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LANDING OF THE PRETENDER IN
SCOTLAND
Scotland, vol. two
Worlti's Best histories
SCOTLAND
BY
SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART.
WITH A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER OF RECENT EVENTS
BY MAYO W. HAZELTINE
With Frontispiece
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOLUME TWO
NEW YORK AND LONDON
THE CO-OPERATIVE PUBLICATION SOCIETY
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Scotland. Vol. II. — i
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXV
Disadvantages of the Protestants — They receive Supplies of Treasure
from England: a large Sum of which is intercepted by the Earl
of Both well — The Protestants are repulsed from Leith, and re-
tire to Stirling much discouraged — They recover Courage at the
Exhortation of John Knox; and send Lethington to the Court
of England — Aid is granted to the Reformers by Elizabeth— A
Detachment of the French ravage the Coast of Fife — The Prot-
estant Gentlemen skirmish with them — Critical Arrival of the
English Fleet— The French retreat lf>
CHAPTER XXVI
Petition to the Scottish Parliament on the Part of the Reformers —
The Parliament abolish the Roman Catholic Form of Worship,
and prohibit the Celebration of the Mass under severe Penalties
—The Change of Religion meets no Opposition from the Catho-
lic Bishops and Prelates; but gives great Offence to Francis
and Mary, who receive an Envoy from Parliament very coldly
— The Church Government of Scotland is arranged on a Cal-
vinistic and Presbyterian Model — The Clergy are meanly pro-
vided for, the Nobles retaining the greater Part of the Spoils of
the Catholic Church — Debates on this Subject — Character of the
Presbyterian Church of Scotland — Destruction of the Ecclesias-
tical Buildings — Queen Mary returns to Scotland; her Recep-
tion at Edinburgh — Intolerant Zeal of the Reformers, expressed
in Pageants and by Riots, and by the vehement Exhortations of
John Knox — These Disturbances appeased by the Moderation
of Lord James Stewart, Prior of Saint Andrew's — Transactions
with England — Correspondence between the Queens .... 22
4 CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXVII
Insanity of the Earl of Arran — Lord James Stewai't created Ear! oi
Mar — The Grant offends the Earl of Huntley — Breach of the
Peace by his Son Sir John Gordon— The Queen makes a Prog-
ress to the North, where she is coldly received, and Inverness
Castle is held out against her — The Earldom of Murray is con-
ferred on Lord James, instead of that of Mar — Huntley rebels-
Battle of Corrichie — Suitors for Mary's Hand — She determines
to consult Elizabeth— The Queen of England behaves with In-
sincerity; recommends the Earl of Leicester — The Scots cast
their eyes on Henry Darnley— His Mother's Claims on the Suc-
cession of England — Henry Darnley comes to Scotland, and
renders himself personally agreeable to Queen Mary — Her Char-
acter at this Period of her Life — Her Love of more private
Society — The Rise of Rizzio at the Scottish Court — He becomes
French Secretary to the Queen, and a Favorite — Elizabeth's
Displeasure at the proposed Match of Mary and Darnley— She
intrigues with the Protestant Party in Scotland — The Earl of
Murray leaves the Party of the Queen, and joins that of the
Reformed Nobles and Clergymen — Desperate Plots of the Earls
of Darnley and Murray against eacli other: both fail — The
Queen and Darnley are Married — Murray and the Duke of
Chatelherault take up Arms — The Queen gathers an Army,
drives the Insurgents from Place to Place, and finally compels
them to retreat into England — They are ill received by Eliz-
abeth, who disowns them and their Cause — Mary endeavors
to obtain some Toleration for the persecuted Catholics —She
accedes to the Catholic League of Bayonne 3?
CHAPTER XXVIII
Character of Henry Darnley — He quarrels with Mary — Conceives
Hatred against Rizzio, who is Murdered — The King forsakes
and disowns the Conspirators, who fly to England — Murray re-
turns from Exile, and is reconciled to the Queen — Question as
to the Guilt or Innocence of Mary — Her continued Quarrel with
Darnley, who threatens to go abroad, and gives his Wife other
Subjects of Complaint — Bothwell rises in the Queen's Favor —
His History — He is restored upon his Enemy Murray's Exile,
and reconciled to him on his Return — Elizabeth exasperated
against Mary on her bearing a Son — Bothwell is made Keeper
of Liddisdale — Is wounded — Mary visits him at the Hermitage
CONTENTS 5
Castle — Apparent Reconciliation between Mary and Darnley —
Darnley is Murdered — Consequences of that Atrocity — Ac-
quittal of Bothwell — The Marriage of the Queen — Insurrection
— The Queen flies to Dunbar — Advances with an Army to Car-
berry Hill — Bothwell flies — The Queen surrenders — She is car-
ried to Edinburgh — Insulted by the Populace — Sent Prisoner
to Lochleven — She resigns her Crown — The Earl of Murray is
declared Regent 57
CHAPTER XXIX
Mary's Escape from Lochleven — The Battle of Langside — The
Queen's Flight into England— Mary offers to vindicate herself
to Elizabeth — Advantage taken of that Offer — Commission at
York — Question of Supremacy revived and abandoned — Pro-
posal of a Marriage between Mary and the Duke of Norfolk —
Sittings of the Commission removed to Westminster — Murray
lodges his Accusation against Mary — Elizabeth decliues pro-
nouncing a decision, but detains Mary a Prisoner — Question of
her Guilt and Innocence — Morton's Confession — Proofs by the
Sonnets and Letters — Deemed inconclusive, and why — Confes-
sion of Paris — Elizabeth's Conduct toward Mary — A Party is
formed in Scotlaud for the Queen — It is joined by Kirkcaldy
of Grainge and Lethington — Murray betrays Norfolk to Eliza-
beth — Th* Duke is imprisoned — Murray assassinated by Both-
wellhaugh — Inroads on the Borders 81
CHAPTER XXX
: ommencement of the Civil War — English Invasion — The Borderers
chastised — The House of Hamilton almost ruined — Dumbarton
Castle taken — Scotland divided between King's Men and Queen's
Men — Cruel Character of the War — State of Parties — Raid of
Stirling— Death of the Regent Lennox — Mar succeeds, and la-
bors for Peace, but shortly after dies — Morton chosen Regent —
His C laracter — Mary corresponds with Spain — Duke of Norfolk
behea ed — Queen Elizabeth publicly owns the Right of James
— The Civil Wars still rage; but the Party of the Queen declines
everywhere save in the North, where it is supported by the
Gordc ns — The Queen's Adherents capitulate, excepting Grainge,
who holds out Edinburgh Castle — He is besieged by an English
Force, and compelled to surrender — He is executed — Death of
Maitland of Lethington 97
8 CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXI
Oppressive Regency of Morton — He sets the Example of the Tulchan
Bishops, and thereby offends the Church — Tyrannizes over the
Nobility — Disobliges the young King — Battle of Reedsquair —
The King desires to assume the Government — Morton offers no
Opposition, but resigns the Regency, receiving in return an Act
of Indemnity — He surrenders the Castle of Edinburgh — Retires
to Dalkeith, and builds a Castle at Droich-holes in Tweedale —
Meditates, however, the Resumption of his Power — Instigates
the Earl of Mar to take Stirling Castle from his Uncle, and thus
acquires Possession of the King's Person and the supreme Place
in the Privy Council — Argyle and Athole levy Forces against
Morton, but an Accommodation is agreed upon — Two Favorites
arise at Court — The Character of the Duke of Lennox — That of
Stewart, afterward Earl of Arran — Morton's invidious Perse-
cution of the Hamiltons — Morton is impeached by Stewart —
Tried, condemned, and executed 10?
CHAPTER XXXII
Character of James — Greatly influenced by personal Timidity — His
Irresolution — His high Opinion of Royal Prerogative — Con-
trolled by the Opinions of his Subjects, and the Nature of his
Right to the Crown — Saved from many Dangers by his Flexi-
bility of Temper — His Attachment to Favorites — He throws
the Government into the Hands of Lennox and Arran — Infa-
mous Character of the latter — His profligate Marriage and
general Unpopularity — He misleads Lennox, and seeks to un-
dermine his Influence — A Conspiracy to reform the State — The
Earl of Gowrie is induced to join it— His Character — The King
is seized at the Raid of Ruthven, and detained a Prisoner —
He dissembles with Gowrie and his Associates — Arran is made
Prisoner — Lennox is banished, and dies in Fiance — The King
ostensibly ratifies the Raid of Ruthven, which is approved of
also by the General Assembly of the Church — Meantime J imes
entertains deep Discontent for the Restraint inflicted on 1 im —
He lets Elizabeth know his real Sentiments — The Lords p irmit
him more personal Liberty — He escapes to St. Andrew's- -The
Lords concerned in the Raid of Ruthven are overpower id at
Court — James rules at first with Moderation, but Arran re-
covers his Influence, and impels the King to vindictive Meas-
ures — Queen Elizabeth expostulates with James without Effect
— Walsingham visits the Scottish Court, and forms ahighOpin-
CONTENTS 7
ion of the King — The Scottish Clergy interfere on behalf of the
Lords connected with the Ruthven Conspiracy — These Lords
take Arms — Gowrie is taken at Dundee — Angus and Mar take
Stirling, which is promptly retaken — Gowrie tried and executed
— Violence of Arran — Now uncontrolled Minister 125
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Minister's Arrogance — The King disgusted with Business —
Arran pretends an Attachment to the Prerogative — The
banished Lords— Their Influence with their Vassals, Clans,
and Tenantry — Argaty and his Brother tried and executed for
holding Correspondence with the Exiles — Information against
Mains and Drumquhassel for a similar Crime — Suborned Evi-
dence against the Accused — They are condemned and executed
— Arran's Attack on the Immunities claimed by the Church —
Privileges of the Kirk — Their extreme Apprehensions of Popery
—The Clergy usually in opposition to, and therefore become
unpopular with, the King — Arran, having courted them to no
Purpose, resolves to break their Power by a Series of new Reg-
ulations — Nature of the political Influence of the Clergy — A
Minister is imprisoned for petitioning to be heard on the Part
of the Church, and declared Rebel and Outlaw for protesting
against the obnoxious Laws — Arran's Ministry begin to desert
him and set up for themselves, particularly Maitland the Secre-
tary and the Master of Gray — Arran becomes a Creature of
Elizabeth — His Meeting with Hunsdon — His Quarrels with the
Scottish Nobility, particularly with Lord Maxwell— He engages
Lord Maxwell in a Civil War with the Johnstones, in which the
former is victorious — Embassy of Wotton — Death of Sir Francis
Russell on the Borders — Disgrace of Kerr of Farniherst and of
Arran — The exiled Lords return to Scotland, march to Stirling,
and obtain Possession of the King's Person — The King aban-
dons Arran, who retires from Court in Disgrace — James re-
ceives the associated Nobles into his Favor, and establishes a
Government on a moderate and popular Model 155
CHAPTER XXXIV
Queen Mary in Prison — Becomes the Object of Interest to all who
conspire against Queen Elizabeth — Elizabeth's Anxiety on her
Account — Her Removal from Carlisle to Bolton — From Bolton
to Tutbury, to Wingfield, to Coventry, to Chatsworth — Her
8 CONTENTS
visit to Buxton — Account of her by Nicolas White — Her Amuse-
ments — Is more strictly guarded — And the Marks of Respect
shown to her diminished — Injustice of her Treatment — Causes
of Queen Elizabeth's Exasperation against her — The proposed
Match with Norfolk unpleasing to her — The English war
against the Queen's Party in Scotland — Attempt at a Treaty
with Mary broken off by the Scottish Commissioners — Norfolk
sent to the Tower — Mary desirous of an Interview with Eliza-
beth — Elizabeth incites the Feelings of her Subjects against
Mary, and endeavors to disgrace her in the Eyes of the Public
— Works against her circulated — Proceedings against her in
Parliament — Rigor of her Captivity increased , „ . c . c e 183
CHAPTER XXXV
Interference of Foreign Princes in behalf of Mary — Her Intercourse
with her Son — Her Presents to him rejected — Nevertheless she
interferes with Elizabeth in his Behalf at the Period of the Raid
of Ruthven — He disclaims her Title and Cause — Her Sentiments
on that Occasion — The Catholics of England continue to make
her the"*chief Object of their Regard, and involve her Name in
their Conspiracies — The Plot of Throgmorton — Association of
English Subjects, chiefly directed against Mary — She is alarmed,
and willing to submit to severer Terms of Liberation — Elizabeth
cultivates an Interest with James and his Ministers; her Alarm
for Queen Mary in a public and national Point of View — Mary's
imprudent and offensive Letter — Sadler intrusted for a Time
with the Custody of the Scottish Queen — His Discontent with
the Duty imposed — Parry's Conspiracy — Severe Act of Parlia-
ment passed in consequence » . . . „ „ . a 300
CHAPTER XXXVI
Enthusiasm of the Age— Projects of the Catholics against the Life
of Elizabeth — Plot of Ballard— He communicates with Babing-
ton — They have a Picture of their Associates— Contrive the Lib-
eration of Mary — They are betrayed by the Spies of Walsing-
ham — The English resent the Conspiracy as a Plot of Mary —
The Ministers of Elizabeth press the taking of her Life — She is
committed to the Charge of Sir Amias Paulet — Her Health be-
comes more feeble — Her Wants and Complaints — It is resolved
to bring her to Trial— Mary's Papers are seized; her Secretaries
CONTENTS 9
made Prisoners; and her Cabinets broken open — She is trans-
ported to Fotheringay — A Commission appointed to try her—
She refuses to plead before it, but at length submits — Her Ac-
cusation and Defence — The Commissioners Remove to London-
Objections to the Evidence — The Commissioners, however, pro-
nounce Sentence of Death — The Parliament press for the Publi-
cation and Execution of the Sentence — Elizabeth's hypocritical
Answer — Mary writes to Elizabeth; but receives no Answer —
James interferes, first by his Ambassador Keith, and after by
the Master of Gray and Sir James Melville — His Ambassador ill
received by Elizabeth — James sends more spirited Instructions
to his Envoys — The Master of Gray betrays the Cause of Queen
Mary, and the Purpose of his Embassy — James requires the
Scottish Church to pray for his Mother: they decline the
Office — Elizabeth's Uncertainty — She contrives to throw the is-
suing of the Death Warrant upon her Secretary and Council,
after some attempts to instigate Mary's Keepers to put her to
Death in Private — Mary resigns herself to her Fate — She is
CHAPTER XXXVII
Queen Mary's Death the Subject of Rejoicings in England — But of
affected Surprise and Sorrow to Elizabeth — She sends Carey
to apologize to James — He is not received, but forwards the
Queen's Excuses — She throws the Blame on Davidson, who is
ruined — James harbors Thoughts of Vengeance; but is soon led
to abandon them — Sir William Stewart impeaches Gray, who
is convicted and banished — Scotland distracted with deadly
Feuds — James endeavors to reconcile them — An Entertain-
ment given by the City of Edinburgh on the Occasion — His
Purpose in a great Measure fails — Feud of Mar with the Bruces
and other Gentlemen of the Carse of Stirling — Statute respect-
ing Church Lands, and concerning the Representation of the
Barons in Parliament — Spanish Armada — Offers from Spain —
Advice of Maitland — Fate of the Armada — Embassy of Sir
Henry Sidney — Insurrection of the Catholic Lords in Scotland-
Embassy from Denmark insulted by the Earl of Arran, and the
Envoys pacified by the Wisdom of Sir James Melville — A Treaty
of Marriage between James and a Princess of Denmark — It is
traversed by Elizabeth, but in vain — Finally concluded — James
sails for Denmark — Justifies his doing so by a singular Proc-
lamation — Is married at Upsal, and returns to Scotland with
his Bride . , 9 .... 253
10 CONTENTS
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Anne of Denmark — Her Family — Her Coronation — Her Clergy in
Favor with the King — Bothwell consults with Magicians — Is
imprisoned — Breaks his Word — Attacks Holyrood Palace, but
is beaten off — Huntley burns the House of Dunnibirsel, and kills
the Earl of Murray — General Dissatisfaction — Bothwell attacks
Falkland, but is beaten off — Escape of Wemyss of Logie — Prog-
ress of Catholicism — Affair of the Spanish Blanks — Clergy in-
terpose, and urge the King to more severe Prosecution of the
Catholics — Bothwell surprises the King, who is obliged to sub-
scribe Articles— The Convention declare they are not binding —
Bothwell again discharged the King's Presence — The Catholic
Lords are excommunicated, and James is reduced to great Anx-
iety — Bothwell advances on Edinburgh — He retires before the
King — Defeats the Earl of Home — Compelled to retreat to the
Borders — Feuds of the Johnstones and Maxwells — Battle of the
Dryffe Sands — The Charge of pursuing the Catholic Lords is
committed to Argyle — He is defeated at Glenlivet by Huntley
and Errol — The King suppresses the Catholic Lords — Bothwell
goes abroad, and dies in Misery — Death of Captain James
Stewart — The King devolves the Management of his Revenue
upon the Ministers called Octavians — The3' enforce general Re-
trenchment — Popular Clamor against them — They incur the
King's Displeasure, and resign 280
CHAPTER XXXIX
Kinmont Willie made Prisoner by the English — The Scottish
Warden attacks Carlisle Castle, and liberates him — Elizabeth
demands that Buccleuch should be delivered up, which is re-
fused by the Scottish Parliament — He visits England of his own
Accord, and is honorably received — The Catholic Lords give
new trouble — James proposes that they shall be reconciled to
the Church — the Scottish Clergy take alarm, and establish a
Standing Committee of the Church at Edinburgh — Black
preaches a Sermon highly disrespectful to the King — He is
called before the Privy Council — The Clergy encourage him to
disown the jurisdiction of the Judges — He is found guilty, and
banished to the North — Misunderstanding between the King
and Church — Great Tumult in Edinburgh— The King leaves the
City, and removes the Courts of Justice — The Clergy apply to
the Lord Hamilton to support them, but in vain — He returns
to Edinburgh, attended by the Border Clans and others — The
CONTENTS 11
Citizens are alarmed for fear of being Plundered — James makes
a Composition and pardons them — He becomes desirous to new
model the Church of Scotland, by introducing Episcopacy; but
is obliged to proceed with great Caution — The Order of Bishops
is established under strict Limitations 312
CHAPTER XL
Gowne Conspiracy — Character of Gowrie and his Brother — Alex-
ander Ruthven tells the King a singular Story to induce him
to come to his Brother's Castle at Perth — James goes thither,
and is coldly received — Alexander decoys him into a Cabinet
and there assaults him — The King alarms his Retinue with his
Cries — The Two Brothers are slain — The King is in Danger from
the incensed Populace — He cannot convince the Clergy of the
Reality of his Danger, and has great Difficulty in prevailing on
them to return Thanks to Heaven for protecting him — Dif-
ferent Theories on the Subject, and that which acquits the
Brothers Ruthven, or the elder of them, is shown to be at-
tended with far more Improbability — Sprot's Letters — The His-
tory of that Discover}'— They afford a consistent Clew for con-
jecturing the Purpose of the Conspiracy — Trial of Logan after
Death — Execution of Sprot the Notary — An Attempt to civilize
the Hebrides — It is unsuccessful 882
CHAPTER XLI
King James's Claim of Succession to the English Crown — Is agree-
able to both Countries — And why the Prospect of a masculine
Reign was acceptable — James's personal Character favorably
estimated — More extensive national Views arise out of the
Union of the Crowns — The Catholics of England are favorable
to James — Mysterious Intercourse between James's Secretary,
Balmerino, and the Pope — Claims of Spain, of France, and Lady
Arabella Stewart, are postponed to those of the King of Scot-
land, even by the Catholics — He maintains a Scottish Faction
at the Court of Elizabeth — The Queen's Failings become more
visible in age — Chivalrous Character of Essex, her Favorite — He
is at the Head of the Swordsmen in her Court — Robert Cecil at
the Head of an opposite Faction, consisting chiefly of Civilians
— He shuns connecting himself with James, but refuses to enter
into any other Interest — The Quarrel with Essex — Essex's Mis-
carriage in Ireland — He is disgraced — Enters into a rash In-
12 CONTENTS
surrection — Fails — Is made Prisoner, tried, condemned, and
executed — Anecdote of Lady Nottingham — The Earl of Mar and
Bruce of Kinloss sent by James to London with private In-
structions to advance his Interest — The Earl of Northumberland
and the Catholics propose violent Measures, which James de-
clines — Cecil joins his Party, but with much Precaution — His
Intercourse with Scotland is nearly detected — Opponents of
James's Claim few and disunited — Scotland exhibits a tranquil
Appearance — The Queen discovers the Fraud of the Countess
of Nottingham, and falls into a mortal Malady — Dies — Carey
bears the News to Scotland, which is confirmed by authentic
Intelligence — James takes Leave of his ancient Subjects, and
sets out for England — Meets the Funeral of Lord Seton — One
Gentleman attends the King's Progress — His Reason — James
is received in Berwick triumphantly; and the History of Scot-
land concludes 859
Supplementary Chapter 385
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XXV
Disadvantages of the Protestants — They receive Supplies of Treasure
from England: a large Sum of which is intercepted by the Earl
of Bothwell — The Protestants are repulsed from Leith, and re-
tire to Stirling much discouraged — They recover Courage at the
Exhortation of John Knox; and send Lethington to the Court
of England — Aid is granted to the Reformers by Elizabeth — A
Detachment of the French ravage the Coast of Fife — The Prot-
estant Gentlemen skirmish with them — Critical Arrival of the
English Fleet — The French retreat
THE lords of the congregation were not long in discov,
ering that in the task of besieging a fortified town
like Leith, defended by veteran and disciplined
troops, they had greatly overrated their own strength.
The town, being open to the sea, could not easily be re-
duced by famine; and the insurgents, however brave in
the battlefield, were far inferior to the French in the attack
and defence of fortified places. Brantome gives us reason
to believe that the talents of the general of the French were
of the first order, and affirms that it was sufficient to gain a
high name in arms to have assisted at the siege of Leith.
But the Scottish nobles labored under other disadvantages
besides inferiority in military skill. A still greater difficulty
arose from the want of money to pay and maintain an army
in the field, without which the feudal array of the reformed
chiefs was sure to crumble to pieces anew in the space of a
month or two. Meantime the necessary suspension of hos-
tilities gave the queen an opportunity of disuniting the league
of the reformed party by tampering with its leaders individ-
(13)
14 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ually, and several who had been proof against the regent's
threats were found not inaccessible to her promises. To
guard against such pressing evils, the lords of the congre-
gation resolved upon invoking the assistance of England,
the only neighbor of power and wealth whose alliance or
countenance could counterpoise that of France.
The cause of the reformation had been espoused and
defended by Queen Elizabeth, whose right to the crown
and whose title to legitimacy depended upon her father
Henry's having disowned the authority of the Church of
Rome. Indeed, if she herself had not seen her danger from
the queen of Scots' title being set up in preference to her
own, the princes of Lorraine had, with arrogance peculiar
to their house, called her attention to the subject by making
open pretence to the throne of England in behalf of their
niece, Mary of Scotland. Money had been struck in France
bearing the arms of England ; proclamations had been made
in the names of Francis and Mary, as king and queen of that
country, as well as of France and Scotland; and an open
and avowed claim to the crown of England was brought
forward in Queen Mary's behalf by every mode short of a
direct challenge of Elizabeth's title. The English Catholics
were known to be favorable to these views. It was natural,
therefore, that Elizabeth, whose birth and title of succession
were thus openly impugned by the princes of Lorraine,
should foster and encourage those Scottish insurgents who
were in arms to dispossess their sister, the queen -regent, of
the government of Scotland. Accordingly, though accus-
tomed to act with great economy, she was readily induced
to advance considerable sums to the lords of the congre-
gation, by which assistance, in 1559, they were enabled to
form the siege of Leith.
Their undertaking was, at first, very unfortunate. A
large sum of the subsidy furnished by Queen Elizabeth fell
into the hands of the Earl of Bothwell, whose ill-omened
name now first appears in history, and who had adopted the
faction of the queen-mother. Two skirmishes, in which
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 15
the Protestants were defeated, filled the besiegers with con-
sternation : they renounced their enterprise precipitately, and
retreated from Edinburgh to Stirling with fallen hopes and
an army diminished by desertion. But Knox encouraged
them by his fulminations from the pulpit: he sternly up-
braided the hearers with their confidence in the arm of flesh,
and promised them victory as soon as they should humble
themselves to acknowledge the power of the Divine Disposer
of events. The severe minister reminded them of the former
errors of some among them, of the selfish views of others,
of the want of concord among their leaders, the deficiency of
zeal among the followers, and charged on their own faults
and follies those losses which men of more timorous spirit
ascribed to the superiority of the enemy. The eloquence of
this extraordinary and undaunted preacher was calculated
to work on the stubborn and rough men to whom it was
addressed. The lords of the congregation resumed their
purpose of resistance to the last, and resolved to despatch
William Maitland of Lethington, one of the most distin-
guished statesmen of his time, to show the queen of England
the pressure of the circumstances under which the} 7 labored,
and to demonstrate the necessity of assisting them in their
defence, unless she would be content to see the Protestant
party in Scotland utterly destroyed. The negotiator selected
an this occasion had recently held the office of secretary to
the queen ; but as he dissented from the counsels which were
transmitted to her from Paris, and had remonstrated with
firmness against the measures to which she was instigated
by attachment to her faith and family, he incurred the
oatred and suspicion of the French to such a degree that
he considered his life in danger from their resentment.
Under such personal apprehension he fled from Leith to join
ihe lords of the congregation at Stirling; for although he
professed the reformed faith, he was never believed to be
ieeply animated with religious zeal. The great reputation
which Lethington enjoyed as a statesman did not exceed his
peal abilities; and his judicious remonstrances easily per-
16 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
suaded the sagacious Elizabeth to grant the succors required
by his constituents.
It was the marked attribute of this great princess's ad-
ministration, that, slow and cautious in adopting steps of
importance, she was equally prompt and determined in the
execution of them; and she took her measures on this occa-
sion with her characteristic wisdom and activity.
In the meantime the queen-regent of Scotland, who had
received some additional assistance from France, and was
in expectation of a much larger force, resolved to press the
moment of advantage before the power of England could
be put in motion. A body of French infantry, and a con-
siderable party of horse, amounting altogether to about four
thousand men, were sent into Fife, the most civilized part
of Scotland, and where the inhabitants were most devoted
to the Protestant faith, to punish the rebellious, and to de-
stroy the power of the barons of that district. The invaders
passed by the bridge of Stirling, and then marched eastward
along the coast of the Firth of Forth, burning and wasting
the villages and gentlemen's houses with which the shores
were thickly studded. This was not done without much
resistance and retaliation. The prior of Saint Andrew's,
Lord Ruthven, Kirkcaldy of Grainge, a gentleman of Fife
distinguished for his pre-eminent courage in an age when
courage was a universal attribute, with other active leaders
of the congregation, attended upon the motions of the French
detachment, limited their forays, skirmished with them on
every occasion, and conducted their resistance with such
zeal and activity that though in number only five or six
hundred men, they gained occasional advantages, and main-
tained by their zeal and courage, even in these arduous cir-
cumstances, the character of their country and the spirit
of their part}'. The two armies continued for several days
to move along the coast ; the flames of towns and villages
marking the progress of the French, and the sudden and
vigorous charges of the Protestants interrupting from time
to time the work of devastation, when the sight of a gallant
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 17
navy of ships of war sailing up the Firth of Forth attracted
the attention of both parties. D'Oysel, the French general,
concluded that they were the fleet expected from France,
and in that belief made his soldiers fire a general salute.
But he was soon painfully undeceived by the capture of two
of his own transports, which sailed along the shore to supply
his men with provisions, and presently after this act of deci-
sive violence the fleet showed English colors.
It was now the turn of the French to fly, as the invading
detachment must otherwise have stood in considerable dan-
ger of being cut off from their friends on the southern side
of the Forth. So that, instead of marching onward to Saint
Andrew's and Dundee, both which towns had been especially
devoted to plunder and destruction, d'Oysel attempted a re-
treat to Stirling, by a dangerous march in the opposite direc-
tion. The Scots had broken down a bridge over the Devon,
hoping to intercept the enemy's return; but the French, well
acquainted with the duties of the engineer, threw over a
temporary bridge, composed of the roof or timbers of a
church, which afforded them the means of passage. They
effected with difficulty their retreat to Stirling, and from
thence to Lothian. The critical arrival of the English fleet
being considered as an especial interference of Providence
in the Protestant cause, gave new courage to the lords of
the congregation, who assembled forces on every side. The
English land army, amounting to six thousand men, under
Lord Grey de Wilton, now entered Scotland, agreeably to
the engagement of Elizabeth, and united their forces with
those of the Protestants. The French troops retired into
Leith, and prepared to make good their defence, in hopes
of receiving succor from France. The town was instantly
blockaded by the English fleet on the side of the sea, and
beleaguered on the landward side by the united armies of
Scotland and England.
In 1560, the eyes of all Britain were bent on this siege
of Leith, which the English and Scottish, now for the first
time united in a common cause carried on with the utmost
18 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
perseverance, while the French defended themselves with
such skill and determination as was worthy the character
they bore of being the best troops in Europe. They were,
indeed, defeated at the Hawkhill, near Loch End, where
the Scottish cavalry charged them with great fury, and
gained considerable advantage; but the garrison of Leith
shortly after avenged themselves by a successful sally, in
which they killed double the number they had lost at the
Hawkhill. On this occasion it became evident that the En-
glish, who had not lately been engaged in any great national
war, had in some degree lost the habit of discipline. The
attack on the besiegers found their lines carelessly watched;
and the ground where they opened their trenches being
unfit for the purpose, argued inexperience on the part of
the engineers.
The loss which they had sustained taught the English
greater vigilance and caution; but so intimately were the
French acquainted with defensive war that the siege ad»
vanced very slowly. At length a breach was effected and an
assault both terrible and persevering was made on the town.
The ladders, however, which were prepared for the occasion
proved too short for the purpose, and the besiegers were
finally repulsed with great loss. The English were at first
depressed by this repulse ; but they were encouraged to con-
tinue the siege by the Duke of Norfolk, commanding in the
northern counties of England with the title of lieutenant.
He sent a reinforcement of two thousand men, with an as-
surance that the besiegers should not lack men so long
as there were any remaining between Tweed and Trent.
The siege was renewed more closely than ever, with reli-
ance rather on famine than force for reducing the place.
But the garrison endured without murmur the extremity
of privation to which they were reduced, and continued to
maintain the defence of Leith with the most undaunted
firmness.
While the affairs of Scotland were in this unpropitious
condition, Mary of Guise, whose misrule had been the cause
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 19
of these civil hostilities, died in the castle of Edinburgh,
That strong fortress had remained during the civil war
under the charge of the Lord Erskine, who remained neu-
tral between the parties, and would admit neither of them
in any numbers into the important national citadel. But
when the siege of Leith was about to commence, the queen-
regent, weak in health and broken in spirits, and unable to
partake in the dangers and hardships to which the town
was about to be exposed, requested to be received into the
castle of Edinburgh for the safety of her person. This was
readily granted by the Lord Erskine, on condition that she
should be attended by a train so limited as to excite no ap-
prehension for the security of the place. Here her disease,
which was of a dropsical nature, gradually increased, aggra-
vated, no doubt, by mental distress, arising out of the diffi-
culties which multiplied around her.
On her death-bed she desired an interview with the prior
of Saint Andrew's and some of the lords of the congrega-
tion, and expressed her sorrow for having listened to the
councils which had brought the country to the pass in which
it now stood. Having thus confessed her own errors, she
pressed on them the necessity of keeping in view their duty
to their infant sovereign. She heard with respect the ad-
monitions of "Willox, a Protestant divine of eminence, not,
as we may suppose, with any idea of renouncing her own
faith, but to give a sign of the candor toward those of a
different persuasion, from which, in her life, she had too
often departed. In these melancholy circumstances died
Mary of Guise, of whom it was justly said that her talents
and virtues were her own ; her errors and faults the effect
of her deference to the advice of others, and especially of
her aspiring brothers.
Her death was speedily followed by proposals of peace
from France. The ambitious views of the House of Lorraine
had engaged France in a war not only with Scotland but
with all Britain; and their sister's death deprived them of
that interest in the Scottish government which Bothwell,
20 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Seton, and a very few other Scotsmen of influence hitherto
acknowledged. Leith was now reduced to the last extremity,
and must be either effectually reinforced or surrendered.
The position of affairs in France afforded strong reasons
against detaching any considerable force for relief of the
town.
The enterprise of Amboise had opened to view a deep
and extended conspiracy against the power of the House ®f
Lorraine; and though it was discovered and prevented for
the time, yet its elements existed all over France, and a
single spark might unexpectedly extend a conflagration over
the whole. It was, therefore, a point not of prudence only
but necessity on the part of the French government, instead
of sending fresh troops to Scotland, to make such an accom-
modation with the nobles of the kingdom as would permit
them to withdraw the veteran troops who were cooped up
in Leith, in order to their being employed in more pressing
service at home.
In managing a difficult negotiation, where France was
confessedly the weaker party, the princess of Lorraine em-
ployed Monluc, bishop of Valence, and the Sieur de Randan,
men of consummate talent. Cecil, and Wotton, dean of
Canterbury, were present at the conferences, on the part
of England. The removal of the foreign troops was quickly
agreed on; for the French government now desired their
presence at home as much as the Scots wished their absence.
The fortified places of Leith, Dunbar and Inch Keith were
to be surrendered, and the fortifications destroyed. It was
made a condition that no foreign forces should be introduced
into Scotland without consent of parliament. The adminis-
tration of government was vested in a council of twelve per-
sons, of whom seven were to be named by the king and
queen, and the other five by parliament. An indemnity
was stipulated for whatever violences had been committed
by either party during the civil war. On the matter of re-
ligion, it was declared that the estates should report to the
king and queen their opinion on that matter; and it was
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 21
agreed that the parliament should be convoked without
further summons.
A treaty was at the same time made between France
and England, by which Francis and Mary recognized in the
fullest manner the claim of Elizabeth to the English crown,
and agreed that Mary, in time to come, should neither as-
sume the title nor bear the arms of England. By this pacifi-
cation, which was called the Treaty of Edinburgh, the civil
wars of Scotland were conducted to a termination highly
favorable to the cause of the Protestant religion, and very
different from what seemed at first probable.
22 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XXVI
Petition to the Scottish Parliament on the Part of the Reformers—
The Parliament abolish the Roman Catholic Form of Worship,
and prohibit the Celebration of the Mass under severe Penalties
— The Change of Religion meets no Opposition from the Catho-
lic Bishops and Prelates; but gives great Offence to Francis
and Mary, who receive an Envoy from Parliament very coldly
— The Church Government of Scotland is arranged on a Cal-
vinistic and Presbyterian Model — The Clergy are meanly pro-
vided for, the Nobles retaining the greater Part of the Spoils of
the Catholic Church — Debates on this Subject — Character of the
Presbyterian Church of Scotland — Destruction of the Ecclesias-
tical Buildings — Queen Mary returns to Scotland; her Recep-
tion at Edinburgh — Intolerant Zeal of the Reformers, expressed
in Pageants and by Riots, and by the vehement Exhortations of
John Knox — These Disturbances appeased by the Moderation
of Lord James Stewart, Prior of Saint Andrew's — Transactions
with England — Correspondence between the Queens
THE Scottish parliament met on August 1, 1560. They
had never assembled in such numbers, or had affairs
of such weight before them; but the most pressing
and important business was a petition from the principal
Protestants, comprehending the chief lords of the congrega-
tion, desiring and urging the parliament to adopt a formal
manifesto against the errors and corruptions of the Church
of Rome, the exorbitance of its power and wealth, and its
oppressive restrictions on the liberty of conscience. The
parliament, with little hesitation, adopted the declaration,
that the domination of the Church of Rome was a usurpa-
tion over the liberties and consciences of Christian men; and
to make their grounds of dissent from his doctrines still more
evident, they promulgated a confession of faith, in which
they renounced, in the most express terms, all the tenets
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 23
by which the Church of Rome is distinguished from other
Christian churches, and disowned the whole authority of
the Roman pontiffs and the hierarchy of their church. The
entire system of ecclesiastical government, both in doctrine
and practice, which had existed for so many centuries, and
been held inviolably sacred, was by these enactments utterly
overthrown, and one altogether new adopted in its stead.
The worship of Rome, so long that of the kingdom and of all
Europe, was at once denounced as idolatrous ; and, following
one of Rome's worst tenets, secular punishments were men-
aced against those who continued to worship according to
the manner of their fathers. The celebration of mass was
punished in the first instance by banishment, in the second
by a forfeiture of goods and corporal punishment, in the
third by death itself.
It is remarkable that the acts of parliament authorizing
these great and radical changes in the religion and church
government of the country passed without the slightest op-
position on the part of the Roman Catholic churchmen,
bishops, and mitred abbots, who had still retained seats in
the Scottish parliament. They were confounded and over-
awed by the unanimity with which the nobility, gentry, and
burgesses united in these innovations. As their zeal for the
peculiarities of their faith certainly assumed no self-denying
form, it is probable no one ecclesiastic might care to draw
upon himself, as an individual, the popular hatred, and per-
haps the popular vengeance, likely to attend on any one who
opposed the general demand for reform ; and all might hope
that the propositions approved in parliament had every
chance of falling to the ground by the king and queen re-
fusing their consent.
Neither did they in that respect calculate falsely. Sir
James Sandilands, Lord Saint John, being sent to announce
the proceedings of this reforming parliament to Francis and
Mary, was very coldly received at the court of France, and
the ratification of its statutes which he sought to obtain was
positively refused. The princes of Lorraine, on the other
24 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
hand, by their insolent carriage toward the envoy, by their
general expressions of resentment, by the levy of troops, and
their employing Lord Seton and other active agents in Scot-
land to draw together those who still favored the Catholio
cause, intimated their purpose that the war should be re-
kindled in Scotland in the next spring, by the invasion of a
French fleet and army. But these intentions were cut short
by the sudden death of Francis II., who had acted as much
under the influence of his beautiful wife as she herself, their
niece, had under that of the princes of Lorraine* Charles
IX,, the brother and successor of Francis, was entirely gov-
erned by the councils of his mother, who, jealous of the
ascendency which Mary had acquired over her deceased
husband, avenged herself, now that she had the power in
her hands, by so many marks of slight and contempt, that
the younger queen-dowager, overwhelmed with the reverse
of fortune, retired entirely from the court, and took up her
residence in solitude at Rheims,
The Scottish Protestants were rejoiced at the timely
change which destroyed all possibility of their plans of
reformation being disturbed by the power of France, and
proceeded with full assurance of success to complete the
model of their church government. The tenets of the cele-
brated Calvin, respecting ecclesiastical rule, were selected,
probably because they were considered most diametrically
opposite to those of Rome, This form of church govern-
ment had been established in the city of Geneva, where
John Knox and other reformed teachers pursued their theo-
logical studies, and it was earnestly recommended by them
to the imitation of their countrymen
This modification of the reformed religion differed in its
religious tenets but little from that of the Lutherans, and
still less from that which was finally adopted in England.
But the Presbyterian system was, in its church govern-
ment, widely distinguished from that of all countries which,
renouncing the religious doctrines of the Roman clergy, had
retained their hierarchy, whether in whole or in part. In-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 25
vented in a republican country, the Presbyterian government
was entirely unconnected with and independent of the civil
government of the State, and owned no earthly head. The
Church was governed in the extreme resort by the general
assembly of the Church, being a convocation of the clergy
by representation, together with a certain number of the
laity, admitted to sit and vote with them, as representing
the Christian community, under the name of lay elders. In
the original sketch of the Scottish Church discipline, provision
was made for certain persons named superintendents, who
were intrusted, as their name implies, with the spiritual
power of bishopSc A digest of the forms of the Church,
called the Book of Discipline, was willingly received and
subscribed to by the leaders of the congregation, the lay
reformers offering no objection to anything which the
preachers proposed, whether respecting the doctrines of
the Church or the forms by which it was to be governed.
But though the clergy and laity went thus far hand in
hand, there was a point at which their views and interests
parted This was upon the mode in which the revenue of
the Church of Rome should be disposed of, No less than
one-half of the land in the kingdom of Scotland, and that
by much the more valuable, had, one way or other, been
engrossed by the popish clergy; and the lay nobles, out-
stripped by them in wealth, and often in court favor, envied
their large revenues at least as much as they abhorred their
doctrines and disliked their persons. The hope of engrossing
the principal share in so rich a plunder was probably looked
forward to by the nobles as a compensation for the destruc-
tion of the old form of church government, which presented
so many good places of retreat for sons, legitimate or nat-
ural, and near relations otherwise not easily provided for in
so poor a country. Having seen this source of influence
destroyed, they were desirous in exchange to secure the
funds out of which it had arisen; and their surprise and
displeasure were great when the Presbyterian clergy pre-
ferred their claim for a share. Many of the aristocracy had
Scotland. Vol, II.— 2
26 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
already secured portions of the patrimony of the Church by
feus, leases, and other modes of alienation exercised by the
Catholic clergy, who, being still in lawful possession of the
lands, were easily induced to sell or otherwise dispose of
them to their lay friends; and without meaning to bring
a charge of self-intended greediness against the whole body
of Scottish laymen, distinguished as promoters of the refor-
mation, we may fairly say that there was a large majority
whose zeal for their own interest equalled at least that which
they felt for the Protestant doctrines.
Thus determined on their own private views, it was with
the utmost reluctance the Scottish statesmen were induced
to listen to a proposal, framed on a report of the reformed
clergy, that the church revenues should be divided into three
shares or portions, to be applied: 1. To the decent support
of the clergy ; 2, to the encouragement of learning, by the
foundation of schools and colleges; and, 3, to the support
of the poor of the realm. Maitland of Lethington asked,
with a sneer, whether the nobility of Scotland were now to
turn hod-bearers, to toil at the building of the kirk. Knox
answered, with his characteristic determination, that he who
felt dishonored in aiding to build the house of God would
do well to look to the security of the foundations of his own.
But the nobles finally voted the plan to be a "devout imag-
ination, a well-meant but visionary system, which could not
possibly be carried into execution." At a later period the
parliament were in a manner shamed into making some
appointment for the clergy, payable out of the tithes which
either remained in the hands of the bishops and abbots of
the Scottish Church, or had fallen into the hands of lay
impropriators.
By this arrangement the bishops, abbots, etc., were
allowed to subsist as an order of proprietors, although
deprived of all ecclesiastical dignity or office in the re-
formed church; and their possession of the church reve-
nues afforded the means by which the ecclesiastical posses-
sions were transmitted to the lay nobility by sale, lease,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 27
and other modes of alienation. The general regulation of
parliament bore, that the church property, whether in the
hands of the bishops or of lay titulars, as the lay impropri-
ators were called, should be liable to be taxed to th:> extent
of one-third of their amount, for the support of the Protes-
tant clergy ; and a committee was appointed to modify, as it
was called, the especial stipends payable in every individual
case, reserving by far the greater proportion of the fund in
reversion to the prelatic possessor or lay titular. The obvious
selfishness of these enactments gave just offence to the clergy.
John Knox, deeply incensed at the avarice of the nobility,
pronounced from the pulpit of Edinburgh, that two parts
of the church revenue were bestowed on the devil, and a
third divided between God and the devil. A hundred marks
Scottish (not six pounds sterling) was the usual allowance
modified to the minister of a parish: some parishes were
endowed with a stipend of thrice that amount; and the
whole sum allowed for the maintenance of the national
Church, consisting of a thousand parishes, was about three
thousand five hundred pounds a year, which paltry endow-
ments were besides irregularly paid, and very much be-
grudged. When it is considered how liberal the ancient
kings and governors of Scotland had been to the Church
of Rome, it appears that in this point, as in all others of
doctrine and discipline, the Scottish reformers had held a
line of conduct diametrically opposite to that pursued by
their Catholic ancestors.
This unkindly parsimony toward themselves was the
more acutely felt by the Protestant preachers, as the prin-
cipal lords of the congregation, and the Lord James of Saint
Andrew's himself, were the persons by whom these miser-
able stipends were modified. "Who would have thought,"
said the ardent Knox, "that when Joseph ruled in Egypt,
his brethren would have come down thither for corn, and
returned with their sacks empty? Men would have thought
that Pharaoh's storehouse would have been emptied ere the
sons of Jacob were placed in risk of starving for hunger."
IS HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Wiskeart of Pittarrow, a zealous reformer, was appointed
comptroller, to levy and pay the allotted stipends; but as
the poor ministers complained to heaven and earth that they
were not able to obtain payment even of the small pittance
allowed them, it became a common phrase to bless the good
laird of Pittarrow as a sincere professor, but bid the devil
receive the comptroller as a greedy extortioner.
Such were the original regulations of the Presbyterian
Church of Scotland, which has now subsisted, with short
interruptions, for more than three centuries, and set an ex-
ample, with few exceptions, of zealous good men actually
submitting to that indigence which had been only talked of
by the monks and friars, and laboring in their important
duties for conscience' sake, not for gain. Their morals are
equal to those of any church in the world, and superior to
most. As in the usual course of their studies they are early
transferred from the university to the pulpit, the Scottish
Church has not produced so many deep scholars or profound
divines as those of the sister kingdom, whose colleges and
fellowships afford room and opportunity for study till the
years of full intellect are attained. On the other hand, few
instances occur in which a Scottish minister does not possess
a scholar-like portion both of profane learning and theologi-
cal science. In the earlier days of the Church the Presby-
terian clergy were hurried into some extremes, from their
ardent desire to oppose diametrically their doctrines and
practice to those of Rome, when it had been better to have
conformed to the ancient practices. Because the Catholic
Church demanded a splendid ritual, prescribed special forms
of prayer, and occupied superb temples, the Scottish kirk
neglected the decencies of worship, and the solemn attitude
of devotion which all men assume in the closet ; and the vul-
gar audience reprobated the preachers who showed so much
anxiety to discharge their office as to commit their discourses
to writing previous to delivering them. Because the Catho-
lic priests easily granted absolution for such offences as their
hearers brought in secret to the confessional, the kirk insisted
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 29
upon performance of public and personal penance, even in
cases which were liable to harden the feelings of the crimi-
nal, to offend the delicacy of the congregation, and to lead
to worse consequences. Instead of the worldly pomp and
circumstance which the Church of Rome assembled around
her, the reformed preachers could only obtain eminence by
observing an austere system of morals themselves, and ex-
acting the same from others — a practice which in extreme
cases might occasionally lead to hypocrisy and spiritual
tyranny. Lastly, as they disclaimed all connection with
the State, the Scottish divines could not be charged, like
the papist clergymen, with seeking the applause of mon-
archs, and a high place in courts; but they cannot in the
early ages of the Church be acquitted of interfering with
the civil government in cases where they pretended that
religion was connected with it (a connection easily discov-
ered, if the preacher desired to find it), and so dedicating to
politics the time and reasoning which were due to religion.
The current of ages, however, and the general change of
manners, have in a great measure removed those errors,
imputable to the Scottish Church, and incidental to every
human institution, which arose from superabundant zeal;
and it is hoped and believed that, while some excesses have
been corrected and restrained, it is, as a national church
establishment, still animated by the more refined and purer
qualities of fervid devotion.
The fabric of the Roman Church having now been de-
stroyed, unless in so far as its ruins afforded refuge to abbots
in commendam, lay impropriators, and other titles given to
such nobles as had enriched themselves at the expense of the
establishment, the reformers were resolved to destroy those
splendid monuments of ancient devotion, which, in their
eyes, had incurred condemnation from having been the
scene of a false or idolatrous worship. The work was in-
trusted to the agents of the zealots among the party, who
found ready assistance everywhere from a disorderly rabble,
to whom devastation was in itself a pleasure. The basest
30 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
covetousness actuated their superiors, who frequently lent
their countenance to the destructive proceedings for the sake
of the paltry gain which could be derived from the sale of
the sacred vessels, bells, lead, timber, and whatever of the
other materials could be turned to profit. Thus, by the blind
fury of the poor, and the sordid avarice of the higher classes,
"abbeys, cathedrals, churches, libraries, records, and even
the sepulchres of the dead," says the eloquent Robertson,
"perished in one common ruin." It is said John Knox him-
self justified this unlimited destruction by the noted saying,
"Pull down the nests, and the rooks will fly off!" an ex-
pression, the politic meaning of which could only apply to
the cloisters of the monks and friars. Other ill-instructed
preachers gave encouragement to devastation, by quoting
the examples afforded in the Old Testament of the destruc-
tion of places in which idolatrous rites had been used: a
manifest misapplication of Scripture, and one which, pushed
to its conclusion, would have seemed to warrant an exter-
minating war against those who adhered to the old religion,
as well as against the destruction of sacred buildings.
The only rational cause assigned for this havoc was, that
so long as ancient shrines, images long venerated, relics
averred to have wrought miracles, and similar objects of
superstitious worship, were left in the eyes of the people,
they might have proved the means of occasioning a relapse
to the ancient faith. But thus far the object might have
been obtained by following the example of the reformers in
England, who defaced altars, removed images, and burned
the relics of popery, to show that there was no power in
them to help themselves, but spared for a better and more
mtional course of worship the noble edifices in which they
were installed. In scourging the buyers and sellers out of
the temple, no violence was menaced against the sacred
edifice itself, though it had incurred profanation.
The ruin of the Scottish ecclesiastical buildings was, how-
ever, almost universal. The citizens of Glasgow alone set
an example of rational moderation in Scotland. The me-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 31
chanics of that city, under command of their deacon, took
arms to resist the destruction of their venerable cathedral,
at the same time offering their permission and assistance to
destroy whatever could be made the object of idolatrous
worship, but insisting that the edifice itself should be left
uninjured; and, notwithstanding their having succeeded in
saving this ancient fabric, we have never heard that pop-
ery has regained its footing in the ancient diocese of Saint
Mungo.
Having thus entirely new-modelled the system of church
government and of national worship, the parliament of Scot-
land resolved to recall from France the descendant of their
monarchs, whose connection with that country was broken
off by the death of her husband; naturally supposing that
Mary, alone, and unsupported b} r French power, could not
be suspected of meditating any interruption to the new order
of religious affairs so unanimously adopted by her subjects.
With this view, the lord prior of St. Andrew's, the queen's
illegitimate brother, and a principal agent in all the great
changes which had taken place since the commencement
of the regency of Mary of Guise, was despatched to Paris
to negotiate the return of his royal sister. The Catholics of
Scotland sent an ambassador on their own part: this was
Lesley, bishop of Ross, celebrated for his fidelity to Mary
during her afflictions, and known as a historian of credit
and eminence. He made a secret proposal, on the part of
the Catholics, that the young queen should land in the north
of Scotland, and place herself under the guardianship of the
Earl of Huntley, who, it was boasted, would conduct her in
triumph to the capital at the head of an army of twenty
thousand men, and restore, by force of arms, the ancient
form of religion. Mary refused to listen to advice which
must have made her return to her kingdom a signal for civil
war, and acquiesced in the proposals delivered by the prior
of St. Andrew's, on the part of the parliament. The young
queen took this prudent step with the advice of her uncles
of Guise, who, fallen from the towering hopes they had
32 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
formerly entertained, were now chiefly desirous to place
her in her native kingdom, without opposition or civil war,
in which the proposals of the bishop of Ross must have
immediately plunged her.
In 1561, Mary set sail for the country in which she was
to assume a crown entwined with many thorns. Elizabeth
had refused her a safe-conduct ; and it is said that the En-
glish ships of war had orders to intercept her. The wid-
owed queen of France took a lingering and painful farewell
of the fair country over which she had so lately reigned,
with expressions of the deepest sorrow. A mist hid her
galleys from the English fleet; and she arrived safely at
Leith on the 19th of August, in the aforesaid year.
Her subjects crowded to the beach to welcome her with
acclamations; but the preparations made for her reception
had been too hasty to cover over the nakedness and poverty
of the land. The queen, scarcely nineteen years old, wept
when she saw the wretched hackneys, still more miserably
accoutred, which were provided to carry her and her ladies
to Hplyrood, and compared them in her thoughts to the fair
palfreys with brilliant housings which had waited her com-
mands in France. Upon her landing, her subjects, softened
with the recollection of her early misfortunes, charmed with
the excellence of her mien, the delicacy of her unrivalled
beauty, the vigor of her blooming years, and the acuteness
of her wit, were almost enraptured with joy. Some part of
the reception afforded by their loyal zeal was well meant,
but certainly ill chosen. Two or three hundred violinists,
apparently amateur performers, held a concert all night be-
low her windows, and prevented her getting an hour's sleep
after the fatigues of the sea. Mary, though suffering under
the effects of this dire serenade, professed to receive the com-
pliment of these "honest men of the town of Edinburgh" as
it was intended, and even ventured to hint a wish that the
concert might be repeated.
The circumstance of the queen differing from the greater
part of her subjects in religion was not, however, forgotten ^
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 33
and it seems very early to have been considered as a crime
on the part of Queen Mary, by the more zealous of her Prot-
estant subjects, that she did not at once, and forever, relin-
quish the Catholic religion, in which she had been bred up,
and against which, in all probability, she had never heard a
single word of argument till the first moment she touched
Scottish ground. It seems to have occurred to no one that
a sincere conversion could only be the result of argument
and instruction, and that a hasty change of her early faith
could only have indicated that the young queen was alto-
gether indifferent on a subjest so serious.
Her zealous subjects, whose hatred to popery had become
a passion, tried the effect of reproaches and menaces upon
the young queen, without waiting for the slower course of
argument and persuasion. Pageants were presented before
her, calculated to throw dishonor and reproach on the relig-
ion which she professed ; and shows, made for the ostensible
purpose of honoring the queen, were so conducted as to cast
derision on the Catholic worship. As Mary made her sol-
emn entry into Edinburgh, she was conducted under a tri-
umphal arch, when a boy came out of a hole, as it were
from heaven, and presented to her a Bible, a psalter, and
the keys of the gates, with some verses, now lost, but
which we may be sure were of a Protestant tendency. The
rest of the pageant exhibited a terrible personification of the
vengeance of God upon idolaters; and Kbrah, Dathan, and
Abiram, were represented as destroyed in the time of their
idolatrous sacrifice. The devisers of this expressive and
well-chosen emblem, intended to have had a priest burned
on the altar (in effigy, it is to be hoped), in the act of ele-
vating the Host; but the Earl of Huntley prevented that
completion of the pageant. These are the reports of Ran-
dolph, envoy of England, who was present on the occasion,
and who seems to have felt that by such proceedings the
Protestants were acting too precipitately and overshooting
their own purpose.
These were but innuendoes of the dislike felt toward the
34 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
queen's religion : the following incidents showed plainly that
the niore violent reformers were determined that their sover-
eign should not enjoy that toleration for which they them-
selves had, not many years since, been humble petitioners.
The prior of St. Andrew's, when he went over to France,
had been warned by the preachers that to permit the im-
portation of one mass into the kingdom of Scotland would
be more fatal than an army of ten thousand men. It is
probable, however, that he did not hesitate to promise that
the queen should have the free exercise of her religion,
and she prepared accordingly to take advantage of the
stipulation.
But when, on the Sunday after Mary's landing, prepara-
tions were made to say mass in the royal chapel, the reform-
ers said to each other, "Shall that idol the mass again take
place within this kingdom? — it shall not." The young mas-
ter of Lindsey, showing in youth the fierceness of spirit
which animated him in after life, called out, in the court-
yard of the royal palace, that "the idolatrous priest should
die the death according to God's law." The prior of St.
Andrew's with great difficulty appeased the tumult, and
protected the priests, whose blood would otherwise have
been mingled with their sacrifice. But unwilling to avow
an intention so unpopular he was obliged to dissemble with
the reformers ; and while he allowed that he stood with his
sword drawn at the door of the chapel, he pretended that
he did not do so to protect the priest, but to prevent any
Scottish man from entering to witness or partake in the
idolatrous ceremony.
It was immediately after this riot, and the display of the
insulting anjl offensive pageant before mentioned, that the
young queen had the first of her celebrated interviews with
John Knox, in which he knocked at her heart so rudely as
to cause her to shed tears. The stern apostle of presbytery
was indeed unsparing of rebuke, without sufficiently recol-
lecting that previous conviction is necessary before reproof
can work repentance ; and that, unless he had possessed pow-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 35
ers of inspiration, or the gift of working miracles, he could
not have, by mere assertion, converted a Catholic from the
doctrines, however false, which she had believed in from
her earliest childhood. Even Randolph, the English envoy,
says of him, "I commend better the success of his doctrine
and preachings than the manner of them, though I ac-
knowledge his doctrine to be sound. His daily prayer for
her is, that God will turn her heart, now obstinate against
God and his truth ; and if his holy will be otherwise that he
will strengthen the hearts and hands of the chosen and elect
stoutly to withstand the rage of tyrants." Such orisons
were little likely to conciliate the sovereign who was the
object of them. Yet Knox afterward expressed remorse
that he had dealt too favorably with the queen, and had
not been more vehement in opposing the mass at its first
setting up; according to the opinion of those who thought
that a sovereign may and ought to be resisted in an idola-
trous form of worship, or, in other words, excluded from the
tolerance which her subjects claim as their dearest privilege.
Tumults arose at Stirling on the same score of the queen's
private worship: but though Mary felt the injury, and ex-
pressed her sense of it by weeping and sorrowing, yet she
wisely passed it over, and trusted to the influence of the prior,
her brother, who, by his great interest among the wiser sort
of the reformers, by proclamations banishing the monks and
friars, and other popular steps in favor of the reformed re-
ligion, procured a reluctant connivance at the celebration
of the Catholic rites in the chapel royal. Mary, indeed,
employed her brother as her first minister in all affairs,
and especially in restoring quiet on the borders, where he
executed many freebooters, and left England no cause of
complaint.
The intercourse of Mary with that country had always
stood upon a delicate and doubtful footing. Elizabeth was
desirous that the Treaty of Edinburgh, in 1560, which ended
the war of the reformation, should be formally ratified,
particularly in respect of that article by which the queen <i
36 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Scotland and her late husband had agreed to lay down, and
never again to assume, the royal titles or arms of England.
If Mary had complied with this clause without restriction,
it would have been a virtual resignation of her right of
succession to England through her grandmother, Margaret,
daughter of Henry VII. ; a sacrifice which Queen Elizabeth
was in no respect entitled to demand, nor Queen Mary dis-
posed to grant. Lethington offered to ratify the clause of
renunciation, if it were limited to Elizabeth's lifetime, which
was all that was or could have been intended by the original
treaty. But on the point of her successor Elizabeth was
always desirous to preserve an affected obscurity; and to
insist on entertaining any discussion involving that topic
was to give her at all times the highest offence. Her min-
isters, therefore, were pertinacious in demanding that Queen
Mary should resign, in general terms, all right whatever to
the crown of England, without restriction either as to time
or circumstances. "While their envoys were engaged in these
discussions, the two queens preserved a personal correspond-
ence, in which high-flown and flighty professions of friend-
ship and sisterly affection served to cloak, as is usual in
such cases, the want of cordial it}' and sincerity which per-
vaded the intercourse of two jealous females, each suspicious
of the other.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 37
CHAPTER XXVII
Insanity of the Earl of Arran — Lord James Stewart created Earl of
Mar — The Grant offends the Earl of Huntley — Breach of the
Peace by his Son Sir John Gordon — The Queen makes a Prog-
ress to the North, where she is coldly received, and Inverness
Castle is held out against her — The Earldom of Murray is con-
ferred on Lord James, instead of that of Mar — Huntley rebels —
Battle of Corrichie — Suitors for Mary's Hand — She determines
to consult Elizabeth — The Queen of England behaves with In-
sincerity; recommends the Earl of Leicester — The Scots cast
their eyes on Henry Darnley — His Mother's Claims on the Suc-
cession of England — Henry Darnley comes to Scotland, and
renders himself personally agreeable to Queen Mary — Her Char-
acter at this Period of her Life — Her Love of more private
Society — The Rise of Rizzio at the Scottish Court — He becomes
French Secretary to the Queen, and a Favorite — Elizabeth's
Displeasure at the proposed Match of Mary and Darnley — She
intrigues with the Protestant Party in Scotland — The Earl of
Murray leaves the Party of the Queen, and joins that of the
Reformed Nobles and Clergymen — Desperate Plots of the Earls
of Darnley and Murray against each other: both fail — The
Queen and Darnley are Married — Murray and the Duke of
Chatelherault take up Arms — The Queen gathers an Army,
drives the Insurgents from Place to Place, and finally compels
them to retreat into England — They are ill received by Eliz-
abeth, who disowns them and their Cause — Mary endeavors
to obtain some Toleration for the persecuted Catholics —She
accedes to the Catholic League of Bayonne
THE young queen of Scotland conducted herself with
great wisdom and popularity in the management
of public business. She treated gravely of affairs
of State with her council, with whom she held frequent
sittings. Hunting, hawking, and other sports, filled up the
day; and music and dancing were the usual amusements
of the evening. These sports, however, gave additional
38 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
offence and scandal to the Protestant preachers, men of
ascetic and self-denying habits, who accounted such pleas-
ures, if not positively sinful in themselves, as at least the
ready inlets to sin, and who did not, in writing or preach-
ing on such vanities, altogether place their pens or tongues
under the guidance of that charity which thinketh no evil.
Still the majority of her subjects made allowance for their
queen's youth, gayety, and beauty, and, so long as she dis-
charged her duty to her subjects in a grave and princely
manner, did not blame her for endeavoring to enliven the
court of her native kingdom with some shadow of the fes-
tivities which had surrounded her while on the throne of
France.
In 1562 the young Earl of Arran, son of the Duke of
Chatelherault, formerly governor of the kingdom, lodged
an account of a plot, whereby the Earl of Bothwell and
the Hamiltons had resolved to change the administration,
by murdering the prior of St. Andrew's and Lethington.
But this information was attended with no important con-
sequences, the poor young nobleman who made it having
shown symptoms of lunacy. He was afterward placed
under confinement in the castle of Edinburgh, and, as will
presently appear, was finally made the victim of unjust and
cruel confiscation and oppression.
A more serious convulsion took place in the same year.
The Earl of Huntley has been mentioned as one of the few
Scottish nobles who still professed the Catholic religion.
The family, having been always loyal, had been liberally
remunerated for their fidelity by former monarchs, and
their estates, jurisdictions, and superiorities in the north
of Scotland were almost as extensive as those which the
great Earls of Douglas had possessed in the south. Their
power, however, was less influential, its sources being more
distant from the court. The present earl had expected, from
similarity of faith, to have an especial share in the favor of
Queen Mary ; and, disappointed to find her regard engrossed
by her brother, Lord James the Prior, he viewed that states*
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 39
man with jealous and envious eyes. About this time it
happened that the queen conferred upon her brother the
earldom of Mar and the lands belonging to it. This very
natural liberality toward so near a relative increased the
resentment of Huntley, who had occupied some possessions
belonging to this estate without challenge, and now foresaw
that the Lord James, in virtue of the royal grant, would
insist on resuming them. Moreover, considering his high
court favor, the new Earl of Mar's settlement in the north
was likely to diminish Huntley's importance, and innovate
upon his supremacy in these provinces. In the earldom of
Mar the lord prior of St. Andrew's had gained a great point,
though it was only a part of what his ambition aimed at;
for he raised his hopes to the far more wealthy earldom
of Murray, also possessed by Huntley, since the year 1548,
in virtue of a grant from the crown. Thus Huntley was ex-
posed, in fact, to the hazard of a much greater patrimonial
loss than he at first apprehended.
"While such causes of discontent occurred between these
two powerful nobles, one of those instances of feudal vio-
lence took place which are so frequent in Scottish history,
and so often the prelude to acts of open rebellion. In 1562,
Sir John Gordon, the third son of the Earl of Huntley,
engaged in a fray with Lord Ogilvy in the streets of Edin-
burgh, and dangerously wounded him. The queen caused
both the offenders to be strictly confined, and was supposed,
at the instigation of her brother Mar, to have been peculiarly
rigorous in the case of young Gordon. This was a new sub-
ject of offence ; and Sir John Gordon, escaping out of prison,
hastened to his father's domains with loud complaints of ill
usage and threats of revenge.
During this altercation the queen had determined on a
royal progress to the north. It has been strongly averred
that the new Earl of Mar had proposed this expedition for
his own purposes. If by this it be only meant that he de-
sired the benefit of the royal presence and countenance to
enable him to enter on the estate of Mar, or, if possible, on
10 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the earldom of Murray in lieu of it, the suspicion may be
very just. But there is room for positively denying that
he had any thoughts of using violence against Huntley,
since he brought with him, into the province where his
enemy was all-powerful, only a very moderate body of
southland forces.
The queen made a fatiguing, cold, and laborious journey,
and was received with little courtesy in the north, where the
effects of Huntley's displeasure against her brother and min-
ister were sufficiently visible. Instead of being hailed with
dutiful acclamations by crowds of submissive and faithful
subjects, the aspect of the inhabitants was doubtful if not
absolutely hostile, and her little troop of attendants were
fain to observe the regular duties cf watch and ward against
surprise. Her retinue of soldiers was indeed so small that
it became necessary every man in her train, ambassadors
and others, should keep watch in succession ; and the queen,
instead of showing female affright at the grim front of war,
lamented, with the spirit of her warlike fathers, that her sex
prevented her mounting guard in turn, and forbade her to
parade with jack and steel-cap, a broadsword and a Glas-
gow buckler. When she arrived at Inverness, the castle
was held out against her by the Gordons. But the garrison,
proving inadequate to defend it, were forced to surrender,
and the captain who had refused admission to his sovereign
deservedly suffered the pains of death.
In the meantime, Mar had accomplished the point which
he had long struggled for, and prevailed upon the queen to
grant him the earldom of Murray instead of that of Mar,
to which it was now said to be discovered that Lord Erskine
possessed a legal right, prior to that granted to Lord James
Stewart. This new arrangement in favor of the queen's
brother was the signal for open hostility.
The Earl of Huntley, incensed at the recall of the royal
gift of 1548 in his favor, now conceived that the ruin of his
house was resolved upon, and determined to take up arms.
He summoned together his vassals, and menaced an attack
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 41
upon the new Earl of Murray and the forces who escorted
the sovereign's person.
The queen, in the meantime, proceeded to Darnoway, the
principal messuage of the earldom of Murray; and having
put her brother in possession of the honors and estates be-
longing to that great lordship, she summoned the neighbor-
ing barons and clans to join her array, and protect her
against Huntley and his army. They brought their men
to the queen accordingly, and the Earl of Murray led them
against the Gordons, who were posted near Corrichie. Hunt-
ley had but seven or eight hundred men, but reckoned on
his interest among the northern barons, who had ostensibly
joined Murray, but who, in reality, neither loved his person
nor were willing to endure his power.
The Earl of Murray drew up on a rising ground the
small phalanx of southland men in whom he could confide,
and commanded the northern clans, whose faith he doubted,
to commence the attack on the Gordons, October 28, 1562,
They did so, but with no desire of making a serious impres-
sion ; and recoiling from the charge came running back with
their antagonist close behind them on Murray's band of
spearmen, who received both fliers and pursuers with lev-
elled lances. The onset of the Gordons, made in the High-
land fashion, with drawn swords and disordered ranks, was
unequal to the task of breaking so firm a battalion. The
assailants retired in disorder; and the instant they did so
the neighboring clans, who had begun the fight, anxious
to secure the favor of the victors, turned their swords upon
the repulsed party, and endeavored to atone for their former
flight by making slaughter among those before whom they
had just retreated.
The consequences of the loss of this battle of Corrichie
were most disastrous to the family of Huntley. The earl
himself, thrown from his horse, and too unwieldy to rise
from the ground, was smothered in the retreat. His body,
brought to town on a pair of panniers, was afterward pro-
duced in parliament, where a doom of forfeiture was pro-
42 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
nounced against him. His son, Sir John Gordon, condemned
to be beheaded, was butchered at Aberdeen by an unskilful
executioner. The doom of forfeiture was pronounced against
this powerful family, and was not reversed until the 19th
of April, 1567. It was supposed that the Earl of Huntley's
purpose, had he possessed himself of the queen's person, was
to have united her in marriage with one of his sons; but
as there is no evidence to prove such a charge, we cannot
extend his guilt beyond his avowed designs against Murray,
his feudal enemy.
Excepting the battle of Corrichie, the reign of Queen
Mary had hitherto passed with great tranquillity, and, setting
aside the suspicions of the clergy and their more zealous fol-
lowers, with great contentment to her subjects. The Scots
became naturally desirous that the race of their monarchs
should be prolonged by their young queen forming a suit-
able match. This being generally promulgated, a beauty
with a kingdom for her dower was not likely to want wooers.
The Archduke Charles, third son of the emperor, the infant
Don Carlos, then heir of the Spanish monarchy, and the Duke
of Anjou, brother of her late husband, preferred suit for
Mary's hand; but as all these princes were Catholics and
foreigners, the alliances they proposed would have once
more revived the jealousies for her freedom in Church and
State which Scotland had entertained, and would probably
have again involved the country in an intestine war, as well
as in a quarrel with England.
This event was the more to be dreaded, because the clergy
and the more zealous among the reformers had pressed upon
the government the necessity of demanding the queen's
assent to the alterations in the Church, and the modern
institutions which had supplanted the ancient ecclesiastical
system. The Earl of Murray (by which title we must here-
after term the Lord James Stewart, hitherto called the prior
of St. Andrew's), was, on the contrary, of opinion that the
Protestants ought to temporize with the queen, allow for
the prejudices of her education, and wait until further con-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 43
viction should open her eyes to the excellence of the reformed
religion; and so warni grew the discussion between John
Knox and the earl on this subject that the former renounced
Murray's friendship, and a coldness between them ensued
which continued for two years.
In these delicate circumstances Mary saw the necessity
of paying attention, in her choice of a husband, to the opin-
ions and even to the prejudices of the reformers, and per-
ceived no mode of doing this so certain as by consulting
Queen Elizabeth, whose opinions were not likely to be dis-
puted by the Scottish Protestants. Another powerful reason
of state strongly recommended that Elizabeth should be
advised with upon this occasion. The right which Mary
possessed to the English succession was of a kind which Eliz-
abeth, if she pleased, might find means of setting aside by
assent of her parliament ; and she might probably do so,
should her kinswoman form a union with a foreign or Cath-
olic prince. On the contrary, there were hopes that, if Mary
should agree to be guided by her advice, Elizabeth might
acknowledge the queen of Scotland, allied to a husband of
her own choosing, as the lawful heir of the English throne.
Sir James Melville, an accomplished diplomatist, was sent
to procure, if possible, some information upon Elizabeth's
intentions in this important affair.
It may be said of Elizabeth, that if ever there was a
monarch whose conduct seemed, according to the speech
of the old heathen, to be governed alternately by two souls
of a very different disposition and character, the supposition
might be applied to her. Possessing more than masculine
wisdom, magnanimity, and fortitude on most occasions, she
betrayed, at some unhappy moments, even more than female
weakness and malignity. Happy would it have been for
both queens had Mary's request for counsel and assistance
reached Elizabeth while she was under the influence of her
better planet. The English sovereign might then, with
candor and good faith, have availed herself of the opportu-
nity to conciliate the genuine friendship and to acquire the
44 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
gratitude of her youthful relation, by guiding her to such
a match as would have best suited the interests and assured
the amity of the sister nations. Unfortunately, Elizabeth
remembered with too much acuteness Mary's offensive
pretensions to the crown of England, pretensions which
were founded on the defect of her own title and the illegiti-
macy of her birth, and she already regarded the queen of
Scotland rather as a rival to be subdued than a friend to be
conciliated. Besides, as a votaress of celibacy, Queen Eliza-
beth was not greatly disposed to forward any marriage,
more especially that of a princess who stood to her in the
painful relation of a kinswoman possessing a claim to her
throne, and a neighbor of her own sex and rank, between
whom and herself comparisons must needs be frequently
drawn with respect to wit, beauty, and accomplishments.
The line of conduct prompted by these jealous feelings im-
pelled Qu3en Elizabeth to embrace the opportunity, afforded
by Mary's desiring her opinion upon her marriage, to cross,
baffle, and disconcert any negotiations which might be en-
tered into on that topic. For this purpose, after observing a
great deal of oracular mystery, in order to protract matters,
Elizabeth gave it as her advice that \Iary would do well to
choose for her husband the Earl of Leicester, as a person on
whom she herself would willingly have conferred her own
hand, but for her resolution to live and die a maiden queen.
The Earl of Leicester, as is vzell known, stood toward
Elizabeth in the relation of a handsome and aspiring fav-
orite. His claims, those of personal appearance excepted,
were of a very ordinary character, yet the queen had con-
ferred upon him the highest offices of the state, and it was
shrewdly suspected had favored hicn. with a larger share of
her own affections than she woi,a willingly have acknowl-
edged. It is evident that by proposing this nobleman as a
husband for Mary, Elizabeth could have no other view than
to involve the queen of Scotland in a matrimonial treaty,
which, while it might divert her mind from any other match,
could never be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 45
The queen of Scots listened with approbation to Eliza-
beth's advice, as far as it recommended to her to honor with
her choice a subject and a native of Britain, so as neither
to excite the resentment of England nor the suspicions of
her own subjects, by again engaging in a foreign connec-
tion. But many very reasonable considerations directed her
thoughts to a person different from Leicester, a subject of
her own, and a near relation to Queen Elizabeth. There
were circumstances in the favored party's connection and
descent which rendered the selection highly expedient.
The person on whom the choice of Mary fell was Henry
Stewart, Lord Darnley, eldest son of the Earl of Lennox,
at this time an exile in England. Matthew, the father of
Darnley, was himself the son and successor of that Lennox
who was slain fighting against the allied forces of Hamilton
and Douglas, near Kirkliston, on the 4th of September, 1526.
Earl Matthew had been devotedly desirous of forwarding
the proposed match between Edward VI. and Mary, while
the latter was yet in infancy; and when the rest of the
nobility entirely deserted what was called the English party
he continued attached to his engagements with Henry VIII.,
and rather than renounce them fled to England, under a cer-
tainty of being attainted, and placed himself under that
monarch's protection. Henry was grateful, and did what
he could to compensate Lennox for the evils of banishment
and the loss of his Scottish estates. He bestowed on the
exiled earl the fine manor of Temple Newsonie, near Leeds,
and the hand of his own niece. This lady was daughter
of King Henry's sister Margaret, queen-dowager of Scot-
land, by her second husband, the Earl of Angus, and was
mother of the reigning Queen Mary. It will be remem-
bered that the queen-dowager was delivered of Lady Mar-
garet Douglas during the time that her husband and she
were expelled from Scotland. Lady Margaret was, there-
fore, a native Englishwoman.
Now, on the failure of Henry VIII. 's issue, those circum-
stances of genealogy and birth tended to establish in Lady
46 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Margaret Douglas a claim to the English throne, which,
according to the notion of the times, was capable of being
placed in competition with those of the queen of Scotland.
This will appear more plainly from the following considera-
tions.
Queen Mary claimed the throne of England, failing Queen
Elizabeth and her heirs, as grand-niece of Henry VIII., by
her mother, the same Queen Margaret. Lady Lennox was
that queen's full niece, and one degree nearer in blood to the
reigning queeta than was Mary herself. Besides, the Coun-
tess of Lennox had the great advantage over the queen of
Scotland that she was a native Englishwoman, and it was
at least possible that the English lawyers, in case of a con-
test for the crown, might give the native of the soil a prefer-
ence over the alien. This rendered the getting rid of Lady
Margaret Lennox's pretensions of the greatest importance
to Queen Mary, considering her prospects of the English
succession; and it seemed so obviously desirable to unite
both these titles by a marriage between Henry Darnley and
the young queen of Scots, that a suspicion of it appears to
have flashed across the mind of Elizabeth herself. After
pointing out to Melville the various excellences which dis-
tinguished her favorite Leicester, whom she pretended to
recommend to Mary's choice, she added, pointing to Henry
Darnley, "Yet you prefer to him that long lad yonder.'*
This betrayed a suspicion which Elizabeth was little disposed
to see realized, that there were, even thus early, thoughts
of a match between Mary and Henry Darnley. It does not,
however, appear to have been deep-rooted; for, upon Lennox
applying to the queen of England for leave to go to Scotland
under pretence of his wife having a claim as heir female on
the earldom of Angus, her royal license for the journey seems
to have been willingly granted. The truth, probably, was,
that Elizabeth was too confident of her power to perplex any
negotiation for marriage which Mary might enter into, both
by her influence over the queen of Scotland herself, which
she probably overestimated, and by the interest which her
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 47
intrigues had maintained among the nobility of that king-
dom. In this view, her permitting Darnley to appear as a
suitor might serve only to embroil a transaction which she
did not desire to terminate.
Receiving the permission of Elizabeth, the Earl of Len-
nox returned to Scotland after twenty years' absence, where
he was most favorably received, He did not indeed succeed
in making good his wife's claims on the earldom of Angus,
which as a male fief was in the grasp of the Earl of Morton,
who managed it in behalf of his nephew Archibald Douglas;
but great favor was shown him by the queen, his claims on
Angus were compensated by gifts from the crown, and he
himself was restored in blood and estate against the forfeiture
by which he was attainted.
In a few months afterward Henry, Lord Darnley, the
earl's only son, set sail for Scotland, with Elizabeth's per-
mission, and about the 16th February, 1564-5, he waited
upon Queen Mary, at "Wemys Castle; a most unfortunate
meeting, as it proved, both for Mary and himself. There
was nothing in Darnley's appearance which could raise any
personal objection on the queen's part to weigh the policy
which strongly recommended to her as a husband the high-
born young nobleman who possessed, through his mother,
a title to the succession of England which might stand in
competition with her own. On the contrary, Henry, Lord
Darnley, though of uncommon stature, was well made in
proportion, possessed courteous manners and a noble mien,
gained the eye and the heart of the queen by the showy
accomplishments of dancing, tilting, hunting, and the like,
and won the goodwill of her retinue by liberality, which
large remittances received from his mother enabled him to
maintain. He was at length emboldened by Mary's own
smiles, and the general favor with which he had been re-
ceived at court, to propose love to his sovereign; aud though
he at first received a modest repulse, he came in course of a
liitle time to be favorably listened to.
With the purpose better to judge of the events which
48 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
follow, we must take here a short review of the queen's
personal character and behavior, adopting for our guide Sir
James Melville, one who had the best opportunities of know-
ing her, who was himself at once a sound Protestant and an
accomplished courtier, and whose memoirs, now freed from
all suspicion of interpolation, may be justly compared with
the most valuable materials which British history affords. 1
Queen Mary, since her arrival from France, had behaved
herself after a manner so princely, honorably, and discreetly,
that her reputation was spread abroad in all countries ; and
she was at the same time so courteous and affable, that,
excepting the Protestant preachers, whose judgment con-
cerning a papist sovereign cannot be supposed unprejudiced,
she had gained the universal love and approbation of her
subjects. Unimpeachable in her public conduct, this accom-
plished princess loved to retire into something like private
society, but always with the honorable attendance of her
ladies, and accessible to the ambassadors who resided at
her court. When Randolph, the English envoy, pressed
matters of state upon her at such a moment, "I see," she
said, "you are weary of this reception. You had better
preserve your diplomatic gravity, and return to Edinburgh,
and keep all your weighty conversation till the queen return
there ; for I promise you I do not know myself what is now
become of her, or when she will return to her throne and
canopy of state."
It would seem that Mary herself was conscious of her
tendency to this easy pleasantry, and had an apprehension
that it might, in an unguarded moment, be carried too far.
Indeed, something of this kind occurred in the case of one
Chastellar, a French cavalier, half poet, half courtier, and
entire madman. The queen used to amuse herself with this
adventurer's eccentricity, by which ill-judged familiarity he
was encouraged to conceal himself one night in her apart-
1 See the late x>eautiful and correct edition printed from the original
by the Bannatyne Club.
HISTOEY OF SCOTLAND 49
ment. Being detected, he was dismissed with severe cen-
sure, which did not hinder a man of such ill-regulated under-
standing from renewing his attempt, for which he was tried
and executed. His death suited his extravagant character.
He refused ghostly consolation, prepared himself for his end
with the verses of Ronsard, a French poet ; and as he knelt
down to the block exclaimed, as his last words, "Farewell
to the most beautiful and most cruel queen that ever lived. ' '
While Mary was in prosperity, nothing discreditable to
her arose from Chastellar's insane conduct, yet, considering
the fatal issue, it must have given her much pain, and may
have been the cause of the injunction which she laid upon
Melville. Under this anxiety, she amiably represented to
him her youth and turn to cheerfulness, and imposed upon
him the delicate task, that should she at any time forget
herself, and be hurried into any impropriety of speech or
behavior, he must interpose his admonition to reform the
same. Melville would willingly have shifted this office upon
the Earl of Murray and Lethington, by whom Mary's state
affairs were managed; but the queen compelled him to
accept the office of her monitor, as she could, she said,
endure rebuke more willingly from a disinterested friend
than from her immediate ministers.
There was at this time in the court of Mary a man named
David Rizzio, or Riccio, a native of Turin, a person of poor
parentage, who had been, however, well educated, and,
among other accomplishments, was an excellent musician.
He came to Scotland in the train of an ambassador from
Savoy; but his assistance being found useful to fill a part
in the queen's private concerts, he left the envoy's service
for that of Mary. Rizzio's knowledge of languages recom-
mended him to the queen, who employed him in conducting
her foreign correspondence ; and finding him apt, intelligent,
and useful, upon the departure of her French secretary she
promoted the Piedmontese to that confidential office. This
situation, of course, procured him easy and frequent access
to her presence and to her ear. The familiarity with which
Scotland. Vol. II.— 3
5° HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the queen naturally received him, as a man of little conse-
quence, whose talents served, and whose accomplishments
amused her, excited the resentment of the fierce nobility of
Scotland. They observed with indignation that the foreign
secretary, in virtue of his office, presented all papers to be
signed b}^ her majesty ; and some of them would shoulder
him, and frown on him, when they met him in the presence
chamber. Others who had suits at court made the same
observations, but, acting upon different principles, addressed
themselves to the secretary for the furtherance of their busi-
ness ; and Rizzio became rich from the gifts that flowed in
upon him.
Yet the poor secretary felt himself surrounded by ene-
mies, and bewailed his condition to Melville as one of envy
and danger. Melville, with his usual good sense, counselled
him to decline making any ostentation of his credit with the
queen, and to avoid showing any possession of her ear by
forbearing to speak with her apart in the presence of her
nobility. But Rizzio afterward told Melville that the queen
desired him to wait upon her with his usual freedom. The
sensible and faithful Melville then mentioned to the queen
herself the conversation which had taken place, and the
envy which her favor to Rizzio was drawing upon a man
whose understanding was not very well able to endure it.
The queen took no offence at the rebuke, but said she had
used Rizzio no otherwise than his predecessor in office ; nor
would she be controlled in the management of her private
correspondence.
However imprudent Mary's conduct might be, there is no
reason to believe that her intercourse with her secretary
excited at this period of her life any further censure than
that she allowed too much influence in affairs of business
to a low-born foreigner raised from a mean condition. It
has been since used as affording a pretext for charges of a
grosser nature.
The influence of Signor David, as he was termed, was
accounted so powerful that Henry Darnley, in his suit to
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 51
Mary, conceived it prudent to secure the countenance of
Kizzio, whose vanity became more highly elevated by his
being supposed to possess influence on such an occasion.
Meantime Elizabeth, to her astonishment and mortifica-
tion, learned that the queen of Scotland had formed an en-
gagement with young Darnley, which was about to end
in marriage. That sovereign had, no doubt, hoped that, in
permitting Darnley to go down to Scotland, she was only
putting another puppet on the stage, whom she could with-
draw at pleasure, since, having all the Earl of Lennox's
English property in her power, she might conceive that she
possessed the regulation of his motions and those of his son,
She was highly irritated at her disappointment. Her privy
council echoed back a list, which she herself had suggested,
of imaginary dangers attending Mary's match with Darnley,
and an ambassador extraordinary was sent to enforce at the
Scottish court the representations of Elizabeth and her coun-
cil against the choice of an independent sovereign. Mary
would certainly have acted as a weak queen, and an unusu-
ally tame-spirited person, if she had submitted to this insult.
She avowed her intention of marrying Darnley, justified her-
self with dignity for so doing, affected at the same time a
great desire to reconcile her sister sovereign to the match,
and succeeded in adducing plausible arguments to prove that
her choice possessed those recommendations which Elizabeth
had in the commencement of their negotiation so pointedly
demanded. She even offered to delay the actual marriage,
if she could by that sacrifice obtain the approbation of her
good sister and ally.
From the firm tone of Mary's reply it was evident that
she had determined on the match ; and Elizabeth saw it could
only be broken off by some domestic opposition among the
Scottish subjects, for exciting which the English queen pos-
sessed ample means. The most formidable of these was her
influence with the whole body of zealous Protestants, who,
since the wars with the French in 1560, looked upon Eliza-
beth as their especial friend, and the surest protectress of
52 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
their faith. This influence was much increased at the crisis
we speak of, from the Earl of Murray having withdrawn
himself from the court, and placed himself in opposition to
the queen's intended marriage with Darnley.
The Earl of Murray had hitherto been the queen's prin-
cipal minister, and had managed the affairs of the kingdom
with equal skill and good fortune. But in this proposed
match he foresaw the loss of his power. He was besides
especially offended that the Earl of Bothwell, his personal
enemy, was suffered to return to court, having been ban-
ished from thence for an alleged conspiracy against his life.
To remove this cause of complaint, Bothwell was again
driven into exile; yet no persuasion could make Murray
give consent to the proposed marriage. Darnley, with the
rash folly and impetuosity of youth, had shown himself
unfriendly to his bride's brother, jealous of his power, and
envious of the large estates which that power had been the
means of accumulating. On such topics he dwelt in the
hearing even of those who were sure to report what he said
to the jealous minister, whom it chiefly interested. Foresee-
ing, therefore, an enemy to his own person and authority in
the queen's proposed husband, Murray's eyes at the same
time became rather suddenly opened to the great dangers
which this match was likely to bring upon the Protestant
religion. Hitherto his zeal had not been alarmed at the
exercise of the Catholic superstition in the queen's house-
hold; we have even seen him in person, with his drawn
sword in his hand, defend the entrance of her private chapel
during the celebration of the mass. But now that Mary was
about to take a husband of her own persuasion, though by
no means a bigoted papist, he joined the opinion of those
who held one mass to be more dangerous to the common-
wealth than an invasion of ten thousand men. A reconcilia-
tion was effected between the Earl of Murray and John Knox,
between whom a quarrel had previously arisen, on account
of the indulgence of the earl to Queen Mary; and as the
same difference of opinion no longer existed between them,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 33
they once more thought with the same heart, and saw with
the same eye, on the affairs of Church and State.
Murray, therefore, now countenanced the ministers of
the reformed religion, who demanded, by a formal act
of the national assembly of the Church, that the celebration
of the mass should in all cases be restrained, as well before
the queen's person as in view of the subject. This extrava-
gant proposal was followed by the more reasonable request
that some means of subsistence, out of the revenues and
domains of the Catholic Church, should be assigned to the
clergy. Then came a condition that the remainder of the
church property, after deducting the stipends of the clergy,
should be applied to the maintenance of the poor, and the
support of schools and places of education. That this last
stipulation should be granted, considering it must have
greatly impoverished the nobles who had possessed them-
selves of these religious revenues, was very improbable; but
it was followed by one which, in the present state of the
world, was totally impossible, since it prayed for the entire
suppression of vice and immorality. To these demands the
queen mildly replied that she was not yet satisfied of the
idolatry of the mass, and pleaded with much gentleness for
the enjoyment of that liberty of conscience for herself which
she was willing to allow to others. She promised relief to
the complaints of the preachers, and regular payment of their
salaries. The other demands she passed over in prudent
silence.
The queen's proposals and exertions gained a consider-
able majority of the nobility to assent to her marriage ; but
Murray remained irreconcilable. The Duke of Chatelherault
joined his party, in apprehension that the exaltation of the
Lennox family would prove the destruction of his own, con-
sidering the deadly feud that existed between the House of
Hamilton and that of Lennox, and not forgetful, probably,
of his own claims to the throne, in case the queen died with-
out issue.
