the modern name of that part of the island of Britain which lies to the north of the Solway frith and the river Tweed. It is bounded on the north by that part of the Atlantic called the Northern ocean; on the east by the German ocean or North sea; on the west by the Atlantic ocean, and partly by the Irish sea; and on the south by England, the boundary on this side being formed by the river Tweed, the Cheviot hills, and an ideal line drawn south-west down to the Solway frith. Excluding the islands, the continental part of Scotland extends from the Mull of Galloway in the 55th to Cape Wrath in the 58½ degree of north latitude, and from 1° 35' to 6° 20' west from the meridian of Greenwich, counting from Buchaness on the east to Ardenmurchan on the west.

If we include the islands of Shetland and the Hebrides, we shall find this part of the British empire extending northward to 63°, and westward to the isle of St Kilda to 8° 18' west longitude. The continental part of Scotland is generally estimated at 260 miles in length, and about 160 at its greatest breadth, and its superficial contents have been computed at 27,793 square miles.

Scotland has been divided into Highlands and Lowlands; but the boundaries of these are arbitrary and undetermined. A more natural division appears to be that into northern, middle, and southern parts. The northern part is bounded to the south by a range of lakes, extending from the Murray frith to the island of Mull, in a south-west direction, and comprehends the counties of Orkney, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Cromarty and Inverness. The southern division extends northward to the friths of Forth and Clyde, and the canal by which they are united, and comprehends the counties of Linlithgow, Edinburgh, Haddington, Berwick, Renfrew, Ayr, Wigton, Lanark, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Dumfries and Kirkcudbright. In the midland division are included the counties of Argyll, Bute, Nairn, Moray, Banff, Aberdeen, Mearns, Angus or Forfar, Perth, Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, and Dumbarton.

In the following table we have brought together some of the most important circumstances respecting the topography and statistics of these counties, viz., the county town, their extent in square acres, their population, according to the latest accounts, and the number of militia which each county is obliged to raise, according to last militia act. | Counties | County Towns | Square Acres | Population in 1801 | Militia | Population in 1811 | |------------------|---------------|--------------|--------------------|--------|--------------------| | Orkney and Shetland | Kirkwall | | 46,824 | | 46,153 | | Caithness | Wick | 492,800 E | 22,609 | 121 | 23,419 | | Sutherland | Dornoch | 2,148,000 E | 23,117 | 100 | 23,629 | | Ross | Dingwall | 561,200 E | 53,525 | 270 | {Ross and Cromarty} | | Cromarty | Cromarty | 61,440 E | 3,052 | 16 | 60,853 | | Inverness | Inverness | 2,944,000 E | 74,292 | 384 | 78,336 | | Argyle | Inverary | 2,432,000 E | 75,700 | 364 | 85,585 | | Bute | Rothsay | 238,080 E | 11,791 | 61 | 12,033 | | Nairn | Nairn | 153,600 E | 8,257 | 43 | 8,251 | | Murray | Elgin | 537,600 E | 26,705 | 138 | 28,108 | | Banff | Banff | 649,600 E | 35,807 | 179 | 36,668 | | Aberdeen | Aberdeen | 718,816 E | 123,071 | 640 | 135,075 | | Mearns | Berrie | 243,444 E | 26,349 | 136 | 27,439 | | Angus | Forfar | 595,920 E | 99,127 | 511 | 107,264 | | Perth | Perth | 4,068,640 E | 126,366 | 653 | 135,098 | | Fife | Cupar | 322,560 E | 93,743 | 484 | 101,272 | | Kinross | Kinross | 43,920 E | 6,725 | 35 | 7,245 | | Clackmannan | Culross | 25,600 E | 10,858 | 56 | 12,010 | | Stirling | Stirling | 450,560 E | 50,825 | 163 | 58,174 | | Dumbarton | Dumbarton | 159,356 E | 20,710 | 107 | 24,189 | | Linlithgow | Linlithgow | 57,008 S | 17,844 | 94 | 19,451 | | Edinburgh | Edinburgh | 230,400 E | 122,954 | 645 | 148,607 | | Haddington | Haddington | 224,000 E | 29,986 | 154 | 31,164 | | Berwick | Dunse | 326,400 E | 30,206 | 155 | 30,779 | | Renfrew | Renfrew | 322,560 E | 78,056 | 404 | 92,596 | | Ayr | Ayr | 1,152,000 E | 84,306 | 436 | 103,954 | | Wigton | Wigton | 238,721 S | 22,918 | 119 | 26,891 | | Lanark | Lanark | 556,800 E | 147,796 | 751 | 191,752 | | Peebles | Peebles | 153,600 E | 8,717 | 45 | 9,935 | | Selkirk | Selkirk | 128,000 E | 5,070 | 25 | 5,889 | | Roxburgh | Jedburgh | 472,320 E | 33,712 | 178 | 37,920 | | Dumfries | Dumfries | 1,088,000 E | 54,597 | 284 | 62,960 | | Kirkcudbright | Kirkcudbright | 440,081 S | 29,211 | 151 | 33,684 |

For a topographical account of the several counties, the reader is referred to their names in the order of the alphabet.

Scotland is in general extremely mountainous, especially on the northern and western sides, whence these parts have been denominated the Highlands. Even the eastern and southern parts of the country have very little of that uniform flatness which distinguishes some parts of England, but are agreeably diversified with hill and dale. Numerous rivers intersect the country; and several romantic lakes are found at the foot of the most remarkable mountains. There is in general little wood, except in the northern parts, where there are still immense forests. Nothing can appear more wild and savage to the eye of a stranger than the Highlands of Scotland. Here the whole country seems composed of blue rocks and dusky mountains heaped upon each other, with their sides embrowned with heath, and their summits covered with snow, which lies unthawed for the greater part of the year, or pours down their jagged sides in a thousand torrents and roaring cataracts, falling into gloomy vales or glens, some of which are so deep and narrow as to be altogether impenetrable by the rays of the sun. Yet even these mountains are in some places sloped into agreeable green hills fit for pasture, and interspersed with pleasant straths or valleys capable of cultivation; and there are several extensive districts of low fertile ground, though in other parts the interstices of the mountains are rendered nearly impassable by bogs and morasses. The entrance into the Highlands from the south-east near Dunkeld, is peculiarly impressive, there being here a considerable tract of plain, extending to what may be called the gates of the mountains.

Note.—The writers on Scottish topography have noted the extent of the several counties, sometimes in English, and sometimes in Scotch acres. We have therefore affixed to the numbers expressing the acres of each county, E or S, according as they are English or Scotch. The reader may reduce them to either standard, by recollecting that the Scotch acre exceeds the English nearly in the proportion of five to four. The soil of Scotland, which, considering the little variety of the country, is extremely various, will be best understood by examining that of the several counties, as described under their respective heads. In some parts, as the case of Gowrie in Perthshire, and most of the counties of Haddington and Berwick, the soil vies in fertility with the richest parts of England, or even Ireland, while in the more mountainous tracts of Ross-shire, Sutherland, and Argyle, the country is very little adapted to tillage, and is therefore almost wholly devoted to pasturing large flocks of sheep and herds of black cattle.

The principal mountains of Scotland are those of the Grampians, extending from Loch Lomond to Stonehaven, and forming the southern boundary of the Highlands; the Leadhills, partly in Dumfries-shire and partly in Lanarkshire; the Cheviot hills, forming the principal part of the southern boundary, and the Ochil hills, north of the river Forth. The highest individual mountains are those of Ben Nevis, Cairngorm, Ben Lawers, Ben More, Ben Lomond, Schelchallien, Mount Battock, and Cruachan. The situation and direction of the mountainous chains, and the minerals which they contain, have been described under Geology, No. 140.

The most remarkable inlets of the sea on the Scottish coasts are, the friths of Forth, Tay, Solway, Murray, Cromarty, Dornoch, and Clyde, and the bays of Wigton and Glenluce. Many of what are called lochs, are properly large gulfs or inlets of the sea, especially Loch Fine, Loch Shin, Loch Broom, and Loch Linne.

The chief rivers of Scotland are the Forth, that divides Stirling and Fife from the Lothians; the Tay, dividing Perthshire and Angus-shire from Fife-shire; the Tweed, forming the boundary between Scotland and England to the east; the Clyde, passing through great part of Lanarkshire, and separating this county from those of Renfrew and Dumbarton; the Dee and the Don, passing through Aberdeen-shire; the Spey, separating the counties of Banff and Murray; the Nith, passing through Dumfries-shire, and the Eden in the county of Fife. See each under their respective names.

The lakes or lochs of Scotland, are chiefly those of Lomond in Dumbartonshire, Awe, in Argyleshire, Tay, Katrine, and Erne, in Perthshire; Loch Ness in Invernessshire; and the classical lake of Leven in Kinrossshire. See Leven, Lomond, Tay, &c.

We have said that Scotland is in general bare of wood, though there are numerous traces of its having formerly abounded in forests. The most remarkable of these was Ettrick forest in the county of Selkirk; the forest of Mar in the west of Aberbeenshire, where still remains a considerable tract of woodland, called Abernethy forest; the forest of Sletadale to the north of Dun-Robin in the county of Sutherland; those of Dirrymore and Dirrymena, to the north and south of Loch Shin, and the forest of Athol in the county of Perth.

The climate of Scotland is, if possible, still more inconstant than that of England; and though in general extremely healthy to the robust mountaineer, it is by no means genial to the valetudinarian. The eastern coast is exposed to the keenness of the east wind during the greater part of the year, while the western shores, from their vicinity to the Atlantic, are deluged with almost perpetual rain. The winter in this country is remarkable, rather for the abundance of snow which falls at that season, than for the intensity of frost; while in summer the heat of the sun is reflected with great violence in the narrow vales between the mountains, so as sometimes to occasion the appearance of glittering particles that seem to swim before the eye. The bareness of wood adds to the effects of sudden alternations of the weather, though it contributes to diminish the natural humidity of the air. The spring is in general very late and inclement, so as not unfrequently to destroy the fairest prospects of the farmer and the gardener. The harvests are also late; and we have seen corn either uncut, or standing in sheaves on the field, in the latter end of November.

The zoology of Scotland, as distinguished from that of England, offers little remarkable to the eye of the naturalist. In the northern counties, and in Galloway to the south, there is a breed of small horses, like the Welsh ponies, called shelties, which are extremely hardy but obstinate and skittish. The cattle in Galloway are often without horns; a circumstance which is said to add to the quantity and quality of the milk which they produce. One of the chief primitive breeds of cattle in this country are the kylies, so called from the province of Kyle. These are of a middle size, and have short sharp horns pointing upwards. The Scotch sheep are smaller and shorter than those of England, but their flesh is much more delicate; and the fleeces of the Shetland sheep are remarkable for the fineness of their wool. Goats are not nearly so common in the Highlands of Scotland as in most other mountainous tracts, and swine are very little cultivated, pork not being a favourite food among the inhabitants of North Britain. There seems to be no breed of dogs peculiar to this country; but the colies or shepherds dogs are remarkable for their sagacity, and are often entrusted with the guardianship of flocks and herds during their master's absence. There are scarcely any wild quadrupeds peculiar to Scotland. The wolf, indeed, confined here to a much later period than in England, and the wild cat is occasionally observed. Small herds of roes also are still found in some of the northern districts, and seals and porpoises frequent the sea coasts.

Of the native birds, the black cock and the grouse are the most remarkable. Eagles are often seen on the rocky cliffs, and elegant falcons in the remaining forests. The shores and islands present numerous sea fowl, and the isle of Bass is proverbially the haunt of the solan goose. The golden-crested wren is sometimes seen in the most northern parts of the country; but the nightingale has never yet appeared north of the Tweed.

The shores of Scotland are abundantly supplied with fish, especially herrings, haddock, turbot, and lobsters; and the mouths of the great rivers, especially the Tweed and the Tay, furnish an inexhaustible supply of the finest salmon. Oysters are plentiful, but they are not so delicate as those on the coast of Essex. Mackerel, whitings, and smelts, are uncommon; and sprats are scarcely known. The lakes and streams abound in trout, perch, and other fresh-water fish. The whale sometimes appears on the northern coast, and the basking shark on the western inlets.

The vegetable productions of Scotland, considered in general, Scotland, general, differ little from those of England; and those of the whole island may be seen by referring to the article Botany, where each British species is marked with an asterisk. We may remark, that the warm, moist regions of Cornwall, Devonshire, and Dorset; the range of chalk hills that forms the greater part of the banks of the Thames; the dry sandy tracts of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge; and the fens of Lincolnshire, contain many plants that are either unknown, or very rarely met with in North Britain: while on the other hand, the snowy summits of the Grampians, the extensive forests of Badenoch and Braemar, and the bleak unsheltered rocks of the Hebudes, possess many hardy vegetables not to be found in the southern parts of the island. South Britain contains a greater number of species peculiar to itself; but those that are similarly circumstanced in this northern division, are of more frequent occurrence. To the English botanist, Scotland will have more the air of a foreign country than England to a Scottish botanist. The researches of the former will be continually solicited, and repaid amid the grand romantic scenery of the Highlands, by the appearance of plants either altogether new to him, or which he has been accustomed to consider as the rare reward of minute investigation. In traversing the natural forests of birch and pine, though his attention will be first attracted by the trees themselves in every stage of growth, from the limber sapling to the bare and weather-beaten trunks that have endured the storms of 500 or 600 winters; the new forms of the humbler vegetables will soon divide his attention, and will each attract a share of his regard. It would be an uninteresting task both to us and our readers, to enumerate the plants more peculiar to Scotland. These may be found in Lighthoot's Flora Scotiae, and many of them in Mr Pinkerton's Geography.

Scotland is by no means remarkable for abundance of fruit. Gooseberries, strawberries, and raspberries, do indeed ripen nearly as well as in England; and apples, pears, and some species of wall-fruit, as Orleans plums and apricots, are not uncommon; but peaches, nectarines, and grapes, are scarcely seen in the open air; and in the best gardens we have not observed the walnut, the mulberry, or the fig. Even the currants, which are very abundant, scarcely ever attain that degree of ripeness which can fit them for use as a dessert, but are employed almost entirely for jellies and wines. The chief fruit districts are those on the banks of the Clyde.

Few countries possess a greater store of subterraneous riches than Scotland; most of the metals, and some of the most valuable minerals, being very common. Even gold itself has been found in the Leadhills, in the sands of Elvan, a rivulet which joins the Clyde, and in the Ochil hills; and a considerable quantity of silver is annually obtained from the lead mines of Leadhills and Wanlockhead. Copper is rare; but has been met with near Alva in the Ochills; at Colvend in Galloway, and some other places. The most remarkable lead mines are those of Leadhills and Wanlockhead, Strontian and Islay; but traces of this metal have been found in other parts. Iron is a most abundant mineral production, but that called the Carron ore is best known. Cobalt is found at Alva; calamine (an impure oxide of zinc) at Wanlockhead; plumbago or graphite in Ayrshire; and antimony in Dumfries-shire.

Among the other minerals, coal is to be regarded as the most abundant and most valuable. We have already remarked, under Geology, that one of the two chief beds of coal found in this island, is that which runs from the valley traversed by the Tay and the Forth, westward to the coast of Ayrshire. The Lothians and Fife-shire particularly abound with coal; and it is not less abundant in the vicinity of Glasgow, and in several places of the counties of Ayr and Renfrew.

Scotland may be called the quarry of Britain, as hence is derived most of the stone that is carried to the south for building and paving. Abundance of freestone and limestone is found in most parts of the country; and the beauty and durability of the houses in the New Town of Edinburgh bear ample testimony to the value of the quarries in that neighbourhood. Beautiful granite is found in Ben Nevis, and fine statuary marble in Asyt, and in Blairgowrie in Perthshire. A black marble freckled with white occurs at Fort William; jasper is found in various parts; fullers earth occurs near Campbeltown, and considerable quantities of talc in the mountains of Findhorn. The beautiful quartz of Cairngorm is well known, and numerous pebbles of agates and onyxes are frequently collected on the eastern coast.

The mineral waters of Scotland are numerous; but Mineral water the principal are those of Moffat, Peterhead, St Bernard's well near Edinburgh, and Pitcaithly. At Moffat are two springs, one a sulphurous, and the other from Hartfell a chalybeate water. The water at St Bernard's well is strongly impregnated with sulphur.

Many singular natural curiosities are to be found in Natural Scotland. Among these the beautiful falls of the Clyde, the insulated rock of the Bass, the scenery about Loch Lomond, and the isles of Staffa, Eigg, and Cannay, are chiefly deserving of notice. In the isle of Arran is an immense vaulted cavern, hollowed in the solid rock; and near Colvend in Dumfries-shire, and on the eastern coast of Fife, are several remarkable caves. Noss head presents a singular quarry of slate, marked with metallic figures; and at Glamma in the heights of Glenelbraig, is a cascade, which, viewed amidst the constant darkness of hills and woods, is truly sublime.

In the parish of Gearie in Banffshire are three remarkable natural curiosities; a perpendicular rock of very great extent full of shells, which are possessed by myriads of birds; a cave, or rather den, called Hell's lair or chimney, 50 feet deep, 60 long, and 40 broad, having a subterraneous passage to the sea, about 240 feet long, through which the waves are driven with great violence in stormy weather, so as to occasion smoke to rise from the den; and another subterraneous passage through a peninsula from sea to sea, nearly 450 feet long, and so narrow that a man can with difficulty creep through it. At one end of this passage is a cave about 20 feet high, 30 broad, and 150 long, supported by immense columns of rock.

There are three principal groups of Scottish islands; those of Shetland and Orkney, to the north of the Pentland-firth, and that of the Hebudes, Hebrides, or Western Isles, in the Western Atlantic. An ample account of these will be found under the articles Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland; and under the names of the principal individual islands. The isles of Scotland of Bute and Arran, which are distinct from the Hebrides, have also been described under their respective names.

The name Scotland, as applied to North Britain, is comparatively of recent date. By the later Roman writers, Scotia was applied to Ireland, as the country which had been colonized by the Scoti, and the names of Hiberni and Scoti are, after the 4th century of the Christian era, indiscriminately applied to the inhabitants of Ireland. When North Britain first became known to the Romans under Agricola, it was by them denominated Caledonia, from its abounding in forests, and the natives were called Caledonii. These names continued in use till the extirpation of the Roman power in Britain, when this part of the island was generally known by the name of Provincia Pictorum, and the inhabitants were divided into Picti-Caledonii, and Picti. It is not till the 11th century that we find Scotia or Scotland appropriated to North Britain.

With respect to the origin of this name there is much dispute; but it is generally agreed that the term Scots was applied to the inhabitants of North Britain by their neighbours, by way of reproach.

Few points have been disputed with more keenness and more asperity than the original population of Scotland. The Irish and the Scotch have strenuously contested the claim of their country to be the stock from which the other was colonized. There seems no doubt that both Britain and Ireland were originally peopled by the Celtic tribes, who had long before occupied the west of Europe, and advanced from the shores of Gaul, probably across the straits of Dover, to take possession of the southern part of Britain. Thence it appears they extended themselves northwards, till they had peopled the whole island, when, from a spirit of enterprise, or to find more room and better pasture for their herds, they crossed the channel to the west of Britain, and planted a colony in Ireland. This seems to be their most natural route; and numerous authorities have been lately adduced to prove, not only that the whole of Britain and Ireland were peopled by Celtic tribes, but that the colonization of Ireland was subsequent to that of Scotland. "This region (North Britain) during the first century," says Mr Chalmers, "is a small but genuine mirror of Gaul during the same age. North Britain was inhabited by one-and-twenty clans of Gaelic people, whose polity, like that of their Gaelic progenitors, did not admit of very strong ties of political union. They professed the same religious tenets as the Gauls, and performed the same sacred rites; their stone monuments were the same, as we know from remains. Their principles of action, their modes of life, their usages of burial, were equally Gaelic; and above all, their expressive language, which still exists for the examination of those who delight in such lore, was the purest Celtic."

The names and position of the 21 tribes which occupied North Britain in the first century, have been minutely investigated by Mr Chalmers, and we shall here briefly state the result of his investigations. The first tribe which he mentions is that of the Ottadini, who possessed the country which stretches from the river Tyne northward along the coast of the German sea and the frith of Forth. On the west of these lay the Gadeni, occupying the western part of Northumberland, Scotland, that small portion of Cumberland which lies to the north of the river Irthing; the west of Roxburghshire, the whole of Selkirk and Tweeddale, part of Mid Lothian, and nearly the whole of West Lothian, or Linlithgow. To the south-west of the Gadeni lay the Selgovae, inhabiting Annandale, Nithsdale, and Eskdale in Dumfries-shire; the eastern part of Galloway as far as the river Dee, which formed their western boundary; while to the south they extended to the Solway frith. The Novantae inhabited the western and middle parts of Galloway, from the Dee on the east to the Irish sea on the west. The Damnonii occupied the whole extent of country from the ridge of hills lying between Galloway and Ayrshire on the south, to the river Earn on the north, comprehending all Strathclyd, the counties of Ayr, Renfrew, and Stirling, with a small part of Dumbarton and Perth. The Horestii inhabited the country lying between the Forth and Tay, including the shires of Fife, Clackmannan, and Kinross, with the eastern part of Strathearn, and the country lying westward of the Tay, as far as the river Brand. The Verricones possessed the country between the Tay and the Carron, comprehending a great part of Perthshire, the whole of Angus, and part of Kincardineshire. The Taizalii inhabited the northern part of the Mearns, and the whole of Aberdeenshire, to the Doveran; a district which included the promontory of Kinnaird's-head, to which the Romans gave the name of Taizalorum promontorium. The Vacanagi occupied the country on the south side of the Murray frith, from the Doveran on the east, to the Ness on the west: an extent comprehending the shires of Banff, Elgin, Nairn, the east part of Inverness, with Braemar in Aberdeenshire. The Albani, afterwards called Damnii Albani, inhabited the interior districts, between the lower ridge of the Grampians on the south, and the chain of mountains forming the southern limit of Inverness-shire on the north, including Braidalban, Athol, a small part of Lochaber, with Appin and Glenorchy in Upper Lorn. The Attacotti inhabited the whole country from Loch Fine on the west, to the eastward of the river Leven and Loch Lomond, comprehending the whole of Cowal in Argyleshire, and the greater part of Dumbartonshire. The proper Caledonii possessed the whole of the interior country, from the ridge of mountains which separates Inverness from Perth on the south, to the range of hills that forms the forest of Balnagavan on the north, comprehending all the middle parts of Inverness and of Ross. The Canti inhabited the east of Ross-shire from the estuary of Varar on the south, to the frith of Dornoch on the north, having the frith of Cromarty in the centre, and a ridge of hills on the west. The south-eastern coast of Sutherland was inhabited by the Logii, whose country extended from the frith of Dornoch on the south-west to the river Illo on the east. The Carnabii inhabited the south of Caithness from the Illo river; the small tribe of the Cateni inhabited the north-west corner of Caithness; and the Merta occupied the interior of Sutherland. The Carnonaces inhabited the north and west coast of Sutherland, while the Creones occupied the west coast of Ross-shire, the Cerones the western coast of Inverness, and the Epidii the south-west of Argyleshire, from Loch Limbe to the frith of Clyde. All these Celtic tribes, in their laws, religion, manners, and customs, appear to have resembled the Britons of the south. Their life was equally simple, their manners were equally savage, and their religion, like that of the South Britons, was certainly Druidical. See England, No. 4, and the article Druids. The fact of Druids having existed in North Britain, so strenuously denied by some writers, is, in the opinion of Mr Chalmers, completely ascertained by numerous remains of Druidical worship. These he has been at much pains to investigate, and has described several remarkable circles of stones and rocking stones, resembling in almost every particular those in South Britain, which are on all hands allowed to be Druidical. Some remarkable remains of this kind occur in the parish of Kirkmichael in Perthshire, where there is an immense rocking stone standing on a flat-topped eminence in the vicinity of a large body of Druidical remains. Opposite to the manse of Dron, in the same county, there is another large rocking stone, ten feet long and seven broad; and in the parish of Abernethy, near Balvaard, there is a third which attracted the notice of Buchanan. In the stewartry of Kirkcudbright is a stone of a similar description, called Logan stone, which from its size appears to be eight or ten tons in weight, and is so nicely balanced on two or three protuberances, that the pressure of the finger produces a rocking motion from the one side to the other.

It has been remarked by Dr Robertson, that the history of Scotland may properly be divided into four periods. The first reaches from the origin of the monarchy to the reign of Kenneth II.; the second, from Kenneth's conquest of the Picts to the death of Alexander III.; the third extends to the death of James V.; the last, from thence to the accession of James VI., to the crown of England. In the opinion of the same historian, the first period, extending from the earliest accounts to the year 843 of the Christian era, is the region of pure fable and conjecture, and ought to be totally neglected, or abandoned to the industry and credulity of antiquaries; that in the second period from 843 to 1286, truth begins to dawn with a light feeble at first, but gradually increasing, and that the events which then happened may be slightly touched, but merit no particular or laborious enquiry; that in the third period, from 1286 to 1542, the history of Scotland, chiefly by means of records preserved in England, becomes more authentic, as not only events are related, but their causes and effects are explained; and here every Scotchman should begin, not only to read, but to study the history of his country.

It must be allowed that most of the transactions recorded by Buchanan and Boece, as having taken place in Scotland before the Christian era, are either purely fabulous, or are substantiated by no authentic documents; and we cannot but contemplate with the smile of incredulity, the long and minute list of Scottish monarchs from Fergus I. to Fergus II., so pompously displayed by these historians. That the names of 39 princes should be handed down with correctness by uncertain traditions, for a period of 690 years; that the duration of their reigns and the date of their accession should be so exactly ascertained, is surely a circumstance of the highest improbability; and we are compelled to believe that the earlier writers of Scottish history, like the Chinese annalists, have described the transactions of the same monarch under different names, or under the same names with the designation of I., II., III., &c. This is rendered the more probable by considering that both Fergus I. and Fergus II. are said to have been of Irish extraction, and to have come over from Ireland to assist the inhabitants of North Britain against their more powerful neighbours. Under the persuasion that nothing authentic can be recorded in the Scottish history before the arrival of the Romans in Britain, we shall commence the historical part of this article from the period when Agricola first penetrated north of the Tweed.

It is to the luminous pages of Tacitus that we must look for the first rational and authentic documents of Scottish history.

The invasion of Agricola happened during the dominion of a chief, called by the Roman historians Galgacus, by Agricola having completed the conquest of the southern parts, and in a great measure civilized the inhabitants, formed a similar plan with regard to Scotland. It is probable, that at this time the Caledonians had become formidable by the accession of 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 peaceable life, would retire to the northward, where the martial disposition of the Caledonians 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 Tau, (probably the Solway Frith, and not the 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 districts of Galloway, Cantyre, and Argyle.

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 Caledonians, though commanded by their king Galgacus, 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 Lochore, 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 Caledonians 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 scarcely be ad- Scotland, mitted as such from the testimonies of other historians.

The Romans, however, certainly advanced very considerably, and the Caledonians as constantly retreated, till they came to the foot of the Grampian mountains, where the latter 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, 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 Caledonians, who were armed with long swords, the latter soon found these weapons useless in a close encounter; and as their bucklers covered only 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 disordered 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 Caledonians 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 Horestii. 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 had no sooner 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 Caledonians 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 not more than 18,000 men, who could not be supposed a sufficient force to defend such an extent of fortification.

In the reign of Antoninus Pius, the praetor Lollius Urbicus drove the Caledonians far to the northward, and repaired the chain of forts built by Agricola, Urbicus, 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. After the death of Antoninus, however, Commodus having recalled Calpurnius Agricola, an able commander, who had kept the Caledonians in awe, a more dangerous war broke out than had ever been experienced by the Romans in that quarter. The Caledonians 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 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 Caledonians 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, No. 375.

The absence of the Roman forces gave encouragement to the Caledonians to renew their depredations, which they did with such success, that the emperor became apprehensive of losing the whole island; on which he determined to go in person and quell these troublesome enemies. The army collected by him on 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 Caledonians must have been reduced to great difficulties. The particulars of this important expedition are very imperfectly related; but we are assured that Severus lost a vast number of men, it is said not fewer than 50,000, in his march through Scotland. Notwithstanding this, however, he is said to have penetrated 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 Caledonians, provoked by the brutality of the emperor's son Caracalla, whom he had left regent in his absence, again took up arms; on which Severus himself took the field, with a design, as appears, to extirpate the whole nation; for he gave orders to his soldiers "not to spare even the child in the mother's belly."

The event of the furious order 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 Caledonians.

After the treaty of Caracalla in 211, perpetual hostilities lities occurred between the Romans and Caledonians, assisted by the Picts. The inroads of these northern tribes were repelled by the Roman legions under Constantius, and after his death in 366, they appear to have remained quiet till 343, when a fresh inroad of the Picts is said to have been repelled by Constans. In the year 360, the Scotch are first mentioned by Roman writers. They were, as we have said, an Irish people of Caledonian extraction, and at this time invaded Scotland, and joined with the Picts against the Romans and their tributaries. In 364 they made a very formidable attack on the Roman provincials, and in 367 had advanced as far as Augusta, or London, where they were met by Theodosius, and were compelled to retire. From this time to 446, when the Romans finally quitted the British island, nothing remarkable occurs in the history of Scotland.

Of the Picts, who now begin to make a figure in Scottish history, we have given an account under the article Picts, and shall here remark only that the name Picti does not properly belong to a new or distinct tribe of the inhabitants of North Briton, but was applied about this time to a part of the Caledonians who inhabited a considerable tract of country north of the friths of Forth and Clyde; and that the dominion of their kings, of whom a long list is given by Mr Chalmers, extended from the year 451 to 842, when it finally terminated.

In the middle of the second century, one of those turbulent tribes which long involved Ireland in contest and dissension, possessed themselves of the north-east corner of Ireland, under the conduct of Cairbre-Riada; and from the name of their leader gave to this district the denomination of Dal-Riada, or the portion of Riada. The sixth century had scarcely commenced, when the progress of population and the spirit of enterprise induced a number of the inhabitants of Dal-Riada to emigrate to the opposite coast of North Britain, led by three chiefs, Loarn, Fergus, and Angus, the three sons of Erc, the descendant of Cairbre-Riada, who then ruled over the Dalriadan tribe. They landed in the country of the Epidii, in the south-west of Argyleshire, about the year 503. These colonies, who to the time of Bede, were denominated Dalriadini, brought with them their language, religion, manners and customs, which differed in some respects from those of the Celtic tribes which had long occupied the north of Britain.

