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had entered, and to fetch a compass round the town. But, as the crowd about the gate was great, and he himself unacquainted with fear, he proceeded directly along the street; and the throng of the people obliging him to move very slowly, gave the assassin time to take so true an aim, that he shot him with a single bullet, through the lower part of his belly, and killed the horse of a gentleman who rode on his other side. His followers instantly endeavoured to break into the house whence the blow had come, but they found the door strongly barricaded; and before it could be forced open, Hamilton had mounted a fle horse, which stood ready for him at a ba passage, and got far beyond their rea The regent died the same night of his woun

Hist. Scot, v. i. 511. The carbine with whi the Regent was shot, is preserved at Hamilto. Palace. It is a brass piece, of a middling length, very small in the bore; and, what is very extraordinary, appears to have been rifled or indented in the barrel. It had a match-lock; for which a modern firelock has been injudiciously substituted.-Scott's Minstrelsy, v. iii. p. 434.

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EARL OF MORTON,

Regent of Scotland. James Douglas was the second son of Sir George Douglas, of Pinky. The early part of his life was spent in obscurity, his father being in exile, and his family persecuted by the reigning king, James V. To escape observation, he lived several years with a gentleman as his steward, under a fictitious name. The death of James enabled him resume his proper character, and he soon married the daughter of the Earl of 1, whom he succeeded in his title and He was one of the first peers who . themselves in support of the reformed n, and the liberties of the country, durhe regency of the queen mother. After expulsion of the French party, he was sent the parliament as ambassador to Queen beth, whose confidence and support he d, and whose interests he espoused, with hich subsequently contributed to his the return of the young queen

from France, he was appointed one of the privy council, and afterwards Lord High Chancellor. The active part which he took in the murder of Rizzio, obliged him to take refuge in England. He was recalled by the influence of Bothwell, who divulged to him his design on the life of Darnley; but Morton refused to join him in this horrible conspiracy, and subsequently exerted himself to bring the murderers to justice. On the marriage of Mary with Bothwell, he entered into a league with others of the nobility to protect the person and rights of her son against that usurper, and, on the queen's deposition, assumed the principal management of the state. On the death of the Earl of Mar, he succeeded him in the regency; and by the prudence and vigour of his administration, commanded the obedience and respect of the nation. He restored peace at home, improved the revenues, contracted a strict alliance with England, and seemed to have finally crushed and extirpated his enemies. But his power and popularity were speedily ruined by his immoderate eagerness in amassing wealth; which led him into many

acts of oppression and extortion, particularly towards the clergy, and rendered that powerful body his active and inveterate opponents. Finding himself universally unpopular, and unable to contend with the hostility of the young king, and the intrigues of his favourites, he thought proper to resign the regency in 1578. This voluntary degradation did not satisfy his enemies, who urged on his destruction with unrelenting activity. In 1581, he was brought to trial, on the accusation of one of the king's minions, and found guilty of being art and part in the murder of Darnley. Morton confessed that Bothwell had revealed his design to him; but pleaded his utter inability to prevent it, as the imbecile Darnley would have immediately betrayed his informant, and the queen was in the power, and believed to be a participator in the projects, of Bothwell. There is every reason to believe Morton's statement, at least there is no evidence to contradict it; the tribunal by which he was tried was determined to find him guilty, and the proofs adduced against him were presumptive and inconclusive. He con

ducted himself in the last scene of his life with intrepidity and dignity, unruffled by the ingratitude of his friends and the insults of his enemies. He was beheaded the day after the trial, his head fixed on the top of the Tolbooth, and his body left for several hours, covered only with an old cloak, and without a single attendant to protect it. He, who a few years before had been obeyed and reverenced as a king, surrounded by wealth, honours, and friends, was now abandoned and disowned by all. Morton, though low in stature, was of a graceful person and demeanour; his great courage and military skill were eminently conspicuous in the civil wars; he was a profound politician-cool, subtle, and unscrupulous. His greatest failing was avarice; to which his early necessities had contributed, and which frequently betrayed him into measures equally unjust and impolitic.

As the foregoing account is chiefly drawn from the courtly pages of Robertson, it may be proper to correct it by a reference to

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