The discord between the two parties, according to the
54 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
genius of the time, first broke out in secret conspiracies ct
the most deadly kind. Darnley engaged in a plot to assassi-
nate Murray; and Murray laid an ambush for the purpose
of making Darnley and the queen prisoners, with the inten-
tion of delivering up the proposed bridegroom to Elizabeth,
and placing Mary in some place of secure confinement.
Both plots were doomed to succeed, but not at the time or
by the means now resorted to. They failed for the present
on either side.
Matters being come to this crisis, the queen resolved to
complete, without delay, the purpose which she meditated ;
and which, recommended first by considerations of policy,
had now become an affair in which her heart was deeply
though hastily interested. On the 29th of July, 1565, she
married Darnley, a dispensation by the pope having been
previously obtained, and the ceremonial being performed
after the forms of the Catholic ritual. At their union he
was declared king of Scotland.
Murray and the Duke of Chatelherault, together with
Argyle, Glencairn, and Rothes, took arms, all, the duke ex-
cepted, zealous professors of the Protestant religion. But,
ere they could assemble two thousand horse, they were
attacked by the queen's army, the royal vassals having on
Mary's summons appeared with good will and in great num-
bers. She herself, arrayed in light armor, and wearing
pistols at the saddle-bow, rode at the head of her troops.
The insurgents were obliged to retreat before the queen from
one place to another, apparently without any aim or object
save to escape her pursuit, from which circumstance their
war was remembered by the name of the Roundabout Raid.
The insurgent nobles were at length pressed so hard that
they were compelled to disband their forces, and retreat into
England, where, as they had taken arms in consequence of
Elizabeth's instigation, they hoped for relief and protection.
Murray and the abbot of Kilwinning, one on the part of the
reformers, the other as representing his kinsmen the Ham-
iltons, were despatched by their associates to represent their
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 55
necessities, and to crave the aid and support which they
thought themselves entitled to expect from the English queen.
But their reception was very different from their expec-
tations. Elizabeth now beheld in them persons who could
render her no immediate services; and she was anxious to
escape from the reproaches of the ambassadors of the prin-
cipal European powers, who accused her of betraying the
cause of sovereigns in general by the encouragement she
had afforded to the rebels of Scotland.
Galled at finding herself exposed to reproaches to which
her own notions of royal authority made her peculiarly sen-
sitive, Elizabeth resolved so to deal with the envoys of the
banished lords as should make them the means of clearing
her from such a scandal at the expense of their own honor.
With this view she caused it to be secretly intimated to
the Earl of Murray and his associate that they would lose
Queen Elizabeth's favor and protection at once and forever,
if they presumed to bring forward claims in virtue of any
understanding between her and them previous to their insur-
rection. The envoys were forced to consent to this humili-
ating compromise, expecting, no doubt, that the queen would
of herself recollect the promises which they, in obedience to
her command, abstained from insisting upon.
Accordingly when Murray and the abbot of Kilwinning,
in presence of the French and Spanish ambassadors, ap-
peared before Elizabeth, she extorted from the . fugitive
Scots an avowal that she had not encouraged them in their
rebellion, and, having thus secured her own exculpation,
she turned short on them, saying, "You have now spoken
truth, for neither I nor any in my name has instigated your
revolt from your sovereign. Begone, like traitors as you
are!" Notwithstanding this seemingly severe reception, the
exiles were permitted to skulk about on the southern side of
the border, and were secretly supplied with money by Eliz-
abeth. The Hamiltons had co-operated but not coalesced
with Murray and his associates. The insurrection of the
former was on different principles from that of the latter.
56 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
The Duke of Chatelherault negotiated for himself and his
party independently of Murray, and with much difficulty
obtained on submission a separate pardon from the Scottish
queen.
Mary was now at the summit of her wishes. She was
wedded to the choice of her he^rt: all opposition to her will
lay prostrate at her feet; and by pressing a prosecution
against Murray and his associates, it was in her power to
have their estates forfeited, and their persons banished from
Scotland forever.
In a parliament which was convoked for this purpose,
the queen entertained a hope that she might procure for
those of her own communion at least some degree of tol-
eration and some relief from the persecution of the other
party. It was but a short time before that a Catholic
priest had been seized in the act of saying mass at Easter.
Invested in his garments, and with the chalice bound to his
hand, he was tied to the market cross of Edinburgh, - and
there pelted with filth and mud, which the historian of the
kirk calls serving him with his Easter eggs. "Where such
disgraceful violence could be permitted, the queen might be
pardoned, when she desired that those who followed the
same religion with herself might be sheltered at least from
violence and indignity.
But we must record in far different terms Mary's acces-
sion to the League of Bayonne, the object of which, on the
part of France, Spain, and the other contracting powers,
was the utter destruction and deletion of the Protestant re-
ligion, by the means of fraud or force, as opportunity should
most readily present itself. In becoming a member of this
league, Mary assumed the right of lording it over the con-
sciences of others, in the unjust and violent manner which
she felt so oppressive when exercised toward herself and the
Catholics. But, whatever the queen meant to do in behalf
of those of her own religion, a course of events was now to
take place which was doomed to end in depriving Mary of
all power as a sovereign, whether for good or for evil.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 8?
CHAPTER XXVIII
Character of Henry Darnley — He quarrels with Mary — Conceives
Hatred against Rizzio, who is Murdered — The King- forsakes
and disowns the Conspirators, who fly to England — Murray re-
turns from Exile, and is reconciled to the Queen — Question as
to the Guilt or Innocence of Mary — Her continued Quarrel with
Darnley, who threatens to go abi'oad, and gives his Wife other
Subjects of Complaint — Bothwell rises in the Queen's Favor—
His History — He is restored upon his Enemy Murray's Exile,
and reconciled to him on his Return — Elizabeth exasperated
against Mary on her bearing a Son — Bothwell is made Keeper
of Liddisdaie — Is wounded — Mary visits him at the Hermitage
Castle — Apparent Reconciliation between Mary and Darnley —
Darnley is Murdered — Consequences of that Atrocity — Ac-
quittal of Bothwell — The Marriage of the Queen — Insurrection
— The Queen flies to Dunbar — Advances with an Army to Car-
berry Hill — Bothwell flies — The Queen surrenders — She is car-
ried to Edinburgh — Insulted by the Populace — Sent Prisoner
to Lochleven — She resigns her Crown — The Earl of Murray is
declared Regent
THE feeble yet violent character of Darnley was the
primary cause of Mary's niisf ortunes ; for, until
her marriage with that unhappy prince, her life
had flowed in a free and even channel, and her govern-
ment for the last two years had been on the whole happy
and prosperous. From that unhappy era it was almost an
uninterrupted succession of misfortunes.
Yet in a superficial view the match had much to recom-
mend it. It absorbed in that of the queen another claim of
succession to the English throne which might have been
preferred to hers. Her husband was handsome, lively, and
possessed of external accomplishments; while Mary, esti-
mating his intellectual qualities with the fondness which
is entertained toward a beloved object, gave him credit at
least for common sense and common gratitude,
58 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Unhappily the husband whom she had chosen was four
years younger than herself, and, still more unluckily, he
was an impatient and presumptuous fool, of violent passions
and weak judgment, who could never have written himself
man in the true sense of the word, had he lived to an ante-
diluvian age. He was ungrateful to the queen, though she
from attachment had shared her rank with him ; and, with-
out being thankful for the favors which her affection had
heaped upon him, he was peevish and splenetic when any-
thing was withheld. His father's authority he set at naught;
so that the Earl of Lennox left the court in disgust, sick of
beholding his son indulge himself not merely in youthful
pleasures, but in youthful vices, with a disregard to decency
which made Mary blush for her unhappy choice of a disso-
lute, disrespectful boy, of loose habits and ungovernable
temper, to be her partner on such a throne as that of Scot-
land. Insolent and imperious in his temper, Darnley en-
dured no check, however kindly given, and sought the crown
matrimonial (implying an equal share with the queen in the
sovereignty) with so much eagerness and impatience as
greatly disgusted Mary. In fine, she became weary of the
society of a man who could not govern himself, and would
not be ruled by his benefactress or any one else. How can
this be wonderful! since, while Mary did everything to
please him, Darnley could not be prevailed on to yield to
her in the smallest point, either to show his affection as a
husband or his duty as a subject.
Darnley, finding that he lost ground in the queen's affec-
tions, was disposed, as is usually the case with persons of his
temper, rather to impute this growing dislike to the sugges-
tions of some private enemy than to his own demerits. The
person who chiefly incurred his suspicion was Rizzio. This
foreigner had been his friend before his marriage, and fa-
vored his suit to the utmost of his power, but since that
event had taken the freedom to offer some remonstrances
which were unacceptable. This increased the king's resent-
ment ; and when he began to impute to the Italian secretary*
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 59
the delay in bestowing on him the crown matrimonial, he
hesitated not to seek revenge for the supposed offence by the
most deadly means.
"With this purpose the young king applied to the Earl of
Morton and the rest of the Douglases, who, being related
to his mother on the side of her father Angus, had seen his
preferment with much interest. They had looked with pride
upon their kinsman's advancement to a share of sovereign
power, and in a country where human life was held cheap
they were sufficiently ready to gratify him by ridding him
of a wretched musician, who had intruded himself upon the
affairs of state, and ventured to propose himself as a patron
or an opposer of nobles. They were the more willing to ren-
der the young king this service, because they considered
Rizzio as chief instigator of the severe measures menaced
against the Earl of Murray and the exiled lords, and a great
eneourager of the Catholic religion.
"When it was settled that Rizzio should die, the manner
of his murder was next debated. Morton, Ruthven, and
others of their party, proposed that the secretary should be
seized as he crossed the court of the palace, or in his own
lodgings, and then destined to the fate which Cochrane un-
derwent, when the chief of the Douglas family acquired
the title of Bell-the-Cat. But nothing would satisfy Darnley
save that the victim should be seized in the presence of the
queen herself, that she might share the alarm, and hear
the taunts with which it was his purpose to upbraid her
favorite. Considering that the queen was seven months ad-
vanced in her pregnancy when such a scene of violence and
horror was to be acted in her presence, we recoil from the
brutality alike of him who planned and of those who calmly
undertook to execute an action so brutal and unmanly.
On the 9th of March, 1566, this bloody and extraordinary
scene was acted. The queen was seated at supper in a
small cabinet adjoining to her bedroom, with the Countess
of Argyle, Rizzio, and one or two other persons. Darnley
suddenly entered the apartment, and, without addressing or
60 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
saluting the company, gazed on Rizzio with a sullen and
vindictive look. After him followed Lord Ruthven, pale
and ghastly, having risen from a bed of long sickness to be
chief actor in this savage deed : other armed men appeared
behind. Ruthven called upon Rizzio to come forth from a
place which he was unworthy to hold. The miserable Ital-
ian, perceiving he was the destined victim of this violent
intrusion, started up, and seizing the queen by the skirts
of her gown, implored her protection. Mary was speedily
forced by the king from his hold. George Douglas, a bas-
tard of the Angus family, snatched the king's own dag-
ger from his side, and struck Rizzio a blow; he was then
dragged into the outer apartment, and slain with fifty- six
wounds. The queen exhausted herself in prayers and en-
treaties for the wretched man's life; but when she was at
length informed that her servant was slain, she said, "I will
then dry my tears, and study revenge." During the per-
petration of this murder, Morton, the chancellor of the king-
dom, whose duty it was to enforce the laws of the realm,
kept the doors of the palace with one hundred and sixty
armed men, to insure the perpetration of the murder.
Darnley, as soon as this abominable crime was com-
mitted, was seized with the irresolution and fear which, in
minds like his, often follow acts of extravagant violence.
He would now have been well pleased to have been free
from the guilt which had originated with him ; and to atone
in part for the violence which the queen had suffered, he
aided and accompanied her in her flight from Edinburgh
to the castle of Dunbar, where she was instantly joined by
Huntley, Bothwell, and others, her most faithful nobles.
She was soon at the head of an army of eight thousand
men, a force against which the murderers of Rizzio could
not hope to make a stand. Indeed, all the plans which
were to have followed this atrocious action were discon-
certed by the defection of Darnley and his unexpected
reconciliation with the queen.
In the meanwhile the exiled Earls of Murray and Argyle,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 61
having learned the success of the conspiracy against Rizzio,
left England, hoping to find Morton and Ruthven at the
head of affairs : instead of which, they met them reduced
to extremity, and on the point of flying to that kingdom.
Murray and his companions, however, reaped this advantage
from the misfortune of their friends, that the queen, all re-
sentment against their rebellion being lost in the sense of
this later and deadlier insult, showed herself sufficiently
willing to grant remission of their treasons provided they
would detach themselves from Morton and his accomplices.
To this Murray did not hesitate to agree; and thus was
admitted to the queen's favor, while Morton and his asso-
ciates went to occupy those quarters in Northumberland
which had been lately tenanted by the lords concerned in
the Roundabout Raid.
"When Mary and Murray met together, the queen wept :
she probably felt at the moment how much she had suffered
by indulging a precipitate passion for Darnley contrary to
her brother's advice. The earl was also moved; and could
confidence have been restored between them even then, it is
possible that neither might have filled a bloody grave. The
fame of Mary was as yet untinged by scandal ; for we may
treat as a fiction of later date the gross impeachment of a
criminal intrigue with Rizzio, -which, indeed, must be re-
garded as totally impossible, unless by those who conceive
her, contrary to the report of all who approached her person,
to have been a monster of unlimited depravity. ' The Earl
1 Dr. Robertson, no partial judge of Mary's conduct, makes this
clear. Rizzio's advancement to the post of secretary, which first gave
him access to the queen's person, took place only two months before
the arrival of Darnley at the court of Scotland. Darnley was early dis-
tinguished by the queen with regard, which terminated in strong affec-
tion. Rizzio was the confidant of the lover, and forwarded a suit which
would have been fatal to his own influence if he had been the queen's
paramour. For several months the queen's passion for Darnley con-
tinued unabated, and she proved with child soon after the marriage.
"From these circumstances," says the historian, "it seems almost im-
possible that the queen, unless we suppose her a woman utterly aban-
doned, could carry on any criminal intrigue with Rizzio." — History of
Scotland, book iv.
62 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of Murray had as yet formed no connections so indissoluble
as must have necessarily engaged him in a war against his
sister's person and authority. But a deep jealousy had taken
possession of both, and neither, it is probable, felt disposed
to trust the other.
We have now arrived at a point of our history where we
must either add another volume to a controversy which has
produced so many, or by compressing into a concise form
the events of the mournful tale, and expressing our own
general opinion as it arises out of them, refer the readers
who may doubt our conclusions, and desire means by which
to form their own, to the works in which the charge has
been urged and the defence maintained. Indeed, no inquiry
or research has ever been able to bring us either to that clear
opinion upon the guilt of Mary which is expressed by many
authors, or guide us to that triumphant conclusion in favor
of her innocence of all accession, direct or tacit, to the death
of her husband, which others have maintained with the
same obstinacy. Arguing from probabilities, where there
are but few ascertained facts to guide us, we have been led
to adopt the opinion expressed by Scottish juries, in a verdict
of Not Proven, when they are disposed to say that there is
an insufficiency of proof to ascertain the guilt of an accused
person, while there yet exist such shades of suspicion as do
not warrant his discharge without some formal expression
of the doubts which the inquest entertain of his guilt or
innocence. These things premised, we proceed in our nar-
rative.
Henry Darnley was induced by the queen to publish a
declaration, in which he boldly denied all accession to the
act of violence which had been committed under his express
instigation. But this mean step only brought upon him
hatred and contempt. The queen prosecuted seven of the
murderers of Rizzio ; and it is certainly to the praise of her
clemency that only two mean men were executed for a con-
spiracy of an odious character, in which so many persons
of influence had been implicated. If Mary acted thus mod-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 63
erately in order to prevent the scandal which would have
been caused by any of the superior conspirators alleging
in defence the command of the king, she was ill requited
by her husband for having sacrificed her own resentment
to cover his honor. He resumed his vicious and offensive
habits, indulged without restraint his propensity to low com-
pany and vulgar debauchery, and by his starts of arrogance
and disrespect often, even in public, forced tears from the
queen's eyes.
The birth of a son, afterward James VI., of whom Mary
was" delivered, June 19, 1566, created no reconciliation be-
tween his parents. Darnley's selfish and wayward temper
was not capable of such restraint as to forbear repeated
occasions of offence ; and Mary, a queen and a woman, was
receiving new insults, ere yet she had forgotten that the
man whom she had raised up from comparative obscurity
had so lately ushered a band of armed murderers into her
bedroom to assassinate in her presence a favorite domestic.
The consequence was a breach between them, which was
every day more apparent.
Discountenanced by the queen, Darnley was equally dis-
regarded by the nobility, and not only by such of them as
were guided by her influence, but by others, who, allied
to Morton and his associates, banished on account of
Rizzio's murder, now resented Darnley's desertion of their
cause. In one of those fits of impatience which he felt at
the general neglect and insignificance to which he saw him-
self reduced, this silly and petulant boy thought of leaving
the kingdom. His father, the Earl of Lennox, made the
queen acquainted with this resolution, and in vain endeav-
ored to bring him to renounce it. The queen had recourse
to argument and even entreaty, to induce her wayward hus-
band to explain the motive of his intended journey, which
must be prejudicial to the honor of both. He was sullen,
and finding that he had means of giving her pain, was proof
even against her caresses, and no less against the arguments
of the privy council.
64 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
During all this interval, the cause of the domestic quar«
rel, at least the scandal of its being made public, seems to
rest on Damley's side exclusively. He repined that he was
not promoted to higher power or authority, although he
was incapable of managing, and had most grossly abused,
the portion which he already enjoyed. He complained he
had not waiting and attendance suitable to his rank. Mary
refuted the objection, by replying that her own servants
were always ordered to attend on her husband, and that she
could not compel the nobility to wait upon him, since it was
only his own courtesy and urbanity which could bind them
to his person. Historians have added to Darnley's com-
plaints of ill usage one which he himself did not make,
namely, that he was left unfurnished with money and nec-
essaries. The books of the treasury state, in contradiction
of this, that payments in money and furnishings had been
made on Darnley's account, within three weeks, to a greater
extent than the queen had drawn for six months. Le Crocq,
the French ambassador; informs us, that at this period,
when the queen has been certainly grossly misrepresented
by those who labor to make her appear as culpable as pos-
sible, he never saw her majesty so much beloved, esteemed,
and honored, nor had so great harmony ever prevailed at
court; an effect to be entirely ascribed to Mary's own pru-
dent conduct. This was also to be speedily changed by an
unhappy alteration in those measures which produced it.
A favorite was now arising at court, to whose malign
influence are to be imputed the principal errors of Mary's
life and the greatest misfortunes of her reign. James, earl
of Bothwell, was born of a powerful family, and was Lord
High Admiral of Scotland. He professed the old religion;
and was the only nobleman, except the Lord Seton, who had
adhered to Mary of Guise during the war of 1559-60. In
subsequent state commotions he had uniformly taken the
part which was most in accordance with the queen's wishes.
In other respects a bold ambitious man, of an impetuous
temper, he was repeatedly engaged in feuds which he was
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 65
often unable to support. The latest quarrel of this kind
was with the powerful Earl of Murray, who accused him
of an attempt to assassinate him. Both well, unable to de-
fend himself, fled to France. He returned in 1564-5; but
Murray still insisted on his being brought to trial; and
as the accuser proposed to attend the justice-court with an
army of five thousand men, the accused party, unable to
face an opponent so powerful, withdrew a second time from
the country. When Murray fell into disgrace for opposing
the queen's marriage with Darnley, his enemies naturally
regained Mary's favor. Thus Lord Gordon, whose father
had fallen in battle with Murray at Corrichie, was restored
to his honors and estates, and Bothwell was recalled from
France. Their feud with Murray, then in his turn a ban-
ished man, was a recommendation to the queen ; and Both-
well obtained the important charge of warden and lieu-
tenant-general of all the marches. At the time of Rizzio's
murder Bothwell attempted to resist the conspirators ; and al-
though he failed in that effort he afterward materially aided
Mary's escape from Edinburgh to Dunbar; and furnished
a part of the army with which she marched back to Edin-
burgh and drove Morton into exile. He was rewarded with
the office of keeper of Dunbar Castle. As this strong fort-
ress is situated in East Lothian, where the possessions of his
clan lay, the office was of considerable importance to him.
Lastly, when the queen was reconciled to Murray and
Argyle, she made it a condition that these lords should
become friends with Bothwell and Huntley.
All these instances of distinction conferred on Bothwell
were thus far very natural, as the queen might be disposed
to favor a subject of his high rank, who had remained uni-
formly steady to her cause, when others had been engaged
in actions of outrage and violence against her authority.
But, previous to the queen's confinement in June, 1566, Both-
well had not acquired any remarkable ascendency in the
queen's counsels. For at that interesting period, when he
and Huntley desired to be permitted to lodge in the castle
66 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of Edinburgh, they were denied admittance by Murray,
without the queen's expressing any displeasure at the re-
fusal of their request. There can be no doubt, however,
that Bothwell soon after this date rose into eminent personal
favor with his sovereign. As he was of an insolent and
profligate character, he is said to have been generally hated.
It seems probable that the reconciliation between Murray
and this new favorite was deceitful on both sides, and that
the former only gave way to the queen's pleasure, in hopes
that the presumption of Bothwell would speedily engage
him in some new trouble, and afford ground for a fresh
charge against him. From July 19, 1566, when the queen's
month of confinement ended, till the beginning of October
in the same year, is the space allowed to be filled up by the
accusers of Mary with the queen's growing passion for Both-
well, and its termination, as they allege, in a guilty intrigue.
The time seems very short for the purpose, although, con-
sidering the situation of Mary and her husband, and the
terms on which they stood, the space might be sufficient for
Bothwell to climb to such a degree of favor as should en-
courage the daring ambition of a presumptuous man, and
stir him to the boldest measures in order to its gratification.
Meanwhile other and different actors were becoming daily
more interested in hastening the fate of the unfortunate
Mary.
Elizabeth, her powerful neighbor, had never looked on
the queen of Scotland save with an evil eye ; but the birth
of the infant prince gave her rival such a decisive superi-
ority, that on hearing of the event the queen of England
could not conceal her mortification. She was in great mirth
and engaged in dancing when the news reached her. But
on hearing it the scene was changed. Elizabeth left the
dance, and sat down, reclining her head upon her hand, and
bursting out to her ladies with the melancholy exclamation,
that the queen of Scots was mother of a fair son, while she
herself remained but a barren stock. On the next morning
she indeed recovered that command of herself which was
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 67
habitual to her, and pretending the greatest joy at the news
of her good sister's delivery, said that *he pleasure she
received from the intelligence had chased away a sickness
which had before oppressed her. She accepted with ap-
parent willingness the honor of being god-mother to the
infant, and locking her discontent within her breast, strove
to appear the kind kinswoman and friendly ally.
Elizabeth's private mortification at this event did not
arise exclusively from female envy. The birth of an heir
to the Scottish queen's pretensions gave them a popularity
in England which they did not before possess; and Mary's
ambassadors by their communication with persons of conse-
quence in England, both Catholics and Protestants, success-
fully endeavored to form a faction in favor of their mistress
who might combine to obtain from Elizabeth, what she was
equally loth and fearful to grant, a recognition of her Scot-
tish kinswoman as successor to her throne. A party began
to appear even in the English parliament, who proposed to
appease the general anxiety about the uncertainty of the
succession after the demise of the reigning queen by such
a declaration. And in these pressing circumstances Queen
Elizabeth found additional reasons for disliking Mary, and
for being heartily desirous to embroil her kinswoman's
affairs at home, so as effectually to prevent her urging
claims of succession in England. Fate and Mary's misfort-
unes or misconduct were not long in affording the English
queen a more ample opportunity for this purpose than her
most sanguine hopes could have augured.
Among other preferments which had been showered on
the new favorite, Bothwell had received the important charge
of keeper of the castle of Hermitage, and of the valley of
Liddisdale. In the beginning of October, 1566, he set out
for Liddisdale, to execute his charge as keeper of that dis-
orderly country. On the 7th of the same month he was
wounded by an outlawed borderer whom he attempted to
make prisoner with his own hand. These tidings and the
outlaw's head were instantly sent to Queen Mary, who was
68 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
then at no great distance from the disorderly district where
the accident happened., having arrived at Jedburgh about
the 8th of the month, with the purpose, according to a pre-
vious arrangement of the privy council, of residing there for
eight days, to superintend the proceedings of the circuit
courts held for the despatch of justice. On the 16th she
went from Jedburgh to Hermitage Castle, to visit Bothwell,
a distance of twenty statute miles, and returned, a circum-
stance to be specially noted, the same day. Her accusers
represent this as the visit of an anxious and fond woman to
a wounded lover ; while those who favor Mary's cause attrib-
ute the step to a sense of consideration for a supposed well-
deserving subject, and to a desire personally to investigate
the cause of an outrage which was a high insult to her royal
authority. It is certainly a favorable circumstance, over-
looked or misrepresented by the enemies of Mary's reputa-
tion, that her visit was not nearly so precipitate as has been
represented, but that eight days, at least, must have inter-
vened between her hearing of Bothwell's wound and her
visit to the castle of Hermitage. A journey undertaken
after such an interval has not the appearance of being per-
formed at the impulse of passion, but seems rather to have
flowed from some political motive; and the queen's readi-
ness to take arms in person both previously to the battle of
Corriehie and at the Koundabout Eaid may account for her
dauntlessly approaching a disturbed district in her domin-
ions, without supposing her to be acting upon the impulse
of a guilty passion, or even an inordinate favor for her
wounded officer. That the queen had much regard for
Bothwell cannot be doubted. The question is, whether she
carried it to a guilty extent; and in candor we cannot say
that this brief visit at Hermitage, undertaken eight days at
the least, after she had heard that Bothwell was wounded
in the hand (for it is material to remark that the hurt was
not dangerous), carries to us the conviction which others
have derived from it. After her fatiguing journey, for she
rode to Hermitage and returned on the same day, a circum-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 69
stance also material, Mary was seized with an illness which
brought her to the point of death, and detained her for a
month in the little town of Jedburgh, ere she was strong
enough to prosecute her journey.
During all the period of the queen's illness Darnley came
not near his wife ; and it is little wonder that when he did
appear at Jedburgh, on the 28th of October, he was so coldly
received that, finding himself lightly regarded, he returned
the next day. Everything argued a continuance of discord
in the royal family; and the nobles around the queen were
now engaged in intrigues which turned upon the dissolving
of the ill-assorted marriage by some mode or other. Mait-
land of Lethington, Huntley, Argyle, Bothwell, and others,
were accessory to these dark consultations, and we cannot
suppose Murray wholly ignorant of them. It was resolved
among them that a divorce between Darnley and the queen
should be effected, and that the price paid by Mary for her
emancipation from that yoke should be a free pardon to
Morton and the exiles guilty of the conspiracy against Rizzio.
This, as the advice of a great part of her counsellors, was
suggested to Mary, then resident at the castle of Craigmillar.
She peremptorily refused her consent to the proposal of
divorce, as a measure which could not be adopted without
throwing discredit on her own reputation, and some doubt
on the legitimacy of her child. But during the festivities
of the christening of James, at Stirling, Mary lent an ear to
the various intercessions urged in behalf of Morton and his
accomplices, and granted them a free pardon excepting only
George Douglas, the portulate, as he was termed, of Aber-
brothock, who struck the first blow at Rizzio ; and she pur-
posed, according to Melville's account, to return to the mild
and gracious kind of government which had distinguished
her first arrival. "But, alas!" said that faithful servant,
"she had too many evil counsellors about her." It was de-
termined among them, that, instead of the proposed divorce,
Darnley should be assassinated. "With Morton, Bothwell
united himself in apparent friendship ; and we have the tes-
70 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
timony of the former earl to prove that he was privy to
the desperate deed which Bothwell meditated, although
he alleges he yielded no consent to it.
Darnley attended the splendid christening of his son, but
without meeting either notice or distinction. After lingering
for about a week amid festivities of which he was no par-
taker, he went to join his father at Glasgow, where he too>
the smallpox. The queen despatched her physician to attend
him, but went not to him herself; for which the health of
her son was alleged as a reason. At length, about the 24th
of January, Mary went from Edinburgh to Glasgow, and
had a friendly interview with Darnley, with whom she after-
ward lived upon apparently good terms. If this was a con-
straint put on the queen, she had not long to endure it.
Mary and Darnley left Glasgow in company, and reached
Edinburgh Jon the 31st of January. The king's illness was
assigned as a reason for quartering him apart from the palace
where his wife and child resided. A solitary house, called
the Kirk of Field, in the suburbs of the city, where the col-
lege is now situated, was appointed for his reception. Mary
regularly visited him, and sometimes slept in the same house.
On the Monday before his murder, she passed the evening
with him until it was time to attend a masque which was
to be given in the palace, on the occasion of a wedding in
the royal household. About two in the morning of Tuesday,
Bothwell, with a selected party of desperate men, opened the
under apartments of the Kirk of Field by means of false
keys, and laid a lighted match to a quantity of powder
which had been previously placed beneath the king's apart-
ment. After a few anxious moments had passed, Bothwell
became impatient, and despatched one of the ruffians who
was present to see whether the match was still burning.
The accomplice did not hesitate to obey the commission,
and returned with information that the light was still burn-
ing and the fire would presently reach the powder. After
this the party waited calmly till the house blew up, when
Bothwell retired, satisfied that, as the price of this enormous
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 71
crime, he had purchased a title to the hand of a queen.
There is reason to believe that several of the principal nobles
and statesmen were previously acquainted with the bloody
purpose. The Earl of Morton confessed at his death that
he knew of such an intention; and his cousin, the notorious
Archibald Douglas, parson titular of Glasgow, was present
at the execution. "Whether Mary herself was conscious of
this great crime is a question which has long been a con
troversial passage of Scottish history, to which we shall
hereafter turn the reader's attention.
The energetic character of the queen, the activity with
which she had hitherto suppressed all opposition to her will
as soon as such was manifested, and the impulse which she
had given to the machine of her government, prevented
for a time the effect of the terrible shock communicated by
this abominable murder, which made, nevertheless, a deep
impression on the public mind. Compassion for the young
king's fate gave Darnley, who enjoyed little love or respect
while he lived, a degree of posthumous popularity ; and the
desire of seeing his murder revenged was soon a general
sentiment. Placards appeared in the most public places in
the city, and voices were heard in streets at dead of night,
charging the murder on Bothwell, toward whom universal
suspicion was directed, and insinuating that the queen had
been privy to the conspiracy against her husband's life.
The terms of discord on which she had lived with Darnlej r ,
and the high favor to which Bothwell had risen, combined
to create such a rumor.
Lennox, the father of the deceased Darnley, had natur-
ally shared his son's disgrace, though not his demerits. He
now pressed the queen for vengeance, and declared his own
suspicion of Bothwell. In answer to his importunity, a
meeting of the privy council, held on the 28th day of March,
named the 13th of April as the day of trying Bothwell for
the murder of the king. Lennox the accuser complained
of the precipitancy with which the trial was forced forward.
He required that the person accused of such a crime should
72 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
be secured in prison, and, for decency's sake at least, ex<
eluded from the presence of the widowed queen.
The trial was nevertheless brought on at the appointed
period with most indecorous precipitation. Bothwell ap-
peared at the bar surrounded by armed friends and backed
by mercenary soldiers. The Earl of Morton on the on**
hand, and Lethington on the other, supported the prisoner
as he entered the court of justiciary. Lennox, unable to
face such a confederacy, protested by one of his retainers
against any further procedure in the trial, as carried on
against law. It was determined, however, that the trial
should proceed without respect to the remonstrance of Len-
nox; and as no prosecutor appeared, and no evidence was
adduced in support of the charge, Bothwell was of course
acquitted. Lennox fled precipitately to England doubting
of his personal safety when a man of a character so violent
and profligate as Bothwell was possessed of the power of
triumphing over the laws.
The queen continued to treat Bothwell as if he had been
acquitted in the most ample and honorable manner. In a
parliament which was held two days after the trial, he car-
ried the sceptre before the queen's person, and received a full
confirmation from that assembly of all the gifts and honors
which Mary had lavished on him, not forgetting the keep-
ing of Edinburgh Castle, the most important fortress in
the kingdom. At the same time ratifications were made of
various grants to other nobles, so many in number that they
3eem to be the division of the kingdom between her favorite
Bothwell and the great men who had thus far lent their
arms to aid him in his ascent, while, in fact, they watched
for the moment when his fall should be precipitate in pro-
portion to the height to which he had risen.
Under the influence of this aspiring statesman the queen
was induced to take a step which she had hitherto delayed
and evaded, and which was totally inconsistent with hei
accession to the Treaty of Bayonne, made for the express
support of the Catholic faith. An act of parliament was
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 73
passed and received the royal assent confirming and ratify-
ing in the most express terms the Protestant doctrines and
church government. This important concession, which no
representation of the Protestants had been able even in the
most critical circumstances to extract from the queen, the
influence of her ambitious lover had induced Mary at once
to consent to. Bothwell, no doubt, expected that the legal
security thus unexpectedly given to the reformed faith -would
silence the clamors of the churchmen, and give him, as the
author of that security so long sought and vainly petitioned
for, popularity with their hearers. Having paved the way,
as he supposed, for his final advancement being received
with general good will, this ambitious man ventured a more
direct stride toward accomplishing his object.
For this purpose, immediately after the rising of parlia-
ment, Bothw r ell invited the principal members of that body
to an entertainment in a tavern. There he plainly intimated
to them his purpose of marrying the queen, and her consent
to honor him with her hand ; and proposed to all present to
subscribe a bond, which he drew out of his pocket ready
drawn up, in which, after Bothwell himself was recognized
as totally free of the foul charge of having been accessory to
the late king's murder, he, the same Bothwell, was warmly
recommended to her majesty as a suitable match, in case
she should humble herself so far as to think of sharing her
bed with a subject, and the subscribers agreed to advance
the said marriage at the risk of life and goods. It is prob-
able that the principal persons present expected these pro-
posals, and were prepared for them. Those of minor impor-
tance were compelled to follow their example, since neither
the time nor place allowed much exercise of free choice. At
a house usually called Ainslie's Supper, from the name of the
publican by whom it was held, the bond was subscribed by
eight bishops, nine earls, and seven lords : Morton and Mait-
land of Lethington are among the number. And thus forti-
fied, as he imagined, by so strong a party, Bothwell proceeded
to take the last step in his extraordinary advance to greatness.
Scotland. Vol. II. — 4
74 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Assembling about one thousand horse, under pretext of
border service, Bothwell at the head of this company lay in
wait for the queen as she came from Stirling, at a place
called Fountain Bridge, near Edinburgh, and taking her
horse by the bridle, appeared to render himself director of
her motions and master of her person. His followers spared
not to say, that this seeming violence was offered by the
queen's own consent, and would be received as good service.
The subjects appeared to suppose the same, for, ready upon
former occasions to rise to protect their queen's person when
in danger, they beheld her on the present occasion led pris-
oner through the richest and most populous part of her
dominions, while they looked on in silent astonishment.
In this manner Bothwell conducted Mary to the castle of
Dunbar, unopposed and unpursued, and made it his boast
that gainsay who would, and even against her own consent,
he would marry the queen.
To add another disgusting feature to this enormous con-
duct, the reader must be informed that Bothwell was at this
very moment the husband of Lady Jane Gordon, sister to
the Earl of Huntley, and was pursuer of a process of divorce,
on account of consanguinity, before the consistorial court.
The countess, on her part, with every appearance of conni-
vance and collusion, prosecuted a separate action of divorce,
on the score of adultery, against her husband ; and sentence
of divorce was pronounced in both suits within a few days
of each other.
In silence and amazement the nation waited the end of
this extraordinary course of events; and if Mary had been
in reality a queen subjected by an audacious subject to the
utmost limits of personal insult and violence, she was singu-
larly unhappy in finding none among her subjects who were
induced to believe that the compulsion which she seemed to
sustain was a restraint imposed on her against her own will.
Her friends looked on with deep affliction : those who judged
most favorably concluding she was led astray by such pas-
sionate dotage as sometimes characterizes female affection:
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 75
while the powerful and numerous party who suspected
Mary's morals because they doubted her religion carefully
gathered up every levity of which she had been guilty since
her return to Scotland, and cited them as instances of de-
pravity, on which they alleged they were warranted, by the
queen's present conduct to put the worst interpretation.
At the end of twelve days Mary was liberated from Dun-
bar, conveyed to Edinburgh Castle, and apparently placed at
liberty by the Earl of Bothwell; and the first use she made
of her freedom was to utter a declaration that, though she
had been displeased with the restraint lately put upon her
by the Earl of Bothwell, yet, considering his former services,
and what might be expected from him in future, she was not
only disposed freely to forgive him, but also to exalt him to
higher honors. And she kept her word: for after procla-
mation of bans, and after the earl had been elevated to the
rank of Duke of Orkney, she conferred upon him her hand
in marriage on the loth of May, 1567: — a match which
might be concluded every way ominous and unfortunate,
without having recourse to the popular superstition derived
by the Scots from the classic authors who attach bad luck
to marriages in the month of May.
The only apology which the defenders of the unfortunate
queen have made for this fatal and irretrievable error is, that
her reputation having suffered from being for several days
in the hands of a man so audacious and uncontrollable aa
Bothwell, she was placed in a position which rendered her
marrying him an act of necessity rather than choice. On
the other hand, those who assert the queen's guilt rest upon
this unhappy, unseemly, and ill-chosen union as the most
convincing proof of her being privy to the death of her
husband, and all the consequences of the murder. 1
1 The acute David Hume being told of a new work which appeared,
in which the author had made a well-argued defence of Queen Mary,
"Has he shown," said the historian, "that the queen did not marry Both-
well?" he was answered of course in the negative; "then," replied Mr.
Hume, "in admitting that fact, he resigns the whole question."
76 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
On the other hand, strong suspicions arose, out of their
own conduct on the occasion, that Morton, Lethington, and
others of Mary's counsellors, were treacherously and un-
gratefully concerned in the plot, which was at once to de-
stroy their sovereign's fame and power. "When pardoned
by the queen for their share in the Rizzio conspiracy, which
had been the fruitful parent of so many crimes, several of
them had become privy to Bothwell's designs on the queen's
hand, and formed a bond to favor his views as well in annul-
ling the marriage with Darnley as in marrying the queen.
These objects they had advanced by every argument in their
power ; and when death was substituted for the original in-
tention of divorce, it does not seem to have alarmed these
sturdy associates. They supported the murderer after the
fact, and lent him their countenance upon his trial. They
subscribed the bond at Ainslie's Supper. Not one of them
joined in a spirited remonstrance which the gallant Lord
Herries offered to the queen against her marriage with
Bothwell. Not a spear was lifted, not a sword drawn, to
rescue Mary from the power of that atrocious ruffian. She
was suffered, without either warning or opposition, to unite
herself with this worthless man; and it was not until her
honor became inseparable from his that the same advisers
changed their note, sounded an alarm to the nation, and
called on all true subjects to rescue the queen from the
control of Bothwell.
We cannot but suspect that these ambitious men, observ-
ing how readily the queen had been supported by the nation
on former occasions, had determined not to interrupt her in-
fatuated career till she had linked her fate to Bothwell so
inseparably that she must needs share his ruin. Morton
was aware that he should, by getting rid of Queen Mary,
gratify his patroness Queen Elizabeth in the most sensible
manner, and raise his own party, and eventually perhaps
himself, to the prime management of Scottish affairs.
These considerations show why Morton and Lethington
did not make the least effort to save the queen by prevent-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 77
ing or at least remonstrating against her marriage. In the
meantime Bothwell plainly showed both his grasping ambi-
tion and his gross ingratitude to the queen. His behavior
in the palace, where he had so unworthily risen to so high
a place, was like that of a debauched soldier unbounded in
his dissolute discourse either by topics or terms, and totally
neglectful of his duty and respect for the queen. He
schemed and plotted to get into his hands the person of
the young prince, with a view probably on his life or lib-
erty; and because the queen, amid the dotage of her pas-
sion, opposed him in his purpose, he treated her with such
reproachful language that she was heard in the height of
her grief and indignation threatening to stab or drown
herself.
The Earl of Mar, who had lodged the young prince in
Edinburgh Castle, took care to keep both James's person
and that important place out of the hands of Bothwell,
though he had been constituted governor. Meantime the
public indignation began to show itself more boidly. It was
easy to find specious pretexts for raising in arms so warlike
a nation as the Scots — the liberation of the queen from the
control of Bothwell, and freeing the young prince from
the restraint and danger attending his continuing under the
guardianship of his father's murderer, were sufficient cause
for calling the people to arms. Morton and most of the
Protestant lords soon assembled a force and marched to
Edinburgh. Bothwell and the queen were wellnigh sur-
prised as they were banqueting at Borthwick Castle, in
the vicinity of the metropolis, and escaped with difficulty
to the strong fortress of Dunbar, where Mary summoned
her subjects around her as on former occasions: they came,
but it was with a total disinclination to the service.
The confederated lords marched eastward against Dun-
bar, but the queen, with her usual alacrity, assembled forces
equal to theirs in number, and met them on Carberry Hill.
"When the two armies came in sight of each other, the
French ambassador, called Le Crocq, endeavored to mediate
?3 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
between the parties, and succeeded in preventing hostilities.
In the conferences which followed, Bothwell made a bra-
vadoing offer to vindicate her innocence by single combat;
but chicaned and retracted when several among the confed-
erates offered to accept the challenge. In the meantime the
queen's spirits failed her when she beheld the reluctance
with which her own troops prepared for the combat, and
heard Kirkcaldy of Grainge, on the part of the confederates,
profess their willingness to respect and obey her as their sov-
ereign, providing she would remove Bothwell from her pres-
ence and counsels. She dimissed Bothwell accordingly, who
retreated to the Orkneys, and, driven from thence, committed
some outrages on the trade of Denmark. He was finally
taken, and immured in the castle of Malmoe, in Norway,
where he died, after ten years' confinement.
Meantime the queen, who had surrendered herself upon
terms to her insurgent subjects, was far from experiencing
the reception of homage and respect on their part which
Kirkcaldy had promised. The armed ranks closed around
her with menacing gestures and expressions, which even the
authority of their leaders could not restrain. When she
reached Edinburgh the multitude became still more unruly;
and the streets of her capital resounded with abusive ex-
clamations against her. Some, to show their disrespectful
feelings, did not hesitate to display before her eyes a ban-
ner, on which was represented the murdered Darnley with
the person of the young prince kneeling beside it, and pray-
ing to Heaven for vengeance. "While Mary sustained this
degrading treatment from the commonalty ^ the confederated
lords formed themselves into a committee of government,
and ordered the queen to be conveyed under strong guard
to the castle of Lochleven, situated on an islet, in the large
lake so named, and placed under the custody of Sir William
Douglas, a kinsman of Morton, lord of the castle, and his
wife, the mother of the Earl of Murray, who pretended to
have been lawfully wedded to James V», though, in fact,
Dnly his concubine, and was. therefore, hostile to the de-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 79
3cendent of his actual marriage with Mary of Guise. This
usage of the queen was contrary to the conditions which the
associated lords had granted to her when she surrendered
herself to Kirkcaldy of Grainge at Carberry Hill ; and that
gallant knight upbraided them severely with having broken
their word to Mary, and made him the means of deceiving
her. But to this they answered that the favorable terms
alluded to had been granted to Mary on condition that she
would break off al-1 intercourse with Both well; notwith-
standing which, they affirmed, she had afterward written
to him in affectionate terms, agreeing to adhere to his fort-
unes, and had thereby forfeited the favorable terms which
they had been willing to grant on condition of her positively
renouncing him.
This state of things could not long endure. The Hamil-
tons, and many other nobles of great power, without chal-
lenging the propriety of the proceedings of the insurgents
as far as the expulsion of Bothwell was concerned, were of
opinion that, he being banished from the kingdom, Queen
Mary should be restored to her sovereign authority. But
the lords of the confederation, who had every reason to
think that her talents, and the interest which she inspired
in her kingdom, might soon enable her, if set at liberty, to
revenge herself on those by whom she had been confined,
determined that she should be dethroned on account of mal-
administration, and compelled to resign her crown to her
son, while the government during his minority should be
conducted by a regent.
This important office was reserved for James, earl of
Murray. The reason of our late silence respecting this in-
fluential nobleman is his absence from the scene of action.
Murray had remained in Scotland until he saw the termina-
tion of the conjugal disputes between Darnley and Mary, by
the murder of the former. He then asked and obtained
license to go to England, and from thence to France, where
he remained during the insurrection, of which, however, he
received the principal reward, being, as we have said, des-
80 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
tined by the confederate lords to hold the place of supreme
governor in the name of the infant prince. He was less ob-
jectionable to the queen than any other who could have been
proposed, since his absence from the kingdom had separated
him from the Carberry lords, at the time when their insur-
rection was most offensive to the queen. She might also
hope something from affection, and much from gratitude
for benefits received by her brother.
The Earl of Murray, summoned to Scotland to fulfil such
high destinies, returned to his native country with all de-
spatch, and took on him, though manifesting a decent reluc-
tance, the office of regent. The queen had expected a good
deal from the affection and gratitude of Murray; but at
their very first interview he reproved her with so much
severity for her errors that all ties of family affection or
friendship between them were broken off forever. The un-
fortunate queen had been already compelled, not without
circumstances of violence, to subscribe a resignation of her
kingdom, and to sign a commission to her brother in the
capacity of regent. Murray, by his skill and talent, speed-
ily overturned the plans of the nobles who were favorable to
the queen, obtained possession of the castle of Edinburgh,
and placed himself as regent in full execution of the gov-
ernment throughout Scotland. Parliament sanctioned the
change of rulers which had taken place, ratified the acces-
sion of the infant son, instead of the captive mother, and the
authority of Murray as regent in the name of the king.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 81
CHAPTER XXIX
Mary's Escape from Lochleven — The Battle of Langside — The
Queen's Flight into England— Mary offers to vindicate herself
to Elizabeth — Advantage taken of that Offer — Commission at
York — Question of Supremacy revived and abandoned — Pro-
posal of a Marriage between Mary and the Duke of Norfolk —
Sittings of the Commission removed to Westminster — Murray
lodges his Accusation against Mary — Elizabeth declines pro-
nouncing a decision, but detains Mary a Prisoner — Question of
her Guilt and Innocence — Morton's Confession — Proofs by the
Sonnets and Letters — Deemed inconclusive, and why — Confes-
sion of Paris — Elizabeth's Conduct toward Mary — A Party is
formed in Scotland for the Queen — It is joined by Kirkcaldy
of Grainge and Lethington — Murray betrays Norfolk to Eliza-
beth — The Duke is imprisoned — Murray assassinated by Both-
well haugh — Inroads on the Borders
FATE bad reserved to Queen Mary an additional chance
for repairing her broken fortunes. In Lochleven
Castle she was surrounded by those most deeply
interested for the Earls of Murray and of Morton; and
most inclined to support the power to which they had been
raised. But there was one person among them who beheld
her confinement and her distresses with an eye of compas-
sion. This was a youth named George Douglas, brother of
the Lord of Lochleven, who, captivated by her beauty,
touched by her sorrow, and seduced by her promises, laid a
plan for her escape. This was discovered by his brother, Sir
James, who expelled the plotter from the castle.
Undismayed by this miscarriage, George Douglas lingered
on the shores of Lochleven, to assist the queen in any subse-
quent effort. Mary was not long in making such an attempt.
She entered a boat disguised in the attire of a laundress, but
82 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
was discovered, from her repelling the endeavors by the
rude boatmen to pull off her veil with arms and hands far
too white to belong to one of her assumed character.
Again the queen was replaced in her island prison, but
about the same time a second ally in the garrison was won
over to assist her escape. This was a lad of seventeen or
eighteen, called "William Douglas, otherwise the Little
Douglas, a relative, probably, of the Lord of Lochleven.
This little Douglas, so named from his tender years or
low stature, gave her his assistance to escape by night from
the castle and island in which she was immured. He stole
the keys for this purpose, set the royal prisoner at liberty in
the middle of the night : to prevent pursuit, locked the iron
gates of the town upon its inmates, and flung the keys into
the lake as he rowed her to land. George Douglas, already
mentioned, Lord Seton, and a party of the Hamiltons, re-
ceived the queen on the shores of the lake, and conveyed
her in triumph to Hamilton, where her friends hastened to
assemble an army, and form an association for her defence.
The engagement was subscribed by nine earls, as many
lords, and a great many persons of consequence.
Placing the queen in the centre of their numerous bat-
talions, they moved from Hamilton toward Dumbarton. It
was their intention to deposit the person of the sovereign in
that impregnable castle, and then to seek out the regent
and give him battle. But his rapid movements anticipated
their more tardy measures. Murray was at this time lying
at Glasgow; and at the head of an army inferior in num-
bers marched to intercept the progress of the enemy toward
the north. The vanguard of each army hastened forward,
contending which should obtain possession of the village of
Langside. They met with equal courage, and encountered
with levelled lances, striving, like contending bulls, which
should bear the other down. The spears of the front ranks
were so fastened into each other's armor, that the staves
crossed like a sort of grating, on which lay daggers, pistols,
and other weapons used as missiles, which the contending
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 83
parties had thrown at each other. While they were thus
locked together, Morton led a detachment against the flank
of the Hamiltons, and decided the day. Mary's army was
broken and routed. The queen herself fled sixty miles with-
out drawing bridle, when she arrived at Dundrennan Abbey,
in Galloway.
Here, against the opinion of her wisest counsellors, Mary
exercised her last act of free agency, by determining on the
perilous step of taking refuge in England, the realm of
Elizabeth, her sister and her foe.
That remarkable princess was not a woman to be de-
terred, by scruples respecting public faith or private honor,
from benefiting by the advantages which occasion had thus
thrown into her lap. Mary was received by the English
officers on the borders with the greatest appearance of re-
spect; nor was Elizabeth sparing of kind expressions of
*comfort and friendship toward her ill-fated sister.
But when the unfortunate queen of Scotland pressed for
an interview with Elizabeth, she was informed that an ob-
jection to this arose from the accusations which some of her
subjects had preferred against her. Mary naturally and
eagerly offered to justify herself against such charges,
whatever was their character; meaning no more than to
offer such explanations to the queen of England as friend
gives to friend, in justifying herself from any sinister re-
port, but certainly not intending to constitute Elizabeth her
judge, or to descend from her state, and reply before the
queen of England to the accusations of her subjects at
the bar of her equal. Elizabeth, however, had obtained an
advantage which she determined to keep; and by means
of this she had an apology, such as it was, for assuming,
in her own person, the power of deciding upon Mary's guilt
or innocence. The point of justice was, indeed, untenable ;
for the queen of England, on all occasions of rebellion against
her neighbor Queen Mary, had received the fugitive insur-
gents into her kingdom, supplied their wants, and lent them
countenance and succor, declining either to deliver them up,
84 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
or enter into cognizance of their offences. "Whereas, when
the queen of Scotland was compelled to take refuge in her
kind sister's kingdom, the worst construction was put upon
the cause of her retreat, and Elizabeth, the loving ally, in-
stantly assumed the character of the strict and awful judge.
By command of Elizabeth a commission was appointed
to sit at York, having the Duke of Norfolk at its head, de-
signed to inquire into the guilt or innocence of Queen Mary.
Before this board, composed of English commissioners, ap-
peared the regent, with Morton, Lindsay, the bishop of Ork-
ney, and above all, with Secretary Maitland, the Machiavel
of Scotland. The bishop of Ross, Lord Herries, Lord Boyd,
and others, the most distinguished of Mary's friends, at-
tended on her behalf.
The first demand of Norfolk was, that the Regent Murray
should do homage to the queen of England, as queen para-
mount of Scotland, seeing he had come voluntarily to pleadf
as a suitor before Elizabeth's commissioners. This acknowl-
edgment of the right of supremacy, resisted in so many cent-
uries of bloody war, would have simplified the task of afford-
ing a foundation for Elizabeth's jurisdiction, since, if it had
been admitted, she might have taken up the settlement of
the disputes between the queen and subjects of Scotland, in
the legitimate exercise of her power, as paramount superior,
in which capacity Edward I. had decided the controversy
between Bruce and Baliol. At the unexpected demand of
homage, the blood rushed to Regent Murray's countenance,
and he remained uncertain what to answer; but the ready
wit of Lethington took up the debate. "Let England," he
said, "restore to Scotland Cumberland, Northumberland,
and the town of Berwick, and homage shall be done for
these possessions as of old; but for the kingdom and crown
of Scotland," he continued, "it is more free of dependence
than England herself has been of late, while she paid Saint
Peter's pence to Rome."
The sittings of the commissioners were resumed without
more debate on the subject of supremacy, which the English
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 85
tacitly abandoned. It might be observed, however, that
there was a reluctance on the part of the regent and his
associates to bring forward their defence to the accusation
of rebellion against Mary, by retorting upon her the alleged
offences of incontinence, and accession to the assassination
of Henry Darnley. The fact was, that the fertile brain of
Lethington had already devised a scheme by which the pro-
ceedings on both sides were to be guided, and which he
proposed should put an end to the commission, in a manner
which Elizabeth, under whose warrant it held its sittings,
very little dreamed of. This project was to effect a match
between Mary, her divorce from Bothwell being effected,
and the Duke of Norfolk, wealthy, brave, accomplished,
and at the head of a strong party among the English no-
bility, composed partly of Catholics and partly of Protes-
tants, who were, for various reasons, hostile to the govern-
ment and schemes of Cecil. Of this number the two great
northern Earls of Westmoreland and Northumberland were
particularly formidable.
The Regent Murray having in his eye the prospect of
such a union must naturally have reflected that Mary, re-
stored to her crown with increased security and strength,
would be utterly implacable toward him, if he should render
himself guilty in her eyes of having been her accuser before
Elizabeth's commission at this peculiar crisis of her fate.
He therefore temporized ; and instead of pressing his charges
against Mary, capitulated with Queen Elizabeth about the
terms on which the accusation was to be brought forward ;
and that queen had the mortification to perceive that the
regent, instead of persisting in the charge, showed some
inclination to make peace with his sister, whom he had
lately accused of such enormities.
Embarrassed at perceiving that Murray hesitated, Eliza-
beth resolved to change the scene of action, and appointed
the conference of the commissioners to be removed to West-
minster, that the business might be carried on under her
own eye and that of Cecil. For the same purpose, without
8G HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
regard to Mary's requests or entreaties, she removed her
from Bolton to Tutbury, that she might be more remote
from her own dominions and the frontiers of England, in
which districts she had many friends. She was hitherto
treated honorably, but with the most secure attention to
her safety.
The wily Cecil was not long in obtaining a perfect ac
quaintance with the negotiation between Norfolk and the
regent; and he gave Murray to understand that should he
continue to shrink from the task of accusation, or pursue
further a line of hopeless hesitation, he would totally alien-
ate his protectress Elizabeth, without having the effect of
conciliating Mary, whom he had offended beyond reach of
pardon. Intimidated by his threats, the regent at length
preferred his charge against the queen, in the broadest
terms. He accused Mary as an accessory to the murder
of her husband, and as plotting the destruction of the young
prince, her own son. The queen's commissioners expressed
the utmost surprise and resentment at these unqualified
charges. They demanded an interview of Elizabeth, and
they protested against all further proceedings of the con-
ference. The regent, in reply, was called upon to produce
his proofs. This brought forward an incident famous in the
controversy. In corroboration of. his accusation, the Earl
of Murray produced and deposited a silver box, or casket,
full of love-letters, sonnets, and contracts, alleged to have
passed between Mary and Bothwell during the life of her
murdered husband, Henry Darnley, and contended that, with
the decree of the Scottish parliament, these documents were
sufficient to establish Queen Mary's guilt, and to vindicate
the conduct of those who, having risen in arms against her
government, now opposed her restoration.
By forcing Murray to these decisive steps, Elizabeth at-
tained the principal object of her wishes. She had, as far
as a foul charge could have such an effect, destroyed the
good fame of Queen Mary, and obtained the privilege of
dealing with her as one lying under the most odious sus-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 87
picions, and unworthy the protection of the law of nations.
This point gained, she resolved to avoid taking on herself
the delicate task of declaring Mary guilty or innocent. She
informed Murray, therefore, that, on the one hand, she ac-
quitted him of all charges against his loyalty and honor;
and that, on the other, she could not bring herself to be
of opinion that he had produced any proofs of the charge
against Mary sufficiently decisive to prejudice her sister in
her good opinion; on which account she had determined to
leave the affairs of Scotland as she had found them. It will
be observed that this decision, while in words it placed neither
party in the wrong, gave Mary the same disadvantages which
would have followed from an express condemnation of the
queen. She remained a prisoner, although found guilty of
no crime; and Murray, the accuser, though unacquitted of
the charge of rebellion and calumnious slander against his
sovereign, left England, after having received a consider-
able sum of money, with an assurance that his party in Scot-
land should have the support of the English government.
But it may be asked what conclusion are readers of the
present day to draw from these proceedings? and are we,
with one class of writers, to conceive Queen Mary an injured
saint, or with another the most profligate of women? "We
confess that, without more light than we at present possess,
or ever hope to see thrown on a subject of so mysterious a
character, we incline to think that on both sides this memo-
rable case has been pleaded to extremity.
The beauty, the wit, and, in general, the amiable char-
acter of Mary, has raised up for her memory defenders of
equal talents and zeal. But if we review the queen's con-
duct from the debate at Craigmillar, concerning the pro-
posed divorce between her and Darnley, it is difficult to
believe that she must not have entertained suspicions that
many persons of an unscrupulous character were not indis-
posed, when that measure was rejected, to remove the un-
fortunate prince from his share of the throne by the readiest
and most violent means, if legal and justifiable expedients
88 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
would not serve the turn. The reconciliation between the
husband and wife, after their long estrangement, which was
patched up so suddenly and immediately before the murder,
the violence offered to the queen's person by Bothwell, and
so tamely acquiesced in by a female of such high rank and
energetic character, are to us irresistible evidence that Mary,
deeply injured by her ungrateful husband, and engaged by
an unhappy attachment to one of the most wicked of men,
suffered Darnley, without warning or succor, to fall into the
conspirators' snares, if, indeed, she did not herself entice
him into the toils. Revenge and love are great casuists;
and supposing Mary so far concerned in Darnley's death
as to foresee its approach without endeavoring to prevent
it, she might endeavor to justify her conduct to herself, by
considering that by his accession to the murder of her ser-
vant in her own presence her ungrateful husband deserved
death, and that she at least was not obliged to give the
alarm when a deserved punishment seemed about to over-
whelm him. The evident favor shown to Bothwell on his
sham trial, the too obvious farce of the seizure of the queen
at Fountain Bridge, and her subsequent marriage with Both-
well, all lead to the same melancholy conclusion. And when
we recollect that Mary had been educated in the profligate
court of Catherine of Medicis, and was surrounded in her
own by some of the worst and most wicked men who ever
lived, he who can suppose that, tempted by love and revenge,
she walked through the maze of iniquity occurring between
Rizzio's death and her marriage with Bothwell without soil-
ing the purity of her mind with the guilt which was so thick
around her path, must have unusual confidence in human
nature.
But though we are compelled to admit that a long train
of coherent circumstances seems to evince that Mary was at
least by tacit acquiescence an accomplice in Darnley's fate,
we are not much moved by what has been termed the actual
proof of her guilt and which was produced as such before
the commission.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 89
The documents contained in the silver box are the only
direct testimony tending to involve Mary in Darnley's mur-
der; and setting these aside for the present, there remains
little which can directly implicate the queen.
At a later period, indeed, Morton, an unprincipled and
fierce man, who, according to his own account on the scaf-
fold, was privy to the whole bloody scene, says, that being
invited to join Both well and Lethington in a scheme against
Darnley's life, he refused to engage in the plot unless Both-
well would obtain an injunction upon him to that effect from
the queen herself. But he proceeds to declare that Both-
well never was able to produce such a warrant. Here,
therefore, the chain of direct evidence is broken, and the
positive proof of Mary's guilt is not to be found. Laying
Morton's direct oral testimony aside as being inconclusive,
we come next to the celebrated casket and papers.
These letters and writings produced would indeed prove
a great deal more than enough for conviction if they stood
unimpeached as authentic documents. But great and serious
suspicions attach to their authenticity. The internal evi-
dence is unfavorable according to our ideas of the style of
a sovereign expressing her attachment. They are described
with suspicious variations, sometimes as being written by
the queen's own hand, sometimes as being only subscribed
by her. Above all, though their authenticity was chal-
lenged, and though the regent and his associates had in
their power the persons through whose hands they were said
to have passed, yet no care whatever was taken, by exami-
nation of any of these persons, to ascertain or corroborate
the faith of documents so important to the cause of the
accusers. The obvious and legal inference is, that where
that is not proved which ought to have been verified, it
must have been for want of the means of probation. It is
notorious that these letters and papers had been long enough
in the hands of the queen's enemies to have been tampered
with to any extent ; and the productions of copies and trans-
lations, instead of originals, is totally foreign to our ideas
90 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of judicial proceedings. Nay, there was so little attention
to authenticate the casket or the documents contained, that
although Dalgleish, the messenger from whose person they
were alleged to be taken, was tried and executed for acces-
sion to Darnley's murder, not a single question was put to
him either at his trial, or at his death, which could tend
to prove he had e r er seen them. His confession, also, whicl
candidly admits his share in Darnley's murder, contains not
a word respecting these papers. The only evidence of their
having been taken on the person of this man was the declara-
tion of Morton, who, if they were forged, was undoubtedly
a person most deeply interested in the fabrication.
The queen, also, when she alleged that these manuscripts
were forgeries, observed that there were many in her king-
dom who could imitate her handwriting ; and it was believed
that Maitland possessed that accomplishment in a supreme
degree.
Another document of direct evidence preferred against
the queen was the confession of Paris, a Frenchman, and
a servant of her household, who is represented as having
given testimony respecting the circumstances of a conference
with Bothwell, which, compared with the subsequent direc-
tions received by Paris from Mary regarding the delivery
of the keys of the king's lodgings at the Kirk of Field,
seems distinctly probative of the queen's knowledge of the
murder before the fact. But to this also lies the same ob-
jection of a strong suspicion of forgery; and there arises the
greater doubt on the subject, that certainly if Paris had been
actually disposed to make such an important confession, his
life ought to have been preserved, that he might deliver
his evidence before parliament or in an unprejudiced court,
allowing every chance to the royal person accused of so
hideous a crime of disproving it by cross-examination or
otherwise. The death of a miserable domestic, whose life
was at all times in their hands, ought to have been deferred
until his testimony had been publicly given, carefully inves-
tigated, and formally recorded. The fact of having put
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 91
Paris instantly to death, with every other person connected
with the murder, resembles the art of the usurper in the
play who stabs the warders of Duncan lest a public exami-
nation should produce other sentiments in the minds of the
judges than those which he who really committed the crime
desired should be inferred.
On the whole, the direct evidence produced in suppoi
of Mary's alleged guilt was liable to such important objec-
tions that it could not now be admitted to convict a felon
for the most petty crime; and there is surely no equity in
receiving it as absolutely conclusive against a queen. We
have already stated our opinion of the moral proof of deep
delusion, or perhaps actual guilt, arising from Mary's own
conduct; but we own that our strong suspicions, arising from
her favor to Bothwell, her union with that profligate man,
and the time and circumstances of the marriage, are rather
weakened than confirmed by the attempts to corroborate
it by positive evidence of so very suspicious a description.
When original documents are suppressed, and alleged copies
only produced, when minutes of confessions privately ob-
tained under threats of torture are urged as proofs, and the
witnesses themselves, who might have given open testi-
mony, removed by precipitate execution, the loose and im-
probable character of the evidence throws a suspicion over
the whole proceeding, which goes far to neutralize the pre-
sumption of guilt arising out of the circumstances; and
as it evinces foul practices used in order to convict the
queen, it must necessarily induce us to lean to the side of
acquittal. Queen Elizabeth was probably sensible of this
when, by the result of the investigation, she saw herself
obliged to acknowledge that the Scottish queen had come
off guiltless from the charge brought by Murray and her
rebel subjects; and the number and character of those who
asserted Mary's cause in Scotland plainly intimates that a
great part of her subjects were in no respect disposed to be
considered as having faith in the evidence which later his-
torians have received as conclusive against her.
92 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
The inquiry had terminated favorably for Mary, in so
far that Elizabeth confessed by her own answer to both par-
ties that she saw no grounds for the charges with which the
Scottish queen had been loaded. It seemed to follow that
a queen now pronounced to be guiltless, who had taken ref-
uge in the dominions of a sister and ally in a moment of ex-
treme necessity, should have been either received with honor
or dismissed with safety. But, contrary to the laws of hos-
pitality observed in the most barbarous nations, contrary to
the tenor of a thousand declarations of friendship and even
sisterly fondness, the queen of England determined not to
enfranchise her prisoner, though she had dismissed the ac-
cusation under pretext of which she had at first refused to
admit her to her presence. She was indeed so bold in avail-
ing herself of the advantage she had gained as to seem little
anxious to justify the right to detain her captive, being fully
possessed of the power.
Mary, therefore, was sent from Bolton Castle to Tutbury;
and that no circumstance of meanness might be omitted, the
royal captive had reason to complain even of the niggard
temper of Elizabeth, which hardly allowed her prisoner fit-
ting means of transport or adequate support, while she
dragged her from one prison to another in inclement
weather, and through the most rugged roads.
Leaving Mary to her melancholy fate, our narrative must
follow Murray to Scotland. His presence there had become
needful to the support of his own party; for the lords who
were attached to Queen Mary having recovered from the
terrors inspired by the battle of Langside were threatening
again to take up arms. Murray averted the immediate
danger by seizing on the Duke of Chatelherault and Lord
Herries, and sending them prisoners to Edinburgh Castle.
But the queen's party continued to assume a menacing
appearance. Their leaders were much encouraged by the
intrigues carried on by the Duke of Norfolk for the pur-
pose of obtaining Mary's hand. Two men of eminence,
who had been Murray's especial friends, were deeply en-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND S3
gaged in this plot. The first was Maitland of Lethington,
who was the original inventor of the scheme ; the other, Sir
William Kirkcaldy of Grainge, famed for his military talent,
and not less so for a generosity of disposition which was by
no means a characteristic of the period. He had been dis-
pleased at the severe conduct of the lords toward the queen,
after she surrendered to him at Carberry Hill, and dismissed
her army upon his warrant of respectful treatment and good
usage. And although he afterward fought against her at
the battle of Langside, yet, unconvinced of Mary's guilt, or
supposing that it had been expiated by her sufferings, or
yielding, perhaps, to the wonderful influence which the in-
genuity of Lethington possessed over the minds of all to
whom he found access, he was now disposed to join in any
honorable expedient which might obtain Mary's liberty and
forward her restoration. Grainge, being governor of Edin-
burgh Castle, wherein were detained the noblemen whom
Murray had lately made prisoners of state, his friendship
was, at such a crisis, of the last consequence to the party
to which he should finally attach himself. He declared him-
self the protector of these captives as well as of Maitland of
Lethington, whom he received into the castle, and who be-
came, as usual, the soul of all the intrigues which were
carried on between the parties.
The arrival of the regent in Scotland disconcerted these
counsels. Murray had been made privy to the proposed
marriage between Norfolk and Mary, and had given his
assent to it while at York. But since that period he had
openly stood forward as the accuser of his sister, and could
no longer hope either safety for the future or indemnity for
the past should she ever again ascend the throne. He there-
fore dishonorably betrayed to Elizabeth the whole treaty as
it had been communicated to him by Norfolk, and thus fur-
nished the English queen with proofs on which the duke was
arrested and detained a prisoner. Immediately upon this
arrest, which was regarded as inferring Elizabeth's perfect
knowledge of the various plans which had been agitated
94 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
among the malcontent lords, the Earls of "Westmoreland
and Northumberland, Catholics, and friends, of course, to
the Scottish queen, arose in open rebellion, with the avowed
purpose of liberating Mary and restoring the popish relig-
ion. But this insurrection, though in the outset extremely
formidable, sunk and died away like a fire of straw before
the active and vigorous measures of Queen Elizabeth. The
two leaders fled to Scotland, where Northumberland fell
into the power of the regent, by whom he was imprisoned
in Lochlever Castle. The Earl of "Westmoreland escaped
abroad, and died beyond seas. This unsuccessful attempt
at rebellion greatly broke the power of the Catholics in Eng-
land, and confirmed the sway of Elizabeth, as the bursting
of an imposthume often restores the vigor of the human
constitution.
Murray, strengthened by Elizabeth's arms, and bold in
her protection, was taking measures to complete the subju-
gation of the queen's party, and negotiating to have Mary's
own person delivered into his hands by the queen of Eng-
land, when he lost his life by the vengeance of an individual.
Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, a man distinguished for a vin-
dictive disposition in an age when revenge was accounted a
virtue and a duty, had with many of that name been made
prisoner at the battle of Langside. With the other captives
he had been doomed to death after the battle, and, like oth-
ers, he had received pardon from the regent. But though
Bothwellhaugh had been thus far favorably treated, a sepa-
rate property belonging to him had been declared forfeited,
and was conferred by Murray upon one of his favorites, who,
brutally eager to obtain possession, drove the wife of Both-
wellhaugh, then recently delivered of a child, half naked
into the fields, where she became ere morning furiously
mad. Her husband vowed vengeance on the regent as the
original author of the injury ; and the Hamiltons, his kins-
men, who had so much reason to hate and fear the present
ruler of Scotland, encouraged him by applauding and abet-
ting his design. Having taken singularly accurate meas-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 95
ures for effecting his purpose and his escape, he lurked in
an empty lodging in the street of Linlithgow, mortally
wounded the Earl of Murray by a shot from a carabine
as he rode through the town, and, though closely pursued,
got in safety to France.
There is every reason to suppose that the crime of an
individual had been countenanced and prompted by the
spirit of a faction as well as of a powerful family. On the
very night when the murder was committed, Buccleuch and
Farniherst, chiefs of the names of Scott and Kerr, border-
ers, of the queen's party, invaded England with unusual
fury, with the purpose, doubtless, of producing a breach
between the two nations. One of the depredators showed
that the party were conscious of the act which had taken
place; for being asked by an Englishman how he would
answer that night's work to the regent, who was wont to
be a terror to the border plunderers, he replied, "Tush, man!
your regent is cold as the iron bit in my horse's mouth."
Thus died the Earl of Murray, still remembered by the
commons of Scotland as the good regent, and not undeserv-
ing of the epithet; for making allowance for the stormy
times in which he lived, his general character will bear
comparison with most statesmen of the period. He was
wise, brave, and successful in his enterprises; but his un-
certain and insecure state led him into intrigues from which
he could not honorably extricate himself; and Elizabeth did
not hesitate, both in the affair of the Roundabout Raid and
in extorting a confession of his intrigues with Norfolk, to
subject him to a just charge of meanness and treachery.
Sir James Melville blames rather the avarice of Morton
and others than that of the regent himself for the acts
of severity and rapacity which hastened his death; and
although it was he who chiefly profited by the murder of
Darnley and the ill-concocted intrigues of Bothwell, there
is no proof that he was conscious of or accessory to those
dark and treacherous transactions, further than the sus-
picion which must attach to a man of his consequence,
96 HISTORY OF SCOTLA
who could scarcely be ignorant of important events when
they were passing around him. There is something like
coldness and ingratitude in his harsh conduct to a sister
who had favored and promoted him, and who is said to
have shed tears over his death. But the steadiness with
which he prosecuted and established the work of the Ref-
ormation seems to have arisen from sincere conviction, and
constitutes Regent Murray's best title to a place among the
benefactors of his country.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 97
CHAPTER XXX
Commencement of the Civil War— English Invasion — The Borderers
chastised — The House of Hamilton almost ruined — Dumbarton
Castle taken — Scotland divided between King's Men and Queen's
Men — Cruel Character of the War — State of Parties — Raid of
Stirling — Death of the Regent Lennox — Mar succeeds, and la-
bors for Peace, but shortly after dies — Morton chosen Regent —
His Character — Mary corresponds with Spain — Duke of Norfolk
beheaded — Queen Elizabeth publicly owns the Right of James
— The Civil Wars still rage; but the Party of the Queen declines
everywhere save in the North, where it is supported by the
Gordons — The Queen's Adherents capitulate, excepting Grainge,
who holds out Edinburgh Castle — He is besieged by an English
Force, and compelled to surrender — He is executed — Death of
Maitland of Lethington
ON the death of the Earl of Murray, both parties in
Scotland prepared for war. The faction adhering
to the infant monarch chose for regent, instead of
Murray, the Earl of Lennox, father of the murdered Darn-
ley, and grandfather of James himself. His authority was
strongly supported by Elizabeth, who despatched two flying
armies into Scotland to avenge the mischief done upon the
frontiers, and to co-operate with the forces of the regent.
One of these, under the Earl of Sussex, severely chastised
the border clans of Scott and Kerr by ravaging their lands
and burning their houses. The other army was commanded
by Lord Scroope of Bolton. A third body of English, led
by Sir "William Drury, assisted Lennox in laying waste the
vale of Clyde, and desolating the mansions of Hamilton,
rendered obnoxious to the king's party by the murder of
the late regent, and to Lennox himself, whose father had
been slain by one of that clan, by the bitterness of feudal
hatred. Their vengeance was urged with such unrelenting
Scotland. Vol. II.— 5
98 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
fury that the great family, whom it affected, was in all its
branches brought to the verge of ruin.
In 1571 another advantage was obtained by the king's
party by an extraordinary feat of courage and dexterity.
Crawford of Jordanhall, an enterprising officer, undertook
the venturous exploit of storming the almost impregnable
castle of Dumbarton, which had hitherto, during the varia-
tion of the civil war, remained in possession of the queen's
partisan, the Lord Fleming. A handful of soldiers ad-
vanced to the foot of the rock on a misty evening. By
means of ladders they ascended to a ledge of rock where
they were able to keep their footing till they could draw up
and replace the ladders so as to attain the bottom of the wall.
In the second ascent, a soldier, when half way up the ladder,
was seized with a fit of epilepsy. Crawford caused the man
to be bound to the steps ; then commanding the ladder to be
turned, they mounted over the indisposed person's belly.
Surmounting the wall, the assailants surprised the ill-
watched garrison, who were too confident in the strength
of the castle to keep a due guard, and carried the place by
an attempt, the boldness of which was unequalled by the
siege of the Numidian fortress mentioned by Sallust, or the
more modern surprise of Fecamp, on the coast of Normandy,
by Bois-Rose during the wars of the League.
The archbishop of St. Andrew's, natural brother of the
Duke of Chatelherault, was taken in the castle of Dumbar-
ton, to which he had retreated for safety as to an impreg-
nable place of refuge. This prelate was highly obnoxious
to the king's party from his profession, his talents, and his
family; and being already attainted by parliament, lay open
to their severity, which was carried to the uttermost. They
conveyed the archbishop to Stirling, where he was publicly
hanged without trial or ceremony. That he deserved this
fate is highly probable. He was proprietor of the fatal man-
sion called the Kirk of Field, in which Darnley was blown
up, and of the no less fatal lodging at Linlithgow, from
which the Regent Murray received his death-wound; and
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 99
there was little doubt of his being on both occasions aware
of the purpose which the lodgings were to be put to. But
his execution, without even a semblance of trial, in the heat
of a civil war, was calculated to add fuel to its fury, and be-
came the example and justification of numerous atrocities
practiced by way of retaliation.
The civil war was now widely kindled, and raged in
every province ; and the fatal distinction into king's men
and queen's men divided even private families. The king's
adherents held a parliament at Stirling. The queen's lords
assumed the same title at Edinburgh; and these assemblies
fulminated decrees of forfeiture against each other. Skir-
mishes were fought in every part of the kingdom ; and as
the parties threw on each other the imputation of rebellion,
those taken in battle were only spared by the sword to per-
ish by the gibbet ; for each party in these desolating hostili-
ties relentlessly executed their captives as traitors.
The historian, Hume of Godscroft, has left us a species
of parallel, showing how the great peers and families in the
different parts of Scotland were divided between the two
factions. By this it appears that the preponderance of the
feudal nobility was on the side of Queen Mary, though the
strength which the king's men obtained from the support
of the reformed party decided the civil war in favor of her
son. First, there were of the queen's side the Duke of
Chatelherault, the Earls of Argyle, Athole, Huntley, al-
most all petty princes in their several countries and shires;
also the Earls of Crawford, Rothes, Eglinton, Cassilis, the
Lord Herries, with all the Maxwells, Lochinvar, Johnstone,
the Lords Seton, Boyd, Gray, Ogilvy, Livingston, Fleming,
Oliphant, the sheriff of Ayr and Linlithgow, Buccleuch,
Farniherst, and Tulliebardine. "The Lord Hume did also
countenance them, though few of his friends or name were
with him, save one mean man, Ferdinando of Broomhouse;
Maitland, the secretary, a great politician, and Grainge, an
approved soldier, who was captain of the castle, and provost
of the town of Edinburgh, embraced Mary's party. They
:00 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
had the chief castles and places of strength in their hands — ■
Edinburgh, Dumbarton, and Lochmaben. France did assist
them ; Spain did favor them, and so did the pope, together
with all the Roman Catholics everywhere. The same fac-
tion in England was great : all the Duke of Norfolk's party,
papists and malcontents, had their eye upon Queen Mary.
Neither was she, though in prison, altogether unuseful to
her side ; for besides her countenance, and color of her au-
thority, which prevailed with some, she had her rents in
France, and her jewels, wherewith she both supported the
common cause and rewarded her private servants and fol-
lowers. Especially these resources served her to furnish
agents and ambassadors to plead her cause, and importune
her friends at the courts of France and England, who were
helped by the banished lords, Dacres and Westmoreland, to
stir up foreign princes all they could. Thus was that party
now grown great, so that it might seem both safe and most
advantageous to follow it. The other was almost abandoned.
There were but three earls that took part with Morton at first
— Lennox, Mar, and Glencairn ; neither were these compara-
ble to any of the foremost four. In Fife there was the Lord
Lindsay, and Glammis in Angus — no very powerful men, and
no ways equal to Crawford and Rothes. The Lord Semple
was but a simple one in respect of Cassilis, Maxwell, Lochin-
var, and others ; Methven in Strathern, a very mean lord ;
Ochiltree among the meanest that bare the title of a lord ;
and yet Cathcart was meaner than he, both in men and
means. Neither was Ruthven so great but that Tulliebar-
dine and Oliphant were able to overmatch him. They had
no castles but Stirling and Tantallon, which belonged to
Morton. The commons, indeed, were very forwardly set that
way; but how uncertain and unsure a prop is the vulgar?
England did befriend them sometimes, but not so fully as
they needed, and even so far as did concern their own
safety." *
1 Hume of Godscroft's History of Douglas, Edinburgh, 1743, vol. II4,
199.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 101
In this view of parties, the historian, desirous to rate the
strength of the king's faction as low as possible, in order
the more to exalt the talents and worth of those who gained
the superiority against such odds, considerably undervalues
the assistance afforded to the king's lords by the burghs and
commons. Nor does he give due weight to the countenance
of England, which ministered to the assistance of the regent
by effectual supplies of troops and money ; whereas the courts
of France and Spain and other Catholic powers supported
Queen Mary by little more than splendid promises. Never-
theless, Godscroft justly says that the factions were so bal-
anced as to make success dubious and the bloodshed and
strife great and universal. The whole inland country was
agitated through every province by the contests of king's
men and queen's men; and, to use an expression of the
period, in the wild borders and savage Highlands, the Clan
Gregor and the Clan Chattan in the north, Buccleuch and
Farniherst in the south, were bounded out to ravage the
neighboring country with the full fury of predatory war.
Amid this scene of slaughter and confusion, a military
movement, contrived by the talent of Grainge, had nearly
brought the war to an unexpected termination. A body of
five hundred men were privately assembled at Edinburgh,
under the command of the Earl of Huntley, Lord Claud
Hamilton, younger son of the Duke of Chatelherault, and
Scott of Buccleuch. They made a night march to Stirling,
occupied the town without opposition, and breaking into the
lodgings of the principal lords of the king's faction, as well
as the regent himself, made them prisoners, and were about
to conduct them to Edinburgh. The obstinacy of Morton,
who defended his house till it was set on fire, and the rapac-
ity and want of discipline of the soldiers, who broke their
ranks for the purpose of plunder, gave the king's party an
opportunity of rallying. The garrison marched out of the
castle, and fired upon the invaders from some half-built
houses which still stand in the same unfinished state across
the top of the main street : the inhabitants of Stirling imme-
102 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
diately joined in the attack, and the assailants, taken by
surprise in their turn, began to fly. In the scuffle, a man,
by command it is said of Lord Claud Hamilton, shot the
Regent Lennox with a carabine, in revenge of the death of
the archbishop of St. Andrew's. The queen's party fled,
nor could the others pursue them, the border men, followers
of Buccleuch, having carried off all the horses they could
find in Stirling. Morton, who had previously surrendered
to Buccleuch, now took his captor, who was related to him,
under his protection as his prisoner, and dismissed him unin-
jured. If Grainge himself had led the assailants on this oc-
casion, the enterprise, so successful in the commencement,
might probably have terminated in the entire ruin of the
king's party.
As it was, the loss of the Regent Lennox was a disad-
vantage which the king's nobles hastened to repair, by plac-
ing in the vacant situation John, earl of Mar. Just, mod-
erate, and patriotic, this estimable nobleman endeavored
to establish peace between the contending parties in the
State ; and it is said the deep regret which he felt at being
impeded by Morton, and others of his own party, in the
work of reconciliation, brought on the disease of which he
died, 29th October, 1572.
The Earl of Mar's successor in the regency was the old
friend of the Regent Murray, James, earl of Morton; and
no election could have been made more dangerous to those
who followed the cause of Mary. Morton possessed all
Murray's faults in an exaggerated degree, many of his
talents, but few or none of his virtues. He was ambitious,
but his ambition was of that sordid kind that is sullied by
avarice; and he was willing to stoop yet lower to win the
favor of Elizabeth than Murray himself would have bowed.
As a judge, he was accessible to bribery; as a soldier, he
was a stranger to mercy; and it was from his name that
those skirmishes, in which prisoners were regularly executed
on both sides, were called the Douglas wars. If we compare
the two regents in other respects, the religion of Murray
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 103
seems to have been sincere, while Morton's pretension to it
was that of a hypocritical profligate. As a partisan, Morton
was so deeply implicated in the dark secrets of Queen Mary's
reign that he must have regarded her return to the throne as
an era to be followed by his own total ruin. It was his in-
terest to prevent this, by a complete and abject dependence
on Queen Elizabeth. In his personal deportment he dis-
played many of the qualities of the great House of Douglas,
from which he was descended, being brave, proud, politic,
and haughty; generally feared, and little loved, through a
long and despotic administration.
While Morton held the ostensible government of Scot-
land, he steered his course almost entirely by the sugges-
tions of the queen of England ; and that princess was now
more than ever desirous that the affairs of Scotland should
either continue in an embroiled state, or remain under the
management of a statesman who was sure to govern them
in all respects according to her interests, and diametrically
opposite to those of Queen Mary, to whom she was more
hostile than ever.
The causes for Elizabeth's additional resentment against
her unfortunate prisoner arose out of circumstances which
were the natural consequences of the injustice which had
made her captive. Anxious to obtain the liberty of which
she was unjustly deprived, Mary naturally turned her eyes
to the princes of her own faith for support. France, divided
by civil and religious quarrels, no longer listened to her
complaints with interest; but Philip II. of Spain willingly
agreed to send troops and money to invade England, assist
the distressed English Catholics, and avow the quarrel of
Queen Mary. His agent Ridolphi found a vigorous second
in the bishop of Ross, the able defender of Queen Maiy, and
was listened to, at least, by the Duke of Norfolk.
This last nobleman had been just released from prison,
upon pledging his solemn word never to renew his project
of marriage with Queen Mary. But on obtaining his free-
dom he immediately resumed the perilous intrigues which
104 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
his imprisonment had interrupted: letters and love tokens
passed between him and the captive queen of Scotland.
The intercourse between Norfolk and Mary, thus renewed
on the duke's part, seems fatal to an argument in proof of
Queen Mary's guilt, much relied upon by Dr. Robertson
and others. The letters and proofs produced before the com-
mission must, they said, have been genuine, since Norfolk
expressed his belief in them. That he expressed something
approaching to such an opinion is unquestionable. But,
first, he had an obvious motive for deceiving Queen Eliza-
beth on the nature of his sentiments toward Mary ; secondly,
if we are to decide anything on Norfolk's opinion, it must
be upon that opinion which he finally entertained at the
period when he sought her hand; an overture which he
would hardly have resumed, if he had credited or continued
to believe in the authenticity of documents which accused
her of adultery and murder. 1 This intercourse did not long
escape the eager eyes of Elizabeth and Cecil. Norfolk was
again arrested, tried, condemned, and executed for high
treason. That Mary was the motive and mainspring of this
conspiracy was undeniable ; and Elizabeth was not generous
enough to see that it resulted entirely from her own conduct,
and the situation to which she had reduced her kinswoman.
The queen of England now threw off all mask and disguise;
and announcing to the world that Mary had held criminal
correspondence with her subjects, she declared she would
never consent to her release, and that she would lend avowed
and direct aid to maintain King James on the throne.
Possessing the regency of Scotland, Morton speedily
showed how much he was the devoted servant of England,
by delivering up to Elizabeth the banished Earl of Northum-
berland, a nobleman to whom he had been personally obliged
1 After all, the question is less whether the commissioners of Queen
Elizabeth believed, or pretended to believe, the authenticity of these
documents, as whether the documents were themselves worthy of belief
— a question which the present age is more competent to decide than
one in which the law of evidence was so ill understood.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 105
during his residence in England, and who was beheaded at
York, in 1572, for his rebellion in 1569. What rendered the
regent's treachery more infamous was his acceptance of a
reward in money for this service, which was shared between
him and his cousin, the Laird of Lochleven, in whose island
fortress Northumberland had been imprisoned. The regent's
base compliance in this respect was humiliating, as compared
with his predecessor, Murray, who, although he consented to
detain Northumberland a captive, had resisted all Queen
Elizabeth's requests for having him delivered up to her
revenge.
In the meantime Scotland bled at every vein. In the
west, Lord Claud Hamilton with infinite courage and zeal
continued to uphold the sinking cause of Queen Mary. In
the south, Buccleuch and Farniherst maintained the same
side. In the north, Sir Adam Gordon, a son of that earl of
Huntley who was killed in the battle of Corrichie, made war
in the queen's behalf with distinguished success. Grainge
defended the castle of Edinburgh with his characteristic
intrepiditj\ But notwithstanding the efforts of her adher-
ents, the queen's cause declined in Scotland in every quarter,
save Aberdeenshire. At length Huntley and the Duke of
Chatelherault consented to a treaty of peace, concluded
at Perth the 23d of February, 1573. By this treaty they
agreed to acknowledge the authority of the king and the
regent, and confessed the illegal character of all that they
had done in the name of the queen. On the other hand,
they and their followers were promised indemnity and remis-
sion of such dooms of forfeiture as had been launched against
them. The adherents of the queen in other parts of Scot-
land acceded to this capitulation; and thus the banner of
Mary sunk on all sides, save where it continued to float over
Edinburgh Castle.
The dauntless intrepidity of Kirkcaldy of Grainge might
have held out that strong fortress against nil the force which
the regent could muster within Scotland, ill supplied as it
was with the means and skill necessary to carry on sieges.
IOC HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
But, in conformity with her proclamation, Elizabeth sent
Sir William Drury with a formidable train of artillery to
assist in reducing the castle. Kirkcaldy held out with firm-
ness worthy of his high military reputation, till his walls
were breached and shattered, his provisions expended, the
well choked with ruins and inaccessible, and the artillery
silenced. At the last extremity he surrendered the place
to Sir William Drury, on a general promise of favorable
terms. In this the English general had undertaken for
more than he could make good. By Elizabeth's orders Sir
William Drury saw himself obliged to surrender, his pris-
oners to the vindictive regent. Morton caused the gallant
Kirkcaldy and his brother to be executed at the cross of
Edinburgh ; and Lethington, so long the sharer of his coun-
sels, would have experienced as little mercy had not he taken
poison- and died, according to the expression of a contempo-
rar} r , a Roman death.