In the records of time there scarcely occurs a period of history so perplexed and confused as that afforded by the annals of the Sco-Irish tribes, from their settlement in 503 to their ultimate ascendency in 849. The want of contemporaneous writings left an ample field for the conflicts of national emulation. Ignorance and ingenuity, sophistry and system, contributed by various efforts to darken what was already sufficiently obscure. There remain, however, in the sister island, various documents of subsequent compilation, which throw considerable light on the obscure transactions of the Sco-Irish tribes, and enable us to unravel the entangled genealogies of their kings. These consist chiefly of the Irish annals of Tigernoch and of Ulster, with the useful observations on them of O'Flaherty and O'Connor; of several brief chronicles and historical documents first brought to light by Innes; and of a Gaelic poem, containing a genealogical account of the Sco-Irish kings.

From these documents Mr Chalmers has constructed an elaborate genealogical and chronological table of those kings, from Fergus to Kenneth Macalpin, from which we shall extract the two most important columns, showing the date of accession, and the duration of the reigns of the several monarchs.

| Acces- | Reigns | |-------|--------| | 1. Fergus the son of Erc, | 503 3 | | 2. Domangart the son of Fergus, | 506 5 | | 3. Comgal, son of Domangart, | 511 24 | | 4. Gauran, son of Domangart, | 535 22 | | 5. Conal, son of Comgal, | 557 14 | | 6. Aidan, son of Gauran, | 571 34 | | 7. Eocha-bui, the son of Aidan, | 605 16 | | 8. Kenneth-cear, son of Eocha-bui, | 621 4 | | 9. Ferchar, son of Eogan, first of Learn's race, | 621 16 | | 10. Donal-breac, son of Eocha-bui, | 637 5 | | 11. Conal II., grandson of Conal I., | 642 10 | | 12. Dungal reigned some years with Conal, | | | 13. Donal-Duin, son of Conal, | 652 13 | | 14. Maolduin, son of Conal, | 665 16 | | 15. Ferchar-Fada, grandson of Ferchar I., | 681 21 | | 16. Eocha-Rineval, son of Domangart, | 702 3 | | 17. Ainbhcealach, son of Ferchar-Fada, | 705 1 | | 18. Selvach, son of Ferchar-Fada, reigned over Lorn from 706 to 729, | | | 19. Dancha-beg over Kintire till 720, | 706 27 | | 20. Eocha III., son of Eocha-rinwal over Kintyre and Argail from 720 to 729, and over Lorn from 729 to 733, | | | 21. Muredach, son of Ainbhcealach, | 733 3 | | 22. Eogan, son of Muredach, | 736 3 | | 23. Aodh-Fin, son of Eocha III., | 739 30 | | 24. Fergus, son of Aodh-Fin, | 769 3 | | 25. Selvach II., son of Eogan, | 772 24 | | 26. Eocha-Anneune IV., son of Aodh-Fin, | 796 30 | | 27. Dungal, son of Selvach II., | 826 7 | | 28. Alpin, son of Eocha-Annuine IV., | 833 3 | | 29. Keneth, son of Alpin, | 836 7 |

We shall not attempt to follow Mr Chalmers through the detail of events which he has narrated as taking place during the reigns of the Sco-Irish kings. Whatever light he may have thrown on this obscure part of Scottish history, it must still remain uninteresting, except to the antiquary, and the minute historian. It is of more importance to the general reader, to be informed of the manners and customs, the polity and the laws of the tribes that occupied the chief part of North Britain at the accession of Kenneth II., from whose reign, as we have already remarked, the Scottish history begins to dawn.

We have said that the Dalriadanian colonists brought laws and with them from Ireland, and established in their new settlements, their peculiar laws and customs. According to these laws, the succession both of the kings and chieftains... tain was so regulated, that the person in the family who seemed best qualified, from abilities or experience, to exercise the chief authority, whether a son or a brother, was fixed on by the tribe for the succession to the vacant throne or chieftainship. Much of the dignity of the monarch was supported by the voluntary contributions of his vassal princes and chiefs, paid in cattle, clothes, and utensils; and the monarch was compelled to purchase the service and assistance of these chiefs by similar presents; in consideration of which they entertained the sovereign in his journeys, and served him in his wars during a limited period. A similar polity appears to have pervaded all ranks among the Sco-to-Irish people, from the king to the prince, and from the prince to the chieftain. The toparch governed his district as the monarch governed his kingdom; and the chieftains ruled their territories and their fortified villages, on the same principles of mutual dependence, of the higher on the lower, and of the subordinate on the superior ranks. Such brittle ties were easily broken; and during these rude times, when the voice of law was but faintly heard, the performance of those reciprocal duties could be enforced only by the dread of assassination, and the breach of them punished only by the sword.

The Sco-to-Irish women, of whatever rank, seem not to have been entitled to the slightest possession of land, under the Brehon law. To them were assigned a certain number of their father's cattle as their marriageportion. The herds of the Sco-to-Irish were so frequently within their contemplation, and during a rude state of society supplied so many comforts to their possessors, that the native terms which signify possession, or a field, also convey the idea of a herd or drove. Yet such is the copiousness of the Irish language, that it has a great variety of terms which convey the notion of a law; but we may infer from these law-terms, with their several modifications, that the people of whom we are speaking had little of positive statute, or written law; their whole body of jurisprudence consisting almost entirely of traditional customs, and local usages. According to Cox, it was no written law, but only the will of the brehon or lord. And it is observable that these brehons held their offices by descent and inheritance, and of course were not qualified for the posts to which he succeeded. The brehon or judge, when he administered justice, used to sit on a turf or heap of stones, or on the top of a hillock, without covering, and without clerks, or any of the usual formalities of a court of judicature. Some remains of this state of laws and manners may be traced in some parts of Scotland to the present period. Every baron had his mote-hill, whence he distributed justice to his vassals, either in person, or by his baron-bailie. Under the brehon system all crimes were commutable; theft, rape, and even murder, were punished by a fine.

It was an ancient custom of these tribes, that every head of every sept, and the chief of every clan, should be answerable for each of their sept or kindred, when charged with any crime; and it is remarkable that both in Ireland and Scotland this ancient custom was adopted into the statute book. The protection of bees was a great head of the brehon law. The Sco-to-Irish territories were fully peopled by this industrious race, and their honey supplied abundance of mead, the favourite beverage of the ancient Britons. In vain do the Irish antiquaries give us splendid pictures of the learning, opulence, and refinement, of the ancient Irish; the laws of every people are the truest histories of their domestic affairs. While we see that the wealth of these tribes consisted of their bees and their cattle, we may certainly infer, that they had only advanced from the first to the second stage of society, from hunters to feeders of flocks. In this unrefined state the Sco-to-Irish long continued, as is evident from their rent-rolls.

It is apparent that more of wretchedness than of comfort prevailed among the Dalriadinian districts in every rank of society. Their best houses were built of wattles; and buildings of lime and stone were late works of more intelligent times. The clothing even of the monks was the skins of beasts, though there is no doubt that they obtained from abroad, by means of traffic, both woollen and linen stuffs. Venison and fish, the flesh of seals, and milk, constituted the food of the people; but the monks of Iona, who lived by their labour, and perhaps the chief, had some provision of corn. The most unbounded hospitality was enjoined by law, as well as by manners, as a capital virtue. Manufactures and trades exercised as a profession were unknown. Every family had its own carpenter, weaver and shoemaker, however unskilful and inadequate to the uses of civilization these homely workmen might appear.

The Sco-to-Irish tribes were not destitute of shipping, which consisted partly of canoes, and partly of a more skilfully constructed kind of vessels called currachs. These were formed by covering a keel of wood and a frame of wicker-work, with skins of cattle and of deer, and by experience these rude boats were improved into roomy vessels, that served either for transports or for war.

Of the various customs of the Sco-to-Irish, that of fosterage has been regarded as a subject for particular speculation. By this singular custom, children were mutually given from different families to be nursed by strangers. The lower orders considered this trust as an honour, rather than a service, for which an adequate reward was either given or accepted. The attachment of those who were thus educated is said to have been indissoluble; for, according to Camden, there is no love in the world comparable to that of foster-brethren in Ireland. From this practice arose a connexion of family and a union of tribes, which often prompted and sometimes prevented evil feuds.

The Dalriadinian tribe which colonized the south-west of Scotland, in the beginning of the sixth century, professed the Christian religion, which had been introduced into Ireland in the middle of the preceding century. They did not, however, introduce into Scotland a new religion, for there is reason to believe that the benign influence of Christianity had been felt in those parts of North Britain which were inaccessible to the Roman power so early as the beginning of the third century; and the Romanized Britons of Valencia, called by Bede the southern Picts, had been converted from the superstitions of Druidism at the commencement of the fifth century. This reformation is attributed to St Ninian, a native of the country of the Norantes, born of noble parentage, about the year 360. (See Ninian.) St Ninian died on the 16th September 432; on which day a festival in honour of his name was celebrated in Britain for many ages. About the middle of the sixth century, fixed his residence at Alcuhyd, in the kingdom of Cumbria. He contributed much towards improving the state of religion in North Britain, where he continued his instructions with little interruption till the year 601. Contemporary with Kentigern was the celebrated Columba, who converted the northern Picts, and has always been held in the highest veneration as one of the principal saints in the North British calendar. He established the seat of his ecclesiastical academy in the small island of Hy, or Iona, which had been conferred on him either by Connal, king of the Scoto-Irish, or Bridei, the Pictish sovereign. Here he settled with his 12 disciples, and laboured for two years with their own hands in erecting huts, and building a church. In the course of a few years Columba had converted Bridei, king of the Picts, and most of his subjects, and had established monasteries in several parts of the Caledonian territories. (See Columba).

Before entering on the reign of Kenneth, it may be proper to take a short view of that of his father and predecessor, Alpin, as in his reign commenced those bloody conflicts between the Scots and Picts which finally terminated in the subjugation or expulsion of the latter.

At the accession of Alpin, the dominion of the Scots comprehended the Western islands, together with the districts of Argyll, Knapdale, Kyle, Kintyre, Lochaber, and a part of Breadalbane; while the Picts possessed all the rest of Scotland, and part of Northumberland; so that the Picts seem to have been by much the more powerful people of the two. The Scots, however, 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 stupidity 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 on a total surrender of his crown. Brudus on this endeavoured to procure the assistance of Edwin king of Northumberland. Edwin accepted the money offered by Brudus; but pretending to be engaged in other wars, refused the assistance 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 thought 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 show 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 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-ally, but in former times Bas-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 Kenneth 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 distractions Brudus, who had in vain endeavoured to appease them, was so much affected, that he died of grief; and was succeeded by his brother Drusken.—The new prince also failed in his endeavours to accommodate the civil differences; so that the Scots, by gaining respite, 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 where they slept a person clothed 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 judgments, if war was not immediately declared against the Picts, the murderers 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. Drusken 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 Mearns, 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 Drusken 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, Mearns, and Angus; and as this was refused, both parties prepared for a decisive battle. The engagement was very bloody and desperate, the Picts fighting like men in despair. Drusken renewed the battle seven times; but at last was entirely... Scotland, tirely 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; in which he is said to have behaved with the greatest cruelty, and even to have totally exterminated the inhabitants. The capital, called Comelton, (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 Duplin in Perthshire. Before his time the seat of the Scots government had been in Argyleshire; 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 assistance, 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 their ships and provisions. This capture proved their ruin; for some of the ships being laden with wine, the Scots indulged themselves so much with that liquor, that they became incapable of defending themselves; in consequence of which the confederates, rallying their troops, attacked them in that state of intoxication. The Scots were defeated with excessive slaughter. 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 of the sons of their chief nobility as hostages. A mint was erected by the Saxon prince named Osbreth, 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 Scotia separat crux ista remotis: Arma hic stant Briti, stant Scotti sub hac cruce tutti.

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 satisfactorily concerning these matters.

Donald was succeeded by his nephew Constantine, Reign of 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 Constantine. 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 isle 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 afterwards to abandon their conquest, 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 son of Dongal, 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. He easily overcame them, and obli- ged them 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, to support 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 Corneli, 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 Dundore in the Garioch.

Gregory was succeeded by Donald III., the son of Constantine, who imitated the virtues of his predecessor. The Scots historians unanimously agree that Northumberland was at that time 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 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 which 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 on Constantine as obliged him to form an alliance 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, he 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 produced a series of hostilities between the Scots and English; which in the year 938 brought on 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 Anlaff 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 which they encountered was from the Scots. Constantine was in the utmost danger of being killed or taken prisoner, but was rescued defeated 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 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 a fief of the crown of England, and assisting in defence of the northern border. Soon after the conclusion of this treaty, Malcolm died, and was succeeded by his son Indulfus. In his reign the New Danes became extremely formidable by their invasions, some of 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 Cullen, in Banffshire. Here Indulfus soon came up with them, attacked their camp, and drove them towards their ships, but was killed in an ambuscade. Scotland, 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. Duffus was succeeded by Culen the son of Indulfus, who had been nominated prince of Cumberland in his father's lifetime, as heir-apparent to the throne. He is represented as a very degenerate prince; and is said to have given himself up to the grossest sensuality. 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 Rochard, 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; and gave 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 pressed by the Danes, found means to unite the king of Scotland and the prince of Cumberland 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 these too well guarded, they landed at Montrose in Scotland, committing everywhere the most dreadful ravages. Kenneth was then 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 Loncarty, 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 battle, armed with such rustic weapons as their condition in life afforded. Buchanan, Errol, and Boece inform us, that these countrymen 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 Carse 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 investigation of a lady named Fenella, whose son he had 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 fired out, they broke open the doors, and found their king murdered: on 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, 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 Sweyn their king resolved to direct his whole force against him by an invasion of Scotland. His first attempt, however, proved 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 Scotland. 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 Murtloch, 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 at last obtained 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, Sweyn 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 Barr, in the neighbourhood of which both parties prepared to decide the fate of Scotland; for as Moray 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 man of the name of Keith. He pursued Camus; and having overtaken him, engaged and killed him; but another 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. (n)

Sweyn, not yet discouraged, sent his son Canute, afterwards king of England, and one of the greatest warriors 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 on to 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 Peace Danes should immediately depart from Scotland; that, as long as Malcolm and Sweyn 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 performing all these glorious exploits, and becoming the second legislator in the Scottish nation, Malcolm is said to have stained the latter part of his reign with avarice and oppression; in consequence of which he was murdered at the age of 80 years, after he had reigned above 30. This assassination was perpetrated while he was on his way to Glamis. His own domestics are said to have been privy to the murder, and to have fled along with the conspirators; but in passing the lake of Forfar on the ice, it gave way with them, and they were all drowned. 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 Fenella 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. We are told by some historians that Banquo, a nobleman of great eminence, 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 of his wounds and could appear at court. The robbers were summoned

(n) 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. 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.

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 Sweyn 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 Sweyn 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 for 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 Sweyn, 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 the 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 Sweyn's attendants carried him on board; and 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 invasion of the Danes; after which Duncan applied himself to the administration of justice, and to reform the manners of his subjects.

While he was thus exerting himself for the good of his subjects, his general, Macbeth, who had been so much distinguished in the Danish wars, was plotting the assassination of the king, and the usurpation of the throne. To these purposes, it appears, Macbeth was instigated by his wife, the lady Gruoch, daughter of Kenneth IV., who, as we have seen, was slain by Malcolm II., the grandfather of Duncan. This lady had been married to Gilcomgain, the maormor of Murray, and after his death had espoused Macbeth, the maormor of Ross. This account of Lay Macbeth shows that it was a spirit of revenge for the murder of her grandfather, which prompted her to instigate her husband to the assassination of Duncan. This assassination took place in 1039, not near Inverness, as related by Shakespeare and the historians whom he has copied, but at Bathgownan, near Elgin, within the territory of Gruoch. Duncan left two infant sons, Malcolm and Donald, of whom the former, on the death of his father, fled to Cumberland, and the latter found an asylum in the Western Islands. Macbeth having thus gratified his wife's revenge, and his own ambition, took possession of the vacant throne.

During the greater part of the reign of the usurper, Malcolm, the true heir to the crown of Scotland, kept Macbeth within 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.

Among the numerous fables with which the story of Macbeth has been decked, must be ranked the murder of Banquo, and the escape of his son Fleance, the supposed primogenitor of the house of Stewart. History knows nothing of Banquo the thane of Lochaber, nor of Fleance his son. None of the ancient chronicles nor Irish annals, nor even Fordoun, recognize the names of Banquo and Fleance, though the latter be made by genealogists the root and father of many kings. Nor is a thane of Lochaber known in Scottish history, because the Scottish kings had never any demesnes within that impervious district.

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 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, at Lumphaman, on the 5th of Dec. 1056. However the public tranquility 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 Essey in Strathbogie, after a reign of four months.

Malcolm being now established on the throne, began with rewarding Macduff for his great services; and III. est. conferred upon his family four extraordinary privileges: bished 1. That they should place the king in his chair of state throne. at the coronation. 2. That they should lead the van An. 105 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 marks of silver, and, if a plebeian, 12. The king's next care was to reinstate in their fathers possessions all the children who had been disinherited 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 Scotland 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 Atheling 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 dissatisfied 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 Marteswin, 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 stress 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 whom 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.

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, 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 if they had been in perfect safety. But in the mean time William, having raised a considerable army, advanced northwards. He first inflicted 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; and, finding himself unable to oppose so great a force, withdrew to his own dominions, where he remained for some time on the defensive, but not without making great preparations for once more invading England. 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. 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 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 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 reformers to this was the number of foreigners who had settled in Scotland; among whom were some Frenchmen, who laid the foundation of that friendship with the Scots which lasted for ages. Malcolm himself also, though by his ravages in England he seems naturally to have been a barbarian, was far from being averse 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 this, however, he met with considerable opposition. The Scots, accustomed to oppress their inferiors, thought all restrictions of their power so 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 intreated 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 higher ranks 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, and 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 women's mark." In those days the Scots had not 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 bestowed 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. Notwithstanding these reformations, however, 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 diet; 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 ate only two meals a-day, and were served with no more than two dishes at each meal.

In the year 1079, 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 is said, returned to Scotland with an immense booty. 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, so effectually, 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 Moulbray earl of Northumberland, who dissuaded him from hazarding a battle, but advised him to open a negociation by means of Edgar and the other English noblemen who resided with Malcolm. Edgar undertook the negociation, 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 sovereign prince; but offered to enter into a negociation with his brother Robert. The two princes accordingly met; and Malcolm, having shown 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 19 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 departure, 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 deminions 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, 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 It is generally believed that while prosecuting the siege of Alnwick in Northumberland, he was surprised by Earl Mowbray, by whom it was defended, and slain, together with his eldest son Edward, on the 19th November, 1093. Queen Margaret, who was at that time lying ill in the castle of Edinburgh, died four days after husband.

After the death of Malcolm Canmore, 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 from 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 surviving son, out of the hands of the usurper Donald Bane. The favour which he showed 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 the kingdom; 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 brothers (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; 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. The 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 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 despatched. Malpedir, thane of Mearns, surprised Duncan in the castle of Monteith, 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 deserted 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.

With Donald Bane may be said to have terminated the line of Scoto-Irish kings, which had filled the throne of Scotland from the invasion of Fergus in 506, to the year 1097, the date of Donald Bane's defeat, comprehending a period of 591 years. Edgar the new monarch was of Saxon descent, and as in his person a new dynasty commenced, it may be proper to take a brief survey of the state of Scotland on his accession, or at the close of the 11th century.

We have seen that from the time of Kenneth II., the State of Piets were either expelled from Scotland, or had been gradually incorporated with the Scoto-Irish tribes. At the close of the period of which we are now treating, Scotland was subdivided into 13 districts, viz. those of Lothian, Galloway, Strathclyde, Tife, Strathearn, Athol, Angus, Mearns or Mearns, the extensive district between the Dee and the Spey, comprehending Aberdeen and Banff, and the districts of Murray, Argyle, Ross, and Sutherland. Most of these districts possessed within themselves, an independent authority, exercised by the thane. The clans of the distinct districts possessed rights which the regal power could scarcely control; they were governed by their own customs, and the king could neither appoint nor displace their chieftains. The notion of a body politic having an acknowledged authority to make laws, which every individual and every district were bound to obey, was scarcely known. The kings and the maormors were so independent of each other in their respective stations, that the power of the superior over his vassal was but little felt, though it was acknowledged, and was often resisted, because it could not easily be enforced. The same law which directed the succession of the kings, operated equally, and with similar effects, in the succession of every chieftain. The custom called tanistry, already explained in No. 32, was the common law of North Britain throughout the Scoto-Irish period. The Brehons continued to be judges throughout every district of Scotland, and were regulated in their judicial proceedings, by the common customs of the country, and the usual manners of the times.

One of the most singular customs introduced by the Scoto-Irish colonists, and which prevailed for many succeeding ages, was the use of slug-horns, or war-cries. Each clan had its appropriate slug-horn. Thus, that of the Mackenzies was Tulloch-and, or the high hill; that of the Grants, Craig-clachie, rock of alarm. Often they Scotland, they were simply the name of the clan, as A Home, A Home, for the family of Hume; A Douglas, A Douglas, for that of Douglas. At this time the nobility used no armorial bearings, which we are assured were not adopted before the reign of William the Lion, on whose escutcheon the lion rampant first appeared as a national badge. Neither seals nor coins appear to have been in use, but all commerce consisted in barter.

Edgar was son of Malcolm Canmore by Margaret, an Anglo-Saxon princess, and was still very young when he ascended the Scottish throne. The education which he had received from his mother, the experience which he had acquired under the English government in Northumberland, the establishment of his authority over North Britain by the power of that government, all induced him to imitate the English rather than the Scottish customs, during his feeble administration.

He had scarcely ascended the throne of his father when Magnus, the enterprising king of Norway, appeared in the surrounding seas, in order to compel the submission of his subjects in the Orkneys and Hebrides, and to plunder or overawe the inhabitants of the neighbouring shores of England, of Man, and of Ireland. Had Magnus attempted a descent on the coast of Scotland, he would probably have met with little opposition from Edgar, in whom the appearance of the Norwegian prince appears to have excited considerable apprehension. From this, however, he was relieved by the death of Magnus, in 1103. Three years before had died William Rufus, whom Edgar considered as a benefactor; and in the same year, his sister Matilda had been married to Henry I. Thus, both from prudence and policy, Edgar avoided all disputes with England, and either his interest or his weakness prevented him from interfering with the then embroiled state of the European continent. He paid considerable attention to the internal regulation of his kingdom, especially in ecclesiastical matters. He conferred on the monks of St Cuthbert at Durham, many churches and lands near Berwick; and he bestowed the church of Portmoak in Kinross, on the Culdees, and that of Gellold on the monks of Dunfermline. It does not appear, however, that in this religious age he founded any remarkable religious house. He died at Dun-Edin without issue, on the 8th of January 1106, having reigned nine years. He has been characterised as an amiable man, who formed himself on the model of Edward the Confessor, of England. From the silence of history we may infer that his reign was barren of events; and from the feebleness of his character, we may conclude that his authority was scarcely recognised within the largest portion of his kingdom.

Edgar was succeeded by his brother Alexander I., surnamed 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 prepared to reduce the exorbitant power of the nobles, and to deliver the 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 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 a 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 assassinated 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 Skrimgeour; which indeed is no more 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. Alexander, in virtue of the fealty which he had sworn for his English possessions, readily agreed to lead an army into Wales. There 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 than Alexander. Alexander died in 1124, after a reign of seventeen years; and was buried at Dunfermline.

This prince, dying a bachelor, was succeeded by his Wars of younger brother David; who interfered in the affairs King D. of England, and took part with the empress Maud in the civil war which she carried on with Stephen. In 1136, David met his antagonist at Durham; but as neither party chose to hazard 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 pretence. 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 grandnephew William cut in pieces the vanguard of the English army at Clithero; after which he ravaged the country with such cruelty, that the inhabitants became exasperated beyond measure against him. New associations Scotland.

The English army receiving great reinforcements from the southwards, advanced to Northallerton, where the famous standard was produced. The body of this standard was a kind of box which moved upon wheels, from which 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 Culloden Moor. The first line of the Scots army was composed of the inhabitants of Galloway, Carrick, Kyle, Cunningham, and Renfrew. 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 Scots, 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; 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 rather 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, land, which had been given up by Malcolm; but Henry, finding his affairs in a very embarrassed situation, consented to yield up this county, on William's paying him homage, rather than continue the miseries of war. In 1172, he attempted to avail himself of the unnatural wars 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 the king in person 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 designs. Having dressed 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 conveyed in chains before Henry to Northampton, and the English ordered to be transported to the castle of Falaise in Normandy, where he was shut up with other state prisoners. Soon after this an accommodation took place between Henry and his sons; and the prisoners on both sides were set at liberty, William only excepted, who 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 chiefs 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 place 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: Henry, however, 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 Maynes, 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 sent into exile. He took refuge in England; but as it had been agreed in the convention between William and Henry 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 the perpetual fear of being discovered, so that they were obliged to skulk 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 endeavour to avoid notice. He ordered them to be seized and brought before him. The oldest, 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 till the accession of Richard I. This monarch being a man of romantic valour, zealously undertook an expedition into the Holy Land against the Turks, in conformity with 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 for this purpose, he thought nothing could be more acceptable than releasing him and his subjects from that subjection which even the English themselves considered as forced and unjust. However, 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 still extant; in which 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 duress." 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 the regency against his rebellious brother John, who had wickedly usurped the throne of England. For this Richard acknowledged his obligation in the highest degree; but William afterwards made this an excuse 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 renewed 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 Tees to Hugh de Baliol and another nobleman, upon condition of their defending War against the Scots. Alexander invaded Northumberland, which he easily reduced, while John invaded Scotland. Alexander retired to Melros, in order to defend his own country; upon which John burnt the towns of Wark, Alawick, 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 retreated. 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 passed. 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 Louis, son to the king of France, this 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 his enterprise; after which he laid siege to Barnard castle; but being baffled here also, marched southwards through the whole kingdom of England, and met Louis at London or Dover, where the prince confirmed to him the rights to Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. He continued a faithful ally to Louis and the barons in their wars with John; and, in 1216, brought a fresh army to their assistance, when their affairs were almost desperate.

As long as Louis continued in England, Alexander proved faithful to his interest; but, in 1217, he was on Scotland, such good terms with Henry as to demand his eldest sister, the princess Joan, in marriage. His request was granted; and in 1221 he espoused that princess. 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 Egelram de Coucy, a young and beautiful French lady, by whom, in 1241, he had a son named Alexander. From this time a coolness took place between the two courts, and many differences arose; but no hostilities commenced on either side during the lifetime of Alexander, who died in 1249, in the 53th year of his reign.

Immediately on the death of his father, Alexander III. 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 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 Samaiches, 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 now thought it a proper opportunity to oblige him to do 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 not prepared to answer such a difficult question.

Henry seems to have been encouraged to this attempt by the distracted state of the Scots affairs at that time; for, during the minority of the king, the nobility threw all into confusion by their mutual dissensions. The family of Cummin 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 over 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 there had been a strong party made against his English connexions. They now exclaimed, that Scotland was no better than a province of England; and having gained almost all the nobility over to their side, 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 enquire 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 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 scarcely knew 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 thralldom, some of whom, he 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, whence he himself advanced to Newcastle, where he published a manifesto, disclaiming all designs against the peace or independence of Scotland; declaring, that the forces which had been collected at York were designed to maintain both; and that all he intended was to have an interview with the king and queen upon the borders. From Newcastle he proceeded to Wark, where he privately despatched the earl of Gloucester, with his favourite John Mansel, and a train of trusty followers, to gain admission into the castle of Edinburgh, then held by John Baliol and Robert de Ross, noblemen of great influence both in England and Scotland. The earl and Mansel gained admittance into the castle in disguise, on pretence of their being tenants to Baliol and Ross; 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 thralldom and tyranny in which she had been kept. 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 Ross was summoned by Henry to answer for his conduct; but throwing himself on the king's mercy, 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 for 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 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 Kinross by the earl of Monteith, 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. 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.

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 Cammore, had engaged to deliver up the isles of Orkney and Shetland to the king of Norway, for assisting him in making good his pretensions to the crown of Scotland. Haco, the king of Norway at this time, alleged, that these engagements extended to the delivering up the islands of Bute, Arran, and others in the frith of Clyde, as belonging to the Ebusite or Western 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 Ayr. Alexander immediately despatched ambassadors to enter into a treaty with Haco; but the latter, flushed with success, would listen 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 Argyle, 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.—Haco, who was an excellent general, disposed his men in order of battle, and the engagement began at Largs in Ayrshire. Both parties fought with great resolution; but at last the Norwegians were defeated with dreadful slaughter, not 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 Haco could scarcely find a vessel to carry him with a few friends to Orkney, where he soon after died of grief.

In consequence of this victory, the 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. Haco's son, 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 Allen the chamberlain, and a considerable body of men, to the Western Islands, 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 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 two years, and 100 yearly ever after, as an equivalent 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.

In 1264, Alexander sent a considerable body of Scottish forces under the command of John Cummin, John Baliol, and Robert Bruce, to assist the king of England against his rebellious barons. The leaders were taken prisoners in the battle of Lewis, where Henry was defeated, but regained their liberty in the following year at the decisive battle of Evesham, by which the English civil war was successfully terminated on the part of Henry by the young Prince Edward.

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 lordship 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 reserved his right to the homage of the kingdom of Scotland, when it should be claimed against 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 16th of March 1285, in the 45th year of his age, by his horse rushing down the black rock near Kinghorn as he was riding.

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 cross, he renewed his intrigues at the court of Rome, and demanded leave from the pope to collect the tenths 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 above mentioned, was recognised 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 Scotland among their own number, consisting of the six following noblemen: viz. Robert Wishart 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, considering himself as the only rightful guardian of his own child. He therefore cultivated a good understanding 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 affairs, he embraced 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 they both were. This alarmed the states of Scotland, 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 with the result of their conferences, and to demand that a deputation should be sent to London 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 inimical to 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 Annandale, and John Cummin, to attend as their deputies, but with a charge to preserve 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 might require, that the tranquillity of the nation should be settled before her arrival. 4. That the commissioners of Scotland and Norway, joined with commissioners from England, should remove such regents and officers of state in Scotland as might 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 he communicated in form to the Scottish 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 delayed the departure of the young queen 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 independence of their country. These articles were ratified by Edward on the 28th of August 1289; yet, even after the marriage was fully settled, he lost no time in procuring as strong a party as possible. At the head of these were the archbishop 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 Edward 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 earls of Mar and Athol. Intelligence of these commotions was carried to Edward by Baliol; and the archbishop of St Andrew's advised Edward, if 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 might think 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 queen, intelligence of her death was received; but it is not certainly known whether this event happened before the arrival of the queen, ambassadors in Norway, or after her departure from that country, probably the latter.

