and were immediately shut for ever that the truth might be buried in their graves. It was no difficult matter to obtain ciphers which I had employed; and my adversaries are known to be superior to scruples. I am informed, that Sir Francis Walsingham has been earnest to recommend himself to his sovereign, by practices both against my life and that of my son; and the fabrication of papers, by which to effectuate my ruin, is a business not unworthy of his ambition. An evidence, the most clear and incontestable, is necessary to overthrow my integrity; but proofs, the most feeble and suspicious, are held out against me. Let one letter be exhibited, written in my hand, or that bears my superscription, and I will instantly acknowledge that the charge against me is sufficiently supported. The declaration of my secretaries is the effect of rewards or of terror. They are strangers; and to overcome their virtue was an easy achievement to a queen whose power is absolute, whose riches are immense, and whose ministers are profound and daring in intrigues and treachery. I have often had occasion to suspect the integrity of Naw; and Curl, whose capacity is more limited, was always most obsequious to him. They may have written many letters in my name, without my knowledge or participation; and it is not fit that I should bear the blame of their inconsiderate boldness. They may have put many things into dispatches which are prejudicial to Elizabeth; and they may even have subscribed their declaration to my prejudice, under the pretension that the guilt which would utterly overwhelm them might be pardoned in me. I have never dictated any letter to them which can be made to correspond with their testimony; and what, let me ask, would become of the grandeur, the virtue, and the safety of princes, if they depended upon the writings and declarations of secretaries? Nor let it be forgotten, that by acting in hostility to the duty and allegiance which they solemnly swore to observe to me, they have utterly incapacitated themselves from obtaining any credit. The violation of their oath of fidelity is an open perjury; and of such men the protestations are nothing. But, if they are yet in life, let them be brought before me. The matters they declare are so important as to require that they should be examined in my presence. It argues not the fairness of the proceedings against me, that this formality is neglected. I am also without the assistance of an advocate; and, that I might be defenceless and weak in the greatest degree, I have been robbed of my papers and commentaries. As to the copies of the dispatches which are said to have been written, by my direction, to Mendoza, the lord Paget, Charles Paget, the archbishop of Glasgow, and Sir Francis Inglefield, they are most unprofitable forgeries. For they tend only to show that I was employed in encouraging my friends to invade England. Now, if I should allow that these dispatches were genuine, it could not be inferred from them that I had conspired the death of Elizabeth. I will even confess, that I have yielded to the strong impulses of nature; and that, like a human creature, encompassed with dangers and insulted with wrongs, I have exerted myself to recover my greatness and my liberty. The efforts I have made can excite no blushes in me; for the voice of mankind must applaud them. Religion, in her sternest moments of severity, cannot look to them with reproach; and to consider them as crimes, is to despise the sanctimonious reverence of humanity, and to give way to the culpable wretchedness of despotism. I have fought by every art of concession and friendship to engage my sister to put a period to my sufferings. Invited by her smiles, I ventured into her kingdom, in the pride and gaiety of my youth; and, under her anger and the miseries of captivity, I have grown into age. During a calamitous confinement of 20 years, my youth, my health, my happiness, are for ever gone. To her tenderest and generous I have been indebted as little as to her justice; and, oppressed and agonizing with unmerited afflictions and hardships, I scrupled not to beseech the princes my allies to employ their armies to relieve me. Nor will I deny, that I have endeavoured to promote the advantage and interest of the persecuted Catholics of England. My intrigues in their behalf have been even offered with earnestness to queen Elizabeth herself. But the attainment of my kingdom, the recovery of my liberty, and the advancement of that religion which I love, could not induce me to stain myself with the crimes that are objected to me. I would disdain to purchase a crown by the assassination of Scotland, the meanest of the human race. To accuse me of scheming the death of the queen my sister, is to brand me with the infamy which I abhor most. It is my nature to employ the devotions of Esther, and not the sword of Judith. Elizabeth herself will attest, that I have often admonished her not to draw upon her head the resentment of my friends by the enormity of her cruelties to me. My innocence cannot sincerely be doubted; and it is known to the Almighty God, that I could not possibly think to forego his mercy, and to ruin my soul, in order to compass a transgression so horrible as that of her murder. But amidst the inclemency and unprincipled pretences which my adversaries are pleased to invent to overwhelm me with calamities and anguish, I can trace and discover with ease the real causes of their hostility and provocation. My crimes are my birth, the injuries I have been compelled to endure, and my religion. I am proud of the first; I can forgive the second; and the third is a source to me of such comfort and hope, that for its glory I will be contented that my blood shall flow upon the scaffold."

To the defence of Mary, no returns were made beside flout and unsupported affirmations of the truth of the evidence produced to her prejudice. In the course of the trial, however, there occurred some incidents which deserve to be related. My lord Burleigh, who was willing to discompose her, charged her with a fixed resolution of conveying her claims and titles to England to the king of Spain. But though, in a discontented humour with her son, she had threatened to disinherit him, and had even corresponded on the subject with her select friends, it appears that this project is to be considered as only a transient effect of resentment and passion. She indeed acknowledged, that the Spaniard professed to have pretensions to the kingdom of England, and that a book in justification of them had been communicated to her. She declared, however, that she had incurred the displeasure of many by disapproving of this book; and that no conveyance of her titles to the Spaniard had been ever executed.

The trial continued during the space of two days; but the commissioners avoided to deliver their opinions. My lord Burleigh, in whose management Elizabeth chiefly confided, and whom the Scottish queen discomposed in no common degree by her ability and vigour, being eager to conclude the business, demanded to know if she had any thing to add to what she had urged in her defence. She informed him, that she would be infinitely pleased and gratified, if it should be permitted to her to be heard in her justification before a full meeting of the parliament, or before the queen and her privy-council. This intimation was unexpected; and the request implied in it was rejected. The court, in consequence of previous instructions from Elizabeth, adjourned to a farther day, and appointed that the place of its convention should be the star-chamber at Westminster. It accordingly assembled there; and Naw and Curl, who had not been produced at Fotheringay castle, were now called before the commissioners. An oath to declare the truth was put to them; and they definitely affirmed and protested that the declaration they had subscribed was in every respect just and faithful. Nothing farther remained, but to pronounce sentence against Mary. The commissioners unanimously concurred in delivering it as their verdict or judgment, that she "was a party to judgment the conspiracy of Babington; and that she had compassed and imagined matters within the realm of England tending to the hurt, death, and destruction of the royal person of Elizabeth, in opposition to the statute framed for her protection." Upon the same day in which this extraordinary sentence was given, the commissioners and the judges of England issued a declaration which imported, that it was not to derogate in any degree from the titles and honour of the king of Scots.

