following year, 1580, there was a great ri Italian officer, in the pay of the pope, a Portugal with six or seven hundred men, f stand of arms, and some money. But thes were presently assaulted both by sea and lar finished fort at or near to Smerwick, in Kerry. Two memorable men were in the -Edmund Spenser, the author of the Fa and Walter Raleigh, then the captain of The latter, who, in some respects, was not i his age, took a conspicuous part in the ca ensued, and the gentle Spenser justified t deed with his pen. After resisting for thr Giuseppe, the Italian commander, hung o truce, and sent a secretary to the lord depu Grey of Wilton, whom Spenser calls "a affable, loving, and temperate lord!" to tre According to Spenser, this was flatly refu Irish and foreign writers assert that the 1 Grey of Wilton promised the foreigners their which they laid down their arms, and were a in cold blood, with the exception of one Iri and a few Spanish officers; and, as veteran t lay down their arms, even in extremities, w such assurance, it may be conjectured that a least of life, was given. The English conti sharp course, and brought under the insurger and Connaught. In 1583 the Earl of De had lain concealed for nearly three years in part of the country, was tracked and killed hearth-stone by one Kelly of Moriarty, his head and sent it to Elizabeth. The ear fixed upon London Bridge; and for some tin peace in Ireland. In Scotland there was the old state of co trigue, and treachery. The regent Morton h * View of the State of Ireland, written dial tween Eudoxus and Irenæus, by Edmund Spen the year 1596. at rising, and an the country with a rod of iron, plundering in all directions, tampering with the coinage, and seeking every means to enrich himself. In 1578 a convention of the nobility insisted that James, who was now in his thirteenth year, was of a proper age to govern by himself. Morton was taken by surprise, and retired, as to the best place of safety, to Lochleven Castle. About three months after, he contrived to obtain possession of the person of the young king, and to resume his authority. The Earls of Argyle and Athole raised an army, as they said, to rescue their sovereign from the captivity of the Douglases; but when a battle seemed inevitable, the English ambassador interfered, and patched up a reconciliation. Soon after, Morton gave a banquet to his adversaries; and the Earl of Athole, the chief of these, died of the dinner. And soon there ran a rumour that Morton was negotiating for the delivery of James into the hands of Elizabeth. At this moment Esmé Stuart, lord of Aubigny, arrived from France, where he had been educated. He was the son of a second brother of the Earl of Lennox, the father of Darnley, and consequently a near relation to the young king, who at once took him into extraordinary favour. This, the first of James's many favourites, was handsome, graceful, and accomplished. His rise was proportionately rapid; he became Duke of Lennox, captain of the guard, first lord of the bedchamber, and lord high chamberlain. But, under this favourite, who knew little of Scotland, or of business of any kind, there was a minor favourite, James Stuart, commonly called Captain Stuart, the second son of Lord Ochiltree, a family which also claimed kindred with the royal house. The captain, who had a turn for treachery and intrigue equal to that of Morton, had fully resolved to work the fall of the regent; and this he achieved after many difficulties, for Morton was strong in the prejudices and fears of the people, who were led to believe that the Duke of Lennox was an agent of the Guises, commissioned to restore the mass in Scotland. Morton had procured an act of parliament to ratify every act of his regency, and to indemnify him for any illegal exercise of authority. It was, therefore, deemed im prudent to prosecute him for any part of his regent; but Morten, long before his regency vehemently suspected of having a share in the the king's father; and Captain Stuart, now c of Arran, induced James to proceed against I account, alleging that the act of indemnity di to the murderers, and that a sentence upor would equally carry with it the forfeiture of life and of his immense wealth and wide esta would all fall to the poor king. The acute grown somewhat dull with age; he allowed be thrown into prison. Elizabeth sent dow agent Randolph to interpose in his favour. T of Orange and the Protestant King of Navar terfered-for Morton was deemed a sturdy while the royal favourite, the young Duke c was suspected of papistry. But these repr were not regarded, and Randolph, who was plotting with the Earl of Angus, was obliged his life.