The Scots were thrown into the utmost consternation by the news of the 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. A number of further operation, being determined by the death of the crown; and since the crown was hereditary, there was no precedent by which it could be settled. The Scots, in general, however, turned their eyes on Scotland, 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 likewise a candidate. 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 put in only for a third of the kingdom, on the principle that his mother was joint-heir with her two sisters (c). Several other 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, formerly king; as did Robert de Pynkeny, in the right of his great grandmother Margery, second sister of the same King William. Patrick Galightly was the son of Henry Galightly, a bastard of William; William de Ross was descended of Isabel; Patrick earl of March, of Ida or Ada; and William de Veschi, of Margery; all 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, if bastardy could give a right, was better than those of the former. His grandmother Margery, the wife of Allan le Huissier, was a natural daughter of Alexander II.; and consequently sister to Alexander III. John Cummin 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 last, indeed, had the best right; and, had the succession been regulated as it is in all hereditary kingdoms at this day, he would undoubtedly have succeeded. Bruce and Hastings, however, pleaded that they were preferable, not only to John Baliol the grandchild of Margaret, but also to Derverguill her daughter and his mother, for the following reason. Derverguill 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 invariable, preferable to the female.

Notwithstanding this number of candidates, however, it was soon perceived, that the claims of all might be cut off excepting those of 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; and this being by far the most powerful in Scotland, gave him a decided superiority over Bruce. The event was, that Edward was appointed to decide between the two competitors. It soon appeared, however, that Edward had no intention of adjudging the crown to any person but himself; for, in an assembly held at Norham on the 10th of May 1291, Brabanzon 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 peace and tranquillity among his people; that it was not his intention to retard justice, nor to usurp the right of any one Scot, or to infringe the liberties of the kingdom of Scotland, but to render to every one his 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, on 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.

(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. │ └── John Baliol = Derverguill. ``` Edward then declared, by the mouth of his chancellor, that although, in the dispute which had 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 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 proper; and the king himself repeated this protestation in French. The candidates were then severally called upon by the English chancellor, to declare 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 pretext 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 signed by the candidates, was not sufficient to carry it into execution. For this reason he demanded that all the 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, the regency of Scotland without hesitation yielded also to it; for which they gave the following reasons. "That whereas they which is (the states of Scotland), had, with one assent, already agreed to grant 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 in which they were 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 on which the rights shall be determined and affirmed; and that the profits of the nation which shall be received in the meantime 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 that 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 Umfreville 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 obtained possession of the whole power of the nation, he did not think proper to determine every thing by his own authority. Instead Scotland, 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 Cummin 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 40 commissioners. 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 at their own option. They unanimously pitched upon Berwick for the place of meeting; but as they could not agree about the time, Edward appointed the second 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 many difficulties. Many of his own great men, particularly the earl of Gloucester, were by no means fond of increasing the power of the English monarchy by the acquisition of Scotland; and therefore threw such obstacles in his way, that he was again obliged to have recourse to negotiation and intrigue, and at last to delay the meeting until the second of June in 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 for 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 proposed 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 so 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 that to other estates and great baronies. Upon this, Edward ordered Bruce and Baliol to be called 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 Bruce as 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 acknowledgement 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, was in favour of 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 militated 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 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 the merits of the competitors. He also put the following question to them: By the laws and usages of both kingdoms, does the issue of the eldest sister, though 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 lineally 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; on 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 finished 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 causes 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 only to try Scots causes in England, but to summon the king of Scotland, if necessary, to appear before him in person. Baliol had no spirit to resist; 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 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 1296; Colban his son, in 1270; Duncan the son of Colban, in 1288. To this last earl, his son Duncan, an infant, succeeded. During the non-age of this Duncan, grandnephew of Macduff, William archbishop 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 1293. 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 reserved 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 this being refused, he appealed to Edward, who ordered Baliol to appear before him in person on the 25th of March 1293: but he summoned Baliol did not obey this order, he summoned him again to appear on the 14th of October. In the meantime the English parliament drew up certain standing orders in cases of appeal from the king of Scots; all of which were harsh and captious. One of these regulations provided, "that no excuse of absence should be received either from the appellant, or the king of Scotland, respondent; but that the parties might have counsel if they required 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 brought 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 further 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, replied, "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 offended 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 recompense Macduff for his imprisonment, he was ordered damages from the king of Scots, to be taxed by the... Scotland; 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 in which they were situated, and the royal jurisdiction over them, 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 surprised 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, in consequence of a war which broke out with France. In a parliament held this year by Edward, the king of Scotland appeared, and consented to surrender 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 Baliol 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, evaded 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, they negotiated an alliance with Philip king of France. 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. They could not, however, 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 to assist Scotland, in case of an English invasion, either by making a diversion, or by sending succours to the Scotch.

Elated with the hopes of assistance from France, the Scots invaded Cumberland with a mighty army, and South 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 English exploits consisted in burning a nunnery at Lunaley, and without a monastery at Corebridge, 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 in respect of discipline, invaded the eastern coast of Scotland. Berwick had either not been delivered according to promise, or had been resumed by the Scots, and was now defended by a numerous garrison. Edward assaulted Berwick by sea and land. The ships which began the attack took were all either burnt or disabled; but Edward having landed on his army in person, took the place by storm, and scarcely butchered the inhabitants, to the number of Edward 8000, without distinction of sex or age. In this town there was a building called the Red-bull, possessed by certain Flemings, 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 much to Edward, sending him 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 unre- dressèd, 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 disinheriting 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, restore them to you, for yourself; 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 Aberbrothrick; and as it was favourable to his political views, he received The king of England pursued his conquests, the barons everywhere crowding in to swear fealty to him, and renounce their allegiance to 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 usually crowned. This chair had for its bottom the fatal stone regarded as the national palladium (d). Some of the charters belonging to the abbey were carried off, and the seals torn from others.

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 Annandale, 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.

(d) This stone is thus described by W. Hemingford, tom. i. p. 37: "Apud monasterium de Scone positus erat lapis pergrandis in ecclesia Dei, juxta magnum altare, concavus quidem ad modum rotundae cathedrae confeccus, in quo futuri reges loco quasi coronationis ponebantur ex more. Rege itaque novo in lapide posito, missarum solemnia incepta peraguntur, et praeterquam in elevazione sacri domini corporis, semper lapidatus, manit." And again, tom. i. p. 100. "In redeundo per Scone, praecepit tolli et Londonis cariari, lapidem illum, in quo, ut supra dictum est, reges Scotorum solent poni loco coronationis sue, et hoc in signum regni conquesti et resignati." Walsingham mentions the use to which Edward put this stone: "Ad Westmonasterium transtulit illum, jubens inde fieri celebrantium cathedralm sacerdotum." 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; lib. xi. c. 25.

"Hic rex sic totam Scotiam fecit sibi notam, Qui sine mensura tulit inde jocalia plura, Et pariter lapidem, Scotorum quem fore sedem Regum decrevit fatum; quod sic inolevit, Ni fallat fatum, Scotti quoque locatum Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem." At last, having settled every thing, as he thought, in tranquillity, he departed for England, with all the triumph of a conqueror.

The tranquillity established by Edward was, however, of short duration. The government of Scotland at that time required many qualities which Edward's vicegerents did not possess. Warenne, earl of Surrey, who had been appointed governor, took up his abode in England, on pretence of recovering his health. Cressingham, 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 so much celebrated in Scottish fables, 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 Renfrewshire (e). Having been outlawed for some offence, 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 affability, 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 (e), 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 Annandale, 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 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 Irvine, with a lake in their front, and their flank secured by intrenchments, so that they could not be attacked without the utmost danger. The Scots, however, ruined every thing 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 further national destruction. Sir Richard Lundin, an officer of great rank, formed.

(e) The descent of Sir William Wallace has scarcely been carried with accuracy beyond his father, Wallace of Ellerslie. It has been supposed that the family of Wallace or Walleys, came originally from Wales; but according to Mr Chalmers, they were an Anglo-Norman family, originally denominated Walense, of whom Richard Walense, who appears as a witness to the charters of Walter, the son of Alan, the first of the Stewarts, acquired lands in Kyle, in Ayrshire, where he settled. This Richard was succeeded by his son Richard, who was contemporary with Alan, the son of Walter the Stewart. Another branch of the family of Walense settled in Renfrewshire, under the kindly influence of the Stewarts; and of this branch Henry Walense, probably a younger son of the first Richard, held some lands in Renfrewshire under Walter the Stewart in the early part of the 13th century. From this Henry was descended Malcolm Waleys of Ellersly, the father of Sir William Wallace, the champion of Scottish independence.

We find that the family of Wallace was patronised by that of Stewart, which now began to make a distinguished figure in Scottish history. The genealogy of this illustrious house has been much disputed, and is involved in great obscurity. Mr Chalmers seems to have thrown considerable light on the origin of the Stewarts, and has traced them farther back than the generality of historians. According to this writer, Walter the son of Alan, who is generally considered as the first of the Stewarts, came from Shropshire in England, and his father Alan was the son of Flaald; and the younger brother of William, son of Alan, the progenitor of the famous house of Fitz-Alan, earls of Arundel. Alan the son of Flaald married the daughter of Warine, the famous sheriff of Shropshire, soon after the Norman conquest, in which both these families bore a part in the suite of William; and of this marriage was born William, the undoubted heir both of Alan and of Warine. Now, Richard Fitz-Alan, earl of Arundel, who in 1335 claimed the post of steward of Scotland by hereditary right, and sold this title and claim to Edward III., for 1000 merks, had not, according to Mr Chalmers, any right to the stewardship of Scotland; but Walter, the younger brother of William, the son of Alan, the progenitor of Richard Fitz-Alan the claimant, was the first purchaser of this hereditary office. Robert the Stewart, who was born of Margery, the daughter of Robert Bruce in 1316, and became king of Scots in 1370, was then in possession of the hereditary office of Stewart by lineal descent. Scotland formed a party against Wallace, and went over to Edward with all his followers. Other leaders entered into a negotiation with the English. Bruce the steward, and his brother Alexander de Lindeyay, and Sir William Douglas, acknowledged their offences, and made submissions to Edward for themselves and their adherents.

This scandalous treaty seems to have 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; reserving 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, “Ecrit a 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 Lindeyay, became sureties for his loyalty and good behaviour, until he should deliver his daughter Margery as an 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 Wishart 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 Wishart. On the other hand, Wallace, ascribing the bishop’s conduct to traitorous pusillanimity, 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 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-Alan had been appointed governor of Scotland by Edward; but Warenne, 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 despatched 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.”

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. 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 victory at Stirling was followed by the surrender 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 from bad seasons and the 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 Skiringeour and his heirs. 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 defence, it surrendered to Anthony Beck, bishop of Durham.

Meanwhile the Scots were assembling all their strength in the interior 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 castle of Ayr, 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 donation 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 provision had been detained by contrary winds, he could not venture to advance, neither could he subsist any longer in his present quarters. To retreat would have sullied 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 had 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 Scot 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, of Falkirk. At break of day, the Scottish army was descried, 22nd July forming on a stony 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 the 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, turned the morass, and advanced towards the left flank of the Scottish army. He proposed to halt till the reserve should advance. "To mass, bishop!" cried Basset, 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 defeated repeated charges, the outermost ranks were brought to with great slaughter. 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 soldiery. (r)

(r) 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 steadiness..." 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 to 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 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." 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 this he was conveyed to Whitsand, 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 independence.

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 man; nor had he any longer 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 scarcely have raised the siege without dislodging them; which, finding impossible, 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 Whitsunday 1301.

This year appeared a new competitor 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 Wishart 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, parliament 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 Scone, the grave. 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 (see 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 castle of Brechin, which was commanded by Thomas Maule, a brave and experienced officer. He held out for 20 days against the whole power of the English army; but at last he was mortally wounded, and the place capitulated. Thence he proceeded northward, according to some historians, as far as Caithness. He then returned towards

steadiness 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." towards the south, and wintered in Dunfermline. 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, Cummin assembled all his forces. He posted 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 Cressingham had attempted in circumstances not dissimilar. But the prudence of Edward frustrated their expectation. Having discovered a ford at some distance, he crossed the river at the head of his whole cavalry. The Scots gave way, and soon dispersed.

All resources but their own courage had long failed them; that last resource failed them now, and they hastened to conciliate the favour of the conqueror. Previous to this, Bruce had surrendered himself to John de St John, the English warden. Cummin and his followers now submitted to Edward. They stipulated for their lives, liberties, and estates; reserving 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: Wishart bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, Sir John Soulis, David de Graham, Alexander de Lindeyay, Simon Fraser, Thomas Bois, and Wallace. With respect to them, it was provided, that the bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, and Soulis, should remain in exile for two years, and should not pass to the north of Trent; that Graham and Lindeyay 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 often 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 sought out a place of concealment, where, eluding the vengeance of Edward, he might silently lament over his fallen country.

Edward assembled at St Andrew's what is called a parliament. 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 Cummins, 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 Cummin, who was in a great measure incapable of opposing his designs; nor indeed could it ever be made agreeable to the bulk of the nation; and therefore came to nothing. 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 repeatedly proved traitors, showed a mean revenge against the only man who discovered a steady and honourable spirit, and whose friendship seemed worth the courting. Ralph de Haliburton, 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 Monteith, the sheriff of Dunbarton. 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 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 province; but he took care to preserve the ancient forms for so far as was consistent with the dependent state of the nation. It has been said, indeed, that Edward abrogated all Scotland 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 customs 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 LL. 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 Scots 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 brithibb, or brehon; in Ireland, brehan; and consequently, that the thing here abolished was the commutation of punishments by exacting a pecuniary mulct."

An indemnity was now granted to the Scots on 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 Cummin; three by Cummin and his associates; and five by the bishop of Glasgow; four years rent was to be paid by William de Baliol and John Wishart; and five by Ingelram de Umfraville, because they had stood out longer. Three years rent was also paid by the vassals of Baliol, Wishart, 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.

Within four months was overthrown that system, Scotland, 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. Dervergull of Galloway had a son, John Baliol, and a daughter named Margery. John Cummin was the son of Margery, and setting Baliol aside, was heir to the pretensions of Dervergull. 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, Cummin 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 on 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 Cummin: "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 Cummin, either through fear or treachery, revealed the whole to Edward. On this the king showed Bruce the letters of his accuser, and severely questioned him; but the latter found means to pacify him by mild and judicious answers. Notwithstanding this, however, Edward's ward 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 Bruce having drunk 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 intended 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 observed a foot-passenger, whose behaviour seemed to be suspicious, and whom he soon discovered to be the bearer of letters from Cummin 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 at Lochmaben, where he arrived the seventh day after his departure from London. Soon after this he repaired to Dumfries, where Cummin 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. Cummin gave him the lie, and Bruce instantly stabbed him; after which he hastened out of the convent, and called "To horse!" His attendants, Lindsey and Kirkpatrick, perceiving him pale, and in extreme agitation, inquired how it was with John Cummin? "Ill (replied Bruce); I doubt I have slain Cummin." Scotland. min." "You doubt!" cried Kirkpatrick; on saying which, he rushed into the place where Cummin lay, and instantly despatched him. Sir Robert Cummin, in 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 decided opposition to Edward. The justiciaries were then holding their court at Dumfries; and 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; on 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, and that the true circumstances of the quarrel are unknown. "My opinion (says he) is, that Bruce, when he met Cummin at Dumfries, had no intention of imbruining his hands in his blood, nor any immediate purpose of asserting his right to the crown of Scotland; that the slaughter of Cummin 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 Cummin 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 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 bishops of St Andrew's and Glasgow, the abbot of Scone, John de Athol, and John de Menteth. It had been customary, since the days of Macbeth, for 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 accoutrements, 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 so obnoxious to Edward, that no possibility of a reconciliation was left; and he soon saw himself at the head of a small army. With these, who he consisted of raw and unexperienced soldiers, Bruce formed a camp at Methven near Perth, which last Medven, 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 on 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 on him, and catching hold of his horse's bridal, cried out, "I have hold of the new-made king!" But he was delivered by Christopher Scotton.

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 scarcely 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 desertion among Bruce's troops continued, so that now he had with him no more than 200 men; and as winter was approaching, he resolved to go into Argyllshire, where Sir Neil Campbell's estate lay, who had gone before to prepare for his reception. In this way thither he encountered incredible difficulties; Reches and some of his followers being cut off at a place called Argyle-Dalry, the rest were so disheartened, that they all forsook him, except Sir Gilbert Hay, Sir James 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 proscribed in England, and now lived in retirement 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 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 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 repair to Westminster to receive all military ornaments 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 his 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 denounced. 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. 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 counties 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 Ross-shire; 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 Brustewick; to have a waiting-woman and a maid-servant, advanced in life, sedate, and of good conversation; a butler, two men-servants, and a foot boy 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 Osburn treacherously burned 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.

About this time also many more of Bruce's party were put to death; among whom were Thomas and 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 desperate 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, nor prevent his meditating a most severe 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 Kintrye; but, suspecting that he was not safe there, he sailed in three days to Rachrin, 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. Having lived for some time in this retreat, being apprehensive that the report of his death might be 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 trusty servant, one Cuthbert, into his own country of Carrick; with orders, if he found it well affected to his cause, to light a fire on a certain point near his castle of Tunberry, whence it might be discerned in Arran. Bruce and his party perceived the signal, as they thought, and immediately put to sea. Their voyage was short; 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, castle of 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 unpleasing 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 on 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. He did not immedi- ately attempt any thing himself, but allowed Douglas to attempt the recovery of his estate of Douglaston, as Bruce himself had recovered his in Carrick. In this expedition Douglas was joined by one Thomas Dickson, son, a man of considerable fortune, 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 further 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.

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 Montthermer, and obliged him to fly to the castle of Ayr. The king laid siege to the castle for some time, but retired at the approach of succours from England. This year the English performed nothing, except burning the monastery at Paisley. Edward, however, resolved still to execute his utmost vengeance on the Scots, though 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 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 sight of that country, 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 overran the country without opposition; and soon began to move southwards again in order to repair his late disgrace. He was encountered by Cummin 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 in order to efface their late dishonour. The armies met at Inverury in Aberdeenshire. Bruce was too weak in his back by two attendants; but he had the pleasure of seeing his enemies totally defeated, and pursued with disease, 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 of May 1308.

The king of Scotland now took revenge on his enemies, after the manner of that barbarous age, by laying waste 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 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 Bruce; but Edward Bruce having received timely information of his designs, ordered the infantry to entrench themselves strongly, while he himself, with not 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. About this time also, Douglas, while roving about the hilly parts of Tweeddale, surprised and made prisoners Thomas Randolph the king's nephew, and Alexander Stewart of Bonkill, who had hitherto continued inimical to the interests of Robert. Randolph was conducted to the king, but talked to him in a haughty strain: on which his uncle sent him into close confinement.

The next exploit of Robert was against the lord of Lorn, a division of Argyleshire. It was this nobleman feasted, who had reduced the king to such straits after his defeat his castle at Methven; and Bruce now resolved to take ample taken 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 councils, 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, archbishop 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. 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 violating 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 not to be considered as the ally of Scotland.

The new negociations 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 to the English. The town of Perth, a place at that time 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 a body of troops at Dublin, and 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; 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 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 subsist in 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 cruelly ravaged the bishopric of Durham. He returned loaded with spoil, and laid siege to Perth. After remaining six weeks before that 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 stood 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 January 1312.

Edward was now become averse to the war, and renewed his negotiations for a truce; but they still ended in 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 with great present, fixed his residence. He next reduced the success castles of Butel, Dumfries, and Dalswinton, 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 was revelling on the eve of Lent. They retreated into the inner tower; but their governor, a Frenchman, having received a mortal wound, they capitulated.

Randolph, the king's nephew, 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 Ran one Leland, a knight of Gascony; but the garrison, suspecting his fidelity, confined 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. Randolph himself, with 30 men, undertook to scale the castle walls at midnight. Frank was their guide, and first ascended the walls; 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, through 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 land, and 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, in 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 by proclamation required 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 should not be relieved before the 24th of June 1314; and to this Edward agreed, without consulting. suiting his brother. The king was highly displeased with this rash treaty, which interrupted his own operations; allowed the English time to assemble their utmost force, and at last obliged him either to raise the siege or to place 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 rather more than 30,000, besides upwards of 15,000 of an undisciplined rabble that followed the camp. He determined to await the English in a field which had the brook or burn of Bannock on the right, and Stirling 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 Stirling 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 might 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 23rd of June, the Scots received intelligence of the approach of Edward, and prepared to decide the fate of their country. The front of their army extended from the brook called Bannockburn to the neighbourhood of St Ninians, 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 that of the left; the king himself taking charge of the reserve, which consisted of the men of Argyll, Carrick, and the islanders. In a valley to the rear, said to be the westward of a rising ground now called Gilles-hill, 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 to the east, and approached the castle. The king, perceiving their motions, chid Randolph for his inattention, 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, holding out their spears 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-axe in his hand. Henry de Bohun, an English knight, armed cap-a-pie, rode forward to encounter him. Robert did not decline the combat, and struck his antagonist so violently with his battle-axe, that he is said to have cleaved him down to the chin; after which the English vanguard retreated in confusion. The Scottish generals are said to have blamed their king for his rashness in thus encountering Bohun; and he himself, conscious of the justice of their charge, replied only, "I have broken my good battle-axe."

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 extend 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 mass 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 defeated, 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, while 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, issued 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 gentleman refused to fly. He was a man of great valour, and had a high reputation in Scotland. According to the common 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. 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 closely. 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 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 the greatest assiduity; 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 which 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 Ross 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 Ross had not died!" On the English side were slain 27 barons and baronets, and 22 taken prisoners; of knights there were killed 42, and 60 taken prisoners; of esquires there fell 700; but the number of the common men who were killed or taken was never ascertained. 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 ransom 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 Montferrand, and Sir Marmaduke Tewge, 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 Mar, and the bishop of Glasgow.

The terror of the English after the defeat of Bannockburn is almost incredible. Edward Bruce and Douglas entered England on the eastern side, ravaged Northumberland, and laid the bishopric of Durham under contribution. 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 for 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 this could not but be perceived by Robert. There were, however, motives which induced him to consent. The offer of a crown, though ever so visionary, inflamed the ambition of Edward Bruce, whose impetuous valour disregarded 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, No. 42.

The king himself had gone over into Ireland, in order to assist his brother in attempting the subjection of that country; and 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 ambush 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. 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 county, 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 Irish expedition, a bull was issued by the pope, (John XXII.) commanding a two years truce between England and Scotland, under pain of excommunication. Two cardinals were despatched into Britain to make known his commands; and they were privately empowered to inflict the highest spiritual censures on Robert Bruce, or whomsoever 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 lasting 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 prejudice the cause of my adversary by bestowing on 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 opened. This disrespectful 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 Andrews. 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, Scots, meditated revenge; and wrote a letter to a 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 confidant; 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 were 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 Galston.—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 England the castle of Berwick. This was soon obliged to capitulate; after which the Scots entered Northumberland, and took the castles of Wark, Harbuttle, 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 merks: 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 once, if not oftener, before. Messengers were sent from Scotland to Rome, in order to procure a reversal of the sentence; but Edward despatched the bishop of Hereford, and Hugh d'Espencer... d'Espencer 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 Bergham the commander of the English army; in return for which service, he was rewarded with the title of earl of Louth.

In the mean time 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 animosities and mutual distrust rose to such a 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 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 the more effectual, he at the same time demanded from them a great some 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 draw-bridge 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 newly invented engine which they called a sow, but for what reason is unknown. In many particulars it resembled the testudo arietaria of the ancients. It appears to have been a large fabric composed of timber, and well-roofed, having stages 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 storm. 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 destroyed 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 soldier 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 the 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 York-shire. 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 York-shire. The English were routed; 3000 of the English were left dead on the field, and great part of those who fled perished in the river Swale. In this action 200 ecclesiastics lost their lives. The news of this success 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; and understanding that his favourite manor of Pontefract was exposed to the ravages of the Scots, departed with all his adherents. Edward, on 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 Scotland, 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 truce 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, 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 Mere; fixing his camp at Culross, on the north side of the frith 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 many 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. 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 with 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 pass; 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, wasted 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 1325, 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 Southern 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; and this, though not without great difficulty, was at last obtained. This year a son was born to the king of Scotland at Dunfermline, and named David. The court-poets of the time foretold, that this infant would one day rival Bruce, his father's fame, and prove victorious over the English. But scarcely 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 disappeared; but left a son named Edward, heir of his late pretensions to the crown. The young prince had resided on his paternal estate in Normandy, neglected and forgotten; but in 1324 he 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 Douglas 15th of June 1327, Douglas and Randolph invaded and took England by the western marches, with an army of about 20,000 horsemen. Against them Edward III. led an army, consisting, at the lowest calculation, of 30,000 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 had retired. Disencumbering 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 the river at Haidon; but before the rest of the army could come up, the river was so swelled 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 "on dry ground, where they might be attacked;" and many knights and esquires swam across the river 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 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, 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 centinels, 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. The king himself; however, escaped; and Douglas, disappointed of his prey, rushed through the enemy, and effected a retreat with considerable 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 and returned with certain intelligence that the Scottish camp was totally deserted: which when the young king of England was certainly informed of, he is said to have burst into tears. Every preparation had been made by him for opposing an enemy; and auxiliaries had even been procured at a most enormous expense at Haianuit. These auxiliaries consisted of heavy-armed cavalry; and they were now so much worn out, that they could scarcely 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 histories 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 are supposed 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. But 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 stone on which the kings of Scotland were wont to sit at the time of North 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. 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 excesses of... The revolution that took place when the Saxon race of kings ascended the throne of Scotland, was scarcely greater than the changes which happened under the great restorer of the Scottish monarchy. Some of the most eminent families in North Britain fell before the fortune of Bruce, and forfeited their all to his offended laws. Many subordinate barons, who owed fealty to those unfortunate families, rose on their ruined estates, and thus ceased to be vassals to superior lords. Some of the greatest offices, which had been hereditary in those eminent houses, passed, with large possessions, into new families, and raised them to unwonted greatness. It is not perhaps too much to say, when we assert, that one half of the forfeited lands of Scotland were conferred on new proprietors, who gave a different cast to the population of a mixed people. It was the fault of Bruce, that he sometimes sacrificed his policy to his gratitude; but, much as the gratitude or munificence of that great prince bestowed on those who had fought by his side in many a conflict, he attempted not to deprive those who were innoxious to law of their possessions. Yet we have been told, that, in order to check the growing power of his nobles, he summoned them to show by what right they held their lands; and that, in reply to this inquiry, they drew their swords, and exclaimed, "By these we acquired our lands, and with these we will defend them." This brilliant passage, which has made such a figure in the fabulous history of those times, and has been brought forward by the rhetoricians of the present day as a beautiful instance of the effect of passion in inverting the usual order of words, appears to have little foundation in historic truth. We have no example of any man in Scotland claiming lands by right of conquest; and, during the reigns of Bruce and his son David, there was no other right to lands, except ancient possession, or the grant of the king.

As the accession of Robert Bruce forms a new and brilliant era in the history of Scotland, it may be proper, before we proceed in our narration, to take a general view of the state of manners in North Britain during the interval that elapsed from the 11th to the 14th century. In this inquiry, we must carefully distinguish between the Gaelic and English inhabitants of Scotland. The former were the most numerous during the whole of this period. The government was administered by Scot-Saxon kings, on Anglo-Norman principles, with the assistance of Anglo-Saxon barons. To these sources must be traced the maxims of the governors and the customs of the governed. Chivalry, with its notions and pursuits, was no sooner introduced into England by the Normans, than it was adopted by the Scot-Saxon inhabitants of North Britain. Before the reign of Malcolm IV. it had become a sort of maxim, that a prince could scarcely be considered as a king before he had received the honour of knighthood; and before the accession of Alexander III., this maxim was so fully established, that it was deemed unfit, or perhaps unlawful, to crown their sovereign before he had been knighted. The barons, in this respect, followed the example of their sovereigns, by seeking knighthood, at the peril of life, through many a bloody field. Thus chivalry, which had been unknown in Celtic Scotland, was fully established before the time of Robert Bruce; and armorial bearings were universally worn by the nobility.

Before the conclusion of this period, the Scottish bi- shops quartered the arms of their families, with the badges of their sees; but the establishment of heralds, with a lord-lyon at their head, is of a much more modern date.

The mode of living, the virtues, the vices, of the ordinary classes of people, both in South and North Britain, were nearly the same, as they were of the same extraction. The manners of the nobles were warlike, and their diversions were analogous to their manners. Of these, tournaments were the most splendid; hunting and hawking, the most frequent amusements. The kings were the great hunters, in imitation of the Norman sovereigns of England; and they had in every county a vast forest, with a castle for the enjoyment of their favourite sport. Attached to every forest there was a forester, whose duty it was to take care of the game. The bishops and barons had also their foresters, with similar powers. The king had his falconer; an office which, like that of steward and some others, gave a surname to one of the principal families of Scotland.

Of the domestic pastimes of those rustic ages, there are but few notices. When David led his army to the battle of the Standard (see No. 92.), his varied people were amused by gestures, dancings, and buffoons. The amusements of the same classes of people, in the two kingdoms, were pretty much the same during those congenial ages. As the English kings had their minstrels, so the Scottish kings had their harpers and their trumpeters.

The education of such a people was similar to their manners. As early as the reign of David I., public schools seem to have existed in the principal towns of North Britain. The monks, who were ambitious of engrossing the education of the youth, obtained grants of the principal seminaries; and the children of the most honourable parents were educated in the monasteries. The abbots had sufficient liberality to encourage the studies of the monks, in order to qualify them for becoming the instructors of youth.

It may be easily supposed, that the speech of the inhabitants derived a tinge from that of their masters, who were not always natives of North Britain. At the beginning of the present period, the universal language of Scotland, if we except the district of Lothian, was Gaelic; but, towards the end of this period, the language was considerably changed, especially in the southern districts, where it was much the same as that spoken in South Britain in the 11th and 12th centuries.

The manners which were most remarkable, and attended with the most lasting effects, were produced by that religious zeal which prevailed among all ranks of men, from the highest to the lowest. All were active to endow or to enrich a monastery, according to their circumstances; and many persons of rank were studious to be received into the fraternity of some ecclesiastical community. It was thought an object of great consequence to be buried in the consecrated ground of some religious house; and, to obtain this end, many lands and other property were bestowed upon the monks. Every monastery had its roll of benefactors, and many a heart beat with desire to be added to the sacred list. Feasts were made, and masses said, for the souls of those persons who had made the largest donations to the monks; and particular monks were sometimes maintained to pray for the soul of the giver. The same energetic principle, which induced the people of that religious age to build chapels and erect churches, prompted them to found magnificent cathedrals, and to delight in the parade of splendid worship. The age was warlike as well as religious. The dignified clergy did not scruple to put on armour with their cassocks. The bishops and abbots, as well as the barons, had their esquires and armour-bearers, whom they rewarded with lands.

