Angus was, however, raised to an enviable degree of eminence. He neglected not to aggrandize his own family; but he neglected the Chancellor, who hoped also to share the spoils. The King was now become the prisoner of his former flatterers. The power of the house of Douglas, after being dormant nearly a century, was revived, and threatened to overwhelm the royal power. Symptons of discontent and jealousy began to appear. Angus, as warden of the Marches, had neglected to enforce the usages and the laws of the Borders, to gratify his avarice. The English, in consequence, made reprisals; which occasioned, disorders that called. for the interference of the royal authority. Angus determined to lead the King in person to repress them; but, while returning by Melrose, Walter Scott of Buccleuch suddenly appeared with a thousand armed followers. That chieftain was a retainer of Len-.

nox, who was then in company with the King. From subsequent events, it seems probable that Scott's design was to deliver the King from the power of Angus. A short but sanguinary con-> flict confirmed that power: But Lennox, immediately after retired from court, to prepare for a decisive effort to rescue his, Sovereign.

Irritated by the diminution of his authority and importance, the Chancellor prevailed upon the King to write letters to his mother, Lennox, and other lords of their party, complaining of the restraints which Angus imposed upon him.

To the vassals of Lennox, were added the Queen and the Chancellor's friends from the Northern counties. Their united forces, amounted to ten thousand. With this body, Lennox marched to Linlithgow; where an equal number of Angus's adherents, under Arran, awaited their approach. An unsuccessful attempt was made to reconcile Arran to Lennox, his nephew. A messenger was despatched to Angus at Edinburgh, who compelled the King to advance against his own friends. James, pretending indisposition, did every thing in his power to occasion delay. Angus, impatient, hurried forward, leaving the King in charge of his brother Sir George; who, irritated at the delay, burst into a vio◄ lent passion, and exclaimed, “Sir, should our enemies vanquish us, rather than surrender your person, we will tear you in pieces.” Upon the approach of Angus, the shout of " a Douglas!" arose in his army. Inspired with ardour by the presence of their chief, they attacked and routed the troops of Lennox, who was slain.

The King, alarmed for that nobleman's safety, despatched Sir Andrew Wood with instructions to Arran. When he arrived at the field of battle, he was conducted to the Earl, whom he found resting, and weeping over the slain Lennox. "Alas!" said the mourner, "the best, the wisest, the bravest man in Scotland has fallen!" Angus availed himself of his advantage, and advanced to Stirling, to seize the Queen and the Chancellor; but they had fied.

A Parliament met soon after, and passed an act of indemnity in favour of all who had been engaged in the late conflict against Lennox. His estates, and those of his tonfederates, were forfeited, and divided between Angus and Arran. The wily Chancellor, by affected submissions and presents, made his peace with Angus.

Meantime, the authority of Douglas being paramount to the laws, the country became a prey to injustice and rapine. A nobleman was murdered at the door of St Giles's church; yet his murderer appeared unmolested in Edinburgh during the session of Parliament. The most lucrative and honourable offices were monopolized by the house of Angus. His uncle was appointed lord treasurer, his brother master of the royal household, and he himself assumed the chancellorship.

The Borderers having resumed their predatory habits, which were loudly complained of by the English, the vassals of Angus and Arran were marched to Edinburgh, to attend the King in a progress of justice against the marauders. While the followers of Douglas and Hamilton were mustered to the number of two thousand, in front of the palace of Holyroodhouse, a groom of the late Earl of Lennox had penetrated to the spot, and, following Sir James Hamilton by a private staircase, he gave him several severe wounds, and returned unperceived among the populace. To this atrocious deed he had been instigated by revenge; Sir James having slain Lennox, in the late battle, after he had yielded.

An alarm was instantly raised; the Douglases and Hamiltons, suspecting treachery, were on the point of turning their swords against each other. The assassin was discovered; and when put to the torture, he confessed, and gloried in his crime. When his right hand was cut off, he smiled, and said, "It deserved its fate, for executing so ill his intended revenge." The King proceeded to Jedburgh, and redressed the Border griev ances. The Armstrongs, in particular, had enriched themselves

A.D. 1527.

by plundering the English; but they were compelled to give pledges for their future peaceable conduct.

James evinced great impatience under the power of the Douglases. He disdained to be kept a prisoner in his own palace, to be treated with disrespect, and stripped of all his power. Angus, aware of his danger, resolved to secure the King's person, as he could not gain his confidence; and therefore surrounded him with spies. In vain did the Queen exert herself to shake his authority: What they could not effect by force, they accomplished by stratagem; a plot was contrived for his escape.

The Queen resided in Stirling castle, the only fortress in the kingdom which had escaped the power of Douglas. James secretly acquired possession of this place for a compensation, and gave the command to a trusty servant. For some time, the King had been residing at Falkland. Seizing the opportunity of Angus's absence, the Monarch, disguised as a groom, escaped in the night from his guards, and, accompanied only by two servants, arrived before morning at Stirling.