With the melancholy fate of Kirkcaldy, one of the bold-
est and most generous warriors, and Maitland, perhaps the
most subtle and accomplished politician in Europe, we may
conclude the history of Queen Mary's reign, since from that
period no subject acknowledged her as sovereign.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 10?
CHAPTER XXXI
Oppressive Regency of Morton — He sets the Example of the Tulchan
Bishops, and thereby offends the Church — Tyrannizes over the
Nobility — Disobliges the young - King — Battle of Reedsquair —
The King desires to assume the Government — Morton offers no
Opposition, but resigns the Regency, receiving in return an Act
of Indemnity — He surrenders the Castle of Edinbui'gh — Retires
to Dalkeith, and builds a Castle at Droich-holes in Tweedale —
Meditates, however, the Resumption of his Power — Instigates
the Earl of Mar to take Stirling Castle from his Uncle, and thus
acquires Possession of the King's Person and the supreme Place
in the Privy Council — Argvle and Athole levy Forces against
Morton, but an Accommodation is agreed upon — Two Favorites
arise at Court — The Character of the Duke of Lennox — That of
Stewart, afterward Earl of Arran — Morton's invidious Perse-
cution of the Hamiltons — Morton is impeached by Stewart —
Tried, condemned, and executed
THE kingdom of Scotland, exhausted both in property
and population, might have enjoyed a state of repose
similar to the stupefaction of an exhausted patient,
had it not been disturbed by the arbitrary and oppressive
actions of the regent. Though affecting zeal for the Protes-
tant doctrines, he disobliged the Church of Scotland by a
device which he had invented to secure in the hands of the
secular nobility the lands and revenues of the Catholic
clergy. For this purpose he nominated to the archbishopric
of St. Andrew's a poor clergyman named Douglas, taking
his obligation to rest satisfied with a very small annuity out
of the revenues of the see, and to account for the residue
to his patron, the regent himself. This class of bishops, in-
stituted for the purpose of cloaking some powerful lay lord
in the enjoyment of the emoluments of the see, was face-
10S HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
tiously called Tulckan 1 prelates; and both the clergy and
their hearers execrated Morton's avarice, which had intro-
duced the simoniacal practice.
The nobility were no less irritated against the regent and
his authority. The Earls of Argyle and Athole having quar-
relled with each other, and arming on both sides, the regent,
by a ver3 T judicious exercise of the royal power, compelled
them to disband their forces. But while Morton meditated
how he might render their discord profitable to himself, by
bringing a charge of treason against two such powerful
potentates, they discovered his purpose, and, reconciled by
mutual danger, united their interest against the regent and
his power. In short, Morton, confident in the support of
Queen Elizabeth, became careless of maintaining favor with
the youthful king, or popularity with the Scottish nation;
and he had not held the regency for five years when a
scheme was laid to deprive him of it. A chance rendered
doubtful his receiving aid even from England.
The long slumbering spirit of hostility between the king-
doms broke out during his regenc} 7- with an explosion so sud-
den that it had wellnigh cost Morton, the most devoted of
Elizabeth's partisans, the forfeiture of her protection. On
the 3d of May, 1575, a march meeting for the redress of
mutual grievances was held between Sir John Foster,
warden of the west marches of England, a particular fa-
vorite of Elizabeth, and Sir John Carmichael, an esteemed
follower of the Regent Morton, whom he had named keeper
of the middle marches of Scotland. The wardens, each sup-
ported by the most warlike clans of their districts, met at
a place called the Reedsquair, on the frontier between the
kingdoms, and near the source of the water of Reed. The
persons against whom the English had made complaints
had been delivered up according to custom ; but when the
1 "When a cow had lost her calf it was customary to flay the calf
and stuff its skin with straw, that, being placed before the mother, it
might induce her to part freely with her milk. This was called a Tul-
chan, and its resemblance to the stipendiary bishops introduced by
Morton is sufficiently evident.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 109
same justice was demanded on the Scottish part, there was
an individual malefactor missing. Carmichael demanded
delivery of the man with some warmth. Foster answered
haughtily, and bid him match himself with his equals. This
spark was enough to produce a blaze in an atmosphere so
inflammable. The men of Tynedale, the fiercest of the En-
glish borderers, shot off a volley of arrows among the Scot-
tish, who, surprised and greatly inferior in numbers, began
to retreat. At this moment the array of the citizens of Jed-
burgh was discovered advancing to the place of conflict:
the ranks of the Scots were restored; and the parties joined
battle with the slogan, or war-cry, of "To it, Tynedale!"
answered by that of " Jeddart's here!" The English arrows
were requited by a volley of bullets, the Scots being superior
in firearms. The fortune of the day was effectually turned :
the English retired, rallied, and finally fled, leaving their
leader, Sir John Foster, with Sir Cuthbert Collingwood, and
other gentlemen of distinction, prisoners. Sir George Heron
of Chipchase, with several other Englishmen, were slain.
The prisoners were sent to the regent at his castle of
Dalkeith. Morton immediately set himself to anticipate the
consequences of Elizabeth's resentment. He loaded the En-
glish captives with attention and kindness, and dismissed
them with honor and without ransom. Gifts, too, were also
bestowed, to assuage their angry feelings; but as Scottish
falcons were among the presents bestowed on them, a fa-
cetious Scottish borderer could not help asking them the
insulting question, whether they did hold themselves kindly
treated since they got live haivks for dead Herons?
Elizabeth was incensed, but saw the right was with the
Scottish ; and was besides aware that it was not her interest
to break terms with her friend and faithful vassal, the re-
gent. Sir John Carmichael was despatched to England,
to make his own defence, where he was honorably received
and safely dismissed. This skirmish was the last of any
note between the nations of England and Scotland.
Meantime the intrigues against Morton, at the Scottish
110 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
court, continued to proceed. James VI., now twelve years
of age, March 4, 1578, was easily inspired with the idea
that he was fit to take the sceptre into his own custody;
and, encouraged by the suggestions of those around him,
resolved to summon a general council of his nobles to put
an end, by their sanction, to Morton's regency. The nobil-
ity attended the king's summons with such readiness as to
show they were both numerous and powerful enough to sec-
ond the wishes of the sovereign. Morton, surprised at the
explosion of this confederacy, made far less resistance to it
than could have been expected either from a statesman of his
experience or from a warrior of his talents and resources.
It seems that he thought it most prudent to give way to the
first impulse of his enemies; and keeping upon his guard,
and attending to the safety of his person, was determined to
wait until opportunity should offer of recovering his power
by some revolution as secret and sudden as that which had
deprived him of it.
With this view, he retired into the castle of Lochleven,
choosing that strength for his safety which had lately been
the prison of Queen Mary : here he was visited by his own
allies of the Douglas family and others who had remained
attached to his government. In the meantime the king
summoned a parliament, or rather a council of his nobles,
to which those who were opposed in politics to Morton, with
an equally great number who conceived they had reason to
complain of his personal severity or injustice to them, re-
sorted, in hopes of redress or revenge. On this assembly
many of Morton's friends also gave attendance, and, in
appearance at least, deserted the sinking cause of their old
leader.
The young king's government being thus apparently
strong, he caused it to be intimated to Morton that it was
his purpose to deprive him of his regency, and call him to
account for his conduct while he held the office. Intimi-
dated by these threatened measures of severity, Morton car-
ried his submission to this new party in the State further
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 111
perhaps than he had himself originally intended. On March
12, 1578, he went to Dalkeith, and thence to Edinburgh, in
company with the Lord Glammis, the new chancellor, and
Lord Herries, the peers by whom the king had intimated
his unfavorable intentions ; and rendered himself a personal
witness of the proclamation of the king's acceptance of the
government into his own hands. Morton conducted himself,
apparently, in the most dutiful manner: perceiving, as he
said, "that wisdom and goodness which did perpetually in-
crease in the king, and fully supplied the defect of years,"
he voluntarily resigned to him his full power and authority
as regent. By this submissive conduct the earl obtained
one advantage which he probably considered as of great
consequence. An act of indemnity was passed in his favor,
which, in the fullest and most ample form, pardoned the
Earl of Morton whatever acts of illegal violence he had
committed in the exercise of his authority, and ratified in
the king's name his whole conduct as regent. No precau-
tion was omitted which could render this act of indemnity
so ample and explicit as hereafter to afford the late regent
an effectual protection against any future accusation founded
upon delicts committed during his government or in ascend-
ing to it. Nevertheless, we shall find that the intended se-
curitj- was not fully obtained.
The castle of Edinburgh was still in the hands of the
regent, who was well inclined to have kept that fortress
under his own power, and would willingly have had the
king take up his lodgings within its ramparts. As this,
however, would have been voluntarily to continue under
the tutelage of the Earl of Morton, James would not give
ear to the proposal unless the castle should be surrendered
to such keeper as he should himself appoint; and Morton
found it necessary, after some show of defence, to yield up
that key of the metropolis to the lawful, sovereign.
The late regent, thus reduced to the state of a private
nobleman, took up his residence at his strong castle of Dal-
keith, within about six miles of Edinburgh; where he ap-
112 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
parently busied himself with his private affairs, and the
management of his extensive estates. About this time, too,
he constructed amid the mountains of Tweedale a house
of strength or of retreat, called Droich-holes. It is a large
and massive building, strongly situated, and so fortified that
the regent might have defended it with safety, in case of
emergency, until he should receive relief from his friends in
England; he did not, however, live to complete this edifice,
of which the frowning ruins still remain, the singular relics
of a castle which was never completed or inhabited.
The general opinion of the mode in which the late regent
passed his time was expressed by the name of The Lion's
Den, which the common people bestowed upon the castle of
Dalkeith. The lords who had succeeded to the management
of the State entertained the same terror of Morton's secret in-
tentions as was expressed by the common people in the name
which they gave to his habitation : all expected the moment
when the old lion should again burst from his retirement
and make the kingdom tremble at his roar.
Accordingly it appears that Morton secretly engaged a
part of the family of Mar and their dependents to resume
forcible possession of the king's person. This was to be
accomplished in an enterprise which Morton so conducted
that it opened the way to the restoration of his own power,
although at first it had the appearance only of a feud be-
tween the young earl and his uncle, Alexander Erskine.
The Countess of Mar and the young earl had seen with
impatience Alexander, called the Master of Mar, act as
governor of the castle and guardian of the king's person,
and they were easily instigated to an attempt to deprive
their relative of the power of exercising those honorable
offices which belonged to the nephew by hereditary right.
Their suspicions were grossly unjust ; for there is no reason
to believe that Alexander Erskine was moved by other than
the fairest motives in acting in behalf of his nephew, a youth
who was not twenty. They found ready acceptance, how-
ever, with an ambitious woman and a petulant youth. But
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 113
Morton, it has been supposed, persuaded the Earl of Mar to
seize upon Stirling, that he himself might find the opportu-
nity once more to obtain possession of the king's person.
He proposed to remove James, it was said, from Stirling to
his own family stronghold of Lochleven Castle, the jail suc-
cessively of the dethroned Mary and the betrayed North-
umberland, where Morton might hope to detain the king's
person in honorable captivity until he should attain to per-
fect age, or for as much longer a space as he himself should
be disposed to rule in his name. In this plot Morton engaged
the Earl of Mar and his mother; and so far as the seizure of
Stirling Castle the enterprise succeeded with perfect ease.
The uncle had no suspicion of his nephew or sister-in-law,
who found, therefore, little difficulty in gaining possession
of a fortress garrisoned by their own followers, who yielded
ready obedience to their young lord and his mother. Thus
the insurgents, or rather Morton, by whose counsel they
acted, made themselves again masters of the king's person,
expelling from the fortress the Earl of Argyle, Alexander
Erskine, called the Master of Mar, and others who had been
active in the measures against Morton. And thus this wily
politician, having resumed his seat in the privy council, soon
obtained the complete ascendency in that body, and was
again placed at the head of affairs in Scotland.
But the Earl of Morton's power was too generally dreaded
to enable him with ease to re-establish the fabric which had
been already so sorely shaken. He felt that the parliament
which had been summoned would not be satisfied without
the king's presence, and that any attempt to remove James's
person to the lake-surrounded tower of Lochleven must nec-
essarily be regarded as an act of open rebellion. On the
other hand, to trust James in the metropolis, where Morton
was conscious of his own unpopularity, was to give the king
an opportunity, supported as he was sure to be by the citi-
zens, to throw off his yoke and destroy his authority forever.
The Earl of Morton endeavored to compromise these dif-
ficulties by a proclamation changing the place of convening
114 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the parliament from Edinburgh to Stirling, where th.0 pos-
session of the castle gave him the means of detaining the
king within Lis power. Athole, Argyle, and the other ene-
mies of Morton, arose in arms against this proposal. "The
king," they said, "was once more the prisoner of a Douglas,
who meant to seclude him from the rest of the nobility, and
detain him in captivity, while he ruled under his name."
They speedily raised about four thousand men, at the
head of whom they asserted that they meant to fight for
the liberty of the sovereign. The king, like his grandfather
James V. in tho same circumstances, was obliged to lend his
name to proclamations, and troops marched, as if by his au-
thority, against the noblemen to whom in his heart he wished
success, and whose insurrection he considered as good service.
The Earl of Angus, Morton's nephew, advanced against Ar-
gyle and Athole, at the head of forces equal to their own. A
bloody battle and the renewal of the civil wars seemed to be
impending.
Both parties were, however, unwilling to plunge once
more into the state of civil confusion, war, and bloodshed,
from which the country had so lately emerged. They made
an agreement upon the field of expected battle, by which the
enterprise of Argyle and Athole was acknowledged as good
service : the earls were themselves received into the king's
presence, and some alterations were made in the privy coun-
cil, by which an accommodation of parties seemed for the
time to have taken place.
By this coalition, Morton's scheme of retaining the king
under his separate and sole guardianship was rendered alto-
gether abortive. James was, it is true, still hampered and
limited by the influence of Morton in his councils; but after
this union of parties the earl was no longer possessed of his
former despotic authority.
The king himself had tasted the sweets of independence,
and longed to regain it. If he himself had been indifferent
upon so interesting a subject, there were two persons who
shared his secret thoughts, upon whom he had conferred a
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 115
species of unlimited confidence, and who, for the preserva-
tion of their own power and court interest, lost no opportu-
nity to animate his displeasure against the veteran statesman
who had twice reduced his sovereign to a species of nullity.
These were men of very different talents and character, agree-
ing only in their apparent attachment to the person of the
sovereign and their enmity to the Earl of Morton.
The first of them in rank was Esme Stewart, termed the
Lord d'Aubigne. He was the son of a second brother of
Matthew, earl of Lennox, and consequently near cousin to
the king by his father, Lord Darnley. Lord Esme was a
graceful, well-accomplished gentleman, and had been edu-
cated in France, where he professed the Catholic religion,
which, however, when he came to Scotland, he exchanged
for the Protestant faith. Notwithstanding his conversion
he had never the good fortune to obtain the belief of the
Scottish churchmen in his sincerity. They considered him
as having professed himself a Protestant rather from tem-
poral policy than religious motives, and they dreaded his
intimacy with, and influence over, the king, as likely to be
secretly employed in behalf of the court of France and the
Church of Rome. In temper the young favorite was candid,
liberal, generous and well-disposed, but he was entirely igno-
rant of Scottish affairs, and unable to decide as a statesman
in public business of any kind. This young nobleman the
king raised by hasty steps to the highest pinnacle of promo-
tion, until he became Duke of Lennox, captain of the royal
guard, first lord of James's bedchamber, and lord high cham-
berlain; offices which required his constant attendance on
the king, and invested him in a great measure with the
protection of the royal person.
The Duke of Lennox's associate in the king's favor was
a man of meaner birth and pretensions, yet by no means,
as has been surmised, of ignoble lineage: he was James
Stewart, usually called Captain Stewart, the second son of
Lord Ochiltree, a family of some distinction among the nu-
merous branches which claimed alliance with the royal house.
116 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Stewart had those talents which are generally supposed to
make way for their possessors at a court. He was ambi-
tious to the highest degree, yet capable of stooping in order
to catch an opportunity to rise : he was bold, daring, profli-
gate, and unscrupulous, and possessed the art of making his
own insinuations, however wicked and unprincipled, accept-
able to men of better minds and morals than himself; and
among such were to be reckoned the king and the Duke
of Lennox. No religious feelings of any kind shackled the
boldness of this adventurer's attempts; and he was equally
devoid of that steady sagacity and respect for general opin-
ion which often serves instead of a conscience to such poli-
ticians as are not fortunate enough to have any. It was he
who animated both the king and Lennox to the violent pro-
ceedings against Morton, and promoted other steps which
were less justifiable, either upon the score of justice or ex-
pediency.
It cannot be supposed that a statesman so sagacious as
Morton was unaware of the peril to his own power attending
the rise of these two young men, who must necessarily have
felt the existence of his authority as tending to eclipse that
of the monarch and their own. But he no longer possessed
that unlimited ascendency by which he had the power of
excluding from the king's company and intimacy any per-
son whose favor might awaken his jealousy. He was
obliged to keep measures with the monarch and with his
favorites, the rather that he knew himself obnoxious to the
courtiers in general, and especially to some of his own for-
mer friends. He was compelled, therefore, to witness the
growth of a party who he was conscious looked upon him
with jealous hatred, and loaded him with odious imputations.
A circumstance, probably casual, afforded ground in that
suspicious age for much clamor against him — this was the
death of the Earl of Athole, the chancellor, appointed to that
high office upon the slaughter of Lord Glammis, who was
slain in a fray between his domestics and those of the Earl
of Crawford. Athole's decease took place shortly after a
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 117
banquet given by Mar and Morton, chiefly to the statesmen
of the opposite faction, and was, therefore, almost of course
ascribed to poison. No inquiry was made; but the belief
that Athole had died by Morton's crime was generally en-
tertained.
It was not less unfavorable to the safety of the late regent
that he was supposed to lend himself to the aid of Elizabeth
in a species of policy of which she was believed very capa-
ble. The purpose of securing James, the heir of her king-
dom, in her own strong possession, and of governing Scot-
land by Morton, or by some other satellite of the English
interest, was regarded as a course of policy which she was
inclined to follow, and in which Morton, it was supposed,
would have been a ready instrument of her pleasure. Meas-
ures were hastily taken to secure the king against the danger
of his person being seized and sent to England by the con-
trivance of his too powerful minister, alleged to be the
willing tool of so dangerous an ally. The office of lord
high chamberlain, as the immediate guardian of the king's
person, was revived, as we have seen, in the person of the
Duke of Lennox ; that of deputy chamberlain was granted
to Alexander Erskine, the Master of Mar, and the command
of the king's guard, reinforced and carefully cleared of all
suspicious persons, was intrusted to Captain James Stewart,
all of them enemies to the Earl of Morton.
Fortified by these circumstances the cabal of Morton's
foes, for public and private reasons, became so strong that
little was wanting save a plausible point of accusation upon
which the late regent might be brought to capital trial.
The veteran statesman's own avarice and overweening
arrogance had excited new odium ever since his accommo-
dation with Argyle and Athole. The cause was as follows :
Morton's ancient hereditary enemies of the House of Hamil-
ton had begun once again to raise their heads, notwithstand-
ing the severity with which they had been treated by the
Regent Lennox, assisted by the forces of Elizabeth in the
year 1575. The Duke of Chatelherault had been several
118 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
years dead; his eldest son, the Earl of Arran, had showed
symptoms of derangement early in Queen Mary's time, and
had never since recovered from his mental disease ; but the
duke had two younger sons, John, who was in possession
of the family property, and Claud, titular abbot of Paisley.
Both, but especially the latter, had made a distinguished
figure in the support of Queen Mary's cause during the civil
wars ; and Morton, whose revenge as well as avarice were
insatiable, directed the most vindictive measures. Specious
pretexts were found in their accession, which was more than
suspected, to the murder of Regent Murray, who was shot
by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, one of their kinsmen, and
to that of Lennox at the raid of Stirling, where Lord Claud
himself had been present, and which was said to be done by
his express command. The deeds were no doubt culpable
in proportion to the dignity of the high persons that were
slain. Yet if such facts, occurring in the heat of so bloody
a civil war, were allowed as fair subjects of prosecution after
arms had been laid down on mutual agreement, it was clear
that the wounds of internal discord could never have been
stanched. Morton, however, having determined to avenge
himself upon the devoted Hamiltons, proceeded against them
as outlawed traitors, ravaging their estates, which he after-
ward caused to be formally confiscated by parliament. The
Lords John and Claud Hamilton escaped to England; and
the alleged crime, of which they had neither been tried nor
found guilty, was, with equal injustice and cruelty, visited
upon their insane brother, the Earl of Arran, who had been
all along in confinement, and had no accession to their guilt,
even if in his disturbed state of mind he could have been
made legally responsible for his actions. Doom of forfeiture
was, nevertheless, pronounced against him; and this irregu-
lar and rapacious proceeding stirred up new enemies against
Morton, who had already upon his hands a faction much
stronger than he was able to contend with. All these lay
waiting for a day of vindictive retaliation, which failed not
at length to arrive.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 119
We have said that Morton was covered, as if with a coat
of mail, by the act of parliament which ratified the acts of
his regency, and authenticated and pardoned all such
breaches of law as he might have committed in the course
of his government. But the ingenious hatred of Captain
James Stewart discovered a flaw in this panoply. That
Morton was in some degree associated with Bothwell in the
murder of Henry Darnley had always been alleged; and it
was positively given in evidence by those subaltern agents
of Bothwell who died for the crime that Archibald Doug-
las, titular parson of Glasgow, the earl's relative and con-
fidant, and a busy agent in many of the dark and bloody
transactions of the time, was present at the guilty act.
This was averred, with the addition of a precise circum-
stance, that Douglas, in his hurry to effect his escape, had
left one of his slippers behind him. From this had been
deduced as a consequence that Archibald's friend, relative,
and patron, Morton, must have been a member of the con-
spiracy, the more especially as he continued to favor and
protect his kinsman Douglas. Now the act of ratification
and indemnity in favor of the Earl of Morton, while it con-
tained the most copious remission of almost every other spe-
cies of state crime, could not with decency have included a
pardon, on the part of James, for the murder of his own
father, and on this point, therefore, the late regent remained
open to accusation and trial.
So very execrable were the politics of that time that even
the process instituted by a son for obtaining the punishment
of his father's murderer was conducted in a manner which
allied it to the vulgar proverb— that it was a staff discovered
for the express purpose of beating a dog, or in plain English,
that the charge was insisted upon not out of regard for
Darnley 's memory, or the lawful and natural desire of pun-
ishing his violent and cruel murder, but for the purpose of
depriving the hated Earl of Morton of his estate, honors,
and life.
The ready agent in this tragedy was Captain James
120 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Stewart, a man whom we have already described as being
equally bold, profligate, and unconscientious. "When the
king was seated in full council he appeared before them,
and, falling upon his knees, impeached the Earl of Morton
as being art and part of (that is, accessory to) the murder
of the late king, Henry Darnley, and offered to make good
the charge, under the usual penalties if he should fail in his
proof. Morton, with a disdainful smile, referred to the ser-
vices which he had done the crown, and the severity with
which he had prosecuted the murderers of Darnley, and
offered to stand to his defence on that charge in any com-
petent court. Stewart was about to reply, when the king
imposed silence on both, and commanded Morton to be put
into custody until an opportunity of trial should be given in
due and lawful form. At the same time he directed a war-
rant to be issued for the apprehension of Archibald Douglas,
who fled into England, and thus escaped prosecution.
The Earl of Angus, Morton's nephew, seeing the violent
course which was pursued against his uncle, offered to raise
the forces of his family, and make a desperate attempt for
his rescue. Morton, however, proudly forbade all armed
interference, saying, he would perish a thousand times ra-
ther than it should be supposed he was unwilling to face a
fair trial.
Elizabeth, also, who foresaw the loss she must sustain
in a Scottish minister so accommodating and deferential to
her will as the Earl of Morton, sent a threatening message
to the king, by an ambassador of the name of Randolph.
She remonstrated against the favor conferred upon young
Lennox, desiring that he might be expelled from Scotland
as an enemy to both countries. She demanded that Morton,
Angus, and their followers, should be restored to honor and
favor, and adopted, on the whole, a menacing tone of lan-
guage, which she supported by a display of troops at Ber-
wick and Northumberland, under the command of the Earl
of Huntingdon and Lord Hunsdon.
These menaces were ill qualified to serve their purpose :
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 121
they awakened the indignation of James, and roused the
spirit of the Scottish nation. The king instantly assembled
forces in his turn, and sent a messenger demanding to know
explicitly whether the queen of England desired to have
peace or war. Elizabeth, long accustomed to dictate in
Scottish affairs, and to be obeyed without remonstrance,
was not prepared for so spirited and independent an an-
swer : she withdrew her troops from the frontiers, and left
Morton to the fate which her interference had probably
accelerated.
The earl was brought to trial, under circumstances in-
dicating an unusual contempt of the established forms of
justice. During the proceedings against him, his accuser,
James Stewart, by an act of royal favor, which seemed to
prejudge the question between them, was advanced to the
honor and estates of the Earl of Arran. There was some-
thing very iniquitous in the manner by which he attained
this dignity. The spoils in which the minion of James VI.
thus dressed himself were the property and title of that un-
fortunate Earl of Arran, the custody of whom had been
granted to the same James Stewart, with the burden of
maintaining the insane earl out of his own estate ; a burden
which he had discharged in a manner scandalously parsi-
monious. By the oppressive proceedings of Morton himself
against the whole family of Hamilton lately narrated, which
extended as well against the lunatic earl as his brothers John
and Claud, this earldom of Arran had become forfeited to
the crown, although its possessor, even if he had been guilty
of a crime, of which there was no proof attempted, could
tot in his state of mind have been a proper subject of pun-
ishment. And now, his title and fortune, of which he had
been deprived by one rapacious minister, became the prey
of another equally unjust and profligate.
It is remarked by historians that Morton, with the credu-
lity of that age, had an anxious recollection of an ancient
prophecy, which declared "that the bloody heart should fall
by the mouth of Arran." This the regent interpreted to
Scotland. Vol. II.— 6
122 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
mean the downfall of the Douglases, designed, as was usual
in such vaticinations, by their well-known cognizance, and
that by means of an Earl of Arran. This, it is said, was
the reason for his pressing the unfortunate family of Ham-
ilton, who were the legitimate proprietors of that title, almost
to their total destruction. "When, therefore, he heard that
the earldom of Arran was conferred upon his accuser, Stew-
art, he replied, with a surprised and desponding expression,
"Is it even so? Then I know what I must expect."
When Morton was brought to his trial at Edinburgh,
large bodies of men were drawn up in different parts of the
city to overawe the friends of the accused. The records of
the trial are lost, but there is evidence that the assize con-
sisted in many instances of the earl's personal enemies ; and
that, although he challenged them on that score, his remon-
strances were not attended to. His servants were also put
to the torture in no common manner; for Arran thought it
necessary, after the earl's execution, to sue out an immunity
for the violence to which they had been subjected.
When Morton heard the indictment read he did not show
surprise or emotion ; but when the verdict of the jury brought
him in guilty of concealing, or being art and part in the
murder of Henry Darnley, he repeated, with considerable
vehemence, ' ' Art and part ! art and part ! God knows it is
not so."
In his conferences with the clergy he more fully explained
what he meant by this exclamation. He confessed to them
that upon his (Morton's) return from England after his exile,
for accession to Rizzio's death, the Earl of Both well had pro-
posed to him, both personally and through the medium of
his kinsman Archibald Douglas, to be concerned in the death
of Darnley, assuring him it was a deed which had the queen's
approbation. Morton stated that he had replied to this pro-
posal, "that having so lately been released from a state of
exile, he would not be implicated in such an important mat-
ter unless Bothwell would produce to him the queen's sign-
manual in warrant of the deed." — "The Earl of Bothwell,"
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 123
he said, "promised to produce him such an assurance, but
never did so, and therefore he remained a stranger to the
conspiracy; excepting that he knew generally that such an
action was meditated by Both well and others."
The condemned earl was naturally asked by his reverend
visitors why, having become privy to so horrible a conspir-
acy, he did not take measures for unfolding the plot and
preventing its execution. "To whom," replied the earl,
"should I have made the discovery? If to the queen, she
was herself at the bottom of the deadly plot; if to Lething-
ton, or other statesmen of the time, they were accomplices
to the execution ; if to Darnley, he was a creature of so weak
and fickle a temper that he would have communicated it to
his wife, and in any case I should have been inevitably
ruined." Thus far the apology seems reasonable, though
it gives us a horrible idea of the court and councils of Scot-
land at the time.
But Morton had less to answer when his ghostly assist-
ants demanded of him why he continued to show friendship
and favor to Archibald Douglas, who had acted on this
occasion as the confidant of Bothwell, and was generally
averred to have been personally present at the murder, and
whom, notwithstanding, he created a judge of the court
of session? Nor was any satisfactory reply, which could be
consistent with Morton's pretended abhorrence of the trag-
edy of the Kirk of Field, ever returned to this question.
Sentence of death immediately followed upon the Earl
of Morton's being found guilty. He slept soundly on the
night previous to his execution, and went through the ser-
vices of religion with apparent devotion. On the morning,
having received intimation that all things were ready for the
execution, "I praise God," said he, "I am ready likewise."
As the fallen statesman who had once been so pre-emi-
nent was conducted to the cross of Edinbugh, which was the
place of execution, the mendicants craved alms of him; and
he was compelled to borrow the sum of twenty shillings Scots
to obtain the means of bestowing it, so low were reduced
124 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
those hoards of wealth, the amassing of which had been one
of the principal causes of this great noble's catastrophe. He
met his death with the same determined courage that he had
often displayed in battle ; and it was remarked with interest
by the common people that he suffered decapitation by a
rude guillotine of the period which he himself during his
administration had introduced into Scotland from Halifax:
it was called The Maiden.
It was never known in what way Morton's treasure had
been disposed of : some traditions report it to be still in exist-
ence concealed among the vaults of the castle of Dalkeith;
but a more probable rumor states it to have been delivered
over to his nephew Angus, and by him expended in the sup-
port of those who, after the Raid of Ruthven, shared his exile
in England. To this the earl is supposed to have alluded,
June 2, 1581, when, paying out a final sum of money for the
behoof of those distressed persons, he observed, "It was all
gone at last; and that, considering by what means it had
been amassed, he had never expected to see it produce so
much good."
The character of Morton shows dark even among the
gloomy portraits of the period. When we have said that he
was undauntedly brave and acutely sagacious, almost all his
great qualities are set forth. His ambition could hardly
be gratified with power, nor his avarice with money; and
he united a degree of selfish profligacy with great preten-
sions to religious zeal. Yet his death was so conducted as
to resemble a judicial murder; and the ministers who suc-
ceeded to James's favor made Morton's sway regretted,
since, with all his looseness of principle, they wanted his
good sense and political talent.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 125
CHAPTER XXXII
Character of James — Greatly influenced by personal Timidity — His
Irresolution — His high Opinion of Royal Prerogative — Con-
trolled by the Opinions of his Subjects, and the Nature of his
Right to the Crown — Saved from many Dangers by his Flexi-
bility of Temper — His Attachment to Favorites — He throws
the Government into the Hands of Lennox and Arran — Infa-
mous Character of the latter — His profligate Marriage and
general Unpopularity — He misleads Lennox, and seeks to un-
dermine his Influence — A Conspiracy to reform the State — The
Earl of Gowrie is induced to join it— His Character — The King
is seized at the Raid of Ruthven, and detained a Prisoner —
He dissembles with Gowrie and his Associates — Arran is made
Prisoner — Lennox is banished, and dies in France — The King
ostensibly ratifies the Raid of Ruthven, which is approved of
also by the General Assembly of the Church — Meantime James
entertains deep Discontent for the Restraint inflicted on him —
He lets Elizabeth know his real Sentiments — The Lords permit
him more personal Liberty — He escapes to St. Andrew's — The
Lords concerned in the Raid of Ruthven are overpowered at
Court — James rules at first with Moderation, but Arran re-
covers his Influence, and impels the King to vindictive Meas-
ures — Queen Elizabeth expostulates with James without Effect
— Walsingham visits the Scottish Court, and forms a high Opin-
ion of the King — The Scottish Clergy interfere on behalf of the
Lords connected with the Ruthven Conspiracy — These Lords
take Arms — Gowrie is taken at Dundee — Angus and Mar take
Stirling, which is promptly retaken — Gowrie tried and executed
— Violence of Arran — Now uncontrolled Minister
THE death of the Earl of Morton restored the king in
the full sense of the word to the management of his
own affairs, in which it was his pleasure to use almost
exclusively the advice and ministry of the Duke of Lennox
and James Stewart, the new Earl of Arran. It is, therefore,
now a proper time to make some observations upon the char-
acter of James VI., who, though in genius and disposition
126 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
inferior to many of his long line of ancestors, was destined,
by uniting in his person the crowns of England and Scotland,
to attain a pitch of power which none of them before his
mother's accession could have been entitled even to dream of.
It happens, in general, at least among civilized people,
that accidents connected with the corporeal and outward
frame alone seldom produce much influence upon the mind :
nothing can be more common than to see a vigorous mind
in a feeble frame, and a gallant resolution ill seconded by a
puny person. In the case of James VI., however, this was
extremely different ; for a considerable part of that prince's
habits and tone of thought and feeling may be traced to the
consequences of the brutal assault upon Rizzio, committed
in his mother's presence two months ere yet he beheld the
light. A weakness in his limbs, which he never entirely re-
covered, gave him a singular, odd, ungainly, and circuitous
mode of walking, diametrically opposite to that which we
connect with the movements of majesty. The same shock-
ing scene, probably, gave rise to a nervous timidity, by
which James was affected to a ludicrous degree. It was
remarked of him, that different not only from the disposi-
tion of his fathers, but from that of his mother Mary, who
could look with an unshrinking eye upon all the array of
war, James wanted the most ordinary personal courage, a
virtue, and one is sometimes tempted to suppose the only
one, of that age. The king could never behold a naked
sword without shrinking, and he turned away his head
even from that very pacific weapon which he was obliged
to draw for the purpose of bestowing the accolade on a
knight dubbed with unhacked rapier and from carpet-con-
sideration. The same species of timidity ran through his
whole mind and actions, like an extensive flaw in a rich
piece of tapestry, defacing and rendering of little value that
which would have otherwise been rare and precious. Thus,
while nature had given him a sound and ready judgment,
and a wit which was sometimes even brilliant, she withheld
from him that accurate knowledge of propriety which is
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 127
manifested in applying to its proper plaoe, or using in its
fit time, either what is serious or what is humorous, without
which tact or sense of propriety wisdom sinks into a vender
of proverbs, and wit into a mere buffoon. To remedy, if
possible, these natural defects, James's education had been
seduluously cared for; his tutor, George Buchanan, being
not only one of the best scholars of the age, but capable of
rivalling the purest classics in the composition of their own
beautiful language. In this art he accomplished his pupil
James, just up to that point where strength and vigor of
thought is demanded to give animation to language, but
unfortunately he could conduct the royal student no further.
The ordinary subtleties of scholastic teaming were easily
comprehended by a mind which delighted in ingenious tri-
fling; but a timorous disposition cannot form ideas of dig-
nity and resolution, nor, of course, can a timorous mind
frame, or a hesitating tongue give utterance to, a daring
conclusion.
Yet it must be owned there were periods of James's life
in which awakened pride and natural talent assumed the
appearance of firmness and presence of mind, authorizing
us, perhaps, to suppose that his want of courage arose from
the defects of his nerves, which upon great occasions might
be supplied by the energies of his mind, rather than from
actual cowardice ; which intellectual failing must always be
most predominant when the danger is greatest.
In his ideas of government it naturally followed that
James was influenced by his own situation; by his con-
sciousness that his elevation to the crown had taken place
neither from affection or respect to his person, but from
the desire to obtain under the shadow of his authority an
opportunity of dethroning his mother. This consciousness
generated an apprehension, lest, through means of some
conspiracy among his subjects, he should, in his turn, be
overtaken by a fate similar to that which had banished his
mother from Scotland, and occasioned her being confined as
a prisoner in a foreign land. His fears on this score had
128 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
been increased during the stern rule of Morton, who had,
with singular imprudence, neglected the obvious means by
which the pride and vanity of the youthful monarch might
have been reconciled to his condition, through an ostensible
show of respect and deference.
It may be added, that James, both from situation and
taste, was very much disposed to study and to acquiesce in
the numerous works at this time current in Europe, which
argued in behalf of the despotic and unimpeachable au-
thority of monarchs, as the direct delegates of Heaven, and
as accountable for the use of their power to that divine
authority alone by whom that power was conferred.
But though this species of reasoning in one point of view
led James to a conclusion which was doubtless highly agree-
able to him, yet in another, and that one of great impor-
tance, it might have been fatal to his right of immediate
possession of the crown of Scotland. In the first place, his
right had been, during his infancy, set up and maintained
by a party who had assumed the government, issued laws,
and even struck money in his name, expressing, as a fixed
principle, that the control of the sovereign lay with the sub-
jects ; and that he might be resisted by them so soon as he
ceased to use his authority for the public good. His own
right resting on such a foundation, it could not escape so
acute an observer as James that, in assuming and defending
an opposite doctrine, he ran the risk of provoking that large
and strong body of his subjects who had placed him on the
throne, together with the whole clergy of Scotland, upon
whose suffrages his right had been established, and by
whose exertions it had been maintained.
But, secondly, if James had adopted in action, as he
probably did in theory, the doctrines of arbitrary power
and unchallengeable authority, however flattering in the
abstract, he might incur not only the probability of alien-
ating the affections and loyalty of the nobles and clergy by
whom his government had been established, and by whose
internal strength, as well as their close connection with Eng-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 129
land, it had been originally supported, but the certainty of
losing the favor and support of those among his subjects
who from interest or conviction might, like himself, rely
upon hereditary right. It could not escape him that such
right was not in himself, but that the doctrine which pro-
claimed it indefeasible must pronounce that it was still
vested in the person of his unfortunate mother Mary.
Thus the theoretical pretensions of James to rule by
divine right were at absolute variance with the mode in
which he ascended, and the title by which he held the
throne; and his natural indecision of temper was aug-
mented by the difficulty of reconciling his own ideas of
the right of a king de jure to his real condition of a mon-
arch de facto. The consequence of such a collision hap-
pening in the person of a prince of an irresolute temper
necessarily produced a vacillating and indefinite species of
conduct, which led each faction in turn to suppose that the
king was of their party. And although the indecision and
inconsistency arising from this cause rendered James's con-
duct less respectable than that of a more daring and deter-
mined prince, yet it must be owned that this system of ac-
tion, cloaked by bold words, and occasionally evincing some
firmness, seemed rather the fruit of policy than timidity,
and had the effect of excluding neither party from hope of
his favor, and inducing all to abstain from violent measures
against a prince whom none could regard as their declared
enemy, though at the same time no one was entitled to con-
sider him as their exclusive head and protector. The same
uncertainty of conduct, the same good-natured pliability ,
rendered James, at a later part of his reign, disposed, as
we shall see, to cultivate the good opinion of the various
factions in England, in order to unite in his own behalf
their different votes for the succession.
Thus the first monarch of Britain may be said to have
reaped from his flexibility of temper the advantage claimed
by the versatile Earl of Pembroke, when he accounted for
his being a favorite through various mutations of Church
130 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
and State during four reigns, from Henry VIII. downward,
by confessing that he was born of the willow, not of the oak,
or, in other words, that he had been a dexterous and unblush-
ing time-server.
The same want of manly firmness in James VI. is to be
discovered in his habits of favoritism. "Wherever such at-
tachment exists, it resembles some creeping plant striving to
support itself by that firmness on the part of another which
it does not find within itself; and like such parasite plants,
also, James was not very nice in selecting the prop by help
of which he proposed to raise and sustain his own resolution.
Another quality of James's mind was gratified by this
tendency to rule by the means of favorites. Without appar-
ently any strong sense of pleasure or disposition to unlimited
indulgence in his own person, James was addicted to occupy
his time in frivolous pursuits, or consume it in the languor
of indolence. This last habit of inaction induced him to
trust the execution of the necessary but troublesome parts
of his kingly duty to favorites, who secured their master's
good opinion by an affectation of extreme regard for his
person, which the good-natured king appears never to have
suspected of being counterfeit. Encouraged by such persons
as had gained his ear, he readily adopted the belief in his
own supreme wisdom, which was echoed and re-echoed by
all around him ; and he was unbounded in his reliance upon
those who enjoyed his favor, because it never occurred to
him that he could have been mistaken in choosing proper
objects of affection and confidence, or that men so correct in
admiring his wisdom might probably be themselves rather
deficient in that attribute. "With still more culpable negli-
gence he was careless of the faults of those who had his
favor : thus he often overlooked, if he did not actually en-
courage in their persons, a tone of vice and profligacy which
did not apparently belong to his own character.
"We have already shown reasons why as a king James
was jealously attached to his privileges, yet cautious of ex-
erting his power in such a manner as to provoke resistance.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 131
In this case, perhaps, his constitutional timidity was of ad-
vantage to his subjects and himself, since it was the means
of adjourning to another generation the contention between
the prerogative of the king and those rights which began to
be claimed on behalf of the people.
We must remark, in the last place, that James's attach-
ments to his favorites, though inordinate while they con-
tinued, were in fact far from being deep-rooted; and there
is reason to think that in many cases the usurpation over
him, which his supine indolence permitted them to assume,
was in the long run felt as a slavery, which, though he
himself had not energy to throw off, he was not averse to
see destroyed by any other means; at least it is certain that
most of his favorites had become distasteful to him before
their fall.
In a word, James VI. was an example that neither high
rank, nor shrewd sense, nor ready wit, nor a deep acquaint-
ance with the learning of the age, can acquire respectability
for a man timid both by moral and physical causes, and in-
capable of acting, upon suiting occasion, with total careless-
ness to his own comforts, his own safety, or, if the case calls
for it, his own life. With these remarks on the character
of a monarch called to perform one of the most interesting
parts in British histoiy, and to close a long train of useless
and unnatural wars between the divided portions of the
island, we will close what we have to say on the subject,
and return to the prosecution of Scottish history.
Such as he was, King James now threw the government
of Scotland so exclusively into the hands of Lennox and
Arran, that the nation at large were extremely disgusted
with his conduct. Arran, in particular, had the rapacity
of Morton, without either his wisdom or his experience ; and
in private life he set decency and morality alike at defiance.
He had carried on a criminal intrigue with the wife of the
Earl of March, a woman young and handsome, but in other
respects infamously profligate. To make way for a union
between her and her lover, the countess pleaded for divorce
132 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
from her husband upon the same scandalous reason which
was afterward alleged by the Countess of Essex; and hav-
ing thus obtained her liberation from the band of matri-
mony, she conferred her hand in shameless triumph upon
her paramour Arran. This gave the highest offence to a
nation which boasted of having reformed their moral sys-
tem upon the pure lessons of the Gospel, and whose creed,
though sometimes strained to the toleration of acts of rapine
and violence in the ambitious and vindictive, was specially
adverse to the licentious excesses of a voluptuary.
For some time the two favorites who held an undivided
sway over James's affections pursued their course hand in
hand, or rather Stewart suffered the Duke of Lennox to ap-
pear the ostensible superior, and was contented to rank in
the capacity of his assistant and dependent. "When raised,
however, to the rank of nobility, and wedded to a woman
of ambition as irregular as his own, the new Earl of Arran
became impatient of the duke's precedence and superiority
in a degree which had never occurred to him when Captain
James Stewart. He endeavored, by various means, to rival
his credit with the king, and inspired the people with jeal-
ousy of his favor. Under pretence of friendship he found
little difficulty in instigating the inexperienced Duke of Len-
nox to quarrel with several of his soundest friends and best
advisers; and was thus the means of stirring up dissension
between the duke and the Master of Mar, Sir "William Stew-
art, captain of Dumbarton, Alexander Clark, provost of
Edinburgh, and, above all, the Earl of Gowrie, treasurer
of Scotland, persons of considerable influence, and all well
inclined to the Duke of Lennox till estranged from him by
the intrigues of Arran and his lady.
This was not all, nor even the worst part of the evil ren-
dered by Stewart to the young nobleman who had first raised
his influence at court. He never failed, upon every possible
opportunity, to breathe into the minds of the clergy and
people that Lennox, whatever might be now his pretences,
was still at heart a devoted servant of the Duke of Guise,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 133
a favorer of the Catholic religion, a tool of the court of
France, and a dangerous person to retain any share in the
king's affections. Now, although these insinuations, con-
sidering the quarter from which they came, might have
been more than suspected, yet as they fell upon the ears of
persons who were very much disposed to receive them as
true, the circumstance of deriving their origin from the false
and profligate Arran did not operate, as it would otherwise
have done, to deprive them of credit. Strong jealousy, there-
fore, prevailed among the envoys and partisans of England,
as also the clergy and reformed part of Scotland, all of which
parties regarded the duke, being a stranger and a converted
Catholic, as still retaining a dangerous partiality for the
country and the religion in which he had been educated.
But these suspicions excited against Lennox did not at
all raise in the public estimation the character of the Earl
of Arran, by whom they had been infused into the mind of
the people. On the contrary, whatever might be his success
in representing his rival Lennox as the friend of France and
Rome, he himself continued to be esteemed, by almost all
except the deceived king and a few dependents who hoped
to rise by his favors, a bold, bloody, and ambitious min-
ister, regardless both of law and justice, and only intent
upon amassing power and wealth by the wreck and ruin
of others.
Scotland had been long accustomed to the use of violent
remedies in state diseases, so that the apprehension of Len-
nox's partiality for France, and of Arran's general profligacy
and oppression, soon excited a party among the nobles to
remove these obnoxious favorites from the king's presence
by force itself, if force should be found necessary. The
members of this conspiracy were chiefly such nobles as had
been attached to the king's party during the civil wars, most
of whom considered the execution of Morton as a violent
precedent, tending to place the lives and fortunes of other
nobles at the discretion of the crown ; since in the course of
the late tempestuous times there were few or none who had
134 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
not been at one period or another privy to, if not aiding in,
matters which might be construed into high treason.
The principal conspirators were the Earl of Mar, the
Master of GUammis, the Lords Oliphant, Boyd, and Lindsay,
the abbot of Dunfermline, secretary of state, and others who
had been formerly allied with Morton and the English fac-
tion. They were very desirous to draw to their party the
Earl of Gowrie, a man so generally esteemed for courage
and hardihood that he was known among his intimates by
the name of Greysteel, being that of a champion in Scottish
romance, bestowed at the time upon such as were held to
excel in chivalry. But although the Earl of Gowrie was
even by direct descent connected with those who drove mat-
ters on most severely against Queen Mary, 1 he does not
appear to have been himself of a turbulent disposition, or
much disposed to enter into the conspiracy, of which he
afterward bore the chief blame, and for which he suffered
the chief punishment. An agent, named Cunningham of
Drumquhassel, was employed to persuade him that the
Duke of Lennox had an intention to slay him at their first
meeting. The belief of this false report induced the credu-
lous earl to engage himself with the lords who were associ-
ated for displacing the king's favorite ministers, or, as they
termed it, for reformation in the state. Their avowed pur-
pose was to cause both Lennox and Arran to be removed
from the king's presence by exiling the former to his native
country of France, and imprisoning the more obnoxious
minion, or putting him to death, should no less effectua?
mode of destroying his influence over the king be fallen
upon.
The time selected for executing this scheme was that
which the king had chosen to enjoy the amusement of hunt-
ing in the country of Athole, so well suited for that sport.
1 He was son of that Lord Ruthven who played the principal part
in Rizzio's murder, and who was so little affected with remorse for his
share in that tragedy, that on his death-bed he spoke with great cool-
ness of "the slaughter of David."
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 135
His favorite ministers did not attend him on this occasion.
Lennox remained at Dalkeith, and the Earl of Arran at
Kinneil, which had fallen to him as the principal mansion
of the unfortunate earl whose title and property became his
spoil. When, therefore, James returned from A thole toward
the low country, with a small train of his household ser-
vants, it was natural that Gowrie should invite him to his
castle of Ruthven, which lay in the king's road, and that
the king should accept the invitation of a great officer of the
court against whom he had no ground for apprehension.
James had no sooner arrived at Ruthven than his reasonable
suspicions were awakened by the concourse of armed men
who surrounded the castle, and the arrival of guests aug-
menting the number of those formerly assembled, all known
to belong to one faction in the state, and wearing not the
thoughtless air of persons about to engage in sylvan sports,
but the anxious and severe aspect of such as were bound
on some perilous enterprise. He took care, however, not to
let these suspicions transpire, and endeavored to act as if he
apprehended nothing.
Next morning the king appeared early, dressed and ready
to set out upon his journey; but the associated lords had no
mind to lose an opportunity which might not have again
returned. The principal persons concerned in the enterprise
entered James's bedroom in a body, and delivered to him a
petition or remonstrance, setting forth that they, the king's
faithful subjects, had for the space of two years suffered
such false accusations, calumnies, oppressions, and persecu-
tions, by means of the Duke of Lennox and of the person
who assumed the title of Earl of Arran, that like insolence
and enormities had never been heard of in Scotland. Their
manifesto further stated that their persecution was felt by
the whole body of the commonwealth, but chiefly by the
ministers of the Gospel, and the true professors thereof;
and that while men who had been attached to his majesty's
service during his youth were, though the king's best sub-
jects, driven into banishment, and many of those who re-
136 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
mained were subjected to partial prosecutions and oppres-
sions, and while all of them were- grossly calumniated, and
violent!)' excluded from the presence of the sovereign, they
saw with indignation that papists and notable murderers
were, on the other hand, daily called home from deserved
exile, and either restored to such property as they had be-
fore enjoyed, or compensated by gifts out of the estates of
the king's faithful subjects.
The same remonstrance charged Lennox and Arran with
involving the king in plots and confederacies with the pope,
the king of Spain, and the French papists, and with the
bishops of Glasgow and Ross, the adherents of his mother,
Queen Mary, by whom he was urged to effect her freedom
from imprisonment, and associate her with himself in the
royal authority.
However disagreeable this rough remonstrance might be
to the king, the time and place rendered it dangerous to
express his displeasure; so James received it, as prudence
recommended, with complaisance. But upon his attempt-
ing to leave the chamber, with a general promise to give
all due consideration to the petition of his beloved subjects,
the Master of Glammis interposed between him and the door
of the apartment, and gave him bluntly to understand he
would not be permitted to leave the castle. After vain
expostulation, the king burst into tears. "Let him weep,"
said Glammis fiercely: "better children weep than bearded
men." These words sunk deep into the king's heart; and
though generally of a placable disposition, the insult which
they contained was never forgotten or forgiven.
For the present, however, James was compelled to sub-
mit to his fate, and to subscribe and issue a proclamation,
declaring his purpose, by his own free consent, to remain
for some time in the province of Stratherne, with such lords
as were then around him.
When the news of this change of ministry, as it may be
called, for such rude violence was in Scotland the frequent
mode for transferring political power, reached the two fa-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 137
vorites against whom it was chiefly levelled, each of them
behaved in a manner indicative of his character. The Earl
of Arran, as daringly rash as he was unprincipled and am-
bitious, rode headlong toward Ruthven Castle, at the head
of a handful of armed followers, with whom he boasted "to
drive the conspirators into mouse-holes." Had he encoun-
tered a considerable force under the Earl of Mar, which was
lying in wait on purpose to intercept him, there is little doubt
he would have been slain with his whole party; but the
same rashness which endangered his life was, in fact, the
means of saving it ; for receiving some intimation of the am-
bush he separated himself from his own troop of horse, and
fetching a circuit around the squadron of Mar, he rode
to Ruthven Castle with two attendants only. What his
purpose could have been in so rash a proceeding we are left
to conjecture; but the result was more favorable to him
than could have been anticipated. Arran was not permitted,
of course, to approach the person of the king, but, on the
contrary, made prisoner, and thrown into a dungeon. He
was soon after transferred to Stirling Castle; and a strong
inclination was exhibited on the part of the associated lords
to have taken his life, for which specious pretexts could not
have been wanting. But unwillingness, perhaps, to provoke
James by an action so violent, and the protection of the
Earl of Gowrie, who was destined, it would seem, to save
the life of him who finally brought his head to the block,
occasioned the favorite to be detained prisoner, and his life
preserved, to be a principal author of future state commo-
tions.
The Duke of Lennox, who seems to have rested his only
hopes of power upon the favor of his sovereign, was no
sooner given to understand that James was debarred of his
liberty on account of the favor which he had shown to him
than he generously resolved, by withdrawing himself from
Scotland, to remove at least that pretext for continuing the
captivity of his sovereign. "Without making any attempt
to restore the state of administration which had been altered
138 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
by the enterprise now popularly called the Raid of Ruthven,*
he capitulated with the lords who were concerned in the
enterprise, and endeavored to obtain liberty to return to
court. This license was sternly refused; and a proclama-
tion was issued, by which he was commanded to leave
Scotland. Lennox offered no resistance; but after some
procrastination, in which he perhaps hoped that the ruling
faction might relent, or the king regain some share of free-
dom and power, he at length retreated to Dumbarton Castle,
and from thence returned to France by the way of London.
There is every reason to think that this young nobleman,
who showed few bad inclinations and many gentle and gen-
erous qualities, returned the king's preference by a personal
attachment to James more deep and sincere than that with
which monarchs are usually repaid by their favorite min-
ions. His melancholy at separating from Scotland was of
so deep a kind that we can hardly assign disappointed am-
bition for its sole source, and willingly suppose that attach-
ment to the sovereign who had so highly graced and favored
him was a principal cause of Lennox's disease. Trouble of
mind brought on a fever, which terminated his life at Paris.
He died, declaring his sincere adherence to the Protestant
faith, and refusing the succors of the Catholic Church, in
contradiction to the calumnies which had such general cir-
culation in Scotland.
James, who had been early imbued with the principle
that the power of dissembling was essential to the art of
reigning, now steered his course in conformity to the direc-
tions of the lords who had assumed the management of State
,ffairs, and published a declaration, in which he acknowl-
edged the Raid of Ruthven, with all its circumstances of
violence toward his person and injury toward his feelings,
to be laudable and good service, and prohibited any of his
subjects to attempt a rising or assembling in arms under
1 Raid signifies properly an inroad of a predatory character. But
the Scottish applied it generally to any multitude assembled in arms
for a violent purpose.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 139
pretence of setting hini free from the counsellors who had
been then intruded upon him.
The conspirators themselves also published a long decla-
ration, exaggerating the crimes and the presumption of the
fallen favorites, and vindicating their violent removal as
good service done to God, to the State, and to the king.
The assembly of the Church, prejudiced against Lennox
for his supposed attachment to the Catholic faith, and more
justly abhorring the profligate life and tyrannic ministry of
Stewart, earl of Arran, readily sanctioned the Raid of Ruth-
ven, and required all sincere Protestants to combine with
the lords by whom the enterprise was carried into effect.
This act was appointed to be read by every minister to his
congregation. The king also granted, what he had it not
in his power safely to withhold, a remission, namely, to
those concerned in the restraint of his person; and the con-
vention of estates passed an act of ample indemnity on the
same occasion.
Meanwhile James suffered in private all that could be
endured by a young sovereign whose opinion of his prerog-
ative was so lofty, and who felt that not his authority only
but even his person had been grossly violated and insulted
in the course of an action which he was now compelled to
acknowledge to be good service, and not only to be par-
doned, but to be rewarded as such. From some of those
who immediately approached his person he did not attempt
to conceal his internal feelings of being held under restraint
by his present self-constituted counsellors.
To foreigners he was more reserved. Both the queen of
England and the king of France had sent special ambassa-
dors to inquire into the nature of the last revolution in Scot-
land, and, ostensibly at least, to offer the young king assist-
ance, if he should complain of being placed under restraint
by his subjects. To the French ambassador, Monsieur De
la Mothe Fenelon, and to Bowes, one of those who were sent
by Queen Elizabeth, the king made general replies, in the
same tenor with his public declarations; namely, that he
140 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
was well contented with the lords who were now about him,
who conducted themselves as faithful subjects, although
they had, perhaps, been rash in adopting some prejudices
against Lennox and others by whom he had formerly been
counselled. "With De la Mothe the king did not think it
safe to be more frank, because the clergy and the more
severe disciples of the reformation regarded that nobleman
as an ambassador of the bloody murderer, by which name
they distinguished the Duke of Guise, and they somewhat
indecently termed the white cross, which, as a knight of the
Order of St. Esprit, De la Mothe wore upon his shoulder,
the badge of antichrist. With a person so unpopular the
king dared not exchange any confidence ; and for reasons of
a different kind he did not choose to communicate his real
sentiments to Bowes, one of the English ambassadors.
But while he amused these individuals in terms express-
ing a general contentment with his condition, the king was
more confidentially explicit to others. Hoping, perhaps, to
interest Elizabeth in his favor, on account of her well-
known general sentiments of respect to royal authority in
the abstract, he privately declared to Sir George Carey,
son of Lord Hunsdon, and kinsman to Queen Elizabeth,
that he was in reality highly dissatisfied with the violence
which had been put upon him, and displeased with the
counsellors who had thrust themselves into the manage-
ment of his affairs. Sir George Carey undertook to keep
this communication secret from his colleague Bowes and
all others save his mistress herself.
"Whether he communicated James's private message to
Queen Elizabeth or not is not known, and is of very little
consequence, since that sovereign could hardly require ex-
press information to make her fully aware that James could
not possibly look upon the Raid of Ruthven in a milder light
than as an act of rebellion. Indeed, from her conduct she
must be esteemed totally indifferent to the king's opinions
and feelings on 'the subject, so long as the conspiracy had
raised into power in Scotland a party disposed, like the lords
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 141
in question, to act as the friends and partisans of England.
She was, therefore, careful not to use any interference in
her godson's behalf, if his complaints to Carey were actually
transmitted to her, and left the affairs of Scotland to hold
their own natural course.
The revolution in time began to take a turn in favor of
James. By dint of the king's successful dissimulation, and
confiding in the variety of pardons, remissions, and ratifica-
tions which they had accumulated for their protection, if
necessary, the Earl of Gowrie and his party began to relax
in the severity which they had at first exercised in watching
the king's person, and permitted him to follow his hunting
parties and journeys of pleasure without interruption. He
failed not to take advantage of the freedom thus afforded
him to draw gradually around him such other nobles and
counsellors as were unconnected with or inimical to those
who were presently in power ; and opening his mind to them
privately, he expressed his resolution either to free himself
from his present restraint, or to die in the attempt to acquire
his liberty. At the same time he promised, in secret to Mel-
ville and other wise and judicious statesmen, who shared his
confidence, and recommended to him moderate counsel, that
should he succeed in his attempt to regain his liberty, he
would nevertheless abstain from pursuing any passionate or
vindictive course against those concerned in the conspiracy
of Ruthven. Fay, he even professed that he would not ox-
clude them from his favor, so as to drive them to despera-
tion. In a word, he affirmed it to be his intention to rule
with an equal hand among his nobility of all factions, to
discourage the party spirit, which, being the natural con-
sequence of the long civil wars, had been so great an evil
to the country, and, disowning all distinction of king's men
and queen's men, he professed his purpose to use the talents
indifferently of all whom he should find capable to render
him service. These dispositions of the king, which were
privately whispered abroad, not only awakened the hopes
of such of the peers as were excluded from administration
142 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to look for a speedy change, but even inclined some of the
statesmen then in power, and the Earl of Gowrie himself,
to become fearful of the consequences of governing by a
faction, and rendered them desirous that the king should be
admitted to his liberty, and that the system of administra-
tion should be remodelled on a less exclusive footing, pro-
viding these points could be conceded to James withou,
incurring the terrors of reaction and retaliation on the part
of the faction readmitted to power.
While matters were in this state, James devised meas-
ures for his own escape from the lords who since the Raid
of Ruthven had exercised the supreme power of the State,
and retained possession of his person. In summer, 1583,
while the king was residing at his hunting-seat of Falkland,
a convention was appointed to be held at St. Andrew's for
the purpose of settling some disputed affairs between Eng-
land and Scotland. The king conceived that he saw in this
appointment some means of acquiring his freedom. His
plan was to send letters to the Earl of March, the Earl of
Montrose, Marischal, Argyle, and Rothes, all enemies of the
faction of Ruthven, appointing them to come to St. Andrew's
on a certain day; and as he did not send intimation of the
time or purpose of meeting to the other noblemen connected
with the Raid of Ruthven, he concluded it likely they would
not appear. The faithful Melville endeavored to dissuade
his majesty from the above, as a precarious and hazardous
course : he represented that as the meeting of a convention
was a matter which could not be well kept secret, the lordg
of the Ruthven Raid were likely to take the alarm from the
very circumstance of their not having received the usual
summons; and as their estates lay chiefly in Fife and
Stratherne, they might assemble in force sufficient to out-
number those opposite peers, upon whose support the king
relied, and who had to bring their followers from a greater
distance.
Notwithstanding this representation, James, with more
spirit than belonged to his character, resolved to proceed
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 143
in the enterprise. For this purpose he determined to be at
St. Andrew's two or three days before the tinie appointed
for the convention, and consulted with Colonel "William
Stewart, the commander of the guard, how he might place
his royal person in security, when he should take up his
quarters in that town. Accordingly, unsuspected, as it
appeared, by his ministers, whose want of intelligence or
dulness of apprehension seems to have been rather surpris-
ing, he set out upon his journey for St. Andrew's, as if he
had been riding a-hawking; having at that time no attend-
ant of the Ruthven faction near his person excepting the
Earl of Mar. The king came to St. Andrew's "as blythe,"
says Melville, "as a bird escaped from the cage." The arch-
bishop, in the meantime, held the castle of that place in
readiness for the service of his sovereign, A proposal of
taking a view of the fine old fortress was acted upon by
the king merely as if it had been an accidental suggestion
of the moment, which had no deeper motive than curiosity.
But he and his retinue had no sooner entered the castle gates
than they were shut and barred by Colonel "William Stewart,
the drawbridges raised, and the gentlemen of the guard placed
on duty in defence of the walls.
The next day the nobles of both parties entered the town :
the discontented barons in greater number, better supplied
with arms than the opposite party, and with the intention,
it seemed, as well as the power, again to seize upon his maj-
esty's person. A day of strife and battle seemed impending,
in which the person of the king should be the prize of the
victor, like that of his grandfather at the battles of Melrose
and Kirkliston. But the exertions of James's friends, who
brought a body of royalists into the castle from the town
and neighborhood, made the malcontent lords unwilling
to come to violence; while Gowrie, obtaining admittance
to the king's presence, renounced as treasonable his share
in the Raid of Ruthven, disclaimed all future proceeding of
so unlawful a character, and after a grave admonition from
James was once more admitted to the king's favor.
144 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
The principal accomplices in the late conspiracy, finding
themselves too weak to dispute the matter in arms, and
being thus deserted by the chief member of their party,
took the course of peaceful submission, and coming one by
one before the king, acknowledged their offence, and ob-
tained his majesty's pardon, under condition, however, that
they should submit to such temporary exile as James should
please to inflict upon them. The language of the king, as
well as his proclamations, was of a merciful and moderate
character ; and he appeared little elated at the victory which
he had gained in a struggle that seemed at first so doubtful.
He intimated, that although he had been for some time de-
tained against his consent, in consequence of the Raid of
Ruthven, yet it was not his intention to prosecute as a crime
that or anything else done in his minority ; but that he was,
on the contrary, resolved to consider all offences which had
occurred as arising rather out of the troublesome character
of the times than owing to the criminal intention of the
actors. He appointed two principal nobles of each faction
— Angus and Mar on the one side, and Huntley and Craw-
ford on the other — to withdraw from court for a season, as
being in some sort the representatives of the contending par-
ties, whose absence might prevent the renewal of factious
debates. The king, in the interim, proposed to guide his
affairs by the less violent partisans, selected indifferently
from both sides, from those nobles whom he meant to retain
about his person.
There can be little doubt that had King James pursued
the wise and moderate course announced by these temperate
proposals, in which he was sincere at the time, he could not
have failed to have brought to good order the councils of his
kingdom. But his propensity to favoritism, which so often
interfered with his better thoughts, was destined on the
present occasion to disturb his more deliberate, wise, and
clement measures.
The Earl of Arran had, by favor of Gowrie, been lately
freed from his prison in Stirling, having obtained permission
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 145
to reside at his own house of Kinneil, upon his parole not to
leave it, and particularly not to approach the court. Imme-
diately upon hearing of the revolution which had taken place
at St. Andrew's, he proposed to come to court and pay his
duty to his majesty. By the advice of his present council,
who were all aware of the favorite's deserved unpopularity,
and apprehensive of his influence over the king's mind
James was induced flatly to refuse the permission requested.
But some time afterward, under the specious pretence of
paying his respects to the king upon one single occasion,
he was admitted to James's presence, when, resuming that
personal influence over his master which had been suspended
by his absence, he became as great or a greater favorite than
ever: the rather that Lennox, who had more than rivalled
him in the king's favor, was now deceased.
The known want of faith of this wicked man prevented
the persons who had been concerned in the last troubles, and
particularly the agents in the Raid of Ruthven, from relying
upon the word of the king, though repeatedly pledged, for
their safety and indemnity. James, they thought, might
in his person forgive the restraint inflicted on him, but his
more vindictive favorite would be sure both to remember
and revenge his own imprisonment at Ruthven and Stirling,
his threatened estrangement from court, and the yet more
hostile intentions, which had even menaced his life.
Accordingly, it was soon made evident that it was the
avowed policy of this ambitious and rapacious counsellor to
prosecute a violent course against those concerned in the
Raid of Ruthven. A menacing proclamation was issued,
in which the offenders on this occasion were treated as
persons still lying under the lash of the law, and which
summoned each of them to take out formal remissions or
pardons for their several offences. This proclamation plainly
intimated that conditions of a penal kind, but chiefly pecu-
niary mulcts, would be imposed on the persons who should
apply for the offered pardons, and likewise implied that the
criminal fact was considered as yet obnoxious to prosecu-
Scotland. Vol. II.— 7
146 HISTORY OF SCOTLAOTJ
tions, notwithstanding the several occasions on which the
offenders had already obtained the royal pardon, both by
express grant aud by general proclamation.
This unwise and threatening manifesto struck terror into
all those who had been accessory to this crime Many of
them withdrew from court, the more prudent actually left
the country, and others prepared to follow the same example.
Gowrie, himself, who had acknowledged his guilt, and re-
ceived an explicit pardon, was driven from the court by the
coldness of the king, and the insolence of Arran, whose evil
nature was in this particularly apparent, since Gowrie had
not only been the means of preserving his life when made
prisoner at Ruthven Castle, but also, by warmly urging his
being again permitted to see the king after the revolution
of St. Andrew's, had laid the foundation for his restoration
to power. Forgetful of these causes for gratitude to Gowrie,
Arran pressed the unfortunate earl so hard that, despairing,
as it afterward appeared, of regaining the king's favor, he
remained uncertain whether he should fly from the country,
or renew his engagements with other lords in the same sit-
uation, who meditated some violent mode of defence and
retaliation. The further consequences of this will appear
hereafter.
Queen Elizabeth, seeing in the severity menaced against
the lords of the Raid of Ruthven the probable extinction of
the party in Scotland most attached to the English interest,
seems to have resolved to try what impression could be made
on James, a young, and, she might suppose, an ignorant
person, by a letter of a character more magisterial and men-
acing than usually occurs in the correspondence of sovereigns
while friendly relations exist between them. She reminded
him of the noble lesson of Isocrates that a sovereign should
hold his words to be of more account than the oaths of other
men. She bemoaned him, she said, for permitting evil
spirits to distract his mind, and lead him to think an hon-
orable answer could be returned to her when all his actions
gainsaid his former words. "You deal not with one," pro-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 147
ceeded Elizabeth, "whose experience can take dross for good
payment, nor with one that will be easily beguiled; no, I
moan to set to school your craftiest counsellors." She was
sorry, she continues, to see him bent to wrong himself in
thinking to wrong others. She called upon him to remember
what he had written to her with his own hand concerning
the dangerous courses the Duke of Lennox was entered into;
in contradiction of which, she alleges, that he now seemed
to give the reproach of guilt} r folks to those who had pre-
served him from rushing upon that acknowledged hazard.
"I hope you more esteem your honor," she adds, "than to
give it such a stain, since you protested so often to have
taken these lords" (meaning the lords concerned in the Raid
of Ruthven) "for your most affectionate subjects, who had
acted all for your best advantage." She concluded this
magisterial expostulation, by beseeching him to pass no
further on the course he was pursuing (that of severity,
namely, against Gowrie and his friends) till he should con-
sult with an ambassador extraordinary, whom she proposed
to despatch toward him, and from whom he might receive
better and more fruitful counsel than from all the dissem-
blers of his own court.
This singular epistle was written in Elizabeth's own
hand, and that in which James replied is no less worthy
of notice. James was at home when a dispute was to be
maintained by classical quotation. He answered his god-
mother's quotation from Isocrates, by taking notice of an-
other maxim of the same author, which directs us to esteem
those less our friends who continually praise us than such
as use timely reproof, in which kind view of her sharp
admonition he is determined, he adds, to consider it as the
fruit of sisterly love, although acting upon misinformation.
It is true, he says, that he was compelled at the moment,
when he was in the power of those noblemen, to publish
such proclamations and subscribe such pardons as were pre-
sented to him in their favor. The circumstances of the times
did not admit his disputing their pleasure. It was also true,
148 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
he acknowledged, that while under the same restraint of a
predominant faction he intimated in public to the French and
English ambassadors that he was contented with his condi-
tion, and had none save friends about him ; but he reminds
Elizabeth that at the very time while he made this compul-
sory answer to De la Mothe Fenelon and Bowes, he commi
nicated to Sir George Carey, her kinsman, his real feelings
of his situation, and his determination rather to hazard dying
honestly than to reign shamefully. He imputes the severe
language used by Queen Elizabeth to the suggestions of par-
tial counsellors, and declares that he will rather keep in
memory her former effectual friendship than start at any
wrong-placed syllable or sour sentence placed in her late
paper at the instance of others. Respecting Elizabeth's de-
sire that he will proceed no further against the Ruthven fac-
tion until a special ambassador should arrive on her part,
he declares that, although Isocrates (whose maxims he has
again at her service) advises princes to execute with speed
that which is fitting to be done, yet he intends to abstain
from doing anything which can justly offend Elizabeth until
the arrival of her envoy, hoping and desiring that this per-
son so trusted may be as willing to promote the effects of
true love and friendship between them as he was assured
was the desire and intention of Elizabeth as well as his own.
The ambassador whose wisdom was thus praised, and
whose arrival at the court of James was so formally an-
nounced, was no less a person than the celebrated Walsing-
ham. second to Burleigh alone as the favorite counsellor of
Elizabeth, and one of the most accomplished statesmen in
Europe. He was sent by Elizabeth, thinking, probably,
that his gravity and learning might have some effect upon
James, and obtain so much ascendency as might check his
purpose of altogether destroying the Ruthven conspirators,
and for the more general purpose of obtaining, by means of
a statesman so well acquainted with mankind, an accurate
idea of the character of the Scottish sovereign, with whom
Elkabeth must necessarily have so many important affairs
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 149
to transact, and of whom she was the more likely to receive
different reports, as, in fact, James's character appeared
very different to those who looked upon it in different points
of view.
"Walsingham, otherwise excellently qualified for his mis-
tress's purpose, was aged and infirm, and the necessity of
his using a wheel-carriage rendered his progress extremely
slow; the rather as, being magnificently attended, the old
statesman travelled with a train of eight-score of horse. At
his first audience of James, Walsingham required to know
why his majesty had changed the counsels and company of
the noblemen lately around him, they being the best and
most religious of his peers, and those of whom the queen of
England had the highest opinion, and with whom she most
willingly held intercourse. James made an immediate and
well-turned answer, indicating, it may be supposed, his free-
dom as an independent prince to use what counsellors he
pleased, and the reasonable expectation that those whom
he trusted ought to receive the confidence of his allies. This
reply was so grave and pointed as struck wonder into the
queen's old statesman, which he did not hesitate to express.
"Walsingham had another audience with James, no other
person being present; after which, the Englishman, taking
Sir James Melville by the hand, declared his entire content-
ment with the Scottish sovereign. "I have spoken," said
he, "with an excellent young prince, ignorant of nothing;
and of such happy expectation that I think my heavy travel
in coming hither is well bestowed in having but seen him."
The Earl of Arran desired to enter into conversation with
this celebrated statesman, who haughtily refused either to
see him or to abide longer at the court, where it is probable,
however well he was received hiniself, he found no token of
lis intercession being available in favor of the Ruthven party.
This he imputed to the influence of Arran, whom he termed
a scorner of religion, a sower of discord, and an enemy of
true and honest men.
In revenge of the contempt with which he was treated by
150 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Walsingham, Arran took a course of expressing his feelings
more dishonorable to himself and to his master than to the
English envoy. He intercepted a diamond ring, designed
for Walsingham by James, valued at seven hundred crowns,
and presented in its stead one which enclosed a piece of ordi-
nary rock crystal. The knights and gentlemen of quality
who attended in Walsingham's retinue were also discourte-
ously treated in being excluded from permission to wait upon
the king when receiving his court.
Walsingham passed over these petty expressions of spleen
with the contempt which they deserved from a statesman of
his wisdom and experience. On his return home, the report
of this distinguished minister, concerning the wisdom and
learning of James, was of high advantage to the king, espe-
cially among those of the English people who began to look
forward to the days which should follow Queen Elizabeth's
death, and were, therefore, disposed to inquire into the char-
acter of her presumptive successor. James's natural parts
and acquired information qualified him to make a good fig-
ure in conversation, while his indecision of disposition, and
his being so unhappily subject to the influence of unworthy
counsellors, often prevented the maxims which he knew how
to use in counsel from being seconded by actions conforming
to them. Walsingham's high opinion of James was so boldly
expressed as for a time to draw down on her ancient states-
man some shadow of that jealousy with which Queen Eliza-
beth was apt to visit those who expressed a good opinion of
any one near in her succession. On the whole, however,
the queen was disposed to treat James in future with more
respect than hitherto.
In November of this year Ludovic Stewart, eldest son
to the late Duke of Lennox, arrived in Scotland, invited
over by James, who took this mode of showing his kind
recollection of his banished and deceased favorite. He was
promoted to his uncle's dignity and dukedom, and in due
time, for he was but very young at his arrival in Scotland,
was promoted to considerable offices of dignity. By this
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 151
kindness James evinced an amiable disposition, inclined to
carry friendship beyond the grave.
In the meantime the troubles of Scotland daily increased.
The conspirators of Ruthven sued out their pardons, which
were not granted but upon condition that they should de-
part the kingdom. Gowrie himself obtained license to go
into France ; but delaying his purpose, became involved in
more dangerous counsels, which terminated in his violent
death. The clergymen had also mingled in the troubles of
the community ; for having long since declared, by an act
of general assembly, that the Raid of Ruthven was good ser-
vice, individual preachers were from time to time induced
to dilate upon the legality of the measure. When called to
account for such political sermons, they pleaded the privi-
lege of the pulpit as an ample apology for expressing their
opinion upon State affairs ; and contended that though they
might from thence utter treason, or what was liable to be
punished as such, they were not amenable to the king's privy
council, or any secular judge, but must always be tried and
judged by the church judicatories, at least in the first in-
stance. Andrew Melvin, a preacher of talents and learning,
set a bad example on this occasion to his brethren, accusing
the king by the undutiful assertion that he perverted the
laws of both God and man, and flying to England when he
was commanded to enter into prison.
From all these subjects of complaint the disaffection grew
so general that the Earls of Angus and Mar, conspirators in
the exploit of Ruthven, united to seize the town and castle
of Stirling, intending to render it the headquarters of their
party, and expecting to be joined by the Earl of Gowrie,
who had a part in their plot. This was on the 19th of April,
1584; but the king, who was at Edinburgh, was so well sec-
onded by the zeal of his subjects, and particularly by the
citizens of the metropolis, that on the 24th James was ready
to advance toward Stirling with such a powerful army that
the Earls of Angus and Mar did not choose to wait his ar-
rival. They had learned that the Earl of Gowrie had suf-
152 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
fered himself to be surprised and taken by Sir William
Stewart, the captain of the king's guard, at Dundee; and
despairing of success in their enterprise fled to England,
leaving a few followers in the castle, by whom it was sur-
rendered to the king, and placed under custody of the all-
grasping Earl of Arran.
In the meantime the Earl of Gowrie was brought to his
fate. He had hired a vessel to leave Scotland for France;
but delayed his departure, as the commotions had begun to
take place which appeared to promise a general insurrection.
Some communication he appears himself to have had with
Angus and Mar in their attempt to surprise Stirling; how-
ever, he declared at his death that he was engaged in no
plot against the king's person, crown, or estate, but only
moved by the hopes of saving his own family and fortune
from ruin. He had remained for days and weeks uncertain
what course he should adopt: want of decision, which was
always his chief fault, and now proved his ruin, induced him
to linger, until Colonel William Stewart, commander of the
royal guard, arrived to apprehend him. The Earl of Gowrie
defended his lodgings by force, and called upon the people of
Dundee to join with him as a faithful Protestant pursued for
his religion. Tho citizens, however, took part with the royal
guard, and the earl was compelled to surrender himself. He
was first taken to Kinneil, the abode of his enemy Arrac,
and afterward brought to Stirling, and tried with the usual
irregularity of proceeding then used by the Scottish courts
in cases of high treason. One point of the charge was sin-
gular: Gowrie had from his prison petitioned for an inter-
view with James, for the purpose, he stated, of disclosing
a secret which might have endangered the king's life and
estate, if he himself had not stayed and impeded the same.
The use made of this petition was to frame, out of the ac-
knowledgments which it contained, a fourth article of indict-
ment, which was added to three already charged in the earl's
accusation. This additional charge bore that the accused
earl, having intelligence of a weighty purpose concerning,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 153
the life and estate of the king and of the queen, his mother,
did treasonably conceal the same, and does as yet conceal
the particulars thereof.
The inquest upon this unfortunate earl had no hesitation
to find him guilty of high treason. He was executed with
that declaration in his mouth, which has been ascribed t
many great men in misfortune, that "if he had served Goa
as faithfully as he had done his king, he had not come to
an end so disastrous." Gowrie's death was the subject of
general censure and regret. Whatever had been his acces-
sion to the Raid of Ruthven, he had been one of the first to
desert the conspirators, implore the king's pardon, and lend
his assistance to restore the liberty of his sovereign. It was
not until he found that the pardon which had been so re-
peatedly and formally granted was not likely to protect him
that he was induced to take measures for the safety of his
life and fortune, by uniting himself with those who stood in
the same peril. There was, therefore, injustice in imputing
to the earl as voluntary guilt a line of conduct which was
the natural consequence of a breach of public faith toward
him ; and the iniquity was more flagrant that the schemes
of which he was accused seem rather to have been some-
thing which he thought of than what he had actually de-
termined upon, so that they could be hardly termed even
crimes of intention, far less offences actually perpetrated.
At least, if Gowrie in strict law merited death, all men exe-
crated the ungrateful rapacity of Arran, who drove matter?
to extremity against the very person without whose inter-
vention he would have lost his life shortly after the Raid of
Ruthven. Nor did the evil consequences of Gowrie's death
expire with the earl himself, but will be found to furnish
occasion to a future dark and bloody chapter in this history.
By this vindictive and cruel execution the king of Scot-
land, or rather his unpopular and profligate minister, was
for the time placed beyond dread of attack by that party of
nobles who, supported by England, and formidable in their
own strength, had endeavored to establish a reformation, as
154 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
they termed it, in the administration of Scotland, by banish-
ing Arran, and establishing a control over the person of the
king and government of the State.
But in gaining this victory Arran himself, daring as he
was, must have been sensible that he exposed himself to an
additional load of unpopularity. This event not only excited
the hostility of that class of persons, few, perhaps, in num-
ber, but respectable from their reputation for wisdom, who,
though sincere friends of the monarchy, were desirous of see-
ing its legal powers exerted with prudence and moderation,
but at the same time animated against him the deep and de-
termined enmity of a large party, the friends, kinsmen, and
adherents of the nobles who had been driven into exile. And
what was at least equally formidable, it exasperated against
the governing favorite the Church of Scotland in general,
and all those numerous congregations who, in zeal for their
religion, and love and reverence for their preachers, were
disposed to adopt the political sentiments which they heard
delivered from the pulpit, as authorized by the Holy
Scripture.
The measures which the minister adopted to quell the
opposition which his severity had excited will be the proper
subject of the next chapter.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 155
CHAPTER XXXIII
The Minister's Arrogance — The King- disgusted with Business —
Arran pretends an Attachment to the Prerogative — The
banished Lords — Their Influence with their Vassals, Clans,
and Tenantry — Argaty and his Brother tried and executed for
holding Correspondence with the Exiles — Information against
Mains and Drumquhassel for a similar Crime — Suborned Evi-
dence against the Accused — They are condemned and executed
— Arran's Attack on the Immunities claimed by the Church —
Privileges of the Kirk — Their exti'eme Apprehensions of Popery
— The Clergy usually in opposition to, and therefore become
unpopular with, the King — Arran, having courted them to no
Purpose, resolves to break their Power by a Series of new Reg-
ulations — Nature of the political Influence of the Clergy — A
Minister is imprisoned for petitioning to be heard on the Part
of the Church, and declared Rebel and Outlaw for protesting
against the obnoxious Laws — Arran's Ministry begin to desert
him and set up for themselves, particularly Maitland the Secre-
tary and the Master of Gray — Arran becomes a Creature of
Elizabeth — His Meeting with Hunsdon — His Quarrels with the
Scottish Nobility, particularly with Lord Maxwell — He engages
Lord Maxwell in a Civil War with the Johnstones, in which the
former is victorious — Embassy of Wotton — Death of Sir Francis
Russell on the Borders — Disgrace of Kerr of Farniherst and of
Arran — The exiled Lords return to Scotland, march to Stirling,
and obtain Possession of the King's Person — The King aban-
dons Arran, who retires from Court in Disgrace — James re-
ceives the associated Nobles into his Favor, and establishes a
Government on a moderate and popular Model
THE youth and inexperience of James VI. may at this
period be admitted as a sufficient excuse for his giv-
ing way to the insidious counsels of a favorite who
was unworthy of the trust reposed in him. We learn from
the valuable memoirs of Sir James Melville that Arran, who
had usurped in his own person, or distributed among his own
creatures, all the great offices in the government, used the
156 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
1
common arts of those in his situation to discourage the king
from attention to the business of the State and deliberations
of the council, and to engage him continually in those pur-
suits of sylvan sport to which he was naturally addicted.
The designing favorite also availed himself of his numerous
opportunities- not only to exclude from the royal counsels
Melville and other courtiers whom he could not rely upon as
favorers of his schemes, but also to impose upon the young
monarch, as unanimous resolutions of his council of State,
violent measures which were framed and forwarded by him-
self alone. The affectation of extreme zeal in supporting the
royal authority, and the unbounded attachment which he
pretended to entertain for James's person, were, doubtless,
the further apologies by which Arran colored over a course
of despotic measures, designed to eradicate whatever influ-
ence the banished lords might retain in Scotland, and dimin-
ish or destroy the power which the Reformed Church had by
various means obtained in the political affairs of the State.
Of these sources of influence so obnoxious to the favorite we
are now to give the reader some account.
The banished lords formed a considerable part of the aris-
tocracy of Scotland, which depended for its importance not
merely on the consequence and influence which its members
possessed, arising from their immediate power and wealth,
but also, and more especially, upon the attachment of vassals
and kinsfolk, a species of loyalty to their chief which these
followers displayed at every personal risk, even when those
who might claim it were expelled from their estates and re-
mained banished men in a foreign country. The power of
the Scottish nobles became in this manner, in some respects,
indestructible. Thus the unusually severe measures by which
James Y. had endeavored to destroy the House of Douglas
did not prevent that long exiled family from resuming a great
part of their feudal power as soon as the death of that mon-
arch permitted them to return to Scotland, when they repos-
sessed themselves of their estates without even awaiting the
recall of their forfeiture. Numerous instances during the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 157
reign of Queen Mary and the minority of James had fos-
tered the same principle. By far the greater part, if not the
whole, of the nobility of Scotland had, at one time or other,
and for various causes, been banished from the kingdom,
and yet had successively returned to it and reassumed their
hereditary influence. "While, therefore, their lords were ab-
sent on these unpleasant occasions, the vassals retained their
faith and attachment unaltered, not only from love, affection,
and gratitude, but from a reasonable expectation of the re-
turn of their chiefs as an event connected with their own
interest. The friends and vassals of exiled nobles preserved
the attachment to them in which they had been born and
bred, and considered that their adherence during what they
regarded as a temporary eclipse was likely to be remuner-
ated when the cloud which obscured the fortunes of their
masters should pass away.
From this it followed that the lords exiled on account of
the Raid of Ruthven still possessed numerous friends and
extensive correspondence in Scotland ; and supported as they
were by the power of Elizabeth, and residing within the En-
glish frontier, were at all times ready to re-enter Scotland
with the certainty of being backed by a considerable force.
It now became the business of Arran to destroy, if possible,
the ramifications by which those exiles, against whom he
had procured the doom of treason to be denounced, continued
to maintain a correspondence and interest within the Scotti.-h
realm. For this purpose he procured denunciations to be
made against all such as held correspondence, or, as it was
called, traffic, with the exiles, and took all precaution to
bring within the range of punishment such persons of infe-
rior rank as should appear to be the correspondents or con-
fidants of the banished lords. In 1584, in order to strike
terror on this subject, David Home of Argaty, and Patrick
Home, his brother, gentlemen of birth and fortune, were
brought to trial for holding communication with the com-
mendator of Dryburgh, who was banished on account of his
accession to the Raid of Ruthven. The accused persons were
158 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
confessedly adherents of the same party, but covered by a
general pardon from being charged as accomplices to that
conspiracy. The correspondence for which they were tried
consisted of one or two short letters which had no reference
whatever to State affairs, but related entirely to some private
business left undischarged when the commendator was ex-
pelled from Scotland; yet both the gentlemen were con-
demned to death, and executed on the afternoon of the
same day on which they were tried — a severity universally
reprobated by common sense and common feeling.
To spread still further the terror inspired by this execu-
tion, a proclamation was made, that whoever should dis-
cover and make known any person corresponding on what-
soever subject with the exiled lords should, besides his own
pardon, receive an especial reward. In consequence of this
invitation and premium to traitors and informers, a man was
found base enough to avail himself of this offer, who was
generally believed to have added to the meanness of treach-
ery the guilt of perjury. One Hamilton of Eglismachan
lodged an information against Malcolm Douglas of Mains,
and John Cunningham of Drumquhassel, stating them to
have conspired to seize the person of the king at a hunting-
match, for the purpose of detaining him in some stronghold
until the banished noblemen should enter Scotland with
forces and take possession of his person. The accusation
was generally considered as a forgery, yet willingly enter-
tained by Arran, because both the accused gentlemen were
suspected by him ; and Douglas of Mains, in particular, was
regarded as what was called in these times a man of valor
and action. To add probability to the accusation of Hamil-
ton, which would otherwise have been supported by only one
evidence, being also that of an informer, held suspicious in
all countries, Sir James Edmonstone of Duntreath, a person
who had lived in great intimacy with the accused parties,
was included in the indictment, it being understood that he
was to plead guilty to the accusation, and to be remunerated
with a pardon on account of his candid confession. To this
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 159
arrangement the unhappy gentleman, to his great discredit,
was, by Arran's threats, induced to consent.