The sentence against Mary was very soon afterwards ratified by the English parliament. King James was struck with horror at hearing of the execution of his English mother; but that spiritless prince could show his resentment no farther than by unavailing embassies and remonstrances. France interposed in the same ineffectual manner; and on the 6th of December 1586, Elizabeth caused the sentence of the commissioners against her to be proclaimed. After this she was made acquainted with her fate, and received the news with the greatest composure, and even apparent satisfaction. Her keepers now refused to treat her with any reverence or respect. They entered her apartment with their heads covered, and made no obeisance to her. They took down her canopy of state, and deprived her of all the badges of royalty. By these insulting mortifications they meant to inform her, that she had sunk from the dignity of a princess to the abject state of a criminal. She smiled, and said, "In despite of your sovereign and her subservient judges, I will live and die a queen. My royal character is indelible; and I will surrender it with my spirit to the Almighty God, from whom I received it, and to whom my honour and my innocence are fully known." In this melancholy situation Mary addressed a magnificent letter to Elizabeth, in which, without making the least solicitation for her life, she only requested that her body might be carried to France; that she might be publicly executed; that her servants might be permitted to depart out of England unmolested, and enjoy the legacies which she bequeathed them. But to this letter no answer was given.

In the mean time James, who had neither address nor courage to attempt any thing in behalf of his mother, announced her situation to his bigotted subjects, and ordered prayers to be said for her in all the churches. The form of the petition he preferred was framed with delicacy and caution, that the clergy might have no objection to it. He enjoined them to pray, "that it might please God to enlighten Mary with the light of his truth, and to protect her from the danger which was hanging over her." His own chaplains, and Mr David Lindsay minister of Leith, observed his command. But all the other clergy refused to prostitute their pulpits by preferring any petitions to the Almighty for a Papist. James, shocked with their spirit of intolerance and sedition, appointed a new day for prayers to be said for Mary, and issued a stricter injunction to the clergy to obey him; and that he might be free himself from any insult, he commanded the archbishop of St Andrews to preach before him. The ecclesiastics, disguised with his injunction, divinity, to occupy the pulpit designed for the archbishop. When the king entered the church, he testified his surprise; but told Cowper, that if he would obey his injunction, he might proceed to officiate. Cowper replied, "that he would do as the spirit of God would direct him." The king commanded him to retire, and the captain of his guard advanced to compel him to obedience. The enraged probationer exclaimed, that this violence "would witness against the king in the great day of the Lord," and denounced a curse against the spectators for not exerting themselves in his defense. The archbishop now ascending the pulpit, performed with propriety the function to which he had been called, and took the opportunity to recommend moderation and charity to the audience. In the afternoon Cowper was cited before the privy council; and was accompanied there by Mr Walter Balcanquall and Mr William Watson, two ministers remarkable for their zeal. As a punishment for his audacious petulance, he was committed to the castle of Blackness; and his attendants having distinguished themselves by an impudent vindication of him, were prohibited from preaching during the pleasure of the king.

Elizabeth, in the mean while, felt the torment and disquiet of unhappy and miserable passions. At times she courted the sadness of solitude, and refused to be consoled or to speak. In other seasons her sighs were frequent, and she broke out into loud and wild exclamations expressive of the state of her mind. Her subjects waited, the determinations of her will under a distracting agitation and uncertainty. He ministers, who knew that it is the nature of fear to exclude pity, were industrious in inventing terrifying intelligence, and in circulating it through the kingdom. There were rumours that the Spanish fleet had arrived at Milford haven; that a formidable army of Scottish combatants was advancing to the capital; that the duke of Guise had disembarked many troops of veteran soldiers in Sussex; that Mary had escaped out of prison, and was collecting the English Catholics; that the northern counties had thrown aside their allegiance; and that there was a new plot to kill Elizabeth, and to reduce London to ashes. An actual conspiracy was even maliciously charged upon L'Aubespine the French resident; and he was forced to withdraw from England in disgrace. From the panic terrors which the ministers of Elizabeth were so studious to excite, they scrupled not loudly and invariably to infer, that the peace and tranquility of the kingdom could alone be re-established by the speedy execution of the Scottish queen.

While the nation was thus artfully prepared for the warrant destruction of Mary, Elizabeth ordered secretary Davidson to bring to her the warrant for her death. Having perused it with deliberation, she observed that it was extended in proper terms, and gave it the authority of her subscription. She was in a humour somewhat gay, and demanded of him if he was not sorry for what he had done. He replied, that it was afflicting to him to think of the state of public affairs; but that he greatly preferred her life to that of the Scottish princess. She enjoined him to be secret, and desired, that before he should deliver the warrant to the chancellor, he should carry it to Walsingham. "I fear much," (said she, in a merry tone), "that the grief of it will kill him."

This levity was momentary; and fears and anxieties succeeded it. Though she earnestly desired the death of Mary, she was yet terrified to encounter its infamy. She was solicitous to accomplish this base transaction by some method which would conceal her consent to it. After intimating to Mr Davidson an anxious wish to wash that its blame should be removed from her, she have her counselled him to join with Walsingham in addressing privately a letter to Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, recommending it to them to manifest their love to her by shedding privately the blood of her adversary. The unlawfulness of this deed affected Davidson, and he objected to it. She repeated resolutely her injunctions; and he departed to execute them. A letter under his name and that of Walsingham was dispatched to Mary's keepers, communicating to them her purpose. Corrupted by her passions, and lost to the sensibilities of virtue, Elizabeth had now reached the last extremity of human wickedness. Though a sovereign princess, and entrusted with the cares of a great nation, she blushed not to give it in charge to her ministers to join a murder; and this murder was connected with every circumstance that could make it most frightful and horrid. The victim for whose blood she thirsted was a woman, a queen, a relation, who was splendid with beauty, eminent in abilities, magnanimous under misfortunes, and smiling with innocence. Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury, though the slaves of religious prejudices, felt an elevation of mind which reflected the greatest disgrace upon the sovereign. They considered themselves as grossly insulted by the purpose proposed to them; and in the return they made to Walsingham, they assured him, that the queen might command their lives and their property, but that they would never consent to part with their honour, and to stain themselves and their posterity with the guilt of an assassination. When Davidson carried their dispatch to her, she broke out into anger. Their scrupulous delicacy, she said, was a dainty infringement of their oath of association; and they were nice, precise, and perjured traitors, who could give great promises in words, and achieve nothing. She told him, that the business could be performed without them; and recommended one Wingfield to his notice, who would not hesitate to strike the blow. The astonished secretary exclaimed with warmth against a mode of proceeding so dangerous and unwarrantable. He protested, that if she should take upon herself the blame of this deed, it would pollute her with the blackest dishonour; and that, if she should disavow it, she would overthrow for ever the reputation, the estate, and the children, of the persons who should assist in it. She heard him with pain, and withdrew from him with precipitation.