His court was soon filled with persons of the greatest distinction; while Angus, indignant at the escape of his prey, hastened to Stirling. A herald met him by the way, and commanded him, on pain of treason, not to come within six miles of the King's residence. His resolution was shaken, and he judged it prudent to submit. In a Parliament which assembled soon after, Douglas and his adherents were attainted. After escaping many dangers, A.D.) and enduring great misery, the unfortunate Angus fled to 1528. S England, where he and his brother Sir George resided during the remainder of this reign. They revisited Scotland in the second year of Mary's minority; but their power was no longer dangerous to the royal authority or the liberty of the na

tion.

CHAPTER X.

Character of James-policy of his government. Proceedings against the house of Douglas. Singular incident. The Borderers punished. The College of Justice instituted. Ecclesiastical affairs. A Parliament. The King's marriages. Execution of Lord Forbes and Lady Glammis. Beaton's cruelty. James visits the Western Islands. State of religion. Hostilities with England. King's death.

JAME

AMES was now in his seventeenth year, and enjoyed not only the name but the full authority of king. His person was graceful

and his mind vigorous; but his education had been neglected,-a misfortune common to royal minors. In his character may be discovered the features of a great but uncultivated spirit: His passions were violent, his resentment was implacable, his desire of power immoderate; but he possessed an ardent love of his people; he was zealous and prompt in punishing private oppression; his affability to the poor was so remarkable, that he received from his grateful subjects the honourable appellation of the King of the poor. He had a capacity for government, and had studied the laws of his country with such assiduity, that he frequently pronounced sentence on horseback during a journey, and with great impartiality. His constitution enabled him to endure fatigue and the inclemencies of the seasons.

The faults of his government may be traced to the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed. The frugality in which he had been trained during his minority, degenerated into avarice; yet he expended his revenue in the execution of magnificent architectural works, in the construction of a navy, and similar plans of national utility.

His political designs were subservient to one end-the humiliation of the aristocracy. The harsh and impolitic restraints he himself had endured from them during his minority-their usurp ations of his power and revenue-generated a permanent enmity in his mind against their order. But he had learned from the history of his ancestors, that the firm spirit of the feudal nobles was not to be restrained by laws alone, which operate slowly on a rude people; that the aggrandisement or depression of a few noble families would produce no permanent accession of strength to the Crown; and that the elevation of persons of mean birth to the ministry was both dangerous and dishonourable to a prince. James had therefore recourse to a new and successful expedient to counterbalance the power of the nobility. He applied himself to the dignified clergy, who depended entirely on the Crown, and possessed great authority over the minds of the people. Between the clergy and the nobles, various causes of disgust existed. The latter despised the ecclesiastical character, and they envied the wealth and influence of the church. the other hand, were men of cultivated minds, in the art of commanding popular reverence.

N

The clergy, on and experienced To this order the

King therefore applied, hoping that an identity of interests would lead them to act in concert with him. Nor was he disappointed: They readily entered into his views, served him with fidelity, and carried on his measures with vigour, reputation, and success.* These preliminary remarks will serve to elucidate the policy of James in the subsequent part of his reign.

Upon assuming the royal authority, James appointed his preceptor, Gawin Dunbar, archbishop of Glasgow, to be chancellor of the kingdom. The fortifications of Edinburgh and Stirling castles were ordered to be repaired, and the royal magazines to be filled with arms and ammunition. A jury of six ecclesiastics and five peers pronounced sentence of forfeiture against the Douglases; but his jury were his personal enemies, and shared the plunder of his estates. James himself was so exasperated at the Earl of Angus for contravening the seizure of his property, that he solemnly swore he would never allow him to return to Scotland; and notwithstanding the repeated intercessions of Henry, he adhered to his vow with unrelenting obstinacy.

As the peace with England was nearly expired, negotiations were opened for its renewal. A truce for five years was conclu

ded and ratified by Henry and James.

The manners of the times are illustrated by the following singular incident. The King, accompanied by his mother and the Papal ambassador, were invited to Atholl to enjoy the pleasures of the chase; which was the King's favourite amusement. A palace was constructed, for their reception, of green wood, intwined with verdant branches of birch. The fabric was quadrangular, with lofty turrets, drawbridge, and portcullis; and it was surrounded by a ditch. The floor was strewed with flowers and blossoms of a fragrant odour, and the walls were covered with silken tapestry. There the Earl of Atholl entertained his guests for three days, with the most delicate and savoury viands and the choicest wines. The expense was computed at three thousand pounds. After taking leave of their noble host, the nuncio was astonished, upon looking back, to behold the edifice enveloped in flames. The King said, with a smile, “It is the custom of our Highlanders to burn their temporary lodgings."

*Robertson's Scotland, Book i.