In the wars of these times, defensive armour was not commonly worn by the Scottish soldiers. The people retained the weapons of their ancestors, and their only defence was a buckler or target of leather. Their chief offensive weapons were, a spear of enormous length, and swords of unskilful workmanship. Their men-at-arms, or cavalry, were accoutred like the same class of soldiers in England, as they were the descendants of Englishmen.

After the death of Robert, the administration was assumed by Randolph, in consequence of an act passed in appointed 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 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 latter times; for he made the counties liable for the several robberies committed within their bounds. He even ordered the farmers and labourers not to house 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 sin, he cannot screen offenders from civil punishment."

King Robert, just before his death, had desired that Douglas' heart might be deposited in our Saviour's sepulchre at Jerusalem; and on this errand the great commander Douglas was employed, who set sail in June 1330 with a numerous and splendid retinue. He anchored off Sluy's berg's heart, in Flanders, the great emporium of the Low 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 Osyn 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 obtained leave to enter into what was thought the common cause of Christianity. The Spaniards first came in sight of the enemy near Tiefba, 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; who, with a few of his followers, were killed in attempting to rescue Sir Walter St Clair of Roslin. 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, beaten him, and extorted a sum of money from him. But however this 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.

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 Ravenshare, Ravenspur, or Ravensburgh, at the mouth of the Humber. 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, six miles east of Edinburgh, on the 20th of July 1332. With him died the glory of Scotland. The Randolph 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 on a most curious expedient to show 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.

On:

(a) As this is an important period of history, we shall 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, 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 minion, and place 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 48 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, On the 31st of July, Edward Baliol and his associates landed in the neighbourhood of Kinghorn, on the Forth; routed the earl of Fife, who opposed them; and marched next day to Dunfermline. Having then ordered his fleet to wait for him at the mouth of the Tay, he proceeded northwards, and encamped on the Miller's acre at Forteviot, with the river Earn in front.

Nothing, however, could be more dangerous than his present situation, and his destruction seemed to be inevitable. The earl of Marr was encamped with a numerous army on the opposite bank of the river Earn, in the neighbourhood of Duplin; and another, nearly as numerous, had advanced from the south, through the Lothians and Stirlingshire, and fixed its quarters at Auchterarder, eight miles to the west of Forteviot. Historians differ as to the number of the two armies. Fordun says, that the regent had with him 30,000 men, and the earl of March as many; and that Baliol had between 500 and 600 men at arms; that is, horsemen completely armed. Hemingford reckons each of the Scots armies at 40,000, and Baliol's at 500 armed men. Knighton says, that Baliol, when he landed in Fife, had 300 armed men, and 3000 more of different sorts; but that he had in all only 2500 men in his camp at Earn. In this desperate situation, the English general formed a design of attacking the Scots in their camp. They were directed to a ford by Andrew Murray of Tullibardine. The Scots kept no watch, but abandoned themselves to intemperance and riotous mirth; while their enemies, led by Alexander Mounbray, 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 hastened with 300 men at arms to oppose the enemy; and being seconded by Murdoch earl of Monteith, 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 Monteith, 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 soldiers. 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 pallisadoes. 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 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. John Crabbe, the 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 scarcely gone, when the town of Perth was surprised, and its fortifications

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 1331-2, Edward appears to have known of the hostile association of the disinherited 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 machinanties, diversas congregationes hominum ad arma indies faciunt, et, per marchais regni nostri, dictam terram Scotiae, ad eam modo guerrino impugnandum, ingredi intendant;' Federa, tom. iv. p. 511. And yet, on the 22d April following, he demanded restitution of the inheritance of Lord Wake, one of the barons in arms;" Federa, tom. iv. p. 518. Scotland, 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 scandalous 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 £2000. "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 promised to marry the princess Johanna, whom he considered as only betrothed to David Bruce, and to add £500. to her jointure; and this under the penalty of £10,000. 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, Baliol unexpectedly attacked Annan. His brother Henry made a gallant resistance for some time; but was at last overpowered by numbers and killed, together with several other persons of distinction. Baliol himself escaped almost naked, with scarcely 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 Scottish 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 solder, 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 if they had not been relieved. At length the regent, with a numerous army, appeared in the neighbourhood. He endeavoured to convey succours into the town, or to provoke the enemy to quit the advantage of the ground, and engage in battle. But all his efforts were in vain; the English obstructed every passage, and stood on the defensive.

The regent then entered Northumberland, wasted the country, and even assaulted Bamborough-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, however, persevered in his enterprise.

During a general assault, the town was set on fire, and in a great measure consumed. The inhabitants having experienced the evils of a siege, and dreading the greater 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.

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

The continuator of Hemingsford 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, 1100 men at arms, and 13,500 of the commons lightly armed, amounting in all to 14,655.

With him Knyghton 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, farther 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 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 Ross 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 other parts of the field, the events were equally disastrous. The regent received a mortal wound, 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 Ross, 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 his last exertions were for his country: Alexander Bruce earl of Carrick, who atoned for his short defection from the family of his benefactor: John Campbell earl of Athol, nephew of the late king; James Fraser, and Simon Fraser; John de Graham, and Alexander de Lindsay, Alan Stewart, and many other persons of eminent rank.

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

The regent, mortally wounded, and abandoned on the field of battle, lived only 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 twelve foot soldiers. Nor will this appear 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, and the English king took 12 surrenders, hostages, for securing the fidelity of the citizens.

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 forever annexed to the crown of England. In this instrument Baliol said, that "he had formerly become bound missions of 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, to allow the cession to 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, A quarrel whom this revolution had been owing, which produced the worst consequences to the interest of Baliol. English The brother of Alexander de Moubray died, leaving daughters, but no issue-male. Moubray 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 Moubray, Scotland, 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, having regained his freedom, began to assemble the friends of liberty, and was immediately joined by Moubrey. In a moment every thing was in confusion. Geoffrey de Moubrey, governor of Roxburgh, revolted; Henry de Beaumont was besieged in his castle of Dungarg 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 Dunbar, which was one of the few forts remaining to King David. With the assistance of Douglas 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 Lile 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 Ross, 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 military enterprises. His army was divided into two parts. With the one Edward wasted Lothian, while Baliol did the like in Annandale with the other; and in the meantime, 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 independence dangerous to Scotland, he was assured that they would never permit him to become formidable in a country which they themselves possessed.

The year 1335 is remarkable for the siege of Lochleven castle by the English, under John de Strivein. This fort is 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 dexterously, that the waters, rushing out with a prodigious force, overflowed part of the English camp; and the garrison, sallying out under 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; but 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 Cupar in Fife; but no plan of defence could be fixed on, 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 Baliol and the earl of Warenne did the same with another. Soon after the 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 neighbourhood 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 Count 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 from Scotland without molestation, but even attending him to the border, accompanied by William Douglas and his brother James. On his return, William de Pressen, warden 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 Moubrey, Geoffrey de Moubrey, 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 Scotsmen, 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 Kilbride, which had hitherto been the great refuge of King David's party. Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell resolved at all events to attempt the rescue of his wife and family, who were shut up in his castle. With 1100 men he surprised Athol in the forest of Kilbride. 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. 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 any thing of consequence. The inhabitants of Aberdeen attacked one Thomas Rosshene, who had landed at Dunottar. They were defeated; but Rosshene 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 defence the castles of Dunottar, Kincleve, Lawrieston, 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 those 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 sow, formerly mentioned in our account of the siege of Berwick: it met with the same fate now as at that time; an huge stone, let fall upon it from the top of the walls, crashed it to pieces. The English, baffled in every attack, turned the siege into a blockade; but Sir 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 Scotland. In 1339 he reduced the town of Perth and 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 post to the northward of the Forth, he employed himself in settling the affairs of the nation as well as he could.

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 Kimbuck, and 200 resolute 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 slew the sentinels; 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 Inverbervie in Kincardineshire.

In 1342, Sir Alexander Ramsay took the strong fortress of Roxburgh; for which important service the king bestowed on him the charge of 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 Ballock, he caused him to be starved to death in a most barbarous manner. The unhappy man was confined in a room, over which was a 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 agonies of hunger: and in this miserable situation he survived 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 cruelties 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, vades England, and behoves that time in France, but commanded Baliol to raise all with the militia beyond the Trent: which order, however, utmost 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 on.

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 entered England with an army of 50,000 men. His first exploit was the taking of the fortress of Liddel, and massacring all whom he found in it. The commander, Sir Walter Selby, capitulated with a Scots knight for cruelty of 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 Lancroft, 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, Durham, and Darlington, were spared for the same reason. In his march to Durham, it is said that he would have made the country a desert, had not some of the monks paid him a contribution of a thousand pounds to spare their estates: however, according to Knyghton, 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 invad- Scotland, or, 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 steward 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 archers on both sides; but the English being much 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 the flank of that division commanded by David, and which was then engaged with another line of the English, was left exposed to an attack. Baliol perceived the advantage; and, without pursuing the steward, attacked the king's division, which was speedily cut in pieces or dispersed. David was left with about 80 noblemen and gentlemen, but still 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 Moray and Douglas. At last finding himself totally overpowered, he attempted to retreat, but was overtaken by a party under one John Copeland. 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 give up his sword and surrender himself a prisoner.—After he was taken, Baliol attacked and totally routed that division of the Scottish army which had hitherto remained under the lords Moray 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 with the king; and had it not been that the escape of the Scots was favoured by the avarice of the English soldiers, who neglected the pursuit in order to plunder, scarcely a single soldier would have returned.

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 ten castles of the castles of Hermitage and Roxburgh, the crown forest of Ettrick, the Merse, with the districts of Annandale, Teviotdale, and Tweeddale. The Scots continued faithful to the cause of their king, notwithstanding his misfortunes, and chose the steward for the guardian of the kingdom. He behaved with a prudence equal to the high station which he filled; but the progress of Baliol was so rapid, that it is scarcely 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 recovery of the hereditary estate, and defended by him with an army. The Scots historians inform us, that the English, in country, revenge for 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 Scotland a dreadful plague which invaded Scotland, after having ravaged the continent of Europe. According to Fordun, one-third of the people of Scotland perished at this time. The patient's flesh swelled exceedingly, and he died in two days illness; but the mortality affected chiefly 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 which the Scots had committed in his territories. At last it was agreed, that the king of Scotland should be paid immediately set at liberty, on paying 90,000 merks for release of his ransom, by equal proportions, within the space of nine years: That 10,000 merks, 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. plete 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; and in 1355, war was recommenced 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 Douglaston. 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 surprise by an escalade. They met, however, with such a vigorous resistance, that many persons of distinction were killed. 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 staid but three days, and marched northward to raise the siege. He reached Durham on the 23rd of December 1355, where he 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 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 negociation; and to this he more willingly listened, as he was at that time waiting for his fleet, from which he had 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 mean time 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 Poictiers. In this battle were 9000 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 merks 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 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 scarcely be expected in the distressed situation of that kingdom; however, it was at last agreed, that 50,000 merks should be paid to Scotland, in case the Scots would consent to renew the war the following year. 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 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 Logic; but by neither of his wives had he any children. Queen Margaret he divorced, on what pretence is not known; but 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 and upon the king is not known; but it is certain that Margaret, preceded by Robert never returned to Scotland; and, on the 22nd of February 1371, David himself died, leaving the kingdom. Scotland to his nephew Robert Stewart, the first of that family who sat on the throne of Scotland (ii).

Some authors tell us, that at the accession of Robert II. his title was disputed by William earl of Douglas. If any 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, a particular act was framed, by which the kingdom was secured to Robert and his heirs.

The new king being thus established on the throne, endeavoured to renew the war with the English, in order to recover from them the town of Berwick, and some other places on the borders. In this, however, he failed; and as 56,000 pounds of David's ransom still remained unpaid, Robert bound himself to discharge it at the rate of 4000 merks every midsummer. He then proposed an alliance with France: but the terms demanded by that kingdom being, that Scotland should be obliged to make war with England whenever France should require it, Robert could not by any means be induced to consent to such a requisition, which would have obliged him to break through the most solemn treaties, whenever the king of France should think proper to break with England. A new treaty, therefore, was entered into, by which it was provided, that neither Scotland nor France should be obliged to make war with England; and by another clause, that the dispensation or authority even of the pope himself should never free the kings or kingdoms of France and Scotland from the obligations they lay under to assist one another, as often as required, in opposition to the kingdom of England. In case of a competition for the crown of Scotland, the king of France and his heirs were to take care that no English influence was used; but that the matter being by the greatest and best part of the nation decided conformably to the laws and establishments of Scotland, he should with all his power defend and assist the person so established. Lastly, it was agreed that no Frenchman should ever henceforth serve for wages, or otherwise, against Scotland, nor any Scotsman against France.

This last article occasioned a recal 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 there subsisted between the neighbouring people of both nations an invincible hatred, which extended not only through the lower ranks, but had 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, Scotland 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 a place called Carum. An obstinate encounter followed. The Scots were five times repulsed; but at last they renewed the charge with such fury, that they made Lisburn, 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, Musgrave 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 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

(ii) For an account of the origin of the Stewart family, see note (v), p. 610. 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 harassed 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 merks. 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 desolated, till they came to Edinburgh, which they laid in ashes. Being, however, incessantly harassed by parties of the enemy, they were obliged to retreat.

Nothing remarkable happened till the year 1388, 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 15 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 Rian in Scotland.

Encouraged by this success, Robert determined to proceed on a more enlarged plan. Having assembled a parliament at Aberdeen, a double invasion of England armies as was resolved upon. Two armies were raised; the one consisting of 25,000 men, commanded by the earls of An. 1388. Menteith and Fife, Douglas lord of Galloway, and Alexander Lindsay; the other army, consisting of the like number, was commanded by the earls of 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 counties 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 mean time, he was challenged by Hotspur to fight him hand to hand, with sharp ground spears, in sight 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-axe, 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 his defeat the two Percies, were made prisoners by Keith ma., ed., and Earl Darnischal 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 com- Scotland, but between Douglas and Percy, and the subsequent battle, which gave rise to the celebrated ballad of Chevy Chase.

In the mean time 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 on 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. Scarcely, however, was this truce finished, when the peace of the nation was most scandalously violated by Robert's fourth son Alexander, the earl of Buchan, commonly called the wolf of Badenoch, from his savage disposition. This prince having a quarrel with the bishop of Murray, burnt the fine cathedral of Elgin, which has been called by historians the larder 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 Fernzier. He had been married to Annabella the daughter of Sir John Drummond, ancestor to the noble family of Perth; and was crowned along with his consort 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 Scotland 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 Cotterenes, which answers to that of banditti. That such a race of people existed is certain from the records of 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 which they inhabited were never cultivated till towards the middle of the 17th 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 between both these tribes were numerous and brave, Crawford was not without apprehensions that they might unite Chattan against him as a common enemy, and defeat him if he and clan attempted to suppress them by force. He proposed, Kay, 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 conqueror 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 from 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 Scotland had been so accustomed to ravage and plunder, that they could not live in quiet. King Robert also 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, whom he created duke of Rothesay; 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 resenting this insult. He contented himself with nominating 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 king is said to have scandalously put up his son's marriage at auction, and offered him to the lady whose father could give him 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 sordid 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 Scotland, that the money he had advanced should be reimbursed; 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 sternness 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 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; on 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 sur-Invasion of named Hotspur; invaded Scotland, penetrating as far as Haddington, and carrying off great numbers of the inhabitants into captivity. Thence they went to Peebles, and then to Linton, ravaging the country 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 on some English ships of war that protected their fleet while fishing on 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 governor made a formal demand of him from King Henry. With this the 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 merks sterling, and the manor of Clipestone in Sherwood forest. Henry now began to revive the claim of homage from the kings of Scotland, and even projects the to meditate the conquest of the kingdom. He had in conquest of Scotland, indeed many reasons to hope for success; the principal of which were, the weakness 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 recognised 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 a 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 on 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 yet known. Under this pretext, he seized on 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 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 laid siege to 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 written, 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 Owen Glendower. 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 Mortimer, also called 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 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 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 a 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 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 Annabella died, so that none remained who were able to heal those divisions which prevailed among the royal family. Robert duke of Albany, a man of great ambition, was an enemy to the duke of Rothesay, 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 misdemeanour of any consequence, except his having debauched, under promise of marriage, the daughter of William Lindsay of Rossy. But this is not supported by any credible evidence; and, though it had been true, could never have justified the horrid treatment he met with, and which we are now to relate.

One Ramorgay, a man of the vilest principles, but conspiring an attendant on the duke of Rothesay, had won his confidence; and, perceiving how much he resented the conduct of his uncle the duke of Albany, had the villainy to suggest to the prince the despatching 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; on which the duke, and William Lindsay of Rossy his associate in the treason, resolved on the prince's death. By practising on the doating king, Lindsay and Ramorgay 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 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 Straturum (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 clothing him in a russet 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 starved death. According to Buchanan, his fate was for some time prolonged by the compassion of one of his keeper's daughters, who thrust thin oaten cakes through the chinks. 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 in 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 repressed the depredations of these invaders; and Thomas Halliburton, 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, 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 scarcely a single Scotsman 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 15,000; and according to the English historians, of 20,000 men. Murdoc, 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 as 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 chiefly this victory was 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 he 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 broken 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 singled out, but was defeated by the Scotsman; 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 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 Bass, 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 Robert into such an agony of grief, that he died in three days, the 29th of March 1405, after having reigned nearly 15 years.

By the death of Robert, and the captivity of the prince, all the regal power devolved on 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 rescuing 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 negociation 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 there existed 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 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 Lesly had succeeded to the estate and honours of the earl of Ross, 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 Ross, to which she was undoubtedly heir, in favour of John earl of Buchan, but in prejudice of Donald lord of the Isles, who was the son of 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 Ross-shire, 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 preventing 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 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 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 on, and a treaty entered into for the ransom of king James; 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 failure 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; Henry, which, however, was executed with so little success, that it became known among the common people of Scotland by the name of the futile 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 Murdoch, though a person noway 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 in 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 resenting 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 meantime, allowing an annual revenue of 200l. for paying his expense in going to the army by sea or land.

At the same time, a new negociation 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 caressed, 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, Dunbar, earl of March, John Montgomery of Ardrossan, Sir Patrick Dunbar of Bele, Sir Robert Lawder of Edington, 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, the English commissioners are to make answer, "That the king of 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 to 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 Pomfret. 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 Patrick Dunbar of Bele, Sir Robert Lauder of Edrington, George Borthwic archdeacon of Glasgow, and Patrick Houston canon of Glasgow. On the 10th 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 40,000l. 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 Branspath, 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 Scotland 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.

It is probable that James 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 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 40,000l. 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 arrival 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 Touraine; but as the history of the war in that country has already been given under the article France, we shall take no further notice of it, 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 power 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, possessed 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 estates of the Stewart family, in such a manner that James on 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 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 circumstances 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.

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 as the father of Scots music, which has been 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. Nor did he confine his cares to the fine arts, but encouraged and protected those of all kinds which were useful in 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 lasting 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 Louis 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 reform- ing abuses, curbing the authority of the great barons, and recovering the royal estates out of the hands of usurpers. In this, however, he used so 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 Strathearn, 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 reserving 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 staple; 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 betwixt 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.

In the reign of James I., several important regulations were made for the improvement of the internal polity of the kingdom. James's long residence in England, then a great and happy nation, had taught him, that the prosperity of a people depended much on the wisdom of the legislature, in enacting salutary laws, and on the activity of the chief magistrates in putting them in execution. In his third parliament, was passed an act, which affords the first appearance of a College of Justice in Scotland. By this it was ordained, that the king might appoint the chancellor, and three discreet persons of the three estates, to act as the Session, whenever the king should think fit, three times in the year, for determination of such causes as had before been adjudged by the king and his council. In 1425, it was enacted, that six wise men of the three estates should examine the books of law, which then consisted of what were called Regiam Majestatem et Quinum Archivamenta, and should amend what needed amendment. Various statutes were made, called the Black Acts, for preserving domestic tranquillity, diminishing the exorbitant power of the nobles, and promoting religious worship. Happy would it have been for Scotland if so wise a monarch had lived to execute strictly what had been enacted in so many parliaments for the general good of a wretched nation.

After the murder of James I., the crown devolved on 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 afterwards cut up alive, his heart taken out, and thrown into a fire. In short, so dreadful were these punishments, that Annes 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 greater.

As the late king had prescribed no form of regency in case of his death, the settlement of the government became a matter of great difficulty as well as importance. 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 in the same year (1438); and Sir Alexander Livingstone, power divided between 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 numerous followers and dependents, was a declared enemy of both parties, whom he equally sought 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 liberty. She played her part so well, and dissembled with so much art, that the chancellor, believing 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 clothes-chest; and both she and James were received at Stirling by the governor before the escape was known. As everything had been managed in concert with Livingstone, 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 gates. 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 a personal interview with the governor; to which the latter, who was no stranger to the sentiments of Douglas, readily agreed. 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 happened between Sir Allan Stuart of Darnley, and 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 Beilmouth, who challenged Boyd to a pitched battle, the principals being attended by a retinue 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 islanders, under two of their chieftains, Lauchlan Maclean and Murdoc 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, not only filling all the neighbouring country with rapine, but murdering 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, 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 distresses 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 control 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 guiltless of 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 descendant of the house of Darnley. Affection for her husband caused her to renew her political intrigues; and not finding a ready compliance in the governor, her interest inclined towards the party of the Douglasses. The governor thought 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 many respects not so defensible, either as to prudence or policy. When the queen expressed her inclinations 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 undutiful practices against the state, and abetting the earl of Douglas in his enormities. The queen, taking fire at her husband's imprisonment, was herself confined in a mean apartment within the castle of Stirling; and a convention of the states was called, to judge in what manner she was to be proceeded against. The case was unprecedented and difficult; nor is it credible that the governor would have carried matters to such extremity, had he not had strong evidence of her illegal behaviour. She was even obliged to dissemble her resentment, by making an open profession before the states, that she had always been entirely innocent of her husband's practices, and that she would for the future behave as a peaceable and dutiful subject to the laws and the sovereign. Upon making this purgation (as Lindsay calls it), she was released, as also her husband and his brother, being bailed by the chancellor and the lord Gordon, who became sureties for their good behaviour in the penalty of 4000 merks. The governor was afterwards accused 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 almost impossible, consistently with his own safety, to have exerted the virtues either of patriotism or moderation.

The chancellor was exceedingly 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 on 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 the king 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 Livingston, 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 Edin- 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 Touraine from Charles the seventh of France; which being readily granted him, served to increase his pride and insolence. The first-fruits of the accommodation between the two great officers of state was the holding of a parliament at Edinburgh, for redressing the public disorders occasioned by the earl of Douglas; and encouragement was given to all persons who had been injured to make their complaints. The numbers which on that occasion resorted to Edinburgh were incredible; parents, children, and women, demanding 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 states, 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 those 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 wisest 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 to make their escape; but armed men rushing in, overpowered them, 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 his brother procure their pardon; for which he was severely checked by the 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 Sempil 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 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 and received pardon for all his transgressions, and solemnly promised that he would ever after set 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. Lord Great distur- 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 sought 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 Livingston, 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... Scotland being confiscated, the execution of the sentence was committed to John Forrester of Corstorphin, 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 on 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 archbishop 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. Corstorphin, Abercorn, Blackness, and other places, were plundered; and Crichton carried off from them more booty than he and his adherents had lost. Particular mention is made of a fine breed of mares which Douglas 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 archbishop 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 Aberbrothwic, 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 to the monks, by the great number of his attendants, and his high manner of living, 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 on the bailiwick. This, notwithstanding their former intimacy, created an irreconcilable difference between the two families. Each competitor strengthened himself by calling in the assistance of his friends; and the lord Gordon taking part with the Ogilvies, to whom he was then paying a visit, both parties immediately mustered in the neighbourhood of Aberbrothwic. The earl of Crawford, who was then at Dundee, immediately posted to Aberbrothwic, 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 Lindsays, that is, the earl of Crawford's party. On that of the Ogilvies were killed Sir John Oliphant of Aberdalgy, John Forbes of Pitligo, Alexander Barclay of Garthley, Robert Maxwell of Telting, Duncan Campbell of Campbelfether, 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 Finhaven, where he died of his wounds; but the lord Gordon (or, as others call him, the earl of Huntly) 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, nor to any description of men 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, stifled every sentiment of honour, and every feeling of humanity. The Lindsays, secretly abetted and strengthened 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. In the west, Robert Boyd of Ducheal, governor of Dumbarton, treacherously surprised Sir James Stuart of Achmynto, 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 partisans of the earl of Douglas, whose tenants, particularly those of Amandale, 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 connexions with the earls of Crawford, Ross, and other great noblemen, who desired to see their feudal powers restored to their full vigour. The queen-dowager and her husband made little or no figure during this season 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 confinement.

The great point between the king and Sir William Crichton 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 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. That vengeance was exercised with rigour. 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 preserve 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. These severities being inflicted after the king had in a manner readmitted the sufferers into his favour, swelled 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 on the scaffold, in which he complained, with great bitterness, of the cruel treatment which 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 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. On the return of the English armies to their own country, additional levies were made, and a fresh invasion of Scotland was resolved on under the earl of Northumberland, who had with 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 fixed their 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 Welsh, by Sir John Pennington, an officer of courage and experience.

The Scots drew up in three divisions likewise. Their right wing was commanded by Wallace, the centre by the earl of Ormond, and their left wing by the lords Maxwell and Johnston. Before the battle began, the earl of Ormond harangued his men, and inspired them with very high resentment against the English, who, he said, had treacherously broken the truce. The signal for battle being given, the Scots under Wallace rushed forward on their enemies; but, as usual, were received by so terrible a discharge from the English archers, that their impetuosity must have been stopped, 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 the 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 remaining history of this turbulent 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 Maclellan, who is called the Tutor of Bomby, and was nephew to Sir Patrick Gray, captain of the king's guard, refused to give any attendance on 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 on Maclellan's house and person, he sent him close prisoner to the castle of Douglas. As Scotland. Maclellan 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 Maclellan, 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 Maclellan'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 conspiracy 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 concur 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 on 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 desppicable on his sovereign's head. It is 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 on 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 retinue; and arrived there on Shrove-Tuesday. He was received by the king as if he had been the best of his friends, as well as the greatest of his subjects, and admitted to sup with his majesty in the castle, while his attendants 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 forgotten."

This speech was the very reverse of what the earl 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, on the king's imperemptorily 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 on his setting the example; and the earl continuing more and more obstinate, James stabbed him with his dagger; and armed men rushing into the room, finished the atrocious deed.

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 Douglasses 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 Huntly, and to all the noblemen of his kingdom who were not 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 wisely kept himself on 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 carry on, 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 farther 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 it was necessary for every man to 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 Archbishop Kennedy and the earl of Angus, who was himself a Douglas, and prevailed on to wait for the event of the earl of Huntly's attempts for his service. This nobleman, who was descended from the Seatons, but by marriage inherited the great 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 Seatons, had been always remarkably devoted. James was not mistaken in the high opinion he had of Huntly; and in the mean time he issued circular letters to the chief ecclesiastics and bodies-politic of his kingdom, setting forth the necessity he was under of proceeding as he had done, and his readiness to protect all his loyal subjects in their rights and privileges against the power of the Douglasses and their rebellious adherents. Before these 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 Huntly, 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, Leslies, Grants, Irvings, and other relations and dependants 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, headed by foreign officers. The two armies joining battle on the 18th of May, victory was for some time in suspense; till one Coloss 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 strongest part of Crawford's army, armed with battle-axes, broadswords, and long spears. His defection gave the fortune of the day to the earl of Huntly, 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 Huntly 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 on the whole. The earl of Huntly, particularly, lost two brothers, William and Henry; and we are told, Scotland, that, to indemnify him for his good services, as well as for the rewards and presents which he had made in lands and privileges to his faithful followers, the king bestowed on him the lands of Badenoch and Lochaber.

The battle of Brechin was not immediately decisive in favour of the king, but proved so in its consequences. The earl of Moray, a Douglas likewise, took advantage of Huntly's absence to harass and ravage the estates of all the royalists in the north; but Huntly 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 archbishop 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-appearance, 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, Douglas, and others, signed with their own hands public manifestoes, 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 hospitality, and a surpriser of the innocent." It does not appear that these atrocious proceedings did any service to the cause of the confederates. The earl of Huntly continued victorious in the north; where he and his followers, in revenge for the earl of Moray's having burnt his castle of Huntly, seized or ravaged all that nobleman's great estate north of the Spey. When he came to the town of Forres, he burned 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 Douglasses there. The earl of Crawford, on the other hand, having now recruited his strength, destroyed the lands of all the people of Angus, and of all others 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 resentment 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 to 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 were the chief reasons, 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 resumed his arms, in the manner related, only in hopes that better terms might be obtained from James for himself and his party. 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 continuing his march through the country, when the earl and some of his chief followers fell on their knees before him on the road, bareheaded and barefooted. Their dreary looks, their suppliant 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 Archbishop Kennedy, who, he resolved, should have some share in the favour be 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 the restitution of all their estates and honours, and full pardon for all that had passed. The earl, as a grateful return for 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 Andrew's; 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 half way between Stirling and Abercorn. Notwithstanding this superiority of force, however, the earl did not think it proper to fight his sovereign. Archbishop 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, except 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. In his journey southward, however, 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 Ancrum 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 1460, he was killed at the siege of Roxburgh castle, by the bursting of a cannon, to which he was too near when it was discharged. This siege he had undertaken in favour of Margaret 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, his queen appeared in the camp, and presented her 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 1468, 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 Mentheith, 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 she rather chose to return to Denmark, that in lieu of the said liferent, 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 reannexed to the crown of Norway as before.

When these articles were agreed on, 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 other 8000. The Scottish plenipotentiaries, of whom Boyd earl of Arran was one, gratified him in his request; and this Arran's 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 in vain produced a parliamentary indemnity: 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 on 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 aid their purposes. One Andrew, an infamous impostor in that art, had been brought over from Flanders by James; and he and Schervez, the archbishop of St Andrew'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 on the continent were smitten with the same infatuation; and the wretches who besieged 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 brother intended to murder him. James believed her; and the unguarded manner in which the earl of Mar treated his weakness, exasperated him so much, that the earl giving a farther loose to his tongue in railing against his brother's unworthy favourites, was arrested, and committed to the castle of Craigmillar; from which 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; and James could not be easy without having him likewise in his power. In hope 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 Evendale, 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 readmitted to his brother's favour. The seeming negociation, at last, went on so prosperously, 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 domestic whom he was allowed, making the experiment before his master, broke his neck; on which the duke, lengthening the rope, slid down unhurt; and carrying his servant on his back to a place of safety, he went on board a ship which his friends had provided, and escaped to France.