The warrant, after having been communicated to Walsingham, was carried to the chancellor, who put great pains the great seal to it. This formality was hardly concluded, when a message from Elizabeth prohibited Davidion from waiting upon the chancellor till he should receive farther instructions. Within an hour after, he received a second message to the same purpose. He hastened to court; and Elizabeth asked eagerly, gerly if he had seen the chancellor. He answered in the affirmative; and she exclaimed with bitterness against his haste. He said, that he had acted exactly as she had directed him. She continued to express warmly her displeasure; but gave no command to stop the operation of the warrant. In a state of uneasiness and apprehension, she communicated her behaviour to the chancellor and the privy-council. These courtiers, however, who were well acquainted with the arts of their mistresses, and who knew how to flatter her, paid no attention to him. They perceived, or were secretly informed, that she desired to have a pretence upon which to complain of the secretary, and to deny that he had obeyed her instructions. They observed to him, that by subscribing the warrant, he had performed whatever the law required of her; and that it was not proper to delay the execution any longer. While they were anxious to please Elizabeth, they were conscious of their own cruelty to Mary, and did not imagine they could be in perfect security while she lived. They dispatched the warrant to the earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, with instructions to them to fulfil its purpose.

When the two earls and their retinue reached Fotheringhay castle, they found that Mary was sick, and reposeful upon her bed. They insisted, notwithstanding, to be introduced to her. Being informed by her servants that the message they brought was important and pressing, she prepared to receive them. They were conducted into her presence by Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury; and with little formality they told her, that Elizabeth had consented to her death, and that she was to suffer the next morning at 8 o'clock. Then Beale, one of the clerks of the privy-council, who accompanied them, read over the warrant. She crossed herself in the name of God, and with an unshaken courage, and an unalterated countenance, said to them, "The news you bring cannot but be most welcome, since they announce the termination of my miseries. Nor do I account that soul to be deserving of the felicities of immortality which can shrink under the sufferings of the body, or scruple the stroke that sets it free." They affected to justify their mistress by entering into details concerning the conspiracy of Babington. She put her hand upon the Scriptures, which lay upon a table near her, and swore in the most solemn manner, that she never devised, consented to, or pursued the death of Elizabeth in any shape whatsoever. The earl of Kent, unwisely zealous for the Protestant religion, excepted against her oath, as being made upon a Popish bible. She replied to him mildly, "It is for this very reason, my lord, to be relied upon with the greatest security; for I esteem the Popish version of the Scriptures to be the most authentic." Indulging his puritanical fervour, he declaimed against Popery, counselled her to renounce its errors, and recommended to her attention Dr Fletcher dean of Peterborough. She heard him with some impatience; and discovered no anxiety to be converted by this ecclesiastic, whom he represented as a most learned divine. Rising into passion, he exclaimed, that "her life would be the death of their religion, and that her death would be its life." After informing him that she was unalterably fixed in her religious sentiments, she desired that her confessor might have the liberty to repair to her. The two earls concurred in observing, that their consciences did not allow them to grant this request. She intimated to them the favours for which she had applied by her letter to Elizabeth, and expressed a wish to know if her letter had attended to them. They answered, that there were points upon which they had received no instructions. She made inquiries concerning her secretaries Naw and Curl; and asked, whether it had ever been heard of, in the wickedest times of the most unprincipled nation, that the servants of a sovereign princess had been suborned for the purpose of destroying her. They looked to one another, and were silent. Bourgoin her physician, who with her other domestics was present at this interview, seeing the two earls ready to depart, besought them with an emphatic earnestness to reflect upon the short and inadequate portion of time that they had allotted to his mistress to prepare herself for death. He insisted, that a respect for her high rank, and the multiplicity and importance of her concerns, required at least a period of some days. They pretended, however, not to understand the propriety of his petition, and refused it.

Upon the departure of the two earls, her domestics presented a full vent to their afflictions; and while she experienced a melancholy pleasure in their tears, lamentations, and kindness, she endeavoured to console them. Their grief, she said, was altogether unsavory, and could neither better her condition nor their own. Her cause had every thing about it that was most honourable; and the miseries from which she was to be relieved were the most hopeless and the most afflicting. Instead of dejection and sadness, she therefore enjoined them to be contented and happy. That she might have the more leisure to settle her affairs, she supped early, and, according to her usual custom, she ate little. While at table, she remarked to Bourgoin her physician, that the force of truth was insurmountable; for that the earl of Kent, notwithstanding the presence of her having conspired against Elizabeth, had plainly informed her, that her death would be the security of their religion. When supper was over, she ordered all her servants to appear before her, and drank to them. They pledged her upon their knees, mingling tears with the wine, and entreating her forgiveness for any offences they had ever committed against her. She condescended in her turn to beg their pardon for her omissions or neglects; and she recommended it to them to love charity, to avoid the unhappy passions of hatred and malice, and to preserve themselves steadfast in the faith of Christ. She now considered the inventory of her goods and jewels, and put down the names of the domestics to whom she delivered them. To her confessor she sent a letter, entreating the favour of his benediction and prayers. With her own hand she wrote out her testament, setting her affairs with great prudence. To the king of France and the duke of Guise she addressed separate dispatches; in which she recalled to them her misfortunes, asserted her innocence, and pointed out her servants as proper objects of their generosity. Her son she also mentioned to them; recommending him to their anxious cares, if he should prove worthy of their esteem; but delicately intimating a fear, that the course of his conduct might displease them. Having finished Scotland. finished these attentions, she entered her bed-chamber with her women; and, according to her uniform practice, employed herself in religious duties, and in reading in the Lives of the Saints. At her accustomed time she went to sleep; and after enjoying some hours of found rest, she awoke. She then indulged in pious meditation, and partook of the sacrament by the means of a consecrated host, which a melancholy presentiment of her calamities had induced her to obtain from Pius V.