The trial accordingly proceeded; and Sir James Edmon-
stone pleaded guilty to the indictment of having conspired,
with Mains and Drumquhassel, to the plot as expressed in
the charge. The scheme, he said, had been originally con-
cocted by the Earl of Angus, and was communicated to him
and the other two parties accused by John Home, commonly
called Black John. Drumquhassel and Mains were next
arraigned for the same criminal intercourse with Angus,
and further with having been partakers of the Raid of
Ruthven, an offence which must have been supposed to
be incapable of pardon, since, after so many remissions, it
was once more revived against the subordinate persons con-
cerned. Drumquhassel 's defence does not appear upon the
record, but that of Mains was manly and firm: he placed
the improbability, nay, impossibility, of such a conspiracy
on the part of himself and his companion in misfortune so
fully in view, that "all in court," says the historian Spot-
tiswoode, though favorable, in general, to the measures of
James, "in their hearts acquitted him." But the doom
of the accused had been decided ere the accusation was
brought. Cunningham and Douglas were both condemned ;
and, with a speed which argued terror in the government,
were executed in the public street of Edinburgh, before the
sun had set, on their day of trial. The informer Hamilton
was generally execrated, and lived from that time in fear
for his life, endeavoring to protect himself from the ven-
geance of the friends of the deceased, by keeping constantly
near the person of Arran till the hour came, as the reader
will hereafter be informed, in which the presence of him, at
whose instigation he had committed the foul act, could no
longer avail as his protection. These cruel and rigorous
proceedings, says the historian we have just quoted, caused
such general terror that all familiar society and intercourse
of humanity was in a manner disused, no man knowing to
whom with safety he could speak his thoughts, or open his
160 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
mind. But the Scots, fierce by nature, were a people as
unable to endure a despotic government, as to bear the
foreign yoke, the imposition of which in the former part
of their history they had opposed with such obstinacy.
Arran's attacks on the liberties and immunities claimed
by the Church were not less violent, and were even more
unpopular, than those with which he assailed the civil rights
of his fellow-subjects.
The Church of Scotland, it must be remembered, had
been founded and perfected in the midst of civil tumults.
Its preachers had been accustomed, from the time of Knox
downward, to regard themselves less as an ecclesiastic body,
sequestered from lay business to teach the doctrines and
duties of religion, than as a church militant, called upon to
protect themselves and the Christian community over which
they presided from the political attacks directed against
them, not only by their direct and immediate enemies, the
Roman Catholics, whom they regarded with that mixture
of hatred, abhorrence, and fear with which the peasants,
described by Spenser, looked upon the dead dragon, 1 but
also by the king, ministers, and courtiers, whom they re-
garded, if not as absolute foes, yet as very cold friends
to their spiritual establishment. This suspicion was suf-
ficiently natural on the part of the ministers, when it is
recollected that the Scottish aristocracy, though feeling or
affecting the most vehement zeal for the doctrines of the
1 The quotation, though long, is an animated picture of the jealous
and sometimes fantastic apprehensions entertained of the outrages of
the Church of Rome, which, in Scotland at least, had made no remark-
able stand against the effects of sense and reason:
"Some fear'd, and fledd; some fear'd and well it fayn'd;
One, that would wiser seeme than all the rest,
Warn'd him not touch, for yet perhaps remayn'd
Some ling'ring life within his hollow brest,
Or in his wombe might lurke some hidden nest
Of many dragonettes, his fruitfull seede;
Another saide, that in his eyes did rest
Yet sparkling fyre, and badd thereof take heed;
Another said, he saw him move his eyes indeed."
—Spenser's "Faerie Queene," book i., canto xii.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 161
reformation, had, in the first place, usurped the lion's share
of the spoils of the popish hierarchy, and were now inclined,
as the clergy supposed, to abridge the privileges of the
Church, whose prerogative constituted all that was left to
console an active, energetic, and influential body of men for
the want, not only of opulence, but even of the means of
decent subsistence. The preachers claimed for their order,
as has been often hinted, the extensive privilege of canvass-
ing public affairs in their sermons, acknowledging no respon-
sibility, at least in the first instance, save to the judicatories
of their own body, by whom they were not likely to be con-
demned for any exercise of their Christian privilege. Dur-
ing the whole of the actual reign of Queen Mary they had
been repeatedly placed in direct opposition to the powers
that wielded the State, and had even been at variance with
the regents who severally succeeded that unfortunate queen,
although men of their own persuasion. This constant oppo-
sition had become, in a certain degree, a habit; and spread-
ing through so large a body of men, many of whom were
doubtless desirous of distinguishing themselves, and attract-
ing, by the boldness of their doctrine, the admiration of their
congregations, there can be little doubt that the extensive
privileges which they claimed were liable to frequent abuse.
But this was an evil only to be cured by time, which modifies
the violence of parties whether in politics or religion, added
to much patience and much firmness on the part of the gov-
ernors. Meanwhile these prerogatives, boldly claimed and
acted zealously upon, gave great alarm to the sovereign.
King James, although a Protestant in principle, had been
bred in such dislike and terror of those more violent individ-
uals among the churchmen, who were termed fanatics, that
in his Basilicon Doron he has left it as a legacy to his son
rather to trust a savage Highlander, or an outlawed borderer,
than a hypocritical puritan.
To increase the monarch's early dislike to this party
among his subjects, which was constantly kept up by the
imprudent, indecent, and impertinent censures of individual
162 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
preachers, it so chanced that James almost always found the
opinions of the popular churchmen in diametrical opposition
to his own authority and the measures of his ministers.
There was, therefore, an almost continued dissension be-
tween the king and the most popular and authoritative part
of the clergy, which lasted, with little intermission, during
his whole reign, and in which one is sometimes called upon
to censure the unreasonable, irreverent, and irritating con-
duct of those who ought to have been the messengers of
peace, but oftener to admire the courage with which they
defended the liberties which had been handed down to them
by their predecessors, and the firmness with which they sub-
mitted voluntarily to poverty, banishment, and proscription,
rather than resign an iota of what they conceived to be their
lawful privileges as the servants of Heaven.
At the period which we treat of, the greater part of the
clergy were connected by opinion and principle with the
lords who were in exile on account of the Raid of Ruthven.
Arran had at different times made advances to gain the
favor of the Church; but even the occasional advantages
which the clergy obtained by means of the minister had been
received like the more important benefits which Bothwell
had procured for the Church from Queen Mary during the
brief time of his guilty prosperity. Both these worthless
and wicked men were total disbelievers in public principle
or private honor, and, conscious of the total absence of both
in their own persons, had hoped by what might be called
bribery to secure the attachment of a class of persons who,
by principle and profession, were votaries and teachers of
religion and morality almost to the verge of bigotry. Their
advances were, therefore, spurned in consequence of the
hatred inspired by their vices; and the ministers of the
Church of Scotland continued not the less their enemies
that they had endeavored to secure their goodwill by ben-
efits to their order.
Convinced at last that the Church could not be concili-
ated by fair means, Arran, having the court at his disposal,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 168
determined on carrying through such a series of restrictive
laws as should debar the clergy in future from intermeddling
with the affairs of State, under the penalty of answering to
the temporal jurisdictions, which he hoped to retain under
the management of the king, that is, under his own.
For this purpose, in the year 1584, the parliament was
declared current, and convened on the 22d of May, in order
to confirm the king's declaration respecting the Raid of Ruth-
ven ; pronouncing the doom of forfeiture against Angus and
others, and the establishment of such a code of regulations
as might in future intimidate the ministers of the Church of
Scotland from exercising their wonted interference in civil
affairs. Unusual pains were taken to prevent any rumors
going abroad of the nature or extent of the intended meas-
ures. The lords of the articles, to whom was intrusted
the concoction of all business to be brought before parlia-
ment, were sworn to secrecy concerning the subjects to be
submitted to them. All access to the king's person was
denied to persons suspected to be hostile to the administra-
tion; and under these precautions the following severe laws
were passed for the purpose of restraining the privileges of
the Church, real and assumed.
The king's authority over all persons, and in all cases
whatsoever, was formally confirmed. "The declining his
majesty's judgment and that of the council, in whatsoever
matter, was," says Spottiswoode, "declared to be treason.
The impugning the authority of the three estates, or procur-
ing the innovation or diminution of the power of any of
them, was inhibited under the same pain. All jurisdictions
and judicatures, spiritual or temporal, not approved of by
his highness and the three estates, were discharged, and an
ordinance made, that none of whatsoever function, quality,
or degree, should presume privately or publicly, in ser-
mons, declamations, or familiar conferences, to utter any
false, untrue, or slanderous speeches, to the reproach of
his majesty, his council, and proceedings, or to the dis-
honor, hurt, or prejudice of his highness, his parents, and
164 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
progenitors, or to meddle with the affairs of his highness
and estate, under the pains contained in the acts of parlia-
ment made against the makers and reporters of lies. ' ' The
Church of Scotland was by these sweeping enactments to-
tally altered in its constitution and privileges. A change
which we must regard in a very different light, if we con-
sider the privileges which they claimed theoretically, or look
at their practical effects.
In the first point of view there appears no political wis-
dom in rendering a body like the clergy, set apart for duties
inconsistent with the bustle of active life, the depositaries of
a nation's liberty, otherwise than in matters of religious doc-
trine and conscience. But though such a charge was an
anomaly, it was still more essential to the liberties of the
nation that a power of reminding the subjects of their rights,
and the rulers of their duty, should exist somewhere, than
that it should be lodged in those hands which might be
theoretically preferred as the most expedient and best.
The Scottish parliament were, indeed, in theory, the- nat-
ural and proper guardians of the people's freedom; but the
institution of the committee, called lords of the articles,
who had the previous privilege of arranging and garbing
the business which was to come before parliament, prevented
the efficacy of the national representatives in their proper
sphere. Besides, the warm and precipitate discord of Scot-
tish factions was not of a nature which could abide the cold
decision of a parliamentary debate, or be decided by the or-
derly and peaceful vote of a deliberative assembly. When
a party was triumphant they held a parliament of their
own, at which those opposed to them took special care not
to give attendance; or if a statute was accounted injuri-
ous to the subject, they showed their sense of its injustice
not by opposing the bill in its progress through parliament,
but by disregarding and disobeying it after it had passed
into a law. It followed, therefore, that in most cases, as
during the administration of Arran, the parliament was
formed of persons chosen as being friendly to the prime
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 165
minister, and under control of a close committee of lords
of the articles selected by himself, who were more likely to
be the organs of the royal or ministerial pleasure than the
means of controlling it.
The voice of the national representation being thus mute,
it was highly essential that there should exist somewhere a
privilege of reprehension and remonstrance against the in-
roads of power upon popular rights ; and the Church of Scot-
land, from circumstances and habit, had obtained possession
of a privilege, the existence of which was of vital importance
to the welfare of the community. That this zealous and
hardy class of men, little accustomed to carry moderation
into their opinions or temper into their debates, should have
exercised their right with uniform moderation and judg-
ment, could hardly be expected of so large a body composed
of persons so various in temper and talents; but that they
uniformly exerted it with courage, and endured with pa-
tience and resolution the personal penalties which ensued,
must be admitted as a compensation for much petulance and
ill-timed interference on the part of the preachers. In a
word, this peculiarity in the Scottish constitution resembled
a case in architecture, easily conceived, and frequently oc-
curring. An architect would be justly censured, who, in
contriving a house, should make a window the ordinary vent
for the smoke; but if by any accident the chimney is ob-
structed, an attempt to shut up some aperture, because
anomalous, must have the effect to stifle the inhabitants.
The destruction, therefore, of this privilege of the clergy,
hough rather of an inconsistent character, considering their
sacred function, was a bold step toward the establishment
of despotism in Scotland.
While the obnoxious measures were yet depending, the
ministers of the Church sent one of their number to the
king, with a petition that no act affecting the Church should
be permitted to pass through parliament until the brethren
should be heard upon its tenor. But mystery and precipita-
tion are the usual attendants of arbitrary resolutions, while
186 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
those of a different character are uniformly distinguished by
calm deliberation and free discussion. Lindsay, the bearer
of this moderate petition, was not permitted to approach the
king's presence, but was arrested at the gate of the palace,
and sent prisoner to the State fortress of Blackness. Another
clergyman of Edinburgh, named Pont, who was also a sen-
ator of the college of justice, took a protest against the
measures understood to be passing through parliament, on
the ground that they had been adopted without consent or
knowledge of the Church. In reward of what was termed
his contumacy, Pont was declared a rebel, degraded from
his condition as a judge, and forced to fly into England.
These violent measures raised universal terror. The
most learned and conscientious of the clergy saw no rem-
edy, save resigning their charges, or submitting tamely to
be deprived of their privileges of freely expressing their sen-
timents. The ministers of Edinburgh set an example of the
sacrifice. They adopted in a body the resolution of volun-
tary exile; and from the borders of England the devoted
band wrote a letter to the provost and magistrates of Edin-
burgh, declaring that they left their charge, after a long
wrestling, with the purpose of reserving themselves for bet-
ter times, and of flying for the present from the death with
which they were menaced, should they remain, for the pur-
pose of bearing testimony against the iniquitous encroach-
ments on the privileges of their order.
The pulpits in the metropolis being thus silenced, a
gloomy discontent overwhelmed all ranks of men, but es-
pecially those who had most zealously professed the reformed
doctrines; and James himself did not escape the suspicion
of being inclined to bring Scotland back to the superstitious
yoke of Rome. In many more instances than we have space
to notice, the strife was maintained between the Church and
the civil power by individual ministers, who plainly saw that
by renouncing their claim to interfere in temporal politics
they would deprive their doctrine of its savor, and render
themselves as insignificant as they were already indigent.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 167
Meantime Arran, the great mover of these perilous inno-
vations in Church and State, neglected not to advance his
own interest by means as unjustifiable as those which reg-
ulated his general government. The death of Argyle gave
him opportunity to seize the office of chancellor. Thus he
engrossed offices of rank and authority one after another,
without considering that his power, like an ill-constructed
building, rested on an imperfect foundation, and that every
increase of height must only give it additional insecurity.
His inordinate rapacity and vanity gave birth to a report
that he meant to lay claim to the throne, which was founded
on his having had the affectation to lodge in parliament a
deed, on his part formally disclaiming the purpose of insist-
ing on any right competent to him to claim the crown as a
successor of Murdach, duke of Albany. The intimating the
existence of such a right was considered as high presump-
tion, and in secret could not but be deeply offensive to
James himself.
The favorite's overgrown fortunes were thus evidently
tottering to a fall; and it was a sure proof that the time
was not far distant, when even the individuals who were
raised into power by his own recommendations sought to
advance themselves by separating their interests from his.
He had raised to the office of secretary, John Maitland, the
brother of the celebrated Lethington, and possessor of the
family talents. This statesman, who afterward rose to great
eminence, continued for a certain time to regard Arran as
his patron, and therefore ruled his actions by that favorite's
inclination ; but perceiving that the headlong course which
the earl pursued could not lead to permanent greatness or
safety, he by degrees drew off from his party, and began
to establish a separate interest of his own.
This was the case also with a young man of extraordi-
nary talents, but unhappily of equal duplicity, who began at
this time to be distinguished at first as a friend and after-
ward as a rival of Arran in the king's favor. This was the
Master of Gray, personally handsome, witty, and accom-
168 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
plished in those exercises which gained James's eye and
affection, but totally destitute of principle, whether moral
or political. He concealed for a long time his private views
of entering into competition with the ruling favorite, and
seemed, on the contrary, to devote himself to the augmen-
tation of Arran's greatness. This artful and rising young
man, having considerable acquaintance with England, is
supposed to have first impressed upon Arran the necessity
of cultivating the friendship of Elizabeth.
This was, indeed, no easy matter ; for the efforts of the
English ambassadors had been hitherto systematically and
uniformly directed to the destruction of Arran's power,
either by secretly undermining it, or by openly accusing
him of unfitness to be the minister. But Burleigh, deeply
read in the politics of Machiavel, had disapproved of the
open dislike avowed by Walsingham to the person of Arran,
and held it better and more politic to dissemble with him
while he remained in James's favor. Elizabeth, therefore,
and her ministers, though entertaining no better opinion of
Arran than before, yet were willing to adopt the policy of
availing themselves of his present credit, by obtaining such
advantages as could be derived from an intimate league with
the prime minister of Scotland.
For cementing such an agreement, which, it is probable,
neither party had the intention of keeping longer than served
their own interest, Arran, with great splendor of attendance,
and in capacity of royal lord lieutenant, held a confidential
meeting upon the borders with Lord Hunsdon, the relation
of Queen Elizabeth. Here Arran is said to have devoted
himself to the interests of England, engaging, for the sat-
isfaction of Queen Elizabeth's anxieties concerning the suc-
cession to the English crown, to keep the king unmarried
for three years, by thwarting and disconcerting any match
which might be proposed during that period. On the part
of Hunsdon an elusory promise was said to have been
made that, the three years being expired, James should be
wedded to an unmarried princess of the blood of England,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 169
who would then be marriageable, and invested by Elizabeth
with the title of second person in the English kingdom.
There is little doubt that this was one of those vague pro-
posals by which Elizabeth hoped to stave off James's mar-
riage to an indefinite period, as she had attempted in respect
to that of his mother. Upon the whole, the English cour
sellors deemed Arran far too flighty, vain, and unsettled,
to be much relied on ; and although apparently engaging to
support Arran's interest with James, and avail herself in
return of that favorite's good offices, Queen Elizabeth was,
in fact, corresponding with those who had Arran's destruc-
tion at heart, and was privately determined to assist them
by every means in her power.
In the meantime, however, it was necessary to pay some
apparent attention to his remonstrances, made in the name
of his master, on account of the shelter afforded to the exiles
of Scotland. Angus and his companions were ordered to
London; and there was an affectation on the part of Eng-
land of restraining their intercourse and their intrigues with
their own country.
Arran, confiding in his supposed friendship with England,
proceeded in the pursuit of his own interest with the direct
and disgusting rapacity which aims only at instant gratifica-
tion without caring for consequences. The Earl of Athole,
the Lord Home, and the Master of Cassilis, great names,
and implying both rank and power, were severally impris-
oned at his instance, for singular and very tyrannical rea-
sons. The first, because he refused to divorce his wife, a
daughter of the deceased Earl of Gowrie, and entail his
estate upon Arran. The second, because he declined to con-
vey to the tyrannical minister a portion of the lands of Dirle-
ton. The third, because he had refused to lend Arran money
when it was supposed he had some to spare — a species of
offence which can be comprehended in all stages of society,
though, happily for moneyed men, those disposed to be their
debtors have seldom the means of avenging themselves for
a repulse. Besides the enmity thus excited, Arran, in for-
Scotland. Vol. II.— 8
170 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
•warding oertain partial views of his own, awakened a deadly
feud on the western borders of Scotland, so important as to
assume the character of a civil war.
The county of Dumfries had been long agitated by the
disagreement of the ancient and powerful clans of Johnstone
and Maxwell, who contended for the supreme influence. Of
these the family of Maxwell was by far the richer, the more
numerous, the more powerful, and possessed in the dale of
the Nith the more extensive and wealthy territory. The
Johnstones, on the contrary, were thorough-paced borderers,
living in the fastnesses of Annandale, a country nearly in-
accessible, constantly engaged in war and depredation, and
possessed of equal readiness to take arms and skill to use
them. Their want of numbers or strength was made up by
an inveterate love of war and the most determined courage.
They were thus enabled to wage war with equal auspices
against a feudal enemy more powerful than themselves;
and it now suited the Earl of Arran to make them minis-
ters of his vengeance upon the clan of Maxwell, against
whose chieftain he harbored a personal cause of complaint.
Arran had become desirous to exchange the barony of Kin-
neil, which he had succeeded to in the manner already men-
tioned, as a part of the insane Earl of Arran's most unjust
forfeiture, for the lands of Maxwellheugh, an ancient pos-
session of the Lord Maxwell. The proposed exchange was
declined by Maxwell, who saw no reason to part with his
ancient patrimony, and had, perhaps, little confidence in
the security of the title by which he was to hold the new
acquisition offered to him in lieu of it. Indignant at this
opposition to his will and convenience, Arran resolved to
avenge himself by stirring up again the Lord Maxwell his
hereditary enemies the Johnstones. In order to attain this
point, by awakening the ancient rivalry between the houses,
he prevailed upon the chief of the Johnstones to accept of
the office of provost of Dumfries, now and for years past
held by the rival chief. Maxwell, understanding that the
citizens had received a letter from the king, directing them
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 171
to elect Johnstone for the provost, naturally interpreted this
as done in scorn of his prior right, and resolved to occupy
the town forcibly, and put Johnstone to death in case he at-
tempted to stand the election. Changing his purpose, how-
ever, he contented himself with obstructing Johnstone's
entrance into Dumfries, while he procured himself to be
continued in the disputed office. To further his revenge,
which had hitherto miscarried, Arran caused Maxwell to be
denounced a rebel, for his obstruction of the king's pleasure
in the matter of the provostry, and on account of certain
border irregularities, of which pretexts were never wanting
against the great men, who, like Maxwell, had rule in that
disturbed country.
Commission was given to Johnstone to pursue and ap-
prehend his rival ; and two bands of mercenary soldiers were
despatched to render him assistance in that enterprise. These
hired soldiers, as they marched through Crawford Moor tc
join with their allies the Johnstones, were surrounded;
defeated, and slain, or made prisoners by the Maxwells
Johnstone, smarting under this discomfiture, raised his
banner, and invaded Nithsdale, burning and taking spoil
with the usual border ferocity. Maxwell retaliated; and
the clans, so long opposed to each other, having met in
pitched battle, Johnstone was defeated and made prisoner—
an affront which afflicted his proud spirit so severely that
he died of grief shortly after he was liberated. The feud
continued violent between the two great families: incur-
sions, depredations, and skirmishes took place on either side,
and all through the fault of the unscrupulous minister, who,
in his desire to avenge a private grudge against Maxwell,
had totalty destroyed the peace of the country, where it was
his duty as chancellor to see the laws equally administered,
and tranquillity preserved among the subjects.
isor had Arran's individual impolicy been less evident
in fomenting this civil war than the neglect of his public
duty. In Maxwell he had added to his own personal ene-
mies a powerful and warlike chieftain, the head of a military
172 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
clan, and situated so near the border that he might make
common cause with the Scottish exiles, the incensed clergy-
men, and the minister's other enemies. Accordingly Arran
was sensible of the danger too late. A convention of the
estates was called, money was voted, and levies were set on
foot for a royal expedition to suppress Maxwell; but the
severe pestilence that broke out in Edinburgh occasioned
the delay of the projected expedition.
In the meantime Elizabeth, relying little or nothing on
the faith of Arran, who showed himself as devoid of wisdom
as he was of popularity, was desirous, if possible, to rest her
friendship with Scotland upon a more secure basis than that
on which it had been placed by Arran's interview with
Hunsdon.
For this purpose she chose to enter into a new negotia-
tion, founded on the habits and character of James himself.
The reports of Walsingham may be supposed to have pro-
duced some effect in favor of the Scottish monarch, at least
so far as to make it appear politic to study his disposition
more closely, and gain the personal favor less of his ministers
than of the king himself. The queen selected for this pur-
pose an envoy to reside at the Scottish court, singularly well
adapted to further her views, whether he should find the
Scottish prince of that character, at once solid and ingenious,
which Walsingham ascribed to him, or whether James should
be found, according to common repute, influenced by the
silly habit of favoritism and overweening attachment to
juvenile sports. This envoy was called Wotton. He was
sent, according to the Master of Gray, not to tease his maj-
esty with politics, or troublesome and thorny matters of
business, but to partake with him in the honest pastimes
of hunting, hawking, and riding, and entertain him with
friendly and merry discourses ; having been a great traveller,
and seen various courts.
Above all, Wotton was recommended by Gray as a sin-
cere friend and favorer of his majesty's title and succession
to the throne of England.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 173
Under this gay and gilded exterior, which was calculated
to advance him in the opinion of James, the English envoy
added the dangerous qualities of an experienced spy and
bold intriguer ; and had from his mistress the delicate charge
of combining together and bringing to union all the discon-
tented spirits whom he should find willing to engage in
opposition to Arran. The moment the experienced Melville
set his eyes upon the new envoy of England at the Scottish
court, he recognized the person of a young man whom he
had known at Paris acting the part of a spy in the disguise
of an Irish page, and forming the channel through which
some treacherous proposals were made to the constable of
France for the surprisal of Calais. This important discovery
he communicated to James; leaving it to the king to judge
how "Wotton's former occupation agreed with the character
of a frank, jovial, light-hearted sportsman, assigned to him
by the Master of Gray. Although James was thus warned
of Wotton's real character, he could not resist being capti-
vated with his accomplishments in hunting and hawking
and other sylvan pastimes, and admitted him far more into
his society than was either prudent or proper.
The matter of State on which Wotton was chiefly directed
to insist was one of the utmost importance to both parts of
Britain, being the formation of a league, offensive and de-
fensive, among all Protestant sovereigns, to counterbalance
that which had been formed between the pope, the Spanish
king, the brethren of the House of Guise, and other Catholic
princes, having for its object the extirpation of the reformed
religion. Such a league was assented to with great' formality
by the king in parliament, being offensive and defensive in
all matters which should affect the cause of religion. In
return for his brotherly zeal, Elizabeth settled on James the
solid benefit of a pension of four thousand pounds sterling,
which was highly acceptable to the Scottish sovereign, whose
revenue was in a most dilapidated condition. "When this
ostensible purpose of his embassy was accomplished, it was
supposed that Sir Edward Wotton, the envoy extraordinary,
174 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
would have returned to the English court ; but he had yet
a deeper and darker intrigue to conduct, in the destruction
of the power of the favorite Arran.
This had been considerably shaken : Gray and Maitland,
though they had risen under his favor, as we have seen,
were secretly his enemies ; the king was in some late instances
known to express himself dissatisfied with his violence ; and
a misfortune had of late happened on the border of a char-
acter which endangered the peace between the kingdoms,
which, if not directly imputable to his agency, was yet such
as he was considered liable to be made responsible for,
Sir John Foster, warden of the eastern marches of Eng-
land, had held one of the usual meetings of truce with Sir
Thomas Kerr of Farniherst, warden of the middle marches
of Scotland, when a question of dispute arose concerning the
satisfaction claimed for certain cattle said to have been stolen
out of Scotland : the dispute waxed warm ; and each warden
being surrounded by the usual number of armed borderers-
delinquents who found their own account in war and dis-
turbance — they came very soon from words to blows. The
Scottish poured a volley of their firearms upon the English,
by which Sir Francis Russell, eldest son of the Earl of Bed
ford, was mortally wounded, and died, bequeathing to the
fatal spot, which is on the farm of Auldton Burn, and exactly
on the march between England and Scotland, the name of
Russell's Cairn,
Queen Elizabeth was highly offended when she received
this information 5 and although such accidents were fre»
quent, considering tbe inflammable temper of the clans who
usually attended on these occasions, it was her pleasure in
this case to impute the death of Russell to the special malice
of Farniherst, instigated by his patron Arran to take such
violent measures for breaking the peace with England, There
is no possibility of judging with certainty what might or
might not be true respecting a person of Arran 's rash and
fickle temper. But considering that he had been so lately
courting the friendship of Elizabeth, as essential to his own
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 175
interest, it seems improbable that he should suddenly break
it off in so violent a manner ; and it is much more likely that
Elizabeth, perceiving his credit at James's court beginning
to fail, availed herself of this pretext of assisting to over-
throw it entirely, with the hope of filling up his place in
James's counsels by men upon whose principles she could
better rely than on a favorite intoxicated with his unde-
served advancement and devoid at once of faith and of
sagacity. The remonstrance of his allies, skilfully enforced
by the art of Wotton, had, no doubt, considerable effect
upon James. He appointed Sir Thomas Kerr to enter into
ward, that is, to remain a prisoner on parole in the town of
Aberdeen, and commanded Arran to restrain himself to his
mansion of Kinneil. Farniherst died in his imprisonment;
for, being a man of a haughty spirit, and conscious of hav-
ing rendered many services to Mary in her distresses, he
resented the usage which he received from the son of his
old mistress, and is said to have died of mortification.
Other agents were strangely intermingled in the dark
intrigues.
About this time a judicial proceeding took place of a very
peculiar character, which indicated the boldness with which
the Scottish ministers pursued their criminal intrigues, their
contempt of public opinion, and their reliance upon the ex-
treme docility of King James.
It has been already mentioned that when Morton was
accused of the murder of Darnley, on the last day of Decem-
ber, 1580, his cousin, Archibald Douglas, titular parson of
Glasgow, was involved in the same charge; nay, a great
part of the accusation against Morton rested upon his having
favored and preferred this Archibald Douglas, although by
the testimony of those persons who suffered for the murder
Archibald had been himself present at the deed, and although
by Morton's own confession the same person had proposed
the crime to him on the part of Both well, and urged him to
take part in the execution. Being thus involved in the
alleged guilt of his patron Morton, even more deeply than
176 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the earl himself, Douglas was deprived of his office of a
judge of the Court of Session, which he held by the favor
of the late regent, and was obliged to fly to England. He
was subjected to a doom of forfeiture in the month of No-
vember, 1581; and the king made repeated demands to Eliz-
abeth that he should be delivered up to him for trial and
execution.
Douglas was a man of that species of talents which suited
the time ; able, intriguing, bold, and audacious, unscrupulous
enough to act with any party in any kingdom, and shrewd
enough to take the full advantage of any circumstance which
might occur in his favor. During his banishment in England
he had intimately connected himself with Elizabeth's min-
ister, Randolph, and others, whom she considered as most
proper to maintain the oblique and indirect connections
which her policy disposed her to entertain with the various
malcontents in Scotland. The intrigues of the Master of
Gray were closely connected with the same class of minis-
ters; and it appears that he held, in consequence, an inti-
mate intercourse with the banished Archibald Douglas.
When Arran's influence at court began to fail, an act was
passed under the great seal, releasing Douglas from the
decree of forfeiture pronounced against him as both acces-
sor}' and principal in Darnley's murder: it contained the
extraordinary clause, that if, notwithstanding, Douglas on
a fair trial should be found guilty of accession to the king's
murder, the act of rehabilitation should lose its force. Un-
der this species of assurance, limited as it was, Douglas had
the audacity to return to his native country. For decency's
sake he was subjected to a trial, which appears to have been
in every respect collusive, and so managed as to insure the
escape of the prisoner : it was so conducted as to place his
fate in the hands of jurymen selected by the prisoner him-
self ; others who were cited, having refused to attend, were
supplied from a list summoned by an order of the king pro-
duced by the accused, and consisting, as far as can now be
discovered, of jurors fully disposed for his acquittal; by jury-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 177
men thus packed, having the Master of Gray as their chan-
cellor, in May, 1586, he was acquitted of the crime. It also
occurred, as a singular feature on the trial, that the confes-
sion of Morton, who stated that Douglas, now accused, had
been the person through whom Bothwell communicated with
him upon the deed, was withdrawn from the record, and
could not be produced against the accused. Thus collusively
acquitted from an accession to the murder of the king's
father, of which he was unquestionably guilty, Archibald
Douglas continued to be a favorite channel of communica-
tion between the English intriguers in Scotland and Gray,
and other favorers of their interest at James's court : and he
appears shortly after this narrow escape from a trial for the
crime of which he was certainly guilty, the murder, namely,
of the king's father, to have been designed as ambassador
for England. Unquestionably the object of this most inde-
cent proceeding was to insure to the Master of Gray a safe,
secret, and subtile agent, with whom he might communicate
with his friends in England upon the measures to be adopted
for accomplishing the downfall of Arran. A singular letter
of Thomas Randolph, the most active agent in these dark
and iniquitous transactions, is still preserved: 1 it is written
in a strain of drollery not uncharacteristic of wicked men,
who often concert and carry on their villanies in a tone of
jest which renders them, perhaps, more indifferent in their
own eyes than if they used the ordinary language of com-
mon life. He seems to consider Douglas as not quite re-
stored in character, as we may infer from his tone of salu-
tation, in which he addresses him as domine non adhuc
sacrosancte: he talks of the Carrs as probably fled to the
hills, in consequence of Elizabeth's resentment for the death
of Russell, and alludes to tumults shortly to ensue in Scot-
land. "Look to your own person," he proceeds, "that you
bring it shortly sacro-sanctified into England. Beware of
the crafts of the Arranses, and hatred of the Carrs; for
1 See State Papers of Murdin and Haynes, vol. ii., p. 558.
178 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
hereupon dependeth the state of your welfare, sanctifica-
tion, or reprobation." He proceeds, alluding possibly to
some libel or attack upon himself as well as Douglas: "As
notable a peece of knavery hath been of late wrote agaynst
my sanctitie in esse, and yours in propinquo, as any cun-
ninge knave in Scotland could ever have wrought." The
concluding paragraph of this remarkable letter not only
affords peculiar evidence of James's ruling taste, but serves
to show that the means by which Randolph studied to gratify
them were transmitted through hands so imperfectly cleansed
from his father's blood : " I have sent the kynge two hunting
men, verie good and skilfull, with one footman, that can
hoop, hollow, and crye, that all the trees in Fawkland will
quake for fear: pray the kynge's majestie to be mercifull
to poor bucks; but let him spare and look well to himself."
Within a few weeks Douglas, replaced in the secular posses-
sion of the benefice of Glasgow, which was, probably, great
part of the sacro-sanctification alluded to by Randolph, was
sent to England as the ordinary ambassador of King James;
and there can be little doubt that to him and to the Master
of Gray are to be imputed not only the fall of Arran, which
was in itself a deliverance to Scotland, but the death of
Queen Mary, which was accelerated by their nefarious
intrigues.
Arran was soon relieved from his confinement on account
of Russell's death; but cannot have been restored to the con-
fidence of his sovereign, since intrigues were now carried
forward almost openly for the object of removing him from
power. "With this view Sir Edward Wotton held secret com-
munication with Maitland, Gray, and other counsellors in
Scotland hostile to Arran's interest, and no less with Angus
and the other exiles, on account of the Raid of Ruthven,
whom he encouraged to approach once more to the border
to unite with Lord Maxwell, the capital enemy of Arran ;
and then advancing into the interior, to achieve by force of
arms a purpose which was scarcely now likely to be seriously
opposed, so numerous were the enemies of the favorite, and
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 179
so far had he declined in his master's opinion.. For the
same reason, the exiles of Ruthven, laying aside considera-
tion of the ancient feud between the Hamiltons and Doug-
lases, resolved to make one cause with Lords John and Claud
Hamilton, disinherited by the oppression of Morton, and enter
Scotland in the same company with them.
In autumn, 1585, Arran became aware of the intended
invasion, and appointed a levy of the array of Scotland to
join the king at the castle of Crawford on the 22d day of
October, in order to meet and repel it. But the statesmen
whom he himself had introduced into power now openly
deserted his falling authority: Gray and Maitland, who
were concerned in "Wotton's intrigue, prevented the sum-
monses from being circulated or attended to. The banished
lords hastened to prevent the king's levies, and assembled a
body of about a thousand men at the town of Linton, where
they were joined by Maxwell with seven or eight hundred
horse and three hundred infantry — a force almost equal to
the united strength which his new associates could muster.
They immediately set in motion toward Stirling, where the
king and Arran lay, proclaiming the said earl and Colonel
William Stewart abusers of the king's favor, for whose re-
moval from the public councils and for the preserving of
peace with England they declared themselves to be in arms.
The Earl of Bothwell and others hastened to join with
them. Indeed, the avowal of such motives was so gen-
erally accepted that before they reached St. Ninian's their
numbers were increased to nearly ten thousand men in arms.
In the meantime the alarm at Stirling was great. Wotton,
the English ambassador, who had been so busy in all these
intrigues, thought it safe to withdraw from Scotland with-
out taking farewell, when he perceived an explosion unavoid-
able. Some imputed this unusually precipitate departure to
his having trafficked in some scheme for the delivery of the
king's person into the hands of the discontented nobles ; oth-
ers supposed he was unwilling to be within the power of Arran
when he should find himself overreached. He himself im-
180 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
puted his haste to his mistress's resentment of the delay in
delivering up Farniherst, which is the least probable cause
which could have been assigned, since a mortal malady had
already arrested that unfortunate chief.
Arran, cooped up in Stirling, made some pretence of de-
fending himself, although such had been his supineness or
the treachery of those whom he had intrusted with the
charge of affairs at this crisis, that neither arms, men, nor
provisions were in readiness for the emergency. The night
passed in fruitless debates. Ere the break of day a cry arose
that the town was taken. The invaders, having obtained
entrance by the connivance of some friends, were, in fact,
in possession of the town. Arran fled ; and having the key
of Stirling Bridge about his person, was enabled to make
his escape, locking the gates behind him to prevent pursuit.
James remained in Stirling Castle with some courtiers about
his person, but without garrison or provisions.
Deserted by his favorite, he opened a communication with
the armed lords, and it appears they soon came to understand
each other. The lords protested that their approach in that
warlike manner was not meant to put any compulsion upon
the king, but merely to obtain permission to reside on their
estates, and to serve their country. James, on his part,
manifested much moderation : he had never liked, he said,
the violence of Arran ; and was content to admit the noble-
men to his presence and favor, provided he was assured of
safety to those who had been his friends and active in his
service. .
Moderation being promised, on the part of the victorious
insurgents, the king received the armed petitioners with a
considerable degree of dignity. To Lord Hamilton, who,
in precedence of blood, was the first to offer his homage,
he replied, "My lord, I never before saw you; and I must
confess, of all that are here, you have been most wronged,
having been a faithful servant to the queen, my mother,
during my minority, and subject to ill usage, when I under-
stood not matters as I now do.— Others of you," he said.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 181
looking to the lords concerned in the Raid of Ruthven, "can-
not but say that you have had your deserts, and suffered no
more than your misdemeanors merited. For thee, Francis,"
he continued, addressing the Earl of Bothwell, who had
joined the invaders since their entrance into Scotland, "what
could move thee to come in arms against a sovereign who
never offended thee? I wish thee a more quiet spirit and
knowledge how to live as a subject, as otherwise thou wilt
fall into much trouble." This Earl of Bothwell, whom
James so apostrophized, was Francis Stewart, grandson of
King James V., by his natural son, and, consequently, a
cousin-german of the reigning monarch. The estates and
honors of Bothwell and lordship of Liddisdale had been
conferred upon him after the forfeiture of the infamous
James Hepburn; but it seems as if the very title was
doomed to infect those who bore it with a strain of in-
ordinate and turbulent ambition. For this nobleman be-
came a principal source of disorder during King James's
reign, as he who had formerly borne the title was the pest
and shame of Queen Mary's, so that the speech addressed
to him by the king at the Raid of Stirling seemed, in some
degree, prophetic.
The king's cordial reception of the lords seemed the
preface to an amicable settlement. Some changes were
made in order to give offices to the new-comers. Arran,
deprived of his titles and offices, was suffered to reside in
neglect and safety among his kinsmen, in the district of
Kyle, where he lived obscurely, under his original name
of Captain James Stewart. The contempt indicated by this
neglect shows that there was no longer any reason to dread
is influence over the king's mind, and that his hour of
favor had passed away.
The blood of only one individual stained this remarkable
revolution; and its effusion was lamented by no one. The
slain man was Hamilton of Eglismachan, the person upon
whose information Douglas of Mains and Cunningham of
Drumquhassel were condemned and executed. Johnstone
182 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of Westerkirk, a brave and determined borderer, had made
a vow to avenge the death of Mains, who had been his
fellow-soldier. At his approach to Stirling in the van of
the insurgent forces, as soon as he could set eyes upon
Hamilton, he rushed to attack him. The informer, who
had long lived in terror of such a fate, fled into the king's
park, where he was followed and slain by the self-elected
avenger of blood. Another incident, occasioned, it would
seem, by remorse of conscience, threw light upon the unde-
served fate of these two innocent gentlemen. Edmonstone
of Duntreath, as the reader will remember, had been brought
to trial along with them in the capacity of an associate, and
had pleaded guilty, alleging that the plot for seizing the
king's person had been concerted by himself and the gen-
tlemen accused, on the instigation of Black John Home, a
follower of the Earl of Angus. This confession, on the
part of a supposed associate, was urged against Argaty
and Drumquhassel. This same Edmonstone now came
forward before the privy council, voluntarily and unsum-
moned, to acknowledge that his former confession was a
tissue of falsehoods, which he had been compelled to utter
by the menaces of James Stewart, the late earl of Arran.
This contradiction of his former testimony was, probably,
brought forward to obtain favor, or immunity, at least, from
the Earl of Angus, whose name had been introduced as the
original instigator of the conspiracy imputed to Mains and
Drumquhassel.
Upon the whole, this revolution of affairs, as it was exe-
cuted with moderation and without bloodshed, was of great
advantage to the kingdom, by removing from the helm a
steersman like Arran, at once shortsighted and reckless,
interested and impetuous.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 183
CHAPTER XXXIV
Queen Mary in Prison — Becomes the Object of Interest to all who
conspire against Queeu Elizabeth — Elizabeth's Anxiety on her
Account — Her Removal from Carlisle to Bolton — From Bolton
to Tutbury, to Wingfield, to Coventry, to Chatsworth — Her
visit to Buxton — Account of her by Nicolas White — Her Amuse-
ments — Is more strictly guarded — And the Marks of Respect
shown to her diminished — Injustice of her Treatment — Causes
of Queen Elizabeth's Exasperation against her — The proposed
Match with Norfolk unpleasing to her — The English war
against the Queen's Party in Scotland — Attempt at a Treaty
with Mary broken off by the Scottish Commissioners — Norfolk
sent to the Tower — Mary desirous of an Interview with Eliza-
beth — Elizabeth incites the Feelings of her Subjects against
Mary, and endeavors to disgrace her in the Eyes of the Public
— Works against her circulated — Proceedings against her in
Parliament — Rigor of her Captivity increased
WHILE James VI. travelled through the slippery-
arid dangerous course of a Scottish minority, his
mother, though without any reason assigned other
than the will of Queen Elizabeth, remained an unpitied pris-
oner, sometimes in the house of one nobleman, sometimes in
that of another; all sensible that they offended the queen if
they treated the royal captive with anything approaching
to indulgence; and under the necessity, besides, of incurring
considerable personal expense, which their sovereign Eliza-
beth seldom dreamed of reimbursing in an adequate degree.
An active mind, and an early practice of feminine pursuits,
a turn toward religion, for which she was, perhaps, indebted
to adversity, with the power of studying and writing in va-
rious languages, enabled Mary to endure, with more than
female constancy, the long succeeding 3-ears of her weary
184 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
imprisonment. Hope, originally her frequent visitor, began
to be less frequent in his attendance. As her places of resi-
dence were changed, her train was abated, the marks of
honor rendered to her former rank were abridged, and her
apartments, defended with bolts and filled with armed
warders, bore more and more the undisguised air of a
prison-house; and the question was not, as at first, how
long her confinement should last, but merged in the darker
inquiry, how or when she was to be relieved by death.
In the meantime, the fate of the Scottish queen, as it was
sometimes the object of censure, and often of regret, among
the most attached subjects of Elizabeth, stimulated to hopes
and to enterprise the Roman Catholics of England, a numer-
ous party, who could not be insensible to the sufferings of a
princess of their own religion, even if she had not, in their
opinion, possessed a title to their allegiance better than any
which existed in the person of her oppressor. Repeated
plots, discovered by the wisdom of Elizabeth's counsellors,
had almost always for their object the liberation of Queen
Mary, and were usually connected with some scheme for
placing her on the British throne. The anxieties and per-
plexities in which Elizabeth was thus involved were not the
more easily endured that they might be considered as the
consequences of her own injustice.
In former days Mary, living in freedom and happiness in
her own kingdom, might be to Elizabeth an object of incon-
venient yet only occasional rivalry ; but, captive and forlorn,
she was now perpetually brought before her in every form
which could render the contrast painful : to speak fancifully,
the queen of England was somewhat in the situation of one
who, having murdered his enemy, is ever after haunted by
his spectre. The reflections upon her own injustice, and
upon the effect which it was likely to produce, made her
entertain the most fantastic apprehensions of the extent of
Queen Mary's faculty of seducing, and the apprehensions
of her rival's powers over her own most chosen favorites.
She had seen Norfolk and other nobles of undoubted faith
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 185
shoot madly from their spheres, as the poet expresses it,
attracted by the charms of a suffering queen and a captive
beauty. Shrewsbury, on whom she long imposed the un-
welcome office of Mary's keeper, at his several castles of
Tutbury, Chatsworth, Wingfield, and others, could not,
though old and faithful, escape the suspicions of his royal
mistress any more than those of his jealous countess : both
suspected him of too much favor for the royal prisoner;
and reproaches from court and domestic ill-humor was the
consequence of the slightest indulgence extended to his
captive.
Thus all that was dangerous, distasteful, and prejudicial
to Elizabeth, came by degrees to be mixed up with her idea
of her prisoner Mary, until dislike increased into hatred, and
hatred joined with fear became fierce enough, like the Indian
snake-god in Madoc, to demand a victim.
These considerations may account, though they cannot
apologize, for the principles on which Elizabeth acted to-
ward Mary, and in which the greatest queen that ever sat
upon the throne of England, or, perhaps, upon that of any
other country, seems to have been actuated at once by the
jealousy of power incidental to the most ambitious mind,
and by the peevish envy of disposition proper to the lowest
female. It was not the least part of the distress and incon-
venience inflicted upon Queen Mary that her place of con-
finement was repeatedly changed, upon the slightest suspi-
cion that the neighborhood was friendly to her; and that
some cause of alarm was always arising, and to such Eliza-
beth was sensibly accessible.
Mary had fled to Carlisle without either money or even a
fitting change of clothes. Her attendants then consisted of
about thirty, four or five of them being persons of conse-
quence attached to her party, and as many ladies of rank,
the rest menials of various degrees attendant upon the royal
person. She was first removed from Carlisle, where her
person was conceived to be in danger of rescue, especially
when she followed, within sight of the hills of her own king-
186 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
dom, the pastimes of hunting, and others from which it was
not thought decent as yet to debar her. Her removal took
place on the lGth of July, 1568, when her person was com-
mitted to the charge of Lord Scroope and Sir Francis Knollis,
the former being the lord of the castle ; and Mary remained
at Bolton till the 26th of January, 1568-9. During the dead
of winter, in a state of health which was always precarious,
owing to an old hurt received in the bosom, through a cold
country and during a rigorous season, she was transported
to Tutbury. This journey was made with so little precau-
tion that the captive queen suffered all the inconveniences
of the most ordinary pauper in the present day. Tutbury
was an ancient castle belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury,
who now became the guardian of the unfortunate queen.
"We have already said that this nobleman was married to
a jealous and passionate woman, who mistook and misinter-
preted the most ordinary marks of attention on the part of
her husband to his royal prisoner. It is, perhaps, the strong-
est instance of despotism exercised by the imperious House
of Tudor, that Elizabeth, by her royal authority, should for
so many years compel a nobleman of the first rank to con-
tinue in a charge, the effect of which converted his house
into a prison, his servants into jailers, involved him in a
large expenditure, of which the queen hesitated to relieve
him, and totally destroyed the peace of his domestic life
by sowing discord between him and his lady, the most vio-
lent woman in England ; and all this notwithstanding that
the misery which Lord Shrewsbury suffered was so great
as to affect his health and even his understanding. Prom
Tutbury, Mary was sent for a season to "Wingfield, another
house of Shrewsbury ; but the rebellion of the Earls of West-
moreland and Northumberland threw the north of England
into such confusion that Elizabeth became doubly anxious
for the security of her unhappy prisoner. Mary was, there-
fore, removed on short notice from Wingfield to Tutbury,
and from Tutbury to Coventry, and back again, and
dragged in bad weather through wretched roads from
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 187
one place of confinement to another, until, on the 4th
of August, 1570, she was suffered to repose in the manor
of Chatsworth.
From Chatsworth Mar} r was once more removed to Shef-
field, where there was then a strong castle, in which she con-
tinued to abide for a considerable time, with the variety of
one or two visits to Buxton for her health, leave for which
was reluctantly granted as an indulgence, all other patients
being excluded from the healing baths during the presence
of the suspected queen in their vicinity. In July, 1582, she
took leave of Buxton, to which she applied the following
Latin distich in bidding its baths adieu, perhaps, forever:
"Buxtona quae calidse celebrabere nomine lymphae,
Forte mini posthac non adeunda vale!"
In the course of these weary years of confinement, varied
by nothing save the change of prison, the reader may be
tempted to ask in what manner Mary, the queen of two
kingdoms, and accustomed to the exercise of her sovereign
will both in France and Scotland, contrived to support a
severe state of restraint, the more intolerable from the rank
and habits of her upon whom it was inflicted? "We can
hardly give a more striking picture of the patience of the
unfortunate queen under her misfortunes than is contained
in a letter of Nicolas White, sent on purpose by Cecil as a
spy upon Mary's conduct and that of her keeper. The let-
ter is dated 26th April, 1568.
White had asked whether she liked her change of air, in
allusion to her removal from Bolton to Tutbury "in the
depth of winter": to which she mildly replied, "that had it
consisted with her good sister's pleasure she would not have
removed for change of air at this season of the year ; but
that she was so far contented with her removal from Bolton,
that she was so much the nearer her loving sister, into whose
presence she hoped soon to be admitted." To this White
answered, with the effrontery of an accomplished hypocrite,
"that although Queen Mary did not enjoy the actual pres-
188 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ence of Elizabeth, yet it appeared to those who, Jike himself,
viewed the matter from a distance, that she had always the
virtual presence of the queen's majesty, who did in every
respect perform to her the office of a gracious prince, a natu-
ral kinswoman, a loving sister, and a most faithful friend."
This emissary of Cecil wound up his advice, by recommend-
ing to the unfortunate prisoner to "thank God that after so
many perils she had arrived in a realm where, through the
goodness of Queen Elizabeth's majesty, she had rather cause
to regard herself as receiving prince-like entertainment than
as suffering the slightest restraint." The poor queen an-
swered meekly, "that indeed she had great cause to be
thankful to Heaven and to her sister for such ease as she
enjoyed; and that though she would not pretend to ask of
God contentment in a state of captivity, she made it her
daily petition that he would endow her with patience to
endure it." In reporting this singular interview, White
proceeds thus: "I asked her grace, since the weather did
cutt of all exercises abroad, howe she passed the time within.
She sayd, that all the day she wrought with hir needle, and
that the diversitie of the colors made the worke somewhat
lesse tedious, and that she contynued at it till very pain
made her to give over : and with that laid hir hand upon hir
left syde, and complayned of an old grief newely increased
there. Upon this occasion she (the Scottish queen), with the
agreeable and lively wit natural to her, entered into a prety
disputable comparison betweene carving, painting, and work-
ing with the needle, affirming painting, in hir own opinion,
for the moste commendable quality. I annswered hir
grace I coulde skill of neither of them; but that I have
redd pictura to be Veritas falsa: with this she closed up
hir talk, and bydding me farewell, retyred into her privy-
chamber."
The fact that Queen Mary solaced the hours of imprison-
ment by the practice of those elegant arts of female work-
manship, in which she excelled, is ascertained by the preser-
vation of a quantity of pieces of embroidery, tapestry, anc
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 189
other labors of the needle and loom, still preserved and ex-
hibited in different scenes of her captivity, where they had
soothed the hours of imprisonment. The general effect of
Queen Mary's manners and sentiments appear to have had
an impression even upon the hypocritical agent of Cecil, at
which he is himself surprised. He acknowledges the effect
of her presence in the most striking manner, by desiring that
if he might advise, few persons should be permitted to have
access to the same seduction of which he had himself ex-
perienced the fascination. "But if," continues White, "I
(whiche in the sight of God beare the queens majestie a
naturall love, besyde my bounden dutie), might give advise,
there should very few subjects in this land have access to,
or conference with, this lady. For besid that she is a goodly
personage (and yet, in truth, not comparable to our souver-
ain), she hathe withall an alluring grace, a pretty Scottish
speche, and a serening wit, clouded with myldnes. Fame
might move some to releve her, and glory joyned to gain
might stir others to adventure much for her sake. Sight,
they say, is a lively infective sence, and cariethe many per-
swasions to the hart, which rulethe all the rest : myn own
affection, by seeing the quenes majestie our souverain is
dowbled, and thereby I gesse what the sight might worke
in others. Hir hair of it self is black, and yett Mr. Knolls
told me, that she weares heare of sundry colors."
While such were the queen's amusements during her
melancholy imprisonment, and such the gentleness of de-
portment, which affected even the cold-blooded agent of
Cecil, every other means allowed her for her greater con-
venience or more respectable accommodation was gradually
restrained more and more.
At first, as we have just seen, her abode at Bolton and
Tutbury was represented by this man White as bemg some-
thing almost voluntary, and for which she was told she ought
to be thankful to Heaven. It is true that when she removed
from place to place she was under guard of a stout band of
soldiers. No consent of her own was asked when a journey
190 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
was proposed, nor did her dissent when she desired to remain
at Bolton prevent her being transported to Tutbury. It is no
less true that she was not permitted to ride out for health
or pleasure, although she was so much accustomed to the
exercise that her health sunk under the confinement. It
is true also that if, at any time, she was permitted to accom-
pany her keepers upon the parties of hawking and hunting,
which they practiced for their own amusement and not fc
hers, bands of armed men were in attendance, provided witn
swords and firearms, and having orders to put to death the
captive princess, in case any attempt at escape or rescue
should seem likely to prove successful. But these circum-
stances, while they convey to modern readers a strong idea
of restraint, did not, in the opinion of Mr. White, partake of
the character of imprisonment, or form an alloy to the sis-
terly reception on the part of Elizabeth.
In what, then, it may be said, was the queen of Eng-
land's goodness manifested toward her prisoner? We can
only answer that for a certain time the vain forms of royalty
were practiced toward a sovereign who had less command
over her own motions than the meanest peasant; and the
empty form of a canopy of state was indulged to one whose
life depended upon her abstaining from every attempt to as-
sert the meanest and most ordinary privilege of a free person
— that of going where she would. We shall see in the prog-
ress of her sad history that Mary was by degrees deprived
even of the delusive tokens of respect, which were only at
first conceded to her, to be gradually withdrawn, as she
drew nearer to her fatal doom.
We have already mentioned the issue of the commission,
the members of which, without any legal authority that can
be imagined, took upon themselves the task of entering into
and examining the accusations brought against the queen of
Scotland by her insurgent subjects. Queen Elizabeth had
declined to decide between the parties: "she had not seen
ground enough," she said, "to declare the queen guilty of
the horrid charges brought against her; nor, on the con-
HISTORY or SCOTLAND 191
trary, to find the regent and the rest of the Scottish lords
of the king's part3 T guilty of rebellion against the royal au-
thority of Mary" — and such was the declaration of her sov-
ereign pleasure. But while Elizabeth nominally abstained
from judging in a cause which, indeed, she had no title to
take under her consideration, her conduct was effectually
the same as if she had found Queen Mary guilty and Mur-
ray and the king's lords totally innocent of the respective
charges brought against them. The queen of Scotland was
detained prisoner as a guilty person, while the regent was
dismissed with a subsidy of five thousand pounds, enabling
him to continue those military measures by which he had
placed himself at the head of the Scottish government.
Queen Mary remonstrated strongly against a course of
proceeding which, while it apparently acquitted her of all
guilt, left her the inmate of a jail, and subjected her at the
same time to the worst consequences of punishment. But
the prejudices of Queen Elizabeth against her rival were so
deeply rooted that no sense of justice could induce her to
forego the advantages which she had received from Queen
Mary's imprudent surrender of herself into her unfriendly
hands.
It must be owned that circumstances occurred during the
investigation at York which tended still further to increase
her excessive jealousy of her sister-queen.
It was Mary's misfortune upon this occasion to give way
t ; the suggestions of Maitland of Lethington, whose plots,
.hough they indicated the extreme subtlety of his own
genius, were often too much refined in their texture, and
too complicated in their ramifications, for a period of vio-
lence, where the knot of every intrigue was liable to bs
severed by the sword of the soldier or by the axe of the
executioner. The intrigue by which he involved Norfolk
in a project of marriage with Mary was probably of the
most fatal consequences to both. If he had, in fact, the
welfare of his unhappy mistress in his view, Maitland ought
to have seen that in her present condition she was entirely
192 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
dependent upon Queen Elizabeth, and that any offensive
course toward the latter sovereign must necessarily end in
the ruin of the former. In this respect the proposed mar-
riage of Mary with the Duke of Norfolk was sure to gall
the English queen upon almost every point where she was
most sensitive. Matrimony of any kind, where she was not
herself the object, was never found a matter more agree-
able to her than it usually is to the votaresses of celibacy ;
and that of Mary involved a prospect peculiarly disagreeable
to her. The marriage of Mary promised to extend those
claims of succession of which Elizabeth was sufficiently jeal-
ous even when they were now limited to a single youth ; and
she who could oppose by the most violent measures the union
of Darnley and the Scottish queen was not likely to be scrupu-
lous when this proposed alliance with one of the most power-
ful nobles of England seemed to renew all the fears which
another marriage was sure to awaken. It was well known,
also, that the duke in strengthening his party had cultivated
the favor of the Catholic Earls of Northumberland and West-
moreland, who, from motives of religion as well as policy,
were sufficiently disposed to prefer the title of Queen Mary
to that of Elizabeth.
However prudent, therefore, a match between Norfolk
and the Scottish queen might have been considered in the
abstract, supposing Mary at liberty and in a capacity to
make a free choice, the very surmise of such a connection
was fraught with danger while she was in the power of
Elizabeth ; and that it should have been suggested by Mait-
land is only an additional instance how men of great parts
can overreach themselves in matters of State policy, their
very ingenuity and extreme subtlety becoming the means
of blinding them to consequences which are obvious to those
of duller capacity. It appears equally difficult to justify the
conduct of Maitland, if we suppose that he believed it pos-
sible to carry on an intrigue of such importance without its
coming to the knowledge of Elizabeth herself, a jealous and
sagacious princess, and served by Cecil, Burleigh, and Wal-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 193
singham, the most subtle ministers known in Europe
at the period. He might also have well foreseen the
inevitable defection of Murray from the project, when-
ever it should become known to Queen Elizabeth, upon
cultivating whose favor the regent's power absolutely de-
pended.
The match with Norfolk naturally connected itself with
the dangerous insurrection of Westmoreland and Nor-
thumberland; and Elizabeth, not without good reason,
entertained suspicion of Mary as the hidden cause of
both, and of all the danger which they implied. Then
there is little doubt that they greatly prejudiced the queen
of Scots in her opinion, and furnished her with a specious
reason, founded upon State necessity, for detaining her a
prisoner. The English sovereign was indeed about to
have taken a more desperate step, by delivering up the
royal fugitive to the custody of the Regent Murray, had
not the sudden death of that nobleman prevented the
scheme from taking place.
After the death of Murray, the queen of England engaged
personally in the war, and, as we have seen, sent an English
army into Scotland. Out of this arose new arguments of
State for refusing the Scottish queen her liberty, however
unlaw fulh' she had been deprived of it. It was not to be
supposed, said the English counsellors, that while Elizabeth
was making war against a faction in Scotland, she either
would or ought to set at liberty the captive who was at
the head of that faction. Yet it appears that the English
queen had some intention of freeing herself of the queen
of Scots, although she never took any effectual step to that
measure.
In the meantime, the alleged attempts of the northern
rebels to effect Mary's escape, together with that queen's
supposed interest with these insurgents, formed an excuse
for confining her more closely than formerly. Her minis-
ter, the bishop of Ross, complained that his mistress was
not permitted to take exercise on horseback, by which her
Scotland. Vol. II.— 9
194= HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
health was much prejudiced; and it was granted, ob-
viously as a considerable boon, that the Scottish queen
might ride forth to take the air, so that it were in com-
pany with the Earl of Shrewsbury. In the meantime,
as if to realize the thoughts which the English queen en-
tertained of parting with her Scottish hostage, two of
her ministers, Cecil and Mildmay, were sent, November,
1570, to endeavor to settle some terms on which Mary
might be liberated.
The principal proposals were that Mary should renounce
any pretensions to the English crown; that she should ad-
here to the alliance between the kingdoms; grant pardon
to the subjects who had been in arms against her during
the civil war, and put into the queen of England's hands
hostages of high rank, and some castles in Scotland, by
way of guarantee.
It is plain that Elizabeth's only pretensions to obtain
such articles arose from her having in possession the person
of the queen of Scots, committed to her in a moment of un-
wary confidence; yet hard as these conditions were, Mary
was in such a state as might have compelled her to subscribe
to them or to worse. But no security could possibly have
been granted adequate to soothe the real apprehensions of
Elizabeth, and the affected scruples of her counsellors. The
treaty was therefore disturbed, and finally broken off, by
the introduction of commissioners in the name of the youth-
ful king of Scotland, ivhose interests Elizabeth pretended she
was bound to consult : these were the Earl of Morton and
two other persons of his party, who interrupted the whole
proceedings by maintaining the high Calvinistic principle of
lawful resistance, on the part of the subject, even to sover-
eign authority. In such principles it was impossible that
those acting for Elizabeth should dare to acquiesce; and
though there can be no doubt that Elizabeth, upon this as
well as upon former occasions, might have dictated to the
Scottish commissioners how they were to limit their plead-
ings, yet she rather chose to consider the mode in which they
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 195
had been entered as a total bar to further proceedings in the
treaty, which was thus broken off.
In the meantime Norfolk, having been liberated after his
first arrest, was again thrown into the Tower, and his in-
trigues and ambitious views finally closed by his public trial
and execution. Mary appears to have taken the misfortunes
of this nobleman severely to heart : she was confined to her
chamber for ten days ; and probably employed her leisure
hours in deploring the fate of one who had adventured and
lost rank, fortune, and life in her service. She expresses
herself on the subject to her faithful counsellor, the bishop
of Ross, then imprisoned in the Tower, as having had some
accession to the intrigues of Norfolk ; and her letter, express-
ing a singular mixture of despondency and firmness, has
been published by Mr. Chalmers.
"While her health was declining, and her comforts dimin-
ished, Mary still clung to one hope, which she nourished
with uncommon tenacity, although it is difficult to conceive
what she could have expected from it. From the moment
she set foot on English ground the queen of Scots had reck-
oned a great deal upon the effect to be wrought on Eliza-
beth's mind in the personal interview which she never failed
to demand. Yet what could it have availed the unfortunate
queen to have had the means of convincing Elizabeth by
ocular demonstration that she, so long hated as a rival, did
in fact possess more beauty, equal sense, as much accom-
plishment, and wit and grace superior to her own? The
suspicion that such was the case was what had originally
excited Elizabeth's hatred to Mary; and everything which
led to convince her of the truth of what she suspected could
only enhance that evil feeling. It would also have been very
difficult to have chosen and supported in such an interview a
character which would have left her at liberty to act against
Queen Mary the severe conduct correspondent to the part by
which she might have already meditated closing the scene.
Elizabeth might think there was less difficulty in executing
a defamed and neglected prisoner than in taking the life of
196 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
one whom she had admitted to her presence as a sister sov*
ereign. She might hold with her father, Henry VIII., the
truth of the popular adage, that
A king's face
Should give grace,
and therefore determine not to admit to her presence the
victim whom she was resolved not to pardon. At any rate,
she was determined in postponing and declining all Mary's
pleadings for an interview, and at length hardly deigned
to return any answer to her solicitations upon that subject.
This period of their intercourse was strangely contrasted
with that in which Sir James Melville, then the Scottish
ambassador at the court of London, proposed, in a tone of
jocose raillery, that Elizabeth should disguise herself as his
page, and ride down to Scotland merely to see his mistress;
to which, willingly accepting the compliment, she replied
with a sigh, "Would to Heaven she might do so!" It is
curious to compare the behavior of individuals to each other
in sunshine and shower, in good fortune and adversity.
Meantime Queen Elizabeth called in to the aid of her
policy the passions and feelings of those subjects who had
so much reason to look up to her with gratitude as the
mother of her people. Two points she, in particular, strug-
gled to attain, if possible. The first was that of establish-
ing to the public conviction the proposition that the safety
of Queen Elizabeth was inconsistent with the life of Mary;
of which, she herself being the judge, no doubt could be
entertained. If we can believe a copy of doggerel verses,
which we are surprised that Elizabeth's taste could permit
her to be guilty of, the Scottish queen was the foundation
of all the dissatisfaction and danger which threatened her
government. 1 The editor of these verses has acquainted
' That doubt of future foes exiles my present joy;
And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy:
For falsehood now doth flow, and subjects* faith doth ebb,
Which would not be, if reason rul'd, or wisdom weav'd the web:
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 197
us that those sweet and sententious rhymes, those sugared
samples, as he calls this trash, were written to express the
queen's conviction of the extreme danger in which she was
placed through the influence of a party among the nobility
and Catholic gentry devoted to the interests of the queen of
Scots; and Elizabeth seems to have deemed it necessary to
impress the same terror, which she herself entertained to-
ward Mary and her party, upon the people of England,
to whose regard she had so many just claims that she
might well call upon them to protect her against the alleged
plots of a foreigner and papist.
This was not all, however : the queen of Scotland was not
only to be represented as a person formidable to Queen Eliz-
abeth, but also as one worthless and base in herself, and un-
worthy of claiming the ordinary compassion due to strangers
and exiles. Sir Francis Knollis, in a letter from Bolton, of
January 1, 1568, seems very early desirous to warn Queen
Elizabeth against her own gentleness of temper, which might
withhold her from openly disgracing Queen Mary, and main-
taining the insurgents in Scotland against her, even although
the queen of Scotland should refuse to be conformable in the
matters required of her by the English sovereign. This inti-
mates an intention of permitting such accusations to be cir-
culated against Queen Mary as might best counteract the
prepossessions excited in her favor by her grace and beauty,
But clouds of toys untry'd do cloak aspiring minds,
"Which turn to rain, of late repent, by course of changed winds.
The top of hope suppos'd the root of ruth will be,
And fruitless all their graffed guiles, as shortly ye shall see:
Those dazzel'd eyes with pride, which great ambition blinds,
Shall be unsealed, by worthy wights, whose foresight falsehood
finds:
The daughter of debate, that eke discord doth sow,
Shall reap no gain, where former rule hath taught still peace to
grow.
No foreign banish'd wight shall anchor in this port:
Our realm it brooks no stranger's force; let them elsewhere
resort:
Our rusty sword with rest, shall first the edge employ,
To poll their topps, that seek such change, and gape for joy.
—Chalmers' Life of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. i., p. 344.
193 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
as well as by the generous sympathy of the English nation
for the condition of a forlorn princess, who had thrown her-
self upon their compassion and that of their queen.
This design was prosecuted by suffering the works of
Buchanan and others, directed against Queen Mary's repu-
tation, to be introduced and distributed through the realm,
while those composed in her defence were treated as contra-
band and prohibited publications. The accusations against
Queen Mary were thus left to make their way without an-
swer or reply; and connected with the undeniable fact of
her having united herself with Bothwell so shortly after the
murder of Darnley, of which all recognized him as the
author, seemed to take from the unfortunate queen not
only the right to demand justice, but even that of request-
ing compassion. Her name was publicly soiled with the
foul charges of murder and adultery : the proofs which had
been rejected as informal and incomplete, even by Elizabeth
herself, were found far more than sufficient to gratify the
vulgar appetite for scandal accustomed to little nicety in
selecting its grounds of belief. Thus it remained no ques-
tion with by far the greater part of the English people that
the safety of Elizabeth could only be insured by Mary's
death, or in what measure justice or injustice should be
dealt toward one whom they accounted so infamous as this
dethroned queen.
Acting under these impressions, the English house of
commons meditated a resolution, the effect of which must
have been to palsy the exertions of the queen of Scotland and
all who might be disposed to take her part. They sent a bill
to the house of lords, by which it was declared that the very
act of claiming any right to the crown was in itself high
treason ; that it was equally so to affirm that the right of
any other was better than that of Elizabeth, or that the
parliament had not power to settle and limit the order
of succession. These enactments greatly abridged Queen
Mary's influence upon the public mind in England, and
afforded such an assurance of safety to the existing sover-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 199
eign that Queen Elizabeth, deeming further procedure for
the time unnecessary, ventured to adjourn the parliament.
After these proceedings, and, perhaps, as a natural con-
sequence of them, the severities of Queen Mary's imprison-
ment were considerably increased : her most faithful agent,
the bishop of Ross, as already hinted, was thrown into
prison on account of his implication in the fatal intrigues
of Norfolk; the queen's retinue was diminished; her means
of taking exercise restrained; the expense of maintaining
the necessary guards and attendants diminished; and
Shrewsbuiy, after all his toil to accomplish his trouble-
some duty to Elizabeth's satisfaction, found he was the
subject of her jealousy, and scarce less so of her proverbial
economy, which left him even the honor, at his own ex-
pense, of providing the costly wine-baths which Queen
Mary's infirmity compelled her to make use of.
200 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XXXV
Interference of Foreign Princes in behalf of Mary— Her Intercourse
with her Son — Her Presents to him rejected— Nevertheless she
interferes with Elizabeth in his Behalf at the Period of the Raid
of Ruthven— He disclaims her Title and Cause— Her Sentiments
on that Occasion— The Catholics of England continue to make
her the |chief Object of their Regard, and involve her Name in
their Conspiracies— The Plot of Throgmorton— Association of
English Subjects, chiefly directed against Mary— She is alarmed,
and willing to submit to severer Terms of Liberation — Elizabeth
cultivates an Interest with James and his Ministers; her Alarm
for Queen Mary in a public and national Point of View — Mary's
imprudent and offensive Letter — Sadler intrusted for a Time
with the Custody of the Scottish Queen — His Discontent with
the Duty imposed — Parry's Conspiracy — Severe Act of Parlia-
ment passed in consequence
WE have attended the changes of Queen Mary's
imprisonment, and pointed out some of its most
remarkable incidents. A more weary and dis-
tressing course of oppression, mingled, from time to time,
with deceitful glimmerings of delusive hope, is hardly to
be found in history.
But the reader may ask, with some surprise, since Mary
was queen-dowager of France, and an ally of the king of
Spain, whether no efforts were made in her favor by either
of these two powerful monarchs, who, for decency's sake
at least, were imperatively called upon to interfere in her
behalf? That such interference took place is undoubted, but
on the part of France it was of a cold and feeble character;
for the king was not of a temper to regard any one's interest
save his own, which at that period recommended friendship
with England. The Spanish ambassador, on the other side,
had in some respects lost his right to be listened to in the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 201
affairs of Queen Mary, since he had mixed himself with the
intrigues of Norfolk; and although his rank was too high
to be arrested like the bishop of Ross, he at length received
Elizabeth's commands to quit England.
"With still more reason might it be demanded, what
James VI., the only child of the unfortunate Mary, was
doing in her behalf? He was not a twelvemonth old when
he succeeded to her crown, and the years which had since
passed, which had filled up to him a term of sovereignty,
had been to his ill-fated mother, with the intermission of
only a few days, a period of rigorous captivity.
Mary at least had not, in the meantime, forgotten the sole
tie of affection which continued to bind her to this life. As
soon as James had personally assumed the government, the
imprisoned queen hastened to send him a present of a gar-
ment, embroidered by her own hands, with some jewels,
such as her misfortunes had left in her possession. They
were, however, addressed not to the king, but to the prince,
of Scotland; as indeed it could hardly be supposed that
Queen Mary was to acknowledge a title in her son, the
existence of which was inconsistent with her reputation as
well as her rights. On that account the gift was refused,
under pretence of its being misdirected; nor was the bearer
permitted to come into the royal presence.
We would gladly hope that James was no party to this
undutiful proceeding; nor shall we attempt to estimate the
distress of the unfortunate mother, when she received again
the gift of maternal affection, ornamented by her hands,
and probably stained by her tears, rejected as it was in this
unfilial manner through a cold-blooded and insulting scruple
of etiquette. "Wherever she might cast the blame, maternal
partiality prevented her from throwing it upon her son ; for
when he had soon after fallen into the power of the insur-
gent nobles at the Raid of Ruthven, her maternal anxiety
broke forth in an epistle to Elizabeth, in which, throwing
aside the humble tone in which she had pleaded her own
sorrows, she remonstrated with warmth and dignity upon
309 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the injustice which had deprived her son of his liberty. She
in that letter declares herself, with all her heart, willing to
gratify her son, by resigning the throne. She desired only
that the queen of England would protect him from practices
at the hands of his rebellious subjects, such as she had been
exposed to herself, and declared that she desired no kindnes*"
of her for herself beyond the company of two waiting gentle
wi anen, and the means of performing the duties of her re-
ligion. In reply to this intercession, Robert Beale, a rude
and morose man, and clerk of Elizabeth's council, was sent
to expostulate with the captive princess, for the freedom
which she had thought proper to assume; nor was Queen
Elizabeth affected otherwise than with anger by the tenor
of the letter which she received.
It is probable that, while the unfortunate Mary indulged
herself in all the tenderness of a mother toward the young
king of Scotland, the feelings which he cultivated in return
were of a cold and unresponsive character, for which, per-
haps, his education is more to be blamed than his heart.
He had doubtless been carefully trained in the opinion that
his right to the throne depended upon the truth of those
charges on account of which his mother had been precipi-
tated from the royal dignity. He must have regarded her,
therefore, with more aversion than affection, and was prob-
ably little anxious to obtain the freedom of one whose liberty
might impair his own right to the kingdom of Scotland. To
pursue, therefore, the course of James's rare and infrequent
intercourse with his mother, we may observe that in 1585,
under the direction and by the advice of the Master of Gray,
of whom we have said something, and shall have occasion
to say more in the sequel, James wrote to his unfortunate
mother a harsh and highly undutiful letter ; in the course
of which he disowned her right to the throne, and expressed
himself determined in no respect whatever to connect his
own interest or title with hers. Mary felt the ingratitude
of this insulting epistle, and expressed her indignation
warmly in a letter to the French ambassador. "Am I
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 203
thus," she said, "requited for all I have done, and all I
have suffered, for this ungrateful boy? God knows I en-
vied him not the kingdom which he possesses, nor did I
ever wish to visit Scotland more, unless for the purpose of
seeing him and blessing him. But let him beware how he
prosecutes the ungenerous and ungrateful course upon which
he has entered. Without my consent he cannot justly hold
the regal dignity ; and unless he amends his fault by repent-
ance, I will bestow on him a parent's curse, and bequeath
my kingdom to one who will know both how to occupy and
how to defend it." This letter, no doubt, was dictated by a
passing flash of irritation; but it shows a new instance in
which it was Mary's misfortune to be afflicted through those
channels of feeling which are usually, to others, the source
of the purest happiness. The queen's greatest misfortunes
had arisen out of her conjugal connections, and she was now
doomed to see them augmented by the ungrateful scorn and
negligence of her only child.
Other circumstances, which might in the general case bo
termed advantageous, were in like manner destined to prove
fatal to this unhappy queen. She was, we have seen, the
object of fear and suspicion, and even of the hatred natu-
rally connected with these feelings, to the greatly more nu-
merous body of the English, consisting of those who had
embraced the Protestant faith, and were loyal subjects of
Queen Elizabeth. It was the natural consequence that those
of her own religion, who regarded the reign of the existing
sovereign as the usurpation of an adulterous bastard, and
cruel and heretical persecutor of the Catholic faith, should
regard Mary as an innocent and holy sufferer, deprived of
her native kingdom by heretical rebels, and most unjustly
detained prisoner in that to which she had a better right
than her persecuting relative who held the throne. As the
English Catholics were zealous, as usual, in proportion to
the disqualifications which they were subjected to and the
persecution which they underwent, and as they were still
numerous and powerful, they failed not to match the ruling
204 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
party in enthusiasm, and to form many schemes to bring
England once more within the limits of what, in their idea,
was lawful succession, and the pale of the only Catholic
faith. With all these plots the name and cause of Mary
was naturally connected. Nor was her name always used
without her consent. Some of the plots were undoubtedly
communicated to her ; nor can we suppose it likely that she
should express resolute disapprobation of schemes which
tended to accomplish her own liberty, and the dethrone-
ment of her own rival, at whose hand she could expect
nothing but a continuance of the same malevolent severity
which had characterized Elizabeth's conduct toward her
since she took refuge in England. It is also plausibly re-
ported that her name was used in intrigues of which she
never heard, but the managers of which conceived they
were calculated for her advantage, and therefore held them-
selves secure of her approbation, without her consent being
previously obtained. Thus there was an action and reaction
in the public mind; and the more the Protestants persisted
in regarding Mary as the enemy of their faith and govern-
ment, the more the Catholics endeavored to fix the same
character upon her, by making use of her name and author-
ity in their most violent conspiracies.
In 1584 a conspiracy of this nature was discovered of a
very extensive and dangerous character. One Francis Throg-
morton, a Catholic gentleman of Cheshire, after undergoing
the torture, in consequence of some suspicious documents
found upon him, was unable to sustain a second interroga-
tion of the same nature, and confessed a private correspond-
ence with the Queen of Scots, and a projected design to
invade England on the part of Spain, where most of the
English Catholics were alleged to be ready to join them in
arms. Arrangements to this effect, he stated, were made
with the approbation of the Spanish ambassadoi. The
House of Guise, the near relatives of Mary, were alleged
to be in preparation for the same purpose, and the Duke
of Guise was to be leader of the enterprise. The alarm
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 205
through England was extreme; and the discovery was of
a nature which touched the main fear of all true Protes-
tants. The immense power of Spain had been much in-
creased by the late acquisition of Portugal ; and the bigotry
of Philip to the Catholic religion was well known to be
sufficiently vehement to lead him to exertions in proportion
to his immense means. The Duke of Guise was regarded
justly as one of the chief defenders of the Catholic faith;
and arguing upon Queen Mary's natural desire of freedom,
and attachment to her relations, there was no reason to doubt
the truth of Throgmorton's confession, when he accused her
of being an accomplice in the conspiracy.
Queen Elizabeth, acting upon Throgmorton's confession,
instantly, as already hinted, dismissed the Spanish ambas-
sador from England. Throgmorton himself was tried and
executed as a traitor. His behavior was such as to leave
his guilt doubtful. He retracted his confession when placed
upon trial, again confirmed it after sentence had been pro-
nounced, and retracted it a second time when brought to the
scaffold for execution, alleging that it was extorted at first
by torture, and afterward adhered to from the fear of death.
A singular circumstance in Scotland augmented the gen-
eral alarm excited by Throgmorton's plot.
One Crichton, a Jesuit, chanced to be on board of a vessel
sailing from Flanders toward Scotland, of which last coun-
try he was a native: being chased by a corsair or pirate,
Crichton tore to pieces and threw away certain papers,
which an extraordinary eddy of wind brought back into
the vessel. The fragments were picked up from the deck
by some of the passengers; and being industriously pieced
together, were found to contain the model of a plot for the
invasion of England, upon the same footing with that which
Throgmorton had confessed.
This reiterated alarm greatly affected the party in the
kingdom of England who accounted that the peace and
honor of the country depended upon the continuance of its
present form of government in Church and in State. To
206 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
counteract by a public declaration any attempt to disturb
the present government, an association was formed, and a
document generally signed, by which the subscribers ''bound
themselves to defend Queen Elizabeth against all her ene-
mies, foreign or domestic; engaging, moreover, if violence
should be offered to the queen's life, in order to favor the
title of any one pretending a claim to the crown, they the
parties subscribing not only engaged, in such case, never to
acknowledge the title of the person in whose behalf so foul
a crime had been committed, but, moreover, to pursue such
person or persons to the death, and to her or their utter over-
throw and extirpation." This association was obviously di-
rected against the rights of Queen Mary, who was thus
unjustly rendered accountable not only for such connivance
at treasonable practices against Elizabeth as she might ab-
solutely encourage, but for whatever schemes the fanatics of
her religion might form, without her consent, or which might
perhaps receive birth from the treacherous insinuations of the
spies of the English ministry.
This association had such an awful appearance that Mary
seems to have become intimidated by the danger to her per-
son and right of succession which it inferred. She pressed
for permission to sign the association herself, and at the same
time offered more full concessions than Elizabeth had been
yet able to extort from her. She was, indeed, so humbled
in spirit that Walsingham gave it earnestly as his opinion
that her terms ought to be complied with, and she should be
admitted to her freedom.
But another effect of these discoveries was their recom-
mending to Queen Elizabeth the cultivation of a closer inter-
course between King James than she had of late entertained.
The reader will recollect that the queen of England had of
late been disposed to support against the temper of the king
those nobles who had been engaged in the Raid of Ruthven,
and mixed reproof with requests in her application to James
on this subject. Under this interference the king of Scots
had repeatedly winced and shown signs of impatience, as
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 207
when he retorted upon Elizabeth the aphorisms of Isocrates.
She became now apprehensive that this exertion of authority
might prove a doubtful, and, perhaps, an ineffectual road to
the influence which she desired to acquire in the affairs of
Scotland. She resolved, therefore, to move by gentler
methods; and instead of attempting to dictate to James
the choice of his ministers, she resolved to rest satisfied
with gaining over to the English interest those Scottish
statesmen, who, being already the favorites of the king,
were in possession of their master's ear, as well as possess-
ing the direction of the government. For this purpose she
spared no pains to bring over to her views the Master of
Gray, in which she perfectly succeeded, and to form an alli-
ance, even though it should prove merely temporary, with
the usurping Earl of Arran.
These political considerations lead to another view of the
question between Elizabeth and Mary. It would be injustice
to the former to suppose that her personal interest and preju-
dices were the sole motives by which she was guided in her
conduct toward her prisoner. It is no doubt true that from
an early period the two queens had been rivals in the points
in which women, from the princess to the peasant girl, de-
sire to excel. They had been also rivals in power, for the
premature usurpation of the title and armorial bearings of
England was never forgotten by Elizabeth; yet that sover-
eign, patriotic as she certainly was, might justify her fear
and hatred of Mary upon principles of a public and more
generous nature, applicable to her country as well as to
herself.
Elizabeth was well entitled to suppose herself able to
maintain a contest with all her powerful antagonists abroad,
though in the holy league which was adopted at Bayonne,
and which united all the Catholic powers in Europe, they
must necessarily have had the destruction of her power in
view as their principal object. Even amid their wildest
expressions of hatred and denunciations of vengeance, the
queen of England had the noble confidence that with a
208 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
united kingdom she might resist them with perfect secur-
ity of the event. The state of Scotland was no doubt less
secure than it had been during the regency of Murray and
Morton. It was now under a separate prince, who, if he
were hostile to English interests, must at all times be en-
abled, by a seacoast abounding in harbors, and an extensive
southern frontier, to have opened an easy access to foreign-
ers proposing to invade South Britain. But the character
of James and the influence of Elizabeth in his court was
such as might secure her on the part of that monarch. He
was in no respect likely to prefer the sounding promises of
France and Spain to the prospects of real and solid advan-
tage presented to him by the friendship of Elizabeth; and
the forfeiture of the succession of England would have been
a sacrifice which could not possibly have been compensated
by any indemnification which the monarchs of the holy
league could bestow. James was also a Protestant prince,
at the head of a people zealously Protestant, and therefore
must be held upon principle to have viewed the prime object
of the holy league with alarm and detestation.
Besides the security which James's circumstances and
personal interests afforded to Queen Elizabeth, the meas-
ures by which she had insured a predominating influence
in his court in almost any political change seemed to insure
for her the zealous support of either party which might be
predominant in the Scottish counsels. If Arran should re-
main the favorite of James, he had, since the meeting with
Lord Hunsdon, become her instrument and pensioner; and
though she must have contemned and despised his parts, he
was not the less likely to be useful while his interest with
the king remained unabated; nor was Elizabeth, however
much she might wish his interest diminished or destroyed,
the less willing to avail herself of it while it still existed.
If, on the other hand, the restoration of the Scottish nobles
engaged in the Raid of Ruthven should put the king once
more into the hands of a party more zealously Protestant,
they who had been lately the guests of Elizabeth must have
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 209
been still more docile and attentive to her interests than the
minion Arran, upon whom there could be no reliance, except
through a direct appeal to his vanity or avarice.
Thus, in almost every supposable circumstance, Britain
was invulnerable to Queen Elizabeth's enemies, excepting
only through the charm which they possessed in the person
and title of Queen Mary. To her the Catholic princes were
most of them allied by birth or affinity, and all of them by
similarity of religion, so that her name and title afforded the
only plausible pretext under which they might urge even
those Englishmen that were of their own persuasion to join
the invaders of their native country.
From all this it follows that Mary was not only feared
and hated by Elizabeth from the common motives of female
rivalry, but that she was also dreaded by her as a patriotic
princess, conscious of the baneful effects which the preten-
sions of the Scottish queen were qualified to produce upon
the independence of England, and the institutions of the
Protestant Church. So deceitful is the human heart, and so
ingenious are mortals in imposing upon themselves a false
view of the motives under which they act, that it may be
doubted whether Elizabeth, conjured by high and low, ex-
horted by her prelates, her lords, and commons, to take
measures for the protection of her own life, by suffering
what they called the law to take place on her prisoner,
might not have conceived that she was yielding to the
voice of her people, and consulting their interest, rather
than her own will, in conceding to their importunity what
she might suppose she would have refused to her own irri-
tated feelings. It is true that, justly considered, the danger
arising from Mary Stuart lay not in her power but in her
weakness. She had not the slightest show of a party left
in her native kingdom. In England she was a close prisoner,
attainted by parliament, and excluded from all intercourse
with the world beyond her prison-house. The Catholics
were more affected by knowing that she was suffering such
grievous usage in their immediate vicinity than they could
210 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
have been by learning that, liberated by Queen Elisabeth,
she was living upon her dowry, at ease and at freedom,
either in France or any other distant country. In their ex-
treme jealousy for their own interest or for their sovereign's
safety, the ministers of Elizabeth overacted their part, and
were guilty of instigating conspiracies by the very mode
which they took to discover them. Camden informs us
"that there were at this time some subtle ways taken to
try how men stood affected. Counterfeit letters were pri-
vately sent in the name of the queen of Scots and the per-
sons concerned in Throgmorton's treason to the houses of
Catholics. Spies were dispersed through the country to
make remarks, and to report them to the government ; and
many individuals of rank were imprisoned and narrowly
examined."
The Catholics, finding themselves thus in danger of being
inveigled into imaginary plots, endeavored to obviate the
danger by plunging into real ones; and thus the excessive
precaution of Burleigh and Walsingham, and the unjustifi-
able mode in which it was manifested, increased the danger
which it was intended to cure.
Neither was Mary herself, although, as we have seen,
patient to a degree of unexpected self-possession, at all times
able to forbear retaliation upon her good sister Elizabeth.
Upon one occasion she took a female revenge, which, how-
ever much it might be justified by the ill-usage she had re-
ceived, was, in point of prudence, the most impolitic course
she could have pursued. Under pretence of writing to Queen
Elizabeth the manner in which the Countess of Shrewsbury
spoke of her, she transmitted (always professing to disbe-
lieve them) a long train of charges equally dishonorable to
Elizabeth as a queen, and highly offensive to female delicacy,
and even disgraceful to her as a woman. Mary affirmed, in
this imprudent letter, that the countess accused her sover-
eign of practicing the grossest indecencies, not only with the
Duke of Anjou, who pretended to her hand, but with his
favorite Simier; that she was so extravagantly attached to
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 211
Hatton that she hunted him as a hound pursues a stag ; that
having quarrelled with Hatton on account of some buttons
of gold which he had upon his dress, and the latter having
in disgust retired from the court, she had boxed the ears of
Killigrew because he had not been able to prevail on Hatton
to return ; and that she gave three hundred pounds a year
to a gentleman of her chamber who had been more success-
ful on the same occasion; although she was so meanly nar-
row on other occasions that she had never made the fortune
of more than one or two persons in her dominions. This
cutting epistle, always under pretence of reporting Lady
Shrewsbury's words, accused Elizabeth of entertaining as
high an opinion of her beauty as if she had been a heavenly
goddess, and that her maids of honor used the most extrava-
gant praises to soothe her childish vanity, while they turned
about and laughed behind her back at her excess of credulity.
There were yet more degrading circumstances alleged by Mary
to have been stated by the Countess of Shrewsbury concern-
ing the person and habits of the queen of England ; and, upon
the whole, the letter contained an imputation of almost every
vice which could affect the queen's reputation, and every foi-
ble which could wound her vanity. There is much reason
to believe that this imprudent communication, while it gave
Elizabeth great pain, and so far satisfied the purpose of the
writer, was at the same time accounte an inexpiable offence,
never to be pardoned or forgiven.
It was a natural consequence of the increasing discord
between the queens that the imprisonment of Queen Mary
should be rendered yet more rigorous than formerly. The
Earl of Shrewsbury, who had been so long, to his great in-
convenience, loss, and mortification, charged with the care
of this unfortunate queen, was at length released and Sir
Ralph Sadler was for a time intrusted in his place.