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 chief foibles. His great favourite at this time was Cochran, whom he had raised to the dignity of earl of Mar. All historians agree that this man made a most infamous use of his power. He obtained at last a liberty of coining, 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 oppressive 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 so 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 hang all his worthless favourites over Lawder-bridge, then the common place of execution. Their deliberation was not kept so secret but that it reached 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. (L)

According to Lindsay,

(L) 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 300 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 500 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 beryl, hanging... say, 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 Hannil, William Torffan, 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 Daisy. 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 at 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, on 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 Holyroodhouse with his brother, who now acted as his first 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 privileges.

In 1487, James finished some secret negotiations in which he had been for some time engaged with Henry VII. king of England. 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 Rothesay 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.

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 that 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 archdean 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 to 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 for 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 forbidding all persons, spiritual and temporal, to attempt any thing, directly or indirectly, contrary or prejudicial to the said union and a quarel annexation. The Humes resented their being stripped with the loss of so gainful a revenue, the loss of which affected most family 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 on all who had any hand in the execution at Lawder. 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 pathetically exhorted them to break off all their rebellious connexions, and return to their duty; expressing the most sincere contrition for his own past conduct. Finding he could not prevail with him, 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;

in the midst. This Cochran had his heumont 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." time; for he died without issue at Lindores, on the 15th 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 on the protection of the law, as they did on 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, 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, master 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 in execution. Though the king's proceedings in all this were perfectly agreeable to law, yet they were given out by his enemies as so 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 connexions entered into by James with Henry VII. of England, 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 on 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. 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 connexions; 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 on 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 vigour to their cause; and in this they were not deceived. James, in the mean time, finding the inhabitants of the southern provinces either were engaged in the rebellion, or at best observed a cold neutrality, embarked on board 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 to Stirling. Arriving at the castle, he gave orders that the duke of Rothesay (as if 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 on 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 they there found a large sum of money, which proved to be of the utmost consequence to their affairs. They then surprised the Success of 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 Huntly, Errol, and Mar-hal.—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 on 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, raised chiefly in Fifeshire. 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 I mistake not) to the unfortunate earls of Gowrie, 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 hast deserved." James lay that night in the town of Stirling. Scotland. 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 past dispute; 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 Castillo 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 negociation, could be reassembled; 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 dismissing 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, on the rebels peremptorily requiring him to resign his crown to his son, or rather 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 great Bruce had defeated the English under Edward the Second. The earl of Menteith, the lords Erskine, Graham, Ruthven, and Maxwell, commanded the first line of the king's army. The second was commanded by the earl of Glencarn, 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 Scots in Annandale 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 his first onset; and he had put spurs to his horse, in endeavoring to gain the banks of the Forth, and to go on board one of Wood's ships. In passing through the 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, Is thrown 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 incautiously) your king this morning." The woman, overcome with astonishment, clapped 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 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 Sempil, Erskine, and Ruthven, and other gentlemen of great eminence, are mentioned. As to the grief of 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 recognised as king.

The remorse and anguish of the young king, on reflecting upon the unnatural part which 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 one 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 sufficient hostages for his safety. These being delivered, Sir Andrew waited on 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 assist 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 skaitless 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 relish 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 1488.

If we were to form an opinion of the manners of these times from the statutes enacted by the Scottish parliament during the reign of James III., we should suppose them to have been more refined than is evinced by the actions which we have just related. By those statutes the rights of the church were again confirmed, yet we have seen, from events, how little effect religion had produced on the morals of the age. One of the first acts of this reign was, to give the king the right of presentation to all benefices of ecclesiastical patronage, while the episcopal sees were vacant. The king was empowered to hold plea of any matter personally, at his displeasure, as it was wont to be before. The parliament again delegated to a few of its members the whole legislative power; yet was it not felt in that age, as begetting contempt, and consequently disobedience. The leges burgorum were declared to be part of the law, and the books of regiam majestatem were called his majesty's laws. In these declarations we may perceive that the legislators of those times were not very accurate antiquaries, yet did the estates display a just anxiety for the preservation of their rolls and registers, by directing that they should be entered in books. With an allusion, perhaps, to the atrocities of that period, the three estates declared that murder and assassinations were not to be entitled to sanctuary. During this terrible reign, the parliament displayed more zeal than knowledge for promoting the agriculture and fishery, and for regulating the trade, coinage, and shipping of a people who still wanted credit, capital, and circulation, for the enjoyment of an active and profitable commerce. The legislative acts of this reign show, to an inquisitive eye, some progress towards civilization, though the history of its political events attests that there had been little improvement in the morality of the national character, or in the refinements of domestic life.

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 on the king by 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, not fewer than 28 lords were cited to appear at Edinburgh in the space of 40 days. The first on the list was the lord David Lindsay, whose form of arraignment was as follows. "Lord David Lindsay of the Byres, answer for the cruel coming against the king at Bannockburn 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 answer him, all they could do was to press him to throw himself on the king's clemency; which he refused, as being guilty of no crime. His brother, Patrick Lindsay, undertook to be his advocate, and apologized on his knees for the roughness of his behaviour, and at last observed an informality in the proceedings of the court; in consequence of which Lindsay was released, on entering into recognisance to appear again at an appointed day; but he was afterwards sent prisoner by the king's order, for a whole year, 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 meantime, 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 Scotland, for ever after. All the young nobility who had been disinherit ed by their fathers for taking arms against the late king, were, by act of parliament, restored to their several successions in the most ample manner. At last, in order to give a kind of proof to the world that they intended only to resettle 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, undocked 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 the 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 recompense the boroughs, who had been very active in their opposition to the late king. Before they dissolved their parliament, the lords thought it necessary to give some public testimony of their disapproving the late king's connexion 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 all those who had appeared in arms against the late king; and the party who now governed in Scotland were regarded 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 on 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, lie was defeated, taken unawares, and the castle of Dumbarton, of which he was the keeper, taken by the opposite party. In the north, the earls Huntly and Marshal, 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 enlist themselves. After the defeat of Lenox, however, 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 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 for the admiral, to offer him a pardon, and a commission to act against the English freebooters. Who act Wood accepted the king's offer; and being well provided with ammunition and artillery, he, with two ships and all only, attacked the five English vessels, all of which he took, and brought their crews prisoners to Leith, for Wood, 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 not more than two ships with him: the English admiral had three; and these admiral 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 on both sides of the frith. The fight continued all that day, and was renewed with redoubled fury in the morning; but in the meantime 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 sandbanks; and before they could get clear of them, all the three were obliged to submit to the Scots, who carried them to Dundee. Wood treated his prisoners with great humanity; and having afterwards presented them to King James, the latter dismissed them not only without taken with ransom, but with presents to the officers and crews, and all his 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 hence 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 concern 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. proposed a match between the king of Scotland and his cousin the princess Catherine. James was too much attached to France to be fond of English connexions, and probably thought this match below his dignity; in consequence of which the proposal was treated with contempt. Notwithstanding this ill success, however, 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 gross 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 convoy so far as Colleweston, 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 Surrey and Northumberland, who proceeded with her to the borders of Scotland. Here many 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; a circumstance which must be imputed 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 one of his predecessors; and began to make a considerable figure among the European potentates. But the magnificence of his court and embassies, his liberality 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 those proceedings, in the same manner as Epsom 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 the building of ships; one of which, the St Michael, is supposed to have been the largest then in the world (m). He worked with his own hands in building it; and it is plain, from his conduct, that he was aspiring to 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

(m) 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 wasted 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 busily in her; but it was a year and day ere she was complete); to wit, she was twelve score foot of length, and thirty-six foot within the sides. She was ten foot thick in the wall, outted jests of oak in her wall, and boards on every side, so stark 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 cannon, six on every side, with three great bassils, two behind in her dock, and one before, with three hundred shot of small artillery, that is to say, myand and battret-falcon, and quarter-falcon, slings, pestelent serpetens, and double-dogs, with hag-tor and culvering, cors-bows, and hand-bows. She had three hundred mariners to sail 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 shoot a cannon at her, to essay her if she was wight; but I heard say, it deareed her not, and did her little skaith. And if any man believe that this description of the ship be not of verity, as we have written, let him pass 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 proprieties of her, Sir Andrew Wood is my author, who was quarter-master of her; and Robert Bartyne, who was master-shipper." prince was brother to the queen dowager 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, 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 kinds of provisions; so that the brave queen was forced to capitulate, and to surrender up the fortress, on condition that she might be suffered to depart for Denmark; but the capitulation was perfidiously 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 Hollinshed, 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 appear to be strictly 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 great progress, 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 conduct her to the frontiers of Denmark; where she 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 durst not have done, had they not brought me 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 the Flemings had afforded the Duke of Gueldres, as well as from the motives of rapaciousness, which distinguished those Holland traders, who are said not only to have plundered the derricks, 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 on 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 remaining part of the reign of Henry VII.; nor did his son Henry VIII., though he had not the same reason as his father to keep well with the Scots, for some time show any disposition to break with them. A breach, however, at length took place, and was never afterwards thoroughly made up.

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 Sluys; 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, whence no redress could be obtained; and James III. granted letters of marque to John and Robert Bartons, heirs to the Barton who had been murdered. Upon the accession of James IV. to the crown of Scotland, the letters of marque were recalled, and a friendly correspondence was entered into between James and his Portuguese majesty. No redress, however, was to be had from the latter; and Robert Barton being made prisoner, and his ship a prize, he was detained in Zealand, till James procured his deliverance, by applying in his favour to the emperor Maximilian. Sir Andrew Barton took part in the quarrel; and having obtained a like letter of marque, he made dreadful depredations on the Portuguese trade, and, according to English authors, he plundered many English ships, on pretence of their carrying Portuguese property, and made the navigation of the narrow seas dangerous to Englishmen. The court of London received daily complaints of Barton's depredations; but Henry being at this time very averse to quarrel with James, these complaints were heard with great coldness at his council-board. The earl of Surrey had then two sons, gallant noblemen; and he declared to Henry's face, that while he had an estate that could furnish out a ship, or a son who was capable of commanding one, the narrow seas should not be infested. Henry could not discourage this generous offer; and letters of marque were accordingly granted to the two young noblemen, Sir Thomas and Sir Edward Howard. The prizes that Barton had taken. James could never forgive Henry for the loss of his brave officer. He sent to demand satisfaction; but all the answer he received was, that Barton and his crews were lawless pirates, and that what had been done against them ought never to have been resented amongst sovereign princes. James asserted that Barton was no pirate, because he bore his commission; and that he ought to have been convicted of piratical acts before he was treated as being guilty of them. Henry intimated to James, that he was willing to accommodate the affair by way of negotiation; but James thought himself affronted by the proposal.

Various negotiations took place concerning this and other affairs till the year 1513; when James, though he had for some time before been fully resolved on a war with England, thought it highly necessary that it should have the sanction of his parliament, which he assembled for that purpose. The young nobility were not only inspired with the sentiments of James, but had been won over by the French; and the majority of them, as well as of the clergy (which was somewhat extraordinary, as James was, in effect, to fight against 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 commerce protected by a fleet, dreaded the ruinous consequences of the 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, who had received a present from Louis 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 overruled, 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 Lovell, 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, Westmorland, 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, which was extremely convenient for that purpose, as the Scots were obliged to pass that way. 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 so 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 James from became a wise and prudent wife to divert him from his fatal purpose. She endeavoured to work on his superstition, by recounting to him her ominous dreams and boding apprehensions. James treating these as mere illusions and fictions of the brain, she 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 azure colour, and girded round with a towel or 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 seat; 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, James 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 Surrey, 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 Holyroodhouse. 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 22d of August he passed the Tweed, encamping that night near the banks of the Twissel. On his arrival at Twisselhaugh 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 Surrey, 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 so 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 assisted 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 Surrey 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 the sixth day after. James then proceeded to the castle of Etal 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 of 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 Surrey 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 distinction, he marched on the 3d 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, as the English authors admit, his army 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 desertion 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 example 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 correspondence between the English lady and the earl of Surrey. James was deaf to all their remonstrances; and the earl of Angus declared, that he was resolved to return home, as he foresaw 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 Huntly 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 Huntly, 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 Surrey 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 Surrey 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 Huntly and others made strong remonstrances monstrances 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 Huntly, however, added, that his opinion should be determined by that of the king and council; and that he was equally ready to share in his majesty's danger as his glory.

Huntly 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 besiege Berwick; but the majority of them declared that it was beneath the dignity of James to fight the earl of Surrey 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 Surrey 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 fight him. With this message, a small manifesto, in vindication of James's conduct, was sent by the same herald.

The earl of Surrey, 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 on the honour and courage of James. The earl then ordered his army to march in the line of battle towards Wolleraugh. There he was joined by Rouge Croix, his 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 Surrey 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. The Scots thus lying on the defensive, the earl of Surrey again sent Rouge Croix to inform James that he was ready to give him battle. James was sensibly nettled at this tacit imputation on his honour, and perhaps was inwardly vexed at having followed the wise advice of his noblemen. It appears, 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 great appearance of probability, that while the English were passing the bridge, Borthwick, master of the Scotch artillery, fell on 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 Surrey, 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 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 before-hand 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 of Flodden, far from being a disagreeable circumstance to James. His person was so dear to his troops, that many of them tendered 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 9th 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 Huntly; the earls of Lennox 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 Scotland. Hume is mentioned as serving under the earls of Crawford and Montrose, and Hepburn earl of Bothwel was 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 on which the Scots were drawn up; and it did great execution. The Scots had not foreseen this manoeuvre; and it threw them into such disorder, that the earl of Huntly 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 on the main body of the English; and the king bringing up the earl of Bothwel'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 Scottish historians, by the Humes, were routed; and thus all that part of the Scotch army which was engaged under their king, 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 in the head with a ball. His coat of armour was presented to Queen Catharine, 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 men.

Thus fell James IV., after having exercised the regal review of power for 25 years, and lived about 40. In reviewing the principal transactions of his reign, our chief attention is directed to the acts of the legislature. These, as in the preceding reigns, appear to have been very mindful of the freedom of the halie kirke. During the year 1489, was passed an act, by which it was made criminal for any one to intermeddle with the profits or duties of the church; and this act, which did not long protect, either the church or the clergy from the rapacity of the times, was speedily followed by legislative declarations for universal concord among the king's lieges. The parliament also endeavoured to protect the king's privileges, considering him, still, however, as a minor; but he attempted in vain to restore to the royal prerogative the necessary vigour of ancient times. Additional exemptions were given to those members whose duty required their constant attendance in parliament; but by these exemptions the authority of the parliament was neither strengthened nor enlarged. The general principles of former ages, that the king, by his precept, might summon any of his subjects to give their presence and advice in parliament, was again recognised; and considering how much of the public revenue was paid by the boroughs, it was a salutary provision that their deputies should be always summoned as representatives of one of the three estates, when it was intended to require contributions from the people.

There seems to have been, during this reign, considerable zeal for promoting domestic economy, though the best means were not always employed for that purpose. Agriculture was encouraged, weights and measures were settled, craftsmen were regulated, coins were struck, the value of money diminished, and shipping were required to come first to the free boroughs. In addition to all these regulations, it was enacted under a penalty, that barons and freeholders should send their eldest sons to the schools, to learn Latin and law; but there seems to have been no provision made for instructing them in the more important information of morals and manners, in which the nation was notoriously deficient.

After the death of King James IV., the administration devolved on the queen-dowager; but she being pregnant with a posthumous child, and unable to bear the weight of public business, accepted 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 written 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 inroads of the Scots upon his borders."

Thus far Drummond: But though Henry might grant this time to his sister's intreaty, 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 it, 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 now teemed with public calamity, which seems to have gathered strength while the queen was in childbed. The archbishopric of St Andrew's being vacant, it was offered by universal consent to Elphinston bishop of Aberdeen; but being now old and infirm, he declined it. Three competitors for that high dignity then appeared. The first was Gawin Douglas, then abbot of Aberbrothockwick, to which he was presented by the queen on 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 Elphinston 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 presence 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 dependants on 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 an opposition to his rivals, that none could be found sufficiently daring 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, Scotland, and, notwithstanding all the opposition given by the Hepburns, he proclaimed the pope's bull at the cross 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 present 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 by the name of Alexander. On the 6th of August this year she was married to the earl of Angus; a circumstance than which nothing could be accounted more impolitic. She had neither consulted her brother 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 Douglases did not dispute her having divested herself of the regency; but they affirmed, that the parliament 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 might weaken his interest on the borders. He was joined by a number of the young nobility, who, though divided among themselves, united against Angus. In short, the general opinion was, that the Douglases 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 when 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 disappoint 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 met him at some distance from the town. The parliament then resumed 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 point at which the regent aimed, was the conciliating the differences amongst 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 not fewer than 800 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. The forfeiture was afterwards, however, remitted; but nor before Drummond had, upon his knees, acknowledged his offence, and humbled 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 ascendency over the regent by means of large sums of money laid out among his domestics, by an insinuating and plausible address, and by well directed flatteries; and he employed this ascendency 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 insinuations of Hepburn; and as that nobleman had frequent occasion to be at court by 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 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, while 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 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 Lenox. 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; whence he was soon after driven, and obliged to fly into England, by the earls of Arran and Lenox. The queen-mother retired to a monastery at Coldstream; and messengers were despatched to the court of England, to know how Henry would have his sister disposed of. He ordered the lord Dacres, 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 VI. The regent despatched 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 mean time many disorders were committed throughout the kingdom by the party of the queen-mother; though, 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 banditti, by deserting his wife, 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 infesting 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 1515, 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 regent employed in quelling 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 for defence; but he was prevailed on 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 thus 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 nighttime 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 reconciliation. 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 on a removal of the regent from his place, they were for the present dropped. 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 of 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. Whatever occasion there might be for this severity, it alienated the affections of the people to such a degree, that the regent could scarcely 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 Beauté, 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 repressing some disturbances on the borders. These being speedily quelled, he seized on his return 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 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 Andrews and Glasgow, the earls of Arran, Angus, Huntly, 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. She suppressed her resentment, however, 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 this 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 Dunse, where he proposed to hold a court of justice.—His death was little regretted; yet his murderers were prosecuted with the utmost severity, and several persons of distinction declared rebels on that account.

Meanwhile, 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 with the zeal of the governors in punishing 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 Am. 1519, 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 Skirmish victory declared for Angus, and 72 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 Cleane the Causeway.

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 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 Dacres was ordered to proclaim upon the borders that the Scots must stand to their peril if they did not accede to 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 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 Roslin; but the Scots, remembering the disaster at Flodden, showed an extreme aversion to the war, and even declared to the regent, that though they would defend themselves in case they were attacked, they would Scotland, not engage in a French quarrel. The regent remonstrated, but without effect; and as the malcontents continued obstinate, he was in danger of being left by himself, when the queen-mother interposed, and prevailed with 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 in whom he could confide, that he was about to return to France, whence he should bring such a force by sea and land, as should render it unnecessary for him again to ask leave of the Scots 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 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; on 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 set out from another port with 12 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 on 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 soon arising, which obliged the English fleet to return to the Downs, the regent took that opportunity of reimbarking his men, and, sailing by the western coasts, arrived safe in Scotland.

All this time the earl of Surry had been carrying on the most cruel and destructive war against Scotland; insomuch that, according to Cardinal Wolsey, "there was left neither house, fortress, village, tree, cattle, corn, nor other succour for man," in the districts of Tweeddale 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, in which it was debated, Whether peace or war with England should be resolved on? and the determinations of this parliament were evidently on the worse side of the question. Henry was at this time so well disposed to cultivate a friendship with Scotland, 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, which is rejected all terms, and resolved on war. However, rejected when the army was assembled, and had advanced to the borders, he found the same difficulty he had formerly experienced; for they peremptorily refused to enter England. With great difficulty he prevailed with 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 was 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 be 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 reconciliation. At last, the duke of Albany, finding all parties united against him, resigned his office of regent of Scotland. On the 14th of March that year, he went on board one of his own ships for France, whence he never returned to Scotland. He did not indeed make a formal abdication of his government; but 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 means left An. 1524, to keep herself in power, than to bring James himself into action. On the 29th of July, therefore, he re-James moved from Stirling to the abbey of Holyroodhouse; takes on where he took-on himself the exercise of government, himself 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 in 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 sister's intrigues 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 co-operate 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 bring about a lasting 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 resolved 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 respecting it; 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 respecting these points: but one of them, the earl of Cassilis, offered to return to Scotland, and bring a definitive answer from the three estates; and in the mean time the truce was prolonged to the 15th of May.

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 cool reply, 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 Cassilis returned, a truce of two years and a half was concluded between England and Scotland.

Now, however, the queen-mother, though she had always been a warm advocate for an alliance between the two nations, 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 but to keep 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; but this being an unconstitutional measure, gave a pretext to the earl of Arran and his party to complain of the innovation. They began with remonstrances; but finding these 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 be introduced into the castle, the queen ordered some of the cannon to be turned against the town, in order to force the citizens to terminate the blockade. Several shots 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 which he should repair with all possible magnificence to his parliament, in the house where it was commonly held; and there a termination 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 of England was ratified; but no mention was made of English 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 in rotation, 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-dowager, as princess and dowager, should not give her consent." This partition of power, by giving the queen-dowager a negative in all public matters, soon threw everything into confusion. The earl of Angus, by leading the king into various scenes of pleasure and dissipation, so gained the ascendency over him, that he became almost 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 abused his power, engrossing 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 by the 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, 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 sufficient discernment to perceive, that notwithstanding all the fair pretences of the earl of Angus, he was in fact no better than his prisoner; and resolved to attempt the recovery of his liberty. The earls of Argyll 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 Lenox resembled his sentiments so well, that he was suspected neither 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 such treacherous keepers. At the same time he sent letters to his mother, and the heads of her party, by some of his domestics whom Lenox had pointed out, intreating 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-mother 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 oppose them with vigour, but... Scotland, but at the same time to carry along with him his royal charge. 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 on the king to demand it by a special message; in consequence of which, the archbishop was obliged to relinquish it. About this time the divorce which had been so long in agitation between the queen-mother and the earl of Angus actually took place; and this, no doubt, increased the dislike of James to his confinement, while the imprudence of Angus daily gave fresh reason 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 scarcely 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. Lenox 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 instructions 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 Douglases. 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 before. After this attempt, however, as the earl of Angus could not but know that Lenox had been accessory to it, the former behaved towards him with such visible indifference, that Lenox openly declared against him, and advised the king to form a 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 Lenox was overbalanced by that of Arran and the Hamilton family, whom the earl of Angus had now drawn over to his party. The earl of Lenox, however, 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. 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 put 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; insomuch that Sir George Douglas, afraid of not coming in time to succour his brother, made use of many indecent expressions and actions to push James on to the field of battle. Three expresses 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 Lenox 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 Lenox, and put an end to the slaughter. But he came too late; for the royal party was already defeated with great slaughter; and Lenox 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 Lenox, the behaviour of the Douglases 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-mother and the archbishop of St Andrew's. The queen-mother, on the news of his approach, fled, with her new husband Henry Stuart, brother to Lord Evandale, to Edinburgh, and both 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 castle of St Andrew's and the abbey of Dunfermline, returned in triumph to Edinburgh, where he prepared to besiege the castle; but the queen-mother, 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 Cassilis. He was offered by Sir James Hamilton, natural son of 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, desiring 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 also prevailed in some parts of 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 districts, he soon reduced them to subjection. His power seemed now to be firmly established, blished, insomuch 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 released from her confinement, took part; and she was afterwards suffered to depart to the castle of Stirling; which Angus, not considering its importance, had neglected to secure. In the mean time the archbishop invited the Douglases to spend some days with him at his castle; which they accordingly did, and carried the king along with them. Here James dissembled so 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, while he returned 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, captain of the guards who 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, desiring him to come to St Andrew's; and there put the last hand to the leases, and finish the bargains that had been spoken off between them. This was so plausible, that he immediately set out for St Andrew's; while his uncle the treasurer went to Dundee. James thinking this to be the best opportunity that ever presented itself for an escape, resolved to avail himself of it at all events; and found means, by a private message, to apprise 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 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 stables, 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 everything 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's escape 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 Bamburgh; but that surmise was soon found to be false; and an express was despatched, 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, Menteith, Rathe, and Elgin; the lords Graham, Livingston, 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 he should 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 Douglases 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 desire, 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 Douglases not to approach the court, and divesting 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 compliance with these 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 summonses 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 Douglases, who remained assembled in a numerous body, would make the attempt already mentioned; but the royalists had the precaution to despatch 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 despatch, that they were in possession of the town when the Douglases 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. On the retreat of the Douglases 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 dependants, were indicted, and their estates forfeited, for the following offences: "The assembling of the king's lieges, with intention to have assailed 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 Bannatyne, 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 exclude 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 Douglases 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 which ought to have been filled by an able statesman; and Robert Carncross, 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 Douglases; and Robert Barton, one of the king's favourites, was appointed to succeed him. The Douglases 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 which the Douglases could collect 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 recognised 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 delivery of the same; and the several pieces required were accordingly sent him. This deficiency is the more remarkable, as we are told that the duke of Albany had given orders that everything in his castle should be at the king's disposal in his service. However unanimous the parliament might scheme to appear against the Douglases, James was but ill seconded in this attempt. This proceeding, in a country where the Douglases had so many connexions, 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 military attempt 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 that the former was now rendered more placable towards the Douglases; and this was the true reason why the siege was suspended.

The truce between Scotland and England was now near expiring; and Henry, under that pretence, 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 Tempest. 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 pretence to 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 controul from any party, showed excellent dispositions for government. Finding that the James reborderers 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 so long proved disgraceful and dangerous to his ancestors, by giving no quarter to the chiefs of these robbers, whose principal residence was in Liddesdale. 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 had killed one Robert Kerr, a man of some consequence. Two of the chiefs of the Scotch borderers were Cockburn of Kenderlaw, and Adam Scott, 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 Buccleuch, Farquharst, Polwart, Johnston, and Mark Kerr. Though we know nothing particularly of what was laid to the charge of these 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 Douglasses, 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 already mentioned. He now resolved to attempt in person what his predecessors and himself had so often failed to accomplish by their deputies. As he was known to be violently addicted to hunting, he summoned his nobility, even on the north of 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 Gilnockhill. He was the head of a numerous clan, who lived in great pomp and splendour upon the contributions under which they laid the English on the borders. He was himself always attended by 26 gentlemen on horseback, well mounted and armed, as his body guard. 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 usual, 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 attendants, 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. These and similar executions restored peace to the borders.

Hitherto we have confined ourselves chiefly to the State of civil transactions of North Britain, and have only incidentally noticed the ecclesiastical affairs. These are now, however, to claim a considerable share of our attention, as about this time the spirit of the reformed religion had extended itself to Scotland, where it soon made a most rapid progress.

We have seen, that for several centuries, the hierarchy of North Britain possessed no small degree of influence and power; but we have found few instances of any remarkable respect being paid to the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. The pope, indeed, as supreme head of the church, had long assumed the right of consecration, and this right, in the opinion of those ages, was undoubtedly, according to the established law of the Christian world. The spiritual jurisdiction of the pope was always acknowledged; but before the end of the 12th century, his temporal power was disputed, because it would have absorbed the sovereign right of independent princes. After many struggles, Pope Celestine III., in 1188, declared the church of Scotland to be the daughter of Rome by special grace, and to be immediately subject to the apostolic jurisdiction. This was considered by the Scottish clergy as a charter, by which they were emancipated from the claims of jurisdiction which had been brought by the English archbishops of York and Canterbury.

From the beginning of the 12th century we begin to meet with instances of national councils of the Scottish clergy, at which the pope's legates assisted; but still we find no authority assumed by the pope in temporal matters, before the reign of Alexander II., when the people of Scotland were excommunicated for engaging in hostilities with King John of England, then the adopted son of the church. This excommunication, indeed, produced but little effect, and during a reign which reflected glory on the king, and was productive of advantage to his kingdom, Alexander nearly established the independence of the Scottish church.

In the progress of papal usurpation, the court of Rome proceeded, from appropriating the revenues of the Scottish church, to the appointment of the Scottish bishops. This usurpation was first attended with success in 1259, when the pope appointed his own chaplain to the bishopric of Glasgow. The church of Scotland, however, to show her independence on papal authority, assembled a general council at Perth in 1269. This was called by one of their own bishops, who presided at its meetings, and by this assembly was enacted a body of canons, which remained the ecclesiastical code of Scotland till the epoch of the Reformation. Such councils continued to assemble from time to time for correcting clerical abuses, and maintaining the freedom of the Scottish church.

The right of presentation appears to have been exerted from the 12th century in North Britain, as it has always Scotland always been exerted in England. The bishops were named by the king, elected by their chapters, and consecrated by the pope, or by some of the other bishops. The king appointed the rural deans, and the chancellor of Scotland exercised the king's right of presentation to the smaller benefices. The barons enjoyed the right of presentation to those benefices which had arisen from their own munificence, or the piety of their ancestors. The bishops and abbots had acquired, by the royal charters, or grants from the barons, the right of advowson over many churches, and from this right were deduced other privileges of great importance.

That form of popery which prevailed in Scotland was of the most bigotted and illiberal kind. Those doctrines which are most apt to shock the human understanding, and those legends which farthest exceed belief, were proposed to the people, without any attempt to palliate or disguise them; nor did they ever call in question the reasonableness of the one, or the truth of the other.

The power and wealth of the church kept pace with the progress of superstition; for it is the nature of that spirit to observe no bounds in its respect and liberality towards those whose character it esteems sacred. The Scottish kings early demonstrated how much they were under its influence, by their vast additions to the immunities and riches of the clergy. The profuse piety of David I, who acquired on that account the name of saint, transferred almost the whole crown lands, which were at that time of great extent, into the hands of ecclesiastics. The example of that virtuous prince was imitated by his successors. The spirit spread among all orders of men, who daily loaded the priesthood with new possessions. The riches of the church all over Europe were exorbitant; but Scotland was one of those countries wherein they had farthest exceeded the just proportion. The Scottish clergy paid one half of every tax imposed on land; and as there is no reason to think that in that age they would be loaded with any unequal share of the burden, we may conclude, that by the time of the Reformation, little less than one half of the property in the nation had fallen into the hands of a society, which is always acquiring, and can never lose.

The nature, too, of a considerable part of their property extended the influence of the clergy. Many estates throughout the kingdom held of the church; church lands were let in lease at an easy rent, and were possessed by the younger sons and descendants of the best families. The connexion between superior and vassal, between landlord and tenant, created dependences, and gave rise to a union of great advantage to the church; and in estimating the influence of the popish ecclesiastics over the nation, these, as well as the real amount of their revenues, must be attended to, and taken into the account.