At the break of day she arrayed herself in rich, but becoming apparel; and calling together her servants, she ordered her will to be read, and apologized for the smallness of her legacies from her inability to be more generous. Following the arrangement she had previously made, she then dealt out to them her goods, wardrobe, and jewels. To Bourgoin her physician, she committed the care of her will, with a charge that he would deliver it to her principal executor the duke of Guise. She also entreated him with tokens of her affection for the king of France, the queen-mother, and her relations of the house of Lorraine. Bidding now an adieu to all worldly concerns, she retired to her oratory, where she was seen sometimes kneeling at the altar, and sometimes standing motionless with her hands joined, and her eyes directed to the heavens. In these tender and agitated moments, she was dwelling upon the memory of her sufferings and her virtues, reposing her weaknesses in the bosom of her God, and lifting and focussing her spirit in the contemplation of his perfections and his mercy. While she was thus engaged, Thomas Andrews, the high sheriff of the county, announced to her, that the hour for her execution was arrived. She came forth dressed in a gown of black silk; her petticoat was bordered with crimson velvet; a veil of lawn bowed out with wire, and edged with boulace, was fastened to her eavele, and hung down to the ground; an Agnus Dei was suspended from her neck by a pomander chain; her beads were fixed to her girdle; and she bore in her hand a crucifix of ivory. Amidst the screams and lamentations of her women she descended the stairs; and in the porch she was received by the earls of Kent and Shrewsbury with their attendants. Here, too, she met Sir Andrew Melvil the master of her household, whom her keepers had barred from her presence during many days. Throwing himself at her feet, and weeping aloud, he deplored his sad destiny, and the sorrowful tidings he was to carry into Scotland.

After she had spoken to Melvil, she besought the two earls that her servants might be treated with civility, that they might enjoy the presents she had bestowed upon them, and that they might receive a safe-conduct to depart out of the dominions of Elizabeth. These slight favours were readily granted to her. She then begged that they might be permitted to attend her to the scaffold, in order that they might be witnesses of her behaviour at her death. To this request the earl of Kent discovered a strong reluctance. He said that they would behave with an intemperate passion; and that they would practise superstitious formalities, and dip their handkerchiefs in her blood. She replied, that she was sure that none of their actions would be blameable; and that it was but decent that some of her women should be about her. The earl still hesitating, she was affected with the insolent and stupid indignity of his malice; and exclaimed, "I am cousin to your mistress, and descended from Henry VII. I am a dowager of France, and the anointed queen of Scotland." The earl of Shrewsbury interposing, it was agreed, that she should select two of her women, who might assist her in her last moments, and a few of her men-servants, who might behold her demeanour, and report it.

She entered the hall where she was to suffer, and advanced with an air of grace and majesty to the scaffold, which was built at its farthest extremity. The spectators were numerous. Her magnanimous carriage, her beauty, of which the lustre was yet dazzling, and her matchless misfortunes, affected them. They gave way to contending emotions of awe, admiration, and pity. She ascended the scaffold with a firm step and a serene aspect, and turned her eye to the block, the axe, and the executioners. The spectators were dissolved in tears. A chair was placed for her, in which she seated herself. Silence was commanded; and Beale read aloud the warrant for her death. She heard it attentively, yet with a manner from which it might be gathered, that her thoughts were employed upon a subject more important. Dr Fletcher dean of Peterborough taking his station opposite to her without the rails of the scaffold, began a discourse upon her life, past, present, and to come. He affected to enumerate her trespasses against Elizabeth, and to describe the love and tenderness which that princess had shown to her. He counselled her to repent of her crimes; and while he inveighed against her attachment to Popery, he threatened her with everlasting fire if she should delay to renounce its errors. His behaviour was indecent and coarse in the greatest degree; and while he meant to insult her, he insulted still more the religion which he professed and the sovereign whom he flattered. Twice she interrupted him with great gentleness. But he persistently continued his exhortations. Raising her voice, she commanded him with a resolute tone to withhold his indignities and menaces, and not to trouble her any more about her faith. "I was born (said she) in the Roman Catholic religion; I have experienced its comforts during my life, in the trying seasons of sickness, calamity, and sorrow; and I am resolved to die in it." The two earls, ashamed of the savage obduracy of his deportment, admonished him to desist from his speeches, and to content himself with praying for her conversion. He entered upon a long prayer; and Mary falling upon her knees, and disregarding him altogether, employed herself in devotions from the office of the Virgin.

After having performed all her devotions, her women assisted her to disrobe; and the executioners offering their aid, she repressed their forwardness by observing, that she was not accustomed to be attended by such servants, nor to be undressed before so large an assembly. Her upper garments being laid aside, she drew upon her arms a pair of silk gloves. Her women and men servants burst out into loud lamentations. She put her finger to her mouth to admonish them to be silent, and then bade them a final adieu with a smile that seemed to console, but that plunged them into deeper wo. She kneeled resolutely before the block, block, and said, "In thee, O Lord! do I trust; let me never be confounded." She covered her eyes with a linen handkerchief in which the eucharist had been inclosed; and stretching forth her body with great tranquillity, and setting her neck for the fatal stroke, she called out, "Into thy hands, O God! I commit my spirit." The executioner, from design, from unskilfulness, or from inquietude, struck three blows before he separated her head from her body. He held it up mangled with wounds, and streaming with blood; and her hair being discomposed, was discovered to be already grey with afflictions and anxieties. The dean of Peterborough alone cried out, "So let the enemies of Elizabeth perish." The earl of Kent alone, in a low voice, answered, "Amen." All the other spectators were melted down with the tenderest sympathy and sorrow.

Her women hastened to protect her dead body from the curiosity of the spectators; and placed themselves with the thoughts of mourning over it undisturbed when they should retire, and of laying it out in its funeral garb. But the two earls prohibited them from discharging these melancholy yet pleasing offices to their departed mistress, and chased them from the hall with indignity. Bourgoin her physician applied to them that he might be permitted to take out her heart for the purpose of preserving it, and of carrying it with him to France. But they refused his intreaty with disdain and anger. Her remains were touched by the rude hands of the executioners, who carried them into an adjoining apartment; and who, tearing a cloth from an old billiard-table, covered that form, once so beautiful. The block, the cushion, the scaffold, and the garments, which were stained with her blood, were consumed with fire. Her body, after being embalmed and committed to a leaden coffin, was buried with a royal splendour and pomp in the cathedral of Peterborough. Elizabeth, who had treated her like a criminal while she lived, seemed disposed to acknowledge her for a queen when she was dead.

On the death of his mother, the full government of the kingdom devolved on James her son. Elizabeth, apprehensive of his resentment for her treatment of his mother, wrote him a letter, in which she disclaimed all knowledge of the fact. James had received intelligence of the murder before the arrival of this letter, which was sent by one Cary. The messenger was stopped at Berwick by an order from the king, telling him, that, if Mary had been executed, he should proceed at his peril. James shut himself up in Dalkeith castle, in order to indulge himself in grief; but the natural levity and imbecility of his mind prevented him from acting in any degree as became him. Instead of resolutely adhering to his first determination of not allowing Cary to set foot in Scotland, he in a few days gave his consent that he should be admitted to an audience of certain members of his privy-council, who took a journey to the borders on purpose to wait upon him. In this conference, Cary demanded that the league of amity between the two kingdoms should be inviolably observed. He said, that his misfortunes were grieved at the death of Mary, which had happened without her consent; and, in Elizabeth's name, offered any satisfaction that James could demand. The Scots commissioners treated Cary's speech and proposal with becoming disdain. They observed, that they amounted to no more than to know whether James was disposed to sell his mother's blood; adding, that the Scottish nobility and people were determined to revenge it, and to interest in their quarrel the other princes of Europe. Upon this Cary delivered to them the letter from Elizabeth, together with a declaration of his own concerning the murder of the queen; and it does not appear that he proceeded farther.