This ancient statesman, having been a servant of Henry
VIII., was now advanced in life, and altogether unable to
endure the restraints which Elizabeth's jealousy imposed
upon those to whom Mary's custody was intrusted. His
212 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
answer upon receiving an angry expostulation concerning his
having carried out Queen Mary a-hawking, although he was
attended by a strong guard, furnished with firearms, and
having orders to put the queen to death should any danger,
or suspicion of danger, have offered, is remarkable, and
worthy of being quoted. In a letter to "VValsingham he in-
formed that statesman that having sent for his hawks and
falconers, the better to pass the miserable life he led at
Tutbury, he had been unable to resist the entreaties of his
charge that she might be permitted the recreation of seeing
his hawks fly, a sport in which she greatly delighted. In
this he had three or four times indulged her, but under a
sufficient guard, and never at more than three miles from
the castle. "In this," Sir Ralph Sadler concludes, "he used
his discretion, and he thought he did well; but," he adds,
"since it is not well taken, I would to God some other had
the charge, who would use it with more discretion than
I can ; for, I assure you, I am so weary of it, that if it were
not more for that I would do nothing that should offend her
majesty than for fear of any punishment, I would come
home, and yield myself to be a prisoner in the Tower all the
days of my life, rather than I would attend any longer here
upon this charge. And if I had known, when I came from
home, I should have tarried here so long, contrary to all the
promises which were made to me, I would have refused,
as others do, and have yielded to any punishment rather
than I would have accepted of this charge; for a greater
punishment cannot be ministered unto me than to force me
to remain here in this sort ; since, as it appears, things well
meant, by me, are not ivell taken." ' One is here tempted
to ask what must have been the feelings of the prisoner,
when even her jailers felt their duty so intolerably irksome.
While Mary was restrained with this severity, those changes
took place in Scotland which removed Arran forever from
the king's ear, and induced James to put the management
1 Chalmers' Life of Mary Queen of Scots, vol. i., p. 418.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 213
of his affairs under the guidance of statesmen of better
morals and more judgment. It was by the advice of Mait-
land and others, that, taking his part between the great con-
tending factions of Catholic and Protestant, which divided
the civilized world, the king of Scots formed an alliance
offensive and defensive with Elizabeth, in which there was
no mention made of Mary's name and title. She might thus
be considered as abandoned by her son, whom it would have
well become to have mingled some stipulations for his moth-
er's freedom, or her safety at least, with his laudable anxiety
for the defence of his own rights. Meantime events rolled
on, and the spirit of the times again gave rise to a conspiracy
which was the more immediate pretence of Mary's fatal
death.
"While Elizabeth was fortifying herself by a more inti-
mate alliance with Scotland, her life was again threatened
by a Roman Catholic zealot. This was one Parry, a doctor
of laws, who had a seat in parliament, and some reputation
as a man of talents ; but he had lately become a convert to
popery, and, with the zeal of a new convert, had taken upon
him the assassination of Elizabeth. Such a crime could only
be committed by observing the most absolute silence upon
his purpose, and exhibiting a total disregard for his own life
while he attempted that of the queen. Upon such terms the
life of the most powerful and best defended sovereign is at
the mercy of one determined individual. Fortunately the
mixture of desperate courage and resolved taciturnity is sel-
dom met with. Parry possessed neither in the requisite
degree. He was encouraged in his purpose by the pope's
nuncio at Venice, the pope himself, and the Cardinal de
Como. Yet, though he repeatedly obtained access to Eliza-
beth's person, his heart failed him when he should have
struck the blow. In the dubious state of mind which his
irresolution indicated, the secret grew too burdensome to be
locked within his own bosom. He committed it to one
Neville, by whom it was betrayed to the ministers of Eliza-
beth. The alarm was extreme, when the risk incurred from
214 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
this desperate purpose was made public. Parry was arrested;
confessed his nefarious purpose, and suffered the just punish-
ment attached to it.
This meditated treason induced the English parliament,
upon the 2d of March, 1585, to pass an act; the plain object
of which was to make the queen of Scots, in her own person,
responsible, with her rights and her life, for any attempt
which might be made on the person or government of Eliza-
beth. It is thus abridged by Dr. Robertson, the elegant
historian of this interesting period.
This remarkable statute confirmed, with the plenary
power of parliament, the association already mentioned,
which had been subscribed by so many of her subjects; and
it was further enacted, "That if any rebellion shall be ex-
cited in the kingdom, or anything attempted, to the hurt
of her majesty's person, by or for any person pretending a
title to the crown, the queen shall empower twenty-four
persons by a commission under the great seal to examine
into and pass sentence upon such offences; and after judg-
ment given, a proclamation shall be issued, declaring the
persons whom they find guilty excluded from any right
to the crown; and her majesty's subjects may lawfully
pursue every one of them to the death, with all their aiders
and abettors. And if any design against the life of the
queen take effect, the persons by or for whom such a detest-
able act is executed, and their issues, being anywise assent-
ing or privy to the same, shall be disabled forever from pre-
tending to the crown, and be pursued to death in the like
manner." '
1 Robertson's History of Scotland, 4to ed., vol. ii., p. 106.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 215
CHAPTER XXXVI
Enthusiasm of the Age— Projects of the Catholics against the Life
of Elizabeth — Plot of Ballard — He communicates with Babing-
ton — They have a Picture of their Associates— Contrive the Lib-
eration of Mary — They are betrayed by the Spies of Walsing-
ham — The English resent the Conspiracy as a Plot of Mary —
The Ministers of Elizabeth press the taking of her Life— She is
committed to the Charge of Sir Amias Paulet — Her Health be-
comes more feeble — Her Wants and Complaints — It is resolved
to bring her to Trial — Mary's Papers are seized; her Secretaries
made Prisoners; and her Cabinets broken open — She is trans-
ported to Fotheringay — A Commission appointed to try her —
She refuses to plead before it, but at length submits — Her Ac-
cusation and Defence — The Commissioners Remove to London —
Objections to the Evidence — The Commissioners, however, pro-
nounce Sentence of Death — The Parliament press for the Publi-
cation and Execution of the Sentence — Elizabeth's hypocritical
Answer — Mary writes to Elizabeth; but receives no Answer —
James interferes, first by his Ambassador Keith, and after by
the Master of Gray and Sir James Melville — His Ambassador ill
received by Elizabeth — James sends more spirited Instructions
to his Envoys — The Master of Gray betrays the Cause of Queen
Mary, and the Purpose of his Embassy — James requires the
Scottish Church to pray for his Mother: they decline the
Office — Elizabeth's Uncertainty— She contrives to throw the is-
suing of the Death Warrant upon her Secretary and Council,
after some attempts to instigate Mary's Keepers to put her to
Death in Private— Mary resigns herself to her Fate— She is
executed
IT was the age of enthusiasm throughout Europe: those
of the ancient religion gloried in exerting themselves for
the creed of their fathers, at whatever risk of sharing
the fate of confessors or of martyrs; and those who adopted
the modern doctrines were equally proud of extending, at all
personal hazards, that liberty of conscience to others by
which they themselves had profited. In the present times
216 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
men do not inquire particularly into the religion of those
with whom they have to transact affairs, unless their general
business be otherwise connected with matters of the con-
science. In the less fortunate age of which we are treating,
the fact of belonging to a particular communion gave even
to the most liberal minds a general disposition favorable or
unfavorable to an individual, as his faith in religious matters
differed from or agreed with theirs. These strong opinions,
which had an influence upon the dullest and most moderate
minds, excited the bold and enthusiastic to a species of frenzy,
which must account for men, otherwise humane and gener-
ous, giving way, in the supposed cause of religion, to acts
of deceit and violence which they would otherwise have ab-
horred and condemned, soothing themselves with the apology
that they might serve the cause of Heaven meritoriously and
conscientiously by engaging in enterprises which the spirit
of the Gospel as well as its precepts do most emphatically
condemn. Upon this principle we are to account for the
many melancholy instances which occurred during the six-
teenth century of men, otherwise wise, moderate, and virtu-
ous, engaging in plots and conspiracies inconsistent with
every idea of law, justice, and humanity.
The Catholic princes, by their engagement in that hor-
rible conspiracy which gave rise to the massacre of St. Bar-
tholomew, had done much to set an execrable example to
those of their own profession; and it is not surprising that
so general and fearful an example of the grossest perfidy and
most unrelenting cruelty, practiced on a scale of such extent,
avowed by the Roman primate, and seconded by those poten-
tates most attached to the See of Rome, should have been
received with enthusiasm among the Catholics of Protestant
countries, who felt themselves oppressed by governors inim-
ical to their religion, and imagined that they served Heaven
by endeavoring to get rid of their Protestant rulers by the
most desperate and unjustifiable means. On the other hand,
it must be admitted that the Protestants partook, to a cer-
tain degree, of the same spirit, and were disposed to retaliate
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 217
severely upon those in whom they thought they could place
no faith, and whose religion they considered as hateful to
the great Being whom both worshipped under different
forms.
The extirpation of the great northern heresy was sup-
posed to be chiefly dependent upon the destruction of the
power of Queen Elizabeth in England. King James, from
his quarrels with the Presbyterian clergy, and other circum-
stances of his conduct, was supposed to be not altogether
unfavorable to the Roman faith; and the power of Scotland,
even admitting him to be so, was not deemed such as could
render his enmity very formidable, supposing England to be
reconverted to the Catholic faith and placed under the domin-
ion of his mother Mary, whom all of that persuasion held to
be the legal heir of the crown.
Pope Pius V. had given the full authority of Rome to any
enterprise by which the heretic Elizabeth could be deprived
of her kingdom and life, by his famous bull of excommuni-
cation, which warranted all true Catholics to cany on the
most violent proceedings against her as an enemy of God,
and of the only religion by which, in Catholic estimation,
her subjects could obtain salvation. This had been insisted
upon and followed up by some enthusiastic Catholic priests,
who had even called upon Elizabeth's attendants and the
females of her train to put their sovereign to death with
their own hands, and thus merit the praises bestowed on
Judith, for her dauntless sacrifice of the Gentile commander
who came to oppress her country.
"When so much fire was scattered among matters pecul-
iarly inflammable, there was little doubt that it would excite
a conflagration.
Three priests, named Gifford, Gilbert Gifford, and Hodg-
son, feeling an extravagant impulse to act upon the principles
we have stated, had associated themselves with Savage, an
English Catholic and an officer in the Spanish service, dar-
ing and extravagant enough to propose the assassination of
Elizabeth with his own hand.
Scotland. Vol. II. — 10
218 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Such a scheme was only feasible, if confined to very few;
but another priest, named Ballard, was intrusted with it,
for the sake of negotiating with the Spanish ambassador
at Paris, that the conspirators might procure the assistance
of an army of invaders, in order to take advantage of the
confusion which must arise when the blow should be struck.
Ballard was assured of strong support on the part of Spain,
providing Elizabeth's death could be achieved ; and was sent
over to England to concert the means by which this main
blow might be struck, which was considered as indispensable
to the success of the conspiracy.
Returning to England on this commission, Ballard en-
tered into communication on the subject of his treasonable
purpose with a young gentleman, named Anthony Babing-
ton, of good parts, large fortune, and an amiable disposition,
but addicted to romantic ideas on the subject of love and
friendship, and an unhesitating zealot in the cause of the
Catholic religion. It was agreed that it was rash to trust
an action so important to the single arm of Savage, and
that Babington himself, with a band of ten gentlemen, with
whom he was connected by the closest bonds of community
in studies and amusements, and by the ties of extravagant
zeal for the Catholic religion, should be sharers in the glory
and the merits as well as in the dangers of this desperate
enterprise. The names of these gentlemen were, Windsor,
Salisbury, Tilney, Tichbourne, Gage, Travers, Barnwell,
Charnock, Dun, and Jones. The number was more than
double that which had been judged requisite by Ballard
and the friends of Queen Mary, with whom he had con-
sulted both in France and England. But Babington reck-
oned himself assured of them all, from the close ties of
familiarity in which they had long lived together, and even
permitted a person of the name of Polly, a man of inferior
rank, recommended only by a busy and bustling, and, as
it proved, an affected zeal for the Catholic cause, to be ad-
mitted into the fatal conspiracy, and the conduct of the
subsequent revolution.
'HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 219
The rash and romantic confidence of Babington made
itself evident by another feature of his conduct, which in-
dicated in an unusual manner an excited imagination. This
was nothing less than the causing to be painted a picture
containing the portraits of six of the principal associates,
with Babington's own representation in the centre; the
whole bearing a motto expressive of some hazardous pur-
pose in which they were engaged. This childish, absurd,
and unnecessary piece of vanity of itself indicated the total
incapacity of the principal conspirators for the execution of
the desperate task they were engaged in, which, to have a
chance of success, ought to have been obscured in the deep-
est secrecy.
The conspirators continued, however, to prosecute their
plot, arranging among themselves the special part which
each was to perform. Babington, as might have been ex-
pected, assumed for his own share the most romantic and
least guilty part of the enterprise, by undertaking the liber-
ation of Mary from her place of confinement. "What a man
of such romantic character might hope from the gratitude
of a queen released from prison, raised, as his extravagant
plan inferred, to a crown far richer than that which she had
lost, besides the great chance of recovering the government
of her native kingdom, we can only guess at. Thus far is
known, that Queen Mary, exhausted by imprisonment, dis-
ease, and suffering, no longer possessed those personal
charms which might once have inflamed to feats of the
most ardent and extravagant valor in her cause the sons
of that chivalry which was not yet quite extinguished.
When she was permitted to repair for the advantage of
her health to the hot baths of Buxton, she is described as
an elderly, lame, and bloated woman, altogether deprived,
by long years of restraint and misery, mental and bodily, of
those personal attractions which she once possessed in such
an eminent degree. She was, however, sequestered from
public view ; and a warm imagination, like that of Babing-
ton, might figure her in his idea as still possessed of her
220 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
unrivalled charms; or, perhaps, her high rank as a queen
might, in his opinion, compensate for advanced age and
personal deficiencies. Salisbury, with others, were to as-
semble forces in the neighboring counties, while Tichbourne,
Savage, and four associates, undertook the assassination of
Elizabeth. The portraits of the atrocious persons were there
represented in the picture already mentioned, having that of
Babington in the centre, who, though not to be the sharer
of their deed, claimed the glory of being principal in the
conspiracy.
While the heedless and presumptuous conspirators were
thus pluming themselves upon the success of a yet unexecuted
plot, Elizabeth and her counsellors were in full possession of
all its details, and watched their machinations with earnest
attention, yet without intimating the least alarm. Polly,
already mentioned, as one who, by affectation of extraordi-
nary zeal, had thrust himself into such intimacy with Bab-
ington that the whole circumstances of the conspiracy were
intrusted to him, was in reality one of the spies of Walsing-
ham, and one of the two Giffords had also become informer.
The conspirators caught the first alarm from the arrest of
Ballard, August 4, 1586; they took refuge in flight; but,
with the exception of Salisbury, who escaped abroad, were
severally arrested, and lodged in the Tower of London.
Being separately examined, they confessed their guilt, were
tried, condemned, and suffered the punishment which such
a conspiracy had well deserved.
The people of England, with just gratitude to a sovereign
who had conferred upon them so many benefits, and with
general love to the religion professed by her and by them-
selves, which was aimed at through the person of the sover-
eign, were justly indignant at the atrocious plot by which a
few romantic young men had undertaken to overthrow the
government and religion of their country, murder a sover-
eign whom her people accounted the benefactress and mother
of the State, and raise to the throne the native of a foreign
country and the professor of a hated religion. In the tumult
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 221
of their zeal, their ideas of vengeance, unsatisfied by the ex-
ecution of the conspirators, went back to the imprisoned
queen of Scots, with whom they conceived the plot must
have originated, since its purport was directed for her bene-
fit. There was a general clamor in England, that the queen
of Scots, in whose favor the conspiracy was meditated, ought
to be brought to trial, and on conviction should suffer death
as its author and contriver, in the manner already provided
for by parliament. In such bursts of popular feeling, the
abstract dictates of justice are forgotten ; and it did not occur
to many who were clamorous for prosecution and punish-
ment, that Mary, unjustly detained a prisoner, had a natu-
ral right to liberty, by whatever means she could acquire it,
and that criminality could only attach to her in the event of
her being legally proved accessory to the conspiracy against
Queen Elizabeth's life.
The public clamor, however unjust, well suited the pri-
vate views of Elizabeth and her ministers, disposed, for
obvious reasons, to take any proffered opportunity to rid
themselves of a prisoner personally detested, and whom it
was supposed equally troublesome to keep and dangerous to
dismiss.
Yet it appears to us, remote as we are from the scene
of action, and unagitated by the passions which blinded the
agents, that Elizabeth might even yet have rid herself of
her dangerous prisoner without committing the great crime
which has stained a life and reign otherwise so illustrious.
Mary might, for example, have been safely surrendered to
the custody of her son, who had shown no such warmth of
filial affection as to make it likely that he would afford his
mother the power of disturbing either his own title or that of
Elizabeth, which he hoped to inherit. France, also, would
have been willing to receive her as the dowager of a de-
ceased sovereign; and with the Huguenots of that country
Elizabeth possessed so strong an interest as to render it im-
probable that Mary, so surrendered, would have been suf-
fered to gain any opportunity of disturbing her sister sover-
222 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
eign. Either of these courses was doubtless attended by
certain risks ; but it was surely better that such should be
incurred, than that the sceptre of Elizabeth should be stained
with blood and her reign with injustice. Unhappily for
Mary, if that can be accounted unhappy which put a close
to a long train of captivity and sorrow, and most unhappily,
certainly, for Elizabeth herself, it was determined in the
councils of the latter that the present opportunity should
be taken to remove by a violent death one who had been
so long the secret object of fears and apprehensions.
It is probable that the female jealousies and rivalry,
which had gradually grown iuto hatred in the mind of
Elizabeth, would not have brought her to assent to so bloody
a purpose, had she not been urged on by statesmen, who
veiled their selfish hatred and fear under pretended appre-
hensions for the life of their sovereign. Burleigh and Wal-
singham, the principal counsellors of Elizabeth, were sensi-
ble that their own counsels had prompted all the former
rigorous proceedings against the queen of Scots, and that
if, by Elizabeth's death or any other contingency, Mary
might chance, as was at least possible, to be preferred as
next heir to the English throne, the account which, in such
a case, they would have to settle with her must have been
of an alarming description. It was therefore determined,
that, founded on the singular act of parliament which we
have detailed, passed in consequence of the machinations
of Parry, a commission should be appointed for the public
trial of Queen Mary, under the provisions of that extraordi-
nary and severe statute, made unquestionably for the very
purpose to which it was now to be applied.
Sir Ralph Sadler, whose age entitled him to evince pee-
vishness even to the despotic Elizabeth, had been released
from his disgusting charge, which was now delivered up
to Sir Amias Paulet, a gentleman severe and harsh in his
temper, and attached to puritanical tenets, and, therefore,
although otherwise an honest and upright mau, not un-
willing to be the instrument of Elizabeth's strict orders for
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 223
the custody of this perilous captive, however far they might
exceed the rules of courtesy and generosity, so long as they
were within those of moral and religious duty. He viewed
his task in so severe a light that he rejoiced when the in-
firmities of Mary rendered her a cripple incapable of moving
from her bed ; and the account which he gives of her state
of confinement is thus quoted by Mr. Chalmers : ' ' Through-
out January, 1586, the queen enjoyed somewhat better health :
she could use her limbs, but not without halting; and the
defluxion had fallen into one of her hands." — June 3, 158G,
he writes, "The Scottish queen is getting a little strength,
and has been out in her coach; and is sometimes carried
in a chair to one of the adjoining ponds to see the diversion
of duck-hunting, but she is not able to walk without support
on either side."
Even this state of convalescence did not last long. Soon
afterward, Paulet represented the Scottish queen as being
much worse, sleeping little, and eating less: the painful
disease flying about her system, and showing itself in many
places at once. She continued very ill , could not turn in her
bed without help, and was in excessive pain. To this state
of suffering and disease, we must add, that the economy of
Elizabeth did not permit to her who had once been a queen
the accommodations which are furnished in modern hospitals
to invalids of the meanest order. We will use the words of
her last and sternest warder, to show how far this miserable
penury was carried. By quoting it more generally, we might
well lay ourselves under the suspicion of exaggeration.
"Last year," said Paulet, writing to Walsingham, "when
she came to Tutbury, she complained that her bed was
stained, and ill flavored; and Mr. Somer, to accommodate
her, gave her his own bed, which was only a plain ordinary
feather-bed ; and now, by her long lying in it, the feathers
came through the tick, and its hardness caused her great
pain : she begged to have a down bed ; and Sir Amias said,
'he could not, in honesty and charity, refuse to mention her
request to "Walsingham, and desires it may be sent for her.'
384 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
The Scottish queen still continued very ill ; and on the 1 7th
of February was taken with a defluxion in the side, in so
dangerous a manner that her recovery was despaired of."
It is remarkable that some of the letters to Babington, pre-
tended to be Mary's own composition, represent her as gal-
loping through the park and shooting deer, when her utmost
sport was to see a duck-hunt from her chair, and as taking
active exercise, when she was in danger of her life. Mary
was not, however, doomed to pass from the world in so easy
or natural a manner.
After considerable debates in the council of Elizabeth, it
had been resolved to proceed against the queen of Scots,
under the terms of the act passed March 2, 1585, which
ratified the association for the protection of Elizabeth's per-
son, and directed, in certain events, the trial, under a com-
mission, of any pretender to the crown, or the inheritance
thereof, in whose behalf Elizabeth's person should be endan-
gered by open rebellion or treasonable conspiracy.
The language of the statute places the life of such pre-
tender to the crown in equal danger of attainder, whether
the party shall or shall not be acquainted with and partici-
pant of the treasonable purpose. It was, nevertheless, ex-
tremely desirable to show that Mary was personally ac-
cessory to the schemes of Babington ; and the most violent
measures were resorted to in order to secure the necessary
evidence to that effect.
Sir Thomas Gorges was despatched from the court with
a special warrant for the purpose ; and it was managed that
he should arrive at Chartley, where Mary was then confined,
at the moment when the royal prisoner was going out on
horseback, for the purpose, it was alleged, of amusing her
with the view of some gentlemen's seats in the neighbor-
hood. During her absence, Naue and Curl, the French and
Scottish secretaries of the queen, were separately arrested,
and committed to different keepers : her money was seized
upon, her cabinets forced open, her papers and correspond-
ence, and all she could desire to keep most private, were
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 225
made prize of and sent to Elizabeth. In her presence the
whole writings were perused : among the mass of which, it
is said, there were found sundry letters from English noble-
men to Mary expressive of regard and attachment. On see-
ing these, Elizabeth, according to her favorite motto, Video
et taceo — i.e., "I hear and am silent" — laid them aside, with-
out making any observation. The effect was that the wri'
ers of those letters, conscious of the degree of suspicion in
which they were placed, took every opportunity, during the
after proceedings, to escape from it, by showing themselves
inimical to Mary, lest Elizabeth should have adopted an
opinion that they had expressed themselves hitherto too
much her friends.
The grief and mortification of Queen Mary, when she
returned to Chartley, where the seizure of her papers had
taken place, is, in some degree, intimated by the expressions
which she made use of. "Alas!" she said to the poor per-
sons who crowded round her, expecting an alms as usual, ' ' I
can no longer relieve your wants : I am a beggar as you are" ;
and when she found the extent to which she had been plun-
dered, she indignantly remarked, "Of two things they can-
not deprive me — my English blood, and my Catholic faith."
After this outrage, Mary was divested of those poor insignia
of royalty which she had been hitherto allowed to retain :
the canopy of state was removed ; the regal title was with-
drawn ; her keepers remained covered in her presence ; and
in speaking of her no longer designated her as the queen,
but simply as the lady.
A final change of residence was now destined to her.
The castle of Fotheringay, in Northamptonshire, was her
last place of confinement. She was conveyed thither on the
25th of September, 1586. All was made ready for her trial.
The judges, to whom the extraordinary act of jurisdiction
was to be committed, were nominated by a commission un-
der the great seal, according to the provisions of the statute.
The list contained no less than forty persons, the most illus-
trious in the kingdom by birth or office, to whom were added
226 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
five of the principal judges. , Before these men the inde-
pendent queen of Scotland was to be tried upon the late-
made law as a person claiming the succession of the crown,
in whose behalf a conspiracy had been attempted against
the life of Queen Elizabeth, and who had become accessory
to their traitorous purpose. To such a jurisdiction Mary
refused to submit herself; and when called before a meet-
ing of the commission held in the hall of Fotheringay, she
refused to acknowledge the right of those persons to proceed
in taking cognizance of the charge made against her. "I
am," she said, "no subject of the crown of England, and
sovereign princes alone can be the peers entitled to try me.
I am queen of Scotland, and queen-dowager of France. I
came into England seeking the queen's hospitality, but with-
out the slightest purpose of subjecting myself to her sover-
eignty. I have been unjustly imprisoned during the space
of nineteen years : the laws of England have never protected
me; do not, therefore, let them be perverted into snares
against my life." Nevertheless, she owned she was not
unwilling to justify herself before a free and full English
parliament, but not before a commission deriving its power
from a law which seemed framed expressly to give a pre-
tence of taking away her life.
In this resolution of declining the jurisdiction of the com-
mission, Queen Mary remained for some time fixed, till it
was subtly urged by Hatton, the vice-chamberlain, that, by
avoiding an investigation, she might seem to shroud a guilty
cause; whereas, by entering upon her defence, she might
clear her innocence in the eyes of the commissioners, and
enable them to report to Elizabeth and to the English nation
that she was guiltless. This argument prevailed ; but it was
only under a solemn protest against the validity of the com-
mission that Mary condescended to plead before it. The
parties being thus come to an issue, the attorney and so-
licitor of Queen Elizabeth enforced the particulars of their
charge with the legal skill of their profession, and all their
personal ingenuity; and the queen's sergeant-at-law openedj
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 227
in a historical discourse, the conspiracy of Babington, and
concluded that Mary, who stood accused before the commis-
Bion, knew of it, approved of it, promised her assistance, and
gave counsel for the means of effecting it.
Mary answered, with unabated courage, that she knew
neither Babington nor Ballard ; that she had, indeed, heard
from various quarters that the English Roman Catholics
were severely treated, and that she had written to Queen
Elizabeth in their behalf. She added that divers persons
utterly unknown to her had at different times written sug-
gesting plans of escape; but that she had never returned
answers to them, nor encouraged any man to attempts in
her behalf which might incur punishment by the English
law : other schemes might have existence without her knowl-
edge, because, being closely shut up in prison, she had no
means of knowing or preventing plots or conspiracies which
might be entered into without her knowledge.
Copies of letters from Babington were then read, appar-
ently addressed to Queen Mary, in which the whole con-
spiracy was detailed.
To this evidence she replied that it might be true that
Babington wrote these letters; but it was false that she had
received them. Various letters she had indeed received, but
by whom sent she did not know.
To prove, on the part of the prosecution, that she had
received the letters of Babington, notwithstanding her de-
nial, there were read from his confession the contents of cer-
tain letters which he there stated himself to have received
from her in answer to those which he wrote to her. Scrolls
of letters, in her own cipher, were also produced, seeming to
refer to the same correspondence. When in this part of the
debate mention was made of the Earl of Arundel and his
brothers, the queen burst into tears, and exclaimed, "Alas!
wliat hath the noble House of Howard endured for my
sake!" She then reassumed her composure; and pleaded
with truth and firmness that the confessions of Babington
could be no proof against her, and that such scrolls as seemed
228 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to be written in her cipher might easily have been forged.
Finally, she protested that, although she had used her best
endeavors to obtain her liberty, and to mitigate the persecu-
tion of those of her own communion, she would not have
purchased the kingdom with the death of the least ordinary
man, much less with that of Queen Elizabeth.
The testimonies of her secretaries, Naue and Curl, were
then pressed against her ; but this she refused to admit, con-
tending that to make good witnesses they, being alive and
within the kingdom, ought to have been produced face to
face against her. Curl she described as an honest man, but
completely under the influence of Naue, a wily politician,
and whose integrity or superiority to the seduction of bribes
she did not pretend to assert; neither was she able to say
what effect the force of promises or fear of torture may have
had upon him. She protested, once more, that she knew
neither Babington nor Ballard.
"But you know Morgan well enough," answered the lord
treasurer; "and this Morgan, to whom you have assigned
a yearly pension, is the person who despatched Parry to
England to murder Queen Elizabeth." To this charge,
which was totally distinct from that relating to the con-
spiracy of Babington, Mary replied:
"I know not, save from what you tell me, whether Mor-
gan is guilty of your charge or no ; but I know well that he
has served me to the loss of his whole fortune ; and in that
point of view I am bound to give him indemnification and
support: if he be the enemy of Queen Elizabeth, let it be
remembered that she has pensioned the Master of Gray and
others, my bitter personal enemies, whose hatred to me has,
perhaps, formed their best pretension to my sister's favor."
Thus through the whole sitting of the court, unaided by
counsel or legal advice of any kind, she sustained and re-
pelled the accusations brought against her by professional
persons of eminence, with an ingenuity and address which
could hardly have been expected from a person of her rank,
sex, and education. Her defences were naturally framed
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 229
upon the general reasons of justice and good sense; but
with legal advice to assist her, she would have known that
in failing to bring in the witnesses on whose evidence she
was to be convicted, Elizabeth's commission broke the ex-
press statute law of England, as well as the great rules of
equity. The statute 1 & 2 Ph. <& Mary, chap, x., sect. 11,
declares, "That the two witnesses whose evidence is neces-
sary to convict any one accused of high treason shall be
confronted with the party accused, and shall in his presence
make good their testimony ; nor is this dispensed with unless
in the case where the witnesses are dead or beyond seas, or
the accused party shall confess the treason." But this most
equitable and just statute, calculated to afford protection to
the subject even against the grasp of the highest authority,
was denied to a crowned head, whom chance only placed
under the disposal of those who had no native superiority
over her.
On the concluding day, Mary again insisted upon her
former protestation, and lamented that the proposals she
had made to Elizabeth had been rejected, when she prom-
ised to give her own son and the Duke of Guise's son as
hostages, that England and its queen should not come
through her to any harm or detriment: "Instead of which,"
continued she, "I am now most dishonorably dealt by and
my regal honor and reputation called in question before or-
dinary lawyers, who by wresting conclusions can draw the
most harmless circumstance into a criminal consequence."
She added, once more, "that her making a voluntary ap-
pearance in such a court was only lest she should seem to
neglect the justification of her own honor, which was dearer
to her than any privilege of her dignity, or her life itself."
After some further arguing, the sitting of the court, if it
could be called so, was adjourned from Fotheringay, and
the commissioners departed on their return to London.
On the 25th of October the commissioners held a meeting
in the Star Chamber, where Naue and Curl, the two secre-
taries, examined upon oath, avowed, affirmed, and justified
230 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the letters and copies of letters formerly produced at Fother-
ingay as true and real. It is scarcely necessary to observe
that on this occasion the most ordinary rules of evidence
were violated, and the witnesses, whose testimony alone
could give these documents the least weight in evidence,
were examined at a distance from the party against whom
they were produced, and without affording her the oppor-
tunity of cross-examination. The confessions of executed
traitors were not more effectual to support the truth of
what they affirmed : no one did or could know under what
circumstances Babington, Ballard, and the others, made their
final confessions, or whether they had made such or not. The
papers produced as such might either be altogether forged,
or they might be garbled and interpolated, or they might
have been extorted by torture, or granted under a promise
of life and favorable treatment. Some of the alleged letters
were made to show things altogether inconsistent with truth,
of which we have already shown an example.
Nor were the prosecutors entitled to complain, if they had
been deprived of the benefit of the evidence of Babington
and his companions, since it rested only with themselves to
have brought it forward in an unexceptionable form. The
lives of these unhappy persons being spared, nothing would
have been more easy than to have brought to Fotheringay
the persons of Ballard and Babington, while yet alive ; and
the importance of doing justice to the cause of an independ-
ent sovereign must be certainly admitted as matter of more
weight than the instantly depriving of life a few youthful
enthusiasts.
Notwithstanding these considerations, the commissioners
subscribed, by unanimous assent, a sentence, declaring that
since the 1st day of June, in the twenty-seventh year of
Queen Elizabeth, and before the date of their commission,
"divers matters have been compassed and imagined, within
this realm of England, by Anthony Babington and others,
with the privity of the said Mary, pretending a title to the
crown of this realm of England, tending to the hurt, death,
-HISTOEY OF SCOTLAND 231
and destruction of the royal person of our said lady, the
queen. And also, that since the aforesaid 1st day of June,
in the twenty-seventh year aforesaid, and before the date of
the commission aforesaid, the aforesaid Mary, pretending a
title to the crown of this realm of England, has compassed
and imagined, within this realm of England, divers matters
tending to the hurt, death, and destruction of the royal per-
son of our sovereign lady, the queen, contrary to the form
of the statute in the commission aforesaid specified."
A declaration was at the same time published by the
commissioners and judges, declaring that nothing in the
sentence should affect King James's title of accession to
the crown, but that the same should remain as effectual as
if the proceedings at Fotheringay had never taken place.
The parliament was soon after convoked, in which they,
with unanimous consent, petitioned the queen that, for the
preservation of Christ's true religion, the quiet and security
of the realm, the safety of themselves and their posterity,
the sentence against Mary Queen of Scots might be pub-
lished. They reminded her that the said queen was a mem-
ber of the Catholic league made for the destruction of the
Protestant religion. Moreover, that she had formerly as-
sumed the royal title and royal arms of England ; Elizabeth
was affectionately conjured to remember the examples of
Heaven's vengeance narrated in Scripture upon King Saul
for failing to slay Agag, and upon King Ahab for sparing
the life of Benhadad ; and the chancellor and speaker added,
finally, that they would not think themselves discharged of
the engagements which they had come under by their loyal
association without proceeding to the execution of this sen-
tence.
The queen failed not to make a long and grateful speech,
in which she expressed her thanks for the zeal of her sub-
jects, lamented the extremities to which she was reduced by
the machinations of one of her own sex, of the like quality
and degree with herself, of the same race and stock, and so
nearly related to her in blood. She had written, she said,
232 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
privately, to her kinswoman, that if she would confess the
treasonable practices in which she was involved, in a letter
to be private between herself and Elizabeth, she would not
permit the discovery to be further pressed against her. Even
yet, far as the matter had now gone, if she could be assured
her kinswoman would forbear such practices, and that no
one would make use of her name for stirring up treasonable
attempts, she, for her part, could willingly pardon what had
passed. As to herself, she proceeded, if by her death could
be obtained a more flourishing condition and a better prince,
she would willingly lay down her life ; for whether she looked
to things past, to things present, or to futurity, she counted
them happiest who went first from the stage. After these
rhetorical flourishes, she spoke more directly to the point,
but still in an enigmatical manner, the sum of what she said
pointing to the necessity of proceeding with severity, while
the phrases she made use of insinuated a desire to act with
lenity. Their petition, she said, had reduced her to great
straits and perplexities, as pressing upon her the punishment
of a princess so near in blood to herself, yet, indeed, she must
needs confess to them a further secret, though not as one
who usually blabbed forth her knowledge of such matters ;
namely, that she had lately seen with her own eyes a bond
subscribed by twelve persons, binding themselves to put her
to death within a month. Having thus introduced a topic
well calculated to continue the general ferment on account
of her personal safety, Elizabeth expressed herself confident
that her good subjects would not press her to an immediate
decision on an affair of such uncommon weight and interest,
and promised to announce to them her resolution as soon as
she should be able to form one.
Continuing the same train of deception and hypocrisy,
Elizabeth sent the lord chancellor to the house of lords, and
the speaker to the commons, praying these honorable assem-
blies to consider whether some alternative could not be found,
by following which her own personal safety might be rec-
onciled with pardon to Queen Mary. A more unaccepta-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 233
ble proposal, nevertheless, could hardly have been made
to Queen Elizabeth than one which should seem to unite
Mary's life with her own safety, and thereby impose upon
her the necessity of sparing her kinswoman. Accordingly,
neither lord nor member of the lower house presumed to
vary from their former opinion, but were careful to adapt
their reply to the hidden meaning, not the affected tenor of
her majesty's letter. They could not, they said, reconcile
the queen's safety with the life of the queen of Scots, unless,
first, the latter should repent and acknowledge her offence,
or, secondly, were kept under a closer guard, and sufficient
security given for her good demeanor, or, finally, that she
should be banished from the land. Of her repentance, they
charitably declared they had no hope; a closer ward, stricter
custody, or the security of oaths and hostages, they accounted
as ineffectual, because Elizabeth's death, the mark at which
Mary was esteemed constantly to aim, would, if achieved,
cast all such obligations loose ; and if they sent the queen of
Scotland out of the realm, they declared they should expect
nothing less than her return at the head of an army.
The lord chancellor and the speaker of the lower house
added their exhortations to those of parliament, and re-
minded the queen that her high office obliged her to render
justice to every individual who sued for it, and that she
ought not to deny it when it was demanded by the general
voice of the English nation. Thus these illustrious assem-
blies gave one instance of what has been sometimes re-
marked — that their votes are never so likely to be erroneous
as when they are unanimous. Reasoning, however strong
or irrefutable, seldom has the same effect of conviction on
all minds; and unanimity, in many cases, infers that one
common strain of passion or prejudice, as remote as pos-
sible from calm deliberation, has led or misled the general
acquiescence. The queen continued to maintain an affecta-
tion of extreme embarrassment : she expressed herself sur-
prised, yet not offended, at the unusual pertinacity with
which her lords and commons pressed an execution which
234 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
gave her mind so much pain. She gently chid them for
their extreme anxiety on her account; and expressed her
feelings that, since her security was desperate without the
death of her relation, she found, nevertheless, in her own
bosom, great reluctance to exercise that severity against a
great princess which she had studiously forborne in the case
of persons of inferior rank. She concluded a long harangue
with this indecisive answer: "If I should say I will not do
what you request, I might say, perhaps, more than I intend;
and if I should say I will do it, I might plunge myself into
as bad inconveniences as you endeavor to preserve me from ;
which I am confident your wisdoms and discretions would
not desire that I should, if ye consider the circumstances
of place, time, and the manners and conditions of men."
Nevertheless, this train of hypocritical dissimulation, meant
to express the exceeding grief of Elizabeth's mind at being,
in a manner compelled by authority of parliament to pro-
claim the sentence, did not escape the malign construction
that the queen had acted in this instance like a true woman,
who will seem to reject and disapprove of that which she
most desires, in order that it may be forced upon her. The
proclamation of the sentence contained similar expressions
of the queen's reluctance, which met with the same degree
of credulity.
When Mary heard that this final step toward her execu-
tion had been taken, she received the intelligence with a
steady and composed countenance, and raising her eyes and
hands to Heaven, thanked God she now saw the conclusion
of her sufferings.
She wrote a remarkable letter to Elizabeth, dated on the
19th of December: in this she disavowed all hostile feelings,
and thanked God for the sentence which promised a period
to her lamentable captivity. The doomed princess then
made, in gentle yet solicitous terms, one or two requests, -
which she entreated Elizabeth to take into her private and
personal consideration, as she expected little favor, she said,
from the zealous puritans with whom the English council
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 235
was filled. First, she desired her body might be transported
to France, where her mother's soul rested in peace. In Scot-
land, she said, the sepulchres of her ancestors were over-
thrown and violated : in England, she could not have the
advantage of the ceremonies of her religion ; and she desired
to be laid where her spirit might be propitiated with Catholic
rites, and her body might have that repose which, when
living, it never enjoyed.
Secondly, she besought that she might not be put to
death by any private means, or without Queen Elizabeth's
knowledge ; and that her servants might have an opportu-
nity of observing her final departure. This fear of private
murder she was observed to entertain, since all looked so
black and menacing around her; and the mind shrinks
from a fate which has so much uncertainty in time, place,
and circumstance. It afterward appears that her fears were
far from unreasonable.
Lastly, Mary desired her servants might be permitted to
depart in peace and freedom, and with permission to enjoy
those legacies which she should bequeath them by her latest
will. These things she entreated of her kinswoman, in the
name of their Redeemer, by their near kindred, by the soul
and memory of Henry VII., their common progenitor, and
in the name of those common decencies which even persons
of the most ordinary rank generally observe toward each
other. She complained that she had been despoiled of all
her regal ornaments; alleged that, if her papers had been
fairly produced, it would have appeared that her only cause
of condemnation had been the overcarefulness and solicitude
of some persons for Queen Elizabeth's safety. Lastly, she
entreated a line or two of answer in the hand of Elizabeth
herself. If Elizabeth received this affecting letter, she made
no reply to it, even to assure her kinswoman that her life
was safe, but from the meditated stroke of the law.
The news was soon general that the axe was suspended
over the head of Queen Mary, and its fall only depended on
the will of Queen Elizabeth. The king of Scots, whatever
236 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
might be his feeling toward his mother, was called upon by
every tie of nature, by respect for himself, and for his char-
acter in the world, and no doubt by a certain degree of natu-
ral affection, which we cannot, however, suppose to have
been of a "singularly ardent quality," although so termed
by Camden, could now no longer dispense with making such
remonstrances as were most likely to shake the purpose of
Elizabeth. He complained with spirit of the indignity and
n justice attending a trial of the queen of Scotland, a prin-
cess also descended of the blood-royal of England, by a
commission of English subjects.
James's ordinary minister at the court of Elizabeth was
the notorious Archibald Douglas, already noticed, who after
his collusive acquittal was, with much disregard to decency,
sent to England as James's resident ambassador.
But James saw the scandal which must attend in trusting
the necessary interference on behalf of his mother to the care
of a dependent of Morton, Mary's most ruthless enemy, and
chose an agent more like to be zealous in his mother's cause.
His remonstrances in her behalf were at first uttered through
the medium of William Keith, an envoy extraordinary, sent
for the purpose of remonstrating against Mary's trial, with
instructions to add that, however new such proceeding was,
it would be still more extraordinary if his mother, an inde-
pendent princess, should be put to death under a sentence
so pronounced. As this remonstrance produced no effect,
James wrote again to Keith, to state how unjust he held
the prosecution against his mother, with a charge to remind
Elizabeth, that if such a crime should be committed, it con-
erned him, both in respect of nature and honor, to be re-
venged ; since remaining passive under such an injury with-
out requiring the most ample anends, he must lose credit
both at home and abroad. Keiih therefore entreated at
least for delay, till James should send an ambassador with
proposals which might give satisfaction to Elizabeth, and at
the same time save the life of his parent. When an applica-
tion, couched in these terms of menace, was made to Eliza-
/ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 237
beth, she was at first so indignant that she had wellnigh
driven Keith from her presence : on taking time to consider,
however, she agreed to wait to hear any ambassador who
should come from King James within a few days; and
condescended to add, that she would suspend the execu-
tion of his mother's sentence until that period should have
elapsed.
The stern tone of irritation in which Queen Elizabeth
expressed herself seems to have daunted the spirit of King
James. In a subsequent letter to William Keith, he dis-
owned any attempt to influence Queen Elizabeth by threats,
and intimated that he did not mean to plead his cause with
anything short of due respect to her individual feelings.
He declared himself satisfied that she was not a free agent
in the matter, nor at liberty to act upon her own clement
and generous disposition ; but that, on the contrary, he knew
that she was pressed forward by those who urged to her the
peril of her own life. James declared, therefore, that he did
not impute to Elizabeth, personally or directly, the blame of
anything that had been done, and only required her to sus-
pend any proceedings against his mother until the arrival
of the Master of Gray, through whom, as specially com-
missioned for that purpose, he meant to suggest such con-
ditions as appeared to him sufficient for saving the life of
his mother.
The terms of this mitigated letter relieved Elizabeth from
what she might naturally have esteemed a very considerable
embarrassment ; for an instant breach with Scotland, while
she was involved in so many dangers from the continent,
'oined to the existence of a Catholic party in her own do-
minions, could not have been a subject of indifference to
her, upon reflection, how much soever she might be disposed
by nature and habit to answer threats with defiance. The
flexible tone, also, of James's last letter seemed to intimate
that he desired but to play the part of a dutiful son in the
eye of the world, and to the vindication of his honor in
the opinion of his subjects, without meditating any active
238 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
measures, if he could discharge what was due to decency.
This point once gained by him, Elizabeth probably conjec-
tured that the resentment of the king of Scotland, in case
of his mother's execution, would be neither violent nor last-
ing ; and she might consider the appointment of Gray, whose
interest she had long secured, was no trifling assurance that
in case of the sentence being executed against Mary, the
resentment of her son would neither assume a very ardent
or fatal character. Gray was accordingly despatched to
England; but the suggestions of the council of Scotland,
rather than any feeling of the king himself, laid James
under the necessity of conjoining with the Master in his
commission a colleague likely to be more active in the dis-
charge of it. This was Sir Robert Melville, an old and
faithful servant of the crown, whose exertions in the queen's
favor might be relied upon much more than those of the
venal Gray. The ambassadors extraordinary accordingly
set out for England, charged with James's proposals for
his mother's life; Melville filled with anxiety to discharge
his duty so as might best advantage a mistress who had
favored him formerly, and to whom he was sincerely grate-
ful ; the Master of Gray, as afterward appeared, with a very
different purpose.
At their first audience with Queen Elizabeth, which they
obtained with some difficulty, she expressed herself with her
usual decision. She had been threatened, she said, by the
king of Scots in his letter sent to William Keith, and de-
manded to know if they were charged with remonstrances
of the like nature. Gray replied that an apology had been
made for the terms of that letter, by one of a subsequent
date couched in less offensive terms. The queen at once
entered upon the business of the audience in a manner cal-
culated to silence discussion, saying, briefly and fiercely, "I
am unmeasurably sorry that there can be no means found
to save the life of your king's mother with assurance of my
own. I have labored to preserve the life of both, but it
cannot be done." As she appeared to speak in pas-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 239
#on, the ambassadors were silent, and withdrew for the
time.
At a second audience the queen demanded of them what
they had to propose on the part of James, adding, disdain-
fully, that a thing long looked for should be good when it
comes. The Master of Gray then requested to know if
Queen Mary was still alive, for a rumor of her death was
even already current. "As yet," replied the queen, "I be-
lieve she lives; but I will not promise an hour." Gray
replied, that his master's propositions were calculated to
pledge his credit in behalf of his mother, to that effect in-
terposing the chief of his nobility as hostages, that no plot
or enterprise against Queen Elizabeth should be undertaken
with the knowledge or countenance of Mary. Or, if it
pleased Elizabeth to send Queen Mary into Scotland, King
James would engage that the English realm should be safe
from all interference on her part. Queen Elizabeth called
to the Earl of Leicester, with other lords of her council who
were in the chamber, and repeated to them the proposals of
the king of Scots, in a tone of scorn, as totally inadequate
to the occasion. Gray took the opportunity to ask why the
queen of Scots should be esteemed so dangerous to her maj-
esty? "Because," answered Elizabeth hastily, "she is a
papist, and they say she shall succeed to my throne." Gray
replied, that Mary would divest herself of such a right in
favor of her son. The speaking of Queen Mary's claim of
succession as real gave fresh offence. "She hath no such
right," answered the queen hastily: "she is declared in-
capable of succession." — "Supposing that to be the case,"
replied the Scottish ambassador, "there is an end of danger
from the papists, since they can trust nothing to a claim of
succession which has been annulled, and therefore the rea-
son fails which renders your kinswoman's life dangerous
to your majesty." — Elizabeth replied, that "though Mary's
right was indeed annulled, the papists would not allow that
it had ceased to exist." — "If so," replied the Master of
Grav, "the queen of Scots having demitted, with consent
240 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of her friends, all right of succession in favor of her son,
could no longer pretend to exercise it in her own right, nor
could she find support in so doing." The queen at first pre-
tended not to understand the measure which was proposed :
the Earl of Leicester explained it, by stating the proposal
of Gray to be that the king of Scots should be placed in the
rights of his mother. Elizabeth then burst into one of her
characteristic passions. "Is that your meaning?" said she;
"then I should put myself in worse case than before! By
God's passion!" she exclaimed with much vehemence, "this
were to cut mine own throat : he shall never come into that
place or be party with me" (possess, that is, a share in her
succession). — "Yet the king of Scots," answered Gray,
"must become party with your majesty, when he succeeds,
by his mother's death, to her claims of every kind. Thus
the act which we now deprecate will only accelerate a posi-
tion in respect to Queen Mary's son, of which your majesty
is pleased to entertain an apprehension."
Sensible that in this logical discussion she was losing
ground, Elizabeth waived further argument in a debate
where reason obviously failed her, and took leave of the
ambassadors with these words: "Let your king recollect
what I have done for him, and how long I have main-
tained the crown upon his head, even since the hour of
his birth. For my part, I am determined to keep the league
between the kingdoms. If the king of Scots shall break it,
he commits a double fault. ' ' With these words, as the last
intimation of her pleasure, she was about to leave the apart-
ment, when Sir Robert Melville followed her, beseeching for
some delay of the execution; to which she replied, in the
tone of authority which had distinguished her deportment
during the whole conference, "No, not an hour!"
It is scarcely necessary to point out to the reader the dif-
ferent manner in which Elizabeth received the addresses of
the houses of peers and commons, pressing her for Mary's
immediate execution, and the Scottish ambassadors entreat-
ing for delay of the same. To the first she replied with
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 241
an affectation of feminine hesitation, and prayed her sub-
jects would not press her too hard on a subject so painful.
To the second she answered, in the tone of a lioness who has
grasped her prey, "No, not an hour!"
It is probable that in this interview Gray expressed truly
the proposals of his master James, and he certainly reasoned
on the question logically and firmly; but by turning the
point upon the claims of succession, which must descend
to his master by the death of his mother, he obviously and
probably designedly brought into the discussion the subject
which was most disagreeable to Queen Elizabeth, and which
was sure to incense her in the most sensible manner. So
acute a diplomatist as Gray could not have fallen into so
great an error by mere accident; and the necessary infer-
ence is, that he had no wish that his mission should be
successful.
When the report of this angry conference had reached
James he assumed a tone more becoming an independent
prince pleading in behalf of a mother than he had hitherto
ventured to use. In a letter written with his own hand he
uses these strong and becoming expressions: "Be no longer
reserved in dealing for my mother, for you have been so too
long; and think not that anything will do good, if her life
be lost, for then adieu to further dealing with that state.
Therefore, as you look for my continued favor, spare no
pains nor plainness in this case ; but read my letter written
to William Keith (alluding to that which Elizabeth had re-
sented as containing threats), and conform yourself wholly
to the contents thereof; and in this let me see the fruits of
your great credit there (that is, at the English court), either
now or never. Farewell."
But ere this mandate reached the Master of Gray he had
adopted a very different course of proceeding : his interest
at the English court alluded to by King James rested on a
very different foundation tnan that of his fidelity to his mas-
ter or his attachment to the honor and interests of his coun-
try. In order that a foreigner should have interest with
Scotland. Vol. II.— II
242 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Queen Elizabeth and her counsellors, it was necessary that
they should conform themselves implicitly to the wishes and
dictates of that lofty princess. Gray was of that flexible
character which is very docile upon such occasions. He
listened complacently to the insinuations of Leicester and
other English counsellors, who suggested, that although the
king's interference in behalf of his mother was natural and
laudable, yet it should not be urged to such a point as might
endanger the favor of Elizabeth, nor, in short, carried further
than was necessary to secure for his master the character of
a dutiful and affectionate son ; while it left him at liberty,
whatever should happen, to preserve the love and friendship
of Elizabeth, who, whether she put to death his mother or
not, was still the ally whose countenance or enmity might
most befriend, or in the highest degree injure his interest.
The Scottish envoy speedily learned the lesson thus taught
him; and conscious, perhaps, that his master wanted that
fiery spirit of resolution characteristic of most of his prede-
cessors, he gave explicit hints to the English ministers that
by executing the sentence against Mary without delay they
would not incur any formidable intensity of enmity on the
part of his master. He repeated the Latin phrase, Mortua
7ioii mordet, "A dead woman bites not," and made no
scruple to assure those with whom he had intercourse that,
were the deed once done, his master was likely speedily to
pardon what could neither be remedied nor revenged. He
even undertook to be himself a mediator, and take care
to disarm James's displeasure of all tendency to vengeance.
It is, of course, to be understood that in all this ambiguous
dealing, which went directly to defeat the main purpose of
his embassy, Gray concealed from his colleague Melville the
double-dealing intrigues which he held with the English
ministers.
Other measures were employed to deprecate the threat-
ened hostilities of the king of Scots. Walsingham, famed
for his policy and his prudence, wrote to the king of Scots
to express his surprise at the stand which he had made in
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 243
behalf of his mother, seeing that the honest and religious
Protestants in England were unanimously agreed that her
life was inconsistent with the safety of the Protestant faith
in both divisions of Britain, and conjuring him not to wreck
the public peace, or disturb the prosperity of the reformed
churches of England and Scotland, by taking to heart too
anxiously the death of a parent whose life was forfeited to
the laws and to an unavoidable necessity.
From all the preceding indications King James was made
aware that the fate of his mother was decided ; nor is it likely
that any measure on his part, unless of a character far more
energetic than was usual in his councils, could be of the slight-
est avail in saving her life. He preserved, however, the de-
cencies of his situation ; and, recalling his ambassadors from
the court of England, commanded his clergy at home to re-
member his mother in the public prayers, under a form to
which certainly there was nothing to which charity could
object, since the tenor ran that it might please God to illu-
minate her with the light of his truth, and save her from
the apparent danger wherein she was cast. The clergymen,
however, remembering the Catholic tenets of Mary, and that
aversion entertained to her by the original fathers of the
Scottish Church, which had so large a share in her down-
fall, refused to comply even with this moderate request of
their sovereign. In the capital, particularly, the refusal was
wellnigh general, so that the king was obliged to appoint the
archbishop of St. Andrew's to preach before him on a cer-
tain day, in order that he might hear the safety of his mother
recommended in the prayers of his subjects. In this, how-
ever, he was disappointed. An enthusiastic j'oung man
named Cooper, who though not yet himself called to the
ministry, intruded himself into the pulpit by the encourage-
ment, it is said, of his brethren, and excluded the prelate.
The king arriving at the time appointed, and seeing the
pulpit already occupied, addressed the intrusive preacher
from his seat in these temperate words: "That seat, Mr.
John, was destined for another; but if you mean to obey
244 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the charge which we have sent forth, and remember our
mother in j T our prayers, you are at liberty to proceed." To
this Cooper replied he would do as the Spirit of God directed
him. Upon this, being commanded to come from that place,
and refusing to obey, the captain of the guard was ordered
to pull him from the pulpit. On hearing these orders issued,
the hot-headed young man exclaimed that the violence which
he sustained should be a witness against the king at the day
of judgment.
If we can trust a current tradition, such contests between
the pulpit and the throne occurred more than once in the face
of the congregation. It is said a young preacher, dilating
before James's face on some matter highly offensive to him,
the monarch lost patience, and said aloud, "I tell thee, man,
either to speak sense or come down." To which reasonable
request, as it might be thought, the preacher stoutly replied,
"And I tell thee, man, I will neither speak sense nor come
down."
The archbishop of St. Andrew's then succeeded to the
pulpit ; and by the eloquence of a sermon, in which he in-
sisted on the duty of praying for all men, pacified the tumult
which so extraordinary a scene had excited among the con-
gregation.
It is not improbable that, instead of entering into squab-
bles with his clergy on the mode of petitioning Heaven in
his mother's behalf, had King James descended to look for
earthly succors, and appealed to his subjects on so national
an occasion, he might, on wonderfully short notice, have
assembled upon the borders an army of forty thousand men,
who would not willingly have seen the blood of their sover-
eign's mother shed upon a scaffold by command of a foreign
power.
"We have detailed at length the nature of James's inter-
cession for his mother's life as an interesting part of Scottish
history : the intervention of other powers for the same pur-
pose may be briefly noticed. The king of France, though
an enemy to the House of Guise, could not, were it only for
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 245
decency's sake, avoid an application on the same occasion ;
but the arguments of his ambassador, Bellievre, were not
so urged as to make much impression upon Elizabeth, who,
aware, besides, of Henry III. 's dislike to the House of Guise,
paid no attention to the arguments from that quarter.
Nevertheless Queen Elizabeth, though uninfluenced by the
remonstrances of foreign courts, seemed, when the moment
for decision was arrived, to hesitate upon striking the fatal
blow. "With whatever color she might cloak it to her own
conscience, or represent it to the English nation, she could
not be indifferent to the manner in which the death of Mary
was likely to affect her fame through Europe at large.
Neither was she entirely secure of Scotland; for although
the Master of Gray pretended that the resentment which
James might entertain for his mother's execution should
be of no permanent duration, yet Melville, whose honor
was known to her, had held different language; and the
recall of the Scottish ambassadors seemed to announce a
war, for which the queen of England, beset as she was by
continental enemies, could not be supposed to be perfectly
provided.
But although no such pressing cause for hesitation had
exhibited itself, Elizabeth, like many others in a similar
situation, seems to have found her courage fail when she
approached close to the perpetration of the crime she had so
long meditated. The sense that, though she might delude
her own people by fantastic fears and jealousies, the rest of
Europe would not be so easily gulled, must have made her
reluctant to strike the final blow; and with her fears for
her own reputation there doubtless was mingled some touch
of womanhood, some feeling of female reluctance to shed
the blood of her captive kinswoman. Although she could
refuse Melville even the delay of an hour in the height of
an angry debate, yet upon reflection she was unwilling to
decide upon the execution, nor was she perhaps displeased
to gain the credit of sustaining a struggle between her hu-
manity and what she called her sense of justice. She ex-
246 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
hibited every symptom of disquietude and abstraction, wan-
dered through her palace with unequal steps, or was found
alone musing, or heard uttering in a broken voice enigmati-
cal expressions of doubt and irresolution. Aut fer aut feri,
lie feriare feri, were words frequent in her mouth. They
were taken from the quibbling mottoes and devices which
were then favorite subjects of study, and served to express
the uncertainty of Elizabeth's mind. Meantime various re-
ports were dispersed to keep up the alarm, and persuade the
people of England that the death of Mary was the life of
Elizabeth, and the life of M.slyj was the death of her sister
sovereign. Bravos were said to be hired by the French
ambassador to assassinate the queen ; the Spanish fleet was
said, one day, to have arrived at Milford Haven; on an-
other, the Duke of Guise was said to have landed in Sussex;
a third rumor stated an invasion of the Scots ; a fourth, an
insurrection of the northern counties ; a fifth proclaimed the
city to be on fire; a sixth announced the death of Elizabeth.
The people, distracted by these varying reports, grew almost
frantic, and called loudly for the death of Mary, as the only
remedy for the convulsions with which the nation was
threatened.
It was therefore with the unanimous consent of her own
subjects, or rather in compliance with their demands, that
Elizabeth resolved to sign the fatal death-warrant against
her sister.
The preparing of this deed fell officially to the charge of
"William Davidson, one of the principal secretaries of state,
who was doomed, by a stroke of political management, to
be the victim of Elizabeth's duplicity upon this occasion.
Davidson received instructions from the lord admiral to
prepare the death-warrant for the queen's signature. He
did so, and laid it before her with other papers. She im-
mediately entered upon the subject. After she had looked
it over, she signed it, and laying it from her asked the sec-
retary, jocularly, whether he was not heartily sorry that it
was done. His answer was as might be expected, that "since
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 247
Mary's life was inconsistent with Elizabeth's safety, he pre-
ferred the death of the guilty to that of the innocent. ' ' She
then commanded him to append the seal to the warrant, and
to give it so ratified to the lord chancellor, with directions to
use it as secretly as might be. "On the way," said she,
jocularly, "you may show it to Walsingham, who will die
of grief at the news.'" She expressed her desire that the
execution should take place neither in the open court nor in
the green of the castle, but in the great hall of Fotheringay ;
and being thus particular in her directions, left Davidson in
no doubt that she was seriously determined on the bloody
scene which she had thus contemplated, with every circum-
stance of time and place.
When Davidson was ready to depart with these instruc-
tions, the queen again called him, and entered into some
complaint of Sir Amias Paulet, who, she alleged, might
have eased her of this burden, commanding him and Wal-
singham to sound the dispositions of Queen Mary's keepers,
and to hint to them the good service which they might do
her by anticipating the execution of the warrant.
Such a letter as the queen desired, subscribed by Wal-
singham and Davidson, was written to Sir Amias Paulet
and Sir Drew Drury, who were now conjoined in the cus-
tody of the unfortunate Mary.
It is of a tenor as extraordinary as any missive which can
be pointed out in the ample portfolio of political profligacy.
"The queen," says this choice epistle, "appears, by some
speeches lately uttered, to note in you a lack of care and
zeal of her service, in respect you have not all this time of
yourselves, without other intimation, found out some way
to shorten the life of that queen, In neglecting to do so,
besides a kind of lack of love to Elizabeth, she observed that
the keepers of Mary had not that care of the preservation of
religion and the public good they would be thought to have,
more especially having a ground of warrant for the satisfac-
tion of their conscience, their oath of association, by which
they had both solemnly pledged themselves, binding them
248 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to prosecute Mary to the death in event of the guilt being
proved against her. The queen, " continues the letter, "takes
it most unkindly that men professing the love to their sover-
eign asserted by you should yet, for lack of discharge of their
duty [that is, for not murdering by their private act their
royal prisoner], suffer the burden of taking her life to fall
upon Elizabeth herself, whose aversion to shed blood was
so well known, and whom they might well suppose was still
more reluctant to shed that of her relation and sister sover-
eign." This singular letter, in which two men of quality and
honor are advised to commit an assassination out of mere
loyalty and deference to the feelings of Queen Elizabeth,
produced no effect upon those to whom it was addressed.
Paulet, in his own name, though the letter was also sub-
scribed by Drury, laments that he should have lived to see
the unhappy day in which he is required by his sovereign to
do an act forbidden by the laws of God and man. His liv-
ings and life he declared to be at her majesty's disposition,
nor did he wish to enjoy them but with her good favor;
"but God forbid," he continues, "that I should make so
foul a shipwreck of my conscience, or leave so great a blot
to my posterity, or shed blood without law or warrant."
Elizabeth was greatly disappointed at finding this scrupu-
lous temper where she did not conceive any such was to be
expected. Paulet used to be termed her "faithful Amias,"
"her most careful servant," whose double labors and faith-
ful actions, whose wise orders and safe conduct in so dan-
gerous and crafty a charge as that of the imprisoned Mary,
her grateful heart accepted with an overflowing sense of
kindness. When, however, he was found scrupulous in so
slight a matter as making away with his prisoner, he became
a "dainty and precise fellow, who would promise much but
perform nothing." And she called it perjury in him and
others, who, contrary to the oath of association, were de-
sirous to throw upon their queen the whole odium of an
unpleasant transaction. She still proposed, however, to have
the business done by private violence, and spoke to David-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 249
son of one Wingfield who was willing to undertake it. The
secretary was at some pains to show that, by such a violent
and secret course to rid herself of her prisoner, she could
not hope to escape the general suspicion and obloquy which
must attend upon such an action.
The by-ways of private assassination being thus inter-
rupted, Elizabeth resolved to follow the broad and formal
course which was already chalked out by the proceedings
of the commission, taking care, at the same time, so to order
the execution of the warrant that it should, as much as pos-
sible, appear to be the voluntary act of her ministers, with
as little accession on her own part as could be avoided. At
Davidson's next audience of Elizabeth she entered volunta-
rily into the subject of the danger in which she daily lived,
and how it was more than time this matter was despatched,
and, swearing a great oath, added, that it was a shame for
them all that it was not done, directing Davidson to write a
letter to Paulet, for the despatch of the execution. Davidson
answered, that such a letter was unnecessary, the warrant
being general and sufficient.
The secretary being thus, as he conceived, pretty well
apprised of what would be accounted good service, laid the
warrant before the privy council, who, instigated by zeal, as
they pretended, for the queen's safety, or, more probably,
by a desire to gratify her wishes, drew up a letter, under
their hands as privy councillors, empowering the Earls of
Shrewsbury and Kent, together with the high sheriff of the
county of Northampton, to see the warrant for putting
Queen Mary to death put in force, as the sentence war-
ranted execution. This final authority was despatched by
the hands of Beale, clerk of the privy council, a man always
noted for harsh manners, puritanical zeal, and a bitter
enmity to Queen Mary.
"While Elizabeth thus fluctuated, not between remorse
and desire of committing the crime, but concerning the
mode in which it should be accomplished, Mary prepared
herself for death with all the dignity of a queen and the
250 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
firmness of a martyr. To her affecting letter to Elizabeth,
already quoted, no answer had been returned, nor did the
queen ever acknowledge having received it. The assistance
of a confessor or priest of her own religion, though deemed
essential by Catholics to salvation, was withheld from her
by the stern puritanism of the times. The assistance of a
Protestant bishop and a dean were indeed offered to her, but
with these her communion forbade her to join in devotion.
"With no aid, therefore, saving her own unbroken spirit,
she prepared for death, as she had formerly done for trial.
She received with the most dignified composure the Earls
of Kent and Shrewsbury, who came to announce that she
was to die on the next day. "I did not," answered Mary,
"think that the queen, my sister, would have commanded
my death by the hands of the executioner; but the soul is
not worthy of Heaven which shrinks from the pang of
death." The evening was employed in writing her testa-
ment, settling her worldly affairs, and comforting the out-
rageous sorrows of her female attendants.
The last night she slept soundly, and rising early in the
morning, busied herself with her private devotions. At
eight o'clock the high sheriff found her still kneeling be-
fore the crucifix. She came forth with her countenance
and presence majestically composed, dressed in a mourning
habit adorned with some few ornaments. As she descended
to the fatal place of execution, her house-steward, named
Melville, fell on his knees before her, and bewailed with
loud lamentations that it should be his fortune to carry
the tidings of her fate to Scotland. "Lament not, good
Melville," said the queen, "but rather rejoice, since thou
shalt see this day Mary Stuart released from her earthly
miseries. Bear witness, I die constant in my religion, and
faithful in my affection to Scotland and France." She then
charged him to be loyal to her son, and to advise him to
maintain friendship with the queen of England. She ob-
tained the promise of the attendant earls that the distribu-
tion of her effects among her attendants should be attended
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 251
to according to her wish. It was with greater difficulty that
she obtained permission for one or two of her servants to
attend at her execution; but the sad boon was at length
granted, upon her undertaking that her maidens should not
disturb the awful scene with their cries. The great hall of
the castle of Fotheringay, hung with black for the occasion,
was assigned as the fatal spot. A low scaffold placed in the
centre of the hall exhibited the block and axe, together with
''he headsman and his assistant, the implements and agents
of the bloody tragedy which was to follow.
Mary ascended the scaffold ; and sitting down on a chair,
placed for her accommodation, heard with indifference the
death-warrant read over. Once more she refused the assist-
ance of the clergymen, who with well-meaning officiousness
pressed upon her the difference between the churches, and
the preference due to the Protestant creed. She then prayed
in Latin out of the Catholic manual of devotion, called the
Office of the Virgin Mary, and then rose to prepare for death .
One of the executioners having offered his service, she gently
repulsed him, saying she was not accustomed to the service
of such grooms, or to perform her toilet before so large a
company. A low wailing took place among the female at-
tendants : Mary quietly reminded them that she had prom-
ised that they should keep silence. Being divested of her
cloak and upper garments, she knelt to the block, with de-
vout expressions of resignation, and her head was struck
from her body at two blows. A favorite lap-dog could not
be separated from the corpse of his mistress. When the
fatal blow was struck, the dean pronounced the usual form,
"So perish Queen Elizabeth's enemies!" To which the
i£arl of Kent could alone muster voice to answer, "Amen";
all other persons present being drowned in sighs and lamen-
tations. Thus died Mary Queen of Scots — many parts of
whose earlier life remain an unexplained riddle to posterity,
which men have construed, and will construe, more accord-
ing to their own feelings and passions than with the calm
sentiments of impartial judges. The great error of marry-
?52 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ing Botlivvell, stained as he was by universal suspicion of
Darnley's murder, is a spot upon her character for which
we in vain seek an apology. Certainly the poor trick of the
bond subscribed at Ainslie's Supper cannot greatly mitigate
our censure, which is still less evaded by the pretended com-
pulsion exercised toward the queen, when she was trans-
ported by Bothwell to Dunbar. "What excuse she is to de-
rive from the brutal ingratitude of Darnley ; what from the
perfidy and cruelty of the fiercest set of nobles who existed
in any age ; what from the manners of a time in which as-
sassination was often esteemed a virtue, and revenge the
discharge of a debt of honor, must be left to the charity of
the reader. This may be truly said, that if a life of exile
and misery, endured with almost saintly patience, from the
15th of June, 1567, until the day of her death, upon the 8th
of February, 1586, could atone the crimes and errors of the
class imputed to her, no such penalty was ever more fully
discharged than by Mary Stua,rt.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 253
CHAPTER XXXVII
Queen Mary's Death the Subject of Rejoicing England — But of
affected Surprise and Sorrow to Elizabeth — She sends Carey
to apologize to James — He is not received, but forwards the
Queen's Excuses — She throws the Blame on Davidson, who is
ruined — James harbors Thoughts of Vengeance; but is soon led
to abandon them — Sir William Stewart impeaches Gray, who
is convicted and banished — Scotland distracted with deadly
Feuds — James endeavors to reconcile them — An Entei'tain-
ment given by the City of Edinburgh on the Occasion — His
Purpose in a great Measure fails — Feud of Mar with the Bruces
and other Gentlemen of the Carse of Stirling — Statute respect-
ing Church Lands, and concerning the Representation of the
Barons in Parliament — Spanish Armada — Offers from Spain —
Advice of Maitland — Fate of the Armada — Embassy of Sir
Henry Sidney — Insurrection of the Catholic Lords in Scotland —
Embassy from Denmark insulted by the Earl of Arran, and the
Envoys pacified by the Wisdom of Sir James Melville — A Treaty
of Marriage between James and a Princess of Denmark — It is
traversed by Elizabeth, but in vain — Finally concluded — James
sails for Denmark — Justifies his doing so by a singular Proc-
lamation — Is married at Upsal, and returns to Scotland with
his Bride
ELIZABETH was no sooner made acquainted with the
death of Mary than it seemed that the life or non-
existence of that unfortunate lady was alike to be
the subject of distress and anxiety to her sister sovereign.
The people of England, indeed, received the tidings with
the acclamations usually attendant upon some event inti-
mating great national prosperity. Bonfires and illumina-
tions, and other demonstrations of joy, attended the news
that Mary, nineteen years a prisoner, was now a corpse.
But the queen was aware that these appearances of joy
were delusive; and that, besides, she had Europe to answer
254 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to as well as England. She had no sooner received the re-
port of the execution than she evinced every symptom of the
greatest surprise and indignation, pausing, faltering, and
bursting into exclamations of regret and astonishment. l~or
did she confine herself to these expressions of grief : she put
herself into mourning; and denying all accession to or
knowledge of the execution, rebuked her privy council, and
dismissed them, in wrath, from her sight. She wrote to the
king of Scots a letter with her own hand, in which, forget-
ting that she had refused, at the intercession of his envoy,
to delay the execution even an hour, she affected the most
inconsolable grief for the lamentable accident, as she termed
it, which had happened contrary to her meaning and inten-
tion. This letter was despatched by Sir Robert Carey, a
kinsman of Queen Elizabeth, who was understood to be
personally acceptable to King James.
In this posture of affairs, Paulet and Drury had reason
to rejoice that they had not been induced by the sugared
ivords of Elizabeth to embark in the dark project of assas-
sinating their prisoner, either for the purpose of sparing the
queen's feelings, or displaying the fulness of zeal for her
person ; for the hard measure which the queen dealt toward
Burleigh, and especially toward Davidson, who had author-
ized the execution in a legal manner, and by a formal war-
rant, plainly showed that had they fallen into the trap laid
for them, or taken their prisoner's life by any secret practice,
she would have disavowed the action to which she had her-
self instigated them, and left them to atone for their credulity
with the loss of their heads.
James, incensed himself, and inflamed by the passions
of all around him, breathed at first nothing save war and
vengeance. Carey was not permitted to cross the boundary
of the kingdoms, nor would the king of Scots admit him to
his presence. This affront Queen Elizabeth was obliged
to digest. By her order, Carey sent to the Scottish council
the letters designed for the king, with a statement of what
she was pleased to represent as the real circumstances of the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 255
case. Carey protested in her name that it never once entered
into her thoughts to put the queen of Scots to death, not-
withstanding the daily persuasions of her council, her houses
of parliament, and the almost hourly outcries of her whole
people. Nevertheless, as daily reports were abroad of the
landing of foreign armies, the escape of Mary from Fother-
ingay, and similar occurrences of an alarming nature, the
queen, merely by way of precaution, thought it best to de-
liver a signed warrant to her secretary Davidson, not intend-
ing that it should go out of his hands except in case of inva-
sion from abroad or insurrection at home. Such being her
purpose, Davidson having, nevertheless, contrary to her in-
tention, shown to one or two of her statesmen the warrant
for Mary's execution, the privy council thereupon held a
meeting, and sent a mandate for putting the warrant in
force, which "she protests to God," says Carey, "was done
before she knew of it. The secretary, however, ' ' he added,
"was committed to prison, and would not escape his sover-
eign's high displeasure. This is the tenor of my mistress's
message," concluded Carey, "which if I could express as it
was delivered to me, with a heavy heart and a sorrowful
countenance, I think the king of Scots would rather pity the
grief which she endures than in any respect blame her for a
fact in which she had no share."
To suit the queen of England's actions to her professions,
Davidson was brought to trial in the Star Chamber, where
it was agreed to lay upon him the fault of the whole proceed-
ing. Burleigh, who was indispensable to her majesty's coun-
cils, had insinuated something as if what Davidson reported
of her majesty's wishes and intentions had induced him and
the rest of the council to despatch the warrant. The unfort-
unate secretary was therefore accounted guilty of a high mis-
demeanor, as having misrepresented the queen's intentions,
and misled the privy council in a matter of so much impor-
tance, and was therefore fined in ten thousand pounds, and
•imprisoned during the queen's pleasure. Even Burleigh
himself became uncertain how far his own ruin might not
256 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
be determined by Elizabeth, in order to convince James of
the reality of his mistress's pretended innocence. He was,
however, restored to favor; and the total ruin of Davidson
was held a sufficient atonement for the death of Mary.
The king of Scots was for some time unwilling and prob-
ably ashamed to accept the patched and fabricated account
presented by Carey, irreconcilable as it was with truth and
with itself, as an apology for the death of his mother. He
held a parliament, the members of. which unanimously pro-
fessed their readiness to support him in revenging the death
of their late queen, an injury which they justly regarded as
affecting the people of Scotland as well as their king. But
time brought calmer counsels ; and a number of prudential
motives reconciled James to remaining at peace, where war,
always a destructive, might actually prove a ruinous, expe-
dient. The perilous state of the Protestant religion to which
he professed himself sincerely attached peremptorily forbade
a breach with Queen Elizabeth. The difference of force be-
tween the two countries was greatly in favor of England ;
and such aid as he might procure from France or Spain was
neither of a certain nor of a safe description. The holy league
was directed against Scotland as well as against other heret-
ical nations ; and, however ready the Catholic princes might
be to avenge the death of the Catholic Mary, they could not
be supposed to entertain much zeal in the cause of the Prot-
estant James. A high sense of filial affection and regal dig-
nity would not indeed have stopped to weigh these circum-
stances with accuracy, and was likely to have impelled a
son and a sovereign prince, whose mother had been thus
cruelly murdered, into a conflict, in which, at every risk, he
might secure either vengeance or death. But such an affec-
tion James had never entertained toward Mary. He had
never known his mother : he had been placed upon her throne
while a child, and when grown up to youth, he had, with
cold prudence, declined to interfere in her behalf; his grief
and resentment for her death were not likely, therefore, to
be of an ardent character.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 257
At any rate, the grand excuse for inactivity in such cases
was open to James. The evil was done, and could not be
repaired; and the question only remained whether it was
wise to run the risk of ruin in endeavoring to avenge it. In
the annual pension allowed him, which was almost the only
fund he could dedicate to the necessary maintenance of his
royal state, Queen Elizabeth had shown herself a generous
godmother ; and now, when he was deprived of a mother by
her means, she might, probably, feel a disposition to supply,
by even augmented liberality, the place of the parent of
whom he had been deprived by her means. Above all, a
war between Scotland and England was likely to become
fatal to the hopes of the rich English succession, the right
of which, by the death of his mother, had now devolved
upon him, and no possible success in war could have made
up to James so great a loss. These considerations acted
powerfully upon cold feelings and a spirit naturally averse
from warfare, and induced the king of Scots, after a decent
time, to dissemble his resentment of his mother's death, to
receive the exculpations of Elizabeth as if he gave credit to
a story in itself so improbable, and to permit the amicable
relations between the countries gradually to resume their
ordinary course.
Some subjects of Scotland were impatient of their sover-
eign's inactivity and tameness, and declared fiercely for war.
The Earl of Argyle, when the court were commanded to as-
sume mourning for Queen Mary, intimated his sense of the
ordinance by appearing in full armor, as the dress which
best suited the occasion; but this and other hints to arms
were suffered to pass unnoticed, and Mary occupied her
grave in the cathedral of Peterborough forgotten and un-
revenged.
One victim, however, besides the scapegoat Davidson,
paid the debt due to his perfidy upon this occasion. The
versatile Master of Gray, who, charged with the task of
negotiating for Queen Mary's safety, had encouraged and
hastened her execution, was now called to account for his
258 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
perfidy. Gray was even at this time plotting a change of
court, to be effected by putting to death some of the persons
who then stood highest in the king's council ; but his schemes
were interrupted by his own dependent, Sir "William Stewart,
a brother of the upstart Earl of Arran, whom Gray had for-
merly deserted and betrayed. By this gentleman the Master
was bluntly impeached of having betrayed and abused the
confidence reposed in him as a public ambassador, by writ-
ing, while on his embassy in England, a letter, in which he
encouraged the English ministry in the execution of the
king's mother: it was further added by the accuser that
he had privately corresponded with the king of France and
the Duke of Guise, for the purpose of obtaining toleration to
Catholics in Scotland; a species of machination accounted
by the age as being equally treasonable with his breach of
public faith and abuse of his power as an ambassador.
Lastly, he was charged with the purpose of assassinating
some of James's present ministers.
Gray made no defence, but submitted to the king's mercy;
confessing that he had trafficked for toleration of Catholics
further than he had license to do ; and admitting that he en-
tertained resentment against some of the persons in office,
but denying that he nourished any thoughts of violence
against them. Lastly, he confessed that having, when am-
bassador in England, perceived Queen Elizabeth determined
to take Queen Mary's life, he had given his advice, with a
view to the prevention of war between the countries, that
she had better be put to death by private jjractice than by
public execution ; and he admitted having used the phrase,
Mortui non mordent, though in a different sense from that
which the accuser put upon it.
For these misdemeanors the Master of Gray was banished
from Scotland, and resided in Italy for several years } though
he afterward returned to his native country.
Captain James Stewart, formerly the Earl of Arran, the
brother of Gray's accuser, Sir William, had expected that
upon these changes in the Scottish court he himself might
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 259
recover some favor : he was disappointed, however, for Mait-
land, now Lord Thirlstane, was declared chancellor, a title
which the fallen statesman had hitherto retained, though
without exercising the office.
The kingdom of Scotland about this period enjoyed some
temporary repose ; and a parliament was appointed to be held
at Edinburgh upon the 29th of July, 1586, the king having
now attained the years of majority. It is to the credit of
James that he endeavored to solemnize his accession to
manhood by what would have, indeed, proved the greatest
boon which could be bestowed on the country over which he
was called to reign. Not only the nobility of Scotland, but
their gentry and barons, claimed and exercised, in the most
frightful extent, the privilege of making war upon each other
for the slightest causes, and with the most fatal and deadly
effects. What greatly augmented this national evil was that
whatever injury had been received by either party in those
domestic quarrels, or in the skirmishes to which they gave
rise, was handed down as a debt of vengeance, for which
the family who sustained the loss were bound to exact ven-
geance to the latest period of time. It frequently happened
that persons of consequence were reciprocally slain on the
side of both contending parties, and it was then held indis-
pensable to the honor of those tribes concerned that the re-
taliation on each side should be full and complete; for which
purpose the feuds, as they were termed, were transmitted
from father to son, and, in spite of the denunciations of re-
ligion and law, were, by the the obstinacy of popular preju-
dice, accounted inexpiable. Thus neighboring families and
clans throughout the greater part of Scotland, but particu-
larly in the highlands and borders, were engaged in endless
and multiplied wars, of which the custom was so inveterate
that it seemed as if no interposition of the civil authority,
though repeatedly and anxiously attempted, had power to
preserve the peace of the kingdom. This had been from all
generations the prevailing evil in Scotland, even in the reign
of firm and powerful princes, such as Robert I., James I.,
260 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
II., IV., and V. The practice had been somewhat checked
by the severe exertion of royal authority, when cases of pe-
culiar importance compelled its interference ; nor was this
done without such an effusion of blood as to leave a stigma
of severity at least, if not of cruelty, upon monarchs who
were otherwise accounted the benefactors of their country,
and were, perhaps, chiefly so in the strictness with which
they repressed breaches of the general peace.
But the civil wars in Queen Mary's time had given more
ample scope to the currency of general violence than during
the more severe administration of her father, James V. ; the
habits of war were become general through Scotland ; the
farmer left the cultivation of the ground to follow his land-
lord, sometimes to wars of a public, sometimes to those of
a private, character; bondmen and cottagers were the only
laborers who were expected to toil for raising the food by
which the population was to be supported. By every man
superior to a mere serf or bondager defensive armor was
worn as a part of his ordinary attire, and offensive weapons
as a protection, without which it was unsafe to stir abroad.
Every province of Scotland, every neighborhood, was dis-
tracted by the quarrels of the nobles and gentry, which broke
out from time to time when they were least expected, and
frequently in retaliation of injuries which had been long ago
sustained.
No time, place, or circumstance could limit the exercise
of a deadly feud, or restrict the evils which its recollection
excited. The streets of the metropolis resounded with quar-
rels fought out by armed men, which, though they some-
times lasted for hours together, the utmost exertions of the
civil power were unequal either to put an end to or to pun-
ish. In the ante-chamber of the court, and even in the
presence of the king himself, defiances were exchanged and
insults given in the most brutal language; and the parties
hardly gave themselves the trouble to go further than the
palace-yard to bring the matter to deadly arbitrament.
To give one instance out of many, Sir William Stewart,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 261
the brother of the Earl of Arran, whom we have just men-
tioned as the accuser of the Master of Gray, happened to
revive in the presence-chamber some ancient dispute with
Francis Stewart, earl of Both well, a man as choleric as
himself. In the process of their quarrel receiving a contra-
diction from the earl, he replied in such affronting language
as the lowest of the rabble in the present day might bestow
on his opponent in a drunken quarrel. Shortly after, Both-
well, a haughty and choleric man, encountered Stewart in
the public street, and repeating the words which had been
applied to him, killed him dead on the spot at a single
thrust. The earl left the town for a few days, but soon
returning, was never questioned for the action.
These bloody brawls took place without the delicacies of
formal challenges, equal arms, impartial witnesses, or the
other requisites with which the modern code of honor lim-
its, or endeavors to limit, the indulgence of private revenge.
On the contrary, if the barons of the sixteenth century did
not, as was frequently the case, absolutely lie in wait for
their enemies, and assail them with every advantage of
numbers, their factions at least fought where they met,
without regarding which was best armed, or backed by
most friends or retainers; and the stronger party thought
no more of laying aside any part of his superiority than a
modern general would dream of equalizing his army with
the weaker battalions of an adversary. They accounted
feud to be equivalent to a state of open war, which each
party endeavors to prosecute by every advantage in his
power.
The legislature had done their part to restrain an evil so
intolerable, in which public peace gave little breathing space
to the country, since violence and slaughter continued yet to
ravage Scotland under the pretence of private war. The
temper and habits of James, naturally averse to blood and
violence, and disposed to the extension of lawful rule and
royal supremacy, was peculiarly dissatisfied with this grow-
ing and continued national evil; but though his tempera-
2G2 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
nient inclined the sovereign to be sensible of the mischief,
both that and his circumstances deprived him of the power
of curing it. A just and strict administration of the laws,
begun at first with a certain degree of lenity, but maintained
more severely when the nation had become accustomed to
such wholesome restraint, would have been the natural and
evident course of remedy for this wasting pest. However,
the king had not strength to enforce a remedy, far more ob-
vious to be discovered than easy to be pursued. The royal
domains, wasted and dilapidated during the civil wars, were
so little able to maintain a force sufficient to assert the royal
authority, even in the comparatively civilized parts of Scot-
land, that, with the help of James's pension of five thousand
pounds from Elizabeth, he had hardly the funds necessary
for maintaining his household; and in his disposition pos-
sessed neither the turn for economy nor the audacity of en-
terprise, which render small means adequate to achieving
great purposes. On the other hand, the same good-natured
indolence which rendered James improvident in money con-
cerns, and unwilling to lead troops, made him also incapable
of the power of refusing the petitions for pardon and remis-
sion which thronged upon him when crimes of slighter or
deadlier dye were committed, so that a perpetual impunity
encouraged the repetition of these constant offences.
Yet James had the sincere desire to put an end to this
general rage for war and slaughter, and attempted it by a
species of reconciliation to be accomplished under his own
eye, and to be sanctioned by his own authority, which was
meant to close at once and forever the deadly feuds which
existed among the Scottish nobles.
For this purpose the king invited to a public banquet the
Scottish nobility, and, in particular, all those who were
known to nourish deadly feud against each other. Pre-
vious to this banquet he read them a lecture upon the dis-
loyalty to himself, and public danger to the country, in-
curred by their taking into their own hands the decision of
their controversies, and persuaded them to consent to remit
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 263
their differences to his decision. This could not, in words,
or appearance at least, be decently refused. They consented,
accordingly ; and James, having made them take hands, each
with his mortal enemy, led them himself in procession from
the palace of Holyrood House to the Cross of Edinburgh,
where they were regaled with a splendid collation at the
expense of the city, the magistrates and citizens looking on
with great joy, while the lords, who had lately been in dis-
cord, drank pledges to each other, and his majesty quaffed
peace and happiness to them all. It is remarkable that the
Lord Yester, the ancestor of the family of Tweedale, more
vindictive or less complaisant than the rest, refused to be
reconciled with the Earl of Traquair, and was sent prisoner
to the castle of Edinburgh. It was obvious, indeed, that
this apparent reconciliation was only the closing by emol-
ients an unhealed abscess, which required the severer treat-
ment of steel and cautery; yet it evinced the king's goodwill
to his subjects, and might perhaps have the effect of furnish-
ing an honorable opportunity of dropping feuds among such
of the nobles as had maintained them solely because a point
of honor prevented their suffering them to fall asleep. If to
the arguments with which he had recommended peace to his
nobles he had or could have added a strict and severe exe-
cution of justice toward those who infringed the laws and
disturbed the peace of the country, James would have
conferred a real benefit on his subjects. As it was, the
reconciliation feast passed off as a piece of theatrical effect;
and most of the nobles who had joined hands at the king's
command drew their swords upon each other shortly after-
ward, as if it had never taken place.
Of this we shall quote an individual instance, which hap-
pened a few years after this supposed reconciliation, and
which may give the reader some idea of the extent of this
complicated pest, by which the nobility were not only obliged
to engage in wars with each other, but were involved in
every dispute and affray among their vassals, whose quar-
rels they were obliged to maintain upon all occasions, how-
264 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ever unreasonable or however trifling; thus it frequently
happened that an idle brawl between two persons of no
distinction or consequence involved a considerable province
in all the horrors of a civil war.