This extraordinary share in the national property was accompanied with proportionable weight in the supreme council of the kingdom. At a time when the number of the temporal peers was extremely small, and when the lesser barons and representatives of boroughs seldom attended parliaments, the ecclesiastics formed a considerable body there. It appears from the ancient records of parliament, and from the manner of choosing the lords of articles, that the proceedings of that high court must have been, in a great measure, under their direction.

The reverence due to their sacred character, which was often carried incredibly far, contributed not a little towards the growth of their power. The dignity, the titles, and precedence of the popish clergy are remarkable, both as causes and effects of that dominion which they had acquired over the rest of mankind. They were regarded by the credulous laity as beings of a superior species; they were neither subject to the same laws, nor tried by the same judges. Every guard that religion could supply, was placed around their power, their possessions, and their persons; and endeavours were used, not without success, to represent them all as equally sacred.

The reputation for learning, which, however inconsiderable, was wholly engrossed by the clergy, added to the reverence which they derived from religion. The principles of sound philosophy, and of a just taste, were altogether unknown; in place of these were substituted studies barbarous and unconstructive; but as the ecclesiastics alone were conversant with them, this procured them esteem; and a very slender portion of knowledge drew the admiration of rude ages, which knew little. War was the sole profession of the nobles, and hunting their chief amusement; they divided their time between these: unacquainted with the arts, and unimproved by science, they disdained any employment foreign to military affairs, or which required rather penetration and address, than bodily vigour. Wherever the former were necessary, the clergy were entrusted, because they alone were properly qualified for the trust. Almost all high offices in civil government devolved, on this account, on them. To all this we may add, that the clergy being separated from the rest of mankind by the law of celibacy, and undistracted by those cares, and unencumbered with those burdens which occupy and oppress other men, the interest of their order became their only object, and they were at full leisure to pursue it.

The nature of their function gave them access to all persons and at all seasons. They could employ all the motives of fear and of hope, of terror and of consolation, which operate most powerfully on the human mind. They haunted the weak and the credulous; they besieged the beds of the sick and of the dying; they suffered few to go out of the world without leaving marks of their liberality to the church, and taught them to compound with the Almighty for their sins, by bestowing riches on those who called themselves his servants.

During the Scoto-Saxon period, there were in Scotland two archbishoprics, viz. those of St Andrews and Glasgow, and ten bishoprics, viz. those of Orkney, the Western islands, Galloway, Dunkeld, Moray, Brechin, Dunblane, Aberdeen, Ross, and Argyle or Lismore (s). To the archbishopric of St Andrews were attached eight deaneries, and nine to that of Glasgow.

The opinions of Luther had been propagated in Britain soon after his preaching in 1517. They had for the Reformation

(s) The bishopric of Edinburgh did not exist in that period, but was founded by Charles I. some years insensibly gained ground; and, when 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 naturally opposed the Reformation, James became a zealous persecutor of the reformed. On the other hand, the nobility having already opposed the king and clergy in civil affairs, did the same 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 on to suffer for the reformed religion was Patrick Hamilton abbot of 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, 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 archbishops of St Andrew's and 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 accordingly convicted of heretical gravity, delivered over to the secular arm, and executed in the year 1527. (o) 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 judgement-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 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, 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 accomplish 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 conducting 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 Andrew's, he was brought to his trial, condemned, and led 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 esteemed a careful attention to the Scriptures 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 Andrew's, though remarkable for prudence and moderation, was overawed by his nephew and coadjutor Gourlay David Beaton, and by his brethren the clergy. In and Stra- perscriptions 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 recant their opinions; and David Straton, upon being adjudged to the fire, having begged for his mercy, was about to receive it, when the priest 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, and others,

(o) 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 worthie 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. At Glasgow, a similar scene was acted in 1539: Hieronymus Russel a Grey-friar, and a young gentleman of the name of Kennedy, were accused of heresy before the bishop of that see. Russel, when brought to the stake, displaying an undaunted demeanour, 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 Russel 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 Andrew's having died about this time, the ambition of David Beaton, his coadjutor, was gratified in the fullest manner. He had before been created a cardinal of the Roman church, and he was now advanced to the possession of the primacy of Scotland. No Scottish ecclesiastic had ever been invested with greater authority; and the reformers had every thing to fear from so 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 political intrigue, which, while it communicated to him address and the knowledge of men, corrupted altogether the simplicity and candour of his mind. He was dark, crafty, and designing. No principles of justice were any bar to his schemes; nor did his heart open to any impressions of pity. His ruling passion was an inordinate love of power; and the support of his consequence depending only on the church of Rome, he was animated to maintain its superstitions with the warmest zeal. He seemed to delight in perfidiousness and dissimulation; he had no religion; and he was stained with an inhuman cruelty, and the most open profligacy of manners. In connexion 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 with the primacy, when he exhibited an example of his taste for magnificence, and of his aversion to the reformation. He proceeded to St Andrew's with an uncommon pomp and parade. The earls of Huntly, Arran, Marischal, and Montrose, with the lords Fleming, Lindsey, Erskine, and Seton, honoured him with their attendance; and there appeared in his train, Gavin archbishop of Glasgow and lord high chancellor, four bishops, six abbots, many private gentlemen, and a vast multitude of the inferior clergy. In the cathedral church of St Andrew's, 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 on 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 Sir John he had cited Sir John Borthwick to appear before it, Borthwick 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 accusation (v) were accordingly read against him; but he neither appeared in his own person, nor by any agent or deputy. He was found guilty; and the cardinal, with a solemnity calculated to strike with awe and terror, pronounced sentence against him. His goods and estate were confiscated; and 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 sustenance. It was declared, that every office

(v) They are preserved by Archbishop Spottiswood, and display great liberality of mind, in a period when philosophy may be said to have been almost 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. 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 Giencairn, James Hamilton, brother to Patrick Hamilton the martyr, and the celebrated George Buchanan the historian, were imprisoned upon suspicion of heresy; and if they had not found means to escape, would probably have perished 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 afforded 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 to their solicitations, and gave them the sanction of his authority.

A formal commission was granted, constituting a court of inquiry after heretics, and nominating for its president Sir James Hamilton of Fennard, natural brother to the earl of Arran. The officious assiduity of this man, his ambition, and his thirst of blood, were in a high degree acceptable to the clergy; and to this eminence their recommendation had promoted him. Upon the slightest suspicion he was allowed to call any person before him, to scrutinize 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 taking down in lists the names of all those to whom heresy 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 Hamilton himself 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, trusting to the ties of blood, ventured to prolong his stay beyond the period allowed him. This trespass 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 of making his own relation the victim of his power. Mr Hamilton, attentive to his personal security, and not unacquainted with the most private machinations of this inquisitor, despatched 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 conspired with the house of Douglas to assassinate him. James V. being at variance with the house of Douglas, had reasons of suspicion; Scotland, and was disposed to believe every thing that is 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 greater respect, he furnished him with the ring which he was accustomed to send to them on 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 defence 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 showed 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 against 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 so; and appeals before the council were disagreeable and expensive. The institution of the lords of articles threw too much weight into their scale, as no business could be transacted in parliament but what they allowed or permitted; and it was always in the power of the king to direct them as he pleased. The true source of the public grievances, in matters of property, lay in the disregard shown to the excellent acts which had past during the reigns of the first three 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 session in Scotland is no more), with a president, who was to be the mouth of the assembly. On the 13th of May, 1532, 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, anent (concerning) the second artickel concerning the order of justice; because our sovereign lord is maist desirous to have an permanent order of justice for the universal of all his lieges; and therefore tendis to institute an college of cunning and wise men for doing and administration of justice in all civil actions: and therefore thinke to be chosen certain persons maist convenient and qualified yair (there), to the number of fifteen persons, 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 this period, however, next to the religious persecutions already mentioned, were the negotiations for the king's marriage. Indeed, there is scarcely any monarch mentioned in history who seems to have had a greater greater variety of choice, or whom it was more difficult to please. 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 empire 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 Fleece 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. These proposals would have met with a more ready acceptance from James, had not his clergy, at this time, been disgusted with Charles, for allowing too great a latitude to the Protestants of Germany. James, in his answer, returned the emperor his acknowledgments in the most polite terms, for the splendid alliances he had offered. He mentioned the proposal of the council as being a measure rather to be wished for than expected; 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 obstinate 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 persuasion 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 Christiern 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 completed.

But whether the Imperial ambassador had any right to offer the English princess or not, it is agreed by most historians, that James was offered either Mary or Elizabeth by their father Henry himself. To Mary of Bourbon, the daughter of the duke of Vendosme, he is said to have been contracted; but for some reason 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 France's other things served up by way of dessert at the marriage-feast, were a number of covered cups filled with pieces of gold and gold-dust, the native produce 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 who died was inexpressible, but it was of short continuance; soon after the young queen died of a fever on the 22nd of July the same year.

King James did not long remain a widower; for the same year he sent Beaton abbot of Arbroath, to negotiate his second marriage with a French lady, Mary of Guise, dutchess-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 on having his uncle 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; as both James and Francis were suspicious that Henry would make some attempt to intercept the royal bride. But nothing of this kind happened, and she landed safely at Fifeness; 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 differences subsisted between the families of Gordon and Forbes in Forres, the north. The heir of the house last mentioned had been educated in a loose dissipated manner, and associated with a worthless fellow named Strahan. Having refused this favourite something he had asked, the latter attached himself to Gordon earl of Huntly, who, it is said, assisted him in forming a charge of treason against Forbes. He was accused of intending to restore the Douglasses 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 compensation for it, banished Strahan. The following execution, which happened a few days after, was much more inhuman, insomuch that it would have stained the annals even of the most despotic tyrant. 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. the committing of depredations on the borders. This crime was sufficient with James to occasion the death of his innocent sister, the dowager-lady of Glamis. She had been addressed by one Lyon, whom dowager she had rejected in favour of a gentleman of the name of Campbell. Lyon, exasperated at this 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 that he had a preferable claim to at least one half of Scotland.

Scotland. Though the Scottish 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 great 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, indemnity was given to the members renewed the acts against leasing-making committed by which is meant the misrepresenting of the king to during the his nobles, or the nobles to their king; and James, to king's mind, dismissed 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 Catholic. James and his clergy relied greatly on this public odium incurred by Henry; but the emperor having again quarrelled with Francis, left preparations of Henry, whose dominions they had threatened jointly to invade, at liberty to continue his preparations against the Scots. Henry 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 Francis; 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 there was completed 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, Death of that the queen-mother was then dead; and consequently the connexion between James and Henry was weakened. Whatever her private character might be, 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 purses 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. Scotland. All this happiness, however, was only apparent; for the affections of his nobility, and the wiser part of his subjects, were now alienated from him more than ever, by his excessive attachment to his bigotry and persecution.

He had nominated the earl of Huntly to command his army on the borders, consisting of 10,000 men; and his lieutenant-general was Sir Walter Lindsay of Torphichen, who had seen a great deal of foreign service, and was esteemed an excellent officer. Huntly acquitted himself admirably 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 on the borders; and one of the resolutions which the Scotch nobility and gentry had formed, was, not to attack them on their own ground, nor to act offensively, unless their enemies invaded Scotland. Huntly being informed that the English had advanced, on the 24th of August, to a place called Haldanrigg, and that they had destroyed great part of the Scotch and debateable lands, resolved to engage them; and the English were astonished, when at daybreak they saw the Scotch army drawn up in order of battle. Neither party could now retreat without fighting; and Torphichen, who led the van, consisting of 2000 of the best troops of Scotland, charged the English so furiously, that Huntly gained a complete and an easy victory. Above 200 of the English were killed, and 600 taken prisoners; among whom were their general Sir Robert Bowes, Sir William Mounbray, 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 time, the duke of Norfolk having raised a great army, had orders to march northwards, and to distribute a manifesto, complaining of James for having disappointed Henry in 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 make any personal advances towards a reconciliation.

The condition of James was now deplorable. The few faithful counsellors whom he had about him, such as Kirkaldy of Grange, who was then lord treasurer, plainly intimated, that he could have no dependence on his nobles, as he was devoted to the clergy; and James, sometimes, in a fit of distraction, would draw his dagger on 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 other of his nobility, to make a fresh attempt to gain 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 sought only to amuse him till the season for action was over. In short, he considered both them and Learmouth, who were ordered to attend him, as so many spies, and treated them accordingly. It was the 21st of October before he entered the eastern borders of Norfolk Scotland. According to the Scottish historians, his land with army consisted of 40,000 men; but the English have forcibly fixed it at 20,000.

James affected to complain of this invasion as being provoked; 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 Lawderbridge under James III. by hanging all his grandson's evil counsellors. The Scots 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 encamped with his army at Falla-moor, having intelligence of their consultation, removed hastily to Edinburgh; from which he sent orders for his army to advance, and give battle to the duke of Norfolk, who appears not as yet to have entered the Scotch borders. The answer of the nobility was, that they were determined not to attack the duke on English ground; but that if he invaded Scotland, they knew their duty. The earl of Huntly, who commanded the van of the Scottish 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 Huntly, who desisted from the pursuit the moment his enemies gained English ground.

James, whose army at this time amounted to above 90,000 men, continued still at Edinburgh, from which he sent frequent messages to order his nobility and generals to follow the duke of Norfolk into England; but these 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 after the duke of Norfolk's retreat. This project appeared so plausible and so promising, that several of the nobility are said to have agreed to 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 quarte rel was now greatly altered; that Henry had in his manifesto declared his intention of enslaving 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 about 20 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 were at the head of 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 eastern 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 those who were to serve under the lord Maxwell; among whom were the earls of Cassillis and Glencairn, the lords Fleming, Somerville, Erskine, and many other persons of great importance. James, who never was suspected of pusillanimity, would probably 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 Falla-moor, and the other treasonable practices of the nobility. They added, that most of them being corrupted by 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 Roslin, and a favourite minion at court, to command the army in chief; and his commission was made out accordingly. On the 23d of November, the Scots began their march at midnight; and having passed the Esk, 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 Musgrave, hastily raised a few troops, the whole not exceeding 500 men, and drew them up on 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 on 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 overturned; 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 on the whole with the Scots authorities. He mentions, however, no more than 800 common soldiers having been made prisoners. The chief of the prisoners were the earls of Cassillis and Glencairn, the lords Maxwell, Fleming, Somerville, Oliphant, and Gray, with above 200 gentlemen.

James was then at Carlaverock, which is about 12 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 reached him, and he learned 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 cruel action of his former life wounded grief, 14th December, 1542, his conscience; and he at last sunk into a sullen 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 the 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 10th of December, while James was in this deplorable state, a messenger came from Linlithgow, with an account that the 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 came by a lass, and it will go by a lass." He then turned his face to the wall, and in broken ejaculations pronounced the words 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 14th.

James V. was succeeded by his infant daughter Mary, whose birth we have already mentioned. James had by taken 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 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 to the regency James Hamilton, earl of Arran, whom they judged to be entitled to this distinction, as the second person of the kingdom, and the nearest heir, after ed regent 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 Scotland. His views were circumscribed; and he did not compensate for this defect by any firmness of purpose. He was too indolent to gain partisans, 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 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, procured 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 at first corresponded with the impressions entertained in his favour. Thomas Guillame 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 exceedingly provoked, and indefatigably active in defence of 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 imputed to 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 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 awful 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 to unite the kingdoms by 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 castles. 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 castles 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 each other 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, 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 exclaiming against the alliance, as tending to destroy the independence 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 partisans; the friars were directed to preach against the treaties with England; and fanatics were instructed to display their rage in offering indignities to Sir Ralph Sadler.

Cardinal Beaton was not the only antagonist with whom the regent had to deal. 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 Lenox, who was led 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 which he had to supersede 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 on to adopt it. He therefore, in a solemn manner, ner, ratified them in the abbey-church of Holyroodhouse, and commanded the great seal of Scotland to be affixed to them. The same day he went to St Andrew's, and issued a mandate 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; on which the regent denounced him as 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 Lenox, 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 assert 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 engagements. None of them, however, had the courage to do so, except the earl of Cassillis; 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, and at the head of this 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 Lenox 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 intreat- proceedings were concerted against the reformed; when the arms of 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 with 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 resist 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 Tilmouth, on board a fleet of 200 ships, under the command 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 them on fire. 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 Huntly, 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 danger; and an expedition, conducted with so little discernment, 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. on 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 Dumbarton, and employ himself in plundering 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 this year 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 à 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 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 invocation of saints had no merit to save. William Anderson, James Reynolds, and James Finlayson, suffered the same death, for having abused an image of St Francis, by putting horns upon his head. James Hunter, having associated with them, was found equally guilty, and punished in the same manner. Helen Stride, having refused, when in labour, to invoke the assistance 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 office.

The cardinal was strenuous in persecuting heresy in other parts of his diocese. But the discontent 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 caution. It may be sufficient to affirm, that Mr Wishart was the most eminent preacher who had hitherto appeared in Scotland. His mind 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 in encountering 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 Orniston, in East Lothian; who refusing to deliver him to the servants of the regent, the earl of Bothwell, the sheriff of the county, required that he should be intrusted to his care, and promised... 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 conducted 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. A black coat of linen was put upon him by one executioner, and bags of gun-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 solaced 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 at 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 Lesly, the eldest son of the earl of Rothes, whom the cardinal had treated with indignity, though he had profited by his services. He consented to be their leader. The cardinal was in the castle of St Andrew's, which he was fortifying after the strongest fashion of that age. The conspirators, at different times, early in the morning, entered it. The gates were secured; and appointing a guard, that no intimation of their proceedings might be carried to the cardinal, they dismissed from the castle all his workmen separately, to the number of 100, and all his domestics, who amounted to not 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 Lesly. It was in vain that he endeavoured to secure the door of his chamber by bolts and chests. 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 he was actuated by no hopes of his riches, no dread of his power, and no hatred to his person, 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 dependants 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 before memorable battles were fought. Mutual depletions kept alive the hostile spirit of the two kingdoms; France and Scotland, which gave the promise of important events, a treaty of peace was concluded 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 despatched 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, money, 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 Andrew's; 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 £300 to defray the expense of reducing them to obedience. The queen-dowager and the French faction were, at the same time, eager 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 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 expedient; and in its meaning and tendency may be remarked the spirit and greatness of a free people.

A powerful army laid siege to the castle of St Andrew's, and continued their operations during four months. Scotland. 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 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, in which the regent engaged to procure from Rome an absolution to the conspirators, and to obtain for them from the three estates an exemption from prosecutions of every kind. On the part of the besieged, it was stipulated, that when these conditions should be fulfilled, the castle should be surrendered, and the regent's son delivered up to him. In the mean time Henry VIII. died; and, a few weeks after, Francis I. also paid the debt of 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 favourers 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 on what they called the godly deed and enterprise. John Rough, who had formerly been chaplain to the regent, joined them. At this time also John Knox began to distinguish himself, 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 rigidly 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 Stuart, was John Knox, were sent to the galleys. The castle itself was nearly 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 18,000 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 averse 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 on him. All hopes of an accommodation being thus removed, the English army advanced to give battle to the Scots. They found the latter posted in the most advantageous situation, around the villages of Musselburgh, Inveresk, and Monkton; 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 Pinkey, a gentleman's house to the eastward of Musselburgh; and the regent, conceiving that he meant to take refuge in his fleet, left the strong position 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 of Faside-hill. The earl of Angus led the van; the main body marched under the regent; and the earl of Huntly commanded in the rear. It was the regent's intention to seize the top of the hill. The Lord Gray, to defeat this purpose, charged the earl of Angus, at the head of the English cavalry. They were received on 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 body 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, contributed still more to intimidate the Scottish soldiery.—The remaining troops under the protector were moving slowly, and in the best order, to share in the engagement. The earl of Angus was not well supported by the regent and the earl of Huntly. A panic spread through the Scottish army. It fled in different directions, presenting a scene of the greatest havoc and confusion. Few perished in the fight; but the pursuit continuing in one direction to Edinburgh, and in another to Dalkeith, with the utmost fury, a prodigious slaughter ensued. The loss of the conquerors did not amount to 500 men; but defeated 10,000 soldiers perished on the side of the vanquished, with great slaughter. A multitude of prisoners were taken; and among these, the earl of Huntly, the lord high chancellor. Amidst the consternation of this decisive victory, the duke of Somerset had a full opportunity of effecting the marriage and union projected by Henry VIII., and on the subject of which such anxiety was entertained by the English nation. But the cabals 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 further guard. A garrison was also stationed in the castle of Broughty, 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 300 soldiers were posted 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 Dumbarton, 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 sought 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 recommenced by the English. Lord Gray led an army into Scotland, fortified the town of Haddington, took the castles of Yester and Dalkeith, and laid waste the Merse, and the counties of East and Mid-Lothian. On the other hand, in June 1548, Monsieur de Desse, 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 be best 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 partisans, 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 cement 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 Chatellerault. Monsieur de Villegagnon, 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 Dumbarton; 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 persons, with several 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 17,000 men, and adding to it 3000 German Protestants, the protector put it under the direction of the earl of Shrewsbury. On the approach of the English, Desse, though he had been reinforced with 15,000 Scots, thought it more prudent to retreat than to hazard a 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 affairs, had offended the quick and impatient spirit of the former. The fruitfulness 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 on that kingdom by this transaction was fully understood, and appeared to them to be highly disgraceful and impolitic. In this state of their minds, Desse did not find at Edinburgh the reception which he expected. The quartering of his soldiers produced disputes, which ended in an insurrection of the inhabitants. The French fired upon the citizens. Several persons of distinction fell, and among these were the provost of Edinburgh and his son. The national discontentments and inquietudes were driven, by this event, to the most dangerous extremity; and Desse, 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, Desse 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 against 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. Desse renewed the assault in the morning, and was again discomfited. He now turned his arm... Scotland against Broughty castle; and, though unable to reduce it, he recovered the neighbouring town of Dundee, which had fallen into the possession of the enemy. Hume castle was retaken by stratagem. Desse 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 now grown into a town, was fortified by him; and the island of Inchkeith 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 discontents 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 intended 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 did not attain to 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 provisions. At Coldingham he cut in pieces a troop of Spaniards in the English pay. Fast-castle was regained by surprise. Distractions 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 a considerable time against the Scots. The earl of Rutland, therefore, with a body of troops, entered the town; and after setting it on fire, conducted the garrison and artillery to Berwick. The regent now in 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 the king of France 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 Eyemouth. After the ratification of these 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 to the utmost of his power. But the jealousy which prevailed between the Scots and French rendered the accomplishment of this design very difficult. To remove the regent by an act of power might altogether endanger the scheme; but it might be possible to persuade him voluntarily to resign his office. 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 scarcely proclaimed, when he provoked the public resentment by an act of sanguinary insolence. Adam Wallace, a man of simple manners, but of great zeal for the reformation, was accused of heresy, and brought on trial in the church of the Black Friars at Edinburgh. In the presence of the regent, the earls of Angus, Huntly, Glencairn, and other persons of 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 an useless superstition, that he had pronounced the mass 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 which 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 intrigues were more powerful than justice. John Melvil, a person respectable by his birth and 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 on a charge of high treason; and, for an act of humanity and friendship, he was condemned to lose his head. The forfeited estate of Melvil, was given to David the youngest son of the regent.

Amidst the pleasures and amusements of the French Schemes court, the queen dowager was not inattentive to the scheme of ambition which she had projected. The earls of Huntly and Sutherland, Marischal and Cassillis, with the lord Maxwell, and other persons of eminence who had accompanied her to France, were gained over to her interests. Robert Carnegie of Kinnaird, David Panter bishop of Ross, and Gavin Hamilton commendator of Kilwinning, being also at this time in that kingdom, and having most weight with the regent, were treated with a most punctilious respect. Henry declared to them his earnest wish that the queen-dowager might acquire 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 Chatellerault, had advanced his son to be captain of the Scots gendarmes in France, and was ready to bestow other marks of favour on his family and relations. On this business, and with this message, Mr Carnegie was despatched. Scotland, despatched to Scotland; and a few days after, he was followed by the bishop of Ross. The bishop, who was a man of eloquence and authority, obtained, though 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, full of hope, 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 forgotten 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; but only in general terms complained of the hostilities committed by the English; and two days after this conversation, she proceeded towards Scotland, and 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 returned to the capital, when the bad 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 Ross, 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 dutchy 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 conversant with the arts of government than those of intrigue. She was scarcely settled in her new office when she rendered herself unpopular in two respects; one by her too great attachment to 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'Oysel 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 which she showed to the Papists. At first, however, she enacted many salutary laws; and while she made a progress through the southern provinces of the kingdom to hold justiciary courts, she endeavoured to introduce order and law into the western counties and isles; first by means of the earl of Huntly, and afterwards of the earls of Argyle and Athole, to whom she granted commissions for this purpose with effectual powers. In another improvement, Attempts which the queen-regent attempted 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 in 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 troops. 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 insulted and abused; and 500 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 still the attempt which 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 the king of France was engaging her in refinements and artifices, that he might reduce Scotland to a province of France.

While an alarm about their civil rights was spread itself among the people, the Protestants were rising daily in their spirit and in their hopes. John Knox, (p) whose courage had been confirmed by misfortunes, and whose talents had improved by exercise, was at this time making a progress through Scotland. The characteristic peculiarities of Popery were the favourite 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 publicly held, in defiance of the Papists; and celebrated preachers were courted with assiduity and bribes to reside and officiate in particular districts and towns. The clergy cited Knox 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.

(p) When he was sent to France (says Dr Stuart) 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. Scotland, themselves in his behalf. The priesthood did not choose to proceed in his prosecution; and Knox, encouraged by this symptom of their fear, took the resolution to explain and inculcate his doctrines repeatedly and openly in the capital 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 of 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 pasquil."

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

This injurious treatment of John Knox did not in the least obstruct the progress of the reformation. Deserts 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 most bitter 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 taken 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, thus addressed 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 trusty messenger was despatched to Geneva, inviting John Knox to return to his own country. But in the infancy of their connexion, the Protestants being apprehensive of one another, uncertain in their councils, 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 other despatches, 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, a formal bond of agreement, which obtained the appellation 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 Argyll, Glencairn, and Morton, with the lord Lorr, 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 John Knox the first covenant, they addressed letters to John Knox, 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 intretries. The archbishop of St Andrew's, who perceived the rising storm, was now 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 Argyll was the most powerful of the reformed leaders. To allure him from his party, the bishop of St Andrew's employed the agency of Sir David Hamilton. But the kindness he affected, and the advice he bestowed, were no compliment to vain se the understanding of this nobleman; and his threats were regarded with contempt. The reformers, instead of losing their courage, felt a sentiment of exultation and triumph; and the earl of Argyll 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 of 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 the furious persecution of the reformed. Walter Mill, a priest, Walter 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 extreme old age; and he had struggled all his life with poverty. He sunk not, however, under 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 respite 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 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. Measures for mutual defense 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 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 above 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 prohibited, though from their own authority only, it was necessary to avoid. 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 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 Articles of Scriptures in the vulgar tongue; and to employ also the reformed 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 enquire 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.

1. 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, they shall be compelled to desist from their ministry and functions.

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 offensive quietness of their carriage, they were encouraged in the undertaking they had begun, and anxious 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 con- Scotland, that the Scriptures might be considered as the standard 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 highly reasonable, were not complied with; and the church would allow of 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 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 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 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 insisted that all transgressors in matters of faith should be carried before the temporal judge. But it was their wish that the clergy should have the power of accusing; 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 in 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 and damnable tenet.

V. In fine, they urged, that no Protestant should be condemned for heresy, 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 doubt 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 at having been disappointed in their scheme of reformation, they protested, that no blame should be imputed to them for continuing in their religion, which they believed to be 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 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. At the age of 15, after solemnly ratifying the independence of Scotland, and the succession of the crown in the conduct of the house of Hamilton, Queen Mary was influenced by France, the king and her uncles the princes of Lorraine to sign privately three extraordinary deeds or instruments. By the first she conveyed the kingdom of Scotland to the king of France and his heirs, in 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 or efficacy. On the 24th of April, the nuptials were celebrated; and the dauphin, Francis, was allowed to assume the title of king-constituent of Scotland. The French court demanded for him the ducal crown and other ensigns of royalty belonging to Scotland; but the commissioners had no power to comply with this demand. 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.

Before this event took place, however, 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 on as illegitimate. This claim was supported by the king of France, who prevailed with the queen of Scots 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 the plate and furniture of Mary and the dauphin. Thus was laid the foundation of an irreconcilable quarrel between Elizabeth and Mary; and to this, in some measure, is to be ascribed the inveracity with which the former persecuted the unhappy queen of Scotland, whenever she had it in her power.

But while they imprudently excited a quarrel with England, they still more imprudently quarrelled 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 act against her in favour of a popish power; and as they could not be gained, it was resolved to destroy them at once, by putting to death all their leaders. The queen-regent gave intimation of her design to re-establish Popery, by proclaiming a solemn observance of Easter, 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 preachers should all be banished from Scotland, though their doctrines might be 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 only binding when subservient to their convenience and pleasure." To this they replied, that in such a case they could not look on 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 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 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 stopped. In consequence of this, the multitude dispersed; yet, when the day came on which the preachers should have appeared, the queen-regent, with unparalleled folly and 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 extremities. At this critical period John Knox returned from Geneva, and joined the Congregation at Perth. The returns to 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 Cupar 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 insincerity; and thereupon entered into a new covenant to stand by and defend each other. Their fears were not groundless. The queen-regent violated the treaty almost as soon as it was made, and began to treat the Protestants with severity. 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 for an effectual peace. No commissioners, however, were sent on her part; and the nobles, provoked at such complicated and unceasing treachery, 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 Argyll 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 seditious behaviour, commanding them to leave Edinburgh within six hours, and enjoining her subjects to avoid their society under the penalties of treason. The Congregation having already lost somewhat of their popularity by their violent proceedings, were now incapable of contending 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 1559. 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 Holyroodhouse and the mint should be delivered up to her; that the Protestants should be subject to the laws, and abstain from molesting the 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, which took place on the 8th of March 1559, and the accession of Francis II. and Mary to the throne of that kingdom, they seem to have apprehended more danger than ever. They now entered into a third covenant; in which they engaged 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 granted the reformed; and being denied the broken 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 and Mary, promising a powerful army to support her interest. The envoy who brought these despatches 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 reproaches and menaces, mixed with entreaties; 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 French by 1000 French soldiers, with money and military stores; and the commander was immediately despatched again to France, to solicit the assistance of as many more soldiers, with four ships of war, and 100 men-at-arms. But before he could set out, La Brosse, 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 Chatelherault. 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 manifestoes were now published; and both parties prepared to decide the contest by the sword. The Congregation having seized Broughty castle, marched thence to Edinburgh. The queen-regent retired to Leith, which she had fortified and sent 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, not only to the inhabitants who had been dispossessed 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 independence. 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. The lord Lyon then, in the name of the queen-regent, commanded the lords of the Congregation to depart from Edinburgh, and disperse, under the pain of high treason. The Protestants, irritated by this answer, after some deliberation degraded the queen-regent; and for 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 scalade. For this service ladders were made in the church of St Giles; a business which, interrupting the preachers in the exercise of public worship, made them prognosticate misfortune and miscarriage 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 Chatelherault discouraged many by his example. Defection 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 satisfy their claims. Attempts to sooth 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 distress the Protestant soldiers. The lords and gentlemen of the Congregation collected a considerable sum among them; but it was not equal to the present exigency. The 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 silverplate to be coined. 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 a supply of 4000 crowns. Traitors, however, in the councils of the Congregation, having suborned the queen dowager of his errand and expedition, the earl of 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 sallied out to give battle to the troops of the Congregation, possessed themselves of their cannon, and drove them back to Edinburgh. A 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 harassed 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 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 precipitation, a fresh body of French troops made its appearance. It was prudent to retreat, but difficult. An obstinate resistance was made. It was evident the object of the French to cut off the soldiery of the Congregation from Edinburgh, and by these 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 the queen-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 desperate; and the timorous fled with precipitation. The wailings and distrust of the brethren were melancholy and infectious; and by exciting the ridicule and scorn of the partisans of the queen-dowager, were augmented the more. A distress not to be comforted seemed to have invaded the Protestants; and the associated nobles consented to abandon the capital. A little after midnight, they retired. Scotland, tired from Edinburgh; and so great was the panic which prevailed, that they marched to Stirling without making any halt.

