Robert Cary. He never dips his pen in gall; he tells the truth, and the truth only; he represents things as they were, without any sinister turn either on causes or effects: he appears open without indiscretion, plain without meanness, sincere without bias, and brave without ostentation. From his short sketches of characters, (I wish they had been more expanded and numerous,) we see every now and then into the closets of the two princes, Elizabeth and James, under whom he passed the vigour of his days. Queen Elizabeth was his chief friend during her lifetime. Her discernment and approbation were honours that reflected splendour upon him, as great as could arise from her royalty and exaltation. In the next reign, the consort of King James (a princess who has undergone a variety of praise and censure) was remarkably firm and zealous in the protection of him. Henry, Prince of Wales, looked upon him with a most favourable eye; and King Charles I., to whom he was many years an immediate

servant, took an early and public opportunity of raising him to the dignity of an English Earl.

With that account he concludes his Memoirs, of which a considerable share is taken up in giving a very exact and connected account of those Ostrogoths, the Borderers; a set of wild men, who, from the time when the Romans left our island, till the death of Queen Elizabeth, kept the southern part of Scotland and the northern part of England in a perpetual civil war, and seem to have equalled the Caffres in the trade of stealing, and the Hottentots in ignorance and brutality. A description of these beasts in human shape, is extracted by Camden from Æneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope Pius II., who went into Scotland in the year 1448. * As the times

* Instead of referring to an authority so antiquated, the Earl might have quoted the following brief and animated description of Camden from Lesly. « What manner of cattle stealers they are, that inhabit these

grew more and more civilized, these animals became more and more human; but still retained a great degree of their natural cruelty, all their thirst of plunder, all

valleys in the marches of both kingdoms, John Lesley, a Scotchman himself, and Bishop of Ross, will inform you. They sally out of their own borders, in the night, in troops, through unfrequented bye-ways, and many intricate windings. All the day-time, they refresh themselves and their horses in lurking holes they had pitched upon before, till they arrive in the dark at those places they have a design upon. As soon as they have seized upon the booty, they, in like manner, return home in the night, through blind ways, and fetching many a compass. The more skilful any captain is to pass through those wild deserts, crooked turnings, and deep precipices, in the thickest mists and darkness, his reputation is the greater, and he is looked upon as a man of an excellent head.-And they are so very cunning, that they seldom have their booty taken from them, unless sometimes, when, by the help of bloodhounds following them exactly upon the tract, they may chance to fall into the hands of their adversaries. When being taken, they have so much persuasive eloquence, and so many smooth insinuating words at command, that if they do not move their judges, nay, and even their adversaries, (notwithstanding the severity of their natures,) to have mercy, yet they incite them to admiration and compassion." E.

their strength, and all the fierceness of their courage. Particular governors, entitled Lord-Wardens of the East, West, and Middle Marches, were constantly instituted to protect the English territories against such barbarians. The Marches were so denominated, because the inhabitants, being in a perpetual state of variance and hostility, were always ready to March,* either to annoy the enemy, or to defend themselves. There were March laws, and March courts of judicature, of which the Lord Warden, or his deputies, were supreme judges. Once a year a March day was appointed, when the Scots and English met, and adjusted, or attempted to adjust, all the disputes and claims of either nation upon the Borders. Castles were kept well garrisoned. Each person of any considerable estate was ob

* The explanation of the original word Marcha, or Marcia, with all its derivatives, is sufficiently uncertain. But it certainly does not come from the verb to march, as here assumed. It simply signifies a boundary, whether of a private estate, a parish, or a kingdom. E.

liged to provide himself with a castle, which was generally confirmed to him and his heirs by the crown. Some castles were fitted up entirely at the expense of the crown. That at Norham was given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Robert Cary, for the life of himself and his two sons. Some lands were certainly annexed to it, by the price it bore, no less than six thousand pounds, when sold to Lord Dunbar. *

The

Strong watches were set in every March, at small distances from each other. inhabitants of the smallest villages were supplied with arms, especially in such places as were most liable to invasions. One good effect arose from this state of watchfulness and danger; the gentry and the yeomen were rendered vigilant and warlike. Neither luxury, nor her two eldest sons cowardice and indolence, could easily find footing in the Marches. Every gentleman was obliged to be an officer;

* See the Memoirs, p. 136.