Thus, in the month of July, 1595, a person named For-
rester, and another called Bruce, both families residing in
the Carse of Stirling, and what were then called clanned
men, paid their addresses to the same lady, and quarrelling
together, Bruce received a hurt — a sufficient injury to pro-
voke that spirit of revenge which was then the most active
passion in the bosom of the natives of Scotland. The Bruces
could not, it seems, obtain an opportunity of discharging
their rage on the person who had wronged their kinsman;
but as they understood that another person of the same
name, a magistrate in Stirling, was to travel from thence
to Edinburgh on a particular day, they waylaid and slew
him, although he was no way connected with the original
quarrel. The slain man being a retainer of the Earl of Mar,
that nobleman next took up the quarrel : he caused the
corpse of Forrester to be brought from Linlithgow to Stir-
ling in solemn procession: he himself attended with his
banner displayed, and a great body of horse; a flag was
also borne in the procession, on which was represented the
picture of the deceased mangled and bloody, with the wounds
which he had received. In this guise the body of the mur-
dered man was conveyed through the territory of the Bruces
and the Livingstons, and so to Stirling, where he was finally
buried. The contemporary historian adds, that he inserts
this form of defiance for the rarity thereof, and because
he expects that some signal revenge is likely to ensue.
The parliament of 1587 passed some acts against mis-
sionary Jesuits and seminary priests, who at this time
visited Scotland in numbers, with the view of making
proselytes.
Two other remarkable laws were passed: the first an-
nexed to the crown such lands of the Church as had not
been inalienably bestowed upon the nobles or landed gentry j
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 265
these were still considerable, and were held either by the
titular bishops who possessed the benefices, or were granted
to laymen by rights merely temporary. The only fund re-
served for the clergy who were to serve the cure was the
principal mansion-house, with a few acres of glebe land.
The fund from which their stipends were to be paid was
limited to the tithes. By this sweeping enactment all the
former alienations of Church benefices acquired by the laity
received a parliamentary ratification, and the king was put
in possession of what, prudently managed, would have been
the source of an adequate royal income. But James, though,
like misers of a particular temper, he was unwilling to part
with money which was actually realized and in his power,
was improvidently lavish of such funds as were only ex-
pected to become valuable in course of time. It cost his
greedy courtiers scarce more than the trouble of asking to
obtain from the thoughtless king the reversion of property,
which, although, for the present life, rented by annuitants,
was sure upon their death to have added largely to the royal
income. The crown, therefore, was little benefited by an
enactment which, detaching the Church lands from all con-
nection with ecclesiastical persons, totally ruined the order
of bishops, for the restoration of whom, with some dignity
and authority, King James, and his successor afterward,
expressed considerable anxiety.
Another institution of the parliament, 1587, respected the
representation of the people in parliament. James VI. per-
ceived the superiority which the nobles had obtained in the
national councils by the non-attendance of the lesser barons
or freeholders. He endeavored, with considerable ingenuity,
to balance this, by reviving the ancient statute of 1427, by
which the lesser freeholders, or minor barons, as they were
called, had a dispensation from giving personal attendance
on parliament, where, properly, they were all entitled, or
rather obliged, to give attendance, on condition of sending
two freeholders from each county to represent them in par-
liament. The policy of King James's addition was to ren-
Scotland. Vol. II. — iz
266 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
der the attendance of such representatives compulsory, and
thereby to secure their presence in parliament, which had
hitherto been precarious and uncertain, thus establishing a
regular and constant barrier against the power of the nobil-
ity. This was a great step to diminish the authority of the
aristocracy. It could not, however, be opposed by the nobles,
because, by the constitution of the nation, the king had the
right to call to the great council of the people the whole or
any number ot the lesser barons whom he might choose to
summon ; and, in limiting this power to a representation of
two from each county, he seemed to lessen the importance
of these smaller freeholders, while he was in fact enlarging
it. Left to their own choice, and considering their duty in
parliament as a burden rather than a privilege, they had
seldom chosen to give attendance; whereas, by this edict
of the king, a considerable number were positively required
to be present. This in some degree replaced an equipon-
derance between the king and his peers when convened in
parliament, which had been much destroyed since the fall
of the spiritual estate, by which the Scottish crown had
been usually supported before the reformation.
A great national crisis now approached. The Catholic
sovereigns, who had united in the holy league, had obtained
eminent success in France, and driven Henry III. from his
own capital. The utmost exertions were made by Philip II.,
a prince equally ambitious and bigoted, to assemble the most
powerful fleet and army which the world had yet seen, for
the purpose of accomplishing the conquest of England. To
the throne of that kingdom he raised a claim upon two pre-
tences, of which it is impossible to tell which was the more
frivolous — the first being his descent from the House of Lan-
caster, and the second, a liberal donation from Pope Pius V.
With this view the celebrated armada, called the Invincible,
was assembled at Lisbon. The object of this tremendous
expedition was not made public, but no one doubted its
destination. The soldiers of England had supported the
quarrel of the insurgents in the Netherlands; the navy of
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 267
England had insulted the coasts of Spanish South America ;
above all, Elizabeth was the principal support of the Protes-
tant religion in Europe, and the object at whose life and
power the purposes of the holy league induced them to aim
their most formidable blows. No one questioned that the
present was intended for a mortal one.
The accession of James was, in case it could be gained,
of the utmost consequence to the Spanish enterprise; and
Philip sought it with more anxiety than consisted with the
haughty superiority which the House of Austria usually
assumed over less powerful sovereigns. He applied for
James's friendship with the most flattering assiduity; he
reminded him of his mother's wrongs, and urged him to
seize an opportunity so favorable for vengeance; and he
offered him, in token of intimate alliance, the hand of his
daughter Isabella in marriage. Queen Elizabeth was no less
anxious than Philip to secure the friendship of James, who,
by his power to open or close the ports of Scotland, might
so greatly facilitate or impede the invasion of England.
She could not feel at ease when reflecting upon the execu-
tion of Mary, nor did she know what spirit of vengeance,
suppressed by a sense of inferiority, might be yet slumbering
in the bosom of the Scottish monarch. She sent an ambas-
sador, named Ashby, to labor by every means in his power
to attach King James to her interests at the present crisis.
He appears to have been a plausible man, insinuating in his
manners, and in no degree sparing of the most liberal prom-
ises. He undertook that James's succession to the English
crown should be formally acknowledged in parliament ; that
an English dukedom, with a competent revenue, should be
conferred upon him, and that he should even be admitted
into some share of the English government.
On such promises made in Elizabeth's name, at such a
period, James did not probably greatly rely. He himself
described an ambassador as an honorable person sent abroad
to tell lies for the benefit of his country; but sounder views
led him to the conclusions which Ashby's flattering proposals
268 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
were qualified to recommend. He consulted his statesmen
and the parliament of his kingdom ; and fortunate it was
for Britain and for the Protestant religion that James's mind
was not then under the dominion of any of those extrava-
gant partialities which formerly, in the case of Arran and
Gray, and afterward in that of similar rash, giddy, and
profligate young men, subjected his counsels to their wild
and often interested pilotage. Maitland the chancellor, with
whom he chiefly consulted, was a man of mature sense and
steady character, who, with a mind as acute as that of his
brother, the celebrated secretary, possessed more practical
judgment and more sound moral principle. He was, accord-
ing to Spottiswoode, a man of rare parts, deep wit, learned,
full of courage, and most faithful to the king. In the pres-
ent crisis, the most important, perhaps, which the world had
for a long time seen, James acquainted his parliament with
his sentiments. "The intention of Spain," he said, "is for
the present against England alone. To England I am law-
ful heir; and should I now suffer the Spaniard to possess
himself of that kingdom, what likelihood is there that he
would afterward give place to my right, when he is settled
in possession of a conquered province? The pretext of relig-
ion which the Spaniard uses to justify his invasion would
turn him as naturally against Scotland as against England ;
nor do I desire to enjoy either regal right or life itself sepa-
rated from the cause of the Protestant faith. I am not ig-
norant that many persons are of opinion that this would be
a proper opportunity to revenge myself for the unkind and
unfriendly treatment which I received in my mother's death.
But whatever resentment I may feel upon that account, or
whatever I may think of the excuses which have been made
upon the subject, I do not incline for such personal cause
of resentment to put in peril the fate of my kingdom, my
country, and my religion."
The wise and patriotic views of the king were almost
unanimously felt, applauded, and adopted by his parliament;
and universal preparations were made for resistance, in case
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 269
the Spaniards should attempt to land in Scotland. There
was a general muster through the realm. "Watches were
placed at all the seaports; beacons erected; and every
means taken to prepare the most effectual defence against
the apprehended invasion. In the meantime, love of the old
religion, or desire for new changes by which they might
profit, had associated a few of the Scottish lords into a fac-
tion favorable to Spain, and formidable from the rank and
power of those whom it included. The Earls of Huntley,
Errol, and Crawford, were all Catholics ; the first by heredi-
tary descent, the two last by recent conversion from the faith
of their fathers. Lord Maxwell, also, whom we have already
seen make an important figure at the Raid of Stirling, held
the same faith. He had been subsequently discontented on
account of his losing the title of Morton, to which, on the
attainder and execution of the regent, he made pretence in
right of his mother.
Maxwell had retreated to Spain in discontent ; and at this
crisis returned with the purpose of assisting the Spanish
king's enterprise, by making an insurrection in Scotland.
He went suddenly, therefore, to the west border, and began
to assemble his forces; but James, placing himself at the
head of a body of troops, made a rapid movement into Niths-
dale, where he dispersed the forces of Maxwell, took him
prisoner, and seized upon his castles.
With the exception of these popish nobles, Scotland in
general showed the firmest determination to support the
king. A bond of association was entered into for the main-
tenance of true religion and defence of their lawful sover-
eign. This association was signed with emulous alacrity
by subjects of every rank, and was the model upon which
the celebrated League and Covenant in the reign of Charles
I. was afterward founded, though for very different purposes.
The fate of the Invincible Armada, in 1588, as it was
proudly termed, is generally known. Persecuted by the
fury of the elements, and annoyed by the adventurous gal-
lantry of the English seamen, it was driven around the
270 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
island of Britain, meeting great loss upon every quarter,
and strewing the wild shores of the Scottish highlands and
isles with wreck and spoil. James, though in arms to resist
the Spaniards, had such resistance been necessary, behaved
generously to considerable numbers whom their misfortunes
threw upon his shores. Their wants were relieved, and they
were safely restored to their own country. The fate of one
body of these unfortunate men is strikingly told by the Rev.
James Melville, whose diary has been lately published. (He
was a clergyman, and must be carefully distinguished from
Sir James Melville, the statesman often quoted. His diary
has been published by the Bannatyne Club of Edinburgh.)
He describes at some length the alarm caused by the threat-
ened invasion, and its effects. "Terrible," he says, "was
the fear, piercing were the preachings, earnest, zealous, and
fervent were the prayers, sounding were the sighs and sobs,
and abounding were the tears at the fast and general assem-
bly at Edinburgh, where we were credibly told sometimes
of their landing at Dunbar, sometimes at St. Andrew's, and
again at Aberdeen and Cromarty." On a sudden these
rumors were dispelled by the account that a shipful of Span-
iards were arrived in Melville's own harbor of Anstruther.
The minister hastened to meet them, and found himself in
presence of Don Juan de Medina, a commodore of twenty
vessels. He was a reverend man of tall stature, a grave
and silent countenance, great beard, and so humbled by his
condition, that in bowing to the clergyman he swept his shoe
with his sleeve. His tale was most melancholy. They had
been shipwrecked upon the Fair Isle between Orkney and
Zetland, had experienced the utmost extremity of hunger
and cold, had, after some weeks of misery, hired a bark
from Orkney, and were now come to entreat protection from
the king of Scotland. Melville replied that, though there
could exist but small friendship between them, considering
their being at war with their friends and neighbors of Eng-
land, yet he and the townsmen were determined to show
that they were men moved with compassion for the distress
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 271
of men, and were Christians of a better persuasion than their
own. Juan Gomez de Medina and his men were accordingly
treated with honorable kindness by the people of Anstruther.
Melville procured for the Spaniard's information a printed
account of the dispersion of the armada, and their numerous
losses in the North Seas. He burst into tears and wept bit-
terly. Having set forth on his return to his own country,
the noble Castilian found a ship belonging to the town of
Anstruther under arrest at Cadiz. He instantly undertook
a journey to court to labor for her discharge, and reported
to his monarch his high sense of the Scottish hospitality.
The vessel being liberated, he showed great kindness to the
crew, and dismissed them with many commendations to
the good peoj>le of Anstruther. "But," concludes Melville,
very naturally, "we thanked God with our hearts that we
had seen them among us in that form."
Thus passed over in Britain that dreadful period of 1588,
which the astrologers, whom chance had for once guided to
a veracious prediction, had distinguished as the "marvellous
year."
When the danger was over, Elizabeth no longer evinced
any thought of making good the liberal promises made to
the king of Scots by her envoy while matters were yet doubt-
ful. Ashby, conscious of having exceeded his commission
in the hopes which he had excited, or commanded to act as
if he were so, left Scotland privately, and without taking
leave. Sir Robert Sidney, an ambassador of higher rank
and greater responsibility, was sent instead, to congratulate
King James on the issue of the great naval struggle, and on
his firm and steadfast good offices in behalf of England, and
to get clear of Ashby's engagements as well as he could.
Sidney was well received by the king, who frankly as-
sured him that he regarded the fair language and profuse
offers of Philip in the light of the promise of the Cyclops,
that Outis should be the last devoured. At the same time,
he mentioned the liberal promises of Ashby. Sidney replied
generally that nothing could be so dear to the queen as the
272 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
welfare and honor of her beloved James, whom she regarded
as her own son. Nevertheless, he disclaimed the explicit
offers made by Ashby as relating to matters exceeding that
person's commission, who by secretly leaving Scotland had
shown a consciousness that he stood engaged for more than
was likely to be made good. Sidney also pressed King
James, on the part of his ally, to seize the present favorable
opportunity to subdue and punish those Catholic nobles who
were well known to have held themselves in readiness to
have abetted the attempt of Philip had his forces come to a
landing in Scotland.
James permitted the proposals of Ashby to pass out of
memory without further notice, persuaded, doubtless, that
there would be more loss than gain in putting Elizabeth in
remembrance of that which she desired to forget. The
Catholic lords themselves, though much disconcerted by
the failure of the armada, continued to negotiate with the
Prince of Parma, soliciting him for a body of six thousand
auxiliaries, by means of whom, added to their own followers,
they proposed to make him master of Scotland, and enable
him to enter England with a triumphant army. Huntley,
Crawford, and Errol were the chief persons in this con-
spiracy ; but they were joined by Francis, earl of Both well,
a turbulent and ambitious man, who alone of the Scotch
Protestant nobility had advised a war with England, and
even engaged soldiers to follow him in it at his own expense.
Their correspondence with the Prince of Parma being discov-
ered to Elizabeth, she commanded Sidney to lay the letters
before the king of Scotland. The guilty noblemen were con-
demned to imprisonment; but King James, who was not
willing to encounter the odium of the Catholic party lest it
should interfere with his claim of succession to the throne
of England, and who might in his heart desire to reserve
some power in Scotland itself to balance the violent Protes-
tant party acting under the instigation of preachers always
unfavorable to him and his family, released the rebellious
earls after a short confinement.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 273
They testified their thankfulness for his clemency, first,
by an attempt to seize his person, which was disconcerted
by the precautions of the chancellor; secondly, by an open
rebellion in the north of Scotland. The king marched
against them with an army hastily collected ; and the reb-
els, unable to withstand the royal forces, dispersed their
troops, and submitted to James's clemency. Once more
they were committed to prison, once more to experience the
lenity of their sovereign, who took an opportunity again to
release them, in consequence of a joyful event which shortly
after took place at the court, and which we are next to
narrate.
James was now of full age, the last of his race ; and his
subjects, who had more frequently than any other nation
in Europe suffered from disputed claims to the kingdom,
and from long minorities, were naturally desirous to see the
royal family free from the uncertainty which attended its
dependence upon the life of one man. Yet the choice of
a royal bride was attended with much embarrassment.
A Catholic princess would have increased the dread
which, not without reason, was entertained for the predom-
inance of that communion. A Protestant bride might have
been found in England; but this would have thrown into
the management of Queen Elizabeth the power of complet-
ing or disconcerting a match which she of all persons in the
world least desired to see accomplished. It remained only
to seek in the northern courts a princess of the Protestant
religion, fit, by birth and manners, to wed with the young
king of Scotland.
So early as 1584 ambassadors came from the king of Den-
mark for the avowed purpose of treating for the redemption
of the Orkney Islands, which, as formerly mentioned, were
pledged to Scotland in security of a sum of money which
Christian of Denmark was bound to pay as the dowry of his
daughter, espoused to James III. of Scotland. The ambas-
sadors had, however, a more private commission, the union,
namely, of the young king of Scots to the eldest daughter
274 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
of Frederick 11. of Denmark, being esteemed a fitting mode
of accommodating the question between the kingdoms.
Stewart, earl of Arran, was at this time in full favor; and
he had recently pledged himself to Queen Elizabeth that
King James should not be married for the space of three
years. To break, therefore, the purpose of the Danish
match, in all other respects fit and desirable, the ambassa-
dors, through the influence of the insolent favorite, had been
treated with every species of neglect and insult, until they
were obliged to leave the court, in high indignation at the
treatment they had met with. As a parting insult, they
were informed that the king was to send them horses to
convey them from Dunfermline to St. Andrew's, at which
last place they were appointed to receive their despatches.
The ambassadors accordingly booted themselves for the
occasion, and waited long for the palfreys which were never
to arrive. Concluding themselves laughed at and insulted,
they took their departure on foot, with such feelings, respect-
ing the hospitality of James, as this treatment was like to
occasion. James, informed by Sir James Melville, imme-
diately despatched horses for their use, which only overtook
them after they had made a considerable part of their jour-
ney, high booted as they were, and in mortal indignation at
such usage.
But Arran continued his intrigues to disgust them further.
In St. Andrew's they were treated with the like insolence ;
and the populace, always uncivil to strangers, were encour-
aged to offer them every species of mockery and ridicule.
The wisdom of Sir James Melville found a partial remedy
for these evils. He was able to make the angry ambassa-
dors sensible that the insults of which they complained were
not to be imputed to the king himself, but to the insolence
of his arrogant favorite. It was time there should be some
interposition or explanation. The gravest of the embassy
already threatened war; and Dr. Theophilus, a dignitary,
declared that their king was insulted, and would be re-
venged. They were, at length, with difficulty persuaded
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 275
to make such a report as should not breed debate between
the two countries, who had many reasons for remaining
friends, and none which should make them enemies to each
other. Negotiations were accordingly entered into for a
marriage between James and one of the Danish princesses.
But powerful efforts continued to be made to thwart, dis-
concert, and interrupt the treaty.
Queen Elizabeth was earnest in disconcerting a match
which was likely to prolong for another generation the claim
of succession to the English crown, which she had hopedj
perhaps, to bury in Mary's bloody grave, so that by the
influence she used with Arran, Gray, and the other Scottish
ministers with whom she had interest, so many delays and
obstacles were thrown in the way of the match, that Fred-
erick, conceiving himself trifled with, gave his eldest daugh»
ter, who had been the object of James's suit, in marriage
to the Duke of Brunswick.
James's pride and his passions were now seriously roused.
He plainly saw that unless he made some decisive advances
on his own part, Queen Elizabeth, directly or indirectly,
would be able to baffle every attempt he might make toward
marriage, and condemn him for life to a state of barren
celibacy.
No sooner, therefore, was the match proposed with the
eldest daughter of Denmark rendered impossible by her
espousals, than King James, now freed from the baleful
influence of Arran and Gray, and guided by the wise and
sound counsels of his chancellor, Maitland, paid his addresses
to Anne, the second daughter of the king of Denmark. Here
again the malign influence of Elizabeth interfered: she rec«
ommended to James, in preference, a match with Catherine,
sister of the king of Navarre; and she prevailed, by the
secret agency which she still retained among the Scottish
statesmen, upon the privy council of Scotland to enter into
a resolution disapproving of the Danish match. But the
populace of Edinburgh had caught an opinion, which seemed
warranted by what had happened, that Elizabeth, through
276 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
whose practices Queen Mary had lost her life, was now labor-
ing to prevent all succession in the royal family of Scotland,
and was like to be again successful in her views. They
became furious, as is usual with a multitude under the influ-
ence of such feelings ; and their violence was adopted by the
king as an excuse for hastening the match, which some of
his counsellors would have still delayed.
The earl mareschal, with a splendid retinue and full
powers, was sent over to Denmark to conclude the mar-
riage definitively; and the terms being accepted by her father
Frederick, the princess embarked, with the purpose of repair-
ing to Scotland. The weather being stormy, and the winds
adverse, the royal bride was encountered by a storm which
drove her back to Norway, and so much damaged the vessels
which conveyed her with her suite, that there remained no
hopes of their being repaired and made once more fit for the
voyage before the next spring.
King James must have felt deep disappointment upon
this occasion, since it led him to a feat of chivalrous adven-
ture rather inconsistent with his pedantic habits and cold
passions. He determined, suddenly, that, since his bride
could not come to Scotland, he would, in person, repair to
the northern regions to seek her. The winds which were
contrary to her voyage must necessarily be favorable to his ;
and he no doubt possessed an inward fear that any interval
which might be interposed between the contract and the
nuptials would give Elizabeth an opportunity to abrogate
the former, and to prevent the latter. He vindicated his
resolutions in a proclamation addressed to his subjects, which
is too characteristic to be suppressed, although it is difficult
to forbear smiling at some parts of it.
It sets forth, on James's part, that, being king of Scot-
land and heir-apparent of England, he was blamed by all
men for the delay of his marriage, because a single man was
as no man, and that the want of succession bred contempt,
"as if he were a barren stock": these and other important
causes moved him, he said, to hasten the treaty of his mar-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 277
riage: for without urgent reasons of state, he assured his
subjects that his personal temperance could have delayed
the union for any length of time that the welfare of the
country permitted. When he had heard of the impossibility
of the princess's pursuing her voyage, although neither rash,
passionate, nor unreasonable in the decision of weighty af-
fairs, he became strongly, he says, impressed with the idea
of going to Denmark, since the princess of Denmark could
not come to Scotland. This resolution, he solemnly protests,
was formed upon his own meditation, and without the sug-
gestion of others, by the same token that Craigmillar Castle
was the place in which he first adopted the resolution. He
appears very jealous that his people would scarcely give him
credit for exerting so much will of his own; and reiterates,
at considerable length, "I took this resolution only of myself,
as I am a true prince ; and with myself only I consulted
which way to follow forth the same." He intended at first
to have gone privately in a squadron of ships, commanded
by the Earl of Both well, lord high admiral ; but the expense
which Bothwell had already bestowed in preparation for
James's approaching marriage had been so great as to ren-
der it impossible for him to rig out a royal navy for the
proposed expedition. The difficulty of finding funds for this
equipment obliged the king on this proclamation to admit
the whole council into his secret ; and in order to make them
earnest in aiding his purpose he was compelled to threaten
them, with great vehemency, that if no man of rank could
be found to accompany him he would himself, nevertheless,
go, were it but in a single ship. On this the chancellor
offered his person to attend him, and that, says the king,
upon three respects, first, to remove the general suspicion
which upbraided him with a desire to postpone the royal
nuptials; secondly, out of zeal to the royal service; and,
lastly, from his extreme frar that the king might make
good his threat of going alone. "These things," says King
James, "I had hitherto concealed from the chancellor, until
they were laid before the whole council, lest he should
278 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
undergo the odium of putting such a hazardous enterprise
into my head, which had not been his duty, since it becomes
not subjects to give princes advice in such high matters.
Therefore, remembering what envious and unjust burden
he daily bears for leading me by the nose, as it were, to all
his humors, as if I were a creature without reason, or a help-
less infant, that could do nothing for myself, I was unwill-
ing to be the occasion at this time of heaping further unjust
scandal on his head. These truths, ' ' continues his majesty,
"I speak in behalf of the chancellor, as also for my own
honor's sake, that I may not be unjustly slandered as an
irresolute ass, who can do nothing of his own motion."
Having thus afforded to the nation an admirable example
of a man who knew his own frailty, and was afraid of being
upbraided with it, James, by another proclamation, recom-
mended to all authorities the regular discharge of their duties
during his absence, with special appointments of guardians
or governors for particular provinces. He required the min-
isters to remember him and his estate in their prayers, and
to exhort the people to peace and loyalty during his absence.
Having made these arrangements, James sailed north-
ward in person, attended by the chancellor, some nobles,
and a retinue of three hundred men. The king was re-
ceived in Denmark with all the hospitality which the frank
confidence of his visit merited : the severity of the northern
winter rendered his immediate return a matter of some dan-
ger ; therefore, when his marriage was solemnized at Upsal,
in Norway, where he found his bride residing, James ac-
cepted an invitation from his father-in-law to Copenhagen ;
and repairing to the Danish court with his new married wife,
spent the remainder of the winter season in mirth and fes-
tivity with the royal family, and then returned to his native
kingdom.
The time spent in this expedition, which lasted from the
22d of October, 1589, till the 1st of May, 1590, was a period
of unusual tranquillity in Scotland. The people appeared to
have felt as if the absence of James was, in fact, a commit-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 279
ting of the royal authority to the loyalty of the subject,
which they should dishonor themselves in misusing. Each
order of men in their rank strove to show themselves worthy
of trust. The great abstained from their factions, the popu-
lace from their tumults, the clergy desisted from the habit,
which some had contracted, of hatching jealousies of the
king's motives, and infusing them into the minds of their
hearers; and answered the king's hopes so well in aiding
the preservation of peace and good order as to merit, on his
return, his peculiar thanks and gratitude. In a word, there
was no era of Scottish history more orderly and peaceful
than this short period.
230 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XXXVIII
Anne of Denmark — Her Family — Her Coronation — Her Clergy in
Favor with the King — Bothwell consults with Magicians — Is
imprisoned — Breaks his Word — Attacks Holyrood Palace, but
is beaten off — Huntley burns the House of Dunnibirsel, and kills
the Earl of Murray — General Dissatisfaction — Bothwell attacks
Falkland, but is beaten off — Escape of Wemyss of Logie — Prog-
ress of Catholicism — Affair of the Spanish Blanks — Clergy in-
terpose, and urge the King to more severe Prosecution of the
Catholics — Bothwell surprises the King, who is obliged to sub-
scribe Articles — The Convention declare they are not binding —
Bothwell again discharged the King's Presence — The Catholic
Lords are excommunicated, and James is reduced to great Anx-
iety — Bothwell advances on Edinburgh — He retires before the
King — Defeats the Earl of Home — Compelled to retreat to the
Borders — Feuds of the Johnstones and Maxwells — Battle of the
Dryffe Sands — The Charge of pursuing the Catholic Lords is
committed to Argyle — He is defeated at Glenlivet by Huntley
and Errol — The King suppresses the Catholic Lords — Bothwell
goes abroad, and dies in Misery — Death of Captain James
Stewart — The King devolves the Management of his Revenue
upon the Ministers called Octavians — They enforce general Re-
trenchment — Popular Clamor against them — They incur the
King's Displeasure, and resign
THE wife with whom King James allied himself ap-
pears to have been one of those females whose
character is not very strongly marked. Anne of
Denmark was fair in complexion, comely, of good aspect,
and pleasing manners. She loved festivity and gayety, and
was rather an encouragement than a restraint to the king's
extravagance. The coldness of his temper prevented his
regarding her with uxorious fondness; but he was good-
natured and civil, and the queen was satisfied with the
external show of attention. In her .younger days she mixed
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 281
in the stormy politics of the Scottish court, and her name
was to be found in the intrigues of that period. Little credit
is due to the scandalous authors who have assailed her char-
acter as a private individual ; nor has she left such traces in
history as call either for much censure or high praise. She
was the mother of a fair family, and excited the hopes of
James, as well as of his party in England, by speedily mak-
ing him the father of two sons, Henry and Charles.
The first died early, and was lamented accordingly,
though, perhaps, upon no better grounds than was inspired
by the disappointment of those hopes usually fixed upon the
opening virtues of most princes who have died without en-
joying the power to which they were born. Charles, the
younger of the princes, was doomed to carry into England
that same train of misfortunes which had persecuted the
Stuarts since their first accession to the throne of Scotland,
and to perish like his grandmother Mary by the blow of a
public executioner. A princess Elizabeth was married to
the prince palatine, and had her share of misfortunes.
King James and his new spouse were received with all
the splendor which the means of the country could achieve.
The queen was inaugurated with solemnity ; but so low was
the order of bishops now held, that the ministry of a Pres-
byterian clergyman was used upon this ceremony. Nor was
the zeal of the clergy altogether satisfied with some points of
the ceremonial. Scruples were entertained at the anointing
of the queen, as a Jewish ceremonial abrogated by the Chris-
tian dispensation. Mr. Robert Bruce, however, a man of
great repute among the Scottish clergy, performed the cer-
emony at the queen's coronation after the ancient form.
James and the Presbyterian clergy had never been upon
such good terms as they were at present. He was sensible
that the order and regularity which prevailed during his
absence was in a great measure owing to the anxious care
of the clergy to restrain the people within the bounds of law
and authority. This inclined James to express himself very
favorably on the discipline and doctrine of the Church, and
282 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to clear the way, as speedily as could be conveniently done,
for recalling those restraints upon the Presbyterian Church
which had been imposed by the Earl of Arran in 1584, and
of which, though little acted upon, the clergy still highly
complained. Accordingly, in the year 1592, a parliament
was held, in which the acts of 1584 were explained or re-
called, and the discipline of the Presbyterian government,
in its general assemblies, synods, presbyteries, and kirk ses-
sions, was fully and amply established. The king and
Church of Scotland appeared now to have lived together
on a footing of mutual confidence and regard; but the
storms of hatred and jealousy, by which this unhappy
country was harassed, did not suffer its atmosphere to
remain long in serenity.
The Earl of Bothwell, already often mentioned, was the
king's near relation, and an example of his lenity, not only
on account of James having pardoned the slaughter of Sir
William Stewart, and other violences of the like nature ; not
only on account of his having forgiven the earl for having
urged and endeavored to precipitate a war with England;
but also from his forgiving Bothwell 's participation in the
rebellion of the Catholic lords, without having to plead even
the excuse of religion.
A matter now occurred in which it was the pleasure of
the king to see more guilt than in any of BothwelPs former
offences.
The occult arts, as they were called, were then in the
highest credit. The mummery of astrologers was mingled
with the political counsels of princes; and the belief was
universal alike in soothsayers, who could foretell the future,
and witches and wizards who could operate strange cures,
and inflict as wonderful diseases, by their intelligence with
the infernal powers. The king, who was passionately ad-
dicted to the searching out and punishing these imaginary
crimes, soon discovered that some political intrigues were
connected with them, and became much alarmed in con-
sequence. Two soothsayers, or wizards rather, above the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 283
miserable caste who usually bore that character, had con-
fessed having been the cause, by magical rites, of raising
the storm by which the queen's fleet had been driven back
to Norway; and that they had also consulted about doing
harm to the fleet or person of the king. To which their
infernal master had replied, hiding, we may suppose, in
the obscurity of a foreign language, a want of power which
he was ashamed to acknowledge, II est homme de Dieu.
Thus far the king was flattered; and Agnes Simpson and
Richard Graham might have been quietly burned alive
without much stir about the matter. Unhappily, they had
also to confess that Francis Stewart, earl of Bothwell,
had submitted for their consideration certain very suspi-
cious questions concerning the duration of the king's life.
Considering that these persons usually practiced the art of
poisoning as well as bewitching, King James might be ex-
cused for entertaining apprehension from such interrogato-
ries being put to such personages by a daring, turbulent,
and ambitious man, possessed of the power to do much mis-
chief, and not likely to want the will to exert it. Bothwell
was committed to prison, or as the phrase then went, was
put in ward in the castle of Edinburgh. Impatient of re-
straint, he made his escape by bribing his jailers, and fled
to the borders, where he had personal friends and followers
of great influence, and where there were always enough of
desperate and disorderly men to follow any banner which
should lead to bloodshed and to spoil.
The king took measures of severity against his unquiet
relation; and as Bothwell still lay under the forfeiture of
treason pronounced against him for his association with
Huntley, he caused the doom which hitherto only hung
over his head in the way of intimidation to be proclaimed,
in consideration of these new offences. Upon publication
of his sentence of forfeiture, several of BothwelPs friends
upon the border forsook him. Buccleuch, who was his son-
in-law, had submitted to an order of the king which had
sent him abroad for some time, and was thus out of the
284 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
road of temptation. The Earl of Home, who, as a Catholic,
had been Bothwell's friend on former occasions, withdrew
from him when he engaged in open rebellion.
Nevertheless, some persons in court, from dislike to the
chancellor, upon whom Bothwell threw the blame of his
forfeiture, invited the insurgent earl and his followers to
attend at a back passage to the palace of Holyrood, which
gave entrance through the Duke of Lennox's stables, and
thus obtain the means of seizing upon his majesty's person
and the gates of the palace. James Douglas of Spot was
engaged in this conspiracy, by the following concurrence
of circumstances : His father-in-law, George Home of Spot,
had been recently slain by certain borderers of the name of
Home and Craw. Sir George Home, nephew to the slain
gentleman, conceived that Douglas was at the bottom of
this murder, instigated by a jealousy that the deceased in-
tended to transfer to his nephew some of the estate which
Douglas claimed as husband of his only daughter. On this
suspicion three of Douglas's servants were seized upon, im-
prisoned in Holyrood, and appointed to be examined by tort-
ure. Douglas made every exertion to obtain his servants'
freedom, either out of regard for them or fear of what they
might confess; and finding it impossible to procure their
deliverance by entreaty, he thrust himself into this con-
spiracy that he might liberate them by main force. Both-
well appeared at the appointed time, and was admitted ; but
James Douglas made the plot public prematurely by an at-
tempt to break open the prison in which his servants lay.
The noise occasioned the discovery that strangers had broken
into the palace : the uproar became general ; the king betook
himself to the defence of a strong tower; and the chancellor,
whose life was aimed at, defended himself in his chamber.
The citizens of Edinburgh, hearing the tumult, rushed to
the palace in arms and drove out the assailants. Bothwell
and his party fled, eight of their number being either taken
or slain.
It was subsequently learned that Bothwell had betaken
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 285
himself to the west part of Scotland, where he was nearly
apprehended. Letters were directed to several nobles for
pursuing the refractory earl and his followers with fire and
sword. But this led unhappily to a new catastrophe.
A report had been spread that the Earl of Murray was
seen with Bothwell's party in the night of the tumult, and
it was deemed the more probable as Bothwell and he were
cousins-german. The king placed in the hands of the Earl
of Huntley a commission to bring Murray presently before
him. To the tenor of the order there could be no objection;
but there was the highest reason for having lodged the
commission in other hands.
The houses of Huntley and Murray were mortal enemies.
The fatal battle of Corrichie was an event not to be forgotten
nor forgiven ; and even very lately a Gordon of some conse-
quence in the family had been killed by a shot from one of
the houses of the Earl of Murray. Their rivalry for obtain-
ing a predominance in the north was constant and unremit-
ting; and there, probably, was not a more fatal or decided
feud through the whole disunited kingdom of Scotland than
existed between these two families.
In the present circumstances, Murray, with the most
peaceable intentions, so far as can be known, was residing
at his house of Dunnibirsel, having with him only Dunbar,
the sheriff of Murray, and a small retinue. Huntley, who
had crossed the firth with a body of a hundred horse and
upward, surrounded the castle, which was not very defen-
sible, with the purpose of executing the arrest enjoined by
the king. Murray refused to surrender to his feudal enemy;
a shot was fired from the house of Dunnibirsel, by which a
Gordon was killed. The Earl of Huntley then forced the
castle by using fire. The situation of the besieged became
desperate. "Let me sally forth," said the sheriff, with the
devotion of a friend of these days, when friendship was as
devoted and disinterested as their hatred was relentless and
enduring; "I will be taken for you and slain, and thus
you may escape." The gates were thrown open; Dunbar
386 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
rushed forth and was slain, as he anticipated. But the Earl
of Murray did not profit by the sacrifice : the attention of the
assailants, now in their most savage mood, was arrested by
his superior stature; and the sparkles which had set fire
to his streaming locks, and the silk tassels upon his head-
piece, enabled the Gordons to trace him in his flight to a
cavern on the sea-shore, where Gordon of Buckie inflicted
upon the earl a mortal wound. Partly alarmed at what
he had done, partly, perhaps, out of native ferocity, Buckie
insisted that Huntley should also become a participant of
the deed; and the chief with an ill-assured hand struck the
dying earl in the face with his dagger. Even in the agony
of death, Murray had not forgotten the symmetry of coun-
tenance and person which procured him the popular surname
of the "bonny" (or handsome) Earl of Murray. With his
latest breath he said to Huntley, "You have spoiled a better
face than your own."
"When this tragedy had been acted, Huntley felt no
inclination to return to the king, conscious of the degree
in which he had exceeded his commission. He hastened
to the castle of Ravensheuch, belonging to Lord Sinclair,
who gave him admission with an expression of doubtful
welcome. "You are welcome here, my lord," he said; "but
should have been more welcome to have ridden past my
gates." Huntley proceeded northward in the morning to
his own dominions, plainly showing his sense of danger from
the act he had committed. In his haste he left upon the
field Innes of Invermarkie, one of his followers, a man of
some distinction, who was wounded, and unable to accom-
pany his chief in his retreat. Being sent to Edinburgh,
where the story had excited general horror, the wounded
gentleman was tried and executed.
Nothing could have happened more likely to trouble the
king's affairs than this unhappy act of violence. Huntley
was a Catholic, who had been lately in rebellion for his
league with the king of Spain. Murray was a Protestant,
a favorite of the common people, on account of his youth,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 287
beauty, and persona) accomplishments, and dear to the
Church as the representative of the Regent Murray, who
had done so much toward the foundation of the Protestant
faith and the Presbyterian system. The outcry against
Huntley was universal, and the desire of revenge general.
In the north the Lord Forbes, a hereditary enemy of Hunt-
ley, hung the bloody shirt of Murray upon a spear, and
under this banner levied a band of men to avenge the earl's
death. In imitation of a practice before noticed, the picture
of the earl's body, having the hair on fire, and margled with
many wounds, was also publicly shown to excite general re-
sentment. Popular scandal, which is always willing to adopt
the grossest calumnies, accused the king of being conscious
of the slaughter, and alleged as the cause an ideal jealousy,
on James's part, of the bonny earl's supposed favor with the
queen.
The bodies of the deceased Murray and Dunbar were
brought to Leith; but their friends refused to commit them
to the earth until the slaughter should be avenged. The
clamor of the metropolis was universal, so that the king, not
esteeming it safe to remain in Edinburgh, betook himself to
Glasgow, where he held his court ; until Huntley, in obedi-
ence to the royal charge, surrendered himself a prisoner in
the fortress of Blackness. The resentment of this slaughter,
which had so strong an effect upon the common people, gave
the greatest encouragement to Bothwell in his desperate at-
tempts; especially when the people found that Huntley, in-
stead of being brought to trial, was dismissed, upon giving
security for his appearance to answer for the crime.
The numbers who now joined Bothwell encouraged him
to a new attempt upon the king's person, which took place
upon the 28th of June, 1592, while James was residing at
his hunting palace of Falkland. Early in the morning
Bothwell appeared at the head of three hundred horse,
chiefly, as usual, borderers and broken men; but relying,
it was supposed, upon some friends within the palace. The
king, however, had enough of faithful followers to make
288 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
good the donjon, or great tower of the palace. From this,
as from a citadel, they maintained a fire which rendered it
impossible for the assailants to approach the palace gate;
and Both well, finding no assistance from within, and that
the people of the neighborhood were assembling in great
force, was obliged once more to retreat. The king, forti-
fied by the assistance of the men of Fife, gave chase to the
assailants in their retreat, and took some of them in the
moors, so overcome with sleep as to be unable to prosecute
their flight on horseback. Bothwell, therefore, fled once
more to the borders, and found harbor either in Scotland
or England at his pleasure; for Queen Elizabeth, although
she had complimented King James upon his marriage, pur-
sued her ancient policy of maintaining such disorders in
Scotland as might keep the king as much as possible under
her tutelage. Several persons were prosecuted in conse-
quence of this last attempt of Bothwell, especially one gen-
tleman named Wemyss of Logie, a gentleman of the king's
bed-chamber ; the means of whose escape rendered his im-
prisonment remarkable. He had paid his addresses to one
of the queen's Danish maids of honor, Margaret Twinlace
by name, who, considering her lover's extremity, and his
life in danger, pretended a commission from the queen.
Obtaining admittance to the prisoner under this pretext,
she gave him a ladder of ropes, which afforded him the
means of escaping from the window. Logie was pardoned
on account of the lady's generosity, who hazarded her repu-
tation for his safety, and they were married.
Shortly afterward an affair broke out which placed in its
issue new dissensions between the king and the Church, and
bred at the same time much alarm in the country, on account
of the machinations of Spain with the Scottish papists which
it manifestly implied. The affair had also that mysterious
cast which is sure to awaken and excite the feelings of the
public. Those of the Catholic persuasion were now of the
suffering, and, considering the severity of the penal laws,
we may say, the oppressed religion; and the persecution
/ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 289
which they underwent had its usual effect in riveting their
attachment to their own faith, and kindling the enthusiasm
of the missionary priests and Jesuits, who had dedicated
themselves to the cause of extending the doctrines of Rome.
These zealots, instigated by Spain, and supplied with money
from the same source, haunted various parts of Scotland,
and were frequently successful in making converts to their
religion even among the great and powerful; while, unit-
ing politics with theology, they pressed their converts into
a union with Spain, for the purpose of a new invasion of
Britain ; the principal object of which was to be the relief
of the Catholic community. There was one George Ker,
brother of the Lord Newbattle, who being called upon to
make declaration concerning his faith before the Church,
and conscious of having' relapsed to the Catholic faith, fled
to the small islands in the mouth of the Clyde, called the
Cumrays, and took a passage on board a vessel bound for
Spain.
The minister of Paisley, learning this circumstance, came
suddenly with a body of twenty-four armed men, boarded
the vessel, took Ker prisoner, and with him seized on a
large parcel of letters from seminary priests and Jesuits,
together with a number of blanks in the form of missives
or letters, containing no writing, but subscribed by the Earl
of Huntley, the Earl of Errol, and Patrick Gordon of Au-
chindoun, Huntley's uncle. These blanks were, in some
instances, addressed to the Spanish monarch, and others
were drawn up in the form of contracts, signed and sealed.
Ker was sent prisoner to Edinburgh. It was Sunday when
the mysterious circumstances of the discovery reached the
capital. A great tumult arose. The clergy, contrary to
their wont, made a short sermon, and the king being then
absent at Alloway, the preachers held meetings with the
lords of the privy council, and spread the alarm through
the country at large, inviting the different presbyteries in
the kingdom to send representatives to Edinburgh, to con-
sider what should be done in a case so dangerous to the
Scotland. Vol. II.— 13
290 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Church. The engagement of Angus in such a treason was
the more strange, as he came of an old Protestant stock,
and had been very lately employed in settling some dis-
cords between Huntley and the Mackintoshes ; and, having
succeeded in his errand, was expected immediately in Edin-
burgh, to report his services to the king. His father was
the nephew of the famous Earl of Morton, and a man of
sense and talent. His death, according to the apprehension
of the vulgar, and even the more learned, was caused by
witchcraft; and when he was advised to use some counter
spells, to destroy the effect of the sorcery under which he
was supposed to labor, he protested he would rather die than
do aught to obtain life contrary to the dictates of religion.
The relapse of the present earl, the son of a Protestant
father, was the more unexpected. He no sooner reached
Edinburgh than he was arrested, at the instigation of the
ministers, by the provost and bailies of the city.
The king, alarmed at this discovery, hastened to his me-
tropolis, of which the churchmen appeared disposed to take
the command. Ker being examined, confessed that Crichton,
Gordon, and Abercrombie, three Jesuits, had devised this
contrivance of the blanks, as the safest mode for opening a
communication between the king of Spain and the Scottish
Catholics. They were to be filled up in Spain, with the stip-
ulations of the subscribers ; of which the principal was, that
the king of Spain should send an army of thirty thousand
men to Scotland, half of which were to remain in the king-
dom, for the purpose of establishing the ancient faith, or, at
least, securing an absolute toleration, while the other fifteen
thousand men should invade England.
Angus, being examined upon these matters, denied all
knowledge of the blanks, and affirmed his subscription to be
a forgery ; but he presently afterward showed a sense of his
guilt, by making his escape out of the castle of Edinburgh.
David Graham of Fintry, who was apprehended on suspi-
cion, corroborated the declaration of Ker, and being found
guilty, in terms of his own confession, was presently exe-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND $91
exited. The king once more marched with an army into
the territories of the Catholic lords, who withdrew them-
selves to the mountains, and lay concealed, while their vas-
sals were obliged to avow their loyalty to the king and firm
adhesion to the Protestant faith.
Notwithstanding all which James could do in the way
of prudent precaution, his subjects retained a provoking
degree of incredulity on the subject of his real desire to sub-
due the insurgent Catholics. Nothing less than the most
extreme degree of rigor could have satisfied the Church ; and
Queen Elizabeth adopted the same tone, insisting, by her
ambassadors, that the utmost severity should be used against
persons whose designs were equally dangerous to both king-
doms. In the meantime the queen of England, negligent
of no means by which her neighbor could be harassed, and
his councils distracted, was pleased, as we have before stated,
to take Bothwell under her protection, and receive him and
his followers in her kingdom, when obliged to retreat to the
borders. This was, in the particular instance, inconsistent
with the general policy of Elizabeth, since Bothwell, in the
year 1588, had been decidedly averse to the continuance of
peace with England, and had then leagued himself with the
Catholic lords who were disposed to encourage the Spanish
invasion. Being, however, a man of no religious principle
of any kind, and finding that the general temper of the peo-
ple was moved by the ministers against the king, on account
of his supposed favor to Catholics, the earl now adopted the
popular tone, and alleged the danger of the Protestant cause
as a principal reason for pursuing his tumultuary attacks upon
the king's person. He had, probably, the most total indiffer-
ence as to the further consequences of his attempt, providing
only it succeeded in raising him to the authority he desired.
Neither is it likely he had any enmity against King James's
person, which he only wished to be possessed of, as he would
have desired to hold a seal, or other symbol of authority,
which should give him the pre-eminent command in the
government. The annals of Scotland afforded many in-
292 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
stances of the same ambitious purpose being successfully
pursued by means equally violent. Angus, during the mi-
nority of James V., had long exercised the principal au-
thority, by such means as Both well now meditated; and
the Earl of Morton, and, subsequently, the Earl of Gowrie,
had for a time succeeded in similar attempts in the present
reign.
The time began to seem auspicious to BothwelPs purpose.
The young queen had taken some distaste at the chancellor,
which had been fostered by the king's relations, Lennox,
Athole, Ochiltree, and others, who were of opinion that the
chancellor's influence intercepted the favor which the king
would otherwise have shown to his own friends of the name
of Stuart. By their connivance Bothwell, with Douglas
of Spot and others, the boldest of his followers, forced their
way into the royal presence, well provided with pistols and
drawn swords. Archbishop Spottiswoode says, that when
Bothwell saw the king, he threw himself on his knees and
asked forgiveness, and that the king with dignity replied,
"Strike, traitor, for you have dishonored me"; and placing
himself in his chair of state, repeated the expression, "Strike,
and end thy work, for I desire to live no longer. ' ' A worthy
citizen of Edinburgh, a faithful journalist of the times, re-
ports James's demeanor in less royal fashion. "The king's
majesty," he says, "coming from the back stair with his
breeches in his hand, in a fear; howbeit it needed not." By
the entreaties of the queen's faction, and the intervention
of the English ambassador, the king was persuaded to sign
articles of agreement with the insurgents. The first stipu-
lated the pardon of Bothwell for his past offences, and like-
wise for his recent violence. The second provided that Lord
Home, who, from being the ally of Bothwell, had of late
become his bitter foe, should with his friends and kinsmen
be banished from the court. The third article stipulated
that a parliament should be called in November next. And
it was lastly concerted that Earl Bothwell and his followers
should be considered as good subjects.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 293
It cannot be denied that in such an emergency the king
must have conducted himself both with prudence and spirit
to obtain such favorable resolutions, which, though they
imposed upon him for the time the necessity of receiving
Bothwell with apparent favor, yet left him a prospect of
getting free of his turbulent kinsman.
For this purpose James appointed a convention at Stir-
ling, in the beginning of September, which was well attended.
Bothwell, on his part, had little sagacity to guide his ambi-
tion : he appears to have been unequal to the task of securing
a superiority in the convention, though it was generally easy
for such as were in possession of the king's person to carry
that material point. His enemies were predominant there,
as appeared from their very first proceedings. The king laid
before the convention his agreement with Bothwell; and
having narrated the indignities and offences repeatedly prac-
ticed against him by that nobleman, he required the opinion
of his parliament, that they would take into consideration
the conditions which he had been compelled to subscribe,
and decide how far he was bound by them in honor or con-
science. The reply of the convention was, that the attempt
of Bothwell to intrude himself upon the king's presence was
in itself treasonable, and that the king was in no respect
bound by the articles which had been imposed on him in
consequence of that armed intrusion. In respect to Both-
well's pardon, they declared it a matter at his majesty's
discretion.
The king cannot be said to have abused this victory,
when, after having thus obtained liberation from the articles
which had been extorted from him, he tendered to the Earl
of Bothwell a free pardon, on condition that he should depart
from court, and not presume to approach the royal person
unless summoned by the king. It was added that the king
expected he should retire abroad for some time. Bothwell
appeared at first satisfied with the conditions imposed on
him; but presently returning to his old practices, he made
an appointment with Athole, one of his courtier allies, to
294 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
meet him at Stirling with all his forces, and disperse the
convention. Their meeting was disconcerted by the alacrity
of the king's party; and Both well, cited to the privy council,
and not appearing, was of new denounced a rebel.
In the meantime the affair of the Spanish blanks, and the
impunity of the Catholic lords concerned, continued to agi-
tate the minds of the clergy: there was, they thought, an
obvious intention on the part of the king to pass slightly
over a matter which, when first heard of by Mr. Ker's con-
fession, he had declared beyond the reach of his power to
pardon. Since that time Ker had escaped, or, as the min-
isters supposed, had been permitted to leave prison, and the
Catholic nobles were no longer afraid that his testimony
would be brought against them. Confident in this hope,
and in the lenity which King James was disposed to extend
to them, the Catholic Earls of Huntley, Errol, and Angus,
appeared suddenly before the king, during a journey to the
south, and offered to submit themselves to a fair trial ; and
James, without causing them to be arrested on the spot,
appointed a day for their appearance, and suffered them
to depart in freedom. This interview between James and
the accused nobles augmented the worst suspicions of the
clergy respecting the king's motives, and the utmost anxiety
was expressed for the event.
The nobles had accepted a day of trial, and were prepar-
ing themselves to appear at the bar, with large bands of their
friends and followers, whom they accounted strong enough
to protect them.
The ministers expressed the greatest alarm at this con-
juncture, and proposed, by their own authority, to levy such
bodies of Protestants as might enable the prosecution to pro-
ceed. That they might not spare their own exertions on the
occasion, they directed the curse of excommunication to be
fulminated against the Catholic lords.
A single synod took upon themselves to pronounce this
sentence, which carried with it the civil pains of treason
against Errol, Huntley, and Angus, and also against the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 205
Earl of Home, who was a Catholic, though not involved
in the Spanish negotiations. The body of the Church seemed
determined to take the conduct of this important case into
their own management. They demanded of the king that
the Church of Scotland should be permitted to appear by her
representatives in the character of prosecutor, while they
offered that their hearers should supply the place of guards
and lictors. The king, by this warm proceeding, was placed
in a delicate situation. He had determined to avoid extreme
procedure against the Catholic lords, as he was willing to
hope that, by toleration and gentle usage, they might be
restrained from their dangerous intercourse with foreign
powers. On the other hand, while he adopted such policy,
it was imputed to him, not without an appearance of reality,
that he was indifferent concerning the form of religion which
should predominate in Scotland, and was only desirous of
the security and augmentation of his own regal power. The
misunderstanding between the king and the Church was in-
flamed by Lord Zouche, the English ambassador, who, hav-
ing been sent to Scotland for that purpose, privately insti-
gated the ministers to persist in their claims, and more
openly importune James to show the utmost severity against
the Catholic conspirators.
On November 26, 1593, the king, with sound policy,
referred matters to the convention of estates, who came
to this formal agreement : That the three earls of Huntley,
Angus and Errol should be exempted from all further in-
quiry on account of their correspondence with Spain; that
the first day of February should be fixed as a day before
which they should either renounce the errors of popery, or
remove out of the kingdom; that they should signify their
choice against the first of January. But by the moderate
measures which he pursued the king made no impression
upon any party. The Catholic earls continued their com-
munication with Spain, and their measures to support each
other ; the Church and anxious Protestants remained as jeal-
ous as ever of the king's sincerity; Zouche, the English
296 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ambassador, continued to worry James with remonstrances
on the part of Elizabeth; and Bothwell, under the almost
avowed protection of the queen of England, prepared new
aggressions upon his sovereign.
On the second of April, 1594, this restless earl, at the
head of about four hundred horsemen, arrived at Leith,
at three in the morning, in the expectation of forming a
junction with Athole and others, who favored him, and who
were levying forces in the north, with the intention of mov-
ing upon the same point. The king, hearing of this alarm-
ing incident, went in person to the church, the day being
Sunday ; and having but few nobility and gentry in attend-
ance upon him he reminded his lieges of the congregation
of their duty to protect their sovereign, and requested them
to consider whether the superiority of Bothwell and his bor-
derers, men given to theft and robbery, was consistent with
the safety of their families and property. The preacher did
not fail to throw in a word of advice on so tempting an
occasion. "God," he said, "would raise up against the king
more Both wells than one, and each a worse enemy than he,
if James did not showthe same zeal in the cause of Heaven
(meaning against the popish lords), which he now exhibited
in his own private quarrel. " He gave, however, his sanc-
tion to the congregation arming and following their sover-
eign. The sermon was no sooner over than Bothwell learned
that the king with a strong body of infantry, consisting of
the citizens of Edinburgh, and a party of cavalry, composed
of such noblemen and gentlemen as were at present attend-
ing the court, was moving against him. He drew up his
cavalry upon an eminence called the Hawkhill, near Restal
Rig; and from thence, on the king's approach, he held south-
eastward around the hill called Arthur's Seat, as if about
to return to Dalkeith. He made this retreat slowly and in
good order, followed and observed by the Lord Home, who
commanded the king's cavalry. James himself, apprehen-
sive that it was the purpose of Bothwell to make a circuit
around Arthur's Seat, and attack Edinburgh upon the south-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 29?
era side, returned from Leith, and, marching through Edin-
burgh, drew up his forces on the Borough Moor, to be ready-
to receive the enemy, should he approach in that direction.
Home, in the meantime, pressed upon BothwelPs retreat
with such incautious vehemence that Bothwell, indulging
his antipathy to him as a personal enemy, charged him so
suddenly with a superior body of horse as compelled Home
to fly. The skirmish took place near Woolmet; and Home's
discomfited cavalry ran back in confusion upon the body
of infantry commanded by the king. Here again occurs a
difference between the courtly Archbishop Spottiswoode and
the journalist Birrel. The former says, that on beholding
the rout of the royal cavalry, those around the king conjured
him to return into the town, which he refused, saying, "He
would never quit the field to a traitor." Birrel plainly says,
"The king's majesty fled himself upon beholding the chase."
His infantry stood firm, however; nor was Bothwell in a
condition to attack them. His own horse had fallen in the
chase, and he was severely bruised. A retreat to Dalkeith,
and from thence to the borders, was the necessary conse-
quence of his inability to obtain a complete victory. After
escaping this danger, which was sufficiently imminent, the
king sent ambassadors to Elizabeth, to complain of the con-
duct of her envoy Zouche, and of the reception and shelter
which Bothwell met with on the English border, where he
had not only occupied fortresses belonging to the queen, but
had also received a considerable sum of money, with which
he had hired soldiers, both English and Scottish, for his last
treasonable attempt. The ambassadors had commission to
promise a severe prosecution of the popish lords, in case
they should not embrace the terms of submission which had
been offered to them.
The queen promised fairly, and henceforth seems to have
discontinued the encouragement which she had previously
given to Bothwell.
Meantime, in 1593, the violence of feudal quarrels, which
so nearly approached the presence of the king, spread blood
298 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
and devastation through every part of the country. The
deadly feud already noticed between the Johnstones and the
Maxwells broke forth again in this year, with the violence
of tho most savage times. When we last mentioned this
dispute, Maxwell, then in arms against the king, had ob-
tained a superiority over Johnstone, James s lieutenant,
who was made prisoner, and died of grief. Maxwell, after
several changes of fortune, had been in his turn received
into court favor, and enjoyed the office of warden of the
western marches. The Laird of Johnstone, on the contrary,
had given King James much offence, by uniting with Both-
well in some of his unlawful attempts, and affording him
the assistance of individuals of his clan. For this he had
been declared a rebel ; and being imprisoned in the castle
of Edinburgh had broken out of it on the 4th of last June.
Such was the situation of the two chiefs with respect to the
government ; in relation to each other they had, by as formal
a league of pacification as could be devised, put an end to
the feudal quarrel which had so long subsisted between their
houses. In consequence of this recent alliance, the John-
stones, therefore, according to their way of thinking, es-
teemed that Lord Maxwell's promotion to the wardenry
inferred a mutual compact, that while they on their part
should do nothing to injure or harm one of their new ally's
clan, Maxwell, on the other hand, should overlook what loss
other families might sustain through the depredations of the
Johnstones. Thus fortified, as they conceived themselves,
by their alliance with Maxwell, the Johnstones made their
inroads upon the low country of Nithsdale with more fury
than ever, and drove large preys of cattle from the estates
of the Crichtons, the Douglases, the Griersons, Kirkpatricks,
and other families of distinction in that neighborhood.
Those who had sustained injury by their incursions to a
very considerable amount repaired to Maxwell to request his
interference as warden. They found that he entertained
their complaints coldly, and that his disinclination again to
awaken the old feud with the Johnstones rendered him re-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 299
miss in executing his duty to the country. The Lords
Sanquhar, Drumlanrigg, and others interested, finding him
thus indifferent, proposed to him that they would agree to
grant him bonds of man-rent, and engage to follow him in
his quarrels, provided he would effectually protect them by
discharging his duty as warden, and thereby suppressing
the power of the Johnstones. This temptation, which prom-
ised to place him at the head of many warlike and powerful
families, and thus greatly increase what the Scots nobles
called "his following," was irresistible; and Lord Maxwell,
with the gentlemen of Nithsdale, entered into a bond in the
terms proposed. Johnstone, obtaining information of this
league, which seemed to be formed for his destruction and
that of his clan, demanded an explanation from his ancient
foe and recent ally. Maxwell at first denied the existence
of the bond in question, and then explained it by the plausi-
ble apology of the public service, and the necessity of doing
his duty as warden without respect of persons. Johnstone
was not to be satisfied by these reasons, and the chieftains
stood once more on terms of defiance.
Both clans upon this prepared for war with the solem-
nity of separate nations. The Johnstones, far inferior in
numbers, summoned to their aid the Scots of Eskdale and
Teviotdale. Five hundred of this clan came, not led by the
chieftain, who was then abroad by the king's command, but
by Sir Gideon Murray of Elibank, to whom he had intrusted
the management of his affairs, and who bore upon this occa-
sion Buccleuch's banner. The Elliots of Liddisdale, the
Grahams of the debatable land, and other western border-
ers, came also to Johnstone's assistance; sharing general
habits of depredation, and unwilling to give free passage to
the warden's jurisdiction.
Maxwell, on the other hand, levied a powerful army,
consisting not only of his own numerous followers, but of
all the families and clans which we have mentioned as hav-
ing engaged in the bond. They entered Annandale with
displayed banner and the avowed intention of destroying the
300 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
houses of Lochwood and Lockerbie, strong castles belonging
to the Laird of Johnstone. Maxwell had besieged the latter
fortress when the Johnstones came upon him, and, profiting
by some advantage obtained by their prickers or skirmishers,
charged Maxwell's main body suddenly, and totally defeated
them. Maxwell, it is said, had his hand cut off, and was
struck from his horse before he was slain; and tradition
avers that he received the last deadly blow from the hand
of a female, daughter of the late Lord Johnstone, who had
died his prisoner.
The king was much affected by this fatal violence; but
the state of his affairs did not permit him to avenge it in
person, nor were there any who had power enough to ac-
complish such an object by royal commission. Johnstone,
therefore, remained unpunished ; and was shortly after him-
self appointed warden of the west marches: this was in 1596.
The unhappy tale may be concluded by saying, that on the
6th of April, 1608, he was treacherously murdered at a meet-
ing with Lord Maxwell, the son of him who was slain at the
battle of Dryffe Sands, who took this dishonorable but not
infrequent mode of revenging his father's death. Polity
was now grown more strong; and the murderer, being ap-
prehended, was beheaded at the cross of Edinburgh ; and
thus terminated the long feud between the Johnstones and
Maxwells, having cost each house the lives of two chieftains.
The battle of Dryffe Sands has a claim to be noticed, as the
terminating action of that long series which had been fought
upon the border during so many centuries. The fate of the
Lord Maxwell was much lamented: "he was a nobleman,"
says Spottiswoode, "of great spirit, courteous, humane, and
more learned than men of his rank usually are ; but aspiring
and ambitious of rule. His fall was lamented by many ; he
being considered as one who did little wrong to any one
excepting to himself."
In the year 1594, the momentous affair of the Catholic
lords was brought to a head. Huntley, Angus, and Errol,
confident in the numbers of their followers, and the inac-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 301
cessible nature of their country, had rejected with scorn the
alternative of the king to change their religion or retire into
exile. They renewed their correspondence with Spain ; from
which court they received a considerable sum of money to
enable them to take the field.
The king, now for his own sake, as well as to redeem the
pledges which he had repeatedly given to the Protestant
party, saw the necessity of acting with vigor : this was the
more difficult, as he was in great distress for money, the
expenses of a royal baptism (though the cause may appear
inadequate) having recently exhausted the coffers of the
king. He held a convention on the 8th of June, 1594, to
obtain their counsel in so important a case. The accusa-
tion of the Catholic lords being read, the authenticity of
the Spanish blanks was proved, and a sentence of high
treason, in its most rigorous form, pronounced against the
Earls of Huntley, of Angus, and of Errol. Thus, at length,
the Protestants were gratified, and the Catholic lords sub-
jected to a doom of forfeiture : but the manner of enforcing
it was a consideration of more difficulty. Queen Elizabeth,
though she had remonstrated so much against the indul-
gence shown to these popish lords, and although their de-
sign was as much directed against her as against James,
refused to contribute anything to the expense of suppressing
three powerful peers, in the remote provinces, the only place
in which they possessed extensive interest, and where it was
equally difficult to introduce troops or subsist them when in
the field. It was evident that the king could not creditably
go himself upon an expedition unprovided with the most
ordinary means of expense. It remained only possible to
induce some nobleman to act as his representative upon
the occasion. No one was thought more suitable for the
office than the young Earl of Argyle, both from the situa-
tion of his estates and the number of Highlanders whom,
by his authority and their natural love of spoil, he was sure
to draw to his standard. He was propitiated with a promise
of Huntley's rights and possessions in Lochaber, which stood
302 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
forfeited to the crown, and lay peculiarly convenient for
augmentation of the Earl of Argyle's family possessions
and feudal power. The young earl had spirit and ambi-
tion, and did not decline the trust reposed in him. Lord
Forbes, the hereditary enemy of Huntley, was united in the
same commission.
Meantime the Catholic lords used their utmost influence
to provide the means of defence. They sought out connec-
tions with such disaffected courtiers as they hoped might
assist their cause ; and under this hope formed a conspiracy
to seize the person of the king, who was to be confined in
the fortress of Blackness, the commander of which they had
corrupted. The ministry of the Earl of Bothwell was to be
used upon this occasion. This versatile and turbulent man
had been already an accomplice of the Catholic lords in the
year 1588; but in his later incursions had stated the immu-
nities and impunity afforded them as a principal cause of his
being in arms. In his last proclamation, distributed at the
Raid of Leith, the Catholic lords were designed as enemies
"to the true religion, and friendship of both crowns, and the
practicers for inbringing of strangers ; a company of lewd,
pernicious persons crept into the state, to the high contempt
of God and dishonor of the king, who authorized mass in
several of the countries, permitted seminary priests to travel
with impunity, and labored for bringing in the cruel Span-
iard." Yet now he felt himself at liberty to throw off all
regard to the true religion, as he formerly styled it, and
engaged with those whose object it was to subvert it, un-
dertaking to assist them in their plot against the king's
person and liberty.
The activity of James's measures, however, prevented
the plot being carried into effect. Argyle, by means of his
own extensive jurisdictions and clanship, and by the pros-
pect of plunder which his enterprise afforded, drew together
six or seven thousand Highlanders, including the Clan of
Maclean and others from the western islands. Of this army
of mountaineers v fifteen hundred men carried firearms, and
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 303
the rest were armed, after the Highland fashion, with bows
and arrows, two-handed swords, Lochaber axes, and parti-
sans. The purpose of Argyle, their commander, was to de-
scend from the hills upon Huntley's principal castle, then
called Strathbogie, with the purpose of occupying that fort-
ress, and also of joining his force to those which the Lord
Forbes was raising in Aberdeenshire.
The suddenness of the attack permitted Huntley no time
to receive aid from the Earl of Angus, whose forces lay at
a considerable distance. The Earl of Errol, who was his
nearer neighbor, joined him upon the alarm of the danger
with two or three hundred of the clan of Hay, of which he
was chief. The smallness of their number was made up by
their character, which was that of gentlemen, with their per-
sonal followers, men of high birth and ready courage; all
serving on horseback, and well mounted and armed. Hunt-
ley himself assembled about a thousand men, who were
chiefly gentlemen of the name of Gordon, and provided and
armed like those of Hay. He had, however, a train of six
field-pieces, to the use of which the Highlanders were un-
accustomed. These were under the management of an
expert soldier named Captain Ker, by birth a borderer, but
for many years a follower of Huntley, in whose service,
during the civil wars of Queen Mary's reign, he had been
distinguished by his military skill as well as by his cruelty.
The expected encounter came thus to resemble that of Har-
law, where the force of the ancient Gael had been tried in
mortal contest with that of the low-country Saxons.
Each party was confident of success. The Lowland men
were of opinion that the multitude of Argyle 's tumultuary
forces would be ill matched with their own completely
equipped and high-spirited cavaliers; and the Highlanders
entertained no idea that an army could be embodied in the
low countries before whom their own fiery courage would
give way.
Huntley used the politic precaution to lay the country
waste, to render the support of Argyle and his army a mat-
304 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ter of difficulty ; but as the want of provisions equally affected
the subsistence of his own levies, he found himself compelled
to risk an action, which perhaps he would have otherwise
willingly avoided. Argyle, having now arrived at the head
of Strathdon, sent a herald to Huntley and Errol to announce
that he came as the king's lieutenant, and to charge them
to withdraw their forces and give him open passage to the
castle of Strathbogie. Huntley replied that, since such was
his purpose, he would himself be porter, and welcome him
upon the road to his castle, as courtesy required. He then
convened his own people, and exhorted them to defend them-
selves for the glory of God and the liberty of their con-
sciences. He protested, that although the king was ani-
mated against him by the instigation of his enemies, he
loved and reverenced him with such true devotion that even
in the best cause he would never lift a weapon against him.
But now, since they were exposed to a barbarous enemy,
who had neither fear of God nor obedience to the king, nor
the most ordinary habits of civilization, he exhorted his fol-
lowers to act valiantly, as men who, if vanquished, must be
subject to the pleasure of the most savage conquerors.
The armies met in a district called Glenlivet, at a place
named Belrinnes. Argyle 's numerous army were stationed
on the side of a mountain, which, far from being easily
accessible by horsemen, had so steep an ascent in front that
even footmen could hardly keep their feet upon it. Never-
theless, Captain Ker, who was appointed to survey the
ground, reported to the earls that a brisk attack upon their
barbarous enemy would quickly disperse men, who, like the
Highlanders, had no knowledge of war as practiced by civil-
ized people. Huntley then arranged his men in this man-
ner : Errol was appointed to lead the van, accompanied by
Sir Partick Gordon of Auchindoun. Huntley himself com-
manded the rearguard, designed for their support, with a
Btrong body of cavalry.
Errol, with his vanguard, began to ascend the hill in the
very front of the Highland line of battle; and between the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 305
roughness of the heather and steepness of the ascent his
horsemen were compelled to advance at a very slow pace.
But, masked for a time under cover of the movement of the
vanguard, four pieces of artillery had been brought into a
position to annoy Argyle's line of battle, without the possi-
bility of the Highlanders observing it. The sudden dis-
charge of this battery spread dismay through the High-
landers, who were unaccustomed either to the noise of fche
cannon or to the operation of shot so far beyond the range
of the missiles with which they were acquainted. Some
fled, all were confused, and Errol, with the Hays, continued
to advance uninterrupted. The ascent, however, became so
steep, that to make their way directly upward was almost
impossible: the horsemen were compelled to wheel to the
right and form a column, which, in order to gain the hill
by an oblique movement, obliged them to expose their flank
to the enemy. The Highlanders ' perceived this advantage,
and showered on them a tremendous volley of bullets and
arrows, hurting many horse and men. The Hays were,
however, valiantly seconded by Huntley, who, coming up
to their aid, made so fierce an attack upon the centre of
Argyle's army, where his standard was displayed, that the
banner was borne down, and Campbell of Lochinzell and
his brother slain in its defence. When the horsemen attained
the more even ground, where their horses could gallop, the
resistance of the Highlanders, who had no lances to defend
them from the shock, became impossible. They were hur-
ried down the opposite side of the hill on which they had
been drawn up, and their pursuers mingled with them, doing
much execution. The chief of Maclean alone, a man of un-
common strength and courage, dressed in a shirt of mail,
and armed with a double-edged battle-axe, defied the efforts
of the assailants for some time, but was at length compelled
to flight. The battle lasted for about two hours. Argyle
himself was forced off the field, weeping with anger and
shame, and imploring his men to return to the charge. The
loss of the vanquished was not great ; for the roughness of
30G HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the ground, which rendered the victory difficult, made the
pursuit impossible. Little quarter, however, was given to
the Highlanders, which is chiefly imputed to the difference
of language between the victors and vanquished. The battle
of Glenlivet, chiefly remarkable as being fought between the
two races which divided Scotland, took place upon the third
day of October, 1594. Sir Patrick Gordon of Auchindoun,
an uncle of Huntley, was slain, with only twelve others, on
the side of the victors. Huntley had his own horse killed
under him, and many of his followers were wounded and
dismounted. Argyle lost some chiefs and men of note, and
about seven hundred common soldiers. The issue of the
battle was fortunate for the country, which would have
been pitifully plundered had the victory remained with the
barbarous Highlanders.
The Lord Forbes, with an army hastily assembled of
such clans as were hostile to the Gordons, put himself in
motion to form a junction with Argyle, and persuade him
to resume his enterprise. But a gentleman of the name
of Irvine being, in the darkness of the night, slain by the
shot of a pistol, the accident spread such general distrust
in an army composed of various clans, among whom there
lurked reasons of feud, that the host dispersed itself, and
could not be again assembled.
James VI. was disturbed, in the hour of midnight, at
Dundee, to which he had then advanced, by news of the
defeat of Argyle, and the victory of Huntley and Errol.
He showed that he felt the force of the emergency, by the
energy with which he prepared to meet it. Animated with
an unusual spirit of promptitude, he hastened, by pawning
the crown jewels, to raise a sum of money sufficient to sup-
port a small army, with which he marched into Aberdeen-
shire against the Catholic lords. The king was there joined
by various clans, the feudal enemies of Huntley and Errol.
But either weakened by the effects of their own victory, or
faithful to the principles of loyalty expressed by Huntley
on the eve of the battle of Glenlivet, the Catholic earls
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 307
offered no opposition. The king marched through the coun-
try, casting down and dismantling the fortresses of Strath-
bogie and Glaimis, and returned home with the honor of
having suppressed, by his personal exertions, a threatening
and triumphant rebellion. He left behind him the Duke
of Lennox, who, under the title of lieutenant, hanged many
of the poorer sort, and inflicted heavy fines upon the wealthier
persons who had borne arms under Huntley and Errol.
The time was now come when BothwelPs ferocity, cun-
ning, and versatility, could avail him no longer. His last
change to the popish and Spanish faction had offended Queen
Elizabeth beyond forgiveness, nor was there any mercy to
be looked for at the hand of his natural sovereign, whom
he had so often and grievously offended. Unable to obtain
shelter in Scotland, where the king caused him to be dili-
gently sought after, and obtaining no harbor, as formerly,
upon the English borders, he fled to France. Here also
James's resentment followed him, and demanded of Henry
IV. that he should be delivered up to punishment, or at least
banished from France. The generous Henry answered that
he would give no encouragement to a person so obnoxious to
his ally, but that he could not refuse a miserable exile the
free air of his kingdom. Even this retreat Bothwell for-
feited by his turbulent temper, which induced him to trans-
gress that wise monarch's edict against sending challenges.
Banished from France, Bothwell went successively to Spain
and Naples, and purchased his bread meanly and miserably
by abjuring the Protestant religion. His principal posses-
sions were bestowed upon Scott of Buccleuch and Ker of
Cessford, in return, as may be supposed, for their having
given up his friendship and alliance at a time when their
adhesion might have been dangerous to the state.
King James, placable and easy to be entreated in favor
of other offenders, would never listen to any petition in
favor of this arch-traitor; he died at Naples, in poverty and
infamy. Such was the end of unprincipled ambition, which,
supported only by reckless courage, had disturbed the state
308 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
by so many conspiracies. About this time also fate finished
the career of another guilty votary of unscrupulous ambition.
Captain James Stewart, for some time prime minister
and chosen favorite of the king, expelled from court, as we
have already stated, at the Raid of Stirling, in 1585, had
never since made his appearance there ; but at this time the
death of the wise and excellent Chancellor Maitland took
place. This great statesman had been for some time in a
species of disgrace with King James, from the dislike which
Queen Anne had expressed toward him, for no better reason,
probably, than that he was the favorite of her husband.
James, however, retained his affection for him, and honored
his memory with an epitaph couched in tolerable poetry.
Captain James Stewart, although, indeed, he was neither
beloved nor befriended by any who were not as profligate
as himself, had always conceived this statesman, who was
his successor as chancellor, to be his greatest enemy. He
appeared at court accordingly, in hopes that the king's favor
might again prefer him to the same eminent situation, now
vacant by the demise of Maitland. The king received him
so well as to induce him to lend belief to a soothsayer, who
had told him that his head should presently stand higher
than ever. But the general alarm and disgust was so great
at the reappearance of this ill-omened and wicked man,
that he was counselled in all haste to withdraw himself from
court and return to his place of residence in Ayrshire, where
he had been permitted to remain unnoticed and in obscurity.
As he rode back to his dwelling, by the way of Symington,
with only one or two attendants, he was cautioned not to
travel openly through the country, for fear of the vengeance
of the Douglases, to whom he had given mortal offence, as
the author of Morton's impeachment and death. Stewart
answered, with his usual rash courage, that the Douglas
lived not for fear of whom he would screen himself or quit
his road. One of those tale-bearers, who are always at hand
where mischief is to be disseminated, carried this expres-
sion to Douglas of Torthorwold, a near relation of the Regent
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 309
Morton, who conceiving himself defied, presently got upon
horseback, with three or four followers, and pursuing Stew-
art, overtook him in a pass of the mountains called the Gate-
slack, ran him through with his lance, and cut off his head,
which he set upon his castle of Torthorwald, and thus in one
sense realized the prophecy of the soothsayer, by placing it
higher than it had yet been raised. The body of this man,
once so proud and powerful, is said to have been neglected
in the waste road until it was mangled by swine.
Neither did Torthorwald, who had been, unlawfully on
his part, the means of executing deserved vengeance on this
wicked man, escape without his reward. It was not very
long after this bloody exploit, when he was accidentally met
in the street of Edinburgh by Sir William Stewart, the
nephew of the deceased, who, in revenge of his uncle's
death, drew his sword without speaking a word, and passed
it through Torthorwald's body, who fell dead on the spot,
thus making good the expression of Scripture, that "mis-
chief shall hunt the violent man."
The death of Lord Chancellor Maitland threw the king's
affairs in a great measure into his own hands. As is usual
in a disturbed state, the principal difficulty lay in the finances,
which were reduced to a very low ebb. The aid of Elizabeth
was applied for in vain. She had promised her assistance
when the king should seriously set himself to destroy the
force of the Catholic lords. But, economical even in her
youthful years, the queen had reached that period of life
when the love of money becomes a passion, nor was it pos-
sible for James to extract any assistance from her. This
induced him to apply to a better resource than all the treas-
ures of England could have afforded him. He resolved
manfully, by practicing strict economy, to render his own
revenue equal to his own wants; and for that purpose de-
termined it should be collected with more accuracy, and
expended with more frugality. For this purpose, he made
a remarkable change in his administration, equivalent to
what in a private case is called executing a deed of trust,
310 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
transferring to others the management of the grantor's own
estate.
James committed the care of his finances to eight persons
belonging to the profession of the law, upon whom the whole
duty of receipt and expenditure, settling accounts, and expe-
diting grants, in a word, every article of national expense,
should be devolved ; so that the whole duties of the exchequer
were destined to be performed through the means of these
eight persons, or at least of a quorum of five of them. The
king, conscious of his own facility of temper, bound himself
upon the word of a prince that he would not subscribe any
letter or deed of gift unless it was previously approved by
this board, who were, from their number, termed the Octa-
vians: he agreed, also, not to add to the number of these
eight comptrollers; and that in case of a vacancy in their
number by death that it should not be filled up without the
consent of the survivors. The eight commissioners, on their
side, made oath that, next to God and a good conscience,
they should in all things respect his majesty's weal and
honor, and fhe advancement of his revenue; and neither
for tenderness of blood, advantage to themselves, nor awe
or fear of any one, agree to the disposition of any part of
the patrimony of the crown : also, that they would not give
their consent to any proposed measure separately, but would
deliberate and act together as a body, holding their meetings
in exchequer, and five being a quorum.
This singular devolution of these general powers was such
an unusual trust that it was generally said that the king
had resigned his royal authority to commissioners of no high
rank, and had not left himself the means either of cherish-
ing the attachment of his subjects, or of rewarding their
services by the slightest boon from government. This clamor
was especially raised by the greedy courtiers, to whom the
king's facility of disposition had afforded undue opportu-
nities of enriching themselves under the ordinary system.
The Octavians used the trust reposed in them with as much
moderation, perhaps, as could possibly have been expected ;
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 311
and by their knowledge of business, and the exercise of a
rigid economy, they brought the affairs into much better
order than they had ever been during James's reign.
It would have been too much, however, to have expected
that men intrusted with so much power were altogether to
abstain from using it to their personal advantage. The
authority of the Octavians over all the officers of state
entitled them to call them to the closest accounting; and
as few of them were prepared for rendering such a strict
reckoning, several chose to resign lucrative situations, which
were filled up by the Octavians out of their own number.
In this manner a great popular clamor was excited against
the new managers, much increased by the clergy, who were
not satisfied with the soundness of doctrine entertained by
some of the Octavians. The king himself also became tired
of the restraint under which he lay; and after enduring
public odium, and, finally, the displeasure of their sover-
eign, from the 12th of January, 1595, the Octavians resigned
their commission into his majesty's hands in the parliament,
in 1596.
3l£ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XXXIX
Kinmont Willie made Prisoner by the English — The Scottish
Warden attacks Carlisle Castle, and liberates him — Elizabeth
demands that^Buccleuch should be delivered up, which is re-
fused by the Scottish Parliament — He visits England of his own
Accord, and is honorably received — The Catholic Lords give
new Trouble — James proposes that they shall be reconciled to
the Church — The Scottish Clergy take Alarm, and establish a
Standing Committee of the Church at Edinburgh — Black
preaches a Sermon highly disrespectful to the King — He is
called before the Privy Council — The Clergy encourage him to
disown the Jurisdiction of the Judges — He is found guilty, and
banished to the North — Misunderstanding between the King
and Church — Great Tumult in Edinburgh — The King leaves the
City, and removes the Courts of Justice — The Clergy apply to
the Lord Hamilton to support them, but in vain — He returns
to Edinburgh, attended by the Border Clans and others — The
Citizens are alarmed for fear of being Plundered — James makes
a Composition and pardons them — He becomes desirous to new
model the Church of Scotland, by introducing Episcopacy; but
is obliged to proceed with great Caution — The Order of Bishops
is established under strict Limitations
AN" incident took place in the beginning of the year 1596,
which had almost renewed the long discontinued wars
upon the border. Excepting by the rash enterprises
of Bothwell, these disorderly districts had remained undis-
turbed by any violence worthy of note since the battle of
the Reedsquair. Upon the fall of Bothwell, his son-in-law,
Sir Walter Scott of Buccleuch, had obtained the important
office of keeper of Liddisdale, and warden of the Scottish
borders upon that unsettled frontier. According to the cus-
tom of the marches, Buccleuch's deputy held a day of truce
for meeting with the deputy of the Lord Scroope, governor
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 313
of Carlisle Castle, and keeper of the west marches on the
English side. The meeting was, as usual, attended on both
sides by the most warlike of the borderers upon faith of the
usual truce, which allowed twenty-four hours to come and
go from such meetings, without any individual being, dur-
ing that short space, liable to challenge on account of
offences given to either kingdom. Among others who at-
tended Buccleuch's deputy was one Armstrong, commonly
called Kinmont Willie, remarkable for his exploits as a
depredator upon England. After the business of the meeting
had been peaceably transacted the parties separated. But
the English, being on their return homeward, at the south
side of the River Liddle, which is in that place the boundary
of the kingdoms, beheld this Kinmont Willie riding upon
the Scottish bank of the river alone and in absolute securitv.
They were unable to resist the tempting opportunity of seiz-
ing a man who had done them much injury; and, without
regarding the sanctity of the truce, a strong party crossed the
river into Scotland, chased Kinmont Willie for more than a
mile, and by dint of numbers made him at length their pris-
oner. He was carried to the castle of Carlisle and brought
before Lord Scroope, where he boasted proudly of the breach
of the immunities of the day of truce in his person, and de-
manded his liberty, as unlawfully taken from him. The
English warden paid little attention to his threats, as in-
deed the ascendency of Elizabeth in James's councils made
her officers infringe the rights of Scottish subjects with little
ceremony ; and on the score of his liberty, he assured Kin-
mont Willie, scornfully, that he should take a formal fare-
well of him before he left Carlisle Castle.
The Lord of Buccleuch was bj r no means of a humor
to submit to an infraction of the national rights, and a per-
sonal insult to himself. On this occasion he acted with
equal prudence and spirit. The Scottish warden first made
a regular application to Lord Scroope for delivery of the
prisoner, and redress of the wrong sustained in his capture.
To this no satisfactory answer was returned. Buccleuch
Scotland. Vol. II. — 14
314 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
next applied to Bowes, the English ambassador, who inter-
fered so far as to advise Lord Scroope to surrender the pris-
oner without bringing the matter to further question. Time
was given to advertise Elizabeth ; but she, being in this as
in other cases disposed to bear the matter out by her great
superiority of power, returned no satisfactory answer. The
intercourse between the wardens became then of a more
personal character ; and Buccleuch sent a challenge to Lord
Scroope, as having offered him a personal affront in the dis-
charge of his office. Scroope returned for answer that the
commands of the queen engaged him in more important
matters than the chastisement of the Scottish warden, and
left him not at liberty to accept his challenge. Being thus
refused alike public and private satisfaction, Buccleuch
resolved to resort to measures of extremity, and obtain by
means of his own force that redress which was otherwise
denied him. Being the chief of a numerous clan, he had
no difficulty in assembling three hundred chosen horsemen
at Woodhouselee upon the Esk, the nearest point to the
castle of Carlisle upon the Scottish marches, and not above
ten or twelve miles' distance from that fortress. The hour
of rendezvous was after sunset; and the night, dark and
misty, concealed their march through the English frontier.
They arrived without being perceived under the castle of
Carlisle, where the Scottish warden, taking post opposite
to the northern gate of the town, ordered a party of fifty
of his followers to dismount and attempt to scale the walls
of the castle with ladders which had been provided for the
purpose. The ladders being found too short, the assailants
attacked a small postern-gate with iron instruments and
mining tools, which they had also in readiness: the door
giving way, the Scots forced their way into the castle,
repulsing and bearing down such of the English guards
as pressed forward to the defence of the place. The alarm
was now given. The beacon on the castle was lighted, the
drums beat, and the bell of the cathedral church and watch-
bell of the mote-hall were rung, as in cases of utmost alarm.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 315
To this din the Scots without the castle added their wild
shouts; and the sound of their trumpets increased the con-
fusion, of which none of the sleepers so unseasonably awak-
ened could conceive the cause. In the meanwhile the assail-
ants of the castle had delivered their countryman, Will of
Kinmont. In passing through the courtyard he failed not
to call out a lusty good -night at Lord Scroope's window,
and another under that of Salkeld, the constable of the cas-
tle. The assailants then made their retreat, abstaining
strictly, for such was their charge, from taking any booty,
or doing any violence which was not absolutely necessary
for executing the purpose for which they came. Some pris-
oners were taken and brought before Buccleuch, who dis-
missed them courteously, charging the most considerable
among them with a message to the constable of the castle,
whom, he said, he accounted a more honorable man than
Lord Scroope, who had declined his challenge ; telling him
what had been done was acted by the command of him the
Lord of Liddisdale; and that if, as a man of honor, he
sought a gallant revenge, he had only to come forth and
encounter with those who were willing to maintain what
they had dared to do. He then retreated into Scotland with
his banner displayed and his trumpets sounding, and reached
his domains with the delivered man in perfect safety.
The general spirit of the people of Scotland received the
account of this stratagem of war with the highest applause.
It seemed a revival of the ancient spirit which had so long
enabled Scotland to protect her independence against a
superior enemy; and the common saying among the people
was that such an act of vassalage had not been performed
in Scotland since the time of Sir "William Wallace. Eliza-
beth, on the contrary, was highly offended ; and either could
not perceive, or would not acknowledge, that the fault of
her own officer had given occasion to a retaliation which,
everything considered, had been conducted with extreme
moderation. By the queen's directions her ambassador
lodged a violent complaint before the Scottish parliament,
316 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
setting forth that the Lord of Liddisdale had invaded the
queen of England's castle, wounded her subjects, done vio-
lence, and offered dishonor to her county, and to her war-
den; and as these insults had been offered during the time
of profound peace, she required that the person of Buccleuch
should be surrendered to England, to be treated according
to his demerits. The matter was conducted with great
solemnity; the king himself urging to the parliament the
necessity of giving satisfaction to Elizabeth, and the secre-
tary arguing the question in behalf of Buccleuch. The
parliament came to a decision that the recovery of a prisoner
unlawfully taken, achieved with such circumstances of mod-
eration, was in itself lawful ; and that to deliver Buccleuch
to be punished for such an action would be totally unreason-
able, and tend to the degradation of the king and whole
realm of Scotland. The matter was summed up by the
secretary, who said with a loud voice that Sir Walter Scott
of Buccleuch should pass into England when it should please
the king himself to go thither, and not sooner. To escape
the risk of displeasing Elizabeth, James, notwithstanding
this spirited decision, personally requested of Buccleuch that
he would present himself of his own free will before the
queen of England, under the assurance that he should be
permitted to return in honor and safety. Buccleuch readily
agreed to a compromise which was to satisfy Elizabeth's
point of honor, and relieve James from a serious difficulty.
It is said, by tradition, that when he presented himself before
Elizabeth, the queen asked him, with the air of imposing
dignity, which she knew so well how to assume, how he
had dared to commit so great an outrage in her dominions?
— ' ' May it please you, madam, ' ' answered the border chief,
"I know not the thing that a man dares not do." Elizabeth
was pleased with his spirit; and having detained him for
some time at her court, dismissed him with tokens of honor
and regard, thus extinguishing the last spark of that confla-
gration of hostility which had raged between England and
Scotland for perhaps twenty centuries.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 317
It would have been an ill time for Elizabeth and James
to have harbored any discord which might be forborne, since
Philip of Spain was again agitating the most gigantic schemes
for the conquest of Britain. This occasioned the deepest
anxiety on the part of King James, embarrassed as he was
by the difficulty of dealing between the Catholic lords so late-
ly in rebellion and the ministers of the Church. Huntley,
Angus, and Errol had wandered in foreign parts since the
king's march into the north and the end of their rebellion.