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 entreating 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 business; 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, and went to different parts of the kingdom, to employ their activity there for the common cause. The queen-dowager, imagining that the lords were fled, conceived great hopes of being able at once to crush the reformed. Her sanguine hopes, however, were soon checked, on receiving certain intelligence that Queen Elizabeth was resolved to assist them. She now took the best measures possible, as circumstances then stood; and determined to crush her enemies before they could receive any assistance from England. Her French troops took the road to Stirling, and wasted in their march all the grounds which belonged to the favourers of the reformation. After renewing their depredations at Stirling, they passed the bridge; 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 on the town and castle of St Andrews, which they considered as an important military station, and as a convenient place of reception for the auxiliaries which they expected from France.

But the lord James Stuart exerted himself to interrupt their progress and frustrate 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 force he proposed to act against an army of 4000 men. His admirable skill in military affairs, and his great courage, were eminently displayed. During 20 days he prevented the march of the French to St Andrews, intercepting their provisions, harassing them with skirmishes, and intimidating them by the address and the boldness of his stratagems.

Monsieur d'Oysel, enraged and ashamed at being disconcerted and opposed by a body of men so proportioned to his army, exerted himself with vigour. The lord James Stuart was obliged to retire. Dysart and Wemyss were delivered up to the French troops to be pillaged; and when d'Oysel was in full march to St Andrews, 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 fleet, 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 Andrews, an end 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, heightened by the giddiness of their preceding transports, invaded them. Monsieur d'Oysel now perceived the value and merit of the service which had been performed by the lord James Stuart; and thinking no more general of St Andrews and 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 the mean time the queen-dowager was disappointed in her expectations from France. The violent administration of the house of Guise had involved that nation in troubles and distress. Its credit was greatly sunk, and its treasury nearly exhausted. Persecutions, and the spirit of Calvinism, produced commotions and conspiracies; regent 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, altogether neglected. The count de Marigny 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 whence he had sailed.

In this sad reverse of fortune many forsook the queen-dowager. It was now understood that the English army was on its march to Scotland. The Scottish lords who had affected a neutrality, meditated an union with the subjects-Protestants. The earl of Huntly gave a solemn assurance that he would join them. Proclamations were issued throughout the kingdom, calling on 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 in the mean time, under Winter the vice-admiral, had taken and destroyed several ships, had landed some troops upon Inchkeith, and discomfited a body of French mercenaries. On being apprised of these acts of hostility, the princes of Lorraine despatched the chevalier de Seure to Queen Elizabeth, to make representations against this breach of 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 which he had in view. With similar intentions, John Monluc bishop of Valence, a man of greater address and ability, and equally devoted to the house 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 the lord Scroop, Sir James Croft, Sir Henry Percy, and Sir Francis Lake, commanded under him. By a cruel policy, the queen-dowager had already wasted all the country around the capital. But the desolation which 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 themselves provided against this difficulty. The duke of Chatelherault, the earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Monteith, 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 he giving way to the solicitations of neither faction, 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. Only a few of her domestics accompanied her, with the archbishop of St Andrew's, the bishop of Dunkeld, and the earl Marischal.

The confederated nobles now assembled at Dalkeith to hold a council; and conforming to those maxims of prudence and equity which, upon the eve of hostilities, had been formerly exercised by them, they invited the queen-dowager to an amicable conclusion 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 so long oppressed the lower ranks of the people, and who threatened to reduce the kingdom 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 force of arms. But though they had obtained the powerful protection of this princess, they were still 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 dismission of these mercenaries, with their officers. And that no just objection might remain against the grant of this 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 on the queen-dowager and stipulate the peaceable departure of the English troops, on condition that the French mercenaries should be immediately dismissed from her service, and prohibited from residing in Scotland. Returning no direct answer to the applications made to her, she desired time to deliberate upon the resolution which it became her to adopt. This equivocal behaviour corresponded with the spirit of intrigue 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 on a rising ground called the Hawk-hill, 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 sally 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, improving their advantage, put 600 men to the sword. After this slaughter, the Protestants were more attentive to their affairs.—Mounts were built at proper distances, and these being fortified with ordnance, 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 ministers, had arrived in Scotland to try once more the arts of delay. delay and negociation. 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 extended neither to the demolition of Leith, nor to the recall of the French mercenaries; and though 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 affairs, 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 Huntly 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 covenant, more solemn, expressive, and resolute, than any 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 the reformation of religion, and to procure, by all possible means, the true preaching of the gospel, with the proper administration of the sacraments, and the other ordinances in connexion 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 officers; and with the manifest danger of conquest to which the country was exposed, by different fortifications on the sea-coast, and by other dangerous innovations; they promised and engaged, collectively and individually, to join with the queen of England's army, and to concur in an honest, plain, and unreserved resolution of expelling 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 themselves. 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 resisted the godly enterprise in which they were united, should be regarded as their enemies, and reduced to subjection.

When the strong and fervid sentiment and expression of this new association were communicated to the queen-dowager, she abandoned herself to sorrow. Her mind, inclined to despondence 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 scaling-ladders which were applied to the walls being too short, and Sir James Croft, who had been gained over to the queen-dowager, having acted a treacherous 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 each other; and in the ratification of the treaty of Berwick, which was now made, a new source of cordiality opened itself. Letters had also come from the duke of Norfolk, promising a powerful reinforcement, giving the expectation of his taking on himself the command of the troops, and ordering his pavilion to be erected in the camp. Leith began to feel the misery of famine, and the French gave themselves up 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, depressed with the want of provisions, and languishing under the negligence of France, they were ready to submit to the mercy of the Congregation.

Amidst this distress the queen-dowager, wasted with death of 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 Chatelherault, the lord James Stuart, and the earls of Argyle, Glencairn, and Marischal, 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 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 distress and disquiet 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 understanding. Catherine 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 persisting 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, whom they affected to consider as rebellious subjects, without derogating from their royal dignity. In negotiating a peace, therefore, they addressed themselves to Queen Elizabeth. It was by her offices and interference that they projected a reconciliation with the confederated lords, and that they sought to extinguish the animosities which, with so much violence, had agitated the Scottish nation. They granted their commission to John Moniuc bishop of Valence, Nicholas Pelleve bishop of Amiens, Jacques de la Brosse, Henry Clentin sieur d'Oysel, and Charles de la Rochefaucault sieur de Randan; authorizing them in a body, or by two of their number, to enter into agreements with the queen of England. The English commissioners were Sir William Cecil principal secretary of state, Nicholas 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 reestablishment of the public tranquillity. By the mode of a formal petition, they enumerated their grievances, laid claim to redress, and besought an uniform protection to their constitution and laws. To this petition and at last the intercession of Queen Elizabeth effected the friendly attention of Francis and Mary; and on a foundation concerted with so much propriety, Monluc and Randan, Cecil and Wotton, the acting plenipotentiaries of France and England, drew up and authenticated the celebrated deed of relief and concession which does so much honour to the spirit, perseverance and magnanimity of the Scottish nation.

By this agreement, Francis and Mary stipulated and consented, that no French soldiers and no foreign troops should ever be introduced into Scotland without the counsel and advice of the three estates. They concurred in opinion, that the French mercenaries should be sent back to France, and that the fortifications of Leith should be demolished. They agreed that commissioners should be appointed to visit Dunbar, and to point out the works there which ought to be destroyed; and they bound themselves to build no new fortress or place of strength within the kingdom, and to repair no old one, without a parliamentary 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 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 for ever 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 which had been sustained by bishops and ecclesiastics, to the judgment of the three estates in parliament.

On the subject of the reformation, the plenipotentiaries of England and France did not choose to deliberate and decide, though 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 parliament; and the leaders of the Congregation engaged, that deputies from the three estates should repair Scotland, 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, on the part of their respective courts, Moniac and Randan, Cecil and Wotton, concluded another treaty. 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 Eyemouth should be razed to the ground, in terms of the treaty of Cambay; 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. 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 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 to Scotland its civil constitution. 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 gave the fullest security to the reformed, gratified their 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 Andrew's, Adam Heriot at Aberdeen, John Row at Perth, Paul Methven at Jedburgh, William Christie at Dundee, David Ferguson at Dunfermline, and David Lindsey 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 Spotswood 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 Mearns, Scotland, and Mr John Carsewell 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 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. While there was a full convention of the greater barons and the prelates, the inferior tenants in capite, or the lesser barons, on an occasion so great, instead of appearing by representation, came in crowds to give personally their assistance and votes; 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 warmly agitated 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 parliament was the supplication of 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 repudiated the tenet of transubstantiation, the merit of works, papistical indulgences, purgatory, pilgrimages, and prayers to departed saints; and considering them as pestilent 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 catholics, and that the ancient discipline of the church should be restored. In fine, it insisted, 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." 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 parliament were called. Of the temporal nobility, three only refused to bestow on them their authority. The earl of Athol, and the lords Somerville and Bothwell, 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 of Faith, the parliament passed an act against the mass and the exercise of the Romish worship. And it scrupled 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 the kingdom; and that for the third offence they should suffer the pains of death. This fierceness, it is to be acknowledged, did not suit the generosity of victory; 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 ordination, 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 extinct; and that all persons maintaining the smallest connexion with him, or with his sect, should be liable to the loss of honour and offices, proscription, and banishment.

These memorable and decisive statutes produced the overthrow of the Romish religion. To obtain for 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 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 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 prevent the establishment of the reformation; that a general authority was given to parliament to decide in affairs of state; and that Francis and Mary were solemnly bound to authenticate its transactions. Though a formality was infringed, 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, on 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 despatched 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 protestations of her regard and attachment; and gave the promise of her warmest aid when it would 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 that 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.

(a) It is given at full length in Knox; in the collection of confessions of faith, vol. ii.; and in the statute book, parl. 1567. 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 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. Great distractions 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 was the death of Francis II. The tie which knit Scotland to France was thus broken. A new scene of politics displayed 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 of Scotland found every possible encouragement to proceed with vigour towards the full establishment of the reformed doctrines. After the parliament had been dissolved, they turned their thoughts and attention to the plan of policy which might best suit the tenets and religion for which they had contended. The three estates, amidst their other transactions, had granted a commission to John Winram, John Spottiswood, John Willocks, John Douglas, John Row, and John Knox, to frame and model a scheme 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 form of government. But while the Book of Discipline sketched out a policy beautiful for its simplicity, still 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 which they had proposed, were in this instance very unfortunate. This convention of the estates did not pay a more respectful regard to this proposal than had been done by the celebrated parliament, 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 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 the laity having seized on great proportions of the property of the church, were no less anxious to retain the acquisitions they had made.

The aversion entertained to the bestowing of riches on 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. On this account she had engaged Charles IX. to despatch 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 independence and liberties under 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 as a distinct 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 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. 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 every mark given to it. An act was accordingly passed, which of the Pope commanded that every abbey-church, every cloister, and every memorial whatever of Popery, should be finally Scotland, finally demolished; and the care of this barbarous, 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 entrusted 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 excusable lenity to spare any fabric or place where idolatry had been exercised. The churches and religious houses were everywhere defaced, or demolished; and their furniture, utensils, and decorations, became the prize 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 ardent desire of putting 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 of returning to her own country. To this she was solicited 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 Lesly, 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 thoughts on the crown. 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 were averse 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 overawe her enemies. The next day the lord James Stuart waited on her, and gave an advice very different from that of Lesly. 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, though she distrusted its author, listened with attention; and Lord James, imagining 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 Marr.

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 have 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, who, in her conference with the English ambassador, gave an eminent proof of her political abilities. Her refusal greatly augmented the jealousies which already prevailed between her and Elizabeth, insomuch that the latter refused her a safe passage through her dominions into Scotland. This was considered by Mary as a 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 of once more indulging herself with a sight of that beloved country. A favourable wind now sprang up, and a thick fog coming on, she escaped a squadron of men of war which Elizabeth had set 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 ferments 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 treat him. Scotland. 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 Catholic persuasion she behaved with a distant formality.

In the mean time, the differences between the two rival queens became every day greater. The queen of Scotland pressed Elizabeth to declare her the nearest heir to the crown of England, and Elizabeth urged Mary to confirm the treaty of Edinburgh. With this 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; 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 from another cause. The long continuance of civil wars had everywhere left a proneness to tumults and insurrections; 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 justiciary 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 standing 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 alodial 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 expectation 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 of the peace, and preventing insurrections and depredations in future.

In the mean time the queen was in a very disagreeable situation, being suspected and mistrusted by both parties. From the concessions which 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 scarcely allow themselves to believe that they owed any allegiance to an idolater. Disquiet of another kind also now took place. The Duke of Chatelherault, having left the Catholics to join the opposite party, was neglected by his adherent sovereign. Being afraid of some danger to himself, he fortified the castle of Dumbarton, 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, had 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 possess himself of her person by armed retainers; and the lords of her court were commanded to be in readiness to defeat any project of this nature. The earl of Bothwell was distinguished chiefly by his prodigalities and the licentiousness of his manners. The earl Marischal had everything that was honourable in his intentions, but was 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 by which he was governed. The earl of Huntly 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 services, by addressing herself to their necessities. Among courtiers of this description, it was difficult for Mary to make a selection of ministers in whom she might 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 attached to Elizabeth than became them as the ministers and subjects of another sovereign. Beside the policy of employing and trusting statesmen 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 on this measure. The bishops were alarmed at 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 resumed to uphold its splendour. Afterlong consultations, the prelates and ecclesiastical estate 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 would 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, superintendants, 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 ecclesiastical estate 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 accorded 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 the preachers. The general assembly, therefore, of the church, 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 proposed 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 on trial. The wealth of the Romish church had been immense, but great invasions had been made on it. The fears of the ecclesiastics, 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 to 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 connexion with them. In this diffusion of the property of the church, many great 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 nearly 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 contribute towards 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 their particular stipends the Protestants were the firm 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 Mackgill 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 superintendants, 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 on 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 improve their condition. The coldness of the Protestant laity, and the humanity manity shown 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 inveterate habits of insult fortified them with a contempt of authority.

To the queen, whose temper was warm, the rudeness of the preachers was a painful and endless inquietude, which, while it fostered her religious prejudices, had the good effect of confirming her constancy to her friends, and of keeping 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 on him a solid and permanent mark of her favour. She advanced him to the rank of her nobility, by conferring on him the earldom of Mar. At the same time she contributed to augment his consequence, by facilitating his marriage with Agnes the daughter of the earl Marischal; 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 virulence against his riotous feasting and banquets; and the masquerades which were exhibited on 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 Mar, 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 Huntly. In their rivalry for power, many causes of disgust had arisen. The one was at the head of the Protestants, the other was the leader of the Papists. On the death of Francis II, Huntly 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 Mar, was more acceptable to her. Huntly had advised her to detain his rival in confinement in France till the Catholic religion should be reestablished in Scotland. This advice she not only disregarded, but caressed his enemy with particular civilities. On her arrival in her own country, Huntly renewed his advances, offering to her to set up the mass in all the northern counties. 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 Mar 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, 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 Mar, which Mary had erected into an earldom, and conferred on 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 sinews of his greatness.

After employing against the earl of Mar 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. Huntly then addressing himself to the earl of Bothwel, a man disposed to desperate courses, engaged him to attempt involving the earl of Mar and the house of Hamilton in open and violent contention. Bothwel represented to Mar 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 him princes naturally entertain to their successors, was animated by particular causes of offence against the duke of Chatelherault 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 Mar, however, abhorring the baseness of the project, suspicious of the sincerity of the proposer, or satisfied that his eminence did not require the aid of such arts, rejected all his advances. Bothwel, disappointed on one side, turned himself to the other. He practised with the house of Hamilton to assassinate the earl of Mar, whom they considered as their greatest enemy. The business, he said, might be performed with ease and expedition. The queen was accustomed to hunt in the park of Falkland; and there the earl of Mar, not suspecting any danger, and ill attended, might be overpowered and put to death. The person of the queen, at the same time, might be seized; and by keeping 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 Mar, informing him of his danger. But the return of Mar to his letter, thanking him for his intelligence, being intercepted by the conspirators, Arran was confined by them under a guard in Kennelhouse. He effected his escape, however, and made a full discovery of the plot to the queen. Yet as in a flat fall matter so dark he could produce no witnesses and no written vouchers to confirm his accusations, he, 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 Mar, the atrocity of the scheme he revealed, and, above all, his duty and concern for his father the duke of Chatelherault, 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 consistent and firm, that it was thought advisable to take the command of the castle of Dumbarton from the duke of Chatelherault, to confine the other conspirators to different prisons, and to wait the farther discoveries which might be made by time and accident.

The earl of Huntly, inflamed by these disappointments, invented other devices. He excited a tumult while the queen and the earl of Mar were at St Andrew's with only a few attendants; imagining that the latter would sally 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 Mar, defeating this purpose, he ordered some of his retainers to attack him in the evening when he should leave the queen; but these assassins being surprised in their station, Huntly 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 Huntly and the 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 confidant and minister the earl of Mar. These letters could not have reached her at a juncture more unfavourable to their success. The earl of Mar, 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 Mar 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 partisans 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 counselled them to have no apprehensions of the kindred of the parties at variance, but to rely on the earl of Mar for providing a sufficient force for their protection. Sir John Gordon, however, found 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 Huntly.

The queen, on returning to Edinburgh, held a consultation on affairs of state with her privy council; and soon after set out in a progress to the northern parts of her kingdom. At Aberdeen she was met by the lady Huntly, 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 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 Huntly 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 justiciary being called, Sir John Gordon made his appearance, and acknowledged himself to be the queen's prisoner. The lord Glammis was appointed to conduct and attempt to raise a rebellion against him to the castle of Stirling. But on the road to this fortress, he eluded 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 Huntly joined himself to her train. His anxiety to induce her to allow him to attend her to his house of Strathbogie was uncommon; his intretries 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 to her their houses of strength and castles, under the penalties of high treason and forfeiture. Disdaining now to go to the house of the earl of Huntly, where, as it afterwards appeared, that nobleman had made secret preparations to hold her in captivity, she advanced to Inverness by a different route. In the castle of Inverness she proposed to take up her residence; but Alexander Gordon the deputy governor, a dependent of the family of Huntly, refused to admit her. She was terrified with the prospect of 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 Huntly, for- Scotland. took 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 on 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 Huntly, to revenge 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 Mar resigned the rich estate of that name to the lord Erskine, who laid claim to it as his right; and received in recompense, after its erection into an earldom, the territory of Murray, which made an extensive portion of the possessions of the Earl of Huntly.

The lady Huntly hastened to Aberdeen to throw herself at the feet of her sovereign, to make 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 her; and the earl of Huntly 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 a sufficient strength to subdue the insurgents. The command of her troops was given to the earl of Murray, who put them instantly in motion. Huntly advancing towards Aberdeen to give them 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 more numerous; but there were several companies in it whom little confidence could be placed. These the earl of Murray posted in front of the battle, and commanded them to begin the attack. They recoiled on 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 Huntly conceive that the day was his own. He therefore ordered his soldiers to throw aside their lances, and to rush on 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 Huntly. 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, on receiving the tidings of this success, discovered neither joy nor sorrow. The passions, however, 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 was accordingly 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 rank according to their wealth. The lord Gordon, after the battle of Corrichie, fled to his father-in-law the duke of Chatelherault, 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 Huntly 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 armorial ensigns 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 effect 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 on her guard, and to watch with eagerness the machinations of the adversaries of her religion. On these pretences she declined for a time 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 on principles of policy. It was not her interest to admit into her kingdom a queen who had pretensions to her crown, and who might there strengthen them; who might raise the expectations of her Catholic subjects, and advance herself in their esteem; and who far surpassed her in beauty, and in the bewitching allurements 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. Chatelard, 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 of this man. In the court they drew... Scotland drew attention to him. He made himself necessary in all parties of pleasure at the palace. His assiduities drew on him the notice of the queen; and, at different times, she did him the honour of dancing with him. His complaisance became gradually more familiar. He entertained her with his wit and good humour; he made verses on her beauty and accomplishments; and her politeness and condescension instilled into him other sentiments than those of 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. Chatelard 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 punished. 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 from her quarrel with Elizabeth, the excessive bigotry and overbearing spirit of other Protestant subjects, together with the adventure of Chatelard, and the calumnies propagated in consequence of it, determined her 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 Condé, the duke of Ferrara, Don Carlos of Spain, the archduke Charles of Austria, and the duke of Anjou. Her own inclination was to give the preference, among these illustrious lovers, to the prince of Spain; but her determination, from the first moment, was to make her wishes bend to other considerations, and to render her decision on this important point as agreeable as possible to Queen Elizabeth, to the English nation, and to the Protestants in both kingdoms. Her succession to the crown of England was the object nearest her heart; and Elizabeth, who wished to prevent her from marrying altogether, contrived to impress on her mind an opinion that any foreign alliance would greatly obstruct that much desired event. She therefore pitched on two of her own subjects, whom she successively recommended as fit matches for the queen of Scots; and she promised, that on her acceptance of either, her right of inheritance should be inquired into and declared. Lord Robert Dudley, afterwards earl of Leicester, was the first person proposed; and except a manly face and fine figure he had not one quality that could recommend him to the Scottish princess. Whilst Mary received this suitor with some degree of composure, she did not altogether repress her scorn. "She had heard good accounts (she owned) of the gentleman; but as Queen Elizabeth had said, that in proposing a husband to her, she would consult her honour, she asked what honour there could be in marrying a subject?" The English queen then proposed to Mary another suitor, lest her thoughts should return to a foreign alliance. This was Lord Darnley, of the house of Stuart itself, whose birth was almost equal to her own, and whom the Scottish princess was induced to accept as a husband by motives which we have detailed elsewhere. (See Mary.) Elizabeth, Lord however, was not more sincere in this proposal than in the former; for after permitting Darnley and his father the earl of Lenox to visit Scotland merely with the view of diverting the attention of the queen from the continent, she threw, in the way of the marriage, every obstacle which art and violence could contrive. When she found Mary so much entangled, that she could scarcely retract or make any other choice than that of Darnley, Elizabeth attempted to prevent her from going farther; and now intimated her disapprobation of that marriage, which she herself had not only originally planned, but, in these latter stages, had forwarded by every means in her power. The whole council of Elizabeth declared against the marriage. 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 Lenox, 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, sought to promote the match with Lord Dudley. In consequence of this he was treated openly with disrespect by the earl of Lenox; 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 quiet 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 on 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 Lenox, had any talents for business; and as they naturally had the direction of the queen's affairs, it is no wonder that these were very ill managed. But a source of opposition, more violent than any imperfections of their own, rose against them in the attachment which they discovered to a person on whom the queen had of late bestowed her favour with an imprudent prodigality. David Rizzio from a mean origin had raised himself to 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 of completing 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 Scotland, to discharge the duties of that office. A necessary and frequent admission to her company afforded him now the fullest opportunity of recommending 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 such prosperity. Ambition grew on him with preternatural. 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 him on the most difficult and important business, and intrusted him with real power. The supineness, servility, and unbounded complaisance which had characterised his former condition, were exchanged for insolence, pride, and ostentation. He exceeded the most potent barons in the stateliness of his demeanour, 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 undeserving minion, to uphold his power, courted Darnley, and with officious assiduities 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 Leicester, the partiality he entertained for Elizabeth, his connexions 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 disgusts 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 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 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 more deeply in cabals with Queen Elizabeth. Darnley, in the mean time, pressed his suit with eagerness. The queen used her utmost endeavours to make Murray subscribe a paper expressing a consent to her marriage; but all was to no purpose. Many of the nobility, however, subscribed 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 her choice, provided the Protestant should continue to be the established religion of the country.

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 replied only, 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 on a foreigner, but on 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 Ross. 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 short time; and this was so much resented by him, that, when informed of it by the lord Ruthven, he threatened to stab that nobleman.

In the mean time 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 heighten 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 sounded abroad; and he avoided going to Perth, where he affirmed that the plot against him was to be carried into execution. He courted the enemies of Darnley with an unceasing assiduity; and united to him in a confederacy against the duke of Chatelherault, and 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 Lenox and the lord Darnley; and while the queen was on 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 to 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 suddenly raised 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 projected 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 insist on 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 A supplication was presented to the queen, complaining of idolaters, and insisting on 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 most learned and able of the clergy held frequent consultations together; and while the nation was disturbed with dangerous fermentations, the general assembly was called to deliberate on 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 desires.

They insisted, that the mass, with every remnant 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 on conviction, according to the laws. They contended, that persons of every description and degree should resort to the churches on 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 on persons found qualified for the ministry, on the trial and examination of the superintendents; that no bishopric, abbey, priory, deanery, or other living, having many churches, should be bestowed on a single person; but that, the plurality of the foundation being dissolved, each church should be provided with a minister; that 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, and no care of education, either public or private, should be intrusted to any person who was not able and sound in doctrine, and who was not approved by the superintendents; that all lands which had formerly 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, altarages, obits, and the other emoluments which had appertained to priests, should be employed in the maintenance 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 with the three estates in establishing the reformed religion over the subjects of Scotland; and she was steadily resolved not to hazard the life, the peace, or the fortune, of any person whatever on 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 own conscience, and thereby involve her in remorse and uneasiness. She had been educated 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. 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 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 station, 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 most reasonable and expedient.

The clergy, in a new assembly or convention, expressed great displeasure with this return to their address. They took the liberty of informing 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 his apostles. Popery was of all persuasions the least alluring, and had the fewest recommendations. In antiquity, consent of people, authority of princes, and number of proselytes, it was plainly inferior to Judaism. It did not even rest on a foundation so solid as the doctrines of the Koran. 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 mass were placed before her in all their deformity. The performer of it, the action itself, and the opinions expressed in it, were all pronounced to be equally abominable. To hear the mass, or to gaze on 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 whatever, 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 deprive her of her rights; but it was their judgment, that the superintendents ought to make a trial of the qualifications of candidates for the ministry; and Scotland, 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 any part of the revenue of benefices; as it ought to be all employed for 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 leave to solicit and importune her to condescend on the particulars of a proper scheme for this end, and to carry it into execution; and that, taking into 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 her answer to the petitions or address of the clergy, the Protestants, in 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, on 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 insidious 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 whatever on account of his religion or conscience; and that she had never presumed even to think of any innovation that might endanger the tranquillity or prejudice the happiness of the commonwealth.

While Mary was conducting her affairs with discernment and ability, the earl of Murray and his confederates continued their consultations and 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 on 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 which they affected to insist on, were her settled design of overturning the Protestant religion, and her rooted desire to break off 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 effectually to advance the emolument and advantage of the two kingdoms. In the present state of their affairs, they applied not, however, for any supply of troops. An aid from her treasury only was now necessary to them; and they engaged to bestow her bounty in the manner most agreeable to her inclinations and her interests. The pleasure with which Elizabeth received their applications was equal to the aversion she had conceived against the queen of Scots. She not only granted 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 connexion of the two nations. Flattered by her assurances and generosity, they were strenuous to gain partisans, and to 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 dissimulation to the most criminal extremity, commanded Randolph to ask an audience of Mary; and to counsel her to nourish no suspicions of the earl 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 flow, and hazard her person and her crown. Full of astonishment at a message so rude and 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 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 by which she was actuated. But while the queen of Scots was eager to accomplish her marriage, she was not inattentive 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 period; and the violence of the times did not then permit it to assemble. By letters she invited to her, with all their retainers, the most powerful and most eminent of her subjects. Bothwel was again recalled from France; and by general proclamation she summoned to her standard the united force of her kingdom. The castle of Edinburgh was likewise amply provided 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 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, not only from their being the strenuous partisans 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 pretended amour; for, if there had been any thing real in it, they could not have made their court to their queen more effectually than by declaring to her its particulars; and their want of delicacy, so observable in other circumstances, would have induced them on this occasion to give the greatest foulness 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 destruebat." 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 "disgracié de corps." Caussin, ap. Jebb, p. 37. This work, too, while it records the unkindness of nature to... conspirators hoped thus not only to get an indemnity to themselves, but to effect a total revolution at court, and the entire humiliation of Bothwel, Huntly, and Athol, who were the associates of Rizzio. In order to save themselves, however, 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, on 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 of their measures, they adjusted the method of the projected murder; and despatched 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.

On the 9th of March, about seven o'clock in the evening, armed men, to the number of 500, surrounded the palace of Holyroodhouse. 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 company her natural sister the countess of Argyle; her natural brother Robert, commendator of Holyroodhouse, 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 wasted with sickness, and cased 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 penalty of treason; declaring 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. 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 56 wounds.

While the queen was pressing the king to satisfy 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 persuasion 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 Huntly, 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 connexion 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 Huntly, Bothwel, and Athol, the lords Fleming and Levingston, and Sir James Balfour, who were obnoxious to the conspirators, and at this time in the palace, found all resistance 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 confined 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 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 received, the queen observed, that if he had remained in friendship with her at home, he would have protected her against such excesses of hardship.

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 age et prudent, qui possedoit son oreille." Ibid.

And other authors give their testimonies to the same purpose.