* Elizabeth even collected troops borders to intimidate the Scots; but this me met by the levying of an army in Scotland, a was made to send a messenger to demand whether the Queen of England wished to have war. Her majesty then abandoned her creat fate, delicately protesting that it would not b to make war in defence of a murderer, and ol after a very irregular trial,† was submitted t braces of the "Maiden," a rude kind of guilloti he himself had introduced into Scotland a s before. And thus perished another regent of A portion of the trial is interesting, as bearing question of Mary's guilt or innocence. The verdict of the jury brought the prisoner in guil cealing, or being art and part in the murder Darnley; and it was proved pretty clearly that man and confidant Archibald Douglas, and hi *The Earl of Angus was nephew to Morton. † Morton's servants were barbarously tortured confessions from them. his conduct as ency, had been the murder of v created Earl ast him on this - did not reach upon this fact e of Morton's estates, which ute villain had ed himself to down her old The Prince varre also inHy Protestant, ce of Lennox, presentations was found out red to flee for ps near the measure was , and James nd explicitly ave peace or eature to his become her old Morton, to the em otine, which short time of Scotland. ng upon the e unanimous ilty of coner of Henry at his kinshis servant ed to force Binning, were actually employed in the murder. It was also shown that he had given a bond to Bothwell, to secure him from punishment for that deed; and a paper was produced, which was said to be Bothwell's dying declaration, and which exonerated the queen from all share in the dark transaction. Morton, after sentence, confessed to the ministers of the kirk that, upon his return from England, after his exile for his part in the slaughter of David Rizzio, the Earl of Bothwell and his kinsman Archibald Douglas had solicited him to take part in the projected murder of Darnley; but he affirmed that he declined so doing, unless Bothwell could produce to him the queen's sign-manual in warrant of the deed. He alleged that Bothwell had promised him to produce such an assurance; but he admitted that he never did, and that he never saw anything from the queen to authorise the murder. His servant Binning was executed the day after his master; but the far more guilty Archibald Douglas escaped into England. After the death of Morton, James nominally governed the kingdom by himself; but, in fact, the whole business of the state was managed, or mismanaged, by his favourite, the young Duke of Lennox, and by James Stuart, the new Earl of Arran. The latter was as great a scoundrel as Morton, without his ability and experience, and his private life was outrageously dissolute. He soon commenced an intrigue for the overthrow of the young Duke of Lennox, who had first put him in the way of court promotion; and the course he adopted speedily brought about the ruin both of his patron and of himself. At this moment the Catholics of England turned an anxious eye to the north, not only hoping that James, now that he was relieved from Morton, would make some exertions for his afflicted mother, but also that he might be won over, if not to their church, to a toleration of itand his feelings in this respect would be of no small importance, as they saw that he would in all probability succeed to the English throne. Active intrigues were set on foot under the main direction of Parsons, the Jesuit, Waytes, an English Catholic clergyman, and Creighton, a Scottish Jesuit. But it was sta for the king, that he was in a state of extren and that, unless he were relieved and succ abroad, he must of necessity submit to the w beth. Parsons flew to Spain, Creighton to Ro made James a present of 12,000 crowns; the mised 4000 crowns. Mary was made privy trigue, and she offered, upon certain conditions James's irregular accession. The English no stranger to what was passing, nor to the r racy which ensued. The Earl of Gowrie, a murderous Ruthven, invited James to his cast ven. The unsuspecting king accepted his invi found himself a close prisoner. Then the a the state fell to the Earl of Marr, the master the Lord Oliphant, and others, supported by t ers, who proclaimed to their congregations tha been a plot on foot to restore the mass and t Satan, Queen Mary. Arran was taken and t a dungeon; Lennox fled to France, where he after-of course not without suspicion of poison prove that the Scottish preachers had been m died a steady Protestant. When the news of captivity reached Mary, she foresaw nothing his absolute ruin or murder, and, putting her out of consideration, she wrote a letter full o tenderness and anxiety to Elizabeth, implori interfere and save her only child. But Eliz well satisfied with what had taken place, and left the affairs of Scotland to themselves. had never contemplated the violent measures suggested themselves to the affrighted imagin mother, and James, boy as he was, was their least in dissimulation. He duped his gaolers lief that he forgave what had been done; he his liberty, summoned a convention, and resum rcise of his authority, having formally pardon cerned in the Raid of Ruthven. All this called for fresh precautions on t Elizabeth, who sent down her dexterous minister |