This reception of her ambassador threw Elizabeth into the utmost consternation. She was apprehensive that James would join his force to that of Spain, and entirely overwhelm her; and had the resentment or the spirit of the king been equal to that of the nation, it is probable, that the haughty English princess would have been made severely to repent her perfidy and cruelty. It doth not, however, appear, that James had any serious intention of calling Elizabeth to an account for the murder of his mother; for which, perhaps, his natural imbecility may be urged as an excuse, though it is more probable that his own necessity for money had swallowed up every other consideration. By the league formerly concluded with England, it had been agreed that Elizabeth should pay an annual pension to the king of Scotland. James had neither economy to make his own revenue answer his purposes, nor address to get it increased. He was therefore always in want; and as Elizabeth had plenty to spare, her friendship became a valuable acquisition. To this consideration, joined to his view of ascending the English throne, must chiefly be ascribed the little resentment shown by him to the atrocious conduct of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth was not wanting in the arts of dissimulation and treachery now more than formerly. She procured and fixed secretary Davidson and lord Burleigh for the active part they had taken in Mary's punishment. Their punishment was indeed much less than they deserved, but they certainly did not merit any such thing at her hands. Walsingham, though equally guilty, yet escaped by pretending indisposition, or perhaps escaped because the queen had new occasion for his services. By her command he drew up a long letter addressed to lord Thirlton, king James's prime minister; in which he showed the necessity of putting Mary to death, and the folly of attempting to revenge it. He boasted of the superior force of England to that of Scotland; shewed James that he would forever ruin his pretensions to the English crown, by involving the two nations in a war; that he ought not to trust to foreign alliances; that the Roman-Catholic party were so divided among themselves, that he could receive little or no assistance from them, even supposing him so ill advised as to change his own religion for Popery, and that they would not trust his sincerity. Lastly, he attempted to show, that James had already discharged all the duty towards his mother and his own reputation that could be expected from an affectionate son and a wise king; that his interceding for her with a concern so becoming nature, had endeared him to the kingdom of England; but that it would be madness to push his resentment farther.

This letter had all the effect that could be desired. James gave an audience to the English ambassador; and being assured that his blood was not tainted by the execution of his mother for treason against Elizabeth, Scotland, but that he was still capable of succeeding to the crown of England, he consented to make up matters, and to address the murderer of his mother by the title of loving and affectionate sister.

The reign of James, till his accession to the crown of England by Elizabeth's death in 1603, affords little matter of moment. His scandalous concessions to Elizabeth, and his constant applications to her for money, filled up the measure of Scottish meanness. Ever since the expulsion of Mary, the country had in fact been reduced to the condition of an English province. The sovereign had been tried by the queen of England, and executed for treason; a crime in the very nature of the thing impossible, had not Scotland been in subjection to England; and to complete all, the contemptible successor of Mary thought himself well off that he was not a traitor too, to his sovereign the queen of England we must suppose, for the case will admit of no other supposition.

During the reign of James, the religious disturbances which began at the reformation, and that violent struggle of the clergy for power which never ceased till the revolution in 1688, went on with great violence. Contious clamours were raised against Popery, at the same time that the very fundamental principles of Popery were held, nay urged in the most insolent manner, as the effects of immediate inspiration. These were the total independence of the clergy on every earthly power, at the same time that all earthly powers were to be subject to them. Their fantastic decrees were supposed to be binding in heaven; and they took care that they should be binding on earth, for whoever had offended so far as to fall under a sentence of excommunication was declared an outlaw.

It is easy to see that this circumstance must have contributed to disturb the public tranquillity in a great degree. But besides this, the weakness of James's government was such, that, under the name of peace, the whole kingdom was involved in the miseries of civil war; the feudal animosities revived, and slaughter and murder prevailed all over the country. James, fitted only for pedantry, disputed, argued, modelled, and re-modelled the constitution to no purpose. The clergy continued their insolence, and the laity their violences upon one another; at the same time that the king, by his unhappy cruelty, credulity in the operation of demons and witches, declared a most inhuman and bloody war against the poor old women, many of whom were burnt for the imaginary crime of conversing with the devil.

In autumn 1600, happened a remarkable conspiracy, if indeed that can be called a conspiracy, which, from various circumstances, we might be rather induced to consider as merely the folly of a madman, magnified by the fears of James. As this transaction, known in history by the name of Gowrie's conspiracy, appears, in any view, of a nature extremely problematical; we have been contented with giving, in a note (a), a simple account of it, from the particulars that were drawn up.

(a) By the above-mentioned account it appears, that, on the 5th of August 1600, as James was taking horse in the morning to go a-hunting in the neighbourhood of Falkland, he was accosted in a manner more respectful than usual by Alexander Ruthven brother to the earl of Gowrie, and son to that earl who had been beheaded in this reign. It may be here proper to inform the reader, that the two brothers had received their education abroad; that they were looked upon as being more learned than noblemen generally are; and that they had not only been restored by James to their family honours and estate, but distinguished by him with particular marks of his bounty. Having finished the course of their education and travels, they returned through England to Scotland, where they resided at their family-seat near Perth; but it is pretty certain, that Elizabeth had found means to fix the earl in her interest, and that she intended to make him her principal agent in Scotland.