Finding their reception and entertainment colder than they
expected, they began to cast their eye back to their own
country, aware that they would find little opposition on the
part of the king if they could only evade or satisfy the sus-
picions of the churchmen. The banished earls returned
secretly into Scotland, and soon after sent a petition to the
king and convention, praying for permission to reside in
their own country, under security for their good behavior.
The king laid this petition before a convention which met
at Falkland upon August 12, together with these sensible
observations: only one of two courses, he said, could be
pursued toward these unfortunate noblemen; either they
must be utterly destroyed and exterminated with their whole
race and family, a task of some difficulty, and of a most
vindictive and unchristian character, or else they must be
admitted to pardon upon expressing a humble acknowledg-
ment of their offence, and finding security for the safety
of the Church. It was therefore agreed by the convention
that the petition of the earls should be granted upon such
conditions as the king in council should attach to the boon
so conferred.
When this news transpired, the jealousy of the Church
was excited to the most violent and unreasonable degree.
The ministers held meetings, wrote circular letters, com-
manded the churchmen to read from every pulpit the ex-
communication of the Catholic lords, and enjoined them
to impose the same sentence on all those who should show
the least attachment to the popish religion, or disposition
318 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to favor the Catholic earls. They summoned a committee
of the most eminent clergymen, and enjoined them to come
to Edinburgh, where, with the ministers of that city, they
were to form a permanent committee, called the Standing
Council of the Church, with power to exert the supreme
authority of the whole body in case of any apparent danger
to the ecclesiastical establishment. These violent measures
greatly offended the king, who was desirous that his sub-
jects, both Catholics and Presbyterians, should live peace-
ably together, attach themselves to his government, and ab-
stain from domestic quarrels. For this purpose, he pleaded
for some terms of reconciliation with Mr. Robert Bruce, a
minister of talents and respectability, with whom he had
hitherto been on good terms. With difficulty Bruce was
brought to allow that Angus and Errol might be admitted
to remission on the part of the Church ; but sternly insisted
that Huntley, the most able as well as most powerful of
the three, should be declared incapable of pardon. "Your
grace," said the preacher, with an unusual degree of inso-
lence, "may make your choice between Huntley and me;
but you cannot have the friendship of both."
"While the king and the Church were on these evil terms
with each other, slight causes, arising from the want of
sense and temperance of individuals, occurred every moment
to add fuel to the flame. One Black, a clergyman of warm
passions and contemptible understanding, had, in a sermon
at St. Andrew's, cast forth the most bitter and despiteful
reproaches against the king and queen, the judges, and ser-
vants of the crown, and Elizabeth herself. The king took
this opportunity to act upon the resolution formed to check
the insolence of the ministers, and he caused Mr. Black to
be cited to appear before the privy council. The charges
contained in the summons against this turbulent clergyman
accused him, first, of having affirmed in the pulpit that the
popish lords had returned into the country with his majesty's
knowledge, and upon his assurance; and of having said that,
in so doing, James had discovered the treachery of his heart.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 319
Secondly, he was charged with having called all kings the
devil's bairns; adding that the devil was in the court, and
in the guiders of it. Thirdly, in his prayer for the queen
he was charged with having used these words : ' ' "We must
pray for her, for the fashion; but we have no cause; she
will never do us good." Fourthly, that he had called the
queen of England an atheist. Fifthly, that he had discussed
a suspension, granted by the lords of session, in the pulpit,
and called them miscreants and bribers. Sixthly, that,
speaking of the nobility, he said they were degenerated,
godless dissemblers, and enemies to the Church; likewise,
speaking of the council, that he had called them holliglasses,
cormorants, and men of no religion. Lastly, that he had
convocated divers noblemen, barons, and others, within St.
Andrew's, in the month of June, 1594, caused them to take
arms, and divide themselves in troops of horse and foot, and
had thereby usurped the power of the king and civil mag-
istrate.
It would have been more than could have been expected,
at this unenlightened and fanatical period, that the Church
of Scotland, though containing many learned and wise men,
should have viewed the polemical disputes between the two
religions with the liberality that did not belong to the time :
they would, in that case, have seen that pressing the king
to the destruction and extermination of three great and
powerful barons was involving him in a task neither easily
accomplished nor suitable to his means, since James had
neither a standing army nor revenues capable of keeping
one on foot. They would also have seen that the earls
themselves could have no interest to assist the oppressive
and ambitious designs of Philip II., unless they were driven
to these extremities by exile from their country, plunder of
their estates, and oppression of their consciences. This was
not, however, the reasoning of the times; and the Roman
Church was in fact scarcely more intolerant than the Kirk
of Scotland, except that the latter was content to limit the
rigor of their opinions to this world, and to allow that, in
320 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the next, a Catholic might be capable of salvation. During
their stay in this world, the Protestants alike invoked against
those who dissented from them the censures of the Church
and the sword of the temporal power. There was no room,
they contended, for toleration to papists, either on the part
of the king or on the part of the Church.
But although this severe doctrine was so deeply entwined
with their notions of church government, it might have been
expected that the wise and discreet among the ministers
would have discerned the danger of useless and unneces-
sary quarrels with James, by such scandalous imputations as
those for which Black was called before the council. It was
the business and interest of the Church to have instantly
disavowed this rash man ; and by imposing upon him the
censure and punishment of his own order, his spiritual
superiors would have taken away from the king all the
jealousy which he might otherwise have retained of the
irresponsibility of the clergymen to the temporal power.
They ought to have recollected, with some feeling of grati-
tude, that King James had abolished those acts of parlia-
ment passed in the year 1584, by which the clergy had been
declared liable to censure and punishment in lay courts for
offences committed in the pulpit. Besides this, the position
of James rendered it every year more politic to secure his
power and favor. The prospects of King James's succession
to the English throne became yearly nearer; and as he must
be then invested with the power of a large and wealthy
kingdom, it would have been of importance to have pre-
served his affection and good opinion while he was in the
less powerful condition of a mere king of Scotland.
But these reflections had no weight : the clergy made the
cause of Black that of the order at large : they again revived
the dispute concerning the ecclesiastical immunities, pretend-
ing that the clergymen in the exercise of their office were
only subject to the general assembly, and their other spirit-
ual superiors. For such doctrine as he had promulgated
from the pulpit the council of the Church, therefore, enjoined
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 321
Black to refuse to plead before the privy council, or answer
any questions which might be there put to him; and they
ordered then* resolutions on this head to be circulated through
every presbytery in the kingdom, and subscribed by every
minister. It was now impossible for the king to give way ;
and he must have either persevered in his purpose of pun-
ishing Black, or lost all estimation as a king who could not
avenge the most flagrant and injurious insults of the clergy.
He published a proclamation for dissolving the committee
of ministers called the Council of the Church: it set forth
that certain ministers residing in Edinburgh, and assuming
authority over their brethren, had presumed to publish a
paper declining the regal jurisdiction, and calling on others
to subscribe the same. The king, therefore, charged them
by name to depart from the town, and return to their charges
within twenty-four hours, under pain of treason. The com-
mission, thus in danger of being dissolved, applied first to
the Octavians, who returned them a short answer, saying
that as these controversies were begun without their advice
they should end without their interference. The commis-
sioners next applied to the king himself, who seemed very
willing to accommodate the affair. If they would pass, he
said, from the objections to the jurisdiction of the privy
council, or would declare that they only used them in a par-
ticular case, he would on his part desist from the prosecu-
tion of Black, notwithstanding the high indecency of his
behavior. As this accommodation did not suit the clergy,
although a considerable portion voted for accepting it, they
resolved to stand by their proposed immunity.
The king, highly displeased, caused the proclamation to
be issued, dissolving the commission of the Church; and
though some attempts were made to accommodate the mat-
ter with Mr. Black, it ended in the privy council proceeding
against him, notwithstanding his claim of privilege. Hav-
ing adduced proof of the offensive expressions which he had
used, they declared him guilty of the scandalous charges
brought against him, and referred his punishment to the
822 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
king. James, though sufficiently jealous of his own au-
thority, was not unreasonably severe in the punishment.
He appointed Black to be sent to the north for some time;
and at the same time he required from the ministers that a
bond of obedience to the king should be subscribed by each
of them, under pain of their stipends and means of living
being sequestrated; at the same time, Black was ordered
to depart upon his banishment. The clergy and their con-
gregations were alarmed at these proceedings. Other re-
ports, as is usual in such cases, augmented the fears and
anxieties of men's minds. The king was, on his part, in-
formed that a nightly watch was kept in Edinburgh around
the ministers* houses, as if to defend them from some appre-
hended danger. James was so far moved by this intelli-
gence that he was induced to command about twenty-four
of the burgesses, most zealous in the cause of the clergy, to
absent themselves from the town.
This increased the general suspicion of the Church, which
was brought to a crisis by a letter received by Robert Bruce,
and by him communicated to Mr. "Walter Balcanqual, who
was to preach at the hour of sermon. The paper stated
(falsely) that the ministers ought to look to themselves;
for Huntley had been with the king last night, and was
the author of the proclamation against the ministers and
citizens. The preacher, inflamed by this report, pronounced
a fiery discourse, in which he cast gross reflections upon such
statesmen as he concluded had given the king their advice
in the late disputes with the Church. Turning then to the
nobles and barons who were present, he reminded them of
the zeal shown by their forefathers in establishing the re-
formed religion, called upon them to follow the example
of their predecessors, and for that purpose conjured them
to assemble after the sermon should be ended in a neigh-
boring place of worship, called the Little Kirk. While the
clergy and the congregation, already much irritated, were
heating themselves and exasperating their mutual passions,
the king came to attend the sitting of the court of session,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 328
which was then held in the Tolbooth, close to St. Giles'3
Church, in which these tumultuary scenes were exhibited.
This vicinity made it an easy matter for the meeting which
had been held in the Little Kirk to send a committee of their
number to wait upon the king. They were admitted to his
presence, and declared that they were sent by the meeting
convened in the Little Kirk, to bemoan the danger which
was threatened to religion. "What danger does your wis-
dom apprehend?" said the king, angrily. The committee
replied, that the ministers and best affected people were
banished from town; that the Lady Huntley was received
at court; and that it was shrewdly suspected her husband
himself was not far distant. "And who are you," said the
king, "who dare assemble contrary to my proclamation?"
"We are such as dare do more," said the Lord Lindsay,
who was one of the deputies from the Little Kirk; "we are
those who will not see religion pulled down." At this time
numbers of people thronged boldly into the room ; observing
which, the king arose, and leaving the apartment in which
he was sitting, retreated to a lower one, and commanded the
doors to be shut. The committee gave to the crowd who
were waiting in the Little Kirk an alarming account of their
want of success. "There is but one course to be taken,"
said Lindsay, fiercely: "let us stay together, such as are
here, and stand by each other; let us send for our friends
and those who favor religion, and let the day be either theirs
or ours." This extravagant proposition was received by
minds in a highly excited state; for during the absence of
the committee, a clergyman named Cranstoun had been
reading to the multitude the story of Haman, as a lesson
appropriate to the subject. A great alarm then arose, some
crying, "God and the king!" others, "God and the kirk!"
until the whole people of Edinburgh rose in arms, and none
knew for what purpose. Some also called out, "The sword
of the Lord and of Gideon!" others shouted, "Bring forth
the wicked Haman!" Mischief of some kind would cer-
tainly have been done had it not been for the sense and
324 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
courage of a stout citizen named John "Watt, smith, who
was principal deacon of the craftsmen of Edinburgh. He
caused the artisans of the several incorporations to take
arms, and coming at their head, demanded to see his maj-
esty. The king showed himself from the window, and re-
ceived the loyal proffer of the citizens to live or die with
him. The tumult being in some degree composed, John
Watt, with the trades as they are called, escorted the king
safely to the abbey of Holyrood, and the night ended peace-
ably. In the meantime the clergy, and such barons, gentry
and citizens as adhered to them, drew up a petition to the
following purpose: They prayed that professed papists
should be sent from court; that the president, the lord
advocate, and Mr. Elphinstone should be discharged from
the council, as enemies to religion ; that all the acts of coun-
cil, proclamations and others unfavorable to religion, passed
within the last five weeks, should be repealed ; that the com-
missioners of the Church, and the burgesses who were ban-
ished, should be recalled by proclamation; that the order
for subscribing the bond of obedience should be discharged
as prejudicial to the Gospel; lastly, that an act of council
should be made, recognizing as lawful whatever had been
done by the actors in that day's disturbance. By the pro-
posal of such high terms, which, indeed, comprehended
everything which was in question between the crown and
the Church, and decided all in favor of the latter, it is evi-
dent that the ministers entertained a mistaken belief that
the victory was their own, if they could only maintain firm-
ness enough to take advantage of the tumult, which, it was
supposed, must have made a deep impression upon the king's
mind. The petition was committed to the charge of a select
party of the assembled clergy and gentry; and though the
hour was late and the night dark they were required to pro-
ceed to the palace without loss of time, to deliver it to James
in person. As they left the town of Edinburgh, however,
and entered the more courtly suburb of the Canongate, the
news which they received was unfavorable to their mission.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 325
The Laird of Bargany, the principal person among them,
was taken aside by a friend, who informed him that the
king was irritated to the highest degree at the proceedings
of the day, and that whoever should apply to him with such
proposals as he and his companions were intrusted with must
necessarily be in danger of incurring his severe displeasure.
On receiving this intimation, Bargany excused himself from
proceeding further upon the embassy ; and those who were
conjoined with him in the commission declined interfering
in a business from which the principal commissioner with-
drew himself. So the purpose of the petition was no further
insisted on that night.
On the next morning a new scene opened. The king and
council had left Holyrood early in the morning ; and a proc-
lamation was published at the cross of Edinburgh, stating
that the seditious and armed tumult of the preceding day,
the irreverence used toward his majesty's person, and the
audacity of the clergymen, by whom the citizens had been
encouraged to put themselves in arms, had rendered the
capital an unfit place for the administration of justice.
Therefore the courts of session, the sheriffs, and other
judicial persons of every sort, connected with the courts
of justice, were commanded to withdraw themselves from
the said town of Edinburgh, and hold themselves in readi-
ness to repair to such place as his majesty should assign;
and a strict prohibition was laid on all nobles, barons, and
others, discharging them from assembling either in Edin-
burgh or elsewhere without his majesty's license, under
pain of his severe displeasure.
The trade in the metropolis at that time greatly depended
upon the residence of the nobility, gentry, and others who
attended the court, and that of the great number of residents
brought thither to attend the courts of law. On such seri-
ous intimation of the king's displeasure, the citizens began
to consider the necessary consequences to themselves and to
the city, and looking sadly upon each other, seemed gen-
erally to desire that some accommodation might be resorted
326 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
to. The ministers evinced greater courage, and used their
utmost endeavors to induce the laity to join them, and to
subscribe a bond, which they drew up, binding themselves
to abide by the defence of the Protestant religion in those
points in which it was now assailed. They applied, espe-
cially, to the Lord Hamilton and to the Lord of Buccleuch,
inviting them to repair to Edinburgh and countenance the
cause of religion. They resolved to excommunicate the lord
president and the advocate, and only postponed doing so
that the ceremony might be perfected with more solemnity
at the next general assembly. Meanwhile they appointed
fasts and sermons, in order to maintain and encourage the
spirit of the people. The tenor of these discourses might be
conceived from one preached by John "Welsh in the High
Church, in which he said the king was possessed with a
devil, and that one devil being driven out of him, seven
worse were entered in the room thereof; so that the subjects
were legally entitled to arise and take the sword out of his
hand, as in the case of the father of a family seized with a
frenzy, whose children and servants are in these circum-
stances entitled to disarm and to bind him. They also
spread reports that the Earl of Errol had come as far as
the Queen's Ferry with five hundred horse, and had only
returned on hearing of the tumult at Edinburgh. By thus
taking upon themselves the odium of being the causers of
the sedition, the ministers evidently showed that they re-
membered how Knox, in the days of Queen Mary, had, by
the energy of his preaching, animated the multitude, given
courage to the nobility, kept alive hope when it was well-
nigh extinct, and remained victorious in the end. But they
forgot that John Knox advocated the general cause of refor-
mation of the Church and liberty of conscience, while they
only wished to interest the feelings of others in defence of
immunities claimed by the clergy, the propriety of which
was extremely dubious: they had also forgotten that the
nobles and barons who stood so firmly by the first Scottish
reformers had in their view the private advantages which
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 327
might arise to them from the occupation of the property be-
longing to the Catholic Church. The ministers on the pres-
ent occasion had no such bribe to offer; and they might have
remembered the proverb then current, that "Men cannot
lure hawks with empty hands."
It proved as might have been expected : Lord Hamilton
carried to the king the letter which invited him to put him-
self at the head of the godly barons, who by the word and
motion of the blessed Spirit had gone to arms, and invited
him to Edinburgh for that purpose. King James was ex-
tremely offended by this epistle, addressed to one so near to
him in blood. It does not appear what answer was made
by Buccleuch, to whom a similar invitation was made ; but
he was certainly no way disposed to avail himself of it,
The first vindictive movement of the king was a letter
commanding the magistrates of Edinburgh to imprison the
ministers. They received timely information, however ; and
finding their hopes of obtaining the support which they had
expected altogether vain, they fled to England, to escape the
displeasure of the king. Deputations were in vain sent by
the town of Edinburgh ; for although the sturdy John "Watt
was of the number, to whom, probably, James owed his life,
by his firmness during the tumult, they could not obtain an
audience of James. He said that "fair and humble words
could not . excuse so gross a fault ; and that ere long he
should come to Edinburgh in person, and let them know
that he was their king." The tumult was by the council
declared to have been treason; and all who were accom-
plices or maintainors in the same were declared liable to
the doom of traitors. Language was even held at court
which authorized more terrible suspicions; for it had been
said that the destruction of the city was the only punish-
ment which could atone for their sacrilegious insurrection.
It was, however, James's secret intention not to injure,
but only to intimidate and humble his capital. For this
purpose he summoned the attendants of Highland nobles
and the chiefs of border clans with their followers, wild in
m HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
speech, aspect, habit, and manners, formidable from their
renown as lawless depredators, and most likely to strike ter-
ror into the inhabitants of a peaceful metropolis, possessed
of a comparative degree of wealth. Attended by such an
ominous retinue, James prepared to return to his capital,
in all the terrors of offended majesty surrounded by the
means of vengeance.
The alarm in the capital was great ; and is best described
by the burgher journalist Birrel, who witnessed the scene
and shared in the alarm: "On the last day of December,
1596, the king came to Holyrood House; and command was
given, by open proclamation, that on the morrow the Earl
of Mar should keep the West Port, while Lord Livingstone,
Buccleuch, Cessford, and sundry others, should guard the
High Street. At this time, and before, there was a great
rumor among the townsmen that the king designed to send
in Will of Kinmont, the common thief, with as many South-
land men as should plunder the town of Edinburgh. Upon
this rumor the merchants took their merchandise out of their
booths or shops, and transported the same to the strongest
houses that were in the town, where they remained with
their servants, looking for nothing but a general scene of
plunder. In like manner the craftsmen and ordinary citi-
zens removed themselves with their best goods, as it were
ten or twelve households, into one which, was the strongest
house, and might be best defended from being spoiled or
burned, and there watched, armed with hackbut, pistol, and
such other weapons as might best defend them. Judge, gen-
tle reader," says the honest annalist, "if this were play!"
On the morning the streets and points of strength of the
city were occupied by the lords and clans appointed for that
purpose, and the capital was thus placed at the absolute dis-
posal of the sovereign. The king, attended by a great ret-
inue of his nobility, entered the city, and rode up the High
Street, through the ranks of these unwonted guards. The
provost and magistrates made the submission on their knees,
and underwent a long harangue upon the character of their
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND g£9
offence. A large sum of money, the best mediator upon the
occasion, was disbursed by the city to propitiate their sover-
eign ; and Edinburgh was deprived for a time of several of
its most honorable privileges. Notwithstanding there was
among the citizens general congratulation and rejoicing at
their escape, even on these hard terms, from Will Kinmont,
the Southland men, and the fear of universal plunder. The
effect of suppressed insurrection, especially if the explosion
has been in no degree formidable, and if the extinction has
been decisive, is always that of strengthening the party
against whom it has been raised. This proved eminently
the case with the tumults of Edinburgh. The king availed
himself of them to control the power of the Church, as well
in the violence used in their sermons as in several of their
rights of jurisdiction and discipline. But the dispute be-
tween James and the Church of Scotland upon this occa-
sion was productive of more lasting effects, nor were the
mortal offence and aversion which James entertained upon
this occasion forgotten or forgiven during his whole reign.
It was a sense of the violence displayed by the churchmen,
not so much in inciting a meditated insurrection, for the
tumult appears to have been entirely accidental, as the de-
sire they showed to avail themselves of the popular discon-
tent to raise a civil war, which rendered James from that
period desirous once more to introduce into the Scottish dis-
cipline the institution of bishops, by which, in the English
and most Lutheran churches, the republican system of Cal-
vin was tempered with a hierarchy of priesthood; which
united the whole order, to a certain degree, with the crown.
It is easy to see how, at an earlier period, the Scottish
clergy, by using their privileges moderately, might have
insured a longer possession of them. For at the period of
the king's return from Denmark he was favorably disposed
to their measures, system, and authority; and, naturally
inclined to peace, would have been little disposed to seek
a quarrel with so powerful a party, if they had shown the
least disposition to abstain from an actual collision with hisi
330 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
authority. As it was, the gauntlet was thrown down; nor
was the contest desisted from until dissension and blood of
a whole century had at length brought the dispute to a
termination.
James had, indeed, reinstated the lay jurisdiction in all
the powers of controlling the Church judicatories, or the
clergy at large, in the full force in which the restraint had
existed by the act of 1584. But he was shrewd enough to
perceive that this could only lead to a perpetual contest of
dubious issue, arising from collisions between the civil and
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, which the former might not be
always willing to enforce, and which the clergy, in every
instance, would be certain to resist. By introducing into
the Church a superior body of clergy, having a higher rank
in the State and a place in the legislature, he hoped he might
be able to give the crown, with whom the promotion must
necessarily rest, an influence among the clergy in general,
and the power of securing a party of supporters in church
assemblies and church judicatories. But in this he was
compelled to act with extreme caution.
"We have already mentioned that the ancient order of
bishops had fallen into general contempt with the clergy
and people, their funds being seized on by the crown and
their persons held in contempt by the people at large. The
king of Scots prevailed upon a commission of assembly to
petition the parliament, that, as the clergy had during
former ages been entitled to representation in that body,
which had lately been entirely discontinued, a certain num-
ber of the most qualified of the clergy should again be en-
titled to a seat there. The parliament, in compliance with
this request, enacted, that those ministers upon whom the
king might confer vacant bishoprics or abbacies, should have
the right of sitting in parliament ; but it was remitted to the
general assembly of the Church to declare what degree of
authority the members possessing this privilege should hold
over their brethren in the Church. This scheme was most
fiercely opposed by the severe Calvinists, with whom the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 331
general quality of churchmen and its pure republican form
was a principal recommendation of the Presbyterian system.
They were not deceived by the fair pretexts held out by the
present scheme, in which they saw at bottom the provision
for an order of clergy privileged above their brethren by the
enjoyment of political power and superior right. "Cover it
as you list," said an old Calvinist leader, "busk it as bonnily
as you will, I see the horns of the mitre." But notwith-
standing a determined opposition, the general assembly at
length, by the exertion of much influence over individuals,
and the hopes of preferment held out to many, was prevailed
upon to declare the lawfulness of ministers sitting in parlia-
ment, and the expediency of the Church having a represen-
tation there. These representatives, however, were to be
Dhosen in the following manner: A general assembly of the
Church was to present a list of six persons to any benefice
having title to a seat in parliament, out of which list the
king should choose one for holding the same. All jurisdic-
tion and authority over their brethren was strictly renounced
and prohibited by the persons so chosen ; and although they
were to be considered as the representatives of the ecclesias-
tical body in parliament, strict precautions were taken that,
except in that body, the person promoted to a privileged
benefice should be merely an ordinary pastor, bound to do
iiis duty like others in his cure, and asserting no superiority
>ver his brethren. This was only a step, in the purpose of
Fames VI., to introduce the hierarchy of bishops into the
Scottish Church. But he was content with what he had
gained, reckoning upon the power of making further ad-
ranees by degrees; and the Calvinists, on their part, thought
ihis innovation dangerous less for its present extent than the
)robability of its leading to further alterations.
33$ HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
CHAPTER XL
Gowrie Conspiracy — Character of Gowrie and his Brother — Alex-
ander Ruthven tells the King a singular Story to induce him
to come to his Brother's Castle at Perth — James goes thither,
and is coldly received — Alexander decoys him into a Cabinet
and there assaults him — The King alarms his Retinue with his
Cries — The Two Brothers are slain — The King is in Danger from
the incensed Populace — He cannot convince the Clergy of the
Reality of his Danger, and has great Difficulty in prevailing on
them to return Thanks to Heaven for protecting him — Dif-
ferent Theories on the Subject, and that which acquits the
Brothers Ruthven, or the elder of them, is shown to be at-
tended with far more Improbability — Sprot's Letters — The His-
tory of that Discovery — They afford a consistent Clew for con-
jecturing the Purpose of the Conspiracy — Trial of Logan after
Death — Execution of Sprot the Notary — An Attempt to civilize
the Hebrides — It is unsuccessful
SINCE the king had attained a decisive victory over the
discontented churchmen, Scotland had enjoyed, for so
disorderly a country, an unusual degree of serenity.
But an event was now to take place, most singular in all
its circumstances, which, in the first place, placed James's
life in extreme hazard, and has since, even down to the
present day, entailed upon his memory, though most un-
justly, a degree of doubt, as if some point of policy or pur-
pose of revenge had induced him to hazard a very desper-
ate crime for the purpose of destrojang two persons of noble
birth. In fact, the celebrated Gowrie conspiracy, which we
are now approaching, is one of those mysterious transactions
of which we can never expect a complete explanation ; since
those who calmly investigate or peruse history can never
conceive the power of false views and erroneous motives
acting on the minds of men who, from strong and peculiar
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 33«
excitement, engage in dangerous, secret, and criminal ad-
ventures. They are generally undertaken b}- persons whose
minds are so much warped at the moment from the natural
and moral bias, that the actors cannot be properly termed
sane, nor are the principles upon which they act such as can
be estimated by men who, undisturbed by passion or preju-
dice, are in the ordinary possession of their reasoning powers.
The reader must turn his recollection back to the Raid of
Ruthven, a treasonable violence committed upon the king's
person while he was yet a boy. The Earl of Gowrie, who
lent his house for the purposes of the conspiracy, was con-
sidered as its principal conductor, and in the end became its
victim, being executed at Dundee in the manner already re-
lated. He left a large family of sons and daughters, who,
by their father's death and confiscation, were reduced to
considerable necessity. The eldest son was, by the king's
humanity, restored to the family estate and honors, in the
year 1586, and died two years afterward, in 1588: he was
succeeded by his second brother, John, the third earl of
Gowrie, who went abroad in August, 1594. This noble-
man was a youth of quick parts and fine accomplishments,
and made great proficiency in all the graceful and manly
exercises, which were supposed to be best taught in France
and Italy. Neither did the young earl neglect the pursuits
of learning and science, though, it may be observed, those
which he most eagerly followed were such as promised to
extend the knowledge of man beyond its natural sphere,
and to engage those who persevere in them in difficult and
mysterious undertakings of precarious success. This may be
gathered from some indications which appear in the proof
concerning the earl's character. It was said, that a party
with which he was hunting having found and slain an adder
In the moors, the Earl of Gowrie told his companions that,
had they not killed the reptile, he would have shown them
the power of the cabala of the Jews, by pronouncing such a
charm as should have arrested the adder and made it inca-
pable of leaving the spot. He was known, besides, to carry
334 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
upon him papers inscribed with spells and characters, con-
taining, perhaps, the horoscope of his nativity, and was
angry when they were meddled with, or questions asked
concerning them. His conversation, at times, turned upon
the subject of conspiracies against princes; upon which he
was known to observe, that all such plots as were upon rec-
ord were foolishly devised, too many people being admitted
into a secret which can only be safe and successful while
concealed within the breast of the deviser. The clergyman
to whom he used this language advised him to lay aside
such speculations, and betake himself to safer studies ; but
the discourse was not of a kind to attract much attention
at the time. These things were considered as indicative
of a turn to secrecy, and to machinations of a dangerous
character. In the present age they can only be considered
as traits of character.
The Earl of Gowrie's younger brother, Alexander Euth-
ven, was a young man of great hopes, and both were con-
sidered as possessing a share of the king's favor. Learned,
handsome, young, and active, they belonged to the class of
men which most readily attracted the king's notice; and
generous, brave, and religious to a degree not common with
men so young, they were the darlings of the people. Alex-
ander Ruthven was made a gentleman of the bed-chamber ;
one of his sisters advanced to be a chief attendant upon the
queen ; a considerable post in the government was designed
for Gowrie himself; and no house in the kingdom appeared
more flourishing, at the very time when a number of violent
and mysterious circumstances brought on its total ruin.
On the 5th of August, 1600, as the king, then residing at
Falkland, had taken horse at daybreak to follow his favorite
exercise of stag-hunting, he was joined by Alexander Ruth-
ven, who requested a private audience, and communicated
to James, as they rode together, apart from the other hunts-
men, a story of a most extraordinary kind. He had been,
he said, walking near his brother's house at Perth, when,
in a retired spot, he encountered a fellow of a down-looking
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 335
aspect, and altogether suspicious in his appearance, who was
wrapped in a cloak, and seemed desirous to escape observa-
tion. Ruthven continued that, conceiving it his duty to lay
hands on this man, he had, in so doing, discovered on his
person a large pot full of gold pieces of foreign coinage. He
then deemed it his duty, he said, to carry the stranger to his
brother's castle, and privately imprison him, in a remote
apartment, in order that his majesty might have the earliest
information upon a subject so extraordinary ; he urged the
king, therefore, to ride with him instantly to his brother,
the Earl of Gowrie's castle, in the town of Perth, examine
the captive himself, and secure the treasure for his own royal
use. The king replied that he saw no reason why the man
should not be regularly examined by the magistrates of Perth,
of whom the Earl of Gowrie was provost. This proceeding
young Ruthven eagerly opposed ; alleging the necessity that
a matter so mysterious should be subjected to the king's own
scrutiny, so much deeper than that of any subject, and stat-
ing eagerly the risk of the treasure being embezzled, if any
inferior person was to be trusted with the examination. He,
therefore, repeatedly urged James instantly to ride with him
to Perth ; and this in a manner so hurried and vehement .that
the king was induced to ask some of his attendants whether
Ruthven had ever been known to be affected with fits of in-
sanity : they replied that they had never known him, save
as a sober and sensible young man. Reassured by this in-
formation, feeling, it may be supposed, the compliment paid
bo his superior wisdom, and desirous to secure a windfall
wrhich did not often come in his way, James agreed that
is soon as he had seen the buck killed he would accompany
Mexander Ruthven to Perth, and examine the prisoner.
During the whole chase, which was a short one, Ruthven
aung upon the king, and at every opportunity which it
afforded plied him with earnest importunity to set out upon
lis journey. It must be observed that a person named An-
Irew Henderson, a dependent upon the Earl of Gowrie, and
tvhose part in this affair is not the least extraordinary in the
336 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
whole mystery, was then at a distance in attendance upon
Alexander Ruthven, who, after his conferences with the king,
ordered Henderson to ride back with the utmost speed to
Perth, and announce to the Earl of Gowrie that the king
was coming immediately to Gowrie House with a small
company. Henderson reached Perth about ten o'clock in
the morning. So soon as ever the earl saw him, he came
apart from the persons with whom he was speaking, and
inquired secretly what tidings he had brought him from his
brother Alexander. Henderson delivered the message which
he had received from Mr. Ruthven ; adding, he had no letter
to his brother, which the Earl of Gowrie seemed to have ex-
pected. Henderson then asked what service his lordship had
for him to do, who, within an hour afterward, bid him put
on his armor, as he had a Highlander to take prisoner in the
town of Perth. It does not appear that the Earl of Gowrie
at this time made any preparation to receive the king, al-
though apprised of his approach, nor did he even put off the
service of his own dinner until that of his majesty should be
provided. On the contrary, he proceeded to his own meal,
with one or two chance guests who happened to be in the
castle, at the usual hour of half -past twelve o'clock. Their
dinner was scarcely finished when notice was given of the
king's near approach.
Upon the death of the stag, the king fulfilled his promise
of riding to Perth with Mr. Ruthven ; but before this, which
is material, by the by, to the evidence of the case, he com-
municated to the Duke of Lennox the story of the treasure
which had been found. The duke replied he did not think
the tale a likely one. In consequence, perhaps, of this com-
munication, the duke, the Earl of Mar, and a small train of
gentlemen followed the king to Perth. They were met by
the Earl of Gowrie, who, although he appeared surprised
at the visit, conducted him to his mansion, a large Gothic
building, walled in and defended by towers, and having a
garden or pleasure-ground which extended straight down to
the river Tay. The king, according to etiquette, dined by
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 337
himself. Lord Lennox, the Earl of Mar, and his rain, had
their repast served in another apartment. The dinner was
cold and ill -arranged; and everything had the air of haste
and precipitation, which need not have existed had the Earl
of Gowrie been disposed to avail himself of the timely in-
formation which he had received from Henderson. The
conduct of the entertainer himself was cold, a6stracted, and
unequal, unlike to that expected from a subject who is hon-
ored with the presence of his sovereign as a guest. When
the king had dined, he good-humoredly reminded the Earl
of Gowrie that he ought to go into the next room and drink
a cup of welcome to the lords and gentlemen of his train.
Gowrie did so; and upon his leaving the room, his brother
Alexander whispered to the king that this was the fitting
time to inquire into the business of the prisoner and the
money pot. The king was, apparently, not altogether void
of suspicion, though probably it extended no further than a
floating idea that Ruthven, whose tale and conduct were so
extraordinary, might possibly, after all, be distracted. He
had, therefore, in the course of their journey to Perth, pri-
vately desired the Duke of Lennox to take notice where he
should pass with Alexander Ruthven, and to follow him.
But as they were in separate chambers, the duke had no
opportunity to observe the charge given to him.
Alexander Ruthven conducted the king from chamber
to chamber, until he introduced him into a large gallery, at
the angles of which were two rounds or turrets, which gave
room, as is usual in such buildings, the one to a small closet
or cabinet, the other to a private passage called a turnpike
stair. On Ruthven's opening that which constituted a cab-
inet, the king discovered, to his surprise, a man not bound
or captive, but armed and at liberty.
This was Henderson, already mentioned, whom the broth-
ers had employed in their plan, though they had not deemed
it safe to trust him with its purpose. His deposition bore,
that after his return from Falkland, and his assuming his
armor by the earl's orders, Gowrie had asked him for the
Scotland. Vol. II.— 15
338 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
key of the gallery chamber. It was not at first to be found,
so little were things prepared for an attempt so dangerous.
Being at length found, the earl commanded Henderson to
go there, and to act as he should be directed by his brother
Alexander. Henderson obeyed with the unresisting and
ready submission of a vassal of the time; and Ruthven
planted him in the little cabinet in which he was found,
and locked him in. These preparations made, the man be-
came afraid where all this might end. Left alone in the
cabinet, he prayed to God to guard him from approaching
evil ; and after waiting about half an hour, Ruthven and the
king appeared. The account of the extraordinary scene which
followed rests upon the evidence of the king and Henderson.
They agree in the main, but differ in several minute particu-
lars. This is in no way surprising. Upon scarce any occa-
sion do the witnesses of a perturbed, violent, and agitating
scene agree minutely in narrating what has passed before
their eyes; and there often exist circumstances of discrepancy
much more remarkable than any that occur in the present
case, which, nevertheless, are not considered as affecting the
general truth and consistency of the evidence. The truth is,
that the surprise or shock which the mind receives when
an individual witnesses anything very extraordinary has an
operation in preventing exact circumstantial recollection of
what has passed, and the witness, insensibly on his own part,
is, in the detail of minute particulars, extremely apt to sub-
stitute the suggestions of imagination for those of recollec-
tion. There may be also seen, in the varieties of the king's
declaration and the evidence of Henderson, a desire on the
part of each to set his own conduct in the best point of view ;
Henderson taking the merit of assisting the king in one or
two instances, where James ascribes his safety to his own
personal exertions.
The outline of the fact is this : So soon as Ruthven and
the king entered the cabinet, the former exchanged the def-
erence of a subject for the demeanor of an assassin : he threw
his hat upon his head, snatched a dagger from the side of
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 339
Andrew Henderson, and placing the point to the king's
breast, said, "Sir, you must be my prisoner. Think on my
father's death." Henderson pushed the weapon aside. As
the king attempted to speak, Ruthven replied, "Hold your
tongue, or, by Heaven, you shall die!" — "Alexander," re-
plied the king, "think upon our intimacy, and remember
that at the time of your father's death I was but a minor,
and the council might have done anything they pleased.
Even should you slay me you cannot possess the crown ; for
I have both sons and daughters, and friends, and faithful
subjects, who will not leave my death unavenged." — Ruth-
ven replied by swearing that he neither sought the king's
life nor blood. — ""What, then, is it you demand?" said the
king. — "It is but a promise," answered the conspirator, who
seems to have been irresolute, or intimidated. — "What prom-
ise?" demanded James; and added, with becoming spirit,
"What though you were to take off your hat." — "My
brother will tell you," replied Ruthven, uncovering, in
obedience to the king's command. — "Fetch him hither,"
said the king. And Ruthven, having first taken James's
word that he would not open the window or raise any alarm,
left him, in order, as he pretended, to seek his brother, al-
though, as Henderson says, he thinks that Ruthven never
stirred from the gallery. He retired, most probably, only
with the purpose of fortifying his own failing resolution, or
preparing the means of binding the king. During his ab-
sence, the king demanded of Henderson how he came there.
"As I live," answered the poor man, much alarmed by all
that had passed in his presence, "I was shut up here like a
dog." The king then asked if the Ruthvens would do him
any injury. "As I live," answered Henderson, "I will die
ere I witness it." The king, finding this person at his com-
mand, desired him to open the window of the turret. It
had two, one of which looked down toward the castle gar-
den and the river side, the other to the courtyard in front
of the castle. The king, with the presence of mind which he
seems to have maintained during the whole transaction, see-
340 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ing that Henderson opened the former of those windows,
from which no alarm could be given, called out that he un-
did the wrong window. Henderson was going to the other,
when Ruthven again entered, with a garter in his hand, and
laid violent hands upon his majesty, declaring there was no
remedy. James, replying with indignation that he was a
free prince, and would not be bound, resisted Ruthven man-
fully, and, though much inferior to him in strength and
stature, had rather the better of the struggle. Henderson,
who appears to have been confounded with terror, and di-
vided between his respect for the king and for his feudal
lord, took no part in the struggle, otherwise than by snatch-
ing the garter from Ruthven's hand, and, as he says, Alex-
ander's hand from the king's mouth. Ruthven had expected
his co-operation ; for he exclaimed, "Woe worth thee! is there
no help in thee?" Meantime the king, by violent exertion,
dragged the conspirator as far as the second window, which
Henderson opened. The king then, still struggling with
Ruthven, called out "Treason!" and "Help!" and was
heard by his followers in the courtyard below.
We must here give some account how the royal train
came to be so opportunely within hearing of their master's
cries. After drinking the pledge which had been recom-
mended by the king, the Duke of Lennox and the rest of
the royal retinue arose from table; the former recollecting
the charge which he had to follow his majesty, when he
should see him go out with Ruthven. The Earl of Gowrie,
however, alleged that the king desired to be private for a
few minutes ; and calling for the key of his garden, carried
his visitors to walk there until James should descend. They
had stayed there but a few minutes when John Cranstoun,
a retainer or friend of the earl, came into the garden, and
said that the king was on horseback, and already past the
middle of the South Inch, upon his return to Falkland. The
Duke of Lennox and the other attendants of James, conceiv-
ing them failing in their duty, instantly hastened out of the
garden toward the courtyard, and called to horse. The
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 341
porter at the gate informed them the king had not passed.
As they stood in surprise, the Earl of Gowrie entreated
them to stay till he should obtain sure information concern-
ing the king's motions. He entered the house, and returning
almost immediately, declared that the king was actually set
forth.
The porter still contradicted the report of. his master,
replying to the royal attendants that the king must be still
in the mansion, since he could not have gone out without
his having seen him. "Thou liest, knave!" exclaimed the
earl ; and to reconcile his own account with that of his ser-
vant, Gowrie alleged that the king was gone forth at a pos-
tern-gate. "It is impossible, my lord," answered the porter,
"for I am in possession of the key of that postern." During
this dispute cries of treason and help were heard from the
turret. "That is the king's voice," said the Duke of Len-
nox, "be he where he will." James's attendants looked
up to the window from whence the noise was heard, and
perceived the head of the king partly thrust out at the win-
dow, inflamed by struggling, and a hand grasping him by
the throat.
The greater part of the king's attendants reentered
the mansion by the principal gate to hasten to their
master's assistance, while Sir Thomas Erskine and others
threw themselves upon the Earl of Gowrie, accusing him
of treason. Gowrie, with the assistance of Thomas Cran-
stoun and others his retainers and servants, extricated him-
self from their grasp, and at first fled a little way up the
street ; then halted, and drew two swords, which, according
to a fashion of the time practiced in Italy, he carried in the
same scabbard. "What will you do, my lord?" said Cran-
stoun, who attended with the purpose of seconding him.
"I will either make my waj r to my own house," said the
earl, adopting, it would seem, a desperate resolution, "or I
will die for it." He rushed on, followed by Cranstoun and
other friends and domestics, who also drew their swords.
A lackey, named Crooshanks, threw a steel head-piece upon
342 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the earl's bead as he passed. Cranstoun, for the least cir-
cumstance is of importance in a case of minute evidence,
called to one Craigengelt to keep the back yett, meaning
a postern giving exit to a secret staircase which descended
from the gallery into the court. Craigengelt, accordingly,
seconded by others, defended that door, which had already,
however, given access to some of the king's retinue.
A dreadful scene in the meanwhile was taking place in
Gowrie House. Lennox, Mar, and by far the greater part
of the king's attendants, endeavored to find their way to the
place of the king's confinement by the public staircase of
the castle; but this only conducted them to the outer door
of the gallery, within which, and from one of its extremities,
opened the fatal cabinet in which the king and AlexandeT
Ruthven were still grappling with each other.
It must be remembered that a scene, the details of which
take some time in narrating, passed in the course of two
or three minutes. Sir John Ramsay, a page of James, who
had in keeping his majesty's hawk, had heard James's cry
of distress; and while the other attendants of the king ran
up the main staircase, he lighted by accident upon a small
turnpike or winding stair which led to the cabinet in which
the struggle was still taking place. Alarmed by the noise
and shuffling of feet, he exerted his whole strength in such
a manner as to force open the door at the head of that turn-
pike, which introduced him into the fatal cabinet. The king
and Ruthven were still wrestling together; and although
James had forced his antagonist almost upon his knees,
Ruthven had still his hand upon James's face and mouth.
He also saw another form, that of the passive Andrew Hen-
derson, who left the closet almost the instant he saw Ramsay
enter.
The page, at the sight of his master's danger, cast the
king's hawk from his hand, and drew his whinger, or hunt-
ing sword. The king, at that moment of emergency, called
out, "Fie! strike him low, for he has a pine doublet" — mean-
ing a secret shirt of mail under his garments. Ramsay
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 343
stabbed Ruthven accordingly ; and James lending his assist-
ance, they thrust the wounded man down the turnpike by
which Ramsay had ascended. Voices and steps were now
heard advancing upward ; and Ramsay knowing the accents
called out to Sir Thomas Erskine to come up the turnpike
stair, even to the head. Sir Thomas Erskine was accom-
panied by Sir Hugh Harris, the king's physician, a lame
man, and unfit for fighting. Near the bottom of the turn-
pike Sir Thomas Erskine in his ascent met Ruthven, bleed-
ing in the face and neck, and called out, "Fie ! strike ! this
is the traitor" ; on which Alexander Ruthven was run
through the body, having only breath remaining to say,
"Alas! I had no blame of it"
Sir Thomas Erskine pressed to the head of the staircase,
where he found the king and Ramsay alone. "I thought/'
said Erskine, "your majesty would have trusted me so much
as at least to have commanded me to await at the door for
your protection, if you had not thought it meet to take me
with you." James replied, and the words first spoken in
such a moment of agitation are always worthy of notice,
"Alas ! the traitor deceived me in that as he did in the rest ;
for I commanded him to bring you to me, but he only went
out and locked the door."
At this point of the extraordinary transaction the Earl
of Gowrie entered with a drawn sword in each hand, a steel
bonnet on his head, and six servants following him in arms.
In the chamber there were only three of the king's retinue,
Sir Hugh Harris, Sir John Ramsay, and Sir Thomas Ers-
kine, with one Wilson^ a servant. Of these, Sir Hugh Harris
might be considered as unfit for combat. They thrust the
king back into the turret closet, and turned to encounter
Gowrie and his servants, exasperated as they were by the
death of Alexander Ruthven, whose body (hoy had found
at the bottom of the turnpike stair. The battle was for a
short time fierce and unequal on the part of the king's ret-
inue; but Erskine having exclaimed to the Earl of Gowrie,
"Traitor, you have slain our master, and now you would
844 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
murder us!" the earl, as if astonished, dropped the point
of his sword, and Erskine in the same moment ran him
through the body. The thrust was fatal, and the earl fell
dead, without a single word. His servants and assistants
fled.
The king's composure during this dangerous tumult was
marked by a singular circumstance. The hawk which Ram-
say had, in the first moment of alarm, flung from his hand,
was flying at large through the apartment; and the king,
either from instinctive habit, which will sometimes govern
men's motions in moments of great danger, or else from a
presence of mind little consistent with his general character,
put his foot upon the leash, and so kept the bird safe during
the mortal scuffle.
The uproar was not yet over : a dreadful noise was heard
at the door of the gallery. This proved to be the Duke of
Lennox, the Earl of Mar, and the greater part of the king's
attendants, who had come up the main stair of the castle,
found the door of the gallery locked, and, hearing the
clashing of swords and tumult within, were endeavoring
to force their entrance by violence. Those within having
learned who they were undid the door to admit them, and
thus the king's retinue was assembled around him in the
gallery.
But the adventures of the day were not yet closed, nor
its dangers ended. The deceased Earl of Gowrie had been
exceedingly beloved in the town of Perth, of which he was
provost. His retainers, who had seen him fall, and probably
knew nothing more than that he had been slain by the king's
attendants, spread a wild alarm through the town, calling
out, Murder and revenge ! A furious multitude was speedily
assembled, who ran headlong to Gowrie House ; some carry-
ing a large beam to be used as a battering-ram, others call-
ing for powder to blow up the mansion; and all declaring
that if their provost was not delivered to them in safety the
king and his green-coats should smoke for it. The domestics
of Gowrie were among the populace, calling loudly that they
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 345
were all unworthy of such a provost who would not fight
in revenge of his death. The moment seemed extremely
critical ; for the king's retinue had no weapons but hunting-
knives, and especially had no firearms. The magistrates
of the town, however, threw themselves among the rioters,
and by their remonstrances assuaged their fury. The king
himself spoke to them from the window — gave some informa-
tion of the circumstances in which he was placed, and sue*
ceeded in pacifying the tumult and dispersing the rioters,
After all was quiet he returned to Falkland, having passed
through a day of great peril and violent excitation.
The scene which had passed was of a most unintelligible
description, and for a length of time nothing seemed to ren*
der it explicable. Henderson, who had played so strange
and passive a part, surrendered on promise of pardon, but
his evidence threw very little light upon the extraordinary
transaction. According to his own account, he knew noth-
ing earthly about the traitorous transaction to which he had
so strangely been a witness. Three friends and servants of
the Earl of Gowrie who had assisted him in his battles with
the king's retinue, and were afterward officious and active
in the tumult, were tried, condemned, and executed, pro-
testing with their last breath they knew nothing about
the transactions of the day further than that they took
part with their master.
Viewed in every light, the conspiracy seemed to the
public one of the darkest and most extraordinary which
ever agitated the general mind; and it cannot be wondered
that very different conclusions were formed concerning it.
The king was particularly touched in point of honor in mak-
ing good his own story ; but experienced no small difficulty
from the mystery which hung over the bloody incident.
Faction and religious prejudice lent their aid to disturb
men's comprehension of what was in itself so mystical.
Many doubted the king's report altogether, and conceived
it more likely that the brothers should have fallen by some
deceit on the part of the king and court, than that they
346 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
should have attempted treason against the life or liberty of
the sovereign in circumstances so very improbable. Many
of the clergymen, particularly, continued to retain most
absolute incredulity upon the subject; and he was thought
no bad politician who found an evasion by saying that
he believed the story because the king told it; but that
he would not have given credit to his own eyes had he
seen it.
The ministers of Edinburgh were peculiarly resolute in
refusing to give avowed credit to the king's account of the
conspiracy, and took the most public measures to show their
incredulity. The council having required them to return
solemn thanks from their pulpits for the deliverance of
James, they excused themselves, saying that they had no
acquaintance with the particulars of the danger which the
king was said to have escaped. It was replied to them that
their minute acquaintance with the affair was not necessary j
it was enough for them to know that the king had been
delivered from a great danger. They answered, with imper-
turbable pertinacity, that the pulpit being the chair of truth,
nothing ought to be said from thence of which the speaker
was not himself perfectly convinced. This mode of appeal-
ing to his subjects being intercepted, the king caused the
privy council to appear in public at the market-cross, where
the bishop of Ross, after a narrative of the king's danger
and deliverance, expressed a public thanksgiving, in which
the populace seemed frankly to join. On the Monday fol-
lowing, the king attended in person at the market-cross,
where a sermon was preached by his own minister, Mr.
Patrick Galloway, in which he dilated on all the particulars
of the conspiracy. An order for a solemn and public thanks-
giving on a day fixed was then sent forth, and the divines
who should scruple to perform the duty of the day were
threatened with banishment. Most of the recusants sub-
mitted, after some altercation. "You have heard me, you
have heard my minister; what assurance can you desire
more?" said the king.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 347
"Your majesty," said one of these reverend men, "ought
not to have been so hasty as to have slain the master of
Ruthven upon the spot: you should have had the fear of
Heaven before your eyes."
The king, irritated beyond patience, replied, "I tell thee,
man, I had neither heaven nor hell before my eyes : I was
in mortal fear of my life."
All the clergy at length submitted to the king's pleasure,
except the Reverend Robert Bruce, who could be brought no
further than to say he would reverence his majesty's reports
of the accident ; but could not say he was persuaded of the
truth of it. He was banished for his incredulity, and re-
paired to France.
The parliament, by giving the fullest credit to the king's
account of the accident, may be supposed to have designed
to console him for the incredulity of the clergy. They heard
the witnesses upon the trial, and not only pronounced sen-
tence of forfeiture against the deceased brothers, but disin-
herited their whole posterity, and proscribed the very name
of Ruthven. Honorable rewards and titles were bestowed
on Sir Thomas Erskine, Sir John Ramsay, and Sir Hugh
Harris, who had been the instruments of James's preserva-
tion. Alms were dispersed, and every other means adopted
which could impress upon the people the reality of the king's
danger and the sincerity of his gratitude to Heaven for a
providential deliverance. But it is an observation of Taci-
tus that one of the misfortunes of princes is that conspiracies
against them are not believed until they are carried into fatal
effect.
A considerable party in James's kingdom, thinking, per-
haps, better of his audacity and worse of his morals than
either the one or the other deserved, still refused to believe
that the king's danger had been real, or the death of Gowrie
and his brother on the memorable 5th of August excusable.
Their arguments rested upon the string of improbabilities of
which it is impossible to divest the story, and which, indeed,
can only be refuted by opposing to them the greater difficul-
34S HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ties which attend the embracing a different solution. It was
said to be grossly improbable that, meditating so violent an
action, a principal part should have been intrusted to a man
like Henderson, totally unacquainted with the deep purpose
in which he was engaged, and, as it appeared, of too vacil-
lating and hesitating a character to give the support required
and expected; it was noticed that his evidence, though in
general it agreed with the narrative of James himself, dif-
fered, as we have already observed, in some more minute
particulars.
It was also remarked that, supposing the conspiracy to
be real, every circumstance necessary to carry it into effect
was left unprovided till the very last moment. The key of
the gallery chamber, the designed place of the attack on the
king's person, had to be sought for only an hour or two be-
fore James's arrival at Perth ; and so little preparation seemed
to be made for any deed of violence that, when Ruthven
wanted to intimidate James into submission, he was obliged
to snatch out Henderson's dagger, having no weapon of his
own but a walking rapier. Their train were no less unpro-
vided. Craigengelt, Lord Gowrie's steward, sought his own
room and his master's ere he could light on the two-handed
sword which he used in the fray. In short, all was so ill
prepared that huntsmen might be said to take more pre-
caution and make greater preparation for destroying a
stag than these men thought necessary to the murder of
a king.
Others have been disposed to allow a hypothesis, infer-
ring that Alexander Ruthven, actuated by some wild passion
of his own, was actually guilty of the attack upon the king's
person, but that his brother was not conscious of it, nor ac-
cessory to it. They who hold this opinion insist that the
earl's own conduct is to be very naturally explained by the
circumstances as they arose. "When Sir Thomas Erskine,
say they, assailed the Earl of Gowrie before the gate of his
house, nothing was so natural as that he should shake him
off, or that, having freed himself from Erskine's gripe, he
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 349
should attempt to regain his own castle ; or, finally, that, find-
ing his brother's dead body lying across the threshold, the
earl should have attempted to revenge it upon those of the
king's retinue whom he found with hands and swords bloody
from the recent slaughter. They found, too, on these the
minute circumstance of Gowrie's death ; and remark, that
when he was charged with the king's murder he sunk his
sword's point in astonishment, and omitted to parry the
fatal thrust which was in that moment dealt to him.
"We shall mention what occurs in confutation of this last
hypothesis, before noticing the opinion of those who deem
both brothers alike innocent.
The conduct of Alexander Ruthven, mysterious enough
under any circumstances, approaches the verge of madness,
if we suppose him acting without instructions and the co-
operation of Gowrie. What end could his conspiracy in such
a case have aimed at? If merely to the king's death, many
modes of effecting it would have been preferable to doing the
deed in a house not his own, and where the only servant
whom he could get to assist him in the execution was of
such a complexion as Henderson, alike ignorant of the con-
spiracy and without the will to assist him in it.
If it was Alexander Ruthven's only object to deprive the
king of his liberty, what benefit could he have derived, or
by what force have executed such a purpose? If we suppose
him to have acted alone in the affair, we can only suppose
his motive to have been some sudden fit of insanity; a sup-
position not to be resorted to when any less violent mode of
solution remains.
But ceasing to argue upon presumptions, there is positive
evidence enough in the case to show that the Earl of Gowrie
was acquainted with, and consequently the principal con-
ductor of, the whole of the enterprise. This appears from
the following circumstances of real evidence: First, when
Henderson brought word to the Earl of Gowrie that the
king was coming with a small train to dine with him, he
told him nothing but what Gowrie seemed to expect. He
350 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
questioned Henderson how the king received Alexander, and
seemed well acquainted with his brother's morning expedi-
tion to Falkland. Yet, instead of making provision to re-
ceive the intended honor, he commanded his own dinner to
be served up, and made no preparations for that of the king;
evidently to impress upon all who should witness this event
the idea that the king arrived at Gowrie House totally unex-
pected by the owner. Secondly, it was Gowrie himself who
commanded the key of the gallery chamber to be produced;
and it was he, no less, by whose orders Henderson put on
his armor, and attended upon the commands of Alexander
Ruthven, by whom he was placed in the fatal closet ; he
was, therefore, active in preparing the scene, and disposing
the actors in the drama which followed. Lastly, the con-
duct of the Earl of Gowrie, at the moment when Lennox
and the other lords arose from table, was decisive, as to his
acquaintance with and accession to the conspiracy. He im-
posed upon them a story that the king had withdrawn for
an interval, and led them into the garden, where presently
afterward a cry arose that the king was already on horse-
back, and half way through the Inch on his return to Falk-
land.
It is remarkable that Mr. Thomas Cranstoun was the
most active in propagating this false report. On his exam-
ination he stated that he caught it up from some persons
who were buzzing such a rumor around him ; but it is more
probable he received it from the earl himself. At least it is
certain that when Gowrie 's porter contradicted the report of
the king having gone off, the earl was very angry with his
servant, and continued to assert that the king was gone,
having passed through a small postern-gate. Contradicted
in this circumstantial falsehood, also, the Earl of Gowrio
undertook to procure the lords genuine information of the
king's motions, and ran, under that pretext, into the castle;
and although he neither did nor could have seen the king,
who was at that moment grappling with his brother, he re-
turned to his guests, who were becoming anxious, with the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 351
positive assurance that James had actually left the castle.
This chain of real evidence plainly evinces that the Earl of
Gowrie was apprised of his brother's conspiracy, and took
measures, in turn, for disguising its commencement, and for
carrying through the perpetration. If he had succeeded in
his last attempt, to get rid, namely, of the king's retinue, the
coast would have been clear, for an hour at least; and that
space would have been time enough to dispose of his maj*
esty's person in the manner which it is most probable the
conspirators had in view.
More generally, if we incline to disbelieve King James's
account of the Gowrie conspiracy, we shall find ourselves
obliged to adopt a system beset by more and greater improb-
abilities, and far less supported by anything like evidence,
Some scraps of tradition are indeed quoted as contradictory
of the king's report, and there are two or three incoherences
in the evidence, as we have endeavored to show is often the
case where various eye-witnesses give an account of the same
agitating scene; but what species of suppositions are we to
receive if we are to adopt the idea that the king was laying
a snare for Gowrie and Alexander Ruthven, instead of his
being exposed to one at their hands? "We must suppose that
a monarch remarkable for timidity, and by no means thirsty
of blood, had devised a scheme for murdering two noble in-
dividuals to whose whole family, and especially to them-
selves personally, he had shown great marks of favor. For
the execution of this purpose, we must hold James to have
repaired suddenly to Gowrie House, a strong building,
filled with the servants of the earl, and situated in a town
where he was provost, and greatly beloved by the citizens.
Far from selecting any part of his train, a few attendants
follow him at random, with their hunting equipage and
armed only with hangers for hunting. "Was this a retinue
with which James, or a much more valiant man, would have
thought of attempting the slaughter of two noblemen? Such
an idea cannot be entertained without reversing every notion
which we have, not only of James's constitutional timidity
852 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
and the natural lenity and humanity of his disposition, but
of his common sense and share in the instinct of self-pres-
ervation.
The argument founded on the absurdity of the accusa-
tion might be carried still further ; for how is it possible to
account for the king's going apart, without an attendant,
into the recesses of an unknown house, himself the sole com-
panion of one of the men whom he meant to murder, who,
as it is proved, was supported by a retainer in complete
armor, the king himself not having even a sword at his side?
These are suppositions too gross to be admitted. Again, if
we admit the conspiracy to have been the king's stratagem,
we must suppose the Earl of Gowrie to have been the object
of the royal hatred in the principal degree, and his death
chiefly intended. Yet the earl's death happened only inci-
dentally, in the course of a general brawl, which might either
never have happened or have terminated in a very different
manner ; and he must resign the Gowrie conspiracy as totally
inexplicable who shall decline to receive the account given
by the king himself.
Nine years after the death of the two brethren, a discov-
ery was made which seemed tolerably to prove the general
scope and tendency of the plot, though it leaves in uncer-
tainty the nature of those machinations by which it was to
be accomplished.
One Sprot, a notary, who appears to have been a busy,
intermeddling man, suffered it to be understood through
some oblique hints, by which persons of his character love
to indicate that they are wiser than their neighbors, that he
was acquainted with matters relating to the Gowrie conspir-
acy. Being seized and examined before the privy council,
he made the following deposition, which was partly volun-
tary, partly extorted by torture. Logan of Restal Rig, a
person of a wild, fierce, turbulent disposition and dissolute
morals, had, according to Sprot, been in correspondence
and intimacy with Gowrie during the whole concoction of
the conspiracy, and had been privy to it in every stage.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 353
The fortress called Fastcastle is a strength which then be-
longed to Logan, and overhangs the German Ocean, occupy-
ing almost the whole projecting cliff on which it stands ; con-
nected with the land by a very narrow path, and of such
security that, manned with a score of desperate men, it
must in those days have been impregnable, save by famine.
Logan, who had squandered away a large estate, designed,
by means of this fortress, to recover his wealth, or obtain
an ample indemnification; he was, therefore, according to
Sprot's account, deeply engaged in desperate schemes. He
wrote five letters, three of them without any direction, one
to Gowrie, and one to an old man called Laird Bour, who
was trusted with this dangerous secret: Being ignorant
himself of the art of writing and reading, this Bour was
in the custom of carrying to Sprot such letters and papers
as he was charged with, for the sake of learning the con-
tents ; and the busy notary was unable to resist the tempta-
tion of stealing from the laird the five letters which concerned
the conspiracy. They are written half in an earnest and pas-
sionate, half in a species of satirical or drolling style. Men-
tion is made of revenge to be had for the death of Graysteel,
a name given to the Earl of Gowrie's father, beheaded at
Stirling in 1584: the strength of Fastcastle is commended;
"in which," says Logan, whose principles we may estimate
by his friendships, (i I have sheltered the Earl of Both well
in his greatest necessities, let the king and council say what
they would." Allusion is made to an important captive ; to
a signal to be made by a vessel and answered from the castle,
with several other hints, which were, doubtless, distinctly un-
derstood between the parties , Above all, secrecy was recom-
mended, and the burning of such letters as should pass on
the subject. It is singular to remark that, in spite of Lo-
gan's repeated cautions on this subject, and no less in spite
of the closeness and reserve of the Earl of Gowrie, who
thoight most conspiracies failed by being intrusted to con-
fidants, the impertinent curiosity of a newsmonger like
Sprot, and the stupid carelessness of an old fool like
354 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
Bour, were the means of preserving these letters of such
deadly import.
According to the tenor of the correspondence, and the ex-
planations of Sprot, the king, being secured in Gowrie Castle,
was to be embarked upon the Tay, and the vessel which bore
him, standing out of that estuary, was to make Fastcastle,
on the coast of Berwickshire, and there to land the king as
in a place of safe custody. The eventual intention, no doubt,
must have been to have delivered him into the hands of Eliza-
beth, who had always been desirous of exercising sovereignty
in Scotland. Perhaps she desired little more than that the
brothers, attached by principles and family descent to the
English interest, should renew the attempt to secure the king's
person, and conduct his administration thereafter according
to their own pleasure, always subservient to her interest.
This was the part which their father endeavored to act, en-
couraged also by the queen of England ; and although he had
failed in it, Elizabeth still continued to regard his memory
with respect, to protect his accomplices, and to be generous
to his family. If we look at the attempt of the brethren as
connected with some such issue as we have stated, it removes
a great part of the difficulty and obscurity attending the con-
spiracy. If the king was only to be secured, not slain, the
brothers might have the better reason to rely upon the as-
sistance of Henderson. He does not appear to have been, in
ordinary circumstances, a man of irresolution, having been
in the habit of being employed by Gowrie in arrests and
other 'dangerous services. Little more seems to have been
expected of him than that he should have looked bold, and
by the terrors of his armed presence should have intimidated
the king into silence. "We can easily conceive that the broth-
ers, judging from James's ordinary character, might have
expected that the king would have been browbeaten into
submission more easily than they found to be the case; and
that the courage with which James behaved himself was as
unexpected as the extremity of Henderson's consternation
and hesitation. Alexander Ruthven seems, from the ex-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 355
pressions he used, to have reckoned on this man's assistance
in the moment of the struggle. If James had come, as Ruth-
ven desired, altogether without followers, or if Gowrie had
succeeded in dismissing the royal retinue, there could have
been little difficulty in executing the rest of the plot : the
condemned turnpike, or secret stair, so often mentioned,
would have given access to the gardens of the castle stretch-
ing down to the river Tay ; the king might have been con-
veyed to the water's edge without difficulty, and placed in
a well-manned boat. "With wind and tide to favor her voy-
age, the vessel in which he was embarked might have soon
left the Tay and reached the fortress of Fastcastle, engrafted,
as it were, upon the precipitous rocks which stretch north-
ward from St. Abb's Head. The issue of the enterprise
must have been under the management of Elizabeth.
But ere this explanation of their mysterious schemes had
been afforded, the two brethren had been slain, and Logan,
and Bour, his messenger, had been long dead. The discov-
ery of these letters, however, occasioned some singular law
proceedings; nor did the memory of Logan escape prosecu-
tion for treason, as if even the grave could not protect those
who were liable to be charged with this state crime. A pe-
culiar process, borrowed from the civil code, was used on
such occasions. In order to satisfy the letter of the law,
ordaining that each party accused of high treason should be
present upon his trial and conviction, a legal fiction intro-
duced the production in open court of the dead body, or the
bones of the accused person, in order to obtain conviction
against him. Under these ghastly circumstances, the mem-
ory of Logan was attainted of treason. His estate was for-
feited ; and as some property near Edinburgh, which formerly
had belonged to him, was afterward found in possession of
the Earl of Murray, a cry has been raised, as if Logan's let-
ters, found in Sprot's possession, must have been forged, in
order to procure the means of enriching a favorite courtier.
Later researches have proved this to be wellnigh impossible;
for the operations of the law, enforcing the demands of credit-
356 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ors, had stripped Logan of his large possessions before his
death, and left none to tempt the cupidity of the crown;
there is little room, therefore, to challenge the authenticity
of these letters, though the circumstances of their preserva-
tion are so singular and extraordinary.
Sprot's idle curiosity proved fatal to himself: he was
brought to trial upon a charge of having concealed the
treasonable enterprise, the knowledge of which he had so
strangely become possessed of. He was condemned to die
for this misprision of treason, and was executed. He ad-
hered to his confession to the last; and to give the people a
sign that it was true, he even in his mortal agony clapped
his hands three times, after he was thrown off, on the gibbet.
This last circumstance is attested by the historian Spottis-
woode, who, nevertheless, seems very sceptical upon the
subject of Sprot and his discoveries. However, as the rev-
erend historian chiefly rests his incredulity on the improb-
ability that a youth of Gowrie's character would unite with
such a man as Logan was known to be, his argument would
carry him further than he intended. Having admitted that
Gowrie was actually engaged in a conspiracy, the inference
must be that he was necessarily obliged to stoop to communi-
cate with the desperate or depraved characters whose agency
was necessary to carry it on. Treason, like misery, makes a
man acquainted with strange companions. Leaving this dark
matter to time and the further researches of antiquaries, we
return to what remains to be said of the history of Scotland.
King James, about the commencement of the seventeenth
century, undertook an object of considerable policy, which
would have rendered great honor to his memory had he been
able to achieve it. The Highlands, torn to pieces during the
civil war by domestic feuds, were become as lawless as they
had been for many ages ; and to add to the confusion which
their wildness occasioned, the state of the Hebrides was still
more savage than that of the mainland. James VI., as a
wise prince, was desirous of finding a remedy for this in-
creasing evil ; but a better did not occur to the king and his
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 357
counsellors than to commit the task of civilizing the islands
to associations of gentlemen, chiefly proprietors in Fife, with
their friends and kinsfolk, who undertook to settle in the
Lewis, Uist, and other isles convenient for the fisheries,
where these gentlemen, called the Undertakers, proposed
to expel or subdue the natives, to build towns, to cultivate
manufactories, and to do all that could have the effect of
introducing civilization into these wild regions. Amid all
this, it was never asked who were the patriarchal chiefs to
w T hom the country belonged, or by what authority the king
gave away, or the Fife undertakers accepted, the settlements
of the Hebrides? Most of them, no doubt, might be liable
to a doom of forfeiture ; but it was for transgressing laws
of which they had never known the tenor or experienced the
benefit, and of which, therefore, they ought not to have ex-
perienced the rigor. But the rights of the natives were as
little thought of as if the settlement intended had been in
India or America, and the persons who were to be dispos-
sessed had been savage heathens. The undertakers, there-
fore, proceeded on their adventure, without troubling them-
selves with any doubt upon the subject of the real right of
property.
They commenced with the Isle of Lewis, where Mur-
doch M'Leod, a natural son of the old chieftain, at that time
commanded. After some struggle he was driven by the
undertakers out of the island. The colonists sent home
Learmouth of Balcomie to intimate their success; but ere
he had left the shores of Lewis, the ship, being becalmed,
was assaulted by MurdochiM'Leod, with a number of boats:
he killed many of the mariners, and took Balcomie prisoner,
who, having been ransomed by his friends, died afterward
in the Orkney Isles. In revenge of this injury, the under-
takers caused Murdoch M'Leod to be betrayed by one of his
brothers, and delivered into their hands. They finally sent
him to St. Andrew's, and he was there executed. The un-
dertakers continued their proceedings, being now secure,
as they thought, of their possessions; but, when they least
358 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
expected it, their settlement was invaded by Norman M'Leod,
another son of the old chief. He stormed their village, set
fire to the houses, and compelled the colonists to surrender
on the following conditions : first, that they should procure
for Norman a full pardon of all irregularities which he might
have committed ; secondly, that they should surrender their
right to the isle to their aforesaid conqueror, Norman M'Leod ;
and, thirdly, that they should deliver hostages for obtaining
the pardon, and resigning the right, in terms of the two first
stipulations. An attempt was made about three years after
this period to renew the settlement, but without better success.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 859
CHAPTER XLI
King James's Claim of Succession to the English Crown — Is agree-
able to both Countries — And why the Prospect of a masculine
Reign was acceptable — James's personal Character favorably
estimated — More extensive national Views arise out of the
Union of the Crowns — The Catholics of England are favorable
to James — Mysterious Intercourse between James's Secretary,
Balmerino, and the Pope — Claims of Spain, of France, and Lady
Arabella Stewart, are [postponed to those of the King of Scot-
land, even by the Catholics — He maintains a Scottish Faction
at the Court of Elizabeth — The Queen's Failings become more
visible in age — Chivalrous Character of Essex, her Favorite — He
is at the Head of the Swordsmen in her Court — Robert Cecil at
the Head of an opposite Faction, consisting chiefly of Civilians
—He shuns connecting himself with James, but refuses to enter
into any other Interest — The Quarrel with Essex — Essex's Mis-
carriage in Ireland — He is disgraced — Enters into a rash In-
surrection — Fails — Is made Prisoner, tried, condemned, and
executed — Anecdote of Lady Nottingham — The Earl of Mar and
Bruce of Kinloss sent by James to London with private In-
structions to advance his Interest — The Earl of Northumberland
and the Catholics propose violent Measures, which James de-
clines — Cecil joins his Party, but with much Precaution — His
Intercourse with Scotland is nearly detected — Opponents of
James's Claim few and disunited — Scotland exhibits a tranquil
Appearance — The Queen discovers the Fraud of the Countess
of Nottingham, and falls into a mortal Malady — Dies — Carey
bears the News to Scotland, which is confirmed by authentic
Intelligence — James takes Leave of his ancient Subjects, and
sets out for England — Meets the Funeral of Lord Seton — One
Gentleman attends the King's Progress — His Reason — James
is received in Berwick triumphantly; and the History of Scot-
land concludes
A MOST critical period for Britain was now approaching,
not only on account of James's personal interest but
in a much more extended view. Both parts of the
island, which, after so long a separation, if indeed they
could ever be said to have formed the same country, were
360 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
now advancing to that happy state which was destined to
put the whole island under the government of a single mon-
arch. Providence had by a singular course of events removed
the objections upon either side, which, at an earlier period,
bade fair to impede forever this happy consummation.
The national pride of each country found in the prospect
of the union of the crowns something to soothe its vanity.
The English people had now for many years preserved a
degree of political ascendency in Scotland, which removed
the feelings of former rivalry. No renewal of the fierce and
bloody contests between the two nations had, since the battle
of Pinkie, and the subsequent war, exasperated the feelings
of the English against the Scots. Those wars which had
taken place during the reign of Mary, or shortly after her
deposition, had been waged by the co-operation of the En-
glish forces with the Scots of the king's party, and had been
uniformly successful; so that the personal recollections of
the existing generation were of a description flattering to the
prejudices of the more powerful nation, which had been
engaged rather as an auxiliary than as a principal in such
contests as had taken place. Since James had been in un-
disputed possession of the Scottish throne the actions which
had occurred were generally mere border brawls, unpremed-
itated on either side, and which, though evincing to Eng-
land that the Scottish spirit was unbroken, and their cour-
age the same as their own, had upon each occasion been
disowned by the Scottish government; the head of which,
King James, had shown that, so far from being desirous
to take exceptions, he was even anxious to concede more
than could have been in justice demanded. It might be
reasoning too finely to say that it was even happy that
in these petty affairs, such as the battle of the Reedsquair,
or the Raid of Carlisle, the advantage lying on the side of
the Scots, gratified the pride of a nation peculiarly sensible
to military fame, while the concessions made to England by
the Scottish government argued an admission of the superior
force of England. Each nation, therefore, retained a flat-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 361
tering sense of its own power. The Scots felt themselves
in possession of the same determination and prowess which
they had exercised in former days, while the English re-
garded with like complacency the unusual disposition of the
Scots to remedy by excuses and concessions any casual
breach of truce, paying thus a tribute to the national superi-
ority of their neighbors in wealth, discipline, and numbers.
A contest, however long and inveterate, is at no period
so likely to be brought to an amicable adjustment as when
both parties are satisfied that they have maintained bravely
their part of the quarrel, while each, at the same time, feels
respect for the courage and force of their enemy.
The manner in which the mutual union was likely to be
formed had also points in it agreeable to the feelings of both
nations. If James, on the decease of Elizabeth, should suc-
ceed to her vacant throne, the Scottish nation must needs
entertain a feeling of triumph for having on their part given
a king of their ancient royal stock to the nation who, during
so many centuries, had proposed to themselves to place over
them an alien and a conqueror. The feelings of the English
were also of a conciliatory nature, since, if they should ac-
cept the government of the Scottish king, it could not, in
common sense, ^e regarded but as an act of their own free
choice: James was the natural heir of Henry VII., their
own king, who had succeeded to the throne by the unani-
mous consent of parliament and people, upon the extinction
of the long and illustrious race of Plantagenets. It was
easily to be understood that he was to reign over them as
a natural English prince, fixing his seat of government in
London, henceforth to be the metropolis of Britain, govern-
ing them by the direction of an English parliament and
English laws, and acting in every respect as king of the
whole island, but first and especially as monarch of England.
To the loss of their monarch, as a resident among them,
the Scots might reconcile themselves, especially those who
had some claim to James's favor, by the natural expectation
that their prince's power of bestowing benefits upon his ser-
Scotland. Vol. II.— 16
362 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
vants and countrymen would be more widely extended; and
that, when he was himself promoted to a far more opulent
and important dominion, they might naturally hope to benefit
by the kind recollections which he must be supposed to enter-
tain toward his native land, and the friends to whom he had
been attached during his earlier and more limited sway. To
this disposition of conciliation on both sides were added, on
the part of the English, many hopes and expectations which
the character of James, seen from a distance, were not ill
qualified to inspire, although it might be that some of them
were balanced by defects which were not obvious without
closer scrutiny. The advantages possessed by James stood
forth in broad light : his defects were thrown into shadow,
or, to speak without a simile, he had only had an opportu-
nity of displaying them in a very limited sphere.
The points in favor of the king of Scots, personally, we
shall shortly notice.
In succeeding to a long female reign, the accession of a
king was in itself desirable. While exhibiting the most-
brilliant success which could be recorded in history, the
reign of Elizabeth was still that of a woman, and was
marked in her domestic management with traits of unrea-
sonable severity and arrogance of command, which men
endure with more difficulty at the hand of a female, and
which they are disposed to think would not be so apt to take
place under a masculine ruler. But, in addition to this pref-
erence of the male sex in government, there appeared to be
in James's personal character many advantageous circum-
stances upon which his future subjects might reckon with
advantage.
He had shown himself in his government of Scotland a
merciful and mild prince, ready to forgive injuries, and will-
ing to remember benefits and services. In his personal con-
test with the Ruthvens he had displayed flashes of courage
becoming his high descent ; and upon other occasions, if he
had not conducted armies, he had at least marched at their
head ; and though he might add little to it by his personal
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 363
efforts, success has usually crowned his endeavors. The
fidgeting and paltry instances of irresolution arising from
the infirmity of his nerves were little seen, save by those
who approached closely to his person ; and during the reign
of the Chancellor Maitland, and of Home, who succeeded
him in favor, the steadiness of the ministers had supported
what vacillation might be visible in the character of the
prince. The spirit of profusion arising from good nature
and indolence to which James was liable was a fault not
likely to be discovered while the sovereign, having little
revenue and no credit ? possessed, in fact, nothing of which
to be ostentatiously profuse. His spirit of favoritism, the
principal blot of his character, was little seen in his Scottish
reign after the fall of Arran; and his relaxing the reins
to that profligate and arrogant minister might, therefore, be
well considered as a failing of youth. His learning, though
it would in the present day have been qualified as pedantry,
approached too near the taste of the times to receive so harsh
a denomination. He had composed a work upon the educa-
tion of his son, termed the Basilicon Boron; in which he
argues with considerable ability upon the principles of gov-
ernment, and describes the duties by which a young prince
ought to guide his reign. It was read in England with
avidity ; and the public in general received from the perusal
of that work the same favorable sentiments with which
Walsingham had been impressed by the conversation of
James while yet a youth.
The religion of James was knoivn to be steadily Protes-
tant; and he had even drawn his pen in defence of the
reformed religion, with the purpose of proving from the
Book of Revelation that the Eoman pontiff was the anti-
christ whose arrival is there denounced.
These various reasons were sufficient to gain the king
of Scots a strong interest in England, certain to operate in
Lis favor so soon as the throne should become vacant by the
death of Elizabeth.
Enlightened men, and those gifted with powers of rcflec-
864 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
tion, looked far more to the ultimate advantage which Brit-
ain must attain by the consolidation of its separate divisions
than to the character of the existing king. It was enough
on the latter point to know that he was no tyrant, was clem-
ent in his nature, inclined to peace and rational government,
and likely to prove a good if not a heroic monarch.
But they considered with more interest the immense ad-
vantages likely to accrue to the island of Britain from the
union of the two countries : they looked to the extensive and
fertile countries on either side the border, long existing as
a seat of constant war, and inhabited only by clans whose
habits approached to those of banditti, and saw the proba-
bility of its being converted from a seat of eternal strife and
rapine into the centre of a single kingdom, the habitation of
peace and honorable industry. In the chronicles of ancient
times they might read, that if England had been often the
oppressor and the scourge of her northern neighbors, the
vindictive retaliation of Scotland had been not less frequently
or deeply felt. They might learn, that if France had been
successful in many of her wars with England, it was gen-
erally owing to her being able to interest Scotland in her
quarrel, and keep her frontiers open as a gate which the
English must either guard at great expense, or expect sud-
den and dangerous invasion. They might remember, that
of the numerous and bloody battles gained over their north-
ern neighbors not one had been followed by a permanent
result of conquest and humiliation. They might, therefore,
from the most patriotic reasons, hail an event which prom-
ised, by a safe and easy remedy, to accomplish the cure of
an ulcer which had for so many hundred, nay, thousand
years, gnawed into the very vitals of the island.
The persons who may thus be supposed to take more
general and enlightened views of the state of the country
would not fail to remember the crisis in which Britain stood
in the memorable year 1588. If Scotland had then, from a
difference in religion or policy, or from national prejudice,
favored the efforts of the ambitious Spaniard, he might,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 365
without hazarding his invincible armada, have wafted his
troops from the Netherlands to the coast of Scotland by a
short and easy passage, and laid England under the perilous
necessity of contending for English liberty upon English
ground. All these reflections could not fail, in the minds
of reflecting persons, to give the utmost weight to the title
of James, in his claim upon the English succession.
There was in England an oppressed yet powerful faction,
to whom many of the reasons influencing other classes in
England must rather have operated as disadvantageous in
their eyes to the claims of the king of Scots. These were
the Catholics of England, energetic in their zeal for relig-
ion, and, though sorely oppressed by the laws, still a body
that was to be respected and feared. These, however, had
their own hopes and expectations, separate, and in some
points diametrically opposite, to those of the Protestants.
King James, it was true, was a Protestant monarch ; but it
seemed evident that the bulk of the English nation had
united to recognize his claim to the crown, and would un-
questionably be still more unanimous in his favor against
any Catholic candidate who could be proposed to them.
The ambitious Philip had, by his vain pretensions of de-
scent from the House of Lancaster, provoked the anger of
the English nation, who bore him little goodwill for his
conduct during the short time that he reigned over them
by his marriage with Mary. His threats had roused gen-
eral hatred, his defeat had occasioned that hatred to be
changed into contempt. These angry feelings had extended
to those of his own persuasion, for a body of Catholics were
in arms to resist the armada.
Lastly, the claim of James seemed far preferable to any
which could be stated in opposition. The king of France
had made some vague pretence to the English crown, and
in private had spoken of giving them a second conqueror
from Normandy ; but his pretensions were not of a kind to
be acceptable by the English people. The Lady Arabella
Stewart's hereditary claims were not superior to those of
36G HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
James, and her power of making them good was incalcu-
lably less.
James, on the other hand, was likely to unite all votes
in his favor, nor did policy recommend to the Catholics to
make any general stand against his interest. On the con-
trary, his claim had, in their eyes, much to recommend it.
He was son of that Mary whom, living, they acknowledged
as the just heir of England, whose memory, when dead, they
reverenced as that of a martyr in the Catholic cause. In
consistence, therefore, with their general feelings, they were
called upon to avow the right of King James, as lineal suc-
cessor to the claims of his mother. Although of a different
persuasion, strong hopes were entertained among them that
he was at heart favorable to the Catholic religion. His con-
duct toward the Lords of Huntley, Angus, and Errol, who
had embraced the Catholic faith and disturbed his kingdom
with civil war, had been remarkably forbearing and merci-
ful ; that as his lenity had inflamed against him the resent-
ment of the violent Protestants to a degree certainly un-
merited, so in the like proportion it excited unfounded hopes
in the minds of the Catholic party both in England and
Scotland. That James would have adopted the religion
in its present depressed state they did not and could not
hope; but that he might and would considerably mitigate
the heavy penalties under which they labored, was a
point generally expected by the Roman Catholics of both
kingdoms.
A singular incident which took place about this time,
and which is not, perhaps, fully explained, confirmed the
Catholics in their most extravagant hopes of receiving favor
at James's hand. A dark story reached Queen Elizabeth,
transmitted, as it was believed, by the banished Master of
Gray, then residing in Italy, that her kinsman and ally,
James, had been in actual correspondence of a friendly
character with that pope of Rome whom he himself had
endeavored to identify with antichrist. This produced an
anxious and irritated remonstrance on the part of Elizabeth,
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 367
to which James replied by an explicit denial of the fact.
Gray, however, had been true in his report, although James
was, apparently, no less sincere in his denial. The cause
had arisen out of a voluntary but unauthorized measure
which Elphinstone, Lord Bal merino, secretary of state to
James, had taken in his master's name, but without his
authority.
It afterward appeared, by Elphinstone's confession, that
he had drawn up a letter from James to Pope Clement VIII.,
containing various expressions of regard for his holiness, and
declaring his intention to treat the Roman Catholics with in-
dulgence. The letter even went so far as to entreat a cardi-
nal's cap for a Scotsman named Drummond, the bishop of
Vaizon, in order to facilitate future communications between
King James and the Holy See. This paper Elphinstone de-
clared that he had shuffled in among other deeds to be signed,
so that King James subscribed it in total ignorance of its
contents. The secretary stated himself to have committed
this unwarrantable action merely out of zeal for the king's
welfare, and in order to secure to him an advantageous in-
terest with the pope and the Catholics, by a mode which he
knew his master would not have taken unless he had been
deceived into it. This fraud was attended with evil con-
sequences both to the king and to the secretary : the latter
was tried for high treason and found guilt}', but obtained a
pardon. The former was accused of having induced Elphin-
stone to take upon himself the guilt of a measure in which
he himself had been participant; and the confession of
Elphinstone was looked upon only as an honorable artifice
to save the character of the king. Some light might be
gathered on the subject, if Drummond's relation to Elphin-
stone were known. His promotion is warmly recommended;
and the Scottish men of that age were wont to go extraordi-
nary lengths in behalf of those whom they called kith, kin,
and ally.
"Whether accessory to the device of his secretary or not
James unquestionably courted the Catholics, and obtained
368 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
the suffrage of the pope, and of many of the great English
families of that persuasion.
Elizabeth, in the meantime, rendered by old age and dis-
content more irritable than she had yet been, watched the
intrigues of James with the most jealous observation; al-
though arrived at a period when neither health, spirits, nor
the prospect of a much longer continuance in power, or in
life, gave her the means of counteracting them.
The case, indeed, was strangely altered between Eliza-
beth and James. During his earlier reign, the English
queen had been the chief means of supporting him upon
the throne^ and at a later period had alternately contrib-
uted to his comfort by increasing his revenue, or to his
plague by stirring up intrigues in his court, and protecting
the rebels who escaped to her frontiers. But she was now
in the wane of human existence, and was doomed to feel
those evils of foreign intrigue which she had formerly car-
ried into the councils of Scotland now retaliated upon her
own. They were, indeed, carried on by the Scottish mon-
arch with a degree of moderation suited to his views and
to his character. He had no purpose whatever of a violent
nature, tending to disturb the queen's immediate govern-
ment, or to shorten the period of a reign which was almost
exhausted in the course of nature. His efforts were»limited
to the very natural object of establishing such an interest
in the bosom of the people of England as might induce all
parties to be disposed to recognize his right of succession,
whenever that right should open by nature. For this pur-
pose he took occasion (using the phrase of the poet) to pro-
cure golden opinions from all sorts of men, and the state of
the fluctuating parties of the English court were highly fa-
vorable to him in acquiring them. Events, which tended to
overwhelm with clouds of despondency the setting beams
of Queen Elizabeth's illustrious reign, served to prepare the
way for the rise of her successor. These must be shortly
noticed.
Through the whole of her reign Queen Elizabeth, pre-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 369
eminent as a sovereign, had never been able to forbear the
exertion of her claims as a wit and a beauty. "When verg-
ing to the extremity of life her mirror presented her with
hair too gray and features too withered to reflect even in
her own opinion the features of that Fairy Queen, of im-
mortal youth and beauty, in which she had been painted
by one of the most beautiful poets of that poetic age. She
avenged herself by discontinuing the consultation of her
looking-glass, which no longer flattered her principal fail-
ing of personal vanity, and exchanged that monitor of the
toilet, which cannot flatter, for the more false, favorable,
and pleasing, though less accurate, reports of the ladies
who attended her. This indulgence of vanity brought, as
usual, its own punishment. The young females who waited
on the queen turned her pretensions into ridicule ; and if the
report of the times is true, ventured even to personal ridicule,
by misplacing the cosmetics which she used for the repair
of her faded charms. — In a report, or copy, by Sir Robert
Sibbald, of the famous interview between Ben Jonson and
Drummond of Hawthornden, the former is stated to have
mentioned the fact of Queen Elizabeth renouncing the use
of the looking-glass; and adds, that the tire-women, confi-
dent in their mistress's prejudice against a looking-glass s
sometimes ventured to lay upon the royal nose the carmine
which ought to have embellished the cheeks.