It is probable that the panegyrist 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 senility. 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. Murray, with a 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, and in these 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 blandishments usually employed by the fair sex when they want to gain the ascendency 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 for 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 rapacity, 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 grant 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 removed. This measure could not with any propriety be opposed, and the guards were therefore dismissed; on 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; and 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 instantly called, in which the conspirators were charged to appear as guilty of murder and treason; their places of strength were ordered to be surrendered to the 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 Melvil 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 distant to them, and exclaimed against the murder as 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 previous 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 the capital, and over the whole kingdom, protested to the people at large that he had never bestowed on it, in any degree, the sanction of his command, consent, assistance, or approbation.

In the mean time, the queen granted a full and ample pardon to the earls of Murray, Argyle, Glencairn, others of Rothes, and their adherents; but towards the conspirators she remained inexorable. This lenity, to appease Murray especially, proved a source of the greatest inquietude 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.

On the 19th of June 1566, 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 on her honour, his share in the murder of Rizzio, and his extreme meanness in publicly denying it, 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 distant, was yet decent and respectful. Castelnau, at this time ambassador extraordinary from France, conceived that a reconciliation might be effected, and employed himself for some time in this friendly office. Nor were his king and endeavours altogether ineffectual. The king and queen spent two nights together; and proceeded, in company with each other, to Meggatland in Tweeddale, in order to enjoy the diversion of the chase, attended by the earls of Huntly, Bothwel, Murray, and other nobles. 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 regain the affections of his queen; but, instead of this, finding that he was not immediately intrusted with power, his peevishness suggested to him the design of going abroad. To Monsieur de 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 scarcely believe that he was serious. Scotland. To his father the earl of Lenox, who paid him a visit at this place immediately on Mary's departure from it, he likewise communicated his intention; and all the intrigues, arguments, and remonstrances of this nobleman to make him relinquish his design, were without success. He provided a vessel, and kept it in readiness to carry him from Scotland. The earl of Lenox, 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 on the evening of the day in which she received this despatch, the king alighted at Holyroodhouse. 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 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 abandon his perverse design. But he gave her no satisfaction. He was unmoved by her kindness; and his silence, dejection, and peevishness, augmented her distress. 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 despatch of the earl of Lenox. 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 enquiry and punishment who had committed misdemeanors against him. This, they said, consisted 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 her's, and pressing it with affection, besought 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 on 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 froward, 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, despatched 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 on 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 insinuated 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 on 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 stateliness towards 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 Bothwel 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 were therefore issued by the queen to call her subjects to arms; and she 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; insomuch 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 to it that respect which consisted with the laws, recommending mending 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 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, Werk 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 Eyemouth, 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 suspicion 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. Bothwel, 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; and this was now become the subject of consultation by Murray and his associates. After much deliberation, the queen herself was made 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 effecting the divorce. This was urged as a matter of state by the earls of Murray, Lethington, Argyle, and Huntly; 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, on condition that the divorce could be obtained according to law, and that it should not be prejudicial to her son: but if they meant to effect their purpose by a disregard to these points, they must think no more of it; for rather than consent to their views, she would endure all the torments, and abide by all the perils, to which her situation exposed her.

Lethington on this, in the name of the rest, engaged to rid her of her husband, without prejudice to her son; words which could not be understood otherwise than as pointing at murder. Lord Murray (added he), who is here present, scrupulous as he is, will connive; and behold our proceedings without opening his lips. The queen immediately made answer, "I desire that you will do nothing from which any stain may be fixed upon my honour or conscience: and I therefore require the matter to rest as it is, till God of his goodness send relief: What you think to be of service to me, may turn out to my displeasure and harm."

It appears, however, that from this moment a plot was formed by Murray, Bothwel, and Lethington, against the life of Darnley, and by some of them probably against the queen herself; and that Morton, who with the other conspirators against Rizzio had received a pardon, was closely associated with them in their nefarious designs. That prefligate peer was, in his way to Scotland, met at Whittingham by Bothwell and the secretary. They proposed to him the murder of the king, and required his assistance, alleging that the queen herself consented to the deed; to which Morton by his own account replied, that he was disposed to concur, provided he were sure of acting under any authority from her; but Bothwel and Lethington having returned to Edinburgh, on purpose to obtain such an authority, sent him back a message, That the queen would not permit any conversation on that matter.

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 designed, 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 ever done. As Elizabeth did not mean to acknowledge Absurd behaviour of him in his sovereign capacity, it was consistent neither 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 meant to offend the queen, and to expose their quarrels to the world. Du Croc, who was inclined to be favourable to him, was so 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 of informing 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 confined himself chiefly 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 folly and imprudence, he did not alter his conduct. In a sullen humour he left Stirling, and proceeded to Glasgow. Here he fell sick. sick, with such symptoms as seemed to indicate poison. He was tormented with violent pains, and his body was covered over with pustules 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 assiduity 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 the Fields. This house stood on a 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 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, which was given to honour the marriage of a favourite domestic, 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 2000l. 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 of Bothwel, James Balfour, David Chalmers, and black John Spence, were the murderers. No name, however, was subscribed to this intelligence, nor was any demand made for the proffered 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 meantime, the earl of Murray conducted himself with his usual circumspection and artifice. On a pretence that his wife was dangerously sick at his castle in Fife, he, the day before the murder, obtained the queen's permission to pay her a visit. By this means he propounded 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. Letters were despatched to France, 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 regarded as 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 Bothwel, and strong insinuations and biting surmises were thrown out against the queen. Papers were dispersed, making her a party with Bothwel 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 Bothwel; and portraits of the regicides were circulated over the kingdom. (s)

The queen's determination, however, to scrutinize

(s) In the article Mary Queen of Scotland, we have stated at considerable length the arguments for and against the participation in the murder of Darnley, of which Mary has been accused. As we have concluded that article with the arguments brought by one of her ablest accusers, justice and impartiality require that we should embrace this only opportunity of presenting our readers with the arguments in favour of the queen, brought forward by her most recent defender Mr Chalmers. "Mary herself (says Mr Chalmers, Caledonia, vol. i. p. 850.) seems to have been the only person of any consequence who was unacquainted with a design which was attended with such mighty consequence; yet it has been a question of debate, from that age to the present, whether Mary had been an accomplice in the murder of Darnley her husband. The prejudice of the late Lord Orford led him to say, that a plea of such length serves rather to confirm than weaken the evidence for the fact. But, it had been an observation full as just, as well as logical, to have said that, since the criminations of 240 years have not proved her guilty, she ought to be fairly deemed innocent. Party has, however, entered into this question, with its usual unfairness; and it is supposed that she ought to be presumed to be guilty, rather than innocent; it being more likely that a wife would murder her husband, and a queen act as an assassin, than that nobles who were accustomed to crimes, should perform this atrocious action, and cast the offence from themselves on an innocent person. The same inconsistency argues that, as she was educated in a corrupt court, she must have been corrupt; yet, her sonnet and her sorrow for the loss of Francis, her first husband, attested that her heart was yet uncontaminated with corruption; and the steadiness with which she adhered to her faith, amidst 20 years persecution, evinces that religion had its the matter was unabated; and to the earl of Lenox, the king's father, she paid an attention which he could have expected from her only on 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 promote the advancement and execution of justice. Yielding to his anxieties, he addressed her again, 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 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 put in the public places of the city. The queen informed him, that although she had thought it expedient to call a meeting of parliament at this juncture, it was not her intention 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 on 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 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, Scotland.

Mary gave him her solemn promise, that the persons he had named should 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 his retirement immediately, and meet her at 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 Lenox, she resided partly at the palace of the lord Seton, at the distance of a few miles from the capital, and partly at Holyroodhouse. By the time that she sent her invitation to him, she was residing in the capital. She delayed not to confer with her counsellors, and to lay before them the letters of the earl of Lenox. Bothwel was earnest in his protestations of innocence; and he even expressed his wish for a trial, that he might establish his integrity. No facts indicated his guilt; there had appeared no accuser but the earl of Lenox; 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 their private machinations might be, were publicly his most strenuous defenders; and they explained the behaviour of the earl of Lenox 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 the utmost to mislead the queen, they were not able to withhold her from adopting the 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 Lenox, that the persons whom he suspected should:

its proper influence upon her soul. Hitherto, in this argument, no positive evidence has been adduced to prove her guilt; and therefore she ought to be acquitted as innocent. But at length certain letters, sonnets, and contracts between Mary and Bothwel, have been introduced as proofs of a guilty intercourse, rather than a direct participation in the crime; and those letters, sonnets, and contracts, were first produced by the earl of Morton, the queen's chancellor for life, who pretended to have found them in the custody of Dalglish, a servant of Bothwel. Yet this wretched magistrate had committed murder and treason at the assassination of Rizzio; he knew of the design to assassinate Darnley, yet he concealed it, and was thereby guilty of misprision; he knew of the crime, and was of course a participant, for which he was brought to the scaffold, where he acknowledged his crimes: now, this convicted criminal would not be admitted as a witness in any court of justice within Great Britain; and the production of such documents by such a wretch at such a time, casts strong suspicion on such papers, which were contaminated by his guilty touch. When those suspicious epistles were first introduced into the privy-council, they appeared, as the register asserts, to have been written and subscribed by her own hand, and sent to James Earl of Bothwel. When those pretie letters were first brought into the Scottish parliament, they appear only to have been hastily written with her own hand, as the record evinces, and not subscribed by her. When those dubious letters were first produced before the commissioners at York, for judging of the proofs of her guilt, they seem to have been superscribed to Bothwel; yet, they afterwards appeared before Elizabeth's commissioners at Westminster, without any superscription to any man; and those letters finally appear to have been neither subscribed by Mary, nor superscribed to Bothwel. When those letters were first produced before the privy-council of Scotland, they were written in the Scottish language; so they appeared to the commissioners at York; but when they were produced to the commissioners at Westminster, they were written in French. The whole thus appears to have been a juggle of state, to cozen the people into obedience. The sonnets and contracts have been equally convicted, by their own contents, of forgery. I have read the whole controversy on the genuineness or forgery of those documents; I have ransacked the Paper office for information on this interesting subject, and there does not appear to me to be a tittle of evidence, exclusive of those despicable forgeries, to prove that Mary Stuart had any knowledge of the murder of her husband." Scotland should be prosecuted; and amidst all the appearances in favour of Bothwel, 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 of the privy-council was accordingly made, which directed, that the earl of Bothwel, and all the persons named by Lenox, should be brought to trial for the murder of the king, and that the laws of the land should be carried into execution. The 12th of April was appointed for the trial. A general invitation was given to all persons to prefer their accusations. The earl of Lenox was formally cited to do himself justice, by appearing in the high court of justiciary, 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 which had manifested itself against the queen. No discoveries, however, were made, except against James Murray, brother to Sir William Murray of Tulibardin, 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 his escape, however, he avoided the punishment due to his repeated and detestable acts of calumny and treason.

The day for the trial of Bothwel 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 infuse a panic into the earl of Lenox. 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 insinuated; and the dangers to which he might be exposed by insisting on the trial were placed before him in the strongest colours. He was sensible of her aversion to him; and his weakness and the sovereign authority were contrasted. His friends concurred with his enemies to intimidate him, from the spirit of flattery, or from a real belief that his situation was critical. By the time he reached Stirling on his way to Edinburgh, his fears predominated. He made a full stop. He was no longer in haste to proceed against the regicides. He addressed a letter to the queen, in which he said he had fallen into such sickness, that he could not travel; and he affirmed, that he had not time to prepare for the trial and to assemble his friends. He complained, too, that Bothwel and his accomplices had not been committed to custody; he insisted, that this step should be taken; and he requested, that a more distant day might be appointed for the trial. After the lengths to which matters had been carried, this conduct was most improper; and it is only to be accounted for from terror or caprice. His indisposition was affected; he had been invited by Mary to wait on her at Edinburgh at an early period, to concert his measures; and the delay he asked was contradictory to his former intrigues. After the invitation sent to him, he might have relied with safety on the protection of the queen, without any gathering of his friends; from the time of her private intimation to him, and of the legal citations of her officers, there had passed a period more than sufficient for the purpose of calling them together; and Scotland indeed to suppose that there was any necessity for their assistance, was an insult to government, and a matter of high indecency. There was more justice in the complaint, that the earl of Bothwel and his accomplices had not been taken into custody; and yet even in this peculiarity he was to blame in a great degree. For he had not observed the precaution of that previous display of evidence, known in the Scottish law under the term of a precognition, which is common in all grosser offences, and which the weighty circumstances of the present case rendered so necessary as a foundation for the confinement and conviction of the criminals.

An application for the delay of a trial so important, but his plea on the night immediately preceding the day stated for it, and reciting inconclusive reasons, could not with propriety be attended to. The privy-council refused the demand of the earl of Lenox. The court of justiciary was assembled. The earl of Argyle acted in his character of lord high justiciary; and was aided by four assessors, Robert Pitcairn, commendator of Dunfermline, and the lord Lindsay, with Mr James Macgill and Mr Henry Balnaves, two lords of session. The indictment was read, and the earls of Bothwel and Lenox were called on; the one as the defender, the other as the accuser. Bothwel, who had come to court with an attendance of his vassals, and a band of mercenary soldiers, did not fail to present himself; but Lenox appeared only by his servant Robert Cunningham; who, after apologizing for his absence, from the shortness of the time, and the want of the presence of his friends, desired that a new day might be appointed for the trial; and protested, that if the jury should now enter on the business, they should incur the guilt of a wilful error, and their verdict be of no force or authority.

This remonstrance and protestation did not appear to the court of sufficient importance to interrupt the trial. They paid a greater respect to the letters of the earl of Lenox to the queen insisting on an immediate prosecution, and to the consequent order of the privy-council. The jury, who consisted of men of rank and condition, after considering and reasoning on the indictment for a Bothwel considerable time, were unanimous in acquitting Bothwel of all share and knowledge of the king's murder. The machinations however of Morton, which we have mentioned in the life of Mary, were so apparent, that the earl of Caithness, the chancellor of the assize, made a declaration in their name and his own, that no wilful 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, that this flaw in the indictment was a matter of design, and with a view to the advantage of Bothwel, if the earl of Lenox 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 assessors to the chief justiciary were warm and strenuous friends to the earl of Murray.

Immediately Immediately after his trial, Bothwel placed a writing in a conspicuous place, 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, on 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, parliament met, and there the party of Bothwel 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 connected with it; and other favours were conferred on Murray, with the rest of the nobles suspected as accomplices in the murder.

A very short time after the final acquittal of Bothwel, he began to give a greater scope to his ambition, and conceived hopes of gaining the queen in marriage. It has been already remarked, that he had insidiously 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 unavoidably still rest on him, notwithstanding the trial he had undergone, necessarily prevented him from making his addresses to her openly. 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, and expressing their resolute determination to support him in his pretensions. This extraordinary bond was accordingly executed; and Murray's name was the first in the list of subscribers, in order to decoy others to sign after him; but that he might appear innocent of what he knew was to follow, he had, before any use was made of the bond, asked and obtained the queen's permission 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 Bothwel. Her partisans 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, on the dissolution of parliament, had gone to Stirling to visit the young prince. Bothwel, 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 on her return to her capital, dismissed her attendants, and carried her to his castle of Dunbar. The arts which he used there to effect the accomplishment of his wishes we have mentioned under another article, (see Mary). But having been married only six months before to Lady Jane Gordon, sister to the earl of Huntly, it was necessary to procure a divorce before he could marry the queen. This was easily 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 Catholic subjects, was illi- Scotland. der. This bold language drew no reply from Bothwel that was satisfactory to Mr Craig, or that could intimidate him. He proclaimed in his church the banns of 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 besought 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 again 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 on the foundation of these topics he was about to prove that the marriage must be universally odious, when the earl of Bothwel 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 on him; and this victory over Bothwel, 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 gave her hand to Bothwel, created him duke of Orkney. The ceremony was performed in a private manner, after the rules of the Popish church; but, to gratify the people, it was likewise solemnized publicly, according to the Protestant rites, by Adam Bothwel bishop of Orkney, 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 Croc, 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 so perilous a situation that no remedy could save her honour but death. Her marriage was the immediate and necessary consequence of that situation. (r) It was the point for which her enemies had laboured with a wicked and relentless policy.

Mary was unfortunate in her second marriage, but much more so in her third. Bothwel 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 fears 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 have been sufficient to ruin them both for ever. 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 the earl of Mar to deliver up the young prince to his custody.—This was sufficient to rekindle the flame which had hitherto been smothered, and make it burst out with all its violence. It was universally believed that Bothwel, who had been the murderer of the father, designed also to take away the life of the son; 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 aggrandize himself and effect her ruin. After having visited the English court, he proceeded to France, where he assiduously disseminated all laments 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 Bothwel on the queen with a power and influence which insured their success. In confederacy with the earl of Murray, they had conspired with him to murder the king. Assisted with the weight of the earl of Murray, they had managed his trial, and promoted the verdict by which he was acquitted. 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, asserting 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 infamy, 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 on them. The murder of the king, the guilt of Bothwel, his acquittal, his divorce, and his marriage, became the topics of their complaints and declamation. On the foundation of this hated marriage, they even ventured privately to infer the privity of the queen.

(r) "The queen (says Mcvill) 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 a writer 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, "few foreign princes would have solicited her hand. Some of her subjects might still have sought 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 sullen 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 Bothwel." Remarks on the History of Scotland, p. 204. queen to all his iniquitous transactions; 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 of burying forever her tranquillity and peace; and in the convulsions which they had meditated, they were already anticipating the downfall of Bothwell, and snatching at the crown that tottered on her head.

But while this cabal were prosecuting their private ends, several noblemen, not less remarkable for their virtue than their rank, were eager to vindicate the national integrity and honour. The earl of Athol, on the king's murder, had retired from court, and was waiting for a proper season to take revenge on the regicides. The earl of Mar, 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 partisans. It was sufficient to mention them. By private conference and debate, an association was insensibly formed to punish the murderers of the king, and to protect the person of the prince. Morton and Lethington encouraged and promoted a combination from which they might derive so much advantage. A convention was accordingly appointed at Stirling, for the purpose of consulting on the measures which it was most expedient to pursue. They agreed to take an early opportunity of appearing 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 Argyll, Athol, Morton, Mar, and Glencairn; the lords Hume, Sempill, 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 on a throne, he must wade to it through blood. By his advice, two proclamations were issued in the name of the queen, under pretence of suppressing insurrections and depredations on the borders. By the former, she called together in arms, on an early day, the earls, barons, and freemenholders, of the districts of Forfar and Perth, Strathern and Monteith, 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 at 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 violent 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 counsels 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 of expressing in a very forcible manner, not only her attachment to her people and the laws, but the fond affection which 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 shaken by the practices of the earl of Mar and Sir James Melville. Mary left her palace of Holyroodhouse, and was conducted to Borthwick castle. The associated lords, informed of her flight, took the road to this fortress with 2000 horse. The lord Hume, by a rapid march, 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 surprise.

On this second disappointment, the nobles resolved to enter Edinburgh, and to augment their strength by new partisans. The earl of Huntly 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 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 Huntly and the queen's friends fled to the castle, to Sir James Balfour, who had been the confidant 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 able neither 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 protect the person of the prince, to revenge the murder of the king, and to vindicate the nation from the infamy which it had hitherto suffered through the impunity of the regicides. They therefore commanded in general all the subjects of Scotland, and the burgesses and inhabitants of Edinburgh in particular, to take part with them, and to join in the advancement of purposes so beneficial and salutary. The day after they published this proclamation, they issued another in terms that were stronger and more resolute. They definitively 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 inculcated it as their firm opinion, that Bothwell had now formed the design of murdering 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 Scotland or in boroughs, they invited them to come forward to their standard; and desired them to remember, that all persons who should presume to disobey them would be treated as enemies and traitors.

Bothwel, 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 Bothwel 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; 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 Gladsmuir, 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 scarcely have forgotten that they had subscribed a bond recommending Bothwel 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 whatever 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 Bothwel 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 cover to their perfidiousness; and the real purposes by which they were animated, were the overthrow of her greatness, the ruin of her posterity, and the usurpation of the royal authority. She therefore entreated 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 with the approach of the queen, put themselves in motion. In the city of Edinburgh they had received 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 on her march. The two armies were nearly equal in numbers; but the preference, in point of valour and discipline, belonged decisively to the soldiers 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, pressed they approached to give her battle. They were ranged each other in two divisions. The one was commanded by the earl of Morton and the lord Hume; the other by the earls of Athol, Mar, and Glencairn, with the lords Lindsay, Ruthven, Sempill, and Sanquhar. Bothwel was the leader of the royal forces; and the lords Seton, Yester, and Borthwick, served under him.

It was not without apprehensions that Mary surveyed the formidable appearance of her enemies. Du Croc, 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 up 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 cognisance of injuries which had provoked their displeasure. This aspiring language confounded Du Croc, who had been accustomed to the worshipful submissions which are paid to a despot. He conceived that all negotiation 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 Bothwel 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 demeanour, 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 desirous of relieving her wretchedness by spilling her blood. On this 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 Bothwel 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 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 most prudent expedient 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 on 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, and 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 her 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 language the coarsest and most opprobrious. The nobility forgot their promises, and seemed to have neither honour nor humanity. She had changed one miserable scene for a distress 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 soldiery in the licentious outrage of invective and execration. She besought Maitland to solicit the lords to repress the insupportable atrocity of her treatment. She conjured him to let them know, that she would submit herself implicitly to the determination of parliament. Her entreaties and her sufferings made no impression on the nobles. They continued the savage cruelty of their demeanour. She implored, as the last request she would prefer to them, that they would lead 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 triumph over her misfortunes. In the most mortifying 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 on 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 on it the body of the late king stretched at the foot of a tree, and the prince on 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 proclaimed 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 reinstate her in her royalty. Imposing on 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. 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. Kirkaldy of Grange, perceiving with surprise the lengths to which the nobles had proceeded, felt his tender honour take the alarm for the part he had acted at their desire. He expostulated with them on their breach of trust, and censured the extreme rigour of the queen's treatment. They counselled him to rely on 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... Scotland had utterly abandoned his interests, they would think of kindness and moderation. But this, they urged, could scarcely be expected; for they had recently intercepted a letter from her to this nobleman, in which a forgery she expressed, in the strongest terms, the warmth of her love, and her fixed purpose never to forsake him (v).

Kirkaldy was desired to peruse this letter; and he pressed them no longer with his remonstrances. The queen, in the mean time, 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 surprise 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 Bothwel 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 the pangs of unutterable anguish.

The lords Ruthven and Lindsay arrived during this paroxysm of her distress, to inform her, that they were commanded to put in execution the order of her commitment. They charged her women to take from her all her ornaments and her royal attire. A mean dress was put on her; and in this disguise they conveyed her with precipitation to the prison appointed for her. The lords Seton, Yester, and Borthwick, endeavoured to rescue her, but failed in the attempt. She was delivered over to William Douglas the governor of the castle of Lochleven, who had married the mother of the earl of Murray, and was himself nearly related to the earl of Morton. See Mary.

On 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 themselves to the strenuous prosecution of their quarrel; and it detailed the purposes which they were to 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 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 on each other; 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 have easily apprehended and brought him to trial. To exalt 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 to any person who should bring him to Edinburgh. A search was 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, of the rebel lords, enter into a bond of association, were apprehended; and soon after James Edmonstone, John Blackader, and Mynart Fraser, 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 an 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. Sanguine hopes were 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 they said with respect 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

(v) "Mr Hume 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. v. 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 Bothwel; (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 Bothwel 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 Bothwel, 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 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. 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, despatched M. de Villeroi to console with her on her misfortunes; but the lords of the secret council would not admit him to see her, on 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 noble 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 24th of July 1567, the lord Lindsay, whose imperious behaviour, says Dr Stuart, approached to insanity, was ordered by the lords to wait on the queen at Lochleven. He carried with him three deeds or 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, she appointed the 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 on 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 of the secret council met at Stirling, for the coronation of the young prince, and considered themselves as representing the three estates of the kingdom. A protestation was made in the name of the duke of Chatelherault, 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 which she had subscribed, and surrendered the sword, sceptre, and royal crown. After the papers were read, the earls of Morton, Athol, Glencairn, Mar, 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 on 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. The prelate next delivered to him the sword and the sceptre, and finally put the crown on 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 Mar carried the prince in his arms. These solemnities received no countenance from Elizabeth; and Throgmorton, by her express command, was not present at them.

Soon after this ceremony, the earl of Murray returned from France; and his presence gave such a strength and firmness to his faction, that very little opposition could be given by the partisans of Mary, who were unsettled and desponding for want of a leader. A short time after his arrival, this monstrous hypocrite and traitor waited on 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 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; but 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 intrigues as if with pain and reluctance; and taking a comprehensive survey of her conduct, described it with all the severity that could affect her most. He could discover no apology for her misgovernment and disorders; and, with a mortifying plainness, he pressed on her conscience and her honour. At times she wept bitterly. Some errors she confessed; and against calumnies she warmly vindicated herself. But all she could urge in her behalf made no impression on 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 seat, 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 and inducements to refuse the regency. She implored and conjured him not to abandon her in the extremity of her wretchedness; to press 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 besought 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. Scotland.

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 subsist himself and his followers. His pursuers came on 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 Denmark; 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, produced letters, which they said were written and sent by her to that licentious nobleman during the life of the king. These letters are now generally admitted to have been forged by the rebels themselves, who practised likewise on some servants of Bothwell to accuse the queen of the murder of her husband. The letters for some time gained credit; but the confessions of the servants were all in her favour. 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 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 had been often meditating her escape from prison; and she at last effected it by means of a young gentleman, George Douglas, brother to her keeper, who had fallen in love with her. On the 2d day of May 1568, 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 finding a place of 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 possible step. Notwithstanding all the perfidy which she had found in Elizabeth, Mary could not think that she would now refuse to afford her a refuge in her dominions; and she therefore determined to retire into England. To this end, she had been solicited by Elizabeth during her confinement in Lochleven castle; and she now resolved, in opposition to the advice of her most faithful counsellors, to make the fatal experiment.

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 on 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 16 attendants. In a few hours she landed at Wirkington 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 the castle of Carlisle.

To Elizabeth she announced her arrival in a despatches, which described her late misfortunes in general and pathetic terms, and in which she expressed an earnest solicitude to pay her a visit at court, and the deep sense she entertained of her friendship and generosity. The queen of England, by obliging and polite letters, condoled with her on 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 on earth; but if it could not be granted, In consequence of this cruel and unjust resolution, Scotland Mary was acquainted, that she could not be admitted to 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, consistently 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 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, on 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, on the part of the English deputies, that their commission was so ample, that they could enter on and proceed in 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 at a future 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 brought against him and his faction; and this being in a great measure a matter distinct from the controversy respecting the murder, he was desired to proceed. It was contended; that Bothwell, who had the chief concern in the murder of lord Darnley, possessed such credit with the queen, that within three months 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 princess; 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 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 she 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 her crown to her son, and constituted the earl of Murray regent; 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 peace and order, 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 confusion 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 her 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 asserting 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 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. Kirkaldy 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 Kirkaldy 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 on 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 Kirkaldy, made obeisance 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 of giving away her crown, if she might possess Bothwell. In the midst of her sufferings, she had even required them by Secretary 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 submissive, they absolutely rejected. They were animated by purposes of ambition, and had not in view a redress of 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, subverted, 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 Tullibardin and Lethington, principal men of their council, were hostile to the constitution and the laws. Nor Scotland 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. On 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 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 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 mistress, while she was disposed to gratify her animosity and jealousies against the queen of Scots, was secretly resolved, by fixing a stain on 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 blamable as that of criminating his sovereign. If Mary had really given offence by miscarriage and mistakes, it 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 Sussex, and Sir Ralph Sadler, and to communicate to them as private persons, and not in their character of commissioners, the letters to Bothwell, and the other proofs on which he affirmed the guilt of the queen of Scots. It was his desire that they should examine these papers, give their opinion of them to Elizabeth, and inform him whether she judged them sufficient Scottish deputies would not exhibit their charge of discrimination. Having deceived Mary therefore with fair promises, she was active in gaining over the regent to her views; which having done, he at last consented 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 Articles of presumptive terms. It affirmed, that as James earl of Bothwel was the chief executor of the murder of King Henry, so the queen was his persuader and counsel in the device; that she was a maintainer and fortifier of this unnatural deed, by stopping an enquiry into it and preventing 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 of reigning, 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 Lenox 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 on 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 faction in their proceedings, they imputed to persons among themselves the guilt of the king's murder. They affirmed, that the queen's adversaries were the accomplices of Bothwel; 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 her. It was their wish to deal with sincerity and uprightness; and they were persuad- Scotland, ed., 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 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 might be preferred against them. She desired to have some time to turn her thoughts to matters of such great importance; 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 pernicious 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 come to a good agreement with 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, and was averse to 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 as yet have the liberty of defending herself in person. She confessed, indeed, that it was reasonable that Mary 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 requested, 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 affirmed himself in readiness to produce. After this business 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 herself; this privilege is denied her; and yet a demand 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 interests of their queen; and if it was adopted, she might expect that a protest against its validity would be lodged with her commissioners.

The English commissioners resumed the conference, and were about to demand from the earl of Murray between the proofs with which he could support his accusation, the commissioners. The bishop of Ross and his associates being admitted to them, expressed themselves in conformity to the conversation they had held with Elizabeth. They declared, 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 prejudice 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 solicitous to suppress so palpable a memorial of her iniquity. They alleged, that the language of her refusal had not been taken down with accuracy; and they pressed Mary's deputies to present a simpler form of protestation. The bishop of Ross 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 on their protestation. An interruption was thus given to the validity of any future proceedings which might affect the reputation of the queen of Scots. The earls of Murray and Morton, with their friends, were very much disappointed. For they had solaced themselves with the hope of a triumph before there was a victory; and thought of obtaining a decree from Elizabeth, which, while it should pronounce the queen of Scots to be an adulteress and a murderer, would exalt them to the station and character of virtuous men and honourable subjects.

Though the conference ought naturally to have terminated on this protestation of the deputies of Mary demands against the injustice of Elizabeth, yet it did not satisfy the latter princess that the accusation only had been delivered to her commissioners; she was seriously disposed to propose a judicial production of its vouchers. The charge would thus have a more regular aspect, and be a sounder foundation on which to build, not only the infamy of the Scottish queen, but her own justification for the part she had acted. Her commissioners accordingly, after the bishop of Ross and his colleagues had retired, disregarding their protestation, called on the earl of Murray and his associates to make their appearance. The pretence, however, employed for drawing from him his papers was sufficiently artful, and bears the marks of that systematic duplicity which so shamefully characterizes all the transactions of Elizabeth at this period. Sir Nicholas Bacon the lord keeper addressed himself to the earl of Murray. He said, that, in the opinion of the queen of England, it was a matter strange.