be made against him. As his position, however, was very advantageous, (on the side of a hill full of moss and bogs), and as he had advantage of both sun and wind, he resolved upon fighting. Huntly, whose part it rather was to have hesitated, from the comparative slenderness of his force, sent forward a vanguard, consisting of two hundred horse, under the command of the Earl of Errol, and courageously led on the remainder in person. He had four pieces of artillery on carts, which he caused to be kept concealed from the view of the enemy till the moment when they should have approached near enough to give an effective fire. His progress was slow, partly from the steepness of the hill, and partly from the heath and bogs which rendered it difficult to the feet of his horse; but he at length arrived within the proper distance. Then suddenly causing his vanguard to recede from the front of the artillery, he fired them off with great effect against the massive battalions of Argyle; who, ignorant that he possessed this means of offence, and regarding cannon in the abstract with a sort of superstitious terror, fell flat on their faces, and could not be prevailed upon to rise again so long as the noise continued. To improve his advantage, Huntly caused his vanguard at this moment to make a detour to the right, so as to fall in upon the enemy's flank. They did so with all the speed possible on such broken ground; but before they accomplished their object, the Highland leaders, rousing their men from the ground, caused them to throw off a flight of arrows at the advancing horse, such as palpably darkened the air, if we are to believe the report of some eye-witnesses, for a quarter of an hour. Errol's troop,

nevertheless, dashed in upon the rear of the Presbyterian army, and began an unequal contest, which might have soon ended in his complete destruction, if Huntly had not at that moment advanced, with all the remainder of his forces, and distracted the chief attention of the Celtic leaders to the front. A general and most destructive fight then took place. The Lowland cavaliers every where found advantage over the ill-armed Highlanders, and produced a dreadful slaughter; but the Highlanders, nevertheless, contrived to give their assailants a number of severe wounds. At length, after two hours of hard fighting, the legions of Argyle began to give way before those of Aberdeenshire; and a flight soon after commenced, which all the efforts of the chiefs were unable to restrain. Casting a way at once arms and clothing, and never once looking behind them, the despairing Highlanders ascended the hill, where no horse could follow, and, descending the other side, sought their way home. A small portion, chiefly natives of the Western Isles, retired in a more respectable fashion, under the charge of the Chief of Maclean, who, clad in a jack and murrion, and armed with the primitive weapon called a Danish axe, had acted on this day as Argyle's lieutenant, and behaved with great gallantry. Argyle himself was hurried off the field, weeping with rage at the bad success of his arms.

In this battle of Glenlivat, or Balrinnes, full five hundred of Argyle's forces were slain, includ ing the Laird of Lochnell and his brother, heirs. presumptive to the commander. On Huntly's side fell Patrick Gordon of Auchindown, uncle to the Earl, with a small number of men; while Er rol and many others were severely wounded. It

is certainly to be regretted, that the zeal of the clergy, moved as it was by the best intentions, should have led to a slaughter so extensive as this, and of which the necessity was so doubtful, even supposing their ends to have been expedient. There is at least something very horrible in the idea of enlisting the bad passions of a rude people in a quarrel which was not properly their own, and thus, as it were, attempting to perform God's work by the agency of fiends. Assuredly, no cause, however sacred, could justify means so very inconsistent with the principles of humanity, so adverse to the precepts of religion itself.

James was at Dundee, preparing, in his own person, for an expedition to the North, when the young Earl of Argyle, accompanied by only two men out of all his late force, arrived, travel-worn and exhausted, to relate the news of his defeat. The King immediately marched northward, with the small force he had already collected, being afraid that a little time might allow the Catholic lords to become too powerful for him. But by the time he reached Aberdeen, he learned that Huntly and Errol were so much weakened by the severe conflict they had had with Argyle, as to be unable to make head a second time, and that they were now willing to quit the kingdom. All that then remained was to march into the country over which these nobles exercised a territorial jurisdiction, and put in force the late act of parliament, by casting down their strongholds, and taking cau tion from their dependants. For some time, James was prevented from doing this by the state of the weather, and by the slowness with which his le vies came in to him; but he at length accomplish.

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ed it, in January 1594-5. Strathbogie and Slaines Castles, the seats of the Earls of Huntly and Errol, were destroyed. The Earls retired beyond seas, upon a composition; but their vassals were more severely handled, for according to the report of a very simple annalist, all gentilmen war appardonit for payment of sowmes of money, and the puir war puneist to the death.' The ladies of the rebel lords were permitted, however, to retain the rents of their estates; the Countess of Huntly being the daughter of the late Duke of Lennox, and high in the King's favour. Indeed, to ensure that the business of quieting the country should be transacted with a sufficiently tender regard to the interests of this esteemed person, he left her brother, the young Duke of Lennox, as his lieutenant, when he himself found it necessary to retire to the South.

The country was now in some measure pacified; and, to add to James's triumphs, his old enemy the Earl of Bothwell at last found it expedient to seek a refuge abroad. A year of tranquillity ensued, marked by no event of importance, except an unsuccessful attempt on the part of the Queen and a faction of the courtiers, to deprive the Earl of Mar of the custody of Prince Henry. On the 3d of October, the King and country were deprived of the services of the Chancellor, Lord Thirlstane, who, after an administration of about ten years, made a godly end' at his house of Lauder Fort, much lamented by all ranks of men, but especially by the King. James honoured his memory with a copy of verses, which, as Dr Robertson remarks, when compared with the compositions of the age, are far from being inelegant.

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CHAPTER VIII.

THE OCTAVIANS-TUMULT OF THE SEVENTEENTH OF DECEM◄ BER-PUBLICATION OF THE BASILICON DORON.

1596-1599.

IN January 1595-6, James resolved upon a mea→ sure, which eventually had a very material effect upon the character of his government, and, in a more particular manner, upon the fortunes of the church. Finding, as he himself declares in a proclamation, that the rents of his crown were in a state of confusion and decay, and that, by the maladministration of his finances, he was at last arrived at such a pitch of poverty, that there was neither wheat nor beir (barley), silver nor other rent, to serve his house sufficiently in bread and drink, or otherways;' he selected eight gentlemen of the law, the most acute in talent, and the most expert in business, upon whom he devolved the whole management of his revenue in every department, binding himself, upon the word of a prince, to interfere in no manner with their proceedings, and allowing them the important privilege of filling up every vacancy that might occur in their own number. So extensive were the powers which seemed to be conferred upon this