Be that as it will, this Alexander, who, it seems, was very handsome, and whom James suspected to have an intrigue with his wife, informed his majesty, that, the evening before, he had seized a suspicious fellow, muffled up in a cloak, which concealed a large pot full of gold coin; that he had secured the fellow and his pot in a sequestered house, till he should know his majesty's pleasure; for which purpose he had come to Falkland. Ruthven added, that none, not even the earl his brother, knew of this adventure; but professed James to give some orders about the gold and the prisoner. James at first declined having anything to do with either; but, upon farther examination, he began to suspect that the fellow might be an agent from the pope or the king of Spain, and might be entrusted with the gold to make disturbances in his kingdom. He offered to send back one of his servants with Ruthven, and a warrant directed to the magistrates of Perth, to receive the fellow and the money into their custody, and to detain both till his pleasure should be farther known. Ruthven strongly opposed this expedient. He observed, that if either the magistrates or his brother should hear of the prisoner and the money, James would get but a poor account of the latter; in which case he (Ruthven) must lose the reward of his zeal and loyalty; and therefore he intreated James to examine the fellow in person, entirely referring his own recompense to his majesty's generosity. The sport of the field being at a stand during this long conference, James joined his attendants; but told Ruthven, that he would confer further of the matter. Ruthven endeavoured still to prevail upon James to examine the prisoner, who, he said, in case of delay, might make a noise, which would defeat the whole discovery. Though it does not appear by the narrative drawn up by James himself, that he agreed to this proposal; yet Ruthven dispatched Henderson, one of the two servants who attended him, to ride post-haste back to acquaint the earl of Gowrie, that in about three hours James would be at his house, and desiring him to prepare dinner. James, during the chase, was startled with what he heard from Ruthven; and riding again up to him, told him, that when the sport was over he would attend him. Upon the death of the stag, James called for a fresh horse, and, unarmed and defenceless as he was, left word with the duke of Lennox, the earl of Marre, and his other attendants, that he was gone to Perth upon business with the earl of Gowrie, but that he would be back at night. Most of the company got fresh horses; and imagining that James was gone to apprehend the matter of Oliphant, who was then lurking as an outlaw about the country, they galloped after him, apprehending danger to his person.

Ruthven endeavoured to prevail on James to countermand their attendance upon his person, and to be satisfied with that of three or four servants. James says, that this discourse began to give him suspicions of Ruthven's intentions; but thinking that his brother's severe usage of him might have disturbed his brain, (a conjecture which was confirmed by the uncommon wildness of his looks, his pensive air and incoherent discourse), he was contented with ordering the noblemen his followers to attend him; and, after informing the duke of Lennox of Ruthven's discovery, The most memorable transaction of James's reign, and that most to his honour, is the civilizing of the western islanders. For this purpose, he instituted a company of gentlemen adventurers, to whom he gave large privileges for reforming them. The method he proposed was to transport numbers of them to his low countries in Scotland, and to give their islands, which were very improveable, in fee to his lowland subjects who should choose to reside in the islands. The experiment was to be made upon the Lewes, a long range of the E. bude; from whence the adventurers expelled Murdoch Macleod, the tyrant of the inhabitants. Macleod, however, kept the sea; and intercepting a ship which carried one of the chief adventurers, he sent him prisoner to Orkney, after putting the crew to the sword. Macleod was soon after betrayed by his own brother, and hanged at St Andrews. The history of this new undertaking is rather dark; and the settlers themselves seem to have been defective in the arts of civilization.

very, and his own suspicions of his insanity, he ordered him not to leave him, especially when he entered the house where the fellow and the treasure was confined. Their discourse was interrupted by Ruthven, who again persistently insisted, that none of the royal attendants should be present at the fellow's examination: but James told him with a smile, "That being himself but a poor accountant, it was necessary he should have some assistance in telling the money." Ruthven insisting with his usual earnestness that none should be present, James grew at last apprehensive of some treasonable design; but, by his own account, he was ashamed to own his suspicions, and rode forward. When they came within two miles of Perth, Ruthven dispatched another servant to advertise his brother of the king's approach; and after riding a mile farther, he left James for the same purpose.

Gowrie was at dinner when he understood by his brother that the king was at hand; and was so far from having made any preparation for his majesty's reception, that having received him at the head of three or four score of his attendants, (those of James not exceeding 15, and armed only with swords), it was a full hour before his dinner could be got ready. During this interval, James pressed Ruthven to introduce him to the prisoner; but he pretended that there was no hurry till his majesty's dinner was over. James describes the earl of Gowrie as being extremely restless, unquiet, and uneasy, while his majesty was dining. When James was ready to rise from the table, Ruthven whispered him that it was now time to visit the prisoner; but he wished that his majesty would get rid of the earl his brother, by desiring him to entertain the other guests. When James left the room, he desired to be attended by Sir Thomas Erskine; but Ruthven desired him to go forward with him, "and perswading that he should make any one or two follow him that he pleased to call for; desiring his majesty to command publicly that none should follow him."

It does not appear that the king gave any such order; but that, passing through the end of the hall where his attendants were at dinner, he mounted a winding stair, (called in Scotland a turnpike), and after passing thro' several rooms, the doors of which were all carefully locked by Ruthven, at last he entered a small closet, where he saw a man with a dejected countenance, standing at liberty with a dagger at his girdle. Ruthven locking the door, and clapping his hat on his head, drew the dagger from the man's girdle, and pointing it to the king's breast, he swore bitterly, that it should go to his heart if he offered to cry out or open a window; affirming, that he was sure the king's conscience was burdened for murdering his father.

James does not inform us why Ruthven did not immediately plunge the dagger into his bosom, (which he naturally would have done, had he been determined to murder him); but displays his own eloquence, in recounting the arguments he made use of to divert Ruthven from his barbarous purpose, while the third person stood by, trembling and quaking, rather like one condemned than an executioner of such an enterprise. If we believe James, his rhetoric made such an impression upon Ruthven, that it saved his life. At his majesty's persuasive language (says James in his narrative) he appeared to be somewhat amazed, and, uncovering his head again, swore and protested that his majesty's life should be safe, if he would behave himself quietly, without making noise or crying, and that he would only bring in the earl his brother to speak with his majesty. Whereupon his majesty inquiring what the earl would do with him, since (if his majesty's life were safe, according to promise) they could gain little in keeping such a prisoner, his answer only was, that he could tell his majesty no more; but that his life should be safe, in case he behaved himself quietly; the rest the earl his brother, whom he was going for, would tell his majesty at his coming. With that, as he was going for the earl his brother, as he affirmed, he turned him about to the other man, laying these words unto him, "I make you here the king's keeper till I come back again, and see that you keep him upon your peril: and thereafter will fail to his majesty," "You must content yourself to have this man now your keeper until my coming back."

After this sudden transition from murder to mildness, Ruthven left the room, but took the key with him. His majesty asked the fellow who was left with him, "Whether he was appointed to be his murderer?" which he denied with marks of fear and horror; and said, that he had been locked in there a very little while before his majesty's arrival. The king then ordered him to open the window, which he readily did. Mean time, while Gowrie was entertaining the king's servants, one of them told him that the king had taken horse; upon which the company rushed out to follow him. They understood from the porter that the king was not gone; but Gowrie running back to the house, immediately returned, and told them the king had set out by a back-gate. As they were hastening to take horse, young Ruthven returned, and told James that he must die, offering to bind his majesty's hands at the same time with a garter. James and he instantly collared each other; and before Ruthven could draw his sword, James drew him by force to the window, from whence he called out that they were murdering him in that place, at the very instant his servants were running past to take their horses. The king's voice was instantly known by the earl of Marre and the duke of Lennox. They attempted to run up the turnpike by which the king entered; but the earl of Gowrie mounted by another stair-case, which was left open. By this time James had the better in the struggle between him and Ruthven, and he had drawn the latter to the door of the study, his head being under his majesty's arms, and himself on his knees.