Yet in this state of old age Elizabeth's attention was stiD
bent on attracting youthful admiration; and by a singular
chancetthe person whom she fixed upon as the male favor-
ite of ^the period held, in a remarkable degree, in spirit and
action, the real character of a hero of chivalry, to which
Leicester and Hatton, her former minions, had no other
pretence than that of personal beauty, or accomplishment
in the most trifling exercises. The former noble, even if
we do not incline to credit the reports of enemies, who
loaded him with the foulest crimes, was certainly a man
of ambition, which he scrupled not to gratify by the most
indirect means. Hatton raised himself to be keeper of the
370 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
great seal principally by his grace in dancing; and neither
the one nor the other had qualities, independently of a
graceful form and presence, which ought to have attracted
the favor of so wise a princess as Elizabeth.
But the Earl of Essex, who filled in her latter days the
dubious situation of her favorite, was altogether of a differ-
ent character. Brave as the bravest paladin of romance, he
sought glory wherever it was to be found, and generous as
brave, he was beloved by his followers for his frankness,
liberality, and benevolence. The men of the sword, as they
were then termed, those who had distinguished themselves
by their feats in arms, were all strongly attached to his
interest, and to his party.
Essex, from a love of justice, mingled, perhaps, with a
regard to his own interest, in case of Elizabeth's death, early
entered into communication with the king of Scotland, and,
with his natural frankness, pledged himself to support
James's claim as rightful heir of the English throne, when
death should remove from it its benefactress, Elizabeth. But
in all her attachments of this nature, however she might
show the frailties of a woman, Queen Elizabeth maintained
the wisdom of a queen; and while she on one hand lavished
benefits, and conferred high power, upon those whom she
thus favored, she failed not, upon the other, to maintain
an intimate communication with those statesmen whose
advice had led to the distinguished glories of her reign.
Most of those were now, indeed, deceased; but the wisdom
and experience of the celebrated Burleigh still survived in
his son Robert Cecil, who headed in the court a party con-
sisting of those who had risen to eminence by their wise
conduct in civil affairs, and were, in the phrase of the times,
termed gownsmen, in contradistinction to the men of the
sword.
Cecil was in person ungraceful, and even deformed ; but
nature had implanted within a misshaped form a mind of
the most profound capacity. It cannot be doubted that
he had been- deeply imbued with all the knowledge of state
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 371
affairs which the experience of his father, Lord Burleigh,
could teach a mind so peculiarly adapted to receive them.
Cecil shunned any connection with the king of Scots, per-
haps because he reserved himself to watch an opportunity
in which he might charge such intercourse with James
against Essex as a crime which, of all others, Elizabeth
would be less likely to pardon. Cecil was followed and
looked up to by the numerous party which, bred in the
court, expected to rise by talents for civil business; and as
the frequent starts of Essex's hasty and ill-governed temper
brought him into a transient disgrace with the queen, Cecil,
who governed every thought and expression so as best to
suit her pleasure, was able to gain a steady and increasing
advantage over his less cautious rival. It is also to be
remembered that Cecil had not, like Essex, to support the
difficult character of the respectful and devoted admirer
of a capricious old woman, a character which the generous
and open disposition of Essex often rendered it difficult for
him to sustain. Thus, without pretending to any share in
Elizabeth's affections, Cecil retained possession of a high
share of her esteem, as a servant devoted to her interests,
and without whom she could not hope to support that char-
acter for political sagacity which had raised her government
so high in the general estimation of Europe.
But although Cecil did not acknowledge King James's
title, he took especial heed not to involve himself with any
other pretender to the crown. The king of France caused
him to be sounded by an ambassador of great experience,
who kindly pointed out to him the troubles to which he
might be exposed, if King James's pretensions to the En-
glish throne should ever be realized. He represented that
all the offences imputed to Lord Burleigh in the matter
of Queen Mary were likely to be then remembered upon
Sir Robert Cecil as his son, and that his condition could not
in that case be either honorable or safe. In such an event
he offered the protection of his master. Cecil lent a cold
ear to this, replying that he was determined to do his duty
372 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
in the service of his sovereign, whatever might be the event
in a future reign, though, if he saw himself in peril of life,
he might flee to another city, and take the advantage of the
king of France's protection. The Frenchman answered,
with great address, that he entirely agreed with Cecil's
principles, and that his master did not intend to interfere
with the king of Scotland's interest. Cecil so far waived
his scruples as to send James notice of this dialogue, ac-
quainting him, at the same time, that though he did not
choose to engage his reputation and his fortune before the
fitting time, yet in due season James should command his
active services.
Thus stood the contending parties in the court of Eliza-
beth; herself, probably, little displeased with their disunion,
which left her the mediator and arbitress between both. Of
all the military men the only eminent person who adhered
to Cecil was the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh. He shone
distinguished as a soldier, a statesman, and a man of litera-
ture. But moving with too hasty steps toward advancement
he had already more than once incurred the displeasure of
the queen, to whom his admirable qualities had highly
recommended him. He was in a bitter degree the enemy
of Essex, both from private and public reasons; of which,
perhaps, not the least was that he himself, by Elizabeth's
encouragement, made pretension to the kind of favor which
Essex enjoyed. They were rivals, therefore, in power,
though certainly not in love.
While the parties were thus balanced in the court of Eng-
land, the ill fate of Essex engaged him in irremediable mis-
fortune. The Irish war had been the plague of Elizabeth's
reign; occasioning a perpetual drain of men and money,
by the expenditure of which no adequate benefit had been
attained. Confident in his own courage and conduct, Essex
rashly undertook to terminate that lingering warfare, and
obtained from his mistress the almost absolute command of
the army engaged against Tyrone, the principal rebel, as he
was termed, in that country. His success did not corre-
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 373
spond with the hopes he had held out ; and he patched up a
convention with the rebel general, whom he was sent to sub-
due. To add to the jealousy of a princess so sensitive as
Queen Elizabeth where her authority was concerned, Essex,
during the celebrated expedition, made knights, and exer-
cised other privileges of royalty, with wn>h the queen was
highly offended. The rest of his story is well known : he re-
turned hastily to throw himself at the queen's feet, but was
coldly received, and commanded for a time to retire to his
own house. Commissioners were appointed to try him; and
he was suspended from all his offices. Moderation and tem-
per would have in time softened Elizabeth's displeasure ; but
Essex, having only violent men around him, listened to their
rash counsels. He endeavored to spur the king of Scots
to an invasion of England, which he promised should be
seconded by the Irish army : he then advised him to insist
upon a declaration of his right of succession, and assured
him of his full support.
The pacific and prudent disposition of James resisted
these temptations: he saw that the fruit which he aimed
at, when come to maturity, must fall in his lap, and he
declined the perilous enterprise of hastening the possession
by shaking the tree. Essex, impelled by fate and bad coun-
sellors, rushed into a wild species of rebellion, and was
taken prisoner in a frantic attempt to raise an insurrection
in the city of London. The queen of England hovered
between her deep feelings of resentment as a jealous sover-
eign, and those of a softer character, which, as a woman,
tempted her to spare the favorite, perhaps we may say the
beloved, object of her affection. It is well known how a
trifle turned the scale between these contending sensations.
In the days of Essex's favor Elizabeth had bestowed upon the
earl a ring, and desired him, upon-any occasion of extremity,
to forward it to her as a pledge under which he claimed her
protection. The ring claiming her promise never appeared ;
and the queen regarded this circumstance as a proof of the
inflexible and ungrateful obstinacy of her late favorite, who
374 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
would not claim safety itself at the price of humbling him-
self to ask it at his mistress's hands. She was mistaken :
the ling had been sent, with a submissive letter, but, by mis-
chance, it was delivered to the Countess of Nottingham, who
suppressed both the letter and token. Elizabeth, therefore,
gave way, late ai A reluctantly, to the execution of the sen-
tence, which had been too justly pronounced upon the un-
fortunate earl. From this time a deep and profound melan-
choly sunk more fatally upon Elizabeth's constitution, and
invaded the springs of life.
It had been part of Essex's plan to assert the right of
succession in James's person. The king of Scots was grate-
ful: he despatched two ambassadors, men of sagacity and
talent, the Earl of Mar, and Bruce, abbot of Kinloss, to
intercede in behalf of the unfortunate criminal. Ere they
could reach London, Essex had suffered his doom, so that,
with no hopes left of acting in his favor, the ambassadors
confined themselves to a general compliment, addressed to
the queen, on the suppression of Essex's sudden rebellion.
The queen received the Scottish ambassadors well ; and was
glad to have it in her power to contradict, upon their au-
thority, the rumors, industriously spread, that Essex had
been condemned less on account of his rebellion than that
he was supposed to be a favorer of the Scottish title of suc-
cession, which it was the object of Queen Elizabeth to cut
off and destroy. She even listened to them upon a subject
which, though often stated in the course of James's negotia-
tions, had not as yet met with any attention on the part of
Elizabeth. This respected the succession of James to the
English estates of his grandmother Margaret, countess of
Lennox, niece of Henry VIII., and mother of the unfort-
unate Darnley. Even now Elizabeth could not bring her
mind to yield to the king of Scots the possession of lands
in England, even as private property, but she consented to
add two thousand pounds a year to the pension of her god-
son, in lieu of his grandmother's estates.
Since 1 599, at least, the king of Scotland had maintained
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 375
James Sempill of Belltrees as a private agent for his affairs
in London ; in which, though his friends could be but scanty,
it appears he did not neglect to distribute secret service
money among his partisans. But he must have gained more
by future promises than by immediate gifts. Agents of
higher rank were now to enter the field.
Mar and Bruce, highly trusted by James, had a species
of general commission (guarded by conditions which exacted
the strictest prudence), to extend, as widely as possible, and
to secure, by every means in their power, his majesty's in-
terest among all the leaders of parties in England, and
through the people in general. The tone to be adopted in
such negotiations was in general that of the most sincere
gratitude and respect, on the part of James, toward Eliza-
beth ; they were to disclaim, on the part of King James, the
slightest idea of interfering with or disturbing the govern-
ment of the queen during her life, while, at the same time,
they were to represent him as desirous to secure to himself,
on her demise, the fulfilment of hopes which naturally arose
out of his lawful right of succession. They were commis-
sioned to say that those who might now contribute toward
paving the way for his peaceful succession to the throne of
England, upon the death of its present occupant, and those
also who might throw obstacles in the way of his just pre-
tensions, might reckon securely upon their good or evil will
toward him being rewarded accordingly, should he ever
reign in that country.
The Scottish ambassadors conducted this delicate nego-
tiation with every attention to secrecy, and with the most
consummate dexterity. They opened communications with
various parties, each hating the other, and detested in their
turn, and united the principal factions among them in the
resolution to support the king of Scotland's title. These
parties we shall briefly notice.
That of the late unhappy Essex, now without a leader,
and thrown back from all hopes of preferment, were natur-
ally soothed and consoled by the assurances which the am-
37G HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
bassadors of King James transmitted to them, of the regret
he had felt for the death of their chief, and the sense he
expressed that the fatal catastrophe had taken place in a
hasty attempt to be of service to his claims. The party
likely to be affected by these protestations was formidable
in its character, including Lord Mount joy, the principal
officers of the Irish army, and most of the distinguished
military men in England. It is but justice to say that
James kept his promise toward this class of men ; and was
observed, during his whole reign, to show friendship to the
friends of Essex, and a prejudice, to say the least, against
the marked enemies of that gallant nobleman.
After these we must mention the Catholics of England,
still a numerous and respectable party, though oppressed by
penal laws and disqualifications. "We have already men-
tioned that James was recommended to them by birth and
character, and by their inclination to hope, upon his acces-
sion to the throne, considerable relaxation in the penal code,
under which they now suffered. Their hopes on this subject
were so high that their disappointments in the succeeding
reign are supposed to have given rise to the gunpowder trea-
son, At the period we treat of, these hopes were in full blos-
som ; and the Earl of Northumberland, regarded as chief of
the Catholics, a nobleman of a high spirit and romantic
character, not only avowed himself a determined asserter
of King James's succession, but exhorted him to claim, as
a right, the instant acknowledgment of the title of succes-
sion even during Elizabeth's life, and boasted, should it be
necessary, to bring him in by the sword. James, in his an-
swer to these violent proposals, calmly explained his deter-
mination to wait till the road should open through natural
means to the English throne. In the meanwhile, he was
assured of the whole party of Catholics, so soon as he should
desire their aid.
But a far more important accession to James's partisans
was that of Cecil himself. This sagacious statesman wit-
nessed with anxious eyes the decay of Queen Elizabeth's
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 377
health, the extreme probability of James's succession, and
the policy of acquiring the favor of the new monarch, and
thus sheltering himself from the hatred which, like every
prime minister, he was conscious he must have acquired
while conducting the administration of his predecessor. He
therefore, the master-key of Queen Elizabeth's cabinet, and
who possessed the knowledge of its most secret recesses, en-
gaged in intimate and secret correspondence with Mar and
Bruce, in which he assured them of his devoted attachment
to the rights of their master. At the same time, conscious
of the delicate ground on which he stood, and that the least
circumstance which would lead to discovery might cost him
both his offices and his life, he endeavored to impress upon
James and upon his ambassadors the absolute necessity of
the strictest secrecy to be observed in their communication.
The advice, which no one knew so well as Cecil how to give
— the opportunities of assistance, which no one could use
with such dexterity as this crafty politician — could only, he
stated, be afforded under the strictest condition of secrecy.
Like what is said of favors conferred by the fairy tribe, the
disclosure of the source from whence they come would, he
was careful to affirm, render those which were received of
no value, and totally intercept the means of obtaining oth-
ers. Lord Henry Howard, a person who had made himself
distinguished by a book against pretended prophecies, was
much employed by Cecil in the correspondence with the
Scottish agents. The letters of this nobleman, and of Cecil
himself (notwithstanding the importunity of the writers that
they should be destroyed), still exist, and throw a curious
light on these intrigues, imperfect, however, in particulars,
owing to the enigmatical style in which they are written.
In one epistle (to give a specimen of this important corre-
spondence) Lord Henry Howard boasts, on the part of Cecil,
that he has saved the life of Southampton, and the reputa-
tion and credit of Lord Mount] oy (both adherents of Essex),
on account of their professed affection to King James: "but
this was not done," it is added, "without risk to himself;
378 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
for the queen hath passions against which whoever strives
above the measure and proportion of state (i.e., who exceeds
in his remonstrances the limited bounds of a subject) shall
be reputed a participant" (viz., in the offence of those for
whom he pleads). A following sentence strongly expresses
his desire that his services in such cases may be strictly kept
silent, especially from the adherents of Essex. "Your maj-
esty's rare virtue, wisdom, secrecy, and constancy, first war=
ranted by those whom he (Cecil) durst credit, and after tasted
from yourself, have moved him to give into adventures which
neither this world nor any other world than eternity can make
him do. So long as he is covered from these whose states,
though safe, yet not fully satisfied, may press upon advan-
tage by necessity, his plow shall walk as well to sow corn
as to pluck up weeds ; but from the time that either of these
shall be able, out of knowledge, to conclude him to be your
friend, he shall forever afterward prove a dumb oracle. It
may be that either one or both may, before it be long, for
the sounding of this passage, crave your letter, for their sat-
isfaction in some degree ; but whether the demand be great
or small, avoid the motive as Chary bdis; for one leak, upon
the like occasion, might hazard as fair a vessel under sail as
ever the winds blew upon." Sir Robert Cecil, in conducting
this delicate correspondence, seems to have been principally
afraid of some imprudence at the Scottish court, betraying
the secret to one Nicolson, an agent whom Elizabeth had
sent to reside there, and one of those characters whom she
selected for such offices, prying, bustling, and intermeddling,
all eyes, all ears, and to whom the discovery of a state secret,
like that of Cecil's correspondence with James, would have
appeared the foundation of a fortune. The secret, however,
was carefully kept, although at one moment it was upon the
verge of transpiring.
Queen Elizabeth was taking the air in a carriage where
Cecil occupied a seat, when one of the royal posts passed
them. "From whence?" the queen demanded ; and the an-
swer was, "From Scotland." — "Give me your packet," said
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 379
the queen. It was delivered accordingly. — "Open it," said
she to Cecil, "and show me the contents." As the packet
contained some part of Cecil's correspondence with the king
of Scots, the command placed the crafty statesman within
view of ruin and of the scaffold. To have attempted to sup-
press or subtract any of the papers which the packet contained
would have been a hazardous experiment in the presence of
the most sharp-sighted and jealous of sovereigns. Cecil's
presence of mind found an expedient. "This packet," said
he, as he pulled his knife out to cut the strings with which
it was secured, "has an uncommon odor, and must have
been in some filthy budgets." The queen was alarmed.
She had been all her life delicate in the sense of smelling,
and was apprehensive of poison, which the age believed
could be communicated by that organ. "Take it," she
said to Cecil, "and let it be aired before the contents are
presented to us." The wily secretary obeyed her com-
mands, and obtained the desired opportunity to withdraw
such papers as he deemed it important to conceal.
We have, lastly, to mention those at Elizabeth's court
and kingdom who were decided opponents to the accession
of James. They were neither numerous nor powerful ; for
they could not easily form themselves into an ostensible
party or agree upon a principle of union. The chief among
them, a person of the highest ability, deep learning, fame
in war, and renown in peace, was Sir Walter Raleigh,
already mentioned. But his connection with the military
men, with whom he ought naturally to have had most in-
fluence, was broken off by his deadly quarrel with Essex,
the darling of the army. He had done all in his power to
aid the prosecution of that earl to the death, and was said
to have disgusted the people in general by witnessing the
execution of his generous rival, and smoking tobacco (which
herb he had introduced into England) during the time of the
melancholy solemnity. Cecil, to whom Raleigh had attached
himself, did not think it fit to intrust him with his own secret
designs in favor of James; and Sir Walter, left to his own
380 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
devices, employed bis speculative imagination of an English
commonwealth, with the exclusion of the Scottish king, or,
failing that, upon some agreement with James which should
place the regal authority upon a footing less absolute than it
had been exercised by the race of Tudor. These were plans
too vague and imaginative to suit the views of Cecil ; nor
had the wily statesman any intention to introduce into the
king's good graces a rival who might prove an obstruction
to his views of holding the same supreme authority under
James which he had enjoyed under Elizabeth.
Excepting, therefore, Raleigh, and individuals like him,
who might have their own separate political views, the par-
ties in England, like rivers running to unite in the same
channels, were all bending their course toward a joint object
— the succession of King James to the throne of Britain. All
this was afterward remembered to the advancement of Cecil,
who became Earl of Salisbury, and prime minister under
James's reign, and to the prejudice of Sir Walter Raleigh.
In the meantime, the prospect that King James would soon
be called to an increase of wealth and power had its usual
effect in strengthening his sovereignty at .home. He was
yet under the management of statesmen of sagacity and
experience, nor had he received into favor any of those
beardless boys, to please whose perverse and peevish humors
he was in the latter part -of his reign too apt to sacrifice his
dignity as a sovereign. The halcyon period of tranquillity
in Scotland was usefully employed. The Catholic lords, so
long restive under the authority of James, were compelled
to submit to such terms of reconciliation with the Church as
insured their remaining quiet subjects in future. Angus,
who alone declined compliance with the conditions exacted,
retired to Paris, to enjoy his religion in security, and there
died. James's disputes with the clergy were also amicably
terminated. The ministers of Edinburgh, who had been
banished, were restored to their pulpits and congregations,
and an unusual degree of union seemed to subsist between
them and the crown.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 381
While Scotland was enjoying an unwonted interval of
tranquillity, England was in expectation of a great change.
The life of Elizabeth was fast drawing to a close : the heavy
melancholy which clogged the current of Elizabeth's blood,
ever since the death of Essex, had assumed a deeper and
darker hue. She ceased to smile, to talk cheerfully, to enjoy
any species of diversion, or make use of any of her usual
exercises or amusements.
The imputed cause is a remarkable one. The reader
cannot have forgotten that the Countess of Nottingham
had intercepted the delivery of a letter and ring sent to
Elizabeth by Essex in extremity; and that the queen was
chiefly induced to permit his execution under the idea that
he was too obstinate to appeal to her favor. The truth was
now to be discovered. The Countess of Nottingham, on her
death-bed, felt herself no longer able to support the burden
of the guilt}" secret, and confessed to Elizabeth in person her
having retained the fatal token. The queen, in great agita-
tion, replied, "God may forgive you, but I never will." The
countess died a few days after she had made the fatal con-
fession, and from that time the hand of death was on the
queen, whose melancholy was changed into despair. She
tasted no food ; she took no medicines ; she refused to go to
bed, but remained upon a pile of cushions, with her eyes
fixed on the ground. This could not last long. Her strength
visibly declined, from lack of nourishment and total exhaus-
tion. Her godsoo, Sir Robert Carey, who watched her dy-
ing moments with the purpose of being the first to carry
the news to King James, describes her, in this state of
stupor, as being only able to wring his hand, and repeat
his name with a heavy sigh.
She is said to have replied to those statesmen who de-
manded her will concerning the succession, ' ' That she would
be succeeded by none but a king ; and that the king of Scots,
her cousin, should enjoy her throne." She died on the 24th
of March, 1603, in the seventieth year of her age, and the
forty-fourth year of her reign. On the third day after her
383 HISTORY OF SCOTLx^O
death, Sir Robert Carey, travelling on horseback, with speed
which was then accounted most extraordinary, arrived at
Holyrood; obtained admission to the king's bed-chamber,
and, kneeling by his bedside, hailed him King of England
and Ireland, as well as Scotland. Sir Robert brought a
token from a lady of quality, one of James's correspondents,
in the form of a ring, which was to attest the truth of his
message. As the information, however, was of a private
nature, the subject of Carey's news was not made public
till the arrival of Sir Charles Percy, brother of the Earl of
Northumberland, and Thomas Somerset, son to the Earl
of "Worcester, with letters from the English privy council, ac-
knowledging his right in its fullest extent, and acquainting
him of their having caused his accession to be instantly
proclaimed, and that* the news had been received with the
unanimous applause of the people.
James was now arrived at the pinnacle of his hopes, and
seems to have enjoyed them with a good-natured compla-
cency, which overflowed to all around him. He attended
service in St. Giles's Church, and heard a sermon by Mr.
Hall, upon the great mercy of Heaven in having thus ac-
complished his peaceable accession to a kingdom so long
hostile to his own, without the stroke of sword or shedding
of a drop of blood. He exhorted the sovereign to show his
gratitude by his attention to the cause of religion, and his
care for the people committed to his charge. After the
exhortation, which the king took in very gracious part, he
himself addressed the people, of whom he was now to take
leave, in a warm and affectionate strain. He bid them adieu
with much tenderness, promised to have them in his view
and recollections during his absence, and often to visit them
and communicate to them marks of his bounty when in for-
eign parts, as ample as any which he had been used to be-
stow when present with them. A mixture of approbation
and weeping followed this speech; and the good-natured
king wept plentifully himself at taking leave of his native
subjects.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 383
"Wednesday, the 4th of April, 1603, James set forward to
occupy*the new kingdom, which after so many years of ex-
pectation had, like ripe fruit, dropped thus quietly into his
lap. His train, from taste as well as policy, was rather gay
and splendid than numerous and imposing. Two circum-
stances occurred on the morning of his departure, either of
which would have seemed ominous to an ancient Roman.
As the king and his train approached the house of Seton
the solemn funeral of a man of high rank, adorned witk
all the gloomy emblems of mortality, interrupted his pas-
sage : it was that of Lord Seton, who had been one of the
best, most disinterested, and most faithful adherents among
those who held up the banner of James's mother. The de-
ceased lord had sustained a full share in Mary's misfortunes,
being obliged to retire to Flanders, where he was reduced to
subsist himself by driving a wagon, in which character and
occupation he had himself painted on his restoration to his
rank and fortune. The king halted his retinue and sat
down upon a stone, long afterward shown, while the fune-
ral of this faithful adherent of his family moved past. The
sight was strikingly well qualified to impress upon James,
in the moment that he was taking possession of such a high
addition to his power, the recollection of the mutability of
human affairs.
The other is a Jacobite tradition, but has been generally
received as a real one. It is said that as the gentry and
freeholders of the country came to wait upon the king
on his departure toward England, and escort him a few
miles upon his way, there was one aged gentleman, who,
very different from the gay array and festival habits of
those around him, appeared attired in the deepest mourn-
ing. Being asked the meaning of so unbecoming a dress
on so happy an occasion: "I have known this road," he
said, "to England ; and have [travelled it in my former
days, as we now do, under the royal banner: I was then
as well mounted and armed as became my fortune and
quality; but we were then bent upon honorable war with
384 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
our national enemies: at present, when we come to trans-
fer our king to the English, and yield up to a people who
could never conquer us in war the power of lording it over
us as a province, I come in sorrow for my country's lost
independence in a dress becoming one who waits upon the
funeral of a mother."
The speech was certainly rash and prejudiced, yet it was
not the less, in some sort, true; for many were the evils
which attended the first junction of the kingdoms into one,
and scarcely fewer those which attended the incorporating
union which followed at the interval of a century. These
disadvantages, indeed, were finally incalculably overbal-
anced by the subsequent benefits of these important events ;
but the consideration would lead us much further than the
limits of this work permit. We shall, therefore, only say,
that King James entered the town of Berwick amid the
thunder of the cannon planted to defend that town against
his ancestors, and was received in the principal church by
the bishop of Durham, who performed a thanksgiving ser-
vice upon the occasion; and with the sovereign's occupation
of a more wide dominion over a wealthier people, naturally
closes the history of Scotland as a free and independent
State.
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 385
CHAPTER XLII
SUPPLEMENTARY
IT will be observed that Sir Walter Scott's History of
Scotland ends with the year 1603, when James VI.
of that kingdom became James I. of England. No
doubt a reader of the present day will expect to find added
a summary of the more important events that have marked
the ensuing three hundred years. The first consequence of
the union of the two crowns upon one head was the cessa-
tion of the age-long border wars and of the English and
French intrigues for ascendency at Edinburgh. On the
other hand, Scotland ceased to have a court of its own, a
loss not without some counterbalancing advantages, for it
tended to promote the independence of the northern king-
dom. It is, of course, well understood that the mere acces-
sion of James VI. of Scotland to the English throne did not
bring about any change in the constitution, laws or National
Church of North Britain. Although the Reformation had
begotten a multitude of sects, Scotland, at this time, may
be fairly described as Presbyterian, England as Episcopal,
and Ireland as Papal. James himself desired to see his
native land united with England, not only by a junction
of the crowns, but also by a fusion of parliaments, and,
at all events, by an ultimate, if not immediate consociation
of the national churches. The latter desire could not be
fulfilled, except by force, so deeply planted in Scotland was
the love of the Presbyterian system of church government.
Scarcely was James seated, however, upon the English
throne before he began endeavors to this end. The first
English parliament which convened under his reign ap-
Scotland. Vol. II.— 17
386 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
pointed commissioners to treat with Scottish commission-
ers for an accommodation of religious, political, and legal
differences. The commissioners met, but they could not
agree, the English being determined not to permit freedom
of trade, and the Scots being equally opposed to an accept-
ance of the laws of England. The only points upon which
the commissioners could concur were that subjects of the
common king, born in either country after the accession of
James VI. to the English throne, should have in both king-
doms the privileges of subjects, and that those born before
the accession should be capable of inheriting and acquiring
land in England; though not of acquiring political rights
or offices. The English parliament, however, refused to
sanction the agreement, so far as those born after the ac-
cession of the Scottish king to the English throne were con-
cerned, though it agreed not to treat Scotland as a foreign
country, and to assent to covenants for the mutual extradi-
tion of criminals. Meanwhile, King James persisted in his
determination to reintroduce episcopacy into Scotland, and
the Scottish parliament of 1612 passed a law re-establishing
episcopacy in the northern kingdom. At first, however, the
bishops were not successful in introducing the same services
which were followed in England, but, after the visit of
James I. to his native country in 1617, the Scottish parlia-
ment tried to assure the desired conformity by enacting the
so-called Five Articles of Perth. Three years later, these
articles were confirmed by another parliament on the prom-
ise given by the royal commissioner that no further ecclesi-
astical innovations should be proposed. It was this parlia-
ment of 1621 which introduced a new mode of electing the
so-called Lords of Articles, a species of committee by which
all parliamentary business was initiated, and all power of
introducing bills was taken away from private members.
This law, practically, vested in the king the dual powers
of initiative and of the veto. Other incidents in the reign
of James I., which should be chronicled, were the ineffec-
tive attempt to colonize the Hebrides and the temporarily
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 387
successful plantation of Ulster by Scottish farmers, the an-
cestors of the so-called Scotch-Irish. His efforts to colonize
Nova Scotia, though they seemed almost abortive at the
time, were to have, in the future, important consequences.
The sovereign who was known as James VI. in Scotland
and James I. in England, died in 1625, and was succeeded
by his son Charles I. During the subsequent eight years,
no Scottish parliament did any business, though one was
convoked in 1628, and adjourned annually without action
until 1633. Neither was there, during this period, any gen-
eral assembly of the Presbyterian Church; on the contrary,
the restoration of episcopacy was steadily pressed by the
exercise of the royal prerogative. Charles I. succeeded at
this time in bringing about the resumption of tithes, for the
benefit of the clergy, from the laymen who had appropriated
them. In 1633 the Scottish parliament distinctly formulated
the terms on which the tithes might be acquired by the paro-
chial clergy, and, thereby, arrayed against the crown the
nobles and landed gentry, who saw themselves threatened
with the loss of all the gains they had derived from the
Protestant reformation. Nevertheless, when Charles I.
came to Edinburgh in 1633, there were no open signs of
insubordination. On the contrary, the Scottish parliament
passed thirty-one acts, almost all of which were regarded
by contemporary Scotchmen as hurtful to the liberty of the
subject. It was not until a twelvemonth after the departure
of Charles from Scotland that the first impulse may be said
to have been given to the Scottish revolution. In 1635, Lord
Balmerino was tried on the charge of possessing a copy of a
petition protesting against the acts carried in the parliament
over which Charles had presided. Condemned to death, he
was respited by the king, but the people of Scotland deeply
resented the treatment of the possession of a petition for the
redress of grievances as if it were a capital crime. In 1636,
the Book of Canons, ratified by the king, was published, and,
in the following year, the Liturgy enjoined by the said book
was introduced in the service of St. Giles's Cathedral, Edin-
388 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
burgh. This was the beginning of a popular agitation
which, in the end, proved fatal to Charles I. The vital
difference between his situation and his father's was this,
that James I. was so intimately acquainted with the temper
of the Scottish people that he knew precisely when to stop
short, and even to retrace his steps; his son, on the other
hand, from a lack of similar experience, plunged headlong
on a path which led him to a precipice. The riots which
occurred all over Scotland in 1637 should have convinced
him that he had gone too far. Instead of accepting the
warning, however, he announced in the following year by
a proclamation that he assumed the whole responsibility for
the introduction of the hated Liturgy. Thereupon, the op-
ponents of the innovations formed a powerful organization,
in which not only the nobles and clergy, but the towns also,
were represented, and a so-called Covenant was drawn up
by several eminent ministers, and very generally signed.
This covenant, while professing respect for the royal office,
bound the subscribers to co-operate for the defence of the
true reformed religion, and for the liberties and laws of
the northern kingdom. Recognizing his inability to subdue
by force the Covenanters, Charles I. now endeavored to
arrive at a compromise with them. But the effort was a
half-hearted one, and, evidently, came too late. An assem-
bly which met at Glasgow failed to effect an accommoda-
tion, and it was, accordingly, dissolved by the king's com-
missioner. Notwithstanding its dissolution, it persisted in
sitting, and proceeded to condemn the service-book, or so-
called Book of Canons, ratified in 1G36; it deposed the bish-
ops, declared episcopacy illegal, and restored Presbyterian
church government.
The lines were now sharply drawn between the king and
the Scottish people. An appeal to arms was inevitable. On
June 7, 1639, the Covenanters, under Alexander Leslie, who
had been in the service of Gustavus Adolphus, confronted
the royal troops at Dunse Law, and were so manifestly
superior in quality that Charles gave way, and, by the
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 389
pacification of Berwick, agreed that all ecclesiastical mat-
ters should be thenceforth regulated by assemblies, and
all civil affairs by the Scottish parliament and other
courts of law. In conformity with this agreement, an
assembly was held which re-enacted the resolutions of
the Glasgow assembly, above referred to, and ordered
every one in authority to subscribe to the Covenant. The
Scottish parliament also met and abolished episcopacy.
This act of the Edinburgh parliament, however, was not
approved by Charles I., who endeavored to secure from the
English parliament sufficient funds for the coercion of Scot-
land. Once more the Scots appealed to arms, and a strong
force under Leslie advanced southward and occupied New-
castle. Unable to obtain the money necessary for resisting
the invasion, Charles was forced to accept a truce, and the
English parliament, after impeaching the Earl of Strafford,
the king's ablest supporter, not only refused to raise forces
to be employed against the Scots, but actually voted three
hundred thousand pounds by way of friendly assistance and
relief for "our brethren in Scotland." In the following
year, 1641, Charles I. came to Edinburgh, in the hope of
creating by his personal influence a party favorable to his
views. In the Scottish parliament which he summoned, he
made large concessions, ratifying an act which substituted
the Presbyterian for the Episcopal form of church gov-
ernment, and agreeing that the national' legislature should
be convoked every third year. These concessions failed to
satisfy the Scots, who had no confidence in the king's sin-
cerity, and, in November, Charles I. returned to London,
where he had to face that opposition of the Long Parliament
which, ultimately, brought him to the scaffold.
The part taken by the Scotch in the civil war can be
quickly outlined. Toward the close of 1643, the English
parliament sent to Edinburgh commissioners, who formally
accepted the "Solemn League and Covenant," in considera-
tion of which act they secured the alliance of the Scottish
Covenanters. In the next year, 1644, while a Scotch force
390 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
lay in the north of England, the Marquis of Montrose, who
had accepted a commission from King Charles, made a di-
version in the Highlands which was, at first, remarkably
successful, but which, in September, was brought to naught
by his defeat at the hands of Leslie. In 1645 Charles, whose
cause was now ruined in England, ordered Montrose to lay
down his arms, and himself took refuge with Leslie, whom
he had created Earl of Leven. For some eight months Charles
remained with the Scottish army, by the leaders of which an
earnest but ineffectual attempt was made to induce him to
accept the Covenant. His refusal destroyed his last chance
of safety. On January 30, 1646, he was surrendered to the
English commissioners by the Scots, who had received a few
days previously two hundred thousand pounds sterling, and
to whom an equal sum was paid a few days afterward. This
transaction gave rise to the reproach, which royalists have
never wearied of repeating, that the Scots, like Judas, sold
their king for a certain number of pieces of silver.
By the execution of Charles I. the relations between Eng-
land and Scotland were profoundly modified. In the former
kingdom, the so-called Independents, headed by Cromwell,
were now all-powerful, and, by a natural reaction against
them, the majority of the Scottish Presbyterians decided
to proclaim Charles II., and sent a mission to The Hague to
invite the young king to assume the Scottish throne, on con-
dition, however, that he should accept the Covenant and the
Presbyterian system of church government. These terms
being agreed upon, Charles II. landed in Scotland on June
23, 1650, but, within a month afterward, Cromwell had in-
vaded Scotland, and on September 3 gained a victory over
David Leslie at Dunbar, whereby the southern part of the
Scottish kingdom fell into his hands. He was unable, how-
ever, to intercept the Scottish force under Charles II., which
entered England and advanced as far as "Worcester before
Cromwell could overtake it. It is well known that the com-
plete defeat of the royalists at "Worcester was described by
Cromwell as his "crowning mercy." General Monk, who
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 391
had been left by Cromwell in Scotland, succeeded within
three years in subjugating that kingdom, which, in 1654,
was, practically, united with England. To the so-called
Barebones Parliament, 1653, five Scottish members were
summoned, and, in the parliament of 1654, twenty Scotch-
men took part. On the death of Cromwell and the procla-
mation of his son Richard as his successor in both kingdoms,
thirty Scotch members were returned to the new parliament,
which, however, was presently dissolved. Before the Res-
toration was effected in England, Charles II. had already
been proclaimed king in Scotland.
It might have been supposed that the deeply-rooted desire
of Scotchmen for an independent Presbyterian Church would
have found favor in the sight of Charles II., when he recalled
their fidelity to him in the hour of his adversity. Such,
however, was not the case. All he remembered was that
Cromwell had succeeded in conquering Scotland, and in
effecting a temporary union of that kingdom with the rest
of Britain. The whole power of his government was, from
the outset, concentrated on the task of suppressing the relig-
ious and civil liberties of Scotland. Argyle, who, in Jan-
uary, 1651, had placed the crown on the head of Charles II.,
was now tried and beheaded on a charge of treason, and
leading clerical representatives of the more stalwart Presby-
terians were hanged. A docile Scottish parliament annulled
the acts passed by all preceding parliaments since 1640, and
declared the Covenant no longer binding. In 1662, Charles
announced his intention of restoring episcopacy, and the
execution of this project provoked an insurrection, which,
however, for a time, was quelled. In the next ten years,
it is estimated that seventeen thousand persons suffered fines
or imprisonment for attending conventicles, and not a few
were put to death on the same charge. The retaliatory
murder of Sharp, archbishop of St. Andrew's, by a small
band of Covenanters in May, 1679, was followed by a new
rebellion, which, after some successes, was put down, though
only with extreme difficulty, The Cameronians, as the in-
392 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
surgents were called, were treated with the utmost cruelty.
The last six years of the reign of Charles II. came to be
known in Scotland as the "Killing Time." The accession
of James II., in 1685, led to a still more rigorous enforce-
ment of the law against conventicles, which was now ex-
tended to meetings held in private houses, provided five
persons outside of the family attended domestic worship.
A number of the Scottish nobles now became converts to the
Catholic faith, and James II. offered to give Scotland free
trade with England and an indemnity for political offences
on condition that Catholics should be released from the test
and penal laws. Then came the revolution of 1688, which
had the effect of splitting Scotland into two divisions, the
Catholics and Episcopalians clinging to James II. , and form-
ing the Jacobite party, while "William and Mary were sup-
ported by the Presbyterians. Graham of Claverhouse, who
commanded in Scotland for James II., beat William's gen-
eral at Killiecrankie, on July 29, 1689, but his death at the
moment of victory rendered it impossible to hold the Jaco-
bites together, and the surrender of the principal fortresses
kept Scotland quiet for the next two reigns. A convention
parliament called at Edinburgh declared that James II. had
forfeited the crown, and recognized William and Mary as
king and queen of Scotland, providing, also, that, after
Mary's death, the royal power should be exercised by Wil-
liam alone, and, in the event of his decease, by Anne of
Denmark and her heirs. The Scottish parliament of 1690
put an end to the so-called Committee of Articles, which
had monopolized the power of initiative in legislation, ap-
proved the Westminster Confession, re-established the Pres-
byterian Church, and restored all surviving Presbyterian
ministers that had been deposed since 1661. In matters
of free trade and navigation, however, the government of
William and Mary discriminated against the Scots, believing
that such discrimination was needed to persuade them to
consent to a union with England. It was during this reign
that the attempt of Scotchmen to find on the Isthmus of
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 393
Darien an independent outlet for colonization and invest*
ment ended in overwhelming disaster. The great achieve-
ment of the reign of Anne, so far as Scotland was concerned,
was the final accomplishment of the union of that kingdom
with England. Many obstacles had to be surmounted before
the arrangement was effected. At one time, the Scottish
parliament went so far as to exclude from the throne of
Scotland, after the death of Anne, the successor to the En-
glish throne, except upon such conditions as would assure
freedom of trade to Scotland. The refusal to grant this
boon caused the failure of the joint commission, which sat
from November, 1702, to February, 1705, for the purpose
of bringing about a union. In the course of the last-named
year, however, a new joint commission was appointed, which
sat for some three months at "Whitehall and framed a treaty
of union, the chief articles of which were as follows : Both
crowns were settled on Anne and her descendants, and, fail-
ing these, on the electress Sophia and the Hanoverian line;
free trade was to exist between England and Scotland, and
the Scotch were to have equal privileges, as regarded trade
with other countries; the national debt and taxation were
adjusted by imposing upon Scotland less than one-fifth of
the land tax, and there was to be a uniform rate of customs
and excise duties; finally, Scotland was to send forty-five
members to the House of Commons and to elect from its
peerage for each parliament sixteen representatives to the
House of Lords. Considerable as were the concessions to
Scotland, the treaty of union was, upon the whole, received
with dissatisfaction in that country, and it was only with
difficulty that it was ratified by the Edinburgh parliament.
The act of union took effect on May 1, 1707, having received
the royal assent on the preceding 6th of March. It is, of
course, understood that, although, by this measure, Scot-
land lost its legislative independence, its Presbyterian church
establishment was guaranteed, and it also retained its own
system of judicature and laws. It also kept its national
system of parish schools, burgh schools and universities.
394 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
We should further note that, up to 1746, the management
of Scottish affairs in London was intrusted to a Secretary
of State for Scotland, an office which has been revived in
our own day.
It was late in the eighteenth century, however, before
Scotland became reconciled to its loss of legislative independ-
ence. The people, moreover, felt themselves to be distinct
from the English, and two rebellions attested their lingering
devotion to the House of Stuart. Many of the Highland
clans, the Catholics, and some of the Episcopalians, long
considered that, after the death of Anne, their allegiance
was due to the heirs male of James II. In 1715 they pro-
tested, in the name of James III., against the accession of
the House of Brunswick, but their insurrection under the
Earl of Mar was speedily quelled. Very different was the
temporary outcome of their uprising, in 1745, on behalf of
Charles, the son of the titular James III., and best known
as the Young Pretender. An English force was defeated
at Prestonpans, and, for a time, it looked as if the whole of
Scotland would fall into Jacobite hands. At the head of a
small army, largely composed of Highlanders, the Young
Pretender advanced into England as far as Derby, and, for
a moment, caused a species of panic in London. The High-
landers, however, refused to second Charles in his project
of moving quickly on the British metropolis, and, a retreat
being ordered, they managed to reach Glasgow within about
two months after their southward departure from Edin-
burgh. They defeated at Falkirk an English force under
General Hawley, which was attempting to raise the Jacobite
siege of Stirling, but this was their last success. Driven
back to Inverness, the supporters of Charles were utterly
beaten by the Duke of Cumberland at Culloden in April,
1746, and the Pretender was compelled to seek safety in
flight. After prolonged and romantic wanderings, which
have been repeatedly depicted in verse and prose, he man-
aged to escape to France, from which country, being event-
ually banished, he took refuge in Italy, After his death
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 395
and that of his brother, Cardinal York, the direct male line
of the House of Stuart became extinct. The suppression
of this rebellion was followed by an act abolishing the use
of the Highland dress and the right to carry arms, and the
extinction of military tenures dealt a final blow to the feudal
power of the northern chieftains. Within fifteen years, the
Highlanders were induced to enlist in large numbers under
the British colors, and, from that day to this, have rendered
inestimable services to the English Crown in both hemi-
spheres. After the accession of George III., the Scottish
people gradually became reconciled to the new dynasty.
The intellectual development of Scotland began in the
last half of the last century, and is memorable for the num-
ber of names eminent in literature, among which those of
Adam Smith, David Hume, Robert Burns, Sir "Walter Scott,
Thomas Campbell, Dugald Stewart, and Sir William Hamil-
ton may be particularly mentioned. Remarkable, also, has
been the increase of capital, of commerce and of manufact-
ures in the last hundred years. Scottish men of science
were among the first to make practical applications of steam
as a motive power. Skilful engineering has made the Clyde
a competitor of the Thames and Glasgow one of the most
populous cities in Great Britain. The population of Scot*
land, which, in 1801, barely exceeded one million six hun-
dred thousand, is now upward of four million. It is note-
worthy that the females considerably exceed the males, a
result due to emigration, for the proportion of female births
is smaller than that of male births. The percentage of ille-
gitimate births is large, having amounted, in 1885, to nearly
eight and a half per cent. Crime and pauperism have stead-
ily declined during the last half century, not only in propor-
tion to the population, but absolutely. From an agricultural
viewpoint, Scotland is still a country of large proprietors. It
is computed that, on an average, each landowner possesses
in Scotland one hundred and forty-three acres against thirty-
three acres owned by each landowner in England. Less than
four per cent of the inhabitants of Scotland share in the own-
896 HISTORY OF SCOTLAND
ership of the soil. The wholesale clearances of tenants car-
ried out in many districts during the present century gave
rise to the grievances of the so-called crofters, which have,
in recent years, been the subject of remedial legislation. The
skill with which farming is prosecuted in Scotland may be
inferred from the fact that the average yield of wheat and
barley is higher than it is in England. On the other hand,
the yield of oats and potatoes is lower. The number of cat-
tle and sheep per one thousand acres of cultivated land is
much larger in Scotland than in England. According to the
report of the crofters' commission, appointed in 1883, the area
under deer forest in Scotland is nearly two million acres, or
about one-fifth of the whole country. The grouse moors oc-
cupy a still more extensive superficies. Half a century ago
the herring and deep-sea fisheries employed only about thirty
thousand persons, but the number has been since more than
trebled. The output of coal in Scotland has also trebled in
forty years. On the other hand, the delivery of iron ore is
now less than it was forty years ago. The woollen industry
has rapidly expanded since 1850; on the other hand, the
manufacture of linen has materially declined since 1867.
The number of cotton factories is also smaller than it was
fifty years ago. The number of gallons of whiskey produced
In Scotland in 1824 was only about five million; sixty years
later, it had risen to upward of twenty million. Of especial
interest are the statistics relating to the shipping owned in
Scotland. At the time of the union with England, in 1707,
the number of vessels was two hundred and fifteen, having
an aggregate capacity of less than fifteen thousand tons. In
1884, the number of vessels owned in Scotland was three
thousand four hundred and sixty-eight, with a total tonnage
>f nearly one million seven hundred thousand. The tonnage
of the coasting and foreign trade nearly trebled in the thirty
years succeeding 1855. The value of the traffic increased
during the same period from about thirty-six million dollars
to one hundred and fifty-three million. It is true that, even
now, the value of imports into Scotland is only about a tenth
HISTORY OF SCOTLAND 897
as great as that of the imports into England, but it should
be remembered that large quantities of foreign products find
their way into Scotland from England by rail.
"We have seen that, by the act of union in 1707, Scotland
was to be represented at Westminster by sixteen peers, to be
chosen by the Scottish peerage for each parliament, and by
forty-five members of the House of Commons. By the Re-
form act of 1832, the number of Scottish members in the
Commons was raised to fifty -three; by the Reform act of
1868, to sixty; and by the Seats act of 1885, to seventy-five.
It is since 1885, too, that the management of Scottish busi-
ness in the British parliament has been confided to a Secre-
tary for Scotland.
We have seen also, that, by the Act of Union, Presby-
terianism, which was professed by a large majority of the
Scottish people, was recognized as established in the northern
kingdom under the name of the Church of Scotland. There
were secessions from the Established Kirk in 1733 and 1751,
but these were insignificant compared with the great schism
which began in 1833 and ended ten years later with the ex-
odus which organized the so-called Free Church of Scotland.
The Free Church had, in 1885, two-thirds as many congre-
gations as did the Established Church. Since 1874, patron-
age has been abolished even in the Established Church, and
the right of choosing parish ministers has been conferred
upon the congregations. We should add that, in 1885, the
Roman Catholic Church had three hundred and twenty-
seven churches or chapels, and that the population affiliated
to it was computed at over three hundred and forty thou-
sand. The Episcopal Church in Scotland is still very weak,
possessing at the date last mentioned only about two hun-
dred and fifty churches, and eighty thousand members of
all ages. Of Baptists and Methodists in Scotland there ar6
very few.
KINGS OF SCOTLAND.
Name.
Malcolm HI.
Cean-mohr.
Donald Bane
Duncan II.
Edgar
Alexander I.
David I.
Malcolm IVo
William the
Lion
Alexander II.
Alexander III.
John Baliol
Robert Bruce
David IL
Robert IL
Robert III.
James I.
James n.
James III.
James IV.
James V.
Mary
James VI. , and
I. of England
Parentage.
Duncan
Malcolm III.
Grandson of
David L
William the
Lion
Alexander II.
Devorgoil
Grandson
of Bruce,
Baliol's
competitor
Robert
Bruce
Marjory
Bruce
Robert II.
Robert HI.
James I.
James II.
James III.
James IV.
James V.
Mary
Accession.
A.D.
1056
1093
1094
1098
1107
1124
1153
1166
1214
1240
1292
1306
1331
1371
1390
1406
1437
1460
1488
1518
1661
1567
Page
38
39
39
40
40
48
50
56
60
77
103
188
237
247
260
293
330
847
884
v.ii.
83
80,110
Death.
A.D.
1093
1098
1094-5
1106
1124
1153
1165
1214
1249
1285
1296
1329
1370-1
1389
1406
1437
1460
I486
1513
1542
1686-7
Page
v. 1.
37
39
39
40
40
45
50
56
57
63
81
180
233
246
251
293
828
346
365
406
v. ii.
252
887
Contemporaries.
France.
Philip L
Lewis VI.
Lewis VII.
Philip n.
Lewis VIII.
12.
Philip HI.
TV
Lewis X.
John
Philip V.
Charles IV.
Philip VI.
John II.
Charles V.
Charles VI.
Charles VII
Lewis XI.
Charles VHI
Lewis XII.
Francis I.
Henry II.
Francis IX.
Charles IX.
Henry III.
Henry IV.
England.
Harold IL
Wil. Couq.
Wil. Rufus
Henry I.
Stephen
Henry II.
Richard L
John
Henry HI.
Edward I.
II.
HI.
Richard II.
Henry IV.
V.
VI.
Edw. IV.
V.
Rich. IH.
Henry VH.
Hen. VHI.
Edw. VI.
Mary.
Elizabeth.
Elizabeth.
(398)
INDEX
INDEX
Aberbrothock, battle of, i. 306.
Aberdeen University, foundation of, i. 853.
Abernethy, Sir Laurence, i. 136.
Adrian, Emperor, Wall of, i. 15.
Agnes, denominated Black, her defence of the Castle of Dunbar, i. 90*.
Agricola, invasion of, i. 14.
Alan, Lord of Galloway, death of, i. 57.
Alan de Vipont, defence of Lochleven Castle, i. 200.
Albany, Earl of Fife, i. 249; breach of faith with Earl of March, 251;
challenge to Henry IV. of England, 253; regency of, 260; negotia-
tion of, with Henry IV., 266; siege of Roxburgh Castle and Berwick,
270; death and character of, 271.
Albany, John, Duke of, regency of, i. 376; unpopularity of, 378; visit of,
to France, 379; return of, 381; retirement to France, 382; return of,
and final retreat to France, 383.
Alexander I., called The Fierce, i. 40.
Alexander IL, i. 56.
Alexander III., marriage of, i. 60; treaty of, with Norway, 62; death
of, 64.
Alexander Stewart, of Bonkill, i. 117.
Alexander, Duke of Albany, i. 329, 337; escape of, from prison, 338;
junction of, with Edward IV. of England, to invade Scotland, 339;
reception of, into favor, by James III., 343; banishment of, ib.
Alpine, King of Scots, i. 23.
Andrew, Saint, University of, i. 266.
Andrew, Saint, Order of, i. 354.
Angus, Earl of, apostate Scottish noble, treachery of, i. 89.
Angus, Lord of the Isles, i. 108.
Angus, brother-in-law of Henry VIII., i. 411-21.
Anne of Denmark, Queen of James VI., ii; 280; coronation of, 281.
Antonine, Emperor, Wall of, i. 16.
Aodh, i. 26.
Archibald, Earl of Angus, marriage of, i. 376; elevation of, 381; chosen
administrator of royal authority,|385; divorce of, ib.; retirement to
England, 390.
Argyle, Earl of, appointed by James VI. to lead an army against the
Catholic insurgents, ii. 301; defeat of, 305.
Armada, the Spanish, ii. 266.
Arran, Earl of, i. 332-3.
.(401)
40* INDEX
Arran, Earl of, made Regent, i. 409; resignation of the Regency bf 9
418; junction of, with the Lords of the Congregation, 431.
Ashby, Ambassador from Elizabeth to James VI., ii. 267.
Athelstane, i. 26.
Athol, Earl of, execution of, i. 109.
Athol, regency of, under Baliol, i. 202; death of, 208.
Athole, Earl of, imprisonment of, ii. 169.
Attacotti, i. 20.
Aumori, i. 146.
Aycha IV., King of Scots, i. 23.
Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, i. 104, 132.
Babington, conspiracy of, ii. 218-19.
Baliol, Edward, invasion of, i. 190; coronation of, 193; junction of, with
Edward III. of England, ib.\ flight of, to England, 199; resignation
of the sovereignty of Scotland to Edward of England, 223.
Baliol, John, i. 75; treaty of alliance with France, 79; surrender of, to
Edward of England, 81.
Ballard, ii. 218.
Balmerino, Lord, secretary to James VI., intercourse of, with the Pope,
ii. 367.
Bannockburn, battle of, i. 128-36.
Bartons, affair of the, i. 358.
Battle of Brunnanburgh, i. 26; Loncarty, 27; Northallerton, or Cuton
Moor, 44; Stirling, 88; Falkirk, 90; Methven Park, 105; Bannock-
burn, 128; Dundalk, 142; Linthaughlee, 143; Mitton, 152; Dupplin
Moor, 191; Halidon Hill, 196; Durham, 215; Nesbit Moor, 221; Otter-
bourne, 244; Bourtree Church, 249; Clan Chattan and Kay or
Quhele, ib.; Homildon, 255; Harlavv, 265; Sark, 307; Sauchie Burn,
346; Flodden, 362; Cleanse the Causeway, 381; Melrose, 387; Kirk-
liston, ib.\ Haddon Rig, 403; Ancram Moor, 412; Pinkie, 416; Cor-
richie, ii. 41; Roundabout Raid, 54; Langside, 82; Reedsquair, 108;
Dryffe Sands, 300; Glenlivet, 304.
Beaton, David, i. 397-8; claims a right to the government of Scotland,
408; intrigues of, 410; death of, 414.
Beaumont, Earl of Buchan, i. 178; invasion of, 189.
Bernard de Baliol, i. 43, 51.
Binnock, or Binning, surprise of Linlithgow Castle, i. 122.
Black, trial of, ii. 318; banishment of, 322.
Bohun, Sir Henry, death of, i. 131-2.
Boniface VIII.'s publication of a Bull claiming Scotland as a dependency
on the See of Rome, i. 92.
Bothwell, Earl of, intercepts the relief sent by Elizabeth to the Scottish
reformers, ii. 14; driven into exile, 52; rise of, in court, 64; keeper
of Liddisdale, 67; wounded and visited by Queen Mary, 68; con-
spiracy of, against Darnley, 69-70; publicly accused of Darnley's
murder, 71; trial of, 72; surprisal of Queen Mary by, 74; marriage
of, with Mary, 75; unpopularity of, 77; imprisonment and death
of, 78.
Bothwell, Earl of, grandson of James V., his opposition to Arran, ii.
179; meeting in arms James VI. at the Raid of Stirling, 181; impris-
onment and escape of, 283; plot of, against James VI., 284; second
attempt of, to capture the person of James VI., 287; surprises King
James, and obliges him to sign certain articles, 292; denouncement
INDEX 403
of, as a rebel, 293; defeats the Earl of Home, 397; retirement of, to
France, 307; death of, ib.
Bruce, Edward, i. 117; heir to the crown, 140; crowned King of Ire-
land, 141; death of, 142.
Bruce, Nigel, i. 107; execution of, 109.
Bruce, Robert, i. 75; junctiou of, with Edward of England, against
Baliol, 80.
Bruce, Robert, Earl of Carrick, L 96-101; retreat of, to the wilds of Niths-
dale, 103; coronation of, at Scone, 104; retreat of, to the island of
Rachrin, 108; excommunication of, 110; dismission of the Pope's
nuncios bearing commands for peace, 146-7; illness of, 171; retire*
ment of, 179; death of, 180.
Bruce, quarrel of, with Forrester, ii. 264.
Buchan, Countess of, i. 104; imprisonment of, 108.
Buchan, Earl of. See Stewart, John.
Bull, Stephen, i. 851.
Bullock, William, i. 207; death of, 210.
C
GfflSAK, Julius, invasion of, i. 14.
Caledonians, defeat of, by the Romans, on the Grampian Hills, i. 15;
war of, with Severus, 17.
Camelodunum, i. 16.
Campbell, Sir Neil, i. 106.
Cameron Clan, desertion of the Lord of the Isles, i. 284.
Carey, Sir Robert, Ambassador from Elizabeth to James VI., ii. 254.
Carmichael, Sir John, ii. 108.
Cassilis, Master of, imprisonment of, by Arran, ii. 169.
Cecil, presence of, at the treaty of Edinburgh, ii. 20; activity of, in the
trial of Mary, .85-86.
Cecil, Robert, son of Burleigh, ii. 870; secretly advances James VL'8
interest, 377.
Chalmers of Gadgirth, i. 424.
Charles VII. of France, i. 275.
Chastellar, ii. 48; death of, 49.
Chattan Clan, i. 249; desertion of the Lord of the Isles, 284.
Christian of Denmark, i. 332.
Christina, sister of Bruce, i. 194.
Clifford, Lord, i. 104.
Clifford, Sir Robert, defeat of, 1. 130-1; death of, 135.
Cobham, Sir Ralph, i. 165.
Cochrane, the mason, i. 840; purchase of the Earldom of Mar, to.;
death of, 341-2.
Comyn, Sir John, called the Red, chosen guardian of Scotland, i. 92;
death of, 102.
Constantine, son of Kenneth, L 26; Constantine III., to.
Corbeil, Bishop of, i. 146.
Conichie, battle of, ii. £1.
Crab, John, destruction of the English sow, i. 151; attack of the
enemy's fleet, 192.
Crawford, Earl of, adherence of, to the Douglas interest, i. 818; sub»:
mission of, to James, 319.
Cressingham, English treasurer, i. 88.
Crichton, Sir William, i. 296; -removal of, from the government, 304;
recovery of the Bang's confidence, 308; escape of, from the Douglas
ambuscade, 811; death of, 821.
404 INDEX
Culen, i. 27.
Cunningham, John, of Drumquhassel, trial of, ii. 158-9.
Currie, John, and the taking of Edinburgh Castle, i. 208.
Cuton Moor, battle of, i. 44.
Dalriads, or Dalreudini, i. 19.
Danes, defeat of, i. 27-28.
Darnley, visit of, to Mary, ii. 47; courts the influence of Rizzio, 50-1;
marriage of, with Mary, 54; character of, 57; quarrel of, with Mary,
and suspicion of Rizzio, 58; plot for the murder of Rizzio, 59; deser-
tion of his colleagues in Rizzio's murder, 60; declaration of, denying
any knowledge of the conspiracy, 62; discountenanced by Mary, 63;
attacked with small-pox, and murder of, 70.
David I., i. 40; death of, 45.
David II., i. 178; coronation of, 188; removal of, to France, 194; return
of, to Scotland, 208; invasion of England by, 213-14; defeat of, 216;
imprisonment of, ib.; ransom and liberation of, 226; marriage of,
with Catherine Logie, 230; divorce of, 233; death of, ib.; reflections
on the character and reign of, ib.
David, son of Robert III., i. 248; made Duke of Rothsay, 250; marriage
of, 251; defence of Edinburgh, 253; imprisonment and death of, 254.
David de Strathbogie, i. 200.
De Argentine, Sir Giles, i. 133; death of, 135.
De Brechin, Sir David, i. 159; execution of, ib.
De Caillou, Edmund, death of, i. 144.
D'Esse, Monsieur, arrival of, in Scotland, with six thousand troops,
i. 417.
De Garencieres, arrival of, in Scotland, i. 221.
De Graham, Sir John, i. 215.
De Lambyrton, William, i. 100.
De Rokeby, Thomas, discovers the position of the Scottish array, i. 173.
De Soulis, William, conspiracy of, i. 158.
Despenser, Hugh, i. 161.
De Umfraville, Sir Ingram, and the exchange of allegiance, i. 160.
De Vienne, John, i. 240, 243.
Donald, Lord of the Isles, i. 262, 266.
Donald, Earl of Mar, regency of, i. 190.
Donald, Ballach, i. 285; death of, ib.
Donald, brother of Kenneth, i. 26.
Donald Bane, accession of, to the crown of Scotland, i. 38.
Douglas, Archibald, regency of, i. 194.
Douglas, Sir James, i. 103; night of, with Bruce, 106; return of, to Scot-
land, 112; capture of the Castle of Roxburgh, 121; pursuit of King
Edward, 136; attack of, on the English by night, 175; retreat of,
176; expedition of, to Palestine, 187; death of, u>.
Douglas, Sir William, i. 87.
Douglas, James, Earl of, defeat of Hotspur, i. 245; death of, 246.
Douglas, nicknamed Tyne-man, i. 255; acceptance of the Duchy of Tou*
raine, 275; death of, 276.
Douglas, William, i. 300; death of, 301.
Douglas, Earl of, Lieutenant-General of Scotland, i. 805; pilgrimage of,
to Rome, 310; submission of, to James II., ib.; retirement of, from
court, 311; visit of, to James, 315; death of, 316.
Douglas, Earl, the last of the title, i. 317; retreat of, to England, 320;
INDEX 405
refusal of, to appear before the King's privy-council, 321; flight of,
to England, 323; death of, 325.
Douglas, Archibald, parson titular of Glasgow, ii. 71; presence of, at
the murder of Darnley, 119; return of, to Scotland, and trial, 176;
replacement of, in the benefice of Glasgow, 178.
Douglas, George, unsuccessful attempt of, to assist Mary, ii. 81.
Douglas, James, of Spot, in league with Bothwell against James VI.,
ii. 284.
Douglas, Malcolm, of Mains, trial of, ii. 159.
Douglas, William, assistance of, to Mary's escape from Lochleven, ii. 82.
Drummond, Annabella, wife of Robert III., i. 247.
Dryffe Sands, battle of, ii. 300.
Dudley, Earl of Warwick, i. 416.
Duff, i. 27.
Dunbar, battle of, i. 80-1.
Dunbar, Earl of, apostate Scottish noble, treachery of, i. 89.
Dunbar, the Scottish Chaucer, i. 353.
Duncan, Earl of Fife, case of, i. 78.
Duncan, the Gracious, i. 29; and Macbeth, 29-31; death of, 31.
Dundalk, battle of, i. 143.
Durham, peace of, i. 45.
E
Eadulf-Cudel, cedes Lothian to the Scottish King, i. 29.
Edgar, third son of Malcolm, imprisons Donald Bane, and becomes
King, i. 39; death of, 40.
Edinburgh, foundation of, i. 22.
Edward I. of England, i. 74; demand of the right of arbitration between
the competitors for the Scottish crown, 76; declaration of his right
to the Scottish crown, but a waiving of claim, 77; preferment of
John Baliol to the throne, ib.: junction of, with Bruce, 80; removal
of the coronation stone to England, 82; confirmation of Magna
Charta, 89; vow of, 104; death of, 114-15.
ward II. of England, i. 115; invasion of, 119; escape of, in a fishing-
skiff, 136; seeking of a peace through the intervention of Pope John
XXII., 145; preparation of, for invading Scotland, 163; escape of, to
Bridlington, 165; death of, 169.
Edward III. of England, i. 169; command of an'army against Douglas
and Randolph, 171; dismission of the army, 177; convocation of a
parliament at York, ib. ; stipulation of, with Baliol, for the subju-
gation of Scotland, 193; return of, to England, 202; invasion of, to
avenge the death of Athol, 203; war of, with France, 205; abuse
of victory by cruelty, 217; invasion of, with eighty thousand men,
222; retreat of, 225.
Edward rv. of England, i. 334.
Elizabeth, Queen of England, i. 423; recommendation of the Earl of
Leicester to Marj' of Scotland, ii. 44; offence at Mary's intended
union with Darnley, 51; exasperation of, at Mary's being delivered
of James VI., 66; treatment of Mary, being her prisoner, 83 et seq.;
threatening message to James in behalf of the Regent Morton, 120;
letter of> to James, in behalf of the Raid of Ruthven conspirators,
146; negotiation of, with Arran, concerning James's marriage and
right to the English crown, 167-9; offence of, at the death of Sir
John Russell, 174; exertions of, with James, against Arran, 174-5;
negotiation of, for the liberation of Mary, 194; life of, considered
406 INDEX
endangered by Mary's existence, 197; an association formed in Eng-
land for the defence of, 206; conspiracies against, 216 et seq.; answer
of, to parliament, concerning the sentence of Mary, 231; answer of,
to the ambassadors from James VI. in behalf of Mary, 238-40; letter
of, desiring the private murder of Mary, 247; refusal of, to assist
James in quelling the insurrection of Huntley, Angus and Errol,
301; demand of Scott of Buccleuch, for daring to rescue Will of
Kinmont, 316; displeasure of, with Essex, 373; effects of Essex's
death on, 374; death of, 381.
Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen, i. 353.
Eocha, i. 26.
Eric, King of Norway, marriage of, with Margaret, daughter of Alex
auder, III., i. 62.
F
Falaise, treaty of, i. 53; abrogation of by Richard Coeur de Lion, 54
Falkirk, battle of, i. 90.
Farniherst suspected by Elizabeth of being instrumental to the death
of Sir John Russell, ii. 174; death of, 175.
Fenella. i. 28.
Flodden, battle of, i. 362.
Forrester, quarrel of, with Bruce, ii. 264.
Foster, John, Warden of the West Marches of England, ii. 108L
Frank, William, i. 121.
Fraser, Simon, execution of, i. 109.
G
Galwegians, i. 22, 44.
Gaveston, Piers, i. 161.
George, Earl of March, i. 251; junction of, with Henry IV. of England,
252; return of, to Scotland, 261; death of, 273.
Glamis, Lady, death of, i. 397.
Glasgow University, foundation of, i. 353.
Glenlivet, battle of, ii. 304-6.
Gloucester, Earl of, i. 133; death of, 135.
Gordon, Sir John, ii. 39; death of, 42.
Gowrie, Earl of, detains James VI. at his castle of Ruthven, ii. 135*,
proposed retirement to France of, 151; trial of, 152; death of, 158.
Gowrie, Earl of.-second son of Gowrie of the Raid of Ruthven, ii. 833',
death of, 344.
Graham, David, of Fintry, execution of, ii. 290.
Grahame, Sir Robert, banishment of, i. 290; death of, 293.
Graoch, Lady of Macbeth, i. 30.
Gray, Sir Patrick, i. 312-13.
Gray. Master of, ii. 167; intrigue of, with Archibald Douglas, 176; made
Chancellor of, 177; Ambassador from James VI. to Elizabeth, tO
intercede for Mary, 238; duplicity of, 242; banishment of, 258.
Grig, i. 26.
Guy, Count of Namur, commands the Flemish auxiliaries, i. 201.
H
Haco, King of Norway, invasion of, i. 61.
Haddon Rig, battle of*, i. 403.
INDEX 407
Halidon Hill, battle of, i. 196.
Hamilton, Sir James the bastard, i. 388; death of, 401.
Hamilton, Sir Patrick, efforts for peace, i. 380; death of, 381.
Hamilton, faction, i. 379.
Hamilton, John, of Paisley, i. 415.
Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh, ii. 94.
Harlaw, battle of, i. 265.
Hartcla, Sir Andrew, execution of, i. 166.
Henry II. of England, i. 49; Lord Paramount of Scotland, 52.
Henry III. of England, i. 59.
Henry IV. of England, i. 250; claim of the right of supremacy, 252;
return of, to England, 253; death of, 270.
Henry V. of England, i. 270; death of, 273.
Henry VIII. of England, i. 357; answer to the manifesto of James IV.
of Scotland, 359-60; sends an army to the Scottish borders, 382;
intercession of, for the Earl of Angus, 391; endeavor of, to induce
James V. of Scotland to renounce papacy, 395; personal offence of,
with James, 403; desire of, to obtain possession of Mary, 410; inva-
sion of Scotland, 411.
Hereford, Earl of, i. 133.
Herries, John, i. 312; execution of, ib.
Holyrood, Abbey of, founded by David I., i. 47.
Home, Lord, i. 378; death of, 379.
Home, of Wedderburn, i. 381.
Home, David, of Argaty, execution of, ii. 157-8.
Home, Lord, imprisonment of, ii. 169.
Homildon, battle of, i. 255.
Hotspur, See Percy.
Huntley, Earl of, i. 318; defeat of, 320; conducts the army at Haddon
Rig, 403; offence of, at Murray's being created Earl of Mar, ii. 38-9;
death of, 41.
Huntley, Earl of, commissioned by James VI. to seize the Earl of Mur-
ray, ii. 285; surrender, imprisonment, and dismissal of, 287; offer of
submission of, to James VI., 294; ordered either to renounce popery
or leave Scotland, 295; correspondence of, with Spain, 301.
Ida, founder of Northumberland, i. 21-22.
Indulf, i. 27.
Interregnum, i. 83.
Ireland, invasion of, by Edward Bruce, i. 141.
Isabella, Countess of Buchan, i. 104; imprisonment of, 108.
James I. of Scotland, birth of, i. 248; capture of, by an English corsair,
258; liberation, marriage, and character of, 277; treatment of Alex-
ander, Lord of the Isles, 284; diminution of the power of the nobility,
286; marriage of his daughter with the Dauphin of France, 287;
declaration of war with England, 289; death of, 292.
James II. of Scotland, removal of, from Edinburgh to Stirling by his
mother, i. 298; assumption of supreme authority, 304; marriage of,
308; intercession of, for Herries with Douglas, 312; invasion of Eng-
land, 327; death of, 328.
408 INDEX
James III. of Scotland, i. 332; imprisonment of, 342; death of, 346.
James IV. of Scotland, i. 347; espousal of the cause of Perkin Warbeck,
352; character of, 353-4; marriage of, 355; manifesto of, to Henry
VIII. of England, 359; invasion of England of, 361; death of, 364.
James V. of Scotland, i. 384; appoints Angus to the administration of
royal authority, 385; escape of, to Stirling, 389; possessed of un-
limited royal authority, 390; chastisement of the borderers, 393;
reception of the Order of the Garter from Henry VIII., 395; mar-
riage of, 396; circumnavigation of, 400; family affliction of, 401;
war of, with Henry VIII., 403; death of, 406.
James VI. of Scotland, birth of, ii. 63; summons a general council to
deprive Morton of the regency, 110; under the care of Morton, 113;
exclusively directed by Lennox and Arran, 125; detainment of, by
the Ruthven conspirators, 135; forgives the conspirators of Ruth-
ven, 144; answer of, to Elizabeth's letter, 147; high opinion of, by
Walsingham, 149; refusal of an embroidered garment from Mary,
201; letter to Mary, denying her right to the throne, 202; inter-
ference of, with Elizabeth, in behalf of Mary, 236; endeavor of, to
reconcile the different factions and enemies, 262; opposition of, to
Philip II. 's invasion of England, 268; public declaration of his in-
tention to go for his intended bride, daughter of the King of Den-
mark, 276; return of, 278; leads an army against Bothwell, 296;
appoints the Earl of Argyle his representative against the Catholic
insurgents, 301; pawns his crown jewels to support an army against
the Catholic lords, 306; appointment of eight persons for the man-
agement of his expenditure, 310; disagreement of, with the Church,
317-18; orders the ministers to be imprisoned, 327; conspiracy of
Gowrie against, 334-44; public incredulity respecting the statement
of, with respect to the Gowrie plot, 345; claims of accession to the
English crown, 359; popularity of, in England, 362; popularity of,
with the Roman Catholics, 366; departure from Scotland fQ'v Eng-
land, 383; King of England, 384; death of, 386.
Joanna, Queen, widow of James I., i. 292; marriage of, 2Sfr* iiSrprison-
ment of, 299; death of, 306.
John of Lorn, or Macdougal, i. 106.
John de Bretagne, guardian of Scotland, i. 115.
John of England, i. 55.
John XXII., Pope, command of a two years' peace between England
and Scotland, i. 145; renewal of excommunication against Bruce,
155.
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, i. 239; shelter of, in Edinburgh
Castle, ib. ; war of, with Scotland, 240.
John, Duke of Bedford, protector of England, i. 273; message of, tfe,
Douglas, 276.
John, Earl of Carrick, accession of, to the Scottish throne, i. 247.
John of the Isles, i. 326; submission of, to James, 335.
John, Earl of Mar, i. 829; imprisonment and death of, 338.
K
Kay, or Quhele, Clan of, i. 249.
Kenneth Macalpine, i. 23.
Kenneth III., son of Malcolm I., i. 27; his death, 28.
Kennedy, James, Archbishop of Saint Andrew's, i. 321; death of, 381*
Ker, George, plan of, for the invasion of Scotland, i. 289.
Kerr, Sir Thomas, of Farniherst, ii. 95; death of, 175.
INDEX 409
Kirkcaldy of Grainge, promise of obedience to Mary, in the name of the
confederated lords, provided she would dismiss Bothwell, ii. 78;
intrigues of, in favor of Mary, 93; execution of, 106.
Kirkpatrick of Closebourne, i. 102.
Knox, John, animates the assembly at Perth, i. 426; vehemence against
the Queen Regent's duplicity, 427; preaching of, at St. Andrew's,
forbidden by the Primate, 428; dissatisfaction of the provision made
for the clergy, ii. 27; interview of, with Mary, 34.
Lamp of Lothian, the abbey church at Haddington, consumption of by
fire, i. 225.
Langside, battle of, ii. 82.
Lauder, conspiracy of, i. 341.
Leith, siege of, ii. 17; surrender of, 20; raid of, 296.
Lennox, Earl of, meeting of, with Bruce in his flight, i. 107; death of,
197.
Lennox, father of Darnley, presses Queen Mary to punish his son's
murderers, ii. 71; protests against the precipitancy of Bothwell's
trial, ib.; made Regent, 97; death of, 102.
Lesley, Bishop of Ross, mission of, to Mary, ii. 31.
Lethington. See Maitland.
Lindesay, Lord of the Byres, trial of, i. 349.
Linlithgow, surprise of the fort at, i. 122.
Linthaughlee, battle of, i. 143.
Livingston, Sir Alexander, i. 296; dismission of, from government, 304;
imprisonment of, 305.
Logan of Restalrig, concerned (in the Gowrie conspiracy, ii. 352; the
memory of, tried for treason, 355.
Logie, Catherine, marriage of, i. 230; divorce of, 233; appeal of, to the
Pope, ib.; death of, ib.
Lords of the Articles, i. 235.
Louis XL of France, i. 334.
Luach (the Simple), son of Macbeth, i. 32.
m
Macbeth, i. 29; vision of, 30.
Macdougal, or John of Lorn, i. 106; defeat of, by Bruce, at Cruachan-
Ben, 118; death of, 142.
Macduff, i. 78; and Baliol, 79.
Magdalen, wife of James V., death of, i. 396.
Magna Charta, i. 89.
Maitland of Lethington, mission of, to Elizabeth, in behalf of the re-
formers, ii. 15, 26; appearance of, as Mary's accuser, 84; intriguery
of, for Norfolk and Mary, 93; death of, 106.
Malcolm I., i. 27; acquires the kingdom of Reged from Edmund of Eng-
land, ib.
Malcolm II., i. 28; defeats the Danes, ib.; death of, 29.
Malcolm III., called Cean-mohr, i. 33; death of, 37.
Malcolm IV., i. 48; death of, 50.
Malise, Earl of Stratherne, i. 43.
Mar, Earl of, regency of, ii. 102; death of, ib.
Mar. Earl of. See John, Earl of Mar.
Scotland. Vol. II. — z8
410 INDEX
March, Countess of, i. 80.
March, Earl of, called Gosspatrick, i. 35.
Margaret s daughter of Alexander III., weds Eric, King of Norway, i. 62;
mother of the Maid of Norway, ib.
Margaret, Maid of Norway, i. 62; death of, 75.
Margaret, Queen of Alexander III., i. 60; death of, 63.
Margaret, Queen-Dowager of Scotland, marriage of, i. 376; announce-
ment of her son James as sovereign, 384; divorce and marriage of,
385.
Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling, i. 34; death of, 37.
Margaret, wife to Earl of Arran, sister to James III., i. 332.
Mary of Guelders, bride of James II., i. 308.
Mary of Guise, Queen of James V., i. 396; duplicity of, to the reformers,
427 c , hostile proceedings of, toward the reformers, 428; retreat of,
to Dunbar, 429; fortification of, and retirement to, Leith, 430;
further proceedings against the reformers, ii. 16; death of, 19.
Mary, Queen of Scots, birth of, i. 396; marriage of, with Francis, 418;
arrival of, in Scotland, ii. 32; interview with Knox, 34; expedition
of, to the north, 39; asks the opinion of Elizabeth on her choice of
a husband, 43; chooses Darnley, 45; appoints Rizzio to the office of
French secretary, 49; marriage with Darnley, 54; accession of, to
the league of Bayonne, 56; flight of, from Edinburgh to Dunbar, 60;
delivered of James VI., 63; breach of, with Darnley, ib.; visit of, to
Bothwell, being wounded, 68; treats Bothwell as if he were honor-
ably acquitted, 72; assents to an act ratifying the Protestant doc-
trines in Church and State, 72-3; made prisoner by Bothwell, 74;
marriage with Bothwell, 75; separation from Bothwell, 78; impris-
onment of, in Lochleven, ib.; resignation of the kingdom in favor of
Murray, 80; escape of, 82; defeat of, 83; refuge of, in England, i&.;
trial of, 84-6; summary of the evidence, 87-91; acquittal of, 92; con-
spiracies in favor of, ib.; excites general sympathy, 184; removal
of, to Tutbury, 186; to Chatsworth, 187; White's character of, ib,\
employment of, in captivity, 188; imprudence of Maitland's plots
in favor of, 191; negotiation for the liberation of, 194; grief of, at
the death of Norfolk, 195; unpopularity of, in England, 198; inter-
ference of foreign princes in behalf of, 200; desire of, to sign the
association formed for the protection of Elizabeth, 206; unpopu-
larity of, in consequence of Babington's conspiracy, 221; trial de-
termined on, ib.; papers and documents of, seized, 224; removal
of, to Fotheringay*, and trial of, ib.; letter of, to Elizabeth, 234;
death of, 251.
Maule, Sir Thomas, i. 93.
Maupas, John, slayer of Edward Bruce, death of, i. 142.
Melrose, battle of, i. 387.
Melville, Sir James, ii. 48.
Melville, Rev. James, account of the Spanish Armada, ii. 270.
Methven Park, battle of, i. 105.
Michael the Great, an immense galleon, i. 357.
Mitton, Chapter of, or white battle, i. 152.
Monluc, Bishop of Valence, presence of, at the treaty of Edinburgh-
ii. 20.
Monteith, Sir John, betrayer of "Wallace, i. 94.
Moot Hill of Scone, Mons placiti, omnis terra, i. 38.
Moray, Sir Andrew, of Bothwell, i. 194; capture of, ib.; liberation of,
199; presence of mind of, 204; death of, 206.
Morton, Earl of, engaged in the conspiracy against Rizzio, ii. 59; flight
INDEX 411
of, to Northumberland, 61; appearance of, as Mary's accuser, 84;
regency of, 102; delivery of the Earl of Northumberland to Eliza-
beth, 104; oppressive regency of, 107; unpopularity of, 108; treat-
ment of the prisoners taken at Reedsquair, 109; retirement to
Lochleven Castle, 110; resignation of, 111; intrigues of, during his
retirement in the "Lion's Den," 112; return of, to power, 118;
authority of, limited, 114; unpopularity of, 117; trial of, 121; con-
fession of, 122; execution of, 124.
Murdach, Earl of Fife, accession of, to the regency, i. 272; negotiation
of, for the liberation of James, 273; trial and execution of, 281.
Murray, Prior of St. Andrew's, i. 428; opposition of, to the Queen-
Regent, 430; attendance on the death-bed of the Queen, ii. 19; mod-
ification of the stipends to the Church, 27; visit of, to his sister
Mary, 31; made Earl of Mar, 39; Earl of Murray in lieu of Mar, 40;
opposition of, to the Queen's union with Darnley, 52; reconciliation
of, with Knox, ib.; insurrection of, 54; reconciliation of, with Mary,
61; regency of, 79; appearance of, as Mary's accuser, 84; produces
the silver box containing the alleged correspondence between Mary
and Bothwell, 86; return of, to Scotland, 93; death of, 95.
W
Neville, Sir Robert, death of, i. 144.
Newton, Adam, attempt of, to publish the Pope's Bulls against Bruce,
i. 147.
Norfolk, Duke of, directed by Elizabeth to look into evidences of Mary's
guilt or innocence, ii. 84; imprisonment of, 93; liberation of, 103;
trial and execution of, 195.
Northallerton, battle of, i. 43.
Northampton peace, articles of, i. 178.
O
Octavians, created by James VI., ii. 310; resignation of, 311.
Ogle, Sir Robert, i. 289.
Olifaunt, Sir William, governor of Stirling Castle, i. 94.
Orleans, Maid of, i. 288.
Otterbourne, battle of, i. 244.
Owen Glendower, rebellion of, i. 253.
Parry, plot of, against Queen Elizabeth, ii. 213.
Paulet, Amias, intrusted with the care of Mary Queen of Scots, Ii. 222;
a letter sent to, by Elizabeth, hinting to the private assassination
of Mary, 247.
Pembroke, Earl of, defeats Robert Bruce, i. 105; his defeat by Bruce at
Loudoun Hill, 118; abandonment of Ayrshire to the Bruce, lb.
Percy, Henry, nicknamed Hotspur, encounter of, with James, Earl of
Douglas, i. 244; defeat of, 245; death of, 258.
Perkin Warbeck, i. 352; invasion and death of, ib.
Perth, siege of, i. 207; treaty of, 427; violation, 428.
Philip II. of Spain, plan for an invasion of England, and pretensions to
the English throne, ii. 266.
412 INDEX
Picts, tribe of, i. 19.
Pinkie, battle of, i. 416.
Pope Alexander III., opposed by William, King of Scotland, i. 58.
Pope Clement, grants privileges to the Church of Scotland, i. 63.
Presbyterian svstem, ii. 24; superiority of, 28.
Protestants called "Lords of the Congregation," i. 425; citation before
the Queen and Bishops, 426; forcibly occupy Perth, 429; junction
of, with the Duke of Chatelherault, 431; reception of money from
Queen Elizabeth, ii. 14; want of skill and discipline of, 18; provision
for the clergy, 26; annihilation of the Catholic chapels, 29; treat-
ment of Mary on her arrival, 32; dispute of, with the civil power,
166; disagreement of, with James VI., 320; petition of, to James
VI., 324.
Ragman's Roll given up to the Scots, i. 178.
Raid of Ruthven, ii. 138.
Ramsay, Sir Alexander, i. 208; takes the castle of Roxburgh, 209; death
of, ib.
Randolph, Thomas, i. 103; capture of the Castle of Edinburgh, 181;
engagement of, with the English at Stirling, 130-1; nomination of,
to the regency, 186; death of, 190.
Reedsquair, battle of, ii. 108-9.
Reformation. See Protestants.
Reginald, or Ranald of the Isles, death of, i. 213.
Resby, a Lollard, execution of, for heresy, i. 261.
Richard Coeur de Lion, his abrogation of the treaty of Falaise, i. 64;
liberation of, by William of Scotland, 55.
Richard II. of England, invasion of, i. 241; return of, to England, 848;
dethronement of, 250; legend of, 268.
Richard III. of England, i. 339.
Rizzio, or Riccio, David, ii. 49; suspected by Darnley, 58; murder of,
59-60.
Robert I. of Scotland. See Bruce.
Robert II., inauguration of, at Scone, i. 238; death of, 246.
Robert III., i. 247; death of, 259.
Robert, Earl of Fife, second son of Robert II., chosen regent, i. 846.
Romans, walls of defence, i. 15-16; evacuation of Britain, 18.
Ruthven, Alexander, brother of the Earl of Gowrie, conspiracy of, ii.
334; death of, 343.
Sadler, Sir Ralph, i. 398; intrusted with the care of Mary, ii. 811.
Sandilands, James, Lord St. John, sent to Francis and Mary, ii. 23.
Sark, battle of, i. 307.
Sauchie-Burn, battle of, i. 346.
Saxons, i. 21.
Scott, Walter, of Buccleuch, i. 387; defeat of the English near Melrose,
413; rescue of Will of Kinmont, 314-15; appearance of, before
Elizabeth, 316.
Scots, tribe of, i. 19.
Seaton, Christopher, brother-in-law of Bruce, i= 108; death of, 110.
Selby, Walter, death of, i. 214,
Semple, Sir Robert, in charge of Dumbarton Castle, i. 304; death of, xb.
Severus, invasion of the Caledonian territories, i. 17.
INDEX 413
Seward, Sir John, general of Edward I., i. 93; defeated by Comyn and
Fraser, #>.
Shaw of Sauchie, i. 345; refusal of, to admit James to Stirling Castle,
346.
Shrewsbury, Earl of, intrusted with the care of Mary Queen of Scots,
ii. 186.
Sidney, Sir Robert, ii. 271.
Sinclair, William, Bishop of Dunkeld, i. 145; officiation of, at the coro-
nation of Edward Baliol, 193.
Somerled, Lord of the Isles, i. 49.
Sow, construction of, to shelter the English miners, i. 150.
Spalding, a burgess, betrays Berwick to Bruce, i. 148.
Sprot. evidence of, concerning the Go wrie conspiracy, ii. 352; execution
of, 356.
Stephen, King of England, i. 40.
Stewart, Alexander, Earl of Mar, memoir of, i. 263-4.
Stewart, Arabella, right of, to the English throne, ii. 365-6.
Stewart, John, Earl of Buchan, assistance of, to tbe Dauphin of France,
i. 270; defeat of the Duke of Clarence, 274-5; creation of, as High
Constable of France, 275; death of, 276.
Stewart, James, called Captain, ii. 115; intrusted with the command of
the King's guard, 117; the accuser of Morton for Darnley's murder,
120; made Earl of Arran, 121; unpopularity of, 132; imprisonment
of, 137; liberation of, 144; taken into favor, 145; vindictive meas-
ures against the Raid of Ruthven conspirators, ib.; interception of
a diamond ring to Walsingham, 150; unpopularity of, 155-6; meas-
ures of, for restricting the power of the clergy, 162-3; becomes
Chancellor, 167; awakens a feud between the Johnstones and Max-
wells, 170; ordered to restrain himself, 175; measures for the ruin
of, 178; retreat of, from Stirling, 180; retirement of, 181; return of,
to favor, 274; death of, 309.
Stewart, Sir William, accusation of, against the Master of Gray, ii. 258;
death of, 261.
Stirling, battle of, i. 88.
Stuart, Esme, Lord D'Aubigne, Duke of Lennox, ii. 115; made Lord
High Chamberlain, 117; unpopularity of, 132-3; return to France,
and death of, 138.
Sueno, King of Denmark, invasion of Scotland in the name of, by
Camus, i. 29.
Surrey, Earl of, defeated by Wallace, i. 87-88.
Thomas, the Rhymer, prediction of, i. 63.
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, i. 161; conspiracy and death of, 162.
Throgmorton, Francis, plot of, for Mary's liberation, ii. 204.
Thurstan, Archbishop of York, i. 42.
Tribes or Clans, i. 19.
Tulchan Prelates, explanation of, ii. 108.
Turnbull, Bishop of Glasgow, and the University of, i. 353.
Tyler, Wat, insurrection of, i. 239.
u
Uohtred, Sir Thomas, i. 165.
Ungus, king of Picts, i. 23.
Urgaria, wife of Aycha IV., and mother of Alpine, i. 23.
414 INDEX
V
Vipont, Sir "William, death of, i. 136.
W
Wake, Lord Thomas, of Liddel, i. 178; invasion of, 189.
Wallace, Sir William, i. 86; Guardian of Scotland, 88; resignation of tho
guardianship, 91; death of, 94-5.
Walsingham, visit of, to James VI., ii. 148-9; hostility of, to Arrao,
149; high opinion of James, 150.
Walter L'Espec, i. 42.
Walter, Earl of Athol, conspiracy of, i. 291.
Warrene, Earl of Surrey, i. 81.
William the Conqueror, league against, i. 34.
William Rufus, i. 36.
William the Lion, i. 50.
Wisheart, execution of. for heresy, i. 413-14.
Wood, Sir Andrew, of Largo, Scottish seaman, i. 851.
Wotton, Dean of Canterbury, ii. 20.
Z
Zouche, English Ambassador to James VL, ii. S95-&
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