Such was the situation of the combatants, when Sir John Ramsay luckily found his way to the accessible turnpike, and mounting it, wounded Ruthven two or three times with his dagger; upon which James threw his antagonist down from the top of the stairs to the bottom, where his life was finished by Sir Thomas Erskine and Sir Hugh Herries. His last words were, "I am not to blame for this." Before Erskine performed this feat, he had collared the earl of Gowrie, who was delivered by his servants. Erskine and Herries having dispatched Ruthven, ran up the turnpike.

This is not surprising when we consider how ill prepared he was for his royal visitant; for it appears, from the king's own relation, that neither of his brothers' servants had delivered their message: besides, if Ruthven was (as there is too much reason to believe he was) insane, the earl's concern must have been increased at such an adventure. The arrangements they made were considered by the inhabitants as being oppressive; and one Norman, of the Macleod family, attacked and subdued them so effectually, that they not only consented to yield the property of the islands to him, but engaged to obtain the king's pardon for what he had done.

In 1603 James was called to the throne of England by the death of Elizabeth, and the same year took a final leave of Scotland (a). From this period the history of Scotland being blended with that of England, is included in the article Britain; to which therefore we refer the reader, and shall proceed to give a general account of the country.

The first and great division of Scotland is into the Highlands and Lowlands. The former engross more than one half of Scotland; extending from Dumfriesshire to the most northern part of the island, a space of 200 miles in length, and in breadth from 50 to 100. This tract, however, includes several extensive districts of low, fruitful ground, inhabited by people who are in all respects different from the mountaineers. Nothing can be more savage and tremendous to the eye of a stranger, than the appearance of the Highlands, composed of blue rocks and dusky mountains heaped upon one another even above the clouds, their interstices rendered impassable by bogs, their sides embrowned with heath, and their summits covered with snow, which lies all the year unthawed, pouring from their jagged sides a thousand torrents and roaring cataracts that fall into gloomy vales or glens below, some of them so narrow, deep, and dismal, as to be altogether impenetrable by the rays of the sun; yet even these mountains are in some places flopped into agreeable green hills fit for pasture, and skirted or interspersed with pleasant straths or valleys capable of cultivation. It may be unnecessary to observe, that the Lowlanders of Scotland speak an ancient dialect of the English language, interlarded with many terms and idioms which they borrowed immediately from France, in a long course of correspondence with that kingdom; they likewise copy their southern neighbours in their houses, equipage, habit, industry, and application to commerce. As to the inhabitants of the mountains, see the article Highlanders. They are all, however, comprehended under the name of Scots, governed by the same laws, and tried by the same judges; and, whatever may be their dissensions at home, they always, when abroad, acknowledge and assist one another as friends and countrymen. Some authors have divided Scotland into that part which lies to the southward of the Frith, and that which lies to the northward; but the true division is, like that of England, into shires, counties, stewartries, or bailiwicks, of which there are above 40 within the kingdom of Scotland.

The face of this country exhibits a very mountainous appearance, especially to the west and northward; mountains, but, at the same time, it displays many large and long tracts of plain ground fit for all the purposes of agriculture. It is divided from east to west by a chain of huge mountains, known by the name of Grant's-bain or the Grampian hills. There is another chain called the Pentland hills, which run through Lothian, and join the mountains of Tweedale; a third, called Lammermuir, rising near the eastern coast, runs westward through the Merse; but besides these, there is a vast number of detached hills and mountains, remarkable for their stupendous height and declivity. There is no country in the world better supplied than Scotland with rivers, lakes, rivulets, and fountains. Over and above the principal rivers of Tweed, Forth, Clyde, Tay, and Spey, there is an infinity of smaller streams that contribute to the beauty, convenience, and advantage of the kingdom. Tweed takes its rise from the borders of Annandale; serves as a boundary between Scotland and England; and, after a long serpentine course, discharges itself into the sea at Berwick. Forth rises in Monteith near Callendar, passes by Stirling, and after a course of 25 leagues, runs into the arm of the sea called the Frith of Forth, which divides the coast of Lothian from Fife. Clyde takes its rise from Ernick hill, in the shire of Lanark; traverses the shire of Clydesdale, to which it gives name; washes the city of Glasgow; widens in its passage to the castle of Dumbarton, and forms the frith of Clyde adjoining to the Irish sea. Tay, the largest river in Scotland, derives its source from Loch-Tay in Braidsburgh; and, after a south-east course, discharges itself into the sea below Dundee. Spey, or Speys, issues from a lake of the same name in Badenoch; and, running a north-easterly course, falls into the German ocean, near Aberdour. Some of the fresh-water lakes are beautiful pieces of water, incredibly deep, and surprisingly turnpike; and were followed by the earl of Gowrie, who had on his head a steel helmet, and a sword in each hand, and seven of his servants, each with a sword; all the force of James (whom his subjects had shut into the closet) amounting only to the three knights abovementioned, and one Wilton. A conflict ensued in the adjoining room, in which the king's attendants were wounded; but Sir John Ramsay ran his sword through Gowrie's heart; and he expiring without speaking a word, his servants were driven down stairs. The duke of Lennox and the earl of Marre had now forced their way into the turnpike by which James had mounted, and found him upon his knees, thanking God for his deliverance. The townsmen of Perth had by this time taken the alarm; and, upon hearing that their provost the earl of Gowrie was killed, surrounded the house. James ordered them to be admitted, showed them the dead bodies of the earl and his brother, and informed them both of his danger and deliverance. To them he committed the custody of the bodies; but before he left the town, he "caused to search the earl of Gowrie's pockets, in case any letters that might further the discovery of that conspiracy might be found therein. But nothing was found in them but a little close parchment-bag, full of magical characters and words of enchantment, wherein it seemed that he put his confidence, thinking himself never safe without them, and therefore ever carried them about with him; being also observed, that, while they were upon him, his wound, whereof he died, bled not; but, incontinent after taking them away, the blood gushed out in great abundance, to the great admiration of all the beholders: an infamy which hath followed and spotted the race of this house for many descents, as is notoriously known in the whole country."

(a) In 1589 James was married to Anne princess of Denmark, for whom he made a voyage on purpose to that country. This princess seems to have intermeddled very little with state-affairs, since we find her scarce ever mentioned either by Scots or English historians. In her private conduct she is said to have been unprincipled, vindictive, and unfaithful to her husband. There are several large forests of fir in Scotland, and a great number of woods; which, however, produce very little timber of any consequence: but the country, in general, is rather bare of trees; and in many places neither tree, shrub, nor any kind of plantation, is to be seen. The case has been other-wise of old; for huge trunks of trees are often dug from under ground in almost every part of the kingdom.

In the north of Scotland, the day at midsummer is lengthened out to 18 hours and 5 minutes; so that the shortest night does not exceed 5 hours and 45 minutes: the night and day, in winter, are in the same proportion. The air of this kingdom is generally moist and temperate, except upon the tops of high mountains covered with eternal snow, where it is cold, keen, and piercing. In other parts it is tempered by warm vapours from the sea, which environ it on three sides, and runs far up into the land by friths, inlets, and indentations. This neighbourhood of the sea, and the frequency of hills and mountains, produce a constant undulation in the air, and many hard gales, that purify the climate, which is for the most part agreeable and healthy. Scotland affords a great variety of soil in different parts of the country, which, being hilly, is in general best adapted to pasturage: not but that the Lowlands are as fertile, and, when properly inclosed and manured, yield as good crops of wheat, as any grounds in the island of Great Britain. The water in Scotland is remarkably pure, light, and agreeable to the stomach: but, over and above that which is used for the ordinary purposes of life, here are many medicinal springs of great note.

Scotland abounds with quarries of free-stone easily worked, which enable the people to build elegant houses, both in town and country, at a small expense, especially as they have plenty of lime-stone, and labour very cheap. The salt, well, and northern parts of the country produce excellent coal; and where this is wanting, the natives burn turf and peat for fuel. Crystals, variegated pebbles, and precious stones, are found in many parts of Scotland; tate, flint, and seashells, fuller's earth, potter's clay, and metals in great plenty. The country produces iron and copper ore, a prodigious quantity of lead, mixed with a large proportion of silver; and in some places little bits of solid gold are gathered in brooks immediately after torrents.

The Lowlands of Scotland, as has been observed, when duly cultivated, yield rich harvests of wheat; and indeed it must be owned that many parts of this kingdom rival the best spots of England in agriculture: but these improvements have not yet advanced into the western and northern extremities of the island, where we see nothing but scanty harvests of oats, rye, and barley. The Highlands are so defective even in these, that they are fain to import supplies of oatmeal from Ireland and Liverpool. This scarcity, however, we must not impute to the barrenness of the soil, so much as to the sloth and poverty of the tenants, oppressed by rapacious landlords, who refuse to grant such leases as would encourage the husbandman to improve his farm, and make himself better acquainted with the science of agriculture. This is perfectly well understood in the Lothians, where we see substantial inclosures, plantations, meadows for hay and pasture, wide-extended fields of wheat, the fruits of skill and industry, and meet with farmers who rent lands to the amount of 400l. or 500l. a-year. Of plants this country produces an immense variety, growing wild, exclusive of those that are raised by the hands of the husbandman and gardener. Their farm-grounds are well stocked with wheat, rye, barley, oats, hemp, and flax; their gardens produce great plenty of kitchen-roots, salads, and greens; among which last we reckon the colewort, known by the name of Scotch kail: their orchards bear a variety of apples, pears, cherries, plumbs, strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries, and currants: here also apricots, nectarines, peaches, and sometimes grapes, are brought to maturity. In a word, there is nothing, whether shrub, fruit, or flower, that grows in any part of South Britain, which may not, with a little pains, be brought to the same perfection in the middle of Scotland. Among the trees and shrubs which are the national growth of this country, we may reckon the oak, the fir, the birch, the poplar, the alder, willow, elder, hazel, mountain-ash, crab-tree, and juniper; which last abounds to such a degree in some parts of the Highlands, that in the space of a few miles many tons of the berries might be yearly gathered: besides these, we find the hawthorn, the sloe, the dog-rose, furze, broom, fern, and whole tracts of land and mountains covered with strong heath. This affords shelter for the myrtillis, the fruit of which, called bilberries, is here found in great abundance, as well as the brambleberry, cranberry, and wild strawberry. The ash, the elm, the lycamore, lime and walnut-tree, are chiefly planted about the houses of gentlemen; but even the inclosures of quick-set appear naked for want of such hedge-rows as adorn the country of England. Indeed, great part of this kingdom lies naked and exposed like a common; and other parts have no other inclosure than a paltry wall huddled up of loose stones, which yields a bleak and mean prospect, and serves no other purpose than that of keeping out the cattle. All the sea-coast is covered with alga marina, dulce, and other marine plants.

The Highlands are well stocked with red deer, and the smaller species called the roe-buck, as well as with hares, rabbits, foxes, wild cats and badgers; and they abound with all sorts of game. The rivers and lakes pour forth a profusion of salmon, trout, jack, and eels; the sea-coast swarms with all the productions of the ocean. The hills and mountains are covered with sheep and black cattle for exportation, as well as domestic use. These are of small size, as are also the horses bred in the Highlands; but the Lowlanders use the large breed, which came originally from England.

New Scotland, or Nova Scotia, one of the British settlements in North America, situated between 62° and 72° W. Long. and between 43° and 51° N. Lat. It is bounded on the north and north-west by the river St Lawrence, on the east by the bay of St Lawrence and the Atlantic ocean, on the south by New England and part of the Atlantic ocean, and on the west by Canada.

This country received its name from the first proprietor Sir William Alexander, afterwards created earl of Stirling; but the French, when they intruded themselves into this country, called it Acadia. The greatest part part of it lies on the continent; the remainder, which may be about one-third, is a peninsula, separated from the main by an arm of the sea called the Bay of Fundy, and joined to it at the north end by a narrow isthmus.

The climate is cold, and the country much infested by fogs; which are, however, not unwholesome, though unpleasant. The soil, where it is cleared, if we may credit both English and French authorities, is very fertile; yielding corn, grass, and vegetables of every kind. The continent especially is mountainous; and the far greatest part of it remains still a forest. There are many lakes, several beautiful rivers abounding with a variety of fish, and nothing wanting to encourage the industry, and of course to increase the number, of its inhabitants. The principal places therein are Annapolis, which the French called Port Royal, seated on one of the finest havens in the world, capable of receiving any number of the largest ships; and, which is very remarkable, the tide rising there 28 or 30 feet. On the opposite side of the peninsula stands Halifax, the seat of government, where a noble establishment hath been made at the expense of Great Britain, and all the dispositions requisite for the service of his majesty's ships when a squadron is sent into these seas. The present exports of this country, are peltry, lumber, fish, oil; and in processes of time, mats, pitch, tar, hemp, and all other naval stores, may be supplied from hence.